Jed put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from trying again. “Give it a few minutes. You’re in shock.”
She’d never reacted like this to a jump before—even when she’d botched the landing. Afterward she’d always been excited, filled with indescribable energy and joy. This time she felt as if she’d come close to tasting death. It was more like the eighth round of chemo and less like the way her first skydiving experience had made her feel—vital and alive.
“I’m fine,” she said, but this time she heard the tremors strangling her voice. She looked at Jed, and another vision appeared. This one superimposed a ghostly image over his corporeal one. Blood dripped from cuts just above his eyebrows, near his hairline, and on his strong jaw. His clothing was damp, stained with dirt and blood, and torn, and his pallor frightened her. From a distance, she heard Liam calling her name, and so she looked at him to find the vision continuing.
If Jed’s condition was bad, Liam’s was worse. Slumped against a dark, rocky wall, he held a broken arm close to his chest as he struggled to sit up straighter. Blood flowed from a cut in his lip, the bright substance standing out in sharp relief to the grayish cast of Liam’s pain-twisted face.
This was the first vision in a long time that scared her. The last one had been when she was seven, and she’d seen her parents lying dead in the wreckage of a mangled car. She’d refused to go with them that day, and she’d begged them not to go either. They’d left their obstinate daughter with Gram and drove off. Gram had held her as she’d cried great sobs that hurt her chest, and she’d assured her that everything would be all right. That’s the last time Tru had seen her parents alive.
Later that night, Gram had held her tightly, sharing grief, and she’d asked Tru how she knew that the accident was imminent.
“Tru!” Liam’s shout and a swift shake dissolved the disturbing vision.
She blinked at him. “I’m fine.”
“You’re pale and shaking. You’re not fine.”
“It’s the adrenaline.” Cody had joined them, and Tru hadn’t noticed. “It’ll wear off in a few minutes. You had us a little on edge, Tru, waiting eleven seconds to pull your chute. Luckily you kept your head.” He set to work untangling the lines from her limbs. Jed and Liam pitched in, and soon she was free.
She tried once again to get up. This time Jed and Liam helped her to her feet. They flanked her, each holding her by an arm. Her legs weren’t nearly as liquid, though she felt a little like a newborn fawn. “Really, I’m fine.”
“Color’s looking better.” Cody helped her off with the empty pack, and he began rolling the used chute for transport back to base.
She drew a finger along Jed’s forehead where the worst cut had been. Then she ran her other hand down Liam’s forearm. Even though she knew the events in the vision hadn’t happened, she needed to make sure they were okay. Seeing them injured had freaked her out far more than base jumping ever could. For that reason alone, she was very docile as they walked her to the truck and loaded her in the backseat of the extended cab. She didn’t protest when they peeled off her jump suit in the middle of the hangar. In a fog, she thanked Colt for the experience, and she numbly allowed Jed and Liam to load her back into the car.
Twenty miles of road disappeared under the wheels before Tru shook off the worst effects of the vision. It hadn’t happened yet, and she still had a shot of preventing it from coming true. She unlatched her seat belt and scooted so that she was nearly in the front seat and between them.
Jed glanced over and frowned, but he kept his attention on the road. Liam scowled. “There’s no end to the chances you’ll take with your life, is there?”
Tru lifted her eyebrows to let him know that his vehemence was misplaced. As far as she was concerned, she was living on borrowed time, and that was no reason to be extra careful. “The jump was fine. Colt has a great reputation, and he’s done this hundreds of times.”
“Someone died there two years ago.” Liam’s scowl showed no sign of letting up.
Tru knew about that. “That guy didn’t jump with Colt. He also didn’t have the kind of experience I do with skydiving and dead-air jumping.”
“You waited eleven seconds to pull your chute. I counted.” Jed growled this at her, though he didn’t look in her direction. “And Liam filmed it.”
