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A small woman stepped into the threshold, her black hair gleaming in the lights of the reception area. She’d tamed its length into a delicate plait, and she wore casual clothes similar to Connie’s. Her baby belly was a rounded swell beneath baggy material, cradled with both hands. “There you are! Braun lets me out of the damn house for like ten minutes to see you, and you spend all night out here.”
“Bodie,” Connie murmured, breath catching. “You look…”
“Like I ate a football. I know. Our gremlin is growing, slowly.” Bodie’s smile faltered as her eyes searched her friend’s. “I don’t know what to say, Connie. I’m sorry doesn’t seem—”
Yeah, this is what she needed, Thane thought as his lover hurried forward to hug Bodie. A night of easy camaraderie, no alcohol, no pressure, just friendship and support after a really fucking tough time.
He stepped aside as a Dom sauntered past him—squeezing past the two women in the doorway—and disappeared into Avalon. When they parted, both of them were crying, and he groaned under his breath, thinking of all the ways Braun could pulverize him for upsetting the delicate sub.
Gallantly, hoping to avoid getting his ass kicked too hard, he moved between them, offering one arm to Bodie, and his sling to Connie. “Let’s go get some seats, before we all fall down. It’s nice to officially meet you, Bodie.”
The little imp gave him a thorough once-over, sharp blue eyes missing nothing if her expression was anything to go by. “You must be Thane. Master Thane now, right? He who— with his bare hands—obliterated the guy who hurt Connie.” She took his offered arm, gave it an approving pat. “You’ll fit in just fine around here, Master Thane.”
Feeling smug, Thane led the two women inside, pausing at the desk while an unfamiliar Dom signed him and Connie in, then continued through the double doors into Avalon. He got a glimpse of the usual crowd in the seating pit before Liam spotted them, and whooped loud enough to turn every head in the place.
Braun came to claim his sub before she was swept up and away by the small flock of people who mobbed around them.
Connie deflected most of the attention, thanking everyone, assuring them all that she was okay, that Thane was doing just fine—as they could see for themselves. As the well-wishers filtered down to a few diehards, she wordlessly nudged him in the direction of the pit, lifting her eyebrow to dispel any urges to disobey her, and she beelined for the bar, taking the stragglers with her.
God, he did love that woman.
*
By the time she reached Liam, the last of the gossipers had dispersed, much to her relief. She was appreciative of the support, but the attention…she didn’t like the attention. There were little pools of anxious sweat gathering beneath her clothes, fine tremors in her fingers.
On the surface, however, the Mistress’ game face came in handy.
“There’s my beautiful girl,” Liam crooned, heading straight for her and ignoring patiently waiting customers. Those gray eyes of his—so light in contrast to hers—saw only her. “Forgiven me for my sins yet, sweetheart?”
At this point in time, she figured any and all sins should be forgiven, her own included. She was too old, too damn tired, to carry around extra baggage in the form of a grudge. Holding her hand out, she waited until Liam set his big palm against hers, then clutched it. “There was never anything to forgive, Liam. You all did what you thought was necessary, and maybe it was.”
His blond brow hiked. “Maybe, Mistress?”
“All right, it was necessary. As much as it galled me to have my private life interfered with by a bunch of big lummoxes, you brought something irreplaceable into my life. Something—someone—I didn’t even know I needed.” She glanced over her shoulder to see Thane kneeling on the floor by her usual seat, and something twisted in her belly. “I held on to Alicia for too long. I love that girl, but keeping her with me when things weren’t working was doing both of us more harm than good.”
“And now?”
She faced Liam again and smiled quietly. “Now, it’s time I learn to embrace me again. All of me. I need to teach myself to share both sides of me equally.” She inhaled quietly, gave his hand a quick squeeze, then inched back. “Can you send two cokes over to the pit, please, Master Liam? There’s something I have to do.”
The Viking Master grinned. “Knock him dead, sweetheart.”
During the short walk to the pit, Connie kept her head down and summoned the inner peace that came with her submissive side. This was it, this was her moment. After fighting herself for so long, battling with Atticus and then Thane to let her submissive half stay hidden, she didn’t want to do it anymore.
The past ten days had shown her many things, one of them being that she’d been given a fresh start. A new canvas with the past scribbled around the edges, and the middle blank. Her history and Thane’s would forever surround their present, and their future, but it couldn’t be erased.
What was to come, however, could be written by them both.
Her heart jumped as she descended each step into the pit, and when she paused by Thane, he glanced up at her with adoration she was beginning to believe she could earn. It was an expression she wore often when she looked at him, but in her eyes, he needed to earn nothing.
He’d already won the most difficult prize.
“Mistress?” he asked when she said nothing. “Is everything okay?”
“Take my seat, Thane.”
“Connie?”
“Please.”
