What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 8) Read online

  What To Read After FSOG

  The Gemstone Collection

  Part Eight

  WTRAFSOG

  Created by Summer Daniels

  All rights reserved. This book is copyrighted material and must not be copied, translated, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any form without prior written permission of the publisher, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution, circulation or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible maybe liable in law accordingly.

  Copyright © Sabrina York, Lucy Felthouse, Liz Crowe, Katie de Long, Kiki Wellington, Kit Tunstall, Portia Da Costa, Tina Donahue, Suz deMello, Jennifer Ann, and Summer Daniels 2014. The right of the above authors to be identified as the authors of the works in this anthology has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) 2000

  Kindle Edition

  The books in this anthology are works of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either a product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Formatted by BB eBooks.

  *WTRAFSOG created by Summer Daniels.

  WTRAFSOG

  (What To Read After Fifty Shades of Grey)

  Be sure to check out some other great authors and deals with our WTRAFSOG Box Sets!

  Amazon

  Hello all … my name is Summer Daniels.

  I’m not just an author, I am a voracious reader. I am always looking for that next book to read that will capture my interest and transport me to another realm.

  I’ve been saying all along that there should be a 12 step program associated with the Fifty Shades of Grey book phenomenon. Readers who have not read a single book for many years are now voraciously reading a book a week … or more!!

  Back in April of 2012 I had an idea to help point some of these readers in the direction of other talented authors (including myself) … and the Facebook page What To Read After Fifty (50) Shades of Grey was born. What honestly started out as a way to sell a few of my books and help promote some other deserving authors has blossomed into an unbelievably active reader recommendation / author promotion community.

  As part of the evolution of the page into this community – I started to compile a weekly list of books that had sold the most copies from the links on the page – based on reader recommendations, author promotions, best seller lists, etc.

  I started out posting the Top Ten books every week. Readers blazed through the top ten and wanted more. I started posting a list of the 11-20 positions as well every week. Readers wanted more. So now every other week I update the Top Fifty List of best selling books and post it on the Facebook page. I email it out to anyone who wants it as well – if you’d like an email copy – just drop me an email at [email protected] and I will add you to our mailing list.

  The mailing list includes The Top Fifty List, Daily Digests (from the posts on the FB page), and special author spotlights / sales. Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/Jmhnn

  We hope you enjoy this anthology! If you do – please consider spreading the word about it to friends, fellow readers, your hairdresser, mailman, etc.

  The WTRAFSOG page now has a FREE APP associated with it as well, with such features as the Top Fifty List, a Free Ebook of the Day, Hot New Releases, Pre-Orders for hot books coming soon, and a lot more!

  It is FREE … so go download yours today!

  Amazon: http://amzn.to/1de1M5f

  Come check us out online! Daily FREE ebooks, reader recommendations, author sales, giveaways and MORE!

  Facebook Page: What To Read After Fifty (50) Shades of Grey

  Website: What To Read After Fifty (50) Shades of Grey

  Summer

  Box Set Contents

  Whipped by Sabrina York—Dane Coulter is mourning the loss of his best friend, fellow Special Ops buddy, Cody. Oh, Cody didn’t die. It’s worse. He’s getting married. Cody is, in Dane’s opinion, whipped. Dane swears he will never suffer the same fate. But when he meets a woman who can take all his dominant loving and beg for more, he realizes he may have met his match. It’s a damn shame she’s the one woman in the world his man-code deems untouchable…his best friend’s sister.

  Timeless Desire by Lucy Felthouse—Emily arrives at Westbury Hall to clean and conserve all of the books in their impressive library. Not long into her stay at the house, she bumps into the night guard, George. She’d expected an old, balding guy with a comb over, so the hunky chap she actually meets is a very pleasant surprise. The introductions complete, George leaves Emily in peace to get on with her job. But when a falling photograph sets off a chain reaction of ghostly events, Emily and George are thrown together in order to find out who—or what—is causing them. Their investigation uncovers a tragic past, a lost love, and a stunning secret.

  Shut Out by Liz Crowe—A submissive once, a submissive forever?

  Two people, horribly scarred by the excesses of the BDSM lifestyle and hiding from their true selves, meet across a desk over a simple contract. All bets are off.

  Queen of Clubs: Malia by Katie de Long—The exotic dancers and employees of the Queen of Clubs walk a fine line, with only wits, beauty, and market savvy to keep them from toppling into the shark pit. Ride shotgun through lapdances, romance, and sexual awakenings. Don’t worry, these girls won’t ask what your hands are doing under the tip rail.

  In Queen of Clubs: Malia, a former ballet dancer turned stripper ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. What could be worse than ending up in your first love’s lap…at his brother’s bachelor party?

  Unusual. by Kiki Wellington—Billionaire oil heiress Elle Anderton is desperate to protect her heart—and her trust fund. Darren Phillips is equally desperate to prove that his love for her is real. In Kiki Wellington’s Unusual, their love tests turn kinky and take them both to sexual places they’ve never gone before.

