Chapter Six

Josh settled her into the seat, his gut in knots.

What the hell had gone wrong? It was a nice Sunday outside. He'd looked forward to spending more time with his brand-spanking-new girlfriend, and this time maybe they would get to the actual spanking. In his head he'd seen a nice breakfast, showing her around the ranch, watching Sunday football, sneaking off to fuck her again, and then Sunday dinner and more fucking. Very wholesome, with a side of perversion. Sure it had gone off track, but damn, he hadn't expected to see the entire congregation of the Willow Fork Baptist Church standing on the lawn, basically pointing and calling his girl a whore.

And what the hell had gotten into Alyssa's head?

"Are you okay?" This was everything his father had warned him about.

Nicole frowned up at him. "Well, I'm intimidated by you now."

Damn it. He'd been careful with her. He'd been polite and a gentleman. Sure he'd eaten her pussy and shared her with his best friend, but she hadn't seen his ruthless side. "I scared you."

Those gorgeous eyes of hers rolled. "I'm not scared, Josh. I'm annoyed. You and Grim left me and then you roll in like you own me or something. I was getting breakfast with my new friend. You're the one who chose to leave, so we didn't have plans. I'm not going to let you walk in and out whenever you want. So I would appreciate it if you would move out of my way and let me get back to my friend."

He felt his jaw clench. Damn it. He did not need her attitude this minute. She was obviously under some misconceptions. He'd been surprised when he'd gotten to the motel and found her gone. Lucky for him, he knew she'd be on foot, and it wasn't like downtown Willow Fork was hard to search. Of course there was one thing he hadn't been able to do. "Why didn't you answer your phone? I tried to call you."

Her eyes widened slightly. So she thought she had the upper hand in this minor argument. "It was almost out of battery. I forgot to charge it last night, but I checked before I left. You hadn't called me as of twenty minutes ago."

"You didn't charge your phone?" She was a woman living alone in a dangerous part of town. She needed her phone.

Now those gorgeous brown orbs narrowed in irritation. "Well, I had my mind on other things last night. I was too busy following other orders. Orders like sit on my dick, Nicole. Ride me hard, Nicole. Not once did either of the bossy men pause the sex to tell me to charge my phone, and if you say it should be unspoken or something, you're going to get the same sass I gave your evil ex. You are the one who left without a call when my phone still had a baby bit of charge, and you decided not to leave a note."

This was where he was confused. "I told you we had an emergency when we left."

Her head shook. "No, you didn't."

"Yes, I woke you up. At least I thought I did. My sister called because we have a sick bred heifer, and Grim is the vet. My dads are good at what they do, but they don't have Grim's skill." It had been a shitty morning. They'd figured out the problem and now had another twenty head to worry about. "I didn't want to leave you."

Her expression had softened. "I'm sorry. I thought you left. I thought…"

"You thought we were done." He could guess what had gone through her head. He leaned over and brushed his mouth against hers. "I'm not done, baby. Not even close. I told you I would come back out after I dropped Grim off. I intended to, but they needed me."

"Well, now I seem all full of myself and selfish since I did kind of curse your name a little."

He felt his lips tug up. "Just a little?"

She flushed a pretty pink. "Okay. I was hurt when I woke up and you weren't there. I told myself it wasn't like you promised me anything."

That was where she was wrong. He slid a hand along her jawline, tilting her head up so she had to look him in the eyes. "I promised you a lot last night, and I intend to fulfill every single one."

This time when he kissed her, he didn't hold back. He let his tongue run along her lips until she opened them and let him in. He was well aware that they were in public, but he wasn't about to hold back. She needed to know how it was going to be. His father was wrong. He understood what his dad had been trying to tell him, but Nicole could handle it. She'd handled Alyssa with ease from what he could tell.

Of course her bravado might be exactly that.

He pulled back, staring down at her. Damn, but he loved her face. He searched it to see if she was holding anything back on him. "Baby, are you okay?"

"Well, I am now," she replied, her fingers coming up to brush over his cheek. "I was way more upset when I thought you used me. But now I'm upset because I realized you have terrible taste in women."

