Page 14 of Savage

“You look deep in thought again. Anything I can help with?” Jake said as he returned. He handed one of the two bottles in his hand to Savage, then sat.

“Not unless you can tell me what’s planned for the next couple of days? I’m sure there will be a ride or two, maybe something else to keep this bunch entertained and out of trouble. Or at least too much trouble.”

“There are a couple of rides planned, you knew there would be but there are days where the activities are optional. Things that you can choose to do or not, and find thing to do on your own.”

“Like?”

“We’ve got horses available if anyone wants to ride, though if any of the women are along, they’ll need one of the locals along.” Jake met his gaze for a moment then looked away. “There’s places to hike, both off and on the ranch, if someone wanted to. Then there’s plenty to do in town, as well as places to ride if you want to ride without the rest of the group too.”

Savage tipped his beer back and took a long pull as he thought about all that. He couldn’t help but wonder what, if any, of it might interest Donna. He didn’t need to ask about the look or why any riding group with the women along would need one of the locals. There were things on the ranch the women didn’t need to know about, and they wanted to make sure they didn’t stumble across them. All the Souls knew about them, but the men from Tucson wouldn’t know exactly what areas to avoid.

“And I’m sure there will be a chance to do some ranch work, if you’d like to get your hands dirty and see what real work is like.”

Savage didn’t justify that with an answer, just shot the other man a look from the corner of his eye. Again, his mind turned back to Donna, he didn’t know why he couldn’t keep from thinking about her. It wasn’t like he’d known her even twenty-four hours. There was no reason she kept creeping into his thoughts.

“How was the ride up?” Jake’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Long. Never thought I’d say it but after four days straight of riding, I’m glad we aren’t getting back on for another tomorrow.”

“But we’ve got a ride planned. We’re going to take you all up to the Devil’s Tower. You can’t be this close and never go see it!” Jake sounded disappointed that Savage didn’t want to ride tomorrow.

“Do you really? You planned a ride for tomorrow?”

Jake couldn’t hold a straight face any longer and burst out laughing. “We have the ride planned but not for tomorrow. I made that ride a few months ago, we did it faster than four days, and thankfully not on our bikes.” His brother made an admission few members of the club would ever say out loud. The prospects who had been in the truck, towing the trailer full of gear, had bitched about not being able to make the ride on their bikes. And while four days on his bike had left him sore and tired, he’d rather that than four days trapped in the cab of a truck, or worse, a car.

“You enjoying yourself?” Savage watched his friend with raised brows. It took Jake several minutes to stop laughing, then to catch his breath.

“Dude,” Jake said once he’d caught his breath, a grin still covering his face. “You should have seen the look on your face. It was almost a sad, dejected look but so filled with something, I’m not sure what. Like you wanted to go but you didn’t.”

Savage watched as Jake started laughing again, laughing so hard he almost fell off the bench they sat on. Savage could only watch, drinking from the cold bottle in his hand while he waited for the laughter to end. Or something else to come along to distract him.

After a minute he gave up on Jake finding an end to the hilarity and turned to watch the flames of the bonfire that had been built in the middle of the clearing. As he watched the flames lick toward the sky his mind once more turned to Donna. He wished she had felt better, he’d like to have her here with him now. Somehow, he thought she would enjoy sitting around the fire, just enjoying time with the others. He sure as hell wanted her here and in his arms, or on his lap.

And with that thought he’d had enough for tonight. He finished the beer in his hand, found a can for his empty bottles and headed for the field where the tents sat.

He nodded to several people as he made his way past and pulled the flashlight from his pocket where he’d put it when he’d given one to Donna earlier, just in case he needed it. he didn’t turn it on until he got closer to some of the tents, then only to make sure he wasn’t going to trip over anyone’s tie-down lines.

Tomorrow he wouldn’t be so tired. And he’d try to get Donna to talk to him some more about herself. He did his best to stay quiet as he reached the tent, kicked his boots off and brought them, and Donna’s shoes, inside then undressed and slid into his sleeping bag. The last thing he wanted was to disturb her.

He didn’t know if it was exhaustion from days on the back of a bike, the sweet smell of Donna just a few feet away or the soft, even sound of her breathing as she slept, but he drifted to sleep far faster than he could remember doing in many years.

SomethingtickledSavage’snose.He moved his face to one side, but it didn’t stop. He started to reach up and brush away whatever it was, but his arm was pinned. That wasn’t right. There was no reason he shouldn’t be able to move his arm.

He tried to remember if he’d done anything last night, but no, he hadn’t even had much to drink before he’d called it a night and gone to bed. Now though it felt like he wasn’t in bed alone. Well, as close as it got when you were in a tent and supposed to be alone on your side.

He opened his eyes to find that he lay in the middle of the tent instead of on his side where he’d started, and as he’d suspected, he wasn’t alone. They were both still in their own sleeping bags, but Donna lay curled into his side, her face on his shoulder and her hair in his face was what had woken him.

Savage wondered for a moment how they’d gotten this way, he normally didn’t move much in his sleep. But to find not just him, but them both in the middle of the floor, something probably happened. If only he could remember what.

She stirred against him, making him look down at her again. Her nose crinkled as her hair brushed across it. her lashes fluttered, then her eyes blinked open. He watched emotions flit across her face as she realized where she was and how they were laying. Then, moving slowly, as if trying not to wake him, she tilted her head back to see if he was awake.

“Morning,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t panic.

“Um. Morning.” She started to move away, but he tightened his arm around her, he wouldn’t keep her from moving if she wanted to, but he didn’t want her running just because of where they woke. She didn’t fight him but when she met the resistance of his hold, relaxed against him.

“I’m not complaining. This is a nice way to wake up, but do you know how we got like this?”

Her face turned pink. “Yeah. Sorry. I got cold last night. I didn’t want to wake you. I don’t know how I didn’t, but before long you’d moved closer, then pulled me into you.”

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