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“You paint us as heartless,” Toren practically snarled, and Mehl’s own emotions caught with a similar fierceness. “And at the same time, you undervalue yourself.”

Her head whipped up. “I didn’t mean to do either. You’ve both been very kind. I only…I don’t want to impose myself upon you if you wish for time alone.”

So it wasn’t them, precisely. It was her fear of not belongingwiththem.

“Why shouldn’t you consider your own desires?” Mehl asked. “You have every right to express them.”

She froze, and for a moment, he thought she wouldn’t answer. Then her soft voice filled the space between them. “I dare not become attached, lest my own heart be broken. Once I give Toren an heir, my purpose here is done. But I won’t be gone. I would never abandon my child, so in the years to come, I’ll see you both constantly.”

Mehl longed to pull her into his arms, and from the way Toren vibrated with tension beside him, his husband likely fought back the same urge. “We would not intentionally hurt you.”

“Of course not.” Her lips trembled, giving Mehl another hint of the insecurity that goaded her. “But love doesn’t require multiple participants to cause pain. One’s own heart can do its worst damage alone. I learned that as a child longing fruitlessly for my father’s love, an emotion he could never give.”

Toren’s breath hissed out. “I am not like him. Neither of us are.”

Her free hand gripped the fabric of her skirt until her knuckles whitened. “Of course you aren’t. That’s not what I meant. It’s only…I wasted years trying to earn my father’s love. If I let myself turn into a lovesick fool, forever longing for you both against all odds, then I’ll become an annoyance and will cheat myself, too. I might miss a chance at happiness in the centuries ahead. Perhaps someday, I’ll find a merchant or a soldier to love. Even a minor noble, since I’m now a duchess.”

Mehl could have told her that those were…not the right words. Not with Toren’s mood. But before Mehl could intercede, Toren snapped, and between one breath and the next, he tugged Ria hard against him. “You’ll use the titleIgave you to find another man to fuck?”

She gasped. “I was speaking of love. Far in the future, if at all.”

“Didn’t I tell you earlier that you’re ours?” Toren demanded.

Mehl gripped his husband’s shoulder. Hard. “She didn’t understand the scope, Tor.”

Indeed, there was no reason that she would. Hadn’t Toren accused her of trying to trap them in a permanent bond the very first time they’d slept together? Even Mehl could see that their messages had been mixed amidst the chaos of it all. Her caution made sense.

Toren turned his head, and his heated gaze burned Mehl to the core. “Then it is time we show her.”

* * *

It was certain madness,but Toren could not allow Ria to contemplate some nebulous future mate. Not for a moment. She belonged with him and Mehl, and the length of their acquaintance truly meant nothing. Didn’t she feel the link between the three of them? Or was the problem that she felt too much?

Mehl’s hand fell away, and Toren shifted forward until Ria was trapped between his body and the door. “Tell me now if you wish to sleep alone. And I want to hearyourwish, not mine.”

Ria licked her lips again, and it took all of Toren’s control not to kiss her. “I…don’t,” she said. “I like sleeping with you two. But—”

“You don’t wish to become accustomed to it?” he interrupted.

Another slow lick over soft pink flesh. She sought to torment him.

“Exactly,” Ria whispered. “Once you’re done with me, I want some pride left.”

Toren gave in and nipped her lower lip with his teeth. At her gasp, he caught her gaze. Held it. “Dearest Ria. We’ll never be done with you.”

She let out a choked sound. “That’s quite a claim.”

Over Toren’s shoulder, Mehl spoke. “And a claim it is. If you’ll accept it.”

“I…” Her wide eyes shifted to Mehl, then back to Toren. “You can’t mean that the way it sounds. Unless you want more than one child? Surely not me as a woman.”

“If you’d like proof of how much I want you as a woman, I would be happy to take you now against this door,” Toren said, one hand slipping down to cup her ass. “So hard they’d hear your screams in the public corridors and none could deny your claiming. And I wouldn’t care if there was a child from it.”

Her breath hitched, and Toren’s heart stuttered and then raced at the truth that rang clearly beneath his desire. Down to his soul, he’d meant those words. His brother’s threat remained, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He, Mehl, and Ria were meant to be joined. Children or no children. He couldn’t let her go.

“You can brace her against me instead of the wall,” Mehl murmured by his ear. “I’m forever willing to keep our lady from feeling discomfort.”

Panting softly, Ria squirmed against him, and the mental image of slamming into her here while Mehl held her steady nearly made Toren come where he stood. But she cast a frantic glance back down the hallway where the guard protected the entrance to the family wing and then shook her head hard.