Sedonia Guillone

I’m am so thrilled to announce the release of an erotic short story by John Burdett, the best-selling author of Bangkok 8, the Sonchai Jitpleecheep detective series.

Freedom Angel
Author: John Burdett
Genre: F/M/F Menage; Contemporary; Multi-cultural
eISBN: 9780983374725
Length: Novelette
MSRP: 3.99
You pay: 1.99

Cover art: Les Byerley

Buy from Ai Press!
A story of erotic temptations and new beginnings by John Burdett, best-selling author of Bangkok 8. After a painful breakup with her fiance, Angel travels on a whim to Thailand. A chance meeting on a plane with a mysterious stranger leads to an erotic journey that awakens her to a life she never imagined possible.

On the surface, Hank is a proper English businessman, a wealthy man who resides in the tropics. But as Angel enters his world, she finds there is more to him than she ever thought she wanted. Does she have the courage and inner strength to live a thoroughly unconventional but fulfilling life, or will she run back to the safety of what she’s always known?

John Burdett has published seven novels including the Bangkok series Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts, The Godfather of Kathmandu and the soon to be released Vulture Peak.

Publisher’s note: This story contains multiple partner sex, including F/F interaction.

Yay! I’m so excited to announce the release of my new m/f/m menage. And my first M/F/M with M/M as part of the relationship. Available at Ai Press! Here’s the info, blurb and teaser:

Genre: Menage a trois; Contemporary
eISBN: 978-0-9833747-6-3
Length: Novel (46,134 words)
MSRP: 7.99
You pay: 4.99

Also available at Kindle, All Romance Ebooks and BN Nook.

No sex with friends! This is the personal rule that Hana lives by to keep things simple with her two best friends, Hiko and Shinji even though they’re two of the hottest guys she’s ever met. She’s afraid of risking their friendships that way, and besides, she could never choose between them, they’re both so wonderful. Little does she know!

When Hana loses her job as a clothing designer, Hiko and Shinji, afraid to let her get depressed over it offer to pose in erotic positions for her while she sketches what she hopes to be the manlove graphic novel that will launch her career as a manga artist. Hana sees no harm in this. It’s the fantasy of a lifetime and very kind of them to offer. The perfect arrangement until…

Seeing Hiko and Shinji together arouses Hana to no end. How will she be able to control herself watching their naked bodies entwined, watching them engage in acts that are the stuff of her wildest fantasies? And then, she makes a shocking discovery while passing by Hiko’s room in the middle of the night. Are things getting out of hand? Or rather, ahem, in hand?

Hiko and Shinji have both been in love with Hana for a long time and out of their love for her, they’ve never pushed her about getting romantic even though they know she’s in love with them too. But when the opportunity arises to pose for her, they see their perfect chance to do away with sexual deprivation and get the woman they love into a position of their own.

Content warning: Contains male/male sexual acts, voyeurism, exhibitionism and multiple partner sex.

Excerpt:

Ohhh. Hana covered her mouth to stifle her cry. Then she blinked. Was this possible?
Keeping her hand firmly over her mouth she sank to her knees in the hallway shadows and leaned forward as much as she dared. Her heart leaped into her throat. Had Hiko really just rolled on top of Shinji? Were they really naked in the bed together, their mouths locked together in a deep hot kiss?

The shoji was slightly open, the way she’d left it when she’d gone back to her room to draw, fully expecting that Shinji would leave after her to go to his room. How absolutely wrong she’d been. Now, her trip to the kitchen for a drink of water had become something more. Much, much more.

Like lovers, her two friends undulated in the bed, their bodies entwined.

Her heart pounded. Heated blood coursed through every vein in her body with each thud of her heart like darts of fire. Searing warmth concentrated at the apex of her thighs and pulsed. Her breasts were full and heavy, her nipples grazing her bra.

She blinked again, still thinking the vision would dispel. But it didn’t. Hiko’s muscular body and pale skin contrasted with the tan hue of Shinji’s slimmer frame. Shinji’s legs were locked around Hiko’s hips, the soles of his feet resting on the backs of Hiko’s sloping thighs. Like every yaoi manga she’d ever read, the two men sighed and moaned, emanating passion.

Guilt assailed her. She was violating their privacy, spying on them like this. But then, they shouldn’t have left the door open, right? She started to turn but was drawn back by another masculine moan. Her gaze whipped up to the bed. Hiko had pulled from Shinji’s kiss and nibbled at his collarbone. One of his large hands spanned Shinji’s hip, holding him firmly as he kissed a slow, sensuous trail downward.

The throbbing in her pussy intensified. She sat, frozen, staring at them, feeling her eyes stretch open as wide as they’d go. Hiko’s tongue came out and licked across Shinji’s dark nipple. Shinji arched his back, as if to push his flesh deeper into Hiko’s mouth. She stifled another moan, lest her friends catch her spying. Her cheeks burned mercilessly, both with excitement and guilt, yet she couldn’t have moved even if someone had set her on fire.

Gleaming ribbons of cum streaked the two men’s muscles. Oh, wow. One of them had climaxed before she’d passed by the door on her way to the kitchen and then became rooted to her spot, watching them. Hiko skimmed thick fingertips over Shinji’s stomach, gathering the milky fluid.

Lifting his mouth from Shinji’s chest, he leaned back.

Hana gaped. In all the years she’d known Hiko and Shinji, she’d never seen either of them naked. Hiko’s erection pointed upward with the angle of his body. Thick and veined, it jutted from a nest of inky black hair that fanned around it, funneling into a thin trail up to his navel.
She gulped. Her eyes felt as if they would bulge from her head. She shifted her posture, trying to relieve the pressure on her swollen, moist pussy. Her gaze locked onto Hiko, who was smoothing the cum up and down the shaft of his cock. He gathered more cum and reached between Shinji’s legs, into the crevice of his ass cheeks. Ohhh. His thick fingertips worked over Shinji’s hole while Shinji groaned and arched his back. Shinji was a natural uke, the way he submitted to the man who was preparing to take him.

“Is that okay, Shin-chan?” Hiko murmured. One large finger disappeared into Shinji’s eager depths, then a second.

“Yes, yes!” Shinji’s voice was a fevered whisper.

