NADIA STUMBLED INTO THE KITCHEN like a zombie. Every muscle she possessed ached in a delicious and scandalous way. Last night had been better than she ever imagined it could be. Caleb and Jonas had done things to her body that she’d only ever written about; and she realized that in her writing, she had never come close to describing the true level of ecstasy that could be had at the hands of two competent Doms.

Speaking of which. Nadia stopped just inside the archway and drank in the sight of them. It was almost unfair how beautiful they were, with their rippling muscles and movie star faces. Caleb’s dark-brown eyes and inky lashes were mesmerizing as they focused on her. She couldn’t help but think back to how they’d looked last night, as he’d ordered her to come over and over again. From the look in them right now, she could tell he was thinking back to the same thing.

Telling herself to keep cool and act normal, Nadia chose to pretend like she wasn’t flushed and embarrassed in the bright light of day, and turned to look at Jonas next. His hazel eyes were bound to be just as discomfiting, so Nadia focused instead on the bump he had on the bridge of his nose while she wondered how he broke it. The tactic wasn’t much help, because her eyes traced over all of his features, the high, sharp cheekbones, the full tempting lips and the strong square jaw line.

“Holy cow, you guys are freaking hot.” Nadia exclaimed on a half-sigh, as she gave up all attempts at putting on a cool façade. They both chuckled in that warm, masculine way that made her blood simmer, and then Caleb set down his plate and reached out to take her in his arms. As he pulled her flush against that amazing body, and his big calloused hands slid under her housecoat to cup her bottom, he kissed her. Not a gentle good morning peck either, but a full, lush, turn her knees to jelly, tongue thrusting kiss. It awoke things inside her she would have sworn the two of them had put into a coma. With a needy greedy sound she lifted onto her tiptoes, pressed even closer as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back just as forcefully.

“Mmmm, just like that,” Caleb said as he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “Tell me good morning just like that every day from now on.” She nodded against his face, her nose lightly brushing his as their breaths mingled pleasantly.

“That goes for me too, baby girl,” Jonas said, wrapping one large hand around her arm and turning her toward him. “That goes for me too.” Then he cupped one hand on the back of her head, the other grabbed a handful of her ass, and he kissed her just as deeply as Caleb had. By the time he pulled back from the kiss, Nadia was so wet she could feel her silky pajama bottoms getting soaked.

“Pancakes?” Jonas asked just before kissing the tip of her nose and setting her away from him. Nadia stumbled a little as she murmured a quiet, “Yes please.” And Caleb pulled her back against his front where he nestled her head under his chin.

“Coffee?” he asked her, and held his cup up in front of her.

“Oh dear God, yes.” The men chuckled again as she grabbed onto it like an addict, and gulped down that first scalding sip.

As they ate pancakes and chatted about intimate morning after things, like how sore she was and what she’d liked or disliked about last night, Nadia found herself feeling dazzled. There was just no other word to describe what was going on inside her. They were attentive and charming, reaching out with tender caresses and teasing kisses the whole time. She’d never before been the recipient of this level of attention from one man, let alone two. Yup, dazzling was the only word that even came close to covering it.

“So, did you guys get a new security code?” she asked between bites.

“Yeah, about that,” Jonas answered as he poured himself a second cup. “How do you feel about taking a little road trip?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused.

“We discussed this when we first came here, and last night put a seal on it for us,” Caleb answered. “Changing the code will keep him from being able to get in again.” He paused to give her a piercing look. “Provided that we don’t let you have it this time to pass around.” She had the presence of mind to lower her eyes and blush at that. “But, it’s not going to change the fact that he knows where you live. There is nothing to stop him from escalating with a shooting, a physical attack or even arson if his psychosis continues on its current trajectory.”

The import of his words stole all the light from the sun drenched kitchen, leaving her feeling as though she were standing in a cold, dank cave.

“I hadn’t even thought of that,” she whispered. Nadia had picked this house because of the wide open spaces, and the abundance of skylights and oversized windows. “I feel so stupid now.”

“What?” Jonas sounded dumbfounded. “How so?”

