Bound by Night(80)

His eyes flew wide open. “I can’t.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to. Don’t let him—”
“Hey.” She took his hand. “It’s okay. You don’t have to see him if you don’t want to. But he’s a really good guy, and he loves you.”
“Someone else did, too,” he whispered.
“Someone . . . loved you?”
“He said he did.”
Nicole’s forehead broke out in a fevered sweat. She had a very, very bad feeling about what was coming next.
“What . . . um . . . what did he say to you?”
“He said I look like my mother. He said she was pretty.” Bastien’s hands clenched into fists. “He said since she was dead and I didn’t have any parents, he’d be my father.” His fists started to tremble. “He hit me if I didn’t tell him I loved him, too. He broke my arm once.”
Nicole struggled to keep from hyperventilating.
She wanted to scream. To cry. To burn down the lab again, but this time with Bastien’s abuser inside it.
Unless his abuser was already dead. Chuck had said Roland was involved with the breeding program.
Suddenly, she was glad Myne had killed him.
“Listen to me, Bastien,” she said, concentrating on keeping her voice calm. “Good fathers don’t beat their children. Riker would never harm you. I promise. He’s thoughtful, honorable, and loyal . . . and he loves you.”
Bastien didn’t look convinced, so she tried again. “Do you trust me?”
Bastien leaned across the table, the slightest quirk on his lips. “Just because I trust you doesn’t mean I trust your judgment.”
She laughed, surprised by his common sense and candor. This was a strong, smart kid, and she had a feeling that with the help of the clan, he’d be healthy, mentally and physically, very soon.
“Busted,” she said. “But you’ll see for yourself that I’m right. Will you at least give him a chance?”
Cocking his head, Bastien studied her. “Do you love him? My father?”
The question caught her off guard. She looked up at the ceiling, trying to marshal her thoughts and emotions, but she might as well have been herding cats. What it came down to was that she’d grown close to Riker, and she’d do anything to protect him. She wanted to heal his wounds, help him deal with his losses, and somehow make up to him what her family had done not only to
Riker, Terese, and Bastien but to his entire clan.
Then there was the insane physical draw between them, the erotic pulse that throbbed in the air whenever he was near. When he wasn’t around, there was a distinct emptiness in her chest and a flutter in her belly when she thought of him. She’d never felt this way before.
Did that mean she loved him?
“I guess I do,” she finally said, and the most amazing sense of liberation practically lifted her out of her chair.
All this time, she’d been lost in both the human world and the vampire one, unsure of her future and, at times, unsure of her survival. And while she was between those worlds, she didn’t feel stuck anymore.
She was a human among vampires, but she felt far less alone than she had as a human among humans.
Bastien gave a decisive nod. “Then I’ll give him a chance.” Grinning, Nicole leaned over and pulled Bastien into a big, squishy hug. “You’ll love him. You’ll see.”
For a long moment, Bastien remained rigid in her arms, so stiff she wasn’t sure if he breathed. But as she stroked his hair and just held him, he relaxed, and his arms went around her. She smiled when he snuggled closer, burying his forehead against her neck.
“Nicole?” His voice was tentative, barely audible.
“Yes?”
“He won’t hurt me again, will he?” he whispered.
“Chuck can’t find me here, right?”
Nicole’s heart stopped. Chuck? Dear God, it was Chuck who had beaten the boy? With all the strength she could muster, she found her voice.
“No,” she croaked. “He can’t. I promise.”

Chapter 25
Nicole.” Riker’s heart jackhammered in his chest at the sight of her outside his door.
He allowed himself the luxury of a slow visual ride down her body, taking in the worn jeans that hugged her softly rounded hips, the fl uffy green sweater that matched her eyes and outlined her perfect breasts.
She’d slicked her hair back in a barrette, and his fi ngers twitched with the desire to let her hair down and make it messy.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.” He gestured for her to enter. “We’re working twenty-four—seven on the ShadowSpawn problem.”
He’d spent three full days on the edges of their territory with the clan’s mystic-keeper, Sabre, while they set new wards and traps. ShadowSpawn would have their own mystic-keeper to identify and neutralize their setups, but they’d be slowed, and they’d take injuries.