Goddess's Saga 1: Touch of the Goddess (21 page)

Everything she says is true, in a way, but I didn’t do anything wrong. I went to get something for her, and I can’t help if another woman throws herself over me.

The thought of someone else kissing
her
slowly penetrated his mind.

T
he very idea of those lips being near someone else’s face made his blood boil.

If she had been with someone else, he would kill
them.

He grabbed her again and spun her around, unable to contain the jealousy that welled up in him
.

“
What? Do you have someone else? Was that what you were doing in the bar?”

“
Why? Do you care? You’re the one who cheated on me, and for all I know you still have Olga, or a ton of other girls, tucked away in the ship.”

She narrowed her eyes,
“And what about the bar? Have you been spying on me?”

Fuck. I should have known she’d find a way to turn this back to me.

He wasn’t proud of the fact he’d paid for not just one but
three
women. Walking away from them hardly made up for it.

When he acted, it was more on instinct than a conscious decision.
He pulled her close and pressed his lips firmly against hers before she had time to object.

He expected her to
struggle.

He thought she would
at least bite him, or maybe turn him into an armadillo, or why not into a new hat. Then, he realized she kissed him back and he stopped thinking completely. Her warm body was all that existed, and her little moan of pleasure into the kiss urged him on.

I
t had only been a few days, but it felt like an eternity.

His hands were already tugging at her clothes, tearing unwanted fabric off her body, and he nibbled at her neck as he felt her working on his belt. She hoisted herself up, wrapped her legs around his waist and assumed he
’d be strong enough and willing to hold her. He was. Oh, how he was.

His hands found a
will of their own as they wandered over her body, down to that perfect, firm little butt.

Nothing else matter
ed anymore.

H
e lowered her down and pushed himself up, and it was even sweeter than he remembered. He wasn’t gentle at all, not this time. Too many dammed up emotions needed release.

A part of him wondered what he had become when he pushed her against the rock wall, pinned her there between the cold granite and his body, but another part of him that
could still reason knew it wasn’t about sex. It was about power, revenge, and reconciliation.

When he finished
, his legs were weak and unreliable. He took a step backwards and let himself fall down to his knees, still holding the precious woman in his arms. She leaned her head against his shoulder, relaxing. Her hair flowed freely over her back, reaching all the way down to her waist, and it felt like silk to his touch when he caressed it.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I know. I forgive you. I’m sorry too; I shouldn’t have left.”

They sat there in silence for a long time, enjoying being together again, and just like
that, the gulf between them had mended.

The lingering fever that stayed with him after leaving Beta IV was gone without a trace. He felt strong, awake, and alert.

He lifted a lock of her hair and smelled it, and the little stars above became brighter and even more beautiful.

I guess I’m on a Goddess high again. I wonder if she knows.

He pried a finger in under her cheek and made her lift her head so he could look into her eyes.

“
Will you come home with me? Please. It’s just not... it’s not right without you.”

“
I’d like that. But we have something to do first.”

Maria
looked at the pieces of her dress.

“It’s not the first one you’ve ripped to pieces, but you sure did a good job of it.”

“Sorry. I was in a hurry.”

She blinked and was suddenly fully
dressed with her hair piled up high. When she glanced around, Stephan was buttoning his shirt, looking at her, and she flashed him a smile.

Oh you are sexy. If you only knew how you make every other man appear a complete loser.

Once he had his clothes back on
, he stepped closer to her and rubbed her shoulders.

“Now will you tell me what the runes say?”

“Well, sure, but they have nothing to do with why we’re here. They’re telling a story about a hunt that took place a couple of thousand or so years ago. I think we’re meant to go through that door.”

The door was we
ll hidden, but definitely there. She saw it as soon as she set foot in the cavern, but he must have been too preoccupied.

I guess he loves me.

“You look so innocent and you are so vicious.”

“Who, me?” She tried
put up an innocent face, but it didn’t work too well.

He still kept his eyes on her and she stepped closer, resting h
er palms against his chest. “We’re okay, right?”

“Yes… But if you ever want to leave me again, do me a favour and just shoot me first.”

Is he serious?

She didn’t answer and he put his hands on top of hers.

“Let’s go check your door.”

It was made from the same rock as the cave wall, flat and without a handle, and it fit so snugly it would have been impossible to spot except for a copper plaque on the middle.

“That guy looks like he’s skiing.”

Maria touched his shoulder, lending him the ability to read the foreign language. She mumbled, “I hope all the trials were in actually getting to the map and that this will be easy.”

“Keepers of the map, please identify yourselves. How?”

He reached out for the door.

“I wonder if it’s really stone.”

His hand reached the surface and continued inside, as if the barrier wasn’t even there. “Whoa!”

The hand seemed to be cut off where it crossed the surface, and he pulled it back. It came out intact and he examined both sides of it, wriggling his fingers.

Maria grabbed him.

“Oh my goodness you scared me, are you okay? I thought it would pull you in.”

“I’m fine. It was cold, that’s it.”

She
reached out her hand to try too, but he grabbed her wrist.

“
Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“
No, but you did it, so I want to try too.”

“Babe…”

He’s afraid to lose me again. That’s so sweet.

“Stephan, have faith. It will be alright.”

“Faith?”

“Yes, faith. If you don’t believe in anything else, believe in me.”

He looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but released the grip on her arm.

Alright, here goes…

She put her palm against the door, and it disappeared. She pulled it back and frowned. Her palm was lined with frost.

“I have a theory.”

He didn’t answer; he took her hand and held it between his to warm it.

“
I think W took a reading of our energy-signatures, or maybe of your DNA and my aura, and this thing is programmed to let us pass. It might let
us
through, but send everyone else into space, or simply not open.”

“
So, you’re saying we should go through it? The other side could be anything. If there
is
another side. I forgot W. How could I forget him?”

