by Lucy Leroux
“Baby, you’re going to have to start talking to me sometime. Are you mad at me? Did I do something to upset you? Just tell me what it is,” he said.
Maia’s brows lifted at that, but she didn’t reply.
“What? What aren’t you telling me?” Calen asked. “Did something else happen?”
“No. All I want is to take a shower and go to bed.”
He ran a hand roughly through his hair. “Look, I’m sorry that woman bothered you. You know that I would give anything to keep things like that from happening.”
Maia sighed and looked down. “That’s fine to say, but what can you actually do about it? You have a past. A rather extensive one when it comes to other women. What am I supposed to do about it? Other than not go to your clubs anymore, which I don’t intend on doing again.”
Calen frowned, but since Maia wasn’t looking at him, she missed it. “I don’t want you to avoid my clubs for the rest of your life. I know it was pretty shitty for you tonight. All I can say is that these uncomfortable situations will pass the longer we are together. Soon people won’t remember me without you.”
Maia seemed to wilt before his eyes. “You didn't see how everyone was looking at me. And really, how can I expect anyone to take us seriously when we don’t have a normal relationship? When we don’t even have a real marriage?”
Calen froze, his heart sinking in his chest. “What did you say?”
Maia stayed quiet, eyes downcast.
“What did you say?” he yelled.
Maia started in surprise, eyes huge. He didn’t blame her for being scared. His sudden fury had shocked even him. And he had never raised his voice to her.
She wouldn’t look at him. “I said we don’t have a real marriage,” she whispered, her eyes on the floor.
Calen felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. “Is that how you really feel?”
Maia’s voice was small but steady, “How else am I supposed to feel? I know I’m lucky that by some quirk you find me attractive, but you wouldn’t have ever married me under normal circumstances. And when one of these women tries to call me out for being with you, what can I say or do to defend myself when we should never have happened in the first place?”
Calen took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Maia was explaining her insecurities to him, and he owed it to her to listen with the same level of seriousness.
He honestly hadn’t known how insecure she was about their relationship. Not even showing her his collection had convinced her that he couldn’t have been happier to have her in his life. He should have realized it wasn’t going to be that simple.
“I don’t ever want to hear this kind of bullshit from you ever again. You are my wife, the only woman I want.”
“For how long?” Maia said, sitting down heavily on the couch.
She looked so dejected.
“Forever,” he said.
Maia looked at him uncertainly. “I want to believe you. It’s just...” She shook her head.
“Shit,” he muttered quietly, making Maia frown at him. He sighed. “I wasn’t going to do this,” he said rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “Come with me,” he said, extending his hand.
When she didn’t move he grabbed her hand and marched her to his office. He led her to his desk.
“Calen, I’ve seen your collection,” she told him.
He ignored her and opened his laptop. He closed some windows and sat down at his desk chair, pulling her into his lap. A picture of them on their wedding day was his desktop picture, but he didn’t call attention to the image. Instead, he opened a folder labeled ‘The_Fairy_Sept_SirenSF’.
He clicked open some pictures, and Maia saw herself. It was the night she went to Siren with her friend Tahlia. Calen opened a movie file, which showed his fairy amongst the crowd at Tahlia’s table. It was grainy and short, no more than a minute, but once it was over, it restarted on a loop.
Maia twisted in his lap so she could see his face. “I don’t understand. Why did you go back to find the security footage of me from back then?”
Calen stroked her hair and ran his hand down her back.
“I had Mike get this for me the day after you went to Siren the first time.”
Maia made a face. “What? What do you mean?”
He tugged on a lock of her hair. “When I saw you at that warehouse, in the Russian’s hands, I’d already been looking for you for weeks.”
Her brow wrinkled. “You were what?”
Calen let out a frustrated breath. “I saw you that night. You passed by me in the hallway. It was dark and you didn’t see me. But I saw you. It was crazy. Like those scenes in movies. Everything slowed down and you floated past me. It was only for a few seconds. I thought you weren’t real,” he said laughing a little. “In that light you were...unearthly. I followed you but lost you in the crowd in the next room. So I went to my office and located you on the security feeds, but when I went back down, you and your party were gone.” He leaned back in the chair and tweaked her hair again.
“I looked for you in the nights after, too. Mike thought I was crazy. I would spend hours poring over security footage. Eventually, he realized I was looking for a specific girl. Imagine my shock when we saw you again.”
Maia’s mouth was open. Then she smiled and said, “No way. I don’t believe you.”
“Do you want to call Mike right now? He’ll tell you.”
Maia studied him in silence, her cute little face thoughtful. “If this is true, why didn’t you mention it before? Like when you showed me your collection?”
Calen passed a hand over her waist and down her leg. He closed the computer and pushed it aside before picking up his wife and setting her on the desk in front of him.
“I didn’t want you to think you were at the mercy of some psycho stalker,” he said eventually, his hands running up and down her body freely now.
Maia glanced at his hands, which were undressing her now. When he went for her panties, she stopped him, looking at him earnestly.
“Do you think it was fate?” she whispered, her big, teal-colored eyes trained on him.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t care. I’m just glad I found you.”
