Story excerpt

With a few minutes left before lunch, a white candle with a white wick rested in a bowl of water scented with ginger oil on the coffee table. Orsolya crossed out the third line and then wrote in a new one. Done. If the incantation couldn’t allow her one last chance to see her mother in the past, nothing could. She set the moonstone on the paper as she read through the rhyme a final time.

With magickal powers and spells to protect,

Through time and through space I wish to connect.

The treasure of family before gone I’ll find,

And in my heart hopeful please help them to bind.

With ginger oil, moonstone, and candle aflame,

Harm to none, Blessed Goddess, as I stake out my claim.

Flickering lights swirled in her vision, and she blinked to see more clearly. An invisible force pushed and pulled at her, making the paper flap to reveal the book she’d forgotten to return to the library that morning. Pirates and Priceless Treasures. The title blurred as the lights twirled faster, and the scent of ginger changed to an unfamiliar smell. Salty. Damp. Fishy? She shook her head, trying to regain her equilibrium, but the sun shining in her window had dimmed to the point of almost total darkness. Not yet!

Pounding footsteps drummed closer and closer. A gruff male voice yelled words she couldn’t understand. The floor creaked near enough to assure her that he stood just a few feet from her.

Where am I? Her heartbeat echoed so loudly in ears Orsolya was sure whoever was coming would hear it. She held her breath, hoping the man would move past her…wherever she was. As she heard another creak, light flooded her hiding spot, blinding her.

“What’ve we ’ere?”

Lifting her arm to shade her eyes from the bright sun, Orsolya stumbled along after the stranger dragging her toward more loud, masculine voices. Her stomach somersaulted as she realized she’d inadvertently solved the mystery of where she would meet men. These didn’t sound like the sort interested in becoming her life-mate, and considering her captor’s stench and lack of manners, she likely wouldn’t want any of them, either.

“Look ’ere, lads. I found meself some treasure!” His suggestive laugh sent a chill up her spine.

The voices quieted, and she looked up to find more than a dozen oddly dressed men staring at her. Some wore knee-length trousers, brightly colored vests, and cord-trimmed coats. Others donned rags held up with rope tied around their waists. She avoided eye contact, concentrating on the endless stretch of blue behind them.

A flag snapping in the breeze caught her attention. A black background with a white skull and crossbones. She’d seen the emblem in the book she’d been reading last night—the one about pirates. Battling a bout of lightheadedness, she swallowed hard. Great Goddess, what have I done?

“Take your bloody hands off my cousin, you mangy cur!” One of the fancy-attired men shoved his way forward from the back of the crowd. The black feather in his tricornered hat bobbed as he walked, and blond curls framed his handsome face. He perched his hands on his hips when he stopped in front of Orsolya. “She’s promised. Grant and I were to escort her to Williamsburg to be wedded.”

Cousin? Wed? What on Earth is he talking about? She blinked and opened her mouth to contradict him, but he narrowed his hypnotizing blue eyes at her.

“Can’t you see you’ve frightened her into a fit of vapors, you fool? She doesn’t even speak a word of the King’s English.” The blond scooped her up into his arms and started walking away from the group of…pirates?

Shocked into momentary silence, she gaped at her rescuer. “Wh—”

“Don’t speak.” His hissed command came through unmoving lips. “There you are, Grant. Didn’t I warn you our cousin might require a bit of fresh air?”

Orsolya shifted to see whom he was addressing.

A tall, brown-haired man wearing similar clothing to the blond approached, his brows raised above his dark eyes. A hint of a wicked smile curved up one side of his mouth. “Dear cousin, your face is flushed. We really must get you out of the sun and to our cabin.”

Adult excerpt

Ethan leaned into the front of Orshy, covering her mouth with his, and a moan vibrated through Grant’s chest. He slipped his thumbs into the waist of her skirt, easing it downward to puddle around her ankles. She arched against him as he removed the tiny scrap of fabric covering the shapely curve of her bottom. Pressing her bare skin to his dick, she trembled, encouraging him to trail his fingertips along her thighs.

Another set of hands lifted her chemise over her breasts and higher. She moaned when Ethan severed their connection to pull her clothing past her head and hair. Her body was now as exposed as theirs. Nodding at Grant, Ethan swung her into his arms and carried her to the bed. He followed her down onto the thick covers, pulling one of her lush, ripe nipples between his lips.

Focusing his attention on her pleasure as well, Grant settled on the mattress at her feet. He held her calf as he kissed a path along the graceful line of her instep and up her leg to the silky skin behind her knee. The musky scent of desire drifted to his nose when he shouldered her thighs apart. Moist, pink folds sheltered by black curls greeted him, making his mouth long for a taste of her.

He inhaled, savoring her tangy smell before surrendering to the need to lap up her sweet juices and tease her precious jewel with his tongue. His cock swelled to aching with the first swipe through her muff. He’d prefer to fuck her after he made her come, but he’d gladly accept her mouth as a substitute if she wanted Ethan in that position. Either way, they’d share all the passion and satisfaction they could find together.

Her breath grew shallow as he plunged his tongue into her tunnel and then flicked across her clitoris. “Yes, right there! Don’t stop! Oh, please don’t stop!”

Concentrating on the nub of swollen flesh, he fluttered then sucked until she tensed and cried out. Without a moment’s hesitation, he released her and crawled up to bury himself in her still-contracting cunt.

She rolled him over, straddling him and never losing their connection before she rocked her hips backward to take him deeper. “I want to suck you, Ethan. I need your cock in my mouth. Hurry.”

Ethan stood, bracing himself against the headboard above her and offering her his dick. When she took his length to his balls in one swallow, he groaned. “Make me come, Orshy. Make us all come.”

With her hands on Grant’s chest, she set a rhythmic pace of back and forth as she tweaked his nipples, sending sparks of fire to his balls. He watched Ethan glide in and out of her mouth, and he couldn’t resist grasping her ass to quicken her movement. “You feel so good. Come again with me. Almost there! Suck Ethan hard!”