Tempting Meredith

  Tempting Meredith

  By Samantha Ann King

  Astrophysicist Meredith Burke’s professional life is perfect. Her personal life is another story. Years ago, a ménage with the man she loved and his roommate left her with a broken heart and a secret. She hasn’t trusted anyone since, but when she meets rugged hunting guide Charlie Connor she figures she doesn’t need to. He’s got “one-night stand” written all over him.

  After one night with Meredith, Charlie needs more. She’s intoxicating, and shockingly willing to give him total control of her body. When she agrees to spend an entire week with him at the lodge where he works, it’s more than he’d hoped for. But Blaine Bridges, Charlie’s best friend and boss, has his own secrets.

  Blaine hasn’t seen Meredith since that disastrous encounter eight years ago, but he still has feelings for her. Now she’s dating his best friend, the man he wants for himself. When Meredith invites him to join in their naughty play, his pleasure is all-consuming. But will the secrets they all hold close destroy a beautiful beginning or bring these three lovers closer than they ever imagined?

  90,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  June seems to be a time of both magical beginnings and wishful thinking, as we combine the wedding season with the last month of school. Here at Carina, our jobs are filled with a combination of both magical beginnings and wishful thinking, as we work in the land of fiction and allow ourselves to drift through fantastic worlds, happily ever afters and action-filled stories. Okay, maybe our jobs are a lot more rooted in reality than that, but the books we publish do allow us a brief escape and I hope they’ll do the same for you this month.

  Powerhouse erotic romance author Lynda Aicher is back with Bonds of Courage, in which an alpha professional hockey player finds himself the one bound and at her mercy. Joining Lynda in the erotic category is Samantha Ann King with another fantastic ménage, Tempting Meredith. One man is risky, but two might teach her to trust and love again.

  June brings quite a lineup of male/male romances. Ava March always stands out for me because not only does she write a fantastic male/male erotic romance, but she sets it in historical times, when it was even harder for two men to be in love, lending even more delicious romantic tension. Don’t miss Sharp Love, followed by The Viscount’s Wager releasing in December 2014.

  And speaking of magical beginnings, we have two debut authors in the male/male category. This month we’re pleased to introduce Tyler Flynn and Chasing the Rebel. One man is fleeing the French Revolution, the other sympathizes with the Revolution. How can they fall for each other when they can’t even trust each other?

  Also debuting with Carina Press this month is G.B. Lindsey, who leads off a three-part anthology, Secrets of Neverwood, which includes novellas from returning Carina Press authors Diana Copland and Libby Drew. As three foster brothers renovate a stately mansion to reopen it as a home for troubled gay youth, their love lives are complicated by the whimsical ghost of their foster mother in One Door Closes, The Growing Season, and The Lost Year.

  Rounding out our male/male selections for the month is returning author L.B. Gregg with her popular Men of Smithfield series. In Men of Smithfield: Sam and Aaron, Sam’s in a rut and looking to break out of it, so he’s thrilled when a newcomer to town introduces more than an edge of naughty nights and risky days into his life.

  There are so many more incredible books coming in June, it’s hard to know which world to lead you to next. How about some angels and demons in The Fire Within by Dana Marie Bell? Or why not take a trip on the high seas on a pirate ship—only this one captained by a woman in Mutiny of the Heart by Jennifer Bray-Weber. Danube Adele isn’t shy about taking new adult to a whole new level in her paranormal romance Dark Summer Dreams, in which Shandria is forced to rescue a sworn enemy of her people, only to find herself kidnapped by that same rugged warrior who promises retribution of his own. And who wouldn’t want to spend time with an outlaw witch, a society ice queen, and illicit magic that lights up the night in the tense futuristic world of the Magic Born in Sonya Clark’s Witchlight.

  In another twist on the new adult genre, Anne Tibbets joins Carina Press and introduces The Line Book One: Carrier and her dystopian world. In a futuristic society, sex slave Naya is released and given a choice—find someone willing to take her place, or fight against the ruling corporation to save her unborn children.

  Amylynn Bright also joins Carina Press, bringing contemporary romance Cooking Up Love to our virtual shelves. When anonymous food critic and lousy chef Holly signed up for cooking classes, she didn’t realize that she and her yummy instructor would be whipping up more than dinner in the kitchen—or that he’d blame her bad review for closing his restaurant and killing his career.

  We have two additional debut authors to introduce this month, both writing contemporary new adult romance, but in two freshly original and very different stories. In Hate to Love You by Elise Alden, hatred and guilt battle love and desire as Paisley and James confront the past, each other, and the unwanted attraction that sparked between them the night she ruined his wedding. This is one book that will have people firmly on either side of a line: hate Paisley, or love her?

  And we welcome Sybil Bartel and her new adult romance, No Apologies. No heart, questionable morals, one hundred percent attitude, Graham Allen is the perfect rocker; nothing can break him—except her.

