he moved carefully, slowly, from the bathroom. he didn't want to alert her of his presence, that in her turmoil she had forgotten to lock her front door and had given easy access to one of the men, he knew, she considered the enemy.

he paced to the bedroom and began preparing it for her. lucian would arrive later, but for now, dev was in control and tally might have figured out how to handle his brother, but she had no idea how to handle him.

he smiled at the thought as he attached restraints to the four corner posts of her bed. the soft nylon wrist and ankle cables would allow just enough freedom of movement to ensure her pleasure while holding her in place so he could assure her freedom from the strict demands of her self-control.

he put several other articles on the bedside table. a tube of lubrication gel, an inflatable butt plug and a thick vibrating gel dildo were laid to one side. next came a set of vibrating nipple clamps and a small ball gag.

he glanced toward the door as the sounds of falling water ceased. she would be entering the room within minutes, unaware of his presence, her control shaky at best, off balance. he had a feeling that if he gave her the chance to renew that control then they would all lose. tally wouldn't allow herself a chance to fail a second time. she would pull that cool mockery and cold demeanor around her like a cloak of protection and forever keep him and lucian at arm's length. he couldn't allow that. he wouldn't allow that.

taking his seat in a comfortable chair across the room, he sat back and waited. his cock was throbbing; so damned hard and engorged he was amazed he could walk. if he had ever had an erection so demanding with another woman, he couldn't remember it.

the shower door opened, closed. minutes later the sound of a hair dryer could be heard and dev sat back to wait. tally's hair was long and thick, a sensuous silken skein of midnight-black that fell to her hips and made his hands itch to touch it. it had to be hell to dry, though. he would have loved to stand behind her, wielding the dryer, watching the cool strands slowly dry beneath the heat of the device. instead, he sat and waited. the fireworks to come would be hot enough; he didn't have to tempt an early explosion.

long minutes later the hair dryer flipped off. dev sat up straighter in the chair, his eyes narrowing as he watched the doorway. tally walked through it slowly, her characteristic, sensual glide a little less relaxed than it usually was. her long hair fell down her back, caressing her hips, but the rest of her body was bare. bare and perfect. gold glittered at her nipples and winked at him between her perfect thighs as she came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the floor.

"what the hell are you doing here?" her eyes nearly glowed in furious heat, her dusky cheeks flushing with anger.

dev's brows rose in surprise. her voice was gritty with emotion, her body fairly trembling with it. this was not the cool, self-possessed siren that had haunted his dreams for so long. this was better. more than he could have expected.

he propped his ankle on his knee, leaning back in the chair as she jerked a long, cream-colored silk robe from the smaller chair by her bed table and pulled it on with quick, angry movements. she still had yet to notice the restraints or the sexual devices on the table.

"leave," she snapped as she belted the robe around her slender waist. "now."

dev sighed heartily. "i'm not lucian, tally. your anger doesn't bother me as it does him."

lucian, despite his often sarcastic attitude in the face of her normally cold temper, had that basic male trepidation when it came to prodding at an unpredictable female. unlike his brother, it was an art dev had perfected in his youth and had steadily applied over the years.

"does jail bother you?" she crossed her arms under her breasts as she stared back at him heatedly. "breaking and entering is illegal."

"the door was unlocked," he informed her, watching in satisfaction as her eyes widened in shock.

he could read her emotions as clearly as a book now. the cold mockery had been stripped away, leaving bare the woman beneath as she stared back at him with haunting, shadowed emotion.

"i don't care if it was standing wide open." she showed her teeth in a snarl that made his dick jerk in arousal. "pick your ass up and get out."

oh, now there was the tally he knew existed beneath the carefully polished exterior. vibrant, explosive, her temper was more than a match for the dominance that pulsed thick and hot through his and lucian's blood.

he came slowly to his feet, watching her carefully.

"you honestly believe that little performance earlier isn't going to be addressed, tally?" he asked her, keeping his voice soft, though he did nothing to hide the annoyance that throbbed beneath it. "you should have expected one of us to show up ready to do battle, if not both."

her gaze flickered. dev controlled the pleased smile that crossed his lips. she had expected lucian and had been confident she could turn him away. she had obviously seen his patience as weakness instead, and thought him easier to control than dev was.

"poor tally." he sighed. "you've misjudged lucian, but you'll learn that soon enough. even worse, you underestimated me. i won't let you run so easily. the game stops here and now."

"what is with you two?" she snapped, her voice thick with anger, her face flushed, eyes shining with emotion. damn, he had thought her beautiful before, but now she took his breath away. "can't you accept defeat? can't you accept that there's a woman alive that doesn't respond to you? you tried, you failed, now leave it alone."

her voice broke on the last word, hitching as emotion seemed to crackle like electricity within it.

