by Donna Raider
Mika leaned over to her wife and whispered, “I’m going to wash my hands before we start. Leah squeezed her thigh and removed her hand from its usual resting place. When the priest was gone longer than expected, Leah walked toward the restrooms. She noticed movement in the darkened café area and thought her wife was waiting for her. As she approached, the priest had her back to her. She was talking to someone. Leah watched in horror as Mika leaned down and kissed Mary.
Leah gasped, turned on her heel and ran from the café. As she exited the women’s room, Mika saw her wife running toward the exit of the bowling alley and ran to catch her by the elbow. Leah swung around so quickly she caught Mika off guard. The sound of her open hand contacting Mika’s face echoed like a gunshot throughout the facility. The force of her blow sent Mika staggering backward through some empty chairs. Only a table broke her fall. She quickly recovered and again caught Leah by the arm. “Honey, what…?” the priest, gasped.
“Don’t touch me,” Leah whirled on her, “Don’t you ever touch me again. How could you…?” She flipped her wrist and threw Mika hard across the bowling alley. She hit the wall between the women’s room and the dark café.
“Leah,” Mika yelled. “What’s going on?”
“What is going on?” Leah screamed, stomping toward her. The look in Leah’s eye was even more malevolent than the one worn by the wicked queen when she had slit Mika’s throat. “I trusted you. I love you. How could you? How could you…? Oh, my God,” Leah gasped, her eyes moving from Mika to the entry of the café. Mika followed her line of sight and saw Mary and Gloria coming out of the dark café area. She immediately knew what had happened. Wearing the same bowling shirt and jeans as the priest, Gloria was a ringer for Mika.
Instantly Leah was on her knees beside Mika. “Oh, Mika, I am sorry. I…I thought…” she loudly sobbed as she reached to help her to her feet.
Mika shrank away from her. “Please, Leah, don’t touch me.” She quickly stood and looked around at the astonished faces of their friends then she walked outside.
The bowling alley was silent as a tomb. Leah was still on her knees gaping at the priest’s exit. As she stood, she surveyed the room. She cringed at the look of fear on the faces of those around her. The same fear she had seen in the eyes of Delilah and Samson and Max. In one moment of jealous rage, she had wiped out all the progress she had made over the past five years. Her friends and her son were cowering in front of her. She was once again the Wicked Queen. None of them mattered. What mattered was that Mika had refused her touch.
Leah pulled her shoulders back bringing herself to her full height. Everything about her was regal as she went to find her wife. Mika was sitting on a bench outside the building. She moved to stand in front of her. “Darling, I’m sorry,” she half sobbed, half whispered, the tightness in her throat making it difficult to speak. Mika refused to look up at her. Leah dropped to her knees, trying to look into Mika’s eyes. She had never seen her angry and steeled herself for the look of fury she imagined in Mika’s eyes.
The side of her face was swelling. Leah knew it was painful. A perfect handprint was embossed onto her beautiful cheek, Leah’s handprint. Leah reached to touch Mika’s face, to vanquish the pain and the angry reminder of what she had done.
Mika caught her wrist and pulled it away from her face. “Leave it,” she commanded. “I want you to live with what you’ve done to me.” The look in her eyes was dark, not dark blue, but black, blacker and colder than the deepest ocean. They were filled with pain and disbelief. Where Leah had always seen love and adoration, she now saw only desolation. She had hurt more than Mika’s face. She had hurt her soul.
“Darling, please let me heal…”
“We need to finish the evening,” Mika stood abruptly and walked back into the bowling alley.
“Mika, thank goodness you’re here,” Richie looked as if he was fighting back tears. “You’re up. So far Emily’s team is ahead of us, but you and Mom haven’t bowled.”
The priest picked up her ball and hurled it down the lane. The pins scattered in every direction as the ball shattered their formation. Leah threw an equally destructive ball, and both bowlers stepped away with strikes.
