Andra blushed at the dark sensual look that came into Maxima’s eyes. “She was that good?”
“Better than you can imagine.”
“You do know that Sara had quite the reputation when she was younger?” Andra watched Maxima closely to gauge her reaction. “Not that it should mean anything. I think I was probably worse than her.”
Maxima stretched her long, powerful legs out and smirked at Andra. “I doubt I will ever meet anyone who could equal your reputation.”
Andra shook her head. “That was fifteen years ago. I’m sure people have forgotten about my hell raising days.”
“Do not bet on it. Your reputation will follow you everywhere you go. Women will still throw themselves at you, hoping to trigger the hunter that you were.” Maxima’s voice had taken on a dramatic flair as she leered playfully at Andra.
Andra threw her head back and laughed, but her merriment was cut short by a cool voice.
“Good to know you find that funny, dear.
Andra almost fell out of her chair. She quickly came to her feet and grabbed the desk when the room tilted dangerously. She placed a big grin on her face as she made her way to where her wife stood. Dressed in her pajamas and with her hair tousled, Claire looked absolutely adorable. Giving her wife a drunken leer, she curled an arm around the blonde’s waist.
“You look gorgeous, honey,” she whispered in Claire’s ear. A surprisingly strong hand held her upright as she stumbled, followed by a heavy sigh.
“I think it’s time to call it a night,” Claire said quietly. Andra threw a look at Maxima and grinned.
“The lady has spoken, warrior. To bed with you.”
Maxima shook her head as she got to her feet, still steady on her legs. “I think she meant you. But I think I will call it a night too.”
Andra pouted as she looked at her wife. “I feel fine, maybe we could…”
“I doubt you can do anything right now, hon,” Claire took Andra’s hand and gently led her to the door.
“Goodnight, Max,” Andra called over her shoulder as she was led from the study.
***
Maxima took a long drink, straight from the bottle, as she listened to Andra’s fading voice, still propositioning her wife. It was rare to see Andra drunk, but it was refreshing to see her so relaxed. They were all down in the dumps and it was comforting to know that she was not the only one suffering.
She tipped the bottle again, but before it touched her lips, a soft chime filled the quiet room. She reached for her cell phone and almost dropped the bottle when she read the caller ID. She opened the message. It was short and Maxima read it twice, before she came to her feet.
CHAPTER 11
The moment the buzz sounded, Sara was at the door.
“Yes?”
“Sara?”
Her eyes fluttered closed at the softly spoken word. For the first time since sending Maxima the text, Sara doubted her decision. She had acted impulsively and as much as she wanted to blame the alcohol she’d imbibed earlier, she knew it had not been the deciding factor. Seeing Maxima tonight had been like throwing an accelerant over smoldering embers.
The moment she’d fallen into bed, the visions had started. This time she was completely spooked because unlike the other times, it came while she was still awake. It was also different from all the others and it had confirmed what she tried so hard to deny. With tears streaming down her face at what was being revealed to her, she had reached for her phone. Now here she stood with Maxima a few floors down waiting for her to buzz her in. She knew that Maxima would come. Maxima had said it herself that she loved her.
“Sara, are you there?”
She swallowed. The decision was taken from her the moment Maxima’s voice sounded again. She recalled the vision and pressed the release button immediately. For a few moments Sara rested her forehead against the door. Now all she had to do was decide how she was going to handle this. She glanced at the clock against the wall. It was almost midnight. A warm feeling enveloped her heart at the realization that Maxima had responded almost instantly to her text.
There was a knock on the door and Sara jerked away, suddenly nervous. How am I going to justify sending the text? The knock sounded again and taking a deep breath, she opened the door. Maxima’s eyes were almost fierce in their intensity. Like always Sara was taken aback by the magnificence of the woman. Everything faded away and, for a moment, she fell into those pale depths.
Sara took a step back. Maxima hesitated slightly before she took the invitation. Sara let out a shuddering breath when Maxima moved passed her and her nostrils filled with the earthy scent that was so unique of the warrior. She closed the door and turned to face Maxima.
