STORY EXCERPT

When Liam went downstairs the next morning to join his mother for breakfast, he felt fit and whole and nearly normal.

“Good morning, Mother.”

Colleen Sheffield smiled at her son. “Well, don’t you look happy-go-lucky this morning, Liam.”

It was a kind of joke between them, alluding to luck and fortune in nearly every exchange. He chuckled and sat, sipping at the coffee poured immediately for him by a servant.

“What are you about this day?” he asked her, diving into the ample breakfast of eggs and ham set before him. “It’s gloriously sunny outside.”

“I’ve just been going through the correspondence, son.” She indicated a pile of letters at her elbow.

“Here?” He arched a brow. “At the table?”

She waved a hand. “It was too warm in my parlor. Plus, I wished to see you, and you never brave my parlor.”

“Not if I can avoid it,” he agreed.

“This letter was delivered to me by mistake.” She handed him a missive, its contents clearly opened. “I admit I read a bit of it.”

Smirking in her direction, he took the sheets and read through them. Twice.

“This is astounding,” he murmured.

“Isn’t it?”

He shook his head at her. “The Earl of Hawksfell has requested my presence at the manor.”

“I saw that. Will you go?”

There was something in her voice, a hesitancy he’d rarely heard. When he looked over at her, he found her brow furrowed and worry in her green eyes. She’d always said his were dark as the stormy sea, like his father’s. He shook his head. Where had that errant thought come from?

“I think it would be difficult to refuse the earl. He professes a desire to get to know his Hawk relatives.” He put the letter on the table. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t go?”

She gave a quick shake of her head. “No, son. No. It’s just that…well, I suppose the young earl is nothing like his father.” Her cheeks turned pale, and she gave him a small smile. “Forgive my woolgathering. Yes, you should go. Take Charlotte with you.”

Now it was Liam’s turn to balk. “I am not taking your ward with me to Hawksfell, Mother.”

“Why not? She’s a good girl, Liam. She deserves more varied company than just this one old lady. Don’t you think so?”

He swallowed a curse. His mother’s ward, the daughter of his mother’s friends who passed away years earlier, was vexation personified. Opinionated. Outspoken. Cheeky. And the most tempting bit of muslin he’d ever encountered.

“I don’t know these Hawks, Mother,” he began. “How can you expect Charlotte to navigate these social waters?”

“Oh, pooh. Don’t you use my words on me, Liam Hawk.”

His lips thinned. “I will go by myself.”

“No, you will not. Charlotte will be safe there with you. You may act as chaperone.”

Liam refrained from rolling his eyes. A chaperone? The girl needed a keeper, but a man who continually thought of her in the basest of terms at the most inopportune moments would not suit in that role. His beast began to stir, and his stomach clenched. Suddenly he could smell her scent. Roses and summer rain.

“Charlotte,” he growled.

Turning his head, he saw her standing in the doorway to the breakfast room. A pretty pink dress hugged her curves, making her appear sweet and alluring at the same time. Her hair, that golden mass of curls, was somewhat tamed in a mass at the back of her head. And those eyes, so wide and blue. So damned innocent. Her full rosy lips were parted, and he swallowed a groan of desire.

“Did you say my name, Liam?” Her voice, sweet and tinkling and a shade husky, scraped over him. “Did you want something?”

Ah, he did. But he wouldn’t tell this untried woman just what it was he wanted. It was as if last night’s release had never occurred.

“No.” He came to his feet. “If you are set on this course, you’ll have no more argument from me, Mother.”

His mother beamed. “Thank you, son!”

He brushed past Charlotte, who put a hand on his arm to still him. He scowled down at her slender fingers, so white on his dark sleeve, and she recoiled.

“What is this about, Liam?” she asked.

“Talk to my mother.” He looked at his mother’s happy expression and grumbled. “I will tell my valet to pack my things.”

