Taking Nicole (Vegas Mates Series)(#4) (8 page)

Carlotta and Reginald were anything but careless.

He turned around, meeting Nicole’s pained expression. His first instinct was to hug her and assure her he’d be fine. His back had seen this and worse before. He pushed his resolve through the bond and she nodded, rising from her knees. Her bare feet barely made a sound on the paved ground. She offered him a shoulder and he accepted, not out of need, but so he could touch her without being scrutinized.

She was so soft and smelled like the hillside after a rain shower. They walked in silence to a door at the back of the palace, probably the very one she’d fled through only a short time ago.

Carlotta had already disappeared inside. Tempe stood waiting at the door for them, her eyes glued to the floor.

“Henrick would not hold you responsible,” Aaron started. “His head’s been on Carlotta’s chopping block for almost a month. His mother died and with it their ability to force his loyalty. She would’ve killed him within the week.”

She didn’t respond to his assurances.

Her guilt was thick and heavy on her soul. She was so strong, but this life and the politics would crush her. Her heart wasn’t hard enough to survive without ruining the woman within. The ceremony on Friday would break her. He’d witnessed the results of these arena matings before.

Bodies torn limb from limb. Blood flowing as freely as the wine the Council drank while they watched. The winner, if you could call him that, was required to take his mate in front of them all and mark her. The humiliation and degradation was intolerable.
How could the gods have ever sanctioned such traditions?

“They never did, Aaron,”
his leopard whispered.

Why did they abandon us? Where are they?

“It didn’t used to be this way. The royals have gotten crueler through the centuries. Even gods get old and tired.”

The walk through the palace was slow and painful. Every step was torture. His magick was already beginning to knit the wounds back together, but they were deep. It would take days for them to heal completely. The scars would take longer and they’d never completely fade. Just like the dozens of old scars he already wore.
 

At least his leopard was speaking to him again. That was progress.

They entered her bedroom and she closed the door behind them.

He ripped the last of his shirt from his body and tossed it into a corner of the room.

She gasped. “You need to get cleaned up. I’ll start a shower.”

“Thank you.” He followed her into the spa-sized bathroom. She turned on the water in the large, glass shower centered in the room. It was at least a ten-by-ten square and had two rain-style showerheads hanging from the ceiling. Water also ran down the glass walls and into the drains below, creating a wall of running water. It was beautiful.

He shrugged out of his pants and stepped inside, wincing as the hot water seared the still-open wounds. Footsteps vibrated through the floor near him. He opened his eyes, widening them at the sight of her naked body. Water ran in perfect streams over and between her round, upturned breasts. He reached and she came forward into his arms.

Her lips pressed softly to his chest and he shuddered. If only this could really happen. If only he could really have her. But he couldn’t.

“I’m sorry.” The running water nearly drowned out her soft apology.
 

“You didn’t do it maliciously. But.” He pulled back and looked down, meeting her saddened eyes. “Why did you run?”

“I didn’t run
away
… My wolf was going stir crazy. I just needed to run.”

He sighed and pulled her close to his chest again, relishing the softness of her round curves pressing against him in all the right places.

“I can’t believe my grandmother just ...”

“I told you,” he growled. “It wasn’t your fault. She would’ve killed him anyway. He could’ve forgotten to close a door or dropped a plate. Any tiny little slip would’ve cost his life. It wasn’t you.”

“I can’t do this. I can’t live here. I’ll go crazy like my mother did.” She pulled away from him and stepped out of the shower. “I want you, but if we do this, they’ll kill you for sure. I’d rather live without you and know you are alive.”

“Nicole.”

She shook her head and fled the bathroom.

It was the truth. Even the small amount of contact just now had strengthened the bond between them. He could feel her guilt, confusion, desire, and misery. Gods, it was like a mid-morning soap opera in her head. It wasn’t much different in his, but he had to protect his sister in all of this, too. As much as he wanted to steal away with Nicole, he was tied here.

