Her Hot Ride: A gripping and sexy biker mc romantic suspense novel Read online

  Her Hot Ride

  A gripping and sexy biker mc romantic suspense novel

  Heather Van Fleet

  Books by Heather Van Fleet

  Her Wild Ride

  Her Rough Ride

  Her Hot Ride

  Available in audio

  Her Wild Ride (Available in the UK and the US)

  Her Rough Ride (Available in the UK and the US)

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Her Wild Ride

  Hear more from Heather

  Books by Heather Van Fleet

  A Letter from Heather

  Her Rough Ride

  Acknowledgements

  To Emma. I’ll love you for eternity.

  One

  Archer

  Whiskey, women, and wild nights. There was a reason the letter W was one of my favorites in the alphabet. Plus, the woman behind me in my bed currently tracing a nail up my spine was named Willa.

  At least I thought she was.

  “You can’t give me ten more minutes?” she purred.

  “Sorry, sweets.” I glanced at her over my shoulder, stood, then winked. “Got places to be.”

  “How about five minutes?”

  “No can do.”

  I bent over and grabbed my jeans, knowing that even one more minute was impossible. Once the sun hit my face in the morning, I couldn’t sit still. I had a constant need to rise early. I lived to capture the day ahead. And already my mind was wandering away from the bed to the shit I had to do today. Tasks to be dealt with, brothers to keep in check, things to get in order for the club… Good old ADHD did a number on not only my mental state but my ability to keep a woman in my bed for longer than a month—sometimes less than that.

  There was nothing wrong with Willa or any of the women I bedded. But most were groupies. And groupies were predictable, always looking for a forever with a biker who wasn’t looking for more than a good time. Not that I blamed them. It was just that anything predictable didn’t hold my attention for long enough; didn’t challenge me, force me to focus, surprise me.

  I love a good surprise.

  I slid my jeans on, taking in Willa’s wild blonde hair. Like every other woman I’ve been with in the past, she’d been trying her best to kiss me, and looked a damn mess because of it. No matter. Pretty little thing like her knew the rules like all the rest of them did: I, Archer Benedict, never kissed a woman. On the mouth, anyways.

  “One of the boys will give you a ride home,” I told her, nodding as I picked up my gun and tucked it into the waistband of my jeans.

  Her lower lip pushed out into a pout. “Will I at least see you tonight for Flick’s welcome home party?”

  “I’ll be around.” I winked then snatched up my wallet before heading out.

  With Niyol ‘Hawk’ Lattimore’s house my main goal this morning, I let the door click shut behind me. It was Wednesday, which was also my favorite day of the week because anything with a nickname that started with “hump” was definitely worthy of being my preference. I walked down the hall, turned left, then stiffened at the sight of Talker, one of my club brothers, who was passed out on the floor in front of the couch that sat in the main lobby.

  “Would you look at that.” I chuckled under my breath and headed over to him, hovering. Had I ever been this stupid at nineteen? Yeah. I was that stupid now.

  The guy was dressed in a pair of skimpy white briefs and nothing more—unless you counted the bright-red nail marks down his back. Least he got lucky.

  I nudged him in the ribs with the side of my boot. “Wake up.”

  He groaned, rolled over onto his side. “Ten more minutes, Mom.”

  I smirked and decided to leave him there. Dumb kid.

  The rest of the bar area was empty this morning, other than a cleaning lady.

  “Morning.” I nodded at the dark-haired older woman, armed with a vacuum cleaner.

  She smiled tightly at me but didn’t speak or make eye contact either. I was pretty sure she was scared of us all, which was why she only came in during the early hours.

  The gravel lot was half filled today. A few guys lingered to the left of our body shop—prospects mostly, probably out taking a smoke break. They watched me, but I didn’t acknowledge a single one of them as I stepped toward my bike.

  As the VP of the Red Dragons, I should’ve taken the time to get to know the new guys more. But I also knew making nice would make them feel welcome… and feeling welcome would make them weak.

  We were at war. There had been no deaths since February, for four months now, but we knew our enemies were out there, ready to pounce at any given second, and we needed to remain at DEFCON 4. Soldiers at the ready.

  My brothers weren’t stupid. Nor were they lazy. But they’d grown weak lately, weren’t on guard as much as they should be either, mostly because of the women in their lives. That shit worried me too. Being blinded by the forever kind of pussy? Seemed pointless, honestly. Why have the same meal every night of the week when we had a never-ending buffet readily available right here? A delicious buffet of blondes and brunettes that managed to keep my ass happily sated, thank you very much.

  For now, though, we’d agreed that the safest course of action was to do nothing about the war, and it was driving me fucking insane. More than anyone, I wanted to find our enemy, Pops, our former pres, and end this all before shit got even worse—before anyone else had to die.

