Chapter Ten #2
“Like I said, Ridge, I believe this person who was watching and lurking in the static knew this would weaken Lucian. He was trying to destroy him. By you not being his tuner, and by me hating him for ‘cheating’ on me. He believed it would take him out of the game.”
That had never occurred to him before.
Honestly, he’d thought it was their error that made this happen. Their lust and their weakness had created this.
But to hear this…
It made sense.
Killing Wynter and pointing an angry wife at them…
That would damage them beyond fixing, and in response, not allow them to help.
“I never considered that. He had to be watching and listening in the static to find out about our relationship. Then again, Lucian is only second to Oracle, so every entity on that plane would know. He’s king there.”
Yeah, well, that was likely the point. Now that they were there and saw it, that helped them navigate it. This person was creeping around in the static and had seen a whole hell of a lot when it came to these two men and their bond.
Bishop went there.
“From what Lucian has told me, you’re bound together, and there’s no way to undo it. Once sex magick happens, it’s permanent. So, your feelings for him, and his for you, are never changing.”
He shook his head.
“There isn’t, or we would have undone it. Avalon told us we needed this in the static to be strong enough. We didn’t expect it to happen here. We were careful, and it fell apart.”
Well, then, what was done was done.
It was clear that Ridge loved Lucian, and the other way around, too.
She could be pissed about it, or they could figure it out. Truthfully, she didn’t believe for a second that Lucian would throw away what they had for a ‘fling’.
What the two men had between them had to be incredibly important.
“Will you love him forever?” she asked.
His heart skipped in his chest from the pain of not having Wynter forever, and the fact that Lucian was all he had left.
His heart was decimated.
“Forever,” he whispered, as that tear slipped down his cheek.
Bishop saw the agony, and she hated to see Ridge this torn apart inside.
“Well, then, you have my blessing to have a relationship with Lucian both in the static and here.”
His heart skipped, and she felt it since her head was on his chest over his heart.
“What?”
She was to the point.
“We can’t undo what is done, and frankly, you need him as much as I do.
I think that in order for all of us to be whole, we have to look at this logically.
My husband loves and craves you and me in order to be whole.
This caused a change on this plane, and instead of making everyone miserable for my happiness, I’ll find joy in it and go with the fact that you make him happy too.
I’m willing to give him this, and you this too. ”
Oh.
Holy.
Shit.
“Really?”
She simply nodded.
That was when he felt the nudge to his brain and heard his lover’s voice.
She’s not lying, Ridge. Bishop is okay with it. We spoke last night, and I was honest with her. She understands. When your heart is healed, and you want to be with me, I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll always be waiting for you and this journey.
Well, that was shocking as hell.
“Bishop, I don’t know what to say to this.”
She reassured him.
“Right now, you want to know why, and I’ll tell you.
Something that Lucian said resonated with me.
He won’t love our next child less than our first because he can grow his love.
His heart can get bigger, sharing more love, not less.
I know that he can love me and love you because he already does.
We’re a family, and we have a life here. I’m willing to share him.”
He didn’t have words.
Ask her. If you need to ask, trust she will not hurt you. Bishop is a special woman. She isn’t Wynter. It’s different rules with her.
Yeah, he could see that.
“So, if I wanted to go have sex with Lucian right now, you’d not kill me and hide the body in your flower bed?”
She actually laughed.
“Didn’t we find bodies in a flower bed before? Let’s not do that here. I like my house. I don’t want to haunt it more or give myself more cases at work. Honor will lose her ever-loving mind.”
Still, he said nothing.
So, she did.
“I am serious. If you wanted to go climb all over that man, I’m not getting mad. I will say, though, I’m a morning sex kind of a girl, so that’s normally what I do each day. Hopefully, we can work this out.”
Ridge was staring at her like she’d lost her mind, or he’d lost his.
When Lucian came out of the bathroom, he was wet and had a towel wrapped around his hips.
Both of them looked over at him, and immediately, she saw the tenting in the bedding from the man beside her. Oh, and she suspected it had NOTHING to do with her.
In Ridge’s defense, her husband was three days past sexy, and to watch those tiny droplets roll down his body…
It was fucking hot.
Yep.
Even brokenhearted over Wyn, her husband’s ties to Ridge were beyond strong.
“Yeah, that’s about how I feel when the sexy devil leaves the shower. He wears the smallest towel he can get away with to make me insane. Welcome to my world,” she offered.
