Shadow Haven

by AJ Schippers

  “I’m fine, honestly. It throbs a little, but that’s it.”

  Alexandra frowned. “That’s not good. Have you ever had a concussion before?”

  “No. I don’t think so, anyway.”

  “That’s good,” Alexandra said. “We’ll keep a close eye on you tonight. If you do have a concussion, the symptoms will most likely disappear within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.” She handed a plate of pasta Alfredo to Julia.

  Julia sighed before taking a large gulp of tea. The bath had helped her warm up, but the tea warmed her up from the inside, and it was perhaps the best tea she’d ever drunk.

  “This is really good.” Julia pushed her food around on the plate with her fork.

  “It must be really tasty, seeing as you’ve hardly touched it and you’re just shoving it to and fro on your plate,” Alexandra said.

  “I may be a little nauseous,” Julia said with a faint smile. In actuality, little was an understatement. She didn’t feel good at all, and the throbbing in her head seemed to intensify with every passing minute.

  Alexandra stood up, cleared the plates, and poured a glass of water for Julia. She reached into a drawer and handed Julia an aspirin. “Drink up.”

  “Thanks,” Julia said.

  “Right. Off to bed with you,” Alexandra said sternly. “I am pretty sure you have a concussion, and you need rest.” She smiled as Julia took her hand.

  Alexandra hesitated for a moment before deciding to lead Julia to the Royal Chambers—her own bedroom. She pulled back the covers and sat Julia down, concerned that her guest didn’t even respond to not being in her own bed. Instead, Julia crawled under the covers and laid her head on the pillow. Alexandra tucked her in and rested her hand on Julia’s forehead. “You’re warm.”

  “I’m okay, just sleepy,” Julia murmured as her eyes fell shut.

  “Sleep now. I’ll come check on you in an hour,” Alexandra said softly. As she turned off the lights, she smiled to hear the small puffs of breath coming from Julia’s lips.

  Alexandra gently closed the door, leaned against it, and sighed. “What in the world are you doing to me, Ms. Quinn?”

  Chapter 5

  Alexandra tried to make a start on meal preparation, but her mind kept wandering back to the woman in her bed. Seeing Julia hurt like that had shaken her immensely. She dreaded to think what could have happened to Julia if she hadn’t found her in time.

  She paced back and forth for almost an hour, from the kitchen to the lounge and back again. When it was finally time, she opened her bedroom door and flipped on the light to check on Julia. Her lips curled up in another small smile when she saw Julia had claimed most of the bed. She lay almost diagonally on it, one arm hanging freely over the edge of the bed, the other tucked underneath the pillow.

  Alexandra sat on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand to Julia’s shoulder to gently shake her awake.

  A soft groan came from Julia’s lips as she rolled over.

  “You have to wake up, Julia. How are you feeling?”

  The frown on Julia’s face was the only response she got.

  Alexandra chuckled. “Wake up, Ms. Quinn.”

  Julia opened her eyes. “Hi,” she mumbled and brought a hand to her forehead. “My head hurts.”

  “I’m sure it does,” Alexandra said. “How’s the nausea?”

  “Still there. How long have I been sleeping?”

  “Only an hour.” Alexandra’s hand moved to brush some of Julia’s hair from her face. “What country are you in?”

  Julia furrowed her brow. “What?”

  “I want to make sure that you’re okay. Just answer the question, please.”

  “Shadow Haven,” Julia said as she yawned.

  Alexandra arched a brow. “Who’s the president of the United States?”

  “Bill Clinton.” A small smirk on Julia’s lips made Alexandra’s heart flutter.

  “Are you pulling my leg?”

  “Yes. We’re in America, and Obama’s the president. I don’t have a concussion.”

  “Sure you don’t,” Alexandra drawled as her hand cupped Julia’s face, her thumb rubbing soft circles on Julia’s cheek.

