Salvation: Saving Setora Book Seven

by Dark, Raven

  “It’s complicated, Kitten.” He massaged my hand.

  I bit my lip, unsure how to open that box up.

  “The bottom line is, unless Sheriff becomes a Yantu, Setora, they won’t help him.”

  I sat up. “Wait. Can he?”

  He shook his head. “No. For more reasons than I can count, no, he can’t.”

  I let my head drop, the first inkling of an emotion I had hitherto forced myself not to acknowledge eating its way into my gut. I stood and paced, and it grew so intense it was like a poison.

  “Kitten?”

  I shook my head, keeping my back to him, refusing to let him see what must have shown on my face.

  “Setora. Are you angry with me?”

  I let out a bitter laugh. “With you? Never.”

  “Then who?”

  I rounded on him. “Who do you think?”

  He nodded at his knees. “My master.”

  “No.”

  He snapped his head up.

  “I’m not angry with him, Hawk. I could deal with that.” My nails dug into my palms. “I’m not upset with him.”

  “Then…”

  “Hawk, this is the man who trained you. Who saved you from your demons, who made you the man you are. I want to believe that he is like you. Honorable and true. But right now, I feel something toward him I have no right to feel toward someone who had a hand in making you what you are.”

  Hawk stood up and held out his arms. Inviting me to open up and tell him what it hurt so much to say.

  But I didn’t go to him. “I hate him, Hawk.” The words alone made me feel sick.

  Hawk closed his eyes, I thought, in sadness.

  “Well, I’m sorry, but I do.” I paced with purpose across the floor. “Do you have any idea what would happen to Sheriff if he could never see again?” I knew he knew, but I needed to say it, needed to drive the point home to him and to myself. “He wouldn’t just have to give up the gavel. He wouldn’t just lose his men. Hawk, if he never sees again, Sheriff will lose everything that matters to him. This club is his whole life. Being the General isn’t just what he is, it’s who he is.”

  “I know.”

  “Trust me, I understand that a person can live without sight, the same way Savage lives without his hearing. But it’s different for Sheriff.” I stopped and fixed him with a level look. “For a man like him, if he isn’t the General, he might as well be dead.”

  Hawk nodded slowly. “I know. I get it, Kitten.”

  I threw up my hands. “Then why can’t your master see it?”

  He sighed and crossed to me, taking my arms gently. “Because. Our world is not his world. He isn’t MC. He doesn’t understand.”

  “Then make him get it! Make him understand!”

  I was being ridiculous, I knew that. Having grown up outside of a club among men like Damien who saw them as pirates, I wouldn’t have understood either. But I was different now. I was right there with Sheriff. No one who didn’t live astride a bike and under a patch could ever really understand.

  Hawk drew me against him and wrapped me in his arms. “I wish I could, Kitten. I wish I could.”

  Tears leaked out of my eyes, helplessness strangling me in a chokehold. I looked up at him. He wiped my tears away with his thumbs.

  “I hate that this hurts you,” he whispered.

  “Hawk… You said that you wouldn’t take the gavel until you knew there was no other way. You said before, we aren’t there yet.”

  He lifted his eyes to the ceiling, and I saw the weight of what was coming settle on his shoulders.

  My eyes blurred with tears. “But we’re there now, aren’t we?”

  A muscle in Hawk’s jaw jumped. I could see him struggling, desperate to find a solution we both knew didn’t exist.

  When Hawk looked at me again, he cupped my face in his warm hands. “There is a solution somewhere, and I will find it, Setora. I will.”

  “No. We will.”

  A sad sort of smile turned the corners of his mouth up. “Your loyalty to this club, and to Sheriff, is astounding. I love it.”

  “And I love you, Master.”

  He massaged my nape, and though he didn’t say it back, I could see the adoration and love in his eyes. He tipped my chin up and his lips claimed mine. The muscles in him corded tight as his mouth swept over mine. The kiss was gentle, but restraint radiated from him; he was holding back. Darkness seemed to hammer through him just beneath the surface. Darkness yearning to be unleashed.

