Niko: Love me Harder (8 page)

“Self-preservation. I, for one, am happy to know you have some.”

“The Rowl helped me?”

Rena nodded, “Don’t ask me how. All I know is that it combats the poison used on you. I’m so sorry, Dee, that you got caught up in my drama.”

“Hey stop that. If I hadn’t gotten caught up, we both know I would’ve just sashayed into it anyway. How dare you have fun without me?”

They smiled at each other and then broke into laughter.

“How did you get here so fast?”

“The bathroom really isn’t that far away from the game room.” She gave her a sneaky smile.

“You were already here?”

She nodded her head. “We have been here for a while. Niko wanted to make sure you saw a friendly face when you came out of the closet.”

Dee stared at Rena, watching her bite her lips and trying to control herself.

“Stop staring at me. I want a present for letting all of my closet comments pass.”

“You may have learned some restraint from Aran. I think I owe him a thank you.”

Rena mocked her with a smile. “You ready to go down?”

“Who’s down there?”

“All of them, of course. You don’t get to live this one down anytime soon.”

“Let’s go.”

Dee walked towards the game room, wanting to blend in with the walls. Instead, she held her head up high.

The room quieted when they came in.

“Kitten?”

“Niko. I ran.”

“I scared you. I should’ve handled that better.”

“It was a bit much. So all of you are different?”

Such a nice way of saying aliens and monsters. She grabbed more Rowl. She was going to need it.

Either she believed what she’d seen with her own eyes or she had herself committed. It was so much easier to believe than to give into the thought of insanity.

“Can I O.D. on this stuff?”

“No.” Dante spoke up. “You also can’t get addicted, I added a health benefit in it for you too. You should eat as much as possible.”

He gave her a smile, the kind she always thought a big brother might give her. She wondered if it was the Rowl making her weepy.

“What now?” She hesitantly made her way to the other side of the room relying on that inner voice that said Niko would never hurt her. Taking a deep breath she sat down next to him.

She put her hand out on the material between them and slowly slid her fingers across until the pads were laying against his thigh.

She took a deep breath and looked up under her lashes to see if he was changing.

Niko spoke, looking at Aran as his hand slid towards Dee’s. “I think we have to figure out who followed us here.”

His hand stroked the top of her hand with light touches.

“Any one of the groups could’ve come here. One person from a group may be acting on their own, even though the probability is low.” Dante spoke looking around the room.

“Can anyone think of a reason one of the created would want to do us any harm?”

The Created, such a nice, simple, sad name for a people who have held up their end of the plan.

“There are more of you?” Dee asked Niko.

“We were created in groups. Each group contained what you call siblings. They created hundreds of such groups.”

Chapter Thirteen

They had spent several hours going over a long list of possible subjects. None of them met the profile of their kidnapper.

“We have to wait for his next move.” Every head nodded when Aran spoke. They wouldn’t catch the perp with the limited knowledge they had.

Rena stood and walked over to Dee. She leaned over to hug her and whispered in her ear. Dee got up and followed her out of the room.

“Do you want to come home with me?” Rena asked.

Dee smiled and hugged her close. “You would fight them all for me.”

“Duh! You would do the same for me.” Rena nodded her head.

“I’m going to stay here.” Dee replied.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to. You’re always welcome to stay with me.” Rena smiled re-extending the invitation.

“Bestie, I think there is something I should tell you.”

“What?”

“You like to scream, girl, the louder the better. That’s not really conducive to a good night’s sleep. Not for me anyway.” Dee had actually blushed when she realized her best friend and her man were getting it on. She was happy for her, but hearing someone else enjoying what you couldn’t was uncomfortable.

“Best sleep ever for me.” Rena smiled like the cat who got all of the cream.

“Too much girl. I think I’ll stay right here.”

“I know you’re not staying because his eyes are dreamy or because you can bounce a quarter off of his ass. You’re only thinking about a good night’s sleep.”

