Chapter 67: 67__A fruity defence

Maia flipped back her long, wet tresses, the tips of the hair smacking the clear water around her waist.

With a content sigh, she massaged her clean scalp with mint oils, staring up at the pink sky.

Finally, alone.

This was perfect for the crazy experience she’d had a few days ago. Maia didn’t remember much, except that she’d escaped from the Zoar tribe. Somehow, she must have landed in that strange kingdom where she’d woken up. Whatever happened, Maia was pretty sure she’d almost died. Her aching body said so, and so did the raging war she’d woken up amidst.

Lowering herself, she sat on the big flat rock in the water, reaching for her beauty supplies on taller rocks at her side. There was so much peace around her. The sound of the gentle creek water, the birds tweeting happily around her and the forest just thriving.

This portal was the greatest gift Nana had ever left her. Even if they’d caught Maia recently, they hadn’t caught her in here. And Maia had no intention of ever leaving the portal again, so she figured they’d never catch her again. Whoever *they* were.

There was a slight ache in her chest and she clenched her jaw against it. It was her fault. She was stupid enough to have really believed they wouldn’t find her.

She should have escaped into the portal after Nana was killed, even if being here meant she was trapped for life. Nobody would ever manage to enter this place, neither would she ever be able to find a way out if no one came in.

And that was perfectly fine.

Maia sighed and reached for her jar of honey, smearing the warm sweetness over the skin of her face as she calmly applied her face mask. She would be okay in here, all alone.

If being out there meant there was another chance of her waking up in the middle of a war with various strangers clearly trying to get at her, Maia was fine here by herself. She shook her head in disbelief, licking up a bit of honey that trickled onto her lips.

It had been crazy. There had been a sort of buzzing in her head, a coldness in her blood as she’d stirred. That’s when she’d seen the chaos around her.

At least four different people took a swipe at her with their swords or aimed arrows at her, all of them stopped by some men in black.

Maia hadn’t known what was happening, but from the hungry look they’d been giving her, she’d figured there was a pretty big price on her head.

That had been enough for her to get out of there.

But then *he’d* appeared.

Maia’s hands paused on her skin.

Her mind filled with an image of him, very vaguely. She could barely remember what he looked like, but she knew he’d been awfully casual with her. Like he’d known her forever. She didn’t know the man, didn’t even feel the slightest familiarity about him.

But he knew her name.

Maia’s hands resumed their work. It didn’t matter. He was a stranger and Maia had been warned of strangers.

Tossing all thoughts of the man out of her head, she lay on top of a tall, flat rock, exposing her body to the sun with a delighted sigh. From above, it looked like she were floating, the supporting rock invisible from outside the water. Letting one arm hang into the warm water, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

This was nice. Peaceful.

Soon enough, there formed an image behind her closed lids. She saw a pair of swirling, black eyes. They stared at her, changing, filling with different emotions.

Anger, mirth and disinterest.

They slowly blinked and when they opened again, their dark depths were light with joy and fondness. It was a look of tenderness, like how you’d look at the person you would do anything for. They were fascinating eyes, Maia thought vaguely. Beautiful.

Suddenly, those eyes darkened, the dark gold-lashed eyelids drooping as the dark pit of the irises filled with strong need and desire, seducing her to no end.

Her skin tingled at that look and Maia’s eyes fluttered open. She stared at the sky.

What was that?

A single tilt of her head told her that all the honey on her face had melted, dripping to her neck. Maia quickly sat up, squinting at the brilliantly shining water. She must have dozed off for a moment.

Shaking off the weird dream, she lowered herself into the clear water, rinsing off and swimming over to where she’d left her basket.

Only moments later, she was back at her house. The step-boards creaked slightly as she went onto the porch to enter the house.

It would take her a while to get used to the silence of the portal once more. She heard nature, but as far as people went, she was always alo—”

The porch stairs creaked.

Maia froze, her hand on the door handle.

The hairs all along her arms stood on end as she realized, without a doubt, that there was something… *someone* standing behind her.

