Chapter Eleven

A spanking. They were going to give her a proper spanking, not just a casual swat to her ass as Aidan passed her in the kitchen. Even the one last night didn’t count because their hearts hadn’t been in it. They’d been doing it for her, getting nothing from it themselves.

This would be for all of them.

Aidan tucked his crop back into his kit before folding his arms. He looked stern and imposing, his biceps, deltoids, and pecs all bulging.

She wanted to bite him. Bite those muscles. He’d bite her back. He seemed to have found out he enjoyed leaving his mark on her. Tristan always had.

The surprise orgasm had taken the edge off, but only for a while. She needed her Masters’ hands on her. Needed both of them to hurt her and pleasure her and love her.

Tristan stood beside Aidan, his eyes roaming up and down her body. “Why are you being punished?”

Carys knew what he wanted. She cleared her throat, speaking up so the crowd could hear her. Gabe seemed to have gotten control of whatever asshole needed to learn a thing or two before he came back into a club. “Because I was a bad girl, Sir.”

Her toppiest Dom smirked. “Yes, you were, but let’s hear some specifics.”

Aidan sighed. “Be very specific. How can you learn if you don’t understand what you did wrong?”

He was getting into his role. In a way he never had before. She’d often worried she and Tris were far more invested in the lifestyle than Aidan was, but he seemed to have found his groove tonight.

It made her start to think this could work. It made her question if her anger was truly worth breaking them over.

“I forgot to address you properly,” she began.

Aidan nodded. “Ten.”

Ah, so this was how they were going to play it.

“What else?” Tristan asked.

She thought about the evening. How had she “fucked up” next. “I looked up without permission.”

“True. Five.” Tristan paused for a long, dramatic moment. “Anything else?”

Carys exhaled, anticipation and fear punching against one another in her gut. They were serious, and she had the sudden, delicious worry she might not be able to handle them. “I didn’t obey your orders, Sirs.”

Aidan nodded. “Be specific. How many orders?”

They weren’t giving her a damn inch. “I’m not exactly sure, Sir.”

Tristan shrugged. “If you don’t give me a number, I’m going to say twenty and use that to calculate.”

Carys licked her lips as her brain worked furiously. They’d ordered her to kneel at least twice. Did it count as one order, repeated, or two? They’d also told her to strip, and she’d obeyed in the end, but only because they’d helped her. Then Tristan told her to cover up, and given she was still naked with her thong stuffed into her pussy in a weird, sexy wedgie, she hadn’t obeyed. Finally, he’d told her to spread her pussy so he could look at her. She’d tried, but again failed.

She could say three. Knees, cover up, pussy on display.

It was risky, because what if he counted each time he’d told her to kneel as one order? He’d given the command at least twice. And what if he was counting the strip command, since technically she hadn’t done it? He’d been the one to remove her corset.

“Ten, Sir,” she said softly.

Tristan stilled. “Ten? You sure?”

She tried to project some kind of confidence. “Yes, Sir. I rounded up, but I’m sure.”

He studied her. “Fifty.”

In addition to the fifteen she was already getting or total?

“There’s one more,” Aidan said, warning in his tone.

How could she possibly forget? She was still shaking a bit on the inside from how she could feel both of their hands on her pussy, their fingers tangling together as they rubbed her clit. She hadn’t been able to hold back. “Yes, Sir. I came without permission.”

“Yes, you did.” Tristan gripped her chin, forcing her head up. “Did you know how close you were?”

“No. I didn’t realize I was so…” Hungry. Needy. Ready. She wasn’t sure which word to use because they were all correct.

There was a look in her Dom’s eyes. Almost like pain.

“It’s been too long since I gave you what you need.” The years he’d been away were there, stamped on his handsome face.

She was already softening toward him. She’d been here with Aidan, their physical presence a connection to who they’d been. He’d been utterly alone. “What we both need.”

Tris moved in, kissing her cheek and then her mouth. “I need you so much. So much I can’t stand it, brat.”

With that he adjusted the restraints quickly, loosening the straps that bound her to the frame. She could suddenly stand easily and her arms weren’t taut above her head. But he also didn’t take her down, indicating he wasn’t going to put her over a lap. He wanted to give her more freedom of movement but he wasn’t letting her free.

