Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
SAVANNAH
T hat was it? Nothing more? And nothing less.
Savannah: Where is here?
Savage: The address I texted you is my house. I’ve made dinner.
Savannah: I have plans with the girls.
Savage: I already canceled them. Get off the phone and on the road.
She was too emotionally drained to be angry with him for cancelling her plans. Man, he was bossy. Just like the Daddies in the books she’d read. She couldn’t lie to herself; she really liked that part of him.
She followed the directions on her phone until she came to a country road and a very, very long driveway. Savage’s farmhouse was a two-story beauty, its freshly painted white siding and navy shutters giving it a modern yet timeless charm. The wraparound porch, complete with a wooden swing, overlooked the Rocky Mountains. It was like the cover of a modern, small town romance novel. Savannah could imagine herself sitting on the porch swing.
Walking up the porch steps, she wasn’t surprised when Savage met her at the door and beckoned her in.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“Come on in, sweetheart,” Savage said, stepping to the side to let her pass. “Dinner is almost ready.”
Inside, the house was just as inviting as the picturesque outside. The open concept living room featured a stunning brick fireplace. To the left was a cozy office with built-in bookshelves, and to the right, the dining area, where a farmhouse-style table sat beneath an elegant chandelier. The kitchen looked like something out of her imaginary dream house with gorgeous marble countertops, a farmhouse sink, and state-of-the-art stainless-steel appliances.
She hesitated, her eyes darting around the room to take it all in. It was masculine but comfortable, just like Savage. “Your home is…beautiful.”
“Thanks, I had help,” he said, guiding her toward the dining table.
The spread he’d prepared was delicious and exactly something she’d imagine he’d make. As she ate the grilled steak, baked potatoes and green beans Savage asked her pointed questions about her ex, and Savannah tried to avoid them, as she had that morning. She tried to change the topic multiple times until finally, he fixed her with a penetrating gaze and demanded answers from her.
“We need to have a serious talk, little girl.”
Her fork hovered mid-air. “About what?”
“About you. Your past. Your family. And your ex-boyfriend.”
Savannah stiffened. He would just not let this go. Why was he interrogating her? “I thought we talked about this already.”
“Not everything,” he said, his voice low and steady. “And I need everything, Savannah. No more half-truths. No more lies.”
Her shoulders slumped. She hated lying. She especially hated lying to him. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
He leaned forward, his eyes locking onto hers. “There isn’t an ex, is there?” Her eyes widened but she couldn’t say a word. “I thought so,” Savage said grimly. “But that’s not the real issue here. I know about the loan. The Rejects. The danger you’re in.”
Savannah felt sick. Her fork clattered to the table. She sat there stunned for a moment before asking, “How…how do you know?”
“I make it my business to know,” he said. “And now, you’re going to tell me everything.”
He knew.
Savage knew.
What was he going to do? How angry was he? Savannah should be terrified. She was alone with a man twice her size, who was visibly upset. He could kill her and discard her body, and no one would be the wiser. She should be terrified, but she wasn’t. He pulled her hand, guiding her from the dining table to the couch. She followed wordlessly, her pulse beating rapidly in her ears. He sat on his large couch before tugging her down onto his lap. As if he could feel her anxiety, he smoothed his hand over her back in slow circles.
“I need you to tell me everything you told Zeb and Tim,” he said softly. “Every word.”
She wanted to answer him, she really did, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. He kept rubbing her back, his touch soothing despite the tension she felt in his muscles. Controlled. He seemed… controlled. Angry? Possibly. But, unlike Tim or Zeb, Savage seemed to be in complete control of his emotions. It made zero sense to her, but she felt safe there, sitting on his lap. Deep down, she knew, without question, Savage wouldn’t hurt her.
“Savannah,” he said her name again, his tone coaxing but firm. “Don’t overthink this, baby. I need to know exactly what you said in order to protect the people I love. Including you, little girl. I’m not angry with you. I’m angry as fuck with Zeb and the goddamned The Rejects, but I’m not angry with you. Okay?”
Her throat felt bone dry, but she nodded. Taking a deep breath, she started with the first meeting, recounting every detail she could remember. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to him. “I only met him once in person. Zeb doesn’t like to call; it’s almost all text.” She tried to shift off his lap, but he wrapped his left arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his body, while holding her phone and reading the texts with his left. Once he was done, he put the phone on the side table next to the couch.
“What about Tim?”
“Tim, I guess you could say, is like my handler. The first few times I saw him; he seemed like someone caught up in his brother’s web. Almost like he didn’t want to be there either. He was dressed super casually, and he joked around. He met me at the motel when I got into town and then I saw him at The Citadel the night of the playdate. It’s his job to keep tabs on me here, I guess. Today was another story all together. He looked the same– dressed in a hoodie and jeans– but he acted very differently.”
