At Their Command
Scarlett Sanderson
All Hope wants for Christmas is Ethan St. Claire. She’s had a thing for him since high school, when he was the bad boy and she was the class geek. Now she’s older, wiser…and dying of sexual frustration. Fantasies of having Ethan and his best friend Dominic at the same time drive her wild with unsated lust.
Ethan has always loved Hope, and he’s finished waiting for her to realize they’re meant for each other. He’s taking command and giving Hope exactly what she needs. If she’s nice, he’ll give her a sexy spanking. If she’s naughty, he and Dominic will double her pleasure as an extra-lusty Christmas treat.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
At Their Command
ISBN 9781419937224
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
At Their Command Copyright © 2011 Scarlett Sanderson
Edited by Carrie Jackson
Cover design by Dar Albert & Syneca
Photography: Shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication December 2011
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AT THEIR COMMAND
Scarlett Sanderson
Acknowledgement
Thanks to Pixie for all her support. I couldn’t have written it without her encouragement.
Chapter One
“Deck the halls with boughs of holly…”
Hope cringed and ground her teeth in frustration. If she heard one more Christmas song, she’d scream. She didn’t hate Christmas. Far from it. But the pesky jingles started in October. By December she was out of holiday cheer.
She pushed the button on the radio, switching it off. Blissful silence reigned.
Pinching the bridge of her nose to ease some of the tension, she sighed. This year Christmas frustration came second to a mind-numbing dose of sexual frustration.
“Hey, teach.” Ethan St. Claire, object of her sexual frustration, poked his head around the door of her office and flashed a killer smile. “Wanna come grab some dinner with us?”
Her sex swelled. Her nipples pebbled, becoming hard, turgid peaks begging to be sucked by his lips.
Embarrassed by her reaction, she prayed he couldn’t see her arousal beneath her sweater.
Briefly meeting his eyes, she gathered her papers. “Um, sure. Just give me a minute to finish up.”
Ethan St. Claire had been her biggest sexual fantasy since she was fourteen years old, watching his defined torso glisten with a sheen of sweat as he mowed the front lawn. A few years older than Hope, and the bad boy of the neighborhood, Ethan hadn’t even known she existed until his sister was in a car accident and Hope had been the one to look after her.
“Why the hell are you working so close to the holidays? I thought teachers had shitloads of vacation time.”
Picking up a stack of assignments that needed to be graded, she stuffed them into her leather satchel. “Because I started later in the school year, I’m behind with lesson planning and grading.”
Three months ago, her life turned upside down. Her father’s heart attack forced her closer to her family. She’d applied for a teaching job at the local university and moved back home.
She bit her lip at the little lie she’d told Ethan.
Yeah, you don’t want him to really know what’s going on in your head, do you, Hope? You don’t want him to know you are here for him, that you’ve been craving him for years.
“You work too hard, teach,” said Ethan.
His smooth, deep voice washed over her, invaded her senses, made her nerve endings tingle and her pussy moisten.
She inhaled and fastened the clasp on her satchel. Since she’d been home, they’d picked up where they’d left off. An unusual friendship—the bad boy and the geek.
Her cheeks heated. She ached for him. She fantasized about stripping him naked and riding his cock until he spilled his seed deep inside her.
“Hope, are you almost done? Because I’m starving here.”
She rolled her eyes at his impatience and said, “I’m coming. I’m coming.”
After tugging on her woolen overcoat, she jammed a beanie on her head. With Christmas only days away, snow lay thick on the ground. Even at six o’clock, the temperature outside was biting.
She walked into the corridor before turning and locking her office. One of the perks of working in a small university—no sharing.
“Okay. Ready.” She looked at Ethan.
He stood idling against the wall, and Hope gave a mental sigh. Her body became liquid, her pussy throbbed with unfulfilled need.
As a teenager, he’d been gorgeous. As a man, he was devastating. Over the years, he’d filled out. A thick, knitted sweater wrapped his muscular torso. His broad shoulders were encased in a soft, figure-hugging leather jacket.
Winter meant he covered up the tattoos adorning his forearms and chest.
Such a waste.
He wore faded jeans that kissed his long, lean legs. She knew from previous observation the denim cupped his pert ass to perfection.
It was his face that always took her breath away. Chiseled jaw, high cheekbones and deep-brown eyes big enough to get lost in. The crew cut and day-old stubble stopped him from being labeled pretty.
The whole package screamed raw masculinity.
She wanted to taste him on her tongue. She wanted to wrap her body around his, rub her nipples against his chest and lick her way across his dusky torso.
“Finally.” He took her satchel and draped an arm across her shoulders, walking her to the exit. “I could eat a whole cow, I’m that hungry.”
