Devotion (Club Destiny #7) Read online

  Devotion

  A Club Destiny Novel

  Nicole Edwards

  Copyright © 2013 by Nicole Edwards

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher. This book may not be resold or redistributed without the express consent of the author.

  Devotion – A Club Destiny Novel is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Image by:

  © Claudio Ventrella www.123rf.com

  © ensup www.123rf.com

  Because you asked for it…

  Devotion (Club Destiny, #5)

  Is a follow up on the life of Luke McCoy, Sierra Sellers, and Cole Ackerley from Temptation, Club Destiny #2. If you have NOT read Temptation, please do so before reading this book. This book also contains information regarding the characters from the other books within the series and may contain spoilers if you intend to read them.

  With that said,

  There has been an overwhelming interest in understanding how these characters moved on with a normal life and how they are living in a ménage. As much as I’d like to tell you that their lives were just rainbows and butterflies after they accepted their love for one another, I can’t. Although Sierra is the lifeline for both of these men, they have a deep, desperate love for one another. For two highly complex, extremely alpha men, this isn’t necessarily an easy thing for them to embrace. One thing they aren’t willing to sacrifice is their devotion to one another.

  Enjoy!

  ~Nic~

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Part One

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Part Two

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Part Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty One

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  Travis: Chapter One

  Dedication

  To Denise.

  I’m not sure what I would do without your daily inspiration.

  Prologue

  With a sigh, Luke leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. He needed a haircut. For weeks now, he felt as though he’d been running in circles with absolutely no relief projected anywhere in the near future, which meant he probably would be going another week before he could pencil in the time to do something that mundane.

  At the moment, he was sitting in his newly designed office, running through his inventory list, waiting patiently for Trent Ramsey to show up and shower him with the same shit he’d been dishing out for the last couple of weeks. Seemed like that’s what the man lived for these days.

  Between Trent and his desire to ensure that the Walker brothers didn’t show them up with their fancy new resort – his exact words – and the fact that Sierra had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for the better part of the last five weeks, Luke was damned close to losing his mind. Despite his minor blow up at the doctor, both she and Sierra had assured him that it was common. Nothing to worry about.

  Right.

  Every single morning, Luke woke up, practically wired for sound, unable to sit still as he waited for the other shoe to drop. Although everyone seemed to think he wanted their praise for his new outlook on life, he was getting a little irritated by everyone’s concern. Shit, it would be easier if he just went back to being the ornery asshole they expected him to be.

  Except he couldn’t. Not anymore.

  Despite his frazzled nerves, Luke woke up every morning with a smile on his face. It was hard not to when the first thing he saw most of the time was Sierra’s beautiful face. The second thing he saw was Cole’s sexy smirk, and he’d be damned if he didn’t know which one was better. Nor was he sure why he forced himself to get out of bed when he’d much rather spend the day there with them.

  But he did and here he was. Although he was quite agitated by the long days, he found it difficult to be in a bad mood. Even Trent wasn’t able to leave a dark cloud in his day, although the man was trying pretty damned hard. Or so it seemed. Trent was pushing his limits and quite frankly, Luke felt as though he deserved some credit. After all, he hadn’t killed him yet.

  Today, they were supposed to meet to discuss the possibility of taking Club Destiny in a decidedly different direction. The thing was, Luke wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea. With the club currently up in the air as far as which direction it would take, he was willing to listen to suggestions. With both Sierra and Cole backing whatever decision he made, Luke felt as though he needed to give them some sort of security when it came to the future of the club.

  Only he didn’t have a fucking clue what that was going to be.

  The vibration of his cell phone on his desk made him growl. If Trent decided to stand him up one more time…

  “What?” he barked into the phone without looking at the caller id.

  “Luke?”

  “Baby?” Luke panicked from the strained tone of Sierra’s soft voice. He’d been preparing for this phone call and without her even saying anything, he knew. “Are you ok?”

  “That depends,” she said, and this time he heard the smile in her voice.

  “On?”

  “Whether or not you’re ready to be a daddy.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” Luke growled the words and stormed out of his office at a flat out run.

  He was halfway down the stairs to the main floor before he realized he didn’t have his keys. Or his wallet. Shit. Or his phone. Wait. Phone was on his ear.

  Halting mid step, and damn near face planting down the remaining steps, Luke abruptly turned, grabbing hold of the railing to keep from falling. Running back to his office, he snatched his keys and wallet off of his desk and headed the opposite direction once again.

  “Where are you?”

  “Cole is taking me to the hospital,” she said sweetly, although he could hear the hint of discomfort she was clearly trying to hide. “You might want to hurry.”

