Hunter: Hell Reapers MC - A Bad Boy Biker Romance

Chapter One

You know you're day's going bad when you find yourself having to speed downtown. I'd slept way too late and though it wasn't like me to hit snooze on the alarm sixteen times; I forced my white 2002 corolla to slow down, taking a sharp right turn through a red light. Yeah, never mind, that sounds like me nearly every damn day. My tires screeched like a banshee in heat and a few people in traffic were kind enough to tell me to go and get myself laid. Couldn't disagree with that solid advice, I rolled my eyes for a brief moment and sped onward to the Applegate Sun. They were of course, one of the more modestly sized newspaper companies, but a girl's gotta get paid somehow. It wasn't all bad, spending most of my days writing for people that thought less of me than the shoes they would come in to work with.

Alright, well at least the pay was still solid. Mostly.

Some of my co-workers saw me as 'lucky' for having the head writer, Amanda Childes, get a nasty case of bronchitis. Me? I found myself supremely unlucky. Not that that was much different than how things usually were for me. With Amanda effectively benched, my hard-ass and notoriously Machiavellian boss Franklin Gates, was on the hunt for her temporary replacement. Someone, and I'm not naming names – but it was probably Laura Tankretti, sly as a fox and total office BFF, had the bright idea to float my name in his ear. Can't say it was my cheery demeanor that caused me to make a good impression on people.

Whatever it was about me, it always seems to get me in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Wrong described my life all too well, and I was starting to get sick of the taste of those bitter ashes in my mouth. People in life always had the mind the mention that hard work and being kind led to good things; that something better's always just right around the corner. Yeah, well, guess Fate didn't get that notice – seems like nobody above or below knows my name.

Flying like a bat out of hell through another red light, I expertly weaved my going on six years now labor of love through a frantic sea of mechanical beasts prowling the rough and tumbled streets. I could feel my nerves flaring up; a horrible mix of anticipation, fear, and eerie serenity. Horns wailed, but all I could hear was the cranked up smoothness of my rock 'n roll; the flow and motion of the car as I turned and threaded the needle, so to speak.

Alright Jessica, get your head in the game - you keep this up you're going to hurt somebody. Keep cool. Everything around you is just a distraction, just noise. Beat the noise.

The gripping tightness in my gut wound itself tighter when I had to slam on my brakes for the guy ahead of me. The four banshees screamed in their displeasure, and my hand found it's way quickly to the horn of the car. When I was in my more rebellious youth, I tended to watch a lot of action movies and car chases were my absolute jam. Dad, when he was around, half expected I'd end up in jail for boosting cars or playing driver to some robbery. I always did have a knack for disappointing him.

This fracking guy, what the hell is he doing? He had no reason to stop. I blare my horn again quickly and check my mirror, switching over to the right lane and throwing up my favorite finger at the SUV as I pass him by.

***

Rolling to a stop, I arrive in the parking lot at work. Even though I know I'm running late, I give myself a quick one over in the mirror; green eyes, framed by what an ex used to call 'fiery' orange hair, stared back at me. I wrinkled my nose and took a deep breath. You can do this, don't let them smell the fear on you. If Gates knows you're afraid, he'll rip you apart.

Getting out of my corolla, I slam the door shut and strut my way through the parking lot. I wasn't wearing anything particularly fancy; I liked to keep things casual - and not too serious.