About this ebook
Emma: After witnessing a cold-blooded killing, I run to the only person I can think of who can protect me. Ace is my high school fantasy turned big bad biker. Did I mention sizzling, sexy, and hot? He’s everything I know I should stay away from, but his touch makes me melt and when his lips devour mine, I forget why I shouldn’t let him near me. But he’s more than just a one-night stand. He makes me feel safe. Loved. Wanted. All the things I’ve never had -- and that’s addictive as hell. Ace makes it clear he wants to claim me, make me part of his biker family, and keep me by his side. And I want him. Forever.
Ace: I’ve always had a thing for Emma, but back in high school, she dated my little brother. So I moved on. Joined the Navy SEALs. Re-upped a few times, but when that last mission went south, I knew it was time to bail. Feeling lost and adrift, I came home. And patched into the Riptide MC. Finally felt like I had a home and a family. I didn’t think life could get any better. A knock on my door in the middle of the night changed everything. Emma fell into my arms, terrified and wounded. Some asshole shot my Emma. He may not know it yet, but he just signed his own death warrant. Once I’ve taken care of her, I’m going to convince Emma to stay with me. Forever.
WARNING: contains violence, coarse language, and adult situations. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after. Enjoy!
Copyright Notification: All Changeling Press LLC publications and cover art are copyright and may not be used in any AI generated work. No AI content is included or allowed in any Changeling Press LLC publication or artwork.
Anne Kane
Anne Kane lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley with a bouncy little rescue dog whose breed defies description, an OCD Aussie Shepherd, a cantankerous Himalayan cat, and too many fish to count. She spent many years trying to fit in and act normal, but finally gave up the effort. She started writing romance in 2008, and her fate was sealed when she won a publishing contract with Red Sage Publishing and just a month later Changeling Press accepted her first submission. Since then she has published more than thirty stories in a variety of sub-genres, all with a happily ever after. She has two handsome sons and six adorable grandchildren and enjoys spending time with them whenever she can. Her hobbies, when she’s not playing with the characters in her head, include kayaking, hiking, swimming, playing guitar, singing and of course, reading.
Other titles in Ace Series (3)
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Ace - Anne Kane
Chapter One
Emma
It was midnight by the time I left work. My shitty excuse for a car had crapped out on me yesterday and transit didn’t run this late, so I had to walk home. Short enough walk, but this wasn’t the safest part of town for a woman alone to traverse after dark. I knew better than to take the shortcut through the park, especially at night. The bad guys came out when the sun went down, clinging to the shadows in the park as they went about their illegal activities. Drug deals, illicit arms sales and who knew what else. Still, that route would cut the length of my walk in half, and after slinging drinks at the bar all night, the temptation was too much to resist.
My aching feet won the argument with my common sense, and I risked it.
It was dark under the towering trees. The heavy branches blocked out the majority of the moonlight, making it feel eerily like the setting of a horror movie. More than half of the lights on the concrete path had been knocked out by kids throwing rocks. I stepped up my pace.
I was halfway through the park when the sound of a gunshot rang out loud in the still night air. I jumped, automatically turning toward the sounds.
In the clearing off to my left side stood a big guy holding a gun. He had it pointed at another guy who had a splash of red spreading from a hole in his chest. The shooter took two more shots, hitting the other guy right between the eyes. The victim crumpled to the ground as blood and brains splattered from the back of his head. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. A thin trickle of blood trailed from the corner of his lips and splashed the ground. In the light of the full moon, I could see the life fading from his eyes as he stared at the man holding the smoking gun.
I slapped my hand over my mouth, desperately trying to stifle a scream. I wasn’t successful. I stood rooted to the spot, my mind trying to process the horror of what I’d just witnessed.
The murderer swiveled and looked straight at me. He was a huge monster of a man, with tattoos covering every available inch of skin on his heavily muscled arms. His chest was wide, and no doubt just as muscled beneath a skintight shirt.
His eyes were cold and hard as he brought the gun around and pointed the deadly weapon straight at me.
Survival instinct kicked in. I turned and ran.
