STORY EXCERPT

“A lovely painting indeed.”

Pina turned to the right and caught sight of Niall and his other brother, not Jonah. She swallowed hard.

“Didn’t mean to scare you, Pina,” the other brother, whose name she didn’t know, said to her.

“I didn’t get your name.”

“You didn’t give me an opportunity to tell you.” He reached out his hand. “Trace Mondave.”

She shook his hand. The moment they touched she felt the spark of interest just as she had when she’d bumped into Jonah. This wasn’t good. They were trouble, and she wouldn’t get herself involved with men who did illegal activities.

“Pleasure to meet you, Trace. So what do you think?” She turned back toward the panting, trying for nonchalant and acting as if their superior good looks and tall, muscular bodies didn’t make her heart race and her nipples tighten. It wasn’t so easy in the strapless dress she wore, and she had to try very hard not to raise her arm and rub along her breasts to relieve some of the pressure there.

“It’s interesting.” Niall said and stood closer as Trace took a position on her other side.

She glanced up at Niall, who had thick, dark eyebrows that enhanced dark brown eyes, a clean-shaven face, and he wore his hair black and slicked back. He wore a tux well, and it was custom made just like his brothers’ tuxes were. Trace’s was different though, and he wore a dark burgundy bow tie instead of a traditional black one.

He held her gaze, towering over her, despite the high heels.

“What do you mean interesting?” she asked him and then looked back at the painting.

“Well, the scene is nice, the bold colors of the vines and grapes stand out, but not as much as the people in it.”

“I agree. It’s almost telling a story. Like perhaps those men are courting the young woman and interested in getting to know her,” Trace said.

She looked at him and at that scruff along his cheeks that made him appear as if he’d thrown on the tux but hadn’t bothered to shave for the occasion and didn’t need to. The man was super sexy, almost a mess of assumptions. He was wealthy, assertive, and couldn’t give a shit about anything but what mattered to him. She got that vibe instantly, yet it didn’t turn her off. It aroused her.

“Could be, or they could all be friends, family even.” She felt the hand glide along her waist and then up her arms to her shoulders.

Niall whispered against her neck and ear. “Or they’re all lovers, sharing her, caring for her, and working together on their own vineyard.”

She shivered from the thought but then quickly snapped out of the spell he was trying to put her under. My God, he was good, but she was a pro at evading seduction from any man. She chuckled and moved to the side and continued to walk.

“What? You don’t think it’s a possibility?” Trace asked her.

She glanced at them. “I suppose, like any other painting, interpretation is sometimes left to the obvious appearance or even one’s own desires. Like this one,” she quickly added, thinking that perhaps she was making it sound as though they saw what they wanted to see and that they were letting her know they shared women. Yikes, was it getting hot in here?

She pointed to a painting of a woman sitting on a bench alongside two men. One of the men had his foot on the bench and was talking to her, and the other man was siting sideways smiling at her. Behind them, three men stood talking, looking serious.

“What do you see here?” She faced the painting.

“Ah, another interesting one. A stroll in the park then a rest while her lovers surround her.” Trace stepped up behind her, placed his hand on her hip, and then pointed to something else.

She tightened up and exhaled as the scent of his cologne, different from that of his brothers but just as appealing, attacked her senses.

“Seriously? I don’t see that at all.”

“Well, what do you see, Pina?” Niall asked her, but Trace kept a hand on her hip and pressed against her back.

She felt instantly overheated, aroused and protected between the two men like this.

“I think she’s just enjoying some alone time at the park when these two men come over to flirt, simply after a good time.” She turned to the left and started to head out of the room when Niall grabbed her hand to stop her.

“Don’t go. My brother and I are just teasing you.”

“Why is that? Do I look easy?”

“Oh, you are anything but easy. We wanted to talk with you and get to know you,” Niall said to her.

“Come on and we’ll look at the other rooms together,” Trace suggested as Niall pulled her along and out of this room.

“Oh, Mr. Jerrico should be back soon.”

“I think he’ll take quite some time,” Trace told her.

“Why would you say that?” she asked.

“You don’t seriously like the man do you?” Trace asked her.

“What? No, I just met him, and this is business, which isn’t really any of your business.”

“Perhaps it is?” Niall said to her.

“There you two are. I thought you took off.” Jonah had shown up now, too, and she felt her throat close up and her cheeks become warm. Jesus, they were a lethal set of men.

“Well, I should probably head back to the party to check on my boss.”

Trace looped his arm through hers and turned her toward the hallway. “Nonsense, he’s a grown man. He’ll be just fine.”

She stopped him and unhooked her arm. “Listen, Trace, I’m sure you’re used to women who would find these tactics appealing and make them putty in your hands, but that isn’t me. If you’ll excuse me. I’m here for work, not to play games.” As she walked past them and heard a low chuckle from Jonah, she saw the door open. Tougher had returned.

