The Flavor Of Love

by Shiree McCarver

  “Funny, but I don’t feel cold.” She looked at him with sleep filled eyes. “When I’m with you, I feel warm and comforted, like slipping on an old fuzzy bathrobe.’

  “Oh, old and fuzzy, huh? Is this a good thing?”

  “It is to me.” She kissed his mouth softly before tucking her head beneath his chin. “I was worried that you regretted everything that happened last night when I woke up and found you gone. I feared I disappointed you because I never gave you an answer to your proposal.”

  “Etta, I wish I had handled it differently, but whether last night or two months from now, I still would want you to be my wife,” Keigo admitted openly to her. “You and I both have been living in the past for some time now. I’m ready to move ahead to the next level of my life. I will never forget Clair and Miko, but I properly grieved their loss and no matter how angry I got or how much I cried or how lonely I felt, it didn’t bring them back to me.”

  Etta didn’t say anything but he felt her head nod under his chin and knew she was taking in what he was saying.

  “Etta, if I haven’t learned anything these past few years, I’ve learned that I’m a patient man. I can afford to give you the time you need to come to the same conclusion that we were meant to meet and we were meant to spend the rest of our lives together.”

  “Are you finished?”

  He nodded.

  She tilted her head back and he looked down into her large eyes. “Let me start by thanking you again, Keigo.”

  “For what? All that screaming I made you do,” he winked and grinned.

  “Don’t go there or I won’t get out what I need to say.”

  She punched him playfully in the chest and he pretended to be hurt.

  “I’m sorry, baby. Go ahead.”

  “I want to thank you for everything,” she began again. “God, I still can’t believe you drove that car by yourself to find me and in the rain of all times.” She shook her head. “I can’t even begin to know how difficult that must have been for you, but I realized more then ever what a coward I was being by thinking that I could go through the rest of my life never falling in love again.” She caressed the dark strands of hair at his right temple. “Thank you for comforting me while I cried in the shower and for keeping me from floating when you…well, you know.”

  Keigo cut his eyes at her in a mischievous manner. “No, I don’t know. When I what?”

  “Okay, forget it. I’ll just go get my shower,” she pouted.

  Keigo laughingly tightened his arms around her. “Okay…okay. I don’t remember you being so moody in the mornings at your place. I would have thought you would be purring my praises after all I did to that hot little body of yours.”

  “Forget it,” she huffed and struggled to get up causing the swing to sway gently.

  This time he stilled Etta by putting his hand to her face tenderly. It felt good. She was where he knew she belonged. They could grow old together just sitting here like this and he would be happy. Hell, he was happy! Would others appreciate it if he woke them up shouting, “I love Etta” at the top of his lungs? None of his best friends had found love once. And here he was finding it twice in one lifetime.

  He smiled at her. She leaned forward to press her mouth to his. His penis lurched and his heartbeat thrummed through his body. He tilted his head to the side to allow their mouths to fit perfectly and enable him to intensify the pressure of the kiss.

  He stole her breath.

  She gave it back.

  “Keigo,” she whispered hoarsely.

  “Etta,” he whispered back.

  “I love you.”

  Surprised, Keigo’s lips went immediately pliant, opening for her. It was a gesture of complete surrender. His emotions felt so raw that it seemed to reach into his chest and put his heart in a vice grip. To hear her say the words when he was least expecting to hear them was more reassuring than if she had said them a hundred times while they made love. The personal relief he felt was…humbling.

  Keigo felt his throat tightened and his heart sang with relief as he fell into a bottomless pit of peace and satisfaction. He saw that she looked a bit misty-eyed too.

  “Say something,” she urged.

  “Etta, marry me.”

  “Is that an order?”

  “No, it’s a request that you allow me to make you happy for the rest of our lives,” he stated.

  “Good answer,” she gave him a dimpled grin. “Yes, Keigo Kyou, I will marry you.”

  “Soon?”

