“Come on, baby,” James said, finally coming up for air. His face was flushed and his voice hoarse with arousal. “You don’t need this skirt. In fact, you never need clothes in this room. This room is our world, and you don’t need to hide yourself here.”
She laughed a little, the sound a balm to Noah’s soul. The whole time she’d screamed and cried, he’d felt pieces of himself breaking with her. He’d held her so tight as though she might float away on a sea of pain, but she’d come through it, and now she was laughing. She was okay because they were together.
“James, it gets cold here. I think you should know better than anyone what a Colorado winter is like. I can’t run around in the altogether.”
James put a hand on her breast, and when Hope gasped, Noah could bet on exactly what his brother had done. A little nipple tweak could bring a sweet sub back in line. If she misbehaved too much, he would clamp those sweet nipples and his baby would feel the burn. And it was time to back his brother up.
Noah hardened his voice, using his best Dom tone, the one guaranteed to have his sub’s eyes widen. “You heard what he told you. No clothes in our bedroom. You’re allowed to get dressed and undressed, but if you’re spending any amount of time in here, your lovely skin is the only cover that’s required. And we’ll keep you warm, darlin’. You won’t need anything but your men to keep you warm. And trust me, there will be nights when you aren’t allowed to wear clothes anywhere in this house. When we’re alone, you’ll sit at the dinner table in one of our laps while we feed you and feast on the sight of your gorgeous body.”
“What about the two of you?” Hope asked, her voice a little shaky as James set her on her feet.
Noah took the opportunity to slip his fingers under the waist of her skirt and drag it off her body. She slipped out of the skirt and immediately put her arms over her chest.
Not happening. It was time to start making things clear to his almost wife. He pulled her hands to her sides. “No covering up. And we’ll get undressed soon enough. But god, Hope, I think Jamie should be dressed most of the time. I can handle it when we’re making love to you, but I do not want to see that on a regular basis.”
His brother shot him the bird, one side of his mouth tugging up in a sarcastic grin. “Fuck you, Noah. I sincerely hope the years have taught you proper grooming techniques. The last girl we shared begged you to shave down there.”
“Really? You really had to go there?” Was nothing at all sacred in this house? Sometimes Noah thought the other partners of this town had it easy. Though he hadn’t known them long, Noah would bet Alexei couldn’t tease Caleb about his youthful grooming habits.
Hope held her hands up, laughing. “Stop, both of you. I can plainly see that I’m not just the wife, I’m the referee. I’m starting a support group with Rachel Harper. You two are as bad as Max and Rye. Fine, I’m naked. Someone better start kissing me. And I mean now.”
James came to stand beside Noah. He slid his brother a long look. “That sounds awfully bratty. She’s going to be demanding.”
Noah loved the way Hope’s skin flushed. She was obviously still self-conscious, but that would be gone soon. No amount of sex would ever take her innocence away. It was a lovely part of her soul, and Noah would kill to protect it. “She’s going to learn her place.”
Hope gasped, an irritated little sound. “And just where is that?”
“Between us, baby,” James said, taking over where Noah had left off.
“Always between us,” Noah finished.
It was his turn. Noah let his fingers skim across her skin, starting at her shoulders and settling finally at her waist. He pulled her to his body, her skin against his denim and the cotton of his shirt, but nothing could mask the heat of her or the hardness of those nipples against his chest. James crowded her from behind. She was caught in between them, and they would never let her escape.
“I think I can handle that,” Hope said, her voice breathless.
Her hands were on Noah’s waist, and she slowly let them drop to cup his ass. Noah’s cock responded with a twitch as she pulled him close. Message received. She would give as good as she got. She would be strong enough to handle them both. And that was a damn fine thing. Noah didn’t want a woman he could walk on. He wanted a woman he could walk beside. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t put up a bit of a fight.
“Darlin’, you are itching for a spanking.” He loved slapping that glorious ass and watching it get hot and pink. He’d thought he would die while he’d watched her with James. He’d stared at Trev’s wall of perversion and wondered how fast he could work her up to a paddle or a flogger. He would spank her until her cunt was dripping with cream, and then he would fuck that pretty ass of hers.
“My bottom is still sore from the last spanking,” she whispered, her brown eyes wide. The little hitch in her voice made Noah remember how she’d whimpered every time James’s hand had struck. How would she take to the St. Andrew’s Cross, his whip whispering across her back?
Noah bit back a growl of frustration. He had to take this slow. He couldn’t let his fantasies take over. This was about Hope. He had to remember that. There would be time later to introduce her to such pleasures. “Then you should obey us both for the next little bit or your ass will be a whole lot more sore. Darlin’, when we’re in this room and we’re making love, you’re our sweet little sub.”
James shook his head. “And we both know damn straight that you’re going to give us hell outside this room, so we demand some submission, because I get the feeling it’s going to be me and Noah who are your slaves outside of it.”
Hope’s head fell back, rubbing against James’s. “Yes, James. That’s what you like to hear, right? Yes, James. Yes, my Noah.”
Yes. For so many years, he’d heard “no” and “don’t” and told himself the same thing. But now he realized that Ally could have told him yes a thousand times and it wouldn’t have meant a damn thing because she hadn’t been Hope. Hope, with her soft eyes and strong heart, was the one for him.
He’d finally come home.
“Noah?” Hope looked up at him, her brown eyes sympathetic.
“I love you.” It felt so good to say the words. They felt right.
He’d said them before, but he’d been a silly child. He’d been searching for something, and he’d said the words in the hopes that he could find it. The words weren’t a road map, but a destination. Hope had always been his destination, the end to his searching and the beginning of his life as a man. The boy who had fought and clawed in a fit of jealousy and self-absorption had to go. Noah had to be a man because he was going to be a husband. Hope’s husband. His brother’s partner.
He could never, never let them down.
“I love you so much, Hope. You’re going to marry Jamie, but I’m going to be your husband, too. I’m going to love you until the day I die and long after that.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. “And I’ll be wife to you both. Oh, I’ll be the best wife, Noah. James, I’ll try with everything I have. I’ll give this marriage and this ranch everything I have.”
“Baby,” James said, his arms hugging her from behind. “Noah and I are going to take such good care of you. We won’t ever let you down.”
Never again. He wouldn’t let either one of them down ever again.
Noah tilted her chin up and took her mouth, molding his lips to hers. So soft. He sank his hands into her hair and let his tongue surge inside. Hope’s mouth opened beneath his, her tongue dancing. He kissed her over and over, reveling in the feeling. He loved the little sounds, her gasps and moans. His cock was practically begging to be released, but he wanted this to last. This was the first time. Oh, he’d had her before, but this was the first time they were complete.