He rolled his shoulders in the soft downpour of the shower. The water ran clear to the drain. His wounds had stopped bleeding. They no longer burned like fire. Now his back just throbbed and ached. His magick surged through his body, repairing the damage cell by cell. Tomorrow, only raised pink scars would remain. Those would slowly fade to lighter pale stripes to match the older ones that crisscrossed his whole back already.

After rinsing off, he wrapped a towel around his waist before walking into the bedroom. Nicole’s voice carried from near the bed, but he couldn’t see her. She sounded like she was talking to someone.
Shit!
His eyes flew to his rumpled pants on the bathroom floor.
She had his phone!

“Nicole!” he growled, his deep voice reverberating through the large bedroom suite.

“Siobhan, you have to tell Kate. She has to come now ... No, they are killing shifters and spelling them to be stuck in animal form. Siobhan. I don’t give a crap if my sisters called her to come to New York. What the hell are the twins doing with Aunt Melinda anyway? Never mind. I don’t want to know. Tell Kate to come to Greece. NOW!” Her voice was quiet, but clear and demanding.

He knelt to the floor and pulled up the ruffled bed skirt. He reached to grab her but she squeaked in surprise and edged to the other side before his fingers closed on her wrist.

“Damn it, Nicole. You will get us both killed!”

“You tell her I found my true mate, Siobhan. Tell her I’ll go as bat shit crazy as my mother if she doesn’t help me.”

He lunged forward, reaching farther under the bed. The barely closed wounds on his back sent agonizing darts of white-hot pain through his nervous system.

She wasn’t giving up. Her little body slithered farther to the other side of the bed.

He pulled back and jumped over the mattress, landing softly on the opposite side and reached under the bed. His hand closed around the soft flesh of her thigh and he yanked, pulling her clear of the bed.

“Please, Siobhan,” she begged through the phone.

He snatched the phone from her and held it to his ear. “If anyone tries to interfere with the ceremony, they will kill her on principle.”

“I’m on my way,” a quiet female voice responded on the other end of the line.
 

“Who are you?” he snarled.

“I’m your creator. Protect her, Aaron.”

Damn it all to hell.
He put the phone on the floor and crushed it under his palm. The call could easily be traced and would be. He was a dead man. It was just a matter of time.

“What did Kate say? Siobhan was handing her the phone!” Nicole demanded, twisting in his arms.

“Nothing.” He swallowed, lying.
Kate Aribas was coming. Here.

“Damn it! You overgrown kitty ca—”

He slapped a hand over her mouth. Why she insisted on calling him a kitty cat was beyond understanding. It only irritated him.

His leopard chuckled. “
That’s why she does it.”

She growled and slithered from his wet arms, rolling to her feet. “I was trying to help,” she whispered. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“They’ll track the call, Nicole. Why must you insist on being a pain in my ass?”

He looked up. Her face caught a beam of moonlight from the window and her eyes were glowing gold. Such beauty and strength. She’d gone from tortured soul to sneaky bitch in a matter of seconds. If he ever claimed her as his mate, his life would never be the same.
Damn it.
She’d done it again. First she pissed him off and then she found a way to arouse him to the point of pain.

A smile curved the corner of her lips upward. He followed her gaze downward. The towel had conveniently come loose and his erection stood proudly, announcing his desires. So much for playing the cold shoulder.

“Pain in your ass?” She smirked. “I don’t think that’s what most men call an erection.”

“You’re something else. You know that, right?”

She shrugged and pulled loose the ties holding her robe closed.

“No, Nicole.” He grabbed the towel from the floor and stood, wrapping it quickly around his errant dick. “If I want to continue breathing for any length of time, we can’t let the bond progress any further. As much as it pains me not to ravish you right here and now, I can’t betray my sister and leave her to rot in that cage.”

“Kate is coming. I know it. Siobhan will make sure of it.”

“I don’t know why you think one woman can make such a difference. You’ve seen Carlotta. The rest of the lower Council is just as bad. The Originals haven’t been around in centuries. No one cares anymore, Nicole. These royal families run everything. What can one woman really do?”

A tap at the door silenced them both. He held his breath and turned toward her bedroom door.

“Miss Demakis, I brought some clothes for Aaron. Is he still with you?” Tempe’s voice was barely over a whisper.

