Charming

By Harley Wylde

Dakota -- Having a half-brother who’s an infamous assassin isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. At twenty-five, he’s still micromanaging my life. The moment Specter tells me about an arranged marriage to one of his associates I do what any sane woman would… I run. Never counted on meeting a biker I can’t seem to forget, nor did I plan on our two days together to have lasting consequences. When bad men find me, there’s only one person I want. Charming. I’m just not certain I’ll get a warm reception.

Charming -- Dakota is different from anyone I’ve ever known, and it’s not because of who her brother is. It’s simply her. Some sixth sense keeps telling me she’s in trouble. When she calls and asks for help, I know I’ll do anything for her. The men after her have no idea she’s mine, or that she’s carrying my kid, but they will soon enough. I won’t rest until they’re six feet under.

WARNING: Charming is part of the Devil’s Boneyard MC series and can be read as a stand-alone. There’s a guaranteed happily-ever-after, no cliffhanger, and no cheating. This is an age-gap romance of more than twenty years with bad language, adult situations, and violence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Feb 11, 2022

Book preview

Prologue

Dakota

I’m sorry. I just hallucinated. I glared at my phone before putting it on speaker. Repeat that, please?

My big brother sighed. I’ve arranged a marriage for you, Dakota. It’s a good match. He’ll keep you safe. Take good care of you.

Did I fall into a wormhole? Accidentally time travel?

What? he asked, sounding bewildered.

Specter, you realize we’re not in the Middle Ages, right? You can’t marry me off to some guy sight unseen. The world doesn’t work that way anymore.

Technically…

I growled and flipped off my phone, wishing he could see the gesture. "You listen well, big brother. I am not marrying some guy you’ve picked out for me. You can’t do this to me!"

You’re my only weakness, Kota. It’s only a matter of time before you end up with a target on you. Do you have any idea what it would do to me if I lost you? Like I lost… He went silent, and I knew he was thinking about his daughter. The one they’d tortured, raped, and murdered.

I love you, Specter. You know I do. But I can’t live like this. I have a life! Friends. A job.

I’m sorry, Dakota. Someone will be there in a few hours to pick you up. You’ll meet your intended by morning and be married shortly after. I swear I would never pick someone who would hurt you. The guy is someone I trust.

I screamed and ended the call, throwing my phone against the wall. I hated when he did shit like this! Usually, I went along with it, at least for a little while. Not happening this time. I wouldn’t marry some guy just because Specter wanted me to. Nope. Nope. Nope.

I started throwing my stuff into a bag. I eyed my busted phone and realized this was it. My only chance to escape. I packed as quickly as I could, loaded my car, and put my apartment key in the manager’s drop box. Then I got the hell out of town as fast as I could.

Even though I didn’t have a destination in mind, I hit the highway and decided to see where life took me. When I ran out of gas, I’d make a decision. Either stay wherever I’d landed, or drive a little farther. Whatever the case, I wouldn’t sit on my ass and wait for my brother to manage my life. He’d gone too far this time. Spend a month with some bikers? Sure. Get sent on an extended vacation to some unknown private island? Not a problem. But this? Hell to the fucking no.

Sorry, big brother. I’m not playing your games this time. I pressed the accelerator a little harder. There was a good chance he had other trackers on me besides my phone. I’d found one in the heel of my shoes before. He’d realize where I was and could still send someone to get me. I only hoped my running away would send him a message. I wasn’t some pawn on a chessboard or a toy he could play with.

It was one thing to worry about me, and another to micromanage my life. He hadn’t even asked me about getting married! Maybe if he’d let me meet the guy, get to know him a little, I might have felt differently. But this was positively insane.

I cranked the radio and sang along to Halestorm’s Better Sorry Than Safe. She might be talking about a romantic sort of relationship, but the need to flee seemed pretty perfect for my current situation. I belted it out and poured my heart into the lyrics. I could be running headlong into danger. Or this could be the start of a new adventure. I’d never know if I’d stayed behind and waited like a good little girl for big brother’s hired men to come pick me up.

