After our moment on the balcony was broken with me and Daniel bickering again like an old married couple, we were quick to catch our next flight. Sooner than I led King or Viktor to believe. Danika balked at first, wanting to go home, go back to her life. Until I asked her if that included us.

She paled when I informed her that if we were going home that meant back to Florida for Daniel and me. Before the younger man could object, she’d told us to hurry up and pack. Instead of laughing at how quickly she caved, I kept my amusement to myself. Daniel just glared at me for even giving her an option.

I keep brushing him off, and I know it’s only a matter of time before he fights back in any way he can.

The flight to North Carolina is a long one, and we’re all going to be more exhausted when we land in a different time zone again.

“How did you wind up in North Carolina?” Danika looks up to me as I caress her injured hand in the light of the sun from the windows on the plane.

Blowing out a breath, I knew the explanation was going to have to come sooner or later. “I wasn’t born in the U.S. My parents emigrated from Georgia when I was seven. First, we lived in Boston before we moved to D.C. where my father got a good job.” I can see she wants to say the one that ultimately killed them, and she wouldn’t be fucking wrong. “We took a trip to North Carolina when I was a teenager, before things went bad.” It’s one of my best memories. “When I found out the man who rented us a cabin was selling it about eight years ago, I bought it. I’ve only been there a handful of times since then. Because of the undercover job, I haven’t had much time to spend there.”

“It was bad, wasn’t it?” Her question makes Daniel open his eyes to look at me. I know he wonders about the internal scars I bear from my UC time.

“It wasn’t cupcakes and rainbows.” I try to laugh it off because if I think too deeply on it, I’m likely to go insane.

Danika’s free hand lands on mine and squeezes. I don’t meet her stare because I know what I’ll see.

Pity.

Sympathy.

Understanding.

I don’t want nor do I need any of those. I need to let it go. Move forward. “I’m fine, Nika.”

“Bullshit,” Daniel snorts, and I shoot him a glare over her head. “You’ve been fucking hiding from that for as long as I’ve known you, D. You accuse me of hiding from my part in Ariel’s torture, but you, man? Nah, you’ve been cowering. You haven’t confronted your shit, and until you do, you won’t move past it.”

I’ll fucking kill the kid. “Just because you think you know, Danny-boy, doesn’t fucking mean you do.”

“Ariel?” Danika asks softly. “She’s the one who was ready to die, right? The one who keeps Daniel up at night?”

Why does she have to be so fucking insightful?

“One and the same, yeah.” Daniel looks away, and I feel for the kid. Hitting a woman and handing her over to her tormentor was, in some ways, worse than what I ever did because she had found freedom. His nightmares aren’t a secret from me. I’ve watched and struggled to help the man. Maybe with Danika here now, we’ll all be able to find some semblance of acceptance and peace.

When I was around, Ariel had never been free. She didn’t know what the world was like, and that someone was out there to love her. Now that she does, she’s blossomed. Even expecting their first kid. “But she’s okay now? She’s moving forward, isn’t she?” Danika looks expectantly between us both.

“Yeah,” I tell her as the captain comes on the loudspeaker telling us we’re landing soon and what the local time and weather is. “She’s moving forward.”

I still remember the first time I met Ariel. She was barely ten years old. Timothy had kept her locked away until she proved to him she knew her way around computers. I suspect he beat her into learning.

“You’ll sit there quietly.”

As I’m walking into the small office next to the security office, I hear Timothy speaking.

“Yes, Father.” Shock holds me still at the soft words. Young voice.

“You’ll do only as you’re told. Nothing more.” I look around the door jamb to see a girl of only about nine or ten standing with her hands behind her back and her head down as this man that I’ve come to despise more and more each day instructs her.

“Yes, Father.” She’s meek, obedient.

“Good girl.” He says it like she’s a fucking dog. She nods her head, and her red curls bounce around her like a spring. “Now pull up the accounts, find out who still owes what before we send the next shipment of kids.

“Yes, Father.”

Clearing my throat as she sits, I make my presence known. Her gaze briefly meets mine and in them is shattered defeat. A broken girl who knows far more about this dark life than even me.

