I think i mentioned before that I got the rights back to Nikki back in July, and Rooster and Pig snatched her up for expansion and re-release. I added a considerable to the original short, and it turned out quite well, and Nikki has a gorgeous cover to boot. :) Here's the link and an excerpt, hope you guys enjoy!
http://www.roosterandpigpublishing.com/new-releases.html
She knew the moment
Ritchie saw her, a huge grin crossing his face and he nudged Cody, pointing her
out. An equally huge and happy smile crossed Cody’s face and they quickly
maneuvered to reach her. Cody grabbed her first, kissing her gently as he held
her close. Nikki sighed into his mouth, savoring the first taste of him after a
week of them both being gone. Then Ritchie drew her close and kissed her, his
taste different, but just as familiar and wanted. Nikki noted a couple of
startled looks, but mostly they weren’t even noticed in the crowd of travelers.
She smiled up at them.
“Let’s get your bags
and go eat,” Nikki suggested. “I didn’t have time to make dinner, the meeting
with the Sloyers ran over a bit.”
Cody and Ritchie both
frowned. “I take it from your tone it didn’t go well?” Cody asked as they
headed towards the luggage pick-up. Nikki smiled as Ritchie guided her with his
hand on the small of her back. They allowed her the space she needed for her
control issues, but she had learned to accept their protectiveness. They’d had
some pretty rough patches over the years, but family support from Abe and Jane,
and a willingness to get counseling for help, had gone a long way to letting
them working those problems out to their benefit. Her wedding rings glinted in
the light as she reached out for Cody’s hand and she smiled. The fine gold
bands matched the rings her husbands wore almost exactly. The only difference
were the birthstones: one of her rings held Cody’s birthstone, flanked by
diamonds, and the other held Ritchie’s birthstone, flanked by diamonds. Theirs
were just like hers, except they both wore a band with her birthstone, then the
other held the other man’s birthstone.
“What’s the smile for,
prettiness?” Ritchie asked.
“I was just thinking of
our wedding rings,” she answered him first, then answered Cody’s question. “And
no, it didn’t go well at all. Unfortunately. None of us were surprised though. It’s
not the first time Pat has fixated on a teacher, I learned today. So Vincent
has not only removed Pat from my classes, his schedule is being altered to keep
him as far away from my class as possible during the day.”
Neither man said
anything, but Nikki could sense from the stiffness of their bodies that they
weren’t happy. She wasn’t happy either, but what could be done, had been. There
wasn’t anything else they could do. Cody’s hand briefly tightened on her, while
Ritchie’s hand on her back rubbed briefly, each man telling her silently that
they were there for her.
After getting their
bags, the threesome went out to one of their favorite restaurants for dinner, a
place they could sit and even indulge in a slight bit of PDA without being
hassled. None of them were very demonstrative in public, but they didn’t care
to totally go without touching each other just because they were out and about,
either. The food was perfect, and they shared the details of their respective
weeks. She shared some of the hijinks her classes got up to, including short
segue into trying to find proof that Hitler had had a crush on Stalin, that was
why Hitler was so determined to bring Russia down. That had led to a discussion
of the current topics regarding Russia, and it’s suddenly more virulent
anti-LBGT laws, and the ramifications of them. There was even a discussion on
the effectiveness of boycotting or moving the Olympics, or if it would be more
effective embarrassment for Russia to deal with actually arresting so many
internationally known people, if the athletes themselves acted to show their
support of LBGT people and their rights. That had led to the discussion of
whether or not embarrassment was an effective tool in changing any country’s
political behavior, in particular countries such as Russia and the United
States, both notorious for doing whatever they both damn well felt like, as
evidenced by the Cold War.
Cody and Ritchie
regaled her with a story about the utter confusion their new client displayed
as they worked to explain to him exactly how their systems worked. The young
man admitted to being, in his words, “a techno-idiot,” but was willing to learn,
if somebody was willing to sit down and teach him. So Cody and Ritchie had done
exactly that, helping him to learn how to use not only their systems, but
helped him better understand other programs he had for his online business. They
settled back to enjoy their dessert, sharing heated glances, letting the
anticipation of getting home and getting naked get them revved up. Nikki
smirked at her husbands as she mentally thought about where her favorite
turtleneck was…from the looks she was getting, a scarf around her neck wasn’t
going to cut it tomorrow.
*
* * *
Nikki sighed and yawned
as she dropped her bag beside her desk. It had been a long, very satisfying
night, her husbands making sure that she had no doubt that they had missed her.
Her body was pleasantly sore in all the right places and she'd had to search
out her turtleneck to wear, to hide the marks on her neck, just as she’d
thought at dinner last night. She chuckled to herself as her body tightened a
little in remembrance. The only sour note in the entire evening was another
phone call from Pat that Cody answered. Pat’s enraged reaction to Cody’s claim
on Nikki, as well as his telling Pat not to call anymore had been unpleasant. Having
to call the police and Vincent again had been just as bad, with the detective
that came around, Muncy, questioning whether or not Nikki’s behavior or dress
was giving an impressionable young boy the wrong idea. Nikki had glared at him,
informing him that he could either take her concerns seriously, and
respectfully, or she could file a formal complaint against Muncy as well. She
wouldn’t take harassment from a young boy, she certainly wouldn’t tolerate it
from a grown man who should know better.
Her phone beeped at her and she pulled it out
of her purse, laughing as she saw that it was a sext from Ritchie, although it
was obviously taken by Cody: Ritchie, in their shower, lathered head to toe and
coyly hiding his bits and pieces.
What
do ya think, sexy beast, isn’t he? The text read.
Very…
just as sexy as the other beast who got him to pose for us, she
replied. I’ll call you at lunch.
Love
you oodles and bunches, and Ritchie says to tell you he wants to go down on you
for lunch. Personally, I think that’s a smashing idea…Can we come to see you?
*wicked eyebrow waggles at sexy smexy wife*
Nikki laughed out loud,
shaking her head. NO!!! LOL There are
innocent eyes here!!! And some of them even belong to the kids! You both can
have me for a snack when I get home this afternoon.
I
love working from home…
She sat down, put her
phone away, and booted up her computer. The room was a nice pleasant green
color, but only because she’d paid for the paint herself three years ago. Some
of her fellow teachers had a week long painting party, painting their
classrooms out of their own pockets, but the district allowed them to choose
the colors. Books of all kinds were stacked on shelves around the room,
including many of her own private collection. The students were free to borrow
one at a time, but they couldn’t borrow another until they returned the first,
and it was completely on the honor system. So far in the four years she’d been
here, she’d only had to replace one book, proving her theory that if you act as
if your students have both intelligence and honor, they tend to prove you
right.
The first hour of the
day was her free period to do anything she needed to, so she got caught up on
school news and answered a few emailed questions for some of her students. Then
she began setting up the lesson for next period on the blackboard. The
discussion over the current social and political situation with Russia and the
Olympics had been so successful with her last period class yesterday that she
wanted to introduce it to her other classes today. A short report from her
students about their families and friends reactions to it would make a great
homework assignment, especially from those students who still had relatives
that lived during WWII. The views of parents and grandparents that grew up in
the influence of the Cold War would give her students an eclectic, and very
personal, set of reactions that could be discussed in class. Two weeks would be
enough time for them to get their stories, and write a report from them. A soft
sound had her turning around, smiling at first. Her welcoming smile faded as
she saw who her visitor was.
Pat Sloyer stood six feet away, dressed, as
usual, in dark jeans and a band T-shirt, with his jean jacket on. What made her
blood run cold was the gun pointed at her, and the unhinged glint in his brown
eyes.
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