by Zoey Derrick
Going to Elysium and having Mikah find out about nearly everything makes her a little anxious. She knows that she still needs to tell him about the shifter.
She also knows that at some point she wants to speak with Elizabeth about talking to her mother in private. This, Vivienne knows, will not be an easy thing, but it is important. Vivienne would never have gotten to talk with her mother while she was still alive, at least not with any real conversation or comprehension. Maybe this is her chance to tell her mother how she feels, at the very least.
Her bladder finally overcomes her desire to let Mikah sleep, and Vivienne squirms involuntarily.
Mikah stirs. His blue eyes meet hers and a smile spreads across his lips. Vivienne swallows the thoughts of her mother and smiles back at him.
“Good morning, beautiful.” he whispers, his voice groggy from sleep.
She smiles wider at his vulnerability. “Good morning,” she says back.
“How’d you sleep?” he says as he slowly peels himself off of her.
There is both joy at being free so she can use the bathroom and sadness at the loss of their connection.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
She blushes. “I have to use the bathroom.”
“Oh,” he says, and he pulls back to free her completely. “Sorry.” He smiles sheepishly.
She runs her finger along the bridge of his nose. “Don’t be.” She climbs out of bed and heads for the bathroom.
Weeks ago, when Vivienne crawled onto Mikah’s cot in the hospital room that night, he savored it, afraid it was a momentary weakness on her part and that it would never happen again. But this morning outshines anything he felt that night.
Her bright blue eyes, messy, bright red hair and beautiful smile stop his heart. He’d tried so hard to control himself, to not rush through being with her the first time, but being with her was exquisite in the most delicious way he could’ve ever imagined. After last night he was worried about how she’d feel toward him this morning, but she is here with him.
The morning-after bliss clouds his memory of the other events of last evening. So much happened in Elysium, but it will be dealt with tomorrow. Today he wants to spend with Vivienne, whether in bed all day or out of it. Today is their day.
He rubs his eyes, getting rid of the crusty sleep, and stretches. He looks over at the nightstand. The clock says 12:33p.m. He smiles. It has been probably ten years since he’s slept until after noon.
Vivienne steps into his field of vision and he smiles at her. Her answering smile is warm.
“How are you feeling?” he asks.
“Good. Still tired, but I feel great.”
“You look amazing,” he says, his hungry eyes roam over her naked form standing at the foot of the bed. He laughs a little when she realizes that she’s naked.
“Jeez, thanks for reminding me.” She scurries into the bed and under the covers.
“Never cover yourself for me. I think you’re beautiful.” He kisses her on the forehead and pulls the covers back. “My turn.”
He quickly jumps out of bed, giving her a view of his beautiful, well-sculpted ass as he disappears into the bathroom. She blushes and buries herself under the covers.
Mikah emerges from the bathroom and leans on the doorjamb, watching to see if she’ll emerge from her hiding place under the covers. When she doesn’t stir, he decides to play with her. He creeps to the foot of the bed. When he lifts up the comforter, she giggles. The sheet is still between them, but looking up her body, he can see the swell of her belly. It’s one of the most beautiful things he’s ever seen.
He climbs onto the bed under the comforter and snakes his way up her body, kissing and breathing hotly through the sheet between them, and she giggles again. When he reaches her belly he kisses it, then reaches up to pull the sheet back. She helps him lower it.
Still underneath the comforter, she stares down into his beautiful blue eyes. He looks so sweet and boyish hiding under the covers, his hair all mussed up. The image is breathtaking, and the now-familiar ache from last night returns.
Mikah senses her shift in mood. He slides up a little further until his mouth is even with hers. His kiss is filled with passionate promises of what’s to come.
SIXTEEN
Sometime later they emerge from under the comforter, sweaty and breathing heavily. Neither one of them speaks until their heart rates calm down and their breathing returns to normal.
“Are you hungry?”
Vivienne laughs a little bit. “I’m starving,” she says, and he smiles back at her.
“We can’t have that. How about breakfast in bed?”
She laughs a little harder. “Breakfast? Mikah, it’s nearly two in the afternoon.”
He laughs with her. “You’re right, but it’s never too late for breakfast.”
He flings the covers aside, sits on the edge of the bed and looks around for his pants. “Hmm,” he says when he can’t find them. He gives up, deciding instead to give Vivienne another show. He stands and walks toward the closet. When she realizes that he’s walking around naked, she hides under the covers again, giggling.
Mikah grabs two pairs of pants, one for him and one for her. He also grabs one of his Boston College t-shirts for her to throw on.
“Here you go, sweetheart,” he says, emerging from the closet. “I’ll have Celeste and the boys bring your stuff up from the condo downstairs, but in the meantime, here’s a pair of my pants and a t-shirt for you.”
She peeks coquettishly out from under the covers and giggles again.
He laughs. “You silly girl.”
She smiles and he leans down to kiss her. She kisses him back, remembering all too clearly the last hour or so spent under the sheets.
But he doesn’t linger.
“Mind if I take a shower?” she asks.
