Niko: Love me Harder (14 page)

She rushed blindly toward that edge, the one she was going to be free falling over. The damn broke and she was swept along in a pleasure so intense she wondered if it could be duplicated.

She couldn’t hear her own screams, because she was so caught up in the deep moans and roars of the man on top of her.

She did feel his fangs as he bit deep into her shoulder. Her body shook from the increased pleasure as he bit her. She’d come undone and he was the fault.

She was tossed to and fro, feeling like a ship in a crazy storm. She clung onto him, her safety in the midst of that storm, until her body began to wind down.

He pulled her close, never pulling out of her. She was on his chest now, her eyes refusing to open.

She drifted to sleep to the sound of his voice.

“I’ll never let you go now.” Never was such a long time. She fell asleep.

Chapter Twenty-three

She woke up to Niko tracing lines on her stomach. She smiled. It was such a beautiful way to wake up.

“Have you been up long?”

“Yeah, just laying here watching you sleep.”

“That didn’t sound creepy.” She laughed at him as he frowned at her.

“Maybe a little bit, but I like to watch you sleep. Your face relaxes and all of your worries disappear. You’re so trusting when you lay with me. I love it.”

The creep factor was gone in a minute and her heart pounded with the love she felt.

She sat up next to him, smiling.

“So what’s on the agenda today?”

“We could stay here.” His hand brushed over her breast. “We could go back to my place or__”

The phone rang cutting off his words.

“Niko.”

“No I don’t think that will be a problem. Yes, I believe she’ll do it. No, I think she’ll demand to do it as soon as I tell her. Yeah I’ll call you right back.”

“Something tells me that was all about me.”

“It was Aran. There was an issue with our business.”

“What happened?”

“I’ve several small accounts set up where I funnel money to pay automatic debits, so no one has to be worried with making sure they’re paid each month. They all came back as declined, because the money in the account is missing.”

“I told Vance that something was wrong. Money was missing, but I couldn’t trace it, because I don’t have access to those accounts.”

“Now you have access to everything.”

“Guess Aran finally wised up.”

“No, I wised up. I gave you access to everything the same night I followed you into that bar. I did it before I left work.”

“Really? Why?”

“You should’ve had access all along. I wanted to keep you hidden in the beginning. I knew something was wrong and I would need someone who could see numbers in her sleep. I needed you. You’re the best. I hired Vance because I thought bringing in an outside source might stop what was happening. I was wrong.”

“Vance is an idiot.”

“No, he’s just not qualified for that job. Hale set up two secure work stations for you. One at our house, the other at Aran’s. We can go to either place.”

She was shaking her head. “I need to go to the office.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to speak with some of the staff. I need to know who has been acting differently. Believe me, someone did this from the inside. I need to know who. After that I’ll be able to find your money.”

“It’s our money now kitten.”

“Um, we can talk about it later. What day of the week is it anyway?”

With nothing to do except recover, she’d lost track of the days.

“Wednesday.”

“Perfect. All I need is some work clothes.” She got up and headed for the shower.

She would always remember this as being the most perfect Wednesday. She was in love. Yes, she was now able to think about it without hiding from her thoughts. She was needed and she felt like she belonged.

She belonged! How she’d always craved that feeling, the deep seated need to be part of something, to be part of someone. Damn, she was singing in the shower. She better stop, because she’d thought of one of those Sheeran songs Rena was always humming.

Niko was still stretched out naked on the bed, while she hunted through her closet for clothes.

“Really? Are you lying like that to tempt me?”

“Is it working?”

Um yeah, but she wasn’t about to tell him. “Are you going into the office today?”

“Aran is bringing me clothes.” He raised up and headed for the bathroom. “I hope you’re planning on living with me. There is no way we can live here with this small bathroom.”

She looked into the mirror as the water came on and saw a silly smile on her lips. Never a question of if they would be together, simply a question of where.

She’d live anywhere with him, small bathroom or not.

