Remembering Yesterday, page 7
His arms tightened around her waist.
“They were very angry with me when I returned home, and Dad hardly speaks with me.”
He started to rock with her, and she relaxed into his comforting frame, humming along to the country song wishing they could stay like this forever.
***
Several hours after the barbecue ended, there was a soft knock on Ava’s door. She glance up at the clock, 5 a.m., she thought everyone else would be fast asleep. Before she could bid anyone to enter, the door opened and her mother peeked in. For the first time, her mother’s blonde hair was in disarray.
“May I come in?”
Ava rolled from her bed and sat up. “Yes.” She pushed aside the notepad on which she had been outlining another story. She ensured the details on the back page was not visible. On that side was a plan on how she would spend the hefty advance she was to receive from her publisher in two weeks’ time, namely getting her own place in town. Mrs. Burton was renting the apartments above her pool house and Ava intended to approach her about a lease. She loved her parents, but it was time to be a bit more independent.
“What is it, mom?” Although she had a fair idea. When she had returned to the barbecue after disappearing with Devlin atop the tank for almost an hour, she had been met with a chilly reception from her parents and many curious and bold questions from the sheriff, her former teacher, and the town’s veterinarian. All of which she had sidestepped to their dissatisfaction.
“You know, your father loves you, Ava.”
She sighed. “I know, Mom.”
“You shamed him tonight.”
“I did nothing of the sort. I simply spoke and danced with Devlin.”
“A man he does not approve of.”
“I approve of Dev, Mom. He is not unworthy because he had to work hard to get where he is today. That makes him more admirable. I am not a child to be led and directed where you or father wants. You both lied to me, and even now seek to control who I love.”
Her mother sat beside her on the bed, considering her. “Patrick told us you broke it off. He’s very upset about it.”
“I don’t love him. He is more like a . . . friend.”
“Ava, you are young—”
“I’ve been dating Patrick for six months and we’ve only kissed a few times. I saw Devlin for the first time a fortnight ago in months, and without my full memory of him, I slept with him.”
“Oh, honey,” her mother said on a soft sigh. “Is that why you’ve been crying?”
Ava winced. If her mother had noticed then it did not say much for the success of scrubbing her face with cold water. “I like him. I hardly remember Devlin, but I want to be with him. Even now, all I can think about is being at the ranch house with him, getting to know him better. I want to explore what we have without you or Dad fighting me. Did you know he’d asked me to marry him? And I’d said yes. I was leaving town to be with him. . .” her voice broke and she bit down on her lip, hard.
Her mother tugged her closer. “We knew. When you were leaving, you told us you were going to marry him. You had seemed so sure, and I knew you really loved him, honey. Your father and I are only concerned. Your father may be a bit brusque and seems rather cruel at times, but it is from love, Ava. We don’t really know your Devlin. But he has made a name for himself with his furniture design. He was even in the papers.”
Ava looked at her in shock. “When?”
Her mother grimaced. “A few weeks ago. Several of his desks and a chair have been showcased in Boston and New York. Whenever he was mentioned, I ensured you didn’t see the papers.”
Ava stared at her in disbelief. “Oh, Mom! How could you? Over a year has passed. I don’t even know, if you had told me then, whether I would have tried to find him. I had no memory of where he was heading. I don’t know if I would have tracked him down through the papers. I only know that I’m angry with you and dad. At a time when I needed your support, you lied to me continually. Even now dad seems more concerned to make sure that I will not be with Devlin, instead of wishing me to pursue what makes me happy.”
“I am sorry sweetheart, of course we are concerned with your happiness. After all the pain I have seen you battled these months, I would do anything to see a glimmer of the joyful young girl you were before the accident.” Her mother swallowed, tears glistening in her eyes. “I saw a bit of it when you spoke of Devlin earlier. I saw it more when you stood by the lake. The happiness in your face when you looked up at him…We should never have kept him a secret from you.”
Some of the angry tension leaked from Ava. “Thank you, Mom.”
Her mother gave her a wobbly smile. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I’m confused about whether I should try and explore what Devlin and I have.”
“Why are you confused?”
“I feel so lost without the missing pieces of my memory. I don’t like to talk about it, but the worry is there. What if the girl Devlin fell in love with isn’t me anymore? I only have small pieces of us together, and the whole picture may never come back.”
“How did you feel being with him last night? Be honest with yourself, Ava. And there you will find your answer.”
Ava shifted through her recent time with Devlin. She thought of him without the snapshots of memory, without the emotions of the past or the uncertainty of the future. She only thought of the ranch night. The morning which followed. Yesterday at the barbecue dancing slowly atop the tank and kissing. And sweet relief crashed into her. “I felt whole. I felt complete. It should make no sense, but that is how I felt.” A rush of need and excitement roared inside of her, obliterating all doubts. “I am going to him. I don’t want to hurt Dad, but I am going to Devlin.”
Her mother nodded. “I understand. And your father will see that you are not his baby anymore. Give him time. He will come around. I only ask you not to move in with Devlin until your father gives his approval.”
