Innocent Ride Read online

  Copyright © Chelsea Camaron 2015

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Chelsea Camaron, except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  1st Edition Published: February 2015

  Whiskey Girls Publishing

  Editing: Asli Fratarcangeli and C&D Editing

  Cover Design by: Jessie Lane

  Cover Model: Shannon Robinson

  Cover Model Photographer: Rob Bampton

  Formatting: IndieVention Designs

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and events portrayed in this book either are from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, establishments, events, or location is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. Please do not take offense to the content, as it is FICTION.

  Trademarks: This book identifies product names and services known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective holders, The authors acknowledges the trademarked status in this work of fiction. The publication and use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  This book contains mature content not suitable for those under the age of 18. Involves strong language and sexual situations. All parties portrayed in sexual situations are adults over the age of 18.

  All characters are fictional. Any similarities are purely coincidental.

  Other Titles Available by Chelsea Camaron

  The Love and Repair Series

  Crash and Burn

  Restore My Heart

  Salvaged

  Full Throttle

  Beyond Repair

  Stalled

  The Hellions Ride Series

  One Ride

  Forever Ride

  Merciless Ride

  Innocent Ride

  The Fire Inside Series – co-written by Theresa Marguerite Hewitt

  Kale

  The Roughnecks Series

  Maverick (found in Moments in Time Anthology)

  Heath (found in Blue Colla Make Ya Holla Anthology)

