Tia

I don’t go back to Giles’ room after our fight, until later that night. I know I should be more understanding, he’s hurting, and I know he’s frustrated with his limitations.

But he’s alienating everyone.

I knock, but there’s no answer. Worried, since he didn’t come down for dinner, I open the door a crack and glance in. His large frame is stretched out on the bed, and his eyes are closed.

With a sigh, I shut the door again, knowing he needs his rest. Maybe he’ll wake up in a better mood.

“How’s he doing?” Emerson asks, coming out of his own bedroom. His long hair is down and hangs in waves just past his shoulders.

My lion.

I give him a small smile. “I really don’t know. He’s been so irritable.”

“Yeah.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I’ve noticed.”

I glance back at Giles’ door. “He didn’t eat anything tonight. Maybe I should wake him up.”

“Didn’t your mom ever teach you not to wake a sleeping bear?” he asks playfully.

“I never knew my mom,” I say quietly, still pensive from worrying about Giles. “She died giving birth to me.”

“Shit, Tia. Sorry. I didn’t know.”

I take his hands. “You’re lucky that you still have both your parents. I’d love to meet them one day. Especially your mom. From what you’ve told me, she seems like an incredible woman. And I want to thank her in person for the recipe book she sent. It’s been a lifesaver.”

“I know she’ll love you.”

I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “At least one person will be in my corner.”

“Hey, Tia,” he says softly. “Don’t be like that. You know that’s not true.”

I sigh, meeting his gaze. “I need to fix this mess,” I tell him. “But I don’t know how.”

He twists his lips. “It’s easy to get lost in the weeds. But the big picture is you have six husbands who will go to bat for you.”

I shake my head. “Right, because look how good it worked out for Giles. It’s my fault he’s in so much pain.”

Emerson isn’t having it. “No. Wolves got to Giles. Not you. Look, maybe you didn’t grow up with two parents who loved you, so maybe you missed a few chapters on family dynamics. But families don’t quit when things get hard.”

I bite my bottom lip. “I’ve read psychology books, Em. I get it.”

He shakes his head, looking at me with such sad eyes. “Tia, I don’t think you do. You can’t find your answers in a textbook. Maybe Banks thinks you can, but I think problems are solved when people talk. When they open up. When they learn to trust.”

“This isn’t about trust.”

He smiles, looking at me as if I haven’t a clue about a single thing. And maybe I don’t.

“I’m not going to lecture you, Tia. I’m not that guy. But I do want to challenge you.”

“Oh yeah?” I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Give us a chance. Give this marriage a chance.”

I hear him and even though I want to argue, to tell him he’s wrong, a large part of me understands what he’s saying. If I want this relationship to work, I need to be honest.

Maybe I can lace my words with hidden meaning… so they can still be safe. Maybe we can have both.

“Don’t do that,” Emerson says, laughing.

“What?”

“Get in your head. Live here. In the present. With me.”

He pulls me against his chest and we stand there for a few minutes, lost in our thoughts, finding comfort in the warmth of our embrace.

“Right now,” I sigh against his solid frame, “the present feels pretty good.”

“Right?” He kisses the top of my head. “Our life can be as good as we want it to be.”

I want to hold onto those words - not the other thousand thoughts rushing through my head. Getting caught. Or getting pregnant. Childbirth. Disease. Death.

It’s all too much. But when I’m with Emerson it’s like I’m given a hall pass into a world where those worries are at bay. He lives in a fantasy where families who love one another, stay together and get their happily ever after.

Maybe it’s not the worst place to live.

“Can I stay with you tonight?” I mumble against his chest.

“As long as you don’t steal my keycard and wander out in the middle of the night.”

I tense in his arms.

He pulls back and cups my jaw, a grin lifting his lips. “I was just trying to be funny. I guess I should leave the jokes to Huxley and Salinger.”

I smile lightly. “I don’t think I ever really apologized to you for that. I’m sorry.”

“I know.” He kisses me lightly. “Just like I know you won’t ever leave again.”

“I won’t.”

A cool breeze wraps around me, making me shiver. “Did you feel that? It just got freezing in here.”

“One of the guys probably went outside.” He rubs my arms. “But I can think about ways of warming you up.”

“Really? How?”

“Come with me and I’ll show you.” He takes my hand and leads me to his room, locking the door behind us. When I start toward the bed, he shakes his head. “Nope. Shower, first.”