  At least she didn’t have to question whether he was going to be there. For the last week, he’d been going over the plan – which they both tried to tell him there wasn’t one. Since he insisted on at least one of them being with her until the baby was born, Luke felt a little better. Not much, but a little.

  “Baby, I’m on my way now. Don’t hang up.” Luke was descending the steps two at a time, sending
up a quick prayer that he didn’t break his neck, unable to focus on anything except the woman breathing in his ear. “How far apart are the contractions?” he asked.

  Contractions. It was almost laughable that he even knew what those were, but thanks to the Lamaze classes he attended with Sierra and Cole, he was well aware. More knowledgeable than he ever imagined he would be.

  “Three minutes,” she replied, and Luke heard Cole’s voice in the background.

  “Kane!” Luke bellowed as he turned toward the back entrance. “I’m on my way to the hospital! If Trent shows up, tell him I’ll call him later.”

  “Shit!” Kane’s voice echoed through the cavernous bar behind him as he disappeared down the short hallway that would lead to the parking garage.

  “Baby, are you there?” Luke asked once he was inside the truck. As he fishtailed onto the main road just a minute later, Sierra’s deep breaths filled the interior of his truck through the Bluetooth speaker.

  “I’m here,” she whispered. “Please hurry, Luke.”

  “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  Or two more contractions.

  Holy fucking shit! Any minute now, he was going to be a dad!

  No one ever bothered to clue him in to the fact that minutes rarely factored into childbirth.

  Ten long hours later, Luke was standing at the hospital nursery, staring at the beautiful baby girl lying in one of the newborn bassinets on the other side of the glass partition.

  “Damn, bro. It’s a good thing that little girl looks like her momma.” Logan’s laugh echoed through the hall. His brother’s firm grip on his shoulder shook him slightly, and Luke smiled at his attempt at humor.

  “I was thinkin’ the same thing,” Tag added, standing on the other side of Cole.

  Luke glanced over at Cole who was standing next to him, smiling as he did. He looked about the same as Luke felt. Bewildered. Amazed. There were a shitload of adjectives that could be used to describe it, but no matter what, Luke was happy.

  “Shouldn’t you be taking care of your wife?” Luke asked, his gaze once again fixated on the tiny body wrapped in a pink blanket just a few feet away on the other side of the protective glass panel.

  “What do you mean by ‘take care of’?” Logan smirked. “We already had to find a way to pass the time for a few hours.”

  “Nope. Don’t want to hear it,” Luke said with a growl that quickly morphed into a laugh. Shit, even Logan couldn’t get under his skin today.

  The warmth of Cole’s shoulder against his was a lifeline that Luke found himself hanging onto. Ever since the phone call the previous day, he’d been going a little crazy. Watching Sierra in so much pain wasn’t what Luke considered a good time by any stretch of the imagination. He quickly learned that the nurses weren’t all that fond of him barking out orders either. Although, Sierra seemed to take it all in stride. How, he had no idea.

  Between her and Cole, they’d managed to keep him from going insane, albeit barely. Since the doctor finally announced that it was time, Luke’s heart hadn’t stopped pounding. Even now, as he stared at the precious little dark haired girl sleeping so soundly just a few feet away, his chest continued to ache. In a good way.

  “You hanging in there?” Cole’s voice was lowered, although Luke knew Tag and Logan heard every word.

  “Yeah. You?”

  “Barely,” Cole whispered. “It’s still a little surreal.”

  Leave it to Cole to be honest with what he was feeling. That was something Luke was still working on.

  “Is she as perfect as she looks?” Luke asked, not intending for the words to come out.

  “She is,” Cole reassured him and their hands touched, their fingers linking together between them as they both stood in awe.

  “Like I said, just like her momma.” Logan once again chimed in, but this time he sounded just as awed as Luke felt.

  “So, what’s it feel like to be an uncle?” Luke asked Tag and Logan, not directing the question at either one specifically.

  “It feels like I’m gonna get to give you a hard time about a lot more now. A girl, huh? I hope she gives you two a run for your money.”

  Luke didn’t spare Logan a glance, but he laughed anyway. Yeah, he was pretty sure they were going to have their hands full with this one. If Sierra’s personality was anything to go by, then their little girl was going to be spunky and wild. And Logan was right about one thing, she certainly looked like her mother with her pretty blue eyes and dark hair.

  Then again, he’d overheard Sam and Ashleigh talking, and there was a very strong possibility that she might just look like her daddy after all. According to them, dark hair and blue eyes were exceedingly common for babies.

