JONAS PARKED HIS MOTORCYCLE ALONGSIDE Caleb’s SUV in their new client’s driveway. He liked the location, security speaking. She lived in an upper scale community so getting in and out was tricky unless you had the car and clothes to blend in, plus there were security monitors everywhere. He’d already called and found out from the cops that none of the neighbors’ cameras had picked up anything suspicious. That should help narrow the suspect field. Neighborhoods like this didn’t get a lot of random foot traffic; chances were if you didn’t live here you didn’t come here. Which, to Jonas’ way of thinking meant that there was a high probability the stalker was a neighbor. He’d be running background checks.

He took off his helmet as Caleb came to stand next to him. “I like the neighborhood. Should be easy to spot anyone who doesn’t belong,” his partner said, echoing his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Jonas agreed. “I was thinking the same thing. But . . .” He squinted up at the house in front of them. “Too many damn windows and look how close that tree is. Shit, a first grader could get to the upstairs from there.” With a shake of his head he dismounted from his bike and headed toward the front door with Caleb. He knew his partner saw the same things he did. The bushes under the front windows that could easily hide a full grown man, the dismal count of only two outside lights, and the two elm trees that hugged close to the house to offer easy access to the second story. They were both shaking their heads as they walked through the door she’d left open for them.

Following the sounds he heard, they found Nadia in the kitchen. She took his breath away, standing at the counter slicing away at vegetables with the sun shining in from the big window behind her she glowed. Her skin made him think of coffee ice cream and her hair was a mass of curls so thick it was a wonder her delicate neck could hold it all. Under any circumstance he would call her breathtaking, but under these, with her elegant hands shaking and her beautiful face etched with worry and vulnerability—she about brought him to his knees.

“I didn’t have anything planned for dinner,” she said in a quiet voice. “I didn’t know I’d be having guests or I would have planned better. But, I’m making a veggie platter and I’ve got lunch meats and sandwich fixings. There’s also a pot of soup on the stove. It’s homemade, I just took it out of the freezer so it’s going to be about a half hour before it’s ready. Good soup though. I made it last week and froze it for when I wanted dinner without having to cook, so good thinking by me, right?” Jonas fought a grin. The way she rambled when she was nervous was cute as hell.

“You don’t have to cook for us or prepare our meals,” Caleb told her and brushed a hand along her back in an effort to comfort her. Jonas knew his partner well and could tell the other man was as affected by her as he himself was. And watching her hands, hell her whole body shake as she tried to busy herself was rattling as shit.

“Oh, I know. I won’t often, but I’m hungry and need to eat before I get to work today. Might as well make enough for all of us. It’s no bother. Really.”

“I’m cool with that. Anything we can do to help?” he asked as he shrugged out of his beat-up leather jacket and set it and his helmet on the edge of the table.

“No, really I’ve got it. It’ll just be a little while if you guys want to take a look around and get a feel for the place. This should be done in about twenty minutes or so.”

After exchanging glances with his partner, Caleb followed him out of the spacious dining room and into an impressive media room.

“Nice set up,” Jonas said as he envisioned game nights spent in front of the giant plasma screen. The room was done in dark tones that made the space feel warm and inviting. There were lots of bright throw pillows on a black microfiber couch. The thing was big enough even he could sleep comfortably on it and he was six-four.

“I’m going to check out the yard and possible weak spots from outside. You good to sweep the house from the inside?” Caleb asked as he made his way to the back door. Jonas didn’t bother answering since they both new the question was unnecessary. He just gave one last covetous glance at the television and then got to work.

HE WAS JUST COMING DOWN the stairs when the front door opened and a man walked in. “Nadia! You left the door unlocked again. What if I was your stalker?” He called out then froze when he spotted Jonas. “Who the hell are you? Don’t fucking move. I’m calling the cops.” Jonas smirked and crossed his arms over his chest as the other man pulled a cell from his pocket.

“Johnny? God! You scared me. What are you doing here?” Nadia came rushing in from through the dining room. When she reached him, Johnny pointed at him with his phone still in hand and asked, “You know this guy?”

“Yes,” she said, still obviously rattled. “I hired his firm today as bodyguards. His partner is here too. They’re gonna keep me safe until the stalker is caught.” Jonas noticed that Johnny didn’t look relieved at the news and even kept his phone handy as he looked back at him.

