Yearning for Love (19 page)

She gently squeezed his testicles. He drew in a deep breath, thrusting his hips forward.  Walker kept his private area shaved. His legs had a prickling of coarse hair but there he was hairless.  She grinned, at the thought of him, in the shower, grooming his area like a woman would do when getting a bikini wax. The idea was turning her on more.  She was on fire, and he had to hurry and put it out before she died from the anticipation.

Leaning down on her supporting his upper body on his forearms, his cool breath brushed against her cheek, sending shivers to race through her body. He teased the head of his penis against her womanhood, pulling back and inserting just enough to get her moaning.  Nicole gripped his muscled biceps, her head thrashing on the pillow.

Finally, he drove deep inside her, giving her all he had while mumbling incoherently from the pleasure captivating him.  He got into a paced rhythm.  She could tell when he was into by how quick he moved.  His thrusts would get tight and precise.  The pressure of his hips pushing her body had her head butting the headboard.  At the pivotal height of his arousal, his body would tense, his breathing increased.  It was then; she would clamp her feet on the back of his thighs, to meet his thrusts while arching her back for him to go as deep as possible.

Walker was at his arousal point.  He lowered his weight on top of her to ease the shaking in his arms.  Nicole felt his muscles rolling as his arms quaked. He caught her lips in a passionate kiss. She sucked on his tongue in melody with his hard thrusting until he shuddered, growled, and erupted inside her.

He rested for only a minute before rolling next to her bringing her close to him. Nicole wrapped her arms around his neck.  His damp hair fell in her face.  She kissed his cheek, whispering, “I love you.  I love this life we have together.”

With an exhausted breath, he returned her words of affection. “I love you too.”

Chapter Twelve

Two Months Later

Nicole shoved another box next to the door.  Walker was loading the truck as she packed her Columbus apartment for the last time.  It was official.  She and Walker announced to Patty and Jeremy, they were a couple and she was moving to Cleveland permanently.

Using the back of her hand, she wiped sweat from her forehead and sat down on an overturned crate to rest.  The apartment was cleaned of her personal belongings except for the items she was giving to GoodWill.  She was going to miss her apartment.  When she had the store to hold her merchandise, the apartment was fairly spacious and had a 1940s charm.  The neighbors were decent, with the exception of the nosy couple on the second floor and the neighborhood was safe for single women living alone.

She slapped her hands on her thighs.
Okay, back to work
.  She took a drink of water from the bottle sitting on the floor next to the crate.  Walker came into the apartment with a strange look on his face.

“What’s wrong, baby.  You look as if you saw a ghost.”

“Um, baby, you have a visitor,” he said seriously.

“I do?” She looked towards the door and immediately became angry.  “What do you want?”

“Nicole, is that any way to greet your father?” The tall, well-groomed man asked dressed in a black power suit.

“No. It’s the way I greet people I don’t like.  What do you want, Theodore.”

Theodore Carpenter scanned over the daughter he hadn’t seen in years. “You look well.”

Nicole put her hands on her hips. “How did you expect me to look?  Oh wait, I’m supposed to be broken, tattered, and poverty stricken because the great Theodore Carpenter threw me out on my ass without a dime.  I’m sorry to disappoint you, Dad!”

Walker put his hands on Nicole’s shoulders to calm her down. “Nicole, calm down.”

She lifted her shoulder shrugging his hands off her.  Don’t tell me to calm down, Walker! You don’t know this man.  He is here because he wants something, not because he misses me.”

Walker retreated to stand against the wall.  This was definitely a battle she’d fought before and she had it under control from what he could see.

Theodore spoke up. “You are right; I do what something from you.  I’m sure you’ve heard I’m running for president come election year.”

“Goody for you,” she replied sarcastically.

“You know, if I weren’t aware your hate for me was real, I would say you are a good actress.  I don’t care that you hate me.  I’m not too fond of you either, and we had never minced words when it came to that.”

Nicole licked a finger raising it in the air to make an imaginary mark.  “Score on that observation. Now what do you want; we are busy as you can see.”

