Inked In (Tattooed Love) (3 page)

Brady got up off of the bed and buttoned his pants. “Well, Miranda. As I said, I'm not really here for pleasure, but for business.” Brady then reached into a dresser drawer and pulled out a black 9mm handgun. Miranda's heart nearly stopped. He cocked back the hammer and checked the clip inside, verifying that it was full. Then, he slipped it into the back of his jeans and pulled his shirt over it, concealing the weapon.

“What are you going to do?” Miranda asked, dumbfounded.

“Only what I have to,” Brady said solemnly.

“Will I ever see you again?” she asked.

Brady shrugged. “Couldn't tell you honey. We're all just puppets on a string you know. People think they're in control, but they ain't. We're all just taken for one big ride, one way or the other. The best thing you can do is just dig in and hold on for dear life.”

Miranda frowned, she didn't want him to leave. “Can I come with you?” she asked.

Brady shook his head. “Where I'm going, no one can follow. You wouldn't want to anyway, trust me. I'm not the kind of man you want to rely on. I'm dust in the wind, a train car on a track, a stampeding buffalo. I don't have any real direction, I just go wherever fate takes me.”

“That's what I want,” Miranda insisted.

Brady shook his head. “No, you really don't. I can see it in your eyes. Go home, Miranda. If you don't have one, find one or make one, but just go home,” Brady Long, the outlaw, said. Then, he walked out of the door and out of Miranda's life, forever...

***

“Mom, Mom!” said a girl with strawberry-blonde hair, as she was tugging on Miranda's blouse.

“What is it, honey?” Miranda asked with a smile.

“Look what daddy did for me!” her daughter said, holding out her arm. On it was a tattoo of a heart with the word
MoM
written across it in black lettering. “Isn't it awesome?”

Miranda laughed. “It's beautiful,” she said.

“I've got more you know. Here.” Miranda's daughter held out a handful of the fake peel off tattoo stickers. “Do you want one, Mommy? We can get matching ones.

Miranda shook her head. “Mommy doesn't really like tattoos, honey. Thank you though.”

Her daughter frowned. “Why not?”

“She just doesn't. Now, where is your father?” Miranda asked.

Her daughter smiled. “He's playing with Zack by the pool. Is he in trouble?”

Miranda laughed. “Yes, he is. Will you go get him for me?”

“Ooooooooh. Daddy's in troubleeeeeee,” her daughter said, running outside with long strides.

Miranda watched her go with a smile, then turned to the mirror next to her. She hadn't always felt that way about tattoos. It had been over ten years since her last one though. So much had changed since then. It was hard to believe that it was the same person now that was staring back at her in the mirror.

She had all of the tattoos removed, all except for one. She lifted her shirt, revealing Gothic lettering that read,
Brady's Brave
. She ran a hand over it with a private smile. It was still in immaculate shape, even after all that time. That's just how life was. Some things disappeared, lots of things actually. Who you were was in a constant state of change. Other things lasted forever; those were the things that were inked in.

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***

Bianca hated those Merrick boys. She wasn’t alone.
They were nothing but trouble, but no one dared stand up to them. Look at one Merrick cross-eyed and before you knew it you were at war with the whole clan. She kept to herself and bit her tongue when they wrecked her diner on a regular schedule. It was a small price to pay to stay on Merricks’ good side. 
Braden Foster never was much good at keeping his opinions to himself. 
The leader of a nomadic band of bikers, Braden was accustomed to facing trouble head on, usually with fists. Occasionally with a crowbar. This policy didn’t win him many friends, but it rarely mattered. He never stuck in one place long enough to weather the consequences. 
That was before he came to the aid of a pretty lady restaurateur.
He figured he’d at least earned a cup of coffee for his trouble, but when he stepped between the Merrick boys and Bianca’s diner, he lit a spark that threatened to burn the whole town to ashes. It was up to him to put it out. 
Bianca knew a gathering storm when she saw one.
But which was more frightening: the storm between Braden and the Merricks, or the one brewing in her heart for a man arguably more dangerous than the Merricks themselves?

