Tequila Truth (8 page)

Epilogue

It was the middle of the night when she skittered to the top of the bed, away from his groping hands. It seemed none of them were able to pull away from each other for more than a couple of hours.

“Colt.” Her voice issued a warning both men chose to ignore.

“Come on, Red. We haven’t finished celebrating.” Heath tried to grasp her ankle, but she deftly dodged him, taking him by surprise with her quick evasion.

“And what exactly do you think we’re celebrating?” she asked.

“Our upcoming nuptials.”

“Funny,” she replied. “I don’t remember saying yes to any proposal.”

Heath rose, ready to spring, but she anticipated his move and dove over him onto the floor by the bed.

“Is this a chase?” Colt sat up and grinned evilly, his lower body proving his readiness to play, tenting the sheet around his waist.

“No,” she answered, obviously anxious to put that thought to rest quickly. “Actually, I have something else in mind.”

He frowned. “Other than sex?”

Kylie rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mr. One-Track-Mind. Other than sex. You two wait here and I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

He scowled, ready to protest, but Heath halted his words. “Okay. Just so long as sex figures somewhere into the game, Red.”

“Geez, you two certainly are a matched-set. Giant vessels, horny creatures, filled with nothing but testosterone.” She accompanied her words with a funny imitation, placing two fingers against the side of her head like devil’s horns and giving them her best evil eye.

Colt laughed at her silly face. “I’ll only play your game so long as you promise not to put any clothes on. I have to say I sure do like the sight of you right now. All pissed off and naked.”

“Fine, promise you won’t come out until I call.”

“Promise,” Heath agreed. “But make it quick. I’m with Colt, you look damned irresistible.”

Colt leaned back against the headboard with his arms crossed against his chest as she left the room. “What did she mean when she said she didn’t accept our proposal? Didn’t what happened here tonight seem like a yes?”

“She said she loved us, not that she agreed to marry us. Damn, she got us with semantics.”

“She
didn’t
say anything about marriage. Hell, what do you think that means? I’m not going to do this living together thing forever, Heath. I want that girl to commit to us. I need that commitment. She’s ours.”

“I agree.” Heath stood up and grabbed a pair of jeans off the floor. “What the hell’s taking her so long?”

Colt rose and pulled on his pants as well. “I don’t know, but I don’t aim to wait too much longer. Shit, for all we know, she’s duped us both and is sneaking out the back door as we speak.”

He meant his words as a joke, but both of them exchanged alarmed glances.

“She wouldn’t.” They took off down the hallway, stumbling to a halt in the living room. Kylie had drawn the curtains and was pouring out shots of tequila.

She scowled at them when the entered the room. “I didn’t call you yet.”

“What are you doing?” Heath gestured to the drinks.

“I think we need a quick game of Tequila Truth.”

“What the hell for?” Colt demanded.

“There’s a question I need answered and only complete honesty will do.” She handed each of them a shot glass before picking up her own.

“Fire away.” Heath lifted his glass in a silent toast.

“It’s a two-parter actually.” She raised her glass to her lips and Colt noticed that her hand trembled slightly. “First, will you both marry me? And secondly, do you swear to love me forever?”

Heath downed his shot in an instant and Colt followed suit.

“Yes and yes,” Heath answered.

“Ditto,” Colt replied. “Now can we have sex?”

Kylie rolled her eyes and giggled. “Crap. So much for heartfelt confessions and deep introspection. You two really are cavemen. But at least you’re my cavemen and I wouldn’t have you any other way. Come on. Let’s go back to bed.”

About the Author

To learn more about Mari Carr, please visit
www.maricarr.com
. Send an email to Mari at
[email protected]
or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Mari at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/maricarr/
.

Look for these titles by Mari Carr

Now Available:

Erotic Research

It was just a little innocent research…

Erotic Research

© 2008 Mari Carr

Romance writer Julia Martin is fine with her life, just the way it is. Her simple apartment, successful career and Thursday-night pizza dates with her too-hot-for-words editor Ross are more than enough for her. At least, that’s what she thinks until her cat dies.

