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beautiful she made Joaquin’s cock stand hard. But it was more because he also didn’t like the Edgington brothers hovering around her. Joaquin’s head told him they were married. The rest of him didn’t care because he didn’t want anyone else’s hands on her.
Jack Cole and his redheaded wife breezed in a moment later, the man guiding her with a hand at her back. He turned and dropped his head to whisper something in her ear. She lifted a hand and let it glide across her belly. Her gauzy, flowy blouse almost hid a baby bump. After setting another wrapped gift on the little table, Jack’s hand joined hers over the emerging mound.
Joaquin grimaced. What the hell was the appeal of chaining yourself to a desk to come home to the same woman every night, who’d eventually nag about what you didn’t do to help around the house while raising snotty rug rats who would someday become defiant teenagers? He’d always wondered that. But now?
He glanced at Bailey. Something vicious kicked him in the chest . . . then gripped him lower. What the hell?
“Hey, man.” He watched Logan approach Jack with a slap on the shoulder. “Morgan, how are you feeling?”
Jack shook Logan’s hand as Morgan smiled. “Really good. This pregnancy is much easier than the last.”
“She’s getting the hang of hormone overload,” Jack quipped.
Morgan batted his shoulder, then turned her attention to Logan. “How are those precious little baby girls of yours?”
Logan rubbed the back of his neck. “Sleepless. Tara needs to stop worrying and relax. Mandy and Macy are spending the night with Grandpa Caleb and Carlotta, so . . .”
“So it’s on in the dungeon tonight, huh?” Jack grinned. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“That leaves the field wide open,” Morgan teased.
“We might not be able to engage in impact play now, but orgasm deprivation is not off the table, mon couer.” Jack’s smile wasn’t pleasant.
Logan cleared his throat and coughed into his hand, obviously smothering a laugh. “Who’s holding down the fort tonight? Deke?”
“No.” Jack wrapped his arm around Morgan as his face turned more serious. “They stopped Kimber’s labor, but she’s on strict bedrest for at least the next week. Stone agreed to watch Oracle and alert me if anything goes down. He’s getting some help from Tyler and Xander’s buddy Decker McConnell.”
Joaquin shouldn’t be surprised that a man like Jack wouldn’t leave the private security company he owned with Deke completely untended. In fact, he was relieved. Stone had proven damn useful. Maybe he’d turn something else up.
“Thanks for the update. I’ll swing by and see my sister tomorrow,” Logan promised.
“She’d like that,” Morgan assured him with a smile.
Joaquin just stared. If Kata had gone into early labor—or any labor at all—he would never have known. That shouldn’t bother him. After all, Hunter could more than take care of her. But Nate’s death had made one fact brutally clear: Life could be cut unexpectedly short at any moment. Kata was one of the few people on the planet he knew would be there for him, if he’d let her.
“We’re not late, are we?” A big Latin-looking man in a slick suit sauntered in with a grin, holding hands with a very pregnant blonde.
Behind her, another man with dark hair and designer duds held her other hand. In his left, he clutched a prettily wrapped bottle. His more serious face looked carved with lines of experience, but when he smiled, his happiness projected all over the room. “If we are, it’s Xander’s fault. My younger brother takes more time to do his hair than me and our wife put together.” When the blonde between them laughed, he prodded her. “Come on, back me up on this.”
Xander sent her a scowl.
“Javier, I love you. I’m pleading the fifth.”
“Tell the truth,” he demanded. The silent or I’ll punish you hovered in the air.
“You don’t have to do anything he says, belleza,” Xander assured her smugly.
She withdrew her hands from theirs and frowned primly. “You guys know the rule. Work your squabbles out before you bring them to me. There’s only one way I’m ever in the middle of you two.”
At her broad grin, Javier dropped a hand to her distended belly. “We remember.”
“Let’s reenact that tonight.” Xander nuzzled her neck.
The blonde giggled, then headed toward Callie, shaking her head. The two women embraced, and the petite brunette asked if they could speak privately soon. When the other woman agreed, Callie turned and introduced Bailey.
The blonde’s name was London. She wore the hugest wedding rock Joaquin had ever seen, along with a truly happy glow. The older brother set their gift down, then the two men each grabbed a bottle of water and watched their wife with indulgent grins.
Joaquin stood in a corner, now alone, watching the interactions around him. Chatter drifted through the room. Smiles abounded. Friends stood beside one another. Spouses offered a soft caress, held each other’s hand. A jovial air hung in the room. These people were happy not just to be celebrating a friend’s birthday, but to be all together as well.
Bonds and encumbering responsibilities like these had always annoyed him, felt foreign and constricting. Did these people know something about life that he didn’t?
