Below you'll find a little information about this timeless story that involves three people who find love together. As a bonus, I've included the entire first chapter for you to read.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy! ~Ayla
The Deciding Factor
by Ayla Ruse
First Published January 17, 2011 by Totally Bound Publishing
Word Count: 37K
Genre: Contemporary erotic romance, menage m/f/m; short novel
Being with two men
suddenly became a lot more complicated …
Reuniting with both a first love and a first lover within a matter of days is enough to make any girl’s head spin. Alycia Delaney is no exception. About to turn 30, Aly decides to take charge of her lacklustre life and to live with a try-anything-new attitude. Too bad her attitude didn’t account for fate throwing two of the most important men from Aly’s past straight into her arms.
Sawyer Test and Luke Coldwell are best friends and each man wants Aly for himself. Leaving the choice to her, Aly opens door number three and decides they should embark in a summer-long ménage.
When talk turns into action, each participant is forced to question their impulsiveness, and Aly is left caught between the safety of a painful decision and the perils of following her heart.
5 Stars from JERR
"...The Deciding Factor is a charming yet scorching, sexy summer read that will have you thinking of your own 'firsts.''
4.5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies"
"THE DECIDING FACTOR is a fun, thought provoking story that brings to mind the question ‘what would you do?’"
Chapter 1
“Are
you ready for this, Aly?”
Alycia Delaney gazed up into Sawyer Test’s sky blue eyes. “Of course I’m
ready. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
“You’re right about that,” Sawyer teased in a low voice. He stepped
close, raising his hands to cradle her face, and met her lips with his own. Aly
opened for the kiss with a smile, loving the languorous way his mouth moved
over hers.
She wound her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers through his
thick, blond hair, moaning as his tongue tangled lazily with hers.
“Have I told you how lucky I am you answered my ad?” Sawyer murmured,
raining sweet, open-mouthed kisses down the column of her neck.
“Almost every day,” Aly answered and tilted her head in encouragement. “Have
I told you how glad I am I answered?”
“Not nearly enough.” He hummed low against the hollow of her throat. “Oh,
you taste so good.”
Aly shivered at the deep timbre of his voice and inwardly revelled at
how truly alive she felt for the first time in ages. It still amazed her how a
change of attitude had transformed her life in only a couple of weeks.
Sawyer’s teeth nipped gently up her throat and teased at her earlobe. She
could remain in his arms forever. Tall, strong, and skilful, this was a man in
whom she could lose herself. She ran her hands across his wide shoulders and
gave an appreciative sigh when his fingers plucked at the buttons of her
blouse, teasing her. Playing with her. Would he flick them open this time or
not?
They’d kissed a few times already in the past couple of days, and every
time he’d kiss her a little longer, touch her a little more, stir her
long-forgotten desires just enough to make her whimper. To make her hold him
tighter. To make it harder and harder to stay away. She was a mouse to his cat,
but she thrilled to the game.
Aly opened her eyes, intending to pull back, wanting to see his smiling
face and to give him more opportunity to slip that first button from its hole,
but the sights around her snapped her back to reality.
They weren’t in any bedroom. They weren’t even behind closed doors. They
stood in the parlour-turned-classroom where students would arrive at any
minute. She stiffened and pulled away from his questing hands.
“Where are you going?” he asked, snaking an arm around her waist.
Aly started to answer, but Sawyer stopped her with a dare-me look and
sealed his lips to hers once again.
What the hell, why not? Just
one more kiss.
Sawyer became more aggressive, and a moan escaped when he pulled her
tight against his body. His erection pressed into her belly and she quivered,
shamelessly grinding her hips forward.
As soon as she responded to him, his aggression left. His body relaxed
its hold from hers without breaking the kiss, and she wanted to yank his hips
back. This back-and-forth bit was fun, but it was getting old really fast. They’d
been lovers a long time ago and surprisingly, she couldn’t wait to renew some
of their old relationship, but he seemed to like dragging it out.
Again, Sawyer left her mouth to kiss her neck and she pushed at his
head, trying to encourage him to dip his kisses lower when voices in the
hallway let her know their time was at a temporary end.
