He cocked his head. “More important than an imminent departure and marriage?”
“Yes. Infinitely more. Sierra—the redhead squished between the blond Viking and the darker headed man?”
Reaux followed her gaze. “Ah, yes. Liam the bartender, his husband and co-Daddy… Mack? And their lovely bearded wife. They are an admirable throuple.”
“I’ll tell you their story one day. It’s a long one, but I think you’ll understand how important this is for them. Sierra has been trying to get pregnant for… forever. Long before she and Liam moved to Denver. They’ve spent thousands of dollars on hormone treatments, specialists, holistic therapy.”
His attention deepened, studying Sierra with a critical eye. After a few moments, those mercurial eyes swung back to Violet, raking her up and down with the same intensity. “Ah, yes. I see the resemblance. A blossoming visage of vitality and fertility.”
Violet winced as a couple squeezed past them. “Keep your voice down, Reaux. I’d prefer rumors of pregnancy didn’t start circulating before we know ourselves.”
Being the King of the Jackasses, he mimed zipping his lips shut, then ruined the brief silence with an astute observation. “This is going to be awkward, no? You’ve asked everyone to come here so you can tell them about your departure in a couple weeks, and now you’re… not going to tell them?”
“Good point,” she conceded gracefully. “Yes, that will raise a few eyebrows. Fine, we’ll tell them as planned, but as for this…” Regretfully, she rolled her new ring around so the pretty jewels were hidden from sight. “Our little secret, Reaux. Just for a few days. If Sierra has an announcement to make, I don’t want to upstage her, not when she’s waited so fucking long to say the words.”
She could see the request hurt him—not a deep, throbbing wound, more of a stinging scratch—and she felt guilty that hewouldn’t be able to shout their engagement from the rooftop, but he seemed to understand her reasoning.
“I will trust your judgement,” he told her without a trace of bitterness. “Any longer than a few days, however, and I may be forced to take drastic measures.”
“Such as?”
He tapped the side of his nose, then kissed the tip of hers. “That’s for me to know, and you to find out if you don’t behave. Now, I believe we’ve been spotted by the pixie.”
The pixie? Who… Oh.
Violet smiled and waved at Tamsyn as she sat straighter on Merrick’s lap, her attention locked on Reaux. “Tamsyn’s taken a liking to you; you should be honored. All the other Masters scare her, along with half of the Mistresses.”
“We’ll sit with her then. Someone needs to feed my ego,” he said primly, then chuckled when she thumped his arm. “Violence becomes you, Bennie.” He lowered his head, mouth to her ear. “A second round of hunt and claim, Mistress? I have no qualms about chasing you through the grounds and fucking you in front of whoever might be watching.”
Heat erupted up her chest to light up her cheeks. Barely stopping herself from squirming, she adopted haughtiness as her weapon. “Be careful what you wish for, Fontenot. Did you not demand equality? We’ll see how fast and far you can run before you beg.”
Laughing sinfully, Reaux kissed her soundly before heading over to the table. “I think you and I shall have a most interesting marriage, Bennie. We’ll never be bored, that’s for sure.”
There was no doubt in his mind, was there? It was just like him to pick a goal and plow through every obstacle in his way to achieve it—even two years of separation and a solid wall of derision hadn’t deterred him. It meant that he would doeverything in his power to not only be a devoted husband, but more than likely an exceptional father as well.
She was spared from replying when Tamsyn wiggled off Merrick’s lap and squeezed through the gap between tables to hug her. The sweetness of the gesture made her throat ache; of all the women who took shelter under her wing when they needed it, Tamsyn was the one who claimed the special spot closest to her heart.
Violet hugged her back, then raised an eyebrow when Reaux’s pixie hesitantly turned to him and opened her arms. Exchanging a shocked look with Merrick, she said nothing as her fiancé cocked his head, muttered something in French, then hunkered down a little so he wasn’t towering over Tamsyn’s shorter frame.
The hug was brief but heartfelt, and when Tamsyn stepped back to return to Merrick, Reaux straightened, clearing his throat.
Yes, the little pixie who’d escaped hell held more power than she realized.
Taking her seat beside Mack, Violet leaned into Reaux’s side as he tucked himself in between her and Merrick. She accepted the glass of wine Liam passed down, with no intention of drinking it, then smiled at Mack when he shifted in his seat so he wasn’t giving her his shoulder.
“Good to see you, Mistress. You look…”
Do not say pregnant. Do not even think it.
“Happy,” he ventured after a few seconds of internal deliberation. “Evander summoned us all, not that we minded. Any excuse to get together as a group is welcome, especially now we’re expanding. It feels strange not to socialize with each other when we all live and work in the same damn place.”
“Those pesky schedules,” she replied, deadpan.
“Exactly. Someone mentioned you have an announcement to make.” Mack’s eyes ticked over to Reaux, a knowing gleam in thedepths. “Can I assume it has something to do with the Southern gentleman next to you?”
Oh, it had everything to do with him, she thought; they didn’t know the half of it. “That was the plan, but after seeing Sierra with you and Liam, I wasn’t sure if you had one of your own to make.”
His gaze snapped back to hers. Lowering his voice to the same level as hers, he asked, “What do you know?”
