Page 6 of Scythe’s Salvation (Imperial Knights MC: Roanoke, VA #2)
CHAPTER
FIVE
Scythe
“Damn, I feel good,” I say out loud as I get up the next morning and head into the bathroom to get ready for work.
I pounded down the water after I came back to the shop and even though I didn’t take care of any clients, letting our new folks handle the walk-ins, I was able to get through most of the paperwork so that Cuda could do his part.
Sure, I have a few achy places and I can see some light bruising on the areas that Tamara worked hard on, but she told me I likely would be, so I wasn’t shocked.
I start the shower to warm and take care of my overfull bladder, then take a few minutes to shave.
Sometimes, the water seems to take forever to heat, which I guess is understandable considering the sheer number of people who are pulling from the tankless system that Brick put in a few years ago.
Once I know the water is hot enough, I step into the shower stall and groan as the blistery water sluices across my shoulders and down my back.
I take a few minutes to thoroughly stretch, grateful that I had physical therapy years ago after laying down my bike and have continued doing the stretches I learned to keep myself limber.
Seems the older I get, the more things start to creak, but I’m a huge believer that in order to keep from losing mobility, I have to keep moving.
It doesn’t take long to shower; I actually took one last night when I got back to remove the oils from my body.
However, it’s been a lifelong habit to take one in the morning, and I’ve found it sets my mood for the day.
I’m encouraged that I already feel looser after just one massage from Tamara.
Can’t wait to see how I feel once I get them regularly.
Part of the reason is, of course, to ensure I’m able to hold my gun for long periods of time without pain, but the other part is to have her hands on me again.
And… with that thought crossing my mind, my dick fully wakes up.
Since I’m not about riding with a hardon, I quickly tug one out, smirking when I finally explode all over the tiles in front of me.
“Soon, baby doll, soon,” I whisper as I step from the stall and then spray it down with a cleaner that keeps me from having to scrub.
I sling a towel around my waist as I drip dry, then brush my teeth, before I finish drying off so I can get dressed.
It’s time to make the donuts, as the old commercial used to say. After locking up my room, I head into the kitchen where a huge pot of coffee is waiting for me. Brick, sitting there with his ol’ lady and little one, asks, “Did the massage work?”
“It was phenomenal,” I admit, walking over to the cupboard to grab a travel mug. As I fill it up, adding my preferred creamer, I ask, “We having church any time soon?”
“Probably in the next day or so. Seems some guy that used to live here is coming back to run for sheriff. Dragon and I have Hawg, Beast, and Selah running a deep dive on him to make sure there are no issues. Early reports are that he doesn’t like biker clubs.”
“As much as we do for the community, he can fuck all the way off,” I reply.
“While I agree with you, the last thing we want is him manufacturing shit against us. We’ve been clean for some time now, especially with our allies who are okay with helping us out when the need arises.”
I smirk because the Reapers from the Graven Bastards MC have been invaluable to our club for years now.
One of the members, Rael, took a shine to Ryleigh when they came to see us the first time around after we patched from the Roanoke Raiders to the Bastard Rejects.
There’s nothing sexual to it since he’s nuts over his ol’ lady.
She just reminds him of his sister or something like that.
So, he regularly makes the run from Nevada to Virginia, sometimes coming with a group of brothers, sometimes with his ol’ lady and kids.
Brick finally created a suite just for them so they could leave shit here to save on hauling things back and forth.
“Well, you know if he turns out to be into some shady shit, we can always call Grim,” I tease.
“Oh, I’d love to see Nylah and the kids,” Ryleigh exclaims. “I’m sure we could do a clothes swap for the kids and help everyone out.”
“Sounds like a plan, babe,” Brick says, kissing her temple. “You and the other ol’ ladies talk about it because I think I’d like to bring that up at the community town hall meeting. We could have a clothes swap of sorts since school is just around the corner.”
Since I don’t have any kids that I’m aware of, I decide it’s time to head out.
“Later, y’all,” I say with a wave as I head through the common room and out the door.
Walking toward my bike, I grin. She’s the only girl I really need in my life.
She doesn’t talk back, she’s ready to go when I am, and with a little bit of tender loving care, she’ll take care of me.
Still… the ghost of Tamara’s hands on my body reminds me that having a steady female in my life wouldn’t be too bad either.
Like most of the single brothers who’ve been around for some time, the club girls have lost their allure to me.
They’re good girls, don’t get me wrong, but I’m fast approaching the age where I want someone who is solely mine.