“What happened?”
Her voice faltered when she answered him. Then, she told him everything. The video, the slap, the way he held her face. She felt Savage’s body go rigid beneath her.
“He hit you? I’ll fucking kill him.”
“Savage, you're scaring me.” He went quiet after she said that. Before long, the silence became deafening. She could feel his anger simmering just beneath the surface. Finally, unable to bear the quiet, she asked, “Are you mad at me?”
Savage exhaled a long, slow breath. “Not at you, sweetheart. At the situation.” His voice was low, measured, but she caught the steel underneath. “Tim better hope I never get my hands on him. He’s a dead man walking. No one hurts what is mine and lives to talk about it.”
“Yours?”
“Baby, when I saw you at The Citadel, I turned to Arrow and asked him who you were. When he didn’t know, I knew I had to find out. My mom always says when you find your soulmate, you know. Your souls will be drawn to each other. I don’t know why. I don’t know how. But, I know, you are mine.”
“Do I get a say in this?” She asked quietly. She wasn’t sure how she felt about his declaration.
“In all honesty, can you say you don’t feel something between us?”
“I feel…” she thought about it. “Chemistry. For sure. Physical chemistry.”
“Is that all?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
No. That wasn't all. Savannah felt something different with him. Lust, sure. But… more. She couldn’t rationally call it love, but she felt drawn to him, like a moth to a flame.
“I mean, we barely know each other.”
“True. And I plan on spending the rest of my life getting to know you. I’ll tell you one thing, Savannah. If I didn’t feel like you were mine, you wouldn’t be sitting here right now. I’d have already called my brothers and you would be long gone. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t put you out in the cold or without protection, but it wouldn’t be with me. I’d make sure you were somewhere safe, likely on Valhalla, until I dealt with the threat to The Watchmen. But, because you are mine, because I feel something between us, you are sitting on my lap and I’m listening to everything you have to say. Don’t ask me to explain it, because I can’t. Am I scaring you with what I’m saying?”
Was he? He wasn’t. If anything, he was turning her on. The first time he claimed her with his words, her clit tingled. “No.” She barely heard the word drop from her own lips. She tilted her head up and looked at him. He nodded once, confirming he’d heard her.
Then, without warning, he shifted gears. “How serious were you about being a little?”
Savannah blinked, caught off guard. “What?”
“You heard me,” he said, his tone gruff. “How serious were you when you talked about wanting that kind of relationship? You said you’d researched it to go undercover, what I want to know is, was that all? Are you curious about it or was it simply an act?”
“I… When they first told me about it, I was put off. What kind of adult woman wanted to be treated like a child? But, when I read the books, I found myself drawn to the idea of it. The concept of not having to be in control and having someone else care so thoroughly, so completely for you… and it definitely turned me on. I thought about how great it might be to find that kind of chemistry and connection with someone. But I don’t know what you’re asking. I didn’t think I’d ever actually find that kind of relationship. I thought I’d pay off the debt I owed, and no one here would want to see or hear from me again.”
“And now? Knowing I’m not asking you to leave?”
“I mean… are you asking me? Do you want to be…my…?”
“I’m asking if you trust me enough to let me take control,” he said, his gaze locked on hers. “Control of all of it. But if you do, I won’t ask again. I’ll lead, and you’ll follow. That’s what I need right now—to fix this situation, to protect you and those I love, and to make sure it never happens again.”
Her chest tightened at his words, but it wasn’t out of fear. It didn’t feel like it did when she’d seen Tim standing there. No, this was a different kind of fear. It was… something else. For the last two years, she’d longed to give everything to someone else to take care of. She’d been in charge of everything. The house, her mother’s care, the finances… she’d been overwhelmed more than once, wishing there was someone else who could step in and let her rest. She longed to be cared for, looked after, loved unconditionally. But could she really do this with him? He was all but a stranger… Her thoughts raced, but her heart knew the answer. “Yes,” she whispered. Not out of coercion, not out of fear but out of want and need.
“Good.” His lips curved into a faint smile before he reached down and cupped the back of her neck, holding her still, lowered his mouth and kissed her, slow and deep, like he was sealing a promise. “Good girl.” Those two little words really did something to her. When he pulled back, his expression grew serious again.
“Then let’s start. Right now, I want you to go stand in the corner. Nose against the wall. Don’t talk, don’t move. Just stand there and listen to what I say and how I handle this situation. When I’m done, if you still want this, we’ll talk more.”
