The Love He Craves (The Love She Craves: Selling Her Soul to Declan Book 2) (37 page)

Declan was about to shut off his computer when he heard Nyxie say, "That was weird." He couldn't agree more. His official last day of residency had dragged on forever as he had looked forward to locking himself away and watching how well she followed his instructions. He was well pleased and would show her later tonight.

When he had come home from work an hour earlier, she was out of the house, probably at Cody's therapy session, but her phone had been left behind on the kitchen counter, hooked up to the charger. Because it was powered off, he suspected she had forgotten to stop the recording and had run down the battery until it shut off.

He took the phone back to his side of the townhouse, hooked it up to his computer to download the video, and began to watch. He had expected her to turn off the recording before she left the restroom, but continued to watch when she began making faces at the camera while the women's backs were turned. It was one of those rare moments where she was being herself, unguarded and no doubt happy to have her task completed. But when his dad entered, he couldn't stop watching. Thank God he had been nice to her or he would have had to confront him.

Afterwards, he'd been about to shut it off when she said aloud, "That was weird.”

Did she always talk to herself when she was alone? Despite the fact that the camera was pointing at an air vent, he continued to sit in front of his monitor as it played. He pulled out his phone and checked his e-mail as she drove away from the high school. He chuckled when she started singing along with Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio, which turned into belly laughs when she imitated the operatic section of the song with an out-of-tune falsetto and bass. Her singing abruptly stopped.

“Look left, look right, look left again. Proceed," she said out loud.

"Good girl," he said, realizing she continued relying on her driving lessons. Maybe she wasn't ready for the short drive out of town by herself. She changed the radio station incessantly looking for a song she liked. It drove him nuts.

It wasn't long before the engine shut off and his view changed. He got a quick flash of the interior of the car and then heard her feet on the sidewalk as she walked along the perimeter of a parking lot. He saw grass and trees and then the exterior of a brick building before she walked through metal doors into a hallway lined with blue subway tiles and lockers. It didn't take a genius to realize she was at one of the other schools in Chimera Flats.

"May I help you?" a voice said.

"We moved to Lubbock and I wanted to see about getting my nieces’ records to enroll them in school there."

“Uhm, Claudia just went to lunch. You need to talk to her."

"When will she be back?"

"I really don't know. She went with the principal and a bunch of teachers. This time of year, they might be gone for two hours, maybe longer."

"You can't run the copies?"

Declan could hear the frustration in Nyxie's voice.

"I just started a week ago. I don't even know her computer password, and the IT guy is on vacation, so I don't have one yet."

"Okay, thanks." Nyxie waited until she was back in the car to say, “Dammit."

A few minutes later, she was at the junior high. Technically, it was a middle school—sixth grade through eighth, but in a small town, no one had a deep-seated need to change the sign when they reconfigured the grades that went there.

She had no problem procuring Cody's records, and answered a few questions about his progress since the accident. She was getting ready to leave when she stopped and asked the clerk one more thing. "I didn't have the money to get Cody’s school pictures. Do you know what they do with them?"

"I really don't know, but I remember one of the parents asking about having extras printed, so maybe they save the negatives or the digital files or whatever they do now."

"Do you know the name of the photographer?"

Before the woman could answer, a woman’s voice beckoned to Nyxie, calling her Onyx.

"Mrs. North?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm getting Cody's records so I can get him enrolled at his new school."

"I mean, why aren't you on your honeymoon?"

"Declan had to work two more days before his vacation. We just figured if we had the wedding the weekend before, we could have a longer honeymoon."

"Are you going any place exotic?"

"I don't know. Declan is keeping it a secret."

"Marilyn, are you ready," a male voice in the distance, interrupted.

"Sorry. I've got to go," Mrs. North said. "I'd love it if you brought Cody around to see me every now and then."

"He'd like that too."

Nyxie left the school and shortly after that, the recording abruptly stopped. No doubt the phone battery had died.

Declan shut off his laptop and made a phone call.

"Hey, Mom."

"Declan, honey, what's wrong?"

Declan rolled his eyes. It seemed as if every time he called her, she assumed he must be in trouble of some sort. "Nothing's wrong. I just wanted a small favor.”

Chapter 34

Apparently, Declan was incapable of doing anything half-assed, Nyxie was finding out. The morning their honeymoon began, a bus-sized RV with a brand-new 4-door red Jeep Wrangler Rubicon attached behind by a tow bar was delivered to the house. Declan backed his Jeep out of the garage and handed the keys to the man who had driven the RV, and the man drove off in the pint-sized Jeep.

Nyxie wondered why he had had her pack the red ropes and other assorted adult toys, since they would be too close to the kids and nanny to use them in the relatively tight space of the RV.

Trust him
, she chastised herself.

She soon realized he had chosen the rented RV as their mode of travel for several reasons, but mostly to accommodate Cody. He still tired easily and Declan liked the idea that Cody could rest whenever he needed. Also, with Kylie, they numbered six occupants and they would not fit into anything but a van or an SUV with a third seat, and she suspected, Declan was unwilling to completely cash in his cool card just yet. The way things stood, when they started adding to their family, he would have to make the sacrifice.

