by Madison Faye
Due diligence was the way they referred to looking into someone’s background. Plenty of people were not who or what they pretended to be online.
“Yeah. Her story checked out.”
“All right.”
“But dropping offline and then turning up at your place uninvited, that’s bad behavior. She should’ve reached out to me when she got to town. Seems like she needs to be taken in hand.”
“Yeah.”
“I think I’ll head over,” Wes said.
Chapter Two
Andie shivered, studying Jaxson Holm as he put his phone back in the pocket of his jeans. He was tall, blond, and built. His nickname, Daddy Thor, suited him perfectly.
“Who was that? Wes Smith?”
He nodded.
“I should have messaged him. Things have been hectic.” She definitely shouldn’t have been dragging either of them into her chaos, but she’d been scared and before she’d known what she was doing, she was at Thor’s door, banging on it.
“Mr. Holm—” She cut herself off, unsure how much she should tell him.
“How did you know where I lived?” he asked.
“I saw you the other morning. I moved into the converted quadruplex that’s next to the old shoe factory. You know it?”
“Of course. It’s a thousand feet from here. Doesn’t explain how you ended up living within running distance of my place.”
“One of the girls online mentioned you lived in this area. She said it was a place that’s not as congested as other parts of the city. More privacy. That’s what I wanted.” She’d also wanted to live near him or Wes Smith, but Wes lived in a high-rise that was way out of her price range.
He nodded, unsmiling. “I’ve never been stalked before. Can’t say I care for it.”
“Sorry,” she whispered. There was more that she could say, but she felt like she’d said too much already.
“Gonna tell me your real name?”
“Andrea Morten. Most of my friends call me Andie. My friends back home.”
“Where’s home?”
“Missouri.”
“And what’s his name? The guy who’s chasing you.”
“Bill Barber.”
“And you were into kink? Or he was and you went along?” he pressed.
Heat rose in her cheeks. They were probably deep pink now. “Yes. I was interested in it and that’s what led me to get involved with him. It turned out badly. I broke things off. But he says he still owns me.”
“He doesn’t,” Jax said, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m betting Wes said if you moved here he’d help you convince him of that.”
She nodded. “Mr. Smith has been really great to talk to. I thought if I came here, I might be safe. I thought Bill might even give up and leave me alone without another confrontation. I honestly didn’t mean to drag you into this. It’s just that when he showed up, I panicked. Yours was the only place I could reach.”
“It was a mistake to move here without letting anyone know. You see what it’s like around here. Former industrial area. As a residential neighborhood, it barely qualifies. Are the other units in the quad even rented?”
“Not yet.”
“So you were out here alone.”
She winced, but nodded. “Except for you.”
“What if I’d been out of town?”
She shrugged. “I would’ve been in trouble.”
“You still are, little girl. Just a different kind. Go through there,” he said, pointing at the pair of frosted glass and steel sliding doors that led to a bedroom. “Take a hot shower. There will be a T-shirt on the bed for you to put on after.”
“I don’t know—”
“Andie,” he said in a low warning voice.
Her eyes widened.
“Daddy’s house. Daddy’s rules. Get your pretty little ass in the shower before you get pneumonia.”
She bit her upper lip. She was desperately drawn to his dominance, but there needed to some discussion… didn’t there?
“Five, ten, fifteen—”
Her heart slammed into her ribs as she darted to the sliding doors. She had no idea what he’d been counting off, but she knew better than to ask another question. She crossed through the bedroom with more shades of gray and moody blue. She probably should have been terrified of showering in a strange man’s place, especially one who expected to call the shots and could clearly get her to bend to his will whether she wanted to be bent or not. Those arm muscles weren’t just for show.
Unfortunately, she was wired to be turned on by that kind of power. Sometimes so turned on that she couldn’t accept the need to escape until it was way too late.
