Page 71 of Magdalene Nox

Magdalene wished she’d been looking at Sam as the words left her lips. They felt like a slap. They felt like a caress. They felt like benediction and absolution and something so much more desired. Understanding. This woman understood her on a level Magdalene had never been before, never been truly seen.

“I don’t know what to say…”

Sam’s laughter was devoid of mirth once again.

“I’m not certain there is anything to say. The sheer amount of unfairness, of hurt, they unleashed on you, that they continue to unleash…” Tears trembled on the almost colorless lashes.

The deck grew quiet in the howling wind, and Magdalene turned to observe it empty, the girls having moved to the cabin.

“I asked you yesterday, darling, if you were crying for the scrawny, freckle-faced teenager who was thrown out of heaven. You said no. Are you crying for her now?” Magdalene lifted her hand, and as her fingers reached Sam’s cheek, the tears spilled, warming her fingertips.

“And I think I said— I mumbled something incoherent, and probably not even remotely true, and you changed the subject. But I was then and I am now.”

“Oh, Sam, that kid did all right…”

Sam caught the hand still lingering on her cheekbone, and her eyes no longer held any tears. They sparked with a new light. Vehemence. Determination. Anger.

“Who cried for you, Magdalene? Who cried for you then? For the wronged teen and now for the stalked and harassed woman? Tell me. And not who was permitted to, because you may not let anyone in, then or now, but who actually genuinely wanted to? Your mother? Your husband?”

Sam’s words, like bullets, pierced Magdalene’s already shaky defenses, crumbling now like castles of sand under the onslaught of the ocean.

No, nobody had mourned her loss of innocence…

“And why would you allow anyone? Why?” Sam’s hold on her hand was painful, but Magdalene did not dare tug her fingers away. “They fucking threw a child out like trash, and now they all fear you’ll come back and they will not only have to repent, but pay. And so they come after you still, because that penance may be just a bit too steep for them.”

“Sam…”

“Yeah…” The full-blown pout she was met with in response was one for the books, and Magdalene laughed, her chest so full of warmth and elation and love, she almost missed how that bleeding wound she carried felt smaller, the muscles and tendons slowly stitching together.

She’d think about this later, about this fanciful foolishness of hers, and about the immense amount of trust she was placing into the gentle hands that held hers so carefully. She’d think and think, but her treacherous heart had already done its pondering. It beat, attuned to the one in Sam’s chest. It beat, and maybe for the first time in years, Magdalene did not register the pain of brewing revenge. Rather, she noticed hope and strength.

Sam had been slowly healing her, closing her wounds as she was opening her heart. And wasn’t that a wonder? As her laughter died down, her smile remained. Another miracle. All because of this person, the one and only.Her one and only.

“My Sam to the rescue. Nobody was there, but you’re here now. And I am nobody’s victim. Maybe then, but certainly not now.”

Despite the warmth and the solace they gave her, Magdalene gently freed her fingers from Sam’s hold. Some things she would do alone. But it was amazing to feel propped up, supported. To feel that, even if she walked by herself, the treacherous road still led to the light in Sam’s window, and that Sam would be there, waiting.

“It has been a long time since I’ve carried a responsibility as big as this. And an even longer time since I’ve allowed others to make my decisions, Sam. I just want you to trust me. And I want none of this to ever come between us. Believe in me enough to let me make all of this right.”

Sam nodded, her eyes hooded now. Magdalene caught her chin between two fingers and turned her face fully towards her.

“Do you believe me, Sam?”

Sam lifted Magdalene’s fingertips to her lips, sealing the deal, and before Magdalene could say anything, Sam nipped at the middle one.

“Yes, I believe you, Magdalene, and I believeinyou.” Another nip, a sharper one, prompting Magdalene to blink and a shiver to run up her spine. “And while you do what needs to be done, I will be right here. I promised you last night. But you are asking me again, in the light of day, with Dragons gazing from a distance. So I will promise you here as well.”

Sam sucked the index finger into her mouth, robbing Magdalene of breath entirely, before releasing it, the smile on her face broad and sly.

“I mean, what kind of lesbian cliché would we be if we didn’t discuss the same issues ad nauseam?”

Lust still clouded Magdalene’s vision, but Sam deserved some retribution, so she leaned in and, with her breath hot against Sam’s skin, bit down not so gently on the spot where jaw meets neck, before pressing her lips to the delicate ear and whispering, every word a caress against the sensitive shell. “I am not certain what kind of cliché you are, darling, but I am a bisexual one.”

Sam’s eyes looked dazed, and there was a bruise already blooming red on her neck, making Magdalene quite proud of her handiwork.

“You should probably consider wearing a turtleneck for a few days, darling.”

With a wave of her hand towards the mark she left, Magdalene took a step back, then another before she twirled around and started towards the cabin. Chances were, the teens were being rowdy and interfering with the crew—if they hadn’t yet commandeered the vessel altogether. She should probably check who was actually the captain now.

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