STORY EXCERPT

Lisa Brightner’s instant messenger dinged at the same time a flag popped up on her office e-mail. “A or B?”

A quick glance at the instant message had her body tensing. Oh, shit. The memo came from the CEO of Eastman Environmental—her boss’s boss. Rumors of downsizing were running rampant, but no one was saying who might be let go. The message merely read, “Please come into my office.”

She tried to swallow her anxiety, but then told herself that since her fiscal year was coming to an end, he must want to talk with her about her annual raise. At that wonderful thought, her blood pressure lowered.

You’re deluding yourself.

Her stomach then flipped, and she immediately responded she’d be right there. To be sure she hadn’t misread or overlooked a piece of the message, Lisa read the comment once more, but the words remained the same.

Think raise.

She grabbed her purse and pulled out a mirror to check that her lipstick hadn’t faded. She was one of Eastman’s corporate lawyers, and in case Mr. Eastman wanted her to confer with a client, she needed to look good.

“Christ.” Her long, auburn hair that she usually managed to keep in a twist had frizzed out to the max and too many loose strands had clumped around her neck.

She opened her desk drawer, located the travel-sized canister of hairspray, and spritzed some on the sides. She tucked and patted to restore it to its morning condition. Now her hands were sticky. Yuk. If she had to shake the client’s hand, it wouldn’t do to have goo on them. Lisa fumbled through her drawer for wipes and cleaned her fingers.

You need to go.Think positive.

She inhaled a deep breath then slipped her feet into her uncomfortable heels. She wore the five inchers because she was so damned short. With shoulders straight, she strode toward the CEO’s office, a sick feeling swimming in her gut.

No negative thoughts allowed.

When she reached her destination, she ran her hands down her skirt to press out the wrinkles, but ran into bulges on either side of her hips instead. She knocked and stepped inside without waiting for an answer.

Her heart dropped to her stomach the moment she spotted who was there. Not only was the big kahuna at his massive mahogany desk, but so were her boss, Todd, and the chief financial officer, Tom Randolph. The lack of a client confirmed the worst. “Gentlemen.” She swallowed past the lump.

She glanced around for a chair, but the men occupied all of the seats. I guess this is not about my raise. Her pits dampened and acid rose up her throat. Be cool.

Neither man stood to offer her his seat. This was bad. Very bad. Mr. Eastman leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers. “Let me say you’ve been an exemplary worker, but due to financial conditions, we have to let you go.”

Oh, my God. The rumors had been true. Adrenaline spiked her pulse and a giant claw dug into her belly. Images of her mortgage payments, car payments, and college loans floated in her head.

When all three men looked up at her, she figured they expected her to respond. “Seriously?” she blurted out.

She glanced to her boss who immediately shot his gaze downward. After two years, eleven months, and fourteen days, this was the thanks she got for giving up her weekends and holidays to work whenever they asked for a hand?

Eastman turned to her boss. “Todd, will you escort Miss Brightner to her office so she can pack her things?”

 Her fists clenched and her mind raced as she searched for the silver lining. If she didn’t find something positive to cling to, she might punch someone. Maybe this would give her the impetus to find a better job, but hell, her savings wouldn’t last that long.

Eastman cleared his throat. “We’ll give you one month’s severance pay.”

A brief wash of relief streamed through her, but even after paying her car and condo payments, as well as her monthly bills, she could last maybe two months.

Eastman’s words about Todd escorting her to her office registered. Her office? That was a joke. It was a wimpy cubicle. She understood why they wanted to walk her out the door. A former employee had erased everything on his hard drive just to fuck with them.

As soon as she and her boss stepped into the main room that housed the other “offices,” she halted. “Where is everyone?” The entire room had been cleared.

“We didn’t think you’d feel comfortable with everyone staring at you.”

Comfortable? “This is better?” As soon as she walked out, everyone would zoom back in and start talking about her.

“We’re doing this for all of the others in the residential department who we’re letting go.”

“Did they lay off the entire department?” That meant Todd would be laid off, too. His faced turned to ash. He and his wife were about to have their first child, and not long ago he’d purchased a new home.

“I’ve been moved to commercial.”

At least one person had been spared. “That’s good.”

A box already sat on her desk. She spotted others scattered about the room and her body ached. Even though she kept telling herself that being let go had nothing to do with her performance, it was still a failure in her eyes. She dumped most of what was in her drawer into the box and sighed as she remembered all of the good people who worked here.

