Saving Savannah (Haven Book 3)
Page 5
“You’ve never faced something this tough before,” Trace said. “Maybe some old insecurities have risen. Savannah’s used to the two of you being in control, and now you’re walking on eggshells around her. Duncan treaded too softly with Laken out of fear of driving her away and she ended up at Saxon’s with our wives to get his attention.”
“What do you want us to do? Demand she talk? Threaten to spank her if she doesn’t?” Logan bit out. “She was kidnapped and attacked. She needs . . . I don’t know . . . fucking tenderness.”
“It can be hard to share a woman. Takes a lot of communication. Whatever you do, the two of you need to be on the same page. She needs to feel secure in your relationship. Fighting each other isn’t helping anyone.”
Colin felt bad for his friends, he really did. But the person he worried about most was Savannah.
“You don’t want to do anything to scare her and you probably feel guilty over not keeping her safe, but pussyfooting around isn’t helping any of you,” Trace told them. “Maybe it’s time to push. Just a little.”
Logan and Max shared a look. “We need to get back to work,” Logan stated.
“Are you guys okay? You need help with anything?” Trace asked.
“We’re fine,” Max told him.
“And you wouldn’t tell us if things weren’t, right?” Colin said. “You know we’re friends, we’re here for you.”
Max slapped his shoulder. “Thanks.”
“Enough with the Hallmark moment,” Logan snapped. “I’m going back to check on Savi.”
Max nodded. “I’ll come too. Thanks for the beer.”
“Wait.” Trace pulled out his phone. “I have the number of a counselor here. It was someone that was recommended when Clay died. I don’t know if she does cases like Savannah’s, but maybe it’s worth a call. Perhaps they can help you guys move forward.” He gave them the number. Logan put it into his phone with a nod of thanks.
***
Logan looked over at Max as he climbed out of his truck back at the house. “You think I should call that number?”
Max gave him a grim look then looked over at the house. “We need to talk to Savi first.”
Frustration hit Logan, eating his gut. “Why?”
Max looked startled. “Because this is her life. This happened to her. She might not want to talk to some shrink.”
Logan frowned slightly. “Just because the quack you saw when you came back—”
“I don’t want to fucking talk about that.”
Frustration filled Logan. When Max told him he was quitting the armed forces, Logan had been pleased because he’d seen his brother dying a bit more after each mission. He’d grown harder. Colder. Oh, he’d tried to hide it, but Logan could see beneath the happy, carefree show he put on for everyone else.
Logan guessed he was a simple man at heart. Give him something to do, a warm bed at night, a good meal, and a soft, sweet woman, and he was happy.
He hadn’t seen and done the shit Max had. Not that Max had told him much. But Logan had heard him talk in his sleep a bit when he’d come home. He knew it had been bad.
Max had ambition and drive. When he’d come home for good, Logan didn’t think he’d ever be the man he’d once been. He had nightmares, he’d startled easily, and he was grumpy as fuck. The psychiatrist he’d seen had been worse than useless.
Max had walked out and never gone back. Thankfully, things had gotten better with time. But Logan didn’t think time alone would help Savannah. She was hurting, and he didn’t like it.
“This therapist could help her.”
Max snorted. “Or make things fucking worse.”
“We’ll do some research on this woman before we let Savi anywhere near her. Come on, Max. You know she’s in pain. She needs help. You know more about this than I do. We need to decide what to do.”
Max shot him a look. “You know the rules. We don’t talk about that time. You agreed.”
Logan sighed. “Yeah, well, maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have forced you to talk to me.”
“Enough, Logan.”
“No, not enough. This is Savi. You treat your baggage how you want. But we don’t do that with Savannah. With our wife. We don’t put our shit on her. Especially when she’s dealing with this sort of trauma. She’s going to see that shrink.”
Max raised his eyebrows. “What if she doesn’t want to? You going to carry her there kicking and screaming?”
Frustration boiled in his gut. They were never at odds about how to care for Savannah. Over the ranch, sure. But not Savannah. Her needs always come first. Her care was top priority. But there was something going on with Max. A bitterness Logan hadn’t seen in a long time. Had everything that had happened opened up old wounds?
“I don’t know what’s going on with you—”
“With me? You’re the one that wants to drag our wife to talk to some stranger. You can’t force her to go, Logan.”
Well, why the fuck not?
Logan had been treating her so carefully, so scared that he might frighten her or say the wrong thing, but maybe that was the wrong thing to do. A shrink might be able to help them. “We need some help.”
“Because we’re fucking everything up. I got that loud and clear,” Max snapped. “I’m going to muck out the stalls. You go check on her.”
Logan sighed as his brother walked away, his body tense. Angry.
Jesus. Things were bad when he was the one holding everything together.
***
Max angrily shoveled out the stalls. What the fuck was wrong with him? Why had he snapped at Logan like that?
Because you know he’s right.
Time wasn’t going to fix anything. Leaving Savannah alone wasn’t helpful. They were supposed to take care of her. Protect her. It’s the way they’d been raised. It was the way things were done in Haven. Might seem a little old-fashioned to outsiders, but around here the men prided themselves on taking care of their women.
