A Taste of Spice and Splendor

by Lacuna Reid

  “Clifford Maxwell.”

  There is a deafening silence around the room.

  “We know him,” Gino says. And a chill runs down my spine. “But not very well. He’s an investor in my company, and in this place.”

  “He owns shares in El Cielo?” The news elicits pain that I wasn’t expecting.

  “He’s a silent partner, Mira,” Theo says. “Nothing more. We haven’t even met with him for years.”

  The news still rattles me.

  “Was that the man who called on you?” Theo asks. “The other day? The one you didn't wish to speak to.”

  “I… I think so.”

  It’s all a bit overwhelming. I rest my head against my hands. I should tell them about the box that’s still buried at the back of my wardrobe, but I haven’t even opened it and I don’t want to… plus, telling them will just bring up more questions.

  “We want to be open with you, Mira,” Gino says.

  “So, why does it always feel like there’s something you’re hiding?”

  Helio laughs. “Come on, tell us, Mira, have you had any strange dreams?”

  The dreams! I gulp and nod.

  “Well?” Helio says, “Perhaps they are in Ancient Greece?”

  “Helio, don’t rush her,” Elias says.

  Chills are running up and down my spine like tiny waterfalls of electricity, pooling in my joints, jolting me into awareness. They know… Eventually, I gather myself together and speak.

  “I started having these dreams as a teenager. They all revolved around a temple…” there is an audible exhale around the group, and a look of recognition in the eyes of all the men.

  “And?” Theo says. “What happened in these dreams?”

  “There were guys… well.” I blush. “They were all working in, or near the temple, and… I don’t know. They were quite racy dreams for a teenager. I don’t remember many of the details, but I stopped having them for years, until…”

  “Until recently?” Gino asks.

  “Yes. I think it was when I met you.” I say, looking Gino straight in the eyes.

  “We’ve had the dreams too,” Elias says. “Not all the same dreams, or even the same time period. Different dreams. Different lives.”

  “Really?” I’m surprised, but all of this has become so far from normal that I really should be beyond surprise by now. “You think they’re dreams of past lives?”

  The men all look at me.

  “It could just be a coincidence,” I say. “It could be something else, causing you – us – to have similar dreams.”

  “We are well beyond coincidence,” Gino says. “Do you know how we met, Mira?” He gestures to the other guys.

  “Elias said you were at the same university.”

  “It’s more than that,” Theo says. “Yes, we were all on the same campus at the same time. I was teaching architecture and these boys were all studying different things. Some of us had met, and felt a connection. Gino and Elias were friends, but it wasn’t until one night when there was a thunderstorm, and the four of us all ran from the rain into the same abandoned classroom that we realized the significance of our meeting.”

  “We recognized each other,” Helio says. “From the dreams.”

  “Wow,” I say. “That’s… that’s crazy.”

  “We thought so at first,” Gino says, “but it made sense – the connection we shared, it was an old one, even though we had just met. The funny thing is, none of us talked about it – not then.”

  “We all thought it was too crazy – like you say,” Helio says, smiling at me.

  “That’s right.” says Elias. “Then Theo found this place and dragged us all down here to help him renovate it.”

  “I did.” Theo says. “I came across the old abandoned factory on my travels and instantly fell in love. I had a vision for this place, and I knew it had to be these guys who helped me fulfill it.”

  Helio laughs. “The first night we arrived, Theo brings up the dreams of Ancient Greece, and I was like… oh shit… he knows…”

  “So, what do you know?” I ask.

  “We have had multiple lives together – the four of us… and you,” Gino says. “We wondered if we would ever find you in this life.”

  “It took a long time,” says Elias.

  “I was so shocked that you are American,” Helio admits. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought Gino must have been wrong. American!”

  “Hey – don’t judge me. I can’t help where I was born.” I throw a cushion at him. Helio laughs again, and I add, “That doesn’t excuse the fact that you were so rude to me when I arrived.”

  “I’ll have to make it up to you,” Helio says, and winks. I feel a jolt of desire, but it doesn’t feel appropriate.

  I glance across at Theo, his eyes are downcast. Then he looks up at me, pressing his cupped palms to his chin thoughtfully. “Mira,” he says, “in these dreams… you were… close to us.”

  “Yes,” I blush again, remembering the altar… “I think you were called Amedes.”

  Theo nods, and smiles. “I was the high priest. You were my priestess, Mya.”

  I turn to Gino, “and you were the temple scribe, Alfio.”

  “I was.”

  I turn to Helio. “You were… a kind of blacksmith, I think.”

  “Yes. My name was Teris.”

  “That’s right… and you,” I turn to Elias. “You were the doctor who dressed my hand when it was cut… Lasonas”

  Elias smiles, “and we were all so much more than that.”

  “But I only remember that one life…” I say. “If that’s really what it was… the Greek life. Tell me about the others.”

  “There is a medieval life we know about, and some others. We are not always together in our lives, it seems…” Gino says.

  “We have been looking into this for a long time,” says Theo. “Gino has had past life regressions, so has Elias. We’re been trying to figure out why…”

  “Doesn’t everyone have past lives?” I ask. “I mean, if they’re real.”