“All this time, I thought I was safe with the security system. All these months, as soon as I punched in that stupid code, I’d breathe this big relieved sigh, like I was magically sealed in a fortress. Now, after what you just said, all I could think was that at any time he could have just drove by and shot me. Or set my house on fire. Or—” Caleb and Jonas moved in unison, gathering her between them and pressing her close.

“Shh.” Caleb soothed as her body shook in renewed fear. “Stop that. None of that happened and none of it will now. We’ve got you and we’re going to keep you safe.” He tilted her head up until she met his steadfast gaze with her own frightened one. “No matter what. Understood? He got by us once, and believe me, no one will get by us again.” He waited until she nodded for him before kissing her forehead, and then he tucked her back into his chest.

“That’s right, baby girl,” Jonas said as his hands rubbed the chills from her arms. “No matter what.”

THREE HOURS LATER, NADIA WAS watching the forest streaming past her window, as Caleb drove them high up into the mountains. Jonas was in the seat behind her in the SUV, tapping away on his laptop, tying up last-minute loose ends while they still had reception.

The guys had been worried that she would freak about the lack of cell service and internet connection while they were away, but she had surprised them there. Her agent’s office handled most of her online communications and kept her website updated when she was working under a deadline. Since her latest book was due in less than a month, and wasn’t even close to ready, she had already been ‘in the writing cave’ as she termed it, for over a week. This retreat was a perfect solution for her.

Nobody, not her friends, or agent, or even her parents knew where she was headed. More importantly, her stalker didn’t know either. The idea was so liberating, Nadia had a hard time containing her excitement. She wanted to bounce in her seat, and sing along to the music pumping through the speakers. Unfortunately, she had a voice barely acceptable for the shower, so that was out.

“Are we there yet?” She wasn’t above needling them, however.

“No.” Caleb answered the same way he had the last dozen times she’d asked, and his cheek creased as he fought to keep from smiling at her antics. So of course, that only egged her on.

“How ‘bout now?” She added a poke to his ribs just to be a snot. “Are we there now?” Caleb enfolded her hand in his much larger one and held it on his iron hard thigh, and Nadia was almost distracted from her playfulness into a different kind of play. Almost.

“Behave,” he admonished, “or you’ll get a spanking when we get there.”

“If that was supposed to scare me, sir, it missed its mark,” she taunted. She was feeling so brave and reckless that she didn’t pay any attention to the shift in his expression. She should have known better; she’d written about moments like this a million times over the years, but somehow in her delirium over her their getaway, she breezed right past the warning signs. “You don’t scare me at all. You’re nothing but a big, toothless kitty cat.” She even made what she would later come to think of as a fatal error, by turning her taunts to the back seat and Jonas as well. “The both of you. Just big, harmless kitty cats.” She laughed at the shocked look on Jonas’ face before deciding the heck with it, and opened her mouth to belt out along with Pat Benatar, since Hit Me With Your Best Shot came on and it just fit the moment too perfectly to pass it up.

She didn’t make it to the first chorus.

Head thrown back, eyes closed and singing with enough gusto to make any eighties fan proud, she never saw him move. In the space of a single beat of music, Jonas pounced. His hand clamped like a vise over her mouth as she felt the impact of his body slamming against the seat back. One of his hands fisted in her hair, and his voice was a menacing growl in her ear. “We don’t scare you, huh?” He nipped the lobe. Hard. “Let’s just see what we can do about that.” Then he released her hair and used that hand to lay her seat back.

Nadia was startled, but far from scared, even as she looked up into what she was sure was Jonas’ most forbidding expression. They were her guardians, her protectors, and now, also her lovers. Fear was the last thing she felt for them.

When she opened her mouth to tell him to bring it on, something in his look finally got through to her, however. Her mouth closed with a snap and she thought, oh, better not. Maybe she should quit while she was ahead.

“A little late to wise up, don’t you think?” Jonas asked, as he pulled something out of one of the bags sitting on the seat next to him. With her seat reclined in any other car Jonas would have been squished. The SUV was a deluxe model however and so roomy that her headrest was barely in his lap. Leaving him plenty of room to do whatever he wanted. The thought caused a zing of electric currents to zap along her body in like it was already anticipating what was in store.

