Chapter 15

chapter fifteen

N icola’s phone buzzed just before six the next morning. She grabbed it and saw a pic of her mother on the screen. She glanced behind her to see if it woke Jensen, but he was already up and out of bed. Since that first night, that had been his routine each morning. It was odd for her.

She clicked her phone on.

“Happy Birthday,” her parents said together.

“Thank you.”

“You didn’t answer the first time we called on the FaceTime,” her mother said.

She smiled. “Sorry. I just woke up.”

“That’s late for you.” As much as her mother and she had traveled for her skating career, her father hadn’t done that much. Being in a different time zone was completely foreign to him.

“It is just before six, Dad.”

“Ah. So, do you have the day off?” her father asked.

“I’m not sure. Jensen said we had something to do, but he didn’t really say what it was. Our work is just about wrapped up here.”

“Are you going to have time to pop in? We haven’t seen you in a long time,” her mother said.

Nicola rolled her eyes. She had just seen them less than a month ago, but she did understand. She was their only child.

“I don’t think so, but maybe next month? We don’t have much on the schedule, and I would love to just hang out with you two for a little bit.”

“That sounds fine,” her father said. “Are you making Jensen take you out?”

She smiled. “No, not this year. Serenity has invited us over for dinner.”

“That will be nice. Time with friends is important,” her mother said. “We just wanted to call and wish you happy birthday. You should get some flowers from us today.”

“Thank you.”

“Happy Birthday,” her mother said.

“Thank you. Love you two.”

“Love you, little girl,” her father said. Then he hung up. Before she could get her thoughts together, the door opened. Jensen was there, dressed in a pair of shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. But not an outlandish Magnum PI kind of shirt. It was red, with just one palm tree embroidered on it.

“Good morning, birthday girl. How are you feeling?” He leaned over her and gave her a loud smacking kiss.

She blinked, unused to this behavior. It wasn’t that they didn’t kiss, but…it was more intimate as if they were long time lovers.

“I’m fine. My folks just called. They asked when I was going to be able to come visit them.”

He chuckled. “They are constantly asking you that. We could stop on the way back. We have absolutely nothing pressing.”

“You don’t mind?” she asked.

He sat down beside her. “No. You know I like your parents, and I want to go to that Mexican all-you-can-eat restaurant.”

Of course he did. Last time they were there, he ate so much food, she was surprised they didn’t have to roll him out of the place.

“Well, I will tell them after we close the deal here. I want to make sure everything is in order.”

He gave her another of those lopsided smiles that made her heart skip a beat. It was corny to think that, but there was no other way to describe the way her heart seemed to stop for just a second every time it happened.

“Sounds good. Now, time to get out of bed and into the shower. I have plans for you today.”

“I thought we were just going to Serenity’s tonight. I was promised shrimp truck shrimp.”

“Yes, but I have stuff for us to do today.”

She sighed. “I thought about just laying by the pool all day.”

“While I would not mind seeing you in a bikini again, I have something very special for you this afternoon. Knowing my family, the calls will start soon, so I thought to get you up and out of bed early.”

She frowned.

“Oh, don’t do that. It’s your birthday and you should be happy. Marta is making you one of your favorite breakfasts, and —”

“What?”

“Take a shower and you will see. Lots of surprises today. It isn’t every day that a girl has a birthday and is in Hawaii.”

“Fine.” Then what he said hit her. “Marta’s here? Good Lord.”

“Oh, just let it go. If she doesn’t already know something is going on, she is never going to know. Go take a shower.”

She slipped out of bed and he whistled. “You do look beautiful in the morning, Ms. McCann. Of course, you’re pretty much beautiful all the time.”

He stood and slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He kissed her, his tongue slipping between her lips for just a second. He ended the kiss long before she was ready for him to stop.

“Now, love, go take a shower. I’ll get you something to wear.”

She gave him a suspicious eye. “I can get my own clothes.”

He sighed. “Just go take a shower, woman. Truthfully, if we were staying longer, I would have you move your clothes in here.”

Then, he left her in the room staring after him. The man was in the oddest of moods.

Deciding not to worry about those issues at the moment, she took a quick shower, and when she came out into his bedroom, she found a purple dress with large pink flowers on it. Beside it was a pink bra and the matching thong. She stepped closer and realized that Jensen must have bought the dress for her. It was just the kind of dress she liked to wear when they were some place tropical, and it was in a deep, rich amethyst, a color she liked to wear.

The man could be sweet when he wanted to be.

