He stole a look at her to see how she was taking what he said. It was difficult to tell. Her fingers stroked her throat, but she didn’t so much as blink.
He forced himself to continue. “I find myself wanting to be able to use my ability with you, but I want your consent. I want you to know what I’m doing at all times and still consent to it. So, in other words, I want your full cooperation. I need you to want to do these things for me. Are you understanding what I’m saying to you? You would hear my commands and have no choice other than to obey them, but you would have consented ahead of time although you won’t know what I’m going to ask of you.”
Absinthe didn’t take his eyes from Scarlet. He could tell by her heightened breathing that she was sexually aroused just by the suggestion, but she was also very afraid. He couldn’t blame her. She was connected to him, but she didn’t really know him.
“What kinds of things?”
“Anything I ask of you.”
“Other men?”
“Absolutely not. I don’t share. You’re my woman. I’m not going to lie or mislead you in any way. We were brought up together in a situation where we relied on one another to watch each other’s backs. That means we breathe easier having sex when we’re around one another. When we party, we feel safer close together. Having said that, we don’t share our women. Blythe is Czar’s. Anya is Reaper’s. Breezy, Steel’s. Soleil belongs to Ice. If any man touched any of them or you, the club would kill them. You have not only my protection, but also the club’s. I give you my word of honor on that, Scarlet, but you have to decide whether you can trust me on it or not. That’s obviously a huge one because this is something I need.”
“We had sex and you enjoyed it.”
“You did everything I said.”
“You didn’t compel me.”
“No, but I find myself thinking about it all the time. Sooner or later it’s going to be an issue. I won’t be able to stop myself. I don’t want that to happen without your full consent.”
“If you betrayed me, Absinthe, I would kill you.”
“I would expect nothing less, Scarlet, because if you betrayed me or this club, I would do the same.”
“I don’t want to be humiliated. Ever.”
“That would never happen. I have nothing but respect for you. I will always give you the option to say no to me. Or if we agree ahead of time to make it better for me, then the option will be for you to shake your head and I’ll bring you out to talk it over. We can come up with something that will work for us both.”
“I can agree on that.”
“You say yes to me, Scarlet, you’re agreeing to staying with me. It’s a permanent yes. We don’t walk away. We agree to work things out. If things get bad, we go to Czar and Blythe. If they don’t help and we can’t find a book that helps, we talk to a fuckin’ marriage counselor. I’m not going to lose you because I don’t know anything about relationships.”
“Why are you assuming you’re the one that’s going to fuck it up?”
“I barely remember having parents. We raised ourselves. Czar was our moral compass and I’m not positive he was that good. Now I’m counting on you.”
Scarlet burst out laughing. “I don’t know that I’m going to be that good of a positive effect on you. I’ve got to go back to the house and get the rest of my things.”
He smiled at her. Maybe it was a smirk. “Don’t worry about that, babe. The club did it for you to save you the trouble. You might want to give the library the song and dance about how you’ve been called away unexpectedly and very permanently.”
“I have to give a proper notice or I’ll never get another library job, and I love working in the library.”
“We’ll make it right when this blows over,” he promised. “Let me give you a real tour of the house and then we’ll go grocery shopping, out to dinner and come home.” He liked saying the word home. “You okay with that?”
“Very okay with it.”
ELEVEN
Scarlet found herself trying not to look for trouble in Caspar at the grocery store. Women gawked at Absinthe. It wasn’t his fault. He was unbelievably good-looking. In spite of several times risking looking up at him from behind her dark glasses in an effort to catch him looking at the other women, he never seemed to look back at them when they stared at him. He held her hand and seemed completely focused on her.
“We’re trying to find a decent manager so none of us have to do the job,” Absinthe said.
She blinked at him, trying to catch up with what he was saying. “I’m sorry. I was trying to decide on whether or not to be bad and get pastries.”
