Well Written (Mountain Mastery) Read online

  Well Written

  Mountain Mastery Series

  By

  Avery Gale

  © Copyright February 2017 by Avery Gale

  ISBN 978-1-944472-36-8

  All cover art and logo © Copyright 2017 by Avery Gale

  All rights reserved.

  Mountain Mastery® and Avery Gale® are registered trademarks

  Published by Avery Gale Books

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales are entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publishing company.

  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.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  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

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Other Books by Avery Gale

  Chapter One

  Nathan Ledek stared at his laptop, disbelief hammering at his brain. Great Goddess, at this rate his head was going to explode. How? Who? When? While his mind struggled to decipher the logistics, his body was still lost in the author’s descriptions of ménage scenes so hot he’d needed to take more than one break. Where did the Ms. Keme Meadows learn so much about the lifestyle? Is she a sub? Has she been in a polygamous relationship? Or is this her fantasy?

  Several weeks earlier, Nate had received a strange call from Tobi West. It was a safe bet any call from Tobi would venture outside the norm, but this one had been particularly odd. The feisty woman married to Kyle and Kent West had reluctantly given him a heads-up about the book she’d just finished reading. The call left him scratching his head. Calling to chat about an erotic novel she’d read would have been far enough out on the rim of the bell, but knowing her husbands had initiated the book report was especially baffling.

  The West brothers were former Navy SEALs who’d returned to Texas and opened what quickly became one of the most popular and exclusive BDSM clubs in the country. They’d also quietly assembled a team of former Special Forces operatives who now contracted with Uncle Sam and other governments. They were selective about the missions they accepted, only stepping in when the money and cause suited them.

  Flipping to the front cover of the book Tobi mentioned, Nate leaned back in his office chair as he scrutinized the images of the two men before shifting his focus to the woman between them. The men were obviously Native American, but the woman’s beauty defied being categorized. Everything about her appealed to him. The most exasperating thing was he felt like he knew her on some visceral level. Not possible. Stick with the facts.

  Most troublesome was the fact the book included a barely disguised recounting of several of Nate’s and Taz’s missions as Navy Seals. He’d been so shocked the first time he’d read it he was sure he’d missed many of the details. Hell, he was going to have to read the damned thing again and make notes. Who the hell in his inner circle was talking?

  He started making a mental spreadsheet, trying to connect the dots, and find the one name who could have known all those details. But he’d gotten so caught up in in the damned scorching BDSM scenes he’d lost track and been forced to start over—fucking twice. Holy hell, he needed to find out who wrote this damned book. Nate pushed back from his desk, looking at the large clock on the wall as he stormed out of the office he shared with Taz. It was still early and his brother would still be sleeping, but Nate wasn’t in the mood to wait.

  Slapping his palm against the wall of the elevator, Nate paused while the biometric reader identified him and set the car swiftly in motion. He’d blanched when Phoenix Morgan told him what the enhanced system cost. But, since club members often used the elevator, the additional layer of security made it easy to keep unwanted visitors out of the private space he and his brother shared. The top floor of their converted warehouse had been transformed into a luxury apartment they rarely allowed outsiders into.

  To the casual observer, the reader looked like a gold-plated seal bearing the club’s logo, but the high-tech device could easily be programed to identify any number of people. Right now, they’d only cleared three people to access the top floor—Taz, Nate, and the elderly woman they’d hired as a housekeeper when they first moved in. They’d teased Rosie about her name, the irony hadn’t been lost on her. She’d called them George and Elroy for the first year. Rosie spoiled them rotten, and both men dreaded the day she decided to retire.

  Before the doors of the elevator slid all the way open, Nate shouldered his way into their spacious apartment and smiled at Rosie. “I don’t suppose by some twist of fate my brother’s out of bed yet?” It might have sounded like a question, but he knew from her eye-roll she hadn’t been particularly impressed with his rhetorical question. He grinned at her and said, “That’s what I figured, but thought I’d take a shot. Put on a cup of coffee, please. He’s going to be grumpy, and my news isn’t going to do anything to help.”

  Taz Ledek rolled over in bed, pulling the pillow over his head hoping to block out the pounding in his head. What the hell had he been thinking drinking with the guys from the search and rescue team he and Nate joined a year ago? Fucking hell, most of them were younger—a lot younger—and their alcohol tolerance levels were evidently far higher than his own. His mind finally cleared enough to realize the racket he heard wasn’t limited to the din between his ears. The Great Goddess was punishing him for his stupidity by letting his fool brother beat on the door of his bedroom.

  “Fuck off, Nate. I don’t have to be at work for hours.”

