A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

Chapter 7

Deacon let himself into Rayna's hotel suite using the key card she had given him before she had slipped out of his room early that morning. "Good mornin', ladies." He greeted the two women in his life.

Maddie sat in bed eating a huge stage of pancakes and Rayna was sitting in an armchair going over paperwork.

"Morning, Deacon." Maddie returned the greeting after she had swallowed.

"Hey, Deacon." Rayna said in passing before turning her attention back to whatever it was she'd been reading.

"What are you studying so carefully?" He asked.

"Jeff had a contract sent over and I'm making sure that he stuck to his guns and did what he said he was going to do. I've read over it three times and I don't see a problem with it. I faxed a copy to my lawyers just to be sure, but I think that we are in the clear." Rayna replied.

"Then how 'bout you put that down and get some food in you?" He suggested.

"Yeah that sounds good. Here you can look it over now too, partner." Rayna handed him the document and headed for the room service cart. "I went ahead and ordered for you. I know what you like."

"Thanks, but we both know that you're better off lettin' your lawyers handle this than askin' me a damn thing 'bout it." He put the contract down.

"That's the amended contract you need to sign it too for it to be viable. I wasn't playing around with you when I told you that we are equal partners. I had Jeff put the contract in both our names." She retorted.

"And when the lawyers get done lookin' at it and give it the all clear I'll sign it. Until then it just reads like a bunch of gibberish to me." He argued.

"Maddie, put your headphones in. I'm about to fight with your father and I don't want you to hear it." Rayna ordered her daughter.

"Ray, just calm down no one is fightin' here. Especially not in front of her with the way we fight. We are gonna do this as partners like we have our whole career. I just wanna make sure that we aren't gettin' screwed before I sign anythin'. I still don't feel entirely comfortable takin' half of this from you. This is somethin' that you have worked so hard for." He ran his hand over his beard agitatedly.

"You should have thought about that before you sold off your guitars to not only buy my masters, but to put seed money into the label." She made his plate for him out of habit.

"I did think long and hard 'bout that. And I told you it was worth it just to see the smile on your face when you told Jeff to go get fucked." He replied.

"Deacon, language," Rayna pointed with her eyes to Maddie.

"Sorry, it slips out sometimes I can't help it." Deacon apologized sheepishly.

"Ok, here is what we are gonna do. You two are gonna finish up breakfast and head back to Nashville. I'm gonna stay behind and do some promotional stuff with Luke for this song. Deacon, I need you to turn around and come right back as soon as you drop Maddie off, because this is your song too." Rayna laid down the law.

"Or how about this? We ask ol' Wheels Up if we can't borrow his private jet to fly this one home. Tandy or Teddy can pick her up at the airport and I can stay behind too." He suggested.

"That's actually a pretty good idea. Just let me give Luke a call I'm sure he won't have a problem with that." Rayna smiled at him.

After they got Maddie squared away and on Luke's plane headed back to Nashville Rayna and Deacon sat around in her hotel room. They had checked him out of his room. It didn't make any sense for them to have two rooms if they were just going to end up in bed together anyway.

"So, partner, now that we don't have prying ears in the room we can talk about what your role with the label is gonna be." Rayna broached the subject.

"I'm perfectly ok with bein' a silent partner." Deacon replied.

"Yeah, that's not gonna fly. Either you pick a job or I pick for you." She laid down the law.

"I'll take talent scout or head of A and R or artist liaison whatever you wanna call me that keeps me involved, but as far out of the limelight as possible." He came to a compromise that he liked.

"That could work very well. I could be the brains and you could be the charm and part of the talent. My first official act as your partner is signing you as one of our acts." She told him in a way that left no room for argument.

"That gives us a grand total of what three or four? Scarlett, Will, me, and you? Are you and I doin' our own thing or are we joinin' forces again?" He questioned.

"Hmm, that is a very good question and one that we can decide later." She crawled into his lap and pulled his glasses off of him. She began peppering hot kisses along his jawline.

