Taming Rex Read online

  Again, her Doms traded positions. Their swats and rolls growing more intense. She closed her eyes as her body started shaking. She loved the release. This was the best scene of her life to date. However, in addition, she’d never been more aroused from impact play.

  Finally, the toys disappeared and two sets of hands landed on her skin, smoothing over the warm expanse. Normally, this kind of contact would help her ease down from the natural high, but not tonight. Tonight, their hands managed to increase the intensity of every burn and sting.

  She couldn’t stop the moan that escaped. It took long minutes of contact with their hands for her to come back into herself, their lips caressing her neck and shoulders and chest at the same time, both of them seemingly everywhere at once. When she blinked her eyes open, she found Dayton at her front, his lips curved in a smile.

  Losing her balance, she swayed toward him.

  He caught her with a hand around her waist. “Hold still, sweet girl. Let’s get your wrists released before you hurt yourself.”

  Rex went to work unfastening her arms and then slowly lowering them while he rubbed her muscles.

  Erica was still leaning against Dayton when a blanket came around her shoulders. She was slightly dazed as they led her from the main room and into a recovery room. They settled her on the couch, one of them on each side of her. She curled into her side, her head resting on Dayton’s thigh, her feet being massaged under the blanket by Rex.

  A girl could get used to this.

  That thought was absurd and if she’d had the energy, she might have laughed out loud. Sure, this night had been amazing, but these two men were not hers. Not in the sense she felt herself craving. They could hardly tolerate each other, and she knew they only did so to impress her. No way would they agree to an arrangement like this evening very often, if ever again.

  Notable above everything else about their unique dynamic was that neither of them had touched her soaking panties. There had been no mention of orgasms or anything sexual. She’d thoroughly enjoyed the impact play. On a normal night with a random Dom, it would have been enough. However, the two men sharing the authority over her body tonight had both been inside her in the last forty-eight hours.

  It was weird, but also not. Perhaps it would’ve been strange for the two of them to touch her intimately tonight. It was one thing to agree to dominate her in tandem. It would have taken things to an entirely new level if they had added anything sexual.

  Not that she wasn’t aroused. She was. The desire was right on the surface, but it wasn’t going to get fulfilled. Not tonight.

  Now what?

  Chapter 29

  Rex met and held Dayton’s gaze over Erica’s body as she napped. He knew by the way her lips were parted, breathing shallow, that she had fallen asleep. “Now what’s your plan?” he whispered, though it came out more of a hiss.

  Dayton narrowed his brows. “Take her home, keep her, live happily ever after,” he countered, his voice low but menacing.

  Rex flinched. “You can’t be serious.”

  “As a heart attack.”

  “How about if I take her home, tuck her into my bed, and keep her myself?”

  Dayton shrugged. “Are you sure it’s appropriate for you to be dating a coworker?”

  Rex gritted his teeth. “Are you sure it’s appropriate for you to be dating someone half your age?”

  Dayton smirked. “Is that all you’ve got? I assumed your math was better than that considering what you do for a living. I’ll have you know I’m only fifteen years older than her. Far less than her age.”

  Rex rolled his eyes. “Semantics.” He felt his body stiffening. He wasn’t sure how he managed to share her for the last half hour, but now that the scene was over, he didn’t feel obligated to keep up the ruse. “We’re not doing a scene together again.”

  “Fine. How about you stay home Friday night so you don’t have to watch me drive her wild.”

  Rex leaned closer to Dayton, their faces inches apart. “You’re going to be waiting a long time for her to show up if I have my way. We don’t have to come to Zodiac to scene together. I can easily drive her home from work and take control before she has a chance to remember what you look like.”

  The soft woman between them suddenly flinched, and Rex lowered his face to find her staring up at them. She glanced from one to the other. Her face was hard, lips pursed, eyes narrowed.

  Fuck.

