Chapter 3

Chapter 3

In Eva's book, there were only a few things that added to the incredible sight that was a Hawaiian sunset. Beholding her voluptuous wife standing on the balcony with nothing but a T-shirt clad to her body? That's the stuff right there.

She snapped a picture before Nadia realized her wife was right behind her. "Are you taking pictures of me again?"

Eva closed the sliding door behind her when she stepped out onto the balcony attached to their room. "I'm always taking pictures of you. Two-thirds of my phone's gallery is you."

"You're on a roll with the flirting today."

Eva shoved her phone in her back pocket before leaning against the guardrail separating her from an insurmountable drop toward the surf. "With you? Or other women?"

"Both. I saw the way you were checking out Caitlyn's cleavage earlier."

"You weren't? Because when breasts are sculpted by God, it's heresy to ignore them."

"By God, huh?"

"You know who else has a smokin' rack?" Eva bumped up against her wife's arm. "I'll give you a hint: her name is Nadia."

"Smokin'. Rack."

"Problem?"

"Am I the grill at the cookout or something?"

"We could smoke some ribs on your chest, yes."

Nadia burst into a fit of unexpected giggles. "I think I know your new career: erotica writer. Give that Chuck Tingle a run for his money."

"Oh, honey, I don't think I could ever measure up to that level of greatness. Although I would venture that my imagination is as ridiculous."

"It is. I can say with certainty."

Eva wrapped her arm around Nadia's shoulders. "You know, I never get tired of this view, no matter how many times I've been here."

Nadia's gaze followed Eva's. I tell the truth, of course. While there was plenty of beauty to find back on the mainland, Eva was a sucker for the riot of pastel colors that spread across the Hawaiian sky at sunset. As surfers made the most of the fading light and the tour boats paddled into the harbor, Eva imagined a world where everywhere, at all times, was like this. Sure, snow had its place. Forests maintained regal glory across the world. But this was something else. Gentle rolling waves that sparkled like pearls and a sweet, gentle breeze that kept her skin cool against the island humidity had blown Eva's mind since she was a girl first getting her feet dirty on the sands of Waikiki Beach. I was never prepared for how grainy and deep the sand is here. Before her first big growth spurt, Eva had distinct memories of almost drowning in the sand. Since her parents had the attention spans of gnats, it had been Henry who pulled her out – and tossed her into the surf to clean her off.

There wasn't much point in taking romantic walks on the beach anymore. The place was so crowded that Eva was better off standing right here on a private balcony with her beloved.

"You think I could be an erotica writer, huh?"

Nadia snorted as she leaned into Eva's side-embrace. "You have a wild imagination, that's for sure. Now, whether you could professionally string two coherent sentences together…"

"Hey! I had to write all of those reports and emails when I was a CEO for a hot minute."

"What does it mean if you're no longer some hotshot gemstone CEO?"

Nadia had said it as a flippant joke, but Eva couldn't help but be slightly hurt, and she had nothing but her ego to blame. We did what we had to do. Eva had fervently discussed it with Henry over months, but it had ultimately been her decision to shut down the gem mining subsidiary of the family business and sell the mines to local interests. While Eva wished she could say it was purely for humanitarian reasons, the truth of it was that mining in places like Cambodia was becoming more expensive for little gain. Besides, is that what I wanted to do with the rest of my life? As it turned out, Eva was a decent CEO, but she had little passion for it. She honestly didn't know what to do with the rest of her adult life besides be married and possibly have children before she was forty, as stipulated in the agreement she signed with her mother in exchange for marrying Nadia. She had the capital and know-how to start another business, or she could pursue any number of hobbies in a more professional capacity… yet nothing stuck out. Every time Eva considered it, she thought about how it would take more time away from her marriage to Nadia.

She did love spending time with her wife, even if all they did on worknights was cuddle on the couch and watch Netflix.

Why can't I put making her happy on my stupid résumé? Because that's what Eva often strode to do. She couldn't imagine being single. Not after six years with the woman she now called her wife. That year would be their seventh anniversary – while also their fourth wedding anniversary – and Eva could hardly remember life before the Nadia Gaines finally gave in to their mutual attraction.

"I love you," Eva whispered in her wife's ear. "How about we go inside and leave the windows open while we make wild, passionate love all over that big bed?"

Nadia slowly turned her head toward the massive grin on Eva's face. "That bed is technically smaller than ours back home."

