Guts & Glory: Ryder (In the Shadows Security Book 2) Read online

  Guts & Glory: Ryder

  In the Shadows Security, Book 2

  Jeanne St. James

  Copyright © 2019 by Jeanne St. James, Double-J Romance, Inc.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Acknowledgements:

  Photographer: FuriousFotog

  Cover Artist: Golden Czermak at FuriousFotog

  Cover Model: Frank Johnson

  Editor: Proofreading by the Page

  Beta readers: Whitley Cox, Andi Babcock, Sharon Abrams & Krisztina Hollo

  Warning: This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. This book is for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  Keep an eye on her website at http://www.jeannestjames.com/ or sign up for her newsletter to learn about her upcoming releases: http://www.jeannestjames.com/newslettersignup

  Contents

  Books by Jeanne St. James

  About the Book

  Ryder’s Playlist

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Guts & Glory: Hunter

  Sneak peak of Guts & Glory: Hunter (Unedited)

  If You Enjoyed This Book

  Also by Jeanne St. James

  About the Author

  FREE Erotic Sampler Book

  Books by Jeanne St. James

  * Available in Audiobook

  Made Maleen: A Modern Twist on a Fairy Tale *

  Damaged *

  Rip Cord: The Complete Trilogy *

  Brothers in Blue Series:

  (Can be read as standalones)

  Brothers in Blue: Max *

  Brothers in Blue: Marc *

  Brothers in Blue: Matt *

  Teddy: A Brothers in Blue Novelette *

  The Dare Ménage Series:

  (Can be read as standalones)

  Double Dare *

  Daring Proposal *

  Dare to Be Three *

  A Daring Desire *

  Dare to Surrender *

  A Daring Journey

  The Obsessed Novellas:

  (All the novellas in this series are standalones)

  Forever Him *

  Only Him

  Needing Him

  Loving Her

  Temping Him

  Down & Dirty: Dirty Angels MC Series™:

  (Can be read as standalones)

  Down & Dirty: Zak *

  Down & Dirty: Jag *

  Down & Dirty: Hawk *

  Down & Dirty: Diesel *

  Down & Dirty: Axel *

  Down & Dirty: Slade *

  Down & Dirty: Dawg *

  Down & Dirty: Dex *

  Down & Dirty: Linc *

  Down & Dirty: Crow *

  Guts & Glory Series

  (In the Shadows Security)

  Guts & Glory: Mercy

  Guts & Glory: Ryder

  Guts & Glory: Hunter

  Guts & Glory: Walker

  Guts & Glory: Steel

  Guts & Glory: Brick

  About the Book

  Is saving another’s soul worth risking your own?

  Former special forces operator, Ryder, has never backed down from an assignment, and he’ll be damned if he lets a blonde-haired, smart-mouthed, pain in the a** destroy that record. She’s going to get her life together even if he has to drag her kicking and screaming to do so, and he’s not opposed to using a firm hand to yank her from the darkness back into the light.

  MC born and bred, Kelsea is on a one-way path to rock bottom. Determined to forget the horrible truths revealed about the man who fathered her, she’s drowning in a sea of booze, drugs and meaningless hookups. She has no desire to be “saved,” especially not by a bossy former Army Ranger with deep green eyes and a sexy southern twang.

  Being locked away at his cabin, cut off from the outside world, deeply buried secrets are rising to the surface and lines between them are starting to blur.

  The road to redemption is paved with heartache, though, and while Ryder wants to save her from the demons that haunt her, he’s not sure it’s worth the risk of losing himself or his heart in the process. But, in the end, will Kelsea finally learn to save herself?

  Note: Ryder is the second book of the Guts & Glory series, a six-book spin-off from my Dirty Angels MC series. While it’s recommended to read both series in order, each book can be read as a stand-alone. As with all my books, this has an HEA, no cliffhanger or cheating.

  This one is dedicated to Ann Gibbs who has been Ryder’s super fan from the beginning. (I MAY forgive her being a Dallas fan). And I apologize to her patient husband for her obsession with another man, even if Ryder IS a book boyfriend...

  A Special Thanks:

  To Alexandra Swab for assisting me with Ryder’s blurb when I was buried with writing, read-throughs, and edits of two books at the same time. Your help was invaluable!

  Ryder’s Playlist

  Songs mentioned in this book

  Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks

  Sunrise - Rascal Flatts

  Warrior – Demi Lovato

  All of Me - John Legend

  Huntin', Fishin' And Lovin' Every Day – Luke Bryan

  Chapter One

  Out of all the places his ass could be, this county was not a place he wanted it to be. While he was sure some parts of West Virginia were just fucking lovely, this area was known for hillbillies, white supremacists and rednecks who thought bullets were more important than teeth.

