Chapter 14 #2
Anxious to be in his arms, she hits the blunt twice, thoroughly ashes it, then returns into the suite.
Dropping her towels on top of her discarded clothes, she brushes her lightly damp hair into a ponytail then gets comfortable in bed.
She’s under the duvet and sheets when he emerges from the bathroom with only a towel around his lower half.
Beads of water litter his upper half and it’s a beautiful sight to behold.
When he steps toward the closet to retrieve his bag and boxers, she stops him.
“You don’t need anything,” she says as she lifts the duvet and sheets, revealing her natural state. A smile creeps across his handsome face as he takes her all in. “I just want to feel my skin on your skin.”
Because her wish is his command, he stops, removes his towel, and turns to take it back into the bathroom. Again, she stops him. She doesn’t want another minute to pass with him not in bed with her. “Toss it over there and get in, please,” she practically begs and he complies.
The moment his back is on the mattress, she inches over to him.
Her head nuzzles his chest and she drapes her arm across his chiseled chest and cascades her leg across his.
His toned arms wrap around her then he kisses her forehead.
For almost twenty minutes, they lay like this, muted, each caught up in their own thoughts.
She’s still processing it all and looking forward and he’s stuck on tonight, her losing her sister and pulling the trigger.
“Was that your first kill?” ran through his mind but accidentally slips off his lips, breaking the silence and causing her to shift slightly.
He holds her tighter then quickly adds, “I just want to make sure you’re okay with it.
You’re no killer, Sunjiya. I am and I can handle the aftermath of pulling a trigger.
Not everyone can, and before you go someplace in your mind you shouldn’t, we need to talk it through. ”
Her head lifts to meet his truly concerned eyes. While she truly just wants to put tonight to bed, literally, it’s obvious he’s worried for and about her. It’s endearing and another reason she’s falling for him. To ease the fret in his dark eyes, she talks.
“I’m at total peace with killing Marcelin.
I’ll never second guess pulling the trigger and stopping his heart, never.
You saw the medical records and I can guarantee they only gave a peek into what Tanjaya went through,” she says, then closes her eyes.
Images of Marcelin dragging her, hitting her like a punching bag, and degrading her in every way possible flash in her mind and she sighs heavily.
“Tanjaya went through pure hell because of him. She had to escape his ass. He killed her, so I had to kill him. I will never ever regret that shit,” she grits, then shakes her head.
“If I could kill his ass again, I would,” she declares with finality.
“A’ight,” he says solemnly, accepting her words. “But what about… your sister? What do you want to do about…I don’t know. Services, memorial?” he asks, trying to be careful as he stumbles over his words.
Her answer reveals her painful truth. “Tanjaya came into this world unwanted and unfortunately spent most of her life looking for love and security. She ran into a lot of monsters but Marcelin was the worst. The past few years were pure hell for her but I do know she’s in a better place right now.
I’m admittedly sad, very, but I’m at peace because I know she is,” she says, then looks at him.
When he sees her glossy eyes, he nods, trying to appear understanding even though deep down he isn’t. It’s hard for him. He and his brother are close, very close, and the thought of losing him is unthinkable.
Her head rests on his chest and he feels moisture. The tears pooling in her eyes have fallen. He holds her tighter and she snuggles more into him.
“Tanjaya’s days and nights of abuse are over. She’s free from all of that now,” she utters as she releases.
As she cries, he traces his fingers up her back to her face. They run down the side of her pretty face then rest under her chin. After tilting her head up, he softly and tenderly kisses her lips and she melts into him.
He’s truly her better place.
Safe and feeling comforted in his arms, Sunjiya plants a kiss on his chest then closes her eyes.
For the first time in a long ass time, she drifts into uninterrupted sleep.
She doesn’t have to dream of an escape plan.
No nightmares of a coked-up Haitian coming into her locked room in the middle of the night.
She has a much-earned night of blissful sleep and doesn’t open her eyes until after ten in the morning.
“Yo! You’re here,” Quise says excitedly.
“Yeah. I’ll be here for a few days,” Akeem replies.
“But you coming back for my homecoming game, right?”
“You know I am,” Akeem assures him. “I can’t miss that. Did you ask your girl yet?”
“Nah but I’m working on it. I got a few ideas. It’s a whole thang and I gotta come correct, Pops. You know how I do,” Quise says and Akeem smiles.
“You got practice tonight?”
“Nah, free night.”
“You wanna have dinner with me?”
“Hel…I mean you know I do,” he says, catching himself.
