Page 1 of Lost King

Chapter One

Quinn

Music playing from my phone wakes me from sleep. Reaching over, I swipe my thumb across the screen silencing the alarm. It's early—just before sunrise. Stretching my arms wide, I lay in my bed for a few minutes and stare at the ceiling. Currently, I live here at the clubhouse. Not because I can't afford my own place, but because I choose to. When the time comes, I'll settle down in a nice home. For now, until I get what I want—until I get who I want to share my life with, I am perfectly content where I am. My lips lift in a smile thinking about her—thinking about my Sunshine always puts a smile on my face. Emerson Evans. The beautiful, intelligent, headstrong woman I've been on the hunt for it seems my whole damn life. I can't explain it. The feeling I get when I'm around her; there are no words I can think of that would accurately describe the energy I feel when I'm near her. I've become a junkie. I'm addicted to Emerson, and I haven't even tasted her yet.

Closing my eyes for a moment my mind drifts back to the first day I laid eyes on Emerson. Younger than other doctors I had seen before, that pint-sized, dark-haired woman took charge of the entire ER room when Bella was brought in nearly lifeless over two years ago. Her hair is a different color these days. Platinum blonde to be exact. She has the perfect athletic body, and the slight flare of her hips does mad things to my overactive imagination. Feeling my cock swell, I throw the sheet from my naked body and come to sit on the edge of the bed. It's not her looks though that I find most attractive about her. No. It's her heart. She cares for people—deeply. You see it when she works, and I've seen her in action many times. Every time she has ever been there to care for one of my own I stood back and watched in awe at her calm demeanor. In a quiet and reserved manner, Emerson is a force of nature. To say I was intrigued right away, even amid chaos, is putting it mildly. The first time her eyes connected with mine; Fuck. Those light, smoke grey eyes captivated me.

Absently, my hand begins to rub my bare chest. It felt as if she reached into the depths of my soul. She sealed my fate that day, and I've been on the hunt ever since. My dad always told me not to worry that one day a woman would come along, and I would know she was the other half of my life. She would consume me, and I would move mountains to have her and give her the moon if that's what she wanted. I never questioned it either. That's the kind of love he has for my mom.

Needing to rub one out before starting my day, I walk my ass to the bathroom. Twisting the knob, I start the shower and let the water get nice and hot before stepping in. I haven't jerked off this much since my early teens when I got my hands on my first nudey magazine, but ever since Emerson moved to town, I have no interest in anyone else. Reaching down I stroke the length of my rock hard cock. Letting my head fall back against the tiled stall, I close my eyes, and images of Emerson in her tiny as fuck bikini come to mind before they quickly turn to much more. Placing my left palm against the shower wall, I hang my head as I close in on my release. "Fuck," I moan. Feeling some relief, I finish my shower.

Dressed in dark washed jeans, a white shirt, boots and my cut, I pull my hair back with a hair tie and head downstairs to find some food. When I enter the kitchen, I see Austin and Blake sitting at the table and Ember standing at the stove with a spatula in her hand flipping pancakes.

"Pancakes," I rub my hands together and inhale the smell of bacon. "Mind doing up some extra for me?" I ask Ember as I pull a chair from the table taking a seat next to Blake, whose eyes are on her. Leaning close to him I lower my voice so only he can hear what I say, "When you gonna give in and go for it?"

Lifting his fork, Blake mumbles, "I'm not good enough for her, brother." Before shoving a bite of pancake dripping with syrup into his mouth.

I shake my head. Blake is a good guy. Been through some shit, but a good guy. His entire family was murdered in a robbery gone wrong when he was a kid. Blake was the only one to survive. He spent years jumping from one foster family to the next, and getting mixed up with the wrong crowds. "You've been clean for over five years now, and you've always been good enough, brother. Don't sell yourself short on life because of fear. Grab it by the balls. We only have one life, man. Don't waste it," I tell him.

I've never wasted one minute of my life not going after anything I ever wanted. From day one, my parents taught me to go after everything life has to offer. Aware I was given a second chance when my birth parents decided they were too young to care for me; leading to my adoption and the life I have today.

Ember turns to bring a plate full of food to the table causing Blake to quickly drop his gaze back to his own meal. She smiles as she sets breakfast down, her warm, chocolate brown eyes peeking through her dark lashes as she steals a brief glance in Blake's direction then frowns when she takes in his avoidance of her. She likes him. Hasn't been too hard to see that since she joined the club. "Thanks for getting up early and making us breakfast, sugar," I say to her earning a small smile.