  “I’m sorry,” Julia said, her gaze cast down.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” Alexandra chided. It wouldn’t do either of them any good to have this conversation now. When they had the inevitable discussion about safety measures on the island, Alexandra wanted Julia to be of sound mind.

  “Are you mad at me?”

  The shyness and uncertainty that seeped through Julia’s voice made Alexandra’s heart ache. She wanted to take it away. “I’m not mad at you.” She took a deep breath and added, “I was worried about you. I still am.”

  “Don’t be. I’m fine.” Julia closed her eyes. “Your hand is nice and warm,” she murmured before drifting off to sleep once more.

  Alexandra watched Julia sleep for a few seconds. She removed her hand from Julia’s face and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. She turned off the light and closed the door behind her. Julia needed her rest, and watching her like a pervert wasn’t going to do either of them any good. Deciding to do something useful, she moved to the bathroom and shook her head at the mess that Julia had left behind.

  “Goodness me, Julia,” Alexandra muttered as she put Julia’s clothes in the laundry basket. She knew the woman lived alone, but this was ridiculous. Alexandra gave the tub a rinse and filled it with water for a bath of her own. She added some foaming bath salts, then stripped and climbed in, moaning as the warm water enveloped her body.

  Images of Julia flashed in front of her eyes.

  This entire situation was getting far too complicated for Alexandra’s liking. Her feelings for Julia confused and frustrated her. It was so much easier when it came to her clients. There were no feelings involved: they simply showed up, did as they were told, and went home to their husbands and wives. She never allowed her clients to touch her intimately. It was a part of herself that she was not willing to give up, a part of herself that would always be hers and hers alone.

  But now there was Julia. The woman had shown up on her island, prickly and frustrated, and had now somehow awoken something in Alexandra that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Julia had slowly broken down Alexandra’s defenses, one by one, and when Alexandra had found her slumped against that tree trunk, all she had wanted to do was wrap her arms around Julia and make her feel safe.

  She also wanted to get inside of Julia’s mind, find out what made her tick, and, more importantly, discover what made Julia hold back from opening up.

  “I’d need a road map,” Alexandra muttered. Her hand slowly trailed down her abdomen, through the soft patch of curls. She let a finger slide gently through the wetness that had settled between her legs. She didn’t want to give in to her fantasy; it didn’t feel right when the woman of her desire lay in the next room with a concussion. Julia could deny it all she wanted, but the constant throb in her head, combined with the nausea, was enough evidence for Alexandra.

  Alexandra was in the process of dunking her head underwater when the bathroom door suddenly slammed open, startling her. Water washed over her face and into her nostrils, and she came up sputtering. She wiped the water away from her face and coughed loudly. “What the—”

  The sight before her wasn’t a pleasurable one. Julia was on her knees, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Alexandra shuddered at the retching sounds and sank deeper into the bath.

  “Still convinced you do not have a concussion?” Alexandra asked as she closed her eyes, not wanting to make Julia feel even more uncomfortable. Part of her wanted to get out of the bath and hold back Julia’s hair, but seeing as she was naked, that didn’t seem like the brightest idea.

  “Oh God,” Julia exclaimed, and she went in for seconds.

  Neither woman spoke a word when Julia flushed the toilet and curled up on the cold tiles of the floor.

  “I’m sorry. I didn�
��t know you were in here.”

  “It’s all right.” Alexandra looked over at Julia, still filled with the overwhelming desire to reach out and bring her that comfort. “What can I do to help?”

  Julia’s eyes were still closed as she turned on her back. “Make it stop.”

  “Make what stop, dear?” Alexandra asked.

  “My head.” Julia groaned. “The nausea. Everything.”

  Alexandra reached out one arm to grab a wash cloth from the sink as she covered her breasts with the other. She held the cloth under the cold water stream of the sink for a few seconds, then wrung it out. “Here,” she said, sliding along the bathtub to hand it to Julia. “Put that on your head.”

