STORY EXCERPT

Charly Wynn held the cell to her ear and began to shake. “Preston?”

No answer.

She’d gone to the ladies’ room to compose herself after the appearance of the infamous Gabby, the woman who had screwed up her six Strong cowboys’ lives. She’d called her mother to get some advice on how to proceed, and a strange male voice had answered.

Think. This nut has just claimed that he has my mom.

She looked at her cell’s screen and verified the number she’d called was her mother’s, not some random lunatic. All her blood seemed to drain out of her as panic wrapped its claws around her insides.

Keep him talking.

“Are you still there?” she asked as calmly as she could muster.

“Isn’t that sweet? You miss me.”

Asshole. “What’s this all about, Preston? I’m sure we can work this out. Talk to me.”

She was grasping at every lesson in grad school she could find in the back of her memory about dealing with someone like her half brother. He wasn’t a run-of-the-mill mentally disturbed person. He was a full-on sociopath—arsonist, kidnapper, and serial killer. And he has my mother. Her blood turned icy in her veins.

“Are you alone?” he asked in a way that made her skin crawl.

She went through the litany of what she’d learned in university about antisocial personality disorder. Generally, people like Preston didn’t feel affection or empathy. Many mimicked feelings quite well, though they were never genuine.

“Answer me!” Her cell distorted a bit from his loud tone.

“Yes, I’m alone.”

“Where?”

“In the ladies’ room at Norma’s.” Crap. I shouldn’t have told him that. Maybe he would answer without thinking like she had. “Where are you?”

There was a long pause, causing her to shiver violently.

Finally, he broke the silence. “Impressive, sis. Very impressive. Of course, I’m not going to tell you. I’m too smart for that.”

“That’s obvious, Preston.” Most sociopaths operated in the world undetected. Had her half brother been one who’d done that, too, before going on his rampage? What had triggered him to kill her dad? “Whatever you want, I’m sure we can work it out if we just talk.”

“Now you’re disappointing me, Charlene. I’m no fool.”

“Of course not.” Though far from calm, mentally going through what she knew about Preston’s condition did quiet her terror just a bit. Hurting people meant nothing to sociopaths, and deception came easy. The end always justified the means, and the antisocial had no limits to what lengths they would go to get what they desired. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you. If you want money, I can get some. Name your price.” It might take her entire life to pay Jessie back, but she would gladly do it if it meant her mother would be safely returned.

“Shut up and listen.” His tone was low and threatening. “Can you do that for me?”

“Yes. Of course.” Sociopaths’ brains functioned differently than the majority. Their emotions remained shallow. Narcissism and egomania were often part of the makeup of some of the most extreme antisocial persons. Preston was definitely pegging the needle on that one.

“Listen to me, Charlene. I have your mum, Connie. She’s doing great, and will continue to do great if you follow my instructions to the letter. You think you can do that?”

“Yes,” she choked out. “Please put my mother on the phone.”

“Not a chance, sweetheart.”

The way he said “sweetheart” made her guts clench. “What’s this all about, Preston? I didn’t even know you existed until the other day.”

“Fuck you, bitch. I exist.”

Oh God, I don’t want to piss him off. “Okay. Okay. I’m sorry. I’ll do anything you want if you just let my mother go.”

“That’s more like what I saw from you at that sex club the other night. Nice and submissive.”

He saw me. She retched as nausea rolled through her at the revelation.

He chuckled. “Here’s the deal, sis. In ten minutes you go stand in front of that local funeral home in Wilde. Keep your cell with you. I’ll call you with more instructions. Come alone. If I see any law or any of your fuck buddies, you won’t like what happens next.” Preston’s tone was flat. “Do you comprehend what I’m saying or do you take after our idiotic father? I can repeat it slower if need be.”

The man was a complete psychopath. He’d murdered at least twice. If her mother had a sliver of a chance, she had to do what he asked. The chances of her mother surviving were next to impossible. The maniac would likely shoot her from some shadowy place once she stepped in front of Stanley’s Funeral Home. But what other choice did she have? None.

“I understand and will do what you say.”

“Ten minutes. That’s all, sis.”

The line went dead, and her heart felt like it might stop at any minute, though it was pounding harder and faster than it had ever done in her entire life.

Her mother was in real danger.

She tried to get off the commode, but with her legs feeling like jelly she fell back on her butt on the closed lid. Panicky tears streamed down her face.

Breathe. God help me.

ADULT EXCERPT

She looked in Heath’s green eyes. “Please come here.”

He didn’t budge from his position.

“Heath, you need this.”

“I’m good, sweetheart. Enjoy yourself.”