Tris turned back to the audience. “One more tip. Don’t be afraid to be tender and affectionate. Only assholes think a good Dom is strict all the time.”

He let a long moment pass. Another form of torture.

“Time for your punishment.” Tristan’s voice was back to cool and stern, but his hand was hot as he stroked her back and ass.

“First we get rid of these.” Aidan grabbed her thong and yanked it down.

She gasped as the wet fabric was jerked away from her pussy. Her clit throbbed and she moaned.

Aidan crouched down, helping her step out of her underwear. He grabbed her ass with one big hand and used the hold to steady himself as he stood, but not before he’d taken a deep inhale, breathing in the scent of her arousal. Once he was upright, he petted her butt with a feather-light touch that made her sure her ass was in for it.

“If you’re spanking your sub for punishment, it’s your job to make sure you keep it simple, so all they have to focus on is the punishment,” Tristan explained.

It was clear Tris was in teaching mode, but Carys lost her train of thought as Aidan casually cupped and fondled her breasts with one hand.

“Ordering your sub to remain still or hold a stress position for their punishment can be useful, but they’ll have to concentrate on more than their submission and the sensations from the spanking,” Tristan said in an academic tone. If she hadn’t had tenderness with him the moment before, she might have thought he was detached. “And you check their ass for heat levels. Most importantly, you fucking ask. Communication. It works wonders.”

Carys wanted to smile, but Aidan was pinching and rolling her nipples with pressure that was too light. She wanted it harder. It was building again, the minor orgasm they’d given her all used up. She needed more.

“You have two options for this setup.” Tris gestured to the frame. “Either you also bring a chair or a bench of some kind, and you put your sub over your knee. Or, you can keep her standing, arms restrained. But you need to hold her in place. Give her something to push against so she can concentrate on the spanking. If you’re boring, you could restrain her again on the frame. I have another idea for holding my sub in place while my partner spanks her.”

Tristan’s hand slid between her legs. Carys spread her feet, welcoming the feel of his hot, hard hand. She wasn’t sure what he was planning, but she was going with it.

He palmed her pussy, almost massaging it.

“You earned sixty-five spanks,” her Dom said.

Carys didn’t bother to hide her wince. This was going to hurt.

The wince became a smile. The hurt would lead her somewhere magical.

“Thank you, Sirs.”

Aidan brushed back her hair. “You think I’m going to go easy on you since it’s been a while?”

It had been so long, and never like this. “No, Sir. At least, I hope not.”

His hand rested on the small of her back, right above her ass.

“You’re going to count them. Loud enough so everyone can hear.” Aidan’s lips brushed her hair. “Loud enough to make sure everyone in the club looks over here and watches us spank your sweet ass.”

Carys’s mouth went dry with arousal, and it took everything she had to stay still and patient, her body sandwiched between the two of them.

“What I’m about to do helps if you have a partner, though I assure you all I could do it on my own if I had to. Part of being in the kind of relationship I’m in with my subs is understanding that every now and then, one of us won’t be around. We have to lean on each other. So she’s never alone.” There was a deep tone to his voice that gave away the emotion he was feeling. Tristan had obviously felt their distance, too. Felt the miles and minutes and hours and days. He straightened up. “I’m going to use my sub’s pussy to keep her still.”

A thrill of…fear…arousal…plain WTF…went through Carys.

“Since you can’t see, I’ll tell you. I’m going to put two fingers deep in my sub’s very nice pussy.” Tristan matched action to words, his index and middle fingers first parting her labia. His hand slid down, fingertips finding her entrance.

He thrust two fingers up into her. Hard and deep. Filling her and possessing her.

This position put the heel of his hand right against her clit. His index and pinkie fingers rested along the outside of her labia.

Tristan curled his fingers inside her, hitting her G-spot, and Carys moaned, leaning against him. He pressed in again, forcing her ass back and up slightly. It felt like heaven.

“Louder,” her Dom demanded. He ground his palm against her clit, his fingers curling inside her in a tiny come here finger curl.

Carys let out a high, stuttering moan of pleasure.

