by CLIFF, J. C.
“Let’s step on out. I have a terrycloth bathrobe in another warmer for you.” I step out of the shower and stand on the bathmat as he continues his task of drying me off while he works in his sopping wet clothes, trailing puddles of water everywhere he steps. The bathroom is nothing but clouds of white steam, with condensation dripping from the walls. Once Nick wraps me up within the warm bathrobe, he bends down and scoops me up into his strong arms.
“Nick,” I whisper shyly, “thank you, for taking care of me.”
“No need to thank me,” he tells me as he carries me back to the bed, and then gently lays me down on top of the soft comforter. He leans over me, his hair dripping water on me as he steals a chaste kiss from my cheek. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do is take care of you.”
He stands back up and rubs the back of his neck, regarding me. “We can eat up here in our room tonight, okay?” I roll onto my side as I face him. I watch him with curiosity as he quickly peels off his soaked clothes, throwing them into the bathroom as they make a loud, sopping splash onto the tiled floor.
Stark naked, the man has no modesty issues as he walks around the room with confidence, and I can’t help but rake my gaze over the flexing muscles of his upper body and thighs as he moves. The man screams masculinity and sexiness from his head to his toes. He glances at me out of the corner of his eye as he dries off, and I see a smirk playing on his lips. I think he’s going to out me for ogling, but he doesn’t say a word.
He then throws on a pair of boxer briefs and a pair of dark sweat pants that ride low on his hips. His hair is tousled from his hasty towel drying, and it makes him look all the more sexy. He rounds the bed, climbing in behind me, and pulls me into him while wrapping his arms around me.
Once he’s settled, my voice comes out hoarse as I ask, “Why?”
“Why what, baby?” Nick softly replies in my ear.
“Why did Lance have to kill my mother in cold blood?” I can feel his body stiffen behind me, but the pain is so great I have to talk to someone. “I’ve been cheated, Nick, and in the worst possible way, and then some. Every time I think I don’t have any more tears left to cry, more find a way to surface.”
Nick kisses the top of my head, remorse lining his deep voice, “I don’t think now is the time to discuss this.”
“I need to know. I need to know what happened. There never will be a good time to discuss this.”
He lets out a soft sigh in response. “True. There never will be a good time to know the truth, but honestly, I don’t know what his paranoia is about. I don’t understand the medical implications of schizophrenia or how it affects people’s brains. I’m sure Jared would be able to explain it. I honestly didn’t know about your mother or grandparents until the moment you yourself found out. After you passed out and I made sure you were stable, God, I was furious. Lance took things too far. When I asked why the hell he had to crush your spirit like that and tell you those things, he said it was time you knew.”
Nick pauses and squeezes me tightly, and I know there’s more, but he doesn’t want to say.
“Please tell me.”
“As you know, Jake was not a happy camper, and he tried to convince me to let you go. He tried to reason with me, but when he finally realized there was nothing he could say or do…”
Twisting around in his arms, my eyes panic-stricken, I interrupt him, “Please tell me you didn’t hurt Jake. Please…”
He lets out a deep sigh, and then rests his forehead against mine in hopes of comforting me. “I wanted to; believe me, I wanted to, but I know how much he means to you. Plus, he had been protecting you all these years in ways I didn’t even know about, which earned him some respect from me.” He shakes his head. “No, Jake is fine, but he’s been warned.”
“I will do whatever you want, just please promise me you won’t ever hurt him,” I beg, gazing into his chocolaty eyes.
“I wouldn’t worry about him. I believe he got the message loud and clear. He won’t interfere.” He tilts his head back so he can look directly into my eyes as his thumb gently wipes away a stray tear. “I hope you realize how much I love you. You’re about to witness the great lengths I’m willing to go to in order to make you happy. Believe it or not, when you hurt, so do I.” He kisses my cheek slow and tender before he whispers in my ear, “I’m willing to go so far as to exact revenge on your behalf, if that is your wish.”
