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An Excerpt From: SWEET THURSDAY
Copyright © MARI CARR, 2010
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
“I was wondering if I could drag you away for a moment,
Lily. I’d love for you to meet my wife,” Chandler
said.
“I’d like that. Will you guys excuse me for a few
minutes?”
They nodded and Justin watched Lily cross the room with Chandler.
They stopped before a petite woman in a wheelchair and Justin felt guilty
for not making more of an effort to befriend Chandler
in high school. While he hadn’t participated in the bullying, he hadn’t
expended any effort to get to know the guy either.
“Nice guy, that Chandler,” Justin
said when they were alone.
“What the hell are you doing?” Killian asked.
“I was about to ask you the same thing. Were you not
sitting at this table and listening to the same things I was? Lily wants to
release her inner bad girl tonight…with both of us! This is the opportunity
of a lifetime.”
Killian narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring with
anger. “Opportunity?
You think thrusting Lily into a ménage is an opportunity?”
Justin put his hands on his hips. “That’s a rhetorical
question, right?”
“Goddamn it, Justin. This is Lily you’re talking about.
Not some hook up from a bar. You can’t seriously think she understands what
she’s agreeing to?”
“I think she just made it pretty clear she’d jump both
of us in a New York minute if we offered the ride.” His words had come out
more callously than he’d intended, but he was fighting back some serious
demons tonight and Killian’s holier-than-thou attitude was tweaking his
nerves.
“You prick.”
Killian’s fists clenched and Justin wondered if his
friend would actually hit him here. They’d fought before. He had a fierce
temper, while Killian’s tended to be a slow burn. On occasion, they’d both
reached the boiling point at the same time. Mercifully those times were few
and far between, since they were pretty evenly matched in a fight and they
suffered for their anger for days afterward.
“Takes one to know one.”
“You’re an insensitive motherfucker sometimes.”
Killian’s words were spoken quietly, but the malice was clearly there.
“Watch it, K. I’d hate to mess up your nice clothes but
if you throw a punch, I’m fucking bringing it.”
Killian looked around the reception hall before closing
his eyes and Justin imagined he was counting to ten in his head. When he
opened them, Justin knew the heated moment had passed. He often wondered
how Killian was able to pull himself together like that—so quickly, so
effortlessly.
When he spoke again, his voice was calmer, reasonable. “It’s
Lily, Justin.”
“I know!” he replied hotly, then repeated himself, his
cockiness fading away. “I know.”
“You know it’s Lily and yet
you’re still willing to involve her in a ménage. I don’t give a shit how
sexy she looks or how much she flirts with us, she’s still innocent.”
Justin considered his friend’s words. “I don’t think
she’s as innocent as you believe. And even if she is, she was serious about
taking a walk on the wild side, K. I figure she can do that with us or she can find a stranger or
two—who might not be as careful with her as we would.”
“No.” Killian shook his head. “We’re not going there.
Not with her.”
The adamant look on his friend’s face took him aback. “Why
not?”
Killian frowned and dropped back down into his chair.
“Jesus, Justin. You know, at some point you’re gonna
have to face the fact that there are consequences to every action.”
Justin sat on the edge of his chair, Killian’s words
running through him like sandpaper. “I don’t need a fucking sermon from
you, K. I get enough of those from my father. I just don’t see why giving
Lily a night to explore her fantasies would have any other consequences
than we’d all get laid and be happy.”
“I don’t picture Lily as a one-night-stand kind of
girl.”
“You heard her, Killian. You heard her say she wanted to
have a little fun. Fine. We’ll lay it all out on the line for her. You can
issue your gloom and doom and dire warnings and we’ll let her
decide. She’s an adult. Regardless of who she was to us a decade ago, she’s
changed. You’re protecting the memory of the shy girl she was. Why not try
to get to know the woman she’s grown into?”
“Yeah.” Lily’s voice drifted down from above them. “Why
not get to know me now?”
Justin looked up and wondered how much of their
conversation she’d heard. He’d expected to see anger on her face, but
instead she simply looked…beautiful. Christ. He tried to ignore the small
voice in the back of his head that said he really was a heartless bastard.
She smiled serenely and took her seat between them
again. “Still trying to protect me, Killian?”
Killian shrugged. “I’m not sure you know what you’re
asking for, Lil.”
