by Abby Blake
“Sandra?” Davin asked even as an internal voice screamed at him to stop being so naïve. Hadn’t the woman made her feelings very clear when they’d been cuffed and dragged away? If she’d felt anything at all for them, she would have done something then.
“We’ll figure it out later.” Darrick said the words in a whispered tone, but the emotional toll was blaringly obvious to Davin.
They managed to find a way through the strange maze of corridors. It seemed unusual that there weren’t any guards posted anywhere along the way, but Davin decided not to question small favors. They were in the process of using their telekinetic abilities to unlock what seemed to be a main door when the damn thing swung open.
They both fell back, trying to blend into the wall somehow. The person who came through the door turned to them at the same time she drew her gun.
“How did you get out?”
“I guess somebody forgot to lock the door,” Darrick said with an insolent shrug. But Davin sensed something other than shock at their escape. Sandra’s emotions were all over the place. The strongest one seemed to be determination, yet Davin had sensed that even before she’d discovered them.
“What are you doing here, honey?” Davin asked in a quiet whisper.
“I was rescuing you two, but it would seem that I was wrong about you both. You really are the men they are accusing you of being.”
“No,” Darrick said on a low growl, “we’re not. You on the other hand, nice job. Was fucking us part of the assignment, or was that just a sweet little bonus?”
Sandra looked shocked by his vehement words, but Davin could feel her tamp down the emotion as she sucked in a deep breath. She took her hand off the trigger of her gun, splaying her fingers in a “wait a moment” gesture as she put the weapon away.
Considering that she seemed to trust them enough not to want to shoot them, Davin waited for her explanation. Darrick didn’t seem as patient and gave her a look that shouted his annoyance.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s something strange about all this.”
“No kidding? What tipped you off, sweetheart?” Darrick practically snarled the endearment, and Sandra glanced to Davin, perhaps trying to determine if he felt as angry as his brother. He did, but he wasn’t about to take it out on Sandra. Not yet, at least. Not until he had proof of her duplicity and not while a small spark of hope for their future still pulsed in his mind.
“Look, I realize that you have no reason to trust me at this stage, but I’m trying to help. The first thing we need to do is get you out of here.”
Davin nodded. Getting out of here was obviously the one thing they all agreed on. Sandra turned back the way she’d come, and after a small hesitation Darrick and Davin followed.
Chapter Seven
Three days later they were still running from an unknown enemy. Sandra ground her teeth in frustration. In reality she was now considered a criminal. Regardless of the fact that Darrick and Davin had somehow managed to escape supposedly inescapable holding cells, she was the one who’d led them out of the complex and into her vehicle.
Sandra had kept a tight rein on her telepathic skills and had managed to avoid any contact with her family. She was sure her brothers and Dana would be worried, but any contact she had with them now would put them in a very bad position.
“Come here, honey,” Davin said as he patted the space on the bed beside him. They’d stayed on the move, not stopping for more than a single night at each hotel. This one was old but thankfully seemed better maintained than the last.
Darrick had remained hostile, his feelings of betrayal obvious to Sandra’s growing empathic ability. She wasn’t sure when she’d become able to read them as easily as she read other people’s emotions, but it seemed that whatever the professor had done to make them able to hide from empaths was either wearing off or Sandra was adapting to it.
She crawled onto the bed beside Davin and gratefully curled into his embrace. She hadn’t felt this lost since her ex had beaten her to a bloody pulp and left her locked in their small bathroom for several days. It had been the most humiliating and degrading experience of her life, and she’d vowed never to give anyone that sort of power over her again.
Hell, even the treatment she’d received at the professor’s hands had paled in comparison to what a man she’d loved had done to her years before.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” she said with a grimace as she realized that Davin seemed to be able to find his way through her telepathic block. Not even Dana had managed to do that. Well, not yet. Dana was nothing if not stubborn.
Davin obviously wasn’t in the mood to let it go. “Why did you let him treat you like that?”
