Rome's Chance: A Reapers MC Novella Read online

  Rome’s Chance

  A Reapers MC Novella

  By Joanna Wylde

  1001 Dark Nights

  Rome’s Chance

  A Reapers MC Novella

  By Joanna Wylde

  1001 Dark Nights

  Copyright 2018 Joanna Wylde

  ISBN: 978-1-948050-22-7

  Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Book Description

  Rome’s Chance

  A Reapers MC Novella

  By Joanna Wylde

  From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Joanna Wylde comes a new story in her Reapers MC series…

  Rome McGuire knew he was in trouble the first time he saw her.

  She was sweet and pretty and just about perfect in every way. She was also too young and innocent for the Reapers Motorcycle Club. He did the right thing, and walked away.

  The second time, he couldn’t resist tasting her.

  Gorgeous and smart, fun and full of wonder, she jumped on his bike and would’ve followed him anywhere. Still, she deserved a shot at happiness somewhere bigger and better than a town like Hallies Falls. Walking away wasn’t so easy that time, but her family needed her and he had a job to do.

  When she came around a third time, he’d had enough. Randi Whittaker had been given two chances to escape, and now it was time for Rome to take his.

  This time, the only way Randi would be leaving Hallies Falls was on the back of Rome’s bike.

  **Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**

  About Joanna Wylde

  Joanna Wylde started her writing career in journalism, working in two daily newspapers as both a reporter and editor. Her career has included many different jobs, from managing a homeless shelter to running her own freelance writing business, where she took on projects ranging from fundraising to ghostwriting for academics. During 2012 she got her first Kindle reader as a gift and discovered the indie writing revolution taking place online. Not long afterward she started cutting back her client list to work on Reaper's Property, her breakout book. It was published in January 2013, marking the beginning of a new career writing fiction.

  Joanna lives in the mountains of northern Idaho with her family.

  Also from Joanna Wylde

  Click to purchase

  Reaper's Property

  Reaper's Legacy

  Devil's Game

  Silver Bastard

  Reaper's Fall

  Reaper's Fire

  Reapers and Bastards

  Shade’s Lady

  Acknowledgments from the Author

  Thank you very much to Liz Berry, M.J. Rose, Kim Guidroz, Jillian Stein, Fedora Chen, Kasi Alexander and Dylan Stockton for making the publication of this book possible. 1001 Dark Nights is unlike anything else in the publishing world, and I’m incredibly appreciative to be part of it. Thank you again.

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One

  Click here to explore

  FOREVER WICKED by Shayla Black

  CRIMSON TWILIGHT by Heather Graham

  CAPTURED IN SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING by Tina Folsom

  DUNGEON GAMES by Lexi Blake

  AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione

  NEED YOU NOW by Lisa Renee Jones

  SHOW ME, BABY by Cherise Sinclair

  ROPED IN by Lorelei James

  TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian

  THE FLAME by Christopher Rice

  CARESS OF DARKNESS by Julie Kenner

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights

  TAME ME by J. Kenner

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two

  Click here to explore

  WICKED WOLF by Carrie Ann Ryan

  WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING by Heather Graham

  EASY WITH YOU by Kristen Proby

  MASTER OF FREEDOM by Cherise Sinclair

  CARESS OF PLEASURE by Julie Kenner

  ADORED by Lexi Blake

  HADES by Larissa Ione

  RAVAGED by Elisabeth Naughton

  DREAM OF YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  STRIPPED DOWN by Lorelei James

