Two Different Worlds Box Set

by Donna Raider

  “Yes,” a sleepy Mika grunted; her eyes still closed. “Someone wore me out last night.”

  “I hear our little Tasmanian devils tearing down the hall,” Leah laughed as Richie threw the door open and two little towheads appeared at the side of their bed. After much scrambling and pulling, they managed to crawl into the bed and throw themselves onto their parents who were pretending to be sleeping.

  “Queen Mommy, wake up,” Sara kissed her mother on the cheeks and poked her eyelids with her index finger.

  Mika had disappeared under the cover, and Adam was trying to find a place to crawl underneath the covers with her. “Bubbie, help me. Mommy gone,” he giggled.

  Leah’s hands searched under the covers for the spot where her wife was most ticklish and began to tickle her. “Yeow!” Mika yelled, scooting away from her wife.

  “We are hungry,” Richie laughed, sitting down on his parents’ bed.

  “Yes, hungry,” the twins yelled in unison, as they burrowed down between their mothers. Leah hugged both against her.

  Mika’s head popped out from under the cover. “Ask Richie to give you a piggy-back ride to Nana so you can get dressed, and we’ll go see Aunt Ruth.”

  All three of their children clamored down the hall toward the nursery in search of Nana.

  Mika rolled over and pinned her wife beneath her leg and arm. “Think we could get Richie to take them to breakfast and we can stay here?”

  Leah turned in Mika’s arms and kissed her slowly, savoring the feel of her lips and the faint taste of her in Mika’s mouth. “Since we’re going to steal away for the day, I suppose the least we can do is take them to breakfast.”

  “Um, you really should not have kissed me like that, Your Majesty.” Mika whimpered. “Want to save time and shower together?”

  “Of course,” Leah kissed her once more.

  ##

  The Cross family entered the diner on their best behavior. Sara and Adam had insisted on walking, holding their mother’s hand. With Sara on her left, Adam on her right, and Richie right behind her, Leah felt like she was the queen of the world. Mika and Nana brought up the rear as the family made their way to the new, larger booth Naomi had installed for them at the back of the diner. It was big enough for eight. Amber was already there.

  Leah noticed how her eldest son’s face lit up at the sight of the blonde beauty.

  The sheriff and Ruth watched as the family quietly settled into the booth. “They have to be the most well-behaved children I’ve ever seen,” Ruth grinned.

  “Of course, they are,” the sheriff growled. “They’re Leah’s.”

  “They are the perfect family,” the tall brunette added. “They call her Queen Mommy. They are precious.”

  “This is my personal hell on earth,” Emily whined, as she watched Mika and Richie place the children in booster seats. “And what’s the deal? Have they adopted Amber?”

  “I think she just likes to hang with them,” Ruth noted. “I’ve tried to date her, but she always has plans with Richie or the family. She and Richie are practically connected at the hip.”

  “What?” Emily’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Purely platonic,” Ruth assured her.

  “That’s good to know,” Emily frowned. “I can’t get her to go out with me either. Maybe we just aren’t her type.”

  “We are women,” Ruth noted. “Maybe she just prefers men.”

  “I don’t know. All the eligible guys in town have tried to take her out,” Emily noted. “They haven’t had any luck either. Maybe she still has a crush on Mika.”

  “I don’t think so,” Ruth spoke authoritatively.

  Emily shrugged then sauntered over to the table where Richie was laughing and telling Amber a story about the twins.

  “…and Mom felt around under the covers until she found Mika’s ticklish spot,” Richie laughed. “You should have heard her squeal.”

  Yeah, as if I want to hear about Leah feeling around under the covers for Mika, Emily thought, the taste of bile rising into her mouth.

  “So, Richie, who are you taking to the prom,” Emily asked her son. He had grown up so fast and even though she had been there for the last eight years, she felt like she had missed it somewhere.

  Richie locked eyes with Amber and blushed slightly. “I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought.”

  “Don’t you have a girlfriend,” Emily pushed. When he turned sixteen, he had opted to live at Leah’s full time, so she didn’t see much of him. He was too busy with ‘his babies’ as he called them.