Someone moved behind him. People were walking all up and down the street, and there was no way they were missing this scene. He'd made his point, but now he needed to get her away from here. "I'm going to be honest. Alyssa was my mistake. She was a nice girl when we were in high school, though we didn't go to the same one. If we had, I might have picked up on her mean-girl vibes. My parents kept a pretty protective circle around my sister and I, and later Grim. We went to a private school, and most of our friends had parents who were active in my parents' lifestyle. So I didn't spend a ton of time with her. Mostly at parties. I remembered her being real sweet. She came back from living in Austin for a couple of years, and I asked her out. It obviously did not work. I'd like credit for having better taste now. And, baby, I can make sure she never says a bad word around you ever again."

"I'm not sure I want to know how you would do that, Joshua Barnes." She reached over and grabbed the seatbelt, clicking herself in. "I hope you have breakfast where we're going. And that Grim's there."

There was the difference. What he hadn't told her was that Alyssa was sweet as pie to him. She'd been a little spoiled, but affectionate, and seemed so proud to be dating him, and she changed when Grim came around.

Oh, she'd slept with him. Enthusiastically, but she'd made herself plain she didn't want anyone to know about it. Grim could be their dirty secret, but he would get pushed out when the time came to settle down.

"He's there. And I will be sure to feed you." He closed the door. If he could sneak her past his momma. He planned on sneaking her into his place and introducing her later in the afternoon. After he'd explained how his parents could be…a lot.

He could handle Alyssa fine since she worked as an accountant at the meat packing plant. The one his fathers owned, along with their business partners.

What Nicole didn't know was how much this town was reliant on his family for jobs, for economic development. If his father had wanted to, he could have burned this town to the ground when they'd tried to reject Abigail Moore. Instead she'd become Abby Barnes-Fleetwood, and over the years she'd made a place for herself here. There were some people—most of them had been standing on the church lawn a few minutes ago—that still referred to her as "that woman," but his mother sometimes seemed to revel in it.

Like Nic had a few moments before. She hadn't seemed angry or embarrassed. She'd seemed annoyed.

He shut the truck door and started around the back, ignoring the looks he received.

"Shameless," someone muttered under his breath.

Yes. He was utterly shameless since he didn't think he'd done anything to be ashamed of. They could all bite his ass, and it looked like Nic was on the same page.

Of course she thought they had a time limit. She'd told him the night before she was planning on leaving. It was why he had to rush this courtship thing along.

He had no intentions of her heading off to some other job. She didn't need a job at all. He and Grim could take care of her. He slid in beside her, something still roiling through him.

He started up the truck.

"I don't remember you waking me. I sometimes sleep pretty hard," she murmured as he started down the street. "Most of the time I don't sleep. I have trouble with it so when I finally do, I tend to be out of it."

"Yeah, you seemed to be having a nasty dream last night."

There was no way to miss the fine flush crossing her face. "Did I say anything?"

She'd said a man's name. Michael, maybe. But it wasn't said like she was missing the bastard. No. She'd begged him to stop. In the dream she'd been trying to get away from him.

It was his first real clue, but he didn't want to push her about it. Not now. "You tossed and turned and seemed scared. Once Grim got his arms around you, you settled right down."

She stared out the front windshield. "That's good to know. And it explains why I slept so hard."

"Your eyes came open and everything." She'd looked soft and sweet. "We had a brief conversation. I'm sorry. I thought you would remember. I wouldn't have left you at all if we'd had another car."

"No, it was good you went with him," she said with a nod. "I'm sure he could use another set of hands. I've never been on a ranch before. You said you lived in one of the outer buildings? But Olivia lives with your parents?"

"Yeah, Grim and I moved into the guest house when we came home from college," he explained. "It's small, but it's pretty nice."

"I'm sure it is. So your dads work on this ranch, too?"

She really didn't know. She had no idea how wealthy his family was. Olivia had mentioned it the night before. His sister had approved of Nicole and said something about finding one who wasn't either impressed or turned off by their family. Impressed by the wealth they'd accumulated or turned off by their lifestyle. Nic hadn't seemed to know anything about he and Grim. "Yeah. They've worked there for most of their adult lives. Dad and Pops did. Mom didn't come around for a little while."

How much should he tell her and how much should he let her discover?

"Ranching is hard work," she said, watching the café go by as he headed toward the highway.

