1
“There’s my beautiful girl,” Gavin said, entering the cozy, rustic restaurant. “Now if I can only find my other beautiful girl.” I looked up from my notebook and smiled warmly, my insides shifting into a slow, sensual simmer. One look into his chocolate brown eyes and at that adorable smirk of his, and all focus on my current work in progress was lost.
I set my pencil down, next to the red pen. The red pen had been mighty busy lately. “Hey, handsome. She’s fine. She’s with Greta, helping her and Denise in the castle gardens.”
“ Mmmmmm ,” he hummed, walking behind me to rest his hands on my shoulders. He began to massage them gently, and I released a grateful sigh, content to just sit there in the handmade wooden chair and let him work his magic.
“So we’re all alone, are we?”
“Don’t get any ideas, Mr. Devereaux. I’m still hard at work on the novel, you know.”
“Work can wait.” His body’s warmth covered my back and neck as he leaned down, and I felt a small tug on my earlobe, his teeth grazing softly, then clamping down. “It’s not every day I have you all to myself.”
He had a point. Since having Ava, our daughter, we hadn’t had much alone time. It wasn’t that we didn’t have friends here in Amaranth to help watch her, but those people weren’t our friends back on Earth—the ones we’d accepted we’d never see again. The ones we could trust with anything, even our very lives. Of course, our Amaranthian friends were kind people, always offering to help us with Ava.
Like today.
Greta and Denise offered to take her along to the castle gardens while they worked, like they often did. They always loved squeezing her cheeks and sewing clothes for her in their free time, and Ava was thrilled to frolic in the gardens and lend a helping hand whenever they invited her to come along.
But we didn’t trust Ava with just anyone, no matter how kind or thoughtful they were.
Not since the day of her birth, five years ago, and not even now, after we’d spent those five years picking up the pieces and rebuilding the realm’s villages from scratch. Since the Amaranthian war ended and our friends returned to Earth, things had been amazing. Amaranth had been a peaceful realm. What was once a nightmarish existence was now contented and secure, full of promise for the future.
That didn’t mean all of us were so content in our new world, though.
Many of us who were stuck here when Gérard’s reign was destroyed and the vampire spell was broken were enthusiastic about starting over and making the best of the situation. Even some of the former guards, who were once on Gérard and Samira’s side, had turned out to be the realm’s biggest champions, helping to lead us in new, exciting directions. We not only had a new town square in the main village, but the windmill had been completely refurbished and the old walls that once stood with the gates were torn down and replaced with white, picturesque fencing, placed all along the villages’ perimeter. All of this was thanks to some of Amaranth’s former guards. Others, though, were less enthusiastic. Homesick.
I could relate.
Still, I was a mom now, and I couldn’t help but be cautious considering all we’d been through. I wanted Ava within our reach as often as possible.
“I know,” I answered Gavin, careful not to allow those thoughts to linger, “but Greta and Denise could bring her home any minute.”
“You’re still scared.”
My shoulders tensed up. “A little.”
“You have nothing to be afraid of,” he assured me. “No one, and no thing is ever going to hurt Ava, do you understand me?” I nodded, soaking up the heat from the kiss he planted on my cheek, but that didn’t seem to appease him.
“Hey.” His voice was sterner now. He took the back of my chair and pulled, swiveling me around to face him. “The only thing you have to be worried about at the moment is you and me.” A seductive smile rolled his
“There’s my beautiful girl,” Gavin said, entering the cozy, rustic restaurant. “Now if I can only find my other beautiful girl.” I looked up from my notebook and smiled warmly, my insides shifting into a slow, sensual simmer. One look into his chocolate brown eyes and at that adorable smirk of his, and all focus on my current work in progress was lost.
I set my pencil down, next to the red pen. The red pen had been mighty busy lately. “Hey, handsome. She’s fine. She’s with Greta, helping her and Denise in the castle gardens.”
“ Mmmmmm ,” he hummed, walking behind me to rest his hands on my shoulders. He began to massage them gently, and I released a grateful sigh, content to just sit there in the handmade wooden chair and let him work his magic.
“So we’re all alone, are we?”
“Don’t get any ideas, Mr. Devereaux. I’m still hard at work on the novel, you know.”
“Work can wait.” His body’s warmth covered my back and neck as he leaned down, and I felt a small tug on my earlobe, his teeth grazing softly, then clamping down. “It’s not every day I have you all to myself.”
He had a point. Since having Ava, our daughter, we hadn’t had much alone time. It wasn’t that we didn’t have friends here in Amaranth to help watch her, but those people weren’t our friends back on Earth—the ones we’d accepted we’d never see again. The ones we could trust with anything, even our very lives. Of course, our Amaranthian friends were kind people, always offering to help us with Ava.
Like today.
Greta and Denise offered to take her along to the castle gardens while they worked, like they often did. They always loved squeezing her cheeks and sewing clothes for her in their free time, and Ava was thrilled to frolic in the gardens and lend a helping hand whenever they invited her to come along.
But we didn’t trust Ava with just anyone, no matter how kind or thoughtful they were.
Not since the day of her birth, five years ago, and not even now, after we’d spent those five years picking up the pieces and rebuilding the realm’s villages from scratch. Since the Amaranthian war ended and our friends returned to Earth, things had been amazing. Amaranth had been a peaceful realm. What was once a nightmarish existence was now contented and secure, full of promise for the future.
That didn’t mean all of us were so content in our new world, though.
Many of us who were stuck here when Gérard’s reign was destroyed and the vampire spell was broken were enthusiastic about starting over and making the best of the situation. Even some of the former guards, who were once on Gérard and Samira’s side, had turned out to be the realm’s biggest champions, helping to lead us in new, exciting directions. We not only had a new town square in the main village, but the windmill had been completely refurbished and the old walls that once stood with the gates were torn down and replaced with white, picturesque fencing, placed all along the villages’ perimeter. All of this was thanks to some of Amaranth’s former guards. Others, though, were less enthusiastic. Homesick.
I could relate.
Still, I was a mom now, and I couldn’t help but be cautious considering all we’d been through. I wanted Ava within our reach as often as possible.
“I know,” I answered Gavin, careful not to allow those thoughts to linger, “but Greta and Denise could bring her home any minute.”
“You’re still scared.”
My shoulders tensed up. “A little.”
“You have nothing to be afraid of,” he assured me. “No one, and no thing is ever going to hurt Ava, do you understand me?” I nodded, soaking up the heat from the kiss he planted on my cheek, but that didn’t seem to appease him.
“Hey.” His voice was sterner now. He took the back of my chair and pulled, swiveling me around to face him. “The only thing you have to be worried about at the moment is you and me.” A seductive smile rolled his
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