The last item we work on building is a bench by the waterfall. The body of it is made of wrought-iron, with the seat and back made up of smooth wooden slats. The legs, armrests, and a decorative headpiece is designed to replicate the ever-present vine which has become a theme in our lives. With our magic having combined forces, all the exertion we put forth is barely registering.
Having finished creating Klaus’ perfect oasis, we take a seat on our bench. While settling onto the seat, he puts his arm around me, and I cuddle into his hold. Sitting on the edge of everything we accomplished over the last several hours, it’s an amazing sight. As we compiled each echo system, we weren’t focused on the arboretum as a whole. Now though, there’s so many different sections—one flowing into the next with a natural fluidity. When gazing down the length, you can’t even see to the other side of the building with all the tall trees in the way. The air is filled with the pine we used for the walkways, and now the sweet scent of flowers mingles with it.
“Thank you for this, Cecily. I love the space we built together, and I know it’s going to be one of my favorite places I’ll ever spend my time at. If you’re ever looking for me, I’m sure I’ll be here. And it all means so much more having the memory of us building it together.” He presses a kiss on my head, and trails his fingertips along my arm.
“This is just the beginning of the rest of our lives together. I wanted to start it off right, and give you each a place to not only call your own, but to give you the peace of being where you belong.” I lift my feet up onto the bench next to me and gaze out of the wall of windows next to us. There’s a perfect view of the sun beginning to set. The sky is just changing colors, turning into a shade of pink and the sparse clouds show a hint of purple. It never occurred to me of this turning out to be the perfect setting to watch the sunset.
“Nah, Sunshine. You have it all wrong. We don’t need a special place set aside to make us feel like this is home now. We just need to be where you are. Our home could be a box in the trashiest ally in the middle of a polluted city, and it would be my favorite home I’ve ever lived in if you were there with me.” He paints a vivid picture as he gets his point across.
“I love you, Klaus,” I tell him, as I nuzzle my face into his chest.
He pulls me onto his lap, and holds my face so he can peer into my eyes. “I love you too, Cecily.” Then his lips are on mine and we don’t hesitate to jump right into a steamy, passionate kiss.
I grip his shirt with both hands, and he holds me behind the neck. It doesn’t take long before Klaus’ free hand lands on my knee and slowly trails up my leg. Just as his fingertips reach my inner thigh, Alex’s voice intrudes. If I didn’t know better, I would think he knew he was being an ultimate cockblock and that’s why he chose now to seek us out.“Angel, I’ve been searching for you everywhere. Where did you guys sneak off to?”
Klaus groans, cluing me in that Alex said it in his mind too. His eyebrows pinch together and he frowns. “I told you they wouldn’t give us too much alone time. Needy little fuckers,” he complains with a slight whine.
“To be fair, it just sounds like Alex asking. He probably has some sixth sense telling him when I’m about to get naughty.” I wiggle my eyebrows and give him a suggestive smirk.
Just as I lean in to resume our kissing, Alex pops back into the link.“Ceeecily! Come out, come out, wherever you are!”I let out a loud, exaggerated groan.
Before I have the chance to respond, Marcus chimes in too,“Hey, Babe, sorry to interrupt your time with Klaus, but we’re missing you. We thought we could work on getting the rest of our space put together. You don’t want Alex attempting to make decorating decisions. You might end up with a lime green plaid couch with a purple shag rug.” Klaus and I burst out in laughter with the image, accompanied by the disgruntled quip of“Fuck you!”from Alex.
“We’ll meet you all in our living room in a few minutes,”I tell them, while giving Klaus a grimace, realizing I didn’t ask if he was okay with the decision. I’m powerless to deny my mates the attention they need. All of our bonds are too new to go long without nurturing them.
He tucks some hair behind my ear and gives my forehead a kiss. “Don’t worry about it, Cecily. They have a point, we should set up the rest of our home, and Alex really is that bad at picking out items. You’re going to have your hands full keeping an eye on him.” We stand up from the bench and he takes my hand as we make our way for the exit.
We make it just a few feet before I’m smacking my hand against my forehead. “Shit! We forgot to make an entrance to our suite. Would you like to connect it to your room or a patio on the outside?” I ask him.
