STORY EXCERPT

Derek Black raised his sword and swiped the blade close to Hunter’s throat, but before the sharp edge reached his skin, his brother successfully parried the thrust.

“Damn, Hunter. Stand still.” His brother’s brown eyes twinkled.

If Derek had concentrated harder, he’d have been able to read his brother’s mind and known his next move. Too bad Hunter could do the same, which negated their mutual talent.

Hunter grinned and went on the offensive. “Aha! You’ll never nick me.” He thrust back his head in a mock arrogant pose.

Derek had already been stabbed at least three times today, and those cuts still stung like a bitch. Wanting to take advantage of Hunter’s momentary distraction, he advanced, but Hunter retreated. Determined to win this battle for once, their swords clashed and clanged.

I’m going to dip the sword, his brother telepathed.

Forewarned, Derek lowered his blade but was a split second too late, allowing Hunter’s swipe to cut through his pants. A sharp ache ripped up his leg. Derek stepped back and held up one hand and pressed on the wound with the other. When he lifted his palm, blood caked his hand as well as his leg, which had already almost healed. “See what you’ve done.” He poked one finger through the hole in his shirt and tugged on the one in his pants. “More clothes ruined.”

Hunter laughed and leaned on his sword. “When will you ever learn you aren’t going to beat me?”

He was able to best every other foe except his brother. “Give me time.” Derek ripped off his shirt, as it was now useless, and tossed it in the trashcan at the far side of the gym.

He needed to do the same with his pants, but he wasn’t about to run around naked. Okay, he’d be willing to do that if he were chasing some beautiful woman to the bedroom.

One of the punctures to his gut had gone rather deep. He checked his wound and watched as the skin closed up like sand filling a wet hole. “I can’t believe you stabbed me. If I’d been human, you might have killed me.”

Hunter held up a finger. “Ah, there’s the rub. You aren’t totally human.”

“Good point.”

They both stopped to watch their top security team of Jeremiah and Mario duke it out with their bare fists on the other side of the gym. Mario hadn’t bothered to pull back his hair and it was caked in sweat.

“Twenty on Mario to win.” Hunter pulled a wad of bills from his pocket.

“You’re on.”

Both of their security men had been fighting for close to ninety years and had perfected the art of combat. Jeremiah delivered an uppercut that had to hurt. Derek even winced from the blow, but inwardly he cheered. If he couldn’t beat his brother with a sword, it would be nice to beat him with the bet. The problem when these men fought was that it was close to impossible to ever tell who won, no matter how bloody they got during the battle.

Jeremiah delivered a blow that had Mario reeling backward. Yes! Sometimes these guys took their combat too far.

I need to speak with them.

That sounded ominous, so he whistled to call off the fight, and both of his men stood at attention.

Jeremiah spun around and lasered a glare at him. “Why did you do that? I was winning.”

He should know better than to question him, but as head of security the man often overstepped his bounds. If he hadn’t been the best man for the job, Hunter and he would have gotten rid of him at least fifty years ago.

Derek’s shrug came out exaggerated. “Didn’t want you to get hurt.” He loved nothing more than to tease him.

Jeremiah took one step before Mario stopped him. Both he and Hunter burst out laughing. “Sorry, guys. I couldn’t resist.”

Though he’d stopped the workout, Hunter was the one to motion the two sweaty men over. Only now did Derek sense the tension rolling off his brother.

Hunter shot a glance at him first then back at the security team. “I got wind that some members of The Sword are planning an attack on one of our government buildings.”

Derek hadn’t heard. You should have told me.

Later.

He was going to have a word with his brother about withholding information.

Jeremiah glanced between them, all anger at having been interrupted now gone. “What would you like us to do?”

“Keep your ear to the ground. Talk to Carmen. He’s the one who contacted me.”

He and Mario nodded and trotted off. Once they were alone, Derek faced his brother. “When were you going to tell me?”

“I just found out. I needed some time to clear my head and to figure out what to do.”

He raised a brow. “I thought we ran The Shield equally.”

“We do.” Hunter stabbed a hand through his short hair. “Sorry.”

Something was going on. Hunter never apologized because he rarely ever messed up. To show no hard feelings, Derek slapped him on the back. “What say we clean up, get something to eat, then head to town?”

Hunter smiled. “Good idea. I always pick up the best pieces of gossip at The Black Cat Bar.”

“There’s a lot more at that place that I’d like to pick up. And it ain’t just information.” He winked. “If you’re nice, I might even let you share.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“I thought someone wanted to give me a little pain.”

Derek stood. “Oh, we can help you out.” He trotted over to a table, opened a drawer, and pulled out two wooden clothespins.

“We doing laundry?” Her mind whirred about what he was going to do with them.

He laughed. “After a few minutes of these on your nipples, even one lick will drive you wild with desire.” He waved one above her tit. Hunter held down her arms acting as if the pressure would drive her to rip them off.

“I’d like to feel that.”

