Copyright © 2021 Penelope Wylde.

All rights reserved.

Edited by Em Petrova

Proofread by Charity Chimni

Cover Design: Bookin’ It Designs www.bookinitdesigns.com/

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to authorpenelopewylde@gmail.com

Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

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Contents

Welcome to Room 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

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Club Sin

More Hot Reverse Harem Romance

Mercy For Three

Also by Penelope Wylde

About the Author

Welcome to Room One

What do three scorching hot Navy SEALs have in common? Me and they're not stopping until I give them everything they crave.

 You see, I loved them once. And then they pushed me away. Said I was too young. The daughter of the wrong man and too naive for their darker tastes.

 The trio of gorgeous men were right. But it broke my heart when they turned me away.

 Because of them I'm different now. Stronger and little more jaded.

 Six years is a long time to harden a woman's heart. I've tried the dating apps, double dates and blind dates. All that got me is a relentless stalker and a worried friend who thinks she knows what I need to brighten my holiday spirit.

 A single night at Club Sin. Should I dare to step into Room One the rules are simple—no inhibitions, no names and the promise of having the wildest night I'll ever experience.

 I'm game until my three SEALs walk through my door with an ultimatum and looking like my best worst idea come true. They give me my first everything and in return I give them until Christmas eve alone in the mountains with snow, roaring fires and unlimited amounts of the BIG O.

 Seems doable. But this time I'll be the one doing the walking out come Christmas morning.

*a dark forbidden second chance reverse harem romance* Fans of Krista Wolf, Shayla Black and Ivy Smoak will devour this forbidden second chance reverse harem romance filled with suspense, forbidden desire and a shared love so strong nothing will stand it its way.

Chapter One

Kandy

I’m helplessly in love with my stepbrother and his two smoking hot best friends. Much to my mother’s horrifying dismay.

If I ever sat down to write a romance novel the first line would be: Three Ways to Blowtorch Your Love Life or maybe Dumpster Fire 101 Goes Something Like This...

Don’t get me wrong, there’s more than one way to incinerate your life, but loving the wrong man from the start is like taking a Ferrari and tossing a Molotov cocktail through an open window. Disaster and regret are almost instantaneous.

Heap on a couple more men to the emotional bandwagon and you have one clusterfuck of a mess.

And I’m not just saying they are gorgeous. I mean it. All three have yards of tight muscle, delectable rock-hard abs and incredibly defined asses only made in Texas. All facts I’ve tried very hard to ignore, but let’s face it. I’ve got it bad for men I can’t have.

And if wanting a tabooed cliche romance isn’t bad enough in a small town, as SEALs, I only see them twice a year. And all three gorgeous beasts are over ten years my senior.

I live in a one-stoplight town in the middle of Texas. Believe me when I say gossiping is everyone’s numero uno pastime and their favorite topic is me—Kandy Lockhart—disheartened chick with too many freckles to be considered pretty, not a lover to speak of, a job offer from a tech company known for going through secretaries like I do Ben and Jerry’s on a Saturday night, and about thirty unanswered resumés which is seriously denting my ego.

So yeah, watch out world. I’m coming for you.

But I haven’t given up hope yet. I shelve my terrible romance novel idea so I can chase another. I flick on my blinker, turning left toward the calm waters of Lake Serene. Loose gravel crunches as I roll to a stop alongside two Harleys at our town’s small marina a few miles from home. I shove my car into park and slide out from behind the wheel, but I don’t get more than a couple of feet before my knees lock.

This is probably a bad idea right up there with the time I tried dyeing my hair purple in fourth grade. I’d wanted to take charge of my destiny and become a mermaid back then. Now, several years later, and I still want full control over my destiny, but I’m pretty sure what I’m about to do will end no better than the shitty brown I got when mixing orange Kool-Aid with grape for that magical hair moment that never happened.

I flick my gaze toward the rearview mirror at the long blond tresses hanging over my shoulder. At least I have better hair now. I secured the thick mess into a quick ponytail on my rush out the door before my mother could yell after me. I yank the band out and shake my hair until it falls over my shoulders and down my back in sexy waves.

I didn’t exactly pull together a fail-proof plan before jumping in my car and heading over here to Atlas’ boathouse. I need all the tools I have available if what I’m about to do stands a chance of working.

Atlas, Brogan, and Ryder stay here when they are on furlough. Tonight is their last night in town and God only knows when I’ll see them next. If I’ll see them. I’m not ignorant of the dangers they face each time they leave home.

And I go back to New York City in the morning and if all goes well, I know this is the last time I’ll lay eyes on this place. So tonight is ride or die. That revelation breaks my heart, but what else can I do? How long am I expected to bottle up how I feel about them? Honestly, I’m surprised I’ve lasted this long. I thought, hoped, and wished on everything I am that going off to college would change how I feel about all three of them, but the longer I’m around boys my age the more I crave the maturity of men like my SEALs. I don’t know if I should think of them as mine, but the heart wants what it wants. Maybe if I keep thinking it, the Universe will surprise me.

But it sure is taking its damn time about things. Years of living with my feelings is a long time to keep shit to myself. We’d gone from frenemies in the early days of our parents being married to cool with each other by the time I grew breasts and ditched my braces. Fast forward to when I started craving the touch of a man, and Atlas was no longer my stepbrother in my eyes but a full-fledged raging hot alpha man who had muscles galore and two friends I couldn’t keep my eyes off. By that time, he had been out of the house and in the Navy for a while. Ryder and Brogan as well. Which only made them all the more irresistible.

Needless to say, my older teen years were plagued with wishful thinking and daydreams of him riding up on his Harley, Brogan, and Ryder rumbling in beside him, and all three of them whisking me away to be theirs. Our dusty town shrinking into nothing in the rearview mirror.

To make matters worse, I’ve grown close to them over the last couple of years. We chat, email, and always check in on each other. But it never feels like enough. My conversations with Brogan and Ryder had grown more intense these past few months to downright inappropriate. But now? Pure radio silence since the day they arrived home on leave two weeks ago. And Atlas? I walk into a room, and he walks out. Every. Damn. Time. I might as well be living on the moon. The climate there would be damn near tropical in comparison.

I smile to myself. Tonight, I plan on changing that. Take the battle to them. One way or another someone is going to break tonight, and I’ll finally be able to share exactly how I feel.

The sound of heavy footfalls and a throaty grunt pulls me out of my thoughts.

“How long have you been out here, baby?”

Involuntarily, my breath hitches. I turn at the sound of a deep voice to find Brogan walking up behind me wearing a smile made of sin. Low-slung jeans encase thick thighs and a plain navy-blue T-shirt hugs bulging muscles Uncle Sam made in spades over the last few years of Brogan’s service.

Tall, evening stubble covering his sharp jawline, black hair, and brown eyes so dark they appear black. The man is a picture of walking sex appeal with the look of pure heat on his face. The short sleeves of his cotton T-shirt have a hard time covering all that tanned muscle. I force my eyes off taut pecs and perfect arms to find his deeply brown gaze. Heat pulses through me. My body’s go-to reaction at the sight of him. I imagine he and the other two have a hard time fighting off all the women in any part of the world the military sends them. The constant grip around my heart where they are involved constricts at the thought.

With a roll of my shoulder, I play it cool. “Not too long. I brought cake. Thought you guys would like a slice of sweetness even though you missed Momma’s summer party tonight.” I’d been gutted when none of them showed up so if anyone is to blame for me being here instead of packing my own bags it’s them.

“Yes, ma’am,” he drawls in the sexiest Southern twang and my fucking heart drops to the rocks between my feet.

After mentally picking up my heart, I reach through the open window of my car, and I swear I hear a throaty growl the second my ass is in the air. My insides crank up the heat a few degrees.

“Figured we’d use our last night home to fully relax. Not shake hands of every damn needy politician she can pull from the woodworks for her causes.”

I turn back around to find his eyes on my ass. I fight back a smile and hold up the cake. “Can’t blame you for wanting time alone, I guess. Idle chit-chat isn’t really any of y’alls style. But who can say no to chocolate, double-dipped fudge? It would be a crime to miss this.”

Fine lines around his eyes pinch together and give him a mature look of confidence. And there’s no mistaking the hunger in those eyes when he says, “Agreed. You know us well, baby.”

He walks up beside me and wraps an arm around my middle and pulls my smaller frame into his larger one. Warmth of the day’s sunshine radiates from him into me. I inhale and glorious hallelujah; he smells so damn good. Like a soft masculine cologne mixed with the scent of leather from their bikes. And all those pent-up years of sensual pain from not knowing his touch eases a fraction. Not fully. For that I would need all three of them, but this is a good start.

Ryder steps out of the boathouse and walks up the dock to join us. He’s just as tall with hair a few shades darker than Brogan’s. On more than one occasion I’ve found myself wondering if they are brothers but, no. Just best friends. Lucky me.

My heart races watching Ryder’s muscular form move with a predatory grace across the graveled lot. I feel sorry for anyone on the receiving end of his wrath. They would never see it coming before he ripped off their heads. Normally laid back, I know my silent warrior is anything but when pissed or protecting those who he loves.

I saw it firsthand during senior prom night. My date took me parking and had a hard time taking no for an answer. To the point I had a few bruises around my neck for my efforts. That night I got to see the demon my Ryder holds at bay when I’m around. I’m not stupid. I know being a SEAL hardens a man. And it takes a bigger man not to carry that baggage home.

Poor paisley Simon with his blond hair and pale eyes. The twit peed all over himself when my steel-eyed savior rode up beside us on his thunderous Harley, yanked my date out his car window, and taught him the meaning of no the hard way. Needless to say, he had a few bruises of his own to explain to his parents. Riding back to my house on the back of Ryder’s bike, my arms around his middle and legs encasing his thighs, felt like a dream.

Atlas and Brogan had helped me off the bike and the second I was in all three of their arms I knew they were my destiny. We stayed like that in the middle of our long driveaway. The night curling around us and a lot of unspoken desires left untouched.

And then they left. Their duty always coming first. It left me broken-hearted and cold and unsure of where I fit in their world and mine.

But that’s in the past. Tonight I’m going to make sure there are words said and a helluva lot more if I get my way.

Right now, insanely gorgeous is the only thought that comes to mind with how well Ryder fills in a pair of wranglers and his plain white T-shirt. God, I love this man. His eyes hold mine and that heat Brogan stirred to life inside me grows fierce and I can’t seem to pull my gaze from Ryder’s. He’s the very reason women love a roughened cowboy. Only this SEAL rides a Harley instead of a horse. He’s the complete package, but in my opinion it’s his eyes that have my full attention. Gray, piercing and wholly captivating. When he looks at me it’s like I’ve stepped into his web, and I want to be eaten.

“Gonna stand out here in the cold all night, darlin’, or are you planning on coming inside?”

The last of the summer days have come to an end and the first hints of autumn have made the change of season apparent in our part of Texas. But not enough to merit calling it cold.

There’s an underlying question Ryder’s not asking and before I can stop myself, I simply nod. Hoping to God he doesn’t see how I shiver at his implied question I tuck the edge of my lower lip between my teeth and bite down until I ground myself.

Brogan stretches a hand out. I’m not really sure what I’m doing, but I know if I take it, I’m giving power to the darker desires inside me. The ones my momma says are no good and should never be given a voice.

I’m not sure I believe her, but I guess I’m about to find out.

“Trust me.” Brogan’s words come out in a low rumble and makes refusing his offer damn hard.

From behind me Ryder steps into me and I find myself leaning into him. The man has very little respect for personal space at the moment, and I’m totally okay with that. Miles of refined muscle press against my back and I take a big notice in the feel of his cock nudging against my ass. His very hard cock.

He wraps a strong arm around me and erases the minuscule space of air between us. “Trust us,” he whispers in a husky rumble close to my ear, and that shiver I held back earlier works through me so hard I get goosebumps over my exposed arms. Ryder steps around me. He takes the cake and holds out his other hand for me to take, a knowing look in his hooded eyes. His confidence is a solid ripple of energy around him.

Looking between them, I slide my palms over theirs and our fingers interlace.

“Where’s Atlas?”

“Atlas is out. Won’t be long.”

My pulse hammers so hard I have to strain to hear them as they lead me inside the boathouse. Warm air greets us, and I welcome it over my cooled skin. Wisps of their mixed colognes hang in the air of the medium-sized cabin. Couches line both sides and straight down the middle is a small hallway that leads to three rooms. Simple, clean, and masculine.

“It’s been a while since I’ve visited. Glad to see nothing has changed.”

“Why change perfection?”

Ryder winks at me, places the cake on the counter and heads to the back but I don’t get to see which room he disappears into because Brogan turns me into him. Callused, curious hands settle on the small amount of skin exposed between my midriff and the top edge of my skirt. I opted for something sexy to catch their attention and from the hungry look on Brogan’s face I’d say mission accomplished in spades.

My pulse quickens. I know better than to do this, but I can’t help myself where these men are concerned.

I rise to the tips of my toes and brush my lips across his. Firm, smooth, and warm. Fingers tighten into my skin, and I don’t dare close my eyes as shock melts into pure desire. Like he battled against some inner demons and for once came out the victor.

His mouth slides down my jaw and teases over my exposed collar bone and the thin straps of my halter top.

“God, have pity on me,” he mouths tenderly over my skin, making my toes curl into the plush carpet. His voice is thick and full of lust.

Hot liquid spills to wet between my thighs and my pussy clenches with need to have them there. Filling me up, fulfilling all the desires I’ve had for them over the years.

There’s no “you okay with this” or “are you sure”. He’s not backing down or asking questions. Strong fingers bury into my loose hair, and he pins me in place with another hand on my hip. Brogan crashes his lips into mine and he strokes his tongue over my parted lips once before he dives in for a better taste. No small little teases with gentle probing. Just outright taking.

Swoon.

I follow his lead into taking the kiss slower, deeper. There’s not a part of my mouth he’s not stroking and tasting.

Heat encases me from behind and I lean my weight into Ryder’s steady touch. He is hard and hot in every possible good way as he holds me steady while his friend breaks our kiss to find the zipper to my skirt. He slowly lowers the metal teeth down its track and his hands skim over my smooth, bare legs. I step out of the mid-thigh material, my knees trembling as he lifts one foot then the other.

What the holy hell are you doing? My internal oh-shit-meter is bouncing off the charts. I honestly don’t know if I should even be here, but too little too late. I can’t stop now that I’ve had their lips and caresses.

Brogan’s lips return to devour mine and he only pulls away long enough to work on freeing me from my top next. It quickly joins my crumpled skirt on the floor and he’s back at consuming my every last breath.

“I dreamed about your mouth on mine. Dreamed, Kandy. Do you get how badly I want you?” He pauses and for a second, I don’t really know what to say.

“About as long as I’ve wanted you?” I say hopefully.

He chuckles low. A deep sound that has me creaming my non-existent panties.

“Come here.”

I fall into his open arms and my body is on fire. Literally, I am burning from the inside out for this man and his friend. I grab at the hem of Brogan’s shirt and tug, breaking contact only long enough to get the offending material off his body so I can press skin to skin. I can feel my pulse race and I use my untethered desire to turn and rid Ryder’s body of his T-shirt.

“Oh!” I cry out the second his hot body caresses over mine.

Brogan’s lips slide down the curve of my neck.

This is so happening. Right here. Right now. Fuck, yes! Thank you, Universe! It was about time something good happened in my favor.

Powerful hands skim up my bare thighs to settle over my ample hips. Brogan turns me to face him, and his lips are a fraction above the sticky wet slit of my pussy. He places feather-light kisses there like he’s worshiping my body. “Fuck, baby. No panties or bra? What the hell are you doing to us?”

Ryder’s hands join Brogan’s and together they lavish every inch of my body with tender caresses. Their touch feels possessive and nothing I ever imagined comes close to the sensation of their hands memorizing every part of me.

Ryder strokes only the tips of his hand over my ribs forcing me to shudder lightly, and then he takes his large hands and gathers the heavy weight of my bare breasts. Fingers find the hard tips of my nipples and he sets to work pinching and tugging on them in such a way I briefly forget to breathe.

Brogan turns me in Ryder’s arms and takes both of my ass cheeks in his large hands. He grips two good handfuls and gives the plump flesh a sexy squeeze.

I moan and let my head drop to Ryder’s chest. I do a little exploring of my own and I groan at the feel of rippling muscles beneath my palms. A faint thump to my right brings my gaze to the couch and the hefty pack of condoms tossed there.

I gasp softly. There have to be ten or so in a box. How exactly did they see their last night home going?

Ryder hooks a finger beneath my chin and pulls my face up to his. A sleeping part of me that waited for this moment stirs and stretches. Everything inside me seems awake, alive, and so damn ready for this.

“Sweet little virgin Kandy,” Ryder rumbles. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, do you?”

Chapter Two

Kandy

Um, that would be a hell no. No, I do not. But I’m all for it.

Fingers spread the swells of my ass open, and I barely have a chance to wallow in the satisfaction of finally having their hands on me before another idea consumes my thoughts. Not for the first time do I wonder about taking a man there. Having a man, my men, stretch the most forbidden part of my body with theirs. Sink into me, claim me in the most decadent, taboo manner.

“The world is about to burn, baby. Our world. You’re our fire.”

“And we are your air.”

Both are murmuring their sweet talk all the while stroking, touching, and kissing all the spots they can reach while kneeling over my body.

Ryder or Brogan—I don’t know who, I can’t tell their touch apart yet—strokes a hand down my spine and dips into my seam, teasing my ass with swirling caresses.

I bite off the need to cry out when warm air blows over my back entrance. I jump a little, but Ryder only holds me in place for his friend’s naughty teases.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, my hart,” Ryder says as a play on my last name. Something he picked up a few months back and what gives me hope that whatever this is between us can turn into something more than shared banter over text messenger.

I twist up to meet his eyes only to find it impossible not to kiss him. My lips brush over his in a soft passing, but he’s not going for anything close to gentle. Not my SEAL. No, Ryder is a man on a mission and I’m the sole focus of his unleashed energy.

He takes my face between his roughened palms and steals my breath away with the fierceness of how he claims my mouth. He squeezes me into him, and his tongue is in my mouth obliterating the last brain cells still firing.

I melt into him and press my ass into Brogan’s eager hands. Warm kisses drop on either cheek before he spreads my legs with a low groan. The next thing I know the pad of his warm tongue drags up my center and dips into the well of my pussy.

I moan deeply into Ryder’s mouth. He breaks our kiss and turns to his friend. “Do it again. I like how her nails dig into me when you lick her deep.”

His eyes are me again. “Sometimes, I think my life began the day I met you. Fucked up, yeah, but so worth the wait.” Strong fingers curl around my neck.

“True, I was barely fifteen.” Our foreheads come together, and we breathe in each other’s essence.

He smirks, a rueful grin lighting his handsome features. “You made every damn day a living nightmare. By the time you turned seventeen, Atlas was about to lose his shit.”

“Touché.”

Ryder pulls a fraction away from me. “Atlas is going to kill us, you know.”

All thoughts wash away then because Brogan does as his friend says and I’m so close to coming undone in their arms I can barely stay on my feet. I can feel those uncoiled sexual tensions built up over the years loosen which only makes them burn hotter.

Brogan spreads me wider, and I blush with a mix of raw need and inexperienced bashfulness knowing Ryder looks on.

“Get our girl on the couch,” he rasps deeply.

Brogan moves from behind me and spreads me between them. I’m on my back and Brogan loses no time returning to his spot between my legs. I widen them shamelessly. My dark-eyed lover looks up at me, my juices covering his masculine jaw, and his expression is pure, raw savagery.

He lowers his head and I look on as Brogan eats my bare pussy. All those fine muscles coiling and flexing. His tongue beats at my clit, forcing more girl-cum to spill down the crack of my ass to wet the couch cushion beneath me.

The view of Brogan between my legs is swiftly cut off when a set of gorgeous gray eyes cut into my line of sight.

Ryder cups my jaw and turns my head. The fat crown of his cock is at my lips. Beads of pre-cum spill down the veined length and I push to my elbows to catch every last drop with the tip of my tongue.

So taken by the sight of Brogan finally between my legs I must have missed when Ryder ditched his clothing. But that small detail doesn’t keep me from appreciating the view of every chiseled inch of his body as I take the heavy length of his cock between my lips.

“My hart,” he groans as I work the head, sucking him in as I hollow my cheeks.

I moan around his thickness as his friend lavishes my core with his tongue. I’m utterly lost to the overloading sensations these men pour over me. My thighs clench around Brogan’s head, and I run my fingers through his hair, suddenly flooded with the need to find my release in his mouth.

Ryder pulls from my lips and rims my mouth with the velvety soft tip of his steel length.

“Brogan, you’re making me...oh, that feels beyond amazing!” My head drops back, and my mouth gaps open. He sucks the little bead between his feverish lips, and I swirl my hips, countering his slow, deliberate circles.

Brogan flicks his tongue over my pleasure nub and tingles of uncontrollable energy spiral through me. He tastes me deeply, pushing his tongue inside once, twice.

“Yes!” I encourage him breathlessly. “Holy fuck! Do that again. Please, please...yes!” I demand more, but I honestly don’t know if I can handle it at the same time.

“Greedy. Think you can handle more?” He chuckles as if reading my mind.

Brogan rises, his jeans still holding him back from me. But the button is popped, and I reach for it, tugging at the zipper. I slide my hands in and he hisses the second my fingers wrap around his massive size. My insides quiver and clench at the idea of taking him inside my virgin channel. It will hurt like a mother, but I don’t care. I need to feel what it is to have him stretch me wide and take the part of myself I’ve been saving.

The part of my soul in love with my stepbrother cries out for him wishing he were here, but I know in time, hopefully, he’ll come around. If his hands ever did come close to touching me in such an erotic way, he wouldn’t be gentle, either. Not like Ryder and Brogan. That much I know. Controlling, dominant, and possessive is how he would claim me. I’ve caught the way he looks at me. He can deny and pretend all he wants. But I know.

For now, I have Brogan and Ryder.

“Now, Brogan. I need you.” I turn my gaze up to Ryder who is reaching for the stack of condoms. “Both of you.”

“Atlas is going to be pissed as hell.”

Brogan nods, darkness taking over his expression. His chest tightens where his body presses against mine and I panic they’ll stop on account of their best friend. No way will these men pull away from me now. I shimmy my hips and brush the rough material of Brogan’s jeans against my heated, sticky wet core and he groans, meeting me halfway when I do it again. He slides a large hand over my bare thigh, and I cling to him, silently begging for him to not push me away. Forces beyond our understanding have led us to this moment. I know it deep in my soul.

“Fuck it,” he mumbles, and I know I’ve won.

Brogan brushes hungry kisses over my midriff, his late evening stubble teasing over my sensitive skin before he sinks lower and lower. “Come in my mouth first, baby. I need to know the taste of your release before we take your body.”

The low rumbling of a Harley goes almost unnoticed as Brogan spreads my folds, fills my heated core with a thick finger and works my clit with his tongue. Ryder is back at my mouth and sliding his hard cock between my lips. I’m so consumed by both SEALs everything else moves off my radar. I writhe and moan for them, letting worry and doubt seep away. I clench my fingers into a blanket left thrown over the couch cushions. My eyes screw closed and my whole body arches into Brogan’s mouth.

Ryder won’t let me move too far.

“Right here, Kandy. Keep that hot mouth on me. That’s it. Take more of my cock.” He feeds me another inch as I moan hungrily for more.

I don’t know if it’s instinct or some sixth untapped sense, but something inside me pulls my eyes open in that second to see my tall broody Atlas walk through the door of his boathouse. Wind-mussed hair from riding his Harley and sun-bronzed skin catch my eye first. The way the energy in the room ramps up sends tingles of electricity over my super-sensitive skin. There is always an air of danger about him, and tonight is no different. Broad shoulders cut down to a thick waist hidden beneath black jeans and an equally dark short-sleeved pullover.

I stiffen in my lovers’ arms, but Ryder doesn’t seem to care about his friend’s arrival. He takes my head in the palm of his hand and withdraws from my mouth as Atlas slides the door closed behind him. Dark, expressive eyes lock on mine. He zeroes in on my lack of clothes and the fact both his best friends are sharing me in his living room and that curious gaze of his slowly drifts down my open, exposed body. Faster than I can blink, fury washes away the confusion in his stony gaze.

Atlas looks like he’s grappling for control. He tosses aside a bag of clean laundry, and Brogan slowly pushes to his feet and turns to face his friend.

“It’s everything it looks like, man. I’m tired of you figuring out when you’ll be ready. Ryder and I are ready now.”

What’s all that supposed to mean? My puzzled gaze floats between all three.

