Licorice Whips (8 page)

Faster than she could think the worst, Sweet came back with a brown paper bag.

“Sit up.”

With his commanding tone, she felt compelled to do whatever he requested. She sat up as she gripped the door and car seat.

Sweet opened the bag and squeezed around the top portion. “Over your mouth and nose and breathe in and out.”

Without question, she placed the bag in position and took in a deep breath and breathed out. She’d been through this before. It did surprise her that Sweet recognized the signs and knew what to do.

“Is there someone who can pick you up?”

Nikla thought about her father. He’d been with her many times when these attacks had crippled her. He would have just told her to stop being a baby and suck it up. She didn’t need that right now.

Deana would have paid more attention to Sweet than her. Who would blame her? Despite him being a part of a place she wanted to see shut down, he had been kind to her and really didn’t have to be.

Nikla shook her head at Sweet’s inquiry.

“I’ll call for an ambulance.”

Sweet started to stand when Nikla grabbed his wrist to still him. She looked over the rim of the crumpled paper bag and shook her head.

“Okay, no ambulance.” He wriggled out of her grip. “You can’t stay here like this. I can take you home. I’ll drive you and just take a cab back.” He held up her keys, a reminder that he had taken control of this situation.

Nikla found her voice to remove the bag from her face to answer him. “No. You can’t.”

“Yes, I can. Your only choice is whether you want to be taken there sitting up here in the front seat or lying down in the back seat.” He hovered over her, awaiting her answer.

“Please, I can drive my own self home. I’m okay.” Nikla started to hand him back his bag that offered her salvation.

Sweet refused to take it. Instead he bent over, wrapped his arms around her legs, and stood so that she rolled onto her back. When he got her legs into the car, he closed the door, then hopped into the front seat.

Although she would never admit it out loud, Nikla breathed a sigh of relief to be in the reclined position.

“You can’t do this.” Nikla took a deep breath. “Kidnapping.”

Sweet glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Taking you back to your home is not kidnapping.” He leaned over and looked in her glove box. He picked up a receipt she’d had in there for her last oil change she’d had done about two weeks ago.

“Cat O’Nine Tails Drive is where you live?”

Nikla hesitated before finally nodding her head.

Sweet started her car. “Interesting. Okay, buckle up. I’m taking you home.”

With the devil in her house, what the hell would Nikla do?

****

Sweet hadn’t intended on helping Nikla or even offer to take her home. As soon as he recognized the signs of her attack and had seen the sheer panic in her eyes, he saw so much of himself in her and knew he couldn’t leave her.

In that moment, Sweet felt bad for all the times Masaun had to lift him up when life had gotten too much for him, just like it had happened to Nikla. For Sweet, he figured out his root issues and solved his anxiety problems. Each time he glanced in the rearview mirror and spied on the weakened yet defiant woman, his heart melted. That didn’t mean he wanted her in front of his store.

Sweet pulled up in front of her apartment building. It looked like a nice area. He noticed a lot of cars missing due to residents being at work. The few cars left looked like upper middle class foreign cars. Nikla looked like she lived in a pretty nice section of Virginia Beach.

He parked, then went to the back door and opened it.

“I can make it from here.” Rebellious as always, Nikla got out of the car and held out her hand for her keys.

Sweet backed up and stood in the middle of the sidewalk in front of her car. “Walk to me and get the keys, and I’ll leave you alone.”

Nikla slammed the back door and shook her head. As soon as she took one step, he noticed her eyes getting wide as she struggled to stand upright.

When Sweet saw her going down, he ran to her and managed to catch her before she touched the ground. He’d caught plenty of submissives during some hard play. Catching Nikla proved to be an absolute pleasure.

He pressed her soft body against his. “I got you.” Her jasmine scent wafted up to his nose.

Sweet wanted to bury his face in the side of her neck and kiss it, lick it, drive her crazy with passion. As soon as that thought hit him, he pushed it away.

“Just a little unsteady on my feet.” Nikla held onto Sweet’s arms as she tried to walk.

“No shit.”

Nikla glared at him.

