Page 42 of The Honor of Being Hers
Samantha’s voice was soft.“You didn’t have to thank me.”
“I know,” Lauren said.“But I wanted to.”
Samantha nodded once.“I’m glad you asked us.I think… I needed to see this.Someone getting to have it.”Her fingers traced patterns in the condensation on her wine glass, leaving temporary marks that caught the firelight before evaporating.“My family called three times today.I turned my phone off.”The admission was quiet, but significant.
Lauren looked at her more fully then, studying the fine edges of her restraint.Not closed off.Just bracing.She wanted to ask, but not tonight.Tonight was for celebration.
“You will find this too,” Lauren said instead.“When you’re ready,” Lauren continued gently.“When you decide your own needs matter as much as everyone else’s emergencies.”She watched Samantha’s fingers still on the glass, the words landing exactly where they needed to.
Samantha didn’t agree, but she didn’t argue either.
When Lauren returned to the bench, Tyler pulled her in without needing to be asked.He tucked her beneath his arm, her head finding the perfect hollow of his shoulder, while William’s hand slid over her shin and rested there, thumb tracing slow circles against the bone.
Ryan caught her gaze from across the fire and smiled in that quiet way he had, no teeth, no performance, just a man watching the person he wanted live a moment he hoped she’d remember.
She didn’t speak again that night.She didn’t need to.
She belonged here.The fire crackled softly, sending sparks up into the darkening sky, and she watched them dance until they disappeared into the vast expanse above.
And for the first time, the world had finally settled around her without asking her to shrink.
EPILOGUE
The sheets were still warm when she slid between them.Not from the heat of the day, but from bodies.Her pack had been waiting, not with expectation, but with stillness, the kind that said they had all night.The windows were cracked open, the curtains shifting with the soft evening breeze, and the scent of crushed sage and burned wood drifted faintly across the room.
Ryan was on the mattress already, stretched across the middle with one arm behind his head, his eyes tracking her every movement with quiet heat.His broad chest was bare, the defined muscles she’d traced so many times now relaxed but ready.Dark hair fell across his forehead, and those sharp green eyes held the familiar intensity that now focused entirely on her pleasure.
Tyler stood near the edge of the bed, shirtless, fingers flexing slightly at his sides like he was holding back from reaching as he watched her with characteristic warmth.William was sitting in the armchair, and even so, his muscular body commanded attention.The subtle scars on his hand were visible as he gripped the arms of the chair, sitting with his legs spread, still fully clothed, but only just.His gaze alone was enough to make her skin tighten.
Lauren let her dress slip to the floor.
She wasn’t coy about it.She didn’t pretend this made her nervous.They knew her now, how arousal pooled low in her belly when they watched her, how she felt bound in place by the gravity of their attention.She crossed the room with bare feet and steady breath, climbed onto the bed without being asked, and knelt beside Ryan’s ribs.
He didn’t move.Just looked up at her, hungry and aroused.
She leaned down slowly, dragging her fingers across the flat of his chest, and kissed him, open and deep, without hesitation.He groaned into her mouth, his hand finding her waist, then her hip, before sliding down to anchor her as she swung one leg over and settled on top of him.
His cock was hard beneath her already.She wasn’t ready for him, not yet, not all of him, but she ground down gently and watched his throat work as he struggled not to thrust up into her.
“I want all of you tonight,” she murmured, her voice low and steady.
“You have us,” Ryan said.“Tell us how.”
She turned to Tyler next.
“Undress me?”
His mouth parted slightly, then he nodded.He stepped closer, careful and slow, eyes never leaving hers as he helped her shift off Ryan, rising to her knees.His hands brushed over her breasts, down her ribs, over her thighs, reverent and firm.He kissed her shoulder before he reached behind to unclasp the thin bra she’d worn.When he slid the fabric down her arms, his mouth followed, over the slope of one breast, then the other, tongue flicking gently until she gasped and tangled a hand in his hair.
William was behind her before she realized he’d moved.His hands slid over her waist, holding her steady as Tyler sucked one nipple into his mouth, teeth dragging lightly across the edge.
She cried out, leaning back into William’s chest.
“Good?”William murmured against her ear.
“More,” she said.
He turned her in his arms, his hands hot and wide over her bare hips.He kissed her neck once, then again, harder, and guided her down to her knees at the edge of the bed.