“Now I control her lower body.” Tristan brought Carys two baby steps forward. This was why he’d adjusted the overhead hold. Now she could bend over a bit. He used her pussy as a handle to move her around until she was right where he wanted her—bent over, ass out, pussy throbbing with need.

“Now if she jumps and tries to move away from the spanking, my control of her pussy and the restraints will keep her in place,” Tristan explained. “Master Aidan, our submissive is ready.”

She was so ready.

Aidan’s right hand swirled over her butt cheeks in a looping figure eight pattern.

She knew what was coming, knew what it meant when his hand lifted away from her skin. Yet the first spank took her by surprise.

Pain. Hard and real and hitting her like a shock to her system.

Carys gasped in both shock as a bright spot blossomed on her left ass cheek. The surface sting was there and gone, but a faint heat remained.

Tristan’s fingers stroked gently, a stunning contrast to the pain. “Don’t forget your count, love.”

“One, Sir.”

The second blow was just as hard, but on the other cheek.

This wasn’t a slap and tickle. Wasn’t the lackluster spankings vanilla people liked to play around with. This was pain and domination. This was being helpless and yet so safe.

By the fifteenth spank her entire ass felt warm, from the top of her cheeks all the way to her thighs. Most of the blows had gone to the sensitive spot where ass met thigh, and she was already feeling tender.

“Spread your legs,” Aidan commanded.

Carys obeyed.

Slap. The top of her left cheek.

“Sixteen, Master.”

Another smack.

“Seventeen, Master.”

“Louder.” Aidan punctuated the command with a blow that spanned both thighs, sending Tristan’s fingers even deeper into her.

Carys let out a loud, long moan of pain and pleasure.

Aidan didn’t stop.

Her skin felt hot and tender, almost like it was sunburned. Now the surface sting, which had faded quickly at the start of the spanking, lingered. It was a sharper sensation than the deep heat slowly building.

By thirty she was twitching, jerking with each blow. But Tristan’s hand cupped and controlled her pussy, keeping her right where he wanted her.

At forty, she started to cry. Not tears of pain.

Tears of release.

She was in a place she’d never been before, all her boundaries blown away in the face of the way these men worshipped her. She’d never felt as connected to them as she did tonight, and she believed them. They hadn’t meant to marginalize her. She hadn’t communicated. She’d let her fear and insecurity rule her.

Carys dropped her head, watching teardrops hit the matte black stage under her feet. Every single one felt like an offering, a way to honor the last years but to also let them go.

“You good, love?” Tristan asked softly.

She was beyond good. She was lighter than she’d been before, and yet more herself than she’d been in years. “Yes, Sir.”

He curled his fingers inside her, and pleasure threaded through the pain. “You’re done counting. All you need to do is submit to your punishment.”

“Yes, Sir.”

She’d thought maybe he’d make the final twenty-five either fast, light, or both.

Instead, the next spank was the hardest one so far. Carys screamed, pushing up onto her toes.

“Back in your position,” Tristan barked.

If he’d been soft or gentle she might have wavered, but those words were an order from her Master. An order she not only wanted, but needed to obey.

She complied, and he rewarded her by rubbing her clit with the heel of his hand.

“Tell him how he’s making you feel,” Tristan whispered. “He’s doing so well, but he worries.”

Aidan. Her beautiful boy, her loving man. “It’s perfect, Master Aidan. It’s everything I need. I can already… It’s easier to breathe now.”

“For me, too, baby.” She could hear the relief in Aidan’s tone. “But don’t think I’m done.”

Tristan kept up the clit stimulation with one hand as Aidan rained hard, sharp spanks over her burning ass. The pain and pleasure were no longer two sides of the same coin. There wasn’t much separation between them.

There was only sensation. Sensation and release.

Carys was alternately screaming and moaning, and even she wasn’t sure if the sounds were more pain or pleasure.

“Two more, and I’m not going to go easy on you baby.”

Carys sniffled, the tears that streamed from her eyes also making her nose water. “I don’t want easy.”

“No,” Aidan agreed, one finger slipping between her ass cheeks to gently stroke her there.

She pushed back, seeking the double penetration. It had been too, too long since she’d had them both, her body connecting all three of them. She’d almost stopped dreaming about it. Almost.