She drew her mother into a tight hug. Ava eased away from her. “I will not promise that. I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know if Devlin will even ask me to marry him again. But I promise you, Mom, the day he asks me to marry him, to move in with him . . . if I love him, I will say yes. If there is one thing I understand it is how precious time is . . . and I will not lose any opportunities because of Dad’s reluctance to accept that I am grown up.”
Her mother chuckled, and Ava relaxed. She wanted to rush over to Devlin’s place, but she reined in the need. She did not want a recurrence of December 13th. She would get some rest first and then go see him. She only prayed he would still want to give her a chance after all this time.
Yes, they’d had some great sex, and they’d talked some. But she had been so cold to him when he’d suggested that they weren’t over, and the shutters he had drawn down in response had seemed so final. It had seemed so irrevocable. And even last night, they had dance and kissed, gazed at the stars and talked about everything, but a future with them being together in it. By the time they parted, her heart had been breaking because she had been a damn coward. No more.
Ava wanted a chance to recapture what they had lost.
Chapter Nine
Everything inside of Devlin was focused on Ava as she walked toward him. He was at their spot. He never thought she would come there. It had been almost twenty four hours since she’d walked away from him at the park, and he had been in a torment of need to go to her. She had shut him down when he had tried talking about them, but he had decided to give her a full day, and then he would have gone hunting for her. He was not about to let stupidity and pride tear her away from him for a second time.
He had promised himself to woo and charm her, and to hell with her father. She was not broken, like she’d said. She was the same strong, sexy and determined girl he knew. She’d wanted answers and had trekked to his ranch in the middle of the night during a storm to face her fears. She had made love with him, with the same passion, love and wildness. He had seen it, and he had felt it. Best of all, she had spoken to him in front of the entire town, kissed him, danced with him.
Ava looked beautiful and determined as she marched towards him. She was dressed in her customary jean shorts, blue sweater and knee-high boots. He didn’t stand as she approached. He simply waited seated under the cypress tree for her to come all the way. She sank am arm’s length away from him on the blanket, tracing along the gorgeous pattern with her fingertips. Long seconds passed before she lifted her eyes to his. The stark need on her face allowed hope to finally uncoil in his gut.
“I went to the ranch house. You weren’t there.”
He smiled. “I left a few hours ago. I’ve been coming to the lake ever since I came back. Hoping I would see you here, dipping in the nude.”
Her soft laughter curled deep into the corners of his heart and filled it with happiness. He threw her one of his apples and she caught it deftly.
She grinned as she bit into it. “If I’d never been to the ranch house before now, why is it so familiar?”
Unable to stand seeing her so far from him, he tugged her into his arms. She came willingly and some of the tension eased from him. “Back when we were together, we talked about everything. Your dreams. Your passions. I knew how you wanted your house designed and I’m good with my hands. I made each piece of furniture you’d ever dreamt up for your someday-home, one by one, and shipped them here.”
She snuggled into him. “So you still had hopes for us.”
He had never thought about it like that. It had just been this compulsion he’d acted on. The need to create everything she had ever spoken of with such joy and enthusiasm. He knew, deep down, he’d dreamt of her by his side. Hoping against all logic that one day, he would be enough for her, enough for her parents, and she would give him another chance.
All of those hopes had faded when he’d thought she had discarded him. And he had lost her for a year, because he had believed the love she’d expressed wasn’t strong enough to go against her parent’s wishes.
Never would he doubt her again. Or himself, when it came down to it. “Yes, I suppose I did.”
She laced her fingers through his. “I asked my parents about the accident. They confirmed that I was coming to meet you, to leave town, when it happened. They knew about us but they kept it from me. I can’t stop thinking about you, and I have regained more memories of us being together. Of us by this very lake. I’m not sure if I am the same girl you fell in love with, though, Devlin. I hardly remember that girl. I feel as if I’m falling in love with you, though, and I’d like to think that tells me I never stopped loving you. But our time together is only coming back in bits and pieces. And Dr. Thompson says I may never regain that year in its entirety. Even twenty years from now, I may not have all of it.”
She tilted her head so that her head rested in the crook of his arms and met his gaze. “I want to date you, Devlin Calhoun . . . openly.” A throaty chuckle pulsed from her. “I think I already know I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you, but I thought we could start by dating, getting to know each other, reclaiming what we have lost.”
Love crashed inside of him as he stared at the honest hunger in her eyes. He thought of the experiences they had together. They had had hundreds of experiences together which she might never remember. A soft pang went through him. He would recreate what he could for her, thrill her with the things he had done in the past, and also introduce her to new things. He would do everything in his power to ensure her happiness, and he would love her, whether her memory returned fully or not.
“I love you, Ava Kane, more than I thought it was possible to love another being. You may not be as wild for me yet, but I promise you will get there.” He pressed a soft kiss on her forehead.
“I know, Devlin . . . I know. I’m already halfway there.”
He drew her to him, and she climbed onto him, straddling his lap.
