STORY EXCERPT

A few minutes later, the cracking and popping of twigs under boots filled the area. About halfway up a steep incline, Harley apparently decided it was time to brave the task of asking the difficult questions. “How long have you known Heather?”

Gabe sniffed, trying to ward off a smile. It was hard to think about the first time they’d met without grinning. “A little over four years.”

“Did you guys date or—”

“Definitely an or,” Gabe replied, stepping over a log and searching the hillside for any sign of movement. “We never quite got started. Her parents and brother made sure of that.”

“I’m surprised you and Bradley are on speaking terms then.”

“It’s a long story.”

“What happened?”

“It’s what didn’t happen that haunts me.”

“Then what didn’t happen?” Harley stopped walking and shot him a grin. “We have a hike ahead of us. Might as well tell me a daytime story.”

“Okay.” Gabe laughed. “Once upon a time, there was a vixen modeling a bikini and stilettos at a local fashion show…” He deliberately let his voice trail. “She was seventeen.”

“And?”

“And she was seventeen. I found out before anything happened between us, and that’s it. The end.”

Harley stuck his finger in the air. “So wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You’re carrying a torch for a gal—a young woman who is Bradley’s sister I might add—and you’ve never so much as kissed her?”

“That’s right,” Gabe said, ducking under a low branch and traipsing ahead.

“That’s just fuckin’ wrong, man.” Harley caught up to him.

“What’s wrong about it?”

“She was like a daydream. You never had her?”

“No, Harley. Never.”

“And you’ve been hung up on her for the last four years?”

“Yep.” Gabe realized how lame he sounded. “Might as well say it. Everyone else has. I’ve spent my prime waiting on a woman.”

“I don’t get it.”

“You wouldn’t,” Gabe said, grinning. “You’re the man who shares a woman with a whole team of players.”

“Now that’s definitely wrong,” Harley said, frowning.

“And true.”

Harley laughed. “Don’t knock it, man. You’ll see. It’s not a bad situation for the guys on the team.”

“I’ll bet.”

“I know.” He looked all lovesick then and pulled out his phone. After looking through pictures, all of them decent from what Gabe could tell, he returned his cell to his pocket.

“Got it bad for her, do you?”

“Yes I do.”

“And how’s sharing work out for you?”

“Ah so you’re curious. Must mean you already know what the future holds.”

“The only thing my future holds is Heather. Now if that comes as a package deal, I’ll peek inside the box and take a look then, but I’m hoping it doesn’t.”

“Based on what I know?” Harley paused. “It might.”

“You know something I don’t?” Gabe asked,

“Oh, you know, or at least suspect. You just don’t want to believe it’s true.”

“Justin and Curt.”

“Yep,” Harley said, taking longer strides as the terrain shifted and seemed more uneven.

“Hang on.” Gabe threw his arm sideways and stopped Harley. “How long have we been out here?”

Harley shrugged. “Fifteen, twenty minutes since we pulled on Vance land.”

“And we haven’t had the first bit of opposition?” Gabe searched the land to his left and right. In the distance, he spotted Allister and Draegan, wearing their ridiculous hunting camouflage. He shifted his gaze to Harley, also dressed in camo. “I meant to ask. What’s up with your taste in fashion?”

“Blending in?”

“Planning to pass yourselves off as hunters, are you?”

“If we’re stopped, it’s worth a try.”

“I guess,” Gabe muttered, still bothered by the calm. “Locals around here claim this is the devil’s playground. Don’t you think it’s strange that we’re not hearing or seeing anything?”

“Shit. I forgot to tell you. Satan naps from two to four.”

“I’m serious here, Harley.”

“Me too.” Harley passed him again.

A loud boom resounded in the distance. Gabe grabbed his arm once more. “Hold up.”

“What is it?”

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah, and it’s behind us.”

“Maybe,” Gabe said, narrowing his eyes on the terrain ahead. “Even if those shots were back there, straight ahead isn’t exactly sacred ground.”

“Given the rumors surrounding this place, I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Gabe looked off to the left. Below them, he expected to see Allister and Draegan again. They were gone.

“Call Draegan and Allister.”

Clearly alarmed, Harley fished his phone from his pocket and dialed. “You okay?” A beat later, he said, “Gabe was concerned about you. Yeah I know. He’s such a sweetheart.” He snickered. “All right, man. Stay alert.”

“We’re bringing up the rear,” Harley said.

Every muscle in Gabe’s body tightened and he stopped again. “They know we’re here.”

Harley blew out a hard breath. “Now what?”

“It’s my gut.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll keep walking and you keep tapping on your sixth sense’s shoulder. Let me know when she gives you something substantial to go on.”

