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“By all means,” Elias replied, “please do.”

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one disconcerted by the new arrivals—Tabitha hugged Grit’s arm around her waist and glowered at her brother. Tamsyn recognized the signs of dysfunctional family ties and wondered what happened between them, especially when Jasper sent his sister a resigned glance.

“Relax, little owl. Their problems aren’t yours,” Merrick whispered in her ear. When she peeked up at him, he grinned at her. “Don’t forget I can read you. As soon as you heard his voice, you stiffened up, and now you’re trembling.”

Anarchy was already chatting animatedly with the other women, her energy infusing into the group. How did the darkness inside her husband not suck all that life from her?

“They make me nervous,” Tamsyn whispered back.

“They? Jasper and Anarchy?”

She shook her head, not daring to say their names in case she summoned their attention. Elias and Jasper were two halves of the same side of a sadistic coin—Elias with his black hair shot through with silver, his blue eyes dark and intense; Jasper with his stark white hair and eyes like frosted blue glass, intimidating and predatory.

Merrick’s chuckle reverberated through her. “The first time I sat down with a group of Doms, I felt like an imposter, completely out of my league. Didn’t know how the hell I was supposed to fit in with these men who exuded control and power from their pores like pheromones. I learned they were just men with the same kinks and instinctive desires as me, but there’s an added edge to sadists that catapults them to the forefront of the brain.”

The moment he saidsadists, Tamsyn felt two pairs of eyes zoom in on her.

“Survival instinct,” Elias commented with a touch of amusement in his voice. “A smart person identifies the threat and runs far, far away from it.”

Jasper laughed and tugged on Anarchy’s ponytail. “Hear that, kitten? Smart people run away from the sadist who wants to beat on their ass.”

Big brown eyes turned in his direction; his wife smirked at him. “Guess that makes me the sadist then, seeing as how I wasn’t the one running, Sir.”

“Never going to forgive me for that, are you?”

She stroked his cheek. “Married you, didn’t I? Not to mention, I keep bearing you demonic children intent on global domination. If that’s not forgiveness, I don’t know what is, Sir.”

“Hmmm. You may have a point.” Twisting her ponytail around his hand until her head craned back, Jasper savaged her mouth thoroughly, kissing the breath from her lungs.

Feeling herself get wet, Tamsyn diverted her attention to the table before she started squirming. Of course, she was too late to fool Merrick—his hand slid between the folds of the blanket, down over her mound to fondle her clit lazily.

Callie clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing between her husbands when Anarchy moaned. “Kiss, kiss, kiss!”

“This pussy is drenched, little owl,” Merrick murmured. “Would it like to come?”

Oh yes, yes, it would. But not here, not in front of all these people and the two men who could turn her arousal off faster than flicking a switch.

Of course, that message didn’t reach her body in time to stop her hips lifting into his touch, urging his fingertips to keep doing exactly what they were.

“She blushes beautifully, Merrick.” Elias’s mouth curved when her eyes landed on him and she knewheknew precisely what Merrick was doing to her beneath the blanket. “Did you have fun?”

“Don’t toy with her when I’m pissed at you, Elias. What the hell possessed you to bring her to the dungeon when I was fucking working?” Despite his rising anger, his touch remained slow and gentle. “She’s barely seen any of the club, let alone there. I haven’t exposed her to what goes on here because I wanted to introduce her to the lifestyle cautiously. You forced my hand, Eli, and I don’t like it when my control is compromised.”

Tamsyn’s heart shot into her throat and lodged there, strangling her, as the other man leaned back against the padded bench seat. There was a flash of amusement over his face, but in his eyes… the blue glinted with confrontation—more, theanticipationof conflict.

“She was left under our supervision, Merrick. I take that responsibility seriously. Would you have preferred I took her home to fret and stew in her own panic until you returned?”

“I would havepreferred,” Merrick growled back, “for you to use common sense and your fucking smart brain before taking her into the most hardcore—”

When Elias’s eyes narrowed, Tamsyn almost threw up.

“Merk. Merk, don’t.” Shaking her head frantically, she tried to twist on his lap but his thumb and index finger clamped down on her clit. The pain was sharp, shooting down her legs and back up again to arrow between her legs. “It was my f-fault. I p-panicked and I-I needed you. Elias was just t-trying to h-help.”

“Darlin’, don’t get in the middle of this. He crossed a line and he knows it.”

Conversation around the group dwindled to curiosity-laden silence, broken only by Anarchy’s whispered, “Oooh, I love it when the big bulls lock horns.”

Callie immediately muttered something like, “Daddy Eli’s hung like one, that’s for sure.” When Evander snorted, she smiled up at him. “Don’t forget you’re a Clydesdale, Daddy Vander. There’s no competition.”