Page 13 of Tempt Me

I can feel Savage’s eyes on me as he watches me. It feels as if his eyes are caressing my entire body everywhere he looks. I’m making a fool of myself as I practically fall against the dresser while moving around to get my panties in place and not losing my towel in the process. When my panties are finally in place, I turn to face Savage.

“I’m here because no one from the Phantom Bastards is lookin’ after you, Zoey. Because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here at your side, in your bed, and knowin’ you’re safe as long as I’m here with you. Your dad and brothers are in town. They’re at the clubhouse right now waitin’ to see you so they can assure themselves that you’re okay. I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but you’re not goin’ through it alone, kitten. I’m here and I’m not leavin’ you,” he says, his words filled with promises I’m not sure he can keep as tears fill my eyes with the thought of how I’ve longed for those very words for so long from him.

“Savage, you didn’t have to come here. I told you that night we were together that I didn’t expect more than just that night from you. You go through women faster than you change your underwear. You’ll never be content to be with one woman and I won’t ever be with a man who cheats. There’s no reason for you to be here, pretending like you care about me. You might in the sense that we grew up together, but that’s it. Whatever this is, will only hurt me further in the long run. I need distance so I might be able to finally get over you,” I tell him, my voice breaking as the tears start to spill over and slide down my face.

Savage gets out of my bed and makes his way to me with no hesitation. He’s only wearing a tight pair of black boxer briefs that do nothing to conceal the hard length beneath them. He places a hand on my neck and forces me to look up at him. For several long seconds he doesn’t say a word as he stares down at me. As I go to close my eyes, he raises his other hand and swipes the tears still falling down my face before leaning in and pressing his full lips against mine. He doesn’t attempt to deepen the kiss or push for more than just a simple kiss with his hand wrapped around my neck still. Desire immediately fills me with the knowledge that Savage can do anything to me and I’d enjoy every damn second of it simply because he’s the one doing things to my body.

When he finally pulls back, Savage rests his forehead against mine and slowly opens his eyes. I see so many emotions swirling in the dark depths as he doesn’t blink or look away from me.

“First of all, I’m not Savage to you. I’m Jameson, kitten. I get you wantin’ space to get over me, but that’s not gonna fuckin’ happen. I’m givin’ you notice right now, Zoey. You. Are. Mine. I’m claimin’ you as my ol’ lady the second you’re ready to take that step. I haven’t touched a woman at the clubhouse or when I’m out since the night I was with you. You broke my cock and it only belongs to you now. I don’t look at other girls or let them remain near me for any length of time. It’s always been you, kitten. I know I’ve got a lot to make up for when it comes to you and I’m gonna spend the rest of my life ensurin’ you know exactly how important you are to me and how much I’m fallin’ in love with you,” he says, letting me see his truth as he says each word.

Now, I notice the bruising and marks on his body as I finally rip my eyes from his. A gasp escapes me as I push him back far enough to let me see his entire body. In between all the tattoos covering his body are deep purple bruises that look as if they hurt him so bad. There are a few cuts on his body and face as I take in every inch of him.

“What happened to you?” I question him, already having a pretty good idea of where these marks came from.

“Your dad, brothers, gramps, and uncle came to Clinton City to see me. To confront me really. About why you haven’t been answerin’ their calls or messages and why you’ve been avoidin’ them. I stepped in the cage with your brothers and dad to show them how serious I am when I say you’re mine, kitten. They each got their one hit in on me for hurtin’ you so badly over the years before I fought back. I’m gonna show you every damn day how serious I am, Zoey. For now, I think we should head to the clubhouse. I know you’ve got classes to attend, but if your dad and brothers don’t see you soon, I fully expect them to show up on campus and make sure everyone there knows exactly who you belong to. None of us are happy that you’ve had someone watchin’ you for over two weeks now and haven’t said a word until you called Slim yesterday,” he informs me, raising one of his eyebrows as he waits for me to give him an explanation about why I’ve waited for him.

