Page 21 of Savage Devotion (Savage Reign #1)

ARABELLE, SEVEN MONTHS LATER

T he night my bookstore burned down is the night I realized just how much this parish has come to mean to me.

And one particular man. Reaper hasn’t left me a day by myself since he slipped his ruby club ring onto my ring finger.

We haven’t rung the wedding bells yet but really, that’s okay.

The day will come and when it does, I’ll celebrate it hard and furious just like I do everything else with Reaper in my life.

I’m happy just being his.

“How’s this?”

I hiss in pain and then sigh in relief when the needle of Ink’s tattoo iron stops stabbing at my skin. Harlon’s tattoo artist puts the final touch on my patch as Reaper bounces our sleeping baby boy in his arms.

I bring my eyes up to meet Reaper’s. Pride and love shine in those sparkly black eyes and I fall a little harder for the biker that almost got away from me.

“I love it,” I tell Ink and it’s the truth.

Delicate lines, the flash of ruby red in the eyes to match the ring on my finger, and the circle of bayou vines and thorns make the design flawless.

“It’s absolutely perfect.” And anyone who sees it will know I’m Savage Reign blood. If not by actual blood, then by love.

Reaper helps me up from the artist’s chair and I raise the scoop collar of my shirt. I never thought I would get a tattoo in my life, but this sits close to my heart and I couldn’t love it more.

Reaper leans in, and there’s a burning in his eyes I’ve grown to recognize. He wants to get me alone and take things from calm to hot and heavy between the sheets like right this second.

“You’re mine, woman,” he growls hungrily.

Our foreheads rest against each other with our baby between us. “ Eres un lobo, papi. Cálmate. Pronto. Te prometo. ” I whisper just for us. “You are a wolf, daddy. Calm down. Soon. I promise.”

“I’ll make sure you keep that promise. I want to try for a girl next.”

He loves it when I speak Spanish. It makes his cock hard as steel and he knows I know. I give a knowing look at his crotch before hugging Ink. “Make sure you come to the bookstore tonight. Free coffee, cupcakes, and sexy snippets.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Seriously, your talents are wasted here. You should go big.”

Ink smiles and that sweet blush causes Reaper’s possessiveness to rear up.

“Down. She’s mine.”

“Fuck you, Liam,” he says, but there’s no heat to his words. Both clasp hands and bump shoulders in that manly thing men do instead of hugging.

After getting care instructions, Reaper leads me out the door, his large frame casting me in shadow from the late evening sun.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind getting some ice cream.”

He grunts, calling my bluff. “And then seeing how fast it melts all over your body once we get back to the store.”

I swat at his chest and slip my hand into his, twinning our fingers. A few minutes later we step into the Broken Chapter Asylum 2.0 and I breathe in the pumpkin and cinnamon scent of fresh cupcakes I picked up for tonight’s book club meeting.

His phone rings and he slips our sleeping baby into my arms. “Reaper.” We both stand in the middle of the store and I see the second he’s gotten bad news.

“What’s wrong?” I mouth.

He covers the mouthpiece. “It’s the Savages. Shit has hit the fan with Riot. The man finally found his wife.”

My brows pinch in confusion. “Good thing?”

“Depends. She’s working for the enemy now and is out for his blood.”

I leave Reaper dealing with club business and head to the shelves where I feel calmest and at peace. I take a few books, intent on arranging them on some shelves, but what I want is a moment to myself and so I can kiss my sweet baby’s head.

The last few weeks have been nothing short of a miracle.

The entire parish came together to help me clean out the store.

After the flames were tamed and snuffed out, there was too much damage to continue with the contract.

Lucky for me, the owner had a new local right across the street. Gotta love small towns.

I run my fingers over the new shelves Reaper had a hand in building for me.

I’m practically married to the man I had a one-night stand with. I can hardly believe it even as I live it. What a wild night it had been. But it didn’t prepare me for the whirlwind this man brought into my life.

And I almost missed it all. All because I was scared of what might happen because of a misconception. Not all bikers are douches. I’ve learned that pretty quickly.

I place our little baby in his portable crib and cover him before returning to my shelves.

“You’re rather quiet back here. How about I change that?”

My skirt is around my waist and my breath is stolen as Reaper comes up behind me and pins me to the back shelf I am leaning against. He lifts and my legs open for him.

