Dare to Surrender
The Dare Ménage Series,
Book 5
By Jeanne St. James
Genre: Erotic Contemporary
Romance, MMF Ménage, LGBTQ
Universal Buy Link: www.books2read.com/Dare2Surrender
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Blurb:
One woman, two men, a fierce attraction and a danger that
could destroy them all...
Olivia
Holloway’s life has never been easy. On her own at sixteen, she’s fought to
survive ever since. When she finds herself in a dangerous situation that even
she can’t handle, she has to break down and ask for help. She reluctantly seeks
it by showing up at her estranged brother’s law firm. However, it’s not her
brother, Trey, who steps in, it’s the firm’s private investigator, Elliot Stone
and his husband, Grant Lane. They agree to hide her at their home to keep her
safe after she witnesses a powerful Senator commit murder.
Together
for a decade, Eli and Grant’s marriage is solid and they’re still deeply in
love. But when Olivia shows up at the firm they both work at, Eli feels a pull
toward the woman he can’t deny. Only now he needs to convince his husband that
bringing her into their relationship will not destroy what they have but only
enhance it. However, will Grant agree?
And will
the trouble that’s following Olivia put them all at risk?
Note: This book in the
series can be read as stand-alone. It includes an HEA ending. It is intended
for audiences over 18 years of age since it includes MMF scenes between all
three characters.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Olivia could hear nothing but the
pounding of her heart in her ears. She stared at the large gold letters on the
wall above the reception desk... Ward,
Jordan, & Holloway.
The receptionist’s lips were moving
but Liv had no idea what the woman said.
She needed to turn and hightail it
out of there before she got caught. This was a bad idea. One of way too many
she’d made in her life.
Her stomach churned, and her mouth felt
like it was packed full of cotton.
She closed her eyes for a moment,
as a wave of panic washed up and over her. She could fix this herself. She’d
been surviving on her own most of her life.
She never needed anyone to save her,
and she didn’t now.
Right.
She stiffened when she felt
something, or someone, large and very warm at her back. She shook her head in
an attempt to clear it and finally heard, “Are you okay?”
So, unless the receptionist had a
deep, masculine voice, it wasn’t a woman. A shiver ran down her spine.
When a large dark hand landed on
her arm, she could only stare at it. She blinked. Why was this person touching
her?
Then fingers wrapped around her
chin, lifting her face and her gaze. She stared into very, very dark eyes. Eyes
full of concern and... something else.
She wasn’t used to the concern.
That look seemed foreign to her. And the other? She had no clue why he would
look at her like that.
“What?” she whispered, almost as if
trapped in a fog.
“Are you okay?” The man snapped
into motion, leading her over to a nearby chair and pushing her gently into it.
“Cassie, grab a bottle of water.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw
the receptionist move at a hurried pace.
“Are you okay?”
Why did he keep asking her that?
“Yes,” she murmured, her tongue
thick.
“Are you here to see someone in
particular?”
Liv watched his dark lips move.
They were full and looked nice. And his teeth were really white. Nice people
had nice lips, nice voices, and nice teeth.
Why did she care if he was nice?
“Yes.”
“Who? Who do you have an
appointment with?”
Liv shook her head slowly. “I
don’t.”
“Then who are you here to see?”
She sucked in a shaky breath.
“Trey.”
“Trey,” he echoed softly.
“Yes, Trey Holloway.”
He tilted his head, his gaze
searching her face. “Does he know you?”
What a weird question. “I hope so.
He’s my brother.”
His dark eyes narrowed, and he only
left her long enough to grab the bottle of water from Cassie, the receptionist.
He cracked the seal on the lid and opened it, handing the bottle to her.
“Drink.”
“I’m not thirsty,” she said, her
tone flat, even though she felt parched.
“Drink anyway.”
Liv lifted the bottle to her lips
and sipped at the cool water. She blinked again and glanced up at the man
towering over her. “Who are you?”
“Eli.”
“Eli,” Liv repeated, frowning,
still feeling as if in a daze.
“Elliott Stone.”
