August has arrived! It's the final stretch of scorching heat before we can look forward to cooler temperatures and some relief.
Hey everyone, I just wanted to take a moment to say a massive thank you to all of you who joined in on July's #Romancebookblast and downloaded Stay With Me. Your support means the world to me and it's what keeps me going. As a way of showing my gratitude, I'm thrilled to share a sneak peek of the third book in the Hell's Hounds series, Dreamcatcher. You'll find the excerpt below. Thank you all so much!
Now, for this week's updates. The Hell's Hounds MC's Vella series has two exciting new episodes available for you to enjoy. You can now catch Episode 97, "Until You're Better," and Episode 98, "I'll Make It Happen." Happy reading!
Ream Stories also has a new Dreamcatcher chapter! Chapter 28!
And now for the goodies!
I both loved and hated watching him in that ring.
He moved faster than Clay could swing and ducked, dodged, and danced fluidly around him without ever making a swing. What was he waiting for?
I stood on the outside with Trick and Brewer on either side of me, hooting and hollering for Totter, but I didn’t make a sound. I watched as Clay left himself open several times, taking his eyes off Totter to look at me. Did he expect me to cheer? Totter’s eyes never left Clay. He saw all the openings I did and still didn’t swing. Did he even know how to fight?
Totter didn’t dodge Clay’s next swing, letting him land a solid punch on his side. I closed my eyes, hearing Totter grunt. Why the hell didn’t he dodge that one? I could even see where that one was going; he just stood there and took it.
Clay must have gotten annoyed that Totter wasn’t fighting back because I saw his lips move but couldn’t make out what he said over all the yelling around me. Totter nodded, lifting his gloved hands a bit in agreement with whatever he said, but he still didn’t swing. He did go back to ducking and dodging while I held my breath, hating every minute of this, waiting for the next of Clay’s punches to connect.
It didn’t take long. Clay got him in the jaw. “Totter!” I yelled, fear ripping his name from my chest as his head snapped to the side. His eyes met mine for only a split second, but I swear I saw him smile, his teeth pink with blood. Clay swung twice, and Totter let his fist fly on the second miss. The backyard erupted as Clay landed on his ass before falling back as if in slow motion.
I surged forward, but Trick caught me, wrapping both arms around me. “Wait. Let them work their shit out, and I’ll let you go.”
What shit did they need to work out? And how the fuck were they supposed to work them out with Clay laid out?
I stood on tiptoes, looking over Trick’s shoulder. Totter had pulled one hand free of his gloves and held it out to Clay, who took it. On the way out of the ring, Totter stopped close enough for me to hear him shout to Clay, “I’m going to hold you to it.”
Clay stopped, one eye already swelling. “I never expected anything less.”
Trick let me go, and I went to Totter, taking his chin in my hand and turning his head this way and that to see the bluish bruise starting on his jaw.
“Angel,” I yelled. She stood topless, not far from us, hanging off a guy from another charter. “Get me some ice, would you.”
She looked like she wanted to argue until she dragged her eyes from the guy to see me cradling Totter’s jaw. “I got you,” she said, letting go of the guy.
“I don’t need any damn ice, Pen. It’s not a big deal.”
“Bullshit. What the hell were you doing in there?”
Trick and Brewer smacked his back in congratulations. “Lucky, bastard,” Brewer added.
“Waiting on you,” he said, taking a beer from Trick and tilting it back.
“Waiting on me to what?”
“Totter!” Aero yelled. “Teach this one a thing or two for me?” He stood next to a kid who couldn’t be more than twenty-one. He was a few inches shorter and thinner than Totter but still had an athletic build. I guess they couldn’t all be built like gods.
Totter drained the last of the beer, handed it to Totter, and then turned to walk back into the ring. I grabbed him. “Wait. Where the hell are you going?”
He hooked a thumb back at the kid, who was now in the ring getting gloves on. “To give the new prospect a turn.”
“What the hell for?”
A shit-eating grin split his face. “‘Cause it’s fun.”
“Dammit, Totter, don’t wait all day to swing this time.”
I couldn’t watch him dance around and take hits like a damn punching bag again. He may have won the last one, but how many hits could the guy take?
“Don’t take all night to make up your mind, and I won’t.”
Make up my mind about what? What the hell was he talking about? Clarity interrupted my thoughts, bouncing her hip off mine. “I think this was the best idea Clay’s ever had.”
She was either drunk or off her rocker. How the hell was this a good idea? I bet she’d feel differently if Aero was in there. “How you figure?”
“Aw, look who’s worried about Totter. I guess this didn’t work out how Clay planned.”
“I’m not worried about Totter anymore than I’d be worried… Wait. How did Clay plan this?”
She shook her head, focusing on the ring. “I forget you don’t know our brother very well.”
