A/N: September 18, 2019 – here we go guys, 4 years to the date this story, we have the finale of the story! Now this story is *complete* 😊

Also…ending this story got me all choked up…thanks a heap pal/Lyn/Peoplepersonsof DooM!

I know I could lie but I’m telling the truth
Wherever I go there’s a shadow of you
I know I could try looking for something new
But wherever I go, I’ll be looking for you

Some people lie but they’re looking for magic
Others are quietly going insane
I feel alive when I’m close to the madness
No easy love could ever make me feel the same­

I know I could lie, but I won’t lie to you
Wherever I go, you’re the ghost in the room
I don’t even try looking for something new
‘Cause wherever I go, I’ll be looking for you

Some people try but they can’t find the magic
Others get down on their knees and they pray
I come alive when I’m close to the madness
No easy love could ever make me feel the same
Make me feel the same
Make me feel the same, same, same

I know I could lie but I’m telling the truth
Wherever I go there’s a shadow of you
I know I could try looking for something new
But wherever I go, I’ll be looking for you
Wherever I go, I’ll be looking for you, you

Some people pray to their God for some magic
‘Cause no easy love could ever make them feel the same
No easy love could ever make me feel the same
Make me feel the same, same, same

I know I could lie but I’m telling the truth
Wherever I go there’s a shadow of you
I know I could try looking for something new
But wherever I go, I’ll be looking for you

You think it’s a lie when I’m telling the truth
Wherever I go, I’ll be looking for you
Wherever I go, I’ll be looking for you
Looking for you, looking for you

Babar Bar Patio, Kingdom of Khura’in
July 11, 2026

A kiss is a lovely trick designed to stop speech when words become superfluous.

These were the dreamy notions dancing in Maya’s mind as their heated lip lock continued, during which the rest of the world seemed to fade away into the background, and all that existed was being in the heated embrace of the man she loved.

Phoenix tried to contain himself as he leaned in and kissed her, gently at first, then more lustily, his tongue demanding entrance. She let him explore the warm recesses of her mouth, tasting his breath, slightly spicy, like his scent.

She was only faintly cognizant of the loud pulse of the music pulsating inside the hotel bar, an encouraging beat that thrummed through her body and released something wild and wicked inside her.

I want to forget my name while I’m busy moaning yours.

As his mouth continued to devour hers, his hands moved, too, skimming down her neck and along her shoulders, leaving a fiery trail in the wake of his touch.

For about five seconds, after which her delirious brain began to formulate semi-lucid thoughts again, as it’d essentially been turned to mush from his expert kissing technique, Maya’s body gave her an inner thumbs-up. She then instinctively found herself going into latent seduction mode, sliding her hands into his spiky hair, and tugging gently, trying to make him turn up the heat a few notches.

Every sense was heightened. Every sense was filled. The fragrance of her skin. The hardness of his muscle. The taste of hunger, of gentleness, of desire. The sound of breath catching. The growl of passion. The contrast of light skin on dark bronze. The delicate lacework of her lashes as they swept against her cheeks. The planes and angles of his stubble-shadowed jaw. Maya immersed herself in it all. Phoenix soaked it up greedily.

He leaned forward so that his chest rubbed against her breasts. A little moan escaped Maya as her body seemed suddenly to come alight. He tipped his head down, the thick lock of hair falling over his forehead again, this time brushing against her face. It sent shivers down her spine, shivers that soon faded into a fire with his murmuring.

“You are too enticing for your own good, Maya. There is something about you that speaks to me without even having to say a word…”

That was when his lips touched her again, and his tongue swept along them, causing her to gasp from the heat of his body against hers and the feeling of his arousal pressing against her abdomen. He caught the gasp in his mouth, his hands setting her hips on fire when he grasped them, an inferno of desire sweeping through her and catching Maya wholly off guard.

Holy jalapeños! That’s music to my ears! The spirit medium blissfully surrendered her mouth to him, her parted lips inviting entrance. Speech is way overrated – I’ve decided I prefer being a woman of less talk and no action if this is the result!

Who needed words, which only got in the way, anyway? Certainly not the psychic at that moment! And most definitely not the ardent pianist, whose mouth continued to greedily devour hers.

Their kisses were so blisteringly hot – Phoenix was so damn hot – that perspiration prickled on her forehead as his tongue slowly and thoroughly explored her mouth. Maya had never been one to particularly enjoy savoring much of anything before, but apparently, she just hadn’t yet properly experienced the wonder of what a man’s tongue could do!

His tongue feels so sensual and… for lack of a descriptive word, hot. Red-hot. Like the most piquant of cinnamon candies that burns almost to the point of pain, but not quite over the line kind of hot…

“You taste so good,” he groaned into her mouth, moving her backward until she was being nudged back against the patio wall before he pulled her upward, in order to delve deeper into her mouth. “Rich and spicy, like mulled wine, and just as intoxicating …”

“Too much talking, not enough kissing!” She wrapped her legs around his waist, wanting to press him against all the needy parts of her – which was essentially her entire body.

Phoenix touched her like a blind man trying to see with his fingertips, tracing all her lines and gentle curves. Fingers fanned wide, he skimmed her jaw, her throat, the slope of her shoulders. He cradled her breasts then let his touch flow downward, over her ribs to her tiny waist, then back to the subtle flare of her hips.

The card shark was amid feeling the pounding pulse of Maya’s throat beneath his warm hand as he was stroking her graceful, swan-like neck when an unwelcome disturbance hit the smooching swains like a bucket of ice water.

“Hold it! This is hotel security!” The impromptu tone was both imposing and obdurate. “Freeze right there, mister!”

The couple froze mid-snogging – their hearts thumping wildly – but this time for an entirely different reason!

“Get your hands off that woman’s neck this instant and step away from the lady! We don’t want any monkey business here!”

The forceful bellow belatedly filtered through the emotions that swamped the village leader, along with the need she had to get the poker champ to the nearest bed so she could do all the things that filled her mind.

Had Phoenix been able could read her mind right then, she was pretty sure he’d either be traumatized, sexually aroused, or both!

Maya belatedly then realized that somehow, she had managed to not only wrap her legs around him and was pulling on his hair in a demand for more.… more fire, more of his kisses, more of everything he was… she’d also been climbing him… like a spider monkey!

She dragged her lips from his, blushing wildly when she worked out that the young man presently ( who sporting a T-shirt emblazoned with a crowned Super Mario Bros Thwomp) who’d issued the directive was standing right behind them!

“We can’t have any of that kinky business here at the sacred Holly Muh’Dar Mahal!” The man crossed his arms over his chest as he stared them down. “Dance floor cop-a-feels aside, this is a clean, wholesome establishment! There will be no bow-chick-a-wow-wow here – this is still a public outfit, located in an extremely conservative, morally upstanding, pious nation!”

“We so were not even…” Phoenix cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Er, that is… I know it must have seemed like it…but…”

He was abruptly cut off.

“The Kingdom of Khura’in will not stand for any of that kinky, erotic asphyxiation stuff here! Don’t you know the S & M orgy party is at the Seedan’Sin Inn next door?”

Ass what in the butt now?! The DILF gawked at the intruder in disbelief. When I was caressing Maya’s neck just now, this dude honestly assumed I was trying to pull some freaky sexual strangulation moves?!

“Oh. Er. Sorry about this misunderstanding, sir,” the necromancer mumbled, tapping the poleaxed ex-lawyer on the shoulders so he would let her down. He dumbly acquiesced, never taking his panicked gaze off the stranger as he released the petite brunette and allowed her to slide down his body until her sandaled feet were on the ground again. “You see, we’ve only just reunited tonight after a very long time apart…”

The stranger smirked knowingly.

“And it looks your reunion got you both… all choked up!”

“Huh? Um… OK…?” Maya was baffled but still smiled uncertainly at the jeering young man in their vicinity. “Anyhoo, amidst our, ah … gusto, we might have gotten just a wee bit carried away…”

“Hoobah! That would be the understatement of the millennia!”

The sternness had completely evaporated from the voice of the man now as he abruptly dropped the menacing, authoritative voice. Instead, he was now displaying the mother of all shit-eating grins, and the hobo dimly realized that the interloper was not only starting to look but also sound somewhat familiar!

“Mr. Lady-Killer there was devouring you as if  you were a bit of prime rib with a side of pot roast and he was a starving dragon!”

“Psst! Nick! Do you know this guy?” The diviner stage whispered from the side of her mouth. “It’s like he somehow knew that your first and last name in Japanese translates into Naruhodou Ryuuichi! And Ryuuichi alludes to the dragon!”

“Not now, Maya!” He hissed back, his cheeks flaming as he stood there while keeping his hands up in the air as if being held at gunpoint, even though their unwelcome visitor was carrying no visible weapon or restraints.

“Carried away she says?” The man was opening cracking up now. “That’s quite the underrating phrase to describe those pole dance moves of yours, lady! Looked more to me like a cross between you trying to dry hump this lucky guy and climbing a rope, but I couldn’t tell much from my initial viewing angle!”

Maya’s cheeks burned at this blatant analysis. Phoenix felt the temperature rise in his own face as well – because as he listened to that animated cadence, now rich with amusement, the former attorney dilatorily recognized the other man as CzarThwomp, Babar Bar’s karaoke host of the evening.

Suffering sadistic scorpions! Don’t tell me the MC pulls double duty as undercover security in this wacko place?!

“I’m just messing with you folks!” CzarThwomp treated them to a disarming beam. “I decided to take five from the DJ booth and get some fresh air, saw you crazy kids out here, and just couldn’t resist pulling your leg!”

Realizing he wasn’t about to be arrested, the pianist’s arms flopped back down to his sides even as he and Maya continued to gape that the now openly chortling MC.

“In my downtime, I tend to dabble in voice acting – that was my attempt at being a no-nonsense, disapproving security guard, and it looks like I did too good of a job, heh, heh. Sorry about that, folks. I never thought I’d be able to keep a straight face this long – or actually be successful in my mock efforts at cock blocking!”

He raised his fingers in a friendly salute.

“Thanks for the laugh, guys! No hard feelings! Have a great night!”

