Fourkeeps: Ever After Duet, Book 2

by Jayne Rylon

  An Excerpt From 4-Ever Theirs:

  “Stop. Stop. I’m going to pee my pants.” Andi Miller gasped between bouts of hysterical laughter. She swiped tears from her cheeks as her three obnoxiously adorable roommates demonstrated their best attempts at twerking from various places around their kitchen.

  Sadly, Simon could definitely shake his ass better than she could. He put on quite a show from his perch atop their rickety table, threatening to turn it into kindling with sharp swings of his hips. The guy could easily have paid his portion of the rent and then some if he’d gotten a job as a go-go dancer.

  “We’re only trying to help.” Cooper punched Simon in the leg then grappled him to the floor. If she didn’t act fast, this could deteriorate into another of their infamous wrestling matches. The last one of those had resulted in the annihilation of a beanbag chair. She was still discovering tiny foam beads scattered throughout their apartment months later.

  “I mean, it’s not like you’ve come out of your room long enough to pick up any of our moves in the past four years, with all that studying you insisted on doing. You don’t want to get embarrassed on the floor tonight, do you?” Reed asked as he simulated humping a cabinet.

  Well, that wouldn’t be a problem, seeing as she hadn’t quite told them the truth about her destination for the evening. Dance club, hook-up spot—same difference, right?

  Their over-protectiveness made her white lie necessary.

  Besides, she owed them the same courtesy they showed her when it came to keeping their sex lives separate from their home lives.

  The guys never brought women to the apartment. Or at least they hadn’t in ages. Not since early in the first semester of their freshman year when one of their one-night stands—to this day, they wouldn’t tell her which of them had slept with the poor girl—had tried to make herself some morning-after breakfast and ended up with a black eye courtesy of Andi’s fist.

  Hey, how was she supposed to have known it wasn’t an intruder out there whipping up a frittata before absconding into the night with their meager college-grade possessions? Milk crate furniture might be hot on the black market for all Andi knew. If some of the oomph propelling her swing had actually been fueled by jealousy instead of fear, she’d hidden that pathetic fact as best she could from both herself and her roommates.

  Ruining their friendships wasn’t on her agenda. She wasn’t the sort of girl who knew how to screw around then act like sex had been no big deal. Though she had chemistry with each of her roommates, how awkward would it have been to have followed through on it and slept with one of them?

  Takeout and movie nights with the others would never have been the same.

  Andi admitted it. She was sheltered as fuck. Though her vocabulary had gotten a hell of a lot more colorful as a result of her co-habbing with this trio of idiots for the past four years, she hadn’t done a lot of exploring relationship-wise. After all, she spent most of her free time with Cooper, Reed and Simon. Who would approach her with those three hovering over her, snarling and baring their teeth at any guy who got too close?

  God, she was going to miss them.

  The thought of giving up their second-to-last Saturday night together had her rethinking her plans. Except this might be her last chance to eliminate her regrets about not having a single fling during her college experience. It would help round out her academic studies and the rewarding social experiment living with three dudes had turned out to be.

  This was supposed to be her training ground for the real world.

  Now that she’d accomplished the majority of her goals—by graduating at the top of her class and scoring a prime position in her field—maybe she could make some time to fill the emptiness growing inside her as she accepted that she’d be forging out on her own soon. The lack of a relationship hadn’t bothered her so much when she’d had school and her roommates’ friendship to occupy her.

  All of that was changing.

  So was she.

  Andi wanted to be ready for what came next.

  “Was it that good for you?” Simon flashed a wicked smile as he teased her.

  “Huh?” She snapped herself out of her daze.

  “Our dancing.”

  “Oh, yeah. Definitely. It was so hot I need to go take a shower.” She rolled her eyes and giggled some more as she abandoned the kitchen for their shared bathroom. If she was sweating a little, it was surely from nerves over what she was about to do, not because they’d affected her.