Ross Philips has spent years lusting after his shy best friend, but fears his rather strong sexual desires will be too much for Julia. When she falls into a depression over the death of her cat and stops writing, Ross decides she needs a change.

His suggestion? Try a new genre—erotica. And, of course, being such a good friend and editor, he even plans to help her do a little research.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Erotic Research:

Ross rose and grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let’s go sit by the fire.”

Before dinner, he’d thrown on a pair of gray sweatpants and a faded navy blue T-shirt. Julia admired the way the pants hung low on his hips, yet she couldn’t erase the image of him earlier—shirtless as she knelt in front of his enormous erection. She’d never seen him in anything other than his jeans and a T-shirt on Thursdays, or the Hugo Boss designer suits he wore to the office. Seeing his muscular, bare chest with honest-to-God washboard abs still had her libido doing somersaults. How they were going to coexist in this cabin for who knew how long was beyond her. She hoped for her sake he would keep his clothes on and limit his dressing to the bathroom, lest she make a fool of herself by drooling. She was also fairly certain the size of his penis was something she would see in her dreams for the rest of her life. My God. How could any woman accept something that size inside her? Just the thought of it sent shivers down her spine and she felt an unusual dampness seeping between her legs. So much for ignorance is bliss. Julia suspected this new knowledge of Ross’s generous bounty was only going to cause her even more sleepless nights fantasizing about something that could never be.

Julia started for one of the soft chairs in front of the fireplace, but Ross intercepted and pulled her down with him to sit on the soft bearskin rug. As night fell, the cabin suddenly seemed very romantic. Attempting to distance herself from the fact she was sitting so closely to her hunky best friend, Julia forced her mind to other subjects. Perhaps a cabin like this could be the setting for her new book. An isolated cottage deep in the mountains during a terrible blizzard. It definitely had potential. Even now, as she and Ross were enveloped in cozy warmth with only the fire to light the room, Julia could easily envision the characters from her erotic novel in just such a place.

“So,” Ross said, lying on his side with his head propped on his elbow. Even in such an unassuming pose, Julia couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by his presence beside her.

“How’s the book coming?” he asked, as if reading her mind.

“I’ve only been here a day, Ross. I’ve barely had time to unpack, let alone start writing.”

“Even so,” he continued, “I know you, Jules. You’ve probably been obsessing over the plotline for days. What’s it going to be about?”

Julia blushed as she considered his words. Truth be told, she had been imagining the story every night in bed since she’d read the erotica books he’d loaned her—with him cast in the role of the leading man and her as the heroine. She’d even gone so far as to order a vibrator online, although she hadn’t worked up the nerve to actually use it yet.

“Well?” he persisted.

“Ross, you know I hate it when you pressure me about a story line. Truthfully, I haven’t decided what to write about yet. I’m tossing around a couple of angles.”

“Really,” Ross said, not the least bit put off. “What angles? Maybe I can help you decide.”

“Well,” she began, startled by his persistence. Ross never pushed for story lines. He always trusted her to script a plot completely before she asked him to help her tweak it. “I…was thinking about trying one of those…you know.” She waved her hand in midair, too mortified to tell him where her fantasy world had taken her.

“No,” he said, imitating her vague hand gesture with a grin, “I don’t know.”

Biting her lower lip, Julia scowled at him. “Ross,” she began to protest.

“Domination?” he asked. “Or maybe a kidnapping story where the woman is sold as a sex slave into a harem?”

Afraid Ross might discover how close to the truth he was coming, Julia turned her head to hide the damned blush burning her cheeks. In her fantasy, she was his sex slave. She belonged totally to him, doing anything and everything he asked of her. Thanks to the erotica books he’d loaned her, she now had a wide array of sexual fantasies about him, far beyond the usual missionary-position one she’d indulged in for years. Her favorite one involved him tying her up and forcing her to have multiple orgasms. A purely ridiculous fantasy considering the fact she’d never had a single orgasm and didn’t know the first thing about how to have one, let alone several.

