Sweet Recovery (Ex Ops Series Book 4) (22 page)

Now, this is the life.

She wraps her arms around my neck as she kisses me back.

I get lost in my woman’s arms, in her mouth, and in her touch. No matter what goes on, I can always get lost in Vida. She’s always had that power over me.

She pulls away, smiling. “I gotta cook, Ruby.”

“Turn it off and I’ll turn you on.”

She pats my chest before turning back to her meal preparation. “Maybe later. The babies need to eat.”

Babies, my ass. Our kids are now nine, seven, and five. They can wait thirty minutes for me to eat my wife, get her off, and get mine.

I move behind her and pull her braid to the right, exposing the left side of her neck to me. Then I lean in and suck … hard.

“I’m hungry for you.” I nip at the spot I just turned a nice shade of pink. “Now,” I growl.

She pushes her ass into me to get space. “I said not now, Ruby. Geez, I’ve gotta feed the babies and then move the laundry. I’ve been at work all day, and now I have a house to manage,” she snaps.

Barking back at her, I demand, “You have a dick to suck.”

Her smile disappears. “Ruben Castillo, I don’t have time for your nonsense right now.”

“Nonsense? Take your ass back to Mexico where, when your man says suck his dick, you drop to your knees in the kitchen and handle that shit.”

I went too far. I watch her eyes glass over in tears she refuses to shed. That’s my woman: tough as nails. Any chance of getting laid went out the door, though.

I’m an ass. I can’t help it. Things have changed. She never has time for me. It’s always our kids. I love them, too, but what happened to us?

She is the most beautiful woman in the world. I can’t keep my hands or eyes off her. If I didn’t have to go to work to pay our bills, I would live with my tongue or cock inside her tight heat for life. With each kid, though, our time together has diminished. Finding any little moment to hold onto each other is all I have. Here we are and she doesn’t even want that anymore. When did she lose the passion?

I have heard of marriages having the seven year itch, but that couldn’t be us. We have had ten years together. We have gone through more than the average couple, keeping each other’s secrets when we were here illegally and then the stuff with her brother. Certainly, we couldn’t find the place where we are in a lull.

I’m a motherfucking Hellion. Pussy is thrown at me constantly, but not the pussy I want. When did this happen? Where did the woman I married go? Where is the girl who couldn’t get enough of my cock when we were mere teens?

When did everything change?

~Jenna~

Take my ass back to Mexico … He has lost his ever-loving mind. He came and got me. Two years, I had to face my father’s hand before Julio and Ruben came back for me. I saved every penny my brother sent, outside of what I needed to spend for food and clothes, so when I made it to America, I wouldn’t burden them further.

Only, it didn’t work out that way. I ended up in a two-bedroom trailer along with them and six other immigrant workers. As much as the money sent home could last, here in the states, existing is expensive. When one of the guys was looking at me a little too often, Ruben claimed me, and we moved out.

From the first kiss, I was lost to him. I knew, from the time I was a little girl, Ruben Castillo was the man for me. The moment he realized we were meant to be, my life finally began. From the moment Julio gave his blessing, Ruben hasn’t been able to keep his hands or eyes off me.

He has this way of making me feel wanted, loved, and protected. One glance and my heart beats faster. My body is drawn to him like metal to a magnet.

It hasn’t been easy, but we have built a life together.

After working the fields, Julio got Ruben tied up in some bad business.

A quick buck is always far from simple and money never comes easy.

When Julio took the fall to keep Ruben safe and, in turn, my life here, as well, Ruben vowed to be on the straight and narrow. One problem with that is, being in a country illegally is not exactly being on the straight and narrow.

Pregnant with our first child, living in a trailer with another Mexican family on the back side of a farmer’s field, I was grief-stricken to know my brother was caught. And after serving his time for drug possession with intent to distribute, he was sent back to Mexico with no hope to return. Things were not good.

A chance meeting on the side of the road with Blaine ‘Roundman’ Reklinger changed our lives forever. Roundman was stuck with a blow out on his bike in the pouring rain. At the time, we didn’t know he had help on the way. We just saw a man in a leather vest on the side of the road, getting soaked. Pulling over, Ruby got out and offered the stranger a ride.

