by D W Marshall
Niko looks hurt by my words. “You should listen to your therapist. Just because you have all those book smarts in your head doesn’t mean you know and see everything clearly.”
I sigh. “Point taken. But I stopped therapy. So, I guess I don’t have to bother with how she saw me.”
Niko’s expression tells me he is not pleased about me quitting. “Why?”
“I have Thomas now. He said therapy is for the weak; he believes—just like you do—that I’m strong. I don’t know if I believe it myself. I just want to feel normal again.” I wipe the tears trickling down my cheeks. “You see, Niko, you don’t have to worry about me.”
He reaches for my hand but stops inches away and pulls back. “Whitney, I’m begging you. Get away from him. He doesn’t deserve you. Get back into therapy. Thomas will use you and leave you. Trust me, I know his type. You deserve a man who will help you, not take from you. You deserve happiness.”
I stand up again. This man is as crazy as he is attractive. I continue to wipe my tears as his words fill me with sadness. “I gave up on fairytales, Niko. They’re for dreamers, and when I close my eyes, all I have are nightmares. Prince Charming just doesn’t exist, not for me. Thanks for the pep talk. I know you mean well. You seem like a great guy.” I turn and start walking back towards the restaurant.
“Hey, Whitney,” Niko calls after me. I turn toward him. We lock eyes and a moment passes by before he speaks, though his eyes speak volumes. “You still have my card?”
I nod.
“Use it.” He smiles at me. “And I’m not giving up. I’m gonna check on you again, now that you have me worried about you.”
I shake my head in amusement and can’t wipe the smile from my face. He meets my eyes and stares. His smile warms me as it takes over his entire face, meeting his blue eyes.
“Okay, Niko,” I say and turn to walk away again. I can feel him watching me. Then a thought hits me and I turn back to him.
“Hey, Niko. If you do find him, send him my way; I’d be interested in a chat.”
He raises his eyebrows in question. “Him who?”
“The amazing guy you spoke of.” This time I turn away for good, and I’d swear I hear him say I’m right here. But that can’t be. Ocean breezes have a way of playing tricks on you. But, I’d be lying if I didn't wish it were true.
Chapter 14
Niko
Never would I have imagined a woman so amazing could feel so bad about herself that she would hitch her wagon to such a loser. All I can do for now is watch Whitney walk away. But I won’t be far. Until I gain her trust, I will watch her from afar and arrange the occasional bump into each other. There is no way I’m going to let Thomas use her. She has been through enough this last year of her life, and even though she doesn’t see her worth, I do, and no way am I letting a snake like Thomas ruin her further.
I wish she could see herself the way I do—smart and gorgeous. I watch her walk away until she disappears inside of the restaurant and one thought enters my mind before I can stop it, I hope she calls. This isn’t about me and her, no matter how attracted I am to this woman. This is about stopping this low-level thug before he becomes a powerful madman. And this is about making sure that I keep him away from Whitney.
I know just where to start. I pull my phone out of my pocket and shoot a text to Thomas to arrange a meet up.
I pull up to Milo’s an hour later.
“Milo, how’s it going?” I greet the owner of the boxing gym.
He extends his hand out to mine and shakes it. “Niko, I’m doing just fine for an old man,” he says.
Milo was a great boxer back in his day. He’s deep into his seventies now, but he never misses a workout.
“Thomas back there yet?” I ask.
“Not yet, but I’ll send him your way as soon as he shows up, unless you want another sparring partner.” Milo throws a punch combination into the air.
I shake my head. “I’m not ready for you, Milo.” I tease.
“Smart man,” he says and pats my back.
I make my way to one of the practice rings, drop my bag, and run through a quick warm up. Jumping rope, shadow boxing, and ab work. Thomas appears a few minutes later and joins me in the warm up. He doesn’t miss a beat, dropping to pushups matching my pace. When we finish warming up, we enter the ring.
“You ready for me?” he asks while he slips his hands into his gloves.
“Always.” I want to ask him about business, but it’s better if I let him bring it up.
We touch gloves in the center of the ring. I have a half-foot on him in height and a good forty or more pounds, but Thomas is scrappy. He throws a couple of jabs that I block and counter with a flurry of my own. When I look at him, I don’t just see a petty criminal just starting out. Now I see a monster in the making. A man so reckless and selfish he would hurt anyone to get what he wants.
Thomas and I dance around the ring, punching, blocking, trading impressive flurries and combinations. “So, you think you could help me out with another date with my girl?” Thomas asks, dancing around the ring.
I feign ignorance. “You mean the hottie from the other night?”
“Yeah, I’m putting some things together, and soon I should have a couple more ladies lined up. But she’s gonna be my star. If you have trustworthy friends, maybe you could send them my way? I’m ready to grow this venture,” he says and throws a series of body shots that hit me in the side and abs.
I don’t say anything at first, just continue boxing, returning the body blows.
When we’re both significantly winded, him more than me, we leave the ring and head to a nearby bench. I use my towel to dry myself off. Then I replenish the water I lost. I turn to Thomas, resisting the urge to smash his face with my fist. “Man, I’m down. But that chick from the other day, she didn’t seem like much of a pro.”
