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  Shortly after I'd arrived in Helena, my search of the community canned goods storeroom hadn't yielded a single can, either. Maybe I just hadn't been looking in the right place. The storeroom was pretty vast.

  Watching Nick ferry the casserole dish over to the circular, polished oak table, which had already been set for three, and watching Blaine pull a large bowl of salad out of the fridge, I suddenly felt some kind of a joy bubble rising in my heart, which was the only way I could think to describe it.

  "Well, I think you've both earned one."

  Expressions intensely curious, to say the least, they both asked me one what at the same time.

  Ambling on over to them, I smiled. "One kiss...one for each of you."

  Nick was closest to me, so he got first kiss. With his expression kind of an intense, serious one, he slowly pulled me into his arms, searching my face while he did so. I imagined my own expression was kind of an intense, serious one at this point. Butterflies were rioting in my stomach just to be in his arms, so close to him, to be smelling his clean, woodsy scent even above the delicious smell of our dinner.

  When he brought his mouth to mine, the feel of his lips, so firm and warm, made me curl my toes in my sandals. I was in heaven, only I'd never even imagined heaven to be so pleasurable.

  At first, Nick kissed me with absolute tenderness, seeming to be tasting my lips, savoring them. However, after just a short while, he probed my lips apart, an action somehow so deliciously intimate that I curled my toes again. Then, with a low growl rumbling deep in his broad chest, he began kissing me with increasing intensity, beginning to explore my mouth with his tongue.

  In response, I pressed my body into the front of his, stunned to feel that he was growing hard already. I briefly thought back to what Tracy had said about shifters, realizing she hadn't been exaggerating in the least.

  The quietest throat clear, or maybe it had been a very faint low growl, reminded me that Blaine was in the kitchen with Nick and me. Feeling a bit rude and neglectful, I broke Nick's and my kiss, and made my way over to Blaine, teasingly asking him if he wanted a kiss, too.

  In response, he pulled me into his arms with a definite growl this time, brought his mouth to my own, and began kissing me hungrily. And not roughly, exactly, but hungrily, with just enough intensity to let me know how badly he wanted me.

  Feeling fires of passion igniting low in my belly by this point, I definitely wanted Blaine, too. And Nick. My mind was already spinning off in a few different directions concerning the two of them, and different things the three of us might do if and when we shared a bed together, which was starting to look like a more definitive when than if.

  However, still having concerns about my inexperience in the bedroom department, and possibly wanting to talk those concerns over with Nick and Blaine, I didn't want to move too fast. So, after a little while, I broke my kiss with Blaine, making him give a faint groan of displeasure. I didn't exactly want to stop, either, and I told him that.

  "But maybe we should just ease into things."

  He said that was just fine, and Nick echoed the sentiment, though I got the feeling that both of them might have preferred that we were easing into things a little faster. Nonetheless, it seemed clear that they were willing to wait until I caught up to their desired pace.

  Over salad, rolls, and the casserole they'd made, which tasted better than I'd even been fantasizing about, the three of us didn't speak much, but that was fine. The silence wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was, however, kind of charged with something, some kind of residual electricity, left over from our kissing, passing between Nick, Blaine, and me.

  All throughout the meal, the three of us stole glances at each other, with me periodically looking to my left at Blaine, and to my right at Nick. I completely couldn't help it. With light from two tall taper candles that Nick had lit dancing in their eyes, I just felt as if the two of them were unusually magnetic, almost pulling my gaze to the both of them. They clearly felt the same way about me, too, if the intense looks they were both giving me from under their lashes were any kind of proof.

  Not to my surprise at all, but somehow to my strange delight, I saw that Blaine's table manners were a bit lacking, but he was trying, which I found somehow further endearing. It wasn't like he was a total caveman; he'd put his napkin in his lap after Nick and I had, and he wasn't chewing with his mouth open or anything outright gross like that; but the way he ate, sort of leaning over his plate a bit and taking large bites, highlighted his state of being a bit rough around the edges.

  He didn't hold his fork quite properly, either, holding it with a completely closed grip, like one might use when holding a shovel. Also, and maybe I found this most endearing of all, though I knew certainly not everyone would find it so, he'd brought a bottle of whiskey to the table to fill glasses for himself and Nick, which he'd done. But a couple of times, he absentmindedly picked up the whole bottle itself and took a swig, as if this was maybe how he was accustomed to drinking his whiskey during dinner.

  He certainly was a mud bucket of sorts, but I was beginning to feel like he was my mud bucket. I was at least beginning to feel like I badly wanted him to be my mud bucket, and no other woman's. I was beginning to strongly feel the same about Nick, too, although since he wasn't a mud bucket, I'd have to think of a unique nickname for him later.

  Once I'd finished my second helping of casserole, something I never would have dreamed of doing during my training days, Nick asked if I wanted any more of anything, or maybe some dessert; but I said “no, thank you, pretty stuffed.”

