Laid bare, p.1
Laid Bare, page 1
L A I D B A R E
A Love Letter Production
Airicka Phoenix
LAID BARE©2016 by Airicka Phoenix
www.AirickaPhoenix.com
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the copyright owner and/or the publisher of this book, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Editor: Kathy Eccleston
Illustrator: Airicka’s Mystical Creations
Interior Design & Formatting: Airicka Phoenix
ISBN-13: 978-1536988321
ISBN-10: 1536988324
Published by Airicka Phoenix
Also available in eBook and paperback publication
As Airicka Phoenix
TOUCH SAGA
Touching Smoke
Touching Fire
Touching Eternity
THE LOST GIRL SERIES
Finding Kia
Revealing Kia
REGENERATION SERIES
When Night Falls
THE BABY SAGA
Forever His Baby
Bye-Bye Baby
Be My Baby
Always Yours, Baby
SONS OF JUDGMENT SAGA
Octavian’s Undoing
Gideon’s Promise
CRIME LORD INTERCONNECTED SERIES
Transcending Darkness
The Devil’s Beauty
STANDALONE
Games of Fire
Betraying Innocence
The Voyeur Next Door
My Soul For You
Kissing Trouble
ANTHOLOGIES
Whispered Beginnings: A Clever Fiction Anthology
Midnight Surrender Anthology
Love & Grace Anthology
Blurb
Jinny Walter had always been the girl that never fit in. Not at home. Not at school. Not until the night she meets Elijah Prinz and Joel Levine and everything changes.
For eight years, friendship masked a longing no one knew how to unveil. Can Joel and Eli keep from losing the woman they loved? Can Jinny finally tell them the truth? Or will their secrets rip the very ground out from beneath them and force them to face the possibility of losing each other forever?
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Hey guys!
I am going to start this off with a HUGE thank you to all my readers for picking up a copy of Laid Bare. A bit of fair warning, this is a short threesome erotica I wrote as a fun freebie for followers of my newsletter. If you haven’t, be sure to join and get exclusive freebies, giveaways, and updates before anyone else. I’m contemplating a continuation. Jinny and her boys are chattering away in my head and it’s becoming harder to ignore. I would definitely love your take; should we continue or is this smutty one shot just enough?
So, aside from steamy sex with two hot men, this novella contains strong language.
I would also like to send loves to my beta readers for reading through and loving Jinny, Eli, and Joel as much as I did writing them. You girls amaze me!
Kisses to my editor for her time, love, and attention. Thank you for all you do and for being such an amazing friend and an unwavering soundboard.
My team for having my back and pushing me to be the best I can be. Thank you all so much!
Thank you all and happy reading! <3
Chapter One
—JINNY—
“Remind me again why you’re waiting.”
Sarah flicked back a glossy coil of lush blonde hair over one shoulder and behind her ear, making her earring swing. The silver hoop caught the dim light radiating from the kitchen and the cluster of diamonds embedded into the metal sparked as passionately as the determination in her vivid blue eyes.
Jinny was almost afraid to ask. “Waiting?”
“For them!”
Sarah thrust her delicate chin upward in clear indication, all the while studying something in the distance with a predatory gleam that made Jinny think of a feral cat honing in on a wounded bird.
She followed the not so subtle gesture and focused on the two framed in the open doorway of their tiny kitchen. The grimy lightbulb overhead spilled a dull glow over their perfect features, painting shadows in the hollows of their cheeks and in the dips of their temples. It made Eli’s dark hair appear impossibly black and turned Joel’s soft curls a deeper shade of chocolate. The pair stood eye level with only a foot of space between them, wrapped in their discussion.
Jinny could nail them with a fistful of nachos from the bowl in her lap, yet she couldn’t hear a word they were saying. Whatever it was had creases forming between Joel’s brows and Eli nodding slowly in deliberation. Every so often, Joel would roll a shoulder and make a random hand gesture that would lift Eli’s eyebrows over his intense gray eyes. Tucked between his long fingers, Eli flipped his lucky coin expertly over his knuckles. The light caught the metal and the silver glinted with every effortless cartwheel; it was a habit he’d had for as long as Jinny had known him. Most times, she wasn’t even sure he was aware he was doing it.
“What are you talking about?” Jinny turned back to the woman twirling a blonde strand around a manicured finger.
“Them!” Sarah hissed again, like that was supposed to make a difference.
“What about them?”
Sarah rolled her blue eyes. “Sweetheart, if I have to spell it out for you, then we clearly have bigger problems.” She huffed when Jinny continued staring at her, bemused. “Why have you not fucked them yet?”
Jinny’s eyes widened in more than just mere horror. “Are you serious?”
One bleached eyebrow lifted. “Don’t I look serious?”
“They’re gay!” Jinny pointed out, struggling to keep her voice down. “And I don’t come equipped with the right sort of equipment for that position.”
“Oh, trust me, you got the right equipment for all their needed positions.”
Heat swelled beneath Jinny’s cheeks, turning her fair complexion a frightening shade of crimson that she tried to conceal behind a lock of hair that had slipped free of her messy bun.
