Checkmate (17 page)

Eli shook the man’s hand. “Thank you.” If his breathing came a tad easier, no one needed to know it but him. Now he’d be able to concentrate on Nikki and their future.

Everything seemed to be happening so fast. First the three shitheads had been arrested and now this. Eli cocked his head as he watched Morales climb into his unmarked squad car. How in the hell was it possible this was all coming to a head?

Why the fuck was he questioning it?

“It’s really over?” Nikki turned her face up to his.

He idly played his thumb over her shoulder. “Looks that way,” he muttered. If only he could get rid of the nagging feeling it wasn’t.

* * *

A shrill ringing made Nikki jerk in his arms. “Shh,” he quieted her and rolled out of their bed. The clock glowed a red 6:28 in the morning. Eli snatched the phone from his nightstand and pushed the talk button before it could ring again.

“Graham,” he said softly, not wanting to disturb Nikki. He turned back to her. She’d rolled onto her side. The creamy expanse of her back and buttocks beckoned him to return under the covers. His cock hardened.

“I need your help over at the Stanton’s. They’re having trouble at the border again,” Caelan groused.

“Jesus. Couldn’t they have waited until a reasonable hour?”

“Tell me about it. I’ve been here since five.”

“Fuck.” Eli swiped a hand over his face and looked at Nikki again. Her shoulder rose and fell with each soft breath. He didn’t want to deal with anything else other than sleeping with his mate right now.

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “No, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Not we, E. You’re better off leaving Nikki at home,” Caelan said.

Eli paused, waiting for his brother to elaborate on why. When he didn’t, Eli asked, “What do you mean leave her here?”

“Things might get ugly, E. You don’t want her in a dangerous situation.”

No, he didn’t, but he also wasn’t ready to leave her alone. “God damn it. Fine,” he hissed after a minute, and slammed the phone into its base.

Nikki screeched and reared up. Her hair flew in a crazy tangle around her head. For a second, Eli forgot about what had to be done. He smiled at the untamed look of his mate. If it weren’t for the fact her eyes were sleep-hazed, he would swear they’d just had a wild romp between the sheets.

“What happened? What’s going on?” she practically yelled.

He chuckled at her struggle to join the ranks of the living.

“I have to leave,” he said through clinched teeth.

“Oh. Okay.” She flopped onto her pillow and snuggled in again. “Later.”

Eli snorted. “Don’t get so upset, huh?”

“What do you wan’ me to say, E? I’m tired. Your fault. Get lost.”

He came around the bed so he could see her face. “I want to take you with me.”

“No.”

Eli bent and placed his palms on the bed a foot away from her body so he leaned over her. “Excuse me?”

“No.”

He gritted his teeth and counted to ten. “Get your pretty, little, smart-ass butt out of this bed and get dressed.”

Nikki opened one eye and stared at him. “No.” She turned her face away from him and yanked the covers over her head.

Exasperation filled him. He tugged on the blanket. “I don’t have time for this, Nik.”

“And I don’t have time for you badgering me when I’m trying to sleep,” she mumbled under her shield. She whipped the covers off. “If you had left me alone at all last night, I wouldn’t have this problem. Now, shoo.” Her eyes slid shut, blocking him out.

“Damn it, Nikki-Raine. I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“Why not?” she groaned. “Morales said everything was safe now. Go, save the world or whatever it is you werewolves do.”

He growled low in his throat. “Just because he said it was, doesn’t mean I’m going to take any chances.”

“I won’t leave the house. You can call me every ten minutes if you want.”

His growl turned to a snarl.

She sighed. “It has to stop sometime, Eli. I can’t live in hiding forever. If the police feel confident, then I guess so do I.”

“Damn it. I hate it when you’re reasonable.”

“Me too. G’night.”

“What if I
want
you to come with me?”

“That’s a misguided attempt at making me feel guilty so I’ll come with you and therefore be safe in your eyes,” she muttered.

Eli stood. Son of a bitch, she was a stubborn woman. He chewed on his thumbnail as he watched her sink into sleep once more. Could he do this? Could he leave her here without him or Caelan?

Caelan was probably worse off than Eli anyway with Tieran being so far pregnant. He wondered how much shit Cael’s mate had given his twin before he’d left in the early morning hours.

