Chapter Four

“I’m definitely feeling like a fifth wheel,” Alec said. “Why don’t we try this another day?”

Grace looked over her shoulder at Jared and, seeing the question arching his brow, turned to Alec.

“No, it has to be today,” she said firmly. “Today would be…perfect.”

He met her gaze for a moment and then his eyes slid all the way down her body to her toes before returning to her bare mons. “Pretty pussy, Princess. I’ve waited a long time to see it.”

Heat boiled up her neck into her cheeks and she looked at the floor in front of her, suddenly breathless. She’d known Alec for three years and he’d never called her Princess before.

“Alec just admired your pussy, Princess. What do you say to him?”

Grace swallowed, her heartbeat ragged. “Thank you…Alec?”

“You call Alec Sir when we’re in scene, Princess.”

“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir,” she added for Alec.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” he said in a silky tone.

“And mine.” Jared’s fingers slid under her chin and he pulled her face around for a brief kiss before grinning at Alec. “That’s quite a sack you’ve got there, Santa. Did you bring something fun for us to play with?”

“You know it.” Alec walked to the bed and set the silky black bag on the mattress. He was the one who’d gotten Jared interested in sexual domination, and Jared had always spoken of the “dungeon” in Alec’s apartment and his vast collection of toys with awe. “You in the mood for rope?”

“Definitely. Tell Alec your safe word, Princess.”

“Prince,” she replied at once. “But I won’t be needing it, my Sir.”

Jared frowned. “Are you sure, Grace? A week ago you were skittish as hell at the thought of needing a safe word.”

“A week ago, you were skittish as hell when I kissed your cheek too,” Alec added, sounding very much like the criminal attorney he was. “Now you act like my seeing you naked is the most natural thing in the world. You almost seem like a different woman.”

Thirty years of hell on earth will do that to a girl. “I guess I’ve just…matured a little in my thinking.” She looked back and forth between them. It was hard to believe that tomorrow they’d both be dead and she’d be alone. Again. “Life is short,” she said unsteadily. “I don’t want to miss a thing.”

Alec’s brows rose. “You know something I don’t?”

Grace hesitated. It was probably pointless to try to change the past, but she didn’t see where she had much to lose by making an attempt.

“Don’t go to the game tomorrow,” she finally said. They’d been on their way to the Bulls’ Christmas Day game when Alec’s Jeep was sideswiped by a semi that failed to stop at a light. They were both killed instantly.

“Grace!” Jared frowned at her. “That was supposed to be a surprise too!”

She shook her head. “I don’t care. Just…don’t go to the game. Please.”

“You don’t want to go?” he asked.

“Me?” Grace was stunned. “You mean I’m supposed to go with you?”

“Of course you are! Who did you think?”

“I thought…Alec…”

“We’re all going together, as a surprise.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “But apparently you’re not an easy woman to surprise.”

Chills rose on Grace’s skin as her mind worked to wrap itself around the truth. Even if she hadn’t run away, Jared and Alec would still be dead—and she would have died with them.

“Stay home,” she said urgently. “No matter what happens tomorrow, don’t go to the game. Please. If you love me, Jared, please don’t go.”

Silence reigned as they stared at each other for a long moment.

“We’ll see,” he said at last, crossing his arms over his chest. “But first, I think you’re overdue for some punishment, Princess. Eyes on the floor.”

As he waited for her to comply, Grace took a deep, cleansing breath and felt the weight of the world flow out of her. That was probably all he was going to say about the matter, but she knew Jared would yield to her wishes. Dominant or not, he always did when something was really important to her.

Why hadn’t she realized it thirty years ago? Why hadn’t she seen that there was nothing demeaning in offering her submission to this beautiful man? On the contrary, she felt immensely powerful as she lowered her eyes to the floor.

There was some rustling and murmuring behind her, and then Jared said, “No blindfold this time. I want her to see everything.”

Thank God! It hadn’t occurred to her that they might blindfold her—that would really have put a kink in her plans to memorize every expression on their handsome faces, every line on their hard, muscular bodies. Hard…muscular…bodies…

Her mouth began to water. Sex. She was going to have sex, lots of sweaty, kinky sex with two of the hottest men on the planet. It had been Alec’s stunning good looks as much as his legendary Dom status that had unnerved her all those years ago, and admitting to herself that she found him terribly sexy had felt disloyal, if not downright slutty. Part of her had even wondered if Jared was testing her fidelity by tempting her with another man.

Grace knew better now, and frankly, she’d gone so long without sex that she probably wouldn’t bat a lash if he called the Bulls’ starting lineup through the door. Whatever he wanted, just as long as she got what she needed—and she always got what she needed when Jared was in charge.

Chills rose on her arms and her nipples tightened as someone’s fingers riffled through the long hair hanging between her shoulder blades. Alec. The scent of his aftershave, light and citrusy, made her stomach drop, and her eyelids slid shut as arousal seared her anew. Already the feeling of helplessness was drugging her more effectively than any pill.

