“Eric!”

What the hell was she doing? She pushed through the kitchen door and led him out into the main hallway.

Eric stepped out of the living room, his cell phone in hand. “Yeah, baby?”

She wasn’t going to ask him, was she? “Do you have a problem with me taking Kellan upstairs and blowing his mind for an hour or so? It’s been a stressful morning. I could use a little relief.”

What the hell was wrong with her? He shook his head. “Man, I…”

Eric grinned and winked at Belle. “Go for it, baby. If I can knock this call out in less than an hour, I’ll join you.” He nodded Kellan’s way. “Take care of our girl, man.”

Belle blew him a kiss as she started up the stairs. Kellan found himself following, dumbfounded. Were they all out of their minds?

She was making their problems sound easier than they really were. She was taking something complex and making it so simple, as though all they had to do was love each other to make this work. As if the other guys wouldn’t mind because she was their girl and all that mattered was working together to make her happy.

The trouble was, she wasn’t his girl. He hadn’t earned her. She belonged to Eric and Tate.

Belle grabbed the bottom of her shirt as she entered the room and pulled it up and over her head, tossing it to the side. Every inch of skin she revealed made his cock jerk.

His mouth started to water as she unhooked her bra and her breasts bounced free. She gracefully stepped out of her pants. What the hell was he supposed to do? Turn her down? Maybe she wasn’t his, didn’t belong to him, but she wanted to be with him. He hadn’t lied to her, hadn’t told her one untrue thing. Why shouldn’t he take her?

He came up with a hundred reasons why he shouldn’t leave the bedroom now, but only one of them really counted. He had so little time left. He couldn’t waste a minute. He wanted her more than he wanted just about anything.

“Undress me.” He didn’t know how long he would last. They didn’t have the time to do all the things he really wanted, like tie her up and spend hours torturing her with pleasure. Clamping those magnificent breasts would be the first on his list. He would use diamond clamps because they would set off the deep, rich color of her skin. A platinum chain would run between her breasts and down to the clamp he would affix on the jewel of her clit. It would bite into her, a pleasurable pain that would lead to the sort of orgasm that made her cry out and twist and plead for mercy. When it came to her, he didn’t have any. He’d love to keep her on the edge all afternoon. She would scream his name out over and over again.

But the freaking contractors would eventually show up after their lunch break, and Belle would be angry if she got caught naked and tied up and bejeweled like the BDSM princess she was. He had an hour with her—max. Greedily he wanted to spend every second of it inside her.

Belle sauntered to him, lifting her shaking hands to the buttons of his shirt. Every second she worked to bare him, she blinked up at him, her unwavering stare allowing him to see the honest desire in her eyes. Gone was the shy girl who hid her emotions. He could see them playing out, could feel the caress of her hands over every inch of skin she uncovered. This wasn’t a selfish girl trying to take her pleasure, but a woman offering all of herself to him. Kellan was suddenly humbled by her.

He caught her hand, some unnamable emotion welling inside him. “What are you doing, Annabelle?”

A glance around confirmed that this wasn’t a mere haphazard encounter. She’d already turned the bed down. He could see a box of condoms lying on the nightstand. She’d planned this.

Her rich chocolate gaze never faltered. He’d taught her well—and she’d learned quickly. “I’m seducing you.”

“You don’t have to. You know I want you.”

A little grin curved her lips up. “It’s harder than you think. You’re still fighting me.”

“Did you send everyone away?” How far did her plotting go?

“Yes.”

He sighed but let her hand go. She immediately went back to working to free him of his shirt. She pushed it off his shoulders, then dropped to her knees, touching the button of his slacks. It was the first time she’d broken eye contact, and he found himself breathing again. When she watched him with her big dark eyes, he got lost in her.

“Why the big production number, love? I admit, it worries me that Eric and Tate might think I’m being presumptuous, but other than that, I’ll take a nooner.”

He purposefully used casual words. Nooner. Quickie. Roll in the hay. Hookup. He could toss those words out all day long, but deep inside he knew where this was heading. He was making love to the only woman he would ever care about. Might as well admit it… She was the only woman he’d ever love.

Belle lowered his zipper. It hissed in the silence, broken only by their ragged breaths. He sighed as she pulled his boxers past his hips and toward the floor. She knew exactly how to make a man feel good. He would give her that. Over the course of a week, she’d tossed aside her inhibitions and become the lover of his dreams. Giving. Open. Honest. Passionate.

How was he going to leave her and not fucking fall apart?

“Eric gave you permission.”

He felt his jaw clench as his cock sprang free. “I’m sure Tate would like to have a say. He’s a possessive bastard.”

She tilted her head up, giving him a brilliant smile. “He is, but he’s okay with this. Who do you think plugged me earlier today? He took me into the bathroom and spent a lot of time working this plug inside my ass. He talked about you and Eric the whole time, about how he hoped we’d eventually all be together. But he also knew what I wanted today. He thought you would find it hot.”

Hot? He found it scorching. His cock strained up, twitching as though trying to get to her on its own. “You’re wearing an anal plug?”

She licked his cock like a treat she wanted to savor—slowly, lovingly, making him bite back a moan. “Tate thought it might spice up the encounter for you. It’s the large plug. I’ve run through the whole training set. Tate says this is the last one before we get to the real stuff. According to him, it will make my pussy very tight. Interested?”

