Recaptured Dreams Read online

  Her smile wavered briefly before she turned toward the endless racks. Xavier chose to ignore the suspicion her expression gave him. He would make her understand his love for the clothes…and his love for her. It would take time, but he would.

  He hurried to the kitchenette and poured two glasses of wine. When he returned to the crowded room, Sophia’s head could barely be seen peeping around the crammed rows. She bounded back and forth like a kid in a candy store, still looking ridiculously cute. Eyes bright, she studied each and every piece she touched, her tongue sticking out part-way in evident thought.

  “See anything you like?” he asked.

  Her head popped up from the mass. “Yes.” She waved a hand. “Everything.”

  “If you see something you like, it’s yours.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Really? Why would you do that?”

  He crossed over to her, handed her a glass of wine, and took her chin in his free hand. “Without you, Sophia, this line wouldn’t be what it is today.”

  Her cheeks went pink, then red.

  “You know what I’ve wanted to do with you all night?” he asked.

  Her blush darkened. “I thought we already did that.”

  Xavier smirked and took a long drink. “Touché. Do you know what the other thing was?”

  “No.” She downed her drink in one quick movement and placed the empty glass on the floor. “Tell me.”

  “No.”

  Her faced wrinkled.

  He fought the urge to laugh. “I want to show you.” He took hold of her waist and led her to the balcony. Besides his bedroom, it was the only space in the suite with ample room to do what he wanted. If he went into the bedroom, he’d get too distracted at the thought of having Sophia lying under him on the bed instead of standing before him.

  The balcony doors swooshed open, and the chilly air took Xavier’s breath away. Or maybe it was the look of seduction on Sophia’s face. Either way, he could’ve stood out there right then and died a happy man.

  He held out a hand without a saying a word. She slid hers into it without question.

  When they’d had sex in the car, it had taken every ounce of Xavier’s strength to not say those three words:

  I love you. I still love you.

  He wanted to say them now. Badly. With the moonlight shining over her opalescent skin. With the stars twinkling overhead. With the wind rustling her dress around her long, lean legs.

  But he didn’t want to scare her away.

  “So?” she asked as he continued to gaze at her. “What did you want to show me?”

  He tugged her close and let his lips trail down her neck. His hands, which he had managed to control up until then, wound around her back and pressed her even closer to him. Giving her lush backside a gentle squeeze, he whispered, “Dance with me.”

  He glided with his feet, tempting her to move with him. He smiled against her hair when she did. With careful steps he guided her, hugging her close and letting her scent consume him. The night was surprisingly silent, with the exception of their clicking shoes and the occasional rustle of clothing.

  Each time Xavier heard the crinkle of her dress’s fabric, he imagined slithering her out of it and watching her entire naked body bask in the glow of the night.

  He touched his lips to her ear. “Tonight,” he said with a rasp, because his pants had become increasingly uncomfortable with each step he’d taken, “I was jealous when I saw you with that other man.” He felt Sophia’s hand stiffen on his shoulder. “I wanted it to be me. I wanted to be the one to move around the dance floor with you. You were so graceful and poised. A lone, bright star on a desert night. And so beautiful.”

  Her hold on him loosened, and she sighed. It was a weightless sound, knocking his breath right out.

  “I wanted to guide you,” he continued. “I wanted you to look at me in a way you didn’t look at him…” He stepped away and held her at arm’s length. She sparkled. “Like this.”

  He drew her back in, slowly, deliberately. He kept one of her hands in his, tucked in close to his heart. The other massaged every inch of her body it could reach. The top of her thigh. Her waist. Her bare arms. When he reached her breasts, she tossed her head back and moaned.

  “Just like this, Sophia.”

  Using his fingertips, he circled her breasts and cupped them carefully. His lips found the curve of her neck, and there he feasted. Kissing, nibbling, and licking until she went liquid. All while he continued to guide them across the stone floor balcony.

