Passion's Hope (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 3) (21 page)

When he finally pulled back, Charlie’s breathing was labored, heavy, as if every lungful had to be dragged in from miles away. She was so close to orgasm, she knew that this last rise would give it to her. She also knew it would feel different from every other orgasm she had ever experienced. Deeper. More profound.

Letting her head fall to Nik’s chest, she forced her trembling muscles to lift her hips with excruciating slowness, the friction of Nik’s heavily-veined cock against her frazzled clit the only touch she needed to explode in an orgasm that smashed through her, capturing her and holding her prisoner as wave after wave of pleasure kept her body convulsing for what seemed like forever.

Finally, the long, liquid pulls of her contracting vaginal muscles pulled Nik over the edge into his own pleasure. With a shout he grabbed her hips, holding them in place as he thrust hard up into her three, four, five times, his hot cum bursting out of him in diminishing spurts even as she continued to spasm around him.

He threw his arms around her and just held her, their bodies sheened with sweat, too exhausted to move.

“Jesus, Nik,” Jay’s voice seemed to come from a great distance. “That has to be one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen.”

“Is she asleep?”

Jay chuckled. “More like passed out. I’ll go get a washcloth so we can clean her up.”

“Not yet,” Nik murmured. “I just want to stay like this for a while.” He opened his right arm. “Come, my dearest boy. Lie down next to me and let me hold you, too.”

Jay scooted closer and lay on his side, his chest and belly up against Nik’s side, his head resting on Nik’s bicep as Nik’s arm encircled him and pulled him close. Nik turned his head. Jay angled his up and their lips met in a languid kiss that morphed into a scorching, tongue-thrusting duel that left both men breathless. They drew back, regarding each other, their eyes filled with love.

“Go to sleep,
malchik
,” Nik said, pressing his lips to Jay’s forehead.

* * * *

Charlie awoke to the soft feel of warm, wet lips moving on hers. Her eyes blinked open to see Jay’s face smiling down at her. “Good morning, darling girl. Sorry to wake you, but Jesse Colter is on the phone and needs to speak to you.”

“Okay.” Charlie sat up in bed.

Nik approached, carrying his cell phone. “Okay, Jesse, you’re on speaker.

“Good morning, Charlie.” Jesse’s deep baritone voice came clearly over the line. “I just wanted to say thank you. Nik told me you’ve agreed to press charges against Perry Bradford. I just called my buddy, Chief Conover in Richmond. Would you be able to meet with him and the Richmond City Attorney? With your testimony about your three-week ordeal at Bradford’s hands, they can finally bring him to justice and put him behind bars for good. Like I told you at the club, you’re not the first person he’s done this to, but you
are
the first person who’s willing to testify against him. Ms. Lunsford has flatly refused, insisting that he had done nothing to her without her consent. Perhaps when some of the others see that you’re willing to face him, they, too, will come forward.”

The breath left Charlie’s lungs. “Would I have to go there? I—”

“Only for the Grand Jury. For this deposition, they have agreed to come to the Marshall County courthouse.”

“When?”

“Well, for this they’re willing to give up their Saturday. Would this morning at ten o’clock be okay?”

Charlie looked up at Nik, who nodded.

“Okay. Will Perry be there?”

“No. But his attorney will. And he will do his best to try to rattle you. Just don’t let him get to you, okay?”

“O-okay. But w-won’t
I
need an attorney?”

“My wife, Sarah, is taking a temporary leave of absence from her position as County Attorney to serve as your lawyer, unless you have someone else in mind. She wants to see this guy put away as badly as you do.”

“We’ll be there,” Nik said. “Thanks for arranging this, Jesse.”

“No problem. Nail the bastard.”

Nik thumbed off the phone. “All right,
malyutka
, Jay has drawn your bath. We want you to soak for thirty minutes. By the time you’re done, you’ll be ready for your cream. As soon as you get dressed and get some breakfast and spend the week-end just being lazy.”

