Jinx's Fantasy - Pepper Winters Page 0,39

stayed quiet while he watched our two friends. Pika landed on his hair, tugging at the strands, demanding attention while Skittles plopped onto my shoulder and gave me beak kisses with gentle squeaks.

I loved Cal’s and Jess’s infectious joy. It was blatantly obvious how happy this potential adoption had made them, and it made me all the more grateful that my heart was full thanks to a tiny parrot on my shoulder and the hundreds of rescues back at home.

I wasn’t missing a piece of myself and neither was Sully, so perhaps we’d been selfish in thinking Jess and Cal were as happy as us.

I never understood the drive for kids until that moment, living it through their eyes and feeling my heart tug with their wanting.

Moving toward Sully, I linked my fingers with his.

His gorgeous blue eyes locked with mine, swimming with the same realisations I’d had. We were so lucky. We had everything we could ever want. Goddess Isles was safe and run by Dr Campbell and capable vets. Rapture was being fortified and managed by trustworthy staff. Sully’s pharmaceutical empire was guided by Peter Beck and could be handled remotely via online contact.

We didn’t need to rush home.

We had everything we needed right here, on this boat.

Skittles head-butted my ear as Pika flipped upside down and peered into Sully’s eyes while holding onto his hair. My heart swelled with affection. My eyes filled with tears of gratefulness. “You took me to England a year ago, Sully. Don’t you think it’s time we visit France?” I whispered.

Cal and Jess froze, their attention flying back and forth between Sully and me.

Ever so slowly, Sully reached up and plucked Pika from his hair. Holding the adorable caique in his hand, he studied the parrot, then looked at Skittles before bending to kiss me. He was gentle and adoring, trembling a little beneath the same crush of emotion I’d felt for our life, for us, for our feathered family. “I think I could cope exploring Paris while those two go baby shopping.”

“Really?” Jess screamed. “Oh, Sullivan. You have no idea what this means to us!” Launching herself at us, she joined in our embrace, drenching our faces with kisses. She smacked me right on the lips as tears cascaded down her cheeks. “Jinx...I can’t believe this.”

I kissed her right back. “Believe it. We’re going to France!”

Sully untangled himself and chuckled, drinking his beer as if the mayhem around him wasn’t building his own excitement at a longer cruise, more relaxing days at sea, and more sexy nights in Euphoria.

But he couldn’t fool me.

I’d been married to him for enough years to see the nuances of his happiness.

And he was happy.

I was happy.

And when Q liked Jess and Cal...they’d be happy too.

Chapter Seventeen

SAILING INTO FRENCH WATERS filled me with the usual hatred toward mankind. The plumes of population hazing the air, the electric buzz that was tangible from so many bodies in one place. The entrapment of animals, and the carnage of carcasses that ended up wrapped in plastic ready for a plate.

I wasn’t a fan of cities, and I doubted that would ever change, but I was here because my family had asked me. I would stifle my complaints and do whatever was needed to ensure Jess and Cal were as happy as Jinx and I.

I’d also agreed to take Eleanor sightseeing. I would ignore my dislike of people and do the touristy thing until we both snapped and needed space. At least we wouldn’t be staying the night. We’d return to Calypso and be able to breathe away from society.

As for the business idea of handing Calypso over to Rapture to use for marriage counselling, that was now discarded. All of us had enjoyed our voyage too much to give it up.

Calypso was ours.

Therefore, Elder Prest had received two additional commissions last week. One, another yacht—smaller than Calypso but just as luxurious for the booming business on Rapture, and two, a more modern, sexy vessel for the offshoot of our virtual reality business that Cal had joked about.

I’d once catered to rich bastards who’d gotten their kink by paying for goddesses high on elixir. My wife had dismantled that illegal enterprise and conjured a highly successful business that helped broken couples find their way back to each other.

Now, it was time to siphon some coin from the younger generation. The frisky, flirty, and downright filthy twenty-something’s who wanted to play before conforming to society’s rules.

Euphoria would give them more than