It's all Cupid's fault (The Holidaze Book 2)

Chapter 26

Chapter 26
Mia buzzed. It was the only way she could describe it. Not only had she managed to give a couple a happy rest of their lives, but something had changed between her and Cupid.
It was the best of something to. Now she couldn’t wait to have an opportunity to explore the growing emotions between them. Embracing her emotions and her Godly Status had helped her in every way possible.
“We managed to help a couple find love,” Cupid said the moment they arrived back in the Love Holidaze.
“You’re not going to let me forget what I said earlier, are you?” Mia asked as she considered him with great care.
He said nothing, but he did reach out to clasp her hand. That all-encompassing pleasure gripped her again and she couldn’t hold in her sigh. Why was she fighting something that felt this good?
“I don’t think I have to say anything about earlier,” his words skidded over her nerve endings delightfully.
“No, I guess you don’t,” she whispered in agreement.
Cupid threaded his fingers through her other hand and drew her closer. She went willingly as she stared up into lust addled eyes. A shiver of delight washed over her until she could hardly breath.
“Do you recall asking about when I kissed you and I refused to answer?” he enquired as he lowered his head towards hers.
“Yes, and I’d still like to hear that answer,” she whispered as she leaned into him.
“I kissed you because even then you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. You could aggravate me with such ease, but I also found you utterly fascinating. I couldn’t understand why someone like you struggled to find a partner. Men were falling at your feet, but none were right for you. I know why now,” he said as he stroked a finger across her cheek in a light caress.
“You do?” she asked a little breathlessly.
“I certainly do. You were meant for me. Do you know how I know that?”
Mia didn’t once protest his words. All she managed to do was to stand and stare at him speechless. The hope in her heart grew at an ever-expanding rate. Could he possibly say something she had thought she would never hear?
“How did you know?” she asked.
“This fountain,” Cupid used their clasped hands to bring her over to the cheerfully bubbling fountain. “The moment it went from dry to flowing with water. When it came back to life, I knew.”
“What difference would the fountain make?”
“If the God of Love isn’t experiencing love, then this Holidaze is the gloomiest of places as you first noticed. The very second that fountain burst into life was when I could no longer hide the truth from myself.”
“That was a while ago and I haven’t noticed much of a change in you,” Mia said as her eyes moved from the fountain back to Cupid.
“You wouldn’t have because what I discovered about myself scared me. I started to back away from you as much as I could. The last thing I wanted to do was to fall for another human and suffer the pain I had once endured before. Now that you are the Goddess to my God of Love that has changed everything,” Cupid declared with a broad, delightful grin.
Mia stood there flabbergasted. She had never expected such a bold confession from him. He felt brave enough to expose his vulnerabilities to her and that made her want to cheer with an exuberance that she had never had before. She realised that now she’d have to find her own courage and show him how she felt.
“We tend to deal with things in a similar manner,” she admitted, and he raised his brows at her.
“In what way?”
“I think that you’re right and that I’ve never experienced love. Something changed in me when we were at the cherub’s tree. I didn’t deal with the situation very well and I know that now. The truth is that I felt something for you, and it was a deep something.
“I’m good at running away from things that are potentially good for me. I fear the hurt, the pain and the abandonment, just like you do. The thing is if we’re both feeling something then maybe I’ve got to stop fighting. It might be time for me to accept something that could be the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Mia explained before daring to look at Cupid’s face.
An astonished warmth flooded from those bluest of eyes and Mia released a breath. Before she could confess anything else, he swept her off her feet and into his arms. A chorus of harp music brightened the air around them as the cherubs filled the area.
“Maybe a bit of privacy, guys?” Mia asked as she held out her fingers to show a slight gap between two digits.
“Uh, that won’t happen any time soon,” Cupid admitted with a slight wince.
“Why not?”
“They are a part of us,” Cupid tapped his chest.
“In what way?” Mia couldn’t hide her alarm.
“They are the representation of our love. That’s why they disappeared for so long because I had no love in me. Now that we are growing closer, the cherubs will stay near so as to keep us close. They are pure beings of love. They are the beings of love between the God and the Goddess of Love.”
“Wait a moment, I never actually said I loved you, just that I had a feeling,” Mia told him.
“It doesn’t matter to them. They know in here,” Cupid pressed a hand to his heart and then a hand to hers.
“Oh,” Mia murmured. “Does that mean they’ll even follow us into the cottage?” she turned and pointed to the quaint building.
“They’ll follow us anywhere.”
“In that case.”
Mia leaned up and pressed her lips against Cupid’s. If they would have to endure all of the cherub’s with them, then they needed to adapt to seeing a lot of kissing, among other things. As much as Mia didn’t like an audience, she wasn’t going to let that stop her. A collective sigh went through the cherub’s and harp music flowed through the air.
