Theirs to Keep

C H A P T E R S I X T E E N

ELLE STARED AT THE TWO men whose gazes rested so fiercely on her, and she felt light-headed over what she was about to do.

“C-can I ask you something?” she asked, the words tumbling awkwardly from her lips.

Cade reached out and palmed the side of her face, rubbing lightly in a sweet caress.

“You can ask us anything,” he said, his tone utterly serious. “There’s nothing you can’t say to us, Elle.”

Merrick reached for her hand, tugging her forward.

“Let’s go into the living room so you’ll be more comfortable.”

She followed Merrick, her hand still held tightly in his while Cade followed behind her, his hand to her back.

Merrick sat on the couch and pulled her down so that she’d be positioned between him and Cade. But she couldn’t sit this way, having to look back and forth. She didn’t want to miss a single reaction. Facial expression. This was too important. She was putting far too much on the line.

She was terrified.

She pushed herself up from the couch, despite protests from the men. For a long moment, she stood with her back turned to them as she gathered her courage and wrapped herself in its protective embrace.

Then she slowly turned back around to face her…future? It was scary and exhilarating all at the same time. She was taking a proactive step to regaining her life. Taking it back. Living it instead of enduring it.

“I have to know if the two of you feel, or rather reciprocate, any of what I feel for you,” she said in a rush. “I know it sounds absurd. Ridiculous. I’m absolutely crazy, right?”

Before she could say anything further or continue to babble her fool head off, Cade came off the couch. He moved so quickly and was standing in front of her before she could blink.

He grasped her chin with his fingers, his mouth hovering over hers.

“You’re not crazy,” he growled.

And then he kissed her, his mouth devouring hers in a forceful, possessive manner that left her breathless.

His tongue brushed over hers, testing and tasting. He explored her lips, licking over every inch and then inward to dance over her tongue playfully and then more strongly.

Everything about the way he kissed her screamed…mine. Like he was putting his stamp on her and wanted her to know she belonged to him.

When he finally pulled away, she was dazed and off kilter. She stumbled back, but he caught her arm and righted her as she stared fuzzily at him and then at Merrick.

Before she knew it, he’d sat back on the couch and pulled her down onto his lap so she was facing Merrick but she was nestled firmly against Cade’s chest.

Merrick’s brown eyes were serious and focused as he stared back at her. Everything about Cade’s posture signaled that he was every bit as serious.

“Elle, we’ve actually wanted to talk to you about this very subject. We just haven’t known how to bring it up. The truth is…”

Merrick sucked in a deep breath, and it was then she realized that he was just as nervous as she was. Just as unsure. It baffled her, but there it was. This big, fierce man was worried over how she’d react to whatever it was they wanted to say to her.

Automatically her hand flew to his. She wanted to offer him comfort and reassurance. She curled her fingers around his and kept them laced tightly together.

“The truth is, we both care a great deal about you. You’ve become very important to us. You have been since the day we found you in the gun shop.”

Her eyes widened, and her heart started beating faster. Could it be true that they were feeling everything she was? That they both returned her…attraction?

She was afraid to hope, but what else could he be saying? They weren’t cruel men. They weren’t the type to pull off some sick, twisted joke.

Cade’s hand stroked down her back as he broke in.

“What Merrick is trying to say is that we want you to stay with us. Not just in the capacity as a guest or someone we’re helping. We want to go beyond that. And the thing is, we both want a relationship with you. We want to see where this leads and where it takes us. Which means that the three of us would be involved. Together. You’d be with the both of us.”

Merrick cleared his throat and plowed forward, picking up where Cade left off, almost as if they were both afraid that if they didn’t state their case immediately and get it all out, she’d freak out and run screaming from the house.

If they only knew how often she’d dreamed of them saying these exact words.

“Obviously you’d be making a commitment to more than one man,” Merrick said in a hesitant tone. “But we’d both be making one commitment. To you. And even though you would in essence be with two men, we’d absolutely be faithful to you. You would be the only woman for the both of us, and we would be the only men in your life. Are we making sense?”

There was so much worry in his voice that her heart melted. She pulled up his hand that was still tightly entwined with hers, and she kissed the rough palm. Then she turned to Cade and met his lips softly with hers.

“I understand perfectly.”

“And what do you think of the idea?” Cade asked.

“I think it’s something I want more than I can possibly describe,” she whispered.

There was such relief in both their eyes that it weighed down on her, crushing in its intensity. Cade wrapped his arms around her, holding her so tightly against him, his lips pressed to her temple, that she could scarcely breathe.

He vibrated against her, so much nervous tension leaving him in waves that she shook with it.

She waited until he loosened his hold before drawing away so she could capture them both in her view. What she had to say next made her just as nervous, perhaps more so simply because she ventured into the unknown. Into the black hole of her past, a giant, yawning abyss that frightened her just thinking about it.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Merrick asked gently. “What are you thinking?”

She inhaled sharply through her nose. “I don’t know what I can give you…physically. You both know what happened to me. I know what happened to me. And yet I can’t remember it. I’d like to say that since I can’t remember it, it can’t hurt me, but I’m nervous and a little scared. Not of you,” she rushed to say. “Never of you. But my mind is already obviously protecting me. Who’s to say what else might happen if those barriers are breached?”

Cade pressed another kiss to her temple and then carefully smoothed her hair behind her ear with coaxing gestures.

“We aren’t in a hurry, honey. We’ve got all the time in the world. What do you say we take it one day at a time. See what each day brings and face it together.”

She relaxed, breathing in a huge sigh of bone-melting relief. “I say that’s a wonderful idea.”

Merrick leaned forward to touch his lips to hers. “Cade’s right, baby. We’ve got nothing but time. We’ll get there. But for now, all we want is you with us. No guilt for taking anything we give you. No hang-ups over letting us take care of you. We’re working as a unit. Together. Just the three of us.”

She smiled and nodded her acceptance. “You’ll let me continue helping out in the office and come to the workouts?”

“Hell yeah,” Cade was quick to say. “I like having you there with us. I sure as hell don’t want you going to work for someone else.”

At the very mention, Merrick scowled, his face going dark. “Of course I want you with me. You’re part of this. Part of us, Elle. I like having you there when I finish. I like seeing you sitting there outside the ring. But I want you there as mine. Not pretending to be with Dallas. I want you to be mine. Which means, hell no, as Cade said, we don’t want you working anywhere else. Call us selfish, but we want you with us, with one of us, at all times.”

She laughed, her heart soaring. “I have no intention of working for anyone else. How could I anyway? I have no driver’s license. No birth certificate. No Social Security number. I officially don’t exist.”

Cade sobered. “Eventually we’re going to have to conduct a thorough investigation into your past, honey. You need to know that. Sooner or later, we’re going to have to find out who you are.”

She went silent but nodded slowly. “I know,” she finally said. “Maybe one day I’ll be ready. For now, I just want to be…happy…and not worry about what lies in my past or what scary thing lurks around the corner.”

“I think we can arrange that,” Merrick said, his lips easing into a smile. “Now what about that yummy dinner you promised us?”

She laughed. “Is that all you ever think about? Food?”

He pretended to give it careful consideration. Then he grinned. “Yeah, pretty much. Sex and food. That’s it for most guys, baby.”

Her heart lightened. Cade relaxed against her. The awkwardness was over, and perhaps now the hard part began. Making it work. Pushing it from the realm of fantasy and fiction into real life.

Could they make such a relationship work in reality?

There was only one way to find out.