A Conquest Like No Other (6 page)

The main suspect was the man who
had kidnapped Nikki and Gabby. In Viper’s eyes, the man deserved to have suffered
before he was put to death. But at the time, Nikki and Gabby needed himself and
Devil. Their revenge had little consequence.

“Do you think this was one of his
associates?” Judge asked, though his aura already told Viper what the man
suspected.

“At first, yes,” Detective Morris
lied. “But now we suspect something else. The majority of the damage was done
in Gabby’s roommate’s bedroom.”

“What do you know of it?” the
other detective asked, his gaze never leaving Viper.

“We know that her ex was just
released from jail, and he wants her back,” Viper responded, giving them as
little information as he could. He wanted Paul Watson. The judicial system had
their chance with him and royally fucked it up.

“Is Nikki all right?” Detective
Morris asked. Viper didn’t like the man’s familiarity with his mate.

“Yes, thankfully. She came to me
as soon as she realized something was wrong. Which is exactly where she’ll
stay, safe.”

“You’re her new boyfriend?”

Viper internally laughed at
Detective
Redburn’s
terminology. He was far from a
boy, but still he answered it. “Yes.”

Detective
Redburn
nodded. “Then you need to watch your back too.”

Viper’s back straightened, and
his guard went up even further as the hair on the back of his neck stood on
end. “And why would that be?”

“I think you should follow us,”
Detective Morris suggested.

With Judge at his back, they both
trailed the detectives into the house. As soon as they walked in through the
door Viper felt the change in the air. His
fae
senses
were picking up pure, unadulterated evil. The person’s aura was still present
in the house, which suggested to Viper that he had only left within the last
hour. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was Watson’s. The aura also
spoke of a proprietary belief. He believed he had a right to be in the house,
in Nikki’s bedroom, where the detectives led both himself and Judge.

The first thing Viper noticed in
the bedroom was the scattered clothes over the room. He could guarantee this
wasn’t how she had left it when leaving for work. Then he saw it, on the wall
above the bed. A picture of Nikki and himself on the front porch of the house.
It was of the moment they had shared the previous night, before he’d sensed
Nikki’s worry and forced himself to take a step back.

His face was marked with a red
cross, and above his head read the word
DEAD
. The threat didn’t faze him
one bit. This wasn’t the first time his life had been threatened and by eviler
men than Watson. He also doubted it would be the last. What did feed his anger
were the words written in the same red lipstick on the wall. They read
SHE’S
MINE
.

“Can I collect some of Nikki’s
clothing to take with me?” Viper asked.

“Yes, but nothing on the bed. It
would appear he might have ejaculated on it,” Detective Morris replied.

Viper moved to the window; the
need to be outside was suddenly overwhelming. As a
fae
,
he gained his gifts from Mother Earth. As a result, he felt more at peace and
settled amongst Mother Earth’s creations, rather than man-made ones.

As he hurried around collecting
what clothing he could, Viper came across one extremely disturbing discovery.
“Detectives, all of Nikki’s underwear are gone.”

“We suspected as much, but we
needed you to confirm it. Some people prefer to go without.”

This new discovery had Viper
itching to get back to his mate’s side. He suddenly needed to hold her, to
ensure she was safe and more importantly that he was protecting her from the
evils that existed in her world. After gathering what he could, he left his
details with the detectives and asked them to inform him of any new
discoveries. The drive back to the hotel was at great speed. Thankfully the
traffic seemed to understand the urgency of the situation, staying out of his
way.

Chapter
Eight

As soon as Nikki walked through
the door of Viper’s quarters, exhaustion seemed to consume her. Her need to
fall into bed overwhelmed her senses. Thankfully, Jewel must have recognized
her need because bed was exactly where she was sent. Jewel promised to stay and
watch television quietly in the large lounge room.

As the soft mattress gave under
her body, it cradled her, holding her like arms. The sense of security
surrounded her, lulling her to sleep, reassuring her that no one could hurt her
here.

Within seconds of the darkness
taking her, gone was the sense of security. It was replaced by foreboding.
Where only moments earlier she had felt warmth and comfort, a chill ran over
her body as fear crept toward her. A shadow loomed, large and disfigured,
taking the shape of nothing she had seen before. Something glinted in the
light. Something shiny. She tried to back away but was frozen to the spot as
the monster spoke.

