Page 41 of Master Vidar & Vali

I missed his warmth but a hot bath did sound absolutely perfect. Almost as perfect as the sight of his ass as he strode off to what I assumed was the bathroom.

Colin rolled me over so that we were face to face as I heard water start to run in the other room. “How are you feeling?”

I snuggled against Colin and wished I could climb inside of him and reside there safe and warm forever. Thoughts of the outside world were starting to creep in along the edges of my mind, and I wanted to put that off as long as I could.

“Amazing. Which is weird since my ass throbs inside and out. I’m sticky from sweat and other things, but I also feel a sense of peace I didn’t know existed.”

He stroked my hair, staring into my eyes. “No regrets? No second thoughts or doubts about being with two men?”

I held his gaze. “No. Even more than before, I know the two of you are my forever. I have no clue how it’s going to work, but I believe we’ll find a way.”

It was hard to explain even to myself but it was true. Jobs, apartments, and even the Albanian crazy man out to get me seemed unimportant next to spending the rest of my life with these two men. I’d never had something I really wanted before, and I would do what I had to in order to keep it.

“I’m glad.” He wrapped a protective arm around me and I let out a sigh, content to just let him hold me. Who had I become in only a week? I knew the need to do something for myself would return, but for now, it was nice to hand over everything to these men and let them carry the impossible load I’d lived with most of my life.

“If you’d asked me a month ago if I’d be okay handing over everything to two men I’d just met, I would have laughed in your face. But with you it just feels right. Why is that?”

“I don’t know why you trust us, Zara, but both Lincoln and I are happy you do. I promise you won’t regret giving us your submission. It’s an honor we won’t take for granted.”

Giving them my submission. I liked how that sounded. Like it wasn’t a weakness or something taken away from me. I’d always thought it was a way for a man to shackle a perfectly capable woman. But that wasn’t how it felt. They were giving me as much if not more than what I gave them. That was where trust came in. Sure there were unhealthy relationships, but that wasn’t what we had.

“Ready!” Linc’s deep voice called from the other room.

I tried to sit up but my muscles were so tired I couldn’t do more than roll over and groan. Colin laughed and scooped me up, carrying me to the tub where he lovingly deposited me into a gigantic bath that could probably fit six people. The water was that perfect level of warmth that soaked into your muscles and relaxed you almost instantaneously.

My men sat at either end of the tub watching me with love and amusement in their eyes. Once I finally felt revived enough to move, I took turns moving between them for cuddles and kisses until I lay still between Colin’s legs, hugging him with my head on his shoulder. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I felt was chilly air against my skin then the warmth of a fluffy towel as he dried me off.

Eventually we would have to figure out what came next. But, for that perfect moment, I was happy just to let them take care of me.

Chapter Seventeen

Lincoln

Istared at my screen, struggling to focus on the multiple facial-recognition programs I had running. Work was supposed to be easy but thoughts of Zara kept shattering my concentration. After taking the day off to focus on her, we’d spent the night together in complete hedonistic enjoyment. Then she surprised us with breakfast in bed. Unfortunately, her joy and excitement in cooking far exceeded her ability. Neither Colin nor I had cared that the eggs were overdone or that the toast was soggy. Our girl loved cooking shows, but apparently that interest didn’t translate to talent.

The fact that Colin had spent the night with us without incident and the many times we’d woken up to make love had made everything perfect. Neither of us had wanted to burst the bubble of contentment, so we’d gotten a very late start to the day. That meant that it was almost lunchtime before we’d arrived in the office.

I felt a grin tug at my lips at the memory of how fun it had been to relax together. I hadn’t placed anything before workin years and it had felt good. Regrettably, that meant I was swamped, and all I wanted to do was focus on Zara’s case. We had so little information that it was frustrating.

As if hearing my thoughts, Colin glided into the room. Gabe had ripped him a new one for missing morning training with our new recruits, so he’d been stuck running them through drills for the last few hours. I knew training people to replace us was key to being able to step back, but patience was not my strong suit. Every minute not spent on Zara’s case felt like it was wasted. Not that there was much we could do on that front. It was as if the Albanians who we knew were looking for her had vanished into thin air.

They were in the country unless they’d managed to sneak out, and why would they do that if they hadn’t succeeded in their task of finding her? So far we knew they’d trashed her storage area, questioned every person she’d ever worked with, and had planted electronic trackers on her credit cards. We had pictures of them from the airport and from traffic cams outside the storage unit and occasionally got pings on them only half of which were real. I was sure they were in the Philadelphia area but that was it. I stared at the bank of screens as if by magic they’d finally tell me something.

“Anything?” Colin asked.

“Not a goddamn thing.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose in frustration. “I’m honestly lost as to what to do next.”

“Well, we may have some help. I received an odd call from Jared.”

Why would Jared call Colin and not me? The two of them had never been as close as the rest of us. I pulled out my phone and groaned when I realized I’d had the damn thing on silent and missed several calls and texts from him asking me to reach out.

“He said you weren’t answering so he tried me. I assumed your groan means you just figured that out.”

“Yeah. So what did he say?”

“He says he has a friend who may be able to help us with finding the Albanians. I told him we’d take any help if it meant ending this annoying stalemate.”

“A friend? Did he happen to give a name or was he his usual cryptic self?” Jared really was a good friend but he always found a way to avoid answering any direct questions. Especially when it came to things like what he did when he wasn’t with us or who any of his other “friends” were. When we were in our twenties, it made sense. The guy had a trust fund that could support a small nation if necessary, so work wasn’t important, but eventually he had to settle down didn’t he?

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