Motorcycle Club Romance, Suspense, Age Gap
Date Published: May 10, 2024
Evelyn: My life fell apart right before my eyes. The fire and losing
everything we had was bad enough, but when my boyfriend’s father
convinces me to go to the hospital, the one thing me and my kids had left
evaporates like a plume of smoke when I see their father with his…
pregnant wife. Not only do I feel like a complete fool, I’m left to
explain things to my children. Then there’s Knox. He’s my
boyfriend Danny’s older brother. The one everyone thought was dead.
The one who’s an older, bigger, scarier version of Danny. He is so
gentle with me and my children, so protective when he has no reason to be.
He’s also the man I have no hopes of resisting.
Knox: I let my family think I was dead for fifteen years. There were
multiple reasons. Not the least of which was securing a steady income for my
father after Danny blew through everything he had. I tried to keep tabs on
them, especially after Mom died, but I didn’t dig deep enough. As a
result, Danny’s girlfriend, Evelyn, is in the crosshairs of something
very sinister. Once I find out who’s responsible, there will be hell
to pay. No matter who brought death to those I love, I will make them pay.
When I do, I’ll be putting the loyalty of my club to the test. When
it’s all over, I hope Evelyn will be able to forgive me. Because
I’ve fallen in love with my brother’s woman and no one will come
between us. No one.
WARNING: Knox includes scenes of graphic violence and adult situations
including those that may be triggers for some readers. There’s also a
protective hero, a determined heroine, and an eventual happy ending. No
cheating, as always.
EXCERPT
Evelyn
Fire.
Smoke.
I clung to Luke and Aneshya, trying my best to shield them from the chaos
around us. We coughed as we tried to make our way down the hall, but the
smoke was so thick, it was pitch-black inside the cramped space.
“We’ve gotta get out of here!” Mr. Knoxville from across
the hall was the children’s grandfather. The man always looked out for
us, even when his son couldn’t. “Evelyn!”
“We’re over here!” I clutched my children close. We had a
damp bed sheet over the three of us, but it wouldn’t do much for long.
The smoke was getting thicker and there was no way a bed sheet was going to
protect us from fire. “I can’t find Danny! He was just
here!” I coughed and coughed as I sucked in a lungful of smoke with
every breath. Luke tried to push me down, but I resisted. I needed to get my
family to safety and that included Danny.
“Mommy, we need to go!” Aneshya sounded frantic, a round of
coughing taking her as well. Luke stopped shoving at me and blanketed his
sister, taking her to the floor.
“Crawl, Aneshya! Mom! Come on! Now!” Luke was only twelve, but
he was protective of both me and his sister. “Grandpa! Make Mom follow
us!” He tried to take charge and I knew he was right. But my long-term
boyfriend and the kids’ father, Danny, had been beside me only a
moment before. I couldn’t just leave him.
Mr. Knoxville suddenly appeared in front of me. He was in his late
seventies, but the man was fit and strong as an ox. And protective as they
came. I thought it might be where Luke learned it from. If Danny had
inherited the trait from his father, he never showed it to me. Or the kids,
really. As evidenced by the fact that it was his father and son trying to
take care of me and Aneshya instead of Danny.
“Don’t worry about him, Evelyn.” Mr. Knoxville looked
hard and almost dangerous. When he looked like this, it made me want to do
anything he said without question. “He’s a grown man.
You’ve got to get the children out. Now!”
“But Danny --”
“Will be fine. Or he won’t. Your first priority -- my first
priority -- is you and the children.” I’d never heard Mr.
Knoxville speak so harshly to me. He was always the one to help me when
Danny didn’t come home. Or when Danny got mean. The kids were older,
but I didn’t like leaving them alone. Mr. Knoxville was always so
sweet and kind. But then, this situation didn’t call for sweet and
kind. “Now get them and yourself out of here, Evelyn!
Now!”
Luke and Aneshya were crawling on the floor down the hallway of our
apartment building. Mr. Knoxville pushed me to my belly and urged me to
crawl after the kids. The smoke was more tolerable low to the ground but
still surrounding us. I choked with every breath. The fire was mostly behind
us, but it was spreading. I thought I could hear sirens off in the
distance.
