Steel 6: Blackthorne MC #6

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A Note from Carrie

Carrie's Books

STEEL #6

Carrie Cox

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Copyright © 2015 Carrie Cox

All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author.

STEEL
by Carrie Cox is an addictive new six part motorcycle club romance novella serial perfect for fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and readers of Nicole Snow.
 

Once you’ve had your first bad boy biker, there’s no going back…

Ella Anderson had no idea what she was getting herself into when she gave into temptation and agreed to a one night stand with hot, tattooed biker, Nick Steel.

When Ella finally gets away from the Blackthorne Motorcycle Club, Nick realizes he has made a terrible mistake and won’t rest until he has Ella in his arms again.

(This romance contains hot love scenes and lots of twists and turns.)
 

Part 6 of 6.

—> Outlaw romance

—> Motorcycle Club romance
 

—> Alpha Male

—> Bad Boy Romance

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

Ella

Jackson was talking to me. I knew that because his lips were moving, but I couldn’t process the words coming out of his mouth.
 

I was finding it extremely hard to come to terms with the fact Jackson had thrown a hood over my head and bundled me into the back of a truck.
 

I stared around at the truck’s interior. I’d never seen it before.

“Where did you get the truck?”

Jackson tilted his head, studying me, looking at me as if I was a little crazy. He was probably right. It wasn’t the first question most people would ask if they were in my position.

“I borrowed it.”
 

Jackson said the words slowly as if he understood I was having trouble taking all of this in.

“I’m sorry about the way I got you out of there, Ella. But I wasn’t sure you would trust me enough to agree to come with me.”
 

He reached out to brush my hair back from my face, and I flinched away from him. His hand fell back down to his lap.

“What are you planning to do to me?”

Jackson frowned, and he shook his head. “
Do
to you?” he repeated. “Nothing. Ella, I’m getting you out of there, away from Blackthorne.”

I stared back at him blankly, still not convinced I could trust him.

“Ella, you are safe now. I’m going to take you to the sheriff’s office, then head back and tell them that you ran away. We are less than a mile away from the town we visited.”

I was still in shock. I was so sure it had been Nick who’d taken me. He was the one who had promised to get me out of there.

“Why are you helping me?” I asked Jackson.

“Because you need to get home.”

I nodded miserably. “But they’ll come after me.”

Jackson shook his head. “They won’t, not in New York. Once you’re out of Nevada, you’ll be out of Victor Blackthorne’s reach. He wouldn’t dare make a move in New York without the backup of his crew.”

I licked my lips. “But what about Nick. He’ll —”
 

“Don’t be dumb, Ella.” Jackson’s voice was sharp.

His words stung because I knew I
was
being dumb.
 

I should have been grateful at the chance to get away, but instead, I felt hollow inside at the realization I would never seen Nick again.

I swallowed and ran my hand through my tangled curls, trying to get a hold of myself.

As my mind began to clear, and I could think logically again, I looked up at Jackson. “So
you
are the undercover cop?”

Jackson smiled. “Ten out of ten, Ella.”

I tried to take it all in. Jackson was probably the person Victor trusted the most, even over his own brother, Damien, and he had absolutely no idea that Jackson was betraying him.

“Aren’t you scared of what Victor will do when he finds out?”

The smile left Jackson’s face, and his strong jaw clenched. “I’ll be fine.”

Would he?
Jackson was tough, confident and sharp, but was he a match for the evil, sadistic Victor Blackthorne?
 

I chewed on a thumbnail, something I tended to do when I was deep in thought and nervous.

After a moment, Jackson patted me on the shoulder. “I’m going to drive into town now, Ella. Are you ready?”

As ready as I would ever be, I supposed. I nodded.
 

I couldn’t believe I was actually going to get out of here. This time tomorrow, I could be back in New York. Free.

Jackson drove along the main street and into town. The sheriff’s office was situated a short distance from the main street. Jackson turned left just after Terry’s coffee shop and then pulled up outside the sheriff’s building.

Jackson turned off the engine and turned to face me. “This is it. Ready?”

I suddenly felt panicked, and I shook my head. “No, not yet. Can we get a coffee first and talk about it?”
 

Jackson frowned and shook his head. “You know Nick doesn’t deserve this devotion, right?”

I felt my cheeks grow hot, and I looked down at my hands clenched in my lap. “I don’t know what you mean.”
 

I wasn’t going to admit it, not even to myself.

“Well, I would flatter myself it was because you wanted to spend more time with me,” Jackson said. “But this is about Nick, isn’t it?”

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and deny it, but I couldn’t.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jackson unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to me. “Come on. We’ll go to the diner and get a coffee.”

