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The rest of the ceremony was filled with such a sense of joy, she felt as though she was floating off the floor. The heat and territoriality was blatant in Hank’s eyes as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He buried his face against her abdomen for a long moment and she felt the barest trace of a vibration from his chest as he held her, that growly rumble of something primordial that was inside both her men. A part she loved, that part that claimed her as his woman—their woman.
Hank rose to his feet and he and Travis each took one of her hands. Grandma Kate nodded at them and smiled. She spread her hands, palms up, and in a jubilant voice, she proclaimed, “And now your journey begins, and your adventure awaits. May you forever remain steadfast, one in the others, and may love light your way, always.”
Veronica went into the arms of her men, receiving their kisses. Before Grandma Kate could slip away, Veronica stopped her and hugged her. “Thank you.”
“For what, sweet girl?” Grandma Kate asked with a sparkle in her eyes.
“For sharing your anniversary date with us.”
Bending down to kiss her cheek, Hank said, “That will always be a precious, precious thing to us, Grandma Kate.”
Travis said, “If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have found the one woman meant for us, ma’am.”
Kate’s eyes grew misty and she cleared her throat before saying, “The three of you have already started your adventure and you’ve included me in it and that, my loves, is a precious, precious memory to me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Veronica took deep, cleansing breaths as she cried under the showerhead. Her tears had come upon her suddenly in the shower while she’d been preparing for her wedding night. The reunion with her family hadn’t been cathartic. Confronting them hadn’t provided any sense of closure, but she’d definitely felt like it was a new beginning. Only time would tell.
Perhaps the tears were brought on by the realization that whether her family took advantage of the opportunity or not, Veronica had her men, and they loved her and accepted her, and would defend her. She was free.
The hot tears finally stopped as Hank and Travis came to mind. With smiles and kisses, they’d sent her to the shower, telling her they wanted to make things ready for their first night as men and wife. All she’d wanted was them, but they’d insisted she take her time and relax.
A long, shaky sigh slipped from her lips as she recalled how they’d undressed her and caressed her breasts and sucked her nipples, teasing her clit and stroking her ass cheeks. Travis had growled softly as they’d finally sent her to the steamy bathroom.
A loud noise sounded from somewhere on the other side of the house. With the shower on, she couldn’t tell from where. After rinsing the last of the lather from her body, she shut the water off. She shook her hair loose after removing the clip and listened for the sound of their voices. She jumped as she heard another loud noise outside the house, but otherwise there was only silence. She was reaching for the towel hanging near the shower and as she stepped from the wet tile, the lights went out, casting the house into inky blackness.
Her heart skipped a beat when she heard glass shatter somewhere inside. She wrapped the towel tightly around her and felt her way into the dark bedroom, where she thought her robe was lying on the bed.
Trying to keep her breathing silent, she felt blindly for the bed and stubbed her toe as she reached the foot of it and dropped the towel. She was fighting with the robe, trying to find the armholes, when she was suddenly grabbed roughly from behind and pulled against a big hard body clad in some kind of rough, canvas uniform.
She gathered a lungful of air and screamed, “Hank! Travis!” before a gloved hand clamped down roughly on her mouth.
Her mind swirled as she fought the hard arm wrapped around her middle, squeezing the air out of her, and then instinct took over. She bit down as hard as she could on the hand and earned a pained growl from the intruder for her effort. She lifted her feet off the floor and went limp, turning herself into dead weight, but the intruder held her tightly and her feet flailed in the empty air.
With a muffled yell she lifted her knee and brought her heel down hard on the intruder’s foot but only managed to bruise her heel on his boot and drew only a mild grunt from him.
