Page 228 of Mountain Men Heroes

I shrugged and fought to keep my tone light. “We stayed for a couple of beers before heading home. You make out all right with the skip?” I asked, referring to the guy we’d been hunting last night.

He nodded. “Easy pick up. We had him back in custody in half an hour and headed home.”

“Good.”

Sawyer nodded and opened his mouth and then shut it again. I could only imagine what he wanted to say. He and Mac had been as subtle as sledgehammers in their desire to get Eeli and me talking about what was going on with us since we got back.

But this time he refrained from digging. “I’ll leave you to do your paperwork.”

“Thanks,” I said, my tone dripping with the sarcasm I knew he’d expect. Though at the moment I never felt so grateful to have a pile of paperwork.

Sawyer gave me a chin lift. “Later.”

“Later.”

He slipped out my door and my breath left me in a rush. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Not wanting to talk to one of my best friends about what happened to Eeli and me was bad enough. Hiding my feelings for Clara was a whole other ballgame.

As guilt clawed through my insides, I looked up to find Eeli’s eyes on me again. His expression reflected my own conflicted feelings. How were we going to live with this guilt on top of everything else?

Then another thought hit me like a punch to the gut. How could we live without Clara? Without our soulmate?

Clara

Exhaustion weighed me down. The late night coupled with the early morning meant I started my day off tired. Spending it dodging my family, caring for my shelter animals and capping it with a long chase through the forest searching for an injured fawn left me dead on my feet.

But as my day wound down, all I could think about was getting back to my guys. They’d never been far from my thoughts throughout my busy day. I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to either one of them, but we did text and make plans to meet up at their place that evening.

A sick feeling hit my belly as I contemplated the last text I’d gotten from Dyson.

We need to talk.

My guys were not known for their chattiness so their desire for conversation would have left me worried no matter what. But after leaving their bed this morning with hopeful thoughts about the three of us returning to it tonight, and the activities I hoped would take place there, I wasn’t thrilled to hear talking was their main agenda.

Were they regretting what happened this morning?

I trudged up the steps to their cabin, and before I even got to the door it was flung open. Eeli stood on the other side, and at the sight of him looking all dark and dangerous and completely edible in his jeans and long-sleeved navy-blue T-shirt, I found a small pocket of energy I’d apparently been saving.

I all but dove across the space dividing us and threw myself into his arms. He took my weight without a problem and didn’t hesitate to close his arms around me.

“Everything okay, baby?” he asked quietly as he ran his nose along my temple, inhaling me.

I returned the favor, turning my face into his neck and pulling his scent into me. “It is now.”

Eeli maneuvered the door closed without losing his hold on me. He backed us into the living room, and I looked over his shoulder to see Dyson on the couch, his legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed.

My heart picked up speed at the sight of him. It seemed like it’s been longer than just hours since we were together. Every primal instinct I possessed rushed to the forefront, pushing me to make contact with both my men. With one last squeeze around Eeli’s waist, I released him and launched myself at Dyson.

He had just enough time to bring his legs up and catch me as I landed on him, straddling him and bringing my mouth down to meet his. He kissed me back with a hunger that matched my own as Eeli dropped onto the couch beside us and stroked a hand down my back.

In that instant, relief washed through me so fast and furious, it knocked the wind out of me. I broke the kiss, panting. I skipped my gaze back and forth between Dyson and Eeli. Closing my eyes and pulling in a deep breath, I allowed myself a moment to capture the emotions of my guys as easily as if they stated them out loud.

And my guys were as happy and relieved to have me with them as I was to be here. Thank God.

I opened my eyes and grinned at them. “Miss me?” I teased with a whispery sigh.

Eeli, hard-eyed, chiseled-jawed Eeli, who under the best of circumstances wasn’t one to let his emotions show on his face, grinned right back at me.

Damn. Being the one to elicit that expression brought an indescribable sense of happiness to me.

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