by Zoey Marcel
“I don’t mean I’m asking.”
“It sounds like you are.”
“No. No. I just wondered…about BDSM. Assuming you’re into that. Are you?”
“Why is that?”
“Ugh! Quit being evasive and tell me why you had a naked woman kneeling on your rug. Was she a sub, a slave, a pet, something else? Tell me!”
“Brighton, you sound distressed. You’d better lie down.”
“No! You’re not getting off that easily. What if I told you we have a submissive chick here for you?”
“I would say you’re wasting your time.”
“What would you do if I brought her over there to you?”
“Relocate.”
Brighton spoke through clenched teeth. “I’m gonna find you and give you this woman if I have to chase you all over Europe. Hey!”
A commotion came from the other end. David’s voice replaced Brighton’s. “Cole, it’s David. Listen, I know coming home to visit was painful for you last time, but we’d really like to see you, and I think you’ll find it better this time.”
“Why is that?”
His eldest brother sounded like he was beaming on the other end. “Just come home and see for yourself.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Lies!” Brighton hollered in the background. “Just tell him about Danielle, or I will.”
Time stopped. The silence roared so loud his ears rang. Coldness set in, followed by a levitating sensation like he’d escaped his own body.
“Put Brighton back on.”
David handed the phone back to his brother, a faint swatting sound accompanying the action.
“Ow!” Brighton yelled. “What?”
“What about Danielle?” Cole asked.
“She’s back in town from Chicago.”
His heartbeat quickened, but he remained serene in light of Owen’s curious stare. “Visiting her brother, no doubt.”
“No. She just moved back here. And guess what, my inferior sibling. She’s not over you.”
“How do you know?”
“Oh, let’s just say she looked crushed when I kept mentioning the possibility of you getting married and having kids someday with another woman.”
“Babbling really,” David cut in.
“Hey, do you mind?” Brighton cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
Cole pondered the news in reticence.
Owen wore a broad grin. “We’re so talking after this.”
Cole rolled his eyes, a tiny smile forming. “Have you slept with her?”
“Uh…” Brighton stalled. “Do you want me to have slept with her?”
Intelligence was always that one’s strength. Cole kept the sarcasm to a minimum. “What do you think?”
“Crap. Hold on a second.” Brighton’s loud whisper could still be heard as he sought David’s advice. “He’s doing it again, getting all ambiguous. What do I do?”
“Well, first take your hand off the hearing part of the phone and cover the speaking portion.”
He sighed. “My bad.”
It sounded like David took the phone. “Cole, does it really matter? Danielle loves you and she regrets walking away from you.”
Cole tensed.
“She only walked away because she was in love with all three of us and didn’t have the heart to ask us to share her with each other since we’re not from McKenna Downs like she is and had never shared a woman before.”
“You want a ménage,” he concluded.
Owen’s head jerked up. Nothing like that word to get someone’s attention.
“We just want you back,” David said. “And we want her to stay. She would say yes to you in a New York minute if you’d just come back and be with her. If you still love her, then come home.”
“As I said, I’ll consider it.”
“Yes!” Brighton bellowed in the background, a muffled thump following like he’d fallen to his knees in a prayer of thanks.
“Thank you,” David said. “I’m gonna let you go now. Take care.”
“You do the same.” Cole hung up and sat there stewing in his thoughts.
Owen’s expression was smug and enthralled. “You know I have to ask. Who is this Danielle? Is she some lost love of yours?”
“She was the reason I came over here.” Cole stared at nothing until it dazed him.
“Then I suppose I should thank her. You’ve been a good mate.”
His lips hitched to one side, his lazy gaze disclosing none of the turmoil within. “You’ve been my truest friend alongside her, arguably more so.”
Owen flashed him a quick smile and then took a bite of his scone. “Are you going to do it?”
“The ménage or reconcile with Danielle?”
He put his fingers to his lips while chewing and flushing a bit. “Either.”
Cole picked up his saucer, startled by his sudden breach in composure when the china clanked, cup shaking in his hand. She’d gotten to him. After all these years, she still had some kind of hold on him.
But the sharp sting of rejection and the resentment smoldering beneath the surface were very real. Pride was of immense importance to him.
Then again, so was Danielle. Did she really still love him?
Cole took a sip from his teacup and then set the china back down when his trembling hand wouldn’t steady. It had been ages since he’d felt so torn open like this, so intensely excited.
Owen sat patiently waiting for his answer.
Cole tapped his finger flippantly on the arm of his chair. “I’ll consider it.”
End of Book 1: Cowboy Charade
To be continued in
Book 2: Submission to Kale
WWW.ZOEYMARCELBOOKS.BLOGSPOT.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zoey Marcel lives with her husband, their baby, and their quirky pug in the Pacific Northwest.
She writes erotica and erotic romance, and her favorite genres include paranormal, BDSM, ménage, cowboys, dark fantasy, and historical. Her stories range from scorching and moving to dark and edgy. She enjoys variety in her characters, but her favorite heroes are alphas and the tortured ones in need of love and redemption.
When she’s not writing, Zoey enjoys spending time with her husband and friends, working out, reading, going for drives, and seeing new places.
She can be contacted via blog, email, Facebook, or Twitter.
Blog: http://zoeymarcelbooks.blogspot.com/
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zoey.marcelbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZoeyMarcelBooks
For all titles by Zoey Marcel, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/zoey-marcel
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
