by Angel Nyx
Chapter Ten
Casey
When she opened her eyes, Casey was hoping she would feel less confused by the situation with Nikolai. She didn’t. She was just as confused in the morning light as she’d been when she went to sleep. With a soft sigh she crawled out of bed, got dressed, and went to the kitchen where she could hear someone moving around.
“Good morning. There’s fresh coffee in the pot,” Rory said from where she stood at the stove. “I’m whipping up some breakfast quiche and scratch-made biscuits for breakfast this morning.”
Casey went for the coffee and gave the other woman a faint smile. “As delicious as that sounds, I have plans for breakfast. Do you know if Malcolm’s up yet?”
“No idea. You can go check, though. I take it your plans have something to do with the guy who came looking for you last night?”
“Nikolai, yeah. We have some things we need to discuss.” After fixing her coffee, she went to check on Jacob, who was just waking up, and then stopped at the room Malcolm was sleeping in and knocked.
Several minutes later the door cracked open. “Hey, babe. Everything okay?” Malcolm’s hair was sleep-tousled.
Some women would get offended by a guy calling them ‘babe’ but Casey knew Malcolm called everyone that. He wasn’t being disrespectful. “I was wondering if you’d mind keeping an eye on Jacob for a little while? The talk with Nikolai didn’t go very well last night, and we’re getting together this morning to clear some things up.”
“Don’t worry about the munchkin—I’ll keep him occupied. You go talk with Nikolai. Just try to remember, he’s Russian and they tend to sometimes come across a little, I don’t want to say cold, just different from Americans. Try to keep that in mind.”
Casey sighed. “Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re getting together today. Something he said last night didn’t really come across right. Or I just didn’t really understand what he meant. Same thing, really. Thanks, Mal. I’m going to let Jacob know I’m going out for a little bit, then I’ll text Nikolai.”
Half an hour later Casey sat across from Nikolai who had a plate of pancakes, sausage, and eggs in front of her. He’d insisted she get something to eat while they talked. “I’m still really confused by what you meant last night, Nikolai. I’m not going to lie and pretend otherwise.” She watched as Nikolai rubbed a hand across his face.
“I know, Solnyshko.” He reached across the table and took her hand in his. “My tiger is drawn to you, da, but that isn’t the only reason I am attracted to you. You are a beautiful woman, Casey. In some ways it is surprising to me that you don’t know this, but in other ways it is no surprise at all. I haven’t spent much time with you, but I do not need a great length of time to know that you are a humble soul.” He sighed and rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand. “I simply meant you deserved to be treated better than the way I behaved the day we met. I wish to get to know you, if you will allow it.”
Casey watched him for several minutes. “You know I’m a package deal, don’t you? My son means everything to me.”
“Da, I know this. I know that he is your world. I wish to be a part of both your lives, Casey.”
Casey took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Was she making a mistake giving him a chance? She hoped not. If she was completely honest with herself, she was tired of being alone. “You have one chance.”
Nikolai let out a breath at her words and squeezed her hand. “Spasibo, thank you, Solnyshko, for giving me a chance. Will you accept my gift now?”
The smirk he gave her made her laugh. It was strange because if anyone else had smirked at her like that she’d have been pissed. “Yes, I’ll accept your gift now.” She looked at her plate for a moment before she lifted her gaze to his. “You hurt me, Nikolai. My wolf…she mourned you as if she’d lost her mate. If you’re not serious about this, I need to know, now. Because I can’t go through that again.”
“I know I did and I am so sorry. There are not enough words to convey how much I wish I could go back in time and change things—behave differently.”
Nikolai
Nikolai sat there, across from Casey, and felt an overwhelming sense of relief when she agreed to give him a chance. For a moment there he’d thought she was going to deny him. He removed the necklace from the box it rested in and stood to move behind her. He waited for her to move her hair out of the way, then clasped it behind her neck. He paused long enough to drop a kiss to the top of her head and then took his seat again.
He watched as Casey lifted a hand to touch the glass beads. “Each bead encases violet petals.”
“Really? I love violets. They’re such a pretty flower.”
“I know. I asked Lily what your favorites were. I wanted something special for you.” He smirked at the way her cheeks pinked from his words. “What are your plans for today?”
Casey blinked at the sudden question. “Um, I haven’t made any yet. I was going to discuss that with my son, Jacob, first. Why?”
“I would like to spend time with you, and your son, to get to know both of you. There is an aquarium in Houston, as well as a zoo, and Houston is only about an hour and a half from here.” He watched as Casey chewed on her bottom lip while she considered his request.
“You really want to spend time with me and Jacob?”
“Da, I really do, Solnyshko. Why does that surprise you?”
Casey tipped her head at him. “Honestly? Because it seems like most men aren’t interested in getting to know a woman and her child. They usually run the other way when they find out the woman they’re interested in has a kid.”
Nikolai growled. “I am not most men, Casey.”
“True. You’re not.”She chewed on her lip again before she nodded. “Okay then. Let’s spend the day together.”
