Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
My face turned red, knowing I had non-magical friends and family that looked at this account. The lap sitting and feeding thing didn’t really translate.
“Did you…send Nessa some pictures?” I asked.
“Yes. I noticed you weren’t taking pictures, and she is going full steam ahead with Operation: Get Ex’s Goat.”
“Last night wasn’t about him, it was about you. What about the one—this one.” I showed him the feeding picture.
“Kace took that. I had him send it to her. It’s my favorite.”
Austin was tagged in the post, so I clicked over to his profile. My stomach might as well have dropped out.
He had a bunch of posts with pics from his life, which was great for his friends and family, but he also had outright braggy pictures, like of the new car and his watch. With them was the caption, “My baby outfits me like an alpha.”
Alpha didn’t translate much better than the lap sitting and eating situation, but showing all that wealth... No one from my old life would understand it. They’d probably think I’d turned into some sort of drug dealer or something. Or assume he was talking about a different girl.
Except he also had pics from the BBQ, all with flattering captions and cute sentiments. Then the last post he’d made, from just this morning, made everything explicitly clear.
It was a pic of me lying on his chest, the sheets pulled up just past my bust, something he’d probably done before snapping the image, and my eyes closed in sleep. My hair was fanned out around my face, dappled with sunshine, and part of his defined chest clearly showed. Only half of his face was in it, one of his beautiful blue eyes captured just right, with the caption, This is what *forever* looks like.
My heart swelled. I felt like I was living on a cloud. If I needed proof of the amazing man I loved, his account said it all. It was enough to end my thinking about my ex or my past life, even a little. It was the end of caring what others might think. I only cared about the present—and about him.
“Shower,” I said, pushing to standing and following him into the house. He was about to get shown a lot of devotion for being so obviously my Prince Charming.
An hour later, we rolled up to the winery about fifteen miles outside of town. Rows of grapes stretched out to either side and across the hills behind the small building. We owned all of these grapes and would use them to make wine, but we’d also buy from other vineyards for different varietals.
I felt Dave on his way, traveling by foot and likely bringing various basajaunak with him.
“Another big night last night, huh?” Ulric asked when I stepped out of Austin’s new car. Jasper stood next to him, the two of them in front of a Town Car and apparently on bodyguard detail. Cyra and Hollace got out of the car, Cyra with a large smile on her face.
“What do you mean—“ I cut off and gave him a long stare.
Austin walked by Ulric as though he hadn’t heard, and Jasper put his hands up before bowing exaggeratedly.
“Would you guys stop?” I said, following Austin.
They fell in line.
“That guy is a machine,” Jasper said. “I don’t know about you, Ulric, but I am incredibly jealous. I think I have a bro crush. I want lessons. We have the same magic he does, but I do not have that kind of stamina. I’ve tried. Is it edging, Jessie, or is he knocking out some big Os and then going back for more?”
“I can’t do either for that long,” Ulric said. “If I tried edging all night I’d go crazy. I’d literally go insane. It would be a strange sort of torture, and I would love it as much as I hated it until I just—”
“Went crazy, yes, we get it,” I told them. “We just love each other.”
“That’s more than love,” Jasper replied. “He’s got, like, a bionic dick or something.”
I rolled my eyes as we entered the building through the wine-making area. Large stainless steel fermentation tanks lined the wall on one side and oak barrels were stacked opposite them, all the way down to the end.
“No Mr. Tom?” I asked as we met Austin at a service door and followed him through. “I thought he was supposed to come.”
“He decided he’d better go check on Edgar, instead,” Ulric replied. “We decided that was wise. Niamh is helping Phil with his brew in her backyard. Expect a messy drunken situation later. Nathaniel is training with Tristan, not far from here. As the gargoyle flies, I mean. He’s on hand in case he’s needed. Oh wow, this place is swank.”
We walked down a hallway with arching ceilings and various racks for selling merchandise. We still needed to decide what to sell. I hadn’t had the time to look into it. The space opened up to a large tasting room, with counter space on two sides and wine barrel tables oddly spaced on the main floor.