I can feel the moment teetering on the edge of chaos and that is the last thing I ever want. My intentions never were to come between them in that way. One false move from anyone and Atlas will lose his shit. My memories trip back to the night Ryder saved me from my asshole boyfriend. Atlas had the same dark look that night as he does now. Murderous. But something tells me it’s his own demons he’s fighting and not his friend.

One thing is for sure, I don’t fear him. I know he’d never lay a hand on me.

“Please,” I beg desperately, reaching out for him. My body starts to shake from the unreleased pressure Brogan spent the last fifteen minutes building. I’m too far gone for any of their alpha posturing bullshit that seems to be going on between them.

“I’m here, baby. Shh…” Ryder takes a knee beside me, and his mouth takes mine. I moan a whisper of need and his hand replaces Brogan’s mouth. I cry out into Ryder’s kiss as his fingers move faster but the hotter I get, the harder it is to find my release. Ryder parts the folds of my pussy and swirls the pad of his finger over my clit and I buck against his touch.

My gaze finds Atlas’ again and I recognize the war going behind those thick lashes.

I curl my fingers in a gesture for him to come to me, but it’s as though his feet are glued to the spot in front of the door.

Desperate cries clog my throat, keeping me from begging him to come to me. My eyes slam shut, and I dig my heels into the couch, seeking more from Ryder’s touch.

I hear Atlas finally speak and his words are nothing less than deadly.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing. We had a fucking deal. What the fuck?”

I need to come or this fire inside me will consume every part of me until I have nothing left.

I hiss a little as Ryder pinches my nipples, then bites down on them. I’m on the verge of climaxing but I can’t. I just can’t. The need grows worse and desperation morphs into waves of pleasure and pain.

“Move,” Atlas barks and suddenly he’s across the room. His tall, muscular frame is shadowed in the low evening light as he towers over me. His jaw is clenched, and his handsome features are hard as stone, but his breathing is where he gives himself away. Harsh drags of air leave his lips and his chest rises and falls in a chaotic manner. His whiskey eyes meet mine and the desperation in those deep, dark irises is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

“What the fuck are you doing to me?” he murmurs, and I know the question is not meant for me. He falls to his knees between my legs and loops his arms around my middle, dragging me closer. His fingers tighten and release against the flesh of my thighs. His head lowers and his tongue consumes my juices.

Shocks of uncertainty run through me. Atlas fucking Stone is between my legs. I’m struck with fierce bolts of pleasure. His scent surrounds me.

Oh God!

He lifts my heels and settles them on his powerful shoulders. Burning waves of raw arousal pour from me to wet my already drenched core. Just like I predicted my stepbrother is not gentle or easy. He’s hungry, pissed off and I’m about to take the brunt of his rage.

Happily.

Warm lips clamp over my throbbing clit and he pulls the nub between his lips and sucks.

“Fuck, this is heaven. God take pity on my soul,” he growls, repeating his friend’s words against my folds like a man desperate for salvation from sin. He sucks harder this time pulling liquid fire from my virgin pussy.

“Atlas, more, I’m so close! Yes, lick me!”

He works me so fast the pleasure pouring over me borders on pain. But I can’t push him away. I don’t want to. I want all of him, anger, and all. I crave the feel of him as much as he seemingly burns for me.

“Atlas, please. Please make me come.”

Sharp heat flashes through me and an uncontrollable pleasure soothes over the burns with a strength and speed that leaves me gasping for air.

Brogan bends over me and hollows his cheeks taking a nipple between his lips, and Ryder pinches the other. The whole eroticism of three lovers working me adds another layer of molten heat to my already sizzling core. It’s exactly what I needed. All three. At the same time.

My throbbing clit takes a beating from Atlas’ tongue and when he sinks two thick fingers into my tight, slicked, desperate pussy I clench around him and ride the wave of my climax. A film of perspiration breaks out over my body. Breathy cries fill the room and I momentarily forget about everything and everyone except my men and what they just did to me.

My utterly blissful moment is short-lived.

Within one breath and the next Atlas shoves to his feet and my legs drop from his shoulders. Panting and still shaky from my powerful release I watch as Atlas rubs at his face, wiping my juices from his chin.

I flinch at the anger on his features.

He grabs up my clothes and tosses them at me. With his face an inch from mine he snarls, “You got what you wanted. Now stay the fuck away from us, Kandy. Get dressed and pretend this never happened. I never want to see you back here again. We’re no good for you.” His voice is hard and final.

Ryder is on his feet. His hard length hangs between his massive thighs, red and angry with need. “What the fuck, man? You want this. WE want this. What will it take to get you to understand this will happen?”

“Never! I told you this before. She’s fucking off-limits!” he roars and buries a fist into a nearby wall.

I turn three shades of red and flinch when wood paneling splinters around his fist. Time for me to go.

Brogan puts a hand on my shoulder and turns a deadly glare on his friend. “Maybe you don’t need to be such an asshole. You’re scaring her, douchebag.” He buttons his jeans and tosses a look around for his shirt.

I jerk at the blanket beneath me and fight to cover myself. No good? Never wants to see me again? Shards of my dying heart break off and fall into a black hole in my chest.

“You know I’m right. God damn it!” he barks at his friends. Both grab at their clothes—Ryder his jeans and Brogan his shirt—and make quick work of covering their gorgeously ripped bodies all the while my heart can’t find the strength it needs to beat.

“We will break her with what we want, and I can’t do that.” His dark eyes tear across the small quarters to me. “I won’t have another broken soul on my conscience. We’re filthy fucking bastards who kill for a living. The least we can do is leave her to find someone who can give her a normal life.”

Fury and pain darken his expression until I barely recognize the man in front of me. What does that mean? “Did you ever think about asking me what I want? What I think?” I snap sharply.

His expression turns inflamed. “You’re too fucking young for what we want, butterfly.” I bat away his use of the pet name he’d given me the first day we met because of my small size compared to his.

“Don’t mark me off as some lightweight, Atlas. Underestimating me would be a mistake.”

“You coming here was a mistake. It will be the first and last time. If you love us even a fraction of how much we love you, don’t darken my steps again.”

My brain zeroes in on his confession of love and the other two not throwing out denials.

But I also notice his tone. He speaks as if his word is final law and I feel a rage come alive in me that makes my fist want to connect to his jaw.

“We’re going to take a walk. By the time we get back you need to be gone.” His voice is low and animalistic.

He steps away from me, and I physically feel the distance Atlas puts between us. The cold seeps in and it burrows bone-deep. Ryder and Brogan do the same and I don’t know why, but that hurts more than when my hard-ass stepbrother did it.

I shove my feet into my skirt and jerk on my halter top in a haphazard way.

“You can’t do this.” Despite feeling mad enough to burn a town down, my voice is weakened with desperation and the pain of rejection.

Ryder and Brogan stand to the side, their gazes pinned to me, their expressions touching on everything from stark fear to acceptance. But they remain unmoving.

I slice a hand from one to the other. “So you do what he says? What are you—loyal dogs?” I find my voice again and force a little more of my wrath into my words. “Do you come to heel when he says, too? Aren’t you too old for that bullshit?”

Both Ryder and Brogan remain unflinching from the bite of my words.

“He’s your stepbrother. That earns him top billing. In this case. We respect that.”

I cock my head to the side. Oh really? Okay. I can play this game too. “You weren’t saying that when you had your mouth full of my girl-cum.” I cast my eyes downward. “And the fact you’re straining the zipper of your pants speaks volumes, don’t you think?”

Ryder holds a hand up. “He says walk, we walk, but if we had a choice, my hart, we’d take you and keep you as our queen. But...”

My heart broke. “But what?” This ought to be good.

“But you’re not old enough to know what you want, much less handle what we would want from you. In that he’s right. We broke a promise amongst ourselves. This shouldn’t have happened.”

“I’m twenty fucking years old. When will everyone stop telling me what I want and let me decide that for myself? And if you think sharing me is dark...oh, boy. I’ll let you all in on a little secret.” I step up to Ryder and shove a finger into his chest. “This isn’t the first time…”

“First time for what?”

Atlas’ fingers wrap around my upper arm, and he spins me around, nailing me with a hard look filled with blazing rage.

“Finish that sentence, little butterfly,” he all but growls. “How fucking adventurous have you been while off at college, Kandy? How many boys have touched you? But I warn you. Be very careful of your answer.”

His massive chest heaves. What a brute. He might as well be beating his chest.

I offer a smile filled with venom. “Why? Is the big bad SEAL going to hunt down every man I’ve slept with?”

I shouldn’t but I can’t help but egg the jackass on. He deserves every bit of it and then some.

Darkness passes over Brogan’s expression, and I reach for him. Instead of stepping away like I expect, he takes my hand, slips it into his for a moment before breaking all contact.

“If you care for me, for us, walk away. Don’t make us do it. We can only handle so much shit in our lives before we break.”

“But I want this. What’s so wrong with wanting me?” Pieces of my soul crack as Atlas stares down at me. I can’t help but feel desperate and want to cling to him. Beg for a chance to prove I can be the woman they need.

“If you care for us, walk.” He repeats softly and cradles my face in his palms. For a minute I think he’s going to kiss me, but he dashes that hope away when he drops his hands and takes a noticeable step toward the exit. Self-disgust wars with anger as he stares down at me. He and Brogan are by the sliding door as if putting distance between us speaks volumes. And it does.

Ryder holds out a moment, obviously torn between following his friends and staying with me. But the bond between blood brothers is strong and he leans in, presses a kiss to my cheek before joining the other side.

“Never return here. Don’t tempt us to this degree again. If you do, you won’t like the results. Go live your life. Be normal. We’re nothing you need. Trust me. I’m not so fucked in the head yet to let shit between us happen again.”

My hands are in fists at my side and tears well against my lashes, but I refuse to let them fall. “It already has,” I whisper, gutted to the core.

“Kissing doesn’t mean shit, Kandy. It doesn’t matter if you burn with the same fucked up need as we do. It’s ruining us from the inside out. We crave you so badly. But this can’t happen. Never again. Do you hear me? What happened this evening means nothing.”

Those tears burning the rims of my eyes finally fall. “It did to me.”

“We leave in the morning. You’ll never have to see us again. Brogan. Ryder. Let’s go.”

“Atlas. Don’t do this.” I whisper their names. Hunger, and the same aching need I feel deep inside stares back at me. They feel for me, but something more than our familial ties keeps Atlas and his friends at arm’s length.

“Is there someone else? Another woman? Women?”

Atlas barks a humorless laugh that could freeze hell over twice. Ryder is at his side and he shoves his hands into his jean pockets. His eyes meet mine. “How could there ever be anyone else when you are all we want?”

With that, neither of the three men look back at me as they step through the sliding door and silently close it behind them.

Dread, embarrassment, and self-loathing take the front seat to my emotions. How could they say something like that and just walk? Make me feel like I belong in heaven and then shove me into hell?

I grip my hair and wrap it in a fast bun, shove my feet into my slip-ons and storm back to my car. I can barely see the ground beneath my feet through the tears.

I fumble for the handle of my door and swing it open.

“Kandy.”

I freeze. Oh shit! Cold dread works down my spine. I turn on my heel at the sound of the sharp voice to find familiar blue eyes locked on mine. Perfectly painted red lips are pulled into a fierce thin line and I’m hit with a wave of contempt.

“What are you doing here?”

I sense the men coming up behind me.

Fuck. Could this day get any worse?

My mom takes in my ruined lipstick, mussed hair, and wrinkled clothes. Joe, my stepdad, stands behind my mom, his expression tight and controlled.

Raging storm clouds roam over her expression and I know a fierce tongue lashing is about to rent the air. “What did you do to my daughter, Atlas?” Disgust colors her words and I almost feel bad for the instant accusations, but you know what, the jerk deserves a little verbal beat down.

“You’re thirty-one and she’s barely twenty. And she’s your damn sister! Nothing about this is right. Don’t you dare touch her again. None of you. What kind of games are you playing?” She’s across the gravel lot and poking my stepbrother in the chest.

“Mom,” I start, but rage-filled eyes turn on me.

“He’s your brother for heaven’s sake.”

I was still in so much shock I didn’t see the hand coming up until it cracked across my face.

Atlas is beside me pulling me behind him before I get out the first gasp of surprise.

“Out of respect for my elders I won’t lay a hand on you. This time. Touch her again and you and I will have a problem.”

“Son,” Joe drawls in his heavy Texan accent and I can feel the powers between son and father shift from firm land to quicksand.

Ryder and Brogan come to stand beside me as a silent force of strength. The hand across my cheek did a good job of jolting me out of my shocked state.

“Enough,” I say and move to my car. “Sorry to disgust you, Mom. It’s a good thing I’m leaving. I’m taking that job offer in New York.” I turn to Atlas. “I guess you’re getting your wish after all. I’m leaving Texas and this small fucking lakeside, backward-thinking town. Don’t expect me to ever come back.”

Atlas, Brogan, and Ryder all turn rigid. Those stone faces of theirs turning about as expressive as mud bricks.

“Kandy, damn it. We talked about this. You’re coming to work for me.” Mom grabs my arm hard, and I turn back to her, jerking myself free.

“No, Mom. That’s your dream. Not mine. I have no desire to be some politician wannabe in the middle of nowhere. Have at it. But I’m out. And Atlas is my stepbrother. Not my brother. What do you think I am? Some pervert? Don’t try to make me feel guilty for something that’s not true. You married his dad, and I inherited a family member that’s not blood by any stretch of the imagination.”

“Don’t you preach to me. I brought you into this world. I’d like to think I know a thing or two about the birds and the bees. What’s acceptable and what’s not.”

Saying my mother is straightlaced is an understatement. The tall, lithe woman with strawberry blonde hair and perfectly manicured nails makes a nun on her knees lost in prayer look like she’s doing the devil’s bidding. Hand to God.

I let out a ragged sigh. “I’m tired of how hard you judge me for my feelings.”

“Let’s take a minute.” Joe. Poor guy. He’s always trying to play the referee in a game I no longer want to play.

I turn at the sound of a raspy voice aged by cigars and bourbon. “Joe.” I offer a tight smile. My stepfather nods and rolls up beside my mom with an easy gait of a man full of confidence. Decades of work under the Texan sun have weathered the creases around his eyes to make him appear beyond his fifty-eight years. I often wonder if his son, Atlas—and the topic of our heated discussion—will take after his father as the years spill by. Handsome. Rough around the edges and muscles well-formed from a life-long career in construction work.

I try to get in my car and drive away but she’s not having it. “Talk to your son or I swear to God he’ll never be welcomed in this family again. Him and the boys. If this gets out what will the community think? I’ll be ruined. All my charity work...No! I won’t tolerate this.”

My stepfather crosses his arms over a broad chest. He nods a couple of times and frustration washes over his otherwise unworried expression. You see, we’ve had this discussion before, and it always ends the same way. My mother telling me I’ll go to hell and then telling Joe to fix it.

But this time she’s gone too far.

“Don’t blame Atlas for something he had no control over.” I palm my keys.

“Donna, back the fuck up a minute and think about what you’re saying.” Joe starts rubbing at the back of his neck. If anything, the man who stepped into my life well after my fifteenth birthday is more on my side than the mother who raised me since birth.

“Don’t Donna me. Fix this sickness in our family, Joe. Or else.”

My mother, Ms. Politician wannabe of Southern Texas storms back to her car and throws gravel as she speeds off to one luncheon or some church group or another. And I’m left looking at my feet feeling dirty. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be normal and like someone normal?

Comforting arms wrap around me, and I lay my head against Joe’s chest. Atlas, Brogan, and Ryder all three stand a moment longer before Atlas speaks up.

“We’ll be gone by sunup.” And then they follow my mother’s exit. All three roaring out of the marina.

I fight back more hot tears wanting to spill down my cheeks.

“I can practically hear your thoughts, baby girl. Nothing is wrong with you. You’re just growing up is all. She’s having a hard time accepting you’re not in pigtails anymore.”

“I think I embarrass her. I just want to be normal, Joe.”

Joe pulls back and levels his dark brown eyes on my blue ones. “And who says you’re not?” A familiar smile warms his expression and I see so much of Atlas my heart aches for the man I can’t have.

Chapter Three

Kandy, six torturous, heart-wrenching years later

Riding through heavy traffic in NY gives me the time I need to prepare for the long day ahead. Six years and I never have gotten used to all the horns, congestion on every street, or the abrasive nature of the locals.

But I love it. No one sticks their noses into my business and not a single family member lives within driving distance. Christmases are spent with me jetting off to a new tropical island every year. Except for this one, but that’s okay.

I call that bliss with a capital B. Especially around this time of year. I thumb open the calendar on my phone and count the days until Christmas vacation kicks off. Oh baby! Five weeks and three days until I seal myself away in my new apartment overlooking Central Park and not come out until January or I run out of Oreos. Whichever comes first. I’ll finally have time to binge that new historical romance show everyone is swooning over and paint my living room cranberry red. Maybe I’ll get a tree this year, too.

The past year of working for my best friend, Justice Thorne, at Thorneware, a multi-billion-dollar tech company has come with a new set of challenges I didn’t run into as a one-time secretary for my friend’s mother. But no one ever said being made partner would be easy. Meetings, endless phone calls, contracts, and long nights of number crunching, missed dinners and lunches have been my days for weeks on end. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I actually sat down to eat a home-cooked meal. A burrito on the go and a quick Danish with a coffee is all I’ve managed for weeks.

A thrill of tingles wells up inside of me at my new status within the company which came with a set of keys to my new apartment and a sizable increase in pay with stock options. Two months and I still can’t get over the birthday present my friend gifted me. All because I helped her find true love with three hunks who dote on her tirelessly.

As per usual this time of year, my mind lingers on old memories of my lost chance at love. Seeing Justice with her harem of men brings cravings for what might have been once upon a time, but like I have done for the past six years, I shove those memories aside and focus on what matters. Me in the now. Because if I don’t, who will?

I pass a thumb over a golden butterfly hanging around my neck. A birthday present from them a few years back. I’d only been here for a year and was desperately fighting to make enough money to afford to live in such an expensive city.

Up until a year ago I was not too sure I wouldn’t be forced into returning home.

Truth be told, the day Justice broke it off with her mother and asked me to come work for her was one of the happiest in recent memory. That day we both left behind the narcissistic woman—aka the powerhouse owner of Thorne Tech, Justice’s natural competition in a market filled with tech-savvy geniuses.

I feel eyes on me, and I look up to see the driver staring at me through the rearview.

“All okay, Mr. Mackay?”

My driver looks back at me for a brief moment and then back on the road. “Yes, ma’am.”

He couldn’t be more than a few years older than me. Clean cut, soft hands and remarkably easy going. Almost too much so. I like a little grit and height to my men, but there’s a type of man for every type of woman, I suppose. Whoever gets to look into his kind eyes every day would be a lucky chick for sure.

His services are another benefit that came with my new position. One I secretly love more than anything. I’ve picked up some unsavory attention from an unwanted admirer. Not being alone when I go and come from the office puts my mind at ease. At first, I didn’t know if I would ever get used to having a chauffeur but not spending an hour elbowing my way through pedestrian traffic is yet another nice benefit.

“Have you lived here long, Mr. Mackay?”

He nods. “My whole life. I know everything there is to know about the Big Apple. Good and bad. It’s easy for a girl like you to get lost here. Best be careful.” He hands me a disposable coffee cup from my favorite shop around the corner from my place and a small white bag.

“You’re right there. It’s nothing like my small Texas town. That’s a good and bad thing.” I smile and greedily take both and sip at the steamy liquid and literally moan with delight.

“What a surprise. Wow, that was good. You even got the flavor right. Thank you, Mr. Mackay.”

“Vanilla latte, two sugars. Extra whipped cream on Fridays.”

My brows rise in surprise. “You are good.”

“You look tired. You should take better care of yourself, Kandy.”

Not Ms. Lockhart, I notice, but whatever. You buy me my special Friday coffee and sugary goodies; you can use my given name.

I nod and toast the air with my coffee cup. “You’re right.” I down half of the coffee before diving into the fresh pastry, saving half for Justice. “But there’s no rest for the wicked or the tired.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wicked about you. Stick with me. I’ll make sure it stays that way.”

My mouth forms a soft smile. “Thank you for that.” I think. I duck my head and pull up Justice’s name on chat and type out a quick almost there.

I should talk with my workaholic friend about the hours we’re keeping. But being so new at the partner table makes me hesitant. I know I’ll need to make my bones before asking favors for time off.

But when the hired help starts commenting on the bags under the eyes and getting you food because you don’t have time to eat, it should be a sign something needs to give, right?

The dark SUV comes to a stop outside our high-rise, and I elbow the door closed after one last heart-felt thank you for breakfast.

“Oh wait!” I knock on the window and the driver stops suddenly. I jerk the door open and lean in. “My phone. Sorry about that.”

“Wouldn’t want that to happen again.”

“No kidding.” Once in a while is okay, but almost every day this week borders on me losing my mind. Get it together, Kandy. I wave him off and head inside.

New York City is nothing if not beautiful in the late fall. A few ornamental trees with fake orange leaves and twinkle lights decorate the large glass entrance and I duck behind them when I notice the company’s tech guy waiting by the bank of elevators.

Joshua something. I really need to work on my ability to recall names, but his name isn’t my problem at the moment. Keeping hidden is. He’s a whizz with tech but makes my skin crawl. I press a little deeper behind the tree when he turns my way. Handsome, sandy blond hair and aqua-colored eyes give him a California laid-back look. But looks can be deceiving.

Every time I call him to the office to fix my laptop, the creep vibes on my radar ping past one hundred which keep me from jumping at the chance to ride the twenty floors up solo with him.

The second he’s whooshed out of sight I jump to another elevator and head straight for Justice’s office the second the door pings open. I swing through the large maple door and offer up a quick smile.

She holds a hand up and points at the phone in her hand. She mouths new clients, thirty million contract.

Holy shit, I mouth back. Really, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the outrageous amounts of money tossed around in everyday talk within these walls. Well not ever, but not right this second.

Justice hangs up and there’s a glow about her I know comes from being a new mother to a three-month-old. “How’s the baby and the guys?”

“When I left home they were all asleep on the living room floor. It looked like a toy factory exploded. Everything that girl owns covered every square inch. The baby was on Jacob’s chest fast asleep. I think they had a stuffed toy rager well after two in the morning. That baby girl has all three of them wrapped around her tiny little pinky. Last night they each took turns tending to her so I could sleep.”

“I thought there was something different about you.”

“Yeah, I actually got more than two hours of shut-eye for the first time in forevahhh. Speaking of sleep, have you gotten any?”

“The bags under my eyes that bad?”

“Pretty much.”

I pull out my tablet and thumb through today’s agenda. “Not in recent memory. I haven’t made my bed in over a week at least. I haven’t made it past the couch. Please tell me what it is like,” I tease, passing her the white bag holding the other uneaten half of my Danish.

She takes it and dives in. “Oh. What’s this? Damn that’s good stuff. Since when do you have time in the morning to grab breakfast? Tell me your secrets?”

“I didn’t. Mr. Mackay gave it to me.”

Justice takes another bite. “Who?”

I tap the screen and approve of a few meetings a couple of high rolling clients are requesting through our assistant. “The driver.”

Justice nods and in goes the last little bit. “I don’t think I’ve had a bite to eat that hasn’t come from one of the guys cooking it or a deli in a solid year.”

I huff. “But you’ve got an empire in return. Besides, Christmas is coming and you’ll have two whole weeks of domestic bliss to enjoy with Jacob, Lucian, Seth, and the baby. I doubt you’ll go a single day that those men don’t dote on you.”

I skim the pad of my thumb over the butterfly necklace around my neck.

Justice smiles and I tuck my chin to my chest. Stabs of pain slice through my heart, surprising me. The last thing I want to do is come off as jealous of my best friend’s happiness, but the ache slipping between my ribs and twisting is hard to ignore. I snatch at the butterfly necklace around my neck and stroke the wing.

“Touché. Speaking of...” Justice pushes up from behind her desk and sinks into the couch next to me. “Time for Christmas gifts.”

The tablet in my hand is swiftly replaced with my friend’s hand. “Wait, what?”

Justice turns to me, and we face each other. “Gifts? I don’t have mine for you given it’s only November. Christmas is like five weeks away. Don’t we have a pact to panic shop a week before?”

“Yes, but this is an exception. I have mine for you. Open it!” Justice reaches around the side of the couch and pulls out a silver box with a sparkly red ribbon and places it on my lap.

“This isn’t a fruitcake or something is it?” I tug at the ribbon and when it falls to the side, I lift the lid to find nothing remotely close to fruitcake.

I pick up an elegant white envelope with gold embossed letters that spell out Club Sin in raised letters.

Nerves cause my fingers to tremble over the fine paper. Though I never dared step foot inside the atrociously expensive and elite adult club, the rumors have always piqued my interest. Membership for unconnected people like myself comes with a hefty price tag that hits five figures easily, so I didn’t follow through with my curiosities.