She hadn’t meant to. Truthfully she’d like a redo on the jump. Her vision had robbed her of the best part of it—the freefall. Her body had oriented itself without her conscious input, and she’d really only been mentally present for the last part. As she’d jumped hundreds of times with a parachute, remembering only that part was very disappointing.
“It worked out.” She set a placating hand on Jed’s arm, and the firm feel of his flesh reassured her that he was okay. No way in hell she was going to tell him about her visions. That would not make him feel better about watching her fall from a high cliff and botch the landing. “I know what I’m doing.”
“It didn’t look like it.” Liam shifted his body, putting his face inches from hers. “It looked like you wanted us to film you committing suicide.”
She scoffed at that. Though she’d sometimes wanted to die, she would never take her own life. If those visions hadn’t come to her at a most inopportune time, her landing would have been perfect. “I pulled my chute late, and I took a tumble. But I’m fine. A few bruises, that’s all.”
His blue eyes darkened, and they might have zapped her with lightning. “You could have told us what you had planned.”
She hadn’t wanted to give them the opportunity to talk her out of it. They were very bright and logical men. They could have appealed to her rational side—she had one—or even strongly objected. It would have given her pause, and she would have rethought the timing of the event in question. Maybe she wouldn’t have done it today. Maybe she would have called Colt to reschedule for after her time was up with these two intriguing, sexy Doms who were willing to share her.
“I know we couldn’t have stopped you by ordering you not to do it.” Jed pressed his lips together. “But we could have discussed it. We could have been better prepared to watch the woman we both like hurl herself off the side of a mountain.”
Tru sniffed at his dramatic description. “Even though I’ve been working toward this for years, you would have tried to talk me out of it. You both have hero complexes.”
“We know next to nothing about base jumping. Neither of us were Airborne.” Liam’s hiss washed over her, banishing the battered image of him that haunted her mind. “We didn’t know what to expect. We knew something was wrong when Cody started mumbling for you to pull the rip cord, and there was nothing we could do to help you. We had to watch you come in too fast and hit too hard. It sucked, Tru.”
She grinned. “Hero complex.”
Liam jerked his head back and nailed Jed with a steely glare. “Pull over.”
Alone on a deserted stretch of highway, Jed braked hard. Tru braced her hands on the backs of their seats to keep from being pitched forward. As the car came to a halt on the shoulder, she scooted back into her seat. “I don’t need saving. If you recall, I’m here so that I can help you solve a murder and potentially save other people.”
Liam opened his door and got out. A second later, he joined her in the back seat. She moved over to make room. His lanky frame filled more than just the area he took up. He dominated the small space, and she was hyperaware of exactly how pissed he was.
He rested an arm along the top of the seat and leaned closer. “Since last night, you’ve been trying to control everything outside of the bedroom. We let you take the lead in choosing our activities because you were working. You had a review to write. But today you don’t. You used the fact that you know this area better to steer us off course so that you could indulge in a dangerous, illegal activity.”
To her knowledge, base jumping wasn’t illegal. It was just impossible for anyone to get insurance to cover the activity, so businesses that had featured jumps
were forced to stop. Her jump had been off the books—an arrangement between friends—but not illegal. “It’s not against the law to base jump.”
Thunder from his stormy blue eyes hit her square in the chest. “The only place in the United States where it is legal to base jump all year without a permit is in Twin Falls, Idaho on a bridge over the Snake River. Five people have died there. Do not argue the law with me, Princess. You’ll always lose.” Without moving, he managed to loom even closer. “I won’t tolerate manipulation, Tru, and I will punish you for this.”
It had been far too long since she’d been under the control of a Dom. Even then, Alex hadn’t forbidden her from doing any of the extreme sports she wanted to try. He’d been with her for many skydives, and he was the one who’d suggested that she should try spelunking. She drew back at the idea he would punish her. Was she guilty of the crime of manipulation and topping from the bottom? Yes. Docility was not in her DNA, and she’d never promised not to push and challenge their authority. A Dom had to earn her submission; it wasn’t something she gave away for the fun of it. “We didn’t negotiate a punishment for topping from the bottom.”
