Licorice Whips (14 page)

Sweet lifted his head from the mat. “Nikla?”

“Oh, yeah. Relax. Stretch your hands over your head like you’re reaching for the back wall, and close your eyes.” She reclined back on her mat and did the same thing. “Now breathe in deeply, hold it, and release.”

Nikla led him through several floor exercises, starting off easy before getting Sweet to his feet. She had him go into warrior pose. On him, with his feet apart and his long arms up and parallel to the floor, he truly looked like a warrior.

Like any other student, Nikla approached Sweet. She stood behind him. “Hold your arms up higher.” She put her hands under his arms.

The muscles she felt opened the waterworks from her vagina. She smelled a woody aroma from him. She took a deep breath.

Her hands coasted down his waist. “Drop deeper into the pose and hold it.”

Sweet cleared his throat.

“Please,” she added.

“Thank you.” Sweet sank deeper into the position.

Nikla gazed down at the sight of his thigh muscles bulging through his pants. What in the world was going on with her? She’d had male students in her class before. She’d positioned their bodies. She’d never had the overwhelming feelings of desires for a student, for a man, like she did with Sweet.

Before she made a fool of herself, she backed away and resumed her spot at the front of the room. “Okay, let’s go into downward dog.” Nikla watched Sweet go down into the position. Just seeing his ass in the air had her licking her lips. “If the pressure is too much for your wrists, you can go down to your forearms. If it’s too much on your back, you can rest on your knees.”

“How do I challenge myself?” Sweet asked.

Nikla liked that he didn’t take the easy way out of this exercise. “If you can put your heels to the floor, do so. Doing that will stretch out your calves and hamstrings.”

She heard Sweet grunt. Nikla tried not to laugh. So much for yoga not being called a workout.

Forty-five minutes later, Nikla had Sweet go into cool-down mode. “I like rubbing oil into my students’ temples at the end of the class. May I do that with you?”

With a panting breath, Sweet said, “Yeah. Sure.”

She smiled as she retrieved the bottle from her bag. Just like in her other classes, she rubbed the slick oil on her fingers, then approached Sweet.

“I was so wrong about this.” Sweet took a deep breath as he kept his eyes closed.

“What? Was this a workout after all?” She rubbed his temples.

When he moaned, she imagined him in bed with her, holding her with those big hands and kissing her with those amazing full lips.

“I’m a man who can admit when I’m wrong.”

“Good.”

“It just rarely happens.” His mouth twitched like he wanted to smile but he didn’t.

“I should have known you would say something like that.” Thank goodness Sweet kept his eyes closed. He wouldn’t have seen Nikla smiling, although he probably heard the lightness in her voice.

“You’re pretty amazing.”

Nikla stopped the temple massage when Sweet made his statement.

He opened his eyes. “Didn’t you just run an hour-long class already?”

She nodded, afraid her vocal chords would betray her.

“And then you did this class. You don’t even look winded. And here you are catering to me.”

Nikla never thought of herself as catering to anyone when she rubbed oil on them after each class. She just saw it as creating an all-around yoga class experience.

“I do yoga at home so it’s nothing for me to do more than one session a day.” She stood up and padded over to her bag. “Thanks.”

Sweet sat up. “What are you thanking me for?”

“You didn’t have to do this. Bobbi never showed up. You could have turned around and gone home. You did a full class and you didn’t take the easy way out. You challenged yourself. I should have had you standing on your head but I didn’t want to hurt you.”

He slipped on his shoes. “If I’m not mistaken, it sounds like you’re impressed with me, too.”

Nikla smirked. “Impressed is a strong word.”

“What about in awe?”

She laughed. “You’re cute.”

Her laughter subsided as she connected her gaze to his.

“So the deal is that I do something of yours and you do something of mine.” Sweet stood and loomed over her as he rolled up his mat.

Nikla swallowed. “Bobbi’s not here.” Her voice came out in a whisper.

“Doesn’t matter. I did a whole class and she didn’t show. The deal was that I come to your class and you all were supposed to come to my candy store.”

Nikla exhaled. “Oh, yes. Decadent Treats.” Then she thought about the implications of being in a candy store.

