Courting the consequence.., p.1
Courting the Consequences: Ravager Knights MC Book 1: A Why Choose Romance, page 1
Courting the Consequences
Ravager Knights MC Book 1
M. E. Thornwood
Midnight Dreaming Publishing
Midnight Dreaming Publishing
P.O. Box 312
Elburn, IL 60119
This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2023 by Megan E Fortin
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact M. E. Thornwood at Midnight Dreaming Publishing, P.O. 312 Elburn, IL 60119.
Interior design by Atticus
Book Cover by Covers by Jules
Edited by Maine Woods Editing
ISBN 978-1-962688-01-7
ISBN 978-1-962688-00-0 (ebook)
Courting the Consequences is book one of the Ravager Knights MC series. It will end in a cliff hanger with the HEA at the end of book three.
This is a Why Choose novel, meaning the main character will not choose between her love interests. This novel has BDSM themes and on page negotiations.
If rough sex, degradation, and angry alpha males that fly off the handle is not your cup of tea, please don’t read.
This is a work of fiction intended for an 18+ audience.
To Me.
For following your dreams and making them come true.
Contents
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
Coming Soon...
Acknowledgements
About the Author
“You can’t fucking fire me! I made this firm! I started it with your father!” Ken Laraway screamed as he stormed into her office.
“Sure, Ken, come on in, ’cause I’m not busy,” Kara Carmichael drawled as he stomped toward her desk.
His red face contrasted with his white hair. His gut hung over his ill-fitting suit pants, and the buttons on his shirt strained. He looked like an overgrown gorilla… And he thought he was God’s gift to women?
Kara narrowed her eyes at the man ranting and raving in front of her. She leaned back in her plush desk chair and crossed her right leg over her left. She smoothed the hemline of her pencil skirt and took her time looking back up at the man who was spitting with rage across the wooden desk from her.
Men like Ken Laraway really didn’t like a woman in charge and often overcompensated by trying to demean and belittle them.
Years of courtroom etiquette had Kara schooling her features when she really wanted to snap at the senior partner.
Instead, she slowly got to her feet. She buttoned up her own suit jacket and glanced behind Ken to the open door. Her eleven o’clock was right on time. A tall blond man stood out in the waiting area near her secretary. Dressed in dark blue jeans and a suit coat, he gave off a professional yet casual air. The scowl on his handsome face as he blatantly stared into her office suggested he would intervene should she need it.
“Mr. Laraway,” Kara started as she rounded her desk, “I think you’ll find that I absolutely can and will fire you for just cause.”
“Just cause?” Ken spat. “That little slut is lying. I never came on to her. I don’t even know her name. Why would I want some twenty-something bimbo? I’m a married man.”
Kara groaned internally. There were so many things she wanted to say to that. But she couldn’t. Not if she wanted this firing to stick legally; and she needed it to stick legally. Ken Laraway was just another one of her father’s old-time crew that were all the same. Backward thinking, misogynistic, and loyal to her father.
“Mr. Laraway, we have video footage of you entering the women’s bathroom and cornering her against the wall. This is not a case of her word against yours; we have just cause. You’ll find in the bylaws—that you and my father wrote together back in 1986—that sexual harassment is a fire-able offense.” Kara stood in front of her desk and rested her ass on the edge, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest.
“Your father bringing you into this firm was the biggest mistake he ever made. You think that all this new age mumbo jumbo will last? This is still a man’s world, whether you like it or not.” Ken slowly stalked toward her. “Your father should have left you in the ghetto he found you in,” he growled harshly.
Kara chuckled softly, half in disbelief, half in irony. She pushed away from the desk, needing to be on her feet for this argument. “Maybe so, Mr. Laraway. But that is none of your business. You have been fired for sexual harassment. Section 8 of the bylaws states that no employee will retain employment after evidence has been presented in the case of sexual harassment. All judgments will be made by the human resource—”
“I know what the damn bylaws say! I fucking wrote them!” he screamed in her face.
Movement behind Laraway caught her eye. Her eleven o’clock had moved into her office, slowly and quietly. Her distraction was the opening Ken Laraway needed. He reached out, wrapped his hand around her throat, and squeezed.
“Hey!” the man shouted from near the door. He moved forward quickly to grab Laraway.
Kara didn’t hesitate. She slammed her knee into Laraway’s balls, and he fell back gasping.
She took a deep breath and shook her head, regaining her composure. “You’ll find that HR has already cleared your desk of your personal belongings. Security will escort you out.” She motioned to two very large and intimidating security guards that had just stepped into the waiting area outside her office.
Security made quick work of picking up Ken Laraway from the floor and escorting him out. The silence left behind was deafening. Kara sighed and leaned back against her desk, resting her ass on the edge.
