Taking Nicole (Vegas Mates Series)(#4) (3 page)

“We’ll be arriving soon.”

“I don’t give a fuck if we’re arriving soon!” she barked. “I need to know if you are on my side or if you’re just going to hand me over to my grandparents and ignore me—ignore our connection.”

“I can’t risk my sister’s life.”

“But I can help!”

“I kidnapped you. How can I trust that you would actually follow through?”

“First, my word means something. Does yours? Second, don’t you get it? You’re my fucking mate, you oversized kitty cat!”

He snarled, his knuckles turning white against the brown leather of the chair arms. Muscles tensed in his neck and she listened to his heartbeat quicken ever so slightly. He was fast at masking it, but not fast enough.

Worked like a charm.

She bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. The scent of his arousal filled her nostrils. Her libido kicked into overdrive. Gods, she just wanted to plaster herself against him, peel off his clothes, and taste him from head to foot. She had no idea what catnip smelled like, but he was hers for sure. If pissing him off was the way to turn him on, she was going to enjoy this.
 

His eyes widened and his lips parted. No doubt he could smell her arousal, too. Not that she was trying to mask anything. She was being quite upfront about her needs.

He glanced at the door and then to her.

Damn. He’s just going to leave me out here … again.

“Don’t leave. I promise to behave.” She smiled and licked her lips. “You could at least tell me your name.”

“Aaron Katsaros, and I don’t believe you know how.”

“I know how to behave … Aaron.” She let his name roll off her tongue, enjoying the texture of the letters. “It’s just a matter of convincing me it’s worth my effort.”
Just get over here and touch me.
She smiled, twirling a strand of blonde hair around one of her fingers. “I don’t suppose you have any donuts on this flight.”

A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. His eyes twinkled with amusement. Her reference to her earlier comment was not lost on him.
 

Good.
She couldn’t stand a man without at least a mild sense of humor.

“No donuts, but I can make a sandwich for you.”

She shook her head. “I need sugar.”

“I’ll see what’s back there.” He got up from his chair and left the cabin. Cabinets opened and closed in the back. She could hear the sound of boxes and bags being moved. Something fell to the floor and he cursed under his breath, bringing another grin to her lips.
 

“He can’t be that bad if he’s willing to dig through the whole pantry to find you something sweet,”
her wolf pointed out.

True. We’ll see, though.

He returned with a bag of chocolate chip cookies and offered it to her, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
 

Nicole nodded and accepted the bag from his outstretched hand. She pulled a cookie from the bag. As she bit into it, she savored the sugary sweetness and the chocolate. It was good, but a donut would’ve been better.

“I don’t know what to do with you,” he said, shaking his head.

The comment piqued her interest. What did he mean? He was taking her to Greece under orders from her grandparents. Of course he knew what he was going to do, unless he was considering helping her after all.

The plane rattled and lights came on above the chairs, signaling it was time to put on the seatbelts and prepare for landing. She leaned over to look through the windows. Small islands dotted the ocean. Greece was such a beautiful country. It was a shame she wasn’t visiting under better circumstances. She’d never met her grandparents. Her mother never spoke kindly of them. Most of the time praising the fact that there was an ocean between Carlotta Antipas and herself.

Aaron’s brown eyes stared at her intently. So much for her seduction not working. She could smell his arousal. He was just denying the inevitable. They were true mates, destined to spend their lives together. He just needed to accept it.

She let a smile turn up the corners of her mouth. “These are pretty good, but donuts are better.”

He snorted and turned his head, focusing his gaze out the window next to him.
Chicken.
This was never going to work if he didn’t at least speak to her.
 

She put down the bag of cookies in the seat next to her and latched the seatbelt over her hips. It wouldn’t be long now. Her grandparents would carry her off to their mansion and give her over to some stranger, but only after he’d endured a bloody fight to win the right to fuck her, bite her, and claim her as his mate.