That was a nice name for someone
with nice features. Some men didn’t look right being bald. He did. His head was
perfectly smooth and nicely shaped. Bald fit him. “Elliott,” she repeated.
“Yes. Let me get Trey for you.” He
stepped back and turned to leave.
“No!”
He stopped, his back straightening.
He was tall. Dark. And oh-so handsome. But, right now, none of that mattered.
Nothing mattered but why she was
here.
Though, she should really leave
before her brother was dragged into her mess. Especially since she hadn’t seen
him in sixteen years.
Because of that, he might not be
happy with her. She had disappeared without a trace. No calls, no letters, no
emails. She had gotten lost. Completely disappeared. And left him behind to
deal with what was their nightmare of a childhood.
So, it was a bad idea for her to
show up here in her moment of weakness.
“No. I’m just going to leave. I’ll
catch up with him another time. I thank you for your kindness.” She pushed to
her feet and beelined toward the lobby elevator.
He snagged her elbow as she passed and
swung her around until they came face to face, his eyes dark and searching.
“Whoa. No. You’re not going anywhere.”
She jerked her elbow, but his grip
was tight enough that she couldn’t pull free. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
“The hell I can’t,” he mumbled
close to her ear. “You know why? Because I’ve worked here for a while now and
never knew Trey had a sister. And now I’m wondering why I never knew that. So,
to satisfy my curiosity, I’ll escort you back to his office.”
“Get your hand off me,” she snapped,
still tugging her arm.
“You didn’t say please.”
Right now, she didn’t think he was
so nice. “Please,” she said with a forced nicety.
“That’s better. But no.”
She looked in panic toward the
receptionist who just gave her a blank stare in return, like the woman was used
to seeing large men dragging women through the lobby. Liv couldn’t imagine it
happened on a regular basis. But she’d seen a lot of crazy shit in her life, so
nothing would surprise her.
“Let’s go,” he said, a determined
look on his face.
Liv tried to dig her heels into the
nice carpeting, but he was too big and too strong to resist. She hardly got a
glimpse of the various offices they passed until he abruptly stopped in front
of another woman. A secretary maybe.
“Trey in?”
The woman’s eyes bounced to Liv
before landing on this bossy Elliott, giving him a big, flirty smile.
Whatever.
“He’s not in his office. He’s in a
meeting.”
“A real meeting or a meeting.”
Liv had no idea what he was getting
at, but it made her glance up at him. He ignored her.
“Uh. I would hope just a regular
meeting since Grant’s in with them. Because if it’s not a regular meeting, you
may have to step in.” Then the secretary giggled.
Which was strange. Liv had no idea
why what she said was funny.
Elliott frowned, and his already
dark face got darker. “Then it’s a regular meeting.”
“If you say so,” she murmured, then
gave him another bright smile. “Large conference room.”
Elliott, Eli, or whatever, gave the
woman a sharp nod and dragged Liv down another hallway to a long room made up by
a wall of windows. Several people sat around a long oval conference table and
as he approached with his hand firmly on her elbow, all heads swung toward
them.
He must have communicated something
silently through the glass because a large black man got up and opened the door
just as they hit the threshold.
“What’s going on?” the large man
asked, frowning.
Ignoring him, Elliott dragged her
into the room, asking Liv’s brother, “This belong to you?”
With wide eyes they stared at each
other.
“I think so,” Trey murmured, studying
her hard.
“You think, or you know?”
Trey Holloway stood and looked at
her from head to toe. “Yeah. She’s my sister. Damn.”
“I found her skulking around the
lobby in a state of panic,” her captor announced to the room of strangers.
Her gaze shot up to him. “What? I
wasn’t skulk—”
“Quiet,” this Elliott said sharply,
cutting her off.
“Eli, you want to let her go?” the
fourth man at the end of the table asked, slowly rising to his feet.
“She might run.”
“What?” Trey asked, his eyebrows
shooting to his hairline.
“She tried to take off.”
“Why?”
Eli shrugged his broad shoulders
and glanced down at her for a moment before saying, “I don’t know. You’ll have
to ask her.”
