by Aliyah Burke
With waves and smiles, the women were gone. Nik looked down at Evie who pulled on his coat. Picking her up with ease, he asked, “Yes, little one?”
“Will you buy me a car, too?”
Past Evie’s head, Nik saw Marcus roll his eyes and begin to laugh. Glancing back to his niece, Nik nodded. “I’ll tell you what, Evie. When you graduate high school, you and I will go shopping for a car for you. How’s that sound?”
“Really?”
“Yes. But you have to graduate high school, first.”
“Okay.” Her lips pursed. “Does a truck count?”
He arched a brow. “You want a truck?”
She nodded, her black curls bouncing. “Yes, just like Daddy’s. Big and powerful.”
Nik laughed and hugged her close. Lifting his gaze, he saw the pride and love on Marcus’ face. “Trucks, too. Whichever you want.”
“Love you, Unca Nik,” she said kissing his cheek.
“I love you, too, Evie.”
For dinner, Marcus and Kit took everyone out. Nik observed Cleo’s interaction with the children and Kit. He winked at her when she met his gaze. Cleo’s expression grew soft and inviting with her return smile. Shifting in his chair, he swallowed hard. It was like she had no clue how attractive she truly was. Toasting her with his glass, Nik returned his attention back to his brother.
After they’d finished and had waved goodbye to the Quinn family, Nik relaxed on the passenger seat, Cleo at the wheel.
“Thank you again, Nik. For everything,” she said, placing her left hand on his thigh.
Lifting her hand, he brushed a kiss along the back. “You’re welcome, snežinka.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what that word means?” She glanced away from the road to look at him briefly.
He chuckled. “I thought you would have asked Kit.”
“No. I didn’t want her to think…” She stopped.
“Cleo,” he said, squeezing her fingers. “I would never call you anything bad.”
“But you won’t tell me.”
“Nope,” he blurted out.
Cleo harrumphed. “Insufferable…”
That night, Cleo joined him on a trip to the stars. He fell asleep more than content. Nik stayed for a week and helped her get settled in.
The interior of her vehicle was silent as she drove to the airport. Cleo pulled up before the door for his airplane, threw the gear in neutral and set the brake. He got out, and she met him at the back. Nik placed his bags on the ground by his feet and looked at her. It wasn’t hard to see her struggling to keep a smile on her face.
“Come here, snežinka,” he said gruffly.
She did, her arms wrapping familiarly around him. “I’m going to miss you,” she muttered.
“I know, baby. I’ll miss you, too.” He kissed the top of her head and rested his cheek there, allowing her alluring scent to embed in him. “I don’t want to leave you,” he whispered in Russian.
“You have to get going, Nik. I can’t be here all day.”
He swallowed. “I know.” Stepping back, he brought her chin up. “Kiss me goodbye.”
She did as commanded, rising up on her toes to allow their lips to meet. Nik shuddered with all the emotions roaring through him. With a low growl, he hauled her in close and dominated the kiss, one hand in her hair and one on the small of her back. Both were breathless when he ended the passionate exchange.
His heart twisted when she licked her lips and nodded. With one hand, she cupped his cheek and skimmed her thumb across his lower lip. “Call me when you get home, okay?”
“Promise.” Nik inhaled deeply, took her hand, and bowed over it while he kissed the back. “Ya tebya lyublyu.” One gentler kiss and he grabbed his bags, going inside the jet without looking back.
Cleo’s gentle face was with him the entire flight. Each mile the plane took him, the harder it was for him to breathe. Cleo was his reason for living. And deserved to be safe. Nik scowled as he thought about Loki. Only when he heard Cleo’s sultry Southern voice did he feel any better.
Chapter Twenty
Cleo had settled in well. Her cast had finally been removed, and she’d already begun to teach. Since she didn’t have class today, she went to Kit for some help. Knocking on her door, she waited for “Enter” before she stepped in.
“Hey, Cleo,” Kit said with a smile. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How are you doing? Heard from Nik? Come on in and sit down.”
She took seat. “I’m fine. I love it here. Nik’s doing well. I spoke to him yesterday. And how are you and the family?”
“Everyone’s great. You have to come back for dinner soon.” Kit waved a hand airily. “I’m sure you didn’t come for that, especially since you know you’re always welcome. So, what’s brought you here?”
Cleo angled her head at the woman she had come to like and respect so very much. Kit had this glow of contentment surrounding her. That’s what being in love looks like. She smiled.
“Well, I was hoping you could help me with something.” Reaching into her jean pocket, Cleo withdrew a sheet of paper. Handing it to Kit, she said, “Does this look familiar to you at all? It’s not exact; I had to draw it from memory.”
“Where’d you get it?” Kit asked.
“It is on Nik’s sword, and the way he phrased it made me think it’s a language. I would swear I’ve seen it somewhere before, but…I can’t put my finger on it.”
Kit opened the paper and read. A slight furrow appeared between her eyes. “Wow. I can’t think of anything. Have you looked at older scripts, or maybe in the lost languages?”
“No, I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll check them both out. Thank you.”
Kit handed the sheet back to her. “Do you think this may help with the Loki situation?”