His shoulders dropped. At this second, pack business took precedence. If Morales hadn’t told them the news earlier, little miss tiredness better believe he’d have packed her in the car. He scrambled for clothes, showered and dressed in less than ten minutes.

“I love you.” Eli kissed Nikki’s temple.

“Uh-huh. Nove oo too,” she said into her pillow.

* * *

Nikki stepped out of the shower onto the fluffy bath mat and wiggled her toes in the softness, delighting in the feel of it. It had been too long since she’d indulged in such a simple pleasure. Way too long. The amount of time she’d spent hiding in her parents’ house to be exact. And here she was doing the same thing at Eli’s. Hiding. Well not anymore.

Somehow she’d gotten Eli to actually leave the house this morning without her. He’d called a few times, thank God it hadn’t been every ten minutes like she’d suggested he could. Talk about overbearing. For the first time in a long time she felt safe from the intrusions of the outside world. Not even the news broadcasting her face a couple nights ago had dampened her spirits.

Okay, it had. Big time. Then the funeral had done a good job of bringing them down even further. But now it was over. Nikki felt guilty for the tiny bit of giddiness flowing through her. Why should she get to be happy when her friends were dead?

Eli went a long way in redirecting her thoughts whenever he saw them leading in the wrong direction. Her clit tingled in reaction to how he handled her depression.

Besides owning their own security business and genuinely knowing how to protect her, they were wolves. She considered that an added advantage. Nikki smiled, remembering the furry beast snuggled up to her outside in the grass the night she couldn’t sleep.

At first, she’d been shocked, but then, when she’d looked deep into those beautiful golden eyes, she’d known it was him and her fear had disappeared. She’d felt none when he’d shifted back into his human form either. He was who he was and it only made her love him more.

After towel-drying her hair, Nikki stood in front of the foggy mirror and surveyed her naked body. The red, angry scratch on her shoulder ached with memories both raw and ugly. The jagged scar across her cheek seemed to pulse, forever reminding her of the past. Eli didn’t care about her looks or what had nearly happened to her that stormy night.

Suddenly, she didn’t either. Since coming to his home, she hadn’t even thought about her face. Well, except when his mom had brought it up, but afterward she hadn’t tried to hide it or hide from it.
Eli
made her feel that way. His perception of her hadn’t changed because three men had tried to rape her, leaving her feeling dirty and sorry for herself. Instead, he’d
claimed
her to use his word. She bit her lip. Nothing could top the way he looked at her like he wanted to devour her. She had no reason not to believe him when he talked of their future together. Especially not after meeting his mother and hearing Tieran.

Her heart thudded and she gripped the towel in one hand while wiping the mirror with the other. A fat drop of water fell from her eyelash. She tried to look deep inside herself but all she saw was her reflection.

With shaky fingertips, Nikki ran her fingers atop the faint bite mark marring her shoulder. She still couldn’t believe he’d bitten her. Nor that he’d done it more than once and she didn’t care. Not when he had his cock embedded deep in her pussy and her clit screaming for release.

She wished he were here to help dry her off. There wouldn’t be much drying happening with his insatiable cock throbbing just inches away, but it would be fun foreplay.

Shaking off the vision of him bending her over the counter and taking her from behind was a delicious effort. She yanked her toothbrush out of the holder and squeezed a dollop of toothpaste on it. For the first time in all these long months she finally felt in control of her destiny. A destiny she had thought gone for good.

Nikki wiped again at the mirror, smearing her image with the condensation gathered there. Outside the bathroom she heard the click of the bedroom door opening and a pained voice call out.

“Nikki?”

Shit. Tieran sounded more than desperate. Nikki threw her T-shirt over her still-damp body and hurried through the door to find out what was wrong. She stopped short when she saw the fear etched on Tieran’s face.

“Eli’s gone too?” Her teeth were ground together, her lips pinched so tight they were white, and her eyebrows were scrunched together.

Please God, don’t let her be having this baby.
What the hell could she do? She didn’t know anything about babies other than they smelled sweet, cried a lot and pooped.

Nikki crossed the room with long, quick strides. “What’s wrong, Tieran?”

Not the baby, not the baby
.

“The baby. It’s coming.”

