Beautiful Surrender

by Sherelle Green

  “Mya,” he said in one breath hoping she picked up on the strain in his voice. When she rotated her hips again, he knew she had and within moments they both succumbed to a passionate orgasm.

  * * *

  As Mya regained focus and her orgasm subsided, she allowed Micah to lower her back onto the wooden floor. She turned around to face him, noticing that he was still coming down from his high as well.

  He pulled her into his arms and held her close. Mya buried her head in his chest, as they stood there, naked and satiated, just enjoying the feel of being in each other’s arms. It wasn’t just a simple hug between lovers. What she felt in his embrace was so much more.

  Mya lifted her head when she felt beads of water slide down her exposed back.

  “Do you want to go back inside before it starts pouring?” Malik asked.

  She glanced at the chair before glancing back at him. “Not really,” she said bringing him back over to the chair. “Take a seat.” He looked at her inquisitively before taking a seat in the lounger.

  She purposely backed away from him to take in her fill of his sexy body draped across the chair. “I’ve always wanted to do this.” Gradually, she made her way to him and eased on top of him so that she was sitting on his lap seated face-to-face and chest-to-breasts.

  As the rain began to fall, she moved her hips to the sound of the raindrops hitting the wooden balcony. Mya had never been much for looking into a man’s eyes when they had sex. But with Malik, she felt inclined to hold his gaze as she moved on his shaft, clenching her vaginal muscles with every in and out movement.

  Malik gripped her butt and moved his hips to meet her movement. Before, they’d been so hungry for each other the sex had been raw. Passionate. Obsessive. Now, she wanted to savor the moment and show her appreciation for having him in her life without necessarily voicing those words.

  She hated to sound cliché, but making love to him made her feel alive. When they connected in the most intimate way possible, she felt more united with him than anyone from her past or present. Malik knew her. The real her. And although the idea of giving her heart to him scared her like crazy, the truth was that he already had her heart in the palm of his hand. And instead of turning his back on her or expecting her to fit in this perfect box of society’s definition of the ideal woman, he allowed her to be herself.

  For her entire life, Mya had avoided any topics that made her emotional for fear that once the tears started flowing, she wouldn’t get them to stop. But Malik had forced her to come face to face with her biggest fears, and even though she didn’t know if her investigation would have a happy ending, she wouldn’t regret going to Malik for his expertise. In doing so, she’d not only learned a lot about her past, but she’d also opened up to an amazing man who she may not have ever opened up to if the circumstances had been different.

  Overcome with emotion and no longer wanting to hold it in, she dropped her head back and allowed the water hit her face and flow down her body. The refreshing rain shower mingled with the salty tears that cascaded down her face. Malik must have sensed her nearing an orgasm, because he rolled his hips forward, hitting her sweet spot.

  She brought her forehead to his as all thoughts ceased to exist the moment they let their release flow from their bodies, resulting in the sweetest moment Mya had ever experienced in her entire life.

  When she lifted her head to meet his eyes, it seemed that neither cared that the speed of the rain had increased. Malik touched the tip of her chin and pulled her lips down to his in a tender kiss.

  “I love you,” Malik said, his hand still on her chin. “In my mind, I always pictured I’d first say those words to you at a candlelit dinner or something romantic like that.”

  Mya leaned closer to Malik. “You know what,” she said, touching her forehead to his. “I think saying those words in the middle of an unpredictable rainstorm is pretty fitting of our relationship so far.”

  She gave him a soft smile. “I love you too,” she continued as she slipped her tongue between his lips in a loving kiss filled with promises and unpredictability.

  * * *

  Malik glanced over at Mya who was sleeping soundly in the bed, one leg entangled in the sheets and the other uncovered for his viewing pleasure. Yesterday had been amazing and after making love all night, all he wanted to do was lie next to her in bed all day and do it all over again.

  He looked back at his laptop on his desk as he analyzed the information he’d finally pieced together. After finally expressing their feelings for one another, the last thing he would have expected to have to do today was talk to Mya about the investigation. When he opened the last file he’d uncovered, his breath caught in his throat. What the hell? He had to be reading it incorrectly.

  He clicked on a few more files, each resulting in the same conclusion.

  “What are you doing up?” Mya asked.

  Malik turned to her quicker than he’d originally planned. There is nothing sexier than a naked woman wrapped in a snow-white sheet, he thought with a satisfied smile on his face. Now is not the time for that, he warned himself.

  “I had to check something out,” he stated. She squinted her eyes and turned her lips to one side.

  “Does this have something to do with my investigation?” she asked. He didn’t answer right away.

  “Judging by that look on your face, I assume I’m right.”

  “You are,” Malik said as he exited out of a few screens and shut his laptop. “But we can talk about that after you take a shower.”

  “I’d rather talk about it now,” she said getting off the bed and wrapping her body in the sheet. “What did you find out? Did you find my sister?”

  Malik scratched the back of his head still unsure if now was the time for this conversation.

  “Malik,” she said walking to him and sitting on the edge of the bed. “What is it?”

