A huge grin broke across Eric’s face. “Now that you mention it, Belle has very expensive tastes. Do you know how much this master bedroom renovation will cost? We need the money just to feed her need to make things pretty.”

Eric had accepted him back. Kell was finally coming home. A weight lifted off him and he felt lighter than ever.

From the other side of the room, Belle looked up and her eyes sparkled as she caught sight of him. He could see her relieved sigh. She’d thought he wouldn’t return. He couldn’t blame her for fearing he would walk away for good. He’d started to a hundred times. But the thought of never holding her again had stopped him. He intended to prove to her that he was a changed man. He’d changed for her. Because of her.

After a quick hug, Belle left Kinley and approached him with a wariness in her eyes that saddened him. She slid into his embrace, but didn’t give him her usual full-body cuddle.

Obviously, she had no idea he’d come back to stay.

“Hey, Kellan. I’m so glad you could make it back for the engagement party.” Her smile was gorgeous but didn’t quite reach her eyes. “How was Chicago?”

His whole body went on alert the minute she got near him. Blood thrummed through his system, racing to get to his cock because it had been far too long since he’d been inside her. “Chicago was fine, but DC was a little more interesting.”

Everyone stopped, all three of them staring at him. It was good to know he could still surprise them.

Eric reared back in shock. “What on earth did you do in DC?”

“Shit. Did you kill someone?” Tate looked wide-eyed. “Because you really should have called us, man. We would have helped bury the body.”

It was good to know he could count on Tate if he ever needed to murder someone.

Kell laughed. “I didn’t kill anyone.” Though he had laid a couple of his demons to rest. “I went to see my father.”

Belle had tears in her eyes as she looked up at him. “You wanted to mend the rift between you?”

He hadn’t changed that much. “Hell, no. I looked the asshole in the eye and told him what I thought of him. And then I told him I wanted to be part of the family again—and not because I’m desperate to get in good with dear ol’ dad.”

Belle reached for him. “You want to know your brother.”

His brother. Harrison Kent was a toddling ball of energy being raised by nannies and housekeepers. He would be sent to boarding school in a few years, poor guy. His brother was innocent, and he needed to know that he always had a place with someone who would care no matter what. Kellan intended to give his brother what he’d never had—someone who understood him, someone who loved him for who he was, not what he could accomplish or who he could crush on his rise to the top.

“I do. I don’t know how much contact Dad and Lila will let me have, but I’ll take whatever I can get.”

He’d finally figured something out. He didn’t have to be perfect for the people he loved. He just had to be there. With them. Through everything.

“I’m so glad,” Belle said. She kissed him on the cheek. “Kellan, I’m truly happy for you.”

“How long is this party going to take?” He was anxious to get to the good part.

“It’s winding down now,” Belle explained. “Kinley’s getting tired. The pregnancy is rough on her, but she’s so happy I don’t think she cares.”

Tate leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll have the caterers start wrapping up.”

Eric shook his hand. “Good to have you back. I’ll start gently moving people toward the exits. We have a lot to talk about.”

They did.

And Belle had to answer a question before she spent the night serving her Masters.

All three of them.


* * * *


Belle tried to calm her shaky nerves as she let Sir back inside. The house was quiet, the guests and caterers gone. The place was back into shape for the next day. She was going to start meeting with clients tomorrow and her first ones would likely prove to be fairly easy, since Eric and Tate wanted her to decorate their brand new offices here in New Orleans.

She would miss having them with her all day, but she wouldn’t miss the masses of paperwork and computers underfoot and on her grandmother’s antique surfaces. They were all starting fresh.

How long would Kellan stay with them?

She patted her puppy’s head and settled him into his little dog bed they kept in the kitchen. She would have let him sleep in her room, but Eric had nearly killed the little thing by rolling on top of him because Sir wouldn’t stay off the bed. Despite the fact that their new bed was built big enough for four, Sir always tried to sleep right against someone.

Was Kellan going to take her up on her offer? Was he going to visit her for sex, then go back to his life in Chicago? It had seemed all right when she’d made the offer weeks ago, but now she wasn’t sure she could surrender herself to him all night, then watch him leave the next morning.