“Um, better late than never?” She responded with a squeak and a hopeful expression, as she recognized that it was restraints he was taking out. She’d written enough about them to know what they were and their uses. As Caleb tsk’d at her reprovingly, Jonas didn’t even bother to reply. He just leaned forward and wrapped one thick strap around her leg just above her knee, then tightened it as he pulled until her leg was bent and lifted. She had no idea where he’d attached the strap to keep it in place, but that was the least of her worries, as he then moved to do the same thing to her other leg.

Dressed in a thin cotton sundress that Jonas had bunched around her waist to bare her both above and below, she felt completely exposed once he was done restraining her, and had actually cut her thin lacy panties from her hips. With her knees tucked up close to her armpits and her hands folded over the seat back, Nadia was wide open for whatever they had in mind. Considering that they were in a moving car, she probably shouldn’t have felt as vulnerable as she did, but that’s exactly what she did feel. It felt daring. Wanton. Like she was some sort of sex toy, and equal parts nerves and crazy excitement raced through her blood as she waited for them to start.

“Baby girl,” Jonas said as he looked her over, and ran one large, warm palm over her already puckered nipples. “I have to tell you, I’m so glad you decided to mouth off. The rest of the drive is going to be a lot more interesting now.”

“Amen to that,” Caleb added, then reached over and slid his fingers between her legs. “God, Jonas.” His moan was sexy as hell. “She’s drenched already. Looks like our sub likes restraints.”

“Thank all that’s holy for that.” Jonas leaned forward and caught the plump under curve of one of her breasts in his teeth. Nadia gasped as the not quite pain, not quite pleasure rioted throughout her system in a confusing mix of desire, and Jonas opened his eyes and smiled at her . . . without letting up on his bite. The sight of her breast caught in his sharp, white teeth tipped the scales, and pleasure won out. “Holy crap!” Her yelp brought that rich masculine laughter from them that she was growing to love. With a savoring smack, Jonas released his bite and sat back.

As Jonas rifled through his bag again, Caleb shifted and pressed his fingers deep into her center, with a sound not unlike the one he made the first time he’d bitten into her fried chicken. The similarity might have amused her, if it didn’t feel so good that she was sure her mind was about to snap from the overload of pleasure. She wanted to arch into that tantalizing caress, but the restraints made that impossible. She was well and truly trapped, and damned if she didn’t love it.

“Nadia.” Caleb spoke as he began a slow pump in and out of her while he kept his eyes on the winding road ahead. “You write about orgasm control and denial, right?”

“Denial?” Her whimper made him chuckle. “Yes. Sir.” She was sorry to tell him. She knew all about it. In her books, the women were kept on the edge and tormented for hours, while their Doms played with them and refused to let them come. In her books, it was sexy. Right now, faced with the possibility that they were going to deny her, it seemed like the worst kind of torture.

“Good.” The creep didn’t even bother to keep the smugness out of his tone. “You will not come without permission from either Jonas or myself. Each time you fail, there will be a punishment. Understood?” Nadia gulped and suddenly hoped the ride was a lot shorter than she had been told it was going to be. “Now, what’s your safeword?”

“Bruce. Sir.” She took a deep breath and looked up out of the sunroof while he added pressure and speed to her fingering. She had researched and read about some of the tactics that subs used to hold back, and she was determined to show them that she could be every bit as good a sub as they were at being Doms.

Deep-green pine trees and bright-blue sky, that’s what she would focus on while he played. As she centered herself and turned her attention away from the riotous feelings in her body, she had a brief moment where she thought, Hey! This is working! Then she heard the buzzing.

Nadia’s eyes popped open, and she whipped her head to the side and saw that Jonas had plugged a wand into one of the center console’s outlets; damn modern conveniences anyway. The wand was disguised as a body massager, but you didn’t have to be an erotic author to know that it was, in actuality, one of the most popular vibrators on the market today.

“Ready to play, baby girl?” Jonas asked as he slid into place directly behind her. “Remember your safeword and remember the rules. No coming without permission.” Then that soft rubber ball was placed directly on her clit, while Caleb continued to finger her.

It was going to be a very long drive.