Shock waves travelled through her whole being. Had Shinji secretly been in love with Hiko the entire time they’d known each other? She stared at his face, momentarily distracted from Hiko’s fingers in Shinji’s ass. Shinji had always had female admirers. He also seemed to love her, the way he’d look at her with devotion and told her how pretty she was all the time. Had he been lying? Or did he simply like men too? Guilt stabbed her even through her shocked fascination.

Author: Mya
Genre: M/M; Paranormal; Shapeshifter
Length: Novel (87,612 words)
eISBN: 978-0-9833747-7-0
MSRP: 8.99
You pay: 5.79

Available in PDF, Kindle, Nook and Sony formats at Ai Press!
Cover art: Les Byerley

Seth Burgess is a werecat and a thief, always up for a challenge. Like many of his Felia brethren he ignores the rich heritage of his kind and embraces the fast, progressive world of humans. When approached with the task of stealing a priceless treasure from his own kind, he thinks nothing of the repercussions. Stealing into a cavern with notions of wealth and excitement on his mind, the last thing Seth expects to encounter is Crnswar, the Lord of the Basti, a race of feral werecats who embrace the old ways. Captured and nearly killed, Seth’s punishment is to leave the fast-paced world behind and to serve his rural brethren and their lord.

However, during his servitude, he has dreams unlike any other—vivid, erotic encounters with the Basti Lord that leave his heart breathless and his body sated with an ecstasy he’s never known. Bound to the regal werecat Crnswar by a connection that ravages his very soul, Seth realizes that there’s more to his destiny than just wealth, prestige and power and he sets his sight on stealing what he’s never supposed to have: the heart of the Basti lord. However, when Seth’s past comes back in the form of a power-maddened werecat, Seth will be used to trap and kill Crnswar. Seth must fight not only to win over the man he loves, but for their very lives!
Publisher’s note: This book contains male/male sexual acts.

~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt

Crnswar placed a large hand, each finger tipped in razor-sharp talons, upon Seth’s chest. “So afraid,” he said. “Your heart is ready to leap from your chest, but you must like that. You have to. Is it like this when you steal? When you’ve infiltrated someone’s defenses, broken their feelings of security and made away with your prize? Is this how it feels? Is this what you like?”

The Basti lord had to have the darkest eyes that Seth had ever seen. Black, unforgiving, abysmal. They didn’t show the slightest bit of sympathy. They filled him with fear, those eyes, fear and something else. Humility.

Crnswar moved his hand from Seth’s chest and put his deadly claws against Seth’s throat. “Is this what you were looking for?”

The tip of Crnswar’s nails pressed against his flesh, and Seth didn’t dare move. His body reacted to the danger, still upon the surface and wildly excited beneath. It had to be wrong, to be so excited by such a threatening situation. Yet he could feel his arousal stirring. “No. Not this. Not like this,” he stammered.

Crnswar looked at him through narrowed eyes. “But isn’t it a rush? The kind that makes your heart jerk within your chest?”

It was. Trapped by those onyx eyes, Seth felt vulnerable to the beast before him. And damned if he wasn’t hard as hell. His cock pressed adamantly against the fabric of his pants, and the feel of the cat lord’s nails moving over his carotid made him all the more aware of his racing pulse.

“How much can you take?” Crnswar asked, leaning forward. “I think a great deal. I think that you are stronger than you know. You could stand for something, believe in something, be something, if only you knew what you wanted to become.”

Seth knew little more than the shape of Crnswar’s mouth, the smooth, full lips, parted, succulent.

“I doubt you know what you want, to be or otherwise. Am I wrong?”

He didn’t have time to think, to ponder the question, because just then Crnswar gave him something that he realized he did want.

Covering Seth’s lips with his own, the Basti lord claimed him. He possessed Seth’s mouth with a kiss that demanded submission, grasping the back of Seth’s closely shorn scalp and holding him in place for the assault.

Seth couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even move. Crnswar had him by the waist, brought him flush against hard muscle. He could feel the iron-like hardness of the male’s cock prodding his stomach, smell nothing more than the heady, strong musk of the beast. There was little room for breathing, none for participation, and not even his tongue could evade being sucked between Crnswar’s lips.

Crnswar took him as if he were a feast to be gorged upon, and he did not back down, not even after fangs drew blood and flavored both of their mouths.

It was unlike any rush he had ever had, supernatural or no. Hell, Seth doubted that stealing the accursed Hope Diamond itself would have garnered such excitement as what ran lava-like in his veins. He was light-headed and liquid limbed, but he did not, could not fight the wanting for more.

As far as his hands could dare, Seth gripped the cat lord’s waist and thought of never breathing again. If only he could have Crnswar’s tongue bathing with his in the pool of their saliva, hot and alive, then little else mattered.

Just as the pressure threatened to build too high, dangerously high, Crnswar released him.

Panting like a bellows fueling a forge, Seth noticed his own blood coloring Crnswar’s lips in a smear of crimson. He felt as if he had been fed on, as if some piece of him had been taken. Surely, if Crnswar hadn’t been holding him still, Seth would have fallen to the ground weak with passion-numbed limbs. “Damn…” he breathed.

Crnswar stuck his tongue out, cleansed his lips first and then his fangs of all the ruby traces. “Yes. You are damned. Are you afraid?”

Speech was a hard thing to accomplish when looking into black eyes that glistened like everything dark and dangerous. It was practically impossible when looking at lips that were savoring ones taste and seeming all the hungrier for it.

Just this morning I sent Delicious Love Triangle off to Final Line Edits. Once those are done, I can release the book! Yay! It took me awhile to get finished but that’s because I was composing the story carefully, needing more time that with other books to get everything just so. I hope you will love it.

So, here’s a teaser from the story. In this scene, Shinji and Hiko are going to pose for Hana so she can make some sketches for her yaoi manga. However, her friends have more than just helping Hana to finish her graphic novel in mind. They both know that Hana loves them and won’t let herself be with them and they’re hoping that posing like this can help move things along. And well, they’re very fond of each other too. Thanks for reading!

