I was in too much pain to be embarrassed or notice Bull, Brock and Lucky standing nearby, looking shit scared and helpless.
Lucky stepped forward uncertainly. “I’ll go and boil some water and rip up sheets,” he declared.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Cade growled at him, not bothering to turn around.
“That’s what they do in the movies when someone’s giving birth, right? I don’t know what to do with them, but everyone always gets boiling water and sheets.” He wrung his hands like a fretting housewife and I bit out a laugh in between contractions.
Cade’s eyes softened before turning to Lucky. “Get a fucking doctor here now, dipshit,” he ordered.
Lucky looked relieved and ran from the room.
“It’s going to be fine, baby,” Cade soothed, kneeling between my legs, looking like he’d done this a thousand times before.
I could only smile weakly before a vice squeezed my stomach. I let out another scream and Cade flinched.
“You gotta push on the next one okay, Gwen? Hard as you can,” he instructed me, eyes meeting mine.
“Hey, Bull, wanna come up by my head so you aren’t scarred for life?” I ground out through the pain.
Bull jerked like someone shocked him and he knelt beside my head. I gripped his hand and squeezed as the pain ripped through me like a thousand knives.
“Fuck, asshole, bastard!” I yelled and pushed as hard as I could.
I must’ve blacked out because the next thing I was aware of was a strange emptiness in my belly, mingling with the pain.
I was exhausted when Cade placed a screaming baby covered in goo on my chest. I gazed up at him for a second and it was like time stopped. It was just the three of us there, the clubroom, the frantic bikers running around, they all faded away.
“You did real good, baby,” he said quietly, eyes fixed on the beautiful, albeit slimy baby.
I looked at my daughter and a piece of my heart I didn’t even know I had grew when her little finger gripped mine.
“Isabella,” I whispered, before darkness claimed me.
I woke up to an all too familiar smell.
Fuck. I’m in hospital. Again.
I opened my eyes slowly and glanced around at pink flowers and balloons covering every surface.
“Hey there, sleepyhead,” a husky voice welcomed me.
I turned my head to see an exhausted but ecstatic looking Cade sitting beside me, with a pink bundle in his arms, his free hand gripping mine.
“You try pushing out a baby in a clubhouse with no anesthetic, you’d need a catnap too,” I joked.
Cade’s grin faltered slightly before he stood carefully. “Want to meet our beautiful daughter?”
I nodded and awkwardly pushed myself up, trying to ignore my discomfort. Cade’s free arm braced mine to help position me.
He then placed the whole world on my chest.
“This is Isabella, I think you already knew that, since you named her the moment you laid eyes on her,” Cade told me softly.
I didn’t take my eyes off her. “Steg?” I asked quietly.
Cade paused and my stomach dropped. “He’s fighting, doctors say it’s looking good.”
I let out a deep breath. Cade gently shuffled me over so he could squeeze onto the bed and wrap us both in his arms.
“You okay, Momma?” he asked me tenderly.
“Considering this is the happiest moment of my life…yeah,” I said, thinking about how my life nearly ended in a hospital. Now it was showing more promise than I ever thought possible.
Firestorm (Sons of Templar MC #2)
Amy Abrams doesn’t do love. Nor does she do emotional attachments, unless you count the connection she has with designer handbags. She grew up in an Upper East Side penthouse, which had about as much affection within its tastefully decorated walls as Castle Dracula. Her family is the precise reason why she points her red-soled heels firmly in the opposite direction of that dreaded four-letter word.
Then it happens. Love. It comes right out of the blue and knocks her off her six-inch heels. She learns that love comes with pesky side effects such as heartbreak, which seriously messes with the complexion. Amy promises herself that she’ll never open herself to that horrible feeling again. She doesn’t count on an infuriating, albeit drool-worthy biker to roar into her life and ruin the plans she had of locking up her heart. She keeps her distance, wary of the sinfully sexy biker whose tattoos should read Warning - dangerous alpha male, will screw up your life.
Amy may be an Upper East Side princess but she wasn’t looking for Prince Charming. She wouldn’t mind the name of his hair stylist, though. Brock certainly isn’t a knight in shining armor, but he consumes her, body and soul. Drama pulls them apart; danger will bring them back together. When Amy is threatened Brock is there ready to save her life. Her heart is another story.
Buy it here.
Acknowledgments
It is beyond surreal to call myself an author and to have someone reading this right now.
I had a little dream to write a big book and I have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure this is real.
I didn’t do this on my own. No way could I have done that. I’m so lucky to have people in my life that supported me and weathered my crazy. Gwen and Amy didn’t come from nowhere!
My mum. You’re always going to be at the top of the list. I would never be here if it wasn’t for you. You shared your love of reading with me and told me I could be anything I wanted to be.
Dad. You’re not here to read this but I know you’re watching over me. I wouldn’t be the woman I am without you. I miss you everyday.
Emma and Polly. My crazy girlfriends. One of my mother’s friends read this book and commented that it was like listening to the three of us. I took that as a huge compliment. I am lucky beyond belief to have such special friends. I don’t know what’s tighter, our jeans or our friendship.
And you, the reader. You don’t know how much it means to be that you’re sitting here, reading these words. Thank you. For reading my book. For every review, comment and message. I treasure every single one.
About the Author
Anne Malcom has been an avid reader since before she can remember, her mother responsible for her book addiction. It started with magical journeys into the world of Hogwarts and Middle Earth, then as she grew up her reading tastes grew with her. Her obsession with books and romance novels in particular gave Anne the opportunity to find another passion, writing. Finding writing about alpha males and happily ever afters more fun than reading about them, Anne is not about to stop any time soon.
Raised in small town New Zealand, Anne had a truly special childhood, growing up in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. She has backpacked across Europe, ridden camels in the Sahara, eaten her way through Italy, and had all sorts of crazy adventures. For now, she's back at home in New Zealand and quite happy. But who knows when the travel bug will bite her again.
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