by Donna Raider
“Oh, Richie, Mika,” she cried, “you named her after me. I am flattered.”
“I knew she would like it.” Her son jumped into the air, laughing loudly.
“The Athaliah part was Richie’s idea,” Mika grinned. “The My was my idea.” She lowered her voice and whispered, “My queen.”
It took all her self-control to keep her hands off Mika. She didn’t want to embarrass her son.
Sensing her need, Mika swung Richie in the air, giving the boy a solid hug, then sat him down in front of his mother. “Time for us to shove off. I will start the engine. You unhook the boat and pitch the ropes onboard.” She grinned as her wife embraced their son.
Leah caught the ropes and secured them. She waved goodbye to her son, then joined her wife at the helm. Mika skillfully maneuvered the ship from the harbor and headed toward the open ocean.
“I love this.” Leah hugged her arm, pulling it between her breast.
Immediate desire consumed Mika. “Whoa, cowgirl.” She grinned mischievously for having stolen her line. “We need to get clear of the shipping lanes before I can put this thing on autopilot. If you take over, I will set the GPS coordinates and in about an hour, we can find other things to do with our hands.”
“I would like that.” Leah tiptoed up to kiss her.
On the ninth day of their marriage, Leah watched Mika sleep. She was beautiful and extremely energetic. It hurt her to think of Mika growing old. She pleased her so much. She knew Mika would be able to accommodate her for ten or fifteen years, but all too soon age would begin to separate them as she aged, and Leah remained eternally thirty-four. She knew she had to find a way to tell Mika that all the inhabitants cursed to New Judah were immortal.
#
On day ten, Mika awoke to the mouth-watering aroma of bacon. Without opening her eyes, she reached for Leah. Leah’s side of the bed was still warm, but she was gone. Mika smiled as she heard her moving around in the galley. Mika ran her tongue along her lips, seeking to moisturize them. She still had the taste of Leah in her mouth. They had been married for ten incredibly wonderful days. She had fallen asleep in Leah’s arms every night and awakened every morning to the thrill of Leah snuggled against her. Mika realized she did not like waking without her in their bed. She quickly moved to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and slipped on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
As Mika opened the bathroom door, Leah entered their bedroom carrying a cup of coffee. “I thought you might like this.”
Mika kissed her gently, letting Leah explore her mouth with her tongue. “Mmm… minty,” Leah murmured against her lips.
“I do not like waking in an empty bed,” Mika pouted.
Leah set the coffee on the dresser. “Let's remedy that right now.” She grinned, pushing her wife backward onto the bed. As she straddled her, Mika knew the coffee was going to get cold.
CHAPTER 18 - I Didn’t Know You’re a Witch!
Later, Leah made fresh coffee, and Mika cooked omelets. They carried their food onto the deck and enjoyed the cool ocean breeze. Mika watched her leaning against the rail, the wind caressing her face with her hair. The sun was sinking behind her, framing her in a fiery glow. “A lira for your thoughts.” Mika grinned.
“I think it’s time for you to tell me who my wife really is.”
“Yes,” Mika agreed. “I guess the easiest way is the way you used to let me see who you are. Just close your eyes and watch the show.”
Leah leaned her head back onto the cushion of the boat’s sofa, enjoying the sun’s rays on her face as she closed her eyes. Suddenly her mind filled with happiness.
She saw a gathering of beings all dressed in white—or, maybe they were shimmering light—laughing, singing, filled with love. Mika moved easily among them. Her hair was longer, flowing down her back. Her countenance was aglow as she conversed with a being whose face she couldn’t see. Mika was incredibly happy, peaceful as she walked with her brethren.
The being—it was asexual, she thought—informed the group that their existence was under attack and a leader was needed to fight a horrific battle. Everyone stood motionless. No one volunteered to help.
Mika stepped forward. “I will lead your army, my Lord.” She bowed her head in reverence.
“If you prevail,” the being spoke softly, “I will grant you everything you desire.”
Mika nodded.
