He was openly enjoying himself—using her in precisely the way he wanted.

His ruthless handling drove her into a floating surrender. Take me; take everything. Her whole body softened.

“That’s right, sweetling,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

She couldn’t feel any embarrassment or worry with such open approval.

A second later, she heard a zipper and a condom wrapper. Her body trembled in anticipation, and then his cock pressed against her pussy. And stopped. The rabbit vibrator had left her slick…and very swollen. She hissed as he rocked his hips to work his shaft in. When the broad head breached her entrance, he stopped.

Her stretched core throbbed around the intrusion. All of her, every cell, felt alive and begging to be touched.

He ran his hands down her back, leaned forward, and kneaded her breasts. The claws had left the delicate skin abraded and so, so sensitive. When he rolled her abused nipples between his fingers, her insides clenched around him…and he laughed.

Jesus, how much control did the man have? Was he going to stand there with his dick only partly in her? She wanted…wanted to be taken. Hammered hard. She tried to push back onto him, but her arm restraints allowed no movement…and he noticed her attempt.

“Bad girl.” Amusement underlay the stern tone. A stinging smack hit her right buttock, and the flare of pain made every nerve in her pussy sparkle and spasm. Three additional spanks followed, hard enough to leave her ass cheeks feeling scalded.

God, she needed him more than she could bear. “Please.” Her breath escaped in sharp little pants. “I want…need…you to take me.”

“When I’m ready, Rainie. When I’m ready.” He leaned forward again and kissed the back of her shoulder, nuzzling her, driving her crazy. Sadistically taking his time, he pinched her nipples and teased her breasts until they swelled to a throbbing tightness.

Finally, he straightened, and his big hands curved over her full, full hips. “Fuck, I love your ass. Next time, I’m taking you there.”

Without waiting for her response, he rammed into her pussy, hard and fast and deep.

The surprise, the stretch of sensitive tissues, the exhilarating knowledge of being taken for a Master’s pleasure blew through her. Her neck arched as the shock hit, and he was already pulling back and driving in again.

God, yes.

Hands gripping her securely, he hammered her. “Look at those ass cheeks quiver.” He paused to fondle her buttocks, rotated his hips as if to be sure every inch of her pussy had been wakened, and resumed. Each deep penetration started a shockwave low in her pelvis to travel up her center.

And she loved it. Loved… No. With an enticing wiggle, she squeezed her internal muscles to please him.

His laugh rolled out. “There’s the cunt I love.” Leaning forward, he wrapped his long arms around her waist. His right palm pulled her stomach and mound upward, forcing her clit to poke out…for his left hand to find. His callused fingers brushed tantalizingly against the nub.

As the exquisite sensations engulfed her, she groaned and everything inside her bore down. A coil of pressure at her core tightened, growing, expanding, taking over her body, her control. The ache in her shoulder, the awkwardness of the position, the tightness of the cuffs—all disappeared, leaving only the stroke of his merciless, knowledgeable fingers and the ruthless impalement on his thick cock.

Her body tensed, thighs quivering, as he drove her to the peak. Almost…almost…

He stopped.

Her moan of protest was loud in the room. He pulled back slightly to edge her legs out wider, then gripped her ass cheeks, pulling them apart. This time his cock penetrated deeper than any ever had before, invading her body so thoroughly, so intimately, as Jake took her over completely.

The onrushing tidal wave of orgasm slammed into her, sending her over. And over. And over.

* * * *

Jake woke before dawn, lying on his back. Rainie’s head rested on his right shoulder, and her thick, wavy hair covered his chest. Her softness against his side and the light fragrance of her shampoo had him hardening. But damned if he wanted to—or could—move.

She had him pinned down on one side. On the left, Rhage and Guido lay curled against his hip and thigh. Normally he’d insist the dogs sleep at the foot of the bed, but his two rescue cats had staked out that territory. Patton, the Manx, was draped over his right leg, MacArthur, the tiger-stripe, on his left.

Good thing he didn’t get claustrophobic, he thought drowsily. On the contrary, even with his grief for Violetta still fresh, he couldn’t recall feeling more content.