  “Anytime is fine with me as long as we don’t have a big traditional wedding,” she informed.

  “Both our families will kill us.” His lips pursed in deep thought. He could hear Fay and Auntie Loo ranting at him about taking their Little Etta off and denying her a proper wedding. Big Bertha would shorten his swizzle stick for sure then. God help him. He hadn’t even met her brother yet. What if he opposed they being together? Also, his mother probably won’t be too happy that he chose to defy family tradition once again. Thankfully he had Jin to help her get use to the idea, hopefully before they married and not afterwards like she did with Claire. She didn’t soften to Claire until after Miko was born.

  “Uh, oh,” Etta groaned. “I can see those wheels turning in your head. You’re not upset about my not wanting a big wedding are you?” She asked.

  “Does this have something to do with that soiled wedding dress in the back of your guest bedroom closet?”

  Etta nodded with a solemn face. “It was my wedding day when Neil and my brother Toby were on their way to the church and they were in a pile up on the causeway.”

  “I know,” he admitted.

  Her eyes grew wide with surprise. “You knew what happened all this time and never said anything to me?”

  “No, I knew after meeting your mother,” Keigo quickly explained not wanting her to think he was intentionally being deceitful in anyway.

  “She told you,” Etta said flatly.

  “Don’t be upset with her. She felt there was something familiar about me, Etta. At first I thought it was because I was on television, but that wasn’t it at all. The day Neil was killed was the day my family was killed and I was brought by MedEvac into the emergency room.”

  “What?” she gasped. “The man that was covered in blood. I remember I thought it was Neil, but mother insisted it wasn’t. She told me it was an Asian man and that you would survive but had a terrible ordeal to face when you awakened.”

  “That is what Fay told me, too. She also told me she saw something…else.”

  “I remember she had the strangest look on her face. That is what made me think she was lying to me about it being Neil.” Etta’s brow crinkled with concern. “What did Mommy tell you?”

  “That she knew on that day that or destinies were intertwined and we were meant to find each other when the time was right,” he confided waiting for it all to sink in. He knew it took him a few days after meeting Fay to adjust to the supernatural state of it all.

  All this time he and Etta had talked about losing the ones they loved, neither of them ever put two and two together.

  Keigo released a long sigh, finally happy to let it out. He had wanted to tell Etta, but he didn’t want her to want him because she was a believer in the mystical, but because she loved him in return. He started to move the swing back and forth lightly and held her quietly until she was ready to speak.

  “So, knowing this, can you understand that I don’t want a big wedding?”

  Keigo nodded against her temple.

  “Can we go to the courthouse and do it without telling anyone. Afterwards, we can plan a big party together for our friends, family and coworkers.”

  “Sort of like the Japanese way?”

  “Yes,” Etta reached out and placed her hand on the side of his face. “I don’t think I can take another church wedding where I’m sitting there waiting and wondering if you will show up or not.”

  “Etta, whatever makes you happy will make me h
appy,” Keigo assured her and he meant it. He didn’t care who was angry with him. This is their decision alone to make.

  “Okay then; after we return home, we go to the courthouse and make it official.”

  “Your mother?”

  “After what you told me, she will understand.”

  “What about your brother? Don’t you think I should meet the man and let him know my intentions are honorable in regards to his only sister?”

  Etta worried her bottom lip. She moaned, “You may want to wait until after the wedding.”

  “No way, Etta. I draw the line there. If I’m going to be calling this man my brother for the next fifty years or more, then I have to insist on doing at least this much the traditional way,” Keigo said in a voice that wanted no argument.

  “What if he doesn’t approve?”

  Keigo shrugged. “Then we won’t get married.”

  “Really?” She asked in a shrilled voice.

  “Hell, no,” Keigo chuckled. “I will just let him believe that when I talk to him, to make him feel as if his opinion matters.

  Etta laughed. Her expression grew quiet for a moment before it turned outright wanton. He glared at her suspiciously wondering what she was up to or what foolish thing she was about to ask of him?