“Petrov!” Timothy greets me like we’re long lost friends. “Just the man I wanted to see. This is my daughter Ariel. She’s finished her training and is ready to begin her work!” How the fuck can he be proud of this shit?

My gaze leaves her as I answer him, cooling my expression to show no emotion. “That’s great. I didn’t know you had a daughter.” He frowns at me like I’m digging for more. I am, but I’m not. There was never any intel on this child. My monthly reports back to my FBI partner and handler, Miller Evans, never unearthed this secret.

“Now you do,” he snaps, ushering me from the room. Wherever she’s been hiding, her life is over now. She’ll never be normal again.

I should have fucking taken the child then. Stolen her away. Ariel only grew more distant with time, and it didn’t take a genius to know she would eventually try to kill herself. She would have been at peace then.

If not for Luther, she’d be in a shallow grave at the bottom of the river. I have so many regrets from my undercover time. A lot of things I wish I’d done differently. That Miller had done differently.

“A life of regrets will get you nowhere, Dimitri,” Danika says as the plane lands, and we prepare to disembark. “If she’s moving on, maybe it’s time you both do, as well. Forgive yourselves the same way she has.”

I share a look with Daniel, and in his expression, I see the same thoughts as me…

If only it were that simple.

As we drive along the bumpy backgrounds, sleep tries to take me away. As much as I want to give in, I can’t seem to. All I can think about is the shared look between these strong men as we left the airplane. It’s almost as if they’re daring each other to go first. If one breaks, then maybe the other will. And maybe, I’ll have to help them along with it.

Dimitri had a staggering goal in mind with his undercover work. The toll it obviously took on him is much greater than I’ll be able to heal myself, so I know getting Daniel to move forward first is going to be my biggest mission. The sweet man has so much love within him that I don’t think he’s even aware of it. I know he has to be tough in this world, to do what he does, but with us, Dimitri and I, he’s completely different. There’s a trust with us, he doesn’t show anyone else.

Exhausting myself with my turnaround thoughts, I watch the two men in the front seat of the vehicle as trees pass, and I spread out on the empty seat. The stitches in my leg itch with each passing minute, and I want to rip them out.

“Don’t scratch,” Daniel snips when my arm moves to do just that.

Huffing out a laugh, I tell him, “I wasn’t going to.” The lie obvious.

“You were,” he counters pointedly. “And if you do, I’ll tie your hands up.”

“Promise?” His eyes widen at my request before a smolder burns deep in their depths. The air in the vehicle grows heavy with arousal from all three of us, but no one makes a move to break it.

We seem to be stuck in this limbo state where we all know what we want but are unsure of how to achieve it. I know I have my own demons to work through. Doing what I did, going to Russia, it wasn’t the smartest move on my part, and regret burns an acidic hole in my heart. They never should have had to chase me. I should have remained here, waiting. Praying for a miracle.

Exhaustion pushes me into a light sleep, and soon, I’m nodding off to the sounds of wind blowing through the open windows and the smooth engine as we drive.

They don’t realize it, and on some level neither do I, but I hear them talking, thinking I’m out cold. I’m stuck in that weird restful but awake state.

“You think she’s even ready for this?” Daniel says quietly.

Dimitri snorts before answering. “Are any of us?” And I feel slightly better. The doubts seem to outweigh any of our wants, and I hate it. “She’s stronger than we know. Vik told me some stuff she went through in France. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

“Except for us.” Daniel sounds angry, but maybe they’ll finally start talking.

“What?”

“Ariel.” Is all Daniel says, and they’re quiet after that.

Maybe not.

A tear squeezes through my closed eyes and worry seeps into my heart. If they can’t move forward, then we can’t move forward, and that more than anything else is my biggest fear.

I’ve hesitated to say anything since leaving the airport, but we’ve had someone following us, making me regret bringing them here. I understood there was a chance someone would realize this place belonged to me but never did I think an old enemy would come looking.

Not now, not after nearly eleven years out of the active game. Being undercover meant my life had been scrubbed clean. Any trace of me in the federal system was gone. The only people who knew of my existence was my handler and the director of the FBI. While I don’t think they’d come after me, I may have to look more into it.

