What if they left you after you fell in love? What if they’re not the men they seem to be?
She’d been burned once by a guy pretending to be caring and thoughtful . . . only he was a monster underneath.
And her own mom left her. Maybe she didn’t want to, it was hard to know. She’d never really been present in her life.
Didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt.
Rejection sucked. Even as an adult. She thought she’d built a thick skin but it seemed that it wasn’t thick enough.
“No one is taking your dog.”
To her surprise, it was Kellan who grasped hold of her chin and spoke. He was definitely more stand-offish than Eli. He didn’t often touch her. But right now he held her chin in his hand as he stared down at her firmly.
She gaped up at him.
“Do you hear me?” he asked.
She nodded slowly.
“Good girl. No one is taking that dog from you. Certainly not us.”
“Of course not. Why would you think that?” Eli asked as Kellan dropped his hand from her chin.
“You said that you had to learn to live together,” she reminded him. “You and Horse.”
“Well, yes, but you’ll be living there too,” Eli said as though she should have known that.
“But you really don’t have to stay with me,” she said.
“We’re not leaving you alone,” Kellan said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Definitely not,” Eli said. “I get the feeling you’re going to be a terrible patient.”
“I am not!” she protested.
Eli shook his head. “Just as well we know how to deal with naughty girls who don’t do as they’re told.”
What was happening right now? Why were they looking at her like that?
“How?” she asked.
“We spank them, of course.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You do not!”
Yeah, she’d heard a few rumors about Haven. There was a popular BDSM club here called Saxon’s. She assumed a number of spankings happened there.
But that wasn’t happening to her.
Oh yeah? Like you can’t imagine being held over their lap and spanked until your bottom is hot and you’re squirming?
Shit.
“I’m not a sub,” she blurted out.
Eli raised an eyebrow. “Sure about that?”
She nodded frantically. “I don’t want anyone tying me up.”