“You’re being crazy.”
Yet she wasn’t immune or ignorant to the flutter that formed in her chest, the one that always seemed to make its presence known when the subject of Joel and Eli came up, topics that involved having them. But as she had done for the better part of eight years, she dug a deep, deep hole and quickly buried the feelings before they took root and blossomed into something that would never happen.
“Am I?” Sarah folded her arms across her plump chest, pushing her generous cleavage higher over the low V neck of her blouse. “I’ve seen the way they look at you. Trust me, they might be into each other, but they are definitely into you.”
She wasn’t entirely sure she believed that. Sarah had a tendency to embellish and dramatize every problem. Her idea of solving most things was a good bout of wild and feral fucking and Jinny … Jinny couldn’t even think about sex without spontaneously combusting from lack of, which was a task in itself when her roommates made her want nothing else.
It was never made clear where the pair stood relationship wise. The first day she’d met them, they’d approached her together and Joel had done most of the talking, but not once did either of them ever give her an inclination just where their sexual preferences stood. Jinny had put the pieces together herself when she noticed how neither never seemed interested in dating and how the two were always together. When they had moved in together, the two had selflessly offered her the secondary bedroom, volunteering to share the master suite to accommodate both their beds and furniture. While to most that would seem logical, but adding that with the fact that she had never seen either of them with a woman, solidified her conclusion that the pair was definitely gay.
But whatever their preference, Jinny respected them too much to prod. It was their business and if they didn’t want to bring it up, neither would she. Plus, ignorance was bliss. If they were straight and just not bringing their women home … she really didn’t want to know.
“And if they’re not?” She hoisted both eyebrows high in emphasis. “Then I will have ruined one of the best things in my life. No thank you. I’m fine with things being the way they are. Besides,” she popped another chip into her mouth and chewed, “sex is easy to get. What I have with Eli and Joel … completely irreplaceable.”
She loved the two too much to jeopardize years of friendship on one of Sarah’s ludicrous hunches. Besides, the last person in the world to ever make a move was Jinny Walter. She was just not built that way.
She turned back to the movie frozen on the TV screen, a hilarious still of Anne Hathaway rolling her eyes that made her appear possessed when put on pause.
Their Friday night movies normally didn’t come with breaks, unless the movie was over and a new one was beginning, but they had run out of snacks and movies just weren’t the same without munchies.
Sarah groaned, a vibrating sound of frustration that was emphasized by the toss of her body back into the cushions. The gesture nearly knocked the bowl from Jinny’s grasp. The few broken bits of chips at the bottom flew out and dropped to the worn carpet by their feet, but
“Why is it so important to you that I get laid?” Jinny laughed. “I personally think you have enough sex for both of us.”
Head propped back, Sarah turned her face to Jinny. “Because, you’re almost thirty and you’ve been with, what? One guy? And how many years ago was that? It’s not healthy. I mean, you’re waiting for them, consciously or not, and if you don’t act and they don’t act, then you are going to die a born again virgin, without the cats.”
The truth, voiced by someone outside her own head, sounded remarkably mortifying. There was no arguing that point. None of it.
Sarah was the only person Jinny had ever opened up to about her feelings for her roommates, her pathetic, nonexistent sex life, and her fears of dying alone. Her friend’s suggestion—get laid. There were days she couldn’t deny it wasn’t a bad idea, but following through was another matter entirely.
The microwave beeped. The sound broke through the cramped little apartment. The boys pushed away from the doorjamb and disappeared into their minute kitchen. She heard the microwave door pop open, then the buttery scent of popcorn plumed through the air, mingling with the lingering tang of pizza. The boys returned, Joel holding two plastic bowls and Eli shaking the popcorn bags into them. Jinny watched them from her place on the sofa and marveled, as she always did, just how comfortable they were together. Everything they did was fluid and precise. It was the bond of two people who had known each other forever, which they had, since middle grade. But the two couldn’t have been more different when it came down to it.
Where Eli was calm, rational, and levelheaded, Joel was intense, wild, and sarcastic to a fault. He was also a lot like Sarah, a fact he would kill Jinny for even thinking. But taking chances and getting them into trouble was a talent Joel and Sarah shared, which should have brought them together, yet the pair couldn’t stand to be in the same room most days. It amused Jinny to no end.
Unlike the boys, who Jinny had met during her university orientation, she’d met Sarah at a coffee shop. They’d bonded over spilled mocha lattes and the last piece of cheesecake. It was a friendship forged over their differences. Sarah was bright, spontaneous, and loud. Jinny was shy, quiet, and liked being an outside observer rather than a participant. But they made a good team when need be. Plus, Sarah was good at reminding Jinny to live.
Then there was Eli. The balance. The one who took the time to think carefully before acting. The voice of reason. She wasn’t sure how he got elected for the job, or if he even wanted it, but he had slipped into that role. He had become the quiet, somber one with deep, penetrating eyes and an authoritative presence.