"As we were reminded this morning. Every day, really," he replied. "I don't remember a time when I didn't ride fences with my dads. I was born and put straight into a saddle."

Josh couldn't remember a time when he hadn't ridden. He'd followed his dads around as a kid, waking early to get to spend time with them before his mom would drive he and Olivia to school out at the resort.

It had been a great childhood. One he wanted for his own children someday.

Yeah, that was probably a good way to scare her off, so he wouldn't mention he was already long-term life planning around her.

He could be intense, or so he'd been told.

"Do you like horses? We could take a ride this afternoon."

"I've never ridden before," Nicole admitted.

"Then I'll have to teach you." He would enjoy the lessons.

She turned in her seat, a serious expression on her face. "You know I have to leave soon. Is this even worth it? I want to spend time with you and Grim, but I have to be honest. I have to leave as soon as my car is fixed."

"Okay, if you're being honest, tell me why and where you have to go," he replied.

"I told you. I have a job waiting for me."

"A job that will wait for you while your car is being fixed but won't, say, send a car to pick you up? Or make arrangements to accommodate you?" The way Josh saw it, this story of hers made no sense. If it was an important job with a big company and they wanted her there, they would make accommodations. If it was a regular job, they likely wouldn't wait for a couple of weeks. They would fill the position and move on.

She turned, staring out the window. "It's with a friend of mine. I'll be working with her. I wasn't scheduled to start until next month. I wanted to get down there early so I can find a place to live."

She did not like him asking questions. He was pushing, and he could lose her. He needed to go about this a different way. He might have to figure out her problem on his own.

He gave her a breezy smile. "Well, I'll take any time you can give me, darlin'. I know Grim feels the same way. If we don't have a lot of time, we should make the most of it, shouldn't we?"

She seemed to study him for a moment. "I guess so. I wouldn't mind seeing the two of you while I'm here. When I'm not working, of course. I usually take extra shifts if someone wants to go home. It's not like I have anything better to do, but I have all of today off. I don't have to be in until lunch tomorrow."

"I'll make sure you get back in plenty of time. But maybe you can spend the night with us."

She turned his way, a little grin on her face. "Is your place cleaner than the motel?"

That got him smiling because it had been bad. He'd taken a hot shower after lying on that floor. "You'll find Grim and I are very orderly men."

They also had a housekeeper who thoroughly cleaned twice a week, but he didn't have to mention that. He just had to get her into their place and show her how nice it could be.

"How far do you live from your parents?"

"Not far at all." Sometimes it was too close for comfort. His dates had often gotten a wave from his family as they started for home. His parents liked to have breakfast on the patio by the pool on those days. Nosy. "Did I mention my parents can be a lot?"

"I think they sound charming." Nicole's tone had gone soft. "And they've been married for a long time. I think it says something about them. They worked hard and stayed together. It's nice you get to see them often."

Every time he opened the door or looked out the window.

"Do you live in one of those dorm things?" Nicole asked. "I read about them in a book once. The workers on the ranch all lived in a big house together. The single ones. On a big ranch there can be multiple houses for the workers. I imagine your parents live in one of those."

Did she think he was a hand? "Sweetheart, you do know my parents own the ranch, right? When I say they work on the ranch, they're the owners. I work for my dad both in the field, and my sister and I handle a lot of the day-to-day operations of the business."

A wary look had come over her face. "I thought most ranches were corporate owned these days."

"Yes, my parents own the corporation. See. That's our name right there." He pointed out the big sign over the gates leading to the main house. Barnes-Fleetwood Ranch. It was done in a beautiful wrought iron and adorned with roses weaving in and out of the letters. The gates were open at this time of day but the security system would close them after dark, and then whoever wanted in would either need a code or to call through the intercom.

Nicole sat up straighter, her eyes widening in a way that did not seem like wonder. "Corporation?"

This was usually the time when a woman got super interested in what he did. He didn't get that feeling from her. She seemed almost wary. "Yes. We are the largest independent organic ranching collective in the country. We have partner ranches all over the States, and we collectively bargain with vendors. It's how we compete with the big guys."

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh, so you're a small ranch but you work together with other small ranches."

