Page 26 of Savage Obsession
My phone buzzes. It’s Reaper. The property is secure and everyone is safe.
I thumb a quick text to back to him:
Good. Off the grid until further notice. Don’t get shot while I’m gone.
I pull out and this time make sure the gate is secured behind me as we leave Savage land. We slide onto the black ribbon of road that leads away from everyone for now. We need to find our new balance and I have another secret place that I can’t wait to share with my new love. Willow’s hand finds mine, and she wraps our finders together. I squeeze back, and the beast in my chest settles.
Let the Russians come. Let the Vultures try again. Let the dark gather its strength. We have one more piece to the puzzle now and I’m sure Reaper will dissect the video Willow handed over to them. For now, I’m passing over the workload so I can make sure Willow is taken care of. She needs to learn everything about her new home and her new family. And I plan on making sure she is carrying my child by the time I introduce her to the rest of the Savage family. Charli will be tickled to death about a new reader in the family.
I raise her hand to my lips and kiss the softness. I’ve got something worth killing for now. Better yet, I have someone worth living for.
And I am not letting her go.
EPILOGUE
WILLOW, TWO WEEKS LATER
The Savage Reign kitchen smells like home. Coffee filters through the entire house and something sticky and sweet is baking in the oven. And just under all the goodness ticking my senses, lingers the scent of leather and smoke. It trails through the air and I’m growing to love the way it’s a constant everywhere I go. Back home, with my father and his crew, I hated everything about the biker life.
Only when I came to live among the Savages do I actually get to appreciate more about the lifestyle. Especially, with one savage man.
I linger in the doorway, Venom’s oversized flannel falling halfway to my knees over my jeans. I still feel a little weird being among the Savages and thinking of them as my new family. Venom says I am welcomed here so I embrace his words and hold that hope close to my heart. He’s kept me all to himself tucked away in another cabin he keeps off the Savage property. It was fourteen days of pure sex, lovemaking and connecting on levels I can’t describe.
It was soul level and deeper still, if that makes sense. I draw in a deep breath and let it hold in my lungs for a few seconds.
I hope it does, because I am still rapping my mind and heart around finding love with a man my father swore up and down was my enemy.
But it turns out he was my soulmate.
We only made a couple of trips here so I still feel a bit new to all this family love and gentle vibe among the Savage crew and their women.
Sunlight spills across the battered table set in the middle of the Savage kitchen. It washes over the floorboards, and it chases away the chill from the winter freeze that still hasn’t released us from its grip.
The house comes to life around me. Familiar voices carry over the warm air. Laughter rolls through and the occasional boots thudding overhead resonates all the way to the heart of the home. All of it so new and loud I almost miss the ache that lived in my chest for years.
Almost. I take another deep breath and let all the new sounds and feelings linger in my mind and heart.
I hear a shuffle behind me and turn to see my new friend. Arabelle’s kind face lights up when she sees me standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She’s the kind of woman who reads a room the way most people read a weather report. She’s in her element, hair twisted up, wearing a Savage t-shirt and that wicked little grin I’ve grown to associate with the president’s bride-to-be. She makes a beeline straight for me, coffee in hand, and hooks her arm through mine like it’s nothing.
“Hey, Willow. We were starting to think Venom would never bring you back and just keep you tied up until he got you pregnant.” Her voice is pure mischief and all welcoming warmth.
I flush, surprised but weirdly happy about it. “He tried, but it seems our men can’t stay in one place for long and that’s a good thing, because I think you’re right about the tying me up part.” I don't say it, but Venom is crazy for keeping me unclothed and sated day in and out.
Arabelle laughs and draws me in like I’ve always belonged. “Come on, you’ve gotta catch up with the rest of the circus.” She lowers her voice and adds, “If Venom is anything like Reaper, if they had their way you’d be naked and in their bed all day long.”
The kitchen is a busy hive when we enter the kitchen and head for a nook tucked off to the side. Isa, Ash’s girl, is slicing strawberries at the counter, looking cool and put-together, even though she’s as new to the Savage world as I am. She slides a plate in my direction without missing a beat, wearing a welcoming smile.
“Sit. Eat. Tell us what the softer side of Venom is like. All we get to see is his bossy side when he tells us to take better care of ourselves.”
“Or his irritated side when one of his brother’s pisses him off,” Arabelle chimes in. “That man has a serious aversion to parties too.”
Storm’s girl, Emilia, sits by the window, a book open in her lap, unread. Her gaze wanders over the groups of talking ladies and I imagine she’s doing exactly what I love to do. Not only is she taking it all in, but she’s noting details. Like Arabelle alwaysputting her hand on her stomach and Isa doing the same. Given how much Venom kept me in bed the last two weeks, I’m not far behind in wondering if I’m carrying his baby.
She spots me and pats the seat beside her. “You picked a hell of a time to join up, Willow.”
I settle at her side. My heart still jitters, not from fear but from the newness of being cared for by women who know what it means to survive. “It wasn’t exactly the plan, but I’m grateful Venom found me when he did.”
Isa snorts. “When does anything ever go as planned?”
