STORY EXCERPT

Mary answered the door. “Oh my God, let me take something!” she exclaimed, reaching for the pie balanced in Karen’s hand. She removed it, allowing Karen to shift one of the boxes of chocolates from her other hand.

“Thanks. I guess I should have made two trips,” Karen as she stepped into the house and immediately removed her shoes.

“It’s really good to see you,” Mary said warmly. She put her arm around Karen’s shoulders. “I’ve made a huge mistake in not talking to you more often.”

Karen couldn’t speak for a moment. Was that a glimmer of tears in Mary’s eyes? She must be mistaken.

“Um, well, I could be calling you more often, too, I guess,” she finally said lamely.

They walked into the great room together.

“Karen brought this amazing smelling pie,” Mary informed the group cheerily as she waved the dish in the air.

No one got up to greet her.

“That’s nice, dear,” her mother said from her chair by the unlit fireplace, a glass of doubtlessly expensive red wine in her hand. “Where did you get it?”

“I made it. A friend gave me some rhubarb from her garden this morning, so it’s as fresh as can be.”

“Well, that’s being frugal. Of course, you’d be good at that.” Bob, Mary’s fiancée, gave her one of his typically backhanded compliments.

Ah, Bob was here. Boring Bob. He went well with the boring garden, boring décor, and what was sure to be a boring dinner.

Karen stood at the entrance to the room as Mary took the pie into the kitchen. “I brought boxes of chocolates for you as well,” she said, holding out her gifts like a child knowing her handmade card wasn’t as nice as the version from Hallmark but hoping it was appreciated.

 “Homemade gifts. You always did like homemade things, Karen.” Her father was lounging on the sofa with his feet up on the ottoman, a glass of what was probably whiskey by his side. He had a book open on his lap that appeared to be a textbook of some sort.

At the silence from the rest of the room, the familiar feeling of you’re not nearly good enough from childhood sucked her into its all-consuming whirlpool.

“I guess I always appreciated the effort that people put into them,” Karen responded, her tone and words carefully neutral, concealing the little stab of hurt she should have expected.

“I’ll just put these in the kitchen then.” She placed them on the little used spot by the phone on the back counter.

“Well, I appreciate them,” Mary stated firmly. “Who’s enough of a fool to turn their nose up at specialty chocolates?”

She walked over to the boxes. “Is one specifically for Mom, or does it matter?”

 Karen stared at this person who was pretending to be her sister. Had she started taking happy pills or what? Had the pole been surgically removed from her ass?

“Um, no, take whatever one you want.”

Mary grabbed the one with orange and green ribbon that Karen had tied without thinking of her family’s preference for bland. The other was tied with pale yellow and white. Mary opened the package and inspected the contents.

“Hey, you even have a map!” she exclaimed, looking at the guide that Karen had printed with pictures of her chocolates and their flavors.

“You’ll spoil your dinner if you eat too many chocolates, surely,” piped up boring Bob from his position at the other end of the couch from Karen’s father.

“Oh, one won’t kill me,” Mary said, her hand waving in complete dismissal as she pored over the map and contents of the box.

“Karen certainly seems to be alive, and of a, um, healthy size. And we haven’t heard that you’ve poisoned anyone yet,” her mother noted helpfully, giving a little laugh that was meant to take the sting out of a sarcastic comment, but yet never really did.

“Nope, not yet.”

Though Karen was starting to wonder if there was any rat poison she could sprinkle on her dinner. A quick trip to the hospital for food poisoning was looking more inviting than this.

“Help yourself to some wine. Dinner won’t be too long.” LeeAnn went back to reading the journal she had in her lap.

Karen stayed in the kitchen.

“I’m assuming you’re cooking,” she said to her sister. “Do you want any help?”

“It’s okay. I’ve got it under control. Why don’t you sit down and chat while I get the broccoli started and toss the salad? I opened some white wine, do you want a glass?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

White wine was a scarcity around the Winsor’s. Her parents only drank red and didn’t bother to stock anything else for their guests. Mary must have brought it.

Mary set a generous glass of wine in front of Karen.

“So, have you two set a date yet?” Karen asked cautiously.

“No.” Mary stabbed the salad tongs forcefully into the salad. She tossed the greens vigorously for a few moments. “We haven’t.”

Okay. New topic needed.

“How’s work?” Karen asked, trying again for a safe topic.

Mary was a CPA in a big firm in Toronto. Very busy, lots of responsibility, a big-money type position.

“Fine.” More violent stabbing of helpless baby spinach.

Okay, no help there.

“Is Sammy well?”

Sammy was Mary’s cat. They had all been shocked when Mary had brought home a little orange tabby to her pristine condo. Mary loved the little rascal who turned out to have a big personality in a tiny body.

Mary stopped torturing the salad. “He’s great. He’s so cuddly and he still plays fetch with the paper balls.”

She leaned over to Karen and lowered her voice. “He pissed in Bob’s shoes the other day, though. I sent them out to be cleaned, but I haven’t told him yet. I’m hoping he won’t notice.”