“Hmm.” He took her chin in his fingers and drew her face back to his. “What are you plotting in that delicious little mind of yours, Brown Eyes?”

“I—I—” she stuttered again. “Domination.” She blurted out the word quickly, hoping perhaps he wouldn’t hear or understand what she’d said.

“Domination. And what do you know about domination?” He sat up and slowly moved closer to her.

“Only what I’ve read,” she whispered, her gaze dropping to his lips as he moved even closer.

“Jules.” His breath was hot against her cheek. “I’m going to kiss you.”

“You are?” she asked breathlessly, her tongue sliding along her lower lip.

“Mm-hmm,” he murmured, his lips pressed softly against hers, “and then I’m going to help you do a little research for your novel.”

With those words, his lips opened against hers and his initial soft butterfly kiss took on a life of its own. His lips bruised hers in his intense efforts to possess her mouth. Julia had never been kissed with such reckless passion. All of her previous lovers had been almost timid in the way they approached her. As if they were afraid she would break. Ross seemed to suffer from no such fear. He used his kiss and his body to push her to her back on the soft rug, coming over her, covering her completely and leaving her feeling helpless and desired all at the same time. Julia could feel his enormous erection pressing against her hot center through her soft lounge pants as he pulled her legs apart and settled between them. Overwhelmed, she tried to draw away, if only to catch her breath, but Ross’s large hands captured her head, holding her still for his assault.

“Don’t fight me,” he said gruffly as he continued to use his tongue, lips and teeth on her mouth. “Don’t fight this.”

Domination.
The word flitted through her mind as his words came back to her.
He’s going to help me research. Research domination
.

Christina Marshall has no desire to have a man in her life. TJ McFee and Jonathan Winslow are on a mission to change her mind.

The Strength of Three

© 2007 Annmarie McKenna

As the daughter of an abusive drunk, Christina could care less about the lack of men in her life. So why is she having seriously erotic dreams about two of her bosses?

Jon and TJ are men who go after what they want and right now their focus is on a certain blonde-haired, brown-eyed nymph who’s done her best to blow off anyone of the XY persuasion. She’s a challenge. Never let it be said that either one of them ignore a challenge.

Their seduction is set off course when Christina’s mother dies and her father reinstates himself in her life. When accusations of murder fly, Chris must find a way to learn to trust both Jon and TJ. Her very life may depend on it.

Warning, this title contains the following: Blindfolds and bondage and sex—oh my. Ooh, and let’s not forget about the m/f/m ménage and the graphic language.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
The Strength of Three:

Jon swiped his thumb across one of her pink cheeks, counting it as a victory when she didn’t flinch or pull away. He couldn’t wait to see them flushed with the pleasure he and TJ would grace upon her. Would she scream out one or both of their names? Was she the silent type, a moaner? Based on the rapid pulse at her throat, he could tell she wasn’t as unaffected by him as she would like to think she was.

“The difference between your father and TJ and I is that we won’t drink,
ever
.” He enunciated very clearly, giving her no room to misinterpret. “If there’s ever a time you don’t feel comfortable, you just have to tell us.”

She snorted. “I’m not comfortable. Back off.” She raised her hands and pushed at his chest in an attempt to create space between them. He gave her a modicum and laughed. They’d never get anywhere if they let her have her way every time.

The shrill ring of a cell phone interrupted them. Chris never took her gaze off him. The phone rang again and she lifted her glass and sipped. TJ moved closer. “You gonna answer that?”

Chris did a double take. “What?”

“Your pocket is ringing, sugar,” Jon offered.

“Huh? Oh. Oh, crap.” She fumbled in the pocket of her skirt for the slim pink flip phone he knew she carried.

He just smiled. She was fucking gorgeous when riled, which was most of the time around them. They seemed to bring it out of her in spades. There was the flush, this time from frustration. Soon it would be courtesy of an explosive orgasm given by him or Teej.

“Hello?” She stuck a finger in her ear to drown out the noise. “Carter? Is that you?”

