Tal’s hand came out to touch her cheek. “I couldn’t stand being parted from you. I thought it would be better if you were somewhere safe in the world, but these last weeks have proven to me how wrong I was.”
“Piper, please understand, you were almost killed,” Kade explained. “Tal barely pulled through. He came out of surgery, and all he asked was that we send you away.”
Bitterness churned in her gut. He’d nearly died, and all he’d cared about was making sure she wasn’t there when he woke up. “Well, you two took care of that. Please put me down.”
All three men had a hand on her. Kade smoothed her hair back. “He was crazy with the thought that it could happen again. For nights afterward, he woke up screaming, thinking Khalil was back to rape and kill you. He tore his stitches three times before the nurses were smart enough to sedate him at night.”
She went still. He’d been that worried? She couldn’t compete with Tal’s anxiety. She couldn’t force him to see that it was worth the risk. “You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’m safe here. And I’ll take care of myself.”
Rafe shook his head. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling even though, to Piper’s mind, it was extremely inappropriate. “You don’t have to take care of yourself. Not when you have three husbands dedicated to the job. Piper, we cannot live without you. Tal has finally come to his senses, and now we can move forward with our lives.”
Rafe winked down at her as he turned and strode to the big bed. He tossed her lightly on it.
“Take off your clothes, habibti or I swear I will rip them off you.” Kade was already working the buttons on his dress shirt, revealing gorgeous tanned skin.
Piper ignored the ribbon of need working through her and backed up, trying to get to her feet, but they blocked all three sides of the bed. “Wait. You told me you were getting married, and now you want me to sleep with you?”
But Rafe had also mentioned that she would have three husbands who couldn’t live without her. Were they saying what she thought they were saying? Was she the bride?
Tal laughed outright, looking younger and lighter, as though some heavy weight had left him. “And you tell me you’re so smart. Yes, my love, we’re getting married. We have a lovely bride selected, though I managed to push the law through so she won’t ever feel as if she was wed for any reason but love.”
Tears started to pool. Hope bloomed, pushing out all thoughts of rage. Forgiveness really was a gift to them and herself. Forgiving them for being afraid meant she had a future. “And what happens to this bride if someone tries to hurt her? Will you lock her up in a gilded cage?”
Tal took a long breath. “Piper, I will cherish every moment I have with my bride. I will put aside my fear because she deserves a brave man. I will be the best husband possible and I will protect her with every cell in my body, but if the worst happens, I still want that time with you. I want a lifetime. Hell, I want forever, but I’ll take what is given to me. I’ll take every minute without an ounce of regret.”
“I love you, Piper. I want children and a life, and I vow I will never leave you again,” Rafe promised.
“I want you. I was lonely without you. I didn’t know it before. I thought I was happy, but you showed me what real joy is,” Kade said, his voice low and serious.
Now her tears fell without reluctance. Their words were everything she wanted, everything she’d waited a lifetime for. Her husbands. Her future. No amount of hurt was going to cost her a lifetime of joy. Still, she couldn’t let their arrogance go unchallenged. She got to her knees, shoulders thrust back, the proud woman their love had molded her into. “I don’t recall being asked to marry you.”
Another one of those brilliant smiles lit Talib’s face. “It’s tradition in Bezakistan to steal a bride, my love. I think that’s one tradition we intend to follow.”
Kade tossed his shirt aside. “Once we have you in our clutches, don’t think you can get away. Not for a moment.”
“But you, our bride, are wearing a deplorable amount of clothing.” Rafe shrugged out of his shirt and grabbed the bag he’d dropped on his way in the room. She could just guess what was inside. All sorts of toys to please and torture a newly stolen bride.
Her whole body heated up. She’d been so deeply alone since she’d been forced to leave them. She’d felt lonely before, but she’d never known the true meaning of the word until she’d contemplated a life without these men in it. “You have other traditions, but I think I’d like to make one of my own. That first night, you had your brothers present me to you, Tal. Now I think I would like to have all of my husbands present themselves to me.”
Tal growled a little as he tossed off his jacket and dress shirt. “You want to see what belongs to you, my queen? Is that what you want? You want your men to show you everything they have to give you?”
A future and love was what they offered her. Years of joy and happiness. Children who would rule a country one day as wisely as their fathers. But yes, she definitely wanted to see them. “Show me.”
Rafe shoved the slacks off his lean hips. “Such a bossy little queen.”
Kade stood before her, his glorious body on full display. Kade, her playmate, the charmer. His broad shoulders were thrown back and his cock jutted up proudly. He stroked himself, winking at her, never far from being the naughty lover who stirred her senses. “For you, my wife, my queen. This is all for you.”
Rafe stood beside his brother, slightly taller and every inch the elegant, sexy gentleman. He was the one she could sink into intellectual talks with, long hours spent in friendly discussions before he finally ended their debates by kissing her senseless. He ran a hand down his sculpted body. “Everything I have is yours.”
Talib knelt on the bed, his cock seeming to know exactly what it wanted. He was already fully erect and pointing straight at her, a drop of pearly fluid seeping from the head. She eyed the fresh, puckered scar on his belly, grateful that he was alive to be here before her. “My kingdom, my body, my heart, my soul. They’re yours, Piper. All you have to do is take us.”
A Texas girl knew a good offer when she saw one. Piper tossed off her shirt. “Yes. Yes. Yes. I love you all so much. Please kiss me.”
They descended on her, her clothes seeming to evaporate in their hands. Before she knew it, she was naked and right where she’d longed to be, skin to skin with them, enveloped in their warmth.
Kade pressed her down, laying her out on the bed. He kissed her mouth, his tongue tangling briefly before moving on to her neck. Rafe replaced him at her lips, touching their noses together before devouring her mouth. His tongue played against hers in a silky slide as hands rearranged her body, sensation flooding her.
She rode the wave. It didn’t matter who touched her as long as they kept their hands on her. Someone, Talib she thought, pulled her ankles apart, spreading her legs and moving inside. Rafe finally gave up her mouth, and he and Kade moved like birds of prey toward her breasts, their heads sinking down in perfect time. She gasped as they tugged on her nipples, tongues curling before they each sucked a tip inside their mouths.