“Justice,” I say tentatively. “What have you done?”

She takes the box and taps my hands impatiently. “Open the envelope already, silly woman!”

Fear of what I know I’ll find inside makes me drag in a harsh breath. But I slide the slip of thick paper from its encasing and peel open the folded sides. It takes me three times to read the invitation before the words sink in fully.

In elegant swirls of flourishing black ink, the words read:

You have been given the gift of desire this Christmas.

The brave of heart need only accept.

Should you count yourself among this elite group, arrive promptly at eight on the night of November 5th at the red door to live out your most daring fantasies and darkest desires. May your every wish come true this holiday season.

Welcome to Club Sin.

The air seizes in my lungs. I look at the date again. Tonight? “You’re kidding.” The cost of this invitation...my head spins. “You have to be sleep-deprived, Justice. Tell me you didn’t just spend ten thousand dollars on me.”

“It was a bit more than that and you are worth every penny and more.”

Justice wears a smile of pure bliss, and for a minute I think she’s lost it. All those sleepless nights must have messed with her head.

She bats a hand in the air. “That’s not important; what is though is you calling the number at the bottom and accepting your reservation. Or I’ll do it for you.” She pats me on the leg. “Either way, this is happening.”

I’m already on my feet and across the spacious office. I look out over the throng of tiny people milling along the streets twenty floors below us and then back at my tablet. “There’s way too much to do for me to spend time on fantasies and whatever else my brain can cook up about what goes on inside those walls.”

I don’t date all that much. The last time I did it landed me in hot water with an overzealous stalker who couldn’t take being stood up, I guess. Not that I meant to leave him hanging, I just freaked out about meeting a stranger for drinks and couldn’t force myself to follow through with the date. After that I scratched my one foray into dating apps and deleted my profile. There were a few double dates before I turned partner, but every single one never returned my calls nor cared for a second date.

Never mind the voice screaming in the back of my mind that none of them stand up to Atlas, Ryder, or Brogan.

Sad, but true. Braving uncharted dating territory just isn’t my thing. After becoming a partner, everything outside of work dried up except the persistent asshole who keeps me triple checking my locks at night and changing my number every other week.

The pain of rejection, no matter how hard I try, never leaves my heart.

“I don’t know, Justice.” I bite at my nail and seriously consider burning the invitation in my hand in a nearby wastebasket.

“Look.” Justice joins me and places her hands on my shoulders. “Let’s get real for a second, okay. Sex. Hot, glorious, bona fide kinky sex happens inside those walls and you and I both know you need it. Or risk having a cold and lonely holiday. I don’t want that for my friend. Not when something can be done about it.”

I huff a laugh recalling how she hooked up with her trio of men. “It’s a little ironic, don’t you think? Me going to a club to get some given how you met your men auctioning off your virginity.”

Justice arches a perfectly shaped brow. “Life’s little ironic jokes. I love it!”

But I’m already shaking my head with the perfect excuse. “We have four contracts, two mergers and one of the clients wants a few hours of our time. It will take forever with us both working eighteen-hour days as is. I can’t afford days off.”

“And that is exactly why you need this. Being a partner comes with perks. Like taking time off without permission. Mergers and clients are not going anywhere.”

As if the Universe is finally working with me, my phone pings, and I silently hope it’s a dumpster fire that requires us to work endless hours to resolve. Justice grabs my phone from where I left it on the corner of the desk before I can.

“See, work work work.” Justice peers at the screen and I cringe and keep the lump in my throat from choking me. While I hope for a raging fire of one kind, I know it’s not. No one with any sense calls before seven in the morning, so it could only be one person.

“Blocked caller?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

She nods and confirms my suspensions. Fuck.

“Are you still getting messages from this asshole? How many phone numbers have you changed already because of this?”

“I’ve lost count. It started up again last night. The messages went from thinking about you heart emoji to close-up dick pics in the span of an hour. He’s not even all that impressive either. He keeps finding my number. I don’t know how. And the random weekly flowers sitting outside my apartment building freaks me out. I’m scared.”

“What do the detectives say? Any news there?”

At that moment all I want to do is pick up a phone and call Brogan or Ryder. Atlas too. They would know what to do, but that isn’t gonna happen.

“I wish. What can they say or do with no name, number, or anything to go on? The dating profile is all gone if it was real to begin with. I report the incoming phone number, they jot it down, but it’s a burner phone. Untraceable. I change my number and he finds it two weeks later. How, I don’t have a clue. I’m close to ditching phones altogether. I’ve already suspended all my social media accounts because of this crap.” And the reason I want to lock myself in my apartment for the holidays, but I keep that tidbit to myself. It’s the only way I can see getting any peace if only short-lived.

“Have your men found anything?” It’s a long shot but I ask anyway.

“Nothing yet, sweetie, but I promise Jacob and Seth have not stopped looking for answers. Whoever this is, he’s crafty and knows how to hide his digital tracks. But we’ll catch him.”

I’m no mastermind lawyer, cop, or detective but it’s going to take something big for my stalker to actually come out of whatever wormhole he’s hiding in.

Justice picks up the phone and snatches the paper from my fingers.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“Making sure you have some fun. Safe fun. There are three problems you have, my friend— getting laid, hung up on old loves, and the need for good sleep. This knocks all three out of the ballpark.”

“You’re not my boss anymore. I can argue with you on this, you know.”

Mischief lights her eyes. “You could. But I’d still win. Besides, payment has been made and it’s nonrefundable.”

Justice holds up a finger.

“Yes, I’d like to confirm the reservation for Ms. Kandy Lockhart. Yes. Eight this evening. Room one.” Satisfied with herself Justice returns the phone to its cradle.

“Why is it so expensive? Does every room come with the same price tag?”

“No clue. All I know is they dropped that price tag on me to get you in. Maybe it depends on what your needs are. I do know reservations are like gold. Hard to dig up and once found they turn into dreams coming true. Once in the room—by the way, I took care to pick the right one just for you—you’ll need extra time, so I made sure you have that, and I made sure to claim a reservation for a second date.”

I almost choke on my tongue. “Second? I don’t even know if I’ll take the first.”

“You will. What other plans do you have for Christmas Eve? Besides, non-refundable, remember?”

“Are you blackmailing me?”

“Yep.” Justice pulls fresh strawberries from a small fridge tucked out of sight and we settle on the couch again.

“I haven’t had a man’s touch since the night they rejected me, Justice. I don’t know if I can do this. And with complete strangers,” I say honestly.

My friend pops a red berry into her mouth and considers me for a moment. “You have a few hours to get in the right headspace. Trust me when I say tonight will meet every expectation you have of finally taking a man and then some.”

Trust isn’t something I give freely. But I do trust Justice. She always has my back and I have hers.

“You can do this. Once you break through the fear barrier in here,” she taps the side of my head. “You’ll find a side of yourself you’ve never known. It was that way with me and the men. When I sold myself at auction with the hopes of trying to move on from the very men I ended up with, I never dreamed it would actually put me right where I needed to be. You can find that same level of happiness too. Life is more than sliding away to your castle and being lonely.”

Talk about nailing down my life in a nutshell. “I’m happy for you, babe. I just don’t hold any high expectations of happily-ever-after happening for me.”

I’ve tried so many times to move on. I doubt this plan will work. I’ll probably chicken out at the eleventh hour. But Justice isn’t listening.

Over her shoulder I notice the bleak morning I hoped would turn sunny is showing signs of snow instead and I shiver at the idea of going home alone. Again. Maybe it’s me with the problem. Would it be such a bad idea to add a little warmth to my cold, colorless life?

Suddenly, I’m so sick of being inside my head and listening to my own excuses. Every year I do the same thing. Work, home, work again. And when the big C day rolls around I jet off to an island, hold up in a hotel room, watch Christmas reruns and end up eating every meal in front of my computer.

And the days after Christmas. Those are the coldest and loneliest. I spend every single winter night since moving to New York City six years ago solo. The more I think about it the more I see Justice has a point. “You say it’s safe?”

“Yes. Everyone is vetted before they are allowed in.”

I can’t believe I’m asking this. “When is it again?”

Justice looks absolutely stunning wearing a Cheshire smile like a trophy. “T-minus thirteen hours.”

I sit in silence and Justice takes that as acceptance of my fate.

“I’ve already informed the driver you’ll be going home early today. I have a dress fitting scheduled at your apartment for noon and a late lunch for three. My favorite deli will deliver. After that I advise you to get some sleep. You’ll have a long night ahead of you.” Justice is across the room answering her desk phone while I choke on all the details she’s fed me.

“As a partner you get a few perks that come with the job like taking an extra day off and making it a long weekend for burying the past.” She looks pointedly at my necklace, and she doesn’t have to say it. We’re both thinking of the three big elephants in my life.

I guess I’m doing this.

“Ms. Thorne, the driver is ready. Says he’s fueled the car and ready when you are.” Justice’s new assistant’s voice carries over the intercom.

I stand and grab my shoulder bag. Justice sees me to the door and before I leave, I turn to give her a quick kiss. “If I get killed it’s your fault. Don’t let my house plants suffer the same fate.”

Electric green eyes kiss the ceiling. “Drama queen.” Justice pushes my reservation card into my hands. “Can’t have you forgetting that.”

I throw her a wink and turn running into a blue cotton-covered chest.

“Oh damn. I’m sorry.”

Joshua the tech guy throws a hand out and catches my elbow, but I drop my bag and the letter. He picks them up and hands them to me offering an awkward smile.

“Date night?”

“Something like that.”

A pang of adrenaline spikes my blood, and my heartbeat quickens. I step around him and offer a quick apology before rushing for the elevators.

Please, God, don’t let him follow. I look up to find him entering right behind me.

“First floor?”

I nod.

His shoulder brushes mine. “How’s the computer?” he asks. There’s ample space since we’re the only two people on the elevator, but he picks my personal zone to stand in. I count the floors as they go by way too slowly and fight the urge to squirm.

“It’s just fine,” I flat out lie and push down spikes of dread climbing up my spine. “Thanks for fixing the blue screen of death. I almost lost all my work.”

“New phone?” His hand is on the middle of my back, and I take a step forward.

“Phone? Oh, yeah, sure.” I peer down at my hand and realize I’m clutching the thing like it’s my only lifeline.

“We’re here!” The doors slide open, and I rush through the throng of people trying to get on. “Nice chatting.”

“Wait up. I’ll walk you out.”

I wave off Joshua, but he doesn’t seem to mind or pay attention and easily glides up next to me. Talk about not getting a clue. We step through the revolving doors.

The driver is right where he promised to be, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “There’s my car. Thanks for the company.” But Joshua is not getting the message and crosses the last few yards to where the SUV is parked against the curb.

“This man bothering you?”

My driver opens the back door, ushering me inside and steps between Joshua and me, blocking his approach.

“Just helping.”

“The lady doesn’t need your help.” I can hear the ice in my driver’s voice and there’s a hint of danger there too. Whoa. How much is Justice paying this guy?

The younger man snorts and says something I can’t hear. I turn to look out the back window only to see Joshua walking off, a look of hurt and disappointment on his face when he looks back at me. Damn. The last thing I need is to make enemies.

My phone pings, and it’s Justice.

Forgot to tell you, take a pen. You’ll need to sign a contract when you get there. Have fun,

- Love J

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Chapter Four

Kandy

I had every intention of refusing my friend’s offer. Truly, I did.

And then a to-die-for dress Justice promised arrived with matching stilettos and my fate was sealed. I marvel at the creamy white number that is buttery to the touch and softer than clouds against my skin. A sexy dip in the front showcases miles of cleavage while slits up the sides reveal more thigh than I’ve ever shown. Every soul in my small Texas town would slap a slut label on my ass.

I glide my palms over the smooth material. I can do this. I swallow thickly as the car rolls to a stop and ease from the opened door. Snow flurries float across my vision and I hug my thick shawl tighter around my shoulders.

Unlike other clubs I’ve seen, this one has no line of waiting patrons anxious to get inside. And why would they? This is a members-only club. There is no bouncer or flashing lights either, I notice. Just a door with bronze handles and a subtle sign overhead with the locale’s name and an air of money about the place.

“Thank you, Mr. Mackay.” I turn every shade of red when my driver swings my door open and offers me a stiff hand. I slide from the warmth into the cold night. He looks uneasy and I feel bad for him having to sit out here the entire time I’m inside. And a little embarrassed, honestly.

“Is this the main entrance? It looks sort of empty, don’t you think?”

The man’s deep blue gaze lifts to the club’s name pinned to the large cement building.

“The red door. It is where I’ve been instructed to leave you.” Judgment splashes across his face and all the warning bells I spent all day quieting in my head at this being a bad idea ring off all at once. My cheeks scorch hotter and I start to panic. My hand goes to the butterfly. I can do this.

“Or you can leave with me. You have choices. I told you I would protect you.”

Despite the coloring of his icy tone which is downright insulting, I almost jump at the chance to back out. Have him drop me off at my apartment no one the wiser. But I wrestle my inner hermit back into her corner so the more social side of me stands a chance at getting laid tonight.

No, Kandy. You need this. Everyone can keep their opinions to themselves. You don’t need protecting.

In my heart of hearts, I know this is my chance to move on. I hold that thought at the front of my mind and clutch the ends of my dress. A light snowfall covers the cement and at another point I would admire the clean white sheet of fluff.

Instead, I swallow my fear and climb the few steps leading to Club Sin. Red carpet lines the small-covered entryway and I’m taken aback by the supplant elegance of the place. Sconces mark either side of the door, their golden light mixing with the deep red coloring of the door to give it a glowing effect. Off to the sides, twinkle lights hug ornamental shrubs offering welcoming energy. If the doorway looked this opulent, the inside must be off the rails.

No sooner do I step in front of the door does an elegantly dressed gentleman welcome me with a warm smile and a small bow. Nothing too fancy. Just a small tip of the body, but it makes me feel like royalty, so I offer him a smile in return.

“Good evening.”

I step into a small room, and I notice immediately this is not the normal entryway for arriving guests. It’s secluded and the carpet is barely trodden upon.

“Is there a special event tonight keeping everyone else entertained?”

My finely dressed greeter steps behind a raised podium, an open book in front of him. He scrawls something quickly before warm, brown eyes rise to meet mine. “No, ma’am.”

“Oh, I see. I was just wondering because I don’t see anyone else.”

The doorman takes my winter shawl and drapes it over his arm. “Special guests are seen through the red door. You, my dear, are a special guest.”

“I see.” Genius idea keeping the regulars and the one-nighters separate, I suppose. Wouldn’t want to water down the quality for permanent members.

I let my gaze find anything it can land on to ward off the awkwardness of this whole situation. A large chandelier hangs from the center to cast a soft glow over the small space, and a melody filters through a set of double doors in front of me.

“As a formality, name please.”

I pull out the invitation from my small clutch and pass it to the gentleman who immediately signals to someone standing off to the side.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

“As intended, ma’am. Ms. Charlotte will see you to your room now. Enjoy your stay at Club Sin.”

Nothing weird at all by being told by someone who looks like George Clooney’s doppelganger to have fun knowing what is about to happen once I step through those doors. Surreal much.

I stroke the pads of my fingers over the golden butterfly hanging between the swells of my breasts for a boost of confidence and to ground my chaotic thoughts that have been kicking around in my head since this morning.

“This way please, Ms. Lockhart,” she says in a thick British accent. She raises a manicured hand and crooks a pink-tipped finger my way. Her easy smile is understanding and the tension between my shoulders loosens by a couple of degrees. She must do this countless times an evening. No way I can be the first or only virgin to walk through those doors. I take a deep breath and fall in behind the raven-haired beauty with supple brown skin. She too wears a formal gown, only I am certain she outshines every woman to grace these halls.

“I’m sorry, where are you taking me?”

“Room One. It’s through these doors and down the first hallway. If you’ll follow me, we’ll get you settled for your evening of play.” She throws me a wink and pushes open heavy mahogany doors.

My heart stops half a beat. Oh, my God. Everything is covered in gold and black. From the midnight carpet to the wallpapered walls to the dark, vaulted ceiling. No detail went unnoticed, and the dark tones set a mood of self-indulgence and decadent sin. I’m really starting to dig this private section of the club.

A low-bass thumping rhythm pipes into the entryway and it works at melting the remaining tension in my muscles. To my left is a small round table with a gorgeous arrangement of white roses in the center. My gaze draws to a golden tray of bubbly champagne to the side.

“To help with the nerves?”

Fortification! “Yes, please.” I almost ask for a double.

Charlotte offers the tray. I release my butterfly pendant and gladly take a flute.

“Room one is this way.” She turns and practically glides on impossibly high stilettos.

Carpet masks the sound of our footfalls as we walk deeper into the club. Chandeliers suspended high above us offer a muted glow of golden light and before I have a chance to ask where the nearest exit is, we come to a stop in front of a red door with—you guessed it—golden letters marking it as my final destination.

“Here we are.”

Every cell in my body jumps to life and starts to tingle. She slips in a key and turns the knob. I half expect hands to reach out, ravish me and suck me inside to do bad things with me. But we’re met with a soft wave of classical music and the scent of fresh roses instead.

I swallow thickly and follow Charlotte.

Massive and richly decorated is the only way to describe what greets me on the inside. Another ornate chandelier. This one is made up of a thousand teardrop crystals and is about three times the size of the ones in the corridors. Sconces dot the walls to offer more subdued lighting in places the overhead light can’t reach, and they all work together, offering a sense of comfort.

Until my eyes land on the main attraction. A bed large enough to fit a football team holds down the middle of the room. The large expanse of space is covered in shiny red silk and not much else. Only a single white robe hangs over the side to break up all that red.

“Um, I think I’m supposed to be meeting someone here. Has he arrived yet?”

I suddenly wish I’d asked more questions about this whole arrangement before agreeing.

Off to the side of the bed there’s a sitting area with a plush leather couch and a couple of antique chairs upholstered in sumptuous black velvet. A table sits between them and Charlotte gestures me to join her on the couch.

“There’s the small matter of the contract and then I’ll leave you to your shower.”

She moves the sheet of paper in my direction. I pick it up. My hand drifts back to my butterfly. “Shower?”

“Yes. All part of the pampering experience. Trust me. You’ll love it. Once you sign this, you’ll be set for your evening to commence.”

The air is warm and smells of leather and a few vanilla-scented candles I see burning on various shelves along the walls.

I take the paper and read over the rules. Clean, on birth control, consent to having three lovers doing anything and everything I desire. Whoa. What now? My heart stops and I backtrack over the last bullet point.

Damn you, Justice. My heart is in my throat. So that is why the hefty price tag. Did this make me a hooker? An expensive escort. Do I want this? I can walk, but then Justice will lose her payment. Besides, Club Sin has a reputation of always satisfying its clients. I did a little research over lunch and not even a whisper of anything negative could be found about the place.

Seeing as I’ve made it this far, I scrawl my name across the bottom where three other spaces sit blank.

“I see no one else has signed.”

Charlotte cants her head, gathers the contract, and stands. “They’ll be doing so, I assure you. The shower is through there. Room rules. Your partners for the evening will be here shortly. You’ll find everything you need in the bathroom. Only one more detail. Your phone.” Charlotte holds a hand out.

“Another room rule?”

She nods. “You’ll get it back at the end of your evening. You need only request it at the front desk when you’re ready to depart.”

I hand it over.

And with that I am left alone in a fancy dress, a half-empty flute, and only one option.

I strip and head to the bathroom.

Charlotte is right. I pull the long lengths of my hair over my shoulder away from the dangers of getting wet and step under the spray. It hits me from the neck down and it feels heavenly. Not ten grand heavenly but close enough.

All kinds of soaps line a small shelf in the shower, and I opt for a lavender and honey body wash that lathers perfectly. “Merry ‘early’ Christmas to me,” I say in a sing-song voice.

I rinse and make quick work of drying off. Before heading back to the bedroom, I fix my hair and touch up my lipstick. Feeling fuck-iful to borrow my friend’s favorite word and feeling risqué I leave my towel in the bathroom and pad naked over to the bed.

Using my alone time, I take a chance and explore the room a little while I wait. Mosaics of lovers in various positions cover the high, rounded ceiling. Believe me when I say no detail is left out. Next to the end of the bed sits a wooden chest. Curiosity wins out and I slide to the floor and pry it open.

Parts of me are terrified of what I find inside. But I’m dying of curiosity, too. I pick up vibrators in multiple sizes, a pink dildo, nipple clamps and...Oh. I pick up a velvet bag and marvel at what falls into my palm. A pretty silver anal plug with a crystal topper. So enthralled by my discovery of treasures I fail to hear the door open at my back.

“Kandy, my hart.”

That voice sends blood pounding through me.

I whirl on my knees to find three massive forms standing in my doorway; their dark eyes lock on my naked body and I notice the second they realize I’m in the submissive pose. My hands drop my loot and I suck in a harsh breath.

“Butterfly, it’s good to see all of you.”

“Ryder? Atlas?”

My nipples harden at the sound of his heavy voice. It licks over my skin in a fiery caress, and he notices them in an I’m going to eat you kind of way.

“Damn good.”

Brogan.

Fuck me. I’m in so much trouble.

Chapter Five

Atlas

Rules kept me in line for years. I finally decided to break them, cast away the fucking straitjacket society placed me in and here we are.

She’s beyond gorgeous all fired up and ready to kick our asses. Seeing her blue eyes simmer with rage and those dainty hands of hers balled into fists makes my cock solid steel and ready to pound her into submission.

I drink in her pose—open thighs, kneeling so pretty while holding an anal plug in one hand and a fat dildo in the other. We will need the former, but not the latter. We’ve gone too long not having her in our arms and in our beds that we have no use for rubber dicks. But it is cute to see the stain of red on her cheeks.

Kandy looks up at us. Those bright eyes lighting on each of us in turn. It took a while and a few thrashing from my friends, but I’ve lost all hang-ups that stood between my stepsister and me a long time ago. The look of pure devastation on her face the day I told her to leave and never come back has chased me for years and I’m finally able to do something about it. We all are.

I step through the door, Brogan and Ryder bringing up the rear. I hear the snick of the door close, and the soft click of metal feels freeing. None of us are leaving here tonight. Not until sweet, virgin Kandy Lockhart is fully ours.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Our lioness with her massive head of blonde hair arranged in beautiful curls is on her feet now and ready to tear into us. Every move she makes causes the heavy swell of her bare breasts to sway. Taut nipples catch my eye, and those sweet berry-red tips beg me to taste them then clamp them in something pretty. I smile.

In time.

Panic twines through those pretty blues when we move as a unit across the room toward her.

She stumbles backward from us and doesn’t stop her retreat until the back of her knees are against the bed. She thinks she can run to safety, but nothing will get between us again. Reality is, I was a fool to let her get away the first time. We all were, but I carry the bulk of the blame on my shoulders for what happened. I cared too much about my career and what others thought of me back then. A few years of nearly dying for my country and I learned the hard way that if I don’t take what I want out of this life while I can, there might not be anything left to live for one day.

And I want Kandy. In my life, at my side, in my bed. I remember the addictive taste of her release on my tongue. The feel of her core tightening around my fingers and her girl-cum gushing into my mouth.

And then I chased her away. Spilled lies and broke her heart. All out of fear.

Kandy is our one weakness none of us are willing to give up. It kills a part of me to think I made her believe otherwise. Shame of our dark, sexual cravings and the fact our parents are married drove me to push her away. She may have been aroused at the idea of having three lovers back then. But I couldn’t allow her to make a life-lasting mistake for simple curiosity.

Looking back, I couldn’t fathom the idea of her craving the same sexual desires that are so much a part of us. My blond, blue-eyed angel was too pure. Too good. And way too damn young to know what she wanted.

I thought I knew what was best for her. For all of us. Which made me a dick.

But the days of second-guessing and giving a shit what others think are over for us. We resigned our positions in the military and put the dangers of us coming home in a body bag to sleep. Now all our focus is on getting our girl back.

We spent the last six years learning there is no running from who we are just like there’s no living without the one who feeds our souls. Trick is convincing her how fucking sorry we are at letting her slip away.

With each step she takes, it drives the animal in me to give chase. To catch her, spread her beneath me and watch her fist-tight pussy clench around my shaft. Experience the ripple of her release as Brogan or Ryder sinks their cock into her impossibly tight ass.

“Run, little virgin. There’s nowhere to go, butterfly. Try to fly. We’ll only catch you.”

Her eyes, highlighted with a heavy amount of artfully applied black eyeliner, grow wide. Her dress hangs off the back of a nearby chair and I see her trying to edge in that direction.

I move my massive body and block her path.

