Red stilettos clicked along the marble floors. The constant rapping her companion as she moved purposefully down the empty hallway lined with doors.
She did not want to be here.
Determined, she let the sound of her heels keep her distracted from the thoughts of what brought her here, to this moment in her life, and continued forward. With her back straight, head high, and her displeasure clear on her face, she pushed past her fear and uncertainty as she pushed through the door at the end of the hall.
There was no knock when she entered. The click of the door handle was the only alert he received before she walked in. He watched from behind his mahogany desk as she audaciously entered his office. It amused him how she moved about as if she owned the building and was here to tell him how to run things and not the other way around.
She was here because of him. Because he had the upper hand in this situation, not her and he was going to make damn sure she knew it.
"I'm waiting for whatever bullshit reason you have for calling me all the way out here out of the blue."
He smirked. She hadn't been in the room a full thirty seconds before the words had left her mouth. She was still stunning he noted, taking in her trim statuesque form and dark radiant skin. He let his eyes travel over her while she stood there like an avenging goddess. Her breasts were barely visible in the V-neck blouse she wore, but the memory of them being pliant under his hands and the taste of each dark nipple was clearly present in his mind. He could see the soft curves of her hips where the slacks she wore draped across them and his fingers itched to reach for her, but he clenched them tight, one fist supporting his chiseled chin, the other resting, deceptively, on the desk. In due time he would have his hands on her again, he told himself before bringing his eyes back to her almond shaped ones. Her dark hair and grown longer since he had last saw her, the straight strands framing, what was normally an angelic face, but currently had the set determination of an Amazonian warrior.
"Please sit. It's been so long since I last saw you." His voice was pleasant enough. It had been nearly 20 years since he last saw her and to see her now, in the flesh, affected him more than he thought it would.
"I wonder why." She did not move to sit. Disdain dripped from her words and the two glared icily at each other however he was undeterred by her annoyance and decided to use a different tactic.
"Come now, you can't honestly say, after all this time, you haven't thought about us, the nights we've shared, how we used to talk, used to laugh used to... kiss." His words had the desired effect. Memories flooded her of late nights and long days, his teasing caresses, and the sweet words he whispered. Their summer in Spain was a fairytale for her, although there was no happily ever after ending. She would never verbally admit it, but she did think of him often. He was her first love.
Her only love.
Not that he would ever find out.
If she were being completely honest with herself, she almost came up short when she saw him again for the first time. His sun kissed skin gave him a healthy glow and she remembered how many thought he was anything other than the black man that he was because of his light complexion. It was something he took in stride, he was always taught to be proud of not only his heritage, but of himself as a black man and anything he owned. It was why he spent as much time working out his body, as he did working at the office or dating the type of women that he did. It was why he drove the car he had or why he lived in the house that he did. Everything was a reflection of him and he was proud of everything he did. As he sat calmly behind the wood desk, she knew the relaxed pose he had belied his true nature, his tensing muscles beneath the expensive designer suit was the only tell he had revealing the predator beneath. It was those tells she had to look out for. Maybe if she had known about them, about his true nature sooner, her fairy tell may not have turned into a nightmare.
"If you're only going to waste my time, I'll just leave." The words were out of her mouth before she could think better of it. The flexing of his strong jaw the only give away that she had erred, but rather than back down, she made to leave.
Strong arms wrapped around her middle before she could even move for the door. Kicking her feet she hooked her nails into the forearms of her assailant. Clawing her way up his arms she cried out in indignation at the sharp pain in her neck." When her struggles ceased, the arms let her go and she was suddenly unsteady on her feet. Her vision blurred as she began to quickly lose focus and control of her surroundings.
"No you won't." His voice was calm, steady but it sounded distorted to her ears.
"What did you do?" She was getting weaker by the second as she collapsed against the body behind her, his strong arms no longer holding her captive but upright. He was on her then, tilting her head back so she would be forced to look him in the eyes.
"I'm not going to let you leave me again Jasmine. It took me 18 years to find you and bring you back to me and I'm not letting you get away this time."
The battle lost, her world faded into darkness as she was gently handed to the man before her. His strong arms tenderly carried her to a secret room within his office.
******************************************************************
Five days.
