STORY EXCERPT

He’d just gone around another turn when he had to slam on the brakes. “Shit!” His palm pressed the horn, blaring at the obstacle in the road. When there was no reaction to the loud blast, he pulled his hand back and squinted.

What the hell is she doing out here?

The petite blonde woman had her head down. Her shoulder-length hair fell forward in unruly waves and hid her face. She shuffled along moving at a pace that would’ve made a snail complain about the slow going.

What’s wrong with her?

Other than the fact that she was all alone, didn’t have a coat on, and was walking.

Nix that. She’s stumbling.

The T-shirt and jeans she wore were torn and dirty, but that wasn’t what had him throwing his Jeep into gear and shoving his shoulder against the driver’s door. It was the red lines of blood as well as the patch of caked blood along one leg that caught his attention. She was hurt and needed help.

“Damn it,” he muttered. And here he’d thought he was getting a pass on playing rescuer this year.

“Hey, you. Hey, lady?”

He approached her, treating her like any wounded animal he might encounter in the woods. He couldn’t see where she could hide a weapon on her body, but his years in the army had taught him to be cautious even when he couldn’t see the danger.

She didn’t answer. Didn’t even lift her head.

“Hey, are you hurt? Do you need help?”

It was a stupid question to ask, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. If he approached her without warning, he might spook her and make her fall into the bar ditch. As it was, she was on the verge of doing just that anyway.

“Can you hear me?” Again, a silly question. Or at least he hoped so. But after watching a documentary on deaf children the previous night, he didn’t want to rule out that possibility.

He drew closer. She was a shapely little thing, and even in her current disheveled state, he could see how attractive she was. She hadn’t been out in the elements for too long. And not in the cold that had settled in the night before. Although messy and tangled, her hair was shiny even in the dull light of the cloud-filled sky. Only a couple of her pink-colored nails were chipped, and once he took a good whiff, he realized that she’d bathed recently.

Still, his inner animal growled, urging him to be cautious. He shoved the beast down and took a step closer. “Listen. Can you talk? I’m not going to hurt you. Let me help you.”

It was no longer a question of if she needed help, but how to help. He reached out his hand and was surprised when she shuffled right past him.

The blood on her forehead near her hairline didn’t look good. He’d smelled blood when he’d sniffed her, but that was more than the superficial scrapes she had on her arms, legs and face. He watched her amble forward, shuffling past his Jeep, and the hairs on his arms stood on end.

Something bad had happened to her. But what?

He looked around, suddenly aware that whoever had hurt her might still be nearby. Shifting to bring out his sensitive skinwalker sight, he slowly slid his gaze over the tree line. He drew in a long, slow breath, but didn’t pick up any unusual scent.

He had to help her. As much as he’d like to get in the vehicle and drive off, he couldn’t. It wasn’t because of his usual dislike of getting involved. Instead, there was something about her that tugged at him, urging him to take control of a bad situation. He didn’t know why and God knew he’d never felt that way before, but he felt—what was it? —protective of her.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Lace, baby, will you submit?”

She couldn’t think straight. Not with their hands and their mouths on her. “Teach me how.”

Chan circled his finger inside her pussy, searching for her sweet spot. “You can start by listening to everything we say. Don’t think about anything except the sound of our voices.”

She found that she liked the idea. “Yes. Please. I want to submit to you.”

She cried out when Chan took his fingers out of her. Then when Zack turned her loose, it was too much to bear. “Nooo. Please, don’t stop touching me.”

“We won’t, baby.” Chan swept her hair away from her cheek and she leaned into his caress. “Let yourself go. Let all the pain and the fear go. Give it over to us to handle. Let us carry that load for you.”

Zack placed a hand on her shoulder then pressed his erect cock against the small of her back. Somehow she hadn’t noticed that he’d gotten undressed, but then her head was a little fuzzy. The drink must’ve hit her hard. It wasn’t the reason she was ready to submit to them. That came from a place deep inside her. No drink could ever make her do something she didn’t want to do.

Chan stepped away and started tugging off his shirt. Her mouth watered at the sight of his hard chest and when he undid his jeans and shoved them to his bare feet, she couldn’t help but lick her lips. His cock sprang outward, pointing at her and teasing her.

“We’ve got some playthings down here.” Chan motioned toward Zack who had pulled a large rectangular container out from under the couch.

“What’s in the box?”

“Don’t worry. You’re going to like what we have. Just trust us.”

She did trust them. Every bit of her gut, every last sense she had told her she could.

She moaned and reached behind her to try and take Zack’s cock in her hands, but he shifted away from her.

“Not so fast. We do this our way.”

She nodded and waited for Zack to tell her what to do. She didn’t expect him to take her arms and pull them behind her. The strips he put around her wrists were leather, but they were soft and didn’t hurt her skin. Having her arms bound behind her gave her a new feeling of helplessness. Feeling helpless with Zack and Chan made her feel sexy and alive. But that was just it. She could feel helpless with them without actually being helpless In fact, she felt the exact opposite.

“Get on your knees on the couch.”

Chan motioned for her to do so, then helped her climb on top of the cushion. His cock bobbed up and down, teasing her as she tried not to fall.

“What are you going to do?”

A sting that started in her butt cheek radiated outward. She gasped and fell against the back of the couch as she twisted around to find Zack holding a riding crop.

He lifted a finger to his lips. “Make that your first lesson. Don’t speak unless we tell you to. Or if you’re in pain that you don’t enjoy. Tell me you understand.”

“Yes.”

“Good girl.” Chan eased his body onto the couch in front of her and lay back, propping one leg over the back and the other stretched out beside her. “We should take it easy this time, Zack. We don’t know how experienced she is. Hell, even she doesn’t know.”

Zack whacked the crop against his palm. “Something tells me this will be a lot like riding a bike. If she’s done it before, it’ll come back to her naturally.” He thrust out his chin at Chan. “Suck on him, babe. I want to see you take his cock inside your mouth.”

She paused, uncertain if she’d done it before, but the longer she gazed at his cock, the more she wanted to hold it in her mouth. She wanted to see what he tasted like. Bending over was difficult, but Chan took her shoulders and steadied her.

She drew him in on a long, easy stroke. His curly hair tickled her nose as she went to the base of his shaft. He was thick and musky smelling, and so sexy. Her tongue whipped around his cock as he grabbed a hunk of her hair and started moving his hips. His cock was so long it struck the back of her throat, almost choking her, but then he eased back and let her decide how much of him she could take.

Zack took hold of her hair, too, then used the crop on her again. The sting hurt, but the pain had a way of transforming into a pleasurable feeling. The effect lasted longer than the quick flash against her skin, traveling inward to make her tremble with lust. She moaned, sending her warm breath over Chan’s cock.

“That’s it, babe. Drag him in and out.” Zack eased against her and felt the pressure of his cock against her leg. It both exhilarated her and helped to keep her steadier. He tightened his hold on her hair and gave her another sound spank. She bucked, careful not to use her teeth on Chan. Several more spankings followed that one, each one making her flesh burn a little more. The pain swirled over her skin, a storm of stinging bites.

“You should see her sweet pink ass, man.” Zack bent over and placed a kiss on her skin. “You’re submitting real good, babe. You please us and we’ll please you.”

She flexed her fingers, wanting to touch him, but the fact that she couldn’t wasn’t bad, either. Being submissive had its advantages and she wanted to find out what more of those advantages were.

Chan’s abdomen was tight and hard. His breaths were coming faster now, his eyes closed as he played with her breast. He moaned and she heard his struggle to keep from coming in his tone.