  “Sure,” says Gino. “But ours seem quite… compelling.”

  I feel another rush of desire.

  “We are sure there is a reason we are here,” Gino continues. “– a particular reason, and we’ve been trying to figure that out for years.”

  “Maybe now we’ve found you, we’ll finally crack the mystery,” says Helio.

  I look around at the four gorgeous men surrounding me. My head is swirling from their revelations… past lives… Ancient Greece… medieval… sexy times… What. The. Hell?!

  I lean back in my chair and close my eyes, feeling the soft, comforting, velvet of the armrest beneath my fingers. I let out a long, slow breath.

  “It’s a lot to take in,” Elias says. “I know… I’m sorry we are burdening you like this.”

  “It’s not that,” I say. “I’m glad you told me. I was starting to get quite suspicious about all this.” I wave my hand around the room. “About why you invited me here – gave me a job and let me make myself at home here – without even seeing my resume… and why you’re all familiar and acting, as if we know each other well.”

  “We do… well, we did…” Theo says.

  “Yes… so you say.” I look around at them again, wanting to raise the thing that I’m still holding back, but not knowing how.

  “It hasn’t always worked out in the past, Mira. Things haven’t always gone well.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask. I look into Theo’s eyes and I see both love and pain there… and is that guilt? Regret?

  His words float back to me “I loved someone before… so deeply, so desperately that I betrayed them…”

  Was it me?

  “It’s too much for one night,” Gino says decisively. “We will tell you everything, Mira, but we don’t want to risk overwhelming you.”

  “Now it’s time for bed,” Theo says, and I want him to take me with him but I leave the room alone.

 
I’m not quite feeling ready to leave, but it feels like Theo has dismissed me. I still have so many questions. Of course, it’s too much of a coincidence that we all have shared dreams of Ancient Greece, but I still haven’t quite gotten my head around this whole reincarnation-might-be-real thing… and more than that, what does it mean for us? This surely isn’t normal. Why are we all repeating lives together?

  There’s a much greater mystery to solve here, but right now, I know Theo’s right. It’s late. The hours must have slipped away quicker than I realized as we talked, and there is so much to process… the connection I feel to all of them… to this place… It’s much bigger and deeper than I imagined and the realization leaves me feeling buoyant, light, hopeful.

  As I walk back through the rooms of El Cielo, I appreciate the care and thought that has gone into every element of the design, the curved archways, the polished floors, the burnished fittings, the wooden tables and green velvet chairs and white curtains. Everything echoes Theo’s good taste, simple, elegant, timeless.

  As I walk up the stairs and into my room, I want to wrap myself in him… I want that deep rich voice to sing me gentle lullabies every night. Could we be together? Is that even possible? But when I think of the other guys, of sweet and sensual Elias with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes, of Gino’s delicious charm and quick wit, and of Helio, wild and untamed…

  They share everything…

  What a naughty thought!

  I giggle and collapse onto the soft bed. As I drift off to sleep, I’m cushioned by feelings of contentment and joy. I’m so relieved that Theo came to find me, that I got off that train, that I came back here…

  It’s good to be home.

  Epilogue: Theo

  I leave my office, switching off the lamps and casting a long, lingering glance in the direction that Mira just walked. I want to go to her, to pour out all my pain and love into her body and make her scream in pleasure, but my own shame holds me back.

  Helio blames me for history repeating, and he’s right. It was my fault last time, and I must do everything in my power not to fuck it up again. I must restrain myself. Honor the connection… Maintain healthy boundaries. I must allow this situation to play out in an organic way, rather than trying to take control. Power has always been my downfall, and so has she.

  “I love you Mira, and I’ll do anything to protect you this time, even from myself.”

  I say the words aloud into the empty room, not expecting an answer.

  As I turn to switch off the last lamp, I swear I hear the soft sound of music notes… I shake my head, trying to disrupt the familiar tune that surely must be all in my mind… the music box... Impossible.

  I have the deeply disconcerting feeling of being watched, sending chills through me. I’ve got to get out of here. As I stand here, a freezing cold draft gusts through, slamming the door in front of me. I reach for the light switch and illuminate the room. It looks just as it always does. I push the fears out of my mind.

  It’s just my imagination… but I cross my fingers and make the sign of the cross like my mother always did, anyway, as if reaching for an old childhood habit will instill irrational power to face imaginary threats. As I make my way to my rooms, I issue a silent plea to whatever power exists beyond us mere mortals. Please… let the past stay buried.

  …To find out what happens next order book 2

  A Sneak peak of Book 2

  Chapter One

  I yawn and open my eyes to the brightness around me. The long sweeping white curtains of my room here at El Cielo don’t do anything to hide the morning light, in fact they seem to just make it brighter, but I don’t mind. It’s dark enough here at night, with no street lights or light pollution, that they work perfectly well, and it’s nice waking up to natural light. It feels… wholesome; this whole place does.

  I lie in bed for a while, content with the sweet, drifting feeling. Last night the four men who own this place, who built it, designed it, converted it from the old 1930s cement factory it once was into this thriving green, lush and luxurious fairy-tale palace, all gathered in a room and convinced me that they shared the dreams I’ve had since my adolescence, the dreams of Ancient Greece.