I lose my breath from his confession. Stunned disbelief doesn’t describe what I feel. This has to be a set-up. There is no way two birds of a feather who flock together would ever destroy each other. There is too much business to be had, too much money to be made.
As if he’s reading my very thoughts, he clarifies, “I’m not owned by anyone, Julianna, not even your father. The only thing I’ve ever needed or wanted in this life is you.”
I swallow the lump in my throat as I contemplate his words, and decide even if he is telling the truth, I can’t believe him. I no longer trust anyone in this life except me, myself, and I from now on. I do the only thing I know to do anymore, and that is to lie. “I’m tired of all the killing and backstabbing, Nick, you know?” I close my eyes and a shiver runs through me. I spook myself as I feel a ravenous hunger stirring within, desiring to be the one shedding blood and acquiring the satisfaction of doling out vengeance for myself.
“We will get through this. You’ll see.” The back of his knuckles softly stroke my cheek as he continues, “You will smile again. Once you see how much love I have for you, you’ll be able to heal.” A salty tear escapes from the corner of my eye, already knowing that I will never be able to rebound from this.
“Shh, baby…don’t cry.” He takes hold of my hand and twines his fingers in between mine. “I told you from the beginning I take care of what’s mine. You have my word I will work day and night to mend your broken soul.” I study his features, mainly honing in on his stark jawline. His scruff is new to me, evidence of his worry.
Without thinking, my fingers tenderly stroke his cheek, fascinated by the new stubble, and he closes his eyes, leaning into my soft touch as he tells me, “You have no idea how much I worried about you, or how much sleep I lost wondering how you were, or if you were treated right.” The strain in his voice thickens. “I wasn’t sure what Travis’ game was. At first, I thought he wanted a ransom of some sort, but when I never heard from him, I knew he wanted you for himself.”
His grip tightens around my hand, worry evident in his questioning eyes. “Did he hurt you at all?”
I shake my head in response as I turn my head and stare off into space. “No, he was good to me,” I whisper into thin air. I don’t want to think about Travis right now. I don’t want to think about what games he had been playing all along, or how he broke my heart, or what I could’ve possibly thrown away. My future holds nothing for me now but darkness anyway, so it doesn’t matter. No one in their right mind would ever want me after this. I’m a fragmented mess with a black and hollow soul.
Nick pulls me from my thoughts as he starts to set warm kisses along my jawline. “I’ve missed you so damn much,” he murmurs into my neck, breathing softly over my skin.
A faint knock sounds at the door, and Nick lifts his head, speaking in the direction of the sound. “Yes.”
“I have your dinners ready, sir,” a meek older lady’s voice sifts in through the closed door.
“We’ll be eating up here this evening, please.”
“Very well, sir.” And with that, the voice disappears.
Nick turns back to me and places a kiss on my forehead. “I want to feed you dinner in my bed tonight, and then I just want to hold you all night long.”
“I don’t think I can eat, Nick.”
He looks down at me with irritation. “You haven’t eaten all day, and you already look as if you’ve lost some weight. I know you’re working through a shitload of shock, but you have to keep up your strength.”
I stay quiet just for the sake of not arguing. I rea
lly don’t want to eat, and I know he will personally feed me if I shuffle my food around. All I want to do is find a dark corner somewhere and die.
Nick
I’ve waited so long to wake up beside my girl every day, and the icing on the cake is I don’t think she’s bullshitting me. I think she actually wants to be here. Only a few days have passed since I brought her here to my house, and she’s been very clingy the entire time, not wanting to leave my side for a second. She has been quiet, and that’s to be expected with the blow she took from her dad. I showed her the art studio I had made especially for her in hopes to lift her spirits, but she displayed indifference, and that concerned me. But even with all the stresses she’s had in the past and at the facility, she was still enthralled with art, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
She rolls over and looks at me with those sleepy bedroom eyes, and flashes me a small grin. All I want to do is crawl back in bed and hold her close to me. I tighten the knot on my tie a little too tight, reminding myself to keep my shit in check. I want her. I want her real bad, but I’m not taking her until she approaches me and begs for it. I’m trying something different this go ‘round. Maybe it’s a little bit of reverse psychology, mixed with me wanting her to make the first move.
