Dragon Renegade: A Rebel Dragons Motorcycle Club Romance, #2

By Ava Catori

She’s a tangled ball of yarn, a complete mess. Why can’t she get her life together?

He’s my brother’s enemy. He’s everything I’m not. My ex’s rival.

When Roxy Brooks falls, she falls hard. Not in love, but in life. Scraped off the bathroom floor of a seedy strip joint, she’s forced to face reality. Her ragged and dangerous ways have almost left her dead. The only way to survive is to change the only life she’s ever known.

Carter (AKA Bear) is a no-nonsense, rough and ready member of the Rebel Dragons Motorcycle Club. When he drags Roxy to the emergency room for help, he’s left wondering why he’s even sitting there. If he takes her under his wing, he’ll be disappointed. If he lets her go, she may wind up dead. Pushing against the odds and a rivalry bike club, Bear decides to reach out and save a lost soul. Will he regret ever getting involved?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ava Catori Books
• Release date: Dec 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781386536048

Book preview

Chapter 1

Get help! A shrill scream filled the air. Panic and chaos took over the back room.

Out front, the music blared. It was hard to hear much of anything. A slender woman with massive, fake tits sauntered onto the stage. Her long blonde hair shimmered under the lights as she moved. She wrapped her hand around the stripper’s pole and arched her back. With a twist of her hips, her thigh wrapped around the pole – a gymnast in the making. She honed in on a target and made eye contact. It always made for better tips when she connected to the men watching her dance and gyrate.

The scream from the back was muffled. The horny men were lost in the scene that played out before them. Thankfully, the manager’s ears were tuned for trouble. It was only a step away most nights. The Golden Pony, Bridgewater’s favorite strip club, always saw a bit of unpredictable pandemonium.

The music slowed as the girl finished her routine. A quick switch of strippers, and a mahogany hair girl graced the stage. Her towering heels sparkled like ruby slippers. She moved her ass to the beat of the music and worked her magic.

Men held money out to tease the women. Come closer – and it’s all yours.  Drunken frat boys filled the space, along with old, hen-pecked men who tried to forget their bitter wives and boring lives at home.

Another high-pitched scream permeated the atmosphere.

Bear tore into the back room, looking for the source of trouble. The manager was right behind him.

It’s Roxy, one of the girls shouted.

Shit, looks like an overdose, the manager groaned.  It wasn’t the first and probably wouldn’t be the last. We need someone to run her over to the ER.

Fuck, Bear grunted. He stooped down and lifted the girl over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Roxy’s long, dark hair dropped down his back.  Get me keys.

The manager dug into his pocket and pushed them into Bear’s palm. Take mine.

I’ll give you a shout later. Bear knew his bike wouldn’t do them any good. Once outside, he placed Roxy in the car’s passenger seat and strapped her in. She was limp; a ragdoll barely able to hold herself up. Roxy, what are you into now?

She didn’t answer. Her breathing was raspy and shutting down. If she didn’t get her shit together soon...

They should have kept an overdose kit at the club, but they’d gotten lax. Bear hammered the gas pedal and headed for the business side of town. The Golden Pony was tucked next to an industrial park, away from the bright lights of Bridgewater. The people who wanted to find it, found it. The others could continue pretending it didn’t exist if they didn’t see it.

Bear didn’t usually work at the club. Sure, the Rebel Dragons owned the spot, but that’s what employees were for. Only the previous night, a couple of bouncers partied after work and took on an all-night buffet. Food poisoning took out the lot and left the strip joint short-handed. Bear covered the indoor shift, while two of his Dragon brothers handled the outside bouncer shifts.

It was going to be a rough night. Last time Roxy overdosed, the Naloxone gave her seizures. At least she was still alive. She’d been clean last he saw her. What the hell happened?

Once withdraw started, she’d shake, sweat, and toss her cookies. The meds would make her miserable, but if they saved her life... shit. Where’d she pick-up the Smack? The paraphernalia was scattered across the bathroom floor where they found her. She must have hit it when she staggered and collapsed.

As soon as they arrived at the emergency room, the triage nurse sent her straight to the back for help. The hospital wasn’t packed, so it made it easier. Bear paced in the small glassed cubicle she was brought to, and scanned her arms. There were no tracks. Fucking A.

Under her toenails, the doctor said. He pointed to her feet. She’s trying to hide it. Junkies get creative. My guess is she just restarted. There aren’t that many marks yet. Looks like she shot it up a couple of times recently.

The marks on her arms had long faded, though there were still a couple of small scars on her neck from her first round. A bit of scar tissue must have formed, because the crook of her arms didn’t give away her former addiction.

Chapter 2

Roxy and Bear went way back. His sister used to babysit Roxy and her brother, Brandon Brooks. They were just kids. Time wore them down. Life got tougher the older they got. The Brooks family lived down the way. Only when the neighborhood started to turn, Bear’s parents moved them out, while Roxy’s family stayed behind. Somehow, she’d stumbled back into Bear’s life.

He’d watched her a few times at The Golden Pony. She was a crowd pleaser; had some kind of magic that drew the men in. She was also one of the only strippers that got Bear’s cock hard. Not that the other girls weren’t pretty; he just had a soft spot for Roxy.

She’d grown into a gorgeous flower. Her full hips and curves certainly got his attention. He’d barely thought of her after leaving the old neighborhood, but when their paths crossed again, how could he not. Of course, he ran into her during dire circumstances.

He was the one who came to her rescue. Why did he bother? Sure, they’d connected the first time she fell, but he knew who she ran around with. Cruz Garcia was an asshole. He was the rival club’s top guy. The Bandero’s Motorcycle Club was a thorn in his side, but Garcia, he was a prick like no other.

Disgusted, Bear shook his head. Shame she was throwing her life away. Roxy Brooks was damn sexy when she wasn’t passed out on a bathroom floor.

Bear’s shoulders tensed thinking of the Bandero’s Motorcycle Club. Those bastards were responsible for the heroin that found its way back to Bridgewater after the Rebel Dragons banned it. Cruz was responsible for that. He got it started up again. Fucking ass wipe.

For a long time, Cruz Garcia was glued to Roxy’s side. It was something like five years. What she saw in that loser, he’d never know. She rode high and mighty while the two were a pair – until he decided he was finished. She wasn’t, but it didn’t matter. Garcia threw her away like yesterday’s trash.

Roxy was certainly no angel, but she deserved better than that. He treated her like a street rat once he let her go. Through the grapevine, Bear heard she was trying to clean up her act. Gossip traveled straight to the door of the Rebel Dragons. They knew who was doing what and when, anytime anything went down in the city of Bridgewater or the nearby suburbs of Alice Pines.

Apparently, she tried nursing school after finagling her way into a program. She didn’t last long. She