Yeah, and how well had they really protected her? One of them should have been with her that day.
He leaned against the side of the stable, breathing heavily.
Staring around, he noticed everything that needed fixing. The worn siding that needed replacing. The broken door. It was the same everywhere he went. If Logan wasn’t so good at repairing things, they’d have been screwed a long time ago.
Buying this place had been his idea. He’d been the one to convince Logan to trust him, that they could make it work. But he was failing. He was failing them all.
The only thing that had been keeping them from being out on their asses was the money Savi brought in. He’d sworn he’d never be like his stepfather. Never let his wife work herself to exhaustion to support him. Not that he’d ever allow Savannah to work herself to the bone like his mother had. But it still didn’t make him feel any better to rely on her for money to keep them afloat.
He turned and with a roar, smashed his fist into the wall. The rotten wood gave way, and he pulled back looking at the hole he’d created with a groan.
Fuck. Shit.
“Good one, asshole.” He placed his hands on his hips, breathing heavily. It was his job to take care of Savannah and Logan. Although his brother would kick his ass if he ever said that to him. But Logan didn’t know how bad things were. He didn’t know about the pile of overdue notices in his desk drawer.
He didn’t know they were about to lose the ranch.
Max looked up at the barn roof. A man took care of his family. He was the oldest. A bad season, a couple of huge bills he hadn’t expected, and it had all gone wrong, fast.
Maybe he should take Atkinson up on his offer to buy this place. Get them out from under this black pit of debt once and for all. He ran his hand over his face. Then he’d be able to spend more time with Savannah. Help her.
Pretending everything would be fine wasn’t working. Look at how well that had worked out for him. He still had nightmares, nights where he couldn’t slee
She hadn’t even known she was doing it. But her infectious laughter, her love of life, her love for them had slowly brought him back to the living. He’d actually felt happy, really happy, rather than it all being a pretense. And now that she needed him to do the same for her, what was he doing?
Sulking and throwing a temper tantrum.
Max usually had a plan. Maybe that’s what scared him the most. What if he made a decision and it was the wrong one? He felt helpless, and he hated it.
Well, he could damn well do something about the ranch. He needed to get them out from under this debt.
Walking back to his truck, he grabbed his phone. Maybe selling to Atkinson wasn’t the only choice he had.
“Hey, Travis,” he said as the other man answered the phone.
“Max, not someone I thought I’d hear from.”
Travis Andrews owned Raptors, Inc., a private security company that took high-risk jobs overseas. Max and Logan had done some jobs for him in the past. Before they’d bought the ranch.
“We need to talk.”
Chapter Four
“Look at you, you dirty whore. Opening your legs for two men. Where do they touch you, hmm? What do you let them do to you?”
The voice was slick. Like thick oil creeping down her skin. She shuddered. Would she ever feel clean again? Would she ever be able to breathe without suffocating?
Savannah held back her whimper of fear as he approached. How much time had passed since he’d taken her? Since she’d woken up in this dusty, dirty, old cabin, her head throbbing, her arms tied above her head, naked and afraid.
She closed her eyes, refusing to look at him. Max and Logan would come for her. They’d find her. They wouldn’t give up until they had her back in their arms.
Searing pain scorched her back, and she screamed, unable to stop herself from reacting. She opened her eyes, sobbing as he appeared in her vision.
He smiled gently and patted her cheek. “I don’t like hurting you, you know.”
Like fuck, he didn’t. Evil bastard.
“But you force me to. I only want what’s best for you. I want to cleanse you like I did my Laken. To purge you of the evil.”
God, he was completely delusional. She’d quickly learned there was no reasoning with him. He’d totally lost it. How had no one seen it? How had he hidden this madness? Even Laken hadn’t noticed. She’d worked for this asshole not realizing he was the one who’d kidnapped and abused her. Thank God he hadn’t raped her.
“If you will repent and tell me all your sins, I’ll cleanse you, and you can be free.”
Yeah, she was pretty certain his idea of being free, and hers were two completely different things.
She wasn’t ready to die. What would Logan and Max do if he killed her? They needed her.
“Tell you what, you let me go, and I’ll make sure my men don’t kill you. Can’t guarantee they won’t kick your ass, however.”
Smack. He slapped her face. Then he stepped back and flicked the whip he held, the leather slashing across her chest, landing on her nipples, leaving a wave of pure fire in its wake.
Oh, God. Oh, God. Please.
Tears dripped down her face. She’d tried to remain stoic, to not react, but it felt like her entire body was aflame with pain, bruised, and broken.
She wanted Logan and Max.
He moved forward, his eyes filled with glee as he reached out and softly flicked her abused nipple. She whimpered. This was worse. She could take the pain. She could even take the verbal abuse. But touching her gently, intimately, as though he had the right—another sob escaped.
She moaned in disgust and horror as he latched onto her nipple with his mouth and sucked.
“No, no, no!” she screamed.
“Savi! Savannah! Wake up, now! Savannah, wake up! That’s an order.”
