“I can’t…” Maddox grunted the words out and then took her mouth as he came. Skye wrapped her arms around him kissing him deeply. Maddox broke the kiss to lean his head on her shoulder breathing heavily. Skye closed her eyes resting her cheek on his head with a smile on her face.
Maddox cradled Skye as he laid down on the ground and holding her in his arms tightly, refusing to let her go. Skye had a momentary thought of protest on snuggling but was too tired and too thoroughly satisfied to complain about anything in that moment.
“Skye…” Maddox said softly.
“Let’s not.” She said with a small shake of her head. “We can talk about it later. I just want to enjoy the moment. Okay?” Maddox looked down at her face and nodded.
“Okay.” He kissed the top of her head and held her close to his body.
Chapter Four
Skye woke up in her bed feeling sore in every part of her body. The feeling made her smile. They hadn’t talked afterwards. Maddox simply brought her back to her room and left her there. She could see in his eyes he was dying to ask her what it meant but she wasn’t ready to face that yet. She wasn’t ready to make a decision like that.
Yes she admitted to herself that she wanted him sexually, needed him emotionally, but opening up to him completely was something far harder to do. It involved her heart and it also involved a clear mind. Skye’s mind was focused on survival. Her heart was heavy with the burden of the lives depending on her.
“What are you waiting for?” Skye’s head whipped to the side at the question. Evan peeked into her room.
“What are you talking about?” Skye asked.
“We are supposed to be outside training but you’re lying around in bed. Do you want a written invitation or something? Get up.” Evan closed the door behind him as he walked out. Skye let out a breath she had been holding.
“Smooth Skye.” she said to herself getting up. She knew if she acted as if she had done something wrong that the others would pick up on that immediately. As much as she felt she didn’t have to answer to anyone for her own personal decisions, she didn’t want to hurt anyone else as well. Skye also didn’t want to hear anyone’s opinion on her actions either. Not when it came to who she allowed in her body or her heart.
Skye grabbed her clothes from the top of the dresser and put them on. She always wore tight black yoga pants, a sports bra, and a tank top for working out. It allowed her to move more freely. Grabbing a hair tie she tied her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. Slipping into her shoes she couldn’t help but smile. Skye considered what she did with Maddox the night before to be bad and for some reason that excited her. She wasn’t just an innocent little elf. No. Skye was her own person and she was happy to claim that.
The cabin was busy with people training, talking, or some just being lazy. Skye walked past them all careful not to make eye contact. She had her mind set on combat and didn’t want to be distracted in any way. Skye met Evan behind the cabin where he was eagerly waiting.
“We’ve had a lot of work with spells so I thought today we would focus on hand to hand combat.” Evan said with a sly smile. Skye raised her eyebrow suspiciously.
“Evan, sweetheart, we’ve gone hand to hand before and no offense but I’ve laid you flat on your ass.” Evan barked out a laugh at her words.
Before Skye knew what happened her feet were swept from underneath her and she hit the ground face first. Skye coughed spitting out the dirt and leaves that had ended up in her wide open mouth.
“What the…” Skye glanced up seeing Maddox standing over her with a grin on his face.
“You did take me out easily when it came to only using brute strength and no power, so I decided to ask a big brute to help us out today.” Evan interjected.
Skye shot him a look full of pure venom. As if her life with Maddox weren’t complicated enough, especially after having sex with him last night, now she was being forced to fight with him. She looked at Evan as if he had lost his mind.
“He’s a demon. I wouldn’t just lie there.” Evan said. Skye saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She quickly rolled on the ground away from Maddox and jumped to her feet. He was in attack position and his eyes were solely focused on her. Skye forced herself to focus on him and to forget everything else. Maddox loved her but she also knew he would do anything to protect her, including fighting dirty.