With that, CzarThwomp, the man of humor more twisted than a pretzel in tornado acclaim, blithely strolled back into Babar Bar, leaving the now tittering Kurain leader and flustered pianist in his wake.

“Hee!” The psychic clapped a hand over her mouth. “Now that I know we aren’t getting busted for being in flagrante – DJ wasn’t kidding about this being a super religious country! – that was actually kinda funny!”

Phoenix didn’t respond, so she elbowed him in the ribs.

“Don’t you think so, Nick?”

He still seemed slightly traumatized by the whole encounter, while Maya was more than eager to get back to what they’d started – and then some!

“Fires of Abaddon! I can’t believe that guy!” He exclaimed, raking an agitated hand through his spikes. “There’s a ginormous difference between erotic and downright kinky!  Sexy throttling?! How could he honestly think I was engaging in such degenerate pervy actions in a public place? I wished I’d posed a stronger Objection!”

“Of course, there’s a difference!” Maya teased, hoping to lighten the slightly dampened mood with her usual mischievous nature. “Erotic is when you use a feather. Kinky is when you use the whole chicken!”

But Phoenix was in no mood for jest, a pensive scowl still marring his handsome face.

“I mean – suffering succotash! Do I really come across as the kind of guy who’d be into that sort of depravity?! I’m still trying to decide if that joker was serious or kidding about it seeming like I was trying to choke you just now!”

The diviner tittered slightly at the outburst, endeared yet simultaneously wanting nothing more than to sit on his lap, run her fingers through those silky black hair spikes again, and kiss the tongue right out of his mouth.

“Forget him, Nick!” Maya insisted, trailing a fingernail down his neck and down to his collarbone in what she hoped was a tantalizing fashion. “The DJ was simply yanking your chain – and you made it way too easy for him to do so!”

He glared incredulously at her. “Say what?!”

“Oh, come on! Even strangers in a completely foreign country can tell how easy it is to get under that thin skin of yours, Old Man!”

Phoenix’s furrowed brow began to smooth out slightly as she soothingly ran a hand up the back of his neck and over his spikes as she continued to speak.

“All that should matter is I had no objections whatsoever to anything you were doing! Truth be told, I was quite relishing those hot little hands of yours stroking my neck… along with everywhere else that they were roaming during our canoodling!”

“R – Really?” He blushed adorably. “You didn’t think I was getting a bit too carried away?”

“Yes, really, you sexy dork!” She laughingly wrapped her arms around him. “Now take me back in those big, strong arms again already!”

Phoenix wordlessly obliged; he was too taken aback by her forwardness to put up any resistance.

Maya allowed herself a small, self-satisfied smirk.

Now, this is more like it!

As she moulded her body against his, she could plainly see, even in the dim twilight, the sensual glow returning to his cobalt orbs, as if they were lit with an inner power from the silver moonlight.

“Now, where were we? Oh yes, that’s right, I was lying to you about my enjoyment of us making out like bandits just now!” Umber eyes twinkled impishly. “Nope, I didn’t enjoy any of that in the least! Let’s do it again so I can not enjoy it some more!”

His lips curled slightly at the corners, and tiny lines appeared at the edges of his eyes.

“If I were to resume what we both know was merely some innocent yet admittedly horny teenager level necking again, you do realize, because it’s us, that something else is gonna go awry, don’t you?” He chuckled ruefully. “Even attempting a redo, mostly due to my accursed luck, we just wouldn’t be safe from the risk.”

“Risk?”

“Yes, risk! As fortune’s fool, this time, despite there being an audience nearby inside, I’d probably get indicted of lewdly trying to get you naked, right here on this deck!” He joked. “And while you may get a kick from giving these folks something to talk about, Maya, my days of public indecency are long over!”

The Master had to bite her lip to contain her laughter.

Innocent necking was how Phoenix innocuously referred to their fiery make-out session.

Whereas she’d been seriously contemplating stripping the clothes off her lover and molesting him right there on the lānai, not giving a rat’s arse about the scads of bar patrons only several yards away on the other side of that door!

“Kiss me, Nick,” she demanded, deciding to throw caution to the wind. “Make like I’m a piano and lay those hands on me! But this time, no holding back!”

That being said, if you kiss my neck again, I’m not responsible for what happens next…

His surprised expression almost made her laugh, but she licked the tip of his nose instead and shimmied herself against him. Instantly, his blue orbs became so full of burning heat that she swore they’d commenced her blood boiling. Without any further preamble, he grabbed her ass and pulled her close, seizing her lips with a zeal that lit her into an inferno. She slid her hands into his hair and kissed him, their fused mouths ablaze. She bit his lower lip and sucked it into her mouth while continuing to back up against the wall, snaking her leg around his hip once more.

The flames swept over them both as he deepened the kiss, his tongue twined with hers while his hands stroked down her back to dig into her behind. Maya wiggled her pelvis against his, causing him to moan into her mouth, a sound she wanted to echo. His lips were hot, but his tongue was a total pyre, leaving little tingles that seemed to light other fires within her, deep fires, secret fires.

Instantly, her body was full of demands. Her breasts wanted his hands and mouth on them, her fingers wanted to skim every reachable part of him, her loins yearned to rock against his…

And that whole area in my body devoted to reproductive activities is having a block party and insisting that Nick join the fun! Holy testicles and great balls of fire! When did I turn into such a wanton hussy who shamelessly will do whatever the voices in my panties tell me to?!

Spending all those years by his side, Phoenix had been many things to Maya: employer, confidante, hero…and her friend. Moreover, her best friend, but nothing more.

Nevertheless, now that he was back in her life – and her arms – being friends was no longer enough. She wanted – needed – him to be more.

For them to be more.

Oh, Holy Mother help me, I’ve tried to quell my libido, but it’s having none of it! Not while my body is all but mugging his, my hands entangle in his hair, his hands on my ass pull me even closer, and between us, an inferno grows hotter and hotter with each stroke of his tongue. Heat swamps me, that mythical but all too real Phoenix fire, setting every atom inside me alight with need and desire and a wanting so great, it scares me.

How could she have this sort of a reaction to a man who’d only just resurfaced back into her life – on that very same night?

Yeah, Nick, you’re my best friend … but I’d so fuck your brains out if you asked!

“What?!”

Stupefied navy orbs, the size of saucers, were currently goggling down at her now, and his jaw had dropped to his chest.

And that was when the Master realized that somewhere, amidst his mouth sucking at her neck and her lips nipping at his ear lobe, she’d actually murmured the words out loud!

She felt her cheeks flush guiltily. Those filched drinks from earlier had not only loosened her inhibitions but also her libidinous tongue – in more ways than one!

Mocha orbs widened in attempted virtuousness, hoping to downplay the mortifying musings of her incorrigible inner hoochie mama!

“What?” She echoed innocently.

“Sweet sizzling soupspoons, buddy! Are you deaf? I heard her from here!” Another voice, female and rife with merriment, suddenly floated across the patio. “Girlfriend straight up declared she’d fuck your brains out if you asked!”

Phoenix turned crimson at this validation from a third party, but the bawdy spirit medium simply giggled at the audacious wit of the disembodied voice as it continued.

“And dang! Talk about setting off some smoke alarms! Even from a distance, I could deduce those DTF, come-hither vibes emitting off her like a radio antenna! Maya’s hot just like an oven, and needs some lovin’! And when she’s got that feeling, she needs… sexual healing!”

“Nnghuuurk!” Was all the mortified DILF could muster in response to the Marvin Gaye goading as the ruthless witness pressed on.

“Even Stevie Wonder could see that hottie is hankering for you to be filling her out like an application, Phoenix! The ball-slappy variety that’s so damn nasty, there will be zero doubt that you’re both going to hell!”

“Ha-ha! Nick here used to be an Ace Attorney, so really, it’d be more like filling out the autopsy report – after Edgeworth updated it!”

Maya was openly laughing now, obviously not discomfited in the least, while Phoenix gawped at the object of his affection like she’d acquired a second head. The Burger Queen had always been bold, even outright shameless compared to him, but this was a whole new level of brazenness entirely!

“I admit it! All of it! I am blatantly guilty of being a newly outed nymphomaniac! AKA, a woman obsessed with sex as an average man!”

He recoiled slightly, finally noticing the slight slur in the village leader’s speech.

Holy hellballs! Exactly how much alcohol was in those mystery cocktails that she swiped earlier?!

Equally as baffling was not only how lightning could be striking so fast for the second time in a row, but why this newest source of mockery was gradually becoming recognizable!

That’s when it hit him.

“Jumping Mexican beans!” Phoenix craned his neck in the direction of what appeared to be talking bushes located by the door. “Lyn? Lyn Gwee’nee? Is that you?”

“Busted!” The guitarist sheepishly poked her head out from behind the tall shrubs where she’d been crouching. “Hey there, guys!”

“We thought you’d left!”

“I swear, I’m not a Peeping Tom! I did leave you two alone to have some privacy after I played the mood music for y’all and meandered back inside. However…”

She grimaced.

“Someone started warbling “No One” by Alicia Keys! Although it’s a big hit, I hate that wretched song! It’s always on all the R & B radio stations, but to me, it just sounds like she’s playing the same note on the piano repeatedly, and is screeching more than singing! I swear, if I’m ever forced to endure that gorked drivel, I’ll know it’s because I’m dead and was banished to the bowels of the Netherworld for all eternity…because I drove myself off a cliff!”

The guitarist emerged fully from her hiding place then.

“Hand to heart, those bushes obstructed most of the view, so I could hear more than I could see your nearly X-rated show!”

Lyn crossed her arm and frowned disapprovingly at the pianist.

“Nevertheless… holy cranberries, Phoenix! I saw the chemistry between you lovebirds during that Phil Collins serenade, and I can’t believe you still haven’t asked Maya to visit Pound Town by now! Even before you started sucking out each other’s fillings, I could’ve steamed a side of broccoli with the looks y’all were exchanging, obviously forgetting that someone else was present to witness everything!”

The anterior legist had no comeback for this whatsoever! Averting his gaze, he pulled his beanie back on and awkwardly scratched the back of his head in response to the pointed look he was now receiving from both women, including the one still in his arms!