“Never ask me, my home is your home. Please, make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back in a bit with food,” he says as he reaches the door.
As soon as he leaves the room Vivienne is desperate to see him again, but instead she climbs out of bed and takes the clothes Mikah’s laid out for her into the bathroom.
Mikah isn’t in the kitchen very long when he hears the running water of the shower. Smiling at the idea of Vivienne in his shower, he opens the fridge. He’s moving a few things around when Celeste comes around the corner.
“Can I help you, Mikah?”
He jumps at her voice and grazes his head on the door of the fridge in his haste to stand and turn around.
“Good morning, Celeste.”
“Afternoon, sir,” she says with a grin.
He laughs. “No, I think I can handle some bacon, eggs and toast.”
“Of course.” She hesitates a moment. “Mikah, I just wanted to apologize. For last night.”
He cocks his head at her.
“Neither Red nor I nor any of us had any intention of having to spring who and what we are on you like that. We wanted to wait until you were comfortable with being an angel before we sat down to discuss it with you.”
“Stop. Though I don’t appreciate being kept of out things and I’m not certain I’ve grasped all of this angel stuff yet, I’m not angry. But I am curious as to how Vivienne found out before I did.”
Celeste looks uncomfortable for a moment. “I suggest you ask Vivienne about that. It’s not my place to explain it.”
“Fair enough.”
“Do you need anything else?” she asks, changing the subject.
“Can you and the boys clean out the apartment downstairs? Bring up whatever you need from down there, plus all of Vivienne’s things?” he asks, his voice gentler than when they first started talking.
“It’s already been done. Her stuff is in the second bedroom. I will move it over to your room, if you’d like, when you’re not in the bedroom.”
“Please?”
She nods.
“Thank you, Celeste.”
“Anything, anytime. Anything else?�
��
“No, I’m good. I think we’re going to spend the day in bed or in the TV room.”
“Sounds good.”
The shower turns off and Celeste takes that as a cue to leave. She heads down the hall toward the door, and Mikah goes about starting their breakfast.
Vivienne towels off and gets dressed. Her hair is still soaking wet, so she wraps it up in her towel and piles it on top of her head. She smells like Mikah – well, at least his body wash – and she savors the scent.
The last twenty-four hours have been a whirlwind of events, and when she woke up yesterday, she never imagined that this morning she would wake up with Mikah. She smiles into the mirror as she throws on Mikah’s Boston College t-shirt and turns to leave the bathroom, knowing that Mikah is probably waiting for her in bed.
When she steps out of the bathroom, though, he isn’t there. She can smell bacon frying, so she heads for the kitchen.
When she opens the door she hears shifting and plates being set down, followed by the popping sound of the toaster. She comes around the corner of the kitchen to see him standing over the stove stirring something. She smiles because he’s still shirtless and his wings are shimmering in the light over the center bar.
“Smells wonderful,” she says, and Mikah jumps just a little bit. She giggles. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
He turns toward her, taking in the beautiful sight of her in his t-shirt, her hair up in a towel, and the beautiful smile on her face. “Feeling better?”
She nods. “The shower felt great, thank you.”
He comes around the counter and wraps his arms around her. “I said we’d have breakfast in bed.” He kisses the top of her forehead. “So why don’t you go lie back down, get comfortable, and I will be in in just a couple of minutes.”
“But I like watching you cook,” she grumbles against his chest.
He laughs. “There’s plenty of time to watch me cook. Go on. I want to serve you breakfast in bed.”
“Hmph,” she huffs.
She stalks off toward the bedroom and he laughs at his fiery tiger.
Guessing the direction of his thoughts, she can’t help but smile to herself as she crosses the threshold into the bedroom.
SEVENTEEN
“What would you like to do today?” he asks as he wipes his mouth and hands with a napkin. He places the napkin back on the tray he’s brought into the bedroom, and then his hand seeks hers.
“Do you have work to do?”
He scowls at her question. “Today is just for us. I’d had plans to take you shopping today, get some more clothes for you, but I think it would be better if we stayed in the condo.”
She thinks about this and finds that she’s not at all upset about the idea of him buying her more clothes. Everything’s different between them since last night, and suddenly it feels okay. Though perhaps part of the reason it feels okay is because they won’t actually be going shopping.
“I’d like to get my stuff from the condo downstairs,” she says.
“Already done. Celeste had it all brought up and placed in the second bedroom while we were sleeping.” He winks at her and she blushes. “I’d like to have her move your clothes over here into my closet, if you’d like that?” The question is already out before he can stop himself, and only then does he begin to feel uneasy. He didn’t mean to ask her to make a decision about whether to stay with him and live out of the same bedroom so soon.
His question surprises her, but she can see in his face that he is a little concerned about her response, so she smiles at him. “Is there room in there?” She points toward the closet.
He laughs. “No, but they can make room. There are a lot of clothes in there that I no longer wear. I’ll have them removed and donated, and you can have space in there too.”
She likes the idea of him making room for her and is pleased that it doesn’t seem to come at a personal cost or inconvenience, such as having to go into the second bedroom for his own clothes. “Alright,” she says.