“Pastries aren’t bad. They’re a staple, but we don’t get them here,” he corrected. “We get them from Alena. She’s a goddess when it comes to pastries. We’ll get them tonight at the restaurant. We own the grocery store. Right now, Inez Nelson is running it for us, but she owns the one in Sea Haven. We’re looking for a manager. We thought one of us could manage it, but we’re not the actual work-on-a-schedule type of people. You have to be nice to customers and employees, it turns out.”
Scarlet burst out laughing. “Imagine that. As opposed to taking out a gun and shooting them when you’re annoyed?”
“Much too subtle. And closing down the store when we want to ride.” He brought her hand to his chest. “We found Inez frowned on that as well. Who would have thought? She had all kinds of rules. For such a little woman she can really throw all kinds of attitude.”
They had come up to the counter and Scarlet got her first good look at the “little” woman Absinthe was talking about. She was older and fragile looking, very small and thin.
Inez put both hands on her hips and glared at the biker, not in the least intimidated. “I heard that.”
Absinthe leaned over the counter and brushed a kiss on Inez’s paper-thin cheek. “You do have more rules than hell does, woman. I can’t even remember them all. This is Scarlet, moya literaturnaya ledi. I am going to marry her very soon. She’s amazing, beautiful and brilliant. Scarlet, Inez Nelson, our guardian angel. Inez helps us out as best she can when we’re trying to figure out how to get through all the business labyrinths.”
Inez beamed at her. “It’s wonderful to meet you. Absinthe is one of the sweetest boys. I’m so glad he’s found you.”
Her gaze dropped to their joined hands, specifically looking at her finger. She was clearly old-fashioned enough to think there should be a ring there with his declaration. For some reason that made Scarlet blush, the color moving up her body into her cheeks. She felt like pulling her hand away and hiding it, but that was silly, especially when Absinthe was clasping her palm firmly against his chest.
“Ice is making our set of rings. He started the minute I told him I found my woman. He’s the best jeweler I know.”
Inez touched the little tanzanite tears surrounded by tiny diamonds dropping from her ears. “He made these for me. I told him he shouldn’t give them to an old lady, but he insisted he made them just for me. No one ever did that for me before. I treasure them.”
Scarlet looked up at Absinthe. He was telling the truth to Inez. He was having a set of wedding rings made. When he said he moved fast, he wasn’t joking. That should have frightened her, but somehow it reassured her that he meant what he said. She was always afraid no one really wanted her, but Absinthe seemed hell-bent on making her truly his no matter what baggage she brought with her. Things were moving a little fast, and she would have to talk to him about that, but she liked that he was that sure.
“Savage came in the store the other day, at Sea Haven,” Inez informed them, chattering on, clearly embarrassed to having shown so much emotion over her earrings. “He was so sweet. I needed some help with Donny.”
Scarlet was shocked to hear anyone call Savage sweet. She couldn’t imagine the man having a sweet bone in his body. He looked like he might kill you and eat you for lunch.
Inez began checking their grocery items as she talked. She was
fast and didn’t seem to need to look. She just kept talking. “Donny Ruttermyer is a sweet boy born with Down syndrome. He lives on his own and works at the store for me. My friend Donna owns the store across from my grocery and has a studio apartment over her store that she rents to him. Her home is behind the store. It’s quite lovely behind the little white picket fence.” She rattled off the details in a friendly voice almost without taking a breath.
Scarlet wanted her to get to the part where Savage was sweet. Inez had almost gotten to the last item and Absinthe was busy putting everything in a burlap bag he’d brought with them.
“Jackson was out of town and Donny got into some trouble …”
Absinthe’s head went up and he paused in the act of putting fresh fruit into the bag. “What kind of trouble, Inez? What does that mean?”
“Oh, nothing big. He made a mistake with his checkbook. He’s usually very careful. Jackson helps him. He got one of the columns mixed up, or at least I think it was something of that nature—he wouldn’t let Donna or me look. He was so upset he was hurting himself. I couldn’t stop him.”
Absinthe’s gaze dropped to her arm and the long sleeves she wore. He reached across the counter and very gently pushed her light sweater back to reveal the dark bruises on her arm. “Savage see these?”