“That’s going to take a while to acclimatise to,” Mia said as she smiled up at Cupid.
“I think they’ll calm down once they adapt to this being a normal thing for us to do,” Cupid replied as he leaned in to kiss her again.
“Is it going to become a normal thing?” she had to ask.
“We’ll have to wait and see, but I think the chances are pretty good,” he said while squeezing her closer to him.
Something dark and negative melted away from Mia. Every moment she spent with Cupid had a sublime intimacy that she’d never before experienced. She didn’t think it was just because he was a God either. After all, she was a Goddess who had the same powers.
There was just something intrinsically attractive when he tried to tease her. When they kissed, her body threatened to explode into powerful fireworks.
Before they could explore any further, an alarm shattered the silence. Mia jerked away, her eyes searching for the source of the racket. The last thing she’d expected to hear was any type of alarm.
“What the heck does that mean?” she screeched.
“After the last Holidaze meeting we all magically constructed this system. Whenever a magical suction occurs the alarms in every Holidaze ring. Now every Holidaze has a warning system, so we can prepare for the crazy weather that occurs after the magical suction,” Cupid explained.
Mia winced at the realisation of what she may have caused, “is this because of me? With all the times I’ve visited Santa’s Village and used a magical suction to get home, it must’ve disrupted everything.”
“Meri’s parents have also visited Santa’s Village a lot since the birth of Avery,” Cupid tried to take some of the blame from her.
“It’s our fault,” Mia said with a sigh.
“The warning system is in place and that’s what’s important. Who’s to blame is of no consequence,” Cupid insisted.
“So, what do we have to do now that we’ve heard the alarm?”
“Hunker down. We’ll have a few days of questionable weather and then everything will return to normal.”
“Just like that?’
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t it interfere with any of the Holidaze? What if it’s in the middle of holiday preparations? Does everyone just ‘hunker down’ and too bad for the holiday?”
Cupid smirked and shook his head, “haven’t you learnt anything about how the Holidaze work yet?”
“Obviously not,” Mia waved a hand for him to explain.
“We run on magic and a different time to what the human dimension runs. Even if it’s close to our holidays, we always still manage to make it through.”
Mia considered this as the wind began to whip around her. Before she could take another breath, the wind turned into a howling monster, and she found it hard not to move with the gusts.
“You can think about it inside. If you stay out here any longer, you’ll end up swept away,” Cupid teased.
He clasped his fingers tighter in hers and Mia relished the warmth with a sense of delightful wonder. The casual way Cupid treated her made everything between them feel quite natural. She liked these moments with him. She liked them more than she had ever expected.
Together as they walked through the cute cottage door, hail began to fall behind them. The sky darkened to a deep purple and the hailstones splattered against the windows. Mia stared at the dramatic weather change.
“If all the Holidaze run on magic, why can’t anyone control the weather?” Mia asked and Cupid laughed.
She loved to hear that carefree laugh of his. The warmth of the sound lightened her heart and delighted her.
“Magic won’t help anyone control the weather. It’s a force best left untouched. Believe me when I say don’t annoy Mother Nature,” he ended with another chuckle.
“Do I want to know the story behind that?”
“No.”
“I wonder what we’re going to do now that we’re both trapped in here?” Mia winked at Cupid.
“I think we might pick up where we left off, minus the cherub’s,” Cupid said as he pulled Mia into his arms.
“Aren’t the cherub’s going to zoom in here and serenade us?” Mia asked dryly.
“Not sure. If we’re lucky the storm sent them back to their tree.”
“Let’s hope that’s the case.”
Mia didn’t give him a chance to say anything else as she kissed those lips that beckoned to her. When no cherub’s appeared, she decided to ramp up her efforts.
She set herself to exploring any part of him that she could reach. Cupid’s groan told her how much he enjoyed her moves. This was a much better use of her time.
“I’m liking this much more, so much that I could adjust to this being a part of my day every day,” Cupid whispered in her ear and Mia shivered.
“As the Goddess of Love, I can assure you that this will become an everyday occurrence. We can look on this as bettering my experience,” she grinned.
“Such a brilliant mind,” he tapped the side of her head. “It’s definitely a mind I can love.”
Mia warmed at that. Few people had ever told her that they loved her. The more she heard it the more she wanted to hear it.
“We’re one in this together,” she whispered.
“We’re one in this together,” he agreed.
Cupid sealed their declaration with a passionate kiss and Mia loved it. She wrapped her arms around him and returned his ardour with her own fiery need.
Maybe, just maybe, she had found her place in the world, just not the human one.