“Yes, Tank. I’ll marry you.”

He smiles. “You will, huh?”

I nod and scramble closer, throwing my arms around him. Tank flinches, his whole body going rigid as a board, and he bares his teeth in a grimace.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” I say, scurrying away from his injured side.

“Come ’ere,” he says, tilting his head in a gesture that implies that I should cuddle up to him. I smile pitifully and climb over his lap, carefully settling in on his opposite side. His arm slides around me, his cast gently resting on the curve of my naked hip. “Love you, babe.”

A contented laugh escapes me. “I know.”

I glance at my hand, wondering what it would look like with a wedding band on it. Alien would be my guess, and I’d likely have to start taking better care of my nails, which kinda sucks.

“We’ll get you a ring,” Tank says.

I shake my head. “I don’t care about that.”

“I care,” he says, and the look he gives me is warning enough not to argue. “It’s gonna be a really fuckin’ big ring that every motherfucker on the planet will see. I’m gonna get one so big that fuckin’ thing will be seen from space.”

I shake my head. I don’t want a big fuck-off diamond. I just want him. But if it’ll make him happy, I’ll wear whatever the hell he wants me to, and I’ll love every second of it. I cuddle into his side and wonder what our wedding will look like, what our life together will look like.

“Now, how about that blow job?” he says.

I sit up and give him an incredulous look. “You’re a pig.”

“Yeah, but I’m your pig,” he says, grinning like a damn fool.

“Yes you are,” I say, and I slip down the bed and show him with my hands and lips and tongue just how happy that makes me.

Tank may not be the perfect man. He may be stubborn, demanding, infuriating, and an outright arsehole when he wants to be, but he’s mine. Just like this crazy fucked up life I’ve led is mine.

And I may make more stupid decisions along the way. I may always battle with my addiction. There may be times when I remember all that my father did, and I may be tempted to check out early. Who can say what the future will hold? It’s certainly been no fairy-tale so far.

I’m not a princess in a castle. There’s no extravagance in my past, nor is there likely to be any in my future. But there is love, and endurance, and the knowledge that I didn’t give up. I fought to be here.

I’m not a hero, I’ve never saved a life, but I saved my own, and that’s enough.

We’re enough.

Carmen Jenner is a thirty-something, USA TODAY and international bestselling author of the Sugartown, Savage Saints, and Taint series.

Her dark romance, KICK (Savage Saints MC #1), won Best Dark Romance Read in the Reader’s Choice Awards at RWDU 2015.

A tattoo enthusiast, hardcore MAC addict and zombie fangirl, Carmen lives on the sunny north coast of New South Wales, Australia, where she spends her time indoors wrangling her two wildling children, a dog named Pikelet, and her very own man-child.

A romantic at heart, Carmen strives to give her characters the HEA they deserve, but not before ruining their lives completely first … because what’s a happily ever after without a little torture?

Stay up to date with Carmen’s latest works at: http://www.carmenjenner.com

Welcome to Sugartown (Sugartown Series #1)

Enjoy Your Stay (Sugartown Series #2)

Greetings from Sugartown (Sugartown Series #3)

Now Leaving Sugartown (Sugartown Series #4)

KICK (Savage Saints MC #1)

Revelry (Taint #1)

COMING SOON

Harley and Rose

HURT (Taint #2)

CLOSER (Taint #3)

JETT (Savage Saints MC #3)

GRIM (Savage Saints MC #4)

KILLER (Savage Saints MC #5)

Acknowledgements. The very thing that strikes fear into the heart of every author. Wait, maybe that’s just me. You’d think this would be the fun part, right? You spend months writing the book, slowly leaking little bits of your soul into it and day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second you come closer and closer to the end. Finally all of your heart, all of the parts of you that are yours to give, bleed out onto the page and the book is complete. You’re sated, the book gods are happy you’ve paid the tithe in blood and feels, and days of unkempt hair, and chipped nails, and sadly, yes, some days that you haven’t even bothered to change out of your pyjamas. The book is done, and you’re happy, you’re free, but then the dread creeps in … what if I forget to thank someone?

Seven books on and this never gets any easier. The first time you release a book it seems as though there are entire villages of people to thank, and as you release more books, you find your own feet, the network of people involved in the making of your little slice of literary heaven becomes smaller, but no less important.

So let’s hope I don’t forget anyone …

To my darling non-husband Ben, you saved me then and every day since. I love you so much! Read my damn books already!

Ava Rose and Ari Danger, I love you more than the sun, and more than the stars, and more than the moon, and more than mars, and WAY MORE THAN … CHICKENS!

To my gorgeous family both blood and extended, I LOVE YOU!

To my beautiful beta readers Kristine from Glass Paper Ink Bookblog, Ali from Black Heart Reviews, and Author Simone Nicole, you girls are always there. You always make time in your crazy schedules to give me thorough and honest feedback, and I appreciate you all so much! I can’t imagine ever releasing a book without having your eyes on it first. THANK YOU!!!

Kristine, more than MAC, baby cakes! More than MAC!

Ali, what do I say after all this time that hasn’t already been said in the previous six novels? THANK YOU! I love you, and where’s my fucking ranch dressing?

Simone, I’m not giving you another book to beta until you give me yours. Get writing, missy. Love you, lady!

Lauren McKellar (#McStellar), thanks for McStellarising my words, for fitting me in and working around our ridiculous schedules, for the encouragement, the sprints, and for always making me laugh during the editing process.

Arijana Karčić from Cover It! Designs, thank you for creating such incredible covers for this series! Without that first pre-made, the Savage Saints MC might never have happened.

Heartfelt thanks to Emily from E. M. Tippetts Book Designs. You and your team are superstars! Here’s to many more beautiful interiors together!

To my Sugar Junkies, I’d be lost without you! Thank you for the hours of man candy on #SexySaturday—no really, all Carmen Jenner characters past and present thank you for contributing to their super special Alpha hotness—and for rocking my world with your excitement, your kindness, your extreme pimping skills and your reviews, no matter how long or short!

Kylie from Give Me Books, I ADORE YOU! Thank you for taking on my Cover Reveals, Release Day Parties and Blitz’s! You go above and beyond, lady! Working with you and your team is so damn easy! Special thanks to Caroline for putting up with my sporadic replies while editing TANK.

Beth Cranford, no one rocks a release day party like you, baby! Thanks for enduring the long hours, and for keeping the laughs coming even though I’m sure sometimes you’re dying to curl up and go to sleep! I freaking adore your face!

And finally a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU full of red lipstick, cupcakes, margaritas and sexy man candy—all of my favourite things—to the readers and bloggers who follow, support, pimp, review, talk me up, share in the excitement of a new release, who come out to signings, and who keep coming back for more. No matter how messed up I make my character’s. Without you I wouldn’t get to do what I love!