Stealing the Bride

Stealing the Bride

By Brynn Paulin

Resplendence Publishing, LLC

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

Resplendence Publishing, LLC
2665 N Atlantic Avenue, #349
Daytona Beach, FL 32118

Stealing the Bride
Copyright © 2012 Brynn Paulin
Edited by Christine Allen-Riley and Jason Huffman
Cover art by Les Byerley,
www.les3photo8.com

Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-455-0

Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Electronic Release: January 2012

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

To Mr. Inspiration: Still the one after all these years.

Chapter One

Rivulets of sweat ran along Mara Nelson’s limbs and pooled on her torso as she lay naked on a picnic table beneath the wood dining canopy in her campsite. Despite being out of the direct rays of the unrelenting July sun, the ninety degree temperature and the high humidity were making her retreat from the world just about unbearable. What she wouldn’t give for her central air or even a fan right now. There would be neither. She was alone in this wilderness with a canvas army tent on a cement foundation, a wooden canopy under which she’d set up some of her gear, and a burbling stream running nearby.

There wasn’t a soul for miles. Mara was completely alone with no electricity, no modern plumbing and no car to allow her to dash into town. Her cousin, who’d unenthusiastically assisted with Mara’s plan, had protested that it wasn’t safe for Mara to spend a week out here all alone. But Mara had insisted and her cousin had reluctantly relented and dropped her off three days ago with the promise to pick her up in a week.

Now, Mara had to admit, she hadn’t considered this idea well enough. She hadn’t anticipated how the solitude would disquiet her. She didn’t like being alone with her thoughts and doubts about the future, but that was probably because of the unsettled urge to get moving that had dogged her since she’d taken this opportunity as a chance to slow down.

Eyes closed, Mara tried to stay perfectly still and listen to the nature around her. After years in the rat race of New York City, she’d become unbalanced and lost her center. It easily happened in the constant throb of the civilization that refused to sleep. Out here, she couldn’t hear the perpetual buzz of humanity, a conglomeration of people, machinery, mass communication and electricity. But it wasn’t silent. It was different.

Mara found the sounds of nature soothing. The bugs and frogs shared a symphony. Birds called to one another and rattled through the trees along with the squirrels and chipmunks that scampered around camp. Nearby, a stream bubbled, a gentle breeze set the trees to singing, footsteps crunched along the path—

What the hell!

She flew upright as she scanned the area. She’d been assured that this retreat in the middle of privately owned land was deserted and that she’d be utterly alone for the duration of her time here.

Before she could dash for her tent, two men broke through the tree line surrounding the campsite. Fear slammed through her. Two men and she was all alone? And she was naked—clothes had been an uncomfortable nuisance in this oppressive heat so she’d dispensed of them, knowing the squirrels wouldn’t care.

She pressed her legs together and drew them up to better hide herself, though there was no mistaking she was unclothed. Despite the heat, goose bumps prickled down her arms. She didn’t even have a weapon nearby.

The first man pushed up the brim of his baseball hat and grinned, and she realized it was a very good thing she didn’t have a weapon. She’d kill him—
both
of them because, even without looking, she knew exactly who the other man was.

“My name is Luke Skywalker, and I’m here to rescue you,” Daniel quipped.

Scowling, she climbed off the table and crossed her arms over her chest—not to shield her nudity because these two had seen her naked plenty of times in the year they’d been her roommates but because she was pissed. She glared at the pair who’d dared to invade her vacation and her privacy. From the looks of their heavy backpacks, they planned to stay with her.

Like hell.

“Aren’t you a bit gay to be a stormtrooper?” she replied. She turned to Daniel’s companion and lover of five years, Jacob. “If he’s Luke, who are you? Yoda?”

Jacob turned to Daniel. “Not happy to see us, she is.”

“What are you doing here? Twelve hours from home? It’s not like you just happened to be in the neighborhood.” She’d told them she was going on a cruise, not the wilds of Michigan.

Daniel shrugged his wide shoulders to let his backpack fall to the ground then straightened to his full height of just over six feet. Despite spending hours online as a professional blogger and internet reporter, his figure was lean. With thick, wavy, black hair, which stuck a little to his forehead in this heat, and his light-blue eyes, he was any girl’s dream. Too bad he dreamed of only men—specifically Jacob. “A little birdie left her day planner open on the kitchen table with all the notes about her ‘cruise’ right there for anyone to see,” he said. “As your friends, it’s our duty to keep you safe.”

“And stuff,” Jacob added as he, too, let his backpack drop. Jacob was nearly the same height and build as Daniel, making them appear the perfect match when they embraced, but otherwise, he was the photo-negative of Daniel in both looks and personality. Where his partner was fair-skinned with dark hair and light eyes, Jacob had a perpetual tan enhanced by his olive-toned skin. His blond hair sported sun streaks of near-white, and his eyes so dark brown they were nearly black. Another dream. Perfect for his job as a Broadway character actor.