"I wouldn't say small." He moved the SUV down the long road that led to what he liked to call the commune. His parents might have started out either poor or solidly middle class, but they'd made up for lost time. He and Olivia hadn't known a home that didn't have a host of beautifully done buildings to service the vast amounts of land making up the Barnes-Fleetwood Ranch. "My dads bought this land a long time ago. They were smart enough to keep their mineral rights."

"Mineral rights?"

In the distance he could see the main house. It was a sprawling two-story home. "Yes, they bought the land with pretty much everything they had. From what I understand, they had just enough cash to buy some cattle to start. They grew from there."

"That's nice. I bet it was hard work."

"It was and is, but I think my parents would safely say it got easier when they found millions' worth of natural gas reserves."

She sat up in her seat, her eyes taking in the compound ahead of her. There was the main house with its elegant circular drive and four-car garage. Off to the side was the pretty guest house he and Grim had taken over when they'd first returned from college. The barn was barely visible, and she wouldn't be able to see the dorms because they were hidden by the house. "You're rich."

"My parents are rich," he corrected, though all of this would be his someday. His and Olivia's. His half sister, Lexi, had laughed when they'd tried to give her a third. She'd said the ranch her husband owned was more than she could handle and to leave it to her siblings.

Grim didn't know he and Olivia already planned to cut him in.

But that was a long, long way away. His parents were super healthy and would hopefully live to see a hundred and likely be the orneriest old folks ever.

"Hopefully Grim is done, though he'll likely have to check in on his patients, but otherwise, we'd like to spend the afternoon with you," he said, rounding the big house and moving to his.

"That would be nice." She said the right words, but something was going through that girl's head, and he wasn't sure he would like it.

He parked beside Grim's truck and turned her way. "Is everything okay?"

Something was different. Her breezy bratiness was gone, and there was wariness back in her eyes again.

Still, she smiled and reached to unbuckle her seatbelt. "No. I'm fine. I wasn't expecting all of this."

Then Grim was coming out of the house, opening her door and helping her out of the car.

She was lying. It was about more than expectations. His family wealth bothered her, and he wanted to know why.

Josh got out, his mind working the problem.

* * * *

Nicole let Grim practically drag her out of the cab.

"Hey, I missed you." He wrapped his big arms around her, lifting her off her feet.

He smelled like soap and shampoo. He'd obviously recently come out of a shower since his hair was slightly wet.

She breathed him in, loving how he wrapped himself around her. How safe he made her feel. It was way too fast, but she'd missed him, too. She'd played down the hurt she'd felt, but there had been such relief when Josh had driven up and explained what had happened.

Was it all an illusion? Like the idea these were hard-working, hard-scrabble guys looking for a good time.

What had changed? She was still only here for a week or so. She still had gotten more pleasure from these men than she could have imagined. It didn't make a difference if they were rich.

Except she knew how rich people were when they didn't get what they wanted.

She was giving them what they wanted. Sex.

So nothing had changed. They had zero reason to look into her or ask a bunch of questions because she was doing exactly what they wanted. What she wanted. She was enjoying them for the time they had. So it was fine. She could be here and not worry about the fact their living situation was different than she'd thought. Honestly, if she walked away from them before she could get out of town, there would be way more questions, so she should stay.

How freaking fast her pussy could rationalize something that should send her screaming the other way.

"She thought we left her," Josh said. "She was heading out to breakfast all on her own because she is an independent woman. Also, we should watch out. She believes in tattoos as a form of proving ownership."

Grim set her down, his dark eyes looking over at Josh. "What?"

Josh had a way with words. And she couldn't forget how talented his tongue was. "I got into a verbal altercation with one of Josh's former girlfriends, who took exception to me spending the night with her intended."

Grim frowned. "Intended?"

A low groan came from Josh. "It was Alyssa. Apparently she thinks at some point I'm going to come around, and I shouldn't like have a life until I'm ready for the vanilla picket fence wedding she's planning."

"But we haven't seen Alyssa in months," Grim argued. "Why would she think that?"

"She's obviously delusional." And would probably cause trouble if Nicole was staying around long term. Of course, all of this would be a problem in the long term. She was sure Josh's parents would want to know about any woman who was with their son for more than a few weeks. People like this could hire private investigators because they wanted to keep their kids safe from people like her.

