Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
SAVANNAH
A nxiety swirled in Savannah’s stomach as she slowly made her way down the stairs to the main section of the clubhouse.
“Savannah!” Mackenzie squealed from her spot on a leather couch, where she was sitting, chatting with Emilee. Emilee turned around and grinned widely.
“Come sit with us!”
Savannah hesitated, glancing over at where Savage stood. Did he expect her to stay with him? He was letting her stay in his room, after all. Maybe there was an unwritten club rule about guests needing to stick close to the member who brought them in. She scanned the room, noting Irish and Arrow at a table with their laptops and a few other members lounging in separate clusters.
As if reading her mind, he came over to her side. “Did you get settled in okay?”
“I… uh… yes?” What did he mean by settled in? She’d sat at the desk collecting her thoughts and trying to come up with a game plan. Zeb hadn’t told her exactly what information he was looking for, and she wished not for the first time, that he had. What was the right information that would pay the debt and finally make her free? Until she figured it out, she would have to funnel everything to him, hoping it was enough. This must be what traitors feel like. Except, they normally had a cause they believed in. She didn’t. She didn’t have a lick of loyalty to The Rejects. If they weren’t threatening her family, what was left of her family anyway, she’d have run away.
“Savage!” Mackenzie called. “Stop hogging her!” Savage laughed and shook his head.
“Go ahead,” Savage said, his tone casual. “If you need anything, I’ll be at the table with Arrow and Irish.”
Savannah nodded and slowly made her way to the girls, settling into one of the oversized leather chairs adjacent to their couch.
“I love your shirt!” Emilee exclaimed, practically bouncing in her seat.
“Yes! It’s adorable,” Mackenzie added enthusiastically.
“We knew Savage went to find you, but we didn’t expect him to bring you here,” Emilee said.
“Yeah, how did that happen?” Mackenzie asked, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.
Savannah bit her lip, trying to decide how much she could safely share. The truth wasn’t an option. “Um, he came to the motel and invited me to lunch,” she said carefully.
“Let me guess, The Rusty Crab?” Emilee asked.
“How did you know?” Savannah asked, surprised.
“We all love that place,” Mackenzie replied. “It’s our favorite.”
“It was great,” Savannah said shyly. “I had chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.”
“Oh my gosh! The chocolate chip pancakes are the best thing on the menu!” Emilee gushed.
“It’s one of my favorites too,” Mackenzie agreed. “But it’s definitely not the best thing on the menu. The chicken and waffles win. Corky lets me swap out the fried chicken for tendies. So, I get chicken tendies with a chocolate chip waffle and loads of hot maple syrup.”
Savannah marveled at how the two women spoke so openly from their little personas. Her research on littles suggested many kept their dynamic private. Yet, these two seemed perfectly at ease, even in front of others. She expected this behavior at The Citadel during the playdate but was surprised by it here. She wondered if this openness extended beyond the clubhouse or if The Watchmen’s base was simply another designated safe space, like The Citadel.
“That sounds amazing,” Savannah said, pulling away from her thoughts and back to the conversation. “Maybe I’ll try it next time.”
“So, how did you get from brunch to the clubhouse?” Mackenzie inquired.
“After brunch, I went to Day & Night, and um…” Savannah faltered, searching for the right words. She didn't usually lie. Lying to the girls was a lot harder than she thought it would be. “I was checking my email and got a… threatening text. I guess the owner?—”
“Trinity,” Emilee interjected. “She’s Lucky’s woman. Lucky’s the club president.”
“Yeah, Trinity,” Savannah continued. “She noticed I was upset and told our waitress, who was on break, to check on me–”
“That’s Delilah, her best friend. She’s here a lot too,” Emilee interrupted again.
“Em, stop interrupting!” Mackenzie scolded. “She can’t even finish her story.”
“Oh! Sorry!” Emilee mimed zipping her lips.
Savannah gave a small smile. “Savage was there, still talking to Delilah. He came back to the motel and asked me about the text and after our conversation, he decided to bring me here until I can find a better place.”
Emilee nodded. “Yeah, that motel is awful. Lots of bad stuff happens there.”
“I’m glad you said yes,” Mackenzie added. “The clubhouse is super safe. The officers’ rooms are nice, and there’s always an armed member here.”
“Armed?” Savannah asked, her voice tentative.