  "I might take another splash of wine, though...or even another full glass."

  In addition to fantasizing about hearty chicken-and-rice casserole during my trek to Kentucky, I'd also dreamed about crisp, chilled chardonnay. And now that I was finally enjoying it, I just couldn't resist a second glass.

  While I sipped it, Nick knocked back the remainder of his second whiskey, neat, and Blaine took a few more drinks from the bottle, neither of them wincing in the least. I'd personally never been able to take even a mini-sip of whiskey without outright grimacing.

  I was maybe halfway through my wine when Nick said that he and Blaine wanted to talk to me about something and then ask me something. Heart soaring, I sensed that the question would be in regard to me moving in. However, my soaring heart was soon to plummet.

  CHAPTER 13

  Before Nick could speak again, asking me what he and Blaine wanted to ask me, a loud knock sounded at the front door, which was around the corner and down a long hallway from the kitchen.

  Frowning so hard he was almost glowering, he rose from his seat. "Sorry, Eva. One second."

  Whoever it was that was knocking on the front door knocked again before Nick had even made it to the hallway, making me think that some very urgent situation was going on somewhere in Helena.

  It turned out to be a very urgent situation just outside of Helena, maybe a half-mile beyond the walls. A dozen or so Helenian shifters had come across just as many Borderliners, and a battle was currently raging. Nick and Brent had to go immediately, although they each took a second to brush a quick kiss against my lips before they did so.

  A little worried for their safety, even though I knew they were both incredibly strong shifters, I paced around a little, finishing the rest of my wine. After that, I poured a third glass, almost without even being aware of doing the action, completely preoccupied with thoughts about what might be happening during the fight.

  I'd just finished the third glass when I decided that I was just going to stay put for the evening, no matter how late Blaine and Nick got home, and no matter that they hadn't formally asked me to move in with them yet. I was pretty sure they'd been about to, and besides, with no cell phones, if I went home, I'd have to wait until morning to find out if all was okay, and if they were okay.

  Over the course of the next hour, I cleaned up the kitchen; did the dishes, put the leftover food away, got it back out again, nibb
led on a few more bites of salad and casserole, and somehow, unbelievably, knocked back almost an entire fourth glass of wine during all this, not even realizing that it was indeed my fourth until I'd nearly finished it and caught sight of the fifth-full bottle on the table.

  Feeling incredibly stupid yet giggly at the same time, I realized I was drunk, and for the very first time in my life. I'd been buzzy before, but never drunk. And now I'd somehow gotten that way without even realizing I was heading in that direction. Whether because I'd had a large dinner, or because of my preoccupation about Nick and Blaine, the alcohol seemed to hit me all at once.

  Thinking that I'd probably better get off my feet before I fell off them, I made my way out to the spacious living room, head spinning, and had a seat on the couch, pulling a dark gray knitted blanket over myself.

  At some point, probably within twenty minutes or so, I dozed off, waking what felt like not a very long time later to the sound of footsteps coming down the hardwood hallway that led to the living room.

  Blaine reached me first, scooped me up in his arms, and spoke in a low voice near my ear. "You look so beautiful when you're asleep...or passed out, as the case may be. We saw that wine bottle on the table. Naughty girl."

  Something about hearing Blaine call me a naughty girl in his gruff, gravelly voice sent a shiver of something absolutely delicious racing down my spine.

  However, still thoroughly drunk and not wanting to look him in the eyes, I buried my face against his hard chest. "Just tell me that you, Nick, and all the rest of the Helena shifters are fine."

  "We're all fine...can't say the same for a few of the Borderliners...but are you fine?"

  Sighing faintly, I found I still couldn't lift my face from his chest. "I somehow got drunk, which is not like me at all. Please believe me...I don't have a drinking problem. I've never even had more than two drinks in one night before."

  From somewhere beside us, Nick spoke in a low, soothing voice, and I felt a hand that I was pretty sure was his begin to smooth my hair.

  "Let's get you upstairs to the spare bedroom."

  Now I lifted my face, wanting to look at Nick's own.

  "No. I just feel like I want to be held all night. Can we all sleep in the same bed? I mean...." Hiccuping twice, I paused briefly. "I mean...unless that might be too difficult for you both...just to hold me all night without doing much else for right now."

  Nick leaned in and brushed a brief, tender kiss against my lips. "With a few thick blankets between you and me, and you and Blaine, I think that should be fine."

  I didn't want to overly frustrate either of them, but I did just feel like I wanted to be held. And Nick's idea of thick blankets between us did seem like a good solution.

  Once Blaine carried me upstairs and put me in Nick's bed, the two of them got me a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring so I could pull them tight to fit, and then they left the room and changed their own clothes while I was changing.

  By the time they both reentered the room, both clad in t-shirts and sweats like I was, and both of them carrying thick blankets, I was feeling more than a bit chatty, with my head still spinning from the wine. And once the two of them had turned off the lamps and had crawled into bed on either side of me, placing the thick blankets between our lower bodies, I launched into a rapid recitation of all the thoughts I'd been thinking while changing.