******************

Rogan had been sitting, all charged with confrontational energy, across her house when she’d come up the path from the creek.

That energy had all gone out the window when he saw her. The sight of her had gotten his throat dryer than one of Claudia’s scones.

His eyes immediately scanned her from head to toe. He slowly nodded. She was perfectly fine, recovering well. Not a single scratch on her, from what he could see. His chest deflated with relief.

Damn the little forest rabbit, worrying him! Like he didn’t have enough to stress about with Cassius on his ass, begging him to take the throne, now she had to have gone and gotten damn amnesia of all things?!

Rogan scoffed. She hadn’t seen him, walking along on her short legs as she approached her front porch. A smile curved his mouth as he watched her.

Her damp curls bounced around her back, a nearly bare back because she was back in one of those Pocahontas outfits of her. The damn things took away his ability to reason.

That was why, knowing very well that, if she turned around with an arrow, he was toast, he’d leapt up and marched after her the moment she’d gotten to her door.

Sitting patiently like a good boy had nearly killed him. He’d known she’d been bathing, so he’d failed to approach her.

She no longer knew him, Rogan had to remember that. A strange man appearing while she was naked in the creek would surely have terrified her. So he’d held back.

And let himself get tortured by thoughts of what they’d done in that creek last time he’d been here.

The skirt of her outfit wasn’t too unlike the one he’d first seen her in, but it was far cleaner, with an actual design to it. It left most of her legs bare and, sweet mercy, the shape of her a—

A whole banana slapped him in the face.

Blinking, Rogan raised an outraged look at Maia who whipped around, another banana held in her hand like a pistol.

“Really?” he asked, holding his banana-stricken cheek.

“Who the hell are you?” she asked, her eyes wide. “How did you get in here?!”

“Through the door, how else?”

Maia’s face was covered in distrust. “What? What door? Who are you?!”

He gave her a nice smile. “The door I made to enter your portal. I am the Sorcerer… who made a door into your portal.”

Her eyes were ablaze. “Leave! Or I will defend myself and you may die.”

Rogan sighed and stepped onto the porch. “Maia—”

A banana slapped him in the face.

“Stay back!”

With his eyes closed, Rogan touched a hand to his nose, the tip aching from the banana that had just nearly demolished its foundations.

When he opened his eyes again, there was another banana in her hand, the supply basket hanging on her arm as her free hand crept for the door handle.

Rogan sighed. It was a good thing bananas couldn’t kill him, now that he was no longer under the protection of the curse. If she got into that house and reached her weapons, however, that would be a different story. Maia was a markswoman and his heart was an easy target.

With a challenge-accepting nod, he marched on.

He saw the exact moment her eyes widened with panic at his advancing and that was when the avalanche of fruits came.

Her hands were so fast, they were blurry, reaching into her basket and sending fruits flying.

Ripe bananas, berries, peaches and grapes came like bullets from a machine gun, turning Rogan’s hair into an ugly fruit salad.

She threw one final handful of pineapple slices at him, making a sound of distress when he dodged the fruit.

Before Maia could escape into the house, however, he’d reached her.

One moment, she was turning to flee to safety and the next, two strong arms had yanked her away from the door and cage her against it.

Maia meant to immediately fight him, but then there was a sharp surge of awareness that suddenly attacked her, tightening her muscles and sending her heart off wildly.

Her fingers instinctively gripped his arms, far too shocked at the reaction within her to realize what they were doing.

It was weird. It was more than awareness, it was a deep consciousness. It was like Maia’s soul recognized who her fingers were touching, whose eyes she was looking up into.

But it couldn’t possibly! Maia didn’t know him! He was awfully scary and she wanted him *out* of her portal!

Rogan had other ideas.

He watched specks of black swirl in her grey eyes and nearly smiled with delight. The part of him inside of her recognized him.

With that reassurance, he drew her harder against him, earning a small gasp from her parted lips.

His eyes glinted with pleasure at having her in his arms again. “Now, Maia… who said you were allowed to go and forget me?”