Trouble is brewing - The Ben & Selina Trilogy #steamyromance #midweektease

Hey, sweeties. How are you doing?

So when this book came out at the end of November, I didn't do much publicity because I had my hands full. Still have my hands full, so I'm playing catch-up with a lot of things.

So if you missed the book release, Scars, Secrets & Scores: The Ben & Selina Trilogy is out at all the usual ebook retailers. The paperback is available on Amazon and the Love Africa Press bookstore. It is also coming soon to audiobook.

Enjoy another teaser. This one is from chapter five of Scores. Ben and Selina are in South Africa. This is the first time Selina meets the rest of Ben's family and trouble is brewing.

Benjamin strode down the hallway. On his right side, Selina walked alongside him in a coral strapless asymmetrical sundress he'd chosen. He held onto her hand. It trembled slightly. He knew she was nervous about meeting his uncle. And frankly, after the reception they'd had so far, he couldn’t blame her.

For someone who was brought up in a vanilla world, the practices of his “family” would seem bizarre and outlandish.

But like the brave woman she was, she tackled her fears with bravado, only voicing them privately to him.

And as always, he would do whatever it took to take that fear away from her. And one of those fears had been Margo, who currently walked a step behind him on the left side, the leash slack in his hand. He hadn't welcomed the idea of having a slave, even if temporarily. He'd walked away from that lifestyle when he left his hometown to live in the UK. He didn't welcome being thrust back into it by the machinations of his uncle.

Personally, he would've left the woman in their suite. But to play along with his uncle's plans, he'd brought Margo along for his meeting with the old man. He wanted to watch the old man's reaction when he saw Margo being led at the end of a leash by Ben. Especially with Selina beside him.

A quick glance over at Selina and he caught her eyeing the other woman. But there was no malice in her expression. The way she watched Margo with her lips parted slightly and the pulse at the base of her next jumping, she was aroused.

Was she remembering the feel of Margo's lips on her pussy? He would bet she was wet under the flare of her dress. His erection throbbed to life in his trousers.

Watching Margo eat Selina up had turned his half-awake arousal into hard rock. He'd relished Selina blowing him in the bathroom, naked and on her knees, so much that he came with a roar all over her face.

Then he thought about the anal plug lodged inside her, jostling each time she moved, preparing her for him. He'd made her wear one every day since Saturday. Before the end of this trip, he would take her where no other man had been before.

Now he was ready to take her against the nearest flat surface.

Movement at the corner of his eyes reminded him this was hardly the time. The bodyguard posted outside his uncle's annexe of The Ranch estate pushed the door open as Ben nodded to him.

As soon as he walked into the house, the scents—tobacco spice, leather, and wood—all mixed together to take him down memory lane. Familiar and yet disconcerting, almost.

The living room hadn't changed from what he remembered. Worn brown leather sofas faced each other with a low, square dark wood table in the middle. On the walls hung the heads of trophies his uncle had hunted. Persian rugs covered the marble floor tiles, and the wind flapped the edges of the pulled back curtains on the wide windows overlooking the Stellenbosch Mountains.

He used to call this home. Now it reminded him off all the things he'd left behind, both good and bad.

The ladies walked in behind him, and he ushered them to the sofa. He waited for Selina to sit down and he sank onto the couch beside her.

"It's so intimidating in here with all the animal heads hanging on the wall," Selina whispered to him.

Ben smiled wryly. "I think that's the effect Leonard was going for." He placed his hand on her nape and caressed her bare, tense skin until she relaxed into his touch.

Margo settled on the floor, sitting back on her heels where she knelt. He placed the leash on the sofa next to him.

The door at the end of the room opened, and out walked his uncle. The wooden cane he leaned on tapped on the hard floor, and he'd lost a little weight. But it was still the old man he knew—greying blond hair and trimmed beard and moustache on a weathered face, tall and stocky, a giant of a man. Ben used to refer to him fondly as 'the Viking' when he was a boy.

A smile curled the man's lips as Ben stood from his seat. He was glad to see the man well despite everything that had happened between them, and he took a step toward him.

"It's good to see you, Uncle," Ben said, stretching out his hand.

The man stared at this hand and then up at his face. "Is that the best you can do, boy, after so many years?" he asked in a deadpan expression that was designed to unsettle those who didn't know Leonard well enough.

Uncle opened his arms, and Ben smiled as he stepped into the man's tight embrace.

"It is good to see you, son," Leonard said in a low voice that sounded choked.

Did the old man really miss him that much? Ben pulled back to stare at his face, but he couldn’t read his blank expression.

"Gaan jy die jong dame te stel?" Leonard said in Afrikaans.

"Of course." Ben turned to find Selina standing behind him. He stretched out his right hand, and she took it and moved to stand beside him.

"This is my wife, Selina." He placed his hands on her shoulders and stood behind her. "Selina, this is Uncle Leonard."

"It's good to finally meet you, sir," she said with a smile on her face and curtsied.