Instead, he spanked her left cheek, the sound cracking through the club. He’d hit her right where she felt the most tender, the most heat.

Carys yelled out, and waves of sensation rolled from her prickling scalp down to her toes and back.

Then he spanked her right ass cheek. She didn’t have air to scream, but her body arched, a movement so intense Tristan’s fingers almost slipped out of her sopping wet pussy.

“Punishment over,” Tristan declared. “Do you want our cocks?”

More than anything. She’d worried this would be the moment she hesitated, but there wasn’t even a glimmer of a thought of turning them down. “Yes, Sir. Please, please.”

Aidan groaned behind her, and she felt him rub his cock against her sensitive ass. “Where do you want it?”

“Anywhere,” she moaned. “Everywhere.”

“Right answer.” Tristan stroked her once more and then eased his fingers out of her pussy. He held them up to her lips. “Taste.”

She licked his fingers, tasting her own arousal. He shoved his thumb in, forcing her to take more. It was a sure imitation of what he wanted from her.

Every cell in her body felt electric as he removed the restraints, tossing them to the side. Her hands were free, and she knew what she wanted to do with them.

“Knees, Carys,” Tristan ordered. “Then take out my cock. Aidan, I think our poor sub’s pussy needs something to fill it.”

“I think I can handle it,” Aidan said with a deep chuckle.

Oh, how she wanted to turn her head and watch as Aidan untied his leathers, see his big, gorgeous cock that would split her pussy wide while she sucked on Tristan. But she couldn’t handle another spanking, and they were damn serious about her obedience this evening. So she lowered herself to the padded floor and worked the ties of Tristan’s leathers. She glanced up and caught sight of the hungry look on his face.

He smoothed back her hair, mouthing the words she’d longed to hear for two and a half years.

I love you.

They were a balm to her soul. She could do this. She could find a way to forgive him, to trust he wouldn’t leave them again.

She took his big cock in her hands, and her Master’s eyes closed in obvious pleasure.

She leaned in and licked his cockhead as she felt Aidan moving behind her. His hand flattened against the small of her back.

“Hands and knees, baby,” Aidan ordered.

Tristan dropped to his knees, spreading them wide in a masculine approximation of how she greeted him.

Surrender. He was telling her it didn’t merely go one way.

She leaned over to bring her mouth to his cock. The movement sent her ass in the air, and Aidan lost no time. His hands found her hips as she licked Tristan’s cock and brought him into her mouth. She groaned as she felt Aidan’s cock slide across her pussy before starting to thrust inside.

Pure sensation. They’d primed her body with perfection, the pain amplifying every second of pleasure.

Tristan’s hands cupped her head, taking control of her movements and showing off the fact that he and Aidan hadn’t lost their perfect rhythm. They fell into their roles with ease, as though nothing had ever gone wrong between them.

Carys let Tristan use her mouth, allowing him to move in and out, finding his rhythm and synch with Aidan, whose cock stroked over and over inside her, pushing her to the brink again.

Heat pierced through her, and then Tristan gave her hair a sharp tug.

“You take care of me first. You take everything I give you. Swallow me down like the good sub I know you are.” He growled the words, and she could feel he was close. He sounded savage and hungry, and only she could satisfy him.

She rode the wave that rolled from Aidan through her and to Tris, leaving the rational, sensible Carys behind so she could revel in being their sub. She rolled her tongue around Tristan’s cock until she felt the first spurt of salty essence. Tristan groaned and held her hard as he stroked in again and again. She drank him down, feeling more powerful than she’d felt ever in her life.

Tris was right. She was totally an exhibitionist, and she could quickly get addicted to this. They would be playing on the dungeon floor a lot if she had any say in it.

And she did. Even as she sucked Tristan dry and felt Aidan deep in her pussy, she knew she was the one who had the power. All of this, all the pain and pleasure was for her.

“Give it to her,” Tristan commanded. “Make our good girl come like she’s never fucking come before.”

Aidan seemed to know he’d been let off the leash, and he suddenly went wild. He thrust inside her while Tristan stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

Tenderness and savagery. It was a heady combination, sending her screaming over the edge. This was no minor orgasm. This was a wildfire lit in her veins, burning away what had come before and leaving her feeling new and young.

