“I don’t…aren’t you working?”
His smile made her hold her breath. “Things are on autopilot for now. Elijah and I made you our full time job until we have you back.” Bending, he said at her ear, “We discovered that wherever you are, there also is sanctuary.”
She inhaled sharply with a low moan. He planted a kiss beneath her ear and breathed in the scent of her hair.
Then he walked out of the villa to the men waiting outside.
Pressing her hand to her heart, her eyes met Elijah’s from where he stood absolutely still on the outside steps and she wanted to run to him.
The pain was unbelievable.
Brie took several gasping breaths and used the counter to hold herself up. Vi entered and closed the front door.
Through her tears, Brie managed, “Thank you for keeping me safe. I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.”
Strong arms helped her to her couch. “You’re welcome, Gabriella. How about you stop worrying about everything in the world other than yourself?”
The shock of their presence, her complete confusion about Harper’s words, and the strength of her own want had her flipped inside out.
“Love is supposed to make you feel stronger. I feel so fucking weak I can barely stand myself.”
“It’s hard to reconcile asshole behavior sometimes. Hard to tell if someone is really an asshole or just plays one on TV.”
Despite her aching heart, Brie tried to smile. “Harper can be abrupt but…he’s a good man. I was too different, shook things up too much. I hurt him without meaning to do it.”
“Well, he got you back for your supposed sins so…now what?”
Hugging her torso, she bent over her legs. “I want them so much I’m sick with the need to touch them.”
“Natalia mentioned you’re a touch junky. She warned me that you hug a lot and not to freak out.” Brie snickered shakily. “You’ve been through hell. I’m sure your friends hugged you a lot but…it’s not the same, huh?”
Shaking her head, she whispered, “Only they ever helped me be truly calm inside.”
“Excellent. Let’s talk about rules.” Brie glanced up in confusion. “You know exactly where to get your fix, Gabriella. They’re here. They want you.”
“U-use them? I can’t do that.”
“Yeah. You can…and you absolutely should.” Her bodyguard outlined ground rules before she made two calls. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Get you some touch. You need it and god knows you fucking deserve it. It’s time you get some shit you need out of this lopsided equation.”
Chapter Fifty
Brie wasn’t surprised to see several armed men outside her front door when Vi escorted her through it. She was shocked that they simply walked across the street and climbed stairs to a third floor apartment.
The security detail waited at the landing. Vi stayed by her side all the way to the door.
Elijah opened it before she could knock. Glancing at the female bodyguard, he waited.
She wasted no time. “She’s under my protection, Elijah.”
“I would never hurt her.” Harper joined him at the door.
“When she cries, it means she’s hurting. I’ve personally seen her cry far too much over you two. If I get her back broken, you deal with me, Elijah. We both know I might not win…but I’d make you work pretty fucking hard to beat me.”
“Understood.”
“Sylvia.” She looked at Harper. “Thank you.”
“That’s a first in all the years I’ve known you. You’re welcome. Okay.” Vi turned to Brie and took her shoulders. “Remember our talk. Call me when you’re ready to leave. Do not leave alone or I call Hudson. Don’t make me do that. He’s such a dad sometimes and I roll my eyes like a teenager.”
Brie smiled shakily. “He doesn’t care about having kids of his own because he considers you and Scott his children. Don’t fight it.” She shrugged. “He always wins.”
“Maybe with you. You’re spun sugar. See you later, Gabriella.” With one more glare at the men, Vi returned to the stairs and jogged out of sight.
Swallowing carefully past the lump in her throat, she turned to the two men she hadn’t seen side by side in months. Her heart felt like it was going to pound through her breastbone.
“I don’t want to talk. I-I can’t handle it right now. My heart hurts. I just…” She tried to breathe through her stress. “I’m really lonely. I need you to touch me.”
Elijah moved so fast to pick her up it startled her. Harper slammed the door and followed them through the living space to a bedroom. Setting her on her feet, they worked together to remove her sundress, underthings, and sandals.
When she was naked, Elijah held her close and kissed her. She felt the way his entire body vibrated, knew his desperation in the way he gripped her, and tasted a man she’d missed more than it was possible for her to express.
Then she was in Harper’s arms, his body naked, as he ate at her lips. Elijah’s body pressed tightly against her back, closing her between them. He moved her hair away and kissed his way up her neck.
She had no idea how long they stood there, trading her mouth between them. Drunk on the way they touched her, she wrapped her body around Elijah when he picked her up.
Caught up in touching him, kissing him, loving him as she had from the start, she barely registered when he laid her against cool linens.
Inside her, thrusting deep, she stared into eyes she’d sketched a thousand times since she’d been close enough to see the striations of green. Touching his face, she didn’t realize she was crying until he kissed away the tears at her temples.
His strokes were steady and strong, driving her to a powerful climax while she struggled to breathe, to steady her heart, to take what she needed.
What only these men could provide.
With another searing kiss, he pulled away to lay beside her as Harper took his place. Eyes of silver gray stared into hers and she continued to cry as he held her gently, kissed her with every ounce of focus, and made love to her.