He held his breath as he passed her, loath to breathe her in again. “Be ready first thing in the morning, Charlotte.”

Taking himself upstairs, he cursed low and long. He had to take the chit along with him? What a horrid turn to an otherwise lovely summer day.

ADULT EXCERPT

Charlotte licked and sucked Liam’s cock, stroking down to the root as she ran her hands over his ridged belly. Standing with his long, strong legs braced apart, he arched toward her as she tried her best to give him release. He was truly beautiful with his head thrown back as his throat worked.

“That’s it, Charlotte.” He growled low in his throat, bringing his hands to her head. “Suck me deep.”

Opening her mouth, she took more of him. Jackson stood and watched them as she learned how to please Liam, his hazel eyes glittering like green-gold. They’d loved her already, using their hands and lips to drive her out of her mind. They’d both denied her their most manly parts, but with their vast experience and her knowing little on that count, she’d had to agree with their insistence to wait until the morrow to have them inside of her again.

“You have a very pretty mouth,” Jackson said, coming closer. “I wonder if you would kiss me, as well?”

She looked up to find him standing beside Liam. He placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder and gave him a kiss. The sight of them, side by side and so handsome, made her quiver. Her pussy pulled tight, aching for them even though she’d found her pleasure twice between them just a few moments earlier.

Emboldened, she reached up and grasped Jackson’s shaft. He was as large as Liam, which she’d noticed last night. Tonight, with both of them so close to her? Her mouth watered for a taste of each of them.

“I’ll kiss you both.” She licked her lips, parting her legs to relieve the pressure on her woman’s flesh. “I’ll make you both come.”

Jackson chuckled and then groaned as she suckled the head of his cock. She came up on her knees, holding their hot flesh in her hands as she kissed and licked each of them in their turn. After bringing them very close, she had to lean away from them. Her heart was pounding, and her skin prickled all over with sparks.

“Oh, I don’t know which of you I like more,” she admitted.

“Take Jackson,” Liam said, moving behind Jackson. “I’ll take him while you drive him wild.”

“Liam, yes.” Jackson’s eyes were hot. Intense. “Take me.”

Charlotte watched, wide-eyed, as Liam wrapped Jackson in his strong arms from behind. She ran her lips all over the front of Jackson’s fit body, her tongue playing over his muscles as he shivered. Liam did something behind him that made him moan. Oh, what could he be doing behind him?

Leaning to one side, she saw Liam hold himself as he slipped a finger into Jackson’s secret hole. Her pulse spiked higher as Liam entered him and Jackson cried out.

“That’s it, Jackson.” Liam groaned as he gripped Jackson’s narrow hips. “God, that feels good.”

Jackson reached up around Liam’s neck with one arm, his other fist held at his side. Charlotte snapped out of her trance and touched his fist.

“I’ll please you, Jackson.” She stood and kissed him, kissed Liam, as well, and fell to her knees once again. “I’ll make you come.”

Jackson moaned as she began to suck him again. Liam moved faster, in and out of Jackson as she loved him with her mouth. She was on fire herself and used her own passions to drive Jackson over the edge of climax.

“I’m coming!” Jackson trembled, held himself still, and then came in hot spurts into her mouth. “Charlotte. God, Liam.”

His voice was weak, and when Liam cried out, she knew he’d found his release, as well. Her two men held each other, but she needed more.

“Won’t you please me?” she asked in a small voice. “Oh, I need to feel you both inside of me.”

Jackson and Liam exchanged a look whose import was lost on her, and then Liam withdrew from Jackson. “Lick her, Jackson. Let her ride your tongue to her pleasure.”

Liam’s words, Jackson’s actions, were precisely what she’d needed. She found herself on the plush carpet, spread wide to Jackson’s ministrations. It took but three strokes of Jackson’s tongue to send her careening into her orgasm. It was amazing. It was heart stopping. It was more than she ever could have imagined.

“Jackson, I believe you’ve left our girl speechless.”