Annihilation Road (16 page)

Jackson Deveau, the deputy sheriff—clearly off duty, wearing casual clothes, jeans and a tee and eating Alena’s famous chicken—came walking toward him. He stopped right in front of Savage, preventing him from passing on the narrow sidewalk, clearly inclined to talk, when the man rarely said a damn word.

“Nice thing you did here, Savage.”

“Didn’t do it. That was all Seychelle.”

“Not the way I heard it. You walk on water, according to Doris Fendris. She said you came in and ordered the wood for her and had your brothers working to put the porches and stairs in today, right along with feeding the crew.”

Savage nodded. “I think that might be as true as the story circulating about you and the Dardens. The way I heard it, Clyde Darden has this special greenhouse where he grows prize flowers he names after real-life heroes. He’s got this real hot one, flame red, very rare and unusual. I know because although he said the place is sacred, he let little Zoe go in. Said he named that flower Jackson Fire and won the grand prize with it.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, now you’re just making shit up,” Jackson burst out. “Clyde never said that.”

“I think Doris was making that shit up too,” Savage pointed out.

Jackson nodded. “I see your point. This chicken is damn good. I’m taking Elle to Alena’s restaurant tonight. Already have reservations. She’s been looking forward to going for weeks.”

“Got something to say to me, spit it out, Deveau,” Savage said. He wasn’t buying into the small talk. Jackson wasn’t a man to make small talk. As a rule, he didn’t string five words together, but there he was, blocking the sidewalk.

Jackson nodded toward Seychelle. “It’s obvious the way you look at the woman how you feel about her, but I can see you made up your mind you’re not going there.”

Savage couldn’t believe he was that damn easy to read. And he wasn’t so certain Deveau was right. “She deserves a hell of a lot better than me, if it’s any of your fuckin’ business.”

Jackson studied him. “Don’t be in such a hurry to give that woman up, Savage. You think I deserve to be with Elle? If that had anything to do with it, I’d be nowhere near her.”

Savage shook his head. There was no explaining to Jackson what he was.

“You ever think maybe she needs you? Look at her. Really take a look at her. This world is a place that’s going to eat someone like her, chew her up and spit her out. She’s not like either of us. She’s never going to develop a protective shell. She’s never going to be able to find a way to shield herself against the sharks of the world. She won’t even see them coming until it’s too late. You, however, just like me, can see them while they’re still just shadows. Think about it, Savage, before you leave her hanging out there alone.”

Deveau took another bite of his chicken, stepped around Savage and walked away. Savage cursed again under his breath and made his way into Doris’s yard. It was small, the grass just a little overgrown. Doris, Seychelle, Alena and Blythe sat on four rattan lawn chairs surrounding a table. A little distance from them was another table with lawn chairs clearly brought from the clubhouse. Lana, Anya, Breezy, Soleil and Inez sat together at that table.

A wealth of food was laid out at each table for the Torpedo Ink members to grab when they were hungry. Several coolers filled with ice and drinks were at the ends of the tables and chairs for anyone to grab water or beer if they wanted something to drink.

Savage went straight to Seychelle. He knew he was late and should have picked up a hammer and joined in the work, but he’d left early to get to Absinthe’s. Too early. He knew Seychelle had felt him disconnecting from her. Dropping a hand on her shoulder, he leaned down to brush a kiss on her temple. The moment his lips came in contact with her skin, his gut tightened into knots and his heart ached.

Doris grinned at him. “It looks so good already, Savage. I can’t believe how fast the porch is going up. I haven’t even seen the back. And Alena and the others brought all this food.”

He nodded, keeping an expressionless face. “Yeah, they like to show off.”

She giggled. “You’re so outrageous.”

“I brought you iced tea,” Blythe said. “I made it just for you. Your favorite.”

“I’d give you the finger, but even though Czar’s in the back, he’s bound to have eyes on you,” Savage said. “Catch you ladies later.”

He made his way around to the back porch, needing to separate himself from Seychelle. Just looking at her took his resolve away. She was dressed in leggings. She normally wore jeans, but he knew her spectacular ass was most likely still a little sore from the night before. Just the thought of his marks on her skin and how they got there sent his body into a frenzy of hot, sparking arousal.