A second orgasm crashed over her body and Harper rolled to his back as Elijah kissed along her spine. As she rode waves of pleasure, he positioned himself at her ass and pushed inside.
They filled her, kissed her, touched her and she wanted to remember everything.
No matter what the future held for her, she knew she would have this perfect memory as a buffer between the night she was attacked, the loss of her baby, and the non-stop grief she’d been under like a dark cloud.
For a long time, they took her, holding her between them as their cocks shuttled in and out of her in tandem.
“Harder,” she whispered. “I want to feel you when it’s over.”
Bracing her, they fucked her without mercy, driving deep with every synchronized thrust. She started to shake, moaning low in her throat, and they didn’t slow, didn’t hesitate to take her harder still.
As the orgasm slammed into her, she felt lightheaded. They stilled and she absorbed the sensation of their release coating her tissues, deep and hot.
Resting her face on Harper’s chest, she murmured, “Thank you. I n-needed…I’m sorry.”
“We’re not done, Gabriella. Rest and catch your breath.” Harper’s hands petted through her hair. “Never apologize for what you need.”
Elijah pulled from her carefully and she heard him in the bathroom. When he returned, they lifted her from Harper and took her into the shower. They cleaned her, taking turns kissing her, and she was afraid.
Drying her gently, smoothing lotion into her skin, they returned her to the bed and stretched out beside her.
Pressed tightly to her front and back, she let herself take the strength and warmth she needed. She cried purging tears without talking and they held her hard.
She fell asleep and it was the best sleep she’d gotten since the last time she’d slept between them.
It was dark when she opened her eyes and r
egistered that candles flickered around the room.
Hands and mouths seemed to touch her everywhere and an orgasm was there before she even knew who’d given it to her.
Crawling up her body, Harper shared the taste of her before Elijah turned his face to kiss him deeply, his fingers gripping black hair tightly.
It made her hips rock into Harper, seeking friction to relieve the stimulation they provided. She let herself stroke her fingers over both of them and they kissed her again.
Pushing his cock deep, sealing them together, Harper stared down into her face. “I love you, Gabriella. I’m sorry I was afraid. I’ll never doubt you again.”
Over his shoulder, she met Elijah’s eyes.
They were including her. She could tell the moment he gained access to the tight entry because Harper’s cock flinched inside her, going somehow harder, as his eyes drifted shut in pleasure.
Brie couldn’t control her instant, ferocious climax. “Yes…”
She gasped for air, held Harper as hard as she could, and tried not to bite through her lower lip to keep from screaming. It held her for a long time and their eyes were waiting when she opened them.
With a smile, she stroked Harper’s face and whispered, “Let’s enjoy him fucking you together.”
Elijah kissed his shoulder and didn’t break eye contact with her as he said, “Don’t come until Brie gives you permission.”
Each withdrawal pulled Harper slightly from her. Each forward thrust drove them together. The result was short, brutal strokes that made her pant for control.
“Harper…oh my god, it’s beautiful to watch him take you.” After she kissed him, she added in a whisper, “You’re so hard. It’s amazing.”
He hugged her tight. “I can’t explain, Gabriella.”
“Just feel…just feel, Harper.”
She touched him everywhere she could and reached around him to rest her hand on Elijah’s thigh. The way it flexed with his thrusts made her crazy with the need to come.
Brie could barely talk. “I won’t come until you’re r-ready. We’ll come together. Drag it out. Experience everything. The way his hand holds your shoulder. The feel of him going deep, raking over that special little hot spot in your ass, again and again. How warm and hard he is. The way your body craves him. The sound of his breathing. The way it feels when he loves you. Soak it up.”
His hand fisted in her hair, tilting her head back so he could rake his teeth over her neck. He moved his knee forward, opening her legs wider, tightening them both and she sighed.
Between kisses, Harper told her, “The way you smell, the sound of your moans, the way your pussy grips my cock in a velvet fist, the softness of your skin, the way your eyes sparkle in candlelight, the joy of your touch, the pure beauty of your love…I’m soaking up everything, Gabriella.”
At her ear, he asked, “Do I have permission?”
“Yes…yes. Come for me, Harper. I’ll die if you don’t.”
Elijah drove harder and faster into his lover’s willing body and pushed them both over the edge of pleasure. When they were at the peak of it, he came with a growl, his head thrown back in what could only be described as victory.
It was such a powerful image that it sent Brie into another climax before the first released her. Her body tightened like a bow and she couldn’t get enough air.
She didn’t fear the darkness that rose to claim her.
* * *
Staring down into her sleeping face, Harper smoothed wild curls away. “I’ve never encountered a soul so beautiful.”
Elijah turned his face and kissed him with all the love they’d rediscovered as they waited for Gabriella to heal enough to reach for them.
They’d known from the beginning that touch would be the key back to her. She craved it, required it to make it through her life without shaking apart.
Her belief that she was using them gave her the emotional distance she required to take what she needed without conditions or apology.
