Sin & Savage (12 page)

Chapter 27

Friday – 6:37 p.m.

Daggar Road

Savage and Tori
rode up the long, secluded dirt road towards a 2-story, shell-of-a-house that was still being built. The lumber beams had been erected and the walls were laid out, framing the structure into a contemporary-styled home with a flat roof and a gable overhang at the sides.

Savage cut the Harley’s engine a good 50 feet from the building. Tori climbed off first. Studying the semi-finished house, she could see a lone male figure up on the roof laying down a roll of tarpaper and bending down to nail it in. He was in his mid-twenties and wearing scruffy jeans but no shirt. His well-built, upper torso was deeply tanned from probably working under the blazing, Vegas sun day-in, day-out.

His back was to them, and it was obvious that he had no idea that they were there. Rock music blared from a radio nearby and that alone had probably drowned out the roar of the Harley’s engine as they’d ridden up.

“Is that him?” Tori took off her sunglasses, and squinted at the man on the roof.

Savage followed her gaze and his own eyes narrowed in disgust. “Yeah, that’s the asshole.”

“What is this place?” Tori glanced around the parched, dry, desert location, the house frame being the only structure in view for miles.

“He’s building a house for himself. Been working on it for a while now. He makes quick cash for it by doing odd jobs for lowlifes, like our friend Vivian.” Savage nodded towards the back of the house. “Look, there’s the BMW.”

Tori stepped a few feet away and spied the car that had nearly run them off the road earlier, parked behind the building. A shiver of fear ran down her spine as she remembered the incident. “Maybe we should let the police handle this,” she stalled, suddenly afraid of what could happen if they confronted the criminal.

Savage threw her an easy smile, as he took off his own sunglasses. “Sweetheart, I am the police—sort of,” he teased before reaching into one of the black saddlebags hanging off the Harley and pulling out a handgun. He quickly cocked it. “And I bring my own form of justice.”

Tori gasped in shock at the sight. “Oh my God, that’s a Glock,” she hissed.

Savage’s amazed eyes sharpened on her face. “The lady knows her guns. You’re full of surprises, Little Miss Preacher’s Daughter.

“My uncle has one—for target practice,” Tori choked out. “You—you can’t mean to use that—please.”

The biker tucked the pistol behind him, into the waistband of his jeans, concealing it with the back of his vest. “No, I don’t intend to use it, unless he forces me to. But I do intend on using this…” He reached into the saddlebag again and pulled out a steel, large-linked chain, about four feet in length. He proceeded to wrap it around his right hand, letting threads of it dangle out from between his fingers. It was obvious he was going to use it to swing at Rat, like a weapon. “I’m gonna have to hurt him real bad for what he did.”

A wave of nausea hit her at the thought of the impending violence about to take place. She rushed forward and grabbed his arm to still his movements. “Please, please, don’t do this.”

“He nearly killed you—and me—and he’s not getting away with it. It’s what your grandma paid for, Tori.”

“No—she didn’t pay for this. This—this is evil. Don’t do this, please. Let’s just get back on the bike and ride out of here. We’ll go talk to Vivian again or…or we’ll go see my grandmother. Maybe she’s heard from Joe by now. How does that sound?”

Tori was throwing out every argument she could think of in order to stop what she knew was coming. No matter what, she could not allow another human being to get hurt on her behalf, regardless of what they had done. And she was scared for Savage too. Who knew what the construction worker would do when confronted. Maybe he had a gun too?

“Sorry, no sale, Snow White. I need to take care of business and he deserves what’s coming to him.”

Tori saw the determination in his eyes and knew that she couldn’t talk him out of it. “But—but how are you going to get him down here?” she blurted out.

“I’m not.” Savage looked up at the building’s roof.

Tori’s gaze followed his and she gasped as she realized what he was saying. “You’re not going to confront him up there, are you? What if you fall off?”

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. After all, it’s just another day at the office for me,” Savage smirked, as he finished wrapping the heavy chain around his hand. His focus landed on her face again. “Stay here no matter what, got that?”

Tori was speechless, only continuing to stare at him with wide, frightened eyes.

“Tori, tell me you understand,” he shouted with more force.

“I—I understand,” she choked out.

Satisfied, Savage nodded. “Good. It’s my world, my rules, remember? And now it’s time for me to go catch a rat.”

He stalked off in the direction of the building. Tori watched as he went to the back of the structure, to a ladder that had been placed against the side of the house, leading to the roof. He began to climb.

Up top, Rat was still nailing the tarpaper into the roof, oblivious to what was about to happen. The radio music was still blaring beside him, masking Savage’s approach.

“Oh my God, oh my God, I have to do something,” Tori whispered.

