Chapter 18
SAVAGE
“You going to be okay with me heading out, baby?”
“Yes, I’ll be okay. I’m just going to do what I said I was going to do yesterday.”
I can’t help but grin at her mentioning yesterday.
I was supposed to go in and do shit for the club, only to end up in bed with my woman all day.
We stopped long enough for me to feed her, even then, I didn’t let her put some clothes on unless it was my shirt and nothing else.
I took her in bed several times. The kitchen counter once.
Twice on the couch. And I ate her pussy while she was stretched out on the dining table.
It was definitely one hell of a day. One I won’t ever forget.
“How about you wait to do any yard work until I get back?” I suggest.
“Why? You don’t think I can handle it?” she scoffs, planting her hands on her hips.
I take her in pausing on the cuffs I’d ordered on a rush delivery before we even left to come back home. I knew it would take some time to get them done, but I paid for them to be a priority and have them done quicker. Bringing my gaze back to hers, I reach for her and hook an arm around her waist.
“Because, baby, when you’re working on that flowerbed, I want to be out there to watch that sweet ass of yours while I’m doing other shit. Then, when we’re done, you all hot and sweaty, I intend to make you hot and sweatier.”
“Oh.”
A blush creeps up on Honor’s cheeks that goes straight to my dick.
“Now, can you wait until I get back?”
“I suppose.” She lets out a breath, pulls that bottom lip between her teeth, and nods. “I guess I’ll just sit out on the back deck and read then.”
“You can do that,” I agree and give her waist a squeeze, “or you can do something else.”
I don’t want to push her, but it’s time for her to try to do something more. To find her normal. She needs to be able to get back to it. She loved working at the hospital.
“Like what?” she asks.
“You can go talk to the hospital about getting your job back if you want,” I suggest cautiously.
“Oh,” she whispers and pales. “I don’t think I could go there again.”
“Baby,” I murmur, hearing the fear in her voice. “You know I wouldn’t suggest something if I didn’t think it would be good for you, right?”
Honor nods and drops her gaze to my chest. Her breathing escalates.
“You loved being a nurse. Helping others. Gunner told me how you loved working in the ER. I saw it for myself.”
“How could you see for yourself when you were doing one of the doctors?”
Fuck. I wasn’t expecting that from her.
“Fucked up by doing that, Honor.” I let her waist go and grip her chin, forcing her to look up.
“I hurt you a lot, and by fuckin’ that bitch, I hurt you more.
I can’t go back and fix the past. And I’m not gonna deny the bullshit I’ve done.
It’s in the past, and that’s where it’s staying.
Now, you’re gonna have to let that shit go.
We weren’t together at the time. I was fighting the pull of you. Sounds fucked up, but it’s the truth.”
“I don’t want to work in the ER anymore. I don’t want to work there,” she says, her voice shaky and her chest rising fast. Reading her, I can see her anxiety trying to overcome her.
“Then, if you don’t want to do that, baby, what’s something you’d want to do? I thought you liked helping people.”
“I do,” she agrees. “I just don’t want to work at night anymore. Or anywhere something can still happen to me.”
“Then why not work in a clinic or at a school?” I offer.
Honor takes that in for a moment and nods. “I could look into those, but I don’t know.”
“It’s just a suggestion. I just know you love being a nurse, baby, and I don’t want you losing yourself by taking away something you love to do.”
“I know,” she whispers, visibly swallowing. “Do you . . . um . . . do you think I can go with you to the clubhouse? I don’t think I want to be alone.”
Fuck. Shit. Fuck me.
“Yeah, baby, you can come with me to the clubhouse. I’ve got shit to do there, but you can hang with whoever is around. I’m sure Zinnia or one of the other ol’ ladies will be there.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t gotta thank me.” Letting her chin go, I pull her flush against my front and hug her to me.
I fucked up bringing the subject up. Pushed too fast on it.
She’s not ready. Not yet. But I’ll get her there in time.
Releasing her, I step back. “Now, go get ready,” I command gently, ‘cause if we don’t get going, I’ll end up doing what I want instead of what I’ve got to do for the club.
We’ve got a run coming up and I need to go over some things with Hammer, Malice, and Axe.
Then we’re supposed to be having church.
Cy’s got shit he needs to tell us about.
I’m hoping like fuck it’s about those bastards who thought they could get away with hurting my woman.
