STORY EXCERPT

“Moving to Cherish would be a fresh start for you.” Her mother was utterly convinced her plan was the perfect solution. “You mentioned the other day that your lease will be up on the apartment next month. You can pay it out, move into the house, and take over the bar. You’ll make friends, have a new job, and a nice three-bedroom house all to yourself.”

Sophie angled a look at her mother. “How would I have a nice three-bedroom house all to myself if you and Dad are living there, too?”

“We won’t be. Your father has been wanting to go to Hawaii for years. As soon as he’s up for traveling, I’m going to see to it that happens.”

Sophie knew for a fact she was gaping now. “You’re going to move to Hawaii?”

Her mother gave her an exasperated look. “Not move there, but we’re going to take an extended vacation, maybe even travel around and see more of the world. That’s what retired people do. They pack up and gallivant around the globe. It will be fun, stress-free, and exactly what your father needs. As long as he knows you are here taking care of the house and the bar while we’re gone.”

Of course, her mother had to throw out that last bit. If her mother was skilled at anything, it was definitely laying on the guilt to get what she wanted.

“And what about Kevin?” Sophie couldn’t help but bring her idiotic brother into the conversation.

Her mother sighed, moved to one of the empty chairs, and plopped down. “As much as it pains me to admit it, Kevin is a lost cause these days.”

Tears sparkled in her mother’s eyes, making her feel like shit for bringing up her brother, but holy smokes, now Sophie knew her ears were playing tricks on her. Except, apparently, they weren’t because her mother wasn’t done.

“Until he’s ready to admit he has a gambling and drinking problem, there isn’t much your father and I can do to help him. He’s a grown man, but he let himself get out of control. I’ll handle Kevin and see to it your father doesn’t stress over his situation.”

“If I take over Diamond’s, it’s still going to be closed for a while.” Was she actually really considering this? She had to be because her mind as already kicking into fix-it mode. “Dad may love the place, but he’s allowed it to go downhill over the years. It’s well on its way to being a dive bar and the clientele it’s been attracting is—”

Her mother’s face brightened. “See! You and your father think so much alike. He’s already got renovation plans in mind. He’s been talking about them for weeks.” She briefly frowned. “Which is probably what brought on this heart attack. I'm telling you, that bar is no good for him at his age.”

Sophie talked to her father every single day without fail. “He hasn’t said anything to me about remodeling Diamond’s.”

“He wanted to surprise you.”

Touched, Sophie felt herself smile. Her father had always wanted the bar to mean as much to her as it did to him. The only reason she cared a hill of beans about the place was because he loved it so much.

“What are his plans?”

Her mother shrugged. “Something about redoing the floor, having the pool tables recovered, and putting up new dartboards. You know when he starts talking about that place I tend to tune it out.”

Yeah, Sophie knew, but if her father did already have those plans in the works, he’d already built a good foundation for her to start.

“Is there money in the bar’s finances to cover all of that?”

Her mother shrugged again. “I assume so. Other than the initial investment, he’s never taken money from our personal finances to put into that place.”

Sophie had a good cushion in her savings account she would be willing to invest if the money wasn’t already there. New floors, resurfaced pool tables, and new dartboards only scratched the surface of what Diamond’s was going to need to turn the place in a reputable establishment.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Though it pained her just a little to admit her mother was right, she could make a fresh start in Cherish. It had worked for her parents. They had traded the beaches for the Tennessee mountains years ago. She’d never quite understood why they had picked Cherish as their landing ground. As a monogamous couple, she’d been certain they would stand out like a sore thumb in a city were ménage relationships and even polygynous marriages were the norm, but they didn’t.

Sophie wouldn’t either. She would have a place to live, at least until she decided to find a place of her own, a job, and a whole city chocked full of people she didn’t know. And, she was ready to move on her with life. She supposed she might even be ready to give love another try, too. She wasn’t so sure about following the ways of Cherish and giving two men a try at the same time, but what woman didn’t fantasize about that from time to time. As long as she steered clear of lying, cheating, screw-her-over firefighters, she would be fine.

Yep, that was her answer. Steer clear of firefighters under any and every circumstance. That wouldn’t be too hard, would it?

ADULT EXCERPT

“Are you quivering because you know Darius likes it, Sophie?” The warmth of Quintin’s breath fanned the fine hairs on the side of her neck as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Or are you anticipating what you think I am about to do?”