No one should have to fear their grandparents or deal with such a screwed up, twisted society. Damn. She just wanted to go back home. Spending centuries with a man she didn’t want was not in her life plan.

Her aunt dealt with the situation well, but Uncle Marrock was a special kind of jerkwad. He hated New York and spent his life gallivanting through Europe, sleeping with whomever he pleased while Melinda ran the pack. Of course, as far as the Council knew, they were a happily married pair. They showed up to functions when called upon and did their best to hide that they lived completely separate lives.

She didn’t want that. She wanted a mate to love. She wanted a friend and companion. Their lives were too long to spend pining away for something that should have been. Her mother was living proof.
 

Nicole Demakis decided she wasn’t going down without a fight. She couldn’t imagine spending her life with anyone other than Aaron and she didn’t even know him. Not really.

“But you can’t wait to get him naked.”

Being attracted to someone and actually liking that person are two very different things.

“Sure.”

Shut up. If you want to help me, figure out how I can get him on my side.

“I’m still voting for the seduction angle. Keep showing more skin.”

She rolled her eyes. Sex was all her wolf ever thought about. Nymphomaniac. It didn’t help that her sister and two good friends had already found their mates. Why did he have to make it so hard?
 

“I thought you wanted him hard?”
 

You’re terrible.

“Just trying to be helpful.”
Her wolf’s laughter echoed in the back of her mind.
 

She grinned inwardly, refusing to let Aaron see her amusement. She was very attracted to him and wanted to know more about him. The primal need to be close to him was the magick calling their four souls together. It would only get stronger as they spent more time together. How he was dismissing it so easily, she couldn’t imagine. Maybe he was torturing himself just to torture her.

The plane jerked and slowed, touching down. They rolled to a stop on the tarmac and the engines cut off. Time was up. They were here.
 

She followed him to the opening door and paused at the top of the stairs. The bright light made her squint and wish for sunglasses, but the warm salty breeze was very pleasant. She raised her hand, shielding her eyes and saw several people standing next to a black limo a dozen yards from the plane. One was a woman who looked strikingly similar to her mother. The other was an older gentleman. Her grandfather. Another man stood near the front of the vehicle and another near the trunk.
Hired muscle.

“
You’re just going to let me go, aren’t you?” She whispered. “We’ll both be miserable for the rest of our lives because you won’t even try to fight for me.”

“I can’t fight this,” he snarled. “I can’t even ask to fight in your hunt. I’m not a wolf. The same rules don’t apply. I’m just a soldier, a slave to your grandparents. I’ll not endanger my sister’s life. She’s all I have left. Wolves killed our parents. I’m all she has left in this world.”

The pain in his eyes and his loyalty tugged at Nicole’s heart. She understood family loyalty. It’s what made her agree to come with him without a fight to begin with. She couldn’t fault him for being loyal to his family. He didn’t have a pack—he only had a sister. He had been alone for so long, forced to do whatever her grandparents asked, just so they wouldn’t kill his sister.
God, what kind of monsters are they?

“Not the friendly kind. Be careful.”

Aaron descended the stairs and she followed only a step behind. Something within her said meeting Carlotta and Reginald Antipas would be easier if the big leopard was at her side.

They crossed the pavement and Aaron dropped to a knee in front of her grandmother.
 

“Mistress, I have returned with your granddaughter, as promised.”

What the hell? Did we just regress to the Middle Ages?

“Your grandparents are part of the lower Council. Everything here has a lot more ritual and formality,”
her wolf answered calmly.
 

Nicole glared at her grandfather and then her grandmother. She didn’t take after either of them. They both had dark hair, dark olive skin, and honey brown eyes. She and Samantha looked more like their father—blonde, fair-skinned, with blue eyes. The twins had the looks of the Antipas side of the family.

“You never disappoint me, Mr. Katsaros.”

Nicole shuddered at the icy sound of her grandmother’s voice.
 

“Nicole. It’s so good to finally have you home.”