“You need to leave. I’m expecting someone.” She casts her gaze to all three of us and it’s cute how she thinks letting fear bleed into her voice will send us scurrying out the door with our tails between our legs.

“We know.” Brogan answers, tugging the robe out of reach and tossing it aside to join her evening gown when she tries for it next.

Realization slowly begins to sink in and her entire, luscious body goes rigid. Scorching red fades over fine porcelain skin and I want to run my tongue over every inch to remind myself of how sugary sweet she tastes. Cherry-stained lips part and the tip of her tongue peeks out to brush along her lower lip. My cock grows harder remembering her taking my friend deep inside that mouth.

Ryder flanks her from the left and Brogan from the right.

Impulse drives me to close the distance in a couple of strides, and then suddenly I’m on her. Firm, supple skin greets the palms of my hands when I wrap my arms around her.

Her breath catches and those soft hands rise to my chest. She pushes at me, but that’s not going to get her anywhere.

“Atlas, what do you want? Please, I beg you. Leave. You can’t be here. I’m meeting someone.” Notions of tying her up cloud my vision for a moment. But it’s her fault. Every time she moves, hard nipples rake across my chest and I’m hungry for a taste. Starved.

“We’re not going anywhere, Kandy,” I offer with surety.

“Then find another room. This one is taken and I have a date to get laid. Which you’re botching.”

Fiery eyes level on mine. It takes effort, but I clamp down on the need to give a possessive growl. The second I breathe in her scent, my senses kick into overdrive. Blood pounds and rushes to my dick. It fucking makes my cock throb with lust heavy and long between my legs.

“Atlas Stone, pack up your goons and leave.” Another fist against the chest only makes me laugh.

Perfection. “This is room one, right?”

“You know it is.”

“Then we’re right where we need to be,” I answer honestly. Sweet, sweet perfection. Bitable red lips and big, sultry eyes rise. “Are you going to be a good girl and play with us this evening?”

Under normal circumstances I would step away, give the woman some space, and we could work this out. But we have twelve hours, and I didn’t survive through over a decade of military life and war by not knowing how to hone perfect timing. My life and those of my men often counted on my ability to spot opportunities. I am not about to waste a second of this one on arguing over the past.

Brogan moves in and kisses the rise of her shoulder and the dip of her neck. “We’re your dates for the evening, Kandy. All three of us.” He speaks low and it seems to work for a moment.

She gives herself away by tilting her head to the side. Not much but I notice.

But contempt is all she has for me. I get the full force of it when she glowers up at me and pounds a tiny fist on my chest. She’s trying to fight me and her own desires, but the hint of excitement lighting those amazing eyes tells me a whole other story.

“Then I’m out. You can have the room and its box of toys all to yourself. Have fun using the anal plug.” There she goes again trying to push me away.

Ryder chuckles darkly from where he stands off to the side, his stare intense and unwavering. “We have a plan for that. You signed a binding contract. Had you taken a minute to read you would have realized once signing you are unable to leave for a total of twelve hours. Or pay the fine.”

I watch her cheeks darken with a fierce blush as my friend fills her in on a few details of the fine print our pretty vixen overlooked in her rush to sign.

Her best friend worked hard to keep this a secret during the planning stages. Lucky for us Justice was on our side when we called her personal number and requested a meetup. It took a couple of months to pull off with the writing of the contract and picking the right room for our untouched woman. It will be worth it, but our girl isn’t going to make it easy.

“Did you read the fine print, baby?”

Brogan takes her hand in his and kisses the tips of each finger. She works her mouth a couple of times, but I don’t let her find her voice. I give in to my baser instincts though I promised to take the evening slow. I lower my head and savor the moment my lips connect with hers. Sweet remnants of champagne linger on her tongue when she opens for me, and I sweep my tongue over hers.

I keep my eyes open, and flashes of sapphire flames shine back at me. She breaks the kiss and looks absolutely ravishing with her eyes narrowed on me filled with murder.

“What’s the fine? I’ll pay whatever it is. Hit me with a number. I’m ready.”

I smile. “One point five million dollars.” An amount our lucrative luxury cabin building business has furnished us with and many times over. It’s taken a couple of years to get rolling, but we’re through the roughest part.

Her jaw hinges open. “What the hell?”

This time I step away and let one of the other men take my place. I loosen the knot of my tie; Brogan does the same. I pull mine from my collar at the same time he does and the long black silk joins Kandy’s dress over the back of a nearby chair.

“I’ll ask Justice. She’ll foot the bill and I can pay her back.”

I smile and work the buttons of my shirt open letting the lapels fall away from my chest. “No phone, remember.”

Those fuckable lips of hers fall open and I can’t wait to see her take one of us between those red-stained treasures. “That was your doing, wasn’t it?” She crosses her hands over her chest and tries to act tough.

“You’re stuck here. Our captive for the next twelve hours with extensions of time available should we see fit.”

Ryder steps in and catches Kandy when the force of reality buckles her knees. She looks good in my friend’s arms and my attention is drawn to how her fingers curl around his bicep.

“Captive?”

“That’s right, my hart. You’re not leaving until we say.”

We all knew it would take something powerful to keep her within these walls once we showed our faces. So he hit her one weakness. Money. Nothing to be ashamed of, but as former SEALs exploiting others’ weaknesses is just another day on the job. In this case, it was a necessary evil for the greater good.

“You low down, dirty, no good, scoundrels of men.”

My cock is now pounding at the zipper to be let out. I force a smile and push to the front an air of arrogance. “You’ve summed us up rather nicely.”

She has spirit and I’m up for a good challenge. It’ll make the claiming all the sweeter.

With a deep chuckle Brogan eases away and slides the deadbolt on the door in place.

“All three of you are nuts. You think tying me up will make me have sex with you? Ha! I’ll scream, someone will hear my cries and you three dingbats will be in jail before sunrise.”

“They’ll hear you scream and think you’re having the fuck of a lifetime,” Brogan answers for us and shrugs out of his jacket. I stay back and admire the delightful sight of her naked body when Brogan comes back to Kandy, bends, and picks our girl up over the shoulder.

Fists fly and I think I see a knee connect with a rib. He raises a hand and slaps her on the ass, plops her down in the middle of the room and Ryder comes up behind her.

A flushed, furious Kandy is huffing. She raises a hand to slap Brogan but he deftly catches her hand and kisses the inside of her palm.

“This is not happening. You can’t make me do this.”

Her eyes flash with defiance.

“But it is and by the time we are done with you, you will be begging us to fuck you.”

“Hardly. Did that once and it got me a door across the ass.”

I lift her chin high. “We’ll see.” I refuse to let our past actions prevent tonight from happening.

Together Brogan and Ryder secure her wrists above her head and lock her in padded leather cuffs. Ones I’m pretty sure my sweet butterfly missed on her perusal of the room while she waited. The trunk of toys did its job.

Her eyes shift from me to Brogan and then Ryder.

She rasps a ragged sigh and repeats herself, and I chuckle at her defiance.

“Sex is not an option. Forget it.” But her words are fainter and hold a fraction less heat.

Raspy breaths tear from her chest causing her heavy breasts to quiver enticingly. I visually notice her shiver when Brogan runs his hands down her raised arms and over the supple swells of her hips. She leans into him too and that little sign lets me know we haven’t gone too far. She’s excited even if pissed.

I take the contract Ms. Charlotte passed me in the hallway from the pocket inside my jacket and spread the paper on the table. We each sign on our designated spots.

Ryder passes the pen to Brogan, leaving me for last. They’re already sandwiching our girl, and I stand back watching her lashes fall to her cheeks. “Please, don’t do this.”

Ryder falls to his knees and places a spreader bar between her smooth, shapely legs.

“What? What are you doing?” She jerks on the cuffs.

I’m tempted to release her, let her make the choice of coming to us. But where the fuck is the fun in that?

“Not up for a little kinky foreplay, baby?” Brogan silences her, smearing the remnants of her lipstick with a kiss. They’re both breathing heavily by the time he breaks the wet union. “There’s nothing to be scared of. This just opens you up to a little play. Do the cuffs hurt?”

She hesitates a moment but shakes her head.

I catch her gaze and tip her chin up until it’s only me she focuses on. “I’m a selfish greedy mother fucker. But I’m fair. You get one chance to tell us no.”

Ryder reaches a hand around her middle and spreads her folds for Brogan, who is already diving in to lick the slit of her pussy.

“Mmm, wet and juicy.”

Both of my best friends tweak her body and just plain play dirty.

She gasps and the clanking of chains fills the room.

“In that case, my sweet Kandy, you’ll have a safe word if you ever need us to stop.” I make sure she knows I’m being serious, and I don’t continue until she nods her understanding.

“What is it?” Her voice is resigned to her fate. When her blue gaze meets mine again, I’m leveled from the force of emotion tucked behind those lashes. She may be our prisoner now, but we’ve been hers a helluva a lot longer.

I tap the edge of the gift settled between her breasts. A token of love we sent her on her twenty-first birthday. We didn’t know if she’d toss it in the trash or melt it and make bullets to shoot us with. If we ever let her out of our sight again, both options are still possible.

I trace the lushness of her full bottom lip with the pad of my thumb and work my hand around until I cup the back of her head. With my other hand, I brush her hair to the side and nibble on the tender flesh of her earlobe. “Butterfly,” I rasp in her ear.

I wrap my hands in her silky hair and move my mouth over those pouty red lips. The scent of her, the very essence of her body heat makes the blood in my veins simmer with lust. She moans and I lap up every exquisite sound, hungry for every gasp of pleasure coming from her.

“Then, let’s begin.”

Chapter Six

Kandy

Cuffed and spread, I’m wide open for anything my SEALs want to do to me. Not a single inch of my body is hidden from their searing gaze. And there’s not an inch of my body they don’t want to see because I feel the burn of their curious gazes touch me everywhere.

Even if I want to hate them, I can’t find the harsh emotions needed to lash out at them, hurt them with the pain they left me with all those years ago. Or to use my safe word. Does that make me weak? Stupid? I don’t know.

I wet my lips and pray I survive the evening with my heart intact. At the very least a sliver of strength to walk away once the cuffs come off.

Hard, shuddering breaths roll through me and I’ve lost all sense of shyness.

Rough hands grip my hips and I’m spun in place. Neat trick.

“Atlas,” I breathe out. Ryder and Brogan are now behind me. Strong shadows splash across Atlas’ face. But I can see enough to know this man is only getting started. Firm lips peel back in a pure animalistic smile. Warm hands grip my ass and I suck in a harsh breath.

Brogan. I would know his touch among a thousand hands. Rough calluses along the outer part of his thumbs serve as a signature of his touch.

Ryder’s is on his trigger finger. Years as a sniper has worn a rough spot on his right index finger.

But Atlas. I can tell his touch from the possessive clench of his grip the second our skin meets.

My head falls back and waiting lips claim mine. I’m torn between giving in to them and fighting. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. I can’t help it.

My baser instinct is to give my body what it craves and to hell with what my overworking brain has to say about the whole situation.

So I do that and it’s freeing. For now. Come morning I can go back to being workaholic Kandy and they can return to whatever life they lived without me.

“My hart,” Ryder murmurs against my lips and then he’s gone and so are Brogan’s warm hands. I lift my head to find Atlas still dressed in sharp black tuxedo pants, but he’s lost the tie and jacket, and his shirt hangs open. A wash of pure muscle peeks out at me and I catch the hint of color near the center of his chest.

Behind me I hear clothes rustling, and I assume the other two are ditching their tuxedos. Fear of loving what is about to happen stains the rush of excitement climbing inside of me. I tighten my fingers around the chain above my head and brace myself.

Holding my gaze Atlas slips the dress shirt from perfectly rounded, strong shoulders. My fingers twitch to reach out and trace the hard edges and dips. How many nights had I dreamed of having all that deliciousness draped over me? Pinning me to the bed? Too many to count, for sure.

Atlas steps into the pool of light pouring over me. Ryder and Brogan at his sides. They move together as one.

Three gloriously muscular bodies stand before me. My pulse hums and the blood in my veins turns hot. My core tightens and I’m terrified by how much I’m going to love tonight.

That’s when I see it. My butterfly.

My jaw literally drops to my chest. All three have the same tattoo as my necklace over their hearts. A golden butterfly with the same placement of jewels, rubies, and sapphires along the outer parts of the wings, only theirs is in expertly-applied ink and mine are the real deal.

“I think our girl realizes this isn’t a game to us, gentlemen.”

Dark brown eyes hold mine. I suddenly realize my plan for a quick getaway after tonight is in jeopardy. Atlas’ tender voice contradicts the dark expression consuming his looks. He is the hard-ass of the trio. Always was. But that tattoo. My necklace. The way his tone dips and drips with enough emotion to fill a lake.

Yeah, something’s different about Atlas.

My breath catches at the power infused into his words. I feel those emotions to my very soul. Just like I do his touch on my heated body. My lashes fall to my cheeks. “Atlas,” I say again. He slides his hands around my midriff and his thick finger dips between my ass cheeks, teasing over my asshole and making me moan.

His mouth is only an inch from mine and I drop my gaze to his lips, wanting to taste him again. I press my hips back and shudder when his soft touch turns firmer, more curious. The tip of his finger enters my forbidden entrance. Nothing too deep, just a tease that has me pressing into him for more.

“Ah,” I practically hum in surprise. I toy with the idea of asking him to uncuff me so we can all play on equal grounds. But then Atlas speaks.

“You should know, there’s a part two of that contract you signed.” Fingers find the fringes of my hair and he rubs the ends together.

Dark brown eyes meet mine.

Sneaky bastards. Doesn’t surprise me. I should have flipped the paper over. I rethink the whole cuffs issue I’m currently dealing with. “At this point do I need to even care?” It’s better they leave me in these damn things because, so help me, if they release me right now, I’m not sure if I will rage on them or run for the sake of my heart’s safety.

To my left a very naked and very aroused Brogan picks up the velvety bag I had in my hand from earlier and slips out the silver butt plug and a white tube. Light catches on the faceted crystal at the end. I’m not even sure what to call it but I know the second they insert it, the pretty diamond side is all they’ll see when they bend me over.

A chill of excitement runs up my spine, but I tamper that shit down and hide it behind a mask of indifference.

“I think she’s ready to get started.”

My heart stills and my gaze bounces from Atlas to Brogan. Atlas takes the tube and smears a nice amount on his fingers. His heavy, cum-dripping cock bounces between his legs and I involuntarily lick my lips.

“I don’t like the look of total mischief on your face.”

“That’s because we have all the control.”

“I’m a virgin,” I blurt out. Not the best timing, then again, there’s never a “good” time to tell your stepbrother and his two friends you’d never had sex. Kind of embarrassing at twenty-six, really. Especially after the way they told me to get lost. Some revenge sex should have been in order, but after that kind of rejection...I sigh heavily.

But there it was. The truth. Maybe they’ll let me go now.

Three sets of eyes are on me.

“We know. Why do you think we picked room one? It’s for virgin and first-time harems.”

Oh.

“Don’t think we haven’t checked in on you. Had another man taken what is ours before we could, they would be dead.”

I swallow and wholly take Atlas at his word. Truth is all over his and the other men’s faces.

Brogan tosses aside the bag and places the anal plug on the small table.

Ryder must have felt me tense because he wraps his arms around me from behind and cups my breasts. Fingers tug and pull at my nipples, drawing wet heat from my center.

“Easy, my hart. Easy. We won’t hurt you.” His voice is low and sensual. Only for me.

“Stop calling me that,” I hiss. Easy, he says. He isn’t about to take that in the ass. But what has me really worried is what it will lead to. Them taking me there. And me loving it so much I’ll crave more.

“But first, let’s dress our baby with some jewels.”

Atlas is at the trunk and pulls out the clamps I saw earlier. Beautiful gold ornaments I didn’t pay nearly enough attention to. Butterflies. One for each nipple.

“These are nipple clamps, Kandy. We’ll use them tonight and every other night we want to see our girl’s beautiful body decorated.”

I let out a low moan when Ryder dips his head and sucks a nipple into his warm mouth, rolls the hard tip around and releases it with a juicy pop. On goes a clamp and I suck in sharply with the pleasure-pain effect flowing through me.

He repeats for the other side, and I look down my chest to see two beautiful golden butterflies perched on my breasts.

All the men are looking at me too. Possession in their eyes. And awe.

They’re so taken by the view, I get a chance to look at them too. Long heavy shafts hang between their legs. Pre-cum drips from the crowns of their cocks but they are not focused on their need to fuck me. They’re wanting to take their time and I better be up for the ride.

The clamps sway and tinkle, the weight and pressure making me hyperaware of my clamped nipples.

Brogan tugs gently on one and I immediately try to clamp my thighs closed from the burst of electricity that nails my clit.

Atlas’ mouth tilts with an arrogant smile. “Fuck, you make my cock cry with the need to sink into that pussy and claim that cherry.” He pauses and I find myself clinging to his next words. “Now it’s time to spread her ass for me, Ryder.” His voice is dark and gravelly. Like it’s taking momentous amounts of effort to rein in his desires.

Strong hands grip either side of my ass and I’m fully exposed to both men in the next second.

Atlas kneels behind me, and I can’t turn my head to see what he’s about to do. But I feel every hot breath and stroke of his finger lubing my ass for more of his tormenting play. Kisses drop over the dimples right above my cheeks and my heart swells with emotions I refuse to let my brain acknowledge.

“I’ve craved the feel of this tight hole gripping me.” Atlas’ voice pitches low. “And tonight, I’m going to take it.”

My nipple clamps jingle with my ragged breathing.

Cold dribbles over my puckered hole and then Atlas sinks a finger past the first ring of muscles. I clench around him and buck wildly when blunt teeth graze over one cheek then the next. “Before you can take a man here, we need to prepare you.” There’s something final about his voice. Like he’s set the rules of the evening and everyone in the room will abide by them. As much as I want to hate it, rage against and fight, I also like it.

No, I love it. Love the feel of giving my SEALs power over my pleasure. It’s freeing in a way. Knowing I don’t have to be in control of every single minute lets me enjoy it. This is what I wanted, right? Why I let Justice talk me into this.

Brogan is in front of me stroking the long, thick length of his cock. Rivulets of pre-cum drip from the tip, and I watch in utter awe as he grips strong fingers around the hardened shaft, draws a hand down and then back up, forcing more of the hot liquid from the head of his cock.

“Brogan?” God what am I doing? Please help me shut up. My eyes connect with his. “Can I?” I ask tentatively, but it’s Atlas who tears my attention off his best friend. “Arg!” I scream out when Atlas slides a second slicked-up finger into my ass. I clench but Ryder’s hands massage me, and I relax.

“That’s it, butterfly. Fuck. Look how your ass grips my fingers. So beautiful. Pass me the plug.”

Atlas probes deeper and I rise to the tips of my toes, but there’s nowhere for me to go. Only accept the pleasure.

In front of me, a side of Brogan’s mouth tilts up in a knowing smirk.

My gaze drops to his hand again.

“Give her a taste,” Atlas instructs darkly from behind me. “But make her beg sweetly for anything she gets.”

He draws out and eases back in, coating my insides, building the pleasure inside me to a tolerable heat.

Using his thumb, Brogan smears it over the crest and gathers a healthy amount of his pre-cum.

“Let me hear you, baby. Tell me what you want. Talk dirty to me.”

“Please, please. I want to taste you. Let me taste you.”

“Taste what?’

“Your cum. I want to taste your cum on my tongue.”

“Good girl. Open,” he commands roughly and takes a handful of my loose hair and holds me in place.

Dutifully, I do as he says. I slowly open my mouth and ease my tongue forward and groan at the salty-sweet taste. I suck him in and hollow my cheeks as if it’s his cock I have between my lips.

“Bad girl.” He kisses my cheek and tugs on a nipple clamp. I tighten and behind me Atlas growls, swatting my ass. I arch into him all the while jutting my breasts toward Brogan for more of his sweet torture.

“You feel every part of your body, don’t you, baby? It’s a low hum now, but just wait. That fire will grow. But don’t worry, you’ll get a chance to have all of us in every hole you have. You’re getting claimed tonight, Kandy. Taken and thoroughly fucked.”

I’m helpless when he takes a knee. He presses his nose to my slit, and I hear the reverence in his voice when he murmurs something so softly it hits only the fringes of my hearing.

The pad of his tongue drags over my slick folds and it’s him I’m seeking this time. Suddenly his fingers push between my pussy lips, and he spreads me wide for a deeper taste.

“Fuck,” Atlas groans. He’s working my ass faster, deeper with his finger. Only in my dreams did I ever think I’d have him giving me so much pleasure. No matter how forbidden.

Together they work me—Brogan my pussy and Atlas my ass.

Hot girl-cum spills from my core to leave my thighs slick. Peering down my quivering body, I look on as Brogan worships my pussy with long laps of his tongue deeply between my slit. He pauses over my throbbing clit and pulls the pulsing nub between his lips and sucks. Hard. Just as Ryder takes both clamps between his fingers and tugs gently.

My explosion is instant. Rolling waves of pleasure and pain crash through me and I can’t catch my breath.

“Oh fuck,” I groan out. The force of my release has my head falling back. My knees give but the chains hold me up. I’m pried open for them and there’s nowhere I can go. Nowhere to run. No more running. Not for tonight, anyway.

Stars of energy flash behind my eyelids and I slowly peel them open to find all three watching me intently.

I rattle the chains, wanting to have my hands on them but all I hear in return are deep chuckles and back they go to giving me the best torture of my life.

Chapter Seven

Kandy

Ryder grips my chin in his hand and turns my face to his. I’m panting and can barely catch my breath when he devours my mouth with his. Possessive, hard and claiming. He dives in and neither of us cares about the lack of air. I take as much as he does, swiping my tongue over his. Touching, stroking, and teasing. It’s as though both of us feel the pain of our time apart and can’t get enough of the other’s taste and touch. His hand dips down my front and I shudder under his caresses. He delves deeper and deeper still until his thumb is over my nub.

Swirling strokes send me screaming into his mouth and Atlas takes that moment to feed my ass the rest of his finger. He’d been gentle up until that second.

My head falls back, and I scream again, this time into the high beams of the vaulted ceiling.

Brogan holds me open for his hungry mouth. Stubble has formed over his jawline and every move he makes sends a flaming burn over the hypersensitive flesh of my folds and thighs. I try to close them around his head and fuck his mouth, seek my release, but that damn bar keeps me from doing anything.

I bite my lip and grip the chains a little harder when Atlas slips another finger into my ass. He stretches my hole impossibly wider and a sheen of sweat drapes over me.

“Please. I’m ready for anything you want to give. Just make the ache go away. Let me touch you. Taste you. Feel more of you.”

My orgasm hangs on the outer fringes of my reach. I swish my hips trying for one of the men to carry me the rest of the way. Another pump of Atlas’ fingers or Ryder’s thumb over my clit. Brogan’s tongue fucking my core.

Any and all of it has me so close I can trip over a feather and be falling into the bliss of a second release.

But they hold back. I want to cry when all three break contact and leave me hanging in the middle of the room, naked, desperate, and needy.

“It’s time.”

My eyes shudder closed but I know Atlas’ voice by heart.

I try to turn to face him, but Brogan tips my chin to him. “Where’s my kiss? Everyone else has gotten to taste you but me. I feel a little left out.”

“Come here and take what you want then,” I say softly. Neither Brogan nor I close our eyes when he lowers his lips to mine. The taste of my juices mingles with our warring tongues the second his lips crash into mine and I open for him. Tangy and sweet. Naughty.

Brogan groans, his eyes ablaze with banked, barely controlled heat. I’m not the only one affected. The evidence of that stares back at me through molten onyx eyes. I crave to reach out and run my fingers through his hair. Long strands have fallen to hang over his forehead giving him a playful bad-boy vibe.

Ryder or Atlas—I can’t tell who—takes advantage of my distraction and presses the tapered head of the anal plug to my back entrance. Its smooth sides breach the tight ring of muscles and pry me open. My body works to take what it’s being given.

Various levels of heat work over my body. Shyness almost makes me use my safe word, but I force my nerves into submission. I can do this. I want to do this. Anal play might be hard the first time, but these men would never hurt me.

I inhale sharply when the cool metal slips past the tight ring of muscles. It’s filthy and wrong on so many levels, but it feels so good. Forbidden, yet sensual and perfect.

My head falls forward and Brogan is there to hold me close, protect me.

I lay against him as much as I can with my ass pressed back. I turn to look over my shoulder and I see Atlas tugging on the bejeweled end and making my walls clench and release around the silver toy.

And I’m right back on the cusp of my release. “Yes, please. Yes, that...don’t stop. Make me cum,” I plead.

Atlas throws Ryder a dark look and a silent conversation takes place between them. All three men stand in a semi-circle around me. Their beautiful cocks in their hands. Each of them works their hard steel. Atlas twists the plug again and I groan, my eyes fluttering shut.

