Savage knew he was in trouble just by the dead calm in her voice. Seychelle was quite capable of taking that cell of hers and finding a way to call an Uber or getting a passerby to drive her all the way to the coast just on her big blue eyes alone. He was treading on thin ice, and he knew it. She might give him what he wanted sexually, but he had to fight for what he wanted outside of it.
Savage nodded, glancing at her set face. There was no lying to her, putting her off by telling her the flu was running through all the women and they had to stay home. She was intelligent, and he had to give her a partial truth.
“Yeah, babe. At the last minute, the club decided we could be in a lot more trouble than we first thought. Lana, Alena, Scarlet and Lissa can handle themselves in a fight. I needed you with me or I wouldn’t have brought you. I was going to talk to you about that last night, but other things came up. We were in a hurry this morning, and I just didn’t think about it.”
“Mmm-hmm,” she murmured.
Yeah, he was in trouble. She’d flicked a quick glance at Scarlet and Lissa. That was trouble right there. She really didn’t like the fact that she wasn’t privy to club matters and yet some of the others were. How did he explain that Scarlet and Lissa were told things when, technically, they wore the same jacket she wore? Shit, he was really fucked. That hurt she was feeling? Traces of anger were beginning to thread through it. Never a good sign when they were out in the open and he needed to keep his woman under the radar.
He kept walking, keeping her moving, weaving his way through what appeared to be the chaos of bike clubs. He was used to the sights and scents, the loud music and conversations. The roar of the bikes and the greetings of old friends. He nodded to several acquaintances as he made his way through the crowd, his club surrounding Seychelle, although they just appeared as if they were walking together.
He realized, for the first time, how many women watched him with hungry eyes as he walked through the crowd, seeing them through Seychelle’s eyes. She was a couple of steps behind him, her hand still in his back pocket, allowing him to scan the crowd and lead the way, ensuring her safety. He’d never paid attention before to the women or the way they looked at him. Maestro was right. There were quite a few making it obvious they were more than willing to be with him in spite—or because—of his rough reputation. It didn’t seem to matter to them that he had a woman with him.
He’d lost Seychelle once already over using another woman when things were rough. He wasn’t chancing it again, but … He sighed. Things could get very rough this weekend. Was it possible Maestro was right? What was the definition of cheating?
Seychelle pulled her hand from his back pocket abruptly and suddenly stopped, turning around in a slow circle. She started walking in the opposite direction. He caught her around the waist, jerking her none-too-gently back to him. The only thing that had allowed him to keep her with him was the fact that the club had kept her surrounded.
“What the fuck, Seychelle?” He let her see that he was pissed. “I thought I told you not to wander off by yourself, and the first thing you do is take off.”
She tilted her fucking chin at him, her eyes so dark he thought he saw pure fury in them. He could feel her fury. This wasn’t like anything he’d ever experienced with Seychelle. She had spurts of temper, but not like this.
“I didn’t realize I needed your permission to make certain I knew where the bathroom was, Savage. I think I’m all grown up.” She flung that right in his face, uncaring if anyone heard her or not.
“That’s why Lana, Alena, Lissa and Scarlet are here,” he snapped.
“Yeah, well, Lana and Alena aren’t happy I’m here, so I’m not about to ask them to escort me to the bathroom every time I have to go.”
Yeah, she was royally pissed. He’d never seen her so angry. She wasn’t going to back down. Not for him. Not for the girls. Not for the club. He looked over her head at Alena and Lana. Seychelle hadn’t bothered to be sweet and nice, keeping her voice lowered to spare them her anger. For that matter, she didn’t bother to hold back at all. Czar and the rest of the club heard. Ordinarily, there would be some smirking going on, but not now, not under these circumstances. The danger factor was too high.
He’d obviously fucked up huge again. Shit. Had she caught his thoughts? It was entirely possible. He’d been thinking about other women blowing him. The images had been there in his mind. If she’d been looking, she would have seen them. That wasn’t good coming on the heels of whatever the hell he’d done the night before or the fact that she knew he was keeping things from her the other women knew. The club knew. This was turning into a shit show.
“All right, babe, we’ll scout out the bathrooms nearest the campsite. Fatei marked them for us,” he said, doing his best to appease her. She had been touching him. Her hand had been in his back pocket.
Seychelle was spoiling for a fight with him. Looking for a reason to leave. She’d been too quiet ever since they’d left that gas station. Different. Holding herself away from him. Not her body, but her mind. There was that space he couldn’t quite bridge. Something had happened while he’d been arguing with Czar.
He glanced over her head to Maestro. Several times he’d checked on her and he’d seen Lana, Alena and Maestro with her and he’d been reassured. Now, he wondered what had happened, especially when Maestro sighed and shook his head. That wasn’t a good sign. He tapped a code on his chest.
Maestro tapped two words back. Shit show.
What the fuck did that mean? Even though Seychelle didn’t want to take his hand, Savage shackled her wrist and began walking in the direction of their camp, forcing her to go with them. Short of an all-out struggle, which for a moment she seemed to actually consider, Seychelle went with him. He tapped the question on his chest. He didn’t like the answer he received. His brother and sisters, rather than making Seychelle feel as if she was wanted, had made her feel as if they didn’t approve of her for Savage. That hadn’t been their intent, but they didn’t feel she was capable of handling what might happen. She’d taken it wrong. It had been delivered in a clumsy manner.
Savage cursed under his breath. He was fighting to get his woman to accept Torpedo Ink, and they were making it much more difficult for him.
Czar moved up to the other side of her, giving Lana and Alena an inquiring lift of his eyebrow. Neither woman met his eyes.
“I know this is stressful, Seychelle. I wouldn’t have asked Savage to bring you along if I didn’t think we’d really need you again. I appreciate you coming. I know you didn’t want to be here. It’s difficult when you don’t know the rules, but we’ll look after you.”
“Maybe you should look after Savage. It appears he needs it more than I do.”
“I can understand you’re worried about him,” Czar said, feeling his way. “But we’ll watch his back, and when he’s in trouble, you’ll be here to see to him.”
“I’m told the help he needs when he has too much rage is in plenty of supply here, Czar, and I’m not needed at all. In fact, I’m a liability to him.” There was frost in her voice. Pure ice. She kept walking, head up, not looking at any one of the club members walking close to them.