The Love He Craves (The Love She Craves: Selling Her Soul to Declan Book 2) (9 page)

Nyxie chuckled. “When I saw you walk in with the sheets, I thought you were here to finish my exam. You scared me.”

She laughed. “I promise I won’t hunt you down unless you miss your appointment. Will we be taking care of the Pap smear this time?”

In other words, had she lost her virginity yet? Her face suddenly felt warm. “Yes.”

Emily grinned. “I didn’t think it would take him very long. Everything go all right?” She clamped her mouth shut as she looked pointedly at the girl.

“Everything went great—well, except he gets kind of annoyed if I…finish too quickly.”

Emily’s hand lifted to her mouth to cover up a smile. “God, that sounds just like him. He should just be happy you did. If he says that again, challenge him to make you
finish
again before he does. He’s so frickin’ competitive, I bet he’ll pick up that gauntlet and run with it.”

Nyxie’s laughter was interrupted as Declan and Reina came through the door. He immediately moved to Cody’s bedside where he rolled the tray table, handing Nyxie everything on it. With exaggerated care, he took Bear-Bear from Reina.

“Careful,” Reina said, her eyebrows drawn together between her eyes.

He placed the teddy bear on the table and unfolded the towel.

“Did you bring everything?” he asked Emily.

“Are you serious? A teddy bear?”

Declan moved behind Reina and tilted the little girl’s face toward Emily. “Could you stand seeing this face cry?”

“Fine. I’m in.” Emily said, shaking her head and sporting a chagrined smile.

“I tried to get you to leave the suture kit and go,” he said, reaching for the surgical gowns she brought with her.

In a few minutes, Declan and Emily were gowned and gloved and standing over the teddy bear.

“If you can pack the wound with cotton, I’ll do the rest.”

Declan had barely begun stitching the bear’s arm back on, when a knock sounded at the door and Dr. Patel walked in with Dr. Lannister on their evening rounds.

Declan cringed and suddenly felt as if he just handed his balls to Nyxie on a plate.

“What on earth?” Dr. Patel said. Seeing their patient, he began laughing, which woke up Cody. “This is like some lightbulb joke…. How many residents does it take to sew up the teddy bear…? Too bad I’m not quick enough to come up with a punchline.”

“It’s funny without a punchline,” Lannister said.

“Love makes us do many crazy things,” Patel said. “Besides, it’s never wrong to practice your skills, especially when your hands are big and clumsy like Stryker’s,” Dr. Patel teased as he had a hundred times before.

“Big hands, big…package,” Declan said. “Why do you think she married me?”

Emily’s and Declan’s eyes met above their surgical masks as if she were trying to decide if she heard him correctly. Declan shrugged and a smile lit up his eyes.

~*~

Dr. Lannister gave Nyxie a hard stare, which made her made her fidget uncomfortably. She could only imagine what his colleagues thought of his impulsive gesture. Suddenly, she blurted out the only thing to explain his rashness.

“He just married me to help me get my kids back.”

Declan’s whole body stiffened, but only Nyxie noticed. “Can you finish this, please,” he said to Emily, holding out the instruments in his hands.

“Here, let an expert do it,” Dr. Patel said, sliding into Declan’s spot and taking the forceps from him.

“Onyx, may I speak with you in the hallway,” he said with his teeth clamped together as he reached behind him to pull the strings on the surgical gown.

“You’re in trouble now,” Lannister said to Nyxie with a grin.

“Shut the fuck up, Bubba,” Nyxie said over her shoulder as she shuffled past the others in the overcrowded room.

Declan stripped off the surgical wear and gloves without economy of movements, and then followed her into the corridor. He made sure the door was completely closed before he spoke.

“It’s barely been an hour since I told you not to say I married you to get your kids back. If you don’t want to be a real wife, we can return to our original terms. Bow your head when I talk to you.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered.

“Take a taxi home tonight—get your clothes out of my closet. I don’t want to see you again until I call. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I don’t want to hear from you unless it’s an emergency.”

The part of Nyxie which rebelled, wanted to say, “I’ve managed without you for the last twenty years.” But she knew his tightly controlled temper was already ignited and she’d be wise to keep her mouth shut.

“I don’t want you at the hospital before 11:00 o’clock or later than 7:00. Take. A. Taxi.”

“Yes, sir,” she said. “I’m sorry, Declan.”

“
Sir
,” he corrected. “You’ve lost your privilege to call me by my name. You’ve lost all your privileges. You are nothing but a sub to me.”

Declan saw the girl from the pizza place coming down the hall. He stepped away from Nyxie without a word and reached into his wallet. He paid the woman and instructed her to give the pizzas and drinks to Nyxie and he strode away from her without saying goodbye or taking any of the food.