“You fuckin’ crazy?” Roundman asks Ruben as I crack the car window to our beat up Toyota Tercel to hear them.

“No. Just see a bike on the road that is obviously immobile and figure you might not want to drown.”

“Good Samaritan’s are a dying breed.” Roundman extends his hand to Ruby. “Got brothers coming to tow my bike. Thanks for stopping, man.”

Ruby shakes his hand and nods his head.

“What’s your name?” Roundman asks as Ruby steps back toward the car.

Ruby raises an eyebrow at the stranger and walks away.

That rainy day changed everything.

Memorizing our license plate as we pulled away, Roundman tracked down the car to the farmer Ruby worked for, which led him to us. Almost ten years later, he’s a fully patched member of the Hellions; we’re legal citizens with education and jobs for us both; and we are so much better than where we came from.

Julio’s sacrifice paid off. We send money home to him.

I miss him terribly, but I have this life thanks to Ruby and everything my brother gave up for us. At twenty-eight, I have three beautiful children: Maritza, Mariella, and Ruben Junior. We own our own home. Even if it is a double-wide in a community of what they call modular homes, it’s ours, and I am proud of it. I have a job I enjoy and a man I love.

Why he’s being an asshole tonight is beyond me. Then again, when was the last time we had sex?

Since I took over at the mini storage office for Doll, things have been busy. My days were once spent passing the hours by cleaning, cooking, and caring for my man and my babies. Now I just can’t seem to keep up. When my head hits the pillow every night, it’s heaven sent.

As I think of how I have been neglecting my husband, guilt washes over me. He is my first priority, and I haven’t been the best at taking care of his needs.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I finish making dinner for our family.

The sound of the door shutting has my chest beating wildly as I continue setting plates on the table for my children. Tears fall when I hear the familiar thunder of his Harley cranking and then revving as he pulls away. Then my mind goes back to the moment we finally came to be.

“I’m never gonna be without you again,” he whispers as he holds me close, breathing against my hair.

Safe in his arms with my brother in the living room, I feel like everything that has been so wrong in my life is suddenly so right.

“Ruby,” I whisper back and lean into him.

“I hated leaving you. I thought about things, Jenna. You being gone, us worrying about you, it gave me a lot of time to think. You’re mine, Jenna. All this is for you. I know how you’ve been looking at me for years.”

I gasp in embarrassment.

“You weren’t ready—hell, you probably aren’t now—but you’ve gotta know, Jenna, I’m not blind. I had to put space between us so I wouldn’t take advantage of your innocence.”

“Ruby, you know”—I swallow, fighting my nerves—“it’s always been you.”

“I know.” He turns me to face him.

My heart beat races as my palms get sweaty. I can’t focus beyond the thundering in my ears.

His head tilts, his eyes never leaving mine as his lips slowly find my own. Tenderly, he brushes his mouth against mine. I want to moan. I want to explode in pleasure from his simple touch. It feels like I have waited my whole life for this moment.

I open in a sigh, and he takes my bottom lip into his mouth with his teeth. He doesn’t bite, but his hold has me tingling all over. When I open my mouth farther, his teeth release my lip, and his tongue explores my mouth.

Dancing, claiming, our tongues and teeth collide as the world spins around in my mind. Ruben Castillo, my every fantasy, my one love is kissing me.

If I died right now, I would die the happiest woman in the world. If this was my very last breath, I would take it completely fulfilled.

What just happened here? How did we go from not being able to exist without one another to not being able to be in the same house? I know things aren’t perfect, but surely, they aren’t so bad he needs to leave, right?

Ravage Me

By

Ryan Michele

Copyright ©2014 Ryan Michele

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

After spending the last two years stuck behind bars for a crime she didn’t commit, Harlow ‘Princess’ Gavelson’s time inside has finally come to an end, and she’s ready for revenge. Unfortunately, being the daughter to the Vice President of the Ravage Motorcycle Club cuts into her plans, as orders must be followed. Trying to settle back into this life is proving difficult when the tables are turned and the woman who framed her is out for blood. Lucky for Princess, growing up in a MC has taught her how to hold her own.

