Ride with the Wind [The Ghost Riders 1] Read online

  The Ghost Riders 1

  Ride with the Wind

  Raven is running for her life from an ex-fiancé who wants to keep his extracurricular activities a secret. She finds safety and comfort in the home of Reese and Dominic, the leaders of a biker gang. While she knows that living with them is only temporary, she can’t help falling in love with them. Reese and Dominic want their relationship to be permanent, but convincing her will have to wait until they can free her of her past.

  When Raven goes missing, they don’t know for sure who is responsible—the new gang in town, an old rival, or her ex. They have to turn to an unlikely source for help before it’s too late.

  Once she is free to return to her former life, will she choose to remain with Reese and Dominic, or will she leave and try to start over? She loves them, but they’re bikers, and bikers don’t settle down with just one woman.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 51,297 words

  RIDE WITH THE WIND

  The Ghost Riders 1

  Marla Monroe

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  RIDE WITH THE WIND

  Copyright © 2012 by Marla Monroe

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-527-4

  First E-book Publication: October 2012

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

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  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  RIDE WITH THE WIND

  The Ghost Riders 1

  MARLA MONROE

  Copyright © 2012

  Chapter One

  Reece ducked as a beer bottle flew past his head.

  “Don’t you get tired of this crap?”

  Dominic chuckled and took a swig of his beer before jumping up to avoid the body that landed in the middle of their table.

  “Naw. It’s good entertainment on a Friday night.” He leaned back against the wall and watched as his guys and the local riffraff got it on. “What I do get tired of is paying for the mess afterwards.”

  “Ah, hell. The law’s on its way.” The sound of sirens could be heard even above the noise in the bar.

  “Let’s get them out of here.” Dominic whistled and grabbed Butch. “Law’s here. Let’s grab everyone and go.”

  Reece located the bartender and peeled off some bills to cover the damages then waded into the ruckus to separate his guys from the others. They poured out of the bar outside of Clarkston, Texas, and jumped on their bikes to hightail it out of there. Reece could already see the dust from the local law billowing up down the road. They would be going in the opposite direction and hopefully toward home. It had been a long trip.

  He pulled up beside Dominic, the president of The Ghost Riders, and nodded his head that everyone was accounted for. Butch, their sergeant at arms, dropped back into line as Reece took his place. As the club’s vice president, he helped Dominic run the business. That meant keeping everyone in line and accounted for.

  They had another three hours of hard riding to get back home, and it looked like they were going to be riding all night instead of finding a hotel. The only one he worried about was Irish. The man could put away some alcohol. They didn’t need to get pulled over for damn sure. They all smelled like a distillery after the fight.

  Reece tapped his mic. “Dominic. Do you think we should pull over for the night? If the HP pulls us over, they’re going to slap us all in jail just by our smell alone. I know we’re all sober, but I think most of us ended up getting a beer bath.”

  “Only three hours to go. We’ll keep it legal and under the limit.”

  Reece just shrugged and tapped his mic again to change the channel so he could talk to the rest of the crew.

  “Hey, guys, flying low and under the radar since we all smell like a brewery. No screwing up.”

  He heard the general yeahs and fucks over the speakers. He grinned. They were a good crew despite their rowdy ways. The Ghost Riders motorcycle club had been around for nearly twenty-five years now. They had a legitimate mechanic’s garage and did odd jobs along the way. They were on their way back from one of those odd jobs—bounty hunting. They picked up a jumper in New Mexico and transported him back to Houston. Now they were on their way back to Reo, Texas, outside of San Antonio. Damn, he’d be glad to get home.

  Reece stood up on the bike and stretched. He couldn’t get comfortable. In fact, he’d been downright antsy for the last few months. Nothing satisfied him. Not the booze, the women, nothing. Since he didn’t do drugs, there wasn’t much left but the ride and the chase. That had helped for a while, but now they were closing in on home and the ants were back in his pants.

  “You okay over there?” Dominic’s voice sounded over the speakers.

  “Yeah.”

  “Got something going on you want to talk about?”

  “Naw. I’m cool.” Reece was thankful that Dominic didn’t push him by asking more questions. He needed to think it out himself.