Inez sighed and pulled her sleeve down. “He did. He wasn’t happy. Donny didn’t try to hurt me. He’s strong and he was agitated, hitting his head on the wall and throwing himself around. I got in his way. The minute he banged into me and I hit the wall, it was awful. I called Savage. He’s one of the few that can stop Donny when he’s that upset. Czar can too, but Savage seems to really reach him faster. I don’t know why, and I was terribly afraid he was going to harm himself, especially after I fell.”
Scarlet could tell by Absinthe’s stillness that hearing that Inez had fallen made the situation worse.
“Was Savage aware that you fell?”
“Donny told him. He stuttered and cried. He was rocking back and forth. Savage didn’t try to touch him or comfort him like I expected, he just let him talk. When Donny told him about me falling into the wall and then onto the floor, he called Libby Drake. I didn’t know he knew the Drakes that well or even that she was a doctor. She wasn’t home so he called Steele. He insisted Steele come immediately to see me.”
“As he should have,” Absinthe said. “I hope you were cooperative.”
“I don’t go to the doctor often. I find they seem to like to prescribe drugs and I don’t take pills, but Jackson and Savage are the two men I can’t seem to say no to when they insist on bringing a doctor around.” She heaved a sigh. “It’s ridiculous how bossy they can be.” She patted Scarlet’s hand. “Be careful, honey, these men tend to be difficult to say no to.”
Scarlet laughed. “I’m finding that out. Was Savage able to help Donny straighten out his checkbook?”
“Yes. I think he had to deposit quite a bit of money into his account, but if he did, he wouldn’t tell me. Jackson will look into it when he gets back.” There was an underlying note of worry in her voice for the absent Jackson. Scarlet didn’t know who he was, but it was clear Inez loved the man.
“If Savage wanted to bail Donny out, Inez, you have to let him,” Absinthe said and caught up the two burlap sacks by the handles, dragging them off the counter.
A low whistle slid through the store. The sound seemed to vibrate right through Absinthe. His body didn’t exactly react, more like he turned slowly, and as he did, he swept Scarlet behind him.
“Inez, stay behind the counter and if there’s shooting you get down and stay there until the cops come or I tell you it’s safe.” His voice was very low, holding a soft, compelling note that seemed to push into the mind of the older woman.
Scarlet watched her nod. She didn’t seem as if she was in any way hypnotized or under a spell. Her eyes weren’t glazed; in fact, they appeared clear, but she shifted deeper behind the counter and kept her eyes glued to Absinthe as if waiting for any signal or word from him.
“What is it?” Scarlet asked. She didn’t reach for a weapon. She knew where they were and how fast she could get to each of them when needed.
“Why don’t you stay here with Inez and protect her. I’ll head outside,” Absinthe said. “And see what’s up.”
“Not a chance,” Scarlet said. She had the feeling he knew exactly what was up. “And don’t use your voice on me. I agreed to the bedroom, not to anything else.”
“Sex,” he corrected, glancing down at her, “not necessarily in the bedroom. Most definitely not just in the bedroom. Inez, keep away from the windows.” He didn’t argue with Scarlet, he just dropped the money for the groceries on the counter, put both bags into one hand and walked boldly out the door, Scarlet right behind him.
Savage lounged just to the right of the door as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Across the street, up on the roof, Scarlet thought she caught a glimpse of someone, but when she looked again, there was no one there. Still, she was certain they were covered. Absinthe kept walking. Scarlet went with him to the Harley. Savage dropped into position on the other side of her, matching pace as if they’d been doing it for a lifetime.
At the motorcycle, Absinthe stored the groceries in the compartments, all the while looking down the street. Scarlet could see the truck he was inspecting. It was a newer model. Two of the Torpedo Ink members were on the opposite side of it, seemingly disinterested, talking to each other just inside a doorway of a closed shop. There were several closed businesses on the street, but others that were very new. Clearly, the little village was being brought back to life again.