  Undercover Mother by Kit Tunstall—Caris just wants to get her daughter back when she starts working as the nanny. She doesn’t expect to fall in love with Dom, the brother of the man who stole her baby and will stop at nothing to hurt her.

  Power of Three by Portia Da Costa—Harshly dumped by her fiancé, and spending her Caribbean honeymoon alone, Laurie decides to chill out and make the best of things. Sex and romance are all around her and soon she’s not only watching other lovers at play, she’s sharing sensual pleasure with not one man, but two. At the same time! Handsome and kindly, Denny and Ed provide her with an erotic therapy that banishes the pain of her failed engagement and shows the way to a happy future, restoring her belief in the possibility of true love.

  Make Me Surrender by Tina Donahue—She has a proposition…to win their attention, passion, hearts. For over a year, Mercy’s had her eye on Travis and Dutch, two of the hottest guys on the Oregon coast. Dark and dangerously virile, Travis owns a saloon that caters to bikers. Dutch looks like one, right down to his impressive tats, and operates a motorcycle repair shop on the premises.

  Imagine their surprise when sweet little Mercy encourages wild nights of carnal pleasure with a dash of bondage and spanking…followed by friendship and tenderness that has these tough guys surrendering.

  Peril
ous Play by Suz deMello—One woman’s journey into the contemporary kink underworld, Perilous Play is Suz deMello’s explosive personal account of her experiences with BDSM. Engaging and honest, this groundbreaking memoir will grab you and never let you go.

  Kelly’s Quest by Jennifer Ann—Shunned by her family back home, Kelly Cavenaugh follows her best friend to New York with aspirations to start over. Kelly may be a lot of things: intelligent, sexy, vivacious, and a great friend, but the one thing she’s determined to prove to herself and others is that she’s not promiscuous. So why do a spoiled rich boy with a dark past and a former Marine with a high-powered job have to come along and try to break her resolve? If she gives in to her desires, will she only be breaking the rule she set for herself, or will she also be proving she’s the disappointment her family sees her as?

  Summer’s Journey by Summer Daniels—Join Summer on her journey of sexual self-discovery; a well written, intelligent and sexy series about the beginning of her sensual, sultry love affair with life, and all the joys of being a woman.

  Whipped

  Sabrina York

  Text Copyright Sabrina York 2014

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN: 978-1-941497-01-2

  Discover more titles by Sabrina York at http://sabrinayork.com/

  Dedication

  For Tina Reiter. She knows why.

  Whipped

  By Sabrina York

  Dane Coulter is mourning the loss of his best friend, fellow Special Ops buddy, Cody. Oh, Cody didn’t die. It’s worse. He’s getting married. Cody is, in Dane’s opinion, whipped.

  Dane swears he will never suffer the same fate. But when he meets a woman who can take all his dominant loving and beg for more, he realizes he may have met his match. It’s a damn shame she’s the one woman in the world his man-code deems untouchable…his best friend’s sister.

  Chapter One

  It was a sad day. One of the great ones had fallen.

  Dane Coulter bowed his head and lifted his glass. “To Cody. My best friend and the world’s best wingman. He was a good man. I’ll miss you, buddy.”

  Billy nodded and swiped at his cheek. “Damn straight.”

  “To Cody,” the others around the table chorused as they lifted their glasses as well.

  All but Cody. Cody shot them an annoyed look and snorted. “I’m getting married, not dyin’.”

  “Close enough.” Dane clapped him on the shoulder, a somber expression on his face. “It was damn good knowing you.”

  Hard to believe all their adventures, all their wild sexcapades were over. Hard to believe such a dyed in the wool ladies’ man could succumb.

  But succumb he had. Cody had met Angie and she’d swept all his cynicism—his stalwart resistance to that romantic notion women called love—aside.

  In just a couple days he’d be a married man. Ball and chain and everything.

  Which was ironic, when you thought about it. Given his…proclivities in the bedroom. A submissive man, Cody was not.

  Dane knew him well, had known him his whole life. As Army brats, traveling the world in a rootless existence, it was rare to run into the same friends again and again but, as a result of their fathers being repeatedly assigned to the same bases, they’d grown up together.

  They’d been best friends since grade school, except for that month or so in high school when they’d both been besotted with Lila Pennington. But then she’d slept with Thomas Winkler and that had been the end of that.

  Their families were still friendly too. Their dads went fishing together, their moms had cocktails and their brothers and sisters were all best friends. There had been dinner parties and sleepovers and camping trips.

  As young men, Dane and Cody had enlisted side-by-side and helped each other survive Basic, and then Cody had followed Dane into the Special Forces. For the past five years they’d been inseparable, had each other’s backs on mission after mission, adventure after adventure.

  Until Angela.

  Dane had been joking when he’d said Cody’s impending marriage was like a death sentence but, on some level, it didn’t feel like a joke at all. He tried not to think she was taking Cody away forever but, deep inside, that was how it felt.