"And just what do you think you're doin'?" He grinned.

"I'm seducing my partner. Let me know when it's working." She replied her voice barely above a whisper.

"From where you're sittin' right now I'm pretty sure you can tell how well that's workin' out for you." He could feel his erection growing harder against her by the second. It screamed to be let loose from it's denim confines.

"Mmm, I do feel that and it feels pretty damn good." She reached her hand between them and gave his bulge a squeeze.

He moaned deep in his chest. After all these years she still knew just what to do to get to him.

"Well, I'm just gonna have to somethin' bout that. I can't have you goin' off to do this promo stuff with a tent in your jeans. I don't want any other woman gettin' any ideas about havin' her way with what's mine." Her southern accent got much more pronounced when she was trying to be sexy with him. She pulled his shirt over his head and kissed her way down his chest.

She undid his belt and pulled it out of the loops before throwing it across the room. She popped the button on his jeans and unzipped them slowly. She could already feel the heat radiating off of his pulsing hard cock.

He lifted his hips to help her get his jeans and boxers off. His heart thumped a bass line inside of his chest and his breath quickened in anticipation.

She took his throbbing dick into her hand and stroked it teasingly. She could feel every vein and ridge in his shaft. She kissed the head before flicking her tongue out a licking away a drop of pre come that had formed. "Mmm, baby, you still taste so good." She looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

"You're killin' me here, babe." His voice came out as a whine.

"Just be patient and I promise that this will be worth your while." She took the head into her mouth and sucked on it hard. She moved down the rest of his lengthy shaft licking and slurping until her nose was touching his pubic bone. She worked her throat muscles over him expertly making him writhe and groan out in ecstasy.

He tangled his fingers up in her long tresses and pulled just hard enough to cause her a little discomfort. "Fuck!" his curse was torn between pain and pleasure as she raked her teeth over the sensitive skin of his dick.

She sucked him until she felt that he was close to the edge and then she pulled off of him with an audible pop.

"No, no, baby. What are you doin'?" He was confused and just a little pissed that she hadn't let him finish.

"Normally I don't mind swallowin' your come one little bit, but today I have somewhere else I rather it go." She slowly stripped out of her clothes putting on a show for him to bring him back from the brink.

First she took her shirt off and tossed it to the floor. Next she took her time pulling her jeans down her long toned legs before she kicked them off.

Deacon watched his eyes glued to her every movement he didn't want to miss one second of this.

She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. She removed it and dangled it from one finger before it too hit the floor. The last thing to go were her panties. She turned her back to him and pulled them down giving him a fantastic view of her perfect heart shaped ass. She went over to the bed and lay down on her back with her legs spread.

She ran one of her hands between her legs and stopped briefly to tease her clit with the tips of her fingers. She slipped two fingers inside her soaking wet pussy before she brought them up to her mouth and sucked on them. "Freakin' Deacon, you better get over here and do your job before I take care of myself without you." She ran her red tongue across her perfect lips.

It was a little known fact, but she had been the one to give him the nickname Freakin' Deacon because of the way he fucked. It had nothing to do with his guitar playing. The nickname had stuck when one of the band members had overheard her refer to him as that at practice one day. She'd had to lie quickly and say that it was because of the way he played guitar.

He didn't need a second invitation. He was on top of her in a flash. He pushed his impressive sized cock into her to the hilt quickly. He bit his lip when he heard her moan out in both pain and pleasure. They both knew that what they were doing today wasn't making love it wasn't even screwing the only the thing it could be classified as was hate sex. She was mad a him for selling his guitars to help her. And he was pissed that she was forcing him to be her partner in Highway 65. He would never intentionally seriously hurt her, but he knew what her boundaries were and how much she could take.

