A polite freaking nod.

They’d kissed. They’d fed from each other. They’d had sex against a wall. And in a dungeon. He’d used his tongue on her in ways that gave her hot flashes just thinking about.

And he was politely nodding at her.

“You know,” Grant said, “Riker’s pretty miserable, too.”

“Could have fooled me,” she muttered.

“It’s true.” katina downed a test tube filled with orange liquid. “That one’s nasty.” She plunked the tube into an empty wooden holder. “I sparred with him this morning. He’s all sullen and broody, like one of those emo TV vampires that were popular a while back. So lame.”

“Well, he’s never been a load of laughs,” Grant chimed in. “But yes, he’s even less mirthful than usual.”

Mirthful? Who used that word? “He said he loved me even before I turned into a vampire, and I wasn’t sure if I should believe him or not.” katina thought about that for a second. “Yeah, you know, I’d be skeptical, too. He had a lot of reason to hate the human you.”

“I think you should have believed him,” Grant said.

Both katina and Nicole turned to him. “Why?” Nicole asked.

Grant went back to whatever he was doing on the computer. “Because males don’t say stupid things like that unless they mean it.”

“Then why was he so quick to walk away from me?”

There was a loud sigh, and then Grant pushed away from the table. “Okay, let’s say you accepted him at his word, even though you had some niggling doubt.

Then later down the road, humans do something stupid and heinous to vampires, the way they always do, and he gets angry. Starts railing about how awful humans are. How self-conscious are you going to be? Are you going to wonder if, deep down, he still thinks of you that way? Even if you don’t worry about it, he will.

He needs you to know he’s past it and that he loves you for who you are. Not what you are.”

Nicole stared at the scientist, floored that he was so in tune with relationships when he was so out of tune with pretty much everything else.

“Damn,” katina said, as she eyed him up and down. “Sometimes you actually make sense.”

“I always make sense.” Grant stood, yanking the bottom of his jacket to straighten it. “Everyone else needs to listen better.”

Nicole watched him gather up empty test tubes.

People accused Grant of not playing with a full deck, but she was starting to suspect that his deck was full— he was just playing a different game.

“Does he know about the baby?” katina asked.

“I haven’t told him.” katina tsk ed. “You need to. And if you believe what he said, you need to tell him that, too.” She leaned forward and patted Nicole on the knee. “It’ll make your chest feel better.”

So many emotions brewed close to the surface, leaving Nicole on the verge of breaking into a loud, sloppy bawl. Love for Riker. Sorrow for hurting him.

Anger that he’d taken so long to come around. And joy that he’d given her the chance to find a real home among the least likely people she could ever have imagined.

She owed him. Not because of all the horrible things her family did to him and his race. But because her family had done all those horrible things and he loved her in spite of it.

Now she just had to hope it wasn’t too late.

----------------------

Riker hadn't seen  Nicole, except in passing, for four days.

It was killing him. He’d left the ball in her court, letting her decide if she could believe he’d fallen for her when she was still human.

Apparently, she didn’t believe him.

He kept playing with the little origami animals she’d made, smiling at how they reminded him of her, delicate and complex, beautiful and yet capable of cutting deep. The dragon figure had cut his thumb, but she’d slashed his heart.

“Nicole showed me how to make birds.” Seated at the kitchen counter, Bastien touched his finger to the wing of a paper butterfly Nicole had left near the toaster.

Today was the third day in a row he’d come to Riker’s quarters after they sparred in the exercise room.

Myne had taught Bastien well—the kid was a fast learner, and he was starting to gain control of his ability to briefly turn invisible. Once he mastered that, the power to flash invisibly out of the way of an incoming strike would make up for his lack of fighting experience. Bastien was going to be one hell of an asset to the clan someday.

“I’d like it if you made me a bird sometime,” Riker said.

“I’ll carve you one out of wood. Baddon showed me.” Riker had to smother a grin as Bastien swung off the bar stool. The boy had grown, not just physically but emotionally. “I’m going to shower and help Grant in the lab. Are you going to teach me how to read the wind tomorrow?”

“You bet. You’ll be hitting the bullseye with arrows in gale-force winds before you know it.”

There was a single knock on the door, and then Myne strolled in with a six-pack of beer. “Swiped it from a hunter’s camp.” He gestured to Bastien. “If you guys are busy, I can come back.”

“I was just leaving.” Bastien started out the door but turned to Riker at the threshold. “Later, Dad.”

Bastien disappeared, leaving Riker’s mouth dry and his heart pounding. “Did you hear that?” he asked

Myne, hoping his buddy had heard it, too, and it wasn’t all in his head.

Grinning, Myne tossed him a beer. “Yeah. Pretty cool. Guess he’s over his daddy issues.”

Riker didn’t raise his hopes that much, but it was a good start. “I heard you haven’t found Chuck.”

“Fucker is practically on lockdown since Nicole was taken.” Myne sank into the overstuffed chair kitty corner from the couch. “It’s going to be a while before we can do the world a favor by removing his head.”

Riker looked down at his beer, wondering how Nicole was going to feel about that. It was one thing to say you didn’t care what happened to your brother and another to experience it.

“And Bastien? Have you felt him out about this?”

“He says he doesn’t care what happens to Chuck.”

Myne clink ed his bottle against Riker’s. “Personally, I think we should catch the bastard, toss him into the prey room, and let Bastien have him. We’ll call it alternative therapy.”

Riker had always believed in alternative therapy.

Even when he’d been human, he’d known that a well— placed bullet in a terrorist’s chest could heal the mind and spirit.

“How’s Lucy?” He planted his ass on the couch, figuring they were stuck talking for a while. “I haven’t seen her since I got back.”

