The soft knock on the condo door signaled the start of the day and our return to our life as we know it. We all stood and stretched, Tak and Bev wandered out to let Mrs. McKay in while we made our way to the shower.
As we stood, letting the water flow across our bodies, reinvigorating us... I tilted my head at Riley. “You really are beautiful, you know that?” She blushed, even with the hot water flowing.
After getting dressed we entered the world to bring Ariel to the airport so she could return to her normality after the chaos of this weekend. Tearful hugs and kisses were exchanged at the terminal with a promise to visit soon.
The next few weeks were pretty rough for my professional life. Without my network, I had to start from scratch. Slowly building my web again. It took a lot more effort to plan the parties. Is it really this hard for other people? Yuck! But they still turned out to be 'Crystal James quality.'
I had moved into Riley's loft, leaving the condo to Bev and Takara who had moved in with my green eyed BFF. Bevi reminded me that my room was always there.
Riley was quite inventive, I think she showed me more ways to make love than has been documented in all the books on the subject. Our passion never seemed to ebb, it just seemed to continue to build. The day that Violet's new engine was installed and she was cleared to fly. Riley was in the air with her the whole day then I was walking funny for a week... with a smile.
That brings us to now. On a lazy Saturday around noon, we were sitting on the couch eating some grilled ham and pepper jack sandwiches (I had found and destroyed the seemingly endless supply of tasteless granola bars stashed all around the loft), the intercom buzzed.
I wandered over and hit the mic, “Yes?” A thick Italian accented voice responded, “Miss James!” I quickly buzzed him up without a word and opened the door a crack then made my way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of beer and snuggled back in with Riley on the couch.
A few seconds later there was a light knock, Riley looked back with a grin, “Come in, Alessandro.” He joined us in the living room and sat in the chair and grinned at the beer sitting on the side table there. He twisted the lid off and took a swig.
“I'm so glad you two wound up together. You make such a beautiful couple,” he gushed.
I tilted my head and smiled at him. “What brings you by our humble abode, Alessandro?”
He grinned. “Well since you two are in the neighborhood I've been wondering why you haven't dropped by. Your table is always open Miss James... I mean Crystal.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “All markers were cleared, Alessandro.”
He waved me off. “Who cares about that silly marker business. You two are my friends, that's why you always have a table with us. A lot of others feel the same as I do. That's why I'm here today, to invite you for dinner at the restaurant tonight.”
I opened my mouth to politely turn him down, I didn't like owing anyone, but Riley beat me to it. “We'd be delighted to, Alessandro. Thank you for such a gracious offer.” Then she eyeballed me, I read an entire conversation full of arguments, points and counterpoints in her eyes with the only logical outcome... I lose. “Yes, we'd be happy to have dinner there tonight.” I said with a smile.
I gave her my admonishment with my eyes complete with a promise of retribution, which her eyes laughed off. Damn it... I'd only ever been able to read and be read with a look with Bev, but Riley takes it to a whole new level!
Alessandro stood and grabbed each of our hands and kissed them and called over his shoulder as he showed himself out, “Good! I'll see you lovely ladies at 7:00.” We chimed out a goodbye as he left.
I swung my eyes back at Riley and opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it. “No. You lost remember? You'd think the sting of defeat from just a minute ago would be fresh in your memory.” I seriously giggled at her affirming all of my previous thoughts.
Then I shook my head. “I love you.”
She blushed and crinkled her nose at me and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, chatting and laughing and getting to know more about each other again. Girl bands being played on the phonograph.
We were putting on our evening wear when a thought popped into my head. As I was zipping up her dress and kissing the back of her neck I whispered, “I want to share your world... I want to learn to fly.” Her smile couldn't have been any bigger as she turned to kiss me. “Okay.”
We walked hand in hand, toward King Street and Alessandro's as Riley got a silly look on her face and started humming Eternal Flame. My laugh died down quickly as I joined in. We were belting it out by the time we reached the doors to the building. Gaining us some odd looks by people passing by.
“God, you're so much fun!” my brown eyed beauty exclaimed as we got in the elevator. “Only with you my love... only with you,” I whispered. And I was lost again in her eyes.
I was barely aware of the elevator opening or Alessandro greeting us and leading us to my table. I only snapped out of it when the food came.
“You're so easy,” she giggled at me.
I rolled my eyes. “As before... only with you.” This got the desired blush from her. Ha! Take th... whoa, what a smile! I lose.
She snickered in victory as we ate. As usual, the food was over the moon good. Alessandro can cook! And I told him so when he returned to the table to ask about dessert. “This was some of your finest, Alessandro!” Riley nodded vigorously in agreement. “I don't have any room left for dessert. You Riley?” She shook her head, holding her stomach contently.
He smiled at us. “Well then, here.” He handed me a gilded envelope. I raised an eyebrow and Riley and I looked between him and the envelope in curiosity as I opened it.
Inside was a single slip of paper with two eyes on it, one blue, one green. Printed on the face of it was “Crystal Currency” then “One Marker” with Alessandro's signature on it.