  Somehow these dreams are memories of a past life where we were all together, and somehow I can trust this, despite the fact that I’ve never really believed anything like that before.

  The beautiful thing about all this is that the connection I felt with the guys – with all four of them – when we first met, is somehow more real, more validated. There’s a sense of fate, and I’ve never felt more like I’ve belonged anyplace in my life than I do here, at El Cielo.

  I think of Theo, the architect, who might be older than the other guys, but is so freaking tall, dark and handsome, with white flecking his temples in a sexy way. He’s so classy, and so serious, and so aloof he drives me crazy. Yet, the chemistry between us is off the charts and he absolutely gave me the best orgasms of my life on the large wooden desk in his office of all places!

  Theo is the only one of the guys that I’ve gotten that far with, but I’ve had saucy and intimate moments with all four of them; green eyed Gino, who’s so hot he should definitely be a male model, who runs a big ethical-tech firm and who met me in New York less than a month ago and enticed me to come here in the first place; Elias with his blue eyes and black hair, the head chef here who has a background in chemistry, is so sensual and so sweet; and wild, long-haired, muscly, cocky-as-fuck Helio, who I hated at first, until he showed me his softer side.

  I’m scared that they’re going to make me choose between them, when I really don’t know how to do that… but I’m secretly hoping that somehow I can have all of them, after all “we do things differently at El Cielo” seems to be the motto around here.

  Not only is it too hard to choose, it seems I didn’t have to in that Ancient Greek life. From the snippets of dreams I’ve had, I was hot and heavy with all of them – and sometimes even more than one at the same time! I know it’s not common for guys who seem to be mostly hetero to want to all get it on with one woman, but based on the racy dreams I’ve had, where I was a priestess in the Temple of Artemis, I sure as hell wouldn’t complain if these guys wanted to pick up where we left off.

  I roll over in bed, finally ready to get up, and I have the whole day free, as there’s no kitchen work to do. I was brought here under the guise of them needing a sous chef, and while there is a bit of menu planning and kitchen work here for big meetings and functions, I also have a lot of free time. It made me paranoid at first, that Gino had invited me to paradise and flew me first-class, half way around the world, where I get paid double my former salary, get to live rent free in this gorgeous apartment and get to treat the place as if I owned it… but last night I realised they had been searching for me all these years… and in a way I must have been looking for them too, sizing up the people I met against these dream lovers from ancient times.

  I get up and throw on a shirt, and then I hear the sound of my phone ringing. It’s Lana, and it’s a video call. I answer the call.

  “Hey!” I smile and wave at my best friend’s face a she appears on the screen.

  “Hey babe!” Lana is in a bikini and wearing big movie star sunglasses. She’s lounging back in a striped chair.

  “What’s up?” I ask.

  “We’re in Argentina and loving it! Honestly, honey, I wish you were here. This resort is amazing!” Lana spins the phone around, showing me the enormous pool and palm trees surrounding her.

  “It looks fabulous,” I say, smiling again, and waving to Lana’s boyfriend Dave as he comes into view. Despite the fact that Lana has a good job as a speech therapist and Dave’s an accountant, I’m still surprised they can afford to live in Ney York and take luxury vacations, given Lana’s penchant for shopping and fancy makeup.

  “So what’s the goss?” Lana asks. “Any more saucy encounters?”

  “Lana!” say, then I lower my voice to a whisper. “I’m
not going to talk about that kind of thing for the whole resort to hear – or even Dave, for that matter.”

  Lana lowers her voice. “So you do have something juicy to report?”

  “Not exactly… not of that nature,” I whisper. I don’t want to tell her any more intimate details right now.

  “Ooh… come on, you’ve got to tell me. What’s the big secret? Look, I’m heading away from the pool, we’re basically alone now. Tell me everything!”

  I sigh. “It’s a lot to think about. Hell, I can barely even come to terms with it myself. Basically, they all think that we’re destined to meet in this life.”

  “Wait – so it is some kind of cult?” Lana says, her voice absolutely serious.

  “No. Not a cult… more like… well they have had the dreams too.”

  “Get the fuck out of town… your Ancient Greek porn dreams?”

  I sigh again, wishing I’d never let Lana in on how X-rated those dreams were, the ones I’d first started having when we were both at high school. “The very same.”

  “No. Fucking. Way,” Lana says. “Wait – did they say why?”

  “They think…” I take a deep breath, and then continue. “They think it was a past life – that we were all together then and that, for whatever reason, we’re all back again in this lifetime.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “Tell me about it. I’m still processing… but it feels kind of…”

  “Awesome!?”

  “Yes.”

  “I can tell,” Lana says. “You’re positively radiant – either you’re glowing with post-orgasmic joy or you need to tell me what kind of foundation you’re using… wait… did you all…?”

  “No… nothing like that.” I blush.

  “Oooh but you’re happy… and you’re fantasising about it with that dirty little mind of yours, aren’t you?”

  “Maybe just a smidge,” I admit. “Honestly Lana, they’re all…”

  “Drop dead gorgeous… yes, I know I’ve seen the photos.”