Stripping Her Defenses

By Jessie Lane

He can’t change the scars on her body...
but fate will give him a second chance to mend the scars he put on her heart.

Riley Sullivan and the Ex Ops Team are headed to Miami undercover... as bikers. Following up a lead, the men will perform their investigation acting as members of the Regulators Motorcycle Club with the club’s permission. Surrounded by hardcore bikers and investigating missing strippers, Riley finds the last person he ever expected to see again—his ex-wife.

Kara Sullivan left the man she loved after a tragic accident cost them their unborn son. After years of therapy, she’s come to grips with the loss and has re-emerged from the pain a brand new person. That doesn’t mean she’s ready to face the man who inadvertently broke her heart, and who she’s hurt in return.

Riley has never stopped loving her and he never will. He’s ready to fix their marriage and move on with their lives, however Kara’s reluctance to renew their relationship isn’t their only problem. Danger lurks just around the corner... and there’s a chance she could disappear permanently.

Contains mature content.
Ex Ops Series:
Secret Maneuvers #1 – Available Now
Stripping Her Defenses #2 – Available Now
Mission Delivery #2.5 – Available Now
Sweet Agony #3 – Available Now
Sweet Recovery #4 – Available Now
Sweet Eternity #5 – Available Now
Bullets and Bluebonnets #6 – Available Now

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jessie Lane
• Release date: Oct 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311690111

Jessie Lane

Jessie Lane is an Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks Top 100 best-selling author. She writes Paranormal and Contemporary Romance that might make you laugh, cry or do both at the same time! A sometimes shy, sometimes hyper, but often snarky chick who’s addicted to books, caffeine & hot fictional men. She lives in Kentucky with her two crazy ass grown kids, her dad and her overprotective alpha husband that she’s pretty sure is a latent grizzly bear shifter. Jessie has a passionate love for reading and writing romance, cliff hanging suspense, and out-of-this-world characters that demand your attention or threaten to slap you around until you pay attention to them. So, you’re going to pay attention now, right? *winks*Please visit Jessie at: jessielanebooks.com for more information!

Book preview

He can’t change the scars on her body…

but fate will give him a second chance to mend the scars he put on her heart.

Riley Sullivan and the Ex Ops Team are headed to Miami undercover… as bikers. Following up a lead, the men will perform their investigation acting as members of the Regulators Motorcycle Club with the club’s permission. Surrounded by hardcore bikers and investigating missing strippers, Riley finds the last person he ever expected to see again—his ex-wife.

Kara Sullivan left the man she loved after a tragic accident cost them their unborn son. After years of therapy, she’s come to grips with the loss and has re-emerged from the pain a brand new person. That doesn’t mean she’s ready to face the man who inadvertently broke her heart, and who she’s hurt in return.

Riley has never stopped loving her and he never will. He’s ready to fix their marriage and move on with their lives, however Kara’s reluctance to renew their relationship isn’t their only problem. Danger lurks just around the corner… and there’s a chance she could disappear permanently.

Raves for the novels by

JESSIE LANE

Secret Maneuvers

…I couldn't put it down. It’s not just the love story between Belle and Bobby, the suspense, the action, the drama, the friendships, the loyalty... I could go on and on. There is relatability to the characters, it’s a well written, well thought out and developed plot… I loved this one, by far one of my top ten reads so far this year!

- USA Today Bestselling Author Chelsea Camaron

First loves, second chances, and too many heart-stopping moments to count!! Secret Maneuvers is without a doubt sure to be a huge hit, because this story is romance magic from page one up until the very end!! I lost count of how many times I had to use the highlight feature on my iPad with this story, there were just so many great moments and lines that I wanted to go back to! Whether they were tender or filled with raw emotion, hilarious or beautiful, this was just one of those stories that gives you a little of everything to endure and enjoy!

- The Autumn Review

The author manages a lightness and humorous atmosphere, even though the story is highly emotional at the same time… Not only does it have bone-melting romance but thrilling action scenes as well. The writing is, as always, engaging and draws you in on page 1. I’m excited to find out who is next in the Ex Ops series! If you haven’t read Jessie Lane yet, what are you waiting for?

- Swept Away By Romance

Stripping Her Defenses

STRIPPING HER DEFENSES Blew. Me. Away! I liked this one even better then the first book, SECRET MANEUVERS. The characters were engaging, the pacing perfection, and the story-line was dynamic. This is Jessie Lane's best work yet!

- Reading Between the Wines Book Club

In this installment, Lane addresses the serious topics of depression, death, and how to deal with being married to a military spouse. A deep emotional tidal wave ebbs and flows throughout the story as Lane flips back and forth to let us see the reasons behind a failed marriage and the steps one woman takes to reclaim her life and self-worth. Steamy sex scenes spice things up the storyline while heart to heart dialogue keeps the story from becoming just another trope. Humor injects randomly to offset the somber tones while interesting new characters are introduced to announce a spin off series Lane is creating with fellow writer, Chelsea Cameron.