“Do you like that?” Atlas asks.

I nod. Juices spill to wet my thighs and I try to clench them closed, but the bar holding me open at the ankles prevents me from moving at all.

My head falls onto his shoulder and my body quivers from my smallest toe all the way to my pinky.

“Oh my God,” I moan huskily.

“After tonight you will spend the next few weeks with us. Only us. Agree and we’ll let you have a taste. Refuse and you’ll hang here all night.”

“What?”

“The fine print on the contract is that you agree to spend the next few weeks with us. At a log cabin we have reserved. You and us.”

Through the brain fog hazing my thoughts I shake my head. “That can’t happen. I have work. You probably do too.”

“All of that has been taken care of.”

“Just give them what they want,” I tell myself. And then they’ll give me what I want. Once the cuffs come off, it’s a whole other story.

I readily nod.

“Nah, none of that. We want the words, Kandy. Use that pretty mouth of yours.” Ryder’s voice is husky with the same lust coursing through me.

“Yes...yes.”

“Good, our pretty butterfly.”

Atlas reaches up and unbuckles my cuffs. I fall into him, and he takes my weight before sliding me to the floor. A couple of flicks and I am free of the spreader bar, too.

The pressure of the plug in my ass borders on pain but there’s pleasure, too. A radical mix of both that has me whimpering into Atlas’ shoulder. Every shift of my hips makes the walls of my ass and my pussy clench.

“Hands and knees,” Atlas orders. “I need that delectable bottom in the air.”

By this point I know myself well enough to know I’ll follow orders. I want the pleasure they are withholding from me.

Atlas gives me a slow grin when I comply. Brogan and Ryder are in front of me. Their glorious bodies are there for me to kiss, lick, and seek all the pleasure I can handle.

“Take Ryder in your mouth. Wrap those pretty red lips around him, smear the rest of your lipstick over his shaft and mark him as yours.” He leans in and presses his lips to my ear. “I want to see you deep throat that cock while I fuck your ass.”

Chapter Eight

Kandy

Hot lips trail down the small of my back. I arch into Atlas and relish in the tender kisses he showers me with as he works his way over the swells of my ass. Strong fingers find my cheeks and the way he grips my plump flesh makes me cream.

Brogan takes the weight of my hair in his hands, and I crawl a couple of feet across the floor to where Ryder awaits, cock in hand ready for me.

Atlas tugs on the end of the plug again, making me groan. I lock eyes with him over my shoulder and I know this is about to get very fucking kinky.

I can feel the edges of another release burn hotter, narrowing in on me. It is only a matter of time before I crest. I curl my fingers into the plush carpet for a second, grounding myself before placing my hands on Ryder’s powerful thighs. In this lighting it’s hard to see too much detail but I note several more scars across his abdomen than I remember. I file that away for later.

Atlas pulls my hips higher in the air.

“Greedy bastard,” Ryder complains when my mouth can’t reach him. Ryder takes a knee and presses his shaft to my lips while a strong hand grips my waist.

I wrap my mouth around Ryder greedily. Not that I have a wealth of knowledge of what I’m doing. Instinct guides me and the groans of pleasure are a good indicator I’m on the right path.

“Deeper, baby. You can do better.” Brogan grips my hair tighter, and his friend slides his shaft over my waiting tongue.

Behind me, Atlas is taking full advantage of my otherwise preoccupied status.

I hear the squirt of liquid a fraction of a second before I feel the cool jelly hit my puckered hole.

“Please…”

“Mmm. You beg so sweetly.” Hands slide down my waist and over my hips to grip me tightly. I push my ass into Atlas’ hands, and he laughs lowly. “Patience, butterfly. Once I’m in you, you’ll find what you are looking for. I promise.”

Like I had so many years ago, I sink my lips over Ryder. I work the underside with my tongue.

“Yes, just like that,” Brogan murmurs and cups my jaw. “Open a little wider; take another inch.”

Ryder pulls back, sucking air through his teeth and groans sliding in until I choke slightly. He tries to slip away, to ease off, but I rock forward and take another inch.

“I missed you too,” he whispers, and I lift my lashes to see past tightly coiled muscle to the gray eyes on me.

“Can you feel the hot juices dripping from her pussy? She likes sucking you, man.”

“Is that true, my hart?”

I nod and Ryder repeats the movement, this time pulling out until the crown sits on my bottom lip. I swirl the tip of my tongue over the tip, tease him a little with my teeth and then take him fully until the head hits the back of my throat.

Behind me Atlas drags his tongue through my wet lips and thumbs my clit.

“Virgin cream,” he growls and works my pleasure nub with fast swirls. I press my pussy into his hungry mouth and shimmy my hips.

I slam my eyes closed and Atlas pushes a finger into my tight wetness. My toes curl in and I so want to come. My walls clench and release with the pressure building inside me. But not yet. I don’t want this to end. We haven’t even made it to bed yet.

I grab for Brogan and wrap my fingers around his hard shaft, listening to Atlas growl with appreciation behind me. With steady strokes I work Brogan just like I am Ryder with my mouth.

And suddenly I’m left with not an ounce of air in my lungs. The shock wears off just as quickly and I cry out from the sudden loss of having my ass filled with their anal toy. Turning to look at Atlas, my fuck-swollen lips are open and I’m trying for more air. He sets aside the butt plug, and palms his cock with the other. He looks up from my ass and I am blown away by the ferocity in his gaze.

In that one look he’s captured my treacherous heart again. Damn I never stood a chance. But I can fight it. I should fight it. Maybe later, I tell myself. Right now, I need to enjoy myself.

My entire body trembles and anticipation skirts a shiver over my heated skin. I’ve always wanted this. Wanted them. For them to possess me like this.

I see a question in those dark brown eyes, and it tugs at my emotions. I thought I’d buried them along with my desire for these forbidden men, but they’ve pulled everything to the surface. I continue looking at him and when I offer a slight nod, I physically see the strain along his neck and shoulders give.

Soft, steel skin replaces the smooth toy and I breathe out heavily. My nails bite into Ryder’s thighs. Slowly, and I mean less than an inch at a time my stepbrother breaches my ass. Claims the most forbidden part of my body and nothing has ever felt so complete in my life. The walls of my ass clamp around him and I grip him the second he tries to withdraw.

Beside me Brogan toys with the nipple clamps. “Oh,” I pant and gasp.

Sensory fucking overload. Every red blood cell in my body betrays me and lights a million tiny fires inside my veins. Hyperaware of my breasts and those clamps I thrust my nipples into Brogan’s fingers, and he gives me what I want.

Just a little more. The pinch is so good. The burn. The fucking ecstasy is stealing my every last reserve and kicking out the bricks of the wall I’ve spent years building around my heart.

“Our desperate little butterfly wants to come again.”

I sigh heavily. “Yes, yes, please.” My eyes drift closed, and I press back against Atlas, but hands on my cheeks won’t let me take control of how deep he takes me.

When just the engorged head holds me open, he caresses his palms over the globes of my buttocks and eases the pain of his invasion. “Easy, Kandy,” he urges gently. All the while he’s burying himself inside my ass deeper and deeper until his balls hit my clit.

“Breathe, my beautiful special butterfly. Breathe and take my friend’s cock back in your mouth.”

I moan in pleasure when Brogan pulls my chin around to him. “My turn.”

Slick white-hot pre-cum makes the head shiny and I lick my lips ready for the taste of him. I open, taking his dripping shaft inside my mouth. He switches off with Ryder, holding my hair from my face and palms my cheek.

My pulse thunders in my ears, yet I can still hear the sticky wet sounds of me sucking Brogan and Atlas fucking my ass.

“That’s it. Fuck, you’re perfect. Can you take more of me?”

I moan around Brogan and lean in as he drives forward. Together he and Atlas work me. Their powerful bodies pulling and thrusting.

Atlas feels so big inside me I’m worried when it comes time to have two men take me that there won’t be enough space. They’ll stretch me impossibly wide. Atlas already is. My ass burns and I suck in a harsh breath around Brogan’s cock. The slickness of my juices spills from my virgin core and trickles down to gather between my thighs. I clench again only this time there’s no controlling my impending climax. I’m to the point where I want to scream my safe word from the sheer amount of sensory overload, but also beg for both of them to move faster. Take me deeper. Pound into me until...I still and bear down but it’s too late.

Atlas buries his rock-hard length into me and reaches around, giving my throbbing clit a petting as he pumps in and out of me. Brogan takes my mouth faster and I feel him swell inside me. His balls draw up and another thrust and white-hot liquid spills down my throat.

It’s the last little bit I needed.

“Come for us, butterfly,” Atlas coaxes. His softly spoken words send me tipping over and I let go of the walls holding back my pleasure. They crumble away and the sheer amount of ecstasy that rockets through me is blinding. Bombs detonate behind my closed eyes. I feel my greedy pussy constrict with need, and I whimper, sucking Brogan’s milk down as fast as he feeds it to me while giving my own.

“Come for your men, baby.”

I scream when another wave crashes through me. My body arches and I fall away from Brogan. Ryder is there, picking me up and holding my shaking form against his strong body.

I’ve self-pleasured before but nothing even comes close to comparing to this raging inferno ablaze inside me. Nothing I do helps tamper down the roaring flames.

“Get her on the bed. I want her body on mine, her juices on my balls and one of you in her pussy.”

Atlas pulls out of my body, and I’m left clenching, needing his thickness inside more than anything I’ve ever needed before.

I’m in one set of arms before I’m passed to another and finally settled over Atlas’ hard body. His shaft is in hand, and he is poised straight up for me to take again.

Reaching between us, I take his length and pose the head at my back entrance. Atlas grips my hips and prevents me from moving. I whimper.

“Are you ready, butterfly?” Strong fingers bury into my flesh, and I marvel at the feel of his possessive, dominant touch.

“Yes,” I whisper heatedly. “Take all of me.” Finally, I added silently. Chaotic emotions collide, swarm and grow thick inside me. I shove them all away for later. When I’m alone and can think again. Right now, I just want to let my body feel.

I sink onto him and the second his cock is balls deep inside my ass, he wraps powerful arms around me and pulls me back flush against him. Between us I feel his erratic heartbeat pounding.

Spread out over his body I look on as Ryder and Brogan join us on the bed. My legs are spread wide open.

I’m no longer an anal virgin but…

My eyes volley between them. Both men have an understanding look. I can feel myself falling for their hungry looks and loving touches. I steel my heart against them, but I don’t know how much I can hold out against their gentle touches and loving words.

Or how I’m about to give them the last part of me I have to offer.

My virginity.

Chapter Nine

Brogan

“God, she’s going to be so tight.”

I press a knee on the edge of the bed and watch as Ryder holds Kandy to him, helping her sheath my friend. Utter fucking bliss washes over her face when her back entrance is fully claimed by Atlas.

She reclines in his arms, and I have the great pleasure of watching her body stretch wide over my friend and take him to the hilt. Juices spill from her core and it’s a beautiful sight to behold. Atlas pumps into her a few times and then stills. That’s my cue.

I ease up the bed and position myself between Atlas’ legs. Atlas helps her up and she wraps her arms around my neck facing me. Her pretty blues find my gaze and my damn heart wants to leap out of my chest from the sheer force of emotions hitting me like two-by-fours. Powerful blows rock my world and I take her hands in mine to steady myself. I play it off as needing to give her strength, but in reality, it’s me in need of hers.

Watching her walk away from us all those years ago nearly drove the three of us apart. Hell, it did for about a year. It tore me up inside. Ryder too. And then we slowly worked ourselves back together. Forged our relationship as solid brothers-in-arms anew. But it wasn’t easy. Atlas was driven to the idea that wanting this woman was wrong, when nothing could be further from the truth.

“Do you know the power you have over us, woman?” Only God knows I would stop breathing right now if she were to command it. I release her hands to wrap her face in my palms. Tears slide down her cheeks and I lean in to kiss them away.

“About as much as you have over me.”

I shake my head. “Not even close.”

But how could she know? We were total assholes to her last time she laid eyes on us. And she wasn’t the one who walked—we were. Like fucking idiots.

Soft tinkling sounds hit my ears and my gaze drops to her nipples. Delicious and ready. And by the looks of it making her aware of just how swollen those cherry beads are.

Ryder takes one between my thumb and finger. “When he releases that you’re going to feel a surge of hot pain jolt through you, but it will be exquisite, too. I promise.”

Kandy tenses.

“Do you trust me?”

Her eyes find mine as I speak, and she has so many rolling emotions behind those thick lashes, my heart betrays me again and falls madly in love with her for the tenth time tonight.

No surprise there. She has held the strings to the damn thing long before tonight. A truth we all paid for behind bars. Atlas demanded we stay away which led to an all-out brawl in the middle of a military establishment. Brig time is no joke. It sucks balls.

Once we were released, I gave Atlas an ultimatum—claim her or step aside. Ryder sided with me and for about half a minute Atlas considered his options.

I look over her shoulder and give my friend a brief nod. “Raise up, baby, let Atlas pull from you. It’s my turn to take you.”

Her expression crunches up with a mix of bliss and torture. She’s breathing heavily and I take most of her weight against me. “That’s it, baby. We don’t want to hurt you. Only one of us can take you at a time right now.”

Her stare meets mine and I lean forward, taking her mouth in mine. “Lie back now, baby, and let me fill you with all of me.”

I ease her into Atlas’ arms, and he takes her weight easily.

With her legs wide open, I take my shaft and angle the head at her virgin entrance. Trembling with the need to hold myself back, I ease in the head, loving how her pussy stretches and wraps around. Another inch and I feel the moment I nudge against her hymen.

She trembles as much as I am, and I reach for her hands. “Brogan, oh, yes. It hurts. God don’t stop.” Her head is thrashing against Atlas’ shoulder and she’s arching off his chest, reaching for her clit.

“Ryder,” I say, and he takes the clamps between his fingers and releases them.

* * *

Kandy

I surge into Atlas’ arms where he clamps me against his chest. “That’s it, ride it, butterfly. Ride that wave.” His voice is distant as though I am miles above the earth soaring through the clouds.

Blood rushes to the tips of my breasts. Every bit of what Brogan said is true. The all-consuming pain devouring me is overwhelming and I struggle to find my breath. Throbbing pain pounds into the engorged tips, but I don’t have more than a few seconds to focus on that.

Above me Brogan eases forward and with one push, he takes the last bit I have to give these men.

Overload catapults me into a blinding orgasm. The walls of my pussy clench down on Brogan and he grunts in response. Pain and pleasure both war inside me. Nothing in any book I’ve ever read said I could find my release while losing my virginity.

Ryder eases over me, and his mouth works my nipples. His tongue swirls over them and he gently suckles each one, forcing my climax to peak, tumble, and then rise again.

Huge explosions overpower me, and I rip out a scream with so much force my throat burns.

“Oh my God,” I say hoarsely when I find a few brain cells willing to work long enough to squeeze out words.

Fingers find my clit. “Ride it out, baby,” Brogan coaxes. He pulls out and eases back in. Slow at first before bottoming out. With each thrust he pounds into me harder and harder until I can feel his shaft swell, stretching me impossibly wide, all with his need to release.

Beneath me, Atlas’ cock nudges my back entrance and my ass throbs to feel the burn of him breaching me as his friend takes my velvety channel.

“Soon, beautiful,” Brogan says as if reading my mind.

Brogan’s gorgeous face contorts with the same pleasure rocketing through me.

Those black onyx eyes shine with admiration. He takes my legs and wraps them around him.

“We’re only getting started with the good stuff.”

Ryder moves off my nipples and replaces Brogan’s fingers over my clit. His dark head bobs and weaves as he licks me into nearing another release. I drive my fingers into his thick hair and tug gently, but he’s not listening to my climbing pleas for him to stop. I can’t come again. I can’t. But they’re going to make me.

While his friend is fucking me, Ryder twines the tip of his tongue over my clit, and I buck into his mouth, forcing Brogan to sink deeper into my pussy.

Atlas reaches for my tits, and he wraps his strong, long fingers around the heavy globes. One digit at a time and squeezes.

His grip is unrelenting, possessive and I swish my hips, letting him know I understand what he’s doing. He’s marking me. Telling me I’m his.

Well, two can play at this game. I lift and reach under me, position his shaft at my puckered hole.

“Fuck,” he grits out and releases my breasts.

“You sure,” he grunts and I only nod.

“Lift her up, give her what she wants.”

Another dollop of jelly is smeared over his shaft and when I sink onto Atlas, my mouth falls open with silent cries of satisfaction.

I’m in his arms again and Brogan is at my pussy. I tense, knowing there will be a pinch of pain.

“Easy, baby,” Brogan murmurs softly. He caresses my inner thighs with the pads of his thumbs. “Relax and let me in.” I clamp down on my shaking.

“Do it,” I urge him on, and Ryder drops back to licking my clit, as Brogan stretches my pussy with his massive cock.

My heels dig into his ass when he dares to try to take this slow. I’m quickly learning I like the bite of pain and I want more.

He shoves home and I gasp. My body reacts on its own and presses against both men, seeking more. More caresses, deeper thrusts...just more.

“She’s trying to get our milk, brother.”

I peer over my shoulder and moan at the sensation of Atlas’ stubble against my chin. I love the burn. I take his mouth with mine and we get lost in each other’s taste and feel.

Together all three find their rhythm. Moans and masculine grunts fill the room.

I swallow thickly and brace against the rippling effect of my impending climax. It’s building power and I know the second it hits I’ll be buried beneath the tumbling rolls of pleasure.

Fierce heat tingles from the core out. I don’t want this night to end but I know the inevitable will happen.

At my side, Ryder pushes to his knees, and he moves closer. He bumps my mouth with his cock, and I open wide knowing what he wants. “I’ve waited six years to see you deep throat me again and fuck; it was worth every second.”

Atlas holds me steady, pounding into my ass while Brogan works my core. One pushes in while the other pulls out.

It’s too much.

I pull off Ryder’s cock. “You’re making me come!”

Brogan’s hand slides between my legs and his thumbs settle over my pleasure nub.

Ryder angles my head back to him and he sinks in, taps the back of my throat.

Inside me, Brogan and Atlas both stretch me.

“Ah, fuck,” Ryder growls. “Grip my balls, baby.”

My pulse jacks.

I do as he instructs, and I’m instantly rewarded with a hot rope of his seed spilling down my throat. His head is thrown back and his masculine grunts amp up my own need to climax.

My slick pussy sucks Brogan deeper and my ass refuses to release Atlas. Both pump faster and my nails bite into anything I can reach.

Atlas grunts as does Ryder. He slips from my mouth and falls to his stomach beside me. His mouth is on mine and he’s right there breathing in my air with every exhale.

His tongue swipes across my swollen lips and I open for his silent request.

Our tongues twine.

Brogan pulls out and slams home. My hands claw at the sheets. “Grip me tight with your pretty pussy, baby.”

I do and the friction between the two riding me hard is unbelievable. The bed rocks and bangs against the floor, and Brogan is the first to reach his tipping point.

He grips my thighs and shoves home one last time. “Fuck, baby, take it all. Take all my milk.” Muscles coil and bunch. He roars through his release, and I watch as my SEAL comes inside me for the first time. His cock pulsates thick and long inside me, and I shudder from the feel of his milk coating my virgin womb.

Hot cum splashes into me, and I moan a wicked sound at the feel of Brogan’s release spilling from my core to coat Atlas and me. Before I can catch my breath, he pulls his spent shaft from my body, and I immediately feel empty where he filled me up.

Both he and Ryder kneel on the bed and watch me intently with their best friend. Not an ounce of jealousy between them.

My stepbrother wraps me in his arms and turns my head to where he can taste my lips.

I brace for his pounding, and he doesn’t let me down. I love the rough feel of his hands on me while he drives deep inside my ass.

He grips my hips, dragging me into every hard thrust he feeds my body.

He shouts and beneath me I can feel his powerful body roll with his release. All those well-defined muscles bunch and strain. He gives off so much power I find my own release and it’s as powerful as I feared.

My lashes flutter closed to touch my cheeks, and I arch off Atlas from the sheer force zinging through my body. Uncontrollable trembles rock me with the power of a rocket breaking the laws of gravity to reach outer space. Hot liquid pours out of me, and I feel my juices spilling down the crack of my ass to wet Atlas. The sensations ground me and I’m right back on Earth in their bed, and their arms.

I soak up the feeling while I can.

“Beautiful, my hart,” Ryder whispers against the shell of my ear. “You’re simply gorgeous when you come.”

His hand slides into my hair and he pulls my lips to his.

With shaking hands, I clutch him tighter and bury my face in his neck for a few brief seconds before the others take possession and spread me out on the bed between them. Shivering and panting, he nuzzles me close. Hands stroke over my trembling body. I soak in their heat and energy. Before long, my erratic breathing calms and my heart settles.

Atlas presses his lips over my heart and raises to peer into my eyes. “Don’t think we’re letting our captive go just because this night has almost come to an end.”

That’s right. Their stupid contract. I want to groan but hold it back. Instead, I give a smile, the one I reserve for anyone I don’t want knowing my true feelings and feign consent.

“Sure, Atlas. Anything you want.”

Chapter Ten

Kandy

The men are all breathing deeply as I slip on my high heel. I take a slip of paper from the coffee table with the Club Sin logo across the top and quickly scribble a note with the pen each of us used to sign their blasted contract with.

I leave it on the table next to Atlas’ cufflinks. At the door I pause briefly and look back over them in the large bed. I could stay. But these three have to do more to earn my heart than a simple night of decadence and sin. They’ll have to work for it.

I take another look at my note and smirk.

I ease from the room and retrace my steps to the entrance only to find it darkened and no one at the door I arrived through.

Okay.

I go in search of another way out when I hear faint music coming from a closed door off to my left. I head that way and find a bartender shelving bottles and cleaning up from the previous evening. The large gathering area is empty as I assume everyone has gone off to their designated rooms for the night long ago.

I go to check my clutch for my phone to see the time but stop short.

“Excuse me…”

I’m greeted with a warm smile. “Theo.”

“Hi, Theo. I’m wondering where I might find Charlotte? Have you seen her? She has my phone and shawl.”

God, please don’t let me look like I was just ravished by three men all night long. I casually glance at my wrists to make sure I’m not sporting marks I should be hiding.

If I do, the nice man behind the polished bar who is about my age-ish is gentleman enough not to say anything, bless him. “I’m sorry, she’s gone home for the evening.”

My heart sinks. Crap. Now what? My lips quirk up in a smile. “Then maybe you can help me find my cell phone?”

He sets aside a glass and rounds the bar. “Sure. Give me a minute. There’s one central place they are kept.” I give him my name and he disappears behind an unmarked red door. In a few minutes the nice bartender reappears and hands over my cell phone.

“Thanks, Theo.”

“Did you enjoy your stay at Club Sin?”

My porcelain skin turns redder than the decor on this side of the club. Where everything is black in the private section I entered through, this side is embellished in various shades of red. The consistent details between both sides are the chandeliers and the tone of opulence. Crystal and gold accents pair well with the buttery soft leather.

Theo waves me off with a light laugh. “Got it. Don’t answer that, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have asked.” He chuckles lightly.

My spine goes rigid when I hear deep voices and hints of my name followed by cursing coming from behind me.

Honestly, I didn’t think I’d get this far without my SEALs waking. They must have enjoyed tonight as much as I did.

“Or trusted you not to leave while they slept,” my inner critic retorts sardonically.

My pulse jumps into overdrive as the voices grow closer, so I ignore Theo’s use of the lighthearted endearment I’m sure he uses on everyone. “Is there another exit I might be able to use?” I ask him hopefully.

He sees my panic and ushers me forward. Theo shows me to the front door after handing me my shawl and I quickly swipe my thumb over the digital reader of my phone. Several missed calls pop up from… “What the heck?” Joshua? How the hell did he get this number? My fingers tremble, and I clear the screen and focus on my next move rather than the dreadful pit of fear taking root in my gut.

More snow has fallen, and the temperatures are nearing frozen fingers and toes territory.

The street is empty and there’s no sign of my driver. I pull his name up and tap the call option. The phone rings and I dance from foot to foot to fight off the cold.

Several seconds of no one picking up pass before it hits voicemail. At this hour it would be easier for me to call an Uber. Maybe I should go back inside?

No. I can’t let this all happen so easily for them. It’s just a little cold out. They cut me to the core with their scathing words six years ago. One night and a contract won’t erase that pain. A part of me says I’m being stupid, but the part of my heart and soul still huddled in the corner from the pain of their actions and words puts steel in my spine. I shelve the idea of running back to them the second I feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable and open my Uber app.

Theo pops his head out before I can request a pickup. “Ma’am, we have a car waiting for you around the side. It’s a service we offer. I’m sorry I didn’t mention it. But I saw you still out here.”