  RAGE/KILLIAN by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

  DRAGON KING by Donna Grant

  PURE WICKED by Shayla Black

  HARD AS STEEL by Laura Kaye

  STROKE OF MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian

  ALL HALLOWS EVE by Heather Graham

  KISS THE FLAME by Christopher Rice

  DARING HER LOVE by Melissa Foster

  TEASED by Rebecca Zanetti

  THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights

  THE SURRENDER GATE By Christopher Rice

  SERVICING THE TARGET By Cherise Sinclair

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three

  Click here to explore

  HIDDEN INK by Carrie Ann Ryan

  BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Heather Graham

  SEARCHING FOR MINE by Jennifer Probst

  DANCE OF DESIRE by Christopher Rice

  ROUGH RHYTHM by Tessa Bailey

  DEVOTED by Lexi Blake

  Z by Larissa Ione

  FALLING UNDER YOU by Laurelin Paige

  EASY FOR KEEPS by Kristen Proby

  UNCHAINED by Elisabeth Naughton

  HARD TO SERVE by Laura Kaye

  DRAGON FEVER by Donna Grant

  KAYDEN/SIMON by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

  STRUNG UP by Lorelei James

  MIDNIGHT UNTAMED by Lara Adrian

  TRICKED by Rebecca Zanetti

  DIRTY WICKED by Shayla Black

  THE ONLY ONE by Lauren Blakely

  SWEET SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four

  Click here to explore

  ROCK CHICK REAWAKENING by Kristen Ashley

  ADORING INK by Carrie Ann Ryan

  SWEET RIVALRY by K. Bromberg

  SHADE'S LADY by Joanna Wylde

  RAZR by Larissa Ione

  ARRANGED by Lexi Blake

  TANGLED by Rebecca Zanetti

  HOLD ME by J. Kenner

  SOMEHOW, SOME WAY by Jennifer Probst

  TOO CLOSE TO CALL by Tessa Bailey

  HUNTED by Elisabeth Naughton

  EYES ON YOU by Laura Kaye

  BLADE by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

  DRAGON BURN by Donna Grant

  TRIPPED OUT by Lorelei James

  STUD FINDER by Lauren Blakely

  MIDNIGHT UNLEASHED by Lara Adrian

  HALLOW BE THE HAUNT by Heather Graham

  DIRTY FILTHY FIX by Laurelin Paige

  THE BED MATE by Kendall Ryan

  PRINCE ROMAN by CD Reiss

  NO RESERVATIONS by Kristen Proby

  DAWN OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights

  Tempt Me by J. Kenner

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  As a bonus, all subscribers will receive a free copy of

  Discovery Bundle Three

  Featuring stories by

  Sidney Bristol, Darcy Burke, T. Gephart

  Stacey Kennedy, Adriana Locke

  JB Salsbury, and Erika Wilde

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  About Joanna Wylde

  Also from Joanna Wylde

  Acknowledgments from the Author

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four

  Foreword

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Epilogue

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Five

  Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights

  Discover More Joanna Wylde

  Special Thanks

  One Thousand and One Dark Nights

  Once upon a time, in the future…

  I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.

  I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and

  the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast

  library at my father’s home and collected thousands

  of volumes of fantastic tales.

  I learned all about ancient races and bygone

  times. About myths and legends and dreams of all

  people through the millennium. And the more I read

  the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered

  that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually

  become part of them.

  I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher

  and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I

  would not be telling you this tale now.

  But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off

  with bravery.

  One afternoon, curious about the myth of the

  Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to

  see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar

  (Persian: شهريار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then

  sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written

  and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,

  the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand

  women.

  Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived

  in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged

  places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had

  never occurred before and that still to this day, I

  cannot explain.

  Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have

  taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can

  protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to

  protect herself and stay alive.

  Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.

  And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a

  point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.

  And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that

  he might hear the rest of my dark tale.

  As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new

  one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before

  you now.

  Chapter One

  Author’s note: Rome’s Chance takes place eight years after the events of Reaper’s Fire. Rome’s Chance stands alone, and you need not read any other books in the Reapers MC series to enjoy this story.

  Hallies Falls, Washington

  Friday morning

  Randi

  “So are you gonna buy me condoms or not? I don’t like buying them myself because it’s embarrassing, so I usually just steal them. But they said the next time I get arrested, I’m going to juvie.”

  I stared at my little sister, wondering what the hell I was supposed to say. There were so many things wrong with that sentence. So many, many things… How could two girls who came from the same mother be so different? I mean, I’d been boy crazy when I was her age, but half the time I’d been too scared to talk to them, let alone have sex. Lexi, though… Lexi was sixteen going on thirty, and I swear to God, that had to be a push-up bra she was wearing.

  Since when did sixteen-year-olds wear push-up bras?

  “You know, abstinence education doesn’t work,” she said, popping her gum at me through dark ruby-red lips that went perfectly with her Betty Page hair. “They taught Mom abstinence. Look at how that turned out.”

