Maya Banks - Colters’ Gift

“You okay?” Noah murmured.

“If I was any better, I don’t know what I’d do with myself.”

“Ditto,” Liam said in a sleepy, contented growl.

“It was new for us too, Lauren,” Noah said softly. “I’ve never done anything like that before, and I’m a little surprised that it came so naturally. And that it was so powerful. I’m at a loss as to how to even describe it. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

Lauren pushed herself upward so she could see Noah’s eyes. They were utterly serious, warm and glowing with so much else he’d left unsaid. Like her, he hadn’t said the words yet, but she didn’t doubt for a moment that he loved her every bit as much as Liam did.

The words would come in time, when they weren’t forced. When they were as natural as breathing and completely sincere. She looked forward to that day when they could be so comfortable with each other. When there was no threat from Joel or any other quarter.

“We—I—didn’t hurt you, did we?” Liam asked gruffly.

She went soft at the concern in his voice and pushed herself upward more so that she was sitting cross-legged between them. She leaned over to kiss his firm mouth and let her lips linger over his, enjoying the simple act of affection between two lovers.

“You both were wonderful,” she said huskily. “Perfect. I never imagined something so . . . powerful.”

He touched her cheek, stroking his fingers down her jaw as he kissed her again.

“How much time do we have?” she asked.

Already the curtains were illuminated with the pale shade of dawn, and though they were going to a place where Lauren felt completely at home, she also knew that it would bring to a temporary end the intimacy between her and Liam and Noah. She felt its loss already and they hadn’t even left the warmth of their bed yet.

Noah slid his hand up her back, letting it rest at the small, just above the curve of her buttocks.

“We have time yet. A few hours more.”

Liam pulled one of the pillows up to prop behind her back and the headboard so she’d be more comfortable while the two men continued to rest on their sides.

Lauren wanted the quiet, comfortable time between them to discuss the future. It was all still so new and exciting in her mind that she could speak of little else for the next weeks.

“Can I ask you two something?”

“Anything,” Liam said firmly.

“Of course,” Noah said at the same time.

“What do you see in our future?” she asked. “Do you see us together long term?”

“I don’t have a crystal ball,” Noah said in a serious tone. “I can’t predict what will happen a year or five years down the road. But if you ask me what I want? I want forever. With you. And I’m going to do everything in my power to see that forever is what we share.”

“I see you with us for as long as either of us is breathing,” Liam said, his lips set into a determined line.

“And children?” she asked hesitantly. “What are your thoughts on children and a family?”

Both men were angled so they could see her face and she could see theirs. Light warmed Noah’s eyes. He looked . . . hopeful. And happy.

“I’d love a family one day,” Noah said.

She could hear the yearning in his tone.

“I’d want everything that I was denied as a child. And I’d never do to our children what my parents did to me,” he said fiercely.

“You’d make a great father,” she said in just as fierce a tone.

Liam smiled, warmth traveling to the very depths of his blue eyes. “I could see a few rug rats.”

Her breath caught in her throat as she was struck by a longing so powerful that she simply couldn’t breathe.

“Do you want children, Lauren?” Noah asked.

“Oh yes,” she breathed. “My own family. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

She touched both men, letting her hands creep over their arms so she had contact with them both.

“How would we do it?” she asked hesitantly. “I mean if we were trying to have a baby—down the road of course—would it matter to you if we didn’t know which of you fathered the child? Or would you want to make sure you each had a son or a daughter?”

Anxiety had crept into her voice and she glanced between them nervously.

“I can only speak for me,” Liam began in a low tone. “But for this kind of relationship to work, we’d both have to accept and love any child we bring into the world. Whether it’s my biological child or Noah’s. Honestly I wouldn’t care, because either way I’d consider that baby mine. I’d never treat a child differently because it was Noah’s biological child and not mine.”

“Amen,” Noah said. “I completely agree. If you’re asking if we want to ensure that a child you bear is ours biologically, then no. I say when the time comes, we both try as hard as possible to knock you up and let the seed fall where it may.”

Liam chuckled. “You certainly have a way with words. But I agree completely. Not knowing allows us both to believe that the child is ours. And it will be ours no matter who fathers it. You’re their mother and for me that’s enough.”

“What did the Colters do, do you know?” Noah asked curiously. “Holly had four children.”

Lauren laughed. “It’s a running joke in the family that no one knows where Dillon came from. Holly swears he was switched at birth. But no. She doesn’t know—or care—who the biological fathers were for her children. Neither do any of her kids.”

“I think that’s the best way,” Liam said softly.

“Do you know how overwhelming it is for me to be sitting here between you two contemplating a normal life, a normal relationship and things like family and children?” Lauren asked, her voice choked with emotion.

Noah grinned. “Well, I’m not sure you could consider our relationship normal, but I get what you’re saying.”

“I don’t care what anyone else thinks,” Lauren said in a determined voice. “All I care about is what you two think and what you want and that I’m able to make you happy.”

Liam reached up to pull her down into a kiss. “You make me very happy, baby. Never doubt that for a minute.”

She melted into him, kissing him back with the same fervor. Against her back, Noah’s lips pressed into her flesh as he kissed a trail down her spine.

“Do we have time before we go out to the Colters’?” she asked in a husky voice.

Liam’s eyes gleamed with purpose just as Noah’s hands slid to her hips. “We’ll make time.”

LIAM and Noah packed the back of the SUV with their bags and then went back to the hotel room to get Lauren. Both men were wearing shoulder harnesses with pistols holstered and light leather jackets to cover both holster and gun.