His gaze tracked up to Andre and Andre smiled, the heat in his eyes enough to scorch the wood floors beneath them. “You two are a sight to behold.”

Jace reached out and slid a hand around the back of Andre’s neck, pulling him closer. “No, the three of us are.”

Andre took Jace’s mouth in a hard kiss, one that spoke to how much Andre was fighting to keep his own control. Evan hummed against Jace’s cock, no doubt catching sight of he and Andre kissing above her. A little knot of anxiety ran through Jace. What if Evan didn’t like the change in dynamic that had happened between him and Andre while she’d been away?

Shit. Evan had just left a relationship where she was the third wheel with two men. How had Jace not thought to warn her before they went into this scene? Stupid. He couldn’t bear to have her think she was anything but the center of their universe.

Jace pulled away from the kiss. The panic on his face must’ve been evident because Andre’s eyes widened, no doubt having his own doh! moment.

Jace eased back from Evan, tucked himself back into his pants as best he could, and then knelt to take her face in his hands. He didn’t want to break scene and screw with the fantasy they were trying to give her, but he had to make sure she was okay. “Baby—”

She smiled, tears glimmering in the low lighting of the room. “You guys are so goddamned beautiful.”

He laughed and Andre squatted down next to them. “But you’re our focus, bella. This doesn’t change how we both feel about you.”

She looked between the two of them. “I don’t always need to be the center. Believe me, I’m not that selfish. I’m just seriously disappointed I haven’t been here to watch y’all figure each other out.”

Jace’s lips curled. “Dirty, dirty girl. We promise you’ll get to see anything you want. And know that we want and need you. Neither of us has felt whole since you left.”

“Nothing’s felt right without you, gorgeous,” Andre said, brushing his knuckles over her cheek.

She nuzzled against Andre’s hand. “I know the feeling.”

“Then why did you wait so long to come back to us, Ev?” Jace asked, his voice cracking a bit under the memory on those long months without her.

She bit her lip, looked up at him with her old soul eyes. “I had to make sure I was strong enough. That I was whole all on my own. To know that I wouldn’t fall apart again if one day you guys decided to leave.”

Her words tore straight through Jace’s gut and prodded his dominant core with a red-hot poker. He pinched her chin between his fingers, his demeanor shifting from soft to steel in half a second. “Seems we haven’t quite gotten our lesson through that head of yours yet. Andre, get her up.”

Before they walked off these grounds, Evan was going to understand that they weren’t going anywhere, that she could trust them.

If he had to turn her hide red and flog his way through that last wall of hers, then so be it.

THIRTY-FOUR

Evan yelped as Andre hauled her to her feet then draped her over his shoulder like some caveman claiming his kill for the evening. She wasn’t sure exactly what she’d done to piss the two of them off, but she had a feeling they were going to make it abundantly clear before they were done with her.

Those in the room who weren’t mid-scene turned to stare at the spectacle they were creating. She pressed her face into Andre’s back, her cheeks hot. She couldn’t tell if she was ashamed about being carried naked through a crowded room or the fact that everyone knew she’d somehow displeased her doms. She suspected the latter.

Jace grabbed her hair and slipped the mask back down over her face, blocking out the onlookers. “You need to focus, pet, and listen only to us. If I have to repeat myself, I’m going to be very angry.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, her voice jumping with Andre’s brisk pace.

The air shifted and the noises of the room faded behind her. The mask was thin, only softening the sounds around her, but she still found herself straining to hear the smallest of hints as to where they were going. Muffled footsteps. Andre’s heart pounding against her ear. Then a grind and a click. A heavy door being opened.

Andre pitched his weight forward, and she went careening through the air. Her cry of surprise ripped through the room, then ended in an oof! when her back hit a mattress and knocked the wind from her. The cuffs dug into her skin as she rolled to her side.

The door slammed shut and the scent of . . . vanilla filled her nostrils. Which room had they taken her to?

“On your knees.” Andre’s tone was like flint against her nerve endings, sparking both fear of what was to come and the sharp arousal of being handled by her two men.

She scrambled to follow the instruction, intent on righting whatever she’d said to upset them. After she was in position, one of them unhooked her cuffs and then planted a hand between her shoulder blades, pushing her down. “Forehead on the bed, ass in the air, pet.”

Each took one of her already tender wrists and stretched her arms above her head. Soft leather twined around each one, securing her to the wall or headboard—she couldn’t tell. She instinctively yanked on the bindings, but there was only an inch or so of play. Her pulse drummed like a frenetic marching band in her ears.

“Wider.” Jace tapped her thighs. She carefully spread her knees, making sure to maintain her balance. Leather cuffs wrapped around her ankles and metal jangled. “Good girl. That’s a spreader bar. Now you won’t be able to draw those legs together when we work you over.”

Work her over? She flexed her ankles and found she couldn’t close her legs or spread them further. She was at their mercy in a way she’d never been before. Bound and trussed and exposed for whatever they wanted to do to her. She probably should be frightened. But those fight-or-flight signals never fired. Instead, need swept through her like a firestorm, igniting every erogenous point in her body. She pressed her forehead against the bed and rocked against the bindings, willing herself not to beg them to touch her.

