by Nisha Davis
Dedicated
To The Readers
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © 2015 Nisha Davis. All rights reserved. Including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the author.
WARNING: This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. It may be considered offensive to some readers. This book is for sale to adults ONLY.
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Chapter 1
Dr. Nick Duvall walked into the bar feeling uncomfortable. This was not something he usually did, but the mess that was his current divorce made him long for another love. His first holiday in three years was a good enough reason he supposed, and he had an itch that had been steadily growing since the day his sister had talked him into buying a plane ticket and going to Hawaii for a week. He had immersed himself in work to such an extent the past months that he had never even given his loneliness so much as a thought. Away from work, he felt lonelier than ever, and he needed a woman badly. This was the perfect opportunity. He might be able to pick up someone for a holiday romance and maybe it could grow into something more.
Sidling up to the bar, he ordered a beer and scouted out the women for any possible candidates. There were some hot women around, but most were taken. The two that he was interested in seemed to be more interested in each other than in men. Then his eyes fell on a small, dark beauty huddled at one corner of the bar. She was trying her best to be inconspicuous, which he found strange. The little he could see of her was stunning. Her long hair was wavy and framed her pixie face beautifully, the light coffee-with cream of her skin was the perfect frame for her enormous green eyes, while her lips were slightly full and red. Her brilliant green eyes radiated towards him, and her blouse hinted at cleavage while leaving just the right amount of mystery.
Just as he was contemplating whether to go round to her corner of the bar and strike up a conversation, his vision got up from her stool and picked up a beat-up six string acoustic guitar and stepped up to the tiny stage which had been set up at the back. There was a small dance space in front of it. The minute the clientele became aware of her presence everyone fell silent. The first haunting strains of a melody Nick had never heard before filled the air, followed by her rich sultry voice. A part of Nick froze when he heard the sound another part of him ached with recognition. She looked so much like someone he had known so many years ago. His mind flew back to his first year as a resident at the hospital. They had met at the coffee shop around the corner, and she was waitressing there during her summer vacation and had just turned eighteen. He had been captivated by her.
Selena was her name. She was small, petite and very curvy. And he had spent that last summer getting to know her and every inch of her body and mind. He had fallen irrevocably in love with her. Selena was the kind of girl that made you think of sugar and spice all at the same time. She had been mischievous, charming, delightful, and imminently arousing. He had set his heart on marrying her he remembered but both their parents had squashed the idea. Selena’s parents had moved away and his had cut off all possible means of communication between them. It was two years later that he found out that she was dead. A motorcycle accident. She had been a passenger the bike had skidded around a corner, and she had fallen and broken her neck. Just like that the spark that had held his life in the palm of his hand had been snuffed out and was gone.
There was a thundering round of applause and Nick was startled out of his memories. His attention was once more on the petite women up on the stage. She was curvy he noticed approvingly, and wondered what she smelt like, what her skin would feel like against his, what she tasted like…
He took a large gulp of his beer and looked back up at the stage only to find himself almost choking. He had stared straight into her eyes as she sang and déjà vu hit again for the second time that night. “Damn, it's her! It's Selena! It had to be! There was no mistaking those eyes!”
After her set was over the crowd started talking again carrying on where they had left off their conversations earlier. Those who had been dancing to her music returned to their seats. Nick had a difficult time keeping his eyes on her but seeing her make her way to a door to the side of the stage pushed through the crowd making his way towards it as well.
He finally made it and opening it found himself confronted by a huge man who gave him a stern look. “Get out, nobody comes past this door.”
“But I have to see her please, it’s important.”
“Mister there isn't nobody here you need to be seeing. Clear out now or else there might be trouble.”
“No you don’t understand, I…”
“Nah mister, it’s you who don’t understand. Now get out.”
The door was summarily slammed in his face, leaving Nick staring at its scarred wooden surface. Shit! I don’t believe this!
He made his way back to the bar, found his beer, and miraculously his stool as well. He nursed his next drink for most of the evening waiting for her to come out again, but by the last call there was still no sign of her. Sighing he went back to his hotel, his memories, and crushed dreams.
Nick woke the next morning and nursed his head. The bottle of whiskey he had ordered up the previous night was half empty and he felt like hell. He did not know what was worse: finding Selena who was supposed to be dead or the constant rhythmic pounding in his skull. He decided it was a tossup and headed for the shower. He needed something greasy to help with the squeamishness. A plate of bacon and eggs would do it. That and a few cups of strong black coffee.
***
Nick was sitting away from the nearest window, trying his best at keeping out of any harsh light, when lifting the fork to his mouth he noticed a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw her walking past, her hair bouncing around her shoulders exactly as he remembered. Wanting to catch her before she was lost again, Nick pulled out his money, took out some dollar bills which he threw on the table, and raced outside, the other occupants turning their head in astonishment at his actions. Not giving them a thought he raced down the pavement to the corner searching around desperately.