He nodded. “Let me carry that out for you.”

She was about to object, but he seemed to need to do something for her. As soon as they reached the front door, he handed her back the box, and held out his hand.

She shook his for the last time, but part of her wished she hadn’t washed off the sticky stuff. He could have fought for her to stay. Todd spun on his heels and strode back inside.

ADULT EXCERPT

“I call ass,” Mitch said.

Trevor’s lips firmed. “That’s my specialty, but for the sake of peace, I’ll grant you the pleasure this time.” He wrapped an arm around Mitch’s shoulder. “I got to tell you, Lisa will be the finest woman you’ve ever had the privilege of sticking your cock into.”

“Ew. ‘Sticking your cock into?’ There’s no romance in that.”

Dante stepped forward. “She’s right, gentlemen. This is a monumental event. We want Lisa to remember this for the rest of her life. Why, she’ll be telling her grandchildren all about the night her three men came together and took her to heaven.”

She laughed. “I will not be telling my children or my grandchildren about my sex life. They’ll have to learn on their own.”

Trevor and Dante talked at once. She slipped two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Everyone froze. “Here’s the way it’s going to be. No squabbling over me. For the next few minutes—or until I deem it so—no talking. I want to savor each and every one of your bodies. Is that clear?”

Dante seemed to be working hard not to laugh. Trevor appeared petrified as if she’d walk out and call it quits, and Mitch was the picture of calm. He seemed to get it.

No one answered. “Good.” She walked over to the light switch and doused the overhead, which was too harsh anyway. If she hadn’t packed her candles, she would have lit them.

This was going to be so much fun.

“Dante is already one step ahead of you both, so how about taking off your boots?” She didn’t think it sexy to be bending down and tugging.

As if it was a race, Trevor had the first boot off first, but Mitch won in the end. She so loved how willing they were to please her. “Next, all three of you place your hands behind your head and don’t move unless I tell you.”

Trevor groaned. For that infraction, she’d leave him until last. Because Mitch seemed the most calm, she stood in front of him and slipped her fingers under his belt buckle. The buckle was gold with a black horseshoe on the front. She undid it then untucked his shirt. She wanted her knuckles on his hot skin. Inching closer, she looked up at him and winked. From the way his breath had increased since she’d picked him first, he, too, was working not to grab her and claim her. His willingness to let her proceed at her own speed made her love him more. Her fingers made short work of undoing the top button. A hard tug opened his fly, and she glanced down at his erection straining against his cotton briefs.

Decisions. Decisions. Should she tug down his jeans and suck his cock in front of the others or repeat the “freeing of the cock” on the other two? She stepped back and glanced between Dante and Mitch, who were both obeying her so well.

She thought to what they would do. Torment it was.

Wanting to be comfortable, she kicked off her heels and the relief made her gasp. When she found a job in Wyoming, she wasn’t going to wear anything higher than a one-inch heel. She dropped to her knees in front of Mitch only to realize that his cock was too high. Damn.

“Denver, why don’t you have him lie on the bed and straddle him?”

“Shh.” Though his suggestion had merit.

Slightly turning her back to Dante, she lowered Mitch’s jeans then held one leg. “Step out of this.”

He did. She repeated on the other side. Since she wanted him naked, allowing her the delight of touching his tanned body everywhere, she had him move his hands before she slipped his shirt over his head. Now all that remained was his briefs. She inhaled, and with slightly shaky hands, lowered the briefs. Out popped his glorious cock. She drew in a deep breath and admired his length and thickness until she realized that would be in her ass. She clenched in anticipation, but then relaxed, knowing Mitch would be as gentle as Trevor had been.

She pointed to the bed. “Do as Dante suggested and stretch out on the bed.” Even though the AC was on, it was hot in her bedroom. She unbuttoned her blouse and placed it on top of a box on her dresser. Since her skirt was tight, that needed to come off, too. In seconds, she was down to her bra and panties. Happily, she didn’t feel the least bit self-conscious practically naked in front of her men. She almost pinched herself. Her three men coming to the rescue and buying her condo then insisting she move back to Intrigue with them still blew her mind.

Mitch cleared his throat and brought her back to the present. What had she been thinking? This amazing man was on her bed naked and she was daydreaming. Not wasting one more second, she climbed onboard and straddled him.

She sucked in her bottom lip. “I don’t know where to begin.”