“Look, I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding everyone. You included. However, I can handle someone following me. I don’t need everyone all up in arms because you all feel as if I can’t protect myself. I’ve been trained by my dad, uncles, and you boys. You know this. So, no, I didn’t feel the need to report the feeling of me being watched immediately when it could’ve simply been a Prospect or someone watching me because of the situation with the cop who continues to follow me,” I state, cocking a hip to the side as I place my hands on them while staring Savage down. “And for now, you’ll remain Savage to me. It’s what I have to do until you prove to me this isn’t another one of your games.”

Turning my back on the man I’ve loved most of my life, I head straight into my closet to grab clothes for the day. I grab a pair of jean shorts and a tight tank top, putting them on in my closet so I can finally lose my towel to finish getting dressed. Picking up the towel from the floor, I head back into my bedroom to find it empty and my bathroom door closed. The water in the shower is running as I step up closer to throw the towel in the hamper just past the door.

Knocking on the door, I call out. “Savage, I didn’t leave you a towel. Can I come in?”

“Of course,” he responds, his voice muffled through the water raining down and the door separating us.

I slowly open the door and try to keep my eyes away from the shower. I will only be able to see shadows, but it’s more than enough to outline his body. Okay, so I’m not going to lie and say my eyes don’t dart that way a time or two to find Savage still hard as he washes his hair. His head is tipped back as he runs his fingers through the strands while rinsing my shampoo out. Before he can focus on what I’m doing, I head for the small cabinet I have in here where I keep my towels and other things. Grabbing one, I place it on the bar next to the shower before grabbing my brush and leaving him alone in the bathroom again.

While I wait for him, I brush out my hair and braid it. If we’re going to my grandpa’s clubhouse, we’ll be on the bikes. I’m not about to let my hair become a tangled mess because I didn’t braid it before leaving the apartment. By the time I’m done, Savage is entering my bedroom again. He’s only wearing the towel wrapped around his waist and his underwear are in his hand as he makes his way to the side of my bed where his jeans are laying on the floor. I turn and leave the room so he can get dressed. Savage’s laughter follows me from the room as I head for the living room where my riding gear sits by the door. I don’t even stop long enough to grab socks to put on my feet. I’ll have to grab some when I know he’s dressed.

With my gear on, I find Savage walking out fully dressed and a smirk covering his face. He looks me over from head to toe before wandering into my kitchen and straight for the refrigerator. I watch him grab a bottle of water and chug the entire bottle before I leave and go grab my socks so I can put my riding boots on. I’ll have to grab a backpack and my sneakers so I can change out of my gear once I’m at the clubhouse. It’s too hot to wear this for the rest of the day.

Savage talked me into riding his bike with him instead of riding my own. We stopped long enough to get breakfast before finishing our trip to the clubhouse. The second he pulls in, the main door opens I watch as my dad, brothers, uncle G, Kingston, and gramps make their way outside. Savage doesn’t pull up to them like I’m expecting though. He makes his way to the end of the row of bikes and backs in before shutting his engine off. I’m lifted into my dad’s arms before I can blink or attempt to get off Savage’s bike. I bury my face in my dad’s neck as he moves away from the bike and leads me into the clubhouse. Right now, I feel like a little girl as I let the tears fall from my eyes once again.

“Don’t cry baby girl. I’ve got you,” my dad whispers as he sits down at a table and I’m pulled from his arms.

I turn expecting it to be my uncle G or gramps, but Savage has me in his arms and wraps my legs around his waist. He sits in the chair next to my dad as my brothers, uncle, Kingston, and gramps take the remaining seats around us. No one says anything about me in Savage’s lap or arms as I try to offer my family a small smile.

“We need to know what’s goin’ on, baby girl,” my dad says, his voice soft and gentle as he continues looking at me.

