39. 39
39
S avage’s chest ached and his stomach churned. He’d already said way more than he’d planned to, and now she wanted more. Not that he could blame her. She had a lot going on and more in sight down the road.
“I want to make sure you’re free to do whatever you want. I have a couple ideas of what I’d like you to do, but I’ve already told you I won’t force you,” he said, enjoying the reassuring weight of her in his arms and on his lap.
“What is it you’d like me to do?” Her voice had gone husky, making parts of his body pay attention.
Down boy he told his dick as he reminded himself she just got out of a bad situation. She wouldn’t want to jump into the kind of commitment he wanted. He could take it slow. But his head had a deadline, and maybe it would be better to start getting her used to the idea.
“I’m not sure I should say.” He paused, watching her face. “I don’t want to scare you and I’m afraid what I want will do just that.”
“I’m not as easily frightened as the last few days make me look. Tell me what you’re thinking,” she met his gaze, “please.”
How could he deny her when she looked at him all wide eyed and innocent. She wasn’t innocent. She’d been through too much for that but that look made his protective instincts come to the surface, and they weren’t very far away to begin with.
“I want us to get married.” He continued before she had a chance to say anything or even think up an argument. “I’m not saying now but I want it soon. I want you carrying my name before this one is born.” He pressed gently against her belly. “I want neither of you to have any doubt how I feel about you. I don’t want either of you to doubt I’ll always take care of you both.”
She stared at him for several seconds. He waited for her to say something, anything, then he noticed tears pooling in her eyes. When one spilled over and trailed down her cheek, he wiped it away with his thumb.
“Babe, please don’t cry. I didn’t say it to make you cry. I know you’re not ready for something like that, not yet. But I had to say it. I had to let you start getting used to the idea. Because if I get my way, that’s what’s going to happen, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it does. Well, everything that you’ll let me.”
“I want to believe. I want to say yes and just be happy, but I can’t.” Her hand came up to cover his where he cupped her belly. “It’s too much, too soon. I can’t trust it. Can you give me time? Time to heal and learn to trust myself again?”
“Babe,” he ran the back of one finger along her jaw, “I’d wait a lifetime if you’d just say yes. I don’t want to rush you into anything you’re not ready for. I want you to be as sure as I am. I didn’t lie when I said I want you both to have my name but if you’re not ready by then, it’s not a deal breaker.”
“Thank you.” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “I feel like all I say to you is thank you and that you’ll get tired of hearing it, but I just can’t say enough how much I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.” She released his neck and leaned back to once more cover his hand where it still sat on her tummy. “For both of us. Are you sure you want to take on a baby that’s not yours?” Her voice trembled on that last, and it only made Savage more certain.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more certain of anything in my life. And along that line, we’ve got a guy back in Tucson who can do a little research and find out if you’re going to have to file for divorce. Let me message him and get him started on that. That way, we’ll know for sure either way by the time we get there. If it turns out you do, then I have no doubts one of the brothers will know of an attorney we can contact to get that done.” He kept one arm around her as he used his other hand to dig his phone out of his pocket.
With Donna still in his lap, he typed out a message to Gizmo, outlining what they needed, and giving him all the pertinent information, like full names and dates of birth for both Donna and the waste of skin that was her ex, as well as Donna’s social security information. He would have included the duck fucker’s, but she didn’t know it.
He’d sent the message and was sitting with Donna in his lap, his forehead pressed to hers, where they’d been for several minutes when she spoke up.
“Are we good?” she asked. “Or are you still mad at me?”
“We’re good, babe, and I wasn’t mad, at least not at you. I was gutted by what you said, and furious at him that he’d made you that desperate to get away. But I wasn’t mad at you.” He said all this without moving, his head still pressed against hers, as if he needed the contact to remind himself she was safe and not going anywhere.
“Good. I kind of hate to spoil the mood, but I need to find a bathroom. I’ve got to go. And I’m getting hungry again.”
“All right, we’ve got goals then.” He helped her to her feet and with only a little investigation, they found the bathroom. While she was inside, his phone vibrated, and thinking Gizmo had worked his magic fast, Savage pulled it out to check what he’d found.
The message wasn’t from Gizmo.
Lurch: Not an emergency, everything is handled, and no one is hurt. But when you can, we need you both back here. We have a situation.
Savage tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. It seemed like if it wasn’t one thing it was something else. After a moment he typed out his reply and sent it back.
Savage: We were just getting ready to head back. We’ll be there soon.