  “Keigo, would you think I was being too greedy if I were to tell you I wanted to make love with you again,” Etta spoke between pleasant little nibbles to his bottom lip.

  “Hell yeah, but who’s keeping count?”

  “Uh, Reko will be when he realizes he doesn’t have any condoms.”

  “Hey, what are friends for?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “But now that we are getting married and we already did it once without--”

  “Don’t even think about it,” she warned. “Don’t they say, ‘No glove, no love’? Come on, do you want me wobbling in to our wedding party? Everyone will think you married me because I was pregnant,” she pouted.

  “Okay, whatever. Let’s do it already. I’m about to burst now that you’ve put the thought in my head again,” he eyed her naked slender legs and feet and observed the bruising in the light of day. “Aren’t you sore?”

  “All over, but I still want you.”

  His cock lurched against the cheek of her ass sitting on it. All he had to do was turn her around to face him and spread her legs on each side of him. They could go at it right here outside in front of God and anyone else that happened to be up this early.

  “Hey, Etta, I got an idea.”

  “Hey Keigo?”

  “What?” He tilted his head to the side. “You have the same idea? Can your psychic instinct read what I need?”

  She nodded with a grin. “Yes, we both need the same thing,” her voice said seductively.

  “Now you’re talking.” Keigo reached between them and undid the top button of his jeans.

  “What are you doing?” She leaned back and placed a hand on her hip.

  “We’re going to do it right here, aren’t we?”

  “Why, Judge Freaky, we aren’t going to do no such thing.”

  Etta released a throaty laugh and he knew it was because of the childish disappointment that was written all over his face.

  “I thought you said we needed the same thing,” he accused.

  “We do! A shower!” She laughed and pushed away from his chest and dashed off his lap into a skip back inside the house. He heard her yell, “Last one in the shower is the funkiest person in the world!”

  Her brisk movements caused the swing to dip forward and spill him out onto the porch. It took Keigo a full minute to stop laughing long enough to get off the ground. He came up slowly. Dusting off the front of his pants, he decided not to rush. The woman he loved wasn’t going anywhere.

  CHAPTER 13

  One month later…

  “Why didn’t the rest of the gang wait up for us?” Etta asked. “They tore out of that camp like they had the police after their asses.”

  “After a month away from home, everyone is anxious to get home I suppose.” Keigo shrugged his shoulders. “I told Reko and Marco I wanted to make this trip home by myself. I didn’t want to slow them down. I realize I’m not very confident with driving yet.” His voice was apologetic.

  “Just take your time, baby. Today is already special because it’s our first road trip alone.” Reaching over, Etta massaged the back of Keigo’s neck with the tips of her finger. “We’re in this together, you know.”

  She smiled when he exhaled a long sigh of contentment.

  Four hours into the “road trip,” Etta realized that her patience was being tested. Seeing how they were taking the same route Rico had taken to get to the camp, it was a solid four-hour drive. So, all logic says they should have reached home by now. There was nothing logical about Keigo’s paranoia during the drive. But for Etta, it was understandable and the more Keigo patiently pushed ahead to reach his destination, the more she was beginning to feel like a coward for demanding they start their life together with him accommodating her fear of having a traditional wedding.

  Etta didn't complain when Keigo was driving fifty-five miles in a seventy-mile zone. Nor did she reprimand him when he pulled off the interstate a second time to stop at a quick-lube place off the interstate to have his brakes checked again. She gave him a loving smile when he sat and waited until the roadway was nearly clear before he chanced to pull out, even though he had the right of way. She also didn't mind that the air conditioner going on full blast when he felt claustrophobic at times.

  Etta chose to see the positives. Keigo was doing his best. Instead of getting frustrated and asking her to drive, he persevered. Seeing him push himself made her love him even more. She was so proud of him. Going across the Golden Gate Bridge, they both relaxed. They were home.