“Keep movin’, girl! Don’t stop!”
“Luke!” I called out to my son, the smoke so thick and dark
I’d lost sight of him and Aneshya as I lagged behind.
“We’re at the stairs!” Luke coughed again, his voice
faint in the distance separating us. I could hear Aneshya coughing too. I
hated that they had trouble breathing but was also grateful they were on the
move. “Hurry, Mom!”
“I’m coming, Luke!” I crawled faster. Mr. Knoxville
touched my ankle, urging me forward each time I hesitated. “Keep
going! Get your sister out!”
“You keep goin’ too, girl. We’re gonna get outta
here!” Mr. Knoxville’s voice was tight, and he coughed several
times as he continually shoved me along.
The roar of the flames was growing louder. Heat billowed in a great rush
from the flames I was certain were ready to bear down on us.
I heard the children cry out. Pain? Were they hurt?
“LUKE! ANESHYA!” When I sucked in another breath to scream
again, I breathed in smoke which started a coughing fit. My lungs burned and
spasmed, making it nearly impossible to take in another breath. I tried to
keep moving, but it was all I could do to breathe. Panic tightened around my
neck. With the smoke suffocating me, it really felt as if someone were
actually strangling me.
I stumbled to my feet, needing to get to my kids as fast as I could and
crawling wasn’t getting it done. I called out to them with every
breath I could suck in. Then strong hands grabbed my shoulders. In the
blackness of the smoke all around me, those hands were the first indication
I had there was someone in front of me.
“Get down.” The gruff voice was muffled, and I realized he had
on a mask. Firefighter? Then he shoved me back to the floor and pushed me to
give me direction. “Keep crawling that way. The stairs are a few yards
in front of you.”
“My children! Did you see --”
“They’re on the way out.”
“Mr. Knoxville’s behind me --”
“I’ll get him.”
“Danny --”
“I said go, woman! We’ll be right behind you.” He urged
me onward, and all I could do was crawl in the direction he said. I hoped,
since he’d sent me in that direction, he knew the way was clear. I
trusted that my children were in that direction.
The farther I went, the heavier the smoke. Right up until I descended half
the flight of stairs on my hands and knees. Coughing, I stood and hurried as
fast as I could. With the receding smoke, it was easier to breathe. To
move.
“Mom!”
“Luke?” I sobbed in relief as I recognized my son’s
voice.
“There she is, Luke!” Aneshya sounded strong. Not like
she’d been hurt or couldn’t breathe.
Then I was in the arms of my son, my daughter clinging tightly to me as
they moved me out of the apartment building. I barely made it out into the
grass before I collapsed, my legs finally giving out. I clutched Aneshya to
me as tightly as I could. Luke had his arms around me but was still trying
to get me to move farther away from the building.
“It’s not safe here, Mom. We need to get farther
back.”
“Mr. Knoxville.” Panic filled me. Did the older man get out?
“He was right behind me. Where is he?”
“The fireman said he’d make sure you both got out.”
Aneshya tugged at me, following her brother’s lead as usual.
“Come on, Mom. Let’s go.”
I sucked in breath after breath of clean air. Each breath seemed to bring
on more coughing, but I managed to get it mostly under control. “Where
are the other firemen?” I looked around, not seeing anyone other than
a few bystanders. I could hear sirens off in the distance getting closer,
but no one was here yet.
“Not sure,” Luke said with a frown. “First responder,
maybe? But he said he would get you and Mr. Knoxville out and for us to go
on.”
“We were waiting for you.” Aneshya’s voice broke and
tears made tracks through the streaks of soot on her face. “I thought
you’d gotten lost.”
It was then Mr. Knoxville stumbled through the same exit we’d managed
to escape through. The fireman was right behind him.
“Mr. Knoxville! Oh, my God! Are you all right?” I hurried in
his direction, trying to put the man’s arm around my shoulders so he
could lean on me if necessary. I should have known better. My knees were
weak already. There was no way I could hold the older man’s weight.
Instead, I found him holding me up with an arm around my waist as he urged
us farther away from the building which was more and more engulfed in
flames.