  The Regulators MC Series – co-written by Jessie Lane

  Ice

  ~~~~~

  Other Titles by Whiskey Girls Publishing

  By Jessie Lane

  The Burning Star

  The Frozen Star

  Secret Maneuvers

  Stripping Her Defenses

  Mission Delivery

  Big Bad Bite

  Walk on the Striped Side

  Innocent Ride

  She is a corporate accountant. Her life is full of structure, routine, and organization. Settled, comfortable, and content, Caroline Milton loves knowing what to expect every minute of every day. More importantly, she loves knowing her life is what she pictures it to be and not what she came from.

  He is the Catawba Hellions VP and a wild one, refusing to be tamed. His motto—'hit it, get it, and go; no repeats' where women are concerned—guarantees a new woman in his bed nightly. His life, though, suddenly tilts on its axis when his wild days come barreling back with a major responsibility. Suddenly, Drexel 'Rex' Crews finds he has a real reason to settle down.

  When a situation quickly spins out of control at work for Caroline, she reaches out to the one group she least expected to find herself dependent upon—the Hellions Motorcycle Club. Asked as a personal favor from Doll to protect her best friend, Rex can't refuse.

  Protecting Caroline was supposed to be an innocent task. However, the attraction from their first meeting is a fire burning strong inside of them both. Neither can deny the pull, despite the fact that they come from different worlds.

  Can Rex show Caroline the safety and security of the MC? Can Caroline tame the wild beast inside of Rex? Can their innocent ride become a journey to long lasting love?

  *Intended for mature audiences only*

  This series contains strong language, strong sexual situations, and violence. Please do not buy if any of this offends you.

  This is not meant to be a true or exact depiction of a motorcycle club, rather a work of fiction meant to entertain.

  Dedication

  ~ Carol ~

  This series would not exist if it weren’t for you, Sav, and Jenn.

  Thank you for always being along for the ride.

  You are the deluxe model friends, beta readers, all things involved in this series, and so much more. You inspire me, you challenge me, you keep me driven, and most of all, you encourage me on the days I want to give it all up. This one is for you, ‘Lux.’

  Dear Reader,

  Please keep in mind the ride Rex and Lux are on began in One Ride, so the book will go back in some places to parallel parts of Merciless Ride and Forever Ride. By the end of the book the series will then continue on from the ending of both Forever Ride and Innocent Ride as the timeline will be caught up.

  While I know there may be expectations or predictions of what will happen between these two completely opposite characters, I ask that you toss those aside and just be on this ride with me.

  I truly hope Rex, in his own unique way, is everything you have thought all along and then some. In my heart and head, he has always been more than the man-whore everyone sees.

  Thank you for continuing on with the Hellions MC, and I hope you enjoy this ride.

  Much Love and Appreciation,

  Chelsea Camaron

  Table of Contents

  The Man I Am

  Chapter One Nightmares

  Chapter Two Mistakes

  Chapter Three Friends

  Chapter Four Past Transgressions

  Chapter Five Whiskey

  Chapter Six Policy States

  Chapter Seven Take It

  Chapter Eight One Call

  Chapter Nine Blindsided

  Chapter Ten Someone’s Watching

  Chapter Eleven Calm in the Chaos

  Chapter Twelve We Ride

  Chapter Thirteen Exposed

  Chapter Fourteen Balance

  Chapter Fifteen My Chance

  Chapter Sixteen Truths

  Chapter Seventeen Be Free

  Chapter Eighteen Trusting

  Chapter Nineteen Simply Us

  The Woman I Am

  About the Author

  Coming Soon

  Hendrix by Chelsea Camaron and MJ Fields Excerpt

  Abe by MJ Fields Excerpt

  The Man I Am

  ~Rex~

  As the wind whips around me, she dances violently, slapping the leather of my cut harshly against my T-shirt covered chest. A storm is brewing in the air around me as another one rages on inside my darkened soul.

  The road before me is curvy. They call it Dead Man’s Trail. Riding a ledge is what it feels like. With the fine line of one wrong move, life and death are in the balance as the road winds through a mountain.

  I am hours from home, and I still can’t bring myself to turn around and go back. I am not on a transport or on a run for the club. I am out alone, just me, my Harley, and the open night sky.

  Not a star shines tonight as the humidity rises and the wind swirls through the thick air. A summer storm is in the midst. My mind races as the pipes on my bike scream out under the pressure of my speed.

  “Be a man to be proud of. Carry your name—our name—with pride
,” Pop’s voice echoes in my head.

  A name. My name. Our name.

  Tessie gave my boy—her son, my son, our son—my name. My fucking name.

  Axel Devon Crews. Mini-me. One look and I fucking knew he was mine. My gut twists. Mine. My blood. My responsibility. My name. My fucking mirror image.

  Throttle down, I push on faster, harder, needing to feel something slice through me besides the disappointments running through my mind. My life is officially at a crossroads, every mistake of my past now shoved in the forefront of my mind.

  How did I get so lost? How have I become so consumed in things that don’t matter? When did I become so self-absorbed?

  I would lay down my life to protect the very cut moving across my back right now. Yet, the woman who freely lay beneath me, giving her body, heart, and soul to me, I left without a glance back. She ripped her body—literally—to give life to my seed, and I did nothing more than wink, smile, and move on to the next woman. I was so focused on myself I missed the signs. I should have known. Hell, I should have been there.

  Then, when the opportunity came for me to step up for her, did I do it? No. Shooter stepped in like I knew he would. He is a far better man than I am. Tessie deserves a man like him, not the mess that is me. No matter what life throws at them, he will be there to have her back, to be her security. He will be her strength and her calm within the storm. He will be her best friend and her lover. Everything that Tessie needs, wants, and damn sure deserves is found in the man I now proudly call my brother.

  Sure, there was a time I wanted to rip him limb from limb. He went after what could have been mine. No, he didn’t go after her, not really, not if I keep it real with myself. I pushed him there. I sent him to her. I gave him what could have been my future. The only person to blame here is me. She needed me, and I tossed her off to him. My mistakes. My losses. I know, if I am ever given a chance to have something good again, I am not going to waste my opportunity.

  When the clouds open up, the hot rain comes down, pelting me in the face, on my arms, and all my exposed skin. The road beneath me gets slick as I push on. Soft gravel gives way, and my back tire shifts under me. I don’t correct the movement. The delicate balance keeping me upright drops as does my bike, and my body hits the pavement hard. Gravel digs in even through the denim of my pants as the material rips. I feel my arms shred as my bike is no longer under my now broken body, only the unforgiving road.