Hope blinked and smiled. She really needed to get her libido under control.
But it’s soooo hard.
She silenced the pesky voice in her head and looped an arm around his waist. His appetite was almost as big as his smile. “You’re always hungry. You’re never sated.”
A dark, predatory look entered his eyes. They met hers, lingered. “Maybe I haven’t found anything to sate it. Yet.”
Hope’s mouth went dry. Was he flirting with her?
No, definitely not. Ethan didn’t think of her that way. Sure, they’d had some flirty banter since she’d gotten back. They’d discussed sex but he hadn’t made a move on her.
His intense gaze bored into her. Questioning. Asking s
omething she didn’t quite understand. It roamed across her face, lingered on her breasts, down to her legs and back up. Ethan’s tongue snaked out and he licked his lips. His eyes burned with hunger.
She swallowed. Her breasts tingled, heat flooded her pussy. She wanted him so badly her teeth ached.
She broke eye contact and pushed open the entrance doors. Thankfully the icy wind rushed over her heated cheeks.
Giving a nervous laugh, she edged slowly toward his truck. Dominic Sullivan, Ethan’s best friend and business partner, waved from the passenger seat.
“Oh, Jesus.”
Two alpha males showing her attention sent her libido into overdrive. Hence the overzealous sexual frustration. She fantasized about Dominic fucking her while Ethan watched, his eyes blazing, his hand wrapped around his cock. Stroking himself, watching his best friend fuck her senseless. Sometimes she even dreamt of having them both, together.
Focus, Hope.
She refused to believe Ethan or Dominic was interested in her. After all these years, she was still a geek girl at heart. Phantom hope led to heartache. She refused to put their friendship on the line. She’d check her raging hormones with her trusty vibrator.
It’s a poor substitute for Ethan.
Yeah, but he didn’t want her in that way. He’d never looked at her as if he wanted to strip her naked and feast on her body.
Until now.
Ethan watched her tentatively walk across the frozen snow. He knew every line of her curvy body, every expression that flashed in her bright-green eyes. When not encased in a ponytail or hat, her tawny hair fell in waves down her back, resting on the plump curve of her ass.
Her foot slipped. He started forward but she regained her balance quickly. Although Hope was very much a modern woman, Ethan found himself wanting to protect her like some fragile doe.
Hope turned and flashed him an embarrassed smile. He smiled back.
His Hope. She’d always been clumsy, even in high school.
He wanted to get his hands on her curves and do nasty things to her body. He wanted his cock inside her, fucking her until she screamed. He wanted her pussy clenched around his dick, making her come.
“Fuck.” He jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and brushed his hard cock. Groaning, he sucked in a deep breath. He’d been sporting an erection since the moment he laid eyes on Hope three months ago.
He’d always wanted her, even when they were kids. Despite the fact it wouldn’t have done his reputation much good, he’d wanted her. The geeky swot who wore glasses and preferred a book to a night on the booze.
Back then he was tainted goods. He stopped himself from touching her. He couldn’t stain her innocence with his darkness. He fucked his way through dozens of women to erase her face from his fantasies. It didn’t work. His cock got hard whenever she came near him.
After ten years apart, it was no different. He still got hard as granite every time she was in the vicinity.
“Hey, Hope.” Dominic Sullivan exited the passenger side and opened the back door for her.
Ethan watched as his friend helped her into the truck.
He shifted his weight. His stiff prick throbbed in his jeans, demanding satisfaction. He hadn’t been with a woman since Hope got back into town.
Sexual frustration was at its peak. He felt a little wild, feral, like he wanted to tear over to the truck and nail Hope in the backseat with his best friend watching. Soft and pliant, she’d cream all over his cock, moaning his name, milking him with her warm, wet cunt.
He growled. His erection swelled.
Dominic wouldn’t mind. They’d shared women occasionally. Although they had both put their street days behind them, some instincts still remained.
“Get a grip, Ethan,” he mumbled.
Shaking his head slightly, he strolled to the truck.
Fuck.
Had he actually just thought about screwing Hope while Dominic watched? Desperation did strange things to a man.
Packed snow crunched under his boots. The wind wrapped around him, nipped his cheeks and reddened his nose. Jesus, it was cold.
He looked up at the darkened sky. Probably more snow on the way. Picking up the pace, he got into the driver’s side and shivered.
Ethan cranked the dial on the heating system. “Cold and hungry. Definitely not a good place to be.” He left out the horny part.
Turning the key in the ignition, he froze when a delicate hand squeezed his shoulder.
