Page 36 of Scythe's Salvation
“I’ve got to run Chance to the store when I pick him up since he told me his new cleats are pinching his feet,” I tell Scythe as we finally emerge from our sexathon. Even after just having mein my shower, I can see the gleam in his eyes as I get dressed. “We don’t have time, Scythe,” I chide, grinning as I add a slight shimmy to my hips while sliding my shorts in place.
“You’re being evil, woman,” he retorts, pulling me in for a quick, hard kiss against my lips. “I’ve got to run to the shop and grab my gun since some of the Graven Bastards MC came into town. There’s talk that a few of them are wanting some new ink and rather than have them come into the shop and raise questions, I’ll set up in a room at the clubhouse I have for just that reason.”
“Okay, so the plan is to get his shoes then come back to the clubhouse,” I reiterate. “Where we’re once again going to cook out.”
“Babe,” he says, chuckling. “Welcome to being a biker’s ol’ lady.”
“I’m not complaining, Scythe,” I tell him, “just confirming what we’re doing is all.”
“Go ahead and pack a bag for the two of you so you can spend the night with me,” he instructs. “Chance and Callum can bunk together in the kids’ room.”
I shake my head. It’s a good thing my boy is so smart, because I don’t have to worry about him as far as school is concerned. “Got it. Okay, I’m heading out.”
“Not before you give me your mouth,” he says, pulling me to him and kissing me.
I wish I had known what was coming; I would’ve kissed him a little bit longer.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Tamara
With new cleats in hand,as well as two more pairs of practice pants, plus some more batting gloves to put up in case the ones he has come up missing, we head back to the car. While he climbs into the back and gets himself situated in his booster seat, I pack the bags into the cargo area, close it and then start toward the driver’s side, only to stop dead in my tracks.
“Hello, Tamara. Long time no see,” Tim says, holding a gun where only I can see it. “Now, be a good girl, get the kid and get into my car.”
My heart is slamming against my chest so hard that I feel like I might have a heart attack. However, anger is steadily overriding my fear. How dare he point a gun at me? Still, he looks as though he’s not afraid to use it, so I open the back door and say, “Come on, Chance, we’re going for a ride.”
Thankfully, he must have noticed the gun because instead of saying a word, he unbuckles his seatbelt then climbs out of his booster seat, getting out of my SUV to stand next to me. He is,however, glaring at Tim and I bite back a grin as I lock up my car and take my son’s hand.
“Get in.Now,” Tim growls, waving the gun at the two of us. We slip into the backseat, and I help Chance buckle himself in. I hate that he doesn’t have a booster seat, but with that gun now pointing at my head, I don’t ask to get his out of my vehicle. Sometimes, saying nothing is the best option of all.
“Where are we going?” Chance asks.
“Hello, son,” Tim replies, not answering my boy. “I’m your father.”
Chance makes a sound in his throat then says, “You’re nothing but a pussy. You ran away when my mommy got pregnant with me.”
Tim backhands me and sneers at Chance. “Say another word, kid, and I’ll shoot your mommy.”
Chance gets a mutinous look on his face but instead of replying, he grips my hand in his. He never stops glaring at Tim, though, even as I slip into unconsciousness from the unexpected blow. My last thought before darkness claims me is I hope Scythe finds us. Because I suspect whatever’s on Tim’s agenda isn’t going to be fun and games for me and Chance.
Waking up slowly, my first thought is for my son. Glancing around, I see that I’m tied down to a bed in a small, almost utilitarian room, like a jail cell. Not that I’ve seen one firsthand, but I’ve watched enough movies and television showsto understand that I’m a prisoner right now, all the way down to the bars that are along one of the walls.
“Chance,” I whisper, frightened about what could be happening to my son. He may be smart as a whip, but he’s still a little boy. He sometimes gets scared of the dark, and he can’t sleep without the ridiculous purple alien that Amara got for him.
Amara! Maybe I can somehow reach her, and she can get word to Scythe? She and I talk or text every single day and maybe they didn’t take my phone which was in my back pocket. Scooting around, I realize that not only is my phone gone, but so is my Apple watch, which would’ve helped me get help. I’m not worried about myself per se, I’m concerned about Chance. Now distraught, I decide that I have to figure out a way to get out of these ties so I can rescue the two of us. I wish I had stayed home, safe in Scythe’s arms. I wish I had kissed him a little bit longer. I wish I had told him how I was feeling inside.
Because he managed to knock down each and every wall I put up so long ago. Not only did we fuck, but we made love, multiple times. The look in his eyes was one that can’t be faked and in order to keep myself calm, I recount the hours we spent yesterday and earlier this morning in each other’s arms.
While I’m lost in my thoughts, I hear a key in the lock and the door swings open, allowing Portia to walk inside. “Portia?” I ask, unsure why she’s here. I mean, I know she’s married to Tim, of course, but she doesn’t look like the woman who was in my massage parlor a few weeks ago. That woman was put together with her hair, clothing, and nails. The woman that’s making her way toward me looks like she’s been browbeaten. She’s wearing a nondescript dress, kind of like I’ve seen inThe Handmaid’s Tale.
“Hello, Tamara,” she quietly says as she sets a tray on the table that’s next to the bed. Before I can even ask how I’m supposed to eat when I’m tied up, she loosens my arms and legs. “Now that you’re awake, you have free rein of the room.”
I scoff because ‘the room’ as she calls it is maybe ten by ten if that. There’s a steel toilet in the corner along with a sink that’s obviously bolted to the wall. Hell, I can tell the bed is as well when I swing my legs over and it doesn’t even move. “What’s going on? Where’s my son?” I growl out.
Mama Bear isn’t playing when it comes to her offspring. While I may not be the strongest person on the block, the adrenaline that’s currently coursing through me has me feeling as though I can take on the world.