“She’s been making friends with Bastien. He reads to her like a big brother.” Myne leaned back in his chair, cradling his beer like a lover. Myne’s therapists had always had names like Henry Weinhard and Captain Morgan. “Now, what’s up with Hunter? No one has seen him in days. He’s been shut up in his chambers. Won’t even let in any females.”

“No females?” Riker frowned. “That’s disturbing.” Almost as disturbing as seeing the change in Hunter when he spoke to kars. Both chiefs had radiated a certain sinister energy that had raised the hairs on the back of Riker’s neck. Then there had been the crimson lighting in their eyes. It was almost as if they’d been tapping into a well of power so strong their bodies couldn’t contain it.

Myne twitched one shoulder in a half shrug. “I’m happy enough not seeing him every day.” He took a swig from his beer. “Have you talked to Nicole?”

Her name was a blade to the chest. “I was hoping she’d want to talk by now. Guess I underestimated how she felt about me.”

“So you want to see her?”

Riker inhaled raggedly. “I’d sell my soul if she’d walk through my door.”

“Huh.” Myne chugged his beer and slammed the bottle down on the coffee table. “Gotta go.” All Riker could do was stare as his friend popped to his feet and took off. Before Riker could even process the fact that Myne was gone, he was back, pulling Nicole inside with him.

“What the hell are you doing?” The feather mark tingling, Riker stood, unsure if Nicole needed help or if she was completely cool with being dragged into Riker’s quarters.

“She’s been waiting in the hall.” Myne shoved her forward. “She didn’t want to come in if you weren’t willing to talk to her. Since you said you’d sell your soul, I took that as a good sign. Now, if you two will excuse me, I’m outta here.”

“Well,” she said, after the door closed, “that wasn’t how I imagined this would go down.”

“I’m pretty sure Myne has a disorder that makes him completely oblivious to social etiquette.”

“Hmm.” Nicole smiled wryly. “I noticed that when we first met. I didn’t think it was polite of him to kill Mr. Altrough after knowing him just sixty seconds.”

Riker nearly groaned. This conversation wasn’t going well. At all. “Ah, yeah. There are some things in both our pasts we should probably move beyond.”

“I agree.” Nicole glanced at the bedroom door.

“But if you’re not ready to let go of everything, I can leave—”

“No!” He cut her off, unwilling to let her go now that she was here. Screw it, he wasn’t going to waste another minute while he waited for her to come around.

Letting her go was a stupid mistake, and he was going to rectify it. He wanted to grab her. Haul her against him and never let her go.

“You really mean that?”

He grabbed her. Hauled her against him. Wasn’t going to let her go until she forced him to. “God, Nicole,” he murmured into her hair, “I’ve been wanting to see you for days. I haven’t eaten. Haven’t slept.”

He inhaled deeply, taking comfort in her scent, which seemed stronger, spicier than before. The imprint, maybe? Whatever it was, as her feminine fragrance penetrated his lungs, a warm sense of calm came over him, like everything was right in the world.

Arms tight around him, she buried her face in his chest. “I’m sorry, Riker. I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

The tremor in her voice broke his heart. “For not believing you.”

He pulled back to look her in the eye. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I believe you love me, and I don’t want to be apart anymore.” She cleared her throat.

“And it only took twenty shots of kool-Aid flavors that should never be mixed, imaginary chest pain, and girl talk with a female vampire and a male vampire who plays Go Fish when everyone else is playing Five-Card Stud.”

“I don’t understand any of that, but if it got you here, that’s all that matters.” He slid one hand around to the back of her neck to caress the warm, satin skin there, only to freeze as something she’d said rang in his ears. “And wait . . . chest pain?”

“Imaginary,” she muttered. “But it did feel real.”

“When did it go away?”

She shrugged. “A few minutes ago, I guess. Why?”

He wasn’t ready to share his theory yet, so he took a page from his favorite tactics manual and went for a distract-and-evade maneuver.

Framing her face in his hands, he kissed her deeply. It took a whopping two seconds for his body to harden and heat, and with a low growl, he swept her up and carried her to the bedroom.

In his arms, she tensed. “Are you really okay with this?” she whispered.

“You belong here. You belong in my bed and in my life. Every aspect of it.” He placed her gently on the mattress. “But I have a confession.”

She smiled shyly. “So do I.”

He sank down onto the bed with her and carefully

laid her on her back. “You first.”

He tucked a pillow under her head and stretched

out beside her. What he really wanted to do was stretch

out on top of her, but they were at a critical junction in their relationship, and he didn’t want to mess it up by moving too fast.

Anxiety all but bled from her pores, and he got real f**king nervous, real fast. “Nicole? What is it?”

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted.

Every muscle in Riker’s body vapor-locked.

“You’re . . .” He swallowed. Cleared his throat. Remembered to breathe. Couldn’t think. “When?”

“At ShadowSpawn.”

ShadowSpawn? Darkness closed in around him, and he started to pant. Nicole . . . oh, Jesus . . .

She shoved herself up on one elbow. “No, oh, Riker,” she rasped. “It’s not what you’re thinking.

No one touched me. I swear.” Reaching for him, she cupped his cheek in her warm palm. “It was the night I went to your cell. kars made me take the fertility drug. Apparently, it works.”

“We’re having a baby?” His heart went crazy, tapping spastically against his rib cage. Excitement and fear sucked the air out of his lungs. There was nothing he wanted more than a family, but childbirth was extremely dangerous, and with no midwife to help, he could lose both Nicole and the baby.

“I can feel your fear.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. “But please don’t worry. When I researched the fertility treatment, I found that Daedalus hadn’t lost a single female or child during birth. I believe fertility and childbirth are related. I have nine months to get it figured out. It’s not the ideal timing, but—” He crushed her in a bear hug. “Okay, okay,” she said on a laugh. “What’s your confession?”