With regret, Aly pulled back a second time, a playful scowl on her face
to his soft laughter. “I’m enjoying this more than you know, Sawyer—”
“I think I know how much—”
She intentionally ignored his smug interruption and continued. “But you
keep stringing me along and there are other things to do here.”
“Stringing you along?” Sawyer asked with a chuckle. Again, Aly ignored
him.
“You did, after all, hire me to teach this class that’s starting in less
than ten minutes. As much as I’d love to keep kissing you, I am a professional
and we’re not in the lesson plans for
tonight.”
Since he wanted to play, she’d show him she could give as good as she
got. She forced herself to step around the small podium serving as her desk,
planting it between the two of them. She had to get herself ready to teach. There’d
be time for Sawyer later.
“There you go,” he murmured in what sounded like approval. “Have a good
class tonight.” He smiled and headed towards the door. “I’ll see you later.”
“That you will,” Aly answered quietly to his retreating back, itching to
feel the hard warmth of his muscles against her bare hands. Before last week,
it’d been somewhere around eight years since she’d seen him, not since they’d
dated in college. Not since she left him because she thought her heart had
still longed for another…
Nope. Not going there right
now.
She shook her head and glanced over her notes. A tiny slip of yellow
paper caught her eye.
I’ll meet you after class.
Remember, dinner at my
place.
Game’s over tonight.
Sawyer.
Ever since her interview with him a week ago, sparks that had never
quite died out had heated back to life between them. Seeing his note made her
smile. When she’d entered the room earlier, Sawyer had already been there and
it made sense to her now how he quickly intercepted her before she walked
behind the podium. The kisses were a great distraction, she’d hand that to him.
Now, thinking about the evening ahead and the implications of his note,
her belly tingled. A sleep-over seemed imminent. All his stringing her along
would surely lead up to a climax to end all others. She smiled, remembering
this is exactly how he’d seduced her virginity from her, only it’d taken a lot
longer than a week. Sex with Sawyer had always been fantastic and given the
years that’d passed, she imagined earth-shattering moments for tonight’s
interlude.
Two students wandered in and were engrossed in their own conversation,
so Aly simply nodded her head and smiled, looking around the classroom that
looked more like an old-fashioned parlour with its settees and single
upholstered chairs set next to dark, folding tables. She absorbed her
surroundings and let her own thoughts ramble.
If Mr. Desque could see me
now, she thought with wry humour, thinking of her
stuffy job-by-day boss, the headmaster at Reno Prep High School. He’d actually
done a double take when she turned down his usual offer to teach a summer
school class. She’d never turned down the extra job before. If mister
straight-laced knew she was teaching a class that delved into graphic sex he’d
probably fire her on the spot.
She still found it hard to
believe that barely two weeks ago, she’d been a staid, high school English
teacher. She’d turned in her final grades for the year and realised she had
nothing to look forward to for her summer except thumb-twiddling time off and a
big, uneventful 3-0 birthday looming in the fall.
It’d been the reality of soon turning thirty that had caused her to take
stock of her life—finding herself severely lacking. She was a boring person. She
did nothing, had no friends to speak of, no life to brag about, and most
discouraging of all, no sex in God knows how long. Wanting to shake herself out
of her monotony, Aly made the decision to do everything she’d shied away from
since college.
Since her little epiphany, her life had indeed turned a new page. She
hadn’t watched a single television show in over a week, her library books were
actually overdue and her bulging bank account dwindled happily with the new
clothes and pampering she’d given herself. Within the first week of summer
vacation, she’d cut off her waist-length hair, received a professional manicure
topped with fire engine red nails, purchased a pair of sturdy hiking boots for
the mountain trails she intended to blaze in the Tahoes, and…
Then, her life turned upside down. She had run across a curious ad for
an evening instructor at a private school.
Remarkably, it turned out Sawyer owned this private school, The Centre
of Erotic Arts and Learning, CEAL for short. Aly still wasn’t sure if he’d
hired her because of her teaching experience or because of their brief history,
but it didn’t matter. Teaching an erotica class hadn’t been on her original
break-out to-do list, but she wouldn’t pass up the chance to do something
completely new.
