Ch.43 A Good Man

Chapter 43

With the windows slightly opened, the cold winter air crept into the room like a thief. Maya pulled the thick blanket closer to herself as Heyder's scent warmed her. She smiled in the half awakened state and sighed gleefully. She could feel Heyder beside her, but the light scratches of pencil moving over paper let her know he was anything but asleep.

Maya lowered the blankets just enough to open her eyes and look up at the jinn. The sunlight created a ring of light around his sharp profile and the little breeze made the pieces of hair falling into his eyes sway. Maya watched as he sketched away and absent mindlessly scratched the stubble on his jaw.

Heyder's pencil moved faster than his mind. His fingers were smeared with dark graphite and his eyebrows were knitted together in extreme concentration. He was beautiful in a dark sinister way. His eyes could cut diamond and his tongue could silence hell fire. But to Maya, he was her angel.

With a restless heart and needy hands, Maya reached across the small space between them and grazed Heyder's arm. The pencil in his hand stopped and his eyes shifted to her. Instantly, the darkness in them disappeared and his lips pulled back into a smile.

"More, birdie?" he asked, making Maya blush with memories of the night before.

Heyder put the sketch book aside and moved closer to Maya. He pulled her closer under the covers and Maya lifted her head to place it on his chest. Her ears picked up the sound of his heart beating and it was one of the most beautiful sounds she had ever heard.

"I love you," Heyder said, kissing the top of Maya's head.

"I love you," Maya lifted her face to look into his dark eyes. "How long have you been up?"

"Since before the sun," Heyder played with a strand of Maya's hair.

"What were you sketching?"

"Just some stuff in my head," Heyder sighed.

Maya nodded. She placed her head back down on his chest and cuddled closer. The jinn's arms tightened around her as he took a lung full of her scent.

"Heyder...." Maya said, quietly.

"Yes, my love?"

"What's bothering you?" Maya paused to listen to Heyder's answer, but she knew he wouldn't reply. The way his body shifted underneath her told her everything she needed to know.

Maya picked up her head and placed her chin on his chest. Heyder looked down at her as he leaned his head back on one of his arms.

"Tell me...." Maya said gently. She reached out and touched the side of his face. Her eyes stood witness to her mate hesitating. She watched his eyes dance uncomfortably as he tried to think of a way to talk himself out of the situation.

But Heyder never could get away from Maya. She had him pinned to the spot since they say she first laid eyes on him.

"I chose you," he said, his voice almost a whisper.

Confused at first about what he was talking about, Maya waited for him to explain.

"When Apollo asked me to choose between saving you and Heyden......... " Heyder spoke each word with extreme care. "I chose you."

Maya was left stunned by Heyder's confession. She slowly lifted her head off his chest as he avoided looking at her face. Pulling the sheets to cover herself, Maya's eyes darted to the nightstand beside the bed. She spotted Heyder's sketch pad and his rings scattered around. Holding her breath, Maya looked back at Heyder.

With his eyes down casted, and his fingers twirling a random pencil that had slipped into bed, Heyder waited for Maya to speak. His heart beat in his chest. He couldn't remember if he had ever been so breathless before. His chest tightened and his lungs screamed.

Maya slowly reached across the bed and leaned over Heyder. She took the sketch pad and sat back on her legs. Her fingers shook slightly as she turned to the page he had been working on.

The dark lines worked against the white canvas to create a terrifying image. Maya felt her chest shake as she ran her fingers over the child's face. His wide eyes and open mouth. The look of fear swimming in those eyes......

And then there was her......head underwater, arms holding up the child. Her hair flew around her and above her head like a fishing net. Her body left to the waves.

When Maya lifted her eyes to look at Heyder, she didn't realize they had filled with tears. He avoided looking at her as he concentrated on a tiny mark on the bed sheets. Maya dropped her eyes and flipped through the pages. Her eyes began to burn as the tears spilled from what she saw.

Page after page were sketches of her and Heyden. They were all Heyder's memories of her. He had captured her in the most brilliant and unexpected of ways. When she wasn't trying to smile for the word. When she wasn't getting ready to impress the others.

He captured her in her most intimate moments. A pencil between her lips as she read in the library. The careless smile as she spoke to Margo or Ali. The dramatic eye rolls as she scolds Heyder.....

"When did you....." Maya looked up at Heyder once more.

"I don't sleep much," Heyder said, flipping the pencil into the air and then catching it.

"And these?" Maya asked, running her fingers over the sketches of Heyden.

"I try to think what he might be like......" Heyder said, looking at the sketches. "I sketch him as much as I can."

"Why?"

Heyder shrugged, "Sometimes I fear I might forget what he looks like if I don't sketch him."

