BLURB
She risked her life to save his. Now he can’t let her go…
Tripwire
I’m untethered.
Alone.
Nomad.
It’s necessary as I hunt down a dangerous enemy of my MC, nothing but the wind in my face and my bike underneath me. No one else will suffer on my watch—none except those who deserve it.
But one afternoon changes everything, and if it wasn’t for the sinfully beautiful siren paddling toward me on a surfboard, I’d be lost to a watery grave.
On dry land, my mission takes a back seat to my fascination with the girl who’s got saltwater in her veins.
I need her to trust me if this is going to work.
But if I can’t take out the threat, trusting me might be the last thing she does…
Marina
It was a no-brainer diving into the ocean to save a drowning biker.
If only I’d known how that one act would turn my life upside down.
See, it turns out that the gorgeous man is reckless, too.
He’s trouble with a capital T.
Everything girls are warned to avoid.
But I can’t seem to walk away. Not when he’s a mystery I’m desperate to solve.
What chased him off that cliff?
And if I hand him my heart, will there be anything left when he’s finished with me?
CHAPTER 1
Trip
I was weightless for a brief moment before gravity caught up to me and my Harley—Lucy—as we plummeted off the cliff and into the Pacific Ocean below. Cold salty water closed over my head as I hit the surface. Looking down, I mournfully watched as Lucy sank into the dark depths below.
My lungs burned, begging for oxygen as I stayed underneath the water until I couldn’t see my bike anymore. When I couldn’t take the tightness in my chest for another second, I kicked to the surface. My clothes and boots were a dragging weight against me, but my strokes were strong. I was grateful for all the shit my Austin MC brothers had given me about not being able to swim. It’d forced me to learn—if for no other reason than to preserve my pride. It had just saved my life.
Drew’s worried face was peering over the cliff. We’d been sent on a mission to take out one of our club’s biggest threats. Eric had been one of the heads of The Texas Syndicate and had come after our Austin Chapter. It’d been a huge mess, but we’d managed to tie up every loose end except him.
Our club had been forced to go legit, and our president had let us make up our own minds about whether we wanted to stay with his chapter, go to another, or go Nomad.
As much as we loved our brothers in Austin, Drew and I had volunteered to take down Eric once and for all. Until we did that, we’d be living the Nomad lifestyle. We weren’t ready to settle down and live a life of rules. We were outlaws at heart and, though Austin would always be home, we needed more. Maybe when Eric was dead, we could figure out what to do with ourselves.
Eric had proven to be smarter than we’d all anticipated. We’d chased him through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and now here we were in California, a year later. There’d been confrontations as we’d found him, but he always managed to sneak away like the cowardly shit that he was. His hidey holes were numerous and I was beginning to lose my patience.
“Hang on!”
Teeth chattering from the cold water, I looked over toward the sound as shock and hypothermia almost had me submerging underwater. A fucking angel on a surfboard was paddling furiously in my direction.
The beach wasn’t too far away, but the current and waves here at Big Sur were known to be treacherous. Even with my newly acquired swimming skills I’d known it was going to be a trek getting back to land. Especially in my boots and jeans.
She reached me in no time and I took her hand as she helped haul me up onto her board. I slumped over it, trying to catch my breath.
“Thanks.” I eyed her clothes, leggings and an off the shoulder shirt that revealed silky skin. She hadn’t been planning on taking a dip.
“I saw that guy side swipe you. Nearly swallowed my tongue when I saw you go over the guardrail.”
My impending hypothermia was replaced with a growing warmth. My God she really was an angel, jumping in this freezing water for a stranger. Her smile dazzled me. Her blonde hair was wet and streaming down her back. Despite the cold water and the near death experience—not to mention the most heartbreaking thing of all, losing my bike—she was now the center of my entire focus. The fact that she’d just rushed into the ocean to help someone else was baffling to me. Were people really this selfless?
“Good thing I had my very own guardian angel here to rescue me,” I told her with a grin.
She laughed and shook her head. “Definitely not an angel.”
“If not an angel, a siren,” I teased. “But instead of pulling sailors down into the deep, you rescue handsome, charming men in need.”
Her brows shot up, a smile pulling at her lips. “You sure think highly of yourself.”
I shrugged and gave her my best crooked grin. “And why not?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Alright, let’s get back before the surf picks up. This is not a spot you want to be out on a board.”
And yet, here you are.
I shifted and straddled the board behind her. “Lay down. I’ll help paddle.”
She hesitated, but then her pretty brown eyes went to the water behind me. Whatever she saw there had her lying down in a hurry. I laid behind her, my face over her ass and I couldn’t help but smile. It didn’t matter that I was freezing my own ass off, and I could see her shivering as well, she was distracting me from how much my unexpected plunge blew.
Eric was going to pay for running me off the fucking road and destroying my bike, but maybe the day wasn’t a complete loss. At least I wasn’t dead and, as a bonus, I was tucked up behind a gorgeous woman with a phenomenal ass. It was hard to not take a bite. Just a small taste.
Somehow, I knew she wouldn’t appreciate that, and since she’d saved my life, I behaved myself. Between the two of us paddling we managed to make it back to the beach without incident.
Drew was on the sand waiting when we got there and I waved him off. He threw up his hands, as though to ask ‘what the fuck, bro?’
I pointed to my rescuer and waggled my brows.
Shaking his head, Drew started for the stairs that would bring him back up to the road.
“Is that your friend?” she asked.
“Not right now,” I replied.
She eyed my cut suspiciously as I tried to wring it out. A dubious look flickered over her face.
“Fine. It is, but I don’t want to ride bitch behind him all the way to San Francisco. Any chance you’re headed that way?” I motioned for her to go before me on the stairs. One would think I was being gentlemanly, but really it just put me face level with her butt again. I picked up her board and carried it over my head. It was the least I could do.
“I am,” she tossed over her shoulder.
“Care to give a marooned stranger a ride?”
“Wow,” she laughed. “Laying it on a bit thick. Like saving your life wasn’t enough.”
I’d love to lay my thickness on you. I bit my tongue. There were times when I’d been told I could be a bit…much. I wasn’t trying to offend her and drive her away. Quite the opposite, I was desperate to spend more time with her. I knew nothing about her, but it didn’t seem to matter. She called to me like the siren I’d nicknamed her.