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and Ava could feel the pieces that had been broken apart inside of her for so long, mending. Happiness surged inside as she sank into him, deepening the kiss.
For the first time in months she felt the possibility of being complete, of making new and beautiful memories. The possibilities were endless, and she was looking forward to each and every one.
Thank you guys so much for grabbing a copy of Remembering Yesterday! I really appreciate your support. This was my first contemporary romance, but there will be many more. I also write sensual Historical romance, and the love of my heart is Paranormal Fantasy Romance. I invite you guys to read the first few chapters of Eternal Darkness below!
Happy Reading!
Chapter One
Amagarie
102 years After the Second Great War
Boreas—Kingdom of Winds and Mountains
Princess Saieke El Shyokara fought the mortified blush trying to climb her neck. Deliberately allowing her lips to crease into an unconcerned smile, she lifted her hand to the Grand Duke of the house of Bayuka, Lord Augustus. Cold lips brushed her fingers, and she fancied she could feel the chill through her gloves. He had spouted empty flattery about her wit and beauty while Saieke could feel him suppress his lust for her body.
“You cannot know the sorrow I feel on rejecting your wondrous charms,” Lord Augustus said as he smiled, regret keen in his light blue eyes. There was also the merest hint of amusement in his voice, as if he had been fully aware of her plans for seduction when she had cut in on his dance with the Countess of Azul.
“Yet you have done so with such ease.” Saieke chuckled ruefully. Lord Augustus had presented himself at court several months past. They had taken a few carriage rides and had even trained together on a few occasions. She had not mistaken the lust that had leaked from him. Her only error had been in believing she would succeed in seducing him tonight. Saieke had taken such care to attract him, donning a lavish golden ball gown embedded with more than a hundred precious gems. Her hair was plaited into a pearl entwined coronet, to put the arch of her neck, and her plunging décolletage on shocking display. When she had descended the wide marble stairs above the grand entrance of the ballroom, a hush had fallen over the throng, and desire had brushed her senses from those who hadn’t been able to control the lust from leaking through their chakra.
Lord Augustus had followed her with his eyes all evening, and yet he still resisted her charms. What was she doing wrong? Remembering the explicit instructions from her closest friend Raikae, Saieke stepped closer to Lord Augustus, pushing her chest flush to his.
This was her fifth attempt of enticing a lord to her bed, and from the cool caution settling on his face, her fifth failure.
Kings’ teeth. “I can feel your desire to bed me through your chakra, so intense is your need.” He was a powerful lord; his control of his life energy should have been absolute. Only the untrained or civilian class should have been leaking their energy so easily. It did soothe her to know his desire was great enough to pierce his famed discipline.
She stroked the tip of her finger over his lower lip. “It is my right to take a consort, and I will have you, Lord Augustus.”
Saieke’s stomach knotted at her dangerous ploy. There were deadly consequences to taking a lover if one was already blood bound. But the man’s grasp she was trying to escape, King Ajali Haddin of Nuria—the kingdom of eternal fire, would never accept an impure bride of royal lineage. The purity of the bloodlines had to be protected. It was her only way out of the betrothal.
Need and fear warred in Lord Augustus, the emotions evident in his eyes. With a soft groan of defeat, he pulled her to him and dipped his head. Saieke parted her lips on a sigh, hope flaring to life.
Kiss me, she implored silently.
Then he pressed his lips to her.
With an eager moan, he kissed her deeper, and she searched herself for a response. She was frustratingly blank. Saieke tipped her chin and twined her hands around his nape, tugging him closer, mashing their mouths together. She parted her lips to his entreaty and did not protest when he cupped her bottom and drew her even closer. Disappointment stabbed in her heart. Where was the passion Rai spoke of?
With a muttered curse, he wrenched away, thrusting fingers through his hair, a frown splitting his brows. “To want you is to court death for my family,” he snapped.
“No one will ever know,” she said, knowing in her heart his fear was a reality.
“You are the blood oath queen to the king of Nuria.”
Anger snapped through her. “Not by my will or desire.”
“If it is made known I became your lover after King Ajali has made his claim…” Lord Augustus grimaced. “I ache for you Princess Saieke, but the threat to my family is too much.”
“I have been promised to man I will never desire, a man who you should hate to be our kingdom’s ruler,” she said hoarsely.
His eyes roamed her features. “And do you want me?” he asked softly. “Or is this only about saving our kingdom?”
She moved even closer to his warmth. “Everything must be about saving our people.”
“Do you want me?” he grounded.
No. “I am not sure,” she admitted softly.
Lord Augustus stiffened and then stepped away. He made as if to speak, then with a stiff bow, he flashed away, using his chakra to speed his movements so that he was a blur. Nothing of his presence lingered, not even the scent of oak moss that had twined itself around him like a cloak.
With a sigh, she flashed to the high balcony overlooking the grand ballroom of Castle Windhaven. Hundreds of lords and ladies danced below, and the life and laughter of the people in the ball pulsed through her. Men and women lounged idly on cushioned chaises, eating fruits and drinking mulled wine.