“It’s too cold to go to the diner tonight. Plus, I’m tired. I’ve got some steaks at home, I could throw them on the grill, make some dauphinoise potatoes, sauté some vegetables. We could put some carols on and have a mini Christmas celebration. Sound good?”
He slid a look at Dominic, who nodded and smiled.
Ethan turned and gazed at Hope. Her cheeks were flushed pink due to the cold. His cock twitched.
She really was beautiful. He wasn’t sure going to her place in his condition was a good idea. But he was done waiting. He’d given her enough time to adjust. He’d dropped enough subtle hints over the last few months. He knew how she felt, he’d always known. Her body always betrayed her. Every time he touched her, her eyes would glaze over, her lips would part, her cheeks would flush. It made his cock hard.
The time for subtly was over. He was done giving her time to come to him.
“Your place it is.”
Chapter Two
“So there he was, trying to shove his dick back into his pants before her roommate got up the stairs and saw his junk.” Ethan grinned and his eyes sparkled as he teased Dominic.
Hope laughed as she poured cream over the potatoes. Ethan had insisted on cooking the steaks and regaling her with tales of their misspent youth. All three of them were in her cozy kitchen enjoying the warm atmosphere and Christmas carols playing in the background.
She waved a knife at Dominic and clucked her tongue. “Serves you right for picking up some woman in a bar.”
A stark contrast to the dark, brooding Ethan, Dominic was light. Blond hair framed a handsome face covered in a shaggy beard. His intense blue eyes twinkled with mischief.
As broad as Ethan, he wore similar clothing. He’d bunched his sweater up to the elbows and displayed an impressive array of ink on his forearms.
Badges of his youth. They both had them. No longer the bad boys, they were now respectable businessmen. They co-owned a successful auto shop on Main Street.
“Look, I have nothing against a pretty lady seeing my cock but when said lady is a religious nut who doesn’t believe in sex before marriage, that freaks me out.”
“Yeah, she might have gone all ‘Lorena Bobbitt’ on you.” Ethan made a downward slashing gesture with a knife.
Dominic’s eyes crossed. His hands flew to protect his crotch. “Please, man, don’t even joke about that shit.”
Smiling, she slid the potatoes into the oven.
She enjoyed this, the banter and companionship. In the small kitchen, their masculinity wrapped around her. She could smell their scent—woodsy, earthy. Their huge frames bumped her curves as she moved around preparing dinner.
It did nothing for her already overactive libido.
Dominic sat at the breakfast bar but Ethan moved around the small cooking area, grilling the meat on the stove. Crowding her space. Every time she moved to the oven, his hip brushed hers and she bit down on her lip to keep from moaning. His touch electrified her. She wanted his hard body over her, under her, pulling her hair and pounding into her from behind. She wanted to feel his rigid cock filling her pussy, stretching her until she begged to come.
Sighing mentally, she took a sip of her red wine. She looked at Ethan through hooded eyes across the rim of her glass. He stared at her with a sly smirk on his lips.
Had the sigh actually been mental? Surely she hadn’t sighed out loud.
Sliding her gaze to Dominic, she saw his face held the same amused expression.
Shit. She had let the
damned sigh out.
“Something the matter, Hope?”
“No.” She shook her head and leaned against the breakfast bar.
Nothing the matter at all, apart from her wet panties and a desperate need for a cock in her mouth.
“Something you want to get off your chest?” Ethan blatantly caressed her breasts with his gaze before turning off the stove and taking two steps toward her. He took the wineglass from her hand and sipped.
What the hell was happening here? Why had Ethan suddenly decided to ramp up the sexual tension? Was his seductive manner all in her head? Wishful thinking?
Hope decided to do what she did best—ignore it.
“Uh-uh.” She turned away, busying herself with some nonexistent cooking prep. She refused to give in to her desires.
“Sounds to me like you’re a little frustrated, Hope.”
Anticipation and desire pooled low in her stomach.
He molded his hands to her waist, caressed her hipbone. He rested his chin on her shoulder and licked her ear. “Are you frustrated, Hope?”
The wet heat from his tongue made her gasp. She imagined him licking another part of her body. His tongue rasping against her clit as he feasted on her pussy. A flow of cream flooded her core.
“Talk to me, Hope. Tell me what you need.” He dragged her back, flush against his groin. His erection pressed into the fleshy globes of her ass.
He was seducing her. And she was letting him.
Her heart beat wildly. A frisson of fear licked at the edges of her mind. Why now? He’d never given her any clear indications he was attracted to her. Had he?
Thinking back over the past three months, she focused on certain moments. Ethan tenderly brushing the hair off her face during a picnic, holding her at the movies as she cried at a Pixar feature, massaging her back after a tough day. He’d touched her at every available opportunity.
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