She felt Aidan come inside her, warming her. She fell forward, but Tristan was there to catch her, Aidan’s weight pressing them all together.

A pulse of pure bliss went through her.

“You okay, baby?” He didn’t sound like a Dom now. He was her boyfriend, the man she’d loved since she was a child. Tristan was all tenderness now.

“I am perfect,” she replied with a smile. “But I will definitely require some aftercare.”

* * * *

Tristan stood in the lounge, looking out over the dungeon floor, feeling better than he had in…years. It had been years since his soul felt so settled. Since he wasn’t thinking about who he was hurting and who was looking to hurt him.

He’d spent hours taking care of Carys with Aidan. Hours where they’d ensured her skin was okay, that she was relaxed and happy. Hours healing his relationship with the man who held a part of his soul. Topping Carys together and then caring for her had worked miracles when it came to Aidan.

He’d answered every question they’d had. Told them about why he’d done the things he’d done. What it had felt like to realize he had all this responsibility on him and no one to talk to. It had been a hard conversation made so much easier because they were all naked and in bed together.

Now they were napping in a privacy room, but he was too wound up.

The club, however, was starting to wind down. The main stage was dark, and there were only two of the smaller scene spaces being used. He’d been told Gabriel Lodge had given the baby Doms a long lecture before sending them to the locker room for the night. Daisy and Kenz had apparently spent time talking to the subs, discussing the scenes they’d watched.

Tris took a long swig of the beer he’d snagged from the bar and looked out over the dungeon floor with a sense of deep satisfaction. The club wasn’t perfect. It was definitely a downgrade from The Court, the DC club he visited from time to time, but it felt like he belonged here.

He wished he’d been one of the people to work on the space. It didn’t matter. He’d been gone and now he was back, and he would do the work it took to be a real member again.

Damn, but he felt good. He felt right. Like something had magically fallen into place. Like he was back where he belonged, and he was never leaving again.

“What is that thing on your face, brother?”

He turned and Zach moved in beside him, a beer in his hand. They were the only two in the lounge, the sub who worked the bar having long since gone home. The Hideout was big enough to have a bar but small enough it wasn’t always manned. It was cool. Most of them knew how to grab their own beers.

“Thing on my face?” Tris asked. The lights were still set at play level, giving the whole place a club atmosphere, and he was reminded there was still some fun going on downstairs since he could hear the snap of a whip and then a masculine groan. “Are Kala and Coop still at it?”

Zach snorted and leaned against the railing, looking out over the dungeon. “They are hardcore, and so fucked up it hurts to watch them. Is the problem with them that they’re both tops? Also, I was talking about the smile on your face. I don’t think I’ve seen you smile before. It looks weird on you, man.”

He playfully gave his friend the finger. “Fuck you, but also, I am happy tonight. And the problem with Coop and Kala started a long time ago. They never discuss it but one day they were doing this sort of dating thing, going on doubles with me and Carys and A, and the next she didn’t talk to him for a year. They got back to being something like friends before the end of high school, and then rarely saw each other until Drake and Taylor brought the twins in and they built the team.”

Zach nodded as though he’d had something confirmed for him. “Kala says her dad forced her to take Coop on the team. I’ve never believed that.”

“Because it’s a lie she tells herself.” He didn’t want to think about Kala and Cooper tonight. He wasn’t sure they were salvageable, and he didn’t blame Kala for all of their problems. She’d been so in love with him as a kid she would have forgiven him almost anything. So whatever had happened, it had been bad. He studied Zach. “You know you have a weird expression on your face, too. Almost like you had a nice night. Did I see you with Devi?”

He could have sworn when he’d looked out in the audience, he’d seen Devi standing in front of Zach, one of his hands almost possessively resting on her shoulder.

Zach’s lips kicked up. “Well, you know I’m not a man to kiss and tell, but I did get the chance to spend some time with her. After she got brave enough to come looking for me. Turns out she’s kind of got a crush on me.”

Zach seemed pleased with himself, but there were problems with the scenario. “She’s TJ’s sister, you know.”

Though he’d been given a hearty lecture from his own sister about staying out of her romantic choices. He would. He would totally stay out of them until the moment she picked an asshole who hurt her, and then he would kill the son of a bitch. See. He was allowing her to make her own choices.

