Luck of the Devil (A Raven Ruin Novel Book 3)

  Marie James

  Copyright

  Luck of the Devil

  Copyright © 2018 Marie James

  Editing by Marie James Betas & JA Essen

  EBooks are not transferable. All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Acknowledgments

  Book #23!

  Without all of the amazing people supporting me, encouraging me, and listening to me when I ask myself why I keep doing this, I would’ve called it quits a long time ago! I’d be able to read more books and take more naps, that’s for sure!

  My amazing, loving, and sometimes extremely annoying husband, thank you for supporting me through another release! Love you to the moon!

  My girls, Laura, Brittney, MaRanda, and Step thank you for always being there! Sanity isn’t possible without you!

  BETAs girls! Mary, Brenda, Shannon, Laura, MaRanda, Michelle, and Jamie, you guys totally rocked this book! Thank you for all of your hard work and attention to detail! Donna, thanks for taking one final look!

  Shout out to RRR Promotions. Thank you for your help on this release!

  Erin “Legs” Trejo, I don’t know that I could get through the day with my sanity intact without being able to use you as a sounding board! Thank you for continuing to respond to my messages!

  Stalkers! You gals are THE BEST EVER! Thank you from the bottom of my mostly dark soul for supporting me, entertaining me, and helping me when I need it. You are the reason the Indie community is so amazing!

  Bloggers, thank you so much for sharing, reading, reviewing, and just being all around awesome!

  Until next time!

  ~Marie James

  Synopsis

  I’m good enough to protect her.

  I’m good enough to die for her.

  But, I’m not good enough to touch her?

  I may be the Vice President of the Ravens Ruin MC, but her brother, the President, has given all of us the order that she’s off-limits.

  It’s for the best really.

  The demons in my past love to play with pretty little girls like her.

  Series Info

  Desperate Beginnings

  Prequel

  (Available only in the Outlaw Anthology for a limited time!)

  Sins of the Father

  Book 1

  Epitaph

  “There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.”

  ~Mark Twain

  Prologue

  Briar

  “Think we should come back later?” TJ asks as we watch people stumble in and out of the frat-house.

  We’re cloaked in darkness, halfway down the block.

  “With the way I feel right now, man, we could go inside and kill everyone, and I wouldn’t even blink an eye,” I mutter, shaking my head as another drunk college girl stumbles down the sidewalk alone.

  Don’t these damn girls know that they’re putting themselves at risk? I’m not one to blame the victim, but fuck, don’t get drunk and leave yourself unable to defend an attacker off. If we lived in a perfect world, there would be no problem with drinking until unconsciousness, but the world is a cold, dark, sinister place. It’s filled with demons lying in wait for the opportunities these girls are handing over freely.

  Four guys in this damn house are soon going to find out just how bad of a world we live in.

  “Briar?” TJ prompts.

  “Look how wasted they all are,” I observe, not pulling my eyes from the darkness that swallowed another girl up. “I don’t think anyone would notice us if we walked inside carrying flares and yelling on a bullhorn.”

  “Lead the way,” TJ urges with a wicked grin on his face.

  He’s just as excited to get to those guys as I am. We both know what’s going to happen here tonight. No one gets away with hurting one of our own, and they damn sure don’t get a pass on hurting Molly. TJ is invested because she’s his sister. My role in her life is a little less concrete, but that won’t keep me from seeking revenge for the girl I’ve watched grow from an eight year old girl into a gorgeous young woman.

  The pulse of the music blasting inside vibrates under my boots as I climb the rickety steps onto the porch. TJ, focused on only one thing, gently shrugs off a drunk girl as she brazenly offers herself to him. I know TJ. If that girl is still out here when we’re done, there’s a chance he’ll take her up on her offer, but he’s focused right now. The call of blood has always been stronger than the temptation of pussy for him.

  We separate once we get inside, each of us looking for the familiar faces we’re seeking tonight. At twenty years old, TJ fits in perfectly. He’s a college girl's dream with a built frame, dirty-blond hair, and a mischievous smile that leaves women curious. I, on the other hand, am twenty-nine and have no business partying it up with college kids, but they don’t seem to mind.

  We spend ten minutes looking around, neither one of us locating the assholes. It can only mean one thing, and TJ realizes it too when his eyes meet mine from across the room. Heading in the direction of the stairs, I add a little hustle to my steps, praying the entire way to the closed bedroom door at the end of the narrow hallway that we aren’t too late.

  “Hey guys,” I spit when I open the door and see the passed-out chick on the bed.

  One guy is pulling down her panties, struggling against the cumbersomeness of her lethargic body, while two others look on. One doesn’t even bother to stop stroking his cock with our interruption. The guy on the far side of the room drops the cell phone he’s using to record the action and has the wherewithal to look ashamed at what he’s involved in.

  “Private party,” another guy says as he turns, dick already out of his jeans.

