Fooled Around and Fell in Love [The Doms of Sybaris Cove 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  The Doms of Sybaris Cove 3

  Fooled Around and Fell in Love

  Jade Augustine has grown up believing the lies that label her unsuitable for long-time crushes Liam Raleigh and Estevan Durante, even while both men have wanted to pursue a relationship with her. When the three are forced to ride out a hurricane in the safety of Liam’s house, play and sex soon turns to love.

  But when the storm clears, reality tears apart their newfound love. Both men find themselves at odds with their own families, and with Jade’s bully of a brother, Santos, a Sybaris Cove police sergeant.

  When Santos is trapped inside a storm drain at the ocean’s edge during a rescue attempt, Liam and Estevan join his rescue effort, despite the ancient curse that prevents the male Durantes and Raleighs from trying to leave the island.

  Will they lose their own lives to save the man who is hell-bent on keeping them from being with the only woman they’ve ever loved?

  Genre: BDSM, Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 45,200 words

  FOOLED AROUND AND FELL IN LOVE

  The Doms of Sybaris Cove 3

  Tara Rose

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

  [email protected]

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  FOOLED AROUND AND FELL IN LOVE

  Copyright © 2014 by Tara Rose

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-400-7

  First E-book Publication: September 2014

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Fooled Around and Fell in Love by Tara Rose from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Tara Rose’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Tara Rose’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To my readers who have followed me into yet another new series. I hope you’re enjoying reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it. Thank you. 

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  About the Author

  FOOLED AROUND AND FELL IN LOVE

  The Doms of Sybaris Cove 3

  TARA ROSE

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  Jade Augustine glanced up from her computer screen inside the Sybaris Cove police station where she worked day shift as a dispatcher, to watch Estevan Durante escorted through the station by her brother, Santos. Santos was a sergeant, and good friends with most of the Durantes and Raleighs.

  Estevan smiled at her, and Jade returned the gesture. She’d known the man his entire life, but had never exchanged more than pleasantries with him. She’d like to do a lot more than make small talk, but she’d always been a bit intimidated by the Durantes and Raleighs. They were like royalty on this island.

  She also knew Estevan had been engaged at one time to a woman from Tennessee, but she’d left the island over a year ago for what was supposed to be a temporary internship and had never returned. As far as she knew, he hadn’t dated anyone since.

  Most people saw him as the black sheep of the Durante family because he wasn’t trying to climb the corporate ladder at Phoebe’s Playthings like most of his relatives, but Jade liked that about him. He wasn’t just another wannabe executive. He was real and down-to-earth.

  Jade took off her headset and turned in her chair to face Estevan so he could see her legs. She was suddenly glad she’d worn one of her short skirts today and had a fresh pedicure. “Thinking of becoming a cop?”

  He stared at her sandal-clad feet, his gaze traveling up her legs, and finally coming to rest on her face. He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he’d just checked her out, and a shiver ran down her spine. “No. I’ve been hired to repaint the inside of the station. What color do you think it should be?”

  She knew he painted murals, and made amazing sand art designs inside large glass bottles that he exhibited and sold along the boardwalk at the west end of town, but didn’t realize he did commercial jobs as well. “Well, I don’t know. Something cool and soothing, maybe?”

  Behind Estevan, Santos rolled his eyes and gave her a droll look. “Trying to coddle our criminals again?”

  “No, just trying not to puke when I look at the walls in here. Why does chartreuse have to be standard inside all police stations?”

  Santos shook his head but Estevan laughed. “She’s right, you know. We should make it something more inviting.”

  “It’s a police station, not a bar.”

  He shrugged and gave her a sympathetic look.
“I tried.”

  Santos steered Estevan away, and Jade hastily put her headset back on as a call came through. When she glanced toward the men, Estevan was still watching her. Before he turned a corner with Santos, he winked.

  Jade had to ask the person on the other end of the call to repeat what she’d just said. She was that surprised by Estevan’s wink. Maybe it was time to stop acting like he was unapproachable and just ask him out for a drink or something?