* * *
Andrea tugged on the hem of the T-shirt, her hair spilling down over the block letters that spelled Beast Mode. His shirt covered her pink panties, but barely. She stiffened and looked up at the sound of male voices. Thor wasn’t alone.
Bill?
No. No way would Jax have let Bill force his way in. But had he opened the door for him? Could the online chatter about Jax have been wrong? Maybe he didn’t want to get in the middle of her trouble.
She edged to the doors and slid one open a couple of inches. The second male voice wasn’t Bill’s. It was Wes Smith’s. He was even better looking in person than he had been on screen during their Skype chat. He had thick black hair and a jet goatee that made him look deliciously sinister. If Jax was Thor, Wes was Ares.
Jax spotted her through the opening.
“Come out here, Andie.”
She emerged hesitantly.
Wes’s gaze traveled over her from her face down to her bare toes, then back. The right corner of his mouth curved up. “Beast Mode,” he murmured, his smirk growing. “Interesting choice.”
“I didn’t choose it,” she said softly. She stepped forward, extending a hand. “Hi. It’s really nice to meet you, Sir.”
He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. When she tried to draw it back, however, it didn’t budge. He held fast.
“Nice to meet you too. Didn’t expect to do that here.”
Heat flushed her face. “I couldn’t help it.”
“I think you could have. If you’d called, I’d have put you with one of the other girls until we sorted out where you should live. Remember what we talked about?”
She nodded. “I didn’t feel comfortable asking a stranger to take me in.”
Both men’s eyes studied her. She fidgeted.
“But I realize that by not getting help, I ended up intruding anyway, on Mr. Holm who doesn’t even know me.”
Wes’s thumb pressed against her palm, tracing slow circles. She glanced down at her arm where gooseflesh was rising.
“Yeah, you broke some rules,” Wes said. “We talked about what happens to girls who misbehave, didn’t we?”
They had. It’d been a sexy conversation about punishments. Being reminded of it made her belly clench and warmed her panties.
“So let’s deal with your punishment. Bend over the couch,” Jax said.
Wes released her hand, and her mind reeled. Just like that, they planned to discipline her? Together? She felt as though she sort of knew Wes from their conversations, but she’d only just met Jax. This was unexpected and kind of outrageous. Unfortunately, her body stiffened with more than shock. They were good-looking, strong, and dominant, which was a total turn-on.
“I think… that’s moving pretty fast,” she stammered softly.
“Yes,” Wes said, catching her arm and tugging her closer. “But we both know you didn’t move here to take things slow.”
She dragged in a stuttering breath.
He took her chin and tipped her face up, still holding it. “If you wanted protection without strings, you could’ve called the police. When you deliver yourself to Daddy Thor of Lair Twelve begging for protection, you know you’re also begging for something else, don’t you?”
She blinked, trying to catch her breath. Online Wes had been firm, but
this was a deeper, darker side of his dominance. Her body thrummed with nervous energy. She struggled to find her voice. Everything about them felt overwhelming. They were merciless doms, which she liked deep down.
She shivered.
“She’s had a rough night,” Jax said. “We can put this off.”
“Yes,” she blurted, happy for a reprieve.
“And take her to stay with one of the girls?” Wes asked.
“No!” she said, her gaze moving sharply between them. She might be hesitant to get punished, but she did want to stay with them. “It might not be safe. What if Bill found me again? That would put the other girl in danger as well. I won’t do that.”
“So what do you want, Andie?” Jax asked.
“Could I stay here? Just for a day or two? Or stay with you?” she asked Wes. “I promise not to be any trouble.”
Jax and Wes exchanged looks, and Jax smirked. “You’re already trouble. You’re not equipped to deal with your ex, are you? You need an ex-military badass like me to do it, right?”
“I mean—you don’t have to. I’m only asking to stay.”
“As what?”
“Your houseguest?”
Jax hauled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. The Special Forces tattoo on his arm was a skull with a dagger through it. His torso was a gorgeous map of sculpted muscle and ridged flesh. She was too stunned to speak.