  She squeezed his shoulder again and grinded her body up against his, over and over. Xavier was dying. Taking it slow might damn well kill him. But he needed to show her his compassionate side. The one that remembered every spot that made her ache.

  Backing her up against the wall, he went down on his knees. One finger from each hand traced lines down the backs of her thighs as he kissed the side of each knee.

  “Oh!”

  She practically toppled over on him. Jackpot. That was still a spot that made her hot.

  Farther up he traveled, going under the fabric of her dress. He removed her panties before she could even gasp for air.

  There, in the delicate place between her thighs, was the spot that could make her quiver on command. His thumbs brushed over the beautiful black curls. She twitched.

  But he didn’t touch the luscious folds. He didn’t have to. Instead, he licked and sucked on her thigh, her belly button, and both sides of her hips.

  When her hands dug into his hair to hold her up, Xavier knew he had found each and every spot that made her wet with craving. But she hadn’t made a sound—barely a whisper.

  “Do you like that, Sophia?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Moan for me. I know you want to.”

  “But…we’re…outside.”

  He cupped her succulent sex and used his middle finger to rub her heat. “I know.”

  “I…oh, heavens.”

  A carefully placed rub gave Xavier the response he needed. A moan, low and deep, escaped her lips.

  “Please—”

  He silenced her request with a kiss, their tongues tangling in the winter night. He would have her now—outside—in the cold but comfortable air. He still wanted to taste every inch of her skin. He still wanted to touch every curve of her body. But there would be plenty of time for that. The night was still young.

  With a click and a flick, his pants fell to the ground. She clung to him with labored breaths and hot skin. He took the swell of her hips into his hands and lifted her off the ground. She reacted immediately, snaking her legs around his back and locking them into place.

  In one slow thrust he was fully inside her. The depths of her core were enough to break him. Truth be told, they already had.

  She arched against him, taking away his last lonely breath. He would be lonely no more.

  He thrust again, careful to not scrape her back against the wall. She shuddered and contracted like a vice around him.

  “Dear God, Sophia,” he choked out.

  Another thrust, deeper and harder.

  “Ah, yes,” she murmured.

  One more thrust and she shattered—completely. Her eyes fluttered; her head fell to the side. She quaked almost violently as her climax overtook him. Another long, determined thrust, and she screamed. He did, too. It was all Xavier could do to stay on his feet.

  And not cry out that he loved her.

  As their bodies continued to vibrate and melt, they slid to the ground.

  Xavier had thought he was in paradise before. He’d been wrong. Sophia was more than paradise. She was the very reason he breathed.

  Chapter Nine

  SOPHIA WOKE TO DARKNESS and the feel of cool sheets on her bare skin. A splice of moonlight gave the room a dim glow. The surroundings were unfamiliar: the large four poster bed around her, the crystal chandelier hanging overhead, the window at the left facing London’s skyline. But the warmth that pressed against her back she knew. Th
e man her body had so desperately wanted, the man she’d let her body have. The evening with Xavier had been more pleasurable than any other in her existence. She was so content tucked in next to him she almost wanted to purr.

  It was all too much, yet it wasn’t enough. His taste was still on her tongue. His scent still in her nose. Her heart heavy with…she shook her head. She was getting ahead of herself.

  Sophia pushed the cover away and slowly rolled out of bed. She was caught when Xavier draped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. Carefully, she grabbed his arm and moved it from her as she slid off the bed. He grunted; she froze and cringed, hoping not to wake him. After a few seconds and slow breaths, she continued to edge out of bed and rested his arm in front of him.

  Standing above him as the moonlight poured in, she realized just how handsome he was. Sharp features with dark hair sweeping over his eyes made him look mysterious. And yet, to her, he was careful and confident. He smiled in his sleep. Sophia grinned, too, as she resisted the urge to touch him, to lie back in bed and draw him into her arms. To ask him to make love to her over and over until that’s all they ever knew.

  Suddenly hot, she got herself back together and went into the bathroom. As she splashed her face with cool water, she recalled how Xavier, with his charm and moves, had known exactly what to say. Hearing him say he’d created the clothes for her had exhilarated her. He was smooth. She’d bet the balance of her trust fund he said that to all the girls.

