He opened his toy cupboard and gazed unseeing at the collection of floggers hanging there. Was that truly what was deep inside him—bloodcurdling fear?
“All your life you’ve fought giving up control.”
“That’s why I’m the Dom,” Shauss explained with exaggerated patience, taking out one of the floggers and trailing the thongs over his palm. “And you’re the subs.”
“No, you’re the Dom and Jasmine is the sub,” Tiber corrected. “I’m the switch.”
Shauss raised his brows. “Switch, eh?”
“Yes. Now put that thing away and undress or I’ll call Kellen and Zannen to help strip you—then I’ll use it on you.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Shauss nearly rolled his eyes at the clichéd reply because of course Tiber would dare.
After trying to stare him down for a moment, Shauss hung the flogger back in the cabinet.
“Strip, Shauss. Now.”
His heart thumping unevenly, Shauss pulled off his boots and unzipped his uniform. Both Tiber and Jasmine watched him with dark, hungry eyes, and despite the unnerving situation, he felt a whisper of power shimmer through his veins.
“I don’t want to strip control away from you, Shauss,” Tiber said gently. “I want you to give it to me the way Jasmine gives it to you. The way I give it to you. It doesn’t have to be ugly and invasive. You know that. Surrender can be a beautiful thing.”
“I can’t.”
“Shauss, yes, you can,” Jasmine urged. “You already did it with me, out there on the mountain—remember?”
“I was in control of that situation,” he said firmly, though something in him squirmed. He had given her power over him. A lot of it. More than he was comfortable with Tiber being aware of.
“Were you?” Her blue eyes pinned him. “Really?”
“Well, you’re not going to be in control of this one,” Tiber declared, looking pointedly at his uniform.
Even as he repeated “I can’t,” Shauss pulled the uniform off his shoulders and stood up, stripping it off the rest of the way mechanically.
“You must.” Tiber’s eyes followed his every move. “According to the BDSM playbooks I read, no Dom should require a sub to do anything he wouldn’t.”
Shauss tried to stare him down again. “The ones I read said subs like you should be punished severely for trying to top from the bottom.”
“I’m not topping from the bottom. I’m topping from the top. You just have to make up your mind that for tonight you’re the bottom.”
Shauss’ jaw tightened. “Why are you doing this? The way we were going suited all of us just fine. I know you enjoyed taking my cock up your ass.”
“Yes I did, although there’s no reason to be crude about it.” Tiber’s reproof was gentle but a reproof nonetheless and Shauss was shocked to feel his ears begin to burn. He was actually embarrassed!
“As to why I’m doing this…” Tiber stepped closer until they stood face-to-face, cock to cock then he took Shauss’ face in his hands and kissed him tenderly. “I’m doing it because I love you. Enough to give you what you need, not just what you want.”
“How do you know what I need?” He’d tried to make the question belligerent but it came out hoarse, almost desperate-sounding. “Just because you’re a psychiatrist doesn’t mean you know everything about me.”
Emotion was an enormous boulder in Shauss’ throat, restricting his breathing as Jasmine rose from their bed and slipped behind him.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his back. “I’m not a psychiatrist, but I think I know you well enough to agree with Tiber. You need to let go and let us love you, Shauss. You’re so beautiful. Please let us have you however we want to,” she begged softly. “Can’t you trust us enough for that, just once?”
He looked down at the floor as he thought about it for a long moment, breathing hard.
“Don’t you love us enough for that?” Tiber pushed.
He couldn’t deny it. “Yes, I do.”
“Then look at me, Shauss.”
Raising his eyes had never been so difficult, but once he met Tiber’s warm brown eyes, he couldn’t look away.
“You trusted me enough to name me as your bond mate even when we were at odds,” Tiber said, grasping his neck with both hands and leaning in until their foreheads touched. “I think you’ve always known, somewhere inside you, that I made you vulnerable. That’s why you fought to get away from me.”
Shauss agreed but he couldn’t say it.
