Page 221 of Mountain Men Heroes

When I got her to our bedroom, I laid her on the bed, and without saying a word Dyson and I fell into sync. We peeled down her jeans and settled her back against the pillows. In minutes we had her positioned in the middle of our big bed wearing just her T-shirt and panties, the navy blue comforter tucked around her.

“Fuck me,” Dyson repeated.

My eyes darted to him for just a second before they returned to the vision in our bed. Nothing had ever looked as beautiful as Clara lying against the white pillows, her dark hair streaming across them. The only thing that would make it better would be us crawling in next to her.

Dyson must have had the same thought, as we both started stripping. In seconds we stood on either side of the bed, both of us down to our boxer.

I hesitated a second as I lifted the covers. My lips tightened as I noticed Dyson pausing, too. It didn’t feel quite right sliding in beside Clara when she was sound asleep and had no say in the matter.

His eyes met mine over the form of our sleeping beauty.

“You and I can’t sleep apart.” I gave him the reminder I knew he didn’t need. We’d tried it when we first moved home, sleeping in separate rooms. We quickly realized that didn’t work, as one or both of us would be plagued with nightmares, visions so vivid they followed us into our waking moments. We’d found the only way to keep the nightmares at bay was to share a room.

“And I’m sure as fuck not going to leave her out on the couch or in another room while the two of us sleep in here.” Dyson’s words left him with a growl. And as if that cleared it all up, his hesitation left him. He lifted the covers and slid right in beside Clara.

She gave out a small sound that made me ache to hold her. Without another thought, I mimicked Dyson’s actions and in seconds found myself under the covers.

Dyson pulled her into his arms so her head pillowed on his shoulder and her front pressed firmly into his side. I moved in closer so that I spooned her from behind, my arm circling her waist to pull her in tight against me.

Heaven. For a long time, I’d stopped believing there was such a place. I could believe in hell, though. I’d walked through it more than once the last few years.

But having Clara in my arms and the comfort of my brother on her other side, I could feel myself believing again. The doubts about how the three of us could make this work fled as her body melted into mine.

My nerves settled and for the first time in so long, I let a feeling of contentment take over from having her safely tucked into us. I’ll leave worrying about how to handle all of this for the morning. Nothing has ever felt this right and I don’t want to ruin it.

Thoughts about heaven and redemption and love and light tumbled with me into a deep sleep.

Nine

Clara

Iwoke up slowly, delicious heat seeping into my front and back. My eyes opened to the sight of a hard chest directly in front of me. I blinked, trying to clear the cobwebs of sleep. Awareness trickled in. I was definitely not home alone in my bed.

I tipped my chin up. A different kind of warmth filled me at the sight of Dyson’s face. Asleep, I couldn’t say he looked completely relaxed. His eyebrows were drawn together slightly as if he was concentrating on something even in his sleep. But there was a little vulnerability in the softening of his jaw that wasn’t there in his waking moments.

I moved to free a hand from where it rested trapped between our bodies. A set of arms tightened around my waist. A peek over my shoulder showed me a still asleep Eeli. His rugged face for once free of its hard edges and sharp lines.

The two men had me cradled between them, their arms holding me close. I snuggled more deeply into them, pushing my hips back toward Eeli while skimming my hands up over Dyson’s chest.

If this was a dream, I hoped I stayed locked inside it for the rest of my life. For years I felt like I couldn’t show the people around me every part of me. My brothers’ protectiveness meant telling them everything about me could mean the end to some things that were important to me, the things that made me…well, me. Not because they would physically stop me, but their constant nagging, questions, and overbearing protectiveness would drain the life out of me, stealing the joy of certain things in my life—like my music—from me.

Lying in the cradle of Dyson and Eeli’s bodies, I felt more protected than I’d ever been. But it didn’t come with the sense that part of me was being smothered. Quite the opposite.

Last night I felt like they’d seen me. All of me. And accepted all the parts of me. And now, with that acceptance, along with the deep-down instinctive knowledge that these two men belonged to me, I felt like I’d come home.

Nothing had ever felt as good as being right there, right that moment. There was nowhere else on earth I’d rather be.

Eeli stirred behind me, burying his face in my hair. I snuggled back into him and he froze for an instant. Then his hands moved from where they were linked around my waist to my hips. He pulled me back into him, my backside fitting firmly into the cradle of his hips.

“Mmm, morning, baby.” His voice was pure gravel, sending shivers through me.

I turned to look at him over my shoulder.

“Morning,” I whispered and sent him a soft smile. “Sorry I fell asleep on you guys last night.”

Then I moaned as I recalled exactly where I was when I dozed off last night. I’d literally fallen asleep on him.

He rubbed his whisker-rough chin against my neck. “Anytime.”