celiabreslin

(Nina’s POV)

My jeans were scorched in places, so Tanner lent me a black T-shirt and helped me into the single pair of panties I owned, fresh out of the dryer. I was clean and my hair was combed and almost dried. My knees were still shaking from the orgasm, but on the upside, I didn’t have to walk far. Aiden insisted on carrying me down the stairs. The smells of bacon and biscuits scented the house and sent my stomach into a growling fit.

Aiden looked down on me and cocked his broken eyebrow. “Hungry?”

I flashed an apologetic grin. “Starving.”

“No worries.” He settled me on a stool by the kitchen island and went over to the huge fridge. “We’ve got you covered.”

Wow. When was the last time someone said that to me?

A quiet beep lit up over the discreetly paneled door that slid aside to reveal Tanner, leaning on his crutches, shuffling out of the elevator. “Ready to chow?” He winked at me and then joined Aiden and Zar at the kitchen counter, picking out cutlery from one of the drawers.
I caught an excellent view of three very nicely built backsides, broad shoulders, tapered waists, asses chiseled from granite. Holy hell. These hunks made menial kitchen work look like a sexy, seductive dance.

I fanned my burning face with my bandaged hand. “Can I help with something?”

“No need,” Tanner said. “Sit tight.”

Zar was parked in front of the stove, firmly in charge of some gigantic omelets, plus a pan of bacon and the biscuits he maneuvered out of the oven. A distinguished touch of silver frosted his fair hair at the temples. It had to be premature gray, because he was otherwise too young and fit. Or else he worried too much. Yeah, that could be.

He glanced over his shoulder. His eyes were startling. His irises were a shocking color, azure flecked with Lapis. I couldn’t decide whether his gaze reminded me of the oldest glaciers in the world or the flame’s hottest fire. A million questions gleamed in his stare. He considered me as if he was debating whether he should send me to the corner or spank me. If I had a choice, number two, please.

Balthazar Flint. The name suited him to perfection. It had gravitas. It also matched his demeanor, down to the hard edges of his powerful body. It occurred to me that, in another life, I could’ve been the steel to his flint and we would’ve made lots of sparks. Dream on, girl. Like that could ever happen.

Zar transferred the last of the omelets to the plates and Aiden plunked a cup of tea in front of me, Earl Grey with lots of cream. Before I had time to ask Aiden how he’d known exactly what I liked in my tea, Tanner picked up the mug and tipped it against my lips. I took a deep draft, enjoying the sweet heat that warmed my stomach and spread to the rest of me. The four of us sat at the kitchen counter, facing our loaded plates. After examining my right hand, I was about to give the utensils a try, when Aiden beat me to the fork.

“I promised I’d be your hands when you needed me.” He speared a chunk of eggs and lifted them to my lips. “You need me.”

So freaking sweet. Panty-melting cute. “Thanks,” I mumbled through a mouthful. Had I died and gone to heaven?

I chewed my food, enjoying every bite, studying the men as I did. These guys were military or ex-military, like my brother had been. They spoke, moved, and acted like trained warriors. Tanner had admitted to training as a corpsman and Aiden had mentioned they’d designed the house while they were on deployment. I had to get to Ulysses, but I couldn’t help being fascinated by the remarkable trio that had taken me in.

I stole a glance at Tanner. At six feet or so, he was the shortest of the three, tall to my five foot five. Fit and compact like a soccer player, he was a head-turner. The striking contrast between his smooth, dark olive skin and his light green eyes gave him an exotic flair that conjured images of distant shorelines, sun-kissed dunes, and fabulous spice markets.

There was no question that Tanner appealed to me. What he’d just done to my body challenged my skepticism at every level. With his chiseled chin, his body’s perfect proportions and his hair, cropped in a clean, sharp cut that spiraled from the cowlick at the back of his head, he should be strutting some runaway in Milan.

My gaze shifted to Aiden. His size alone should’ve made him lumber and yet when he moved, he did so elegantly and efficiently, as if he’d trained his body to function in a world that didn’t always fit him. Aiden looked like a basketball player. Or an Olympic swimmer. The scar that nicked his eyebrow gave character to his face and the curls and facial scruff added a roguish touch that reminded me of pirates and Vikings. I bet he’d taken a few shield maidens to Valhalla.

My eyes went to Zar, downing his food with automatic precision. Height-wise, he was somewhere in between Tanner and Aiden, but he was built like an NFL linebacker. His muscular neck was made to carry the weight of a dangerous world. His solid pecs could serve to bulldoze entire armies. His thighs were as brawny as the beams that held up the house. When he glared at me as he was doing now, I had to repress an impulse to kneel at his feet and ask for mercy.

“You got enough in you to talk?” He set down his fork and nailed me with his skull-piercing gaze. “The sooner we deal with this, the better.”

He was right and I needed to get back on track.