Yes, he would admit, he’d fallen for Sam. He hadn’t expected it, hell, he hadn’t actually thought it possible, but here he was, in love with a woman who was not his wife.
Did that mean he loved Beth any less? No, it didn’t. And that felt good. Incredibly good.
“I love you, Beth. You know that right?” he spoke to the picture of her from their wedding day. It was one of those candid shots that had frozen a moment in time when Beth had been smiling, her eyes lit up. She was the only one in the picture, but Elijah remembered that moment. She’d been talking to him, smiling at him. Loving him.
“I’ll never stop, Beth. I swear to you. I will never stop loving you. But I… God, Beth, I... I’ve fallen in love with her and I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do about that.”
“Tell her.”
Elijah nearly dropped his now empty glass as he turned to see Samantha standing in his living room. Behind her was Logan, both of them staring back at him.
“How’d…” That wasn’t really important.
“Your front door was unlocked. We knocked, but…” Sam let her explanation drift off, as she too must’ve realized that it wasn’t important how she had got in there.
Just the fact that she was there was all that mattered.
Turning back to look at Beth’s picture, Elijah placed his glass on the mantle as he took a deep breath. When he turned back, Sam was closer. Just a foot away from him.
“I didn’t expect this,” he said by way of excuse, talking fast. “I just didn’t. When I met Logan at X-hale –”
“Tell me,” Sam said firmly, her hand settling on his arm as she took another step closer. “I don’t need reasons, Eli. Just tell me.”
Elijah could see tears in her eyes and the thought of her crying broke his heart. He looked back at Logan over Sam’s head and the man nodded.
“I love you, Sam. I don’t know how that happened, and I–”
“I love you, too,” Sam whispered. “As I was subtly reminded a short while ago, love doesn’t pay attention to time. It can happen suddenly,” Sam glanced past Elijah to the picture on the mantle, “and it can last for eternity.”
Elijah reached for her, unable to stop himself. When she walked into his arms, he wrapped himself around her, holding her tight. He stared back at Logan.
“It’s true,” Logan confirmed. “We can’t predict how things will happen. And no amount of excuses or reasons will change it. So from this moment forward, we just need to accept this for what it is. Everyone else be damned. This is what we want.”
We.
Elijah liked the sound of that. He couldn’t find the words to say, so he nodded, fully understanding.
As much as he loved Sam, as grateful as he was to have her in his life, Elijah had also developed a bond with Logan. They were friends. They both loved the same woman. And they entrusted one another with her. There would never be a single moment when Sam didn’t know just how much she was wanted. They would both make sure of that.
“So where do we go from here?” Elijah asked, letting up on the stranglehold he had on Sam. She didn’t move away, just looked up at him.
“That’s what we’re here to ask you,” Sam answered, her face radiant, her smile brilliant.
She warmed him completely. His heart. His body. His soul.
“Well, since we’ve gone at warp speed thus far, I really don’t see the need to slow down. Do you?” Elijah asked.
Sam shook her head no.
“Full speed ahead it is then,” Elijah said, pulling Sam close as he kissed her.
And a second later, Logan joined them.
Chapter Twenty
The next day…
To say she was nervous would be a huge understatement.
To say she was excited would be one as well.
Sam didn’t quite know what to feel, but watching Elijah and Logan talking quietly was making her body tremble, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
At first, she had attempted to distract herself by watching the room where Xander and Mercedes were. As she’d watched, Xander had strapped her to a St. Andrew’s cross, and for a fraction of a second, she had envisioned herself in that woman’s place.
The fantasy had festered only briefly before she’d turned her attention to Logan and Elijah, who appeared to be deep in conversation. She had no idea what they were talking about, but she hoped it was about her.
Now, as she tried to focus on Xander once again, she found her attention span was the equivalent to that of a gnat. She was tired of watching others. She wanted to participate.