“Sorry about that then, I guess. My name’s John Brigham. I’m Nadia’s agent.”

“And friend,” she added as she smiled at him and looped her slender arm through his thicker one.

“Jonas.” He left the greeting curt on purpose. Unwarranted and out of line it may be, but he sure as shit didn’t like seeing Nadia cozy up to the other man.

Caleb stepped in to the doorway at that moment directly behind Johnny. Jonas was pleased to see the same dislike on his partner’s face that he himself felt as Caleb took in the sight of their new client cozied up to her agent. Looks like he wasn’t the only one feeling a little unprofessional possessiveness over their new charge. Good to know.

“This is Johnny. Nadia’s agent.” The two of them startled and whipped around. Jonas had to force himself not to laugh because Nadia wasn’t the only one who let out a surprised squeak to see Caleb standing there.

“God. Now you scared me.” Nadia laughed as she slapped a hand to her chest. “Dinner is ready.” She smirked up at her agent. “As usual, you are right on time for food. Come on in. It’s just soup, sandwiches, and a veggie platter but there is plenty for everyone.”

As he was polishing off his second bowl of soup, Jonas kept his voice casual when he asked, “So, Johnny, are you a frequent surprise dinner guest then?”

The agent took the time to wipe his mouth before answering. “Only when I’m worried about my girl here.”

“Worried about my deadline you mean.” She said it with a mischievous glint in her eye that conveyed her affection for the other man.

“Well,” he hedged, grinning back at her as he snapped into a carrot stick. “Gotta earn my ten percent.”

“Yeah right. I’ve never missed a deadline and you know it.”

“Exactly,” he said triumphantly. “See how good I am at my job? I think I deserve a raise.”

“Good grief.” She laughed and chucked a radish at him.

“So Johnny, you have any idea on who this stalker might be?” Caleb asked, chasing the smile from Nadia’s face with the suddenness of a light switch being thrown.

“None,” Johnny answered with a dark scowl. “And it’s John. Only my sisters call me Johnny anymore; I swear they think I’m still twelve.”

“That’s because you are, dear. All men are. It’s the worst-kept secret in history. We women just pretend not to know ‘cuz we need you to open jars and kill spiders for us.” She said it with a straight face as she scooped hummus up with a slice of red bell pepper then popped it into her mouth.

The agent was the first to laugh. Full of warm affection and genuine humor, it made Jonas like him a little. Then he locked eyes with Caleb and they shared a grin. Jonas could tell by the expression on his partner’s face that they were thinking the same thing—looks like their new client was a brat. Lucky for them, brats were their favorite kind of submissive. When this played out the way he intended it to, that’s exactly what she’d be—their submissive.

AFTER DINNER NADIA DISAPPEARED INTO her office, which she charmingly called her writing cave. The agent hadn’t been gone for more than an hour when a sweet-faced blonde walked in the house wearing cotton candy pink hospital scrubs with a mountain of a man trailing behind her. She had luminous blue eyes that went round as saucers when she caught sight of him. “Oh.” She stammered unintelligently for a moment with one hand pressed to her chest and the other reaching behind her to the mammoth. “You scared me to death. Is Nadia here? I’m her friend Kathy, and you must be the new security guard she was going to hire.” Clearly going with her gut and not waiting for any sign of confirmation from him, she stepped forward with a smile bright enough to cheer any sick room and offered her hand.

Charmed despite himself Jonas accepted her handshake. “Jonas. Nice to meet you.” He then extended his palm to her companion. “Hey, man.” The other man eyed him stoically for a heartbeat before reaching out and giving him a quick hard pump. “Cameron.”

“Cam and I have been dating for about six months now and I just thought it was high time my best friend met my sweetie.” Beaming like the sun, she squeezed close to the big man’s side and gazed up at him like she was staring at a rock star instead of a mere mortal.

Jonas eyed them for a moment and took note in the fact that though she looked like a love struck teen, he looked uncomfortable. Cam only returned her smile halfheartedly while he patted her awkwardly before loosely draping his arm around her waist. It was telling that he didn’t pull her in closer or even clasp her hip. Some men were not good with public displays of affection. That could be the reason but add that behavior up with her comment that they had only been together for six months—the same time frame that Nadia’s stalker had come around—and that was quite a coincidence. In Jonas’ life coincidence is always suspicious.

