STORY EXCERPT

Chris told himself he was not losing control of the situation that he’d been so carefully crafting. He didn’t allow a single negative thought to even form. Maybe later, when he was alone, he would let those demons out.

But right now, he wasn’t alone, and everything—absolutely everything—hung on how they negotiated the next few minutes.

He led Tammy and, yes, Cameron away from the picnic area, around to the back of the Big House. One time when he’d been outside here, exploring, he’d noticed the barn and the decorative wishing well and benches on its west side—a setup that was hidden from view. He recalled noticing the ranch he could see from that vantage point and that, facing the west, with just that one other property in sight, one might also get a good view of the sunset.

Christopher sincerely hoped no one else had been compelled to use this spot as a time-out today.

In the background, music still played, and the hum of voices as the people of Lusty chatted and visited with one another gave credence to the sensation that they were, the three of them, in a bubble apart from the rest of the world.

The arced bench sat vacant, as did the entire area in view. Chris didn’t let go of Tammy’s hand but sat, and when he saw that Cam had more or less taken the same pose, he knew the two of them were on the same page. There was some space between their bodies, but the three of them were connected by their hands.

They were all three facing the west and the view of the current day Benedict ranch—referred to as the Benedict One ranch to distinguish it from the Benedict North ranch, which Chase, Brian, and Carrie called home.

Benedict One was home to Matt, Steven, Kelsey, and their kids. Chris knew, because he’d devoured all the history he could of the families here in Lusty, that the ranch house and barn had been built by Kate’s husbands, Gerald and Patrick, after the Second World War and that it was there they had raised their five children.

He gave his companions a few moments to settle and knew he was also giving Tammy a few minutes to perhaps gather her defenses.

Tammy Wright could be counted on to be first in line if a man or two needed to unburden himself but way at the back of the line when it came to revealing her own wounds or asking for help herself.

“We’re friends,” Cameron said. “The three of us are friends—equally.”

Chris blinked. Cam had found some words before he’d been able to. Well, good. Chris didn’t look over at Tammy but felt her inhale deeply and then sigh.

“We are—friends, equally.” Her voice sounded softer than normal. Did he imagine she sounded wounded? He thought she did.

“I know what it is to hold pain in,” Cameron said. “And I know that if I had allowed myself to keep doing that, well, eventually I think I would have cracked. And I don’t know if there’s any coming back from that kind of a breakdown.”

Chris suddenly knew the words he had to say, and he didn’t even care if they could be considered “dirty pool.” He knew her secret because he’d read the file that Jake had on her. If anything’s dirty pool, that is. Chris ignored his inner imp and focused on what he wanted to say.

“We noticed you were upset, but I don’t believe anyone else did.” He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “Burdens shared are burdens eased,” he said. “And when they can be shared safely, well, that’s golden.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cameron’s smirk and Tammy’s frown. Yes, he’d tossed some of her own words right back at her.

Tammy opened her mouth and then snapped it shut when Cam said, “And don’t you dare say this is different. You’re upset. Tell us why, so we can help.”

“Well, hell.” Not quite a laugh, the sound that emerged from Tammy told Chris that she wasn’t as on the edge as she’d been just after the food arrived. All things considered, he knew that was the best they could hope for.

He added his request to Cam’s. “Come on, friend. Spill it.”

“Here’s the problem. If I do, I’ll probably start crying, and I don’t know if I’ll ever stop.”

Chris knew that kind of grief. That was the way he’d felt when he’d discovered his marriage wasn’t anything like he’d believed it to be. When he’d realized that his life, or rather, every thought he had of his life, was a cold, bitter, empty lie.

He knew that Tammy had not suffered a betrayal, like he had. She had no bitterness that he’d ever been able to detect. Of course, Chris didn’t completely trust his own judgment anymore. Tammy might be good at hiding that bitterness. Diane had been very good at hiding her affairs and hiding the contempt in which she held him and his entire family.

“That’s how it feels,” Cam said. “Like if you start, you won’t ever stop. But you do. You will. Trust me.”

Chris pulled his head out of his ass and focused on Tammy. Tammy Wright is not Diane Gray. Tammy Wright is not Diane Gray.

He knew that, but sometimes… Chris pushed his doubts away. He focused on Tammy.

“And we’re here to keep you together. Oh, and look.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the clean and pressed and very silly linen handkerchief that Craig Jessop—Uncle Craig—had given him, just that very morning. “If you need it, it’s yours.”