  My heart pounded.

  Hawk lifted his head slowly and his fingers slid around the back of my neck again, his grip tightening until it was almost painful.

  “What do you need, Master? What can I do?”

  Hunger raged in his eyes. “You need to go.” His voice shook as though he wasn’t sure how long he could control himself.

  “I can take it, Hawk.” Maker, I wanted all his pain, all of the anger in him that was somehow morphing into animal lust before my eyes.

  “I know you can, my love.”

  “Your lo…” I closed my eyes. He’d never called me that before.

  “I don’t want you seeing me like this.” Hawk’s thumb brushed my lips, a possessive caress.

  “Like what? Needing someone? Needing to let go and be held?”

  “Angry,” he rasped. “Ready to destroy everything I touch.”

  I sighed and laid my head on his chest. His heart raced strong and hard in my ear. For all that his Yantu training had made him frighteningly unemotional at times, Hawk was a passionate and very dangerous man when he let loose. He was trying to protect me, keep me from that side of him. I wanted so badly to take that part of him, to make it a part of me, that it hurt.

  I made myself nod and slipped out of his arms.

  Hawk squeezed my hand. “I’ll have Oran take you to Steel. Oran,” he called out.

  It didn’t go unnoticed that he didn’t mention Pretty Boy, even though Pretty Boy and Steel were sharing the same hut.

  Wishing I didn’t have to leave him, I leaned in before his guard could come for me and laid a kiss in his palm. “I love you. Whatever happens to Sheriff, whatever patch—or uniform—you wear, that will never change.”

  He squeezed my nape one last time and nodded to the door where Oran now waited. “Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that. Now get gone before I change my mind.”

  Somewhere out there, there was a cure for Sheriff’s blindness. Whether or not the Yantu helped us, we would find it somehow. I had to believe that. I wasn’t ready to give up.

  Chapter 7

  Too Many Yantu

  The next morning dawned so quiet and peaceful, I could have almost forgotten the craziness from the day before. I also could have forgotten I wasn’t home in the safety of the Grotto.

  Until the memories of the row between Pretty Boy and Hawk, the conversation with Master Leif, and the worry over Sheriff flooded up.

  I lay on my side, wrapped in Steel’s warmth, his chest pressed to my back. Early morning light streamed in through the window behind us, probably half blocked out by Steel’s massive frame behind me. The now familiar fear for Sheriff and for his club cut me deep and stole away the peace this village seemed to exude, the security I felt in Steel’s arms. That fear even made the soft light that filled the room feel too harsh and bright in my eyes, a reminder of the day I wasn’t ready to face.

  Aside from everything that had already gone on and all the uncertainty surrounding Sheriff’s condition, Master Leif’s men would be coming to examine me. What that examination would entail, I didn’t know, but if it involved Julian, it was apt to be a less than pleasant experience.

  Who was I kidding? Anything concerning Julian was always downright terrifying. Hawk had said he had no idea what they’d do. I hated being in the dark. I shut the thoughts of what might lie ahead of me down before they could drive me insane.

  I’d find out what awaited me soon enough.

  I rolled over and pres
sed against Steel, careful not to wake him. His gorgeous, strong features were relaxed in sleep, even more relaxed than he looked while awake. His great chest expanded and contracted with slow, even breaths, as big and as powerful as a forge bellows.

  Last night, Pretty Boy had elected to spend the night with Bear and his friends, and while I missed him, I was happy to spend the night alone with Steel, the first night we’d had in a while. Steel had grumbled about the thin mat and even thinner blankets, but he looked entirely comfortable now.

  Unable to resist touching him, I ran my fingers over his stubble-shadowed cheek, loving the roughness there. He didn’t stir. I wasn’t entirely surprised. Usually, the slightest touch from me was enough to get him going even from a dead sleep, but last night, he’d been beyond exhausted. I didn’t think it was only from the past week of travel here, crammed into a carriage for hours on end without the carefree, open air that came from riding his bike.

