because she'd had awesome sex last night. oh god. with jake. her heart gave a painful thump as she held herself totally still, letting the thrill roll over her.

he'd let her sleep for a couple of hours. she'd woken when he pushed rhage out of the bedroom again.

ignoring her halfhearted objections, jake had tied the thin bed curtains around her ankles to hold her legs up in a high v split. after teasing her orally...forever...he'd stopped right before she could come and taken her in his own version of missionary style.

with her thighs pulled out of the way, he went deeper than she was used to, and she was so primed, she'd started coming with his first thrust.

he'd laughed, settled in, and hammered her into another orgasm before getting off himself.

when he'd woken her again-before five a.m., damn him-she'd hit him. her lips curved. not a good move with a dom.

he'd hauled her out of bed and onto her knees before she'd had a chance to finish swearing at him-let alone apologize.

needless to say, he'd made sure she gave him a hell of a blowjob with a ruthlessness that'd make dread pirate roberts proud.

but she'd enjoyed it. the man was wonderfully endowed, thick and long, with potently heavy testicles. and he had a sexy sense of humor. when she'd commented on his neatly trimmed manscaping, he'd grinned and answered, "if i prefer pussies to be bare, seemed only fair to partly return the favor."

after he'd come, she'd thought to go back to sleep. but nooo. the blowjob had been for refusing him. she'd gotten a damned spanking for hitting him. then he'd used his hands and fingers and more toys until she was begging to be allowed to come. when he'd finally let her climax...well, her neighbors probably thought someone had been murdered.

no wonder she was sore and positively, completely satiated.

a noise made her jump, and she rolled over to see jake beside the bed.

"you getting up now? on a sunday?" she asked.

"a couple of dogs in the clinic didn't make it home on friday." he'd already pulled on his pants. his shirt hung open, displaying his tanned pecs and where his curly brown chest hair narrowed to a line down his flat abdomen.

still wet from the shower, his hair was shoved carelessly back. why did he seem even sexier when not all neat and tidy?

"an attendant is there, but i need to check on them too," he finished.

she wiggled upright in the bed. he didn't sound upset that he had to get up early. just matter-of-fact about his responsibilities. how long had she been around boys pretending to be men?

but even a decade ago, he'd already been a man. he was also a shadowlands master-the best of the best-and the first requirement of a good dom was to accept responsibility for himself and his actions. "got it. do you have time for breakfast?"

his hands stopped in the process of buckling his belt, and he said in unconcealed hope, "you'd cook me breakfast?"

god, she'd bet he'd been an adorable child. "sure. i like to cook."

even knowing he had impeccable manners, she almost expected to hear a crack about her weight. but he said with open pleasure, "works for me. i like to eat."

she slid out of bed and reached for her robe.

he slid it out of her reach. "nope. you'll wear this." he pulled off his dress shirt and helped her into it.

he was tall enough that the hem hung below her butt cheeks, but...her full breasts pushed the front open. "i'll never get it buttoned."

"i don't want it buttoned." he took advantage by circling his finger around her nipples "i prefer these be accessible."

god, no matter how many times he'd taken her, he could waken her lust anew with just the dark desire in his green eyes.

an hour later, jake sat back from the table with a supremely satisfied groan. "you can sure cook. that was damn good."

she flushed but managed to respond with a calm, "thank you." she'd made him a customized spinach, cheddar, and sausage omelet-and added hash browns to balance out the healthy green stuff. the meal would keep a hard-working veterinarian going for quite a while.

thinking of veterinarians, wasn't it funny that saxon, the veterinarian, loved furry play? of course, she wouldn't gossip about him or his career, but...during the next puppy and kitty role-play, she'd talk the submissives into coming down with a wealth of injuries. they'd be limping, with broken tails and crumpled ears, and whining at the big blond dom until he "healed" them.

poor veterinarian. would he be at the shadowlands next weekend? "i didn't notice saxon at the club on friday or even the week before. is he all right?"

"oh, he's fine." jake's low growl was alarming. "he's been on vacation. but-"

"has he done something wrong? aren't you friends?"

"don't look so concerned. i didn't murder him-although it was close," jake grumbled. "you saw our receptionist, right?"

the blonde bimbo. "i did."

"sax caved in to family pressure and gave her a job. she was-bar none-the most incompetent receptionist i've ever seen. unfortunately, before we caught on, she did a number on everything in the computer, including the schedule. i fired her friday."

"oh." rainie felt a twinge of sympathy for the poor receptionist. deserved or not, losing a job really hurt. she cleared her throat. "so, did saxon yell at you for dismissing her?"

"i beat him to it. i called and yelled at him yesterday and told him to haul his ass back by tomorrow. it'll take us both to clean up her mess." tension tightened his mouth. "we'll have to assign a tech to answer the phone until we hire someone-but we don't have time to interview because of the disaster."

"catch-22, huh?" rainie hesitated. she needed to start making calls and get her butt into a new job, but...how could she not pitch in? a receptionist position wouldn't improve her resume, but certainly she could help the guys out for a little while. until they found someone. "i don't know anything about animals but i'm superb at answering phones. if you want, i can fill in until mid-february."

"seriously?"

"hey, rhage needs his vet in good shape."

"done." he extended his hand across the table.

she started to take it and then pulled back. now she had a problem. work versus sex. she didn't combine the two. ever.

her inner self cringed at the thought of speaking her mind. but...this was the dom who'd spanked her at the shadowlands for not being honest. "jake."

his eyes narrowed before he took her hand in his callused one. "tell me, sweetling."

even with his encouragement, the words wouldn't come.

"i need a refill-how about you?" she picked up their cups and rose.

in the kitchen, she poured the coffee, seeing the blackness swirl in the bottom of the cup. why couldn't she refuse jake-or other doms? her problem was due to more than being submissive.

with miss lily's help and the counseling she'd required, rainie had learned that the uncertainties in her childhood-because of her mother and foster parents-trained her to be a pleaser. by knowing the cause, she'd managed to overcome the behavior.

but she'd never discussed the ugly habits acquired during her year on the streets. there, if a girl didn't give a man what he wanted, she starved or got hurt. confrontations led to slaps, punches, kicks...or worse. rainie had suffered it all before shiz had taken her in. and even with him...she'd never said no. giving in had been safer.

well. now that she recognized the reasons for her wimpy behavior, she'd work through it. and she'd not keep being a wimp either. she set jake's coffee in front of him and met his patient gaze. "i... i don't mess around with my bosses."

"you got it out. good for you." his smile was filled with approval.

and she deserved it. a glow of self-satisfaction filled her.

"mess around," he repeated. as the meaning registered, his smile turned rueful. "hell. well, hell." he ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even further. "unfortunately, i agree. i don't screw my staff."

relieved, rainie sighed.

after a second, jake rose. "you do realize though, i've never worked with an employee i'd previously fucked." looking down at her, he ran his thumb over her kiss-swollen lips. "it's going to be difficult, sweetling...since i already want to take you again."

chapter seven

on monday morning, jake headed into the feline room.

"jake." his buddy and co-owner of the clinic grabbed his arm and spun him around. saxon's blue eyes and shoulder-length pale hair almost glowed against the dark tan he'd picked up on the caribbean beaches. "that's rainie."

"what?"

"that's rainie out there answering our phones." saxon hadn't looked so shocked since a subbie doing puppy play had actually bit him. "bro, you might be a shadowlands master, but you can't just draft the submissives no matter how much we need a receptionist."