The house felt different now, clean, no hint of the stench of decomposition remaining. Her footsteps echoed through the empty, hollow shell of a house as she walked the entire place.

Back in the living room, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine. What would it look like remodeled, furnished? She could have a whole room devoted to her jewelry business and supplies, able to spread out with multiple projects instead of only one at a time.

She’d have room to film video tutorials.

They could have friends over.

They?

Yes, she realized trying to picture this without Logan and Toby in it wasn’t going to happen. She already visualized the men as part of her life, part of her future. There wasn’t any doubt now, just a matter of her continuing to get to know them. She was done talking herself out of it.

Now, she was accumulating reasons it would work between them, why it was right between them.

She could remodel the kitchen, have a huge, modern stove, be able to bake for her friends.

She hadn’t done any real baking in years.

Looking down at Chewi, she said, “Well? What do you think? Remodel and call it home?” Money wasn’t the issue. Between the life insurance and other accounts, in addition to the bank accounts, she could afford to demolish this house and build anew, if she chose.

But she didn’t. This house wasn’t bad. It just needed some love and attention, some updates.

Chewi looked around, stood up, sneezed, and wagged his tail.

“Seal of approval?”

He chuffed.

“Yeah, me, too, buddy. Me, too.”

* * * *

Saturday night, they met Toby and Logan’s friends for dinner at Sigalo’s. Some of them she’d met already, some she only knew from FetLife, and some she’d heard about but hadn’t met yet in person. Eliza and Rusty joined them and would be going to the club with them later.

Everyone welcomed Rebecca as part of their group. As she sat there, listening to the conversations, she realized this was something she’d desperately missed, for years, and had ignored.

Had refused to admit she’d missed.

Yes, she loved her life, but things changed. People changed. Circumstances changed.

Her solitary life no longer suited her. Not really. Not when she was choosing isolation over love and friendship.

The men weren’t pressuring her for anything. They’d already had some deep discussions, including the men telling her that she had to be the one to tell them when she was ready for more.

Including if she ever wanted them to collar her, she had to ask for it. That they weren’t going anywhere, and they wouldn’t play or date or have sex with anyone but her—well, and each other, of course—but if she wanted a commitment, she would have to ask for it.

That they would never force her to do anything, including to stay with them.

That made her want to stay with them all the more. It made her want to trust them even more.

It made her want to submit to them, to hand things over to them, to relish the feeling of having a solid support under her, the foundations firmly set in their feelings for her.

After dinner, they headed over to Venture, her excitement warring with jangled nerves as they drew closer to the club. She wanted to play sooner rather than later, before it got too busy and there was a crowd or a waiting line for equipment.

As they picked a bench toward the back, nearest to the wall, Logan took her hands in his and stared down at her. “You’re sure this is what you want tonight?”

She nodded. “Just go slow.” She smiled. “Kiddie pool. Not high dive.” A couple of times during sex, one or both of them had lightly spanked her bare-handed, a delicious sting that made her pleasure even stronger.

Yes, she wanted this. She’d missed it. Maybe this was another reason why the few times she’d fooled around with guys, besides the missing emotional element, those encounters had felt hollow and flat.

Because that spice wasn’t there.

That trusting control, that zip.

They slowly stripped her, not tying her down to the bench after she climbed on it. They started out getting her settled by massaging her body, fingers kneading and probing, getting her worked up and sinking her into a delicious haze she suspected might be subspace.

It’d been so long, she couldn’t remember.

When the first bare-handed smacks began, she started arching her back, pushing her ass into Logan’s hand, sucking on Toby’s fingers as if his cock, her brain downshifting into a deliciously freewheeling mode where she didn’t have to think. All she had to do was feel, to enjoy what they were doing.

And boy, did she.

It’d been too damn long since she’d been able to feel this sensation, enjoy it.

Have trust in someone to let herself go.

She’d be damned if she’d deny herself any longer.

She was aware of a hum, and then the feel of a strong vibrator being pressed against her clit made her scream in pleasure around Toby’s fingers.

“Ooh, she likes the Hitachi,” he said.

Logan kept smacking her ass with one hand while using the vibrator on her with the other. “I figured she would.”

“We just got it last week,” Toby told her. “It was going to be a surprise.”

Surprise! Yes, she loved it.

Even when Logan switched from bare-handed swats to a lightweight paddle that he started using on her ass.

She moaned, both loving and hating it, each impact swirling like a stone hitting the water before the pleasure flowed in to fill the empty space again almost immediately.

Time folded and bent, and before long, she was rocking back and forth on the bench between swats from a riding crop and the Hitachi. Then it switched off, and she felt them draping a blanket over her.

Forcing her eyes open, she stared up at Toby, who smiled down at her. “We’re done?” she asked.

He laughed. “It’s been almost forty-five minutes. You said start slow. That was slow.”

He helped her up and off the bench. Logan got their stuff picked up and the bench wiped down while Toby led her over to one of the couches in the social area for them to snuggle.

It hadn’t felt that long. It had seemed to last just a minute or two…or forever.

Curled tightly against his side, she closed her eyes, not even moving when Logan joined them a few minutes later.

“How do you feel, baby?” Logan asked. “Was that too much?”

It almost hadn’t been enough. She easily could have taken a lot more, much harder impacts.

“It was perfect,” she said, still surfing her subspace time. “You guys are perfect.”

* * * *

Once she’d recovered and got dressed, they spent some time chatting with their friends. Before long, she found herself yawning.

“Uh-oh,” Logan said. “I think our lady is turning into a pumpkin.”

Eliza and Rusty had also played. Rusty—now sporting a red ass—smiled. “Better get her home,” Eliza said. “She looks tuckered out.”

“Sorry,” Rebecca said. “Oh, and I still haven’t talked to Derrick yet.”

“Then let’s get that done,” Toby said.

“I’ll get our bag,” Logan said.

After she hugged Eliza and Rusty, Toby went with her out to the office. Derrick had wanted to talk to her about stocking more of her chainmaille collars and other jewelry, expanding the selection. They were wrapping that discussion up when Logan joined them.

“Sorry, got stuck talking.”

She’d just shaken hands with Derrick when she heard the front door open. She didn’t know why she looked, but she almost let out a scream when she saw him.

Sam.

He immediately spotted her, too, pausing and not saying anything to her before he crossed the office.

“Well, I’ll get some pieces to you next week,” she said as she grabbed Toby and Logan’s hands and dragged them out of the office behind her.