DecemberholidayForbiddenFireEpisode16&17
1979 Words
CHAPTER 21 — When the World Knocks Back
The morning light spilled gently through the cabin’s curtains, brushing across Maya’s cheek like a warm fingertip. She blinked slowly, feeling the weight of Adrian’s arm still wrapped around her waist — steady, warm, protective in a way she had never known she needed.
His thumb stroked her hip absentmindedly, like his body wasn’t ready to let go even if he tried.
“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” she whispered.
“I’m supposed to be doing a lot of things,” he murmured into her shoulder,
“but this is the only one I actually want to do.”
Heat crept over her skin.
She turned to face him fully, and he looked at her like the world outside the cabin didn’t exist — like she was the only thing his eyes had been starved for.
He brushed a knuckle under her chin.
“How do you feel?” he asked softly.
“Safe,” she breathed before she could stop herself.
Something flickered in his expression — a softness so deep it hurt to look at.
But before he could respond—
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
Three hard knocks slammed against the cabin door, shattering the fragile quiet like a plate hitting the floor.
Maya stiffened instantly.
Adrian’s entire body jolted into alertness — the warmth vanished, replaced by tension as sharp as a blade. His hand left her waist, moving up in a protective instinct she felt rather than saw.
“Stay here,” he murmured, voice changing — lower, cold, ready for something she didn’t yet understand.
“Adrian—”
He shook his head once.
It wasn’t a request.
It was the calm command of a man who had lived through things she didn’t know about.
He grabbed a shirt, tugged it over his head as he crossed the room, shoulders tight, movements precise. Maya followed him with her eyes — the shift from lover to protector was sudden and frighteningly natural.
The knocking grew louder.
“Adrian! I know you’re in there!”
A woman’s voice.
Sharp. Irritated.
Way too familiar with him.
Maya’s heart dropped.
Not because she recognized the voice — she didn’t —
but because of the way Adrian stopped.
Completely.
Silently.
Like he’d been hit.
He didn’t open the door yet.
His shoulders rose once on a deep inhale — the kind people take when they’re about to face something they don’t want to.
“Who is that?” Maya whispered.
He didn’t answer right away.
“Maya…”
His voice was low, conflicted.
“There are things about my life I haven’t told you.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Like what?”
He turned slightly toward her — not enough to face her fully, but enough for her to see the storm behind his eyes.
“Like the fact that this—”
he gestured between them,
“—was never supposed to happen.”
Before she could respond—
BANG.
“Adrian Hale, open this damn door right now!”
Her pulse spiked.
Adrian clenched his jaw so hard she could see it from across the room.
With a resigned breath that sounded like surrender and frustration tangled together, he unlocked the door and pulled it open.
Maya remained on the bed, half-hidden behind the angle of the doorway — close enough to hear everything, far enough that the intruder couldn’t immediately see her.
A woman stood outside.
Tall.
Immaculate.
Wrapped in a cream winter coat that probably cost more than Maya’s entire wardrobe.
Her hair was sleek.
Her makeup flawless.
Her expression furious.
She pushed past Adrian without waiting for permission, heels clicking against the wooden floor.
“What the hell, Adrian?” she snapped.
“You disappear for three days without telling anyone where you are? Are you out of your mind?”
Maya’s breath froze.
Three days?
Adrian closed the door behind her, his tone quiet but edged.
“Catherine, lower your voice.”
Catherine.
The name hit like a cold gust.
The woman’s eyes narrowed.
“Lower my voice? Are you—”
She stopped mid-sentence.
Stopped breathing.
Stopped blinking.
Because she finally saw Maya.
Saw the blanket slipping off her shoulder.
Saw the bed behind her — obviously slept in by two people.
Saw the tension in the air like leftover heat.
Catherine’s eyebrows lifted slowly, sharply.
“Oh.”
She folded her arms.
“So this is why you’ve been avoiding everyone.”
Adrian moved instinctively — subtly positioning himself between the two women.
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” he said tightly.
Catherine scoffed.
“Really? Because what I’m thinking is that you vanished on the exact weekend you were supposed to meet with the investors. Do you have any idea how bad this looks?”
Maya’s stomach curled.
Investors?
Adrian ran a hand over his jaw — the way he did when he was two seconds from losing patience.
“We can talk outside,” he said.
“No,” Catherine snapped.
“We’re talking here. Because if this—”
she waved a hand in Maya’s direction,
“—is the reason you’re about to blow a multimillion-rand deal, then I deserve to understand what the hell is going on.”
Maya felt heat rise in her cheeks — humiliation, anger, confusion mixing like wildfire.
She stood up slowly, pulling the blanket around her body, refusing to look small.
“Maybe you should talk to her,” Maya said quietly, meeting Adrian’s eyes, “and maybe I should give you two space.”
Adrian stepped toward her immediately.
“No. You stay.”
Catherine raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, so she gets instructions now?”
“Enough,” Adrian snapped — the kind of tone that filled the room with silence.
Maya looked between them, her heart pounding.