Excerpt:

“I’m here.” Hana said near the partly open screen. She politely stood to the side until Hiko told her to come in. She appeared in the doorway, large drawing pad in hand. She looked at them, her eyes widening.
“We won’t bite you, Na-chan,” Hiko said. “Unless you get too close.”
A tiny smile came to her lips. Shinji had always loved her smile. She was like a little wood nymph with her large soft eyes, heart-shaped face and Cupid’s bow lips. She took a few steps into the room and knelt on the shaggy area rug over the tatami flooring Hiko had laid in each bedroom.
“Do you need a stool or something?” Hiko asked her.
She shook her head, slowly turning over the cover of the drawing pad and taking a pencil from behind her ear.
Shinji cleared his throat. “What do you want us to do?”
Uncertainty slipped through Hana’s huge eyes. “I…don’t know.”
“I remember some of the drawings in the manuscript.” Hiko climbed onto the bed on his knees. “Come here, Shin-chan. Get on your knees in front of me.” He winked.
Shinji followed the instruction, heart pounding anew. In seconds, he was kneeling in front of Hiko, face to face. Hiko’s wide torso made him feel so narrow. What felt like darts of invisible heat seemed to emanate from Hiko’s body and sink into his own skin, as if Hiko had a force field around him.
“From what I’ve seen of those manga,” Hiko went on, “there are all those passionate embraces. Why don’t we begin with one of those?” He looked at both of them, as if for approval.
“Sure,” Shinji said.
Hana gave one firm nod. “Hai.” She lifted her pencil, her gaze apprehensive yet intensely curious.
Hiko looked at him. His large dark eyes took on that simmering look again, the one he’d gotten just before their kiss earlier that night. “Ready?”
Shinji nodded. That jumping-off-the-precipice sensation overcame him again as Hiko’s brawny arms closed around him. The hardness and heat of the other man’s body invaded his chest and stomach. Their torsos pressed together and Hiko’s large, callused hands palmed his back. The touch was hot, vibrant, like brands on his bare skin.
Shinji’s heartbeat galloped. He returned the embrace. Hard, bunched muscles met his palms. The embrace brought their entire fronts together. Heat zinged through his cock at the light press through their underwear. Involuntarily, Shinji’s eyes fluttered closed. Hiko’s breath was warm against the side of his neck.
Hiko pulled him closer. One large hand slid up Shinji’s back and thick fingers burrowed into his hair. Hiko’s chest muscles brushed his nipples.
Hana dragged in a noisy breath. Her pencil scraped across the paper.
Hiko’s erection nestled firmly against his. The friction made Shinji’s cock tingle and heat flushed his chest. He fought not to pant as Hiko moved back and forth, so slowly, someone watching might not see it. His thumb rubbed one of the tendons in Shinji’s neck. Shinji’s breathing deepened. Hiko’s power, the command he must have as a lover showed in the burning yet restrained sensuality of his movements.
“Is this what you need, Na-chan?” Hiko asked, his breath pulsing warmly on Shinji’s neck.
“Hai.” Hana sounded breathless and her pencil never stopped its light skittering over the paper.
“You feel good, Shin-chan,” Hiko whispered, so close to his ear Hana could never have heard it. He followed the statement with a tiny lick on Shinji’s earlobe.
Shinji pulled in a breath. Lust skittered down his back and darted into his groin. He closed his eyes and tilted his head. Hiko’s lips landed on the side of his throat. And rested there.
Ohhh. Shinji stifled a moan. His hands rested on Hiko’s thick triceps, which flexed with each tiny movement. When Hiko brushed the tip of his tongue back and forth, Shinji dug his fingers into the muscle more deeply, his body surrendering to Hiko’s. In the haze of his mind, he heard Hana’s pencil scribble furiously over the paper.
Hiko lifted his face from Shinji’s neck and looked down at him, eyes looking glazed, almost…wild, his skin pale but flushed along the cheekbones. Then he turned to Hana. “How about another pose?”
“Ah, yes. That would be good.” Hana’s voice was tight, almost husky.
Hiko flashed her a devilish smile. “I know just the one. I’ve seen it on your storyboards,” Hiko said and slid his large hands down to the small of Shinji’s back and tugged. “Come, Shin-chan, straddle my lap.” In one motion, he sat back and brought Shinji down with him.
Their groins rubbed. Shinji’s breath hitched. Hiko’s cock bulged hard against his through their briefs and the pleasurable friction paralyzed him. He grasped Hiko’s shoulders and arched his back.
Hiko’s warm breath caressed his chest, and his large hands splayed over Shinji’s back. Hiko pressed his lips to the center of Shinji’s chest. The sensation sent delicious shivers into his nipples. Involuntarily, he tilted his head back, eyes closed, aware that he was only half-posing. The other half was really getting into the heat between him and Hiko.
Heavy breathing crashed in his ears and several moments passed before he distinguished the rhythm of his own breaths from Hiko’s and Hana’s.
She knelt nearby, sketching away. “I’m almost finished with this one.”
“Okay,” Hiko murmured then brushed his lips almost secretly back and forth over the same spot on Shinji’s chest. Darts of icy heat trilled through Shinji’s skin. His heart pounded and his erection was so tight now it was getting painful.
What would happen if Hana weren’t in the room? He imagined Hiko’s tongue sliding over his nipples or Hiko’s large hand pushing into his briefs and stroking his cock.
“Done.” Hana lowered her pencil and heaved a breath.
Hiko lifted his mouth from Shinji’s chest, eyes dark with hunger. His erection jumped against Shinji’s as if to say, ‘You and I aren’t finished yet.’
Shinji looked at Hana. Color stained her cheeks. Her smooth skin glowed from a sheen of perspiration and her eyes, though full of concentration, held a dazed look. Her nipples poked mercilessly at her bra and tank, as if they’d tear right through the material. Above the neckline, her chest showed a flush of dappled color. From the way she looked, her pussy was probably soaking wet too.
His erection surged against Hiko’s, which still pressed to his. Shinji’s mind reeled. He’d stayed so long in a safe zone that now he felt as if he’d swallowed some kind of pill that was making the world look fuzzy and strange.
“Do you need another pose, Na-chan?” Hiko asked.
She stared at them, her soft lips parted. “Um, well, only if it’s okay.”
Hiko chuckled. “Fine with me. Shinji?”
He nodded. “Fine.” His gaze dropped to Hiko’s lips. He liked the shape of his friend’s lips, firm and perfectly shaped, their dusky pink color inviting.
As if reading his mind, Hiko said, “A kiss for this pose.”
“Yes,” Hana said, sounding breathless.
Shinji heard the large pages of the pad being flipped over. Hiko’s large hands, still splayed on his back, eased him closer with a gentle but commanding tug. Electric fire jolted through Shinji’s body. Without thinking, he laced one hand into Hiko’s short but sleek hair. He tilted his face, leaning closer. Hiko’s warm breath caressed his lips and they hovered close, teasing each other with the closeness, the warmth of anticipation.
Hiko closed the space first. The touch of his lips sent a thrill through Shinji’s body. As if he were liquid, he melted against the larger man, burrowing his fingers deeper into Hiko’s hair. What’s going on with me? The question spiraled through Shinji’s fevered mind. Hiko’s tongue stole between his lips and glided against his tongue. Back and forth, in tiny licks, Hiko was tasting him, just enough so that they didn’t break their pose but were really kissing, not just posing.
For what felt like a long time they stayed that way, lips pressed together, tongues flirting with the deeper kiss they couldn’t explore. Instead, Shinji breathed in Hiko’s scent, felt his friend’s breath pass into him like an exchange of souls.
Did he love both his friends the same way?
Finally, Hana’s pencil stopped scraping over the paper. “I’m done.” Her voice was so tremulous Shinji wondered if she was about to come.
Hiko broke their kiss, pulling away with a tiny sound of suction. His broad chest rose and fell heavily and his lids half-covered his eyes.
Shinji looked into Hiko’s eyes. Desire like an electric current moved between them. If there’d been any question they were just posing and nothing else, the doubt was erased. The two of them were about to spill over the edge of something that would change them forever.
Hana shifted and he slid away from Hiko’s warm body and looked at her flushed face.
“Thank you,” she breathed. “Thank you so much.” She rose to her feet, the pad in front of her, like a shield.
“Do you have what you need?” Hiko asked.
She gave several quick nods. “I think so. I’ll work on these tonight.” As she spoke, she backed toward the door.
“We can do more tomorrow night, Na-chan.”
Hana nodded again at Hiko. “Yes, tomorrow. Thank you.” She backed through the door and went to her room, forgetting to slide the shoji closed.
Shinji’s heart lurched as he stared at the open space into the hallway. A short distance away, he heard Hana’s screen slide closed and click shut. “I think we scared her.”
But Hiko shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “I’ll bet anything her panties are soaked. She probably ran to her room to, you know… He made a rubbing gesture with one hand down by his groin, mimicking the way a woman would touch herself.
The thought fueled the fire in Shinji’s cock. His hard-on still bulged against his boxer briefs.
Hiko’s hand covered his. “Shin-chan.”
Warmth skittered up Shinji’s arm. “Yeah?”
“Stay a while?”
Shinji tingled. Everywhere. He nodded. “Yes.”