"Is it now?" Eva couldn't help but feel her wife was missing an important point. You. Me. Bed. Eva didn't want to admit it, but she couldn't remember the last time they had sex. I mean, I remember the actual act itself, because it was amazing, as always. Yet it had been a while. A long while. It wasn't unusual for Nadia to be disinterested for weeks at a time. Had it been weeks? It must have been weeks. Three months. That's the truth of it. While the last occurrence had been a hot and sweaty mess that left their marks behind in their big bed, Eva knew it had been a few weeks before that. As much as she loved her wife, the frequency of their love life was one of the biggest sticking points if Eva was pressed for things to complain about.

"I wanted to call my mom before settling in for the evening," Nadia announced with a crack in her voice. "It's her birthday."

"Ooh, I had forgotten." Never mind that Eva was the one who ordered the large gift basket that should have arrived on Mrs. Gaines' doorstep that day. "Tell her happy birthday from me, too. Gee, if I had thought about it, we could have brought her along and pretended that this whole trip was for her."

"Where would we have put her? Abigail is sleeping on the couch in the living room."

"Which she thinks is the coolest thing she's ever done. That girl legit thinks she's camping or something." For all of their money, the Warrens "only" had two bedrooms in their Waikiki beachfront condo. Before Abigail grew big enough to need her own space, two bedrooms had always been enough. Now? We've got a girl who is so spoiled back home that sleeping on the couch is unfathomable to her. It's like a brand-new adventure.

Eva stepped back inside. Nadia wasn't too far behind, but she only came back to find her phone and talk to her mother while back out on the balcony.

Happy Birthday, Mother Gaines. If nothing else, Eva thanked the woman for giving birth to someone who looked so damn good in a baggy T-shirt and shorts too cropped to care.

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"Tomorrow should be another warm day," the weather woman on TV announced, her voice far enough away that Eva barely heard her. "Don't forget the bug repellent."

"Sometimes I think I need an Eva repellent." That husky chiding came from the depths of Nadia's throat. The rest of her was so preoccupied with getting frisky in bed that she almost forgot to end her sentence. The kisses only became heavier after that.

I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Eva had her opportunity, and she was taking it – much like her tongue took the back of Nadia's throat once she was on top of her wife.

"I don't think that exists," Eva responded when she came up for air. "Very, very few things could keep me away from you."

"I honestly can't think of anything right now."

"Good. Because you should only be thinking of things that keep me closer. There are a lot of those."

A human-interest story played on the TV. Eva pulled the sheet up far enough that she couldn't see anything but the shadowy face beneath hers. My eyes remain closed, anyway. She yearned to divert all of her sensory attentions to the taste and feel. Two things she clung to as Nadia's underwear slowly came off and Eva's hand went straight for the soft place between her wife's legs.

"Such a hurry…" Nadia snatched Eva's wrist with a tentative squeeze. "Where's your sense of foreplay?"

"Honey, you know I don't have to touch you for there to be foreplay 24/7. Looking at you is foreplay."

Nadia gently bit the lip lingering against her mouth. "I may be wet, but that's no excuse to slack off."

"Since when do I ever slack off in bed? You make me work for it hard enough as it is."

That laughter lodged deep within Nadia's throat vibrated against Eva's lips. I'll put a hickey right here. Her hand traveled between her wife's thighs again. This time, they found their destination. Once her fingertips touched curly red hairs, Eva was fired up with so much electricity that she felt like she was in her twenties again. I feel like the first time we made love. Back when Eva was terrified that the woman she had pined after for months might not like her in return. She's always playing hard to get. Didn't matter how many rings Eva put on that finger.

"I like making you work for it."

"Oh, I know."

Nadia's leg swung over Eva's hip, taunting her. "I think you like working for it."

"Oh, I know!"

Yet that was Eva's cue to wait another minute. Instead of hunting down sexual glory right then and there, she wanted to tease Nadia so badly that she was begging for it. Because there was no request in bed as sweet as Nadia beseeching her wife to give it to her good. That's the shit that keeps me going during the dry spells.

Yet as the kisses became too heated to withstand and the fingers on the back of Eva's neck left their bruises, the universe conspired against them. Someone was knocking at the door.

"Are you kidding?" Eva tore herself away from Nadia, plopping against her pillow.

Nadia sighed, bed sheets pulled up to her chin. "You better answer it."

The door knocked again. "Coming!" Eva shouted, before resigning herself to this twisted fate. I swear to God, if it's Henry, I'm punching him in the arm. Because there was no getting out of this. The only reason for someone knocking on their bedroom door this late was because someone had either died or… well, Eva wasn't sure. This was some kind of unprecedented event in a family that understood "don't bother me after nine." Henry was usually the first one locking himself in his room and not coming out until seven the next morning.

"Hold that thought, please." Eva straightened her clothing and patted down her hair when she got out of bed. Nadia turned off the lamp next to her side of the bed and turned down the TV. When Eva opened their bedroom door, she clung to the remnants of her wife begging for it.