  Nate’s voice boomed from the other side of the door. “Roll out, Taz. We’ve got a problem.” Shit. In Nate’s world, nothing was a problem unless it was a total cluster fuck. “Office. In twenty. Rosie has coffee for you, and you’d better not smell like some damned college freshman frat rat on Sunday morning either.”

  Growling under his breath, Taz threw off the covers and stumbled to his feet. God dammit, his brain was throbbing so hard his vision fucking dimmed. Making his way into the connected bathroom, it didn’t take him long to settle under the pounding spray of the water. The shower in his bathroom was large enough to host a small party, but it was paltry compared to the one in the master suite. Nate was using the larger suite at the other end of their apartment until they found a woman to share. He’d heard Rosie mutter under her breath more than once about wasting money keeping fresh flowers in a bedroom used by a man. But he and Nate were convinced they’
d find her soon and abandoning the flowers seemed like giving up.

  Letting the warm water pummel the tension out of his muscles, Taz thought back on the night before and wondered again how he’d been so stupid. He hadn’t pulled a boner like this since the week after graduating from BUD/s—and let’s face it, if that didn’t merit a good drunk, nothing did. Leaning against the cool marble wall of the shower, Taz opened his mind searching for her. Running water was a great energy conduit, so he made it a habit to perform the mental exercise each time he took a shower—no matter how rushed he was by Nate.

  Taz had always been incredibly gifted. He could sense the future and feel the emotions of those around him when the circumstances were right. Sometimes he caught words or phrases, but those times were rare because so many people had natural barriers. What he’d learned was that the more open and genuine a person was, the easier they were to read. The biggest challenge he faced with his gift was his inability to control it—opening his mind through meditation helped, but it wasn’t foolproof.

  The sudden flash of a woman soaking in the enormous garden tub in the master suite made him suck in a hissed breath. As quickly as it had come, the image dissipated, leaving nothing but a lingering sense of longing in its wake. Long black hair, onyx eyes that tilted up ever so slightly, and tanned skin that looked like wet silk. Quickly committing those few details left floating through his mind to memory, Taz finished his shower and made his way to the kitchen. The smell of cinnamon and apples drifted down the hall making his mouth water. Damn, Rosie’s breakfast rolls were one of the heaven’s favors to the world. Filling a large travel mug with coffee, Taz gave their sweet housekeeper a quick hug and took the plate of rolls she’d pointed to.

  “If you weren’t already married, Rosie, my brother and I would make you ours in a heartbeat,” he said as he walked away.

  “Flattery is wasted on me, Tashunka. You should save those sweet words for your woman. I think you are right. She is coming soon.” No matter how many times Taz assured Rosie using the shortened version of his name was not disrespectful, she continued to refer to him by his full name. His beloved grandmother always called him by his full name, and he felt an uncertain fondness for the older woman because she reminded him of his nana-son.

  Their gifted grandmother had favored the more generic name, nana-son, because it could be used by all the children in the small village where she lived. It was important the villagers, who represented several different tribes, were comfortable with the local healer. People wouldn’t make use of her gift if they didn’t feel comfortable with her. Taz was grateful he’d inherited a small portion of Onatah Ledek’s abilities. He always felt she’d more than earned the name Onatah; she was the daughter of the Earth in every sense of the word.

  Tashunka’s own name meant ‘horse,’ something his SEAL teammates had teased him about unmercifully. At six foot five inches, Taz was a big man—in more ways than one. Nate was slightly taller, and together, they often overwhelmed submissives who didn’t know them. Each man played separately, but preferred playing together because it was easier to give the sub everything she needed when they worked in tandem. Taz and Nate loved to focus entirely on their submissive’s pleasure, ensuring they rarely missed any body language signaling distress, but it was possible to miss the small nuances of pleasure and need.

  Stepping into the office, Taz was surprised to see Nate pacing the length of the room and muttering under his breath. What the hell? His brother was one of the most unflappable people Taz had ever met. Nate’s Zen-like calm, at times, annoyed Taz, and he’d grown up with him. The steady drone of the high-speed printer on the credenza caught Taz’s attention, and he raised a brow in question when he saw a thick stack of paper in the tray. “Decide to go into publishing, big brother?”

  “Something like that.” Nate turned and stalked back to his desk. Turning his laptop, he asked, “Do you remember me telling you about my strange conversation with Tobi West?”

  Taz leaned against the mantle of the stone fireplace mantle and nodded. He wasn’t sure where the conversation was leading. Nate was already wound up tight, so pushing him to get to the point wasn’t going to help the situation.

  Leveling his gaze at Taz, Nate growled, “I finally took time to read the book she called about.”

  “And?” It was unlike Nate to tiptoe around a subject, thank God, because this was damned annoying.