Declan tried to keep the traveling in short hops to keep from tiring Cody too much. Their first day, they went to Carlsbad Caverns—just a few hours away. Cody had been upset to find that Declan had stowed away a wheelchair for him to use for the mile and a half walking trail at the bottom of the cavern. But when the time came, and he had walked as far as he could, he reluctantly sat down in it. Declan promised to take everyone back when Cody was strong enough to walk down the natural entrance, so they could all get the full experience. But even without trekking down the natural cavern opening, they were all fascinated by the stalagmites, stalactites and other formations, each making liberal use of their phone’s camera. They filled up the rest of the day with a stop at a tourist trap where he bought, much to Nyxie's disapproval, overpriced souvenirs and T-shirts for everyone. Although Declan considered either returning at sunset to watch the bats fly out of the cave or sending the nanny and kids to the drive-in movie theatre in town, he could see Cody wasn’t up to it so they opted for a family game night around the RV’s kitchen table.

The next day, they found themselves at Red River and Taos, enjoying the artsy communities and the beautiful scenery. Nyxie and Reina loved the mountains of New Mexico. Declan pulled the RV into a hotel and rented a pair of suites for the night—one for Kylie and the kids, the other for the newlyweds, where Nyxie spent nearly every minute tied up and made love to. On the third day, Declan drove them to the Mesa Verde ruins in Colorado. Where Nyxie had been excited by the mountains to the south, she was now in complete awe of the Rockies. She had never seen anything so big in her whole life. The day after that, they found themselves in South Fork, Colorado, where his grandparents had once owned a cabin and he intended to stay for at least a week. Nyxie loved Colorado from the snow-topped mountains, to the pleasant daytime temperatures—though in the morning it was a bit nippy—to the way it smelled. Everywhere she looked, the place looked like a postcard. They climbed the mountain behind his grandparents’ former cabin and he showed them where someone had erected poles into a teepee with a Texas license plate from the 50s hanging from the top. He said he had spent many summer days playing there in his childhood, and he seriously considered buying a cabin in the small town, but wasn't sure if he'd be there enough to justify it. Cody found a single deer antler that he decided must come home with him as a souvenir and the girls picked up pinecones and pieces of fool’s gold.

Declan took them on day trips to fish, to see the repertory theatre in Creede and told scary stories when they visited the abandoned mine of Silverton.

The next day, Declan took the top off the Jeep and took them for a long drive in the mountains. They drove through streams and crawled the Jeep up rocky terrain, which had every female in the car holding on for dear life, and the males laughing at them.

Declan soon realized during their trip, that Kylie was worth every cent he paid her. She kept the kids occupied during travel times, but anytime they piled into the Jeep and left her with the RV because she wouldn't fit, she would happily acknowledge it was their vacation and she was there as their employee. If they didn't need her, she was perfectly happy to stay behind and pick out her classes for the fall semester or catch up on Facebook.

They were entering their second week of their honeymoon when Declan wanted to send the kids horseback riding, while he claimed some alone time with Nyxie to teach her a little mountain climbing. Unfortunately, Kylie protested being given the RV to drive while they took the Jeep. She was terrified to drive anything so big, so Declan handed her the keys to the Jeep and a credit card, while he and Nyxie drove off in the RV to find a bit of adventure.

Declan drove the behemoth about 45 minutes, before he turned off the blacktop onto a dirt road. The dishes and the pans rattled as they climbed the rough, narrow road on the side of the snow-capped mountain, hugging the guard rails on half of the switchbacks.

Nyxie noticed they hadn't seen any other vehicles since they had pulled off the main highway, so when he stopped the RV on a wide spot in the road, she wasn't too concerned that parking there while they hiked the rest of the way, would cause much problem if someone did come along.

He produced a pair of backpacks. His was much heavier than hers, as his contained mountaineering equipment, an abundance of survival gear, and supplies in case they got lost or had bad weather strike. Hers held duplicates of some of the same things in case they became separated, warm clothes, protein bars, a couple of bottles of water, another first aid kit and a sleeping bag. They hiked up the side of the mountain through the pine trees for an hour before they reached the rock face he wanted to climb.

"I can't believe I'm winded," Nyxie said, stopping to catch her breath, her hand over her chest as she drew in deep gulps of mountain air. "I think you need to let me start walking again. I'm really out of shape."

"It’s the altitude, baby. The air is so thin up her, the trees can’t survive much higher up than this."

About fifteen minute later, his words rang true, and they found themselves above the tree line.

"Is it safe this high up?"

“We'll be okay. This isn't like Mount Everest or anything. We’ll stop when you need to catch your breath. I thought we would climb to the top and play in the snow for a little bit. We’ll repel about halfway down, fuck like Chuck, then head back to South Fork."

She was so fixated with the idea of playing in the snow in August, that she nearly missed him saying he intended to have sex with her up there.

"In the snow?"

"Not that high up. I'm thinking right about there,” he said pointing at a spot midway up the rock face.

"What? Out here? Someone might see us."

Declan laughed. "We haven't seen any cars out here yet. And frankly, let them watch."

