A Conquest Like No Other (8 page)

Chapter
Ten

Nikki sat under an umbrella on
one of the lounge chairs scattered around the sparkling pool. She was in awe of
the size of the area, considering Viper had said it was private. The pool took
up a large portion of the roof, leaving only enough room for several lounge
chairs, a bar which held a fully stocked fridge, and a small building that she
assumed held the pool equipment and hopefully the toilets. The glass
partitioning surrounding the roof offered an unhindered view of the Strip.

A ding sounded to the right of
her, announcing the arrival of the lift. Out stepped her best friend, looking
radiantly contented. Even though she wasn’t showing, Gabby glowed. Pregnancy
suited her. The discovery of her unborn children’s existence came as sunshine
in an otherwise gloomy day. It was on the day that both Nikki and Gabby were
rescued from the warehouse.

Beside Gabby stood a tiny redheaded
woman carrying a cake. Tiny even in Nikki’s five-foot-one eyes. Jewel was
laughing at something Gabby had said, and the green pools of her eyes sparkled
with mischief. As soon as the women saw Nikki, they rushed over to her, both
pulling her into an embrace.

“Nik, how are you feeling?” Gabby
asked, releasing Nikki.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you the
same thing, considering you’re carrying the spawn of Devil?” Nikki teased,
desperately trying to lighten the mood. She didn’t want Paul to spoil her day.

“I’m surprisingly good
considering I’m carrying twins,” she said, latching on to the change of
subject. Gabby had always been able to read what Nikki needed. “The doctors
have warned me that my morning sickness could get quite bad, but I’ve had none
of it.”

“So my nieces or nephews aren’t
causing you any trouble?”

“Please, they’re angels compared
to their father,” Gabby replied, rubbing her stomach. “Can you believe he
nearly burnt down my cabin? Thankfully some of the adult pride members were
nearby, teaching the young ones control when it came to transforming. They came
to our rescue. Only the kitchen needs replacing.”

Nikki laughed at her best
friend’s disgusted look. The cabin she spoke of was the one her grandfather
left her in his will. It was on a large piece of land neighboring Judge’s
pride, which was how Gabby had met the mountain lion shifter.

“What was he trying to do,
exactly?” Nikki asked.

A blush filled her best friend’s
cheeks. “Let’s just say, that the next time I send Devil to the kitchen for certain
foods, I will be ensuring he understands modern technology has provided us with
many ready-made products in bottles or jars.”

Nikki decided her friend needed
to elaborate. They had, after all, shared everything since middle school.
“Nope, I need more information.”

“Okay, but if it gets back to
Devil that you know, I’ll never tell you anything again.”

“Yes, yes, fine,” Nikki promised.

“We were in bed, eating, if you
get my drift?” She laughed at her best friend’s innocence. Gabby had never
slept with a man before Devil. “And I thought chocolate sauce might be a good
idea.”

“And,” Nikki prompted.

“And instead of grabbing the
bottle of chocolate sauce, Devil melted down the block I had,” Gabby explained,
running her hands through her long, wavy blonde hair. “The idiot left the stove
on, which set fire to the kitchen curtains.”

Gabby was saying something else,
but Nikki couldn’t hear over her own laughter. Devil was a man who prided
himself on always being in control. A couple of months with her best friend was
all it took for that control to be shot to hell.

“Now promise me, both of you, you
won’t say anything to any of the guys, including Devil,” Gabby begged.

“Gabs, I promise,” Nikki said,
still fighting her laughter. “We girls need to stick together. Isn’t that
right, Jewel?”

“Hell, yes! It’s about time I had
a little female backup around here!” Jewel replied after relinquishing her hold
on the cake to the bar. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the guys beyond anything,
but damn, as big brothers they are hard to deal with at times.”

“I can imagine,” Gabby said,
moving over to the lounge chairs near the pool. “Devil is intense enough by
himself. I can’t imagine what it would be like having all four of them watching
over me.”