“…I’d have thought by now, there’d at least be booby groping and/or reaching for Beanie Man’s zipper – oh snap! – he’s wearing joggers! Never mind, that’s beside the point! Guess Smooth Operator was trying to be some sort of gentleman since he’s only got his hands on da booty!”

Phoenix groaned in humiliation, hastily dropping his free hand off his smooch partner’s heart-shaped backside, where it’d drifted during their heated embrace and been mindlessly resting, while simultaneously pushing the diviner away from him so fast, it was as though she’d suddenly burst into flames!

“Tee hee!” The spirit medium twittered gaily. “Am I suddenly too hot to handle, Nick?”

“That’s it! We’re outta here!” He grabbed her hand and nodded brusquely at the smirking musician as he proceeded to pull Maya towards the doors. “It’s been a most unforgettable experience meeting you, Lyn. Goodnight.”

“Byee Lynee!” Maya waved at the other woman over her shoulder as she allowed Phoenix to haul her inside. “Hey, Nick, no need to be so forceful with the arm jerking! Like, OK, you win! I’ll come in for one drink and then maybe sex – but that’s it!”

Phoenix abruptly stopped walking.

“Holy mayonnaise and all the little condiments, Maya!” He spun around and ogled her incredulously. “Do I need to try to find that server and find out exactly what hellfire was in those drinks you had earlier? Because apparently, they’ve eliminated any marginal trace of discretion you may have ever possessed! I haven’t heard such an unsettling lack of diplomacy since that fumfering Fox Boy’s trial, where Apollo had to defend an adolescent Vanilla Ice wannabe who had all the tact of a pit bull on cocaine!”

Rather than be affronted by his uncharacteristic outburst of disapproval, she only giggled.

“Boop!” She playfully tapped him on the nose. “You are so darn cute when you’re mad, Nick, do you know that?”

“Sugary scuppering salamanders!” He tugged at his cap in frustration. “I’m going to save the lecture on your inappropriate behavior tonight for when you’re more coherent! Right now, my top priority is getting something in you!”

“Frick on a stick with a brick!” She winked salaciously. “I finally get to meet the legendary Penix Wright? Just based on the feeling of that thing rubbing against me earlier, I can already understand why you’ve got such a huge fan base…cuz it’s only fitting!”

Phoenix could only stare at her in shocked silence, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at this point.

“Holy sex me now!” Maya grabbed his hand and began hauling him towards the exit. “Let’s get out of here while I prove to you my tongue can do a better job of teasing you than my words can!”

Another saucy wink.

“I just hope Penix fits! I’m almost fretful that Vlad the Impaler might poke out the top of my head and give me a dolphin blowhole!”

“Holy jellyfish paste on a stick!” He finally found his voice, even though it came out as a spluttered croak. “When the heck did you get such a dirty mind, Maya?!”

“I’ve had sex with you a lot…in my head…ever since you shoved your tongue in my mouth!” She stuck out her tongue. “And for the record, Old Man, I don’t have a dirty mind! I have a sexy imagination!”

Of course, you do, Count Drunkula! Phoenix moaned inwardly as he cursed his rotten luck. And because Fuck My Life, I just had to discover that the woman of my dreams is a frisky vixen when she’s half-cocked…and thus hankering for mine! Therefore, there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of us doing some “we shouldn’t be doing this” things tonight!

“Very funny, La Femme Drunkita!” His long legs made such hurried strides as he hauled her towards the bartender that she had to almost run to keep up. “I was talking about getting some water into you!”

Paying little mind to manners at this point, Phoenix slammed his hands atop the bar, courtroom bench style, to get the tapster’s attention.

“Three glasses of water, Joe, please, and thanks.”

“Worked up a sweat tonight, did you, Mr. Wright?” Joe accommodated the request with a friendly smile. “Either that or you’re a camel in disguise!”

“Something like that,” the card shark mumbled, taking a water glass for himself and then sliding one of them at Maya, who downed it greedily. “Drink up, buttercup.”

As soon as she had drained the first glass, he immediately passed her the second.

“Keep chugging! We are trying to dilute God only knows what levels of booze and fermented yak’s milk here!”

He dragged a weary hand down his face, and the mixologist flashed him a knowing smile.

“Looks like you’re ready to call it a night, good traveler,” Joe observed. “Are you and the lady ready to retire for the evening?”

Casting a concerned glance at the raven-haired beauty’s overly bright eyes and flushed cheeks, Phoenix nodded swiftly.

“Yes, I think so.”

“Very good, sir. I took the liberty of having the bellhop take your duffel bag upstairs to Miss Fey’s suite, where her luggage’s already been transported. Here’s the key to your room. The two of you are staying in the penthouse.”

“Room?” The spiky-haired man blinked. “As in, there’s only one? For the both of us?”

“Apologies if it seems presumptuous, but your lodging benefactor only prepaid for the one room,” Joe explained. “We were completely booked for the night, and the penthouse was the only thing available.”

Phoenix just continued to stare at the mixologist with a gobsmacked expression.

“Ah, I hope there isn’t an issue with that,” he added uneasily, noting the spiky-haired man’s unsettled expression. “The deluxe accommodations include two king-size beds…”

“What’s the problem, you old fart?” Maya hiccupped slightly as she leaned over the beanie-wearer’s arm and beamed winsomely at Joe as she grabbed the key from him. “Why are you being so contrary with this poor guy? It’s hardly the first time you and I have shared a room! Have you forgotten the time Pearly bamboozled us into spending the night in the honeymoon suite at the Gatewater Hotel?”

Mumbling his thanks to the barkeep, this time Phoenix found himself being the one dragged away, as the suddenly vigorous spirit medium determinedly marched them out of the bar and towards the elevators.

The moment they were out of sight, Joe took a furtive glance around him, then picked up the phone and spoke quickly into the receiver.

“Yes, it’s done. Everything is going according to plan, just as you anticipated…”

Holly Muh’Dar Mahal, Kingdom of Khura’in
July 11, 2026

“We had a blast during our last sleepover, Nick, don’t you remember? We watched Steel Samurai movies and passed out on the couch, because we dove headfirst into the room mini bar, and drank to the point where we couldn’t see a hole in a ladder – and don’t you dare say stepladder!”

And that’s all that’s happening tonight, as well – except this time, I haven’t drunk a thing, and I’m not going to! Phoenix vowed to himself as they got into the lift. I’ve had way too many drunken indiscretions over the years myself, so I’ve no desire to become a morning-after regret to the woman I love – no matter how desirous I find her! I could never take advantage of Maya in this vulnerable state, even though I know she’s going to be mighty miffed at me when she finds that out!

The second the doors had closed, the uninhibited Master was again all over the poker champion like the hair on the floor of a barbershop, making his gentlemanly resolve weaken dangerously.

Sweet sassy molassy! Phoenix gulped as Maya began nipping at his neck and jaw. She’s going to make this as hard as possible for me, isn’t she?!

His johnson straining inside his sweatpants uncomfortably confirmed this fact, as she then began cupping and squeezing his ass with both hands.

Shit! Hard… literally and figuratively! Argh! I’m only human dammit! Quick, Phoenix! Think unsexy thoughts…er…Wendy Oldbag twerking in a bikini! There! That should ensure I never get bonerific again…ever!

Maya was still attempting to climb him like a jungle gym by the time they got to their suite right there in the hallway, not even letting him push the door open once he’d put the key in. She pinned him and his arms against the wall and was now inching her mouth against his.

His resistance was left behind in the dust. Instead, he let it bleed into lust for the sexy as hell vixen before him.

He lifted a hand to stroke her hair, lowering his mouth toward hers, inch by inch. He held her gaze; his indigo orbs dark and intense, mesmerizing.

The small, clear-headed part left in her mind knew all of this was sheer madness. That she wanted more from him than he could probably give her at this point in his life; that he was a man with a tarnished reputation, both professionally and personally, to say the very least. He wasn’t going to be here in the country for more than a few nights, so he had no business touching her, and she had no business wanting him to. She should have stopped him. But she didn’t.

He reached for her, holding her face in his hands and his lips pressed to hers in a hungry kiss. His tongue brushed by her lips as his fingers tightened on her face, and she eagerly opened her mouth, letting him in.

She shivered at the first touch of his lips, blinking as if the contact had given her a shock. Then he settled his mouth over hers, and all thoughts ceased. Her lids drifted shut. Her hands wound into the fabric of his shirt. Phoenix pulled her close, slanting his mouth across hers, taking possession of it. At the first intrusion of his tongue, she gasped a little, and he seized the opportunity to thrust slowly, deeply, into the honeyed warmth of her mouth.

She tasted sweet, and she felt like heaven against him. He groaned deep in his chest and pressed closer. The scent of her filled his head. Not expensive perfume, but soap and baby powder. He spread his legs and inched closer, fire shooting through him as his thighs brushed the outside of hers and his groin nudged her belly.

The need was instantaneous and stronger than anything he’d known in a long time. Strong enough to make him think, something he generally avoided doing when he was enjoying a lady’s charms. It was crazy to want like this.

A groan of defeat left him as her tongue moved past his, causing his breath to hitch. It was deliciously hot, and exhilarating to know that she had such power over him. They’d been through far too much and had no clue of where they were headed in the future, but for the moment, Maya wanted carnality.

She broke the kiss as his hands slid down her back and over the curve of her buttocks, squeezing roughly as his mouth found her neck. The strong pulls against her skin left her breasts aching for a turn under his attention.

“All those other women, Nick, did they mean anything to you? I need to know.”

She slid her hands under his hat and yanked it off, raking her fingers through his spikes as she cupped his head against her. His tongue brushed by her lobe and she whimpered while neediness pumped through her. To have someone you wanted so intensely be yours for the moment when you really wanted it to be forever, was almost unbearable.

“None of them. I swear it.” He ran his nose up the side of her neck and pressed his mouth to her ear. “You are the only woman I want in my bed. In my life.”

She summoned the willpower to pull her mouth free of his and step back – but only because she honestly couldn’t wait much longer.

“Nick, I need you. Now.”

“Jesus.” He glanced around and ran a hand through his hair. Those long, piano-playing fingers were shaking. “I forgot where we were – we aren’t even inside our room yet!”

His breathing was ragged and he had to use his foot to push the unlocked door open, the lusty psychic still plastered against him as they stumbled into the suite.

