She found his mouth in the dark and kissed him until they both had to come up for air. “Then show me,” she panted against his neck. “Pin me to the ground and f**k me like you own me. Like I never need to doubt that I’m yours.”

Devin’s grip tightened on her wrists. “Are we role-playing like last night?”

Her softly murmured “No” vibrated through him as loud as a shout in his ear.

It was the first time she’d indicated there was something more between them than just hot sex. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed to hear it from her.

He took her down to the floor. He didn’t remember how they got their clothes off or when he’d put on a condom. He only remembered his frantic desire to be inside her, kissing her, marking her, pounding into her, proving that she did belong to him.

The next afternoon Liberty’s cell phone buzzed and the ID read: Private caller. “This is Liberty.”

“Libs! S’up?”

She smiled. “You tell me. Been a while since I’ve heard from you, Beetle Bailey.”

“God, I hate that nickname.”

“I know. Why do you think I use it?”

“Fuck you, Liberty Bell.”

“Back atcha. So, little sis, how’s the army treating you?”

“Like I’m a slave.” Bailey sighed. “Some days it’s not so bad. Others, I can’t freakin’ wait to be done.”

“I remember those days. You over there? Or over here?”

“Over here. Me’n five other med specialists were selected for a new training program.”

“Cool.” Liberty propped her feet up on the ottoman. “Spill the details.”

After five minutes of Bailey filling her in, she said, “Anyway, enough about me. What’s up in your world?”

“Still on assignment.”

“How much longer?”

“A week. Then I’ve got ten days off. And then the final three weeks.”

“Any hotties in your bed helping you kill time?”

The images from the past few nights flashed into her head. The erotic spanking he’d administered. Devin’s rough hands caressing her before he leveled that stinging slap over and over. And afterward how one stroke of his finger over her clit had made her come so hard she’d screamed. His mouth had seemed cool against her heated flesh as he’d kissed her flaming butt cheeks. Then, after he’d soothed her, he’d lubed them both up and shoved that big c**k of his up her ass. She’d loved every minute of it. His hard-driving rhythm. His muscled chest pressing into her back as his body covered hers fully. His deep voice in her ear as he gave her a dirty play-by-play.

Less than twelve hours after that, he’d shown his jealous side, his possessive side, when he’d f**ked her in the dark in his ready room. She’d challenged him to prove that he owned her and he had. Twice. Because as soon as he finished his performance that night, he’d dragged her into the shower in his ready room and f**ked her again. She’d been completely wrung out afterward. But it didn’t escape her notice that upon seeing her wet hair and Devin’s, every one of the Wright Brothers fist-bumped Devin as they passed one another on the way to the buses.

“You’ve been quiet too long, Libs. Spill the deets from between the sticky sheets.”

“Nothing to tell,” she lied.

“Aha! I get it. The last time you got any was with Spike and Zeke?”

“No.” Even those two guys combined couldn’t compare to one night with Devin McClain.

“You’re such a whore, doing two hot guys at once. And brothers to boot.” In her best pouting tone, Bailey continued. “It’s not fair! I wanna be a whore! Give me some pointers.”

“Mom could give us both pointers.” Liberty paused. “Have you heard from her?”

“No. It’s been so long, I think she’s dead. Is it really horrible that I don’t care if she is?”

Liberty’s gut clenched. Of the three of them, Bailey had the most issues with their mother, and she refused to tell either of her sisters what had happened in the years Harper had been away at school and she’d been in the army.

“Anyway, I didn’t call you to talk about her. I want to make sure you’re okay on this long assignment. Especially since I know you can’t talk about it.”

“It’s a different world from any I’ve ever been in, and to be honest, I’m glad it’s only for a few months. I couldn’t live this way. That said, I get an equal balance of worktime and downtime.” And she did get Devin’s undivided sexual attention in that downtime, so that was a bonus. “Thanks for checking up on me.”

“Being away from family just reminds me how I didn’t appreciate it when I had it. Jesus, I was such a brat to Harper sometimes. I can’t believe she didn’t wash her hands of me just like Mom did.”

“Everyone has a shitty stage in their life where they’re dicks to the ones they love. The lucky ones grow out of it and move on. We Masterson girls gotta stick together because we’re all we have.”

“So true. I talked to Harper last night. She mentioned your upcoming visit to Muddy Gap. I’m jealous.”

“I wish you could fly to Denver and drive up with me. Tate and Jake are at that fun stage where everything excites them.”

“I told Harper if I’m not mired in training, I’d try to get the week of Thanksgiving off so we can all be together. Of course, she’s already planning a family holiday, and we’ve been drafted to play the part of pilgrims in the Thanksgiving Day reenactment.”