“Mine,” it gargled. “Mine! Mine!
Mine!”

Looking around, Nikki prayed that
help was near. Then she saw him. Her rainbow-colored angel, surrounded in
light, running toward her. Hope filled her. She was going to be rescued by the
only man capable of destroying this monster. But as he drew near, hope quickly
faded. He collided with an invisible barrier. He rushed at it again, but still
this monster’s magic held firm. Her angel was saying something to her… His
voice was drowned out by her own scream of pain as the monster pierced her
chest. The weapon seared her skin as it cut, burning everything it came into
contact with. She tried to lift her hands to push away the weapon, but the
weight of her fear held them down, preventing her from protecting herself. More
torment was inflicted to her body, and she was helpless to do anything about
it.

The shiny weapon continued on its
path of destruction as the monster leaned over her damaged body. Light formed
behind her eyes, and darkness swirled on the edges. She could feel herself
blacking out, but still she fought on, desperate to chase this monster away.
Something within her told her that the fight was worth it, and she believed it.

Too weak to scream, she could now
hear her angel’s voice. “Sweetheart, come back to me.”

****

“Nikki, sweetheart, come on, it’s
just a dream. Nothing can hurt you,” Viper said, once again trying to rouse his
mate.

When he’d walked into his
quarters, Jewel rushed at him as a scream sounded from the bedroom. As he
continued to race toward his scared mate, he heard Jewel explaining to Judge
that Nikki was having a nightmare and wouldn’t wake up. The sight that greeted
him as he entered the bedroom had his heart wrenching.

Nikki was thrashing about on the
bed, the covers tangled around her body. With each scream her torso would
thrust off the mattress, her arms and legs staying where they were as if they
were bound. In between screams she was begging for help.

He ran to her side, desperate to
wake her from her nightmare. It had a hold of her, not willing to let her go
until it played out to the end. He could only think of one thing to do. It was
usually something he wouldn’t even consider doing without his mate’s
permission, but his desperation and her fear overpowered his need to be
honorable.

“Judge, have a bucket ready for
Nikki when she wakes up,” he said, warning his brother about the journey he was
about to undertake.

The actual mind-melding itself
didn’t cause the nausea. His withdrawal from her mind, however, did.
Disorientation, light-headedness and dizziness were just a few of the
recipient’s side effects compliments of what he was about to do. It was the
reason he usually sought permission before subjecting most people to the
fae
magic.

Closing his eyes, he cleared his
mind of everything except Nikki. Jewel’s worried pacing faded in the
background, as did Judge’s quietly spoken suggestion that Jewel sit down. White
noise filled his ears as his mind went in search of its mate.

The first thing he became aware
of was the pain echoing through his body. He was feeling what Nikki was. Then
he saw through her eyes the cause of the pain and fear. A deformed figure stood
over her body, hand raised and ready to inflict further suffering with its
weapon. He recognized the monster from the photo in Judge’s file. He suspected
Nikki failed to see the truth. It was one of the things that was keeping her in
this continual nightmare. As well as the only thing feeding her fear.

Forcing the release of further
endorphins to mask the pain she was feeling, Viper spoke to his mate. “Nikki,
I’m here.”

“Tatts, I’m scared.”

“I know, sweetheart, but you’re
no longer alone.”

“How did you get through the
barrier?” she asked, her head turning toward the corner of the room.

It was then, through Nikki’s
eyes, that Viper saw himself throwing his body into the air. The barrier that
Nikki spoke of became apparent when his dream-self bounced off an invisible
wall. He knew there would be no way of penetrating it at this moment. Her fear
of trusting had built it, and only Nikki herself would be able to knock it
down.

Returning his attention to the
situation at hand, Viper tried to reassure his mate. “Nikki, I’m sitting on the
bed beside you in my quarters. I used
fae
magic to
mind-meld with you. Together we’ll escape this nightmare, okay?”

“How, Tatts? I can’t fight it.”

