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Merry Christmas!!

What a year it's been! I really just want to say a huge thank you for all your support this year. Without you, I wouldn't get to do a job I absolutely love. So, thank you for buying and reading my books, and for loving my characters like I do.

Jodie and I planned this Sassy Christmas 2 way back in May/June because our idea was to be able to send a Christmas card to every reader who was on our #LevineLove list. At that time, we had over 1000 readers on the list, so to send mail from Australia at almost $3 a letter, would cost a lot. Jodie suggested we print everything and take the mail with us when we travelled to the States for signings in July. So that's what we did. We mailed all the cards to a US friend while in Vegas and she agreed to send them out in December. Since then we've added another thousand or so readers to our list, so I do apologise if you didn't receive a Christmas card, but I hope you love the chapters I have written for you.

I had originally planned to write another full novella for this, but unfortunately I ran out of time. Instead, I have three new chapters for you from our Sydney Storm MC, including one from… KING! These chapters take place at Christmas time which in the timeline of the series occurs between Nitro's Torment and Devil's Vengeance. So while reading, just keep in mind that Devil hasn't met Hailee yet, and all the events that occurred in his book have not yet taken place. If you haven't started the Sydney Storm MC series yet, don't read these chapters!! Wait until after you've caught up on the first two books in the series.

Before I share the chapters, I want to say that I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. I hope you are able to find some time to relax and recharge for the new year. I'm excited for 2017. I've got lots of new, fun things planned for my readers and I can't wait to tell you what they are sometime early in the new year.

Lots of love,

Nina xx

PS Did you know I released a new book last week?? It's book 3 in the Sydney Storm MC series. FYI, the first book is currently FREE if you haven't started this series yet. Check it out here.

 

Sassy Christmas 2 – Sydney Storm MC

 

Chapter One

 

Evie

Staring at the empty Tupperware container on the kitchen counter, I worked through the various options of what I could do to my husband in return for him eating all the rum balls I’d made. If my out-of-control hormones and the heartburn and backache our baby was causing me weren’t enough to turn me into a raging bitch, this would do it.

Drawing a deep, barely controlled breath, I exited the kitchen and made my way into the laundry. Flinging the washing machine open, I jammed as many dirty clothes in as I could fit before slamming the door closed. I then reached for the detergent, still working hard to get my emotions under control.

Pregnancy wasn’t for pussies, that was for damn sure. If my marriage survived this pregnancy it would be a fucking miracle because most days I wanted to reach for Kick’s balls and twist them as hard as I could so that he had to endure some kind of suffering, too.

“Fuck, what have I done now?”

I turned to look at Kick who stood in the hallway just outside the laundry, but I didn’t answer his question because I didn’t want to fight with him on Christmas morning.

He took a step closer to me. “Evie, you doing washing right at this moment means that I’ve pissed you off. After six months of this, I know that washing is your way of trying to deal with your mood swings. And usually those mood swings are because of something I’ve done.”

“Unless you have a container full of rum balls stashed somewhere in this house, I would pretend you never came in here.” I knew I was being irrational, but I couldn’t help myself. Damn you, pregnancy.

His lips twitched, but he realised his mistake when my brows lifted and my mouth flattened in annoyance. He then did what he always did in these kinds of situations—he ignored everything I said and reached for me. Pulling me close, he said, “I’m not taking the blame for this by myself. Braden came over after you crashed last night and got stuck into them.”

I pressed my hands to his chest in an effort to move out of his embrace. “I don’t care who ate them, Kick. You shouldn’t have let him. You knew I made those for today,” I snapped. The heat only fuelled my irritability. I had a good mind to move to fucking Canada to escape the rest of this bloody summer.

His arms tightened around me, and he grinned. “Keep fighting me, baby, it only gets me hard for you. You know that.”

“If you think I’m letting you anywhere near me today, you’re living in dreamland. I’m hot, and grumpy, and this baby is getting so big I think I might explode.”

His grin disappeared and a softer expression moved across his face. “How long does it take to make rum balls?”

My irritation with him flared. “Kick, I hardly have time to make a new batch before everyone arrives for lunch!”

