Worth the Pain (Royal Bastards MC Book 2) Read online

  Copyright 2021. J.L. Leslie. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes, promotions, authorized giveaways or teasers only.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Created with Vellum

  I want to, first of all, dedicate this book to my mom, like I do all my books. She is who always supported me in my writing, and I dedicate all my words to her. I miss her each and every day!

  A special thanks to my husband and kids for allowing me to go into my writing cave (which I did quite often with this one), and for their love and support! Also, to my sister for listening to my ideas and never complaining! You’re the best! I love you all!

  A special thanks to my PA, Amber Feist, for being my friend and sounding board! We can mark another one off this incredible journey!

  To my fan group, J.L. Leslie’s Fiction Addiction, for being the best fan group an author could ever ask for! Thank you!

  To my street team, J.L. Leslie’s Pimpin’ Peeps, you are the most amazing street team! Thank you for always sharing my work!

  To my Beta Babes, thank you for really delving into this book and giving me honest feedback and critique!

  To my ARC team, thank you so much for reading my words! It amazes me each day that people take the time to read what I write and sometimes actually enjoy it!

  Last, but not least, a special thanks to the Royal Bastards Worlds and all who participated! I truly am honored for being allowed to take part in this amazing adventure! You are all so wonderfully talented and I appreciate being part of this world with each of you!

  Contents

  Worth the Pain

  Special Acknowledgment

  Royal Bastards Code

  Prologue

  1. Allie

  2. Allie

  3. Allie

  4. Allie

  5. Allie

  6. Allie

  7. Allie

  8. Allie

  9. Allie

  10. Allie

  11. Allie

  12. Allie

  13. Allie

  14. Allie

  15. Allie

  16. Allie

  17. Allie

  18. Allie

  19. Allie

  20. Allie

  21. Allie

  22. Allie

  23. Allie

  24. Allie

  25. Allie

  26. Allie

  27. Allie

  28. Allie

  29. Allie

  30. Allie

  Allie

  Follow Me

  Freebie

  ROYAL BASTARDS MC SERIES - THIRD RUN

  WORTH THE PAIN

  ROYAL BASTARDS

  Birmingham, Alabama

  J.L. Leslie

  My editor, Monica Black, with Word Nerd Edits.

  My proofreader, Chantal Baxendale.

  My Beta Babes (beta readers) Amber Feist, Morgan Terry, Joanna Edger, Jackie Barton, April Navarro, Lynn Underwood, and Tricia Dransfield.

  Thank you all so much for polishing my words and providing me with honest feedback, which is exactly what I need!

  PROTECT: The club and your brothers come before anything else, and must be protected at all costs. CLUB is FAMILY.

  RESPECT: Earn it & Give it. Respect club law. Respect the patch. Respect your brothers. Disrespect a member and there will be hell to pay.

  HONOR: Being patched in is an honor, not a right. Your colors are sacred, not to be left alone, and NEVER let them touch the ground.

  OL’ LADIES: Never disrespect a member’s or brother’s Ol’Lady. PERIOD.

  CHURCH is MANDATORY.

  LOYALTY: Takes precedence over all, including well-being.

  HONESTY: Never LIE, CHEAT, or STEAL from another member or the club.

  TERRITORY: You are to respect your brother’s property and follow their Chapter’s club rules.

  TRUST: Years to earn it...seconds to lose it.

  NEVER RIDE OFF: Brothers do not abandon their family.

  HUNTER

  About a Year Ago

  I adjust my dick and tell myself to stop fucking ogling her like she’s an innocent little bunny and I’m a damn wolf, ready to eat her up.

  But seeing her dressed like this, looking the way she does, makes me want to do exactly that. I’m practically salivating at the thought of spreading her legs wide and licking her pussy until she comes all over my face. I wonder if she’s a screamer. I guarantee I can make her scream.

  Thinking of doing just that makes me screw up my shot. I scratch, and I never scratch. Allie grins and struts over to me, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder.

  We’ve both had too much to drink. Alcohol flowing heavily at clubhouse parties is not unusual. My attraction to her is not unusual. I’ve just done a damn good job of hiding it.

  I’ve known Allie for years, since I first pledged as a prospect for the Royal Bastards MC. She was here, always here. Even after her cousin was killed, she stayed. Resisting her has become a damn full-time job.

  “My turn,” she says over her shoulder as she leans down to take her shot, her ass bumping against my growing erection.

  She’s definitely drunk because she lets it linger there, pressed to me, while she positions her cue. She sinks it and lets out a yelp of triumph, bumping her ass against my dick.

  “Nailed it!”

  I place my hands at her waist and jerk her back against me. Her body shudders. She exhales, her lips parting. She’s wanted my cock for quite some time, but I’ve always held back. Always denied her. Her cousin, Wesley, was a friend of mine, a brother. He’s gone, but I still have a shit ton of respect for him. Banging Allie would completely go against that. Right now, I don’t care. I can blame it on the alcohol.