In the ensuite, I watch as he reaches behind him and pulls his shirt over his head, exposing all his glorious inked flesh, then shifts out of his pants, his cock springing free, already hard, and ready for me.

He turns the water on, then moves to me, and starts removing my shirt. “I still have that image of you in my mind.”

“Which one?”

“You, by the shower.” He kisses my shoulder and lets my shirt fall to the floor. “Wet. The steam wrapping around you, making you look like a fucking angel.” He removes my bra and cups one breast, stroking his thumb over my nipple. “Your head tilted back, mouth open, as you pleased yourself.”

“You walked in on me.”

He chuckles, rolling my nipple between his thumb and index finger. “I thought you were hurt.”

“The only thing hurt was my dignity.”

Emerson growls against my ear, his cock pressed against my belly. “Best fucking thing I’d ever seen in my entire life.”

I wrap my fingers around his shaft and stroke him. “I was hoping you would stay and help me.”

“Fallon would have killed me if I had.” He starts to undo my jeans, then rolls them over my hips.

Both naked, we step into the shower, and I press against him as the warm water and steam envelopes us.

I run my fingers over the patterns of ink that make up the full sleeve on his left arm. “Tell me about these.”

He glances down at where my fingers skim across his flesh. “Most of them are old Norse symbols.”

“Norse?”

“Vikings.”

“Really.”

He shrugs. “My dad likes to say we have Viking blood in us. It’s what makes us stronger, our women more likely to survive. Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

“No. I want to know more.”

“I’m not sure if there’s any truth to it, but I’ve heard that people from Scandinavian countries haven’t been as affected by the changes. That our women survive childbirth more often, even with female children.”

“You’re not wrong. I’ve read the stats.”

He raises a brow at me, and I shrug.

“Tell me about the tattoos.”

“This one…” He points at his forearm, and I trace the circle with eight branches. “It’s the Helm of Awe. A symbol of protection.”

“I love that stuff. Ancient history and folklore. It’s why I chose the name…” Shit. “I mean, why my parents named me Hypatia.”

He tilts his head and frowns slightly, then closes his eyes and tilts his head back, letting the water fall across his face. His hands are still wrapped around my waist, and despite the way his body tenses with my lie, he doesn’t release me.

Finally, he looks back at me. “Tell me about Hypatia. The one you’re named after.”

I let out a small breath. “She was an Egyptian philosopher and mathematician. In a world ruled by men, she made a name for herself. Fought against the norms of society and became known as a great teacher and advisor of powerful men.”

“Sounds like an incredible woman.”

“She was. And they murdered her for it.”

“Who?”

“Men who couldn’t accept that a woman had more to offer than just being a mother and a wife.”

Emerson goes silent.

Finally, he says, “That won’t happen to you, Tia.”

“You can’t guarantee that. I know you always think the best of the world. And I love you for it. But there’s real evil out there.”

He pulls me closer. “I know that.”

“And that evil might come for me.”

“Then we’ll fight it. Together.”

Despite the heat of the water, I shiver against him. “I’m sorry I brought so much trouble to you.”

I feel him sigh, then his hands move up my back until his fingers tangle in my hair. He tugs gently, making me look at him.

“The trouble is worth it if it means being with you. You’re my life now.”

The loyalty he’s shown me is sometimes more than I can take in, and my chest swells with love for the man.

I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him.

He lifts me up, so that I’m straddling his waist, and my back is against the cool wall, the warm water streaming over our bodies.

“I love you, Em,” I say against his lips, his beard tickling my skin, my body aching to be filled by him.

“I love you, too.” His forehead rests against mine as he slides inside of me.

I moan as my body stretches to take him.

“Tia,” he groans, his thickness filling me. I sink down on him, my body remembering how to accept.

My eyes close as the water pours over us, the steam creating a cocoon that I want to stay in forever.

“God, you’re so tight,” Emerson growls in my ear, and I bite down on my bottom lip, his powerful thrusts hitting my core.

My hips roll as he grinds his thickness into me. I like how rough and wild he is like he can’t get enough of me.

I whimper as his cock hits my g-spot, and the orgasm floods my body, causing my arms to cling to his neck, my legs to still, holding onto my husband.

He comes hard inside me, my back still pressed against the shower wall. I look up into his green eyes and our mouths collide in a kiss filled with passion and desire. Our tongues wrap around each other and our need grows. I want more than a kiss, more than sex against the wall. I want it all. More. Everything.

