by Avery Gale
Mitch turned her face toward his and smiled at her indulgently. “Baby, nothing and I do mean nothing in the whole world could make me any happier than knowing you love me. I have been in love with you since the first moment I saw you, and it became my life’s mission to show you how great the three of us would be together. But now that mission has changed.” When her eyes went wide, he smiled and continued. “No, it’s not what you’re thinking. My new mission is to spend each and every day for the rest of my life reminding you that you made the right decision. I want you to be convinced at the end of every day that you are the most loved woman you know.”
Rissa was overwhelmed by their words. She’d always dreamed of having the kind of love that survived the tough times life could send your way, and she’d often envied Kat’s relationship with Alex and Zach. To think that she was going to have one just as wonderful was almost too much to comprehend. After her Granny had died, Rissa had gone into an emotional free fall that led to her being alone downtown in Denver late at night two years ago. Rissa had wondered a million times what had possessed her to think visiting the sleazy sex club was a good idea, but in truth it was just the last in a long series of bad decisions that had nearly cost her everything. Had it not been for a couple of DEA agents willing to chance their careers to check out a rumor, she’d have been shipped to the Middle East the very next morning and would have disappeared without a trace.
Mitch continued to hold his sweet love, but his attention was fully on her memories and musings about all the things that had brought her to this point in her life. He was pleased beyond belief that she was comparing their relationship to that of the Lamonts. Everyone he knew had nothing but admiration for Alex and Zach Lamont, and their love and respect for their dynamo wife was fast becoming a modern-day legend. Knowing he needed to get up and help Bry get food together, he pulled her in to a rib-crushing hug, just holding her for long moments before finding his voice. “Baby, you humble me, I’m honored by your love and knowing you compare what Bry and I want with you to the love shared by the Lamonts makes me prouder than you’ll ever know. And I promise you, my love, we’ll do everything in our power to live up to your expectations.”
* * * *
They enjoyed each other’s company during the rest of the evening. Their conversation was laced with lighthearted teasing and lots of laughter. Rissa found herself relaxing and falling even further under their spells, and more than once she marveled at how easy it was to love them.
Bryant was so humbled by her love that for the first time in a decade he cared more about his relationship with a woman than he did about being a Dom, and that was told him everything he needed to know about the “rightness” of the relationship they were building. Mitch had ordered her ring a few months earlier, he’d been so sure of how it would turn out. Smiling to himself, he sometimes envied Mitch Grayson’s gifts, and the boyish enthusiasm that had survived years of Special Forces missions was something to behold. The ring was a matching pair of geometric cut diamonds set in platinum, and when they’d shown it to both Jenna and Kat and received squeals of delight, they’d assumed that meant it had passed muster.
They had intended to wait until just the right moment to propose to her, they’d planned on having a romantic candlelit dinner at the cabin, but after their conversation this evening while Rissa was answering a thousand and one questions, they’d decided the sooner they asked her to be their wife, the sooner they could start building the family they all wanted. Each of them were only children with no close family members still living, so family was particularly significant to them. Mitch and Bryant had always longed for a woman to share and had vowed years ago to treat each and every child born to their wife as their own. It would never matter to either of them who the biological father was, they would both be fathers to each child they were blessed with.
Tonight was the night—they would share a shower and then propose, and if everything went as planned, they’d be making sweet love to their fiancée before midnight.
* * * *
Maks had been in the tavern when the bitch Rachel Sutton had taken it upon herself to forewarn everyone in this godforsaken place of the Russian mob’s intent to snatch the redheaded woman named Rissa. He shook his head wondering how this job could just continue to be fucked up beyond anything even vaguely recognizable. He’d managed to connect with Petrov before he’d gotten too far out of Denver, and hopefully his boss would manage to get a flight back out before some half-assed-alert TSA agent recognized him. Maks himself was trying to lie low until the excitement died down; anyone trying to leave Climax with the roads nearly impossible to travel on would immediately draw attention to themselves. He had a room at a local rooming house so he’d just stay in tonight, and hopefully his nosey landlady wouldn’t be notified to watch for men with accents before he could slip out of town early tomorrow morning.