Deciding to go with his gut Jonas crossed his arms over his chest and went the hard-ass route. “IDs please.”

“Oh.” Nurse Sunshine only stumbled for a moment, and then started digging in the oversized pockets of her smock. “Ok, I have my hospital ID. Here it is. Is this good enough?” She held it out for his inspection. It was hard to keep a straight face when he saw not only was her picture just as bright and bubbly as she was in person, the card had glittery stickers all over it, hearts, flowers and even a unicorn. To say he was charmed was an understatement.

“That’s perfect.” He looked to Cam, saw the man had stiffened up and his face was a careful blank mask. “And yours?”

“Why?” he asked, making no move to fish out his wallet.

“Cam?” Kathy looked up at him with an embarrassed flush on her peachy cheeks. “It’s his job. He’s here to keep Nadia safe.”

“I get that. So, if I rush at her or take a swing feel free to take me out. But I don’t see why you need my identification.”

“Regardless, you show it or you can turn around and get back in your car.”

They eyed each other for a tense moment and Jonas took the other man’s measure. A solid six feet, thickly muscled, that he was military was not in doubt, close cut hair, posture stiff at attention and a glint in his eye that spoke of a man who has seen war.

“I just like to protect my privacy, is all.” Reluctance obvious in every fiber of his being, he finally dug out his wallet and fished out a military ID. Jonas noticed that as he did he was careful to keep his billfold tilted away from his girlfriend and when he saw the picture of Nadia in it, another warning bell sounded in his head.

“Want to tell me why you have a picture of my client—a woman you’ve yet to meet—in your wallet?” He was never a fan of the whole cat and mouse game. If Caleb had been standing here, he was sure his partner would have just stored the information away and dug in to this guy quietly after he left. Jonas on the other hand usually went with the ‘fuck it, let’s see what happens’ method.

“Shit.” If possible, the soldier got even stiffer and a red flush stole up his neck. Whether from embarrassment or anger was yet to be determined. “See? This is why I don’t pull out my wallet for just anybody. Privacy, man. Privacy.”

Jonas remained quiet, thinking the other guy was just stalling and he wasn’t going to add to the time suck by commenting.

“Cam?” Kathy looked up at him with a wrinkle between her brows. “What’s going on? Why do you have a picture of Nadia in your wallet? I thought you didn’t even know who she was until I told you about her?”

“I didn’t.” He looked a little panicked around the edges now, and when Kathy stepped back from him that panic increased. “I swear I didn’t. It’s my sister alright?”

“What’s your sister have to do with this?”

“Last night you know I was having dinner at her place right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I told her you were bringing me here today and she wigged. Turns out she has read all your friend’s books and gave me this bookmark card thing—” He pulled it out and showed it to her—“and made me promise I’d ask her to autograph it.” That flush was up to his hairline now and Jonas was pretty sure the unnamed sister was going to get an earful later. “I told her it wasn’t cool and that I didn’t want to do it, but you know her, she wouldn’t stop bugging me till I said yes.”

“Oh, honey.” Kathy gave him a pat on his arm as if he needed comfort or sympathy. “If that’s the case, I’m surprised you even tried to tell her no.” She looked at Jonas and added, “His sister is relentless. The kid is a freshman in college and on a cheerleading scholarship. She is the living breathing embodiment of pep. She bounces around you like a hyped-up Yorkie. I don’t know a single person who can tell her no.”

It made since and explained the card and the flush, but Jonas was keeping an eye on this guy regardless. The timing was just too perfect so he was going to be looking into this guy’s story first chance he got.

As Nadia visited with her guests, Jonas filled Caleb in on the exchange and the two of them pulled out their laptops and did just that.

JONAS WAS JUST UNPACKING THE last of his shirts and putting them in the top drawer of Nadia’s guest room dresser, when Caleb appeared and rested a shoulder against the doorjamb as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Why am I not surprised that you still haven’t unpacked?” When Jonas’ only response was to flip him the bird, Caleb chuckled. “Nice digs this time around, though,” he said.

“Yeah, hell of a lot better than the crap hotels they put us in Guam, that’s for sure.”