But it wasn't like she was meeting their folks. She was here for breakfast and sex, and there would likely be a football game in there somewhere since it was Sunday in Texas. She glanced over to the big house. It was probably a five-minute walk away. They would hole up in this house and likely no one would even know she was here.

So she should relax.

"Do I need to talk to her?" Grim asked.

She wasn't sure she wanted to know what Grim would have to say to Alyssa. "No. I handled it. Everything's fine, and the entire church downtown knows I don't care what they think of me."

"What exactly happened?" Grim's brow furrowed in obvious consternation.

She didn't want to go over it. Now that she was here, she wanted their time together to be peaceful. "It doesn't matter. I'm sorry I thought you guys had left me high and dry. I slept really hard and don't remember Josh telling me you had to leave. So I woke up and decided to head over to the café to see if Christa needed any help with the church crowd. I was walking with the lady in the room next to me when the Alyssa person decided she could scare me. She can't. I've been around way bigger bullies than her."

She'd been around truly dangerous people. She'd seen real evil. Alyssa was a selfish princess who thought the world revolved around her. She was young. The world would grind her down and she would either figure it out and grow or become bitter and take it out on everyone around her. Likely the latter.

"You said she called her out in front of everyone." Grim looked Josh's way, but his arm went around her shoulders.

He was such a warm man. She found herself leaning into him, but she didn't think this was as big a deal as Josh seemed to. "It was some church people. And Heather. She's the new girl. She was surprisingly cool about it. She seems real solid."

Heather hadn't looked embarrassed at all. She'd stayed at Nicole's side rather than trying to get out of the line of fire.

"It was the entire congregation," Josh explained. "There's going to be gossip."

Grim cursed under his breath. "Then my father's going to know."

"It's not like we were going to hide her," Josh replied.

She wasn't sure she completely understood, but she needed to calm her guys down. "I'm sure everyone has forgotten about it by now."

"Nicole." Olivia was jogging across the gorgeously green lawn, waving a hand. She was in jeans and a T-shirt, her auburn hair shoved into a baseball cap. "Holy crap. I got off the phone with Emmy. Did you pull out Alyssa's hair? I knew it was fake. No one's hair grows a foot in a month. Wait. That sounds like I'm shaming but I'm not. Like girl, do you, but she lies about it and makes other women feel like shit, so I can be happy you pulled her extensions out."

"What?" Nicole stepped away from Grim, surprised to see Olivia. Way more surprised to hear what she was saying.

Olivia was out of breath when she finally made it to the small house. "I just got off the phone, and it's all anyone is talking about. How Alyssa tried to pull her mean-girl act but Nicole punched her in the face and pulled her hair out. Did you keep it? Like a trophy? Because I would."

"I didn't punch anyone." What had happened? How did Olivia know? "I talked to her about twenty minutes ago."

"And then I heard Josh told everyone he would wreck their lives if they said another word about you." Olivia was grinning like this was the best thing that had ever happened. "And the preacher at the First Baptist Church held a session to pray for Josh's soul. Now I heard that, but I also heard one where he's actually trying to find a way to exorcise you. I don't think he knows what that really means."

"It means he thinks I'm the devil, and he's right when it comes to this," Josh said.

"Josh didn't threaten anyone." Mostly. He'd been intimidating, but she wouldn't call it threatening, exactly.

"Oh, I'm sure he did," Grim countered. "You remind them who runs this town, brother?"

"I did, and I believe my point was made," Josh affirmed.

Who runs this town….

Who do you think runs this town, Nicole? It's certainly not you, so you can try to go to the police or a judge, but my family owns them all. So get back in the house and keep your mouth shut.

A chill went through her.

"It wasn't made very well if they still talked about her," Grim pointed out.

Josh shook his head. "I can't stop gossip and you know it. All I can do is make it clear that she's protected."

"He's right about the gossip. This town runs on it," Olivia added. "Hey, it's not a big thing. Believe me. As the focus of so much gossip, I happen to know that something else will happen and they'll…well, I wouldn't say forget, but they will move on. I heard Andrew Kohl is coming back from LA with his tail between his legs and a potential venereal disease, though I'm pretty sure his momma thinks you get that from crossing the border into California. She's not very cosmopolitan, if you know what I mean."

