Biking Bad by Morticia Knight: Guest Post #Review #Giveaway @MorticiaKnight

Biking Bad

by Morticia Knight

Genres: Contemporary, M/M, Romance, Thriller, Suspense

When Dylan, a young wannabe investigator, stumbles into the Mojave Sidewinder’s MC bar, he finds all kinds of trouble—especially in biker Luc ‘Zero’ Villarojas.

The Mojave Sidewinders is the largest gay MC club in Southern California. They’re also one-percenters, which makes them alluring to those looking for trouble and a danger to those making it. Luc ‘Zero’ Villarojas has been a brother ever since the club’s prez took him in as a runaway. At thirty-four years of age, he’s content to ride his hog, chase tail and run his tattoo and piercing parlor, Zero to Sixty.

Dylan has had to take care of himself since his aunt died when he was still a teen. Even though he’s barely twenty-two years old, the small spitfire has made his way in the world as best as he can and has even started his own would-be investigative agency. He’s proud of himself, even if his agency is on the edge of town in a ramshackle building.

Working his first big case involving a missing young man, Dylan barges into Road Rage, the Mojave Sidewinder’s exclusive bar, and starts asking questions. When it looks as though he’s about to get beaten up, a large, muscled biker covered in ink comes to his aid. Dylan’s incredibly attracted to him—even if Zero is pretty scary and Dylan’s still a virgin. But is there something Zero knows about the missing man that he’s hiding? And is Dylan in more danger than he realizes?

Publisher's Note: This story has been previously released as part of the Hard Riders anthology by Totally Bound Publishing.

Hi Carly! Thank you for inviting me to be at your blog today. I’d like to share with you an excerpt from my short story, Biking Bad, which just came out a couple weeks ago. The story was originally a part of the Hard Riders anthology from Totally Bound Publishing. 

Biking Bad centers on the story of Zero and Dylan. Zero is a rough and tumble biker who’s lived most of his life with his MC brothers from the Mojave Sidewinders. He’s mid-thirties, has his own tattoo parlor, likes to ink, ride, fight when he has to and score some tail here and there. He wouldn’t know what a relationship was if it came up and bit him. But then one day it does.

Dylan is a young, twinky, ex-foster kid virgin. He’s on his own in the world but doesn’t let that stop him. He’s determined, smart and knows what he wants. When he spies Zero at the MC bar, he knows Zero is what he really wants. However, he’s there to help find a missing person. As part of his effort to forge his own way, Dylan has his own wanna-be private investigation agency.

I really wanted to convey in this story that it can be very easy to make assumptions about people if you don’t dig below the surface. I wanted to take two seemingly polar opposite people then throw them together to see if their worlds could truly mesh. I hope that’s one of the things people take from Zero and Dylan’s love story. I’m happy to report that Dylan and Zero will be returning in a follow-up story, along with some of their MC brothers in the Mojave Sidewinders series. For now, here’s an excerpt from their initial meeting right after Dylan has caused quite a ruckus in the MC’s bar.

From Biking Bad by Morticia Knight

It was time to deal with the unwitting instigator who’d started it all. Zero faced him right as the guy was about to jump down from the bar, so Zero helped him along by grabbing his upper arm.

He’s a skinny thing all right. Has to be a runaway.

“Hey, are you okay? That guy was an asshole! It seemed like you know each other. Ow, you’re squeezing too hard. Where are we going?”

“Shut. The fuck. Up,” Zero growled out as he continued to drag along someone who he now viewed as being more of a troublemaker than anything. 

Once they’d reached the front of the establishment, Zero shoved the door open and yanked cutie outside with him into the warm September night air. It was close to midnight and Zero had already decided he’d had enough of Road Rage for one evening.

As soon as they were well away from the bar at the far end of the gravel parking lot, Zero spun the kid around, determined to find out what the hell was going on before he told him to get lost.

“Who the fuck are you? Why are you here? Are you in trouble or something?” he practically spat the words out, his infamous temper overcoming him after all that had transpired that evening.

“Wow, you’re even better at asking questions than me. Although, I’ve found that if you ask things nicely, you have a better chance at getting answers out of people.”

“Nice?” He gripped the kid’s arm harder. “You know what would’ve been nice? If I’d been able to enjoy a couple beers after work without some gawky kid starting a brawl that’s gonna leave a bruise on this pretty face.”

As he’d yelled with enthusiasm, he’d inadvertently shaken the young man, stabbing his finger in the air to emphasize his point. He’d managed to get the kid to shut up. And possibly scare the shit out of him too.

“Um, I… Sorry.” 