“Why are you here, Maxima?” of Maxima’s powerful physique made the large apartment appear smaller.
“Because you need me.”
Sara shook her head. “I simply asked if you were doing okay in the text I sent you.”
Maxim frowned. “It was as good as a summons.” Maxima stepped closer and Sara felt overwhelmed by the sheer aura of the woman. Strange, I never picked that up when Maxima was posing as Mac. “You wanted me to come to you.”
Sara felt a spark of anger at the last statement. It wasn’t the fact that it sounded so blatantly arrogant, but more because it was the absolute truth. She had wanted to see Maxima again, if only to dispel the disturbing feelings the vision had left her with. Maybe she should heed the vision for the warning that it was. It was time to be honest. Sara pursed her lips, allowing the anger she’d kept inside for the past week to spill into her blood.
“I have no one to talk to…no one to be mad at. And the visions won’t let up. It seems they are trying to drive me crazy.” Sara took a threatening step closer to Maxima. The warrior seemed unfazed as she studied Sara intently. “I can’t sleep anymore and I’m so tired, really tired.” A lone tear trickled down Sara’s cheek. “I am still angry and I probably will be for a long time, but I need to sleep. I can’t go on like this. I need to sleep.” She took the final step which brought her against Maxima’s body. She rested her head against the broad chest. “I want you to make it right.”
Sara felt the strong arms close around her and a tortured sigh left her body. It felt so good—like coming home. The thought surprised her, but she was too tired and too comfortable to explore its meaning any further. Maxima bent her knees slightly and swung her up in her arms. No words were spoken again until Sara was warmly tucked in bed, stretched out on Maxima’s hard body. Just like that first night she slept in Maxima’s arms, she curled her arm around the strong neck and buried her face in Maxima’s neck. Almost immediately her eyelids began to droop. She lifted her head and blinked sleepily down at Maxima.
“I’m still angry, but thank you for doing this.”
“Thank you for trusting me enough to be here for you.”
Sara dropped her head back on Maxima’s chest. They lay like that in silence with Sara fighting against the sleep that wanted to overpower her. As much as her body craved the rest, her mind wanted to enjoy this moment more. She purred softly when a large hand brushed over her hair and continued down her back. The hand stopped at her lower back and began its journey upwards again.
“I had a vision earlier tonight.” The hand stilled. “It came while I was still awake.”
Maxima cleared her throat softly. “What was it about?”
Sara’s arms unconsciously tightened around Maxima. “It was about Anima’s suicide.”
She felt Maxima gently slide her to the side and onto the mattress so that they lay side by side. Maxima looked stricken. Sara watched in disbelief as the blue eyes shot full of tears and any thought of sleep left her at that moment. This was something that seemed to be very important to Maxima.
“Did she suffer much?” Maxima asked hoarsely.
Realizing her mistake and filled with guilt for having introduced the topic so callously, Sara pressed her forehead against Maxima’s. “I sensed that her grea
test pain came from losing you and the guilt she felt for the role she played in your fate.”
A soft sniff sounded and Sara leaned back so she could look at Maxima. A wave of tenderness washed over at the sight of the tears streaming down Maxima’s cheeks. “How did she die?”
The vision surfaced again and Sara recalled the intense feelings of dread she experienced through Anima as a paralysis came over her. The paralysis was followed by the loss of speech and finally suffocation. It was what followed afterwards that had made her reach out to Maxima. She…Anima had opened her eyes to total darkness later and the crippling feeling of utter loneliness. There was no Maxima waiting for her so they could start their new life together.
“Sara?”
Sara licked suddenly dry lips. She grimaced at the unexpected bitterness she tasted in her lips. “She took hemlock.”
Maxima closed her eyes and Sara heard her take a shaky breath. “I never knew the details surrounding her death. No one knew. King Noram apparently found her body and burned it in shame. Why, I could never understand until now.” The blue eyes opened and they were pools of dark anguish. “Only criminals and the condemned were punished by a ‘Cup of Hemlock’. Anima disgraced her royal lineage by taking her life in that way.”