Someone was sassy, and he liked it.
Lucian winked at his wife.
But he let her handle this because Bishop, again, was special. She had a heart so big, and the ability to love. She’d taught him how to do that when she saved him.
The Beast was nothing without his Beauty.
When Lucian climbed onto the bed, Bishop could feel the lust pouring from the two men. There was no doubt that both were feeling it.
Only, when he reached them, he kissed her first, and that hot tangle of tongues did one thing.
It made her wet.
When he broke the kiss, they were both wrapped in so much lust.
“My beauty.”
Oh, well, he was definitely her beast.
She watched as he greeted Ridge, kissing him EXACTLY the same way she’d been kissed, and not for one second was she jealous.
There was no pain there watching it unfold before her. If anything, it just made her more curious.
They might just survive this yet.
When he broke the kiss, Ridge was staring up at Lucian, and she knew they were talking in Lucian’s mind. If anything, that was the one thing she was jealous about.
What wouldn’t she give to be able to do that with him, too?
The rest, she was good with, for now.
Lucian cuddled down between them and pulled his mates closer, so they were against him.
Immediately, they both cuddled.
“I think I won the lottery,” Lucian said, now that the fear was gone, and his wife was more or less curious.
Like a cat.
“Lucian Monroe, don’t get sassy. I will kick your ass out of principle.”
He laughed.
“Yes, wife,” he said, winking at her. There was amusement in her eyes, and the storm…it had missed them.
Well, that part of it had.
What wouldn’t he do to have the death part of it miss them too?
Ridge nuzzled Lucian’s shoulder, but the whole time, he was still watching Bishop.
Because had this been reversed, Wynter would have lost her goddamn mind.
“So, we’ll work it out,” she said. “We can’t let whoever thought this would break us win. We’ll be fine,” she said. “It’s new, and it will take time, but I’m good with it.”
Bishop ran her hand across Lucian’s chest, and it wasn’t lost on her that Ridge did the same. Even battered and hurting, instinctually, he leaned into the comfort to find some peace.
How could she take that from him?
“So nighttime sex?” Ridge asked, waiting to see if Bishop really meant what she said.
She nodded.
“BUT…I have boundaries.”
Both men held their breaths.
That was when Bishop went there.
“I’m not having sex with anyone but Lucian. While I love you, Ridge, I don’t love you like that. You’re like my brother. That’s weird and kinda gross. Sorry, but I have a particular type, and he’s it.”
Immediately, Ridge relaxed.
It was clear he didn’t feel that way about her either.
“Wynter was my only,” he whispered. “I will never be able to replace her with any woman. I don’t know if I can ever love another woman like that. I know you’re giving me the biggest gift, but I…can’t. She was my wife, and we had an unbreakable bond.”
And they understood that.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you that, Bishop. After all this, and your heart willing to save mine by giving me moments with Lucian, I still can’t do it.”
She patted his hand.
“I’m good with that. We’ll figure out how this will work. For now, though, we need to just get you and Sophia set. I firmly believe it takes a village.”
Lucian went there.
“I want you to live with us. It doesn’t have to be in our bed, but I want you to move in, bring Jo, and give Sophia a cushion to land on when she needs it. She’s going to miss her mommy.”
When he said that, the wave of pain slammed into him all over again.
How was he going to tell Sophia one day that he’d not kept her mommy safe?
Immediately, he started crying again.
And immediately, they moved into action to help him. Bishop climbed over the two men, and tucked Ridge between them as he weathered that storm.
“How do I do this?” he whispered. “I should have kept her safe! I should have known! I failed her. She loved me and needed her husband. She died loving me and needing me, and I dropped the ball!”
Lucian kissed him on the temple.
“We’ll all learn how to do this. We have you, Ridge. Bishop and I have you,” he promised.
They let him cry, and it took a good hour. When he was finally empty of tears, Lucian was honest.
“I have to meet the rest of the family at eight. If you can’t do it…”
He stopped him.
“You can’t leave me here. She died not far from here. I can’t,” he whispered.
They got it.
“I have to say goodbye,” he added. “I need to see her. I need to make the arrangements.”
They also understood that.
“When it’s time, I’ll go with you,” Lucian said. “You don’t have to do this alone. When Bodhi lets us know, we’ll go as a family.”
Ridge needed to get back on his feet before facing his dead wife.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “I need you guys.”
Oh, and they’d be there for him.