Maya tossed the sketch book aside as his words pulled her to him. She threw herself into his arms and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder. Heyder's arms wrapped around her without skipping a beat. He rolled her under him and pinned her to the bed.

"Don't cry," he whispered into her ears. "I hate making your cry."

"You didn't make me cry," Maya sniffled. She tightened her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. "What am I going to do with you?"

"What did I do now?" Heyder teased.

"Why did you choose me?"

Heyder stilled. He pulled back just enough to look into Maya's blue eyes. He wanted to know her feeling for him wouldn't change.

"Because I am a selfish man," he said. "When I saw you two in the water......my very first thought was that I didn't have enough time with you."

Maya didn't know what to say. She stared up at the jinn as he hung his head in her arms.

"I couldn't fight my greed for you," Heyder continued. "I know how fucked up I am and how fucked up this sounds.....but I couldn't do it. I chose you because a world without you means nothing to me."

"Heyder...." Maya's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know what to say as he waited for her.

"I'm sorry," Heyder said when Maya stared at him with silent eyes. "I.......I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see his face as I pull......pull you up."

"Heyder," Maya felt her eyes water once more. She unhooked her arms from around his neck and watched the hurt flash across his eyes. Maya immediately pulled Heyder's face in between her hands and shook her head.

"I love you," she said. "I love you so much, you complicated stubborn man."

She watched as the light returned to Heyder's eyes. He turned his head and placed a kiss on Maya's palm as she lifted her head and kissed his cheek.

"I love you," Maya said once more. She kissed his cheek repeatedly.

"I'm so sorry....." Heyder said. "I should have tried harder to save you both."

"No," Maya shook her head, her tear stained face glistened in the morning light. "You don't have to say sorry. I'm not mad......I understand. But Heyder......"

Maya paused to make sure the jinn heard her every word.

"You have to pick Heyden......" she said. "God forbid if you ever have to decide......promise me you will pick him."

Heyder's chest tightened. He searched Maya's eyes as she waited for him to promise.

"Promise me," Maya said. "You have to save my baby."

"Our baby," Heyder corrected her.

"You promise?"

"I promise," Heyder nodded. He leaned forward and kissed away the tears running down Maya's face. She pulled him close and let out a sob as he lowered his lips to her and kissed her.

Maya couldn't get enough of the man. She could feel his heart shake with restlessness as he hovered over her. For the first time she started to notice how broken he was. Heyder always carried himself as if he could destroy the word, but inside his mind, he was broken.....just looking for his birdie to make a home out of the chaos brewing inside of him.

Needing him to understand that she would fill all the cracks in his soul, Maya deepened their kiss. She let her hand move down his back and then slip in between them. Heyder groaned as Maya took a hold of him. She moved her hand up and down until her body was hot with need. Heyder realised her lips and began to kiss down her neck and then her chest. Maya's back arched off the bed as he parted her legs and kissed the inside of her thighs. Her hand took a fistful of his hair as he moved his mouth closer and closer to the spot in between her legs.

With one hand holding Maya's legs open, Heyder gripped her hips with the other. She rolled her head back and tugged at his hair as his tongue darted out and teased her. Her legs shook and begged to tighten so she could control the pain rising in her, but Heyder wouldn't let her. He tasted her to his heart's content. Maya's head began to spin as she forgot how to breath.

"Please," she begged him as she pulled his head closer. Her ears picked up the sound of Heyder chuckling. The deep sexy sound was like lightning all through her body. She twisted her hips and swung her legs over the jinn's head. Heyder looked up in surprise as Maya scurried off the bed.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

"I was going to lose my mind if you kept doing that," Maya gave a short laugh.

"Do what?" Heyder asked as he got off the bed with a playful look in his eyes.

"Your tongue......." Maya shook her head. "It's gonna get me in so much trouble."

"Oh yeah?" Heyder laughed as he pulled Maya toward him.

They stood by the bed as Heyder held Maya's naked body in his arms. Their skin met in every way possible as the jinn sat down on the edge of the bed and Maya placed her legs on either side of him. Heyder held her waist with a giddy look in his eyes as she lowered herself onto his hard body.

Maya bit down on her bottom lip as Heyder leaned back and pushed up. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she launched forward with pleasure. A long moan rippled out of her as Heyder began to move her up and down. His movements were slow and steady as if he was in no rush and wanted the moment to last a lifetime. Maya followed his lead until she couldn't handle the pressure building up inside of her anymore. Heyder sensed her needs and flipped her move. He hooked one of her legs on his arms as he quickened his pace.

"Oh my god!" Maya shrieked as stars began to dance in her vision. She tugged at Heyder's hair as she finished and fireworks exploded all over her body.

