After spending most of the night at the hospital getting checked over, eventually we are allowed home and the four of us climb into a cab in the early hours of the morning.

Max and Bryce had returned home not long after Hudson had awoken and even though Smithy had remained unconscious, it was all I could do to prevent them from beating him further. The police were called, statements were taken and then we all headed to the hospital to get checked out. My cheek remains sore from the punch Smithy had inflicted, and even though it hurts like a bitch, I can live with it, given Hudson’s change of circumstances.

By some miracle, the blow to Hudson’s head has somehow reset his memories, and whilst our time in Thailand and the days since we returned is a little blurry, he remembers everything about us, about our love. The relief I feel is immense and frankly, all I want to do is get home. I need to feel safe, and in their arms is the place I feel the safest.

Even though I wish Smithy was dead, he isn’t. Lying in a hospital bed guarded by police whilst he recovers from the head injury I gave him, Smithy sleeps. I hope he gets put away for a very, very long time, but more than that I wish he remains in a coma for the rest of his shitty life. He hurt me, hurt Nisha and my mum. I haven’t forgotten what he’d said. Had he raped her? It wouldn’t have been the first time she was abused in such a way. Sighing heavily, I push those dark thoughts away. I can only hope she’s at peace now and that Smithy suffers for the pain he’s caused.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Bryce asks gently, resting his hand on my knee. I am sitting between Max and Hudson in the back of a Black taxi. We are all exhausted.

“A bit sore, shaken, angry at that bastard, but honestly, Bryce, my joy at getting Dragon back overshadows all of that,” I say, turning to Hudson, who is gripping my hand tightly. He hasn’t let it go since getting in the taxi.

“Dragon?” Hudson asks with a slow smile. “I have a nickname now too, do I?”

“Yes. Don’t you like it?”

“It suits you, mate. I always thought you were a bit of a dragon. Remember our science teacher, Mrs Battelon? She was a right old dragon, but as I recall you quite fancied her. Maybe like called to like?” Max laughs.

I elbow him in the rib. “Hey, that’s not why I call him Dragon.”

“Is it because of my tattoo,” Hudson asks softly.

“Partly, but it’s also the fierce love you have for Max and Bryce. It’s because of the way you guard us all with the fire in your belly that has the power to destroy and to protect. It’s the way you look after us. In my opinion, all of that makes you our dragon.”

“Then I accept my nickname, beautiful butterfly,” he says leaning over and kissing me gently. “But aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What?”

“My love for you.” Hudson brings his hand up to my face and trails his fingertips across my cheek. “As much as I fucking hate that prick, Smithy, in a small way I am grateful to him for bringing you back to me.” He leans over, kissing me. I groan into his mouth, unable to help my reaction. Even through our exhaustion, even through the trauma of the last few hours, I still feel the pull of these men, my men. They are my heart.

Why aren’t we home already?

“Driver, can you go a little faster?” Max asks, a note of desperation in his voice. We all laugh and the easy way we are with each other lifts my heart.

* * *

Back home, we all head upstairs. We don’t stop on the first floor, instead we make our way to Hudson’s bedroom. We walk straight past my room and the stain of blood that blooms across the carpet. I’m not sure when I will feel comfortable entering that room again, if ever. The four of us enter Hudson’s room on a trail of lust, desire and love. I can practically smell it. The heady scent that draws my back straight and melts my insides. Hudson is the first to draw me against him. He cups the back of my head and the base of my spine and kisses me until I am giddy and jelly-legged.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I say as he draws back.

“Baby, I’ll never leave you again. I am lost without you, without my family.”

Hudson bends his knees and lifts me up in his arms. He strides over to his bed and lays me down gently.

“Fuck, baby, I need you,” he says, helping me pull my t-shirt over my head. His fingers undo my trousers and he pulls them free, removing my underwear with them. Heat ripples over my skin, my nipples pull taut. My chest tightens, my heart swelling to three times its size as Hudson, Bryce and Max look at me with such devotion, such love.

“Come here,” I whisper.

Hudson undresses quickly, freeing himself from the constraints of his clothes. Behind him Max and Bryce strip naked too, a mutual understanding that this moment is about all of us, that not one individual is more important than the other. This is our way to seal our bond and to put the trauma of the past few days behind us. This is a fresh start for all of us.

Bryce and Max stand either side of Hudson, and from my spot on the bed I consider each of them in turn. My eyes fall on Max first, my blonde-haired, brown-eyed jester. The man who can make me laugh until my belly hurts, who lifts me up with a smile and who makes the simple act of brushing my hair a cherished pastime between us.

I hold my hand out to him and he steps forward, settling himself by my side.

Next, I gaze at Bryce, my big, strong man-mountain. In his arms I feel safest. I know that forever more he will treasure me and comfort me when I need it the most. I also know with utter certainty that one day he will be the first to father our children. Without needing me to ask, Bryce climbs onto the bed and takes his place on the other side of me. He gently presses his hand against my belly and I catch the spark of hope in his gold-flecked eyes.

Finally, I turn to face Hudson, the man who offered up his heart despite the fear he held within his. The man who fought to save me from Smithy and who took care of those little boys in the care home even when he was only a child himself. When I stare into his eyes, this time there is nothing but love reflected back. Hudson steps forward and settles himself over me, his bare skin against my own. He cups my face with his hands.

“Butterfly…” he starts.

Either side of me, Max and Bryce shift closer.

“Sweetheart,” Bryce murmurs, nuzzling his face against my neck.

“Icy,” Max says, gentling his hand over my arm.

Hudson glances at his brothers then looks back at me, a hopeful smile pulling up his lips. “Louisa, you are ours. You are our heart, our saviour, our fucking queen. You will never want for anything, will never feel alone and you will never be hurt again. Will you be ours forever? Will you be our wife?”

My heart leaps in my chest. Did I hear right? “How, what? It isn’t legal. I can’t marry you all,” I say, confused even though my damn heart is near fit to burst.

Bryce chuckles. “No, not in the eyes of the law. But in our house, under our roof and in our arms, we want you to be our wife. Will you?” he asks.

“You don’t have to answer right away, Icy. You can think about it,” Max says as his fingers stroke along my bare thigh.

Behind us golds, oranges and pinks brighten the horizon, blanketing us in its dappled light. I can honestly say that in all my life I have never felt such happiness or such belonging as I do now. There really is only one answer I can give.

“Yes,” I whisper.

Then together we seal our bond just as the sun rises on the dawn of our love.