The last road leading up to the cabin only leads to my place, so when I see the car continue on the highway, I breathe a sigh of relief. While there isn’t much out this way, they could be going to any of the cabins a few miles east of mine.

“You thought they were following us?” Daniel asks. I should have known he’d have seen.

“I don’t know. They’ve been on us since the airport,” I confess quietly, not wanting to wake Danika in the back. We’ve gone back and forth on whether she’s strong enough to handle the both of us that I’m sick of waiting.

I want her.

I want him.

And right now, we’re fucking becoming one.

Parking behind the cabin, I shut the vehicle off and turn to Daniel. Gripping the back of his neck, I bring his face to mine and capture his lips in a possessive kiss. One full of intent and promise.

“Right fucking now, you’re both mine,” I hiss out when I pull back, and he bites my lip.

“I’ll grab her,” Daniel says with more confidence than previously where she was concerned. I know he’s worried that Danika and I have a more profound bond than they do, but that’s not the case.

Sure, we know each other slightly better, but she knows him on an emotional level that I haven’t yet breached. I hide my jealousy by taking control, proving to them both that I’m in it for the long haul, but I know they both feel the distance I can’t seem to fight against.

“Mi amore, we’re here.” I can hear Daniel tell her softly as she wraps her arms and legs around him as he pulls her out of the back, while I get our bags.

“Here?” Her sleepy voice asks as he walks up the dirt walkway. The cabin itself is rustic as hell. Doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the inside is state of the art everything.

“Damn, D.” Daniel whistles as he enters to see the loft floor above the main level. I wanted everything open here, nowhere to hide.

“Take her up, I’ll be there in a minute.” I have to turn on the power and water from out back, so it’s ready for when we are.

Coming back inside, I double check the locks on the doors before I head up the stairs to the loft to find Nika and Danny-boy both passed out cold in the middle of the bed, fully clothed.

The picture the two of them make—her dark looks matched with his light ones—anyone would call perfect. Not me.

No, definitely not me.

Because as fucking good as they look together, there’s still something missing, and I’m conceited enough to know that it’s me.

I’m as much a part of them as they are me.

Sitting down on the chaise at the end of the bed, I quietly remove my boots, belt, and shirt before standing and stripping my jeans off. I wander over to the window to open it and let a warm breeze waft through the building so it’s not so stuffy, and as I turn, I feel eyes on me. Only to see both of my lovers still passed out.

Taking a moment to look around, I wonder if someone could be observing from a distance, but even with the window way up here, there’s no way anyone would see me. Tall trees cover the back of the property and make it nearly impossible to see through clearly, let alone to feel an ominous stare.

Brushing the sensation off, I walk over to the bed and slowly begin removing Daniel’s shoes and rolling him to his back to get to the button of his jeans. He groans, and his hand moves to lift his shirt up, exposing his flat abs and tattoos on his side. The trees are what have always caught my attention. The detail and growth from dead to alive begs for new life to be shown. Or given.

Leaning forward as I pull his jeans down, I brush my face across his hip. The scruff from my facial hair, leaving a red mark behind as I go. It doesn’t take much to wake him as I continue to the other side, and soon, his hand is in my hair as he’s lifting his hips. A masculine moan greets the late evening air, and I hide my grin from him as I unravel every hard inch of his body. His heavy cock barely contained by his boxers leaves my mouth watering for a taste.

Pushing any reservations my mind tries to harbor to the side, I nip him through the fabric with my teeth. Our eyes meet as a hiss leaves his constricted lips. “Fuck, D.” He exhales on a harsh breath.

“That’s the plan, Danny-boy.” I chuckle as his eyes widen.

Moving over to Nika, I’m less hesitant with her. I know what I want and exactly how to get it. Her sweet sighs as my hands rub across her flesh while removing her clothes have my cock pulsing in tune with her.

“Moya lyubov,” I murmur as I kiss my way up her stomach and chest. Nipping her skin lightly, leaving small red marks.

“Mi amore,” Daniel whispers in her ear as he kisses along her neck, rubbing his face in her hair.