Son of a…

Nikki grabbed hold of Tieran’s arm when she slumped against the doorframe and doubled over as a fresh wave of whatever seized her. One of Tieran’s hands reached out and captured Nikki’s forearm. Ragged fingernails dug into her flesh. Nikki’s eyes rolled and she bit her lip to keep from shouting in pain.

It seemed like an hour before Tieran’s grasp loosened and blood flowed once again into Nikki’s hand. She flexed her fingers to aid the process. Slowly Tieran righted herself using the wall next to her as leverage. Her pale face blended in with the white walls.

“Where is that hairy-assed bastard when I need him?” Tieran wailed.

Nikki bit back a smile. Tieran was one tough cookie but she would never call her mate a hairy-assed bastard if she wasn’t in so much pain. Well, at least not behind his back. She might say it to his face. Or was she talking about Eli?

“Umm…Caelan?”

“No,” Tieran ground out. “He had to go to some pack thing in the middle of the night. Where’s Eli?” she growled on another wave of labor pain.

Shit. This was bad. Very bad. “I believe he’s at the same thing. I think Caelan called him earlier this morning.” Damn why hadn’t she woken up enough to listen instead of arguing because she’d wanted to go back to sleep? Both of them were hairy-assed bastards.

Tieran’s nostrils flared with her deep intake of breath. “It’s coming so fast, Nikki. I think we need to go.” Tears welled in her eyes. “No one ever said it would be like this. I thought I would have a long time, all day, all night. Oh my God, I’m going to have this baby here at the house.”

“Tieran!” Nikki yelled. “Take a breath, honey. Breathe.” She motioned with her hand in a circle. Dumb jackasses, leaving her here with a hysterical pregnant woman. Who did they think she was, Wonder Woman?

Nikki left Tieran standing next to the door and hurried around the room, dressing in whatever clothes she could find. Her bra stuck out from beneath the bed where Eli had flung it last night, one sock had landed on the lampshade, the other across the room on the arm of the big chair, and her jeans…where the fuck were her jeans?

She swung her gaze over the room. There, hanging on the doorknob of the closet door. In a moment of insanity, Nikki cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. How the hell had they managed to get there? Yanking the jeans off the tenuous perch, she ran to the dresser and pulled out a skimpy pair of underwear.

“Umm, okay, how far apart are the…contraction thingies?” Her underwear refused to cooperate with her warm moist skin and Nikki nearly left them off.

A tiny smile creased Tieran’s lips. “About ten minutes, I guess.” Her voice wobbled.

An alarm went off in Nikki’s brain. Damn. That was pretty close together, wasn’t it? How far apart were they supposed to be, and shit, how close together would they get at the last second? She battled with her jeans, hopping on one foot to try and get the second leg on.

“But my water broke twenty minutes ago, and since Caelan was gone I came to get Eli.”

Nikki stood, her lungs heavy from the exertion of getting dressed quickly, and stared at the almost unflappable woman Nikki knew Tieran to be who was now in tears.

She was so going to kill Caelan. And Eli for that matter for leaving her with a heavily pregnant woman.

Nikki held up a hand when Tieran’s lower lip quivered. “Never mind. We can do this, Tieran. We are two grownup, capable, able-bodied women and somehow we will do this.” She snapped her fingers and raised one in the air. “I’ll call Judith. She can meet us at the hospital.” Eli’s mother would know exactly what to do. Hell she’d done it with twins. Feeling rather proud, Nikki inhaled and relaxed. Everything would be fine. She would call Judith right now.

Tieran shook her head. “She’s out of town, remember?”

“Oh, for the love of…” Nikki plopped down on the big chair and jerked her socks and tennis shoes on.

“I think we’ll have to go alone, Nik. I know you’re not supposed to leave the house, but…”

Nikki held up a hand. “Wait just a minute. I don’t think they planned on having an emergency birth, do you? You’re what two, three weeks early? Caelan wouldn’t have left this morning if he’d thought you were going to go into imminent labor. Of course I’ll go with you.” She stripped her arms out of the T-shirt so the cotton hung loosely over her chest, and wrapped her bra around her. After catching the clasp together in the front, she twisted it until the cups were covering the appropriate tiny mounds of flesh that really didn’t need a bra and slipped her arms through the straps. A second later she was both completely dressed and discombobulated.