  If that wasn’t bad enough, it was infested with members of the motherfucking outlaw MC, the Deadly Demons.

  How he got pulled into this detail, he’ll never know. No, fuck him, he knew. He drew the short straw this time. Just like he drew the short straw last time. And every other time when it came to this particular “job.”

  Ryder jerked the wheel of his ’78 International Scout into a dark, rutted dirt driveway surrounded by high weeds. After a few seconds, his headlights bounced off an old farmhouse that was lit up from the inside.

  At least the shit hole had electricity.

  He pulled his Scout up to a line of Harleys parked across the uncut grass and sat staring at the run-down hovel for a few seconds as he braced himself for what was to come. Letting a searing curse rip, he shut off his beloved vehicle, yanked the keys from the ignition, and shoved open the driver’s side door. After climbing his tense body out, he jammed his keys deep into his jeans’ pocket, locked the door, and slammed it shut.

  The weight of his Glock .45 in its holster hidden under his jacket, along with his tactical knife hanging on his hip, at least gave him a little reassurance since he was walking alone into this den of vipers. Worse, he wasn’t even sneaking in, he was strolling right through the fucking front door.

  He stalked to the ricke
ty porch steps, then carefully picked his way up the rotting boards. Ignoring the handful of drunk Demons hanging out on the slanted front porch drinking beer and smoking dope, he pushed his way past them through the wide-open door of the house amid shouts of:

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  “Who’s that motherfucker?”

  “What the fuck?”

  If he cared, he’d be asking them the same questions. But, yeah, he didn’t give a fuck who those wasted, washed-out, beer-bellied bikers were.

  Once he stepped inside, he paused to inventory his surroundings and get his bearings.

  To say this house was bad was an understatement. It wasn’t only a complete fucking shit hole, it smelled like one, too.

  A tweaked-out, half-naked chick sat on the filthy floor of the hallway, the wall barely holding her ass upright. He nudged her with his boot to get her attention, since she was totally spaced. She might have been pretty once, but her bloodshot eyes, long stringy, unwashed hair and hollowed out cheekbones did nothing for her now.

  “Lookin’ for a woman,” he grumbled.

  She managed to straighten herself up some more, raking her glazed eyes down his body and running her fingers through her hair, as if that would improve the rat’s nest on her head. “Found her.”

  Yeah, no. He’d prefer eternal celibacy than to stick his dick in anything like her. He lifted his hand to about mid-chest. “’Bout yay-high, long dark blonde hair, pretty blue eyes. Ain’t all bones like you, though. Got some meat on her.” Did she ever, the bitch had it all in the right places, too. “A bit of a stupid fuck.” Because that was the goddamn truth.

  She had been making way too many stupid decisions lately, and tonight was another one in a long list of them.

  “Slash’s slit?”

  Slash.

  His jaw got tight. That wasn’t the first time he heard that name. But it was sure as shit going to be the last.

  “Where’s he at?”

  She lifted a finger that had one spot of black nail polish left in the center—the rest looked like it had been picked or chewed off—and pointed to the ceiling. “Probably up in his room. Said I couldn’t join ‘em when they walked past.”

  Thank fuck for that.

  Ryder lifted his chin in thanks and pushed past her, even though she reached out to grab his leg and gave a disappointed, “Hey, I could be your woman tonight.”

  “Next time,” he threw over his shoulder, as his balls shriveled up into his body to hide.

  At the end of the hall full of peeling wallpaper and water stains, he bounded up the stairs. Hitting the top landing, he tilted his head and listened carefully. It was difficult to hear shit, since what sounded like a stereo blasted somewhere outside, as well as another stereo blasted inside but with a different song. Even so, he held his breath, stilled every muscle, and listened anyway.

  Above the din, a female giggle came from two doors down. One that was closed with light spilling out from underneath it.

  In a couple of long strides, he was in front of it. With a lift of his boot, he kicked the door with all the power he could muster, causing it to splinter and crash against the wall as it swung hard.

  His eyes landed on the mattress that sat in the middle of the floor. Looked like Slash was a busy boy.

  A naked man with shitty tattoos and long black hair sat up in surprise and the two women in bed with him didn’t even notice the interruption.

  No, they didn’t. They were still going at it with each other, one on top of the other, kissing, fingering each other’s pussies and pinching each other’s nipples.

  What. The. Fuck.

  The one he was searching for was on the bottom, her normally pretty blue eyes closed, moans and groans coming from her as the fingers being plunged into her cunt sped up.

