How could she argue about it? It certainly wasn’t the first belief she’d had disproved since meeting him. “She’ll be the same person?”
“No, she’ll be retired from the Service. She won’t be able to come up here under normal circumstances, but there could be facts about that that I don’t know. Fox can take us to visit her, but it’s best that we think of her as dead. I don’t think she’ll have a corporeal body anymore.” He choked. “Jordan, I need to stop talking about it, for now, okay?”
“Let’s get some sleep,” she said.
She took off her clothes and then helped him remove his. She couldn’t believe how comfortable she’d become in such a short time in letting him see her in all her need-to-lose-a-few pounds glory. They held each other in silence for a little while. Sure he was asleep, she pulled away to find a more comfortable position and to allow his arm a chance to move. He jerked half-awake and grabbed her. “Don’t leave me,” he said in his sleep.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Jordan, are you awake?” he said, this time sounding as if he really was.
“Yes.”
“I need to tell you some things. I don’t want us to lie in each other’s arms all night until I tell you some things.”
“What?” Her mind was already reeling.
“I tried to wash you and I couldn’t.”
“What?”
He told her that he thought he had washed her when she found him leaving the apartment. “Is that why you said the Hunters were going to do it as a group?”
“That’s what I thought at first, but then Jahia told me that they wouldn’t be able to do it either.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She said she would get back with me about that, but we haven’t had a chance to talk about it again.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. But there’s more. That email you got was not from your boss. We think one of the Sangsue sent it.”
“Why wouldn’t you all have told me that?”
“We didn’t want to upset you until we knew for sure. Don’t worry. There was no way I was going to let you meet him. I imagine that’s a non-issue now. Are we still talking?”
“I’m listening. Go on.”
“All of us can bend time. We rarely use the ability because it messes. . .well, you saw what it does. We have to make up that time within twenty-four hours, and the make-up can come at unfortunate times.”
His accent was really thick when he said “un-for-tune-it;” it made her smile.
“You already knew?” he asked.
“No.”
“Why are you smiling? I expected it to upset you?”
“I was smiling at your accent.”
He smiled, took her hand and kissed her palm. His cell phone rang before he could tell her more.
It took him a moment to locate it. “Are you feeling better? No, we were talking. Sure.” He handed Jordan the telephone. “Jahia wants to speak with you.”
“Did she leave the house?”
He shook his head.
“Hello. Yes, I do remember. Tonight? Now? Sure, okay. Sleep well.”
She handed him his phone. He looked like he wanted her to tell him what that was about, but she wanted him to finish what he was saying. She figured there was no way Jahia’s call could be as important as his confessions. A part of her was still waiting to hear about a possible wife in Mali.
“I’ll tell you what she said, but please continue what you were saying first.”
He nodded. “There was just one more thing, but I consider it the most important. I hope you feel the same. The name my mother called me was ‘Hasani’—it means ‘handsome.’ Drame is my real last name.”
It was her exhalation that made her realize she’d been holding her breath. “Thank you,” she said.
They talked for at least another two hours. Finally he stopped talking abruptly and cupped her face. “I prefer to let our bodies do the rest of the talking. Does that work for you?”
“It does, but I forgot to tell you what Jahia wanted.”
He smiled and meshed his body into hers. She felt his growing erection smooth and hot against her belly.
“It better be good,” he said. “I’ve got other things on my mind.”
“I don’t know if it’s good or not, but she told me to tell you I smell lavender when I’m with you.” He stopped the grinding, the touching, the kissing.
“Say that again.”
She repeated what she’d said.
“Do you smell it now?”
“Yes, of course. Whenever I’m near you. I’m not saying I don’t like it. It’s a pleasant scent. I wouldn’t mind wearing some myself.” She wondered if it sounded to his ears as it did hers, as if she was begging.
“I’m not wearing a scent. We don’t do that.”
“That’s what Jahia said, but I’m not crazy. I smell lavender.”
“No, you’re not crazy—you’re my mate.” The joy on his face was alive. “You’re the only woman who ever smelled a floral scent on me. I thought it was a fable, but you smell it! Nobody told you to say that?”
She shook her head and told him what happened when Jahia asked her to wait before telling him.
“So this must mean the scent I’ve been smelling on you is lavender too?”
Jordan looked confused. “My deodorant might be scented, but I’m not wearing any perfume.” She could feel against her cheek his full face smile.
“It never occurred to me to ask somebody what lavender smells like. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Lavender, not roses, not ginger or cinnamon, lavender! I must sound crazy.” He looked at her, in the eyes, like he was trying to read her mind. “You’re my mate, Jordan.” His voice was a whisper like Fox’s. “From the first time I saw you at the club, I’ve smelled a faint flowery scent too, but I figured it was your perfume. You’re not wearing anything?”
She shook her head. “I might have been at the club, but not since then. Do you smell it now?”
He nodded, his brown eyes darker and dense with elation. She could almost see it flowing through his body, and again his eyes filled with tears. She was glad she’d left the nightlight on—otherwise she wouldn’t have believed the warrior could tear up over anything.
He started to say something and stopped. He looked at her lips as if he expected her to speak his words. “No, I just want to kiss you. Now and forever.”
Epilogue
It wasn’t a big wedding—that wasn’t Jordan’s style. Leeana was her maid-of-honor, and Dacia, who’d become a good friend, and Jahia were her bridesmaids. It was a warm day, especially for the coastal town of Carmel.
“Aren’t you glad you didn’t have this in Sacramento?” was the question asked of them repeatedly. It was one hundred and three degrees in Sacramento, but a more comfortable eighty-two in Carmel. But Jordan didn’t get tired of hearing it, because each time Artest would answer, “there is no place too hot or too cold for me if it means marrying the love of my life.”
The ceremony consisted of Christian and Dogon traditions, and both the assistant pastor from her church and the Hogon blessed them.
Jordan wore a simple ivory dress, and the bridesmaids wore peach. Tyler was Artest’s best man, while Ian and a Hunter from Rome named Daouda were groomsmen.
For Jordan, the biggest surprise of the day was the reception that Fox threw for them. He rented out one of the largest and best restaurants in town. Even after four years of college, Jordan had never seen a person who so loved a party. And she’d never before seen a person whose partying was so contrary to his day-to-day personality. He was positively giddy.
When Artest and Jordan made their exit at around eleven, Fox was just beginning what he was calling phase two.
Her most pleasant surprise came after Artest carried her into the hotel room. “Artest. it smells wonderful in here,” she said as soon as the door opened.
“Just wait,” he told he
r.
They rounded the corner, and she saw the king-size bed. It was covered in African lavender. He placed her in the middle of the bed and stepped back to look at her.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve been picturing this moment from the second you told me we were lavender mates.”
“Is it what you pictured?”
“No, something’s off about it.”
“I think I know,” she said as she sat up and then stood. She slipped off her dress and slip and then her underwear. Nude, she cleared an empty space in the center of the flowers that were not nearly as soft as rose petals.
“That’s it,” he said. With a wave of his long arms all around her, he cleared the bed and joined her.
The End
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