When we come up for air, I ask, “And how do you plan on doing that, lover?”

“With every sin I know in the book.”

I was wrong in thinking I needed to tame this Savage or change him in any way.

Nothing can wrangle the fire this hellraiser brings to my life.

No. Instead of taming him, I discovered I needed to burn just as brightly, and when I’m in his arms, his breath mingling with mine, his body heat becoming one with me… I do. I burn. I sin. And I love.

“You look at me like I’m your world,” he says roughly.

“That’s because you fucking are.” The sting of the fresh tattoo on my skin, the caress of his shaft against my folds and the idea anyone can walk into the store at any time has my heart jack hammering against my chest.

“Good. Because you’re mine. It’s you or nothing. You die, I die. I am devoted to you. That’s the simple truth, Arabelle.” His words drag tears from my eyes to wet my lashes.

And that is how I end up screaming into the hand covering my mouth as the Savage Reign president strokes me into bliss in the middle of the romance aisle.

“Scream again for me. And by the way, if you’re not already pregnant with my baby again, tonight is the night it happens.” Dark, possessive, and dominant. I shiver with anticipation.

I pull his hand off my mouth. “After the book club, right papi ?” I ask with a purr and a dip of my lashes.

His thumbs sneak around and dip under the sides of my panties. “Nothing wrong with a little foreplay, right amor ?”

The bell above the front door shatters our stolen moment. Its sharp jangle jolts me, every nerve coming alive with anticipation and dread.

“Yo, Prez, you here?”

Ash’s voice is urgent and raw. It cracks through the hush between the shelves. My heart stutters.

He barrels on, “There’s an emergency at the Voodoo Lounge, man. Where the fuck are you? There’s been an overdose. Three of them, and the shit’s about to hit the fucking fan.”

Our eyes lock in the dusty half-light, a silent understanding flickering between Reaper and me. My breath goes shallow. Adora. My lip trembles, memories burning behind my eyelids.

“It’s happening again,” I whisper, barely able to find my voice.

Reaper pulls me into his chest, strong arms anchoring me as the world starts to spin. His heat is like a protective shield of devotion and love, grounding me. I press my ear to his heart, letting its steady, unbreakable rhythm pull me back from the edge.

“I know, baby. I know.” His words are a vow and a balm. His fingers thread into my hair, gentle and sure.

He lifts his chin, eyes sparking with purpose. “Tell them we’re on our way,” he tells Ash while never taking his eyes off me.

With care, Reaper lowers my feet to the floor. His thumb sweeps away my tears—soft, determined and I recognize the promise in his touch.

“We will stop this. I swear it.”

I want to believe him, and for a heartbeat, I do. But beneath love’s fragile cocoon, I sense the gathering storm. Call me dramatic if you like, but I sense danger and destiny twining together. Reaper and I found our happy ending, but I know the real story is only just beginning.

T hank you for reading Savage Devotion! Ash’s story is up next in Savage Temptation.

A steamy bodyguard ? age gap MC romance

The night I traded my satin robe for spotlight glitter, he stepped out of the shadows and my life was never the same.

Jagger “Storm” Malone

Savage Reign enforcer. Human battering ram.

The man my club hired to keep the Voodoo Lounge safe after a cartel’s warning landed on my dressing-room vanity like a blood-red feather.

I told myself he was only a sexy tattooed shield.

But his midnight stare tracks each sway of my hips.

His gravel voice slides over my skin like smoke and bourbon.

And when the first threat turns into a shattered bottle aimed at my throat, he doesn’t hesitate—he throws me over his shoulder, kicks open the EXIT door, and roars us into the night on a black-chrome Harley.

Storm swears he’s the muscle-bound wall between me and a bullet.

But every “touch her and die” glare he launches at the world says he wants far more than my safety.

Smooth melodies, dimmed footlights, throbbing bass—this is my kingdom.

Yet he rules it now with brutal devotion, hovering backstage, whispering wicked promises as glitter dust settles on his leather.

I’m the headliner who can’t afford a scandal.

He’s the storm ready to level New Orleans if I’m harmed.

Can I risk my spotlight—and my heart—on the biker who claims me as his final act…or will the darkness stalking the Voodoo Lounge bring the curtain down on us both?

Want an addictive rush but in one sitting?