She answered the door and let Aran in. Taking the clothes, she gave them to Niko, receiving a quick kiss in return.

The drive to the office had been easy, no tension at all. Aran had told Niko that Ash would procure a car for him. It would be fully equipped and delivered today. Niko had nodded like he expected it.

They pulled up in front of the building. “How am I supposed to play this? Should I act like I barely know you?”

“Probably not a good idea, since I’m going to try and swallow your tongue every chance I get. Be who you are right now. The person coming after us already knows we’re together. His accomplice will know also.”

She nodded and got out. “See you in a few.”

She walked into the office with a smile on her face. She was different now. She heard her name being called and walked over to Cheryl.

“Wow, Dee you look good. What happened to you?”

Dee smiled at her, a big ‘I’m happy’ smile.

“You met a man. Don’t even bother denying it. I can tell from the glow on you. Dish girl, who is he? Do I know him?”

“Yeah, he works here.”

“What! Tell me already.”

She leaned over Cheryl and looked both ways before whispering to her. “Do you know Niko? The hot one with blonde hair and blue eyes?”

“Shut up! You’re lying!” Cheryl shouted before realizing it and lowered her voice.

Dee nodded her head to say yes him, then pointed her finger. Cheryl looked over to see Niko, staring at Dee with hungry eyes.

“You’re the woman. I want to sit at your feet and take notes. Does he have brothers?”

“Now that you mention it, he has five and four of them are free.”

“Dee, come on. Can I get a hook up? Think about it. I’m cute and single and ready to mingle.”

Dee laughed. She loved Cheryl. Maybe she would make a good mate.

“Now you know what I’ve been up to. What’s been going on in the office?”

“It’s been quiet, well almost quiet.”

“What happened?”

“There have been some strange happenings in your department.”

“Now who’s making who wait?”

Cheryl gave her a devious smile and beckoned her to come closer.

“I’m not supposed to know this, but Jessie has gone crazy.” Cheryl rolled her eyes and made the crazy sign next to her head, rolling her fingers around. “I always thought she was a little off. Seems she’s not the only one either. Tina has been having problems too.”

“What have they been doing?”

“The other day Jessie was ranting about monsters making her do it and the earth being infiltrated with them. She called them horrible monsters. Her description was so real, I actually went and took a peek out of the door. I didn’t see any monsters. Ash came in. You know the one in security? She screamed to high heaven and took off. No one has seen her since.”

“What about Tina.”

“She’s still here, but if I were you I would watch my back. She looks like she could blow any day.”

“Thanks Cheryl. You always know the scoop. I’ll watch my back.”

She turned and walked towards her office. She had her two suspects. She was simply left to wonder if the created had gotten to anyone else.

She walked in and people jumped before they realized it was her.

“Dee, so glad you’re back. We were worried about you.” Angie greeted her. She even gave her a quick hug.

Things had gotten bad in the office since she’d been gone. She glanced over at Vance’s door, only to find it shut.

“Who’s in the office with him?”

“No one. He’s not here. He didn’t come in yesterday or today.”

“Anyone check his office?” She’d a bad feeling about this.

“No. The door’s locked.”

“Did he call off?”

“No.”

Dee walked over to her desk and picked up the phone. “Ash, its Dee. I need to get into Vance’s office. Yeah, I’ll be waiting, thanks.”

Ash came in minutes later, followed by Niko.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve a bad feeling, Niko. Vance didn’t come in yesterday and he’s not here today. His office is locked, something he never really did. He would say I trust all of you. He always called if he wasn’t going to come in.”

“Open it Ash.”

He took out the master key and went to the door. Niko had cleared the room since they didn’t know what they would find.

The smell hit them immediately as the door opened.

The room was covered in blood.

Chapter Twenty-four

“Is Vance in there?” Dee had her hand over her nose and mouth. She didn’t want to accidently lose any food she may have eaten.

