Page 181 of Top Shelf

“You and Dylan should talk sometime,” I tell him. “I think you’d really hit itoff.”

He arches a brow, and I can’t help the giggle that escapes. Despite the harrowing past twenty-four hours, I feel surprisingly light and bubbly.

“Yes,” I finally answer Ronan’s question. “It’s enough for me. This past year…I’ve finally started to heal.” I turn so Lucian is at my back, Ronan and Silas in front of me. His arms immediately band around me. “Youhave helped me heal,” I tell them. “You’ve given me the strength I needed.”

“That was all you, baby,” Lucian murmurs, making me smile.

“Well, you all deserve a little credit,” I tease.

They deserve a hell of a lot more than alittlecredit. It’s because of them that I’ve come so far. It’s because of them that I finally figured out what I want in life. That I finally stood up to my parents. That I’m finally envisioning a future for myself—one in which I amtrulyhappy.

One in which they are by my side.

These men who somehow found all the broken pieces of me and never once asked me to be less.

“I don’t think I ever said thank you.”

Three identical frowns.

For what?

“For not giving up on me.”

“Sweetheart,” Ronan begins, pushing to his feet and coming to stand in front of me so I’m sandwiched between him and Lucian. “We would have chased you to the ends of the earth.”

I grin up at him. “That’s a long way to run. Good thing I didn’t make you work that hard.”

Ronan huffs out a laugh. The sound is soft. Tired.

His hand comes up to cup the side of my face. I lean into his touch. His thumb brushes across my cheek before he lowers his head. His lips skim mine, the anticipation making me whimper, before he steals my breath with a kiss.

It’s diligent and dominant as always as he parts my lips and slides his tongue inside.

I can feel Lucian at my back, his hands running up and down my sides in a way that has my muscles tightening. His hands slip beneath the hoodie I’m wearing, his fingers trailing over my skin. I can feel his breath in my ear before his lips meet my skin. At peace, I lean back into him, enjoying every second of being pressed between them.

Except one person is missing.

Reaching out a hand, I glance in Silas’s direction as I wave him over.

Getting to his feet, he slips his hand into mine. When he’s close enough, I break my kiss with Ronan. Fisting the front of Silas’s T-shirt, I drag his face down to mine.

Heat builds as hands roam. Someone inches my T-shirt and hoodie over my head. My bra, sweats, and panties quickly follow, along with the clothes the guys were wearing. In a press of hot bodies and tangled limbs, we make our way to the bed.

Falling onto my back, Ronan looms over me, powerful and drop-dead gorgeous, while the others climb up to lie on either side of me. He hovers there, and pressing my hand to the back of his neck, I encourage him lower. “Stop teasing me, Ronan.”

He smirks down at me. “Tell me what you want then, Little Serpent.”

“You,” I tell him earnestly. “Us. This for the rest of my days.”

My head falls back, and I arch my back as he pushes his thick girth inside me. I moan while he groans at the feel of himstretching me. So perfect. So tight. When he’s fully seated and I can feel his tip pressing against my cervix, he brushes a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. Looking down at me, I see love reflected in his eyes.

“There’s nowhere else we’d rather be.”

As the morning sun rises beyond the hotel window, the three of them take turns making me scream until I’m hoarse. Sweaty and exhausted, we cuddle up in bed. My smile is bigger than it has ever been, surrounded by the men I love.

The men who chose me.

And the men I chose back.