  Sure.

  She scrubbed herself then spent a while drying and curling her hair before applying what dashes of makeup she owned—a bit of mascara and some nude lip gloss. The whole time, she kept wondering what tonight might be like if she could spend it with someone she knew and trusted instead of gambling on a blind date set up by her well-meaning chemistry lab partner.

  Andi bit her lip then harrumphed and fixed the damage, at least mentally reminding herself not to rub her eyes before she could wreck them too. She sighed then rested her forehead on the door, praying for some direction. Was she making a mistake? Or would it be an even bigger one to pursue the foolish ideas tempting her to feel out her roommates about her proposition?

  Before she could make up her mind, a rap on the door rattled her brains.

  “Ouch. Fuck.” She stumbled back.

  “Yo, Andi. Quit hogging. I drank three beers with dinner, and I gotta piss,” Reed groaned. “I forgot what it’s like to wait on someone trying to be girly.”

  Aaaaaaaaand… That sealed the deal.

  They were too much like brothers to ever see her as a woman. Which was exactly how she’d wanted things while they lived together. She grinned as she opened the door. Reed squashed past her in the doorway, wedging them together when he froze. “Damn.

  Uh, you look…great.”

  “The magic of wearing something other than sweats and one of your roommates’ old shirts sans a bra.” She shrugged.

  “I kind of prefer the no-bra part.” Simon waggled his brows from where he scarfed another helping of now-cold pizza for second dinner.

  When she turned to him with a smile, he paused mid-bite.

  “What?” Andi finger-combed her hair as she stepped from the bathroom so Reed could relieve himself in peace. Not that the guys didn’t invade her privacy often when she was in the shower, or vice versa. The trials of a single bathroom for four people had absolutely played a part in her collegiate years.

  “I told you,” Reed shouted through the door.

  “They’re right. You’re hot.” Cooper took her hand and spun her around. “I’m not sure we should let you go out like this, young lady.”

  “Whatever, Dad.” She chuckled until he finished twirling her, though it hadn’t entirely been a joke. With her parents both gone, these guys had stepped up and filled a huge, painful void as best they could. They were, and always would be, her family.

  In the heels Andi had borrowed, she was closer to Cooper’s height. Meeting his warm stare, she caught the spark of something serious there.

  Could he actually be attracted to her?

  She knew each of them appealed to her in various ways—Cooper’s gentlemanliness and tact, Simon’s playfulness and daring, Reed’s sense of responsibility and control.

  As if a sliver of possibility was the only prompt her subconscious required, she blurted the thoughts that had been haunting her for the past hour. Okay, longer than that. At least since she’d agreed to this outing. Probably since the day she co-signed their lease.

  “Maybe you guys should come out too?” She prided herself on the fact that she only stammered a little when she said, “Or I could stay home and we could have a private party instead.”

  Simon blinked at her, the pizza still lodged half-inside his mouth.

  Cooper’s fingers tightened around hers. His other hand landed at her waist to steady her. But he didn’t say anything.

  The door opening behind her broke the moment, forcing them apart.

/>   Reed emerged as the toilet finished flushing in the background. It was as if her silly dreams circled the bowl then vanished down their clanky pipes when he grimaced. “What’s that? Don’t back out now. You’ve been looking forward to tonight all week. It’s about time you cut loose. On your own. You’ve earned this.”

  “Oh. Okay.” If they noticed the tremble in her faux smile, they didn’t call her on it.

  Andi decided to quit fucking around. Playing a game where she didn’t know the rules was a sure way to lose. Reed was right. She had to learn to stand on her own, without leaning on them. Because in a matter of days, they wouldn’t be part of her everyday existence anymore.

  Graduation was a week away.

  Her new life, the one where she’d be a lab tech in a prestigious pharmaceutical research firm—one that didn’t include her roommates—was calling.

