The Flavor Of Love

by Shiree McCarver

  Etta wanted to dislike her but she couldn’t because Nan, short for Nanette, was a likeable person. She was a guy’s woman and a girl’s “home-girl.” She had the lovely face and figure of a plus-sized model, a serious passion for watching and playing all sorts of sports, and she wore a boy-short haircut with large hoop earrings. Whenever she removed the earrings, the guys knew she was going to whip their ass in a game of one-on-one and had to bring their “A” game.

  Etta also saw the way Keigo’s other close friend, Marco Funicello, couldn’t take his eyes off of Nan. She remembered him from the courthouse because he too was drop dead gorgeous in an Italian sort of way but his nose was overly large for her taste. She also heard people around the court refer to him as the “Little Emperor.” She wondered if it was his dictatorial temperament or his short stature that got him the nickname. Silently she wondered why it was the short men that always wanted to climb up the mountain of a tall woman and Nan had some tall mountains to climb.

  “Nan, I need you to call and reschedule the inspection. Also get a call sheet for all the camp counselors to call their students and apologize for the delay. Make sure everyone knows it is due to something that is beyond our control. Explain about the weather and hazardous conditions. Hey, you know the drill. If there is anyone new, team them up with some of the ‘been there, done that’ crowd.”

  “Right now?” Nan asked giving him a sassy, “don’t even think about it” look.

  “No,” Keigo laughed. “Do it in the morning. Etta will have the day off so get Reko to--”

  “I…won’t need the day off, just a little tired at the moment,” Etta piped in. “Look at all the mud we’ve tracked in on the floor. I need to get that taken care of first thing in the morning before breakfast is served in here. And--”

  Keigo intervened. “And she won’t be doing it because she is taking the day off. Marco?”

  “It’s on the list and I’ll help Nan,” Marco stepped forward and stood next to Nan.

  Etta noticed he was about two inches shorter then Nan’s five-foot-nine stature. If Nan put on high heels she’d probably kiss the top of his head. She also saw Reko giving Keigo an “I told you so” smirk over Marco’s head and wondered what that was about.

  “Reko--”

  “I’m in charge of rolling out breakfast and such, I know, and what pray tell will you be doing in the morning?” Reko lift a knowing eyebrow at Keigo.

  Keigo ignored his implication and said, “I’m sleeping in. Only wake me if the building is on fire.”

  “Is that your building or someone else’s?” Reko teasingly asked. “I’m just asking because we share the same cabin.”

  Carla eased up beside Reko. “Big brother, you’re as subtle as a horse. I think I have mice in my cabin, so why don’t you camp out over there. I’m sure Amy will be delighted.”

  A big grin came to Reko’s face. It was apparent that the thought of bunking with Amy was something he was looking forward to.

  Keigo addressed the room, “It’s been a long night. Thank you all for joining in the search and everyone sleep in. There is nothing we can do until this rain ends. Just make sure the phone calls are the first thing you do before starting your day!” He ran a hand over his hair and grimaced as he felt matted mud.

  Etta reached up and touched her face and hair, realizing she must look like something a dog dug up.

  “Jacob and Ben, can you do a drive through on the levies around the lower ranch grounds closest to the lake and see how they’re fairing before you call it a night? If it looks like we are going to have something to worry about then you can call me.”

  “Will do, Boss,” they said in unison.

  Etta stood up on shaky legs. “Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate how you all pitched in to look for me. I apologize for interrupting everyone’s evening,” Etta said. She was feeling truly embarrassed by all the trouble she caused. If she had listened to Reko and stayed on the trail, none of this would have happened. She reached into her parka pockets and it was full of mud; the berries probably fell out from all the commotion.

  Everyone said their goodnights and strolled out in separate directions. On their way out of the recreation area, individuals eased her fears of being a bother with their kind words, smiles and hugs of comfort in spite of her filthy appearance.

