by Geraldine O'Hara, Natalie Dae, Nichelle Gregory, Crissy Smith, Lisabet Sarai
A gust of wind swirled the gathering leaves around her feet and Sabria pulled her black shawl around her shoulders, still trying to shake off her disappointment at not finding a sign from Jai in the library. Many years ago they’d selected four libraries in four major cities as starting points to begin searching for each other if they couldn’t easily pick up one another’s signature aura.
Sabria had never had any trouble before, but it had taken almost six months to home in on Jai this time. She’d searched the last library on their list. Almost a year of traveling and looking for Jai was beginning to take its toll on her usually bottomless optimism. She took some comfort in knowing he was somewhere close by.
Sabria quickened her pace as the coffee shop she sought came into view. This was the one she felt the strongest pull to. Jai liked chocolate croissants and she knew he’d eventually turn up at a café that served them. He loved them almost as much as she loved coffee.
The café was crowded for a Saturday afternoon. Sabria drew in a deep breath, enjoying the comforting scent of coffee wafting over her the moment she opened the door. The intensity of Jai’s aura enveloping her rendered her momentarily motionless.
He had been here!
Excited, Sabria quickly scanned the café for any hint of Jai.
“Welcome to Java Blue.”
“Thank you,” Sabria said, walking up to the barista, who went by ‘Erika’ according to her name tag. She looked to be in her early twenties, adorable with freckles to go along with her straight strawberry-blonde hair and friendly smile.
“What can I get you?” Erika asked, looking at her expectantly.
Sabria glanced down into the bakery case in front of her and smiled upon seeing the chocolate croissants. “I’ll have a medium vanilla latte and a blueberry scone.”
Erika nodded. “Good choice. Coming right up.”
There were two men in the coffee shop and Sabria surreptitiously studied them as the barista got her order ready. A businessman talked on his cell by the window. He was deep in conversation, oblivious to her scrutiny, but Sabria didn’t feel any kind of connection to him. The second guy in the café was dressed well, reading Grindr, a clear indication he’d be more interested in the dedicated businessman than her.
Definitely not Jai.
“Here you are.”
She whirled around to see Erika holding her coffee and scone on a plate. “Thanks. How much?” Sabria opened her purse.
“Four dollars and sixty-three cents. I forgot to ask if you wanted this pastry to go.”
“It’s fine. I think I’ll have it here.” Sabria pushed back a wad of cash, grabbed a ten-dollar bill and handed it to Erika. “I know this may seem like an odd question, but have you recently had a man come in here who orders a chocolate croissant with a black coffee?”
Erika frowned. “Hmm…I don’t know. I don’t usually work on Fridays. You should come back tomorrow morning and ask Vance.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“No problem,” Erika said with a grin. “If he tasted one of our chocolate croissants he’ll be back. They’re to die for.”
Sabria laughed, but a shiver of awareness skittered up her spine and she wasn’t sure if it was the barista’s choice of words or something else as she made her way to a small table by the window facing the street.
Sabria savored her hot drink while watching people walk by the window. One laughing couple caught her eye as they entered the café, their obvious happiness sending an unexpected spasm of pain through Sabria. Her gaze traveled from the attractive brunette wearing a flirty pink wrap dress to her sexy companion. He was tall, also well dressed in designer jeans and a mint-green poplin shirt that accentuated his mocha skin.
She took her phone out of her purse and viewed the location of the next coffee shop, feeling a flutter of awareness in the pit of her stomach that only happened when Jai was close by. Sabria took another sip of her coffee as the lovey-dovey couple she’d been observing earlier sat at the table beside her. The twinge in her belly sharpened and Sabria wished she’d been sensible and ordered bottled water instead of the hot coffee, which was only increasing her growing thirst.
Warm, male laughter derailed her thoughts.
Sabria stole a glance at the couple seated at the table next to her.
That laugh…she knew that deep laugh anywhere. Her stomach twisted into a zillion knots and Sabria broke out into a sweat.