Cleo shook. It was one thing to try and convince herself she’d just had one hell of a hallucination and a totally different one to have someone sit across from her and ask about it as if it were common everyday behavior to talk about.
“I don’t know. I’m still having a hard time believing any of it.”
“I had that feeling when I went back.” Kit leaned forward. “You’re so good for him. And I see a strength within you that will be needed to deal with his pushy ways.” Grabbing a pen and piece of paper, Kit jotted something down and gave it to her. “This is a research site I’m on with my password. Maybe it will help you find what writing that is.”
Cleo remembered the night when she’d heard the story of how Kit and Marcus had met after Kit had been sent back to the year eleven hundred, as well as the struggle to get back to this time and how Marcus had found his own way. Another one of those stories she didn’t really want to accept. Placing both sheets back in her pocket, Cleo smiled and stood. “Thank you so much.”
“My pleasure. And how about supper tomorrow night?”
Cleo nodded. “I’d love that. Let me know what I can bring.”
“Of course. I’m not trying to rush you, but I have a class in ten.”
“No problem. Please, I’m the one who barged in here. Thanks for the help.”
“Don’t know how helpful it’ll be, but you’re most welcome.”
Cleo walked to the door and looked back at Kit with a smile. “Well, considering it was an avenue I hadn’t even considered, I’m going to go with helpful.” She waved. “Bye, Kit.”
After checking in at her office for any messages, Cleo headed back to her apartment. Mail in hand and a whistle on her lips, she poured herself some tea and powered up her laptop. She typed in the address from Kit, along with the password when directed.
Slowly and methodically, she scrolled through lost languages.
There! “That looks like it could be it!” Excitement flowed though her. Without thinking of the time, she opened her cell and placed a call.
“Everything okay, snežinka?” Nik’s baritone was more accented and thick with sleep.
“Oh, my God, Nik, I’m so sorry. I totally sp
aced the time difference.”
“It’s fine, Cleo. Is everything okay?” Concern tinged his tone.
“Yes, I’m fine, but I wondered if you could do something for me.”
“Name it, snežinka, and it’s yours.”
Heat spiraled through her at the promise in his words. She yanked her mind off a road she didn’t need to be traveling along right now and focused. “Can you email me the images of the hilt and pommel of your sword?”
Sheets rustled. “You’re looking into if this has meaning or not,” he stated.
“What can I say? I’m intrigued.”
“I can think of a lot of things for you to say, snežinka, lots of them loudly.”
She squirmed. “I won’t keep you up. I truly am sorry I woke you.”
“You definitely keep me up. I’m on my way to take photos, now.”
“Now? Oh, Nik, I didn’t mean for—”
“You called. It’s important to you.”
“Remind me, I owe you a huge thank you next time I see you.”
“I can be there in less than twenty-four hours.”
She chuckled. He means it, too. “You have things to do there.”
“No, really. Besides, I’d rather be with you.” Nik paused. “Hang on one second.” It was more like ten when he said, “Still there?”
“Of course.”
He laughed easily. “Okay, it’s on its way to your computer, now.”
“Thank you.”
“Cleo,” he said, warning seeping into his tone. “Don’t do anything crazy.”
“I’m just sitting at the computer. Perfectly safe here.” His sigh was easily heard, and Cleo knew he longed to order her to let it go.
“Just be careful, snežinka.”
“Always. Go back to sleep, Nik.”
“I miss you, woman,” he uttered.
“I miss you, too, warrior-man.” She hesitated before adding, “A lot.”
“Cleo—”
“Sleep, Nik. Back to sleep.”
Gently, she closed her phone, not wanting to deal with the thoughts of love Nik created within her. Licking her lips, she pulled up her email and opened the one from Nik. The message was short and sweet, merely signed, “Yours, Nik.” With the images uploaded and on her screen, Cleo compared the markings.
“Woo hoo!” she hollered. “I found it.”
Meroitic script. From the Kingdom of Meroë/Kush.
“Wonder if I can translate it.” Cleo printed out both images along with the partial code that was known. Closing out the windows, she hesitated and looked closer at his sword. It’s so amazing. Not crude but such elegant, intricate, and delicate, even, work went into making this.
Closing her computer, Cleo grabbed her printed sheets and curled up on her couch, tea within reach. She grabbed a pen and got to work on decoding the script. It was a long, hard process, but she enjoyed it. With tired eyes and very small amount of progress accomplished, Cleo slid into bed and wearily drifted off to sleep.
The next few days were the same—she’d come home from work and continue doing her best to get it translated. Friday night, she held her partial decoding up. Feet resting on the coffee table and her other hand holding a beer, Cleo skimmed it.
“Looks almost like it could actually be a message. Kill. Night. Blood.” She sighed. “Of course this is assuming I’ve done it right.” With a quick drink of beer, Cleo groaned. “I just wish I could remember where I saw those markings.”
Climbing into bed later, Cleo still racked her brain trying to remember. Maybe I’ll ask Kenya. Kenya. Kenya! Cleo bolted up in bed and turned on the light.
