Scented Dreams ((A Dogon-Hunters Series Novel))

by Turner Banks, Jacqueline

  “I don’t even know, but I want you to trust a warrior’s instincts.”

  Soon after that he walked her to her bedroom. “Come and give me a proper goodnight kiss,”

  she teased at the door.

  “Nesta, don’t. . .”

  “Just a kiss, that’s all I’m asking for.”

  “But you’re betting, without any reason to expect it wouldn’t work, that I’ll not be able to let go of you after that kiss.”

  She smiled.

  “So I’m just going to lean down and do this.” He pecked her on her forehead.

  “Chicken,” she said to his back.

  * * * *

  An hour later they were both still awake, both thinking about the other. He wondered if Kingsley was assuming they were sleeping together in his home. Am I missing an opportunity? he asked himself. Is her father avoiding this part of the house to avoid a truth they were missing?

  He knew for sure that Dot wouldn’t have cared. Or was that just her trying to be the cool parent?

  He touched his hardness. This is silly, he told himself. I’ve gone years without sex, a decade once. There should be no need, not with their past week. But there it was in its steel-like glory.

  He tried to think of the most unsexy thing he could imagine—Fox’s eyes. He’d heard the comments women made about those colorless eyes, not quite hazel or gold, but not gray either.

  They saw them differently; that had to be the answer. To Ian they were scary, the stuff of a child’s night terrors. The stiffness was gone, but the thought wouldn’t leave his mind.

  In her room, lying on her stomach, she opened her hand with the palm up and buried her nose in it. It didn’t exactly smell like him, the soap her mother bought, but it was close.

  She thought about going to the guest room and just quietly climbing in beside him. It wasn’t sex that she craved, but she certainly wouldn’t turn some down. It was the closeness of his body that she desired. Nesta knew that nothing short of fire could get her father to come into her room or Ian's, but she respected Ian’s motives.

  She sighed and attempted willing herself to dream of him, something she hadn’t done since she was a child forcing herself to dream of past Christmases to avoid whatever was frightening her.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  He woke to her kiss. “Nesta, what are you doing in here?”

  “Don’t you remember?”

  “Remember what?”

  “Darling, that was me you were with last night,” she said, smiling.

  He sat up. When she saw the frown on his face, she could no longer hold back the laughter.

  “You’re not losing your mind. I’m just kidding,” she confessed.

  “You have no idea. . .” he said as he reached for her again.

  “No idea of what? Tell me.”

  “Later— you have to leave now.”

  She deliberately looked down at the tent his cover was making.

  “I need to use the bathroom,” he told her. It came out sounding like an excuse.

  “That is one use for it.”

  “Out!”

  She cupped him. He groaned. “Are you sure, Ian?”

  “Get out!”

  She left the room laughing.

  He couldn’t stop smiling, not through his shower, not while he dressed. He made a call to Rico. “I need your help.”

  “Good morning, boss. Yes, you did wake me, but that’s okay, I live to serve you.” Rico’s accent was thick with sleep, but the sarcasm wasn’t lost.

  “I’m sorry. Good morning, Rico. Do you want to call me back?”

  “Wow, this lady must really be special. She made you say the dreaded two words.”

  “She is special, but what words?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t think they were in your vocabulary.”

  Rico said the words in jest, but Ian heard the truth of them. “I do appreciate all you do, man. I guess I don’t say that often enough.”

  “Don’t get mushy on me. How can I help?”

  Ian told him about what he had planned for the day.

  When Ian entered the kitchen, he found Dot drinking a cup of coffee and doing the Tribune's crossword puzzle at the kitchen island.

  “Good morning, Dot.”

  “Good morning, sweetie, are you hungry?”

  “No, but I will get myself a cup of that coffee that smells so good. Has Nesta been down yet?”

  “She has. She was complaining about being kicked out of the guest room.”

  Ian felt the blood rush to his face.

  Dot laughed. “I know you’re much older than me, but the fact that I can make you do that makes me think of you as being around Nesta’s age. We just have to convince Kingsley that it’s going to be all right.”

  “How can you be so sure that it is all right?”

  “You don’t have to be a Dogon to have instincts. I’m a sister from the south side of Chicago—I had to live by my wits too.”

  Ian flashed her his most alluring smile. “I’d put my money on your South Side wit over Dogon lore any day.”

  “Save the charm for my husband, Hunter. I already like you.”

  Ian took a sip of his coffee. “Kingsley doesn’t like me?” He wanted the words to sound light, but he was afraid there might have been hurt in his voice.

  “I think you could be his best friend on your own, but he doesn’t see you with his baby.”