  The second he presses his hand to TJ’s chest in a bid to make him exit the room, all hell breaks loose.

  The snap of his wrist can’t be heard over the drone of music from downstairs, but I’m not so sure that his howl of pain won’t be.

  “Shut him up,” I snap as I step closer to the guy closest to the girl. He pulled his hands from her body when we walked in, but he doesn’t look like he’s planning to stop. We’re just a minor inconvenience in his evening plans. His eyes are dilated like saucers, cheeks flushed from the increase in his body temperature. The man is high as a fucking kite.

  Too bad, I think as I step even closer. I was hoping they’d be fully cognizant when I gut them. We don’t always get what we want though. It’s one of the harsh realities of life.

  “Gladly,” TJ hisses.

  Time moves in warp speed.

  I don’t know if seconds, minutes, or hours pass by, but when it’s all said and done, there are three bodies at our feet and one quivering little asshole pissing himself and trembling in the corner. He’s the only man left in the room alive, aside from TJ and me. He’d be dead too if it weren’t for the fact that he’s fully clothed and was video recording the other guys rather than joining in. I can’t be one hundred percent sure that he wouldn’t have joined in later, but tonight, it’s his only saving grac
e.

  “Look how fucking sexy that is,” TJ says more to himself than anyone else, but it distracts me from my next task briefly.

  “Sick fuck,” I murmur, but I look at the girl anyway.

  I know what he’s talking about the second the words leave his mouth. He isn’t turned on by the unconscious, vulnerable woman. It’s the blood splattered all over her body that’s getting his dick hard.

  “Are we going to leave her there?”

  TJ nods. “Let her wake up in this mess. Maybe she’ll learn her fucking lesson.”

  He walks closer to her, stepping absently over one of the dead guys. If I were normal, the sight of three young men scattered in pieces around the room would freak me out. The only thing I’m concerned about though is their penchant for date-rape and wondering if their blood contains anything antibiotics won’t cure, because we’re both covered in it. You can’t rip out someone’s entrails and slit their throat while their heart is still pumping without getting a little blood on your clothes.

  “You should be safe at home reading a book or something, beautiful.” TJ uses his gloved hand to sweep her blood-matted blonde hair from her face. “Now, you’re here covered in blood.”

  She whimpers, her eyes fluttering open before closing again.

  “You want to be identified?” I hiss.

  The guy I was planning to leave alive is quickly becoming another witness we don’t need.

  “It was my pleasure saving you.” TJ swipes his finger through a splatter of blood on her arm and then draws a heart on her cheek.

  He’s so close to institutionalization, it’s unreal. The man is certifiable, crazy as crazy gets. Yet, I love him as a brother, and couldn’t ask for a better accomplice in getting retribution for the pain they caused our girl.

  “Proceed,” he says as he stands up straight, finally focusing on the matter at hand.

  “Do you like watching women get raped?” I cross the distance to the last man alive and squeeze his jaw until he yelps in pain.

  His response is more blubbering and generic pleas for his life.

  “Listen to me.” He sobs again, forcing me to shake his head until he looks up at me. “Are you listening?”

  “Please don’t kill me,” he begs. “I’ll do anything.”

  “I’m betting on it,” I agree.

  Chapter 1

  Molly

  You know those plans you make?

  The ones that go off without a hitch in your head?

  I’ve imagined how tonight was going to go for years.

  YEARS!

  I’m certain that no less than a million times since I noticed Briar was more than just one of my brothers’ friends, I’ve run scenario after scenario through my mind about how our first kiss is going to happen. It’s been tweaked a little over the years.

  The way I imagined this kiss ending when I was fourteen was incredibly different than the dream that woke me up this morning with my breaths soughing out in harsh pants and my legs trembling.

  You see, having an orgasm in your sleep will leave you exhausted, yet begging for more. My mouth waters with just the thought of his lips on mine. Almost nightly since I came home from school, thoughts of him have led to exactly that, an unsated body and images that are eating away at my timidness, forcing me to plan.

  It’s made me brave.

  It’s pushed me into action.

  It’s the reason I’ve been stalking him like a lion creeping up in the grass behind an inattentive gazelle.

  Only Briar isn’t a gazelle.

  He isn’t the prey.

  He’s the predator.

  Most days it feels as if the roles are reversed, and he’s watching me, waiting for me. Only he never pounces. He never gets caught licking his lips as if he’s anticipating the taste of my skin the way a hungry beast would. He never takes that next step, and he makes damn sure we’re never left alone together. I’ve been able to corner him a few times in the last couple of weeks, but we always get interrupted. There are so many damn people around the clubhouse and my house on the back of the property that privacy is impossible.

  If he didn’t haunt my every waking moment, if I couldn’t feel his eyes on me every second, maybe things would be different. Yet, there he is, near my brother, watching me. Lynch is so wrapped up in my best friend Zoe that he isn’t aware of anything but her. It’s the perfect diversion as far as I’m concerned.