Sara was horrified by the actions of a father in disposing of his only child’s remains like that. She crept even closer to Maxima and held her tightly. The warrior was trembling under her touch. She pressed her lips against the broad forehead.
“I’m so sorry, Maxima,” she whispered softly.
“It is not your fault.”
The silence that followed was so long that Sara thought that maybe Maxima had drifted off to sleep. She pulled back to find Maxima staring unseeingly at the ceiling. “Maxima?”
“I always wondered about it. I could hear her pleas for forgiveness as I was turning. She promised to love me forever.” Maxima let out a shaky breath and fresh tears spilled from her eyes. “It took me close to a hundred and fifty years to focus hard enough to bring what little bit of humanity that was left in me to the surface. That was when I began to thaw bit by bit until I could at least become mobile at night. By then everyone who knew about Anima was dead. The scrolls were incomplete because the King wanted to completely erase the blemish of shame to their name.”
Sara tightened her hold on Maxima. “You’ve carried so much pain with you throughout the centuries.”
“It was worth it.” Maxima hoisted herself on her elbow. “After what you have told me do you still doubt that you are the bearer of Anima’s soul? No one but Anima herself could recount what had happened on her last day on earth.”
Pushing her fingers through her hair, Sara rolled onto her back so she could stare up at the ceiling. “I know.” She cocked her head and looked at the darkly handsome face. “What do you want me to do?”
“Give me another chance to love you,” Maxima whispered huskily, causing the fine hair on Sara’s arms to spike. “I know you do not love me, but I have enough love for the both of us.”
Sara looked away from the hypnotic gaze. “Will it truly be enough? What about the little detail where you turn to stone during the day?”
“Anima loves me and I hope that you would one day unlock that chamber where she keeps her love for me. As long as I have you in my life, I will be happy.” Maxima’s large body hovered over hers. “I promise to make you happy beyond your wildest dreams.”
Sara’s eyes were fixed on the beautifully sculpted lips, remembering how they’d felt on hers and remembering the feelings they invoked in Anima. The dark head came closer and just as their breath mingled anticipating the first touch of their lips; Sara shook her head and turned away.
“I’m sorry, I can’t.”
Maxima licked her lips. “I understand. I promised to give you all the time you need.” She rolled onto her back and opened her arms. “Let me tell you a little about myself. My life has been rather boring and I am sure it will lull you to sleep in no time.”
Sara didn’t wait to be invited again. In an act that was almost possessive, she crawled over the warrior’s large body and threw a leg over the strong thighs.
“I’m listening.”
Two hours later, Sara was barely awake as Maxima slipped out from under her. The warrior gently tucked her in again, before pressing soft lips to her brow. Swimming between sleep and wakefulness, Sara listened to the warrior moving around.
She sighed deeply when warm lips touched hers. “Sleep well, my heart. I love you.”
The front door closed and Sara rolled onto her back, her fingertips reaching up to touch her lips. She wondered how long she would be able to resist Maxima. Turning on her side, she hugged the pillow close where Maxima’s head had rested and drifted off again, enveloped by Maxima’s scent.
***
Andra blinked in surprise when the door to her office opened and Claire entered. A pigtailed Nadia rushed around the desk as soon as she’d spotted her mother. With a broad smile, Andra picked her daughter up. The short arms curled around her neck as the dark head rested on her shoulder.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit by my two most favorite girls?”
Claire moved closer and kissed her on the cheek. “We thought we’d see what you were up to and invite you to lunch.”
Andra walked to her desk and scanned through her day planner. She was due at the docks in the afternoon to inspect a yacht. “I’m free until three o’clock. Where do you want to go?”
“Pizza,” a soft voice whispered in her ear. Andra hugged her daughter closer.
“Pizza it is then.” She took her purse. “I’ll buy you the best pizza this town has to offer.”
