Crafty Bastards Read online

  “I’m not most people.”

  “I’m getting that,” Sean said.

  “Is it because we’re bi?” Max quietly asked.

  That seemed to shock her. “No. I told you, that doesn’t bother me. In fact I think it’s kind of hot.” Actually, it was more than kind of hot, to her.

  “Then what is the problem?” Max asked.

  “I…” She didn’t have an answer other than the one that bubbled up from inside her. “Because only six months ago, I got hurt trusting someone, okay? It’s kind of hard for me to trust right now.”

  “Fair enough,” Max said. He turned to walk away.

  “No,” Sean said. “It’s not fair enough.” He wheeled around on her. “Are we not good enough for you?”

  “Jeebus, I already told you I like you two. I would think that was pretty clear.”

  Sean got in her face. “Then what are you afraid of?”

  “I’m afraid of falling in love and getting screwed over again. There. And I can’t promise you guys that in six months I’ll still be here, and not because of you, but because of me. Because I feel like I’m fucking broken inside right now. I wasted all those years on who and what I thought I was, what my life was going to be like, and in the space of a day it was fucking gone. The man I thought was in love with me dumps me because I wasn’t good enough for him in one goddamned way. Instead of talking to me about it, he went behind my back, cheated on me, and not only nuked our relationship, but my life as I knew it in the process. So pardon my fucking French, but I’m not exactly in a good headspace right now.”

  Max cocked his head, studying her. “Then accept the challenge,” he said. “Six months. If you’re so sure we can’t make you safeword, what’s the problem? If we win, it’s not like we’d force you to have sex with us.”

  “You said in your bed.”

  “Yeah? So? He said in or out of it. You don’t have to sleep with us if you don’t want to. We will never force you to do anything. We don’t need your money. We don’t even want your money. You’re our friend first, and that’s why we want to help you out. Do us a favor and quit painting us with the same brush as Shane. Not all guys are fucking assholes like him.”

  He stepped closer. “You seem so sure you’re going to win anyway. If we win, that’s six months you don’t have to worry about anyone bugging you, because you’ll be with us. And you’ll get your masochistic fix whenever you want from us.” He smiled, and it made her pussy clench. “And even more than that, if you want it.”

  “You hate Baxter,” she whispered, grasping at straws.

  “No, I don’t hate Baxter. We just got off on the wrong foot.”

  She stared at them, unsure. “I’m not getting rid of him. He’s the one thing I have in this world that’s all mine.”

  “Whether or not we win or lose, Baxter stays as long as you stay,” Sean said. “We promise. Hell, we’ll put it in writing.”

  Max’s brown gaze bored straight into her. “It’s a win-win. Either you win, you still have a place to live until you move out. We win, you have a guaranteed place to live for six months, free, with all the fringe benefits you want.”

  She stared at them. Why was she fighting this so hard? “Sixty minutes,” she said. “You have sixty minutes to get me to call it. If you can’t make me safeword in that time, I win. No cheating, either. No whacking me on the knee or the shin or the elbow or something. I’ve seen you two play plenty of times, and you’ve seen me play. So no bullshit. I get to make the call on whether a hit was good or not.”

  “Full naked,” Sean said. “And sexual play.”

  “Fine, but no penetration with fingers or penis, duh, and no oral,” she said. “Club rules.”

  Sean and Max exchanged a glance. Max nodded.

  “Done,” Sean said, sticking his hand out.

  She shook with him. “So when are we doing this?”

  “Tonight,” the men said in unison.

  “Tonight?”

  “Might as well settle it now,” Sean said. “Why? Does it matter? I thought you’d be glad to get it done and out of the way. Especially since you’re so certain you’ll win.”

  Her mouth went dry. She’d watched them play. She had no doubts she could take twice the beating and beg for more and never come close to safewording.

  So why was she worried?

  “Okay,” she said. “Tonight. After work.”

  Twenty minutes later, she was sitting in her car. They’d already pulled out and drove away.

  “That was weird, right?” she said aloud to herself. “That was…” The more she thought about it, yes, it was weird…

  But if it meant a chance to do something that once again put her in control of her life, she’d do it.

  They can’t handle me.

  Chapter Seven

  Sean had a feeling Max wanted to give him a piece of his mind. For once, if he did, Sean would sit there and take it without argument.

  Because he absolutely knew Max would be right for reaming him out, but he also knew he was right for pushing Cali to accept his challenge.

  Finally, Max spoke. “Do you really think that was the right way to handle things this morning?”

  “No, but it worked.”

  Max glared at him. “How do you figure that? She’s a damned heavy maso,” he said. “I don’t know if I have the stomach to go at her as hard as we’d need to and get her to safeword. In an honest scene,” he added.

  Sean grinned. “I have a plan.”

  “What plan?”

  “I’ll show you when we get home. Let’s make sure we get out of the office early enough today so we can prepare.”

  He spent the day in a state of heady anticipation. If he played his cards right, tonight Cali would not only lose the challenge, they would take the first step to corralling their unicorn.

  He saw the way Max watched her when he thought no one saw him. He caught the way Cali watched them. The attraction and desire were there.