***

Hannah Kent never thought she'd ever get caught up in a brooding biker turf war
Hannah Kent is a barista working to pay off her student loans while looking for a long term job. Everything about her life is routine, day in and day out, until a man barges into the coffee shop with a stab wound. 
After a fight gone wrong with a rival MC, Will Grims is able to get away and escapes from his pursuers by ducking into a coffee shop only to find himself face to face with a bewildered young woman. 
Everything about this man screams danger and risk, and yet Hannah couldn't tear herself away. When he begs her not to call the cops, more red flags go up yet somehow, Hannah knows it's smarter to listen and obey. 
In a single instant, her whole life is about to be turned upside down and nothing will be the same. Hannah must trust Will if she wants to escape the wrath of the men chasing him.

***

Hilary Rinds is caught in a bind.
Her publisher has been on her case about finishing up her current project but the words seem to be just out of reach. Searching for inspiration, Hilary walks into a biker bar with the hopes of finding the spark of inspiration she needs.
Thomas Baker is looking for a spark of his own.
But for Thomas Baker the moment he sees Hilary walk in he has his sights set on her. The current President of the Harlequins Motorcycle Club, Thomas is used to being on top and getting what he wants. When it comes to Hilary, he expects things to be no different.
 
Hilary is about to get more than what she bargained for.
An unintended gaze puts Hillary at the center of attention in a rough around the edges biker bar. At any moment something could go terribly wrong, yet the man in front of her is exactly what she needs to get her creative juices flowing, among other things. But how much of her story will be fiction and how much will be fact?

***

The night is dark and some secrets are best kept in that darkness.  Eve Baker is a librarian at the public library in the center of town.  She has often walked home alone in the dark, but this particular night she feels a presence behind her.

Nicholas Verner is older than the town he occupies. A vampire from the Old World, he came across the sea for a new chance, just as everyone else.  Now a successful underworld dealer and President of the Undying Brotherhood motorcycle club, Nicholas still can’t deny his craving for blood, as much as he tries to.

One dark and moonless night, he goes on the hunt again and finds himself following behind a scent he's smelled only in his dreams--a scent of something much more than just a meal.

***

Ronald Pilua is an honorable biker on a personal mission
.
After years of self-imposed exile, Ronald returns to a rural community that will never forget the houses that he helped build and the lives that he unintentionally ruined as a patched member of the notorious Tiger Snakes MC. There is only one reason Ronald would come home: family.
Amanda Davis is sick of being everyone’s doormat
.
Life is tough as the only female mechanic at Carlisle Bros. Automotive.  Amanda’s hours are long, the bosses are sleazes and her ex won’t help look after their autistic nine-year-old son, but she prays every night for change.
It's another typical day in the workshop until she meets him
.
When Ronald takes his bike in for a service he sees a beautiful and hardworking young woman mistreated by her colleagues. Never one to keep his mouth shut, Ronald’s values and morals are the answers to Amanda’s intimate pleas to God.

***

Politics, punks, and princesses aren't supposed to mix.

As the mayor’s daughter, Vera Malone is treated like a princess--a woman without need.  But her father's fierce protectiveness drives away any boy she has ever shown interest in, for fear of the reputation it would have on his political career.

Then along comes Daniel Kenan, a rising member of the Black Phoenix Motorcycle club.  He is everything that Vera’s father despises and fears: a reckless and carefree hooligan with a knack for bending if not breaking rules outright.

When Vera is unwittingly saved by Daniel from an attempted robbery, she finds herself falling for the devilishly charming bad boy and his alluring world of risk and freedom. Even though every cell of her body knows that Daniel is someone she can never have in her life on account of her father, Vera is determined to see just how long she has to enjoy this wild and forbidden ride.