She turned to look at him, eyes wide. "Aidan...?"

"You don't have to decide that right now," Zack said. "Right now you're probably thinking no way. Feelings can change when we get into a scene. But we need a safe word. So if you want to stop, I know you really mean it."

Aidan and Maddie both nodded. "But if we do have sex..." She turned again to Aidan. "You'd be okay with that?"

"If it's what you want, then yeah." He couldn't believe he was saying that. But he was never jealous. He knew Maddie loved him. He wanted her to be happy. If she wanted it, he wanted her to have it. And if it was Zack...well, who better? He was someone they both knew and trusted, not some random stranger they found on the Internet. He had no doubt that Zack would ever hurt Maddie. Even so, he said it. He met Zack's eyes. "Just take care with her, man. You ever hurt her, I will fuck you up so bad."

"I will hurt her," Zack said. "She wants to be flogged and spanked. You gonna be able to deal with that?"

Aidan swallowed. He got it. He knew what she wanted. What she needed. He just knew he couldn't give it to her. Their eyes met. "Yeah."

Zack nodded. "I get it." And Aidan felt their mutual understanding and connection all the way to his soul. They'd always been on the same page about Maddie-they'd rescued her the night they met her and ever since then it had been all about protecting her. Warmth expanded in his chest.

"Safe word?" Zack prompted.

Aidan's mind went blank.

"Let's keep it simple," Zack suggested. "Red if you want to stop. Yellow if you want to slow down. Okay?"

"This is insane." Maddie clutched Aidan's arms over her abdomen. Then she shivered and he recognized her excitement. "I can't believe we're doing this."

Neither could he. Yet he felt a sense of relief. A lightening of spirit, somehow, knowing that this took some pressure off him.

He lived with pressure, every damn day. At work, people counted on him to make big decisions, solve problems and make things happen. There were always problems, some big, some fucking huge, problems that potentially cost millions of dollars or problems that meant someone's pride got bruised. There were always deadlines and the crunch to make them. The pressure to make Maddie happy and the kick in the ego he'd taken knowing he could never quite do it had been weighing on him for so long, the unexpected lift of that load gave him a sense of hope and lightness. And...excitement.

And then the air in the room went electric as Zack unbuckled his belt. Aidan couldn't see Maddie, but sensed her alert attention exactly where he was looking-Zack's fingers on the belt buckle, then pulling the belt through the loops and out. He held the leather loosely in both hands. "On the bed, Maddie."

She went taut and vibrating in Aidan's arms. He squeezed her harder briefly. Okay. Here's where the rubber met the road. Or the leather met the skin. Christ. His insides contracted, but deep down inside he knew she wanted this, and he trusted Zack to give it to her.

"Wait," he said.

Zack looked up at him. Maddie's head turned against his shoulder.

"I want to know. I mentioned it earlier. What have you been doing for the last seven years? Why do you seem to know so much about all this?"

Maddie spoke up, her voice soft. "You said you'd been to those kinds of clubs. When you found that site for Mistress...whatever her name was."

Zack nodded, stroking the leather of his belt through with one hand. "Okay. Fair enough. Wasn't something I would've shared with you. You two seem so..."

"Vanilla?" Maddie spoke up.

Aidan couldn't help the laugh that burst out of him. Jesus.

"Yeah." Zack's lips curved into a smile. "Who knew?"

"So tell us," she said.

He nodded. "Okay. Fine. When I started traveling, a whole new world opened up to me. I'd never felt like I totally fit in. Except..." He tipped his head. "With you. You both accepted me the way I was. Fucked up and no clue."

"Zack." Maddie's fingers tightened on Aidan.

Zack shook his head. "It's true. I wasn't sure if I liked guys or girls. I wasn't sure what I liked at all. I felt restless, unsatisfied. When I got to Europe, some other journalists started taking me out with them at night. We went to some pretty wild sex clubs. The first one I remember was in Berlin. It was...a revelation. People were doing things I'd barely fantasized about. I met people..." He paused and looked at them through narrowed eyes, as if afraid they were judging him. "I met people who taught me things. I learned a lot about myself. What I wanted. What I needed." He lifted his chin. "I met women-and men-who wanted the same. They needed to be dominated and I wanted to do that. A few of them turned into semi-lasting relationships. As much as I could have, considering how much I moved around."

Maddie's body tightened again against him. Aidan sensed her displeasure at hearing about Zack with other people. That was...well, he wasn't even sure what that was. It didn't bother him. He appreciated that Zack had come home with this kind of experience and could guide them through this. And it made him happy that Zack had learned who he was and had accepted that.

