“Oh no. Don’t you do that,” Ry says sternly, placing himself in front of me and grabbing my face within his hands. Wiping my tears away as they fall, I look at him with soft eyes and a wrinkled face, unsure of what he’s talking about. “I know what you’re doing, Bear,” he continues, his thumbs stroking my cheeks in a soothing rhythm. “You’re far inside your head at the moment. Spiraling downward towards the area where your guilt lives. You think that somehow,you’re to blame for what we either did or didn’t do within the last decade.” He holds my gaze, forcing me to look at him.Even when I try to look away.
“But…h-how?” I mutter under my breath.
“Angel, I spent thirteen years learning everything I could about you. Every emotion, every look, every tell… I know when you’re angry, when you’re sad. Hell, I can even tell when you’re getting a headache from Max talking non-stop,” he claims.
“Hey!” Max shoots out from the other side. “I take offence to that!”
“Good! It was meant as an offence,” Ryder retorts, before continuing his speech. “This moment right here, with the face you’re making, tells me you’re blaming yourself. And I’m not going to let you do that. You can’t put this back on you. We did not suffer for the last twelve years.”
“Well, I mean we did, but not in the way you think, Kitten,” Kade pipes up, his head cocking to the side as he shoves his hands into his pockets. “Of course we were angry, confused, and sad.So fucking sad.Our hearts broke, not having you around. Not knowing where you were or what was happening to you. To even know if you were still alive. We made it our mission to keep searching for you no matter what, but that wasourchoice.Our decision.No one forced us or held us accountable, and if we had the option to do it all over again, we wouldn’t change a damn thing.”
My eyes are watering so much, everything around me has become a blur of liquid and color, but I manage to look toward where I know Z is standing. He nods his head in agreement, and my gaze moves on to Max, who gives me the same thing. Ryder’s hands are still cupped around my tear-soaked face, holding me close to him.
I bring my hands up, gently clasping his wrists and guiding them back down. Before raising my arms up to move my hair over my left shoulder.
“About a year ago, I found myself alone for the first time in a very long time,” I clear my throat, hyping myself before I admit this out loud for the first time. “The first thing I did besides run, obviously, was find a local artist.” Moving my hair and turning slightly, I show them the memorial tattoo I had gotten done for the four of them.
Placed just behind my right ear, is the symbol for male with four shining northern stars surrounding it.
“I got it as a way to recognize that even in my darkest times, I had the four of you as my guiding lights. Pulling me from the depths and back to the surface above. Even though none of you were physically with me at the time, the memories of you made all the difference.”
I let out a long breath, inhaling deeply once again and closing my eyes. “Time for the big one,” I think internally, as I grab myself by the lady-balls.
“I remember, there were nights where I would lie awake, imagining all the things I would tell you if we were ever able to be together again. What I was always afraid that I would never get to say… that you would never be able to hear the words from me…”
“What is it that you want us to know, Princess?” Max asks, walking up to my side and placing a kiss on my shoulder.
“That I… I love you,” I utter out, looking up to face all of them head on. Straightening my shoulders, I hold my chin high and speak a little louder. “That I’min lovewith you…allof you. And I have been since we were kids.”
In that moment, the cold tension that once blanketed our small space, breaks. Replaced with a smoldering heat, living just beneath the surface of all our skin. The guys—my guys—all hover, the distance closing between us now that they’ve been told, openly, that I want them. Their eyes burn with lust and need as the silence around us morphs into a rolling wave of heavy breathing. The ragged inhales from five people who are about to change the entire nature of the relationship between them.As if I hadn't already done that with two of them.The only other sound in the room is the tick of the clock on the wall. A tick which is unknowingly counting down to all of our combustion.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ryder
I’m frozen. Not literally of course, though, you couldn’t tell the difference at the moment. Even metaphorically, I don’t think I could make my body move right now.
We knew, at the minimum, that Bear had feelings for Kade, and by the smart-ass grin on Max’s face when they came back in, it would be safe to assume with him as well. Which leaves me and Zane the odd men out. We weren’t going to push her on it today, in fact, while waiting for Max to grovel, the three of us agreed thattoday would be about getting her home. Not to mention, avoiding her running for a third time.
Hearing her speak though, how she used our memories to see her through, broke me in more ways that I care to admit. To know the only way she saw a light at the end of the tunnel was to re-live the past… I don’t want my Angel to ever have to feel like that again. I will fight everyday to have her see how much we love her. To view herself in the light that we see her, and remind her, she’s not alone.
I’m standing the closest to her and the fire that burns within me to have her know love, to know attention, is what gives me the push I need. While the rest of these fools still stand here, stunned by her confession—even though it’s literally what we all had hoped for—I move forward closing the gap that remains. She watches me with rapt attention, staring up into my eyes as my hand raises to press against her cheek. Her head tilts, leaning into my palm slightly, her eyes fluttering closed as she lets out a breath. Like the weight she’d been carrying on her shoulders all these years, finally feels a little lighter.
“Fuck it,” I shoot out and without thinking more on it, I let my heart and body take the lead. My hand slides around the back of her neck, gripping hard and pulling her to me. My lips press against hers passionately and my cock is instantly standing at attention. It’s as if every celebratory event is going off at the same time inside me. Fireworks, confetti, sparklers, you name it. This is everything I’ve been waiting for, everything I’ve dreamed, and when she returns my kiss with a burning passion of her own, the heat that had been dancing throughout the room, ignites.
My cock is painfully hard, straining against the front of my shorts, as I pick my Angel up by her ass cheeks. Her arms loop around my neck and legs round my waist as she clings to me and I squeeze the flesh of her tight peach. Mik swipes her tongue against my lips, begging to be let in and when I don’t immediately open, her impatience and need shines through, the licks turning into bites. Forceful Mik is hot as fuck and when I gasp slightly from her aggressiveness, she pushes her way through, using her tongue to taste every inch of my mouth.
The other three finally pull out of their stupor, as Zane positions himself behind our girl, pulling her hair over her shoulder to expose her neck. God,ourgirl. Fuck, I love how that sounds. Bear isours.Yup, definitely going to be saying that over and over again.
My beautiful Angel gasps as Zane’s lips touch her skin, sucking and nibbling against her neck. Her body leans back into him, arching to receive more of his touch and my cock twitches watching her chase her desire. Releasing her mouth, my fingers dig into her skin as I pepper kisses along her neck and down the front of her. My heart is thundering in my chest, as she grinds her hips in a circular motion, rubbing her sweet cunt against me and tilting her head back.
Zane grabs her hair, retching her backwards into a bruising kiss of his own and she drops her shoulders against his chest with a drawn out moan. Her sounds are driving me into a nearly feral state, desperate to feel her, taste her,consume her.
Another set of arms joins the fray from the side, and as I rip my mouth away from her skin, Max is there ready to take my place. He bends low, licking and sucking along the same line I just had, before sliding his hands under the hem of her shirt. He drags it up, exposing her torso until he reaches the edge of the lace bra she’s wearing. He pauses, glancing my way, before pressing the heels of his palms into the fabric and grazing them over her breasts.
Her back arches, and a mewl escapes her throat as he moves against the taut peaks of her nipples, before pulling her shirt higher. Z grumbles at having to let her go, but relinquishes her head for Max. Top gone and chucked off to the side, both Max and I continue our onslaught of kisses, as I hold her in my arms.
“Fuck, Angel. You’re so fucking gorgeous,” I mutter, lifting her higher and licking my tongue up the center of her stomach. Her body is writhing with all the attention it’s receiving, consumed in pleasurable sensations.
