Asher: Heartless Devils MC by Kathryn Thomas

look.
     
    On top were pictures of Asher as a baby, moving through to him being a young boy then to a young teenager. There seemed to be a skip of a few years, then photos of him as an older teen with long hair and dark glasses on a motorcycle, looking like he thought he was so cool. Jenny smiled as she moved through them, seeing Asher’s life in a series of 4x6 splashes of color. She spotted her dad in some of them, looking much younger than he did now even though it was only about a decade ago.
     
    As she neared the bottom of the box, she found pictures of Asher with a young woman. He was in his early twenties, as was the woman. She had jet black hair and piercings in her lips and nose. Her eyes were outlined to be dark and dramatic, and her lips were colored a deep red. They were smiling and obviously very happy. The next picture was of them in bed together, the standard couples’ pillow shot, gazing at each other and obviously deeply in love.
     
    She felt a strange pang in her chest at the sight. Was she jealous? Who was this woman? Moving through the pictures, there were a lot more of them together. She eventually came across evidence of his drawing talent, a beautiful sketch of this strange woman whilst she was fast asleep, lying across the bed, nude but sophisticatedly so. Her hair was falling down her back and across her face in loose, wild, tumbling curls. There were only two more photos after that drawing. In each of them, neither looked as happy as they did in previous pictures. She carefully placed the pictures back in the box as she found them, softly closing the drawer when a voice made her jump.
     
    “See anything interesting?” Asher was standing in the doorway, his face expressionless.
     
    Her mouth dropped open in shock, as her face burned, wondering how she hadn't heard him coming back. He moved across the room to sit beside her, his expression turning sad, as he looked at the drawer she had been poking through.
     
    She couldn’t meet his eyes, twisting her hands into a knot. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been snooping.”
     
    He sighed and took her by the chin, gently turning her face so she had to look at him. “Her name was April,” he started. “I met her when I was twenty-one. We spent a couple of happy years together until she decided we were no longer right for each other.” His voice was monotone, and she knew the memory was still painful for him, even now. “She left and lives somewhere on the West Coast now. I think she’s had a couple of kids. Not mine,” he chuckled at her gasp of alarm. “She had her first more than a year after she left.”
     
    “I’m sorry,” she murmured, both for her actions and for how he had been treated.
     
    “Yeah. Me too,” he said softly.
     

 
    Chapter 6
     
    The next day was Christmas Eve. The reason she hadn’t heard the heavy rumble of his Harley the previous day was because he had returned in her car. They used it in the morning to return to her apartment to collect the presents she had purchased and wrapping paper to wrap them. Then, they spent the rest of the day at his place. As she wrapped presents, he let it slip that when he bought the house, he had found an ancient Christmas tree, ornaments, and lights in the attic.
     
    She insisted he get it down to brighten the place up a bit, and after a fair amount of begging and using all her womanly wiles, he relented. The tree was a sad looking affair, but she placed all of the presents under it anyway. That evening they sat on the couch, Jenny in her comfortable sweats, saying little, sipping a very nice brandy and watching the lights blink until she began to feel sleepy. She was tucked in close to Asher’s side, a position that seemed so natural and fitting; it was as if they had been doing it for years. She was just nodding off when Asher slipped from under her. She roused herself briefly, as he kissed her softly on the lips, laying her back on the couch. With a deep and