Savage - Clemente's Last Run: A Biker Romance

by Marie St. Clair

  We lie down together and fell asleep.

  Chapter Nine – Clement

  I don’t know how long we had been asleep when the train came to a sudden stop, jostling me awake. The planned stops were smooth, this one wasn’t. It could only mean trouble.

  I lifted the sleeping Callie off of me, kissed her lightly on the lips, and stepped to the door. I was nude, vulnerable. I reached over and grabbed my clothes, hoping the events of the day before had put me on hyper vigilance, and that I would be wrong about the danger.

  I pulled my pants up as I put my ear to the door. I could hear voices speaking in French but couldn’t make out the words. It sounded like they were down by the dining car. Shirt on, I opened the door and popped my head out. The lights in the hallway were dim. I didn’t worry about being seen.

  I was right. The French police were interrogating the sleepy conductor. I couldn’t make out everything they were saying, but I did hear the words heroin and drug smuggler. I closed the door and quickly put on the rest of my clothes and grabbed my leather bike bag.

  Of all the things I had done, to go down for drug smuggling bothered me the most. I had never done a drug run before. Our crew dabbled it in occasionally but it was more for leverage with the other gangs in Paris than our primary business.

  Those fucking Spanish goons. They would pay a heavy price for this. First things first, I needed to get off the train.

  I knew I could scramble down the hallway, jump off the train at the connector, but the cops would give chase. Too big of a risk. I looked at the windows in the berth. Only the top opened. It would be narrow, but I could squeeze through, and make a run for it.

  It was my only chance.

  Callie, what was I going to do with her? I could never see her again. It wouldn’t be safe for her. And her being nude and asleep on the floor when there was a perfectly good bunk would require explaining I knew she wasn’t up to.

  She had probably never told a lie before in her life, and I didn’t want her to have to do it for me. Keep her innocence, innocent.

  Time was not on my side, but I had to make sure she was safe. I lifted up the bench seat, and the bed popped out. There wouldn’t be time for her to get dressed. I lifted her up and placed her on top.

  “Clement,” She opened her eyes and smiled as if she had woken up in heaven.

  “Cops are here. I’m going to make a run for it.” I kissed the tip of her nose, downplaying how bad the situation really was.

  “What?” She sat up and threw her arms around me.

  “Listen, tell them I held you at gun point, held you hostage, and leave it at that. They don’t need to know what happened with us. That’s private, it belongs only to us. It wouldn’t help them find me, and they’re never going to find me, and if they do, I have over a dozen brothers that will swear I never left the bar over the weekend. Okay?” I smiled to reassure her.

  “No, I’ll come with you.” She pushed me away and reached out to her pile of clothes on the floor.

  “It’s not safe for you. I don’t need you caught up in my shit.” I went to the window and effortlessly opened it. It would be a squeeze, my shoulders were broad, but I could get through.

  “Wait—

  I turned to her, “You’re the one for me, but it’ll never work. Go back to Boston, live your good life.” I threw my bike bag out, crawled out the narrow space, and flung myself onto a grassy but hard knoll.

  If the adrenalin weren’t shooting through my veins, the fall would have been painful. I didn’t have time for it. I took off running into the dark night. I had no idea where I was, or where I was going.

  Chapter Ten – Callie

  There was no way I was going to let Clement go off by himself.

  My hands shook as I put my clothes on. I could hear the police going room to room. It sounded as if they were a few doors down.

  Dressed, I didn’t know what to with my bags. I would have to leave them. I grabbed my wallet and passport and tucked them into my bra. The rectangular shapes bulged, but they felt secure.

  A woman was yelling in German down the hallway. I didn’t need to speak the language to understand that she was angry about being awakened. Perfect, her commotion gave me an extra minute to figure out how to fling myself out of the tiny window space.

  Clement had superior upper body strength. I was strong too, but I couldn’t see how to lift myself in the way he had done. I was far less graceful, but I did get out.

  The landing hurt my shoulder. The pain shot through my chest, and I didn’t think I would be able to stand up. The sight of Clément’s retreating figure woke something up inside me.

  I jumped to my feet and ran after him. I don’t know how long I ran for, but I couldn’t catch up. He was so far ahead, and a grove of trees appeared in the short distance in front of him.

  I knew if he ran into the forest I would never find him. I turned to look back at the train. It was faraway and tiny in the distance. I thought I saw people walking around outside of it, but I couldn’t be sure.

  I turned back to Clement and shouted his name in a loud but low tone, hoping that my voice wouldn’t carry back to the train. He stopped, and looked around, finally seeing me. He crossed his arms and stared at me. I ran.

  “Callie,’ He shook his head, and said in a disappointed tone of voice, “I told you to stay on the train.”

  “I knew I would never see you again, and I couldn’t let that happen,” The pain in my shoulder flared and I rubbed it hard. The pain was unrelenting.

  “You’re hurt? You followed me out the window? Callie…” He took over the rubbing of my shoulder, using his thumb to knead the twisted knot of pain. “We can’t stand here like this. Let’s go.” He kept his hand on my shoulder and pulled me close as we walked into the forest.

