Twin Flames: Soul Memory (9 page)

His hand gripped the cell phone tight. “I’ll call you later
tonight.”

“
I’ll be waiting.” There was a smile in her voice and it was
gorgeous.

“
Bye—” His voice dropped in octaves. He didn’t want to let her
go. Truthfully, he wanted to tell his brother-in-law to go to hell.
But he wouldn’t.

“
Bye, Jairo.” Her words sounded more like a sigh.

The line went dead and he strode to the door and yanked it
open…

* * *
*

“
Jay, are you listening? Can you hear me?” His sister stopped
the vision, he really wished she’d quit interrupting the dreams or
visions or whatever the hell they were called.

Jairo just wanted to get back, he wanted to see Joy and touch
her. He honestly didn’t care if they were her dreams or his; he
just wanted to bask in her presence. It was peaceful and so
loving.

“
I haven’t heard from Joy yet. I keep calling, with no luck.”
Jezzaray’s tone reflected her irritation and it reverberated around
the room. “I will keep trying. You had better be doing your part,
buddy. I mean it.” Her hand squeezed his tight and then released
it. “We’ll get this figured out.”

Jairo hadn’t tried moving his body or saying anything in some
time. He didn’t know when he last attempted.

Even as he thought it, the command went out, nothing
happened.

He was missing something vital to his recovery.

* * *
*

Joy tugged the robe closer to her body as she closed the front
door behind the woman she discovered was her cousin, and then
turned away. It had taken a while for her to wade through the
photographs and read each name and date on the backs, but she
finally accomplished the feat. This was Stacy, and when none of
Joy’s warning sensors went off she relaxed.

Photos didn’t give the same sense as the physical person did.
There was nothing threatening in the other woman’s demeanor, only
concern, acceptance, and love. Joy felt comforted in Stacy’s
presence. Something she’d missed over the weeks since she woke
without her memory.

“
When were you going to tell me you were back?” Stacy followed
her through the apartment to the kitchen. “Are you gonna answer me?
You’ve been home for two weeks—”

She wanted to laugh at the woman’s insistence, the sense this
was normal flowed through her. The corner of her mouth lifted. They
weren’t only family, they were also best friends. More pieces
slowly fell into place, even when she wasn’t expecting
it.

“
Just under two weeks.” Joy opened the cupboard and lifted a
couple mugs from within.

“
Still.” Stacy crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the
counter. “I’m serious. You were driving around town and you didn’t
bother to call me? Your family?”

“
It’s not that simple.” She poured the steaming brew into the
ceramic and set the pot back in the maker. “If I told you, you
wouldn’t believe me.”

“
Why not try me and find out?”

Joy removed the creamer from the refrigerator and added a
couple splashes to the coffee. After returning the container, she
faced her cousin.

She still remembered no one. She was relying on her senses and
intuition.

“
I woke up in a Miami hotel room without my memory.” She
picked up the heated cup and brought it to her mouth, her gaze
locked on Stacy over its rim. “After spending a couple days trying
to recall the reason I was there, I bought a ticket and left.
Arriving in Denver, I drove here.”

Her cousin’s jaw dropped. Joy couldn’t stop the smirk, instead
she covered it by sipping the hot liquid. Stacy’s eyes widened and
even darkened. Her mouth moved but no sound came out. Images
fluttered through her mind, as if she’d seen the other woman do
this often.

“
She’s pulling my leg as pay back for that prank I pulled on
her over the holidays. That’s what this is.”

Words bounced around inside her head, they weren’t hers but
Stacy’s. She blinked.

“
I got on I-25 and just drove. I figured eventually I’d reach
the place I live.” Covering her own shock at the newest bit of
information, Joy nudged the other mug closer to her cousin’s white
knuckled hand gripping the edge of the counter as if Stacy was
about to pass out. Or would Stacy deny what was said? “I pulled
into the parking lot here at the condo and that’s where I’ve been.
Other than a couple times I went out to stock my fridge and
cupboards, I’ve been here.”

“
You’re pulling my leg aren’t you?” Stark disbelief reflected
on her face.

“
I wish I was, but no.” Joy watched the faint shake of Stacy’s
hand as she lifted the mug to her lips. “I guess I bumped my head
when I climbed into a taxi at the airport and woke up two days
later not remembering a thing about myself, why I was there or
where I came from. It’s not the greatest feeling in the world let
me say.”

“
No shit?” Shock and a silent knowing registered on Stacy’s
features making Joy wish she had remained silent. “We’re blood
cousins and best friends, like that would’ve happened. We share
everything.”

“
We also read each other’s minds it appears.” Joy blew on the
steam and took a small drink to cover the sense of sadness and
loneliness.

“
Not really. I can, as you don’t have the walls we were taught
to keep built around our thoughts, which would make it easy. But as
family, we respect each other’s privacy.” The corner of Stacy’s
lips tipped up and she lowered the mug. “It’s not all that hard to
know what another is thinking without being trained or taught. It’s
easy to read people’s expressions and body language. It’s called
awareness. You just need a refresher course, that’s
all.”

Joy motioned for her cousin to follow, she wanted to sit down.
Now that she had “let the cat out of the bag,” she had to make
certain she understood herself to the best of her
ability.

She did not need any more confusion.

“
You’re not going to tell your folks about the accident?”
Stacy folded a leg up under her and sat on the sofa.

“
No.” She shook her head as she sat. “I hadn’t planned on
telling anyone.”

“
You told me.” Stacy quirked an eyebrow.

“
Only because you stood outside my apartment pounding the hell
out of the door and threatened to call the police.” She set the mug
on the end table.

“
I would’ve, too.” Stacy’s features lightened, the strain
almost gone. “But you don’t remember me, do you?”

