Ruin (Kings of Carnage MC - Prospects Book 1) Read online

I’ve reached my boiling point before I stand to face him, and I know he knows me well enough to know that I’m furious. “Your daughter has her own mind and makes her own decisions. I’d like to see you try to split us up.”

  “I’m not going to… you are. Ruin her like you have the rest of them and send her packing. I’ll send her money to set up her life somewhere safe, away from the club.” My jaw ticks with every word that comes out of his mouth.

  “Yeah, because that worked so well for her in the past.”

  “You know that hotel I had you stop at last night?” I nod and allow him to finish whatever bullshit thing he’s going to throw at me to keep me away from his daughter. “I was there to see Tyra’s mother. She was strung out on coke and between fucks, thinking I was her next client. She’s a whore.” The dark circles under Poe’s eyes catch my attention as he talks. From the looks of it, I don’t think he slept any last night. “Tyra deserves better, and you know it.”

  “Who says I can’t give her better?”

  He’s halfway back to his seat before he turns around to look at me again. “You just told us she’s in your videos.”

  “She is. And she’s getting paid damn good for it. Royalties for life on the views.”

  “There won’t be any royalties, because you’re pulling the fucking videos like I said. Drop her and send her packing. I’ll pick up the pieces and put her somewhere safe from this kind of life.” Poe is my boss at work. He’s been a member of the club longer than almost everyone and he’s one of my father’s best friends. Not to mention, he’s like a father to me and could easily sway the vote against his own recommendation for my patch if his mind has changed. I’ve considered him a friend and a confidante my entire life. For him to make this demand so sternly hits me harshly, straight through the chest.

  I know no matter what I say, it won’t go over well so I choose not to say anything at all and leave the room to head straight out the clubhouse door. I need some open road to think clearly.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tyra

  It’s been almost ten hours since Leigh dropped me off at Ruin’s house. I’ve cleaned his entire place to keep myself busy, even though it didn’t really need it. I’ve washed all of my clothes and neatly repacked them in my bags with my cash that’s still hidden. I’m running out of things to do and I don’t have a car to leave in, so this waiting is getting to me.

  I check my phone for the hundredth time today and I still don’t have a message from Ruin. I decide to send him a quick text to let him know I’m thinking of him.

  Me: Hi! Your sister dropped me off at your house. I’ll wait for you here.

  And one to his sister go ahead and take her up on the offer to borrow her car for a few days.

  Me: Can I take you up on that car thing until I get my feet on the ground a little?

  Leigh: I’m on my way!

  She said she can borrow one from her parents until I can find something. I’m hoping I’ll find one for less than the bonus I got from Ruin.

  He doesn’t ever respond but it isn’t long and I see lights coming from the driveway where Leigh has pulled up and Sterling is right behind her. “Here you go!” She tosses me the keys like it’s no big deal and makes me feel less guilty for borrowing it from her.

  “What’s the deal there?” I get brave and ask her about Sterling, since this is the second time I’ve seen him around her.

  “Nothing. Just friends… or whatever.” She obviously isn’t impressed with that status and she’s not afraid to say it in front of him either, because he was making his way around the back of his car when she said it.

  He moves to hug me with his arms over my shoulders like we know each other, so I wrap mine around his waist and inhale. “You smell good. Who you trying to impress?”

  “Never know who I’ll run in to.”

  “Uh huh.” I step back and look at him out of the corner of my eye, about to let him know I can see right through what he’s doing when Ruin pulls up in the driveway.

  I forget about what I was about to say when both Leigh and Sterling go to greet Ruin. Ruin looks like hell and I hate that. I have no idea what he’s been through today, but it seems like it was a lot.

  “I’m gonna take your sister home and I’ll check back in with you tomorrow. We need to talk about that project.” Ruin gives him a nod and saunters past me on the driveway. He isn’t happy to see me or even looking in my direction and it tells me more than I wanted to know. It’s time to leave. I’ve overstayed my welcome and he’s feeling crowded.

  “How was your day?”

  “It was shit.” With his back to me, he keeps walking toward the kitchen. His mood makes me sad, and I wish I could go back in time and change whatever I’ve done to make him so distant. He pulls out a beer and tilts his head back to take it down without even closing the refrigerator.

  “I’m sorry.” My body instinctively goes to his and before I realize my move is the opposite of giving him space, I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him from behind. He lowers his beer to the counter and turns around to hug me back.

  I love how this feels, even though I know it could very easily be my last embrace with him. He’s changed today, and I know he’s pulling away from me. His lack of texting was my first clue, and the way he’s acting since he arrived just solidifies what he’s about to do.

  I could make it easy on him and leave before he has to man up and break this off, but I don’t want to. I want him to say we don’t have chemistry. I want him to say he isn’t interested in me or what we could have.

  We hold each other for a few minutes, his chin resting on my head, which is lying against his chest and listening to his heartbeat speed up. Before he has a chance to say anything, I decide to kiss him. A deep, passionate I missed you like crazy kiss. If he’s going to break it off with me I want him to do it through the heavy pull our bodies have on each other.

