Second Chances (Athena Group Novel Book 1)

by C. W. Stokes

  “I need to go back in, goodnight. I’m sorry for knocking you on your ass.” He took her hand, and warmth shot straight to the middle of her core. She pulled away leaving him staring after her.

  Walking into the house the lights immediately came on in the living room. She knew he was still standing there watching her as she went into the kitchen to fix something to eat. She hadn’t eaten since noon, and her stomach was fussing at her. She looked in the fridge for the fruit that they had bought at the market earlier. Taking a few pieces of kiwi, bananas and sliced cheese, she placed them on a plate, grabbed a bottle of water and went upstairs to settle in. She pulled a book out of the suitcase and lay down on the bed to read. Losing concentration after a few pages her mind began to wonder back to the beach. She was so surprised to see him here, but so happy at the same time. Casting the book aside, she stood to look out over the ocean. She couldn’t forget the feel of him beneath her as she straddled his chest. The warmth from his abdomen had singed a path up her thighs and straight to the center between her legs.

  Thoughts of him invaded her mind. The way he had looked at her, made her body tingle and immediately her body responded as if nothing had changed. It had been a long time since she had been in any kind of relationship and the slow burn that began earlier in the afternoon now turned into a raging fire.

  After Eddie, she had pushed herself into her work and training. Then there was the matter of Amanda. She had raised Amanda on her own from the time she had caught her ex with his secretary. Which left no time for dating, but Max had reminded her of what she had been missing. She missed having strong arms to hold her and not just any arms either. She missed his arms. He was the reason she wasn't a casual person.

  Touching her fingers to her lips, she kept thinking about his mouth and remembered what it tasted like. She could almost feel them on her lips when she closed her eyes. No, she had to get him out of her mind. A shower was in order to relieve some of the tension in her body and then maybe she could get some sleep. Oh it was going to be a long night.

  ###

  Max walked into his house and tried to figure out what had just happened. Sitting on the couch, he tried to catch his breath. He had never wanted a woman with the intensity he had for Shelby. He had felt her heat against his abdomen when she was straddling him and body had flushed with desire. Her hair falling down around her face had made his hands itch to wrap his hands in it and pull her in for a kiss. His pants were becoming more and more uncomfortable thinking about how she felt. He had to find out what she was doing here.

  Chapter Three

  Liz looked across the desk at John and just smirked. “John, you know that I will not take on an assignment from the bureau without everyone’s input. What is it that you want me to do?”

  “I came here hoping that you would help us.”

  “Shelby is on vacation with her family. A long overdue one at that and I won’t interrupt it to ask her what her thoughts are on this assignment. When she gets back, we will discuss whether or not we will help.” She dismissed him with that.

  “Liz, why do you close out the world, especially me?”

  She wasn’t going to have this conversation. Liz cocked her eyebrow at him. “John, why would I open myself up to you or anyone in the bureau? You know how I feel about the entire system.”

  Before he could say anything, she raised her hand in a stop position. “You came to me because you have to follow the rules and play by the book and I don’t. Is that it? Don’t want to get your hands dirty?” She was mocking him.

  “I came to you because I thought; we were friends!” He demanded as his hands curled into a fist on his knee.

  She saw the frustration in his body. They had known each other for many years, but she knew that he thought her to be a cold woman and that people in the bureau called her the Ice Queen. She wasn't easily intimidated, and she was highly protective of her girls. She paid a high price to be who she was and she didn’t care what others said or thought about her.

  John got up and walked to the door and turned to Liz. She never took her eyes off of him as she sat there with her arms crossed looking superior to anyone else. He walked out of her office. He had no choice but to wait.

  ###

  Shelby awoke to the sounds of Amanda talking in her sleep. She watched as her daughter lay there sleeping so peacefully. It had not been too long ago that she was just a little girl. She was growing up so fast and becoming her own independently strong young lady. What was she going to do about Max? She had to keep them apart as it wouldn’t take long for him to figure out who her father was. She got up leaving her to sleep. Breathing in the morning breeze as she walked outside and looked at the house next door she was slightly disappointed when she didn’t see him. The remnants of the encounter from last night were still flowing through her.

  She took a quick shower; towel dried her hair as she got dressed. Trying to slip on her flip flops, she tripped over her feet. “Slow down Shelby”. She looked over at Amanda to make sure she was still asleep. She could smell coffee brewing in the kitchen mixed with smells of bacon and biscuits. Her stomach growled fussing at her for not eating the previous night. Putting her hair up as she walked down the stairs grabbing a biscuit and walked out onto the beach to see the sun rising over the ocean. As she finished her small breakfast, she looked out over the water.

  She kicked her flip flops off as she walked down to the water line of the shore watching the tide rolled out. Her toes began to sink into the wet sand as the waves slowly rolled across her feet. The soft sand worked as a natural pedicure on her toes as she wiggled them. The sand swirled around her feet as the waves brought in small remnants of shells with each wave that rolled in. Mesmerized by the little fragments that tumbled in she was curious as to where they came from. She bent down and picked up a few shells when she came across an unusual find; a Murex shell. It was amazing she was able to find one that was completely intact. The Murex shell was rarely found on the beach. Most shell hunters only found them in local gift shops after they had been colored and polished. The shells could come from any vast part of the ocean.

