“I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Glancing up from my book, I find a dark-eyed Monster standing in the doorway of the living room, looking pleased with himself. I’m sitting on the couch, covered in blankets, taking it easy after being in The Box a few days ago. I put down my copy of Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits and cock my head.

“Oh?” I ask. My voice is mostly recovered, but my poor fingertips are still healing from when I dragged them across the lid of The Box, desperate to get out.

“Yes. But it will require some faith on your part,” Monster says as he walks toward me, moving slowly.

Suspicion flares in my mind. “Faith?”

He reaches the couch, feeling the grey worsted wool on the arm. He seems thoughtful. “Yes. I am going to offer you something, but you have to do something for me in return.”

Closing my book, I set it aside. “You’ll have to be more explicit.”

He hesitates, his eyes searing into me. “I have a present for you. Something big. Something to do with your family.”

That has my attention. I sit up a bit straighter. “What is it?”

His lips curve upward. “That’s where you will have to have faith. You’ll have to believe me when I tell you that you will really, really want this gift.”

I bite my lip, looking up at him. What could it be? And it has to do with my family? I struggle to imagine what it could be.

“What do you want in return?” I ask, more suspicious than ever.

His smile widens into a grin. “Sex, of course. I’ll let you choose. Either you let me tie you up and fuck you, or you allow me to bring someone else into the bedroom.”

My mouth falls open. “Someone else? I thought you wanted me all to yourself!”

He inclines his head. “I do. But I like the idea of directing someone in how to give you pleasure. That turns me on.”

I scowl up at him. “The other option is to let you tie me up?”

“It is. But I should say that whatever you choose today, expect the other idea to be brought up again. Soon.” His eyes gleam with a wicked light. “It’s up to you which one we explore today.”

Scrunching up my face, I weigh my options. Being tied up would make me totally helpless. Literally, I would just have to do whatever he felt like doing, which sounds scary.

On the other hand, the other option doesn’t sound much better. It would involve giving my body to a stranger, either male or female. Monster didn’t say who he would bring in, just that it was going to be someone else.

I hesitate. “Who would the other person be?”

Monster shrugs. “Whoever I feel like.”

“Would I know them?”

He gives me a funny look. “No. And you won’t have to interact with them ever again if you don’t want that.”

That’s more than I expected, to be frank. I shake my head.

“They both have downsides. I can’t choose.”

“But you’ll let me choose?” he asks, canting his head to the side.

I pull a face. “Yes.”

“All right. Give me ten minutes. I’ll meet you in your bedroom.” He turns, his face not giving anything away.

“Wait, Monster…” I say beseechingly.

He turns. “Yes?”

“Which one did you choose?”

His lips lift in the echo of a smile. “You’ll see. Now go.”

Pushing the blanket off my legs, I stand up. I am wearing a dress made of lilac silk, cut conservatively to fall below the knee. It’s got spaghetti straps and makes what little cleavage I have look fantastic. Basically, it’s a sexy silk teddy but made for daytime wear.

I swallow hard at the fact that I don’t really have time to change. I guess that this is what I’m wearing to the threesome. Uncomfortable with even that thought, I head upstairs to my bedroom.

I’m glad that Monster got fed up with Cerberus peeing on things inside the house and sent him to doggy boarding school. Soon, Cerberus will be back. But for now, he would only be in the way, scratching at the door to be close to me.

I doubt that Monster would tolerate that for long.

I’m practically vibrating with nerves as I plump the pillows on my white lace bed and touch up my hair and my lip gloss.

What will Monster bring? It has to be the rope, because otherwise how will he have the threesome… person… ready to go? I try to imagine the ad that brought him or her here…

Third person sought for a sexual encounter. Does not matter if you are male or female. Come, be the jelly in our peanut butter sandwich.

I roll my eyes; there is no way that someone as serious as Monster would ever have come up with that last line. It’s more like, come, be the third in a very kinky trio that lives for domination and submission.

That sounds more likely.

By the time that Monster knocks on my door, I am trembling with nervousness and anxiety about what is about to happen to me. Either way, I am about to be very vulnerable, which makes me extremely uneasy.

Sitting on my bed, I call out. “Come in.”

Monster slowly opens the door. He enters the room, a patient smirk on his lips. He’s not carrying any rope, which makes my heartbeat pick up its pace.

He chose the threesome, after all.

A tall, thin-shouldered young man follows behind him, wearing a Mardi Gras mask. Blond, square-jawed, and good looking, the young man could be literally anyone. He stares off into space, ignoring me.

“This is Sam,” Monster says, walking around to the other side of the bed. “He’s been instructed not to talk to you or interact with you in any way unless you request it. I trust he will do?”

My forehead wrinkles. I can’t tell if Monster is asking me if I find Sam attractive or not. I just nod slowly.

“Good,” Monster says, taking my hand. He eases me back on the bed so that I’m lying down. “Because Sam is going to eat your pussy.”

Sam takes a step forward, touching my knee. He’s still staring off into space, which is fucking weird. I automatically jerk away from his touch, and he doesn’t pursue me.

“Don’t!” I growl at Sam.

