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This is an excerpt from my contemporary erotic romance (m/m/f), Perfect Formation, which was released in March 2009.
The blurb:
Friends for much longer than they’ve been lovers, Taryn and Richard enjoy each other’s company while looking for “Mr. Right”. When the darkly handsome Caleb walks into their lives, the sexual attraction is instant and mutual—for all three. Caleb wines and dines them then shows them how good it can be if they trust him to lead the way. One night is all it takes to prove that the three of them are a perfect match, at least in the bedroom.
Taryn has to decide if explosive sex and the feelings quickly overtaking her are worth the risk of losing it all—again. Richard sees Caleb and Taryn as the perfect couple but isn’t so sure there will always be room for him in their ménage a trois. Sexual dominant Caleb has to suppress his urge to tie them to the bed until they understand that they both belong with him—forever. But if they don’t come around soon, he’ll be pulling those ropes out after all.
Enjoy!
Taryn had been planning on raiding the fridge for Mama’s leftovers but decided that drastic cooking measures were called for to get Richard’s mind off deranged fathers. She hopped up off the couch.
“Come on, let’s make dinner.”
“I think Caleb wanted us to eat up the leftovers.”
“Too bad. Let’s make him something extra yummy for having to work late.” She grabbed his hand and pulled with all her weight so that he was forced not only to stand, but catch her when the action nearly sent her to the ground. He didn’t smile but he did follow her instructions to go change clothes. Taryn went into the kitchen and made her own special preparation.
The look on Richard’s face when he walked in made being a bit uncomfortable totally worth it. She had taken off her jeans and t-shirt and was wearing only her bra, panties and an oversized apron that hung very low on her chest.
He came to her and squeezed her tight. “I’m so glad you’re a part of my life.”
“Yeah, whatever. What are you going to make me for dinner? I think it should involve dessert. Preferably, something with chocolate.”
He swatted her on the butt. “Let’s see what we have.”
They opted to make chicken picatta for dinner and strawberry shortcake with chocolate sauce for dessert, since Caleb actually had fresh strawberries in the fridge.
“Do you ever wonder if Caleb appreciates the fact that he now has a well-stocked kitchen?” Richard mused, pulling out the cutting board.
“Well, if he’s anything like me, mostly he appreciates that he has a well-stuffed chef.” Taryn started doing what she always did when cooking with Richard. Put together the salad then sat on the counter to entertain him. She had turned the radio on, deciding it was a rock kind of night and stopped on a station known for its eclectic mix. Aerosmith was playing and she turned it up.
“I can’t believe you just said that. You want to pound the chicken breasts?”
Abandoning the tomato she was chopping, Taryn bopped her way over to where Richard had put a chicken breast into a large Ziploc bag for her. She took the offered mallet and enjoyed pounding the breast until Richard made her stop and switch to the next piece.
“I’m sorry that as your best friend I never realized that you had a problem with the whole family thing. I hope I never made you feel too uncomfortable with mine.”
She paused mid-swing to look at him. “It wasn’t like that, I swear. They’re great, I didn’t mind being near them. I just didn’t want to be…well, part of them, I guess. I don’t know, it’s not like I was thinking, ‘hey, I really like Richard but I don’t want to be part of a family’. It was more unconscious, you know?”
“I still should have noticed.”
Resuming her strikes, Taryn shook her head. “Hell, Rick, I barely noticed. I should be apologizing to you, not the other way around.”
“Mmm-hmm, because it’s all about you.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
They worked in silence for a few minutes. Richard was shuffling around, doing things with flour that she didn’t pay much attention to. She switched to the last chicken breast then moved back to the tomatoes, humming along with Weezer on the radio.
The sizzling sounds of meat hitting the pan brought her to him. He angled so that she could lean in and smell the delicious scents, knowing that was one of her favorite parts of “helping” him cook. She moved back a bit so he had room to do his thing, but rested against his side.
“A lot has changed in four weeks. For both of us. For all of us, actually,” he said, using the tongs to peek at the underside of the chicken.
“I wonder what he was like, as a single guy.”
Richard cocked his head in thought. “That’s a good question. I don’t get the feeling he went out a lot, partying at least. Probably he spent a little more time at his brother’s house. It’s kind of weird that we never met him at the bar. I mean, we didn’t go all the time, but we must have been three or four times this year.”
“Maybe we weren’t ready for him.”
“Maybe not. I’m not sure we were ready for him four weeks ago.” Richard turned the meat.
“Good point,” she answered as he casually put his free arm around her before letting that hand roam her mostly naked backside. She let him play for a moment before spinning away, dancing to the Rolling Stones.
“Can’t let dinner burn,” she teased him.
She returned to the salad, putting the avocado pieces she had been cutting into the large bowl, then tossing everything together. When she turned back he had put the chicken on a plate and was once again working with the pan. She went to set the table and called Caleb to make sure he would be home soon. He assured her that he was on his way.
Taryn hopped up on the counter to watch Richard finish the meal. He was so sexy in the kitchen, masterful but relaxed, always enjoying himself. She had seen him in doctor mode a couple of times, and while that had a high hotness factor as well, it was different. In that situation he was supremely focused on the patient, his whole being centered on what he was seeing, hearing, learning. When he cooked, it was more instinctual, and much more relaxed.
“Caleb said he would be here soon, you can go ahead and plate his up, too,” she told him as he turned the flame off.
“I’m glad. I hate the idea of him working late to deal with this.”
“I think he enjoys it. Just like you enjoy cooking for us.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
They worked together to get everything on the table. When it was ready, Richard reached over and switched the stereo from FM to CD. Ella Fitzgerald came on and he pulled Taryn into his arms.
Neither of them were really dancers but they could sway with the best of them. Besides, it was hard to focus on what moves to make when his arms were full of nearly naked woman. His woman. When he had walked into the kitchen and seen her like that, his heart had skipped a beat. Not only at the sexy package she presented, but knowing that she was doing it to distract him and to lift his spirits. It had certainly worked.
He let one hand drift to her ass and the other played with the hair at the nape of her neck. She leaned into him, so trusting, and he vowed not to let his insecurities damage what he had. Because they were right, he had both of them, damn it, and he wasn’t going to let either one of them go.
He heard the front door open and waited until he was sure Caleb could see them before spinning around so that he was facing the hallway and Taryn’s backside was presented to the other man. Taryn burrowed her face into his shoulder but he could feel her smile.
“Well. That’s a lovely sight. Delicious dinner waiting on the table for a man when he gets home from a hard day at work.”
They all laughed and Taryn turned in his arms. Caleb came to them and kissed first Richard, then Taryn. They stayed that way, not moving, for a whole minute before Caleb cleared his throat.
“Let’s eat. Fast.”
I hope you enjoyed this excerpt of Perfect Formation. For more information you can see the book page here, read some reviews, or the publisher’s page (including purchase and a different excerpt 😀 ) here. Take a look at the rest of the offerings for Excerpt Monday!
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A group of authors and readers on Twitter decided it would be fun to make baseball-style trading cards for romance characters. And Romance Trading Cards was born. You can find authors who are participating on the website. A lot of them will be attending the RT Convention, as well as RWA’s national conference in New York this summer.