  I stepped up to my bike and studied her angles, bottom lip tugged between my teeth. All curvy, slippery, silver pipes, and a repurposed leather seat that fit me perfectly. I loved my bike almost as much as I loved sinking inside a woman for the first time. She was pretty—not to mention all mine—and I treated her like the queen she was, fixing her up on my own. I’d used old parts and combined them with new. I would’ve killed to run a shop of my own one day. But time was money in my world, and I barely had either of those things at the moment, which was why it was nothing but a dream.

  As I straddled her seat, I couldn’t help but stroke her handlebars. Smooth yet rough, my paint job good, but not the best. I revved the engine just once to give her time to warm up before I started toward Hawk’s place at the back of the compound.

  “You’re late,” Hawk barked at me from his door five minutes later. The tiny thing in his arms wiggled at the sight of me.

  “Had shit to do.” I shrugged, stepping up into his house.

  “Yeah, well, we got places to be, remember?”

  I yanked Biker-the-mutt from his hands and tucked him under my arm. His body fit against me like a football, and I kinda hated the fact that I loved the little shit. He was all black fur and beady little eyes, too tiny for my taste.
But he’d been a gift from Hawk to his lady, Summer, last month. Something about her being so sick from her pregnancy. My brother was trying—willing—to do just about anything to make her happy. Stupid, was what I’d called my oldest friend the day he’d gone and picked up the furry dude. Who the hell gave a sick, pregnant woman more responsibility than she wanted to deal with? But it worked, becoming the perfect distraction for Summer—go figure. Apparently, he did know her better than anyone else.

  I followed Hawk into the house and asked, “Summer gone already?”

  Hawk grabbed a mug out of the cupboard in the kitchen. “Yeah. She left about an hour ago.” He waved the mug at me, and I shook my head.

  “She still puking all the time?” I watched him pour a cup, leaving it black, then taking a drink.

  “Yeah.” He frowned. “Only in the morning though.”

  “You better learn to glove that shit next time you wanna love it.” I scratched the back of Biker’s head, snorting under my breath at the same time.

  Kids? Getting a woman pregnant? In this world? Hell no. I shuddered at the thought.

  “Who you got on her lately?” I asked, wondering why he hadn’t snapped at me.

  “Chop today.”

  I nodded. Ever since Pops had declared war, we’d had all the old ladies followed.

  Despite Chop being called the nice guy among the women around the club, I personally didn’t like the guy. Or trust him much either. There was something about his pretty-boy face that rubbed me the wrong way, but I hadn’t been able to put my finger on what that was yet. I would though. It’s what I did. Read people, figured them out most of all. I may have sucked at staying on task, but I sure as hell knew how to get a good read on someone. For some reason, people showed their true colors around me.

  “He’s supposed to be tailing Emily too,” Hawk added, “but she’s been acting all weird. Not listening, leaving without warning…”

  I cleared my throat, trying not to let my annoyance show. Hawk’s little sister Emily was a certified pain in everyone’s ass—especially my own. She’d made a life for herself outside the club once, but since that shit went down with Pops, we’d been protecting her and let’s just say she didn’t like it much.

  I got it. The woman wanted her independence. She wanted to take care of herself and maintain the freedom she’d enjoyed prior to becoming part of the club. She wanted normalcy in a world that wasn’t ever meant to be normal. But the thing was, she was Pops’s daughter, a part of this world whether she liked it or not. Hawk had accepted that, being Pops’s son. The sooner she figured that out, the better off we’d all be.

  “What else has she been doing?” I asked.

  “Ignoring Summer. And me. Staying home and doing nothing.” He shrugged. “It’s messing with Sum, and I don’t like it.”

  I scowled, remembering what I’d seen on my way into the club last week: Emily in the parking lot, leaned up against her car, crying. I hadn’t taken the time to stop and ask if she was okay. The less I had to be around the little junk puncher the better. I’d never understood her, and after a long day at work, my dick had other plans that didn’t involve comforting a crying chick who I wasn’t interested in fucking.

  “Maybe it’s her ex or something. Maybe they’re in contact.”

  “Doubtful. He moved about a month or so ago. Somewhere outta state.” Hawk took another drink of his coffee then sighed. “We just need to make sure she stays put.”

  “God knows she ain’t gonna be honest with you.” I laughed at the idea. Emily was the ultimate version of closed off, and no one could break her vault, not even Summer from the sounds of it, and they were best friends.

  Hawk grunted. “Guess a brother’s love ain’t the same as being her friend.”

  “Wouldn’t know.” My family was long gone. To the point where I barely even remembered what it was like to have one. It was probably why I didn’t understand my best friend’s need to keep this woman safe. It was obvious she wasn’t looking for help. But Hawk was standing in as club pres until Flick got home and I’d never question his motives.

  “As long as she does what she’s told and doesn’t cause problems, I’m not gonna worry anymore.” He shrugged.