Joy lowered her gaze.

“
Bits and pieces come through, not enough to be sure.” Her
fingers played with the fringe on the corner of a decorative
pillow. “I sense more than remember. No threats or discomfort, if
anything I’m at ease around you.”

“
Well, we are best friends.” Stacy lifted her cup and took a
drink. “We shared everything growing up. Our fathers are brothers,
we’re blood family. We’ve always stuck together.”

That was what Joy figured. She had sensed the belonging and
acceptance.

“
Did I ever mention a man?”

“
You recall those conversations?” Stacy’s eyes widened and she
set the mug down.

“
I’m not sure.” Joy lifted a shoulder hesitantly. “I keep
seeing a male and I know him somehow, but I haven’t located
anything to say for certain either way.”

Her cousin inhaled, held her breath, then exhaled, and touched
Joy’s bent knee.

“
We used to talk about the ones who matched us and laugh about
us being blondes and them having black hair.” Stacy’s gaze on hers,
watching. “They’re our mirror image, yet complete opposite. Those
little things we shared. Your fiery temper and his cold exterior,
your warm heart his standoffishness. You two really are two
different people, at the same time exactly alike.”

“
Did I tell you when I met him?”

“
You called me a week after you guys started talking
regularly.” Stacy’s mouth lifted in a familiar quirky way when they
talked of the ultimate relationship. Another piece slipped into
place. “You positively glowed in your happiness. Your voice laced
with awe at learning he was a real person. Then halfway through our
conversation you’d began to doubt. The contradictions between our
parents fed the fear and scared you. It took some doing but
afterwards your mindset went back to the cheery positivity
concerning him.”

“
What about his name?”

“
Yeah.” She chuckled and shook her head. “Do you want me to
tell you or would you rather gain that knowledge on your
own?”

Joy lifted a shoulder, unsure how to answer
honestly.

“
You two share the same first initial.”

Could that be “Jairo”? The file she studied before her cousin
arrived?

“
So because of my parents I’m uncertain?” She turned the
subject from the male, not ready for that revelation yet. The
twinges of brain-pain started, best to just leave the topic
alone.

“
Yeah.” Stacy tapped her knee and winked. “But you were so
happy, Joy. You seemed determined to take what was offered even
with the intensity being overwhelming at times. You would call and
cry, then you’d rant, and finally you’d sigh and move forward. I
have to say he’s good for you. Even concerning your
mom.”

“
What’d she do?”

“
You and her fought two months later.” Stacy sat back and
folded her hands, glancing at them and then at Joy. “It was
horrible. Your mom threatened to have her church elders pray over
you or something like that, to get rid of the demons possessing
you. That was her reasoning for the way you acted. If your dad
hadn’t stepped in…I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

Joy swallowed and tried to recall the conversation her cousin
spoke of, but drew a blank. Maybe it was for the best. Relaxing,
she forced her mind to stop searching for answers, knowing if the
twinges kept on their path, she would have another
migraine.

“
You called and said you were taking a vacation.” Stacy’s
shoulder lifted and she smirked. “Your mom and mine were furious
you wouldn’t go to the family cabin in the mountains. Anyway, now
this is where we are. What happened? Do you remember?”

“
No, just images I can’t fit together at the
moment.”

“
You will.” Her cousin leaned toward her and patted her leg.
“It’ll take time, but you’ll gain all your memories back. I’m sure
even the ones you wished you could forget.”

That was Joy’s fear. Which ones she’d recall and which ones
she wouldn’t.

Her hair wrapped around him as he held her to his side. Jairo
loved when her breath caressed his chest. Joy’s skin felt satiny
soft against his. Her leg curled around his hip, her knee nudged
the flesh piercings at his hipbone, and her fingers traced his
nipple.

The effect soothed him. A calming sense of unconditional
acceptance and love flowed from her through him. This feeling was
better then any drug, manufactured or natural.

“
You’re quiet.” Her fingertips moved to his collarbone and the
hollow in his throat.

“
I’m just relishing the feel of you against me.” Jairo closed
his eyes and buried his nose in Joy’s hair, inhaling, he pressed a
kiss into the strands.

“
You always do.” Faint laughter tickled his ears and
reverberated through his chest where her breasts pressed against
him. “Do you think we will ever tire of being naked?”

“
I highly doubt it. We seem to get along
better this way.” He pulled her closer. “Nothing is hidden when
we’re naked. We are on level footing, equal. Nothing
can
be hidden this way,
so why bother trying. Besides, I’m not ashamed of the affect you
have on my body.”

Her giggle made his lips tilt up as her nose brushed his
pectoral muscle and her hand covered her face.

“
What’d I say?”

“
Nothing.” Her breath created goose bumps across his heated
flesh. His temperature always ran hotter with her nearness. “You’re
just so… I don’t know, brutally honest.”

“
Why wouldn’t I be?” He shifted his head back to look at her
in the dim lighting. “Does it bother you that I speak my mind where
you’re concerned?”

Her eyes widened and her mouth moved but no sound came out.
She lifted her head off his chest. Jairo felt the loss of her
warmth immediately.

“
No, I’m just not used to it.” She scooted closer and brushed
her lips across his. “Most men aren’t going to offer a woman that
much power over them, Jairo. It’s not something they willingly do,
ya know?”

“
You can call me ‘Jay,’ it’s easier to pronounce.” His heart
melted with the caress as his body hardened. This was so much more
then sex. “I know, but I’m not like other men. I’m me.”

“
It gives me practice, love. I’ll eventually pronounce it
right.” Joy shook her head and laughed, brushing her nose to his.
“You’ll always be ‘Jairo’ to me.”