Savannah opened her eyes with a gasp. She sat up, her heart racing, her skin clammy and chilled. She stared at him. Where was she? Gone was the dirty, dark cabin that had been cold and damp and had a horrible, musty stench.
“You’re safe, Savi. You’re home.”
Safe. Home.
She focused on the man who sat facing her on the bed, his face filled with concern as he watched her.
Safe. Home.
“L-Logan?”
“Yeah, darlin’.”
He wasn’t quite touching her, and she wished he would. That he would reach out and pull her onto his lap like he used to. Sometimes, he’d tickle her until she screeched for mercy. Then he’d make it up to her by licking every inch of her skin until she was screaming for a whole other reason.
But he sat still, mere inches away from her, the gulf between them so wide it terrified her.
“I must have fallen asleep.”
“You were exhausted. You need sleep.”
She stared at his hands. They were large, rough, and tanned. They were hands a woman could rely on, hands that would make her feel safe.
Reach out. Touch him.
She licked her lips, they felt dry and cracked. He frowned slightly. “I’ll get you some water.”
He stood, and she gasped as she saw his face clearly for the first time. “What happened to you?”
She hastily leaned forward, kneeling in front of him, gaping at his swollen nose. “Someone hurt you.”
Her heart beat fast. Who? Who had hurt him? Were they here?
“Savi. Savannah, calm down, sweetheart.” Logan sat once more and grabbed her hands, his warm and rough against hers. “Jesus, your hands are like blocks of ice. Savi, look at me.”
She stared up at him, her breath coming too fast.
“Fuck. Savannah, no one hurt me.”
“You have a broken nose.”
“It’s not broken. Just a bit tender because I was too slow, and Max wasn’t pulling his punches. Asshole.”
Max? “Max hit you?”
“Yeah, but don’t worry, he got as good as he gave.” His chest puffed out slightly. Men. Such idiots. But her men never fought. Oh, they argued. About a lot of things. Who’s turn it was to wash up. Who was in charge of the remote. Stupid stuff like that.
But they didn’t get into physical fights.
“Why were you fighting?”
His face shut down, and he looked away.
Her. They were fighting over her. Her heart stilled for a moment. Why else would Logan look so guilty? She licked her lips again, her mouth parched and dry.
“Where’s Max?”
“In the stables,” he told her. “I’ll get you that drink.” He left the room, and she stared after him, her heart breaking into little bits. Why had they been fighting over her? What had they argued about? Had she caused this?
She stared around, a sick feeling filled her as she remembered what she’d just been dreaming of. Stanton. She whimpered right as Logan entered the room, holding a glass of water. He paused and stared down at her.
“Savi? Oh, Jesus, baby.” He sat again, placing the water on the bedside table before pulling her close to his chest. She closed her eyes and sank into the safety of his embrace.
He rubbed his hand up and down her back. “I’m here for you, darlin’. Talk to me.”
She pulled back. “You want to talk?”
He looked so uncomfortable it almost made her smile. Almost.
“You’re so cute.”
“Cute?” he said, sounding outraged. “I’m a man.”
She raised her eyebrows. “So, you can’t be cute?”
“No. Men are not cute. And if you need me to demonstrate how manly I am, I will . . .” his voice tapered off.
“You’ll what?” she asked.
He didn’t say anything, just stared down at her, pulling back once more. Frustration hit her. Would things ever be the same again? How could she go back to that carefree person when she knew the danger that lurked everywhere?
“You hate talking.”
“I can talk.”
“Sure, about sports, cattle, trucks, beer, and which asshole you’d take out first if you were on Survivor.”
“You forgot something.”
“I did?”
“Yeah, I also like to talk about you. Your magnificent boobs, your soft stomach, those pretty eyes, your firm, round butt.”
Her insides stirred, a mix of heat and worry swirling inside her.
“Sorry,” he immediately said, his face closing down. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Because you didn’t mean it?”
He turned back, his eyes widening. “No. Because I shouldn’t bring up sex.”
She should just nod and change the subject. She didn’t want to cause an argument or tension.
But then, wasn’t there plenty of that anyway? Look at poor Logan’s face. There was already so much tension it was exploding out in ways none of them could have imagined.
“Why?”
“Because of . . . well . . .” Poor Logan, he looked like he’d rather be having a colonoscopy that having this conversation, “I don’t want you to think I expect you to . . . you know.”
Oh, Logan.
He sighed. “I know I’m not good at this shit. If you’d rather talk to Max . . .”
What? No.
“It’s not that.” She looked up into his face. His gorgeous, handsome face. “I’m sorry, Logan.”
He stiffened. “Why would you apologize? What are you sorry for?”
For so many things.
“For not listening to you. You warned me over and over never to stop to help someone when I was alone. I could have avoided all this. It’s all my fault—”
“Hey.” He grasped her shoulders and shook her slightly. “What happened was not your fault.”
“I shouldn’t have stopped.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. But that’s who you are, Savannah. You help people in need. It’s part of what I love about you. Your caring nature. The way you stop whatever you’re doing to come to someone’s aid. None of what happened is on you. It’s all on him. And on Max and me.”
-->