He’d always felt Americans were more lucky than smart, and the residents of this strange town weren’t doing anything to change his opinion. If he had anything to say about it, the big bosses would walk away from this one. Hell, from everything he’d seen, the woman didn’t remember anything about her time in the cage, and surely if she hadn’t regained her memory by now, it was lost to her forever. His bosses had been worried she’d blow the whistle and bring down their local contacts. It seems American politicians want to be involved with the dark side, but don’t want to be linked to it directly. Sighing to himself, he thought they were the worst hypocrites he’d ever seen, at least in his country everyone expected the politicians to be dirty.
Walking into the small rooming house, he was glad to see everyone seemed to be gathered in the back discussing the events of the day so he was able to slip up the stairs without anyone noticing. Had he taken a minute to listen, he might have heard his name mentioned.
* * * *
Rissa couldn’t remember a time when she’d enjoyed a dinner as much as she had tonight, and it had been exactly what she’d needed. When she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, Mitch leaned forward and took her hand. “What are you thinking about, baby?”
Her shy smile warmed his soul. “I was thinking that I have enjoyed this dinner more than any I can remember, and you have both made this evening perfect.” She paused, and he could see she was trying to tamp down the emotion before continuing. “I needed your friendship and love this evening, don’t get me wrong, I love the sex, and I love that you are both Doms…but sometimes…well, there are times when a girl needs her man…or men to be her friends and her lovers. I guess what I should have just said was thank you. My Granny always told me there is very little that cannot be fixed with a smile, a hug, and some love. And as usual, she was right.” Rissa looked up through thick lashes to gauge their reactions and was relieved to see love reflected in each of their gazes.
Swearing that she could bring him to his knees with her sweet words, Bryant had taken her other hand in his and had been slowly tracing small circles in her palm with his thumb while she’d been speaking. He moved his thumb to her wrist so he could note a change in her heart rate easier. “Love, you are exactly what we need. Do you have any idea how long Mitch and I have been looking for you?” And there it was, the spike in her heartbeat he’d been hoping for. Good. It was nice to know she was as affected by them as they were by her. “You have brought hope and light in to each of our lives in a way you can’t even imagine.”
Rissa looked up quickly. “But I haven’t done anything really.”
Mitch squeezed her hand gently. “Oh but, baby, you have done everything.” Smiling at her confusion, he continued. “You have shown us that our perfect woman is brave beyond our wildest expectations. You managed to survive the Russian mob twice and faced a public punishment in a BDSM club without batting an eye. You’re smart as a whip because you kept your cool and single handedly took out a drunken, crazed woman intent on killing you. You’re loyal because your friends have been making us crazy tryin
g to get to you to help, and that commitment is a reflection of how you have been there for them time and time again.” Rissa had lowered her eyes, but Mitch wasn’t going to let her sell herself short by denying anything he’d said. Taking her chin in his hand, he gently brought her face up to meet his once more. “Baby, you have blessed us and everyone who knows you. Don’t underestimate yourself. Your sweet Granny was right you know. Any help you need is right beside you. All you have to do is ask, we’ll give you anything you need, you need an evening of fun and friendship? It’s yours.”
Bryant added, “You need a hug or to be held while you cry tears you can’t explain? It’s yours. And, love, you need the strength of your Doms? It’s always at your fingertips.” Then, smiling that devilish grin Rissa was coming to recognize as his I’m going to distract you smile, he added, “You need to focus? Well then, pet, your bare ass is ours.”
Rissa hadn’t even realized she’d been crying until she hiccupped a giggle, and Bryant reached over and wiped the tears from her wet cheeks. “God but I love you two something fierce, but right at this moment I need a shower, and then I’ve got some hugs to collect…well, hugs and more.”
