Accidentally…Over? (Accidentally Yours #5)(70)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“It is a majority vote.” She burst out crying and turned to Kinich.

Máax took a triumphant breath. The air swirled around him, and his body surged with light, power, and strength. It was finally over. He won, and Ashli had saved him. She’d been the key all along.

There is no such thing as an accident. It was all meant to be.

Ashli stared at the chair, her mind spinning with so many questions. For starters, being near this man made her feel so safe, as if she were home. And strangely, it didn’t bother her one bit that she couldn’t remember anything. She felt so full of love. Who was he?

The air kicked up around them, and she expected someone, him, to appear.

Nothing.

“Why can’t we see you?” she asked.

“I must return to the cenote for a new body. Will you come with me, Ashli?”

Was he kidding? As weird as it sounded, the only thing keeping her sane right now was him. “Can we bring the chair? I’ve kind of grown attached to it.”

“Uh… sure, my love.” An invisible hand reached out and dragged her from the rowdy courtroom. She didn’t know where they were heading, but she didn’t care. She’d never felt happier. I think?

Twenty-Two

Standing outside of the Court of the Gods under the warm winter sun, Ashli felt relieved to leave the strange place. That scene left her wondering why she would do something so silly as have her memory removed. Clearly, she needed her faculties to deal with… all that. Whatever that was.

And a goddess? Of love? They must be out of their minds. Máax had attempted to explain their world, how powers resided inside a deity but could be transferred from one being to another if they were connected. He told her how she’d changed his life and how they had spent the night together. He apologized a thousand times for leaving her like he had that morning. Not that she was mad, because that would require remembering. However, he said that the moment he realized what he had to do, it couldn’t wait. He’d left her in order to expedite the trial, but he never imagined she wouldn’t find his note.

“I love you, Ashli. And I will fix this. No matter how long it takes, I will make things right again.” He threaded his warm hands through her hair and kissed her hard, sparking erotic images in her mind. Were they her memories or his? Máax explained how their bond allowed them to feel each other’s emotions, how it connected their souls for all eternity.

She slid her hands around his waist and enjoyed the warmth of his na**d body. She couldn’t actually believe the guy just ran around without any clothes.

Nice. How cool was that?

The sound of a man clearing his throat caused Máax to abruptly break the kiss.

“Ah, Sentin. Thank you for volunteering to take us to the cenote,” Máax said.

The man wore a dark suit and looked like he had just walked off a modeling runway. She recognized him as one of the men who’d been hanging around outside her bedroom door in the morning.

Sentin beamed down at her. “So. Goddess of Love, huh? Guess that explains why we are all so drawn to you, but I suspect I’d like you regardless.”

“Give it up, vampire, she’s mine.” Máax’s voice wasn’t angry. More like extremely happy and confident.

The man’s eyes looked a little sad. Poor thing.

“Would you like my chair?” Ashli pointed to it. It had seemed wrong to leave it behind, but now it seemed selfish to keep it. After all, she had an actual deity all to herself.

“Uh… sure. Thanks.” The man nodded and looked at the empty space next to her. “Take good care of her for us, Máax.”

“Always,” Máax replied.

“Are you ready, Ashli?” Sentin reached out and latched on to Ashli’s arm. Before she could blink, she found herself standing in the middle of the jungle.

“All right,” Sentin said. “Here you are. Call if you need anything.” The handsome man whisked away a tear and vanished into thin air.

“Wow,” Ashli said. “That was amazing.”

“Wait until you see this.” Máax led Ashli to the edge of a large, dark green pool of water, its sides steep and about ten feet high. “It all began right here. At this very cenote.”

She leaned over to get a better look. The hazy water buzzed with a strange energy. She could sense it in her bones. “What started?”

“This is the cenote where my brother, Votan—the first to find his happy ever after—met his mate. And now, we shall have ours.”

“So what happens next?” she asked.

“Now I get a new body, and we start our new, happy life together. Wait here.” He pecked her on the lips and jumped into the water.

“Wait! Where are you going?” But he was already gone.

Ashli stared at the water expecting Máax to resurface, but several minutes passed. Then five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes.

“Ohmygod.” She paced along the edge of the enormous pool, biting her fingernail. Why hadn’t he come out? Why?

She peered over the edge again. Maybe something had gone wrong? Maybe he’d gotten hurt? “Máax? Máax?”

There was no sound apart from the squawking toucans above.

Okay. She could go for help, but she wasn’t really sure where to go. She didn’t speak Spanish—or did she? She wasn’t sure. And they were in some crazy Mexican jungle. She pivoted on her heel and looked around. Dammit. What was she going to do?

A few random pockets of air floated to the surface of the cenote, making a strange glup, glup sound. Oh no. What if he’s stuck down there?

“Oh, gods.” She had to help him.

Without giving it any thought, she pinched her nose and jumped. Her body immediately reacted with hard shivers. Brrr. Cold. Cold. Cold. She pushed the wet strands from her face, and sucking in a giant breath, she dived straight down into the murky water.

Within a matter of a few feet, the sunlight faded. The air in her lungs immediately felt saturated and heavy. She needed another breath. She started to kick her way back to the surface, but hit her head on a ceiling of solid rock.

Shit! No! The air in her lungs turned to poison. She reached and clawed at the jagged rock, but she was trapped. A scream escaped her mouth, and the water flooded inside her lungs. She fought to gasp and hack, but it was no use.

She. Was. Drowning.

Ashli’s mind broke away as if beckoned to some unknown place, a place of comfort and without pain.

Am I dead? Is this what it feels like? Her body or soul—she didn’t know—rose from the water into the air. Like a runaway balloon, she floated up through the tree canopy into the crisp February air, higher and higher, disappearing inside a big puffy cloud. Where was she going? She didn’t feel afraid or panicked; she felt at peace.