She drug her nails down his back leaving long angry scratches in their wake. Two could play at this game. She smirked when she heard him cuss. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of making her moan when he started to grind against her clit without actually thrusting. She knew this was because he was letting her get use to the length and girth of his monster cock. He was by far the most well endowed partner she'd ever had not that she had much to compare him to. She'd only ever been with him and Teddy, but boy could she tell the difference. Deacon filled her in ways that Teddy could never dream of. Thinking about it now part of the reason her marriage had failed was because she spent entirely too much time comparing Teddy to Deacon and even though Teddy was the sober dependable one he never measured up.

When he was sure that she was as comfortable as she was going to get he started thrusting into her as hard as he could. He knew that she could take it and what's more he knew that she loved it when he got a little rough with her. He bit down hard on the junction of her neck and her collarbone in hope's of leaving his mark there. Once he was satisfied that his work there was done he smirked down at her. He knew how bad she hated it when he left hickeys on her.

She grabbed the back of his hair and pulled as hard as she could exposing his neck to her. She bit and sucked until she left a huge purple hickey right in a spot that would be damn near impossible for him to cover up using just the collar of his shirt. She moved her hips in time with his keeping pace with his every thrust.

He nibbled on her earlobe and whispered huskily. "That's it, baby, fuck that hot little pussy on my cock. You know how much I love it when you show me how much you want me." He moaned loudly when she purposely clamped her inner walls down around his dick as hard as she could making it damn near impossible for him to thrust. He reached between them and skated the pad of his thumb over her clit. He knew her well enough to know that she was just as close to the edge of orgasm as he was.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and shoved her tongue into his mouth. She bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood and then she kissed it away.

He stared deep into her eyes as the rocking motion of his hips and his thumb continued to bring them both closer to the edge. "Let go, baby, I'm right here. Come for me. I want you to come hard and I'll be right behind you." He murmured against her lips, but there was no mistaking the commanding tone in his voice.

She didn't need to be told twice. Her climax raced through her body like a freight train leaving the station. She was only vaguely aware of when he let go and started to shoot his load into her.

They both lay in the middle of the bed a hot, panting, sweaty mess for a few moments before either of them could form words.

Rayna reached over and slapped his chest playfully. "You left a hickey on me you, asshole. Now I'm gonna have to get makeup to cover that up before this photo shoot." There was no real heat behind her words though.

"You left a hickey on me too that I'm damn sure gonna have to get makeup to cover, because there ain't no damn way my shirt collar is gonna hide it." Deacon smacked her ass playfully.

"Speaking of that photo shoot I need to go shower before we are both late." She leaned over and pecked his lips before walking naked into the bathroom.

He waited until he heard the water start running in the shower to make his move. He got up off the bed and followed her into the bathroom. He climbed into the shower behind her without giving it a second thought.

"And just what the hell do you think you're doing?" She turned to glare at him as she felt his still hard cock poking into her back.

He put one of his feet between hers to spread her legs and bent her over slightly. "That out there was hate sex. I figured that we needed a little makeup sex too." The head of his dick was already at her entrance before she could say anything or make a move to stop him not that she would have if she could.

Instead she pushed back on him taking his entire length into her again with a loud moan. She put her hands on the shower wall to keep her balance and rocked her hips back and forth against him. He reached around to play with her nipples while she reached down to rub her clit. This time it didn't take them more than five minutes before they reached climax together. Afterwards they took turns washing each other lovingly making sure not to miss a single spot. That of course led to her sucking him off one more time and to him down on his knees licking her clit until she exploded against his tongue.

By some miracle they managed to make it to the photo shoot in time.

"With you two I ain't even gonna ask." Luke shook his head both amusedly and knowingly.

"Then you're smarter than you look, Wheeler." Deacon laughed and clapped him on his back.

Luke took one look at him and saw the huge purple hickey on his neck. "God's sake, Deacon. Have someone in makeup do somethin' bout that damn thing on your neck. It looks like you got skin cancer. You must've pissed her off real good. From what I remember from the good ol' days you two always did look like that after you had a big round."

"I know. I'm already on it, Luke." Deacon assured him.