Worse than being alone with a sexy man, Nikla feared going to a place with lots of sweets and temptations.

“Maybe another time when Bobbi can be with us.” She slipped on her shoes and rolled up her mat.

Sweet shook his head. “A deal is a deal. You don’t want to look like a coward, do you?”

Nikla took a deep breath. Before she could answer, the door opened.

“Nik, you done?” Big Tom, the part-time boxing coach and full-time manager, asked as he bounded into the room. He turned on the overhead light.

In the bright light, Nikla saw Sweet clearly. He carried the rolled yoga mat to her.

“Yes, I’m done.” She took the mat.

“Meet me at the store.” He walked out of the workout room.

Sweet had her intrigued and excited. She would have to push those feelings aside and only think about business. Then again, being inside of a candy store, she would feel so anxious to think about anything else...she hoped.

Chapter Ten

Sweet tried not to look in his rearview mirror to make sure Nikla followed him, but she seemed reluctant to come to Decadent Treats.

He thought maybe she didn’t want to be alone with him. He’d been alone with her in her apartment. Being with him in a business should be easy.

When she repositioned him during the workout, he thought he would come right out of his skin.

If she had touched him at The Dollhouse, he would have given her the speech he’d given to Leaf. Her gentle hands soothed him. He wanted to direct her to caress him in other ways. He had to keep the line drawn. He couldn’t mix business and pleasure.

Sweet pulled into the Decadent Treats parking lot and drove around to the back of the building. He waited in his truck a beat before he caught a set of headlights turning into the lot. He breathed a sigh of relief. Nikla had followed him.

He got out of his truck and went to the back door. After unlocking it, he disarmed the alarm then waited for Nikla.

Nikla got out of her car, turned to the car door as though regretting that decision, then walked toward Sweet so slow he thought she would stop at some point and turn back around.

From what he could tell of her, Sweet knew she wouldn’t retreat.

She stopped in front of him, keeping her stare into the store.

“Welcome to Decadent Treats.” Sweet lifted his hand to usher her inside. “Did you ever think with all of your protesting that you would even step foot inside?”

“I haven’t walked in there yet.” Nikla took a deep breath.

“So take the step.”

She glanced up at him. “Are you sure you want me in there? You were pretty adamant each time I handed out my fliers that you didn’t want me in front of your store.”

“Are you scared?” Sweet had to think about her perspective. He hadn’t exactly welcomed her into his space.

“Would you blame me if I was? What if you called ahead to your folks to ambush me?” She stared at him pointedly.

“Not my style.”

“So you’re never late. You don’t play games. And you wouldn’t set anyone up.” Nikla paced in her spot. “If you weren’t trying to take away something I want, I would say you’re a pretty cool guy.”

Nikla’s sweet laugh struck him in his heart, more than he thought it would. As he watched her, he got the impression that she did believe everything he’d told her about himself. Knowing that, his skin prickled. When he glanced into his store, another realization hit him: they would be alone.

“I would have to be crazy to do this.” Nikla shook her head.

“And I would be crazy to bring you into the place where I make my living. But I’m a man of my word,” he said. “I’d like you to come inside.”

Nikla swallowed, closed her eyes, then took a big step into the back of the store.

Even watching her take that crucial first step sent a chill over the back of his neck. “See. Nothing bad or scary happened.” Sweet closed the door behind her and reactivated the alarm.

“Are other employees here?” She clasped her hands in front of her body and waited for him to move.

“No. They’ve all gone. It’s just me and you.” He walked toward the kitchen area.

Once there, he flicked on the light. The place remained spotless from when he’d cleaned it earlier.

“So you all make of your candies?” She scanned the kitchen as Sweet pulled down a small pot hanging above the gas stove.

“Not all of them. I wish I had time to do that.” He placed the pot on the stove. “I make fudge and chocolates and other treats when I can.” Sweet grabbed sugar and other needed ingredients. “Cooking relaxes me. It used to.” He glanced up at Nikla. “Did you take up yoga to help with your anxiety?”