  “Go ahead. Have fun,” Simon said around a mouthful of pepperoni. “Besides, we’ve already—”

  Cooper cleared his throat, but it was too late. She realized they must have dates. Of course they did.

  “Hey, you’ll be fine,” he promised. He looked away before adding, “You don’t need us.”

  Andi swallowed around the lump in her throat. She took a step forward and then another before grabbing her wristlet and keys out of the bowl at the end of the countertop.

  If she was going to do this, she couldn’t linger. Otherwise, she’d never convince herself to leave.

  “Be safe!” Reed shouted as she closed the door softly behind her, determined not to let the stinging of her eyes turn into real tears and screw up her mascara.

  To keep reading 4-Ever Theirs, click here.

  WANT MORE MENAGE?

  If you liked reading about this steamy non-traditional relationship, you should check out Nice & Naughty, another of Jayne’s menage stories.

  Can one man satisfy Alexa’s appetites? Or will it take two?

  After a disastrous lesson in heartache, Alexa Jones confines her adrenaline rushes to intense boardroom negotiations. Her legendary control cracks and she indulges in a high-octane encounter on the hood of her sports car. She never planned to see the enticing stranger again. When she finds herself across the boardroom table from him, there’s suddenly more at stake than just her career.

  Justin Winston got more than he bargained for on his summer drive, but he should have known nothing is ever that easy. He’s met the woman of his dreams yet he doesn’t know who she is. Luckily, he can always count on his practical brother for the things that matter, and this time is no exception. But, when a web of corporate espionage entangles them all, it’s clear Justin isn’t the only one who’s fallen for their mysterious siren.

  In Justin and Jason, Alexa finds something as unique and rare as the patent they will risk their lives to secure. The freedom to explore—and satisfy—the full range of her desires. From naughty to nice. Can Alexa accept the love of two men?

  Warning: This story contains light bondage, anal play and smoking hot brothers for double the fun and double the trouble.

  An Excerpt From Nice & Naughty:

  “She’s beautiful,” he murmured reverently.

  The car. He’s talking about your car. She tried to convince herself, but the rationalization rang false. While he admired the convertible, something more arced between them. Attempting to shake off the unusual reaction inflaming her senses by focusing on her vehicle, Alexa stepped a little closer.

  “I’ve done a lot of work on it.”

  “Can I touch her?” His implicit understanding of her dislike for people handling her vehicle made her confident he would treat it with the respect it deserved.

  “Sure, go ahead.” Plus, she got to watch the way his broad finger stroked the defined contour in the flawlessly waxed side panel, which inflamed her senses nearly as much as if he’d placed the caress on her skin instead.

  Before she could stop to analyze what her subconscious offered, she asked, “Would you like to take a look under the hood?”

  “Hell, yeah.”

  She had to laugh at the look on his face. “You look like a kid on Christmas.”

  “It’s not every day I come across an opportunity like this.” The dark undercurrent of the statement and his piercing green stare made it clear he referred to more than a fancy sports car.

  Oh God. He feels it, too.

  Alexa should have been freaked out. Alone with a stranger, on a deserted stretch of highway, in the mountains far from the city, sounded like an unwise situation to put herself in. She should be nervous but a remarkable calm surrounded her instead. In fact, she just now realized she’d stopped on the side of the road without a second thought to safety. Today, she threw caution to the wind. The chemical reaction between them affected her like a drug.

  As though he sensed her train of thought, the man backed away a few steps, displaying his non-threatening intent. He left the path clear for her to get in her car and drive away but her instincts shouted that she could trust him. She wanted to explore this attraction just a little bit further.

  She leaned over the door and rested her fingertips on the hood release. The man’s gaze tracked her movement yet he didn’t encroach on her space. For a moment, the only sounds breaking the silence were the babble of the stream below, the gentle rustle of leaves from the tree branches overhead and a soft birdsong.

  The air between them crackled with tension.

