I woke up early the next day, as I usually did, my head still whirring with everything that had happened over the last few hours. It took me a moment to remember what had happened the night before; the four of us finding our way to the inn for the night, Tristan, the few drinks we’d had before I went to bed – Anton’s arm tossed out over me protectively, as though he didn’t want anyone else in the world coming near me for the rest of the night.

I sat up, watching the light as it traced its way through the window towards us. Luke and Ethan were still asleep on the floor.

Still bleary from sleep, I walked over to the window and was met with the sight of a fresh snowfall. It was pure and white and untouched, which meant it was some ridiculously early hour in the morning. I liked being awake before everyone else, always had, as it felt like the world had unfurled itself especially for me. But eventually, the chill in the room started to get to me and I turned to reach under the covers to grab the clothes that I had peeled off in the middle of the night. When I turned around, I was met by three hungry stares that told me the clothes could wait.

My heart leapt in my chest as I looked back at the males before me. They all looked so damn good, messy hair and tense jaws and that look on their faces that told me that this was sure as hell about to happen. I felt something wake inside me, something that had been sleeping since my encounter with Anton the night before, and I made my way back over to the bed, moving slow, wearing nothing but an old pair of boxer shorts. Ethan ran his tongue over his lip, like he could already taste me there, and I felt something melt and give inside me. I was ready for this. I needed this. I had never been with so many of them at once before, but there was no denying the fact that I was responding to the feel of their eyes on me the way they were right now.

“Here,” Anton ordered, pointing to a spot next to him on the bed.

I did as I was told, feeling as though they had somehow enchanted me and I couldn’t quite think for myself anymore. But, given the thoughts that wouldn’t leave my mind, that was a welcome change for the time being. I shot a look at Ethan and Luke, and nodded my head to the bed to indicate that they should join us. They didn’t need telling twice, Ethan sliding next to me and landing a soft kiss on my neck while Luke ran his hand roughly over my breasts, groping and grabbing at my flesh in a way that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Fuck, this felt good. Anton just sat there, watching us, as though trying to figure out what to do next. He slid his hand beneath the covers and started to stroke himself, naked from the night before, and I closed my eyes as the overwhelming sensations and considerations passed through me. Ethan lifted his head and kissed me on the mouth. I raked my fingers through his hair, forgetting about the logistics and logic of what we were about to do and letting myself get lost in the unbridled pleasure of having these three men obsess over me the way they were doing right now.

Luke began to move down the bed, pulling my legs gently to unwind them from beneath me; he started at my feet, taking each one in his hands one at a time and planting kisses from the sole up to my calves, my knees, and then my thighs. Ethan fought for my attention, slipping his tongue into my mouth, and I felt Luke’s hands trace up towards my breasts again as he settled himself between my legs, pushing my thighs apart with a growl of pleasure. I opened my eyes briefly and found Anton watching us, still stroking his cock, and knowing how much this was all getting him off sent a shiver of desire through my system. He grinned at me playfully, as though he knew how dirty this all felt and what a relief it was to know that they all wanted me anyway.

I had become distracted from where Luke’s kisses were going, but suddenly his mouth was on my clit and then I couldn’t think about anything but the feel of it there between my legs. I pulled back for a moment from Ethan and let out a long groan of pleasure, but he pulled me back to him, kissing me harder than before. I liked this side of him, possessive and hungry for me. I would have to see what else I could do to indulge it.

“I want you in my mouth,” I murmured to him, right in his ear, slipping my hand down over his bare torso and into the soft pants that he had slept in, finding him pleasingly hard beneath the fabric. I supposed he didn’t need telling again, because he at once got to his feet and positioned himself behind me. It took me a moment to cotton on to what he was doing, but as soon as I did, I let my head tip off the edge of the bed and parted my lips, looking up at him expectantly. He took his cock in his hand, as thick and tempting as I remember it being, and guided it to my lips, rubbing his head across my mouth gently a couple of times before he eased it past my lips.

The feeling was explosive, lying on my back between the two of them and letting them both take me like this; Luke’s tongue was soft and urgent against my clit and Ethan thrust himself shallowly into my mouth a few times, as though letting me get used to the feeling of him there. He tasted good, a reminder of the encounter I’d shared with these two in the hot tub, and I slid my hands around the back of his thighs and guided him inside me deeper. The angle I was at made it simple for him to push deep into my throat and I wanted to feel him there, wanted to feel full in a way I never had before. Luke traced slow circles around my clit, sliding his hands beneath my ass and tugging me possessively closer to him. And all the time we were at it, I could feel Anton’s eyes on me, his gaze making every nerve ending in my body stand to attention for my alpha.

I wasn’t sure how long the three of us were like that, but it didn’t take long for me to find myself getting close to coming; being worshipped and used like this was a heady mix that I couldn’t get enough of. Ethan was pushing his cock deep into my mouth and I was pulling him in deeper; he was holding back a little, I could tell, worried that he might hurt me, and I just wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that I needed him that deep, needed to feel him that way. As it was, I let out a small moan of pleasure with every thrust he took, and soon enough, Luke had cottoned on to the sound and was pushing his fingers into me at the same pace, and there, right there, that was the moment I knew I couldn’t take anymore-

I wasn’t sure quite what the technical term for the noise I made when I came was, but I knew for damn sure that everyone in this place could hear me coming. Ethan pulled his cock out a little, letting it rest on my lips, as though he didn’t want to deny anyone else the pleasure of watching me reach my orgasm. Luke kept his fingers inside me but lifted his head, looking up, allowing me just enough time to look down at him and gasp “fuck me” before Ethan returned his cock to my mouth.