Not only that, Sawyer was apparently eager to pick up a new, no-strings
attached, for-old-times-sake…something, with her. She wouldn’t call it a
relationship, but a summer fling had a nice ring.
* * * *
Sawyer set his paperwork aside. Aly was absorbing too much of his mind
to focus on work tonight. A glance at the wall clock reminded him he’d be
meeting with her in about an hour and a half.
Knowing better than to force himself to work, he locked his office
before heading towards the back stairs that would lead up the two flights to
his apartment. It never ceased to amaze him that despite having both his school
and his residence in a single refurbished mansion, he didn’t lack for room or
privacy.
“Hey, Sawyer!”
Sawyer turned with a grin as his best friend, Luke Coldwell, caught up
with him.
“Good to see you, Luke. Are you running late or just switching around
classes?”
“I’m late. I got hung up at the hotel or I would have been here sooner. I
don’t know which class I’ll audit for you yet, maybe a couple of them?”
“We just started a new semester this week so there’s plenty to choose
from.”
“Don’t worry, just be glad I’m here at all,” Luke added with a chuckle.
“Trust me, I am. I appreciate your input, you know I do. Your
observations have really helped the classes, and the teachers. I still wish
you’d let me hire you on. You know more about eroticism than anyone else I know.”
“Except you,” said Luke.
“Well, that’s a given,” Sawyer answered with a grin.
“Thanks man, but you know I’m not teacher material. I like running my
hotel too much.”
“Why, I’ll never know. Okay then, have a good night. I’ll see you
around.”
Sawyer turned to go but Luke stopped him once again.
“Will you be upstairs later? We haven’t hung out in awhile. Maybe we
could grab a beer and I’ll tell you my thoughts about whatever class I attend.”
“We’ll have to do that another time. I’ve got a date when I close up
tonight, so hanging with you is the last thing on my mind.”
“Ah, gotcha. Sorry for holding you up. Is it Melissa you’re going to
see?”
“Actually, no. Do you remember me telling you about that really hot girl
I dated early on in college?”
“Which one?”
Sawyer rolled his eyes. Luke had a point. By the time they’d met in
their senior year in college their previous girlfriend lists could rival Santa
Clause’s naughty or nice list. At least the naughty ones, they’d liked to
stress.
“Yeah, she and I were over as an item long before you came to campus. I
ran into her recently and we’ve gone out a couple of times. I’m counting on
tonight being an all-nighter.”
“Say no more. I’ll call you later in the week. See you.”
With Luke finally taking his leave, Sawyer jogged up the stairs to his
apartment to make sure all would be ready. He had a dinner to prepare and he’d
picked up flowers earlier in the day he wanted to place around the apartment. He
remembered Aly had always loved flowers and he hoped she’d appreciate the
effort on his part.
He didn’t want to admit to Luke just now how much Aly had meant to him
when they’d dated years ago. He hadn’t said how much seeing her recently had
affected him. In the past nearly ten years, Sawyer had tucked her memory away—a
fond one, but hazy, like a distant thought that she had been his one missed
chance for love. Then last week, she’d shown up in his office looking for a
summer job. The sight of her had brought everything tumbling back and his
breath had caught. Maybe this was a second opportunity, one he didn’t know if
he wanted to take, but he wasn’t about to let her slip through his fingers
either. He’d dropped Melissa the same day he’d talked to Aly, knowing there was
still something between them. Luke, being the proverbial ladies’ man, wouldn’t
understand. One woman was the same as the next for that guy.
But do I want to get serious
with Aly?
He shrugged, undecided. For now, he’d take her any way he could get her.
There was something there. He couldn’t pinpoint it, but there was something
about her that made his mind implode and his cock want to explode. Dating and
fondling had been okay, but enough was enough. He knew she was ready, too. Tonight
would be a night to remember. He’d make sure of it.
* * * *
Two minutes into class time, Aly wanted to leave. Her palms actually
sweated. Teaching distracted teenagers Shakespeare was one thing. Teaching the
small group of interested adults about erotica, another. Still, she’d pull this
off, no matter how much she’d have to fake her “knowledge” of erotic art,
literature and film. Especially the film part, which—lucky me—featured in tonight’s class.
