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“I’m sure it will be the highlight of my day, Sir.”
“Minx.”
Saul rolled his eyes as they kissed, averting his gaze to Caera’s face. It was true that their merry band of kinksters was growing up. Some of the original members were on the brink of a new and fascinating stage of life—marriage, family, adulting on the next level—but it was a relief that fresh blood kept trickling in to keep Avalon alive.
Both he and Thane were an extension of the group, and he was sure that over time, there would be more. The club was more than sex and domination. It was a hub, a central point where family and friendship were the heart.
Caera blinked at him.
This was his heart. The light armful of woman finding her way in the world, unaware of what it could give her. A woman who was slowly becoming more confident in herself, less afraid of the unknown, and who was absolutely the last woman he could imagine touching, tasting, loving.
Before Saul could speak, Caera cleared her throat quietly. Her mouth tipped up at the corners, a tired smile in progress. “I think you forgot something Sir.”
“Oh really?”
Her hand popped out from beneath the blanket to knuckle her eye. “You left it in.”
Saul tilted her head back, kissing both her cheeks, then the tip of her nose, before claiming her pouty mouth still wearing that smile. “I did. I like knowing you can feel it, a tangible reminder of what we did here tonight.” His forehead touched hers. “I’ll take it out before we get home.”
“Do you have to?”
“Well, yes, at some point. Just rest for now.” He tugged the blanket up, studying her eyes and watching the storm come rolling in. “I love you, Caera. Do you know how proud I am right now?”
She sniffled. “No.”
“So proud, bunny,” he murmured in her ear. “I know you’re feeling like we did something wrong, that you can’t understand it, but that’s normal. Think of it like flying really high then crashing. Cry for as long as you need to, we’re not going anywhere for a while.”
She stared at him. Stared and stared until he saw her figure out the missing piece in the puzzle. Once that clicked into place and she realized he wasn’t bullshitting her, the tears formed quickly, escaping in fat drops down her cheeks.
He rocked her slowly, uncaring that their friends were gravitating back to the pit after their own scenes. He would stay here all night if he had to, because as far as he was concerned, this was only just the beginning.
The beginning of everything.
Epilogue
Halloween Night
“So, you finally decided to come out of hiding.”
Saul clamped his hands over Caera’s ears and glared at her brother. They hadn’t even made it to the bar before being ambushed by the blond assassin. “We haven’t been hiding, jackass. I double-booked a couple of deadlines, and Caera’s been busy with Beryl at the bookstore. It’s been easier to scene at home, building her confidence in private.”
Jasper lifted his eyebrow. “Mmm-hmm. You’re telling me it has nothing to do with the fact I’ve been calling you every day? Perhaps you missed the messages, the emails, the friendly knock on your front door?”
“Busy,” Saul repeated cheerfully, then released Caera’s ears. “Bunny, why don’t you go see Liam and ask him for our usual drinks? I’ll meet you in the pit in a minute.”
To his surprise, she didn’t skip away. Eyes narrowed, she turned to shoot both him and Jasper a narrow-eyed, suspicious glare. “No. I know what this is about, and I think we should deal with it now before everyone arrives and makes things awkward.”
“How the hell do you know?” he demanded, trying to ignore how fucking sexy she looked in her outfit. They hadn’t been able to find a cute costume for Halloween, so what she was wearing was more like Mistress Bunny.
“There’s a strong possibility I might have listened to the messages on the answering machine,” she replied warily, watching his palm. “Dominic and Rita have disappeared completely, right? Gone without a trace, causing pain and mayhem wherever they are.”
It was a good job they’d decided to come to Avalon early, Saul thought in exasperation. He wasn’t entirely sure that Jasper’s personal project didn’t fall under classified data.
“Jasper and Atticus want to advertise the fact that I’m still alive through the criminal channels in the hopes that Dominic will hear about it and be tempted to come home for me.” She folded her arms over the black corset, sighing softly. “Or that Rita will be angry enough to come kill me herself.”
“We won’t let it come to that, Caera,” Jasper assured her.
Saul scowled. “No, we won’t, because it’s not happening.”