“You’re like a fucking machine today,” Cuda says as he walks into the breakroom where I’m inhaling a sub sandwich between clients. “Guessing the massage did the trick?”
“Kind of wish I’d known about her sooner,” I admit, sipping on my sweet tea.
Normally, I don’t drink it, but whoever makes it at the sub shop knows what the hell they’re doing, that’s for damn sure.
It’s not toothache-inducing sweet, it’s just right.
That’s why I buy a gallon of the stuff whenever I get a sub, so I can enjoy it throughout the day.
“You gonna go back?” he asks, opening up his bag from the sub shop. We generally take turns picking up lunch if there’s not a prospect available.
While I vaguely remember those days since they’re so far back in my rearview, why have someone drive all the way into town just to go to the store that’s literally two doors down from our shop?
I’d rather them do shit for the club that no one else wants to do, like keep the bathrooms off the common room clean, take out the trash, haul the beer kegs in, but I also believe that determining whether or not they’ll be loyal to the club takes more than that and I make a mental note to bring it up to Brick.
Selah, Hawg, and Beast are still trying to track down the last of those fundamentalist fuckers, but the few prospects we have, weren’t on those runs with us. They stayed at the clubhouse protecting the women, children, and pets.
“Hell, yeah. Already booked appointments for the next month, brother,” I reply as I glance at my phone and see I’ve only got a few minutes before my client arrives.
Thankfully, I have my table pre-set for him, but we still have to lay the transfer and see if it’s going to work for him or not.
“Okay, gotta go. Jim’s going to be here any time now for that back piece. ”
“Fuck, the breathing dragon?” Cuda asks.
“Yeah. Hopefully, it’ll work. It was a bitch to design because he wanted the wingspan to wrap around his upper biceps.”
“Gonna look wicked,” he says.
“I sure hope so. It’s setting him back a chunk of change, that’s for damn sure.”
Not that I care, of course, because it’s money in all of our pockets, but Jim tends to obsess over every little detail. I’ve drawn and redrawn this thing more times than I can count, but he finally gave the thumbs up, so now it’s go time.
With a wave, I head back into my room and wait for Jim. He’s the only appointment I’ll have for the rest of the day, as I’m hoping to get it fully outlined, then possibly start on some of the shading. There are parts he wants color added, but it’s mostly a gray and black tattoo.
“Fuck, man, this looks great!” Jim enthuses as he uses the mirror to look at his back. “It’s just like I imagined, and we haven’t even added all the color.”
“I’m happy with how it looks so far,” I tell him, before I wrap it.
“Now, I know you know how to take care of a new tattoo, but I’m still going over the process with you since this is the biggest piece you’ve ever gotten.
Also, because you live alone, come up in the morning, and one of us will look it over, put the gel on, then rewrap it for you before you head to work.
Plus, no going shirtless, Jim! Your skin is basically raw right now and that would be the best way to introduce an infection. ”
He grins at me in the mirror and says, “The ladies love the pecs, man.”
“Yeah, well let’s give the ladies a break for a few weeks, okay?” I retort as I gather the stuff he needs to take home with him for his aftercare.
“Fine, fine, but what if I miss out on the perfect woman for me because I’m wearing a shirt?” he asks, now chuckling.
“Then she wasn’t the one for you. Now, get on out of here, settle up with Chloe and book your next appointment for about three weeks from now.”
“Thanks, Scythe,” he says as he heads out of my room.
“See you in a few, Jim.”
With him finally out of my room, I take my time cleaning and disinfecting everything.
It’s one of the things Cuda and I are dictators about; any room that is actively used during the day is cleaned between clients, of course, but at the end of the day, we do even more as we prep for the following day.
Since I’m now the last one here, I double check that the front door is closed and locked, then grab the trash from the breakroom to toss when I go outside, hitting the lights as I go, of course.
The fucking electric company is a damn monopoly, so we try to save wherever possible.
Slinging my leg over my girl once I toss the trash in the dumpster, I decide to take a ride a few counties over.
I’m in the mood for some good seafood, and Maurice’s Clam Jam is the place to get it.
As I fire up my bike, I hit my Bluetooth and call Cuda to see if he wants to meet me out there.
While we don’t have any true active threats that I’m aware of, it’s always a good idea to have another brother at your back.
Satisfied that he’s going to meet me there, probably with a few other brothers since it’s a favorite restaurant of ours, I head out, my thoughts once again consumed with Tamara.
I want to know every little thing about her, from how she takes her coffee if she even drinks it, to what her moans sound like as I’m pounding into her warm, willing body.