I had Jared work with her morning dosage of Blyss by adding in something for depression, and then tweaking her evening dose with a sleeping pill to help her get a good night’s rest. I’d like to think she’s slowly coming around.
“Good morning, baby,” I say with a warm smile.
She stretches out like an alley cat, and my dick twitches in response. Her hard nipples protrude through her thin negligee as her back arches in a long, drawn out stretch. “Hey,” she softly whispers.
I purposefully remove my gaze, turning around to run some gel through my hair, fighting myself tooth and nail from taking her. The woman looks perfect in my bed.
“How’d you sleep last night?” I try in vain to keep the conversation moving.
“I slept pretty good. I’m actually surprised I haven’t had any nightmares since I’ve been here.” I spin around, and she immediately covers her mouth as if what she said was a spilt secret.
“What was that?” My eyebrows pinch together as I stride to the side of the bed and sit down beside her.
She sits up against the headboard, pulling the sheets up over her chest, looking shy. “Um…I guess I’ve had a nightmare or two, but it’s nothing to worry about.”
My lips thin. I’m not happy this is the first I’ve heard of it. “Is this something to worry about? What are your dreams about?”
She worries her thumbnail between her front teeth, and I pull her hand away to get an answer. “Julianna?” My stern voice tells her I want an answer.
“Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about all the shooting and stuff from when those men invaded the cabin.” She tries to play it off as no big deal, but I know better. I’ve been held at gunpoint before, and I remember the first time seeing someone drop to their demise.
With the news of her father, it didn’t even dawn on me she’d be dealing with that post-traumatic shit too.
“Fuck,” I blurt out and grind my teeth. My idiot men…and God only knows what’s happened to them. I’m sure they’re all six feet under by now, including Mitchell. I haven’t heard back from them, and I want like hell to ask, but she’s in too fragile a state to interrogate. I don’t need her reliving yet another nightmare, when she just had the mother of bombs dropped on her. Soon, though, real soon, I’m going to need her to tell me about everything Travis Jackson, so I can pin the bastard down.
She sinks back into the pillows and shirks away from me, my outburst startling her. I let out a deep sigh and shake my head. “Baby, I’m not upset with you. I’m so sorry you’re having nightmares.” I reach out and cup her cheek, softening my eyes. “Promise me if you have one, you’ll wake me up, yeah?”
She nods and solemnly looks away. “Come here, sweetheart,” I gently instruct, opening my arms to her. She scoots to the edge of the bed and snuggles into me. Note to self: continue adding sleep medicine to her Blyss. I don’t want her having to deal with nightmares.
“Why are you all dressed up?” she asks, just now realizing that I’m wearing dress clothes.
“I’ve got a little bit of business to take care of today.” With this news, the look on her face is one of worry, not one who belongs to someone scheming for escape. “I want you to make yourself at home, Julianna. What’s mine is yours. I promise I won’t be gone but for half the day.”
“What if I need you? What if something happens? How am I supposed to get in touch with you?”
I take pause, regarding her sudden separation anxiety, trying to figure out if it’s real or not. “You’re perfectly safe here; in fact, you’re so safe I don’t need to post but one guard at the gate.” I throw that little tidbit out there on purpose, blatantly lying just so I can plant that seed in her head, but she only looks more worried with the news.
“Sweetheart, I’m king of the mountain out here. Number one, nobody is going to find us, and number two, nobody would be foolish enough to challenge me, even if they knew where we were.
My eyes drift down to her hands; their movements having caught my attention. She’s wringing them nervously, and I can plainly see she’s not faking it. I cradle her cheeks, giving her a chaste kiss on the lips.
“If it will make you feel better, I will write down the number to my cellphone, okay?”
She nods emphatically. “Okay.”
