"Damali, baby, what's the matter?" He crossed the room and wiped at the tears streaming down her face. "Girl, I was just teasing you. I know this thing drags you out of bed at--"
"Baby, see," she said, trying not to sob. "It's really strong. It's powerful. It's not like something that--"
"I know," he said, smiling. "I'm not an artist and I wouldn't understand."
She just stared at him. Marlene's words slapped her in the back of her head. Take it to your grave, girl. Don't break this man's heart. "Uhm, hmm," she mumbled, nodded, looked down at the floor, and sniffed hard.
"I know, boo," he murmured. "That's cool. I get the best part, though."
She looked up at him and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Pre- and post-songwriting performances." He gave her a long, burning gaze. "So, I ain't mad."
Damali gulped. This was so out of order, there would be no way to ever make this right. Her muse had to stay on the other side of the veil until the end of time. As long as he was spirit, not a physical manifestation, and as long as she'd never seen him and only felt his presence, it was all good. But knowledge stole innocence.
"Why don't you sing the parts of the song that you remember," Carlos said in a low, sensual murmur. "I can't compose, but maybe I can help jog your memory?" His gaze raked her and sent a ripple of heat over her bare arms.
"No, no, no, that's cool; the song is gone--cold. So, you know, baby, I appreciate--"
"Then, maybe I could offer you a little inspiration for something new?"
Panic stripped the air from her lungs as she watched him close the space between them. "Tonight, we don't have to--"
A hard pull and a deep kiss stopped her words and kept her argument in her mouth. Carlos dragged his jaw up the side of her neck and sent a hot whisper into her ear.
"Remember 'In the Dark'?" he said, his voice a rumble in his chest. "Or, 'When You Call'?"
All she could do was nod with her eyes shut.
"Or, 'Remember Baby'?" he whispered, taking her down memory lane. "Those always turned me out. But 'Sweet Transition,' the way you served it in Sydney, that one makes me act ridiculous." His hands had splayed across her back and he had begun to breathe in the fragrance of her hair, allowing his voice to come out in low, hoarse jags. "You used to sing those to me in bed."
Oh, my God... not tonight! "See, baby, that was like over a year ago, and uh . . ."
"They'll always mean something to me, since I know what inspired them." He found the sweet spot on her neck and suckled it, and then left a damp kiss in its wake. "A year is way too long."
Her body tensed. For a second, uncertainty had her in its clutches. Could this thing that had come through the veil shape-shift? Shit! "Baby, what's the matter?" Carlos said, lifting his head from her throat to stare into her eyes.
"Nothing," she squeaked out. "It just hit me that it had been that long, and I was like, 'Oh, wow, a whole year, damn.' That's deep."
He laughed and shook his head. "Did I tell you the other thing I love about you is you're crazy?"
She nodded, forcing herself to laugh. "I really am, honey."
"Good, then your secret's safe with me," he said, chuckling and pulling her to him again. "I'm crazy, too--for ever messing with you, woman."
As she held him and he laughed, there was nothing more she wanted to do than to banish her muse in the flesh. There was too much at stake, her man's happiness and what they had together. A temporary lapse wasn't worth all that. And Carlos had been the salt of the earth, all his mess aside. She wanted to kick herself for even going near a seduction. Carlos's tender kisses across her jaw made her want to seal away any hurt this could bring him. She wondered if Eve had gone through this yang. How in the world did she bring herself to explain some mess like this to Adam?
Then a very bizarre idea formed in her mind. What if the muse, alone, hadn't come up with everything from pure ether? "In the Dark," Carlos owned. The brother' had branded that one into her mind and body, puhlease. Muse had to step off on that one.
Feeling more confident, she returned Carlos's kisses harder, but her mind was also working on a stopgap solution. If she composed in bed with Carlos, what would happen? If that off-the-hook muse was crazy enough to step through the rip and come into her room now, then together, she and Carlos could deal with it. At the very least, her man would know she was being stalked by a very aggressive cosmic fan, whom she hadn't slept with, and maybe the trust in their relationship could be salvaged.
Conversely, if the muse finally saw that he didn't have exclusive rights to her inspiration, then maybe he'd go in grace and take his ass back to where he was supposed to be.
"Wanna do something we haven't done in a long time?" she whispered, flicking her tongue along Carlos's jugular.
"Yeah . . ." he breathed out. "I'm down."
"Let me light a couple candles, the old-fashioned, slow way... we can slip between the sheets, and how about if I compose with you on the fly?"