"So yeah, I learned a lot." Zack fingered his leather belt. "I learned technical stuff, which is important. Even when someone is into pain, you don't want to injure anyone. But the psychological part of it is important too. Learning to read people. Know what they need. And learning to know what I need."

That still left a lot open for imagination. Or questions. Aidan wanted to know more, curiosity burning inside him. He felt a connection to what Zack was saying. He recognized it was different from Zack's preferences, but still...he got it.

Zack pulled up his shirt sleeve and revealed the tattoo on his left shoulder, a round black shape with curving spokes and three dots, surrounded by stylized black curves. "This is based on the BDSM emblem. I got it a few years ago."

Aidan studied the tattoo he'd noticed that day at the beach and nodded. He rubbed a hand over his mouth. Weird they'd all ended up here.

Maddie shivered in his arms. Was she imagining the things Zack had done? The things he could do with them?

"Now," Zack said. "Need you naked, baby. Aidan...take her clothes off again."

Aidan loosened his grip on Maddie's middle and once more reached for the hem of her T-shirt. She lifted her arms to let him pull it off, this time directly facing Zack, who studied her with open appreciation. Then Aidan gave her loose shorts a shimmy and they dropped to the floor at her feet. She toed them aside. Aidan set his hands on her waist, standing behind her. They awaited Zack's further orders.

Aidan's skin tingled everywhere and his dick began to thicken again.

"Touch her," Zack directed him. "Touch those pretty tits."

Aidan slid his hands over her ribs and cupped Maddie's soft flesh, letting their weight fill his palms. He caught her nipples between thumbs and forefingers and gently squeezed. She shuddered against him.

"She wants it harder." Zack studied Maddie's face.

Aidan pinched harder. He swallowed. Maddie moaned.

"Harder."

Christ.

"She knows the safe word," Zack reminded him. "If it's too hard, she'll use it."

Right. Right. He pinched harder, squeezing the tips between his fingers.

"Oh god," Maddie gasped. "Yes."

Aidan kept going, pinching and tugging. Maddie began to tremble in his arms.

"Is she wet?"

Aidan stroked his palm down her flat stomach and slid his fingers between her thighs. Scalding slickness met his fingers. "Yeah," he groaned. "So wet." He slid his fingers back and forth in the plump folds. She leaned back against him. Zack's eyes darkened.

"I want to taste that," he murmured. Maddie jolted and heat flared in Aidan's balls. "But first, we're going to get her wetter. Hotter. Sit on the side of the bed, Aidan. Maddie, kneel in front of him."

Zack tossed a pillow on the floor as they followed his instructions. Aidan sat. Maddie kneeled on the pillow in front of him. He parted his thighs, but still wore his shorts, his erection throbbing beneath them.

"Hold her hands." Zack moved behind her, pulling the belt through his hands.

Maddie's shoulders tensed and she bit her lip as she peered up at him through her eyelashes. Aidan reached for her hands and gripped them tightly. Her fingers curled around his.

"Lean forward, Maddie," Zack said. "Let me see that pretty ass."

Maddie set her face on the mattress, right in the V of Aidan's thighs.

Zack was going to hit her with his belt. Aidan's gut clenched so hard he was afraid he was going to puke. Could he really do this? Jesus Christ.

His heart pounded against his sternum. He looked up at Zack and met his eyes. Zack had asked him if he'd be able to handle this and he'd said yes. He swallowed and gave a short jerky nod. He had to trust Zack. There was no one he'd trust more when it came to Maddie.

"Don't worry," Zack said. "I've done this a time or two." He lifted his arm and brought the leather down across Maddie's flesh. She jolted and her fingers spasmed on his.

"Wait for it," Zack murmured to her. "Wait for the burn."

He did it again, and again. Maddie made muffled whimpery noises. Their hands clenched together.

Aidan watched, barely breathing, every muscle in his body tight, every nerve ending on alert for any sign that Maddie was hurt. She had her safe word. She didn't use it. Zack paused and laid a palm on Maddie's ass.

Heat flooded Aidan, starting at his hairline, pouring down to pool at his groin. Zack was fondling Maddie's bare ass, rubbing it.

"Okay, baby?" Zack murmured to her.

"Yes," she mumbled. "God, yes."

"Good girl." Zack delivered several more fast blows. Aidan could sense the control, the attention Zack paid. And he seemed to know when to stop. He dropped his arm.

Aidan looked up at Zack. His eyes glittered and his cheeks wore a light flush. Aidan's gaze tracked down to the massive hard on behind the fly of Zack's jeans.

