by Angel Nyx
“We both know I’m his father. I’ve been waiting for you to get that fucking chip off your shoulder all these years. I didn’t rape you. I gave you something to help loosen you up a bit. That’s all it was. You enjoyed every second of it.”
Without thought, her hand came up and she slapped him. “Fuck you, Garret. I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t ask for it. And I sure as hell didn’t consent to it. You raped me and then lied and said we never even had sex. You are on record, lying to the police about it, or did you forget that? Jacob is mine.”
“I was giving you the chance to be smart about this, Casey. I’ll be seeing you in court when I file for custody. Who do you think a judge is going to side with? A single mother, who can barely make ends meet, or the wealthy father who was cut out of his son’s life? Especially back in Slatefall?”
Before she could think of a reply, he walked away. Casey stood there a moment before she collapsed against the glass. This was her greatest fear coming to life. He was going to try to take her son away from her.
Nikolai
Usually, during a meeting at Ghostpoint Security, Nikolai had his phone on silent. Today, for whatever reason, he left the sound on. Declan was going over a new case with them when his phone went off, alerting him to a text message. With a frown, he pulled it out of his pocket to turn the volume off but stopped when he saw it was from Lily. Why would she be messaging him unless something had happened to Casey?
“My apologies, Alpha, but I need to check this.” He didn’t wait for Declan to respond before he opened the message.
Nikolai, Casey needs you at Little Eden Cafe. Jacob’s sperm donor is here and I don’t think he’s just saying hello.
“Spasibo, Alpha, but I must go. My mate is in need of me.” Again, he didn’t wait for a response. He was up and out of the building in seconds.
All the way through the city, Nikolai gripped the steering wheel and a growl kept trickling out between his teeth. If the bastard hurt Casey he was going to rip him to shreds.
He found a parking spot as close to the cafe as he could get, then continued the short distance to the building on foot. He arrived in time to see the man speaking with his mate walk away. While a part of him wanted to stalk after the bastard, Casey needed him more.
“I have you, Solnyshko,” he murmured when he reached her side. His arms slid around her and he pulled her to him. The look in her eyes tore at his heart.
“Nikolai? But…how?”
“Lily messaged me. She said you needed me. I will always come when you need me. Always.” When a tremor went through her, his arms tightened even further. “Let’s get you home and you can tell me what happened.”
“Where are we going?”
“I am taking you to my SUV. I will ask Steele to come pick your car up and bring it to the house for you.”
“Oh. Okay.”
The fact she didn’t argue, when he led her down the street to his vehicle, instead of letting her drive herself, spoke volumes to him. Whatever happened, it had shaken her, badly. Nikolai had to push his tiger down. Right now his mate needed him to be levelheaded and his tiger was far from calm.
Back at the house, Nikolai sat with Casey curled up against his side. He didn’t press her to talk – she would tell him when she was ready.
“I thought I was imagining things. When I thought I saw him at the aquarium. But I wasn’t. He’s really here.”
The fear in her voice brought his protective streak to the forefront, and Nikolai scooped her up and placed her on his lap. “I won’t let him hurt you, Solnyshko.”
“He wants Jacob.”
Her words hit him like a sledge hammer. “What do you mean?”
“He threatened to take him from me. He said…no judge would allow him to stay with a single mother, trying to make ends meet, when the father has the financial means to support him better.”
Her voice broke and it nearly shattered his heart. “He will not get him. This I can promise you.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
Nikolai knew the grin on his face was feral. “Have you forgotten what we do, Krasavitsa? By the time I am done with him, he will rue the day he ever crossed your path,” he growled.
Nikolai remained at Casey’s side throughout the remainder of the day. When she went to pick up Jacob, he was there. When she ordered in pizza, because she didn’t feel like cooking, he was there, and when she fell asleep that night, it was in his arms after they made love.
All the while he was plotting. He would bring Garret Michaels to his knees and make the man regret threatening to destroy his mate’s world by taking her son from him.
Chapter Seventeen
Casey
A week after her run-in with Garret, Casey found herself sitting in Emelise and Caine’s living room with Eme, Lily, Malcolm, and Kylie. The twins were asleep in their bassinets beside the sofa, within reach of their mother. “It’s been a week since I saw him and I’m so damn scared.”
“What’s Nikolai doing about his threats?”
Casey looked to Emelise. “I’m not sure. He’s being very quiet about it all.”
“If he’s anything like Remy, he’s probably trying to keep you out of it to protect you,” Kylie put in. “That’s what he did after Ezra kidnapped me. He tried to protect me from seeing what his punishment was.”
They all knew the hard road that Remy and Kylie had found themselves on after Kylie’s crazy, abusive ex followed her to New Orleans.
“I think Kylie’s right. Nikolai is trying to protect you. That’s how it is with mates. He’s going to want to keep you out of harm’s way,” Lily concurred.
“Maybe, but I need to know something. This is driving me crazy.”
“Maybe you should tell him that, babe. What? Like no one else was thinking the same thing?”
The look on Malcolm’s face made her laugh.
