They stood around the little kitchen area.The four-seater table was laid out with napkins and plates.Were those diner rolls in a basket gracing the table as well?Did Austin make them from scratch?And the smell she had gotten was from a pot of beef stew simmering on the stove.
For a split second, when she completely removed herself from reality, she allowed herself to dwell in the atmosphere around her.With the storm raging outside, the fire generously fed, crackled harmoniously and warmed the whole of the living areas.And somehow their presence sealed her in.
They were undeniably gorgeous men—rugged, powerful, and beautiful—and they tinged the atmosphere with dark sensuality but also cocooned her in a blanket of security.For one more second, she allowed herself to bask in their masculinity while her body remembered their touches and the feel of their cocks inside her.
She felt safe.
Protected.
Part of her wanted to live in this moment forever.
But her fantasy came to a screeching halt when the reality of the situation cleared her rose-tinted glasses.Oh yeah, she’d had a moment of grandiosity where they were hers.
Hers?
Nope.She was destined to live a life alone.
But really, what was wrong with her?Since when did she start thinking in terms of domestic bliss?It was always only going to be her, alone?Forever.
“Gentlemen,” she said, “Although I use that term loosely,” she added and they chuckled, which made her blush.
“Sit,” Darien said, pulling out a chair for her.
“I don’t sit with people who shove ginger root up my ass and then spank me.Why are you here?Who are you working for?Who hired you?”
“We’re here to protect you,” Darien said, answering her first question.
“We don’t work for anyone,” Emerson answered her second question.
“No one hired us,” Austin finished.
“So you just what?Pulled my name out of a hat?”
“It wasn’t even that complicated,” Austin said.
“Then why?”
“We already answered this question.You’re ours.We protect what belongs to us.”
“I don’t know you from a piece of lint on my favorite coat, so that is a non-answer.”
“It’s the truth.Take it or leave it.”
She opened her mouth then closed it.They were too infuriating for words.
She walked to the fridge, retrieving a bag of lettuce, an apple, and a plate before she headed toward her bedroom.Damn them and their beef stew and dinner rolls.
“You’re not going to sit and eat with us?We can play house.You’re our wife and we’re your husbands.It’ll be like domestic bliss,” Austin called after her.She wanted to throw her bag of lettuce at him.
She did not sign up for that.
“Sit down and eat, Adrienne,” Darien said with a no-nonsense tone to his voice.
“I would rather—” She didn’t get to say anymore before she was swung up into the air, her sad and sparse lunch pried from her hands, and her butt lowered onto a chair.
“Now eat, or else it’ll be a repeat of the leather bench all over again, and as much as we want to see you naked and taste that pussy of yours, your ass won’t handle it twice in a row.Understood?”Emerson said as he filled her plate with the most hearty-looking stew she had ever seen before.
Austin placed a warm dinner roll in her hand, and Darien poured her a glass of wine.They then stood around watching her, waiting for her to eat, and she knew they were going to stand there until the snow melted if she didn’t force herself to eat.