A few strides brought him to the closed door. He opened it and pulled Tempe inside, holding the bath towel firmly in place around his waist with his other hand.

She gave him a frown. “Aaron, you know better than this,” she hissed and shoved a folded stack of clothing at his chest. “The bond between you two is growing stronger. Carlotta and Reginald will kill you, or worse, if they notice. What about your sister?”

“What about your husband, Tempe? Should we all just exist in misery when there’s a chance we could get everyone out of those cages?”
 

“Where did that come from?”
his leopard asked.
 

He’d said again and again he wouldn’t do anything. Risking Sasha’s life wasn’t a choice.
I don’t know, but there has to be something I can do.

Tempe’s eyebrows raised, curiosity piqued. “How?”

“I’m not sure, yet.”

Tempe frowned, but didn’t reply.

“So you’re going to help me?” Nicole whispered from across the room.

He turned. Her shoulders slumped as she sat slowly on the bench at the foot of the bed. Tears ran down her cheeks.

The hushed sobs confused him. This was what she wanted. She wanted to leave and get as far away from her grandparents as she could.

She wanted
him
... didn’t she?

“I’m going to find a way to get you out of here, Nicole. If Kate can help the prisoners, we can all escape this prison. Maybe, just maybe, we can be together then.”

Nicole shook her head. “That’s not enough. We can’t just run. They’ll just come after me again … or worse, my sisters. I can’t run and hide and pass this cursed fate on to them.”

“But ... isn’t that why you ran earlier?” Tempe asked.

“I wasn’t leaving. My wolf needed to run. No one ever shifts around here. I was going crazy.” She glared at him and Tempe. “When was the last time either of you shifted?”

“A year.” Tempe sighed. “Maybe longer.”

Nicole gasped, shaking her head.

He met Nicole’s gaze and nodded. “The last time I shifted was in the forest outside of Woodhaven. The royals consider our animal side weak. They embrace the supernatural strength and long life that comes with being a shifter, but they shun the soul within.”

“Well I don’t shun my wolf and I won’t start now.”

“So you’re just going to keep rebelling and getting your guards executed? Like Henrick was today?” Tempe snarled.

“It’s not her fault,” he snapped back, but Tempe rushed from the room and slammed the door behind her. Aaron cringed. Every guard on the floor would be coming to investigate. He dropped the towel and pulled on the pants and shirt Tempe had brought. “I have to go, Nicole. Get some rest. We’ll talk more in the morning."

One last glance was all he allowed himself—the curve of her lips, the spark in her eyes, the shine of her long blonde hair. She sat quietly at the foot of the giant bed, staring back at him with a desire burning in her gaze he wouldn’t be able to resist if he didn’t get out quickly. Every instinct and reflex wanted to take her now. He wanted to taste her perfectly creamy skin and mark her now, before he risked losing her forever.

“Kate better get here soon.”

I just hope she can help.

“If she really is Kate Aribas, the Goddess Isis, she will do more than help,”
his leopard said.

The confidence in his leopard’s voice was reassuring. Maybe he wouldn’t die trying to keep his mate from being taken from him.
Unlikely
.
 

No one ever got away from the royal families unscathed.

He knew in his heart he couldn’t stand by and watch the ceremony happen without trying to step in. If the goddess could just help his sister get her freedom, he’d willingly die to save Nicole from spending a lifetime chained to one of these royal pricks.

Nicole opened her eyes and stretched. Light from outside streamed through her open curtain. Cursing whoever opened them, she sniffed the room.

“You have to stop sneaking in here in the morning.”

Tempe shrugged and held up a lavender sweater dress. “You’ve been summoned to breakfast.”

“Damn.”

She slipped from the covers and crossed the room to the vanity where Tempe stood. A pair of panties and a bra were laid out for her. She slipped on the lacy thong and the white lace pushup bra.

“Do you ever sleep in pajamas?”

“Nope. You never know when you might need to shift.” She sank into the chair in front of the vanity and ran a soft brush through her long hair. “I love shifting. Don’t you miss it? Do you talk to your wolf, Tempe?”