Absinthe’s fingers slid into Scarlet’s hair. Tapped gently. Rhythmically. Slid into the thickness and massaged. She wouldn’t have thought anything about it but she noticed that Savage’s hand came up to his chest and his fingers tapped over his heart, just for a few seconds, and dropped away. It was just an odd coincidence.
She flicked a gaze over to where another man stood. She had never seen him before but he had long, dark hair streaked with silver pulled back in a ponytail that went down his back and was dissected by bands every few inches, dark facial hair also streaked with silver, gray-blue eyes and tattoos on his neck and over his very muscular arms. His tattoos hadn’t been done in the same artist’s distinctive work as the others in Torpedo Ink. His tattoos looked much more like prison art.
“Who is he?” Scarlet indicated him with her chin.
“That’s Razrushitel. At least we call him that. I suppose the outsiders call him Destroyer. He patched in with the other chapter, but Czar put out a call and essentially, he’s a loner, so he came. He seems to fit better with us.”
She didn’t know what any of that meant. Why would a man be in one chapter and then go to another? Then the door to the small hardware store two doors down from the grocery store swung open and a man emerged. He was stocky, shaggy but very distinctive and there was no mistaking him. Her breath caught in her throat and she stepped back away from Absinthe, or tried to—Savage was in the way, crowding her.
“Don’t,” Absinthe ordered, his voice a thread of sound. “Don’t you fuckin’ move, Scarlet. You’re with me and you show that to him.”
She stopped immediately. When was this nightmare ever going to end? “I’ve put you all in so much danger.” She had. It was the last thing she wanted to do.
Savage made a sound under his breath that sounded a lot like “Bullshit.” Worse, it sounded like he, what? Laughed? She couldn’t imagine Savage laughing.
“Adrik,” Absinthe greeted. “You’re a long way from home.”
Adrik nodded, but his gaze was on Scarlet. Something dark and uneasy crawled down her spine. Adrik was unpredictable. He had explosions of temper that could be horrifying. It was impossible to know what he might do in any given moment or circumstance. She had no idea how he would react or why he was there. His dark eyes seemed to be drinking her in, swallowing her whole, and she didn’t like what she s
aw there.
“A man contacted me a couple months back. Said some bitch killed his son and he wanted her picked up and brought to him quietly. Didn’t want anyone to know. Said I was recommended to him. Gave a name.”
Another chill went down her spine. Scarlet knew whoever had given Adrik’s name to Holden Sr.—and she was certain the man who had contacted Adrik had been Holden—was already dead. Adrik would never have stood for anyone recommending him as a hit man.
“I don’t do that kind of work anymore. I live quietly. Imagine my surprise, Scarlet, when your name came up. I knew you were in trouble, so I came to bring you home. You can’t stay here or sooner or later you’re going to get killed.” He looked around at the Torpedo Ink members spread out around him, boxing him in. “For all I know, these men have taken the contract to turn you over to him. It was a big one.”
Her heart slammed hard in her chest and then began to pound. Adrik lied easily. He might very well have taken the contract with Holden and was saying what he thought would get Torpedo Ink to turn her over to him. She just didn’t know. It sounded like Holden to contact someone out of the country first in order to try to acquire her and when that didn’t work, turn to his local biker clubs. Holden didn’t want to risk the publicity.
“She’s safe with us, Adrik,” Absinthe said. “It was nice you came all this way to try to protect her, but we’ve got this.”
Adrik began shaking his head before Absinthe even finished speaking. “That doesn’t work for me. I can see you’re already gone on her. She’s like that. She crawls inside you and takes you apart. She’ll use you until she uses you up and then she moves on, leaving you an empty shell. You can’t eat or sleep. You just think about her. It isn’t worth it, Absinthe. Don’t make that mistake. Step aside and I’ll just take her out of here.”
Scarlet was shocked. More than shocked. The things Adrik was saying didn’t make any sense. She tried to step around Absinthe and when that didn’t work, she pushed aggressively against his side in order to be seen.
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