Chapter fourty Eight - A Morning stroll
The Newman ranch was cast in a cool morning fog when Victor’s car pulled up at the ranch’s driveway.
As he was fumbling with his briefcase for his cellular phone he heard a knock on his window, he looked up and a smile spread on his lips when he saw Nikki standing outside, smiling at him.
Victor got out of the car, Nikki greeted him “Hey, good morning, I didn’t think you would come by this soon”
He looked at her with an unmistakable admiration. She looked so beautiful, standing there in a pair of fading blue jeans, brown boots to her knees, White sweater, and a long warm black coat.
Victor smiled at her and approaching toward her, said, “Well Hello, I thought I could drop by and wake you up with a kiss, but it looks like I’m a little late for that”
Nikki looked up at him with a smile and wrapped her hands around his neck lazily
“To wake me up, maybe, you can still kiss me good morning”
Victor chuckled and grabbed her by the waist underneath her coat to pull her closer to him “That’s very good to know”
Nikki nodded “Ahmmm…” and with a smile on her face kissed him good morning.
They kissed tenderly, just enjoying the feeling of being in each other arms again.
Slowly Victor pulled back and he said lovingly “What a wonderful way to start the day”
Nikki grinned at him, her fingers playing with his hair “Oh, I second that, and what a great day it is going to be, Nicholas is coming home!”
Victor told her “I had a phone call to the D.A last night, and he promised me that the charges will be dropped, he had made it quiet easy for John”
Nikki said “Oh, I’m so happy, did you tell Nicholas?”
Victor nodded “Yes, I did, an hour ago this morning, so he would have nothing to worry about”
Nikki smiled tearfully “If It’s a dream I don’t want to wake up”
Victor hugged her “It’s not dream, but a wonderful reality” He asked “What are you doing up so early?”
Nikki shrugged “Oh, I woke up and could go back to sleep, so I decided to go for a walk…”
She grinned at him “I wouldn’t mind the company though”
Victor frowned at her “Wait a second, why couldn’t you sleep? Was your hand bothering you”
Nikki said in an appeasing expression “Yea, but just a little bit”
Victor looked at her concerned and Nikki rolled her eyes good naturally “Victor, I’m FINE, it just hurts me a little more at night. But I’m doing much better now, don’t I look it?” And looked up at him with a sweet smile
Victor planted a kiss on her cheek “You look wonderful, Now…” His expression darken and a muscle twitched in his cheek “There is something I need to talk to you about anyway”
Nikki, her smiled fading a bit at the expression on his face asked “Oh? You just told me everything is going to be okay at the hearing!”
Victor shook his head “It’s not about the hearing”
Nikki asked him in concern as he looked so grim all of a sudden “Then what is it?”
Victor caressed her cheek “Hmm, I’ll tell you in a minute, Lets just walk for a while”
Nikki looked him worriedly but didn’t press, she smiled softly at him “I’d love that…”
They walked through the garden in a slow pace, it was cold outside but it wasn’t snowing for the first time in a long while.
They walked carefully, avoiding the mounds of snow on the ground and stopped at the top of the eastern hill, it wasn’t very high, but gave a spectacular view on the entire ranch grounds, that were all covered in white snow.
They walked toward the rail and looked at the view silently, Nikki waited for Victor to tell her.
Strong wind began to blow and Nikki gave a visible shudder, Victor wrapped his arms around her waist and asked her “Do you want to go back inside? It’s getting colder”
Nikki shook her head but leaned against his warm embrace “No, No, not yet…it’s so pretty out here and beside…”
She turned look at him “You wanted to talk to me, but I don’t get what could have happened between last night and this morning to have gotten you so upset”
Victor just sighed deeply and did not reply
Nikki said in a frustrated expression “Victor?”
Victor said, his eyes blazing with suppressed anger “Upon the arrival of 4 police cars with wailing sirens to his apartment to question him, Matt Clark apparently realized something in his diabolic plan went wrong, so he panicked, and tried to escape by jumping out of the window”
Nikki’s eyes narrowed “Don’t tell me he managed to escape”
Victor snorted “No, he landed on a parking car, his injuries were very severe and he died before he even got to the hospital”
He shook his head, furious and disgusted “The way the police handled it was abysmally foolish! Showing up at the middle of the night like they did, instead of sneaking and capturing him before he had a chance to escape! I wanted to see that punk brought to justice! I wanted the world to know that Matt Clark was a liar! That he had lied to frame our son! So there will be no question about our son’s innocence, and now there will always be that lingering doubt!”