  “Do you know where we are?” I asked.

  “I can’t check. My phone is dead. Do you have yours?”

  “I left it on the train.”

  He shrugged, “I think we’re outside of Lyon. We’ll have to…”

  “We’ll have to what?”

  “Do what we have to do to get back… You realize the police are looking for you now? This will make the news. College girl on summer trip kidnapped by a drug smuggler.”

  “When we get back to Paris, I’ll tell them…”

  “You’ll tell them what?”

  “I don’t know… Nobody knows for a fact that you actually have the drugs. I’ll just say it was all a big misunderstanding. Just get rid of the heroin.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” He stopped and turned to face me while pulling at his hair, “Once I get the bag back to the bar, there’s no proof I did anything other than go to Barcelona for the day.”

  “You see? It will all be fine.” I hugged him, and felt his body stiffen in my arms.

  “Callie, you left your bags on the train, and there’s a record of you being on the train. They will want to talk to you, and as of right now, there’s probably a search for you going on. This is going to make the news, and judging by what you’ve told me about your background, that’s not going to be a good thing.”

  “Oh, you’re right…” I thought of my family back home. I needed to speak to my parents before the news reached them.

  “Callie, go back to the train, tell them truth up until the moment we played our drinking game. Tell them I dragged you off the train for protection, and let you go when I reached the forest, okay?” He held in his hand and looked deeply and seriously into my eyes.

  “Will I see you again?” I wouldn’t do it if he said no. I didn’t care about the consequences for me. I only wanted to be with him.

  I’ll never know his answer because the sound of the train starting its engines filled the night. The option was gone. He looked disappointed. I felt relief.

  “Okay, Callie, let’s go. The same plan, just tell them I let you go in Paris,” He laughed as he put his arm around me again, “Tell them you were taken by a Spanish goon.”

 
We walked along the edge of the forest in silence for what felt like an hour until we found ourselves on a picturesque country road. France was beautiful. I wished I had my phone so I could take a picture.

  “Now what do we do?” I asked.

  “I’ll stand back here, and we’ll wait for a car. You flag them down and then…” He shrugged again. I didn’t like when he shrugged.

  “And then what?”

  “I’ll do what I have to do.”

  “Kill the driver?” I felt panicked.

  “No,” he laughed.

  “Just do what I said. I’m sure a delivery truck will be making its way by us soon.”

  “Promise you won’t hurt him.”

  “Okay, I won’t hurt him.”

  “Fine.” I stomped my foot to make my point, and turned to the road, crossing my arms.

  We didn’t wait long, within ten minutes an old pickup truck carrying what looked like thousands of cartons of eggs pulled over to the side of the road as I frantically waved my arms around.

  The man opened the door and quickly spoke in French. His smile was kind. I felt very bad when Clement jumped out the bushes and hit him over the head with the gun.

  The driver groaned as blood spilled from the wound and onto the passenger seat.

  “You promised you wouldn’t hurt him.”

  “It’s a tiny gash. He’ll be fine, and best of all, his memory will be shaky. I’m sure the officers will put it together, but his memory won’t conflict with the story of you being abducted.” He dragged the man’s limp body from the car and laid him in the tall grass beside the road.

  “I can’t—

  “I know, it’s not going to work out… Our worlds are too different. Just get in the car, and I’ll take you back to Paris. Forget me, Callie.”

  “That’s not what I meant… There’s blood on the seat. I didn’t want to sit in it.”

  “Let me clean it up.” He went the to driver’s side and got in the car. He found an old rag and wiped it down.

  I got in, shut the door and didn’t say a word. I wanted to protest, tell him he was wrong, that we could find a way. I couldn’t see a way. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

  Chapter Eleven – Clement

  The train had stopped outside of Forest de Fontainebleau, not Lyon. This was good for us. We were only an hour outside of Paris.

  Callie slept as I drove the creaky egg truck through the back roads. At one point I saw an old Triumph motorcycle parked in front of a farmhouse. If she hadn’t been asleep, we would have switched our method of transportation.

  The bike was a beauty. I could have sold in Paris for thousands of Euros. Theft and enforcement were my duties with the crew. I would never touch the occasional drug deals ever again. The cost could be too high.

  The dorms of the Sorbonne were in the Latin Quarter. I knew it wouldn’t be safe for me to drop her off there. I didn’t want to drop her off anyway. She was mine, but I couldn’t see a way for us to be together.

  I needed one last day with her.

  I pulled over on a quiet street in St. Germain and woke her up.

  “We’re here."

  “Where are we?” She stretched and asked.

  “I thought maybe we should get something to eat before you go back to your dorm, face the cops.”

  “I’m a little worried about it…”

  “Don’t be, come on.” I leaned over and opened her door.

  “Where are we going?” She asked as we walked down the road.

  “Le Petite Paris.”

  “Is that a hotel?”

  “A hotel fit for a princess.”

  I wanted to make our day together something special, something for both of us to remember forever. It was the least I could do after what I had put her through.

  “A suite, top floor if you have it available.” I said to the reservation clerk.

  “You don’t need— Callie interrupted.