  “Nothing serious,” he shrugged, wishing she would talk about something else.

  “Sheriff,” the mayor stepped in to save her son, “did you catch the culprits who graffitied City Hall?”

  “Nah,” Emily huffed. “I doubt it will happen again. I made Levi wash it off as part of his public service. He will find them.”

  “If you could come to my office Monday morning around ten,” Leah smiled, “we need to discuss your budget for next year. It won’t be long until budget meetings start.”

  The priest groaned as if she had a sudden pain. I hate budget meetings. Even with Kathryn, they still consume Leah’s time.

  “I’ll be there,” Emily bowed slightly, delighted with the prospect of working with the mayor alone in her office. God, she’s gorgeous! Devastatingly gorgeous! Emily thought.

  Ruth brought their breakfast as the sheriff returned to the counter.

  “Your mom and I thought we would take the boat out after breakfast,” the priest could feel the slight blush spreading up her neck. I can’t keep from thinking about why I want alone time with his mom, Mika thought. “Will you be around today to keep an eye on Sara and Adam?”

  “You bet,” Richie held a fork with scrambled egg on it up to his brother’s mouth. “Want to hang out with us,” he asked Amber.

  “Of course,” Amber smiled, feeding Sara her scrambled eggs.

  ##

  The family walked to the boat. Richie had Adam on his shoulders, and Mika had Sara on hers. Leah had her fingers laced through Mika’s and noticed that Amber was holding Richie’s hand the same way.

  As they left the harbor behind them, the couple shed their swim shirts to allow the warm breeze to caress their bodies. Mika set the sails and was steering the boat toward open water as her wife leaned against her back, gently kissing between her shoulders.

  “Mercy, Your Majesty,” Mika laughed as Leah gently nibbled at her back. “Let me get this thing out of the shipping lanes.”

  “Give me your take on Richie and Amber,” Leah leaned against the wheelhouse, admiring Mika from head to toe.

  “I believe our son thinks he is in love with her,” the priest shrugged, “but there is nothing going on there. There is no way Amber will get involved with an eighteen-year-old.”

  “Richie isn’t one to have crushes,” Leah frowned. “I think he is serious. Has he discussed it with you?”

  “When he was thirteen or fourteen, he mentioned that he might be in love with Amber,” Mika answered. “I pointed out that she was your age, a good twenty years older than he and he admitted it was just a passing phase.”

  “At least his crush has kept him from fooling around with the other girls in town,” Leah mused. “Not that they don’t crawl all over him. Thank God he has your morals.”

  “So does Amber,” Mika smiled slightly. “If she waits long enough, Richie will be her age. I can vouch for the woman’s determination. She waited for me for three thousand years. If she loves him, she’ll wait for him.”

  “He may be beginning to wonder,” Leah wrinkled her brow, trying to recall their conversation. “He told me the other day that neither you nor Amber had aged a day in the past eight years. It won’t be long before he realizes that you and Amber are like me.”

  “That is something they will have to work out,” Mika frowned. “Just as you and I did.” She leaned down and kissed Leah eagerly.

  “Umm,” Leah ran her
hands down Mika’s body, to rest on her waist. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are?”

  “As long as I appeal to you,” Mika murmured, “that’s all that matters to me.”

  “Oh, you definitely appeal to me,” Leah whispered in Mika’s ear, letting her warm breath slowly envelope the priest. “Let’s play horsey, Mommy.”

  “You truly are evil,” Mika laughed as she swept Leah into her arms and carried her below deck.

  “What about the shipping lanes,” Leah giggled.

  “I just moved us out of them,” Mika grinned. “Time to ride Mommy.”

  ##

  They loved being alone with no one within a hundred miles. They were completely uninhibited: screaming, moaning, begging, pleading, and taking each other higher and higher.

  “Want to play with Magic Mika?” Mika grinned mischievously, as she sent a tingling sensation throughout her body. Leah was still straddling her, as Mika gradually brought her down from the high both had just experienced.

