Page 193 of Theirs to Possess: The Marriage Claim

I’m shaking, trying to drag my breath under control while I make my way across the small distance to the door.

When I unlock it, Brennan is standing there, his gaze moving over me first, then over my shoulder to Dorian. There’s no heat in his eyes, no fight. Just that steady watchfulness that’s as much a part of him as his heartbeat.

Within moments, he returns his focus to me. “You’re okay?”

“I am.” Filled with gratitude that he cares, that he’d ride to my rescue without me even asking, I smile. “Thank you.”

“That asshole?—”

“Has been respectful.”

“Better fucking be before I make him regret the last month of his life.”

“Your timing could have been better.” Dorian shakes his head.

“You fucking deserve the interruption.”

Aware of the sudden awkwardness, I invite Brennan in.

Once we’re sealed off from the world around us, the three of us stand in my small living room, looking at each other.

The silence echoes with hurt, with distrust.

Dorian is the first to brave the tension. “She’s safe with me.” He meets his partner’s eyes. “With us.”

Theuslands heavy in the air, but it’s not contested.

“You fixed your fuckup? Fell on your sword before I could run you through with it?”

“I hope so.” He lifts a shoulder and studies me. “But only Isla can answer that.”

I look at Brennan. “He told me about Lena. And…” I still can’t believe it, making it difficult to get the words out. “And that he loves me.”

Brennan’s reaction is immediate—an almost imperceptible shift in his stance, like the floor just tilted under him. His gaze flicks to Dorian, sharp with surprise, and maybe a hint of pride. “About damn time.”

And it’s time for me to admit what’s been in my heart that I can no longer keep secret. “I love you, Dorian.”

Dorian’s eyes flare—quick, sharp—as if my words have just stolen the air from his lungs. For a moment, he doesn’t move, doesn’t even blink, like he’s replaying them in his head to make sure he didn’t imagine it. Then his mouth curves, slow and unguarded, as if this is more than he ever dared hope. “You…?”

“Yes.” I look at him, not hiding, not hedging. “I love you. Totally.”

The admission costs me nothing and everything.

“Fuck me.”

My heart tumbles. “And I love you, too,” I say to Brennan. I look between the man I married, and the one I can’t imagine my future without. “Both of you.”

For a beat, there’s nothing but the weight of my truth. And theirs as well.

Both men are looking at me as if they’d burn down the world to make this moment last forever.

“You know I love you, Isla.” Brennan nods, the barest dip of his chin. “Have from the moment I saw your courage in walking down the aisle.”

For that long? Has he really?

“And now, asshole,” he says to Dorian, “maybe you can actually look at yourself in the mirror.”

Without seeing a ghost?