“Evie, how long?” His voice came out in a low rumble. It was the tone he took with me when he was about to lay down the law as he saw it.

I stared at him, taking in the determined look in his eyes. As much as I was pissed off with him, I knew that when he took that tone with me, there was no point arguing with him. Kick Hanson was one step away from making a “we clear” statement when he spoke to me like that. I exhaled a frustrated breath. “They don’t take long to make. In my current state of being hot and annoyed and slow, I’m probably looking at twenty minutes.”

“Right, give me the recipe, and I’ll take care of them. You go and do whatever it was you would have been doing rather than the washing.”

My eyes widened. “You’re going to make them?”

“You say that as if you don’t believe I could make them. How fuckin’ hard are they?”

Something he said or did, or maybe it was my dumb hormones, made me smile. And that in turn, made me laugh. Kick stared at me, waiting for an answer, and I did my best to get myself under control. “They’re not hard at all.”

“So you’re saying that if I managed to knock you up, I should be able to make some rum balls?”

Still laughing, I looped my arms around his neck. Pressing my body against his, I said, “How do you always find a way to snap me out of my moods?”

His hands made their way to my ass. “I have to, otherwise you’re fuckin’ likely to do damage to me.”

“What are you saying? That I’m a grumpy bitch?”

He grinned. “I would never utter those words. I value my balls too much for that.” Brushing a kiss across my lips, he said, “I’m saying that I fuckin’ love you being pregnant. The way you go to battle with me every day keeps my dick hard as fuck. I’m thinking that once this baby is born, we should start working on the next one.”

“Jesus, Kick, settle down. I was thinking more along the lines of maybe we should reconsider the three kids you want. Pregnancy doesn’t suit me at all.”

“I’d argue with that, sweetheart. Have you seen the size of your tits lately?” His eyes dropped to my body as he ran his hands over my ass and around to my belly. “I’d say pregnancy suits the fuck out of you. These curves are something fuckin’ else.”

Desire pooled in my belly. Something he always managed to do to me, even when I felt like a waddling duck. And especially when I was in a mood. He’d swoop in after a long day with the club and listen to me moan and bitch at him before making everything all right again in my world.

Smacking his hands away, I tried to take a step back. He didn’t let me go, though. “Kick, if you don’t stop what you’re doing, we’re going to end up having sex, and then I’m going to be running late for lunch. And those rum balls might never get made.”

He bent so he could kiss my neck. Trailing his lips up to my mouth, he said, “I’m mastering the art of fucking you fast. I figure we’re gonna have to get good at it once we’ve got these three kids.”

As he spoke, he flicked the button on my shorts open and pulled the zip down. Before I could catch up to what he was doing, he had my shorts and T-shirt off. He’d slid the cups of my bra to the side and had one of my boobs in his mouth.

“Fuck,” he growled, barely lifting his mouth from my breast. “Have I mentioned how fuckin’ much I love you being pregnant?”

I threaded my fingers in his hair at the nape of his neck as I arched my back. “Only every day.” I had to admit, there definitely were some good things about being pregnant. Kick’s attention was one of them. He could hardly keep his hands off me.

He sucked my nipple while holding my breasts with both hands. He then alternated between the two of them, seemingly unable to get enough of me. “Evie, hands on my dick, baby,” he rasped after lifting his mouth from one of my boobs.

“So damn bossy,” I muttered as I unthreaded my fingers from his hair.

“You want rum balls made and the house ready for everyone, I’m gonna need to get inside you fast.” He drew his mouth away from my breast so he could glance up at me. “I’m good with dragging this out, though. Your choice.”

“Smart ass.” I quickly undid his pants and reached inside to wrap my hand around his cock, eliciting a groan from him. I stroked him a few times, until he moved to crouch in front of me.

“Jesus, woman, I’m not sure how I ever lived without you,” he said as he kissed a line down from my breasts to my stomach. His movements slowed as he reached my belly. “Hello, baby girl,” he murmured as he took hold of me and kissed all over my stomach. “Your mother’s shitty with me today, so do your dad a favour and don’t give her any hell, okay? I wanna be in her good books for at least a day.”