She looked at his friend, reaching over to take
Killian’s large hand in her own. “I know exactly what I’m asking for, and I
knew before I came here tonight that if there was the slightest chance of
capturing your attention, I’d take it.” She glanced over her shoulder to
include Justin in the “your”.
“God, K. I don’t think you understand how much I want to
do this. I’m sick of coloring inside the lines all the time. I want to grab
hold of this opportunity to be free and wild and uninhibited—for just one
night. I don’t want to look back at my life in fifty years and realize I
never did one daring thing. I’m tired of regrets.”
“If we do this—” Killian started.
She placed her finger over his lips. “When we do
this,” she corrected.
“We call the shots. We decide what your limits
are. If you can’t agree to that, then no deal.”
Justin fought the urge to contradict Killian’s threat.
“We’ll give you what you want, Lily. We’ll take care of you.”
She ran a manicured hand through her long, dark hair,
pushing it behind her shoulder, and his breath caught at the way the
movement thrust her breasts forward. Where the hell had this Lily come from? Her every movement seemed to scream sex and
seduction.
She’d been with him and Killian throughout their teen
years and he’d always thought she was cute, but this woman? Holy
crap. He’d never approached her sexually in high school because she was too
sweet, too innocent, too…well, unavailable. She hadn’t been kidding about
the ever-watchful eyes of her parents. To say they kept her under their
thumb was an understatement. Plus, the younger Lily had given off some
serious untouchable vibes, where this older, more mature Lily was sending up
a beacon he’d have to be a blind man to miss.
“I can take care of myself.” Her voice was low, husky
and sure, and Justin grimaced at the ever-growing tightness in his pants.
Damn zipper was chafing his cock. This was the last time he went commando.
Killian sighed. “Yeah, well, I don’t know why you’re so
sure we’re your ‘wild side’ guys. It’s been ten years, Lily. Don’t you
think there’s a chance we’ve changed a bit?”
“I know we haven’t seen each other, but I’ve read your
letters, your emails over the years. I think I know exactly what kind of
men you are.” She ran her hands along her thighs nervously. “I’ve missed a
lot of opportunities in my past and I regret that fact. I want to be
someone different and I figure tonight could kick off my new future in
style.” She thrust out her breasts and fluffed her hair, feigning sex
appeal with her quirky sense of humor. “Besides, I bought this new outfit,
got a fancy haircut, practiced walking in these damn heels—all just for you
two.”
They laughed, but her words touched something inside Justin.
If there was one thing he could understand, it was regrets. It was as if
she could see inside his head. She was a good friend, but regardless of the
fact she was dressed to kill, she was treading on unfamiliar ground.
Rather than acknowledge how much her comments touched
him, he reverted to form and made a joke. “Jesus. Twenty-eight years old
and you’re still doing your homework.”
Lily grinned, leaning forward and giving him an eyeful
of her cleavage. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“Hell no,” he said, expelling a breath on the words.
“You know, it’s a far cry from us being friends to us
being willing participants of a ménage. What makes you think Justin and I would
go for something like that?”
Justin narrowed his eyes at Killian’s comment.
“I was your friend in high school,” she said. “And I’ve
never been an idiot. I heard the rumors, the whispers of the other girls in
the locker room.”
Justin leaned back for a moment and considered her
answer. She’d heard about them. All these years, she’d known about their
penchant for sharing.
Killian’s hand moved from the back of her chair to her
face. He cupped the back of her head, forcing her to look at him.
“Haven’t you ever heard that expression, ‘Be careful
what you wish for’?”
She offered them both a cute, gentle smile, her face
artlessly pleading. “It’s just one wish, K, one night. Please.”
“Damn. Power look,” Killian muttered and his hand
dropped to his lap.
She paused, obviously confused, but Justin understood
exactly what his friend was talking about. She’d taken him down with that
look too and he was pretty sure neither one of them was going to refuse her
a damn thing tonight.
“Do you even know what you’re asking for?” Killian
added.
She narrowed her eyes, annoyed. “I’m not thick, Killian.
I know what I want to happen tonight.”
Justin leaned even closer. “Tell us. Put it in words.”
She grinned at his challenge and he was blown away by
the daring woman facing him down. “Sex. You, me, K. Bed optional. As many
positions as we can squeeze into the night.”
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