After discovering that none of the men were in the living room or the library, Belle started up the stairs. She’d watched them talking together through the end of the party. They’d had their heads together, and their conspiratorial air had given her pause. What were they up to? They’d given every appearance of plotting and planning together. Had they been deciding how to tell her she’d have two husbands, not three?

Belle stopped just short of the third floor. When she closed her eyes, she could still see Kellan lying on her bedroom floor, wounded. Bleeding. That night, she’d been so scared he would die. She’d pressed her hands to his body, as if trying to push her life force into him. She’d refused to let him go then. She wasn’t sure she could do it now.

No matter what he told her tonight, she couldn’t give up on him. He had a second chance. So did she. Belle intended to fight harder than ever.

Resolve settled over her like a warm blanket. Kell was evolving. He’d gone to DC and confronted his father. He’d reached out to start a relationship with his brother. Those two things had been inconceivable a few weeks before. But now, Kellan was accepting his past in a way he never had. She had to believe he’d come around in time. She would wear him down, give him so much love he wouldn’t be able to say no to her in the end.

She opened the door, ready to don something sexy and fight for her reluctant man as she seduced the other two.

But Kellan stood in the middle of the room, looking absolutely perfect in his suit and tie. Eric and Tate flanked him. Someone had transformed the place.

Belle looked around in complete wonder. “How did you do this?”

Everywhere she looked, the room seemed soft and romantic. At least a hundred candles lit the room with gauzy splendor. And dozens of bouquets of her favorite flowers, calla lilies, lay all around the room.

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Kellan asked, his voice tight with some unnamed emotion. “This place is magical.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I thought it was haunted.”

“Not anymore,” Eric said with a gentle smile. “Not since we found a real medium to cleanse the place.”

Tate frowned. “I knew I should have researched Helena… Geez.”

Belle laughed. These men were the magical ones, all so different and yet somehow they made each other complete. She couldn’t live without any of them. She hoped like hell she wouldn’t have to.

Her heart nearly stopped when Kellan dropped to one knee.

“Belle, I know you’ve already answered this question for the other two, but will you marry me? Will you be my wife, my sweet submissive, and my partner in life?”

Shock broke through her. Her heart caught. She’d never imagined that she’d hear those words tonight. Tears sprang up and fell to her cheeks.

She bit her lip. “Well, the other two didn’t actually ask me.”

A gorgeous smile lit Tate’s face as he dropped to one knee, too. “Belle, will you marry me? Will you be my wife, my best friend, the person who grounds me and shows me that life is best lived through the heart?”

He really had a way with words when he wanted to.

Eric stepped forward with a velvet jewelry box in hand, though it looked too big for a ring. He lifted the lid and diamonds sparkled in the candlelight. “Belle, will you say yes? We’re a package deal.”

She gasped at the gorgeous diamond choker and three interlocking rings. A wedding ring and a collar. Proof that she belonged to them and they belonged to her.

“Yes, yes, and yes. A million times yes.” She gave them a tearful smile, joy bursting through her. Then she turned to Kellan, looking into his eyes. “You came back for me.”

He closed the distance between them and gripped her shoulders. “You are my home, Belle. I’ll always come back for you. I will always choose you.”

Belle didn’t think she could be any happier. She opened to him as he swooped down and his lips took hers in a kiss that promised he would choose their future over his past.

As she sank into him, he kissed her again, this time sliding his tongue against hers and deepening the contact. He skimmed his hands down her body, lowering the zipper on her dress. The electric current of arousal flooded her system. Cool air hit her skin, but nothing could cut the sizzle from the heat of his fingers on her bare flesh. Her body was suffused with it. Kellan traced the line of her newly bared spine, bringing the dress with it.

She felt someone move in behind her, another body against hers.

“You looked so beautiful tonight, baby,” Tate said. “That dress was gorgeous on you, though everything you wear is amazing. But I like you best with nothing but this dazzling skin. Sometimes I just stare at you and wonder how you got to be so luscious.”