“Maya, you make me forget everything but you.”

Her heart raced at the words, and the wave of love she felt for this indelible man, the one whom she’d been without for so long, washed over her with the force of a tidal wave.

Nick, without you the world goes by like a bad movie – exciting in all the wrong ways and lagging in-between. I was never locked into my own head when you were here. It was like we drew the essence of one another from our skulls and combined it in a way that is only meant for the gods. You were my elixir; I was your sunshine. Seasons come and go, as do the celebrities and politicians. None of it means anything anymore. I know I’m lonely and the conventional cure is to find a friend, but next to even the memory of you, these devout strangers, they aren’t friends at all. They’d drop me in lava if they thought the rest of the world, or the Holy Mother, would approve, whereas you would have stopped earth it on its axis to save me from harm, no matter what anyone else thought. I guess I’m spoilt. You were my prince, I was your princess, and together we were richer than all the money ever created. I love you. I’m afraid to tell you that because I may be slightly too drunk for you to believe me, but I honestly love you.

She raised her gaze to meet his, lips curving upward as she saw his adoring expression and gentle smile.

“I know earlier I said you were really cute when you were mad, but I don’t know if I’ve ever told you how sexy you are when you smile?” She nibbled her way back to his chin, where she swirled her tongue around the cleft in it. At the same time, she shoved his opened hoodie off his shoulders and slid her hands inside his T-shirt, delighting at the sensation of his granite pecs under her palms.

He heaved a sigh, and his lips hovered over hers, but despite her tipping up her head in welcome, he pushed away gently. Phoenix at this point in his life was all too skilled in how to persuade a woman with kisses, with the touch of his fingertips across her skin. But he didn’t want to be the only one wanting if the other half wasn’t in the right mindset to know what she was doing.

He wanted her to want, too, just as badly as he did. Enough that she had to act on that want – but out of her own desires, not those fuelled by alcohol.

“You have no idea how you tempt me. How I want to hold you and possess you. How I wish to breathe in your scent and feel the warm satin of your skin against mine. I need all this with a desperation that is almost making me insane, but I can’t, Maya. If I was to so much as kiss you again, I would not be able to maintain control.”

“You don’t want to make love to me?” Her face fell. “Is it because I pale in comparison to all those others you’ve been with? That you just don’t find me as comparatively desirable?”

“Of course, I want you, you crazy girl.” He pulled her hand up to his mouth to kiss her fingers before releasing them, his gaze intense. “Maya Fey, if you realized how beautiful you were, you would fall at your own feet.”

“Then why won’t you have me?” She cried in frustration. “Is it because we’ve been friends for so long?! Because that makes no sense to me at all! You can’t ruin a friendship with sex. That’s like trying to ruin ice cream with chocolate sprinkles!”

In a mindless frenzy, she reached into the neckline of her shift, exposing her ivory breasts to his view before grabbing his hands and putting them on her bared flesh.

Phoenix barely stifled a tortured whimper at the feel of those tantalizing globes, both perky and firm, rubbing against his palms. Meanwhile, south of the border, the straining of his raging
hard-on had gotten so bad that his boxers were threatening to pop open at the seams!

Holy Odin and all the little cherubs, Wendy Assbag, you are the most useless of cock juggling thundercunts! He thought grimly. Because even tormented, flagellation thoughts of the decrepit, withered heinie belonging to a hag who’s so old that she burps dust wasn’t enough to keep PENIX Wright dangling at six o’clock! If anything, he’s back at midnight… with a vengeance!

Maya had slid off her sandals along with the purple robe from her shoulders, now only wearing her loosened shift – and an indignant scowl. The fact that he didn’t want to take her virginity stung.

Her mouth moved into a sensual pout.

“Old Man, are you honestly looking at these right babies now, at me, and still saying you don’t want to get with this?”

Holy humping mountain goat! She’s making it nigh impossible not to take another kiss from that mouth. Even harder not to rip off her dress and take her right here on the floor!

Phoenix reluctantly pulled his hands away from her bust and shook his head with lament.

“You see, it’s hearing you say those kinds of lines – which I wouldn’t recommend even if you were sober, which you obviously aren’t! – that makes me surer than ever that you’re in no position to make any sort of decision. At least, not one you’ll probably repent tomorrow morning.”

He took the sullen psychic’s hand, led her to the bed, and sat down beside her.

“Maya, I care for you and I want you. Most importantly, I respect you. I don’t want to be your beer-goggled lust object or the man who takes advantage of you in this altered state.”

The moue turned from sensuous to stubborn.

“You’re not taking advantage of me. I’m the one who kissed you, remember?”

“I’d hate to have you wake up with regrets, which is the likely outcome if I give into your feminine wiles.” This was even more difficult than he’d thought it would be. Because the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings. He didn’t want her to think that he didn’t desire her like crazy. “I want this more than you can imagine, but I need you to be completely with me.”

“You think I only want you because I’m drunk?” She gasped in dismay, even though her mind had begun to spin, so much that she had to lie back on the bed. “Nick, are you insane in the membrane? How can you sell yourself so short?! Have you seen you?! After I got past the initial shock over what a hunk you’d become over the years, I felt dizzy with the lust the moment I set sight of you!”

“When you were already down two glasses of fermented yak’s milk,” he reminded her softly, leaning over and carefully folding up the duvet, shielding her bared bosom from his ravenous gaze. “I have had – and probably even been the cause of – way too many drunken mistakes over the years. I won’t let myself be another one, not to the woman who matters most to me in the world. I need you to understand how hard it is not to give into my basic instincts, which I’ve mindlessly done all this time, because of how much you mean to me. How much you always have, and always will, mean to me.”

He put a finger against her lips, silencing any protest she was about to make.

“Maya, you aren’t simply my best friend, you have become part of my soul. Whenever life became a storm, you were the boat that kept the briny water from entering my lungs. You were my lighthouse when I needed it and I thank you for all that I am. Yet this storm isn’t over; the winds rage and seek to crush what they can never be. I must know my own strength, test it, find truth and liberty, to realize that no prison can hold me. Only then will I know that I am doing what I choose to do, that my love is a choice, a gift to give. After I leave this country, it will be time, my friend, for me to walk alone, as I always knew I must, and try to clear the stigma that’s erroneously attached to my name. I will have Edgeworth’s help, of course, but the true onus will be on me alone to remedy this ostracization that now plagues me.”

He leaned over her, his loving gaze never leaving her searching, trusting one as he continued to speak from his heart.

“Yet wherever I go, a part of my light stays with you, as part of yours leaves with me, for we are kindred spirits, you and I. Twin souls. I will return, and sooner than you fear, with new strength to my legs, to my bones, strong enough to carry you. Heaven and hell can’t be the same thing, my love, and we’ll keep on looking, for a brighter tomorrow, together.”

He gently brushed her bangs from her eyes, which were now starting to droop.

“These feelings I have for you can’t end until my body ceases to function and my soul is released for whatever comes after. I know that somehow, they are embedded into my soul, that my love will endure. Even on my dark days, my love for you rides underneath it all, keeping my mind from sinking into the mire that claimed me in the past. I know that however deep I fear I’ve fallen; you will be there like solid ground steady me, giving me time to climb back into positivity.”

He rolled onto his side and cradled her against him.

“And that’s why I will sleep with you tonight – though not quite in the way you wanted me to. However, it will be in a way I have never done so with any other woman.”

He pulled her towards him so that she was nestled back into his chest and stroked her satiny hair.

“Lie with me. Let me memorize the curvature of your spine, the way your shoulder blades rise and dip. Breathe slow, stay still – until the time seems to stop around us. I’ll fall in love with your half-smile, the crinkle of your eyelids, the fanned sweep of your lashes against my cheek. Let me drown in your arms, the gentle firmness of your body alongside mine. I won’t let you go at any point. Not at this moment. So, please, Maya, lay beside me. It’ll be the truest thing I ever did.”

He paused, at last, nervously wondering what her riposte would be to all this now that he’d laid everything on the line. He was floored when his ardor was only met with silence… and then the faint whinnying sound of the spirit medium snoring, just like Pegasus from Disney’s Hercules.

And… She’s asleep. Which means she didn’t hear a damn word I just said!

Phoenix expelled a disappointed sigh.

Sweet suffering sycophants! It’s not like I wrote any of that baring of my soul down, either! How am I going to remember all that tomorrow morning, when I’ll have to repeat everything – again?!

Like the masochist he was, the former attorney couldn’t resist lifting the bedcover to take one final peek at those delectable mounds he’d somehow found the Herculean strength to resist.

Her breasts were a divine fit for her slender body, not overly large but plump, with prominent nipples that were not quite pink and not quite tan. The small areolas were raised, giving the peaks a slightly puffy look that practically beckoned him to take one into his mouth…

With a muffled grunt, he clapped a hand over his eyes while he pulled the duvet back over the slumbering woman, effectively hiding her breasts from view again.

Holy hallucinations! I still can’t believe I turned those down! I can’t even blame it on my being drunk! I may as well have fulfilled Jean/Jacob/Klavier’s debauched fantasies and just done the whole man-love experimentation thing, had I’d known this would be the inevitable turnabout! At least then, I could, as the newest member of the gay community, then claim that my noble decision to abstain made sense! However, if Larry ever heard about me turning this Venus down tonight, he’d still smack me upside the head and say: “Nick! You goddamn dumbass! Nobody’s that gay! Not even me!” And the worst part of that would be that I wouldn’t even be able to pose any feasible OBJECTION!

Presidential Suite Bathroom, Holly Muh’Dar Mahal
July 12, 2026

When Maya woke up, she could tell by the lack of sunrise streaming through the large picture windows that it was still dark out, so while she was unsure of the time, she could tell it wasn’t yet dawn.

Also, she was filled with numerous sensations at once.

Ugh! I need to pee so bad that my back teeth are floating, my scratchy throat feels as parched as the Sahara Desert but even worse…my head feels like a bunch of monkeys fighting over a bucket of marbles!

Despite these factors, as she hopped out of bed and crept into the bathroom, she paused to peer at her reflection in the mirror and saw that despite her somewhat disheveled appearance, she was grinning like an idiot.

