by Mia Ashlinn
The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t seem to place it.
Apparently, Addy could because she gasped. “The Deke Andrews?” 36
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Josie nodded, piping into their conversation unexpectedly. “The one and only.”
Rather than being the only oblivious one, he pretended to know who they were talking about. “So what does Deke have to do with me, Gabriella, or Micah?” He better not be their third. I’ll fucking castrate him or kill him—whichever comes first.
“Interesting,” Josie said, her stubborn silence obviously having fallen by the wayside. “You asked about Micah, too.”
“He and I used to be…” What? Friends? Since he didn’t know what to say, he cleared his throat and muttered, “It just made sense for me to ask.”
Josie glanced over her shoulder, staring at him with an annoyed expression on her face. “Strike one,” she snapped. “Two more, and you’re out of here.”
Good luck with that. I’m not going anywhere for a while.
Brooklyn chuckled. “I can tell you don’t believe that we will chuck your ass out of town if you mistreat Ella or Micah.” Josie returned her attention to the road. “He’s never been to Serenity before, so he has no idea about the rules there, but he’ll learn soon enough.”
Caedon had no clue what the confounding woman meant by her ominous statement. However, he had no doubt that he would find out.
And he also had the distinct impression that it might not be good for his health when he did.
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Chapter 3
Waving, Ella Dawson called out, “Thanks for coming,” as her departing friends disappeared out the front door to her adult toy shop, The G Spot, and into the Serenity summer night. When the bell jingled, indicating the door had completely closed behind them, she spun around and stopped in her tracks.
The giant sign hanging over the entrance to the back room where they were holding the party taunted her, holding her attention captive, and she found her feet glued to the tile floor. Double your pleasure, double your fun…
Standing stock-still, Ella stared at the sign as though it would come to life and bite her at any moment. She plastered a smile on her face, pretending to find amusement in the tongue-in-cheek saying, but it wasn’t from the heart. No, nothing was from the heart anymore because she was fucking miserable.
Despite the group of girls celebrating Katie-Anne Jacobs, Jaycee Blakemore, and their impending baby arrivals just inside the doorway, Ella couldn’t dredge up an ounce of excitement. All she could think about was the date. June 3rd.
She’d hoped that throwing the double baby shower with her three sisters, Hadley, Molly-Grace, and Reagan, would help her forget what day it was. She’d thought it might fix whatever it was going on inside her . But she was pretty fucking wrong .
Today was no better than any other day. Hell, because of the date, it was oh-so-much worse, which was saying something. In retrospect, the past few months had been torture. How melodramatic of me to put it that way.
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They hadn’t been torture in the usual sense. She didn’t have someone hurting her physically. And no, there was no one abusing her emotionally. This was all on her. Well, if she wanted to get technical, it was on her best friend, Micah, and her ex-lover, Caedon, too.
It was on Micah because the bastard was gay. A girl in love with a gay man was doomed from the very first flip-flop of her heart. Why couldn’t he be bisexual? Shit, that would be fucking hot.
And it was on Caedon because…well, he was Caedon. The jackass had left her when she needed him most. Okay, that isn’t exactly fair. I practically pushed him out of my life, but it was his fault for driving me to it.
Now here Ella was two years later, standing in the unorthodox hometown she loved, with a roomful of her favorite women mere feet from her. And what was she doing? She was moping around like a heartsick puppy. No, I refuse to do this. I am going to go into that room with my friends and my sisters, and I am going to have a good time. Goddamn it.
Marching across her shop with purposeful strides, Ella barely made out the loud click-clack of her hooker heels on the tile floor.
She was too focused. She had things to do and fun to have—whether or not she damn well liked it.
Shoving open the door, Ella barreled into the room packed with six fabulous women. As soon as she spotted them all sitting around the table and inspecting various sexy toys, some of her melancholy emotions faded away. Yeah, this is just what I need to do.