“I want you to cooperate with the press.  So far they haven’t been able to connect us together. That was a smart idea to change your name.”

“If it were possible to change my DNA, I would do that.  I’m not cooperating with anyone when it comes to you.”

“Nicole, let me rephrase what I said. I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.  If you mess this up for me, you will regret it.”

Walker moved from against the wall. “Hey, who the hell do you think you’re threatening?”

Nicole placed her hand on his chest keeping him at bay. “I’ll handle this, baby.”  She folded her arms across her chest facing her father.  It didn’t matter he was bigger, stronger, and powerful, he didn’t intimidate her.

“Who is he,” Theodore asked.

Her lips snarled, “None of your business. However, back to your threat, it would give me nothing but joy to mess this up for you.  You, in the White House what a joke.  I’m not going to mess this up for you.”

“I thought you’d see it my way.”

“I don’t see anything your way.  If you get a real opponent who cares about the issues and this country, he will go digging into your past.  He will uncover what a low-down dirty dog you really are.”

Theodore face puffed. “I am still your father, Nicole.”

She paced the empty apartment. “Are you my father?  What father never hugs his daughter? What father tells his kid to fuck off somewhere because he’s busy! I swear to God, I have run out of ways to count how many times I wished I had at least one parent to read a book to me, or tuck me into bed with a goodnight kiss.  I would watch those stupid television shows where parents were portrayed as loving and affectionate. I grew up believing that was all part of their acting.”

“Get over it, Nicole.  You were fed, clothed, and given an education that you threw away.”

Her voice trembled as tears formed in her eyes. “I had tutors.  I wasn’t allowed to interact with other kids in the neighborhood. I wasn’t even allowed to go in the yard and play! Company would come over and I was ordered to stay in my room and not make a sound.”

“Those were adult parties and kids were not allowed.”

“Really?  I remember one summer in particular, there was a barbecue.  You and mom were hosting the event.  The yard was decked out all festive with clowns, and a petting zoo.  I wasn’t allowed to attend and had to stay inside with the nanny.  When she turned her back, I looked out the window and to my surprise, there you were holding another little girl giving her hugs and then playing with other kids. I wondered why my father didn’t do those things with me. Do you realize I am thirty-one years old and don’t know how to ride a bike? How pathetic is that?”

“That was a political event, Nicole.  Octavia and I felt it was best to keep you from the media.  Kids who are raised in political families have a hard time adapting to the attention from the media.  We were protecting you from that environment.”

She clapped her hands. “Damn.  You all did it so well neither of you got attached to me, either.”

“What can I say; we weren’t ready for a family when you came along.  We hired a nanny to care for you. Filled your room with enough stuff to keep you busy and got you a pet.”

“I agree you weren’t ready. The dog was treated better than me.  Butch would lie at your feet and you would stroke his head as you read the paper.  I would come in the room just to talk. You would scold me for just being in the same room with you.”

Theodore adjusted the expensive tie around his neck. “I didn’t come here to rehash your abnormal childhood but since you are grown and want to get real then, let’s get real.  I didn’t want kids but Octavia refused to have the damn abor—”

Walker shouted taking off his work gloves and getting in Theodore’s face. “If you aren’t prepared to meet your maker right now, you better not finish that sentence!”

Nicole’s voice roared. “You demanded Octavia abort me!”

A cocky Theodore lifted his head. “Yes, I did.  However, she refused and decided to be morally correct since she held an elected position.  She risked losing votes if that procedure got leaked to the public.”

“What a pity, she would have been better off aborting me.  It would have saved me from living the hell the both of you put me through.”

“We all make mistakes we can’t take back,” Theodore said maliciously.

“This shit is unbelievable!” Walker said holding his stomach. “What the hell is wrong with you? This is your daughter! She is your flesh and blood for God’s sake.”

“You need to step away from me unless you want to get arrested for assaulting a US senator.”

Walker narrowed his eyes balling his fists from the anger building. “I would gladly go to jail for knocking the shit out of you.”

