Those plump lips that were agape while she awaited an answer.
The corner of his mouth twitched a little, the action not lost to Ashari.A tiny smile came on her face as she shifted her focus back to the wound.
Maybe this time she understood what he wanted to say.
There was some solace in that.
“Anyway, I guess coming back to tell you doesn’t matter now,” Ashari continued as he tossed the cigar into the nearby bin.“If you hate it here so much, why didn’t you leave?”
“I couldn’t do that.Who would take care of my sister?Run the family?Plan Kayon’s inevitable funeral?Put food on my workers’ tables?”Jediah asked, sighing.“If I could leave, I would’ve been on the first flight to one of the Richardson islands.”
“Why not the great land of America?”she teased.
Jediah dryly laughed.“Yu swear yu funny, Ash.”
She chuckled.“Until you told me, I never knew that your family owned islands.”
“Yes, agent.Dem never teach you that at Richardson School?”
“No.Go way.”
Jediah groaned.“Don’t start with the bad Patois again.Please.”
Ashari chuckled.Finished with the stitches, she disappeared into the bathroom to clean up.When she returned, she straddled his lap.Jediah wrapped both his arms around her waist.Cedella had assured him that she was healing perfectly from the induced labor, but Jediah was still mindful of the excess fat that remained on his wife’s tummy.A part of him was convinced that her body hadn’t fully accepted the fact that the baby that should’ve still been growing inside her was expelled three months too early.
Jediah placed a long kiss on her forehead.He smiled against her skin as she relaxed further against him, lazily wrapping her arms around his body.“Do you want to color and eat strawberries?”
She shook her head.“I just want to lay with you for a while.I know you’ll soon be off to save the Richardson world.”
“Earlier, you said you love me,” he said.
Her brows furrowed.“So?”
“Do you mean it?”
“Yes,” she answered without missing a beat.
Jediah’s heart raced.He smiled.“I knew you would.I told you I’m patient,” he teased, and she chuckled.The sweet sound made his smile stretch.“I love you, too.”
“I know,” she bragged, her eyes shining.
“Who’s the cocky one now?”Jediah teased.
“Still you.”
Shaking his head with a slight chuckle, Jediah felt along her curves as he moved his hands downward.He cupped her ass, then lifted her.He laid them on the bed, Ashari still atop him, while his hands grazed her back, passing over the ridges on her skin.With time, Jediah was hopeful they’d be gone completely.
“I’m sorry…” he whispered.
Ashari didn’t answer.
They lay in silence.
Ashari didn’t ask for more detail about his meeting with his mother.
He didn’t wonder how his mother was liking her cell.Wasn’t curious how everyone was taking time to cool off.
The only thing he was sure of was now, and he wanted to make the most of it with his wife.It wasn’t every day he experienced such an almost dream-like state of peace.His mind wasn’t working overtime trying to keep his sister safe.The lack of responsibility was beyond relaxing.