When it all came down to it, Jinny couldn’t live without any of them. She had never had friendship like that before and it had become as essential to her as breathing. She cherished it too much to try anything that might take them away from her. No matter how badly she wanted the boys, she knew her own desires meant nothing when it was clear they had no interest in her like that.
“Got the popcorn!” Joel held the bowls aloft as he returned, making his way around the chairs to drop down on the sofa on Jinny’s other side. “With extra cheese seasoning.”
Jinny smiled at him. “You guys don’t have to do that. I know I’m the only one who likes the cheese stuff.”
Eli dumped his tall, lean frame into his favorite armchair, a bowl of chips in hand. “It’s only a bit of cheese. Never hurt anyone.”
Both boys were clad in worn sweats and faded t-shirts. Jinny herself was already dressed for bed. Friday movie nights were usually done until well into the AM, followed promptly by them staggering drunkenly to their own beds. That night had been no exception, until Sarah had arrived, reminding Jinny she’d promised to spend the evening with the blonde, a fact Jinny had completely forgotten about. But halfway through the movie and she already regretted it. As much as she loved her friend, Sarah was a loud complainer, making it perfectly clear that staying home and watching Netflix wasn’t her idea of a productive Friday. But going out and getting wasted wasn’t Jinny’s.
The bowl void of cheese was passed over Jinny’s head to Sarah. The woman took it with a muttered thanks that bordered on grudging. Jinny shot her a warning glower that was met with a deeper pout that Jinny ignored.
“Everyone ready?”
Joel dropped back, cradling the cheesy popcorn bowl in his lap. His free arm snaked around the back of the sofa, just behind Jinny’s head. The masculine heat of him washed through the thin material of her shorts and t-shirt. It prickled along her exposed skin, making her painfully aware of his thigh pressed into hers and his chest cradling her shoulder. The sofa felt incredibly small with him there and with Sarah taking up what was left of the space. He was so close, she could have leaned another inch to the right and slept on him. The notion was tempting. Too tempting.
Eli reached for the remote off the coffee table.
“Actually!” Sarah’s unexpected shout had even Jinny giving a jolt of surprise. The nachos sprayed into the air before cluttering back into the bowl. “Jin and I are going out.”
Jinny started. “We are?”
Driven by her new found enthusiasm, Sarah shot to her feet. The popcorn was set on the coffee table and she dusted her hands with flourish. “Yes, we are. It’s Friday. My Friday. The Friday you agreed we could hang out together.”
“We are—”
Sarah cut Jinny’s protest off with a flick of her wrist. “Staying home and watching movies isn’t how I want to spend a perfectly good Friday.”
“Fridays are movie night,” Joel broke in. “It always has been.”
“For you guys,” Sarah scoffed. “I don’t stay home on nights I can get drunk.” She folded her arms. “And you promised we could hang out.”
The familiar tingle of dread worked a knot in the pit of Jinny’s stomach, the sort of dread that always reared its head when Sarah had that look on her face. The one that promised the sort of fun that was bound to get them into trouble. For Sarah, getting plastered and waking up in some stranger’s house was a common activity. For Jinny, that very idea made her stomach churn and her skin break out in cold sweat. If she were honest with herself, her friend terrified her. Her outlook on life was crazy and reckless. Not to mention dangerous. But there was no talking Sarah out of a good time.
“What do you want to do?” she heard herself whisper, her uncertainty unmistakable.
Sarah beamed, like she’d been hoping for that question. “I want to go to Elysium.”
Jinny had to really think before the name finally clicked. “That new club they opened on twenty-ninth?”
Sarah nodded. “That’s the one. I’ve been dying to go for ages and I want to go tonight.”
“Why can’t you go by yourself?” Joel demanded in a tone that bordered on incensed.
“Because clubs are no fun alone.” Sarah shot him a glower that said very clearly that he was an idiot. “Besides, Jinny promised.”
Jinny winced when both Joel and Eli looked at her. “I…” It hadn’t exactly been a promise. It had been more of a I’ll say fine just to shut you up, type of thing. “Does it have to be tonight?”
“Yes, tonight!” Sarah practically wailed. “We both work during the week and you spend your weekends at home, which isn’t normal, by the way.”
“But I’m not dressed to go out.”
It was a flimsy excuse. Hell, it wasn’t even an excuse. She knew it even before Sarah’s smirk grew into a predatory smirk.
“You know I can get you ready in ten minutes flat.”
Jinny sighed. “Sarah…”
“You need this!” Sarah interrupted. “Forget sex, how long has it been since you even went on a date? A real date? Sitting at home with these two doesn’t count. You are young and beautiful and you are not going to be this young or beautiful forever. You need to find someone damn it! Even if it’s just to have crazy, animal sex with.”
Her humiliation reached stages that left her eyes stinging. She couldn’t even look at Joel or Eli, even though their eyes were shards of hot coal burning through her. Her private bedroom business had never, ever come up between them. Why would it? As close as they were, they all understood the necessity of privacy. It wasn’t as though they were dating and admitting she hadn’t had sex in years wasn’t a topic she was willing to just freely admit. It becoming a spoken fact only made her want to crawl under the sofa.