  Jesus fuck. Normally, this shit would get him rock hard. Right now, he wanted to fucking puke.

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  “A figment of your imagination. Just pretend I’m not here.” Taking two steps into the room, he wrapped his arm around the waist of the redhead, yanked her from the woman on the bottom, and tossed her onto Slash.

  The biker grunted, and the redhead squealed as she landed on him.

  Before the blonde-haired one could react, he had her up and thrown over his shoulder. He didn’t give a shit if she was naked or not.

  He didn’t even care if she just got robbed of a fucking orgasm. She wasn’t lying in that bed or staying in that house one more second.

  “Hey!” came the very intoxicated, very loud complaint.

  “Shut the fuck up,” he growled. Making sure he had a good grip on her, he turned on his heels and strode toward the door.

  “Hey! Where... where... you takin’ me?”

  He tightened his jaw so he wouldn’t snap the fuck out on her and headed down the dark hallway.

  “My clothes!”

  He didn’t give a shit about her clothes. She should have thought about them before she took them off.

  “Hey! Can’t do this!”

  The fuck he couldn’t.

  He was only following orders. He certainly wasn’t there because he wanted to be.

  Fuck no.

  And this was the last fucking time he was doing one of these details for Diesel. The very last fucking time.

  As soon as he could find a safe place to pull over, he did so. He checked the rearview mirror one more time to make sure none of those Demons were following them. Though, that wasn’t much of a worry, since apparently Kelsea was Slash’s “slit” and no MC he knew of took care of their women like the Dirty Angels.

  He was also sure the Deadly Demons wouldn’t give their right nut for Kelsea.

  Which was once again why he had a naked woman passed out in his passenger seat. He wanted to pull her out and take a fire hose to her to clean off all the filth from that house, Slash and whoever that other skank was who was fingering her and shoving a tongue down her throat. That shit had turned his stomach.

  Not because he didn’t like a little girl-on-girl action, what heterosexual man didn’t? He just hadn’t wanted to witness it with the pain-in-the-ass sitting next to him.

  Princess Pain-in-the-Ass was currently pressed against the passenger side window, her long hair covering her face, and the only thing holding her upright was the seatbelt, which was cutting in between her naked tits. Luckily, he’d had the aftermarket three-point seatbelt installed when Jag Jamison restored his Scout, otherwise she’d be lying in a pile on the floorboard.

  His nostrils flared with annoyance. “You awake?”

  He didn’t miss the slight movement. She was fucking awake.

  “No,” came the slurred answer.

  A muscle popped in his jaw as he shoved his shifter into neutral and set the e-brake. They were on a quiet, dark back road somewhere between West Virginia and Kentucky. Since they had about a four-hour drive to their destination, her remaining naked the whole way just wasn’t going to work for him.

  So, he needed to do something about that little problem. Plus, he wasn’t sure if Slash’s DNA was leaking all over his seat.

  If so, that shit would put him over the edge.

  While his boss sent him to “save” his cousin, if she was taking Slash’s dick without a condom, Diesel might have to save Kelsea from Ryder. And worse, he’d have to burn his passenger seat, which would be a sin since he’d paid a pretty penny to have it reupholstered.

  With a curse, he pulled the keys from the ignition. Shame he didn’t trust her not to take off with his vehicle and leave him stranded on the side of the road by a lonely stretch of woods. He shoved open his door and slammed it shut once more after unfolding his ass from his Scout.

  He hated taking his anger out on his baby, but he either did that or on the woman he wanted to strangle. Though calling Kelsea a “woman” was a stretch, since she’d been acting like a petulant child for the past year or so.

  He knew why, but right now he didn’t give a shit. It wa
s getting old and she was pushing away the people who loved her.

  He dug around in the back of his truck until he found his survival kit and located aspirin and a silver emergency blanket. He also grabbed a large bottle of water from the supply he kept in the back.

  Once he had everything he needed, he went around to the passenger side door, yanked it open and unhooked her seatbelt, letting her tumble out of the truck onto the grass of the pull-off.

  “Hey!” she yelped as she landed in a naked heap.

  He tossed the blanket at her. “Wrap this around you and make sure you keep it so your cunt isn’t in direct contact with my seat.”

  She slowly rolled herself over and sort of sat up. “Why you worried about that old thing?”

  That old thing?

  “That old thing is worth a lot more than you right now, darlin’. No fuckin’ joke. Wrap that blanket around you before a tick bites your snatch and get your ass back in my truck. Or I’ll leave you here for a coyote’s breakfast.”

  He wasn’t sure if it was the threat of a tick or a coyote that got her moving, but she finally did.