  He let out a deep breath, knowing that she wasn’t going to let him prolong this conversation. “Yes,” he stated. “I found your sister.”

  “You did,” Mya said nervously. “What did you find out?”

  “For starters,” he said, raising the screen of his laptop once again. “Your mother worked for the government under the name of Tatiana Lopez. I don’t have details on exactly what she did, but I suspect she was an undercover CIA operative. All the files on her are completely locked so I’m unable to get more information, but it did have a symbol by her name which indicated that she is indeed deceased.”

  “How did you find all that out?” she asked as she listened intently.

  “I can’t tell you that,” Malik said. “Let’s just say I know just as many high people in high places as I do low people in low places.”

  “Okay,” she said motioning her hands for him to tell her more. “What about my sister?” Malik’s smile slightly faltered.

  “Just tell me,” she stated firmly. “I can handle it.”

  “Your sister, Raina Howard, is living in Indianapolis,” Malik said as he took another deep breath. “She’s married with two children.”

  “Did she grow up in foster care?” Mya asked.

  “Only for a couple years,” Malik stated. “Then she was adopted by two doctors.”

  “Doctors?” Mya said as her voice clogged with emotion. “So I’m guessing she’s had a good life.”

  “It seems that way,” Malik said as he leaned to her and enclosed her hands in his. “But no matter how she was raised, she’s still your sister. You still have living family.”

  Malik waited for it to sink in that no matter how good of a life her sister had, finding her was still a blessing. He continued to rub her hands as he watched some of the tension finally leave her face.

  “Is she older or younger?” she asked Malik with wide eyes full of curiosity.

  Malik
got out of his desk chair and motioned for Mya to sit there instead. “I have a picture of her from last school year,” Malik said as he began clicking on files over her shoulders. “She’s a schoolteacher so like you, she values the importance of education.”

  His fingers moved across the keys as he located the photo in the files he had on the investigation.

  “Are you ready?” he asked glancing down at her.

  “I’m ready,” she replied as she clenched her hands in her lap. Malik felt just as nervous to show her the picture, as she was anxious to view it.

  One. Two. Click.

  Chapter 19

  Mya’s hands flew to her mouth the minute Malik clicked open the photo that contained even more answers to questions about her past. She didn’t know what she had expected when Malik opened the image, but she wasn’t prepared to have an identical set of almond-shaped brown eyes looking at her with the same type of smile she’d seen reflected in so many of her own pictures. Same facial structure. Same natural hair flow. Same shoulder shape. Same complexion.

  “Are we—” she said, her voice trailing off in disbelief.

  “Identical twins,” Malik said finishing the statement for her. “Yes, you are.”

  Mya lightly touched the screen with her hand. Raina... My sister Raina. “I don’t even know how to feel right now,” she said.

  “That’s understandable. Finding out you have a sister is one thing, but finding out you have an identical twin sister is a lot for anyone to handle.”

  Mya couldn’t stop staring at the photo. It was mesmerizing to see someone who looked exactly like her who she hadn’t met before.

  “Did she grow up in Indiana?” she asked when she was finally able to formulate a complete sentence.

  “She was placed in an orphanage in Indianapolis, so I assume whomever made your mother give up her children had separated you both purposefully.”

  Mya was almost afraid to ask him more questions, but she needed to. “Did you find anything on our birth father?”

  “No,” Malik stated in defeat. “Although you only wanted to find out if you had a sibling, I did a bit of digging around for your birth father after I found some information on your mother. But I came up short.”

  “That’s okay,” Mya said touching the screen once more. “Knowing about my mother and sister is fulfillment enough.”

  Malik reached over her shoulders and handed her a phone.

  “Why are you handing me this?” she asked.

  “So you can call her,” Malik stated. “You want to contact her, right? Maybe even request a DNA test to eliminate any doubt?”

  Mya glanced back at the screen. “I’m not sure,” she said. “What if she doesn’t want to be found?”

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” Malik said. “That’s what I was researching this morning when I located the picture. When she turned eighteen she hired an investigator to locate her birth parents and the investigator couldn’t find any usable leads. We had the upper hand in our case because of Ms. Bee.”

  He placed the phone on the desk and began rubbing her shoulders. “She wants to be found, Mya. The search remained active for two years before she gave up. Don’t you think you owe it to her to at least contact her?”

  Mya knew he was right, but she was so nervous she felt like she could throw up.

  “You can do this,” he said encouraging her to make the call.

  “What if she says she wants to meet me?” Mya asked.

  “Then we’ll go meet her,” Malik responded as he turned the desk chair to face him. He touched both sides of her shoulders. “You’re not in this alone,” he said in a comforting tone. “Make the call. Here’s the number.” He pointed to a post-it note she hadn’t seen before.

  “Okay,” she said as she picked up her cell phone with shaky fingers. Mya couldn’t believe that after years of wondering if she had any immediate family, she was about to call her twin sister.

  She dialed the number and placed the phone on speaker. Sitting there while it rang seemed like the longest seven seconds of her life.

