Sweet Addiction

EPILOGUE

Ren’s mouth turned up into a smile as she watched Cole and Lucas stride into their Vegas hotel suite. She lounged on the sofa, her feet curled beneath her and watched hungrily as Cole loosened his tie and Lucas kicked off his shoes.

Their gazes immediately found her, swept over her, warming her to her toes with the love and desire that was so clearly reflected in their eyes.

Lucas’s nostrils flared and Ren rose, heeding the unspoken command. As she walked toward them, they closed around her, their heat circling her and pulling her into the haven they provided.

Cole slid his arms around her from behind, pulled her against his back as his mouth slid sensuously up her neck to her ear. She sighed and shivered as goose bumps danced across her skin.

“I missed you,” he growled.

“You didn’t have to go with Lucas,” she said innocently.

Lucas frowned at her and she held back her laughter.

Over the last year, Lucas and Cole had gone beyond an uneasy truce. Their relationship had been one of tolerance in the beginning and it had been far from hearts and roses. Ren had danced delicately in the early days, always afraid of upending the tenuous peace.

But as things had progressed, so too did the friendship that had sprung between the two men. Lucas had drawn Cole in, had asked for his advice and business expertise in running the nightclubs.

More often than not, the two men arranged their times between their respective businesses so that they worked together and so their time with Ren could be planned. The only exceptions were when it was required for one of them to be out of town. They never both left her. One remained so she was never alone.

“What are you thinking?”

Lucas’s question drew her attention back to the present. She glanced up to see him watching her thoughtfully.

She settled more comfortably into Cole’s embrace and smiled, allowing all of the happiness inside her to shine through.

“I was thinking about us.” Her throat tightened and she had to work to get the words out around the sudden catch. “I was thinking how lucky I am. And how happy.”

Lucas reached for her hand and tugged her away from Cole, into his arms until he was wrapped around her, their noses just inches apart.

“That’s funny, because Cole and I were just remarking on what lucky sons of bitches we were that you hadn’t tossed us out months ago.”

Her smile grew broader and she leaned up on tiptoe to offer him her mouth. His hand tangled possessively in her hair and he pulled her to him, devouring her lips in a breathless kiss. Then he pulled her away, his hand still solidly fisted in her hair. His eyes glittered with desire and she shivered at the raw power that emanated from him.

With his free hand, he traced a line along her cheekbone and then softly over her lips. “So very beautiful. So very perfect. And you belong to us.”

“Always,” Cole growled softly from behind her. “Never doubt it, Ren.”

Tears pricked her eyelids and her vision became swimmy. One escaped, trickling down her cheek, landing into Lucas’s hand. He looked instantly alarmed. His gaze softened and he released her hair to cup her face with both hands.

“Ren, love, what’s wrong?”

Cole was at her side, shoving in instantly. His eyes narrowed and he glanced accusingly in Lucas’s direction. She looked at both of them, took in these strong, dominant men. Men who loved her, adored her, cherished her every single minute of every single day.

“Ren?” Cole prompted. “What’s wrong, darling?”

She smiled again, so wide that her lips felt as though they would split at the corners. “Nothing. Nothing at all. In fact everything is so …right. So very right.”

She pushed in close and wrapped an arm around both their waists. She rested her cheek against Lucas’s chest but held on tightly to Cole. Cole slid his arm around her until she was held by both men. Loved. So very loved.

“I love you both so much,” she whispered.

Cole kissed her temple and Lucas brushed his mouth over the top of her head. “We love you too, Ren,” Cole said.

The men pulled away from her and then Lucas took her hand. “Come with us. There’s something we have for you.”

Cocking her head to the side, she followed obediently, but inside she was like a kid at Christmas. They were forever showering her with little surprises and she enjoyed being spoiled as much as they enjoyed spoiling her.

Lucas stopped to pick up several bags that she hadn’t seen them bring inside the door. Cole led her toward the bedroom and Lucas followed closely behind.

Lucas set the bags onto the bed. “Put on everything we’ve bought. Dress, stockings, shoes. There is jewelry. And combs for your hair. I’d like you to put it up tonight.”

She opened her mouth to ask what they were doing, but Cole slid his lips over hers, smiling against her mouth. “Just get dressed, darling. Lucas and I will be waiting.”

It took an hour for Ren to dress, do makeup and arrange her hair. The dress was stunning. White, floor-length. It hugged her figure perfectly. The bodice was tight and just at the hips, silk flowed to her ankles, swirling delicately about her legs. There was a long slit up one side that bared a sexy glimpse of her stockings and the shoes were killer. Cinderella shoes. Clear but crusted in diamonds.