Fuck, yes. Well before she’d said any of that. All Annabelle Wright ever had to do was look at him and he burned.

She took the head of his cock into her mouth, and he closed his eyes. He had the terrible suspicion that she meant to seduce him into some sort of forever. It wouldn’t work, but he couldn’t say no to her. His dick was already threatening to burst. His heart…not far behind.

“Come up here.” If he let her, she would suck him until he came deep in her mouth, and he really wanted to fuck her with that plug. They’d been progressing her through the training set, each plug a little larger to ready her for the anal sex he ached to give her. He wished he’d been there when she’d taken the large plug. He would have deeply enjoyed the way her eyes had to have widened and her breath must have caught as Tate had slid that plug home.

She rose to her feet, and he kicked away his shoes, slacks, and boxers. Normally he would have folded them, but he didn’t give a shit today. They weren’t playing. They were stealing time. He had an hour or so to have her all to himself. Eric would try to rush through his call. Tate could come home at any time. The minute they could be up here, they would. It made him a selfish bastard but he wanted all the time alone with her he could grab.

He kissed her, letting himself really revel in her for the first time. He’d been viewing the encounters with the four of them as very pleasurable teaching sessions. He’d distanced himself by playing the second-fiddle Dom, letting Eric take the lead, but here and now he was just Kellan and she was just Belle. Just a man and a woman with only these moments together.

The minute the others showed up, he would have to take on his hands-off role because they deserved her and he didn’t. He would have to honor their claim on her.

His tongue delved deep, rubbing and playing against hers. He felt the nubs of her nipples against his skin. He reached down, cupping her breasts. They were soft, but firm. They nestled so perfectly in his hands as though she’d been made just for him. He kissed his way from her mouth to her neck, burying his face in her shoulder, inhaling the sweetness of her scent.

He’d never wanted any woman as much as he wanted Belle. What if he’d met her before Lila? He could rewrite his history. Why couldn’t he have found her before he’d attached himself to that ball and chain, then jumped into the drowning pool? Before he’d been ruined. Before he’d been utterly broken.

How different would his life be now?

“I need you,” she whispered. “Please, Kellan. Please take me.”

He watched as she moved away from him, settling herself on the bed with a siren’s smile. She held a hand out to him.

She could ruin him in ways he’d never even imagined. If Lila had taken his family and his pride, Belle could kill his soul. If she chose to, she could rip him apart, and he would never be able to put himself back together. He would lay down and die if Belle betrayed him.

That summed up why he had to leave.

But not yet. Not fucking yet. He wasn’t walking out until he absolutely had to. He could have one more taste of heaven before he resigned himself to a lifetime of hell.

He cursed, hating that he was even thinking about anything except the ecstasy she offered him here and now. Only that mattered. Right now, he had no past and no future. Just the beautiful present.

Kell pulled a condom off the strip, opened it and worked it over his straining cock. Desire pounded through his system, and he wondered what it would be like to take off the fucking piece of latex and take his chances. How good would it feel to come deep inside her knowing there was nothing in between them. If he got her pregnant, there wouldn’t be any question of him leaving. He would have to stay. He would be obligated to remain in her life. They would be connected by a child who would need them both.

But he couldn’t do that to her. She deserved to know that any man in her life was there because he couldn’t live without her, not because he’d knocked her up.

“Please, Kellan. Give us just a few minutes. We don’t have to think about anything but right now. Just…be with me.”

She offered him everything he wanted. He couldn’t stay away. He fell on her without an ounce of his usual finesse. It was raw and real, and he couldn’t seem to make himself stop. When he took a lover, he thought about technique and forced himself to be patient, but he couldn’t with Belle. He kissed her again, needing to be as close to her as possible.

He covered her body with his, holding none of his own weight. God, she was small against him. Small and beautiful and so welcoming, but she could handle him. She wasn’t fragile or delicate. Everything about Belle was strong. She didn’t hold back. Instead, she opened her arms and her body, allowing him inside. Not just for pleasure. He’d had that so many times before. Women asked him to please them. They wanted to be taken care of sexually. But Belle offered to take care of him. She offered to join with him, to merge with him for no other reason than she cared.

He touched her womanly folds, wondering if she was really ready. He was moving so fast. The last thing he wanted to do was harm her in any way. His fingers found the petals of her flesh. They moved easily inside, sliding all around. Her pussy was soft and wet. Ready for his cock.

He spread her wide, unable to wait. He usually had such patience, but now it was blown. He needed her.

She reached around him until her hands found his ass. Her nails sank in, giving him a little jolt of pain that quickly flared into pleasure. She wanted him, too. Belle was with him completely, touch for touch. That made him even more crazy.

He aligned his cock with her sweet opening and started to sink in.

So tight. As he pushed in, Kell closed his eyes in bliss. The plug dragged against his cock, adding another layer of sensation. It would feel the same way when they shared her, when his best friends were right here with him, pleasuring their woman.

Belle pushed up, forcing him in further. He knew he should take more control, but this was different. This was wild and candid, and he didn’t want to change it. He wanted Belle fighting for her pleasure, for the sharp satisfaction they could find in one another’s arms.