I stared down at him, my heart swelling with love. Kick could switch from sex fiend to daddy with the flip of a switch, and it never failed to cause me butterflies. I loved the way he already doted on our daughter.

“You should stop talking and start working that tongue of yours,” I said.

His head snapped up and he met my gaze. The heat in his gaze almost made my legs buckle. Oh, God.

Moving swiftly, he stood and turned me to face the washing machine, placing my hands on it as the front of his body molded to the back of mine. His hand wrapped around my throat and he angled my head back, pressing his face to mine. “Do you know what I’m going to do to you tonight, Evie?” His voice was a low growl, hitting me in all the right places.

A little breathless, I said, “No.”

He dipped his face so he could kiss my neck and lightly bite it. “I’m going to tie you to our bed, blindfold you and work my fuckin’ tongue in ways you can only imagine. I’m gonna work it so fuckin’ good and for so fuckin’ long that you’ll be begging me to hurry up and use my dick instead.”

Every inch of my skin came alive with need, and my breathing slowed as my mind exploded with images of him doing what he’d just promised.

His grip around my throat tightened. “But I’m not gonna get my dick out for a long time. I’m gonna drag you to that fuckin’ edge over and over, until you think you can’t take it anymore. And just when you start to lose your fuckin’ mind to the bliss—like I do every damn day just being around you—that’s when I’ll slam my dick inside you and make you scream like you’ve never screamed.”

I moaned. I wasn’t sure what was coming out of my mouth, but something was. His words had jumbled my thoughts completely, and I was barely standing on my own.

Kick reached his hand down into my panties and ran his fingers through my pussy. “Every fuckin’ time,” he said as he discovered how wet I was for him.

He slid my panties down and took hold of my hips. Positioning me how he wanted me, he then pressed his cock against my pussy. I bent a little more than I already had and waited for him to fill me.

He entered me with one hard thrust, and I cried out my pleasure.

Oh God, yes.

Keeping a firm grip on my hips, he then showed me how well he was perfecting the art of fucking me fast. He thrust in and out, driving his cock deep inside me. The angle was divine and it didn’t take me long to come. After he orgasmed, he bent so he could growl in my ear, “I’m fuckin’ addicted to this sweet pussy of yours, Mrs Hanson.”

I tilted my face to catch his lips in a kiss. He practically devoured me, and when he finally let my lips go, I said, “I’m fucking addicted to you, Mr Hanson.”

He pulled out and turned me to face him. After reaching for my clothes that were on the floor, he said, “Even when you’re pissed as fuck at me?”

I fought the smile dancing across my face. “Yes, even then.”

He passed me my clothes. “Thank Christ.”

I was about to force my way out of the laundry so I could hurry to clean up and get dressed before getting back to my lunch preparations, but something in his tone stopped me. “Kick, I love you. I know I’ve been the world’s worst bitch during this pregnancy, and I’m sorry, but I’ll never stop loving you.”

He smoothed my hair away from my face, and his tenderness caused another rush of butterflies in my tummy. “You could be a bitch to me forever, and I wouldn’t give a shit so long as you were still by my side.”

Guilt crawled all over me, and I silently pledged to do better. To not be such a bitch. Holding his gaze, I lifted his shirt over his head. He didn’t question me; he knew what I was doing because it was what I always did when my hormones went wonky and I felt guilty. He took the shirt from me and let me do my thing.

Placing my hand to his chest, I ran my fingers over his scar. When he’d been shot a few months ago, I’d thought I was going to lose him. It had been the scariest time of my life. The waiting to know if he would survive had almost killed me.

I let his gaze go while I kissed his scar. My hands roamed his chest while I did this, and then I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against him. His arms circled me and he pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

“Baby,” he said, his voice all gruff, “I’m not going anywhere.”

I inhaled a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut as my emotions consumed me. Damn hormones. I was helpless to control my tears, so I simply let them fall. And because he understood, or maybe just because he was the best kind of man, Kick simply stood there holding me tightly, letting me know I was okay and that we would be okay.

