Epilogue

Epilogue

A bigail planted her good hand behind her and pushed. If she had to stay another day in bed, she would not be held accountable for the amount of crazy lady she would unleash on two very unsuspecting, stubborn men.

A small part of her loved all the attention, especially the sponge baths, but enough was enough. It had been a week since the shootout south of the Mexican border and she had work to do. She had to admit one thing, though. There was a definite upside to the extra time to work through the knotted mess of thoughts on what had gone down in Mexico.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Flustered, she huffed out a breath and settled against the pillow Caden had put behind her thirty minutes before.

"Nowhere, I guess."

"Our patient trying to flee again?"

"I think we need to tie her down if we mean to keep her still for much longer."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea, Reece."

"Ummm… a bum arm here. Not to mention some odd bruising along my neck and chest." Abigail pointed to her face then her wrapped and cradled arm.

"Ahhh…now you notice and realize why you're still our prisoner."

"I notice it—the pain is ever-present."

"Do you need more meds, sweetheart?" The bed dipped from the weight of Caden settling on one side and Reece on the other. The smell of freshly bathed men filled her nostrils and it was all she could do to not close her eyes and turn into putty. And they knew it, judging by the matching smirks that played at the corners of their lips.

"You can't keep me here forever." She tried for her stubborn face but they didn't bite.

"If we had it our way, that's exactly where you'd be. In our bed forever."

"In our lives, in our hearts and in our home," Reece added with a tender look in his eyes.

"That's already been settled, boys. But I am curious. What do we tell to everyone in the office? My sister? Am I dating you both? Or…?"

"You belong to us both. Dating? Nah, you're ours and you're home right where you're at."

"As for your sister, I think she already knows. She's been calling nonstop checking up on you. She knows. Plus we straight out told her. We have nothing to hide." Reece wound his fingers through hers.

"We don't care what anyone else has to say in the office or anywhere. Perks of being the bosses." Caden winked.

Abigail shifted and misplaced her weight, catching herself on her bad arm.

"Sss," she hissed.

"Here, let me make it better." Reece peppered feather-light kisses up her bandaged arm, then ever so tenderly placed a kiss beside where the bullet had torn through her flesh.

Reece pulled back, all playing gone from his expression. "Abigail, we are your family now. This house is your home. Our home. I know it's fast and I don't blame you if you want to take a step back."

What made him think that?

Reece continued. "One of us would marry you right here right now if you'd say yes."

"He's right. We want to seal the deal." Caden followed his friends lead and rested a hand on her flat stomach. "I think you know how we feel about you. We've wanted you since the day you walked into our office with the cutest smile and the worst résumé we've ever read."

Abigail cringed. They had her there, but how intriguing they wanted her from day one. The feeling was mutual.

She cleared her throat. "You know, I guess in a way this whole screwed up mess is a blessing in disguise."

Reece tipped her chin so she was looking at him. "If it makes you feel better, babe. But in reality, we weren't going to wait much longer before claiming you. Caden would have made damn sure I got my head on straight. You know that."

She did. Fate had the biggest damn sense of humor or she had a twisted take on life. Either way she looked at it, she still got two of the hottest guys a woman could ever dream to have as her own.

"Help me up."

Both men stood. Reece rounded the bed and grasped her good hand while Caden supported her with an arm around her waist. Overkill, but she let them have their way.

"You can go back to sitting the way you were." She ran her good hand down the front of her borrowed cotton T and took a moment to gain her balance. Dusk moved into night long ago, but with all the rest she'd had recently, sleep was the last thing on her mind.

She slowly walked to the end of the bed and gingerly worked the sling holding her arm in place off her shoulder. Caden moved to stop her, but she stabbed him with a don't-even-try look that had him sitting back down at the head of the bed.

Gently, she fisted the hem of her shirt and lifted it first of her good arm, then slid it down and over her injury. She might be aching, but she had something else in mind for the pain.

"Easy, baby. Let me help."

"Not so fast there, Mr. Sterling." She eyed him with her sexiest look, daring him to move.

She slipped the cotton off her arm and tossed it on top of her sling.

She stood before them in nothing but a pair of black silk panties the guys had picked up for her after returning Stateside.

Like hungry wolves, their gazes devoured her from head to toe.

"Come here." Reece's expression darkened and his voice turned husky. "Let us get a closer look."

She anchored her thumb into the soft waistband of her panties and worked them down her waist, one inch at a time. The torture played out on her men's faces and she loved every torturous second of it.

With one final pull the silk pooled at her feet and she stood bare before them. "I don't want to leave. In fact, I think we should get started on that family we talked about." She licked a thumb and forefinger and took one of her nipples between her fingers. The sensitive flesh pebbled beneath her touch. She moaned, wanting it to be her men's touch instead of her own.

Caden soaked in the view and stroked a hand down the front of his jeans, his erection jailed by the rough material. He popped the button and the hiss of his zipper played a beautiful tune to her ears. Reece was next, but he was an all-in or nothing kind of guy. He stood, his gaze never leaving hers, stripped off his sweatpants and returned to his position at the head of the bed.

"But I do have one question." Abigail raised one knee, then the other and crawled onto the bed between her men. She touched her lips to Reece's first, then Caden's.

Tenderness and passion played in their eyes and she almost felt guilty about what she was about to say.

She gave a charming laugh followed by a devilish grin. "So Mr. Sterling, Mr. Hunter…are you ready for a new set of adventures?"

"Come here, you dirty rebel," Caden growled and she laughed as he devoured her lips with a searing kiss that left her soul claimed.

She fell into Reece's waiting arms and gave herself over to loving her two bosses.

T hank you for reading Protective Heroes! Do you also love the forbidden romance trope?

Check out the next limited edition collection in the Fierce Heroes collection series to find eight stories featuring a variety of tropes all wrapped in a forbidden romance love story.