  Last, this month we introduce a new trilogy, Shore Secrets, from Carina Press author Christi Barth. A hard-nosed businessman with contempt for small-town America is forever changed by the love of a sexy hotel owner and a quirky but tight-knit community famous for its anonymous journal by the lakeshore. Don’t miss Up to Me, the first of this trilogy featuring three strong heroes, fighting for the love and trust of three even stronger heroines on the shores of Seneca Lake.

  I hope your month of June is as wonderful as ours, spending it among our reader friends at different conventions and getting to gab about the books we love. Maybe we’ll see you at one of them! And if you do, we hope you’ll stop us and tell us your favorite Carina Press book. There just might be some Carina swag in it for you if we have any on us!

  Coming in July: Falling for Max by Shannon Stacey; a debut author, Caroline Kimberly, brings us a historical romance pitched as “Regency Romancing the Stone”; and Jeffe Kennedy offers up a hot new BDSM novel.

  Here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  Dedication

  To Kyle, my oldest brother and first friend.

  To Sonya, my sister and first girlfriend.

  To Steven, my baby brother, friend and foot reader extraordinaire.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

 
Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Beer wasn’t Meredith’s mind-altering substance of choice. That would be wine or a fruity mixed drink, heavy on the fruit. Unfortunately her preferences put her in the minority among college students. Her boyfriend, who was busy knocking shoulders with his roommate as they played a video game, fit neatly into the majority. The bitter brew did relax her when she neared the bottom of the can. And that was where she was—feeling pretty damn good. Euphoric, even.

  Dylan was wonderful. Smart, although not as smart as she was. But then, she was a freak. He was good-looking. California blond and tanned. Silver blue eyes. And he loved her. Her. After years with her nose pressed against the window, she’d finally been invited to the party, metaphorically speaking. She still couldn’t believe it.

  “Hey, baby, come sit between us. Dude is kicking my ass. I need your good luck,” Dylan said without taking his eyes from the TV. “And can you bring me another beer?”

  “Sure thing,” she drawled as she scurried on four-inch heels to the small dorm fridge tucked between the desks in the dim room. “You want one, Blaine?”

  Blaine glanced over his shoulder, smiling. She kinda loved his mouth. It was wide, so even when he wasn’t smiling, he looked like he was. His blue eyes were a better indicator of his emotions, but his lips were so compelling she had to remind herself not to stare at them. “That’d be great, sweetness.”

  Carrying three cans, she wiggled into the narrow space between them on the low foam couch. It was a typical dorm room. Bunk beds on one side. Two desks on the other. In the middle of the wall between the beds and the desks, the electronics. Clothes piled everywhere. Books. She’d picked up the trash when she’d arrived. The mess bothered her, but it was worth enduring to be with Dylan. It was time to wash his sheets, and she considered sneaking out to do it while the boys played their game. Then they’d be clean for later tonight. She wondered if Blaine would leave or if he’d pretend to sleep in his top bunk. His sometimes presence when they made love had been uncomfortable at first. But now...well, now it was just hot.

  They could have been brothers. From the back she had difficulty telling them apart. Size, coloring, like bookends. But they weren’t related. Just good friends. Another woman might have been jealous of their friendship. Not Meredith. She was happy to share it, happy even being jostled between them as they fought for dominance in the shoot-’em-up game on the smallish flat panel TV. Happy enough that she wasn’t in any hurry to head to the laundry room. Instead, she continued sipping her beer. Their soft cotton shirts brushed her bare arms. Their muscular, denim-clad thighs trapped and pressed her legs together. Their sweat moistened the air in the room and gave it a musty, locker-room scent. Not unpleasant. At least, not to her. It was just another indicator of social acceptance. Proof that she had a life beyond her brain.

  She’d finished her second can of beer, and it was after midnight by the time they shut down the game. Dylan tossed the controller on the floor then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap. “How you feelin’, baby?”

  She sighed the word that had been uppermost in her mind all night. “Wonderful.”

  He nuzzled the side of her neck. “You are so fuckin’ hot.”

  She didn’t say anything, just tried to catch her breath as his hand swept across her chest above the tight pink cami. Through half-closed eyes, Blaine watched them. His lips were slightly parted, his chest rising and falling as quickly as hers.

  “Know who else thinks you’re hot?” Dylan asked.

  She couldn’t imagine. Still found it hard to believe that Dylan was into her. “Huh-uh,” she said breathlessly.

  “Blaine.” His whisper tickled her ear.

  The admission stunned her. She didn’t know what to say.

  Dylan chuckled. “Know what he wants for graduation?”

  Most grads wanted a job or acceptance to grad school. But Blaine had already been accepted into law school and would begin in eight months. Until then, he was interning with a firm in Houston. “Hmm, a gift card to Starbucks?” she said, pitching her voice high and giggly.

