“Okay, seriously, can someone explain the name thing to me?”Audrey complained with a cute little scowl, looking around at everyone in their circle.“Why are you calling him by spices instead of his name?”
“It’s our call signs,” David explained.“I’m Ginger.Mason is Posh, Drew is Sporty, Claudia is Scary, and Jensen is Baby.”
While he was talking, Brenda, Naomi, and Claudia started to drift away, which made sense, since they all knew this already.He got the impression that Claudia preferred watching Zeus interact from afar.She was headed in Jennifer and Ashley’s direction, both of who were openly watching Zeus and Noelle.Naomi went to join her husband in the dining room, and Brenda made off to the kitchen.
“So, we’re trying out random spices on Zeus until we find one that fits,” Mason chimed in, and was rewarded with a delighted smile and laugh from Audrey.The sound of her laughter made him feel strangely warm inside, especially knowing that he was the reason for it.
Dammit.
He shouldn’t be feeling this way.
He should move away from her.
But that would look rude to Zeus, and he was trying to help Zeus become more a part of the team.
“Why not call him Sexy?Or Spicy?”Noelle suggested, giggling as she leaned into Zeus’ side.This time, he didn’t bother to hide his amusement as he looked down at her.
“I’m okay with never hearing David call me Sexy, actually.”
That made David crack up, which was good.Mason didn’t hold back his laughter, either.Where he and David led, the others would eventually follow.Seeing them laughing at something Zeus said could only help the cause.It didn’t surprise him when he took a quick glance around the space at everyone else, and Lincoln caught his eye and gave him an approving nod.
“Well, I’ll just have to call you that then,” Noelle said, but there was a little edge to her tone which had Mason eyeing her.Zeus didn’t seem to notice.Then again, he was a lot harder to read than most people.
“There was someone else on the team before—I’m blanking on her name right now, Abbey or something—why can’t Zeus use her call sign?”Audrey asked.“Or something like it.”
“No, everyone gets their own call sign.Besides…” Mason glanced at David.He wasn’t sure how much David wanted to reveal about hisotherlife to his sister.Did she know?Would she understand?“Well, there are other reasons for the names, but they’re kind of private.”
As in, the nicknames actually came from the submissives at the BDSM club who had dubbed their group the Spice Doms and given them the names that they’d used for their call signs.Abigail, their former IT person who was now with the NSA, had never been part of the kink scene with them.Though they’d irreverently called her Smarty, which meant that she’d fit in with the general theme.
“I thought the subs at the club called you the Spice Doms and that’s why you have girl names,” Noelle said, her brow furrowing as she looked between Zeus, David, and Mason.“Did I hear wrong?”
“Subs?”Audrey asked, her gaze darting between all of them.Fuck.“Club?”
David tilted his head up toward the ceiling, and Mason got the impression he was doing his best not to glare at Noelle.Because he wouldn’t want to glare at a submissive, even one who had just outed him to his sister.It wasn’t like she’d done it on purpose.She was apparently just terrible at reading the room.
“Oh… was I not supposed to say that?”Innocence dripped from Noelle’s voice as her eyes went wide.She put her hand up in front of her lips.“I’m so sorry, I assumed everyone… well…” She waved her hand around as if that provided her full explanation.
Zeus’ grip tightened around her shoulders as David’s head dropped down to look at her in disbelief.
“Hey, Noelle, let’s go get something to eat.And drink.And then we can have a real quick conversation about privacy and what ‘private’ means,” Zeus said grimly, moving her along before David could snap at her.The fact that Noelle immediately began protesting as he moved her didn’t stop him, but it also didn’t bode well for the relationship.
A girlfriend who couldn’t keep her mouth shut or read the room wasn’t going to be a good match for any of them.
Silence fell in their little corner as Audrey looked between him, David, and Cassidy.
“So, um… subs?I’m assuming she doesn’t mean a kind of boat or a sandwich.Or a teacher.”
Well, great.Exactly the conversation he didn’t want to have with a woman his brain was all too eager to fantasize about.That was exactly how his day was going.
ChapterSix
Audrey
It was clear that asking about subs was making everyone really uncomfortable, and Audrey almost backed off, but she wanted to know what Noelle had meant.Not knowing made her feel left out, like there was some big secret that everyone knew that she didn’t.Even Noelle and Zeus, who didn’t seem to be accepted by everyone in the group, knew.So, why shouldn’t she?
“She’s probably going to find out, eventually,” Cassidy said to David, patting his shoulder sympathetically.“At game night, if not at book club.”
“Find out what?”Audrey wasn’t used to being pushy, but sometimes, a girl just had to know.It didn’t hurt that whatever it was, Mason was obviously involved, too.Maybe it would be something that would turn her off from him, since being engaged to another woman hadn’t fully wiped out her reaction to him.Knowing that their relationship was arranged made some part of her feel like it was okay to be attracted to him, even though if she could make a conscious decision about it, finding out he was engaged would have cut that off cold turkey.