Chapter 9

At Declan’s request, the agency sent Nyxie three applicants for the nanny position who could start almost immediately. She suspected she was more nervous than the women who turned up at her door. The first one, Nyxie hated instantly. She wore tight blue jeans and a low-cut sorority T-shirt that accentuated her perfect big boobs and small waist. She was pretty and no doubt popular—the kind of girl who had tormented Onyx every day in school. As they sat at the breakfast bar, Nyxie noticed the woman had put her purse on the counter to conceal her cell phone, which she constantly fiddled with, even when they were speaking. Sorority girl asked to see her future room and complained about the lack of satellite for her television. She wanted to know what kind of Internet they used. By the time Nyxie managed to get her out the door, Nyxie felt as if she had been interviewed, not the other way around.

The second applicant was a twenty-year-old college student. Nyxie was quick to notice they were very similar in personality. The girl had a slight timid streak, and although her face lit up when Lotus and Reina came down in the middle of the interview, Nyxie worried that Declan might be attracted to her.

So, she hired the last person she interviewed. Kiki Hallett was about forty years old and very professional. She emphasized the children’s need for routine and structure. Since Nyxie hadn’t had either growing up, what she said seemed to make sense to her. She wanted the kids to have the kind of life she imagined most children lived. She moved into the spare bedroom on Nyxie’s side two days later.

~*~

Nyxie expected Declan to come by sometime between his current shift and the next one, but he never turned up. After three days with no word, she really began to worry. She knew with his crazy work schedule, he barely had time to eat and sleep, so she kept telling herself his silence meant nothing more than he was too busy for her.

On the fifth post-argument day, two birth certificates, hers and Cody’s, appeared overnight on her kitchen counter with a note.

These came in the mail yesterday.

After a few more days, his comings and goings became uniform, and Nyxie suspected he might have begun his Emergency Department rotation. When a full week had passed with no word from him, she entered his townhouse at 5:30 AM, disrobed, and presented next to his armoire.

She waited like that until his alarm woke him.

He groaned and cursed as he rolled over and shut it off. She held her breath and waited for him to notice her, but he crossed the room and disappeared into the bathroom for couple of minutes. She was mostly hidden from view when he went to his bureau and pulled on a pair of shorts. Her head was down, fixed on the spot on the carpet, but she could tell by the hesitation in his step, the exact moment when his eyes fell upon her.

She wanted to look up to see his face and gauge his reaction, but she also wanted him to see her submission.

He walked past her, leaving his bedroom, descending the stairs at the end of the room. From the floor below, she heard the low whirl of his treadmill and his footfalls as he worked out. He quickly escalated from warm up, to full-out run and Nyxie sat there waiting—her eyes never lifting, her only movement, the rise and fall of her breathing.

When at last he finally finished his run, he returned to his room and headed straight for the shower. He closed the bathroom door, leaving her in near darkness. Twenty minutes passed before he emerged and he immediately dressed and headed for the stairs.

“Go home, Onyx,” he said. It was his only acknowledgment of her presence.

~*~

Declan Stryker debated whether he wanted to drink beer or Jim Beam Single Barrel Bourbon to get drunk. His preference leaned towards beer, but his brain mentally added up the calories that the lower proof alcohol would take to get him to the same level of intoxication. He had been in a foul mood all day after the stunt Nyxie pulled that morning. What did she hope to prove? He’d already gotten the message loud and clear. She didn’t want to be married—that she married him as a means of getting her kids back. Why did she think it was a good idea to flaunt it in his face that she would rather be his submissive, when he had made it abundantly clear he wanted her for his wife?

He skipped eating that night for two reasons. One:  he planned to drink his calories. And two:  he’d just be that much drunker if his stomach was empty.

Being a complete control freak, Declan measured out six shots and put them in his glass before putting the bottle away in the cabinet. He wondered if he should check into the possibility of having a new cabinet front put in—one with a lock so her kids couldn’t get into his liquor.

Damn, why was he thinking long-term about Nyxie when she apparently had no plans to stay after her contract ended?

He took his first drink as he crossed to the sofa, sat down, and began searching for something to watch. His usual fare would have been some sort of ballgame, but he found himself looking for MMA. It wasn’t really his first choice tonight. What he truly wanted to watch was some hardcore BDSM porn.

He’d have to go to his computer for that, and frankly, he knew whatever he would see, would only remind him of Nyxie, and at that moment, he was trying to pretend she didn’t exist. He’d settled for boxing, but his mind was not on it. As he finished his drink, he was feeling a good buzz-on, but not really quite drunk enough. He wondered if anyone had ever considered MMA porn—men and women fighting for the right to be on top. They could strap the man’s dominant hand behind his back to make it more equitable. Nyxie would have stepped into the cage and gone prostrate on the mat immediately. No, that was more sport for a woman like Emily Saunders. He should call her and tell her.

He picked up his phone and called Emily. “Hey, did I wake you?”