Irritation flamed. “This is not my home! I was forced here against my will. You two are by definition the worst grandparents ever!”

“Yeah, don’t hold back. Tell them how you really feel. Watch them lock you up with his sister.”

Fuck it.

“You already did,”
her wolf growled.

Carlotta smiled at her mate and Nicole’s grandfather spoke for the first time. “You have your mother’s temper, Nicole. That’s good. It means you will have her determination, too. You will be a good mate to one of the men who will succeed in taking over your father’s lower Council seat.”

“I don’t care about the Council or whether or not I’ll be mated to someone on it!” She sucked in another breath to continue her rant, but jerked when her grandfather invaded her personal space and clamped his hand down on her shoulder.
 

He squeezed a tender spot and she bit back a yelp of pain. “You will behave, little girl, or I will make you wish you had. Do we have an understanding?”

Her lip trembled and her eyes watered. She refused to cry in front of him, even though his fingers were causing excruciating pain. Her head began nodding of its own accord and she shuddered through a breath as he released her.

“Good.” He backed up a step and opened the limo door for Carlotta.
 

Her grandmother hadn’t even blinked at the threatening display, but Aaron struggled where he knelt to remain still. She could only feel the tension because of the thin bond that’d already formed between them.
 

“Mr. Katsaros, come. Since you have handled her competently up to this point, you will continue as Nicole’s bodyguard until the ceremony.”

“Yes, sir.” Aaron moved fluidly from his kneeling position to Nicole’s side, grabbed her arm, and shoved her toward the limo. He ignored her huff and literally picked her up and put her inside the vehicle. Then he climbed in and sat next to her. His thigh brushing against hers was enough to momentarily sidetrack her brain from its destructive path.

“You know, dear. You are a valuable woman. The magick of two royal bloodlines flows through your veins. You and your two younger sisters are the last heirs of the Demakis royal line.”

“What about Uncle Phillip?”

“His children, if he ever has any, will never be recognized by the Council. He’s made it quite clear that he defected from our authority. Your aunt and uncle will be taken care of in due time. Don’t worry yourself about them.”

“You mean the way mom took care of Dad and Uncle Stefan?”

“Nicole,” Aaron growled under his breath.

“It’s fine, Mr. Katsaros.” Carlotta held up a hand to still both her mate and Aaron. “Renata is fulfilling her purpose. The Demakis family held too much power. It was a mistake on the Council’s part to ever let them gain control of the three main packs in the U.S.”

“That’s it. Fulfilling a purpose? Is that what you call murder?”

“The entire world you live in is built on the blood of others,” her grandfather added. “Would you rather your blood join theirs? Or would you prefer to go on living?”

“Who gave the Council the authority of the gods?” Nicole shot back.

“When the gods and the Originals stopped giving a damn.” The anger in her grandfather’s voice was clue enough the conversation was over. No point in arguing. If she wanted to know more, she’d have to ask one of the sources—Kate.

***

Aaron kept his gaze lowered, never daring to make eye contact with either of the Antipas royals. His mind was spinning, trying to figure a way to keep his interest in their granddaughter hidden. His life and his sister’s were as good as over if anyone noticed the connection between him and Nicole.
 

It took every shred of his concentration to ignore the gentle brush of her thigh against his. The way her arm bumped his when the car jolted sent pulses through his body. His magick hummed in Nicole’s presence, but his cat still refused to speak to him. It refused to see reason. Though it loved his sister as well, it stood fast that she wouldn’t want him to lose a chance with a true mate.
 

Even though the bond between them was weak and still indiscernible by others, it was growing stronger. He could feel her irritation loud and clear. He could also sense her arousal. Her attempts to pull him in on the plane had nearly succeeded. With her and his cat working against him, he didn’t stand a chance in hell of resisting for long.

Thankfully, after the little spat between the three of them over who was in charge, they all remained silent for the rest of the ride. Nearly a half-hour later, they pulled up to the front of the Antipas palace.