The crowd around us erupted again, and I looked up to see Totter recover from a hit to the stomach. He was dancing around the other fighter again, except this kid was smaller and faster than Clay had been, and he was getting jabs where he could. “Dammit,” I mumbled before getting louder, “Totter!”
He struck. Left, right, left again, stepping forward with each swing. The kid was struck stupid that his opponent had just come to life and couldn’t gather his wits enough to figure out what to do. He fell back, rolling on his stomach before settling in on the mat for a nap.
Totter held out his arms, turning in a slow circle, feeling himself. “Next!”
“That’s enough, Rocky, you had your fun.”
He came to lean his forearms on the top rope. “One more. Just one.”
Why did he insist on doing this? But more importantly, why did I care?
I couldn’t deny even to myself that watching all his muscles in action wasn’t doing something to me, but the sight of watching him take hits was killing me simultaneously. “Why?”
“I told you. ‘Cause it’s fun.”
I stepped closer, looking up at where he still stood in the ring. “Getting hit is fun for you?”
He squatted down to eye level with me. “Nah, not that part.” He reached out, awkwardly placing one gloved hand around my neck and pulling me to him. “The part where you yell my name.” His lips met mine in a fierce claim, and his tongue swiftly parted my lips, not asking but taking. He was letting me know without words that I was his, and he wouldn’t accept anything less.
But he didn’t know what he was claiming. I wasn’t his; he wouldn’t want me if he knew everything.
I placed one steadying hand on his chest. His heart beat at a rapid pace beneath my hand.
He ended the kiss as quickly as he’d started it. “Do us both a favor and don’t wait so long this time, baby.”
I couldn’t let him think I was his, but I couldn’t tell him why. Just thinking the words were known to cripple me. He’d just have to understand that I was doing this because he deserved more.
Brewer climbed into the ring. Fuck. Brewer was equal in height to Totter but just a bit wider through the shoulders. A hit from Brewer was bound to hurt. How many hits could Totter dodge, given that he’s already two fights in?
I couldn’t watch this, and I couldn’t give in either. I turned my back on the ring, making my way to the back door with a death grip on the cut I was still holding.
The crowd around the ring had gotten bigger and louder. Clarity grabbed me. “Penny, you can’t just leave him.”
I looked over her shoulder to see Totter watching me, both arms at his sides. One eye was already starting to swell up, and Brewer had another fist cocked back, ready to go. Shit, that idiot was just going to stand there until Brewer knocked him out. The fucking idiot, I thought, taking off at a run bouncing off people in my haste. “Totter, dammit, fight!”
He still didn’t move to swing but ducked out of Brewer’s path. I made it to the edge of the ring, grabbing the middle rope in my free hand. “Totter!”
He continued to bob and weave but still didn’t swing. What the hell was his problem? “I’ll fight when you stop fighting me.” I heard him yell.
He was fucking crazy. “Winner gets the girl,” Brewer yelled with another swing, catching Totter on the same side that had taken more than one hit tonight.
Totter stumbled before catching his footing. “Deal.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you two?”
“Jesus. What’s she got? A gorilla grip beneath those jeans?” a guy behind me mumbled.
Totter was tiring out, his legs moving slower, and all he had left was blocking with his hands and arms. “How are you going to win the girl if you don’t swing?” Brewer asked, then landed a hit to his other side. The crowd groaned when his hands didn’t drop fast enough to block.
“Fine.”
“I can’t hear you.” He brought his hands up quick as lightning to block Brewer’s next swing.
“Fine. Totter, just please. Swing!” I yelled in desperation.
He swung. Brewer’s head snapped back before he righted himself and swung again. Totter blocked that one, delivering a blow to Brewer’s stomach. Brewer had the upper hand, with this being his first fight of the night and not pretending to be a human punching bag for the first half of the match.
I slammed my hand down on the mat twice. “Dammit, Totter, get your shit together, or I’m leaving with him.”
I knew Brewer well enough to know he knew as well as I did that the results of this match didn’t matter. I’d still be in my bed minus a Brewer later. But those words were enough to give Totter a second wind.
“Are you trying to get my brother killed?” Trick asked with a chuckle.
“Seriously? Look at Totter. He’s exhausted. Call it, Trick. Please.”
Trick didn’t call it, and no one else did either. They continued to trade hits back and forth until I thought I’d pass out from holding my breath. The scene in front of me began to blur around the edges.
Trick put a steadying arm around me as I heard him yell, “May want to put your girl out of her misery, Tot. She’s going down.”
I didn’t see the final hit, but I heard the crowd roar, and then I was off my feet and cradled against a sweaty chest.
Thank you for reading! You can find Totter and Penny's story on Kindle Vella starting on episode 43 of
Hell's Hounds MC.
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