“My ice cream,” I said. “I dropped it while I was running away from that man.”
Rune chuckled as Merrick rolled his eyes. Braxen just got up and left the room. I guess he was done dealing with me.
“We can go out for ice cream tomorrow,” Rune said. “You look tired.”
“I am,” I admitted. “Physically and emotionally.”
“Come on. Let's get you to bed.”
“We still haven't decided how this will work,” Merrick said.
“What do you mean?” Rune got up and held a hand out to me.
I took it and stood.
“You've had time to cement your relationship with her,” Merrick said. “Now it's our turn.”
I froze. I understood what being with them meant, but I had only just accepted it. “I need some time to process this first.”
“You can process as you get to know me.” Merrick stood up and stepped over to us. Holding Rune's stare, he took my wrist and drew my hand away from Rune.
Rune let go.
“Seriously?” I asked Rune. “So, I'm supposed to what—go to bed with him tonight?”
“No, of course not,” Rune said. “We're talking about you two getting to know each other. Sex isn't important. I mean, it is. I believe it will be very important to securing the bond, but it's not integral to our emotional bonding.”
“Let her go,” Braxen said.
All three of us looked toward the doorway where Braxen stood, holding a bowl of ice cream.
“I said, let her go, Merrick.” Braxen didn't raise his voice or put any menace into it, simply repeated himself. But it was enough to send a chill down my spine.
Merrick let me go.
“Come, Lora,” Braxen said.
I looked at Rune.
“It's your choice,” Rune said. “Everything that happens between the three of us and you will be your choice, done at your pace. None of us will ever hurt you or do anything to you that you don't want done.”
“I wasn't worried about that,” I said, looking at Merrick. “I just need to take this slow.”
“Lora,” Braxen said.
And that settled it. Braxen's voice did something to me. It vibrated on a level that spoke to my primal brain. I knew immediately that safety lay with him. And for me, safety meant a lot. I had to feel safe with a man before I could trust him. And I had to trust him before I could love him.
I went to Braxen.
The other two men stayed silent as Braxen escorted me down the hallway and into my guest room. Walking out of the heavy masculinity of the office had an immediate, uplifting effect on me. I breathed deeply as I looked around my new bedroom, inhaling the scent of fresh linen and lavender. The space was decorated in a clearly feminine style, with a canopied bed and a pale color palette of dusty rose and cream. An army of pillows guarded the bed and the couch that faced the bay window. Paintings of flowers spotted the walls. French furniture did the same to the floor. A chaise lounge posed at the foot of the bed.
As happy as I was to enter a softer space, I was also annoyed. “You must have a lot of female guests.”
“We've never had a guest,” Braxen went to the couch and sat down.
As if pulled in his wake, I followed and sat down beside him. He handed me the bowl.
“Thank you,” I said. I took a bite. “This is Tillamook banana split.”