He waited patiently for me to get myself together. When I finally lifted my head and stepped away from him, I said, “I can’t wait for our baby to be born. You are going to make the best daddy.”

Nodding his head slowly, as if he was deep in thought, he said, “I’m gonna do better than our parents did, Evie.”

“Yeah,” I whispered, “I know.”

He stood quietly for another few moments, just watching me, deep in thought, and then he said, “Get dressed and meet me in the kitchen so you can direct me with these rum balls.”

I smiled, all my earlier fight gone. “Okay.”

As I moved past him to exit the laundry, he said, “And Evie? For the record, you are nowhere near exploding. I fuckin’ love your baby curves.”

I glanced back at him to find his eyes glued firmly to my ass. It took all my willpower not to say to hell with making sure our home was perfect for when our families arrived. The way my husband loved me was something else, and against all my better judgement, I suddenly felt the urge to get pregnant again just as fast as he wanted me to.

 

 

Chapter Two

 

Tatum

Although it was only eight in the morning, the sticky heat of the day wrapped itself around me as I made the short trek up the path to the front door of Nitro’s house. My home. I’d been living there for about six weeks, and was slowly getting used to thinking of it as my home, too. Nitro had asked me a few times if I wanted to find a house that would be a new home to both of us, but I didn’t. I loved his place. Even when I was home alone, I could still feel his presence. No way was I leaving that behind.

I quietly unlocked the front door and slipped inside. Walking so as not to wake Nitro, I’d almost made my way to our bedroom when his voice sounded from the lounge room.

“Vegas.” Deep and rumbly, it hit my gut the way it always did, coiling desire there.

I stopped and turned towards the entryway of the lounge room. He sat on the couch facing me with an expression I knew well—it was the unreadable one he often wore. “You’re awake early,” I said as I moved towards him.

He lifted a brow. “Not as early as you.”

I ignored the dark tone in his voice and sat on his lap. His arms moved easily around me, one hand resting on my thigh, the other on my waist. Holding his gaze, I said, “Merry Christmas, champ.”

He let me kiss him before saying in a warning tone, “Tatum.”

I knew what he wanted, but I didn’t want to give it to him. Not today. Today I just wanted to enjoy our first Christmas together. But the determined glint in his eye told me I wasn’t getting out of this. I sighed. “I went to see Billy.”

He took that in and didn’t say anything until a few moments later when he muttered, “Fuck.”

My body stiffened, and I attempted to move off his lap. He had other ideas, though, and tightened his hold on me. “See now, this was why I didn’t tell you I was going to see him. I knew it would piss you off.” Billy had been a sore point in our relationship. Pretty much our only one. We’d been tiptoeing around him since I’d moved in. Hell, he’d been an issue since we’d first met.

His jaw clenched. “It doesn’t piss me off that you went to see him. I’m frustrated that you didn’t feel like you could tell me.”

“I just didn’t want to cause an argument today.”

“Fuck, I’d never tell you that you couldn’t see him or argue over it. What makes you think I would?”

“Let me count the ways. You don’t like him and I get the impression you’d rather I have nothing to do with him outside of work.”

“That is true, but what is also true is that I don’t control you. You wanna see Billy, you go right ahead.” His tone turned bossy. “But, you don’t keep that shit from me. You and me, we’re one hundred percent honest with each other, Vegas.”

My man never failed to surprise me. I should have broached this subject weeks ago, but I hadn’t wanted to cut in on our loved-up time. Looping my arms around his neck, I pressed a kiss to his lips, loving the way he deepened it and took control. By the time he was finished with me, I was breathless and ready to move this to the bedroom.

His heated gaze found mine again. “We good?”

My belly fluttered at his question. He’d always asked me if I was good, and he still did, but lately he’d started asking me if we were good. It wasn’t a question he ever asked lightly; it always came from a deep desire of his to make sure all was good in my world. I nodded. “Yeah, we’re good. Except for the fact we’re still clothed and sitting out here.”

His nostrils flared and he did exactly what I hoped he would do. He stood, taking me with him, his powerful body hardly straining to do that. He surprised me, though. Instead of taking me into the bedroom, we ended up in the bathroom.