  He’s slow to join me, but he eventually lifts me into my favorite position and gives in. I purposely wrap my arms around his neck and then slide my fingers through his hair, trying to memorize everything I can.

  His pace picks up and it’s like I’m slowly breathing life back into him. This is my Ruin… the passionate guy who can’t get enough of me. The guy who makes me laugh and isn’t this heavy with his emotions. He’s in his head too much and I can’t hardly stomach what that means.

  He walks us to the bedroom and lowers me onto the bed, taking his time to remove his clothes and watching me with a somber look on his face. Like this is hurting him as much as it is me. I allow my eyes to close the second his hands are on me because I want to feel him talk to me through his touch.

  He spends hours kissing me… caressing me… making love to me. We don’t do that.

  And I spend hours doing the exact same thing to him, making sure he knows how I feel because there’s no way I could put into words all the emotions going through me.

  He kisses me for a while before he pulls me against his chest to sleep, but that’s the last thing I’m going to do. I’ve always been the girl with a plan. I’ve always made sure men couldn’t get to me in my sleep and hurt me and this time the hurt is different. It’s deep. It’s leaving me numb instead of sending me into survival mode.

  How did I fall so fast for this guy? I’ve allowed this man to slay me open and expose me to more pain than I’ve ever known and I’m giving him all the power by waiting for him to end it when I should be walking the fuck out the door and not giving him that control over my heart.

  I lie with him as long as I can, paying attention to every breath he takes and burning the small memories into my head.

  Sliding out of his bed is the hardest part. The rest comes naturally and even through the numbness, I know I’m making the best decision for myself.

  Leaving Ruin is what I have to do.

  Ruin

  I felt her leaving the bed this morning. I heard the car pull out of the driveway and it killed me to not go after her. She dese
rves better and I know if I told her that she would just argue and never leave. Being cold to her was the best way to get her to go.

  It’s been six hours since she left, and I haven’t slept at all, feeling guilty and just fucking sad that it has be this way. If she wasn’t Poe’s daughter, I’d tell the club to fuck off. And I’d dare all of the officers to come at me with blame because even though all of those guys love the club, they love their wives more. Their wives just understand that the club is close second.

  The women of the Kings of Carnage are precious and are highly respected and protected. I don’t see how that isn’t exactly what you’d want for your daughter.

  I’m still in bed when I hear someone come through the door. I don’t even care enough to get out of bed to see who it is. “Ruin.” Poe hollers from the hall and I don’t even fucking respond. I respect him enough to walk away from his daughter… or push her away in this case, but I don’t have to like it. I don’t have to be nice about it. Things will never be the same between him and me because one thing I cannot do is pretend. I’m real as fuck, and he knows that.

  “Tyra.” Why is he fucking yelling her name?

  “She’s not here, asshole.” He opens the door to my room and lets it slam against the wall, only increasing my irritation with his ass.

  “She told me to meet her here.”

  “Well, she left hours ago.” I lie my head back down, planning to ignore anything else he says.

  “She just called me thirty minutes ago.” I sit up in bed… now I’m curious.

  “What did she say?”

  “She told me to meet her here.”

  “You already said that, fucker.” I slide out of bed and purposely walk toward him, because I know he fucking hates when I walk around naked.

  “Exactly. Put some fucking clothes on before she gets here.”

  “So, she can rip them off of me again?” I know I’m poking at his nerves, but I don’t give a single fuck.

  “I’m going to wait for her in the kitchen.” He leaves me standing in my room, looking into the backyard with my dick out, thinking about what I’m going to say to her when she gets here. Having her leave my bed like that was a reality check of what it would feel like to never see her again and it fucking sucked.

  Choosing her over everything means my life as I know it will change forever. I could lose the club and piss off my real chance of getting patched in. But I have asked myself if I really want to tie myself to a group that is going to limit my happiness. I decide to send the hardest text of my life to my father.

  Me: I’m choosing Tyra. I’m sorry if this disappoints you, but I’ve made my decision. I thought about it for fucking eighteen hours straight and I know this is the right choice for me. I hope you’ll one day understand.

  I pull on a pair of shorts when I hear her voice in the house and quickly make my way to find her. She looks like I feel. I move to wrap my arms around her, but she points at me, stopping me mid-step.

  “Sit down. Both of you. I’m doing the talking.” Seeing that she’s wound up and ready to attack, I obey her command and sit on a bar stool next to Poe.

  “You’re both complete assholes and it took me a while to figure it out, but I did. You,” she points at Poe, “don’t get to make decisions about my life. You haven’t earned that honor yet and I’ll be damned if you get to decide how I spend my life.” She enunciates each word like she’s bordering on crazy, and I love her for it.

  “Don’t you fucking smile. You’re a coward. You don’t have the balls to stand up for what we have or fucking tell me that you plan to dump me. Fuck you, Ruin. Fuck you for making me another one of your conquests.” I stand to go to her, and she points again. “No. Sit.”