- Smexy Books

Ice

There is angst, yes. There is drama, yes. There is suspense, yes. There is sexiness, yes. But I think what it is, the reason behind why I liked this so much is the reason behind the MC. The driving force, the reason why they do what they do, why they were founded. I don't know that I have read a book like this one before.

- Books chocolate and lipgloss

The action in this book truly has you on the edge of your seat. Chelsea and Jessie have you smiling and then nervous with each page turned. There was one scene that I was shocked and gutted. It was hard for me to read (and I have read some shocking, gruesome scenes) but this one...WOW this one was truly shocking!

- Halos and Horns Book Blog

Hammer

This story was so much more than I expected… I just love a badass with a warm gooey center!

- Belle’s Book Bag

I have waiting for a year for Hammer and it was WELL worth the wait. Camaron and Lane did not disappoint in this story. I actually think they kicked the volume WAY up in this one with Hammer and Desirae. This story was intense and sexy… If you enjoy a different type of MC romance, then definitely add this series to your TBR list.

- The Book Chick

Stripping Her Defenses

Ex Ops Series #2

By Jessie Lane

Copyright © 2014 by Jessie Lane

Published by Whiskey Girls Publishing

All rights reserved.

Edited by C&D Editing, Asli Fratarcangeli, Read Head Editing & Shannon Webb

Cover Design by Jessie Lane

Cover Images by: © Igor Kireev | Jaroslav74 | Shutterstock

For more information on Jessie Lane:

http://jessielanebooks.com/

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Copyright © 2014 by Jessie Lane

SMASHWORDS EDITION

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Jessie Lane, except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. If you no longer want this book, you may not give your copy to someone else.

The purchase of this e-book allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the rights to resell, distribute, print, or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload to a file sharing peer to peer program. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. If you no longer want this book, you may not give your copy to someone else. Delete it from your computer. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Trademarks: This book identifies product names and services known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective holders. The authors acknowledge the trademarked status in this work of fiction. The publication and use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

This book contains mature content not suitable for readers under the age of 18. This book contains content with strong language, violence, and sexual situations. All parties portrayed in sexual situations are over the age of 18.

Other Titles from Jessie Lane

Ex Ops Series

Secret Maneuvers

Stripping Her Defenses

Mission Delivery

Sweet Agony

Sweet Recovery

Sweet Eternity

Bullets and Bluebonnets

Regulators MC Series

(co-written with Chelsea Camaron)

Ice

Hammer

Coal

Big Bad Bite Series

Big Bad Bite

Walk On The Striped Side

Big Bad Bite Returned

The Demon Who Loved Me

Star Series

(co-written with M.L. Pahl)

The Burning Star

The Frozen Star

Standalone Stories

Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind

(co-written with Abbie Zanders)

Purrfect Santa

(co-written with Chasity Bowlin)

The Alpha’s Secret Family

Lone Wolf Wanted

Sassy and a little Bad-Assy

Bears Do It Better

Stripping Her Defenses

Ex Ops Series Book 2

Jessie Lane

Dedication

To anyone who suffers from depression. This book is for you. To show you that there’s always hope no matter your struggle.

Also, this is lovingly dedicated to my parents, who unfortunately know how it feels to lose a child. I love you both.

Acknowledgements

This book wouldn’t have happened without Chelsea Camaron. Frankly, there were days when I wanted to say eff it and kill everyone off. Everyone should thank her that I didn’t do just that.

That being said, Kara and Riley’s book turned out to mean a lot to me. I hope you all enjoy it!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Epilogue

Note From The Author

About The Author

Connected Books

You May Also Like

Chapter

1

Kara

Life was good. I’m talking about, can’t stop smiling, singing in the shower, and an added bounce in your step kind of good. Ever since I’d told my husband, Riley, the news five months ago—that we were unexpectedly pregnant—the problems plaguing my marriage had seemingly disappeared.

I couldn’t help smiling down at my small, protruding belly. He was the reason everything was better, after all. Little Riley Sullivan Jr. wasn’t going to be here for another three months, but he was already a miracle baby.

Hearing a sound from the direction of our kitchen, I looked back over my shoulder. Riley was walking towards where I was sitting on the living room couch, with two glasses of sweet iced tea in his hands. When he saw me watching him, his lips spread into that boyish grin of his that melted my heart since the first day of our junior year of high school.

Setting our glasses down on the coffee table, he eased down on the couch, trying not to jostle me too much, and then slipped his arm around my shoulders. I cuddled into my husband’s side so I could lay my head on his chest. When the movie we’d been watching started to play again, Riley started running his fingers through my short hair.

Yes, life was practically perfect now. Perhaps Jr. was an ‘oops baby’ because the condom broke, but he was still very much wanted by his parents. This was a relief because my husband had planned our life out before he’d shipped off for Navy boot camp, and a baby at this point in our lives had not been in his grand plan. He’d wanted to be further along in his military career and expected me to at least have graduated from college before we started trying to have children.

Therefore, when my period didn’t show up, fear had hit me like a ton of bricks. Not because I was afraid my husband would ask me to do anything drastic, like get an abortion, but because, as far as I was concerned, our marriage was already in the danger zone. A baby could metaphorically shoot us from the level of ‘rocking the boat’, to proportions similar to that of the Titanic hitting the iceberg.