“Maybe some things we’re not supposed to remember.”

The plaque on the door still told them to identify themselves.

“
So, you think that when we pass through they take a new reading to compare with the old one, and if it’s really us, we’re allowed to continue?”

“
I don’t know. It’s just a theory. For all I know, the entire population of the planet might have gone through the door.”

Stephan still looked uncertain.

Well, hesitating won’t get us anywhere. I want to go home.

She closed her eyes and stepped forward before he could stop her. When she opened them again, she hung in mid air in an empty chamber with her skin and hair filled with frost.
Looking around didn’t reveal any more details. There were four empty grey walls, an equally grey ceiling, and a grey floor. The air was so cold she would have shivered if she’d been human.

A second or so later
, Stephan appeared next to her, and a second after that, they were both flung through space towards their elusive final destination.

We were meant to do this together, and the grey cube must be a waiting room. If one of us had come alone, that person would be held until the other showed up.

It had to be a place outside of time, meant to preserve it captives for as long as it took, and a wait there could have lasted for a very long time, even by her standards.

When the world took on form again, they stood at the side of a fountain, and the water glittered in the sunshine. Stephan looked ruffled, for being him, and he grabbed her arms.

“Don’t do things like that without warning me first. Are you okay?”

She couldn’t keep her attention on him; the water drew her gaze.

It’s hypnotic.

“Maria?”

She shook her head in an effort to return to the present.

“I’m fine. What
is
that little thing down there?”

A glass box
rested on the bottom, sheltered by the whirling water.

“
I don’t know. I don’t care. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.”
Smile. Reassure him.

She took his hand and led him towards the water. “I can’t see what’s in it.”

There should be a sign, or a guardian or something. A hint of what to do…

There was nothing.
The two of them stood alone next to the fountain on a grassy plain that seemed to stretch out to infinity in all directions. The sky was impossibly blue and the sun bright and yellow.

“This place is creepy. It’s not real, is it?”

His voice was hushed, and she answered equally quiet.

“
Not if you define
real
as a planet naturally occurring around a naturally formed star. It’s real enough for us to be in it, even if someone might have made it.”

“I think we’re lying unconscious side by side somewhere. This place probably only exists in my head.”

Maria laughed.

“I don’t think so. You’re here.”

“That’s exactly what an imaginary Maria would say.”

His idea had some merit, but she preferred not to think about it. Going down that lane she might be dead, or sleeping, and he might not exist at all.

Stephan sighed and stepped over the edge, into the water. Seeing him stand in the clear liquid chilled her, and she took his hand.

“Please, be careful. I’ve lost you two times already, don’t let there be a third.”

The expression on his face softened and he lifted her hand to kiss it.

“I’ll be fine. Hopefully,
it’s just water.”

He waded toward the middle, shoes and pants soaked, and the fountain showered him from above.

“It’s warm. Smells like water…”

She saw him lift the little box. It looked tiny in his hand. He shook his head and waded back towards her.

“It’s not much of a treasure, sweetheart. Lots of work for nothing.”

*****

When Stephan returned to his waiting girl, he expected her to look disappointed, and he was completely unprepared for her reaction. She took the box without a word and sat down on the grass with her back leaning against the fountain wall.

It’s just an old piece of paper.
Completely useless.

It made her eyes shine, and she handled the box as if it was both wonderful and fragile. Maybe all was well.

He took a seat next to her, happy to have the warm sun dry his hair and clothes.

“
Are you going to open it?”

“
Oh God no. You have no idea what this is, do you?”

“Sure. It’s a… piece of… paper. An
old
piece of paper.”

“
You know the theory of parallel universes, right? It’s not like different dimensions, they sort of go the other way. Right next to us is another world that’s almost exactly like this one. Little things will differ, and when you get farther from home, it will become more different.”

Complete nonsense.

He
’d still listen, but only because he loved her.

“
It’s really important not to bring matter from one parallel to the other because the same matter would probably already exist.”

Thinking too much about this will give me a headache and nothing more.

“If you say so, sweetheart.”

“
Some fourteen billion years ago, one of my distant relatives was travelling from another parallel to this one, and he brought this little thing. It’s supposed to be an ad from a newspaper. He wasn’t careful enough, and there was an enormous explosion. All matter in both parallels compressed and detonated, and that’s how our world was created. Allegedly, Cratus...”

Stephan
made a little gesture, trying to get a word in.

“
Are you saying your cousin is fourteen billion years old?”

Judging from her expression
, she considered the possibility before she answered.

“
I don’t
think
so… I mean, he’s really old, and I don’t know
how
old, but it sounds a lot even for him.”

She frowned.

“Imagine if he were, all the stuff he would have seen… Anyway, from what I understand, he went back in time to get the little piece of paper and hid it in a safe place, keeping it as a reminder for future generations to be very careful.”

He took the glass container and held it against the sun, scrutinizing it. Such a little thing having such an impact seemed... absurd.

“Will there be another big bang if we take it out of there?”

“
I don’t think so.”

He handed the box back to her
.

“
And now we have it. What are we supposed to do with it? And why are we supposed to have it?”

Maybe we should put it back. I don’t like this place, I don’t like the box, and I don’t like the paper in it.

“I have no idea. I’m guessing we’re supposed to learn something from it. Maybe there’ll be a situation in the future where we risk destroying the world.”

“Sounds a little drastic.”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Can you get us out of here, or do we have to stay until we figure it out?”

She leaned her head against his shoulder, and a moment later, they sat side by side on the bed in his ship.

Anticlimactic. I guess I expected more, but who cares; she’s home again. Maybe that was th
e point. Having us meet and make up. With these people, who knows…

He wrapped his arms around her.

“Welcome home sweetheart. I missed you.”