  “I would love to,” Leah said wide-eyed with wonder. “Why am I just now finding out about Magic Mika?”

  Mika held up her hands and nodded for her to place her palms on them. As Leah closed the distance between their hands, she saw a white light emanate from Mika’s hand and meet the purple light she always exuded. When Leah was within millimeters of Mika’s hand, the colors began to mix and create the most beautiful magenta and blue patterns. She watched in wonder as the aura around them began to grow and mingle, encompassing their bodies.

  Leah wasn’t aware of when Mika slowly levitated them and gently laid her down on her back, kissing her breasts and down to her thighs. As Leah begged for more, Mika slowly kissed her way back up her body then captured her lips demanding a response as she slowly melded with her. Leah screamed out Mika’s name. They both thrilled to the moans and pleadings of the other, calling each other’s name as if it were their only anchor to reality. Their heads filled with incredible light shows and fireworks. Shooting stars, bright reds, yellows, and blues exploded in their minds’ eye as they made love, their powers colliding, producing a breathtaking reality that was the essence of them. Leah briefly thought It rivals the Aurora Borealis. She let down all her defenses and held back nothing from Mika, giving her everything she was demanding all of her.

  Leah had no idea how long they remained in the altered state. She only knew it was a feeling beyond comprehension, something completely wonderful and foreign to her. Something she knew she couldn’t live without for very long.

  A far away sound dragged Mika from the sheer ecstasy of holding Leah in her arms. She couldn’t untangle her mind from Leah’s and really didn’t want to.

  “Radio,” Leah mumbled in some language Mika had never heard before but understood.

  Mika slowly extracted herself from Leah’s mind, her arms and her body, moaning with every reluctant move she made. She wanted to stay in this world with Leah forever.

  “Mom, Mika, do you copy?” Richie’s anxious voice kept repeating the phrase, obviously concerned.

  Mika loudly groaned as she pushed himself from her bed and staggered to the galley.

  “Richie,” she croaked. Her mouth was dry, and her mind wasn’t working properly.

  “Mika, are you and Mom okay?” The young man almost cried as he heard Mika’s voice. “We’ve been calling you for the past two hours.”

  “We’re fine,” Mika gasped, as her wife shoved a bottle of water into her hand. She drank, hydrating her mouth and tongue, hoping they would begin working soon.

  “I was getting ready to call the Coast Guard,” Richie huffed. “When you weren’t back at eight, I was afraid something had happened to you.”

  “Eight! What time is it?” Mika discovered her lips worked.

  “After midnight,” Richie exclaimed. “I know how you don’t like to run the boat at night, so I was concerned.”

  “Son, I’m sorry,” Mika rasped. “We fell asleep. I guess we were more exhausted than we thought. Your mom is still not quite awake.”

  “So, everything is okay?” Richie asked for reassurance.

  “Yes. Yes. We’re fine,” Mika assured him. “Is everything okay there? Are you and the twins okay?”

  “Yes, we are all okay. I have Grandpa and Grandma with me, and Amber, of course. I called Grandpa when I couldn’t get you on the radio. The babies are asleep.”

  “We’re only about two hours from home,” Mika informed him. “We just came out far enough to get out of the shipping lanes and dropped anchor. We’ll head back at dawn tomorrow. We will be back in time for church. Gloria is conducting the services tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Well, get some sleep. Tell Mom I love her.” Richie said with a heavy sigh. “Mika, I was so worried about you two.”

  “We’re fine, son,” Mika said quietly. “I’m so sorry we caused you concern.”

  “I love you, Mika. See you tomorrow. Richie, over and out,” the teen laughed as he turned off the radio.

  Leah led Mika back to bed and pulled her down beside her. She was still dazed by what they had just experienced. “What…How did…I can’t even talk,” she mumbled in that strange language Mika somehow understood.

  Mika pulled Leah into her arms and held her. As she always did when trying to sooth her, she ran her hand through Leah’s hair and down her back, making slow circular motions on her skin.

