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Genie hadchangedinto her owl form earlier in the day. She’d put a large bullfrog in the bathtub with the curtain closed to make sure it didn’t get out. She’dchangedin front of the sink, then flown up to the sink, then to the shower-curtain bar, and dove down to kill and then eat the frog. When she’d eaten and given everything time to digest, she’dchangedback, still in the shower, and then turned the water on without getting out. She’d been thoroughly fucked the night before, but she’d been fully healed hours before Dev picked her up. Still, her pussy was more sore now than it’d been when she’d arrived home a little aftertwo in the morning — and that was just from Dev, not from more than a half dozen bikers and nearly as many of their friends.

“For the record, I feel as if I’ve been thoroughly fucked. Consider that a job well done.”

“It was my pleasure. I half expected you to end things with your little bit of magic. I know I went longer than was comfortable.”

And she had a feeling he’d gone longer as a test, to see if she would. She also figured he was asking her why she hadn’t.

“I don’t actually like being able to control when things end. That should be up to you. If you want me to do it, I love being ordered to. It was a fun way to show you what I can do, but I probably won’t do it unless we’re playing a game where that lets me win, or unless you order me to.” She used it when the bikers ordered her to pleasure someone, but she knew they expected her to, and on the rare occasion they didn’t want her doing it, they’d tell her not to. When one of the bikers used her, he’d usually either tell her to do it, or not to — most of the Birmingham guys were clear about what they wanted. She only had to follow orders. Not all of the Chattanooga guys were kinky, but they usually let her know what they wanted, too.

“I researched your owl, which I have to say is just adorable. There seems to be some disagreement about whether your particular owl is monogamous.”

“General consensus is that they stick with a breeding partner for a year, and they may choose to mate with them again the next year, though they often choose someone else. My particular owl species is odd when it comes to who raises the owlets. The mom does all the incubation and keeping them warm and safe after they hatch, and the dad brings them food. The mom leaves when the owlets are somewhere between two and three weeks old, and then the Dad doeseverything— feeding and teaching and keeping them safe. Usually another week and a half to twoweeks. No one’s sure why some owls choose to breed with the same owl and others choose another partner the next year.”

“And you?”

Ah.Monogamy. Was he going around the bush to ask if she wanted a monogamous relationship? “I’ve had some long-term committed relationships. If I promise I won’t fuck other people, I won’t, but it isn’t…” she sighed. “I like sex, and part of that is being fucked by more than one person at a time. If I find my true love and they insist on monogamy, I’ll be stuck with it, but I hope my true love, if he exists, will enjoy a varied sex life with me.” She rubbed her thumb under his. “I’m guessing snakes aren’t monogamous.”

“They are not, and while I don’t demand monogamy, I do insist on approving of other sexual partners for the people I claim as mine. It’s as much about protecting them as anything.” He sighed. “Okay, and a little about control. I don’t demand total control unless it’s something the submissive needs from me, but it’s important I approve of other people they are intimate with.”

If there was a true relationship, that would work for Genie so long as it went both ways. She started to not speak up, but considered Dev might see this as a kind of pre-negotiation, so she decided she should.

“That wouldn’t work for a casual relationship, but for something long-term, I could live with it so long as I got to approve of his sexual partners as well.”

“You should know that part of training new shapeshifters and vampires often means I fuck them to prove dominance. Even the ones who’ve been around awhile but haven’t officially earned their freedom sometimes need to be reminded I own them in every damned way, and any freedom they’re given is based on their ability to convince me they deserve said freedom.” He seemed to realize how that sounded, and he explained, “Technically, Brooke owns them, but she’s put me in charge ofthem and gives me near complete autonomy in how they are trained and managed. It’s one of the reasons my fuck-up with the twins on their first day was so bad.”

They weren’t in a relationship yet, so she wasn’t prepared to continue down the path of who they could fuck. However, she wanted to ask about the twins, and it seemed a good time.

“You’ll be fucking Elijah and Ezra, I assume?”

“Those two are either going to be fun to train, or they’re going to break my heart. And yes, I have a feeling they’ll need to be regularly fucked in order to be kept in line. Not as a punishment, but because I think they need the contact and the reassurance of being owned. The goal is to help them find some freedom, or perhaps total freedom eventually, but it isn’t going to happen overnight.”

“Would it work into your training schedule to include me?”

He froze for a half-second, and then rolled onto his side to look down at her. “Even after they scared you?”

“I saw another side of Ezra, and I assume Elijah has a nice side as well. It’s like they’re emotionally stunted or something, stuck in the sixth grade, but if they’ve been trained as sex slaves, then…” she blew out a breath. “You have to know I’m curious, right? I’ve never been with someone trained as a sex slave, and while I don’t normally get off on the idea of dominating others, I kind of like the idea of you dominating all of us, but me also being over them a little. Maybe I can give them small commands, like when to get me off, and you handle the big commands?”

Hi kissed her forehead. “I can set something up for Thursday or Friday night, if your schedule is the same this week.”

“Yeah, that works. Is there a place to shower here without going into the house?”

“We’ll head to my place to shower and get changed. You can either put the shorts and shirt back on, or I have a loose dress you can wear so you’re covered enough to travel.”

“The dress should be fine. I’d rather shower before I put my dress on.”

“I really did buy you a dress to wear for dinner. You can choose between it and the one you brought, but I hope you at least try it on, after you shower.”

It turned out, Dev had excellent taste in clothes. The dress he’d bought her was a deep green velvet, but stretchy, so it clung toallher curves. It had a little bit of a built-in bra, but only for support. Her nipples clearly showed, but she didn’t mind if Dev didn’t.

He’d bought a pair of shoes in the same name brand and size as the ones she’d worn on their first date. They matched the green perfectly, and they fit.

Dinner was at one of those Japanese places where they cook your food in front of you, and he ordered extra steak for them both. It was beyond scrumptious, and then he took her back to his place so she could check on Ezra and Elijah. She’d wanted to earlier, but he’d told her he was starving and it could wait.

And since she’d been pretty hungry as well, she hadn’t argued.

Chapter Twelve

Dev wished he’d asked someone to clear the way for them to the infirmary, but he hadn’t, so he made his way through the various doors, pressing his palm to a plate for some, keying in a code for the others, and doing both at the final door. He walked her past the regular part of the infirmary, into a room with walls and a door, rather than the glass walls.