“You said that first.”

Sweet watched Nikla screw up her kissable lips as though trying to suppress a smile. A warm tingle went over his body as he walked her to her door.

“I shouldn’t have used profanity. I usually never curse.” Nikla’s low voice forced Sweet to listen to her.

Through deduction, he figured out which key went to her front door. Once inside, the alarm chirped. Nikla disabled it.

“Just get me to a couch and you can go.” Nikla tried heading toward one, but Sweet held her waist tightly.

“Not so fast.” He kicked the door closed with his foot. “I’m getting you to bed.”

Sweet felt a hard jab into his side before he felt Nikla trying to squirm out of his grip.

“You are not going to rape me! I know who you are and where you work. People know where I’ve been today.”

The wild look in her eyes let him know that she would do whatever she could to defend herself. It also gave him insight into the amount of passion she could bring to the bedroom...or a dungeon.

Sweet had to push those thoughts out of his head to calm her fears. “I’m not going to attack you, and not for the reasons you named.” He started walking her through her brightly lit and tastefully decorated apartment.

He stopped at one opened door and noticed a bathtub in the bit of light that made it through the doorway. At the next doorway, he saw a large blue exercise ball, rolled up mats lining the walls, and hand weights. Nikla had made her own workout room. Good for her.

The last doorway held her bedroom. As soon as he saw the queen-sized sleigh bed with the slats in the headboard, he imagined tying her to it and playing with her until he got her to the brink of an orgasm, then fucking her to get her all the way there.

Sweet felt his cock getting hard. He had to get her in bed and get out or he would make a huge mistake. He sat her down on the high bed. “Lie back and rest.”

Nikla kicked off her flats. Then she sat up without moving or even looking at him. “Thank you.”

“You shouldn’t be thanking me.” When Sweet noticed her confused expression, he explained. “I caused your attack by asking questions you weren’t prepared to answer.”

Nikla closed her eyes and finally reclined back on her stack of pillows. “I didn’t think I would react that way. I didn’t care about him that much. I haven’t had an attack like that in years, since college I think. God, I feel so...so...helpless.”

Sweet went to touch the top of her head to stroke her as soon as she looked down, but stopped himself. He couldn’t get this close to this woman. Not this woman. It had been bad enough that he’d shared any kind of conversation with her.

He scanned her bedroom to see if he could find signs of this mystery man. He didn’t see any men’s clothing. The room smelled like Nikla, all jasmine and flowery. He didn’t even see any pictures. When he returned his attention to Nikla, he found her staring at him.

“He didn’t live here,” she said as though answering a question he’d asked.

“What did he do?” Sweet felt every hair on the back of his neck stand up as he waited for her answer.

Nikla shook her head. “Nothing I want to talk about.” She sighed. “How did you know?”

“Know what? That you had issues with your boyfriend?”

“No. The panic attack.”

Sweet’s insides tickled as he stared at Nikla for a beat. He hadn’t opened up to anyone about that issue. A woman hell bent on taking down his establishment defined the wrong person to confide in that kind of secret. In that moment, she seemed just as vulnerable as him, maybe more so.

“I used to get them when I was younger.” Sweet kept his stare on Nikla. Looking into her eyes, he couldn’t be anything but honest. “That rubber band trick never worked for me.”

She smiled as though realizing he’d told her the truth. “I don’t know. I got used to the pop against my skin. I liked it. It gave me something to concentrate on.” She chuckled and shook her head. “Call me crazy, but I like focusing on the sensation, the little sting. It made me feel–”

“Normal,” Sweet said, completing her thought.

“Yes.”

Blood coursed through Sweet’s body. His dick throbbed at her admission. She would do so well as a submissive. He could tell he could bring her body to pure ecstasy. Sweet took a step back toward the door. If he didn’t leave soon, he would be telling her to get undressed and claiming her body for himself.

“If popping the bands against your wrists helped, why did you stop?” he asked, trying hard to get off topic.

“My father thought it was silly. He thought me going to a psychiatrist was a sign of weakness.”