She put her hands on his, and she slowly guided him under her skirt. He worked her panties off in record time and she started to unbutton his shirt. But he was faster than she was. Before Maia was done with his shirt he had unfastened his pants and pushed them down with his boxers.
With hot hungry hands he hauled her to him, pulling her legs open roughly and stepping between them. He took a fistful of her hair and used it to tug her gently toward him before taking her lips in a hard kiss designed to scramble her senses. Instead, it served to sharpen his own hunger.
He reached between Maia’s legs to stroke her until she was wet enough to take him. As soon as she was ready, he grabbed her hips and pulled her toward him. He plunged his cock into her a little roughly, and she cried out—but not in pain.
Pushed hard by his hunger, he stroked into her harder than he ever had before. She moaned in response, opening her legs a little wider to give him better access. The heat between them rose quickly, burning hotter and faster with each stroke.
Maia put her mouth against the hollow of his neck, kissing and sucking like mad. Feverishly, she tasted his sweat, not noticing that she was scratching him, marking his skin as they rocked together.
A few more thrusts, and Maia tightened like a bowstring around him, her nails digging in hard as she climaxed with a loud moan. She held him tight until eventually her body went lax around him.
He kissed her again, her hands passing over the little crescents she had made on his sides. Calen ignored the scratches as he gathered her closer, wrapping his hands around her hot little ass cheeks as he held her against him.
“Wrap your legs around me, nymph,” he ordered.
Maia was weak, but she immediately complied. He lifted her clear off the desk, spinning around until
her back met the bookcase behind them. She was so petite, it was easy to hold her against him as he ground into her, intentionally rocking their bodies against the prized volumes of his collection.
He lifted Maia, holding her helplessly against him as he worked her up and down his cock.
“Calen,” she whispered plaintively, her hand moving over his heart.
Did she believe in them now?
“You feel so good baby, so hot and soft,” he murmured as he pinned her to the bookcase, fucking her hard and fast.
Maia responded by clenching her inner muscles tight around him.
“Shit,” he breathed, shoving against her as he worked a hand higher against her ass.
He probed her little rosette with his hand, teasing and pushing. She tensed against him, and he soothed her with an inarticulate sound as he pushed past the tight ring of muscle. The dual stimulation proved to be too much. Maia clamped down on him, holding his cock tightly.
“Come with me, Calen,” she gasped.
It was more than enough to send him over the edge. He gripped her bottom hard, pumping into her twice more before his cock jerked and he exploded. His hot seed spilled inside her as she milked him through each excruciating pulse.
“Shit!” he swore as the last spasms racked his body.
With the last of his strength, he turned back around and deposited Maia lightly onto the desk’s mahogany surface. Out of breath, she collapsed on it. He dropped down into his desk chair and pulled it closer to her.
He rested his head on Maia’s stomach and reached out to cover her racing heart with his hand.
They stayed like that for a long time. He turned to look at her, pleased to see he wasn’t the only one having trouble catching their breath. He ran his fingers up and down her chest, tracing her collarbone.
“I love you, Maia.”
Maia sucked in a breath and tried to sit up, but he stopped her, holding her down with his hand.
“Are you sure?” she asked him worriedly.
He laughed. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“I—” she began, but he cut her off by covering her mouth.
“No,” he said decisively. “Not yet. Not till you’re sure.”
Maia made a muffled ‘I’m sure’ sound, but he shook his head.
“I need you to be certain. One hundred percent and then some,” he said seriously.
If she said she loved him right now, it might be because he’d prompted her or she felt obligated to say it back.
Maia responded by biting him. He snatched his hand away, trying not to laugh. “I—I hope we made a baby,” she said.
He stroked her hair and looked into her amazing blue-green eyes for a long time.
It might not have been ‘I love you’, but it was pretty damn close.
“Me too,” he said, picking her up and carrying her to their bed.
Chapter 26
The weeks that followed were the happiest of Maia’s life. Calen had told her he loved her, and she knew she loved him, too. She had been afraid to admit it to herself before, but his confession had broken down the protective walls inside her heart.
Those walls had been there a long time, ever since her mother had died. It wasn’t only shyness that kept her from becoming close to others. She knew that now. Protecting herself from feeling that kind of loss again had become second nature. Her fear had held her back from making connections, friends, and more.
She wanted to tell Calen how she felt about him. It felt cowardly, keeping silent. The words were there, on the tip of her tongue, but every time she tried to get them out, she was swamped with uncertainty and panic.
I’ll just have to wait for the perfect moment, she decided. The words would come easily then. And maybe, if she was lucky, she would be able to tell him she was pregnant at the same time. That possibility was looking more likely every day.
Her period was over a week late. Calen had been out of town to check on his west coast clubs, so he hadn’t been around to notice. But she had always been regular before, and she was anxious to confirm her self-diagnosis. However, getting an appointment with her gynecologist before the Thanksgiving holiday proved impossible.
Maia contemplated going to the drugstore for a pregnancy test, but she couldn’t do it in front of Davis and Stephens. They might report the trip to Calen. And she didn’t want him to know yet. What if she was wrong?