She was nowhere to be seen. She had been swallowed up by the crowd on the street. Cursing under his breath, he made his way back to his room and ordered up a pot of coffee from room service. He needed to think and for that he needed his mind to be clear. Selena was dead wasn’t she? He could not figure whether what he was seeing, experiencing, was real, or whether over-work and fatigue were making him see things. All he did know however, was that he needed to find her look-alike as he had to make sure.
Nick got to the bar early that evening. He made sure that he sat in the corner opposite to where she had been sitting the previous night, and hunkered down to wait. He wanted to watch her to make sure of his facts before acting.
It was about an hour later that his vigil
met with success. Selene wafted in carrying a guitar case. “Hi Jake!” She waved towards the barman. The sound of her voice cut through him like a knife, the jaunty way in which her arm moved as she waved bringing back memories of their time together. It had to be her! He watched as she moved towards the door she had escaped through the previous evening and came back out a few minutes later. She ordered some food at the bar and sat in her corner, munching down her fries and taking the odd bite from the burger that took pride of space on the plate. Finally when she’d had enough, she pushed the plate aside, took the last sip from her soda, and nodded towards the barman who he now knew was Jake. The barman flipped a switch under the counter and a spotlight came on highlighting the same stage as the previous night, and she was once again making her way to it.
As the bar quieted down, Nick made his way forward, asking the first available girl he saw to dance. As she moved in his arms, his gaze kept wandering back to the lonely figure up on the small stage, watching her fingers dance over the strings as she entranced him with her voice and the lyrics of her song. When the song ended, his partner walked back towards her friends, leaving him standing and staring at the vision on the stage, not even aware that he was alone. He became aware of being watched and realized that it was her, Selena. She gave him a smile and looked away, focusing somewhere above his head, and sang on.
Nick stood to the side of the stage waiting for her to finish her set, before trying to talk to her. When she was done she took up her guitar and amidst the applause, made her way back to her seat at the bar which, it now seemed, was reserved for her exclusive use.
He was finally behind her, could feel her body heat, could smell her. Yes that undeniable cinnamon smell that he had always associated with her. He could smell it, the scent seemed to invade his senses and spread through his body, exactly as it had done all those years ago. This was Selena! It had to be! There could be no doubt about it.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he managed hoarsely. Selena turned around and gave him a green-eyed stare.
“I don’t drink alcohol but thanks.” She turned back to her bottle of water.
“How about another soft drink? A coffee?”
“Mister,” she turned round to face him again, “let me make it clear. I don’t drink alcohol and neither do I accept drinks from strangers. Nor do I talk to them, as a matter of fact. Please let me be?”
“But Selena, I…”
“How.... How do you know me by that name? Nobody calls me Selena! Who are you! What do you want from me? Jake, I need a little help here, please.”
The bartender came over looking slightly threatening, which was funny, seeing that Nick was six foot three and Jake could not have been anything over five foot six.
“Selena, please, don’t you remember me? Please, let’s talk. Anywhere you want? You name the place and we can talk. I’m not out to stalk you! I just need some questions answered! I really need to talk to you!”
The softening in her face let him realize that she had relented. Something about him looked like he knew her and she wanted to learn more. “Okay, look, I can see you at a coffee shop tomorrow morning? About ten?”
“Sure, whatever you say.”
She gave him the name of a place a few blocks down from his hotel, on the waterfront, and he agreed to meet her there. Before he had a chance to make any more conversation, she got up and made her way back to the stage. It was time for her next set.
Nick stuck around for a while, listening and watching Selena as she performed. He had never known she was so skilled and talented. Her husky voice’s range astounded him, her elusive presence intrigued him, and the fact that she seemed not to remember him; not even a good look at his face seeming to nudge her memory, frustrated him. Yet, for all that, he needed to talk to her, try to jog her memory, and, more importantly, find out why she had disappeared the way she had.
***
Nick was at the little bistro she had picked much earlier than the time they had agreed upon, but he did not have the patience to wait in his hotel room or to walk around and do any sight-seeing. His whole focus was solely centered on one thing: meeting Selena, talking to her, touching her, hearing her voice, getting reacquainted with her smell, possibly her taste… His thoughts once more turned to the physical. He could not help himself, she had taken over his mind and senses, the same way she had all those years ago. Ordering a coffee, he hunkered down and got ready to wait for her, praying all the while that she would not change her mind about meeting him. That she would turn up, and, that possibly, they might have a chance to get back together again.