Harley took the lead then by several paces. Gabe kept his distance, watching Harley’s back.

“You never told me what happened in the sequel.”

“What sequel?”

“Your fairy tale was fairly short. What happens in the second book?”

“I get the girl and we live happily ever after.”

Ba-boom! Ba-boom! Ba-boom!

“Holy shit!” Harley ducked.

Gabe was surprised Harley didn’t drop and roll. An explosion rocked the earth and a shot of dark smoke darted above the trees as if it had been blown there on purpose.

“Well, Gabe, here it is, man. The fucked up climatic turning point of the story where everything goes to hell.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Gabe had been a motherfucking mess. He’d gone to the Vance property to look for her and he’d feared the worst. For over four hours, he’d frantically searched for her, uncovering hidden wells, fighting with branches or shrubs until he could reveal what was hidden, what the Vance boys hadn’t wanted anyone to find.

He had been out of his mind with worry. One minute he cursed the very day he’d met her. The next, he had plotted and planned for a reunion such as this.

Standing over him, Heather looked like a sex symbol, a woman who could’ve easily worked her strut across a catwalk but instead had somehow ended up in their lives, destroying everything he’d done to build up a wall around his heart, tearing it apart, piece by piece,  for four excruciating years.

He tucked his hand in his pocket and retrieved a condom. Her eyes flickered in apparent surprise as he lifted the packet to his lips and ripped it open.

“Shocked cause I’m prepared?” He pulled his cock free of his boxers and stroked the hard flesh, never looking away from her pretty face as he handled himself with quick precision. “This is the first of many.” He rolled the rubber over his prick then and bracketed his arm around her waist at the same time.

“Wait,” she breathed, her eyes darting all over the doggone place.

“I think we’ve all waited long enough.” He grabbed the hem of her shirt and yanked it straight up, pulling it over her head, and ripping it away from her hair as he brought her forward, nuzzling her breasts.

“What about…” She pressed her lips together and jerked her head to the side, indicating Justin and Curt.

“What about ‘em?” He moistened his lips and quickly latched onto a nipple, curving his tongue around the hard point as he held her tighter, pulled her closer.

She wiggled like she wanted to break free, and he made up his mind then. Foreplay was for lovers who had the time to make love and fuck the day away.

At the moment, time wasn’t on their side.

He gave her a quick tug and brought her down to his lap, thrusting inside her with quick and deep strokes. “Damn, yes.”

A sultry sigh and then a heavenly whimper escaped her lips. She rested her hands on his shoulders, still at first, perhaps even timid.

“Don’t just sit there and pretend you don’t know what to do with me.” He clutched her hip and drove her down on his cock, pushing the weight of his shaft deep inside her channel.

“I don’t fuck around,” she said, her hot gaze meeting his.

“As of this moment, you fuck around a lot with the three men right here in this room.”

He’d made the decision to share her. If she wanted them all, she could have them all, but by God, they’d watch him with her first. They’d watch and decide if this was the kind of thing they could tolerate, because as far as Gabe was concerned, Heather had been his woman since the day he set eyes on her.

He secured his forearm against her back, holding her steady as he pumped his hips away from the chair, loving the heat from her pussy, wanting to really get in there and feel her squeezing him, indulge in her syrupy heat pooling around his cock.

“What I’d give to fuck you bare,” he whispered, staring down at their connection.

Behind them, Justin and Curt watched. They watched with a man’s lust in their eyes, the kind of lust that told Gabe plenty. Curt had fucked her in the past. Justin hadn’t been so lucky. He’d had it wrong all along.

He cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth to his, kissing her lips with passion and sincerity, wanting to make promises and keep them, give her everything and spare her nothing. At the thought, he stood with her then, locking her legs around his hips and cradling her bottom as he walked to the bed.

“Gabe,” she whispered, her face twisting with uncertainty as he lowered her to the mattress, right beside Justin and Curt.

“Lie back,” he said, topping her then.

She blushed and for a minute—but just a minute—she seemed uncertain. Fucking in front of others, particularly two former boyfriends, must’ve made her uncomfortable.

Gabe clasped her hand with his and dragged her right arm above her head, pouring into her then with every inch of control he possessed. He didn’t want to come yet, didn’t want to explode when she was stretched out before him like a beautiful goddess, a rebellious goddess, a woman who would forever own him—heart and soul, body and mind.

Justin took her other hand and laced her fingers then. She shivered with the contact and looked up at Gabe as if seeking his permission.

Gabe nipped at the fullness of her breast, his cock jutting forward as he established a good fucking rhythm. “There we go.” His voice was quiet, calm, but inside his nerve endings were burning, his heart was racing, his mind spinning.