"Everyone's talking about me?" Nicole heard the quaver in her voice.

"They're talking about me, darlin'. It's what they do. They talk about my family." Josh pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry. This is my fault."

It wasn't, but it was her problem. If people talked, then they asked questions. If they asked the right questions, then they could blow up her existence.

"Hey, you're shaking," Josh said, concern in his voice. "What's going on, baby?"

She tried to ignore the anxiety sparking through her. Normal. She had to pretend to be a normal woman who didn't lose it at the thought of a little gossip. She was trapped. If she'd known how wealthy they were, she would have avoided them, but she hadn't, and now there were feelings involved. Dumping them would bring up more questions.

And she didn't want to. She wanted these days. She could go into the shop tomorrow and give them the down payment and be out of town by the end of the week. She'd thought to build up some more cash, but that wasn't possible now. A couple of days wouldn't hurt, especially if she kept a low profile.

Yes, she could still make this work, and she should since walking away would cause them to get curious. She was fairly certain she didn't want to deal with a curious Josh.

"I'm fine though I'm not good with confrontations." She actually didn't mind them anymore. She'd been a mouse, but a couple of years as a fugitive had taught her where to spend the few fucks she had left.

She'd liked standing up to Alyssa. It made her feel seen, and she so often felt like a shadow clinging to the corner of wherever she happened to be. She'd felt like she had backup from Heather, and then Josh had charged in.

Josh stared down at her like he was trying to ensure she wasn't keeping anything from him. "All right, but I expect you to come to me if anything happens. If Alyssa comes near you, I want you to call me."

She nodded. He'd put his number into her phone the night before, and so had Grim.

Something changed in Josh's eyes, his gaze going from concerned to hot in an instant. As though the minute he decided she was all right, his intentions turned. "Olivia, Grim and I are going to fix some breakfast for our…for Nicole."

The way he was looking at her she felt more like she was about to be breakfast. And just like that all her serious thoughts fled and her pussy took over. Grim was at the door, opening it and offering to take her inside.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. Momma has some…" Olivia blushed. "Okay, ewww. I'm going back to see if the dads need any help. I'll let them know you are unavailable."

Josh simply flashed his sister a grin. "For many hours."

Olivia was walking away. "Eww. That's not for you, Nic. They're my brothers. I think they're gross. You have fun because they aren't your brothers."

She sort of heard Olivia, but it didn't matter because she was stuck on the look in Josh's eyes. This was what passion felt like, what real sexual chemistry meant. All these men had to do was look at her and she felt ready. Her body softened, brain going fuzzy.

"Go on inside. I need a minute. We're going to start your training, and I need to be in control," Josh said. "Go with Grim."

Something about the way he said the words had her obeying without her usual questions. Maybe it was the word need coming from him. He'd given her all the things she'd needed over the course of the last night and this morning. She wanted to do the same for him.

Grim's hand covering hers helped make walking away from Josh easier.

He led her inside their house. They'd made it sound like some small bachelor pad, but the place was huge and light and airy. It was beautiful, and she couldn't help but look around.

Her trepidation was back. These people had serious cash.

"Hey, look at me." Grim got into her space. "I fucking missed you. I've spent the morning dealing with vomiting cows, and I told myself if I got through it I would clean myself up and be ready for you. You are a sight, gorgeous."

He made her feel that way. Grim was so big and masculine. He'd taken a shower but he hadn't shaved, and she loved the dark, bristly hair that clung to his jawline. She reached up and brushed her fingers over his light scruff. This was what she'd missed the night before, being able to explore these men she'd taken as her temporary lovers.

When Grim lowered his mouth to hers, she wrapped her arms around him. His tongue was in her mouth, and she felt deliciously invaded. Grim's kiss was overwhelming, making her blood start to pump, her nipples tighten. His hands found the cheeks of her ass, hauling her up against him so she could feel how fast and thoroughly she affected him. His cock was hard against her belly.

"Take off your clothes and get ready for Josh." He whispered the command against her lips before setting her on her feet.

She knew she should think about the implications of Josh talking about beginning her training, but she'd made her decision. She was taking this time with them, and that meant being in the moment, staying mentally with them. It meant shoving aside her fear. She locked it away along with her husband's awful words and actions.