Mitch appreciated that Bry had been able to lighten the mood a bit. They quickly cleared their kitchen mess, and he was thrilled with the way Rissa just seemed to fit between them, and she fell in to their well-choreographed work pattern as if she’d been working with them for years. He and Bry had spent a lot of time and money fixing up the master bath and master bedroom in Bryant’s condo, and he was sure Bry was as anxious for Rissa to see it as he was. Hell, the shower alone was worth the price of admission. The end walls weren’t even visible for all the natural vegetation growing there, and the long wall was one-way glass looking out the back of the condo toward the mountains, and the view was breathtaking. The ceiling of the shower was three sections of rain showerheads, and the lighting could go from day spectrum to candlelight with the twist of a dial. There were also hidden speakers everywhere in the condo, including the shower. He and Bry both enjoyed music and understood its power to build a mood, so they’d made sure they would be able to romance their perfect woman someday. He’d never regretted the time and expense they’d spent here, but now that they had Rissa, he was thrilled with the things they’d done. And they’d learned a great deal along the way so when they started updating Rissa’s grandmother’s house, they’d make fewer mistakes. They’d laughed many times at how they’d learned by trial and error—mostly error.
Walking up the thickly carpeted stairs, Rissa was struck by how richly decorated the condo was, for a bachelor pad it was absolutely stunning in its perfection. “Who did your decorating? It’s amazing.”
Bryant flashed Rissa a brilliant smile. “Thank you, sweetness, Mitch and I have spent a lot of time trying to get this place ready for you.” When he saw her confusion, he added, “We knew our perfect woman was out there, and that it was just a matter of time until we found her and we were right.”
God, if they don’t stop saying those sweet things I’m going to be a puddle on the floor, I swear it. “Well, I think it’s perfect. It’s just the right combination of masculine and classic good taste. I can hardly wait to see the rest of it.”
Mitch couldn’t wait for her to see it either and he was sure she was going to be pleasantly surprised to find out that even though from the outside it looked like there were two units in this building, it was in fact all one very large home. The other unit had come up for sale a couple of years earlier, so he’d bought it also and they’d worked to open the two up so that from the inside, anyone would be hard-pressed to find evidence it hadn’t been built that way—ah the joys of having an engineer for a best friend. Oh course, a lot of the decorating Rissa was admiring was the handiwork of Catherine Lamont. She had taken great pride in helping them “learn” to choose the right linens, furnishings, and “adornments.” He and Bry had nodded but promptly looked that one up on their iPhones as soon as she’d moved on in the store. Smiling at the memory, he said, “You know, Catherine Lamont helped guide us, but we’ve refined our tastes a bit since then, too.”
“Oh, no wonder it’s so lovely. Catherine is amazing, and I just love everything she does. Jenna and Kat are so lucky to have her in their lives.” The admiration in her voice was easy to hear, but there was something else there also. It wasn’t envy, but maybe a small measure of loneliness? Hmmmm, that gave Mitch an idea, and he’d be talking to his adopted mama Catherine about it at his first opportunity. He knew Catherine Lamont would be thrilled to take Rissa under her wing.
As they entered the master suite he heard Rissa’s gasp. “Oh my! It’s just beyond beautiful.” She stood in the center and slowly turned taking in everything. The natural stone fireplace was the room’s focal point, and it took up the entire end wall of the room. The oversized bed was up against a glass wall that looked out the back, offering a view of the mountains that would showcase each season’s glory, and all you had to do was open your eyes each morning and take it all in. There were three ornate oak dressers along one wall that matched the tables on each side of the bed and the tall posts standing sentry at each corner of a bed so large its intent to sleep more than two people was crystal clear.
Bryant stood back and watched as Rissa’s eyes widened more with each new thing she noted in the room. “Well, love? What do you think? Your silence is making Mitch and me a bit apprehensive.” That wasn’t entirely true, her appreciation of their efforts was obvious, but they were anxious to get on with things, so he was hoping to push her a bit.
Stepping forward, Rissa wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him close before stepping back just enough to look up at him. “It’s beyond anything I could ever have imagined. It’s just almost too much to take in. I’d be willing to wager the bathroom alone is larger than my entire studio.” She smiled so sweetly, he didn’t want to spoil the moment by telling her that she had spent her last night in that hell-hole. The thought of her being in that cold, dreary space made him shudder.