“Maybe you’re right. I should just tell him I need to know something. Anything.” Casey sighed. “Okay, enough about my troubles. How are you feeling, Eme? The twins are so beautiful.”
“Tired. Very tired. But I’m also so happy they’re finally here for me to hold instead of inside me.”
“Oh, I know that feeling. That was how I felt when I had Jacob. There was this tiny little boy and he was so perfect. I was in awe of him.” She swallowed back a sob that tried to escape. She didn’t want to let the fear of the unknown, where Garret was concerned, control her and ruin the afternoon with her friends.
“I have a confession for you guys.” Everyone looked to Kylie when she spoke. “I told Remy last night that…I’m ready to be a mom. I can see having babies with him.”
“Oh my gods, Kylie, that is so awesome. You’ll be a great mom, and Remy as a father? Let’s just hope you don’t have any girls because he will scare all the boys off!” Lily commented with a laugh.
“Lily’s right, you’d be a great mom,” Casey agreed.
“Now we just need you and Lily to get in on the baby action,” Emelise joked to Casey.
“I don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” Casey murmured. “We’re not genetically compatible.”
“You don’t know that for sure, babe. You could easily have children who take after one or the other of you, whichever shifter gene happens to be more dominant at the time,” Malcolm pointed out.
Casey looked at Malcolm a moment. “Maybe you’re right.” She waved her hands in front of her face. “Whatever. Right now I have too much going on to even think about having another baby. Let me get through this crisis with Garret and maybe I’ll have time to think about it.”
“You’re really worried about him, aren’t you?”
Casey looked at Emelise for several seconds before she responded. “Terrified, actually. He’s right. What judge wouldn’t take the financial situation of both parties into account?”
“Hey, Case, stop. You’re not going to lose Jacob. Garret was a fool for coming here and threatening you, since he is on record stating, m
ultiple times, that you two never slept together. I can pretty much guarantee you Nikolai is already working to make sure Garret regrets coming here for the rest of his life.”
“Gods, I hope you’re right, Lily.”
“Trust in your mate.”
Casey sighed softly. “It’s hard. I’ve only had myself, really, to depend on, but I’ll do my best.” That was all she could do. Her best. She just hoped it was enough.
Nikolai
He was a man obsessed. One of the advantages to the kind of work he’d done for the government – he had a lot of contacts. As soon as he’d left Casey’s side, he’d gone to work. If there were things in Garret Xavier Michaels’s past that he didn’t want brought to light, Nikolai would find them. He would exhaust every avenue he had to in order to ensure his mate didn’t lose her son to a rapist. It didn’t matter to Nikolai that they’d been teenagers when it happened. If Garret drugged and raped one girl, he drugged and raped others.
Nikolai had met far too many men like Garret. Men who thrived on the power it gave them to take that which wasn’t offered freely. Throw in a big bank account and they often believed themselves untouchable. He’d brought down powerful warlords who really were damn near untouchable – some small-town rich boy was nothing in comparison.
He was also a very smart man. He knew he couldn’t track down every little secret alone. No, he didn’t have the technical knowledge for that. But Sasha did.
“Garret Michaels has been a very bad boy.”
Nikolai had just finished discussing a possible plan of action with Declan and was on his way to see Sasha when the jaguar found him instead. “What did you find?”
“To date, six women, including Casey, have filed charges against him for drugging them and then raping them, and his daddy has swept it under the rug because every one of them is a local girl.”
Nikolai growled and began to pace to keep his tiger calm.
“Oh, wait, it gets better. There are an additional two women here in the States, who received settlements to drop charges against him, and it seems he recently took a trip to Italy and charges against him there were dropped, as well, within days of a large sum of money being deposited into his accuser’s checking account. His father has used a considerable amount of family money to make all of the charges disappear.”
“Then it is time we make them come back.” His voice was little more than a growl.
“My sentiments exactly. I’m already reaching out to each of his victims. I will assure them he will pay dearly for his crimes. He came after the wrong person.”
“Da, he did. Spasibo, Sestra.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Nikolai. Casey’s Pack, and she’s family. No one fucks with our family and gets away with it.”
Nikolai watched as Sasha returned to her computer and began the arduous process of destroying the life of one Garret Michaels. Then he left Pack Central to go see his mate. He needed to tell her what was going on now that he had something concrete to tell her.
Casey
“Nikolai? What are you doing here?” When she opened the front door to find her mate standing there, she was both puzzled and relieved.
“Can I not visit my mate when we do not have something planned?”
It took her a moment to realize he was teasing her. “Of course you can. Come in. I’m happy to see you. I’ve…missed you.”
“I have missed you as well, Solnyshko.”
When he leaned down for a kiss, she rose up to meet him.”Mm. I could get used to that.” She rested her hands against his chest and felt tension in his body. “Something tells me there is more to this visit than just wanting to see me.”
“Da, there is. Come.”
They moved to the sofa and she tucked her feet under her once she was seated beside him. “What is it, Nikolai? Please, just tell me.”