“I always knew you needed me, though I wasn’t sure why until you showed me how much I needed you.” Tiber kissed his lips and then continued. “I truly thought I was content with my lot—and I was certainly happy enough with your magical probe,” he added with a grin. “I’d had my soul mate in Nelina, I have my healthy sons at the academy, and my daughter is happily mated, and I thought I was…done. I thought what was left belonged to those who hadn’t already been as fortunate as I.”
He paused before saying, “You showed me otherwise by sharing your most valuable possession with me.”
“Jasmine.”
“Yes, Jasmine. And now we want to share our most valuable possession with you.”
Shauss’ brow furrowed in puzzlement.
“Trust, Shauss,” Jasmine said, slipping between their bodies to lay her head on his chest. “Absolute trust in another person. It’s the most freeing sensation you’ll ever experience, and once you do, you’ll never doubt how we feel about you again.”
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he nodded.
Jasmine took his hand and led him to the bed while Tiber went to the wardrobe and started digging in Shauss’ treasures.
Shauss looked nervous, so she pushed him back on the bed and kissed him in the same leisurely way Tiber had kissed her earlier, sliding her tongue over and around his, sucking it like a ripe fruit and then letting it draw hers into his mouth. She loved kissing, especially now that she was bound to men who were so good at it.
Tiber’s knee sank into the mattress and Jasmine watched out of the corner of her eye as he reached out for Shauss’ arm. He fastened one of the leather cuffs around it and then attached it at the head of the bed. Shauss took a deep, shuddering breath but continued kissing her.
When Tiber came around behind her, she moved to allow him access to Shauss’ other arm, and soon he was bound with his hands far apart. She pulled away and he tested the links.
“They won’t hold you if you really want to get away,” Tiber said.
Jasmine frowned. “They certainly held me.”
Shauss gave her a tight grin. “They were meant to.”
She started kissing her way over his broad, lean chest, burrowing into his chest hair. She was pleased when Tiber followed suit. Together, they played with his stiff little nipples, drawing gasps at first, and then a deep, “Oh yeah.”
Tiber chuckled. “You’re supposed to be fighting this to the bitter end.”
“What’s the point? You’ve got me where you want me, so I might as well enjoy it. Besides,” he added, “I know you saw my collection and are fully aware that any discomfort you put me through will be returned a hundredfold.”
“I have no taste for pain,” Tiber said with narrowed eyes.
“You will.”
Jasmine shuddered with arousal at Shauss’ quiet promise and watched a dozen different expressions chase across Tiber’s face before he smiled ironically.
“Then I guess I’d better get my licks in while I can,” he murmured.
True to his word, he began licking his way down Shauss’s taut stomach, and Jasmine followed suit eagerly. Together they both lay between his spread legs and nuzzled the flesh between his hair-roughened thighs, tickling him with their breath accidentally and then torturing him with it on purpose. He writhed as they put their mouths everywhere but where Jasmine knew it would feel best.
“What are you waiting for?” he cried.
“What do you think?” Tiber ask
ed in a silky voice.
“You want me to beg, is that it? Well, I won’t do it.”
After two more minutes of their attention, he ground out, “Suck me. Please.”
It wasn’t much as far as begging went, but apparently it was enough. Shauss whimpered in gratitude when Tiber’s mouth closed over his cock, and Jasmine slid to the side and watched, mesmerized by Tiber’s approach. He was fearless when it came to caressing Shauss’ testicles. Caressing, she snorted. More like manhandling.
Abusing.
Her eyes grew wide with alarm. He was really squeezing them hard, until the flesh bulged out between his fingers, and Shauss was groaning like he was genuinely in pain. She bit her lip, wanting to break in but trusting Tiber not to hurt him.
“Fuck me, I’m going to come if you keep that up. Either that or rip these rings out and ream your ass.”
Without responding, Tiber eased his hold and then let go altogether. Jasmine let go of the breath she’d been holding while Shauss groaned again, this time with relief.
Tiber pulled away, licking his lips. “Can’t have that.”
