Page 55 of Cherished Lands
She was my perfect match.
"I'm gonna come, Princess. You want it?"
She hummed her agreement. The vibration nearly finished me right there.
"Take it all," I commanded, snapping my hips forward one final time as I exploded down her throat.
And like the good girl she was, she swallowed every drop.
I gripped under her arms and hauled her up to me, pressing my mouth to hers and tasting the saltiness of my release on hertongue. I walked her backwards until the backs of her knees hit the bed, and we fell in together.
Then, for the second night in a row, I fell asleep with Tessa in my arms.
I wasn't sure how I could ever go back to sleeping alone.
We spentChristmas morning wrapped up in each other before trekking through the new dusting of snow to my parents to unwrap gifts.
Dad got Tessa her very own Carhartt jacket with the Ever Eden logo embroidered on the sleeve. Mom gave her a recipe book with instructions for all the homemade meals she'd made over the last couple weeks, plus dozens more.
Tessa gave me a ring.
"It's tungsten with an apple wood inlay," she said. "We got married so fast I didn't have a chance to get you one sooner."
I'd never given much thought to wearing a ring, but I wanted to wear hers.
When Charlie had asked where my gift for Tessa was, I told Tessa that I'd cleared out three extra drawers in the dresser for her. She flung herself at me and tackled me to the floor, peppering my face with kisses.
The rest of the day went down as expected. Football on the TV, endless laughter, and shoveling food into our mouths nonstop. When we made it back to the house late that night, we didn't even fool around. We were both too tipsy and too full. I passed out fully clothed, spooning my wife.
The new year was nearly here. Soon, mediation wouldbegin. But before then, we had two major milestones to get through: breaking ground on the cidery and the Sable Point Winter Festival.
"It's a risk," Hank said. He took a sip of his coffee, thick mustache disappearing behind the rim of his mug. "If an injunction is granted mid-construction, you'll have to halt all work immediately."
"It's a risk we'll have to take," I said, looking around the kitchen at the rest of the family. "We don't have the luxury of time. The cidery needs to be up and running before the summer tourist season, and we're already pushing the limits by having the contractors work overtime."
Hank sighed, and Tessa squeezed my thigh in a silent show of support.
"Well, everything is taken care of from our end. Everything for the cidery was executed in Elliot's name, so if Ray's lawyers go digging around, they'll just see Elliot using marital assets to expand his family's business. Once the non-compete is up, we can restructure things with the divorce proceedings."
Divorce.It sounded less and less appealing with each passing day, but we didn't talk about it. This fake marriage was starting to feel very,veryreal.
Would Tessa still want a divorce this time next year? Would I?
The questions weighed heavy on my mind, but I couldn't afford to get distracted. The fate of my family's business hinged on the successful opening of this cidery come June.
If that didn't happen, we could say goodbye to Ever Eden Orchard.
"Alright. Should we head over there?" I rose from my seat, pulling Tessa up with me.
"Sure," she said, offering a smile to our attorney. "Thanks for everything, Hank."
"No problem, my dear. I'll see you both next week for mediation. Call me if you need anything."
Dad and I both shook Hank's hand before he left through the front door.
"Ready?" I asked the room. Mom, Dad, Nana, Papa, Jasper, Natalie, and Chase—we were all gathered here, ready to head over to the parcel of land that would become EdenTree Cidery.
For now, we were keeping construction on the down low. We didn't want to give Ray any ammunition to file the injunction. It was so fucking lucky that he hadn't gotten wind of our plans yet.