Maddox slowly approached her half crouched and ready to pounce. Skye shifted her body moving carefully to avoid face planting on the ground again. Maddox quickly ran towards her full force. Skye had a fraction of a second to react, but with the training she had already had it was enough. She dove to the side, pushing herself into the air with one leg pointed directly at his chest. Her foot hit his chest forcing him to fall backwards. She rolled on the ground quickly getting back up and stood over him with a cocky smile on her face.
Maddox growled as he got up and nearly caught her by the arm before she swung away avoiding contact. Evan watched as they danced around taking turns taking each other out. He was proud of Skye’s progress but decided she needed to be tested a bit more. Mike walked outside to watch them but kept his distance. Evan saw the disgust in Mike’s face at the two of them touching, even in faux combat, and decided to be a little cruel to teach Skye a lesson.
“Maddox don’t be too hard on Skye. You already left a few marks on her back from your little romp in the woods last night. What was that a tree or a rock you had her up against when you were screwing her?” Evan spoke the words knowing the reaction he would get and he was right.
Maddox simply smiled at the words, but Mike’s face instantly hardened. Skye’s head turned quickly staring at Evan in shock at his words. Skye then saw Mike and cursed loudly. Maddox took advantage of her distraction and tackled her to the ground placing his hand over her throat with a gentle squeeze. His body held hers down. Unable to move she looked up at the smile on Maddox’s face and wanted to hit him.
“Distraction will get you killed.” Evan said making his point. Maddox rolled off of Skye’s body grabbing her arm, helping her to stand up. Skye looked at Evan shaking her head.
Mike shook his head and walked back into the cabin not wanting to hear whatever Skye was about to say. Skye walked up to Evan and pushed him. He laughed as he nodded.
“Dick move.” She said in his face angrily.
“It was. I admit that but it made a point. When you are afraid of hurting someone’s feelings or when it comes to something you consider to be private you are easily distracted and your feelings betray you.”
“Oh and I suppose when I’m fighting off demon hordes or elves that they are going to talk about my sex life? Come on Evan!”
“They might. Demons like to shock their opponents and they know about you and Maddox. Hell and you and Mike. They will fight as dirty as possible if it means winning and spilling your blood.” Evan said unapologetically.
“He’s right.” Maddox spoke up from behind her. His fingers traced a mark on her back. “Both about you being a little scraped up from that tree last night and how demons will do whatever it takes to win.” Skye looked to him with a frown on her face.
“Okay I get the point. I’m weak because I care.” Skye muttered.
“Wrong.” Evan grabbed her arm forcing her to look at him. “You are strong because you care. You are not weak. You are only weak if you believe you are weak. You are powerful. You are the child of prophecy and even though I know you aren’t going to kill us all I know that means you are special. We are all here for you. We are here to protect you but we are also here to fight beside you. You can’t be distracted if one of us is being taken down or something mean gets said in battle. You have to tune all of that out and focus only on the battle in front of you.”
Skye took a deep breath letting it out slowly and nodded. She knew he was right. She knew her weakness was that she cared for everyone around her and would lay her life down if that meant she would be able to keep them all safe. Evan nodded
as if knowing what she was thinking.
“We don’t need a sacrificial lamb. That bit’s been done time and time again. We need a warrior. Someone to believe in, fight for, and fight with. I’ve known since the day I met you that you were special. It’s about time you believed it as well.” Evan took her hand in his.
“Sometimes it’s hard to compartmentalize it all. I went from being a lonely goth girl to being a child of prophecy. My whole life has been turned upside down. I hated it for a while. Sometimes I still do. I know now that I can’t look at it that way any longer. Regardless of my own self-worth I know that I have to survive so that all of you can survive as well.”
“Good. Go apologize to Mike for me being a dick. I know you want to.” Skye sighed.
“Yeah. Thanks for that.” Skye walked into the cabin leaving Evan and Maddox outside. She did not want to talk to Mike about Maddox. She knew this moment was coming but had hoped it wouldn’t have to come so early.
“I should have seen this coming all along.” Mike said startling her. Skye turned to see him in the kitchen.
