Wild Fire (The Kingson Pride Book 2) Read online

  WILD FIRE

  The Kingson Pride Book Two

  Kristen Banet

  Copyright © 2017 by Kristen Banet

  All rights reserved.

  Version 1.0

  DEDICATION

  First, to my husband for encouraging my creative whims.

  Second, to Lauren, who gave me and Wild Pride a chance.

  Third, to Anna who helped me get Wild Pride back on track.

  Finally, to the readers. You have no idea how much it means to me that you’ve chosen to stick with me for book two of this wild ride.

  ANDREW

  May

  Andrew laughed as Riley danced around the diner while no one was there, mopping to the music overhead. She always plugged in her ‘RockOutCockOut’ playlist and cleaned as she danced. It was entertaining as hell.

  “Riley, darling!” He grabbed her as she did a pass and she looked up at him, grinning. They were staying later than normal tonight, trying to get some time just for them away from the pride. The diner was their retreat from the other guys.

  He held her close to him as she danced and wiggled in his arms. He leaned down, kissed her soft mouth, and she eventually stopped singing to the music.

  “Hi, Andrew,” her husky voice sent shivers down his spine and made his cock hard. “What can I do for you?” Her amber eyes met his and he kissed her again, stealing the mop from her and leaning it against the counter.

  “I was thinking we could go do something together,” he mumbled against her lips.

  “Like what?” She was grinning now, her eyes alight with interest.

  “Well, we’re pretty much done here, and you’ve mopped the floor three times just dancing around… So, let’s get out of here and go have a picnic or something.” Andrew rubbed his cheek to hers, enjoying the purr he got in response.

  “Andrew, it’s like two in the morning,” Riley’s voice had dropped, becoming a little deeper.

  So? He chuckled to himself. They weren’t often here at closing and he enjoyed having the time alone with her. He didn’t get it very often with the pride’s working schedule. They lived busy lives to pass the time. They had wanted that before Riley came into their lives, but now they were all just trying to be with her as much as possible. Nearly losing her a few times had caused them to readjust their priorities.

  “We need to get home, so the others don’t freak out,” she continued, kissing him slowly. His hands held her hips.

  “I don’t see you enough, though,” Andrew groaned softly. “And the moment we get home, one of the guys is going to be excited to see you and say I’ve had you all night. We don’t get real quality time here at the diner.” He kissed her again, this time with a little more force, a little more something. She was panting softly by the end of it. She nodded slowly. “I can call the guys; they’ll understand.”

  “Alright,” she touched his cheek. “We’re still working all this out. I still want to do so much with all of you.”

  “Then let’s go make memories, darling.” Andrew nuzzled her cheek.

  They were now just standing like fools in the diner, grinning at each other. Riley ran off first to get her music player and other personal items. Andrew locked the back office and put away the mop. He met her at the front door, holding a to-go bag of the diner’s best pies. Pecan, blueberry, key lime, you name it, Andrew put it in the diner.

  “What are we eating for this picnic, anyway?” Riley strolled over, still grinning. She had her black leather purse, something Brenton had gotten her.

  “I’m bringing the leftover pie we had. You know, those last two or three slices always left when I replenish the baked goods display. We normally throw them out,” Andrew held the bag up for her.

  “We’re going to eat pie, at two in the morning, that we stole from the diner?” She laughed and took the bag, passing him to leave Starry Night Diner.

  “Well, since we own the diner… We’re not really stealing. It’s our pie.” Andrew locked the front door and looked at the night they had.

  The sky was clear and full of stars. The air was warm, and all the ice and snow had finally melted. The puddles had evaporated, so it wasn’t wet anymore like it had been through March and April.

  Not that the pride had gotten to do much through March and April except Riley’s birthday, which she’d tried to run from. They’d had a lot of stuff happen, and it just reaffirmed how Andrew felt about her. Her ability to bounce back from the kidnapping and attempted murder had touched him in a deep place. Other than the occasional nightmare, she jumped back into the world, ready to take it on.

