Over The Crescent Moon Read online

  DEDICATION

  The Hawai’ian people believe in the concept of three souls...the lower soul (unihipili), associated with the physical body, a middle soul (uhane), associated with the mental or conscious mind, and a higher soul (aumakua), which represents a personal, supernatural higher self, or oversoul. The oversoul is the ultimate source of who and what we are. It follows us through each new life cycle. It contains our essence and all of the experiences we have garnered in our past lives. It is what makes us easily recognizable to each other through all our lifetimes.

  I dedicate this book to my older brother Steven Michael Dusablon who left us just short of his 58th birthday. Steve, may our oversouls exchange ‘ha’, the divine breath of life, over and over again through all eternity. I miss you like crazy, Bro...and I love you to the [crescent] moon and back.

  ALSO WRITTEN BY KAREN D. BADGER AND

  AVAILABLE FROM BADGER BLISS BOOKS:

  ON A WING AND A PRAYER

  YESTERDAY ONCE MORE

  THE BLUE FEATHER

  ALL MY TOMORROWS

  1140 RUE ROYALE

  OVER THE CRESCENT MOON

  The Billie/Cat Commitment Series:

  IN A FAMILY WAY

  UNCHAINED MEMORIES

  HAPPY CAMPERS

  COLLECTIVE IDENTITY

  SWEET ANGEL

  RELATIVE-LY SPEAKING

  TAILSPIN

  FLASHPOINT

  www.badgerblissbooks.com

  NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and

  destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher

  has received any payment for this stripped book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, locales, and events are either

  products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  OVER THE CRESCENT MOON

  Copyright © 2019 by Karen D. Badger

  www.karendbadger.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any

  manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher,

  save for brief quotations used in critical articles or reviews.

  Cover image: Youssef Jheir (obtained with attribution from Pixabay)

  Cover design by Karen D. Badger

  A Badger Bliss Book

  Published by Badger Bliss Books

  Georgia, VT 05468

  www.badgerblissbooks.com

  Print book ISBN 13: 978-1-945761-26-3

  Print Book ISBN 10: 1-945761-26-1

  Ebook ISBN 13: 978-1-945761-27-0

  Ebook ISBN 10: 1-945761-27-X

  First Edition, June, 2019

  Printed in the United States of America and in the United Kingdom

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  In every book I write, I thank those who worked to find my typo’s and fix my literary errors. A mere thank you is not enough to acknowledge the contribution of these wonderful women. They truly save me from looking like a total idiot! I hope to be able to work with them for many years to come.

  In no special order, they are: Ellie Atherton (my mom and number one fan), ‘Chief Eagle Eye’ Carol Poynor (soul sister extraordinaire), and last but not least, Barb Sawyer, aka, ‘Bliss’ (my better half and keeper of my aumakua soul). A special thank you to Nat Burns (amazing editor and sister from another mother), who worked tirelessly to complete the edits on a very short timeline.

  Thank you, ladies! Hugs and love to all!

  Note to readers…

  A quick tutorial on the Hawai’ian language:

  The letter “e” is pronounced as a short “e”… as in ‘hey’

  The letter “a” is pronounced as a short “a”… as in ‘ah’

  The letter “i” is pronounced as a long “e”… as in ‘eee’

  The letter “u” is pronounced as “ooo” (as in the word ‘you’), or sometimes as a “w”

  The letter ‘w” is sometimes pronounced as a “v”

  The apostrophe is considered a letter and it denotes a glottal stop in the word (see example below)

  Every letter in an Hawai’ian word is pronounced.

  For example:

  The name “Leilani” is pronounced as “Lay-ee-lah-nee”

  The name “Makaya” is pronounced as “Mah-kah-yah”

  The name “Makenna” is pronounced as “Mah-ke-nah”

  O’ahu is pronounced “O-ah-oo”

  Kauai is pronounced “Kah-wah-ee”

  The word Hawaii can be pronounced as “Ha-wa-ee” or “Ha-va-ee”

  “Ka’anapali” is pronounced “Kah(pause)ah-nah-pah-lee.” The apostrophe between the two letters ‘a’ creates a pause between “kah” and “ah.”

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Author Picture

  About the Author

  Other Titles by Karen D. Badger

  Coming Soon from Badger Bliss Books

  Chapter 1

  “Spencer, it’s time to get up.”

  “No!” Spencer grabbed the edge of the sheet and pulled it over her head.

  “Don’t make me break out the claw.”

  “Just a few more minutes,” Spencer whined.

  “I’m warning you!”

  Spencer peeked out from under the covers. “You don’t scare me.”

  “You asked for it. The claw!”

  Spencer threw back the sheet, grabbed her assailant around the waist and slammed her onto the bed. She then sat on top of her and pinned her arms to the bed by her wrists. She leaned in so close, her nose nearly touched that of the person trapped beneath her.

  “Nice try, Makaya. You should know better than to threaten me with the claw. So now it’s you who will pay!” Spencer formed both her hands into claws and unmercifully tickled Makaya as she squirmed and squealed beneath her.