Liv frowned. “I’m right here. I can
hear you and I’m quite capable of answering.”
Eli shrugged again and finally
released her elbow. As she rubbed it, her gaze drifted over everyone in the
room.
Her brother looked good. Mature.
Important. But then, he’d been a star quarterback for the Boston Bulldogs and
helped them win the Super Bowl Championship a couple of seasons ago.
A woman with long strawberry blonde
hair watched her with curious eyes. When she stood, Liv couldn’t help but
notice the sexy way she was dressed. Pencil skirt, stockings, and heels that
were high, not as high as stripper heels, but they made her legs look endless. Liv’s
gaze landed on her chest. She certainly had plenty there. The woman moved next
to Trey and placed a hand on her brother’s back.
Liv found that curious.
And when the woman said something
softly to her brother, he seemed to snap to attention like he’d just woken up. As
he moved forward, Liv thought he was going to grab her into a bear hug, but
then he froze and looked at her cautiously.
“Olivia, what are you doing here?”
Coming here was not a good idea. “What?
I can’t stop in and say hello to my brother?” Her teasing fell flat.
“It’s been sixteen years.”
And there it was. The one sentence
that brought all the guilt she’d been carrying around with her to the
forefront. Heat rushed into her cheeks as all eyes pinned on her. “I… uh…”
“Baby, maybe we should clear out
and let them have a moment.”
Liv spun to the man at her right. He
was also tall, but not as tall as Eli. He had a nice tan, and very kind, warm
hazel eyes behind glasses that made him look highly intelligent. But she
wondered who he called baby, since the only other woman in the room had now
clung to the only other black man in the room. The one who seemed to be in
charge. Liv found it strange that the woman took liberties like that with both
men.
“Grant, they may need me,” Eli
answered him.
This Grant called Eli “baby?”
Elliott Stone did not look like someone who would let another man call him that
endearment, especially in a professional setting. Weird.
“I’m sure if they need you, they’ll
let you know.” Grant looked at Trey, who only nodded in answer. “See? We can
wait in my office until they’re done.”
“Yes, but—”
“Eli,” the man said firmly to her
former captor with an undertone that clearly meant not to question him.
Eli nodded and then sighed. He
leaned toward Liv. “We’re not done.”
Liv pulled all the bravado she
could gather and said, “Oh, we’re done,” matter-of-factly.
His wide lips flattened, and he reluctantly
followed the other man, who Liv assumed was another attorney since he wore a
suit, out the door. They shut it behind him.
Then there were only four. Her, her
brother, and the other two.
“Why now?” Trey asked.
She wondered why the other two
didn’t excuse themselves. She purposely avoided looking at them when she asked,
“Can we speak privately?”
His eyes flicked to the large black
man, then the blonde woman before saying, “No. Anything you have to say can be
said in front of Rayne and Gryff.”
Rayne and Gryff.
“They’re my partners,” he
clarified, then added, “in all things.”
In all things? What did that mean?
The man who had to be Gryff said,
“We can give you two a few moments alone, T.”
“No, stay. I want you to stay,”
Trey answered. Without turning around, he reached his arm back and they touched
hands briefly, then dropped them.
“So again, why and why now?” Trey
asked.
“No hug for your baby sister?” Liv
asked, which even sounded lame to her ears. She was stalling.
Something flashed behind his eyes.
“Really? You disappear at sixteen, show up sixteen years later and I’m supposed
to act like it was just yesterday that I saw you? You left me behind.”
Liv closed her eyes and inhaled a
shaky breath. “I know.”
“Not even a peep. Not once. Not
when I graduated high school. Not when I went off to college. Not when our lovely mother died. Not when I was
drafted into the NFL. Not when I won the fucking Super Bowl.”
The last part sounded bitter and
raw. Liv watched various emotions cross his features. “I’m sorry,” she
whispered. “I was just trying to survive. I did what I had to do.”
“Yeah, so did I.”
Liv looked at him in surprise at
his tone, wondering what he had to do to survive. Whatever he had to do, it
seemed he had come out on the winning end.