  Broken, shredded, a bloody mess of a man—that is what I am.

  Pops’ voice is the last thing to sound through my head as I succumb to the blackness consuming me.

  “The past is the past; the future is before you. Change is a power we all hold. Learning from your mistakes is growth, and it’s a necessary change. How you pick yourself up when you hit rock bottom will tell what kind of man you really are.”

  Chapter One

  Nightmares

  ~Caroline~

  “You said yes.”

  “To dinner as friends,” I reply harshly.

  “Come on, you can’t be that naïve. You want this as much as I do. Give into it. No need to deny either of us.”

  “Chad, I don’t feel this is appropriate, since we work together.” And, since I think you are a complete douche, we really shouldn’t do this. I get the distinct feeling now is not the time for me to share this with him, though.

  “No one will know. Work is irrelevant unless you plan on telling someone.” He has his hands on my waist, making my skin crawl. “You can’t deny me. You won’t deny me. You’ve made yourself available to me for months now.”

  “What?” I shriek in disbelief. “Are you delusional? It was all for my job, not for you.”

  He runs his hands up and down my arms, sending a cold chill down my spine.

  “I’ll make you feel so good,” Chad says seductively as he pulls me to him. His erection presses against my belly, making me want to vomit.

  I shake my head back and forth. No. No. No.

  He has the wrong idea. This was supposed to be a celebratory dinner after securing my first new client.

  His hands move up to my neck. As they close in on my throat painfully, adrenaline kicks in. In fight or flight mode, tears prick behind my now closed eyelids while his lips crash down on mine as he squeezes my windpipe.

  The pressure to breathe builds. The helpless feeling engulfs me. Panic sets in. He is choking me firmly as he sucks harshly on my bottom lip before biting down. I am numb in fear as I taste the metallic flavor of my own blood.

  Beep.

  Beep.

  Beep.

  My alarm blaring brings me out of my slumber. I am, yet again, drenched in sweat as I rouse from my nightmare. Shaking off the negative thoughts, I look around me. The soft grays and lavenders of my very girlie bedroom come into clear vision slowly. My grandmother’s rocker sits by my window for reading, unmoving, as I remind myself I am safe. The delicate swirls of color beam off my Tiffany style lamp on my night stand as the blinking of my alarm clock seems to bring my world to life.

  “He didn’t get me,” I whisper to the air around me.

  A knee to his groin and an elbow to the back of his head as he hunched down from the first impact secured my small window of time to run.

  And run I did, straight to my car, and then I drove to Delilah’s house. That was my second mistake. My first being to ever put myself in the situation I was in with the likes of Chad the scumbag.

  In my panic, I couldn’t think of anyone or anywhere safer than Delilah ‘Doll’ Reklinger, now Crews, and her Hellions MC family.

  She put me up at her place for a few days until I could make some decisions and sort my life out. Afterward, facing my fears, my insecurities, and my mess of a life, I picked up the pieces and went back to work, realizing I could handle the ass-hat on my own—well, sort of. All in all, I have it under control in my own way, and I was hoping Doll would drop it. Wrong.

  Some things are better left alone. Too bad she disagrees with me in this situation.

  Worse than that, her man, Tripp, got involved. Then Tripp’s cousin, Rex, joined the pity Caroline party that wants to feel sorry for me; the party that wants to simply fix what I created. I did this. It is completely my fault. Why don’t they stop feeling sorry for me and see this is a product of my own stupidity?

  Rex refuses to understand my stance on remaining quiet. Yes, my college best friend, Delilah, got her man and his band of bikers to swoop in and put a watch on me, a watch that one Drexel ‘Rex’ Crews has decided to make his personal mission to handle.

  Rex doesn’t even know what happened; Delilah has kept my secret safe about that night. She only reached out to tell them that I was having problems with a guy at work. I shouldn’t have put myself out there. Rex doesn’t want to hear any of this, though. He is hell bent and heaven sent on finding out every little detail. Why can’t he let a sleeping dog lie?

  Climbing out of my bed, I immediately start stripping my sweat-soaked sheets. Ugh, this is getting old.

  All those years of school, all the focus and dedication I used to graduate at the top of my program, wasted. While Delilah and Savannah enjoyed our college years, I tucked myself away studying over laws and numbers.

  All for what?

  To end up a two bit whore to my supervisor? Fuck that! Women have worked for decades before me to secure a place for the female sex in employment. Women have sacrificed money, time, and having families of their own to pave their way in so many male-dominated industries, such as corporate accounting. The mountain may be high to climb, but I refuse to give up just because some male chauvinist pig feels my only place is under him in business, in bed, or both. I am blessed to have this job, and I refuse to give it up easily, even if it is a battle of wills to get up and make my way in every single day.

  Kenna, a friend of a friend of Delilah’s and the Hellions motorcycle club, actually secured the junior position for me. Since we didn’t truly know each other, I feel confident that I got the
job on my own merit. She merely opened the door by putting her name out there to get the interview for me, so when it came time for assignments, she didn’t feel comfortable being my direct supervisor. Favoritism and all that, I get it.

  This left me with Chad, the devil’s spawn, himself. Chad, my head accountant, my lead, my direct supervisor. Also, the man who has pushed every boundary there is and made sure to set it up so it could be portrayed as my doing. Chad, the master manipulator. Chad, the scumbag. Chad, my boss who I have to face every single day, including today.

  I am not powerless. I am not powerless. I can do this yet again, I continue repeating in my head as my new morning mantra. I have to remind myself I got away, remind myself I have the power to push through this and so much more. He will not win. He will not run me off. I will stand strong. I will move on, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time, one day at a time.

  Never the lesser, never be weak, rise above, and power through.

  ~Rex~

  Time heals all wounds, or so they say.

  I may have physically healed from crashing my bike, but mentally, I am far from it. I know someone was watching over me that night. To walk away from a crash like that with only road rash is a miracle.

  Too bad I can’t say my bike fared so well. It resembles my life: pieces hanging by a wire, unrecognizable paint, and only running by sheer force.

  When I look in the mirror, I don’t know the man staring back at me. I am going through the motions by mere willpower to do better tomorrow than I do today and did yesterday.

  I failed him.

  I failed my son.

  I failed his mother.

  I failed Pops.