  "I just want to tell the two of you a few things. Number one, I think I'm falling in love with you both. Number two, I want you both to make love to me at some point...probably not tonight, but maybe soon. I already decided that, while sober...that I want you both to make love to me at some point.

  “Number three, even though I want you both, I'm kind of nervous about the whole thing, because I've only had one sexual experience, and it was very bad and painful, and I'm afraid of that happening again, and I'm also afraid of not knowing how to do things right and somehow displeasing the both of you.

  “Thing four, could we put up some kind of signs all around Southern Kentucky, saying something like Helena: A Safe Community. And then maybe general directions. I just think it would be helpful if good-hearted, non-dangerous travelers like I used to be, and like Tracy and Chris used to be, could know that there's a safe community not far away they can go to. Also, increasing our numbers might eventually give us more strength in numbers against the Borderliners and anyone else that wants to fight us.

  “Also, I'm hoping that some new community members might provide a dating pool for Chris." Stomach lurching in a very sudden sort of way, I paused. "Also...I think I'm going to be sick."

  Blaine had me in the bathroom within seconds and held my hair back while I vomited almost pure wine into the toilet.

  When I was done, he even flushed the toilet for me, pulled me onto his lap, and began stroking my hair, holding me to his chest with one arm. "All done now."

  I really was falling in love with him, and deeply. That hadn't just been the wine talking when I'd said that. I felt the same about Nick, who was coming over from the sink, where he'd been readying me a cup of mouthwash, like I'd asked him to in between heaves.

  Crouching beside Blaine and me, he handed me the cup of mouthwash. "Feeling better now?"

  I nodded. "Yes. Just sorry you both had to see all that."

  While I filled my mouth with mouthwash and began swishing, Nick had a seat on the floor with the corners of his mouth twitching. "I've seen much, much worse in my life."

  Blaine grunted. "I've eaten much, much worse in my life."

  I wasn't sure if he'd meant to be funny, but I had to quickly spit my mouthwash back in the cup so that I didn't swallow it while I giggled a little. Once Nick had dumped the contents of the cup in the sink and had rejoined Blaine and me on the floor, I asked them if they'd been about to ask me to move in with them before they'd been called away.

  The two of them exchanged glances, and Nick said no, alarming me, but just for a second. Because when he spoke again, he explained exactly why the move-in question hadn't been the question.

  "We were going to ask you to marry us...to be our wife, our only wife, forever."

  For a long moment or two, I couldn't breathe, could only look into Nick's jewel-green eyes. "Well, are you still going to ask me that? Or did all my drunkenness and vomiting change your minds?"

  Eyes twinkling, Nick glanced at Blaine before returning his gaze to my face. "No, it didn't at all. But before I say anything else...before I ask you a particular question...I just want to say a couple of things beforehand. The first is that Blaine and I have both begun falling in love with you, too. We both think that we'd like to have children with you, within a forever-bonded family.

  “And that's the second part of what I wanted to say. We don't have the capability to do any kind of paternity testing here in Helena, and most everyone likes it that way. Blaine and I have talked about it, and we really like it that way...really like the idea that any and all children born to you will be our children.

  “Not Blaine's child, or my child, but our child. Regardless of whether or not paternity ever becomes pretty clear, based on looks, Blaine and I will still both be equal fathers to that child. And we both want to make sure that you're perfectly comfortable with this whole arrangement...with having the genetic paternity of a child being a complete non-issue."

  "Well, I honestly think I like it better this way than the alternative. I think that even if paternity testing was available to us, it probably wouldn't be the wisest thing...on a few different levels. I actually really like the idea of you and Blaine seeing any baby as equally both of yours, no matter what."

  Nick glanced from Blaine to me, fighting a smile. "We were both hoping you'd say that."

  "Well, so...do the two of you want to ask me anything right now? Because I think I've sobered up and am capable of rational thought and decision-making again."

  Nick soon got on bended knee, right there on the bathroom floor, presented me with a stunning emerald-and-diamond ri
ng, and formally asked me if I would marry him and Blaine. Blaine didn't get up or get on bended knee, but that was perfectly fine with me. Remaining on his lap, with his arms around me, just felt so right.

  With tears in my eyes, I answered Nick's question with a clear yes. Grinning, he slid the ring on my finger, and he and Blaine soon each kissed me on the mouth, despite the fact that I'd recently vomited and had only rinsed with mouthwash, intending to brush my teeth when I got up.

  Soon I did just that, and then Blaine picked me up again and carried me to bed, even though I could walk just fine. I certainly didn't mind at all.

  Once the three of us were in bed, lights off, separated by blankets once again, I asked them where they'd gotten the ring. Nick said that it was from the vault of an antique store in Chamberlain, and that there were others if I wanted to maybe pick out one myself, but I said I wouldn't dream of it.