Gryff moved forward, laying a hand
on Trey’s shoulder. “Look, you both did what you had to do. It was your mother
who was to blame. T, don’t lay that on your sister’s shoulders. She was an
innocent like you in the whole thing.”
Maybe the man was an ally.
“Which one of you is Jordan and
which one is Ward?”
The stunning woman came forward
with a smile and held out her hand. “I’m Rayne Jordan. And that’s Gryffin
Ward.”
Liv took her hand tentatively, but
Rayne shook it firmly and with respect. She raised her gaze from their clasped
hands to her face, blinked at how green the other woman’s eyes were and then
gave her a small smile. “I’m Olivia Holloway.”
“I gathered that. Why don’t you
have a seat?” Rayne swept a hand toward one of the many empty chairs that
looked expensive but comfortable.
“I… uh...”
Gryff pulled out a nearby chair and
also indicated that she should sit. She sat. Then her brother and his partners
moved to the other side of the table and settled across from her.
Liv cleared her throat since she
suddenly felt as though she was on trial. “I’m sorry for coming here
unexpectedly.”
“You’re family. No need to
apologize,” Gryff said, his expression blank.
Family? Yes, to Trey. But…
She slid her gaze to her brother.
“Trey.”
“Yes?”
“I… uh. I need help.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think you showed up
because you missed me.”
Once again, heat crawled up Liv’s
throat to flood her cheeks. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have bothered you.”
She rolled back her chair and
before she could stand, a loud, deep voice commanded, “Stay.”
“Boss,” Rayne murmured.
Gryff didn’t take his eyes off Liv.
“No, she came here for a reason. We need to hear why.”
Boss? She thought they were
partners.
“Olivia,” Gryff started.
“Liv. Please, call me Liv.”
“Fine. Liv, no matter what, we’re family.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t
understand how we’re family.”
The three across from her looked at
each other and then back to her. Trey finally said, “These are my partners,
Liv.”
“Okay, I get that. I saw your last
names in big gold letters over the receptionist’s desk.”
Trey took a deep breath. “We’re
committed life partners, too.”
Liv blinked, then stared at her
brother. Committed life partners. What did that mean?
Oh
shit.
“All three of you?”
He nodded.
“Oh.”
“So, as much as I’m enjoying this
little family reunion, can you tell me why you’re coming to me now after all
these years?”
“I… uh.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” the large
man across from her muttered, his hands flexing on the table.
“Gryff,” Rayne said softly. “Give
her a chance.”
Liv’s eyes slid to Rayne, to Gryff,
then back to her brother. “I... I shouldn’t be here.”
Her brother was happy, settled,
successful. She didn’t need to be dragging him into her mess.
She could do this on her own. She
could.
Fuck.
She couldn’t.
She had no one who she could trust.
She had nowhere to go. This was it. She had no choice.
“I need help.”
“You said that,” Trey said, his
eyebrows pulled low. “Legal help?”
“Yes... No...” She shook her head.
It was all so freaking confusing. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Gryff asked,
frowning.
“I’m in trouble.”
Gryff leaned back in his chair, his
arms stretched out, his palms flat on the table in front of him. “No shit.”
It was not a good idea to come
here. It wasn’t. She needed to leave. She had no right to ask her brother for
help. She had no right to intrude in his life. He owed her nothing.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, meeting
her brother’s eyes. He had the exact same eyes as her. The same color hair. They
looked so much alike but were complete strangers.
“Don’t be sorry,” Rayne said
softly. “Talk to us. We can help.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“Then why did you come here?” Trey
asked.
“Because I have nowhere else to
go.” The words spilled out of her in a rush. They were true, but she hated to
admit it.
“You found a place to go sixteen
years ago,” her brother said softly, the hurt evident in his voice.
Liv closed her eyes and sucked in a
breath. “I had nowhere to go then, either.”
“Are you going to get to the point
or are you going to continue to jerk our chains?” Gryff finally said.
“Boss,” Rayne murmured softly. Her
hand slid over to cover one of his.
His eyes dropped to study them then
lifted back to Liv. “We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what the problem
is.”