  They slid into his truck, and she sat in the passenger’s side. He could see her excitement in the dark interior, the light in her eyes undiminished by it all.

  “So, where are you thinking to take us?” She put her feet on his dashboard, and he tried to swat them down.

  “Put those down,” he growled playfully. “And I was thinking we should go to our little grove and look at the stars. You call the guys and tell them we’ll be home eventually and not to send out any search parties.”

  “Hopefully they’re just asleep,” Riley chuckled, pulling out her cell.

  He got them moving as Riley grimaced when a voice came on the line.

  “Riley! Why aren’t you and Andrew home yet? We’ve been staying up!” Zachary. He wasn’t angry, but Andrew could tell he was being… Zachary.

  “Go to sleep!” Riley groaned, rolling her eyes. “Andrew and I have decided to do a bit of a night picnic and will be home around dawn, most likely.”

  “He gets you for all evening at the diner and then for the rest of the night?” Zachary growled. “It’s not fair.”

  “The diner isn’t really a place to have a good time, and Andrew needs some quality time, Zachary.” Riley sighed and rolled her eyes to Andrew, who shrugged. This was why he didn’t make the call.

  “Well. When you get back, it’s my turn.” Zachary grumbled, a bit petulantly. Andrew bit back a chuckle, since Zachary would hear it and get pissed.

  “How about I decide whose turn it is?” Riley shook her head, staring out the front window.

  “Now, wait a minute, baby!” Zachary was getting desperate now. Andrew figured he realized he got too pushy with their girl.

  “You and Brenton had me before my shift at the diner with Andrew. Troy and Gabe also need to see me one day, too, since they just got back from a three-day trip dropping off that bike they finished.”

  Go Riley. She was handling Zachary like a champ. Andrew was honestly impressed. The tiger was now whining to her, but not disagreeing with her. After another fifteen minutes, Zachary let her go, and she put the phone away.

  “Is it always going to be like this?” Riley asked him, looking over in the dark truck.

  “Like what?” He wanted to hear her complaint before he really offered her any information. He didn’t want to accidentally say something that was off topic and start a totally different conversation.

  “You guys fighting for time with me? This whole ‘I want a turn’ stuff. I don’t want us to have a schedule. I want you guys to just trust me to understand who needs me and when,” she shrugged and looked a little put off.

  “Oh, darling. Yeah, we’ll figure it out. You have to understand, we’re new to this, too. We-- When we originally talked about all this, we just didn’t think long-term. We were thinking with our dicks, honestly.” Andrew sighed. “And now those guys are thinking about things they hadn’t considered. Like being in a real relationship with a woman. It’s not something any of those four have ever done.”

  “You have?”

  “I’ve had only one real lover, and yeah, she and I were tog
ether,” Andrew admitted as he pulled them into the parking for the trail.

  “Are we?” Riley asked softly.

  “Together? Riley, we’re more than together. We’re family.” Andrew leaned over and kissed her after he parked. “And I honestly don’t care about the other labels, as long as you’re happy here with us.”

  “What if one of the guys gets tired of this? I mean, I was thinking with my proverbial girl-dick when I decided to give this a shot,” she chuckled, and Andrew couldn’t stop his laugh at that. Her proverbial girl-dick. Oh yeah, she had the same attitude about sex most of them did. Sex is fun, just do it. It was always more serious for Andrew, but he could live with the wild girl. “Seriously! What girl wouldn’t want five guys all over her? Especially five guys that look like you all.” She jumped out before he could grab her.

  He was going to show her just how tired of this he would never get. He would rather have a fifth of Riley than one of his ex, or even ten of her.

  And if he didn’t have Riley, he didn’t want anything.

  GABE

  June

  It was his birthday, and the gift he received was better than anything he could have imagined. All the guys left the house, and Gabe had Riley for the whole day.