  “What can I do?”

  “Nothing. Give it time. He’ll come around. I doubt if it would have been easy for any guy to come and take her away. I’m sure Ogo’s approval will do a lot to push Kingsley forward.”

  Ian clucked his tongue. “What makes you think Fox approves?”

  “You’re still alive— he approves.”

  Ian looked up to see if she was kidding. She wasn’t. That was when he noticed a love kiss on the side of her neck. Dot’s left hand involuntarily touched the spot, and Ian looked away.

  “Sometimes I can’t help being a psychologist, so I’m going to say this. There’s a hot young man in our house, and my husband felt the need to mark me. It’s demeaning and silly and yet oh so cute.”

  “The man’s no fool.”

  Dot laughed. “You can’t turn it off, can you? You’ll keep Nesta on her toes, that’s for sure.”

  She stood. “I’ve got one appointment this morning, and then I’m off for the rest of the week. I just hope this kid and his parents won’t know a hickey on a black woman when they see one. See you later.”

  After she left, Ian looked over at the crossword puzzle—half of it was filled in. He was impressed. He noticed that she was crossing out the clues as she went down the list. She was solving it in order—he was very impressed.

  “Don’t get too impressed,” he heard a deep voice say.

  Ian looked up to see Kingsley entering the room.

  “I figured out over time that crosswords tend to reuse clues. If you’re a regular, like Dot, it’s more about remembering rather than solving. But I don’t let her hear me saying that.”

  Ian nodded.

  “Since you’re down here and Dot’s half finished crossroad is in its usual place, that was Nesta’s shower I heard,” he mumbled as he pulled a bowl from the cabinet. “What do you two have planned for the day?”

  “Do you really want to know?” Ian asked.

  Kingsley looked up from the instant oatmeal package he was opening. “Do I, Hunter?” He said the words like a curse.

  Ian smiled, realizing where her father could have thought he was going with his question. “What I mean, Kingsley, is I’m planning to take her shopping today.”

  “Since I know you know we can afford to buy Nesta anything she needs, I have to assume that it’s for something we can’t buy her?”

  “That is correct.”

  Kingsley put his bowl in the microwave. “Have you asked her already?”

  “Yes.”

  “So she must have said yes.”

  “T
entatively— she said I have to get down on my knee.”

  Kingsley smiled. Ian suspected that would please him. “I’m surprised she didn’t say you have to get my okay.”

  “I do want it.”

  “And if I say no?”

  “I’ll feel badly about disappointing you.”

  Kingsley nodded. “Good answer. Fox said you were sharp.”

  “He did?”

  “Actually, he said you were a smartass, but he said it with a smile.”

  “Do I have your blessing?”

  “You’ll take care of her, never hurt her, make sure I get to spend a lot of time with my grandchildren no matter where you two end up living?”

  “Of course, but I would love it if we lived nearby.”

  “You’ll move here?” Kingsley asked.

  “I will for her, but I hate cold weather.”

  “I do too. Maybe we’ll all move to the islands, when Dot retires.”

  Soon after that, Kingsley finished eating and left the house. Ian decided that he’d gotten as much of an acceptance as he could expect, for now, from his father-in-law to be.

  Nesta entered wearing a pale yellow sun dress and yellow thong sandales. “That color looks great on you.”

  “Thanks. I just got to an age where I’ll wear dresses. When I was younger, I thought my legs were too fat.”

  He looked at her long, athletic legs and smiled. “Who told you that?”

  “Nobody told me, but the popular look was the tall skinny girls.”

  He nodded. “Those legs look like they had help from some sport?”

  “I played basketball. I didn’t have much of a choice.”

  The thought occurred to him again that he was about to take a woman to buy a ring, yet he knew so little about her.

  “What’s that look; are you having second thoughts?” she asked as she sat beside him with her coffee. She pulled a banana from the bowl in front of them.

  He thought she peeled it with much grace. “Is that all you’re eating?”

  “I had a yogurt earlier with my mother. Are you having second thoughts?” she asked again.

  “No, I’m not, but I’m admitting to myself that I don’t know very much about you.”

  “We’ll have a lifetime to learn. But I can’t imagine knowing that I played sports would make much of a difference in our relationship.”

  He took a sip from his cup. “Are we rushing things? Is there information missing that can make a difference to either of us?”

  “There might be, but we’ll handle it.” She waited for him to put down his cup. “Ian, I’m not rushing you. If you’re having second thoughts, let’s just slow down.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means when you leave you leave alone, and I don’t send the resignation letter I’ve been mentally composing.”