Savannah looked at him closely. Was he serious? Did he really want her to go stand in the corner?
“Right now, Savannah. You are lucky Daddy is letting you remain dressed. Go now, little girl.”
Her stomach fluttered as she slid off his lap and walked to the corner. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, but the firmness in his voice left no room for argument. She placed her nose against the wall, feeling his eyes on her. She’d never stood in the corner in her entire life. The room was quiet as she stood there. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was awkward and embarrassing to know he was sitting there watching her.
As she started to work through everything in her head, the fact that Savage now knew everything, wondering how they were going to deal with Zeb and Tim, fear of what the girls were going to think of her when they found out, she heard Savage’s voice.
“Hey brother,” he said into the phone. She turned around to look at him. “Nose back in the corner,” he ordered her sharply. “We’ve got a problem.”
He laid out everything to Lucky while on speaker phone—Zeb’s blackmail, the threats against the club, and Tim’s involvement in it all. Savannah flinched at the anger in Lucky’s tone, but it was more at the situation than at her. He wasn’t happy about there possibly being another person involved. They couldn’t rule out Tim’s words but at the same time, they trusted everyone directly involved in The Watchmen. They decided to keep the situation close, only letting the officers and a few trusted allies know what was going on.
They quickly devised a plan: Savannah would continue feeding Zeb information, but it would all be false, designed to lure Zeb and his crew into an ambush. The Watchmen would be ready and waiting. Lucky promised to reach out to the officers, and they decided locking down the girls at the clubhouse would be the best course of action for their safety.
“What about Savannah?” Lucky asked.
“She’s mine.”
It wasn’t the first time that night she’d heard him say those words. If her panties got any wetter… she’d look like she peed herself. She immediately felt ridiculous. Who got turned on in the middle of a situation like this? What the fuck was wrong with her?
It’s because you feel safe.
The thought hit her like a ton of bricks. The situation was dire. Her sister and niece were on the line. Yet, being here, with Savage, she felt deep down that everything was going to be okay. It was all going to work out. It was peace she really needed. She shifted from foot to foot, wondering how much longer she had to stay in the corner. Suddenly, she wanted to go back to the couch and be lifted into his arms, cuddled into his chest… His words cut through those wishes and she turned completely around to face him.
“I need you to get the DEA involved,” Savage was saying to Dax.
“Who is that?” She asked. Savage ignored her question and made a turnaround motion with his hands. “We’ll set Zeb up at the location Savannah gives him. You’ll have your sting, and we’ll clean up the rest.”
The man on the other end agreed, sounding eager to put an end to The Rejects influence in the area. She stared at Savage, mouth wide open.
DEA? Who was he talking to? Panic swelled in her chest. Zeb would kill her if the cops got involved. Savage wouldn’t be able to keep her safe when they found out she’d betrayed them to the cops.
“He said no cops!” She squealed out.
“Savannah,” a voice came from the speaker. “I need you to listen to me. My name is Dax Allard. I’m a friend of Savage’s and a detective with the Grand Ridge Police Department. I also work on a special team as a consultant with the federal government. I promise you; we will get Zeb, and he will never threaten you again.”
Savage stood and stalked over to her. “I told you to turn back around.” He took her gently by the shoulders, turned her front towards the corner and swatted her behind once, causing her to jump.
Ouch! She rubbed at the lingering sting.
“Hands at your side,” he ordered.
Finally, Savage called Jay, she recognized his voice right away. He’d been incredibly kind to her at The Citadel. “Tim’s not alone,” Savage warned. “The Rejects have someone else in town. Keep him on the bartending rotation at The Citadel. If you fire or confront him, it could blow Savannah’s cover. We want them to think she is still playing ball and take the bait she gives him. We don’t want to tip him off.” Jay agreed and promised to inform Phantom and the rest of Valhalla of the situation with The Rejects without giving away too much information. A few extra eyes and ears on the town’s safety.
Still in the corner, Savannah listened to every word, amazed by how seamlessly Savage orchestrated the chaos. Unlike Zeb’s threats, his authority didn’t frighten her. It steadied her. But guilt gnawed at her. This was her fault. If she’d just found another way, the girls wouldn’t have to be locked down, men wouldn’t be having to come up with a battle plan.
When Savage finally called her back over, she turned and approached slowly. He reached for her hand, pulling her close.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice gentler now.
She hesitated, then confessed, “I feel so guilty. For everything. For putting you in this position. For the girls being locked down. For?—”
Savage cut her off with a finger under her chin, tilting her face up to meet his gaze. “There’s a solution for that guilt,” he said softly.
Her breath caught, her heart pounding as she stared into his eyes. She knew, without him saying another word, what he meant.