  “So, what do you want to do?” She leaned on his chest in his and Troy’s bed, snuggling into him. He’d woken up to her there, no Troy, and only a card explaining what his main gift was. The guys would give him real presents later, but he already had the most important one in his arms.

  He and Troy had been so busy catching up their work from the mess of the spring, he hardly ever saw her. It was awful.

  “Well, I normally go race on my birthday, and the guys come to cheer me on,” he spoke into her hair, the golden blonde waves falling liberally over him. “It’s a little thing we do… but you don’t have to.”

  “I would love to!” She sat up, and he groaned at the sight of her smiling down on him. “I haven’t had the chance to actually see you race yet.”

  “Are you sure, gorgeous?” Gabe grinned and pulled her back down, kissing her as he rolled her onto her back. He placed himself between her thighs. “I can think of more fun things to do today.”

  “We can’t just have sex all the time, Gabe!” She laughed as he kissed her neck and collarbone. She had nice collarbones. He never thought he would notice that in a woman. “I want to be a part of your lives.”

  “Alright, we’ll head out after lunch,” he spoke into her chest, then started to give her a hickey on her breast which would drive the rest of the guys wild. They normally had a rule- no marks on her. When another guy saw the mark, he wanted to outdo it; and she ended up covered in love bites and other nonsense.

  But it was his fucking birthday, and he was going to do whatever he wanted.

  By lunch, he’d already had the best birthday of his life, and now their girl was going to see him motocross race. She thought he raced his street bikes, but he had a love for the dirty, bouncing, dangerous ride on the hills. It was prime season, and there was place nearly two hours away that had races going for casuals every day. It was like a playground for them, and a training place for some of the big-league racers.

  And they knew he was coming to get his race on for his birthday.

  “You ready, gorgeous?” He grinned at her as she ran out of her room.

  She wore those damn leather pants she’d bought with Brenton and Zachary back in February. God, those things were meant to kill them all. They fit her like a second skin, hugging and cupping every curve in a perfect sheath of slick, black leather. She had paired with them with some beat up steel-toed boots and a Black Sabbath tee with cuts in it. Under that, he saw a white tank.

  “Damn right, I am,” she said as she pulled him down for a kiss. “Do I look alright?”

  “You look like I’m going to need to fight the other riders off with a damn stick,” Gabe teased. “Love it. You look fucking hot.”

  “Good. I want to be the best cheerleader for you.” She kissed his cheek, and he lead her out. He’d already loaded his dirt bike into Andrew’s pick up. Wherever the guys were, they had taken the Range Rovers to get there.

  “It’s a long drive; and we’ll be out late, so grab my jacket when we get there. I won’t need it.” He just wanted her to wear his jacket. It suddenly came to him that he was going to need to drive her somewhere. He hated driving with her in the vehicle; she wanted to go somewhere for his birthday, and there was nobody else to drive. He would suck it the fuck up and get over his own issues for her.

  “It’s June, Gabe! It won’t be cold,” Riley replied as she pushed him playfully, and he eyed her.

  “Wear it for me, then?” He smirked, hoping she’d say yes.

  “Yeah…” Oh, the blush on her face made him want to crawl back into bed. “I can do that.”

  “You’re the best, gorgeous.”

  They drove to the track, laughing and talking about anything. His history with motorcycles came up, and he shrugged.

  “Troy and I like them. I learned I had a bit of a need for speed only a couple years ago. Started racing dirt bikes that I built from scratch with Troy. We don’t normally get to build the nice little racers, but we put the time aside to make one, and I race it. We’ve built a few others since then because people liked what I rode.”

  “That’s so cool,” Riley mumbled. “I would love to learn how to ride.”

  “Really?” Gabe turned to her and was so fucking excited. Riley on her own motorcycle? Oh. Fuck. Yes.