No cover yet but this picture is an inspiration for this story I’m working on for an anthology I’ll be doing with hot M/M author D.H. Starr! I’m soooo psyched. Hopefully it will be ready sometime in Winter 2011. But I wanted to share a teaser (the whole first chapter, actually) of one of my stories that will be going into the collection.

Just a quick intro to the plot: Tomohito Nakadai has been in love with his best friend Jun since childhood. Unfortunately, Jun has other ambitions for his life besides returning his friend’s soul-searing passion for him. A successful bar host, Jun wants to live a life of luxury and material success…or so Tomohito thinks…until a tragedy derails Jun’s career, forcing both him and Tomo to face their own hearts and to decide what’s really important: material success and frustrated silence – or honesty and requited passion.

Excerpt: (unedited)

I’m an ordinary man with an ordinary life in every way. Except for Jun.
That’s what I think to myself every night when I watch Jun getting ready for work. He’s everything I’m not. Where I’m larger and full of muscles from doing physical work, my hands rough and callused, Jun is slender, willowy, his musculature lightly etched under his smooth golden skin. While my face is wide, my jaw squarish, my beard heavy and in need of shaving sometimes twice a day, Jun has what women call a “soy sauce face,” delicately-featured with high cheekbones, his eyes the shape of perfect almonds, beautiful, as if a calligrapher had brushed him into being. His lips are soft and voluptuous, as if always pursed for a kiss.
While I wear my hair short, every day guy-like, Jun highlights his and wears it in long perfectly-sculpted spikes that hang down over his forehead, leaving space for his eyes. I dress in t-shirts and jeans while Jun always wears the latest in scoop-necked shirts and heavy silver chains with crosses, long leather duster coats, boots and pants with studded belts, as if he’s just walked off a fashion model’s runway.
We’re so vastly different, I’m convinced we wouldn’t even have become friends had Jun’s mother not been living in the same apartment building years ago when Jun and I were still kids. She worked as a bar hostess nights, leaving Jun alone all the time. Jun’s father was long out of his life, so long that Jun never even remembered what he looked like. My dad, rest his soul, helped her out by having Jun come and stay with us in the evenings so he wouldn’t be alone. He practically lived here for years, so when his mom “left” him to run off with some man and start a new family on the other end of Japan, Jun just stayed.
I’d be happy if Jun just stayed here with me the rest of our lives, in this little apartment we’d once shared with Dad. But Jun has other plans for his life.
Our eyes meet in the mirror. Jun smiles. “Aren’t you bored by now?” he asks. “I do the same thing every night.”
I shake my head as he continues his perusal. He doesn’t seem to mind my lurking in the doorway of his bedroom, watching him make sure his hair is perfectly in place before he puts on the rest of his outfit. Tonight it’s a silver ascot tucked into a black button-down blouse. A silver vest matches the ascot, all atop closely-fitting black slacks. When he finishes and studies the effect in his full-length mirror, I wonder if he sees himself as I do: a human work of art.
I could never be bored by Jun. To me he glows like a star. He’s more beautiful than the pink cherry blossom petals that fill the air when the spring breezes pull them from the branches by the millions.
He chuckles and turns back to scrutinizing his outfit. “Suit yourself.” He strikes a pose, one hip cocked out to the side, a thumb hooked into his pocket while his other hand holds the flap of his vest. The flashbulb of the photographer I imagine he wishes would capture his image on film never goes off. There’s only me, standing a few feet behind him, crowding the doorway with my hulking form, wishing Jun were free to spend the evening hanging out with me instead of hosting women in a bar.
I can’t imagine ever getting my wish. Jun is one of the top hosts where he works and he’s nearly halfway to his goal of earning enough to rent his own apartment in a swankier section of Tokyo. Shinjuku maybe. Or even Ginza if he can save up quite enough.
I suppress a sigh. What will become of us then? Jun so far away in a distant ward, living the exciting life he chases night after night. Year after year. The thought makes an ache in my chest. The ache worsens when Jun breaks his pose and turns with that ready-to-leave air about him.
At an hour when most people, myself included, are coming home from work to have dinner, play with their children go for a stroll and maybe watch some television before going to sleep, Jun is just leaving for work. He won’t be back until early in the morning. Maybe even after the sun is up, depending on what clients come in tonight. There are a couple of wealthy women he takes out to eat after the bar closes because they spend a lot of money with him. Sometimes they even go to a love hotel for a few hours.
I try not to wonder too much whether he enjoys his work. The thought just gets me depressed.
“Can’t be more ready than I am now,” he says. He retrieves the black ankle boots he’ll be wearing from his closet and heads toward the doorway. My heart squeezes as I step aside for him to pass through. He graces me with one of his smiles. “Please don’t wait up,” he murmurs. The fact that I often fall asleep on the couch with the TV on because I don’t want to be tucked away in my room when he comes home makes him feel guilty. I certainly don’t mean to make him feel that way, I just want to see him, if even for a few minutes. It doesn’t matter anyway. I never make it through the night because I have to be up so early for work, which is when I see him often just getting home.
Before leaving, Jun sets his boots down and goes over to the memorial photographs of my parents and kneels in front of the small table that holds them, as he does religiously each day. A quiet air comes over him as he lights a stick of incense. He didn’t know my mother since she died of cancer before Jun and his mother moved into the building, but he honors her memory too, out of respect to me and my father, a Tokyo detective killed in the line of duty by the stray bullet of a thief in pursuit.
I hang back quietly, allowing him his moments with my father who I know he still misses horribly, as I do until he rises, picks up his shoes and heads to the front door.