He might be the most stubborn of the lot. She was going to have her work cut out for her from now on—that was for sure. Hoping to draw him in, she licked her lips and stared at him directly in the eyes. His nostrils flared, but he didn’t move. The pain he carried for the killing had to be unimaginable. If a show was what Heath wanted, then a show was what she’d give him. Let him watch. It might be just the right medicine to soften his suffering.

Nate rolled both her nipples with his thumbs and forefingers, making her squirm. The little bits of agony heightened her senses, raising her desire.

Tobias bathed the side of her neck with his tongue and lips, making her skin tingle. The twins massaged her legs and feet, working her into a writhing hot mess.

Tobias whispered in her ear, “We’re all thirsty to taste you, love.”

“You got that right, bro.” Nate swallowed her one breast, and Tobias took the other one. Their suction delivered a delicious ache, too. Unlike the pinches earlier, their mouths were both merciless and overwhelming.

“You ready to give us a drink?” Drake said, guiding his hand up her leg, between her thighs, and finally resting on her pussy. His thick fingers spread her swollen folds apart, and she seeped more wetness from her channel. “Yes, you are, honey. Yes, you are.”

Her hot pangs grew to the unbearable as his lips followed the same path his hands had just traveled. When he began bathing her pussy with his tongue and pressing on her clit with his thumb, unsurpassable want made her back arch off the mattress and her toes curl.

“Look at her feet.” Dax’s tone was heavy-laden with lust. When he began sucking on her toes, which were still squeaky clean from her bath, she groaned and thrashed in her restraints Nate had insisted she have.

Her mind whirled and her body buzzed. Everything felt fuzzy and warm inside her.

“Enough,” Nate commanded, giving her taut and stinging nipple a slight reprieve. “She must be spanked for what she did at Norma’s.”

“That’s right,” Tobias agreed.

Her heartbeats banged hard and fast in her chest. “What did I do, Sirs?”

Drake’s head popped up from between her thighs. “You almost got yourself killed today, baby.”

“That’s right,” Heath said, still leaning against the wall. “You saw me in the window and still you tried to jump Preston on your own.”

“What else could I’ve done? My mother was in danger.”

“And we had it covered, sweetheart,” Nate said. “You have a lesson to learn. We can’t ever have you act so foolishly again.”

He rolled her over on her stomach with the help of his brothers until she was facedown on the mattress, chewing on her pillow.

Dax held her feet in his hands and pressed his thumbs into their centers. “We only want you safe, doll. That’s all.”

“I’ll go first,” Nate announced. “What state are you in, pet?”

Our protocols. Right.“I’m green, Master.”

“Excellent.”

His hand came down on her ass like lightning bolts—here, there, everywhere. Every inch of her bottom tingled hot and alive. Sensations raced through her body, and she got even wetter.

“Next,” he offered.

“That’s me,” Tobias said.

Spank. Spank. Spank.

She whimpered as the burn to her backside grew even hotter.

“Next,” the eldest Strong said.

“I’m up,” Dax announced. He kissed her ass tenderly. “What state are you in, love?”

“G–Green, Sir,” she confessed, feeling her need coil around her entire body, squeezing every inch of her to a state of appetizing agony.

“We’re only doing this to make sure you remember, sweetheart,” he said. “Understand?”

“Yes, Sir.” She bit down on the pillowcase, bracing for his whacks.

The spanks from Dax’s hand came fast and furious, making every nerve ending inside her, every inch of her flesh, every thought she could muster focus only and utterly on her cowboys.

Her aching pussy felt slippery, and her throbbing clit burned. She tilted her hips forward, grinding her mound into the mattress, trying her best to find any tiny bit of relief. No luck.

“You did good, pet,” Nate said, stroking her hair. “Very good.”

She turned her head to face him. He was naked with his erect cock already wrapped in a condom. Unbearable anticipation shook her entire body. Pure and powerful need wrapped itself around her entire body, leaving her trembling violently.

Nate’s hands feathered her ass cheeks. “Get ready for Tobias to lubricate this pretty ass, pet.”

“I’m going to take you from behind, baby.” Tobias applied lotion to her bottom’s tight spot with his slippery fingers, pushing her to the verge of orgasm.

Nate reached under her and pressed on her clit, increasing her impatient need to be taken and filled by her men. “And you, kitten, are going to squeeze my dick with your tight pussy, understand?”

“Yes, Sir,” she mumbled. Her body was on fire with anticipation.

Her mind spun wildly as Tobias thrust his finger into her ass. Another finger entered her, filling her with more undulating urges. She never felt more captured, overwhelmed, or wanted in her entire life.

When Tobias crawled on top of her, his weight pinned her to the mattress. She whimpered as his thick, meaty cock pierced her ass.