  They’d just have to wait and see.

  Part One

  Chapter One

  Seven weeks earlier…

  Reluctant wasn’t a strong enough word to describe Cole’s feeling about tonight.

  Did he want Sierra going with them? No, not really.

  Did he have much of a say in the matter? No. And there wasn’t a not really about it either.

  Sierra was adamant that Luke and Cole take her to the club. According to her, if Sam was getting to see it, she was going no matter what they said. Needless to say, he and Luke had lost that battle.

  And here they were walking down the narrow corridor that would lead them to the very private, very secret fetish club. The same one that was supposed to be closed down entirely. It would be too if it weren’t for the fact that Luke was trying to get a decent feel for what the Walkers intended to do with their resort. Since Travis hadn’t been able to outline what he was planning to do with the two clubs that were supposed to be inside the walls of the super exclusive resort, Luke had offered to give them a tour.

  Considering Cole hadn’t been there since he met Sierra, he wasn’t exactly sure what they’d see. With a majority of the members now relieved of their contractual obligation, he wasn’t expecting much. He couldn’t say he was disappointed about it either.

  Worst case scenario, some of the few remaining members would be in attendance and having a grand time putting on a show for the few people that would likely be there.

  At least Cole wasn’t going to have to worry about anything getting too far out of hand. Although Sierra had been quite adamant that she not get left out of the tour, he could tell by looking at her that she wasn’t feeling well. As the baby continued to develop, Sierra was overcome by exhaustion easily these days, which meant their evenings out usually ended early. He didn’t expect tonight to be much different.

  “You feeling all right?” Cole asked Sierra, his hand sliding protectively against her lower back as he walked beside her down the corridor that would lead them to the double doors into the club.

  “A little tired, but yes, I’m fine.” Her sweet smile told him she wasn’t telling him the whole truth, but then again, Sierra did her best not to worry them. Sometimes she overdid it, just to avoid their concern. Especially Luke’s.

  Since they had already endured an hour and a half at dinner, Cole knew Sierra wasn’t going to want to be out much longer. Not only would she be getting tired, but she had been complaining that her feet were bothering her. He could only imagine. It seemed as though in the last couple of weeks, the baby had gotten significantly bigger.

  However, because Luke was required to be here, and Sierra’s curiosity was going to easily trump her discomfort, Cole had resigned himself to the outing. So far it had been interesting, especially listening to Travis Walker and his recent, and not so minor, changes to the resort. Since the conversation started, Luke and Logan hadn’t weighed in, but Cole knew they were probably cataloging every word. It seemed as though Travis was seeking input, but his brothers had been all the support he needed by the time dinner was over.

  Having dinner with seven extremely outgoing, distinctly different brothers, was entertaining in itself and Cole found himself laughing on more than one occas
ion at the banter between them. Having grown up an only child until Tag’s father married Cole’s mother – after he had moved out on his own – he didn’t have any experience with that type of sibling interaction. Again, interesting was a fairly decent description.

  As they walked inside the club, most of the others stopped immediately to observe their surroundings, leaving Cole and Sierra wandering behind them. As he watched the intrigue on their faces, he couldn’t help but wonder what the outcome was going to be for their club. Being that Luke abruptly closed the doors a short time ago, there’d been little discussion about reopening them. Well, at least not without some significant changes.

  Without a vested interest, apart from being in a permanent relationship with Luke, Cole wasn’t sure what he hoped would happen. Initially, he’d thought that Luke would have more free time, but that didn’t seem to be the case. In fact, Luke was probably spending more time at Club Destiny than before he closed the doors. It was clear that the current situation was weighing heavily on Luke’s mind. No matter how much he and Sierra tried to reassure Luke that they would stand beside him on any decision he made, it was clear Luke had some concerns.

  They did seem to be making some progress on the inclusion factor though. Luke was insisting that both he and Sierra provide their input, and he wasn’t at all tolerant of their evasiveness.

  Since the three of them were lovers, partners in every sense of the word, it was a no-brainer that they’d support Luke, but other than that, they wouldn’t be able to persuade him to make a decision either way. They knew it, and Luke knew it. Luke was going to do what he wanted to do. That’s the way Luke was. One of the many reasons Cole loved him. Unconditionally.

  As the group began to break up, Cole remained with Sierra, keeping an eye on her as she began venturing through the club slowly. She didn’t try to keep up with Sam, and Cole noticed that Ashleigh had taken off in another direction with Alex, likely looking for some interesting fodder for one of her upcoming novels. If anyone would benefit from the visit, Cole had no doubt it would be her.