Sweet hadn’t met the man, and he already didn’t like him.

Nikla rubbed her forehead. “My head hurts.”

“Do you have any aspirin here?” Sweet darted to her nightstand and opened the drawer.

“No!”

When he did, he found more than just some little, white pills. A large, pink vibrator sat on top of miscellaneous papers and pens. His mind conjured an image of Nikla’s nude form on her bed, writhing in pleasure as she drove her faux phallus in and out of her pink channel. He almost emitted a growl just thinking about it.

Sweet didn’t close the drawer right away. He stared at Nikla for a moment.

She kept her gaze down before finally connecting her stare to his. “Aspirins are in my bathroom.” She pointed to an opened doorway across from her.

Sweet closed the drawer and walked into the bathroom. As soon as he opened the right side of the medicine cabinet, he saw a bottle of aspirins. He grabbed it and a cup from a dispenser next to her sink and filled it with water.

As soon as he walked into the room, Nikla found the strength to talk.

“I don’t use that all the time.” She laughed nervously.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me.” Sweet hated lying. He wanted to know everything about the toy.

When did she buy it? Did she buy it or did her stupid ex-boyfriend? Did the ex use it on her? Did Nikla use it on herself while he watched? How often did she use it? The next time she used it, would she think of him?

Sweet handed her the cup of water, then opened the bottle.

“I didn’t want you thinking that I’m some sort of repressed freak or something, one cat shy of being a shut-in.”

He deposited two pills into her hand and placed the bottle on the nightstand. Nikla downed the medicine and followed it with the water.

Sweet accepted the empty cup. “I happen to like repressed freaks.” He slid his hand into his pocket.

From the way Nikla looked at him, she appeared as though she thought he would be pulling out a string of condoms. Even though he hated himself for even thinking it, he wanted them because he really wanted her. Every time that thought hit him, it scared the shit out of him.

He pulled out her keys and handed them to her. “Hope you feel better. I’ll let myself out.”

“You know I’m still going to come to Decadent Treats and hand out my fliers.”

Sweet turned at the doorway and stared at her. “I’ll be out there with you. Is that going to bother you?”

Nikla stared at him pointedly before she shook her head. She licked her lips, then brought her hand up to undo her hair bun. She fluffed out her long, wavy, chocolate brown hair, then brought her attention back to him.

The sizzling electricity that zipped between the two of them couldn’t be denied. With every part of his being, he wanted this woman. If she didn’t want every part of him, both his vanilla and his kinky side, he didn’t want to chance opening his heart again.

Before another word could be spoken, Sweet walked out of her apartment. He hated that his body craved her already without really touching her. Somehow she managed to worm her way to his soul. Now he needed to figure out a way to purge her from his system.

Chapter Five

Days after his encounter with Nikla, Sweet couldn’t get her out of his thoughts. Her lips, her eyes, her smell, the way her body felt next to his—he couldn’t get enough of her. He now ached for a woman’s touch more than before, more than when he and Melinda had been together.

Considering Nikla had come back after her panic attack to hand out her hate propaganda in front of the store every day that week, and—as he promised—he went out to confront her each day, he assumed she had wanted to see him. He also knew how brave she had been to admit—and confess—a lot of personal items to him.

Although her panic attack and her relationship with her father came as a surprise to him, he couldn’t stop thinking about her vibrator and how she used it...and how often. He also wondered if she had used it after their encounter in her bedroom.

Her closed-off yet determined nature intrigued him. Maybe he’d gotten too used to the women at The Dollhouse.

Women who had just met him did whatever he requested. Nikla saw through his looks. That turned him on more than anything else. She stood her ground. Not only did she have plans to dump her man, she had plans to start her own business.

Damn. He had too much energy to burn now. Sweet made sure the store had been secured before he went upstairs to his loft apartment over the store. The expansive space held his essentials. He had a couch, a coffee table, and a big-screen TV that he rarely used. In the raised corner of the apartment sat his king-sized bed, sadly another rarely used item. The interesting piece in his home had to be the vintage, open, egg-shaped chair that hung from the ceiling.