“Oh,” Shannon Dalton breathed, the chipper redhead practically bouncing up and down in her seat as she played with a prototype dildo that Wyatt Thorpe, the resident techno-geek at The Edge, had designed and crafted. It still amazed Ella to see the transformation of her friend. Gone were the unflattering clothes, makeup-less face, and frizzy hair. In its place was a gorgeous woman with cat-like eyes that had a perpetual twinkle and a smile that never dimmed. “I want this one. That is an orgasm waiting to happen.” Three Rings and a Rose
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Jaycee snorted. “For you, everything is an orgasm waiting to happen.” The heavily pregnant blonde woman scooted back in her chair with a groan, leaning against the pillows they’d propped up behind her. Jaycee stared at Shannon, the blue depths of her eyes reflecting her obvious fatigue, as she stroked her rounded belly.
If I was eight months pregnant, I would be doing a hell of a lot more than groaning. I would be snoozing on the damn couch by now.
They’d been celebrating the upcoming births of Jaycee’s twins, Ava and Mason, and Katie-Anne’s little boy, Kane, all day.
They’d begun the party early this morning with a massive breakfast at her sister’s bakery next door, The Sweet Spot. While there, they’d ate everything under the sun, from juicy fruits on decorated trays to decadent pastries that were practically orgasmic to an over-the-top buffet of meats, eggs, and breakfast potatoes. When they had finally stuffed themselves, they’d opened presents for the babies, all the while chattering incessantly like magpies.
Before they knew it, several hours had passed them by, and they were hungry all over again. With a call to Shannon’s mentor and boss, Stellina Belluci, they’d had a feastlike lunch in no time. The elderly Italian woman who owned the ritziest restaurant in town, Dolce Serenità, had whipped up enough food to feed a small army and rushed it over with the help of her granddaughter, Magdalena, and her great-niece, Cassandra.
It was probably a good thing that Ella’s sisters had closed The Sweet Spot for the day because after lunch, they’d all stayed put. It wasn’t until late afternoon that they finally moved next door to Ella’s store where they’d lavished the two mommies with after-baby goodies, including everything they could ever want—lingerie, toys, and all the accessories.
And, of course, they’d popped in some porn and watched it together. Ella had even served popcorn and chips to everyone. Not surprisingly, Jaycee had loved the porn part, and Shannon had adored the potato chips. The first woman watched more porn than most men.
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Hell, Ella had gotten the idea from the weekly porn party Jaycee threw on Hump Day. And the second woman was obsessed with chips because she swore that fucking was as addicting as the fried potato slices.
We are a bunch of freaks and pervs. God, no wonder I love them. I fit right in.
“So true,” Katie-Anne retorted, sounding as though she were answering Ella’s transient thought. Only she wasn’t. She was speaking to Jaycee. Twirling a few strands of her shoulder-length black and orange hair around her index finger, the exotic-looking woman boldly winked at Jaycee. “I’m amazed our girl isn’t having triplets of her own. She fucks her men like some damn bunny. I don’t know how they survive it.”
Shannon grinned. “Do you want to know? I can totally hook you up with some dirty details.”
Jaycee groaned. “I have a feeling we’re
heading into the too-much-information zone.”
“That is saying something,” Katie-Anne replied. “Your inner pervert sure loves to know everything else.”
“Aw, come on,” Shannon mock whined. “I am no good at keeping dirty secrets.”
Ella rolled her eyes and finally alerted the girls to her presence.
“No shit, Shannon,” she murmured. “Your mouth is bigger than all your husband’s dicks combined.”
“Hey,” Shannon said, grinning up teasingly at Ella without an ounce of jealousy or possessiveness. “How do you know how big they are?”
Strolling over to the only open chair in the room, Ella plopped down. After her long day of playing hostess, she was pooped. Her feet ached, her muscles were like jelly, and her eyes drooped. But that wasn’t enough to stop her from prodding Shannon. “Sugar, you have told me the measurements. And damn, those boys are huge. I’m jealous, you lucky bitch.”
