Maya Banks - Colters’ Gift

“Did Noah take it?” Lauren asked.

Liam shook his head. “He told my dad to tear it up and return it to sender. Then he told my mom and dad that they were his parents, and that they’d given him something way more valuable than a check with a lot of zeroes. They’d given him love and acceptance.”

“That’s a beautiful story,” Lauren said with a sniff.

“My parents are pretty special folks,” Liam said seriously.

“And what did they say when you told them about us?”

Liam smiled. “They were surprised, of course. And they wanted to talk to Noah. I’m their son, but to them so is Noah, and they want to make sure he’s happy with the arrangement and isn’t settling.”

Lauren glanced back toward Noah, who was smiling as he spoke into the phone.

“We’ll bring her to meet you as soon as it’s possible. It may be a while before you hear from us again, and I don’t want that to worry you. We have some things to take care of and it’s very likely Lauren is going to have to testify in a criminal trial. Once we’re sure that the threat to her has been eliminated, then we can lead a normal life together. You’ll like her family. They remind me a lot of you and Dad.”

He paused a moment and found Lauren’s gaze, his eyes warming as he stroked over her features.

“Yes, they’re fine with it. It’s not exactly an unusual arrangement in her family. But we’ll explain it all to you when we bring her to meet you. Promise.”

Noah smiled again. “Love you both. I’ll give you back to Liam now.”

He handed the phone back to Liam, and Liam put it to his ear.

“We’ll talk soon,” Liam promised. “Love you both.”

Liam hugged Lauren to him a little tighter as he said his good-byes. Then he punched the Off button and set the phone down on the little end table set up between the two armchairs.

“So it went well?” Lauren asked tentatively.

“Yes,” both Noah and Liam said at the same time.

“They’re very eager to meet you,” Noah said. “They’re pretty mystified over the kind of woman it would take to get mine and Liam’s attention so fiercely. They’ve despaired of us ever settling down and providing them grandchildren.”

Lauren flushed but she was taken with the image of her round with child, like Lily, and the two men fussing endlessly over her. And of having a tiny baby and the expressions on Noah’s and Liam’s faces the first time they saw their child.

She wanted it so much that she ached. She wanted them. Wanted a life with them, full of love and companionship.

A knock on the door interrupted her fantasy.

“That’ll be Dillon with food,” Noah said, as he rose from his chair. “Get comfortable, honey, and we’ll dig in.”

AFTER the three ate dinner, Lauren excused herself to go shower in the small bathroom. She’d closed her eyes and stuck her head under the hot spray, when a warm body pressed to her naked back.

Noah.

She smiled, her eyes still closed. She didn’t need to look to know which of the two it was. She loved that she could tell them apart merely by touch. Smell. The sensation each of them caused against her skin.

His mouth nuzzled up the side of her neck, inciting a full-body shiver even under the heat of the shower.

“Hope you don’t mind me joining you,” he said huskily. “Liam and I thought you would enjoy a little pampering. I get to wash, and he gets to dry.”

“Mmmm.”

It came out as a soft moan, and she leaned further back into him, molding her wet body to his. His hands slid around her waist to her belly and then upward to cup her breasts. He thumbed her nipples until they were puckered ridges.

She gave a whispery sigh when his hands left her to pick up the shampoo bottle. After squeezing the liquid into his hand, he began to lather her hair, taking his time and working his fingers over every part of her head.

She was nearly in a coma from the bliss of the massage. Her shoulders relaxed and the coiled tension in her muscles fled under Noah’s soothing touch.

“Feel good?”

“Oh yes,” she breathed.

He kissed the spot just below her left ear. “Good. Tonight is for you.”

He turned her so he could rinse her hair, and when he’d made sure all the soap was gone, he set about washing the rest of her body with slow, methodical strokes that had her crazy with desire.

She was so boneless by the time he reached up to turn the shower off, that she wasn’t sure she’d be awake for whatever came next.

When the shower curtain was swept aside, she saw that Liam waited, a large towel in his hands. He opened it to her as she stepped out of the tub and immediately enfolded her in the warm softness.

Noah dried himself off in the shower while Liam toweled Lauren completely dry. Afterward, he wrapped her in a thick robe and nudged her out of the bathroom toward the bed.

Collecting a brush from her suitcase, he followed her to the bed and directed her to sit between his spread legs. To her surprise and utter delight, he began to comb out her damp hair.

“You two are so spoiling me,” she said with absolutely no real regret.

Liam paused a moment and then leaned forward to brush his mouth over her ear.

“That’s the plan. We have to do what we can to ensure you want to keep us around for the long run.”

There was a teasing note to his voice but she responded in all seriousness.

“I’ll never grow tired of being with you.”

It was a statement that sounded new. At the beginning of a relationship when emotions are high and optimism is in abundance. When no one thinks of the potential pitfalls in a relationship. And yet, she believed it with all her heart. How could she possibly ever grow weary of two men who put her above all else?

Noah came from the bathroom, just a towel wrapped low around his hips. He was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen in just that towel. His chest glistened with moisture and the whorl of hair in the hollow of his chest curled damply against his skin.