The Awakening of Alexandria

by Mariella Starr

  She was wheeled into the bathroom in her office chair and sat directly in front of the wall of mirrors. Nicholas had stationed himself at the bathroom door as guard just in case she tried to escape from what she obviously considered some kind of inhumane torture.

  “Short!” Allie told the woman who didn’t speak English and motioned with her fingers how long she wanted it.

  Nicholas went to her. “Alexandria, do you trust me?”

  Allie’s glanced at the stylist, her expression was doubtful.

  “Do you?”

  Finally, she nodded.

  “Shut your eyes. Do not open them until I tell you too. No peeking. Can you do that, as a special favor to me?”

  Allie took a deep breath. “This is going to cost you four hours,” she renegotiated.

  “Agreed, but no peeking and if you do, it will cost you eight hours,” Nicholas retaliated.

  “No!”

  “Yes. Now keep still. Close your eyes and your mouth, and the let the professional do her job.”

  “Despot!” Allie grumbled, but she sat up straight and closed her eyes. She wanted those four hours.

  Nicholas spoke to the woman in Greek and the torment began. It was probably one of the hardest things Allie had done in a very long time. To sit still and be quiet while she heard snipping and felt the comb going all through her hair, this way and that. She really didn’t like being at the mercy of someone else with scissors in their hands. She’d had a lot of really bad haircuts! Not being able to watch was cruelty and it seemed to take forever. Then, the blow dryer started and that was another long session. Finally, that stopped, and Nicholas said something to the woman. He put his hand over Allie’s eyes.

  “Do not fight this and do not open your eyes. Remember this is worth four extra hours of computer time to you.”

  Makeup! Allie sat rigid while something liquid was put all over her face, and something was being done to her eyes, and then to her lips and something furry brushed all over her face making her shudder. She followed Nicholas’ instructions as he kept reminding her not to open her eyes. Finally, all touching, combing, and whatever stopped.

  “Not yet,” Nicholas said. “Not until I say.”

  Allie waited. She could hear footsteps and knew Nicholas was escorting the woman out of her suite. She really wanted to sneak a peek. Finally, she heard his footsteps come back.

  “Are you ready?” Nicholas whispered into her ear.

  Allie opened her eyes and snapped her head towards Nicholas. “I’m never doing that again. It was awful!”

  “Look,” Nicholas said softly and nodded toward the mirror.

  Allie turned around and her mouth dropped open. Was that her? Her hair was a soft, sleek curve around her face. She had bangs, and her eyes looked enormous. Her cheeks were more prominent and her lips weren’t pale but bright and curved in a cupid bow.

  “She made me pretty,” Allie whispered.

  “You were always beautiful, she refined it,” Nicholas corrected. “Was it worth it?”

  “Damn straight,” Allie breathed.

  Chapter 9

  Allie was sitting in her computer chair. She slid her hands between her bottom and the chair seat. She twisted side to side as she tried to stop crying. Nicholas was so angry with her, and her bottom was aching and stinging.

  All she’d wanted to do was pick up some seashells. She’d climbed down into the cove over the slick lava rocks and picked her way down to the beach. She hadn’t realized that the waves getting higher until she’d been knocked off her feet. She’d been terrified and she’d scrambled to climb up the rocks, but she kept losing her grip or sliding off the rocks. And, the water and the waves just kept getting bigger and higher. Finally, she’d heard a man shout at her and screamed for help. The man disappeared and she kept trying to climb the rocks, but she wasn’t making any progress. Then, there were a dozen men there, with ropes and two of them climbed down and helped her out.

  When she’d brought to the top of the cliff, Nicholas had been there. He was obviously scared and he’d held her tight. She’d thanked the men that had helped her and Nicholas had translated and she was sure added on his own thanks by the way he was shaking all their hands.

  He’d held her all the way home, and then he’d demanded an explanation and then he’d gotten angry. He said she had been foolish and had put her life in danger. And, then he’d spanked her again.