Leave it to her men to buy shoes that cost more than a house.

Ah well, she’d reward them later by giving them a show in just those shoes and those decadent stockings that she’d loved pulling up her legs.

She gasped softly when she opened the velvet box containing the jewelry. Gorgeous dangly diamond earrings and an equally stunning necklace. There was also a diamond-crusted bracelet that was dazzling when it caught the light.

She looked and felt like a million dollars. She looked and felt …cherished. Pampered. Spoiled beyond measure by the two men she adored.

At the door leading out of the bedroom, she paused, suddenly nervous to face them. She knew she looked stunning but it wasn’t herself she wanted to see in the mirror. She wanted to see herself in their eyes. Wanted to see the instant flash of approval and desire. The pride and the fierce possessive glint they always wore when they looked her way.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped into the living room of the suite. Both men turned and looked her way. They had changed and both wore expensive slacks and formal white shirts. They’d showered and Lucas’s hair was still damp. They both looked so damn sexy, she wanted to strip them both naked and ride them, wearing nothing but those to-die-for shoes they’d bought her.

“Come further into the light,” Lucas said in a low voice.

She stepped forward, her heels clicking on the Italian marble floor. Then she stopped and slowly turned for their inspection.

When she finished her rotation, Cole’s gaze was fixed on her. “Ren, darling, you look absolutely magnificent.”

Lucas said nothing and held out his hand. Only when he’d pulled her close did he speak. “Words fail me. There aren’t words to adequately describe how beautiful you are tonight.”

Not that Cole and Lucas weren’t always complimentary, but tonight there was something decidedly different about their regard. She looked inquisitively at them, but they were giving nothing away.

Lucas leaned forward to kiss her forehead, likely so he wouldn’t muss her lipstick, not that he normally cared about such things.

“Let’s go,” he murmured.

She cocked her head. “Where?”

Cole arched an eyebrow. “You’ll find out in good time.”

At one time Lucas had maintained a residence in Las Vegas, but after he, Cole and Ren had forged ahead in a committed relationship, he’d sold his apartment because he didn’t feel it reflected his commitment to Ren.

They spent much of their time in Houston. Both men had been willing to sell their homes and for them to choose a new one together, but Ren hadn’t wanted that. In the end, they’d decided to keep Lucas’s home and Cole sold his.

Now when they came to Vegas, they stayed in one of the sprawling, posh suites at one of the hotels on the strip. Ren loved the nightclubs and the excitement of Vegas. She liked being in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and the nightlife.

Cole wasn’t as sold on it as she and Lucas were and it had been an adjustment on his part, but he went where Ren went. Every time. No complaint and Ren had even gotten him on the dance floor with no small amount of coaxing.

Blackjack and poker were her two games of choice when it came to gambling and Cole and Lucas bankrolled her willingly. She had to admit to a decadent thrill to have two gorgeous men hover at her sides, watching over her while she played. She drew looks of envy from women and undisguised interest from males.

They spoiled her shamelessly, getting her drinks, making sure she was comfortable, her every whim satisfied. But the nights when they were back in their suite, alone, sheltered from the world, were her favorites. Those were the times they demanded her obedience, showered her with love and gave her all she needed and more.

In the elevator, rushing down to the casino level floor, she nestled closer to Cole’s side, enjoying his scent and the natural warmth that radiated from his body. He curled his arm around her waist just as the door opened and she exited, flanked by both men.

They walked through the busy crowds, past blackjack, roulette, baccarat, pai gow and craps tables. One arm was linked through Lucas’s while she held Cole’s hand on her other side. Cole scowled when one man who’d obviously had too much to drink teetered too close into Ren’s path.

Once they reached the exit, they ushered her to a waiting limousine where the driver stood holding the back door open for them to duck in.

Ren settled back, content to await whatever the night held for her.

A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of Lucas’s nightclub that was just a block off the strip. The car pulled to the very front and Ren frowned to see the parking lot completely empty save for a few other limousines.

The door opened and Cole got out and reached back to help Ren. Lucas climbed out behind them and then tucked Ren’s hand into his.

She glanced sharply up at Lucas because she could swear the man was nervous. His grip was too tight and his whole body language was tense like he was uneasy.

She glanced over at Cole, trying to get some clue as to what was up, but he looked similarly unsettled.

And then the doors to his club swung open. Two men, dressed formally in dark suits, held the doors open as Cole and Lucas started forward again, bearing her with them.

When she stepped inside, she gasped. It was Lucas’s club, but then it wasn’t. It had been completely and utterly transformed into something she couldn’t quite describe. Magical. Fairy tale. Something straight out of a book. And then she realized it was out of a book. Her book.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God!”