“Every club member is a former special forces operator. They’re highly trained,” Emilee explained gently. “Sadly, there are dangerous people out there, and it’s better for the good guys to be prepared.”
Savannah nodded, feeling out of her depth. “I’ve never even seen a gun,” she admitted.
“Neither had I,” Emilee said. “But Daddy took me to a shooting range so I wouldn’t be scared. I hope I’ll never have to use one, but now I at least understand them.”
Savannah shuddered slightly. She couldn’t imagine herself handling a weapon.
Mackenzie chimed in. “I don’t think we’d ever need to. We’re never alone, and there’s always someone nearby.”
“You’re never alone?” Savannah asked, surprised.
“Not really,” Mackenzie replied. “Most businesses in town are owned by The Watchmen or Valhalla members, so we’re always within their orbit. Even when we go shopping alone, there’s someone familiar nearby.”
“Valhalla?” Savannah asked.
“It’s like a small, gated community on the outskirts of town,” Emilee explained. “All the men who live on Valhalla are also former special forces operators, several of them, like Mad Dog and Bull, are members of The Watchmen. The guy who owns The Citadel, Jay, lives in Valhalla.”
“Wow,” Savannah said. “That’s a ton of special forces operators in one area.”
“Yeah,” Emilee said. “Arrow said it’s like a base for retired operators. You know, when they get out of the military, they can feel like they’ve lost the brotherhood. Many of them settle down near active-duty bases. In a way, Valhalla is like a military base but for veterans and Grand Ridge is like the towns outside of military bases but instead of being filled with active-duty members, it's filled with veterans.”
Savannah thought about what they were saying. All the servicemen she’d ever met were honorable and duty bound. She had a hard time imagining them committing crimes and becoming members of a lawless motorcycle club. Something wasn’t lining up. Unless maybe they were dishonorably discharged or something, like maybe they’d committed war crimes? No. There was not a chance.
“Anyway,” Emilee said brightly, “we could show you around town. Trinity’s hosting a Paint and Sip this week. Want to come?”
“Paint and Sip?” Savannah echoed.
Emilee grinned. “Wine, crafts, and painting. It’s super fun. Of course, anything with alcohol isn’t a little playdate, so we have to be our adult selves when we go to these. She hosts lifestyle munches, too. But, anyway, the next event is adult and open to the entire town.”
“I’ll have to get special permission,” Mackenzie said, looking down at her hands.
“Uh oh,” Emilee said. “What did you do this time, Mak?”
“Don’t say it like that! You make it sound like I’m always in trouble.”
“I mean, if the shoe fits…” Both girls laughed. “But really,” Emilee continued, “What did you do?”
“I got myself grounded. Katie, Dani, and I went to Denver to see one of our favorite authors at a book signing. Well, we stopped in Castle Rock to grab dinner on the way back and couldn’t help but do a bit of shopping at the outlets. I forgot to bring a charger for my phone, and it died, so I guess I, uh, forgot to let Irish know I was going to be back late by a couple of hours. Luckily, the other girls texted Luke and Zac, and Irish was able to get ahold of them and knew. But…”
“Oh my gosh! Arrow would KILL me!” Emilee said. “Like, I wouldn’t sit for a month, maybe two! My butt is twitching just thinking about it.”
“Yeah, Irish wasn’t too happy with me. Now, I’m grounded.”
“I bet Arrow could talk Irish into letting you come with us.”
“I don’t want you to go through any trouble for me,” Savannah hesitated. “Besides, I’ll have to check my schedule. I won’t have too much time on my hands.” She wasn’t looking forward to it, but at least it would keep her busy.
“Where at?” Mackenzie asked.
“A resort about fifteen minutes from here,” Savannah said. “Housekeeping.”
“You don’t look happy about it,” Mackenzie said.
“If you’re not excited about it, we could help you find something else,” Emilee offered. “There are lots of options here.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine,” she said quietly. The Rejects set up the job, part of her cover, and they wanted to keep an eye on her. They wouldn’t want her deviating from the plan.
“You should let us help,” Mackenzie insisted. “If this is going to be your home, we want you to feel welcome.”
“Home,” Savannah murmured, the word feeling both foreign and bittersweet. The kindness the girls were showing here was almost overwhelming. Savannah wasn’t used to people being this nice to her. She’d spent the last several years as a caretaker to her mother and hadn’t made many friends.