After he deposited me on the floor, I said, “You want some shower sex?”

His eyes held mine as he closed the door. “No, I wanna fuck you while I watch you.”

I followed his gaze as it locked on to the back of the door. He’d installed a mirror. “When did this happen?” I asked standing in front of it, already turned on for what was to come.

He moved behind me, his arms coming around me and then making their way down to the hem of my dress. His warm breath floated across the skin over my collarbone as he dipped his mouth to it and said, “When you were out with Monroe last night.”

I watched him sink his teeth into my skin while also pulling my dress up so he could find my underwear. The sight of Nitro’s large hand sliding inside my panties was hot, but nowhere near as hot as when he ran his finger through my wetness while taking hold of my breast with his other hand.

“Fuck,” I moaned, keeping my eyes firmly on his hands.

His eyes met mine in the mirror as he slid two fingers inside me. “You like your Christmas present?”

Biting my lip and holding my breath for a beat, I said, “God, yes.”

He reached deeper inside me, his fingers working their magic. Moving his lips along my skin, kissing, sucking and biting as he went, he made his way to my ear. “How much do you like it?” His voice was raspy and gravelly, and I swayed a little.

“I fucking love it,” I managed to get out before he switched up what he was doing.

He let go of me and quickly removed my dress, dropping it to the floor. He then took hold of my hands and lifted them so they rested against the mirror near the top on either side. This meant I was leaning forward with my face close to the glass.

Running a hand down my back, his gaze shifted to what he was doing. A moment later, he crouched behind me and slowly removed my panties. I stepped out of them and waited for his next move, my breathing all over the place.

I just about came out of my skin when he gripped my ass, his fingers digging in. “Fuck, Vegas,” he growled, “your ass…” His voice drifted off, but I knew what he thought of my butt because he always told me what it did to him. Nitro loved long legs and a tight ass, and he never failed to tell me he loved mine.

“Fuck,” I cried out when his teeth sunk into one of my ass cheeks. He bit me hard, and I dropped my head, panting through the pain. Between his fingers still grasping me tightly and his teeth marking me, his touch burned right through me. He knew I loved the pain, though, so he kept going.

“Are you dripping for me yet?” he asked when he’d finished with my bottom.

Meeting his eyes in the mirror again, I nodded. “I need you inside me.” I tried not to beg, but I was pretty much ready to get down on hands and knees and plead with him for his cock.

He pushed his fingers inside me again and hissed. “Yeah, you are.” He then stood and removed his clothes as I watched every piece drop to the ground while his body was revealed to me. I’d never grow tired of Nitro’s body. He kept it in amazing shape, his muscles a visual masterpiece.

When he was naked, he flicked my bra at the back and pushed it off my shoulders. It fell to the floor at the same time that he took hold of both my breasts. “You ready?”

My core practically sang at those words.

Was I ready?

I was more than ready.

“Yes.” I didn’t even care that my answer was practically a whimper. I needed Nitro inside me now.

Keeping one hand on one of my breasts, he shifted his other hand to my hip. Moving closer, so we were skin-to-skin, he positioned his dick at my pussy. His gaze was drawn there for a moment before coming back to meet mine. He pushed his cock inside a fraction, teasing me, while dropping his eyes to roam over my body, spending extra time watching himself massage my breast.

A deep growl came from him as he stilled for a beat. A second later, his eyes found mine again, and as his grip on me tightened, he thrust inside me hard.

“Fuck,” he roared as his body pressed against mine, forcing me forwards against the mirror.

He pulled out and thrust back in, his mouth near my ear as he watched me in the mirror. I knew from the dark desire in his eyes that he was about to bring his fury to this, and that excited the hell out of me. Every nerve ending of mine fired with anticipation.

“Hold on tight, Vegas,” he rasped against my ear as he pulled out.

I had nothing to grip, but I did my best to steady myself right before he slammed back inside of me and kept on going. There was no holding him back, not now that he’d let go and allowed his need to take over completely.

