Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Back in the den, Kain’s eyes are drooping, and Gabriella is watching him, concerned. “I think you need to go to bed,” she says, rising and taking his hand so that he can’t say no. Kain uses his other hand to push himself up, and wobbles slightly on his feet, requiring Gabriella to wrap her arm around his back. “You overdid your first day home.”
“I’m fine,” he says quietly, even though it’s quite clear she’s right.
Blake stands quickly, stepping in to support Kain’s weight. I closely follow as they make their way upstairs, bracing to catch Kain if he loses his balance. Thankfully, he makes it up okay.
In Kain’s bedroom, Blake helps him to sit on the edge of his bed. Gabriella kneels before him, peeling his socks from his feet. There’s so much tenderness in the way she touches Kain, as though she’s worried he might break. He watches her, conflicted. I know my brother and he won’t like being seen as weak and helpless, but he will enjoy Gabriella taking care of him. It’s been a long time since a woman laid tender hands on us. “Lay back,” she says, helping him twist until his legs are on the bed and his head is cradled by his pillow.
“Come lie with me,” Kain says softly, patting the bed next to him. Quickly, Gabriella crawls into the nook between his arm and chest, snuggling against him. Her hand hovers over his chest as though she remembers how bruised he’s been there and doesn’t want to risk touching him. His hand reaches out to grasp hers and presses it to his heart. “It’s okay,” he says. “I’m not going to break if you touch me.”
I sit on the bed on one side, and Blake matches me on the other. It’s the first time we’ve all been together with any privacy for weeks. It’s been too long.
“I…I thought I was going to lose you,” Gabriella whispers, her voice sounding constricted. “I thought that…”
“I’m okay,” Kain says. “You don’t need to go back there now. We need to look forward.”
I rest my hand on my brother’s leg, wanting him to know I understand. He’s faced his mortality and doesn’t need to be reminded of it. He needs positivity and things to look forward to. We all need to remember that in the weeks and months to come.
“I thought that I was never going to be able to tell you that I love you,” she says.
Kain twists to stare down at her. “Say it again,” he rasps, emotion drawing his features.
“I love you,” she whispers. “I love you all.”
Kain kisses her mouth fiercely, as though her confession has made him regain strength, and Gabriella kisses him back, gripping the sleeve of his shirt in her fingers until her knuckles are white and small moans reverberate in her throat.
My heart swells, feeling her words in a place that has hoped for them for so long and never believed they would come.
“We love you too, Gab,” Blake says, resting his hand on her waist. She turns, flushed from Kain’s kiss, and draws Blake closer until they’re eye to eye, mouth to mouth, kissing passionately.
My heart soars, feeling the shift between us. The deal we struck is slipping away, and in its place is something deeper that will unite us. Kain turns to embrace Gabriella from behind as Blake worships her from the front. I clamber onto the bed, waiting for Blake to release her, needing to show her just what her words — her love — mean to me.
When Gab draws away from Blake, she searches for me and reaches her hand out as I climb over her. The embrace she gives me is as tight as the one by the front door, but this time she whispers, “I love you, Dalton,” into my ear and I have to kiss her. My brothers give me space to settle between her thighs and I take her mouth, murmuring words of affection between nibbles of her lips and cheeks and jaw. She smells so good and feels like home, and it’s all I can do to stop myself from ripping off her clothes and taking her right here, right now.
When I draw back, Gabriella whimpers, her hips shifting against the bar of my rock-hard cock, searching for pressure. I thrust once, twice, giving her hints of what is hers now. What will always be hers as long as she wants it.
“Damn, you’re needy,” I smile, pushing her hair back from my face.
“I think our girl needs some good loving,” Kain rasps, his fingers twirling in her hair that fans across the pillow like spun gold.
“I think our girl needs some dial-a-dick,” Blake says, and we all laugh so hard that tears form in our eyes.
“Not to put a damper on the dick idea,” Kain says, “But Dad and Darleen are currently downstairs, and my heart isn’t ready for the kind of dicking Gabriella deserves.”