It took a little effort, but soon she found herself smiling and chatting
with the students. She reminded herself these people were strangers and were
probably more nervous than her. It should be uncomfortable talking to them
about anything sexual, but in no time, Aly was guiding the students into a
discussion on what made an erotic film different from run-of-the-mill
pornography. Silently, she found herself curious and listened attentively to
their talk.
The bluntness of the students’ debate enlightened her, though it did
make her blush. Sex had always been a private thing between Aly and her few
lovers. Open and frank discussions about having multiple partners and strange
positions were things she might have thought about but never actually talked about.
She tried to focus, without gawking, on a conversation about the merits
of close-up shots when movement at the doorway caught her eye.
She froze and stared in shocked disbelief. Her heart tripped.
Her startled eyes met a ghost from her past. A ghost in the very
physical form of Luke Coldwell. Her first love from high school and the one
that got away, as the saying went. She hadn’t seen him since graduation. He’d
been handsome as a teenager. As the man coming into her class now, his looks
were devastatingly stunning.
His eyes caught hers. Recognition flashed in their dark depths and his
lips curved into a wicked smile.
“Sorry I’m late,” he offered as an apology.
Luke sauntered into the room, his stride purposeful but easy. He didn’t
just walk, he moved. The very air
around him seemed to part. His hair, thicker and blacker than hers,
complimented his permanent, deep tan—which was courtesy, he’d once told her, of
Shoshone blood from somewhere in his ancestry.
He slid, gracefully for his large, well muscled size, into a chair next
to Ms. Arbuckle, who had earlier introduced herself with pride as a young
sixty-year old, one of the oldest students in the class. To Aly’s astonishment,
Ms. Arbuckle tried to pinch Luke on the thigh. He must have expected the move
because he easily avoided her and sent the older woman a devilish grin.
“That’s Alycia Delaney.” Aly watched mutely as Ms. Arbuckle filled him
in. “She’s new here.”
Luke turned his hooded gaze to Aly. “Hi.”
She didn’t know what to say.
“Alycia?” a student asked, drawing Aly’s attention.
“Um, yes, Derrick?” As Aly tried to concentrate on his question, she
couldn’t get Luke out of her mind. Or her eyesight. He sat right in front of
her, decked out in designer slacks
and a deep blue silk shirt, the top two buttons undone, sleeves rolled up. She
bit her tongue to keep from licking her lips. She wanted to taste that exposed
part of his neck so badly she hurt. This man radiated sin like it was free for
the taking.
This is not right. I should
not be feeling like this.
Then again, Luke had always been sexually devastating. Why she never
slept with him when they’d dated in high school, she couldn’t fathom.
Yes, she could. Stupidity on her part. Only sixteen, she’d been stupid
in love and had wanted forever with him. Yet even as a teen she’d known that he
didn’t love her in the same endless way she did him.
Luke caught her eye and winked. Her heart jumped. Nah, she couldn’t
still feel that love for him, could she?
Oh, please let the class end
soon.
Aly did her best to ignore Luke, even though his stare made her feel
like she taught naked. He never said a word, but simply sat in his chair,
making various notes in his notebook and giving her dark, intense looks that
made her constantly lose her train of thought.
When his long, thick fingers idly stroked the pen in his hand, she had
to fight the imagery of him caressing her skin. When she caught him giving her
a slow bodily once-over, finishing with an open smile of promise, her throat
dried up and the words she’d been speaking died on her tongue, embarrassing her
when one of the students asked if she was okay.
No, I’m not okay,
she’d wanted to shout. My skin is burning
and my insides are melting and if Luke doesn’t leave this classroom right now
I’m going to straddle his lap and lay to rest all the curiosities I’ve always
had about having his body inside mine!
Instead, Aly straightened her shoulders, cleared her throat and turned
away from Luke’s knowing gaze and bedevilling smirk.
I’m a professional educator.
I can resist that man. I did it once before, I can do it again.
