Atlas shadowridge guardi.., p.1
Atlas: Shadowridge Guardians MC, page 1
Atlas
Shadowridge Guardians MC
Becca Jameson
Photography by
Tonya Clark Photography
Cover Model
Thomas Hostetler
Copyright © 2023 by Becca Jameson
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. And resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
About Shadowridge Guardians MC
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Author’s Note
Also by Becca Jameson
About the Author
About Shadowridge Guardians MC
Combining the sizzling talents of bestselling authors Pepper North, Kate Oliver, and Becca Jameson, the Shadowridge Guardians are guaranteed to give you a thrill and leave you dreaming of your own throbbing motorcycle joyride.
* * *
Are you daring enough to ride with a club of rough, growly, commanding men? The protective Daddies of the Shadowridge Guardians Motorcycle Club will stop at nothing to ensure the safety and protection of everything that belongs to them: their Littles, their club, and their town. Throw in some sassy, naughty, mischievous women who won’t hesitate to serve their fair share of attitude even in the face of looming danger, and this brand new MC Romance series is ready to ignite!
* * *
Shadowridge Guardians MC
Steele
Kade
Atlas
Doc
Gabriel
Talon
Bear
Faust
Storm
Atlas
* * *
“Baby girl, I’m going to count to three…”
* * *
Carlee is doing just fine on her own. She doesn’t need a man in her life. They never treat her right anyway. She certainly doesn’t need her best friend’s brother to swoop into town and take over like he never left her. It takes him less than one day to cause her to lose her car, her job, and her apartment. Now she’s furious.
* * *
Atlas is in town as a favor to his father to help the MC club. What he’s not prepared for is Carlee—a woman he’s spent years trying to forget. A woman with cute pigtails, a sassy attitude, a pile of problems, and the need for a good spanking.
* * *
She can push him away all she wants, but he won’t leave town until she can stand on her own.
Chapter
One
Two high bouncy pigtails.
That was the first thing he saw from the beam of his headlight as he pulled his bike over to the side of the road behind her car. Less than a second later, he took in her amazing ass encased in perfect form-fitting jeans. She was standing at her open trunk, leaning over the edge. She was short enough that whatever she was trying to reach deep in the trunk made her rise up on her tiptoes.
Damn, she was sexy.
Atlas swallowed hard as he turned off his bike, kicked out the stand, and removed his helmet. He set it on the seat after swinging his leg over the top. She hadn’t glanced over her shoulder yet, which was strange. She had to have heard his noisy bike in addition to the fact that his headlight was powerful and fully illuminating her fantastic ass and everything around her. But he was off the bike and heading toward her before she finally turned around.
She held a hand up to shield her eyes from the beam of light, shoulders dropping. Her other hand went to her hip.
Odd.
“Do you need some help?” Atlas asked.
She said nothing until he was close enough to finally make out her features. And then she gasped as she dropped her hand when his body blocked the bright light. “Atlas?”
Big wide brown eyes stared up at him. Even though it had been a long time since he’d last seen her, he knew those eyes. “Carlee?”
“What are you doing in town?” She folded her hands in front of her and rocked back and forth on her tennis shoes.
He drank her in from head to toe. In addition to the adorable messy pigtails, she had on a pink T-shirt that fit snug over her breasts, making it impossible for him to avoid noticing her perfect round, pert tits. They weren’t more than a handful, and her shirt was thin enough that he could see the lace of her bra beneath.
He’d already admired her fantastic ass from behind before he’d known who he was lusting after. Her jeans were tight on her slender frame. Her tennis shoes were also pink, though they were worn and scuffed.
“I’m here to help the club. Apparently the treasurer took off. My dad asked me to come make sense of the books.” He nodded toward her car after his brief explanation. “Car trouble?”
She winced and then lifted a hand to rub her forehead. “Yeah. It’s a piece of shit, but it’s all I can afford, so…”
“How about if I take a look?”
“I wouldn’t want to put you out. I’m sure you have better things to do. I’ll just…” She tucked her full lower lip in between her teeth and chewed on it.
“You’ll just what? Why were you standing on the side of the road in the dark rummaging through your trunk, Carlee?” He realized the tone of his voice was gruff, but he couldn’t help it. She shouldn’t have gotten out of her car. She should have locked it and called a club member to come help her.
Any member of the Shadowridge Guardians MC would have been here in a heartbeat to help her. Hell, she’d been hanging around the club from the time she was a little girl. He’d known her all that time too. After all, his sister, Remi, was her best friend.
She was certainly not a child anymore. She was twenty-five. He hadn’t seen her in years. Part of him felt like a pervert for lusting after her, but fuck, she was a grown adult. And from the looks of it, Little. That possibility alone made his cock jump to attention. Atlas hadn’t played with a Little in a long time.