  She heard splashing and looked up just in time to see Max running towards her. Holy mother of all that is hot! She almost dropped her shell but held onto it for dear life. She watched as he came towards her jogging in a pair of running shorts, tennis shoes and a six pack that just begged to be touched. Oh, Happy Trails! He was sweating from his run and boy was he hot! She had him between her legs just last night. Damn! She wanted to back track and feel those ripples between her legs again. She couldn’t help herself, but she could only stare at him as he moved forward. Her mouth went dry as he approached and her blood began to move rapidly in tune to each step he took. Her happy parts were cursing her as he moved closer.

  He stopped “Good Morning, scavenging the shores for seashells, I see.” He noticed the death grip she had on the shell.

  It took her a moment to realize he was speaking to her. “Good Morning, you are up awfully early.” Oh great she sounded breathless.

  “Yep, I may be on sabbatical, but I still try to get my run in each day. It’s a lot more enjoyable on the beach when no one is around.”

  “Ah, yes, I remember how much you like to run.” She couldn’t help it. Immediately she saw the shift in his demeanor. “So? A sabbatical? From what?”

  “I’m just here taking some time off from work for a bit.”

  “I see. What do you need to escape from this time?”

  “I tell you what; tell me where you learned to maneuver like that and I’ll tell you my reasons.”

  Her eyes widened, and she was speechless for a minute. “Sorry I don’t think so.”

  “Hmmm, a mystery; I do love a mystery. Just remember I know what lies beneath that surface.” He winked at her.

  She couldn’t help but giggle with that. “Really? You’re flirting Mr. Taylor.” She smirked. When she covered her mouth to keep from a full blown laugh coming out, the shell d
ecided at that particular moment to throw up on her. Salt water rushed out of the shell and into her face and down her shirt. Sputtering she tried to get the taste of the salty sea out of her mouth.

  He tweaked her nose, “See what happens when you laugh at someone Shelby?” His eyes had darkened when he looked at her as she swallowed. “There are consequences to laughing at someone.” He ran his finger along her jaw.

  Her chin tipped up and she looked him square in those beautiful blue eyes and said, “Max Taylor, I’m not scared of you.”

  He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Are you sure? Maybe you should be?” He licked the side of her ear and then pushed passed her and continued on with his run.

  She stared after him as her hand began to ache from squeezing the shell so tight the spines were beginning to bite into her hand. Oh she was in serious trouble here.

  She was here on vacation with Amanda. She couldn’t help but look down the beach in the direction he ran and wonder. She had taken him down yesterday, and today he taunted her. Oh it was on. Maybe just once she could best him at his own game.

  Caught off guard, Amanda ran up and flung her arms around her neck. “Good Morning Mom!” Backing up a little. “What happened to your shirt?”

  Glancing down at the remnants of her run in with a snarky shell her shirt was drenched with sand slowly seeping it’s way between her cleavage. Talk about sand in all the wrong places. Pulling her shirt to shaking some of the sand off. “I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.”

  Amanda laughed, “I’m so glad you decided to come on this trip.”

  She wrapped her arms around Amanda, making sure she got her nice clean shirt just as dirty planted a kiss on her forehead. “Me too, Manda, me too. Are you ready to go exploring?” She looked one last time in the direction Max had run and her ear still tingled from the lick of his tongue.

  “You bet!” She exclaimed.

  Shelby couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter when she was like this. She was so enthusiastic and clearly having a wonderful time.

  “What time is Pedro coming to pick us up?” she asked.

  Pedro was local to Progresso and worked part time as a tour guide for passengers of the cruise ships that would come into the port for the day. He had offered to take everyone out exploring to show them some of the local Mayan ruins and other Mayan secrets. Pedro and his wife Anita were the caretakers for the house. They didn’t live in the house, but would stop by the house daily to make sure that everything was secure when the house wasn't occupied. Liz had bought the house several years ago as a place to escape to when anyone wanted to get away. Liz was generous with the members of her group. She made sure that they as well as their families were taken care of. She was a proponent of family first with all members.

  “He should be here anytime.” Amanda said as they walked into the house.

  ###

  Max walked in, picking up a towel to wipe the sweat off of his brow, he picked up the phone. John picked up on the third ring.

  “Hey Max, I was beginning to wonder about you.”

  “Hey John, how are things going?”

  “How are they going? You tell me?”

  “I’m dealing with it” What was he supposed to say? “It’s interesting to say the least. I met the neighbors next door. The other night I saw one of them out on the beach and went out to talk to her, she took me down right there on the beach in one swift motion. She caught me totally unaware and had me flat on my back. I haven’t seen a maneuver like that since military training.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Shelby Matthews, she’s here with her daughter.”

  “What does she look like?”

  What does she look like? Was he kidding? She looked like the dream that had haunted him for seventeen years. “Why?”