“I don’t play house,” Jax said, forcing her to hold his gaze. “And I don’t hide from bad men. Don’t need to; I am one. Now bend over that couch and offer your ass up for punishment. Or wrap yourself in a blanket and let Wes take you to a safe house with one of the other girls.”
Her eyes widened.
“Two choices. Pick one,” Jax ordered.
Her heart hammered, her whole body buzzing with the craving to give herself to him.
Wes grabbed the silky throw from the couch and held it out, an escape ready to be gift-wrapped. She should take it and scurry away. But her arm wouldn’t reach out for the blanket. Her feet wouldn’t take a single step that would help her get out from between the two hulking men.
She shook her head at the blanket, bit her lip, and turned. She lowered herself over the back of the leather-covered cushions, easing her chest against them, feeling the T-shirt ride up to expose her ass.
“Mmm. Good girl,” Wes said, his voice husky.
* * *
The perfect peach of an ass was positioned for punishment, the girl’s long slim legs dangling gracefully. Her skin was pale against the deep coffee color of the leather. In his jeans, Jax’s cock was painfully hard. That little bit of back and forth with a gorgeous little sub had whetted his appetite. The whiff of rebellion as she negotiated, followed by the way she let herself be backed down and was now bent over, offering herself up, was all the foreplay his body needed. He wanted to fuck her a dozen ways.
Wes leaned against the end of the couch, waiting, a small smile playing at his lips. They were both closers.
Jax put his palm on her ass, and her body, coiled tight in anticipation, jerked. He swallowed, the predatory hunger burning through him. He raised his hand and brought it down against her soft, yielding flesh. She whimpered and shifted her hips restlessly.
“You’ve been a naughty little girl,” Wes said. “Haven’t you?”
“I didn’t mean to be, Daddy,” she said.
Two more slaps from Jax. Then four from Wes. She eased her knees slightly apart and adjusted her position, not trying to escape. Yet.
“That’s it. Arch your back,” Wes ordered.
She obeyed. Her hair was fanned out, hanging down, strands swaying over the leather seat.
“When a little girl reaches out to me for advice and tells me she’s coming to town, I don’t expect her to show up unannounced at another daddy’s place.”
Several more swats from Wes, heavier now, so that the girl’s pink flesh began to redden.
“Little girls don’t run around in the dead of night without protection or permission,” Jax added, squeezing her ass before laying down several more swats.
“I’m sorry!”
“You will be,” Jax said evenly. He spanked her ass harder, enjoying the blooming red.
She whimpered.
“When I told you to get in the shower earlier, did you obey me immediately?”
She was silent until he smacked her ripe little bottom again.
“No!” she squeaked.
“What number did I count to?”
“Fifteen,” she said with a small sob.
“Mmm hmm,” Jax said. “That’s fifteen strokes of the paddle.”
“But—!” the girl started to protest.
“Quiet,” Wes ordered. “Naughty little girls who talk back during punishment get paddled for longer.”
She whimpered.
Wes sat on the couch next to her shoulder and unhooked the fallen T-shirt from where it had been caught on the undersurface of the girl’s breasts. Tits now exposed, the fabric bunched around Andie’s neck, partially covering her face. Wes’s hand gripped the back of the girl’s neck, applying pressure to keep her head down and keep her feeling dominated in every way.
Jaxson rubbed her ass with his hand, then started in on her with a paddle. From the first crack, she cried out and danced on her toes.
“Yes,” Wes said in a low voice. “Look at those round tits swing.”
Andie whimpered and groaned.
“Don’t drop, little girl. Raise that ass,” Jax said, squeezing her buttock.
She rose onto her toes and arched her back. God, he loved to be obeyed, especially during punishments.
He laid into her a little harder. She shrieked and started to clench. Wes grabbed her wrists and held them down when she tried to use them to raise up and escape.