Shots rang out behind me. One. Two. The bullets went wide, the shooter’s aim hindered by the moving target.
Me.
I was the moving target. He was trying to kill me. The third shot scorched a fiery path across my side. When I brought my hand down to my ribs, I could feel sticky dampness oozing from a ragged hole in my jacket. A coppery smell filled the air. Blood.
No time to stop and assess the damage. That wasn’t a warning shot -- it was meant to kill. Hopefully, that was a regulation gun, with a six-shot magazine like you see in the movies. Three shots to commit murder, and three fired at me. The asshole was going to have to reload before he could finish me off.
Enough time for me to escape? I had to hope so. One hand pressed to the throbbing wound on my side, I plunged into the heavy shrubs lining the pathways. I’d be an easier target if I stayed on the paths. Better to get a few scratches. At least it was too dark away from the path for the shooter to follow the trail of blood I was undoubtedly leaving behind.
The murderer didn’t waste any time coming after me. His progress was marked by heavy thumps of his boots as he charged down the path. Hopefully he hadn’t seen me dart into the bushes. You can’t escape, you little bitch,
he snarled. You’re pissing me off, and that’s going to make it worse when I catch up. Give up now and I’ll take it easy on you.
I doubted that. Considering I’d just watched him kill someone in cold blood, he wasn’t likely to pat me on the head and send me on my way. I paused and crouched down beside a flowering shrub. My heart beat so loud it was a miracle he couldn’t hear it. Looking around, I tried to figure out the shortest way out of the park.
Did you see which way she went?
No, but she didn’t pass us, so she must be heading for the road.
Shit! There were two of them. I hadn’t seen a second man, but then again, I hadn’t stuck around long enough to take in details.
Makes sense. We need to stop her.
The sound of branches snapping filled the air.
These damn bushes are thick.
Even muttering to himself, the murderer sounded closer. And cold-blooded. As if he were discussing an annoying insect, not a human being. You recognize the bitch?
There was a long pause. She did look familiar. Maybe works one of the bars in the brewery district? I think she might be a bartender. That shock of red hair should make her easy to find.
Pity we didn’t get a pic.
That remark was met with a derisive snort. If we had time to get a picture, we would have had time to end her and solve the problem.
Do you think she can ID us?
I doubt it. It’s dark enough out, even with the damn moon shining and she only saw us for a few seconds. I’m not even sure she saw both of us.
Doesn’t matter. The boss ain’t going to be happy with a witness running loose. We need to find her and wrap up the loose ends.
I had no illusions about how they intended to wrap up the loose ends, meaning me. I needed to get out of here and call the cops.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to move. I veered to my left, away from the two thugs. Weaving my way as quietly as I could between the ornamental shrubbery, I stayed low to the ground. I didn’t dare stand up and make myself an easy target. That damn full moon was not helping me now. The thought of being outlined against the sky terrified me, and the bullet wound on my side hurt like hell.
The distance between me and the assassination squad widened. They were following the path, but headed in the other direction, presumably directly out of the park. Which meant I needed to circle around and exit by a different route.
Thug number two raised his voice. Come on out and discuss this, girl. It’s not what you think. We can explain.
That would be interesting. How did he think he could explain shooting someone at point blank range? And the fact that he’d taken a few potshots at me didn’t inspire much trust on my part. Not to mention their talk of ending the problem, with me being said problem.
I worked my way in the opposite direction, lengthening the distance between me and them. It felt like forever before I reached the edge of the park, not too far from where I’d originally entered. Seemed I’d been walking in a circle.
I took a careful look around to make sure it was safe to emerge before scurrying across the road and into the sheltering darkness of an alley. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone to call for help. Not that I had a whole pile of friends who could come to my rescue, but the cops needed to know there was a dead body in the park. Maybe, if they were quick enough, they could catch the murderous twosome before they escaped the area.
Crap! The phone wasn’t in my pocket. I knew I’d tucked it in there when I left work, which meant it had fallen out somewhere in the park.
