12. Ivy
Ivy
Long before I feel his weight in my bed or hear his snore, I know Jensen is next to me. The amethyst woman staring at me is the surest sign that I am not alone, even before the memories of last night confirm it.
“Good morning,” I whisper.
Jensen groggily mumbles a response.
“I was talking to the angel.”
“She’s not an angel. No wings.”
“Maybe angels don’t really have wings. Have you ever actually seen one?”
His heavy arm lands on my waist and drags me across the mattress to him. “I’m seeing one right now.”
“It’s entirely too early for that much cheese.” I try to wrestle out of his grasp, but he won’t let me go. “Stop. I have to pee.”
He reluctantly releases me. I turn the angel around before I climb out of bed.
When I return from the bathroom, the shoulder tattoo Josephine gave him peeks out above the blanket, and the angel is staring at me again. “I keep telling you, you better leave her alone.”
“She can’t keep her eyes off you,” he says, rolling to face me. “Her dark, empty eyes that follow you everywhere you go.”
He holds the blanket open, and I climb back into bed with him. His body is warm, and I could fall back asleep in his arms in no time, but I have to go. “I’m helping clean the path again this morning.”
“We better warm up your legs.” He pulls me on top of him, and I don’t resist.
I slide down onto his morning erection and moan. How could I not make that sound at the way he stretches me when I take his dick at this angle? So fucking good. He gave me three orgasms under the stars and the full moon last night. Another after we got back here. I can give him one with no reciprocation this morning.
Rocking back, I ride his cock slowly, going all the way down every time. His eyes are glazed, and I love it when he looks at me like this, but I need to hurry things along. He tries to slow me back down when I start to bounce on him, but I smile and shake my head. “It’s gotta be quick and dirty this morning, babe.”
“Did you just call me babe? You can do whatever you want now.”
“I never knew you wine country boys were so easy.”
“Only for beach girls.”
“Shut up and let me fuck you.”
That appreciative smile is everything. I wish I could take my time, but this day is going to be so busy, and then Zara will be here. She’s going to love Jensen. How could anyone not?
Just when I think I’m going to have to push past my difficulty with dirty talk in the daylight and start spitting some filthy shit to get him there, his body tightens and his groans shorten along with his breath. My vampiric inner slut is grateful. So are my quads. I’m tactful enough not to throw up victory arms. But only just.
I kiss his scorpion before I dismount. “What are you doing this morning?”
“Putting out signs.”
“No, that’s this afternoon. I’m helping with those, and then I’m packaging soap for Petra.”
“How many hours are in your day? Because I think you must have more than the rest of us.”
I toss a towel at him, aiming for his chest, but hitting his face. “Don’t do the signs without me.”
“You better get your ass in gear if you’re working with me this morning.”
“Pffft. I’ll work circles around you.” I send Petra a text to let know I’m helping with the signs this morning unless she needs me somewhere else. She says that’s fine. Everything’s covered.
I had no idea driving metal pickets into the ground would be this hard. We’ve been at it for hours and we’re not close to being done. The warning signs for the path are still stacked in the bed of Jensen’s truck and we’ve got two more rows of the other signs to put out before we can even start on those.
Hearing from Zara rejuvenates me.
The first four hours of the drive are done. Just got gas and I’m about to get back on the road. I think I’m past all the major traffic areas now. The rest should be smooth sailing.
You might run into a little more traffic in a few hours, but the last three hours are wide open. Keep updating me. Can’t wait to see you!
Can’t wait to be there!
I tried to tell her to fly, but I’m glad she’s almost halfway here.
Cujo shows up to help with the signs and Jensen tells me to take off.
“Are you firing me?”
“I’m offering you the chance to get out of the sun and wind and go wrap bars of soap.”
“You’re fired,” Cujo says. “There. Now you have no choice.”
It feels amazing to take off the work gloves Jensen loaned me. They probably saved my hands from blisters, but they’re hot. I open and close my fingers, let the wind blow through them. “Fine. I’m out of here.”
Petra’s casita is cool and quiet. I yawn as I look over all the supplies that she laid out for me. It is too early to be this tired. I’ve got a late night ahead, catching up with Zara, and then showing her all around tomorrow and the festival all weekend.