“Look at me,” Monster says, drawing my attention away. He pulls both of my hands up over my head, pinning them together with one hand. “You have strict instructions for this session, just like Sam. Your instructions are that no matter what you may feel, no matter what you might think, you can’t talk. You can make noises, but you can’t communicate. And you have to look at me. Only at me, the entire time. Do you understand?”

I hesitate, my brow furrowing. I can’t talk? I can’t look at Sam?

What does that leave me with? I’ll just have to stare at him.

But that, I realize, is precisely what Monster intends this to be about for me. I’m not meant to have any control or any say in how this goes.

“I need your affirmation, Fiore,” he tuts. “Be a good girl, now. Don’t embarrass yourself in front of Sam.”

I glance at Sam, my anxiety rising, but Monster is quick to correct me. “Look at me.”

He reaches out and tweaks one of my nipples, so hard that I cry out. He just smirks. “You should expect that there will be pain every time you break eye contact.”

My eyes lock onto his. His grey eyes are alight with dark humor. “Do you assent?”

Swallowing, I nod. Whatever my present is, it had better be awesome, though.

“Good girl,” he says, smiling faintly. “I’m going to undress you now. Close your eyes.”

Biting my bottom lip, I close my eyes. I feel Monster lifting my dress up my body, working it upward until he can pull it off. Then I’m left in my bra and panties, which he quickly strips away too.

Naked, ashamed of the fact that I’m curious about Sam’s role, I’m glad that I have my eyes shut. I start shivering, unable to contain my nervousness.

“Fiore,” Monster says firmly. He’s back by my head now. He grips one of my hands. “Open your eyes. Look at me.”

I open my eyes slowly, taking him in. Drinking him in, really, because I’m hyper-aware suddenly of the fact that he is a very attractive man. Tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, devilishly handsome.

I’m sure the devil himself would like to be compared to someone as dashing as Monster. He looks down at me, at my naked body splayed out before him like a gift, and his grey eyes seem like they pierce right through my very soul.

Devil, indeed.

“Sam is going to start out by touching your inner thighs,” he rasps, his voice going low. He reaches out and runs his fingertips over my collarbone. “Just relax. Be a good girl.”

When Sam places his hands in my inner thighs, I can’t help but tense up. His fingers are cool against my skin as they massage my thighs lightly. My eyes dart down to look at him, but Monster is ready for me.

He pinches my nipple, making me cry out. Then he shushes me.

“Shhh. Look at me, not at him.” I look up again, shivering under his iron-grey gaze. He comes around the side of the bed. “I’m going to kneel and kiss your breasts. But you have to close your eyes.”

Taking a big breath, I nod. I close my eyes. I feel Monster kneel beside me, as Sam places a sensual kiss on the inside of my thigh. Goosebumps break out across my thighs, spreading to my arms and legs.

Monster’s hot, wet mouth descends to cover my nipple. I gasp and writhe as he uses his tongue to flick against it. At the same time, Sam nudges my thighs apart, gently kissing my mons. He uses two fingers to part my lips, finding my clit with the tip of his tongue.

I hiss, my upper body coming up off of the bed just a little. Monster releases my breast, his mouth making a pop sound. “Fiore? I need you to look at me again, princess.”

Opening my eyes, I see Monster only a few inches away. On impulse, I lunge forward and press my lips to his, kissing him passionately. He freezes for a moment, as if uncertain.

Then he takes over the kiss, dominating my mouth. I moan as his lips take mine. When he bites my bottom lip hard, I groan. While Sam swirls his tongue around my clit, Monster kisses his way down to my neck, licking and biting me softly.

It’s almost too much at once. But of course, Monster isn’t done overwhelming me. As Sam continues working my clit, Monster climbs onto the bed, sliding into position behind me.

“Look at Sam,” he says, lifting me up. “Look at what he’s doing to you.”

He only lets me look for a few seconds before he turns my head a little and kisses me again. Our tongues dance. My eyes close halfway. I begin to grind my pussy against Sam’s mouth, moaning every time my mouth isn’t dominated by Monster.

Monster shifts again, and I can feel his thick cock press against my back. Sam pushes a finger inside my pussy, then another, making me feel full. Monster kisses me and thrusts his cock against my lower back.

“Oh, oh…” I gasp, breaking off the kiss. I feel the spring of my desire winding tightly, almost at the point of breaking loose.

My pussy is so full, and the pressure on my clit as Sam begins to suck at it is amazing. Monster finds my nipple with one hand, his other wandering down my hip. When he tweaks the nipple, the sharp note of pain is exactly what I need.

“Look at me, princess,” Monster whispers. “I want to watch you cum.”

My eyes fly open, and I meet his heavy gaze. Anger, lust, arousal, awe, and some dark emotion that I dare not name. I see to his very soul, for the briefest time. Everything that I’ve ever wanted is reflected in his eyes, at that moment.

Like a well-tuned instrument, the strings of my desire are pulled tight. I bend backward into Monster, my pussy clenching around Sam’s fingers.

“Oh… oh, Monster,” I murmur, his name bubbling up to my lips from somewhere deep within. “Fuck.”

He kisses me again. For that moment, I know happiness. Everything else slides away. Gazing into his eyes, I think he does too.

And that’s what worries me.