“Yes, you can. You just need to
open your eyes and see it for what it is,” Viper encouraged. “I’ve masked the
pain the best I can. The rest, I need you to breathe through. And the next time
he raises his hand to attack, watch the knife and look at the reflection in
it.”

Through her eyes, he could see
that she had done exactly as he had instructed. On a gasp, she whispered,
“Paul.”

“That’s right, sweetheart. Now
are you going to let him win?” he challenged. “You’ve survived him before, and
you’ll do it again. Don’t allow him that sort of power over your life. Take it
back. It’s yours and no one else’s.”

As if in slow motion, the knife
was set on its downward trajectory. Viper feared he had failed to get through
to Nikki and conceded that he would have to try again. That was when he felt
the resolve in her mind firming. With each millisecond, her inner strength grew
monumentally. Just as the knife was about to pierce her delicate skin once
again, Viper opened himself up, allowing her to take whatever she needed from
him.

“Do it now, Nikki,” he shouted in
her head.

On a scream, Nikki’s body lifted,
her mind settled, and Viper was ejected from the dream as she woke up.
Immediately, Judge was beside the bed, offering Nikki a receptacle to deposit
her stomach’s contents. As soon as her body’s needs were taken care of she
lifted her head. Looking around, her gaze landed on him. Whimpering, she
crawled into his waiting arms, clinging to him as she wept.

As soon as Judge and Jewel
realized Nikki was safe they retreated out of the room and even further out of
the quarters, leaving Viper to care for his distraught mate. Easing his body
down, he lay on his back with Nikki on top of him. Her arms tightened when she
sensed movement. He whispered nonsensical words in her ears, as well as vows of
protection and reassurance. In truth, he had no idea what he promised, but he
knew he meant every word of it. He intended on doing everything within his
power to secure his mate’s happiness, safety, and health.

Only when he felt Nikki’s
breathing even out did he allow himself to relax. He considered what he had
seen in the dream. It gave him hope. Her trust issues, as well as her ongoing
fear of the man who had changed her permanently, were to be expected. It was
Viper’s own presence in her nightmare that fed his hope for their future. She
had placed him in the role of her protector. He still had a lot of work to do
to ensure she reclaimed her life back from that asshole. In doing so, he was
hopeful that the wall she’d surrounded herself with, to protect herself from
any other man inflicting pain upon her, would fall at the same time.

As he lay thinking, he felt
Nikki’s body stiffen. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re safe.”

“What happened?” came the groggy
response.

“You don’t remember?”

“I was having a bad dream. You
were there, but you couldn’t get past some shield that Paul had put up.”

“Sweetheart, it was your dream.
Paul had no control over the setting,” Viper said gently, trying to ease her
into the idea that the shield was her own.

That got her attention. She
pushed up on her hands and stared earnestly into his eyes. “What do you mean? Who
put the shield there, then?”

“The same person who puts up a
wall in front of any man you meet,” he said, offering her a gentle squeeze.
“Your trust issues are understandable. It just means any man worth his while
would fight to break that wall down and win your trust.”

“I don’t know if that’s possible,
Tatts,” Nikki said, dropping her chin down on her stacked hands on his chest.

“Anything is possible,
sweetheart. And you’re definitely worth it.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing
all this time? Trying to earn my trust?”

 
Giving her hair a slight tug, Viper replied
honestly, “And I will continue to do so until I have it completely.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?” he asked,
hoping what she knew of the mating bond had given her a clue.

“Because with Devil and Gabby’s
mating, I’m now part of the family,” she replied, though she appeared to be
asking rather than stating.

“Have no doubt you are part of
the family but not because of Devil and Gabby’s mating. Though that’s a
conversation we’ll have when you’re ready. Now sleep, sweetheart. I will be
here to watch over you.” He rolled to his side, allowing her the comfort of the
bed. “We’ll talk some more in the morning.”

As she rolled over so he could
spoon her, she offered him a weary, “Thank you, Tatts.” For the second time
that evening, she allowed sleep to take her. This time, though, it would seem
her dreams were filled with much happier things. Especially if her moans were
anything to go by. Viper finally fell asleep, his hard, needy cock nestled in
the crease of his mate’s backside.