little breathless as he picked up, and he knew the moment was only going to get worse when Smokey’s voice sounded over the speaker.
“He got Hawke on the way into town.”
Kicks closed his eye against the words, the question rising on his lips he was almost too afraid to ask. “Is he…?”
“No,” Smokey said. “He’s too fuckin’ stubborn to die. But Rory was on the back of his bike.”
“Mother fuck,” Kicks said. He threw the blankets back and slipped from the bed, grimacing at the come leaking out of his hole. He let out a small groan of appreciation when Jude appeared with a warm, wet cloth, and he searched for boxers as his lover cleaned them both off. “Where’s he at now? How’s Rory?”
“He’ll live. He got thrown from the bike and into the ditch off the side of the road. But that ain’t all.” He stopped and took a breath. “Jax was with them. They was meeting some contact who said he had a lead on Hydra, but it was a fuckin’ set up. They took them to St. Joe’s. Jax is in pretty bad shape. Last I heard, he wasn’t conscious yet.”
“And Hawke?” Kicks demanded.
“Broken arm, broken collarbone. Could’a been worse. Rory said it wasn’t Hydra, but Hawke told him the fuck was wearing a Devil’s cut, and they wouldn’t act without him giving the say-so.”
Kicks pinned his phone between his shoulder and ear, then struggled into his jeans. “I’m gonna take my truck. Jude’s with me. You wanna ride out so you can get there faster?”
“I fuckin’ got Maddie with me,” Smokey growled, though Kicks knew his irritation wasn’t at the small girl. There was a tense pause, then he said, “Nate’s there too.”
“The fuck, man?” Kicks asked. “Since when?”
“Since he was trackin’ him, I guess,” Smokey said, sounding furious. “Fucker.”
Kicks took a breath as he pulled his cut over his shoulder, then glanced over at Jude who was dressed and waiting by the bedroom door. His heart thumped hard in his chest, full of some emotion that he was pretty sure didn’t have a name yet. And fuck, whatever it was, it meant he loved this man with every fiber of his being.
“Let Rory know we’re on our way. Tell him not to leave with Nate,” Kicks said.
“He already knows. I’ll be heading out the second Gunner gets here.”
Kicks wanted to tell Smokey to hang back, but he knew better than that. He was the President of the club, and he needed to handle this shit. “I’ll see you there, brother.” He hung up, then reached for Jude’s hand, and he took it immediately. He gave it a single squeeze, then swept into the kitchen for the keys to his truck and led the way out the door.
As he climbed in, Jude pulled out his phone, and Kicks gave him the address for the GPS. It only took a second to sync, and then they were hauling ass down the road, eating up miles, though it would be hours before they got there.
“How bad is it?” Jude asked quietly.
Kicks let out a breath. “Hawke’s pretty bashed up. I don’t know what condition Jax is in, but Rory’s only got a couple scrapes.” He rubbed at his eye, then settled farther back into his seat. “It wasn’t Hydra, but it was some of his men.”
He saw the way Jude wasn’t able to resist twisting in his seat, looking behind him to see if they were being followed. He knew the compulsion too well—the same feeling he’d gotten back when they first met, and they were nearly gunned down on the side of the road.
But he knew Hydra and his club hadn’t come down this far yet. But he was getting closer, and the road was getting shorter.
“This means it’s almost time, doesn’t it?” Jude asked.
Kicks gave a stiff nod. “Yeah, babe. I think it does. Nate’s back, and this was a bold fuckin’ move. Signs only point in one direction.”
“I’m scared,” Jude admitted, and Kicks loved him just a little bit harder for that honesty.
“No one is gonna fuckin’ touch you. I’ll protect you with my last breath.”
“I know,” Jude said very softly, and he reached for Kicks, laying his hand on his thigh. “That’s what terrifies me the most. I don’t want to do this without you, but I also can’t ask you not to throw yourself in front of a bullet to save the people you love.”
Kicks had no answer to give him—at least not one that would make any of this feel any better. So instead, he lifted Jude’s hand from his thigh and pressed a wet, messy kiss to the center of his palm. “We’ll get through it. I might not really know shit about God or fate or any of that. But my gut tells me I didn’t come this far, and find you when I needed you most, only to lose you at the end of it.”
“Your faith might be just a little bit stronger than mine is right now,” Jude said in a shaking voice.
Kicks couldn’t help a small grin—not mocking, just braver than he felt before. He kissed Jude’s hand again, then laid it against the beat of his heart. “That’s alright, babe. That’s what we do, isn’t it? When one feels a little bit weak…”
“The other one can be stronger for a little while,” Jude breathed out. “I love you.”
This time there was no hesitation as the words left his lips. “I love you too.”
The End
Coming Soon
Hawke doesn’t talk about his past—and it’s not because he has a stutter that rarely lets him speak more than three words at a time. The shadows of what was haunt his every waking hour, but the Broken Chains MC have been a sanctuary he never expected.
And Hawke is the sort of man who knows better than to cross lines, especially when it comes the safety of his brothers. But when Jax, the VP of the Cobras, looks at him like he’s a whole man instead of shattered pieces of the person he was before he left his home behind, he can’t help but want to be just a little bit wicked.
Acknowledgments
I want to take a moment to thank all of the people who have spent countless hours over the years, indulging me with theological and philosophical debates. But in particular, for this book, I want to thank Luke and Shona who I have known almost all my life, and who constantly give me the courage to be the person that I am.
Afterword
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Also by E.M. Lindsey
Broken Chains:
Book One: Tidal Wave
Book Two: Backfire
Book Three: Broken Wings
Baum’s Boxing:
Book One: Below the Belt
Book Two: Fortune and Fate
Book Three: Fringe Contender
Breaking the Rules:
Book One: Renegades
Book Two: Temptation
Book Three: Forsaken
Irons and Works:
The Complete Series With Bonus Content
Book One: Free Hand
(In German)
Book Two: Blank Canvas
(In German)
Book Three: American Traditional
(In German)
Book Four: Bio-Mechanical
Book Five: Stick-and-Poke
Book Six: Scarification
To Touch the Light- An Irons and Works Holiday novel
Love Beyond Measure
The Edge of Heaven
Love In Slow Motion
Magnum Opus Series:
Verismo
Staccato
Stand-Alone Novels:
Like Water Catching Fire
Forget-Me-Not
Heartbeat Repeating
The Other Side of Here
Paranormal Romance as Ariel Millar
Carpe Noctem:
Book One: Cold Hard Ground
About the Author
E.M. Lindsey is a non-binary author who lives in the southeast United States, close to the water where their heart lies.