Page 11 of Saint
“I’ve got legs you know!” I laughed
“Yeah, I know. But it’s quicker if we use mine.”
Jade
“You want me to wait inside or out here on the porch?” he asked laughing.
“Either is fine or I can meet you at the bar if you want to catch up with your mates. I’ll be twenty minutes here.”
“Well I’ll see you down there then. I’ll have a drink waiting for you.”
I locked the door and headed for the shower and some clean clothes. I practically ran through the shower because staying in there with that massaging shower head would have been way too time consuming given the way I was feeling. Finding some clean black jeans and tank top which I paired with ballet flats and my favourite short denim jacket, I brushed out my hair and threw on some mascara and lip gloss and was out the door in bang on twenty minutes. Another three and I was at the bar.
Most of the crew were on the deck cooking and drinking and I waved hi on my way in.
My entry to the bar was heralded with calls of “took your time” and “where the hell have you been” from Smoke and Jameson.
“Seriously? I had to fucking walk mate. There wasn’t anyone there to bloody carry me! I’m so fucking thirsty after that hike!” I said winking at Jameson and Smoke who were leaning on the bar. Both of them spat out mouthfuls of drink and roared with laughter as Saint came up behind me and scooped me up in his arms making me squeal. “No one to carry you hey?” he said grinning and shaking his head as he sat, pulling me onto his lap as Jameson handed me a drink.
A face I hadn’t seen before looked on wide eyed unsure whether or not to laugh at the woman who had just disrespected the President. He was quickly introduced as Bull, the club’s Enforcer. Bull was every bit as big as Smoke, maybe a bit younger and whole lot of scary with his shaved, tattooed head and multiple piercings. Enforcer is the perfect job for him. Turns out he also has a wicked sense of humour.
The evening was a crazy night of drinks, great food and wonderful company. Saint kept us all entertained by insisting on carrying me everywhere, including the ladies. I was piggy backed or flung over his shoulder or hanging off his front but my feet were never allowed to touch the floor and I’m pretty sure my ass never touched a chair. He had me plastered to him all night. Smoke was the most amused by all of this constantly shaking his big grizzly head and making sure to check Saint’s temperature regularly to see if he was all right.
As for me, I was feeling so comfortable here I was frightened. I left one Club only to land in another. The camaraderie is wonderful but I can’t help wonder what I’m letting myself in for. I’d just walked on in and made myself at home without asking so much as a single question. Is this the definition of insanity? I don’t know any of these men but I’m sitting in a room full of them and feeling no fear and the leader of the pack thinks he’s claiming me. What’s more, I haven’t exactly told him no. My head was spinning and my eyes must have been too.
“You all right in there?” came from Jameson sitting in front of me. “Where’s your head at? You need to go home?”
“Huh? Yeah, maybe. I’m a bit tired.”
“Saint, I think it’s time you took Jack home. She’s looking a little…overwhelmed.”
‘Overwhelmed?” He peered around to look at my face “Ah, yep. Time to go Jade” and with that, he threw me over his shoulder and carried me outside to a chorus of wolf whistles and catcalls from the rest of the club.
Saint
“In we go. Time for a tour I think.” I crouch down in front of Jade who was now curled up on my giant couch and look at her. “Are we going for the informative, educational tour this evening or just the sight-seeing tour madam?” She blinks back at me before flashing a brilliant smile.
“I’m torn. My head tells me that an educational tour would be best. My body however is telling me sightseeing would do just fine. I think however, I will follow my head first and go with educational. Today has been a lot to swallow” My mind swirls with thoughts of her gorgeous lips swallowing things but I pull myself together and start talking before I can’t.
“Educational it is. But first, let’s get comfortable. Jacket off. You need a drink?”
“Nope. All good.”
“Okay then. Lean back against me and tell me where you want to start.” I took off my shirt, dragged her into my chest and settled in for a long night.
“You. Tell me. Who is Saint? Where did he come from? What’s he like? Why does he not have forty women hanging off him? And why am I here?”
“Wow! That’s a lot of questions. I think to start we’ll do the condensed version and fill in any blanks a little later” and I launched into and abbreviated version of my life history.
“My name is Michael Saint. I was born in LA to two loser, deadbeat parents who weren’t great at raising a kid. They both had dreams that never came to fruition so instead they took to the bottle. Basically, I was ignored from about the age of seven. Pretty much brought myself up. I did what I had to do to eat and get by and found myself in plenty of trouble pretty early. I managed to stay out of real trouble until I hit thirteen at which point I was caught stealing cars. The judge ordered me into the foster system and I ran first chance I got.
So I bummed from town to town. It’s hard to find work so young but again I did what I could to get by and after 2 years ended up here in Sapphire Lake. I had nothing but the clothes on my back and a ratty sleeping bag. I actually found a cave in the woods not far from here which seemed safe enough and would go into town every night to dumpster dive for food.
I was scavenging in the dumpster behind Lou’s Diner one night when Lou came out and caught me. I guess he could have called the cops, but he didn’t. He took one look at me, took me inside and gave me a huge plate of food to eat while he made a call. Next thing I know the President of The Hell’s Keepers was standing in front of me. His name was Ghost. He was a huge man, covered in ink and he was a terrifying sight to a scared and hungry fifteen year old. I thought I was a goner. But instead, this mountain of a man sat down in front of me and talked to me. He wanted to know about me and how I ended up in his town. After about an hour of chatter, he made me a proposition. He offered me help, a place to sleep and a family. All I had to do in return was be loyal to all of them. Everyone in that Club showed me so much more love than I’d ever seen. It wasn’t hard to be loyal to them. I prospected as soon as I turned eighteen and have devoted my life to the Club ever since. I’m now forty seven.
“Want me to keep going?”
Jade nodded yes so I went on.