“Are you OK?” her would-be rescuer asked, his voice deep.
Kara looked over at him. He had short blond hair, longer on top and styled into the spiky bedhead look. Piercing baby-blue eyes above high chiseled cheekbones. His strong jaw was covered in a trimmed blond beard. He was tall and broad. The black blazer he wore over a navy button-up barely contained the muscles he was clearly rocking. Clean, dark wash jeans and a pair of brown cowboy boots completed the look. He was smoking hot.
“Yes,” Kara answered after her quick perusal. “Sorry about the drama. It’s not usually so exciting around here.” She stepped forward and offered her hand. “Kara Carmichael.”
“Johnathan Taylor. Taylor Construction and Mechanical.” His deep voice was a rumble in her soul. His hand was callused and warm, his grip firm but gentle. “Are you sure you’re OK, ma’am?”
His concern was heartwarming. She nodded, “Yes, I’m fine.” She squeezed his fingers before quickly dropping his hand and turning away. “And thank you for not stepping in. It would have gotten messy if you had.”
“I was about to when he put his hands on you, but you handled it just fine.” He gave her a proud smile that had a shiver running down her spine.
“Well thank you, Mr. Taylor. I appreciate that,” she said as she rounded her desk.
“Johnny, please,” he said as he walked toward the chairs set in front of her desk.
Kara sighed and took a seat. She reached down into a lower desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of Macallan and two glasses. She didn’t even ask him before she poured him two fingers alongside hers. She put the cap back on the bottle and slid the other glass to Johnny as she took a sip.
He frowned as he reached for his glass. “You accustomed to drinking before noon at the office?”
She looked up into his intense baby-blue eyes and raised her glass. “I’m not accustomed to being choked by douchebags unless I’ve given consent.”
“Fair enough,” he smirked and took a sip of the whisky. “That’s smooth,” he commented, licking his lips.
“Macallan,” she answered with a shrug. “Alright, Johnny.” She smiled and leaned back in her chair. “I’ll be honest. I was expecting Scott Wallen and your design team today. I’m a little surprised to see the boss himself.”
Johnny shrugged. “I figured the designs were drawn up, all that was left was to present them to you and sign paperwork.”
“So you thought you’d come reel in the big fish yourself?” she smirked, raising an eyebrow.
“Something like that,” he grinned.
“Alright, let’s see these designs.”
He took another sip of his whisky before he reached down beside his chair. “Ah, I left my laptop out there. I’ll be back.”
She nodded and stood up. She watched him go and admired the way his ass filled out his jeans before she grabbed both of their glasses and headed to the conference table in the corner of her office. She set down both glasses as Johnny walked back in with a laptop bag slung over his shoulder. He set up quickly and started showing her his company’s designs for the remodeling of the Carmichael building.
Two hours later the two finished the Italian they had ordered in for lunch. As Johnny reached across the table to help Kara clean up their food, there was a loud ripping sound.
“Fuck,” Johnny swore, looking annoyed.
Kara looked up from her food in alarm. “Are you OK? What happened?”
Johnny nodded, looking slightly sheepish as he glanced over his shoulder. “Sorry ma’am. I think my jacket just ripped.”
Kara tried not to smile as she looked over his shoulder and saw the rip down the middle of the jacket. “Oh yeah,” she chuckled lightly, “that’s what you get for trying to contain those muscles.”
Johnny smiled and shrugged.
“Take it off,” she ordered as she got up and walked toward her desk. “I’ll get you the number of my tailor. Do yourself a favor and get at least one tailor-made jacket for clients.”
“Yeah, not really my style,” Johnny rebuffed.
She rolled her eyes but grabbed a business card out of her desk drawer. She turned back around to see him folding the coat over the back of one of the conference table chairs. His navy button-up shirt was straining against his biceps. “Let me guess, you’re more a T-shirt and jeans man,” Kara cocked a brow.
He grinned and nodded, eyes on her as she walked toward him.
“Well, get at least one suit tailor-made for client meetings. You’ll realize quickly how stuff off the rack just doesn’t fit the same. Trust me, all of this does not fit into off-the-rack clothing,” she drawled, motioning to the very ample chest that God and her momma had given her.
For the first time since meeting the man, Kara noticed him glance down at her chest. Her blouse was red silk and buttoned high enough to be considered professional but still show a hint of cleavage. It fit well, and the black jacket she had on accented her body and slimmed down some of her curves.
Johnny smirked and his baby blues darkened with desire as his gaze returned to hers. “No, I imagine it doesn’t.” His voice was husky and deep.
