She could think of only a couple of occasions when she’d been on the receiving end of those tails, and those instances were purely learning opportunities for her. She had to learn how to use one in order to ensure she didn’t hurt anyone. But this, this was vastly different.

Never had she actually started to enjoy it. Not like this.

Sure, she had always admired the way Xander used the tools of the trade, and she had to admit, he was incredibly sensual in his movements, but she’d never felt the effect firsthand.

With her eyes closed, the images that floated through her mind lined up with the stinging blows that began across her ass, on her upper thighs, and Mercedes worried that she was going to lose control.

“Is that what you want, pet?” he asked her softly, pulling her back from the brink as his hands traced the heated lines he’d created on her ass.

“Yes, Master X.” Shit, that had been an honest answer and calling him Master hadn’t seemed all that strange either.

She was definitely losing control.

“Good girl,” he soothed her. “Do you want me to continue? Do you want me to make you come?”

Fuck no. “Yes, Sir,” she replied because she knew that was what he wanted to hear.

Mercedes figured she’d have to fake an orgasm because honestly, she wasn’t into pain like this. She didn’t believe it was possible to get her off by any form of flagellation. But he was obviously going to try.

“I’m looking forward to watching you come,” he told her, and she had to wonder whether he could read her mind.

Xander slid his hand around to her front, his big finger once again sliding through her slick folds. Only this time he plunged one finger inside of her, and she cried out, the sensation taking root deep in her core, pleasure detonating on impact.

“Yes, I’m definitely going to enjoy watching you come,” he stated again and Mercedes’s internal muscles clenched.

At this pace, she wasn’t going to have much of a choice.

But then his finger was gone, and the stinging slap of leather against her oversensitive skin returned.

“Remember, you have a safe word, and you may use it if necessary.”

Mercedes didn’t say a word. She already knew that, and she feared that if she did speak she’d give herself away entirely.

Closing her eyes again, she gave herself over to the moment.

The leather kissed her skin over and over, the slaps moving to different places, sometimes staying in the same place for two or three swats. Again, Mercedes didn’t make a sound as the minutes ticked by, but her lungs felt restricted as her body flexed and strained against the erotically sensual onslaught.

She tried to focus, tried to determine where he was going to land the next blow, but she found herself drifting. All thoughts disappeared as her breathing increased, the only thing intruding on her moment of peace was the sound of the leather as it landed and the bite of pain that sent shards of electrical pulses through her. It was…

Oh, God. She couldn’t think anymore.

He was doing it. Xander was sending her toward that mind-numbing place that all subs sought. The place referred to as sub-space. It wasn’t unlike Dom-space as far as she was concerned, but she wasn’t supposed to be there.

With less force, Xander trailed over her upper back, then back to her ass, down her thighs, delivering exactly what she apparently needed because Mercedes found herself floating.

The next time he pressed up against her, the softness of his slacks against her abused skin sent heat coursing through her again. He gripped her right wrist in his big hand high up on the cross while he pressed his lips against her neck and slid his left hand between her thighs, the flogger obviously forgotten.

“Come for me, Mercedes,” he exhaled against her ear as he drove two fingers deep inside of her. “Just for me.”

That was when it happened.

Mercedes shattered into a million pieces – only it wasn’t just her body that was affected. Her mind, or more importantly, everything she thought she knew about herself, unraveled right there in the comfort of Xander’s arms.

Chapter Three

Logan would consider himself an astute man. Not a lot got past him. So as he sat in the chair with Sam squirming on his lap, the scene before him had definitely caught his attention.

Granted, Logan’s cock was rock hard, and it had been even before they walked into this private playroom decked out for some serious BDSM activities. The room wasn’t overly large, but it was spacious enough to accommodate a St. Andrew’s cross near one wall, a spanking bench positioned in the center of the room and a man the size of Xander Boone.

As he watched what Xander was doing to the beautiful woman restrained to the cross, he was grateful they’d opted for a private scene tonight. All of the other rooms, especially those that were equipped with things such as crosses, chains and ropes, were monitored by staff for safety; therefore open for anyone to watch.

