Free The Claiming by Tara Sue Me

to her neck. “We’ll pretend that Lord Johnson is completely taken by his servant and since he can’t get enough of her, he asked her to join him for an afternoon of croquet.”
    â€œIf he really wanted to make an impression, he’d know croquet wasn’t the way to her heart.”
    â€œThat’s only because she’s never played his way before.”
    â€œShe’s never played, period. And why would your way be any different?”
    â€œBecause my way is Dom Rules Croquet,” he whispered in her ear and then he gave her earlobe a sharp bite.
    His words sent shivers down her spine, and a combination of arousal and excitement coiled in her belly.
    â€œLeave it to you to find a way to make croquet kinky.” She tilted her head, giving him better access to her neck.
    â€œIt’s a gift.”
    â€œThank god.”
    He laughed and doing so, his lips tickled her.
    â€œMmm.” She hummed. “We could stay here and be kinky inside.”
    â€œTempting, but we’ll save inside kink for later.”
    â€œPromise?”
    â€œMost assuredly.”
    They were late meeting everyone outside. Though the white collared shirts and long shorts weren’t their normal style of dress, she had to admit the men looked pretty good. Abby and Julie must have just recently been told about Dom Rules Croquet, because they were both looking over the course with trepidation.
    â€œI still don’t see how you can make it anything other than croquet,” Julie told Abby.
    Abby raised an eyebrow. “Really? I’m more shocked it took them this long to do it.”
    â€œOkay. True.”
    â€œSorry to keep you waiting,” Cole said and then winked at her. “My servant girl needed some extra encouragement.”
    Her heart did the little extra skip thing it normally did when he looked at her that way.
    He walked toward the playing area, stopping near a wooden box. “I set everything up this morning. Now, in regular rules, the purpose is to get your ball around the course in the proper order of wicket and stake.”
    It sounded boring as hell to Sasha. Sort of like pool, but outside.
    â€œBut then I thought,” Cole continued to speak, “anyone can play croquet. Let’s do something completely different. I actually had plans to do more activities outside today, but in light of a particular neighbor who can’t take no for an answer, I decided we’ll just do this outside and move everything else inside.”
    He had been less than delighted to hear about Mary Catherine’s unexpected visit the day before. But even he had to admit Abby had handled it brilliantly.
    â€œFor today,” he said, “we’re going to take turns. Every time you properly get a ball through a wicket, you get to pick something from this box. Fair warning, everything has been wrapped, so you won’t know what you get until you’ve already picked it.”
    From the expressions on the men’s faces, Sasha suddenly had a good idea of where the men went the day before.
    â€œIt’s just the women picking? Right?” Daniel asked. “I don’t think it’ll be fair otherwise since we know what’s in the boxes.”
    â€œGood point,” Cole said. “Nathaniel?”
    â€œSounds good to me.”
    â€œLet’s get started,” Cole said.
    Everyone agreed he should go first since he was he only one who’d ever played before.
    â€œNot that it really matters,” Sasha said. “He’s not picking a box.”
    He gave her a knowing wink and the game started. Abby was the first woman to get a ball through a wicket. She groaned and asked Nathaniel, “Do I have to?”
    â€œNo.” He crossed his arms. “But if you don’t pick, I will—and I helped wrap.”
    With a resolute sigh that sounded completely fake, she walked to the box, reached in, and pulled out a brown paper package.
    â€œDo