I’m trapped between them now like a rabbit caught between wolves. Colt approaches from behind, his footsteps deliberate and unhurried now that they've cornered their prey.
When I turn to look at him, his green eyes are dark with something that makes my mouth go dry.
"Surrender," I say again, but this time my voice comes out breathless and wanting instead of playful.
Colt's smile is pure sin as he stops just close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his body despite his soaked clothes. "Oh, sweetheart," he drawls, voice thick with promise and barely restrained hunger. "By the time we're done with you, surrender will be the only word you remember."
Behind me, I can feel Beau, my back almost touching his chest while Colt crowds my front. The air between us thrums with possibility and want and the promise of something that will change everything between us forever.
My heart pounds so hard I'm sure they can both hear it, and when Beau's hands settle on my hips from behind, warm and sure and possessive, I let out a shaky breath that sounds suspiciously like a moan.
"The question is," Beau murmurs against my ear, his voice dark velvet and dangerous promises, "are you ready to give us all we want?"
I'm pinned between them, body and heart, caught between desire and the last whisper of self-preservation.
For the first time in my life, surrender doesn't feel like giving up.
24
Colt
"The question is," Beau murmurs against Lucy's ear, "are you ready to give us what we all want?"
Every primitive instinct I have roars to life at his words.Mine.The thought rocks through me, sharp and fierce as a punch to the gut, followed immediately by another that stops me cold:Ours.
Because this isn't just about claiming Lucy. This is also about reclaiming something Beau and I lost two years ago, something that's been bleeding out of both of us ever since Sophia ripped our world apart.
Lucy's breathing is ragged between us, her pulse hammering so hard I can see it fluttering in her throat like a trapped bird. When she looks at me, her brown eyes are dark with want and trust and something that looks suspiciously like the kind of surrender I never thought I'd see again.
"Yes," she whispers, and the single word shatters whatever restraint I've been clinging to.
I step forward and scoop her up without warning, her legs wrapping around my waist instinctively, her arms locking around my neck like she belongs there. She's warm and soft and perfect against me, and when she gasps at the sudden movement, I want to swallow the sound and keep it forever.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Beau's voice carries a hint of challenge, but underneath it, I hear something else.
Uncertainty. Like he's not sure if he's invited to follow, like maybe I'm about to shut him out again.
I pause at the bottom of the ladder leading to the barn's second floor, Lucy's weight settled against me like she was made to fit there, and look back at my former best friend. For a moment, we just stare at each other, two years of hurt and misunderstanding stretching between us like a canyon neither of us knew how to cross.
Then something shifts inside me, something that's been locked up tight since the day everything went to hell.
The grin comes easier than anything has in months, like something rusted finally broke free.
"You coming or not, Blackwell? Our girl's not gonna wait all day for you to make up your damn mind."
Our girl.The words taste right on my tongue, feel right in my chest.
Something shifts in his gray eyes. Relief mixed with hunger and hope. He follows us up the ladder, and I can feel the weight of this moment settling around all three of us like fate.
Whatever happens next, there's no going back to the careful dance we've been doing.
The second floor of the barn is dim and golden, afternoon sunlight filtering through the gaps between weathered boards to cast everything in warm honey tones that make Lucy's skin glow.
Hay bales are stacked in neat rows, creating a maze of golden walls and shadows that smell like summer grass and dust and something wild that makes my blood run hot.
I carry Lucy deeper into the maze until I find what I'm looking for: a space where the hay bales form natural walls around a clear area, private and hidden from the world below. When I set her down, her legs are shaky, and I have to fight every possessive instinct I have not to just pin her against the nearest bale and take her right there.
Instead, I start shrugging out of my shirt. "Can't have you getting scratched up on rough hay," I tell her, spreading it across the top of a bale with more care than I usually show anything. "You're gonna be sensitive enough after we're done with you."
