Winners

Evernight
Publishing ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2015 Allyson Young

 
ISBN:
978-1-77233-226-1

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor:
Karyn
White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
 
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters,
and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

WINNERS

Marking Time, 3

Allyson
Young

Copyright © 2015

Chapter One

“
What’s that …
mark
on your butt cheek?” Sinclair’s tone of voice indicated that she
knew, and was both intrigued and shocked.

Candy swiveled her head to one side
and arched her back to stick out her ass, but despite how voluptuous her bottom
was, she couldn’t really see the impression she knew her best friend was
referring to, the one she’d admired
herself
in the
bathroom mirror earlier that day. She took pride in the marks Reece gave her,
and didn’t much care if people judged her for it. Not that it was something
she’d overtly share. She had waited a long time to connect with her Sheriff
again. Once again she blessed Reece’s determination to reconnect, despite her
equally determined efforts to dissuade him. Not that she’d have imagined handcuffs
being involved!

 
Still, her other cheeks
suffused with color, if the heat rising up her neck was any indication.
How was it that she was embarrassed? After all her sexual shenanigans over the
past years, many of which she’d shared in detail with Sinclair, why was she
suddenly diffident about talking now? And why was the other woman intrigued?
Maybe it was because her best friend had finally roped and tied those two men
Sin had been in love with forever.

With a casual air that she hoped
belied her churning
emotions,
Candy reached out and
grasped a light robe, shrugging into it to cover up her bra and thong, before
sinking onto the vanity seat. Only then did she meet Sinclair’s eyes and answer
her—with a question. “I think you know?”

It was her friend’s turn to blush.
“Uh.
Yeah, I guess. I mean…”

Equilibrium restored, Candy
laughed. “Seeing as your guys and mine grew up together and partied some, it
makes sense they share some of the same interests.” She wiggled her eyebrows
suggestively, and she and Sinclair giggled.

With a candid burst of information,
Sinclair said, “They blistered my butt when I ran away when they rejected me
the first time around. I was humiliated, and it hurt! But it
kinda
didn’t, too. Like I deserved the
punishment,
and it freed all my pain and upset, you know?”

“I do,” Candy agreed, no longer
smiling. She did understand.
Totally.
And then she
smirked again. “And that caveman approach got you hot.”

Face and neck now a glowing
carnation, Sinclair nodded.
“Uh huh.
And there’s a
definite difference between punishment and erotic spankings.”

“You’ll turn into one of those
spanko
people,” Candy teased.

“Like you won’t.”

The give and take, the teasing,
made Candy’s heart swell, and she sighed with contentment. She’d missed her
best friend when Sinclair had been away at school, training to become a vet.
Now back in the Barrister area to do her field work, Sin was happily involved
with both Craig and Ashton Russell, and to judge by her lighthearted demeanor,
sweet, virginal Sinclair—the total opposite of Candy—was also content. Okay,
not so virginal anymore, but nothing could change the sweetness unless her men
screwed her over. And if they did that, Candy would sneak Reece’s service
pistol and deal with them both.

Her thoughts immediately fixated on
her handsome Sheriff, back home after his discharge from the military, home for
her. They’d sorted out that terrible miscommunication and repaired their
relationship. Candy frowned when she thought about how her father had
interfered, and a twinge of anxiety assailed her when she considered running
into her old man. She tried not to grind her teeth, the thoughts about what
could have happened spoiling some sexy images of Reece.

“Candy?” Sinclair’s pretty face was
etched with concern. “You okay? I didn’t pry?”

With an effort, Candy shook off
thoughts of Daddy Dearest.
“No, honey.
No secrets
between us.”

“Well…”

At the uncomfortable look on her
friend’s face, Candy returned fully to the present. “I don’t want explicit
details. Just want you to tell me, come to me if you have any problems or
issues you can’t work out with your guys. I’ll do anything to help you out.”