I follow him there and watch him slip on his boots. “I’ll try not to.” The empty promise I make every night. I can’t help it. My purpose in Jun’s life since I know him is to worry about him. He was a sad-looking boy, leaning against the wall of the apartment building alone while his mother was out working. As a man, the sadness still haunts his eyes even though he covers it with glitzy clothing and work that keeps him up in the wee hours of the night so his sadness won’t haunt him and keep him lying awake.
“Okay, thanks.” At the open door he pauses. His eyes lock with mine, the way they did in his mirror’s reflection. For a moment, words seem to hover on his lips and then he decides not to say them. This is something he also does regularly, leaving me to wonder what he would possibly want to say to me. Perhaps some day he will tell me, although if it’s something I’d rather not hear, then better he stays silent.
“Get there safely,” I say to his lingering form. I have my own ritual of unsaid things, one of which is, “Please stay home, Jun. You don’t have to go to that place. I’ll take care of you.” But I don’t. When I’ve said it in the past, he’s resented it and insisted that he needs to do this. He wants to “be somebody” and make something of his life, according to his own words. Yet, if he saw himself at all through my eyes, even for a moment, he’d understand. Though Jun is a grown man of twenty-seven, to me there’s something so vulnerable about him, I can’t help the eerie feeling that snakes its way through me each night he leaves for work. Tonight it’s especially strong.
“I will. See you later.”
“Definitely.”
One more flash of his silver and black clad figure and the door clicks shut behind him.
I sigh, listening to his bootsteps on the cement catwalk until the sounds fade.
Alone in the apartment, I go and kneel in front of my parents’ photographs. Smoke from the incense curls delicately into the air in front of their faces and emits a trace of musk in the air, a scent that echoes how wistful I feel. I look at my mother’s face. I was only five when she died and I don’t remember many things about her except seeing her smile at me and making sure I ate and was clean. She never knew Jun as my father did. I turn to his picture, a portrait of him in the uniform he wore before he was promoted to detective and started wearing a suit to work. In fact, this is how I remember him dressed around the time he actually added Jun to our family register as a son, the act which I’m sure really saved Jun’s life. After having been abandoned by both his parents, knowing that someone cared so much about him as to make him a son was very healing to Jun’s heart. I knew that for sure when Jun stopped calling my father “Nakadai-san” and started calling him “Dad.”
So why does he still want to go off and get a place of his own? I ask my father the question silently to his equally silent image. When Dad was alive he used to say that Jun’s demons still haunt him even though being a part of our family had helped to make him happier. He said everyone has deep, driving forces inside them that remained a mystery to themselves unless they took the time to understand them. But, he would add, it doesn’t mean that you can’t always care about Jun. Dad had learned so much about human nature in his line of work. If anyone was aware of the dark side of human beings, it was my father.
Back in my room, getting ready to shower, I also stare at the one photograph I keep on my chest of drawers. To me the image encapsulates the great happiness of my life—me and Jun and my dad during hanami. We’re sitting on our plastic sheet in the park not far from our apartment, under the enchanting canopy of cherry blossom trees. In front of us are scattered the empty bento boxes that had held our meals of rice and barbecued skewers of pork. Dad had been taking a picture of me and Jun when a passing couple had offered to take the picture for him so that he could be in it with his sons. That night after we got home, Dad told me and Jun of his decision to put Jun on the family register.
I owe the fact that Jun hasn’t really gotten into trouble to that one act of love from my father. However, Jun is hosting now, the way his mother used to and nothing I’ve ever said to him makes him realize he can stop. He’s so determined to “make” something of his life that my pleas bounce off him like stones against cement.
I stare a few more moments at the photograph before heading into the shower. My evening unfolds as it always does, even though tonight is Friday and any other regular guy would probably be out on a date or something social, instead of passing the time until his friend gets home from work. Shower, supper of leftovers or a simple stew of nikujaga that I can throw together and have all cooked in under an hour, a walk around the neighborhood, watching the kids tumble about on the complex’s monkey bars and swings, and then checking on my motorcycle parked in its space. When I get in, I watch some TV before I fall asleep on the sofa while I wait up for Jun. I’ve often thought of getting some kind of work that would put him and me on the same schedule, but the job I have pays well and it’s our security should Jun ever come to his senses and give up what he’s doing now. Then he’ll know he really doesn’t have to worry about money. Perhaps it’s all a fantasy in my head, but it keeps me going day after day.
Tonight, I’m in a twilight kind of sleep, the TV droning softly in the background when the ring of my cell phone cuts through the haze. At first disoriented, I hold the phone up and see Jun’s name lighting up on the ID. The darkness outside tells me it’s the middle of the night, not a time when Jun ever calls.
Icy fingers rake through my chest. My sleepiness dispels as I press the button. “Jun, are you all right?” I don’t even bother to say a greeting I’m so alarmed.
“Is this Nakadai Tomohito?” The voice is female. Not Jun’s. My alarm escalates to terror.
“Yes. Where is Jun?”
She pauses. “My name is Michiko. I’m the mama-san of the bar where Jun works.” Her voice wavers. It’s a smoky-sounding voice that without the stress would sound confident. “Something…has happened. Jun was…attacked. He’s being brought to the emergency room at Meiji Memorial. I found your name on his phone as the emergency contact.”
Oh my god. “I’m on my way.” Not bothering to dress, I throw on my jeans jacket over the undershirt I’m already wearing. My pajama pants will have to do. I grab my wallet and keys, shove my feet into my loafers and fly out the door.

