“I’m sorry, Lake, I can’t. It was just one night. Let’s keep it at that,” she said, shaking her head.
Xiomara pulled the visor down and busied herself with fixing her hair.
“I don’t believe you. The woman in my arms was doing more than having fun that night. The woman that was in my arms was seeking love and fulfillment. Before you left that summer, you tried to figure out a way to have your dream and a fulfilling love life. Now you’ve just given up on that? You can’t own your own business and have the love of your life?”
“That was before...Lake.”
“Before what? Before your father sent you away to the city to purge your mind and heart of me? Was it successful, Z? Did he accomplish his mission? Because I recall you telling me he would never control you how he wanted to. Yet, I never received a single phone call in all these years. Not even a letter!” I said, smacking my hand against the steering wheel.
I couldn’t help the frustration rushing through me. This all seemed so unfair. Yes, I’d gone on with my life in her absence, and so had she. But I’d always known that she would return one day. And I’d hoped that when she did, we would have our shot. Either that or...our feelings would have changed. Making it easier to accept her reality.
Xiomara flipped the visor back up again and turned to look out the window before turning back to me.
“My father did not force that decision, Lake. It was a simple suggestion, and I followed through with it. Because if I didn’t, I knew that I’d be a fool for you, and I couldn’t afford that. I needed to put some space between us so that I could figure my life out, Lake. I had to get you out of my head. Just as I have to do now.”
“I never received an invitation.”
“I had to try, Lake,” she replied softly, a mist filming her beautiful eyes.
“I guess I was more forgettable than I realized. But you...you’ll always be unforgettable to me.”
Laughing, she shook her head, blinking her eyes rapidly and swiping at them. “Not really. From my understanding, there’s been no lack of love in your life.”
“Are you talking about Prestige? Because if so, I’d hardly call that love. I went there to fulfill my fantasies, and I don’t go anymore. It started as trying to screw memories of you out of my head.”
“Then hopefully it was successful. I don’t presume that I can have this authoritative role in my father’s empire, and everything else should just be perfect, too. At some point, people have to sacrifice. They have to weigh the pros and cons. I did that, and I chose what was best for me. Just like you chose what was best for you.”
Bitterness filled me as I listened to her so casually dismiss years of friendship.
“Sounds like your father’s rhetoric to me. That’s not the Z I know speaking right now.”
Xiomara’s eyebrows dipped down harshly. “I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought!”
“There are certain things about a person that don’t change. Your determination, your spirit of freedom, your aggressive nature to go after what you want. Your compassion for humankind. And your loyalty to your family. Those things haven’t changed. You’ve become more beautiful in the passing years than I could have even imagined. I stare at your exotic beauty and can’t get enough of drinking in your gorgeous skin, the gentle sway of your rounded hips, or the stride of your long legs. When you think no one is watching, you slowly sweep your hair behind your ear and watch the others around you. When something amuses you, your full lips turn up into the most beautiful curve of a smile. And when you’re in thought...you stroke your nose ring...like you’re doing now.”
Xiomara snatched her hand away and looked away, guiltily out of the window.
“The way you purr underneath my kisses or arch your back when it feels so good. The way that you hiss and moan when I stroke you deeper. None of that has changed, Z.”
“Take me home.”
“Tell me this, and depending on how you answer, I will back off.”
Her head jerked around, and the way her pleading eyes met mine, I could tell that she didn’t want to hear what I had to ask.
“Did you feel something special...something different than you’ve ever experienced when we were together? In our kisses?”
“I...I uh...” she rubbed her nose ring again.
“Honestly,” I pleaded. “Did you feel something when I made love to you? An awareness, an awakening in your spirit.”
“Lake...” she sighed. “I think it was just the emotions of the day. The excitement of that night, that’s it,” Xiomara said, moving her hand from that nose ring to her cascade of hair falling over one shoulder now.
“Then tell me this...”
Cautiously and slowly, I leaned across the center console and cupped the back of her head. My fingers threaded through the soft folds of her satiny raven-colored hair as it stroked the rounded curve of her head. Xiomara’s eyes softened as my lips met hers.
The fullness and purity that flowed through me at the touch of our lips together was a new feeling. I brushed my lips across the glossiness of hers, taking my time to feel my way through this. I wanted to awaken everything within her that had gone dormant in the last decade.
Xiomara’s breath was warm and mint-scented. Pushing against the plumpness of her swollen lips, I continued brushing them softly, encouraging her to open them. And when she finally did, I slid over the edge, tumbling down a great big old hill that I knew I wouldn’t likely come back up soon.
She was sweet, soft, and warm. My arousal thick, pressing against my pants, demanded to