She took another step. And another. Shaking off their hands, moving further into the wonder before her.

It was her garden. The magical place she’d created within the pages of her story. The place her characters—and she—had retreated to. A place of comfort and refuge.

It was her drawing come to life.

There was an honest to goodness koi pond to the right with a fountain spilling water over its sides. Flowers. Flowering vines. Stone benches. A beautiful flowering archway.

“How?” she whispered. She turned round and round, staring up at the ceiling where it gave the appearance of a beautiful sky just after sunrise. “How on earth did you do this?”

Cole and Lucas stood smiling, their eyes bright with excitement as they watched her. It was only then she realized they weren’t alone. She turned again, suddenly taking in that there were many people here. People she knew.

Damon and Serena, their baby daughter nestled on Serena’s hip. Micah and Angelina, their daughter held securely in Micah’s arms. Other friends she’d gone on to make in the year she’d been with Cole. Connor and his wife, Lyric Jones, the famous pop star. Nathan Tucker and his wife, Julie. Gray Montgomery and his wife, Faith. And Pop. Surrogate dad to them all.

The management team from Lucas’s Houston club. His employees here at the Vegas club. Two people from his Dallas club.

And they were all looking at her, smiling, excited.

She sensed this moment was huge, but she couldn’t make her mind work beyond the shock of the setting and the crowd of people assembled. She turned again in bewilderment, seeking out Cole and Lucas who were now mere feet away, their expressions serious.

They both reached for her hands, simply holding out theirs. She didn’t hesitate, sliding her fingers over their palms.

Lucas cleared his throat, and again he looked nervous. It was odd to see him appear anything but self-assured and in complete control. Cole looked little better.

“Ren, we—Cole and I—brought you here tonight because it was important to us to have a symbolic ceremony that binds us together. We brought our friends here, not only to witness our binding but to celebrate our union and our love for you.”

Cole squeezed her hand and took over as Lucas went silent. “We love you. We want you to marry us and of course the only way to legally do so would be for you to marry one of us. We don’t want that. We want you to marry us both. We don’t give a damn about society, legalities or what anyone thinks. We want a wedding. We want one hell of a reception to celebrate our marriage and we don’t give a damn if we don’t have a piece of paper that declares it all legal and binding. All we care about is that you pledge yourself to us and that we pledge our lives to you. That we’ll promise to love, cherish and take care of you for the rest of our lives. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or knows or accepts. It only matters to us that we know and that you know how much we love you and are committed to you.”

Her heart pounded furiously. She battled tears, biting her lip to keep from ruining the moment by bawling like a baby. Her nose burned. Her eyes burned.

Then before she could respond, they both slowly went to one knee, each holding one of her hands. Cole reached into his pocket and pulled out a glittering diamond ring. Lucas took out a platinum band with three intertwined ropes.

“Marry us, Ren darling,” Cole whispered.

Lucas found her gaze and stared intently into her eyes. “Marry us tonight. Right here in front of the people we care most about. Let’s throw one hell of a party to celebrate your marriage to two men who love you more than it’s humanly possibly to love anyone else.”

No longer able to control herself she rushed forward, nearly tripping as she threw her arms around them both. They caught her against them, ensuring she didn’t fall.

“Yes,” she whispered fiercely. “Yes!”

They held on to her as tightly as she held on to them. She buried her face in Lucas’s neck, trying to compose herself but she shook uncontrollably.

When she was finally able to pull away, she still shook. Shook so badly she couldn’t get to her feet without their help. They slowly rose, holding tightly to her and they held her between them. Safe. Protective. Always a shield. Constant.

She wiped her face, not caring if it messed up her mascara or smudged her eye shadow. To Lucas and Cole she was perfect. The rest of the world? Didn’t matter.

An older man pushed forward to stand just underneath the floral arch. He smiled at Lucas and motioned them forward.

“This is Father Hillman,” Lucas said in a low voice. “He’s a good and loyal friend of many years. When I explained our situation, he was more than happy to perform the ceremony so that we are joined in God’s eyes as well as ours. All we lack is paper, Ren. Just paper.”

She turned, love shining in her eyes. “We lack nothing, Lucas. We never will.”

She stepped to the priest, her hands tightly in the grips of Lucas and Cole. She glanced between them, love overwhelming her, welling from so deep that she couldn’t contain it. She didn’t want to. Now more than ever she wanted them to be able to see, never to doubt, how very much she loved them. How much she trusted them and that she embraced their lives together with no reservations.

She pulled their hands until she held them both in front of her, clasped tightly to her heart. Then she smiled and nodded at the priest.

“Dearly beloved …”