  Then, the metallic click of the hood’s latching mechanism disengaging relayed her decision to stay. A broad smile spread across his face, raising faint dimples that heightened his attractiveness. Alexa inclined her head in a “come here” gesture as she circled around to the front of the car.

  He ambled to her side with a steady gait that made her cognizant of his confidence she wouldn’t run. Reaching for the edge of the hood simultaneously, their hands met. Sparks shot up her spine and she jerked. His arm wrapped around her waist in a protective hold. The solid strength kept her from losing her physical footing, but not her emotional balance. This close she could smell the unique combination of his leather gear and subtle, earthy cologne.

  “Easy.” His hand smoothed down her side and across the top of her ass as he went back to lifting the hood. The blatant touch imbued her with respect for his natural ability to handle a woman. However, she retained enough rationality to admire the gleaming chrome of the engine that she cleaned with painstaking diligence each weekend she could manage the time. Together they leaned forward, caught by the lure of a ridiculously overpowered motor.

  “This is an aftermarket addition. Did you do this yourself?” His raised eyebrow conveyed his surprise.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m impressed. Are you a mechanic?”

  “Nope, this is just a hobby.” She smirked.

  “Some hobby. I am a mechanic. This is a damn fine job.”

  Alexa basked in his appreciation for details. None of her friends understood her devotion to this machine. They couldn’t comprehend why she spent the majority of her precious free time refining each tiny part until it was flawless. This man obviously did.

  He ran his hand along the connections, searching with deft flicks of his fingertips for imperfections where none existed. His satisfied nod had her beaming.

  “Jesus, woman. If someone told me I’d have the chance to play with a car like this today, I’d have said that nothing could distract me. But the way you’re looking at me…”

  His voice trailed off as she reached up to do a little exploring of her own. Her hand moved on autopilot, following her desire, cupping the side of his stubbled face.

  Is this guy for real?

  The wet heat of his lips on her palm rasped against her nerves, stronger than any dream. She whimpered as he turned his head to lick the center of her palm before catching the sensitive skin between her thumb and index finger in his teeth in a gentle nip. The move set her ablaze, destroying common sense.

  “Kiss me,” she demanded.

 
He didn’t need to be told twice. With a low groan, he closed the narrow gap between them, sealing his mouth over hers. He dropped the hood in place and put his hand to better use, wrapping it around her hip, yanking her tight against the hard plane of his chest. His height made Alexa strain on tiptoes to return his kiss. Eager to help, he tucked his other hand around her thigh, just beneath the curve of her ass, and hoisted her up higher on his body.

  They fit perfectly together.

  Her hands tangled in his hair, loving the way the silky strands teased the sensitive crevices between her fingers. She kneaded his scalp, urging him to take her mouth deeper. His head angled over hers, intensifying the kiss as his tongue lashed playfully against the seam of her lips. She drew it inside her mouth and sucked. He tasted like peppermint.

  She moaned with regret when he pulled away.

  “I’m going to set you on the hood.” He rumbled in her ear in between nibbles of her neck.

  “No! Wait.”

  Though he looked disappointed, he stopped without hesitation.

  The heat suffusing her face highlighted her discomfort with being so brazen. “I… I don’t want to scratch the paint. Take my shorts off first.”

  Strained laughter burst from his chest. It transformed his features from rugged to unbearably handsome.

  “Honey, you’re my every fantasy.”

  To keep reading Nice & Naughty, click here.

  NAUGHTY NEWS

  Want to win cool stuff? Get sneak peeks of upcoming books? How about being the first to know what’s in the pipeline or where Jayne will be making appearances near you? If any of that stuff sounds good then sign up for Jayne’s newsletter, the Naughty News. She never shares you information, pinky swear!

  * * *

  www.jaynerylon.com/newsletter

  WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART?

  Did you enjoy this book? If so, please leave a review and tell your friends about it. Word of mouth and online reviews are immensely helpful and greatly appreciated.