He’s in the locker room surrounded by a few of his teammates.
While he curses with them, he knows better than to use that language with his parents, especially his pops.
“Can we go to the House of Mac?” he asks, referring to his favorite restaurant.
“You love that damn place.”
“Don’t front, Pops. Their food fye. You know you like the jerk chicken mac.”
“You right. It’s good,” Akeem admits. “We can go there,” he says and hears Sunjiya moving around in the suite.
She’s finally up. As usual, he was up with the sun.
Careful not to wake her, he eased out of bed, took a morning run on the beach, then came back to the hotel.
After scheduling her a treatment at the spa, he came back here, showered, and dressed.
He made sure to pull the blackout curtains to fully cover the glass when he stepped onto the balcony to call Quise.
Hearing her awake triggers a thought, multiple thoughts actually.
Quise is such a huge part of Akeem’s life and he wants Sunjiya in that same life.
In order for that to happen, she has to fit.
Should I bring her to dinner? Is meeting Quise too soon? Would she want to meet my son?
“Ay. I might bring a friend. You cool with that?” Akeem asks to gauge Quise.
“A girl,” Quise responds amusedly.
“A woman not a girl and I said might.”
“Nah, Pops. Bring her. Can I bring my girl?”
“Lil nigga, this ain’t no double date,” Akeem says while trying to hide his amusement. “Besides, you gotta ask yo’ girl to homecoming. She ain’t yours yet.”
“That’s cold.”
“That’s facts. Get back to school. I’ll scoop you at six. Love you.”
“Me too,” Quise says and Akeem laughs before ending the call. Whenever he’s around his boys, like most teens, Quise skirts saying I love you.
When Akeem walks back inside, Sunjiya is indeed awake. She’s standing in the full kitchen, washing the small coffeemaker. He steps behind her and snakes his arms around her. At his touch, she leans into him, places her hands on his, then utters, “Good morning.”
Resisting asking how she’s doing, he merely responds, “Good morning.”
“You want coffee? I’m cleaning this thing,” she says.
“Nah and don’t you worry about that. They have full room service. We can order coffee and food.”
“Mm, that sounds so much better. Plus, we only ate breakfast yesterday. Is their food good? You’ve stayed here before, right?” she asks. To his delight, she sounds like her normal self this morning. After everything that happened yesterday, she needed to sleep in.
“Yeah. I stay here whenever I visit Quise and the food is really good.”
“I hope you’re gonna see him this trip,” she says.
“I actually am. I’m taking him to his favorite restaurant in Miami for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“And I want you to come with us if you feel up to it. I talked to him about it and he’s cool with it. No pressure though. I don’t want to push you to do shit you don’t want to do.”
Sunjiya drops her hands then turns to face him. After resting her arms on his shoulders, she squints then a smile forms on her beautiful, well-rested face.
“I’m up to it. Of course I want to go,” she says and he smiles. “I just need to get my clothes cleaned or something. I’m running out of things to wear.”
“We can have the concierge get our clothes to the cleaners. While we eat and you get your treatment, they can handle that,” he says and her eyebrow peaks.
“Treatment. What treatment?”
“The hotel has a spa. I booked you a signature experience,” he says, then pulls out the appointment card he had the girl at the spa fill out for him. He did not want to fuck up what he actually booked. “You’re getting this,” he says when he hands her the card.
“Akeem, are you serious?” she gushes as she reads the list of scheduled services.
The Conrad Spa offers curated treatments for ultimate relaxation. After the past several days, she deserves real relaxation.
“Yes. The spa is downstairs,” he explains.
“An eighty-minute herbal poultice massage and slow beauty manicure and pedicure. They sound wonderful,” she says, reading the card. “Thank you,” she says with a simper then softly kisses his lips. “For real, thank you. It’s the perfect way to start this off.”
“This off? What?”
“Us. Up until last night, we were together but not really, you know? We had Marcelin and…” she starts then pauses to gather the right words.
In her mind, this refers to her completely living as Sunjiya but that thought can’t be expressed.
It doesn’t need to be. “Just everything else to handle but us. Now, we can really do this couple thing,” she says, smiling.
“This couple thing, huh? I like that shit.” He smirks, then grips her ass. “Our first day of many.”
“So many,” she agrees.
“Order breakfast. The digital menu and pad are by the phone. I’m going to find the laundry bags and contact the concierge. I don’t want you to miss your spa appointment.”
“Oh trust, I’m not missing that.”