  They pulled into Reo at about two thirty and headed straight for their place just outside the city limits. The garage was a four-bay cinderb
lock building with a larger bike bay around the side. They all pulled in and parked their bikes, grunting and groaning like old men. Turk closed the doors behind them and locked them down.

  “Fuck, I’m glad to be home.” Irish stretched then headed toward the house.

  Gill walked in, scratching his chest as they began to file out. “How was the ride?”

  “One hundred thousand and my ass is numb.” Reece punched him in the arm and kept walking.

  “Anything going on here?” Dominic asked over his shoulder.

  “Nope. But I’m not going to say that it’s been quiet.”

  Reece chuckled and waved as he passed through the door into the house. It was actually a double-wide with a house built around it. There were five bedrooms, three baths, a kitchen, the sanctuary, and a den of sorts. The club had a total of sixteen members with two prospects and a half-dozen babes. Reece followed Dominic down the hall to the sanctuary. They closed and locked the door behind them.

  Dominic pulled open the bottom of the massive table where they did club business and opened the safe to deposit the check from the hunt. They would deposit it on Monday. It would help cover the club’s expenses. Every member of the club worked either in the shop or at the slaughterhouse on the other side of town. The club helped with unexpected expenses and provided meals and booze on the weekends. When someone ended up hurt and couldn’t work, the club took care of them. It was how things worked.

  “Gus has an eye on two more possible jumpers due in next week. I think we should consider them, build up our finances while we can.” Dominic sat back in his chair.

  “Sounds good to me. If you need to stick around here for business, me and the guys can handle it.”

  “Might do that. Have to see what’s going on.” He let out a breath and frowned. “You’re restless, Reece. What’s going on?”

  “I’m fine. Getting out helped.”

  “That shit in Afghanistan is still working on you. You’ve got to put it behind you, man. It will eat you alive.”

  “I’m fine. I haven’t had a dream in months.” Reece stood up and rested his hands on the table before leaning in. “Let me know if those guys rabbit. We’ll take care of them.”

  “Get some sleep, Reece.”

  He nodded and unlocked the door. His room was at the end of the hall across from Dominic’s. It was a fair-size room, especially for one person, and held a king-size bed. He was a big man and liked the room. Came in handy when he had a mind to entertain a couple of ladies or if he and Dominic shared one. Lately, if they didn’t share, he wasn’t interested. That was bothering him some, too. Why the need to share?

  Reece shook it off and stripped. He was making something out of nothing. He didn’t need to share. It just worked out that way sometimes. He slipped out of his room and walked to the bathroom he and Dominic used and stepped into the stinging spray of a hot shower in the combo shower and tub. He couldn’t help the groan of appreciation at having hot water for a change. The last few nights had seen sleazy motels with lukewarm water and no pressure.

  Once he’d finished washing off, he let the water pound on him in an effort to rinse away the remaining stiffness from so many hours on the road since they had left on Wednesday. Finally, he turned off the water to leave some hot for Dominic and climbed out of the shower. After toweling off, he wrapped it around his waist and opened the door to return to his room. Cindy, one of the house babes, walked out of one of the other rooms and met him in the hall. She grinned and winked at him.

  “Need a backrub after all that riding, Reece?”

  “Hmm, tempted, but I think I’ll pass tonight. Just want to crash.”

  She pouted but didn’t press him. He and Cindy had danced a few times over the years, but he wasn’t interested. He needed sleep more than he needed his balls polished. Hopefully, he’d get that tonight. He hadn’t lied to Dominic. There hadn’t been any more dreams lately, but he wasn’t sleeping well either. He lay awake until two or three most mornings with stuff just circling in his head. Everything from the past to what fucking sparkplug to put in the bike ran through his mind.

  He dropped the towel then sat on the bed and wished he hadn’t stopped smoking. He could use one. Instead, he climbed under the sheet and crossed his arms behind his head. It was going to be a long day tomorrow. He needed to get what sleep he could. With a sigh, he turned over and closed his eyes.

  * * * *

  “I’m sorry, Raven. You know how Monica can be.” Chaz shrugged and waited while she strapped on her backpack, having already stowed the rest of her clothes in one of the saddlebags.