  “I have never felt anything like that, ever,” Mika spoke softly, almost as if she were afraid she might spook her wife.

  “Me either,” Leah’s soft exhale felt good against Mika’s skin.

  They lay in silence for a long time, trying to decipher what they had experienced.

  “I thought I had died and gone to heaven,” Leah’s voice was almost a whisper. “Such joy, such contentment, such love, your love.”

  Mika couldn’t suppress the tremor that shook her body. It came from her very core and spread out. She hugged Leah tighter. “I love you so much. I would never want to live in a world without you.” The sound she made was between a whisper and a sob. It came from her soul.

  Leah snuggled into Mika’s breasts. Words weren’t needed. They slept.

  ##

  Mika woke at dawn’s first light. Stealthily slipping from their bed, she pulled on shorts and an open-front shirt. She entered the galley, leaving the door open to their bedroom so Leah could see her when she awoke.

  Mika put on coffee and quietly placed two cups on the counter. She went top side and raised the anchor, punched Home on the GPS and started the boat.

  As she turned to go down to the galley, a tousled head of dark hair poked out of the lower deck entrance. “I brought coffee,” Leah said.

  They sat in silence on the deck sipping their coffee. Finally, Leah scooted against her, and Mika put her arm around her, hugging her close. They felt as if their bodies had been drained of all emotion except their love for one another. Their bodies were so void of feeling; they were surprised they could function at all. Their breathing was shallow and intermittent. This must be what true exhaustion feels like, Mika thought.

  Yes, Leah thought back.

  They were still in a trance when their little harbor came into view. Neither wanted to break the feeling by doing something as mundane as talking. Silently, they went about docking the boat then went below to get ready for church.

  Leah nodded her head, and both were in their Sunday finest. She even put Mika’s collar on correctly. Another nod and they were in Mika’s office at the church. She slightly brushed Mika’s lips; as if afraid any more contact would result in them slipping back into the incredible connection they had experienced previously. Mika cupped Leah’s elbow and guided her to their seats on the front row with their family. Leah smiled slightly. Mika’s smile was more of a grimace. Both appeared to be in a dazed state.

  “If they weren’t married,” Ruth whispered to Samson, “I would say that is the walk of shame.”

  “Queen Mommy, Mommy,” Adam and Sara reached for their parents,
climbing over Amber and Nana. Leah pulled Sara onto her lap while Adam climbed into Mika’s lap. By the time Gloria started her sermon, both babies were asleep.

  Neither the mayor nor the priest had any idea what Gloria was saying. Reluctant to pull themselves from their stupor, they simply held hands as their minds filled with the feelings they were sharing.

  I can’t stop thinking about you and yesterday, Mika thought. You are gorgeous.

  Nor can I, Leah chanced a glance at her. You are the most incredible lover, my wife.

  ##

  By the time the services were over, they had regained most of their ability to interact with those around them. Richie moved quickly from the choir loft to take Sara from his mother.

  “I am so glad to see you guys,” the boy hugged his mothers with his free arm.

  Mika and Richie stepped back to let the ladies precede them down the aisle. As they made their way to the diner, Richie slowed down, dropping back from the three women.

  “Mika, are you and Mom okay? You seem a little disoriented.”

  “We are very tired,” Mika said honestly. “You know your mom never slows down. I guess we have both been running on pure adrenaline and having the time and place to do absolutely nothing but relax, just let the exhaustion take over. I’m certain we will be okay by tomorrow.”

  “I know Mom is concerned about the new resort casino trying to locate in our town. I agree with her,” Richie said emphatically, “I don’t like it.”

  “Legion is pushing it,” Mika frowned. “It can’t be good. That is the main reason your mom, and I have campaigned so hard against it. He always has ulterior motives.”

  Leah and Mika ordered coffee in the dinner, hoping the jolt of caffeine would make their vital organs: brain, lungs, and heart, begin to function properly.

  ##

  A month had passed since their night on the boat. Leah lay in Mika’s arms whispering her name.

  Mika pulled her closer, luxuriating in her softness. “What, darling?”