A glance at Bailey proved she fit right in, easily conversing with London and Callie. Tara and Kata joined them a moment later. Jack finally released Morgan’s hand and she drifted into the circle of women. Not long after that, all the men clustered near the door, talking shop and ribbing one another. Joaquin stood alone. Normally, he preferred that. Today, he felt oddly . . . left out.
He frowned. It didn’t matter. In a few days, he’d never see most of these people again.
Sean approached him, beer in hand. “You all right?”
He wondered why the man cared. “Fine.”
“You look pissed off.”
Confused. “Thorpe’s a great guy and all, but I’m supposed to be saving Bailey’s life, not hanging streamers and partying the night away in a dungeon.”
Waiting for play I won’t be having with a woman I have no business wanting.
Hell, his thoughts made him sound pitiful.
“You got another one of those?” He nodded down at Sean’s beer.
The former FBI agent pointed to Axel behind the bar. “He’ll hook you up. Before you get one, did you talk to Bailey about last night?”
It chafed him to answer to anyone, but he knew Thorpe and Sean had him by the balls. “Yep. We’re square.”
“Good. You know things might get . . . heated tonight.”
Joaquin barely managed not to wince. “Bailey and I will be gone before then.”
Sean just smiled, as if to tell Joaquin that he was out of his mind. “Whatever you say.”
Suddenly, Sean pulled his phone from his pocket. The little screen lit up, and he shushed the crowd. When all fell silent, he hit the button to answer. “Hey, Thorpe. You on your way back?”
Whatever the other man said made a secretive smile cross Sean’s face. Callie sent him a questioning look, and the man’s grin only grew. His merry blue eyes danced with mischief.
Callie turned to Bailey and London with a whisper. “Uh-oh.”
Tara tried to hold in a smile. “That looks like trouble for you.”
“It would be like Thorpe to decide that his birthday present is to find a new way to torture me in the dungeon.”
Bailey stole a glance Joaquin’s way. When she caught him looking back, she jerked her stare toward Sean. “I think your other man might be in on that.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me at all.” Callie winked at her fiancé.
“Great,” Sean said into the phone. “See you back here in a few.”
The second he hung up, Sean shoved the phone back in his pocket, and Callie hustled over. “How long?”
“Less than five.”
She nodded. “We’r
e ready. I kept it small, so that helped.”
Sean cocked his head. “Thorpe will still want to light up your ass for this.”
“The only people I asked over were those who could legitimately be helping Joaquin with his case. If their wives came and fun ensued . . .” She shrugged as if the matter was out of her hands.
“Nice try. But that’s still going to get you in trouble, lovely.”
“I didn’t invite the whole dungeon.” She mock pouted.
“Yet. That shindig you have planned once the three of us come back from our honeymoon?”
She bit her lip. Her starkly vulnerable expression surprised Joaquin. The woman seemed so confident, so the insecurity on her face took him aback.
If Callie, who had two men so obviously madly in love with her, could feel unsure, what must Bailey be feeling?
“I’m hoping his birthday present will be exactly what he wants.”
Sean pulled her close. “Oh, lovely. We’ve talked about this. It will. Have faith.”
Callie drew in a deep breath and nodded. “I do.”
“Don’t forget those words before Saturday.” He tapped the end of her nose.
She laughed. They kissed.
Joaquin stared. Envy pierced him, which made absolutely zero fucking sense. He had no idea what Thorpe’s gift might be, but he knew those three were going to be ridiculously happy. Joaquin was pretty sure he’d die alone. For the first time ever, that bugged the shit out of him.
Well, wasn’t he a bright ray of sunshine?
“Kill the lights,” Sean barked at Axel behind the bar.
The big slab of muscle nodded, and the windowless room went pitch-black a moment later. Joaquin heard Bailey’s little gasp of surprise and fought the oddest urge to go to her side and comfort her. She was a grown woman, and the dark wouldn’t hurt her. Nor would anyone currently in it. Somehow, logic didn’t diminish the need.
He moved through the blackness, heading to her most recent location. There she was, right where he’d left her. Joaquin knew her by her scent. He wrapped an arm around her, bringing her body against his own. Being near her instantly soothed him.
She tensed, struggled to escape.
“It’s all right,” Joaquin assured her with a whisper. “It’s just me.”
Then he winced. That would probably make her fight harder.
Instead, Bailey relaxed, almost melting into him. That unconscious show of trust made everything seem oddly right in his world.