How long would delivery take if she ordered one online? Too long. She needed to know before Calen came home tomorrow. The uncertainty was starting to drive her to distraction. Not to mention the fact Calen served wine with every meal. It would be suspicious if she suddenly started turning it down. He would definitely notice. And if this was a false alarm, she would have gotten his hopes up for nothing.
The lab was almost empty, so she couldn’t ask a friend to go and get her a test. Not that there was one she would have trusted with something like that. Well, there was Tahlia, but she wasn’t answering her texts again.
Maybe if I ask Davis very, very nicely he would run to the drugstore and get a test for me, Maia thought as she grabbed the samples she needed to prepare for the DNA sequencer. Davis would be discreet if she swore him to secrecy. She’d have to wait to get him alone because Stephens would squeal like a little girl.
Her husband was due back tomorrow, so if she was going ask, she had to do it now. Removing her latex gloves, she texted Davis and asked him to come into her office. Except for Wes and Chang, the lab’s office was deserted. Everyone else had left early for the holiday.
When Davis came in, Maia made her request. She was blushing madly, but she didn’t stammer. “Davis can you go to the drugstore for me? I need a pregnancy test. Please don’t mention it to Calen. I could be wrong, and I don’t want to get his hopes up.”
The big man broke out into a big grin. “Okay, but I’ll need to move Stephens inside while I’m out getting the test. He can watch without getting in the way with only Wes here.”
“Oh, did Chang leave? I wanted to say goodbye before he left.”
“He’s joining you for Thanksgiving dinner at the Caislean tomorrow,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, but he wanted to find out what he should bring. I think the hotel’s chef is preparing all the food, but he wanted bring chocolates or flowers. I was supposed to text Maggie to ask which would be preferable,” Maia said, pursing her lips.
With all of the work she was doing, she’d forgotten.
“I’ll have Stephens do that for you,” Davis said, “You look busy,” he added, looking at the many samples in front of her.
Maia nodded ruefully, slipping on her lab coat. “Thanks. I think I’m going to be here late enough as it is.”
Once he was gone, she carried her samples to the little room that housed the DNA sequencer and got to work. She spent most of the next hour preparing and loading her samples, finishing a little later than she’d intended. It was dark outside as she made her way back to the lab with her leftover materials.
With any luck Davis had completed his errand and she could take a pregnancy test as soon as she arrived home.
****
Maia stepped through the empty corridors, happy she was finally done. The DNA sequencer had been booked solid in the last week, but with everyone leaving for the holiday early, a timeslot had finally opened up, and she’d finally been able to process her samples.
She turned the corner, her sneakers silent on the tiles, and almost screamed her head off.
Lying in the middle of the hallway was an unconscious Stephens, blood all over his chest and stomach.
Maia turned and ran blindly back the way she came. In the distance, doors slammed, and she ducked around the corner, catching a glimpse of a large tattooed man as he ran out of a door down the hall. She couldn’t be sure, but the ink on his arms resembled what she’d seen on the men in the woods. Cyrillic tattoos.
Shit, Shit, Shit.
Peeking around the corner, she saw the stranger hovering over Stephens. E
dging away from the corner as quietly as possible, she ducked into a door that led to an empty lab. The professor it used to belong to hadn’t gotten tenure, and the entire staff had moved to a lab in the Midwest. The space was currently being used for storage.
For a second, she contemplated locking both doors to the room, but the Russians could easily shoot through them if they suspected she was in there. The frosted glass windows in the doors were opaque, but they might still be able to make out her shadow. Putting down the rack of tubes she was holding in a death grip, she slipped out of her white lab coat and shoved it into an empty cabinet. Crouching low, she made her way to the far door.
Praying silently, Maia opened the door as quietly as she could. There was no one in sight. Holding her breath, she went for the basement door in a quick crawl. If she was lucky, there were only one or two assassins looking for her. There was a chance she could escape to the neighboring BioLabs building using the connecting tunnel.
She crept down the stairs, unsure if she could even hear the Russians over the pounding of her heart. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she listened intently, but there were no sounds of pursuit. Staying in the dark, she headed for the connecting tunnel.
She had almost reached it when she heard a crashing noise in the distance ahead of her. Almost tripping, she dived for cover as another Russian, a tall thick one, came out of the BioLabs tunnel.
Oh god, please don’t let them have started searching in the wrong building. If they had, there was no telling how many people they might have shot in the process. The BioLabs was a much bigger building, and there would have been a lot more people there, even the day before thanksgiving.
Crouching behind a liquid nitrogen tank, Maia held her breath as the man walked past her. He had reached the stairs when the door above opened. One of the Russians from the woods, the fat one Calen had told her was called Timur, called down from the top. His harsh words were completely unintelligible, but they sent a cold chill down her spine.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she started to shiver uncontrollably. Holding a hand to her mouth to stifle any sound, she cowered in the corner as the larger Russian replied to whatever Timur had said. Then he turned and walked back the way he had come. At the top of the stairs, Timur disappeared, shutting the door behind him.