Lunch was fun with Nadia keeping them entertained by recapping the bedtime story Maxima had told her the previous night, complete with her own adaptations. Andra was enjoying it immensely to see her shy little girl so animated. Looking at Claire to see her reaction to this unusual side of Nadia, she found her wife to be lost in thought.
Placing a small slice of pizza on Nadia’s plate to keep the child occupied, Andra reached for Claire’s hand. “Hey, you okay?”
The green eyes were somber. “I miss Sara.”
“I know, baby. I miss her too.”
“I can’t help but feel that we’ve failed Maxima,” Claire whispered. Andra squeezed her hand lightly.
“Maxima understands, sweetheart. I’m sure she’s trying to work it through with Sara.”
“Aunt Sara is pretty,” Nadia mumbled around a piece of pizza, causing the grownups to look at her in surprise.
“Nadia honey, we don’t talk with food in our mouths,” Claire admonished gently. Andra watched as her daughter’s face fell and giving her wife a quick look, placed a kiss on the dark head.
“You’re right, honey. She is pretty.”
Nadia beamed at her. “Aunt Sara said I am prettier than a princess.”
“And she’d be right too,” Andra said quickly and winked at her daughter. Claire gave her an odd look and she raised a questioning brow. Andra watched as Claire leaned closer to their daughter.
“When did Aunt Sara talk to you, honey?”
Andra caught where Claire was going. The last time Nadia had seen Sara was over ten days ago at the family dinner. She can’t recall her daughter and Sara having the time to have a conversation before Sara stormed out.
“Aunt Sara read me a bedtime story yesterday.”
Claire’s head jerked up to meet hers and Andra’s eyebrows shot up. She reached for her glass and took a sip of her water. “Did you like the story, pumpkin?”
Small hands reached for another small piece of pizza as Nadia grinned at Claire as she nodded. “Aunt Max also liked the story.”
Andra took another sip. “Aunt Max was also there?”
“Yes, mama.”
Andra nodded thoughtfully as she lifted her eyes to Claire. “Did she say when she was going to read you a story again, Nadi?”
The girl took a bite
of her pizza and nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, but seemed to remember Claire’s earlier admonishment. Clamping her hand over her mouth, she chewed.
Andra looked at Claire who was staring at her daughter with undisguised anticipation. For a four-year-old, Nadia had the memory of an elephant. If Sara had promised to read her a bedtime story, the child was going to hold her to that. She watched as Claire gently wiped Nadia’s mouth and held out her juice for the girl to take a sip.
“Aunt Sara said she would finish the story tonight.” Big blue eyes moved between the two grownups before they came to rest on Claire. “Are you angry, mommy?”
Claire’s face melted into a tender smile. “No honey, I’m not angry. Why should I be?”
“Because Aunt Sara is almost as good as you.”
Andra grinned at the way Claire’s eyes widened in mock surprise. “That can’t be possible. I was the only one given the gift of storytelling by the Storytelling Princess.”
A soft giggle escaped Nadia’s lips and her pale eyes shone bright with glee. “I told Aunt Sara so, but Aunt Max said that Aunt Sara is a real princess and a real princess is born with the gift.”
Andra took a bite of a slice of pizza as she listened to her girls bantering back and forth. Dear Aunt Max had a lot of explaining to do.
CHAPTER 12
Sara smiled as she held up the doll. It was still in a very good condition. Just like the day when her father bought it for her when she’d turned nine. She hoped Nadia would like it. It had been years since she last rummaged through the attic. The last time was when she sorted through her stuff to select toys for the Wilshire Children Home’s anniversary ten years ago.
She was shocked by the amount of toys she’d collected as a child. As an only child, her parents had doted on her. Funny enough her mother was not as aloof back then as she was now. Sandra was a hands-on mother, who took her to the park regularly and even played house with her. As she grew older, Sandra began spending more time on the many charities she chaired. That was when the chasm between them formed. When she hit her teenage years she had neither time nor the sense to bridge the gap between them and they kept on growing farther apart.
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