Xander bent and tossed me over his shoulder and went up the stairs. His arm banded over the backs of my thighs. I wasn’t going anywhere and this time—carrying me like a sack of grain—I didn’t resist.
“What about Ralph?” Roger called.
“Jail. We’ll share details later,” Tyler said. I saw his legs as he followed us up the steps. “Emily comes first.”
I didn’t hear any response from below, but Xander made quick work of the stairs and we were down the hall, our bedroom door kicked shut before I could even think straight.
Instead of being placed on the bed as I’d expected, Xander slowly lowered me to my feet, my body sliding down the entire length of his. My nipples pebbled at the hard feel of him.
“Is he really in jail?” I looked between the two.
“He is,” Tyler said with a resolute nod of his head.
“I didn’t know you were going to go after him,” I admitted.
He frowned. “What did you think we’d do?”
“I’d talk with him. Reason with him as you watched from afar.”
Xander spun me back to face him, gripped my arms. He even bent at the waist so our eyes were level. “There’s no reasoning with that bastard. If you think we’d let you get within ten feet of him, then you don’t know the first thing about either of your husbands.”
A dark intensity burned in his dark eyes. A fierceness that wasn’t directed at me, but was for me.
“I am… I am just starting to see that,” I replied. “Our marriage, I wanted it because I needed your protection.”
“If you think we’ll give you up now because Ralph’s in jail—”
I cut off Tyler’s words. “No. That’s just it. I married you so you could save me, but I want to keep you because this,” I waved my hand in the small space between us. “This is so much more.”
“You saved us right back, sweetheart,” Xander admitted.
I frowned. “How could I save you? Look at you both. You don’t need saving.”
The idea made me laugh.
Xander scooped me up and sat down on the bed, settled me into his lap, my head tucked beneath his chin. “You are so brave. So strong. Me?” He gave me a quick squeeze. “Not so much. I let what happened to me in the past have a hold on me, a cruel grip, that made me bitter and miserable. I was content living on the ranch away from people.”
“He was downright cranky,” Tyler added. He came to kneel before me. “He’s not that grumpy anymore, is he, baby?”
The corner of Tyler’s mouth tipped up and I smiled. “He’s still bossy,” I admitted.
Xander angled me back so I was staring up at him. His face, while all harsh angles and planes, wasn’t… rough as it had been even a few days before. It was clear in his eyes that he
wasn’t haunted any longer.
“You like me bossy.”
I swallowed, thinking about all of the ways he was bossy. “Yes, I do.”
“As for me, sweetheart, I grew up with two fathers. They groomed me to the custom and I wanted to share a bride. I had no brother to do that with, but Xander became my brother. Not by blood, but a bond much stronger.”
He looked down and I saw some of his confidence slip. “I see the two of you together, how you respond to his touch, to his command. I’m not like that.”
“I don’t need two husbands like that. Xander’s enough that way, trust me.”
Xander lowered his head and kissed me, a quick brush of his lips over mine. It was more of a tease than anything else. He sat me back up and tucked me into him again before I could even think to ask for more.
“You balance each other. You balance me.” Reaching up, I stroked Tyler’s cheek. “I want both of you. I need you.”