“Prospect, Prez wants to see you. Now.”
“Shit,” I swore. What the fuck was I doing? I was a prospect and she was being protected by the club, I wasn’t allowed to touch her. It was forbidden. I had managed to keep my feelings hidden for this long, what was a few more months? I climbed to my feet, holding onto her bridal style and placed her back onto the bed, under the covers. “Take these, they will help with the pain,” I demanded, holding out the pills the doc had left. She took them off me and placed them on her tongue and swallowed them down with a sip of water. “Get some rest.” I kissed the top of her head and headed towards the door.
“Dray?” she called out. I stopped and looked at her over my shoulder. She looked like she wanted to say something, her mouth was closing and opening like a fish. “Don’t be too long.”
I nodded my head, I got the feeling she was going to say something else and wondered why she changed her mind. I headed in the direction of the Prez’s office in hopes that he had found out some info on who had been shooting at us.
Chapter 3
Drake
I hurried down the hallway towards the Prez’s office and once I was standing outside the solid black door, I took a deep breath before raising my hand in the air and knocking.
“Yeah?” Prez shouted. I pushed the door open and stepped inside the entrance.
“You wanted to see me, Prez?” He was sat behind a large black desk, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and his Old Lady Denise was perched on the side of the desk next to him, looking at me over her shoulder. Her shoulder length, straight red hair was messy and I wondered what I would have been interrupting if I turned up five minutes earlier.
“Have a seat.” He motioned to the one lone chair that was facing his desk. I closed the door behind me and lumbered towards it. Once I was seated, he stubbed out his cigarette and sighed.
“I think it’s best for you and Ashlyn to stay here for a few days.” I was about to object, to tell him that I needed to keep moving, that I couldn’t risk Switch or his men finding us. “She needs to rest that leg of hers and being on a bike isn’t as safe for her anymore. One of my guys is going to drop off a car here for you to use in two days. Your bike will be safe here.”
“With all due respect, sir, but I really think we need to keep moving. The Satan’s found us and they could turn up if they know Ashlyn is here.”
“You weren’t shot at by the Satan’s. It was the Soul Hunters.” He climbed to his feet and walked around the desk. “You’re wearing a Crusaders prospect cut, they probably think you’re prospecting at this club. We’ve been having some trouble in this town with them…”
“Pipe,” Denise cut the Prez off and when he looked at her over his shoulder her head nodded towards the security monitor that was in the corner of his office. He stood up straight and turned towards it.
“Shit, not another one,” he growled. “Den, get the Doc back here.” He stormed out of his office and I followed behind him. “Henry, Chase.” The two prospects looked up at him and he jerked his head towards the front door. The Prez marched his way through the clubhouse and threw open the main doors, he headed towards the front gate.
“Prez, I was doing the security gate checks and when I came back she was here.” Eddie explained.
“Stay on the gate, prospect. I’ll get Wiz to check the CCTV to see if we can get a car reg.” Eddie nodded his head and headed back to his station of manning the gate. “Henry, Chase, let’s get her inside.”
“Is she alive?” I asked. As she was lifted from the floor a groan escaped from her mouth and my question was answered. She looked young, she had fiery red hair that was full of blood and her face was swollen and bruised. Her clothes were filthy and torn and she looked lifeless. I followed behind the Prez and prospects as she was carried inside.
“Shit,” Denise cursed as she ran up to us. She placed her fingers on the side of the woman’s neck. “It’s a very weak pulse. Doc is on his way. Let’s get her to his room.” We all hurried behind Denise as she led the way, I stopped in my tracks as we passed the room I was staying in and Ashlyn was standing in the doorway. Her hand was covering her mouth and tears were streaming down her face.
“Darlin’, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting.”
“I needed a drink,” she muttered. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t know. I need to go and see if they need my help.” I palmed the side of her face in my hand and gave her a weak smile.
“What if it was… Sw…” Her body shivered. “Switch.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t. Go and grab a drink and I’ll meet you in the bar.” I watched as she hobbled in the opposite direction and I quickly scurried to the doc’s room. I stood in the open doorway, we all watched as Denise tried cleaning some of the blood off of the woman’s face and arms.
“What is this?” I asked as I stood next to Rooster, the clubs VP.
“There was a steady stream of women being dropped off at our gates, all bruised, bloody, drugged and had been assaulted. We had no idea what it was or what was happening. Unfortunately, none of them ever survived. This hasn’t happened now for a couple of months.” I gazed around the room at the Prez and the two prospects they looked enraged that this was happening again.
“Can I come in?” I spun around to see Ashlyn standing in the doorway. Rooster stepped away from me and she gasped as she saw the young woman lying on the bed. She hurried into the room and up to Denise.
Ashlyn
“Ok, everyone out!” Denise shouted to the guys after I told her I may know who did this but I needed to look at the woman’s body. She was still unconscious and we were still waiting on the Doc to show up.
Once the room had cleared out, I stepped closer to the woman.
“What are you looking for?” Denise asked.