Her simple tank framed her full breasts and those perfect nipples he had far too many fantasies about. She wore her hair up in a ponytail. Even that put thoughts in his head that shouldn’t be there. He knew more ways to weave hair into ties that would keep her very still while he wielded his
own magic with his whip. He was a master with a whip. Shit. He had to stop thinking about it.

He had drawers of custom-made, perfectly balanced whips in his home, just waiting. Untouched. He never thought he’d ever use them. Beautifully crafted. Each one of them. Signal whip. Gallery whip. Bullwhip. Snake whip. He had them all. Short. Long. He could lay down just about any pattern he chose with those whips. He could write his fuckin’ name with a whip and never break skin, just leave beautiful welts that would last for days. Very few could wield a whip and not break skin, not when they were laying down a pattern. And not when they were fully aroused.

The others greeted him as he joined them, Master indicating where he wanted him working. Czar moved over to him as he was pounding nails into a long board, finishing up the porch before the railing could be added.

“This was a good thing you did, Savage. Not only good for Doris, but for our club.”

Savage glanced up. “It was Seychelle. She was trying to fix the stairs, but both porches were rotted. I was worried Doris was going to fall through. Seychelle visits quite a few of the elderly in town.” He sighed. “Most likely she’ll have us fixing all their porches. And I’ll be fixing whatever’s broken in their homes. I’ll pay for materials.”

“The club will pay for the materials. This is the break we’ve been looking for. We needed an in with the community, and your woman inadvertently gave us one. This could be big for us. After word got out that we guarded Zyah’s grandmother and her friend Lizz from the thieves, this is going to go a long way to cement goodwill in the community, and that’s what we’ve needed. Lumber and nails and a little hard work isn’t going to hurt us if in the end we achieve what we’ve wanted. We’ll have a safe place where the citizens are willing to look out for us the same way we look out for them.”

Savage glanced to the left. A couple sat on their porch
watching. The house on the right held another couple. Both looked to be in their late sixties and were drinking coffee, watching the show. They smiled and waved. Czar lifted a hand in return. Savage used a nail gun to drive several nails into a board.

The front porch had to be finished because the other Torpedo Ink members were in the back working to get the steps finished. The railing was already done and ready to be attached.

“Glad you think this will help.” He stood up and signaled to Master that the last of the porch was in place and the railing could be put on. “Need to check on Seychelle.” He was uncomfortable having Czar, or anyone else, praise him when he felt Seychelle had been the one to notice that Doris needed help. He never would have stopped by the woman’s home had it not been for Seychelle.

Savage hurried around to the front, where Ice and Storm were playing with Czar’s children while Reaper kept a close eye on them. Doris was talking with Blythe, Inez and Marie Darden, but Seychelle was nowhere in sight.

“It’s impossible to know what to get Jackson for his birthday,” Inez complained as Savage walked up on them. “He’s always telling me not to get him anything, but he’s the most generous man. I don’t like it when I can’t think of anything he’d really love. Do you have any ideas?” She looked around at the other women.

“Funny you should say that, Inez,” Savage said, keeping his features perfectly expressionless, the way he always did. “Jackson and I were just having a conversation about Clyde Darden and his greenhouse, where he grows his prizewinning hybrids. At least I think that’s what you call them. Clyde showed them to Zoe once. In any case, Clyde sometimes names them after people. Jackson was very enthusiastic about his greenhouse. Well, as enthusiastic as Jackson gets,” he amended. “Said something about a fiery red flower
Clyde was working on that Jackson wished was named Jackson’s Fire or some such thing. I don’t know.”

“Oh dear,” Marie said. “I did forget about that, Inez. Jackson helps Clyde all the time with the greenhouse. If it wasn’t for him, Clyde wouldn’t be able to keep the greenhouse going half the time. He’s fixed the watering system. Last year, he removed all the beds and completely replanted for Clyde when he was unable to do it.”

“Does Clyde have a really special hybrid he’s growing this year?” Doris asked. “If he does, Inez, maybe if we all went in together and helped pay for the entry fees, Clyde could take it around to the various shows and get a win.”