Carter. Chris’s younger brother, who, from Jon’s background search into the Marshall family, seemed to follow in Daddy’s footsteps. At least in the mean department. Christina had done the smart thing, getting away from her family.

“No, I do not have any money.”

TJ stood, exchanging a knowing look over her head with Jon. They both disliked the tone they heard in her voice.

“Well, geez, I don’t know, Carter. Get a job like everyone else in the world maybe?” She paused and her eyes widened. “I will never fund your disgusting habit. I work too hard for the money I earn to waste it on you.”

Shit. If the kid had a habit and needed money for a fix, things could get ugly fast. Faster if he owed money he didn’t have.

A second later her eyes narrowed into slits. “You leave Mother out of this.” She paused. “I already regret it.” She slammed the flip closed and growled.

“Carter’s bothering you again?” Aislinn asked across the table.

“Again?” TJ and Jon barked together. Jon saw red. If the little punk had taken to messing with Chris, Jon would put an end to it really quickly.

“He says he needs money to pay his rent.”

“And you know he’s lying, right?” Aislinn came around the table, nudging Jon out of the way with a sharp elbow to his stomach. He stepped back with an oomph while TJ and Kyle snickered. He flipped them both off.

“After last month? Yes, I know.”

“What the hell happened last month?” TJ snarled. Jon wanted to know the exact same thing and more. Like how they’d missed her brother’s problems when running a background check on her, something they did with everyone who worked for their company. Chris’s had been a little more involved since both of them knew she would inevitably end up in their bed. With their past in the Teams, it was both a habit and a necessity. He, Teej and Kyle had pissed off more than one baddy out there who would stop at nothing to seek revenge. A loved one would be an easy target.

Before Chris could answer, Aislinn said, “Carter drove all the way from Chicago and showed up at her door begging for money for some overdue bill he had. When she offered to take him to the phone company to pay it for him, he flipped out saying he could handle it on his own. Then he tore through her house, grabbed her wallet and stole all the cash she had in there.”

“Motherfucker.” Jon wanted to put his fist through a wall. Or better yet, Carter’s face. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell us?”

Chris drew back, one eyebrow raised high. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why would I?”

Damn. Why would she? They didn’t exactly have a relationship. Yet.

Starting right now, they did and he’d be goddamned if he let her junkie of a brother run roughshod over her again.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe so we could help?”

“I think I can handle my own brother.”

Jon snorted. “You handled him so well he ran you over to steal your money. How much did he get?”

“I don’t see how it’s any of your—”

“How much?”

“A hundred and twenty bucks.”

Feeling the muscle ticking along his jaw, he nodded once. “Do you think you’ve heard the last of him tonight?”

“I don’t know. What does it matter?”

“You matter,” Jon growled and leaned closer so she had no choice but to look him in the eye. “TJ and I are done waiting for you.” He saw the flash of heat flare in her eyes. Hell, he could smell the moisture pooling between her legs. She could deny it all she wanted, but her body craved what he and Teej could offer. “We’re not like your father or your brother and the only way you’ll see that is to let us close. Probably won’t be easy for you, but I can damn well guarantee it’ll be worth it.”

Her eyes widened, her nostrils flared with each inhalation, and the pulse at the base of her throat sped up. He wanted to lean in and lick it, to taste her and leave his mark. Not here though. He straightened. If his dick got any harder, he’d be popping out of his jeans. Wouldn’t that be something?

“I don’t”—she had to clear her throat—“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sex, Chris. Remember the conversation we were having earlier?” Aislinn butt in.

“
Aislinn.
” Chris’s hissed reprimand made Jon laugh out loud. Oh God the woman was priceless. He’d wondered what they’d been talking about when she’d yelled out across the bar.

“What?” Aislinn said innocently. “I’m just getting you back for a little incident that happened at work a couple of months ago. Remember there was something about a feather duster?”

“That was your fault. You’re the one who asked Kyle if he had a duster but didn’t expound on what kind, or that we’d been imagining them wearing dusters, cowboy hats and nothing el—Oh my God.” Chris’s eyes closed. “Please tell me I didn’t just say that out loud.”