I was done playing it safe. It was time to live a little…

Chapter One

Dakota

One Month Later

Sighing, I thought about my brother. I’d gotten a new phone with a different number. I didn’t delude myself into thinking he couldn’t reach me. He had people who could track me down, give him my number, or do pretty much anything else he asked. And yet he hadn’t… I had to wonder why.

What are you up to, Specter?

Stop daydreaming, Dakota, my boss barked from farther down the bar.

I gave him a salute, grabbed the pitcher of beer and mugs, then carried them over to one of my tables. The guys were obnoxious, with way too many grabby hands. I’d already tried moving away multiple times, but it did little good. They latched onto me just the same. Glaring didn’t help either. At one inch shy of being five feet tall, I wasn’t exactly intimidating. Not even to drunk guys who looked barely twenty-one. In fact, I’d wondered if their IDs were fake, but the boss had let them order alcohol.

Not my circus, not my monkeys. If the big guy wanted to get in trouble for serving minors, that was all on him.

Can I get you anything else? I asked.

How about your number? one of them asked, leering at me.

Nah, we don’t need her number. Why don’t you give us a round of blowjobs? All of them laughed. I knew the boss wouldn’t take kindly to me dumping a pitcher of beer over their heads, but it was tempting. My hand tightened on the handle as I slowly counted to ten silently, hoping to cool my temper.

Before I could even respond, a tall man with scruff along his jaw and a leather cut over his shoulders slammed the guy’s head into the table. Apologize.

I hadn’t even seen him! Where the hell had he come from? I glanced around and saw several people staring in our direction. The guy pinned to the table didn’t seem so tough now. I got a closer look at the man who’d come to my rescue.

My heart skipped a beat, and I wanted to check my chin for drool. Handsome men were a dime a dozen. Even big sexy ones. But something about this one checked all the boxes for me. I’d never really dated much or had a genuine kiss before. I didn’t count the lackluster ones I’d received in the past. Some guys needed to learn to use less tongue. No woman wanted to be slobbered on like a dog was licking them.

So why did one look at this guy make me want to press my lips to his?

I started to fan myself and stopped. You’re being ridiculous! He’s a stranger.

While that was true, I knew his type. Seeing a guy like him get all protective had always been my kryptonite. Well, unless the guy was my brother. Specter just annoyed the crap out of me. But his friends trying to keep me safe? Biggest turn on ever. Not that I’d ever have told him that. And his buddies had never, not even once, tried to hit on me.

I eyed the man again, wondering if he was one of the bikers who knew my brother. He’d helped more than one club over the years. If this guy knew Specter, I shouldn’t be lusting after him. Being with him would only end in trouble. The type that left me with an overprotective brother threatening to kill the poor guy, or worse, Specter would try to marry me to the man.

Sexy or not, I didn’t want to ride off into the sunset with someone I didn’t know.

S-sorry, the guy stammered. We were just giving her a hard time.

I barely contained my snort. Sure. Let’s go with that. The asshole had been groping me and making lewd suggestions since he got here. I didn’t understand why the men always thought the servers were up for grabs. It wasn’t like you bought a beer and got a complimentary blowjob or something.

I’ve been watching the lot of you. If so much as one more finger lands on my girl, I’ll rip your Goddamn hands off and shove them up your asses. He growled and put more weight on the guy. Understood?

He got a jerky nod from the guys at the table before he backed off.

His? I arched an eyebrow as I watched the hunky man. Since he was saving my ass, I wasn’t about to call him out on his brutish behavior. Not in front of these guys, anyway. Besides, my savior was hot. More than hot. Scorching.

Marriage material? No. But… It didn’t mean I couldn’t be tempted to take him home for the night. Being the baby sister of an assassin meant my options had been limited over the years. Well, truthfully, it was worse. I’d had none.

Come on, beautiful, he said, holding his hand out to me.

I glanced at the patches and stitching on his cut. The one that said President gave me a slight pause. I didn’t remember my brother mentioning this club, but what if this guy figured out who I was? Could I risk it?

I saw his name… Charming. I bit my lip so I wouldn’t laugh. This guy was anything but Prince Charming. More like Captain Caveman. The almost cute-sounding name put me at ease.