  Like he was losing a friend.

  He glanced over at Cody, who had wandered to the window and was staring out at the Vegas skyline. Angie had picked Vegas for their whirlwind wedding and, of course, Cody had agreed. He agreed to everything nowadays.

  Dane hadn’t complained because, hell, it was Vegas. And Angie’s dad was paying for everything. A week in Vegas. Everything top of the line.

  And Cody was in love. Head over heels, helplessly, hopelessly in love.

  Whipped.

  Dane stifled a snort and took a draw on his beer. This was supposed to be a celebration, a badass bachelor party. Cody’s last gasp of freedom with his wild and raucous buddies before the boom fell. He glanced around the lush suite with derision. Wild and raucous? Not.

  Billy and Kaye sat at the table flicking paper footballs at each other and Ennis was playing with himself…a desultory game of beer pong with olives. Dudley was perched on a chair angling cards into a wastebasket. Badass bachelor party? Shit. It felt more like a high school slumber party. All that was missing was footie pajamas.

  It was a crying shame.

  If their C.O. saw his Special Forces team brought this low, they’d all be drummed out of the corps.

  “When are the strippers getting here?” Kaye asked the question humming in Dane’s mind.

  Cody spun around and paled. He clutched his chest like a swooning virgin. “Gawd. Strippers? There can’t be any strippers. Ang would have my balls on a plate if I so much as looked at another woman.”

  Dane tried not to roll his eyes in disgust.

  “Does that mean you won’t be needing the hooker we hired?”

  Cody gaped at Billy. “You hired a hooker?” His voice broke.

  “Um, yeah?”

  “Shit.” Cody raked his fingers through his hair, though there wasn’t much to rake. Like all of them, his hair was closely cropped.

  “She’s paid for and everything,” Billy said, as though this would help.

  “No fucking hooker. Come on guys.”

  Ennis frowned and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. His biceps rippled. Of all of them Ennis was the most ripped, which was saying something, because they were all pretty ripped. “Shee-it, Cody. This is supposed to be a bachelor party. We’re in Vegas. It’s supposed to be wild and crazy. There are supposed to be strippers. There’s supposed to be a fucking tiger in the room.”

  Why he pouted at that, Dane didn’t have a clue. If there was a tiger in the room, it would probably eat the strippers.

  “Yeah.” Billy echoed Ennis’ pout. “Tonight’s the night, bro. Your last chance.” It was true. The families were all arriving tomorrow. Tomorrow the hotel would be filled with mothers and sisters and flower girls, for Christ’s sake. In all likelihood, they would not appreciate strippers. Or hookers.

  Kaye joined the refrain. “If we’re gonna have a bacchanal, it’s gotta be tonight. From here on out it’ll be rubber chicken with Aunt Gladys.”

  “I don’t have an Aunt Gladys.”

  “Aunt whoever then.”

  “And there’s not going to be a bacchanal.” This growled by their host, with a slash of his hand.

  The guys eyed Cody gloomily. “You changed, man,” Billy muttered.

  “Yeah.” Kaye tipped up his beer and reached for another. “What’d she do to you?”

  Cody set his hands on his hips. “I love her.”

  None of them, of course, could respond to that. Although Billy did mutter again, under his breath, “You changed.”

  He had. Dane tried to ignore the ripple of desolation at the thought. He tried to ignore the sneaking suspicion that as of tonight, as of right now, nothing would ever be the same again.

  Ennis wandered across the room, plopped down on the so
fa and turned on the TV, scrolling for porn but stalling on some financial news update. “I can’t believe we’re in Vegas and sitting in a hotel room. With no hookers,” he grumbled. “What kind of bachelor party is this?”

  “A boring one.” Kaye sat next to Ennis and grabbed the remote, surfing through until he found a game on. All the guys drifted over to watch. Everyone but Dane. Yeah. He couldn’t take this. It was all too…painful.

  “I’m gonna head out,” he said to Cody.

  “You’re not leaving, are you?”

  Dane faked a grimace. “Little bit of a headache.” It was a believable lie. After the concussion he’d received during their last mission, he’d been having them. He was probably going to hell for lying about it now to escape what felt like a wake for his best friend, but he had to escape. Misery was closing in on him like a steel trap.

  He’d probably go back to his room and drink himself into a stupor.

  No. He wouldn’t. He was in fucking Vegas. He’d find a party somewhere—with hot and horny chicks—and drink himself into a stupor there.

  “Okay.” Cody’s brow wrinkled in concern. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”

  “Yeah. Have fun tonight. And…congratulations.”

  God, that word was hard to choke out. Still, Cody took his hand and shook it. Believing, trusting that Dane was sincere.

  He wasn’t. He set his teeth as he left Cody’s room. Damn. Whatever had a hold on his friend, he sure hoped he never got a dose of it. Sit in his room with his buddies and chat? While in Vegas? Turning down a hooker? One that had been paid for?

  So unlike Cody it made Dane’s brain hurt.