Had Ambrose been marking his territory, or was it some sort of weird one-sided competition? It almost seemed like a ploy to make Banner jealous, but why would he do that?

All too soon everyone left. Ambrose shut off the stereo, and suddenly, she could hear the two girls Konstantin had brought upstairs screaming in pleasure, or agony, or both. What the hell was he doing up there?

Banner pulled her to her feet and led her to Ambrose.

“I trust you had fun with my good little sub? She’s better trained than the last time you played with her, isn’t she?”

“She’s perfect.” Banner coaxed her forward, and Ambrose fished in his pocket again, pulled out the leash and clipped it back to her collar. This whole collar thing was weird too. Ambrose had never put one on her before.

“What did you do with her?” Ambrose led the way down the hall, then up the stairs to a bedroom.

“I spanked her for insulting her body right at the beginning. Later I tied her to your kitchen island and beat her thighs with sugarcane. She might be marked for a few days.”

The word “marked” seemed almost significant. Was he trying to say something, or was it all in her head? God, this was a mess.

Ambrose grunted. “Take off your dress and get on the bed. Present.”

Undress? He never made her undress for him, let alone in front of people. She didn’t want to have sex with Ambrose but curiosity as to where this was going made her stay quiet and obey.

Reluctantly, she drew the dress off over her head, struggling not to get tangled in the leash, which Ambrose had let go. Next she pulled off her underwear, but she was glad to be rid of them. They were still wet and uncomfortable from being in her mouth.

She crawled up onto the tall bed and knelt there as she’d been taught, knees apart, hands folded behind her head, and waited for the men to finish with whatever the hell they were doing. It was like a police standoff. Between the two of them they had quite the gun show.

Ambrose took up the leash again.

“Is that all you did?”

Banner frowned, grimacing. “No. I know I shouldn’t have, but I kissed her.”

Ambrose glared. “Yeah, so I heard. Was making a cuckold of me at my own party part of your entertainment for the evening?”

Banner winced but didn’t look away. “I’d like to say I lost control in the moment, but I knew exactly what I was doing.”

Ambrose paced back and forth at the foot of the bed.

“We’ve been friends since we were kids. I expected more from you. She’s mine now, and you need to respect that.”

Silence lay thick over the room. All of Kate’s counseling impulses told her to shut up and let them work through this, even though she felt a need to speak for herself. What about what she wanted? She wasn’t a pet, she was a person.

Banner sighed. “I know I gave her to you, Ambrose. That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. But you and I both know she isn’t yours.”

Ambrose whirled on Banner and punched him in the jaw.

Kate gasped and moved to hold Ambrose back, but he was calm again and ordered her back to her spot.

“You fucking dick,” Ambrose growled.

Banner watched him, rubbing at a quickly bruising spot on his jaw.

“That was for Kate.” Ambrose shook his head. He picked up the end of Kate’s leash and handed it to Banner. “If you ever do this to her again, I’ll strangle you, myself.”

What?

Banner looked down at the leash in his hand, then back at Ambrose.

“What are you doing? I don’t understand.”

“How am I friends with such an idiot?” Ambrose rolled his eyes, which looked funny on such a brute of a man. “I just spent the past several weeks training her, to show you that you were wrong about her and what she wanted. If you don’t want her back just say the word. I’ve been aching to fuck her since you gave her to me, but I knew you’d never forgive me if I did.”

What?

He’d been saving her for Banner, not rejecting her? Anger tried to surface, but she was also relieved. So many thoughts and questions swirled in her mind that she had no idea how to feel about any of it.

Banner seemed to be having trouble following the conversation too. “So you’re telling me you just kept her for me? You haven’t fucked her?”

“I hadn’t even kissed her until tonight. Do you have any idea what a crime against humanity this has been?” Ambrose turned and eyed her appreciatively. “A month of cold showers was cruel and unusual punishment.”

Ambrose turned back to Banner. “But if you don’t want her, by all means, get the fuck out of my house. I have a long list of depraved things I mean to do to her.”

As Kate watched, Banner seemed to grow a foot taller and sprout fangs and horns.

“Get out,” Banner growled.

“You’re kicking me out of the room?” Ambrose said in mock disapproval. “This is my house. You’re not even going to let me watch?”

“Out!” Banner bellowed.

Ambrose laughed loudly. “So does this mean you want her back, then? Because I have some ginger in the fridge with her name on it . . .”

Banner gave him a shove toward the door, then grabbed the other man in a bear hug.

“Yeah, I love you, too, asshat. Now let go of me. Your hard-on is weirding me out.” Ambrose pushed him away and started to pull the door closed behind him.

Down the hall, Konstantin was issuing stern commands in Russian, but as the door clicked shut all Kate could hear was the blood rushing in her ears.

When Banner turned back to her, she was pretty sure the fangs were still there.

“Did you know?”

“What? That he didn’t like me like that?” Kate asked, not sure she liked the look in his eye.

“Oh, he likes you like that. If I called him back in here he’d agree to double-team you in a heartbeat.” Banner’s smile was grim. “I’d offer you the chance to try DP, but if he ever touches you again, I’ll break his legs.”

“What’s DP?”

Banner blinked at her, then grinned. “Bless your innocent heart. Well, my dear, that’s when two men take their dicks and . . .”

She put her hands over her ears, afraid of what he’d say next. His mouth kept moving, but she hummed so she didn’t hear him.

When he started to laugh she took a chance and let go of her ears.

“No?” He sat on the edge of the bed and dragged her onto his lap, burying his face in her hair and inhaling. “Mmm. You smell so sexy. You’re lucky he didn’t give you back at the beginning of the party, or I would have fucked you in the middle of the kitchen.”

“I can’t believe I was begging you to.” She covered her face with her hands. There had to have been seven or eight people in the room, looking at her naked body and listening to her beg for Banner to fuck her. So slutty. “Sexually empowered” was the appropriate terminology, but in this instance she was having trouble feeling that enlightened about things. She poked around in her head, wondering if sub drop was setting in, but this time it seemed less serious.

Banner held her quietly for a few minutes, gripping her so tight that she wondered if he was going to crack one of her ribs.

“So, after all that, do you want me, too, or do you wish I’d left you with Ambrose? Or maybe you don’t want either of us? It’s your choice.”

She feigned shock. “What? I get a say? And here I thought I didn’t get an opinion, just a safeword.”

Banner kissed her, then, possessively claiming her mouth. When she was breathless he pulled back.

“Of course you get a choice. Just say the word, and I’ll let you go. I’ll call a cab or drive you home myself.” He shifted under her, and she felt his dick prodding at her bottom from through the leather pants.

“You’d make me go home, after I begged so nicely?”

“What did you beg me for? It’s been a long night. You need to refresh my memory.”

“Jeez, you must be getting old. You might want to have your memory checked,” she teased, burying her hands in his thick dark hair and giving it a playful tug.