When Julien winced, Robbie grimaced. “I’m sorry, Jules.”
“Non,” Julien whispered, and touched his trembling fingers to Robbie’s wrist. “It’s good to feel it. To know I’m alive. Don’t apologize for that.”
Robbie shut his eyes and let out a shuddering breath.
“Princesse?”
“Hmm?” Robbie said as he went back to gently cleaning the cut.
“Did you want to ask me something?”
It had been a couple of hours since they’d gotten back to the hotel, and while it had been early morning when they arrived, none of them had been able to sleep. Instead, the three of them had curled up on top of the covers of the master bed—Robbie and Priest flanking Julien—as they wrapped their arms around Julien’s waist in an effort to comfort, in an effort to just be, as they’d all lain there in silence and let the healing begin.
Now, the pain from the injuries and the heartache was still present, but so was the need to talk.
“I…” Robbie gnawed on his lower lip, and then brushed his fingers along the line of Julien’s uninjured cheek. “I was just going to say, I was so scared for you while you were gone.”
“I was scared too,” Julien said, his voice cracking. “So scared of never seeing you or Priest again. Scared to think of all the things I would miss, like your beautiful smile.”
Just as Julien had hoped, Robbie’s lips curved into that shy smile. “I wasn’t scared of that. I knew I would see you again. Priest, he…” Robbie paused. “He never wavered, Julien, not once. From the second he knew you were gone, his determination to get you back was so strong.” His voice was full of love and awe. “I was scared because you were suffering, and I hated that I couldn’t comfort you.”
Julien moved to his feet and raised his trembling hands to take Robbie’s face between them. “You’re wrong.”
Robbie’s eyelashes fluttered shut, and when a tear fell down his cheek, Julien leaned in and pressed a kiss to it.
“You are what I was fighting for, what I wanted to see when I came home. You and Priest, waiting for me. So don’t cry, princesse, not anymore. Je t’aime.”
* * *
ROBBIE OPENED HIS eyes and drank in the sight of Julien back in front of him, touching him. “I love you too. I never knew I could love people the way I love you, the way I love Priest. It frightens me. But at the same time, I know as long as I have you both, I can get through anything.”
Julien ran his fingers through Robbie’s hair, as if touching him somehow helped soothe him. “I know. Feelings like this, they should frighten you. But that’s what makes them so special, and what makes us so sure of who we love. The night Priest proposed to me, he said something so simple, and yet it made perfect sense. I want you—”
“This,” Robbie added, remembering the story.
“Forever.” As they looked over to the door, they saw Priest standing there with a shoulder against the frame, a towel wrapped around his hips, and a wicked bruise forming across his chest. As he pushed away from the doorway, he said, “I feel that way right now.”
“Oui,” Julien said. “So do I.”
As Priest came up alongside them, Robbie marveled at the men in his life. “I want that too. This, us, forever.”
Priest’s eyes roamed over Robbie’s face. His lips parted and a shiver racked his body at the intensity in that look.
Priest’s attention, his love, was something one could only dream of, because he so rarely gave it away. But as Robbie stood there with Julien, he knew they both had it, and he’d be crazy not to snatch it right up.
“Forever’s a long time,” Priest said. “That’s a big commitment.”
Robbie swallowed. “Not long enough, if you ask me.”
Robbie noticed a smile slowly beginning to curve Julien’s mouth, but when he winced and reached for his bruised cheek, Robbie shook his head.
“But we can talk about this later,” Robbie said. “I think you both need to get back in bed, now.”
“Really, Robert,” Priest said, as Robbie hooked his arms through Julien’s and Priest’s elbows. “I don’t think we’re up for that right now. At least let us recover first.”
Robbie was appalled that Priest thought he wanted to—
When he spotted Priest’s lips twitching, Robbie narrowed his eyes. “Oh, I see. You think you’re being funny right now.”
Julien chuckled and climbed into bed. Robbie turned to Priest and caught him squeezing his eyes shut as a shot of pain hit.
“Are you all right?” Robbie said, and raised his fingers to touch the angry skin on Priest’s chest, but stopped himself.
Priest took hold of Robbie’s hand and pulled it to him until the palm rested where the bullet had hit, and then he said in a low voice, “Yes, I’m all right. Because of you.”