He wasn’t sure how TJ would feel about his sister hanging around big, dangerous-looking Zach.

“I am well aware, and I wouldn’t have played with her at all if I wasn’t interested in seeing where it goes,” Zach said. “I’ve always thought she was cute. Now I know she’s beautiful and funny and kind of awesome. Did you know she’s a fashion designer? Erin and Theo Taggart’s daughter designs fancy dresses.”

“She definitely gets it from Theo,” Tris snarked. Aunt Erin was not known for her fashion sense. Her ability to take out the bad guys in numerous violent ways was another story. “But seriously, I don’t know she’s someone you should play around with. You might think because her mom’s super tough, she is, too.”

Zach turned his way, his expression going serious. “I didn’t say I was playing.”

But Tris knew something Zach hadn’t mentioned. “We all know how you feel about Tasha.”

“And she’s marrying someone else. Look, I admit I had a hell of a torch for that woman, and I have the scars to prove it. But I am capable of moving on, and I’m not pining. I never expected she would care for me the way I wanted her to. I’m happy she’s found someone she loves.” Zach paused as though he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to continue. Then he sighed and took another swig of beer. “I think it’s all the coupling up going on around me. I might be like hormonal or something, but I’ve kind of started to think I want a real relationship with a woman I could come to love. And I think I might have found her tonight.”

Tris actually felt his jaw drop. Zach was kind of the player of the group. He was the one they sent in when they needed a guy to flirt with a target. Cooper was incapable of charming anyone who wasn’t Kala Taggart, though it was kind of wasted on her. And Tris himself wouldn’t because he was taken even when he pretended he wasn’t. “Big Tag’s going to be so upset. Unless you plan on keeping work and home separate things.”

Zach snorted. “Nah. If this thing works between us, I’ll have to close down my honey pot days.” He chuckled. “I kind of never thought I would settle down. And it’s like super early between us, so don’t take this as a promise or anything, but I will be able to tell TJ I’m serious about giving it a shot. We have a date planned. We’re going to go to dinner and maybe a movie. That’s good, right? It’s a normal person date?”

He said the words like he’d had to consider them for more than a hot minute. “Dude, when was the last time you dated?”

Zach seemed to think for a moment. “I went out with Leah Johnson all my senior year of college, but mostly we fucked in the back room of the GameStop we both worked at. She was the assistant manager, so I was kind of screwing my superior. Mostly we fucked and tried out new games after hours. She was excellent at first-person shooters. I tried to convince her to go into the Army. But we went to the Chili’s for lunch most days. That’s a date, right?”

He and Zach had talked a lot over the years. He probably knew Zach better than anyone on the team. But they hadn’t talked much about prior relationships. Now he wondered if it was because Zach hadn’t had any. “Nope. Eating skillet queso during your lunch break after getting it on in the break room doesn’t qualify as a date. Are you telling me you didn’t date in high school? College?”

Zach groaned and moved from the landing to one of the comfy couches. “See, this is why I only talk about sports and manly shit. Big Tag is right. All the other stuff is bullshit.”

“Well, I’m sure that attitude is going to serve you well with the artistic sub you seem to want to experiment with.” Tris joined him. He knew he should go back to the privacy room where his subs were sleeping, but he was fascinated with a side of Zach he’d never thought he would see. What had Devi done to the man? Zach seemed like all Dom all the time, and not the one who was looking for a particular sub. It had kind of made sense when he’d found out Zach thought he was in love with Tasha. He kept his encounters to the surface, always explaining what he was willing to give and what he wasn’t willing to give. Always, always, always with a contract. Actually, now that he thought about it… “Whoa, did you talk to her or did you…because you don’t like carry around a contract. Tell me you don’t have a blank contract for the subs you sleep with.”

Zach’s head fell back, and he groaned. “I wish I could, man. But no, I did not have Devi Taggart sign a contract.”

Tris breathed a sigh of relief. So this was still at the talking stage. “Good, because again, I think you should be careful with her. You’re gone a lot, and I think she probably needs more stability.”

A brow rose over Zach’s eyes. “More than Carys and Aidan need? Because what happened on stage tonight looked pretty fucking serious.”