"No problem, Quinn," she replies softly before glancing in Blake's direction one more time then heads towards the sink and starts cleaning.

"So, you guys ready for today?" Blake pushes from the table, taking his plate to the sink, rinsing it and placing it into the dishwasher.

Stabbing some pancakes with my fork, I pile four of them onto my plate along with some bacon. "Fuck yeah, I'm ready," I boast, popping a bite into my mouth. "Have you seen the new tools and equipment at the garage? That shit is going to make workin' so much easier and a hell of a lot faster."

The door to the kitchen swings open and Doc walks in with Lisa looking pretty damn chipper. "Hey, Doc. What's got you happier than a fly on shit this early in the mornin'?"

Clasping his hand over my left shoulder, he says, "besides waking up next to my woman, we finally get to see the shop reopen. After Jake lost what his dad built years ago, I'm fucking happy as hell for him and this club."

"Heard the mayor was attending the ribbon cutting as well. The city council wants to make a media thing out of it," Blake chimes in on the conversation.

"I think it's fantastic that the community is showing support for Jake and the club. His garage has been a part of this town for decades. And we all know how much The Kings give back. Jake deserves it," Lisa energetically gives her opinion on today's happenings.

Nodding my head in agreement, I continue to eat. It's been a couple of months, but our brand-new garage opens today, and I for one will be damn happy to see the place open for business again. Prez rented a small building not long after the dust settled after the fire, so we could continue pulling in some income. Pretty much everything was a total loss. All but some of his old man's tools and a few bike parts. Thank fuck for insurance because a couple of our customers lost their bikes in the blaze that day.

Glancing at the clock above the stove, I take notice of the time. Prez wants everyone to be at the garage at least thirty minutes before the ribbon cutting, which gives me close to two hours to head to my parent's house then get to the garage. My dad needs me to swing by and take a look at an old Ford Galaxie he has been working on in his spare time. With the last of my food eaten, I stand and walk to the sink to rinse and load my plate.

"Your parents gonna be able to make it today, Quinn?" Doc looks over his shoulder as he goes to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"They wouldn't miss it. My dad is having a hard time starting his car, so I'm about to head out," I chuckle at how excited and proud my dad is that he found the exact car he took Mom on their very first date in. He had been searching for more than a year, and just before last Thanksgiving he received a call from a guy stating he had what he was looking for sitting in an old junkyard he acquired back in California. He's been trying to restore it ever since. "Catch ya later," I wave as I disappear through the door and make my way outside to my bike. With the morning sun rising, I pull my shades over my eyes and mount my bike. A moment later I'm cruising down the open road.

As the wind whips at my face, my thoughts drift back to the day I rode my first Harley. I was sixteen and had saved up all my part-time job money to buy a fixer-upper from a guy Prez knew. Any spare time I had was used fixing my baby up, and I'm still riding her today. I tighten my hand on her throttle and race down the highway. My parents moved us from California to Polson when I was fifteen. I hated leaving my old friends and starting over in a new town. Starting a new school was the toughest adjustment. It was my second week at the new school when the trouble I had been having with a bully escalated. That's when I met Logan and Reid. Hell, if it weren't for them, I'd continued to have gotten my ass beat by bullies at school. I was the new kid and a skinny little fucker too. Those two things alone made me any easy target. They walked in on someone giving me a hard time in the boys bathroom one day and took care of business. They never asked me to tag along and follow them everywhere they went, I invited myself. From that day on no one messed with me.

As I come within view of my parents two-story home with a large front porch, I shake my thoughts off for another day and pull alongside my mom's car, put the kickstand down, and turn my bike off. Before I take my helmet off, my kid sister rushes through the gate that leads towards the backyard with Remi, Jake and Grace's daughter, right beside her.

"Quinn," she throws herself in my arms and hugs me tight. Chuckling, I squeeze her back.

"How's it going, KitKat? Hi, Remi. What are you ladies getting into today?" I ask them. Releasing her hold, Kat backs up so I can get off my bike.

"Since we didn't have to go to school today, Remi and I have been hanging out in the treehouse."

"Dad in the garage?" I ask her.

"Yep," she says, putting an emphasis on the P.