It’s him…the guy in the mint-green poplin shirt.
Sabria clutched the coffee in her hand, unable to stop staring at the man she knew was Jai.
How could he be totally oblivious to her?
Sabria’s heart skipped a beat when he scratched the side of his jaw in the exact same way she’d seen Jai do thousands of times. He looked nothing like the blond, blue-eyed lover she’d known last time, but Sabria was ninety-nine percent sure. The blood rushing to her head drowned out all other sounds in the café. She had at long last found her mate.
Overwhelmed with joy, Sabria felt compelled to speak. “Jai?”
Something twisted in Jai’s gut as he averted his gaze from Melanie to look at the beautiful woman who’d just said his name. He’d noticed her the moment he’d entered the café. She stood out with her pretty face, thick auburn hair and gorgeous green eyes which were pinned on him at that moment.
“Do I know you?” Jai asked and the look of pain that flashed in the woman’s eyes caused him an unexpected wave of uneasiness too.
“Jai, it’s been a long time.”
His gaze fell to her lips. The way she’d pronounced his name made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his cock stir. Jai shifted in his chair, disturbed by his physical reaction.
Was she a past colleague? Friend of a friend or a forgotten one-night stand?
Jai didn’t think she was any of those things. There was something familiar about the lady, but Jai felt certain he’d never seen her before in his life. He would have remembered kissing that pouty mouth.
“I’m Melanie.” Melanie covered his hand with hers, giving him a reassuring squeeze at the same time she smiled at the woman who somehow knew his name.
“Hello, I’m Bri.”
Bri…
Hearing that name struck some distant chord, stirred up fragments of dreams he had pushed out of his mind. Jai tore his gaze from Bri’s when Melanie gently squeezed his hand again.
“Bri, you’ll have to forgive, Jai.”
“Nothing to forgive. It has been a while since we’ve seen one another.”
“Well, my fiancé is terrible with names and faces.”
“Fiancé?”
Shock. That was the only word to describe the expression on Bri’s face.
“Bri, what a pretty name,” Melanie said in the awkward silence.
Jai couldn’t take his eyes off Bri’s lips. She truly was a beautiful woman, ultra-feminine and exotic-looking.
“Well, it was nice meeting you, Bri,” Melanie said, standing up.
Bri gave them both a wobbly smile. “Thank you.”
“Enjoy the rest of your Saturday,” Melanie added, taking hold of his hand.
Jai met Bri’s steady gaze and once again felt a disconcerting spear of unease throughout his body. “Take care,” he said, not sure what else was appropriate given the strange encounter.
What the hell?
He turned away from Bri and led Melanie out. Jai tried to shake off unsettling vibes as they walked away. A few minutes passed with only the crunch of the dry leaves beneath their shoes on the crowded sidewalk.
“Well, that was weird,” Melanie finally said.
“It was.”
Melanie cast a sideways glance at him as they climbed up the stairs to their apartment building. “Are you sure you don’t know her?”
“I’ve never seen that woman before,” Jai said, taking out his keys to open the front entrance.
“Well, she sure as hell knew you. Did you see the way she was staring at you?”
&n
bsp; He had. Jai didn’t think he’d be able to erase those bewitching green eyes from his memory for a while.
Melanie sighed while unlocking her mailbox. “You know, if I didn’t know and love you”—she waved her letters in front of his face—“I’d think your whole amnesia story was just an extraordinary lie.”
“Well”—Jai grabbed her around the waist and pushed her back against the wall—“it’s a good thing you believe me.”
Melanie giggled. “I might need some convincing.”
Jai tightened his grip on her hips. “Oh, yeah? How?”
Melanie shrugged. “They say kisses don’t lie. Maybe you should kiss me and prove your innocence.”
Jai grinned before lowering his head to kiss his fiancée. Melanie moaned and melted into him as he deepened the kiss. Desire made his cock hard, but it wasn’t his fiancée’s soft lips causing his body to react lightning-fast. Much to Melanie’s disappointment, Jai ended the kiss, still troubled by the emerald-green eyes etched in his mind.