Jace chuckled and walked his fingers along her spine, sending shivers over her. “Look at you. You can’t even sit still, can you? What’s wrong, baby? Need something?”

She gritted her teeth. “You know what I want, sir.”

“Hmm, what you want and what you need may be two different things right now.” His fingers reached the cleft of her ass and teased around the plug, which thankfully they had turned off when they’d taken her to the main room. He wiggled the vibrator and she couldn’t stop a moan from escaping. “I’m not fucking this luscious little ass of yours until I know you’re really mine.”

She tensed. Did he doubt that? “I am yours, sir. You and Andre’s both. I love you.”

His warm hand moved away from her. “We love you, too, Ev. But your trust is sorely lacking.”

The sound of something slicing through the air filled her ears a millisecond before something smacked against her right ass cheek with a stinging thud. Thin stripes of pain-laced pleasure zipped up her spine. She bowed up against her bindings as a gasp wheezed out of her. Oh, my.

Whatever Jace was using came down again on the opposite cheek then again and again—providing both sharp and blunt sensation simultaneously. Her breath came out in short puffs as she absorbed each impact and her clit pulsed in time with the blows.

A hand touched her head. “You like Jace’s flogger, bella? He took out the braided one just for you.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered. Jace didn’t pause in his treatment.

“Do you know why you’re getting punished?” Andre asked.

Her mind struggled to grab on to her thoughts, the blinding pain and pleasure sensations overloading her neurons. “Something about trust, sir?”

Jace smacked the flogger against her exposed pussy, and she bucked against the restraints, nearly careening right into orgasm. “Oh, God.”

“You know what it does to us, pet, to hear you suspect that we might just walk away from you one day?” Jace asked.

“I’m sorry, but I have to be prepared. I can’t ever be weak like I was before.” Her voice sounded desperate even to her own ears.

“You are not weak, Ev. Opening yourself up to us fully won’t make you that way.” The flogger thudded against the back of her thigh. “Submission with contingency clauses is not acceptable. We want all of you, not just your body. Your heart, Ev. Your trust.”

She shook her head, tears building beneath her closed lids. “But what happens if I do that and you walk away?” If her life had proven anything to her it was that everyone leaves eventually.

The flogger tumbled against the wood floor. “Take off her mask, Dre.”

The blackness gave way to the flickering warmth of candlelight when Andre pulled the material off. She turned her head, resting her cheek on the bed, tears leaking down. Both Jace and Andre kneeled next to the bed.

Andre reached out and swiped the moisture from under her eyes. “Sweet, sweet, bella. Don’t you get it?”

More tears escaped. “Get what?”

Jace sifted his fingers through her hair, the tender look in his eyes undoing her. “Listen to me, Evan. If you don’t hear anything else I say to you tonight. Hear this: When we say we want you, that we love you. We don’t mean for this week or this month or until something else comes along.”

A fist seemed to close around her vocal cords. “But—”

He shook his head. “No more buts, remember? We’re not going anywhere unless you send us away yourself.” He brushed a thumb over her forehead, smoothing the creases. “I can’t promise that this is going to be easy. But I will promise that I’m not going to give up on you if things get tough. This isn’t foster care, Ev. I love you. We love you. We want to be your forever.”

The knot in her throat seemed to swell until she thought she may stop breathing. A forever family. That’s what the caseworkers used to call it when kids were adopted. When you were special enough that people wanted you for real, not just for a while. No one had ever wanted that of her.

And now these two beautiful, kindhearted men were looking at her like no other woman existed on the planet. No fine print or contingency clauses. Just love. Pure unadulterated love.

She blinked away the tears and took a deep breath, swallowing past the emotion knotting her vocal cords. “I want that, too. So much.”

Andre smiled, his own eyes glinting with moisture. “Can you take the leap, bella? Have faith in us and give us your whole heart?”

Leap? She’s already plummeted off the mountain. Her heart was theirs now . . . and always. “Yes.”

“Thank you, Ev,” Jace said, his whole demeanor sighing. “Now let’s get you out of these bindings. You’ve had enough punishment. Now I just need to love you.”

Andre and Jace made quick work of releasing her and both stripped out of their clothes. When they flipped her over onto her back, she was able to take in the whole room. White candles lit every corner of the cozy bedroom and rose petals had been strewn over the floor and bed. She smiled. “Rose petals and candles? Who knew you boys were the romantic type?”

Andre climbed on the bed behind her, and Jace got in front of her wearing a wicked grin. “Lie back on Andre, pet. I’ll show you how romantic we can be.”

Jace positioned himself between her thighs and bent down to taste her with a long, languid glide of his tongue, while Andre kissed along her shoulder. Oh, sweet Lord. She murmured her satisfaction—the unending assault on her senses shutting down her capacity for speech. She’d been revved up and brought down so many times, her body was like a land mine—one perfect move and she’d detonate.

Jace swirled his tongue around her clit and nipped at the swollen nub. She whimpered and writhed. Andre held her in place. “Your orgasm is ours, bella. No coming until we tell you. Close your eyes and relax.”