, she was really intimidated by the idea of sleeping with them. She knew they were far more experienced than she was.
Gavin’s touch grew bolder, eating away at her self-control. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to pull his hand from her leg.
He looked at her in surprise.
“I can’t sleep with you,” she blurted out. All three men went silent and turned to look at her, their gazes shocked. “Yet,” she quickly added. “I can’t sleep with you yet. Don’t get me wrong, I want to. Dear Lord, how I want to,” she muttered, rubbing her thighs together to try and ease the ache in her pussy. “But being with the three of you, it’s so much to take in, and I just, sex will just, when I have sex with you all, I want to feel secure in us.”
They were silent for a long moment and she wondered if she’d ruined everything. Then Gavin nodded and Trace smiled. Surprisingly, it was Colin who looked serious.
“I understand, baby girl,” Gavin said, drawing her attention away from Colin. “I even agree that it’s a good idea.”
She flung her arms around his neck, holding him tight. “Thank you.”
“Whatever you need, baby girl, we only want what’s best for you,” he told her.
Sitting back, she took in a deep breath. “Thank you. I know it’s going to be hard, on all of us.”
“You know what they say,” Colin said with a sigh. “Love hurts.”
Trace elbowed him. “I don’t think they were talking about a hard-on, idiot,” he told him.
“Hey, you don’t know that,” Colin protested. She was glad to see him smiling once more.
“There is something else we need to talk about,” Gavin said seriously.
Lila sobered. “What’s that?”
Colin clasped her face in his hands. “Before we brought you back to Haven, we made it clear that you were under our protection. That means when we give you an order for your safety, like Gavin did outside, we expect you to listen and obey. If one of us had thrown a punch we could have hit you and done some real damage.”
“None of you would ever hurt me.” She knew that with every fiber of her being.
“Not the point, baby girl,” Gavin told her. “The next time you disobey you might end up hurt and that is not something any of us will allow. You should be over my knee right now, getting your butt tanned.”
Lila bit her lip, unable to deny the heat coursing through her at his words. What was wrong with her? She’d always known that the men of Haven took their responsibility towards their women seriously and that many women were spanked.
She’d never really thought about it much until she’d moved to college and realized how unique Haven was, and how safe she felt there. The women of Haven certainly weren’t downtrodden or submissive. They were some of the happiest, most content women she’d ever met.
There was no denying the surge of arousal she’d felt when Gavin’s hand landed on her butt. That take-charge attitude was something that always stirred her.
“You already spanked me,” she pointed out.
Gavin snorted in amusement. “You mean those few pats I gave you? That was just to calm you down and get your attention. However, I won’t spank you for what happened outside, this time. Next time, though, you will find yourself over one of our laps.”
“If you stay,” Colin said, “you’ll be agreeing to a relationship with all of us—and that includes accepting our discipline. We can’t change this part of ourselves, because we want nothing more than to keep you safe and healthy.”
“Couldn’t you just scold me?” she asked.
Gavin grinned. “Afraid not, baby girl, spankings work far better.”
“You know that as well as we do, Lila,” Trace pointed out, sounding far too reasonable. “Have you seen happier women than those who live in Haven?”
She shook her head. No, she hadn’t. And truthfully, her protests were more for show than anything else. Sure, she was a bit worried about how painful and humiliating a spanking might be but she also loved knowing that Trace, Colin and Gavin would do whatever they had to in order to keep her safe.
“I love you guys so much. I want nothing more than to see where this goes. I’ll stay. But if things don’t work out, if I decide I need to leave, then you have to let me go.”
The three of them stared at her before breaking into wide grins.
“You won’t regret this, Lila. I promise,” Colin swore to her as they all gathered for one long, glorious embrace.