“And you.” They shook hands. “You have quite a place here.”

“We like it.” Virgil led the way toward the house. “Simon plans to arrange a wilderness trip later this summer. You should come.”

No need to tell him the lure today was a particular gray-eyed submissive. “It would be good to get away from the city more often.” It was true. He’d never allowed himself to become so city-bound before.

“I’m glad you came early enough to join the Masterson portion of the day, before everyone heads up to Serenity Lodge.” Virgil grinned. “This is the first year we’ve added adult games to the fun.”

“I thought the entire town of Bear Flat came to your barbecue. Won’t you have children here?”

“My brother keeps a fenced-off area back in the forest for black-powder rifle tournaments. The children and vanilla adults will stay here and have a war on the lawn, and the kinksters will move to the more private field of battle. Doms versus submissives.”

Xavier had a vision of winning a war with the prize a soft, sweet submissive. One with foggy gray eyes. “That sounds interesting.”

* * *

The Mastersons were amazing. At a picnic table on the enormous deck, Abby ignored the women chatting around her and stared at the kaleidoscope of activity in the wide backyard. She’d been impressed by her parents’ annual anniversary gathering with a hundred or so guests.

The Mastersons’ Fourth of July party included the entire town of Bear Flat.

The red, white, and blue theme ranged from the cups, plates, and table decorations, to cakes and cookies brought by guests, to bunting and streamers on the railings. Down the slope from the house, a tree-lined creek kept children occupied; other youngsters screamed down a waterslide or played soccer. A wading pool and fenced “corral” were surrounded by comfortable chairs for mothers to watch their toddlers. At the tables scattered over the lawn, older guests played poker, board games, or dominoes while hashing over gossip and politics.

“Abby, are you coming to our party tonight?” Rebecca asked. The very pregnant redhead was married to Logan Hunt, one of the brothers who owned the Serenity wilderness lodge up the mountain. Simon said the dungeon play there was the highlight of the trip.

“That’s the plan, I guess.” But who would she know? She glanced at the women. Just Rona and Lindsey? Pregnant Rebecca sure wouldn’t be doing any scenes.

Across the table sat tiny, dark-haired Kallie, wife of Jake, the other Hunt brother. Summer was married to Virgil Masterson, one of the barbecue hosts, and was as fair as Kallie was dark.

“You’re both going?” Abby asked.

“Not me and Virgil.” Summer turned sideways to rub her bare foot on a sprawled-out, half-grown dog. The spaniel closed its eyes in bliss.

Abby sighed. Her renters had been delighted to babysit the puppies, but she missed them already.

“We’ll oversee the adult war games here and call it a night. Virgil doesn’t like public scenes.” Summer pointed at Kallie, who was Virgil’s cousin. “And he never, ever wants to see Kallie playing with Jake. He said he’d have to wash his eyeballs with bleach.”

Kallie choked on her hamburger. “Trust me, the sentiment is mutual.” She grinned at Abby. “Last year Virgil had fits about me dating someone into BDSM.” She dropped her voice to a low growl. “‘Don’t fuck with her, Hunt, or I’ll pitch the badge and beat the shit out of you.’ They even got into a fight on Main Street. Then Virgil goes off and gets his own submissive. Two-faced bastard,” she said lovingly.

Oh, talk about complicated relationships. Taking a sip of her iced tea, Abby added another mental note: Must consider how other “family” dynamics affect a BDSM network. At this rate, she’d have more questions than she did answers.

Hopefully tonight she’d have a chance to scribble out her impressions. She had more late nights in front of her, but she might, might get done in time.

She smiled as the guys around the barbecue burst into laughter. At a table on the grass, two old men were amiably insulting each other over a checkerboard. A child skidded down the waterslide on his chest, screaming in excitement. So many sounds of happiness.

“Don’t worry about tonight.” Rona patted her hand. “Simon and I will watch out for you. Usually about a third of the people are from Dark Haven, and you know them.”

“It’s my first time too,” Lindsey said in her soft Texas drawl.

Kallie smiled. “A couple of people are flying in, and we’ll have the local lifestylers. There’s some good-looking Doms around here if you like the rugged type.”

Abby thought of Xavier. He went past rugged into a deadly sophistication. No, don’t think about him. How would an outside party affect the dynamics of the Dark Haven group? Would a stranger enhance the “family” solidarity or detract from it? “Do the groups interact well together?”

“Pretty much,” Rebecca said. “The locals are less into edgy costumes, but there’s no difference in how people play.”

