STORY EXCERPT

She’d thought a lot about Trey since she’d last seen him. Had, in fact, hoped she’d see him again. Now he’d actually tracked her down and brought along two friends. Two really hot friends.

“We’re not staying.”

For a brief moment, she wanted to give Bruce a little shove, just hard enough to send him falling over the cliff. It was only one of those thoughts everyone has every so often. She’d never do anything to hurt him, of course, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t like him to keep his mouth closed.

“That’s too bad.” Trey smiled and motioned to his friends. He pointed at the one with black hair. “This is my friend Clint Bradford, and the other one is his cousin Vince Bradford. They own the land and house where I live.”

“As far as we’re concerned, he owns it as much as we do.” Vince stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you.” Once she’d shaken his hand, he offered it to Bruce, who grudgingly took it and gave it a quick, cursory shake.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Monica.” Clint took her hand and held it.

Why did he seem familiar? “It’s good to meet both of you, but Bruce is right. We were headed out of the park right after we came here. I had to get one more look.”

“For the shimmers?” asked Trey.

She couldn’t deny the truth. “Yes. Did you tell your friends about it?”

“We know all about the shimmers,” offered Clint.

Trey tossed him a hard look.

“Does that mean you’ve seen them?” Confused, she glanced at Trey. Had he lied before? Or, like her, had he seen more than he wanted to admit?

“Mon, don’t start.”

She ignored Bruce. What did she care what he thought now that she knew he didn’t believe her? “Have you?”

They took too long to respond, which told her that they had indeed seen shimmers. She moved closer, needing to touch them, and hoped they had more to tell her. “Please, tell me if you have.”

“Yeah, we have,” answered Clint.

“All of you?”

Confusion burrowed into Clint’s forehead. “Yeah. All of us. Why?”

“Because I asked Trey earlier and he said he hadn’t seen them.” She stared pointedly at Trey.

“I guess I forgot.”

She could’ve challenged him on his earlier denial but decided to let it slide. After all, if she was right in her assumptions, she could understand why he’d lied. Not many people would admit to seeing the shimmers, especially if they’d seen more. Had the men seen the dragon, too?

She faced Clint since he seemed to be the one who wouldn’t hold back as much. “Where’d you see them? If I stay here long enough, will I see them again? Is there a certain time of day that they appear? Or temperature?”

“We’ll tell you everything we can. How about we talk about it at our place?” Vince held out his hand, offering to take her backpack from her.

“You’re not seriously thinking of staying with these guys? You don’t know who they are, Mon.”

Bruce pointing out the obvious couldn’t sway her. If they really knew more about the shimmers, then she had to find out what they knew. Besides, she was a good judge of character, and her gut told her they could be trusted. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to hedge her bet. “Does the invitation include Bruce? I mean we did come here together.”

They hadn’t meant to include her friend. That much was obvious from their surprised—and not so happy—expressions.

“Sure thing. You’re welcome to stay at the house, too, Bruce.” Vince’s smile was less than genuine. “I’m sure Monica would feel better having you there.”

“He’s right. We accept.” She turned to Bruce and gave him a pointed look. “Okay?”

He didn’t want to stay with them any more than they wanted him to, but she hadn’t left him much of an out. If he refused, she’d let him take her car and leave. She’d worry about how to get home later. Thankfully, Bruce knew her well enough to have guessed how she was thinking.

“Whatever Mon wants, I want.” Bruce hefted his backpack onto his shoulder. “Got an address?”

“Not really, but I can give you the directions.” Vince put out his hand, waiting for her to give him her phone. Once she had, he started imputing the directions.

“Great. Then we’ll see you there soon?”

She couldn’t help but enjoy Clint’s enthusiasm for her visit. “As soon as I’m through here, we’ll be right over. Is that okay?”

“Sure. Anytime. We’ll head back and get the guest rooms ready.” Trey motioned for his friends to follow him.

They walked down the path, but just before they would’ve gone around the corner, Clint turned back. “Hey, Monica, be careful, okay? We wouldn’t want what happened last year to happen again.”

He’d already turned around and hurried after his friends before what he’d said finally hit home.

How does he know what happened last year?