I quickly climbed out of the car and followed Jackson, finding it hard to keep up with his large strides.

He held open the door for me at the coffee shop, and I entered and saw Terry behind the counter.
 

She seemed over the moon to see Jackson’s tall, broad-shouldered frame again. She blushed and giggled over us
 
as she took our order for coffee, and we took our seats at the same window table as before.

We didn’t talk until Terry had put our cups of coffee down in front of us.
 

Once she’d left us alone and stopped gushing over Jackson, I took a sip of my coffee then said, “I don’t think Nick is a bad man. Maybe you could help him get out?”

Jackson narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “He’s really got you good, hasn’t he?”

I carried on, ignoring Jackson’s skepticism. “He’s trapped. He doesn’t want to be part of all this.”

“He’s not innocent, Ella.”

“Who is?” The question burst from my lips as I gripped my cup of coffee. I was desperate to get Jackson round to my way of thinking. I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Nick to get hurt again.

“Who is?” Jackson repeated my question. “
You,
Ella. You’re the innocent one in all this.”

I leaned back in my seat. I wasn’t doing this right. I wasn’t managing to convince Jackson.

“Look, Ella,” Jackson said, leaning forward and staring into my eyes. His voice was gentle as he continued, “They’ve used you as a hostage. I’ve seen this type of thing before. You’re mixed up. All these intense emotions are flying around, and you’ve confused that with something else…” His voice trailed off.

I could tell he was frustrated that he couldn’t make me see sense. He was a good man, and his intentions were honorable. Any woman would be lucky to have a man like him.

I was trembling now, and my cup shook in my hand so much I had to put it down.

This was so hard.

I met Jackson’s intense gaze and bit down on my lip before I confessed, “I know it’s crazy, but I want to go back to him.”

Jackson looked irritated. “That’s just nuts, Ella.”

“I’m scared,” I said simply.

Jackson sighed and reached out to cover my trembling hand in his large warm one.

“You’ve been through a lot, but it’s over. You can go home now. You’ve got this, Ella. I know you can do it.”

Nick

She’s gone
.

When I got back to the room, I knew. I couldn’t explain why, but I knew she’d left even before I’d searched the rest of the bar and the parking lot.

I should have rushed to tell Chad, Tom and Jackson and organized a search for her, but I didn’t because this was her chance to escape.
 

Ella didn’t trust me enough to wait. And why should she? I’d let her down enough.

I’d made contact with an old buddy, probably the only person I really trusted in this world, arranging for him to take Ella back to Vegas. But he couldn’t make it until next week, and I guess Ella wasn’t prepared to wait. Who could blame her?

Having her around had made me remember what it was like to enjoy life again. Christ, she almost made me believe I could be a better man. I allowed myself a second to wonder what life might have been like if I’d gone with her.

Could I have gone?

No. Once you were in the Blackthorne crew, Victor said there was no way out but death.

I sat down on the bed, closed my eyes and remembered how her sweet curves felt pressed close to me.

I hadn’t done much for her. I hadn’t helped her when she really needed me, so the least I could do now was stay here until somebody else noticed she was missing and raised the alarm.
 

I couldn’t give her much, but I could give her time to get away.

***

Ella

Jackson dropped me right outside the sheriff’s office, but he didn’t hang around. I guess it would have taken far too much time to explain who he really was and what he was doing there.

Jackson was working deep undercover and couldn’t let anyone know who he really was, even the local sheriff.

His last words to me were: “Take care of yourself, Ella. Don’t look back.”

I stood outside the sheriff’s office, watching Jackson’s truck get smaller and smaller as he drove away.

Once his truck had finally disappeared from view, I turned to face the modern metal and glass door. I yanked it open and stepped inside.

There was a woman in uniform behind the desk and she looked up as I approached her.

“Can I help you?”

My heart was thundering in my chest. This was it. I blurted out a made up story, telling her I’d managed to lose my purse and get lost, but luckily some kind bikers had helped me and taken me to the sheriff’s office.

It was ironic really. I’d dreamed about getting away and reporting Victor Blackthorne, but I didn’t want to tell the Sheriff’s department about the kidnapping.

It was crazy, but even now, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything that would get Nick into deeper trouble.

The woman’s eyes grew wider and wider as I told my story, and I wasn’t sure if she believed me.

“Come and sit down,” she said kindly. “You’ve certainly had an adventure. My name is Tia, and I’m going to take you to see the sheriff. We’ll get you home, don’t you worry.”

Tia left me sitting there in the reception area and went to tell the sheriff about me.

The sheriff’s department, from what I could see, consisted of just a few rooms, and I could hear the mumbled conversation as Tia told the sheriff my predicament.