“Agreed,” Jon said.
Nikolas inhaled sharply. “Jon, don’t—”
“Trust me, petjya.” Nikolas’s anger abated somewhat under the warm glow of Jon’s smile, but he still stiffened when Jon walked over to stand in front of Marcus. He wasn’t sure he could watch his bond mate kiss another man without committing murder.
“One kiss?” Jon asked.
“One kiss in front of these witnesses,” Marcus replied as he waved his hands around to encompass the men standing around the room.
“I accept your deal,” Jon said.
Triumph glowed in Marcus’s eyes.
Nikolas started to growl when Jon leaned toward Marcus and the vampire’s lips pursed as if waiting for his kiss. And then Jon stood on his tiptoes and planted a kiss on Marcus’s forehead.
“Now,” he said once he stepped back, “where’s my mother?”
Nikolas’s mind floundered for half a second before he threw his head back and laughed with abandon. Jon had given Marcus exactly what he had asked for in his bargain—a kiss. He should have been more explicit. Nikolas had no doubt whatsoever that Marcus had wanted a passionate lip-lock from Jon, one that would set Nikolas off.
Marcus’s expression started to cloud with anger, but then his lips twitched and the powerful vampire let out a small chuckle. “Your mother is being held in an abandon house down by the docks. My lieutenant will text you the address.”
A suggestion of amusement hovered in Marcus’s eyes as he turned to look at Nikolas. “You do well to keep this one close by your side, Nikolas. He is far more devious than I would have given him credit for, especially considering he is human.” His voice was heavy with sarcasm but also begrudging respect. “He would have made a good vampire.”
Nikolas didn’t say anything until he took Jon into his arms. “My rajaaka is perfect the way he is,” he said, his voice curt and cold.
A shadow of annoyance crossed his face when Marcus chuckled as he turned and headed out of the office. “He still would have made a good vampire.”
The lobby to penthouse elevator opened just as Marcus and his men reached it. Louis stood there with his mouth hanging open until Marcus cleared his throat. When Louis’s eyes snapped to him, Nikolas nodded and waved his hand to let Louis know to give the vampire and his men clear passage.
Marcus stepped into the elevator. His men stepped in after him. In the oddest thing he had ever seen, Marcus bowed his head at Jon, his sincerity probably the strangest thing of all. “Until next time, Jon Brighten.”
Nikolas didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until the elevator doors slide closed.
“That man is an ass.”
Nikolas chuckled at Jon’s words and tightened his arms around him. “Why did you not contact me through our bond?”
“I was too freaked out by Marcus and his men showing up in the living room with Carl.” Jon’s face flushed as he glanced over his shoulder. “I forgot about the bond.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Nikolas assured Jon. “One of these days you won’t remember what it was like not to have it.”
“If you say so.”
“I know—would you stop that infernal racket?” Nikolas snapped as he turned his gaze on Carl. The man was still kneeling, still bound, but he was trying to talk through the tape over his mouth. “Louis, take Carl down to the basement and see that he learns what it means to mess with my family.”
“Yes, sir.” Louis snapped his fingers, and two guards ran forward to grab Carl. The human was still screaming through the tape over his mouth when they carried him away. “Marcus came in through the parking garage, sir. They knocked out the guards we had down there and stole a keycard to get to the penthouse.”
“I want access to the penthouse limited to you, me, Jon, and my mother. No one else is to be allowed here without permission. And I want two guards at the lobby entrance and the entrance to the penthouse. No one should be getting on this floor except those with authorization.”
“Yes, sir,” Louis said. “I take full responsibility for the breach in security, sir.”
“You’re damn skippy you do,” Jon snapped. “You’re fired.”
Louis’s lips twitched. Nikolas saw a flash of amusement in the man’s eyes right before he bowed his head. “Of course, sir.”
“Go find my mother.”
Nikolas nodded when Louis glanced at him. “Marcus should be texting you the location. Unless she needs medical care, take her to the country house. Jon and I will be heading out there just as soon as we get this mess cleaned up here.”
“Very good, sir.”
Nikolas waited until the room had emptied of everyone except him and his rajaaka before dragging the man down the hallway toward their bedroom. He might not have killed Marcus due to the kiss he had tried to get from Jon, but he needed to reassert his claim on his mate and there was only one way to do that. Jon wasn’t going to be leaving their bed for quite some time. He might not even be walking by the time Nikolas was done insuring his assistant knew who he belonged to.
“Tell me you love me, rajaaka,” Nikolas ordered as he drew Jon to a stop at the foot of their bed.
A slow, secret smile crossed Jon’s lips. “Make me.”
Feeling lighthearted and loved, and maybe just a tad possessive, Nikolas flicked out a sharp claw and began slicing Jon’s clothes from his delicious body. “As you wish.”
* * * *
Jon laughed at the outright terror in Louis’s face as he was cornered by Margaret, Bella, and Penelope. Since Jon and Nikolas had mated and Gina and Ben were due to deliver the first grandchild any day now, all eyes had turned to finding Louis a mate.
It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Jon didn’t really hate Louis. In fact, they were getting to be pretty good friends. But he would be remiss in his friendly duties if he didn’t razz the guy on occasion—and fire him at least once a week.
Luckily, Louis never took his words seriously.
“I told you that the holidays would be interesting,” Jon sent out to his mate through their bond. He used it all the time now days, especially when his mate was someplace other than right beside him, which didn’t happen often.
“Yes, but I didn’t think our mothers would become best friends.”
Jon searched the small crowd for his mate, spotting the gorgeous man leaning against the wall by the fireplace. He smiled at the exasperated look on his mate’s face. Not only had Bella and Margaret become best friends, they had pulled Penelope into their little group. The three women were hardly ever seen without each other.
Margaret had taken to the news of the existence of vampires for easier than Jon had thought she would. Personally, Jon thought it was because she was just so damn happy to be away from Carl. Strangely enough, the man seemed to have disappeared. No one was looking for him, not even the police.
And Margaret had blossomed once out from under Carl’s abusive thumb. Her skin glowed, and she laughed for more than Jon had heard in years. For that alone Jon would have devoted himself to Nikolas. Having the handsome vampire love him in return was a bonus.
“Marcus sent me a Christmas present.”
He heard Nikolas’s snort from across the room. “You’ll be sending it back.”
The smile on Jon’s face grew. “And if I don’t want to?”
When he heard Nikolas growl, Jon tossed his head back and laughed. He had no interest in anything Marcus Aguilera sent him, and the man knew it. He sent gifts to piss Nikolas off, and it worked every time.
“You will send it back!” Nikolas shouted for everyone to hear.
Happiness bubbled up inside of Jon, overflowing in the face of the determined man stalking toward him from across the room. Just before Nikolas reached him, Jon turned and walked out of the room, tossing back over his shoulder. “Make me.”
“Rajaaka!”
THE END