Sin’s eyes lit up, and she nodded.
“I will. Not that I expect any. I mean … we communicate a lot. We have to. A
threesome is new to me if not to them, and despite us living together when we
were younger,
there’s still lots
to learn.
Between adults and all.
There’s things
I…”

As Sinclair petered off Candy bit
back a snicker. It was glorious not to feel one iota of envy. Reece was back,
and in her bed—his bed, actually—and all was right in her world.

“Do you want some help?” Her friend
gestured toward the kitchen, and as if on cue, a savory hint of dinner wafted
into the room.

“Nope.
Reece got everything ready this morning, and all I had to do was put it in the
oven per his instructions. I set the table already.”

“You got yourself a man who cooks.
And in the kitchen, too.”
Sinclair wiggled her eyebrows in a
poor imitation of Candy’s earlier attempt, and once again they cracked up.

When she could speak again,
extremely amused at her friend’s sexual innuendo, and reflecting how hot sex
with two experienced men could change a person, especially when that hot sex
involved love and total commitment, she said, “Oh, Reece definitely has the
market cornered when it comes to having all kinds of skills.”

 
Before Sinclair could respond, a low, sexy drawl interrupted them. “Girl
talk
?”

“Reece!”
Candy flew into his arms, relishing the way they closed around her, all sinew
and muscle, holding her close against his broad, well-developed chest. He
smelled like Reece—healthy male sweat, and hints of his soap. Her whole body
thrilled, and she unkindly wished Sinclair hadn’t come over early to help get
dinner ready.
You asked her, twit. She
didn’t deliberately cock block. Or was that puss block?

As if reading her mind, her friend
eased past them and headed toward the kitchen, calling back over her shoulder.
“I’ll check on dinner. Open the wine and stuff. Craig and Ash will soon be
here.”

One of Reece’s big hands released
its hold, and his arm relaxed. The bedroom door shut, and then both of those
hands were under her robe, tugging it open, freeing her bra and finally cupping
her breasts in that oh-so-familiar, yet deliciously new manner.

“Thought about
these all day, pushing paper and dealing with all that administrative crap.”
His voice was husky with desire, and she tipped her head back for his kiss. As
always, his touch drove everything else out of her head, a welcome change from
continually being on her guard against him.

When he broke the lip lock and she
could take a full breath, she teased, “Thought only about
those
?”

With a sexy laugh, Reece responded,
“The whole package.”

She ran a hand over his jaw. “Craig
and Ash will be here soon. You
gonna
shave?”

“I thought you liked my scruff.”

The memory of his whiskers against
the soft skin of her inner thighs made her shiver in an entirely palatable way.
“Leave it,” she ordered.

“Yes, ma’am.”
His dry acceptance brought color back to her cheeks. She could feel the heat. Reece
gave the orders in the bedroom, and she loved it. It was when he overstepped
outside of the sexual intimacy that she tended to bristle.

Freeing herself from his hold, she
stepped to the closet where her dress hung, a modest little number in a pretty
shade of blue. As she hooked up her bra, she felt Reece watching her every move
and gave her hips a little extra sway.

“Asking for it,
darlin
’.”

“Always.”
And she slipped on the dress before toeing into the matching heels,
then
eased past him and out the bedroom door. The tension
would build for the rest of the evening, and culminate in another round of hot,
exciting sex with their brand of kink. He might smack her ass for teasing him.
Lord, she loved the man. And not just for his physicality. Reece Murdoch was a
more mature, grown version of the boy she’d fallen for all those years
ago—solid, stable and smart. Incredibly handsome and built didn’t hurt either.

****

Running his palm over his jaw,
tracing the same path Candace had outlined, Reece decided to shave while he
showered. She tended to make gentle suggestions like that, and her frisky foray
into giving him an order was mere foreplay for what lay ahead. But it was their
first meal with guests. It was important to her, and he’d do anything for his
little miss. His cock, already hard from that embrace and kiss, twitched
against his zipper, and he grimaced. It was going to be a long evening but
worth it at the end. He’d make up for those small friction burns with other
stimulation. He’d brought her a little something for later, and he dug the
packet out of his pocket, placing it into the top drawer of his nightstand.
His.
And hers.
God, he’d despaired
of ever getting that woman back in his bed, and then to learn what her father
had done...