The Love She Craves: Selling Her Soul to Declan (36 page)

“Oh,” the eight-year-old said. “Is it kind a like fucking?”

“Oh, my God!” Nyxie exclaimed as Declan burst out into laughter he tried desperately to contain by putting his hand over his mouth and turning his head away.

“Reina, that’s a bad word and you know it. I don’t want to hear you use that word again. Did Lotus put you up to asking that question?”

“Hey, why do I always get the blame?” Lotus huffed. 

“I don’t want to discuss this over the phone so answer Dr. Stryker’s question about the bed and then were going to change the conversation.”

Declan continued to fight his laughter as the girls conferred. On the other end of the phone the discussion became heated. Reina wanted one big bed to share, but Lotus didn’t like waking up in a puddle of urine when Reina wet the bed. Nyxie looked across the courtyard feeling upset that Reina had started wetting the bed again. Suddenly, Reina reared back and punched Lotus when the conversation wasn’t going her way.

“Reina, we don’t hit!” Nyxie clapped her hand over her mouth as she realized she had reacted to something she saw not heard.

“How did you know Reina just hit me?”

“She loves you,” Declan chimed in. “She felt your pain. Reina, when you hit Lotus, it’s like hitting Nyxie. Would you ever hit Nyxie?”

“No, sir.”

“Then don’t hit your sister. Since you can’t decide, I’ll buy you two twin size princess beds and you can push them together to make it seem like one bed. Will that work?”

Reina began crying.

“Wait,” Lotus said. “Get one big bed. Mostly, she just pees on herself.”

“Lotus, I’m proud of you,” Nyxie said. “Reina, don’t you have something to say to your sister and don’t you both have something to say to Dr. Stryker?”

“Thank you, Lo
lo,” Reina said. “Thank you for the princess bed, Dr. Stryker.”

“Thank you, Dr. Stryker.”

“You’re welcome. Have you ever seen any old westerns? At the end of the movie the good guys ride off into the sunset. It means they live happily ever after. Maybe if you walk towards the sunset, we’ll all live happily ever after. Do you want to try?”

Nyxie’s brow showed her confusion until the red sky behind him caught her attention. He was trying to lure the girls closer without letting them know they were there.

“Don’t go too far, don’t leave the property.”

The girls began moving closer, holding hands and Nyxie glued her eyes on them.

“I love you, Nyxie.”

“Me, too.”

Declan tapped her on the arm and pointed at himself and held up two fingers as if to say, ‘Me, too.’

“I love you, too,” she said. “Are you two okay? Are you getting enough to eat? Are your house parents good people?”

“Are you going to ask us that every time we talk?” Lotus asked with a sigh. They were close enough now, Nyxie could see her roll her eyes and shake her head.

“Yes,” Onyx laughed. “I’m worried about you. Every time I eat, I just think how much better it would taste if I were sharing it with my kids.”

Before they got to the street, the girls turned around in unison. “They’re calling us in now.”

“Okay, have sweet dreams tonight. Dream about when we’re back together in our big house and you’re sleeping in your princess bed with Cody in the next room and me just upstairs. We are going to be so happy.”

37

Declan and Nyxie drove home in relative silence, each lost in their own thoughts. The only time they spoke was when he gave her directions or driving instructions.

As they approached, Declan pressed the button on the garage door opener. When she pulled around
to the back, she noticed his Z4 was gone.

“Your car!”

He laughed. “It’s in
your
garage. I just thought you’d stay with me until we get your kids back. Do you want to see your new place before or after our fajitas?”

“Before,” she said. “Oh, shit, was all that furniture I saw getting moved in for us?”

“Of course. It’s my job to take care of you,” he said opening the door and climbing out with the food in one hand and his cup in the other. He closed the door with his hip and walked around behind the car to check to make sure she had pulled far enough forward to close the door. He set his cup on top of the car, opened the door and reached in to help her out. She had already gathered up her purse and cup and took his proffered hand.

“I keep thinking I should pinch myself. But if you are just a dream, I don’t want to wake up. I wish I weren’t going through all th
is horrible stuff with the kids so I could truly and fully enjoy everything you are doing for me. And if I forget to thank you….”

“I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, baby,” he interrupted.

She looked at him with shy smile. “I was going to say if I forget, you can spank me.”

He chuckled. “Remind me never to cut you off again,” he said, his expression becoming sultry. “If I kiss you right now, we may end up having sex on the hood of your new car. Come on.”

“Darn.”

They dropped off the food in his kitchen before heading to the attached townhome
by way of the garages.

He showed her the entry pad and told her the code and walked her through
using it her first time.

“Got it.”

The door lifted revealing his BMW and the contents of her apartment. On top sat the stuffed animal he found behind the corner of the headboard leg.

“Oh, you found Sugar.” Her voice sounded a little wistful.

She plucked it off the top, patted its head and set it back down.

“Was it yours?”

“Once upon a time but I gave it to Cody. God, we searched and searched for this thing. He’s probably too big for it now, but I bet he’d be happy to see it. I won’t tell him about it until we see if it lives through a cycle in the washing machine.”

“Good plan,” he said opening the door for her. “It would suck to lose it twice.”