What she saw in the glass was the face of someone who was madly in love. Moreover, it was also the face of someone who was loved in return.

Because Phoenix Wright loved her.

The pure truth of that statement resonated within her solar plexus.

Sure, he’d told this to her when she’d been almost dead to the world, but it still counted!

Maya had felt so safe, so warm, as she’d floated in that in-between space between sleep and coming completely awake. She knew exactly where she was, knew precisely why she felt so good. Phoenix was holding her, his arms curled protectively around her shoulders, with one of his hands splayed flat over her stomach beneath the blankets as if he were trying to protect more than just her.

She’d heard the sentimental murmurings in her ear as she’d drifted off, unable to keep her heavy lids open if her life had depended on it, but it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d heard all his confessions or not. It’d been evident in his caring tone, and his arms, while he’d held her all night against his chest, cradling her against him as if he’d never let her go.

At some point in the night, while she’d been teetering on the brink of consciousness and unconsciousness, off into what would be a sound, dreamless sleep, she’d heard his soft voice lovingly singing into her ear, all the while keeping her cocooned in the safety of his strong arms, while he tucked his chin on top of her head.

It had to have been love in his touch during the night. The tenderness, the poignancy, the mellifluousness, the desperation—in her logical, analytical mind, those components added up to more than mere lust, she was sure.

Even if she hadn’t heard his declarations while she was passing out, there had no mistaking that velvety voice crooning those poignant lyrics in the middle of the night.

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
Emeralds from mountains and thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I’ll be captivated, I’ll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

I’ll be your cryin’ shoulder
I’ll be love suicide
I’ll be better when I’m older
I’ll be the greatest fan of your life

And rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You’re my survival, you’re my living proof
My love is alive and not dead

Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I’ll be captivated, I’ll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

I’ll be your cryin’ shoulder
I’ll be love suicide
I’ll be better when I’m older
I’ll be the greatest fan of your life…

Phoenix loved her – so much that he’d refused to take advantage of her, even though she hadn’t been drunk enough to have not been coherent to all she’d said and done. While she may have blurred out some things that were slightly cringeworthy in hindsight, Maya vividly recalled the sincerity behind all her actions, including but not limited to her admittedly clumsy seduction endeavors.

Now that her head was clear, though, she could also understand the unspoken message, loud and clear, about the true underlying reason he’d turned her down.

Because Phoenix wanted more from her than what he’d been to all these women over the years – a sexy stud muffin for the night, but nothing more.

Sex is the consolation you have when you can’t have love. But sex without love is as hollow and ridiculous as love without sex.

Maya clearly understood that now. Moreover, she needed to let him know that she was different from the others. She wanted more than just his body. She wanted intimacy.

Intimacy creates understanding and understanding creates love.

She wanted all of Phoenix Wright – mind, heart, and soul.

Nick, because your love is so whole, my missing pieces appear. Because your touch carries such passion, what was scarred becomes healed once more. Because you are steady and patient, my open wounds have time to seal and vanish. Perhaps that is why they say love is such magic, this gift from the universe, this avid addiction to the man I was born to find. For with my twin soul, the only other born in the same flame as I, we can bathe one other in warmth and light as easily as we breathe, immune and oblivious to darkness.

Stepping into the shower, the brunette was already jovially humming the song in her heart while the warm water cascaded over her.

To love somebody is to learn to sing the song in their heart and sing it to them when they have forgotten it. When we fall in love, we are feeling what our soul is feeling. Fall in love with all of life and your heart will sing your soul’s song.

Phoenix wouldn’t be an easy man to love. He’d branded himself unworthy, thought of himself only in terms of his flaws. He might try to push her away in the name of caring, reject her heart and call it fate. Nonetheless, she would still go to him. Confess her love and offer him everything she was, everything her heart could hold.

She’d never imagined that loving someone would feel like falling in love with darkness, frightening and consuming yet utterly marvelous when the stars came out – yet that’s what it was.

That’s what Nick was.

Her beloved, valiant knight in shining armor was the brightest star of all.

Her diamond in the sky.

The spirit medium was feeling positively buoyant as she began to sing, unaware that only a few feet away, she now had a very captive audience.

Presidential Suite, Holly Muh’Dar Mahal
July 12, 2026

It was the best night’s sleep Phoenix had had in years, if not ever.

For the longest time, he’d fought back the urges of slumber as best he could. He didn’t want to close his eyes and fall asleep, because he didn’t want to lose out on one moment of feeling Maya’s quiescent form, so impeccably moulded against his. The two of them had slept like custom-fit jigsaw puzzle pieces; it’d been a sublime bliss he’d never known before.

At some point, she’d rolled over and had spent the rest of the night sleeping face-to-face with him, head tucked under his chin and lips grazing his neck.

The simple act of holding Maya in his arms – and then waking up with that same woman – was such an intimate feeling that sex paled in comparison. He felt that he hadn’t simply been close to her, but at one point, he didn’t know where he ended and she began.

To have the keeper of my heart here in bed with me, breathing on me, her hair in my mouth – I count that as something of a miracle.

Foolish thoughts. Foolish heart. But for this night he would cling to them as he clung to the woman in his arms, and soothe his aching soul with visions of love.

Phoenix couldn’t recall at what point he’d finally lost the battle with Mr. Sandman and passed out, but he woke up later feeling slightly chilled and realized it was because the warmth of Maya’s body was gone. She was no longer in the bed with him.

When had she woken up? And how deep of a journey-bated coma had he fallen into that he hadn’t even noticed?

At first, the groggy pianist thought he must have been dreaming – how else to explain the sound of an angel singing?

Another day, it’s like a new beginning
And so today I know it’s a new start
And all the bad times are disappearing
‘Cos now I know that we’ll never be apart

Frowning in concentration, Phoenix sat up and tilted his head in the direction of the ariose sound … then realized it was coming from, of all places, the bathroom!

You’re the one that makes me feel so high
(Just like the diamonds in the sky)
I never want to hear you say goodbye
(‘Cos you’re my diamond in the sky)

“Maya?!” He was astonished. In all the years he’d known the spirit medium, he’d never known she was a songbird of any sort. “She can sing?!”

Another road that we must travel
Another night for you to show me the way
And so today I’ll give up dreaming
‘Cos now I know that I need you every day…

He even recognized the tune. Trucy loved listening to video game soundtracks and had lately gotten into playing retro games online. This ditty was from one of the old Sonic games, a series, she’d playfully teased her father, of which the spiky-haired hedgehog character reminded her all too much of her Daddy!

Where do all the rainbows go?
Is it to somewhere that I don’t know?
Wherever it is I want to go

The mental imagery of Maya in that shower right then, lush, feminine curves, all wet and soapy as she lathered those magnificent breasts, had his morning wood pitching such a massive tent under those sheets that Boy Scouts could have camped under it!

You’re the one that makes me feel so high
(Just like the diamonds in the sky)
I never want to hear you say goodbye
(‘Cos you’re my diamond in the sky)

Hmmm… I wonder how much of last night she recollects? If I jumped in there and offered to be her loofah sponge, I wonder if she’d let me…or would she slug me because she’s still upset with me for turning her down? But would she be crooning such a happy love song right now if that’s the case? Maybe…if she’s one of those people who simply like to sing in the shower?

His heart sank.

Or worse, now that she’s sober, what if the ‘beauty is in the eye of the beer holder’ allure is gone with the wind, and she wants to go back to being just friends…?

He was still thick and throbbing at the thought of Maya naked, with warm water streaming over her body just in the next room, and unfortunately, didn’t have very long to ponder how he was going to react, because the next thing he knew, the bathroom door opened!

Nrghk!

Phoenix quickly grabbed a pillow and shoved it into his lap just in time for Maya to come padding barefoot out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her head, a plushy white hotel bathrobe, and a tentative smile on her face.

“Good morning, Nick. …” she began hesitantly. “I hope I didn’t wake you…”

Her words died in her throat then, as she realized, in the dim lighting in the room coming from the bathroom, she could clearly see that while the lower half of his body was covered by the sheets as he sat up – with a pillow strategically placed in between his legs! – the top half of his body was completely bare.

Maya sucked in a sharp breath as his shirtless torso was exposed to her for the first time. Frothing desire wouldn’t quite describe her state. She was shocked, stunned, flabbergasted, amazed, wonderstruck, and mesmerized by his sinuous, underwear model physique. It was like nothing she’d ever seen before.

Man! I feel like a woman!

Phoenix’s body was downright drool-worthy.

Healthily glowing tanned skin. Broad shoulders, round and protruding, leading down to chiseled pecs, large but lean biceps, and well-defined forearms. She wouldn’t forget about those strong, manly arms that had held her last night for years to come. The cherry atop his masterpiece form were those washboard abdominals, which she knew she could easily scrub her clothes on…

…Right after she treated that six-pack, along with every square inch of him, to a tongue bath!

I want to extend my hands and touch them, but I also don’t want to creep him out. Look at me, notice me, know me, love me is what I’m begging him mentally, hoping that it shows in my eyes and that he’ll be able to somehow decipher my feelings and more roaring than ever libido…

“Good morning, Maya.” His voice sounded normal, thank heavens, although slightly cautious. “How do you feel?”

“I feel good. Refreshed. Energized.” Taking a deep breath, she timidly forced herself to walk over to the bed and sit down beside him. “Moreover, I’m sober now. And guess what?”

He cleared his throat.

“What’s that?”

For a moment the diviner’s courage almost failed her but then she steeled her nerves and let it all out.

“I heard you, Nick. As I was falling asleep last night, I heard pretty much everything you said to me last night.” Her lips trembled slightly as she raised limpid dark orbs to meet his dumbfounded ones. “I just need to know whether or not you meant it. If you still feel that way or if it was just the most perfect, incredibly romantic dream I’ve ever had my whole life.”

“You honestly believe I could’ve been bluffing in my explanation about why I’d turned down a night of passion with the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen? Please tell me you’re kidding!”

Phoenix stared at her beseechingly.

“Maya… You know everything I’ve been through with women all these years. I’ve kept no secrets from you. I’m not interested in light little flings, skin-deep attractions, or long, loveless relationships. With you, I only want a raw, full-blooded connection, to share a bond full of passion and breathtaking adventure. After all, love is not a pastime but a privilege.”