He fucked me with the ferocity I loved from him. The mirror heightened the experience, giving me a sensory experience like no other.

Not only was he inside me, he was also all over me with his eyes and his mouth. It was the hottest sex I’d ever had. The sight, the sound, the taste, the feel, the scent. It all collided in my mind, sparking one of the most intense orgasms I’d experienced. My legs turned to jelly as my eyes fluttered closed and I drifted away with the pleasure. I was vaguely aware of Nitro holding me up, still pounding into me, but it was like a distant sensation.

When his orgasm shattered through him, and my name thundered out of his mouth, I blinked my eyes open just in time to watch the beauty of him coming apart.

His body leant against mine while he recovered, pressing us hard against the mirror. “Jesus, woman, I should have put that mirror in weeks ago.”

“Yeah, you should have,” I agreed, breathlessly. “But I have to say, it’s the best Christmas present I’ve ever received.”

He pulled out of me and took a step back. Smacking my ass, he jerked his chin towards the shower and ordered, “I want you in that shower now. I’m gonna clean you up and then you’re gonna suck my dick.”

“Really? You think that bossing me around today is going to get you what you want?”

“Yeah, I fucking do. You’re getting what you wanted today, and I’m gonna need my dick sucked to get through it.”

I suppressed a laugh. Placing a hand to his cheek, I said with a little sarcasm, “Poor baby. The things you do for your woman.” He’d come through with the goods, though. I’d requested that we invite everyone over for lunch—his family, Monroe, Fox, Posey and Devil—and I knew he didn’t really want anyone but his family over, but he’d said yes to make me happy. And on top of that, he’d made sure the place had been tidied up and that we had all the food I wanted.

His eyes darkened. “In the shower, Vegas. And get ready to get on your knees.”

I did as he said, smiling as I moved. Christmas this year was going to be the best one I’d had in years.

 

 

Chapter Three

 

King

“You gonna fuck that one or can I have her tonight?” Jacko asked as my gaze trailed after the hot piece of ass I’d been watching all night.

My eyes cut to him. He sat opposite me on the couches in the middle of the clubhouse bar. He’d had a long day and he was fucking wasted. Lifting my beer to my mouth, I tipped it back and took a long slug. I then said, “You’d be lucky to get your dick hard enough to show her a good time, brother. But be my guest.” It wasn’t like we had a shortage of whores to choose from.

He frowned as he leant forward. “You got a piece on the side, King? It’s not like you to share like that.”

I scowled at him. “You want her, go fucking get her now, otherwise she’s off the table,” I barked.

He didn’t hesitate another second, leaving me alone. Fucking finally. I rubbed my neck as I tried to relax. Trouble was, I was hard as a fucking rock. Had been for months. Usually, sex eased my tension, but even that wasn’t working lately.

Fuck.

I pushed up out of the couch and left the bar to head into my office. Being Christmas night, it was quiet at the clubhouse. Even at just after nine p.m. The few members around were either drunk or busy with pussy, which suited me because I craved some peace and fucking quiet after the rowdy day I’d been subjected to.

I found what I was looking for in the office fast, grabbed my shit and headed out to my bike. It was time Kree Stone and I had a talk.

 

***

“King,” Kree said hesitantly after she opened her front door to me.

My eyes dropped briefly to take in the tiny denim shorts and the loose-as-fuck white top she wore. The shorts revealed long thin tanned legs that went on for miles while the top hung so low I copped an eyeful of tits and a lacy pink bra, as well as a collarbone that revealed how thin she really was. Her hair was piled messily on top of her head and her face was bare of makeup. She was missing all the jewellery she usually wore at the clubhouse, which also meant she was missing the fucking jingle-jangle noise that followed her throughout the place.

Our eyes met and I caught the flash of irritation in hers. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d come over so late on Christmas or whether she was pissed off that I’d checked her body out. Not that I gave a fuck either way. Taking a step towards her, I pushed my way inside her house. “We need to talk.”

Without waiting for her to speak, I walked down her hallway towards what I figured was her kitchen. The door clicked closed behind me, and she muttered softly, “Sure, come on in.”

