Page 70 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

Daphne

B y the time everyone finishes eating, I’m so stuffed I’m not sure I can move.

That’s mostly due to Feliks making sure “I eat enough to recover from my heat.” Except I’m pretty sure they kept me well-stuffed during my heat (with food, too) and I’m in no danger of being deficient in any nutrients.

When I finally make it to my feet and they determine I can walk okay, they agree to take me on a tour instead of being overprotective and making me rest in my nest like they originally wanted to.

We start with a house tour, and all the rooms and levels kind of make me dizzy, so I almost wish I had let them coddle me. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to find my way out of their house on my own.

Not that I want to leave. Well, except to see the gardens.

I’m sure I’ll get used to this place eventually, but for now I don’t plan on going anywhere on my own, lest I get lost and I’m food or cock deprived for hours until someone finds me.

Some rooms blur together, but I remember the main points, a giant living room with couches and squishy chairs, one wall acting as a giant screen for watching TV or playing video games.

There’s a huge gym in the basement, which includes a lap pool (I only remember the gym because I picture my mates using it, all heaving and sweaty).

As they take me through the house, we pass flowers in vases and potted plants everywhere we go.

Sterling shows me his kitchen, where he works on recipe development.

It’s near the kitchen where we had breakfast, but instead of an eating nook or table, Sterling’s kitchen is stocked with more shelves.

He has all kinds of ingredients for making desserts, along with baking sheets and pans and multiple stand mixers and a giant fridge and freezer.

Dried flowers and herbs hang from the ceiling in one corner, with more drying on racks below.

Sterling opens cabinets and drawers when he sees how interested I am.

At first he just showed me the flowers, but when he saw how excited I was by everything (even the mixers), he became confident enough to show me the rest of his workspace.

I’m not sure why he thought I wouldn’t care when he knows how much I love eating his food, but I’m glad he eventually opened up because he was so excited to tell me about everything.

Feliks shows me his garage workshop from the doorway, saying it’s too messy and greasy in there and he doesn’t want to get me dirty.

I agree for now, but I have plans to visit him there in the future so we can get dirty together.

I see several motorcycles I haven’t tried out yet.

Feliks tells me about the bikes he’s working on and what needs to be done.

I listen as intently as I did when Sterling gave me his kitchen tour, even though I don’t understand the details of Feliks’s work.

I enjoy hearing about his interests because I care about him, and seeing someone show off their passion and knowledge is always attractive.

I’d listen to Feliks talk about exhaust pipes all day.

We move on to the upper floors, where their personal quarters and my nest are.

Kieran opens the door to his studio, and the first thing I notice is the paint smell.

Then I see the brushes, paper, charcoals, paint of course, and other art supplies on every surface, with canvases on easels and stacked around the edges of the room.

Kieran pulls out his finished art for me to look at.

As he shuffles papers around looking for the drawing of a vanilla orchid he wants to show me, I catch sight of a portrait, which stands out because his work doesn’t normally depict humans.

Kieran quickly reshuffles it under the other papers so I don’t get a good look, but when I ask about it, he shyly shows it to me.

It’s all drawings of me in various poses and from different angles.

I’m flattered by the way he draws me, making me look so much better than I do in real life.

Except, when I try to praise him for how good he made me look, my mates protest that his drawings look exactly like me.

They keep going until I eventually, reluctantly agree with them and tentatively accept that I look almost as good as Kieran’s drawings.

Kieran asks if I would pose for him to paint me sometime, and I agree, eager to spend time with him and see his creative process. He kisses me soundly, and the tour moves on so the others can show me their personal spaces too.

Entering their rooms is a huge, concentrated hit of their scents, and I discreetly take big huffs of it. I like having our scents mixed together, but I also love smelling their individual scents too.

Alister shows me his home office, calling it dull and swiftly moving on to other rooms, but I’m fantasizing about the roleplay we could do without the risk of getting fired like in an actual office building.

I almost faint when they try to breeze past the giant library they’ve been hiding up here. Alister throws out a, “Here’s the library. There are couches and chairs in there if you ever want a quiet place to relax,” and gestures at the open doors while moving to the next room.