An icy river of fear trickled its way down my spine. If the murderers found it, they’d know who I was. Sure, there was a password, but I wasn’t naïve enough to think it couldn’t be hacked, and guys who committed murder wouldn’t balk at illegally hacking a phone. Even if they didn’t manage to bypass the password, my home screen picture showed me grinning like an idiot while standing in front of the bar where I worked, the name of the bar clearly visible above my head. I thought it was cute when I tagged it as the home screen picture. It might as well say, come and get me!
Dumb. Dumb and Dumber.
Now what? I couldn’t very well go home and wait for the bad guys to figure out where to find me, and I definitely couldn’t go back to the bar.
The rustling of bushes in the distance made me jump. Sitting here stewing wasn’t helping any. Sooner or later, those guys would double back to find me.
Where to go presented an issue. It wasn’t like I had a loving family waiting to protect me. I only knew one person who might be able to help me. Then again, I’d dated his little brother in high school. I might have burnt that bridge behind me.
Justin Maclean and I had been close once upon a time. Friends close, not lovers close, although we had dated. It kept the other guys away. It was a tough neighborhood, and we’d had each other’s backs. I’d had a crush on his older brother James though. Tall, dark and brooding. Just what every teenaged girl longs for.
Turned out the younger Maclean and I had very different dreams. I wanted to make something of myself. I enrolled in college and was on track to get a degree. I was determined to forge a life I could be proud of.
Justin hadn’t been as optimistic. He’d gotten in trouble with the law and opted to join the Army instead of going to prison. As far as I knew, he was still there.
His older brother, James, joined the Navy right out of high school and became a SEAL. That just made him hotter. Nothing like a man in uniform to give a teenage girl wet dreams! I’d kept tabs on him. Just for fun, or so I told myself. I knew he mustered out after several tours. When he got back home, he patched into the Riptide Motorcycle Club. That was about as far from respectable as you could get. Still, I knew where he lived, where the Riptide’s clubhouse was, and he had recently become president of the club.
Just the thought of his hands on me, touching me, stroking me could still make me melt, but I no longer fantasized about being his lover. I couldn’t reconcile my dreams of respectability with the choices he’d made. The Navy SEAL thing -- sure. That was kind of hot, although waiting to see if he came home from missions in one piece would be nerve-racking.
A tattooed, leather clad member of a motorcycle club, however? Not a chance.
Now, though, his bad choices just might be my salvation.
* * *
Ace
Someone pounding at my door after midnight was never a good thing.
Flinging the blankets off, I grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt and pulled them on. Swiping my phone off the night table beside the bed, I opened the security app and checked the surveillance camera.
Yeah, I had cameras covering every inch of my property. Came with the territory when you were the Prez of a motorcycle club.
Staring at my front door, panic written all over her face, was my kid brother’s high school sweetheart, Emma. Odd to see her here, since they hadn’t been an item for at least half a dozen years now.
She looked terrified. What the fuck?
Disengaging the locks, I threw the front door open and grabbed Emma’s arm to pull her inside and behind me. I visually searched the area for whatever had put that look on her face, but the quick glance around revealed nothing. The darkness could conceal a multitude of sins, though, as I knew well from experience.
I slammed the door shut and made sure the deadbolts were in place before I pivoted to face her. Want and lust slammed into my gut as I stared into her terrified eyes.
Somewhere between high school and banging on my door, she’d turned from a scrawny kid into a woman with lushly captivating curves.
I’d found her amusing as a kid and admired her feisty attitude. I’d never allowed my feelings to go any further than that. Her home life had been shitty, but she didn’t let that stop her. I’d questioned her choice of my brother. I loved the little brat, but he’d been bad news back then. Running wild, drinking, stealing cars. If it was on the wrong side of the law, he’d do it.
He and Emma had parted ways when a judge had given him the choice of jail or enlisting, and he’d done the smart thing for once and chosen the Army. Not as good as the Navy, mind you, but definitely better than jail.
As far as I knew, he and Emma had parted on friendly terms, and hadn’t had much contact since. Still, my body’s reaction to her was inappropriate at best.
Before I managed to get past the