I smiled, but didn’t tear my eyes away from Parker. “I’m at your mercy, sweetheart, behind bars or not. I just have one question.”
She arched a brow and waited.
?
??After you’re done being sheriff, can you keep the handcuffs?”
15
PARKER
* * *
It turned out, love was forgiving. I loved that Poe had gotten himself sort-of arrested so he could apologize. I should have told them about my job. So much heartache would have been avoided. Poe wouldn’t have stirred up some old shit. But love was also hard. Truths needed to be shared, fears admitted in order for it to last. Love was also all about trust.
Poe had taken mine, but I would give it back. I just wasn’t sure how. I did know the four of us were most in sync when we were naked, when there was nothing between us—not work or family or jerks like Mark Beirstad.
And so I’d released Poe from jail and they’d taken me home. To their home. And I let them strip me bare, my clothes a pile at my feet. Nothing was said. It seemed we were all talked out. But we didn’t need words.
They stood before me in Kemp’s bedroom, their heated gazes on me. Waiting.
What did I want? What did I need?
Them.
“I love you,” I said.
I did. All three of them.
“It’s happened so fast. So intensely. I never thought… well, I never thought a guy would want an Amazon like me. My job. Me.”
“Pixie, I don’t like hearing you talk negatively about yourself,” Gus commented.
I gave a slight nod. “I know, but it’s the truth.”
“We do want you,” Kemp said. “Have you ever doubted?”
“No.” I looked to all three of them.
Gus. Familiar Gus. Lighthearted and sweet. Fun and my first love.
Kemp. Commanding and quiet. Focused and attentive. He saw everything, knew things about me I didn’t. He pushed me to be… more.
And Poe. So big, so breakable. Intense. Fierce and ridiculously loyal.
They wanted me. Me.
“Can we love you?” Gus asked. “We’ll kiss and touch, caress and make you come.”
It sounded amazing and my nipples hardened at the idea of their hands on me. But sweet. Too sweet.
I shook my head. “That’s not what I want. What I… need.”
I flicked a glance at Kemp. His eyes narrowed and it seemed as if before my eyes he grew bigger, became more commanding. Dark, even though he was the fair one.
“What do you need, baby girl. Say the words.”
“You.”