Page 60 of Ours to Keep

I want to say I feel self-conscious, but the way they’re all staring at me makes me feel more emboldened than I ever have before.

“What?” I ask innocently.

“Just that you have no idea what you do to us, do you, love?” River says and doesn’t bother hiding as he adjusts his obvious erection.

“I think I have an idea,” I reply, my body hot all over, andit has nothing to do with the lit fire but from the heat of the attention I’mreceiving in abundance.

“Eat up, Sweetheart,” Elliot says, his voice rougher than usual.

River nods with a smirk. “Yes, Lily, eat up. The sooner you finish, the sooner we can have seconds,” he says, as his gaze roams over my body. “It’s been way too long since I’ve had a taste.” The promise in his voice brooks no argument. Not that I have one, because yes—hell yes, I want that too—in fact, I need it.

I squeeze my thighs together and blush under their scrutiny. “Let her enjoy her dessert,” Jackson chastises, even though his voice is gruffer than usual.

Tommy grabs the remote and turns on the TV, flicking through until he finds a film and lowers the volume slightly.

After we’ve all finished, Tommy starts collecting all the glasses, and I get up to help, but he holds up his palm. “No, sunshine, relax, I’ve got this.”

“I need to go over some things with Tommy,” Jackson says, leaning over to kiss the corner of my mouth before getting up to help Tommy.

Elliot moves to take Jackson’s now-vacated seat.

“Hey,” I say, feeling shy all of a sudden.

“Hi, Sweetheart,” he replies, tugging me into his side. A hand on my thigh has me glancing at River, who smiles, his arm going over the back of the sofa, his fingers caressing the back of my neck. It’s so gentle I close my eyes and let out a soft sigh before focusing on the black and white film playing. It’s not long before my eyes become heavy, and a yawn I can’t stifle leaves my lips.

“Come on, sleepyhead, off to bed with you,” Elliot whispers, and I blink awake, my heart racing. My cheek is resting on his chest, my legs in River’s lap. I’m surprised how quickly I succumbed to the pull of sleep. I realise that it’s having all these men around me.

“I don’t want to move,” I admit.

So when I’m carefully shuffled, then lifted into a solid chest, I close my eyes, savouring the familiar scent of River as he carries me up to bed. I’m far too content to argue.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

ELLIOT

I watch as River carries Lily out of the living room and up the stairs, a deep longing filling my chest.

“Go on, go be with them,” Jackson says. “I still have stuff to go over with Tommy.” They’d both been sitting at the dining table as River and I cuddled up to Lily on the sofa.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I reply, not even bothering to deny my need to be wherever they are.

I grab a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and head up to Lily’s room where River is pulling off his t-shirt with Lily nowhere in sight.

“Bathroom,” he says without me even needing to ask.

She reappears wearing a long, oversized t-shirt that stops at her knees. How she makes such a simple article of clothing look so alluring is beyond me.

River pulls back the cover and nods for her to get in. She doesn’t hesitate to crawl into the middle. She watches River unzip his jeans and kick them off, leaving him in just his boxer briefs, his arousal impossible to ignore right before he climbs in beside her.

“You getting in or what?” he asks. I’m still standing thereclutching the bottles of water to my chest like they’re the holy grail.

I place them on the bedside table, strip down to my own boxers, and sit on the edge of the bed to remove my prosthetic. Even with the niggle of self-consciousness trying to make itself known, I push it away and take off the sock and liner, followed by my other sock.

Switching off the lamp, I lie down, pulling the rest of the cover over me. River is already spooning Lily, and both of them are facing me.

Reaching out, I stroke my knuckle over her cheek, her eyes drifting closed. I watch her as her breathing evens out. River is a protective presence at her back, his eyes on me, his lips tilting into a soft smile.

“I don’t know about you, but I could get used to this,” he says, reaching over to stroke my thigh before pulling my residual limb over Lily’s thigh, causing me to tense.

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