Then he leaned lower, leading with his chin and nudging Shauss’ sac with his nose. When his mouth opened and his tongue disappeared between those firm cheeks, Shauss went rigid.
“Peserin’s hell! What the fuck…”
He arched off the bed, nearly knocking Jasmine over with his leg, but Tiber followed him, looping his arms under Shauss’ thighs and holding him in place. Shauss’ eyes were tightly closed, his face contorted with need. His expression was eerily close to the one he’d worn yesterday in the mine, and the awareness of just how much control he was giving up filled Jasmine’s heart to bursting.
It also twisted the knot of desire in her belly until she wanted to scream.
She reached between her legs and found the hair there slick with moisture. Without hesitation, she slid a finger between the plump outer lips and directly into her nook. Shauss had left her dangling on the edge of arousal for days and she felt no compunction about releasing the pressure herself. The knowledge that Tiber was exploring Shauss with his tongue set her world on fire.
When Shauss keened and jerked against the restraints, Tiber drew back.
“What do you want, Shauss?”
Shauss howled unintelligibly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get that,” Tiber said, amusement plain in his voice.
Shauss opened his glassy eyes and stared at the ceiling, the muscles of his jaw bulging as he ground his teeth. Her poor, proud warrior!
Jasmine drew her hand from between her thighs and trailed a wet finger over his lips. He sucked it into his mouth hungrily.
After he’d licked her clean, he said clearly, “Fuck me. Please. Now. Anybody. Everybody. Please.”
Tiber bit his lips as he sat up and his belly jerked with silent laughter. Once he had it under control, he released Shauss’ wrists.
“Make love to Jasmine.”
Jasmine squealed with delight as Shauss snagged her leg and dragged her under him. Pinning her wrists to the bed he all but mauled her in a clash of teeth and tongues. His furry chest turned her nipples to fire as he kissed her and she writhed beneath him, desperate for release.
He released her mouth and dove to her breast.
“Oh God, yes! That’s—” She gasped as he drew her nipple out to the point of pain. “That’s what I want. More. Please. Harder.”
Pulling back, he panted, “They’re so beautiful now—real, soft…edible.”
They were real and so much more sensitive, she was about to come from his mouth on them. She pulled his head back down, anxious to find out if she could.
Maintaining suction on her breast, Shauss arched his back and speared his cock into her, and she shot over the edge with a scream of pure bliss. Finally!
“Shauss,” came Tiber’s command, “don’t move until I tell you to.”
Shauss wanted to kill Tiber, but he obeyed, holding himself taut as Jasmine’s cunt contracted around him.
“You’re fucking cruel,” he snapped.
“No, I’m fucking you.”
Warm, slick fingers pressed against his anus and he gritted his teeth as they gained entrance.
Leaning on one elbow, he looked over his shoulder, tense with nerves. “This shouldn’t bother me,” he said in a rush. “I’ve done it to you. I’ve done it to Jasmine. Hell, I even used the probe a time or two before we bonded.”
She blinked up at him. “Really? Why?”
“Because I didn’t mate with Monica after the initial claiming,” he ground out. “Peserin, but that’s a little tight!”
“It’s supposed to be.” Tiber’s voice held humor and not an ounce of compassion.
“Why not?” Jasmine persisted.
“Two reasons,” Shauss said through gritted teeth. “First, my spur didn’t fit her nook, so I couldn’t mate with her properly. The one time I took her, I took her ass.”
“Now that’s interesting,” Tiber murmured. “So you really never claimed her.”
“I claimed her ass.”
“What’s the other reason?” Jasmine persisted.
Shauss hesitated for a moment before saying, “Because she wasn’t you.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Really?”
“Really,” he grunted. “Oh, fuck me, that hurts.”
“I intend to.”
He threw a dirty look over his shoulder before explaining, “I wanted what Monica and Kellen had, and I think something in me might have known I could have it with you. You intrigued me, appealed to me…you called to me on some level.”