  “I don’t get it. I don’t hang around you. Where does she get the idea I’m fucking you? Hell, when would we even have the chance, considering she’s all over you all the time?”

  “Someone’s planting thoughts in her head. I’m going to find out who it is and put an end to it. Then you can come back. It shouldn’t be more than a month or two.”

  Raven fastened her helmet and climbed on the back of Chaz’s bike. She looked around at what had been home for the last three years and sighed. She had a feeling she’d never see it again. How she and Monica could have gone from best friends to enemies still confused her. She was going to miss Oklahoma. She was already missing Monica.

  Up until recently, she and Monica had been best friends. They’d shared everything, outside of Chaz, Monica’s husband. She hadn’t thought anything could separate them. Raven had believed that she would probably spend the rest of her life living with or close to her. Instead, Monica thought she was poaching in her territory with her husband.

  Needless to say, it hurt that Monica didn’t trust her anymore. Once again her world was being turned upside down. First finding out about her fiancé’s sickening preferences and now losing her best friend and home.

  They pulled out of the compound with three of the others behind them. Monica was out of town and had given Chaz the ultimatum that either Raven was gone when she got back or she was leaving. She was the president’s wife and old lady. Chaz loved her and would do whatever it took to keep her happy. That meant Raven had to leave.

  She sighed. Her ass was going to be sore after this trip. They would be on the road for seven hours. Knowing Chaz, there wouldn’t be many rest stops on the way either. He was a diehard-in-the-saddle type of biker.

  They did make a stop a little over three hours into the trip for lunch. Raven took her hamburger outside and ate standing up next to a truck stop, watching the big rigs drive by. She remembered a night nearly four years earlier when she’d caught a ride on one of those big rigs and nearly got killed. The driver had been dosing on speed to stay awake and ran off the road outside of Stillwater, Oklahoma. She’d slipped out of the wreck after making sure he was alive and hiked back to the town. She could still remember the guy’s name, Jimmy Hudson. After getting a job in a diner there in Stillwater, she eventually hooked up with Chaz’s gang when Monica had taken a liking to her after she saved her husband’s life. Now that was all gone.

  “You ready to roll?” Chaz walked out of the building, pulling on his gloves.

  “Better let me hit the bathroom first. I’ll be right back.” She crumbled up her wrapper and tossed it in the garbage as she walked inside.

  After washing her hands, she hurried back outside to join the others. She didn’t think Chaz would leave her behind, but she didn’t want to take the chance by wasting time looking around either.

  They climbed on once again and pulled back out on the interstate to four more hours of monotony. She settled back into her mind and thought about the book she was working on. Raven wrote erotic romance on the side. She was pretty successful, too. It filled a need inside of her and helped the gang with finances. She wondered what The Ghost Riders’ leader would think about that. If it meant money, he’d be all over it, she was sure.

  Would it keep her from having to start over in the bottom of the barrel, back to doing all the scrubbing and washing for the gang? Not that she was l
azy or anything, but doing all the grunt work took away from her writing time, and that was where the money was. She would have to see if his old lady would understand. She was who she would have to deal with.

  “Looks like rain up ahead. We’re going to pull over and wrap up.”

  “Hell, I hate rain gear.”

  “Better than riding in wet leathers.” Chaz chuckled over the mic.

  They pulled off under a bridge and pulled out the rain gear. Raven wouldn’t have bothered, but she didn’t want her computer to get wet. She pulled on the poncho and got one of the other guys to wrap it around the backpack for her. Then she waited while Chaz got settled before climbing back on.

  “How are you doing?”

  “Fine. My ass is going to be toast by the time we get there, though.”

  Chaz laughed. “Not much longer now. Dominic is expecting us.”

  “So he knows about me?”

  “Um, well, not exactly. I just told him I was coming with a favor to ask.”

  “And I’m the favor.” She closed her eyes and prayed she wasn’t walking into another problem.

  “He’s a good guy, Raven. He’ll do you right.”

  “What about his old lady? Is she going to see me as a problem?”

  “Unless he’s hooked up in the last six months, he’s a free rider.”

  She wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad news. It would mean that whoever was top of the pecking order might see her as an adversary. Things could get worse.

  “Chaz, maybe I should just find a place and settle down.”