In the arms of an outlaw, she found the freedom to live out her wildest fantasies. Don't miss this scorching new six-part mini-series from New York Times bestselling author Opal Carew!
When Laurie is kidnapped by bikers, she has no idea her life is about to change forever. From the moment she meets Steele—their sinfully sexy leader—she can't deny their fierce attraction. Even though she's completely at his mercy, his eyes soften when he looks at her, and the others in his gang know she's strictly hands off. But the more time she spends with Steele, the more her body insists she wants his powerful hands all over her.
Now she's about to discover a new life on the open road…and what it means to be part of a gang that shares everything. At first their wanton lifestyle shocks her senses—but once she's had a taste of life on the edge, will she ever want to leave?
Don't miss the other installments of Riding Steele: Kidnapped (Part 1), Untamed (Part 2), Wanted (Part 4), Crossroads (Part 5) and Aftershock (Part 6)
In the arms of an outlaw, she found the freedom to live out her wildest fantasies. Don't miss this scorching new six-part mini-series from New York Times bestselling author Opal Carew!
When Laurie is kidnapped by bikers, she has no idea her life is about to change forever. From the moment she meets Steele—their sinfully sexy leader—she can't deny their fierce attraction. Even though she's completely at his mercy, his eyes soften when he looks at her, and the others in his gang know she's strictly hands off. But the more time she spends with Steele, the more her body insists she wants his powerful hands all over her.
Now she's about to discover a new life on the open road…and what it means to be part of a gang that shares everything. At first their wanton lifestyle shocks her senses—but once she's had a taste of life on the edge, will she ever want to leave?
Don't miss the other installments of Riding Steele: Kidnapped (Part 1), Untamed (Part 2), Wanted (Part 4), Crossroads (Part 5) and Aftershock (Part 6)
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Overview
In the arms of an outlaw, she found the freedom to live out her wildest fantasies. Don't miss this scorching new six-part mini-series from New York Times bestselling author Opal Carew!
When Laurie is kidnapped by bikers, she has no idea her life is about to change forever. From the moment she meets Steele—their sinfully sexy leader—she can't deny their fierce attraction. Even though she's completely at his mercy, his eyes soften when he looks at her, and the others in his gang know she's strictly hands off. But the more time she spends with Steele, the more her body insists she wants his powerful hands all over her.
Now she's about to discover a new life on the open road…and what it means to be part of a gang that shares everything. At first their wanton lifestyle shocks her senses—but once she's had a taste of life on the edge, will she ever want to leave?
Don't miss the other installments of Riding Steele: Kidnapped (Part 1), Untamed (Part 2), Wanted (Part 4), Crossroads (Part 5) and Aftershock (Part 6)
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781466878365 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | St. Martin's Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 11/11/2014 |
| Series: | Ready to Ride |
| Sold by: | Macmillan |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 35 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
Opal Carew is the author of Total Abandon, Pleasure Bound, Twin Fantasies and other erotic romance novels. “So why do I like writing erotic romance?” she asks. “I like being able to push beyond traditional boundaries.” Opal loves crystals, dragons, feathers, cats, pink hair, the occult and all that glitters. While she writes, she listens to inspirational music, lights candles and keeps crystals near. Before devoting herself to her passion as a writer, Opal spent 15 years as a software analyst, and she has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo. She lives with her husband and two sons in Ontario, Canada.
Read an Excerpt
Riding Steele #3
Collide
By Opal Carew
St. Martin's Griffin
Copyright © 2014 Opal CarewAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4668-7836-5
CHAPTER 1
From Part 2
Her heart leaped as she saw the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen.
A police car!
It had been stopped on the side of the road several yards ahead, but now it started to pull away. Oh, God, no.
She raced to the roadside and began to wave her arms, but the rain was so heavy, and maybe the driver just wasn't checking his rearview mirror, because he started driving forward.
She dashed onto the narrow road and ran after him, but water was flooding from the paved surface with the onslaught of rain from the heavens, and her foot slipped on the slick surface, sending her tumbling to the ground. At the same time, the car did a U- turn, and headed in her direction.
Oh, God, if the driver didn't see her ... She tried to scramble to her feet as the headlights approached, then sucked in a breath. But the car stopped.
A tall officer in a slick raincoat stepped toward her.
"Are you all right, ma'am?" he asked, staring down at her with concern in his dark eyes.
