Destiny's Whisper (2 page)

Jordan looked up into her husband’s face, her look filled with astonishment, “Well it’s about time, I’ve been dropping hints he do just that for three years! You would think he would have picked up on it long before now!” she answered excitedly, leaping into Aleksei’s surprised arms and kissing him soundly.

Aleksei’s look was confusion-filled. Here he’d been worried about her
not
liking the idea and now she was claiming to have been hinting at just such a proposition–and for three years! Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he watched as his wife skated in circles around him. “You have no objection to this possibility?”

“None at all. And why should I? You didn’t do all that badly as a pair, despite your initial misgivings. You know how much Sergei loves to skate with me. Why wouldn’t he want to skate with someone else? As long as it’s the
right
someone else.” Jordan’s mind whirled with possibilities for her son.

“That’s the operative word here, Jordan, the someone else. There’s the small matter of a
partner
for him.” Aleksei reminded her. “It’s one thing to skate with your
mother
, it’s another thing to skate with someone
other
than your mother. If you recall, I wasn’t too keen on skating with you in the beginning.”

“That’s different–there were extenuating circumstances that clouded your better judgment–and Whittaker, being the fine coach he is, made the decision for you. And confess, despite our initial
disagreements
, we managed just fine.” Jordan argued.

“
Initial disagreements
? Jordan I could have happily murdered you in the beginning and not even flinched when they put me in the electric chair and flipped the switch!” Aleksei countered on a laugh.

Jordan skated to meet her husband on the ice. Her hands slid around his waist and slipped lower to squeeze his firm bottom as she leaned against him; the warmth of her full breasts blending with the firm muscles of his wide chest increased his heart rate. He still had the best butt in the world as far as she was concerned. With eyes darkening to a deep green, she gazed into his ebony eyes and smiled seductively. “I’m very glad you didn’t murder me. Think of everything you would have missed,” she offered and raised up on her toe picks, her lips meeting his in a heated kiss.

Aleksei’s body responded immediately to his wife’s seductive kiss and he had to remind himself they were standing in the center of the ice rink, where anyone could come in. Despite the fact he wanted nothing more than to make love to her, he refused to risk publicly embarrassing anyone. With an effort, he pulled away from Jordan’s sensuous touch and smiled down into her flushed face. “You’ll never know how glad, but I’ll be sure to show you just how glad tonight!” He promised deeply, his tone filled with passion. With a final quick kiss, he left her side and began to skate around the ice in an effort to regain control of his raging hormones and loosen up his muscles for their practice session.

Jordan watched the love of her life and recognized the passion that ran through his body like a raging fire. This practice session promised to be one that would leave them both exhausted by the end of it and yet ready to explode as their desire for each other flamed out of control. With a knowing, sensuous smile, Jordan began to slowly skate toward her husband, picking up her pace when he breezed by her and winked knowingly at her.

Whoever said minds couldn’t be read had never seen Aleksei and Jordan in action!

“You are friggin’ nuts, Whittaker, if you think you’re going to hook me up with some little girl who thinks she can emulate my parents by skating with me!” Sergei growled deeply, his voice blessedly not breaking and ruining the macho effect he strove for. “ Where’d you get such a nutso idea?”

“Your father didn’t disagree with the concept. In fact, I’d say it probably pleased him somewhat, you know, following in his footsteps and all.” Whittaker hedged.

“Dad started out as a single. The only reason he hooked up with mom was because he broke his stupid leg. Otherwise, he’d still be a single!” Sergei stated, his finger stabbing the air to emphasize his point.

“Maybe–maybe not-that’s something we’ll never know. But know this, if he hadn’t switched to pairs, you and your sister wouldn’t be here now!”

“Don’t play that card, Whittaker. Mom and Dad were meant to be together and somehow would have found each other, despite you believing you were responsible.”

“I was responsible. Did I, or did I not bring them together?” Whittaker argued.

“Which time? Their first meeting in Canada when Mom cut Dad’s leg open, or when you and Dee decided to put them together as a team and they nearly killed each other?” Sergei countered.

Frank scowled at Sergei with narrowed eyes, obviously he knew the whole story of how his parents had come together, their shaky start, the accident that nearly destroyed the team and, finally, their amazing success at the Olympic games. There were few people in the world that didn’t know their story; movies had been made, books written about them. Now, he was asking their son to take a risk and follow in footsteps that were golden. Frank had no doubt Sergei could be successful at pairs, he just had to convince the young man of the same thing.

“Tell me you don’t like skating pairs with your mother.” Frank suddenly stated.

“I can’t say that and you know it. I love skating with Mom.” Sergei fired off.

“So why can’t you skate the same way with someone else?” Frank countered.

“Why should I skate pairs at all? I’ve got the elements I need to skate singles and be successful, I don’t
need
to skate pairs!”

“You’re right, you’ve got the required elements down pat technically–but you’ve got no style when you skate, you’re just a madman dashing around the ice doing jumps and spins, you’ve got power and energy but no finesse. But when you skate with your mother, something changes in you and suddenly you’ve got style and technique and a beauty to your skating that’s missing when you’re alone.”

“Just like Dad’s, right?”

“No! I’m not looking to make another
Aleksei
Rocmanov; one was more than enough, thanks. I’m interested in seeing what
Sergei
Rocmanov has to offer.” Frank stated calmly.

Sergei looked Frank square in the eyes, unblinking, and in a tone that was far older than his years, growled, “I’ll have final say over who my partner is–I won’t be railroaded the way Mom and Dad were–not by you, not by anyone. And if I feel you’re not as serious about this fiasco as I think you should be, your ass is out of here and I’m finding myself a new coach!”

Frank blinked in surprise, dumbfounded by Sergei’s mature declaration and nodded in agreement, extending his hand to Sergei and smiling at the young man’s firm handshake as they sealed the deal. “I can’t promise you this is going to be easy.”

