Page 29 of Savage Reign

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Had they told me straight up that they wouldn’t give me birth control, would I have left? Or was it because they lied?

“It’s true. So I decided we’re going to be completely honest with each other from now on, you and I,” he said.

“And you think that’ll help?”

“Yes, it will. Because you need me to be honest. You need the same thing from my brothers. You need to know that our words mean something so that once we tell you you’re it for us, you’ll believe us.”

He made it sound so easy. So simple. How could it be though?

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from reacting, but Maverick knew me well. At this point, I thought he could read me better—understand me better—than even I could.

He quickly closed the gap between us and bent down until we were at eye level. “Since we’re going for honesty, believe this when I tell you, you don’t have to worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I shouldn’t have allowed myself to feel assured over his words, but Lord help me, I did. I really did. Was it really true, then? Sebastian Cline, the man who had haunted my dreams since I was a teenager, since the first time I realized what that dark look in his eyes meant when he looked at me, was still alive.

I had thought,hoped,he’d died during the massacre. But he was alive. And he was…

“Why can’t he just leave me alone?” I asked, a tinge of desperation in my voice. Why couldn’t he? I had thought I had left the club life for good.

He cupped my cheek, waiting until I was looking at him. “I don’t have the answer for you, little monster. Wish I could say I don’t understand it, but I knew I couldn’t leave you alone either.”

But it was different with him—with them, wasn’t it?

How was it different?

Blood rushed to my ears, and I looked down, my gaze focused on his strong chest. I hated my reaction to the question, not because I didn’t know the answer, but because Iknewexactly what the answer was, and I didn’t like it.

“This is too much. I want to be alone.”

He shook his head.

“Maverick.”

“You really think I am capable of leaving you alone now that I’ve found you?”

His voice was low, and he was no longer looking at my face. I was still wrapped in nothing but a towel, my hair dripping wet. It wasn’t that I had forgotten about this completely, only that it hadn’t seemed so important when I found him in my room. Not now though.

Now, I felt stupid for having left myself so vulnerable. And as if I needed any more reminder of my vulnerable position, the wound on my back started to ache. I shifted my feet, trying to relieve some of the pain.

His hands moved, cupping the balls of my shoulders.

“Maverick,” I muttered softly. “I’m not…”

Ready. I wasn’t ready for him. Not right now.

He nodded, regret in those bottomless blue eyes of his. “I know, little monster. I just want to hold on to you tonight.”

For some reason, those stupid words made me want to cry. I didn’t know how to answer him, and he probably knew that because he pushed into action then. He helped me up until I was standing against the bed before moving across the room toward the dresser. His movements were purposeful and accurate as he pulled the second drawer open, where I had stored my pajamas.

I narrowed my eyes on him. Only reason for him to know where I put my clothes—he’d been in my room before.

More than that, he had looked around.

“So much for not crossing any boundaries,” I said.

He shot me a strange look. “When did I say I wasn’t going to push your boundaries?”

He walked back to me with one of the larger, old T-shirts I had brought on a whim. It fitted me more like a dress, but it was comfortable.

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