“We’re taking it as it comes, remember?” He motioned to her jeans. “Pull down your pants and lay over my lap.”
Jed watched from the driver’s seat, an experienced Dom watching the interaction of a newly minted Dom with their submissive. Tru appealed to his experience. “Jed, don’t you think this is a little much? I mean, it’s not like we’ve established protocols or rules that I broke.”
His remote expression didn’t change. “Liam, be sure to cup your hand, and it’s okay to spank her upper thighs too. She has enough meat on her bones to handle it. Thank God.”
She looked from Jed to Liam, and she realized that she’d pushed them too far. They were willing to go along with her zany ideas, but topping from the bottom was a hard limit for them. Tru had to admit that she wouldn’t like it if they manipulated her either.
As she unzipped her jeans, she wondered something. “If I hadn’t delayed opening my chute, would you still be angry with me?”
“Yes.” Jed answered, no hesitation in his voice. “Liam wanted to spank you before you jumped.”
Liam slid to the center of the seat, and Tru arranged her bare ass over his legs. He wasted no time. “This is for topping from the bottom.” He slapped her ass hard, no doubt leaving a handprint where it stung. Then he did it twice more. “This is for manipulation, which is just as bad as an outright lie.” He spanked her three more times, stinging her tender flesh with the force of his displeasure. “This is because you broke the law and you put your life in danger.” He followed that up with three more swats. “And this is so you remember not to do it again.” Four more rounded out the punishment.
Her ass smarted. Though she loved a good spanking, this wasn’t the kind that made her pussy damp with anticipation. The car door at her feet opened, and she felt herself lifted. Liam slid toward her head and out that door, and Jed took Liam’s place.
“Double the Doms, double the punishment, Princess.” He caressed her stinging skin, and she exhaled a hiss through her teeth. “I hadn’t even realized that you were topping from the bottom, but that’s exactly what you’ve done. For that, and for trying to get me to intervene in your punishment, you get five more.” He delivered those quickly, and although he was larger and more muscular than Liam, he didn’t hit as hard—though it was definitely hard enough.
When he finished, he sat her up and cradled her in his lap. She hadn’t cried during the punishment—it hadn’t hurt all that much—but now a single tear fell from her eye. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You’re right. I was being manipulative and topping from the bottom. And I shouldn’t have been so blatant about trying to get you to talk Liam out of punishing me.”
Jed’s dark brows came together, forming a severe wing over his chocolate eyes. “Blatant? You shouldn’t have tried at all. I will never interfere with his right to punish you, just as he won’t interfere with mine.”
She’d already noted how well they worked together. She lowered her gaze. “Sorry, Sir.”
Jed kissed her forehead and got out of the car to return to the driver’s seat.
Though it wasn’t comfortable, she leaned forward to peer into the front seat where Liam had gone. “I’m sorry, Sir. It won’t happen again.”
Liam nodded, accepting her apology. “You won’t go base jumping again?”
Tru wiggled back into her jeans. “I didn’t say that. I’d never rule out a chance to base jump. Next time I’ll stick the landing.”
Base Jumping at Colt’s Place
Professionalism of staff..................................................5
Friendliness of staff..........................................................5
Punishment for topping from the bottom....Effective
She left the last category off the final post, but she did include a portion of the video Liam had taken.
Chapter Fourteen
Zangari’s Fetish Inn had been a quaint seaside rooming house at the turn of the Nineteenth century. It had catered to those who’d come long distances to work in the fishing industry. Over the years it had passed through many hands, and in the 70’s, Alex’s grandparents had overhauled it and turned it into a vacation house for their eleven children and their extended family. It had witnessed birthday parties, midnight bonfires with marshmallows perfectly browned or scorched beyond saving, romantic proposals, three break-ins, epic arguments, whispered secrets, stolen kisses, four births, and six deaths. Echoes of love and laughter were still sometimes carried on the wind.
