Euphoria (The Kink Club #3)

Colter

Prologue

C olter met with Crew earlier that day because he said that he had some news about Jace. He just never imagined that it would be that the guy had shown up dead in an alley downtown. Apparently, when Jace went out to get him and Luke some lunch, he stumbled across some old buddies who weren’t so happy to see him. That was why he never went back to the warehouse.

Telling Hugh about Jace was going to be his belated wedding present to him—well, that and the fact that the adoption agency that they were working with had called that morning to tell them that they had been picked by an expectant mother. If everything went well with their meeting, they’d be parents in a few short months, which meant that they had even more planning to do.

Hugh had been putting in extra hours at the bar, revamping the menu with the chef, and was grateful to have him not only as his husband but as a partner at work. Hugh was really good at running the bar and even better with the town’s people. Most of the time, wanted to tell them to either mind their business or go fuck themselves, when they asked too many pushy questions about his and Hugh’s relationship. But Hugh always knew exactly what to say to them, and it usually didn’t have to tell them to fuck off. Tonight, picked up dinner at the diner and was going to surprise Hugh at work. A romantic dinner in his office followed by some hot sex was just what they both needed.

Hugh smiled up at him as he walked through the front door, holding up a bag of food. “You do know that bringing the competition’s food into the bar is a big red flag. What if our new chef sees that?” he asked, nodding to the bag of food.

“Well, if you don’t want this meatloaf, I’ll just toss it into the trash,” offered.

“I never said that I didn’t want it. I’m just telling you to keep it out of sight. Let’s go back to the office and I can tell you all about the menu changes. I think that you’re going to like them,” Hugh insisted.

“I’m sure that I will, but first, I have some news for you,” said. He grabbed Hugh’s hand and tugged him back to the office with him.

“Wow,” Hugh breathed, “you’re in a hurry. What’s the news?”

“Crew called me this morning, and they found Jace,” he said, leaving out the best part.

“Is he in jail?” Hugh asked.

“Nope,” admitted. He pulled the to-go boxes out of the bag and handed Hugh his meatloaf.

“What do you mean, by nope?” he growled. “Did they honestly let him go after he kidnapped me?”

“Nope,” said again.

“Stop fucking with me and tell me what’s going on, ,” Hugh insisted.

“Well, Jace is dead. He was found in a downtown alley,” said.

“What happened?” Hugh asked, taking a bite of his meatloaf and moaning. “Comfort food is the best.” He nodded at to continue, and he sat down next to Hugh.

“Apparently, the day that Crew found you, Jace had left to get him and Luke some food, but instead, he ran into some old friends who weren’t so friendly. He had borrowed money from one of them, and I guess they wanted him to pay up.”

“So, they killed him?” Hugh asked.

“Yep, and I still think that fucker got off easy for what he did to you, babe,” said. Hugh had testified against Luke in court and the judge sentenced him to two consecutive twenty-year terms for aggravated kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon. He wasn’t getting out of prison for a very long time. Hell, he’d probably end up dying there, and that worked for .

“Thank you for that, but I’m just glad that this whole thing is over with, and we can stop looking over our shoulders. We can get back to our lives and hopefully, start a family.” Hugh had given him a perfect in and he decided to jump the gun and get to the really good part of his news.

“Well, that’s actually the perfect segue to what I need to tell you next,” said.

“Please tell me that the adoption agency doesn’t need us to fill out any more paperwork,” Hugh grumbled. It felt as though they had filled out a million forms since deciding to adopt. knew that they had to have everything in order before they just handed them over a baby, but it felt like that might never happen—until today.

“Nope, no more forms,” he said. “The agency called, and they have a mother they want us to meet. She picked us out and if all goes well, we might just have a baby in the next few months,” said. Hugh practically tossed down his container of food and pulled in for a bear hug.

“We’re going to be fathers,” he said.

“I know, and I have to admit that now that it’s all so real, I’m nervous as hell,” admitted.

“You shouldn’t be,” Hugh said. “I’ve seen how good you are with the kittens,” he said.

barked out his laugh. “I’m pretty sure that kittens aren’t the same as babies, babe,” he teased. “And when we meet the birth mother, how about if you don’t mention that? She might not take too kindly to us comparing the baby with kittens.”

“Right, but what I meant by that was you’re extremely compassionate, and loving. You’ll do great with our kid. He or she will be lucky to have you as a dad.”

“Thanks for saying that, babe,” whispered. “Our kid is going to be lucky to have you as a dad, too.” He pulled Hugh in for a quick kiss and released him.

“Well, you were full of all kinds of good news tonight,” Hugh teased.

“I couldn’t wait to come down here to tell you. Hell, just waiting for our food to be ready practically killed me,” admitted.

“Is that all you came down here for?” Hugh asked. didn’t miss the way that his gaze heated. He knew that look. His guy was always topping from the bottom to get his way, and tonight was no different.

“I like the way you think,” whispered. He put his container of food back into the bag and pulled Hugh down for a kiss. He knew that he’d never get tired of kissing or loving his new husband. It was almost crazy that the employee he invited into his home had so quickly become his whole world—and now, they were going to be a family. was sure that he couldn’t ask for anything more than he had already been given when Hugh dipped his hands into his sweatpants, making him forget all the sappy shit that was running through his mind. Yeah, his guy knew exactly what he was doing, and was going to love every minute with Hugh.

The End

What’s coming next from K.L. Ramsey? You won’t want to miss Spade (Road Reapers Book 3)