“Does he have a red hybrid he’s working on?” Blythe asked. “That sounds so perfect.”

“Do you think he’d name it after Jackson?” Inez asked. “If we all pitched in to help him pay for the fees and travel?”

“I think that would be an excellent birthday gift,” Marie said. “Clyde would love to pay Jackson back for all the things he’s done for us. What a wonderful idea, Inez.”

“Blythe, where did my woman go?” Savage asked, feeling pleased with himself. The cop was never going to live down having a prizewinning flower named after him. Inez’s group of women would bring it up at every opportunity, especially if the flower won anything.

Blythe, immersed in the conversation, had to refocus, frowning a little. She glanced toward the house across the street. “She said she saw someone coming from the house across the street. We were all laughing and she just kind of went quiet on us. When I asked her about it, that’s when she said she saw someone leave the neighbor’s house and she just had this feeling.”

Instantly, all good humor was gone. Savage turned and looked at the two-story house with the heavy drapes drawn across the windows. “She went over there?”

Blythe’s frown deepened. “I said I’d go with her, but she
said the woman was shy and wouldn’t talk unless she was alone.”

Savage pulled out his phone, already striding across the street, texting as he did so.
Coming over. Get to the door now, Seychelle.

He told himself he would know if something was wrong with her. They were connected so closely together, right? But he’d deliberately pulled away. Put distance between them because he needed to think about whether or not he should bring her into his world. His gut was suddenly churning, tied into knots.

Moving slow. Getting to door.

Why the hell would she be moving slow? At least she hadn’t objected to going to the door. Even that worried him. She didn’t like him ordering her around, not when she was visiting her friends. Technically, she couldn’t call this neighbor of Doris’s a friend—yet.

He heard something scratch at the door, and then it was open and Seychelle was there. She looked pale as she came toward him, stumbling a little, pulling the door closed behind her. Savage wrapped his arms around her.

“What the hell, baby? Are you hurt?”

She leaned into him, one arm circling his waist. “No. Just a little weak. I think my blood sugar is too low. I need to rest. Can we sit on the curb?”

They weren’t sitting on the damn curb. He scooped her up and carried her across the street. “Tell me what happened.” It was a demand. He didn’t care if his voice came out more of a growling command than a question.

“Not where anyone can hear us.” She buried her face against his neck. “Can you just please take me home? I’m really, really tired.”

At least she was going to tell him. “Do you have your car keys on you?”

“I left them on the floor of my car.”

He tried not to let his head explode. She had no concept
of personal safety. None. Zero. Not with her house and not with her car. He clenched his teeth against giving her a lecture, mostly because she was exhausted. Not just physically drained, she was mentally drained as well. When he put her on the seat of the car, she didn’t even reach for her seat belt, nor did she object when he belted her in. He debated whether or not to text Steele, but she didn’t appear to have any physical injuries on her. Seychelle fell asleep in the short time it took to reach her cottage. Thankfully, she had actually locked the place up.

He knew he had a short window of time and then he was going to have to leave her, even if it was just for a few days. She kept the monster at bay, but he could feel the rage in him building in spite of her delaying that burning need in him. He didn’t dare take too many chances being around her—and he didn’t dare play any more sexual games with her, no matter how much his body demanded it.

The thought of touching another woman was abhorrent to him. It made him feel physically ill. There was no time to get Seychelle ready even if he did make up his mind to lay it all out for her. He couldn’t take the chance that she’d look at him the way she should—like he was an evil monster and she shouldn’t have anything to do with him. That was the real reason he was being such a coward. He was afraid she’d reject him totally and he wouldn’t even have this part of her. He didn’t want to lose what he had.

Savage scooped her up and carried her inside, unlocking the keypad with his own code he’d programmed in. She murmured a little protest when he put her on the bed in a sitting position.

“Stay there. I’m going to get you a glass of water and you’re going to tell me what happened.” He’d forgo the car lecture and every other lecture, but he needed to know what had gone on in that house. She’d been laughing with the other women, perfectly fine, when he’d left her. Now she was pale, almost to the point of gray, and her energy was zero.