Daniel had a carefree personality and was always ready with a joke or a snappy response. Jacob seemed…more intense. More serious. The combination of light and intense kept her unbalanced in their presence.

She couldn’t help her arousal whenever she was around them, either. Thank goodness, there was no way for them to know. Her current dampness could be attributed to perspiration, sort of, and they couldn’t possibly know the streaks of lightning pulsing in her middle. It was her curse to be attracted to two gorgeous gay men.

Beside them, she felt like the girl who’d been hit by the ugly stick. While she was passable weight, too many hours behind a desk crunching facts for a high-profile, international lawyer kept her from being particularly toned or thin. In fact, amongst the New York svelte, she felt downright fat. Her mousy brown hair fell to mid-back and was usually kept in a ponytail to tame it. Right now, it was tugged into a messy braid to keep it from sticking to her body. Her features were plain, her brown eyes were boring and a profusion of freckles speckled her face and arms. Mostly, she didn’t notice the spots, but when she did and noted their abundance, she cursed her genes and her lack of sunscreen as a youth. Others probably saw them, but most of the time, she didn’t.

Truthfully, she was quite comfortable with herself as she was, or she would have made changes. She was who she was, and her roommates were who they were. Men who inhabited a different echelon from ordinary people like her. An upper echelon. The beautiful people echelon.

Unaware of her musing, Daniel turned and grabbed his backpack then hefted it onto the table she’d deserted. Opening the top flap, he dug inside and pulled out a Coke. He held it out to her, and she took it without thought, groaning at the cold against her palm. Her roommates knew her vices.

He pulled out one for himself. “We thought it was odd that you’d take a cruise right before your wedding—and without your fiancé. Does Marco know you’re here?”

“No. He thinks I’m visiting my cousin. Besides he’s in Vegas with my boss—his best man. A bachelor thing.”

“Oh the wicked web we weave,” Daniel chortled, his eyes sparking with some secret knowledge that escaped her. Likely, he was teasing her.

She glared at him. “Shut up. Look…I wanted to be alone. I needed to get my thoughts together—”

“Before you marry the man who holds the Guinness Book record for boringness,” he interrupted.

“Marco’s a nice man. There’s nothing wrong with him.”

“You don’t love him,” Jacob added, dryly.

Mara sighed. “Look. Thanks for the Coke, but I want you guys to leave. I’m trying to re-center myself and get one with nature and all that crap, and you’re really messing it up.”

“How very crunchy granola of you,” he laughed. Of the three of them, she was the least spiritual when it came to these things, and they all knew it.

Jacob slipped a tendril of her damp hair behind her ear, and she sucked in a breath as his fingers grazed her cheek. Her pussy contracted with need. She took a step back, shifting her arms to fully cover her puckered nipples, but he followed. The scent of clean, hot male filled her senses.

“Sweetheart,” he said. “Have you considered that the reason you feel out of balance is because you’re freaking out about marrying a guy you know is totally wrong for you?”

Actually, yes, it had occurred to her—not that she’d admit it. Marco felt comfortable, and he liked her.

Jacob’s fingers trailed down her shoulder and traced her collarbone. Suddenly, her nakedness took on a sensuality she’d never expected to feel in her roommates’ presence. “I should go get dressed,” she murmured as his fingertips skimmed toward her breast.

She took a step backward and slammed into Daniel who’d moved behind her while Jacob had distracted her. His hands settled on her hips, holding her flush with his hard body while Jacob edged even closer. Jacob’s T-shirt-clad belly rubbed hers as his head dipped toward hers. “I think there’s something you should know about us,” he said.

Desperately, she tried to think while her heartbeat deafened her. Daniel’s thumbs stroked her sides, his fingers splaying toward her pussy. Mara tried to swallow around the rock in her throat. Her heart raced out of control. She wildly shook her head, knowing she had to get away before she revealed how much she wanted them—if she hadn’t already.

Daniel brushed his lips against her ear. “We’re into both men and women, Mara.”

“We’re into you,” Jacob whispered into the other.

Mara wrenched from between them and stumbled a few feet away. This wasn’t possible. No…no…
oh God, no!
Horror mixed with realization slammed through her. How many times had she wandered near-naked from her shower to her bedroom? How many times had she inadvertently run into them while she was naked because she’d thought they weren’t home? It was a small apartment and none of them were particularly careful. She’d seen them naked plenty of times, too.

Oh my God and they’re into women, too.

She dashed into her tent and whipped down the flaps while desperately trying to keep them from seeing more skin than they already had. Doing the nature-girl-in-tune-with-the-universe thing had obviously been a huge mistake. She was an idiot to think all this solitude would help her get her thoughts together. Her body buzzed with arousal, and she was more confused than ever—where the hell were her clothes?