  “I’m printing it out for you. Read it and make notes in the margins.” Notes? Why the fuck would I make notes? Didn’t he say it was a romance novel? Who makes notes in a damned romance novel? “That’s not much of a poker face, little brother. I can tell by your expression you can’t figure out why I’m asking you read it so carefully. It won’t take you long to figure it out. Pay particular attention to anything you’d consider too classified to have shared with anyone other than another SEAL. I also want to know about anything you read that pertains to a personal conversation you had with someone. Make sure you note who, when, and where.”

  Standing up straight, Taz crossed his arms over his chest and said, “What the hell’s going on Nate? Classified information? Seriously? How did classified information make its way into a romance novel?”

  Chapter Two

  Taz spent the afternoon reading sex scenes so hot he’d finally taken a break. The one question that kept cropping up was how Ms. Keme Meadows learned such intimate details of BDSM play. While Nate had focused on the classified information, Taz’s attention was drawn to something entirely different. He’d noted several similarities to scenes the two of them had shared at Mountain Mastery. Taz didn’t consider it insignificant that the small details hadn’t all come from the same scenes he and his brother had shared. The book’s author was either a club member or someone on the inside was feeding her information. Either way, they needed to find out who was so fucking interested in their sex lives.

  Looking back over the bits of information he’d jotted down, nothing stood out to him. Several of the things he’d felt were so significant when he’d read them didn’t seem to stand out now. Most of the things he’d recognized would likely apply to any number of ménage scenes in countless other clubs in the country. Staring out the office window, Taz wondered if the same words would have caught his attention if he hadn’t already been pre-conditioned to look for similarities. He’d long ago learned about the power of suggestion. The human mind was one of the most powerful healers in the world, and his Native American grandmother had taught him to respect its potential.

  Sliding the tablet with his notes into his desk drawer, Taz leaned back in his chair and opened his mind. Images started streaming through so quickly he had to concentrate harder than usual to commit them to memory. A dark-haired water nymph swimming in a mountain lake, a small tent at the water’s edge, followed by a sense of bone-chilling cold. Before he could pull any more from the flickering slide show in his head, Taz’s phone vibrated in his pocket. The interruption was enough to send the mental pictures skittering away. Fuck.

  “Yeah.” Taz didn’t make any attempt to keep the annoyance out of his voice, even though he was more frustrated with himself than his brother. Why the hell hadn’t he turned off his damned phone? Didn’t matter that it was muted, the vibration alone was enough to break his concentration.

  “Kip and Caila are here. Everything is set up, are you still in?”

  Taz had forgotten he’d promised to help Kip this evening, but it would be a welcome distraction.

  Almost a year ago, Caila had finally given up on her lifelong dream of becoming Kip’s wife and fled Pine Creek, Montana—the small mountain town an hour north of Mountain Mastery that was home to all five Morgan brothers, although Colt wasn’t there much anymore. After marrying pop sensation Josephine Alta, the former professional bull rider was usually busy overseeing the security detail for his wife’s tour. All five brothers were charter members of the kink club Nate and Taz owned. But three of the couples had recently become parents, so they hadn
’t attended a club night for a while.

  Taz considered Kip one of the luckiest son of a bitches he’d ever met. The younger man had screwed up with Caila in almost every way possible, but still managed to win her after finally coming to his senses and seeing what a treasure she was. Dr. Caila Cooper was everything Taz and Nate wanted for themselves, but she wasn’t theirs. After they’d found Caila sleeping in her freezing car, Nate wanted to explore the possibility of sharing her. Taz had declined, because he’d known she wasn’t the one the Universe was sending them—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to help Kip fulfill one of his new wife’s fantasies this evening.

  Kip hadn’t shared scenes with his brothers since before they were married, so wasn’t comfortable asking them to participate in what he’d planned for tonight. Taz hadn’t hesitated to agree to join in the fun this evening. He’d known it would be a lot more difficult for Nate to walk away without losing a piece of his heart. I swear if men can hear the tick-tock of their biological clock, my brother’s is fucking Big Ben.

  “On my way. Is everything set up?” Nate’s insistence he read the book immediately meant Taz turned over the preparations to his brother.

  “Yes. The little vet looks nervous, but it appears to be the good kind. Be sure you watch her carefully.” Taz almost laughed out loud. Everyone always said he was the one who was overly protective, but he always shook his head at the misconception. Nate could be every bit as militant about protecting submissives—especially those he considered friends. And it was an even larger issue when he’d seen them at their most vulnerable.

  “Will do.” Disconnecting the call, Taz took the stairs down to the main room of the club. Kip was rechecking the equipment on the small stage while Caila knelt off to the side. Taz stopped and took several deep breaths to refocus himself on the scene he’d helped Kip plan. Caila’s life had been anything but easy this past year, and she’d more than earned tonight’s distraction.