“Anyway,” Emilee said, “even if you can’t go painting with us, we could still show you around. You know, help you get your bearings.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure I can get special permission since we’d be helping you out,” Mackenzie said.
“Man, I’m glad I’m single. I can’t imagine needing to get permission to do anything. I like belonging to no one and doing whatever I want,” Savannah said.
“For now,” Emilee said, nodding in the direction of where Savage was sitting casually talking to Irish. “I don’t think it will be too long before you have your very own Daddy.”
“Yeah, you can try to do whatever you want. But I’m pretty sure Uncle Sav will have something to say about it,” Mackenzie said with a grin.
She shook her head. “He’s been nothing but kind to me today and maybe a little bossy, but he’s not interested in me that way.”
“What? Are you blind? Look at him,” Makenzie said, turning and nodding toward Savage. He was watching them from across the room, his expression unreadable. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off of you.”
“What she means is, anyone with eyes can see that he’s really interested in you. He wouldn’t have asked us about you this morning and gone over to the motel to ask you to lunch if he wasn’t interested,” Emilee added.
“That can’t be true. For one, he’s two decades older than me–”
“Is that a problem?” Emilee interjected. “Are you grossed out by his age?”
“Grossed out by Savage? The man is fucking hot. But I’m sure he’s interested in women closer to his own age–” Savannah responded.
“No, he’s interested in you. And don’t let any of the Daddies hear you say the f-word in here. Club rules. Littles don’t curse,” Emilee said.
No cursing? That was new to her. She wondered what would happen if they broke the rule. Was it like at The Citadel? Would their daddies spank them? Right here? In front of everyone?
“Besides the age difference, he’s…” Savannah started again.
“He’s what?” Emilee asked.
“He’s um… fit. Muscular? Buff?”
“Yeah? He works out every day. There’s an amazing gym here in the clubhouse, most of the members work out in,” Emilee said, wrinkling her forehead and tilting her head to the side. “Are you a chubby chaser? You don’t like fit men? Like you prefer a dad bod?” Mackenzie asked.
“Oh no! Not at all! It’s more like fit men don’t like me. I’m far from fit…”
“What?! You’re gorgeous!” Emilee countered.
“Yes, absolutely beautiful!” Mackenzie said. “And don’t let Uncle Sav hear you say otherwise. It’ll piss him off.”
“What will piss me off?” a deep voice asked from behind them. “And you know better than to use that kind of language, little girl.”
“Uncle Sav,” Mackenzie said without turning around. “You aren’t my Daddy, you can’t boss me around.”
“No, he’s not your Daddy, but I am,” another voice said. All three girls turned to see Arrow, Irish and Savage standing behind them.
“Uh oh,” Emilee said. “She shouldn’t have said that.”
It hadn’t taken Savannah long to realize that Makenzie said a lot of things she shouldn’t.
“You know how I feel about being disrespectful to any of your uncles,” Irish said. “Apologize right now and then go upstairs and wait for me.”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Sav,” Mackenzie said.
“But it’s not her fault!” Savannah said, suddenly feeling the need to cover for her new friend. “I was the one who said something wrong, and Mackenzie was correcting me.”
“Oh?” Irish came around to the front of the seating area and dropped to a squat in front of Savannah, so they were at eye level. “Did you tell Mackenzie to use a curse word?”
Savannah shook her head.
“I didn’t think so. Did you instruct her to be disrespectful to Savage?”
“No, but… she wasn’t really being disrespectful, was she? I mean, Savage isn’t her Daddy, or her boss and she was just being informative.”
“Informative?” Irish repeated. All three of the large men laughed. “Since you are new here, and don’t know any better, I can understand where you are coming from. All of the men in here identify as a Daddy Dom. Not all of them are into DDlg, some have submissives instead of littles. Regardless, we all look out for each other and each other’s partners. That means enforcing the rules and even, at times, correcting another member’s woman. Savage will inform you of the rules and the consequences of breaking them while you are staying here.” Irish stood and looked at Mackenzie. “Why are you still down here, little girl?”
When Mackenzie didn’t move, Irish started counting. “One, two…”
Mackenzie let out a squeal and jumped to her feet before he got to three. She took off quickly, running towards the stairs.
“Walk!” Savage called out to her.
Savannah watched as Mackenzie slowed down. She shook her head. What exactly had she gotten herself into?