Luke didn’t need telling twice, grabbing my hips and pulling them up, hungrily and roughly pressing himself into me, and then thrusting deep and hard into my pussy in one motion. I felt as though I was on another planet, existing on another realm, as the two of them both fucked me like that. I could hear Anton’s breath getting more fevered, could tell that he was already getting close, too. My body was still wracked with pleasure that I had hardly given words to, Luke moving deep inside my pussy, stretching me out with his thick cock just the way he had back in the ice cabin. I closed my eyes and focused on nothing but the sensations, letting my thoughts fade away to nothing as I tried to commit every moment of this to memory. The smell of the snow outside, the taste of Ethan in my mouth, the sound of Anton’s breath cutting through the cold air; I couldn’t have written this much more perfect if I’d tried. Well, one thing was missing – one person. But I couldn’t focus on that right now, not as Luke picked up the pace once more and forced me to pay attention to him.

“Turn over,” he ordered from behind me, and it took me a second to work out what he was asking for. But, as they both pulled out of me and Luke flipped me around so I was on all fours, I figured it out, looking up at Ethan and grinning as I took his cock in my hand and flicked my tongue back and forth over the head of his erection a few times.

I loved the look on his face as I teased him like this, almost as much as I loved the renewed sensation of Luke fucking me in a totally new position; his cock felt even bigger like this, a pleasing sense of fullness echoing out through my entire body as I leaned forward and took Ethan into my mouth properly once more, using my hand to cover the couple of inches I couldn’t fit into my throat. I could look up and watch him like this, as well as shoot glances behind me to take in the expression on Luke’s face and on Anton’s, too. Yeah, I wanted to stay in this position, Luke taking me from behind as Ethan fucked my mouth while Anton watched.

I arched my back and grinded my hips back against Luke, and I heard his breath get tighter and more ragged around the edges as I matched his pace. I was going to make him come. I knew it. I could feel it. If I knew one thing about these men, it was the way they were when they were about to orgasm.

And, sure enough, moments later, I felt Luke finish inside of me, ploughing himself in one long, deep motion into my pussy and holding himself there as he gripped his hands into my hips to hold me steady, a growl bursting forth from his lips like he had been holding it in all night long. The sight of that was enough to tip Ethan over the edge, because suddenly his cock was twitching in my mouth and then he, too, reached his orgasm, running his fingers through his hair and staring down at me the whole time. I loved the way his eyes darkened as he came, showing off that side of him that I was swiftly becoming addicted to.

Luke pulled out of me, as did Ethan, but then I remembered that Anton hadn’t so much as laid a hand on me this entire time. I rounded on him, but he seemed to have ideas of his own, pulling me towards him and brushing the sheets back. I spread my legs and straddled him at once and he guided me down on to him slowly, his jaw tightening as though this was what he’d been waiting for this whole time. Ethan and Luke sprawled on the covers, panting, behind us, Anton fucked me deep and slow, his mouth finding mine, and I wrapped my arms around him and moved back against him as best I could. And before I knew it, I was coming again, the sensations rattling through my body, the feeling more mellow this time but just as satisfying as the time before. His tongue against mine, my pussy clenching around him, I felt Anton finish inside me, his fingers clutching for my waist as he kept me steady. I held myself like that for a few more moments and then pulled myself off of him, planting a playful kiss on his cheek before I collapsed onto the bed in an exhausted heap.

I closed my eyes and focused on how I felt, and the words came to me as though they were obvious, as though it didn’t make sense that I hadn’t said them before. I sat up, and all three of them looked at me, and I parted my lips and hesitated for a moment. Was this the time, the place? But I felt it now, and I knew I couldn’t hide it any longer.

“I love you,” I blurted out. “All of you. I…love you. I just want you to know that before…”

Before we ran headlong into trouble that we might not walk back out of.

But it was those other three words that hung in the air long after I stopped talking.

For a second, I thought they weren’t going to return them. But then, Ethan sat up and pressed a kiss to my lips, soft and slow.

“I love you, too,” Ethan said, his gaze full of emotion.

“Fuck, I didn’t want to,” Luke added with a laugh and then nodded. “But me, too. I love you, Arianna.”

Anton brushed a lock of hair from my face, a soft smile crossing his lips.

“You already know,” he said, “but I’ll tell you anyway. I love you, even though you’re stubborn.”

I gave him a playful shove, but warmth spread through me, making me feel strong again, their words sticking in my head like they had belonged there all this time. And for a split instant, I was satisfied; these men, these men who I adored more than I could find words for, they loved me back.

But it was incomplete. There was a piece of the puzzle missing. I wouldn’t be happy until I could say those words to Rafe and hear them back from him.

“Now that we’ve gotten that all straightened out, it’s time to hit the road, gentlemen. We’ve got a job to do.”