sounded at his door, Dao jerked up in his seat. “Dao?” Beth-Ann called.
“Yah? What’s wrong?”
“Well I was going to ask you the same question.” Beth-Ann tilted her head. “You’ve been sitting there for hours. You’re spacing, Kianna is freaking– what’s going on?”
Dao glanced at the clock and flew out of his seat. “Oh no! I didn’t mean to stay here this late. Where’s Jason?” Dao pushed some folders into his bag to do some work from home the next day.
“Studio, erm…three!” she replied. “He’s recording Heart’s A Fire. That’s what you left for him to do today.”
Dao nodded. “Perfect. Give him this one, too.” Dao handed over the song he had written while zoning. “See if they can work it up for him. Did Britonnie call?”
“Ah yes. He was pleasantly surprised that you picked up an English soul singer.” Beth-Ann smirked, taking the note pad from him. “He says he can’t wait to hear him…”
Dao watched her read the notepad.
“Well, boss man, this is very good. I’m impressed.”
Dao beamed.
“Okay, tell the boys in Studio three to have the two songs done by tomorrow,” Dao explained. “Have them email me a copy of both once they are finished. I need to hear them before they get them on the CD.”
“Got it,” Beth-Ann replied. “I’ll forward all the important calls to your cell.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Dao hugged her tightly. “And you go home. Take the rest of the day off. Enjoy the sun. Kianna is gonna strangle me!”
“I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Beth-Ann laughed. “Go home.”
“Am going! Jeesh, you’re worse than my mother!” Dao grinned, grabbed his things and
darted out the door. He was so late. But he had one stop to make before he headed to her for his punishment. His smile rueful, he made a left turn from the parking lot and sped toward the centre of downtown. He zoomed through the intersection on the amber light and continued on his way. He pulled into a parking spot and fed the meter before dashing into the store, “Hey, Maxxie!” he waved. “I need a favour.”
“Yah sure thing, Mr. Zhi,” the young man smiled. “What will it be?”
“I want to something, elegant, beautiful and—” “I got just the thing!”
True to his words, Maxxie Chapman had the perfect thing. Once Dao saw it, he knew it was the right one. His heart hammered in his chest so hard that his fingers went numb. He wiggled them, handed over his credit card and waited until it was run through. When that was over, he shoved his treasure into his pocket, along with the receipt and his credit card before climbing behind the wheel of his car once more.
The traffic leaving downtown Toronto was a beast. He hadn’t meant to stay in the office so long and rush hour traffic just served to drive him mad. He slammed his hand into the steering wheel and frowned, but that didn’t help. The traffic problem just served to give him an idea that he thought would work for both himself and Kianna. It took
him almost an hour to get to Kianna and when he knocked on the door, he held his breath. She opened it and he smiled. “Forgive me?”
“I don’t know why when you look at me like that I can’t stay mad at you.” Kianna reached in for a hug. “Come in. We still have plenty of work.”
“You do know that we could hire someone to do all this?” he sulked.
She simply laughed. “Come on, what fun would that be?”
“Hold on,” Dao took her hand and walked into the house. Everything was a mess. The shelves were empty. Boxes were strewn all over the floor. Old romance novels were piled in a pile that Dao was sure would topple over any second. There were old newspapers—that he guessed she was using to wrap things for packing—that were all over as well. Small particles of dust swirled around in the air, glistening on the late evening sunlight that poked through the open windows. He glanced around for somewhere to sit with her so he could talk to her. When he found nowhere, he used his foot to shove some boxes off the sofa and helped her to sit. “I need to run two things by you.
Dao knelt on the ground and braced his hands against the seat on either side of her to pull in close. He kissed her lips, tenderly at first. A growl
left his throat when she purred. “I love it when you do that,” Dao whispered, licking his lips. “But you can purr for me later. Right now I need to do this. Remember how I told you about me nearly getting married before and what happened?”
She nodded.
“Well, I am terrified, but I can’t let you go, Kianna. I just can’t. Every time I think of you leaving me, I get this—this clench in my chest so painful that I want to cry.” He dug around in his pocket. “I guess what I’m trying to say is—would you marry me?” Dao opened the velvet box and extended it to her.
Kianna swallowed the lump in her throat. She had been so nervous when he started about his previous engagement. She hadn’t expected him to ask her to marry him. Even though she was shocked, Kianna was no fool. Tears clouded her eyes and she couldn’t find words to say anything. She nodded .
“Is that a yes?” Dao questioned.
Kianna nodded again and this time that jerked the tears from her eyes and they pooled down her cheeks. “You just asked me to marry you, right?”
The smile he gave her turned her heart to mush and sent her head spinning with love.
“I did.”
She watched in a daze as he lifted her hand and slid the ring against her finger. “I will marry you,” she whispered. She fell against his chest. “I will try and be a good wife to you.”
“You won’t try, Kianna,” Dao caressed her back. “You will be the perfect wife for me because I’ve waited for you. I went through hell to find you and now that I have, I’m not letting you go.”
Her tears soaked through his shirt and Kianna felt bad, but she couldn’t help it. He had been amazing to her, loved her through her pain. He had touched her like no one else could and showed her how to touch him. She never thought a love so strong could happen three times in existence, but it had, first to her parents, second to his parents and third to her.