Clasping her hands together, she looked up to the heavens. “Blood of Jesus, please, help me, help me, help me,” she pleaded, before lowering her eyes back to the roof.

As she stood there, Rat straightened from his crouching position and finally spotted Savage approaching. The biker stopped a few feet away.

Suddenly, Rat raised the hammer high over his head. Shouted words were exchanged between the two but Tori couldn’t make them out over the loud music. He then launched himself at the biker but Savage being bigger and stronger, dodged out of the way before lashing out at the punk with the chain. The metal links scourged into the construction worker’s bare back as he whizzed past and he cried out in pain. Rat fell onto the tarred roof, his hammer whizzing out of his hand and over the house’s edge, onto the ground below.

The construction worker leaped back to his feet and whirled around to face his opponent again. He yelled out something before heaving himself, with fists ready, at the outlaw biker. But Savage neatly sidestepped him and in a flash, had wrapped the steel chain around Rat’s neck. Putting pressure, he began to choke him before bringing his knee up into the other man’s stomach. The punk bent over in pain and gasped for breath as the metal noose was tightened even more around his neck.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” Tori fretted. She had to do something and put a stop to this, no matter what she had promised Savage, she just had to.

She ran to the back of the structure to where the ladder rested against the house frame. Looking up, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach at how high the roof actually was from the ground. The house itself was a full 2-story structure. She needed to climb every rung to get up there as fast as she could, but she’d always hated heights and her hands were already shaking with fear.

She took in a deep breath to steady her nerves. “Okay, I can do this. I can do this.” Tori put her foot onto the first rung. Looking up, her foot instinctively went onto the second rung and then the third while her sweaty hands gripped the sides of the metal slats.

“Where is he, you punk?” she heard Savage yell out. “Tell me before I squeeze the life outta you!”

Slowly and warily, Tori climbed, one rung at a time. Without thinking, she turned back to look at the ground and immediately felt dizzy as she realized she’d already climbed up past the first story and halfway up to the second. Oh, God, she was going to fall off this thing. But she couldn’t! She needed to stop the fight, no matter what. She had no choice but to go forward.

Breathing heavily, she grasped the ladder, swiveled her gaze back up towards the roof, and gingerly placed the sole of her white running shoe on the next rung. Clinging for dear life, she continued on.

Suddenly, she heard Rat gasping for breath and making a gurgling sound.

“Where is he, you worthless piece-of-shit? Or I swear this is the last second of your life,” the biker yelled again.

“He’s…he’s…” Rat choked out and Tori sensed that Savage released the pressure on the man’s throat. Rat continued, “I—I took him to a cabin on Preclude Road—number 126—near Lake Mead. Vivian paid me to do it.”

“Why?”

“I—I don’t know.”

Rat made another gurgling sound. Then: “I swear, man—I don’t know.” Rat coughed in between words. “She—she just paid me to take him there and to scare you away from him, that’s all I know.”

“I don’t believe you.” Savage’s cool, clipped words lashed out over the blare of the radio.

There was a two second pause and then Rat screamed even louder, “Shit, I swear, dude—I don’t know any more, I don’t! Please, don’t shoot me…”

Suddenly, Tori’s foot came up over the last rung and miraculously she found herself up on the roof. She took a couple of steps towards the pair. Savage, with his back to her, had the construction worker in a headlock with the metal chain viciously wrapped around his neck with one hand and had his Glock positioned against Rat’s temple with his other.

“Savage, stop!” Tori screamed.

The biker whirled around. “Tori, get outta here!”

But Tori’s appearance had taken the biker by surprise and the one second it took him to shout at her was the one second when he lost his focus on the construction worker.

Suddenly, Rat shot up from his crouched position and pushed at Savage’s hand holding the gun. The pistol went off, the bullet shooting high into the sky. The punk then rammed into Savage’s chest with as much force as he could muster, before rushing past him.

Savage fell backwards, smashing into Tori. His full 200 hundred pounds slammed into her small 115 pound one; and the brute force of the collision sent Tori careening backwards, her feet tripping over the radio.

She let out a blood-curdling scream one second before she went flying over the lip of the house and off the roof.

Chapter 28

“Tori!”

Savage’s anguished roar reverberated around the remote desert location. Like a rabid animal, he leapt to his feet and his crazed eyes scanned the roof. Where was she? He lunged to the structure’s edge and looked over, his heart beating wildly with fear, not knowing what he was going to find.

And then he saw her!

She was dangling from the edge of the overhang, hanging on with both hands for dear life to a lone wooden beam. If she let go, she would fall to the ground, a good 25 feet below, killing her instantly. She glanced up at him then, her eyes filled with terror and a silent scream parted her lips.