Within seconds of her reaching her high, Heyder joined her. He pressed his lips against her mouth as Maya moaned his name and held him tightly with her legs. His thrusts became urgent and needy as he reached his climax and bit down on Maya's bottom lip.

"We need to move," Heyder said, trying to catch his breath.

"What's wrong?" Maya asked looking at him as he laid down beside her.

"I don't like knowing your family can hear you," he said. "And seeing how this is becoming a daily thing, I think one of these days your dad or Xavier might murder me."

Maya burst into laughter. She rolled away as Heyder chuckled along. He stared at her and silently made a promise to himself.

He would never ever hurt her again.

_________________________________

"Well, well, well," Ali clapped his hands as Maya and Heyder walked into the study hand in hand. "I am living for that look on Heyder's face. What's up, buddy? You look like you just had sex."

"Where's Margo?" Maya asked as she rolled her eyes.

"You two seem pretty tired," Ali continued his teasing. "Not get enough sleep last night?"

"Maybe if Margo kept you up long enough, you wouldn't be sticking your nose into our sleep schedule," Heyder said as he pulled a chair out for Maya across from his best friend.

"More like a fuck schedule," Ali said under his breath.

"24/7," Maya winked.

"I knew you were wife material," Ali shook his head as he laughed. "Will Heyder be able to get any work done or is he on your schedule?"

"I can get my work done," Heyder said as he situated himself on another chair beside Maya. he turned towards Maya and pulled her seat in between his legs. Leaning forward, he kissed her shoulder and grinned when she kissed his forehead.

"Damn," Ali said, a bit surprised. "You have him whipped."

"Get to work, Ali," Heyder said as Maya brushed his hair away from his face. "And stop staring at my wife."

"Oh what a shame it will be if anyone took her from you," Ali said, getting a kick out of seeing the look of irritation in Heyder's eyes.

"You can fuck off if you have nothing useful to do around here," Heyder snapped.

"Be nice," Maya placed a kiss under his ear.

"Gee, Maya" Ali smirked. "Control your dog."

"Ali," Maya shook her head. "Enough. Both of you. We have lots of work."

Ali shook his head laugh. He flipped open the old books in front of him and took in a deep breath. Beside Maya, Heyder leaned back in irritation and flickered his fingers.

The air at the center of the table began to shimmer as one by one the two objects they had collected appeared. The gold olive branch and the bottle of milk. Heyder rubbed his eyes as Maya picked up the olive branch and examined it.

"Any luck on the aphros?" Heyder asked.

Ali let out a dramatic breath. He closed the book in front of him and leaned back in his seat.

"From what Caspian and Adam explained, aphros doesn't just float around. It forms during auspicious days and has a very short window of time it can be collected between."

"Any luck one of those days might be anytime soon?" Maya asked.

"I can't say?" Ali frowned. "Heyder, is there any way we can get the aphros back from Mirza?"

Maya slowly turned her head to look at the jinn beside her. Heyder stared at the two objects on the table as he pondered about Ali's question. Maya watched the wheels in his head turn as he tried to think like Mirza.

"You know how he is," Heyder finally said. "He probably destroyed it by now."

"You don't know that," Maya insisted.

"No," Ali shook his head. "We know. Mirza is a sick son of a bitch. He gets a kick out of destroying anything Heyder shows interest in."

Maya felt her heart sink in her chest. She reached out under the table and Heyder's hand caught her. He intertwined their fingers together and gave her a firm squeeze.

"How long do we have until....." Ali didn't know how to best finish his question.

"Three months," Heyder said, grimly.

"We are bound to find at least one day in that time frame when the aphros will appear," Ali offered. "Margo and Caspian have their people keep an eye out for it."

"I don't have the time to be just sitting around," Heyder groaned. "I can't waste time hoping some foam shows up."

"What else can we do?" Maya frowned. "We can't make it."

"There has to be something else," Heyder said. "There has to be something else Thetis wants."

"What if we offer her just the milk and the branch?" Maya asked. "Maybe we can bargain or make a deal."

"No," Ali shook his head. "No way will her guards be lowered by just these two things. Thetis guards the island and the only way to get to the ophiotaurus is to distract her with all three gifts."

"No, hold on," Heyder sat up. "Maya is right.....maybe we should go see Thetis."

"Why?" Ali asked in confusion. "What am I missing here?"

"We go to Thetis and see what she is interested in," Heyder explained. "We see what she's like. This way maybe we can bring her something else in the aphros place."

"I don't know if that will work," Ali said with little confidence.

"We're still trying it," Heyder said. "What's the harm?"

"She gets mad and kills us," Ali said. "She is a god."

"Doesn't make her invincible," Heyder said.

"This is a dumb idea," Ali said looking at Maya.

"I'm in," Maya said, looking at Heyder.