Thomas laughs. “Nah, she’s not, but she’ll come around.” He covers his head with his towel and lies down on the bench.
I take the opportunity to glare at him. Monster in the making. I break the stare before I get caught. “Yeah, whatever you say. Like I said, I’ll help you out again, and I’ll see if I have some boys that would be interested.”
Thomas sits up. “That’s what I’m talking about. Only people you trust though. I can’t have any fucking cops getting wind of this before I get my business off the ground.”
I stand and grab my bag. “Nah, we don’t want that shit,” I say. “That was a good workout.” I point at him. “Make sure you hydrate or you’ll be sore. I’m gonna get home and shower.”
Thomas hops up from the bench and shakes my hand. “Thanks. Same time next week?”
“You got it.”
I leave Thomas and head for the exit. I say goodbye to Milo and head to my truck, the whole time thinking what a piece of shit Thomas really is. He cares about nothing but himself. Whitney is not safe. His mind is set on making her a pawn in his game. No, not a pawn, the pawn—which means she is not safe. A guy that desperate would hurt her to get what he wants.
Chapter 15
Whitney
“Sunshine, I knew you would fall asleep in your Chamber sooner or later,” Montclair says waking me up. I can feel the bed depress under his weight. When I open my eyes, I’m confused, disoriented, and shocked that I fell asleep. I had made it months without falling asleep. After hours of sex, the last thing I want is my personal guard getting to take his turn with me. “I have been waiting for this for months. Rules are rules, so I hope you have as much fun as I know I will,” he says.
I rub my eyes to wake myself up and really see him for the first time. “I fell asleep?”
“You sure did, now why don’t you get over here and wrap those sweet little lips around my cock,” he says.
I do as he asks. My jaws not fully recovered from earlier. Montclair’s penis isn’t huge, thankfully, but I wouldn’t call him small either. He lays on his back and I kneel over him and take him into my mouth and s
uck him, hard. The sooner I wear him out the sooner I can go back to my room. But he stops me before he comes. He repositions me on all fours and gets behind me. He slips inside of me. “You like that?”
“Yes, yes,” I lie. I have learned how to fake the feeling.
Montclair thrusts in and out of me fast and hard. I can hear him breathing behind me, I know it won’t be long. I’m relieved when he spills inside of me, his body going rigid, shaking behind me. “That’s not all, I got more in me. You might not ever fall asleep again, and I came to play. He flips me over onto my back, my legs over his shoulders and he sinks inside of me again. His face so close to mine and all I can think is please don’t kiss me. When he does I want to throw up in my mouth and die. He continues to kiss me, while he thrusts himself deep inside of me….
Like most nights that I dream, my screams are what wake me. My family stopped bursting into my room weeks ago, hearing my screams rattle through the house is something their bodies have adapted to. It used to scare them to death, but I explained it to them how Dr. Wesley explained it to me—it’s part of my process and the dreams will ebb in time.
My face is wet. The last thing I want to do is go back there. I pick up my phone and turn on the flashlight to see what I’m looking for. I find it on my bedside table, the business card. I punch in the numbers and don’t realize that it could be three a.m. until after the phone starts ringing. Before I make the decision to hang up a gruffy voice answers. I definitely woke him up.
“Hello?” his voice sends warmth, flooding me for reasons I can’t explain. He isn’t mine. I barely know this man.
“Hi. I’m sorry to call so late.”
“Whitney?”
“Should I let you get back to sleep? I didn’t realize the time.”
I can hear him moving around through the phone. “No, it’s fine. It’s not that late. Wait, it’s one in the morning. Are you sure you’re okay?”
I can hear genuine concern in his voice. Maybe I made a mistake. I shouldn’t bring him into my mess. “I’m sorry, Niko, I shouldn’t have woken you. Have a good night,” I say and end the call. I set my phone on my night stand and stare into the dark void.
I don’t know if it is a gift or a curse that we can’t see into the future, not even a flash of our life ten minutes from now. Yet we plan and schedule the future, never knowing what is lurking around the corner.
My phone begins vibrating.
“Hello,” I say into the receiver knowing that it’s Niko.
“Why’d you hang up? I told you it was okay. I promise. You can call me anytime.”
“But why?”
There’s a pause. “Because you wouldn’t have called if you didn’t need me, and I’m a sucker for a beautiful woman in need.” I can hear the smile on his face.
“Ha, ha, ha.”
Niko laughs in response. “Seriously, what’s keeping you up tonight?” he asks. His voice is velvety smooth and comforts me.
I sigh. “What isn’t?” I pause and Niko doesn’t push. “I had a bad dream,” I say with a sigh.
“You wanna tell me about it?” he asks.
I pull the covers over me and settle deeper within my bed. “Not really. I just don’t wanna be alone in the dark right now. We can talk about anything you want.”
Niko yawns. It’s one of those long, exaggerated yawns that relieves tension from your body. “Okay, tell me about yourself. Like how’d you get to be so smart?”