“Your place or mine?” she asked in a husky voice.
Jai pressed his lips to her temple. “Yours.”
Melanie smiled. “Give me ten minutes.” She stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed him passionately on the lips. “My door will be open.”
Jai let her go, watching her go up the steps to her place before heading down the hall to his own. He unlocked the door and stared at his barely furnished apartment. It still looked like he’d just moved in even though he’d been a resident for over six months. He strode into his bedroom, the only room that truly looked lived-in, walked over to the modern abstract painting hanging on the wall opposite his bed and took it off the wall to reveal the small safe behind it.
With a few quick turns of his wrist he opened the compact door. He took out a metal box, flipped open the lid and stared at the stacks of cash loaded inside. Amnesia was a funny thing…a damnable thing. He’d remembered his name and the location of a lockbox filled with more money than he’d ever need buried in the corn fields in northern Michigan, but he hadn’t a clue where he’d worked, who he knew or much about anything else besides personal preferences.
The cash had afforded him the opportunity to construct a life. People didn’t ask too many questions when you flashed the green and kept things simple. He had enough money to buy the building he was in, but he simply rented the apartment. Telling people he was a ghostwriter squelched curious questions about his employment and financial means.
Jai sat the lockbox down on his bed to reach back into his safe and pull out a leather-bound notebook that had been buried alongside the cash. He opened the worn book and flipped through it. There were pages and pages of his handwriting, but Jai didn’t understand the foreign language. He’d spent hours at the library looking up dialects and still hadn’t found any that would decipher what might as well be gibberish.
Jai cursed, turning the pages faster as his frustration grew. He hardly flipped through the pages anymore because doing so always left him feeling on edge.
What does it mean?
Something caught his eye just as he started to close the journal. Jai thumbed back to the page that had caught his attention, his eyes widening as he recognized a set of letters within the unidentifiable script.
“Holy hell.”
Time stood still as Jai stared in wonder at the name he hadn’t noticed before.
Sabria.
Chapter Two
Sabria sighed with relief when Melanie finally left the apartment complex she’d been staking out all night. The woman walked away, yoga mat strapped to her back, workout gear visible beneath the purple shawl around her shoulders. All Sabria had to do was get out of her car, enter the building and find Jai.
The moment Jai and Melanie had left, she’d rushed from the coffee shop and discreetly followed them, only to discover either he or Melanie lived just a few blocks away from the café.
There was no way she’d chance losing him after searching for the better part of a lonely year. Decision made, she’d gone back to her car and parked outside the apartment complex to wait for a moment to talk to Jai alone.
Sabria closed her eyes and groaned as her mind conjured up images of him and Melanie entangled, sweaty, blissfully happy.
He’d spent the entire night with her. And why wouldn’t he? He and Melanie were engaged.
Sabria drew in a shuddering breath, trying to push more illicit images of Melanie moaning beneath Jai out of her thoughts. She craved him so badly it had taken all her concentration not to reach out to him. The thought of him touching another woman was driving her crazy.
He was hers.
It wasn’t his fault he currently didn’t know her, or Melanie’s that she’d gotten involved with him, but Sabria would be damned if she’d let her mate marry another.
Not this lifetime.
She’d been through thousands of years with Jai. Together, they’d weathered more joy, passion and adversity than the human mind could comprehend.
Sabria’s hands trembled as she reached for a bottle of water and drank, shivering with delight as the cool drink coursed down her parched throat. Her thirst was growing and with it her need for Jai.
Desire curled in her stomach, dropped lower, and Sabria squeezed her inner thighs together. Her body hungered for his touch, his kiss, the way he whispered her name when he moved deep inside her. She hadn’t taken a lover in the time she’d been searching for Jai. There had been plenty of opportunities, but no mortal man could truly assuage the building hunger within her. She’d saved herself the frustration.
