Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Rhett looks back at my face, and whatever he sees there darkens his gaze. “Radios stay on,” he says. “Weapons stay close.”
“Of course,” I say.
“If anything—”
“Rhett.” Boone cuts him off.
Rhett looks back at his brother, then nods once. He folds the map, and I hope he can put thoughts of tomorrow away with it, at least for a couple of hours, for long enough to breathe.
Cade checks the locks again, Rhett checks the radios, and Boone banks the fire, leaving a low, red glow beneath the grate.
These are ordinary, end-of-the-night activities, but tonight every motion feels sacred because things may never be the same after tomorrow, and I want to remember them like this. Rhett walking ahead, Boone barefoot on the wooden floor, and Cade sliding his hand along the wall as the four of us make our way into the hall.
Rhett closes the bedroom door behind us with a final, quiet click, and for a moment, we all seem to hold our breaths.
Then I rise onto my toes and kiss them one at a time, feeling their heartbeats beneath my hands. I kiss them until our breath grows ragged and the room narrows to the low, familiar sounds of men letting go by degrees. Boots come off, then shirts.
I stand between them in the dark, touching them, and Boone sucks in a breath when my hand comes too close to his wound.
“Boone.”
“I’m fine. I’m sore, not breakable.”
I brush my thumb gently below the bandage. “No, you’re not.”
None of them are breakable, but they’re mortal, and something small inside me wants to cry and beg them not to go in the morning, but I know that’s not who they are. I know they can’t sit here and do nothing, and even though that wouldn’t be the truth, because they’ve already done so much, that’s what it would feel like to them.
I lean down and press my mouth to the uninjured side of his chest, right over his heart. Boone slides his hand into my hair as Cade steps closer and anchors me against him. Rhett watches us with eyes that are dark and unguarded.
They undress me with reverence and impatience tangled together, and I finish undressing them the same way. They touch me like I’m precious, and I touch them like they’re already home.
When Rhett lowers me to the bed, I pull him along with me. Cade follows, and Boone stretches out on my other side. When he winces, I give him a look reminding him to be careful with himself.
He smiles and kisses my shoulder. “Bossy little scientist.”
“Wounded mountain man.”
“Grazed,” Boone says.
Cade’s mouth finds the side of my neck. When I gasp, Boone’s smile fades into something hotter. Rhett bends over me and slides his hand along my jaw. “Tell us what you need.”
“You,” I say, with no thought or hesitation. “All of you. Not thinking about tomorrow. Not holding anything back.”
Rhett’s gaze flares, and Boone whispers, “Sweetheart.”
“No.” I touch Boone’s face, then Cade’s arm, then Rhett’s chest. “I mean it. I don’t want careful memories. I don’t want half of you because you’re trying to protect me from loving you too much.”
“That’s not possible.” Rhett strokes his thumb along my cheek. “You already love us too much.”
He’s cocky, and he’s one hundred percent correct, and my eyes burn with how strongly I feel it. “Then let me love you.”
He lowers his head to mine and just stays there, breathing with me. Then he says, “Letting you was never the hard part.”
Cade covers my hand with his. “Believing we get to keep you was.”
Boone’s voice is low against my hair. “Believing we get to come home to you.”
My heart squeezes in my chest. “Believe it.”
After that, the three of them surround me until there’s no room for fear to come between us. Rhett’s the first to make me come, and he watches my face like my pleasure is his only mission. Cade squeezes my hand and twines our fingers together, his grip saying more than words.
I turn to Boone, and he’s watching me like I’m the only reason he wants to survive what’s coming.
“Don’t,” I whisper.
His brow creases. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t look at me like goodbye is ever an option.”
He strokes a hand over my thigh. “It isn’t.”
“Promise me.”
For once, he doesn’t have a joke ready. He doesn’t use his charm to deflect. “I promise,” he says. “I’m coming back to you.”
Cade runs fingers through my hair, then tugs gently. “We all are.”
When I look at Rhett, he sits up and reaches for me. He takes my face in his hands, his thumbs brushing beneath my eyes, catching tears that were hanging on behind my lashes.
“Listen to me,” he says. “We’re coming back. Novak has the operation. We know the land, and we know how to work together. And we have something now we didn’t have before.”