  “Yeah,” she waved a hand around. “But it’s probably just too dangerous for you guys to let me. I mean, my dad always said no when I was kid, to even like a tiny kid dirt bike.”

  She felt they would tell her no? Gabe couldn’t have that. Unacceptable.

  “Gorgeous, if you want to learn to ride, you ask,” Gabe pointed at her as they neared the track. “Yeah, it’s dangerous, but all of us ride. And you on a bike, after being taught by one of us? You’ll be fine… plus…” He parked them in the gravel and grabbed her chin and kissed her gently. “You’re pretty good with something powerful between those sexy legs of yours.”

  She laughed and smacked his arm.

  “Alright alright!” She jumped out of the truck and he followed. He could get the bike down by himself, but he knew she would insist on helping. That was Riley. She had to be a part of it: a part of the team, the pride, the family. You couldn’t leave her out or she’d make your life hell.

  “There they are! It’s already one in the afternoon, you two!”

  Gabe spun and saw his brother, Troy. He laughed, and they hugged.

  “What are you doing here?” Gabe looked from Troy to Riley. She was keeping a suspiciously innocent look on her face.

  “You think we were going to miss birthday race day? Nah, brother!” Troy patted his shoulder. “Let’s get you ready!”

  He saw the other guys soon after, and Riley followed him around, the other riders and members of the crowd watching them. By the time he was on his bike, ready to put his helmet on, she was still there.

  “See me at the finish line?” He asked, keeping his eyes locked on her amber ones.

  She didn’t answer, only pulled him in for a long kiss that had the other racers laughing.

  “For luck,” she chuckled. “Win.”

  With that, she left him hanging, wide-eyed and fumbling to get his helmet on.

  He raced hard, and every time he passed a lap, he saw her on Zachary’s shoulders, cheering louder than the rest of the crowd. It was a good sight, her with the pride on his day. It was so good.

  “And in first place, Gabe Walker! Happy Birthday, you crazy son-of-a-bitch!” The announcer laughed over the speakers. He jumped off his bike and caught her as she jumped to him.

  “Gabe, that was awesome!” He spun her around as she squealed.

  It was the best birthday he’d had in years. Twenty-seven years on this earth and this next one would be the best.

  TROYr />
  July

  Ah, yes. Troy got the same birthday present as Gabe.

  He had his face pressed against her stomach, making her laugh since he could scrape his teeth on her hip. She was ticklish and hated it, so they never did it often enough.

  He could do this all day, but she’d been telling him it was time for them to go do something for his birthday for nearly an hour.

  “We’ll go on a ride,” he growled, licking down from her bellybutton to his goal. “Later.”

  “Troy!” She laughed. “I wanted to go somewhere, like for Gabe’s birthday! And… I’ve already got an idea as to where.” She pulled away from him, and he groaned softly, placing his face into the empty spot she left behind.

  “Where?” His voice was muffled and defeated.

  “You and Gabe have wanted to go together and get a tattoo for a long time, and I… might have sketched something up to see if you like it.” She pulled a sketch book off her bedside table and began flipping through the pages. He turned his head, intrigued.

  “You- you sketched us something for that?” He looked at the chest piece she had, a gorgeous script that said, ‘Nothing can come of Nothing’ framed in black roses and vines. She had done the art for it herself, like she had for her stars. He wondered if some sketch book had a small cat doodle that had ended up on her wrist.

  “Do you want to see it?” Riley smiled at him, holding out the sketchbook, and he took it slowly.

  He and Gabe had wanted to get ink for years, but every time it came up, they put it off, not sure if they knew what they wanted.

  This was it. A pure black panther and a pure white panther formed a yin yang, surrounded by tree branches. It would look great in all black and gray.

  “Pretty girl,” he mumbled, his eyes filling with tears.

  “I showed Gabe last night. He’s ready to go when you are.” Riley kissed his forehead, and he pulled her into him completely.

  “I love it,” he said, kissing her after each word. “Let’s go.”