by Kenya Wright
Presently, I was heading up to get Zola back.
“Come on!” I roared at the elevator as it rose to the fifth floor. As soon as the doors opened, I raced to the door. The hall was clear. My thighs burned. His lungs were on fire.
I gripped my gun in both hands, pointed it at the doorknob, and fired. The knob shattered. Metal broke and fell to the floor. I slammed open the door and entered the suite, arms extended directly ahead of me.
Where are you, baby?
I tried gauging where Zola could be. There was a long hallway from the front door that must’ve opened out into a living room. Baptiste had reserved a two-bedroom suite.
Baptiste’s voice sounded. “You showed up too early, Hunter.”
It came from the living room area, but a little further away. Only one thing registered in my head.
Where’s Zola? Was I wrong? Did you want to kill her?
My breath caught. I prayed to every god that ever existed that she was safe.
“Where’s Zola?” I yelled out.
“She’s here.”
“Where?”
“On the balcony. Come out, and I won’t shoot.”
Sweat trickled down my back. I inched down the hallway with my gun still in the air. “Let her go. Please, Baptiste. I know what you need from me now.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. You want me to kill you.”
“But how do I know that you will kill me?”
“Trust me.” I gripped my gun hard. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’m definitely going to kill you.”
A dark laugh left Baptiste. “Oh, Hunter. I know you’re mad, but I need your guarantee that you’ll follow my—”
“I read them all on the plane here.” I got to the end of the hallway and stepped out. “I read the damn instructions.”
“You did?” He held Zola in his arms with a gun pointed to her temple.
My body shook with rage. “Baptiste…let her go.”
“What did my instructions say?”
“Let her go—”
“What did they say?!” It looked like Baptiste had tightened his hold on her. Zola widened her eyes and shook against him.
I let out a long breath, still keeping my hold on the gun in front of me. “The instructions said that I should be dressed in white.”
Baptiste nodded at the clothes I’d worn—ivory pants and a white buttoned-down shirt. “Go ahead.”
“The death needs to be swift. Not with a gun, but a sharp knife dotted in the blood of a newly sacrificed goat.” I gestured to my rainbow knife on my shoulder holster.
Baptiste smiled like a crazy man. “Good. I have the goat blood.”
“I figured you would, but I had Stark get me a goat and keep it at the burial just in case.”
“Stark is here?”
“Yes. He’s with Nakita.”
Baptiste’s hand shook. “What does that mean, Stark is with Nakita?”
I inched closer. “It means that if you don’t let Zola go right now, I’ll have Stark fuck up Nakita’s body.”
Baptiste gritted his teeth. “Is that threat necessary?”
I glared at him. “Was this threat necessary? Why Zola? Why have her terrified?”
“Like I just told her. You needed a push. Before you started investigating her stalker, you were scared of her love and willing to hide—”
“Ah, you did this for me?” I inched even closer.
Baptiste snarled. “Stay where you are.”
“Let her go. I read your instructions. Stark is at the burial area to help. I’ll follow it all. Just get her out of here.”
A calm expression fell on Baptiste’s face. “What else do you have to do? Prove to me that you read them.”
“Goddamn it—”
“I need you to take this seriously.”
My nostrils flared. “Stark and I did everything this morning. We ran all over this goddamn island. Black candles are outlining the grave. I’ve got the chants in my pocket. There’s even a goddamn jar for fucking tears. Let her go!”
Slowly, Baptiste moved the gun away, but didn’t release her. “The tears are the most important. They needed to be bottled up and kept for thirty days.”
“I know.”
“Those tears have to remain there—on that windowsill—for all the phases of the moon.” Baptiste opened his arms.
Zola ran to me.
“Zola.” I wrapped one arm around her while the other hand still kept the gun on Baptiste. “Are you okay?”
She trembled against me. “Yes.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
Baptiste spoke, “Hey, I even killed Meridian for you. He tried to rape her.”
“What?” Anger boiled in me.
Zola placed her arms around my waist. “I’m okay, Hunter. I’m okay.”
Rage ripped through my soul.
Baptiste stared at me with his arms up. “I’m going to put the gun down.”
“Go ahead.” I fought the urge to charge and wrap my hands around his throat. He’d put Zola in danger. He yearned for death.
It will come today.
Baptiste put the gun down and then turned his attention back to me. “Now is a test of the love that we have for each other.”
“I noticed.”
“I love you, Hunter. I wanted you to have Zola, before I left. Do you understand?”
“All I know is that I’m tired of the fear and danger that’s been around Zola. I want this done, even though…I would be sorry to see you go.”
“That’s why you wouldn’t kill me. You loved me too much.”
“Well, now you’ve managed to persuade me.” I wanted to ram my fist through a wall. The entire situation was insane. “Let’s go. I have a car.”
I looked down at Zola. “Baby, I want you to stay in a room that I reserved for—”
“No.” She shook her head and met my gaze. So much love came from those beautiful eyes. “I don’t want you doing this by yourself. I want to be there for you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You won’t. He’s your friend.” She sighed.