You’re not playing with this one either. Remi would have a fit, plus there was no way Carlee thought of him like that. And, he was only in town for a month. Not one day longer.
Carlee lowered her gaze and mumbled, “I was looking for a recyclable grocery bag. I thought I had one in the trunk.”
He stepped closer. “What for? It’s not safe out here. It’s dark. You should have stayed in your car.”
She took a step back, rubbing her palms together. “I was going to walk. I just wanted to tuck my things into a bag so they wouldn’t get stolen.”
“Walk?” he nearly shouted. “Carlee, whatever for?”
She flinched and lifted her gaze. “Don’t shout at me.” Her eyebrows were drawn together in a fierce expression, but her eyes were watery as if she was about to cry.
He blew out a breath, feeling like a shit. “I’m sorry.” He tried to control his frustration. He needed to listen to her. “Explain why you didn’t call the club.” The Guardians lived for rescuing damsels in distress. She was practically an honorary member. This made no sense.
She swallowed. “I don’t have my phone, and for your information, I wouldn’t have called the club anyway.” She leaned into him as she made this declaration. “I can take care of myself. I don’t need help.”
Both his brows rose high on his forehead, and it took everything in him to avoid losing his temper. This Little girl needed a lecture about safety, and it needed to be accompanied by a firm spanking.
He decided to address one issue at a time. “Where is your phone?”
“In my apartment. It’s dead, and I lost the charger,” she murmured.
He had a hand over his face. He was tempted to turn her around, lean her over the trunk of her car, and swat her ass right here. But he couldn’t do that, of course. She wasn’t his. “That’s not safe, Carlee. You shouldn’t go anywhere without your phone. What if your car broke down?” He tipped his head toward her and pointed at her car to emphasize his point.
She rolled her eyes, which did nothing to alleviate his need to spank her. Her hands went to her hips. “For your information, Mr. High and Mighty, not all of us are made of fucking money. My phone isn’t working. Charging it won’t help. I can’t afford a new one. Are you happy?”
He winced. Shit.
“And,” she continued, as if now that the floodgates were open, she had found the spine to let it all out, “if you must know, I’m not hanging around the club these days, so I would have walked even if I had the fanciest phone on earth. And last I checked, you’re still a member of the club even though you moved away, so if you don’t mind stepping out of my way, I’m going to walk home.”
She spun around, slammed the trunk shut, and skirted him to reach into the front seat of her car. The door had been standing open. She leaned in so far that it was impossible to ignore her fine ass yet again.
It took her several seconds of rummaging before she eased b ack out. She had several items in her hand, and she stuffed them all in a plastic grocery sack. He didn’t miss the worn stuffie that got carefully placed on top. He couldn’t quite make out what it was. Maybe a hamster or a mouse? It wasn’t very large.
Atlas couldn’t imagine why she was on the outs with the club, but he sure as shit wasn’t going to let her walk anywhere. She was high if she thought that would happen in a million years.
“You’re not walking, Carlee,” he informed her, holding out a hand. “Let me tuck your things in the saddlebag. I’ll take you home.”
“I’ll be fine,” she reiterated without meeting his gaze. She shut her car door, locked it, and tucked the keys in her worn, oversized purse. With the purse strapped across her shoulder and the plastic bag in her hand, she turned away from him.
He didn’t let her get two steps before he snagged her free hand and stopped her. “Carlee Deveraux, I don’t have a clue what’s going on with you, Little girl, but I’m about five seconds from spanking your cute little ass to knock some sense into you. Would you like to climb onto my bike willingly so I can drive you home? Or would you like me to spank you here on the side of the road before you climb onto my bike so I can drive you home?”
She gasped, as expected. “You can’t Daddy me, Atlas Monroe. I’m not your Little girl. I’m not anyone’s Little girl.”
He slid his hand up her arm to her bicep. “So you admit you’re Little though.” He wasn’t asking. He was pointing out the obvious. He might have intentionally manipulated her into admitting that fact.
She groaned.
He pointed toward his bike with his free hand. “Which is it going to be?”
Her shoulders dropped. “If I let you take me home, will you drop me off and leave without hassling me further?”
“Nope. Not a chance. I have about a dozen questions I want answers to. You’re going to provide them. When I’m satisfied with your responses and your safety, then I’ll consider leaving you to sleep.” As a Daddy, he couldn’t conscientiously leave her without checking off that list of items no matter what. But Carlee wasn’t just any Little. She was someone he knew. Someone he was suddenly extremely attracted to.
“Atlas…” she whined.
She had no idea how fucking hot she was right now, all riled up, pouting, arguing, and whining. His cock was growing harder by the moment—for this woman he hadn’t seen in so long he was still wrapping his head around the fact that she was no longer a teenager. He should have been able to process that. After all, Remi was her same age.
