Title: Love Plus One
Series: Maths, Book 1
Author: P.A. Friday
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release
Date: January 9th
Heat
Level: 4 - Lots of Sex
Pairing: Male/Male Menage
Length: 60800
Genre: Romance, ménage, promiscuous, bisexual, friends to
lovers, age gap, hurt-comfort, mild BDSM and D/s
Synopsis
Laurie and
James are a monogamous couple with an occasional lover in James’s best friend,
Al. It is a casual, friend-with-benefits situation which suits them all,
especially given Al’s promiscuous lifestyle.
When Al is
assaulted, however, Laurie and James are forced to confront the fact that their
feelings for Al might be stronger than mere liking. But would free spirit Al
ever want more than what they already have?
Excerpt
P.A. Friday © 2017
All Rights Reserved
Anyhow, Laurie hung around outside, a
little distance from the shop. He was grateful that it was a decent evening,
even despite the cold. Finally, he heard the door begin to open and walked
towards it.
“Don’t stay, Al. I can manage from
here,” Fen called.
“Yeah, okay.” Al’s voice sounded a
little strained, and Laurie moved more swiftly towards him, unwilling to let
him hang around alone on the doorstep.
“Hey,” he said, tapping Al gently on the
shoulder as he came up to him.
“Laurie!” Al let go of the shop door and
clutched his chest in an age-old gesture of shock. “God, you scared the bejesus
out of me.”
“Hell. Sorry,” Laurie apologised.
Appearing out of the darkness at someone who got attacked a couple of days
earlier by a group of people appearing out of the darkness. Nice one, Laurie,
he castigated himself mentally. “I didn’t want to hang around in the shop
looking like some sinister spectre at the feast in case your boss didn’t
appreciate it,” he explained guiltily. “But I should’ve thought. Sorry.”
Al gave a weak grin. “No, you’re right.
Fen would probably not have wanted you standing about watching her cash up. I’m
just a bit twitchy. Sorry, yourself.”
“I feel like an idiot,” Laurie
apologised.
“Nothing new there, then,” Al said, his
grin widening. Then he sobered up, touching Laurie’s arm. “Seriously, though,
thanks for this. Meeting me, I mean. Didn’t realise how much of a fucking wuss
I was until it came to going out, and it was dark, and…”
Laurie bit his lip. Bastards. He felt
the now-familiar wave of anger wash over him. So much for being a peaceable
sort of chap. Laurie would quite happily have committed murder at the moment,
given the right targets. He pulled Al into a one-armed hug.
“Not a problem. You’d do the same for
me.”
Al looked at him, his strange green eyes
lit by the street light above them. “Yes, I would,” he said quietly. “I’m glad
you know that.”
Laurie felt his cheeks flush, despite
the cold. He hadn’t known, not really. If he’d thought about it, he’d have
presumed that Al liked him well enough—but probably more as James’s boyfriend,
not for himself particularly. His own feelings for Al were one thing (and he
was slightly embarrassed about his level of protectiveness, not to mention
love, towards the younger man), but he had no thought that they were
reciprocated, and he hadn’t been unduly bothered by that. They didn’t have that
sort of relationship. But there was something simple and genuine in Al’s
response that was touching. It wasn’t the normal, teasing young man who Laurie
usually knew. Laurie mumbled something incoherent and left his arm around Al’s
shoulders as they walked towards home. James was too tall to hold like this;
Laurie’s hand always fell across his back and rounded his waist on the far
side. But Al was five or six inches shorter than Laurie, and Laurie’s arm
slipped around his shoulders quite comfortably.
“What did Fen say—about your face?”
Laurie asked.
Al shrugged. “Told her I got in a
fight.”
Laurie raised an eyebrow. Of all the
people to get in a fight, Al was one of the least likely. Al stared at his and
Laurie’s feet.
“Told her she should’ve seen the other
guy,” he mumbled. “Wasn’t true. They were fine.”
“They were a ‘they’,” Laurie said,
trying not to sound as angry as he felt. “With a knife.”
Al shrugged. It was such a familiar
gesture, but this time Laurie’s arm was around Al, so he could feel it go
through him. It seemed as if he could also feel the self-hatred Al was
experiencing, too. It burnt, and Laurie felt helpless to do anything about it.
“Yeah,” Al said, at last. There was a
silence. Then, “Laurie,” he said.
“Uh-huh?”
“I think I’m ready to tell the police
now.”
Laurie could feel Al tense as he said
the words; it was not going to be an easy experience for him, Laurie knew.
“You’re bloody brave.”
Al huffed, a little puff of cold air
escaping from his lips. “Hardly,” he said. “Think I’m being anything but.” He
stopped walking, shivering a little. “Thought how I’d feel if they did it to
Fen. To someone else.” He leaned his head against Laurie’s arm. “I have to,
don’t I?”
“No,” Laurie said quietly. “You don’t.
But you will, because you’re brave. Because you’re you. Because you’re thinking
about someone else two days after you—”
“Yeah,” said Al, cutting him off
quickly. He hadn’t let them say the word—not Laurie, not James, definitely not
himself. “I was shit. But—”
It was Laurie’s turn to cut Al off. “No,
you weren’t. And no, you aren’t.” There were moments when one-armed hugs didn’t
cut it. Laurie pulled Al close in against him, holding him as tightly as
possible without pressing against him too painfully. No need to remind Al of
all the bits of him that hurt in quite so physical a fashion. “You’re being
incredible, all right?” Laurie whispered in Al’s ear. “Don’t think otherwise.”
“Going to carry on hugging me like
this?” Al asked, sounding a bit happier. “Because you’re having a decent effect
on my ego.” He gave a little wriggle, pushing himself up against Laurie. “More
than my ego,” he added thoughtfully.
A warm Al pushed up against him was
rather too good for a public street, Laurie thought. He said as much to Al, who
laughed.
Purchase
Links
NineStar Press:
http://ninestarpress.com/product/love-plus-one/
Meet the
Author
P.A. Friday fails dismally to write one
sort of thing and, when not writing erotica and erotic romance of all
sexualities, may be found writing articles on the Regency period, pagan poetry,
or science fiction. She loves wine and red peppers, and loathes coffee and
mushrooms.
Pronouns: she/her
Author
Links
Author Website:
http://penelopefriday.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/penelopefriday/
Giveaway
One lucky winner will receive an ebook
of their choice from NineStar Press
a Rafflecopter giveaway
No comments:
Post a Comment