  “Don’t be a cock tease, Allie,” I growl into her ear. “You going to keep rubbing that sweet ass on my dick or do you want to find out exactly how hard I am beneath my jeans?”

  She boldly cups my dick and rubs her hand over it.

  That’s it. That’s all it fucking takes.

  Bishop racks up for a game against my sister, Skylar. Our Enforcer, Jake, is over at the bar getting them drinks, and God only knows where our president, Mason, is. Probably somewhere getting his rocks off, which is precisely what I plan to do. I have to be discreet, though, no matter how impossible that seems.

  Allie slips away from me, heading down the hall as if she’s going to the bathroom. We have about six rooms here. I have a room, as well as Bishop and Jake. The prospects share. Mason has a room in case we go on late runs, but he has his own place too. The majority of us do. We keep two rooms empty for guests. Skylar currently occupies one, but that’s only temporary.

  I leave Bishop and Skylar to play their game and look around the room to make sure no one is watching as I ease down the hall. Allie stands at my door, leaning against the frame. As I get closer, she opens it and steps inside. I follow her, locking it shut behind me. I don’t want any of these fuckers interrupting us.

  She nervously tucks a strand of her blonde hair behind one ear, waiting for me to make a move. When she licks her lips, I grab the nape of her neck and pull her to me, capturing her in a rough kiss. Her fingers deftly work at the button on my jeans. She finally unzips them and delves her hand inside, stroking me.

  “Stop wasting time,” I grit out, breaking our kiss and pushing her toward my bed. “Bend the fuck over.”

  I probably shouldn’t be so rough with her, but if
I’m not careful, she’ll get in my damn head and have me thinking this means more than a quick fuck. She starts to say something, maybe tell me to slow things down, but I spin her around and bend her over, her ass in the air. Her dress is so damn short her thong shows. In one swift movement, I rip it off, tossing it to the floor, then I palm the luscious globes of her ass with one hand while shoving my jeans down with the other.

  Jesus, all these years of wanting this, wanting her, hit me like a damn freight train. I give her ass a swift smack, leaving my handprint on her cheek, and spit into the palm of my hand for some lube. Groaning, I thrust inside her soaking wet pussy. Damn, didn’t need the spit. She’s hot and wet and so ready for me.

  Allie cries out as I slam into her, fucking her hard and fast. I pull out to the tip and surge inside again and again. Her cunt is tight and grips me like a damn vice. Like she was made just for me.

  “That’s right, baby. Fucking scream my name while I rip you in two.”

  “Faster!” she replies, my sheets clenched in her hands.

  “You want faster?”

  “And harder,” she says. “I want to feel your cock inside me for hours.”

  I reach up and grab her hair, twisting it in my hand. I tug her back and kiss her shoulders, her neck, unable to resist the urge to taste her again. To lick the salty sweat from her skin. She’s incredible, so damn incredible.

  “You won’t ever forget this cock, Allie. Not ever.”

  I fuck her so hard, I’m certain I’m bruising her thighs, but she moans and screams out her pleasure. I knew she was a screamer. I’ve been wanting to hear her scream my name a long time.

  “Come on my dick, Allie. I want that sweet cunt to come for me.”

  She clamps down on me, spasming with her orgasm. I pour my release into her, pumping every last drop of my cum inside her tight pussy, then give her ass a squeeze as I withdraw, shoving my dick back into my pants.

  Allie rises and turns around to face me, reaching up to cup my face. I take a step back, avoiding her touch. Shooting my load was very sobering. The realization that I fucked her hits me like a ton of bricks. She’s off limits. Club family. I have always avoided her. Why was tonight suddenly different?

  Because she was different tonight.

  She was flirty, touchy. She didn’t hide the fact at all that she wanted me. It wasn’t the sweet Allie here tonight, making friendly conversation. I couldn’t resist her, was tired of denying my attraction. But I completely screwed up.

  A part of me wants to taste her lips again, hold her. Dammit, wake up to her beside me in the morning. But that shit is not going to happen. I’m not going to lead her on when nothing can become of this.

  “Hey, it’s all right,” she says as if reading my mind. “I have wanted this — wanted you — for a long time.”

  I laugh a little, steeling myself, so the softness of her voice, her words, doesn’t get to me. If I let that happen, I’ll do all those things I want to do with her. I fucked up, but I won’t fuck up again.

  “You think that meant something?” I ask cruelly. “I needed a willing pussy, and you were there. Don’t read too much into it. Women like you are a dime a dozen.”

  Her eyes go glassy with tears, my words hitting exactly where I intended. I’m not going to be who she wants. I can’t be that man for her, even if I want to be. I shouldn’t have let anything happen between us, and I don’t know any other way to keep it from happening again besides being an asshole about it.

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “I do.” Anger rises in me. At what I did. At the fact that she is always here tempting me. “Why the fuck are you even here?”

  “The club is my family.”

