Page 63 of Knot The Only Onee
“It’s really relaxing. My muscles are already feeling better.”
“Good,” Noah rumbled in my ear. “We don’t have to do anything else tonight. Don’t feel pressure, okay baby girl? As slow as you want to take this.”
“Thank you,” I replied, my voice low and filled with emotion.
Lucas took my hand between his and brought it to his lips. He kissed it gently before pressing it to his chest. “You never have to thank us for anything. You’re our omega, now and forever.”
Tears filled my eyes, and I sniffled while I rapidly blinked to keep them from falling.
“Good girl.” Noah nuzzled and kissed along my neck, and I shivered. “Accepting our praise will be one of our first lessons for you.”
“I think I can catch onto that one pretty quickly.”
“With no argument, disagreeing, or brushing it off.” James leveled me with his intense gaze as he continued to ease the knots in my feet. "And no backhanded negative comments about yourself."
"That makes it a little more difficult." I tried to play it off with a laugh, but it sounded hollow, even to my ears.
"Which is why, with the more positive reinforcement we give you, your confidence and acceptance of yourself will grow. Do you think I've always been the fabulous person I am now?" Lucas emphasized with a flourish.
My brow furrowed as I cocked my head to the side. "I can't imagine you as anything but who you are now."
Lucas' eyes darkened, and his smile dropped. "No, Bridget." He shook his head emphatically. "I've not always been like this. I only became who I was meant to be after I came here and found acceptance for who and what I was."
The raw emotion in his simple words gave me pause. It was then I realized I didn't know much about Lucas' past or what his life was like before he came to Second Chance.
"How did you find your way here?" I asked as I slid closer to Lucas. Noah let me go, I'm sure because he realized where I was needed. But he kept a possessive hand over my thigh under the water. "You were the first one I talked to here, but you haven't said anything about your past or even how long you've known Noah and James."
Lucas licked his lips and wrapped both arms around me. I reclined against his chest as his fingers trailed up and down my spine. "I wasn't quite part of society, but I was from a decent family," he began, a hesitation in his words that I'd never heard from Lucas. "I went to college, got a ridiculously good corporate job, but I knew I was more attracted to men. That wasn't really accepted, even just below Society."
The raw anguish expressed in his voice made my heart ache for him. I knew what it was like to be on the outside looking in and never feeling like you belong.
"I knew in my heart that if I found a pack, I'd accept an omega, whether male or female, but that wasn't the point." Lucas let out a heavy sigh. "I went through the motions of life, but I never really lived it. I kept my nose clean, stayed out of everyone's way, and made myself as unnoticeable as possible. But each day, I died a little more."
"Lucas." I said his name as I squeezed him tightly. What he described was the total opposite of the Lucas I'd come to know and love. His bright personality. His charming wit and snappy comebacks. His overall attitude and zest for life.
"I was a shell. Until my company sent the department I worked for on a retreat to Second Chance Ranch." The smile in his voice made my heart lighten and soar. "When I first met James, he was begrudgingly teaching us a lesson about trust and riding. There was something inside me that just snapped into place."
"Pup gave me so much attitude, I almost bent him over right there and spanked his ass red." James shook his head as he recalled the memory, but the smile stretched across his face was a warm one.
"He basically did just that two days later after I kept pushing him." I adjusted my head so I could see Lucas' expression and laughed as he blew James a raspberry.
"I can still take you, Pup. Just try and test me, and that ass will be so red you can't sit for a week."
"Promises, promises," Lucas singsonged.
I giggled, loving how when even talking about something serious and painful from his past, Lucas could find a way to turn it around and laugh about it. Mostly at other people's expense, but it was good-natured at least.
"When James kissed me, I knew I was home." Lucas grinned fondly. "Then Noah did too, and damn, I was a goner. You know what it's like to be swept up by the two of them. There was nothing I could do to resist the call of the pack."
CHAPTER29
James
Lucas' words rang in my ears as I helped Bridget stand up in the bathtub. Her skin was soft but wrinkled, and we didn't want her to get dehydrated, so we'd be moving back to bed.
Between the memories of meeting Lucas and the events of the evening, my brain was running a mile a minute. There was so much to think about, but then, nothing at all, really.
I'd been happy when Lucas came to stay with us. I knew he was a piece of my soul. But now that Bridget was here? I finally felt whole.