  Allie stood up and picked up her jeans and inspected the tears in the knees and set them aside. She went into the bathroom and pulled on a bathrobe, but not before she looked at her bottom in mirror. It was bright red and it hurt really badly. This spanking was worse than the one when she’d hit him in the groin. She had to figure out a way to stop him from doing this to her. Maybe she had it coming, as he’d said, for endangering her life, but it wasn’t right. Just when she’d got him to stop barking out orders and commands and speak to her as an equal, and then he did this again. Spanking her was not treating her as an equal!

  Nicholas carried a first aid kit into her bedroom. He picked her up and deposited her on the bed, ignoring her cries of discomfort, and pushed her back onto the bed and uncovered her knees, both of which were scrapped and skinned. He carefully washed the areas where the skin was broken and then dabbed a white cream on the scrapes and applied a few band-aids. “You should have told me right away you were hurt.”

  “I’m sorry,”

  “I do not enjoy having to discipline to you, kardia mou [my heart], but you put yourself in grave danger. If those workers had not spotted you in that cove and risked their lives to get you out before the tide came in any further, you would probably have died. You are grounded, maybe for life. No more exploring on your own. I cannot take a chance of losing you, my Alexandria.”

  Nicholas capped the ointment and put the first-aid kit on the table. “Scoot over, my love, I need to hold you, to assure my heart that you are safe.”

  He propped himself up with pillows, and pulled her over onto his chest and held her in his arms. “I was very severe with you, Alexandria, but my heart stopped when I received the call that you were being rescued from the cove. I was so afraid. I ran all the way, even though they told me you were fine.” He kissed her on the lips and smiled. “It will be all over the island that Nicholas Dyonysus is besotted by a waif of a girl with hair that outshines the sun.”

  “I won’t ever do anything like that again,” Allie promised sniffling. “I didn’t know the waves could come in that fast and I was terrified. I’ve never lived near water. I visit beach resorts sometimes but I don’t actually go in the water. I can’t swim.”

  “What!” Nicholas exclaimed. “That must be remedied immediately. That is so foolish! You must learn to respect the sea! The sea gives us life, but it is just as capable of taking life. I am furious with you, again. To take such a chance, I cannot believe it!”

  “I didn’t know!” Allie protested. “I grew up in the Midwest. I live in Colorado, I’m landlocked. I’ve never spent much time by the sea, so I don’t understand. I didn’t know the tide was coming in. How would I have known that?”

  “I will teach you,” Nicholas promised taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “My God, Alexandria, we live on an island. You must understand the sea and respect it, it can be very dangerous. I will also give you to swimming lessons just as soon as your tender bottom is better. Aw… It is a shame, Alexandria. I had such nice plans for your bottom tonight, too. It will have to be postponed.”

  * * * * *

  “Nick!” Macland exclaimed slamming a folder down on his friend’s desk. “You’re not listening.”

  “I did listen,” Nicholas said. “You are bored. Take that expensive boat of yours out to sea. Work on the funding and volunteers for your next flying doctors mission. Go teach that lady friend of your some manners!”

  Macland laughed. “That, ‘I man—you woman,’ chest beating thing only seems to work for you. I told Regina she owed you and Allie an apolog
y.”

  “What did she say to that?” Nicholas snorted.

  “She slammed the door in my face, and I haven’t talked to her since,” Macland admitted.

  “You need an infusion of Greek blood, my friend. You should get it from my brother Dimity. He has a wife and seven daughters. He spanks them all, and they all adore him.”

  “Well, it doesn’t work that way with all women,” Macland complained.

  “Maybe it’s not the lack of discipline that is the problem,” Nicholas said looking at his friend seriously. “Maybe, it is a lack of love.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? I love Regina!”

  “My friend, love and discipline go hand in hand. If you don’t love your woman enough to care about her behavior, if you don’t love her enough to correct her, and do what is best for her, she will run roughshod over you. In a power struggle between a man and a woman, if the woman wins, you both lose. She will lose respect for you, and you will have no respect for yourself.”

  “Do you really believe that?” Macland demanded.