She shrugged, unable to reconcile her actions of the past with the woman she was now. It seemed almost incomprehensible that she’d stayed with the man even after that day. Her sense of self-worth had been so low at the time that she actually remembered believing she somehow deserved being treated in such an awful way.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “When Pete and John realized what was happening, they stepped in and took me away.” She closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall. “I was so angry at their interference at the time. But now I know I owe them so much.” Sandra wiped at her eyes, embarrassed by her loss of control.
“Your brothers did the right thing,” Davin said, nodding against her head. “You’re such a strong person now. It’s hard to imagine you ever being so low in confidence.”
Sandra shrugged, not really sure what to say next. Yes, she was confident, capable, and had dealt with the aftereffects of her marriage a long time ago, but she still couldn’t explain how she’d found herself in that situation in the first place.
Darrick sat at the table, no longer pretending to read the newspaper. He stared at her, a thoughtful, yet unnerving, expression on his face, and he held her eye contact as he moved closer to the bed.
He stood in front of her, his arms crossed, his manner stern, but his smile quite friendly. Much more friendly than he’d given her over the past two days.
“How much do you know about BDSM?”
The question, so out of the blue, threw her for a moment, and she scrambled to catch up to the conversation. “Bondage and kinky stuff?” She swallowed as he nodded. “Not a great deal. I mean, I’ve tried a little bit of role playing with previous lovers, but none of it ever made me comfortable.” Why the hell was she telling him this? Her sex life—or lack thereof—was none of his concern.
He sat on the bed in front of her, gathered her wrists in one of his large hands and tilted her chin up with the other. She stared into his eyes, unable, or maybe unwilling, to break from his gentle hold.
“I believe, sweetheart, that you were looking for someone to take charge, someone to tell you what to do, someone you could hand control to.”
She started to shake her head in disbelief. She’d never heard a bigger load of garbage in all her life. She’d been young when she’d married, and she’d made a mistake, a very big mistake, but she’d learned and grown from the experience.
Darrick just grinned and squeezed her wrists a little tighter. She pulled against his hold, the sudden realization that she was trapped flooding adrenaline through her veins at the same time that arousal curled through her midsection. What the hell was wrong with her?
“I–I…”
“Stop talking, Sandra.” She did. She actually closed her mouth. Sandra shook her head, denying the hold he seemed to have over her. He moved closer, took a wrist in each hand, and caressed the soft skin as he spoke. “Many women mistake an abusive bully for the dominant man they unconsciously seek.” She could feel her body heating, liquid warmth spreading over every inch of her as need wound tighter.
“No,” she said, shaking her head even though deep inside she wondered if it might be true.
“What do you feel right now?” Darrick continued to hold her wrists captive
, his gentle hold seeming more unbreakable than steel cuffs.
“I–I don’t know.” So many conflicting thoughts and feelings were rampaging through her brain that she had trouble putting it into words.
“Are you scared?”
“Maybe a little,” she admitted.
“Good girl,” Darrick said a moment before leaning over to press a kiss to her lips. “Thank you for being honest.” He still held her wrists, caressing the flesh over her pulse with his callused thumbs. “Do you want me to stop?”
She shook her head, unable to verbalize the admission. This had to be the strangest conversation she’d ever had. She felt small and vulnerable, held in one man’s arms while another stood over her, but she seemed somehow more liberated than she’d ever felt before. She had no control—something she’d avoided since her divorce—yet she couldn’t explain her own reactions. She wasn’t scared, not really. It was more a case of nervousness over what might happen next, but a part of her trusted these men and knew they would never hurt her.
Darrick transferred both of her hands back into one of his and pressed his other hand against the side of her face. She turned into his warm touch, tears stinging her eyes as she tried to understand her reactions to these men.
“Baby girl, this is what you were looking for from your ex-husband. Not someone to beat you up, but someone to take control, someone to give you permission to relax, to take away your choices. It’s what Domination and submission is all about.”