  But that didn’t matter. What mattered was the way he’d wooed her. The way he’d made her feel like she was the only woman he’d ever cared about touching, caressing, and pleasing. She puffed out a breath, allowing the dribbles of water from her lips to splash onto the granite sink.

  The coupling in the limo had been amazing enough. But on the balcony of his suite, he’d taken her. Slowly, carefully, as though there had been no one else in the world he’d have rather pleased. It was like he’d been in her head, knowing the points of yearning that would make her like hot butter in his hands.

  For this one night, she’d belonged to him.

  Besides moans and whispers, barely any words had been spoken between them. It was more than she could’ve asked for.

  Sophia dried the water from her face and looked at her reflection in the mirror—bright-eyed and practically glowing in the middle of the night. It was the face of a woman satisfied with each exploding orgasm she’d had that evening.

  Then there was a strange coiling around her heart, almost an ache. Perhaps it was remorse from having received great pleasure from someone she barely knew. But the squeeze in her chest, she realized, wasn’t one of regret—it was like a spear piercing her heart, claiming her to be his. Forever his. She’d never had a one-night stand, and she was beginning to think they could be the most wonderful things on earth…or the most deadly. After all, how could she have such a powerful reaction to someone and then just walk away?

  Shaking her head, she turned away from the sink, terrified of the feelings creeping up inside of her. No matter how much Xavier had seemed to know every inch and curve of her body, every spot that made her arch and squeal in delight, she still had a lot to learn about him. But she was up to the challenge. A night like this wasn’t something to walk away from, and she wouldn’t. She couldn’t walk away from him. Hadn’t she known that from the first moment he’d touched her? She’d known something; she just hadn’t known it would be this.

  Yet Xavier surely didn’t want this. There was no way a bachelor like him would get caught up in some affair. He’d wanted pleasure, like Sophia, and after the night was through, they would go their separate ways and live their separate lives.

  She closed her eyes for a brief moment to steady her thoughts, and that’s when she saw his face. Xavier—but different. He was laughing. The sun was shining through his much longer hair. His face was less hard, less mysterious, and not as defined as it had been earlier in the evening. The image spanned outward, and his whole body came into focus. He was lying in a bed of tall green grass under the beaming sun, and he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. It wasn’t the body she had run her hands over tonight. It was leaner and…

  “Oh, no.” Sophia opened her eyes again, dizzy. The image was of Xavier, no doubt, but he was…young. He couldn’t have been more than a teenager. The picture in her mind was clear as any other memory she had.

  She gasped for air. Almost ashamed of what she’d seen in her mind, she closed her eyes and rubbed them furiously, trying to get the picture to go away. It wouldn’t. It only became more defined. Then he spoke. Loving words about how they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. How they would raise a child together.

  Good Lord, what was happening to her? Her eyes clenched, and she heard the rush of a waterfall, the chirp of birds, and felt a breeze against her face. Xavier’s younger face burned into her retinas, and she couldn’t shake the image—or his voice. He murmured, “I love you,” and leaned toward her, lips puckered, eyes glittering.

  Sophia jerked herself back to awareness, smacking her head against the bathroom door. She cringed, hoping the noise hadn’t woken Xavier. She wouldn’t know what to say to him. Terrified, she trembled. Nothing could explain what she’d just seen. Unless…she’d known Xavier before the accident. Maybe that was why he’d been so forward when they’d first met. But that wasn’t possible.

  As if to convince herself, she whispered the word no over and over in her head. Repeating that mantra, she threw on her clothes as quietly as possible, feeling a new, uncomfortable twist in her chest she didn’t recognize. It made her pause and reconsider what she might have just discovered. Was he the answer to her lost memories? After all those years, could one night fill a void in her life? Was it that easy?

