“Glad I’m such a source of entertainment,” I muttered darkly.

He didn’t say anything, which was probably just as well.

Apparently, being Director of Special Forces paid well. Adam’s house wasn’t huge, but it was a lot larger than mine, and it was that rarest of all city birds, a stand-alone, sharing no walls with any neighbors. I was impressed.

He parked in a tiny private lot right across the street, then opened my door and helped me out. He still didn’t take off the handcuffs, but I knew how much good complaining would do.

“Hi, honey, I’m home,” Adam called as soon as he stepped through his front door, dragging me along behind him.

A familiar voice answered. “Well, if that isn’t the cheesiest — ” Dominic came to a stop. His jaw dropped, but he recovered his composure quickly enough. “Morgan. This is a surprise.”

I wanted to say something clever, but nothing came to mind. Adam led me farther into the house, and Dominic noticed the handcuffs for the first time. He gave Adam an inquiring look.

Adam shrugged. “Long story.” He let go of my arm. “I’ll be with you in a moment,” he told me with a mischievous wink.

I had no idea what that wink meant. Until he stepped away from me and put his hands on Dominic’s shoulders. Dominic spared me one uncomfortable glance, then stepped into Adam’s embrace. Dominic is actually an inch or two taller than Adam, but something about the way Adam carries himself always makes him look like the biggest guy in the room. Even when Dominic had to lower his head to receive his kiss.

My face flamed. I wanted to look away, but I just couldn’t. They were both so beautiful, each in his own way, and I felt as if waves of energy radiated out from them. Their lips moved restlessly against each other, and I was watching closely enough to see Adam’s tongue slip into Dominic’s mouth.

I don’t know why, but it was one of the sexiest kisses I’d ever seen. I finally forced my gaze away, but I couldn’t help hearing the contented purring sounds Dominic made as Adam Frenched him. My cheeks refused to cool down, and even though I wasn’t watching anymore, I knew that image would stay in my mind for a long, long time.

I heard twin sighs of regret as they pulled apart. Adam’s voice when he spoke was rough and smoky, unlike any sound I’d heard from him before.

“Let’s get Morgan settled, shall we? Then we can continue where we left off.”

I didn’t hear Dominic’s answer, but he must have conveyed his agreement somehow. I kept my gaze riveted to the floor as Adam unlocked the damn handcuffs. I refused to rub my wrists, though they were raw from my pointless struggles. As if I could break out of handcuffs!

Embarrassed and reluctantly aroused, I picked up the shopping bags and followed Adam up the stairs to the second floor. Dominic came up behind me. When Adam reached the top of the stairs, he turned to the right and started down the hallway. But as soon as he’d moved out of the way, I came to a screeching halt, because I could see into the room at the head of the stairs through its open door.

It was the blackest room I’d ever seen. The walls and ceiling were painted black. The floor was a glossy black tile. A huge bed of black iron, covered with black sheets, rested against one wall. But that wasn’t what made me take a hasty step backward so that I bumped into Dominic coming up behind me.

The recessed lights in the ceiling shone on the black wooden pegs that jutted out from the wall facing the stairs. At least a dozen of them. From each of those pegs hung a coiled monstrosity of a whip. And I realized the room was most likely a monochromatic black to camouflage bloodstains.

Dominic put his hands on my shoulders, or I might have knocked us both down the stairs in my hasty retreat. Adam stuck his head around the corner and fixed me with one of his creepy stares.

“Don’t worry, love. That’s not your room.”

I swallowed on a dry throat and pulled away from Dominic’s grip. Retreat wasn’t an option, so I did my best to feign indifference as I walked up the last couple of steps. I’m a lousy actress.

I followed Adam down the hall and tried not to notice that Dominic was no longer behind me. I knew where he’d gone.

When I realized Adam was installing me in the room right next door, I balked.

“Huh-uh!” I said, stepping back again. “No way.”

Adam flashed me a shark’s smile. “It’s the only room I have that locks from the outside. And you know I’m not going to trust you in an unlocked room.”

I knew better than to ask why he had any room that locked from the outside.

There wasn’t a chance in hell he was budging, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t try. “If you’d just put me somewhere else, I swear to you that I won’t try to run away.”

“Yeah, right. Come on, you know there’s no point in fighting this. And you will be safe here.”

I considered making a run for it-Dominic was no longer blocking my escape route, after all-but some shivery, cowardly part of me feared that if I ran, Adam might drag me into that black room instead of Dominic.

“Could you at least do me the courtesy of not…” I found myself too prudish to finish my own sentence, so I made an indistinct hand gesture instead.

Oh, did my discomfort ever amuse him!

“Of not fucking in the room next door?” he finished for me. “I made Dominic a promise, and I’m not a tease. Now, much though I enjoy shooting the breeze with you, I’ve got other business to take care of. Get in the room before I lose my patience.”

Almost sick to my stomach with dread, I stepped into the room. Adam slammed the door shut behind me, and I heard the lock click. I pressed my back against the door and slid down until my butt hit the floor, then hugged my knees to my chest.

CHAPTER 14

At first, I didn’t hear anything. I sat with my back against the door, every muscle in my body tense, my ears straining for a sound they didn’t want to hear. When the silence stretched for a few minutes, I forced a couple of deep breaths into my lungs and tried to relax.

Maybe Adam was just giving me a hard time. Maybe he and Dominic weren’t doing anything in the room next door. Or maybe the room next door was soundproofed. I remembered those neatly coiled whips and hoped to God it was.

Strangely enough, though the room was scary as hell, I hadn’t noticed any signs of chains or restraints of any sort, like I’d assumed you’d find in an S&M dungeon. Maybe it was just for show?

That faint hope faded when I heard what could only be the crack of a whip. I gasped and hugged myself, retreating as far as I could to the other side of the room, where a platform bed rested against the wall. I climbed onto the bed and squeezed myself into the corner, covering my ears with my hands.

And still I heard it. One lash after another, going on for what felt like forever.

Then it got worse. Dominic started to cry out after each lash. His voice sliced through me. I wanted to crash through the wall and tackle Adam, make him stop hurting him. How could he do that to someone he’d kissed so tenderly not so long ago? How could Dominic let him? How could Dominic like it?

I was crying, and I hadn’t even noticed the first tear falling. I wished I hadn’t been so fucking noble about trying to protect Brian. If I’d just let him win our argument, I could be cuddled in his warm, safe arms even now. My heart ached, and I hated myself more than a little.

Words can’t describe how relieved I was when the whip finally fell silent. I hoped Dominic was all right.

Soon I heard evidence that he was just fine.

In some ways, pain sounds and pleasure sounds are almost alike. But there was no way I could misinterpret the sounds Dominic was making now as pain.

The walls might as well have been made of paper. Either that, or Dominic was just that loud. Adam hardly made a sound, though every once in a while I heard a grunt of pleasure that sounded too deep for Dominic’s voice. Their bed was against the wall between our rooms, the headboard thumping rhythmically as the bedsprings squeaked.