  After she ended the call, she glanced up and caught Kate Morgan’s gaze from across the room. Kate was a detective and one of the few women who worked at the station, so she and Jade had bonded. This island was a seething mass of male-dominated professions and businesses, starting with Phoebe’s Playthings, the business that kept it thriving.

  “Mauve,” said Kate. “He should paint the walls mauve. I’m talking pinkish purple and bright.”

  Jade laughed. “Can you imagine? Santos would flip out. We might get away with blue or green, as long as it was subtle and we could argue it looked like the ocean, but nothing in the orange, yellow, pink, red, or purple categories. No way.”

  Kate walked over and perched on the edge of Jade’s desk, which didn’t leave much room for anything else. It wasn’t that Kate had a big ass, but rather that Jade’s “desk” was nothing more than a narrow countertop covered with fake wood grain. “What’s with the men on this island? Let me rephrase that. What’s with most of the men on this island? Estevan isn’t like his multitude of cousins, uncles, and however the rest of them are related.”

  “Oh, girl. How much time do you have? Even if you’d been born here, you’d only partially understand the Durante and Raleigh history.”

  Kate had come to the island three months earlier from a precinct in New Orleans after her partner was shot and killed by a sniper. She’d decided The Big Easy was a bit too rough for her taste. “Oh, I’ve heard enough about their history. I just don’t understand the whole alpha-male macho crap that goes along with it.”

  Jade glanced around, but they were currently alone in this part of the station. “You know about the curse, right? I think it messes with their heads or something.”

  “You mean the part of their brains that lets them know this isn’t the nineteenth century anymore?”

  “No, I’m serious. Can you imagine growing up knowing that if you tried to leave the island, you’d die?”

  Kate grinned. “You believe that curse is real?”

  “They all do. Or at least, the ones I’ve met believe it.”

  “Refresh my memory. Something about ancient demons, right?” Kate’s voice reflected the skepticism in her eyes.

  “No one knows who or what cast it. Some say it was a demon, others say black magick.”

  “And it was cast on who, exactly?”

  “The original four who bought the island from the natives.”

  “Bought it? I thought this rock was originally inhabited by escaped convicts?”

  “It was. So, okay. ‘Bought’ is probably not the right word, but if you ask a Durante or Raleigh, that’s what they’ll tell you happened. William and Robert Raleigh were brothers, and they came here in 1945 with money they’d made from rum-running and other illegal activities. Then they brought over their friends, Iago and Agapito Durante, who were cousins. The four of them made servants out of most of the natives and practically declared themselves kings.”

  Kate cut her off before she could continue. “And they renamed the island Sybaris Cove, and engaged in decadent acts of greed and debauchery until 1979, when Daniel Raleigh and Emilio Durante started the mail-order business that has now grown into Phoebe’s Playthings. Which, coincidentally, is one of the biggest online fetish businesses in the country.”

  Kate’s voice was full of sarcasm. Told in that tone of voice even Jade, whose family was descended from the original natives, would find their story difficult to take seriously.

  “Blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard all this before. And now everything is aboveboard and legal, so all of you are supposed to forgive and forget what they did to your ancestors. But that’s it? That’s the full story? Where’s the rest of it? When was the curse put on them? Why was it placed, and by whom?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. No one knows. It’s not written down.”

  “Then how do they know it’s real?”

  “All four of the men died in freak accidents when they each tried to leave. Agapito drowned when he fell overboard, and Iago was bitten by a shark and died on the island several days later from his wounds. William died when a freak storm came out of nowhere, and Robert died with the Louisiana coastline in sight, again from a freak storm, but everyone else on the boat survived.”

  Kate’s eyes gleamed, much the same way Jade had seen them do when she was in the middle of an interesting case. “That’s freaky. And it’s just the men? The women are free to leave?”

  “Yes, just the male descendants of the original four. Although from what I’ve heard, a lot of the women stay put as well, just in case.”

