Ruled by her Daddies (Harem of Daddies)

“Right. Really? Because right now it sounds pretty barbaric.” And kind of intriguing.

“Like I said, women are cherished,” Caleb said. “There is no abuse tolerated. When a woman is stolen, she’s taken back to the harem’s house where she is, well, how do I describe it . . .”

“Wooed,” Aleki said with a grin.

“Wooed? Seriously?” She glared at him.

“You don’t want to be wooed?” Aleki asked.

“What do you mean by wooed? Do you even know what wooed is?”

“Sure, it means we do romantic shit,” Aleki said cheerfully. “We prove to you that we can take care of you, protect you, cherish you.”

“Are you saying that . . . that you want a relationship with me? All of you?”

Aleki cupped the side of her face, turning her head towards him. “Baby girl, I didn’t want to come here. I didn’t want to see you again. I didn’t want to know that you’d been happy these past years without me because I’ve never been whole.”

“Aleki,” she whispered. She wished she could get free of the blanket to hold him. Tears raced down her cheeks. She hated that she’d caused him such pain. “I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault,” he said fiercely. “We would have figured that shit out together. But it’s my fault too. I let you go. I should have known something was wrong, but I let my own insecurities get to me. I should have fought for you.”

“You want me?”

“With every fucking breath I take.”

“But . . .” She looked to Caleb. “You said that you planned on sharing a woman. The three of you.”

“That’s right,” Caleb told her. “It might have been eight years, but it felt like yesterday that you left and took our hearts with you.”

“Your hearts? Are you saying . . .”

“I think I loved you almost from the minute Aleki introduced you to us.”

“I got drunk and sang terrible karaoke for half the night before puking in your toilet,” she said doubtfully.

“Yep.” Caleb grinned. “It was love at first sight.”

She snorted. He was so full of it.

“I wanted you. But you were my best friend’s girl, so you were off-limits. But I’ve never stopped thinking about you. I’ve never even been in a proper relationship. Because all I ever wanted was you.”

“And Wolfe? He doesn’t even like me.”

Aleki snorted. “You’re not letting that act fool you, are you? Wolfe is more of an action man than a words man. But do you remember how he shows affection for those he cares about?”

She frowned. “Yeah, he becomes a total mother hen.”

“Hmm, and I’d say he’s been fussing over you almost from the moment we found you. If he didn’t care, do you really think he’d be carrying around that list of food the doc gave him like it was a bible?”

It was hard to wrap her head around.

“Kale soup,” Aleki said with a snort. “Better you than me.”

“Jelly bean, it was Wolfe’s idea to steal you,” Caleb told her.

“Really?” she whispered.

“Really,” he confirmed.