Nikolai motioned to the server and once their bill was paid he escorted Casey out to his rental car. On the drive back to the house, he reached over and rested his hand on her knee. He was a gentleman; he didn’t move his hand farther up her leg even if he was tempted to. He’d just gotten her to give him a second chance; he wasn’t going to fuck it up by groping her.
“Come inside? I’d like you to meet Jacob first.”
They were sitting in the car in front of the house Casey was staying at. Nikolai looked over at her before he nodded. “As you wish. Let me.” He was out and around the car to the passenger side within seconds. He opened the door for her and offered her a hand before he walked her to the door. For the first time in years, he was hit with a case of nerves. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such an overwhelming sense of nervousness but the thought of meeting Casey’s son, and not being accepted by the boy, had him on edge.
Nikolai stood just inside the door while Casey greeted her son. When Malcolm came into view he nodded at the lion shifter.
“Nikolai. You did a bang-up job of making a mess of things. Glad to see you came to your senses.”
He felt his tiger’s anger at the comment and pushed it down. “That is why I am here. To repair the damage.”
“Good luck.”
Before Nikolai could respond to Malcolm, Casey approached with her son at her side. “Nikolai, this is Jacob.”
Nikolai squatted down so he was more eye level with the boy. “Hello, Jacob.” He offered his hand to the child and waited.
“You don’t smell like a wolf.”
“Nyet. I do not because I am a tiger.” He saw the boy’s eyes widen as his nostrils flared. Again, he waited for Jacob’s reaction.
“Cool! Are you in the Pack, too?”
“Da, I am, malen’kiy.”
“How come I haven’t seen you before?”
Nikolai glanced up at Casey before he replied. “I have been away, for work, but I am back now.”
“Oh.”
He watched as the boy looked up at his mother. “Mama said we’re gonna go to the fire museum and to the zoo. Are we really gonna see fire trucks?”
Nikolai’s gaze li
fted to his mate. “Da. We will go wherever you wish.” The squeal the boy emitted brought a smile to his face.
“Go get ready, kiddo,” Casey said to her son.
Nikolai could tell she had something on her mind. “What is it?”
“What was it you just called him?”
“Malen’kiy? It means little one. Does it bother you?” He watched as she shook her head.
“No. It’s…sweet.”
When Jacob returned to them, ready to go, Nikolai escorted them out to the car and helped Casey in, once she made sure her son was buckled up in the backseat. Then they were off.
They spent several hours at the museum. Watching Jacob light up at every single display caused an ache in Nikolai’s chest. It was startling to realize he wanted to see that look of joy on the boy’s face every day. Whenever he glanced at Casey, the ache intensified. If he thought Jacob lit up when he smiled, it was nothing compared to his mother. Her smile turned her from beautiful to ethereal. It almost hurt to see the happiness on her face. It was the first real smile he’d seen on her and it was truly breathtaking.
Casey
Watching her son run from one display to another, oohing and aahing over all of the antique fire trucks the museum had, filled Casey with happiness. He was often such a somber child, or at least he seemed to be to her at times, and she found herself wondering if that was her fault. Had she made her son so pensive with her own solemn attitude?
Feeling eyes on her, she lifted her gaze to find Nikolai watching her. She felt her cheeks warm and knew she was blushing. “What?”
“You are ethereal when you smile.”
She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Are you sure you don’t need glasses?” she teased. “Thank you, Nikolai. I don’t see whatever it is you are seeing, but thank you.”
“Who made you feel as though you are not beautiful, Solnyshko?”
“It’s not really any one thing, Nikolai. It’s more a series of behaviors from others.” She sighed softly. “It started back in middle school. Other girls were already wearing makeup, mini skirts, and curling their hair, while I was still wearing jeans and wanting to climb trees. And makeup? No way. In high school, it got worse. That’s why I was so shocked…” Her voice trailed off and she looked away. She felt Nikolai’s hand gently grip hers and she turned her attention back to him.
“You do not need to talk about it if it upsets you, Solnyshko.”
“No. I think I owe you that, at least. Jacob’s sperm donor was one of the most popular boys in school. He only dated the popular girls. When my friend talked me into going to the party, I planned on just taking photos to document it. I was so stunned when Garret spoke to me. He told me I was hot and…I didn’t see it, but I was so flattered. And so stupid. He drugged me. He probably expected it to knock me out completely, but all it did was make me too weak to fight back. After that, I just…stopped letting people in enough to give them a reason to compliment me. Maybe part of me has a bit of a phobia about it. Some deep-seated fear that if someone compliments me they’re just trying to hurt me the way Garret did.” The growl that came from Nikolai made her shiver.
“That ublyudok needs to be skinned alive for what he did to you.”
“Nikolai. No. He’s not worth it. He really isn’t.” She looked over at her son. “I might regret what happened to me that night, but I don’t regret having Jacob in my life. He’s my whole world.”
She looked up into Nikolai’s pale blue eyes and watched as he struggled with his anger. It was…oddly touching that he was so outraged on her behalf.
“As you wish, Solnyshko. Should you change your mind, know that I will gladly make him pay.”