“Eyes up. You have a man. That one is off limits until I say otherwise.”

Rena raised her hands. “I understand.”

All jokes aside, Dee asked a question in a low voice. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

“No, Dee. I think you’re sane. Aran and his brothers came to earth looking for someone to love. They believe there is someone special for them. From what I’ve seen once committed they don’t cheat or even look at other women. Once they find the one who is their mate, there is no straying.

I know it’s a lot to take in, but believe me Dee it’s worth it. Let me repeat, you’re not crazy. I want you to think of the Rowl as medicine it’ll calm you down and allow you to see and judge what is happening without your emotions clouding your judgement. Here is what it won’t do, it won’t make you accept what you see or even except Niko. That is up to you.” Rena reached over and hugged Dee tight.

Aran and the rest of his brothers walked out, cutting off any response Dee might have said. They all said goodbye and she was left standing in the foyer with Niko.

“I guess we should do something.” Talk about awkward. She hated moments like these.

“Would you like another try at the VR game?”

“Yes.”

She followed him back into the game room. She’d been curious about the game and now that she understood it was based on where he’d come from, she was even more excited.

The set up was easier this time. Before she knew it, she was back in the game, flexing her avatar and feeling on top of the world.

“Where are you?”

He was there, but she couldn’t see him, no matter how hard she looked.

“I’m here. I blended in with the surroundings, making you incapable of seeing me.”

“Stop it. I want to see what you look like.”

“You asked for it.”

She saw him appear to her right. He was tall, much taller than she’d given him credit for earlier.

“This is your beast?”

He nodded his head and waited. He’d two long fangs on either side of his mouth, reminding her of a picture she’d seen of a saber toothed tiger. His skin was covered, in a light dusting of hair.

He stood on two feet. He was an animal. Everything in her screamed to get away. She might have run, even in this world of the unreal, if it hadn’t been for his eyes.

These were the same eyes that had made her choose a closet as opposed to throwing herself out of a glass window. They were intelligent eyes. They were Niko’s eyes.

“Do you know who you are, even when you turn?”

“I’m totally aware of who I am and what I’m doing. I simply have the senses of my other form to back me up. I understand the beast and he understands the man. We work together to eliminate any threat to us. He also knows we live here on this planet. If he wants to be free and find a mate he must do it through me.”

Who had said anything about a mate? He must be speaking in general terms.

“What are we going to do in the game?”

“Identify and destroy the enemy.”

Even though he was an alien he reminded her of a red blooded man with incredible eyes and a killer smile. Hell, he was hot and she was tired of denying it. What’s worse, he was in beast form and the beast reminded her of the male.

“Guess I need a weapon.”

“Look down.”

“Can I pick it up?” It was such a simple looking weapon. It had looked like a kick ass gun, before it shifted to a sword.

Now it looked like a baton. Not much of a kick ass weapon. She reached down and picked it up, grasping it firmly.

“Ow, it bit me!” She tried to drop it, but couldn’t. She could feel the bite on her real hand and shook it.

“It bonded to you. Now you’re the only one who can use it.”

“I felt it on my real hand.”

“I’ll explain that one later. Try it out.”

“What should I do? Club you over the head with it?” Before her eyes the weapon changed shapes and became a club, the Caveman, dinosaur fighting kind of club. “How did that happen?”

“It’ll become whatever you need it to be. I told you, it’s a weapon.”

She imagined a dagger and the weapon changed before her eyes.

“The more time you spend with it, the faster it’ll change and the more you’ll be able to do with it. Take care of it, kitten. It may save your life one day. Shall we go?”

She nodded and followed him. They took off through a jungle of reddish brown trees.

“Your trees are so different from earth.”

“It’s the minerals in the upper layer of the soil.”

“Ok.”

“Sorry, if you want a better explanation you’ll have to talk to one of our scientists. I would like to recommend you stay away from them, even in the game.”

