Page 1 of Catch a King (Five Kings 1)

Chapter 1

Millie

The Dragon’s Ruin MC. I’m feeling nervous, which is unlike me. I don’t do nerves; I just get on with it. Maybe it’s because this is straight out of my comfort zone. This time I’m out on my own and it’s a scary place to be. Trust me to end up in a place any normal person would avoid like the plague. I know what goes on inside these steel-clad walls. I’m no fool, but then again, it appears that I am because I agreed to take this job knowing what it may involve. Danger, excitement, threats and shit I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with.

I cut the engine on my car and try to pull some courage from somewhere to go inside, but my hands grip the wheel as if it’s my lifeline in a raging, turbulent sea. Taking a deep breath, I tell myself to get on with it already, but I’m shaking inside.

The rumble of engines and squealing of tires remind me where I am as my heart jumps a million feet in the air as the yard is filled with machines and bad promises.

They’re back.

Shrinking in my seat a little, I watch from the shadows as the occupants of this hellish place pull up amid a lot of shouting and jostling. I can’t make out any more than a whole lot of leather and dark shadows as the air becomes supercharged with intent.

My breathing is fast and my heart physically shakes as I stare at an image I’m pretty used to right now. However, these guys aren’t Reapers, they’re Dragons, and if there was ever a moment I missed my family so hard it’s like a physical punch to the gut, it’s now.

My eyes fill with tears as I think about what I’ve left behind. Bikers, but they are way more than that. They are Twisted Reapers who I would kill for and die happy because of it. My family. The men I have come to love and trust above my own and why I’m here at all.

Picturing the moment when Ryder called me to his office and requested my help is probably the proudest moment of my life. They took me in, cared for me, built me into a strong woman and now it’s payback time. Yes, I’m here to prove my worth and show them I’m one of them. A Twisted Reaper who takes no shit and gets the mission accomplished, even it means cracking a few heads and wasting a few souls.

Thinking of my family gives me a strength I sure need right now, so with a sigh, I gather up my courage and prepare to head inside.

As soon as I flick the alarm, I realize my mistake.

The noise draws the attention of a couple of bikers I never saw resting in the shadows. I thought the coast was clear, and they had all gone inside but the two who turn their dark flashing eyes in my direction, were lying like sleeping panthers in the shadows keeping watch.

Only the burn of the cigarette end reveals their presence and the smoke that follows it reminds me I’m about to face two fire-breathing dragons.

Bring it on.

I set my mood and walk with confidence toward the entrance and almost make it past, before a slow drawl stops me in my tracks.

“Going somewhere, darlin’?”

I turn and see the deadliest eyes wrapped in nightmares regarding me from his position on his Harley. Dark unruly hair hangs to his shoulders and his smile is twisted and drips with venom.

“I’d turn and walk away if I were you.”

“Why?”

I stand and confront the beast, although that is not really a good description of the man who takes my breath away with his rugged good looks and bad boy vibe he has going on.

“Because girls walking into the Castle alone have a habit of finding more than they bargained for. If you want to keep your dignity and your morals, I’d turn and walk away. You have only one warning, then you are fair game.”

“And if I say no to everything you have just so kindly offered?”

My voice is defiant, but I shake inside as he uncurls his body from the steel beast between his legs and prowls out of the shadows. My soul weeps tears of fear as I stare at the menace approaching because this man is wrapped in evil and a wasted soul. As he comes into the light, I shiver at the ice in his gaze as he runs those eyes across my body in one sweep of lust. His face is handsome in a way that spells danger, but the scar above his eye proves that perfection is tarnished in a brutal way.

As he steps forward, I see the derision in his eyes as he thinks me a fool, and as his gaze sweeps the length of me, I shiver involuntarily. This man is evil wrapped in beauty, and for some reason he scares the hell out of me.

I can almost taste his words as he stops just short of touching me and leans in, his breath fanning my face like a dragon’s breath that burns.

“If you take one step through those doors, you’re mine. I get first go at your mighty fine ass before I hand you over and watch my brothers rip the innocence from your soul. You have been warned.”

I swallow hard and from somewhere a bravery taught over the past few years controls my mind and I feel my eyes flash and my lip curl as I lean in closer and whisper, “I’d like to see you fucking try.”

His hand whips out, catching me by surprise and grabs mine before pulling it around my back, spinning me into his body facing the shadows. Then he leans down and snarls, “Maybe I’ll strip you naked and fuck you in the yard because women who think they have a choice excite me. I love to see the fire die in their eyes as I rip it from their soul and trample on any principles they may have thought they had before they opened their smart mouth and pissed me off.”

I feel the blade of a knife against my throat as he hisses, “Do you like pain my little spitfire because I do? Do you like being driven to the point of oblivion until your life flashes before your eyes—I do? And do you enjoy getting fucked so hard that you can’t walk for a week because I promise you one thing, once I’ve finished, you won’t have the energy to speak and answer me back anytime soon.”

---