“No,” Emily said. “Why are you calling me? Did you decapitate the teddy bear this time?”

Why did he call?
God, he couldn’t remember. “I just wanted to apologize for being such an ash-hole today.” Declan looked around the room wondering who said that.

It took Emily a moment to respond. “Why should today be different from any other day?” she asked. “Deck, are you drunk?”

“Maybe a little,” he replied and shook his head to feel the lightheadedness that came from the alcohol. Maybe the word little was a bit of an under-exaggeration. Was that a word?
Under-exaggeration
. Maybe it should be. “I just came off the surgical rotation. I think I’m entitled.”

“I take it since you’re drunk-calling me, that you and Onyx are still fighting.”

“Nyxie,” he said. He decided he wasn’t drunk enough yet and headed back to his kitchen for more. This time he didn’t measure, he just poured. “She really doesn’t like being called Onyx. Isn’t she the sweetest girl
e-ver
?”

“Yes, she seems sweet—probably too sweet for you.”

“God, isn’t that the truth. My parents
hate
her, but I don’t care. Have you ever seen that sexy thing her mouth does when she smiles?”

“You really love her, don’t you?”

Declan settled back into the cushions and took a large swig, his eyes lolling back in his head as he closed them. “You have no idea. God, I’ve been in love with her since I set eyes on her when I was a teenager.”

Emily laughed. “You’re funny when you’re drunk. If you love her so much, why are you drunk-calling me? Go have sex with your wife.”

“It’s against the rules for me to touch her if I’ve been drinking.”

She laughed again and not a quick chuckle to convey she agreed with something funny he said but a loud, uncontrolled giggle. “She has rules about when you can have sex?”

“She has
one
rule about when we can’t have sex. Besides we’re not talking at the moment.”

“I hope this isn’t some sort of booty-call, Stryker.”

“Are you crazy?” he yelled into the phone. “I’d have to be a hell of a lot drunker to ever consider fucking you. Then I would have to tie you up, blindfold you and put a ball gag in your mouth.”

Emily resisted the urge to laugh again. “Is that the kind shit you’re into, Stryker?”

“Well, not the ball gag. I worry about TMJ. But most of the time when you open your mouth, I wish you were wearing one.”

“God, I wish I had started recording this call when I realized you were drunk. Tomorrow, you are so going to regret making this call.”

“You’re not recording it, are you?” he asked sitting up and trying to sound sober.

“No, Declan. I’ve made a few drunk-calls in my life too. No one should have these lack-of-judgment moments held over their heads.”

“You know, Emily, you’re ah right.”

“That means so much to me, coming from you when you’re shit-faced.”

He took another belt, emptying the glass and set it down on the glass coffee table harder than he intended. It made a loud clank. He cringed and checked the glass and table for chips. “Hey, I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t shit-faced.”

God, he shouldn’t have had that second glass. Between not drinking anything for the last couple of months and not eating since lunch, he was definitely feeling his alcohol.

“Maybe this would be a good time to talk to your wife and work out your differences. You seem pretty amiable.”

“No, she can’t see me drunk. It would scare her. Her father killed her mother in a drunken rage. Onyx saw it happen.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Do you think that’s why she doesn’t want to be married to me?” That made sense to his pickled brain. Maybe Nyxie’s issue was not being married
to him
, but being married.

“Oh, God, you’re not going to start crying, are you?” Emily asked.

He laughed. “I’d have to kill you if I did.”

She made a little harrumph under her breath. “It’s 10:00 o’clock. You have to be at work in nine hours. You need to stop drinking and go to bed so you’ll be sober for work.”

“I’ve already stopped. Didn’t you hear me set it down?”

“Then go to bed.”

“God, I hate bossy women—especially the ones with big noses and little penises. Penises or peni?”

“Good night, Stryker.” She drew out her words in a singsong fashion that made her sound as if she was indulging a child.

“’Night, Saunders,” he said imitating her tone.

Emily ended the call and Declan stood up, turned off the lights and climbed the stairs to his bedroom on the third floor.

When he flipped on the light switch, he was surprised to find Nyxie sleeping in the same spot where he’d left her that morning. He quickly dimmed the lights so he wouldn’t wake her. She was naked. She had been sitting on her feet and had leaned into the wall and the armoire in an attempt to stay upright but had fallen asleep. He doubted she had left her nieces' care to the nanny all day, nor skipped going to see Cody, so he didn’t think she had been there since that morning. She must have arrived before he came home from work. But just the same as that morning, her presence was unwelcome, especially in his present state.

He didn’t want to wake her and have her see him drunk.
Fuck
.

With a huff of frustration, Declan grabbed his overnight bag, and filled it with everything he would need for the next day. He took the comforter off the bed, gently laid it over her and left his townhouse on foot to get a hotel room for the night. Luckily, because they were so close to the University, he had at least half a dozen hotels to choose from within a mile radius of his house.