“Got you. I think your world is beautiful. Different, but beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

They pushed through a jungle of different plants and animals. She looked up to see the sky, so not a blue color. It had more of a pale lavender color to it. It seemed the whole planet ran on a color scheme that shouted alien.

“Where are all of the animals? I hear them, but have seen none.”

“They’re watching us. They would never come out as long as I was in animal form. I’m the top of the pyramid. Even if I were in humanoid shape, they would be cautious about approaching.”

“Why did you leave this world?”

“Everything that looks beautiful on the surface isn’t always that way.”

They pushed through the jungle, coming out on the other side to see a city made of the nicest metal she’d ever seen. The buildings sat tall in the sky and they gleamed.

Her mouth dropped open in wonder.

“I bet the insides of the buildings are beautiful.”

“They are. They harbor things you have yet to think off. They also harbor an evil that knows no bounds.”

“What are we hunting?” She blinked trying to take her eyes off the city of the future.

She could imagine something like this on earth one day. She felt a pang as she realized that by the time they became that advanced, she wouldn’t be around to see it.

“Let me change and I’ll show you.”

She watched as his body became humanoid. He was taller than he appeared on earth. His hair was much longer and his eyes glowed with a fire she’d never seen before. His body was thicker. This was how he really looked.

Nothing about him looked human. This male would’ve never blended in on her planet.

“You had to change your bodies somewhat to fit in on our planet?” He nodded his head and led her to a populated part of the city.

“Do you regret it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You’re on earth, not here.” He reached out and took her hand, giving her a smile before quickening his steps. “I don’t want to announce our presence yet. We need to get in. Hale programmed the opposition as well as the citizens with a slight AI interface, which means they can recognize us as well as make decisions for themselves. Makes the game more realistic”

They quickly walked past the city, until he found a hover car. They took it and he plotted a course for the far side.

“Did we just steal this vehicle?”

“It’s a game, besides it’s a safe vehicle. Hale marked it.”

The car moved fast and before she knew it, a compound came into view. It looked like a private city. It reminded her of both Niko’s and Aran’s homes.”

“Niko, are we being followed?”

He gave her a nod of his head. “I see them.”

“Who are they?”

He rolled the hover car when a shot rang out. Dee screamed. They were trying to kill them. Who cared that it was only a game. She’d been in plenty of bars when the Steelers, Pittsburgh’s football team, played. She’d heard louder screams and curses. One screamed when one’s life or team was in jeopardy.

“Hold on. We’re going in hot.”

The door to that private city was closing and the car they were in was heading right for it. She closed her eyes, waiting for the crash. She opened them, just as they squeezed in. Her lungs sent her brain a message to breathe.

“We made it.”

She whooped and kissed him.

Chapter Fourteen

His lips were real and solid. Her body reacted immediately. The world around her dissolved and the reality of the game room intruded on her senses. Still, her lips were pressed against his, as his tongue snaked out of his mouth, searching for entrance into hers.

Her mind shouted stop, even as her mouth opened. Oh, he tasted so good, wild and untamed. Her breathing labored as he pressed into that kiss, wanting more.

His hand had unhooked her from the VR while he’d moved her closer. She was practically on his lap. He wanted her, no mistaking that.

She pulled away, looking for sanity, or at least the willpower to say no.

“Do you need to run, kitten?”

Hell yeah, she needed to run. She was going to do that in just a moment, but first she needed one more taste. She needed something to remember him by.

She leaned over and tugged on his lower lip with her teeth. He gave a low growl that made her panties wet and her pussy throb.

When his tongue pushed between her lips, she met it with her own, dueling with him for pleasure. He tasted so good.

I’m so gonna run. She went to her knees and found herself throwing one leg over his and settling on his lap. She rubbed herself over his erection.

She had sex to forget, she reminded herself. Sex wasn’t for pleasure. It was for power, for the drowning of one’s sorrows. It was even to show yourself that your body was yours, no matter what happened to it. But it was never, ever for pleasure.