Numb (Alliance Trilogy)

Wonderful Opprotunity

Chapter Twenty

Max awoke feeling his teeth chatter and a large migraine fill his entire head. He groaned as he curled into a smaller ball feeling sudden warmth next to him stir. His eyes fluttered open and the large immense ceiling to Jenny's home was all he could manage to make out. Last night he had broken into her home only to meet the end of a very painful beating. He turned his head feeling it pound as a small silhouette next to him slept. Pushing up into a sitting position Max tried the best he could to adjust his vision and take Jenny's small frame curled in next to him.

The first thing to escape him was a surprised chuckle as he grabbed his head in pain afterward. A large swelled bump at the back of his head was all he could feel as he gently touched it feeling the damage she had inflicted.

"Jenny." He whispered.

Max fought to rise to his feet but managed to finally set his sight strait as he bent down and took Jenny into his arms. It was obvious what had happened last night as he felt a smile tug at his lips. He settled her unto her bed as gently as he could. Jenny suddenly took hold of his coat and he realized then that she still slept as she pleaded for him not to leave her. His heart soared and he gently nestled in next to her making certain to snuggle her into the crook of his neck. The tip of her cold nose pressed against the warmth of his skin and he shuttered. Max smiled to know how good it felt to hold her with no guilt to overshadow his conscious. He was a free man and he was determined to make the most of his life next to the right woman.

Izzy had granted him the golden ticket he had been waiting for and he took no time in trading it in for the opportunity of a lifetime. There failed to be words that could describe just how content he was feeling. It was as if that bliss would never go absent and every time he looked into her eyes, he would remember just how much he loved her. From the moment Max had met her he knew deep down there had been something different about her. Now he knew the reason why and there was no way he would ever let her slip from his hold. This was what he had been waiting for, and if Jenny never recuperated from her state, he would never care either way. The only thing that mattered the most to him was that he would be there right by her side.

Next to him, Jenny stirred once again and shuttered to feel the cold atmosphere enter the room. Max gently pulled away from her and retrieved what had been left on the floor and covered her from the neck down as best as he could. He rushed into her living room noticing then that there laid but a few logs on the chimney and failed to have something to light it with. Determined to turn the situation around Max picked up his broken cell phone off the floor and took out his car key. Slipping out of the house, he promised he would be back as soon as possible and got into his car.

***

Jenny yawned and forced her weary eyes to open as soothing warmth enveloped her. She had not felt this good in months! Gently she tugged the covers away and was glad to feel that the air itself had turned warm as well. Something was off about this morning, it was warm in her room and most importantly she was in bed! Hadn't she knocked the lights out of Max last night? Or had she been dreaming?

She sat there for a moment, struggling with her thoughts, she swore to herself that last night had felt too real. Had it just been a nightmare?

"Impossible, he was here." She convinced herself. Confused and still arguing with herself she got out of bed and changed into something more comfortable. All the while trying to figure out what had happened last night indeed. As she brushed her teeth and rinsed her face she was convinced that he had come unannounced. When she was dressed she exited the restroom only to realize that her home was warm as well.

"Max?" She managed to call out uncertain if he'd answer.

She stilled and waited for a reply but nothing came as she slowly pulled out of the hall and towards her living room. Shock took hold of her the moment her eyes made contact with a Christmas tree in the far corner of her home. Lights twinkled and ornaments shimmered under the lights. Her chimney was lit and even a few gifts laid wrapped under the tree.