The show suddenly shifted to a horrid, arid place. The stench of sulfur dried Leah’s mouth and nose. Across the Netherworld, Mika led an army of beautiful, white warriors as they clashed with the darkness of the army from hell. The battle was furious. It raged for days, across the Netherworld, through the heavens, and across the sky. Many soldiers from both sides fell until there were only two warriors left on the blood-drenched battlefield: Mika and a dark one called Lucifer.
Mika was exhausted. Her beautiful blonde hair was covered with blood. Her face was bloodied and beaten. Her armor was ripped and missing parts. Her side was bleeding profusely where the hilt of a dagger was protruding. She was on her knees, head bowed. Lucifer was circling Mika, his sword held warily before him, checking to see if his prey was as injured as she appeared to be.
Ascertaining that Mika was indeed almost dead, the dark one charged at her, his sword raised above him, intent on severing Mika’s head from her body. At the very last second, Mika shot forward, driving her sword through the evil one’s heart. Mika stood over him; her sword was poised to strike the deathblow. Lucifer begged for his life, promising never again to attack or harm the heavenly beings. God nodded to Mika, and the warrior picked up Lucifer and threw him. The dark angel released a cry that shook the heavens and the earth. It echoed throughout hell as he plunged into the fiery abyss.
The next scene showed Mika being honored with a great feast. Her Lord took her aside and asked what she desired. “Earth,” Mika said softly “and the love of one worthy of us.”
The Lord nodded. “We can work out the details later. For now, let us honor you for saving our kind.”
Many other scenes followed: Mika with a beautiful woman named Helena. She was holding a baby boy named Constantine. The year appeared to be AD 272. Leah watched as Mika served in the armies of Constantine, now called Constantine the Great and proclaimed as the first Christian leader of Rome.
In the seventeenth century, Mika was amid a group of scholars responsible for the King James Version of the Bible.
Suddenly the show changed, and Leah saw a man in a dark, dank prison cell. He was clad in the black cassock of a priest. It was torn and soiled. Holes, the size of softballs, exposed his bloodied skin. He was filthy and appeared to be dead. Guards opened the cell and lifted the man, trying to make him walk, but he was too weak, so they dragged him to their destination.
They dragged him into a great hall and tried to make him stand, but he simply crumpled to the floor.
Leah didn’t want to see this. She whimpered, wanting her wife to stop her narrative. She tried to close her mind to the awful show Mika was presenting her, but it continued, uncensored.
“You are before your queen. Stand, dog.” The queen paced the great hall, kicking at the man, but not touching him. She didn’t want to get her boot dirty.
“He’s too weak to stand, Your Majesty,” one of the guards said tentatively. “He has been in the prison for over a year.”
She circled the priest like a predator inspecting a vile offering that was beneath her. “He gave refuge to Samson?” The queen’s voice was low and guttural.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guard nodded. “Samson had been gravely injured by one of your swordsmen, and this priest nursed him back to health.”
“You saved Samson,” she screamed at the foul-smelling priest lying prone on her floor. “Hold him up on his knees,” she commanded her guards. “I want to see his face.”
The guards lifted the lifeless form to his knees and did their best to prop him up, not wanting to touch him for very long.
She studied him. It w
as impossible to determine his lineage. His hair and face were so covered in filth that one couldn’t discern his coloring. His bedraggled beard was filled with clotted blood and spittle.
“You will tell me where Samson is,” she snarled at her prisoner like a rabid dog. “You will tell me or die, Priest.”
He merely hung his head, too weak to open his eyes. Her anger surged through her like a lightning bolt seeking the ground. Her heart pounded in her body, the blood circulating so hard, it was deafening in her ears. She considered tearing out his heart but didn’t want to touch the filthy creature. Her jealousy that even a man of God would protect her sworn enemy overcame her.
She was circling him then came to stop behind him. “Tell me where he is.” Her fury had reached full rage, and she wanted an answer. How dare he hang there and not answer her?
“No,” he managed a low, guttural growl.