“A mark,” I told her as I gripped the edge of the woman’s t-shirt and began pulling it up over her tummy. I sobbed in relief as her body was clear of scars and cuts. She wasn’t tortured the same way that I was but there was still some sick people out there to leave her in this state.
“What have we got?” An older man strolled into the room, he was wearing faded blue jeans and a leather jacket. His hair was greying and stubble covered his face.
“She was dumped outside of the gates. Her pulse is weak but she hasn’t come around yet,” Denise explained.
“Ok, let me look her over.” He snapped on a pair of latex gloves and got to work. Denise gripped my hand in hers and led me over to the sofa which was under the window.
“Tell me what you was looking for? Who do you think may have done this?”
“I was looking for this.” I uncovered my tummy and Denise gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. I hadn’t shown many people this, Cammie knew about it as we were stuck at the Satan’s clubhouse together and most of the time they kept us naked.
“Who did that to you?”
“Switch, he’s the VP of the Satan’s MC. I was kidnapped months ago, tortured and…” I sobbed, halting my words.
“Ssshh, it’s ok.” Denise wound her arms around me until I calmed down.
“He’s the reason Dray and I are on the run. He wants me back. I was afraid that if I found this mark on her, that he had found us; that he was coming for me. I was also worried he was using other women to force me back to him. I can’t let anyone get hurt because of me.”
“You’re safe here. He can’t get to you here, I promise.” Denise held me as I poured my heart out. It was good to be able to talk to her, she was in her early forties at a guess, almost like a mother figure. I had missed my mum since I had been away, I had tried to call her so many times but knew that I could be putting them in danger if I contacted them. As far as anyone knew, I had no family. I longed to go back to my family home in Devon and have my mum hold me, although I was twenty-five I was never too old to be held by my mum. She always made everything better.
“She’s coming round,” the Doc said.
Denise jumped to her feet and ran over to them. I stayed sitting on the sofa, my leg was throbbing and aching.
“Can you hear me?” Denise asked as she peered over at the woman. She nodded her head slowly. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Amber,” she croaked.
“Do you know where you are?” She looked around the room and shook her head. “Where are you from?”
“Hathern. Where am I?” She tried to sit up and Denise stopped her.
“Do you know what happened to you?” Amber shook her head and laid back down.
“My mind is all fuzzy. I remember leaving my friend’s house. I was walking home and I remember seeing this young girl, she must have only been about six, she was sitting on the pavement by the bus stop and she was crying. There was no one around, I thought she might have been lost so I went to see if I could help her. Oh god, then I was grabbed.” Her hand flew up to her neck. “And something stabbed me in the neck, and… Why does my body hurt so much?” She sobbed. “What happened to me?” she screamed. She started thrashing around on the bed, trying to get away.
“I’m gonna have to sedate her,” the Doc shouted out over the noise. “Prospect!” he shouted and Henry flew through the door. “Hold her down.” He went to put his hands on her and I shouted.
“No!” They all stopped to look at me as I climbed to my feet. Amber was struggling against the Doc.
“I need to get her sedated,” he explained as he held the syringe in one hand and Amber down with the other. Henry moved again to restrain her and I rushed over to push him out of the way, he growled at me and I raised onto my toes to look him in the eye. Stretching out my calf muscle was agony but he was scaring her even more.
“She has been beaten, drugged and raped. Do you really think holding her down is a good idea? You’re terrifying her!” I bit out. He took a step back and looked over his shoulder at Rooster, he was obviously awaiting instructions. I knew I had no right to demand things at this club but my only concern was her.
“Step back, Henry,” he said. “Ash, you think you can calm her?” I nodded my head. “Go ahead.” The doc released the grip he had on her and I sat on the edge of the bed.
“Amber, listen to me. I know everything hurts, I know you’re scared and it’s difficult to trust anyone but I’ve been there. I’ve been beaten black and blue, assaulted and scarred. I promise you that you’re safe here. Let the Doc give you something to help you sleep and in the morning we can hopefully figure out what happened to you and try and reunite you with your family. Ok?”
“I’ll be calm, I promise. I won’t try and get away but please don’t sedate me. I want to be in charge of how I feel and if I get sedated, I’ll feel vulnerable again.”
“Ok, but you’ve been through a lot and you need to sleep,” the Doc said.
“I will, I promise. I am sleepy,” she said to him. “Will someone stay with me?”
“I’ll stay.” I assured her.
“Thank you.” She pulled the blanket back up over her body and closed her eyes.
I jumped when I felt someone touch my leg. I looked down to see Drake on his knees looking at my bandage.
“Doc, I think she pulled the stitches.” I looked at my leg and blood was flowing down to my bare feet. How the hell did I not notice that?
“Bring her over here.” The doc cleared a space for me to sit on his work bench and Drake carried me over to it. The Doc removed the bandage and began cleaning me back up. The whole time, I kept my eyes on Amber. I hated that she had been through something so horrible.
“Ashlyn, you need to rest your leg,” the Doc said, snapping me out of my daze. I looked back at him as he was throwing blood covered wipes into the bin and unsnapping his latex gloves.
“Let’s get you to bed,” Drake said as he cradled me in his arms and began walking towards the door.
