'Tis the Season to be Steamy

Today I'm participating in Nicole Morgan's Hot Winter Nights blog hop. Nicole has challenged her author friends to come up with posts that will warm you up and make you forget all about blizzards and below zero temperatures. Every single one of us is offering a prize. In addition, Nicole is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card and a big bundle of ebooks.

For more details, just visit http://nicolemorganauthor.blogspot.com/  or click on the festive gentleman above!

You'll find links to all the participating authors at the end of this post.

Meanwhile, my offering is a sexy, snowy soak in a hot tub, from my holiday M/M/F ménage Almost Home.  

Suzanne and Gino have history going back to high school, but for years Suzanne has been three thousand miles away, preoccupied with her challenging career. A mistletoe kiss at a holiday party reminds her of their old bond and proves that some things get better with age. When Gino rescues her from a New England blizzard, though, she discovers that she's not the only love in his life. Gino shares his bed and his colonial-era farm house with taciturn painter Harris Steele. Snowed in, without electricity or running water, the three explore the many shapes a triangle can assume. Although she's far away from her everyday existence, Suzanne realizes that she's almost home.

After you read the excerpt, be sure to leave a comment. I'll be giving away a copy of this book to one lucky person who comments. Please include your email address – so I can find you if you win!

Have fun!

****

Suzanne had never seen stars so bright. The night sky was a black bowl above them, studded with blazing jewels. The snow blanketing the yard gleamed with some faint inner radiance. At the edges of the property, evergreens clustered in deeper shadow like silent sentinels.

She took a deep breath of the crystalline air, so cold and sharp it hurt her lungs. The tiny hairs inside her nose stood on end. Her earlobes felt like icicles. From the neck down, though, she was bathed in delicious warmth. The bizarre contrast almost made her giggle.

Smooth, hard muscle brushed her thigh. After a moment, roving fingers skittered across her lap and burrowed into her pubic fur. A fiery bolt of lust struck her core.

“Gino!” she scolded. “Behave!”

“Why should I?” asked her lover, rubbing his body against hers under the surface of the water. “Harry doesn’t mind. Do you?”

The lanky blond on Gino’s other flank grinned. “Not at all. Long as you keep up what you’re doing over here, that is.”

Harris had untied his ponytail. His golden locks flowed over his shoulders, darkening to sepia where wet. With his thin face and chiselled features, he looked like some warrior ascetic, a knight on a quest for some sacred prize. Suzanne could understand why Gino found him attractive. She wondered whether he really was one-hundred percent gay.

Leaning back against the redwood wall and closing her eyes, she allowed the peace of the night to enfold her. Her limbs were heavy. Her heart felt as though it was about to overflow.

The growl of motors and a rattling of metal reached her ears. Gino’s solar-heated hot tub was at the back of the house, away from the street. Still, the faint noise shattered the intense quiet of the snow-smothered night.

“Ploughs,” said Harris, cocking his head in the direction of the sound. “At last.” He pointed to the cloudless sky. “Looks like they were wrong about more snow, though.”

“We’ll drive you over to Pelham early tomorrow morning,” Gino added. “Actually, the highway department might have towed your car already. We’ll call first, assuming we’ve got power. Anyway, don’t worry, you’re likely to be well on your way back home by tomorrow afternoon.”

Home. Suzanne didn’t want to think about California—her neat, modern, empty condo, all the problems and decisions awaiting her at work, the bland weather and the vacant sky.

“There’s no rush,” she said finally. “I’m going to miss my Monday appointment anyway. But thank you.” She squeezed Gino’s hand. “For everything.”

Now, despite all that they had done together, she found she was shy. Steam drifted up in pale swirls from the heated surface of the water. Underneath, she could barely make out the shape of their naked limbs. “I’m going to miss you,” she murmured finally. “Both of you.”

“You’ll be back for Christmas, though, won’t you?” Gino’s eyes were shadowed but Suzanne understood the yearning she’d see there, if there were more light.

“Maybe…” she began. She imagined another holiday with her parents, pleasant but predictable. They wouldn’t mind if she disappeared after the opening of the presents. And suddenly she couldn’t bear the thought of not being with Gino again, very soon. “Yes. I’ll be back. I promise.”

“Wonderful.” Gino pulled her into a kiss that made her heart pound and her pussy tremble. “You can stay over, you know,” he added when he finally released her. “You can stay for as long as you want.”

“The house has six bedrooms,” Harris commented. “Way more space than we need.”

“Yeah—even with my office and Harry’s studio, there are two rooms we barely use.”

“We do have broadband Internet, by the way. Even if we don’t have mobile service.”

“There’s a local limo company that can get you to Logan in two hours. Harry uses it when he has an exhibition in New York…”

“This is freak weather,” Harris interrupted. “Most winters we don’t get much snow…”

“And the summers here are glorious, green everywhere, bright sun and lingering twilights, fresh sweet corn and luscious home-grown tomatoes…”

“I know!” Suzanne couldn’t keep from laughing. “I grew up here, remember?”

“I thought that maybe you’d forgotten,” said Gino, his voice soft.

“No,” she replied, flush with a recollection of the loyal, clever tease he’d been in school. “I remember very well.” She looked from one to the other, then swallowed hard. She might be misinterpreting, but she had to get things out in the open. “It almost sounds like you’re trying to convince me to move in with you.”

“Would you like to?” asked Gino, a tiny quaver in his voice. “Would you consider it?”

“I—might,” she started slowly, her mind already reeling with ideas for how she could manage her work remotely. “But—are you really sure you want me? After such a short time together?”

“I think twenty two years is more than enough time to know what I want.”

“Yes, but—what about Harris?”

“If Gino wants you, I’m willing to give it a try.” Harris gave her one of those devilish smiles. “It might be fun, Suzy Q.”

Hearing Gino’s pet name on Harris’ lips gave her a little thrill.

Gino circled her shoulders with one strong arm. “I think you’d complete us. Balance us.” His firm lips fastened on hers. His tongue gently urged her mouth open. He drank her in, as though he were savouring a vintage wine. When he kissed her, all her doubts evaporated. This was where she belonged.

“I’ll think about it,” she answered when he finally let her go. “There are a lot of practical issues…” She didn’t want to get his hopes up. She might have second thoughts.

“We’ll solve the problems,” said Harris. “Together.” He grabbed Gino’s hair and wrenched his lover’s head back, then planted a long fierce kiss on Gino’s laughing mouth.

Suzanne gazed at them, fascinated, sensing the passion that circulated between them. She grew more aroused by the instant. It was crazy. Outrageous. It was totally outside the bounds of propriety. But it just might work out.

*****

Don't forget to comment! This counts as an entry for the grand prizes, too!