Ride Hard (Raven Riders #1)(84)

Claiming, devouring, penetrating, there was something so soothing in the roughness of his kiss. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, she couldn’t move, and she didn’t care at all. Because she felt like she hadn’t had a deep breath since the last time their lips had met, and, once again, Dare had known exactly what she needed. As much as the deep demands of his kisses left her head spinning, they also made her feel stronger, more able to handle this new blow. So as her arms wrapped around his neck, she surrendered everything he wanted—and maybe some things he didn’t. Because she’d never been more certain that she’d fallen in love with Dare Kenyon than she was right at that very moment.

“Christ, Haven,” he rasped around the edge of a kiss. He was rock hard against her stomach. “I’m so f*cking sorry.”

“What for?” she asked, breathless and more turned on than she’d ever been in her life.

He shook his head. “Everything. Just f*cking everything.” He grasped the sides of her face in his big hands and rested his forehead against hers. His eyes absolutely blazed at her. “I will keep you safe. I will give you the life you deserve. I promise.”

“I know,” she said. She didn’t doubt him. Not at all. If it was within his power, she knew he would.

“You do?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said. “I believe in you, Dare. No matter what.”

He stroked his hands down her hair, smoothing his palms over her neck and shoulders. Like he couldn’t stop touching her. Like he had to touch her. As much as she needed to touch him.

“I’ve got shit I need to jump on, but I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She wasn’t. Not really. “I really could go tonight,” she said. “I hate that anyone here could get hurt, or that you’d be on the hook for so much. For me.”

He cupped her face in his hand, and his thumb dragged across her cheekbone once, twice. “We got this.”

“Okay,” she said on a long exhale.

“Okay?” He arched a brow, exuding so much confidence that all she could do was agree.

“Yeah.”

He kissed her again, a long, drawn-out meeting of lips and tongue that left her wanting more. Always more, with him. “Then I’ll find you later.”





CHAPTER 26


Dare found Maverick sitting at the desk in his office, his fingers flying over the keys. They had a 911 e-mail alert system that sent e-mail and text messages to every man in the club, and it was the easiest way to get urgent information out fast. Sitting in one of the chairs, Phoenix had his cell to his ear, deep in discussion with Walker Harrison, president of the Brothers of Steel MC, headquartered about two hours away in West Virginia.

Dropping into the wooden chair next to Phoenix, Dare braced his elbows on his knees and scrubbed at his face. What a clusterf*ck this whole thing was, though on some level he wasn’t surprised. He’d known for weeks now that Baltimore wasn’t done with them and that shit was playing out right now, just like his gut had told him it would. Because sometimes the past just wouldn’t f*cking die.

The only thing he hadn’t counted on was that Haven would be at the center of the danger.

Sonofabitch.

But now at least he knew exactly what the threat was. Dominic and these Iron Cross f*ckers. And Rhett Randall and however many men he had at his side.

“Thanks, Walker. We’ll see you Friday,” Phoenix said, and then he hung up.

“They’re in?” Dare asked.

“A hundred percent,” Phoenix said. The Brothers were a newer, smaller MC that the Ravens occasionally crossed paths with, since they rode and lived in the same general region. Eager to build their reputation, the Brothers sometimes did business with the Ravens and had almost always followed the Ravens’ lead when the chips were down.

And they were f*cking down. Right now.

Maverick punched a key and turned toward them. “Word’s out. I’ll handle assigning people as they make their way in.”

“Good,” Dare said, looking his cousin in the eye. If he had to walk through hell, there was no one he’d rather do it with. “I need to catch Doc up on all this.”

“Before you do,” Maverick said, looking from Dare to Phoenix and back again, “we really paying this money?” Skepticism was plain in his voice.

That right there was the hundred-thousand-dollar question, wasn’t it? Dare shook his head. “Fuck, no.” It wasn’t that he didn’t have the money. And it wasn’t that he wouldn’t pay it for Haven if he had to, because he would. In a heartbeat. Hell, he’d do it for anyone they took under their wing, because they knew the risks involved with taking on the world’s lowlifes.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Phoenix said, nodding.

Maverick’s expression took on a grim satisfaction, and not a little relief. “So what’s your play?”

“Caine gets us the identity documentation and reloca tion logistics on Friday. We move the women as soon as we have it. Friday night, we cancel Saturday’s exchange and tell Dominic—”

“He can go f*ck himself,” Phoenix interjected.

Dare nodded. “That, too. We tell him to send Randall our way if that’s what he needs to do. And then we take care of the threat that’s going to keep on coming whether we pay off the Iron Cross or not. Paying them not to talk isn’t going to keep Haven’s father from finding her if that’s what he’s intent on doing. He’s too close as it is.”