"No, officer. I'm not." Tears welled in her eyes.
"It's all right, ma'am," the officer said to Laurie as he held out his hand to her.
She took it and he helped her to her feet, then with a steady arm on her elbow, guided her to the squad car. He opened the back door and she slipped inside. He closed the door and walked toward the back of the car. She could hear the trunk open, then a moment later he got into the driver's seat. He turned and handed her a blanket.
She took it with trembling hands and wrapped it around herself. Her clothes were soaked right through.
The policeman settled into the driver's seat. "What's your name, ma'am?"
"My name is Laurie Conners." She leaned forward and glanced at the reflection of his face in the rearview mirror, but he was looking down at his cell phone, texting something. "And I've got to tell you, there are these men ... bikers ... and they're looking for me. In fact—"
"Do you believe you're in danger?" he asked.
"I ... uh ... well, they kidnapped me."
He put away his phone and glanced at her in the mirror. "That's a serious accusation. Do you want to press charges?"
She had told Steele she wouldn't charge him, but she'd said it to convince him to let her go. But, did she want to press charges?
She shook her head. "No. I just want to go ..." She was going to say home, but she realized that Steele and Wild Card were right. Donovan would probably be looking for her there. "I want to go somewhere safe."
He put the car in gear and started moving. The windshield wipers slapped back and forth, clearing the sheet of water that steadily poured across the glass, but they could barely see past the front of the car.
Laurie huddled into the blanket and sank back in the seat, feeling safe for the first time in a long time. Not just since Steele and his men had kidnapped her, but in the several months she'd been dating Donovan.
She pulled the blanket closer. How had she let things go so far with Donovan?
She'd wanted to trust Donovan. He was rich, successful. Handsome. He was the perfect man. At least on the surface. But when she started having second thoughts, her girlfriends told her she was just afraid of commitment. When she first realized he had some kinky tastes in the bedroom, it had unnerved her a little, but every article she read about sex said that couples should let loose and try new and different things. He was more experienced than her and so was ahead of her in that department. At least, that's what she'd tried to convince herself. At first, it had been a bit of bondage, then he started giving her orders. She had been shocked at how mindlessly and completely she had responded to his domination. A part of her craved being controlled and that scared her a little. But she'd been willing to push back her other issues to explore this side of herself.
Then things had taken a strange turn.
She had been staying with him for the weekend at a big house he had in the country. The house was beautiful, but she didn't get to enjoy it much. The first day, he'd dragged her into a small bedroom and bound her wrists and ankles to the bed, then had sex with her. Then he'd just left her there.
A couple of hours later, he'd come back and taken her again, then gave her some food. When it became clear he wasn't going to let her free, she told him she wanted to end this, but he simply said, "Silence, slave," and shoved a ball gag into her mouth. He'd fucked her one more time that evening, then left her alone in the darkness all night long.
In the morning, he'd dragged her from the bed and bound her to what he called a punishment bench, where she was bent over the padded, wooden frame, forcing her naked ass into the air, then he'd slapped her. Hard. Over and over again until her ass burned.
Afterward, when she'd told him how upset his actions had made her, he'd apologized, telling her he'd thought she'd wanted the whole immersion scenario, that he'd thought it had turned her on. He'd promised that he'd be more careful in the future.
She'd reluctantly continued seeing him, but he was attentive and seemed genuinely sorry for his mistake in judgment. For a while. But then they had slipped back into the Dominant-submissive roles and things started to derail again. What caused her to finally break it off with him was when during sex, he'd wrapped his hands around her neck and squeezed so tight, she almost passed out. He seemed to enjoy the total panic in her eyes, and her obvious sense of complete helplessness. That was the final straw.
She sank into the seat and let the movement of the car lull her as she watched the water stream down the window beside her. She was safe now. She shivered inside. At least, from the bikers.
She seemed to have dozed off because she awoke with a start when the car came to a stop. She peered out the window but the rain hadn't let up and everything outside was blurred. But it didn't look like she was at a police station. She thought she could make out trees, and some shadowy shapes approached the car.
The officer in the front seat glanced back at her in the mirror.
"Wait here, ma'am." He opened the car door and stepped out.
"Hey, Killer. So you found her?"
She stiffened. That sounded like Rip's voice.
