Hellfire (Book 2): Lions MC, #2

By APRIL LUST

This is book 2 of the Lions MC trilogy. Book 3 is available everywhere now!

The wedding is fake, but f**king her is as real as it gets.

I saved her from a psycho ex.

But I won't be satisfied with a "thank you" and a kiss on the cheek.

After beating that creepy b*stard black and blue, I've got fire in my veins…

Not to mention, a steel rod behind the zipper of my jeans.

I claim her gratitude the only way I know how:

With a long night of moans.

Afterwards, she might be exhausted, but the morning is no time to rest.

Because the demon on her trail won't give up without a fight.

There's just one surefire way to keep her safe from him.

Drag her to the altar and make her mine for good.

I might go to hell for what I'm forcing her to do.

But I don't give a sh!t.

Because here's the truth:

Hellfire might hot, but f**king her is way, way hotter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sopris Page Press
• Release date: Jun 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393258902

Book preview

Hellfire: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Lions MC) (Book 2)

By April Lust

The wedding is fake, but f**king her is as real as it gets.

I SAVED HER FROM A psycho ex.

But I won’t be satisfied with a thank you and a kiss on the cheek.

After beating that creepy b*stard black and blue, I’ve got fire in my veins...

Not to mention, a steel rod behind the zipper of my jeans.

I claim her gratitude the only way I know how:

With a long night of moans.

Afterwards, she might be exhausted, but the morning is no time to rest.

Because the demon on her trail won’t give up without a fight.

There’s just one surefire way to keep her safe from him.

Drag her to the altar and make her mine for good.

I might go to hell for what I’m forcing her to do.

But I don’t give a sh!t.

Because here’s the truth:

Hellfire might hot, but f**king her is way, way hotter.

Chapter 1

Nicole

We drove the bike to his place, but didn’t linger there for long. He just needed to switch to his car and put his bike into storage.

As soon as I got into the car, I slept. At first it was only pretending to be asleep so I could hide the intensity with which I reacted to Maxwell and our heavy petting session in my living room, but I quickly discovered how exhausted I truly was. I didn’t wake until we came to a stop.

At a chapel.

I was more than a little startled and honestly speechless. Where in the hell was this going? Sure I’d had a good time, too, but this was moving awfully fast. I didn’t think physical attraction was enough to warrant marriage.

Turning to Maxwell, I found him already staring at me.

We’d better get this taken care of before we go any further.

I stared at him, wide-eyed. Did he mean...? Was he suggesting we get married before we have sex? That hardly seemed plausible considering how intensely he’d been trying to get into my pants recently, and I certainly wasn’t the type to tie the knot before jumping into the sack. I didn’t necessarily get hot and heavy with every guy I met, but I didn’t need a ring or God to tell me it was okay either.

Um, I don’t... I didn’t even know what to say to him.

His full lips kicked up into a smirk and he clarified. We’re heading into some dangerous territory. I’d leave you out of it if I could, but the Lions have already decided you’re part of this whole mess. If something happens to me, I want to make sure you get what’s mine.

This didn’t really clear things up for me. What? Why would you...I mean, don’t you have other family or something?

The skin around his eyes tightened, his eyes darkening. No. I don’t. And I don’t want the Lions ending up with it just because they offed me. Hardly seems fair, does it?

Okay, but marriage? Why not just change your will or something?

I had to admit this all sounded absolutely ridiculous. And impossible. And downright unreasonable. Marriage? Really?

He shook his head. No time. Marriage is instant and binding. Produce that marriage license and there won’t be a soul to contradict your claim.

I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, worrying it between my teeth. This was absolutely crazy. I didn’t think I deserved his assets and I didn’t want him to die in the first place. Shouldn’t we just go to the police? I was about to ask this very question when he pushed yet again.

Nicole, this is important. They aren’t going to go away and they won’t leave you alone either. That’s my fault. Let me do this to make it up to you—it’ll be worth it, I promise.

He looked at me so sincerely, so earnestly that I felt myself begin to cave. I still felt it was ridiculous, but I also felt there would be opportunity later to fix all of this if things went south—which they most certainly would. If this would put him at ease, what was the harm? And I didn’t want to start off this crazy road trip to wherever to do whatever with a fight. He clearly felt strongly about this and I didn’t want to jerk back too harshly.

Okay. Fine. But when this is all over, we get an annulment or divorce or whatever. I don’t think this is your fault.

He smiled at me and nodded. Deal.

I felt relieved that he agreed to my terms but I suddenly had the strange feeling there was another reason for this whole mess. Somewhere in the back of my mind I had the wild idea that he was doing this to hold on to me, but I quickly dismissed it. There was definitely another motive; I just didn’t know what it was.

We got out of the car and when I hesitated outside the chapel, Maxwell took my hand and led me inside. I didn’t protest. It thankfully wasn’t one of those super cheesy chapels, though it was hardly traditional. The outside looked like a warehouse or something while the inside was set up to look like part restaurant, part church. It wasn’t bad, just not exactly how I would have pictured my wedding.

We didn’t bother changing clothing, though they offered rental tuxes and wedding dresses. I did get a bouquet of purple and white flowers and a veil, though I wasn’t even sure why. We bought rings, which were nice if very plain, silver, not gold. Before I could think twice about this or really process what was happening, I was saying I do. And then Maxwell was kissing me and I forgot everything else.

Chapter 2

Maxwell

Though she was my new bride, I didn’t consummate things with Nicole that night—or morning or day or whatever—because we still had to drive. As far as we could for as long as we could. I needed to put some serious distance between myself and the Lions before someone got ahold of Nicole again.

I was still shaken by what had happened to her while walking that night. How much worse it could have been.

It wasn’t a lie when I said I wanted to marry her because I’d gotten into this. The Lions were after her because of me. That was unacceptable in my book. But it wasn’t the only reason I’d dragged her to that church and invited her to be mine until death do us part. Or until she demanded a divorce, but I was hoping to put that part off for a while.

No, it was actually her ex-boyfriend who gave me the idea of tying the knot. He was obsessed with her, that much was clear, and I was pretty sure at this point that he was dangerous, too. Maybe not in the same way the Lions could be, but not far from it. I was pretty sure he would stalk her and pressure her and maybe even hurt her until he got his way or she turned up dead.

I wasn’t willing to let that happen.

This was my way of protecting her. If we were married for real, I could keep an eye on her and it would be much more permanent in Ben’s eyes. Whatever claim he felt he had on her, our being married would snuff out. Or at least I hoped it would.

That being said, I knew better than to tell Nicole all of that. It was pretty obvious that whatever else Ben had been, he’d been controlling to say the least. Nicole had taken a big step to try to distance herself from him and I could see how, in her eyes, my marrying her to protect her would be seen as the same type of controlling. It wasn’t, but I wasn’t sure I could convince her of that.

So I’d leave it as all having to do with the Lions until later. Much later.

WE STOPPED ONCE WE hit California. Along the way Nicole didn’t say much, but drifted in and out of sleep. We listened to music, stopped at rest areas and gas stations, but otherwise remained fairly quiet. I thought maybe she was still in shock over being nearly raped the night before and married right after.

I drove for as long as I