“I…” She leaned into the touch of his lips as they cruised over her lobe and down the side of her neck, turning those icy darts to red-hot pokers of desire. Her lids felt heavy, and she let them close, but not so much that she couldn’t see Darius staring up at her through the slits.

“Do you know what he’s about to do, baby?”

Quintin’s lips were peppering tender kisses on the back of her shoulder now, and his hands were framing her sides and skimming down.

Sophie couldn’t answer Darius. Trepidation jittered through her system, desire puckered her forbidden hole and tightened her pussy muscles around Darius’s cock, and a sexual fog of their creation clouded her mind.

“Have you ever had anal sex, Sophie?”

Sophie swallowed and managed to push a breathless, “No,” through her suddenly dry lips.

“Baby, look at me.”

She forced her eyes all the way open at Darius’s request and found him gazing up at her with equal parts compassion and wicked heat in his eyes.

“We told you nothing would happen tonight you don’t want.”

Sophie gulped. “I know, and I do want it.” It shocked her how desperately she did suddenly want it. “But…”

“Having my dick in your ass while Darius’s is in your pussy frightens you,” Quintin finished for her. “It’s okay, Sophie. Knowing no man has ever been inside your tight ass…” He growled. “Damn, you don’t realize what that does to me.”

“To us,” Darius corrected him. His cock jerked in Sophie’s pussy to emphasize his words and she swore it had grown even harder than it had been before.

“I don’t have to make love to you that way tonight, Sophie.”

Make love to her? She was certain Quintin hadn’t meant that in the general definition of the phrase. Still, it stupidly made her feel better than if he’d used the word fuck.

“But, I would like to play with your ass while Darius makes love to you, though.” One of his hands moved from her side to glide over her ass cheek. Then a finger slipped between them. “Will you let me do that?”

Sophie swallowed hard and turned to look at him over her shoulder. She met his heated gaze, held it for a meaningful moment, and slowly nodded. “Yes, I’ll let you.”

The smile that unfolded on Quintin’s lips before he leaned in to kiss her was one that melted away the remaining ice in her blood and wound around her heart. He eased away, sitting up behind her as his finger in the crack of her ass slid lower.

Sophie held her breath, anticipating the first wave of pain, but his finger didn’t stop at her anus. Instead, it turned and continued down to her pussy. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped even as a gasp of surprise escaped her when he inched the digit into her pussy already filled by Darius’s cock.

“Didn’t expect him to do that, huh?”

The amusement in Darius’s husky tone drew her attention down to him. “That doesn’t bother you?”

He chuckled. “You mean feeling his finger against my dick inside you? No, because I know why he’s doing it.”

“It’s next to impossible for two men to make love to the same woman and not touch from time to time,” Quintin added, his tone equally amused as he wiggled the finger in her pussy and then inched it out again.

“Now that he’s got what he needs for a few minutes”—Darius released her hips and folded his hands beneath his head—“ride me, baby. I’m not in control anymore. It’s your turn to show me what you’ve got.”

The renewed challenge that sparked in his eyes made Sophie giggle. The sound morphed to a moan as Quintin’s finger, now lubed with the juices from her pussy, found her anus. He flattened the pad of his finger over her forbidden hole, spread her cream around it, and slowly inched inside.

Bittersweet pain sizzled from her ass, ricocheted through her pussy, and landed in her clit. “Oh, wow.” The words left her on a surprised moan as her body felt compelled to ride the wave Quintin was creating with his exploration of her anus.

It wasn’t true pain as she had expected it to be, but a spark of intensity. It was an erotic burn that emphasized the pleasure of Darius’s cock in her pussy and sent her senses reeling. She dug her knees into the mattress on either side of Darius’s hips and let her body’s instinctive moves take control.

“Holy fuck!” Darius’s chin came up, his eyes rolling back in his head as they closed, his teeth so tightly clenched together the muscle in the strong line of his jaw became visible as though about to burst through the flesh.

She whimpered, her movements slowing when Quintin pulled his finger from her ass. Then she felt it enter her pussy beside Darius’s cock again, felt him gather more juices, and understood his intention. When the finger returned to her back entrance this time, he didn’t take the intrusion as slow or easy. He thrust it inside, wiggling and stroking the sensitized walls of her anus and drawing wild moans from her lips.

Sophie rode Darius’s cock harder and faster, amazed by her body’s acceptance of his massive length and girth. His cock was enormous, and it felt…Oh, dear, God, there were no words for the way it felt to have it inside her.

“Sophie, are you about to come for us?”