“Wait! I wanna stay in here, with Amber.”
“No,” he stated as he continued walking.
“No? What do you mean ‘no’? You can’t tell me what to do.” I struggled to get him to loosen his grip on me but he kept walking. “Dray, she’s scared and alone. I know how that feels.” I sighed as I placed my head on his shoulder.
“She’s not alone. Henry is staying with her.” I went to talk when he glared at me. “You are my main concern, you’re injured and you need to rest. Please?” He kicked our bedroom door open and placed me back in the bed.
“Fine, but I’ll be up early to check on her.”
“Fine. Get some sleep.” He kissed me briefly on the lips and headed towards the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I gotta talk to the Prez. Get some sleep. Night, darlin’.”
I watched Drake leave the room before I looked over at the alarm clock that was sitting on the dark wood bedside table and the time read thirty minutes after midnight. It had been an eventful day, my mind wouldn’t switch off enough so that I could sleep. I was thinking about sharing that kiss with Drake earlier, what did it mean? Would we be together? A couple? And what would it mean for his club? Would they accept us? My eyes started feeling heavy just before I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 4
Drake
Once I had put Ashlyn to bed last night, I headed to the bar for a drink; I needed something to take the edge off. My shoulders were tense, my jaw was locked and I was ready to hit someone, anyone. I hated the fact that I had put Ashlyn in danger and that we were now stuck at this clubhouse which caused her to see Amber the way she was, no doubt bringing back horrible memories for her. I still didn’t know what she had gone through as she never talked about it. I could tell that it was on her mind as when I finally dragged my arse to bed she was thrashing around having another night terror, only this one, I couldn’t wake her from. I held her the best I could and whispered to her that she was safe and no one would ever hurt her again. When it sounded like she stopped breathing I freaked out, I laid her on her back and tried to wake her, I pushed down on her chest and she gasped for breath, still not waking up. I held her all night and only slept lightly, I was scared that I was going to lose her. How was I going to help her overcome her fears and night terrors? And most of all how was I supposed to keep myself from wanting her? Every time I was near her I just wanted to taste her lips.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Someone banged on the bedroom door, shouting that it was time for church which caused Ashlyn to squeal and fly out of the bed. She hopped around on her good foot, cursing when she hit her bad leg on the side of the bed.
“You ok, darlin’?”
“Yeah, I need to get to Amber.” She didn’t bother dressing, she threw one of my hoodies on over her PJs and hobbled out of the room. Her hair was a mess and she had smudges of mascara around her eyes where she had been crying in her sleep last night, but that didn’t bother her and I was glad that I found a woman who wasn’t obsessed by her looks.
I crawled out of bed when I realised that I had been laying there for fifteen minutes daydreaming about Ashlyn. I was bound to be the last one to church. I didn’t even have time to grab a cup of coffee. I hurried down the hallway and pushed open the door to church. Chase was stood inside the door and he held out a plastic tray towards me.
“Weapons,” he demanded and once I had pulled out my gun and knife and placed it on the plastic tray he handed me a cup of coffee and slid my tray into a big unit under my name that had been written in chalk. It was like going back to school, we had a unit similar to that and our PE kit was kept inside.
“Prospect, sit.” I looked up to see everyone waiting on me. I found the empty chair at the back of the table and sat down quietly as Prez started the meeting.
“So, item one is Amber. We had a woman left at our gate again but this one lives to tell the tale. The story of how she was taken sounds more like a gang rather than another MC. But why was she left here? Who brought her here? Why not dump her at the hospital? This is what we need to find out. Wiz, anything on CCTV?”
“Nah, Prez, they parked in the shadows and a couple of guys in black hoodies dumped her body. No bikes in sight.”
“We need to talk to her again…” Prez started saying.
“Only trouble is, Drake’s Old Lady is guarding her and won’t let anyone too close.” Rooster laughed.
“She’s not my Old Lady and she’s protective, she’s been there, hence why we are running from the sick son of a bitch that wants her again.” I growled.
“That’s right, Drake would be breaking all the rules if he was having a relationship with Ashlyn,” Prez added, making me feel guilty for wanting that relationship with her.
“So she’s fair game?” Monkey asked. I growled and slammed my hand down onto the table. No one would be laying a hand on my woman.
“Drake, take Denise with you and try and get some info out of this girl. Everyone else stay away from Ashlyn, she’s not here to be pawed over. The club girls are here for a reason.”
“Got it.” I nodded.
“Everyone be on guard, I don’t want to have to call lockdown but I will if it means protecting our families.” Prez slammed the gavel down and everyone headed over to the unit to retrieve their guns.
***
I had just finished scoffing down my cooked breakfast that Rooster’s Old Lady cooked. It was delicious; bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns and baked beans.
“You ready?” I looked up to see Denise hovering over me.
“Let’s do this.” I grabbed my plate and headed into the kitchen to rinse it and load it in the dish washer, a few of the brothers looked at me strangely and Rooster’s Old Lady Violet kissed me on the cheek.
Forbidden Love (South Coast Brothers Book 4) Page 3