‘I’m not altogether immune to those memories of that time…’
Annie could see his chest rise and fall as he took a steadying breath.
‘It was here that I told you I wanted to take a mental photograph of you, to take with me when I left, and here that…’
‘…that you kissed me and said that my skin smelled sweeter than any rose ever could,’ Annie finished, shakily and gravely.
There was a small silent pause before Dominic nodded his head and said bleakly, ‘Yes.’
‘I…I’ve only just remembered that bit…when you told me about the photograph. Before I could only remember how you…that you had kissed me here,’ Annie heard herself confiding.
‘Yes. I kissed you here,’ Dominic was agreeing. ‘And you kissed me back, and…Oh, God, Annie…’
Suddenly she was in his arms and his mouth was on hers, and the kiss they were sharing was anything but a mere memory.
She ought to stop him, Annie knew, but instead her lips were clinging eagerly to his, and this time the warm sensual scent of man, of him, which was doing so much to destroy her self-control, was in no way imaginary—and perhaps because of that was having a much more dangerous effect on her senses.
Was it because of what she had remembered that she was feeling like this, that she was responding to him like this, wanting him like this? Annie wondered dizzily as his tongue-tip probed her lips and they parted for him.
‘Dominic. Dominic…Dominic…’ She was even unaware of saying his name until she heard him respond rawly against her mouth,
‘Yes. Yes…I’m here…’ And then his hands were cupping her face as his tongue probed deeper and more intimately, and their bodies clung and melded together as though they were, in reality, still lovers.
Some things could never be forgotten or wiped out. Some feelings…some needs…Annie’s heart thudded frantically against her ribs as her legs parted automatically to make way for the tautness of Dominic’s thigh. Instinctively she leaned into him, shivering with pleasure.
Soon he would kiss her throat, and then her breasts, gently peeling away her clothes so that he was free to do so…He would tell her that she was beautiful beyond compare, and her nipples would tighten into two hard, excited, imploring buds that he would suckle into full flower and then…
‘No!’ Her voice high and sharp with panic, Annie broke the kiss and pulled away.
For a split second she and Dominic stared at one another in shared anguish and shock, and then, equally immediately, both of them threw up protective shutters of wariness to conceal from one another their thoughts and feelings.
‘You shouldn’t have done that—’ Annie began, but Dominic stopped her, interrupting her tersely.
‘You shouldn’t have let me,’ he countered.
Let him! At least he hadn’t said she shouldn’t have responded to him, Annie tried to comfort herself.
Suddenly she felt very cold and tired, and as though he sensed it Dominic said almost gently, ‘Look, I appreciate how difficult this must be for you. But it isn’t exactly easy for me either, you know.
‘No,’ Annie agreed shakily. ‘But at least you can remember about…about us. I…’ Tears filled her eyes, her voice becoming gruff with the frustration of her feelings. ‘You’re back earlier than I expected,’ she told him, changing the subject.
‘It’s a nice afternoon. I thought you might feel like going out,’ he told her. ‘But if you aren’t feeling well…’
‘I’m fine,’ Annie told him untruthfully. She still felt dizzy and slightly disorientated, but whether that was because of what she had remembered of the past or because of what she felt now, here, in the present, when Dominic had kissed her, she didn’t know. And neither did she want to know. Because she was afraid of what she might have to confront?
‘Perhaps now that you have remembered something this might be a good time to see if you could remember a little bit more,’ Dominic suggested quietly.
‘What do you mean?’ Annie challenged him warily. If he was going to suggest that he kissed her again then there was no way she was going to go along with his suggestion, but when he answered her sharp query his voice was gently reassuring.
‘I thought we might go out for a drive, revisit some of the places we went when we were…together. It might just help to jog your memory.’
Cautiously Annie examined his suggestion.
‘Do you really…? I suppose it won’t do any harm,’ she admitted grudgingly. She might not be sure that she wanted to go along with Dominic’s suggestion, but she was sure that she didn’t want to stay here in the intimacy of the rose garden with him.
At least there could be no memories associated with Dominic’s car, she acknowledged with a small sense of relief as she reached for her seat belt. This was a new model and…
‘What kind of car did you have…then?’ she asked him, suddenly curious in spite of herself.
‘Then?’ he questioned as he eased the large BMW out into the traffic on the busy road. ‘You mean when you and I first met?’
Annie nodded her head.
‘You can’t remember?’ he pressed her.
She started to shake her head, and then, for some reason, she had a mental image of a rather battered four-wheel drive vehicle, its dark green paintwork mud-spattered and scratched.
‘Was it a…? No! I can’t remember,’ she told him shortly.
Immediately Dominic sensed that she was fibbing. Well, two could play at that game.
‘It was a small sports model,’ he told her, casually and untruthfully. ‘Bright red…’
‘What?’
‘You look surprised,’ Dominic told her. ‘Why? What kind of car did you expect me to have had?’
‘Er…I don’t know,’ Annie told him, shrugging as she said uncertainly, ‘I thought perhaps a Land Rover, or something of that type.’
‘A Range Rover,’ Dominic corrected her softly. ‘A dark green Range Rover…’
They were driving through the town now, and into the town square, where Dominic swung the car into a parking space. ‘Come on,’ he told Annie, ‘We’re going for a walk.’
‘Well?’ Dominic demanded half an hour later, his hand very firmly clasping hers as he walked Annie for the third time along the narrow street where he told her they had first met.
‘No,’ she told him truthfully. ‘Nothing. There’s nothing.’
As she saw the look of disappointment in his eyes her own emotions filled her eyes with defeated tears.
‘Do you think any of this is easy for me?’ she challenged him. ‘I dreamed about you,’ she told him helplessly. ‘I thought you were my dream lover. But this isn’t a dream, it’s a nightmare, and it’s horrible, unbearable…and I don’t want it…’
‘Just like you don’t want me?’ Dominic suggested.
Annie didn’t dare to look at him.
‘This isn’t going to work,’ she said shakily instead. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a young couple walking towards them, the girl nestled up against her boyfriend, his arm protectively holding her close. Just as they drew level with Annie and Dominic they paused, stopping to kiss one another, lightly at first and then with increasing passion. The girl pulled away first, laughing breathlessly. Transfixed, Annie was unable to look away from them, the girl’s laughter seemed to echo inside her head, making her feel giddy.