I looked at him and he smiled, tilting my head in inquiry. He smiled back and said, “You have been a driving force in this city for years Miss James. Your network of people helping people, all using your marker system has been beneficial for everyone involved. We all know how much it meant to you. Not just for yourself, but for all the others you brought together to make such a tight knit community based on helping each other out. Nobody ever got a raw deal from a trade. And you gave it away for the noblest of purposes.”
He smiled over to Riley. “For love.” He turned back to me with a smile. “We all know you used your system like currency so nobody ever had to put out cash or strain their finances. Almost everyone you ever dealt with, sees you not as a business acquaintance, but as a friend.” I was misting up a bit and brought a hand to my eyes to prevent it.
He continued, “So I reject your voiding of my marker.” He motioned with his head behind him. “And so do they.”
I looked and all of the restaurant patrons had stood and were lining up to the table. I looked around and realized, I knew every single one of them!
Mike walked up and gave me a Crystal Currency marker with his signature and smiled and walked off, then it was Mrs. Z, Elliot, the Carmichael twins, Sam, Lucinda... the list went on. I was openly crying now, by the time it was over I was holding almost a hundred markers. Riley was hugging me as I cried.
Then Alessandro handed me another stack. “The people who couldn't make it tonight. In all, one hundred sixty eight markers.”
My God, that was over 90% of my old network! Then I stood shakily and threw my arms around him whispering, “Thank you.” And the restaurant erupted in cheers.
Riley and I spent the next hour wandering around from table to table, thanking everyone and chatting about how they have been doing. This ranked near the top of my list of the most amazing nights of my life, just below all the nights I've spent with my brunette goddess.
The smile on my face was there our whole walk home with a stack of markers in hand. Everything really is going to be okay... isn't it?
Epilogue
I was leaning against m
y Violet in my dress on the ranger's airstrip just past the north range as I looked at the four other planes scattered about the clearing with the pilots lounging around while their passengers were at the ceremony by the lake. I checked the time on my cell, fifteen minutes before we had to be there, where the hell was my wife?
Just as I finished that thought a distinctive Cessna 205 with red wingtips and leading edges, and its signature wavy red swoop on the fuselage came rocketing over the ridge. Cryster's voice crackled over Violet's radio [ Whiskey bravo five niner on approach. ] I watched in wonder as she executed a swooping dive, her wingtip perpendicular to the valley floor. God, I love this woman, she's a natural in the air.
I've always been amazed to watch her fly after her first solo on our honeymoon two years ago. It's almost impossible to get her out of the air now. But why would you want her out of it, what she can do up there is as beautiful as she is when I'm lost in her wonderfully hypnotic dual color eyes.
Our private channel crackled to life as Crystal broke her Scarlet into an arcing, banking swoop toward the field. [ Hey baby, I have you and Violet in my sights. Be down in a minute. This is just so awesome up here! ] I laughed and grabbed the headset I had hanging outside Violet's door, “You better get your sweet ass down here. It starts in like ten minutes!”
I could imagine the smirk on her face when she replied, [ Oh so you want me down there huh? ] Scarlet broke into a steep, graceful dive and she buzzed the airstrip just a couple feet above the ground, then shot almost straight up in a twisting arc. How can Crystal get her to do that?
She rode her into a stall and went into flat spin for a couple seconds as she gathered airspeed and then gracefully coaxed her into a swooping recovery back on the glideplane and circled around smoothly to land on the dirt runway.
Damn that was some nice flying, is it wrong that that made me so hot I want to take her right here in the field? She taxied Scarlet over to park next to Violet and I, as the other pilots applauded her while she cut the engine. I bit my lower lip as I watched her take off her headset and update her log on her iPad quickly.
She hopped out of the cockpit in her gorgeous dress and struck a pose for me then swooped into my arms with that childlike smile I can't get enough of. She whispered into my ear, her hot breath doing unimaginable things to me down below, “Whiskey bravo five niner, wheels down.” Now I felt like I was flying again.
My lips automatically found hers, my favorite sensation is when our lips slide together and our lip gloss sticks. We broke the kiss gasping to another set of applause from the other pilots. I grinned at them then grabbed Cryster's hand. “Come on, Mrs. McKay, we're going to be late.”
She giggled at me as we ran along the path through the trees. “On your six, Mrs. McKay!”
We broke into the clearing. Tak and Beverly looked stunning in their gowns as they stood by the minister, waving their hands to us indicating to hurry.
If they weren't so perfect for each other, the way Bev towered over Takara would be kind of funny, especially since everyone knows Tak wears the pants in their relationship.
We laughed and ran past all of our friends seated on the white chairs around the beautiful arbor that Silent Bob had somehow got here. Crystal stood next to Beverly and I stood next to Tak and gave her a nose scrunching smile.
Beverly spoke up, “Okay, preacher dude, NOW we're ready. Hit it.” All the guests laughed. Typical Bev. She was rewarded with a nose crinkle from Takara. Doesn't she know that only encourages her?
It was a beautiful ceremony. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little misty as they said their I dos... remembering Cryster and mine. She was so cute biting her lower lip and spinning that damn seductive ponytail that she only wears to drive me crazy with desire now. She stuttered out the words, it was so adorable! But her vows brought me to tears. It is phenomenal how one person can so completely effect another with only their words.
