by J. M. Walker
Cover Design and Formatting: Just write. Creations
Editing: Joanne Thompson
Proofreading: Ready, Set, Edit
Model: Ryan “Stacks” Harmon
Photographer: Michael Anthony Downs
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Greyson
Copyright 2018, J.M. Walker
To Penny. Thank you for driving me crazy and for keeping me on my toes on a daily basis.
I’m not even sure where to begin. Usually I know right away what I want to write but for the first time in 5 years, my mind is drawing a blank. So I guess I’m just going to wing it and ramble.
Greyson Mercer came to me in 2014 as a side character. I didn’t know much about him but he kept popping up every now and again. And then he made a BIG appearance in the King’s Harlots series and I knew, finally, that he needed his own story. But I had NO idea what that story would consist of. He took me on a ride. An extremely exciting one. This story challenged me in a way I never thought would happen as an author. He made me better. And I can only hope that I keep getting better after this story and with the ones that follow.
So first and foremost, I NEED to thank my readers. My Jems. My girls and guys (I know there are a few of you who are Jems). I couldn’t do this without you. At all. Seriously. You are the reason I write. As long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing.
Angie Stanton, Christina Gwin and Jennifer Scarn. Thank you for alpha/beta reading for me. Thank you for helping me make Greyson so much better than he was before.
Joanne Thompson. Dude, seriously. You are amazing and I couldn’t do this without your editing expertise. And THANK YOU for everything else. You know what you did and I seriously can’t thank you enough. I love your face!
Wendi Lynn. Thank you as always for helping me fix up my books!!
Christine Stanley. Thank you for helping me chose an image for the cover and thank you for everything. For listening to me when I need a shoulder. For being one of the best friends a girl could ever ask for. Not only are you my publicist but I consider you family. I love you girl!!
Authors, bloggers, every single one of you. There are too many of you to name but know that I hold each of you in my heart. Thank you for your support and thank you for reading my books and/or sharing all of my posts.
To everyone:
I hope you enjoy Greyson and the crew as much as I do. These guys and girls are nothing like I’ve written before but I think you’ll like them.
Dear Kayla,
I know you’re determined not to like me. I also know that I’ve done some things for you to feel this way. But I hope you give me a chance. At least a little bit.
Maybe by the end of my story, you’ll at least not loathe me so much.
Love,
Greyson
Shattered Series
Break Me
Always Me
Remember Me
Torn Trilogy
Possessed by You
Revealed by You
Perfected by You
Bound by You
Red (A Brett MacLean Duet)
Parker Reed Series
Heat
Edge
King’s Harlots Series
Grit
Stain
Grim
Rude
Numb
Rust
Standalones
One
From Within
Beautiful Pain
On A Whim
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
EPILOGUE
BONUS EPILOGUE
ABOUT
Five years ago
AS SOON AS I dropped the letter off, I left.
Brogan Tapp was the only woman I had ever loved. Even though she was my stepsister, we had been through so much together. I honestly thought at one point that we would drive off into the sunset and never look back. Then she met him. Coby Porter. The large fucker who I refused to go toe-to-toe with. So, like the pussy I was, I left. On her wedding day.
Walking her down the aisle and giving her to someone else was the hardest thing I had ever done. After all of the shit I had been through, I would go through all of it a million times over before giving Brogan away again.
“She’s going to kick your ass,” Catch told me as I slipped onto my Harley.
“Yup,” I grunted in response.
“Grey.” His cold blue eyes narrowed. “This is it?”
I paused before turning on my bike. Catch Hunter waited. The guy had been with me since the beginning, only just becoming my vice-president a year ago. He preferred to hide on the sidelines but, after I pretty much gave him no choice, he agreed to be my VP.
“Stop staring at my gorgeous face and answer my question,” he teased, giving me a wink.
I chuckled, shaking my head, and started up my bike. “Yeah. This is it.”
“Good.” He put on his helmet and revved the engine on his own machine. “I’m ready to go home.”
So was I. I had meant every word in the letter I left for Brogan. I wouldn’t be back. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever. I would be there if she needed me but, other than that, I would be moving on.
WIND WHIPPED AROUND me, slapping me in the face and cutting into my skin like broken shards of glass. Sticks dug into my feet, the pain slicing through me, but no matter how much agony it caused, I ran faster and faster. I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t know what I was running toward. All I knew was that I was running from something. Whatever it had been, it was evil. Worse than the Devil himself. I didn’t know how I knew that. I couldn’t remember. But I could just feel it.