Indiscretions
Author: Madelynne Ellis
Series: Georgian Rakehells
Genre: M/F/M Menage; Historical
Length: Novella (18, 918 words)
eISBN: 9780983374749
MSRP: 4.99
You pay: 3.79

Available at Ai Press
Cover art: Les Byerley

Eighteen months into a delicate ménage à trois relationship, Lucerne, Viscount Marlinscar is feeling the strain. He’s engaged in a constant tug o’ war as both his lovers compete to win his affections. Only, Lucerne’s not so eager to choose. Matter of fact, he’s beginning to wonder if he’s not the one that’s being left out, considering the effort Vaughan and Bella pour into tormenting one another.
When the three lovers attend a society music recital, jealousy again rears its head, which convinces Lucerne that it’s time to take matters into his own hands. The decision doesn’t go down at all well, particularly with Vaughan, who shows his displeasure by dishing out erotic punishments to both Lucerne and Bella. However, the tug o’war isn’t over until there’s a winner, that is, unless the lovers can put aside their differences and decide that all three can have the passion and satisfaction they derive only from each other, no matter which one of them is in the middle!

Publisher’s note: These characters first appear in A Gentleman’s Wager, a previous book in the Georgian Rakehells series.

Excerpt:

Both she and Lucerne were now eyeing him like he was some sort of meal they planned to devour. They’d each convinced him that they weren’t in league over Lucerne’s impromptu departure from the recital, but there was no mistaking that they were plotting something together now.
Impatient to learn what, Vaughan steepled his fingers before him. He turned his dark gaze first on Bella and then on Lucerne. “You had better speak plainly, or you’re both going to be sorely disappointed over whatever it is you think to embroil me in.”
Bella’s eyes widened slightly. He didn’t believe her innocence. Lucerne’s chin grew more pointed as he clenched his teeth.
“What do you want?” Vaughan asked. Some manner of truce or permission to spend time alone without me, he imagined. Though heaven knows why they were troubling him with it. They could have spent the entire day tupping and he wouldn’t have known.
“You,” they replied in unison.
The words sent a jolt through his chest. His heart sped a little even as he continued to gaze on them in wary silence.
“Spend the night—”
“—and the day with us, Vaughan.”
“Tell us what to do.”
“How to please you.”
This was wrong in so many ways. He thought he preferred it when they were begrudging his presence and branding him some sort of demon for not allowing them any space in which to grow together. This smacked too much of deceit. They were trying to get him to lower his guard before attacking. Leastways, he believed that of Bella. He wasn’t nearly so sure about Lucerne.
“Do you expect me to believe that’s what you both actually want? Me? Together?”
“It’s the truth, Vaughan,” Lucerne replied, while Bella dipped him a curtsey. He supposed he was vaguely willing to believe it, although there was definitely some purpose behind it beyond affection or lust.
“What are you reading?” Bella picked up his book before he had a chance to put a hand down on top of it. Her mouth fell open in surprise, one that quickly transformed into delight at the illustration revealed. “Lord Pennerley, what sort of book is that to be perusing in broad daylight?”
“A perfectly filthy one, I should imagine if your expression is anything to go by.” Lucerne sidled up behind her. Hands resting lightly, yet possessively upon Bella’s shoulders, he leaned forward to glimpse the image so that his blond hair flopped over his eyes, partially hiding the delight that flickered there.
Vaughan’s lips thinned in bemused silence. If they imagined they’d embarrass him, then they were sadly mistaken. He had no qualms about his sexuality, or what he liked. It was simply a shame the rest of society wasn’t so open. “Maybe we should try it,” he suggested. If they were so keen on gaining his attention and pleasing him, then they’d best be prepared to indulge some of his kinks.
Bella’s head came up immediately, an unvoiced gasp upon her lips. Lips he’d kissed so hard that they were still rather ruddy and certainly a little tender even now.
Lucerne fixed him with an uneasy frown. He took a stiff pace backwards, suddenly defensive. “Who exactly do you envisage being in the middle?”
Vaughan laughed. “Not so game for my affection now, Lucerne? You disappoint me. I thought you were more open than that.”
Defensively, Lucerne poured his tall frame into one of the library’s narrow wingback chairs, where he folded his arms across his lap. “Open is one thing. I am however no acrobat. I don’t think I could hold that position for more than forty seconds, let alone sustain it with a cock in my mouth, breasts enveloping me and a lit candle anywhere near my arse.”
A bright image of peeling creamy blobs of hardened candlewax from off Lucerne’s belly, his buttocks and groin, played inside Vaughan’s head. Had he never punished him so? The thought of introducing Lucerne to such delights enchanted him. Lucerne would protest, claiming pain didn’t excite him, but the truth was it aroused him far more than he cared to admit.
Besides, denial of any kind had always acted like a drug upon Vaughan. “Another time, perhaps,” he muttered. “What about you, Bella?”
Bella rubbed at her cheeks, which had turned a gaudy shade of scarlet at the mere suggestion. Her reply rolled out of her unevenly. “The person at the centre is clearly a man, which I am certainly not. So I couldn’t possibly take such a position, even if it were in the bounds of possibility to do so. Are there not any more sensible arrangements in this tome of yours?” She flicked over several pages, her eyes growing rounder and hungrier over each successive image. “What is this?” she demanded.
Vaughan retrieved the book with its leather unmarked binding from her and returned it to shelf behind a locked glass door. “It’s privately published, circulated only to a select few connoisseurs.” On another occasion he might allow her to study it further. For now, he preferred to preserve its secrets in favour of more mundane pleasures. “About your proposition—I would suggest that we find somewhere more comfortable, but I do find that discomfort can be equally, if not more satisfying, can it not, Lucerne?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Oh, you know, Lucerne. You know exactly how much you like to be made to squirm.” Lucerne shook his head. “I think you’re mistaking me with Bella. What I like is straightforward. It’s less about dominance and more about enjoyment.”
“Are you saying you don’t like what I do to you?” Vaughan sallied forwards, stopping when his knees were level with Lucerne’s and a mere fraction of an inch divided them. He braced his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned over Lucerne, so that their eyes met on a level. Their gazes locked.
“Haven’t you punished me enough?”
“I’ll never punish you enough. It stokes the fires in the very pit of my soul to see you writhing in ecstasy beneath me.”
“That’s not what we came here for.”
Vaughan turned his head at the same time as Lucerne to glance at Bella.
“Can’t we really be together for once, Vaughan? I mean really together. Without the posturing and pettiness. Won’t you lie down and let us make love to you—together?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You know why. It can never be.” He would never lower his guard and let them both press close to him at once. Alone they tested him, shredded all his restraints, which left him feeling exposed and vulnerable. Together they would flay him, expose every particle of his being right down to the core. He would never risk it. Could never risk it. Besides, it would upset the balance of the relationship. Lucerne had to remain central. He was the pivot; all this revolved around him. “You know I think I might go to Darleston House alone.”
“No, don’t.” Bella stepped forward. She lay a hand upon his chest. It was not enough to prevent him moving; it was barely any sort of pressure at all. Still he remained frozen, watching her, waiting as she slowly moistened her pink lips. “Lucerne is right. It doesn’t always have to be hard between us. It hasn’t always been so. Don’t you remember the first time? I remember how you both moved inside of me. How we were all one and in perfect agreement. Will you not join us all together again like that?”
Let her be central. Let her be the pivot. That was what she was asking. Nay, pleading. He saw it in her eyes. She didn’t want to be on the outskirts of their relationship looking in. She wanted to be loved by both of them in equal measure. In short, she desired everything to be about her, rather than about Lucerne, whom both she and he loved.
Bella’s hand left his chest and pushed upwards into the dark strands of his hair. On tip-toes she leaned into him, offering herself up to him. Vaughan allowed her to graze his lips with a kiss. He caged the growl in his throat, not for her, but because Lucerne was watching his every nuance.
“For me,” Lucerne mouthed.
At what price? Vaughan didn’t speak. The communication between them passed in silence.
I’ll give you everything you desire, later. All you have to do is go along with this now, for me and for her.
The stubborn, prideful part of him wanted to disagree. It wasn’t that he didn’t desire Bella. He did. Admission of desire was not something he had any reservations about. He simply didn’t like the implied subtext of taking part. Just because they came together as a threesome, didn’t…wouldn’t make them whole. But if Bella, nay Lucerne wanted to believe that it did, then he would let them have their fantasy—at least for a little while.
”William,” Vaughan hollered. The footman immediately appeared from the hallway. “Make sure that no one comes in. We’ll be busy for a little while.”