Baptiste nodded. “She’s right, and it’s good luck for her to come.”
“Shut up.” My jaw clenched as I turned back to her. “Are you sure? It’s going to be gruesome?”
“I can be around anything as long as I’m with you.” She tightened her hold. “And you need me.”
She was right. I didn’t need her for the physical part—the slicing and digging, the wiping up of blood and chanting out prayers. But I would need her soul—her heart. I would need her spirit wrapped around me as I took my friend’s life.
Damn you, Baptiste.
And that was how Zola came with us to Nakita’s burial ground. As I’d promised Baptiste, Stark stood there with all the instructions followed.
Lit black candles lay along the grave. He’d dug it up so that we could put Baptiste’s body inside, right next to Nakita. The whole place reeked of death and sorrow. Nakita’s body had rotted. Worms and bugs had already begun feasting and using her rib cage and skull as shelter.
Vultures hovered above. The sun slowly lowered in the sky, and the waves crashed as if chanting a natural song to those ancestral spirits watching overhead.
Stark’s face held sorrow. Zola’s did too as she stood next to him.
As soon as I stood in front of Baptiste with my rainbow knife gripped in my fingers, I had no regrets for having Zola there. She’d always been my strength. She made me more powerful than I’d ever been before.
Baptiste spoke, “I left everything to you, Hunter. Nakita will love hearing about Zola and you. We had a bet. I won at five years. She’d said ten.”
I don’t want to kill you, friend.
My hand shook as I held the knife.
Baptiste turned to the ocean and smiled. “I opened that gift you gave me for our unborn baby. Do you remember, when you gave it to me?”
My voice lowered. �
��I remember.”
“You told me not to open it, until my son or daughter was born.”
The present flashed in my head. I pushed it out of my mind. That memory brought too much pain.
“I opened the gift to my unborn child, the night Nakita died.” He turned back to me. “You planned on spoiling my child. That was a big bank account with a lot of money.”
I trailed my thumb along the rainbow knife’s handle.
“Keep the money for your child.” Baptiste nodded at Zola. “He or she will be beautiful. Just remember to never take the messy diapers out at night. It must always be thrown out before sunset.”
I looked at him. “Why not?”
“Because a fresh pile of baby shit lures demons at night.”
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
“I’m sorry about everything,” Baptiste whispered. “I was extreme. I know, but…what would you do, if Zola was lost to you?”
“Any and everything to be back with her.”
“Even if it meant reuniting in death?”
I fought it, but a hot tear leaked down my cheek. I turned Zola’s way and swallowed. “Yes. Even if that meant reuniting in death.”
Tears had already left her cheeks. She wiped them away and continued to be my strength.
Baptiste whispered, “The time has come.”
I stepped to him. Barely a few inches lay between us. I raised the knife and held the edge against his neck. “I’m going to miss you, Baptiste.”
“I know you will.”
“I’ll follow the instructions.”
Tears left his eyes as he smiled. “Hunter, Map renmen w toujou e pou tout tan.”
And then I exhaled a breath that came from the depths of my soul. Next, I sliced my best friend’s throat.
He fell forward, almost holding me. His body shook against mine. Warm blood slipped down my hands and stained the front of my white pants and shirt.
Tears blurred my vision as my and Zola’s gazes met.
When Baptiste’s body stiffened, I lowered him into the grave with Nakita’s already rotted body. No one else was supposed to touch his body, after I killed him.
Stark looked down at me. “What language did Baptiste speak at the end?”
“Creole,” I whispered, placing Baptiste on the soft black dirt.
“Creole. Okay.” Stark rubbed his face with both hands and let out a long breath. “Then, do you know what he said?”
“Yes.” I stared down at Baptiste dead body. “He said…‘Hunter, I’ll love you always and forever.’”
36
Love Always Numbs the Pain
Zola
Hunter had been shaken from the whole ordeal, but still he followed each instruction and every detail. For the rest of the day, I helped Stark and him bury Baptiste with his lost love. The sun set, and we chanted. All evidence had to be erased while Baptiste’s instructions were still followed.
The new moon hovered above us.
We continued hours into the night.
Finally, the wind blew the candles out, and our voices were hoarse from chanting, and there were no more tears left to fill in the jar.
When we finished, we all left.
Stark didn’t come with us, pretty sad from the whole situation and needing to see a fresh scene. He hugged Hunter and then left for the airport.
We didn’t go to the resort either. Hunter was done with the place.
Instead, we drove on a small winding road the rest of the night. Hunter remained silent, and I didn’t push it. Both of us had suffered through the horror of not being together. And he was also mourning the loss of his friends and the part he played in both.
The whole drive, I kept my hand on his leg and he held my hand, slipping his thumb along my palms.
We drove for a long time.
The sun rose. We crossed mountains and meandered down winding roads. It was the most beautiful scenery. Tropical vegetation changed with the altitude—breadfruit forests and a sea of sugar cane. Bananas stretched out to palm-groves.
We passed a port town and then branched off down a smaller road. Soon, we arrived at a massive mansion by hidden bay.
