Chapter 1
XANTHE
Stepping inside the Serpents of Chaos clubhouse with my friends, Ora and Lu, I look around wide-eyed.
I did not expect to end up at a biker clubhouse today.
One second, I’m writing a scene on my laptop at Lu’s Sweet Treats, my friend’s bakery, and the next, some biker named Danger is telling me I need to come with him for my own safety.
Lu orders us a tequila shot each, and I think I’m going to need it.
There are beautiful women everywhere, a few bikers, and a few children running around.
Two blonde-haired women dressed in see-through lace dresses approach us.
“Who are you?” one of them asks us. Ora and Lu are in their bakery work uniforms, and I’m wearing the long brown skirt and white blouse I wore to work today.
“Are you doing a sexy teacher role-play?” one of the women asks, studying me.
A tall, bald, bearded man with steel-gray eyes comes up behind us.
He’s covered in tattoos from his neck down and is terrifyingly sexy, built, and muscular, but he has a dark look in his eyes.
My breath hitches. “Candy, that’s the president’s daughter and the vice president’s woman, Ora, and her two friends,” he explains in a low, raspy tone.
I can’t look away from him.
“Oh, so no role-playing then?” Candy asks, sounding disappointed.
“I’m afraid not,” the scary-looking biker mutters in a dry tone before those gray eyes turn to me, giving me a slow once-over. I feel his gaze like a physical touch, the air suddenly thickening.
When his eyes linger on my breasts for a little longer than seems appropriate, Ora clears her throat. “Ladies, this is Ghost.”
“The creepy lawn mower?” Lu’s eyes widen at that.
I’d heard the story. This man, Ghost, showed up at Ora’s door to offer her his… uh… services, after Ora saw him fucking her neighbor against a glass window.
Disappointment fills me. I thought I’d felt something there for a moment, a spark. A visceral reaction no other man has gotten out of me, but I don’t want to give myself to someone who has tried to sleep with one of my friends.
Ghost smirks, leaning back against the bar and crossing his arms over his impressive chest. His biceps bulge with the movement. “Definitely not enough role-playing around here.”
“Ghost, the landscaper? That work for you?” Ora smirks.
“Worked for your neighbor,” he replies, sliding his tongue across his lips, showing off a tongue ring.
Okay, that’s hot too.
I zone out while they make small talk until Lu slides a shot glass full of tequila into my hand. We do a cheers, then down it in one swallow. Ora licks some salt off Lu’s hand, which gets all the men’s attention.
Except Ghost.
He’s still staring at me with a blank look on his face. I want to say something to him, anything, but then he sits back on the barstool and pulls the other blonde-haired woman onto his lap, absently touching her breasts.
Okay then.
Luckily, Ora pulls us away, and we find a place to sit on a couch in the corner. We chat with a few of the women, who I find out are strippers working at the club the MC owns.
When I look back over at Ghost, the woman on his lap is now trying to kiss his neck, but he pushes her off him, appearing bored.
Lu and I sit back while Ora and War have a small argument about a stripper named Heaven.
“Never a dull moment around here.” Lu grins, tucking her curly blonde hair back behind her ear.
“I can see that.”
War throws Ora over his shoulder and carries her upstairs. I’m getting so much inspiration for the romance novel I’m writing right now, it’s not funny.
“Any of the hot bikers caught your eye?” Lu asks me in a low tone.
My eyes quickly move to where Ghost was the last time I saw him, but he’s now… Yeah, some woman is on her knees in front of him with his cock in her mouth. His eyes flicker up to mine as his fingers tangle in her hair, pushing his cock farther down her throat.
Lu follows my line of sight and winces. “No. Fuck no. Do not even look in his direction. Ghost is all kinds of fucked up, Xanthe.”
“I know,” I whisper, and I do.
But why do I feel so drawn to him?
“I’ve been reading way too much romance,” I mutter, glancing around the room.
“How about Scorp? He’s a doctor,” Lu suggests, twirling a curl of her blonde hair around her finger. Her eyes go to Haze before they return to me. “Or literally anyone other than Ghost. He’s scary.”
“Who is scary?” Danger asks, flashing those dimples.
“No one,” Lu replies.
“You guys want to play some pool with Blade and me?” he asks, and I nod.
Yes, anything to distract me from Ghost.
Danger offers Lu and me a hand each, and we both take it.
I purposely try not to look over at Ghost while we play our first game. Blade is leaning over, aiming his cue, when he looks up at me. “Read any good books recently?”
“I read a lot of romance,” I admit, tilting my head to the side. “You?”
“Yeah, I’ve been reading some romance myself, actually.” He grins. “It’s dirtier than I thought it would be. You know how they say it’s the quiet ones you should look out for?”
My eyes narrow.
No.
There’s no way he knows.
“You’ll have to give me some recommendations,” I reply, flashing him a smile in return.
They both kick our butts.
Before we start the second game, I can’t help but look back at Ghost.
The woman is gone, and he’s leaning back against the wall, legs spread, arms crossed, watching me. His eyes drop to Danger’s hand on mine, and his jaw tightens, like he didn’t just have a woman on her knees for him in fucking public.
He was making a statement.
And he made it.
I don’t look back at him for the rest of the night.
I know Ora wanted me to stay during their lockdown, but since I wasn’t really connected to the club, I felt like it was safe to stay home. The school I teach at is only down the road from my two-bedroom house, and I have my cat, Opie, to think of.
“Miss Rhodes!” One of my second-grade students runs up to me as I walk toward my classroom. “Do you like my hair today? My dad did it!”
I smile widely at the two plaits. “I love it! It looks so awesome, Katie.”
I love my job. I love working with children and being a part of their daily lives.
However, it feels like I’m leading a double life when I’m not here because I’m either writing romance novels or hanging out with my friends and their biker men.
I’ve published three books so far, and surprisingly, they have done pretty well.
I use a pen name, and no one knows that it’s me.
My friends know that I like to write, but I think they assume it’s just a hobby.
They don’t know that my latest book just hit the top one hundred on , nor do they know that it’s about sexy bikers.
What can I say? I have plenty of inspiration around me.
Still, as a teacher, I must remain anonymous. I could lose my job if my side hustle got out, and I don’t want that to happen. My mother, who passed away from cancer, was a teacher, and so was her mother before her. So, it’s in my blood, and I guess a way to feel closer to them.
Stepping inside my classroom, I smile when I see the dolphin paintings the children did hanging on the wall.
I put effort into my room, making it a bright, joyful, and safe place for my students.
Placing my black handbag on the table, I go over my notes for today’s plan and wait for the bell to ring.
When the smiling faces start piling in, I greet them all individually. “How was your basketball game?” I ask Ricky.
He grins, his two front teeth missing. “We won! You should have seen me, Miss Rhodes. I did awesome!”
“Of course you did. I’m so proud of you, Ricky.”
He runs up to me and hugs my leg before going to his seat.
“All right, class, we’re going to write in our journals, and then we’re all going to sit on the mat so I can read you a book. Then we can go outside and play.”
They all cheer.
I grin.
Yeah, life is good.