I love having the same birthday as someone so cool! Not much else to say except that I hope he’s had as wonderful a birthday as I’ve had. As soon as the pics are ready, I’ll post a few of the gorgeous place I went to for my birthday. Oh, and Ai Press just released another HAWT menage from Madelynne Ellis. So, either visit www.ai-press.net for details right this second or please come back soon for details.

Hugs, Sedonia

Three Times the Scandal
Author: Madelynne Ellis
Series: Georgian Rakehells
Genre: Menage; historical; M/F/M/M
Length: Super novel (96,751 words)
eISBN-13: 9780983374718
MSRP: 8.99
You pay: 5.99

E-book available at Ai Press | Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | All Romance Ebooks

When you’re a dutiful, dependable and desperate woman… sometimes falling into the arms of a gorgeously sinful rakehell really is the only way out. Better yet, make that three gorgeously sinful rakehells…

Fortuna Allenthorpe is so repulsed by the man to whom her parents have engaged her that she takes the only available way out, and flees into the night with notorious rakehell, Giles Dovecote. Giles is a vocal advocate of free love, and he and his debauched friends the Darleston twins, are soon vying for Fortuna’s attention while introducing her to all manner of sexual delights.

Convinced that her tattered reputation will prompt her fiancé to call off the engagement, Fortuna is troubled to learn that Sir Hector is still set upon their marriage. It seems he’s more interested in her impressive inheritance, a ruby necklace known as the Star of Fortune, than he is in her errant virtue. What’s more, he’s prepared to destroy her family to ensure he gets exactly what he wants.

Suddenly, Fortuna’s only means of escape is to make a more agreeable match. How difficult can that be, when she’s head over heels for Giles, and he’s already sworn to help her? There’s just one problem—Giles’s deep-rooted belief that marriage is nothing more than social slavery. Past mistakes weight heavily on his conscience, but can he really sit back and condemn the woman he loves to a hellish match?

Excerpt:

Giles momentarily turned his head away from Fortuna, his dark brows slightly raised. “What are you suggesting?” He resumed his hold on Fortuna, now pressing delicate kisses to her eyelids and the tip of her nose before returning to her lips.

“That he gets a kiss as well,” Darleston interjected. His languid burr rode the crisp air like a snowflake. “That would seem only fair, Giles.”

Giles’s fingers tightened around her waist, whilst Neddy slapped his brother on the back.

“Sometimes, Robert, I genuinely appreciate having you as a brother. That is only sometimes, mind you.” His fair face full of wickedness, Neddy paced towards her and Giles. He stopped just an inch from them, and smiling at Giles asked, “Mind if I cut in?”

Giles clasped her possessively tight. “Actually, I do. You’d best address your request to Miss Allenthorpe.”

