Double Take

Same face, same mission, same woman. One big risk...

In post apocalyptic New York, Shannon Morris has one job to do: find the secrets everyone wants to hide from the all-powerful Eaglecorp. From her appointed perch high above the underclass, she would never have guessed she'd become a rebel sympathizer, or fall for two men at the same time--twins.

Ex-military resistance fighters Tristan and Pryor Davies also have a mission: to take down Eaglecorp by any means necessary. And Shannon is their key. But loving Shannon was never part of that plan. It's a complication no amount of training could have prepared them for. They know instinctually how to rule her pleasure, and the sex between the three of them is explosive. But when the twins are forced to choose between their mission and Shannon, they struggle to find a solution they can live with. Because living without Shannon isn't an option.

Awakened to Eaglecorp's oppressive stranglehold on the people, Shannon begins to discover just what she's capable of. There's no turning back from the mission--or from the searing heat of twin lovers. Shannon is the key to defeating Eaglecorp, but only if she can unlock the truth before everything falls apart. In the end, the biggest secret she'll uncover might be her own...

Excerpt: 

Nobody would confirm it. At least nobody she’d spoken to. But the rumors had been growing for three years, since the protests of year 2153—a persistent chatter in the alleys and commissaries, no matter how hard Eaglecorp Global tried to suppress it. Left unchecked, these seeds would sprout into legend…and legends change the world.

Chapter One

August 16, 2158

Shannon took in the sight of them. Two sleek chiseled frames, perfectly male, unmistakably powerful, standing in nothing but the low hung cotton underwear they’d slept in. She followed the valleys at each of their hips, suddenly grateful for the ten sets of military style sit-ups neither started the day without. Identical bodies stood languidly over her only an arm’s length away, radiating with confidence and compassion and sex. She couldn’t love either of them more, though her reasons for loving each had proven unique if not complex. The Davies twins were one of a kind and no one else but Pryor and Tristan could better prepare her for what she needed to do.

“Are you ready for today?” Tristan asked.

Shannon sat on the edge of the bed, still wearing his T-shirt.  “I’m anxious,” she admitted.

Pryor stepped closer to her and knelt between her legs. He dragged his hands up her bare thighs and they disappeared under the frayed hem.

“You’re going to do great, darling.”

Shannon caught her breath at his closeness. She’d felt those lips enough times to know his kiss would curl her toes. His mouth opened on hers and she tasted his minty breath and smelled the freshness of his shave. His tongue was always playful at first, sweeping at hers with tiny flicks a few times before gaining intensity. Soon she would be drowning in him, his dominance. He pressed her to the bed and she reveled in the way his fingertips dented her skin as he brought her legs up around his waist. Tristan didn’t need a formal invitation. Instincts were in play. Besides, Pryor wouldn’t hog her all to himself. That wouldn’t be right. Not when she needed them both.

The bed dipped at her head where Tristan now knelt. His brother withdrew a bit, enough to allow Tristan to slip his hands onto her breasts. Tristan had the most delicate touch, fine and precise, finding her sensitive nerves at the underside of her small mounds and stroking with trained fingers up the sides. Shannon arched her back away from the mattress and toward his fingertips. She didn’t think her nipples could get any harder, until he swept his flat palms in tight delicate circles over them.

There was work to be done, but still they wouldn’t rush her. Tristan blessed one of her small breasts with soft wet warmth. Then he dragged his fingers along the lengths of her arms and pinned her wrists in his lap. A kiss to her mouth landed upside down, but was just as perfectly placed. Pryor took the chance to wrap his lips onto her cooling nipple, still wet from Tristan’s twirling licks. Now they had her, both holding her in place between them, exactly where she wanted to be. Shannon needed to be taken this way, especially this morning. Soon enough she’d be the one to carry the weight of the world.

* * *

Two weeks earlier ...

“Shannon, Raymond Stark has arrived for his two o'clock appointment.”

Stark was on time, of course. Shannon took a clipped breath to answer the voice-com.

“Thanks, Joel. I’ll greet him personally.” Then, fumbling desperately in her purse for the silver tube of lip stain that mocked her from the bottom, she added with false composure, “Please let him know I’ll be right out.”

Shannon had no idea why she was so nervous. She wasn’t the type to fidget in her chair or smooth and re-smooth her skirt. Nearly one hundred employees passed over her desk each year for final screening. They were the ones with the butterflies, wondering if she’d found some reason to block their promotions or worse. But all week Shannon had been neck deep in Raymond Stark’s profile search and building a healthy curiosity for the man who now stood waiting in her reception area. She inhaled deeply and walked toward a tall figure looking sharp in his impeccably tailored suit. Her stride was eager, her hand extended, purporting the picture of confidence.