No one stood a chance against Richie’s team, as Leah and Mika threw strike after strike. Richie and Amber were holding their own and the team score just kept adding up. Leah and Mika bowled perfect games. Their ball placement wasn’t perfect, but the sheer power of the impact of their balls against the pins caused the lane to shake, leaving nothing standing. It was almost as if they were throwing the balls at one another. Each, trying to overpower the other. Their team advanced to the finals the next day.
Mika quickly changed her shoes, then walked to her son, handing him her bowling bag. “I’m going to walk home,” the priest said softly. “You make certain your mom gets home okay.”
“Mika are you okay?” Concern clouded the boy’s eyes. “Are you coming home?” He couldn’t keep from staring at the perfect handprint his mother had left on the priest’s face. It was beginning to turn purple.
“I’m fine, son,” Mika smiled slightly, “I just need to clear my head.” She handed the boy the keys to the car. “Make sure Mary goes to the convent with Mother Superior.”
The priest lost track of time as she tried to organize her thoughts. One thing she knew for sure; Gloria was in big trouble.
Mika walked and prayed, seeking guidance for her actions. She had seen the look of disbelief and fear on the faces of the townspeople as they witnessed the demonstration of Cranky Leah’s temper. Mika had endured the looks of pity cast her way as they completed bowling their game, and Emily’s loudly whispered, “Whipped.”
Emily had walked up to their table as Mika was changing shoes and dropped an envelope of money in front of her saying loudly. “We took up a collection, Mika. We think you need a wing for abused priests on your new shelter.” Mika was pleased that no one had laughed at Emily’s insult, and she had slunk away, aware that no one thought she was funny.
Richie had stopped his mother from incinerating the sheriff.
Mika wasn’t sure what to do, but she was sure she couldn’t spend eternity with her wife’s jealous rage. Leah was right; it was terrible to love someone so volatile.
##
Leah unlocked the door and moved aside as Richie pushed past her. “Richie, wait for I…” she pleaded but found she had no excuse for what she had done. She trusted Mika. Why had her mind gone to the worst-case scenario?
“Mom,” Richie turned pleading eyes toward her, “what have you done? You’ve got to fix this.”
“Richie, I don’t know what to do,” she sobbed.
“You have to do something,” the boy cried. “Mika is everything that is good about our lives. She’s the one that saved you when you had reached the end of your rope. She brought life back into this town. She’s fun, and happiness and love. She’s my other mom, my very best friend. She loves me. She loves you, Mom. She loves you so much. Mika saved you and me, Mom. She is our Savior.”
Leah silently watched as her son ran, sobbing up the stairs and slammed the door to this room.
Leah was horrified by what she had done. When she saw the priest kissing Mary, her heart had died. Fury and jealousy had erupted like hot lava, searing her soul. She loved Mika so much. How could she betray her like this? Her first urge was to destroy them both, but she had overcome that deadly reaction and simply walked toward the exit. When Mika grabbed her, it had been too much. How dare she touch her after what she had done to her? Slapping Mika and throwing her across the room were still mild compared to her desire to burn her to the ground. When she saw Mary and Gloria come out of the dark café, she realized that the priest kissing Mary had been Gloria Thomas, not her wife. Her insides had turned over, making it almost impossible for her to breathe. Her relief to find that it was Gloria and not Mika had made her knees weak. She had rushed to her wife to plead for forgiveness. She was greeted with the coldest voice she had
ever heard. “Please, Leah, don’t touch me.”
She had hurt Mika and publicly humiliated her. Emily had seized the opportunity to disgrace her further by making fun of her shelter. Leah didn’t blame Mika for not wanting to come home with her. The thought that Mika might never come home with her again was suffocating. She couldn’t breathe. She blindly stumbled up the stairs to their bedroom; loud sobs shook her small body. As she looked at their bed, Leah Cross experienced her first anxiety attack. Her heart pounded in her ears. Waves of nausea swept over her. The thought of never holding Mika in her arms again made her physically ill. She wanted to die.
##
Mika walked for hours. It was after midnight. The snow was falling harder, and the temperature was far below freezing. She realized she was chilled to the bone and was thankful to find herself at the front door of her home. She quietly let himself in, slipped her shoes off in the foyer and silently climbed the stairs. Leah had left the low-level lighting on for her. She switched it off then opened the door to their bedroom.