“I was just coming to find you.” she said lamely.
“You don’t have to say it. I know what happened. I think I’ve been expecting it for a while. Part of me was in denial that it would happen. How stupid is that?” Skye felt a knife twist in her heart at his tone. He sounded detached. He was hurting and it was all her fault.
“Mike I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve this. You deserve someone better than me. Someone who is smart enough to not hurt you.” Mike scoffed at her words.
“Someone who will love me as much as I love you right?” Skye flinched at the pain in his words.
“Yes. It’s true. It’s not fair. You have loved me in a way that I didn’t deserve. In a way that I wasn’t able to return.”
“You didn’t want to.” Mike shot back.
“I did!” Skye yelled feeling her patience breaking. “I tried! I know how wonderful you are! You’re smart, sexy, loving, and kind. You are everything that any girl would love to have.” From the doorway several people looked into the kitchen to watch the confrontation.
“Then why am I not good enough for you?” he asked.
“You are too good for me Mike. Can’t you see that? I never deserved you. I’m not a normal girl. I’m not a happy flowers type of girl. I’ve always been too complicated for anything normal.”
“Bullshit.” he muttered shaking his head.
“I tried to be the person I thought I should be. I wanted to be a happy elven girl that was going to marry a great elven man and be… happy. I kept telling myself if I pretended that I felt a certain way then I would eventually feel that way, but it’s not true. I love you. I fucking love you! As a friend only. I know that’s not how you want me but that’s all I have in me to give. I’m sorry that isn’t enough for you. I’d give anything to be better for you. I can’t change how I feel.” Skye sighed.
Mike stood silently watching her. He crossed his arms and shook his head without a word. Skye saw from the corner of her eyes that people were watching them but she didn’t care. Mike was her only concern at the moment. She hated hurting him and truly wished she could fix his feelings, however, if she continued to lie about how she felt then he would never move on from her. She knew truly she loved Maddox and that love wasn’t going to go away. It wasn’t fair to any of them for her to keep denying her own feelings.
“I just need some time. I knew things were over between us before they even ended but I didn’t want to admit it. A huge part of me believed we would end up back together. I thought you would see Maddox for the ass he is and realize that we were meant to be.” He paused looking into her eyes.
“Well he is an ass.” Skye admitted. Mike let out a small laugh.
“I know. I also know this isn’t just your fault. You tried telling me from the beginning how you felt but I wouldn’t accept it. I see now that it truly is over between us. I’ll live. Just give me some time, okay?” Skye nodded. He walked across the room putting his hand under her chin lifting her head slightly. He kissed her lips softly. He walked away without another word. Skye knew that was his goodbye kiss. A goodbye to what they had been and the potential of what he wanted them to be in the future.
Chapter Five
Skye sat on the front porch of the small cabin happy that no one had tried to confront or comfort her after her confrontation with Mike. She had needed time alone to say goodbye to the past as well as he did. As much as Skye had known there was no future with Mike, it still hurt her to know he had to face that reality now.
Letting out a long breath Skye knew she had to move past this. Her heart had chosen Maddox a long time ago and she could no longer deny it. As much as she wanted to hold hands with him and make love every night she knew that wasn’t her priority. Her friends and family came first.
“I really am sorry that Mike’s pain cuts you so deeply.” Cloud said interrupting Skye’s thoughts. Skye smiled weakly at her mother as she sat beside her.
“You shouldn’t feel sorry for me. I’m a selfish person in many ways. I had two of the best men in the freaking universe and to keep one I had to hurt the other. It’s never right but I don’t deserve pity.” Skye muttered unhappily.
“I know how deeply you care for Mike even though it may not be the same way he feels for you. I do know you are suffering as well. I know it was never your intention to hurt him.” Cloud took Skye’s hand in her own.
“Intention doesn’t stop the fact that it happened. It doesn’t stop Mike’s suffering. It doesn’t stop me from feeling like a total ass.” Cloud stiffened a bit at Skye’s words.