When I reached her kitchen, I turned to face her, ignoring the glare she was sending my way. “Jesus, Kree, you’ll burn your fucking house down with all these candles.”

They lined her hallway on shelves higher than my head and filled her kitchen and dining area, too. As I glanced around the room taking them all in, I also noticed the plants she had lined up along the windowsill and scattered around the room. There had to be at least ten plants in there. I should have picked her for a fucking greenie, though, with the vibe she had going on. Kree was into herbs and crystals and talked in what felt like another language half the time with her discussions on star signs and moon phases and shit. Also, she’d been known to speak her mind occasionally, but usually she was too fucking soft as far as I was concerned. But fuck, she was the best damn bartender we’d ever had, so that was all that mattered to me.

“Haven’t yet,” she said, her voice firm. “What’s so urgent that you need to barge into my home at nearly ten on Christmas night?” The hint of fire I heard in her voice surprised me, but it shouldn’t have. With everything I knew about her, I knew she would go to the ends of the earth to protect her home and everyone in it. Someone forcing their way in—even someone she vaguely knew through work—wouldn’t be something she’d be comfortable with.

“I’ve been talking with Zane.” Her cousin.

She stiffened at that and blinked once, but full fucking points to her for maintaining her cool. “And?” Even her voice didn’t waver.

I reached into my pocket and pulled the envelope out that I’d brought with me. Dropping it on the kitchen table, I said, “He told me what’s going on.” Lifting my chin at the envelope, I said, “That’s for you, and I don’t want any of it back.”

Frowning, she picked up the envelope. It was when she looked inside it that her carefully maintained composure finally shattered. “Fuck, King,” she said as she looked from the envelope to me. “I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”

I scowled as she tried to hand it back to me. Shaking my head, I said, “No, it’s not. You need it. I don’t.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but a little voice carried through the air, calling out to her. “Mummy, I don’t feel so well.” A moment later, a boy entered the room, coming straight to her and wrapping his arms around her legs.

I knew his name to be Tommy, and his age to be four. I also knew his father to be a cunt who Tommy and his younger sister, Mara, needed protection from.

Kree crouched low and took Tommy’s face in her hands. Concern etched her face as she said, “Do you feel like you might vomit, baby?”

He nodded his head. His face was so white I figured she probably had less than a minute before he made good on that. She figured it, too. Scooping him up in her arms, she hurried out of the room with him, leaving me alone while trying to soothe him with love.

My fucking gut tightened at the image of mother and child.

Fuck.

I raked my fingers through my hair.

Fucking Christmas.

If I could wipe this fucking season off the calendar, I fucking would.

Ten minutes or so passed before Kree came back to me. Anguish covered her face. “I can’t accept that money, King.”

“Why?” I challenged her.

“It’s too much. There has to be at least five thousand in that envelope.”

“Ten thousand,” I corrected her, ignoring the way her eyes widened in shock. “And you still haven’t given me a good reason.”

She swallowed hard. “I don’t want to owe you.” Wrapping her arms around her body, she added, “I never want to owe anyone ever again.” That was when her voice cracked. I knew the reason for that, too, but I didn’t bring it up. Kree struck me as a proud woman; the last thing she needed was me throwing her past in her face when she was trying desperately to leave it behind.

I picked up the envelope and placed it in her hand. “Take it and don’t fucking argue with me. We both know you need it. I’m not going to mention it again, and you don’t owe me,” I said with force. “And one other thing, I’m switching your shifts around at work so that you don’t have to work as many nights anymore. Those kids need you at home.”

With that, I stalked down her hallway, not waiting for her response. My body crawled with the need to get out of there as fast as I fucking could.

Good deeds weren’t my fucking thing.

I rubbed the back of my neck again, feeling the beginning of a headache forming.

Motherfucker.

I needed to screw my way through tonight and fuck this tension out of my body.

Hell, I needed to fuck my way into oblivion and forget every-fucking-thing about Christmas.

 

Click here to check out release dates and info on the Sydney Storm MC series.

The next book, Hyde's Absolution, is due for release on the 28th February.

 

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