Bewitching You (5 page)

God help me.

Air gushed from her lungs and a tight knot formed in her belly.
Be strong,
she told herself.

She needed to find out more if she wanted to stop this tragedy from happening.

It didn’t happen yet
. Not yet. There was still time.

She kept going. Tears slid down her face as she continued counting bodies, some of them blurry, some vivid.

Twenty, twenty-one...

One seat empty. Sofia glanced up and searched for the seat number, but there wasn’t one. Anywhere. Maybe that detail wasn’t important. Her goal was to try to remember every tiny clue. No telling when one item or element would connect with another after she woke. Her mind was clearer then.
Not as foggy.

Confused.

Shoot
.

She woke from the dream and stared up at the ceiling. Frustrated, she swiped the tears from her cheeks. Why couldn’t she figure it out? How was she to save these people if she didn’t even know who they were or where they were going?

So far, she’d gathered that the aircraft was a small commercial plane. Two seats on each side. How many people were there again?

Thirty-five maybe, plus the crew. She closed her eyes and envisioned it. The pilot had been dead, too, but the plane still flew. The whirring of the engines buzzed in her ears. That was all she was able to remember this time. Next time she’d have to try harder. She
had
to.

Just like she’d thought Gray
had
to pull her into his arms and instantly fall in love with her when they met.

Wow. She’d really fooled herself there, hadn’t she?

How was the man she’d met at the restaurant the same person from her dreams? Her stomach turned painfully as she thought of how he’d treated her. Like she was a pest. Intrusive and clumsy, huh?
Ergh
. She fisted her hand and punched her pillow.

Sure, he was gorgeous. If Sofia hadn’t dreamed of a man of his caliber loving her, she’d never have considered the possibility. But never had she guessed he’d act like a rude bully at their first meeting.

Get out of my head
. The whispered, angry words were still fresh in her ear. But what had he meant?

Did he also have the gift?

Impossible. If he knew of their imminent love, he wouldn’t have been cruel.

Not
her
Gray.

~ * ~

Gray sunk his toes into the cold sand and watched as she walked up the shore toward him, her white top illuminated by the moon. As she got closer, he could see her staring intently, sensually, seeming anything but innocent. Her rosy glossed lips peaked at the corners.

She wanted him…again. The woman was insatiable, and he loved that about her. What man wouldn’t?

The weather was chilly. For the moment, anyway. Soon, he knew he’d be working both of them into a sweat. He spread out a quilted blanket onto the sand and waited.

She stopped in front of him and pulled her hair out of its ponytail. The honey brown locks fell across her slightly freckled shoulders.

Gray set the lamp down in the sand and smiled. “Out here in the open, Sofia?” he asked, teasing her. He’d make love to her in the middle of Time’s Square if that’s what she wanted.

Besides, not a soul could be seen across the foggy beach.

“Do you want me?” She slipped her white top over her head and let it fall to the ground.

Gray took in the sight of her plump breasts, covered by a lacy white bra. “Do you need to ask?” He leaned over and brushed his lips across her soft shoulder and up to her ear. “Always,” he whispered. Goosebumps rose on her skin.

It was easy to love a woman who loved him back tenfold. He planted his hands on the curve of her waist, but before he could gather her body against his, she stepped away.

Gray eyed her curiously. What did she have up her sleeve now?

She laughed softy while she unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down. White lace panties grabbed his attention. She dipped her fingers down the sides of them, but didn’t continue. The woman knew how to tempt him.

“Do you need some help with those?” he asked.

She smiled and shook her head. “Your turn.”

“Ah. I see what we’re doing now.” He’d be more than happy to play along.

He tugged his arms out of his shirt and threw it to the sand. Her eyes filled with hunger as she gaped at his bare torso.

Gray laughed. She did that every time, and he never grew tired of seeing it.

“No laughing.” She smiled sweetly. “Just strip.”

“Okay, okay, Miss Bossy.” He began to unbutton his jeans, but remembered he hadn’t put his boxers back on after the last time they’d made love that morning.

“Don’t stop now.” She kept her eyes on him while she finished peeling down her panties. A small patch of hair arrowed down her mound.

What better incentive, Gray thought, as he pushed his legs out of his jeans. He wanted her indoors, outdoors, on a bed, on an open beach—it didn’t matter. Just as long as he was inside her.

Before he could make another move, she knelt down in front of him, wrapping her hand around his erection.

“Sofia,” he said breathlessly.

Her pink tongue slipped out between those glossy lips and licked his tip.

Gray clenched his eyes shut as she took him in her mouth. Warm, soft and wet. She began to suck, letting her tongue have its way with him.

God, he was going to explode if he didn’t make her stop.

“Wait,” he said with a rough voice. “Wait, Sofia.”

She drew back and looked up at him with glazed eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He dropped to his knees in front of her. “Nothing at all.” Then he clasped his hands around the back of her neck and crushed her mouth to his.