She opened her mouth, closed it,
then opened it again. Even if they couldn’t help, she needed to get this off
her chest. She sucked in another breath. “I witnessed a murder.”
Deafening silence greeted her from
around the table. She stared at her own clasped hands, afraid to see their
expressions.
“Just go to the police and tell
them what you witnessed,” Trey said like he heard that confession every day.
If it was only that simple. “I
can’t do that.”
“Why?” Gryff asked, his deep voice
now tinged with suspicion.
“Because of who was involved,” she
told the table.
“Fuck,” Gryff grumbled.
“Who was involved?” Rayne asked
softly.
She was afraid to even say his
name. “Randall Dean,” she whispered, fear shooting through her. If anyone
overheard her, found out what she knew, what she saw...
Rayne sucked in a sharp breath, and
Gryff made a noise. Liv glanced up at Trey, who was shaking his head, looking
confused. “Who?”
Gryff shot Trey a look. “Randall
Dean,” he repeated, as if that would clear up her brother’s confusion.
“I have no fucking clue who that
is,” Trey answered.
“He was involved?” Gryff asked,
leaning forward, his body tense.
“Yes,” Liv answered.
“How?”
“He killed her.” God, he killed
Peggy.
“Who?”
A woman who was making changes to
her life, a life she was trying to improve. Liv knew exactly what that was
like. She had been in her shoes once. “A woman I knew.”
“How do you know it was him?”
He freaking wrapped his hands
around her throat until all the life was squeezed out of her. “I saw him do it.”
“Fuck!” Gryff barked to the
ceiling. He grabbed the phone on the center of the conference table and jerked
it toward him. He picked up the handset, jabbed some numbers and then growled,
“Eli, in here, now,” then slammed down the phone.
“Holy shit,” Rayne murmured. She
sent worried eyes Liv’s direction. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Hell yes, she was sure.
She’d never forget what she saw. Not ever. That was burned into her brain and
would be for the rest of her life.
“So why can’t she go to the
police?” Trey asked, still confused.
The conference room door was yanked
open and her former captor stepped in, closing the door, eyes locked on her.
Suddenly the room had so much less oxygen. She was finding it hard to breathe.
“Are you okay?” Rayne asked,
concern lacing her voice.
No, no she wasn’t.
She had pushed what she saw from
her mind, trying only to think about how she could escape, how she could save
herself. Once again, how she could survive.
Suddenly, everything was coming
crashing down on her all over again.
And having this big man standing
next to her, dark, intense eyes pinning her in her chair didn’t help.
“Boss,” Eli grumbled.
“Sit down,” Gryff said.
“I’m fine...”
He needed to sit down. To give her
space. “Please,” Liv croaked. “Please.”
Eli looked at her, his dark eyebrows
furrowed. But he finally moved to the chair down from her, leaving an empty seat
between them. For that, she was thankful.
Something about his presence
overwhelmed her, and she wouldn’t be able to talk, to answer questions, with
him looming over her.
“What’s going on?” Eli asked, his
eyes flicking from her to Gryff back to her.
“She saw a Randall Dean kill
someone,” Trey said from the other end of the table.
Eli’s gaze swung his direction.
“What?”
“Do you know who he is?” her
brother asked.
“Holy fuck,” Eli breathed.
“Right,” Gryff grunted.
“This is a mess,” Rayne added.
Eli held up a hand. “Hold up. We
need to rewind, and I need to hear this from the beginning.”
“I think we all do,” Gryff agreed.
Then all eyes landed on her. Shit.
About the Author:
JEANNE ST. JAMES is a USA Today bestselling erotic romance
author who loves an alpha male (or two). She was only thirteen when she started
writing. Her first paid published piece was an erotic story in Playgirl
magazine. Her first erotic romance novel, Banged Up, was published in 2009. She
is happily owned by farting French bulldogs. She writes M/F, M/M, and M/M/F
ménages. Want to read a sample of her work? Download a sampler book here: BookHip.com/MTQQKK
To keep up with her busy release schedule check her website at www.jeannestjames.com or sign up for her newsletter: http://www.jeannestjames.com/newslettersignup
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