Earlier today, he’d listened well and hard to Thorpe and Sean talk about what it meant to be Dominant, his responsibilities to a sub, the dos and don’ts of BDSM. The more they talked, the more he wanted what they described. He saw now that he’d largely sought control of his partners. He’d fantasized about bondage off and on since his teen years, but restrained the desire to nothing more than holding a partner down to the bed. Ropes and cuffs weren’t casual hook-up conversations. He’d never stayed with any one female long enough to “explore.” But Bailey’s sweet submissive nature, coupled with her quiet strength, flipped some switch in him. No turning off his desire to be on top of her in every way he could fathom.
He caressed her arm, gentling and soothing her, as the door to the club opened, then shut. The click of a man’s loafers resounded on the concrete. The man entering the room sighed.
“Why is it dark in here? Where the devil is everyone?” He tapped the wall, presumably fumbling around for a light switch.
Suddenly, a bright glow flooded the room.
“Surprise!” everyone else in the room shouted.
Thorpe stood there, looking utterly taken aback. He blinked, looked at the crowd, the decorations, at Sean . . . then his stare landed on Callie.
“Pet,” he drawled. “I appreciate the thought, but we discussed this.”
His pissed-off Dom voice sounded like he’d sharpened it on the edge of a straight razor.
Joaquin noted that, under his grip, Bailey tensed. Yeah, she would hate disappointing anyone.
“April Fool’s . . .” Callie smiled, but reached to clasp Sean’s hand for moral support.
Thorpe didn’t say anything for a taut moment. “My unfortunate birthday has somehow led you to believe that my wishes were a joke?”
The stunning brunette looked uneasy. “It’s kind of a big deal, Mitchell. Please be happy. This weekend will be so focused on Sean and me with the wedding.”
“As it should be.”
“I didn’t want your big day to go by uncelebrated.”
Thorpe turned that penetrating stare on Sean. “You’re in on this?”
“Guilty.” Sean shrugged. “We’ve been planning this occasion for a couple of months.”
The dungeon owner almost managed to appear impatient and displeased, but a smile lurked under it all and gave him away. “So you encouraged this?”
“C’mon, man. She’s right; it is a big deal.” Sean shrugged. “You can handle being the center of attention for one evening.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, looking unmoved. “Just remember that paybacks are a bitch.” Then he turned to Callie. “And you, my sweet little pet . . . prepare to have a red ass. Every one of my forty birthday spankings will be for you tonight.”
Bailey stiffened and edged away. Joaquin let her go, lamenting her loss. She trusted him to keep her safe but not to touch her. He’d really fucked up and didn’t know how to change that.
“I figured.” And Callie didn’t look too distressed about it.
Now Thorpe appeared downright eager, and Joaquin totally understood. Bailey stood barely two feet away from him. As he raked his stare down her back, his gaze settled on her pert ass. He hardened, then cursed. That gap between them might as well be two continents because he didn’t know when—or even if—she’d ever let him touch her again.
And he had no one to blame but himself.
“But first . . .” Callie bustled across the room and grabbed a margarita rimmed with salt from Axel and put it in Thorpe’s hand. She held up a bottle of water of her own. “A toast to the birthday boy. You’re a great friend, protector, partner, and person. I got so very lucky when I walked through Dominion’s door. I don’t know if I’d be alive without you. I certainly know I wouldn’t be this free or happy. I hope this is your best birthday so far.”
“Here! Here!” Sean raised his own brew. “We might not have gotten off to the best start”—Sean grinned, and everyone in the room chuckled— “but there’s no man I’d rather share my days and my wife with. Salud.”
The man was surrounded by the family he’d chosen, by respect, devotion. Love. Joaquin listened with increasing discomfort. Blowing out a breath, he realized he had no idea what any of that felt like. In that moment, he wanted to.
He glanced again at Bailey, who looked at all the proceedings with longing on her face. To a girl who had been orphaned twice in her life, no doubt the lure of attachments and people who cared would be attractive. Logically, he knew why she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Hooking up with the guy who kidnapped her when she was running for her life wasn’t the best move. But did she also shy away from him because she knew on some instinctual level that he wasn’t the kind of man who could give her what she sought?
Gritting his teeth, Joaquin jerked his gaze to Thorpe again, who looked suspiciously moved as he pulled Callie against him with a hard kiss. “This is probably one of the most amazing things you’ve ever done for me. I’m touched.” Then he scowled. “But I’m still going to spank you.”
She groaned, and Sean slapped him on the back. “We’ve got a few gifts for you first.”
Tara and Kata both grabbed their presents off a nearby table. London and Morgan followed with theirs and a few from others who’d been unable to attend. The birthday boy opened bottles of finely aged booze, cuff links, driving gloves, and a handmade deerskin flogger.