Savage felt the blood drain from his face. “Tori, hang on!” he yelled, as he dropped onto his stomach, extending his hand out over the roof’s edge as far as he could go. But there was a four-inch gap between his fingers and her left hand, and, try as he might, he just couldn’t reach it.

“I—I c—can’t hang on,” Tori whimpered, her strangled words immediately piercing through the biker’s heart.

“You have to!” Savage shouted, as he thrust his upper torso even further out over the roof. He tried to grab her again but he still couldn’t touch her. “Tori, move your left hand an inch towards me.”

“I can’t!” she screamed.

“Try, please!” he shouted back.

“I’ll f—fall.” Her words came out breathy and weak.

Savage pushed his body even further over the roof’s edge, his hand straining to reach her but he was still a couple of inches too far away. “Just one inch, Tori, please, just try. I won’t let you fall,” he pleaded.

“I—I’m sc—scared!”

“Trust me, Tori. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise. Trust me, please,” he begged, his words laced with desperation and fear.

Sweat poured down Tori’s forehead and cheeks, and her eyes swiveled to the ground below. Her heartbeat drummed even more fiercely inside her chest, as a new wave of terror engulfed her. She was going to die; she knew it for a fact! It was all going to happen in about three seconds from now because that was all the strength she had left in her body to hang on.

And she would never see her Nana again or her parents—or Savage.

Savage?

Her eyes blinked rapidly in confusion at the thought of the biker. Why would she miss him of all people? After all, she’d only known the man a couple of days; and he was a criminal who did bad things to people. He came from a world of violence and embodied everything that she abhorred and despised. Why was she sad that she would never see him again? Or thinking about how she would miss his teasing eyes crinkling at the corners, as he grinned at something she’d just said? Or how his rich, lush voice sounded when he called her “Snow White”, chiding her for the umpteenth time because of something she’d done that, in his eyes, she shouldn’t have? Why was she feeling like this? It didn’t make sense.

Suddenly, in that nanosecond of time before death overtook her and as her life flashed before her eyes, realization hit her. Prim and proper, general all-around good girl, Victoria Alexandra Jones was going to miss outlaw biker and general all-around badass, Matthew Monroe because, no matter who he was or what he had done, he had somehow pushed his way into her heart—and her heart would always win out over her mind any day, that’s why.

“Tori, don’t look down! Look at me! Now!”

Savage’s forceful directive blasted at her, breaking into her thoughts. She immediately jerked her head back up and her frantic gaze focused on him again. Her brain registered how he was pushing his body dangerously off of the roof, as far as he could, in order to reach her. But his hand was still one inch away from hers—one tiny, eternity-spanning inch between life and death—her death.

“Just move your fingers towards me, Tori. I’ll grab you. Trust me, please, trust me,” he pleaded again.

Tori’s frightened eyes glommed onto his and she saw gentleness in them mingled with dread and terror at what was happening. And suddenly, she knew that she could trust him and he would help her, and protect her always. Nana’s tingle had been right! Somewhere, couched beneath all that evil and violence, he was good—a good man with a good heart, who had once upon a time lost his way.

With a half-choked sob lodged in her throat and a “Help Me, Lord Jesus” prayer in her heart, Tori began, ever so slowly, to move the fingers of her left hand along the beam towards him.

“That’s it! You can do it. Come to me,” he shouted.

With every fiber of her being, she willed her fingers a sliver of an inch forward along the wood. Her heart was racing and her breathing had stopped but she kept her focus on him and only him, trusting in him completely. A calmness overtook her and she knew he wouldn’t let her down, no matter what.

Her fingers moved a few more centimeters along the beam; and then suddenly and miraculously, it was enough for him to reach her. He grabbed her wrist and by the sheer strength of his will and body, he pulled her up. His powerful muscles strained to their limit, as he yanked her weight up with one hand.

As soon as he was able to, he seized both of her arms; and then, with one swift yank, jerked her whole body up and over the lip of the house, back onto the roof. She slammed into his chest and fell against him; his arms instinctively grabbing her. They fell backwards onto the freshly laid tarpaper, with her on top of him.

Shock and bewilderment laced Tori’s eyes as she stared dumbfounded at Savage’s face beneath hers. One second ago she had been clinging to life and now she was safe and sound again, protected in his arms.

Savage stared back at her, equally surprised that the ordeal was now over. He had seen much violence and bloodshed in his young life but he had never felt such terror as when he’d seen her hanging out there on that damned beam, seconds away from certain death. He felt sick to his stomach all over again just thinking about it.

“You saved me,” Tori whispered.