“How’s Honor doing?”
I look to Hammer at his question and nod. “She’s good.”
“Good?” He cocks a brow. “I have eyes. I saw her come in with you. She didn’t look good.”
“We had a moment this morning. I pushed harder on a subject she wasn’t ready for.”
“Brother, you gotta take it easy and not worry about getting your dick wet,” Malice grumbles.
“It wasn’t about getting my dick wet,” I growl. “I’m not an asshole, and when it comes to Honor, she always comes before my fuckin’ needs.”
“Then what did you push her on?” Axe asks, brows furrowed.
“I want her to have her normal back. To get that, she can’t stay at home all the time or here. She needs to get back out there. I suggested she get her job back.”
Hammer nods as Axe whistles. Malice just stares.
“She doesn’t want to go back to the ER and work there. Said she doesn’t want to have to work nights again.”
“I get that. She was taken from the hospital parking lot,” Hammer states what we all know.
“Yeah, so I suggested she look at other options. A clinic or even a school. She’s meant to help people and loves being a nurse.”
“Gotta let her take this at her pace, brother,” Malice mutters. “She went through hell.”
“I fuckin’ know that, VP. I know she went through hell.
I’ve heard the nightmares. I’ve sat with her in a session and heard what she went through.
I see the damn pain in her eyes every damn day.
Those bastards took my woman, hurt her, raped her, and fuckin’ humiliated her.
She’s been through enough bullshit because of them, I want her to have everything that was taken from her. ”
“I get that,” Hammer states, nodding. “It’s well past time those bastards got what they deserve.
Let’s finish this up, Cy’s got shit for us on them.
Once we find out what he’s got, if we can make a game plan, we make it.
I don’t give a fuck if we gotta take on the De La Rosas at the same fuckin’ time.
Way I see it, it’ll kill two birds with one stone at that point. ”
“Damn right.” Axe grunts.
“Agreed,” Malice growls.
“Long as I get to put my bullet in one or all of the siblings, then I’m all for it,” I agree, nostrils flaring at the anger of thinking about what happened to Honor because of them. I hate them and want to make them pay for daring to even breathe Honor’s air.
“It’s all set then,” Hammer mutters, leaning back in his seat. “Two weeks and we’ll play our hand. Gives me time to prep Avery for what we’re doing and get her ready to set the bait for us.”
The way my Prez curls his lip in disgust, I know he doesn’t care for the plan, but his woman had the idea, and it’s a good one to incorporate.
Once the time is right, we’ll be using her to draw them out.
If it means the De La Rosas come with them, then we’ll be ready.
We’ve got a solid plan, and if all goes well, in two weeks, the bastards will be eating mine and every man in this room’s bullets.
Until then I’ve got to be patient and wait as I see to my woman and make sure she’s good.
“Anything else we need to talk about?” he asks as there’s a fast knock at the doors. Hammer opens his mouth to call out, but the door opens quickly to Avery stepping in, eyes wide. “What’s wrong, Sunshine?”
“You need to come out here,” her statement isn’t to Hammer, but instead to me.
“What the fuck?” I’m already on my feet and heading for the door.
“What’s going on?” Gunner demands.
“It’s the new girl and Honor,” Avery answers as Hammer pulls her out of the way.
I pass her and head for the main room, already hearing the screams of pain. As Honor comes into view, I come to a dead stop at the sight of her. Avery said it was the new girl and Honor, what she didn’t say was Honor was beating the shit out of the bitch.
Fuck me. I didn’t expect something like this.
Shaking the thought away, I quickly move to Honor, wrap an arm around her from behind, and pull her away from her prey, kicking and screaming.
“Easy, baby, calm down.” But she doesn’t.
She tries her hardest to get at the bitch she was pummeling.
With the way she’s acting, it’s almost hysteria.
The last time I remember her being like this was when she first woke up, and even that wasn’t so bad.
Turning her in my arms, I wrap her tight and whisper in her ear, “I’ve got you, baby. Breathe for me and calm down.”
“What the fuck happened here?” Gunner demands.
“The bitch said that Honor should have stayed gone or found a way to kill herself without anyone stopping her. That she took something that wasn’t hers.
And said Savage was better off without her since she was too weak to be with a man like him.
She also brought up what happened to Honor and how she deserved it,” Zinnia answers on a whisper.
As her words sink in, burning themselves in my brain, I see red.