Nikki touched his arm in an attempt to calm him down “Darling, I can see why that would upset you, I wanted to see him stand to trial for what he did to our son too, but…” She paused for a second, wondering if she should say it. “It’s not exactly a great loss to man kind, that man was a monster… He raped Sharon and he raped Amy, and he LOATHED our son. How many years would he have gotten if he were convicted? Not that many…”
She shook her head “Maybe I’m not suppose to say it, but I’m glad he’s dead and not trialed, at least we are rid of him for good”
Victor disagreed “Nikki, I’m glad to see him out of our lives, but I wanted to see his credibility destroyed forever, I wanted this town to know the truth about the kind of man he was - the kind of man our son was not and now…”
Nikki said in a confident voice “And now Amy has testified that she shot Matt Clark and everyone will know it wasn’t Nicholas. And it all of the papers tomorrow it will be written that he died jumping from his window in an attempt to escape from the police. Victor he’s dead! It’s over! He won’t be able to hurt our family any more!”
Victor listened to her and then took her in his arms into a very tight embrace and said, “You’re right, you’re right…I should be thanking god it’s all going to be over after that hearing today”
Nikki pulled back to look at him and said, “Yes, you should, I would have expected you to view it the same way I do”
Victor sighed “And I do, But I wanted to see Matt exposed for the liar that he is, and the way the police handled the case from beginning to end was an absolute disgrace…”
Nikki caressed his cheek “Well, I understand that, as long as you’re not feeling like you could have prevented this, any of what happened, because you couldn’t have, I hope you know that”
Seeing the worried, loving expression on her face Victor couldn’t help but planting a kiss on the tip of her nose “I do, okay?”
Nikki smiled “Good, I’m glad…” She paused and then asked him “Are you going to tell Nicholas?”
Victor nodded “After the hearing is over, I don’t want him acting too pleased about it, it might look bad and I don’t want anything to go wrong”
Nikki nodded “Yea, I agree with you, Victor….”
Victor asked “What?”
Nikki said, “I really do think it’s for the best, it would give Nicholas a better chance to heal and put the past behind him. That would not have happened if he would have become obsessed with bringing Matt to justice because of what he did to Sharon and to Amy”
Victor raised his eyebrows “Are you implying that this is what I am?”
Nikki said softly “I know how protective you can be toward those you love, and how you are with the people who hurt them, and Nicholas gets it from you.
I didn’t want to see you, or Nicholas, spending every waking hour thinking of how you’re going to make Matt pay in the most painful way imaginable instead of enjoying what you have right now”
Victor asked her “Do you really think that this would have happened?”
Nikki asked Victor softly “I don’t know, you tell me”
Victor said “I won’t deny that I would have done everything within my power to make sure Matt pays for what he did and I’m sure Nicholas would have wanted the same thing. But I don’t think Nicholas would ever forget to be grateful for his freedom and his life, and *I* never would have let it over shadow anything else”
Nikki’s eyes filled up with sudden tears, she turned around quickly, rubbed her eyes and said in shaky voice “I think I got something in my eye… that wind”
Victor, not believing her for one second, turned her around and removed her hands from her eyes and looked at her questioningly “What’s wrong?”
Nikki answered, her lips quivering “Nothing is wrong, nothing is wrong, that’s just it”
Victor looked at her confused “I don’t understand”
Nikki smiled tearfully and said “I guess I’m just worried something will go wrong in our lives…I mean…I woke up this morning and I realized that…after that hearing today, I will have everything I ever wanted out of life and that frightens me so much…
Our son will be coming home today after over a month at prison, we’ve been going through the entire range of emotions ever since he got in there, from total desperation to hope to happiness every time we had good news…and now it’s finally happening…”
Victor smiled lovingly at her and wiped her tears away with his thumbs and whispered “Yes it does, and it’s wonderful, life for the Newman family look a lot better today, but that doesn’t explain why you’re crying – or why you’re trying to hide It from me”
Nikki shrugged and said in a small voice “I don’t know…I guess it’s a hard habit to break, hiding my feelings from you, not telling you how still vulnerable I am to you“
Victor brushed a strand of hair from her face and whispered to her “Don’t do that, don’t hide your feelings from me, no matter what they are”
He smiled at her “And don’t you know by now that your vulnerability and ability to give from your heart to people is one of the things I’ve always loved most about you?”
Nikki sniffed and rested her forehead against his chest and then looked up at him “Do you know what I love about you?”
Victor chuckled “No, what?”