“Are you all through? I was hoping to look at the art with you, Pina.” She glanced over her shoulder at the Mondave men, who Tougher squinted at as if jealous or angry they were alone with her.

“No, I’ve seen enough. Sometimes it’s just the same old things,” she said loud enough for the Mondave men to hear as Tougher escorted her back to the gala.

ADULT EXCERPT

“We’ll take our time. There’s no need to rush making love. We understand now,” he said, but she heard the mumbled curses from his brothers, upset at what happened to her. She looked at Niall.

“I want to make love to you. I want to be yours.”

“Why?” he asked.

She swallowed hard. “Because you make me feel safe. You make me feel things no other men have ever made me feel. You make me want to fight for what’s right, and you make me feel like I can be normal and that a man could love me, not just want me for my body.”

Niall hugged her and kissed her head. “My God, baby, you’re incredible, and you mean more than just a body to claim. This is real, what we all feel together for you.”

“Make me yours. Help me let go and be free,” she said, and a stray tear fell from her eyes.

Niall lifted up, and Clark rolled her to her back. He gently spread her thighs and stared into her eyes. “Trust us. Trust me.”

“I do.”

He caressed up her open thighs over her mound and to her breasts.

“Put your arms above your head.”

She panicked.

“Do it. Show Clark and all of us how much you want us and accept us. That means our control, our command, our protection,” Niall said.

She shivered but raised her arms above her head, and Niall licked his lips.

“The first thing you need to do is to get used to our touch. To know that we will never do you harm but will protect you and care for you. I want you to close your eyes and don’t open them. Just feel, Pina.”

She nodded and looked at each of them gathered near the bed, and she closed her eyes.

She instantly felt disappointed when Clark stopped touching her, but then she felt a brush of a thumb across one nipple and the feel of warm breath against her other. She tightened up and then felt the lips against her ear.

“Relax and let go.” Dane.

Each brush of a nail, a finger, lips, and tongue at different parts of her body at different times left her straining to feel more. They teased her, taunted her desires, and her body reacted. Her pussy creamed, her nipples hardened, and then the bed dipped and she felt a tongue against her clit.

“Oh.” She moaned and lifted up when a finger slid between her pussy lips next. She didn’t tighten up. She gasped and then moaned louder. A tongue lapped against her right nipple, and teeth nipped at her left. She turned her head side to side but wouldn’t open her eyes. She accepted their command and dominance, their orders, and she loved it. She was relaxing, and thick, hard fingers kept pumping into her cunt. Just when she felt her core tighten as though she was about to burst, fingers pulled out, leaving her panting and begging.

“No. Don’t stop. More.” She moaned.

She felt a light slap to her pussy and gasped.

“You’ll learn fast that your men are in control in the bedroom. You disobey, and you’ll be punished.” Jonah.

In a flash someone griped her hips and flipped her onto her belly. Her hands were pulled up above her head and covered by one large hand. Then her hips lifted and fingers slowly slid into her cunt. She cried out a moan and then lifted her torso, wanting, needing those fingers deeper. Then she felt the tongue and lips kissing along the underside of her breasts. She was panting when fingers slid out of her cunt and then over her anus.

“Oh, God,” she exclaimed, and then the fingers slid back into her pussy.

Smack.

Smack.

“Oh, God!” she exclaimed as hard, large hands slapped her ass cheeks, and as she shivered from the realization that it turned her on, something cool and thick hit her anus, and then a finger slid into her ass.

She tightened up.

Smack.

Smack.

“Oh.” She exhaled, and then the finger slid out and then slid back in. It felt as though something creamy was on it as the finger slid deeper and more smoothly into her ass. At the same time fingers thrust into her cunt, and she lost it. She started lifting her hips and rocking against both fingers.

“Oh, God, I can’t take it. Oh, God, please. Please!” she exclaimed, and both fingers pulled out.

She was instantly disappointed, angry, but she bit her tongue and grunted. She heard low chuckles.

“She’s made for us, that’s for shit sure,” Knox said.

They rolled her to her back, and she kept her eyes closed.

“Submissive, too, just the way we want her,” Clark said, and she felt her thighs spread and a cock at her entrance.

She was so turned on, so in need she shivered.

“Open your eyes, beautiful,” Clark whispered, and when she did, she saw the need in his eyes, the perspiration on his brow, and something told her that what he did to her tortured him and his brothers as much as it tortured her.

“Are you ready for us to claim you?”

“Yes.” She looked at the others. At Dane’s tattoos along his chest and belly, at Knox’s muscles and the tattoo on his chest of the American flag, at Jonah’s firm, needy expression, Trace licking his lips and trying to catch his breath, and Niall, stroking his cock and holding a tube of lube.

“I want all of you.”

She felt the tip of Clark’s cock press between her pussy lips. When he hit the barrier, he clenched his teeth.

“Faster would be better in case it hurts,” he told her.

“I want you. Claim me as yours.”

He gripped her arms and thrust all the way in, breaking the seal and claiming her his woman.