“On your back, Princess, palms on the floor.” Hard hands grasped her shoulders and upper arms, lowering her to the carpet. When she opened her eyes, Alec knelt beside her. He lost no time pulling her knee up and winding a soft white cotton rope deftly around her right thigh, then around her calf, pulling them against each other. He wound the rope around her folded leg several times and knotted it. Then he wrapped another short rope around her wrist and tied it to the leg binding before moving to the other side.

While he worked, Jared stared down at her. Though his expression was impassive, blue heat blazed from his eyes. Grace could imagine how she looked with her dark brown hair fanned out around her head and his collar stark against her white neck. If Alec’s bindings hadn’t already made slick moisture seep out of her, that visual surely would have. After living with a body twice this age, her own firm, sexy, thirty-year-old body was a huge turn-on in itself.

She looked down at her breasts. They stood round and plump on her ribs, her nipples drawn up into tight pink points, and the sight made her pussy clench with need.

Apparently satisfied that she was properly restrained, Alec pushed her knees apart until the backs of her hands touched the floor. Oh, the limberness of youth! “Don’t move.”

Jared stepped between her legs and examined her wide-open pussy. “You’re dripping, Princess Grace.” He crouched and ran a finger through her wet folds, carefully avoiding her clit. Then he smeared the moisture he’d collected onto her shaved labia. “And you smell delicious.” He lowered his head and sucked the outer lips into his mouth, one after the other, and Grace groaned. It felt good, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

When he sat back, she whimpered. Then Alec knelt beside her and dropped a handful of stuff on the floor out of her line of sight. Jared picked something up. “Ah, here we go, Princess. This ought to make your day.”

She jumped when something cool touched her anus. “Push out, babe. You know the drill.” Grace barely had time to draw a breath before he pressed a slick finger into her bottom, spreading the lube around. Then he withdrew and returned with something she recognized. It was a butt plug that got thicker and harder to take the farther he pushed it. “Bear down, Grace.”

“I’m trying, Sir!”

“My cock’s bigger than this plug.”

“I know, Sir!”

“Take a few deep breaths,” he ordered. “Just one more ring and it’s in.”

She obeyed immediately and was relieved to feel the last ring pop into place. It burned, but she knew from experience it wasn’t going to kill her. Far from it, in fact.

He picked up something else and told Alec, “Why don’t you take care of those?”

Alec grinned. “Thought you’d never ask.”

“Be careful—she’s never had them clamped.”

Grace’s eyes widened and her heart rate doubled. Damn right, she’d never had them clamped. From what she’d read, it hurt like hell. She bit her lip to keep from whining Do we have to?

“Don’t worry, Princess,” Alec said as he leaned over her left breast. “I’ll make it hurt good.”

His tongue swiped over her nipple and she whined anyway. Her breath was coming fast and hard, arousal and fear warring for prominence. He licked her curiously, tracing the tip of his tongue around her areola, and the cooling moisture made the nipple draw up even tighter.

“Pretty,” he breathed. Then his mouth closed over her and he began a strong suckling that pulled her back up off the floor. He worked the sensitive flesh against his upper teeth with his tongue, abrading it, arousing her to the point of madness.

When he pulled away, she closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for the pain to strike. She didn’t wait long. Biting pressure grabbed her and she gasped. Her eyes flew open. She’d only seen nipple clamps on the internet of the future and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. This one looked deceptively harmless, sort of like little tweezers, but the pain almost took her breath away and she sucked in deep gusts of air until it settled into something manageable.

“Very good, Princess,” Alec murmured before lowering his head to her other breast. At the same time, Jared went to work between her legs. It took about three seconds of his tongue circling her clit for Grace to reach the flashpoint, and she groaned loudly when he stopped.

“You’ve got a hair-trigger cunt today, Princess,” he chuckled. “Would you like to come?”

“Yes, Sir, please!” But she knew what his answer would be.

“It wouldn’t be punishment if I let you come whenever you wanted, would it?”

“No, Sir—oh!” Alec’s fierce drawing on her other breast just about did it, but he too stopped just short of the mark. “No!” she cried when he pulled away. He stung her with the other clamp and this time she screamed, thrusting her hips up as far as her bound legs would allow. Sweat broke out on her upper lip and between her breasts at the urgency pounding through her. “Please, Sir, I need to come so bad!”

“Better leave off the clit clamp or she’s gone,” Alec advised.

“Definitely.” Jared slid something into her pussy then, probably a dildo, though it wasn’t very large. She jumped when it began to vibrate lightly. “Where’s the belt?”

Alec reached up and snagged a set of leather straps off the bed, and together they threaded one around her waist, then looped another one between her legs and fastened them in front of her. Jared moved to her right side and they hauled her upright, making her kneel again while they tightened the vertical belt until it was snug against her crotch.

“Now that’s pretty,” Alec said as they gazed down at her. “All that’s missing is a gag.”

“No, I want to hear her.” Jared pulled her chin up. “Are you ready for Act Two, Princess Grace?”

She swallowed hard before answering. “Yes Sir.”