“Mike will be fine. He is a strong man and he will do what he needs to do, as you will. We have a war raging against us yes but we also have feelings we have to deal with. Ignoring them doesn’t make us stronger. If anything it makes us weaker.” Skye leaned on her mother’s shoulder.
“I’m so afraid of hurting and losing you all. I can’t stand the thought that any of you would suffer because of me.”
“You are more than worth it.” Cloud simply said. Skye exhaled, sitting up to look at her mother.
“Where’s Nanna? She should have been here by now. We sent word to her weeks ago where we were but she’s not here.” Cloud shook her head.
“I have no idea. There’s been no word back from her.”
“Could she have gone back to your home realm?” Skye wondered.
“She might have. Although if she had she would have heard what is going on and would have reached out to us.” Cloud stood up and paced the porch thinking to herself.
Maddox stepped out onto the porch seeing the worry on Cloud’s face. He immediately scanned the area to ensure there were no threats in the area. Once convinced they were alone his eyes locked with Skye’s and instant heat filled his eyes. Skye felt her body on fire by just a look from him. How he affected her so easily was beyond her but she forced herself to look away.
“Is everything okay, Cloud?” Maddox asked. Cloud stopped pacing and looked to him.
“Word was sent to my mother about our whereabouts weeks ago and she should have been here by now. We haven’t heard from her at all. It makes no sense. She would be here to help defend Skye.” Cloud informed him.
“She’s not at her home anymore.” Maddox stated catching both of their attentions.
“What do you mean?” Skye stood up looking at him confused.
“I went to her when I found out about the demons coming for you when you were in your home realm. I begged her to send me to you so I could protect you. She told me to come back and she would have an answer. I guess she didn’t know if she trusted me completely or not. The next day I went to her home and she wasn’t there. She and Nancy had both disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Cloud gasped.
“Yeah. I went back several times to try to get to you, Skye, but she was never there. I assumed she had gone back home to be with you.” Maddox shrugged feeling a bit guilty for no
t having brought it up before now.
“You wanted to come to the other realm?” Skye asked.
“Of course I did. I needed to know you were safe.” Maddox said as if it were an obvious answer and that Skye should have known better. Perhaps she should have.
“We have to find her. If someone took her then they have the power to go to our home realm and allow many demons to enter there. No one there would be safe.” Cloud said looking to Skye. “I know they ganged up on you, but it was out of fear. We can’t just let them suffer at the hands of angry demons set on revenge.” Cloud added quickly.
“I know that. I don’t blame them for fearing me. Hell, I scared myself at some point. They do need to be protected though, even if it’s by someone they fear.” Skye said with a nod.
“I’ll send some of my guys out on a search party to see what they can find out.” Maddox said then walked into the cabin to gather a group. Skye remained on the porch looking to her mother.
“I’m sure she’s okay Mom.” Cloud smiled sweetly at Skye’s words.
“She’s always been stronger than anyone I know. Until you.” Cloud kissed Skye’s forehead before walking inside the cabin with Skye to see if they could help Maddox out with his search plans.
Maddox already had six of his demon friends in the living room instructing them of their mission. Skye felt a bit nervous knowing they would be leaving the cabin. She worried for their safety as well as the ones left behind. She knew their strength was in their numbers even though they were small numbers compared to the hordes of demons, elves, and other magical creatures out for them.
Skye also worried about the demons being hurt. They were Maddox’s friends and he treated his friends like family. She hated the thought of him worrying over them while they were gone. Skye was happy to see that Buck was staying with them at the cabin. For some reason his cocky attitude was always able to bring her out of her worrying spells she seemed to occasionally suffer from. To Skye he was family to her now as well and she couldn’t help but love him. Loving demons, she thought with a small shake of her head, what has my life become? Yet she couldn’t find it in herself to regret it.
Shattered Skye (The Skye Chronicles Book 3) Page 3