Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
My heart was thumping hard in my chest. I latched onto Julian’s hand, terrified that if I took this step with Axel willingly without Julian pushing me, I would lose Julian.
Julian soothingly rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand. “I’m scared,” I whispered.
“That’s alright, sweet girl. But there’s no reason to be scared.”
“I’m not everything that you need,” Julian said softly. My bottom lip trembled. I hated that. “But that’s okay because between the two of us, we can be everything you’ll ever need and want. I trust Axel with you, baby girl. He’s the only person I trust with you. Let him take care of you, too, baby. Let him experience being with you, too.”
“I thought I was yours.” A tear slipped down my cheek as I looked up into his beautiful, blue eyes.
He cupped my cheek with his free hand and used his thumb to brush my tear off my cheek. “You always will be mine—my goddess. That will never change, but you can be his, too. You can be ours. You were so fucking responsive to him last night—responsive to both of us. It was fucking beautiful. You looked like you’ve always belonged between us. You were happy, Meghan. That’s all we want, baby girl.”
“This is all so wrong,” I told him, shaking my head. “You guys can’t possibly want to settle for this.” I looked over at Axel as a couple more tears slid down my cheeks. “Don’t you want to meet a girl, marry her, have a proper family?” I asked him.
Axel nodded his head. My heart tore in my chest at his nod, though I knew having both of them was only a dream. “Yeah, I want that, and I’ve already met her. She is you,” Axel told me, honest as always. I rolled my bottom lip into my mouth. “I want to be with you, Meghan. Not anyone else. Julian and I will let you take this at your own pace, however you want to do this, but we want you to stop fighting it, sweet girl.”
He pushed his fingers through his dark hair, frowning at me. “You shouldn’t be walking around in your own home like you’re walking on eggshells. You should be comfortable, and you haven’t been since you began to realize that you have feelings for me, too.”
Julian gently gripped my chin and turned my head to face him again. He lightly brushed his lips with mine. “You two need to talk,” he said, giving me a pointed look. He was letting me know I wasn’t getting out of this. Fear flashed in my eyes. He shook his head at me. “Meghan, he is your rock. Remember that. You’re as safe with him as you are with me. Stop worrying about me and losing me. I’m not going anywhere, baby.” My bottom lip trembled. “I’m here to stay, baby girl. But you need to work through your feelings with him.”
“Promise you’re not leaving me?” I asked, hating that my voice came out small and weak.
“I promise, baby girl.”
I swallowed thickly but nodded my head at him. He pressed a kiss to my forehead before he slipped out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with Axel. The handsome man in front of me handed me a cup of coffee. “It’s cooled down. I was going to bring it to you in bed, but you came out here before I could,” he quietly told me.
I took it from him with a small, nervous smile. “I just want things to be normal again,” I told him.
“They still can be, sweet girl. That safety and security you feel with me never has to go away. It just feels like it is because you feel differently about me than you did when you were in the center.”
“Why did this happen?” I asked him. I didn’t understand why my feelings had to change. “Why did this have to become so complicated for me?”
Axel shrugged. “I’ve always been attracted to you. But I didn’t make any moves on you because I saw how Julian was with you. That man has always loved you. He’s never cared about anyone the way he does you. But when I was there for you while you were in the center, shit changed for me,” he confessed. “Julian noticed it, too, though he didn’t say anything because he knew how much you needed me to be there for you.”
“I’m scared I’m going to lose him, Axel.” My voice trembled. I drew in a shaky breath. “What if one day, he decides this isn’t going to work for him?”
“Sweet girl, you’re his goddess,” Axel reminded me. A small smile touched my lips. “There’s no one else in this world for him. There never will be.”
“And you?” I asked him. “If I decide to take this step with you, and you decide you’re suddenly tired of sharing me with Julian?”