It was not Henry on the other side of the door. It was Monica.

"So sorry for disturbing you." Monica tightened her silk robe and crossed her arms. If she knew what she had done to Eva's love life that night, she did not let on. This woman is the queen of poker faces, though. Never in Eva's life had she seen her sister-in-law's face become the same color as her favorite dusty rose robe. "I know it's late. I was trying to put Abigail to bed, but…"

"Auntie Eva!" The familiar ring of a girl's voice echoed from the living room couch. "Come kiss me good night!"

Eva gritted her teeth; Monica shrugged.

"She's insisting that you say goodnight to her," Monica said. "She refuses to go to sleep until you do."

"Kids, huh?" Eva sighed. "Give me a moment. I've barely got my pajamas on."

Monica politely looked away. "I don't know how long she'll last before exploding. I don't know who gave her caffeine at dinner, but I hope Henry is happy."

"I was about to suggest he was the culprit."

Eva closed the door. When she returned to bed, where she grabbed an extra piece of clothing to make herself more presentable, she told her wife that she was being summoned by a child demon who refused to go off to dreamland.

Nadia wrapped the sheet tightly around her naked chest. God, the things I do for family. Eva had been right there. So close to glory that she could practically taste it! Actually, I could. Right on my fingertips.

"Go take care of Abigail," Nadia said. "I'll be right here."

"Don't forget where we've left off, my sexy, naked vixen." Eva bent down long enough to kiss her wife, although she didn't dare linger long. I'll end up right where I belong. With her sister-in-law pounding on the door again. Totally wrong kind of pounding for tonight. "I need you ready for me when I triumphantly return from arguing with a kindergartener."

"Good luck."

Eva didn't look back when she closed the bedroom door. The small hallway connecting her room to the living room was already filled with more childish laughter as Monica announced that she was going to bed – and could Eva kindly take care of this? Abigail wanted her auntie so badly, after all.

"All right." Eva knelt by the couch, where her small niece kicked her blanket off her body and raised her arms in the air for a hug. Eva obliged. She always did. "I hear there's a munchkin in this room who can't sleep until the giantess visits her."

"I have a question!"

Eva released her hold on her niece. As Abigail sank back into the couch, her aunt was further obliged to settle in as well. "Oh, this should be good."

Baby teeth grinned at Eva as blond hair whipped through the air. Monica had long given up containing her daughter's long hair before she went to sleep. At least Eva didn't have to brush it in the morning.

"You can't tell Mom that I'm asking…" Abigail hid her teeth behind the only blanket to cover her at night. "She told me I'm not supposed to ask you about Auntie Nadia."

"What's this? What are you talking about?"

"Mom says I'm too nosy."

"Maybe you are. Maybe you aren't. What's the question?" This ought to be good. Abigail was a clever girl. She already knew how to read and count to a hundred. She also knows that I'm not like her mother. Or the other mothers in her kindergarten. As far as Eva knew, there were currently no gay parents preparing their children for Winchester Academy. I'd say that's a shame, but I don't blame any of my fellow queers for passing on that fun. Eva was already resigned to potentially sending her future children to the same place she went to as a child. The Warrens had a legacy there going back to their patriarch.

"Why did you marry Auntie Nadia?"

"Now, what kind of question is that?" Eva finished tucking the blanket around her niece's chin, but Abigail was quick to turn over and mess everything up again. "I married her because I loved her, and she loved me. When that happens between you and someone else, it's a natural thing to want to get married."

"I know you love her."

"Do you know that I love you, too?"

"You can't marry me!"

"I should certainly hope not."

"No, no." Abigail wiggled so much that she already lost her blanket to the floor. Eva bent down to pick it up. "Why did you fall in love with her? Because Grandma says that Auntie Nadia isn't of our background."

Eva did not betray what she instantly felt when she heard those words. I bet Grandma says plenty of things about Nadia. Monica, too. If there was one thing Isabella was good at, it was despising her daughters-in-law. Monica because she was of an improper background, and Nadia for being a woman – and of an improper background.

"I met your Aunt Nadia when she was at work. You know your mom's friend Ethan? Nadia works for him. As his receptionist."

"That's how you met her?"

"Uh-huh. Your dad is also friends with Ethan, so it was natural for me to meet everyone. That included Nadia. Whom I fell in love with very quickly."

"Even though she's a girl?"

"Are your classmates filling your head with weird things? It doesn't matter if you fall in love with a boy, girl, whatever when you grow up. Make sure they're a good person."

"What does it mean that Aunt Nadia isn't of our background?"