  “I do…” I turned back to the clerk to complete the transaction. Luck was with us, the rooftop suite was available.

  “Who’s Benjamin Benioff?” She asked we got into the elevator.

  “I don’t know.” I pressed the elevator button.

  “Why do you have his ID and credit cards?”

  “My life is rough and filled with crime. It’s not for you know or ask questions about…” And that’s why you’ll never fit into it, is what I didn’t say.

  “I’m so dumb, of course. It’s like who you are and what you do are so separate.”

  “You are what you do…” The elevator doors opened onto our floor.

  “Wow, it’s beautiful here.” She said as I opened the door to our room.

  “Go jump in the shower. I’ll order us breakfast.”

  “Are you sure? This is so strange. I have never been alone in a hotel with a man before.”

  “Haven’t we moved past the game?” I pulled her close to me and kissed her.

  “I liked the game…”

  I let go of her and went to the phone. She stared after me but I waved her away towards the shower. She playfully waved back and disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

  I needed to order us breakfast but even more than that I needed to call my crew, and let them know what was going on. The restaurant wanted to explain every ingredient, curate our breakfast order. I let him know that I didn’t have time, and to send up the left side of the menu. I pounded down the phone.

  Next, the call I didn’t want to make, to Marie and Henri, the leaders of my club.

  “Hey Marie—

  “Clement, where are you? We’ve been calling you non-stop. The Spaniards—

  “Are scum. The deal went down bad, really bad. I’ve been on the run. It’s a story—

  “Are you okay? Where are you? Come to the bar now. We need to catch you up, and you know I don’t like phones.”

  “In a few hours—

  “It would be better for you to come now, but… Come in the back way. Don’t bring your bike. Come in quiet. Things are happening.”

  “I get it… We need to stay away from the drug trade. Talk to the boys in the bar, keep it on the down low if they can’t give up the deals. I’m going to need a new ID too. The days of Benjamin Benioff are over.”

  “We’ll set you up, and Clement, be careful.”

  “Always am… See you in a couple of hours.” I hung up the phone and let out a heavy sigh.

  Whatever was going on with the Spaniards wasn’t bothering me half as much as knowing I had to let Callie go. She wasn’t cut out for my lifestyle, of living outside the law. She was a college girl, and never even had a drink before.

  It figures I would fall for the impossible. A million women throwing themselves at me, and I dug that. Why couldn’t it have been one of them? Those girls lived for danger.

  C’est la vie, I muttered out loud as the waiter knocked on the door. We don’t really do tips in France, but I left a big one anyway. The habit was a hangover from my childhood in America. My mother had been a waitress at a diner in a small town in upstate New York where I grew up.

  She appreciated the big tippers. So did my dad, more money for him to buy his booze. My mother never had a fair shot in life.

  Callie did though, and I wasn’t going to fuck it up by bringing her into my world.

  “That looks delicious,” Callie came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. Her fresh-faced beauty wiped out my hunger for breakfast. Better to devour her.

  “Come here,” I opened my arms and she ran to me, jumping into my arms.

  “You like the room?” I asked.

  “I love it. It’s beautiful.”

  “Could you imagine a more perfect setting?”

  “Do you mean—

  “I do…” I buried my face in her neck, breathing in her clean scent. “It’s a world away from the dirty train floor.”

  “I’m a little scared…” Her voice did not match her words. Her tone was a breathy, hungry
sigh.

  “I’ll go slow.” I laid her down on the bed and opened her towel. Her body was a creamy white, her skin like satin. All the curves, the gentle roundness of her hips, the tangle of golden hair…

  “I love you Clement,” She stared into my eyes and said.

  I stripped off my clothes and climbed on top of her, kissing her throat, moving against her body. My hardness against her softness. “You’re mine,” I whispered into her ear.

  “I am…” She relaxed into the bed, and I moved down her body, sucking her breasts, caressing them. Her nipples becoming stone under my tongue. Down farther I crawled across her body.

  The sweet tenderness of her. I lapped at her bumps and folds as she pushed herself into my mouth. Her body tensed, squeezing my head and I knew she was ready.

  I moved back upward, kissing her mouth again, and spreading her legs open with my knee. My hardness against her, teasing her again. Her eyes were crazy with pleasure.

  I knew from the way she was moving her hips that she wanted me inside of her, and there was no place I would rather be, but I didn’t want to hurt her. I gently pushed and her walls swallowed the tip of me.

  I almost came, unheard of for me. I could last hours. I teased myself deeper inside of her, slowly moving in and out. No pain on her face, I went a little deeper.

  She moaned, tossing her head from side to side. I couldn’t control myself. Our bodies moved as one as I kissed her, holding her head in my hands as I pumped inside of her.

  I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I came deep inside of her, and my body froze. She continued moving her hips in tiny circles, as if in one long extended orgasm.

  I looked at her. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth was slightly open. This is how I wanted to remember her forever.

  She suddenly stopped moving, and opened her eyes wide. I wanted to tell her I loved her, but it wouldn’t be fair. Even more unfair than the fact that I would be leaving her shortly.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked instead.

  “I was scared it would hurt… but it didn’t.”