"Damn it, son of a bitch." Rayna cussed as she tried to get her jeans to button and they just wouldn't cooperate. She didn't understand it she had just wore them the week before and they had fit her perfectly. She was in a dressing room. She was living up to her part of the agreement to help promote Ball and Chain. She had met Luke at his tour stop in Charleston just to preform the song with him.

Deacon couldn't make it because he had a show to play at the Bluebird that he couldn't back out of.

She gave up on that pair of jeans and grabbed another off the wardrobe rack and she had the same problem with getting them buttoned as she had with the first. "What the fuck?" She was hit with a pang of grief once again. She could understand if this were happening because she were still pregnant, but she'd lost that baby and there was no other reason she could think of that her jeans wouldn't be fitting her right. Unless of course she was getting ready to start her period which was a real possibility and that only made her sadder.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she again thought about the baby she had lost. Things between her and Deacon seemed to be getting better everyday and even though he didn't say the words she knew that he had forgiven her and now he was just making her suffer for a little bit longer. Running Highway 65 together was one of the best things that could have happened for them. It forced them to interact everyday and do more than just have sex or talk about Maddie. Sure they still hadn't addressed her lie, but they would get to that in time.

It had only been a couple of weeks and already he'd proven himself to be a very adept talent scout. He'd found three acts that they were currently courting and hoping to sign to the label. He also wasn't a bad acting head of A and R. Between him and Bucky they were doing one hell of a job of promoting both Will and Scarlett. It helped that they were both on big name national tours. Will with Juliette and Scarlett with Luke.

Finally, after the third pair of jeans she couldn't get into she grabbed a pair off of the rack that was reserved for Deacon's clothes. This pair she got into without a problem. He was tall, but so was she any excess length in the legs would be taken care of by her boots. This was far from the first time she had had to repurpose his clothing for her own use. Back in the days when they were just starting out and broke she used to take his clothes all the time and add rhinestones and jewels to them to make them more feminine. Tonight it didn't make much of a difference though. No one would really be paying attention to what she was wearing on her lower half.

She wore a gauzy low cut white peasant shirt with laces on it. It showed off her more than ample cleavage. Speaking of her cleavage her boobs were kind of sensitive and her nipples were sore another sure sign that she was getting ready to start her period. It was a miracle with all the unprotected sex that she and Deacon had been having lately that she hadn't ended up pregnant again. Maybe that was something that just wasn't meant to be. Maybe they'd had their shot and missed it by a mile and now they would just have to settle for finishing raising Maddie together.

"Hey, pretty lady, it's 'bout show time. You ready for a change?" Luke stuck his head into her dressing room after knocking on the door.

"Yeah, I'm all ready to go for when you need me." Rayna wiped the tears from her eyes and plastered her best fake smile on her face.

"Rayna, what's wrong?" He could tell just from the way she was acting that something wasn't right and he hadn't missed the tears in her eyes.

"It's nothing, Luke, I'm fine. I'll be good to go on I promise." She swore to him.

"I ain't worried 'bout all that. You're the consummate professional I know you'll be ready to go on. Right now I'm worried, 'bout my friend." He replied.

"Like I said I'm fine." She snapped at him without meaning to.

"I've seen you fine and while I'll agree that you are lookin' mighty fine tonight you're definitely not feelin' fine." He didn't back down. "I gotta some time to talk 'fore I have to go on if you need a friend." He offered.

"In that case have a seat. It might be good for me to talk to someone other than Deacon or Tandy about this anyway." She finally gave in.

They both sat down on the couch that was in the dressing room.

"So, what's up?" He asked. He took his cowboy hat off and placed it on the coffee table.

"As you may have guessed before the accident Deacon and I were back together. The morning of the accident I found out that I was pregnant. I'd suspected it for a few weeks anyway and the blood test only confirmed what I'd known all along. As it turns out when we were hit by that drunk driver I lost the baby." She told him. She still held back about Maddie being Deacon's daughter. That was their truth to tell when they were ready for the world to know. She didn't just get to go around telling whoever she felt like after she'd kept it a secret from them for all those years.