Seconds, Nadia thought, mere seconds and she was already screaming and begging for them to let her come. The vibrations were echoing throughout her entire nervous system, and she could feel her walls clamping rhythmically on Caleb’s fingers as she fought her body’s response. “Please!” She begged, her head shaking back and forth as though she were trying to tell her body no. “Please! May I come? Please, oh God, may I come?”

“No,” they answered in unison and the denial, the authority behind and within that denial, broke her. Nadia came in a rush of fluid and a litany of “Oh God’s!” as she bucked against her bounds. It was so rich and satisfying an explosion that she didn’t think she even cared that there were going to be consequences.

“Oh, bad, bad girl,” Jonas admonished with a wicked smile and a shake of his head. “That’ll cost ya.” Then he held up a thick rubber band. Nadia watched with dawning horror as he slipped it over her bare foot until it was resting against the arch of it. Then he added three more. “Ready?” he asked and Nadia could only stare from him to her foot and back again.

“No!” She shook her head as fear tightened her gut and the sadist only grinned and grabbed the whole bunch of them at once. He pulled them up tight and . . . SNAP!

“Oh my God!” Nadia was extremely ticklish and her feet were exceptionally sensitive. “That hurt!” she yelled. But, as the sting faded, it left behind a not unpleasant buzzing as well. “Well, crap,” she said aloud, puzzled. She had written about stuff like this, certainly, but she’d never had any real clue just how closely pleasure and pain existed together, or how intensely the pain could enhance her pleasure. It was eye-opening to say the least. Then all thoughts of research and writing versus real world vanished like smoke on the wind when Jonas put the wand back on her clit.

“If that is all the control you got, little girl,” Caleb taunted, “this is going to be the longest two hours of your life.” As that wonderful, dreaded buzzing increased in speed and pressure, Nadia thought he couldn’t be more right.

“No more. Oh, please. For the love of God, no more!” Nadia was shaking and sweaty an hour and a half later. She had rubber bands on both feet now, and she’d come to love and hate them by turns. She was in a delicious agony of confusion, she could hear herself begging them to stop but she knew they wouldn’t. Only one word would bring this to an end and she was nowhere near ready to pull that out. If he really stopped now, Nadia would probably break down and cry.

Jonas was just as sweaty as she was, and passion had etched his features in stark relief as he ignored her pleas and upped the speed on the vibrator anyway. Crying out from the brutal pleasure of it, Nadia turned to plead with Caleb, who had both hands back on the wheel for the time being and whose features were just as stark in arousal as his partner’s. He must have felt her gaze, because he shot her one burning hot look, then turned back to the road. “You can take this, Nadia. You are doing fucking great. Don’t stop now.” The praise was as effective as a gag for cutting off her begging. Knowing that she was pleasing them filled her with a determination to give them anything, everything if only to keep their high regard.

“That’s right, baby.” Jonas added his praise. “Let’s try counting. Okay?”

“C—counting?” she asked blurrily.

“Yeah. I’m going to count backward from ten, and when I say zero, you can come.” He kissed her damp forehead. “You can do that, can’t you?”

“Ten?” Nadia nodded, thinking that the count of ten was a lot shorter timespan than they had given her thus far. “Piece of cake.” She assured him.

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that, sweetheart,” Jonas warned. “Now, so I know that you are paying attention, I want you to repeat after me and add a ‘yes, sir’ after each count, just for the fun of it.”

“Okay.” Her voice wavered. “Yes, sir.”

He upped the speed again, and pressed hard against her clitoris. “Here we go. Ten.”

“Ten. Yes, sir.” So far so good.

“Nine.” Why had she never noticed how beautiful his voice was?

“Nine. Yes, sir.”

“Eight.” His arm was trembling as it rested close to her breast, and she wished the restraints would give just enough to let her press against that tempting muscle.

“Eight. Yes, sir.” She bit her lip to keep from begging again, as the climax gathered force deep within her womb.

“Eight. Louder.” His tone had a warning edge to it, and Nadia thought she would cry at having to repeat a step.

“Oh God! Eight! Yes, sir.” The pressure within her built even higher.

“Seven.” The sadist. It took him forever to say it.

“Seven. God Yes! Yes, sir.” Warning signs were making themselves known now. Her feet warmed. Her fingers and toes tingled and deep within her womb, that weight gathered that told her a climax was coming whether she willed it to or not.

