(Hounds of Hell MC)
Motorcycle Club Romance, Suspense
Date Published: November 1, 2024
Margot — I’ve loved Ryder since we were kids, but he’s never been the type
to stick with anyone for long. Being a deputy sheriff means I see the world
differently–by the law. He’s the opposite. The Mafia took my father
from me. When they return to threaten everything I care about, including
Ryder, I realize the line between right and wrong isn’t so clear. If
we’re going to survive this, I’ll need Ryder’s strength.
Maybe this time, we’ll face danger together.
Ryder — Margot’s been right in front of me for years, but I’m
the guy who never sticks around. Commitment? Not for me. Now she’s all
I see. When the Mafia comes after the Hounds, everything is at stake.
Margot’s not just a deputy sheriff — she’s the woman I’ve
always needed. The woman I love. I’ll die before I let anything happen
to her.
EXCERPT
Ryder
The next day Ryder smiled to read the text from Margot Donner.
Margot: If you still think Razor is okay with it, I’ll come see you
later today.
They’d become close after her mother’s death. She was the only
woman he’d ever kept as a friend for years and never fucked. Yeah, she
was a cop, but she was one of his favorite people.
“What are you grinning about?” Beast asked, shifting pillows
behind Ryder’s back.
Ryder wasn’t admitting to shit. He had a reputation to maintain.
“Just waiting to hear Axel got these fuckers,” Ryder told him,
groaning as the bigger biker hauled him up into a sitting position on the
bed.
“That’s it, huh?” Beast went over to the desk in
Ryder’s room at the clubhouse, lifted off a tray that held his
lunch.
Beast’s dark-eyed gaze was filled with humor. His muscular friend,
with his wild fringe of dark hair, towered over Ryder in the bed. Once he
situated the tray in front of Ryder, his beefy arms folded across the wide
expanse of his chest. The face of the dark wolf inked on his friend’s
forearm drew his attention with its sinister gaze.
“Maybe,” Ryder said, steadying the tray on his lap, shaking his
head. His MC brothers were still feeding him soup and applesauce. “Can
I get something solid?”
Beast shook his head. “Nah, you need to heal up.”
Ryder snorted. “I’m full of fucking holes. I’m surprised
this shit isn’t running right out of me the minute I eat
it.”
The chime of Beast’s phone had him fishing his device out of his
pocket. “Yep?”
The deep voice on the other end of the phone sounded like Hero.
Ryder tried hard to listen — he knew his twin brother was handling things,
especially with his girl in danger. Still irked him greatly that he
couldn’t be there to fight at Axel’s side. To have his back.
That had always been the deal between them. To always have each
other’s back.
As Beast listened to whatever Hero said, Ryder let his head fall back
against the pillows with a deep sigh. Alex, now Axel, had been born first by
seven minutes. A fact his twin had never thrown in his face, never used at
all. And Axel certainly earned the part of the older brother even though
they were identical. Axel could be counted on when Ryder needed him. If he
was hung over from a night of partying, Axel let him stay home and took up
the slack at work. When he got himself into the occasional fight, Axel
tipped the scales if he’d underestimated the other guy. Or came to
bail him out.
Ryder also had spent years watching his brother earn everyone’s
respect. His brother and Hero made all the business decisions for the
garage. When it came to dirty jobs the club needed doing, Axel was among the
first approached. Cool-headed and calculating, Axel didn’t miss a damn
thing.
Ryder didn’t command the same respect. He wasn’t disrespected.
And he got important jobs from the club. Okay, maybe Ryder wasn’t as
cool and calculated as his twin. But he was a good shot, a damn good fighter
with any weapon or hand-to-hand combat. And when crazy was called for? He
could do crazy all day long.
Yes, Ryder was a ladies’ man. Axel took comfort from the occasional
sweet butt although not to the extent Ryder did. He liked the ladies and
didn’t limit himself to the ones who came to every party fishing for a
Hound to claim her as his old lady. He liked his women fast and flashy, like
his bikes. Ryder appreciated a nice ride.
Unlike his bikes, he never stayed with any woman more than a few weeks.
“Love” was amazing the first few weeks. But as attachment tried
to take hold, Ryder felt himself being strangled by those thin vines of
commitment.
“It’s done,” Beast told him, ending the call.
“Sounds like a fucking free-for-all. Sheriff Sawyer got to the Mafia
guys first, then once our guys got there, Axel beat the shit out of his
girl’s ex. Probably the same fucker who shot you and killed Elsie and
Clyde over at Cowboy Pete’s.”
Ryder smiled. He knew Axel would deal with it.
“The guy dead?” Ryder asked, bracing for regret. It would have
been nice to put down the guy who shot him full of holes — or gave the
order — himself.
“Nah,” Beast told him. “Sawyer took him in.”
That could spell trouble down the road.
“At least Axel’s old lady is a little safer,” the other
biker told him as he wandered out of his room. “Until they let him
out.”
Axel’s old lady.
Everyone called her Angel but if he remembered rightly, her name was Sadie.
Was she his twin’s old lady?
Yeah, the way it started out, Ryder’d assumed she was some sort of
pity thing his brother had taken on. But weeks went by after she decided to
hide in Mercy, and his brother stayed close to her all that time. By the
time her ex and his men found her, yeah, he had to admit they’d felt
like a couple. The young woman looked at his brother like a knight in
shining armor. That wasn’t anything new. Ryder had seen that before.
His brother had a soft spot for women and kids.
It wasn’t until the party Saturday night when Axel brought her to the
clubhouse that it hit Ryder. The way his twin looked at her. Damn. He should
have noticed before. His brother had found love, and he knew next to nothing
about the woman except she’d been horribly abused by her ex and looked
at his brother like he hung the fucking moon.
Shouldn’t he know something about his brother’s girl? If she
was in Axel’s life, she’d be in his too. Hell, they’d
brought her to the clubhouse a couple of days ago to keep her safe. Ryan
heard her hustling around beyond his door. She never popped in to check on
him though.
Lying still with the pain bleeding vividly into his awareness, Ryder
reached for his pain meds, taking a double dose now that he knew his brother
was safe. His brother had saved his girl and beat the fucking bad guy. Axel
had to be feeling pretty good about things about now.
Ryder tried to shift on the bed to make himself comfortable, willing the
pills to take the pain away sooner rather than later.
He and Axel couldn’t have been further apart in life right now. His
brother was the conquering hero, setting things right for his girl and his
dumbass twin brother. Ryder went home with a girl, and she got shot in the
face, killed. Ryder got shot with her, providing the enemy with a weak board
in the fence. They had to take him out of the hospital to keep him safe from
the Mafia until Axel resolved it. Didn’t that make him a useless pile
of shit?
Before his eyes slid shut, his gaze fell on his phone. He realized
he’d never answered Margot, and he wanted to before he crashed.
Lifting the phone in his shaking hand, he read back over the
conversation.
Margot: If you still think Razor is okay with it, I’ll come see you
later today.
About the Author
Jamie Targaet is the author of the Hounds of Hell MC. She’s anxious to
introduce you to this club of gorgeous, dominant men and the lucky women who
surrender to them. The ride is going to get wild at times, not going to lie.
But there’s thrilling action, scorching hot sex scenes, and all the
feels.
Jamie writes erotic romance for Changeling Press, a little fanfiction on
the side, and she’s an aspiring horror writer in another life. She enjoys
time with her family (including the fur babies). She likes good horror
movies and shows, emo metal and classic rock, and time spent in other worlds
writing and reading. She loves hearing from readers and is looking forward
to hearing from you.
Author Contact Links
Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok:
@changelingpress