  “Thank you for being patient with me today.” Keigo gave her a quick glance with a half smile on his face.

  “No, thank you. I believe this is the first ride I’ve had where no one yelled at me for asking to stop so I can pee,” she said teasingly. “Besides, what’s the rush?”

  Keigo chuckled.

  To Etta, they were a team and she was with him for the long haul.

  “I believe the more I drive, the more comfortable it will become,” Keigo reasoned.

  She nodded and her eyes misted. “Keigo, I’m so proud of you.”

  Etta leaned over and kissed his cheek not wanting to distract him too much from concentrating on the road.

  “Hey, want to stop at the first hotel we come to?”

  Etta laughed. “You’re joking right? We’re close to my place, so you can wait, Judge Hot and Horny.”

  “Hey, I’m having withdrawals,” Keigo protested. “We haven’t had a private moment together since the day after that big storm. I need you.”

  “I need you too.”

  “Okay, then we will go to my place; its closer,” he compromised.

  “That will be great. I haven’t had the chance to see your place yet.” Something else dawned on Etta. “Wow, we haven’t discussed where we’re going to live. I never considered the fact that I would someday move away from my neighbor hood and my family.”

  “Don’t fret, sweetheart. I like your neighborhood. I think it would be a better place to raise children than the penthouse. Now that I’m driving again, I won’t have to hound Reko and he can stay at my place and be a caretaker.” Keigo asked, turning on his blinker going towards the downtown district, “What’s with the face?”

  “I never thought about children either. After losing your daughter do you want more children?” Etta asked.

  “After having a child and losing her, the one thing I always knew was I wanted to be a father again”

  She nodded at him and smiled. “I want children also. How many do you think we should have?”

  “Oh, an even dozen should do,” Keigo announced with hesitation.

  Etta’s balked. Smacking her lips at him she said, “Then you and I are going to have a problem.”
/>
  He laughingly steered his jeep into the valet parking lot of the Residence Towers. Etta stepped out of the car when the valet held the door open for her. Keigo threw him the keys and his fingers took her arm with gentle claim. As they were about to step into the elevator, they heard his name being called. It was from the manager behind the front desk.

  “Etta, go on up and make yourself at home.”

  “You sure? I can wait for you,” she offered.

  “No, I want you to go up and turn left, then walk down the hall. You will run into my bedroom. Go inside the bathroom and check out the tub. It takes a while for it to fill it up, so why don’t you get it started?”

  “Bubbles?” She cocked an eyebrow at him.

  “Don’t tell anyone my secret.” He leaned in and whispered, “I got all kinds of bubbles.” His fingers clamped over her laughing chin and he tilted her face up. “Give me a kiss.”

  “Here? Everybody’s staring,” Etta eyes widened in warning.

  “And you’re always wondering why I’m so bossy?” He shook his head. “Probably because you’re so argumentative.”

  “I--”

  Keigo stole her next words by catching her behind the neck. He pulled her forward flushed against his hard body and covered her mouth with his and smiled as her lips parted. Etta felt herself swoon against him. She was whooped.

  Etta regretted the kiss ending. If he hadn’t pulled away, she probably would have jumped his hips and humped him in front of everyone in the hotel. He turned her about, gently pushed her into the elevator and pushed; then swiped a card in front of the sensor. Once the elevator door closed, Etta did a jig and giggle. She was so happy and she was crazy in love. Life couldn’t get any better then this feeling.

  A reflective smile was still on her face when the door opened into a beautiful penthouse apartment of glass, maple wood and stainless steel ultra modern décor. Definitely not the ethnic style she prefers but it was full of light and the view was breathtaking.

  With an excited gasp, Etta half ran, half skipped to the huge gourmet kitchen that made up the open floor plan. She was envious. Keigo didn’t even cook and he had all the amenities a kitchen could offer and some. If it weren’t for the fact that she loved her neighborhood and having a front and back yard to grow her herbs, she’d be sold to move here just for the kitchen alone.