  “Thank you,” Julia murmured as she put the cloth on her forehead. “I don’t think I can get up.”

  “Stay a while,” Alexandra said. “But eventually, one of us is going to have to move.”

  Julia nodded.

  “You have a concussion, Julia,” Alexandra said.

  “I know.”

  “If you don’t feel better within forty-eight hours, I really should get you some medical attention. I have some first aid experience, but your safety comes first.”

  Julia laughed and winced immediately at the pain in her head. “Are you going to call in a helicopter?”

  “No. They don’t fly during hurricane season. There are other options, though. As I said, your safety comes first.” She took a deep breath, hoping Julia was in the mood for a small joke despite feeling ill. “If you die here, just imagine the outrage.”

  “I’m glad you’re worried about your reputation,” Julia said and offered a small smile. “I doubt there will be any outrage, though. No family, remember?”

  “Caroline cares. I have absolutely no doubt about that. She would kill me. And I’m sure you have friends that would miss you.”

  “Not really. I told you, I work and I sleep. That’s about it.”

  “Interesting,” Alexandra said.

  “Are you now planning my demise for running off despite your several warnings not to?”

  “No. This just offers so many possibilities, you know? I could lock you up in a cage for months at a time and tell Caroline that you’re doing just fine.”

  Julia groaned. “If I had a safe word, this is where I’d use it.”

  “Did you just make a BDSM reference?”

  “I did. Isn’t that the word you use to say you’re not okay with something?”

  “It is,” Alexandra said. “I’m just a little surprised that you know about it.”

  “Just because I’m not interested in being dominated doesn’t mean I don’t know a thing or two about DBSM.”

  “Are you having memory problems?” She sat up straight and closely looked Julia over. “What is one plus one?”

  “Math was never my strong suit,” Julia said. “How come?”

  “Because it’s called, BDSM and not DBSM. Answer my question, please. I’m honestly concerned about you.”

  “Two.”

  Alexandra nodded. “Ball, cup, and horse.”

  “What?”

  “Remember those three words. I will be asking you to repeat them in two hours. If you can’t remember them, your concussion is worse than I thought, and I will call in the medical team to take you to the hospital.”

  Julia groaned loudly. “I’m fine. I’m not dying or anything. It’s just a mild concussion. I was just hugging some trees, that’s all.” She inhaled sharply and added softly, “I’m not ready to leave yet.”

  Alexandra looked up in surprise. “Oh?”

  “I’m on vacation. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Do you often start your vacations off with a concussion?” Alexandra eyed the bag of bath fizzy. If they were going to keep this playful banter up for much longer, she would soon run out of bubbles in which to hide her nakedness.

  “No, but then again, I also never start them off with someone yelling at me.” She held up a hand to get Alexandra’s attention and coughed. “Listen to this,” she said. Her brows furrowed. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Alexandra couldn’t help but laugh loudly. “That’s an awful impersonation. Besides, I think it was ‘who the hell are you?’ rather than what you just said.”

  “I have a concussion,” Julia said. “You can blame my lack of impersonation skills on that. With any luck,” she sighed, “I won’t remember any of this tomorrow.”

  “Does that mean I should be asking you all the questions now that you didn’t want to answer before?”

  Julia was quiet for a moment and then spoke softly. “No. You deserve better than that.”

  Alexandra’s cheeks flushed. Those five words made her feel warmer inside than she ever had been before. And while Julia was right, Alexandra would adjust the statement slightly and say they both deserved better. “Don’t worry. The last thing I want to do is abuse the situation you are in. Are you feeling any better? It can’t be all that comfortable on the floor,” she pointed out. Julia hadn’t moved an inch since she’d decided to lie down on the tiles.

  “Your bed is considerably more comfortable than the floor,” Julia said. “The nausea isn’t so bad now. Throwing up might actually have helped.”

  Alexandra scrunched up her nose. “I don’t know how your aim is, but I’m not cleaning up after you.”