I regard her for a moment, arching my brow before I turn toward the nightstand and rummage through the drawer to find a notepad and pen.
I write my number down and hand it to her, and she takes it with a pout on her face. “It’s only half the day, sweetheart. C’mere, let me give you a kiss to get you through.” She leans into me, wrapping her arms around my neck, pleading with her angel eyes for me to stay. The look almost makes me cave. I bend down and capture her lips in a sweet kiss, but she’s not having it. Her tongue traces the seam of my lips…and oh, fuck, I’m in heaven. I slip my tongue into her mouth and groan, ‘cause damn if I don’t want to fuck her right now. My dick is already on-board with that idea.
I pull away before our heated kiss gets out of control, and rest my forehead against hers. “As much as I want to stay and have you blackmail me with your hot kisses right now, I can’t,” I rasp. “The cook has come and gone already. She even made you a huge breakfast so you’d have lots to choose from. The food is in the oven warming drawer waiting for you.”
“Nick, please. Don’t leave me right now,” she pleads, grasping onto my shoulders.
“Baby, look. By the time you shower, eat, and explore around the house, I’ll be back. I promise you I won’t be gone for long, okay?”
I can see her warring within herself as she thinks it over. “Okay,” she says reluctantly.
“Good girl.” With one last kiss on her lips, I turn to the nightstand to retrieve a bottle of water and give Julianna her morning medication.
I haven’t gone anywhere. I had planned on observing her for a few hours today from my computer room upstairs so I could watch her every move and see what she’d do when I gave her a moment’s freedom. One of the good things about being near the mountains is there’s no way anyone is ever going to find us. Lance Oakley doesn’t even know of this place.
My heart falters when she takes her first step outside past the threshold of the house by herself, and into what she thinks is freedom. She tips her head back, bathing her face against the morning sun-rays as her fingers thread through her long hair. My God, the woman has a natural beauty and she doesn’t even recognize it. I watch as she scopes the edges of the property line, which is full of trees. The blood rushing through my veins comes to a screeching halt, stopping the beat of my heart as I wait with baited breath for her next move. I’m not a fool; I have a few men on the perimeter of the property, just in case she dec
ides to bolt.
I slump back in the chair when I see her casually meandering her way to the edge of the pool. She balances on one leg while dipping her toes in the water, testing the temperature.
Once I feel confident she’s not going to make a break for it, I begin to work on other matters concerning the facility while I keep an eye on her at the same time. I keep glancing back and forth between computer screens constantly, and I quickly realize I’m not getting much work done. I give up and lean back in my chair, stroking my jaw in thought as I take in the sight of my princess.
She must’ve sat at the edge of the pool with her feet dangling in the water for about fifteen minutes before she got up and headed back inside. I watch as she slowly wanders through the house alone and unattended.
I imagine she’s most likely bored, because I don’t see her eyes dancing with curiosity like I have in the past. The solemn look in her eyes and the slow shuffle in her steps tells me she’s still struggling mentally.
I shake my head in disdain. The bastard. I honestly never knew he was wacked in the head, and he should have never told her that he murdered her entire family. Some things are better left unsaid. I’ve watched her far too long to know when something is amiss, and something has definitely split and twisted inside her psyche. If I don’t see that sparkle back in her eyes soon, I will personally break Lance’s neck with my own two hands. Mark my words: he will pay for taking a piece of her soul and marring it, whether she bounces back or not. I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to handle that situation, but there’s plenty of time to figure it out. In the meantime, I’ll make sure I’m ten times the family she ever had, or will ever need.
I tap my forefinger on my lips in deep thought. I didn’t think it odd when Lance noticed the way I looked at Julianna after I saw her for the first time. He was able to pick up on it immediately, as any parent should. I thought he was going to ream me out and threaten to cut off my dick, but instead, he gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. At the time, I figured if he was willing to give her up the way he did, he didn’t deserve her. I lost a shitload of respect for him that day, but obviously, he had two things I wanted very badly.