Oh, thank you, Universe! “You are a lifesaver, Theo.”

He tosses me a wink.

Twenty minutes later I instruct the club’s driver to drop me a few yards from my front entrance.

“But it’s half a block from your building? Are you sure?”

Um, hell yes. You have Club Sin plastered on the side of the car, sir. “Yes, please. Truly it’s fine. I need to walk the night off and the cold air will clear my head.” I outright lied. I’d half freeze, but all for a good cause. I live here. The last person who needs to know my business is the nosy, gossiping doorman. No way I can pull up in an Escalade with the most exclusive adult club name printed in big bold letters and step out with mused lipstick and my hair a wicked, sick mess.

The SUV rolls to a stop and I slip out before the club’s driver has a chance to do the whole chivalrous routine. “Thank you.”

Cold greets me and my teeth clench. Half a block. I can do this. I’d rather them think I’m doing the walk of shame or am coming from some company party than the truth. I’m so lost in my rehearsed greeting I don’t hear the shuffle of feet in snow until it’s too late to pull out my mace.

Solid steel connects with my jaw once, twice. Snow-covered cement rushes to greet my face but at the last minute I throw my hands out and catch myself before I get the roughest facial of my life.

I suck in a lungful of snow flurries and allow myself half a second before my inner cowgirl kicks in. Fuck the dress and dainty heels.

I push to my feet and swing a fist at the man in shadow rushing toward me but nothing lands. He’s too fast. And all those years of martial arts class my mother tried to get me interested in come back to haunt me.

My vision is less than stellar but I try to find details of whoever the hell this is. My stalker no doubt.

“Why the hell did you let them touch you?” His voice is rough like he’s been screaming for hours. Hoarse and unrecognizable.

He’s decked out in the darkest pants with a hoodie pulled around his face. The streetlights do little to cast away the shadows to reveal my attacker.

He takes another swing, and it cracks across my jaw, sending jolts of pain ping-ponged inside my head. That steel bar I thought I got hit with earlier was nothing but this man’s fists. Holy shit. The alleyway and clear sidewalk in front of me blur.

I throw my hands up. “What the hell?” But my words are a slurred mess as I teeter on my heels. Roughened edges of the brick wall at my back do little to soften the impact as I slam into the brick wall.

I glance around for my clutch and finally spy it in the snow. Shit! It’s by his feet. There’s nothing else I can use for a weapon. Only…

I take off my heels and hold one in each hand. Hey, it’s something. By the looks of it he has a good hundred pounds on me but that could be the bulk of clothing. With my heart in my throat, I chance asking a question I fear the answer to. “What the hell are you talking about? Get the fuck away from me you piece of shit! HELP!” I scream. “Help!”

He breaks into demented laughter, sharp and cutting to the core. I shuffle along the wall as fast as I can. The harsh textures to the bricks sand away at the butter softness of my dress. I chance a look in the opposite direction before swinging my gaze back at my attacker. But I’m not fast enough. Vise-like fingers grip my hair and I’m thrown to the ground, his weight pinning me to the icy sidewalk. Putrid breath curls around my senses and I lose my grip on my shoes. It doesn’t matter though. His hands lock around my wrists and I’m forced to do nothing but pray.

Only a hundred yards or so to my building. Breathe. Someone had to have heard me.

But I buckle beneath his weight and air wheezes from my lungs.

Cold metal grazes over my forehead, and I glance around a barrel of a gun but still there’s not enough light.

“Why did you do this to us?” Fringes of my memory try to lock onto the voice, but I have nothing.

“You fucking whore. I’ll have to kill you now.” Brittle and cold. His tone leeches the blood from my face.

Gears of a cocking mechanism sting my eardrums.

My heart races. Blood pounds through my ears.

This is it. This is how I die. But I won’t go without a fight. I jerk at my wrist and manage to get one away. Pivoting left and then right I dislodge him enough to get a knee beneath me. But my victory is short-lived. Bruising blows pepper along my ribs and oh, yeah this mother fucker knows where to strike.

I open my mouth to scream but there’s no air left in my lungs to be of much use.

My eyes dart toward the sound of a roaring motor. Screeching tires prelude the smell of burned rubber. A sense of relief of someone seeing me and stopping almost takes hold.

“They can’t protect you forever, you dirty whore. I’ll find you.”

Sickening wet lips smack against my cheek before I take another blow to the ribs. I curl in on myself fighting to keep my eyes open through the pain. It’s a real bitch, but the second he’s off me I shove to my knees, lunge for my clutch and palm my mace. I get a jet off in his direction but only get a stiff backhand as a parting fuck-you.

I can’t identify who the shouts belong to at first. Lots of grunts and thudding footfalls happen yards away from me. I try to crawl in the opposite direction, but a heavy grip on my waist hauls me back. I scream and donkey kick blindly.

I take pleasure in the grunt that follows. This is not how I’m going to die. I can just see my mother’s face and hear her judgmental voice saying, “See, I told her. Now look.” The funeral would be a wreck. Nobody would show up except Justice. Why? Because I have no life outside work. Which is just sad. What does that say about my life choices? I’ll be damned if this is how I go out. I raise my leg again and do a repeat move. Bare toes make contact with the firm gut of whoever the fuck is behind me. I don’t look back. Clawing at the cement, I launch myself up ready to do a 100-yard dash and beat the world record holder. Snow and all.

Only I don’t anticipate the grip on my hips or the arms plucking me off the cold floor.

The more I struggle, the tighter the grip becomes.

“It’s me, baby.”

Strong arms wrap around me.

“It’s me. Fuck, baby. You okay? Of course, you’re not. I’ve got you.”

“Brogan?”

“Yeah, baby. You’re safe. For God’s sake, don’t kick me again. Where the hell did you learn to kick like that?”

I sniffle. “Aerobics class. It’s for the glutes,” I answer honestly, ready to cry from relief. I throw my arms around Brogan and it’s not pretty when I lose my shit.

“It’s okay. Let it out. You’re safe now. Why the fuck did you leave the club? Leave us?”

Those tears I struggle to fight back come out in the ugliest cry-fest. Any remnants of makeup are left on his collar.

He pushes me into a car and pulls me back into his lap the second we’re both inside. I try to look around him for any signs of my attacker but only see disturbed snow in the wake of my fight.

Brogan wraps me in his arms and his hands are shaking. I twist to look into his eyes and death stares back at me.

“Do you know who did this to you, baby?”

I shake my head. “Not a clue. Some nut job Justice and I think I picked up while trying out dating apps.”

Lethal black eyes find mine. Not for me, but whoever it is out to hurt me.

“While you what? Willingly put yourself in danger? Wait ‘til the guys hear this shit.”

“I do have a life you know. One you guys were all too eager to push me into if memory serves.” I shove at his shoulder but those steel arms around me don’t budge. Damn him. “Drop me off at my building. I’ll call the cops and handle this shit on my own. Save your knight in shining armor shit for some other chick who is gullible enough to fall for it because it ain’t me.”

“Right because the cops have done a bang-up job of protecting you so far.”

I turn dry eyes to him. “No better than you have.”

He peers down at me for a moment, lips clamped shut. The arrival of Ryder and Atlas cuts into me repeating my demand, and suddenly I don’t have it in me to argue at the moment.

“Did you get him?”

“Bastard ducked into a building with a locked door. Lucky for him too. I would have dropped him from the roof.” Ryder’s tone drips with the lethal promise.

“We will have to settle with putting a bullet between his eyes when we catch up to him.”

“If you catch up to him. Justice and her men have been working months trying to pin him down.” I realize I should have kept my mouth shut as soon as the words are out.

My admission earns me three laser-focused sets of eyes.

“Talk, butterfly, and don’t you fucking leave a single detail out.”

Warm, gentle fingers brush over the knots and bruises I feel forming along my jaw and under my right eye. I flinch but ease when he leans forward and kisses them.

Brogan takes my hand and Ryder settles into the driver seat and pulls us out into the empty street.

Atlas settles me on his lap and his arms cocoon me in his warmth. I can feel his fear of what happened boiling just beneath the surface.

Over the next fifteen minutes I fill them in on my chaotic life over the last few weeks. My foray into dating, the nasty stalker, and my promotion.

The longer I talk the quieter they become. Atlas’ hands crunch the remains of my dress between his fingers and if Brogan’s expression is anything to go by, I’d say my SEALs are jealous of the fact I tried to move on.

City lights fade and before long, we wind along a backroad with sparsely-placed lamps.

“Where are we going?”

“To the mountains. We had a deal.”

I try to sit up, but Atlas and my ribs have other ideas. I cringe and make my stand while resting my head on his shoulder. “You’re shitting me, right? You still want to go to some cabin?”

“We have our reasons. We’ll discuss those later. We’ll also talk about you running off and not mentioning you had someone gunning for you later. And you forgot something back at the club.”

Atlas produces the slip of paper I left with his cufflinks.

It has my safe word scrawled over cream-colored stationary:

Butterfly

XOXO Kandy

“It doesn’t count unless you speak the words.”

Can’t blame a girl for trying.

“For now, sleep, butterfly. You’re safe.”

Atlas turns to Brogan and Ryder. “When we get there, get on the phone with Seth and Jacob. We’re gonna need their help and all the information they have.”

“And a body bag,” Ryder adds darkly.

Chapter Eleven

Ryder

Kandy is sleeping upstairs. It took a couple of hours to arrive at our location and the second I shoved the SUV into park I set up our laptops and got on the phone with some buddies. Atlas took our girl and settled her in, and Brogan did a rations run.

Atlas walks in and plants his ass in a chair across from me. “Perimeter is clear. I checked the security cameras, and they are up and running.

I nod. “Unless Yogi Bear is out there, no one knows we are here, man. Lighten up.”

“Excuse the fuck out of me. Am I the only one who saw the bruises she’s wearing? And those are only on her face. I saw that fucker take potshots at her ribs before we got to her.”

I cross my arms and kick back in my chair. It was that or lash out at Atlas and he doesn’t deserve my wrath.

“Fuck it. Forget it. Starting over, okay? Any luck reaching anyone with answers?” Atlas jerks his chin at my phone.

“Not yet. Give it a little bit. No one is awake at this hour or if they are, they sure the hell aren’t answering. Don’t blame them. I’ll try again in a minute.”

“How the hell did we miss her having a stalker?”

“Too busy getting this place ready for one.” My fingers flex around my cell phone. “Think she’ll love it?”

“Depends if we can get her to trust us again. We really hurt her badly.”

I consider my friend’s words. “That point was proven to us tonight in spades. She would rather run out into the snow than stay and talk to us.”

“I don’t think I’ve fallen into such a deep sleep since joining the Navy.”

I rub a hand over my face. “Agreed. It’s the only way she got away from us.”

“Maybe the forced night at Club Sin wasn’t such a great idea.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. She signed. We didn’t hear her safe word once.”

Atlas looks torn and I know my friend will war with himself until he has her in his arms again. I can see him struggling not to go to her right now.

Brogan walks in and sets several grocery bags down on the kitchen island and a few I see are from a department store.

“Food, clothes for Kandy and some things she can use for showering.”

“Coffee?”

“Affirmative.” Brogan passes each of us a cup and leaves a fourth in the holder. “She up yet?”

I pick up my phone and hit a different number. “Not yet.”

Lincoln, Cain, and Grant. Their wife, Mercy, is a friend of Justice’s and they have a similar living arrangement as the one we want with Kandy. All four own the lodge about a mile from our cabin and is one of the reasons we offered double the selling price for this place. Justice didn’t hesitate. After helping us plan last night with her best friend, keeping one more secret wasn’t a far stretch to ask.

In recent months Mercy’s men hired us to rebuild each of the luxury cabins on their property. Which is a good thing, because it gave us the kick in the ass we needed to finally put the last leg of our plan involving Kandy into motion. If we leave it solely up to Atlas, that man would still be in planning mode, making everything as perfect as possible for when we approached Kandy.

Perfect never happens. Tonight is a prime example of just how fast shit can hit a fan.

After signing off on my resignation papers from the military, we immediately went into business for ourselves using Atlas’ architecture degree and family business, my degree in business and Brogan’s savvy way with people. We worked well with guns in our hands and a target in our sights. We work even better now with one mission pulling us together: Kandy.

Another fact that comes in handy now is all three of Mercy’s men are former spec ops like us. Great neighbors to have, if you ask me.

“Hey, Grant, sorry for the early hour. Wanted to let you know we have arrived at our cabin, but we might have brought some heat. Didn’t want to leave you in the dark in case he mistakes your place for ours.”

“Yeah, got it. We’ll be safe.”

I hang up and see Atlas rubbing at his neck. A sign of irritation and the man is about three seconds away from going upstairs.

Instead of calling Justice, Atlas takes my phone and taps Seth’s name. He puts it on speaker and places it in the middle of the table.

“Hey, man, trying to reach you all morning.” Atlas goes into the rundown of what happened and rattles off the description we have. Seth, Jacob, and Lucian own a security company and are our best option right now in tracking down who is after Kandy.

Justice’s sleepy voice comes over the speaker. “What’s going on?”

“Did you know about the stalker?”

There’s a pause before a shaky, “Yes.”

Atlas is on his feet and pacing the space behind the large dining table, his coffee abandoned. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”

“The police are handling it. We’ve done everything possible to track him down but he’s a slippery guy. Don’t think we’ve left Kandy out in the cold.”

That’s Seth. There’s tension in his voice. I get it; Kandy isn’t his to look after or protect. That was our job. Something else we failed at.

I lean forward. “The police have their hands tied. None of us got a look at his face. Maybe check the surrounding security cameras?”

“Copy that,” Seth replies. “We might get lucky if we can catch something. I’ll start reaching out after we hang up.”

“Keep the cops out of this for now. Now that there’s been an attack and the sick bastard beat the shit out of her this morning, we won’t stop until there’s blood.”

There’s a clattering before Justice shrieks, “What? What the hell? Attack? Is she okay? Can I speak with her?”

“She is now. She’s not leaving our sight again.”

“Ever,” Atlas adds on, and I feel the finality of his claim. But I doubt Kandy will go for it. Should be interesting to watch that conversation happen.

“You can’t keep me locked up in a cabin in the woods forever. I don’t care how pretty it is.”

Speak of the angel. We turn to see our beauty walk through the archway looking a little worse for wear but more beautiful than a ray of sunshine. She’s sleeping in something between pajamas and striptease lingerie. Justice must have left it behind.

I leave the conversation to Atlas and Brogan and cross to Kandy. Rage wells inside me so thick it’s hard to hold back a roar of fury. Black and purple markings cover most of her jaw. The pretty cheeks of hers I watched turn such a lovely red for us just hours ago are now swollen and already turning their own shade of purple.

She settles calm hands over mine. Up until that second revenge and the taste for blood drove my mind. But when her palms touch mine, I anchor myself to the here and now.

“Can you just hold me for a minute? I want to see the sunrise.”

“Sure, my hart. Anything you want.” My nickname for her always gets a reaction. Usually her breath will hitch and her cheeks will warm. Right now, it makes tears well behind those pretty lashes and I want to murder the man who dared touch her.

I tuck her beneath my chin, and we stand like this a moment, watching the snow fall beyond the large balcony door.

“Continue searching. Keep us posted,” I hear Atlas say before he hangs up the phone. He builds a large fire and Brogan hands her the coffee he grabbed from town.

Together we all three stay silent. I can’t tell if it’s because we have nothing to say or all of us are so fucking furious we let this happen in the first place.

I haven’t felt this much pain since losing my parents. In the military I signed on knowing I would lose team members and friends. But losing the people who loved me and raised me tore out a part of my soul.

And tonight, it happened again. The years we were apart from Kandy tore a gaping hole in my chest. Only Atlas and Brogan know the truth of how far gone I became. Only thing that brought me back from the edge of self-destruction, reckless endangerment, and me taking any assignment I could get with the highest chances of me not making it home was that Atlas finally pulled his head out of his ass.

I run my hands over the tight, supple skin and drop a kiss to the top of her head. “Let’s get you a warm shower and then some food.”

I take her hand in mine. I’m already stripping off my shirt and toeing off my shoes before we hit the stairs.

“We’ll get the food stored and gather some firewood from the shed.” I wave a hand and pull my girl next to me. Let them do whatever they need to do. I have my own plans.

In the bathroom I flick on the showerhead and make sure the water is warm. Steam boils over the top of the glass shower door and I silently help Kandy strip away the silk from her body.

“Where’s your dress?”

Kandy points to the trash bin. I pull her chin up to mine and I search her expression for signs of regret, guilt. Anything that suggests she doesn’t want to be here with me.

All I find is a woman even more beautiful than who we walked away from. Her hair is gathered around her shoulders and spills over her back. I ease the curtain of long blond locks to the side and grit my teeth at the climbing bruises over her ribs.

“Hey, don’t look at me with pity. I got in a few right hooks of my own.”

I smile down at her, my little warrior. So brave and tough.

“That motherfucker will die for touching you. Mark my words, I will put a bullet in his head.”

“You’re not really the violent type.”

I find her gaze in the fogging mirror. “I’ve hidden a lot of true nature from you, baby. That boy Samuel. From your prom. He got off lucky. This piece of shit, he will see the true monster I lock away.”

She shudders in my touch, and I tuck her beneath my chin. “You will never have anything to worry about again. Do you trust me?”

“I trusted you once. Then you told me to never return.”

Her intoxicating scent burrows into my senses, and I rock back on my heels as the memory of Atlas’ harsh words tears through my mind.

“I was an asshole, butterfly. Will you ever forgive me?”

A darkness lingers along the edges of my friend’s voice. He’s leaning against the bathroom frame, arms by his sides, eyes intent and hopeful on Kandy.

“Don’t know. I trusted all of you with my whole heart. Told you I loved you and you threw me away.”

Atlas crosses the room and Brogan enters with him. We all three surround her. Hopefully she can see us as a shield of protection and not the smothering force of arrogant assholes I perceive.

Lucky for us, she’s a kinder, more open soul than we are.

“I’ve lived with my regret for a long time. I’ve hurt us all for so long. Please let me show you.”

Her lip trembles at Atlas’ admission and I give him a nod of reassurance when he looks at me briefly. We have a silent exchange of understanding that took years to hone and when he looks back at Kandy, I can sense he and I are in sync.

Kandy strokes a hand down Atlas’ face. “And our parents?”

I physically watch Atlas tense and his expression turns bitter. “I don’t care one way or another. We can show up at Christmas dinner and see how that goes over when we put a ring on your finger. They will have two options. Accept or not.”

She chews on the question a second before finding her voice. “You think that’s gonna happen, do you? Putting a ring on my finger?” Her head is shaking in disbelief and the snarky Kandy I love peeks through.

I move my hand over the sides of her face, careful not to apply pressure to her injuries and take her quivering lips with mine. Blood floods south and my cock makes it no secret how turned on her sultry question makes me. Defiant till the end. “We know it is.” Blue eyes turn into swirling pools and so much heat radiates out at me my dick is dripping cum.

The beast inside me roars to have her honey coating my dick. To sink into her tight sheath and send us all blissfully away from the hellish early morning we’ve had.

My fingers slip between her.

But our sweet Kandy can’t take us right now and the three of us will just have to suck it up and put her needs first.

A glance at my friends and I know they are thinking the same despite the raging hard-ons we sport.

But maybe a small taste won’t hurt.

I look on as Kandy parts her lips for Atlas when he turns her to him for a taste. She falls into Brogan’s arms next. Her chest is heaving and those pretty lips of hers are swelling up nice from all our kisses. She thinks a little shower loving is happening.

We strip out of our tuxedo pants and toss aside the dress shirts we had on from last night.

The shower is large enough for a soccer team with multiple jets and showerheads. It’s perfect. Pretty bright blue eyes come to meet mine, and I pull her under the water.

I strum a finger over the bruises up her ribs, and Atlas kneels in front of her pressing kisses over others. Brogan, the damn poetic bastard, starts to hum a melody used to calm the mind. Something he did a lot in our military days.

And it works on our girl. She settles into us and when those pretty lashes close, I set aside my anger for what happened to her and focus on giving her all my love and energy.

I force calm into my voice and pitch it low so as not to break the spell. “Let us care for you, my hart.”

Chapter Twelve

Kandy

A week has gone by and not one of those bastards has laid a finger on me much less any other part of their anatomy. Six solo showers, six shared dinners, six restless, no sex movie nights and nothing beyond a freaking kiss or a caress at any other time.

And God forbid I ask why. All I get in return is a you need to heal. Give yourself time. You’d think I was on my deathbed.

What the hell does a girl have to do to get some? What’s the use of having three lovers if I can’t get at least one interested in bending me over in the shower? Taking me in the hot tub while it snows around us. Okay, I’ve probably thought about that one a little too long.

I’m achy, bored, and horny. They don’t know it yet, but they’ve done nothing but create a monster.

Wind howls outside and the lights flicker a second before settling. Only silver lining to this whole trip so far has been this beautiful luxury cabin. Two stories, a full library and a kick-ass balcony that extends off the second floor. And a generator if the power goes out. So I’m not worried about the snowpocalypse going down beyond the window. Actually, it’s kind of soothing knowing we’re secluded and protected by mother nature.

Part of me wants to never leave. But if these men think they can hide me forever…

I huff a sigh of frustration. One battle at a time. I kick the shampoo bottle to the side and step under the warm spray of water to rinse off. Snow pelts the windows and at any other time it would be simply stunning to watch the cold flakes drift over the vast landscape one little ice crystal at a time.

But right this very second, it’s like watching damn paint dry.

But that’s okay. I can play dirty too. I throw the shower door open and get to work drying off. A few minutes later, with dry hair and a clean nightie that barely covers my ass I form a plan. My bruises have faded to ugly yellow marks and my face is pretty much healed all except for a small patch beneath my eye. Not my sexiest moment, but it’s not my face I want them looking at anyway.

Perched at the top landing, I take a moment and map out my plan of attack. Brogan and Atlas are in the kitchen leaving Ryder all by himself in the living room. Bad move, boys. The open floorplan of the downstairs is a marvel to look at. They have no idea I’m stalking their asses. Six years ago, I ran off wounded and hurt. I didn’t fight for what I wanted. I’m a jaded woman now with a lot more grit in her spine. And I know how to work up an evil plan like nobody’s business.

Smelling irresistible and just about sweet enough to eat—thank you Brogan for the toiletry run—I pinch my nipples and get them teasing the delicate silk of my gown. Something sexy I found in Justice’s closet.

Second move complete. First being the shower.

“Enjoy your shower, butterfly?”

“Hmhmm.” I nod, not giving my handsome chefs a second look. That gets me some whispers and I fight back a smug smile when I turn away from them and forge a beeline toward the living room. With the ample open design Atlas and Brogan both get to watch my next moves while they cook. Poor men. They’ll have to pick—continuing to ignore me or join in on the fun I have planned.

Atlas eyes me from the kitchen where he’s cutting vegetables up for another stew of some sort, phone pressed between his shoulder and ear. Brogan is manning the stove, the pot of simmering broth smelling divine.

But I’m hungry for something else right now.

Hooded eyes track my movements, and I can feel heated gazes pin me between the shoulder blades. Then slide down to caress over my ass barely hidden beneath a small amount of silk.

Eat your heart out, my SEALs.

“Watching anything good?” I slide down next to Ryder and make sure he feels the tip of my eager nipples brush across his massive bicep. He’s reclined in the middle of the couch, feet up on a tufted footstool wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung gray sweatpants. How? Tell me how am I expected to resist that?

“Not really, baby.” His gaze moves from the TV to flick over my smooth legs and climbs from there until a slow grin overtakes his lips.

Digging into my ample reserve of grit, I toss my newfound treasure on the couch cushion and bury my fingers into the ends of my gown. I move away and settle nearby and tug up the material little by little until I am completely bare. Lavender material puddles at my feet, and I’m left wearing nothing but my necklace and a shawl of determination.

Piercing gray eyes meet mine. There’s a mixture of hunger and resistance marring his handsome features.

Poor man. With a pinched look like he’s really gonna hate what I’m about to do.

“Maybe I can put on a show for you then?”

I take the brand-new vibrator I discovered upstairs complete with packaging and recline against a mass of throw pillows. I swear, it is like the Universe lined this moment up perfectly.

One by one, I place my feet flat against the couch and then I butterfly my legs. With me spread wide, those unwavering eyes finally dip to my center, and I see when the hunger outweighs all else.

I hear a battery of curses come from the kitchen.

“Kandy. What the fuck are you doing?”

Trailing fingers over my breasts and down my midriff sets off a gritty glitter of excitement in those eyes and I know Ryder is mine. Third phase is complete. Just a little more…

I pull on an encouraging smile and tip over the edge of my folds to dip a finger through my warm honey.