He pocketed his phone and glanced toward the bathroom door, hoping she was all right and wondering what was going on that they wanted them back at the clearing. It couldn’t be too bad, he told himself, or Lurch would have given him a heads up before just calling them back.
When she was finished and stepped out, he waited while she stepped close, then he pulled her into his arms, enjoying the moment as she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face against his chest.
“Are we okay, babe?” He bent and dropped a gentle kiss on top of her head. “You still mad about the way I hauled you out of there?”
“We’re good,” she said, her face still buried against his chest.
“Good. We need to head back. I don’t know what’s up, but Lurch messaged me. He says we’re needed up at the clearing.”
“Is everything all right?” She looked up at him, a frown on her face.
“I don’t know. Let’s go find out.” He looked around and made sure they hadn’t left a mess, then stepped outside, making sure to latch the door before taking Donna’s hand and walking back to the clearing.
Lurch sat next to Kerry as they approached the clearing but seeing them approach, he said something to her and stood, meeting them before they made it to the rest of the group.
“I need to talk to Savage for a moment, Donna, if you don’t mind. I’m sure it won’t take long. Why don’t you go join the women?” Lurch said as he approached them.
“Go ahead,” Savage kissed the top of her head again. “I’m sure this won’t take long then we can get something to eat.” He glanced at Lurch. “Dinner will be before too long, right?”
“It will. I’ve got men working on it now.” He tilted the top of his head toward the outdoor kitchen where meals had been served since their arrival. There were a couple of men there working.
“All right.” She looked back and forth between him and Lurch for a moment before going to where the women sat and taking a seat.
They were too far away to hear what was being said but he could tell the women were asking about his hauling her off the way he had.
“You said you needed us both, what’s up?” Savage didn’t turn to look at Lurch as he asked.
“Let’s go into the horse barn for a minute.” Lurch turned, but waited until Savage turned and joined him before walking away.
“I thought you wanted us both?” Savage asked.
“I did, and I do, but I decided to run this by you first. Let you make a decision, and depending on which way it goes, we’ll decide how much to tell her.”
Savage scowled. What the hell was going on? He didn’t have long to wait. As they reached the barn Lurch spoke again.
“You know we’ve got the prospects keeping an eye on the road into the ranch, right?”
“Yeah,” savage said. He knew it wasn’t just the local prospects too. Boomer and Demon, who had come up from Tucson with them, were taking shifts out there too. When those assignments had been made, Savage had been glad not to be a prospect anymore, but if they’d asked him to, he would have done it.
“Well, after that SUV showed and left, and after you hauled your girl off, we reached out to Boomer, who’s the one watching the road, to make sure they were leaving. He reported the SUV leaving, but only one person in it.” They walked down the wide aisle between stalls.
Savage’s body flashed hot, then cold. “That fucker is out there waiting to get his hands on her.”
“Not anymore.” Lurch came to a stop, turned to look at Savage. “It didn’t take us long to follow the road out and find where they’d stopped, and he got out. The idiot is so stupid even I could track him and I’m just a dumb redneck from Louisiana.” Lurch pushed open the stall and swept one hand inside, as if showing off some prize. Savage wasn’t sure what he meant until he looked in the stall. There, lying bound and gagged in the hay was the fucker who’d abused Donna. It took everything in him not stomp in his head then and there.
“So, we have some options. We can get the police involved, Tuck’s more than willing to press charges for trespassing.”
Savage turned and looked at Lurch as he continued to tell him what was going on. Focusing on the local president, helped Savage keep from kicking the little fucker in the ribs over and over.
“He’d already been told to leave, that he didn’t is more than enough grounds to press charges. But I also know that your girl’s had a bit of trouble with him. It might be better off, and easier for her if he just disappears. We can handle that, if you think that will work better. I’m going to let you decide. Whatever you think will be better, for the club, for your girl, that’s what we’ll do.”
Savage stared at the man lying in the straw, hands and feet bound, and fought the urge to kick the shit out of him. Instinct told him that if they killed the useless fucker then he couldn’t cause any more trouble.
But what if he and Donna were actually married? If he were missing, it would be harder for her to divorce him. If he were missing, his friend knew he’d last been here. If he went missing, as far as Savage knew, all avenues of search would lead investigators to the ranch and the Souls.
Besides if Donna found out they’d killed him without giving him a chance to do the right thing, he didn’t know how she would react. She believed he was a good guy. He wasn’t ready to disabuse her of that notion, at least not yet.
