Chapter one
1334 Words
The warm scent of vanilla and fresh-baked bread wrapped around Mia Ellis like a comforting hug.
Sugar & Spice, her little bakery was quiet tonight. Only the hum of the refrigerators and the soft patter of rain against the windows broke the silence. It was almost ten o’clock, and Mia should have been closing up and heading home to her tiny apartment. Instead, she stood behind the counter, tying a clean apron over her curves and packing a rush order of red velvet cupcakes.
“Triple chocolate with black icing,” she muttered to herself. “Who orders twenty-four cupcakes at this hour?”
The customer had offered to pay triple the normal price if she delivered them herself to a warehouse.
Money was tight this month, and the bakery needed every dollar. Mia glanced at her phone. The GPS said twenty minutes away. She could be back in her bed before midnight.
She loaded the pink boxes into her old Honda Civic, wiped flour from her hands, and drove into the rainy night. The streets glistened under streetlights.
The GPS led her deeper into Red Hook warehouse area, past shipping containers and old factories. The rain grew heavier. When she finally found the address, it looked more like an abandoned warehouse than a corporate event space. No lights. No cars. Just one flickering streetlamp and the low rumble of the Expressway nearby.
Mia hesitated, then grabbed the pastry boxes. “Drop and go,” she told herself. “Easy money.”
Her sneakers splashed through puddles as she approached a side door that stood slightly open. She stepped inside and froze.
The metallic smell of blood hit her first.
Three men lay on the concrete floor. One was still moving, making a horrible gurgling sound. Standing over them was a giant of a man, gun in his hand, back turned to her.
Rain dripped from his dark hair onto broad shoulders covered by a black leather vest. Patches on the vest read “Savage Reapers” and “President.”
Mia’s heart slammed against her ribs. She took one quiet step backward. The pink pastry box slipped in her wet hands and hit the floor with a soft thud.
The man turned slowly.
His eyes locked on her.
He was taller than anyone she had ever seen up close, at least six-four, with a powerful body built from muscle and violence. Tattoos covered his arms and disappeared under the vest. A scar cut through one dark eyebrow. Rain and blood streaked his face, but he looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered in the world.
“You weren’t supposed to see that, little baker,” he said. His voice was low and rough, like gravel under motorcycle tires.
Mia’s breath caught. “I…I just delivered cupcakes. Wrong address. I’m sorry. I didn’t see anything. Please”
He moved faster than she expected for a man his size. In three strides he was in front of her. One big, calloused hand wrapped gently but firmly around her throat. His thumb brushed over her racing pulse.
“Too late, sugar.” He leaned in, inhaling deeply as if she smelled better than anything in her bakery. “You saw everything.”
Mia trembled. “My name is Mia Ellis. I own Sugar & Spice bakery. I don’t know who you are. I won’t tell anyone. Just let me go home.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Jax Kane. But most people call me Reaper.” His dark eyes dragged slowly down her body, taking in her rain-soaked clothes and flour-dusted apron. “And you’re not going anywhere.”
Before Mia could scream, he lifted her off the ground like she weighed nothing. One strong arm wrapped around her waist while the other kept control of her throat. He carried her outside into the rain and straight toward a massive black motorcycle parked in the shadows.
“Put me down!” Mia cried, pushing against his chest. It felt like pushing against a brick wall. “Help! Someone help!”
Reaper ignored her. He set her on the bike, swung his leg over, and pulled her back against his front. One thick arm locked around her middle like an iron bar. The heat of his body cut through the cold rain.
“Hold on,” he growled in her ear. “Or you’ll fall.”
The engine roared to life with a deep sound that vibrated through Mia’s entire body. The motorcycle shot forward and Mia grabbed his arm instinctively as they sped through the rainy streets. Wind and rain whipped her long hair across her face. She could feel every hard muscle of Reaper’s chest pressed against her back.
This man had just killed people. Now he had taken her. No one knew where she was. Her phone was still in her car back at the warehouse.
After what felt like forever but was probably only fifteen minutes, Reaper slowed down at a large compound surrounded by tall fences and gates. Warehouses and garages filled the space. Several other motorcycles were parked in neat rows. Men in leather vests looked up as Reaper rode in. No one looked surprised to see him with a struggling woman.
He parked and lifted Mia off the bike. She tried to run, but he caught her easily, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
“Put me down, you animal!” she shouted, hitting his back with her fists.
Reaper’s deep chuckle sent a shiver through her. “Feisty. I like that.”
He carried her into the main building, past a large room where men were drinking and playing pool. A few whistled. One big man with a “Vice President” patch raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Reaper ignored them all and walked down a hallway to a heavy metal door at the end.
He opened it and set Mia on her feet inside what looked like a large private apartment. A big bed dominated one wall. There was a desk, a couch, a small kitchen area, and a door that probably led to a bathroom. The windows had bars on them.
Reaper closed the door and locked it. He stood there, arms crossed, staring at her with those intense dark eyes.
Mia backed up until her legs hit the bed. “What do you want from me?”
Reaper stepped closer. Rainwater still dripped down his face and leather. “Everything,” he said simply. “You walked into my world tonight, little baker. Now you belong to it. You belong to me.”
“I don’t belong to anyone,” Mia snapped, trying to sound braver than she felt.
A slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. He reached out and brushed a wet strand of hair from her cheek. His touch was surprisingly gentle, but his words were not.
“You do now. And I protect what’s mine. No one touches you. No one hurts you. Not even me… unless you beg me to.”
Mia’s heart pounded. Fear and something hotter, something she refused to name, twisted inside her. This man was dangerous.
Yet when Reaper looked at her like that,she felt truly seen for the first time in years.
He took off his wet leather jacket and hung it on a chair, revealing more tattoos and powerful muscles. “You’re staying here tonight. Tomorrow we’ll talk about your bakery and how this is going to work.”
Mia swallowed hard. “And if I say no?”
Reaper leaned down until his face was inches from hers. His breath was warm against her lips.
“Then I’ll just have to convince you, sugar.”
Outside, the rain kept falling but inside the locked room, Mia Ellis realized her safe, simple life had ended the moment she met Reaper’s eyes.
And the terrifying part was that she wasn’t sure she wanted it back.
- Writer