Well, he had to tell him sometime. “It was serious. I’m out. I’m going to let Big Tag get me out of my contract, and I’ll only work for our team from now on. After this op, I’m handing the whole Jester mission to you and Tara, and I know you’ll find someone who can do a magnificent job. Hell, Taylor Radcliffe might want to take it herself. She’s good at this kind of an op. She can’t physically be The Jester, but she can handle anything online. You can do all the physical stuff.”

“Uh, I was going to talk to my CO about maybe moving my base of operations from DC to Dallas and focusing as much as I possibly can on our team,” Zach admitted.

Again, he was floored. “That must have been a hell of a talk if you’re willing to give up The Court.”

Tris went every now and then when he felt like he needed to keep his skills up or when there was a social event requiring his attention. Zach was there all the time.

“I prefer this place. I know The Court is luxurious and stuff, but I’m… I think I’m more me here. Or I’m becoming the me I want to be. Yep, I’m just going to do it. We never tell Big Tag this conversation happened. Am I clear?”

Oh, he was so deeply curious. Zach seemed like a rock. He wasn’t exactly forthcoming when it came to personal stuff. They’d been working together for years. Zach was the one who took care of the subs Tris topped at The Court since he would never touch one in a sexual fashion.

Huh, had he been trying to replace Aidan? Like he always needed a partner…

He shoved the self-reflection aside because finding out what made Zach tick seemed way more interesting. “As crystal.”

Zach sat back. “Okay, and if I get too…I don’t know…personal, tell me, but I might need some advice because I don’t date and I don’t want to scare this girl off. I can be intense, though she handled me fine tonight. So I didn’t date in high school because I didn’t have time. My dad ran off when I was young, though not before he knocked my mom up twice. She was actually super smart. She was like a STEM girl before it was a thing.”

“You have a sibling?” It was news to him.

“I do, but we didn’t grow up together,” Zach said, taking a quick sip of his beer. “By the time she was pregnant the second time, she’d gotten into trouble. She ran into the kinds of problems a single mom can, including owing money to people who don’t send you to a collection agency, if you know what I mean.”

Well, he’d heard Zach had some unsavory connections. “I do indeed. So she what? Sold the kid?”

“I believe gave up for adoption is the term we typically use, though I always wondered. She was in prison for cooking designer drugs when she gave birth. I was only a year old at the time, so I often wonder why she didn’t give me up, too. It was a closed adoption, and even after she eventually got out, she wouldn’t talk about it. I only know the kid exists because of my aunt.”

“The one who worked with Big Tag?” He’d heard the story about Zach’s heroic aunt who did some work with the big boss when he was in the Green Berets. The aunt had been thrilled when she’d found out her nephew would be working under the man she’d so admired.

Zach nodded. “The one who gave up her military career so I didn’t go into foster care. Needless to say, we lived in a small town and we struggled. So when other guys were partying, I worked two jobs so we could keep the trailer we lived in.”

It appeared there was a reason Zach rarely talked about his family. “How long was your mom in jail?”

“She did seven years, and then she got out and got involved in some other bad shit. She lived with my aunt and I for a few years, and then one day when I was fourteen, the cops came looking for her and I haven’t seen her again,” Zach explained. “My aunt told me she didn’t want me to come visit, and I honored her choice. Even when she was around she wasn’t, you know. She was always hustling, doing whatever she could to make money. Illegally, of course. It’s not like she got a job that used her degree in a good way. I wonder what she could have been if she hadn’t met my father. It was my dad who got her into trouble. He worked for some bad people, and she fell in with them. According to my aunt, he enjoyed the idea of corrupting some egghead scientist. So she’s probably cooking meth somewhere or dead. I don’t know. Anyway, I didn’t date because I worked. I managed to scrape together enough to get through college and then went into the Army. I liked the Army, but it’s also not particularly conducive to a relationship.”

And he had some unresolved conflict with his mother that would lead to distrust and abandonment issues when it came to women.

Tris had helped test Aidan and Carys when they were undergrads. He’d really gotten something out of the psych classes they’d taken. “What changed?”

