Stain (King's Harlots MC Book 2) Read Free

but the part that intrigued me was the ownership. I had often wondered if they were given to men or even women who took care of them. Maybe they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. Maybe they thought they would get someone who would submit or take control. Someone they could trust. I bit back a scoff. Yeah. Right. Those people were just as bad as the bastards who kidnapped their victims.
    “You need to get out of your head.” Brogan hugged me against her. “And a one night filled with hot sweaty sex won’t hurt you.”
    But that was it. I wanted to hurt. I wanted to ache. Not the, oh I need you ache but the, I can feel you for days ache. I craved it. I needed it.
    “I don’t want just hot sweaty sex,” I muttered.
    Brogan started barking orders to the staff at the clubhouse of King’s Harlots. With the president, Jay Gold, being away, she left Brogan in charge. She took that to heart. Good thing because then she didn’t hear my complaining. Again. For what felt like the hundredth time.
    I sighed, grabbed a bottle of water, and sat in one of the large booths.
    “Hey, Hummingbird.”
    I looked up at my best friend approaching me. Asher Donovan was a tank of a man. Being 6’5” and over two-hundred-and-thirty pounds, no wonder I had been single for so long.
     “Hey.” I smiled at the childhood nickname he had given me. “What’s up?”
    He sat down beside me and handed me an envelope. “Before you read the letter, know that it isn’t what I wanted.”
    “Cutting straight to the point, are we?” I teased, not liking the sound of hesitation in his voice. Asher had always been the go-getter. The one who kept me on my toes and my shit together. My parents may not have liked that I followed him to another town, but they understood. For the longest time, people thought I followed him because I was in love with the guy, but that was not the case. We worked well together. We knew each other better than anyone else. Yes, I loved him, but only as a brother.
    “Shit needs to happen fast,” he said, his voice lowering. “I don’t want to bring you in on this, but you’re the only one I can trust.”
    My heart sped up. “What’s going on? I haven’t seen you for a week and you’re dropping this in my lap now?”
    “Just read it, Meeka,” he demanded, his words taking on an edge I had never heard directed at me before.
    “Fine.” I opened the letter, my eyes moving back and forth over the words. After each sentence, my palms became sweatier. A cold shiver raced down my back. Fear gripped my spine. “Did you write this?”
    “No. The only person who knows what I’m trying to do, did.”
    “Who?”
    “It doesn’t matter.” Asher tapped the table. “I need an answer.”
    “You can’t expect me to drop everything and join you, Ash.” I shook my head. “After last time, I stopped going undercover. I can’t do it anymore. You know that.”
    “I know. But I trust you. Only you. I need your help.” His jaw ticked. “Please.”
    “You can’t throw the trust card at me.” Shit. The guy knew how to fight dirty. Asher didn’t trust anyone. He let on that he had it so easy growing up but living with a bastard of a step-father, his soul had been shattered more times than I could count.
    “I need you, Hummingbird. Please.”
    He had been the only man ever to tell me he needed me. A man I loved but as a friend. Just my luck. “I can’t.” My stomach twisted, tying into tangled knots of anxiety.
    “Fine.” He got up from the table, turning back to face me. “I don’t ask you for much.”
    “I can’t do it,” I mumbled, gripping the letter tight in my hands.
    He nodded once, pausing briefly before making his way outside. The door slammed shut behind him, making my heart jump.
    Asher was pissed, but there was nothing I could do about it. What he wanted from me was beyond normal. I would have to go undercover, live with him, and meet with these bastards who kept taking those girls.