I’m rooted to the spot, staring at the bookcase-lined walls and cozy couches.

There are freestanding bookshelves in the middle of the room along with large tables and chairs.

That would have been perfect when I worked on my fair designs, since I could spread all of my books out on one of those tables.

Instead, I just had my tiny coffee table.

“Why would you say you have a gigantic library and then try to brush past it like it’s nothing??” I almost screech, or rather, exclaim loudly, as is appropriate to the situation.

“I didn’t realize you liked books that much,” Kieran says.

“Of course I love books! Who doesn’t?” I say absently, still staring at all the books and looking for—yes, there it is, a rolling ladder attached to a rail along the walls.

I make them take me in and show me around. Well, I don’t have to force them once they realize I’m interested, they’re happy to show me the library.

I pause at one of the tables when I notice the book stacked on top, Big Tex Takes to the Skies .

“Who’s reading these? I just got into the Big Tex series because of the suggestion from someone at Pen and Tellem,” I say.

“That would be me,” Kieran says.

“And me,” Sterling adds.

“Alice, one of the workers, got me into them the last time I visited Pen and Tellem, and I guess Sterling has been stealing them to read after me,” Kieran says.

Sterling nods bashfully.

“You’re welcome to read them too, Daphne. You can take any of the books in here.”

“Thank you. If you’re sure…” I say graciously, grabbing one of the Big Tex books to read the synopsis. I haven’t seen this one yet, and I want to know how Big Tex gets airborne. There are more Big Tex books underneath, and I flip through the rest of them.

I leave the books on the table for now so we can finish the tour. I just hope someone will lead me back here later so I can read them.

Ciro gets me shoes from my closet ( my closet, the thought still makes me giddy), and then we’re out the back door.

Exploring the outside of the house takes longer, even though we cover about as much ground. Sterling and Ciro are thorough tour guides, telling me about each plant in the gardens.

The others chime in occasionally, Feliks telling me about the time they stayed out here late, drinking around the fire pit. When they finally went in for the night, Ciro fell in a bush, and it took them twenty minutes to pull him out because they were all uncoordinated at that point.

Kieran teases Sterling about coming out one morning to find him beeing chased by a bumblebee.

“You know they don’t sting, right?” Ciro says.

“It was huge. I didn’t want to take any chances,” Sterling mumbles, his face red in embarrassment.

After trying to hide my giggles, I kiss him thoroughly, not stopping until he’s happy and no longer thinking about that mean bee .

We’re in the rose garden when I spot something shiny behind the trees. I squint, trying to figure out what it is since it’s not near the house.

“Is that a greenhouse?” I guess, the only thing I can make out is windows reflecting sunlight.

“Yes, I have a few greenhouses here where I grow tropical flowers, plus some at my farm that I use for personal projects,” Ciro says.

“That’s fun, what kind of flo—wait, your farm?” I stop walking and spin around to stare at him.

Ciro cocks his head. “Yes, Flower Gully. I can show you the greenhouses there, too. I know you didn’t get to see much of the farm when you visited, and I’m sorry about that, princess. I can take you on a thorough tour next time.”

“Like, you own the farm? I thought you just worked there,” I blurt out before I can think better of it.

Everyone laughs except for Ciro, who just looks surprised.

“He owns it,” Alister confirms. “Ciro started it almost immediately after moving to Starsfalls.”

“And started it from nothing. It was just grass before he tilled it and amended the fields, planted the bushes and flowers. We helped where we could, but Ciro still did most of it himself. He even built the greenhouses,” Feliks says.

“It took us a year to convince him to hire workers, so he wasn’t running himself ragged. ”

“It wasn’t that bad. Besides, it was nice to have something to throw myself into,” Ciro says.

I’m not surprised he spent so much time on the farm. I did the same thing after my breakup.

Ciro shows me the greenhouses, humidity clinging to me as I admire his colorful plants.

He hesitates before opening the last one, saying, “The flowers in here are some of my favorites, and I’m extra protective because they’re sensitive. I have more at Flower Gully, they’re actually the ones in the greenhouse you helped me fix.”