Mitch took her hand and pulled her in to the bathroom. “Come on, baby, let’s get naked and wet.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rissa was sure the shower in the master suite was a gift straight from God. She knew her mouth had dropped open when she’d first walked in to the bathroom. Yep, way bigger than my studio. But her men had assured her it was just exactly perfect for them, and she’d relaxed as they’d helped her undress and move into the shower. She’d decided if it was possible to take up residence in a shower, she wasn’t ever leaving that one. When they’d finally finished washing each other, she’d been so aroused she could hardly wait to get into that big bed, but they’d patted her dry so gently she’d wanted to screech at them to get on with it. Now that they were finally moving into the bedroom, her arousal was starting to fog her thinking, and her focus was narrowing so sharply to being fucked she hadn’t even noticed Bry slip from the room.
Mitch knew Rissa was close enough to the edge that he was going to be able to make her come just by kissing her, and he fully intended to keep her so focused on him she didn’t notice Bry had left to retrieve her ring from the office safe. As he’d left, Bry had flipped the switch, and the gas fireplace in the bedroom had sprung to life, and the ambiance in the bedroom was nice, it wasn’t the candlelight they’d originally envisioned, but this was just going to have to be good enough since neither of them could wait to get their ring on her finger.
Mitch kissed her with an abandon that left Rissa reeling. His mouth slid over hers with such ease that it was as if they had practiced the move a thousand times. He traced the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips, and when she welcomed him, he stormed in, and she wondered for a few seconds if he was trying to crawl inside and touch her soul. Rissa felt her pussy gush with her juices and the familiar tingling beginning deep in her core, and when Mitch slipped his hand around behind her and grabbed her ass, pulling her pulsing pussy closer to his hot cock, she was lost. The fi
rst wave of her orgasm caught her totally off guard with its intensity. Rissa felt like she’d been tossed into a churning sea as wave after wave of pure pleasure moved through her entire body, until finally just as she could feel herself starting to surface, Mitch slid his fingers through her pussy lips then pressed down directly on her clit and whispered, “Again,” in her ear, and her body instantly obeyed, and this time she screamed her release, calling out both Mitch’s and Bryant’s names.
Bryant walked back in to the room just as Rissa called out his name while in the throes of her pleasure, and it touched his soul that she would call his name even though he hadn’t been the one to send her over into orgasm. Coming to lie along her other side, he slid his fingers alongside her sweet face, whispering sweet words of praise to her. Once her focus seemed to have returned, Bryant scooped her up, and they moved to the small settee that was in front of the fire. Pulling a soft quilted coverlet from the back before settling her on his lap, facing Mitch, they each took a hand, but it was Bryant who spoke first. “Rissa, you are the light that fills the darkness of my soul, I promise to make each and every day an adventure if you’ll do me the honor of being my wife.”
Rissa gasped her surprise but didn’t have time to respond before Mitch spoke quietly. “Baby, you are the answer to a million prayers I’d sent out to the Universe—knowing you were out there somewhere—and praying we’d find you. Marrying us won’t be the easiest thing you’ve ever done, but we’ll be loyal to you forever, we’ll spend our entire lives working together to make sure you know you are loved beyond measure and cherished as the treasure we know you are. Since I am older than Bry, you’ll be married to me on paper, but we’ll both be your husbands in every possible way. We want to build a life and family around you. We’ll love any and all children we’re blessed with regardless of which of one us is the biological parent, but it’s important that you know you will always be the center of our world. We’ll be difficult at times, but we’ll always love you…We’ll be separated by work at times, but we’ll always count each and every second until we’re together again…You’ll want to strangle us a lot of the time, but you’ll remember the depth of our love and respect for you, and you’ll find the strength and patience to wait for us to regain our footing.” Mitch’s gaze hadn’t left hers the entire time he’d been speaking, but he finally reached into his lap and lifted a small velvet box and opened it.