The layout of her townhome mirrored his exactly. The appliances in the kitchen were stainless instead of cabinet fronted and the countertop had not been upgraded to granite.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s ever lived here.”

“No one has. I bought the whole building brand new to keep anyone from moving in.”

She ran her fingers along the cool countertop. “You don’t want anyone to live here, but you’re going to let us move in?”

He shrugged. “You know how paranoid I am about anyone finding out. I thought about bricking the wall that separates them or doing something to sound proof it, but since no one was going to be moving in, I thought I’d have more time. The last thing I want is to have someone call the cops over something they heard. One of the reasons I bought this place is because I like the bedroom being on the third floor. No one can see in. I’ve always toyed with the idea of making this place my dungeon or my playroom—letting my sub live here—having my picket fence next door—keeping everything compartmentalized. It would’ve been a real kick to invite my parents over for dinner and have my sub come borrow some sugar—with no panties on under her skirt. I might have even fucked her in the pantry.”

Nyxie strolled into the living room and admired the comfy looking sectional. A large coffee table had been placed an equal distance between the three-sided room-group
and a huge TV mounted on the far wall. The setting would easily seat ten people.

“I saw all the puzzles at your place. It looked like something you enjoyed, so I wanted to make sure you had a place where you could puzzle or play games comfortably.”

“It’s wonderful.”

“I tried to stick to neutrals so you could decorate however you wanted. It was hard to get a feel for your taste from your little apartment.”

She twirled around and intentionally spun into the sofa and fell over the back onto the thick cushions made of a textured camel colored material.

She looked up at him and laughed. “Our place was decorated in early impoverished dump with just a hint of drunken violence distressing the walls.”

He extended his arms to her. “Yeah, I thought you might like to go with something a little more civilized this time.”

“I’ll have to think about it,” she said as he lifted her over the back of the couch.

She marveled again at his strength as she put her hand on the round muscles of his shoulders. “What’s this muscle called?”

“Deltoid.”

“I think it’s one of my favorites.”

He kissed her. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I like your gluteus maximus, too.”

“It’s funny you know the name of my ass muscles.”

“It’s a very nice ass.”

He canted his head to one side as he set her down. “And I thought my abs were my best feature.”

She tugged his shirt tail up until his six pack appeared. Nyxie ran her hand over the rippling muscles. “They’re all my favorite except the little muscle between your eyebrows. I’m not very fond of it. Show me the rest.”

Grabbing her hand, he
headed for the stairs. “I didn’t get you a dining room table. I thought if you were a breakfast bar/coffee table kind of family, the space might be better served as something else.”

“I don’t know what kind of family we are. We never had anything but a card table.”

“This is the guestroom. If we decide on an au pair to watch them when we’re together, she can stay here since there is an en suite bathroom,” he said.

The room had a full-size bed with a cast iron headboard and footboard that looked like it was inspired by an ornate fence. A coordinating dresser, rocking chair and steamer trunk were the only other things in the room.

“Planning on tying up the au pair?”

He
looked at the bed with a sexy smile  showing a hint of his thoughts. “We may have to switch this set out with the one from my guest room. I could definitely have some fun with
you
on that bed.”

He led her across the hall to a room decked out with a queen-size white canopied bed with bare mattresses. The room had two white wicker chests of drawers and two closets.

“What would you have done if they wanted twin beds?”

“The store would’ve exchanged it.”

He pointed out the laundry room as they passed and she noticed a pair of red front loaders inside.

“This is Cody’s room,” he said swinging the door wide.

Nyxie stepped inside. Her eyes were immediately drawn by the huge multifunctional piece of furniture. At first it looked like a giant bunk bed, but the lower bed sat at a 90° angle and was only partially under the top bed. It was on wheels and could be moved out completely. One pair of uprights contained shelves and a desk and the other side a dresser. Rather than having a ladder, it had steps leading up to the upper bed and each step had a drawer under it for storage.

“Makes you want to be twelve again, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“No, nothing would ever make me want to go back to being twelve.”

The look they shared showed his regret for speaking without thinking. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I thought the promise of getting up to the top bed might encourage him to work extra hard in therapy.”

“I hope so.” She didn’t want to dwell on what Cody had in store. “Let's go see my room,” she said pulling him back into the hall and towards the stairs.

“I thought about buying a bed exactly like mine so you could feel like you’re waking up in my bed every day. But I decided it would be too heavy for you to move when our contract is up, so I opted for something with a lighter frame.”

As she made the top of the stairs, she could see immediately her room was completely different from his. The first thing her eyes fell on was a small desk.

“After you get your GED, I expect you to continue your education—whether you go to a vocational training school or college is your choice, but I don’t ever want to see you struggling to feed yourself again. And in case you’re unsure, I’m speaking as your Dom. I would love to see you bec
ome and RN, a welder, a teacher or a mechanic.”

“A mechanic? I didn’t even know if there was a right way to put the key in the ignition.”

“Okay, not a mechanic, then. Maybe hotel and restaurant management.”

Her eyebrows shot up as she weighed the possibility.

“I’ll have to think about it.”

She stepped away from the desk into the seating area. Whereas his had a couch, hers had two large wing chairs sitting at an angle with an octagonal end table between them.