She released him and backed up, glancing down the front of her splattered sweatpants. "Oh, shit!"
"Beloved, listen--"
"No, for real, now--"
"I wanted to fill you with all that I have. The fabric got in the way." He pulled her to him again and delivered another hard kiss. "Let me inside you, flow through you, and give you all of me as you sing."
His kiss was intoxicating, but reality was more sobering. "Please, please, please, go home, baby! This ain't the way for my man to find out!" "Tell him, beloved. End the torment with the truth."
Damali closed her eyes. "I can't. Not yet, not now, possibly never--so you have got to go." She looked up at him and touched his face as tears of need shimmered in his eyes. "If you go," she murmured, trying to find a way to temporarily appease him, "I'll finish the other ballads today. But you cannot manifest like this on me again. Promise."
"I cannot promise what is beyond my control." He swept her mouth and released a deep sigh as he hugged her. "But pain was never my purpose, therefore, if you want me to leave you at the moment, I shall."
"Thank you," she squeaked out, and patted his shoulder. "You have got to be cool. We can't roll like this."
He nodded, closed his eyes, turned away, and then walked between the folds of time and space and was gone.
Her hand over her heart, she glanced down at the broad, wet stain on her sweatpants. If a sightline didn't bust her, the nose would. Raw sex was impossible to disguise, and her man knew that scent like a bulldog knew steak. She couldn't go back to her room. Every female in the house was probably in bed with a partner. Marlene would have a heart attack. The only person she could count on was Inez.
Dashing to the phone, she punched in Inez's cell number. It took three tries to get past her friend's voice mail, but 'Nez had a baby and always answered her phone, just in case. As soon as Damali heard her Inez's voice, she didn't bother with formalities.
" 'Nez, it's D, but don't say my name. Mike in there with you?"
"Yeah, girl, where you at, you cool?"
"No, I'm f**ked up, can't explain, bring me some sweats--don't say shit to a living soul, just bring me some sweats and a garbage bag, and oh, girl, I done messed up. SOS, pull me outta here on the sneak tip, don't ask no questions, and I swear I'll owe you for life. I need a wet washcloth and some soap. Can you do that?"
"Yeah, but where you at?" Inez hissed.
"Downstairs in the studio."
Momentary silence hung on the line.
"In the house?" Inez said slowly.
"I said don't ask no questions! Mike can hear in his sleep--I hope you knocked him out good, oh, Lawd!" Damali whispered back harshly "Come on, girl, hurry up--before Carlos wakes up!"
The call disconnected. Damali walked in a circle. The studio door opened within minutes and she almost fainted. Inez brandished the requested items, and without fanfare Damali stripped right in front of her friend and shoved her soiled pants into the bag. Tears stung her eyes. Inez's look of pure shock made Damali work faster. She wiped her neck and face off, as well as her hands and thighs, and then inspected herself while turning around like a lunatic.
"Do I look all right? I'm cool? You can't see nothing on me, can't tell nothing, right? Girl, tell me something!" Damali's frantic whisper popped and snapped in short bursts. "Okay, now, we go way back, lean in, give a good whiff, and tell me if I'm cool."
"I don't know what happened in here, and I'm half-scared to ask," Inez said slowly, taking the trash bag from Damali, "but Carlos is gonna kick your ass."
"I know," Damali wailed and closed her eyes.
CHAPTER SIX
T he sun warmed Carlos's face, and he stretched and yawned, blindly feeling for Damali beside him. Then he remembered that she'd left him for her muse. He'd vowed not to come between her and her creative process, but damn.
He sat up, rubbed his face with both hands, and let his breath out hard. It would have been nice to wake up beside her, and to have another little private interlude with her before having to deal with the whole family. Glancing at the height of the sun, it wouldn't be long before the entire compound came alive, and then that level of privacy just wouldn't be there.
Thoroughly annoyed, he looked down at the tent his body made in the sheets. A wake-up salute greeted him, but his woman was gone. What was wrong in the universe when something so simple had to be this complicated?
Standing with effort, he went to the bathroom and splashed water on his face. He looked down and grimaced. He was so damned hard he couldn't even take a whiz. This was ridiculous.
Carlos stalked out of the bathroom, found his pants, and pulled them on. Why Damali always had him on a mission was beyond him. Even while he argued with himself about it, he still found himself walking through the house toward the studio. Later, maybe, after breakfast, he'd give her a piece of his mind... she'd promised to come back in a little while, and hadn't.
As he neared the studio, he watched her for a moment through the glass. She was singing, tears running down her beautiful face, in total rapture--how could he be angry or begrudge her ecstasy like that?