He swallowed hard, his blue eyes wide as saucers, the little smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks highlighted by the one light that illuminated that end of the parking area. His shaggy hair was a reddish-brown maybe—he’d have to see it in the sun.

The fuck? Ain’t never seeing him again. Especially in the sun.

Zero loosened his hold. As it was, the guy would probably have a mark.

“Okay, let’s take a breath here.” Zero ran a hand across the top of his head. His long black hair was tied in a braid that ran halfway down his back. Leaving it loose when he rode his hog was out of the question. “Let’s start with your name. Think you can handle that?”

Cutie narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m not a kid, you know. My name’s Dylan. Dylan Michaels. I’m a PI.”

Zero snorted. “What in the fucking hell is a pee eye?”

“You know, a private investigator.”

“You’re a cop?” Zero choked out.

“Oh no, not at all. I mean, I wanted to be one real bad, but I’m color blind. That automatically disqualifies you. So I studied criminology, got my investigator license and I’ve got my own office in town.”

“Un-fucking believable,” he muttered under his breath. “Are you sure you’re old enough to be running around getting yourself into trouble at biker bars?”

“Hey! I’m twenty-two years old. Well, I will be next month, but that’s close enough. Anyway, I’ve been on my own for a while. I’ve pretty much had to take care of myself since I was twelve when I went to live with my great-aunt after my folks died. She was already really, really old when I got there and wasn’t able to help me much—”

“I don’t need a fucking history lesson here, kid—”

“Dylan. You asked me my name and I told you. So call me Dylan.”

Dylan had his arms crossed defiantly in front of him and Zero was taken aback by the look of indignation on his face. He was unwillingly impressed. It had to take a lot of courage to stand up to someone like Zero—hell, to go into Road Rage in the first place. Which brought him back to the other thing he wanted to know.

“Okay, Dylan. What are you doing here tonight other than almost getting your ass kicked?”

“My ass didn’t seem like it was the one getting kicked…”

He’d muttered it but Zero had heard it just fine. He took a deep breath. “Listen you little shit, whatever you think you need to investigate here is only gonna get your head smashed in. What were you thinking?” 

Zero shook his head, frustrated and not really sure why. He had a sense of being unsettled, his typical detached persona not immediately available to him.

“I had no choice. This was the last place the guy I was hired to find was seen.”

Zero tensed. “Are you sure you’re not a fucking cop?”

“I told you, I’m a— Hey! Get your hands out of my pants! What are you— Gimme that back!”

Dylan was on his toes, frantically trying to reach his wallet that Zero held over his head. It was incredibly distracting. Not because the guy was any threat, but because he kept rubbing his fine little body against Zero as he wiggled and jumped to get to his billfold. As Dylan continued to launch himself at it, Zero rifled through the contents—a bank card, twenty bucks, a bunch of receipts, an investigator license and a California driver’s license. He hadn’t lied about his age or the fact that he wasn’t a cop. He was merely a determined young man, all alone and trying to make his own way in the world. Zero knew all about that.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dylan is a frighteningly fearless twink who is always on the go.  His curiosity and tendency to talk first and think later tends to get him in trouble, but his life isn't easy and Dylan is stronger than he appears.

Zero is one of the Mojave Sidewinders baddest bad boys. Tall, tatted and oh, so handsome, he's cool under pressure and can rain down a world of hurt on anyone who breaks the MC code. His easy-come, easy-go outlook is turned upside down the day Dylan literally falls at his feet. There's something about the kid's bright blue eyes that Zero just can't seem to forget.

Dylan and Zero are absolutely adorable together, but please don't tell Zero I said that. BIKING BAD is a fast paced thriller with mayhem, mystery, unforgettable characters and a well developed story line. This novella proves that good things come in small packages!

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M/M and M/M/F Erotic Romance author Morticia Knight enjoys a good saucy tale – after all, who doesn’t? Since she loves several genres, you may find your heroes in a contemporary, historical, paranormal or sci-fi setting. One of her passions is bringing people's fantasies to life on the page, because life is too short for even one boring moment. Her stories are volcanic in heat, deep in emotion, and sprinkled with doses of humor.

When not indulging in her obsession for books, she loves the outdoors, film and music. The Pacific Northwest is the ideal spot to enjoy both hiking and beachcombing. Once upon a time she was the singer in an indie rock band that toured the West Coast and charted on U.S. college radio. She now resides on the northern coast of Oregon, where the constant rain and fog remind her of visits to family in England and Scotland when she was a child.

She is currently working on a seven-book series called Gin & Jazz set in 1920's Hollywood, and Uniform Encounters 4.

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