He parked in the front and spoke for the first time. “This is my summer home.”
I widened my eyes. “It is?”
“I’m sorry that I’ve been quiet. I just needed time to think, and the drive did that, and holding you helped me calm down even more.”
I squeezed his hand. “I’m here for you. Anything you need.”
“I’m so sorry that happened.”
“I’m okay. You came. I knew you would. And…I kind of get why Baptiste did it. And plus…better him stalking me than some real threat.” I sighed. “But right now, I’m here for you. This is all about you.”
“I’m fine also.”
“No. You’ve lost two friends.”
“Damn it.” He pulled me to him and kissed me. “I love you. I fucking love you, and I was so scared—”
“Me too.”
“And you’re fine?”
“I am.”
An older woman walked out to the car. Shock rode her voice. “Mr. Jasper, you’re here?”
He let go of me. “Yes, Yvonne. I decided to bring my girlfriend for a surprise vacation.”
I widened my eyes at the term girlfriend but knew I’d more than earned the title. I’d waited so long, and we’d gone through so much.
“Nice to meet you.” Yvonne nodded at the car.
We climbed out and Hunter showed me around his home. It had three bedrooms with a pool, minimal design dripping in elegance. Everything I would expect a rich bachelor to have, especially one that exuded Hunter’s taste.
First, we strolled further around his property. The bay was crescent shaped and at least three-quarters of a mile wide. The ocean’s blue surface calmed me as a ruffled breeze blew across the surface. A mile from where we stood, a long line of breakers stopped at what must have been a reef just outside the bay.
It was an enchanting place. Like a fantasy house on top of a tall tan cake covered in green icing.
He walked me closer to the edge of the bay. “If it’s okay with you, I would like you to stay with me here for a while.”
“I want to.”
He gave me a weak smile. “I’m thinking of retiring.”
“Me too.”
He chuckled. “That’s what happens when you have a rough year.”
“True.” I gazed down at the bay and held his hand. Below, the water was pale green on the white sand. Later, it deepened to dark blue. For the first time that day, I let out an exasperated breath and leaned against the love of my life.
“How long do want to stay?” I asked.
“How does forever sound?”
I smiled. “Give me some time to think about it.”
“Take as many years as you want, baby.”
Returning to the house, he finished the tour and ended at his room.
We showered together, held each other in the hot spray of the water. Wrapped our arms around the other, kissing and caressing but never taking it to sex. It was like we were both checking the other’s body to make sure everything was really okay.
Was this whole situation over? And would Hunter and I finally have our moment to love?
When we finished, he dried us both and guided me to the bedroom.
There we stood in the moonlit space.
He towered over me, so tall and strong.
How did I ever live without him?
Even though it was cool this Jamaican morning, I felt the warmth of a hundred suns as he studied me.
For the past weeks, I wasn’t sure of where I was going or what I was doing with my life. But in this moment, I knew I was where I should be. I still had no idea what the future held, but I was confident Hunter would be right by my side.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“I love you.” I cupped his jaw in my hands and felt him nuzzle into my touch. Just hour
s ago, he’d saved me and killed his best friend. I didn’t plan on having us leave this room for a long time.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.” He pulled me into him. “I just want to hold you forever.”
“I hope that’s not all you want to do.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, but—”
He cut me off with a kiss. Those delicious lips moved over mine. Love and hot need washed over me. He slipped his tongue into my mouth, giving me a lovely taste of him.
“Hunter.” I slid my hands up his body, wrapping them around his neck as his hands tightened on my hips in a possessive hold, telling me he didn’t plan on letting me go.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he moaned into my mouth.
I couldn’t think about things to regret or be sad over. Desire soared through me. All I needed was him, moving inside of me, owning my body.
I slipped out of his hands. “Don’t be sorry. You saved me.”
“I put you in trouble too.” He reached out and caught me, luring me back to him. My body warmed against him. He traced the curve of my neck with his mouth, delivering shivers through me.
I slid my hands along his sides, tracing the line of his muscles. He groaned, and his fingers tightened in my hair. His entire body tensed, and then I felt the brush of his cock against my stomach.
“Fuck me,” I whispered.
Groaning, he lifted me up and brought me to the bed.
When we lay down, he spread me bare to him.
With two fingers, he entered me, dipping and swirling. Teasing. My nipples stiffened. I stirred beneath his hands, loving the way he toyed with me. I wanted to hump his leg like a wild animal. Hunter did that to me.
And then he slipped those wet fingers out and played with my clit.
“Oh, baby.” I grabbed the sheets by my head and arched my body. “Please.”
“You want this cock, baby?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm.” His fingers kept moving on my clit, rolling it as a shiver tore through me. My pussy clenched. A sloshing sound rose. I knew I was dripping wet. So skilled, those fingers played me, and I couldn’t do anything but fall back into the incredible intensity of his touch.
Tension built inside. He turned his attention to my breasts, sucking my nipples in deep and flicking the peak with his tongue. That powerful body surrounded me.