His voice broke and he stared down into his lap.

“But I have nothing to offer you right now. All I have to offer you is everything in me…though I’m quite painfully aware that presently it isn’t very much…”

His poignancy would have stolen her heart if there had been any part of it that he didn’t already have.

“Nick, please! I’m begging you, stop saying these awful things about yourself! My heart can’t take it anymore!”

Maya placed a hand on his cheek, marveling at the smooth, supple texture as she cradled it in her palm. She raised his chin so she could stare deep into those spellbinding zaffre orbs she adored so much. Her free hand slowly descended to stroke the skin of his left hand, ghosting over long, shapely fingers forged out of years of piano playing. Phoenix shuddered from the intimacy and shut his lids, leaning into the touch. He had no idea how much he’d craved this until now and released a blissful sigh.

“Love, true love begins when nothing is looked for in return.”

Tears burned in the back of her throat.

“I don’t ask for much. I have no desire nor care for your money or your status or lack thereof. I am not here to look at your employment or education status. Seriously, a formal education can’t teach you everything. All I am looking is for a sincere heart who loves me and wants to grow with me. Let’s leave all the ego and pride behind. Let’s forgo arrogance and complacency. For if you are the one that’s meant for me, as I know that you are, you need to know that I would give up everything just for you.”

A lone globule rolled down her cheek.

“There is nothing on God’s green earth I wouldn’t do for you, Phoenix Wright. Because you are my best friend. My human diary, and my other half. You mean the world to me and … I love you.”

The look of surprised joy on his face at her confession had her heart clenching hard in her chest and the tears coming so fast that they were already streaking down, one after the other. He raised his hand and gently wiped the liquid beads off her cheek with his thumb.

“If you heard what I said last night, then you already know that I love you, Maya. I always will.” There was confusion on his mien as the droplets continued to trickle down, faster and faster now. “So then why are you crying?”

“Because I love you so damn much, Nick.” She turned her wet cheek into his hand and kissed his palm, her heart in her eyes. “I’m crying because I just realized, once more, the suffering you’ve had to go through, all alone, and I can’t believe you made it out alive. Because I can’t take it; I can’t bear the fact that this world fucked you up so bad you can’t believe someone loves you.”

“I can’t believe someone like you can love me, because I don’t deserve it,” he whispered. “I’m just a walking, talking chaos! I’ve made such a mess of my life, of Mia’s law office and legacy…”

“Pump the hate breaks on that self-loathing train this instant, Phoenix Wright!”

Despite the firm command, Maya had to swallow back her tears as she took his face in her hands and looked him squarely in the eye.

“Let’s make things clear here and now. The one that doesn’t deserve to be lucky here is me. And with you, I hit the freakin jackpot, so don’t tell me again that you can’t believe me, because you’re a goddamn miracle. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or the dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.”

She lovingly caressed his cheek.

“And from here on, I will thank the Holy Mother every day not only for having you in my life but for letting you keep going with the shit you had to face all alone. You’re not alone anymore, Nick. And you’ll never be again.”

Phoenix lifted his gaze to meet those sable orbs, full of love and promise; needing to stare intently into her comely visage, to finally acknowledge the truth of what was between them as she continued to speak.

“The power of love doesn’t give me the right to meddle in your life, but should you ever need any sort of Wonder Woman, I’ll be right there. Know that you are good, that you have everything you need to be the man you were born to be. You are more than you know, less than you will become, and perfect to me in every way. To be in your company is a little slice of heaven; as if your aura were an elixir. Emotions swim in your eyes, in your body language, in the inflections of your voice – and all of that is masculine to me, emotions aren’t just for girls. You are a genuinely nice guy, and nice guys deserve to win. So, my wish for you is that you get whatever it is you truly need to be happy in this life, reach for the stars, and know that they shine for you as much as anyone else.”

She leaned forward and brushed her lips softly over his.

“They said we were nothing and showed not the smallest seed of love, and so our souls hurled and crumpled chaotic rainbows onto the high and vaulted ceiling; we are more alive than they, and we have the heart to win…so ha! We sure showed them! Fuck ’em all! Fuck ’em in the ear!”

As his eyes widened at this sudden turnabout in her moving proclamations, the spirit medium tittered, then leaned over and rested her forehead against his, a naughty smile playing on her lips now.

“Also, I simply wanted to let you know that I love you, even though you aren’t naked right now.”

The words were so unexpected after such an ardent, poetic speech that Phoenix let out a loud shout of laughter as he reached for Maya, threw her down onto the bed, and landed on top of her.

“God, it’s good to hear you say that! This waiting to have sex with you, it’s just a self-preservation thing… because once we go there, once we are that intimate, I’ll be even more in love with you. So, for my own sake, I needed to hear that you feel the same, that this is something you want, that you’ll keep me; that you want me to keep you. Because I never stood a chance of holding on to my heart with you.” He held her gaze. “Not for one single second.”

Then he flashed a wicked grin.

“As for me not being in the buff right now… that can easily be changed! But you first!”

If this was a bad idea, Maya couldn’t recall a single reason. If Phoenix stopped this time though, she would fucking slide-tackle him!

He didn’t stop. His lips were hot on her, scorching a line up her neck and he slowly untied the sash of her bathrobe and pulled the towel from her hair, so it lay, fanned out and damp, around the pillow.

Excitement drummed through her, any reservations completely absent, her senses overloaded. She smelled the faint musk of his cologne, along with his intoxicating, masculine scent. How could he possibly smell so good first thing before dawn?

When his clever tongue flicked beads of water from her dewy skin, the only thought in her mind was questioning how she’d been living without Phoenix her entire life.

Not living. Simply existing, from one day to the next.

He looped an arm around her, dragging her body tight against his, then gently took her earlobe between his teeth. Her knees went weak.

Just as she wondered if he could feel her nipples pressing against his bare torso, he murmured at her ear, “If this is what happens when I kiss along your neck, I wonder how you’ll react when I set my mouth to those magnificent breasts you flashed me last night!”

She gasped, as much from his words as from the burst of lust they caused. She couldn’t think. How did one answer a statement like that? Her mind cried: With a kiss!

He read her thoughts, kissing across her cheek, the corner of her lips, then fully on her mouth. When she parted her lips, still so unused to all this, he took the opportunity to flick his tongue between them.

Her hands flew to his shoulders, squeezing with delight. Those muscles moved sinuously beneath her fingertips, and all she wanted was for him to shuck off those pesky sweatpants already so he’d be as nude as she was!

With his palm cradling the entire back of her head, he eased his tongue into her mouth, carnally sweeping it against hers. When she moaned, he did it again. And again. He was teasing her to distraction.

But then he drew back, gazing down at her with a look of longing.

“Why’d you stop?” If her sex drive had been ramping up last night, it was now exploding! Why wasn’t he making more moves? Shouldn’t he be trying to feel her boobs or something? She wanted Phoenix touching her in eight places all at once!

Also, she preferred he do it this century! How to initiate this?

She struggled for something to say.

I need to lick you.

No.

My hand would be happier in your pants.

No!

Maybe he hesitated because he was afraid of hurting her.

“I’m, uh, tougher than I look.”

“Thank you, my love.” He swallowed audibly. “That’s good to know.”

My love. In that husky tone. Stifled shudder. Near orgasm already.

She almost wished she’d been with other guys, so she’d have known what to do in this situation. He had so much experience…whereas she’d never even kissed a man until him! What if he found her, and her lack of bedroom expertise to be…lacking?

“I’ve never done anything like this before.”

He flashed that bone-melting smile, looking both honored and pleased.

“My Maya’s a virgin?”

Her cheeks felt like they were on fire.

“Yes. Which means I don’t know the rules of this game.”

He grazed the backs of his fingers over her blushing face.

“The only rule you need to know is that nothing is out of bounds between us. Nothing.”

“Then why are you hesitating?”

“I’m savoring. I’ve been waiting for you my whole life—”

She buried her face against his neck and gave his skin a lick.

Phoenix bit out, “very well, I’ve savored enough” then pushed himself off her and hopped off the bed. He stood there for a second, fumbling with his joggers; they were difficult to pull down over his raging, harder than a bowling pin boner, but allowed her the hedonism of eye-banging the glorious sight of him again.

Wide shoulders, slim hips, rock-hard pecs, drool-worthy abs. Smooth, golden skin. An ink-black goody trail that disappeared into his joggers.

His bulging joggers. She could see the outline of his thick erection stretching to his right hip.

Aha! So that’s why there’s this accursed delay in removing them!

The Master had seen countless movies and photos of sexy men, actors, and models over the years; Phoenix made all those fitness types look like wannabes.

And he desired her. It was stamped on his face, in every line of his delectable body.

Maya knew well what it took for a man to have muscles like that, and she wanted to show him how much she appreciated the splendor of this view.

“Holy crapballs, Nick! How was it you never whipped that out and slammed it on the bench in your courtroom days?! Penix Wright would have won every single one of your arguments!”

Phoenix snickered at the quip, all the while carefully adjusting his penis until it pointed up, the head and a few inches emerging past the waist of his pants.

She sucked in a breath at the sight, squeezing her thighs together.

The crown was broad and taut, moistened across the slit. Veins swelled just beneath that flaring head. She was desperate to see more, to touch it. To taste it. She wanted to twirl her tongue around it like a candy cane.

Superman in every single way? Oh, hells yeah! I just hope he won’t be faster than a speeding bullet!

Finally, he peeled his pants and boxers down his strong, muscled thighs and toned calves, making her privy to the full sight of her superbly sculpted Adonis – in all his nubile, birthday suit glory!

Sweet salty balls! I just want to sink my teeth into the firm, gropable lusciousness of… DAT ASS!

Her mouth went dry as her appreciative orbs greedily drank in his callipygous physique. He was beautiful – strong, virile, and unapologetically male. Not to mention in certain areas, where he was very…blessed.

And after God made Nick, He smiled with pride and said…TA-DA!

“Now…” The poker champion waggled his jagged brows playfully as he leaped back onto the bed. “Where were we?”