Chapter 2
Lena Montclair sat in front of her mirror, applying the finishing touches to her makeup, her thoughts on the tall, well-built man whom she had noticed the first evening he had walked into the bar. She had been aware, even the first evening, of his stare. She had tried her best to remain unaffected, pulling her usual professional coat with which she armed herself around her firmly. A part of her had wondered who he was and whether he was just another vacationer. She had been carefully delighted when she noticed him there the next evening as well, although the fact that he had walked up to her and started a conversation had been frightening, due to him referring to her by a name no one had used in years. She had gone by the name Lena ever since the day of her accident, choosing the abbreviated form of her name to herald the start of a new life, as the old one seemed to be irrevocably lost due to her memory loss from her head injury. He seemed to know her! She’d never been in that position before, and, while on the one hand finding out more about her previous life was exciting, it was scary as hell as well.
Staring at her unruly hair, she put down her comb; it had never been easy to tame. She dabbed on some lipstick and sprayed some perfume behind her ears, her wrists and between her breasts, remembering the famous words of Coco Chanel: A woman should wear perfume wherever she wants to be kissed. She smiled at the memory of her mother quoting that line to her one day while she was still recovering and watching her mother get ready for a dinner date with her father. Her father…
Lena gave herself a mental shake. ‘No time to go back to the past, Lena! You have a sexy guy you need to meet! Save the tears for later!’
Twirling around in front of the full length mirror in the corner, she had a look at herself from all sides. ‘Not too shabby girl!’ She pulled a face at her silliness, and left, making sure to lock the door behind her.
Twenty minutes later, Lena walked into the bistro, waving a greeting at the owner who was busy with a customer, and looked around. She did not see him at first, and wondered whether he was late, but a wave of an arm in the one corner right at the back caught her attention. He was there already. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she made her way through the other patrons and took the seat he gallantly held out to her. When she looked up at him to thank him, she caught her breath. There was lust in his eyes, which made her heartbeat quicken, but something else as well; something she could not define or describe, and she wondered whether she ever would get the chance to find out what it was. It comforted her, strangely, while at the same time added to her excitement.
“Thank you,” she finally managed when he had sat down.
“You are welcome.”
His voice was deep, with a slight raspy quality. Rough, her mother would have said. Sexy as hell, she thought.
“How are you, Selena?” his voice seemed to stroke her body, causing delicious goosebumps, which even showed on her arms. He saw this, she noted, when she saw the slight smile that curved around his sexy mouth.
What the hell? This man’s voice is enough to arouse me? What is going on here?
“I’m fine, thank you. How are you?” she managed, politely. Damn I sound like a bloody giddy teenager out on her first date!
“That depends on you, honey.”
Lena frowned. “Look, mister…. I never actually caught your name. You seem to think you know me? You certainly know my name, but what is it you w
ant with me? More importantly, how is it that you know my full name is Selena? I have not used that version for years!”
“What are you called these days, Selena?”
“Lena. Everyone calls me Lena.”
“Hmm, Lena,” he let the name roll around in his mouth. “Lena Montclair. No, I prefer Selena. It suits you better. I will always think of you as my Selena with caramel skin, luscious curly hair and green eyes. My forest fairy.”
Lena laughed. “I am hardly a fairy! I don’t have the body!”
“Selena, your curves always were and still are absolutely perfect. Never, ever, be in doubt of that. Do you know what I want to do with them? Do with you? You have no idea the effect seeing you right now in front of me has on me, do you?”
“Look…mister…”
“Nick. Nick Duvall.”
“Look, Mr. Duvall…”
“Just call me Nick, please. We are far too familiar for you ever to call me anything else.”
“Look, Nick. This is frustrating. The only reason I am still sitting here after you coming on to me like this is because I need to know where you know me from. Please! Who are you and how do you know me?”
Nick bent over slightly and took her hand. Lena pulled back. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done that. But I know you so well, Selena, I can’t help wanting to touch you. I want… Alright, please, don’t run on me when I say this, but I want to smell you. I need to touch you, and I very much want to taste you, all over.” He smiled at her startled expression.
“As to knowing you, yes I do. Very well. I know every inch of your body, and once, I knew your soul just as well.”
Lena swallowed. His words were affecting her even worse than his voice. It had been so long since she had been with a man! She had not noticed that he had taken her hand in his once more, until he started stroking the pulse at her wrist. The circling motions of his thumb had an effect on her body that she had never experienced before. She felt faint, fluttering contractions right at her core, while her green eyes were held captive by his startlingly blue ones. Her breathing became erratic, and she was powerless to control it, her reactions, or the sudden need that was building up in her. She felt like a volcano that was building up towards an eruption, and she had the idea that he was the only one that could tame it. She licked her lips which suddenly felt dry. They say your body remembers better than the mind, and in this case it was definitely true.
