Page 111 of Holy Hearts
“You good?” he whispers, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb Julian.
I nod, unable to find the words to express what I feel in this moment. It’s not just comfort, though that’s part of it. It’s the strange but welcome realization that this dynamic—the three of us tangled together on this oversized bed—feels like it’s becomingus. Like maybe it’s not just an experiment or a fleeting phase but something solid. Something real.
A few minutes go by, and the pain eases slightly, both from being high, and being warm and cozy between them.
“Oi, you’re hogging the blanket,” Julian mutters, tugging at the fabric draped over Kai’s shoulder.
“It’s not my fault you didn’t grab a second one.”
I snort, burying my face into Kai’s chest. “I’m literally right here. Can we share, please?”
Julian tugs the blanket up dramatically, cocooning me so tightly that Kai’s left out in the cold. Kai groans in protest, and Julian grins against my hair.
“Guess it’s survival of the fittest, mate.”
I muffle my laughter as Kai leans over, tossing half the blanket back over himself without missing a beat.
“I’m not above stealing from you,” Kai says, smirking. “Share custody or I’m claiming the popcorn.”
Their banter is familiar now, and it comforts me. For so long, I could tell Julian still held a grudge toward Kai for what happened between them. But now, they seem to have settledback into being friends. It came so easily, and a small part of me wonders what it would’ve been like to know them back then.
The thought of it makes my eyes begin to droop, and my breathing becomes more even as I feel more drowsy by the minute.
“Try to sleep, little dove,” Kai says, his voice a gentle murmur. “We’ll be here all night if you need us.”
I close my eyes, letting his words settle over me like a blanket. The pain still lingers, but it doesn’t feel as overwhelming anymore now. Not with Julian’s steady heartbeat against my back and Kai’s warm gaze holding me steady.
For the first time in a long time, I feel a quiet sense of belonging, as if this—being here with them—might just be everything I’ll ever need in this life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE BEGINNING
Julian
I wake up feeling warm, and as I slowly come back into my body, I can feel Sophie’s back against my chest. Sighing contentedly, I reach around and wrap my arm around her—but it settles on top of another arm.
My eyes fly open, and I sit up quickly as I take in the scene before me.
Sophie is still asleep… and Kai is cuddling her front side.
Rubbing my eyes, last night comes back into focus. There wasScream.And thenScream 2andScream 3.Kai and I had laughed and thrown popcorn at the TV a few times when the characters were being bloody pathetic, and we’d even talked long after the third movie had ended—all with Sophie asleep between us. It was nice. It almost felt like old times, with him teasing me about my disorganized habits, and me teasing him about things like naming his fennec fox ‘Willy’. Kai had a pet sitter on call, and once he got Willy sorted, he told me all about the other pets his brothers had.
I learned more about how he’d grown closer to Orion in the past couple of years, and how he’d gone to seminary school, followed by graduate school for religion, just for fun. I’d asked him about his faith, and while he was a bit tight-lipped at first, he’d opened up and admitted that there were aspects of Christianity he didn’t recognize anymore. That he still believed, but he had grown to resent the hatred some people spewed in the name of religion.
All in all, it was enlightening. I found myself mesmerized by the way he spoke so fondly of his students and his family, while also managing to look so damn sexy laying in my bed. When Sophie had whimpered in her sleep, he’d curled around her body, no questions asked, and had resumed his conversation with me.
Sophie has always been my greatest achievement. I know I’m a lucky fucking bastard because she married me. And while our marriage was premeditated by our parents in a way that only the aristocracy can understand, I couldn’t help but fall for her at first sight. I treasure her, and I know the bond we share is rare. Iknowthat no matter what, she and I were always destined to be together forever.
And now?
Now, I’m sitting here watching Kai—beautiful, magnetic, infuriating Kai—hold Sophie with a tenderness I didn’t think anyone besides me was capable of. My mind twists around the idea of them, instinctively resisting, like a knee-jerk reaction I can’t control. Because letting someone else into this sacred space—ourspace—shouldn’t feel like this.
It shouldn’t feelright.
But it does.
Besides their breathing, the room is quiet, the kind of quiet that feels earned after a good night’s rest. Sophie is tuckedbetween Kai and me, her body relaxed in the deep, unguarded way she only ever achieves when she feels truly safe.
