Colters' Woman Read Online Free PDF Page A

has to be confused. She doesn’t understand herself or us. You have to explain it to her.”
    Adam closed his eyes and sighed. “You’re right. I’ll talk to her.”
    He walked down the hall to the bedroom, his brothers following a short distance behind. He knocked softly, not wanting to alarm her by barging in. “Holly, honey, it’s me, Adam.”
    “Go away.” Her voice, muffled by sobs, filtered through the door.
    He opened the door, flinching when he saw her huddled on the bed, her eyes red-rimmed. She’d discarded Ryan’s coat on the floor. He stepped around it and walked over to sit on the bed next to her. He pulled her into his arms. She didn’t fight him, much to his relief.
    “Tell me why you’re crying.”
    “What would you say if I told you not two minutes before I kissed you in the living room, I was outside kissing Ethan?”
    He smiled and smoothed his hand over her hair. “I’d say it makes me pretty damn happy.”
    She gave him a look of disbelief. “Happy? I’m acting like some kind of…slut…and that makes you happy?”
    He gave her a disapproving frown. “I won’t tolerate you talking about yourself that way.”
    She looked down, avoiding his gaze.
    “There are some things you should know,” he said. “Starting with the fact that you belong—we want you to belong—to us. All of us.”
    He expected to see fear at his statement. Instead, he saw surprise. Ethan and Ryan, who had been standing in the doorway, moved closer to the bed. Ethan sat down behind Holly, slipped his hands over her shoulders and rubbed soothingly.
    Holly looked uneasily between the brothers as Adam allowed time for his declaration to sink in. She wet her lips and turned troubled eyes back to him.
    “Does that mean you’re not going to let me leave?”
    He chuckled. “If you’re asking if you’re a prisoner, the answer is no. If you’re asking if we’re going to open the door and let you waltz out of our lives, the answer is also no.”
    Holly’s breathing sped up. Beside her, Ryan curled his hand around hers. She stared down at their entwined hands, noting the significance and how much stronger she felt for that bond. She tilted her chin until her gaze met Ryan’s. She was struck by the power that radiated from this quiet man. She was comforted by it when it should scare the bejebus out of her.
    There was a challenge in his eyes, a dare to reach out and embrace what they offered.
    Beside her, Adam shifted. There was raw desire in his eyes, a look that peeled back the layers of her skin and bared her vulnerability in a way that discomfited her.
    “You belong to us, Holly,” Adam whispered. “I can feel your want, your need. It’s as strong as our need for you. You’re frightened, but you want us.”
    “Is this about sex?” she asked in a strangled voice.
    His eyes narrowed. “If you think this is only about sex, you’re wrong. We’re talking about forever. You would be our wife, our mate.”
    She stared at them all in disbelief. Were they serious? Was this some kind of twisted joke? But they returned her scrutiny with utter seriousness. She shook her head. “You can’t all marry the same woman!”
    “Can’t we?” Ethan asked.
    “It’s not legal!”
    “You’re thinking with your mind,” Adam chided. “There’s no law that says you can’t live with three men. In our hearts, you would be bound to all three of us. Wife to each one of us. Cherished by all of us.”
    She shook her head in denial, in confusion.
    “It’s that way in our family,” Ryan said quietly. “If you’re wondering if it’s genetic then no, it isn’t. We have a choice, and we’re choosing you. Our fathers chose our mother, our grandfathers chose our grandmother. But we aren’t bound by an invisible compulsion to lead that kind of life. It’s something we decided when we were old enough. We always knew there would be only one woman for the three of us. And so we’ve waited.”
    “I can’t,” she