He leans over and kisses her, this time square on the lips. “Now that’s resolved. But we still haven’t answered the question about what we’ll do today.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “Did you have something in mind?”
He wiggles his eyebrows at her and she blushes.
Then he says, “Want to watch some movies? Play around with your new laptop?”
Vivienne had forgotten about the super expensive laptop until Mikah mentioned it and it’s not something she wants to mess with today, maybe tomorrow. She thinks for a moment, then says, “How about we watch a movie, then see what we feel up to after that?”
There isn’t a TV in the bedroom, which will make what Mr. Wiggly Eyebrows Suggestive Glances hinted at more difficult. Though, now she thinks of it, she’s not sure she doesn’t want him to succeed, either.
“You got it, sweetheart. Let me take the tray into the kitchen. Do you remember where the TV room is?”
She thinks hard for a minute, trying to remember from the first time she was here. “Down the hallway on the left?” she says.
He smiles and nods at her. “Why don’t you go in there and get comfortable. I will put this stuff in the kitchen and be there in a few minutes.”
“Okay,” she says, and they crawl out of bed together.
EIGHTEEN
Just as the closing credits begin to run on their movie, Mikah’s wings buzz in a warm, familiar fashion. It’s the same sensation he’s felt when Red makes an appearance, but something about him charging into the house warns him that something’s happened.
Vivienne notices Mikah’s change in demeanor and she too senses Red coming into the house.
Both of them relax until Mikah takes in the look on Red’s face.
“We have a bit of an issue,” Red says quickly. “I didn’t want to bother you today, but can you turn the TV to channel eleven?”
“Uh, sure,” Mikah says as he sits up. He takes up the remote and presses a button to change the channel.
The TV flickers with images of a building. Remnants of a fire, it looks like, smoke still billowing off of the roof. “We are live at the home of Elton Bennett, a prominent local businessman in Minneapolis. Police received a call from the home’s security system and responded to find the house going up in flames. Despite the internal sprinkler system, the home appears to be a complete loss.
“Police are currently looking into the situation. However, fire crews found what appear to be human remains inside of the home. Now, it is unclear whose remains they are, but Mr. Bennett’s security team says that Mr. Bennett was home alone at the time of the fire. All security footage from within the home has been turned over to Minneapolis Police, and they are asking anyone with information to come forward.
“They are also on the lookout for Elton Bennett’s son, Riley Bennett, who is wanted for questioning in a triple homicide and attempted murder case from about a month ago. Police are asking for any information on his whereabouts—”
Mikah hits the power button on the TV “Why would he kill his own father?” he asks out loud.
“I’d wager a guess that his father probably pissed him off. More than likely he went to his father to seek refuge, but with everything Elton’s suffered as a result of Riley’s choices, I’d like to think that Elton wasn’t very welcoming.”
“I’d hope not, but we all know how they work. Elton has defended his son for years, protecting him, finding him the best attorney. Why would he stop now?” Mikah counters.
Vivienne is silent, not entirely understanding the situation but feeling vaguely and irrationally guilty. Yet another life lost at the hands of Riley.
“Elton’s never lost so much as he has in the last month,” Red says in response to Mikah’s question. “With his son labeled a cop killer and wanted for murder of three people and the attempted murder of another, Elton’s political career is over. No amount of damage control can right that ship. Couple all of that with you backing out
of the condo project that was set to make him millions and give him the financial power he needed to proceed with his political ambitions, and I’d imagine that he’d be pretty pissed.”
Mikah can feel a shift in Vivienne – not just physically, but emotionally too – and he remembers he hasn’t told her about his confrontation with Elton at the hospital, nor about all the behind-the-scenes things that MSB has done to destroy Elton’s career. But her mood is not one of anger, as he’d expected, but awe.
“You—” The words are difficult for her to get out. “When did you pull out of Elton’s condo project?” she asks, her voice weak. She needs to know if it was in retaliation for what Riley did to her.
“The night you were attacked.”
Vivienne flinches, remembering.
“The cops came here to the condo,” he continues, “questioning me because of the car Red was in when he drove by your home.”
“It wasn’t you in the car?” she says, a little disappointed.
“All the other nights, yes it was. I was caught up at a dinner function that night, so I sent Red in my place.”
A sense of relief washes over her. Knowing that he backed out of his business deal before he knew what had happened to her gives her new insight into Mikah and what he was thinking or feeling before she was attacked. But a sense of guilt still plagues her heart: She was so mean to him, rejecting him, and look at what he did for her.
“When the police left, I immediately went searching for a connection. That was when I discovered that Elton Bennett, who was a business partner, is Riley’s father. As soon as I found out, I severed the connection. Pulling all my funding for his condo project caused all the other investors to back out, and Elton lost just about everything he had.
“He retaliated, of course. He showed up at the hospital to confront me. We argued, I punched him, and that was the last I heard from him, other than last night, when he showed up at the gala. But his intentions remain unclear. The office has been dealing with it through the legal channels.”