  “Hello?” a voice said into the line. Oh my god, she even sounds like me.

  “Hi,” Mya said in a shaky voice. “May I speak to Raina Howard?” she said although Mya knew it was her.

  “This is her,” Raina said slowly. Mya wondered if she was picking up on the similarity of their voices as well.

  “Raina, my name is Mya Winters,” she picked at her fingers nervously. “I know this call is completely out of the blue and I won’t blame you if you hang up right now, but I’m—” her voice broke as she tried to finish her statement. “I’m your—” she tried again. Malik motioned for her to take a deep breath.

  “My name is Mya Winters and I’m your birth sister,” Mya said into the phone. She waited for Raina to deny it or call her a liar. Or even worse, hang up in her face. But Raina didn’t say any of that.

  “Hello, Mya,” Raina said calmly. “I figured out who you must be when you started talking. Call it a sister’s intuition.”

  Mya let out the breath she’d been holding. “I wasn’t sure calling you was the right thing to do, so my nerves got the best of me.”

  “Well I’m really glad you did,” Raina said. “I feel like I’ve waited my entire life to find you.”

  “I know how you feel,” Mya replied. “And we’re not just sisters,” she said into the phone. She glanced at Malik who gave her a smile of encouragement. “We’re actually twins.”

  “What!” Raina exclaimed into the phone. “We’re what! Oh my goodness...” Now it was Mya’s turn to be calm while Raina’s voice cracked with emotion.

  * * *

  “Mya you have got to stop fidgeting,” Malik said as he followed the GPS and turned down the side road.

  “I don’t fidget,” Mya said before dropping her eyes to her hands and realizing she was doing just that.

  “I can’t help it,” she said anxiously. “I’m meeting my sister for the first time. I can’t even put into words how this feels.”

  “You’ll be fine, sweetie,” Ms. Bee said in the backseat. “I bet it will feel like you and Raina have known each other for years.”

  When Mya had called Ms. Bee and told her the news about finding her sister, Ms. Bee hadn’t been able to stop crying. Even though it had been hard to comprehend the fact that Ms. Bee had kept knowledge of her birth mother a secret for all these years, Mya was really beginning to understand that age-old saying that everything happens for a reason.

  Mya and Raina had talked every day for the past week and had immediately made plans to see each other the following weekend. It had been hard telling Raina the story about their mother’s recent passing, but finding one another made the news easier for her sister to handle. Through their conversations, Mya had learned that Raina also had two older brothers, six nieces and nephews, and although Raina’s parents were divorced, both parents had remarried and were now in happy relationships.

  You can do this, she said to herself as she tried to calm her nerves. She’d even been nervous the day before when she’d finally opened up to her friends and Elite Events partners about the investigation. They’d hugged. They’d cried. And in true Elite Events fashion, the ladies were already planning a girls-only weekend to get to know Raina after her and Mya had time to reconnect and get to know one another.

  As they turned into the cul-de-sac, Mya’s mouth dropped in awe.

  “Well I’ll be,” Ms. Bee said peering out the window. “If this isn’t the definition of a warm welcome, I don’t know what is.”

  Malik stopped three cars down from the address they’d entered into the navigational system. Mya glanced around at the thirty-plus people scattered around the cul-de-sac. “I thought she said a few people,” Mya stated as she watched the crowd come to the car
. What if they don’t like me? She’d only known Raina for a week, but she could tell they were complete opposites. Even with the differences in personality, they’d still felt like they had known each other forever.

  “You’ll be fine,” Malik said giving her hands a tight squeeze.

  “You both know it takes me a while to open up to people,” she said staring at all the happy faces. “I can already tell that Raina is way more comfortable talking about certain things than I am.” She glanced at Malik. “My past was so different than hers. I don’t even know how to begin.”

  “Just start from the beginning,” he said as he brushed his fingers through her hair and brought her closer for a kiss. “No one said you had to divulge your entire life story in one day. Everything takes time.” Malik looked outside at the people crowding the car. “But I’d say you’re one lucky woman to have so many people ready to meet you and get to know you.”

  Mya took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said as she placed her hand on the handle and opened the door. The first person she noticed was Raina who was standing there with a welcome sign and eyes full of tears. Mya noticed that everyone had stood back to let them have this moment. Her feet felt extremely heavy as she walked closer to Raina. She thought it would be weird to meet a woman who looked exactly like her, but instead, she felt complete. Like all the hardships in her life had prepared her for this exact moment.

  As she got closer to Raina, Mya felt her footsteps quicken. She had told herself she wouldn’t cry, but the moment was too monumental for her not to shed a tear or two. When they were in arm’s reach, Raina pulled Mya into her arms as they cried together.

  “I often thought I was crazy with the way I would think something in my head and then answer it,” Raina said in her ear. “Now I know that I wasn’t crazy, I was talking to you.”

  Mya hugged Raina even tighter after her statement. “I would often imagine that I had a sister to talk to after years of being alone and having no one to rely on but myself,” Mya admitted. “Now I realize what was happening.”