“Is he warming that ass for you? Keep your head down,” Wes ordered. “Bad girls get paddled hard.”
Jax paused, rubbing her flaming globes and then doled out another round. She started to scream and beg, shaking her head from side to side, sending glossy hair flying. She was like an animal caught in a trap. He gave her a peppering of lighter swats with his hand, but the pain was being layered on, and she was losing control.
Wes pinched and teased her nipples as she struggled frantically, her hips pumping. Her partially exposed lower lips glistened with welcoming moisture that caused a damp spot on her panties. She was so ready to be fucked.
“Five more,” Jax said. “Curve that back,” he said, tracing her spine with the edge of the paddle.
She made anxious noises but arched and offered her flaming rump to him.
“Good girl,” he said. He swung the paddle with a little harder with each succeeding blow, walloping her vulnerable ass and causing her whole body to jerk.
“Do you understand why you were punished, naughty girl?” Wes demanded.
“Yes, Daddy,” she said through her sobs. “I’m sorry!”
Jax gave her ass a couple of light swats with his open hand, then shoved the fabric of her panties aside as he pushed a pair of fingers into her pussy. She groaned through her sniffles.
Jax gripped her hip, holding her scalded buttocks against his navel, his twitching cock ready to bury itself deep inside her. Wes tangled fingers into her hair and turned her head. Her tear-streaked face was as flushed as her buttocks.
“What do you say to Daddy Thor, little girl?” Wes asked, his voice cool and hard.
“I don’t know,” she said through her tears.
“How about thank you?” Wes said.
Jax smiled. Wes was such a fucking bastard sometimes. When Wes was in charge, the harder the punishment, the more profusely the girls ended up thanking him for it.
“Thank you, Sir,” she said breathlessly. “Please… I’ll be good from now on.”
“I bet you will,” Wes murmured, getting up and walking around the couch to examine the girl’s ass. Jax took a step back, his fingers coming out coated with the delicious juices from
her pussy. Jax licked his fingers while Wes squeezed the girl’s scalding cheeks. She mewled and circled her hips, emphasizing that her ass wasn’t all that the punishment had warmed.
Wes lowered the panties and pushed them down to her knees.
“Hot little ass in more ways than one,” Wes said. He gripped the girl’s reddened globes and opened her. “Gorgeous pink holes.”
Wes bent forward and licked her. The girl groaned.
“Front or back?” Wes asked.
“Both,” Jax said. “You take her mouth.”
“Oh, God,” she said, suddenly trying to rise.
Wes put a palm against her back, but Jax shook his head. Wes eased his hand away, and Jax lifted her up, turning her to face him.
Her large brown eyes were startled and glistening.
Jax cupped her face. “What?”
She hesitated, so he kissed her soft mouth. She leaned into him as he held her. His cock strained against his jeans, a constant reminder that this had been a good beginning but it could get better.
Jax tangled his right hand in her hair and pulled her head back. Her gaze was fixed on him. His left hand slid down a warm ass cheek. He squeezed, and she twisted, her mouth opening on a whimper.
“Put your arms up,” Jax said.
She hesitated, then raised them over her head. He grabbed her T-shirt, pulling it up and off. She shuddered, her firm round breasts shimmying, nipples pebbled.
Jax bent his head and sucked the tip of each one, then licked his lips. His eyes narrowed, the unquenched lust was a rising drum beat in his head.
A pillow landed on the floor a couple of feet lower than where the girl’s panties were stuck around her thighs.
“Put her on her knees,” Wes said gruffly. He had his dick out, ready and waiting.
Andie leaned closer to Jax, her cool body drawing his heat. He’d warmed her ass, but there were other ways he wanted to heat her silky flesh.
He leaned forward and swept her up. She clung to him, her face against his shoulder, arms holding on. “In the bed. So I can fuck her the way she needs to be fucked.”
Chapter Three