She accepted his tongue and tangled hers with it, deeply, seductively. Her fingers crawled up his abdomen to his chest, swirling around his muscles.

How did she know how and where to touch him?

How could he make her feel just as good? He reached down her back, unlatched her bra, and pulled the lace from her body. Then he cupped her heavy breasts and teased her nipples with his thumbs.

She moaned into his mouth.

Oh, he could do better than that. He skimmed his hand down her stomach, over her mound, and felt her moist heat. Her body stilled as he rubbed two fingers over her clit and inserted them inside her. Back out over her sensitive nub and slowly in again.

“Gray,” she whispered, and dragged her mouth away.

“Where are you going?” He licked the outside of her well-kissed lips. “I’m not done with you yet.”

“No, you certainly aren’t.” She sank down and sprawled back against the blanket.

Gray took in the exquisite view. The light from the lamp and the moon cast shadows along the curves of her cream-colored skin. She ran the back of her hand seductively along her stomach to her breast.

“I’m cold, Gray. Make me warm.” She spread her legs for him, letting him see where he longed to be.

His mind grew fuzzy as he settled himself on top of her. Her hand guided his hardness inside her. She was wet and ready. Without much thought, he plunged forward into her, slick and snug. He fit perfectly, as if she were made for him.

He inched out and slid back in, listening as she hummed pleasure into his ear. Small, deep breaths flowed from her as he worked himself into her depths, like the ocean pushing itself onto the shore. Easy, slow, powerful. Crashing into her, becoming one and then pulling back, over and over.

Their skin grew damp as their bodies slid together in smooth, rhythmic motion. Gray enjoyed the feel of her breasts against his chest, the feel of her fingernails pressing into his backside as he drove into her.

When he reached her innermost wall,
that spot
, she called out his name and clenched down on him, sending him over the edge.

She moaned as he came hard. Filling her. Claiming her. Possessing her.

“Oh, Gray,” she whispered into his ear, as he continued to pulse inside of her. “I love you.”

~ * ~

Gray punched his hand into the mattress when he woke and found himself lying in his own wet mess again. Alone.

“Goddamn it,” he yelled into the darkness of his bedroom. He leaped up and stripped the sheet from his bed.

 
The whole situation was embarrassing, humiliating. It tortured him. Made him…
fuck
, it made him feel lonely. Not whole. He had enough problems. The loss of his brother apparently hadn’t been the last straw. Now he had this to deal with.

Lord only knew what
this
was.

The dreams were unpredictable, uncontrollable, and that was the last thing Gray wanted in his life. If he couldn’t control it, then it controlled him.

He wouldn’t stand for that. He trudged down the hallway and pushed open the laundry room door. Three fitted sheets already sat in the washer. He’d need to do a wash if he wanted something to sleep on tonight.

That was something he could manage. A clean sheet. Wash away the reminder of what
she
did to him. How she brought the dreams on, he didn’t know, but he hoped it would stop before his wedding night.

He could imagine how Rachel would feel about him dreaming of another woman.

Rachel. She was the one, he reminded himself. She was a beautiful woman with a future in law. She was sure to
become
the ideal woman. Stable. Dependable.

A loyal wife, a dedicated mother, and a confident career woman. He’d have it all.
They’d
have it all. Then everything would be normal. No surprises to knock a guy off his axis. That’s what he needed.

Gray started the machine and headed back to his bedroom. The clock on his bedside table read four in the morning. No point in attempting to sleep anymore. He needed to get ready for work.

He had a big day ahead of him...a life-defining day.

~ * ~

Rachel set the phone back down. She couldn’t call Gray this early. He wouldn’t be up.
Besides, she had no idea what she’d say to him.

“I can’t do this,” she mumbled to herself. “You’re perfect in every way, but I don’t love you?”

Oh, her mother would like that one.

“Sure, I’ll just call off the wedding a month before I’m supposed to walk down the aisle.” See how much respect she’d get from her parents then. Probably enough for them to ask her to pay back every single penny they’d put into this ceremony, she was sure. Money she didn’t have.

They were already paying for her education.

Not that Rachel wanted to end up as a lawyer, but it was their money, their trust in her and
what you could do if you put your mind to it
.

Those words. They were a mantra that ran through her mind relentlessly. “You could be so much more if you only tried,” she said aloud, as she whipped the duvet off her body.

“I don’t know about that.” Grayson’s voice filled the room. “You look pretty good as is.”

Startled, Rachel stood straight up on the floor beside her bed and scanned the room. The door was shut, as it had been for the past five hours that she’d been tossing and turning. The moonlit room showed no sign of another human being.

“Grayson?”

No one answered. Not a sound. Just an eerie, cool breeze that touched the back of her neck and ran down her arms.

She shivered, and goosebumps erupted over her skin. Where the hell had that come from?

The windows were locked tight and the air conditioning wasn’t running. “Grayson, are you here?”