She slipped on the panties and bra, which gave her a little thrill because he had picked them out for her to wear. She had never been this intimate with a Dom before, which said a lot about her past relationships. Even with Micah, she had never shared a space like this with him. There were usually one-night stands when she was in town. Now…she liked this. She liked the idea that she could wake up next to Jensen in the morning.

She pushed those feelings away. If she got caught up in daydreaming about what she wanted, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy what she had.

After she had the dress on, she looked at herself in the mirror. It was the perfect fit, of course.

“You look beautiful,” he said. She hadn’t heard him open the door.

She looked at him in the mirror. “You told me the same thing when I was naked.”

He smiled as he walked toward her. He stopped when he was standing behind her. “True, but I particularly like seeing you wear something I bought you. Not to mention the lingerie. I know exactly what you are wearing beneath the dress. Gives me a secret little thrill.”

She turned. “Same here.” She brushed her mouth over his. “Thank you for the dress.”

“You are most welcome. Now, time for breakfast.”

“Good because I’m starving.”

He took her hand and led her out of the room and down the stairs to the lanai. There, beneath the cabana, the table had a place setting for two people. The coffee pot sat in the middle.

“I only get coffee?” she asked chuckling.

“No,” he said. “Ah, here is Marta.”

“Happy Birthday, Nicola.”

“Mahalo, Marta.” Then she saw the tray filled with all her favorite tropical fruits, not to mention Marta’s macadamia nut pancakes along with coconut syrup. She watched as Marta set the tray on the table. “Oh, that looks delicious. Mahalo.”

“You are very welcome. Sit, eat. Enjoy your morning.”

She did as Marta ordered. Jensen sat opposite of her, a smug smile curving his lips. He reached for the pancakes and she smacked his hand.

“Who said you get any?”

He looked at her. “I was going to serve you first,” he said.

She realized he was serious. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“For everything. Not just for this, but the dress, and making sure Marta made this breakfast.”

“Well, this is only part of the fun.”

“What else do you have planned?”

“How about a drive around the island in a convertible? You always talk about doing that and we never have time.”

“That sounds brilliant,” she said as she poured coffee into his cup, then hers. “I guess I’ll have to put my hair up.”

“Yeah, I hate that, because I like to see you wear it down, it cannot be helped, however. Let’s eat so we can head out. It’s a gorgeous day.”

“So, the ride around the island,” she said pouring way too much syrup on her pancakes. “What else?”

He smiled. “It’s a surprise.”

She wanted to push him, but for this one day, she would simply go with the flow and enjoy his plans.

* * *

Jensen was so pleased with how the day was going, but he was a little apprehensive about the next part. He had talked over his plans with Serenity, and she seemed to think they were perfect. In fact, she had seemed positive that Nicola would love them. He took the Salt Lake exit.

“Is the Aloha Stadium Flea Market open today?” she asked looking over in the direction of the stadium.

He shook his head and turned to drive under the overpass. He pulled into a parking lot for a shopping center, his destination right in front of them. He parked in front of the building. She said nothing as she stared at the sign.

“Nicola?”

She looked at him.

“Are you mad?”

She shook her head. “I just don’t want to hog the ice.”

“I rented out the place for two hours. You get the ice all to yourself.”

She blinked. “I don’t have my skates or gear.”

“In the trunk.” When she continued to stare at him, his worry increased. “Say something. We don’t have to stay. We can just leave after I tell the owner.”

She raised both of her hands to cup his face, then she leaned forward and brushed her mouth over his. When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. “Thank you. It’s one of the best birthday presents I have ever gotten.”

His heart danced. “Yes?”

She nodded. As she wiped at her eyes. “Let’s go in so we can hit the ice.”

“Oh, no. I’m here to watch you. I’ve never seen you skate in person.”

She frowned. “Really?”

He shook his head.

“Let’s go. But once I skate, you are getting your cute ass out there too.”

He hoped that wasn’t true, because he could not skate to save his life. He slipped out of the car and grabbed the bag from the trunk that he’d packed. It only took ten minutes after they got into the skating rink for her to hit the ice. She was warming up when he gave a song to the manager.

“Nice thing you are doing for her,” the manager said.

“It’s her birthday and she loves to skate.”

“I recognize her.” Jensen tore his attention away from Nicola to look at the manager. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks.”

Then he sat down and watched as she skated around the rink, doing jumps and twirls.

She came over to him. “I wanted to skate to this Sia song.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

“I talked to Serenity. She told me that was your new favorite song to skate to. Just signal the booth when you’re ready.”

She crooked her finger, urging him closer. She leaned over and kissed him again. “I was serious, you will come skating with me.”