  I know Briar is well aware of me.

  I know he sees me talking to one of the new hangarounds.

  Disappointment draws his brows together as I lean in closer to the handsome boy who has no idea that he’s the pawn in my sick, fucked-up game.

  “I was told to stay away from you,” the drunk guy says, never taking his eyes from the front of my low-cut top. My breasts are on display as much as I can make them without one of my brothers or Briar losing their shit over it. I mean, Professor’s boy toy, Kai is riding his cock in the living room while a girl sucks his dick, but heaven forbid I show a little damn skin.

  “I thought you were a bad boy,” I coo, thankful my low-cut top is doing most of the work for me. The man is entranced.

  In a different life, one that wasn’t ruled entirely by a man I’m never supposed to have, this guy would be perfect for me. He’s handsome, and before the last couple of shots he tossed back in rapid succession, he actually sounded halfway intelligent. Normal is a fantasy though. It’s not something I’ll ever be allowed. Normal is for suburbanites, not for the only daughter of a notorious biker. As a Princess born into a one-percenter biker club, I’ll never know normal. I accepted it a long time ago, but there are men in my life that would happily see me end up a virgin cat lady. That shit isn’t going to fly if I have anything to do with it.

  “I said I was told not to, not that I was going to listen.” He gives me a mega-watt smile, and I sort of feel guilty that he may be missing a few of those perfect, white teeth before he makes it home tonight.

  Does that make me evil? Uncivilized? Maybe, but things are different for us at the Ravens Ruin clubhouse. We don’t follow social norms. In fact, we shun most of them, living by the if it feels good, do it mentality. Well, everybody else does. I’m treated like a ten year old. I’m surprised I’m even allowed in the clubhouse when there’s a party going on.

  “I like a man who knows what he wants.” I run my finger over his lip while biting mine for effect. “Why don’t you meet me in room three? Down the hallway to the left.”

  The speed in which he sucks down the remainder of his beer, heading in that direction is damn near comical. I look around, blatantly suspicious, and all the while not making eye contact with Briar, before turning around and heading in that direction as well.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  Briar’s grip on my arm is firm but not painful. He caught up faster than I’d anticipated, having reached me just a few feet down the back hallway that leads to the entertainment rooms.

  I grin before rolling my lips between my teeth and turning to face him.

  “Having a little fun,” I tell him with an air of nonchalance. “Now if you’ll let me go, I have someone waiting for me.”

  “Like hell you do,” he spits.

  In my dreams and fantasies, this is where he’d shove me against the wall and claim me. He’d tell me he’s the only man who can touch my lips or see my body. He’s the one who will take my virginity and only when I’m ready. This is where he’d confess his love for me and vow to cherish me for the rest of his life. We’d face my brother together, a united force that couldn’t be separated by the force of my family.

  He releases my arm, and I know instantly that tonight won’t go the way I have dreamed.

  “Okay, Molly.” He runs a rough hand over the top of his dark hair. “You win. We can’t protect you forever.”

  We.

  He’s referencing himself, and my brothers Lynch and TJ, like I’m a baby that needs constant supervision.

 
My heart implodes with each inch he steps away from me.

  “If that guy is who you want—” His throat works on a thick swallow. “Then all I can say is use protection. Be safe.”

  He’s either calling my bluff, or he really doesn’t care that another man is waiting for me down the hallway.

  Neither one of the scenarios are ones I’ve considered. I don’t have a contingency plan for this. In each one of my mental schemes, he’s reacted in a possessive way. Fantasy Briar would never walk away and let me join some horny guy alone in a room only used for sex. He would never tell me to be safe knowing I was about to give away something that belonged only to him.

  Tears sting the backs of my eyes as doubt settles in my gut. Have I been reading him wrong since I got home? Have I misinterpreted the way his eyes follow me? Is he only keeping an eye on me because of an order he’s following from his president?

  “That’s it?” I spit. It’s true what they say about the thin line between love and hate. I just jumped over the damn thing with both feet. “Be safe?”

  He nods but refuses to look me in the eye.

  “Any pointers?” I snip. “Anything I need to tell him? Or do you think he knows how to pop my cherry without hurting me?”

  His jaw tenses, but still, he remains silent.

  “I hope he makes me come first. I hear that helps with the pain.”

  “Molly,” he warns.

  “I don’t think I’ll even tell him,” I continue. “He won’t think I’m a virgin. No one else in the clubhouse is.”

  Nothing but clenching fists and that strong clenching fucking jaw of his.

  “I’ll try not to wince. Maybe keep the lights off, so he doesn’t see the blood.” I turn away from him. “Have a good night.”

  “Don’t.”

  It’s one simple plea whispered in a dark hallway, yet, it has the ability to stop me in my tracks.

  “Don’t what?” I ask as I turn back around and walk toward him.

  I don’t stop within the distance most would consider respectable. I press myself against his body, moving forward until I feel his back meet the wall.