Eva wrapped the blanket around her niece again. "You are so full of questions, aren't you? I bet you're about to burst."

"I want to know everything!"

"You're at that age, I guess."

"Yeah!"

Eva sighed. If you told me I'd be doing this instead of making hot love to my wife, I'd cry. If there was one thing Eva swore when her niece was born, however, it was that she wouldn't hold back the truth about the world. Not if Abigail asked. "You know your family has a lot of money, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Most families don't have as much money as us. You were very lucky to be born into this family that can take such good care of you and take you to places like Hawaii. You know, Nadia had never been to Hawaii when I met her."

"Really? We come every year!"

"Now she joins us. Because she knows me, and I bring her."

"So, does her coming from the wrong background mean she couldn't go to Hawaii?"

Okay, that's a good one. Eva couldn't hold back the laughter. "It means her family didn't have a lot of money when she was growing up. Like your mother's family." Does she even know much about her other grandma? Monica's mother was an enigma. Eva had met her a few times, including at the big wedding, but she never got a decent read on the woman. Just as well. Monica doesn't have glowing reports about the woman who raised her. There had been poverty. Definitely. They might have been worse off than Nadia's family. The difference was that Monica was a self-made woman by the time Henry met her. Nadia? Right place. Perfect timing. "Your grandma only likes people with money. She doesn't like that your mother and Aunt Nadia come from lower-class backgrounds."

"Why is money so important to Grandma?"

"That's a question for another day." One far too complicated to answer before Abigail had to sleep. "All you need to know is that many times, love is more important than money. I would do anything for your Aunt Nadia. Like your dad would do anything for your mom." Don't get me started on what Henry's done for her. It put everything Eva did for Nadia to shame.

Eva's words placated Abigail enough that the girl settled against the pillow separating her from the arm of the couch. After Eva kissed her on the forehead, however, Abigail asked, "What's your favorite thing about Aunt Nadia?"

There were far too many answers to that question. The fact that she's never put up with my bullshit. Except Eva couldn't say that to the child who barely understood what "bullshit" was. The look she gives me when I flirt with her. Since day one, Nadia Gaines had been the most incredulous woman on Earth whenever Eva laid on the charm. How smart she is. Nadia was the total package between mind and heart: she was intelligent enough to go toe-to-toe with the best of them, and she was more emotionally aware than most of the members of the Warren family. A soft body that won't quit. Yeah, Eva definitely couldn't say that to a kindergartener.

"She has a kind heart," she eventually said. "One that's rare in this world. The first thing I noticed about her?" Eva got closer, her nose only a breath away from Abigail's. "Your Aunt Nadia is gorgeous."

Those chicklet teeth were back. "She has really pretty hair," Abigail said. "Even Dad says so."

"Oh? What's Henry saying about my wife's appearance?"

Eva didn't expect an answer, but she got one. "I heard him tell one of his friends that ‘Mom is a peach, but Nadia is a whole melon.'"

The brows almost left Eva's forehead. "Is that so?"

Abigail giggled. "What does it mean?"

"Something you're way too young to understand." Monica will love this. "Now, go to sleep. I hear someone is going to the aquarium tomorrow."

"Yes!" Abigail pumped both hands into the air, nearly hitting Eva right in the nose. "I'm excited! Will you come, too?"

"Hm? You want me to go to the aquarium with you and your parents? All right." Eva hadn't been to an aquarium in… years? Probably years. "Will you get some sleep now?"

Abigail nodded. "One more kiss, please."

Eva left a small lip print on her niece's forehead before standing up and turning off the lamp by the couch. The living room was cast into darkness. To the rustling sounds of legs beneath the blanket, Eva returned to her room, where she hoped to find Nadia waiting for her.

The light remained on in the bedroom, but Nadia's eyes were closed.

"Of course." Eva detoured to the bathroom before returning to bed. She turned off the lights and crawled beneath the covers with her wife, who was still naked, but asleep.

"Ah…" Nadia's drowsy eyes fluttered open. Eva didn't court any hope that their lovemaking would resume, however. Not with how hard Nadia yawned. That yawning is contagious, too. "Everything okay?"

Eva wrapped her arm around Nadia. "Yup. Henry gave his darling daughter some caffeine with her dinner. You can guess how that's going."

Nadia yawned again. "Sorry I fell asleep."

"Do whatever you need to, babe."

As if on cue, Nadia drifted off to sleep again. Eva's libido, which had been put on pause when she was out in the living room, surged back to life.

Eventually, she got out of bed and took a quick shower. It was never better than actually making love with her wife, but she was also adept at taking care of things herself – it wasn't like she lacked any decent fantasies.