"i don't think so." he stepped closer. "i was unaware that you had taken lucian and myself for fools. that we would calmly stand aside and allow you to hide because you're too frightened to reach out for what you want. you can't keep that indomitable self-control and find the satisfaction you need, tally. it won't work."

he didn't touch her. not yet. he stalked around her, watching her carefully, seeing the naked nervousness in her gaze as she watched him warily. she knew lucian much better than she did him. he had deliberately held himself away from her, stayed on the outside of her circle of friends, rarely giving her the chance to dissect him with those perceptive eyes of hers.

she did that. watched people, waiting on them to reveal to her their every dark secret so she could use it to hold them at bay, to insure she had every weapon available to keep them from getting close to her.

"you don't know what you're talking about." she was breathing roughly, though he could tell she was fighting valiantly to control it. "i hate to prick that ego of yours, dev, but you and lucian may not be the walking female orgasms you think you are."

may not be. he noticed she didn't state it as a definite. his lips kicked up in a grin.

he stopped behind her, not touching her, not daring to. her shoulders stiffened, her breathing becoming rougher still as he towered over her.

"had you waited, you would have had what you needed, tally." her arms uncrossed, her hands falling to her sides and clenching at the material of her robe. he could see the hard rise and fall of her breasts, almost feel her fight for control.

"how like a man," she sneered. "perhaps i'm frigid. isn't that the standard male excuse?"

"or perhaps you're too stubborn, too intent on being in control, on being the mistress, to ever admit there could be a master," he suggested softly. "i know what you need, tally. i know, and i'm going to make certain you have it."

she seemed to freeze, stiffening in response, not just to the words, but also the underlying promise that came with them. when she started to run, he was ready for her. he was determined tally was not going to run anymore.

chapter twelve

tally was in shock. this was not the gentle giant she had always thought of dev as being. this was a man in his prime, far stronger than she, and determined to have his way. he caught her as she moved to run from the bedroom, a chuckle sounding in her ear as his arms went around her, holding her close. a second later she felt her robe loosen as she struggled against him, fighting to tear herself from his muscular arms as he stripped the robe from her body.

"you bastard!" she raged as he picked her up and tossed her to the bed.

her fingers curled into claws as fury overwhelmed her. hot, blinding rage burned in her stomach like acid as she snarled and flailed out at him.

she gained little more than a dark laugh as he straddled her body and within seconds, to her complete horror, had her arms spread and her wrists shackled with soft, padded nylon restraints.

"let me go." she jerked at the restraints, staring up at her wrists in disbelief as the slender chains running from the nylon refused to give way.

instantly his weight was removed, but it wasn't to release her. she shrieked in disbelief, attempting to jerk her foot from his grip as he began to shackle her ankles. she was now spread eagle, held naked to the bed as he watched her in amusement.

"you son of a bitch!" she screamed, outraged, terrified. no matter how desperately she fought she couldn't release herself, nor could she stem the rising anger building inside her. "i'll kill you for this. i'll carve your dick from your body if you don't let me go."

"such naughty language, tally," he chided her in amusement as he sat down on the bed and removed his boots. "just settle down, baby, and save your breath. you'll need the energy to scream from pleasure later."

"oh, now haven't i just heard that one before," she sneered, jerking at the restraints that held her wrists again. "a little overconfident, aren't you, dev?"

"overconfident?" he mused as he stood and unbuttoned the snowy white shirt he wore. "merely confident, i think."

snarling, cursing, tally fought the restraints, desperately trying to ignore the fact that dev was undressing beside her bed. his muscular chest shouldn't have looked so inviting and when he shed his jeans and the snug boxer briefs, the hard, thick length of his cock shouldn't have caused her to catch her breath in hunger.

"damn you, dev, you can't do this," she denied hoarsely, knowing any chance she may have had at rebuilding her defenses was being shot to hell. "let me go!"

he stood at the side of the bed watching her quietly, his eyes going over her body, pausing at her breasts, taking in the hard, fiery points of her pierced nipples. his gaze went lower and tally closed her eyes in shame, well aware of the thick, glistening juices that coated the plump lips of her shaved pussy.

"say 'shoes'," he said, smiling, his eyes coming back to her. "in every dominant/submissive relationship there's a safe word. one word that halts any further action and calls a stop to whatever's taking place. but i'm warning you, tally, if you say it, then it's over. it doesn't matter how much lucian and i care for you. it doesn't matter how much we need you, it's over. say 'shoes' and i release you and walk away now. if you don't say it, then you can fight until hell freezes over and as long as your body responds, as long as you find pleasure, there will be no stopping."

the throttled growl of rage that escaped her throat surprised her, and dev as well, if the flaring of his eyes was any indication.

"go to hell," she cursed him furiously. "i'm not begging you for anything, you hulking neanderthal. kiss my ass."

"i'll spank it instead." his words had her stiffening in shock a second before she began to fight again.

he released the restraints on her ankles, quickly flipped her over and secured them once again. there was just enough length to the chains at her wrists to allow them to cross and adjust to the new position. she was panting in surprise and fury, not to mention the excitement beginning to snake through her body. but it didn't stop her from fighting as he adjusted the restraints, once again spreading her out.