13. Savvy

13

Savvy

“ O h, my lord,” Cassia said as she flew into their suite. “That was so cheesy.”

“What was?” Savvy asked innocently.

“That flirting. Why didn’t you guys just rip each other’s clothes off and fuck each other’s brains out? Get out some of that sexual tension.”

“He’s my boss,” Savvy protested.

“That didn’t stop you before,” Cassia said.

“Ugh,” Savvy said. “Don’t remind me.”

“Do you have regrets?” she asked.

“No. I don’t. That’s the problem. I want more. I loved how it felt to have his arms wrapped around me, holding me tight against him. It was so amazing to feel his body against mine.”

“I think I just threw up a little in my mouth,” Cassia said.

“Do dragonflies do that?”

“This one just did,” Cassia said. “You have to be careful. Amy and Rosa were right. You’re falling in love with him. I don’t know if he still has feelings for Eva, but he’s off-limits. If you get with him and things turn sour, it will be those babies who end up paying the price. They’ve been hurt once bad enough as it is.”

“I know you’re right.” Savvy sighed.

She jumped in the shower and closed her eyes at the exquisite feeling of the hot water cascading over her body. Savvy felt Rory’s big, strong hands traveling over her body. Closing her eyes, she could feel his thumbs rubbing her nipples and then him sucking on them. His kisses seemed very real to her, and she could feel the pressure of his lips on hers.

Savvy felt the wet heat rising between her legs. She reached down, rubbed the hard pebble, and pushed two fingers inside of herself. The cool tiles she leaned against for support were a sharp contrast between the hot water and the heat from her body. Breathing heavily, her heart raced as her inner walls pulsated around her fingers. She moaned as she felt the fires course through her as she pictured Rory’s glorious, sexy body pressed against hers. Savvy trembled and a torrent of hot liquid fire poured out of her.

When the moment of ecstasy was over, she tried to catch her breath. She looked around, feeling almost lost. There was a huge sense of disappointment to find that she was alone in the shower. At this moment, she wanted nothing more than to have his arms wrapped around her.

Her conversation with Cassia came back to her. However, there was no harm in fantasizing about him as long as she kept it to herself. People fantasized about others all the time. How many women had pleasured themselves, pretending that their favorite movie star, athlete, singer, or even neighbor was there with them? She just had to keep her fantasies to herself in private and not let her emotions show on her face when she was around other people.

Savvy crawled into bed and pulled a large pillow close to her. If I keep doing this, I’m going to fall more for him, she told herself. Then, No. I’m a big girl, and I know the difference between reality and fantasy.

The next morning, the kids were full of energy. After they finished eating, they broke out in a chant. “Hide and go seek. Hide and go seek.”

“Fine, you little terrorists. We’ll play.”

“Yay,” they yelled, throwing their arms in the air and dancing around in circles.

Rosa and Amy laughed. Savvy looked at them and asked, “Do you want to join us?”

“Not me. I have a house to clean,” Amy said.

“Sorry. Food to make,” Rosa protested.

“Party poopers,” Savvy said.

Drake and Cat each grabbed one of her hands and pulled her outside. “You have to count first,” Cat said.

“Sure,” Savvy replied.

She never told them that she peeked. Savvy always wanted to know where they were at all times. She waited for the kids to hide and then pretended to search for them, only finding them when they started giggling.

Savvy hid her face and started to count. She stopped suddenly when she saw someone walk out of the wood line and call out to the kids. The person was wearing a dark hoodie and sunglasses. The kids stopped running toward their hiding spot and walked over to the figure.

Her heart thundering in her chest and her breath caught in her throat, Savvy waved her hand in the direction of the intruder and muttered an incantation. The person fell down in a heap.

“Cassia, go get Colby,” Savvy said. “He’s close by.”

Savvy ran over to Cat and Drake, grabbed their hands, and took them into the house.

“Amy, a woman came out of the woods and approached the kids. Can you watch them for a minute?”

“Of course,” Amy said, gathering the kids into her arms.

Savvy ran back outside where she saw Colby kneeling by the intruder with Cassia hovering over them.

“What happened?”

“We were playing hide and go seek. I was counting, but watching, since I never let them out of my sight. She came out of the woods and started talking to them.”