The sight of the masculine perfection that was Phoenix, now as naked as the day he was born, had the diviner panting with desire. He stared hungrily at her heaving chest, his gaze so caressing that her breasts seemed to swell for him, aching for his big, manly hands to cover them. At the mere thought, she whimpered, thrusting them out.

“Oh, that’s right…” He reached under her bosoms and cradled them in his hands. “I recall those lovely breasts of yours were just begging for my attention.”

She got the impression that he was trying to remind himself to talk to her. What did he usually do in these kinds of situations? Again, she sensed that he was nervous; as if he was trying to memorize a thousand things as he went about this.

As he ran his hands just over the undersides and tops of her breasts, he tore his gaze away from the contrast of her pale skin against his tanned fingers, and there was more staring as he ravenously drank in every inch of her nude figure.

It made her begin to feel embarrassed and she was half-tempted to cover herself with her hands now.

“What’s up, Nick?” She gave a self-conscious laugh. “Why are you acting like this? Haven’t you ever seen a naked woman before?”

She was slender and sleek, but there was no mistaking her feminine curves – or her uncertainty about showing them to him. A delicate calescence rose to her neck into her cheeks as he studied her; as if she were afraid that he’d somehow find her lacking. Such which was a laughable notion, because she was such an embodiment of splendid feminine perfection that words temporarily failed him, and he had to swallow hard before he could speak.

“I wanted to cherish the experience this time, as I’ve seen the wrong women far too many times than I care to retain,” he answered hoarsely. “But never one that was mine.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. Rather than be taken aback by the bold claim, it only stirred her senses and warmed both her heart and blood. Mine. He’d said. More than anything, Maya wanted to be his. To belong to Nick, and only him, for the rest of her days.

Phoenix wanted her, had wanted her almost from the moment he’d set eyes on her at the bar, this angel with her alluring combination of fire and fragility. He wanted her in a way he hadn’t wanted a woman in a long time, if ever. He wanted her to be his, and never belong to any other man.

I’m a one-woman man from this moment, always united in soul and body… and so sex is an expression of love, of the bond, an intimacy that stretches gracefully into the thoughts, dreams, and wishes. To be choosy is different from being a prude, for once we are in love, everything we want to do is fun, it’s the right kind of play and my imagination is wild.

“Am I –” she bit her lip. “Am I what you were hoping for? After all this time?”

His eyebrows were drawn tight. He had to clear his throat before he could reply.

“Heaven help me, you’re a vision, Maya.” The flagrant starvation in his orbs was evident as they roamed over her bare form. “Come here before your beauty undoes me.”

He pulled her tight against him then, kissing her greedily, hungrily, letting her know his words were more than just the silver-tongued prattle of an experienced Lothario. They were the truth.

Her mouth was so soft, so damn sweet, as she pressed one kiss after another against his lips. If he could, he would have prolonged the gentle exploration. But he’d been waiting too damn long for this moment. Running one hand up her spine, he cupped the back of her neck and held her captive beneath him while he tasted her.

In return, she dished out everything she had. Pouring into him, marking him, trying to ensure that tomorrow, the next day, and thereafter, he wouldn’t be able to wipe her from his mind. She breathed his taste deep into her lungs, the raw male power that seeped from every pore.

When he finally drew back from the kiss, his gaze was so fixed on her straining nipples, she could almost feel it. She wanted to ask him to lick her there, to suck on her.

“Is this, um, different from what you normally did with the other women?”

The question made him tense up.

Was she expecting him to be…smoother with his moves, somehow?

Phoenix should have been in his element. Pleasing women in the sheets was what he did best – he’d stumbled upon, and then perfected the art over the years. It didn’t make sense, then, that her innocuous inquiry made him feel so far off his game, but clearly, it had. He’d gotten so totally lost in Maya that every other irrelevant sexual experience had fallen away – leaving him to have to figure it all out from scratch again…one kiss, one touch at a time.

Her redolence was everywhere, fragrant, and aroused. Her skin was impossibly silken. And when she trembled as he kissed her, when she gasped with pleasure as sensation took her over, his chest clenched tight.

God, she was beautiful. He just wanted to look at her, wanted to memorize every womanly curve, every hollow laid out before him.

“Very different,” he answered at last. “You could say day and night. I actually want to take my time with you.” A hesitant pause. “Why would you ask that? You don’t like how I am with you?”

So much was going on behind his suddenly inscrutable expression, but she couldn’t decipher any of it.

“Of course, I do!” She blushed from head to toe and cursed her inexperienced, sophomoric ass to kingdom come. “It’s just… I don’t know what to expect. This is all unchartered territory for me, after all.”

His apprehension immediately eased.

“Nervous?”

“Very?”

“Because it’s the first time?”

“No. I’ve been nervous before.”

A low chuckle. The warmth of his laughter washed over her the way it always did and helped settle her down some.

“Maya, what am I going to do with you?”

“Whatever you like. I want you.”

“For…?”

“Forever.”

“Oh.” His voice cracked slightly then. “Then your wish is my command, my love.”

The art of seduction is knowing what she really wants and slowly giving it to her in a way that takes her breath away.

Even in the muted lighting, she could see the silvery flecks in those orbs glowing mercurial light from the depths of smoldering sapphire. And then, with a groan, he straddled his arms on either side of her waist.

“Watch, Maya.” His lowered gaze was back at her breasts as he ran his thumbs over her stiffened peaks. “Look how responsive you are to my touch.”

She whimpered as he caressed the taut flesh again, firmer this time, and then again. Her skin puckered beneath his thumb.

“Please.”

He barely heard her request, the sound more a breath than a word, but he needed the exact same thing she did.

He bent his head down and she arched her back to make herself more available to him. In one smooth motion, he laved his tongue over her tender skin.

“Oh!” She gasped when his lips finally closed over her sensitive tips.

A part of him wanted to spend the rest of his time there, with his tongue on her breasts, running it across every inch of her silken skin, over both crests. But his lips, his teeth, had other ideas, and it was barely a moment later that he was closing his mouth down over her, swirling his tongue over her nipple even as his teeth lightly scraped the hardened bud.

“I love the way those topaz jewels of yours glaze when I touch you.” He dropped his hand to one jutting peak and thumbed it in a lazy motion that made her thighs quiver. “I love the taste and feel of you in my mouth.”

She made a gratified moan that had him throbbing dangerously against her. There was nothing feigned about her reactions to him. Ingénue or not, Maya was pure sensuality, just as he’d known she would be. He’d felt it in her responses to his kisses and caresses, and yet, being a part of that pleasure tonight in a more intimate manner, being the reason that she was drowning in desire, placed what he’d been feeling for her into another stratosphere entirely.

Turning his attention to her other breast, his mouth closed over the peak. She could barely breathe; she was so swollen she felt she was going to burst.

Then his fingers brushed her core, damp with arousal, wringing a strangled gasp from her. Bracing her firmly against him, he gently coaxed his knee between her legs and nudged them apart. She held her breath as he cupped her mound and slipped one finger between her folds.

Oh, holy damn, yes!

“You’re so wet,” he murmured against her throat.

She squirmed, suddenly self-conscious. Was she supposed to be that wet? Was there something wrong with her?

“So damn lovely.” His murmured words made it easy for her not to shut her legs as he stared at her. “So wet. For me.” His hand was back a moment later, sliding over her slick heat. “All for me.”

She let out a small whimper.

“Easy, my love.” His guttural voice dripped with promise as he rubbed her in languid circles that somehow soothed her aching yet still intensified it. “I won’t hurt you.”

No, he was doing the very opposite, making her feel things she’d never felt, and those things could all be described as heavenly.

His finger dipped inside her, and her knees wobbled. “M-more,” she breathed. She wanted him deeper, so deep she’d feel him there forever.

He obeyed, adding a finger, and pushing deep. “Damn, you’re tight. Try not to clench too much. I promise you’ll enjoy this more if you relax.”

Maya didn’t want to relax. She wanted to snatch at the coiled pressure and force it to finally go. Her body started to shake as a wave of tremors washed over her. Her lover’s rhythmic thrusts and skillful press on her clit trapped her in erotic urgency.

Phoenix, she’d quickly learned, never did anything by halves. And if he was intent on rocking her world, by God, he was going to all but blow it to smithereens!

He did something sinful with his fingers and stroked something inside that sent rapturous shocks of pleasure through her entire pelvis. She clenched around him as he pumped in and out, and when he pressed his thumb against her clitoris, she cried out loudly.

“That’s it,” he said hoarsely. “Ride my hand. I want to hear you scream in ecstasy.”

Scream? She could barely breathe, let alone scream!

He withdrew his fingers, which made her want to scream, but then he plunged them back inside and whispered hot, naughty things in her ear.

“I swear to you I won’t stop until your legs are shaking and the neighbors know my name.”

Working his way along her body, he circled her navel with his wet tongue before continuing down. When his breath touched her thigh, a tremor of desire shook her. A few capable strokes, then a firecracker of explosive tingles was what she’d expected but he was taking her to paradise in a whole new way – a long, secret way, exploring her with his lips and tongue. She hadn’t anticipated this forbidden pleasure. This wild, intimate kiss she’d only heard about. In a series of gentle caresses, Phoenix had her shifting restlessly beneath his attentions.

“Nick, that feels . . . ah-mazing.”

He cupped her bottom in his hands and dragged her closer to his mouth. Focusing his attention on letting his tongue swirl, he licked perfectly light circles around the nub that was growing tighter and tighter with every passing second. She’d felt wild when he’d tantalized her with the diabolical thrust of his fingers inside her clenching heat, but that wildness had nothing on what came over her when his expert mouth started playing her with the genius of a maestro.

Sinking her fingers through his hair, his tongue slipping and sliding over her aroused flesh so perfectly, so sweetly, she wanted to hold him there. She also wanted more of him. All of him. “Take me now,” she whispered fervently as she fought the encroaching ecstasy with everything she had. But as his hot tongue traced the outer, then inner folds of her core, she lost any impulse to fight back against her mounting climax. Then, with a final swipe of his tongue on her most sensitive area, the victory was his. Gripping his shoulders, she raised her hips in glorious surrender to the first wild wave of seventh heaven.

He felt each spasm as acutely as if she were connected to him.