“I wouldn’t feel right keeping such a beautiful area to myself, so let’s go with the patio option. We can make this a family shared space. Plus, the hot tub has given me some good ideas!” He smacks my ass and scoops me into his embrace, lips on my neck. As soon as I give a throaty moan, Klaus lets me go with a glimmer in his eye. Okay, now I know he’s trying to amp me up on purpose. I narrow my eyes on him before leading him over to the glass edge halfway down between the waterfall and the next corner. This will line us up to our living room since he said he wanted to share this space.
Klaus places his hand on my hip and I describe the additions I was picturing to connect a small staircase leading us to the level below, and a patio coming off our living room. I figure we should make a whole outdoor seating area while we’re at it. He gives me a few ideas of how to tweak my idea, then we combine our efforts to make it a reality.
Before us, the glass wall shifts outward, like one of those RV expanding rooms. We place a doorway to make sure the controlled temperature isn’t affected with an opening to the outside. Then a wrought-iron spiral stairway, similar in design to our bench with the Queen’s Thistle vine, reaches down to the floor below us.
We slowly climb down the staircase until we’re halfway, and are able to see the area we plan on building the patio floor. Thank goodness it isn’t a windy day, or this would feel even more precarious than it already does. If we keep walking all the way down, we’d end up falling to a pain-filled splat on the ground. That kind of fall would take several days if not a week of healing. I shudder with the thought and place a stabilizing hand on Klaus’ shoulder as he stands in front of me.
A stone slab, matching the outer walls of the castle, forms as the foundation of our patio. This way, it’ll blend in for anyone gazing up from the ground. We connect the stairway into the stone and continue on with placing a beautiful mosaic tile on top for the flooring. The wrought-iron theme continues in the form of a railing along the edge of the new patio. We add comfortable seating in multiple styles, including a table with enough chairs for guests. The last touch we put together is a plethora of fairy lights.
I once again have a smug grin from having built such a beautiful space, and as I gaze into the window, the rest of my mates have similar smiles having watched our work on the patio. “Beautiful, Darling,” William compliments, his voice garbled with the glass between us. I’m not sure if he’s talking about the patio or me, but from his unwavering gaze, I have the sensation it’s me.
Klaus and I transform the several windows occupying the length of the patio into a wall of folding glass. On any given day, we can slide the wall of glass to the side, allowing a seamless flow of outdoors into our living room. “See, I told you guys we needed her to transform this space. She’s already making it homier with her woman’s touch,” Alex preens, arms crossed. Seems I should thank my other mates for holding him back from interrupting my time with Klaus.
It only takes a moment before I’m surrounded by my mates, each wanting to give me a passionate kiss to show me how much they’ve missed me over the past several hours. By the time I’ve been kissed by all five of them—yes, Klaus snuck in there too, and he got punched in the arm for it since he cut in front of Marcus—my panties are completely soaked and I’m a breathless mess. My cocky-as-fuck mates all exchange smug grins.
My nipples brush against my bra as I cross my arms. Damn it, I need to figure out a way to keep these hormones under control. “What have you been up to this whole time?” Derrick asks, providing me a good enough distraction from the path my thoughts were leading to.
“Yeah, because from how quickly we made our girl a drippy mess, you weren’t wearing her out,” Alex throws in. My cheeks flame and I hide behind my hands. William saves me by tucking me under his arm, allowing me to cuddle into his chest. This time, the smack delivered to the back of Alex’s head is delivered by Klaus.
Alex winces and rubs the spot before whispering in my mind.“Love you, Angel.”I can’t help but smile, knowing it’s just Alex being Alex.
“Cecily and I built an arboretum on the roof. It was all her idea; she wanted to give me a space to make this feel like my home too. She has ideas for each of you.” There’s an energy in Klaus’ voice, leaving me with no doubt that I made the right decision.
The rest of our evening is filled with me working with each of my mates creating the perfect space for them, and then all of us working together on the common areas. By the time we finish, we fall into a giant pile on the huge bed I made yesterday. I’m filled to bursting with joy, knowing we’re starting the rest of our lives on the right foot. Nothing will be able to hold us back when we’re together.
Chapter 13
Cecily