Before I can move, Savage takes off my helmet and hands it over to my dad because he knows no one else touches my helmets. Then he’s unzipping my riding jacket so I can pull my arms from the sleeves. Hawkeye stands up to take it from him as he lays it carefully over the back of the couch directly behind us. I slide my backpack off and set it on the table in front of me before moving around on Savage’s lap so I can remove my boots and put them in my bag while putting my sneakers on. Kevlar, always the asshole of the group, starts making jokes about my feet smelling up the common room as I stick my tongue out at him. Everyone laughs at us because when Kevlar is around, no one is safe from his mouth. We’re all potential targets and have gotten roasted by him so many times over the years that if he doesn’t do it now, we all think he’s mad at us.

With everyone’s eyes on me, I explain in detail what’s been happening as far as it feeling like someone’s been watching me. None of the guys are happy I didn’t come to them the second I started feeling this as I once again explain that as far as I knew it was one of the Prospects and no one mentioned it to me for some reason. I can see a few nods in response to my words because that’s something my gramps or uncle G would definitely do. Especially if my dad called and made any kind of comment about worrying about me. So, they can kind of understand where I’m coming from. The only thing I don’t go into detail about is the bullying. In fact, I don’t mention it at all.

The minute I’m done talking, I remove myself from Savage’s lap and kiss my dad on his cheek before heading around the table. The only two I don’t kiss are Savage and Kingston. After stopping at each member of my family, I head away from the table so they can discuss my life. I need to get to work so I’m off to find a Prospect to take me to the garage. Savage or my dad can pick me up later. It doesn’t take me long to find one of the Prospects and we leave the clubhouse. I don’t have to tell anyone where I’m going because they know where to find me if I’m not with the ol’ ladies or men in the club. Since most everyone else is at work, there’s no reason for me to be here. I need a sense of peace and that’s what I find when I lose myself working on vehicles and bikes. It’s definitely something I need today. Lord help me!

Chapter Ten

Savage

ZOEY HASN’T GONE to school the two days I’ve been at her apartment with her. Every day she comes up with one reason or another about why she doesn’t go to campus. She still does her work from the table in the small dining room and spends hours reading, writing papers, and whatever else she has to do for each class before turning everything in online. I want to ask her why she doesn’t go to campus, but I know she’ll just shut me out and not answer the question. However, she has testing today so we’re heading to the school so she can take her tests since that’s not something she can do at home. Every day I spend with Zoey leads to more questions than answers if I’m being honest. I don’t think that Tank or anyone else knows she’s not actually going to class. I’m torn about asking her dad and leaving it alone because I don’t want to bring up shit Tank doesn’t know about and have Zoey get angry with me. Things are already so fucked up.

Every single morning, Zoey has gotten sick. She jumps out of bed and rushes to the bathroom, believing I don’t hear her getting sick through the door separating us. If we cook or she eats a certain food, she’s up rushing to the bathroom once again. I know I fucked up the night we were together. I didn’t use a condom and now I’m thinking that the night is leading to some very life changing consequences. I’m not going to bitch if Zoey’s pregnant at all. It’s too soon for us to be thinking about babies and all that when I have so much to make up for already. However, if she’s carrying my baby, then there’s no way she can get away from me. Zoey will be mine for the rest of our lives and our baby will know love and have everything we grew up with surrounded by the men and women of the Wild Kings and the Phantom Bastards.

“I’m done in the shower. Are you staying here while I’m at school?” Zoey asks, walking out of the bathroom fully dressed while brushing her hair.

“Nope. I’m goin’ with you to school. Until we know who’s followin’ you around, you won’t be alone. Others will be at school too. Slim doesn’t wanna take any chances so there’s gonna be a few Prospects on campus as well as Kingston and your brothers. They won’t let you see them so they can blend in with everyone else and try to find out who’s watchin’ you from the shadows,” I tell her, my voice almost a whisper as she stands in front of me.

Zoey is wearing a pair of jeans that look as if they’ve been painted on her body. A tight tank top covers her tits and shows the top of them to the world. My jaw hardens with the thought of anyone seeing that much skin. Today, the tank top shows off the tattoos I didn’t immediately notice the night we were together. I still haven’t been able to get a good look at them, but eventually I will explore them up close.

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