Today
I’m participating in the Blissemas Snogs in the Snow event. I’ve
got an excerpt from my holiday M/M/F ménage
Almost
Home, set in a hot tub in rural New England, after a
blizzard. I vividly remember living through storms like this one,
where there’s so much snow it pretty much paralyzes normal life—and
you have time to think about other things!
Leave
me a comment telling me about your most memorable encounter with
snow. You could win a $5 bookstore gift certificate!
And
don’t miss all the other Snogs in the Snow. Most of the other
authors are doing giveaways, too.
Home
is a state of heart.
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.
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.”