Kara smiled coyly, licking her lips subconsciously as she got lost in his eyes. Even in her six-inch heels, he towered over her, easily a foot taller. She held out the card, and he reached for it, fingers brushing hers.
Goddamn this man is sex on wheels.
“Listen—,” Johnny started.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Miss Carmichael, but your father is on line one,” Stacy, her secretary, said over the intercom.
Kara schooled her features and composed herself. “Of course,” she muttered. “Thank you, Stacy.” She turned to Johnny, “I’m sorry to cut this short, but I need to take this.”
He nodded, his stare penetrating her soul. “Of course.”
She grabbed her cell phone off the conference table and rushed out of her office. “Stacy, put him through to my cell,” she told her secretary and headed down the hall.
“This is Kara,” she answered as she hit the stairwell, already knowing damn well who was on the phone.
“What the fuck is this I hear about you firing Ken Laraway?” Vince Carmichael screeched in her ear.
Kara rolled her eyes. Her father did like dramatics, especially when he didn’t get his way. “Afternoon, Dad, how’s your day going?” Kara greeted as she started heading down the stairs from the thirtieth floor.
“Don’t bullshit me right now. This isn’t a game. This is a man’s livelihood we’re talking about,” her father ranted.
“He should have fucking thought about that before he sexually harassed one of my employees, before he wrapped his hand around my goddamn throat,” she shouted back as she reached the landing. She turned and headed down the next set of stairs.
She found Kevin Adams—a contract employee and electrician for Taylor Construction and Mechanical—on a ladder fixing a lighting fixture on the landing below. He looked up at her with rage immediately simmering in his dark eyes.
She paused, realizing she wasn’t alone in the stairwell.
Of all the people to run into, though, she was glad it was Kevin. They had developed an easy friendship over his three-year tenure with her company. The Carmichael building was on his regular rotation, and he stopped in anywhere from once a week to everyday depending on what the facilities department needed.
It had been because of his great work that she had considered hiring the company he worked for to do the remodeling project. It only made sense to keep things in house, so to speak.
Her father was silent for a moment. “He did WHAT?” he screamed.
Kara sighed and continued down the stairs. Kevin climbed down his ladder. His dark spiky hair glistened in the florescent lighting. He was tall and broad-shouldered, well built, with dark brown eyes that were gentle and kind. He wore a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans with his work boots. He was easy on the eyes and very sweet.
Kara enjoyed running into him on the days he was in the building.
“Look Dad, I can’t really talk right now. I’ll call you later tonight, alright?” Kara tried to get her father off the phone quickly.
“Make sure that you do,” he snapped before ending the call.
Thanks for asking if I’m alright, Dad.
Kara locked her screen as she came to a stop before Kevin. “Are you alright?” he asked immediately. His hand came up to her jaw, cupping it gently as he lifted her face up and tilted it out of the way so the light would shine on her neck.
“I’m fine,” she murmured softly, eyes on his. His chocolate orbs were so dark they were almost black with his rage.
When he didn’t look convinced, she set her hand on his wrist. “I’m OK,” she said again, slightly squeezing.
His eyes finally met hers, and she could see the torment raging behind his gaze, feel the tension between them. There was always tension between them.
This was one of those defining moments; one little kiss could change it all. One little kiss that she couldn’t afford to give him. At least not in the office. There were cameras everywhere. He was a contract employee. There were no rules stating they couldn’t date, but she didn’t need it getting out that she was making out with someone in the stairwell. She was the boss, a title most had felt was handed to her because her father owned the business.
She didn’t like giving the firing squad any more ammunition.
She was still rattled, though, from her encounter with Laraway, not to mention the sexual tension between her and Johnny that had been palpable. Now, with Kevin, she was feeling vulnerable. She moved before he could and pressed herself against him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest.
His arms came around her instantly. He smelled heavenly, of mint and leather. There was a hint of something metallic to his scent, probably from whatever electrical work he had been doing. She inhaled deeply and felt one of his hands rest on her lower back, while the other slid to the nape of her neck. He held her tightly as he rested his chin on the top of her head.
Kara had never felt so safe.
Kevin Adams couldn’t believe he actually had her in his arms. He had been dying for this moment since the first time he saw her three years ago when he was first hired on as a contract employee to keep up with all their electrical needs. He’d watched from afar until one day they had started their playful banter. Now he could almost admit she was a friend or acquaintance in the office. She was genuine and down to earth and seemed to actually care about the people that worked for her.
She trembled slightly against him and he had to fight back a groan. Her body was soft and luscious against his. Her blond hair smelled of vanilla and cinnamon.
He heard a light scuffing on the steps above them. He looked up to see his boss and best friend, Johnny Taylor, watching the two of them with an unreadable look on his face.