Her whispered, “per favore,” has Daniel grinning from ear to ear. The fucker. She begs please in his language, and he turns into a damn eager pup for her.

“Tutto per te amore mio.” Daniels Italian is soft as he promises her anything.

Woken to light touches, soft kisses, and quiet words are more than I imagined when they finally pushed past their reservations and into our desires.

Daniel’s promise of anything in his sweet Italian had my heart fluttering.

Dimitri’s growled Russian as he woke me leaves me breathless.

These stoic men, they think I can’t handle them. They think I’ll break. What they don’t yet realize is that I need them. Both of them. In me, under me, together, apart. I need them with a ferocity I can’t readily explain.

Their willingness to give me what I ask for and so much more ingrains them deeper into my heart.

“Eto ne budet legko.” Dimitri whispers the difficulties of us in my ear.

“I know,” I respond back. I don’t want easy. I want hard, volatile.

I want them.

Everything they’re going to try and hold back and more. I want the pain, the pleasure. The indecencies. Their love. I want it all.

Tell them, Nika. My heart pleads as they strip me completely free of my clothes. Theirs already discarded.

Closing my eyes, I take a sharp breath and climb free of their arms. I need to declare my feelings before I can continue. I only plan to give myself to these men for the rest of my days, and I always knew I wouldn’t do that until I loved them.

“Nika?” Daniel queries, and a smile pulls at my lips, hearing the uncertainty in his tone.

Looking to him first, I say, “I love you, Danny-boy. From the moment I walked into that room and you were there, pale and broken. The outlook wasn’t good, but I knew that when you came out of it, I was going to love you until the end of days.” I don’t let him say anything as I turn to Dimitri. “You, you hard-headed, stubborn bastard.” I shake my head with a playful grin as he smirks. “You had me off-kilter from the first barked command. The first growl, the sexy smirk. I wanted to slap you silly just as much as I wanted to kiss you. I never knew if you hated me or loved me up until you kicked me out. Yet your pain was my own. I absorbed it like a wet sponge. I saw you, though, Dimitri. The real you. The one hiding from the rest of the world, and I knew I would love you till the end of time.” I pause as I feel a tear roll down my cheek. Acknowledging that I could have lost them both cramps my heart. “I love you both. I need…I just…I need you to know.”

They both stare at me, their gazes mirrored in such a way I can’t tell what either man is thinking. When Daniel makes to come towards me, I drop my head, not wanting to see if he doesn’t feel the same way.

“Look at me, mi amore.” His finger rests under my chin, but he waits until I lift my head to meet his eyes. Mine well up with tears when I see the emotion reflected back at me. “Of course, we know.” The same hand slips into my hair, cradling my head as his lips descend on mine. Just a hair’s breadth away he tells me, “You were a beacon of light in my darkest of day, Danika. You gave me hope when I was ready to fall. Believe it or not, I heard you. Every day, I would soak in your encouragement, your cries. Your laughter was addicting. You helped bring me back, amore, and there isn’t a fucking thing I won’t do for you.”

His lips close over mine, not in possession but encouragement and devotion. Even if he hadn’t said the words back to me, I’d have felt it in this act alone. Soft, sweet, devouring. Daniel gives me everything I didn’t know I was looking for when I told them.

Dimitri’s stare is penetrating as we pull apart. “Did you have a doubt, Nika?”

“Yes.”

He frowns and walks closer, pulling Daniel and I both into his arms as he takes my mouth in a kiss so gentle tears spring to my eyes again. His tongue plays with mine when I open for him, and his fist on my back grows tight with tension.

He’s holding back.

Giving me what he thinks I want in favor of pushing back what he needs. Tugging from their arms, I lay back on the bed behind me, raise my arms above my head and speak. “You said it wouldn’t be easy. I don’t want easy, either. I want you. Both of you.”

They don’t hesitate. Daniel drops down on me, our mouths clashing as his hand lifts one leg to wrap around his waist, making room for his large frame to fit. His other hand grips my hair in a tight fist as he tilts my head back, opening my mouth for a deeper exploration.