"But…how would we…up there?"

He used his thumb to point at the pack on his back as if the solution was hidden away inside. "Hanging from ropes."

“Oh." Nyxie bit her lip as she tried to figure out if he truly meant it. He wore an infectious boyish smile and she realized if he wanted to have sex hanging from ropes on the side of the mountain, even if other people could see, she couldn't or wouldn't deny him the experience.

Declan grabbed her hand and began the final two-hundred-yard trek to the cliff he wanted to climb, as if he couldn’t wait to get to it. As they neared, the natural vegetation was replaced by a terrain covered in rocks; no doubt most had once been part of the cliff itself, perhaps an ancient rockslide. When they stood at the base of the sheer rock wall, she wondered if they would be the first people to climb it since the last spring snowfall, hoping there would be no footstep in the snow to mar its beauty. Nyxie estimated the cliff to be about as tall as a five-story building, but rather than being terrified, it reminded her of how thrilled she used to be when she climbed high into trees when she was younger. However, this cliff was more than twice as high as any tree she had ever been in.

As Declan crouched down to pull the equipment out of his pack for the climb, Nyxie studied the challenge ahead. Her eyes followed a path of natural handholds upwards as she silently mapped out a path.

"You know I'm half-monkey, don't you?" she asked, grabbing a protruding rock.

Within a few seconds, she was five feet up and searching for another handhold, her feet on tiny rocks about eighteen inches apart.

"No, Nyxie!" he said rising to his feet, but she kept climbing. "Dammit, Nyxie, stop."

She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled as she pulled herself up out of his reach. "I bet you can't catch me." As soon as she could spot hand and footholds for all of her appendages, she’d climb a little higher.

Declan bent over, shoving ropes and harnesses back into his pack. "When I catch you—

Nyxie’s sudden squeal of fear cut his threat short, and his whole body reacted instantly to the sound. His head and his eyes turned up just as the large rock, that she had unintentionally dislodged, rained down on him along with smaller debris, hitting him in the face before he saw it.

Crying out in pain, he fell onto his bottom. His hands flew to his eyes as his whole body twisted and writhed in agony.

"Fuck me," flew from Nyxie's mouth. "Are you—oh fuck. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

It took twice as long to come down the short distance and she dropped the last four feet. Declan was supporting his weight on his shins and elbows when she reached him.

She fell to her knees at his side, her hand gently upon his back. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, unsure how to help. Her voice sounded calm, but she was far from it. Her brain hovered between panic and shutting down completely.

He was muttering obscenities under his breath, attesting to his pain.

"What can I do? How can I help?" she asked.

Both of them were breathing hard and speaking breathlessly.

"My cell phone is in my backpack. See if you can get a signal and call 911."

She snatched up the pack and began digging through the contents. "Where?"

"In the backpack," he snapped as he lowered his ass to his heels and began erecting his carriage.

"Where in the backpack? I can't find it."

"Front pocket!"

She understood he was barking at her because he was hurt and probably as close to panic as she was.

"I've got it." With shaky hands, she struggled to free the phone from the pocket, her hands sweaty and in too much of a hurry to be efficient. As soon as it was free, she thrust it at him and she truly looked at him for the first time.

His hands remained cupped over his face, blood running down the right side and between his fingers. She wanted to vomit. Turning the phone back to herself, she swiped her finger across the display. "What your passcode?"

"Ten-oh-five."

She stared at the display, exactly like hers and didn't see what she was looking for.

"Where's the ten?"

"What? Nyxie, take a couple of deep breaths and calm down. We both need to calm down."

Nyxie was unable to focus enough to hear him and she kept scanning the key pad for the number ten, thinking she was just missing it.

"Are you calm now?"

"What? There is no fucking ten, Declan. How do I get to the ten?"

"Nyxie! Stop!" he yelled in full Dom voice. "Who am I?"

"What?"

"Who am I?" he demanded.

"You are Declan Stryker, my husband, my Dom."

Her voice sounded high-pitched even to her own ears. What the fuck was wrong with him that he would ask her such a stupid question when she couldn’t find the fucking ten? And yet, even as she said it, it distracted her enough to anchor her thoughts.

"Look at me. Focus on me."

"I can't. I can't look at you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Calm down, Nyxie. I need you to prove what you have been telling me. I need you to prove that you are not a broken bird but a strong woman. Can you do that for me?"

She had no idea what he was talking about—the words made very little sense. But she did respond to the calmness in his voice.

"Okay," she said slowly. "Where's the ten?”

He pulled one bloody hand away from his face making an open handed gesture, patting the air in a downward motion as if to reinforce his treaties of staying calm. "There is no ten, Nyxie. The code is one, zero, zero, five."

"Why didn't you say so the first time?"

Even without seeing her, the frustration and stress was clearly evident in her tone. "We are going to laugh about this conversation someday."

"Maybe
you
will," she said under her breath as she lifted the phone to her ear, waiting for the phone to connect. "It's not ringing."

A low growl emanated from his throat. "How many bars do we have?"

She pulled the phone away from her head and studied the display. "None."