Theodore pulled his cell phone from his suit jacket.  Nicole shook her head chuckling. “Go ahead, call the police.  The media would love this.”

He put the phone away. “I underestimated you. I shouldn’t have since apples don’t fall far from the tree.  You are more like me than I thought.”

“I used to believe I was like you; cold, heartless and unable to care about another human.  But I’m not.” She attempted to choke the tears falling from her eyes.  She had not cried in eons because the tears would not fall, even when she tried her hardest. Now the tears fell freely. “God opened my heart to show I am capable of loving another person.  I’m learning how to make friends, live a healthy life and I have people who love me supporting me with this journey.  And if I’m blessed, one day, I will have kids that I will give so many hugs and kisses they won’t know what to do.”

“Well we all have to find our notch in life and it seems you’ve found yours.  I’m only here for my benefit and you still haven’t answered my question.”  He looked at his watch. “I do have more important matters waiting my attention, so do we have a deal?”

Walker sighed. “You are fucking scum and I’d advise you to stay away from Nicole.”

Theodore pointed at Walker. “If you are the man she is proclaiming to love, you need to shut the hell up and mind your business.  This is between me and Nicole and not you.”

Nicole threw her hands in the air. “Fine, you want an answer?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Then, I’d advise you to withdraw your name from the race before you even ask for a dime as a donation.”

“What?”

“You heard me. If you don’t withdraw, I will go to the media and spill my guts like an inmate sentenced to life.  I don’t have anything to lose by telling it all.  To me, you have gotten away with too much already and you need to be stopped.”

“You little bitch! I’m not going to stand here and let you blackmail me!”

“Blackmail—please, that’s for rookies. I have an entire 500-page manuscript typed, copied, sealed and waiting to be shipped to every publishing house in the Continental USA.  The Life and Times of Senator Theodore Carpenter is a sure bet to be a number one bestseller and maybe even a blockbuster movie.  Can’t you picture yourself on stage with Oprah explaining your actions?”

Theodore’s color drained from his face as he stood motionless. He’d been beaten at his own game by his own daughter. “You won’t get away with this.”

Her breathing was becoming erratic, but she kept her eyes locked with his. “I already have.  Let anything happen to me, and the next photo of you won’t be of you and First Lady Octavia walking down Pennsylvania Avenue hand-in-hand, but of you being carted off to a federal prison.

Theodore stared at her long and hard.  Though they shared the same shape and color eyes, his flashed with spikes of evil.  He turned walking to the door.  Before going through it he looked at her again, not saying a word, and disappeared.

Walker went to the window to look out.  “He’s gone, baby.”

Nicole fell to the floor from the pain gripping her chest. Walker sat next to her holding her in his arms rocking her back and forth. “I did it, Walker.  I stood up to him.”

“I know, baby, and I’m proud of you.  It took a lot of guts to do that.”

“It feels so good to have the years of torture off my chest. Oy,” she cried harder. “I have been holding in the pain so long.”

He wiped the tears from her eyes. “You’re free, unless you want to confront your mother.”

She shook her head. “Nope; I’m done.  I want to leave Columbus and not look back.  I’ll find a job in Cleveland and start planning my future with you.”

He turned her around to face him. “Hey, don’t worry about that.  I want you to heal.  I think we should take a vacation.  Where have you always wanted to go?”

She rested her head on the back of her hand. “I don’t know.  Someplace where there is fun all day and elegant dinners and dancing at night.”

“Why don’t we go to Disney World?”

She laughed easing the headache that had set in. “Disney World? Baby, isn’t that a place for kids?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t think of a better place to go.  I hear it’s a magical place and you didn’t have a childhood, and mine was limited; we could use some magic from Goofy and Donald Duck.  We’ll be big kids for a week without the restrictions or supervision of parents.”

Nicole released a wide grin. “I would love that! When can we go?”

“I love that smile, Nicole. We’ll leave soon as I make the arrangements.”

Chapter Thirteen

Walker flopped down on the worn recliner pulling the lever to prop his feet.  Nicole lay on the couch with her arm across her head.  He groaned. “That was the longest flight ever.”