Skye hadn't seen her mother in five days and she hadn't spoken to her in four. It was while she was dealing with her own tumultuous emotions brought on by her mom's unexpected departure, that she also had to deal with Daniel's overt flirting and Nickolas' pissy attitude due to it. Constantly walking on eggshells around Nickolas in an effort to not upset him and figuring out the many ways she could dodge Daniel in another attempt to avoid upsetting Nickolas was exhausting. A lot of her time was spent dealing with the two of them and she could feel her energy being sucked from her body. There just wasn't enough left. Not enough time. Not enough energy for Skye to cope with the sudden disappearing act her mother, the woman who was always there, the woman who had never abandoned her before, had pulled.
She was lonely and overwhelmed...
And nearing her breaking point.
Maybe that was why she was now outside Nickolas's sanctuary. Staring at the grand double doors through the rain drops distorting her vision, she thought she could blame her being there on temporary insanity. The lack of sleep and the amount of stress she was under due to the sudden changes in her life could definitely make a person due crazy things. It was the only reason she had for standing there, in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain.
How much was she supposed to suffer, was to endure before she did something drastic, irrational even, she wondered. Could she really be blamed for seeking comfort from the only other being that recognized she existed. Forget that he forced himself on her, blackmailed her, was cold and insensitive towards her. Her mother was gone and Nickolas...
Well he wasn't.
Before she could even make her presence known, her knuckle posed to rap on the stained wood, the door opened and Nickolas stood on the other side, eyes narrowing, he frowned when he saw her standing there in the downpour. Her brown almond shaped eyes widened, her lips slightly parted as the gasp of surprise left them.
Was it a coincidence that he opened the door right as she was going to knock?
"Skye, what are you doing out here? It's pouring."
She stood there, letting the cold waters baptize her from the heavens. She could her the concern, the confusion in his voice, but it seemed distant to her somehow, as if she were removed from the situation, and she did not respond to him. His arms were around her then, swiftly takin her from the downpour and bringing her to the warmth inside. His frown deepened when he saw her in the light. Her curls, drenched from the rain, hung loosely around a face that looked too thin, and empty brown eyes framed by dark circles looked back at him. She was thinner than he would've liked, taking in how her clothes molded to her every curve, but hung loosely in areas where it should've been fitted. Even still, at her worst, she was still beautiful. A beautiful broken angel, cast out from her sanctuary, unjustly, and left alone to, unsuccessfully, fend off the demons that came her way.
"Skye."
The agitation in his voice was clear. He didn't like her looking so small and defeated although he couldn't explain to himself why that was.
His forehead rested against hers as he inhaled deep to calm himself. He wasn't sure if his agitation was stemming from that or the fact that she still hadn't answered his question and Nickolas was not one to repeat himself, or if it was seeing her in this traumatized state, but try as she might, words would not form on her lips. Maybe it was due to the amount of isolation she'd had without her mother around to talk to and no-one to visit her. She had hardly spoken a word to any one, choosing instead to reserve her words for the numerous voice messages she left.
She had a feeling, a bad feeling, over the last two days, that something was terribly wrong and she couldn't shake it. Nightmares filled with all kinds of terrors befalling her mother kept her from sleeping at night and she hardly ate the entire week. It was taking its toll.
She was weak and vulnerable and exhausted from worry and lack of sleep. Nickolas' continued display of inner strength and control was something she so desperately craved. In this moment, he was all she had, and he may be a son-of-a bitch, but she would take solace in any form of comfort she could get. She was done pretending everything was fine when it wasn't.
Nickolas watched her lips as Skye attempted to form words, but they began to tremble instead. The tears were next followed quickly by her sobs. She couldn't make herself answer him. She didn't want to admit what she needed. That he was what she needed. The sobs wracked her body as she fought her own emotions, her internal battle now manifesting externally. He brought her trembling form to him, cradling her as she broke down.
The tears wouldn't stop falling, staining her coppery cheeks and soaking his own bared skin as she cried.
And still he held her.
Stroking her hair, he whispered words that he thought would be soothing as her hands gripped at his shoulders, using him to hold her up, pull him closer, he was unsure. But as her nails continued to dig deeper in his shoulders and her anguished cries continued, he began recognized his role in this moment. He was somehow a lifeline for her like she was drowning, clinging to any ounce of stability and strength she could find and he could give her that, if nothing else.