Niko walked in and checked everywhere. “No Vance.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Not necessarily.” Aran said, stepping into the room. “Something happened here and until we know more, we’ll assume Vance was here when it happened. We’ll also assume he is alive, but if a created was involved, he is likely dead.”

“What do we do next?”

“We clear the building and call the police.” Niko answered her, as he left the room. “Don’t go in. I don’t want the scene contaminated any more than it has already been.”

“Why did you and Niko go into the room?”

“We had to make sure Vance wasn’t in there. If he was, we needed to see the condition of the body before the police were called.”

“Would it have given you clues to who the created was?”

“There is a good possibility that if we can identify one of his kills, we’ll be able to start pinpointing who it may be.”

“What makes you think he had killed, besides this room of course? He left Mr. Cohen alive.”

Aran stopped to study the room. The blood on the wall had been splashed there, by the cutting of the neck maybe. Every splatter looked staged to him, as if someone knew exactly what they were doing and was putting on a show.

Created didn’t kill that way. They were efficient and clean. If he’d been assigned to take out Vance, he may have walked up behind him and snapped his neck, never letting him fall to the ground. He’d spent years perfecting his craft.

He may have chosen to suffocate him and let his body twitch as he fought for freedom. Even that was too messy. The crime scene would’ve been tampered with by his legs.

In the end, he would’ve gone with a clean and easy kill, removing the body quietly. No one would’ve ever found Vance, like no one will ever find certain other bodies that had disappeared.

“Something is wrong with this created. Maybe he was made before the scientists perfected the method. He is angry. Look around you. This speaks of anger and madness. He wanted us to know he was here and he wanted to get the human police involved. So far, we have tried to fly under the radar and keep them out. Now, he has made that impossible.”

“Why do you assume it’s a he?”

“The created are all males.”

“How’s that possible? Never mind. Forget I even asked that question.”

Aran smiled at her. He’d always liked her and he liked her with Niko. They made a good pair. She was an excellent addition to the family.

Coming to this world had been a risk, one he’d not been sure he wanted to take at first. This world was far away from the so called civilized galaxies. They hadn’t been conquered, because they had nothing of value.

That was one of the reasons he and his brethren had chosen earth. The people of earth had nothing the other warring planets wanted, but they did have something the brothers wanted.

They had women and plenty of them. No one knew if those women would be able to handle them. Then Rena showed up. Now Dee was in their lives. He could only look forward to the next mate to show up.

The police followed Niko into the room.

“Who’s in charge here?”

“That would be me.”

“You are?”

“Aran.”

“Nice to meet you Aran. I’m detective Johnson.”

He reached out his hand and shook Detective Johnson’s hand. Then he moved and showed him the office.

“Whose office is this?”

“The director of the department, Vance Baal.”

“There’s no body.”

“No, it was like this when we opened the door.”

The detective moved away and started directing people. Aran and his brothers moved back and watched as the office was declared a crime scene and the police began taking pictures.

They waited until the lead detective came back to them.

“Do you know who saw Vance Baal last?”

“No, we have all been out of the office lately.”

“What brought you in today?”

“I noticed that several bills went unpaid. This is highly unusual and I wanted Dee to look into it.”

“I thought Mr. Baal was the director of the department?”

“He is. I talked to him several days ago with no result. Dee was the original one to pick up on the discrepancy. I trust her completely.”

“Why is that?”

“She’s my fiancé.”

“But she isn’t the head of the department.”

“At the time, I thought it best not to muddy the waters. I see now that I was wrong.”

“It could’ve been her life.”

“I find it best not to speculate like that. We still don’t know what has happened to Vance.”

“I would like the names and addresses of the employees that worked in this office.”

“I’ll get them for you.” Dee walked over to her computer, looking more composed than she felt.

“Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Mr. Baal?”

“No, but if you check your records, I’m sure it’ll show that someone had made several moves on the organization that could’ve put many of our employees’ lives in danger. We have surveillance tape that we haven’t had a chance to review. If you’ll follow Ash, he’ll show you the way. Dee will have the information you requested when you’re done.”