  Finally, she moved, ever so slowly, extricating her from their grip. She stood, hugging the blanket around her. She didn’t speak until she had put a few inches of space between them. “Well,” she began, breath rushing out of her lungs. “Glad we got that cleared up. I hope you two have a lovely life.” She glanced at Rex. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll take an Uber home.” And then she turned around, head held high, and walked from the room.

  “Fuck,” Dayton gritted out. The same word Rex had running through his head. He turned to face Rex. “Smooth move, hacker boy.”

  Rex winced. “Me? What about you? I wasn’t sitting here talking to myself.”

  Dayton pushed to standing and glared down at Rex. “I guess you win after all.”

  “How do you figure that?” From Rex’s perspective, they were both screwed.

  “She’ll be sitting in the office next to you tomorrow morning. You can grovel at her feet. She’ll probably never take a phone call from me again.” Dayton turned around and left the room.

  Rex’s heart was racing. What a disaster. The best thing that had ever happened to him had just walked out the door. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. Dayton might’ve thought Rex had a leg up on him, but Rex knew better. Erica could freeze him out just as easily as Dayton. In fact, it might be worse since he had to watch the glacier from a few feet away.

  Great. Rex leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. He’d never been in a situation like this before. He’d never been so attracted to a woman that he felt like throwing punches. He wanted a woman of his own. At least that’s what he told himself.

  The truth was far more complicated. He’d found he enjoyed sharing Charlotte. It was so…easy. The woman never lacked for attention. The pressure on all three men to keep up with her insatiable desires was eased by the ability to take turns satisfying her.

  What about Erica? Tonight had been really nice before he’d gone and fucked things up. He and Dayton had fallen into a rhythm together, practically reading each other’s minds as they dominated her. They had exchanged numerous glances and nods, communicating as if they were one.

  In a way, the scene had been more intimate than any he’d had with the other Doms in his previous relationship. He and Dayton had been totally in sync. Rex had moved around her, paddling her skin until it reached a gorgeous shade of pink. Dayton would come along right behind him, driving Erica wild with the sharp points of his wheel over her heated skin. Sometimes the two of them had occupied nearly the same space, leaning into each other. They had brushed arms. Their fingers had touched. Rex had been more aware of sharing the space with Dayton than he ever had with Samson or Nile.

  It had definitely been magical. Shit.

  Where had that gotten them? As soon as the scene ended, Rex let jealousy slide back in. There was a good chance he had ruined things with her. Not that he would give up without a fight. He wasn’t sure how serious she’d been when she insisted she was not going to choose between them. Had she meant forever? Or just for a few days?

  With a sigh, Rex pushed to standing and made his way to the exit. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do about his stupidity tonight. He’d have to wait until morning to confront her and take her pulse.

  He could do that. It was only seven hours. They would be seven of the longest hours of his life though.

  Chapter 30

  The following morning wasn’t better. The sun might have been shining outside, but there was a cloud in his office that wouldn’t lift. The past week seemed like a year. The past seven hours seemed like a decade. />
  Rex arrived at work an hour early, partly because he couldn’t sleep anyway, and partly because he hoped to speak to Erica the moment she walked in. He still didn’t know what he might say, but he hoped it would come to him. Apologize. Beg. Grovel. Whatever it took.

  Erica didn’t arrive until eight on the dot, the time she was supposed to start working. She never arrived that late, but he immediately knew she’d done it to avoid him. She didn’t meet his gaze. In fact, she acted like no one else was even in the room. She went straight to her desk, opened the folder with the challenge she’d been working on yesterday, and began typing.

  Rex wasn’t sure what to do, so he started by padding quietly from their office and headed to the break room. If he brought her coffee, maybe it would open up conversation. He added cream to hers, just how he’d noticed she liked it.

  His hands were shaking when he returned, and he set both their cups down before speaking. “Coffee?” His voice cracked. Now who’s the awkward one?