By the time they left the museum, they were all hungry, so on their way to the zoo they stopped for lunch at a little diner. There was a great deal of laughter over their meal, mostly at Jacob’s antics while he picked up his fries and ‘danced’ them around on his plate.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the zoo. Casey expected her son’s favorite to be the only canine mammal the zoo had—the swift fox, but much to her surprise, his favorite was the clouded leopard. Before they headed back to Beaumont, they made a stop at the gift shop where Nikolai got Jacob a stuffed clouded leopard that he hugged the entire way back to Rory’s house.
Chapter Eleven
Nikolai
Over the next three days, Nikolai spent every waking moment with Casey and Jacob. There was still a lot to repair. He could sense she was holding back, keeping him at a bit of a distance out of fear of being hurt again, and while he understood it, it also frustrated him. It frustrated his tiger even more. He wanted to claim their mate so no other could try to take her from them, and he didn’t understand why Nikolai hadn’t done so yet. That was one of the few disadvantages to being a shifter. The animal half didn’t understand complex thoughts. It worked on instinct and instinct told the animal to claim its mate.
It was morning, the sun was peeking through the clouds that had rolled in over night, and he was headed to pick up his mate and her son. They were all headed back to New Orleans and Casey had agreed to ride back with Nikolai. Along the way, he passed a fruit and vegetable stand and stopped long enough to get some delicious-looking apples, plums, and a rather large watermelon, before he finally reached Rory’s house. There he found Casey already waiting.
Nikolai got out of the car and approached the front porch, where Casey waited. “Anxious to leave, Solnyshko?” he teased before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Then he grabbed the bags, sitting on the porch beside her, and carried them out to the car.
“Hi, Nikolai!”
No sooner had he gotten the last bag in the trunk and closed it when Jacob came barreling down the sidewalk at him. He caught the boy, when he flung himself at him, and lifted his gaze to Casey. She looked as stunned as he felt over the child’s reaction to seeing him.
Casey
Casey stood there in complete shock. The way her son reacted to Nikolai, after only a few days, was startling, to say the least. He seemed to have accepted Nikolai in a way she’d not expected him to. It was as if her son had already gotten attached to the tiger. That thought terrified her. What if, once they returned to New Orleans, Nikolai went back to the way he’d been before? What if he became cold and distant again? It would crush her son.
“Penny for your thoughts, babe.”
She blinked and turned to find Malcolm standing beside her. “I’m scared. What if he goes back to the way he was before, once we return to New Orleans?”
“He won’t.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because you’re his mate, Casey. Now that he’s accepted it, he won’t go back to being a cold bastard toward you. What are you really afraid of, Casey?”
She bit her lip before she replied. “What if we’re wrong? What if I’m not really his mate and some female tiger comes along and bam, instant attraction between them? I couldn’t handle it, Mal. It would destroy me.”
“Casey, babe, that’s not how it works. There is only one mate for us. Are you saying that your wolf and his tiger made a mistake?”
The arched look he gave her made her squirm a little. “Well, when you put it that way… I’m just scared.”
“I know you are. Everything will work out, you’ll see. Nikolai.”
Her attention was drawn to the man who now stood at the edge of the porch watching them. Whenever he was near, all she wanted to do was reach out and touch him. As the sun came out more, his hair was bathed in light, making it look like he had a halo for a moment. She blinked and everything was normal again.
“Malcolm.”
“Nikolai. Drive safe, yeah? You’ve got precious cargo with you this time.”
The glare Nikolai sent Malcolm’s way, coupled with a low growl, made Casey shiver. She watched as Nikolai’s pale eyes moved over her before he spoke again.
“I am always safe. It is others who are not. Ready to go, Solnyshko?”
<
br /> “Yes. We’re ready to go. We’ll see you back in New Orleans, Malcolm.” She waved to her friend and let Nikolai escort her out to his rental car. Soon enough they were on the interstate, headed back home to New Orleans.
“Home sweet home. For now, anyway. I’m still looking for a place for Jacob and I.” The ride back had been uneventful, thankfully. She hadn’t relished the possibility of getting stuck in traffic or getting caught behind an accident or something. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to be in the same car with Nikolai for any longer than she had to be. No, it was because being in such close quarters with him made her want to crawl into his lap and nuzzle him.
“You will find something, I am sure.”
She let Nikolai help her with their bags and then, while Jacob regaled Lily with everything they’d done and seen over the last few days, she walked back to the car with him.
“Come to dinner with me tomorrow night.”
She lifted her gaze to his face. “Dinner? Just us?”
“Da. I think we need some time for just the two of us.”
She chewed on her bottom lip before she nodded. “Okay. As long as I can get a sitter for Jacob.”
“Let me know if we have to postpone it.”
She watched as he lifted a hand to trace her cheek with his fingers. She leaned into the touch with a soft sigh.
“Until tomorrow, Solnyshko.”
When he dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers she felt the kiss to her toes. It made her body quiver and her legs felt weak. “See you tomorrow,” she breathed and watched him go.