“I’m not dressed for it.”

“Buy some clothes. I’m sure they have gear.”

“That seems frivolous.”

She laughed as she skated backward away from him. “You’re a billionaire, Jensen. Suck it up.”

She went out onto the ice and motioned to the booth. He watched as she moved to Sia’s haunting voice as she sang of being unstoppable. He had never been a fan of women’s figure skating until he watched video of Nicola. But in person, it was completely different. With each jump, he held his breath until she stuck the landing. And she made every one of them. There was strength in her skating, but he could also see the ballet training. It was why she was so graceful, so amazing even off the ice. The music soared as she sped around the ice, until the perfect spot of the music. She flew through the air, and he found himself holding his breath as she twirled around three times.

She finished the routine off with a fist in the air. For a long moment, there was no sound in the rink, only the echo of the music that had stopped. He didn’t know what to say. His mind was still trying to wrap around what he had witnessed. She skated over to him.

“Jensen? Are you okay?”

He nodded. “That was…”

“What?” When he said nothing, she started to babble. “I can’t stick those crazy things they are doing today, but I can still do a triple, which is pretty amazing at my age.”

He stood. “That was possibly one of the most beautiful things I’ve watched.”

“Really?”

He nodded. She responded with a bright smile. “Thank you. Now, go get some skates buster. We are skating.”

At that moment, he couldn’t deny her anything, so he did her bidding. The Dom in him was pretty damned happy to do as she said, because she had given him a glimpse at perfection.

* * *

Nicola smiled as Jensen turned onto their street. “This was the most perfect day. Thank you.”

He slanted her a look. “I think you were more appreciative of the shrimp truck shrimp than my breakfast.”

“You didn’t make the breakfast.”

He grunted, but she didn’t care. The cool, sweet night air danced over her.

“May I ask you a question?”

“You can do anything you like,” she said with a laugh.

“You really are in a good mood.”

“The two glasses of wine helped.”

“Can you tell me why you walked away from it all?” he said as he turned into their drive after the gate opened. “You love to skate.”

She sighed as he parked the car.

“Never mind. I don’t want you to think about bad things today.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s okay. Let’s just go inside.”

He nodded and slipped out of the car. She followed him up the path to the front door and after walking inside, they both slipped off their shoes. She headed to the kitchen and sat on one of the bar stools. He sat beside her.

“I didn’t talk about it much at the time or since because…well, I’m not really sure why. At the time it was almost too much. I was so wrecked.”

“Did he cheat?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Not really. About a year before the Olympics, Oliver had a bad fall on the ice. He bruised his hip bone and convinced the doctor he needed some strong meds to get him through it. He didn’t want me to know. He told me everything was fine.”

“But it wasn’t?”

She shook her head thinking back to that crazy time in her life. “It didn’t happen overnight, but it felt as though it did. We had so much training to do, so many appearances and interviews, I didn’t notice that he was popping pills like they were candy.”

“He was an addict.” Not a question but a statement.

“Yes, and when I found out, I lost it. He promised me it was only for after practice, and I believed him because I was young and stupid.”

He brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. “And you loved him.”

She shrugged. “I thought I did at the time, but again, I was young. He had been my only boyfriend. Our lives were wrapped up in the skating world, and it was all we knew.”

She leaned back in the barstool seat.

“Go on,” he said.

“That exhibition, our last skate together, he was high. I didn’t realize it until we were out on the ice in the middle of our routine. Every toss left me in fear. By the time we got done, I was a mess.”

“And you walked away.”

“I wanted him to get help. I said we would make a joint statement. He refused and said he didn’t have a problem. I gave him an ultimatum, and he told me to go to hell. Those were the last words he said to me.”

He took her hand and raised it to his lips. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“I am sure you read the rest…or heard it.

“I would rather hear it from you.”

“Oliver was convinced I would out him. I was basically going to call his mother and father, and demand that we have an intervention, but I would have never gone to the tabloids.” She sighed. “He killed himself that night.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

“It was a long time ago.

“Nevertheless, it had an impact on your life. Is that why you started working as a sober companion?”

She nodded. “In a roundabout way. A year after Oliver’s death, my mother made me go to a support group for family and friends of addicts. It was there I realized that much of Oliver’s behavior before the drugs had been borderline abusive. It took me awhile to come to terms with that, but once I did, another member approached me and told me I should think about being a sober companion.”

“And then a few years later, my mother hired you.”

She nodded.

“I truly hate that you went through all of that. It must have been so difficult.”