  All he had to do was ensure they gently broke through her fears in a way she could neither deny nor logic her way out of.

  They got home a good hour before she was scheduled to arrive. Sean hummed to himself as he rooted through their implement bags until he found what he was looking for. “Aha. I knew we still had that.”

  “What?” Max asked.

  Sean turned and grinned, holding it up for Max to see.

  “Oh, that’s playing dirty.”

  “Hey, she’s the one who claims she won’t safeword. And she agreed to sexual play. She didn’t say anything about no vibrators. Between this and the nail driver, she’ll be begging for mercy.”

  “You’re going to use both of them on her at the same time?” The nail driver was an older neck and back massager that derived its nickname from the loud noise it made. It was great for loosening shoulder and back knots, its intended purpose.

  It also felt great pressed against the underside of a cockhead, or against the base of an inserted butt plug.

  Sean pointed at the Hitachi in his hand, which had a G-spot stimulator attachment still fitted over the top. “Yep. This one inside her, the other against her clit. We’ll start her out with a regular scene, get her settled in and comfortable and she’ll think she has this in the bag. Then…” He shook the vibrator. “We break out the big guns.”

  “Isn’t that violating the spirit of the agreement?”

  “She said club rules. Venture allows dildos and vibrators for orgasm play. They allow fingers, too, but she specifically excluded that. So…” He shook the vibrator again.

  “Okay. Then let’s get the playroom set up.

  The playroom was actually a guest room with a Murphy-style bed hidden against the wall behind a couch, which became part of its base when folded down. They set up a spanking bench and all the implements they planned to use on her, hiding the two vibrators and the extension cord under a couple of towels on the couch.

  Max surveyed the setup. “I’m still not sure she won
’t chicken out.”

  “I don’t think she will,” Sean said. “She’s too determined to prove to herself she can stand on her own. But it’s clouding her judgment. She can’t get past the fact that it was Shane, not her, who fucked up. I applaud her tenacity, but she needs to learn there’s such a thing as being too stubborn about one’s independence.”

  “I don’t know. Living alone might be what she needs.”

  Sean turned to him. “I thought you liked her.”

  “I do like her. Thinking about having her between us makes my cock hard. I’m trying to be the voice of reason.”

  “She wants to be independent because, independence. Not because she really needs to be. She’s not seeing that what we’re offering her isn’t her mooching. She’s thinking it’s some moral weakness on her part and it’s not.”

  “I get it. I agree. I don’t want her resenting us after the fact, either.”

  “She won’t,” Sean said, giving everything one more look-over.

  “You can’t know that.”

  “I feel it. And I refuse to let her struggle in life when she doesn’t need to. It’s not some character-building exercise. It’s common sense. She enjoys being here, we enjoy having her here. We’re going to win this challenge, fuck her silly, and show her there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  “And basically cheat to do it.”

  “Of course. I’m not an idiot. Hey, it’s within the rules.”

  “I’m going to be really pissed off with you if we lose her friendship over this.”

  “We’re not going to lose her friendship. We’re going to gain a lover.”

  Max arched an eyebrow at him.

  “Okay, so that sounded creepier out loud than I realized it would.”

  “Ya think?”

  * * * *

  Cali was glad today she was slated to work with animals all day and not do any office work. She didn’t think her brain could handle it, especially if it involved numbers.

  All she could think about, fantasize about, to the point of her panties pretty much being a sodden mess, was the two men having their hands on her.

  Sure for a scene, but it was something.

  When I win, I’ll ask them if we can be regular play partners. I trust them.

  She’d have to invest in a good vibrator at some point. Playing with them would leave her hot and horny.

  Maybe I could ask them to do orgasm play with me. In private.

  Hell, she wouldn’t mind doing orgasm play with them, either, now that she knew they were bi and maybe wouldn’t mind it.

  They did say in their bed or out of it…

  Oh, stop it.

  She refused to make herself vulnerable again, the way she had with Shane. She needed to rebuild her life under her terms, in a way that didn’t make her completely dependent upon someone the way she’d been in retrospect with Shane.

  She had stopped at the store to pick up some things when her phone rang, the display reading Mom.

  Shit.

  Take it, or send it to voice mail and deal later?

  She answered.

  “So how’s the new apartment? I thought I’d hear from you by now?”

  Oh, hell.

  With everything going on, she’d forgotten to update her parents about that. “Um, not so good, actually.” She told her about the fire and fibbed a little about her new living arrangement, making it sound more permanent than she knew it actually was.

  Her mother let out a sigh loud enough for Cali to feel all the way in Florida.

  “Don’t you think it’s time for you to move home?”

  She closed her eyes. “I am home.”

  “You never gave Montana a chance.”

  “No, I gave it over ten years, and I don’t want to live there. My life and friends are here.”

  “What about your parents?”

  Aaand we’re onto the guilt-trip phase of the conversation. Faster than normal, too.

  “I love you and Dad. You know I do. Why can’t Dad quit and you guys move back to Florida?”

  “Your father has a good job here. You could move back home and not pay rent. Save up your money.”

