Mary reread what she’d just keyed, fixing the grammar, changing a word here and there. The stream of consciousness and first-person point of view were not devices she ever used in her fiction. Well, when she used to keep a regular diary, she had. But cousin Christopher’s theft and reading of same aloud to his brothers and hers when she’d been twelve had stopped her from having such a vulnerability as a diary laying around after that.
The story of my life.
Mary set her own self aside and seamlessly morphed into MJ Kendall. She saved her most recent mental meanderings and brought up her work in progress. Her heroine, Skye Falcon, was stealthily following Dirk Pritchard, so-called pillar of the community. But her lover, Eddie Coulter, a detective with the Canfield PD, suspected Pritchard of being involved in his latest case—the murder of a teenaged runaway. Skye was determined to do all she could to help Eddie—before Pritchard reached his slimy fingers into the CPD and ruined her lover’s career, or worse.
Mary found the zone. Everything else fell away, and she was in the world of her own creation, weaving a story that included elements she hadn’t planned on including. As her fingers flew across the keyboard, a part of her mind acknowledged her characters would likely tell her what that little bit had been all about, when they were good and ready to do so.
Her bubble popped as two handsome police detectives sauntered around the corner of her house and headed straight for her.
“When you didn’t answer our knock, we wondered if you might be back here.” Toby’s gait seemed predatory as he approached her. She had just enough time to save her document before he lifted her clear out of her chair.
“Hey!”
“Hey, yourself, New York.”
The intense look in his eyes was her only warning. He brought her even closer, and Mary had one second to wrap her arms around his neck.
His mouth covered hers, and he plundered.
Mary thought she’d learned, over the last two nights, what it was to be kissed. Now she knew those samples had barely skimmed the surface.
She gulped him down just as greedily as he did her. Time and place evaporated. When she felt heat at her back, when she sensed Anthony pressed close, his deep sensual murmurs of approval and encouragement fueled her libido. Mary’s hunger exploded, and nothing mattered but this.
The hot, moist swirl of tongues and the hedonistic suction of mouths became the vehicle shooting her arousal straight up to the stratosphere. Her nipples hardened, and her pelvic muscles contracted in anticipation of caressing cock.
She whimpered when Toby ended their kiss. He held her back from him just slightly and then turned her. Anthony took her from his best friend and pulled her into his arms and brought her close. She wound her arms around his neck as she’d done with Toby.
“Are either of you fine men going to let my feet touch the ground?” Not that she particularly minded being held aloft. It was an interesting and new experience.
“Maybe.” Anthony’s expression was somber, and she couldn’t have that. That decision gave her a clue. She held that clue close as she laid her lips on his.
The roller coaster of arousal and comfort, excitement and coziness began again, and Mary gave over. Her tongue danced with Anthony’s, and as he suckled her mouth, as she felt the press of his erection against her, she enveloped him by wrapping her legs around him. She thought she might come right then and there when he placed one hand on her ass and thrust his hips against her.
Then Anthony surprised her. He broke their kiss and buried his face on her left shoulder. His arms that were banded around her held her tighter. Understanding, she gave him what he needed. She comforted him, stroking his back and giving them both a bit of time to hold on and just be.
Toby joined them, his hand on her back above Anthony’s arms, his head pressed close to her right shoulder. Their combined heat and their combined scent became her new favorite thing in the entire world.
When Anthony sighed and lifted his head, she met his gaze.
“I needed that, Mary. Thank you.” He gently set her down so that her feet finally touched the ground. The solemn look on his face ate at her. It was a look that reflected the feelings she’d endured earlier.
“Me, too. I’m really glad you’re both here.” Her smile must have encouraged Anthony’s, because it slowly emerged. She turned to smile at Toby and was rewarded with a similar response.
“Have you eaten supper yet, Mary?” Toby asked.
“No. I just came straight home and…”
“Your stomach was too twisted in knots to eat. How is it now?” Anthony asked.
“Better. I could eat. Can either of you guys cook?”
“I’ve been on my own for years. I can cook,” Anthony said.
“Me, too.” Toby smiled at her. They were no longer kissing, but the intimacy still pulsed between her and each of these dynamic men.
“Well, that makes three of us, then. Let’s see what we can make out of what I have on hand.”
Anthony sent her a mock leer, and she laughed. She really did feel so much better than she had when she’d first come home from the community center, where the meeting of the full Lusty Town Trust had been held.
Mary hadn’t known until then that the Town Trust included every single member of the families living in Lusty.
The next half-hour or so was spent in deciding on their menu and then preparing it. She had a couple of different meat selections on hand, as she’d gone to the small grocery in town on Saturday. It was no contest, as they were all in the mood for steak. Since she’d shopped with just herself in mind, they needed more than just that large hunk of meat split between the three of them. She had
