“Let’s move to the bed and put her between us,” Beck suggested. Their girl had earned plenty of aftercare.
“Yeah,” Seth managed to get out before he slipped free and zipped his pants. Then he lifted her boneless body against him and carried her across the room, gently placing her in the middle of the mattress. Quickly, they both stripped and climbed in beside her, hugging her close.
“We’ve got you, angel,” Seth cooed. “You okay?”
She lifted heavy lids. “That was…amazing.”
Brushing away errant strands of damp hair that had escaped her braids, Beck murmured, “Rest. We’ll head home soon.”
“Mmm, ’kay.” Her eyes slid shut again.
Beck smiled and pressed his lips to her forehead. Seth followed suit with a kiss to her nose.
Together, they lavished Heavenly in aftercare—tender kisses, languid caresses, and soft whispers. She curled between them, warm and sweet, trusting and accepting. Happy.
Beck began drifting off when the alarm on his watch dinged. He silenced it with a sigh.
Seth jolted awake. “Time’s up?”
“Yeah.” Beck gently extricated himself from their tangle of arms and legs.
Seth did the same, and they dressed quickly before Beck retrieved Heavenly’s gown from the school desk.
“Angel?” Seth stroked her cheek. “Time to go home.” When she didn’t budge or even whimper, he chuckled. “I’m no doctor, but I think she’s in a coma.”
Beck beamed with pride. “Looks like we’ll need to dress her and carry her out.”
“On it.” Seth lifted her, supporting her body while Beck slid the filmy gown over her head.
Once she was covered, the PI dragged the key to the locker from his pocket. Beck took it and extracted his map. While Seth gathered her sleeping form into his arms, Beck scrounged a red crayon in one of the cubbies and circled the schoolhouse before he grabbed the night-vision goggles and held the door.
“We need to do this again,” Seth announced as he carried their girl out to the dark, starry night and trekked their way to the front of the compound.
“Hell, yes.”
Once they approached the front of the compound, Beck pulled open the wooden gate. Inside the office, Seth shielded Heavenly’s breasts with his arm. Beck darted into the locker room, fished out the key, and retrieved the duffel.
Behind the counter, the bearded man looked up, arched a brow, and grinned. “Looks like you three had a good time.”
“Better than good,” Beck agreed. “Hell of a place you’ve got here.”
“We keep busy. You boys impress me. The two of you accomplished what it took ten men to manage last night.”
“We’re over-achievers,” Seth quipped, looking mighty pleased.
As Beck placed the marked map and their goggles on the counter, a group of seven men strolled through the door, surrounding a lone woman whose eyes looked fever-bright with excitement. She took one look at Heavenly sleeping peacefully against Seth’s chest, and she smiled. “I want what she had.”
As the growls around her promised all that and more, Beck pushed out to the parking lot and opened the back door for Seth before settling into the driver’s seat of the SUV. Cooper slipped in beside Heavenly, then pulled her onto his lap. She slept on. In the rearview mirror, Beck watched Seth stroke her hair with reverent fingers, the gesture so tender it made his chest tight.
This was what their future looked like. The three of them, sated and content, bound together for good. The diamond glittered on her finger even in the near dark, and the thought that she might already be carrying their child filled him with fierce satisfaction.
As they pulled onto the main road, Seth’s phone buzzed once. Then again. Beck caught Cooper’s grimace as he silenced it with a curse.
“A case?” Beck asked quietly.
Seth’s jaw tightened. “My brother, Matt. He just ran into the twins at a bar…with the girl they’ve been fucking. He wants to know if he should tell Mom. I’ll deal with it later.”
Beck nodded, but unease crept in. In thirty-six hours, Seth would be three thousand miles away, talking Jack and Connor out of the same lifestyle the three of them had just celebrated. And despite Seth’s promises, the engagement ring, their shared plans… Beck couldn’t forget that, mere days ago, Seth had almost walked away.