“How do you feel, Harper?” Elijah’s voice was low, sensual as his teeth clamped down on the muscle between his neck and shoulder.
“Loved. Safe.” He gasped as Elijah’s barely softened cock pressed more firmly into his ass and he moaned as it pushed him tighter into Gabriella.
“We fucked her into a coma. Let’s revive her and do it again. I want her overdosed on pleasure. She’s been through so much and alone far too long.”
Harper nodded. “I want her to suck me while you take her. To watch your cock disappear inside her.” Elijah’s cock flinched inside him. “Then we can trade places. I want to fuck her until she can’t move. Until I can’t move.” He chuckled. “It’s useless to say until you can’t move. You could fuck us both for the next week and barely end up winded.”
Nuzzling his face against him, Elijah whispered, “Let’s test the theory, Harper. Let’s see how long I can keep going.”
“There are two of us so that helps.”
“I enjoy long odds.”
* * *
Brie opened her eyes on the third day in their apartment a few hours before dawn and felt as if she’d been through intensive physical therapy again.
Pleasantly sore, interestingly sticky despite multiple showers, at peace for the first time in her life, she stared at the men next to her.
During their last session, Elijah talked her through sucking Harper as he fucked her from behind harder than he’d ever taken her. Then she and Harper changed places and she came too many times to count.
Collapsing, they slept where they fell. Harper was in the middle and she grinned at how entwined the three of them were with each other.
They hadn’t talked about the past or the future. They hadn’t discussed the loss of her baby. There were no hurts revisited.
They’d touched her. They’d healed her.
Sliding from the bed, she used the bathroom to pull herself together and texted Vi. When she received a reply message, she quickly dressed and left them a note.
Then she walked out of the apartment and allowed her bodyguard to escort her home.
* * *
When Elijah woke, he knew she was gone.
His heart contracted in visceral fear until he saw the confirmation from Vi that they were safely at the villa on his phone.
“Do you think she’ll come back to us?”
Harper’s voice was scratchy primarily from lack of adequate hydration and possibly a bit from how hard Elijah had fucked his mouth the night before as Brie rode him.
The memory made his balls draw up close to his body but he sent a signal to his cock to calm the fuck down.
“I know she will. Let’s shower and dress.”
They found her note as they entered the living room.
I love both of you so much more than you know. Thank you for helping me heal from the greatest loss of my life. Thank you for every moment but more for your trust. I hold it close to me.
I can’t love you more than I love myself. It’s not healthy and I don’t want to hurt anymore.
I’ve said from the beginning that you don’t need me. You may want me but you’re strong together.
Love each other hard. Be thankful every day for the opportunity you found and take pride in the fact that you healed a relationship that was broken. You belong together, need each other, and I am beyond honored to have been part of what you have for a little while.
I don’t mind being a bridge. Know I take every touch with me. Brie
Harper frowned but Elijah wasn’t concerned.
With a reassuring smile, he said, “She’s being stubborn. She doesn’t quite get it. Let’s explain.” He turned to go and paused. Running his palm along Harper’s neck, he asked, “You’re sure? This is the most important choice you’ve ever made. She’s breakable.”
Rolling his eyes, his best friend, his lover, replied, “Yes, I’m fucking sure. Don’t tell me you doubt how I feel about her after the last few days?”
“No. I just wa
nted to confirm. I’ll never push you again.”
“Elijah, I rather enjoy when you push me.”
He blinked. “Remember that later.”
“As if I’d forget.” Harper kissed him roughly and said against his lips, “Let’s go get our woman.”
Epilogue
Gabriella tried to ignore the sound of everything she’d ever wanted outside her window.
Tears streamed down her face as gentle beauty drifted on the air at the hands of the world’s most dangerous man.
Shrugging a light sweater over her tank top, she stared at the front door for a long time.
“Are you sure, Gabriella?” Vi asked softly from behind her.
“No but I so want to be.”
“Then you have to take the chance.” The bodyguard smiled. “Sometimes, the biggest risks have the greatest rewards. You’re strong and you have to be a priority. Don’t forget.”
The blonde unlocked the door but didn’t open it.
Brie took two steps, paused, then took another and placed her palm on the carved wood. Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Please don’t hurt me. Please love me.”
Then she opened the door and stepped out on the stoop.
Less than a dozen feet away in the small gated courtyard, Elijah played the violin while Harper’s hand gripped his shoulder.
She approached slowly, breathing deeply to settle her mind.
Arms wrapped around her torso, she stared back and forth between men she’d fallen completely and irrevocably in love with faster than she ever expected and harder than she thought possible for so many reasons she couldn’t explain if asked.
Elijah brought the song to a close and lowered the violin. His natural radiance glowed from his eyes, enthralled her yet again and made her want. All of him, always.
Harper’s hand tightened on his shoulder and he had a fierce expression on his face. After time spent with him, she knew it was fear that inspired it. She wanted to love him, soothe him.
Both looked as if they held their breath.
Reaching up, she smoothed the lines on his forehead. “You should smile more, Harper.”
Radiance Page 40
