Devotion (Club Destiny #5)(92)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“I guess that’s our cue,” Luke said, taking Cole’s hand and pulling him toward the front of the group of at least one hundred people gathered around.

“My name is Sierra, and many of you have already met my husbands – Luke McCoy and Cole Ackerley. If you haven’t, well, then I’m not exactly sure how you got in here tonight.”

The group laughed at Sierra’s joke. Cole went to stand on one side of Sierra while Luke stood proudly on the other. He couldn’t help but wonder how this turn of events had come about. If he remembered correctly, he’d insisted he not be brought forward to have to address anyone. If someone needed to speak publicly, Cole was more than happy to hand the mic over to the famous actor who seemed to enjoy being in the spotlight.

“First of all, I’d like to welcome you all. I hope you’ve had a chance to look around, you know, if that’s your thing.”

Another round of laughter.

“In any case, if you haven’t, I urge you to. My husbands have put a lot of themselves into this place, and I’m so very proud of what they’ve accomplished. Many of you might not realize it, but this club is like a second child to us. A lot of blood, sweat, and yes, tears have gone into this place.

“Tonight is all about giving you a glimpse into what it is like to live our lifestyle and the various other lifestyles you might not be familiar with. The three of us have spent the better part of the last year learning to live openly in a ménage and quite frankly, not one of us was quite equipped for what that meant when we went into this.”

Cole listened intently, suddenly confused as to the description of their relationship. They didn’t make a habit of sharing the most intimate aspects of their lives and quite frankly, he’d have been just fine with a brief name introduction.

“We knew that we loved one another. Knew that we were devoted to one another. We even knew that we wanted to have children together, but as you can imagine, it hasn’t been a smooth road the entire time.

“This is one of the reasons we opted to add some variety to our club that, if you were a member of Club Destiny, you wouldn’t have seen. It isn’t just the ménage lifestyle that people don’t understand; however, it is one that the three of us are intimately familiar with.

“Which brings me to the reason that I am standing up here before you tonight, introducing you to my husbands.”

Cole glanced down at Sierra again at her reference. His heart was beating wildly in his chest.

“I’ve had the honor of meeting several of you who are much more familiar with what we go through on a daily basis, and it was during these conversations that I’ve learned a lot about options.”

Cole stared down at her confused, his expression mirroring Luke’s almost perfectly. He had no idea where Sierra was going with this. By now he expected their introductions to be complete and for them to be standing back watching someone else in the spotlight.

“As you can tell by the complete look of shock on their faces, neither one of them has a clue where I’m going with this. Since I know all of you are probably ready to get on with the evening, I’m going to ask for your attention for just a few more minutes.”

Cole glanced up at Luke, their eyes meeting over Sierra’s head. What the hell was she talking about?

Sierra turned, putting her back to the crowd as she faced both of them at the same time.

“I know that the two of you weren’t expecting this, but I need you both to listen to me for just a minute,” Sierra said seriously, and Cole’s heart pounded even harder than before. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to make him have a panic attack right here in front of all these people.

~~*~~

Luke stood as still as he could in front of all of his guests who were giving the three of them their undivided attention. It was eerie, to say the least.

Sierra’s smile was bright, and the sheen of tears in her eyes put him on edge. One thing he couldn’t handle was when Sierra cried. His heart broke each and every time it happened and now, standing before her, completely unaware of what she was doing, he felt as though he was about to have a heart attack.

Thankfully, she handed the microphone off to Sam, who handed her something in return, but Luke could only make out that one of the items was a sheet of paper. Great. Maybe she’d prepared a speech.

“It’s not a secret that I’m not the dominant one in this relationship,” Sierra said with a huge smile. “In fact, I’ve always willingly handed the control over to one or both of you, and I happen to prefer it that way. However, I needed to make a stand, and this was the only way that I could come up with.”