A moment later, the door beside her swung open and Steele glared at her.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
The policeman put his arm in front of Steele. "Now, Steele, give her a minute until you cool off."
Steele's eyes narrowed. "Screw that." He grabbed her wrist and tugged her from the car. Her heart pounded loudly as he dragged her into the house.
"Why did that police officer bring me back here when I told him you kidnapped me?" she asked as he tugged her up the stairs. "And how did he know you were here?"
"Killer is a friend of your brother's."
They reached the top of the stairs and he pulled her down the hall.
"Killer? Is he even a real cop?" she asked.
"People around here know his as Officer Grainger, but Rip knew him when he was an undercover cop in a criminal gang. Killer was his ride name. About six months ago, he decided he'd had enough of that life. He moved here with his new wife and became friends with your brother."
He pushed her into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. "But that's not what I want to talk about right now."
He stared at her, his breathing heavy. They both stood there dripping on the hardwood floor.
"I'm going to ask you again, what the hell were you thinking?" he demanded.
The expression on his face was more anxious than angry, she realized, but when he took a step toward her, she jerked back.
"Ah, fuck, really?" He glared at her as he strode closer. "I've done everything I can to prove to you that I won't take you against your will, but you still don't believe me." He stepped closer and she backed up until the wall pressed against her.
He stood so close that if she took a deep breath her breasts would brush his big, solid chest.
His eyes narrowed. "Since you've already tried and convicted me in your mind maybe I should just commit the crime."
He cupped her face with one big hand and tipped up her chin, then captured her lips. A moment later, he whispered against her mouth. "But I would never do that. Do you understand me, Laurie?" Then his tongue drove into her mouth with a sure stroke, claiming her for his own. Tears streamed from her eyes because she wanted to relax into his arms and invite him to take her. She wanted him to hold her close, to feel the comfort of his body. She could feel his cock hard against her belly and she wanted to open to him and feel him glide inside.
He seemed like such a good man. He seemed to care about her.
But then so had Donovan. At first.
Steele's mouth moved on hers, his body shifting closer, pinning her to the wall.
His lips parted and he stared at her, his glittering granite eyes boring through her.
"Fuck, I was worried something had happened to you. That you were lost, maybe hurt."
The concern in his eyes tore at her gut. Did he really care?
"I was lost. I was so glad ..." Her throat closed up and tears welled. "... to ... to see that police car on the road and flag it down. If he hadn't stopped ..." She sobbed. She had just felt so alone and terrified out in the woods alone, not knowing how to find her way back.
His strong arms tightened around her and she leaned against him, taking comfort in his closeness. Her heart thumped loudly against him and she could hear the echo of his. He drew back and cupped both her cheeks, then lowered his face to hers. The brush of his lips was soft and gentle and they moved on hers with a tenderness that shocked her, sliding past all her barriers, and she found herself responding. His tongue slid into her mouth and she stroked it with hers. He held her tight to his muscular body and her nipples, already hard from the cold and wet, felt an agony of need as they bored into his rock-solid chest.
He drew back and stared at her, looking as bewildered as she was.
He sucked in a breath and stepped back. "You need to get out of those wet clothes."
She stared up at him, ready to surrender to her need at last. To strip off her clothes at his command and let him take her, whatever the consequences.
She reached for the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head, exposing her wet, lace-clad breasts to his view.
"What the hell are you doing? You fucking overestimate my self-control." He grasped her shoulders and turned her around, then marched her to the bathroom door. "Get in there, strip down, and have a hot bath. I'll be back in a few minutes with something to warm you up."
She couldn't help hoping the something was him. After all her fighting against the idea, now that she'd given up the fight, she couldn't wait to be in his arms again. To feel his powerful body against hers. To finally feel his big cock glide into her.
When she finished her bath and returned to the bedroom wrapped in a big, fluffy towel, he was sitting in the armchair.
"I brought you a hot chocolate." He stood and picked up a metal thermal mug from the dresser and handed it to her. She took a sip. It was still piping hot.
"When you're finished with that, get dressed and come downstairs. Officer Grainger wants to talk to you."
* * *
Laurie walked down the stairs and into the living room to see Officer Grainger sitting at the dining room table sipping a cup of coffee. Sitting with him was Rip, Wild Card, and Steele. Shock, Raven, Magic, and Dom were relaxing in the living room.
She crossed the room and sat in the empty chair across from the police officer.
