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“Then let the games begin,” Jed said.

They started toward her, and Katie threw her hands up.“Nope.There are things we need to discuss, and you two need to back off.”

Both men stood like statues.

She had to hold back a nervous giggle at the surprised and hungry look on their faces.Her body trembled, but she had to do this.It was difficult for her to deny them, but she had to.Her rules.“This is my grandmother’s house.I will not do this here.There is no discussion around it.It’s a hard limit.”

“Who the fuck taught you?”Ry took a step forward.

“Ry.”Jed grabbed his arm.“Katie is right.This isn’t the time or place.”

Jed’s hard stare made Katie shiver.Okay, so maybe Jed wasn’t as easygoing as she remembered.

“Tomorrow night.Our house.Seven.”Ry ground the words out.

Katie nodded.At least they were taking her seriously.She squeezed past them to the door of the pantry.Her skin felt singed from the contact.

“And if you’re late, you will be punished,” Jed said as her hand curved around the knob.

She froze, her heart doing triple time.“Punished?No.We haven’t covered all the bases yet, and until we do, don’t overstep.And I’m always on time when I make a commitment.”

She slipped out and closed the door behind her, resting her back against the solid wood.Oh.Dear.God.She was going into the lion’s den.

* * * *

Ry stared at the pantry door, willing the acute hurt rolling through his veins to subside.“I want to know who taught her.”His voice vibrated.

“We’ll find out, and you need to calm down, Ry.”Jed’s calm tone wasn’t helping Ry control the beast inside him.

“Someone else taught her, Jed.Not us.It should have been us.”Ry ground his teeth together.And if he had taught her?Would he have scared her with his demands?His need for control?He’d been a baby Dom when she left, just twenty-one, and he knew only what his parents had taught him about a poly relationship.Since then, he’d learned what it meant to be a good Dominant.But the moment he saw her, his emotions took over.

“Just because she knew the one word to stop us cold doesn’t mean she’s fully educated.”Jed leaned against a shelving unit, taking deep breaths, watching Ry.Ry reached down and adjusted himself.It was then Ry noticed Jed’s cock was as hard as his.“Information about safe words and hard limits is easy enough to find on the internet.”

Ry blew out a breath.“Damn, you’re right.”He rubbed the back of his neck.“It’s just the thought of another man…” His teeth snapped together, and Jed winced at the sound.

“Yeah, I’m with you there.”Jed rubbed his stomach.“If another man has taught her, we will deal with it.She’s been gone eight years.We can’t expect her not to have experimented.It’s not like we were celibate while she was gone.”

“I lose all reason when I’m around her.”

“You always did, and that’s why you have me.”Jed punched him in the arm, and they both smiled.“Shall we discuss how we want to handle Katie tomorrow?”

“Yes, when we get home.Because this time, I’m not letting her run.”

Chapter Three

The next evening, Katie shut the front door of her grandmother’s house with a sigh.She was late for her meeting with Ry and Jed.

She jogged to her car, hopped in, and took off.She’d hoped to walk to Ry and Jed’s house, but it wasn’t going to happen now.She didn’t need more time to think.She’d thought of nothing but Ry and Jed and their reaction to her words since the pantry incident yesterday.

She reviewed some of the basics in her head while she drove, such as what she’d learned about BDSM and the poly lifestyle while she was in New York.Ry and Jed were both dominant males, and she would have to deal with that.But she wasn’t going to be a pushover, either.There would be limits and rules.Katie had a submissive side, but it was mainly in the bedroom, not in life.

All too soon, she pulled into the driveway.Climbing out of her car, she shut the door and stood there for a minute as her pulse roared in her ears.No time like the present.She made her way to the front door, drew in a breath, and knocked.

The door opened to reveal Jed, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans.Her mouth went dry at the sight of his toned body.“Come on in, Kitty Kat.”

Her heart hiccupped.Kitty Kat.Only Jed called her that.

“Thanks.”She slipped through the opening as Jed pulled a black T-shirt over his head.Ry was standing across the room.He wore jeans as well, along with a tight tank top that did nothing to hide his muscular body.She swallowed.His six-pack abs were even more defined than Jed’s.Her palms itched to touch him, to see if those muscles were as hard as they looked.