“Since when is anything worthwhile easy?” Sergei asked honestly, returning the handshake.

“Good point.” Frank nodded in agreement, releasing Sergei’s hand.

“So when do we start?” Sergei asked, his attention suddenly drawn away from Whittaker to the high-pitched shriek of welcome as his sister called his name from the other side of the wide room.

“Oh Christ,” Sergei mumbled, rolling his eyes as he watched his seventeen-year-old sister race through the thickening crowd of people waiting for the ice to be cleared for public skate time, her attention focused solely on him, a wide smile lighting up her face.

“Sergei, Sergei, Sergei…” she called over and over, finally reaching him and launching herself into his arms.

Sergei’s breath left in a gentle puff as he caught his sister in his arms, hugging her in return and placing a loud kiss on her cheek before setting her on her feet. “You’re back early, Dani. We weren’t expecting you for another two days.”

Danielle Rocmanov looked up at her brother, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she noted his height. “You grew again, didn’t you?”

“Not all of us get to be
short
, Dani, “ he teased her, his shoulder taking the light punch she threw at him.

Sergei looked down at his sister. The top of her felt hat-covered head almost reached his chin. Her green eyes shone brightly as she looked up at him adoringly. A bright smile showed off straight white teeth framed by full lips colored a soft peach. She’d inherited her mother’s pale complexion, high cheekbones and stubborn chin. Her figure was petite and just beginning its journey toward womanhood.

“I was only gone for a short while. That didn’t mean you had to grow another two inches. If you’ll note, I didn’t do that.” Dani growled, spreading her arms wide and making a quick circle to show him she hadn’t changed.

“Eight weeks, Dani. You were gone eight weeks at that skating camp, which, considering how much it cost Mom and Dad to send you, I hope did you some good. Did you at least learn something new?” Sergei teased her again. Not that she had needed the additional training; she skated circles around him and had the
style
that Whittaker was forever raving about. The training camp had been more of a reward for Dani than a punishment; it had given her the chance to see if skating was what she wanted her future to be and it gave her the perfect chance to size up the future competitors she would face.

“As a matter of fact, there wasn’t a single new thing they could teach me. I am so great, everyone was in awe of me!” she bragged in a bored tone, laughing out loud at her brother’s disgusted expression.

“Yeah, I can just imagine how in
awe
they were of you.” Aleksei taunted, flicking the brim of her felt hat so that it tipped back and slid off her head to the floor. “Holy shit, Dani! What did you do to your hair?” Sergei growled, shocked to see short, soft curls the color of honey where auburn waves that reached her waist should have been. “Mom and Dad are going to freak! What were you thinking?”

Dani ran her hands through her new short hairstyle, loving the way it felt against her fingers and loving even more the fact her head felt twenty pounds lighter. “It’s easier to skate with it short. I got tired of always having to mess with all that hair and the fact it took forty-nine hairpins to keep it in a bun. If you want long hair, you grow it!” She finished, scooping her hat up off the floor and pushing it into her coat pocket. “Where are Mom and Dad?”

“Probably still on the ice, and if I recognized the look in Dad’s eyes, you may not want to disturb them.” Sergei chuckled knowingly. Their parents had made no secret of the love they shared and the children had grown up watching the love their parents had for each other openly. It had been nothing out of the ordinary to catch their parents kissing and hugging at any given time and it had become a family joke to announce ‘nap time’ when their parents had wanted quiet time alone.

“You’d think they’d have learned to control themselves by now. For heavens sake it’s embarrassing watching them, they’re worse than teenagers.” Dani complained, casting a devilish look at her brother. “Speaking of which, how’s your love life, brother dear? Still steaming up the car windows with ol’ what’s her name?” She asked in a sickeningly sweet imitation of a southern accent before rolling her eyes in disgust. Felicity was simply the latest in a long line of girlfriends.

“Her name is Felicity, and that’s none of your business. What I do with whom has nothing to do with you!” Sergei challenged. “Besides, I’d be more concerned with Mom and Dad’s reaction to your new look!” Sergei suggested, meandering through the ever-thickening crowd and stepping over out-stretched feet wiggling into rental skates.

“You’re just trying to change the subject from what’s important to what’s no big deal.” Dani fired back, following in her brother’s wake.

“Believe me, Mom and Dad are going to think that thing you did to your head is a very big deal. I hope you had fun at your camp, it could be years before they let you out of their sight again!” he finished, holding open the door to the office and letting his sister enter before him.

Cynthia Washington searched crazily through the papers covering her desk looking for a pencil, the phone tucked between her ear and shoulder, firing off questions and then questioning the answers she was hearing on the other end of the call. Glancing up, her smile widened as she spotted Sergei, mouthing
where’s a damn pencil
and then smiling in embarrassment when he pointed to her ear. With a chagrined smile, she pulled the pencil from behind her ear and began rapidly jotting down notes. Two minutes later she finished the call, her voice filled with frustration. “Just once, I’d like a costume company to get their orders straight. Who in their right mind would put a six-year-old in a ladies size large? Don’t they have any damn common sense at all?” she trailed off, a scream of welcome exploding from her wide smiling face when she spotted Danielle leaning against the wall next to the door.

With arms spread wide, she rushed to greet Dani, enfolding her in her arms and hugging her tightly. “You’re back, sweet pea, and early too! Oh, your parents are going to be thrilled. They’ve missed you so much!” Cynthia babbled, giving her a final quick hug before holding her at arms length and running her gaze lovingly up and down her slim body, her eyes widening in surprise when her eyes came to rest on Dani’s face and the new hairstyle that fairly screamed out
notice me
! “Holy shit, Dani, what the hell did you do to your hair?”