I wrap twine around a bar of soap to measure the length I’ll need with the bow, and then I cut a pile the same length. For the wax paper, I can eyeball the amount without precutting. That can vary a little. There’s a pair of scissors and a bowl of dried herbs to cut trimmings from for decoration, and a stack of paper with a couple of pens for making the labels. As long as I keep my hands busy, I should be able to stay awake.
Separating the soap by scent, I do the labels first, using the scissors to make a hole big enough to push the twine through. Then I cut coordinating herb sprigs and group everything to make the wrapping go faster. It only takes a few hours to have them all done.
Zara should be on the home stretch. Just a few more hours. I walk back to my casita, stopping to pet Wizard on the way. “You didn’t leave any new gifts on my porch, did you?”
April’s shadow darkens my mood. It worsens when I look up to see her face. “What do you want?” I ask.
“My cat.”
“Does it look like I’m holding him hostage?”
“Maybe things aren’t always what they look like.”
“Really? You figure that out all by yourself?” I give Wizard a final neck rub, and stand.
“What was I supposed to think?”
“Maybe you weren’t supposed to think anything at all. Maybe it was none of your business. But if you were just dying to know, you could’ve asked instead of jumping to conclusions. Josephine and I are friends, and I’d thought maybe I could be friends with you, too. What were you hoping to accomplish by telling her that, anyway?”
“I don’t know. It just looked like you were one more woman he wanted instead of me, and it pissed me off.”
“You don’t get to shit on other people’s lives just because your feelings are hurt. Cujo and Jensen are friends. No matter what you thought about me, did you really think he’d do that?”
“I didn’t think, okay? I just got hurt and reacted.”
“Overreacted.”
“That’s fair. I’m sorry.”
Well, damn. I wasn’t expecting an apology. “Just cut it the fuck out, okay? Don’t try to start any more rumors about me.”
“Why is someone coming to visit you?”
“How do you know that?”
“There are no secrets in Ivydell.”
“She’s a good friend, and she’s dying to see Ivydell for herself. It’s honestly more her kind of place than it is mine. So, I invited her to come.”
“Might as well show it to people while you can.”
“Exactly. I don’t have much time left.”
“And then what?”
“And then I go home.”
“What about Stinger?”
“For some strange reason, I don’t feel compelled to confide in you, April.”
“Got it. I’ll just take my cat and be on my way then.”
I step aside, not that I’m preventing Wizard from going anywhere, no matter where I stand. April turns around and starts walking away. “Come on, Wizard.”
The cat pads along behind her, his fluffy tail swishing as he goes. Such a good boy. So loyal. If that cat loves her so much, she can’t be terrible.
I hear Myrna’s laugh coming from the direction of the path, so I detour that way. Tawny and Josephine are helping, too.
“How close is your friend?” Petra asks.
“Just a few more hours. Is the community center off limits tonight? I was thinking we could do another girls’ night, and it might be better to do it there than at someone’s casita. More space.”
Less chance of Josephine kicking the shit out of April, assuming they’d both come.
“Fine with me,” Petra says. Tawny and Myrna agree, both say they’ll be there.
Josephine looks up from the rake she’s wielding. “I’ll let Alma and Elma know.”
“Thanks.” She knows I’m still a little uncomfortable approaching Whispering Winds. I like the Spirit Sisters, but their casita makes me antsy.
“Y’all need any help out here?”
“Nope.” I swear they all say it in unison. I’d be offended if I didn’t know they were trying to be nice.
“Okay, fine.”
I walk to April’s casita, take a deep breath, and knock on the door. She eyes me warily when she opens it. “Girls’ night at the community center tonight. I want to introduce my friend, Zara, to everyone. You should come.”
“Maybe I will.”
“See you there.”
Jensen calls to say they’re done with the signs, and he and Cujo are going to pick up barbecue for an impromptu community dinner. “Should I get wine, too?”
“Yes, please. It was planning to host girls’ night, but I guess now it’s a unisex party. You’re saving me from having to go to the store.”
He laughs. “Were you planning to include all the girls?”
“I’ve invited them all.”
“Are they all aware?”
“We’re all adults. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Your optimism is boundless.”
“It’s Ivydell. No one should be excluded here.”
I hear him filling Cujo in on my plans for the night as we’re ending our call—and Cujo’s gravelly voice saying, “Your old lady’s fearless.”
Not loving the old lady bit. But I kind of like the fearless part. I used to fear so many pointless things. The desert changes people.