  She glanced at the cup and then back at her screen. “Thanks.” The word was flat, devoid of emotion. How could she remain so calm while he was about to tear his hair out?

  “Listen, I—”

  She spun rapidly to face him, interrupting whatever he was going to say. He still had no plan. “Stop. You don’t need to explain. It’s over. Let it go. We’re at work. Let’s go back to being coworkers and move on.”

  He swallowed over the lump in his throat. “Perhaps I don’t want to go back to how we were the first two days.”

  She shot him a glare. “I guess you should have thought about that before you got into a pissing contest with Dayton last night, huh? I told you both I had no interest in choosing. It was fun. It ran its course apparently. I won’t be the fodder for your jealousy. I’m in no mood to enter into a committed relationship with anyone. I told you that. I told Dayton that. You didn’t listen. This is over.” She spun back around to face her computer, settling her hand on her mouse and continuing as if nothing bothered her.

  Rex didn’t breathe for a long time. He gripped the arms of his chair as he stared at her profile. She was serious. She wasn’t going to give him a chance. Probably not Dayton either. Now what?

  All Rex could think to do was lower his ass onto his chair. His legs were wobbly.

  Her phone beeped. She dug it out of her purse, looked at it, turned off the volume and set it face down on the desk.

  Rex imagined Dayton was trying to get her to communicate too. He would also be shut out, but he didn’t have the luxury of sitting next to her this morning. Though Rex was starting to think this was not a luxury at all. This was a disaster.

  Erica was stubborn. She didn’t glance in his direction again all morning. At precisely noon, she stood and left the office, taking her purse, obviously having decided to leave the building for lunch.

  Rex considered following her, and then decided he needed to let her anger burn off a bit before trying to confront her again. That might take days. He had no choice.

  He suddenly wished he could speak to Dayton. He didn’t even know the man’s last name, let alone his phone number. For the past week, he’d thought of Dayton as the enemy. That wasn’t going to work if he ever wanted Erica to look at him again.

  Friday was no better. Cold shoulder. Silence. He had to give her credit though. She could work like a machine even when she was pissed off. Or hell, perhaps she wasn’t angry at all. Maybe she truly didn’t care if he and Dayton had fucked this arrangement up.

  Rex knew he’d fallen hard for her. He suspected Dayton had too, based on the man’s competitive words. But how did Erica feel? Had all their time spent together meant nothing to her? Maybe she had simply enjoyed the submission and hadn’t cared who it came from as long as no one got too serious.

  He found it hard to believe that though. He really felt a connection with her unlike any other he’d ever experienced. But had she had the same rapport with Dayton?

  Rex rubbed his forehead, wishing he could take back the last two days. He needed a do-over. After a beautiful scene in which Erica had submitted to them so perfectly, he’d let his jealousy get in the way and opened his big mouth. It hadn’t been necessary.

  Rex wasn’t sure why he was so twisted up about the situation. He had experience sharing a woman. Why on earth was this different? He’d loved sharing Charlotte. But he’d always been a bit of an outsider in that relationship.

  Meeting Erica had reminded him that there were other women out there who might sync with him both in and out of the club setting. What were the chances he would find a woman who was both his equal intellectually as well as submissive?

  By Friday night, Rex was a nervous mess. Frustrated, angry with himself, confused. He wondered if Erica would show up at Zodiac or continue to diss them both and either stay home or try another club. Either way, Rex intended to make an appearance. If nothing else, he wanted a chance to talk to Dayton. He didn’t have enough information about the guy to contact him outside of the club. It wasn’t as if he could have asked Erica for Dayton’s last name or phone number.

  It didn’t take long for Rex to find Dayton in the break room talking to the owner, Lincoln, and another man. Rex took a deep breath and approached. When Lincoln spotted Rex, he smiled and held out a hand. “Good to see you again. Guess we didn’t scare you off.”

  “Nope.” Not exactly.

  “Forgive me, but I have to go check on my recalcitrant sub.” He chuckled as he wandered away.