  “I’m not going to sit.” She moves back a step with each one I go forward until she’s backed against the counter. I keep going until I’m right in front of her and I can run my hands down her arms and palm the side of her face when I speak. “What you don’t know is I just told Chaos that I’m walking. I’ve chosen you over the club.” Tears build in her eyes and it takes her a bit before she can talk.

  “Why does it have to be a choice? Am I not good enough to join you in the life you’re meant to have?” She looks over at Poe to continue. “I see how the women are treated and trust me when I say it’s a dream compared to what I’ve gone through and see out there in the real world. Why am I not good enough?”

  “You have it backwards. I want better for you.” Poe’s voice is low; I can tell she’s getting to him and making him think about things for once.

  “You’re messing with my happiness. I can’t think of anything better than being happy with someone walking beside me in life.”

  Poe looks down at his hands and contemplates his words before he speaks. “I want nothing more than the both of you to be happy. You’ll have to understand my pressure to have Ruin leave you was to see just how important you are to him. I’ve known him his entire life and he’s a good guy who has made so many girls cry. And I didn’t want that for you.” The truth hits me in the chest and without argument, I can see where he’s coming from.

  “I get that… and I’m not saying he and I will be the forever story, but we deserve a chance to see what comes of it.” More truth.

  “I can agree to that.” Seeing Poe melt for a woman isn’t new to me. I see how he is with Elaina and his other kids all the time, but this is a first for him when it comes to Tyra.

  “And you’re gonna make sure his spot with the club is exactly where it deserves to be. If he has earned his place, then you need to do the right thing and make sure he gets it.” I love bossy Tyra, but I’ve already come to terms with my decision.

  Poe nods and does his deep thinking again before responding. “I’ve already told Chaos if Ruin put up a fight to keep you, his advancement in the club would not change. He has earned it and I would never take that away from him.” He stands to leave, still awkward with the look of guilt all over his face. I can’t stand leaving a brother hanging, so I move around the bar to make amends.

  “I get where you came from and I promise to always cherish and take care of your daughter, even if what we have doesn’t work out.” He hits me on the back a few times in a big bear hug before he moves to hold Tyra like the precious cargo she is.

  “I’ve done enough damage here. I’m gonna go and leave you kids to it.” Old man doesn’t even want to know what he’s leaving us to because I’m about to have Tyra back in my bed and we won’t be leaving for days.

  Epilogue

  Tyra

  “What was in this box?” We’re trying to get as many of these kitchen boxes unpacked before all of the club family gets here tomorrow for the cookout.

  “I think that was the one with towels… I’m not sure.” Bear looks at the box, just as confused as I am. Ruin’s friends are here helping because they’ll be moving in once the renovations are done to the other parts of the house.

  To say the porn project has been successful is an understatement. The Porn Kings have it all together and have even bought a production company to help with some of the legalities. Ruin was able to buy a giant house that he’s even adding on more rooms so that the guys can all live here if they choose and film the videos at all hours of the night. Since he was patched in, he’s been a leader to the club prospects, so he’s also been real busy with that.

  I’ve personally made over two hundred thousand dollars in just a matter of months from the single session I did with Ruin and Sterling. I guess the threesome was more of a hit than any of us even imagined. Ruin and I have made a few more short clips since, but we haven’t posted any of them yet. We’re still teasing the subscribers with short scenes from our night with Sterling.

  Speak of the devil, Sterling walks through the door with a stack of pizzas. He kisses me on the top of the head in a half hug on his way by. I’m so glad it isn’t awkward with the three of us after everything that happened.

  We sat down one night after we made our
relationship official and told Sterling we were a couple. He was ecstatic for us. In fact, he was the happiest for us out of everyone we told, except for Ruin’s sister Leigh. They both seem to be rooting for us to be together.

  Life has completely changed for me. I now love having a house full of guys around. I have money, and no one is trying to steal it. It’s actually the opposite. Poe and Ruin keep trying to give me extra money that I haven’t earned myself, and I’m not having any part of it. I guess that’s the one thing that hasn’t changed about me.

  I’m doing everyone’s makeup on camera days, so I stay busy, and they make sure I get a great cut for the work. Air brushing is the way to go with all of the tattoos around here. I couldn’t be happier in my relationship with Ruin. We have a lot of sex, which I realized was something I was missing in my life before I met him.

  “Come here.” Ruin slides in behind me, pulling me back against his body and letting me know he’s turned on with a big bulge in his pants. He leans in and talks next to my ear. “I fucking love watching you bend over… makes me want that ass of yours.” I lean against his face with my own and palm his other cheek to feel the stubble on both sides.

  He lifts me and sweeps his arms under my knees to carry me across the house, his friends be damned. I guess they’re used to us by now. He tosses me on the bed, and I land in a fit of laughter. “Do you have to be a caveman in front of your friends?”

  “I’m not any different when they’re not around.” I slip to the edge of the bed and tug at his waistband, slipping his pants down until his cock springs free. I give him my innocent eyes and my devilish smirk before I drop to my knees and take him into my mouth.

  I take him in and out slowly, getting him worked up so I can repay him for a previous adventure we shared. He’s focused on my every move and I love having this much control over him. It makes me work harder and allows him to push to the back of my throat longer than usual.