Page 77 of Savage Reign

“Hi, little monster.”

No words could pass through my lips as he bundled the blanket around my body and lifted me up in his arms. My heart raced from being jostled, especially when I had just woken up and still felt disoriented. I tried to move my arms out to hold on to him, but they were firmly trapped inside the blanket.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“What’s going on is we’re done waiting.” This came from Silas. He was holding a duffle bag in his hand. With my things?

“Waiting?”

“Yup. We’re taking the decision out of your hand. You’re coming with us. We’re staying the night at a hotel,” Killian said, moving in my line of sight. He looked around the place with disgust on his face. “You will never stay at a place like this ever again.”

Maverick moved with me in his arms before I could answer.

“So I don’t get a say?” I asked when he walked through the front door that Killian held open for him.

“Nope,” Maverick said casually.

“You know this is kidnapping, right?”

Maverick leaned down until his lips touched my skin. “Add that to a long list of immoral things we’ve done in our life already.”

I shivered from the dark note in his voice.

“Besides,” he continued. “This isn’t the first time we’ve kidnapped you. What’s one more time?”

I shook my head, but I could feel my heart calming. A weight lifted, and it felt like I could finally breathe again. As bad as it sounded to admit, I didn’t want to be left in charge to make all the decisions anymore. I didn’t want to have to second-guess myself, to be the one to tell them what to do with regard to us.

I wanted them to take the decision out of my hands. I let out a small sigh and rested my head on Maverick’s chest. I felt him stutter in his steps, and when I looked up to meet his eyes, he was gazing at me with a knowing expression.

“We should have done this sooner. You’re tired, little monster.”

I didn’t confirm or deny it. I snuggled in closer to him as he approached the car.

Marcus was already there with the door opened for us. Maverick was careful not to hit my head as he climbed in with me still in his arms. I stayed on his lap as Killian and Silas entered, and then we were off.

I didn’t speak on the drive. My gaze stayed on the window, watching as the scenery changed, as the place got more crowded, and as the darkness disappeared, replaced by the city lights shining through.

Finally, we pulled up to a hotel. There weren't a lot of people around, considering the time of night, but it was bright, and it reminded me a lot of the hotel the brothers had stayed at back in New Orleans.

“We’ll be here for the night to give you some time to rest before we head home,” Maverick said when he noticed me staring.

My heart did a little flip-flop when we said the wordhome. I never had a home before.

The clubhouse I grew up in didn’t count. Not when I had spent so many years wishing I could just leave. The Tiernan mansion hadn’t felt like home before because I had been there against my will. But things were different now, weren’t they?

They still didn’t know I was pregnant.

“I don’t need to rest,” I muttered as we entered the hotel. My words probably lost some of their hold when I yawned right after I said it. Maverick shot me a look, and I felt a small blush on my cheeks.

I still had the blanket wrapped around me, and Maverick was carrying me in his arms. We garnered some strange looks from the few people in the lobby. I blushed harder and looked away from them.

“Right, little monster. We’re staying, and you’re going to sleep right away.”

“I had been sleeping when I was so rudely woken up,” I said.

Maverick’s lips twitched. “And now you’ll get at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.”

“Just sleep?” I asked. And I meant for the words to come out normal, but there was a breathless quality to my voice that was undeniable.

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