He helped her up off the bed and escorted her into the bathroom. The hot tub was filled with lilac scented bubble bath. Which they had to have purchased just for her, Charlie realized. She seriously doubted that these two macho men soaked in lilac-scented bubble bath. The very thought made her giggle.

“What’s so funny, baby girl?”

“Nothing, just—nothing.”

Nik handed her up the step and over the side and she sank down onto the bench, immersed in hot water up to her chin. She let out a blissful sigh and leaned her head back against the inflatable neck cushion Nik handed her. Thirty minutes later she had just stepped out and was drying off when Jay entered the bathroom.

“Hi, sweet thing.” He bent his head and gave her a swift kiss. “Nik’s still upstairs conducting a staff meeting and they’re all dyin’ to meet you.”

“Why?” she asked, making him chuckle.

“They all want to meet the woman who brought the mighty grizzly bear to his knees.”’

“Don’t be ridiculous. I did no such thing,” she protested, laughing.

“Oh, you did, baby girl. You have no idea. He’s completely ga-ga over you. So am I, for that matter.” He bent his head even lower, placing his lips against the graceful curve where her shoulder met her neck. “Jesus, baby, you smell wonderful! Like an entire garden full of flowers. The lady at the drug store recommended this bubble bath when I got your prescriptions filled and, boy, am I glad she did.”

He straightened and tugged on her hand, leading her out into the bedroom. “C’mon, angel, let’s get this cream inside you.”

This time she crawled up onto the bed, lowered her shoulders and head to the mattress and raised her ass, making no objection to having the medication applied. She didn’t even flinch or make a sound as Jay penetrated her with his finger, spreading a generous amount of the cream inside her anal passage as far as he could reach. His touch was gentle and firm and the entire episode took less than a minute.

“Okay, baby, go get ready. You’ve got nine minutes. Granny Grace sent over a dress for you.”

She gave him a startled look. “Why would Granny Grace send me a dress?”

“Because we asked her to.” Jay made shooing motions with his hands. “Go on. You’ll find it hanging in the closet

Her eyes widened, but she said nothing, just went into the closet.
Closet!
She snorted, looking around in awe. It was bigger than the living room in her old apartment, with cedar-lined walls, a window, built-in shelves, drawers and cabinets—even a chandelier, for crying out loud!

When she came back out into the bedroom, Jay looked up from where he was standing in the center of the room.

He looked momentarily stunned as she twirled for him, sending the full skirt of the dress belling outward and her thick, shiny black hair swinging in an arc around her head. “Holy fuck!” he exclaimed. “You look like a million bucks!”

She was wearing a soft, graceful, blue and gray print silk dress that looked as if had been woven from wisps of smoke. It floated around her body like a cloud. On her feet she wore a pair of low-heeled sandals of crisscross strips of butter soft gray and blue leather.

She’d never owned anything like them before. Having been a waitress all her life, and a six-foot-tall one at that, she’d always worn sneakers, or walking shoes. These shoes were feminine and dainty and made her feet look slender and sexy.

“I love this outfit,” she exclaimed, looking down at herself with a smile. “Especially these shoes. They’re so comfortable. And the silk feels so luxurious against my skin. I’ve never owned anything made of silk before.”

“Well, ge used to the way it feels, because that’s about to change,” Jay said. “C’mon, let’s go upstairs.”

Nik was just finishing up the staff meeting when they emerged into the hallway at the top of the stairs and entered his spacious office. As soon as he saw them, Nik beckoned her toward him. He put his arm around her and planted a kiss on her lips that left no one in any doubt as to the nature of their relationship. He drew back, smiling down at her, a tender expression on his face as he lifted his hand to brush a wisp of hair back off her cheek. “Good morning,
myshka
,” he said gently.

“Good morning, Sir.”

His grin widened before he turned to face the gathered group. “Everyone, this is Charlotte Fielding. She is staying with us and will begin working here as a waitress next week. She is also auditioning for the band later on this afternoon.”

There was a round of applause at that announcement.