Sabria recalled the way Melanie had looked so tenderly at Jai, her hand possessively touching his as he’d stared at Sabria in total confusion. Finding him had been all she’d thought about, and seeing him with another woman had completely thrown her. It had never occurred to her he’d find someone else to share his bed…someone else to love.
Did he love Melanie?
Sabria clenched the steering wheel in one hand and the water bottle in the other, wishing she could stop the tortuous question from repeating in her head. This had never happened before. She couldn’t fault him for creating a life when it appeared he didn’t remember the one he’d had with her, but it still hurt like hell to look into his eyes—those beautiful brown eyes—and not see even a flicker of recognition. Sabria felt some small measure of comfort about the way Jai had reacted when she’d said his name. He’d felt something then, she’d bet her life on it.
And you will.
She had no choice.
Jai needed to remember everything. The faster the better. Her lover, her best friend, her soulmate was within feet of her and it had killed her not to rush the building the moment he’d walked inside with Melanie yesterday.
Sabria angled the rear-view mirror toward her and assessed her appearance. Her hair was a little mussed. She smoothed it with her hands, took out some gloss from her purse and applied it to her lips. She wondered if Jai sensed her presence nearby even though he probably didn’t understand what he was feeling.
Time to go.
She had maybe forty-five minutes to an hour tops before Melanie returned from her exercise class, unless Melanie made a stop somewhere else. Sabria just needed enough time to explain things to Jai. She just needed to touch him.
Sabria took a deep breath and got out of her vehicle. She reached the entrance, checked the names on buzzers and sighed with frustration. Jai had not used a recognizable last name. Sabria lifted her finger to push a bell when the door opened.
“Oh, hello, can you hold the door for me?”
“Of course,” Sabria said to the silver-haired woman struggling to get two rambunctious poodles outside.
The woman gave her a kind smile as she went past, and Sabria stepped inside the entryway with her heart racing. She moved forward to stand in the middle of the hallway facing two possible doors.
Jai was close. She could feel the sensual aura of his proximity. But which apartment?
Sabria tr
ied to swallow the lump in her throat. She needed water. Leaving the car without a bottle had been a mistake.
Sabria froze upon hearing a creaky door open. Her pulse fluttered as she spun around. Jai stepped out into the hallway with a bottle of water in hand, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved white Henley shirt.
“You,” he said as their gazes locked.
Sabria stepped toward him, unable to stop the tremulous smile curving her lips. She still couldn’t believe she’d found him. “Jai—”
“What are you doing here?”
His harsh tone gave her pause as he walked up to her. He was always tall, but he seemed even taller now, close enough for her to smell his familiar aftershave and cologne. Sabria lifted her gaze from Jai’s unbuttoned shirt to look into his dark brown eyes. He looked nothing like he had before, but her body responded to him as if they were already lovers. She wanted to reach up and run her hand down the strong line of Jai’s jaw and explore the dark chocolate-colored muscles she knew lay beneath his clothes.
“Sabria, what are you doing here?”
“Do you know who I am?” Sabria asked, her eyes widening with hope.
Her breath hitched as he looked at her. His voice was the same as it always had been and hearing him say her name again after so much time had passed was doing crazy things to her heart.
Jai frowned. “I’m thinking a harmless stalker at the moment.”
“Stalker?” Sabria repeated, suddenly feeling weak. “Jai, I need to talk to you. Please. I know this doesn’t seem to make any sense, but you have to trust me.”
“Lady, I don’t know you.”
His words cut her as effectively as a knife across her skin.
“Yes, you do. You do. I know you do, Jai.”
Lack of sleep, stress and sadness warbled her voice. Sabria choked back a sob as tears blurred her vision. A wave of dizziness threw her off balance as she reached out to him and she swayed instead.
“Whoa,” Jai said, grabbing hold of her by the arms. “Are you okay?”
Sabria blinked back the tears threatening to fall when he glanced over her head to survey the hallway. She looked down where his hands gripped her arms through her sweater, wishing he were touching her bare flesh. Then maybe he’d remember her. She just needed his kiss.