“I think…” Dao pulled away to look at her. “That we should have a small ceremony soon to celebrate our parents’ lives and our engagement— in a way of showing them that we are alright.”
“I agree. We should have it in China so that your mother can be there,” Kianna told him.
“But, Jace—”
“I’ll pay for her to go,” Kianna smiled. “I have a private jet remember?”
Kianna socked him in the arm playfully. “Then don’t scare me.” She laughed. “Now come on. The
sooner we can get this all packed up and ready to go, the sooner I can take you home.”
“Take me home? And do what, pray tell, to me, Mrs. Zhi?”
Kianna giggled and leaned in to whisper exactly what she had in mind. She felt Dao’s body tightened beneath her as she explained. He took her hand and led it to the front of his pants.
“See what you did?” he asked. “I think you should take me home now. Come to think of it, I think we should do that right here.”
“Oh no.” Kianna laughed. “It is your reward for being a good boy today.”
Dao pouted.
Kianna simply kissed him, grinned and walked over to grab a box.
“Kiki, tell me something.”
Dao’s voice caused her to turn and look at him. He was still kneeling on the ground watching her intently. “What’s that?”
“When we were in China and I took you to the Banyan tree,” Dao grabbed a box. “What did you wish for?”
Kianna dropped the boxes she held and walked over to him. She took his hand and pulled him into standing position. She cradled his face, peering up into his eyes and smiled. “I wished for you, Dao Zhi. I wished that you would see how much I love you, what a good woman I could be
for you, but most importantly, I wished for strength. I wished for the courage to be the one for your heart. I know it sounds corny, but I knew then that I had some feelings for you and I wanted you. It wasn’t apparent how desperately.”
“You gave up a wish for me?” Dao’s eyes darkened and he pulled closer to her.
“In a heartbeat.”
Dao kissed her then. “It won’t be a waste, Kiki.
I swear.”
“I know,” she whispered.
With all their tender delays, that Kianna enjoyed immensely, they finally got back to packing. The moon was shining outside, insects chirping in the night and soft music from one of Dao’s artists played in the background. Kianna watched Dao as he wrapped a vase carefully in bubble wrap and placed it like a newborn into a nearby box. She had a smile on her lips at the way he was being careful. They had come together, sat down and discussed what she was going to do with the houses she owned since her parent’s death.
“Dao,” she called to him. “Hmm?”
“Dance with me?” She didn’t have to ask twice. He stood up instantly and pulled her gently into his arms. He held her tightly against him, kissing
her head and neck and forehead. She sighed dreamily before melting into his chest.
“Kiki?”
“Mhmm?”
“That day I took you to the Great Banyan. You made a wish.”
“I did.” She sighed.
“You said you wished for me—have I wasted it?”
She laughed softly. “Baby, no. In fact, you are even more than I wished for.” A rumble escaped his chest and she snuggled closer to him. “You are my forever, Dao.” Their bodies became one, twirling slowly around the crowded room. “I am grateful for that.”
“Oh, baby girl,” Dao replied. “I love you…”
Kianna heard the truth in that. She wrapped her mind around it and tucked it into her heart. She smiled gladly up into his face, cradled his cheeks and pushed upward. Tenderly, she brushed her lips against his, whispered her love and kissed him. Kianna was ready to spend forever in her warrior’s arms. She was ready to be the woman he deserved and to open herself up for a world of beautiful possibilities with Dao Zhi.
About the Author
I was born Kadian Tracey on the beautiful island of Jamaica, Kingston to be exact, but soon began moving all over the place. From Marverly to Brown's Town back to Marverly, then eventually ended up in Golden Springs. At thirteen years old, I was adopted and moved to Toronto Canada. It was a crazy move, I know and snow? Cold! I began writing poems at an early age and soon graduated to song lyrics (when I was going through my
when I grow up I wanna be a singer
phase. Eventually I stopped writing for I found a new love, acting. But I couldn't stay away from writing for very long. Soon I was trying my hand at scripts.
My love of romance novels started at eight years old. I got bored between the bookmobile visits in Jamaica and dove under my mom's bed to find something to read. I crashed into her Mills and Boons (you know the really old ones?) books and KISS Romance magazines and it was all downhill from there. I don't think I ever paid attention to the content back then, all I cared about was that I was reading.
At seventeen, I thought writing a romance isn't that hard so I decided to write my own. It wasn't
as easy as I thought and by the time I turned eighteen, I had a three story series done and ready to go. But my computer didn't seem to like them for it crashed with them. But still I write.
In my spare time—though at times it seem that I don't have any—I love acting, trying to sing like the girls in the Hindi movies, dancing, swimming, torturing my friends, cooking, reading, writing— of course, cultures—primarily Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Jamaican—of course, Hindi—and so much more. I am also a graduate of Radio Broadcasting with honours and a student attending University for my BA in Communications Studies with a Minor in Dramatic Arts.
I also pen sensual romance under the name Kendra Mei Chailyn and write as a member of the Writing Divas as K.D Tracey.
Visit my website at: http://trueloveiscolourblind.yolasite.com