  “You don’t think she’d take off, do ya?”

  “Wouldn’t put it past her.” He scowled. “Emily thinks with her heart, not her head.”

  “If you don’t trust Chop to keep his eye on her, then you should assign someone else.”

  “I would. But everybody hates her. She’s stuck up and snooty. Never even bothered to give this place a chance.” Hawk shook his head, wincing.

  I opened my mouth then snapped it shut, not sure what he wanted me to say. If the woman would just relax a little—pull that giant stick out of her ass—then maybe she’d be more tolerable.

  “Unless…” Hawk’s eyes narrowed, but his lips ticked up on one side at the same time.

  I knew that fucking look. “Fuck no. Not happening. She hates me.”

  “She doesn’t hate you,” Hawk said, laughing. “You test her. Which is why you’re the perfect candidate.”

  I gritted my teeth, hissing through them a big, fat, “Fuck no.”

  Challenging her? Pushing her buttons with my smart mouth? Yeah, I was guilty of all that, sue me. Hell, I bet I could tame the little lion with the snap of my whip if I had to. But the thing was, I didn’t want to. Emily annoyed the hell out of me for some reason. Five minutes in her presence and I was ready to pull out my eardrums, maybe yank the hair from my scalp while I was at it. All spiteful and shit, what with her dirty, snooty looks and thinking she was better than everyone else… Drove me damn nuts. No way would I ever be her little lion tamer. Not when I wasn’t in the mood to run the circus.

  “Come on. You ain’t got nothing going on right now.” Hawk smirked. “God knows your dick’s gonna fall off soon if you don’t stop screwing random women at the drop of a hat.”

  “I’ve got monthlies.” I scowled. “Always cover my shit, unlike you.”

  “How about this? You watch her for a bit. Keep her here. See if you can’t pick up on anything new. You see through people. Have that ability to know what they’re thinking.”

  “I don’t have ESP. And I’m sure as hell not gonna be your little sister’s babysitter.”

  He smirked at me, knowing he had the power to tell me what to do.

  “I’m not fucking her.” I smiled, thinking of the only thing that could put him off.

  Hawk’s upper lip curled. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

  “What if that’s all she needs? A good dicking can do wonders for a woman.” When it came to the ladies, I was the best at the job. Always made my intentions known to the women I took in: I wasn’t relationship material. Hell, I didn’t even kiss on the lips. But I fucked well and ate a woman out even better. If anything, I was the perfect candidate for a little fun.

  But I wouldn’t touch Emily. She was cute and all, what with her dark eyes and dark hair, but she wasn’t my type. Wasn’t blonde. Wasn’t bright and cheery-looking either. If anything, Emily was more like me than any other woman I’d known, and fucking my little twinkie wasn’t something I was interested in doing.

  “Six weeks,” he continued. “That’s all I’m asking. You watch her, read her, keep her occupied. Then hopefully we’ll have Pops taken care of and Emily will be free to leave.” He shrugged one shoulder. “With Flick coming home tonight, that means we’re one day closer to taking real action.”

  “Two weeks,” I countered, ignoring the bit about Flick. Our pres had been living the high life in Texas with another club. Said he was looking to make alliances in the war against Pops. Nobody argued with him.

  Hawk folded his arms. “Four weeks. That’s the lowest I’ll go.”

  Good Christ. Hawk had lost his ever-loving mind. “Fine. But your ass owes me.” Not that I really knew what he wanted me to do with her. It wasn’t like I was about to come over and play Monopoly with the chick every
night. Only way I knew how to lighten up women was by spreading their legs and putting my mouth under their skirts.

  Hawk reached out, took my hand, and shook it. When he opened his mouth to speak, a car pulled into the driveway outside, cutting him off. Biker yipped in my arms, and Hawk and I took off toward the front door, stopping short at what was there.

  “Speak of the devil,” he muttered, pushing out of the house.

  When Emily got out, I couldn’t stop myself from cringing at what I saw. Ho-lee-shit, she looked bad. Red face, tears, pink nose… It was as if she’d been crying all day—possibly all night.

  With intentions of spying, I snuck out the side door of the house, set Biker in the grass to piss, and started listening from the backyard.

  “Why are you home already? Aren’t you supposed to be with Sum, helping out with that cheer camp shit she does in the summer?” Hawk asked, following her up the walkway to the little dollhouse-looking place that served as Emily’s home.

  “I’ve got a headache. Wanted to come home early. Talker was supposed to come follow me back, but he never bothered to show up.”

  I groaned, rubbed both hands over my face. Talker was supposed to come and follow her home? That dumb motherfucker was currently half naked and passed out in the lobby at the clubhouse.

  “What the hell, Emily? You know you’re not supposed to go anywhere without someone tailing you. Chop know you took off?”