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“Ew,” Jaycee screeched. “I don’t want to know how big they are.
A lot of things I can handle, but I will draw the line right there.”
“I’m not telling you a thing,” Ella sassed. “I was just making a comment to our nympho girlfriend.”
Katie-Anne chuckled. “You sound like me, Jaycee Elizabeth.”
“Oh, God no,” Shannon groaned. “Not two of them!” All six women in the room laughed then silence descended on them. Scanning all of the women, Ella noticed that she and Jaycee weren’t the only exhausted ones. Her three elder sisters were crammed onto one of the two sofas in the room, each of them yawning broadly. Across from them on the other couch, Shannon and Katie-Anne reclined lazily with Jaycee between them. None of them were yawning, but they didn’t need to be. The exhaustion was set in the lines on their beautiful faces.
The only women who had looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed were the women who’d just left—Belle Kennington and Lainey Schilling. They didn’t appear to be tired in the least. But that could be because they hadn’t joined the party until later in the morning, and they’d left early. Although, they hadn’t been the only ones to ditch out on the party. Brooklyn Sokolov and Josie Martin had left hours ago to meet with some mysterious friends that they couldn’t and wouldn’t bail on.
Sighing sadly, Ella remembered the one person that hadn’t made it at all. Sarah. Since she’d gone to stay at The Edge in Kinky with Shane’s foster brother, Deke Andrews, and his long-time partner, Adam Stanton, Ella hadn’t seen her. Not even once. The two Doms were insanely protective of the woman who’d been abused and assaulted by a depraved ex-boyfriend who was still on the loose. So other than a measly call on occasion, Ella rarely spoke to Sarah anymore.
Katie-Anne sighed unexpectedly, and all of the women’s eyes darted to her as though she might be going into labor at any minute.
Considering she was a full month behind her sister-in-law, Jaycee, 42
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their anxiety was borderline absurd. But not out of the realm of possibility. Pre-term births did happen.
“Hey, you guys need to calm down,” Katie-Anne said. “I swear you’re as bad as Shane and Landon. I can’t even breathe without them crowding me.” She frowned. “I was just thinking that I wished Sarah was here.”
“Me, too,” Jaycee said. “I miss her.”
“Me three,” Shannon added. “How is she doing anyway, Katie-Anne?”
Tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear, Katie-Anne sighed.
“She says she’s all better. I say she’s full of shit. And both Deke and Adam agree with me.”
No one seemed to know what to say in response to Katie-Anne’s assessment. Luckily, a delicious man appeared in the doorway and distracted them all.
“Micah,” Ella breathed, unable to keep the throaty quality from her voice. Whenever her best friend came within five feet of her, she couldn’t control herself in any way, shape, or form. And that included her lusty-sounding voice.
The man she’d lived with for nearly four years had the power to push her into a mind-numbing world where the only thing that existed was him and her. And Caedon—if he’d actually stuck around.
God, why did I have to go there? When she was looking at the muscular man in front of her, she shouldn’t think about Caedon or his heart-stopping smile. She shouldn’t think of his rock-hard body and his disheveled blond hair. But most importantly, she should not think about the cocky attitude he exuded that made her pussy pulse wildly.
Shit, who the hell was she kidding? She shouldn’t think about Micah that way, either. No, she shouldn’t think about his dreamy blue eyes and his beautiful soul. Nor should she think of playing with his thick, gorgeous brown hair or caressing his strong jaw as the sexy scruff tickled her palm. And she definitely shouldn’t think of all the delicious ways she could get rid of the serious expression he kept on Three Rings and a Rose
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his face most of the time. No, no, no. She shouldn’t allow her dirty mind to go there at all—with either man.
But Ella’s double-crossing body refused to listen to her thoughts.
Instead, her pussy moistened as she ogled her best friend, her loving eyes admiring his body as they scanned over the naughty bits and the not-so-naughty bits of him.