  Since we’d left the Grotto months ago for Delta, all the men had been put through the wringer. Between Saketh and Damien, the mess at Lord Falnar’s, and now Julian, there seemed to be no end to the disasters that tried to tear the Dark Legion apart. Sheriff’s blindness was just another horrible storm we were caught up in. But Steel had been put through a hell just as bad as Sheriff’s.

  He’d been forced to fight in a Hellhound death match, something I knew he hated doing because of his time as a Gladiator. He’d nearly died thanks to Saketh. And then I’d tried to kill him.

  Well, Julian had done it, merely using my body as a vessel, but knowing that didn’t make me feel any less responsible.

  Since this Julian mess had started, Steel had been one of the men who’d had to always watch over and guard me. He’d not been able to relax much over the last few weeks, always having to look out for the slightest sign that Julian would surface. He always handled it with aplomb, with his usual laid-back smile and easy banter. My giant of a master never made me feel guilty for everything I’d put him through, and that only made me feel worse.

  And now he was forced to watch his friend and general live without his sight and fall apart, possibly never able to recover. To deal with all the upheaval that would cause, not only for Sheriff, but for the rest of the club that had to adjust.

  Again, unable to resist, I leaned in and brushed my lips across his. Even if he wouldn’t be aware of it in sleep, I needed to give him something more than a touch, something that let him know I loved him in a way stronger than words alone. That everything he’d gone through wasn’t for naught.

  As soon as my lips touched his, Steel gave a little jolt. I pulled back. His dark blue eyes were open, sparkling with lazy amusement.

  “Awake already, Petal?”

  “I’m sorry, Master. I can’t sleep. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” I started to get out of bed and leave him to sleep, but Steel swung his leg over mine, pulling me close against his nakedness and trapping me there.

  “Stay right where you are.” His growled voice, throaty from sleep, sent a shiver of pleasure through me.

  I grinned, snuggling close and slipping my arm around his waist. “As you wish, Master.”

  He rumbled in approval. “Are you worried about today?” His huge palm cupped my hip.

  I nodded. It was so easy to tell him how I felt. “But I’m a lot more worried about Sheriff. Steel, what if…” I sighed and buried my face in his chest, unable to even say the words. Well, most of the time it was easy.

  “Hey.” He drew me back and rubbed his palm up and down my side. “We’ll find a way. Someone has a cure for him. If PB and me gotta start cracking skulls to get it, that’s what we’ll do.”

  “What are you going to do, start beating up the Yantu?” I half teased.

  He grinned. “Nah. But only because we need to get this Julian fuck out of your head, and they’re probably the only ones who know how.”

  It annoyed me a little to think that, if it came to it, he and Pretty Boy probably would fight the Yantu, and it made me feel a little guilty, too, especially since the lengths they would go to protect me made me love them more.

  “And what about Pretty Boy and Hawk? They’re on the outs again.”

  Steel had left before the row started between them, and I didn’t know how much either had told him.

  “Don’t worry about them. They were at each other’s throats before when I was sick, remember? It sorted itself out then. It will again.”

  “Yes, but you didn’t see them then. I have a feeling it’s worse this time.”

  “I know I wasn’t there to see it, but they always work it out. That’s how MC life is, Petal. We bitch at each other, we fight, and then it’s all good. You’ll see. It’ll be fine.”

  I sighed. I wanted to believe him. Last time Pretty Boy and Hawk had argued, it had come to blows. I’d panicked, but Sheriff had known it would work out, and it did. I’d seen for myself what Steel was talking about. To a large extent, I was still a fish out of water here. I just had to trust Steel’s word for it.

  Steel turned my face to him and pulled me even closer. “Stop worrying, woman. Let us sort all this shit out.”

  I nodded. He kissed me long and hard on the lips and wrapped me up in his warmth.

  As usual, my troubles seemed to melt away with his closeness, seeming small and far away. Everything really was uncomplicated with him. He drew back and settled against me.

  “Go back to sleep,” I whispered, dropping a kiss on his chest. “You haven’t been sleeping enough. I shouldn’t have woken you.”

