“Amanda. Have you returned?”
Panicked at being caught with the oddity, I bent quickly to hide it under the dark blue couch cushion.
“Mate!”
Just his deep voice had my heart thumping, my pussy aching. I spun about to look at him where he stood a few steps behind me, hands on his hips. I’d been caught with my hand under the cushions and my ass in the air. I knew my face flushed, and the heat in my face worsened as he raised one dark brow.
“I’m sorry to have left you alone. You look as if Mara has taken care of you.”
He closed the distance between us and whispered, “I love the way the dark blue Zakar color clings to your round ass. Although I believe I like you even better in just a sheet.”
I heated at his honeyed words, at the eagerness of his tone. Just hearing his voice, having him in the same room was arousing.
“What are you hiding?” he asked, nodding toward the couch.
I had no choice but to pull the object from beneath the thick cushion and hold it up.
“I don’t know, actually,” I replied, honestly. While hiding it might appear to be odd, I didn’t have to lie about anything else. Standing, I pointed to the box. “We retrieved a mating box, but I haven’t figured out how the items are used.”
Grigg put his fingers on the edge of the box and slid it across the table, peered inside. “Yes, I am familiar with the box. But tell me, mate, why were you hiding that one item specifically?”
“I… I—” I used to be able to fake my way out of any situation. From Australia to Arizona, I could make things up on the fly. But now… “I don’t know.”
Grigg offered a noncommittal grunt in reply. “You are aware, mate, that the collars we share also allows us to recognize emotions. For example, you should have sensed that I was highly aroused when I came in. My need for you would most likely intensify any arousal you had of your own.”
That made sense, for I’d instantly craved him when he returned. I still did, in fact.
“It also senses other emotions, like nervousness.” He took the object from me, turning it over in his large hands. “Or lies.”
I swallowed then. Damn technology. How the hell was I supposed to be a spy when my every thought and feeling was exposed?
“I really don’t know what that is.”
He reached into the box and pulled out a much smaller one. “I asked Mara to make sure you received your box. In our haste, we did not collect one from the medical station after your exam.”
I flushed at the memory of that exam.
“What are all those things?” I asked.
He opened the lid, lifted a layer I had not yet explored and pulled out what I could easily tell was a butt plug.
I said nothing, my core heated, my pussy and ass clenched. Suddenly ATB made a whole lot more sense. Surely not everything in the box was—
He grinned. “All new mates are given a set for training. We cannot be fully bonded until Rav and I claim you together, fuck you together.”
“Oh,” I replied, thinking about being between the two of them, their cocks both filling me to the brink. Just like my dream. Damn my wanton body, but everything kept going back to that dream. Two men. Both of them fucking me, filling me, making me theirs.
“Apparently Mara felt we needed not only the basic box of plugs, but much more elaborate supplies.”
I pointed to the metal bar object and frowned at it. “That is a sex toy?” I asked.
“A sex toy.” Grigg nodded. “I like that term, for this is definitely a toy, one I am eager to play with.”
Me? I had doubts about that, for it looked more like a two-headed wrench than a toy.
“You were trying to hide a sex toy in the couch. Tell me once more, why?”
Oh shit. I bit my lip, stared at it. “I…I don’t know. It was stupid.”