  “That is utterly gross,” Julia said as she opened an eye and looked around her before closing it again. “I think we’re good. Why was I in your bed?”

  “I wanted to keep an eye on you.”

  “You couldn’t do that from my own bed?”

  “Not if you expect me to wake you up every two hours to check on you.”

  “You were gonna sleep with me?”

  “Poor choice of words, but yes.”

  “Do you sleep with all your clients?”

  “You’re not a client,” Alexandra retorted.

  They were both quiet for a moment. It was true. Julia never had been and was never intended to be a client. She knew Julia had been worried about it, and Alexandra could see where she was coming from. But Caroline’s intentions had been pure; that much she knew for sure.

  “I should probably get up and get back into bed.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “A little dizzy.” Julia winced as she stood up.

  Alexandra nodded, kicked the chain holding plug away so the bath would drain, and stepped out of the water. She arched an eyebrow at Julia when she noticed her jaw drop, then covered herself with a towel. “It’s not polite to stare, Ms. Quinn. Stay put for a second.” She reached into one of the drawers in the cabinet and handed Julia a brand-new toothbrush. “Clean your teeth. You’ll feel better.”

  As Alexandra disappeared from the bathroom, Julia became vaguely aware of the throbbing between her legs at the sight of Alexandra’s stark-naked body, if only for a second. She borrowed some of Alexandra’s toothpaste and quickly brushed her teeth, thankful for the fresh feeling in her mouth afterward.

  Alexandra reappeared a couple of minutes later, fully dressed this time. She put an arm around Julia’s waist. “I’ll help you back to bed.”

  “Thank you.” With a faint smile, Julia leaned against her, not realizing how weak she felt until she had support. Alexandra kept the arm around her all the way to the bedroom, only letting go to pull back the covers. Julia crawled into bed but froze as Alexandra got in next to her. “This isn’t awkward at all,” she whispered.

  “It’s only awkward if you make it awkward,” Alexandra leaned on an elbow and placed her hand on Julia’s forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever. That’s good.”

  Julia’s eyes closed. “Alexandra?”

  “Yes?”

  “I really am sorry.”

  “I know. Go to sleep. I will wake you in two hours.”

  Alexandra removed her hand, and Julia was surprised at the disappointment she felt.

  As she yawned loudly, Julia moved to her side, her back to Alexandra. Her heart pound
ed in her chest as she softly whispered into nothingness, “I wasn’t expecting someone like you.” She was quiet for a moment. “I kind of want to ask you to hold me,” Julia whispered, grateful that Alexandra couldn’t see the blush on her face. “Is that weird?”

  “Probably,” Alexandra let out a little laugh. “But so far, everything about this has been weird. Come here.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Alexandra rubbed small circles on her back. “Sleep now.” With her free hand, she reached over and set the alarm for two hours from now.

  It was going to be a long, long night.

  Alexandra groaned when the curtains of her bedroom were pulled back and light streamed inside, assaulting every sense she had. She peeked through one eye and immediately closed it. “Ms. Quinn, what are you doing?”

  “It’s one in the afternoon. I’m hungry, so you have to make me food,” Julia said.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Alexandra muttered. She turned over and pulled the covers over her head.

  Alexandra had woken Julia every two hours, which had been like trying to wake a comatose patient. She would fall right back to sleep, half on top of Alexandra, once she repeated the words that Alexandra had given her. All throughout the night, that damned alarm had blasted through the room, and Julia had slept right through it. At six a.m., Julia had cursed loudly when Alexandra had woken her up to make her repeat the three words she’d been given earlier.

  “Kiss my ass,” Julia had groaned before rolling over and pulling Alexandra with her.

  “All in good time,” Alexandra had whispered. That had effectively shut Julia up.

  But now, several hours later, Julia refused to be quiet. She pulled back the covers. “Alexandra, wake up.”

  “You must be feeling better.” Alexandra put the pillow over her head, desperately needing more sleep.