“The aftermath was worse. I was the horrible woman who caused all the problems. His parents attacked me in the press. I went from being America’s Sweetheart to the demon woman.”

“Come on,” he said, as he tugged her off the barstool.

He took her to his room. She expected some extra special play for the night. Instead, he turned her around and pulled the pins out of her hair.

“I obsess about your hair. It’s so amazing.”

Before she could respond, Jensen turned her around again. Still, no orders. He undressed her slowly, lovingly. With each move, she felt cherished. Her heart seemed lodged in her throat. After pulling off her dress, he undid her bra, bending his head to take first one nipple, then the other into his mouth.

Desire soared as his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her thong. He bent to help her step out of it, then stayed on his knees. He pressed his mouth against her sex, his tongue slipping inside of her over and over. She settled her hands on his shoulders as he teased her clit with the scrape of his teeth. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Arousal twisted with a deeper need, one that she didn’t even know she had. To be needed, wanted in this way, to be treated as if she were something precious, all of it entwined with the love she had for him.

He continued to tease her clit as he slid a finger inside of her. He had given her no orders, so as she felt her orgasm approach, she didn’t even try to fight it. Electricity sparked as she set her hands against the back of his head to urge him on. She was so close, so damned close. She thought she would never make it to the pinnacle as the heat that had built in her stomach dropped lower. Her legs shook, her body bowed against his mouth, and in the next instant, she screamed his name as she tumbled over the edge into bliss. He kept his mouth against her as she rode out her orgasm. By the time he rose to his feet, she was barely able to stand.

Jensen lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. He stripped out of his clothes, then joined her, covering her body with his. The kiss he gave her then was filled with tenderness and need. By the time he pulled back, she had to blink tears away. The man was undoing her with every move he made. She was helpless against the flood of emotion that twisted through her. Love and desire intertwined and then surrounded her heart.

“What?” he asked.

She shook her head not wanting to burden him. Nicola didn’t want to ruin the moment, not now.

Jensen rose to his knees, then lifted her up by her hips. In one fast, hard move, he thrust into her. She was wet enough that it didn’t hurt, but she was still sensitive from her release. Even so, she didn’t care. This was what she wanted, what she needed right at that particular moment. He started to move inside of her. She had thought she wouldn’t be able to come again, but he built up her need once again, pushing her to her limits. His moves were lazy at first, but soon, he was moving faster and harder in and out of her. As he coaxed another orgasm from her, her body bowed up off the bed. She seemed to have no control as he kept moving, teasing her, not allowing her to shy away from what he wanted from her. Again, he built her up, using his cock and his hands. Her release was shimmering just out of her reach when he slipped his hand down to her clit. He pressed hard against it, sending her soaring into another release. He followed her in the next moment as he groaned out her name.

Jensen collapsed on her and she wrapped her arms around him. She loved when he dominated her, but this night would be something she would hold close to her heart forever.

“Oh, bloody hell,” he said lifting his head.

“You say the sweetest things to me.”

“No, we didn’t use a condom.”

“Oh. Well, I’m on the pill, so no worries there.”

“I’ve been tested.” She knew he meant for AIDS. He had been a heroin addict, so that made sense.

“As I have. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

“Okay.” He bent his head and kissed her. It was long, wet, and sweet. “Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you,” she said, trying her best to keep it light.

“I…I want you to know that you aren’t that girl.”

She blinked. “What?”

“You were never stupid, but you were young and sheltered. He hurt you.”

“Jensen—”

“No. I have something to say. I wanted you to know how much I care about you. I wanted you to know just how special you are, that you aren’t someone who should have been treated that way. And to know, coming from an addict, that none of it is your fault.”

For a long moment, she couldn’t say anything. The lump in her throat made it difficult. In the aftermath of Oliver’s suicide and the end of her career, no one had said that to her. Not even her parents.

She raised her hand and skimmed her fingers over his cheek. “Thank you.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, then he asked, “How about a shower?”

“Sounds divine.”

He slipped out of her, then off the mattress. He picked her up again and walked to the bathroom. She had a lot of worries, but right now, none of them seemed to matter.

After the quick shower, Jensen and Nicola had snuggled together. He knew from her even breathing that she was sleeping within five minutes. It had been a long day, and he had made sure he wore her out when they made love.

Jensen didn’t know exactly when he decided not to use Domination tonight. It was probably when she had finished her story. He had wanted to do nothing more than to love her. He needed her to know just how special she was.

He was sure he accomplished that, but now he had another problem to solve: How did he convince her that she should take another chance on an addict?