Sure, being surrounded by animals always made him happy, but this ease was deeper. As if the woman lying next to him had carved new channels in his soul and filled them with her ever-flowing joy.

He half snorted at the thought. Any minute now, he’d break into The Sound of Music or something. Gunny would have been horrified.

Guido stirred and raised his head. With a whine, the dog jumped off the bed to sit by the door.

Seriously?

Another whine.

Fuck. But he couldn’t blame the beastie for the impact of a changed environment, different routine, and new food on his system. Carefully, Jake disentangled himself from the various bodies.

Rainie murmured inaudibly and rolled to her other side. He eyed the pale roundness of her ass with prurient thoughts, sighed again, and motioned the dog out of the room, taking Rhage as well.

A few minutes later, as he sat on the edge of the concrete slab, he heard the porch door. A glance over his shoulder gave him a treat.

In his T-shirt, Rainie was all curves and beautiful legs. Her multi-colored hair waved over her shoulders, her eyes were sleepy, her mouth swollen from his kisses.

Nice. Very, very nice.

She pulled a chair close to him and sat. “Dogs?” she asked, her voice beautifully husky as if she’d had all the high notes fucked away.

Made a man proud.

He pointed to the field and the two dogs stalking and pouncing on field mice with abysmal success.

“At this hour?” She snorted. “You know, when I drag home from work, Mr. Energizer Puppy’s raring to play. All evening. It’s a good thing I’m out of school or I’d flunk.”

School? He leaned his shoulder against a post. “What were you going for?”

“Uh…an MBA.”

His brows rose. Hell, he’d known she was smart, but… “That’s great, Rainie. And you got it?”

“Finished in December.” When she smiled down at him, the golden streaks in her hair glinted in the moonlight.

She smelled of his soap from the shower they’d taken. He liked her in his clothes and scent. “No wonder you’re so good at everything in the office.”

The compliment made her eyes light. “Thanks.”

“And what did you plan to do with that fancy new degree?”

“Find a fancy new job…somewhere.” She added lightly, “I need a position where I can wear all my suits.”

“Well, you do look stunning in them.” The thought of her leaving the clinic shredded tiny bits from his contentment.

In the moonlight, the dogs flushed a rabbit and chased it across the grass, barking madly.

“He may have too much energy, but I’m glad you made me keep him.” As the dogs trotted back, panting happily, Rainie laughed.

A shame she hadn’t had a dog growing up. “Your mom disliked pets?”

“Not exactly. It’s just that owning a dog would have meant rental deposits. And…she didn’t want to care for anything.”

Ah. Rainie’s tone was even, not bitter, but her face was easy to read. “Not even you?” he asked softly.

As if to avoid the question—and him—she leaned back in the chair.

He put his hand on her calf, keeping contact whether she wanted it or not. “Rainie?”

“Yes, even me. She took off with a guy when I was twelve and never came back.”

“You ended up with your father?”

“No, he left when I was seven.”

“I was seven,” she said. Didn’t have to think to remember her age…which meant it had been nasty. Memorable.

“Did he die?”

“Walked out on us.”

“Jesus.” He stood, scooped her up, and took her place in the chair with her on his lap.

“Jake, no, I’m too heavy.”

“Hardly.” Even if she were—being smothered in soft, fragrant female flesh would be a fucking fine way to go. He pulled her closer, marveling how there wasn’t a place on her that was bony.

When he nipped her jaw, she shivered…and his cock began to lengthen. No, she needed cuddling and conversation, not sex. The subject was childhood. And abandonment.

A shame irresponsible people couldn’t be spayed—or neutered—as easily as dogs. “Who raised you, baby? Relatives?”

“Didn’t have any. I got foster care.”

Hmm. He knew guys who’d had decent, loving foster parents. Knew others who’d suffered. Rainie lived her life with joy and laughter, but…she had formidable emotional defenses. “So the foster home didn’t allow pets?”

“Neither of mine did.” Her grim tone told him even more.

“That sucks.” In the clinic, affection flowed from her in a river, washing over animals and people. If, as a child, she’d had no one to spend that love on, it’d have been like damming up the Mississippi.