Wilted (24 page)

“This is turning out beautiful, baby.” He smiles as he looks at the painting I’ve been working on. It’s Sebastian and Skylar on their wedding day. I plan for it to be a late house warming present. Honestly, it’s just an excuse to get to fly out to see her.

“Thank you,” I reply shyly. Painting is my passion. It makes me so happy to get lost in my work. People have told me how talented I am, but I’m my own worst critic, I suppose.

“You really have no idea, do you?” he says, turning me to face him. He squats in front of me, rubbing my bare arms with his hands.

“Kylie Reynolds, you have a gift. Stop doubting yourself!”

I blush at his words.

“I’m serious, baby. I see you become a different person when you do this. Any fool can see how happy this makes you.”

“Happy doesn’t pay the bills,” I say as I collect the brushes to clean.

“And what if I said I wanted you to do this?”

“What are you saying? That I just up and quit my job to paint?” I laugh, but he doesn’t.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Nik, I have bills. I can’t ask you to pay everything. What if I don’t sell anything?”

“It doesn’t matter to me if you sell a damn thing. I know how much this makes you happy. Besides, I’ll need artwork for my restaurants. Your work is better than anything else out there I’ve seen.”

“Nik, I—”

“Just think about it, all right? I’m serious.”

Nodding, I stand on my tiptoes, kiss him on the lips, and pulling out a brush, I paint a dot on his head and giggle.

“Oh, it’s like that, is it?”

“Uh-huh.” I snort. “You said you liked my work,” I tease.

He gives me a mischievous grin and lunges for me, grabbing the paintbrush from my hand and pushing me back through the door.
Fuck! I love it when he takes control.
He has the power to soak my panties by just the look in his eye. Carefully, he prowls towards me with a look of mad seduction in his eyes.

“Well, guess what? I happen to be an artist, too. And you, beautiful, are about to be my next masterpiece.”

I squeal in delight as he corners me in the kitchen. When he drags the paintbrush down my face, I giggle and throw my arms around his neck. The brush falls to the wooden floor just as he sweeps me up in his arms. Lovingly, he drags his lips against mine and carries me silently to our bedroom, his eyes never leaving mine.

Oh, how I love this man!

NIKOLAS

“So, when is she heading out this way? I know Kylie can’t wait to see her. You’re gonna owe me big time though. I’ll never be the same after living with all of that estrogen!” I never dreamed my joking would piss him off so much.

“You better keep her fucking safe, Nik,” Sebastian warns me over the phone.

The terror in his voice is more than enough to unsettle me. When we first talked about Skylar coming out here to stay, I wasn’t aware of just how bad things had gotten. Somehow, I don’t think Sebastian tells us everything. And regardless of his reasons for keeping us in the dark, I don’t have a good feeling about any of this.

“You know I will, Cuz. What the fuck is going on there, anyway?”

“I’m just worried this guy is going to come after her. If something happens to her, I’d…” His words trail off. The thought of losing her overwhelms him so much, he can’t even finish his statement.

“Listen to me. Nothing is going to happen to her or the baby. I promise you that. If that fucker comes near her, I’ll kill him myself. But if you need me there, I’m on the next flight out.” I want him to know I’m willing to help him sort this out.

“I know, Nik, but this is something I have to do on my own. You just keep my girl safe. She is my life.”

“And you know that I will.”

“I’ll talk to you in a couple of days then.”

“All right, later, Cuz.” I reply before ending the call. I stare down at the phone. I can’t imagine what they are going through right now. If some psycho had come after Kylie and then been released from the charges, I’d probably be in jail for killing them.

“So? Is she coming?” Kylie’s voice brings me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, Sebastian is supposed to call back to let me know when to expect the jet to be here. You excited to see her?” I ask.

“Yeah… I just wish this was a pleasure visit, you know? I know it’s going to kill her to be away from Sebastian. I don’t know why he can’t just come out, too.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but something is definitely up. I think he’s planning on doing something, and he doesn’t want Skylar put in harm’s way.”

“Surely he isn’t actually thinking about that! He has a baby and wife to think about.”

“He’s thinking about them, baby. I’d do the same thing if I were in his shoes.”

“You would, huh?” she asks as she straddles me.

My hands glide underneath her white shorts and I discover she’s not wearing panties. This woman seriously tries to kill me with these antics.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Kylie. Nothing.”