An easy question. This makes me smile. I lie back onto my pillow and pull the covers to my chin. “I just always was. When other kids were learning to read, I was doing algebra and reading classic literature. Being smart has always been the norm for me. It made things hard for me socially, especially with boys my age.”
“I bet. I’m a grown man, and I’m intimidated by you.”
“Oh, stop teasing. You handle yourself very well,” I say and then add, “I mean, for someone of normal intelligence.”
We both laugh at that. Talking to Niko, I’m starting to feel more relaxed. “My turn,” I say.
“Ask me anything.”
“How old are you?” I ask.
“Take a guess.”
I’m such a bad guesser of age. Luckily, with men guessing younger is not the compliment it is with women. With a woman it’s about looks, but with a man it’s about maturity. “Twenty-seven?” I take a stab.
“Close. I’m twenty-eight.”
“Okay. Where are you from, because you don’t sound like an islander?”
“My mother is British and my father is Greek. I was born in London, but raised mostly in America. I have citizenship in America, England, and Greece. I’ve lived in all three places at some point in my life, hence the accent. How about you? Because you definitely sound like an islander.”
To this I laugh. “Through and through. But I’m ready to see other places.” My smile grows at the possibilities other places might bring. “Do you like living on the island?” I ask him.
“You can say it’s growing on me. But me, I could live anywhere.”
Our conversation goes on for hours. I learn that Niko is an Aries, loves all things beach and water, has an older sister and a younger brother. He moved here after his sister did, and he has a husky named Dreamer. I also learn that he is very worried about me. We even fell asleep a couple of times. I love that our conversation remained clear of painful topics or people. When the sun came up, we decided it was time to end the call and start our days.
It was some night. The best I’ve had in eons.
Today I plan to reach out to University College to discuss continuing my education. I send an email to the admissions office, telling them that I am alive and kicking and would love to begin my doctoral program in the fall. I include all of my relevant information and hit send. My phone pings an alert just as I finish.
Niko: Hey there, Whittie. Are you half asleep like I am?
Me: I should have never told you my nickname. That so better not stick. It took years for me to shake it.
Niko: But it’s perfect! I’m in desperate need of coffee. You want to meet me somewhere?
I stare at the screen. A late-night phone call that lasted into the wee hours and now coffee?
Niko: ?
I can’t see the harm, and I could definitely use another friend, especially this one.
Me: Sure.
He sends me an address to a coffee shop on the beach. I know the shop. It’s on a section of beach that is less crowded. I won’t lead Niko on, all though my body is rocked with excitement.
I throw on a pair of denim cut off shorts, a royal blue tank, and sandals. I bump into my father on my way out.
“Where you headed, pumpkin?”
I give him a peck on the cheek and a hug. “Meeting a friend at the beach for coffee.”
“Grab a hat, the news reported that the UV would be brutal today.”
Always the parent. I shake my head at him and grab a big floppy straw hat from the coat rack that we use for every style of hat imaginable. I place it on my head. “You know this is going to ruin my curls,” I say and roll my eyes at my father, but I give him a smile before I turn and walk out the door.
When I make it to the coffee shop, Niko is easy to spot. He’s sitting at a small table facing the water. His gaze is lost in the waves. I stop, feigning searching for something in my purse. But really, I’m giving myself a chance to calm my beating heart that is threatening to break free from my chest. After a few deep breaths, I make my way towards my very attractive friend. He’s wearing a fitted gray tee and colorful board shorts.
“Hey,” I say walking up to the table.
Niko hops up and surprises me with a hug. His scent is a subtle mint and lavender, with a hint of the sea. Whatever he is wearing smells divine on him. I melt into his arms if only for a second; it feels good to be here. “I’m glad you could make it,” he says.
I pull my hat from my head and muss my hair so that it isn’t flat. “I would have ordered for
you but in our conversation last night, I mean this morning, we never discussed coffee,” Niko says.
I blush. “Well. I like a lot of milk in my coffee. I take my coffee about my skin tone.”
Niko smiles at me and then laughs. He is really attractive. I’ve never had a male friend that was this good-looking and straight. My lord, he is hard to look away from.
“What? Can you let me in on the joke,” I say and begin to laugh too, even though I have no idea what I’m actually laughing at.
“Milk in the coffee? Dark and light? Are you sure you prefer a lot of milk?” he teases.
“Ha, ha. I get it. You, sir, are a dork.” I glance up at him and he has stopped laughing, and so have I. We lock eyes with each other. Mine saying: Where did you come from? We are definitely crossing a line. This feels a whole lot more like a date than coffee amongst friends.
Thankfully, a waitress comes and takes our order. “The lady will have a cup of your strongest roast with enough creamer to match her gorgeous complexion.” He looks at me and stuns me with his pure smile. I blush in return.
“And for you?” the waitress asks.
“I take mine black.”
I start coughing until my eyes water. “You really are a dork.” I shake my head at him, smiling until my cheeks hurt.
“Hey, I like what I like.”
