Obsession (Magnetic Desires Book 4) Read Online Free Page A

pub on the outskirts of town. A small run down shack, with a pool table in the back room, and bikers everywhere. It had been a while since I’d set foot in the place. There wasn’t much point in a place like that when you didn’t drink all that much. It had been my first everything when I’d ended up in Reverence at seventeen. My first job, my first drinking hole, my first family, in a way. I’d taken Mellie there a bunch of times over the years, needed to have her understand where I started out and the people who had taken my hand when I was climbing out of the gutter. But they could be rough, dangerous even, and she understood it wasn’t the place for her to find her kicks.
    Everything else in Reverence was a five-minute drive, but this place was as close to the middle of nowhere as anything could be. Pulling the truck up beside the row of motorcycles, I jumped from the cab and headed toward the bouncer. “Hey, Wolf.”
    “Knight,” he drawled. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
    I cringed at the old nickname, though I had earned it. Both the nickname and his respect built on my ability to throw down against guys bigger than myself. It didn’t matter that I’d made it off the streets, become more successful than I’d dreamed of back then. Part of me would always be that kid who had to fight tooth and nail to prove himself, and when she’d been here with me, there’d been nothing I’d enjoyed better than unleashing on whoever stepped to me. God, she was everywhere. In every part of my life I wanted to remember, but those days were behind me now. With a shrug I mounted the steps. The flood of noise from inside the pub wasn’t dampened by shut windows and doors. Wooden slats creaked underfoot as I grasped one of his meaty hands. “Gave up drinking.”
    His black leather jacket creaked when he shifted, the brass knuckleduster on his left hand resting on his trunk of a thigh. “Don’t start shit.”
    I wouldn’t start shit, wouldn’t even finish it. I just wanted a quiet drink, not that I would advertise it. Grinning, I turned my cap backward and rolled up the sleeves on the flannel shirt I’d thrown over my T-shirt. “Got it.”
    He smirked, showing a gold tooth through his thick black beard, and letting out a crackling, grating laugh. “Yeah, looks like it.”  
    I pushed through the door and took a minute to let my eyes adjust to the dim lighting and smoky haze. Angel leaned over the bar, her hair in a wild ponytail over her shoulder, the black wife-beater she wore revealing ample cleavage and full sleeves of tattoos. “Hey, Angel.”
    The hard gaze she’d been dealing up to the room softened when it met mine. “Knight. It’s been a long time.”
    I stalked forward and took a seat at the bar. “How about a drink?”
    “Scotch?”
    “I’ll start with a beer.” It’d been a long time since I touched the hard stuff. Between the operation and when I’d gone back to allowing myself the occasional beer had been a year as it was.
    She poured from the tap, swirling it around the glass, producing a beer with little head. “We’ve missed you and your antics around here. Settled down yet?”
    “No.” I flicked one corner of my mouth up. “Why? Do you fancy a ride?”
    Her chuckle started with a snort, her eyes dancing. “You’re the same boy you were the first time you walked in here when you were what?”
    “Seventeen, and I sure as hell don’t feel like it.”
    “Yeah. Time dances us right to the grave, doesn’t she? Let me know when you want another.” With that she slipped along behind the bar, serving up harder alcohol to harder guys than me.
    Settling in, I drank my beer. Nothing was the same now as it had been then. At seventeen, I’d been tougher, or at least ignorant of what waited. I’d been goddamn invincible. Never mind I’d had my lights punched out by a dude twice my size that first night.  After that I’d made sure no one would take me down.
    Getting up, I headed for