“Hi,” I moan with a sultry lilt.

“Since you guys seem to have turned celibate in the last few days, I’m taking matters into my own hands. Literally.”

I palm the vibrator and flick the little button on. A humming sound fills the dead silence everyone has fallen into.

“That so?” Ryder growls hungrily, peering up at my body with a devilish grin.

“It is.”

I slowly bring the vibrator to my mouth and lick the bulbous tip, before slipping it over one nipple, the other, and finally settling over the hard bead tucked between my pussy lips.

My mouth hinges open and I’m gasping at the sensations plaguing my overly sensitive bud. I’ve been left longing since our delicious night together. My body can’t take more than a couple of seconds at a time.

“Something wrong? Need a little help?”

“Nope.” I dig in my heels and reach for my breasts.

I draw my toy back and swirl the vibrating tip over my clit, working myself in slow circles.

“Let me call you back,” I hear Atlas say.

Atlas and Brogan prowl closer until I see them come into view over the ledge of the couch and they pin me with two sets of dark eyes. Their eyes are practically glowing with fiery lust. The force of those powerful looks sends sensations cascading over me. I shudder, loving the strength of my body heat melding with Ryder’s. He’s kneeling at my feet now. His length strains the confines of his sweats. It’s a beautiful sight to behold so I do the only natural thing a girl like me would do. I reach for it, pull the band down and slide my hand inside.

Sweet, merciful...

My heart still races as both Atlas and Brogan watch me pleasure myself and Ryder.

I wrap my fingers around Ryder’s massive girth and groan at the feel of his fiery-hot length in my hand. Stroking down and then back up I get a bead of pre-cum for my efforts.

“Careful, Kandy. You push us too far; we’ll give you exactly what you want.”

There’s a biting warning to his tone. Instead of giving me pause it feeds the fuel to go full throttle.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” In goes the vibrator. Not fully, just an inch but it’s all I need to have hot liquid coating my folds.

Strong fingers find my hair and pull my face around. I look up at Atlas and he’s so close to giving in. “It is when you’re hurt and confused.”

Between my legs, Ryder thumbs my clit while I tease my entrance.

“I don’t think we have a choice here, man.” Ryder’s voice is thick and lusty.

Atlas grips the back edge of the couch, resting his heavy weight on his arms. Muscles bunch and flex. Now that I really take a moment to look, I see hints of his age brushing along the corners of his eyes. Sexy and utterly mouthwatering.

“There you go again. Thinking you know what is best for me.” I downplay how frustrating my stepbrother can be and focus on the quivering ripples of sensations buoying inside me.

I work Ryder at the same time I slip the tip of my vibrator inside my aching channel again.

My mouth hinges open and I’m instantly toeing the ledge of my orgasm.

“God damn it, Kandy!” Ryder roars and encases my hand with his larger one. He yanks his sweatpants down another notch and together we work him faster. Brogan who has stayed silent up until now is around the couch and kneeling beside me. He throws the vibrator across the living room and replaces my new toy with his hot, wet mouth.

Yes! I won!

I nearly fall off the couch. “Argh!” I scream and buck into his hungry mouth. Eager lips wrap around my bundle of nerves and give a hard suck.

“Fuck if I let some toy get my woman off. You sure you want this?”

“Yes,” I pant. “If you guys don’t touch me, I’m going to lose my mind.” I’m looking straight into Atlas’ eyes. And he looks back. For a second, I spy inklings of the man from six years ago. The one who shunned me and I grow still. He’s wearing his customary blanket expression that prevents me from reading his true feelings. Just like that night. Until he drops it. “I’m here, butterfly,” he reassures me. “I’m here.”

That’s all I need to hear. The second he throws aside the fabric of denial, the heat fusing his gaze on me is utterly breathtaking.

A slow, easy smile spreads across my face and I hold a hand out to him. He sets aside the phone he’d been clutching, and I’m quickly lifted and settled over Ryder.

“Come here, baby.” He shoves his pants past his knees and my wet, clenching core takes his length in one possessive move. He’s careful of my tender ribs and instead clenches those powerful fingers of his into the ample flesh of my thighs.

“I literally ache to have you inside me.” My arms are around Ryder’s neck, and he wraps me in his. With our chests pressed together I can feel the powerful thud of his heartbeat and that rhythm feeds into my soul.

I sink over him until I can feel every last inch of his shaft claim my pussy.

Brogan glides his palm up my back and helps me ease over the top of his friend in slow movements. Ryder’s huge throbbing cock tunnels into me. My head falls back, and my mouth is immediately consumed by a lover. Hands caress every inch of my body.

“I’ve been dying to touch you. Are you sure you’re not hurting?”

And then suddenly. As if a switch is flicked on in my brain, I realize what has kept each of them from doing anything other than feeding me this past week.

Spread over Ryder I still and place a hand on Atlas and then Brogan. “Look at me. Please.”

They do. My heart hurts so much with the love I’ve had for these men long before they even knew. It dulled to the recesses of my mind over time. But seeing them again. Feeling their touches, has rekindled all the emotions I tried to stamp out.

My fingers trace the clean-shaven jaws of my men and I look at each of them in turn.

“What happened is not your fault. You will not shoulder the blame for the lunacy of another. That is their burden to carry alone. Karma will see to it. You have to trust that.”

“The only thing we trust is that you will never go another day without one of us or all of us at your side.”

I shake my head and turn to Ryder. “We know that’s not even remotely possible.”

“The he—” Atlas tries to argue but I silence him with a kiss.

His fingers wrap around mine and he slides our palms together.

“Please listen to me, Atlas. I was banged up a little. But look at it this way. You have me here now. So what are you going to do with me?”

This far up the mountain on such a secluded back road, Justice didn’t bother with curtains. “We have an uninterrupted view of winter at its most beautiful, a roaring fire, and all night long.”

“The real beauty is right here. Heart, body, and soul.” Brogan drops kisses over my shoulder and over the dip to finally wrap his lips around my pulse point and give a hard suck.

I cream all over Ryder.

“Damn, she’s on fire,” Ryder confirms, and I laugh a soft sultry sound.

“She’s right, men.” Atlas grips my hip tight, and I shimmy overtop Ryder. He grunts in appreciation.

Brogan doesn’t care.

My silent warrior plucks me off his friend and steals me away to spread me out in front of the fire.

“If we’re here much longer we’ll need to get a tree.”

“We’ll get you one tomorrow. White lights—your favorite—all those glittery ornaments Justice has in the attic. We’ll even hang some garland on the balcony railings and make some pumpkin pie.”

Be still my freaking Christmas-loving heart. I spread my legs and wrap them around Brogan. “Eggnog?” I tease. “We can’t play house without eggnog.”

“Homemade,” Ryder confirms. “I have a recipe I’ve wanted to try for ages.

Atlas snorts and wears a smirk at his friend’s comment. Citrine eyes level on my blues. “And who’s playing? If you haven’t caught on yet, butterfly. This is the real deal. You make us want to do things we never thought about before.”

I know. I just like hearing it.

Brogan steals my attention. “Eggnog. Yeah, as long as it’s spiked.” He has the same sweats as Ryder does, and Lord save me. He’s talking but all I’m seeing is his lovely cock outlined in gray cotton.

“I’m only partially kidding,” I hear myself say but now my eyes are roving over Atlas. His sweats are black, tighter than the others. I swallow thickly and wonder if it’s bad manners to stare for more than ten seconds if you intend to make good on the promise of licking all three.

“We’re not.” I’m flipped around to my knees and Brogan hooks an arm around my middle and lifts. “I already know you’re dripping wet for us. Now I want a taste.”

I swallow a moan. “You know we can’t stay here forever. Justice will come looking for me.” I hate blowing their perfect idea of a great Christmas.

Atlas smiles as he moves in front of me. His beautiful cock hangs in front of my mouth heavy and ready. Pre-cum coats the fat crown and all it will take is a small movement from me to have him in my mouth, my tongue licking up his spilled cum.

“Who do you think I was on the phone with? Sorry, butterfly, but you’re not due back to work until after the new year. That gives us ample time to thoroughly convince you to marry us.”

I’m momentarily shocked, and Atlas takes full advantage of my open mouth. He rocks forward and slides his shaft over my tongue. I moan around his length and deep throat him, swallow, and pull back. Right into Brogan’s waiting hands.

“I hurt you so much, my special butterfly. I’m so sorry.” Atlas’ voice turns vulnerable, and I can feel the tension in him grow until I peer up at him and force all the love in me into my gaze.

He smiles down at me, and I know...just know...everything will be okay.

Behind me Brogan strokes my pussy faster and dips two fingers into my hot core. I clench around him and buck against his touch, riding his hand hard until my climax hits me so hard, I’m left utterly breathless.

I’m panting heavily and every muscle in my body shakes from the fierceness of my release.

“Easy. Feel better now? Want more?” I nod my head.

“Good answer.”

Ryder kneels beside his friend, and each takes turns filling my mouth with slow strokes. A couple of dips before the next glides over my tongue. The taste of their pre-cum makes my mouth water for more. My jaw goes slack, and I take them deeper. My chest vibrates with the raw need to pleasure my men. Give them everything they need from me. Show them the level of trust I feel when I’m with them. Looking back, I see it’s what they did with me at Club Sin. They wanted to show me I was safe with them. That I could trust them with my body. This past week, they showed me I could trust them with my heart. That they would care for me.

The light flickers and wind howls but I pay no mind. I’m safe here. I’m with my SEALs.

Somewhere a phone rings and Atlas growls. He ignores it and I reach up to roll his heavy cum-filled balls in the palm of my hand. His head falls back, and he growls so fiercely I swear the windows rattle.

Brogan is on his knees, and I feel the head of his cock tease my slick, wet slit.

I press back, letting him know I’m ready.

The phone rings again.

“God damn it.” Atlas reaches for his cell phone and presses the speaker button. He places it on the floor by my hands. “What the fuck do you want? Speak and make it fast.”

“We know who the stalker is.”

“You’re not going to believe this shit.”

“Justice? Seth? Holy shit.” I grab the phone. “Who?”

Lights flicker and suddenly I can’t see anything, and the phone goes dead.

My blood turns to ice.

Chapter Thirteen

Kandy

“What the hell? Why doesn’t the phone work?”

Ryder takes the phone and does a couple of things trying to get it to turn back on but no, nada.

“Dead. All the damn phone calls you’ve been making, man. How the hell did you forget to charge the damn thing?”

“Doesn’t matter now. We have more phones.”

“She’s right. Let’s calm down. Get the lights back on. The generator should kick in…”

And that is where my plan turns the corner into chaos. This I definitely didn’t see coming.

Atlas’ words are cut off by a massive fireball and a gust of force that knocks out the kitchen windows.

The cabin rattles. Glass flies, the tiny knife-like fragments slice along my skin.

A scream slices through the night. I don’t realize it’s me doing the screaming until two hundred pounds of male lands on top of me and I go down to the carpet. I can’t tell which way is up for a second. Snow blasts through the busted-out windows. Flakes of ice meet the scorching hot pot of stew giving off a sizzling sound. It’s the only thing I hear outside the howling wind.

I stare at the windows for a long second wondering what the hell went wrong. Did someone forget to care for the generator, and it just exploded or what?

Yeah, I wish I hadn’t even thought of the question because I don’t like the answer.

I learn fast it’s nothing accidental, and we are not alone on our side of the lake.

Hailing bullets ricochet off the stainless-steel countertop and hanging cast iron skillets. Sharp brown eyes pierce mine and the second I turn to meet Atlas’s gaze I see the man turn into warrior mode.

Ryder and Brogan are already pulling on their pants. The glow of the fire is the only source of light we have and it’s fighting for its life in the whirling winds as much as we are.

Brogan tosses clothes at me, and I don’t ask where or how they got them. The dryer maybe? I just shove my feet into a pair of jeans and button up one of Brogan’s shirts. Forget a bra.

Beside me I find a pair of fuzzy slippers and put my toes into them. It’s fiercely cold and I blame that for why my fingers tremble over the buttons.

Atlas takes over and helps me after finding his own pants. None of them have shoes or shirts and there’s glass everywhere.

“This way,” he bellows over the rushing winds. Thinking we are all going to safety I follow. But the second I turn around I see I’m being pushed into a laundry room where without the fire it’s darker and colder.

Nah. This Texan chick doesn’t huddle and cower.

“Fuck you, Atlas. Give me a gun. You have my back. I have yours.”

Shadows hide his expression, but the silhouette of his locked stance can be seen just fine. He actually thinks he’s going to win this. I shove at him, and Ryder comes up from behind with weapons I never saw unloaded from the SUV in hand.

“Where did those come from?”

“Upstairs armory.”

Another wave of bullets and Atlas is moving me deeper inside the laundry room. I shove right back, take a Glock from Ryder, and check the clip for rounds. “I’m tired of running. Hiding. Looking scared. This ends tonight.”

Though I can’t see their eyes I can feel their shock. “Justice and her men take me to target practicing twice a month. They’ve taught me a few things.”

“Remind us to thank them.”

I know if he really wants, Atlas can lock me in this room and I’d never win a battle of strength. I guess I’m lucky enough to have men willing to listen to me.

“Keep the gun but stay here. You see anyone who isn’t us, shoot. Follow our instructions and you’ll be safe. We have to put out the fire before it spreads.”

“But make sure it’s not us.”

“Then don’t leave me alone and I won’t mistake you for someone else.”

Ryder chuckles a dark-sounding laugh. “Stay here. You’ll be safe. We’ll be right back.” And true to their nature, they slip soundlessly into the night.

I take stock of my surroundings. Something I should have done when I first arrived.

Flashlight. There’s nothing in the laundry room so I head to the kitchen.

“There you are, you whoring bitch. It didn’t take long to get them away from you. Pathetic.”

I whirl around to face someone just as they step into the kitchen. With no window in the frame reaching in and unlocking it was just a pesky nuisance.

I pull my gun, aim down the barrel. Only the snow in my eyes doesn’t let me get a good aim. Fake it till you make it. “I swear I will shoot you. Get away from me.” I pop off a warning shot. “The next one goes in your head.”

“Right. You don’t have a mean bone in your body. No way you’ll shoot me.”

The shadowed attacker lunges across the kitchen and I fling the boiling pot of soup in his face.

I look around for some source of light when I find a cell phone. My heart is in my throat and my fingers are near freezing. Asshole extraordinaire is screaming and on his knees. This is my only chance.

I flick on the screen and tap the flashlight app.

A blaze of white light fills the darkened kitchen and I turn it on the man.

“Oh my God!”

I stumble back and barely keep from dropping the phone and my gun.

“Mr. Mackay.”

Lips peel back in a grimace. “I told you I would keep you safe. Why did you have to go to that filthy place? All you needed was me.” He has a bottle of something with him and I immediately realize it’s gas. He starts flinging the flammable liquid all over the place.

My thudding heart rattles in my chest.

I try to piece together this man’s puzzle but I’m not connecting all the dots.

“What the hell are you talking about? You’re my driver? I’ve never shown interest in dating you. Never gave you any indication I even wanted to.”

“You left your phone in my car. I saw your dating profile. Who do you think you stood up, you stupid bitch? That’s when I knew you needed help.”

“Me? I’m not the one pouring gas all over a kitchen, you asshole!”

It all makes sense now.

“I’ve loved you since day one. I couldn’t let you meet anyone else. Why couldn’t you see that? Did I not get you food? Give you flowers?”

He stands and stumbles forward, but I duck around the kitchen island. “Stay the fuck away from me. You lay a finger on me; my men will kill you. Be warned.”

“You’re mine, bitch. It’s me or no one!” He lunges for me and I scream out in shock and fury when his fingers snag my necklace.

“Get the hell away from me. It was you who’s been scaring me? You attacked me? Hurt me? You don’t do that to people you say you love.” Venom pours from my words. “You should be in prison for what you’ve put me through.”

I don’t have time to try and talk him down from the mental ledge he’s perched on. I sprint toward the exit, but I’m forced back when a death grip tightens in my hair.

He throws me to the ground, and I crawl to the other side of the kitchen. Smoke fills the kitchen and I use it to my advantage. I stare around for my gun from where it clattered to the floor. Spotting it, I dive and snatch. Panic as much as disbelief fills me.

I raise the gun, aim down the barrel and pull the trigger. I don’t know if I hope to hit true or miss. My gut is in knots at both possibilities. I hear a grunt and make for the door again. This time I make it. I’ve never been so happy to be so damn cold.

The second my feet hit snow, all three men are right there. Soot covers their faces and hands. “He’s inside,” I shout over the wind. “I think I shot him.” Brogan and Atlas disappear into the smoke. Minutes later I can hear grunts and a body fly through the kitchen window. Atlas is out of the cabin first. Brogan on his heels. Mackay lunges to his feet and they go at it. Punches fly. Left hooks and uppercuts. But Atlas has years of Spec Op training under his belt, weight, and height on his side. Brogan and Ryder stand back, letting Atlas take the lead.

The flake of a man doesn’t stand a chance. Bitter cold settles deep in my bones and I am shivering but I can’t look away. I can’t run to find warmth when my men are out here fighting to protect me.

Atlas drives him to the ground and pins his arms behind him. Flashing lights roar up our snow-covered trail. It’s not even a driveway, really.

Three men I don’t recognize hop out of police cruisers and haul my attacker to his feet. “I see you’ve been keeping busy.”

They exchange words and Atlas nods. He is covered in smudges of soot and bare chested, but he doesn’t seem affected by the cold. One of the men I don’t recognize hands him a heavy coat and passes a few more to Brogan and Ryder. Even one for me.

“Thank you.” I hurriedly take it and moan. I guess that’s country living. You have everything for survival with you or else.

Atlas joins us and takes me in his arms. Brogan and Ryder huddle in on opposite sides. I’m cocooned in their warmth. “God I think I’m going to cry,” I stutter. “But I’m afraid my tears will freeze.”

Atlas tucks me beneath his chin, snow coming down in torrents around us. “Grant says we can use one of their cabins down by the lake for the night.”

“Grant?”

Atlas nods. “He and his brothers-in-arms share a wife a mile down the road. We have a lot to talk about, but the short version is we’ve been working with them to renovate their lodge cabins for a while now. They are also friends with Justice. You’ll love Mercy, their wife.”

High flames lick up the backside of the cabin and the ashes collide with snow. My heart breaks for the loss of such a beautiful night and location.

“Why the tears, butterfly?”

“I’m sad to lose this place and it’s not even mine. Justice will be so sorry to see it in ashes all because of me.”

“Should we tell her?”

Cops rush around us, directing the firefighters. Grant and his buddies pitch in.

“We have an early Christmas present for you.”

“Now?” My eyes widen in surprise. Could there be a worse time?

Atlas pins me against his chest. “We bought this place. Justice signed over the deed the night of our first date at Club Sin.”

I don’t know what to say for several seconds. When I do find my voice, I hurl myself into Atlas’ arms and they pass me around, each hugging me tight, whispered words of love and promises of forever.

“This doesn’t mean I’m marrying you, but you’re getting closer.”

I love teasing my men. Finding the joy of having their love shines a light on the darkness that tried to steal me away from them. Not only the stalker, but our parents too. Love like ours shouldn’t be extinguished all because someone else says it’s wrong. I slide my palms over Brogan’s and Atlas’.

“Let’s help these men save our home, boys.”

Epilogue

Kandy, One year later, Christmas Eve

As it turns out my mother didn’t accept me falling in love with my stepbrother and his two best friends. That’s okay. Her loss. She’ll either come around to me loving the men who stole my heart years ago or not. Joe, on the other hand, was passionately furious with us for taking so long when we broke the news last Christmas. I honestly do not know how my mom and that man have stayed married for so long, but that’s love for you. I’ll never question its power.

It’s given me a whole new take on life. I practically feel like I’ve won the lottery of life. Though it took longer than I like to think about, I finally have my happily-ever-after with my three best friends. We’ve been together for a year now and every morning I still can’t believe that I have three men who adore me and spend every second of the day finding ways to show it. From leaving me small notes to discover in the morning to cooking dinner for all of us on the weekends and a million things in between. I guess they feel they have a lot of time to make up for. But honestly, I’m just happy to have them in my life now. I see it affects Atlas the most. I see him looking at me at times and the pain in his eyes breaks my heart.

But the longer the four of us are together, the more we all heal as a family. They truly suffered years with regret on how we ended things in Texas.

In the year since the cabin burned down and my attacker was arrested, we’ve had a lot going on. I’ve moved in with the men who own a gorgeous brownstone in the city. While we share a large bed most nights, we all have our own rooms and space. Which is important for my sanity. Trust me!

And I work remotely now thanks to Justice. I was nervous about proposing the option, but the second I voiced my thoughts she made it happen. I’m truly lucky to have such a great friend.

Reconstruction on the cabin is well underway and nearing completion with a new feature Atlas insisted on—a panic room. I agreed as long as we added on a special playroom reminiscent of our beloved Room One.

I didn’t get any arguments.

As soon as it’s completed, we’ll be spending most of our time there. In the meantime, it’s been fun filling our playroom with toys and giving them a try. But don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been one screw-fest after another. Sometimes it’s two of us sharing a moment; other times it’s one-on-one in the shower. Or sometimes there’s no sex at all. Believe it or not, my big badass SEALs are huge cuddle bugs. Especially on movie nights.

On the nights I can’t sleep, I’ll find myself thinking about what-ifs. What if I never took Justice up on her Christmas gift? What if Mackay had succeeded in killing me? It’s a dangerous game that can make the pit of your stomach quiver with fear. I don’t recommend it.

And speaking of Mackay. Once the police got their hands on the douchebag, all kinds of jaw-dropping details came to light. For instance, I’m not his first. Come to find out, Mackay isn’t his real name, either. Surprise! Not really. He has five other aliases, and all are tied to similar crimes in different cities across the country. Poor women, but at least I can rest easy, and so can the men, knowing that no other woman will suffer because of him.

But tonight, isn’t about the past or what might have been if one thing or another had happened instead.

Tonight, is about us and I send up a silent thank-you to Justice for giving us the gift of Club Sin last year. I made reservations for us this time around with a plan in mind.

I walk the perimeter of Room One, my feet sinking into the plush red carpet. In the middle is the bed draped in white satin this time and that chest of toys is still at the foot of the bed. The cuffs they tied me up with before are still in their place.

What’s different is the beautiful, glittery Christmas tree with its white-twinkling lights. The big day is tomorrow, and I already know what I’m getting my men for Christmas and the special presents are already hidden beneath the tree.

“Our Christmas butterfly looks stunning in white tonight.”

Unlike last time we were here, this time I’m wearing a floor-length nightgown with thin straps and my necklace. The night my stalker attacked, the bastard had yanked it off, but my men had it fixed and around my neck in less than a day. I haven’t taken it off since.

I slowly turn at the sound of Atlas’ voice, and my heart quickens at the sight of him, Ryder, and Brogan in tuxedos.

I hold a hand out for all of them to join me. This time there’s no need for a contract. I’m not going anywhere, and I think they know it.

My heart swells to nearly bursting when three sets of arms pull me close and our warmth mingles and melds together.

“I have a surprise for you.” Okay, I’m a little impatient.

“You are our surprise.”

Brogan tips my chin his way and dives in for a kiss. They all take turns and before long my body wants to move on from Christmas gifts to the action part of the evening. But there’s plenty of time for that.

“Let the woman talk, Brogan. She clearly has something on her mind.”

Ryder glides his palm over mine and I offer him an understanding, thankful smile. I swear sometimes all these men think about is getting me naked.

I bend down and pull up three small gold boxes with red ribbon. I give them each one and stand back.

Atlas is the first to pull open the ribbon and it’s like dominoes from there. All three pop the lids off at the same time.

Ryder turns a puzzled smile on me. “A bootie?” And a hint of hope hits his tone. “Kandy?”

I wring my hands together and hold back just a few seconds longer.

“Hey, I have one too.” Brogan holds his up to Ryder’s and I turn to Atlas who is staring at his box with a look of disbelief on his face.

My heart squeezes when he slowly reaches in and pulls out a pregnancy test. Tears well in his eyes, and damn it, I start to cry too.

“Tell me something, my sweet butterfly, is this really happening?” There’s so much hope and trust in his expression I feel my heart anchor to this moment in time. Brogan and Ryder mirror Atlas in every way. Ryder brushes his fingers over the soft material of the pink hand-knitted bootie and then passes it to Atlas and has tears streaming down his face.

“I love you,” I whisper out of fear of breaking the magical moment. “I love you all so so much. I hope you’re as happy as I am at starting our own family. Even if it’s just the four of us.”

I’m in three sets of arms and sniffles and tears are the main emotions happening right now. I’ve never seen a tear in either man’s eye, but they are openly showing me their happiness.

