20. Wren
WREN
Three identical brothers go motionless, and the silence that fills the room is so thick it makes the fire sound loud.
Something dark moves through Rhett’s eyes. “How much?”
“Enough.”
Boone puts his feet on the floor and leans toward me. “Wren—”
“No.” I lift a hand because I need to get this out. “I’m tired of pretending I don’t want you.”
Cade sets down his cleaning cloth, and Rhett turns fully toward me.
I look around at each of them. “I don’t know why we’re all ignoring what’s happening between us.”
Boone’s eyes flare, Cade’s fist clenches and releases, and Rhett pushes back from the table and gets to his feet. He does it slowly, but there’s nothing uncertain about the way he moves.
“Be careful,” he says.
I lift my chin. “No.”
I take one step toward him. Then another. “I’ve been careful my entire adult life. I convinced myself wanting less made me sensible.”
None of them move, but their attention closes around me like hands.
“I don’t want less, and I don’t want to be careful. Not anymore.”
Boone stands, Cade follows, and my pulse stutters. They’re each big men on their own, but together, they fill the room with heat and muscle, and I get the sense their control is holding back something much rougher.
Rhett moves closer, but he doesn’t touch me. “Tell us exactly what you want.”
It’s an order, and that should irritate me, but it doesn’t. His command gives me relief from the want that’s so strong, it’s nearly tearing through my chest.
“I want you.” I meet Rhett’s stare, and his eyes darken.
I turn toward Cade. “And you.”
The flare of his nostrils is the only crack in his control.
Then I look at Boone. “And you.”
His expression goes soft for one second before it turns hungry enough to weaken my knees.
“I want all three of you,” I say. “And that no longer scares me.”
Rhett’s voice cuts through the silence that follows. “Come here.”
I barely make it two steps because he comes forward to meet me, his hand closing at the side of my neck and his thumb pressing beneath my jaw. He looks down at me like he’s giving me one last chance to change my mind, but we both know I’m not going to take it.
“If you say stop, we stop. If you say no, we listen.”
Emotion rises so quickly, it nearly hurts, because his words are firm and protective in the deepest, most dangerous way.
“Understood,” I whisper.
His thumb strokes once along my jaw. “Good girl.”
His praise makes me wet, and I’m so surprised by my body’s response, my mouth falls open.
Rhett sees it, and his restraint breaks. He angles my face upward as he bends over me, and then his lips crush mine with a smoldering intensity. It’s so far from a typical tentative first kiss, I lose my breath.
His kiss is making promises, leaving me with no doubt about what he intends to deliver.
He claims my mouth with the same quiet authority he brings to everything. The floor seems to tilt beneath us as I take in the taste of him, the smell of him, the heat of his body, the strength in his touch.
I grab for his shirt, twisting my fingers in the cotton, because I need something solid, and he’s solid everywhere. Chest, shoulders, hand at my neck, arm around my waist dragging me closer until the hard line of his body is pressing against mine.
When Boone makes a rough sound behind me, Rhett lifts his head just enough to speak against my mouth. “Boone.”
Then Boone is there, too, his heat seeping into my back before he takes my hips in his hands. He’s careful at first, then less careful when I lean into him. His lips brush the side of my throat Rhett hasn’t claimed, and my whole body shivers.
“Hell, Wren,” he murmurs. “Do you have any idea how much we want you?”
I tip my head back against his shoulder. “No,” I say, though it’s not entirely true.
Boone laughs, sounding wrecked. Nothing like his usual charm. “Liar.” His teeth graze a spot beneath my ear, and I feel dizzy.
Rhett notices, his arm tightening around me. “Still with us?”
“Yes.”
I turn my head to find Cade standing a few feet away, his eyes locked on me, his body tight as he holds himself back. I reach for him, and his name is barely out of my mouth before he moves.
He crosses the room in a couple of quick strides, then his hand is in my hair, turning my face to his like he’s been quietly starving for me for days.
His kiss isn’t rough, but it’s not gentle, either.
He possesses me with a devastating focus, like he intends to memorize every breath, every tremor, and every other way my body betrays me.
Rhett’s hand stays at my waist, Boone’s mouth is at my throat, and Cade’s kiss consumes me.
When he lifts his head, his voice is husky. “You’re shaking.”
“Yes.”
“Are you scared?”
“No.” These men are already overwhelming me, but I trust them fully. They’ve never given me a reason not to.
Cade’s eyes flash as Rhett slides his hand to the small of my back. “Bedroom.”
My face heats, and Boone leans in, his words hot next to my ear. “That blush is going to kill me.”
I let out a shaky laugh. “That seems dramatic.”
“Darlin’, you have no idea how close I am to dying.”
Cade gives Boone a look. “You’re talking too much.”
Boone smiles, but it has a wicked edge to it now. “She likes it.”
And he’s right. I do. I like everything they’re doing.
Rhett’s thumb presses into my lower back. “Move.”
So I move, because I want to know what it feels like to obey a man I trust this much. A few weeks ago, the idea would have unsettled me, but now it sends a heat through my body that’s so intense, I have to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.
The men stay close. Boone’s hand brushes mine, Cade’s fingers touch the back of my neck, and Rhett pushes open his bedroom door and steps aside, letting me enter first.
The room is dark, and the bed dominates the space more than ever before. For one suspended moment, I stand at the foot of it and feel the enormity of what I’ve chosen. The awe of it all. Nothing I ever imagined, and now something I’m not sure I can live without.
“Look at me.” Rhett turns me to face him. “We don’t do this halfway.”
“I know.”
His voice softens, which somehow makes it seem more dangerous. “I need you to understand. This isn’t one night because we lost control.”
Something tightens in my chest. “I understand.”
Rhett studies me for one more heartbeat, then he nods. With that small movement, Cade’s shoulders draw back, and Boone steps closer.
Then there are hands everywhere.