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“You believe that I would need to be forced into making a declaration of how I feel, we feel, about you. Silly girl.”
Wham!
Ow-ow-ow!
“You insulted us by implying that you don’t trust us enough to hope that there is the chance for something more between us. You implied that we would let you go easily. Let me tell you right now, Veronica Benedict, you should be full of hope.”
Wham! Holy fucking hell! She wasn’t going to be able to sit down!
“You implied that you don’t make a difference in our lives.”
Wham! She burst into sobs. Maybe he had been right when he’d used the word hammering. Her butt felt hammered. But more importantly, so did all her doubts. He beat them all down for her and she dropped her head into Travis’s lap, her tears soaking his jeans as she cried.
Hank’s hands gently squeezed her cheeks, making them even hotter. They felt swollen and painful and must’ve been bright red. This definitely hadn’t been a pleasure spanking like they’d given her before.
Hank spoke softly as he stroked her bottom. “Do I have your attention now, Nika?”
No other thoughts circled in her brain and she nodded. No doubt, no negative tapes playing in her head. She listened to him.
“You listen to Hank, Nika,” Travis said softly as he cupped and stroked the back of her head. She nodded as she cried.
“It’s only been a little over a week we’ve been together, Nika. So much has happened, to us and to you, it seems longer. But I know my own mind. And I know how Travis feels. We want you in our lives. And we don’t want to change you. We want you just the way you are, with all of those qualities you perceive as flaws. Being with you…Nika, being with you is like coming in from a freezing rain and finding the house full of warmth and love. We can’t predict the future and we don’t know if you want to stay with us just for now or maybe forever but I’m not letting you pull back into your shell. You’re not going back to the foreman’s house. I know that sounds bossy and highhanded. But I don’t believe that in your heart you really want to go back there either. Divine loves you. Our friends love you. They were ready to go to war for you the other day when those ladies showed up. Everyone I’ve talked to, who has met you, has told me how much they like having you here. You need a declaration, Nika? I’ll give you a declaration. I want you here with me, with us. I want to bundle you up, get in the truck, and bring whatever remains of your life in Montana down here where we can love you and protect you and take care of you. And if I run across Brent, Phil, or Gordon while we’re there…” His harsh growl made all her senses fire with the purely territorial sound. “I’ll find it hard to hold back from beating the shit out of all three of them.”
Her body felt limp and warm, draped over them as the words washed over her and she lifted her head to look over her shoulder at him. “Divine loves me?”
Hank stroked the underside of her chin and said, “Do I have your attention?”
“Yes, Hank.”
A wide smile crossed his lips and his eyes went warm and misty. “Good, I wanted to make sure I had your undivided attention when I told you I love you, too.”
Another sob escaped her lips, which normally would have embarrassed her but she could see the truth in his unflinching gaze.
Travis’s eyes were centered completely on her as he stroked the back of her head and his beautiful lips, framed by that sexy red beard, turned up in a smile and he said, “I love you, too, Nika. I don’t know if that’s enough for you. Moving from Montana to be with us is asking a lot of you. We know your life is there but we want you here with us.”
She struggled, reaching for both of them, and they helped her turn, draping her over their laps. She hissed as she put weight on her tush but she ignored the pain and threw herself into their arms. “The election? The job offer?”
Hank said, “Secondary. This is what matters to me right now.”
Travis said, “California is nothing compared to you, beautiful Nika.”
She lifted her head. “You’d do that? You’d make those sacrifices?”
In one voice, they murmured, “Yes.”