Bev and Tak's reception was particularly fun. Mostly because I always enjoy watching how in sync Bev and Crystal are with their interactions.
Friendship like that is a rare thing. I can actually see the silent communication between the two as they plan things out seamlessly. It is so similar to how Cryster and I do it. Them tag teaming Tak with the teasing is the only time Bev can get a victory over her girl.
After the reception, we watched as the newlyweds, who couldn't seem to keep their lips or hands off of one another and all the guests were flown out on the other planes. Cryster and I had been heating up all afternoon. God she's sexy... and those eyes!
She kissed me so passionately I think I'll be tingling for a month then she broke it and darted to Scarlet, almost skipping. I wobbled my way to Violet still in a happy daze. She shouted over to me, giggling, “I'm calling in my marker! Fly with me!”
I grinned at her enthusiasm and called back, “Any time my love! Any time!”
Once again, I felt as though she was gifting me the horizon.
Books in the Music of the Soul universe...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Music of the Soul
A Deafening Whisper
Dating Game
Karaoke Queen
Silent Bob
Five Feet or Less
Broken Song
Syncopated Rhythm
Progeny
Girl Next Door
Lightning Strikes Twice
June
Dead Shot
Short Stories in the Music of the Soul universe...
Misadventures of Victoria Davenport: Operation Matchmaker
Books in the London Harmony series...
Water Gypsy
Books in the Valkyrie Chronicles series...
Return of the Asgard
Bloodlines
Folkvangr
Seventy Two Hours
Titans
Books in the Drakon series...
Awakening
Dragonfall
Books in the Bridge series...
Trolls
Traitor
Books I collaborated with in The Bridge ~ Inner City series...
Gargoyles
Books in the Urban Fairytales series...
Red Hood: The Hunt
Books in the Fracture series...
Divergence
Sample Chapter from the Valkyrie Chronicles: Return of the Asgard
Chapter 1 – The Tavern
Five thousand Earth orbits completed around its star, Sol. Five thousand years I have awaited the return of my kind. How I long to be home again. I could feel Asgard approaching like the hammering of a relentless drum in my head foreshadowing the dimensional alignment that would allow Valhalla and Earth to co-exist in this realm during a 'transition' once again. That once again I may take my place in our citadel as the daughter of Odin. Or... it could just be a headache from the copious amounts of alcohol I have consumed this night.
I clumsily backhanded the largest of my attackers while kicking the feet out from underneath another, sending him unceremoniously to the ground on his ass again while I sat on my bar stool. I took the second I had gained to take the last gulp from my heavy beer mug, before finally pushing away from the bar and standing from my uncomfortable bar stool to actually fight these ruffians. I'm sure they think we have been fighting these past couple minutes, but I just wished to finish my drink before dispatching them.
I staggered as I stood. Even in my impaired state with my reflexes slowed by the alcohol, it wouldn't take but a minute to take down these three. They really should have picked a different neighborhood to rape that young woman earlier tonight.
I had arrived too late to stop it, but I recognize their dim red auras. I caught a glimpse of them as they entered McGregor's Tavern two blocks down. I called for an ambulance and the police from the girl's cell phone which I had pulled from the purse on the ground beside her crumpled and sobbing body.
I dropped her phone and comforted her the best I could until I
heard the sirens approach, then I followed the three gang-banger wannabes with their idiotic bandanas into the bar. What a dive... it reeked of cigarettes, sweat and stale beer. Neon beer advertisements flickered, casting multicolored glows across the room.
If there's one thing us Asgard truly enjoyed, it was our mead. Earth's beer is an acceptable substitute.
I sat at the bar where I could see their booth by the pool table through the cigarette smoke haze in the back of the run down tavern. Then I just watched the men through the huge mirror mounted behind the bar as I drank a pitcher to see if there were any others I should worry about when I take these three down. They are going to pay for what they did to that girl.
The smaller, weasel-like man in his worn out leather jacket and torn jeans would be the most dangerous since he posed no real physical threat, and he knew it, which is why he sat at the back of their booth, a man on either side as a buffer.
So more likely than not, he carried a weapon. Probably tucked into his waistband at the small of his back, judging by the way he sat. His nose was crooked like a bird's beak and his patchy stubble looked like a ridiculous attempt to look masculine. Hard to do for a 5'-3” man. Even my small stature at 5'-7” made me tower over him in my heavy one and a half inch heeled boots.
The big guy on his right was imposing and probably stood a chance of doing a little physical damage to me if he got his hands on me. But it wouldn't be anything my enhanced strength or nano-lattice couldn't handle. The dull look in his eyes told me he wasn't much of a thinker.
My guess is that he hadn't really been accepted by his peers because of his brutish appearance and that's how he got mixed up with these guys as their enforcer. He stood maybe 6'-4” and around three hundred pounds of muscle. He had a thick brow which kind of reminded me of the Neanderthals I had seen on Earth when I was a small child seventy Earth transitions ago. Now those men were strong!
Music of the Soul 1, 2, & 3 Starter Bundle Page 49