Her smile fades when she realizes I'm serious.

“I love you, Nikolas Thorne.”

“And I love you… sometimes,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

Her mouth drops open at my words, and I feel the hard playful slap on my chest. Wrapping my arms around her, I bury my face in her chest and breathe her in.

You have no idea how much I love you.

“Do you really think she’ll like it?” Kylie frets over the bow on the painting once more.

Last week, a store in town put a beautiful, dark, wooden frame around the finished piece. I know Skylar will love it, but no matter what I say, Kylie still won’t listen.

“Stop worrying, silly. She’s going to love it, and you know it.”

“Why hasn’t he called you? I thought he was going to call when the plane took off.”

“Calm down, baby. He said he’d call and he will. Knowing them, they’re probably getting one last fuck in before she leaves.”

“Ugh! You men! All you do is think about sex!”

“Yep, and you love me for it.”

When my phone rings, Kylie jumps to her feet. Laughing, I slide my finger across the screen and answer it.

“Hello?”

“Nikolas?”

“Yes, this is he.”

“Hi, Nik. This is Sara. Sebastian had an important meeting and wanted me to let you know that Skylar will be flying out later than expected. He said he’d let you know when she does leave.”

“No problem, Sara. Thanks for letting me know. Tell Sebastian we’re happy to pick her up whenever.”

“I will do that. Thank you, Nik. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” I end the call.

“What’s going on? Is she not coming now?”

“No, that was Sebastian’s assistant, Sara. She said Skylar would be flying out later than expected. I don’t know if that means later today, or later in the week. Sebastian’s in an important meeting, so I’ll give him a call in a bit and see.”

“Ugh,” she says as her bottom lip forms into a pout.

God, I love it when she does that. It’s so damn cute. Pulling her into me, I wrap my arms around her.

“I know you miss her. Don’t worry, she’ll be here soon. Until then, you have me all to yourself.”

“Oh really?”

“Yep, and I’ll let you use me any way you want if it puts a smile back on your face again.”

“Hmm… Any?”

Fuck! Why did I have to say that?

KYLIE

“Chinese again?” Nik groans and I slap him on the back of the head. He knows how bad a cook I am.

“Would you rather me cook you something, dear?” I bat my eyes at him. I almost piss my pants when his eyes bug out of his head.

“No! Um, I don’t think my stomach can handle that again. Plus the fire department wasn’t so forgiving last time. Remember?”

Psh. Fuck the fire department.

“It was only a tiny, fucking spark. That’s it! They acted like I damn near burned down the building.”

He laughs and clears his throat.

“Still, let’s not risk it, though. All right, Chef Boyardee? Chinese sounds delicious. Pass me some chopsticks,” he teases.

“Smart ass!”

The thing is, he really isn’t kidding. I fucking suck at cooking. Even working the microwave proves challenging for me most days. Regardless, I can make one mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Nik’s phone rings and I jump. We’ve been waiting for days now to hear something back from Sebastian as to when to expect Skylar to fly out.

“Thank God! I’ve been trying to reach you for days now! Kylie’s aggravating the shit out of me, wan—”

When Sebastian interrupts him, his face drops, and I immediately yank the phone out of his hand.

“Nik, she’s hurt. I—”

I interrupt Sebastian immediately.

“What do you mean she’s hurt?” I scream into the phone.

“The bastard took her, Kylie. We’d been trying to find her for days now.”

“Days? You mean my best friend had been missing for days, and you’re just now telling me? Are you fucking insane? I’m going to kill you when I see you!”

“There wasn’t time to call you guys.”

“What happened?”

“When we went in to rescue her, he went nuts. He beat her and cut her really bad.”

Oh my God! Is she going to be all right? What about the baby?” I cry.

They have to
be okay. They just have to be. Please God!!

“Skylar’s fine, but they’re watching the baby closely. She started having contractions, but for now, they were able to stop them with some medicine. The doctor says if her contractions return, they may have to deliver the baby. Kylie, Skylar won’t ever survive if we lose our daughter.”

“Daughter? It’s… a girl?” I say, getting choked up. The tears fall freely down my face, and I don’t even bother to wipe them away. Nik wraps his arms around me and kisses the back of my head.

“Yes, it’s a girl,” he says, getting emotional himself.

“We’re on our way, Sebastian. We’ll be there by this evening.”

“She’s in Seton Medical. I’ll see you guys when you get here.”