She lifted her head, sending Hayes a look. “You’re going to let him treat me like this?”
Hayes brows lifted. “You realize he’s the easy one of the two of us, right?”
Her gaze darkened at that, like the thought both scared her and made her desperately curious. “Oh.”
He gave her a slow smile. Well, hello, Lenore. Lenore had been green, but she’d always been curious, wanting to dance along new edges each time. Brave and daring. And in that look Cora was giving him, he could see that she hadn’t been faking that part online. She got off on a little thread of fear being worked in, on pushing herself past that.
When Ren stopped at the side door and set Cora on her feet to let them in the house, Hayes took Cora’s chin in his hand. “Tell me you want to do this.”
Her throat worked, her gaze suddenly going serious. “I want to do this.”
“What’s your safe word?”
“Red.”
“Good. You can use yellow, too, if you need us to check in with you. Those will always work. And I remember your limits and preferences in Hayven, but this is real world. What do we need to be aware of?”
She rubbed her lips together. “I’m not sure. I don’t know how I’ll feel about things like pain and bondage even though we role-played some of that in the game. But I’m willing to try stuff and see how it goes. Just nothing extreme.”
He brushed her hair away from her face, feeling the tremble beneath his touch. Cora was putting on a brave face. He had no doubt she wanted this tonight, but she was nervous as hell. He let his hand slide to the back of her neck. “This is going to be good, okay? You know me. The way I was in the game is the way I am. I’m not into heavy pain play. I’m not going to permanently mark you or demand anything crazy. All I ask is that you keep an open mind and give yourself over to this tonight, over to us. My goal is to make us all feel good and to give you a chance to see what it’s like. That’s it.”
She nodded in his grip, some of the tension in her face softening. “Okay.”
Ren stepped up behind her, his eyes meeting Hayes’s over her shoulder before he wrapped his arms around Cora’s waist. “You sure there are no other limits, gorgeous? We’ve got filthy minds. You’ve been warned.”
She smirked at that, some of her trademark attitude rising to the surface. “That’s not news. And I do have one request.”
“What’s that?” Ren asked.
“No blindfolds.”
Hayes nodded. “No problem. Don’t like feeling disoriented?”
Her mouth went into a fully wicked smile at that. “No, I just don’t want to miss the view. In fact, if y’all just want to give me a few demonstrations and let me shamelessly objectify you, I’m totally good with that.”
A laugh burst out of him and he shook his head. “Not this time.” He backed her into the house, Ren stepping backward along with her, and Hayes kicked the door shut. “You’ve done enough watching from the sidelines.” He bent down to kiss her. “Time to play, L.”
—
The sound of the nickname he called her on the phone kicked the joking mood right out of her. In one second, they were being playful and teasing, in the next, she realized she was really doing this. Ren and Hayes, both dominating her, both touching her. A hard shiver worked its way through her body, making things hotter instead of chilling them.
Hayes set her soda on a table by the door. She realized she hadn’t even had time to drink it. But caffeine was the last thing she needed. Because the way Hayes was looking at her had everything dialing up to eleven inside her. Humming. Buzzing. Vibrating with anticipation. There was no chance in hell she was going to get sleepy. She was a deer in the middle of an unfamiliar forest with two mountain lions stalking her. She wasn’t going to blink, much less get sleepy.
Hayes locked the door behind him and didn’t bother to turn on a light in the kitchen. Ren was behind her but not touching her anymore. She could feel the heat of his body near, hear the soft fall of his breaths. His awareness. Hayes reached out and brushed the back of his hand over her breast. Her nipples had already been straining against her bra but the simple heat from his touch made her arch and gasp. Everything seemed hypersensitive. Almost too sensitive. She inhaled a deep breath, trying to center herself, calm down.
Hayes dragged his hand back over her, making electricity curl down her belly and pulse between her thighs. She shifted in her boots.
“Look at you,” he said, his voice low. “You’re so keyed up you can barely stand still. You’ll never make it for what we have planned.”
She closed her eyes. “I’m trying. I promise. But I think I was halfway there already when we were dancing.”
“Halfway there, huh?” Ren asked.
“Yes. Apparently, I’m way too easy.”
Hayes smiled and stepped closer to her, his big hand spreading over her ribs. “Cora, you’re far from easy. Deprived is more like it. But don’t worry. We’ll take care of you. This isn’t going to be a one-course meal.”
His hand slid down to cup her sex, the heel of his hand putting pressure right where she needed it. She groaned and Hayes closed his eyes like he was inhaling that sound.