Recalling where she was and what she was doing, she realized she probably looked foolish, openly gawking and drooling over her best friend. My very gay best friend. You know, the one who isn’t in love with you. The same one who is in love with your ex-lover, Caedon.
Remember? Yeah, that’s him. Clearing her throat, Ella asked the most obvious question, “What are you doing here, Micah?”
“Crashing the party,” Reagan grumbled.
At the same time, Molly-Grace mumbled something unintelligible while Hadley crossed her arms and looked down her nose at Micah.
“Coming to see you,” Hadley announced. “He can’t seem to stay away from his best friend. ” The sneer in her sister’s voice couldn’t be missed by anyone, especially not Micah. But he didn’t respond in any way.
Keeping his expression perfectly straight, Micah ignored them and replied, “Because I was the only man waiting outside without a partner or a sibling.”
Ella’s heart ached for her best friend. The hollow words he uttered held a deeper meaning, the pain so very evident in his tone. Or I could be imagining it. Maybe, I’m just projecting my unhappiness onto him.
Who knows?
Jaycee frowned. “What do you mean ‘waiting outside’?” she asked in obvious annoyance. But she seemed to know the answer, and she didn’t appear to be surprise in the least by her men. “I told those two to go to bed and not wait up for me.”
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Jaycee. “They are supposed to be having hot monkey sex so they can tell me every lurid detail when I get home.” Shannon snorted. “Are you kidding me? Gray and Cade haven’t let you out of their sight in two weeks, Jaycee. I’m proud that they left us alone for this long. I figured they would have their happy asses in here, all up in our business, hours ago.” She peeked over at Katie-Anne. “As far as your husbands, I expected the same from them. They probably had their hot monkey sex in the damn car outside the front door, just in case you needed them.”
Ella had to agree. The four expectant fathers had gone quite a bit over the edge when it came to their wives and respective babies. But all men did. So they had a damn good excuse.
“I guess that means it’s time for us to blow this popsicle stand,” Shannon told her best friends. “Come on girls, let me help you.” Surging to her feet, she turned and offered her hand to Jaycee. After helping her up, she assisted Katie-Anne to her feet as well.
Yawning, Katie-Anne waddled toward the door. “I guess I’ll forgive them. I’m fucking tired.”
“Me too,” Jaycee agreed with a yawn
of her own. “Do you mind if we leave our presents here, Ella? We’ll get them later.” Scanning the room, Ella cringed. It looked like a tornado had hit it. Presents lay scattered around amidst wrapping paper, gift bags, and boxes. Every surface had been covered with something. Hell. I’m going to have fun cleaning this up. And fuck. Where am I going to stick this stuff until they can get it? Shit.
Ella took a deep breath. “Sure,” she agreed, despite the agitation of being stuck with dozens of presents for who knows how long. “It’s no problem.”
“Come on, come on, come on.” Shannon shooed the two pregnant ladies toward the door. “Let’s get you to your men before they explode, and you end up widows.”
“A word of warning,” Micah murmured as Shannon passed him.
“Your husbands are out there, too.”
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“Why am I not surprised?” Shannon asked rhetorically. “They don’t even have a good excuse for tailing me. I’m not pregnant.”
“Yet,” Jaycee and Katie-Anne both said at the same time then called out their thanks for the baby shower.
Ella’s three friends made their hasty escape and vanished.
However, Ella didn’t notice. She was too lost in the sudden sea of turbulence surrounding her.
Blinking rapidly, Ella glanced around the room in confusion, checking out the four excruciatingly tense people she’d been left alone with. Only her three tightly-wound sisters appeared to be paying her no mind. They were too busy glowering at Micah.
Micah seemed to be just as stressed but hiding it better. Honestly, if it weren’t for the tightness around Micah’s gorgeous eyes, Ella would believe he truly didn’t give a damn that there were three obviously pissed-off women gunning for him. Hell, he gave the distinct impression that he was completely oblivious to their presence in the room. But she knew him, and she knew that was a falsehood.