“But I like being in control of my life, making my own decisions. I don’t understand how I could want both.”
“Oh, honey, that’s almost the definition of submission,” Davin said as he ran his gloved hands over her fully clothed thighs. “Giving us control in the bedroom doesn’t mean giving up control over your life. It just means you have a chance to relax and enjoy yourself without worrying what needs to be done next.” He ran his hand up higher, his fingers skimming over her suddenly beaded nipples. He noticed, and continued moving his knuckles over her breasts again and again.
Her breathing hitched as curls of heat swelled outward from her breasts, the nipples aching, her body needing more. The sudden, tight pinch on her hard nipples had her gasping for air and writhing against the mattress. She kicked out her legs, trying to escape the intense sensation even as she silently acknowledged how much the pain seemed to increase the tingling awareness all over her body.
Darrick slid onto the bed, soothing her with his voice, softly crooning words of encouragement. “Let us show you what it is you’ve been craving.”
She didn’t think it was a request, but she nodded anyway. They’d started a need deep down, and she was certain they were the only ones able to appease the ache. Darrick lowered his hands to her pants, deftly undoing the fastenings and dragging the material down her legs. Her underwear quickly followed. She went to undo her shirt, but Davin stilled her hands, pressing them against her belly.
It felt weird to only be naked on her lower half, and she tried to tell them so. “Be quiet, baby girl. We do this my way or not at all.” She closed her mouth, her need overwhelming the strangeness of being only half-naked. Darrick moved away and stood beside the bed. He held his hand out for her, and she took it without hesitation.
He helped her to a standing position, lifted her chin in his hand, and studied her face for a moment. He must have found whatever he sought because he nodded once and turned to sit on the end of the bed. “Time for your spanking, beautiful.”
The words and endearment were so opposite to the tone of his voice that she smiled shyly and wondered what the hell she was getting herself into. The fact that she actually wanted to understand what he and Davin meant had her moving to do exactly what Darrick asked.
She smiled at him again, her breath jamming in her lungs even though he hadn’t done anything at all. He patted his lap, and she hesitated, trying to figure out how exactly one goes about lying over her lover’s knee. He held his hand out, his expression one of amusement. As soon as she placed her hand in his, he yanked her off balance and arranged her facedown over his lap.
She felt the warmth of his hand through the thin cotton of her shirt as he pressed between her shoulder blades and pushed her further down. By the time he seemed satisfied, her head was nearly touching the floor. She tried to move her arms to steady herself, but Darrick moved to hold them both against the small of her back. With her arms bent the position wasn’t entirely uncomfortable, but it certainly highlighted the loss of control that Darrick had mentioned.
He caressed her bottom with his roughly callused hand, his touch light and warming, his control comforting and soothing. For a brief moment memories of her ex-husband’s beatings crowded into her brain, but Davin moved to tangle his fingers in her hair and massage her scalp until the mini panic attack faded.
“Good girl,” Darrick said, the tone sounding strangely like pride. But of course the trouble with their mysteriously growing connection was that he caught that thought as easily as he caught the others. “I am proud of you. You’ve overcome some horrible experiences to be the person you are today.” He continued to caress the tingling skin on her buttocks, occasionally dipping lower to touch her intimately, and then lifting higher to caress her cheeks once more. She felt so relaxed she practically melted against him.
She sensed his intent a moment before his hand crashed down on her bottom. The slap stung her tender flesh but didn’t actually hurt. She closed her eyes in wonder as the heat spread outward from where his hand had landed. Another slap landed on her upper thigh, the heat quickly morphing into arousal. She gasped as she realized she was moving toward orgasm. That wasn’t something she’d been expecting. How could pain create excitement?
She moaned as he smacked her a third time, this time high on her left butt cheek. She squirmed against his hold, gasping as she realized that despite his light grip she wasn’t able to escape. Heated arousal twisted through her as the stinging slaps came harder, faster.