"Oh, Rayna, I'm sorry." He told her sympathetically.

"Tonight I'm wearing Deacon's jeans because none of mine would button and I know it's because it's getting ready to be that time of the month and it brought that grief back to the surface because my body should be getting ready to have a baby not getting ready for my monthly visitor." She explained. "Sorry, if that was more than you wanted to hear." She gave a small chuckle.

"Don't you be sorry you go on and say whatever the hell you need to say to feel better. I know how you feel after Sage was born Steph lost a baby and I was out on the road and that's part of what led to the end of our marriage." He pulled her into a friendly hug.

"Luke Wheeler, don't you dare make me cry right now. I just had my makeup done and I don't wanna mess it up." She tried to lighten the mood.

"Screw your makeup they can redo it. You go on and cry if you need to." He told her bluntly.

"I don't want cry. The thing is that I feel horrible that I can't just get over this. I have two perfect girls and I should be thankful for that rather than still mourning over a baby that was barely there." She replied.

"What about Deacon? What has he said about all of this?" He asked to satisfy her curiosity.

"He was so excited about the baby. This was his shot you know? He thought he'd lost his chance at a family as punishment for being an alcoholic. He's been my rock through this though even though I know he's hurting just as bad as I am if not worse. Like I said I have those two beautiful girls. I'm already a momma. He doesn't have anyone to call him daddy." She wasn't telling him a complete lie. Maddie didn't call him dad she called him by his first name. She wiped a few stray tears away.

"I'd understand if you didn't feel like goin' on tonight. I could make an excuse for you with Jeff and he could like it or not for all I care. How are you doin' physically with everythin'?" Luke seemed genuinely concerned for her.

"No, I need to go on tonight and do some work get back to normal it'll be good for me. So far so good. I have a checkup with my OBGYN tomorrow and I'll know more after that, but they didn't anticipate any complications since I wasn't that far along." Rayna informed him.

"Alright, you get that makeup fixed up and I will let you know when it's time to go on." Luke patted her on the knee and collected his hat.

After the show was over and he'd seen Rayna off at the airport Luke pulled out his cell and called Deacon. "Freakin' Deacon, I hope I didn't wake you, but I think there's somethin' that you need to know."

"Nah, you didn't wake me, Wheels Up, I'm a recoverin addict. I have horrible insomnia. What's goin' on?" Deacon asked on the other end of the line.

"Rayna was really upset tonight and she told me about the baby. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry as hell and I know your pain. She was still pretty upset when I put her on the plane and I figured if anyone could cheer her up it'd be you." Luke told him.

"Thanks, Luke, I appreciate that. And I appreciate you listenin' to her. I know she's had a real hard time openin' up 'bout it even with me. Don't worry I'll make sure that she is well taken care of. Thanks for callin'." Deacon replied.

"It's not problem at all I was happy to listen. That's what friends are for and you two are some of my oldest friends. I'll let you go now. Just let me know if ya'll feel up to makin' that Chattanooga appearance in a few days. If not I'll totally understand and cover for ya'll. You both just heal up and take all the time you need." Luke spoke to him warmly.

"Yeah, I'll let you know and again thanks for the call, Wheels Up. You really are a true friend." Deacon cleared his throat to hide the fact that he'd gotten choked up.

"Anytime, Freakin' Deacon, you just take care of our girl. You know better than anyone that she's not as strong as she'd have everyone believe." Luke said before he hung up the phone.

"Ray, when are you gonna tell me what we are doin' here?" Deacon bitched the next day. They were standing in the office space that they had purchased to be the Highway 65 offices. It was under the process of being renovated and right now it was little more than drywall and studs. She'd been avoiding the topic of how her doctor's appointment had gone all afternoon. She refused to say a word about it no matter what he did or said to try to get it out of her.