She didn’t know who Catherine was.
She didn’t know what investors he was supposed to meet.
She didn’t know the life Adrian lived outside this cabin — outside her.
All she knew was this:
Their bubble had burst.
And the real world had just kicked down the door.
Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Maya,” he said softly without turning,
“this isn’t what it looks like. I promise you.”
She swallowed.
“Then tell me what it is.”
He opened his mouth—
but Catherine beat him to it.
“She’s his business partner,” she said coldly.
“And she’s not supposed to be here.”
The air went still.
And for the first time since they’d met…
Maya wasn’t sure Adrian would be able to protect the fire they had created. CHAPTER 22 — The First c***k in the Fire
For a moment, no one spoke.
The cabin — the same cabin that had held warmth, kisses, trembling breaths, and whispered promises — was suddenly too small. Too crowded. Too sharp around the edges.
Maya tightened the blanket around herself, not out of shame, but because she felt exposed in a way she wasn’t prepared for. The woman standing in front of her — Catherine — looked at her like she was a stain on a perfect white tablecloth.
Adrian stood between them, shoulders tense, jaw set, eyes flicking between the two women like a man trying to defuse a bomb with his bare hands.
“Catherine,” he said quietly, “you need to leave.”
She laughed — a short, humorless sound.
“Leave? You’ve lost your mind. You vanish for days, ignore every call, and then I find you hiding in a cabin with…”
Her eyes cut to Maya again.
“…a complication.”
Maya’s heart stung.
Not because of the insult — but because Adrian didn’t correct it.
Not yet.
Catherine stepped closer to him, voice tight and low.
“We had a deal, Adrian. You promised to show up for this. You promised me you were committed.”
Maya’s breath hitched.
Deal?
Committed?
Before her thoughts spiraled, Adrian lifted a hand.
“I am committed,” he said, frustration scraping his tone.
“But what I’m committed to does not include you barging into my life like you own it.”
Catherine’s jaw clenched.
“So you’re going through with it? You’re really going to blow the partnership?”
“Partnership,” Maya repeated softly before she could stop herself.
Both of them turned to her.
Catherine’s eyes narrowed.
“You didn’t tell her who you are, did you?”
Adrian exhaled sharply — a sound of defeat and irritation tied together.
“Maya,” he said gently, “I was going to explain everything—”
“When?” Catherine cut in.
“Before or after she got attached?”
Maya straightened.
“Talk to me,” she said to Adrian, chest tight.
“Not around me. Not over me. To me.”
Her voice didn’t tremble, and she was proud of that.
Adrian rubbed the back of his neck, looking suddenly older, weighed down.
“Maya… the cabin, the quiet, being with you — it made me forget the pressure. Forget the timelines. Forget the business world waiting to eat me alive the second I return.”
She swallowed, nodding for him to continue.
“The investors Catherine is talking about…”
He hesitated.
“…they’re backing a new hotel line tied to my family.”
Catherine crossed her arms.
“And he was supposed to be in Cape Town two days ago to finalize the deal.”
Maya frowned.
“So you’re disappearing didn’t just affect you.”
“It affected everyone,” Catherine snapped.
“It makes him look unreliable.”
“Enough,” Adrian bit out.
He turned back to Maya.
“I didn’t tell you because… because I liked who I was with you. No expectations. No last name. No legacy. No pressure. Just… Adrian.”
That hurt and healed her at the same time.
But Catherine wasn’t done.
“And now you’ve dragged her into it too,” she said sharply.
“You think the board won’t see this? You think they won’t talk? They’ll say you’re distracted. Careless. Reckless.”
Maya stepped forward, fire flickering in her chest.
“Stop speaking like I’m a problem,” she said coolly.
“I didn’t force him here. He came because he wanted to.”
Catherine smirked.
“Did he? Or did he just want an escape?”
Adrian turned toward Catherine so fast she stepped back.
“Don’t you dare,” he warned softly.
“Not with her.”
The tension spiked.
Catherine glared, her voice thinning with jealousy.
“Then explain it to me, Adrian. Explain how she fits into your life. Into your reputation. Into the world you’ve spent years building.”
He froze.
Maya felt it — that one-second hesitation.
That flicker of uncertainty.
That painful, honest moment where he didn’t know the answer.
Not because he didn’t care.
But because he cared too much and didn’t know how to fit two worlds together.
Maya’s throat tightened.
“That’s enough,” she whispered, stepping back.
Adrian turned instantly.
“Maya—”
“No. Let her talk. Let her say what you won’t.”
Her eyes glossed, but she didn’t let a tear fall.
“You weren’t going to tell me about any of this, were you? Not yet. Maybe not ever.”
He dragged a hand over his face, frustration etched into every line of his expression.
“I didn’t want to scare you away.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to decide.”
Her voice cracked — soft but strong.
“And now I look like the reason you’re risking everything.”
“You’re not,” he said sharply.
“You’re the one thing that feels real.”
Catherine scoffed loudly.
Maya flinched.
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