  He took her hand. “That thought scares me much more than any unsaid background information.”

  “Me too, but I can live with it if I have to.”

  He looked at the determined set of her jaw and saw a strength he hadn’t seen before, but had suspected she possessed. He was the Hunter, but he was caught by the game. “Nesta, I don’t think I can.” His next thought was interrupted by a text message. “Do you know where Highland Park is?”

  “Sure, why?”

  “We have an appointment to see a man about a ring.”

  He laughed as he fought back tears. What was it about this woman that made him so emotional? He was sure he’d gone decades without even thinking about crying, and since meeting her he felt he was always on the verge of tears, laughter, or elation.

  “Are you sure, Nesta? I made certain Rico was faxed the warranty that assures that their diamonds are from sources free of conflict. No Hunter would have it any other way. Before we leave the store, we’ll have written verification too.”

  “I’m sure. A gold band would be enough for me,” she wrapped her arms around his neck. “As long as you’re my groom.” She held up her hands. “See, I don’t even wear a watch. I’m not into jewelry.”

  Emotion was thick in his chest, but he didn’t want it to dominate this occasion. “Darling, I expect that to change. Because I want to buy for you.”

  “Fine, buy something else.”

  “An emerald, a ruby?”

  She laughed. “No, something other than a ring. I’ll get a band on our wedding day.”

  It had never occurred to him that she wouldn’t want a ring. “Is it selfish that I want you to wear an engagement ring? Is this one of those sexist things? You’ll have to help me with this—I’m not of this time.”

  “No, not at all. It’s not a political stand. I just don’t need an engagement ring. I wish I could say that the knowledge of blood diamonds formed my opinion, but I’ve never been into jewelry.”

  “An engagement car? You said you needed to switch with your mother.”

  “Ian, I’m not a child, you don’t need to buy me anything.” She hoped her voice hadn’t come out angry, but she was getting a little annoyed. “Do you think I’m a spoiled brat?”

  “No, of course not!” He took a deep breath. “Nesta, I’ve never asked anybody to marry me, but I’ve had centuries to consider it. Forgive me if I’ve got an image set in my mind of how I want to do this.”

  She nodded. Working her head in an exaggerated manner, she said, “You and Dorothy Jean are going to have so much fun planning this weddin’!” It was her best around-the-way girl voice.

  He laughed. “Okay, I deserved that. It’s your day, and as Rico would say, you’re Burger King.”

  “No, not my way, our way. And about the ring. If it’s important to you, I’ll wear one, but it doesn’t need to be a diamond. Maybe you can just buy me a pearl or my birthstone.”

  He realized he didn’t know her birthday. He frowned again.

  “It’s April thirtieth, Ian. Stop looking like that. We have time to learn all this stuff about each other.”

  He thought about what she said and nodded; then he started laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “You really aren’t into jewelry.”

  “No, I’m not, but why is that funny?”

  “Your birthstone is the diamond. Let’s go meet that guy— somebody is trying to tell us something.”

  Ian hoped she would see a ring that would make her change her mind about wearing an engagement ring, and she did.

  From a few years he’d spent in Tanzania, he knew a little bit about diamonds and he thought the selection was extraordinary, but she wasn’t interested.

  “How can we be sure they’re not blood diamonds?” she asked, and the sales person seemed pleased to tell her everything he knew about their origin.

  She thanked him, but added she wanted to look at something else.

  “What kind of stone do you have in mind?” he asked.

  “A ruby,” Ian said. “A ruby would look great with your long fingers.”

  The salesperson would have clicked his heels had he been standing behind the counter at the time.

  They didn’t have nearly as many rubies, but they had one that Nesta loved. When she went to the window to see how it would look in the sun, the salesman said, “that ring is a bit outside the range your caller mentioned, sir.”

  “I’m sure it’s fine,” Ian replied. “It’s important to me that you not mention cost around her,” he added.

  The man nodded, while fighting the urge to embrace Ian. Things had been a bit slow in the jewelry business. It needed to be sized. Ian made arrangements for it to be delivered the following day.

  “Do you mind if I don’t wear it on Saturday?”

  “It’s your ring, wear it whenever you want, but I’m curious as to why?”

  “It’s my parents’ day. I don’t want to do anything to distract from their celebration.”

  “I understand,” he said, but he had little doubt that Dot would want her friends to see it.

  * * * *

&
nbsp; Dot was back home when they returned. She met them at the garage door. “Can you two find something to do upstairs or out of the house? I’ve got the carpet cleaners coming.” She looked around Nesta and spotted the truck pulling into the driveway. “Now.”