Her blood roared through her veins as if it were jet-propelled. She arched off the mattress, crying out his name until she was hoarse. Her whole body convulsed into a chain of spasms within and without. One ended, and the next began, and the next.

He was enough of a gentleman to give her a moment to recover.

However, he was then wholly unprepared for her to quickly shimmy out from beneath him before he knew what was happening.

“Your turn, hot stuff.”

Phoenix made a hissing sound as she took hold of his rigid manhood and started fondling.

“Good Lord, Maya…”

She shook her head. “No. You started this.” She wrapped her hand around his full, throbbing erection and continued stroking. “There are times it’s just as good, if not better, to give than receive.”

His cock throbbed against her touch, and she tightened her grip, circling his length and fucking him with her hand.

She purred as he growled and tried not to explode right there and then. He grabbed her hands and stopped her, his chest heaving.

But Maya felt desperate to touch him, taste him. It was perfect, the shift from her decadence to his. It was just how it should be, just how she wanted it, that they were equal partners in each other’s gratification. She wanted to give Phoenix as much bone-melting pleasure as he’d given her.

His head fell back with a throaty moan as Maya pulled free from his clasp and he felt her lips kiss a burning trail down his neck to his heaving, granite pecs, playfully circling those pert nipples. The pebbled tips grew hard from the licking and squeezing of her questing tongue and fingers.

Then, with her warm mouth still laving at his chest, her teasing hands trailed south, over his aching loins.

“Maya…”

He’d barely managed to gasp out her name when she pulled his head down and scorched him with an explicit come-and-get-me kiss, while her free hand kept up its tormenting caresses.

He was about to advise her that holding back his release was inconceivable at this point, but then she tore her mouth away and licked a burning trail down his rippling abs and treasure trail. Then, acting upon sheer, basic instinct, she wrapped her lips around his manhood and engulfed him whole.

“Sweet Jesus, woman…”

Phoenix swore his knees would have given way if not for the spirit medium’s firm grip around his ass cheeks, squeezing and kneading the firm flesh.

A drop of his seed slipped out, and she licked it with her tongue. His heart pounded. He watched her warm, avid mouth on him and tried to choke out a curse, but his voice wasn’t working. When she looked up at him, she saw his head thrown back, the muscles of his neck flexed.

His exalted reaction to her inexperienced ministrations enflamed her. Biting back a self-satisfied smirk, Maya lowered her head once more and sucked him between her lips. He fit so perfectly, cradled in the hollow of her tongue. She used her tongue to wet his shaft until it glided smoothly in and out of her mouth. She felt his hands in her hair, not pushing, never forcing, simply holding her, stroking her. She concentrated on the feel of him between her lips. She stroked and sucked him, worshiping him, kneeling between his legs, and coaxing long, euphoric moans from him. All rationale vanished, all worries and concerns about how she measured up to the others he’d known fully fled her mind. All that existed were thoughts of her, this gorgeous specimen, and his throbbing rod in her mouth.

She could feel the need building in him as if she were the one being pleasured. As she alternately cupped and stroked and licked him, every muscle in his body drew taut, and he almost hummed with the intensity of his desire. She knew what was to come, and she felt herself grow hot and moist at the thought.

He let out a guttural cry as he flooded her mouth, and she welcomed the heady taste of his essence. Finally, when she had taken all he could give, she released him.

Panting, Phoenix roughly pulled her up his body and into his arms, collapsing atop the bed while holding her against his chest as his breathing slowly returned to normal.

“Where did a nice village girl like you learn to do things like that?!” His visage was a mixture of wonder and admiration. “I thought you said you’d never done anything like this before!”

“I haven’t.” She smiled smugly at the look of raw lust and gratitude on his beauteous face. “I come to you as pure as snow and vacuum-sealed until opened! Here I am, signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours!”

“Then how…?!”

“Allow me to regale you,” she grinned. “When I inherited the Master title, it was stated that the one chosen as the master to Kurian must train in Khura’in before their coronation. So, I came here for the training of my spiritual power to prepare for the role of Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique and the village itself. Heightened ascetic training in the Motherland, in a nutshell.”

“Sure. But doesn’t that mean like abstaining from all exorbitance and being chaste and all that jazz?”

“I’m not a monk, silly! I’m a Spirit Medium! We learn to harness energy. From the earth, from spirits, from other people, and ourselves. And sexual energy is pretty potent stuff. With nothing else to do all these years but be Cinderella for Ah, Satan and play the occasional Play Station 2 games – one of the outdated luxury items Violet sent her over the years, knowing that backward rube wouldn’t know any better! – I had nothing better to do but train in the backyard, where there was a small garden pond and stone mini waterfall. Most of my meditating time was spent harnessing my metaphysical energy for the day, if and when, I ever met my mate.”

Mahogany orbs danced with merriment.

“Hence, you get to feel the impact of all that sexual, spiritual momentum unleashed! Just like Whitney Houston, I’ve been saving all my love for you!”

Phoenix’s breath caught. Before even joining himself with her, Maya had just taught him the greatest lesson of all about intimacy. Something he’d never fathomed until then.

Sex is more than an act of pleasure, it’s the ability to be able to feel so close to a person, so connected, so comfortable that it’s almost breathtaking to the point you feel you can’t take it. And at this moment you’re a part of them.

And he needed to be a part of her. Now. Before he lost his ever-loving mind.

Because right now all he wanted to do was make love to the woman he’d waited a lifetime to find.

Without warning, he rolled over so she was pinned under him again, and his mouth came back over hers. His tongue swirled with hers, his hands moving to grip her hips. His skin felt slightly rough against her softness, and she reveled in the slight scratch of his large hands, the calloused fingertips that had so deftly played over her, inside of her.

He shifted so that his entire weight was over her and she instinctively opened her legs wider to give him room to settle between them.

She held her breath, bracing for him to slam into her. Instead, he gently slid his hands out from beneath her. Not to fondle her breasts. Not to tease her skin the way he had just a little while ago. But to reach for her face, to hold her jaw so gently with those big hands that were capable of such strength.

He didn’t kiss her, just stared at her with those intense azure eyes, and she was held completely in his thrall. He bent down to press one light kiss against her forehead, and then each cheekbone, before moving lower to the curve of her neck, her collarbone, and the upper swell of her breasts.

“You’re mine.”

Maya’s breath fluttered in her throat, not with fear but with anticipation. Waves of heat flooded her and butterflies danced through her. He would never hurt her physically. She trusted him implicitly with her body. She offered herself completely, opened herself, and wound her legs around his waist.

“I’m yours. Make me yours, Nick.”

The word Mine sounded in the room again as he slowly entered her, taking deliberate care to let her adjust to the exquisite sensation of him filling her. Leisurely. Inch by inch. His gaze locked on hers. Giving her the sensation of his maleness, being welcomed, and embraced by the warm, wetness of her sheath. Pressing deeper, deeper. She gasped his name once he was fully inside of her, thick and hot and so wonderfully big she felt like she might burst from how full her body, her chest, her heart, felt at being one with him at last. When the joining was complete, he gathered her to him in a crushing embrace. Maya had never known such intensity, in or out of bed, as Phoenix’s presence wrapped itself around her just as his arms had, cradling her, holding her steady when she otherwise would have broken apart.

Phoenix lost himself in the fervor, in the euphoria, in the love she offered him without words. He gave himself over to desire, thought nothing of right or wrong, only of Maya. So sweet, so strong. He wanted to give her everything, be everything for her. He wanted to press her to his heart and never let her go. She filled the void inside him; her love washed all the pain away, made him believe for a moment he could start over . . . with her . . . have peace … have a future. . . find happiness at last.

It went on forever. It could never have lasted long enough. Her hips moved with his, rising to meet each powerful thrust, falling as he pulled back before coming into her again, seemingly deeper every time. She could feel her body tightening, inner muscles not used to such exquisite concupiscence, almost aching with how sensitive her aroused flesh now was. They moved together, body to body, need to need, heart to heart. Scaling peaks of carnality, soaring from height to dizzying height.

He brought two palms down onto the bed on either side of her head and stared deeply into her eyes. She closed them to shield herself from his intensity.

“Open your eyes,” he instructed. “Look at me.” She did. “That’s it,” he encouraged, his voice turning velvety as his hips gyrated against hers. “Keep your eyes on me.”

His normally perfect features were shimmering with sweat. Combined with morning stubble, he looked sexier than ever as he pressed his forehead against hers.

“Do you feel that, baby? That’s your man moving inside you.”

And in the end, it was his tender attentions, along with those erotic words, that had her crying out in rapture, his mouth capturing the sounds as he plunged into her, taking her higher and higher with every stroke of his body into hers.

As he gripped her hips tighter and tighter, she could feel him growing even bigger, even harder with each powerful thrust. Together, they moved, sweat-dampened skin slipping and sliding, mouths taking and giving in equal measure as her inner muscles gripped him so tightly that he had to fall with her, just as far, just as hard, just as long.

He shouted out her name as she felt him explode inside of her, just as Maya found herself flying, her body releasing in an eruption of pleasure so great, she almost lost consciousness under the barrage of fireworks in her eyes, where it felt as if the explosions would continue forever, ripples of sensuousness that had no end.

“I love you, Nick,” she whispered as their bodies came together. “I’ve always loved you.”

“I love you, Maya. It’s always been you. Only you.”

And, oh, how she loved the way he threaded his hands into her hair, then covered her mouth in a passionate kiss that told her just how much she’d pleased him. At least as much as he’d pleased her.

She’d thought she needed fast and rough, had believed her urgency to be taken by him warranted nothing else. But she’d been wrong.

Because after everything that had happened, she’d needed to be loved. And, without question, beyond her wildest fantasies and dreams, Phoenix had done just that.

Over and over again that morning, until the beyond gratified swains passed out into each other’s arms, Phoenix loved her.

Not just with his entire body, not only with every beat of his heart…but from the very depths of his soul.

*THE END*

OneRepublic – Wherever I Go (Chapter Quote)
Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing (Lyn Gwee’nee joke)
Edwin McCain -I’ll Be (Nick’s serenade)
Diamond in the Sky- Sonic R game (Maya’s shower song)
Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Maya’s vacuum-sealed joke)