Page 216 of Mountain Men Heroes

I leaned into him, Eeli’s body following mine, curving into my back.

“I love music. I love playing with the guys.” I gestured to the stooges still standing there staring at us as if we were the newest episode of their favorite show. I bit back the urge to offer them popcorn. My hard stare must have been enough of a hint. Before I turned back to the men holding me between them, my bandmates went back to sorting out the equipment. “They’ve always kept an eye on me. I was never in any danger.”

“Then why keep it from everyone? I’m assuming your brothers have no clue you’ve been doing this?” Dyson asked.

I raised my hands and rested them against his chest. My reasons were important to me, and I needed him to understand them.

“Because it was necessary to me,” I said softly. I glanced over my shoulder at Eeli to include him in the conversation. “I was afraid if you guys all found out, you’d make me stop.”

Eeli’s hands came to rest on my hips, so large his fingers rested on my stomach while his thumbs brushed a caress across my lower back. He didn’t speak, but his gesture made me feel supported in a way I’d never felt before.

Dyson bent forward so his forehead rested against mine. “I’d like to tell you we would have understood. But you know us better than that. There’s no way we’d have been happy to let you traipse off hundreds of miles to hang out in seedy bars.”

I smiled. “In retrospect, I can understand why it wasn’t a good idea back then. And since then…” I shrugged. “I didn’t want anyone to try to take it away from me.”

It was as simple and as complicated as that.

“Hey, Clara. I hate to interrupt you guys.” Will’s amused tone said something different than his words. “But we’re all packed up. Ready to head over to the hotel with us?”

The second the word hotel fell from his lips, Eeli let out a low, fierce growl and took a step closer, pushing me directly into Dyson’s arms while he flattened himself against my back.

“You’re not staying at a hotel with these guys,” Dyson bit out.

I twisted my head to look at Will and narrowed my eyes at him. The look on his face told me he was enjoying this way too much.

My attention was quickly pulled back to my guys. I was enveloped in them. Their scents—clean, masculine—filled my head. Their big, hard bodies, pressed against me so intimately, engaged every single one of my senses.

“Will’s my ride,” I somehow managed to get out.

“You’re coming home with us.” Eeli’s voice was pure gravel and his tone left no room for argument. Neither did the hard, thick shafts I felt pressed against my body.

Seven

Dyson

The car ride home was silent. And for the first time in my life, I wished I was better at communicating. I hadn’t been able to respond to Eeli’s announcement back at the bar right before we spotted Clara. Both of us thought we had a claim to the woman currently sitting in the back seat.

The odd thing was when Eeli countered my claim on Clara with one of his own, I hadn’t felt any of the things I’d expect to feel under the circumstances.

But the possessive jealousy I would have expected never came. If anything, when Eeli stated how he felt about Clara, an odd feeling of…rightness settled over me.

If I took the time to think about it, I’m sure I would have chalked it up to being completely fucked up. Whatever drove my need to be close to Eeli at all times must be fucking with my instincts, too.

But I couldn’t make that argument. Not after the way I reacted to that Will guy in the back of the bar. I wanted to rip his head off when he put his hands on Clara. Even while my more rational side recognized and appreciated that Will was trying to protect her, a primal need to stake my claim on her took over.

“Where are we?” Clara’s voice came from behind me, pulling me from my thoughts.

I glanced in the rearview mirror. She’d been dozing in the backseat long before we hit Hardwood city limits, but now she’d popped up to peer into the darkness surrounding us.

Eeli twisted around toward her. “Home.”

Another glance in the mirror showed me she squinted out the window as I pulled the SUV up in front of the cabin Eeli and I had been living in since we got back.

“Are we dropping one of you off?” Confusion clouded her tone.

Eeli and I exchanged a quick look before we hopped out of the car, almost in unison. I grabbed the handle of the back door and before she could protest or say a word, I had my hands on Clara’s hips and had her body sliding down mine before setting her on the ground.

Eeli came around the vehicle and grabbed Clara’s hand. He pulled her to the porch, up the steps, and to the door. I came up behind them as Eeli swung the door open.

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