Neddy clasped the hand she had pressed to Giles’s shoulder, and raised it to his lips. He grazed their surface across the back of her hand. “Don’t mind him. He’s all about freedom. What do you say to us making this grand show of affection a triumvirate?” To her surprise, Neddy snuggled up against her back, neatly sandwiching her between himself and Giles. It was a curious sensation being pressed upon from both sides, and feeling two warm bodies contour themselves to her shape. Though she was hardly small, both men towered over her, making her feel distinctly fragile. Giles’s breath blew hot against her cheek. Neddy rested his head upon her shoulder.

“Oh, expertly done. A rose between two thorns.” Darleston applauded.

It was on the tip of her tongue to protest, but then Neddy’s loins rubbed against her bottom, and desire rocketed through her body, lifting her breasts, and peaking her nipples. Giles nudged his hips forward against her too, and she revelled in the dual embrace, and how comfortable and aroused it made her.

When, on the balcony at Darleston House, Giles had commented that friends shared, she had never for a moment envisaged a scenario such as this. Yet she had heard tell of such things. Rumours passed around the assembly rooms about the vices in which men engaged. Tales of trips to bordellos and cunny warrens and of bawds prepared to satisfy two men at once. Things her chaperone had tried to stopper her ears against.

Free love—it wasn’t just about the abhorrence of marriage it was about the exploration of other possibilities too. Acceptance. Seeing things in a different way.

Was it possible to love two men at once?

“Fortuna.” Giles’s voice was soft against her ear. He sought her gaze. “Does this please you? I can have him unhand you, if you prefer.”

“No, it’s interesting,” she mouthed, despite the butterflies of uncertainty in her stomach. “I’m just a little shocked.”

He sought her lips again. “Relax. I’ll keep him in check. We won’t do anything you don’t want.”

“Will you promise to do everything I do want?” she asked.

Neddy gave a long craving groan. “I could go off just from hearing you say that. Tell her yes, Giles. If you’re not up for it, I am.”

“I don’t think I’ve the strength to refuse,” said Giles. He dipped his head and she kissed him. He let her take charge, opening his mouth and letting her tongue dart in, while Neddy clove to her back.

Despite the numerous layers of clothing between them, she felt him become hard. His erection pressed against her bottom.

“Oh!” she gasped, when he moved and nuzzled against the side of her neck.

Fortuna squirmed between the two men.

Neddy’s breath was loud and hot. When he teased her earlobe with his tongue, the resulting sensation swept erotic tingles throughout her insides. She freed one arm from around Giles’s back, and lifted it to Neddy, pushed it deep into his auburn hair.

Disguised by her clothing, her nipples pushed up hard against her stays, begging attention. She wanted to feel their mouths close around the puckered bud and have them suck hard. She wanted to lie between them naked, and know that their cocks stood rigid, aroused and eager to fill her. She moaned and pressed herself urgently against them. She’d wanted Giles from the start. Now she desired both of them.

“I think you’ve found yourselves a rose that’s already been plucked, gentlemen. Virgins just don’t writhe like that,” Darleston remarked.

Fortuna jerked her head away from Giles’s kiss and in Darleston’s direction. He was standing beneath the archway of the rhododendron bush, with the capes of his great coat fanned out behind him like a peacock’s tail feathers. He raised his eyebrows in challenge to her glare.

Fortuna gulped. The remark stung, but she knew it was deserved. She was behaving like a doxy. What was she thinking, rubbing up against two men?

For those of you who love the M/F/M genre of erotic romance, Ai Press has two yummy titles coming this spring for your reading pleasure, Delicious Love Triangle by Sedonia Guillone and Three Times the Scandal by Madelynne Ellis. Whether you love the contemporary, yaoi-inspired menage or the historical English, a lady and her rogues kind of story, we’ll have it for you at Ai Press!

Delicious Love Triangle:

No sex between roommates! This is the rule that Hana and her two best friends, Hiko and Shinji live by. So, Hana decides, it’s not really breaking the rule to ask her two handsome buddies to pose in erotic positions for her while she sketches what she hopes to be the manlove graphic novel that will launch her career as a manga artist. After all, Hiko and Shinji are both straight. Even better, they’re both agreeable to the plan. It’s the perfect arrangement until…

Seeing Hiko and Shinji together arouses Hana to no end. How will she be able to control herself watching their naked bodies entwined, watching them engage in acts that are the stuff of her wildest fantasies? What’s more, bit by bit, the three of them are starting to break their most important rule.

Hiko and Shinji have both been in love with Hana for a long time and out of their love for her, they’ve respected her stupid rule about no sex. But when Hana asks them to pose for her, they see their perfect chance to do away with regulation and get the woman they love into a position of their own.

Content warning: Contains male/male sexual acts, voyeurism, exhibitionism and multiple partner sex.

Three Times the Scandal:

When you’re a dutiful, dependable and desperate woman… sometimes falling into the arms of a gorgeously sinful rakehell really is the only way out. Better yet, make that three gorgeously sinful rakehells…

Fortuna Allenthorpe is so repulsed by the man to whom her parents have engaged her that she takes the only available way out, and flees into the night with notorious rakehell, Giles Dovecote. Giles is a vocal advocate of free love, and he and his debauched friends the Darleston twins, are soon vying for Fortuna’s attention while introducing her to all manner of sexual delights.

Convinced that her tattered reputation will prompt her fiancé to call off the engagement, Fortuna is troubled to learn that Sir Hector is still set upon their marriage. It seems he’s more interested in her impressive inheritance, a ruby necklace known as the Star of Fortune, than he is in her errant virtue. What’s more, he’s prepared to destroy her family to ensure he gets exactly what he wants.

Suddenly, Fortuna’s only means of escape is to make a more agreeable match. How difficult can that be, when she’s head over heels for Giles, and he’s already sworn to help her? There’s just one problem—Giles’s deep-rooted belief that marriage is nothing more than social slavery. Past mistakes weight heavily on his conscience, but can he really sit back and condemn the woman he loves to a hellish match?

Yay! It’s one year ago today I started Ai Press and published the first release, Aki’s Love Song. I can’t believe this first year went soooo quickly. Since then, we’ve published 14 other titles plus a murder mystery under our sister imprint, Kokoro Press. And more to come in the very near future! Hope you’ll come have a look. Right now, we’re having a Buy 1 Get 2 Sale, using a portion of the proceeds to aid the Japanese Red Cross with their disaster relief. Hope to see you there.

Warmly, Sedonia