Karen opened her mouth but nothing came out. Holy crap, who the hell was this woman across from her? It sure as hell wasn’t her sister, the woman who normally couldn’t unbend far enough to tie her shoes. She glanced over to the living room at the silent trio lost in their own pursuits. The urge to start laughing like a deranged hyena bubbled up insider her and she managed to quell it with great difficulty.

ADULT EXCERPT

Karen took Allan’s offered hand and Zander kept his hand on her back as she stood. They headed up the stairs, Allan leading her, not letting go of her hand, and Zander caressing her back and bottom as they went.

The excitement in Allan’s eyes and Zander’s caresses were certainly getting a response from Karen’s body. She was aware of the friction of her bra against her hard nipples and she was afraid that her crotch was wet clear through her shorts. Her skin seemed to be extra sensitive right now, almost tingling wherever her men touched her.

In the bedroom, Zander wasted no time in pulling her T-shirt over her head. He stepped back then and seemed to admire her. That was what it looked like, anyway. He had a naughty glint in his eyes and a lazy smile as he took in her breasts. He reached forward and cupped them with his callused hands, thumbs rubbing her nipples through the thin fabric of her bra.

Leaning forward, he kissed the top of each globe and caressed his way around to her back and undid the clasp. Slowly, he allowed the straps to slip off her shoulders. He drew the cups down, a little at a time, revealing her areolae, then her nipples before releasing them fully.

“I’ll never get tired of such a beautiful sight.” Allan was watching them from beside the bed. He had already removed his clothes and his large cock jutted from the juncture of his thighs. He strode forward and took Karen’s hand, pulling her to the bed. He knelt in front of her and undid the button on her shorts. No slow teasing for Allan, he pulled them and her underwear off in one smooth motion. He stepped her out of them and tossed the garments aside. Licking his way up her thigh, he placed a hand behind her knee and tilted her back onto the bed.

She moved toward the middle and watched Allan follow her. He crawled half overtop her, reminding Karen of a predator. She shivered in anticipation of being his prey. Her heart fluttered like a bird about to be taken by a hawk. The bed dipped and sheets rustled as her other predator, Zander, flanked her from the other side.

Now between the two men, they lay her back, each covering half of her body with theirs. Four hands began slow caresses of her as Allan kissed her lips. Karen wanted to relax into the sensual exploration of her mouth by Allan’s tongue, but the touches of their hands were keying her up.

Zander licked his way across her shoulder and down her chest, capturing her nipple in his mouth. He suckled, slowly increasing the intensity until she had to tear her mouth away from Allan’s to cry out. At that point Zander slid down to her pussy and Allan took control of her other nipple.

Zander placed openmouthed kisses up and down her thighs. He had her legs apart and she could feel the cool air on her heated labia. As Allan continued to worship her breasts, Karen wiggled to try and get Zander’s mouth where it would do her more good—on her clit. Instead he just placed a big hand on her mound and held her still.

Karen moaned, partly from pleasure, partly from frustration. Her skin was damp, heated by the sexy men’s attentions to her body. Her awareness of her immediate vicinity seemed heightened.

She could feel every breath of air over her sensitized skin, every little brush of lips on her body, every manly hair that touched her. She could hear each moan and whisper, the slippery sound of skin on sheets and the wet sucking sounds of mouths on her body. The smell of sex hung in the room. Karen could smell her own arousal and a deeper, muskier scent that belonged to Allan and Zander.

As her orgasm built in her, Karen surrendered to the sensations. She had tried to keep a bit of herself back, to tell herself this was a casual relationship and not to fully engage her soul, but she couldn’t manage it in the beautiful heat of this moment. Just as she fully surrendered, her orgasm hit her. Wave after wave of pleasure crested and broke, sweeping through her body and she lost her senses of the rest of the world, focused only on the pleasure.

When she came back from the blissful tide, Zander was looming over her.

“Welcome back, Karen,” he murmured, a half smile on his face. Karen saw a bit of smug satisfaction in his eyes and a whole lot of lust.

“Hey,” she breathed, then silently berated herself. Hey? Really? Yeah, that’s going to win an award for vocabulary expertise.

She stopped with the negative self-talk as Zander kissed her deeply and she felt the push of his cock at her entrance. “You ready?” he whispered.

All Karen could do was nod. The tenderness in his tone and the stillness of his body let her know if she said, “no” or “wait,” he would have pulled away instantly. There was no way he would do anything she wasn’t ready for.

A strangled moan came out of Zander as he slowly eased into her. “You. Feel So good,” he managed to get out.

Karen couldn’t manage any words, but she knew Zander felt damn good, too. His large cock stretched her, forcing her to feel every inch of him opening her tight sheath. She started to tilt her hips up to him, wanting more. She could already feel another climax starting to swell inside her.

“More? Is that what you want?” Zander’s voice was tight and he panted as stilled.