I was exhausted. My muscles were trying to weigh me down after running for a while. Something happened. Something dark. Something depraved.
Tree branches snapped back at me as I ran through them. My dress became tattered, ripping as the debris sliced through the fabric. The sounds of the woods around me were eerily calm for it being well into the night.
My mind was blank while I tried forming thoughts on what I was doing out so late. The moon was high in the sky so it had to be sometime during the early morning hours.
Although it was warm out,
ice-cold fear tugged at my spine. Terror gripped my soul in a vice-like grip. But no matter how hard or how fast I ran, I sensed that something was chasing me. Or worse. Someone was watching. Waiting. For that right moment to strike. They were probably laughing.
Look at the stupid woman running for her life.
Finally, after what felt like hours, I saw a light. Was that a street? No sounds of cars graced my ears, but I could see an opening in the dark woods.
Suddenly, pain shot through the back of my neck. I stumbled, almost tripping over my feet, but I held on and kept moving.
My bones became heavy. My muscles tight. My breathing labored. Another pain shot through my arm that time, forcing me to fall to my knees. I winced, the onslaught of agony tearing through my body. As cliché as it was, I crawled toward the light. Knowing it was my only saving grace at that moment, I forced myself to keep moving.
A third tremor of pain sliced through the back of my neck again. Reaching to touch the spot, my fingers ran over a small item sticking out of my skin. I pulled it loose, not sure what it was but the heaviness of my body told me that it was doing more to me than just giving me pain.
I had to push on. I had to make it to the end of the forest for fear that I would never see the light of day again. But I was tired. So damn tired. I just wanted to crawl into a bed, curl beneath the sheets, and stay there for the next eternity.
After what felt like hours later, I made it to an opening in the trees and fell to my knees. My palms landed against a gravel road. Everything around me shifted. The world spun, my vision fading in and out.
Pushing to my feet, I winced at the pain slicing through my body. I tried willing myself to go faster, but I couldn’t. Everything seemed to slow down the harder I tried.
My body was heavy the more I forced myself to move. It was like swimming through quicksand.
I crawled across the road. A large house came into view. Booming music pierced into my ears the closer I got to it. Or maybe it had been there all along and I only just noticed it. I couldn’t focus. Everything in me was just telling me to give up and call it quits.
So tired.
Laughter sounded, followed by the rev of an engine.
“Hel …” My throat was parched. I couldn’t get the word out. Another slice of pain erupted through the back of my neck. I cried out, falling to my knees once again.
“What the hell?”
I breathed through the agony, my stomach rolling. I dry heaved, but nothing came out. Everything inside of me hurt. My muscles. My bones. My damn soul.
“Shit. Get Greyson.”
Deep voices. So many voices. They sounded like they were in a tunnel.
“Let’s bring her inside.” Strong arms lifted me.
When my vision finally came back into focus, I found light-blue eyes staring back at me. They showed warmth but then I realized that they belonged to a man. A very large man.
My eyes widened. I struggled out of his hold. “No.”
“Hey, careful.” He tightened his arms around me.
“Ple …” I coughed, pushing out of his embrace, and fell against something warm and hard. But this time when I looked up, my breath caught.
Deep sapphire eyes stared down at me. They were blue like the other man’s but darker. So much darker. They held so many questions behind their depths but what I noticed most was a hint of something else. Something more. Something that drew me in. Something that I needed, even though I didn’t know what that was.
The eyes were warm and inviting but that didn’t last. They suddenly turned cold and dangerous. The body they belonged to stiffened, heating even more under my touch.
Everything inside me came to life at the mere idea of this man eating me alive.
I gripped the new stranger’s shirt, pulling myself up his body. “Please,” I was finally able to get out.
The muscle in his strong, angular jaw ticked.
My fingers itched to touch the light scruff of his beard.
The man’s blond brows narrowed in the center. “Call Doc,” he told someone behind me, his smooth but firm voice vibrating over my bones.
“On it, boss,” that same deep voice from before said.
“Grey.” The guy with the beautiful blue eyes took a step toward us.
I jumped, gripping onto the shirt I was holding.
His large hand cupped my nape. “Who are you, darlin’?”
I swallowed hard, my brain rolling over nothing but emptiness. “I … I …”
“She needs to go to a hospital,” the other man said gently.
“We don’t need this shit right now,” someone else muttered.
I looked behind me, and that was when I saw them. Men. All different sizes and ages. They came toward us.