"Alright, you can bring 'em in now, Buck." Rayna called out to her manager.

Two roadies walked in each of them carrying two guitar cases followed by Bucky who carried one guitar case. They all sat them down on the floor.

"Do you need anything else, Ray?" Bucky asked.

"No that's it, ya'll can go for the day." Rayna dismissed them with the wave of her hand.

"Ray, what is all this?" Deacon asked once they had gone.

"Open them and see. Start with that one first." She pointed to a guitar case.

He opened the first guitar case to reveal his beloved Martin that his grandfather had given him as a child. The next three cases held his sunburst Gibson, his Les Paul, and his Fender. "Ray, how?" His face was a mask of confusion.

"Let's just say that those first few royalty checks from Ball and Chain are goin' to Watty to pay him back for gettin' your guitars back. I couldn't let you lose your guitars, babe. Especially the Martin your pawpaw gave you or the Gibson that I gave you after our first gold record. This in no way changes anything you and I can still equal partners in this label. We work too well together for me to have it any other way. I can't do this without you." She told him simply. "I love you and that's just never not been true. No matter what lies I've told or how far I've tried to push you away."

"I love you too and it's as simple as that. I've forgiven you for the lie you told it's time that you know that. We still have some stuff to work through because of it, but I ain't doin' that no place, but right by your side." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

She kissed him back passionately for a moment before she smiled against his lips. "Aren't you gonna ask me about the fifth guitar case?"

"I was wonderin' 'bout that. I only sold four guitars." He arched his eyebrow.

"Open the case and find out what's inside." She could barely contain a grin.

He reluctantly let go of her and bent over to open the fifth guitar case. Inside the case was a little version of his Martin guitar. "Babe, this is a Little Martin." He ran his fingers over the strings for a moment before turning around to face her.

"I thought that our future son or daughter would have an easier time learning how to play if they had a guitar like the one daddy was teaching them to play on." Rayna held a grainy black and white ultrasound photo in her hand that was in a frame surrounded by guitar picks.

"Ray? How? I mean I know how. But I thought." Deacon was having a hard time communicating his words.

"We didn't lose the baby, Deacon. The OB resident at the hospital had everything messed up. I was only four weeks along at the time of the accident and that's why they couldn't find a heartbeat. The bleeding was an implantation bleed caused from the baby attaching to my uterus. We have a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat. It was the sweetest sound I've ever heard in my life. I had them record it for you. We are fourteen weeks along and in a couple more weeks we get to find out if we are having a son or another daughter." She explained to him with tears pouring down her face.

He pulled her into his arms gently as tears streamed down his face as well. "I have never been happier or more relieved in my entire life." He dropped down to his knees and kissed her belly. "And I've never been more in love than I am at this moment." He kissed her belly again. "Your daddy's little fighter. You just stay strong and momma is gonna take good care of you and I'm gonna take good care of her. You are so loved and wanted, my little buddy."

"Deacon, I don't wanna tell the girls yet not until my next appointment and not until we know for sure that there is nothing wrong. My OB said that everything looks good but she is gonna run a couple of tests at the next appointment just to be positive. I don't want to get their hopes up and then break their hearts the way I just watched yours break." She clung tightly to him.

"I understand completely." He nodded his head in understanding. "I wanna be there, you hear me? I don't wanna miss a minute of this. I plan on enjoyin' every second." He told her firmly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, babe. The only reason I didn't have you go with me today is because I thought it was just a checkup to make sure the miscarriage didn't do any lasting damage to my body. Little did I know that baby Claybourne here is a fighter just like his daddy." She swore to him. Neither of them knew for a fact that they were having a boy, but they both just had a feeling it was a boy.

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. For those of you who follow my stories you know I'm a big fan of my soap opera twists and I just couldn't resist myself. Also I had to bring Luke in as a good guy in this story. Deacon doesn't have enough guy friends and I think that dynamic can get a little fun. I've got big plans for this story that I think you're all going to enjoy. Until next time please review.