“Oh Shauss,” she whispered. “I felt the same about you from the moment I saw you.”
“You’re soul mates,” Tiber said smugly. “I figured as much.”
“I’d sneer at the idea, but I’m afraid you’re right.”
“I am. Females have excellent intuition, and Garathani females have a preternatural ability to sense their mates.”
“I always thought that was just a fable,” Shauss said.
“Not at all. Nelina knew me before she ever met me. She said she heard my name and knew I was the one.”
“That’s like Monica!” Jasmine gasped.
Shauss raised a brow. “What about Monica?”
“All right, quiet, you two,” Tiber ordered. “You can trade secrets after I’ve had my way with this ass.”
Without another word Tiber braced his hands on the bed and pushed the full weight of his cock into him, setting his fears to rest once and for all. The feeling was incredible. Painful and powerful, and so mind-stealing that he could only breathe through his nose and take it when Jasmine pulled his head down and kissed him. Just breathe and take it.
Breathe.
He was taken.
Kiss.
He took.
Breathe, kiss and take more. Breathe, kiss…
Take. He needed to move. The thick, repetitive intrusion of Tiber’s cock was energy, building hot and urgent at the base of his spine, and he needed to move, needed to fuck—
“Don’t do it.”
Shauss roared with frustration.
“I’ve got you,” Tiber promised in his ear. He laid all his weight on Shauss’ back and Shauss grunted, propping them both up on his elbows so Jasmine wasn’t crushed.
Then Tiber drove into him, pushing him into Jasmine again and again. Shauss absorbed it all—the pounding thrusts, the hoarse cries, the fingernails scoring trails of fire down his ribs—until sweet, searing energy boiled up his spine and down through his balls.
The resulting explosion nearly blew his eyeballs out of his head.
He didn’t know how long he’d rested his damp forehead on Jasmine’s when he felt Tiber’s tongue on his shoulder. Had he come too?
The feel of a softening cock sliding wetly from his ass answered that question. He must have used the probe.
“You’re both mine now,” Tiber said smugly.
Jasmine shook her he
ad. “No, you’re both mine now,” she wheezed. “And you’re incredibly heavy. Could I have some air, please?”
They both rolled off her at once and Tiber ducked into the shower to clean up.
While he was gone, Shauss opened the cabinet to take care of an overdue task.
“Your neck is still very slender, but I added a few links to this thinking—hoping—you’d gain some more weight.” He frowned. Jasmine’s lips were trembling as she stared at the collars he held. “Is something wrong?”
“You’re giving it back?” she asked.
“Of course I’m—” His eyes widened and his heart squeezed. “I never took it from you, aramai—I removed it during your transition so it didn’t choke you and resized it while it was off. It’s always been yours. It always will be.”
Her smile was blinding as she held up her hair. “Please?”
He refastened it around her neck and snapped the lock shut with finality.
“I’m yours,” she whispered.
He brushed a tear from her cheek. “Yes, you’re mine.” Spying Tiber, he added, “And so are you. Come here.”
Standing, he showed Tiber the beaten gold band he’d acquired for him. “Like hers, this one locks and I hold the key. Once I put it on you, it stays. Are you mine?”
After a long, solemn look, Tiber nodded. “I’m yours.”
Shauss closed it around his neck and locked it. “You’re both mine. You always will be.”
“What about you?” Tiber asked.
“What about me?”
“You’re ours. Aren’t you going to wear one?”
“Doms don’t wear collars.”
“You do when you’re ours,” Tiber promised.
Seeing the determination on his two favorite people’s faces, Shauss grinned and said his two favorite words. “Make me.”
About the Author
A bookworm from the age of ten, Robin L. Rotham lived vicariously through daring, romantic heroines for nearly twenty years, dreaming all the while of one day writing her own romance novels, as well as her own happily ever after. When she finally found her real-life hero, he wasn’t quite what—or where—she expected. Undaunted, she chased him over three states and four years before he finally swept her off her feet. He’s been more than worth the effort.
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