  As she watched Keigo’s easy interaction with his camp team, she admired the obvious respect they had for him. It spoke volumes about his character. Her thoughts drifted back to his lips on hers and the strength of his arms as they pulled her from the makeshift grave holding her with all that he had, to the point of it being painful. Still, his intensity reminded her that she was still alive and it gave her the chance to let him know she cared about him.

  The man she loved dearly died. She felt as if he’d taken her with him. For the first time since that tragic day, she no longer felt the need to pretend she was living her life to the fullest just to keep her mother and brother from worrying about her. Meeting Keigo was changing her. Etta was beginning to feel again and as ridiculous as it seemed, she believed she was falling in love with Keigo.

  The one thing Etta could say about herself was she wasn’t shy and she didn’t feel the need to put up pretenses. She wanted to spend the rest of the night in his arms, the only place she’s felt completely safe for a long time.

  She saw him frown and rub at his stomach. “I see your tummy's hurting you.” Etta made her way to Keigo's side. “I'm not surprised after all the stress I've put you through today. Once I get cleaned up, how about I go to the kitchen and heat you up some clear broth I made for you earlier today.”

  “Thank you, baby.”

  She nodded and a broad smile came to her lips. She loved the way he easily called her “baby.”

  “I also made you some fresh squeezed lemonade with some of the tea in it, that way you won't have to suffer the taste. Besides, the lemons have healing properties of their own. Just remember it’s in the staff refrigerator and your name is on the pitcher.”

  A wide grin came across his dirty face. “Etta, I don’t know what to say. As busy as you’ve been, you had the time to be concerned about me and my needs?”

  “Keigo, just because we haven’t seen much of each other lately, it doesn’t mean you haven’t been on my mind,” she said with a smile and a saucy wink. Their eyes embraced and held. She had the urge to kiss him.

  Etta didn't even care if they would get a mouth full of dirt in the process. Even so, this wasn't the time or place. They needed to talk before she allowed her heart to fall for him any more than it already did. There was no denying they were physically attracted to each other, but physical attraction wasn’t enough to sustain a relationship and she wasn’t one to slip in and out of relationships for the sake of good sex or easing her loneliness.

  Reko cleared his throat and Carla said, “Hey, there’s no way Reko and I are going to allow you back in that kitchen tonight, Etta. Not after what you’ve been through. So why don’t the both of you go to Keigo’s cabin and we will fix you both some dinner and some hot toddies to heat you up.”

  “I think things are already a bit heated,” Reko mumbled and grunted as his sister’s elbow made contact with his ribs.

  “Thanks,” Keigo said turning his warm gaze on Carla. “For the offer and for hitting Reko before I did.”

  She nodded with a soft chuckle. “What are friends for?” Then she turned to Reko and elbowed him once more, “Hey, Mr. Buffed and Sexy, come on and allow them some time alone without you all up in their business!”

  “Hey! That’s Etta’s nickname for me, Ms. Body Bodacious, and it doesn’t sound right coming from my sister’s mouth!” Reko whined as he reluctantly followed on Carla’s heels towards the kitchen.

  “Don’t forget to take your shoes off at the door!” Etta yelled after them.

  Keigo shook his head and looked over at Etta. “You’ve been at the name association thing again, I see.”

  Etta smiled as infe
ctious grins set the tone. “I told you I was bad at names.”

  Keigo scowled at her and crossed his arms over his chest. “Hmmm…”

  “Why are you looking at me that way?” Her brow, stiffed with drying mud, lifted in question.

  “I don’t remember you calling me buffed. Are you saying I should work out more?”

  “Of course not,” she balked with a mischievous grin. “If that ass of yours gets any tighter, you could crack a walnut between your butt cheeks.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “Good answer.”

  “Just telling it like I see it,” Etta fluttered her lashes at him. The smile in his eyes as he looked at her contained a sensuous flame that called to her basic needs.

  “Etta, I know Carla put you on the spot about sleeping in my cabin. You don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable with it. But after what happened to you this evening, I’m not ready to let you out of my sight yet.”

  Keigo held out an open hand to her.

