Desire: Love and Passion - By Lesia Reid

Chapter 1

He took the corner faster than intended but made a deft correction and accelerated even faster into the next turn. He was just out of the turn when he saw the car. Even as he moved to correct the path of his vehicle, he knew that a collision was imminent. The piercing sound of metal rending metal ripped through the otherwise quiet Saturday afternoon. When he had cleared the car, he tried easing to the shoulder of the road. He was going faster than he wanted to. The twang-twang of stones under the metal carriage sounded like bullets. The front skidded and the Porsche did a spectacular one hundred and eighty degree turn. He took his foot off the accelerator pedal. He tapped on the brakes and still the incessant twang-twang-twang as stone bullets continued to punish the undercarriage. Finally, the Porsche came to a stop, mostly in the middle of the road.

He was out of the car immediately. There was a loud reverberation in his ears like water rushing rapidly over rocks in a stream. He knew it was his adrenaline-laced blood pumping. The acrid scent of iron dogged him as he ran towards the yellow Beetle. The color seemed too bright, even alien against the dusky landscape. The distance between the cars was minimal, but seemed as expansive as an ocean.

The driver's door of the Beetle was wedged into place. He yanked at the door trying his best to avoid jagged metal edges, but it would not open. He saw the driver moving across the passenger seat so he rushed to the other side of the vehicle and grabbed the passenger door. It opened easily.

"Are you alright? Are you alright?" The words rushed from him automatically.

Her mini dress had ridden up revealing sexy laced stocking tops with garter attachments all covering smooth, creamy caramel skin. He tried to look away, embarrassed and more than a bit flustered.

"Are you alright?" he anxiously asked again. He thought to himself that he sounded like a broken record.

She looked up at him. Her large brown eyes were alert in smooth beautiful and flawless skin the color of dark caramel. Her silky black hair was drawn back from her face. He soaked in her full lips and high cheekbones and something feral stirred within him, replacing the embarrassment he'd felt mere moments before. There was a strange familiarity about her. His mind struggled to stay focused while furtively digging for a memory that he knew did not exist, yet seemed so real.

She knew he was a handsome man from his television and newspaper images, but in the flesh, he was much more...exquisite. The infamous scar that stretched from beneath his left eye across the bridge of his nose, over his right cheek and ended just short of his right ear added a roughness that she found more than a little appealing. Vivid green eyes stared down at her. He flinched under her gaze and she looked away.

"Are you alright?" The question seemed to be stuck on his lips as if it would stay there until she answered.

"Yes." Her answer was no more than a whisper, but with that breathy expression he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Her calm unnerved him even as he found himself inexplicably aroused by her.

She was almost all the way out of the car and he felt his embarrassment return with a vengeance as adrenaline gave way to endorphins. All he could think about was those laced stockings and garters. Holding the car door with one hand he reached for her with the other. She ignored his outstretched hand. Instead, she braced against the car door for one final shove. She swung both legs out of the car at the same time with another flash of lace and garter clips. He stepped back to give her room.

"Are you alright?" He asked again, though she had already answered.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, yes. I am so sorry."

She walked away from him and towards the other side of her car where she inspected the damage. She folded her arms across her chest as she rubbed her elbows. He followed her.

"I am sorry," he said again.

"You already said that."

Now she truly straightened up and looked at him.

She was impressively tall; almost as tall as he and he was six feet two inches. He inevitably looked her up and down. She was in sensible pumps, no more than an inch or so high.

He watched as she returned his