She could just hear the lecture Max would give her. What were you thinking, Tonya? Haven’t you learned anything over the years? Damn, girl, what am I going to do with you? Yeah, those would be the questions in the first thirty seconds of her introductions.
“He’ll be gone when you wake up and everything will go back to normal—again,” she whispered in the dark.
Yet, deep down, she had known after her return that her life would never be normal—not like it was before. She knew about things that people only believed existed in books or in movies, and now she had a sexy Pirate in the bedroom next to her.
She rolled onto her back and pulled the pillow next to her over her face to smother her groan of frustration before she tossed it to the side and stared up at the ceiling.
“Max always warned me that one day my curiosity would get me in a whole heap of trouble that he wouldn’t be able to get me out of,” she whispered. “It looks like that day has come.”
Ashure silently walked back down the hall from the kitchen to the bedroom that Tonya had shown him. He smoothed the Thunderbird feather on his hat, enjoying the tingling electricity coming from the fine plumage. It wasn’t the same one that he had stolen all those years ago. This one was a gift. Nali had given him the feather to replace the one he lost while crossing the Field of Fire.
He placed the hat on top of the dresser and removed his coat. Opening a door, he discovered that it was a closet. He hung his coat up next to the clothes hanging inside. He suspected from the size and colors that they belonged to Mike. A clear bag covered a military uniform.
Stepping back, he closed the door and turned around to survey the room. It was small, about a quarter of the size of his cabin on the Sea Wasp. The furniture was simple but pleasant and made from a sturdy timber. There was a bed with a nightstand on each side, a chair in the corner, a tall dresser, and a small desk. A painting depicting the beach hung over the bed. The bed faced a set of wide windows that looked out over the dunes.
He walked over to the window and stared out as he unbuttoned his shirt. His mind was not on the scenery outside, however, it was on the woman in the other room. She was everything that he had dreamed of and completely different from what he was used to.
He touched his bruised cheek and whispered a healing spell given to him a long time ago in exchange for a trinket. The damaged skin tingled under his fingers as it healed. He dropped his hand to his groin, and with a grimace, repeated the spell—for good measure.
“It would appear my true love should have come with a warning label,” he murmured.
He wasn’t sure what had triggered the portal to open. He had been holding the mirror and sort of made a wish without really making one. If the mirror was responsible for bringing him here, it was definitely a first. The looking glass had never done more than show him an image. There had never been anything to make him believe the artifact had the power to create a portal. Still, the fact that he was here was a testament that some powerful magic had been activated.
“Tonya,” he murmured.
Her name rolled off his tongue. She had haunted his days and nights from the moment the mirror first revealed her face to him. Now he was standing just a few feet from her.
He stiffened when he realized another surprising fact—the voices inside him were quiet for the first time in centuries. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and focused on the souls that he restrained. They were still there, in the shadows, but calm—as if they had finally accepted their fate. He opened his eyes and stared at his reflection in the window.
“I don’t know what this adventure will bring, my beautiful Tonya, but one thing is for sure—you are destined to be mine,” he vowed.
4
The familiar ringtone of ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ woke Tonya the next morning. She groaned as she reached out, patting the nightstand for the irritatingly happy wake-up call that she wasn’t expecting. Lifting her head, she shot a blurry-eyed glare at the clock next to the bed and swiped her finger across the smooth surface of her phone.
“Six forty-five? Really, Max? Hasn’t Angela taught you that some people cannot function at this time of the morning?” she growled into the phone.
“I’m currently looking inside your ear, Tonya,” Max chuckled.
Tonya groaned and rolled over. She held the phone at arm's length. “Are you completely nuts? You FaceTime me this early in the morning again and you might get more than the inside of my ear,” she snapped.
Max laughed. “You never were much of a morning person. I notice that hasn’t changed,” he said.
“Is everything alright?” she mumbled.
“I was scrolling through the missing persons’ reports, and imagine my shock when your name popped up,” he said.
She bit back a curse, and drew in a deep breath instead, completely forgetting that he could see everything that she was doing until she looked up at the screen and noticed his raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, about that—I was going to tell you,” she began.
“But…” he added when she didn’t elaborate.
She opened her mouth to tell him a lie before she clamped her lips together. She couldn’t lie to Max—about anything. They had made a deal a long time ago. No matter how bad something might be, they would always be honest with each other.
“This is something I have to tell you in person,” she softly confessed.
The amusement disappeared from Max’s face. “When can you come home?” he immediately demanded.
“Things are a little complicated at the moment, Max,” she replied.
“Don’t give me that, Tonya. You either come home, or I’ll be coming to wherever you are,” he warned.
She shook her head and groaned. “I’ll come see you this coming weekend,” she promised.
“You’d better. I love you. Oh, Angela says she loves you, too, Snoop,” he said.
“I know, Max. Hugs to you both—and MJ and Squealer. I forgot to ask how they’re doing,” she muttered around a muffled yawn.
“Angela is fine. She’s in San Francisco at a conference. She’ll be home later tonight. I spoke to her a few minutes before calling you. I know where you get your morning disposition, by the way, and it isn’t from me. MJ is doing well for a pre-teen. He’s in Jazz band and isn’t half bad if you ask me. The kid loves the drums. Angie is going to kill you if she hears you are still calling her Squealer,” Max replied.
“She’ll get over it,” she said with a laugh.
“I’ll plan a cookout—if the weather is nice—otherwise, it will be spaghetti,” he said with a grimace.
She laughed again. “I love either one, you know that. See you this coming weekend if not sooner,” she replied.
“‘OK, ‘til then, Snoop,” Max said before he disconnected.
Tonya lowered the phone to her chest and stared up at the ceiling. She turned her head toward the door when she heard the water running on the other side of the wall. So much for hoping her unexpected visitor had disappeared.
Today was going to suck big time. What was she going to do with a Pirate from another world? She sat up as a thought suddenly occurred to her.