"Miss Connors ... Laurie ... May I call you Laurie?"
She nodded numbly.
"I think you and I should have a talk. I think you should fully understand the situation you're in."
Wild Card brought a thermos of coffee into the room and set it on the table, along with mugs, and filled one for her. She sipped it, letting the heat emanate through her.
"Laurie, I'm sure you must be confused by all of this. I just want you to know that these men are your friends and they are looking out for you. We believe that if you were to go back home now, you'd be in danger."
She nodded, frowning. "I know Donovan is a problem, and I really don't want to see him again, but I can't stay here forever."
After the way he'd behaved, and from their history, she was apprehensive of what Donovan might do, but she had to find a way to move forward.
"I really think it's in your best interest to wait until your brother gets back."
"Steele told me you and Craig are friends," she said.
Whereas Laurie chose to live in Jasmineville, a small city, Craig lived in a small town called Marin Falls about an hour out, preferring the quieter lifestyle. He owned a sporting goods store in the town and Laurie drove out a couple of times a month for Sunday dinner, but she didn't know Craig's friends.
"That's right, and I've been trying to get in touch with him to let him know what's happened, but without success."
He folded his hands on the table.
"A while ago, Craig told me you're in a relationship with Donovan Blake and he also told me he's had concerns about this man for quite a while."
"He's always been overly protective of me," she said.
"Well, this time it seems justified," Officer Grainger said. "I ran a search on Donovan, and I was shocked at what I found."
She wrapped her hands around the coffee mug, finding comfort in its warmth, not wanting to hear what he was about to say.
"This is not the kind of man you want to tangle with. He's been charged with assaulting several women, but he always managed to get the charges dropped. Every one of the women had been in a relationship with him, and had said things just kept getting worse. By the time the assault happened, they had all wanted out of the relationship, but were intimidated by him, and were afraid of what he'd to do to them if they walked away."
She knew she was trembling. His intense gaze locked on hers.
"Then one woman almost died of asphyxiation."
The breath froze in her lungs. She could remember Donovan's hands around her throat. Remembered the terrifying feeling of being unable to breathe. Thank God he'd found his release before she'd passed out, or worse.
"She was terrified and her family talked her into pressing charges against him. But this man is well connected and has money. He finally convinced her to drop the charges, probably with a big payoff. Just after that, he moved to this area.
"Over the course of four years, two women he dated disappeared. No one could ever prove a connection between their disappearances and him, but the circumstances are highly suspicious."
"Are you saying you think he ... murdered them?"
"I'm not making any allegations, but I do think he's dangerous."
Her gaze fell on Wild Card, whose jaw tightened in obvious anger, and then to Rip, who watched her with an assessing eye. Probably trying to gauge her reaction to Officer Grainger's revelations.
"There's more. I want you to understand that the women he hurt weren't just beaten once by him. They were abused on an ongoing basis, every one of them afraid to leave him for fear of what he might do to them. That's why Craig wanted to get you away from him. He was going to tell you about what I found out when he got back, but he had a bad feeling about the other night when you were going out to celebrate an anniversary. That's why Steele and his crew went to the bar that night. To make sure you were okay."
None of what Officer Grainger told her about Donovan came as a huge surprise to her. Not really. Not after having experienced Donovan's mistreatment. But she hated sitting here like a child, being made to understand how dire her predicament was.
She felt helpless, and resentful. Of Donovan, of course, but also of these men who sat here judging her stupidity at having gotten herself involved with such a man. Not that any of them said it. But she knew they were thinking it. Just like Craig had thought it.
It only made it worse that he was right.
Officer Grainger leaned forward. "Laurie, I know he's probably been more careful since he's been here. That last incident was enough to send him packing. To go somewhere that people didn't know him. But he'll fall into old habits."
She straightened in her chair. "So what you're saying is, I really have no choice. Stay here or go back home and fear retaliation from the man I was in a relationship with."
The bitter resentment in her voice was clear. She felt trapped. And controlled by these men who claimed to want to protect her.
She knew deep inside that none of this was their fault, and that they were just trying to help, but that didn't change how she felt.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Riding Steele #3 by Opal Carew. Copyright © 2014 Opal Carew. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Griffin.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Cover,Title Page,
Copyright Notice,
Begin Reading,
Also by Opal Carew,
About the Author,
Copyright,
Riding Steele series,