  “No! Stop! Okay. Enough! You win.” Makaya said as she tried to get away.

  Makaya managed to free one leg and flip Spencer onto her back. She took advantage of her sudden freedom to scurry off the bed. She grabbed a pillow and beat Spencer with it. “You little shit!”

  Spencer grabbed the other pillow and fought back. “If you play with fire, sooner or later, you’ll get burned,” she said.

  After a few more swipes, Spencer grabbed Makaya’s pillow and yanked her down onto the bed. She landed with a thud on her back. In seconds, Spencer was on top of her and once again face to face.

  Makaya panted heavily as she stared into Spencer’s eyes. “You can be so infuriating,” she growled.

  Spencer narrowed her eyes, but never broke eye contact. “It’s what you love about me most. Don’t deny it.”

  “And you’re cocky, too,” Makaya added.

  “I’ll show you cocky.”

  Spencer slipped one hand under Makaya’s neck and tilted her chin upward, placing feather-light kisses on the corners of her mouth.

  “You’re also a
tease,” Makaya whined.

  Spencer devoured Makaya’s mouth, forcing her tongue deep inside. A shudder contracted Spencer’s abdomen as she felt Makaya press herself against her. She moaned when Makaya dug her nails into her buttocks.

  “I want you,” Spencer hissed.

  “We’ll be late for practice, Spence.”

  “Fuck practice.”

  ***

  “Makaya, Spencer, on your starting marks,” the coach called from outside the sparring area.

  Both women struck their starting pose and waited for the buzzer signaling the start of the match. When it came, Makaya immediately attacked, extending her arm and continually threatening Spencer’s target areas.

  Spencer counterattacked by quickly moving back out of the way. She evaded Makaya’s aggression by turning to the side and grazing her blade to effectively deflect it so that it missed its mark. She followed the defensive move with a lunge and thrust as she extended her front leg with a slight kicking motion and propelled her body forward with her back leg.

  Makaya executed a parry and blocked Spencer’s weapon and then followed the move with a riposte attack. Once again, Spencer successfully deflected the counterattack with circle parries and was able to catch Makaya’s tip and deflect it away.

  “No…no…no! Stop!” The coach ran his hands through his hair and then put them on his hips. Makaya and Spencer stopped and removed their helmets. Spencer frowned impatiently and waited for him to speak.

  “Come on, ladies. If you want to be taken seriously as fencers, you need to be more aggressive. You are my top two students. You should be going after one another like you mean it. Now put your helmets back on and show me what you’re made of.”

  Spencer looked at Makaya. “He can be a real asshole.” She shoved her helmet back on and went to her end of the sparring area.

  “All right then. On your marks!”

  As soon as the buzzer sounded, Spencer aggressively executed a beat attack and disturbed Makaya’s aim. This allowed her to successfully hit Makaya’s arm and draw a high outside parry. She effectively scored first blood.

  “That’s more like it!” the coach yelled.

  Makaya tore her helmet off and glared at Spencer. A hint of mirth filled her eyes and a thin smile formed on her lips. Spencer cocked an eyebrow and grinned.

  The coach was immediately on her case. “Put the helmet back on, Makaya. If you do that in a match, you will be disqualified.”

  With both fencers on their marks, the buzzer sounded the start of the next round.

  Makaya tore out of her starting mark and executed two feints, followed by a continuous barrage of attacks. She targeted Spencer’s high line above her bell guard and then followed it with a low line attack. She pivoted her blade under Spencer’s weapon and tipped her target, scoring a point of her own.

  “All right ladies, next point wins. On your marks!” the coach shouted.

  Spence came off her mark with a thrust attack and extended her arm to continuously threaten Makaya’s mark. Makaya countered with a point-in-line position to disturb Spencer’s aim. After several parries and ripostes, Makaya flicked her blade and caused it to bend such that she was able to score a point against the back of Spencer’s shoulder.

  Spencer tore off her helmet and threw it on the floor. She screamed in frustration.

  “Great job, Makaya. You too, Spencer. I have a good feeling about you two. You’ll be a force to reckon with in the next competition. That’s enough for today. You can hit the showers,” the coach instructed.

  Spencer watched the coach walk away and then turned to Makaya. “That was dirty pool,” she said.

  “No—that was a legal move. Spence, you let your anger get the best of you. Hot heads don’t win matches. Calm execution does.”

  Spencer stood with her hands on her hips. Her gaze was directed to the floor.

  Makaya rubbed Spencer’s arm. “How about that shower? I’ll wash your back for you.”

  Spencer grinned and shook her head. “Why can’t I stay mad at you?” she asked.

  “Because you can’t resist my beauty and charm.” Makaya picked Spencer’s helmet up and handed it to her. “Here. Let’s go get naked.”