Nadia’s home wasn’t as opulent as some of the places they’d seen during their joint tour in the secret service, but it was what he’d expect from a successful author of her rank. The beds were large and comfortable, and they both even had their own guest bath. Not too shabby at all.

“So, we gonna talk about this finally, or keep pretending like we’re not hard as rocks every time she’s in the same room with us?” Jonas had been Caleb’s partner since they first enlisted, barely out of high school. They’d come up through the ranks together surprisingly fast, and they both knew that it was their teamwork that got them there.

They were confident enough in themselves and in each other to admit where they were weak, and call on the strength in the other when needed. Side by side, they had overcome each other’s shortcomings, and bolstered each other’s strongest attributes, so that they’d shot through to the top like rockets. Jonas knew Caleb’s thoughts and feelings as sure as he knew Caleb was in tune with his. “If I believed in that shit, I’d say fate brought her to us.”

“I hear that.” Caleb agreed with a nod. “Huge fucking coincidence that an author of BDSM erotica would come to two established Doms for help and protection.”

“She really said she only writes from fantasy, not experience?” Jonas shook his head at that.

“Yep.” Caleb was doing some head shaking of his own. He knew that his partner had to be as shocked by that as he himself was.

“Christ, I’ve never seen a more beautifully natural submissive woman in my life. How in the hell has she not been collared already?” Jonas wondered, referring to what happens when a Dominant and a submissive enter into a committed relationship.

“Beats the crap outta me,” Caleb said, clearly baffled. “After less than two minutes in the same room with her, my hands were itching to get her under me.”

“It took you that long?” Jonas asked. “It took less than thirty seconds before I was fighting to keep my composure.”

“Well,” Caleb said as he stood up and began to pace the room. A habit he had whenever he was marking out a plan or strategy. “We’ve got to nail this asshole quick. The sooner we get him in a cage, the sooner we can claim the little subbie.” Jonas wasn’t surprised that Caleb would put the job first and not even think about acting on what they were feeling for their client until she wasn’t a client any longer. He was a stand-up guy in that regard. Straight and narrow, and honest as the day is long, that was his partner and his best friend.

Jonas, not so much. He wasn’t one for sweating the small stuff, and cutting corners when needed, as long as the ends justified the means. He also had no intention of resisting the sweet temptation of their lovely hostess for longer than necessary.

They’d been working side by side for almost two decades and had never come across a situation where they were even interested in a client. To his way of thinking, once every twenty years was a rare enough occurrence to justify acting on it.

“And if it doesn’t happen soon enough?” Jonas asked.

“Get your head out of your ass, Jo,” Caleb responded. “She’s scared and vulnerable right now. Only a prick would hit on a woman who’d turned to him for protection.”

“Why don’t you get the stick out of yours?” Jonas shot back. “This isn’t just any woman. She’s a sub. Whether she’s had any actual experience at it or not. You and I both know that, for a sub, the rules are different. Subs like her, with the tendencies and instincts that deeply ingrained feel safest in the confines of a D/s scene.”

He grabbed a book from the bedside table and tossed it to Caleb. “Fuck, read for yourself. You read even just the first chapter, and then tell me that little lady wouldn’t get her first peaceful night’s sleep after a scene with us.”

“You read one of her books already? We’ve only been here two days.” Caleb looked from the book in his hand to Jonas with his brow quirked.

“It’s pretty fucking hot. I wanted to see for myself what her fantasies were. I thought I’d browse through a couple chapters to get an idea of how her mind works. Holy fucking hell Caleb, she dives right in and doesn’t come up for air. I couldn’t put it down.” He stepped close and lowered his voice, just in case Nadia was close enough to overhear. “Man, it’s like she’s been spying not just on a BDSM club; but like she’s been spying on us. Every scene is crafted like fucking poetry, and she’s so beautifully submissive I’m fighting myself to keep from going out there right now and giving her the peace and release she needs.”

He could see his friend considering the information carefully in his mind. One of the many ways they balanced each other. Jonas was an act first think second kind of guy whereas Caleb was the deliberator; always taking into account all the angles, and weighing the pros and cons before he made a decision.

Before Caleb could comment one way or the other, they heard Nadia call from downstairs. “Dinner!”

Jonas smiled. “She cooked for us again?”

Caleb returned the smile and headed out. “Hot damn.”