  The dark-haired man Rex hadn’t met offered his hand next. “I don’t think we’ve met. Flynn Taylor.”

  “Rex Kyle.”

  Flynn glanced at Dayton. “Ah. The competition?”

  Dayton smirked. “Yeah.”

  Rex rolled his eyes. “Does everyone in the club know about us?”

  Flynn shook his head. “No. Sorry. Just me. And only because we’ve known each other for years, and I saw Dayton with Erica the other night. They had dinner at my restaurant.”

  “I see.”

  “All right. I’ve got a sub on my schedule in a few minutes. I’ll let you two duke it out.” He grinned. “Kidding, of course. Maybe don’t use fists.” He walked away chuckling.

  Dayton tucked the tips of his fingers in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet. His forehead was wrinkled. His eyes narrowed. He looked exactly how Rex felt. He spoke first. “I would have contacted you, but I didn’t have your number.”

  “Same here.”

  “She won’t answer my calls or texts. How was she at work?”

  “She won’t speak to me either. She did her work and left both yesterday and today barely acknowledging me.”

  Dayton gave a nod and then reached to rub the back of his neck. “She warned us.”

  “She did.”

  “We had so much fun together. I got cocky.”

  Rex sighed. “I did too.”

  “I’ve thought a lot about it though, and the truth is I couldn’t have continued the arrangement she wanted from us. Knowing some other guy was with her on the nights I wasn’t there made me lose my mind.”

  Rex leaned against the wall and met Dayton’s gaze. “You might be shocked to hear this, but I recently got out of a relationship in which I shared a woman with two other men.”

  Dayton’s eyes widened. “You? I can’t picture that for you.”

  He shrugged. “It wasn’t every third night. The three of them are in a committed relationship and invited me in as the fourth. It works for them because they don’t have secrets. Sometimes they share her. Sometimes only one of them dominates her. It was…comfortable.”

  “Why did you leave them?”

  Rex took a deep breath. “She belonged to the two of them. I was always an outsider. I thought I wanted someone of my own.”

  “And now?”

  Rex glanced down at his clasped hands. “I don’t know. When I first saw Erica here submitting to you, I couldn’t even process what I was seeing. The skittish woman I work with is
submissive? By the next night, I knew I wanted to rock her world. And I did. And she’s amazing. I’ve never met anyone more suited to me. However, the every-other-night thing was a disaster.”

  Dayton rubbed his temple. “If you’re suggesting we share her together…”

  Rex shook his head. “No. I’m not even sure what I’m suggesting.”

  Several moments of silence passed before Dayton cleared his throat. “Did you, uh… Did you bump swords with these other guys?”

  Rex flinched. “No. I mean not like you’re implying. Sure. We sometimes ended up in positions where knuckles brushed over skin, but we weren’t intimate apart from with Charlotte.”

  Dayton nodded slowly and then looked away.

  Rex wondered what the hell the man was thinking.

  When he looked back, his next words were softer. “Have you ever submitted to anyone yourself?”

  Rex winced. “No. Never. Except of course to try out new toys so I’ll know how to handle them on other people.”

  “Have you dominated men?”

  “Only in demos.”

  Dayton was still eyeing Rex intently when Lincoln returned. They both jerked their gazes toward him.

  Lincoln had a slight smirk on his face. “Am I interrupting something?”

  “No,” they both insisted at the same time.

  “Okaaay, well, I just wanted to say that several people saw you two do that scene with Erica the other night and have asked me if you might be interested in another performance.”

  Dayton responded first. “Together? You mean they want to be dominated by two men?”

  “Yes. Well, not any two men. Not everyone can pull it off as fluidly as you two did. It was like a work of art. Mesmerizing. No one would believe you two just met last week.”

  Rex sucked in a breath and glanced at Dayton. “I’m not sure we could do the same thing with a stranger. There were, uh, unique circumstances involved.”