Free Chasing Emily [Duoterra 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) by Jennifer Denys

rose, and he tried to do his best. However, it hadn’t been helped when Emily’s son, Derek, had muscled in, declaring that, as Finn hadn’t actually married Emily, the bar belonged to him instead. Taking the matter to the judge, it was decided that Derek had the law on his side, and so Finn begrudgingly gave in, even if Derek was making a hash of running it.
    But, in truth, it had been a blessing, because it gave him a chance to think about what he could do next and, more importantly, what he wanted to do next. Returning to being a travelling entertainer was the most obvious, and easiest, course, and he started to think about where he would go next.
    However, Emily started to enter his thoughts. In particular what married life might have been like with her, where she might have gone, what he would do if he found her?
    He knew exactly what he would do in that instance—and that is to pull her over his lap and soundly spank her for making a fool out of him. He wasn’t sure what he found the most hurtful, being made to look a chump or being rejected? He suspected it was more the latter since he had started to miss her. Okay, so she was a terrific woman and lover, with a voluptuous body. But it was more than that. He liked her feistiness and her strength. And, he hated to admit it, her courage in absconding like that and starting a new life elsewhere.
    Glimpsing around the corner from his hiding place, he saw Robin venture into a nearby bar where Finn had been earlier. He grinned. Emily was not there, so he was at least one step ahead, and moving away, he strode further into the depths of the town as he had already searched the bars in the area nearest the road that went north to Frontier and other places.
    Eden wasn’t that big, but as it was the site of the landing of the colony, it had been the initial town to be built and also where the infrequent drone ships coming in from Earth landed. He was sure the intention had been to build a nice, neat town, but in actuality it had grown up in confusion. The center of town was the oldest part and the core with the government building and other official offices. Those had been laid out around a nice green park, officially named “Pickford Park,” after the colony’s first leader, but unofficially named “The Center.”
    However, around that a jumble of houses, bars, shops, et cetera had been built as the inhabitants had need of these places, which had also served the first schoolhouse, courthouse, hospital, bank, industries, and so on. And it was there he was now headed, to the three bars he knew of. Despite the cluttered buildings, Eden was wealthier than the rural towns. He snorted—this was evident in the prices of goods on sale.
    An hour later Finn stood before The Black Yellowcock, having had no luck at the other two places. He glanced at the sign. It had originally been simply called “The Yellowcock” after the bird that had stunningly beautiful feathers and was absolutely delicious to eat—if you could catch it. But now the sign was so filthy it looked like a black bird and not a yellow one, hence the new name to which someone had painted the additional word over the top.
    As soon as he entered, he gave a sigh of relief. His intuition had paid off. Emily was there. He grinned at the gorgeous sight of her as she worked cleaning the tables before opening time and was suddenly aware of how much he missed her.
    There was no one else around as the bar wouldn’t open for a while, and he had an undiluted view of her. His initial thought was that she looked rather pale and wondered if she had been working too hard.
    His ruminations came to an end when she turned and saw him standing there.
    “Shit.”
    Wonderful. Just the way he wanted to be greeted by his wife.
    That got his back up, and his reply was more sarcastic than he intended, “And I missed you, too, darling . How have you been?”
    “I’m not going with you. I have a job here, and I like it.”
    Sauntering