As far as we knew, only a handful of people even knew about the ranger tower Dallas and I had found to live in up here on the mountain. There was old man Wyke, who’d sold us the land it was on when we’d come up here. Braun and Vlad knew about it, though they’d never actually been. And Axe? Well, who the fuck knew about that guy. If the rest of us were loners up here on Blackthorn, Axe was a fucking ghost. No one knew his damn story.

But, that was about it. And it’s just how we liked it. It also meant bringing Stella there was a big deal, but then, there was nothing hidden from her — no part of us she couldn’t be a part of.

The ranger tower had been used in the forties to look for forest fires, and as a general lookout post, but it’d been abandoned decades ago. Sam Wyke, who owned the parcel of land it was on had given it up for a fair price, and I think he understood that we valued his silence on the deal. The tower rose from the top of the ridge-line, towering about fifty feet off the ground with — I have to admit — fucking spectacular views of the mountains and valleys around us.

The only way in was up about five flights of winding metal and wood plank stairs. The cabin at the top itself was smallish, but it suited the two of us just fine. We’d actually uncovered the old power lines up here, and we’d contracted out some tight-lipped old-timers that Sam knew to run electricity down up from dummy shack at the base of the mount, where the bills came, up the old conduit line to our tower. It meant we had lights, a working fridge, and a flush toilet.

…Hell, we were mountain men, not fucking savages.

But we weren’t showing her the place just yet. Instead, we stopped at the base of the tower, where the hot springs made a natural pool basically right next to the stairs. It made for a sweet little natural hot tub steps away from our front door, and I gotta admit, it was one of the reasons we’d bought the place.

The three of us stripped right back down after the hike over from Rayburn Falls, and Dallas and I could barely keep our damn hands off of her as we all climbed into the hot water.

“Oh fuck that’s good,” Stella gasped, the pleasure from the heat of the springs melting over her face as she sank into the water.

“Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” I grinned.

Dallas rolled his eyes. “He’s been dying to show this shit off. Just watch.”

I grinned, turning to the edge of the pools and moving a rock aside to show the small, hidden, wood-paneled door. Stella raised a questioning brow before I pulled it open with a flourish.

She laughed.

“Okay, now I’m impressed.”

The door opened to a small fridge full of beer. Yeah, I was pretty fucking proud of myself for that one. Living up on the mountain had made us pretty damn handy, and hiding the mini-fridge next to the spring and running a power cable down from the tower had been one of my first projects.

I cracked three, passing one to her and one to my brother before I raised a toast.

“To the wedding.”

Stella grinned, knocking her bottle to mine. “To the wedding. May they be forever happy.”

We sipped our beers, and I could see that she was mulling something over. Dallas beat me to it though.

“What is it, beautiful?”

She took a deep breath. “Look, you don’t have to answer, but I was just wondering why you’re here.”

“For the wedding.”

She turned and rolled her eyes at me as I grinned.

“No, I mean living on Blackthorn.”

I sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“That’s okay,” she said quickly. “You don’t have to—”

“I want to,” I said quietly.

I glanced at my brother, who nodded. I turned back to her, sitting across the small steaming pool from me with the water swirling around her breasts and the steam curling around her.

Damn, she was beautiful.

And then I told her our story. I told her about our dad, and about Uncle Richard, and stealing our father’s company away. I told her about his leverage over the board, how he’d tarnished our names, and about how we’d left to get away from it all.

…I left out the part about how there may have been an ongoing open investigation into us about our father’s death.

Fuck, I don’t know why I did it. Maybe I was scared of freaking her out, or of her looking at us differently. As strong as I was, and as firm as I’d lived my life, I was scared — more scared in that moment than I’d ever been before. And I was scared of losing her, so soon after we’d found her.

I looked at Dallas, and I could see the same war going on inside his own head. And I knew, even if we both hated ourselves for withholding it from her, we both knew it wasn’t quite the time to spring that on her. We would, I knew that, just not yet.

Some things just took time.

When I was done with the part about coming back here to Blackthorn and buying this land to get away from our uncle, she was quiet for a long time. Finally, she let her breath out slowly, her eyes wide as she shook her head.

“That’s so fucked up.”

“It is what it is,” Dallas growled. “And someday, we’ll deal with him. For now though, we’re okay here. For now, this place and this mountain, and…” He locked his eyes on her. “And you are all we need.”

Stella blushed that adorable shade of pink and quickly took a sip of beer.

“So what about you? Why are you here?” I held a hand up, seeing that impish glint in her eye. “And do not say ‘the wedding,’ I already used that one.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “I guess I just needed to get away too. I’ve just had too many hits recently, you know?” She sighed. “I got cheated on a year ago by this guy I’d been with for a little while.”

My jaw tensed, and I could feel my hand curling into a fist under the water. The thought of any other man laying a finger on this girl made my fucking blood boil. And the thought of some piece of shit cheating on her? And hurting her?

Fuck, I wanted to kill him for touching her. But I wanted to piss on his fucking grave for the second part.

She told us everything — how the piece of fucking garbage had been banging her damn secretary. What a fucked up cliché. But damn there was even more to Stella than we knew. Her being a hotshot lawyer made me grin, and even if she’d been passed over for a job she deserved, she’d stuck with it and kept working her ass off for the firm. I respected the shit out of that.

She paused, and I could see her mulling it over, but then she told us the rest — about wanting kids, and about the failed IVF treatments.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, beautiful,” I said quietly, sliding around the edge of the pool and wrapping my arm around her. My heart hurt, because hers hurt. It was that simple.

“Okay, but, hang on,” she laughed nervously, glancing at us. “Just so you know, I’m not some bat-shit baby-crazy chick, okay? I promise you, I’m not the crazy girl going around trying to get a baby.”

Dallas laughed deeply, sliding around to her other side and kissing the top of her head.

“Not just using us for our sperm?”

“No, just for your cocks.”

We both chuckled as she grinned at us.

“Well, you can use us any time, love.”

Her face flushed at the word I hadn’t even meant to say, but she said nothing.

“Don’t worry, I went back on the pill after the last round failed, so—”

“We don’t think you’re that girl, Stella,” Dallas said gently, kissing her softly. “You don’t have to worry.”

She smiled, biting her bottom lip before she kissed him back.

“Well, we don’t have kids,” I chuckled. “But if we ever did? Man they’d have a hard time finding a more beautiful mom than you.”

Stella went red, her eyes sparkling before she turned and kissed me slowly.

“You don’t have to say that,” she said quietly.

“It’s not a line,” I growled back. “It’s the damn truth.”

I crushed my lips to hers, kissing her slow and deep, and feeling her melt into me. Dallas moved behind her, kissing her neck, and slowly, that one kiss got hotter and hotter. She started to moan into my mouth and suddenly, this wasn’t just a kiss anymore.

It was foreplay.

My cock swelled rock hard, throbbing and aching for her. I started to pull her into my lap, when I stopped. I swallowed, glancing at her and then my brother.

“I think it’s time to take you upstairs.”