“Six.” He kissed her briefly, tongue sweeping in and out of her panting, gasping mouth.

“Six! Six, yes, sir.” And there went her fingers. They were numb. If he didn’t count faster she was going to get snapped again.

“Five.” Thank God, they were half way there!

“Five.” She shouted as the climax almost broke away from her, but somehow she managed to pull back from the brink. “Five, oh five, yes, sir.”

“Four.” Nadia screamed as the beast upped the speed on the vibrator to level ‘holy shit,’ and wished she could bite him.

“Four! Four, yes sir!” She practically cried it.

“Almost there, baby girl. Three.” The small encouragement helped resolve her to making it to zero, and Nadia nodded as she told herself she could do this.

“Three, three, yes sir.”

“Two.” Another kiss. This one to her temple.

“Two. Two yes, sir. Thank God.” She could do this, she thought, as she felt like her climax was a tidal wave she was trying to hold off by pressing her back against a door.

“One.” He whispered it in her ear, like the sweet nothing of a lover.

“One, yes, sir. Thank God, yes, sir.” Almost. Almost. Nadia waited, her mind still seeing that image of her holding the waves back with a wooden door that was splintering under the pressure.

“You ready to come, baby?” Still that sexy as hell whisper.

“Oh God, oh God. Yes! Yes please, sir.”

“Zero.” Nadia didn’t have time to open that door in her mind. The waves crashed over it and through it and burst it into a million tiny shards as the orgasm blew apart the very fabric of her being and destroyed her. Nadia screamed and thrashed. Crying out in guttural, incomprehensible words and phrases. And it wouldn’t stop. One climax rolled into the next and then another, and vaguely she heard the men curse, and mutter encouragement and praises as it went on and on and on.

Moments later while she was still moaning and shuddering, they turned up a short drive and Caleb stopped the car. She had no clue what her surroundings looked like, and in fact could barely think clearly enough to remember her own name as Jonas tugged with rough impatience on her bindings. She didn’t have time to groan as he legs flopped ungracefully to the floor. She was barely away that they were even still attached, she was so euphoric. She had one glittering, out-of-body moment to think and wonder—so this is what subspace feels like—and then it started all over again. Both men burst from the vehicle like they’d been launched from it, and less than a second later her door was wrenched open with enough force she was surprised it was still attached.

Caleb grabbed her first. She had no idea how he’d managed to get a condom on with as fast as he’d gone from driving to lifting her into his arms, but he had. He braced her back against the side panel of the car, hooked her knees in his elbows, and thrust into her like a man possessed. His head dropped back with a roar as he penetrated deep with one hard thrust, and then he was pounding her so hard, she thought he might just dent the car with her butt. Then she didn’t think at all as she was thrown back in to the depths of another endless orgasm. She had no idea how long it took before his rhythm faltered and his own climax overcame him, but when it did, his arms turned to iron bands around her, and he shook and trembled, while those dark intense eyes stared into hers with a look so feral and predatory that Nadia felt branded by it.

Caleb kissed her fiercely, and before he handed her off to Jonas he warned, “I’m not done with you yet, Nadia. Not by a long shot.”

Then she was face over the passenger seat braced on her elbows, half in the car and half out, with her hips in the grasp of one of Jonas’ hands and her hair in the grasp of his other. Same as with Caleb, condom already in place, Jonas plunged full and deep within her without slowing. Her body was so primed for them from the hours of foreplay, and the dozen or so orgasms, that it was exactly what she needed. As his hips slammed like a jackhammer into her, Jonas pulled on her hair until her neck was fully arched.

“You’re ours now, Nadia.” His words were punctuated by his thrusts. “Aren’t you? Tell me you know it. Who do you belong to?”

“You! Oh God! Both of you.” The claiming. The ownership worked for her. It just did. It worked so well for her that, impossibly, she started coming again.

“Damn right!” He snarled as his thrusts got brutal. “Damn.” Thrust. “Fucking.” Thrust. “Right!” Then he was coming in a series of guttural shouts that ignited a chain reaction in her that Nadia thought just might break her mind. Well, hello subspace, we meet again.