She took hold of him. “I’m Shannon Morris, Mr. Stark.” She gauged his grip and judged his style, strong, firm single shake, not overly eager. “Right this way.”

“You can tell a lot about a person from their handshake,” he said as his fingertips slipped away from hers.

Shannon’s eyebrow rose with interest for the coincidence, and she watched a grin flood his razor-clean face.

“I’d have to agree with you.” She nodded in slow motion, showing him through the double glass doors.

He studied the place, looking around at each window, noting the impressive views from both sides of her corner office with an obligatory compliment. Settling in a glossy red vinyl armchair opposite her desk, he finally rested his gaze on her hazel eyes. She also took a seat, folded her hands casually on the desktop,
and began to relax.

“Congratulations are in order no matter the outcome of this Human Resources screening, Mr. Stark. It’s quite an accomplishment to be considered for Sector Vetting Marshal.”

“Call me Raymond, please,” he corrected with a long pause before responding. His eyes creased softly, small lines familiar with framing the ready smile on his lips. “You’re pretty accomplished yourself. Senior Director by thirty-two…a rising star.”

Shannon felt her cheeks warm. His brazenness was shocking. It was common for candidates to do a search on her before their appointments; it helped them feel on equal ground, and she couldn’t blame them for that. But it took balls to openly use her own disarming tactics against her. If he meant to throw her off her game, it worked.

Her mouth formed a tight smile and she took a breath. “Though you are no doubt familiar with this process, I must first inform you that this is an official inquiry into your recorded past. As an employee of Eaglecorp Global Inc., you are required to disclose everything of interest.”

“Of interest to Eaglecorp.” It didn’t sound like a question, but she felt like it was.

Her nose twitched, the way it did when she told a lie.

“Of course, this is not personal.” Not exactly personal, since she didn’t yet know him personally. Still the weeks of his inanimate likeness staring back from her com-screen had made his physical presence seem oddly intimate. In person, his pooling eyes deepened with the color of night as he spoke. There was challenge in those eyes, like he lived on the edge of a dare.

She shifted in her seat and struck a firm tone, intending to sound official. “I will ask the questions and you will answer to the best of your ability. Shall we begin?”

Leaning back against the chair, he nodded once with casual permission. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“You grew up in Canada, though you were born in Maine. Do you still have ties in Montreal?”

“My grandmother passed away during the summer of 2143. She was the last of my family there.”

“Your father was a—”

“A janitor, yes. I come from humble beginnings.”

“All the more impressive to have you here before me today.”

“Is that all you are impressed with?"

She flushed entirely red, she just knew it. Damn him for that. He was as smug as they come, only the condition wasn't exactly undeserved. Purposely, she averted her eyes away from his sculpted features, though it was a struggle.

“After you received your secondary degree, there is a gap in your search results. For two years you are un-traceable. How do you explain that?”

“I took some time for myself and traveled.”

“But there are no travel records, no credit transactions.”

He held up his hands. “You got me.”

Shannon pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes on him.

“I traded passage south to Mexico on a shipping vessel. Such a thing is only illegal in the States.”

“Why trade at all? Why not travel on the bonus credits you received for graduating college?”

“I was young, and curious. Living off the grid was a challenge, an experiment of sorts.”

Shannon tapped her pen on her desk, not sure what to make of the interview. She’d expected him to say something like he’d gone back to Montreal to tend to his ailing grandmother. Never did she imagine such a flagrant admission of guilt.

“You understand that intentionally evasive behavior is frowned upon by the corporation.”

“I do.”

“And so what is to say that you will not decide to drop off the grid again, Mr. Stark?”

“I am a company man now, Ms. Morris. My record speaks for itself.”

“I see you’ve increased profits in your area by over twenty percent during the past eighteen months.”

“A result of cost cutting on the individual level. But I don’t think I’m here to reiterate my résumé.”

“No. You’re not.”

“I’m here for you to determine whether I’m Platinum Class material.” He leaned in and placed his hands on her desk. It vibrated just slightly and Shannon was vaguely aware of a sudden heat radiating from the glass surface. His darkening eyes were intense, seducing her mind into agreement.

“And that’s exactly what you are going to do.”

Shannon felt her head go foggy with only a single light of focus in the haze. One sentence on her lips, the only words she knew in the English language at that moment. “Yes, you have my recommendation.”

Five Stars from Mary!