“Charlotte,” Nik began, pointing out a good-looking man in his mid-to-late thirties, sitting in the big leather chair in front of the desk. His brown hair was cut military short, and the brown eyes behind his wire-rimmed glasses were kind and full of humor. “That is Steve Moran, better known as Mo. He’s our General Manager, so after you start work, if you have any problems, just go to him. Next to Mo are Andy Sloan and Amy Parrish, two of our bartenders.”

Andy was a tall, lanky, beanpole of a man probably in his late twenties, with neatly combed brown hair and brown eyes. He took Charlie’s outstretched hand in a firm grip.

Amy Parrish was petite and cute as a button, who wore her long light brown hair pulled back and up off her neck in a messy pony tail. She had light blue eyes.

“And this is our wait staff. Connie Fitzpatrick, Doris Chadwick, Angie Foster, Chelsea Greer, Heather Cavalieri, and Jacquie Brown. There are three other servers, but they’re out on on the floor right now. You’ll meet them shortly.”

Connie Fitzpatrick and Jacquie Brown were older women, both plump, comforting, motherly types with short graying hair and glasses. Angie Foster looked to be the youngest, probably around eighteen or nineteen. She was dressed entirely in black with lots of buckles, chains, and oversized safety pins, heavy Goth make-up and hot pink hair with black tips worn in a neat, chin-length Vidal Sassoon-type bob. Her grim look was totally at odds with her bright smile, perky voice and bubbly personality. Doris, Chelsea, and Heather were all in their twenties, all around five feet eight or nine, and pretty, with pleasant, outgoing personalities.

“All right, folks,” Nik said. “Meeting’s over. I’ll see you all on your shifts.

On the way out, they all spoke to Charlie, welcoming her to The Icebox and telling her they were looking forward to working with her and especially to hearing her sing.

“C’mon,
myshka
. Let’s get some breakfast.” Nik and Jay escorted her to the booth closest to the bar and slid onto the padded bench, her and Jay on one side, Nik on the other, facing them. They were approached by a forty-something waitress wearing what appeared to be the official uniform of Passion Lake Lodge, black jeans and a hunter green polo shirt with the Lodge’s logo embroidered on it. Nik introduced her to Charlie as Madelyn Lowe, their head waitress.

“Charlotte will be starting here next week,” Nik said. “We’d appreciate it if you would train her.”

She looked at Charlie. “Sure, Charlotte, I’ll be happy to train you. You waitressed before?”

“Yeah. Lots. Mostly diners, neighborhood restaurants, that sort of thing. And please call me Charlie.”

“If you call me Maddy. And don’t worry, you’ll do great. The Icebox has a lot of local customers in addition to the guests and campers. Our chef is great, have you met him yet?”

“No, she’ll meet the kitchen staff later,” Nik said. “Right now we need a quick breakfast so we can get to our appointment.”

“Sure, no problem. You want three specials?”

“Yeah, coffee for Jay and me, milk for Charlie.”

“You got it. Comin’ right up.”

The breakfast specials consisted of a large omelet loaded with ham, spinach and feta cheese, and buttermilk pancakes with warmed maple syrup. After Madelyn delivered their meals, she stopped several times to check on them, refill Jay and Nik’s coffees, and to chat a little more with Charlie, telling her all about her ex-husband, her college-age son, and her dog Sukie. “So, you got a place to stay?” she finally asked. “’Cause if not, I’m looking for someone to rent out my third bedroom to.”

“Thanks, Maddy,” Jay said, “but she’s staying with us.”

Madelyn gave herself a hug, giving Charlie a huge grin. “Ooh, you lucky thing, you. We’ve all been dying to meet the girl these two finally picked out!”

“Well,” Charlie gave her a tight smile. “We’re still working out the details. But I’ll definitely be around for a while.”

“Thanks, Maddy,” Nik said, sliding off of his bench. “Tell Miguel it was delicious as usual.” He put out his hand for Charlie, to assist her up out of the booth. As soon as she was on her feet, he pulled her against his side, holding her while Jay scrambled out after her. “C’mon, baby girl.” Nik smiled down at her. “Let’s go give Perry Bradford his just desserts.”