He led me over to the bar and I realized he’d been sitting in the shadows, probably for some time since he had two empty mugs by his spot and one that was still half full. How I hadn’t noticed him, I wasn’t sure. The bartender would have been serving him, though, so it wasn’t like I’d passed by him all that often. My tables were in his line of sight, but far enough I’d have never spotted him in the shadows.

Thanks for the assist, I said.

No problem. I don’t like seeing men treat women like that.

I leaned against the bar and studied him. Really? According to my brother, men like you are nothing more than beer-guzzling machines who screw anything that’s female.

My brother might not have said those exact words, but close enough. I’d been shipped off to a club for protection a while back. I hadn’t observed them much. The clubhouse had been off-limits. Everyone had been nice enough while still maintaining their distance. It had been clear I was an obligation and nothing more. Which was one reason I hadn’t stayed long.

Sounds like your brother needs an education. He took a swallow of his drink. How many bikers has he known?

I shrugged a shoulder. To hear him tell it? A few. He helped some guys not too long ago. Devil’s Fury? I got sent to them for about a month before I got the hell out of there. I knew what my brother was up to. Not sure the club realized it, though. Big brother hoped one of them would claim me.

Telling him that much was a gamble. If he knew them, he might figure out who I was. And I seriously didn’t want a guy attempting to get into my pants simply because I was related to the infamous Specter. It had happened too many times, and I’d shut down every single one. I might want a hunky man in my bed, but not on those terms.

His gaze was assessing and intense. You have a problem getting claimed by someone like me?

How cute. Even big tough guys could get sensitive if they felt they weren’t accepted. The way his jaw tightened slightly told me enough. More than one person had told him he wasn’t good enough at some point or another.

No. But I don’t want to be some sort of trophy either. Or a way to get in my brother’s good graces. I want a man who likes me and not my family connections. There. The truth and vague enough, if he hadn’t figured out my identity yet, there was a chance he never would. At least, not anytime soon.

He leaned back a little, taking me in from head to toe. Any guy who doesn’t want to spend time with you is fucking stupid. For the record, I’m not dumb.

I smiled and moved closer, brushing against him. He hadn’t even asked what connections I had. I was liking this guy more and more. Others would have been trying to figure out who I was related to and wondering how they could use me for their own personal gain. Not this one. Nope, he was just a red-blooded man wanting to have some fun. That I could deal with.

I get off in twenty minutes. Care to prove you’re different? Oh my God. Had I really just said that? And all flirty like? I’d never been like this before. Usually, men either infuriated me, or had me stammering like an idiot.

I’ve got all night. Might be persuaded to stay longer.

I brushed my lips against his and knew I was playing with fire. Challenge accepted.

He grinned as I got back to work.

I kept waiting for him to ask who my brother was. It never happened. Even though I sweet-talked my boss into letting me serve Charming and spoke to him a handful of times while I waited on orders for my tables. If Charming wondered about my mysterious brother, he was keeping it to himself. I didn’t think he realized who I was. Most didn’t. Thanks to Specter’s job, I had a tendency to change my hairstyle and color. He’d even tried talking me into a nose job once. I’d punched him and told him to leave me the hell out of his fucked-up world.

By the time I got off work, Charming was about the only man left in the bar. I clocked out, pocketed my tips, and grabbed my things. Since I didn’t live far, I’d walked to work. I eyed him as he stood, wondering if he’d had too many beers to safely ride his bike. When we stepped out onto the sidewalk, he yanked me closer and slammed his mouth down on my mine.

I leaned into him, not caring that people could see us. All that mattered right then was the way he made me feel. Alive! I’d kissed guys before, but it had never been like this. I melted against him, dropping my things as I wound my arms around him. He held me tighter, and I felt the hard length of his cock pressing into me.

Gasping, I took a step back. My cheeks burned when I realized I was a few seconds from stripping off my clothes in public.

My apartment isn’t far, I said.

You invite strange men home often?

I shook my head. Never. But something tells me you’re trustworthy.

Then show me your place, sweetheart. He bent down to retrieve my items and started walking. Thankfully, he was heading in the right direction, since he hadn’t