  “I will sleep when I need to.” He rolled me swiftly onto my back and claimed my lips long and hard.

  That’s all it took. Instant heat spread all the way to my toes. I groaned into his mouth, my nipples already poking at his chest.

  Steel lifted his head. “You’re right, you shouldn’t have woken me up, Petal. You won’t be getting any sleep now.”

  I chuckled, loving the implications. I’d awakened my big bear of a master and, as such, had lost the right to sleep, obligated to serve him instead.

  “And if I told you I was tired?” I teased.

  He made a disapproving sound and bent his head, sucking one of my nipples into his mouth, turning the hardened peak to a pinprick of need. He sucked hard, I groaned, and he did the same with the other. My sex slicked.

  Steel lay over me, spread my legs wide and shoved my knees up to his hips. His hands captured mine above my head on the mat. The length of his cock rubbed against my aching core, making me wetter.

  “Does this answer your question, slave?”

  I giggled and cupped his face with my hands. “I love you, Steel.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  Oh, Maker. How did this man make my body respond to him so easily? Nothing mattered when I was with him. Nothing mattered but us. If I’d been hoping to play at putting him off, all hope of that notion fled as my hips squirmed and lifted for him as if giving him the answer he sought for me.

  “Good girl.” He groaned and ravaged my mouth, thrusting himself into me in one harsh, greedy stroke.

  All the worries of the past months fled, driven further and further away with every stroke. My hips bucked, meeting him thrust for thrust, devouring his kiss and his need. I clung to him, losing myself in him as he lost himself in me.

  We found our pace in the silence between our breaths, fucking hard and fast, trying to save each other from pain I knew would come flooding back the moment it was over.

  I came apart with him. Steel released my hands, fisting the pillow, and I clawed at his back. He growled into my mouth, pounding me savagely. Then he grunted his release and rolled over, taking me with him so that he wasn’t crushing me. The sex had been fast and furious, and I loved it. I moaned into his neck and kissed his chest, collapsing into him. Both of us lay panting and sweating.

  “Now I really am tired,” I said, but I wasn’t complaining. I liked the lethargic feeling of having been thoroughly enjoyed.

 
“Now you may sleep,” he said with mocking authority.

  I laughed. “Master is good to me.”

  My eyes had barely closed when a soft tapping on the front door carried through the hut. I rolled off him and lifted my head, confused. Who knocked like that?

  “What the hell is that?” Steel sat up, his hand tightening on my hip.

  The tapping sounded again. I smiled, having the feeling I knew who it was.

  “We’re busy! Go away!” Steel shouted. His eyes were playful.

  I giggled. “I’ll get it. Go back to sleep.” I got up and tossed on my frock.

  Steel tugged on my arm, shaking his head. “You’re not getting near that door. That fuck Tahmi is still hunting us.” He started to get up again.

  I grinned. “It’s not Tahmi.”

  “How the hell do you know? Did you suddenly get the power to see through walls along with your super strength, Petal?” His eyes teased.

  “Relax. It’s a woman.”

  The knocking again.

  “How can you tell?”

  “It’s too delicate to be a man.” I kissed him on the lips. “I’ll be back.”

  I walked out of the room, but not before I heard him flop down.

  “What kind of woman knocks on a man’s door?” he muttered.

  I snickered. I knew exactly what kind of woman.

  The knock sounded again, bringing with it an intense awareness of Ali’san’s freedom, a concept that for a female, would have seemed preposterous until now.

  Excitement bolted through me, along with the same wonderment I’d felt seeing her the previous day. I opened the door and stared.

  Maker, she was as striking as she had been the previous day. Her big eyes were lighter than mine, bright, dazzling jewels. She wore the same silky red garb, the sleeves captured in silvery gauntlets marked with the same dragon as on her breast. The hilt of her sword jutted up over her shoulder. The cloth mask lay about her shoulders, and her hair was twined in a braid, thick as a rope. She still looked as large as yesterday, nearly as tall as Hawk. I felt incredibly small and fragile near her.