Leah had fallen asleep leaving on the nightlight. Mika tried not to look at her, knowing her resolve would vanish if she did. She closed the bathroom door and removed her wet, freezing clothes. She shivered from the cold and wished she had gotten her pajamas from the dresser drawer.
Leah was awake when Mika emerged from the bathroom. She scanned her from the top of her blonde head to her toes. Mika was freezing. Leah could see the chill bumps on her arms. Mika could hardly control her body’s shivering.
Leah tilted her head to the side and lifted the covers, exposing her perfect body. “You’re freezing, baby. Come, let me get you warm,” she said chastely.
Mika didn’t even know why God had bothered giving her a brain. Her body always reacted to Leah on its own. Groaning, she slipped into Leah’s arms and let her pull her tight against her. Leah was so warm, soft and loving. Mika’s body heated up immediately as Leah stroked her back and down her hips. She pulled Mika’s cold face between her warm, luscious breasts and entangled their legs
As warmth spread throughout Mika’s body, she shifted their positions, putting her arm under Leah’s neck and wrapping her other arm around her waist. Leah buried her face between Mika’s breasts. The warmth of her bed had almost lulled Mika to sleep when she felt tears drop onto her breast. “I love you so much,” Leah whispered. “Please, please don’t leave me.”
“Leave you,” Mika jerked awake. “Why would I ever leave you? I could no more live without you than I could live without air.”
A sob wracked Leah’s small body, and she clutched Mika closer. “I thought you had left me,” she cried. “I wouldn’t blame you. I was awful.”
“I would never leave you, Leah,” Mika whispered. “You’re my wife. I love you. Remember the ‘til death do us part,’ bit?”
“You didn’t come home with Richie and me tonight,” Leah pulled her closer.
“I needed time to think. I wasn’t sure how to handle what happened tonight.” Mika stroked her hair, relishing the feel of Leah in her arms. She inhaled the scent of Leah, her senses on overload with the sheer ecstasy of Leah’s closeness. One thing Mika knew for sure; Leah could beat her twice a day, every day, just as long as she let her crawl into her bed at night.
“I thought you hated me,” Leah whispered around the lump in her throat. “I thought you…”
“Shush,” Mika said softly against her ear. “I had to formulate a plan to take care of what happened tonight. Sometimes I must get away from you to think clearly and pray.
“I am so hurt that you still don’t trust me. You didn’t even give me the benefit of the doubt. You immediately accepted the idea that I would kiss another woman.”
“In my heart, I hoped there was some excuse,” Leah raised up on her elbow to look into Mika’s eyes. “A tiny part of me thought there was. Otherwise, I would have turned you both to ashes.”
“Did you see the expressions on everyone’s faces tonight?” Mika asked wearily.
“Yes,” Leah choked. “They think I am still the Wicked Queen.”
“If Max had treated Mary the way you treated me tonight, we would have arrested him for spousal abuse and thrown away the key.” Mika exhaled deeply. “We can’t counsel others if our behavior is worse than theirs. We must set examples.
“You wiped out everything we have accomplished in the last five years.” She kissed Leah’s arm that was propped by her head. “You are so good and have come so far. We have to find a way to help you control your jealous temper.”
“I know,” Leah sighed. “You don’t understand. You don’t have a jealous bone in your body.”
“You’re wrong,” Mika’s voice dropped to that deep, dangerous level Leah had learned to recognize. “Every time I am reminded that others shared your bed before me, it makes my heart hurt. On the frequent occasions, the sheriff reminds me that she had intimate relations with you; it makes me sick to my stomach.
“I have a demented parishioner that comes in every single day and confesses to sleeping with you the night before,” Mika grimaced. “I don’t know if it is wishful thinking on his part or reminiscing. He owns the stable. I still get a twinge of pain every time he talks about making love to you.”
“I would never intentionally cause you anguish,” Leah said softly. “You know you’re my only lover.”