  ***

  Spencer leaned against the locker room wall and watched Makaya disrobe and walk into the shower. She couldn’t get enough of Makaya Kapule’s beauty. Her long dark hair and Pacific Islander features turned Spencer’s insides to mush every time she walked into the room. Her native Hawai’ian heritage was displayed proudly in her demeanor and in the way she interacted with people. Spencer had fallen hard for her the moment they’d met more than a year ago. She thanked the gods every day for her decision to join the fencing team. She would have never met Makaya otherwise.

  Spencer Bennet was aware of how stark the differences were between herself and Makaya. Where Makaya was dark skinned with long black hair and brown eyes, Spencer wore the mantle of her Irish heritage, with fair skin, green eyes and asymmetrically boy-cut auburn hair. Makaya was curvy, with full breasts and hips, while Spencer was pretty much straight up and down. In fact, she’d been called ‘sir’ may times in her adult life. The only thing they had in common were their ages. They were both in their early thirties and were literally born just a few days apart, but on completely different sides of the world…she, in Vermont and Makaya, in Hawai’i.

  Spencer was deep in thought when a wet washcloth hit her on the side of the head.

  “Hey! What was that for?” Spencer protested.

  Only Makaya’s face appeared from behind the shower curtain. She then threw the curtain open and exposed herself in all her glory. “I can’t wash your back if you’re out there—and still dressed, I might point out. Now get in here…preferably naked.”

  A grin split Spencer’s face as she tore off the remainder of her clothing and joined Makaya in the shower. She pulled the curtain closed behind her and backed Makaya against the side of the shower stall. The high-pressure spray pummeled her back. She placed one hand against the wall on each side of Makaya’s head and kissed her passionately.

  Spencer’s mouth moved to Makaya’s neck, exposing Makaya to the spray of water. “Damn, what you do to me,” Spencer said.

  Makaya’s eyes were closed and her head was turned to the right to give Spencer better access to her neck.

  Spencer moved on to nibble at Makaya’s left shoulder and then with her tongue, she traced the crescent moon tattoo placed strategically above Makaya’s breast, with a sprinkle of stars trailing down to her nipple.

  “What is this thing you have with my tattoo?” Makaya asked softly, eyes still closed.

  “It’s sexy,” Spencer said. “I am over the crescent moon in love with you.”

  “You are so corny!”

  “I can’t help it. You have me under a spell. I turn into a lovesick dork when I’m around you.”

  Spencer was indeed fascinated with the tattoo. For Makaya, the moon was a symbol of regeneration, and represented a woman’s ability to bring life into the world. The moon conveyed secret powers and wisdom...energy and light.

  Upon reaching the end of the trail of stars, Spencer inhaled Makaya’s nipple into her mouth and pinched it gently between her teeth.

  Spencer felt herself being pulled further into Makaya’s embrace.

  “I need more,” Makaya whispered into Spencer’s ear.

  Spencer reached for the soap and lathered her hands, then slipped one hand in between Makaya’s legs. Makaya pressed the back of her head into the shower stall. “Oh, my God, Spence,” she moaned.

  “You like that, huh?” Spencer watched Makaya’s face as she slipped three fingers inside. The desire on Makaya’s face drove her close to her own release. An intense heat built in her abdomen and she felt herself shudder. The hot spray of water on her back only intensified the feeling. She struggled to control herself as she focused on Makaya.

  Makaya matched Spencer’s thrusts and Spencer felt her lover’s muscles tighten against h
er fingers. She knew it wouldn’t be long before Makaya went over the edge as well, and the closer she got, the harder it was to control her own climax.

  “Mak…Mak, touch me. Please. I don’t think I can hold it back,” Spencer rasped into Makaya’s ear.

  Makaya’s eyes flew open and she stared directly at Spencer at the same time she slipped two fingers into Spencer’s folds.

  The sultry look in Makaya’s eyes, combined with the caress of her fingers, drove Spencer to orgasm at the same time Makaya reached climax. Spencer leaned against Makaya. It took all her might to hold them both upright as their bodies succumbed. Her weight alone held them up on shaky legs.

  Spencer leaned her forehead on Makaya’s shoulder. “Damn, woman. I have never felt like this for anyone in my entire life. I love you, Mak.”

  “I love you too, Spence.”

  Spencer’s head snapped up as she heard the door to the shower room close. She looked at Makaya and grinned. “I wonder how many we’ve scared away in the last few minutes?”

  “Fuck’em if they can’t take a joke,” Makaya replied.

  Chapter 2

  Makaya sat on the bleachers and watched Spencer come out of the locker room. A smile crossed her face at the sight of Spencer sauntering across the gym toward her. Damn, she’s sexy, Makaya thought.

  Spencer climbed the few tiers to where Makaya sat and stopped on the step below her.

  Makaya leaned forward and accepted a kiss. “How did gymnastics practice go?” she asked.

  “Not bad. My floor routine is improving,” Spencer said.

  Makaya shook her head. “I don’t know how you do two sports at once. Fencing takes a lot out of me. I couldn’t imagine doing gymnastics on top of it.”