Free Stain (King's Harlots MC Book 2) by J.M. Walker Page B

looking at you with pity. I didn’t want fucking pity. I wanted someone to listen as I told my story.
    “What’s going on?” Meeka asked, her question interrupting my thoughts.
    I didn’t want to tell her, but she was the only person I could trust. Becoming best friends fast, she knew things about me no one else did.
    “Talk to me.” She sat on the bed, patting the spot beside her.
    “I don’t need to give your dad more reasons to kill me,” I said, sitting on the floor instead.
    “Fine.” She sat across from me, crossing her legs beneath her and waited.
    “I …” I took a deep breath. There was no point in delaying the inevitable any longer. I had to tell Meeka. It was the only way I could move on. It was the only way I could deal with the bastard. “I don’t know how to tell you.” I picked at a loose string on my sweatpants. “I don’t want you to judge me.” I was surprised at the words leaving my lips. I wasn’t one to talk. Never had been. But talking to Meeka felt normal. We had known each other since Kindergarten. She was the only person who didn’t deal with my shit.
    “Take your time, Asher.” She smiled softly. “I’m not going anywhere.” She stifled a yawn, wrapping her arms around herself.
    I took that as my cue. “My step-father hits me.”
    The look of shock on her face was soon replaced with her telling me she wasn’t overly surprised. She had said that I had a temper and my step-father was creepy. I made a joke that he didn’t like girls so she had nothing to worry about. That didn’t go over well when she had burst into tears. I never wanted her to cry. I didn’t need her tears. I just wanted someone to talk to that wouldn’t judge me. She never did. But she did become protective. As I was with her. Men were dicks. I knew because I was the same way. Except to her. Never to my Hummingbird.
    My body was twitchy, my mind playing over and over again what would happen when we went to see Charles. I prayed he didn’t touch Meeka, because I didn’t know what I would do if he did. I had no self-control when it came to her.
    “I want more.” I had said those words, but I had no fucking idea what they meant. Falling in and out of sleep for the next couple of hours, I tossed and turned.
    A light knock sounded on the door, jarring me from my confusing thoughts.
    Meeka peeked her head into the room. “Are you awake?”
    I only stared at her when I remembered that I had unlocked the door after waking up at some point during the night to take a piss. “I am.” I sat up, pulling the blanket higher around my waist. I didn’t need to make things more awkward between us if she knew I was naked. “What’s wrong?”
    She chewed her bottom lip, ringing her hands together in front of her. “I couldn’t sleep. Can I join you?”
    My dick jumped at that, but being the gentleman that I was, I would have to learn to keep my hands to myself. She had a big enough day ahead of her. She didn’t need me making it worse. “Of course.”
    Meeka breathed a sigh of relief and slid onto the bed beside me.
    “I’ll sleep on top of the covers like I used to.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to tell her that, but I needed her to know that I wasn’t pressuring her into doing anything she didn’t want to do. Yes, I wanted to devour her endlessly but that would have to wait. Holding her and letting her know that I was there and I wasn’t leaving would have to be enough.
    “We almost had sex, Asher. I think we’ve moved past sleeping on top of the covers.” She patted the spot beside her.
    “Are you sure?”
    She nodded.
    Rising from the bed, I pulled on sweat pants but not before I gave her a full view of my backside. My cock twitched at the small gasp that left her. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t proud of the reaction my body caused.
    Crawling under the covers beside her, I didn’t give Meeka a chance to hesitate and pulled her against me.
    “What are you doing?” Her hand