  She didn’t want to leave him without answers or explanations, but she couldn’t wrap her head around what she’d just seen…or felt. She didn’t know if it was memory or a wild hallucination playing tricks on her. She almost didn’t want to believe it was memory, as that would mean someone had lied to her.

  Conflicted and unexpectedly afraid of getting the very thing she’d looked for, Sophia walked out of the hotel and out of Xavier’s life as a single tear fell down her cheek.

  Xavier stretched his arm out over the bed, expecting to feel Sophia’s warm body lying next to his. When he didn’t instantly feel her, he thought maybe she’d stepped out for a minute. But as he ran his hands over the sheets, he realized they were cold; a warm body hadn’t lain there for quite some time.

  He jolted up, eyes scanning. Through the moonlight slashing in through the curtain, he saw emptiness. No shadows danced, no footsteps rang out. And Sophia’s heavy scent didn’t float around the space. All the lights were off, nothing stirred, and her clothes were gone from the edge of the bed.

  Damn it!

  She was gone. Again. The suite was a deep dark pit threatening to suffocate him.

  Xavier flung himself out of bed, cracking his knee on the side table. He ignored the sting of pain despite the warm blood dribbling down his calf. He had bigger things to worry about. He made another quick sweep of the room and checked the rest of the hotel room—twice. Obsessive? Yes.

  Why had she gone there if she had only planned to run away? Shaking his head, he hastily ran his fingers through his hair and walked over to the window. Surely she hadn’t changed from someone who had been loving and caring to someone who would walk out in the middle of the night.

  The way his name had sizzled off her tongue and the way his body had moved with hers, he was certain the bond was still there. He closed his eyes and drew in a shallow breath. The air in the room was stale and dry, making his chest hurt. He dropped into the chair next to the window, covering his face with his hands.

  Had his feelings been that foolish?

  Something didn’t feel right. He stood, stretched his arms and back, and rolled his tense shoulders. There was no way she would run away from him after loving him so blindly ten ye
ars before. After loving him so completely during the night.

  He stalked over to the desk, sat down, and pounded numbers into his phone as his laptop roared to life. He wouldn’t rest until he saw her again.

  “Bryant,” he barked into the phone.

  “Wha’?”

  “Wake up. I need you to run some information through the security team and find someone for me.”

  Silence.

  “Bryant!”

  “What the hell? Xavier? Is that you?” A grumble and grunt rang through the line. “Do you know what time it is?”

  “I don’t care.” His fingers tapped impatiently across the keyboard. “Do you remember that last time I had someone search for Sophia?”

  Bryant gave an audible curse, followed by more grumbling.

  “Do you?”

  “Yeah, like five years ago or some junk.”

  “Do it again. Tonight.”

  “Jesus, Xavier. What for?”

  A screen popped up on his laptop, pinpointing the home of Sophia’s parents. They still lived in the same home as they had before. Perfect.

  “Because if you don’t find her, I’m going straight to the source.”

  He needed explanations, and this time Sophia’s mother wouldn’t get in the way. His heart demanded one of two things: closure or Sophia. He preferred the latter and prayed that when she’d left him tonight she had already realized she’d made a mistake.

  “What makes you so bent on getting her now? At freaking two a.m.?”

  “I love her. And this time, I’m not letting her get away.”

  “Great. Fine. I’ll take care of it and let you know what I find out.”

  Xavier closed his laptop. “Thank you.”

  “I hope like hell she’s worth all this damn trouble, Xavier.”

  Bryant hung up, and Xavier wondered if Sophia was worth it.

  She was.

  Chapter Ten

  “WHAT DO YOU THINK about this one?” Anne Marie asked as she swung a dress around in front of Sophia.

  “Oh, that one is fine,” Sophia replied, barely looking up from her book. It had been two days since she’d fled from Xavier, and her thoughts were still jumbled. No amount of spending time with her dear friend was making it any better. He kept creeping into her mind no matter how hard she wanted to push him out. She still felt the way his hands slid over her skin, the way his breath felt on her neck. He had looked so innocent when she had left him. So calm. So touchable…