Apparently being an owner of the club had its perks because the room Xander had procured was off limits. Thank God.

Sitting in a chair with Samantha on his lap, her attention on the couple about ten feet in front of her, Logan found himself riveted to what was going on. Surprisingly, it didn’t have anything to do with the way Xander handled that toy in his hand either.

No, there was something else going on here. Something between Xander and Mercedes that was more erotic than anything he’d seen in quite some time. The last time he’d witnessed something of this magnitude had been between Luke and Cole that long ago night when the three of them had focused on Sam.

Whatever was happening between Xander and Mercedes, it was… intense. Almost as though the two of them hadn’t expected it to happen.

Logan and Sam had been introduced to Mercedes as Xander’s friend and business associate, but after watching this scene, he had to wonder whether they were something more than that. From their interactions downstairs, it was clear they were buddy-buddy because they could easily laugh together and practically finish one another’s sentences.

However, the intensity between the two of them right now was palpable in the small room, and it didn’t matter one bit that Mercedes was strapped to that wooden cross.

So, for the last few minutes, Logan had watched, absorbing the movements, the reactions and enjoying what was happening to a degree. He’d only been distracted by Sam’s sharp gasps that echoed through the room every time that flogger came down on Mercedes’s now reddened skin.

For a minute, he thought he would make it through the evening without coming completely undone. After all, they were there to watch, not participate. And that might’ve been the case, except Sam continued to squirm on his lap and the way her curvy ass ground against his aching cock was sending him closer and closer to the edge.

But then everything stopped.

Well, almost everything.

While Xander pressed up against Mercedes, obviously soothing her with words after an orgasm that had split the atoms in the room, Logan whispered near Sam’s ear, “Do you like watching them?” It was an appropriate, albeit unnecessary, question considering she was still grinding her pussy against his thigh.

“Yes,” she replied softly, her body trembling slightly.

He’d be damned. Xander had been right.

After a lot of thought, Logan had decided to approach Xander Boone a few weeks back. Initially, he had intended to proposition Xander about being a third. That idea had dissipated shortly after he started talking to Xander though.

Then, during a long conversation, Xander had suggested that Logan introduce Sam to something that might catch her interest. This certainly had caught her attention, much as it had his.

Logan had openly discussed with Xander some of the things he and Sam had engaged in previously, the conversation surprisingly comfortable. Not at all awkward like he initially expected. He had gone on to explain how he enjoyed controlling Sam’s pleasure, how beautifully Sam responded during those instances, and how the involvement of a third did something for both of them.

According to Xander, the fact that Sam liked Logan’s dominating side could mean that she’d be interested in more interaction of that nature. As opposed to a threesome. Logan had informed Xander about their history and the attachment Sam seemed to have for the men who had briefly entered their relationship.

If he hadn’t been convinced during that conversation – which he had been – now more than ever, Logan was absolutely positive that Xander would not be the right man for him and Sam to get involved with. Not as far as a threesome was concerned anyway.

Xander was a Dom and, although Logan didn’t put labels on himself, nor did he participate in the standard BDSM practices, he knew that his own dominating nature would clash with Xander’s. Control wasn’t something Logan was willing to relinquish, and he got the impression that Xander knew that.

That’s when Xander had suggested Logan and Sam learn more about BDSM. Hence, the reason they were there.

Logan watched as Xander let his hands freely roam over Mercedes’s lush, curvy body as he took his time, holding her tight and mumbling in her ear. She was gripping the chains attached to the cuffs around her wrist and leaning back against Xander, her eyes closed, her hips continuing to undulate against Xander’s hand still wedged between her thighs.

While he took it all in, Logan slid his hand up Sam’s bare thigh and beneath the short skirt that she wore. When her hand came down to grip his wrist, urging him forward, he edged underneath the elastic of her panties, sliding one finger through her soft folds.