Jewel nodded. “Tell me about it.
But I hate to say it, Gabby, you do have all four of them watching over you.
The only positive is that if you get caught doing something they don’t approve
of, then you only have to put up with Devil. I have to face whoever is here.”

“I’ve only met three of them, and
that would be enough for me,” Nikki said, sitting down beside Gabby. “I know
they care, but their testosterone levels seem a lot higher than men of this
time.”

“I know,” Jewel chimed in. “Wait
until you meet Chaos. He has a stare that has you wanting to crawl into a hole
to hide.”

“I wonder where he is,” Gabby
postulated out loud. “He just disappeared.”

“He does that.” Sadness filled
Jewel’s expressive eyes. “I often don’t get to see him when I come back for a
visit.”

“That will change soon enough,”
Gabby pointed out with a smile. “You’ll be living and working here soon. You’ll
probably get sick of seeing him all the time.”

“I guess,” came Jewel’s
noncommittal response as she perched herself on the lounge chair opposite Nikki
and Gabby.

“Okay, girl pact time. What
happens whenever we’re together, stays with us,” Nikki suggested, trying to
lift Jewel’s spirits. “As far as the guys will know, we went shopping or to the
movies or talked about girly stuff. If all else fails we can throw in the one
subject most men are happy to avoid, our periods.”

 
“Kind of like, what happens in Vegas stays in
Vegas? Except we already live in Vegas,” Gabby said excitedly. A schoolgirl
giggle escaped her.

“Exactly like that.” Nikki
grinned, getting caught up in Gabby’s excitement. “We girls need to stick
together!”

“I’m so glad you guys are here,”
Jewel added, reaching across the tiny gap that separated the lounge chairs and
pulling them both into a hug. “It’s nice having someone to talk to about girly
things again.”

“How long have you been with just
the guys?” Nikki asked once the embrace came to an end.

“You two have been the only women
I have met in the guys’ lives. I was actually talking about before I met the
guys, before my time on the streets. I had a sister I used to share moments
like this with. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until right now.”

“Is she older or younger?”

“Older, by five years, but still
she was my best friend.”

“If you don’t mind my asking,
what happened to land you on the streets and separated from your sister?” Nikki
asked gently. She rearranged herself on the lounge chair, crossing her legs and
leaning toward Jewel.

“Our parents died when I was ten.
We went to live with our grandmother and all had been good until my uncle
arrived. He wasn’t a nice man.” Jewel looked down at her hands. “Anyway, one
day, my sister disappeared. He claimed she had gone to college, but I knew she
wouldn’t leave me with him still living in the house. One day I heard him
talking on the phone. His side of the story was enough to suggest that not only
did he have something to do with my sister’s disappearance, but he was also
planning something similar for me when I was older. I ran away, trying to
search for her. But I was only fourteen and had very few resources. I lived on
the streets, moving from place to place, searching and running all at the same
time. The guys found me when I was sixteen. I was starved and had stolen an
apple from a grocer. His son took offense and beat me up.” Shuddering, Jewel’s
focus turned toward the pool. It remained there as she began to speak again. “I
was in a bad way when the guys stepped in. It felt like every bone in my body
was broken. I ended up with two black eyes, a split lip and a couple of broken
ribs. Chaos and Viper fixed me up best they could, while Devil and Judge took
care of my attacker. And the rest you could say is history. They took me in,
taught me to defend myself and insisted I return to school.”

“Wow, that sucks about your
family, but I’m glad the guys found you,” Gabby said, moving over to Jewel’s
lounge chair and pulling her into a hug.

Nikki joined in and added
quietly, “Did you ever find your sister?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the
guys have already tried to do that,” Gabby speculated.

“No, they know nothing of my time
before they met me. You two are the first people I have ever told,” Jewel
explained. “Please don’t tell them. They will start looking and the last thing
I want is to bring trouble like my uncle to their doorstep.”