“Always.” His smoldering, dark eyes devoured her beautiful face.

Suddenly and without thinking, Tori instinctively lowered her lips one tiny, small speck towards his. A crackling, sizzling heat passed between them and within a fraction of a second, their lips had locked with Savage capturing her mouth in a hungry, greedy kiss that demanded everything of her.

Who kissed who first, Tori didn’t know, nor did she care. She wasn’t even thinking anymore, only feeling. All that mattered was the blazing, hot wildfire raging between them, like a roaring furnace that every cell in her body was urging her to keep stoking because it meant life. It was a celebration of everything that was alive and breathing and feeling. He was giving her life all over again, just as he had seconds ago when he’d saved her from certain death. She was burning for it, lapping it up with an intense, ferocious hunger she never knew she possessed. And she was burning for him—for Savage Matthew Monroe, dirty, outlaw biker who came from a different world than hers and who solved problems with his fists! But where he came from didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was him—and her powerful need for him.

Her fingers threaded through his soft, thick hair, pushing aside the bandana from around his forehead and she pressed her body deeper into his, as he lay beneath her. She felt herself melting into him, the boundaries between them blurring and melding, and a low moan escaped her lips.

His hands tightened around her, before sliding desperately up and down her back; then lowering to her ass and squeezing. He pressed her body even deeper into him and Tori could feel his erection inside his jeans, straining against her thighs. He wanted her and she knew it—and she wanted him too.

And all the while, his lips, both hard and soft all at the same time, moved over hers with a need that was both terrifying and magnificent. Sparks of ecstasy swept through her at the feel of his strong body beneath her; engulfing her in flames and fueling her mouth on his even more. Yes, his lips were rough and ruthless, but so were hers; and she matched him kiss for kiss—giving and taking—taking and giving—both of them feeding the aching need between them into an even higher blaze.

Suddenly, Savage tore his mouth off of hers and stared dumbfounded into her fevered eyes, his breathing hard and labored, like a man who had just run a ten mile marathon. “Holy shit!” he gasped, his stunned eyes telegraphing shock—shock at what he was feeling. Because the second his lips had touched hers, he knew he had come home, and that thought alone scared the shit out of him. It meant she had power over him and no one in this godforsaken, fucking world had that! He’d made damned sure of it his whole life and had even hardened his heart against it. But in one raw, blazing-hot kiss, all of that crashed down around him and he knew he had just been defeated—defeated by a small-town, Snow White, preacher’s daughter who was the sexiest, hottest thing he’d seen on two legs ever, and who could make him hard with just a simple smile.

And the crazy shit part about it all was that, even though what he was feeling for her scared the crap out of him, he didn’t want to let her go ever, even if someone had had a gun to his head. She belonged to him, and with him. He knew it! She was his sanctuary, his hope and his salvation. She brought him life, taking him out of the depths of hell and despair and evil; and having just tasted all that in her kiss, he was desperate for more.

A shudder went through him and with a low groan deep in his throat, he reached for her again, splaying his hands along either side of her sweet face and drawing her soft, swollen lips back to his throbbing ones. Half expecting her to resist, he was again stunned when she didn’t.

Like a starving man, his hot mouth moved over hers again, this time searching and begging and pleading. His tongue slid across her lips, parting them effortlessly and she allowed him in, her own tongue teasing his with light strokes. A shiver ran through her body and her sweet response to him made him wild. His kiss grew more insistent and suddenly he wanted to give her pleasure—more pleasure than she’d ever felt in her life. His lips began to give and give and give—and not take. And he always took!

But one moment, her lips were on fire for him, responding to every thrust and flick of his tongue with ones of her own; and the next, she was tearing herself out of his arms, scrambling up and away from him.

It took a second for Savage to realize what had just happened, his empty arms instantly aching for her to come back to him. He jumped up from his prone position and faced her. She backed away like a skittish colt, her eyes gleaming with shock and confusion.

Savage tried to calm his breathing, finding it difficult to control the hunger still raging through his hard body. “Tori—about what just happened—know that I’m crazy about you. You—you’re incredible. I’ve never met anybody like you before in my life. You’re good and honest and…” a sudden grin lit up his face, “so fucking hot!” He laughed at himself and shook his head at the power she seemed to have over him. “I swear you bring me to my knees.” He chuckled. His smiling eyes came back up to hers and suddenly he realized that she was just standing there like a cold statue, not giving any inclination of what she was thinking. His smile dropped and his lips thinned. “Say something!” he rasped.

Suddenly, her chin angled up, her eyes turned hard and she met his gaze head on. “You’re fired!” She turned and stalked towards the ladder that would take her off the roof.