  I shake my head. “No. We’re not your family. We were Wesley’s family. You’re just a burden to us.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  Honestly, I’m not sure what I mean right now. I’m so disappointed in myself I can barely stand the sight of her, especially knowing what we did. Knowing I can’t have her the way I want her — the way I’ve always wanted her.

  “Oh, I mean it, sweetheart. You are a waste of space and energy. The club has better things to do than spending our money and resources on you.”

  And with that, I walk out of my room, ignoring the sob that escapes her as I disappear down the hall.

  ALLIE

  Easing the covers back, I slide out of bed, making sure I don’t wake Paul. He doesn’t stir, which isn’t uncommon. I tiptoe across the room and down the hall to the nursery, peeking into the bassinet where Wes lies sound asleep. That tiny human came out of me. I made him. I’m taking full credit for him. Even though I didn’t create him alone.

  The night I got pregnant is one I’ve tried to forget. I can still see Hunter’s piercing blue eyes and the way he saw right through me. Still feel the way his lips danced over my skin. Still hear the echo of his cruel words.

  You’re just a burden to us.

  I’d like to say his words didn’t bother me. That he was a great fuck, and that’s all it was, but his words devastated me. They made me feel unwanted. Made me feel like I was an inconvenience. A burden, like he said.

  My cousin, Wesley, was a member of the Bastards. I grew up knowing all about that lifestyle, the ups and downs of it. When he was killed, I stuck around the club tending bar. I didn’t have anything else to do, anywhere else to go. It was the only life I knew and the only one I wanted.

  And I always felt like family. Until Hunter. Until the truth to his words shattered that whole existence of mine. I relapsed. Became something I thought I would never be again. I was a damn junkie, and it was all because I had one night with him. One unforgettable night.

  More than his touch, I crave the drugs. I hate myself for knowing I was using when I was pregnant. I didn’t know I was knocked up at the time, but it was no excuse. If it hadn’t been for Jake and Skylar, I don’t know what would’ve happened to me. Where I would’ve ended up.

  “Everything okay?” Paul whispers, coming up behind me.

  “Everything is fine.”

  I reach back and thread my fingers through his dark locks. He kisses my shoulder, then heads back to our bedroom. A year ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of living here. We have a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, brick home in Alabaster. A freaking suburb. The fast-paced life I once knew was far behind me.

  That is, until my son opens his eyes. The same blue as his father’s. Immediately, I’m transported back behind the bar at the club. Back to serving drinks and wishing Hunter would notice me. That he would actually look at me and not through me as if I didn’t exist.

  With a sigh, I leave Wes to sleep and return to Paul. I snuggle against him, enjoying his warmth.

  This is my life now. The old me has vanished. I went to rehab and got clean. I watched Jake and Skylar the day they arrived to get me. I smiled at Skylar’s protruding belly. I wasn’t very far along at that time, but I had a nice baby bump.

  Then I cried when Paul told them I’d checked out weeks before. Cried at their sadness. It had to be done. I wasn’t going back to the club. Wasn’t subjecting myself to Hunter. I couldn’t face him.

  So, I started a new life. Paul worked at the rehab center, and he suggested I stay with him. I didn’t expect to care for him the way I do, but the more time we spent together, the more I began to wish he was Wes’s father. He’s kind and gentle, sweet and caring. Hunter was never those things.

  The only thing I miss is Skylar. She became such a close friend to me. I wonder how her baby is. How she is. A part of me wants to see our children grow up together. They could be best friends the way Jake and Hunter were.

  Paul stirs and rolls over, his arm draping over my waist. He opens his eyes and smiles over at me. I wish I got butterflies. Wish the sight of his smile made my heart flutter. But I have something different with him. Something I’ve never had before.

  Security.

  He climbs on top of me, settling between my legs, and I welcome
him. He starts to move, and I reach up, trailing my fingertips over his freshly shaved face. There are no harsh orders. No dirty words spoken. No hard fucking. That’s what it was like with Hunter — hard and fast and oh so dirty.

  And things between Hunter and me were over before they ever really began.

  HUNTER

  I watch the blonde from my bed, my eyelids hooded as I exhale smoke into the air. I had to give it to her, she gives great head and great weed.

  “What’s all this?” she asks, picking up a piece of paper from my dresser.

  “None of your damn business.”

  “Geez,” she mumbles, putting it back down.

  My sister was kidnapped by an Uber driver. The club dealt with him, so he’s a non-issue, but before he was taken out, he bragged about having other girls. Girls he had taken. Girls he planned to sell. I know he has a partner out there. Someone else he was working with.

  Everything I’ve found is there on my dresser. I just haven’t found what I’m looking for. There are more missing girls. He wasn’t lying, but for the life of me, I can’t find a trace of them. The only reason we found Skylar was because of Jake.

  I clench my jaw at the thought of my best friend. Well, former best friend. I may have given my official blessing for Skylar and him to be together, but that was only because she was knocked up with his damn kid. I’m not going to put a kid through not having a father. Sure, Skylar and I had our dad growing up, and he did the best he could after our mom died, but both parents are better. I won’t deprive my niece of that.