Page 117 of Gilded Locks
Ash was the first to move, but stopped when Hunter snapped, “Don’t move.” Softening his voice, he said, “Talk to us, Lisichka.”
“I just realized, you were right.”
“About?”
“This. It’s just right. Perfect, actually. The three of you.”
Ash stroked her cheek. “I’m glad you see it our way.”
“I do.”
“Good, because I think I can speak for my brothers when I say, none of us are letting you go.”
“Promise?”
Hunter bent forward, stretching her in a way that made her gasp, as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “I swear with my life.”
“Mine, too.”
“And mine.”
She knew then, if she could trust them with her heart she could trust them with anything. “I love you.”
“Ya tebya lyublyu,” Hunter said fiercely in Russian. Stone quickly repeated the phrase. Ash smiled up at her. “We love you, too.”
When they started to move again, the energy of the room shifted. The intensity and raw possession remained, but there was also tenderness and pure vulnerability. Whatever veil they’d been holding was finally down, and she saw them in their truest form.
Hunter, her avenging angel. Stone, the lone predator who gained immaculate control. And Ash, her cuddly teddy bear that loved to break her simply so he could put her back together again.
They didn’t ask for authority. They commanded it. And this life that they welcomed her into, it wasn’t merely something they chose to live. It was a brutal path they survived. Together. The three bears. And she was now their Goldilocks, locked between three passionate men who would die defending her and do anything to keep her safe and protected.
She gave them everything, and they took it proudly, keeping their promise to the very end as they drenched her skin in sin and left her in a thousand pieces that needed to be collected and put together again.
Stone carried her to the shower, passing her gently into Hunter’s arms. “Rest now, precious Lisichka. Let us take care of you.”
The three of them washed her hair and gently bathed her body under the hot spray of water. They carried her back to bed in a thick towel, which was soon replaced with lavish furs they’d warmed by the fire. Hunter pulled her close, and Ash lay between her legs with his head upon her belly. Stone curled into her other side.
“Ya tebya lyublyu, Marigold—tonight, tomorrow, and every day after.”
As she drifted toward sleep, warm and sheltered in their strong arms, she savored the fact that she was finally safe, cherished, and gloriously free.
Chapter 22
Sacred Vows
One month after Jordan’s arrest, they finally got the news Marigold risked her life for. Hunter, Stone, and Ash waited for her in the library, after texting that the lawyer had called.
She found them sitting before the gaping fireplace in a circle of leather chairs, the atmosphere heavy with unspoken possibilities that hung like incense in a cathedral when lifetimes of worry were laid to rest. Outside, snow had begun to fall. Fat, lazy flakes transformed the world beyond the windows into a crystalline wonderland and reality softened at the edges. But inside, the air pulsed with tension.
“What is it? Is Katya okay?”
“She’s perfectly safe,” Stone assured. “As a matter of fact, she just posted pictured from Sardinia.” He flashed his phone screen where Katya posed in a white string bikini against the Mediterranean backdrop.
Hunter growled. “They don’t have dresses in Italy?”
Ash chuckled. “She looks good. Happy.”
Cole must be loving his time off if that was the dress code, Marigold thought.