  “And be stuck in Montana for the rest of my life.” She didn’t want to get into the fact that having any kind of a kinky life would be impossible out there. “Mom, I’m an adult. Please respect my choices. Most of my life now, including my adult life, has been spent in Florida. I love it here. This is my home. Yes, I’ve had a couple of setbacks, but it’s still my home.”

  By the time Cali got her off the phone, she’d almost forgotten why she’d pulled into the store’s parking lot to start with. She shut the car off and went inside, got what she needed, and then continued home.

  She was turning onto their street when the challenge returned to mind, jump-starting her clit.

  Yowza.

  No, Montana was never her home. Florida was, and always would be. She’d get her life together, rebuild it from the ground up, and wouldn’t look back. In a couple of years, she’d think back on this time and, hopefully, see that it gave her strength to keep moving forward.

  Baxter met her at the door with a leg-twining act that nearly tripped her as she tried to get into the kitchen. When she turned around, Sean stood in the kitchen doorway, startling her.

  “A little warning next time, stealthy dude,” she said.

  He wore a playful, sneaky grin that tweaked her clit even more. Picking Baxter up to give him some affection and provide a small feline barrier between her and Sean, she fought the urge to back away from him as he walked in.

  “Ready for the challenge?”

  “I reek of kennel stink. Can I take a shower first?”

  “Of course. And then?”

  “You’re really confident, aren’t you?”

  “I wouldn’t have made the bet if I wasn’t.”

  “Why is this so important to you?”

  She was backed against the counters and couldn’t go anywhere. Baxter suddenly twisted in her arms, jumping down and bolting as Max appeared in the doorway.

  Sean pinned her in, not actually touching her but with his arms braced on the counter on either side of her.

  “Because I want a chance to show you how much we want you here, since you’re stubbornly refusing to listen to us and take us at our word. If I have to win your trust through a bet, so be it.”

  He had gorgeous blue eyes she felt she could dive into and drown in. “If you guys wanted to sleep with me, why didn’t you say so before?”

  “Because we didn’t want to weird you out. And we didn’t know if you were attracted to us.”

  “When I win this bet—”

  “If,” he corrected.

  She had to lick her lips to wet them. “If I win this bet, and I’m sure I will, would you guys still be open to being play partners after? Even when I move out?”

  He grinned. “Sure. And more, if you want.”

  “You’re awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  She kind of liked his confidence, even though she thought he was dead wrong.

  “Go get your shower,” he said, stepping back and releasing her. She realized his shorts were tented. “Because it’s going to be a looong night.”

  Chapter Eight

  As Cali stood in front of her closet, it hit her how inanely stupid it was for her to pick out clothes. Not that she had that many clothes to start with, and over half of her garments were still at the cleaners.

  But she’d agreed to full naked.

  Screw it.

  She grabbed her bathrobe and headed out to the kitchen. She’d washed her hair and pulled it back, damp, with an elastic band.

  “Okay. Let’s get this over with so we can have dinner.”

  The men were both shirtless and in shorts. Max turned, smiling. “You sound awfully confident.”

  “That’s because I am,” she said.

  “Don’t want to eat dinner first?”

  “No, because I don’t want t
o play on a full stomach.” And she didn’t want to delay their inevitable defeat. Or, since they’d asked for sexual play, delay any orgasms they might give her in the course of the scene.

  She’d been horny all day thinking about this.

  They led her down to the spare bedroom that was also their playroom. She’d worried they might have come up with some crazy-assed sex frame to strap her to, but she was relieved to see nothing more than a good old-fashioned A-frame style spanking bench. Like a sawhorse on steroids, with a padded top and padded rails on each side for kneeling.

  Her eyes quickly swept over the assorted implements they’d already prepared, and she didn’t see anything that some variation of hadn’t been used on her before.

  Opting for confidence, she unbelted her robe and tossed it onto the sofa. “I’m showing you mine. Time for you two to show me yours.”

  It took a severe effort of will on her part not to grin when both men’s shorts sprouted large tents at the same time their jaws dropped. She also didn’t miss that it seemed to take them a second to gather their wits.

  This is going to be a cakewalk. One delicious subspace beating, a nice, sore ass tomorrow, and being secure in the knowledge that I’m in control of my life again.

  Although, when the men shoved their shorts down and stepped out of them, she wouldn’t deny she had to swallow to clear her dry throat. Neither man had anything to be ashamed of in the cock department. Both were circumcised and at least as long as her hand, Sean’s cock a little longer, but Max’s cock a little thicker in girth.

  Yowza.

  Once this was done, she’d have to give serious thought to asking them if they wanted to negotiate a friends-with-bennies relationship in addition to play partners, even if she wasn’t living with them. They apparently were open to it.

  “Cuffs, or no cuffs?” Max asked.

  She shrugged. “Your choice.” She didn’t mind either way. She actually liked being tied down, but she didn’t want them to come back later trying to use any excuses over why they lost. She’d let them dictate the terms up to her hard limits.

  Max and Sean quickly buckled soft leather cuffs to her wrists and ankles. She knelt on the bench, settling in as they used snap clips to hook her to the bench.