After spending years in hell overseas, Donavon ‘Cruz’ came home to lose the very thing he went into hell for, sending him to the darkest moments of his life. Joining Ravage two years ago was his safe haven, and he protects his family at all costs.

When a dark-haired bombshell struts into the club’s shop, he’s caught off guard but immediately knows she’s the one he’d do anything for. Tough as nails, and taking no crap from anyone, he’s captivated by a woman who could handle this life. Trying to meet the needs of the MC business and follow his heart proves to be difficult when the two collide, and lives are at stake.

Can these two find a way to be together, or will the needs of Ravage cost them everything, including their lives?

Excerpt:

Prologue

This was the life I was born into, and bloodshed somehow always played a prominent part in it. Today, everything was coming to a combustible head. With the gun being held at my temple, all I could think about was
him
… getting him out of here alive. The bitch had put so much time and energy into coming after me, I knew it was coming. Now she had the most precious thing in my life. I never knew how empty my life was or how love could be so deep that it cuts you like a knife. I would do anything to get him out of here alive. The gunshots began, and my eyes locked with his. I prayed for survival.

Chapter One

Harlow

2 years… 1 month… 5 days…

I had been living the perpetual monotony of my life for exactly two years, one month, and five days. It’s like my life was the epitome of Groundhog’s Day, repeating over and over again, eating away at my soul.

I hated white. I couldn’t stand the fucking color. Everywhere I looked was the same cold, damp, sterility trying to suffocate me, forcing me to give up—to give in. But that wasn’t gonna happen.

For seven hundred and sixty five days of my life, I’ve stared at the solid block walls and cold prison bars, only to be let outside for an hour a day. I knew it was for my own safety, but I missed lying outside in the sun, feeling it melt my skin, and wash everything away. In here, there was no relaxation… ever.

I’m not gonna bitch. I’ve been extremely lucky, and I damn well knew it. Without my Pops’ connections to guards and powerful people on the outside, life in this place could have been a hell of a lot worse. Having my own room has proved to be the best gig because, in there, those bitches couldn’t get to me. They wanted me. I knew it. They all knew who I was and what I represented. Payback hits on me would give them status in their families and I wasn’t willing to give anyone that.

Am I hiding? Hell no. I’d be more than happy to take these bitches on, but not here. The shit these women snuck in when no one was looking was deadly, and my goal was to do my time and get out alive. I knew what these bitches were capable of, and they knew my capabilities, too.

I’ve had my own incidents in here. They were all club related, and getting help from inside made them happen smoothly. It was help that I had to pay for, but I did what needed to be done and didn’t regret a damn thing. I did it for my family.

I may have a pussy, but I ain’t one. I’ve got bigger balls than most guys out there. Even though I’ll never be a member of the club, because it’s not possible, I always hold my head up high. I learned at a very young age that bitches didn’t ever get patched in, and I accepted that, but I’d be damned if I acted like some pussy motorcycle club princess.

Growing up with the Ravage MC’s hasn’t been easy. The life, the world, was different than civilian life and I learned from the best. Ever since I was a baby, my life was the club. Pops has been a patched member since before I was born, and Ma’s always been by his side. Even though I was shielded as much as possible, I’ve seen my share of death, guns, drugs, sex, and blood in my twenty-five years than most people could tolerate. This was my normal. This was my reality. I accepted that a long time ago.

I missed my life, and I’ve always known my place in it. Being the Vice President’s daughter hasn’t given me any idealizations that I’m anything more than exactly that. I never get special privileges because, the bottom line, I’m not, nor will I ever be, a patched member. I’ve earned the respect I received from the brothers by learning what they have taken the time to teach me. I thrived on that and couldn’t wait to get it back.

I was ready to escape this hell-hole and finally go back to my family. Back to a life that was taken away from me for two years, back to right some wrongs. I couldn’t fucking wait.