Chapter 7

Seven

Dyson

T he car ride home was silent. And for the first time in my life, I wished I was better at communicating. I hadn't been able to respond to Eeli's announcement back at the bar right before we spotted Clara. Both of us thought we had a claim to the woman currently sitting in the back seat.

The odd thing was when Eeli countered my claim on Clara with one of his own, I hadn't felt any of the things I'd expect to feel under the circumstances.

But the possessive jealousy I would have expected never came. If anything, when Eeli stated how he felt about Clara, an odd feeling of…rightness settled over me.

If I took the time to think about it, I'm sure I would have chalked it up to being completely fucked up. Whatever drove my need to be close to Eeli at all times must be fucking with my instincts, too.

But I couldn't make that argument. Not after the way I reacted to that Will guy in the back of the bar. I wanted to rip his head off when he put his hands on Clara. Even while my more rational side recognized and appreciated that Will was trying to protect her, a primal need to stake my claim on her took over.

"Where are we?" Clara's voice came from behind me, pulling me from my thoughts.

I glanced in the rearview mirror. She'd been dozing in the backseat long before we hit Hardwood city limits, but now she'd popped up to peer into the darkness surrounding us.

Eeli twisted around toward her. "Home."

Another glance in the mirror showed me she squinted out the window as I pulled the SUV up in front of the cabin Eeli and I had been living in since we got back.

"Are we dropping one of you off?" Confusion clouded her tone.

Eeli and I exchanged a quick look before we hopped out of the car, almost in unison. I grabbed the handle of the back door and before she could protest or say a word, I had my hands on Clara's hips and had her body sliding down mine before setting her on the ground.

Eeli came around the vehicle and grabbed Clara's hand. He pulled her to the porch, up the steps, and to the door. I came up behind them as Eeli swung the door open.

"Guys?" Clara dug in her heels and lurched backward as Eeli tried to tug her inside. She landed smack in the middle of my chest. And damned if it didn't feel good to have her body against mine.

I placed my hands on her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. "We need to talk, babe."

She peeked up at me over her shoulder. "Are you guys going to lecture me?"

I could feel the grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. "Can't say a lecture was what I had in mind."

I raised my eyes to Eeli and found amusement lurking there, too. Something eased in my chest. Something hard and tight that I didn't even realize was there until it started to unravel.

"Let's get inside." I used my hands on her shoulders to propel her forward.

Eeli shut the door behind us and I ushered her into the open concept living room. With a measure of regret, I let her go. She sank onto the brown couch that took up most of the back wall of the living room.

For the first time since we'd moved in here, I felt restless inside these walls. One of the reasons this cabin had been empty was because the windows were small and high up. Most people preferred walls of windows that made the forest and hills and meadows feel like part of their homes.

Eeli and I had preferred the cabin just the way it came. We felt less exposed, less vulnerable here.

But now, with my restlessness mounting with our woman so close, I suddenly found myself longing for the forest, the sky, the green earth. And glancing around the place—the well-worn furniture, the layer of dust along the ceiling, the lack of windows that brought the outdoors inside—struck me as wrong. This was not the place I wanted to bring her home to.

Eeli's shoulder brushed mine as he came to stand at my side. For long moments we stood together, looking down at Clara, none of us speaking.

Shit. I knew we had to talk, but fuck if I knew how to get this conversation started. Did we ask her to pick one of us? And then how would that work? Eeli and I still couldn't stand being apart. The need for Clara might be growing, but it didn't diminish my need for the reassurance of Eeli's presence.

Honestly, discovering my need for this woman was about the worst thing that could have happened right now. Add to that, Eeli believed she was also his soulmate, and the whole situation had clusterfuck written all over it.

But here we were.

"So if you guys aren't going to lecture me, are you going to do something besides stand there and stare at me?" Clara shifted and kicked off her black and white Converse sneakers. She yanked off a hoodie and tossed it so it hung over one of the living room chairs. She wiggled back into the cushions and pulled her feet up, tucking them underneath her as she propped an elbow on the armrest and rested her chin on her hand.

I couldn't fight a smile. I loved that she was so obviously not intimidated by the two of us, even though we were all but looming over her. That she looked so at home in our space caused something warm to unfurl in my chest.

I glanced at Eeli. His lips were pressed together, his eyes narrowed on her.

"Seriously, you guys are starting to freak me out. I know you're big on the whole strong, silent thing..." she waved a hand between us, "but this is ridiculous."

I shrugged and moved to the chair closest to her spot on the couch. I dropped to the edge, my elbows to my knees, my hands hanging between them. "Sorry. We just don't know what to say."