My body is so hot and needy, and Emerson growls again in my ear, sending a wave of excitement through me.

“I need you naked on my bed, wife.” The sensitive Emerson becomes a Viking warrior carrying his conquest. He lies me down on his bed, I’m wet and naked, but he leans over me, the heat from his body warming me up.

He runs his fingers over my skin, from my thighs to my lips, making me ache with want. I’m holding my breath, waiting for him to consume me. Emerson may be a gentle lion, but right now he is all power, all strength. He is waiting to pounce.

I don’t want to wait for anything. I want him, now. And he’s ready for me again.

His strong, capable body overwhelms my frame, and it’s intoxicating being with a man with so much brawn and raw strength.

His biceps are so large, his body ripped with muscles.  The other men may consider Em the nice one, but they don’t see what I see. A man chiseled to perfection, a body carved from stone. A Norse god incarnate.

“You’re so beautiful, Tia,” he says, his eyes soaking up my body, and he cups my breasts, his mouth on my nipples, nibbling and licking and not asking permission.

Emerson takes what is his.

All of me.

He presses against me, his solid cock on my belly, as he feasts on my breasts.

My pussy demands attention though, and I push his hand to my entrance, wanting him to know how badly I want him inside me again.

“Please,” I moan.

He pushes his cock inside me, and I love seeing this other side of Em, the one that knows what he wants and takes it. We confessed our love and it’s like a floodgate of passion opened inside of him.

It opened inside of me too.

“Oh, Em, oh yes,” I moan. “More.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he tells me, his wet hair falling in his face, as he thrusts harder.

“Make me scream your name,” I tell him. He raises an eyebrow, and with our eyes locked we both give in to one another entirely. He rolls me over so I’m straddling him. His hands hold my hips in place as he thrusts deep inside of me.

“Oh, ohhhh,” I whimper, his cock buried so deep inside of me from this position. His thumb moves to my pussy and he presses against my swollen clit, making me claw at his chest, begging for mercy.

“Make me come, Em, make me yours,” I moan.

He does as I ask, working my body over, knowing what I need.

“Yes, yes, yes,” I scream, our bodies coming together, my pussy dripping as I collapse against him, overcome with pleasure.

The bedroom door opens, and I turn, seeing Fallon looking in with surprise.

“Oh, shit, I thought someone called for help. Sorry.”

I lift my body up from Emerson’s chest. I raise an eyebrow at my husband beneath me, he shrugs, saying yes. I love that we’re communicating without speaking.

I twist my wet hair, looking back over my shoulder, my bare breasts perky and on display, Fallon is already feasting on them with his eyes.

“Oh, I could use some help,” I say playfully, unsure of how Fallon will respond.

Fallon inhales sharply, then steps forward, closing the door behind him. He pulls off his shirt over his head, then tosses it to the floor.  

“It’s getting tense as fuck out there,” Fallon says, walking towards the bed.

Emerson grins, sitting up, cradling me in his arms. “You wanna be in here, you have to play nice.”

“Yeah,” I tease. “You sure you know how to share?”

“If it gives me a chance to roll around in a bed with you, I’ll do whatever you say.”

Fallon unbuttons his jeans and rolls them over his hips, his boxers too. His cock is standing at attention and I bite my bottom lip, shocked at Fallon’s willingness to loosen up. It’s a relief, seeing both men able to let down their guard with me.  

I pat the bed beside me, then turn around, so my back is to Emerson, and shift onto my knees as Fallon crawls across the mattress towards me.

“My God, you’re beautiful,” he says, one hand cupping my breast, the other tangling in the hair at the nape of my neck before kissing me.

Emerson shifts behind me, and runs his hands over my ass, making me feel so desired and beautiful.

“I needed this so damn bad,” Fallon says with a moan against my lips.

I smile, loving the way my husbands make me feel, especially in the midst of so many unknowns, they make me feel grounded, safe. Secure.

“I needed it too,” I say, wrapping my arms around Fallon’s neck, as I lean back against Emerson’s chest.  

And as my husbands take me, consume me, push me to the highest points of pleasure, I know that whatever happens tomorrow, or in the future, marrying them was the best choice I ever made. And no one can ever take away the love that I feel for each one.

That alone will give me the strength to face whatever challenges lie ahead.

When I finally fall asleep in my husbands’ arms, I have no idea how much I’m going to need that strength, and soon.