“Costumes?” Abby’s stomach took a nosedive. “Uh. I’m not sure how to dress. Is this, like, formal fetwear, or a jeans and T-shirt party?”

Rebecca frowned. “Why would any woman wear a T-shirt? Talk about unattractive.”

“It’s Becca’s mission,” Kallie said, “to put women into sexy clothing. She did the same for me last year.”

Becca sniffed. “Before meeting Logan, I dressed like a businesswoman, but he showed me that men enjoy a woman’s curves and how to show them off.”

“Apparently he enjoyed more than just your curves, girl.” Summer lifted an eyebrow at Becca’s eight-months-and-counting stomach.

“Brat.”

“You win.” Abby grinned at Becca. “I’ll donate my T-shirts to charity when I get home.”

“That’s the spirit.” Rubbing her stomach, Becca gave Summer a victorious smirk. “But really, anything you want to wear tonight is fine. If you’re submissive, you probably won’t have much on by the end of the night.”

“Well, see who came for the barbecue,” Rona said, motioning to the right. “I thought he didn’t come to Bear Flat.”

When Abby turned, her heart stuttered to a halt.

With Virgil beside him, Xavier strode across the lawn toward the deck, his gaze on her. He looked…amazing. Dark tan, carved facial features, black jeans worn smooth with use, a western shirt in a subtle dark plaid, and well-worn boots. A black cowboy hat shaded his face and made his eyes unreadable.

He shook hands with Jake Hunt before Simon walked over and said something. Xavier’s smile appeared, and he gave her another long stare before turning back to the men.

“I’ve never seen Xavier look at a woman with that kind of heat. Whew,” Summer said. “Now I understand why Victorian women carried fans.”

“You know him?” Abby asked. “I thought you lived here. With Virgil.”

“I used to live in San Francisco. In fact, I met Virgil at Dark Haven during a western night calf-roping game.”

“Let me guess—you were the calf?”

“Yep.” Summer laughed ruefully. “Xavier, ever so sweetly, handed me over to the one Dom in San Francisco who had ridden rodeo. Virg had me thrown and hog-tied in seconds.”

When the laughter died, Rebecca leaned back, her hands resting on her stomach. “I’ve never seen Xavier except at his club.” She smiled. “Daylight doesn’t diminish him at all, does it?”

Just the opposite, if that was possible. Abby watched the sunshine glow over his dusky coloring, aquiline nose, and strong jaw. He had the most elegant mixture of Native American and European ancestry she’d ever seen. A boy ran up to him, apparently admiring the thick black braid down his back. With a quicksilver smile, Xavier knelt to talk.

How could he appear so approachable yet be so distant with her? “Why is he here?”

“No telling. He’s a puzzle,” Rona said. “But Simon loves him like a brother. And he’s definitely focused on you, honey.” Her lips twitched. “Rebecca, we’ll have to make sure our Abby looks extremely seductive this evening.”

“I…I don’t think he’s interested, but thanks.” Oh heavens, he was headed straight for them. If he yelled at her, she’d burst into tears. She glanced at the door to the house behind her and wondered if she could escape.

XAVIER HAD STOOD for a moment, enjoying the festivities. The mingling of ages, from babies to old ones, reminded him of the parties his mother had taken him to when he’d been young. Then his father had decided his heir shouldn’t be tainted by a Native American heritage and had shipped him off to a European boarding school. His gut clenched. Far in the past, Leduc.

He walked toward the deck, taking in the sight of his pretty summer toy. Her fluffy hair glinted in the sunlight, her cheeks were pink, and the dark red top fit over her full breasts so low and tight that he hardened.

Halfway up the steps, he held his hand out to her. Their conversation needed to be private.

She stared at him, reluctance and pain and something else—almost fear—in her gaze, yet she came to him with a sweet compliance that melted his heart. She stopped one step above him, as if making sure she could run. “I didn’t think you attended these parties.”

Would she rather he hadn’t? Unable to resist, he slid his hands under her shirt and over her bare skin. In the bright light he saw her pupils dilate and her lips redden. She roused so easily to his touch. He intended to rouse her more. Later.

“I wanted to be with you.” The honesty he tried to maintain demanded this acknowledgment.

“Really?” Her surprised expression saddened him. He’d shaken her confidence in herself. Even worse, she didn’t believe him. He framed her face with his hands and held her long enough to give her a hard, claiming kiss in case any men nearby had thoughts. In consideration of the children, he broke off before he wanted.