“That’s so…strange, and yet somehow too cute. Who carries a linen handkerchief in 2020?” Tammy gave a half-chuckle that sounded wobbly to his ears. And then, with no other prelude, she burst into tears.

ADULT EXCERPT

Chris and Cameron moved as one, pushing the sheet and duvet off, kicking the coverings to the end of the bed. Now that the light was on, Tammy couldn’t resist looking at both men—their chests and the way their muscles defined them.

Chris’s body, toned and lithe, was the body of a swimmer, of one who engaged in steady, measured activity. Cameron’s differed because he’d worked physically as a builder for several years. He’d conditioned himself to lift the heavy weight of lumber and tools as he worked his way through life. The sight of two such fine specimens was a sight to behold, no doubt about it. And then, there were their cocks.

From her anatomy classes, Tammy understood that all cocks were not created equal. But here, finally, was the living, pulsing truth of that. Living and pulsing is right. Their cocks just got bigger right before her very eyes. Eyes that she had instinctively widened in awe as she’d taken in the biggest penises she’d ever seen in real life. Wondering what the men thought of her wide-eyed perusal, Tammy looked up. She’d intended to meet their gazes, but neither of them, of course, was looking at her eyes.

Just as she’d been busy looking back and forth between the men on either side of her, they’d been directing their attention at her body.

Chris reached out a single finger and traced a spiral around her left breast that ended at her nipple. His finger drew her attention. He tweaked that nipple back and forth. They all watched it grow and harden.

She looked over at Cam, and his gaze, a mix of reverence and lust, made her smile. He seemed to be holding himself back. She shot a quick over look at Chris. He met her gaze, winked, and gave her a subtle nod.

“I’m yours—both of yours. And I really need to touch and be touched. I need to feel your hands and mouths on me. Please.”

Cam met her gaze. The look she found there simply melted her heart. He reached for her, drew her close, and lowered his head to hers.

He eased her onto her side as his mouth devoured hers. She felt no hurry in his kiss. There was only his flavor seeping into her and the pure pleasure of his mouth suckling hers and his tongue teaching hers a new, poignant, sexy dance.

Cam used one hand to deliver a long, sweeping caress from her nape to the globes of her ass, and that touch added to the arousal that raced through her. Then that hand, which had petted her so sweetly, settled on her left ass cheek. His fingers curled around her, their tips resting in her cleft, just brushing her anus.

The heat of Cameron’s flesh flush against hers as he held her close, the stroking of his fingers on her rosebud, and the flavor of his tongue in her mouth, it was all so much more than she remembered experiencing before. His cock nestled closer, and Tammy felt her pussy soften even more. She was wet, wetter than she’d known she could be.

Another hand began to stroke her, a light petting from her back to the top of her ass, and she knew Chris was touching her, too. He moved in closer, then, and pressed his naked cock against her.

Tammy shivered from the sheer eroticism of the moment. She’d laid her hand on Cameron’s cheek as he kissed her, and when he drew back, when he placed tiny little butterfly kisses on her eyelids and cheeks, she ran her fingers through his hair.

He held her gaze for a long moment, and then he looked down at her breasts, at her nipples, which had turned hard with her arousal.

She felt Chris move away and understood why when Cam laid her on her back. He moved down and captured one nipple, drawing hard, suckling, and Tammy felt her pelvic floor muscles clench. She shivered in response to her body’s erotic response as tiny electric tingles spread throughout her every inch. He treated her other nipple to the same treatment, drawing a tiny moan of need from her soul.

No words were spoken, but none were necessary. Cameron began to move over her, down her, licking and kissing and tasting, a man feeding a feral need after so long a drought. Tammy’s hands were drawn to the soft blond hair of his head. Her fingers combed and caressed and grabbed as her arousal grew. When Cam settled himself between her thighs, when he nuzzled and then used his tongue on her pussy, sweeping it up the length of her labia and over her clit, Tammy bowed off the bed.

Whimpers escaped her as every nerve ending that he touched began to explode with shards of pleasure, so sharp, so sweet, they stole her breath. Thousands and thousands of tiny electric-like shocks burst out and then connected. Her climax came, a long slow build-up that moved faster and faster and higher and higher. As she came, a burst of erotic joy decimated all that had been, seeping through, creating in its wake a renaissance of life.

Cam gave her no time to recover. His mouth left her pussy with one last lick, and he moved up her body, a fast, sure surge ending when he buried his cock deep, deep into her body.