“You know, this means we have to revisit our plans for the cabin.”

“Ever my planner.” I raise to the tips of my toes and give Atlas a loving kiss.

He raises his eyes over top of my head to look at his best friends. A silent conversation goes in in the span of a few seconds and they are on their knees. Each of them places a hand on my abdomen that will be swollen, fat, and plump in the span of a few months.

“How far along?”

“She’ll be in time for July fireworks. I’m two months.”

“It’s a good thing we brought these then.”

All three reach into their pockets and hold up a gold band. Across the top there are words engraved: My Hart. My Soul. Our Butterfly.

My hands go to my mouth, and I guess it’s an evening of tears because more slip down my face.

“If you’ll take us, we promise to be your lovers,” Atlas starts.

“Your protectors,” Brogan adds.

“And your best friends, your everything,” Ryder finishes. “Will you be ours?”

“Yes! Oh my god, I never really thought it was possible to marry.”

“We’ll figure it out. Even if one of us officially marries you on paper. It doesn’t matter; we just want you to know these rings are our promise to you.”

“What about you?”

Ryder smiles down at me, the look pure devilish yet sweet. “We thought about that.”

All three stand and pull another ring from their pockets. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Each of them slip their ring over my finger, and trembling, I do the same for them.

“I thought my life could not get any happier.” I launch myself at them. All three catch me gently, and I don’t know who I’m kissing first but we stay like that for several seconds.

They pull me to the bed and strip away my gown and make fast work of ditching their crisp shirts and pants. All three are gloriously naked, their thick cocks dripping with pre-cum. Arms wrap me up and pull me against warm bodies, and together we all fall into the bed. Hands roam, lips kiss, and hungry tongues leave not an inch of my body untasted.

“We plan on having our bride-to-be all night and come morning we’ll whisk you away to the cabin and make the best Christmas dinner,” Atlas promises and then slowly sinks his throbbing length into me. His weight is a delicious pressure over top of mine.

I cry out in pleasure, and then he’s gone, quickly replaced by the next man and the next.

All three make love to me all night long. I take them deeper inside my body, my heart...my soul. They are the reason I breathe, and I will spend the rest of my life loving them as hard as they love me. I’m so blessed Atlas found his way through the darkness of his thoughts. They thought their kind of love was shameful, unacceptable. Turns out they were wrong. Once they opened their minds, accepted their way, and allowed me in, we all found an untapped wealth of love.

My heart swells. Another mouth grabs mine and I kiss my lover, my friend, and feed every ounce of devotion I hold inside me into our connection.

Last Christmas I planned on walking away. Turns out the only walking I’ll be doing is down the aisle.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I send up a silent prayer of gratitude. I’m blessed with the love of three men and a baby to share between us. To raise and love together as a large, happy family.

* * *

Thank you for coming to Club Sin and visiting Room One. I hope you enjoyed your stay. See what fantasies are being fulfilled next in Room Two by Barbra Campbell by tapping the link here.

Club Sin

Fantasies are meant to come true and the men of Club Sin will see to your every kinky desire. This November, 22 of your favorite steamy romance authors take you inside Club Sin, a forbidden place where you’ll find love and pleasure with multiple hot men in these Reverse Harem novellas. Can you handle the heat?

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More Hot Reverse Harem Romance

Want more reverse harem romance? I have a completed series you can start right now! Read the first chapter of Mercy for Three, the first book of my Harem for of Three series. Or, tap here to start reading on Amazon..

Mercy For Three

Mercy

Moonlight kisses the smooth edges of muscle lined up in front of me. My brother’s three best friends stand shoulder to shoulder, forming a forbidden dream package I can’t look away from.

Our traditional homecoming celebrations have died down, and I finally have all three alone.

I take a deep breath. Okay. Here goes. You can do this, Mercy. I steel my nerves. This is my chance to push for them to see me as the beautiful woman and not the forbidden little sister of a friend.

All three are after different things. Fresh beers and snacks, I imagine, and not expecting me to amble in behind them.

I’ve given this a lot of thought and I know what I want, so I need to just do it.

I step into the kitchen on bare feet and stop just short of being able to touch Cain’s sculpted shoulders and alphalicious ass. Damn, I love a man who can fill out his pair of jeans. Wait. I’m getting off track. I yank my eyes off the man meat and clear my throat. “I want all three of you to take my virginity.” No meshing words, no playing coy. I’ve done that for years, and I’m no little girl anymore to be hiding behind cute, flirty smiles. I let out a shaky breath. There—I said it, and there’s no taking it back. My heart is racing so fast I fear they can hear it thudding heavily in my chest.

Standing in the kitchen of my family’s lakeside cabin, every part of me tingles and buzzes as three of the sexiest men I’ve ever laid eyes on all turn to stare back at me in complete shock, their original mission completely forgotten.

My brother’s friends from high school and on into college are long since graduated and now full-fledged Marines with the tatts and tags to prove it. Three drool-worthy men with angled jawlines, miles of hard, muscled flesh and intoxicating masculinity with only a tiny kitchen island between us. And a small one at that.

Okay, and well, there’s the small detail of my age too, I guess. God forbid I forget that, but I wish they would. My fantasies about all three turn filthier the older I get, and at a week before my eighteen birthday, my body can’t take not having what it wants.

After a second they start to blink but their mouths are still hanging open.

“I’ve been thinking about it…for…” I swallow past the embarrassment, eyes firmly locked on my folded hands. “…for a long time and I don’t know if I can wait any longer.” That’s not true, entirely. In fact, not at all. I’d wait a lifetime if they asked.

My momma always said I needed a filter between my brain and mouth, but honestly, when has being subtle ever gotten anyone anything they ever wanted? Never is the answer to that question in my experience and when it comes to these men, they’ve never beat around the bush in the years that I’ve known them, so I won’t either.

“Come again?” Cain chokes out, wiping at the spilled beer running down his chin with a nearby towel.

“The hell...” Grant bangs on Cain’s back before his hard, bright blue eyes lock on me. “Not gonna happen. You don’t even know what you’re asking, little girl,” he states, unblinking, and crosses his arms over his bare chest as if the topic is closed.

Beside him, Cain regains his composure, tossing aside the kitchen towel. “What exactly have you been thinking?”

He stalks toward me, his height causing me to crane my neck to keep my gaze locked on his.

I hesitate, sucking my bottom lip between my teeth. Hell of a time to get cold feet, but I can’t find it in me to tell them how I’ve dreamed of tasting each of them on my tongue before taking them with my body.

“Whoa, don’t scare the little thing, can’t you see she’s already shaking?” Lincoln who would usually reach out and pull me in for a hug stands noticeably still. One hand tucked into his jean pocket and the other safely wrapped around a half-empty beer bottle. “Besides,” he slips in, “It’s not like we haven’t thought about it, too,” he says all the while looking me in the eye. I follow the head of the bottle to his lips as he raises it, and I wish it were my clit he was sucking on instead of that damn beer.

Both his and Cain’s hungry looks have my nipples puckered tight beneath my thin tank top and my thighs clenched together under a matching blue skirt that exposes every inch of my tan legs. Needing all the ammo at my disposal, a lot of thought went into the girly summer outfit I picked out for this evening. Three nights ago my brother called with the news he and the boys would be home on leave. Since my parents took off for Washington state for a business meeting that left me as hostess and as all the times before, this means long nights at the cabin around a bonfire by the lake and cookouts like the one I planned this evening. With graduation a week behind me and my brother off with his sometimes girlfriend, I’m left alone with three very handsome men and my actively dirty mind.

Their expressions turn dark, growing heavy with forbidden desire as I press my thighs a little tighter to stave off the throbbing need they stir inside me. A feeling I don’t quite know how to control or ease just yet, but I’m hoping they’ll help me learn.

“I’ve heard the rumors. Everyone has. I know you like to share your lovers.” I raise my eyes to touch on each of them. As much as it hurts to know they’ve had other lovers, they’ve never done anything in front of me, but I hear the whispers and see the dreamy looks in some of the girls’ eyes when I’m in town.

“Rumors, huh?”

My eyes flick over to Lincoln’s with a haughty glare. “Girls talk down at the pub. I have ears, ya know. You can’t just blow into town while on leave, have a little fun, and not expect the ladies to talk.” Everyone gathers there to have a steak dinner and catch the town news and ‘the boys’ were the main topic more than once.

“Don’t believe everything you hear, Mercy, baby.”

My eyes narrow on the more muscled of the three. “You don’t need to coddle me, Cain. I’m a big girl now and you don’t need to protect me from the truth. And none of that changes how I feel. I know what I want.” I slip in there while I have all three of their undivided attention.

“Don’t encourage her, dammit,” Grant runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “She doesn’t need any more ideas put into her pretty head.”

Grant’s the older of the three by a few months, and he thinks that makes his word the final word, and well, he has another think coming because I didn’t come here to take no for an answer.

Anyone with eyes knows I’ve crushed on all three men since I was a fresh-faced fourteen-year-old who didn’t understand the feelings and emotions running through her body for one man much less three. And now that I’m older I know what my body wants, and it’s screaming to have all three touch me, lick me and take me in ways that will leave me ruined for any other man. I set my mind on something it will take a hurricane stronger than what this world has ever seen to change me from my course.

My hand flies to my hair and I loosen the pencil I have holding my long wall of blonde hair away from my face in a messy bun. Wavy curls tumble over my shoulders and down my back, making them all groan and gives away what they’re really thinking.

But if not for that little slip, you wouldn’t know it from the stone-cold face Grant wears like a safety mask against me and what it seems he wants to hide. “Forget it, Mercy. Your tight, sweet ass isn’t getting anywhere near our dicks. That’s a promise.” His words are constricted if not a little forced like he is fighting against every single syllable.

As he talks, he grabs another beer from the fridge and leans his half-naked body against the counter, giving me a full view of all that tight, hard muscle and the dark dustings of a treasure trail I want to run my tongue over.

My gaze drops to the obvious hard-on bulging from between his legs. I don’t know a lot of things when it comes to sex, but I do know what that means.

Heat of the summer has them stripped down to jeans only and my inexperience sends a flush of scarlet over my cheeks as I drink in their golden, ripped flesh. The popped buttons and low ride of those jeans doesn’t go appreciated either.

“Yep. What he said.” Cain claps a hand over Grant’s shoulder, pointing his beer at me. “Jail bait, sweetheart. That’s what you are no matter how fuckable that sweet body is. Can’t happen.” I could always count on Cain telling me the truth while making me feel good. He never did like hurting my feelings and took extra care to protect me.

Being super shy, I never could summon the courage to approach any of them until tonight. Why? Because my time with them is running out. I always flirted and played around with the three of them when they visited. Stolen glances and warm hugs and a few kisses on the cheek here and there have fueled fantasies of something more for at least me, but as I turn to look at Lincoln standing quietly to the side, peering down at me with that dark, broody look of his, I finally realize something. Everything that I feel, and desire, is not all one-sided. They want this as much as I do. Question is, what will it take to push them over the edge and take me?

“What exactly do you want from us, Mercy, when you drop something like that in our laps?” Linc finally finds his voice and it’s as raw as I feel.

I hope to push them into at least admitting they feel something for me. But my inexperience shines through again as I stay quiet, and my heart crumbles little by little as none of them make a move. For once I should have listened to my mother and not be so damn headstrong. I go to turn, but it’s Lincoln who draws me up short.

I clench my jaw to fight back the hurt and tears. “This was a mistake. I definitely shouldn’t have come on to any of you. I’m sorry.”

“Aww…son of a bitch, come here, baby.” Lincoln passes his beer to Grant and takes me in his arms, pulling me into his warm chest, and I nuzzle deep into his hold. “It’s not like that, Mercy. Just be patient.” His arms are around me, holding me tight, and it takes my lust-craving mind to realize he’s picked me up and I have my legs wrapped around his waist. The heat of his bulge pressing against my bare, starving vagina.

He pulls me up to face him, and I lean forward to rest my forehead against his, our breathing hard and shallow. “I don’t know how to control what I’m feeling inside,” I whisper, digging my hands into his hair. “It burns and aches and all I know is that when I see you, all three of you, it goes away and I can finally breathe again.”

“My God,” he says and then his lips are on mine hungrily. A burst of flavor from his beer hits my tongue, and I’m suddenly more ravenous than I’ve ever been. I groan, tightening my hold around his neck and melting into him as he drags his tongue over mine.

Another hand comes to rest on my lower back, and I’m melting into the wall of heat replacing it as Grant moves my hair to the side and pulls me back to rest against his chest. Spread between him and Linc, he takes the soft lobe of my ear between his lips and sucks.

Shock from the sudden burst of pleasure tightens my legs around Linc and I try to move against his hard length, but a firm grip on my hips keeps me still. “What do you have on under that skimpy little skirt you've been teasing us with all day? Thong, silk, lace…” Grant’s voice is gravelly as he runs the tip of his finger along the band of my skirt.

I lick my kiss-swollen lips, still tasting Linc and before I can give an answer, another hand is on the back of my head, turning me. “Cain,” I say softly and his mouth is on mine. He’s just as claiming and heated as Linc, but there’s something slower about the way he glides his tongue over my lips, teasing them open before he enters my mouth.

“Wrong on all accounts,” I pant, breaking away from Cain’s kiss and catching Linc’s gaze. “I’m not wearing any panties.”

Linc shifts, and I know that’s when he realizes I have my bare pussy against his jeans, dry humping his thick cock through his jeans.

Grant digs his fingers into my hair and turns my head. “You’re asking for trouble. You’re like wild, raw fire…you’ll be the death of us all.”

In all the moving and tugging, my tank has ridden high and so has my skirt, I notice. I close my eyes and circle my hips over Linc’s hard length and marvel in the feel of Cain’s firm, warm lips kissing my exposed midriff just below the heavy ampleness of my breasts.

Enjoying the pleasure of his touch, I work hard to convince my body it’s okay to breathe every few seconds or risk passing out and missing all their gentle touching and delicious kisses.

Slowly, I ease my hand over Cain’s and guide him higher, only to hear a rasping fuck fall from his lips, but he doesn’t stop me.

I moan as strong fingers work and knead the soft flesh, and my nipples scream to be pinched, tugged and sucked. I let my head drop back onto Grant’s shoulder and reach around to bury my hands in his hair, wanting to feel more of him…of…of…I don’t know, just more.

Cain massages and twists the tight tips of my breasts between his fingers, and that’s all it takes to help take the edge off.

“You like that Mercy, baby?”

Linc’s cock twitches at Cain’s question, and I groan my answer as girl cream slips from my slit to wet my thighs and his pants. Without a word, I hold Cain and Linc’s gazes as I edge my pink tipped fingers down my curves to bury in the soft cotton of my skirt. Inch by inch, I raise the material until the pink, wet flesh of my pussy peeks out from beneath the lacy ruffles.

All three men’s nostrils flare, and I see their massive chests expand as they inhale the scent of my arousal.

“Touch me,” I beg to any one of them who will put me out of my misery. “I need to feel your hands all over me, on me…in me!”

This was no game and no going back from here. Grant is supporting half my weight against his chest, leaving his hands free to roam over my naked thighs and stroke his thumbs in the seam of my thighs, but never touching my greedy vagina.

This is beyond crazy.

Grant blows out a hiss of air, his head hanging a moment before he drags his eyes up my body to find mine. “Fuck, baby, your little virgin pussy is all dripping wet and perfectly bare.”

“Did you do that for us?” Cain asks.

“Isn’t that what you like…?” I swallow thickly. “Don’t you like your women bare for you? Do you like what you see?”

Cain grabs me by the hips, stroking tiny mind-blowing circles across the area right above my hips bone. I moan, clawing at his shoulders, pulling his lips closer to where I need him, but he’s obviously in control, and I can’t budge him, and each caress is like a tease of what he’s not giving me.

With my skirt around my waist and breasts exposed, Linc holds me up with the help of Cain and kneels between my spread thighs.

“Please God, give us the strength,” Linc murmurs. Two large hands spread me wide, parting my ass cheeks and exposing every part of me to all of them. “Liking is our problem. You're too fucking young for the three of us,” he says, and I can hear the pain in Linc’s voice and see the war raging behind those dark chocolate eyes of his.

“God, baby, this is so wrong. So beautiful.” His eyes are filled with fury, not for me, but himself. Yet instead of pulling away, he leans in, dragging his thick, warm tongue in the V of my thigh, teasing me higher and higher into an orgasm floating just beyond my reach. If only he would rub my clit, eat me, finger me... “Ohhh!” …just something!

I groan with a fresh wave of frustration. “Linc, please,” I beg. My pussy throbs and I rock my hips, desperate to feel them there. Realizing he’s not going to touch me, I slip my hand down my body and dip my finger into my soaked hole and bring it back to circle my clit.

“Ahh,” I gasp, clenching my thighs, but Linc’s massive shoulders have me pinned wide open.

“Faster,” Linc instructs, and I follow his command.

I buck and scream, feeling the inevitable sizzling in every nerve ending in my body.

Through my tank top, Cain pinches both my nipples and Grant turns my head, claiming my mouth just as I scream from the sudden flash of pleasure that shoots through me.

Hot, sticky cum spills from my virgin slit to drench my pouty lips and thighs. I mutter a stream of incoherent rumblings, unable to focus through so much pleasure and the taste of Grant in my mouth.

“That’s it, baby.” Cain nuzzles me on my other side as Grant firmly holds me in place in his arms.

Grant breaks our kiss and gently runs his fingers over my face. “So beautiful.”

Ragged breaths tear from me, and it takes long moments before I can manage to open my eyes.

“That was…was…sooooo good,” I finally manage around a grin.

Lost in the moment, I don’t realize Linc has settled my feet back on the floor until he steps away, pulling my skirt down and smoothing it over my hips.

“Beautiful and perfect.” There’s something distant in his tone that has my heart flying and not in a good way.

“What’s going on? Why are you stopping?”

Just like that, the atmosphere in the small kitchen shifted from scorching hot to freezing cold.

“Did I do something wrong?” My gaze flicks between the men. Linc across the small kitchen and Grant and Cain by my side, slowly withdrawing to leave me standing alone.

“We’d ruin you, our sweet Mercy. Do you have any idea of how twisted we fucking are, little girl? Of what we would demand of you? Want you to do to us? For us?” His voice grows increasingly agitated. “This can never happen again.”

He turns from me and stalks across the kitchen before he’s back at my side, chest heaving.

“Yes. That’s what I want,” I say looking up at him, hoping I sound as convincing as I feel. “I know exactly what I’m asking.” But his smirk tells me he sees through my bravado.

Behind me, Grant scrubs a hand down his face, but he hasn’t pulled completely away. Not yet. I turn in his arms, and Cain moves in, taking Linc’s place. “He’s right. We do this and it will fuck us all up and for good. Then there’s your brother. If he knew what we just did, we wouldn’t have to worry about getting KIA—he’d do the job single-handed.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. What the heck is happening here? “Since when are you guys chicken? You barely touched me and now you’re going to walk away?”

Grant steps back a few paces, and with each foot he put between us, another layer of shields sprung back up after I spent the last half hour knocking them down. “We shouldn’t have even done that much. Look—your brother is going to be back with his girlfriend any second.”

I turn to Cain, my voice choking with the amount of lust I have dripping through my body thanks to them. “One orgasm? Is that all I get and just like that I’m trash? No good?”

Cain is by my side, running the back of his knuckles down my cheek. “Don’t ever talk about yourself that way.”

I rise to the tips of my toes, pressing my palms against his hard pecs. “I move that zipper down a little and I’ll find an angry, hard cock thirsty for my juices, won’t I,” I whisper in his ear before pulling back.

“You’re playing a game you don’t know how to play, little girl.”

“Then teach me, touch me. Just don’t leave me like this…wanting and aching. I need you.” I take a breath, turn my head enough where I can look each of them in the eye and say the truth. “All of you.”

“Silence, woman. Wanting you is the worst possible idea.”

Grant’s words are more gargled hisses through clenched teeth than actual talking, and the bulging tendons in his neck tell me he’s about to snap. But it’s the other bulge that has my attention. Jeans can’t hide that massive hard dick any better than my thumb can hide the sun.

His eyes darken, flashing over me.

My gaze falls to his lips.

“Look at me,” he gruffly commands, and I purr with a little shiver.

I drag my gaze up his bare chest and whimper from the fiery need I see there in his eyes. But I also see anger glitter in those depths, and the fine lines of control he’s exerting over himself ripple through the deeply contoured muscles.

Holy fucking hotness.

I moan quietly, but I know he hears it.

Grant's nostrils flare, and he growls like a beast edging out all the sensual pleasure I saw there a moment ago.

The room draws uncomfortably quiet. “What the hell, just happened. You guys act like you weren’t doing exactly what I wanted.”

When I think my heart can’t take another hit, Linc pushes past us and walks out the screen door, making me jump when it slams shut behind him.

“Go the fuck upstairs, Mercy, and lock the fucking door for the night.”

I can’t move, can’t believe what I am hearing much less convince my feet to obey.

Grant roars and brings his fist down on the marble with a loud thud. “Now, Mercy.”

My eyes go wide when I see a fracture run down the middle of the black and gray marble.

“Grant, Cain—” My voice is a hollow, rasp. I don’t know what they need me to do to make this okay for them, but I’ll try anything.

Grant turns his fiery blue eyes on me, shaking his head. “You have my word this will never happen again. We leave in the morning, honey. Another tour that will take us from here so you can have a normal life.”

I don’t believe what I am hearing. My gaze flashes between Cain’s and Linc's, confused as the room draws uncomfortably quiet.

Only a single word he said registers. Leaving.

“Don’t go. Stay. For me.” I reach for them, turning to see Linc outside looking in.

“You know we can’t. You’re too innocent and young for what we want.”

Cain turns and comes to stand in front of me. “Please forgive us. We didn't mean to take advantage of you. One too many beers maybe, but… fuck it. Like Grant said, this will never happen again. You have all three of our promises.”

Grant leans into me and places a tender kiss on my forehead, and it feels like the seal of death. “We shouldn't have come here. Being alone with you was too damn tempting and we caved.”

With that, both men turn from me, and I watch their retreating backs fade into the darkness, taking my heart with them. That’s the last time I saw them but not the last time my heart shatters into a million jagged pieces.

Continue reading Mercy For Three! Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!

Also by Penelope Wylde

Other Books by Penelope

RED HOT SERIES:

Red Hot Christmas Virgin

Red Hot Naughty Vixen

Red Hot Dirty Bosses

STANDALONES:

Unwrapping His Christmas Virgin

Guarding Their Valentine

Dirty Little Blackmailer

Hard Riding

Rocked Deep

Doctor Babymaker

Eating Kandy

Wynter’s Coming

Getting Screwged

Holly Kisses

202 Cherry Popper Way

706 Sugarbush Lane

Knocked Up by the Rock Star

Club Sin

FORBIDDEN PROFESSORS:

The Professors’ Sweet Treat

The Professor’s Bought Bride

The Professor’s Sweet Virgin

HAREM OF THREE:

Mercy for Three

Honor for Three

Justice for Three

SAVAGE MOUNTAIN MEN:

Her Savage Mountain Man

Claimed by Her Mountain Man

Sharing Their Mountain Bride

His Snowbound Mountain Virgin

MAGICALLY MATED:

Mated by the Alpha

Forever Mated

Cuffed and Mated

Twice Mated

JINGLE SPELLS:

Jingle Spells #1

HARD MEN IN UNIFORM:

Claimed by Her Soldier

Belonging to Her Soldier

CHERRY POPPERS:

Cherry Sweet

Cherry Bossed

Cherrilicious Ink

Wild Cherry

DIRTY SECOND CHANCES:

Going Deep

Down On Me

In Too Deep

HER FILTHY HAREM:

Her Filthy Professors

Her Filthy Mafia Men

DARK REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE DUET:

Dark Mafia Kings

Dark Mafia Queen

MARRYING MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS DUET:

Claiming His Fake Bride 1

Claiming His Fake Bride 2

About the Author

Penelope Wylde loves playing on the dark side of romance, making her characters work for their happily-ever-after. Join her for a twisted ride through the gritty shadows before reaching the light. That is, if you dare to be WYLDE.

She writes overly possessive heroes and anti-heroes who are pure sinners at heart who bring enough heat to the pages to melt your hearts…and your panties. Billionaires, mafia, reverse harem, and bikers…the more forbidden the romance the more she loves to peel back the layers and discover what makes her characters tick.

She makes a wicked margarita mix, owns two hundred shades of red nail polish and is always found reading one forbidden romance or another when she’s not writing.

You'll find she tried her hand at several tropes along the way so binge her deep backlist while you wait for her next hot release.

If you love your romance dark, wicked, and WYLDE, you’re in the right place!

www.PenelopeWylde.com

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