ADULT EXCERPT

Monica let out a yelp as Clint burst through the surface, his body launching high enough into the air that she caught a glimpse of his cock before he went under. Barely managing to catch her breath, she let out another cry as Vince and Trey erupted out of the water like dolphins at a Sea World show. They slicked back their hair and swam toward her.

“Where were you? How’d you stay under so long?”

Clint was next to her before she realized he was moving. “Take it easy. We were nearby the whole time.”

“No way. I would’ve seen you.”

“Guess not.” Vince moved through the water as smooth as could be to come up behind her.

The heat from the flames had dissipated, but new heat came from them being close to her. Although they weren’t breathing hard—how could it be possible?—she could feel their warm breaths tickle her wet skin. Their tanned bodies shone under the colorful lights of the cavern.

Trey eased beside her and moved a strand of her wet hair away from her cheek. “We didn’t scare you, did we?”

“Not really. Although I was getting kind of worried. How did you stay under water so long?” She checked his hands and saw that he didn’t hold anything. “Did you have diving equipment down there?”

“Nope. We just used our natural abilities.”

Natural abilities? They were magnificent men with untold strength, but they were still only men. No normal man could’ve held his breath for as long as they had. They had to be fooling her. Were they playing other tricks on her? Had the drawings on the cave wall been made ages ago? Or had they drawn the dragon-like animals?

“Baby, I know we promised to keep our hands off, but a man is only able to restrain himself for so long.” Trey leaned toward her. The hand that had moved her hair now slipped over her shoulders.

Did she want them to keep their promise? No. Not if she were truthful with herself. Yet she was still logical enough to realize having sex with three men she’d just met wasn’t a smart idea. Hell, being alone with three men she barely knew wasn’t a smart idea, but that choice had already been made.

Could she trust them? Not only to keep their promise but to keep her safe? She closed her eyes, needing to clear her mind, if only for one brief moment, so she could think. Trying to think around them was harder than she would ever have ever imagined.

A hand caressed her leg, and she jolted. Sucking in a breath, she opened her eyes and found them watching her. The longing, the desire in their gazes was enough to bring any woman under their command. “I don’t think—”

“That’s good. Don’t think,” whispered Vince. “Just feel.”

They dipped below the surface again. She spun around, trying to see where they’d gone, but it was useless with the dark water. Would the bubbles come again?

Where are—

Oh shit!

Hands slid over her body. They pulled at her, taking her into deeper water. Guiding her along, the hands were firm, but gentle.

“Guys, I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

The hell it isn’t.

She gasped as a hand slipped between her legs then between her folds. Heat cocooned her like a wet blanket. Bubbles rose to the surface in a circle around her, capturing her in its ring of bursting heat.

Another gasp came and went as something that was definitely not a hand pressed against her butt. Her panties provided no protection against teeth that nibbled at her flesh, even as the other hands swept upward and pushed under her bra.

She let her arms lift outward from her side. Her hair floated around her as she raised her gaze to the colorful ceiling. Her breaths came in quick succession, pausing now and then when she had to gasp yet again.

Fingers slipped between her pussy folds. Was that breaking their promise? Yet, she couldn’t help but want them to break it. If she’d thought they could hear her, she would’ve told them to break the hell out of their promise.

Oh, hell yeah. Forget the damn promise.

The sensation of bubbles bursting around her, against her skin, along with the feeling of having three pairs of hands studying her body, working in and out of her crevices and valleys, was an intoxication she’d never felt before. The men had taken control of her as surely as if they’d wrapped sexual chains around her. She wanted them to do more but wouldn’t help them by undoing her bra and sliding her panties down. To have them rip them from her would be so much better.

Go on. Take them off me.

She moaned and spread her legs apart. The fingers—were they Clint’s or Vince’s? Maybe Trey’s?—rubbed against her clit, setting up a fire that would have rivaled the warmth of the surrounding water. Nibbles sent quick stabs of pain along her legs and stomach.

Instead of taking off her panties and bra, they were simply pushing them aside. She reached under the surface and closed her fingers in wet hair. Whose hair it was didn’t matter. Clutching the hair, she jerked him to her breast, urging him to take her nipple.

If she didn’t know better, she would’ve sworn she heard an underwater groan.