  “If Carla hadn’t opened the door for us, I was going to ask because I didn’t feel like sleeping alone.” She reached out and caught his hand in hers. His wonderfully strong fingers intertwined possessively with hers as they strolled out to his cabin.

  Keigo pushed open the door of his cabin. Etta took in the surroundings as she left her dirty sneakers on the porch with her socks stuffed in them and walked barefooted inside. It was similar to the one she occupied with Nan, except larger. Two full size futons that were sofas and beds rested on opposite walls. In the center of the room was a large picture window for viewing outside while eating at the small table for two. Currently the off white wooden shutters were currently drawn and latched closed.

  There was a fire roaring in the black potbelly stove in the corner and she walked silently across the Indian hand woven rugs that were on the floor, moving closer to warm her hands over the stove.

  She felt his presence close to her before she felt his hand brush a wet dirty braid from her shoulder. He put a hand on the back of her neck and massaged. Etta leaned back into the warmth of his touch.

  “You’re shivering,” he whispered in her ear as his lip grazed against her earlobe. “Go and get in the shower while I plug in the coffee maker so we can have some hot water for some honeyed cider after dinner.”

  She nodded and he dropped his hands to his sides. Etta made her way to the bathroom, shutting the door close with a long sigh and a soft smile on her lips. It only took Etta less than five minutes to shed all evidence of her nightmare. She piled the dirty, ripped and blood stained clothing on top of an extra towel. Rolling it up in a ball, she kicked it aside in the corner. There was no reason to salvage those jeans and t-shirt. She never wanted to see them again.

  Walking across the teak wooden planked floor, she reached in and turned on the shower. Etta took a moment to test the temperature with her fingers before stepping into the treated teak wood shower. She slid shut the glass doors and closed her eyes as the warm, soothing water spayed over her head.

  She released a gasp as the water stung her skin where the skin was scraped from the fall. Etta washed away the grunge and watch it swirled darkly around her feet before it went down the drain. The tiny bell anklet Neil had given her was gone. Oh God, she almost died today.

  Etta bit her bottom lip as emotional pain rushed through her. She braced her hands against the shower wall with her head bowed under the spray. The sudden heaviness centered in her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes and she wept aloud.

  Wrapped up in her grief, she wasn’t aware of Keigo’s entrance until she felt his naked powerful body against her back sliding his hands around her waist. Her eyes opened but she remained still, unable to look at him and bear her raw pain to him. She kept her eyes focused on his beautiful hands, with their long slender fingers. They were clean. He must have washed the grime off of them in the kitchen.

  Seeing the vivid, greenish blue veins of life’s blood running through Keigo's hands brought forth more tears. Etta thought she would never find anyone with hands just as tender and loving as the hands she had known before. Yet Keigo’s wonderful hands had done more for her. These hands saved her in more ways than she could ever thank him for.

  He removed a hand to lift the handheld showerhead off its rack and held it close to her head. Moving the other hand from her waist, her eyes drifted closed as she felt him smooth his watered filled hands from the top of her brow, down the length of her hair.

  The touch of his hand was almost unbearable in its kindness. Twisting in his arms, she buried her face against the hairless, corded muscular chest and locked her hands in the small of his back. She spoke against his chest. “I’m sorry Keigo, but I was so scared I’d never see you or my family again.”

  She pressed her curves into the contours of his lean body. The tenderness of his arms felt empowering. She relaxed as he rocked her gently under the showerhead he held in one hand.

  “Its okay sweetheart, you have me now,” Keigo whispered into her hair. “Come; let’s get clean before the water turns cold.”

  Without any shyness or inhibition that usually occurs between two people that have yet to become lovers, they took turns washing each other’s body with the bath sponge. The masculine soft scent of the body wash he used was already familiar to her senses from smelling him. Etta welcomed Keigo’s scent all over body, including the secret places that he worshiped so thoroughly.

  He reached and placed the hand-shower back in place and turned off the shower. But before he allowed her to leave their intimate haven, he cupped her face in his hands and tilted it upward.