Darrick moved so that her head hung lower, her ass pointing into the air. His fingers caressed her labia, her urge to push back onto his hand thwarted by the position. Again and again he teased her with those gentle touches, pressing into her pussy, yet only to retreat a moment later. She moaned her frustration and writhed against his hold, trying to take matters into her own hands, trying to force him to give her what she needed.
She damn near howled when the next slap landed on her exposed and swollen pussy lips. Thick fingers thrust roughly into her slit, fucking her hard and fast. Sandra shook uncontrollably, orgasm bursting through her as liquid heat drenched her veins. Undulating against his hold, Sandra almost felt like her body belonged to someone else. Never had she felt a climax go on this long or feel this incredible.
Soothing hands gentled her as she caught her breath and finally relaxed against Darrick’s knees. She didn’t even realize she’d been crying until Davin pressed a cool washcloth against her heated face and wiped away her tears.
Embarrassed by her unexpected reactions, Sandra tried to wriggle away. But neither of them would let her. Darrick lifted her like she weighed nothing at all and sat her on his lap, lifting her chin up so that he could see her face. She closed her eyes, her emotions spiking wildly as she tried to process everything that had just happened and exactly what this meant about her.
“Look at me, baby girl.” She opened her eyes and held his gaze, reminding herself that she was a respected agent and self-sufficient, confident woman. “How do you feel?”
She gave him an incredulous look. He and Davin were both empathic, so they would both know exactly how she felt. She didn’t need to explain it to them. But Darrick just waited for her to answer, and she squirmed under his scrutiny for a whole minute more before telling him what he already knew. “Embarrassed, confused…really, really embarrassed.” She tried to drop her gaze, but he held her head up with his gentle grip.
“Never be embarrassed with us, baby girl. Davin and I both have slightly k
inkier needs as well, so you’re definitely not alone in this.”
“Oh,” she managed to say on a breathy little voice. Did that mean they wanted her to spank them?
Davin laughed so loudly that she jumped at the unexpected noise. “No, honey, our kinky needs revolve around dominating you, not getting our asses paddled.”
“Oh,” she whispered again as relief swelled through her mind. “So…um…what would that entail? I mean I don’t really understand what you get out of spanking me.” She wriggled on Darrick’s lap, very aware of the hard cock pressing against her thigh.
Both men seemed to take that as a challenge and began sending images directly to her mind. Endless pictures of them spanking, fucking, sucking her sped through her brain. Mental pictures filled her head—her on her knees, taking Davin’s cock deep into her mouth, her head held trapped by his large hands, images of her strapped down her ass and pussy red and swollen as Darrick drilled his cock into her from behind, his large hands cupping her ass cheeks, his thumbs playing with the pucker of her anus.
Sandra panted hard as the erotic thoughts continued to swirl through her head. Fuck. Both men were still fully dressed, yet she felt like she’d burst into flames if somebody didn’t quench her desire. Her hand shook as she touched Darrick’s face and nodded her agreement.
He grinned wickedly and lifted her shirt over her head and had her bra undone before she could blink. He lifted her into his arms, turned, and placed her in the middle of the bed. “Hands and knees,” he growled as he dragged his own clothes off. She glanced over to see Davin shucking his jeans and shirt as well.
As soon as he was naked, Davin placed his hand under her chin and his cock against her lips. “Open for me,” he said in a tone of voice that made her both bristle with irritation and melt with desire. How was it possible that letting them boss her around was only making her hotter? Hell, even her irritation morphed into need.
She opened her mouth, gagging slightly as he thrust deep without warning. She felt Darrick crawl onto the mattress behind her, his warm hands grasping her hips as his condom-covered cock probed her sensitive flesh. She grunted as he also pushed hard and deep. Every nerve ending felt supersensitized, and she shivered as Davin touched her face gently, pulled away, and thrust back even deeper. Darrick did the same, their movements in counterpoint, the strange feeling of being exactly where she belonged taking her by surprise.