  Dylan’s lips brushed her neck. “No, baby. He wants you.”

  She blinked, confused for a moment. But then her heart lurched and her breath caught. No, she must have misunderstood. It wasn’t uncommon for her to experience confusion in social situations. Maybe that was why the ditzy blonde persona she’d adopted worked so well for her.

  “I told him it was okay with me if it was okay with you.”

  “What do you mean?” she managed to squeak and then tried to breathe while she waited for his answer.

  Dylan murmured in her ear. “He wants to fuck you.”

  He was giving her to his roommate? She had to be missing something. Her heart thudded in her ears, and she tried to swallow past her suddenly dry mouth.

  “He can’t have you alone. You’re my girl.”

  She loved it when he said that. He loved her, wanted her. But still... “Are you sure?”

  His fingers slipped beneath her shirt, where he cupped her breast and teased her nipple. She became light-headed. Blaine watched, didn’t even pretend to avert his gaze. They’d never done anything this blatant in front of him, not where he could actually see them.

  “I mean, wouldn’t it—” as sensation shot to her swollen and wet pussy, she bit back a moan, “—bother you?”

  “My best bud and my best girl? Fuckin’ hot. And I’ll be with you. It’s not like you’ll be doing it behind my back. It’ll be the three of us together. Both of us inside you.”

  She tried to think. It was difficult with his hand on her breast and Blaine’s hot gaze taking in everything.

  “He’s only imagined these,” he said, dipping his head and taking a puckered nipple between his teeth. The moist heat of his mouth seeped through her shirt. “I want him to see them.” His hand slid out and he teased the edge of her cami. “Can I show him?” He tugged the stretchy fabric down to the edge of her nipple, and cool air washed over the fleshy top of her breast. “Just a little preview.”

  She arched her back, thrusting her breasts forward, desperate for Dylan to expose her. A whimper escaped before she could clamp it off. Now they’d know how much she wanted this. There was no mistaking her hunger.

  “You wanna do it, baby? You wanna show him?”

  Her head rolled back and forth. She wanted him to do it. She wanted him to bare her. If she had to do it herself, she’d die of embarrassment. She couldn’t.

  The fabric caught on the hardened nipple. He jerked, and it was suddenly free to Blaine’s hot gaze.

  “Touch yourself. Show him what you like.”

  The good girl played tug of war with her desires as her hand crept over her belly, her ribs. She cupped her breast in her palm and lightly pinched her nipple, sending pulses of pleasure to her pussy.

  Dylan’s hand skimmed down her belly until he reached the waist of her jeans, where he paused as if waiting for permission. Blaine froze. He didn’t even breathe. His gaze was duct-taped to Dylan’s hand.

  She caught her lower lip between her teeth, and her hips twitched against his hand. This was it. The breasts were nothing. A peep show. But if she bared her pussy, she was RSVPing yes to their invitation.

  She wanted this. Both of them. Had even fantasized about it while Blaine listened from that top bunk. She’d imagined him joining them. Not just watching, although that thought had always been enough to make her come. But touching her, licking her, fuck
ing her.

  Dylan unsnapped and unzipped her jeans.

  She closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for his touch, knowing Blaine was watching and hoping that tonight he could join them. Dylan’s hand slipped under her panties and touched her pussy. She drank in the air she’d been withholding in anticipation. Her head dropped back, and her hips arched into his fingers. He rolled her clit, and she held her breath again as she teetered on the edge, stretching, grasping for the full, nova-like climax that was just—

  He stopped, abandoning her clit and leaving her so frustrated she whimpered. But he wasn’t done torturing her. He shifted her until her back rested against his chest. Both hands free, he grasped the hem of her shirt and lifted it, inch by agonizing inch. “What do you say, baby? Are you in?”

  She hesitated, although she wanted it. She shouldn’t. She knew that. Society said it was wrong. Of course, society said a lot of things were wrong, even when science proved wrong was right.

  She wanted this. The evidence manifested itself in her body’s every physical response. Increased respiration and heart rate. The sensitivity of her skin. But her arid mouth and the good girl inside her prevented her from admitting it. She managed to tuck her chin, a small nod of agreement. She desperately hoped they understood because she didn’t think she could bring herself to say it.

  Dylan whisked the shirt over her head. The cool air bathing her heated skin, their eyes on her... Oh God, oh God, oh God.

  Dylan cupped both breasts in his hands, massaging them, plumping them, warming them. Then he rolled her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, and the direct line to her cunt was overwhelmed with electrical impulses. Her hips rose, fucking air.

  Dylan’s chuckle was low and sexy, vibrating against her back. “I swear she’s gonna lose it before you even touch her, dude.”

  Her eyelids were languid and heavy, but she managed to crack them. Blaine was dragging his shirt over his head, revealing his smooth chest, flat belly, the line of dusty blond hair that disappeared behind the fly of his jeans. Flawless.