Her jealous rage overcame all reasoning. She grabbed the dagger from her guard’s belt and slit the priest’s throat. He mumbled something she couldn’t understand then slumped forward, his blood spilling over her floor.
“What did he say?” she screamed at the guard still holding up the priest.
“He said, ‘I love you, Leah, and I forgive you,’” the guard mumbled.
“Get him out of here,” she hissed, “and clean up this mess.”
As the two guards lifted him under his shoulders, the priest’s head rolled backward, and she found herself staring into the piercing blue eyes of her wife.
“No,” Leah screamed. “Oh, God. No, Mika! No.”
She tore her mind from Mika’s show-and-tell, falling to the boat deck on her knees. She wailed like a wounded animal in the throes of death.
Leah’s body spasmed as she reached for her hair, tearing at it.
Mika instantly wrapped her arms around Leah, holding her wrists to keep her from harming herself.
Leah closed her eyes but saw only the lifeless, blue eyes of her wife. Sobs wracked her body as she tried to breathe. Her heart had stopped beating minutes ago. She wanted to die.
Mika had been unprepared for Leah’s reaction. She had no idea she would react so violently to her death in another time.
Mika held Leah for hours until her small body stopped trembling. Mika whispered to her softly, trying to find the words to soothe her. It hurt Mika’s heart to know that she had caused her so much pain. Mika pulled a blanket from under the seat. She sat Leah on her lap and covered them both as they lay on the sofa, listening to the waves lap against the hull of the boat. Exhausted, they fell asleep, their bodies stretched out against one another. Mika held Leah tightly against her, even in sleep.
Leah’s first reaction when she awoke was one of happiness to be lying in her wife’s arms. Then her mind screamed as the earlier events crashed down on it. It was more than she could comprehend.
Leah lay still on Mika. Her ear was over the blonde’s heart. It was beating softly. Even as horrified as she was, Leah found solace in Mika’s closeness. She wondered why Mika was here. Revenge. Had she somehow come back to kill her? No. That was her way, not Mika’s. How could Mika hold her? How could she even touch her? She was vile. She was evil personified.
“I’m awake,” Mika said softly. “Are you okay?”
“I may never be okay,” she answered, her voice void of all emotion.
“I love you, Leah,” Mika said slowly, tightening her arms around her wife.
“I don’t know how you could.” Leah trembled violently.
“I chose you to love.” Mika stroked her hair, continuing to maintain a tight grip on her back. “I roamed the Earth for over three thousand years searching for you.”
Mika chuckled softly. “Obviously, my timing was very bad the first time I found you.”
“Obviously,” Leah snorted sarcastically.
“I have traveled to the far corners of the Earth for you, fought horrific battles and even died for you.” Mika exhaled sharply. “I finally have you. I won’t let you go. Whatever you’re going through, we’ll work it out.”
“I can’t… I can’t think about it anymore right now, Mika.” Leah seemed disengaged from it all. “It’s just all too much.” Her mind flashed to the crazed look on her face when she had slit Mika’s throat. For the first time she realized the truth: by the time she had cursed God, she was stark raving mad. She couldn’t reconcile the depraved Wicked Queen with the person she was now.
“Are you warm enough?” Mika asked.
“Yes, it feels good just to lie here,” she whispered.
Mika was overcome with a tremendous need to make love to Leah, to make her understand that she loved her above all things on Earth, but knew she might not be receptive. Tentatively, Mika let her hand move from Leah’s back to her soft breast. Mika felt her tense and immediately retracted her hand. “No, don’t stop,” she whispered hoarsely. “I can’t believe you want to touch me.”
Mika pulled her up, so their lips were even, and kissed her gently, slowly moving her lips against Leah’s. Leah’s tongue hesitantly slid along Mika’s lower lip, then caught her lip between her teeth, biting it gently. “I love you, Leah,” Mika murmured against her lips.
Leah kissed her as if she had never kissed her before, letting all the horror in her soul flow into Mika’s, so she could cleanse it and return it whole, and she did.
