Blazing Rebels MC Romance Series: The Complete Collection (5 books)

The Blazing Rebels Book 1, Chapter Three: Wrench

The light from the sunrise beaming through the windows on the main floor was much brighter than in the attic, making me wince and cover my eyes with my forearm as I walked down the staircase. Tank was smoking even with his arms crossed, a red flag that something had him even more pissed off than usual.

“I’m going to ask you a question and you’re going to answer honestly,” he said once I reached the bottom of the stairs. “Are you dealing again?”

I stopped in my tracks, my face dropping to a frown before quickly turning to a strange mixture of anger, disgust, and shame. That was what had him so mad?

“What the fuck, Tank? You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“Answer the question.”

“You wake me up at seven in the morning and accuse me of dealing drugs? Fuck off.”

“I said, answer the question, Wrench,”

“No! Jesus Christ, Tank, fuck.” I fell into one of the empty wooden chairs sitting near the prep counter and ran my hand over my buzzed head, my veins pumping with adrenaline that I hadn’t felt in a while. I heard Tank’s footsteps move across the room to drop his cigarette butt into an empty beer bottle, but I was focusing on the floor, taking deep breaths, trying not to let my anger get the best of me.

“This place is filthy,” he said, “Tell the cooks I told them to get their shit together.” I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood. Once he realized I wasn’t biting, he said, “For the record,” sticking his hands in his pocket with his head hanging an inch and as close to sheepish as Tank could look. “I didn’t think you were. Just had to make sure for myself. See your honest answer.”

“And?” I asked, though not really sure what answer I was looking for. Annoyance toward the man still clouded my mind. The man I had looked up to since I rode into Mascid ten years ago.

A smirk crept up his face and his dark brown eyes got a funny look in them. “You looked a little guilty.”

“What? How?”

“Guilty people act defensive, like you just did.”

“Can you blame me for being defensive? You woke me up before I could even—”

He cut me off and ignored me. “But lucky for you, I know you’re not. There’s no way you’d be dealing without using, and I know a user when I see one,” he said. “I know you’ve been clean.”

I scrunched up my nose and looked back at the floor. I didn’t know if I should accept it as a compliment or an insult. Thankfully, I felt his hand on my shoulder and he said, “Proud of ya, Wrench. You’ve come a long way.”

The comment touched me. People didn’t say those types of things often enough. But the tender moment was interrupted by Tank’s obvious discomfort, and he slapped me on the back before taking a large step away from me. I decided to be the first to change the subject. “So, what the fuck is going on, anyway? Why’d you even ask?”

Tank rustled in his jacket pocket until he pulled out two items and displayed them on the large wooden table in the middle of the kitchen where the cooks would take their dinner breaks. One was a newspaper article and the next was a tattered piece of fabric that was yellow and green with a portion of a flame stitched onto it, clearly ripped to pieces. Except it didn’t look like it was torn by a man, it looked burnt. My eyes widened at the sight of the fabric, identifying it immediately.

“Tank, is that—”

“Yep,” he answered. “That’s our patch.” He pointed at the newspaper article next and I picked it up to see a picture of the remains of a house explosion in the northeast of Mascid.

Confused, I looked back at Tank with my brows knitted and he continued talking. “Last night after our meeting, I went home and was thinking about the Freeways and them being on our territory. Then I remembered I read about a house explosion in the paper earlier this week. It was in one of those ritzy areas, you know, with all the rich people, but I guess, coincidentally, no one was living in the house.”

He was pacing back and forth, reminding me of Sherlock Holmes, if Sherlock smoked cigarettes instead of pipes and said, “Somethin’ didn’t seem right about that. Explosions don’t just happen in rich neighborhoods, especially in empty houses. The police called it a gas explosion, an open-and-shut case. But a gas explosion would have done more damage to the surrounding houses… This seemed more… confined. So, I decided to investigate myself.”

The Blazing Rebels Book 2, Chapter Five: Archer

When I pulled into the Tavern, it wasn’t even noon, but I was already craving a beer. Hopping off my bike and trudging to the door, I kicked a small stone that was in my path. “Stupid rock,” I mumbled under my breath and opened the door to see the usual crew, minus Tank, there for breakfast.

“Hey, if it isn’t lover boy,” Ripper said, in between mouthfuls of pancakes. “Why aren’t you with your little damsel in distress?”

“Hmph.” I pulled out a chair and slumped into it before calling over to Evelyn. “Hey, Ev, can I get a beer with my pancakes?”

“It’s eleven in the morning,” she said, narrowing her eyes, but grabbing a pint glass. “And beer doesn’t go with pancakes.”

“Yeah, whatever.” I shoved my hands into my pocket and looked away.

“Not going as planned in paradise?” Wrench asked.

“She’s just so… mad at me,” I said, baffled at the emotion.

“For what?” Crow growled. “For savin’ her life?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Apparently.”

“Ha. Spoiled brat,” Crow said, and Ripper turned to him.

“Why do you blame her?” he asked. “Maybe Archer just isn’t as good with women as he thought he was?”

Wrench piped up next. “Quality women are harder to please than the women you pick up here.”

“I’m great with women,” I said underneath my breath, though Wrench’s words got under my skin. It had been years since I talked to a woman who wasn’t obviously turned on by the biker lifestyle. What if I was doomed to never have a chance?

“The poor girl is frightened.” Evelyn came walking up with a plate and a tray in her hand. My mouth watered as she set down the plate of fluffy pancakes drenched in gooey syrup and slab of butter on the top. Next, she set down the pint of beer I requested along with a mug of steaming coffee. “You’ll thank me for the coffee at two when you’re awake instead of having a nap.”

“Thanks, Evelyn,” I said, the delicious aroma of coffee alone perking me up. “I know she’s scared, though. I thought of that already. But this morning, I don’t know, I made her coffee and breakfast, and she didn’t even say thank you or good morning.”

“Waste of time, tryin’ with that girl,” Crow said, and Evelyn swatted his shoulder.

“Archer, she’s scared, confused, and probably lonely without her father,” Evelyn said. “It’s going to take more than food to get her to open up. She needs to trust you.”

“But what else am I going to do?” I said. “I’ve already offered to protect her and cooked for her. That’s literally more than I’ve ever done for any woman before. And the other women liked me.”

“If you like her, you’re going to have to figure it out.” She patted my shoulder. “I believe in you.”

She walked back behind the bar before calling, “Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. Tank is taking the day off, says it’s slow and he’s feeling a little rundown. Says you should too.”

“Great,” I said and cut off a piece of pancake. “Won’t even have anything to keep me out of the house today.” Pondering as I let the sweet and salty flavors melt in my mouth, I swallowed. “How the hell do you make a woman trust you, Wrench?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I dunno. Just prove you’re someone worth trusting.”

“Well, I am someone worth trusting.”

“How does she know that, though?” asked Wrench. “For all she knows, you’re just waiting until she lets her guard down until you swipe.”

“That’s insane,” I said. “I’m doing this to protect her, not to hurt her.”