  Nicholas shrugged. “My father believes it, my eight brothers believe it, and I believe it. Do any of us have women who slam doors in our faces? Wait, I take that back because all my brothers have married women with tempers. The difference is, we would not walk away from a slammed door and ignore it. We would confront the situation and resolve it. Immediately.”

  There was a knock on Nicholas’ door and Allie walked in and smiled. “Hello, Macland, nice to see you again.” She turned to Nicholas very serious. “It’s time, they are coming.”

  He motioned for her, and Allie walked over and he hugged her and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I will be there in a moment. Do you have everything you need?”

  “Yes, I’m waiting for them and for you.”

  “Good,” Nicholas corrected. “We will see this through.”

  She nodded and left the room.

  “Is she about to write another book?” Macland asked. “I’d like to observe.”

  “No,” Nicholas snapped. “Alexandria is not a medical case study. We are going to try together to modify what she calls her process. Macland, go home, find a way to reach Regina or give it up.”

  “Hey!”

  “I am serious.” Nicholas said wearily. “Three days ago I gave Alexandria a very severe spanking for putting her life in danger. She wandered into a dangerous cove and did not know enough to gauge that the tide was coming in. She has cried in my arms because she is too sore to make love. She cried not for herself, but because she did not want to disappoint me. Today she comes to me with total trust that I will be there for her. She knows that I love her, and she is giving me control over her to do what I think is best. She trusts my judgment over her own. That is her love for me, and she gives me this honor freely. I will not fail her. Now, I must go to her. She needs me.”

  Before Nicholas entered her room, he called down to housekeeping and ordered a cart of food and drinks.

  Alexandria was pacing the floor, distracted, waiting. He took her in his arms. “I am here. I will be here for the duration. Do not try shutting me out. I will do what is best for you, even if you do not like it. You must try to control this. I am here for support. I am here to make sure you do.”

  Allie leaned against his chest, inhaling Nicholas’ scent - his strength, his determination -and she stayed still and quiet for minute. Then she raised her head and nodded. It was the equivalent of a fighter entering a boxing ring. She sat down, opened a blank file, and began.

  When dinner was sent up, Nicholas set it out on the table and went to her. He put his hands over hers on the keyboard and she pushed him away. “Alexandria.” Nicholas ordered looking straight into her eyes. “It starts now, you must do this.”

  She shook her head, but when pulled her desk chair back she didn’t argue. She was distracted but ate. Halfway through her meal, she got up and went back to computer, and began working again.

  Nicholas observed. It was start. As a team, he and Alexandria had started as they meant to go.

  During the process, Nicholas moved much of his current workload into Alexandria’s room. Alexandria was able to control the process. Sometimes it was more difficult than others, but with coaching, she managed. She managed to stop the outpouring of information from her brain long enough to function. She was used to doing it her way. She was used to sacrificing her human needs for the outpouring of words. Shutting down for sleep in the beginning was the hardest, but he held her and soothed her, she managed to sleep an average of four to five hours at a stretch. That was better than she’d done the first time. It took fourteen very long days before she was through. Another novel was completed.

  Nicholas and Alexandria slept soundly in each other’s’ arms for twelve solid hours.

  When Nicholas awoke, she was resting gently in his arms. “I would like to awaken every day of the rest of my life just like this. What are you thinking?”

  “How nice this is, how safe I feel,” Allie said honestly. “Also that I need a shower really, really, bad.”

  Nicholas chuckled and raised his head and looked around the room. “Are there any notes or anything that needs to be saved from your work?”

  Allie looked over at the mess on the floor. “No, it’s done and saved in the computer.”

  “Good,” Nicholas said. . He tossed her over his should and ignored her laughter as he carried her to his bedroom, went through to the bathroom and sat her down on the edge of the gigantic Jacuzzi tub and turned on all the jets. An hour later, they both were as weak as kittens from the hot water, the jets and from enjoying each other. Nicholas took Alexandria to his bed.

  Allie loved the attention Nicholas always took to make her feel wanted and fulfilled. He was an expert with his mouth with his fingers but even after repeated orgasms, she wanted more.