Zach seemed to think about it for a moment. “The team. Being around Ian and Charlotte. Making some friends I can actually count on. I started this whole journey… Well, let’s just say my plans upended and the things I wanted back then aren’t what I want now. Now I want to work with my team and come to the club with a sub who I take care of for more than an orgasm. One who sees me as more than a Dom. I want what the people in this crazy group want. You know I was sent in by the higher-ups to find anything I could to discredit this experiment.”

Their team worked differently than other Agency teams. Tris could understand why some people would worry about them. Change was scary. “I think we all suspected. But we got to you.”

Zach shrugged. “You could say that. My bosses aren’t happy with me, but there’s not a lot they can do. I’m not giving them anything they could use to dismantle the team. We have to be careful, though. We’ve been vigilant about protecting the twins, but if it gets out…”

“They’ll both be in danger,” Tris concluded.

“We’ll all be in danger.” Zach turned solemn. “Have you thought about the fact that the attack might not have been about TJ?”

Only every minute since it had happened. “You think someone knows I took over The Jester’s identity? I’ve been very careful. When we needed a physical presence, I sent someone else. Always someone different, and we never gave them the full information. If it’s gotten out, then we have a leak.”

It was absolutely his worst fear.

“I’m worried about it,” Zach agreed. “No one knew where you were. TJ’s kept a low profile.”

“But it’s not hard to guess TJ was probably going to be at his cousin’s wedding,” Tristan pointed out. “The bigger problem is why they would attack the way they did. TJ can’t talk if he’s dead.”

“It could be a message. I want you and TJ to be on the lookout for any odd communication that could be read as a threat.” Zach shifted, his gaze going over to the stairs leading up from the dungeon floor. “Hey.”

The biggest smile came over Zach’s face, lighting him up.

Devi strode into the lounge wearing street clothes. A plain white top over jeans she rolled up at the feet for a casual look, her red hair flowing around her shoulders. She was quite lovely when he thought about it. She’d always been a little sister to him.

And she had absolutely no time for anyone except Zach. “Hello, Sir.”

Zach looked weird. Giddy. Like he was the one with a crush. He stood and immediately got into her space, his hands going to her hips while he loomed over her. “You want to get some waffles?”

She was grinning as she tilted her head up. “Sounds wonderful.”

Then Zach leaned down and kissed her. Not a friendly kiss. More like a “I’m going to inhale you like I’ve never breathed before” kiss. It went on for a while. He wondered if they were going to go at it right here. Finally, the captain came up for air.

Zach smoothed back her hair, looking at her like he’d never seen a woman before. “I’ll meet you downstairs. I’ve got to grab my bag.”

She nodded and walked away. She probably hadn’t even noticed Tris was there.

“I thought you were talking to her. You two played, and maybe something more,” Tris said, trying not to make it an accusation. “You told me you didn’t sleep with her.”

Zach’s head shook as he tossed the beer into the trash. “No. I said we didn’t sign a contract. And that should tell you something. I don’t lose my head often. I’m going to have some waffles and probably stay up way too late, but hey, I can sleep when I’m dead. See you soon, brother.”

Zach practically jogged down the stairs.

“Who the hell was that? Because the Zach I know doesn’t smile like that.” Aidan walked into the lounge from the entrance leading back to the privacy rooms on this floor.

Carys was behind him, wrapped in a robe and looking soft and sexy and sleepy. “I thought I saw him with Devi.”

Why was Aidan letting her walk? He was going to have a talk with his partner. Tristan strode to Carys and had her in his arms in a heartbeat. “I think we’ll be seeing more of them together. Zach’s got a crush. Now I think we should get you home and into bed, and I am not sleeping on the floor tonight. We’re going to give TJ a break and let Kala back into her bedroom.”

Carys’s head drifted to his shoulder, her whole body relaxed in his arms. “You better have coffee at your place.”

He hadn’t actually been to his place in a long time, but Cooper drank coffee. “I promise.”

Aidan yawned and stretched. “It’ll be good to sleep in a bed. That couch thing at the twins’ is torture. I like a big bed.”

Tristan’s was a California king. Built for all three of them. “And I like to please my subs.”

Aidan groaned, but he didn’t argue.

They were making progress.

Now all they had to do was survive Huisman and he could get back to his real life. To his life with them.