“Trust me. You will.” He clamped the first one on. As soon as he let go, streaks of pain radiated over her whole body. Her breath caught. She grit her teeth and would have told him to take it off had not the pain turned into unbelievable pleasure. Her shoulders relaxed and her pussy contracted with waves of ecstasy. “I want the other one.”

Derek fitted the other clothespin over the nipple and the pain morphed into incredible desire a moment later. Never had she imagined she’d like something this tight so much.

The sound of descending chains lowered from the ceiling and she glanced up. Derek walked to one side of the room and pulled a cuff attached to a long rope from the wall. He dragged it across the floor and clamped the padded strap to one leg.

“This gives us total access to your pussy. You’ll be totally vulnerable. Are you ready for that?”

Just his words made her gush, and her scent filled the room. “Oh, yeah.” Here she thought the spanking bench was the height of sexual arousal.

After he tied the other leg, Hunter attached a cuff that dangled from the ceiling to each wrist. He must have pressed a button, because the chains retracted and stretched her arms overhead, but not so tight that they pulled.

“Comfy?” Hunter asked.

“Yes.”

Derek pulled up a stool and sat down. “I like to eat my dinner sitting.”

She hoped that meant his tongue would dine on her needy cunt.

Hunter moved behind her and ran his hands down her ass. When he cupped her cheeks, he slid his cock between her legs and sawed it back and forth, hitting her clit with each pass. “I love getting pussy juice on me.” His sharp teeth pricked her skin.

For a second she tensed until she remembered how the pressure enhanced the pleasure. She dropped back her head as he continued to knead her ass.

He ran a tongue down the shell of her ear. “You want me to spank your sweet bottom?”

“Please.”

“Would you like something a bit thinner and perhaps more painful than my hand?”

Her pussy clenched thinking about it. “Will my ass get nice and red?”

“I’ll make you so hot so that when Derek fucks your ass, you won’t be able to tighten even one muscle.”

She wanted him to do her hard. “Will you fuck my pussy at the same time?”

“Oh, kitten, you have no idea what I have in mind.”

“Then yes.”

She might have said more, but Derek slipped a long tongue into her cunt and bursts of electric pulses shot everywhere. The glory was so intense that she stood on her toes then sank down again to get more.

Derek clasped her hips. “Don’t move. That’s an order.”

She loved when he acted so alpha. Hunter dragged what looked like a whip with at least ten pieces of leather attached over the tops of her breasts.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the strips disappear. The chains ratcheted down allowing her arms to lower. “Bend over.” Hunter pressed on her back.

Her lips came within inches of Derek’s shoulder, and she licked his skin that tasted of salt mixed with sweetness.

He sat back. “No touching and certainly no licking. I need to concentrate, and your touch is like getting my wick too close to a flame. Okay?”

She almost giggled. Damn. “For now.”

“We got a sassy one, bro. You need to show her who’s boss.”

* * * *

The first swish of the whip was a light caress that barely excited her. “That won’t get my ass red.” The next blow came out harder, and it stimulated rather than pained. “Getting warmer.”

Derek reached up and removed the clips from her nipples. The blood rushing back to the tips was like a strong current piercing them. Her mouth opened to suck in more air.

He grinned. “I see you understand the nature of the clothespins.”

“Uh-huh.”

He abandoned her pussy and drew one nipple into his mouth. She jerked, and the raw need thrummed through her. Derek held on to the other breast and lifted her shoulders so that she was almost standing straight. That caused her ass to tuck inward. Perhaps it was the sudden movement, but the next whipping sent a wave of pain across her rear.

“Ow.”

Hunter immediately rubbed her rear. “Was that too much?”

It had been, but as soon as he rubbed away the hurt, she wanted more. What was wrong with her? “Maybe a few more times. I want my ass ready for Derek.”

Derek kissed her. “Oh, darlin’, did I tell you I love you?”

The tender words washed over her, and she reached out to pull him close, but the chains stopped her. “I want the use of my hands. I need to feel your skin under my fingertips.” She gave him her best sad look.

In a flash, he freed her, and then rubbed her wrists. “Touch all you want, but my cock is off-limits, you hear?”

“You’re no fun.”

The switch slid across her ass, and Derek went back to tugging on her highly sensitive nipples. Her pussy creamed so hard she was on the brink of coming. When Derek slipped a finger into her opening, she clamped down on him hard.

“None of that, darlin’. You have to wait until we fuck your pussy before you climax. The experience will be heightened if you don’t come too soon.” He drew his brows and pinched his lips in a mock scowl. “You got that, slave?”

“Yes, master.” She might have laughed had her breaths not been coming out so fast. “Then you better hurry.” Hunter abandoned the crop and gave her ass a few good wallops, and a wave of heat lit her up. “Thank you.” She wiggled her butt.

Derek nodded to Hunter. “Let’s switch places.”

Before Hunter came to her front, he unhooked the ankle restraints. “We both need access to your wonderful body.”