Leah slid her hands beneath Mika’s T-shirt. Mika lifted her back from the cushion as Leah slid the shirt over her head. Leah stared at her in the moonlight, her heart quickening at the sight of Mika. “I want you so much, Priest,” she spoke softly into Mika’s ear. Her warm breath and sensuous whispers enflamed Mika’s body.
Mika ran her hand under her shirt and was delighted to find that was all she was wearing. She quickly pulled it over Leah’s head. They lay together, their bare breasts touching. Neither of them noticed when the blanket slipped from them. They made wondrously, naked love in the moonlight, their rhythmic motions matching those of the ocean rocking their boat. Their primal cries and pleadings to one another as old as mankind.
They had made love for hours, until Leah fell against Mika, exhausted both physically and mentally. Mika carried her down to their bed and gently slid Leah beneath the sheet, careful not to wake her. Mika slid into the bed beside Leah and held her tightly. “I love you, darling,” she whispered.
That was all that mattered to either of them.
Leah woke Mika the next morning, pushing closer for her warmth. She instinctively pulled Leah tighter against her. Without opening her eyes, Mika found Leah’s lips and kissed them softly, noting that they were still swollen from the night before.
Leah stroked her thigh, eliciting a soft moan from Mika. “What would you like to do?” She smirked knowingly.
“Guess!” Mika whispered. Sleep controlled her voice.
Later, as they lay trying to catch their breath, Mika chuckled, “You won that guessing game.”
“I have many questions,” Leah said softly, turning to face her wife.
“I have some, too.” Mika smiled. “Coffee first?”
##
As they had done for the past eleven days, they took their meal up on the deck to enjoy the sun and the ocean. Mika had made them a pitcher of mimosas using the champagne Samson had presented them at the reception.
“Champagne gives me a wicked headache.” Leah laughed as they toasted. “To you and me and eternity.”
“Eternity?” Mika frowned. “That’s a long time.”
“From your horror show yesterday, I assume I have married an immortal.” Leah raised a quizzical brow. “After all, I slit your throat and yet here you are!”
“Yes.” Mika bit her lower lip, knowing that would probably be the most difficult issue they would encounter in their marriage. “I know we have to face it sooner or later, but for right now can’t we just ignore it?”
“Why would we ignore something so incredible?” Leah beamed.
“I just don’t want to think of you growing old.
” Mika looked down at the deck. “I don’t want to think of my life without you.”
“Weren’t you the woman that said I haven’t aged a minute in two years?” Leah smiled.
Mika studied her for a long time. “That is true,” she nodded. “You’re as beautiful as the first time I met you.”
“It seems, dear, you have met your match.” Leah grinned.
“You, you’re not… How?” Mika gasped.
“God’s curse is for eternity.” She shrugged. “Everyone he has banished to here is immortal. Children born here now age normally. When they reach thirty-four, they have the choice of leaving or staying. They can come and go until they are thirty-four. After thirty-four, once they leave, they can’t return. Either way, they age normally. The originals are the only immortals.
“But you,” Leah laughed. “You make me feel young. You are before time, ageless. I wondered why you avoided telling Richie your age when he asked.”
Mika nodded. “I am ageless. Time—a beginning and an end—is only a human concept. I have merely been on Earth over three thousand years. As you saw, God granted me my heart’s desire. As it turned out, my heart’s desire was you.”
“I’ve seen your movie. Want to give me the backstory?” She watched Mika closely.
“My God created heaven and Earth and mankind. I became enthralled with the humans and wanted to move freely among them. Unfortunately, a great jealousy arose in my… realm, for lack of a better word. Others wanted to rule over the Earth that God created. They too were enamored with the humans. I am a warrior in my realm,” Mika explained. “I led the battle against those who wanted to rule the Earth. I won. God banished them to hell. I was allowed to come to Earth.”
“Why did you want to come to Earth?” She frowned. “You looked so happy where you were.”
Mika blushed deeply. “I found that I was deeply attracted to the human females, and I wanted one. Not just anyone. She had to have certain attributes.”