His naked skin on mine is hot with tension and desire. His bare cock against my core leaves me breathless wanting more. I want to feel him inside of me, claiming, owning what’s his.

A slight weight pushes us further into the mattress, and Dimitri’s husky command, “Claim her, Danny-boy,” makes me cry out for just that. “She’s begging you, D. Take her, stake your fucking claim in that tight little cunt of hers.”

“Please, Daniel.” Dimitri’s words only make me hotter. Needier.

“Fuck.” His curse is wrought with so much strain for control. Our eyes lock as he lifts up, guiding his hardness to my aching core. A pulse beats between us a moment before he slams into me.

Pain rips through my body as he takes my virginity, making me his own and claiming a victory no other man will know. “I’m sorry,” Daniel croons in my ear as he holds still, and my back bows off the bed while I try to breathe through the sensation.

“You want it, Nika, take it,” Dimitri directs, his hand soothing the ache in my core by pushing my hips back down to the bed. His own naked body is plastered to Daniel’s back.

When Daniel’s eyes widen and his hips suddenly drive forward, hitting a soft spot inside me, my eyes roll to the back of my head as pleasure courses through me, stealing my breath.

Shit. Fuck. Damn.

Ecstasy races through my veins thicker than blood when I slam through Danika’s innocence. Feeling her virginity give way, seduced the caveman in me to come out and play. All I want to do is pummel in and out of her body. Show her what her man can and will do for her.

When Dimitri’s body falls over mine, I pause for the briefest of seconds as I felt his cock nestle against my ass. Stunned, I stop all movement until he begins directing us like a finely tuned guitar.

For every push, he pulls. He works us into such an intense frenzy that I don’t realize what’s happening behind me until he grunts in my ear, “Brace yourself.”

Danika’s walls squeeze around my dick as Dimitri’s cock slowly pushes through my tight ring of muscles and seats to his balls inside of me.

Fuck.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this.

Never in my darkest fantasies did I picture the three of us so entangled in each other.

“I bet it’s beautiful to see,” Danika whispers in my ear as her nails score down my back.

“You fucking bet it is,” Dimitri confirms.

I’m left reeling. I don’t know whether to push or pull. To moan or scream. I’m left in the middle of the two people I love most in the world, and all I can do is hang on for the damn ride.

“Fuck, you feel good, Danny-boy.” I don’t think he means to say it out loud. “Better than I imagined.”

“Daniel,” Danika cries out seconds before her cunt flutters and squeezes around me. She comes unhinged with Dimitri’s hand working between us, playing with her while I fuck her.

I close my eyes as all these sensations leave me grasping for air. Begging for more without a single word.

These two.

They own me.

Heart and motherfucking soul.

“Fuck,” I groan into Danika’s neck as gratification washes over me, and I fill her with my seed. My cock pulses with each breath, each rope of cum, as Dimitri continues his assault on me.

“Hold on tight, Danny-boy,” Dimitri growls in my ear just before biting it and begins to pound into me from behind. Two more thrusts and Dimitri is howling out his pleasure as he unloads into me.

Our bodies sag into the mattress in a pile of sated carnality and indulgence. Danika has a look of bliss upon her face that I can’t help but smirk over, knowing I put it there.

The three of us, together, like this, with nothing but harmony floating around us, is what makes our relationship unique. What encourages me to believe we’ll make it past any walls trying to block our paths.

I hadn’t intended on taking Daniel. Not yet. Not until we both indulged in Danika’s sweetness. When our eyes clashed over Daniel’s shoulder, and I saw the desire for all of us to be one, I gave in.

I took him, and she loved every minute of it. Hell, I fucking loved it.

Until now, this moment, with these two people, sex has been nothing but an empty dumping ground of half pleasures and drunken mistakes.

I’ve never done sex with love or a connection. It’s only ever been to let off steam. Admitting I love these two people is both the hardest and most natural thing I’ve ever done. With them, I know I’ll always have a place in this life. With people who will love me with their dying breaths.

No matter what the future holds, I know the three of us are soulmates, and we’ll conquer anything that comes our way.

It’s just too bad we didn’t know it would be so soon.