  “Well they might as well. The family owns most of the island, or has everyone in their back pockets.”

  Jade shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I’ve never personally had an issue with any of them.”

  Kate stood and stretched. “That’s because you’ve grown up with it. You don’t know any better. But tell me how many women hold executive positions in that company of theirs, or even have high-level jobs in other businesses on this island? Less than in all of Louisiana.”

  “Are you sorry you came here, then?”

  Kate frowned. “No. It was what I needed at the time. And it’s freaking beautiful here. A true paradise.”

  Jade agreed with that. The island was in the Gulf of Mexico, southwest of Timbalier Island, and it was stunning. She could see why the original four men wanted to live here. White beaches, mountains, and green forests surrounded them all. They had everything they needed, and whatever wasn’t available on the island could be flown in, or brought over by boat. The Raleighs and Durantes took care of the local business owners, and Jade knew that Asa Durante, one of two current CEOs of Phoebe’s Playthings, pretty much owned the cops.

  But they also rarely had serious trouble with crime, and because the company brought in so much money, housing was affordable. And the residents took care of their homes. There was a pride among the people who lived here, even if there was an invisible divide between the Raleigh and Durante families, and the families who were descended from the original natives.

  Jade’s family had been here before William, Robert, Iago, and Agapito arrived, and this was simply the way things were. Kate would never understand that. She hadn’t been born on the island. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. I hope you stay. We need all the women we can get in the station.”

  Kate shook her head. “But see? That’s what I mean. It shouldn’t be that way.”

  “It’s a male-dominated profession around the country, though, right?”

  “I suppose. It just seems more prevalent here. That might be due to the low population, or the fact that there always seems to be a Durante or Raleigh around.”

  Jade smiled as Santos and Estevan rounded the corner again, laughing and talking. “Speak of the devil…” Jade removed her headset as Kate walked away, still shaking her head.

  “We’ve decided to go with fawn green.”

  “What?” She glanced up into Estevan’s gray eyes. Most of the Durantes had the same unusual colored eyes. They contrasted nicely with his dark hair, which he wore to his shoulders. Every time Jade saw him she wanted to run her fingers through it, and this time was no different.

  “Fawn green for the paint color. Better than chartreuse, right?”

  “Oh, much better.” She eyed her brother. “But what did you have to promise him in return?”

  Estevan laughed, showing perfect white teeth. She imagined hearing that laugh in a candlelit room, with both of them naked in bed. “I can’t tell you. It’s a secr
et.”

  “No doubt it has something to do with guns or other weapons.”

  The men exchanged a quick glance, and Santos almost smiled. “Told you she was a smart-ass.”

  Had they been talking about her? “Am I right? Did I guess the big secret which isn’t much of a secret around here?” She knew her brother very well.

  “You guessed right. I promised I’d show him my latest toy.”

  Santos snorted. “I’d hardly call it a toy. Why can’t you take that hobby of yours seriously?”

  “Because I’m not a serious guy.” He winked at Jade. “I like to have fun.”

  “Nothing fun about ceremonial swords.”

  “Oh, Santos, relax for once.” Jade loved her big brother, but he was wound too tightly most of the time. She turned her gaze on Estevan. “I didn’t realize you collected swords.”

  “Not just any swords. I collect pirate swords and other trinkets. My latest addition is a cutlass believed to have been made in 1692.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s right.” Estevan perched on the spot where Kate had sat moments ago. “And I have several spadroons, rapiers, and a cavalry saber as well.”

  Jade smiled at the excitement on his face and in his eyes. “Why the fascination with pirates?”

  “Are you kidding? This entire area was terrorized by them at one time. They ruled the seas. I wouldn’t be surprised if your family and several others on this island who date back to the original inhabitants were descended from them.”

  She squirmed in her seat at the tone of his voice. It was amazing to watch someone talk about their passion. Their entire aura changed. “I wish I could see the swords. They sound fascinating.”