Chapter 281

Tessa’s POV

“Movers will be arriving tonight to grab our things, so we should probably head back early this morning,” Joseph said a few minutes after I had woken.

The sun was still down, but I knew that it was early in the morning because he was fully awake and almost dressed. He was freshly out of the shower and completely shirtless. But he was wearing a pair of jeans that left no mystery of what lay underneath. My mouth watered at the sight of him and all I wanted was to pull him back into bed and have my sweet way with him.

Beads of water dripped from his broad chest, making me want to lick it off him and my cheeks flushed at the very thought. Joseph corked an eyebrow and I saw a small smile on his lips as he walked closer to me.

“Get dressed,” he said again, his tone softening until it was basically playful. “I mean it. I want to get there before they do, and we have a long drive ahead of us.”

I sighed and fell back onto the bed. But I knew he was right; we had a lot to do. We already discussed movers coming to take our things from our respected home and then bringing them here. Joseph and I planned to come back here tomorrow and officially move into our new home. Joseph hid a key to the place somewhere outside and he told the movers where to find it so they could walk right in and set everything up for us.

I’m not sure how much he’s paying them to do that; I’ve learned not to ask him such a question.

Joseph smiled and grabbed my arms to pull me back up and then he kissed me softly. His hand went up and around the back of my neck, caressing me gently until it froze. He broke the kiss and looked at the spot he was touching with a small frown.

I knew what he was looking at and I knew how badly he was feeling. I told him he didn’t need to feel bad; I was feeling on top of the world. I had so much energy I could run a marathon. It was strange though because I was exhausted last night, and I passed out almost immediately after we made love. But when I woke up this morning all I wanted to do was make love to him again. But he was right, we needed to get going.

So, I slid out of bed and wrapped my arms around him, kissing him gently on the cheek.

“I love you,” I told him. “Don’t feel bad about this. I regret nothing.”

He looked uncertain, but he nodded anyway.

“I’ll get dressed now,” I told him, winking as I stepped away, and then I went into the bathroom to shower.

……

The drive back was long and exhausting. We only stopped a couple of times to use the restroom and get some food. Joseph dropped me off at my apartment before he went home. As I stepped into my apartment, I paused and took a look around. There were a lot of memories here. I spent a lot of time with Ruby in this apartment and my heart squeezed at the thought. I looked out the window and across the street I saw the school’s campus. Joseph’s office was on the very top floor of the school.

I smiled. I liked knowing he was so close to me and I’m sure he was feeling the same way.

Life was going to be so different going forward; I was no longer going to have to miss him because I would be living with him. I had to admit, I was a little nervous about this new adventure that awaited us, but I was also excited.

Once we get settled, we will finally be able to start planning our wedding and building our futures together.

My phone started to ring in my pocket, and I grabbed it, glancing at the screen. I saw my father’s smiling image flash across the screen. I swiped to answer it.

“Hey, Dad,” I said into the phone.

My father and I have a rocky relationship right now, but I was trying to forget all that had happened these last couple of months and just move forward. I knew he was under the influence of magic and didn’t remember all that the coven had done to my mother. He didn’t remember her warning. Although, I’m still not sure how they convinced a man who wanted nothing to do with magic to kidnap me.

I shuddered at the memory.

“Hey, Kiddo. I’m just checking in and making sure you are okay,” my father said. “Have you and Joseph moved yet?”

“We bought a house just outside the city,” I answered. “We are moving in tomorrow. I’m home now packing and waiting for the movers to come.”

“I’m not much for cities, you know that. But Penny is insisting we visit you,” my father mumbled. “Would that be okay?”

“Of course, Dad,” I replied. “You are always welcome. As long as you don’t start any issues with Joseph, then there shouldn’t be a problem.”

He sighed.

“I know I’ve been terrible in the past, but it was only because I didn’t know that he helped us in the past. I didn’t know your mother trusted him.”

“I know,” I said softly. “It’s okay. There wasn’t a way you could know. Mom didn’t want you to remember anything. She didn’t want anyone remembering anything.”

This also made me wonder how the hell Lucias remembered and if he remembered, did others? A tight knot formed in the pit of my stomach; I had a weird feeling about this, but I decided to shake the thought out of my mind for right now.

“Are you going to practice your magic?” My father surprised me by asking. “Now that you know what you are, it’s probably better to strengthen your abilities.”

“Yes, I’m going to reach out to Esme and see if she can help. She was Mom’s best friend, which means we can trust her. Right?”

“Yes, we can trust her,” my father confirmed. “Keep me updated. Maybe we will come out next week once you are all settled.”

“I’d like that,” I admitted.

“Good. Well, I just wanted to check-in. I don’t want us to return to being strangers. You know I love you, Tess.”

I smiled.

“I love you too,” I said in return. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Without another word, we both hung up the phone. I smiled at the screen; I was glad to have my father in my life and I was glad he wasn’t trying to keep me away from Joseph anymore. Things were finally looking up.

I went through my contacts until Esme’s name appeared. I pressed her name and then the “call” button. I pressed the phone to my cheek and listened to the dialing until she finally answered.

“Esmeralda,” she answered, her tone filled with confidence and authority.

“Hey, Esme. It’s Tessa,” I said, trying to sound just as confident.

“Oh, hey, Tessa,” she said in response. “What can I do for you?”

“Joseph and I are going to be moving to New York tomorrow. Which is about 30 minutes away from you. I was wondering if you’d be able to help me with my magic. If that offer still stands, I mean.”

“Really? You want me to be your guide?” Esme asked. “Are you positive that’s what you want?”

“You did offer,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed for no reason. “I don’t really trust anyone else at the moment and you were my mother’s best friend. If she trusted you, then I trust you as well.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. I’ve been working on a training guide for you hoping that you’d call and take me up on my offer,” Esme admitted. “There is so much for you to learn and there’s a ton for you to discover. You are the Heavenly Heart, which means you have powers and abilities beyond our comprehension. We are going to need to figure out exactly what abilities you harvest.”

“How exactly do we find that out?” I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know the answer, but knowing that I needed to know.

“I’m going to get a hold of my friend, Roofus,” she informed me. “With some testing, he will be able to tell us at least some of the stuff you can do. I don’t have the proper equipment for that, or else I would do it myself. But Roofus should be able to help us out. I’ll set up an appointment with him next week if that works for you.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I said, uncertainty clear in my tone. “Who exactly is Roofus though? Can we trust him?”

“Yes, we can trust him,” she told me confidently. “Roofus is our very own Witch Doctor.”