  “Nicholas, please, make love to me, all the way,” Allie exclaimed in frustration.

  Nicholas was torn between his honor of respecting her virginity and his sexual desires and needs. “Alexandra, are you sure this is what you want?”

  “Nicholas, don’t analyze it. Don’t second-guess it. Make love to me,” Allie panted. “I’m thirty-one years old! I don’t want to die a damn virgin!”

  Nicholas devoured her again. He started with her mouth and moved on to her breasts, and went between her legs and made her come, again and again. Then, he began, pumping inside her with first one finger, and watched as she arched and yeaned for more. He gave it, inserting two and pumping and stretching until finally he parted her legs and entered her hot wetness.

  She arched as he pushed harder, thrusting his length into her until he felt her body resisting. This was his moment of decision, but it was her fulfillment as well as his, and he thrust his shaft into her harder, breaking away her virginity in one long hard stroke. Alexandria stiffened, and he heard her breath catch, but he held her steady and let the pain pass before beginning the rhythm of love. He stroked harder and harder, taking his thumb and circling her clitoris until she was almost fighting him for control. Nicholas was in control, and he took her right to edge of a climax but wouldn’t let her go over, wouldn’t let it seize, and took her back again and again right to the edge as she whimpered for release. His own desire was building, deepening and finally he pushed her over, feeling her muscles extend and tighten and grip as their bodies seized and battled with the ferocity of climatic passion.

  Allie was feeling every single nerve and sensor in her body. She’d lost her breath, and he was devouring her lips again as she was his. So what? She’d die happy of suffocation. Finally, he laid his face in her hair and tried to catch his breath. “Kardia mou, are you all right? Did I hurt you?”

  “Hurt me?” Allie breathed. “My God, Nicholas. I’ve been sleeping with you for weeks now and you’ve been holding this back from me, all because I was a stupid virgin. How soon can we do this again?”

  Nicholas laughed and kissed her, still breathing hard. “Alexandria, you
never cease to amaze me. If I survive this first time, I should be up for seconds in about thirty minutes.”

  To both Allie’s and his own surprise, Nicholas managed more, and even more, over the next several hours before both of them collapsed into exhaustion and sleep.

  Chapter 10

  “Go away! Right now I despise you!”

  The bedroom door slammed.

  “Trouble in paradise?” Macland asked, amused, as he leaned lazily against the doorway of Nicholas’ office.

  “I will be with you in a few minutes,” Nicholas promised as he opened his bedroom door and entered.

  When Nicholas reentered his office, he was dressed in his usual casual attire instead of the swimming trunks he’d been wearing before.

  “I thought your women didn’t slam doors in your face,” Macland smirked.

  “Not true, but when they do, they pay the price for it.” Nicholas was grinning. “Alexandria’s bottom is now stinging and it was a well-deserved swat or three. We are attempting swimming lessons, and they are not going well. She is terrified of being in the water, even in the pool where she can clearly see the bottom. It is necessary for her safety so she will learn. Right now, she’s swallowing a lot of water, swearing, and going under. This might require the efforts of a professional, before she kills me.”

  Macland laughed. “How did the last episode of genius go?”

  Nicholas smiled. “Very well, actually. She managed to get what she needed done and did not hurt herself in the effort. How are your efforts with the bad-mannered Regina Saunders coming along?”

  Macland actually looked embarrassed. “Regina will be apologizing to both of you. I’ll make sure we met up when we go to the festival this weekend.”

  Nicholas’ eyebrow went up. “How did you bring about that miracle?”

  “All right,” Macland grumbled. “I took your advice! Regina and I went head to head in an argument and something snapped. Next thing, I knew she was over my knee, panties down to her knees and I was wailing the tar out of her. I have to admit, Nick, I enjoyed every damn smack of it! That woman has pushed and prodded and damn near emasculated me and I wasn’t taking it anymore. I lit into her backside, and wouldn’t stop until she begged and swore to me that she would behave. And when it was over I told her our relationship was done unless she stops behaving like such a bitch every time she doesn’t get her way.”