Ali threw his arm up in frustration, "Why do I even bother talking?"

"Let's go visit Thetis," Heyder smiled.

______________________________________

"Meet me in the foyer in ten minutes," Heyder said as he kissed Maya.

"Where are you going?" Maya asked, pushing up to her tippy toes.

"I have to take care of something," Heyder smiled down at her sweetly. "Nothing that will take too long."

"Okay," Maya nodded. "Don't kill anyone or set anything on fire. Or get into a fight or argument."

"I'll try," Heyder rolled his eyes. "It's not me. It's people."

"You don't really help the situations much either," Maya scrunched up her nose.

"I'll play nice, I promise."

"Okay," Maya smiled. She placed a quick kiss on the jinn's cheeks before walking away.

Heyder stood where she left him, breathing in the ghost of her scent. He watched her disappear around the corner before turning on his heels and snapping his fingers.

He took in a deep breath as he materialized outside of a closed office door. He had no idea what he was going to say once he got inside but he knew with every cell in his body that until he did what he sat out to, there was no calming his mind. With another long deep breath, Heyder raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Come in," came a voice from the inside.

Heyder turned the door knob and pushed it open with the tip of his boots. He stepped inside and turned to face Owen standing by his desk.

"Hey," Heyder gave a nod.

Owen's eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. He set down the file he was looking at and focused all his attention on the jinn.

"What can I do for you?" He asked, pushing his hands into his pant's pockets.

"You have great kids," Heyder said without thinking.

"Thank you," Owen replied calmly.

"I haven't spoken to Maksim much.....but I think he's more like you then Mavi. I see him cleaning all the time."

"Yeah, he doesn't like messy things," Owen said.

"Like father like son," Heyder smirked. His mind automatically traveled to Heyden.

"Was that all?"

"What?" Heyder asked in confusion.

"Was that all you wanted to say?" Owen asked.

"No," Heyder let go of the breath he had taken earlier. "That's not what I wanted to say."

Owen, slightly confused by the situation, waited patiently. Heyder could tell from the man's stance that he was ready to shift any second. He knew if he tried anything, Owen's wolf would have his throat in his jaws in seconds.

"I came to apologize," Heyder pushed out the words.

Owen raised a brow. Heyder wondered if Owen realized how much he and Mavi acted alike after years of marriage. Their body language and approach to different situations were mirror images.

"My friend Ali has a bad habit of saying shit that gets stuck in my head," Heyder said.

"I've met him," Owen said. "He seems like a very decent man."

"Of course, you like him," Heyder rolled his eyes. Ali wasn't the cleanest of men when it came to blood stained hands. But he was much much much better then Heyder. Ali's sensitivity and hopefulness made him the type of man Owen Radacvoick would call decent.

"What did your friend say?" Owen asked.

"He said to me....It would be a shame if anyone tried to take Maya away from you," Heyder spoke the bitter words that were haunting him.

Owen suddenly realized why Heyder had come into the room and his whole body language shifted. His shoulders pushed back slightly and his eyes darkened. Heyder didn't need to look to know the man's nostrils were flaring.

"I want to apologize for what I did to you and Mavi," Heyder said, looking at Owen. "I have no explanation to offer other than I let my greed rule me."

"That's a shitty apology," Owen said.

"I know," Heyder agreed. "But I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry.......when I think about everything I did and then I think about Maya.......I wonder how you haven't killed me yet."

"The thought is constantly there," Owen confessed.

"Good to know," Heyder nodded.

"Why are you apologizing now?"

Heyder shrugged, "I don't know."

Owen watched him closely for a few seconds. Heyder walked around the large office picking up random things from the desk to occupy himself with. He picked up a photo frame of Owen with Mavi and their kids and his eyes immediately went to Clare.

"It's because of her," Owen said, watching the jinn.

"What?" Heyder looked up from the photograph.

"Maya," Owen clarified. "You're apologizing because you have Maya now. You realize what love is and the thought of anyone taking her away from you is....."

"Terrifying," Heyder finished.

"Yeah," Owen nodded. "Terrifying."

"Is it always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like the whole world is resting on your shoulders when she looks at you. Yet you feel as if you can carry the weight of a thousand more worlds for her."

"Yeah," the corner of Owen's lips curved up slightly.

"Does it ever go away?"

"Do you want it to?"

"No," Heyder shook his head. "Never."

"It only gets worse," Owen said.

Heyder nodded silently. He looked back down the picture in his hand and carefully examined all the faces.

"I didn't know you had a fourth one," he said.

"That's Piper," Owen followed Heyder's eyes to the little girl in the picture. "Our adopted daughter."

Heyder smiled. He cautiously set the frame back down and looked up.

"You're a good man, Owen."

What do you think of Heyder?