“Do I need to count to three? Or maybe the reason you’re arguing with me is because you would prefer I swat your bottom right here. Is that it?” He was half kidding, but it was possible that was exactly what she wanted and needed.
She gasped. “You are not spanking me. Not here or anywhere. Forget it.” She did, however, twist around and stomp toward his bike.
It was hard not to smirk as he followed her. Without a word, he took her grocery sack from her hand and opened the saddlebag to tuck it inside. Something was already in the saddlebag though, and he lifted it out to find it was an adorable stuffed bear.
Carlee was staring at him when he glanced at her.
He smirked. “Wonder how this little fellow got in my saddlebag,” he mused.
“Man, you have been gone a long time,” Carlee grumbled.
He met her gaze again. “What’d I miss?”
“All your brothers carry teddy bears in their saddlebags just in case they encounter a damsel in distress. Or more specifically a Little.”
“Really?” He grinned. What a nice idea. “I guess even though my bike was in storage until today, someone stuck it in there for me.” He suddenly held it out to her. “I’d say you fit the description. Damsel in distress.” He leaned in closer. “Little too.”
She balked, not taking it. “You should keep it. I’m not distressed, and I’m not your Little.”
Atlas narrowed his gaze. “You didn’t say the damsel had to be my Little. And you are about as distressed as a Little girl could possibly be.” He continued to hold it out to her.
She stared at it for long seconds before snatching it from his hand and then stuffing it into the plastic bag next to what was definitely a hamster. “Fine. Whatever.”
Atlas smirked to himself as he tucked everything into the saddlebag before he pulled his helmet over her head. It was a bit large but it would work in a pinch.
He’d only been in town a few hours. He’d barely reacquainted himself with his bike yet. In fact, he’d been out for this ride so he could clear his head and remind himself how good it felt to have the power of the engine beneath him. Normally he wouldn’t travel without a spare helmet in a town filled with more than its fair share of Littles, but his bike had come out of storage hours ago. It wasn’t decked out for visitors yet.
Carlee stared at him. “You don’t have a spare helmet?”
“No. I’m ill-prepared. It won’t happen again. I promise.”
She narrowed her gaze. “This is the one and only ride I’m ever taking with you, Atlas, so don’t outfit your bike with a spare helmet on my account.” She started to lift it off her head. “You wear it. It’s too big on me anyway.”
He stopped her by tugging her hands out of the way and cinching the chin strap as tight as he could. “I’ll drive slowly.” Why did it annoy him so much that she so adamantly insisted she wouldn’t be riding with him again?
She was mistaken. Of that he was certain. This Little girl was going to be spending some time on the back of his bike for at least a few days. After all, she didn’t have a car. She would surely need a lift to wherever she worked until he could get her car sorted out.
Atlas swung his leg over his bike and settled before reaching out a hand. “Climb on.”
She sighed dramatically before taking his hand, planting her foot on the footrest, and tossing her leg over. She immediately situated herself so she was hardly touching him, her grip on the sides of the seat at her hips.
Atlas twisted his head around, brow lifted. “Carlee Marie Deveraux, if you won’t wrap your arms around me and hold on tight, I’m not moving an inch. What on earth has gotten into you? It’s not safe riding behind me without holding on.”
She stared at him for several seconds before finally releasing the seat to set her hands on his hips. “Don’t call me by my full name like I’ve misbehaved,” she insisted.
He chuckled. “You have misbehaved, Little girl.” Atlas grabbed both her hands and pulled them around his waist. She was so much smaller than him that she could barely connect her fingers together, but he’d be damned if he let her lean away from him.
Perhaps he was being a bit highhanded, but he would insist that any woman at his back on his bike grip him tight, especially a Little girl.
There were a few things Atlas knew to be true.
Carlee was most definitely a Little.
And dammit, but she was tugging at his heartstrings.
He didn’t have the luxury of falling for her or taking over her life. He was only here for one month. Not a day longer. It had been hard enough taking a leave of absence from his job. The only reason it had been possible at all was because it was not tax season. He’d told his boss there was a family emergency, and the man hadn’t hesitated to give him the needed time.
Atlas hadn’t lied. There was a family emergency. The club treasurer, Silver, really had taken off, and no one had seen or heard from him in two weeks. Atlas’s father, Rock, had begged Atlas to come home and help out with the books.
Returning his attention to the adorably angry Little girl at his back, Atlas started up the bike. “Where is your apartment?”
When she mumbled the name of the complex, he stiffened. He’d been gone a long time, but not so long that he didn’t remember that wasn’t a nice part of town. Why was she living in such deplorable conditions? Surely the club could help her out if she was in need of assistance. It was practically their motto.