In this place, he never existed. This place was for her and Grim and Josh.

She shed her anxieties as she shed her clothes. They would be there when she put them back on, but for now she felt free.

"Damn, you're even more gorgeous in the light of day, sweetheart." Grim had taken off his T-shirt, revealing his muscular chest.

She couldn't take her eyes off him. He had some scars, but those did nothing to take away from his overall beauty. He was a gorgeous man, and for now he was all hers. She laid her palms flat on his pecs, heat seeming to flow from him to her.

One hand came out to cover hers, holding it against his chest. "You need to let me know if we get too intense for you. There's nothing we do together that's not negotiable. You can stop us at any time, but I hope you trust us."

She did. That was the problem. "Are you going to tie me up?"

She'd spent some time thinking about what they'd meant when they talked about kinks. She'd read a romance novel or two. Or a thousand. After the night before, she suspected that bondage and dominance were the tip of their sexy iceberg.

"Yes, I am," he admitted, his eyes on her breasts.

Her nipples were hard pebbles, tightening at the thought of him putting his hands on them. "I think I can handle that."

"You're going to be helpless."

"Yes," she whispered, not saying the reason why the words came so easily. She could say yes to them because she trusted them, because she wouldn't be helpless. They would always help her. This was a way to play out fantasies.

And she'd just realized one of her fantasies was to trust someone so much they could take away all of her abilities to protect herself and she would still know that it would be all right. Because they would never betray her.

"I'm going to play with your little asshole, sweetheart." Grim's thumb rubbed a circle around her right nipple. "I'm going to push a plug in to open you up because we're going to want to fuck that sweet hole of yours."

She knew what he meant and the why behind it, and she couldn't summon up the sense to be anxious about it. If she didn't like it, she would tell them and they would stop, but she was going to give it a shot.

"Okay." She couldn't take her eyes off his lips. They were so lush and soft looking, in contrast to his ruggedly masculine jawline. But she was starting to think that was simply who Grim was. At first glance he looked rough and intimidating but his gruff exterior protected a soft heart.

A brow rose over his dark eyes, and one half of those gorgeous lips tugged up in a grin. "Just like that?"

He shouldn't be so surprised. They'd shown her a lot about how good it could feel between them the night before. She'd felt safe and secure with these men—something she never thought she would feel again.

She might never have felt as safe as she had last night. Certainly not in the last few years.

"Just like that," she said with a sigh because he was so pretty. Such a pretty man.

"She knows we won't hurt her." Josh's deep voice came from behind, and she felt his fingers skim over the curves of her hips as he moved in. Then his breath was on her neck, and she could sense the change in him. "Nicole trusts us, and that's why we can push her a little. Baby, I want you to get to your knees, sitting back on your heels. You have palms up or down on your thighs. You choose. Then I want your head bowed in a submissive position. This is how you greet us before we play."

There were rules? She shouldn't be surprised. She'd read books about BDSM, but hearing the words from Josh's mouth sent a shiver down her spine.

She could follow rules. If they didn't change all the time. If they weren't merely there as an excuse to torment and torture her. If the rules were out there and they would follow them, too, she would always know where she stood.

"How do you two greet me?"

She gasped as Grim twisted her nipple, pain shooting through her, but it was oddly exciting.

"Brat," he said, but he was grinning like this was exactly what he wanted from her. "And we greet you like this."

His mouth covered hers, tongue sweeping in as his hands moved and he held her flat against his body. Skin to skin, she felt electric, pure anticipation flowing through her now. All the rest of it could wait. It was easy to shove aside her trepidation at how wealthy they were. Nothing mattered in the moment except how they could make her feel.

"And this," Josh said as Grim turned her to him. His hands came up to cup the back of her neck, and he practically inhaled her. He took her mouth in a ravenous kiss, like he needed her to breathe. Nicole softened, letting him control her movements, following him in this dance he seemed to need. When he released her, his gaze was hard. "Now do as I told you. Greet us so we can start your training."

Nicole stepped back and sank down to her knees, her skin against the soft rug. She took a deep breath and spread her knees, placing her palms up on her thighs, and let her head fall forward.

She was ready.