  “Goodness, woman do you have any idea how beautiful you are to me at this moment?”

  Etta gazed up at him. His eyes were bloodshot from tiredness, the water, shampoo or the tears he had shed earlier, but she still found them beautiful. Keigo was exotic, Asian, sexy as hell and he was also kind, sweet and thoughtful. She felt very fortunate to have him in her life.

  “Judge Gorgeous, you look as tired as I feel,” she smiled, reaching up to touch and run her fingers along his chest.

  “You’re right,” he admitted and nuzzled his face against the side of her neck. “But, I’ve been waiting days to get you alone and it feels like it’s been even longer since I got to kiss you.”

  His moist relaxed lips touched against hers as he continued to hold her face in his hands. With gentle coercion, she widened her mouth to accept his tongue in a slow dance against hers. He playfully teased the walls of her mouth as the kiss deepened. Etta’s eyes closed and she wrapped her hands around his waist and held onto him to keep from buckling under the feelings of heaviness in her legs.

  By the time she recovered from his mouth being on hers, he had moved away to grab a thick bath towel. He wrapped it around her wet hair and placed another around her body, tucking it in at her breasts. Lifting another towel from the slender cabinet in the bathroom, Keigo towel dried his hair.

  While he was occupied, Etta continued to take in his body. Washing him down just got her juices flowing. Etta even found the mole beneath the right buttock that Auntie Loo had mentioned. He had a magnificent body. Lean muscles rippled with his movements, the six-pack that made up his stomach clinched and unclenched as he bent to dry his long hair covered thighs. A defined bluish-green vein could be traced across his groin running along the shaft of the most perfect penis she’d ever seen. It was not overly long but thick as she liked it and he was only semi-erect. Nor did it favor the left or the right.

  “I have nothing left to dry, but if you want to still watch me, I can go through the motions. We are going to have to warm the soup up in the microwave anyway.”

  Etta face reddened. “Uh, you said the soup has arrived?”

  Keigo wrapped his hand around her wrist and drew her against him and she went into his arms without hesitation. “Don't be embarrassed. I'm yours to look at and touch anytime you want me.” He nuzzled the side of her nose with his. “That is, as long as I can enjoy the same pri
vileges.”

  His deft fingers pulled the towel loose from above her breasts and opened it. His exotic eyes roamed over her body possessively and the towel dropped to the floor beside the one he discarded when he pulled her against him.

  “I believe in equality in a relationship, which gives you leeway to do almost anything to my body,” Etta said. Ever so softly, she pressed a kiss above his heart.

  He tugged the towel from her hair and dropped it, kicking it aside.

  She sighed against his skin as he ran his fingers against her scalp and cradled her head to his chest as she circled his dark small nipple with the sweep her tongue. It felt like a tiny pebble between her lips. A throaty sexy groan rumbled up from his chest and she felt an immediate response from her body as her clitoris pulsed.

  “Keigo?” She came up on her tiptoes and nibbled at his throat. His hands roamed along the lines of her shoulders and back before stopping on her rounded buttocks and cupping each cheek in a hand.

  “Huh?”

  “Would I be too forward it I told you that I wanted you more then food?”

  “Thank God!” He roared, lifting her up against him until her feet were floating above the ground and he twirled her around until they landed naked upon the bed.

  She laughed.

  Smiling, he touched her cheek. “When I think about how close I came to losing you before you were even mine--”

  She pressed her fingers to his lips. “We’re together now and I am yours. I know that I was hesitant about opening myself to you, but I realized if Neil had lived instead of me, I would want him to find love and happiness again.”

  “For all we know, Neil and Claire are up there working magic that brought us together,” he said to her surprise.

  “Is that the skeptical Judge Keigo Kyou I hear?”

  “No, it’s the man you would have met if you’d known me before the accident,” he confided. “I used to believe in a lot of things before tragedy entered my life. Etta, I want you and I’m looking forward to the future where we can continue to heal…together, instead of alone.”