And she could keep lying to herself, too, but still, she made it through
the discussion part of the class without any more incidents. During the brief
break before the film, she kept herself occupied in a conversation with two
other students.
I am not avoiding Luke. I’m
simply being a teacher.
Walking as tall as her five-foot five-inch frame—with heels—would allow,
she dimmed the lights, grabbed the remote and started the movie. One of the
students pointed towards an empty seat for her to use. Graciously, Aly thanked
the lady. As she sat down, however, she wished she’d opted to stand at the furthest
back corner of the room instead.
Luke sat barely more than an arm’s length from her. Yes, she was
somewhat kiddie-corner to his back, but she couldn’t watch the movie without
seeing him.
He shifted in his chair, leaned back, turned his head and flashed a
smile so full of heat her thighs clamped together. She forcefully returned a
pleasant smile, as if his presence didn’t matter one way or the other to her.
Yeah, right. All you want to
do is crawl over to him, strip him down and have your way with him. Oh God,
somebody help me.
Surprisingly, the movie did help by pulling her attention to the wide
screen at the front of the room. To her astonishment, the abundance of sex
worked in well with the story line. It fit naturally. Plus, the movie had
actual dialogue, clothed characters from time to time, and a plotline to
follow.
On the other hand, the longer the film progressed, the more Aly squirmed
in her seat. There might have been a story to follow, but there was also a
whole lot of graphic sex. She desperately wanted to reach down between her legs
and rub her clit just to stifle the building ache.
Luke stretched, and Aly’s gaze swung to the thick arms raised high over
his head. She wondered what they would feel like around her. Would his embrace
feel crushing or tender? Would she feel trapped or exhilarated?
She squeezed her eyes shut, berating herself for these images about Luke
when she would no doubt be sleeping with Sawyer in a few hours. Fate could not
be this cruel to her. She shook her head, trying to sort her scattered
thoughts.
Surely some of her mixed up feelings could be excused because it wasn’t
every day a woman saw both her first lover and her first love within a one-week
time span. And as for Luke, of course she’d think about sex with him. He
was the one man she’d always wanted and never had. There should be no guilt
with those thoughts, she decided. It was only in her mind after all.
The guttural moan of a man’s pleasure snapped Aly’s attention back to
the movie. A female character crouched on her knees, busy giving the male
character a blow job.
Aly couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like to do that to Luke.
Like right now. His arms had come down, crossing over his chest. His
legs were splayed out before him. She let her thoughts go…
She’d have to move the little prop table from in front of him, then she
could sink down to her knees between his hard thighs. She could almost hear the
scraping sound of the zipper as she opened his slacks. His cock would spring
out, eager for her touch. She’d wrap her hands around the bulging shaft. She
could just imagine how it would look, dark and thick and completely ready for
her wet mouth…
Bang!
Aly started.
“Sorry.” A muffled apology sounded from behind her. Someone must have
hit their table, but the distraction worked to rip her out of her fantasy.
Glancing randomly around the room in an attempt to clear her lust-filled
head, she pondered again her run-ins with both Sawyer and Luke recently. Why
now, instead of months or years apart? Why here, at this private school? A
sudden thought sent a shiver up her spine.
What if Luke and Sawyer know
each other? She balked. No,
it’s coincidence, that’s all. Happens to people all the time.
Besides, Luke no doubt had a girlfriend or maybe even a wife, and she
was about to embark on an affair with Sawyer. Her answer should be simple. She
had to tamp down her libido for Luke.
After all, what kind of woman lusted after two men? What kind of
self-respecting woman, who was planning to have sex with one guy, still wanted
to have sex with another? She told herself to be daring this summer, true, but
there would be no way to have two separate affairs. Would there?
She shook her head sharply. Get
your head out of the movie, girl. You should not be having such diverse
fantasies.
She should be having fantasies about Sawyer,
not Luke.
Hot…sexy…erotic Luke.
The same man who even now turned his head to look her way, watching her
with a hunger that seemed to want to eat her up. Literally.
She quickly turned her head before he saw the heat in her own eyes.
Aly suffered through the rest of the film, trying desperately to ignore
Luke while she constantly imagined them doing all the delicious things playing
out before her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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