Eeli moved to sit on the coffee table so he was directly across from her, his knees inches from where she sat. We had her cornered, but not in a predatory way, though I'd be lying if I said some of that wasn't there. Instead, it felt comfortable and right—the three of us together, our closeness and body language suggesting intimacy.

"Did you bring me here to talk about my band?" she asked.

"No," Eeli said. "But we'll get to that eventually."

"Oo-kay.' Her gaze darted between us and her teeth sank into her lower lip, the gesture so unconsciously sexy, I had to fight back a groan.

Fuck. Was this wrong? Every instinct in my body might be telling me Clara was mine. But there was still the tiny part of me that remembered she was also my best friend's little sister.

She leaned forward. "Is this about the fact that we seem to have some weird triangle thing going on between the three of us?"

My breath left me in a rush and a quick look at Eeli showed me I wasn't the only one shocked at her words.

I hadn't thought about what it meant that Eeli and I both wanted to stake our claim on her. Hell, we'd only figured it out a few hours ago. I hadn't even really dwelled on the fact that I wasn't bothered by Eeli's feelings for the woman I knew in my heart was the one woman made just for me.

But here Clara was just throwing it out there.

"You think there's something going on between the three of us?" I managed to ask.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know if wires got crossed or if there's something wrong with me or what. But when you and I were out in the woods the other day, Dyson, made me feel something so deep inside me it scared the crap out of me. Everything in me told me you're mine."

I rubbed a hand over my chest. Damn, those words hit me with the force of a sledgehammer. Fear squeezed me in a vice. My desire to capture her lips in a long, sow kiss was so strong I could barely breathe.

I reached for her. A growl left my throat as I scooped her from the couch and sank down in her spot, cradling her against my chest.

She didn't fight me. She rubbed her cheek against my shoulder and cuddled in closer.

"You really do feel it, too?" she asked in a whisper.

I dropped my forehead to hers. "I do."

And in that instant, the words felt as binding as any wedding vows ever could. Without a doubt, this was my soulmate. I would do anything to keep her with me and keep her safe. We belonged to each other.

Before I could do what I most wanted to do—begin exploring every inch of her with my hands and my mouth—a sound invaded our private moment. I didn't recognize it until it came again—a growl from Eeli.

Shit, shit, shit. I pulled my gaze from Clara to find Eeli staring at the woman in my arms with a single-minded, laser-sharp focus. Was he feeling my feelings for Clara because of the strange tie that bound us together ever since that last mission?

Before I could figure out how to handle Eeli, Clara took control of the situation. She lifted a hand from my chest and reached out to him. She gave a tug to indicate she wanted him to move and he obliged. He sank to the couch next to us.

Clara wiggled in my lap, and this time there was no hiding the quiet groan as her movements against me brought my body stirring to life. She moved enough that she could rest her cheek against Eeli's shoulder and look up at him as she kept her body draped across me.

"The odd thing was, after Dyson left us to go get lunch the day you came to help me with my car, I started to feel the same feelings for you that I'd felt for Dyson." She reached up and stroked Eeli's cheek. His eyes dropped closed for a moment as he reveled in her touch. After a few seconds, he opened them again so he could stare down at her, his dark eyes burning with an intensity I recognized—it was the same burning I could feel behind my own eyes when I looked at her.

Clara's gaze came back to my face. "I've been avoiding you guys the last few days because I was so confused." She shrugged helplessly, shaking her head. "How could I feel such an intense...craving...for both of you? I figured there was something wrong with me."

Anger pushed its way through my body like a tidal wave and I wanted to roar. Everything in me hated her denial of the feelings between us. Between all of us.

"There's nothing wrong with you," I growled.

She smiled softly and leaned up to press a fast kiss on my lips.

Her action shocked me, leaving the air stuck in my lungs, unable to find its way out for several long seconds.

I swiveled my head to look at Eeli. He stared back, confusion swirling through his eyes.

Had I just lied to her? How could this whole fucked up situation work?

I turned my attention back to the woman draped over both of us. "Clara, I don't think there's anything wrong with you. But…"

I shot a desperate look at Eeli. I rather face down enemy fire than try to talk this shit through.

His gaze held no answers. He dropped his eyes to the woman we held and opened his mouth, once and then again. A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he never managed to get a word out.

Clara looked back and forth between us. I wanted to give her the words to reassure her, to tell her it was going to be alright. But I didn't want to lie. How the hell could we ever make this fucked up situation work?

Holding her body close to mine, though, all I could think was—how could we not? Unless Eeli and I could find a way to live apart, and either of us could bear to live without Clara, how could we not make this work?