Page 69

The words are gentle, teasing and flirty, even. They totally fit the tone of the evening. Hell, one of the sexiest moments tonight was when Cayden looked at me with lust in his eyes and basically called dibs on fucking me next.

But for some reason, right now, it doesn't sit with me quite right. In the moment, it's so incredibly sexy to be treated like an object that they all get to use and pass around.

Out of it, though…

My worries about my independence and my life swirl through my head.

With all the will I have, I force them down. It's not time for them.

It's time to rest. To recover. To enjoy one hell of a fucking afterglow.

But no matter how I try, I can't quite seem to silence them.

31

"But otherwise, things are good?"

It doesn't matter that my father can't hear me over the phone. I nod, then roll my eyes at myself and answer aloud. "Yeah. Pretty good."

Great, actually, but I can't say that. It would open up way too many cans of worms. As far as my father knows, I'm staying up here on this mountain out of a sense of duty, selflessly using the remaining month or so of my sabbatical to finalize my grandmother's affairs and her get house ready to be put up for sale. I'm alone out here.

Basically, my father doesn't know anything.

A couple of weeks have passed since my first, epic orgy with my guys, and since then, we've settled into a routine. I help Deandre in the workshop most mornings, then head to my grandmother's house for the afternoon. I wake up in one man's bed and go to sleep in another's. While we haven't gotten quite so adventurous as that first experiment with group sex again, I've taken them in pairs, and even a trio once, and each time has somehow been better than the last. I feel like a queen, constantly being pleasured and cared for by my harem of attendants.

And yes, my doubts still linger. Surely, jealousy has to rear its head at some point.

Surely I can't go on like this forever. I'm going to have to return to my job in another state. I need to make a living, stand on my own. I can't just keep getting passed around from guy to guy, earning my keep with my body.

After Richard discarded me, I can't bring myself to trust that anyone's really going to want to have me hanging around long-term.

It's a nice fantasy, though. And I'm going to enjoy it now, before it crumbles to the ground.

There's no way my father can know where my thoughts have strayed, but he chooses that moment to clear his throat. "Have you run into the boys who took over the old Tucker place at all?"

Right. He seemed reluctant as hell, but he did remind me before he left that Cayden was someone I could always turn to if I needed help.

Shit. I don't want to lie. But I'm conflicted enough about my new, intensely sexual relationship with the five mountain men of Lonely Peak. No way my straight-laced father would understand. If he knew how I revel in letting them have their ways with me, he'd be ashamed. Humiliated.

"Um, yeah, actually." I dig my nails into my palm to help keep my voice even and not give too much away. I search around for a half-truth that might satisfy him without forcing me to lie. "The power went out a while ago. Cayden came by and helped me out."

Lord, that is the most misleading truth I've ever told.

Strained, my father says, "Oh. That was nice of him."

"Yeah, it really was."

"Well, just be careful. They're a wild bunch up there."

"Believe me, I know." Shit, that was too telling.

"Oh?"

"I mean." I stutter, fumbling about. "You hear the stories."

And I have. Adam and I went down the mountain for some supplies just the other day. I overheard the clerks at the grocery store gossiping about those boys at the old Tucker place, how they looked positively wild.

If they only knew.