His uncle scrutinized Selina from head to toes. "I can see why you chose her. She is beautiful, and at least she has some manners. That's always good."

Ben quirked his eyebrow, and his uncle laughed. "Come. Inge has prepared a feast and set it up outside. It's a beautiful day, and we should make the most of the mild weather before the temperature drops."

He turned around and walked toward the door.

"And Margo you can come along too. I'm in a good mood today. The prodigal son has returned, so let's celebrate."

Ben turned to Margo who still knelt where he'd left her by the sofa. He inclined his head, and Margo stood and followed them out into the garden.

A table covered in white cloth was set up under the shade, with six places set. Uncle sat at the end and waved his hand. In the old days, Ben would sit at the other end of the table. He wondered if that still applied and decided to test it. He pulled out a chair.

Inge came out, smiling. She was Leonard's long-term partner and fulltime sub. She'd aged gracefully, and the smile and hug she gave him were very motherly.

"It's good to have you home, Ben," she said after she exchanged pleasantries with Selina.

Ben pulled out the chair beside his uncle, and Inge sat down as Lars strolled in. Knowing that Lars was going to eat with them, he pulled out a seat next to Inge for Margo and then went around. Lars pulled out a seat for Selina who sat the other side of Uncle. But by the time Ben could get to the chair next to her, Lars pulled it out.

Ben eyed Lars, who just smiled at him. He settled opposite his uncle. He hated leaving Selina between Leonard and Lars. But there wasn't much he could do without making a fuss.

"You are back in your rightful place, son," his uncle said.

Ben nodded and met Selina's gaze, asking her with the raise of his brow if she was all right. She inclined her head in assent, and he relaxed.

Over lunch they chatted easily, catching up on what had been happening in Stellenbosch and South Africa for the past few years. He saw Selina visibly relax as Inge and Margo suggested all the different sites they could visit, including the local wineries.

Just when Ben thought the afternoon would go smoothly, Uncle's next words had him on edge.

"Tell me, girl. Why has Benjamin not collared you?"

Selina snuck a quick glance at him, and he shook his head while holding her gaze, wondering what she would say. She bit her lip before turning back to the old man.

"I don't want to be collared," she replied.

Ben's heart sank. She'd just given his uncle some ammunition to use against her.

"Pardon me, but I thought you were his submissive."

"I am, but it's not a 24/7 arrangement."

Leonard nodded and looked across at Ben. "It seems London has turned you sagte."

Ben clenched his fists as he fought not to rise to Leonard's bait.

"Well, girl. Over here, a submissive knows her place and is collared," the man said as he nodded towards the two women on his right.

"Margo wears a collar showing she's a house slave, a property of The Ranch and Inge here—" he reached out and stroked the woman's silver collar that looked like a standard necklace but with a silver lock as a pendant "—wears a collar that shows she belongs to me."

He upturned his palm and Inge place a kiss on it.

"They both wear their collars proudly because they are proud to be identified as Moss property."

Ben didn't like where this was headed. "Uncle, what Selina meant—"

Leonard held up his hand. "Do not interrupt me, boy. She was quite clear about her position on wearing your collar."

He turned back to Selina. "If you do not want to wear Benjamin's collar, then you do not deserve to be a Moss. Perhaps Lars can teach you a thing or two about submission."

"What? No way." Ben pushed back his chair.

"House rules. Any submissive without an owner's collar is available for any Dominant to play with. You should know this. It's your rule."

Shit. He'd forgotten about that. He'd created the damn rule that was now biting him in the ass.

"My rules and I can bend them. Nobody touches Selina."

Lars shook his head. "It won't work, Ben. Remember Cordelia?"

Shit. Shit. Shit. His past was really smacking him in the face this afternoon. As a brash young man, he'd done some stupid things and playing with Cordelia, who Lars had a thing for in those days, was one of them.

But she'd been uncollared and had been staying at the resort to discover her kinky side. Lars had been infatuated with her and Ben had lusted after her. Call it teenage hormones.

"Cordelia was a long time ago. You can't use that against me now."

Lars stood but kept his hand on Selina's shoulder. "Payback is a bitch, isn't it?"

Ben growled.

"Enough, both of you," Leonard said, cutting into the testosterone explosion. "Ben, you have two choices. Put her on the next plane out of here or collar her. Otherwise, Lars has my permission to do as he pleases with her. You have until tomorrow morning."

Ben glared at Lars as he walked over to Selina and pulled her up.

"If anyone touches her, they will have me to deal with." And he stormed out with Selina in tow.

---

Scars, Secrets & Scores: The Ben & Selina Trilogy by Kiru Taye

Go on a sensual adventure in this three-book steamy, marriage of convenience, black woman-white man, contemporary African interracial romance. Journey from glitzy London to urban Johannesburg, from a Stellenbosch vineyard to the streets of Freetown with scarred Selina and protective Benjamin Moss.

All book links: https://www.kirutaye.com/benandselinatrilogy