Nikla nodded. “My college offered yoga classes in our fitness room. I took a couple of classes and liked them. I found that concentrating on myself and on my breathing helped center me. When I lose that focus, I can get myself wound up.”

Sweet didn’t want to interrupt her explanation. He liked hearing her talk. Her light voice came across as melodic and soothing.

“You said cooking used to relax you. It doesn’t now?” she asked as he set out jars and lids.

He glanced at Nikla. The longer he stared into her eyes, the more he wanted to reveal his truth, the side he couldn’t reveal to his own brother.

“Food meant something to me when I was a kid. Mom wasn’t a great cook. She tried though. I learned to cook to make what we had taste good. I was obsessed with flavors. After a while, once we started the business, I don’t know.” He shook his head.

“You’re not as hungry?”

Sweet brought his attention to her. “Yeah, something like that.”

Nikla nailed his issue clearly.

“Shouldn’t you be happy that the thing that keeps my business running is in jeopardy?”

Nikla cocked her head. “I’m really not as evil as you think I am. I think it’s terrible that you can’t hold onto the thing that you love.”

Sweet’s heart started pounding hard in his chest. He had to get onto another topic. Right now he started to find Nikla irresistible. “So what do you do for fun?”

“Would you believe it if I said I rock climbing?” She smiled.

“Yes. I would.” He put out the ingredients needed to make a small batch of caramel.

She smiled at his honesty. “I do it in a controlled environment.”

“In a gym?”

Nikla nodded.

“You have the basics of it down. You need to put the practice into action. Go somewhere and actually do some rock climbing.” Sweet fired up the heat as he kept his stare on her.

“Maybe one day. No rush to plummet down the side of the mountain.” She laughed but Sweet heard the nervousness in it.

“As long as you’re with someone trained, you’ll be okay.” He wanted to reach out and brush a stray curl from her face. Sweet had to keep his hands to himself. At least for now. “Come on. Let’s wash our hands before we get cooking.”

“We?” Nikla asked as they made their way to the big, industrial-sized sink.

“That was the deal. I do yoga. You make candy.” Sweet turned on the water and tested the temperature. Then he pointed out to her where the location of the soap dispenser.

“And you did do yoga.” Nikla laughed.

When Sweet looked down at her, she tried covering up her laughter.

“Hey, I did do it.” He stared at her. “I wasn’t afraid to try new things.”

“No, you weren’t.” She washed her hands along with Sweet.

Her hip brushed against his leg. Instead of pulling away from him right away, she stayed. It hit him in that moment that she didn’t move away from him, just like when she’d held his hand at the rental office.

Damn Melinda for making him doubt other women, potential submissives.

Sweet couldn’t help but notice her delicate fingers, the same fingers she’d used on him in class when she adjusted his body. When he remembered her easy but controlling possession of his body, his cock started throbbing.

He turned off the water in the deep stainless steel sink and handed her some paper towels. As soon as his gaze connected to hers, Nikla smiled. This time her smile erected the hairs over his body.

Sweet had to get away from her and talk about something else before she noticed his inappropriate reaction to her, to her proximity. “So, Nikla. Unusual name. Where did that come from?”

Nikla tossed her wad of rumpled paper towels in a trashcan in the corner. “It’s a combination of my parents’ names. My mother’s name is Nicole and my father’s name is Lawrence. They combined the two and got me.” She pointed to herself. “Their only daughter.”

Sweet nodded, surprised at the fact that Nikla shared that personal story with him. “And how’s your relationship with your parents?”

Nikla cleared her throat. “So what are you making?”

The shift in conversation happened in a not so subtle way. He saw her walls going up again. Not content to let her hide, he pressed on with his questioning.

“I’m making caramel.” He explained the process and then continued with his questioning. “What’s the deal with you and your parents?”

Nikla lowered her gaze. “You’re not going to let this drop, are you?”

“That’s not how I roll.” He shook the pot of sugar over the stove. “Speaking of rolling, you want to get the ingredients in the pot to a boil and continue shaking it to move the sugar around. No spoon. Sometimes you want to agitate things. Other times you don’t. You have to let things do what they’re supposed to.”

Nikla looked into the pot and nodded. “How did you learn how to cook?”