Nikki said “That you always know what to say to me…”
She admitted in a throaty voice “There hasn’t been a day in my life in the past few years that I haven’t been wishing my life would look a little different. That I didn’t think of what could have been if this and what could have been if I have done that”
She looked up at Victor, her eyes searching his face “I’ve missed you, I’ve missed you so much for so long I almost forgot how It feels like having you in my life. But now I do, and it feels so good – I don’t want this feeling to ever go away, not ever. I just want to feel like I do right now for the rest of my life”
Victor had tears in his own eyes as he said, his voice unsteady “You will, we will, and nothing can change that, I need you to believe that, believe me when I tell you that I love you with everything in me”
Nikki nodded “I believe it” She whispered “I can see it in your eyes”
Victor smiled, a smile that was filled with warmth and love, He lifted her chin and leaned down to kiss her, Nikki whimpered softly and responded with a passion, kissing him powerfully, thinking how good he tasted.
Victor’s eyes closed and he tighten his grip around her. Wanting to feel her as close as possible to him.
After a few moments of kissing passionately, Victor pulled back and stared at her breathlessly.
Nikki, breathing hard and feeling like she wanted to go on kissing with him forever, pouted, “Why’d you stop?”
Victor’s eyes glimmered and effortlessly he picked her and set her up on the thick stone rail behind them.
He opened her coat and put his hands on her thighs, Nikki set there, eagerly awaiting his next move.
Victor asked with a smile “Are you cold?”
Nikki shook her head very slowly “No…”
Victor whispered, “Good…”
He slides his hands to her waist and untucked her sweater, and her blouse…
Beginning to feel chilly Nikki protested “Hmmm, darling… if you want to keep doing that, you’re going to have to stand a little closer to warm me up…It IS Wisconsin, and it is January…”
She said it seriously but her eyes lightened in sort of a seductive glint that Victor had seen many times in the past.
Nikki pulled him closer, straddled him with her legs until they were standing very closely together and then locked them behind his back.
She said in a voice that was hoarse with desire “Oh yes, that’s better now”
Victor took a deep breath, the proximity of their bodies driving him crazy with desire to her as always and whispered “Much better…”
He kissed her powerfully again as his hands moved from her waist to roam on her back, underneath her blouse.
Nikki pulled back from his as if bitten by a snake and gave a short, surprised cry.
Victor, alarmed, returned his vision to focus “Sweetheart what’s wrong?”
Nikki giggled at his reaction “Your hands are cold”
Victor breathed out a sigh of relief and glared at her, Nikki smiled sweetly at him “Sorry… now where were we?”
Victor wrapped them with his coat, which was significantly larger and began kissing her again.
Nikki moaned his name and begun unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt, burying her lips in his neck, enjoying the warmth of his body when they suddenly felt themselves getting more and more wet, looking up, they realized it had started to rain, again.
Victor pulled back with a grunt of frustration and looked up to the sky, it had clouded significantly and it was almost dark outside “We better go back”
Nikki wrinkled her nose “Yea, looks like it…” She grinned to Victor “Too bad, I was kinda enjoying the rustic location”
Victor laughed “I can see that, but I expect your bedroom would be more comfortable, and considerably warmer, and we still have time before the hearing start” He said, kissing her softly.
Nikki moaned “Oh god, you won’t have to tempt me much…”
Suddenly a thunder struck and it started to rain powerfully, Victor and Nikki made a careful dash back to the ranch just as the hailstorm broke…
Soaking wet and freezing, they entered to well heated ranch, Nikki sighed as the warm air hit her “This feels too good…”
Victor helped her out of her drenched coat and threw both of their coats on the table, he took her by the hand to the fire but it didn’t help much, they were too wet.
Nikki shivered as she took off her sweater ad remained standing in a white undershirt that become almost see through from the rain “Brrrr....”
She looked up at Victor and commented “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea...”Victor sized her up with his eyes and smiled “I think it was a very good idea...come here, I’ll warm you up...”
Nikki approached him with a smile and he rubbed her body quickly, trying to warm her up, he grinned “I definetly think you should get out of these wet clothes...”
Nikki said with a seductive smile “So should you...”
Victor said, his eyes gleaming “Upstairs”
He looked around and called out “Miguel! Miguel are you here?”
Silence...
He looked at his watch and then looked into Nikki’s eyes and caressed her face “Well, the hearing won't start in another two hours...Sweetheart, Are you sure?”
Nikki nodded, her fingers playing with his wet hair “Yea...I love you and I want you and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our son’s release from jail” She stood on her toes and kissed him passionately, moving her hands on the length of his body...
Victor made a gesture as if to pick her up on his arms but she pushed him away and resisted “Victor, your ribs, don’t you dare!”
Victor protested “Darling, come on, my ribs are healing quite nicely”
Nikki shook her head defiantly “Come on, nothing, I don’t want to see you hurt yourself”
She said teasingly “Especailly not now...”
Without waiting for a comment from Victor she headed upstairs, dripping water all over the floor, swinging her hips.
Victor looked up with an amused smile and was about to go after her when the doorbell rang and both of them froze.