He took a deep breath and turned back to Lurch. “Call the cops. Let’s give him one last chance.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll sit down and give you my reasoning in a bit, but can I get five minutes alone with him before the cops show up?”
Lurch stared at him a moment, as if trying to read his mind and figure out what he was planning. “If we’re calling the cops, he’s got to be breathing when they get here.”
“I won’t kill him. I’m just going to make him hurt a bit. Hopefully enough he forgets about Donna, the ranch and all of us. But I’m not going to do anything permanent.” Savage glanced down at the man still lying on the straw, fully aware the worthless goatfucker could hear every word they were saying. “Hopefully.” He shot Lurch a grin that he hoped the asshole couldn’t see, and hopefully letting Lurch know he was kidding, mostly.
Lurch stared at him again. Savage couldn’t tell what he was thinking and didn’t want to try and figure it out.
“You get your five minutes,” Lurch said after a moment. “I’m going to go call the sheriff’s department. We’ve got a decent relationship with them after the incident with Bonnie, but I’m leaving Jake here with you to make sure there’s enough of that piece of shit left for them to come pick up.” Without waiting for a response, Lurch turned and walked away. He nodded at Jake on his way out but didn’t say anything more.
Savage turned his attention to the man on the floor, wondering where to start.
“You want to help me?” He glanced up at Jake.
“Not sure why I should.” The man who was supposed to make sure Savage didn’t hurt the waste of skin too badly leaned against the wall a few feet away.
“Well, aside from the fact that he was trespassing on the club, he’s a threat to one of our women.”
“She’s yours then?” Jake lifted one brow as he watched Savage.
“She’s mine. I’ll get her free of this fucker,” Savage toed the man in the ribs, none too gently, “Then I’m going to try and convince her to marry me. I want her wearing my name.”
Jake shook his head slowly but didn’t move away from the wall. Savage couldn’t tell what he was shaking his head about and didn’t have time to try and figure it out. He bent and grabbed the rope wrapped around the fucker’s wrists and hauled him to his feet.
It took him a couple tries to get his feet under him, and even then, he wasn’t too steady, making Savage wonder if he’d been hit in the head when they’d found him and brought him. Not that Savage cared, other than it might make him less likely to remember what Savage was about to tell him.
Looking around, he found a hook where the feed bucket usually hung. He shuffled the fucker in that direction and hooked the rope on his hands over the hook, keeping him from sitting or falling over. Savage didn’t care how comfortable it might or might not be, in fact he preferred it if the fuckwad hurt a bit. He hadn’t cared how Donna had felt when he’d raped her, so he didn’t get any consideration from Savage.
“Have you figured out who I am yet?” He didn’t bother removing the gag, the shithead could nod or not answer, not that Savage cared. He was going to do this either way.
The fucknut lifted his head and glared at Savage. Satisfaction filled Savage at what he was about to tell this excuse for a man.
“I’m the one she chose. I’m the one who will teach her how a woman’s supposed to be treated.” He stepped forward and drove his knee hard into the tied man’s balls, then stepped back as he folded over forward, a muffled scream of pain coming from behind the gag.
Savage watched him for a moment, enjoying the man’s pained sounds. After a moment Savage grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up until he could meet the tied man’s gaze. All anger and fight was gone from his eyes as a pain that all men dreaded filled them. Savage waited until the eyes focused on his face, then he spoke between clenched teeth.
“I’m the one who will kill you if you ever come near her again. Rest assured, this is no empty promise. You won’t be my first kill and you likely won’t be my last, but I’ll rest a lot easier knowing you’re dead and I’m betting Donna will to.” Savage dropped the fuckweed’s head and started to walk away but decided he didn’t want the idiot to get off too easily. He wanted him hurting for a while to remember this lesson. Turning back to where the man still leaned forward, trying to protect his injured gonads, Savage spun and drove his elbow hard into the chicken fucker’s ribs. He pulled back and hit him again, this time without the momentum of the spin and aiming for a different spot. He didn’t think he’d broken any ribs, but he hoped he’d cracked at least one, maybe more. That would have him remember Savage and that he’d better stay away from him and Donna for a good long time.
“Cut him loose and hand him over to the police. I’ve got to go see my woman.” He didn’t tell Jake he had to warn her and let her know that she’d likely have to talk to the cops. Since they were coming, it would be a good chance to document some of what had been happening to her.