"Now," Zack said, his voice calm and controlled but with a slight rasp. "Tell me how wet her pussy is."

Chapter Eleven.

Maddie kept her face pressed to the soft cotton of the duvet on Zack's bed, eyes squeezed shut. Her breath came in short pants. Heat radiated from her buttocks through her body. Each strike had been a flash of fire, the first few distinct then melding into a sweet, dark ecstasy. She'd been climbing high to an exquisite peak and had been at the point she thought she couldn't bear another lash when he'd stopped.

She held onto Aidan to keep from flying away. Her head felt light and her pussy ached with an unbearable need. She vaguely heard Zack and Aidan talking, then Aidan released one of her hands. She whimpered as he reached down and stroked his fingers between her thighs. "Christ. Dripping."

"She needs to be fucked." Zack caressed her back, then smoothed his hand over her burning ass. "Dontcha, Maddie?"

"Yes," she whispered. "Please."

"C'mere." He lifted her by her waist. Aidan released her hands. Her heart fluttered wildly. Was Zack going to do it? Dear god...they'd talked about it, but...

But no.

"Take your shorts off and lie down on the bed," Zack told Aidan. Once again, Zack wrapped his arms around her naked body, holding her close as Aidan shoved his shorts off and pushed himself back onto the bed. His cock rose up, stiff and flushed and beautiful. "There you go. You on top. Your ass is gonna be tender." He helped her climb on the bed. In a daze, still floating and aching, she straddled Aidan.

"Fuck yeah." Aidan groaned as she reached for his shaft. Zack's hands held her, keeping her steady in her dizzy state as she lowered herself onto Aidan.

"Oh god," she whispered. "That feels so good."

"I'm gonna be right here," Zack said from the arm chair in the corner he now sat on. "Watching. Telling you what to do. And jerking off. Because fuck, I'm so hard it's a wonder I haven't passed out from all the blood flowing south."

"Your dick's not that big," Aidan mumbled.

Zack laughed and a smile pulled at Aidan's lips. Maddie blinked at the unexpected humor in this most surreal of moments. She couldn't stop herself from looking at Zack and her heart lurched seeing him slouched back in the chair, his jeans opened and lowered on his hips exposing dark hair at his groin, his cock in his fist.

His cock was big. The air all left her lungs in a rush. That was so damn hot, watching him jack himself, his hand slow and sure, pulling his cock away from his body on the down stroke, his palm circling over the head then sliding back up, again and again. The way his wrist moved was so sexy. His other hand pressed to his groin, thumb on one side of the base of his cock, fingers on the other. His eyes met hers and his lips quirked.

Heat burned in her face and she fell over Aidan, tucking her face into the side of his neck. His arms surrounded her and his hips lifted, thrusting up into her. She contracted around him, loving the fullness, the thick heat inside her. Her clit rubbed against him and she shifted a bit to get just a little more pressure...oh yeah. There. Tingles rushed through her veins.

Aidan's hand went to her ass.

"Spank her," Zack directed lazily from his chair.

Aidan's hand didn't move.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I like it."

"Don't want to hurt you."

"I know." Her heart squeezed. "But I want it."

"Do it," Zack ordered in a harsher tone.

Aidan's hand landed on her ass. Already warm and tender, the small smack set nerve endings on fire again, in such a delicious way. She clenched around his cock again and he groaned.

"Yeah," Zack approved. "One day I'll flog your ass with Aidan inside you, Maddie."

They both gave another spasmodic jerk at that, her stomach doing a little flip. Aidan gave her another fiery tap. Pleasure flashed over her skin. Flames twisted inside her, tension building. Aidan fucked up into her faster, delivering spanks to both cheeks. It crashed over her so fast, so powerful, dark and edgy, she cried out. Aidan's hands gripped her butt as he went still, pulsing inside her, a long raw groan torn from his throat.

"Fuck yeah," Zack muttered. "Now me too."

Maddie turned her head and watched through a curtain of hair as Zack came too, semen spilling over his hand, his jaw tight, beautiful mouth open. His low groan in the quiet room sounded primal and carnal.

Her heart pounded. None of them moved for long moments. Then Zack finally heaved himself out of the chair and grabbed some tissues from the box on the dresser.

She watched him move, a little stunned by it all. In the space of one evening, their entire world had changed.

"Be right back." Zack ducked out of his room. She heard water running in the bathroom.

She and Aidan had done unspeakable things in front of their friend. She'd let Zack do unspeakable things to her. Dear sweet god. She started to tremble, her chest full of emotion that threatened to swamp her.