Story Excerpt

Ava sat at the kitchen table, toying with her reheated lasagna and absently skimming the pages of a moldy copy of Jane Eyre she had found on the bookshelf.

It was almost nine o’clock, and all evening, the cottage had behaved itself. There was a big, warm fire going in the fireplace, her cell phone was charging in the bedroom, and there were breakfast dishes and coffee cups to be washed later. An ancient radio was chugging out big band classics. The storm had worsened, and the winds interfered with the satellite connection, cutting her off from television and Internet, but in some ways, she didn’t mind it. It reminded her of all the dark, quiet hours the people of her dissertation had back in the 1600s. Endless evenings with nothing but firelight—candles were precious resources and to be used sparingly and for important things like evening Bible readings. How far could one’s thoughts wander on a long winter’s night?

She found her own thoughts making their way across the dark forest to the Molineaux mansion. Yearning tugged at her heart, and the need to be near them was almost unbearably strong. She closed her eyes and could almost feel the heat of their bodies around her, their strong hands running over her skin, their burning kisses on her lips, their hard need pressing up against her pussy. A rush of arousal flowed through her veins, and her breath caught in her throat.

She wanted them so badly—all three of them, separately and together. Wasn’t that crazy? It felt more than good. It felt right. She needed them to complete her, to fill her body and her heart.

No.

No, she stopped that thought right there. She couldn’t fall in love with them. That would only be trouble, and in the end, lead to heartbreak for her. Hell, it was already incredibly painful to think of leaving them in a month. Anguish squeezed her heart into lurching beats as she tried to think of returning to Boston alone, leaving her three lovers in their cold, stone mansion on the haunted, rockbound coast of Maine.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to force herself back to focusing on the page of her book. Her body was still uncomfortably aroused and hungry for her lovers. One phone call could bring them over for a night of wild passion. Just one phone call…

No.

No, she wouldn’t do it. She would leave them be, keep this casual. She couldn’t do this to them or to herself.

She huffed out a sigh, speared a forkful of lasagna, and froze.

A coffee cup dragged itself across the counter, the grating sound of ceramic against Formica too normal for what was happening. The cup stopped on the edge of the counter, teetering half on and half off.

Adrenaline pumped through Ava’s body, and her heart pounded in her chest. She waited. Nothing happened. The soft crackle of the fire and low music from the radio were the only sounds in the room besides her breath.

Suddenly, every cabinet door and drawer was violently thrown open, rattling plates and pans, and sending the coffee cup on the edge of the counter crashing to the floor.

Ava’s heart stopped, and there was no air in her lungs to scream as she stumbled from her chair, falling to her hands and knees. A sob finally broke free as something slammed against her front door again and again.

She knew with an icy certainty that she was going to die.

Adult Excerpt

Ava felt herself sinking into the fantasy created by her three lovers, that they could all be together, that this was a different world—one where she wasn’t alone, wasn’t forced to fight for her own survival. It was a world where pleasure was her right, and love was a natural state of being.

Sean tugged the sheet away from her, leaving her naked. In a flash, he was naked as well, and by the looks of it, ready to go again. He began to drop playful kisses and nips up her legs. She squealed and thrashed a little as he hit a ticklish spot by her knee. He grinned, tickling her for good measure, which made her buck against Robert’s searching fingers and Declan’s demanding mouth.

“Guess what I found out this morning?” Sean chuckled, taking a moment to stroke himself as he sat back on his heels.

“What?” Robert asked, drawing his fingers out of her and tracing a long, wet line up her belly, encircling each nipple with her own cream.

“Our Ava likes it wild and hot,” Sean said wickedly. “And I think she’s going to love it in her ass.”

“I—oh God—never said—unnnhhhh—that!” She gasped against Declan’s kiss as Robert began rolling and stroking her nipples between his fingertips.

“You liked my finger up there, baby,” Sean reminded her, crawling toward her hips like a…like a damn wolf stalking its prey.

“Yes, but…ooooh…that was your finger!” She panted, squirming in Robert’s grip as Declan held her still by the neck and began to kiss down her jawline and throat to her shoulder.

“There are so many ways we can please you, love,” Robert said. He paused for a moment to pull off his sweater and shirt then pull her back against his hot, hard chest. “Whatever you’ve dreamed about, fantasized about, love, we can do. Nothing is too dark or forbidden.”

His words set off a rocket-powered montage in her overtaxed imagination of shadowy games and brazen plays. She licked her dry lips to keep from blurting out all the crazy, kinky, voyeuristic things she wanted to try. They’d never look at her the same way if she told them. Besides, what if she didn’t like it once her fantasy became a reality? How embarrassed would she be to admit she had been stupid and naïve about an erotic game?

“I think,” Declan said, releasing her and shedding his clothing, “that we ought to start by investing in some new lingerie for our Ava.” He stepped closer to her and traced his fingers across her collarbone, slowly and deliberately, bringing every sensation in her body into focus.

“Lace,” Declan said quietly. “Black lace. Black silk. Delicate pieces that are sheer and held together by tiny satin ribbons. Fragile teddies that I can rip off her body with one hand. Satin gowns so that even as she sleeps, her skin is being seduced.”

Ava’s eyelids fluttered as she fought to keep herself from coming just from listening to his words. Her nub seemed to be throbbing in time with his voice. He made her want to be that ivory body in black silk and lace, ever open to her lovers, ever adored by a thousand hands and lips.

“Then,” Declan continued, letting his hand drift down between her breasts that were held up as offerings by Robert, “I would tie our Ava up with the hard bite of leather and blindfold her with satin.” He tweaked her nipple with the softest of touches, sending her into a frenzy of impatient passion. “I would play with her for hours, never letting her come. Just a tiny flick of fingers against lace.” He brushed his fingers against her nipples. “Or pinch on her clit.” Suddenly, his hand was between her legs and searching her mound to pinch and roll her clit.

“Oh God,” Ava cried out. “Please, please!”

“Please what, Ava?” Declan whispered against her lips. He pushed three of his fingers roughly up into her, driving her to the edge with the sense of being used and filled.

Suddenly, he withdrew his fingers as he reached for her waist and pulled her up to kneel against him. She could almost hear the sizzles as their skin touched, her breasts smashed against his chest, and the burning steel of his cock pressed hard against her belly.

“Oh, baby, your back is so beautiful,” Sean said reverently, coming to kneel behind her and running his hands down her back. “So soft and white, like a painting. That fine ass is a real work of art.”

“You have a fixation with my ass, Sean Molineaux.” Ava half gasped, half laughed as Declan leaned down to suckle her nipples.

“We all do, love,” Robert said, getting up and throwing off his clothes. “Especially when it’s so damn beautiful.”

“I never realized how much guys like, um, ass,” she said, melting into Sean’s arms as Declan’s mouth worked dizzying magic on her.

“Women like it, too, baby,” Sean replied, nibbling her ear. “You just have to be eased into it. Like this.”

As he spoke, he swiped two fingers through her cream and gently worked them up her tight ring. She cried out as her muscles burned to stretch and accommodate him, but there was also a growing awareness of just how full it felt, how forbidden it all was. She wasn’t prepared either for the way Declan spread her legs and thrust his long, thick cock into her pussy. The double fullness drove shivers from her belly out to every nerve ending she had.

She threw her arms around Declan’s neck to help hold on during this wild ride that she never wanted to have end. Her body slid up and down against his, the erotic friction overstimulating nerves that were already stretched to their limit before the endless tumble into pleasure.