“We have found some things out about the man who raped you. There are others he has done this to. Some are from your hometown. Those cases were swept under the rug, but three other women—one in Italy, dropped charges against him, right after they received a large sum of money in their bank accounts. But…he came after the wrong woman.”
Nikolai’s growl, coupled with him pulling her into his arms, made her feel safe. Casey closed her eyes and breathed him in. “So what does this all mean?”
“It means he will pay, and pay dearly, for his crimes, Krasavitsa.”
“How, Nikolai? If the charges went away, how will he pay for it?”
“Nyet, the charges didn’t go away, they were buried. There is a difference. We are unearthing them and bringing him to justice. With the number of charges against him, he will be away for a very long time.”
There was an anger in his eyes that made her lift a hand and caress his cheek. “You’d do more than lock him up if you could, wouldn’t you?”
“Da. I would. He does not deserve to breathe. He is an animal that needs to be put down but that is not an option, so prison will have to do.”
“Thank you, Nikolai. My son is everything to me.”
“You do not need to thank me. You are my mate and I will always do all in my power to protect you and make you happy.”
Casey bit her lip. There was something else he could do to make her feel safe and happy, but it wasn’t fair to ask him to quit his job with the security company he helped get off the ground.
“What is it, Solnyshko?”
“It’s nothing, Nikolai. I’m just so stressed over this entire thing. Until I know he’s behind bars and can’t touch my son, I don’t think I’ll be able to breathe easily.”
“I understand. Is there something I can do to take your mind off of it?”
The heat in his gaze made things low in her belly tighten. “Oh, I don’t know, I think you can find something to take my mind off my troubles.”
“You, my mate, are a vixen.”
Casey laughed when he picked her up and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. The laughter died when he dipped his head and trailed nibbling kisses down her throat. When he gently bit her where her neck and shoulder connected, she moaned. “Please.”
“You need never to beg for my touch, Krasavitsa. It is only ever yours.”
Nikolai
Nikolai gazed down at his mate once he had her lying on the bed. She was always so beautiful to him. His hands almost shook when he reached to slowly remove her clothes, revealing her body to him, one slow inch at a time. “Beautiful. You are so beautiful to me.” He leaned down and took her lips in a deep kiss while one hand caressed down her throat to a breast. He kneaded it gently before he pinched the nipple between his fingers. The soft, mewling noises she made had his cock twitching in his pants.
“Oh…gods. That feels so good. Please don’t stop.”
“Never, Solnyshko. I will never stop loving you. You just lie back and let me take your mind off of everything.”
He kissed a path down her body, stopping to tease first one nipple and then the other between his teeth, before he continued to what he really wanted. Her scent drew him like a moth to a flame. He pushed her legs open and settled between them, before he rolled his eyes up to watch her face, as his tongue flicked out to taste her. “You’re already so wet for me, Krasavitsa.”
“You make me that way.” Her voice was husky with need.
Nikolai focused on giving her pleasure. He traced her slit with the tip of his tongue, tasting her essence. One finger eased inside her to curl against that sweet spot inside, while his mouth moved to pay some much needed attention to her swollen clit. Every little sound she made heated his blood. Every time she arched or writhed beneath him, his cock throbbed with need. It was torture, denying his own needs, but she was worth that and so much more.
Working a second finger into her, Nikolai growled against her sex, the sound sending vibrations through her. He knew it would enhance the pleasure for her and that was his sole focus right now. Her pleasure. “That’s it, Solnyshko. Just let go and feel.”
When her fingers slid into his hair and gripped, he smirked. She was almost ready to come undone. It would just take a little more to push her over. Nikolai slid a third finger into her and he felt it just as much as he heard it. A cry of pleasure was ripped from her even as her entire body tensed and then quaked in orgasm. Her inner walls tightened almost painfully around his fingers and he was certain she’d pulled at least a few hairs from his head with the force of her orgasm.
“I need to feel you inside me, Nikolai.”
At her request, he didn’t hesitate to strip, grab a condom from his wallet, and roll it on. “What my mate needs, my mate gets,” he growled and eased into her.
Nikolai felt her nails dig into his shoulders and he groaned. He withdrew until he was almost completely free of her, then slammed back in. The way his mate went crazy, clawing at his back, Nikolai knew he was finally getting her to let go of her inhibitions. She was finally letting her wolf come to the forefront.
He could feel the way Casey’s body quaked as she got closer and closer to orgasm. “That’s it. Just let go, Solnyshko, I’ve got you.” He kissed her hungrily, passionately, and reached down to grip her hips, arching her body to give him a better angle. Just when he thought he might actually find release before her, a scream ripped from her lips and her inner walls clenched him, dragging him over with her.
Nikolai half collapsed atop her before he rolled over and took her with him. His arms twined around her, pulling her close, and he nuzzled her hair. “Rest, Krasavitsa. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?” came her sleepy reply.
“Da. I promise. Rest.” He tightened his hold on her, and once she drifted off to sleep, he let his own eyes close, a contented purr following him into slumber.