  Seeing as our mom had me when she was seventeen—and I was one of five by four different fathers—it was hard to fault the kid’s logic. I tossed a double pack of Trojans into the cart.

  Cheaper than a baby shower.

  “Thanks, sis,” she said, bumping her shoulder against mine, and I wondered when the hell she’d gotten so big. I’d been twelve when she was born. In some ways she’d been like my very own baby. Mom was always working, so it’d been my job to take care of the littles.

  If you move back to Hallies Falls, you know you’ll get stuck taking care of them again, I reminded myself. Lexi stretched her arms behind her back, putting her already full teenage rack on display. Not good. Not good at all.

  “Can we buy a watermelon and some of that salad mix?” Lexi asked, and I nodded, because this was a purchase I could get behind. There hadn’t been a fresh fruit or vegetable in the house my whole childhood, and so far as I could tell, Mom hadn’t changed her buying habits since I’d left home. To be fair, she was living on disability these days, ever since she blew her back out. Money was tight.

  “Why don’t you go and get it?” I told her. “I’m going to stock up on some stuff for the freezer. Oh, and we still have to pick up Mom’s asthma meds. Don’t let me forget.”

  “We need some TP, too,” she said. “And tampons. We’re totally out of those.”

  Of course they were. Food stamps were great for a lot of things, but they sure as hell didn’t cover toiletries. “I’ll get some toothpaste, too.”

  “You’re the best, Randi!”

  Just like that, she was skipping down the aisle toward the produce section, and for a minute there she almost could’ve been the little girl I used to give airplane and piggy-back rides to. Happy, carefree, and full of mischief. Now she was forcing herself to grow up too damned fast, just like I had.

  It wasn’t right.

  “Randi?” I froze, because I knew that voice.

  Rome McGuire.

  The sound was rough and sexy, with just a hint of a growl. Deeper than it’d been eight years ago, when I’d thrown caution to the wind and hopped on the back of his motorcycle for one glorious night.

  Back then, I’d still been a shy little thing, terrified that some hot biker might actually want to talk to me, let alone take me out. When I caught him watching me at the party, I remembered studying the floor, his shirt collar, even the beer in my plastic cup, because I hadn’t known what to do with myself around such raw male glory. Apparently some things never change, because when I turned to face him, I found myself staring at the floor again.

  This was a mistake, because his feet were down there. And the battered, black leather boots he wore led to jeans-covered legs. Legs topped by thick, muscular thighs.

  Stop it. You’re acting like a giant dork! My brain hissed.

  Oblivious and mesmerized, my gaze rose to the faded denim around his fly, and it was all over. My eyes started tracing the folds of the Okanogan Fire and R
escue T-shirt covering his still-muscular chest, although the Reapers Motorcycle Club vest he wore was a change. Back then, he’d been hanging around the Nighthawk Raiders MC. That whole club had disappeared for reasons I’d never fully understood, and the Reapers had taken over the town shortly afterward. Apparently Rome was one of them now.

  Interesting…

  I’d always wondered what’d happened to Rome after I’d left. We’d never said goodbye. That summer, the wildfires had swept through so fast that my family had to evacuate with the clothes on our backs. We hadn’t bothered to come back and sift through the ashes.

  I’d kept in touch with my old boss, Tinker, of course.

  I’d even considered asking her about Rome, but in some ways those fires were the best thing that ever happened to me. Starting over meant starting college in Missoula, and then a whole new life.

  Wasn’t like Rome and I could’ve ever been anything real, anyway. Guys like him weren’t for girls like me.

  My gaze reached his neck, which bristled with thick, black stubble that was more than a little out of control—this was different from when I’d known him before. Not that he’d ever been baby-faced, but he’d definitely matured. Now there were a few wrinkles around those dark blue eyes, although the dimple was still there. So was the crooked smile that’d spontaneously combusted my panties.

  Correction.

  A crooked smile that was currently combusting my panties. Who knew that a supermarket could be such dangerous territory?

  “Been a long time,” he said. I shrugged, unsure what to say. I mean, yeah, we’d gone out on a date. He’d kissed me and wow… Not that we’d gotten much past second base, but he’d scored a home run in the lower deck of my ballpark, if you know what I mean. But he was one of those guys—you know, the kind of guys who hit lots of home runs with lots of girls.