It had eventually fallen into disrepair, and when it had come to Alex, he’d remodeled it yet again—this time with an eye for opening a retreat for those in the D/s lifestyle.
The trees surrounding the remotely placed Inn, mostly Leyland cypress and madrone with the odd birch or maple mixed in for color, cleared. Zangari’s was a long, two-story building with white clapboard siding. Two other buildings on the property, neither of which had been there the last time Tru had visited, were situated farther down the path. Behind the inn, land fell away, and cloudless, early evening blue sky—like Liam’s eyes—filled the endless expanse. Though closer spaces were open, Jed found a parking place at the far end of the lot. He and Liam got out of the car, and the two of them studied their surroundings.
Tru felt at home here. Not only had she helped Alex with the design, but she’d discovered and explored her submissive and lightly masochistic sides under its considerable roof. Only when Alex had developed romantic feelings for her had she fled. Over the past few years, she hadn’t been back nearly as much as she would have liked. The two new buildings puzzled her. One of them looked suspiciously like a house, and the other looked like it could hold more rooms, but she didn’t understand why Alex hadn’t simply expanded the main structure if he wanted to expand. But the house—Jewell had been hinting at wanting a domicile separate from the inn for at least two years.
It looked like her friend had successfully lobbied for her dream home. Tru exited the back seat and stood stiffly next to the car. Her butt was sore. It had been a long time since her bottom had experienced lingering soreness.
She bent over, stretching to touch her toes. It helped her legs and lower back, but not her ass. When she stood up, Jed caged her in his arms, trapping her between his body and the car. He kissed her, lightly grazing his lips across hers before deepening it. She gripped his shirt and lost herself in the sweet bliss. Jed pressed her back, lifting her leg so that he could better grind his pelvis against her pussy area. She moaned, and he trailed sucking kisses down her neck and across her shoulder.
“Are you guys going to get the suitcases, or are you going to have sex in the parking lot?”
Jed tapered off the kissing. She emerged from her sugar high to find Liam returning to the car. “Where did you go?”
Liam gestured to a bin diagonally across the lot. “I th
rew out the trash from lunch.”
Tru felt bad that she hadn’t helped clean out the car. She looked to Jed. “We should get the bags.”
Jed leaned in. It looked like he was going to kiss her neck again, but he whispered. “He was filming the plates of all the cars in the lot so we can run them later. Don’t feel bad, Princess. We were the distraction.”
The trunk of the car opened, and Liam hauled out four suitcases and two garment bags. Most of the luggage belonged to Tru, who had been traveling for weeks. Tru slipped under Jed’s arm. “I’ll feel bad if Liam carries all these suitcases by himself.”
She tried to take her two pieces of luggage, but Jed and Liam each took one from her. She knew better than to argue the point. Instead she took the two garment bags. One contained dresses, and the other belonged to the guys. She guessed at two FBI-issued black suits. Slinging the bags over her shoulder, she hurried across the parking lot so she could open the door for her men.
Before she was close enough to reach the handle, the door burst open. A petite woman streaked down the walkway, shrieking. “Tru—I can’t believe you’re really here.”
Knowing Jewell’s penchant for enthusiastic greetings, Tru stopped walking and braced herself for impact. When Jewell hugged, she expected the other person to bear the brunt of the force. It was a petite person thing, maybe.
One step from Tru, Jewell leaped, limbs spread like an octopus torpedo, and landed with too much force. Tru tumbled backward, her feet tripping over suitcases, and that did nothing to help her regain her balance. Holding loosely onto both Jewell and the garment bags, Tru teetered backward, and hands and a strong body halted her fall. With Jewell wrapped around her, she shot Liam a grateful smile as he set her back on her feet.
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