The guy coming up behind Mr. Knoxville was huge. He towered over all of us
and was solidly built. He still had on a full-face mask with SCBA gear but I
could see his face through the clear plate. The man looked familiar, but I
couldn’t quite place him.
“Please! My boyfriend, Danny! He’s still in there
somewhere!”
Instead of going back inside immediately, he turned to Mr. Knoxville.
“Up to you.” Mr. Knoxville had leaned over with his hands
braced on his knees while he coughed, same as the rest of us.
“Fuckin’ prick left his children in a burnin’
fuckin’ buildin’.”
“What?” I gasped in surprise, looking up at Mr. Knoxville. Not
only had I never heard the other man swear like that, but he was accusing
Danny -- his own son -- of deserting us in a crisis. “No! Danny and I
have had our problems, but he’d never leave his kids. We got
separated. He’s still in there. Probably looking for us! You have to
find him!”
The firefighter took off the mask, and it was like I was looking at a
slightly older, bigger, much scarier version of Danny. I sucked in a
breath…
… then immediately started coughing. Luke was at my side when I
collapsed on the ground on my knees. I fell forward onto my hands in the
grass, coughing uncontrollably.
“We need to get Mom to the hospital.” Luke handed me a bottle
of water. I had no idea where that came from, but I took a gulp before
promptly coughing again. I glanced over at Aneshya. She had a worried
expression on her face but wasn’t coughing anymore. Luke looked like
he wasn’t hurt either, but I had to be sure. Both of them were
streaked with soot.
“Are… you…” I gasped. “Are you…
hurt?”
“No, Mom.” Luke was quick to reassure me.
“Aneshya’s fine too. Drink some more.”
The next thing I knew an oxygen mask was placed over my face and the Danny
look-alike was in front of me, holding my gaze with a steady one of his
own.
“Take deep breaths, honey.” He put what looked like an inhaler
in the hole at the side of the mask and squeezed it. I felt the mist from
the spray enter my lungs as I inhaled. I still coughed, but after a few
seconds, the pressure in my chest relaxed a little. After another lungful of
air and more coughing, he did it again. After that, it wasn’t long
until the pressure in my chest eased almost entirely. I still coughed, but
it felt different. Like the coughing was actually helping to clear my lungs
instead of being a futile effort.
“Mom?” Aneshya looked up at me with worry in her expression.
She’d wiped her face with something, washing some of the soot off, but
smearing it over her face.
“I’m okay, sweetie.”
“Fire and EMS are on the way.” The man kneeling in front of me
moved the mask long enough to urge me to drink some more water before
replacing the mask. “Just take some slow, deep breaths. I gave you an
inhaler. Got something to help with the spasms in your lungs. Might make
your heart race a bit, but nothing too bad.”
“Who are you?”
He glanced over at Mr. Knoxville who was looking at him with a combination
of pride and relief. If there were tears in the gruff old man’s eyes,
I was sure it was from the smoke. “Denver. Boy…”
“It’s Knox.” He stood before his face split into a grin.
“It’s good to see you, Pop.”
About the Author
Marteeka Karland is an international bestselling author who leads a double
life as an erotic romance author by evening and a semi-domesticated
housewife by day. Known for her down and dirty MC romances, Marteeka takes
pleasure in spinning tales of tenacious, protective heroes and spirited,
vulnerable heroines. She staunchly advocates that every character deserves a
blissful ending, even, sometimes, the villains in her narratives. Her
writings are speckled with intense, raw elements resulting in page-turning
delight entwined with seductive escapades leading up to gratifying
conclusions that elicit a sigh from her readers.
Away from the pen, Marteeka finds joy in baking and supporting her husband
with their gardening activities. The late summer season is set aside for
preserving the delightful harvest that springs from their combined efforts
(which is mostly his efforts, but you can count it). To stay updated with
Marteeka's latest adventures and forthcoming books, make sure to visit her
website. Don't forget to register for her newsletter which will pepper you
with a potpourri of Teeka's beloved recipes, book suggestions, autograph
events, and a plethora of interesting tidbits.
Author Contact Links
Author on Instagram & TikTok: @marteekakarland
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@changelingpress
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