  “You remember when I told you we were going to ask for TAG’s help and they put a roadblock in the way by letting one of their members leave the country?”

  “Yeah, you mentioned it last week.”

  “Shelby Matthews is that member. Liz told me she had gone on vacation, but didn’t tell me where. She is a stubborn and hard woman. She was going to make me wait until Shelby came back before they would give me an answer on helping.” John told him.

  “Do you have any idea how long she will be there?”

  “She hasn’t said. John I know where this is going!”

  “We need her back in the US now. TAG has been putting us off until she is back to decide whether or not they are going to help the bureau.”

  “Look I understand the predicament that the bureau is in, but you know why I left.” He certainly couldn’t tell John about his past with Shelby either.

  “I do know why you left, but I also know that you are the best at what you do. You are the best handler the bureau has, and this is a situation that I would sign to you as a top priority. Max you need to talk to her and persuade her to help. TAG will go along if she is on board.”

  “John, I don’t know about this.” He was in serious trouble if he had to actively pursue her and working with her was going to be pushing the limits of his control.

  “Max, their biggest client, Roger Hawk, is whom we believe is responsible for Kim Le’s death.” He couldn’t control the intake of breath at the mention of Le’s name.

  “You aren’t serious?” He hesitated. “Let me call you back.” Not waiting for John to answer, he hung up the phone and walked to the window. He watched as the occupants next door were packing a van for their day trip. It looked like he was about to take a trip.

  Chapter Four

  A short time later they were packed and on their way. It was a two hour drive to their destination. As they drove down the road towards the Mayan ruins, she was able to take in the scenery. She realized as they drove that this part of the Yucatan was still pretty primitive. It was untouched by the tourists of the world. The houses around were made of stucco but had no windows and as you passed by you could see into the small dwellings. From what she could see they were bare. Most of the native residents didn’t need a whole lot of furnishing because hey slept in hammocks at night.

  They passed through several small towns driving down the 180 road. The foliage was getting denser the further they went. There were lemon and lime trees along with a strange looking cactus. It had some kind of fruit she had seen previously in the market, but she didn’t know what it was.

  “Pedro.” She called up.

  “Senora?” He answered.

  “What is the cactus that we keep passing with fruit on it?” she asked.

  “That is a Hylocereus Cacti. It produces the Pitaya fruit and some call it Dragon Fruit.” he said.

  “What is it used for?” she asked.

  “It can be used in drinks, but you can eat the raw flesh of the fruit. It is a little sweet, but filled with a lot of seeds that can be hard to digest if not eaten properly.” He told her.

  “Mom, let’s get one the next time we see one in the market. We both wondered what they were.” Amanda said.

  “Alright we can do that. I must say that my curiosity is getting the better of me.” She smiled at her daughter. Pedro began to slow when she glanced up and noticed something across the road.

  “Oh my god. Is that what I think it is?” Steven asked.

  “Si, they are common around here. It’s nothing to find them across the road. If you don’t slow down to go around them they can cause your car to go off the road if you try to drive over them,” Pedro told them.

  “What kind of snake is it?” Amanda asked.

  “It is a Boa.” Pedro said.

  Shelby watched as they passed by the snake. It had a huge bulge making her wonder if it had just had dinner. It was huge and was disconcerting to think that they were in their habitat. It’s different when you see them in the zoo behind a thick pain of glass, but out here where they were able to roam free was another thing.

  After two hours of driving they arrived at the gates o
f Chitzen Itza mid-morning. The entrance to the Mayan ruins contained several shops and a small museum they explored while waiting for Pedro to get all of their passes. Shelby watched as visitors poured in from all around and noticed there seemed to be quite a few groups coming in from Cancun. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw Max get off the bus, but that couldn’t be. These buses were from the opposite direction of Progresso.

  Amanda tugged on her arm. “You ready mom?” she asked.

  “Sure, let’s go.” She smiled at her glancing back around looking for the mysterious man that got off the bus, but was nowhere to be seen. Amanda wrapped her visitors' band around her wrist and pulled her through the entrance.

  The minute she walked through the entrance she was transported back in time. The ancient Mayans had built Chitzen Itza around 1200 AD. The main center point of the ruins were the El Castillo temple which reflects the Mayan calendar. It was built to serve the god Kukulkan and was used for astronomical purposes. It represented the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Shelby listened as Pedro explained that on those days at 3:00PM the sun would shine down on the western balustrade and main stairway to the entrance casting a shadow down the stairs that would give an appearance of a serpent descending.

  She watched as another group of tourists came up from the right to listen to their guides' history of the temple. She couldn’t help herself, by scanning the group for a familiar face. She felt a twinge of disappointment when she didn’t see him. Just as she was about to turn back to follow Pedro to the ball court, she saw him looking right at her. She wasn’t fast enough to disguise her shock of surprise. Quickly she turned and caught up with her group as they were entering the ball court.

  The ball court had a long narrow field with stone walls on each side with a stone hoop that extended vertically from the center on each side seven meters in the air. At the end of the court were additional stone walls.