“Like what?” she snapped.
The bastard smirked, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “Like someone rode you hard before he warmed you up properly. Rumor has it you’ve got a live-in sub for a few weeks.”
Violet barely resisted the urge to punch his dimples down to his ass cheeks. She’d known the rumors wouldn’t take long to circulate, she’d just hoped for a little more time before the whole club became aware she was breaking her own rules—of course, they’d never know it was against her will.
“You’re fortunate we’re friends, Merrick,” she said sweetly, coating the warning with a heavy dose of southern sugar. “Otherwise that pretty face of yours wouldn’t be so attractive.”
His eyebrow, a slightly darker shade of silver than his hair and short beard, quirked. “On the defensive straight off the bat. Must mean both parts of that rumor are true. Did you seriously let Eli and Van railroad you into a contract you don’t want?”
Fury incinerated her veins, sending white-hot heat flushing to every cell in her livid body. Such was the extent of her anger, Tamsyn took a slow, wary step back as though any sudden movement might set her in Violet’s crosshairs.
Three people aside from her had been in that office when she’d been ambushed—Elias, Evander, and Boudreaux. None of them would dare speak of what occurred behind those massive doors, which meant someone else was privy to her private fucking business yet again.
Why were there interfering busybodies every which way she turned?
She wished she could tear Merrick a new asshole for having the balls to bring the subject up, but she meant what she’d said only a moment ago—he was fortunate they were friends. Because they were, because they’d clicked right at the start of this journey, perhaps she owed her best friend an explanation.
Just not here, and definitely not now.
Aware she was scaring Tamsyn, Violet folded her fingers into her palms one at a time, breathing in as she curled one in, breathing out with the next. By the time her hands were loosely fisted, the abnormal surge of temper was under control. “I have my reasons. If you have time this week, we could go for a drink and catch up.”
That eyebrow hitched higher, but he nodded. “I’d like that. Tamsyn asked you to rescue her from social time with her friends?”
Violet gestured to the onesie. “Can you blame her?”
“I think she looks adorable.” He grinned and stroked his hand down his sub’s back until it cupped her ass possessively. “It has a butt flap I’m going to make good use of later.”
Tamsyn squeaked, her eyes widening.
“Yes, well, that’s your business. If Tamsyn prefers spending a few hours with me and… my baggage, I don’t see any reason why she can’t. Other than sending Callie into a tantrum, of course, but that’s not my problem.” It would serve Elias right if he had to spend all evening dealing with a belligerent Little.
Merrick frowned, obviously sensing her underlying bitterness. “I don’t finish until ten. Are you sure she won’t be an imposition?”
“Tamsyn is a grown woman with no Little tendencies, old enough to drink and hold an adult conversation. As long as she can handle the idiot currently sitting in my kitchen waiting for cabin service, we’ll no doubt have a lovely time until your shift ends.”
His expression darkened. “Yes, about the idiot. How well do you know him?”
Ah, so that little tidbit hadn’t hit the floor running yet. That made a refreshing change. The question was, how much did she tell Merrick? In the end, she decided there was no choice but complete honesty—if he was to leave his pride and joy, the loveof his life, his soon to be wife in her care, he had a right to know who else would be around her and if she would be safe.
“You have nothing to worry about, I promise. Boudreaux is unorthodox, a pain in my ass, and a bit intimidating, but he’d never harm another person. Tamsyn will be safe.” Violet sighed when she saw that wasn’t enough to placate the concerned Dom. “He and I were in a committed Dom-sub relationship back in Louisiana. Long-term, until… well, things changed, I left the state, and Violet the Domme was born. He’s a good man, trustworthy,” she admitted reluctantly, even though she’d never trust him with her emotions again. “He’s more likely to protect Tamsyn from a threat than be the threat.”
“All right. If you get tired of my little owl, send her home. I’m scheduled to be in the dungeon all shift, but I can make time between sessions to go home and check on her if needed.”
“I’m not a kid, Merrick,” Tamsyn pointed out quietly.
“No, but it seems we still need to work on your use of honorifics.” Laughing at her stricken expression, he bent and kissed her thoroughly. “You are my world, Tamsyn. Keeping you safe is my main goal in life. One day soon, you’ll be my wife and bear my children—I’ll raze the world to the ground to protect you.”
Tamsyn paled slightly, her hand sliding over his belly to rest where he’d taken a bullet to save her from a living nightmare. “I love you, Merk.”
“Love you more, darlin’.”
Trying to defuse the situation before it gravitated toward a public display of affection, Violet cleared her throat. “No progress with the paperwork?”
The diversion worked; Merrick huffed in disgust. “Despite all the favors Evander pulled in, we’re still no further ahead. The spiel they’re giving us is that this is an unprecedented situation on a larger scale than they believed. They want to cross every Tand dot everything that can be dotted. Meanwhile, we’re stuck in limbo.”
Theybeing the government, Violet surmised. Merrick’s sub had been born into an off-grid cult, for lack of a better word, where women and girls were traded, raped, and murdered. The males of the group were documented, but the females… there was no legal identification, no education, no paperwork.
When one was in a hurry to marry the love of his life, the lack of documentation really threw a wrench in the proceedings.