Colby looked down at the crumbled heap on the ground. They could see that it was a woman. “What happened to her?”

“I put her to sleep. She’s fine. I can wake her back up,” Savvy said.

Colby gave her a hard, searching look and then glanced at the dragonfly sitting on Savvy’s shoulder.

“The dragonfly came to get me. She is your familiar. You are a witch,” Colby said.

“Yes,” Savvy replied simply.

“Well, now. Doesn’t that beat all,” he said. He looked at the crumbled heap on the ground and said, “I’m glad you’re on our side.”

He pulled back the woman’s hoodie and took off her sunglasses.

He gasped. “Eva.

“Can you wake her up?”

Savvy muttered another incantation, and Eva’s eyes fluttered open.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Colby. Good to see you, too. I wanted to see the kids,” Eva stammered. “What happened?”

Colby looked at Savvy and then said, “You’d better come with me. I’m going to call Rory.”

He helped Eva stand up. The woman was a little unsteady on her feet.

“I’ll be with the pups,” Savvy said. She knew that all hell would break loose when Rory got the phone call.

Savvy found Drake and Cat in the playroom with Amy.

“Thank you for watching them,” Savvy said. She whispered in Amy’s ear, “It’s Eva.”

“What?” Amy asked, shocked. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Then, she hurried out of the room to see for herself.

Savvy pulled the kids into a hug and asked, “Don’t you know that you aren’t supposed to talk to strangers?”

Drake said in a small voice, “She knew our names.”

“It is easy to find out your names. Please don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“We’re sorry,” Cat said, her lower lip trembling. “I love you. I don’t want to scare you.”

She wrapped her arms around Savvy.

“I love you, too,” Drake said.

Savvy’s heart melted. “Babies, you know that I love you so very, very much.”

“She said that she was our mother before she fell down,” Cat said. “Is she really our mother?”

Biting her lip, she thought about what she should say. Finally, she decided to be honest with them, because they would likely find out the truth anyway.

“I think that she might be,” Savvy said.

“Is she coming back to stay with us?” Drake asked.

Savvy’s heart lurched at the emotion in the little boy’s voice. He sounded so vulnerable.

“Honey, I honestly don’t know. That is something that your father will have to decide. I know that he’ll tell you as soon as he knows anything.”

“Can’t you tell her what to do?” Drake asked. “You take care of us.”

“I’m sorry, baby boy. It doesn’t work that way. I’m just the nanny. I’m not family and I have no say.”

“That’s not true,” Cat protested hotly. “You are not just the nanny. You are our best friend, and you are a part of our family.”

Savvy felt tears coming to her eyes. She smiled and said, “You know what? I think that we should build something cool. It’s Lego time.”

Cat and Drake grinned and repeated, “It’s Lego time.”

She knew that thoughts of their mother were still at the forefront of their mind as they started building a fortress. Savvy wished that she had answers, but she didn’t.

Biting her lip, she watched the kids plan out their building. For a five and six-year-old kid, they were exceedingly smart. She was very impressed as she talked about their strategy for building their castle.

Cassia, who had followed Colby and Eva into the sitting room, came back.

She whispered in Savvy’s ear, “Colby called Rory, who yelled loud enough through the phone that I could hear him clearly. He told Colby not to let Eva move. He was on his way. The woman asked Amy if she could have some water. Amy brought her a bottle and just stared at her. If looks could kill, Eva would be dead.”

Drake and Cat looked at Cassia and said, “You helped protect us.”

“That’s my job,” she said. “You’re my family, too.”

Cat held out her finger and Cassia landed on it. The dragonfly then perched on Drake’s head and said, “What are we going to build?”

The kids explained their plans for the castle to the dragonfly, who gave them some pointers, including the idea that they needed a moat. Drake and Cat got excited at that idea, until Savvy told them that there would be no water in their Lego castle moat. They would just have to pretend.

As they played, Savvy’s mind wandered back to Eva. Her heart hurt at the thought that Eva might be back. Rory might decide that they didn’t need her anymore. That would kill her because she loved the kids. She also had come to look at Rosa, Amy, and Colby as family. The thought of never seeing Rory again made her soul twist into a knot.

I know I love him, too. What a stupid thing to do, but I can’t help it.