Riley never said anything about the precarious state of our relationship, but his actions had been the reason I knew we had problems. He didn’t cheat. He didn’t lie, steal, or abuse me in anyway. He just left all the time. He was never home.

As a military wife, especially one of a Navy seal, it was expected of me to understand that when my husband had to go, he had to go. It wasn’t his assigned missions that bothered me, though. It was the unassigned ones. The missions he volunteered for. seals deployed for six months and then came home for a period of time, between six and eighteen months, depending on when they were needed.

Being back in the U.S. didn’t always mean that he was home with me, though. Some of that time was spent training elsewhere. So, in other words, Riley was gone a lot for his job. Add in the missions he volunteered for, and Riley was gone all of the time. And if a man was happy at home, would he really want to be gone from his wife? This led me to start to wonder, is my husband no longer happily married to me?

I had thought I was a good wife.

After growing up with a single mother, who was a Vegas showgirl, I’d been determined to be everything my mother was not. Instead of my mom’s sassy, free-spirited attitude, I’d strived to have a more conservative outlook on life. Mom showcased her pinup girl body, loving the way men followed, begging for a few seconds of her time, while I worked my butt off to fight her sultry genetics. I constantly watched what I ate, exercised religiously to keep my weight as low as possible without looking like a walking skeleton, lifted light weights, and bent myself into sideshow carnival contortionist yoga positions to try and keep my breasts and hips small instead of the hourglass figure they wanted to be. Mom was Ginger from Gilligan’s Island, and I’d forced myself into a Mary Ann mold to avoid becoming her.

Riley thought all of it was ridiculous, but told me he understood my fear of turning into my mother. With the way he’d been acting the last couple of years, I wondered if he really did understand, or if he was simply telling me what he thought I wanted to hear.

Honestly, I thought the two of us had been on the same page about all of my hang ups since we’d started dating in high school. Riley had even helped me pick out a career to pursue when I’d explained to him what I wanted: something as far from my mother’s profession as possible. He’d suggested I be a kindergarten teacher because, as eighteen-year-old Riley had put it, Seriously, babe, what’s more wholesome than being a kindergarten teacher? You can work with little kids and that will keep you busy while I’m deployed. It’s perfect for you. Then with an eyebrow wiggle, he’d added, And we can play teacher. That’s hot.

After I had smacked him for his joke, I’d realized he was right. It was perfect for my goal to be as normal as possible, compared to the insanity my mom had raised me in, behind the curtains of her Vegas shows. Therefore, after the two of us had moved to his first duty station, I had started college. It had ended up taking me six years to complete a four year Bachelor’s Degree in Education, moving from one base to the next, but I was almost done.

My final exams were tomorrow, and then I would finally graduate in a week. The fact that Riley would actually be here to see me walk across that stage for my diploma, instead of on a mission, was like a dream come true. Even my mother was flying in two days from now so she could see me accept my diploma, which was like icing on the cake for me. I might be determined to not be my mother, but that didn’t mean I didn’t love her.

My mom was an amazing woman. At forty-five, she was still drop-dead gorgeous. She was also intelligent and resourceful. I loved that she had raised me with an abundance of affection, always making time for me when I had needed her. I just hadn’t loved growing up behind the spotlights of Vegas with half-naked dancers and the revolving door of men who followed them.

Men, such as my father, who were attracted to the Sin City living that was abundant under the bright lights of Vegas. The problem with men like my father: they were never happy. They were always looking for more. More good times. The next big gamble that could pay off. The newest gorgeous showgirl. And men who liked living like that didn’t want to stick around with a wife and a kid.

After growing up with that, I wanted a normal life. I wanted any future children of mine to have the kind of family life you saw on Leave It To Beaver. Add in my hidden fears of Riley leaving me, as my father had left my mother, and you could say I was determined to be the next June Cleaver. I hadn’t realized that might bother anyone until Riley had started acting funny, which, unbeknownst to him, had only caused my fear of him leaving me to worsen.

Over time, he’d volunteered for more and more missions until, finally, he was gone all the time. On several occasions, I tried to talk to him about it, but if he didn’t brush off my concerns, we ended up in an argument.

The day I had heard him mutter under his breath that I was acting crazy and too obsessed with my appearance and our lifestyle, my heart had broken in two. Why would he say those things after I’d explained to him about how I felt? Didn’t he understand how lucky he was to have a solid home life? Didn’t he understand my desire for trying to create

Reviews for Stripping Her Defenses

[obsessed7by7books · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

♦♦♦♦ I received an arc in exchange for an honest review ♦♦♦♦
After reading the blurb of this book, I knew I had to read it as it had bikers, now everyone that knows me, knows I love bikers.

I found this to be a good read, your emotions will be played with in this book, you will never know how to react from one point to another.

There is suspense, heartbreak and heart rendering moments. A second chance read with a whole lot of sexy bikers.

A well written read and I cant wait to see what the next book brings