“I’m sure of that,” Mika kissed her gently, “but were you involved with him before me?”
“Briefly,” she hung her head. “We had a few dates. He had a son. I thought his wife was dead, but she showed up out of nowhere. I stopped seeing him as soon as I realized he had a wife. Honestly, I was appalled that he wanted to sleep with me when he had a wife. It made me lose respect for him.”
“Did you have relations with him?” the priest asked.
“Once, before his wife materialized,” Leah’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “He wanted to leave his wife for me, but I am no home wrecker. You know how I feel about infidelity. I told him to stay with his family and leave me alone.
“He was always telling me what an honorable man he was, but he was willing to cheat on his wife.” Leah looked away from the pain in her wife’s eyes. Her admission made her own stomach churn. “Sleeping with him made it easier to leave him. He wasn’t very good and what I originally thought was an accent turned out to be a speech defect.”
“And Legion,” Mika’s voice was still the dangerous tone. “You keep secrets from me. I know something is going on there. I never push you for answers, but after five years, I think you know me well enough to trust me with everything.”
She gasped as if mentioning the man’s name in their bed would have dire consequences.
Mika waited, but she said nothing. “See what I mean?” She said. “Leah, you can trust me. I know everyone in your life has let you down, but please, love me as if no one has ever hurt you.”
They lay in silence for a long time. Leah knew she had to close the distance that she had created between them. “I have a contract with Legion,” she spoke so softly Mika barely heard her.
“What kind of contract?” Mika had a sinking feeling.
“Legion taught me magic,” Leah answered. “I was desperate to get away from my mother and out of my miserable life with the king. Legion convinced me that magic was my only way out. He is more than just a man. He is the Vile One, evil beyond imagination. He taught me magic in exchange for my…,” her voice trailed off as she searched for words to tell Mika of her evilness.
“I never believed I would have to honor the contract,” she cried. “I was certain I would never want to…”
“Want to what, Leah?” Mika’s voice was low but insistent.
“Have a child.” She whispered.
“The contract is for…,” Mika gasped.
“My first born,” Leah said her voice heavy with defeat and self-loathing.
Of all the things Leah expected, it wasn’t what Mika did next. She kissed her, moving her soft, warm lips
against hers. She marveled at the feel of Mika’s lips. Leah hesitantly moved her tongue between Mika’s lips and thrilled at the feel of her tongue meeting hers. A sudden wave of emotion swept through her as Mika pressed against her, her tongue searching, seeking Leah’s. Tears ran down her face as she marveled that her wife still wanted to hold her, touch her.
It made Mika’s heart hurt to see her cry. She slowly kissed away Leah’s tears.
“I can take care of Legion,” Mika whispered in her ear, moving against her, “I will never let anything hurt you or our family.”
“I don’t think you know how powerful Legion is,” Leah sobbed against Mika’s lips.
“I don’t think you know how powerful I am,” Mika said honestly.
Leah pulled back, gazing deep into Mika’s sky-blue eyes. She trusted her. Mika had always made things right in their lives, despite her. No one had ever protected her and Richie like Mika.
“I want my angel,” Leah murmured against her lips as she undulated her body against Mika’s. “I only get her when we take our anniversary vacation on the boat. I truly need her tonight.”
“Too close to civilization, it’s dangerous for us,” Mika said, her voice filled with desire for Leah.
“Please, darling,” she whispered. “Please.”
“I thought you were…um, you know, Cranky Leah,” Mika mumbled.
“Gone.” She made the one syllable word sound so sensuous, Mika whimpered.
“Transport us to the clearing on top of the mountain outside of town,” Mika gave into her request.
As soon as they materialized in the clearing, Mika pulled Leah’s back tight against her breasts and unfurled her wings, wrapping them around Leah, bringing the warmth, comfort and unconditional love Leah always found there. They rose into the sky until the earth was a small spec beneath them. Still facing away from her, Leah began to stroke Mika’s arms. She turned her head and kissed her bicep. She reached down to her thighs and raked her nails up them. Mika cried out at the pain and pleasure. “You know what I want,” Leah said softly.