Oh, God. An all-consuming fear took over. My knees buckled. My heart beat hard against my ears. Voices sounded around me, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying.
“Hey, is this her?” A woman with dark curly brown hair and tanned skin neared us.
“Yeah,” the guy holding me said.
And that was when I gave in to the darkness of the slumber threatening to grab me for so long.
(Greyson)
I had no idea who this woman was. She had no identification on her. No bag. Not even lipstick. She came into my club wearing a white, tattered and dirty dress. She was lucky Catch came to me when he did. The party I had been throwing had men who would eat her alive. They were savage when it came to women. I was no different, but I didn’t fuck women on the verge of death.
“Grey.” Trixie came up to me, chewing her bottom lip and ringing her hands in front of her.
I didn’t like the nervous air about her. Trixie Butcher had been in our club life for as long as I could remember. Being married to one of my members, nothing made her nervous. Ever. She was our in-house doctor for a reason.
“That poor girl needs the hospital.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “She needs help.”
“No,” I barked. “Hospital means police. And with as shady as those fuckers are in this area, we’re going to keep this to ourselves for as long as possible. I’ll get you all the products you need.” I kissed her head. “You got this.”
“But, Grey. She was mumbling shit that didn’t make sense. I think she has memory loss. We need to get her checked out. We need to find out if someone’s looking for her.”
“I got people on it but she’s not going to the hospital. Not yet.” It was selfish on my part, I knew that, but I didn’t need this shit brought into my home.
“Greyson.”
I ignored Trixie and headed to my office where I had been getting one of the best blowjobs in a long time. When I reached the room and saw that it was empty, I grumbled out a curse. My dick wept at the thought it would have to wait.
“Grey,” Trixie said again, following me into the room. “Did you see the way she looked at Catch? She was terrified of him.”
“Yeah.” I sat in the chair behind my desk when my cat, Penny, jumped onto my lap. I ran a hand down the length of her back, the black silky coat crackling beneath my touch. She arched, butting her head into my palm, letting out the loudest purr I had ever heard. I chuckled.
“Grey.”
I glanced up from Penny, finding Trixie with her hands on her hips.
“What?” I said, absentmindedly petting my cat.
Trixie huffed, came around to my side of the desk and scratched Penny under her chin. “So distracting.”
She was but it was needed at times. “I saw the woman looking at the guys like she was worried they would hurt her.” I didn’t know what happened but I was determined to find out. “She was scared of everyone.” I felt it too. The woman trembled against me, gripping onto me like she was trying to get under my skin. My chest had tightened. I found that I wanted to help her and that only pissed me off.
“She wasn’t scared of you, though.” Trixie thought a moment, removing her hand from beneath Penny’s chin, and went back around t
he other side of the desk. She began pacing, much to my cat’s dismay. Penny let out a sigh, lowering her head onto my thigh. “I wonder why,” Trixie said a moment later.
I shrugged. “Fuck if I know. What is she doing now?”
“Sleeping. But I checked her over as best I could without disturbing her. She looks dehydrated. I need to administer fluids. I need supplies, Grey.” Trixie headed back to the door. “Come with me. I want you to see something.”
Placing Penny on the ground, I watched her hop away on her three legs. She began playing with her toy mouse that squeaked whenever she was near. If only it were that easy for humans. If only we could play with a mouse and be content. But that was never the case. Even if we were happy for a moment, it either ended or we craved more.
I let out a hard sigh and pushed from the chair. Like a good little boy, I followed behind Trixie when, really, I wanted to spank her ass for being so demanding. But then I would have to deal with her husband. He didn’t go by Butcher for nothing.
Catch rounded the corner, stopping when he saw us heading down the hall. “Any news?”
“Just the man I wanted to see.” I nodded toward him.
“Yeah?” His eyes lit up. “What can I do for you, boss man?” he asked, waggling his brows.
“Doc needs shit,” I said, ignoring his hint for something more. The guy had been trying to get in my pants for years, but I didn’t swing that way. Had nothing against it. Just wasn’t for me.
“What do you need?” he asked her.
She started listing off medical supplies, medications, and anything else that would help make the unexpected visitor feel better.
Catch nodded. “On it, Doc.” He backed up down the hallway. “You still didn’t answer my question, Grey.”
“Just because you’re my vice-president, doesn’t mean I’m going to fuck you, asshole,” I threw at him.
He laughed, turned around, and picked up the pace down the hallway. His chuckle followed him, fading away once he rounded the corner into the main foyer of the house.