Nikki could understand Jewel’s position.
Except she had already brought trouble to Viper’s door. If her fear didn’t
remind her, her guilt certainly did. In an attempt to drag them all out of the
melancholy that hung in the air, she pointed out to Jewel, “And look at you
now, a college graduate.”

“Yes, and I expect you both to be
there, front and center, at my graduation,” Jewel said, going with the change
of subject.

“We wouldn’t miss it for
anything,” Nikki replied with a smile. Instantly she found herself looking
forward to the outing.

“Okay, now you know my story,
it’s both of your turns. How did you two meet the guys?” Jewel asked.

“I’ll let Gabby go first since my
story tends to follow on from hers,” Nikki offered, returning to the lounge
chair beside Gabby’s. She leaned back, putting her feet up.

“My first meeting with Devil was
a complete and utter misunderstanding,” Gabby revealed. “I thought he was an
associate of my asshole father, and he thought I was a call girl.”

“What, a call girl, since when?”
Nikki screeched, hearing this for the first time. Gabby cringed.

“Okay, Nikki, now don’t get
upset.” Gabby’s cajoling told Nikki she wasn’t going to like what she was about
to hear. “You know how I told you that my father, Jeffrey, set me up in a blind
date with Devil?”

“Yes.” She sat forward on the
lounge chair, eager to hear what her friend had to say. Jewel had assumed the
same position.

“It wasn’t exactly a date. He
ordered me to meet Devil. I was meant to play a call girl and offer Devil my
body in exchange for clearing Jeffrey’s gambling debt.”

“That bastard! You should have
called the cops on him,” Nikki stated forcefully. The look on Gabby’s face told
her there was more.

“I couldn’t, Nik, there’s a
little more to the phone conversation that I hadn’t told you before. Now don’t
get upset!”

Clenching her hands into fists,
Nikki relished the bite of her nails digging into her palms. The fact that
Gabby had been keeping secrets from her, especially about Jeffrey, spoke
volumes about what was to come. “You keep saying that, Gabs. Just spill it!”

“I was at Jeffrey’s house after
my shift having dinner when I got the call from the hospital about your attack.
He decided to use that information to get me to do exactly what he wanted,”
Gabby explained, her eyes pleading with Nikki not to get upset. “He threatened
that if I didn’t comply he would send Devil after you to claim payment.”

Nikki felt the blood drain from
her face. The hot sun did nothing to quell the chill that was now running
through her body. That bastard Jeffrey knew about her attack, and still he was
willing to use it to benefit himself. The man was rotten to the core. It was
hard to believe he had a hand in creating such a beautiful daughter, both
inside and out. True to their friendship, Gabby had given this complete
stranger her virginity all in an effort to protect Nikki. Swinging her legs
around and placing her feet on the ground once more, she pulled Gabby into a
hug.

“Thank you, Gabs,” she whispered,
tears rolling down her face.

“Hey, it all worked out for the
best. I found the man of my dreams, and as an added bonus, Jeffrey’s too scared
of Devil to think about contacting me again.”

“Hold on, I don’t get it,” Jewel
piped in. “Devil wouldn’t have come after Nikki. You should have called the
cops.”

“Jewel, at that time, I knew
nothing about Devil. Just that he was somehow associated to Jeffrey,” Gabby
explained.

“Okay, so Devil met you, realized
that you were his mate and the rest they say is history?” Jewel speculated.

“If only it were that easy,”
Gabby continued, blushing. “No, he treated me like the call girl he thought I
was. I left and then went away for a couple of weeks on holiday to the cabin.
There I met Judge and we became instant friends. It was through him I got my
first experience with the beings that I thought belonged in nightmares and
myths. Judge insisted on coming home with me after I told him that I would keep
his secret from everyone, but I couldn’t hide it from Nikki. That was when
Devil turned up, pissed that Judge was in my house. He stated that I was his mate
and the next thing I knew he had claimed me.”