Hands shaking, Cleo reached around to undo the clasp of her necklace. She laid the pendant across her palm and really looked at it.
“How could I have forgotten?”
Behind the stone were a few of the marks. “This is where I saw it.” Hurrying to her notepad, Cleo copied the symbols onto the paper then replaced the necklace. She released a slight sigh of relief as the snowflake pendant settled back against her chest.
“Okay. I’ll decipher in the morning.” With a yawn, she padded back to bed and crawled in. Sleep quickly overtook her.
αβ
Nikolas sat on a bench in his training room. In one hand, he held a sword, the sword, his sword that had helped him carve a name for himself. A finger from his other hand skimmed over the strange marking adoring the hilt and pommel. Was Cleo onto something?
“Sir?”
Nik wiped his sweaty head with one forearm before staring at Vassi. “Yes, Vassi?”
“You wished me to alert you at eighteen hundred so you could be on time for the museum gala.”
Barely succeeding in stopping a frown, Nik nodded. It wasn’t Vassi’s fault he had no desire to go. “So, I did. Thank you, Vassi.” With a smooth motion, he regained his feet. Nik put his sword away and headed for a shower. His body burned from the workout, yet he refused to give himself any leeway. Loki wouldn’t give any. He had to be prepared.
After peeling off his boots and leather pants, Nik stood under the showerhead as water cascaded down, streaming over his skin. He washed quickly with unscented soap. Once clean, he let the powerful spray work out the tension in his muscles. Bracing his hands along the slick tile, Nik dropped his head forward and closed his eyes.
Cleo’s image came to him, and he could feel his cock begin to stiffen. Rolling his shoulders, he ground his back teeth and kept his hands on the wall. He was determined to make it though one shower without bringing himself release to the sight of Cleo in his mind’s eye. When Nik was ready to cave in, he smacked the wall and got out of the shower, hard and craving a woman who was on another continent.
Dried and dressed in a classic tuxedo, Nik headed to climb in the waiting vehicle. Slipping the car into gear, he pulled away with a slight wave to Vassi. “I am so not looking forward to this.” Unfortunately, being the largest contributor to the museum meant he needed to make an appearance.
He nodded silently to the valet then headed up the steps and into the museum. Immediately, the thick scent of overly perfumed women and cologned men swarmed him. Squaring his shoulders, Nik pasted a smile on his face and began to mingle. Two hours later, he was ready to kill. Stepping outside, he withdrew his cell phone and pressed a preset number.
“Privet, Nik,” Cleo said in near flawless Russian.
He inhaled and relaxed, just hearing her voice did that for him. “Privet. Kak dylea?”
She chuckled. “I’m fine, thank you. I haven’t learned the response for that, yet.”
Leaning against a pillar, he said, “You’d say, ‘Nyeplokho’ or ‘Khorosho’, which mean ‘not bad’ or ‘good’. Then, you follow it up with, ‘A u tyebya?’ which is ‘And you?’”
Cleo repeated it and sighed. “Baby steps for me, Nik. Baby steps. Anyway, how are you doing?”
“I’m at the museum,” he told her.
“Ohh, I know that tone. You’re ready to bail or kill.”
He crossed his ankles. “You know me well, snežinka.”
“No. I just know the sound of utter boredom. Do you have to be there?”
“Unfortunately. Come now, snežinka, take my mind off my boring party. What are you doing?”
“I’m on my way to class. Question for you, Nik.”
“Anything, snežinka,” he answered immediately.
“If I can get it cleared with Dr. Dubonsky, would you consider doing a guest lecture on Russian history and talk a bit about how important Novgorod is to keeping it alive and available to everyone?”
“I’d give a lecture on whatever if it gets me back to you, Cleo. You tell the good doc it would be fine.” Warmth spiraled through him at the knowledge he’d be with her soon. He could hear people calling out greetings to her. “I’ll let you get to class, snežinka. Thank you.”
“For what?” she questioned. “I should be thanking you for agreeing to lecture.”
“For reminding me what I have.”
&nb
sp; “Umm, okay.”
Pushing away from the pillar, Nik strode to the door. “You, snežinka. For reminding me I have you. I love you, Cleo. Bye.”
Although feeling much better from having heard her voice, Nik still longed to hear her tell him she loved him. Nik slid that thought to the back and focused his attention back on the people around him.
Over the next week, he got things finalized to be a guest speaker for Cleo’s classes. He called her daily and had begun counting down the time until he got to see her, again. So, as his plane prepared for landing, he shifted anxiously in his seat. Nik had declined having the university put him up or pay for his lodging. He’d told Dr. Dubonsky to put whatever they would have spent on him into the program for the students.
Nik peeked out the window on their approach. A smile turned up a corner of his mouth when his gaze landed on the blue Defender he’d gotten Cleo. He waited impatiently for the steps to be lowered. Leaving the plane for the Wyoming afternoon, Nik sighed the moment his sharp gaze found Cleo. She sat on the hood, hands at her sides. Cleo slid off as he approached. Nik sighed again the moment his arms closed around her.
Cupping the sides of her head in his hands, Nik lowered his mouth and kissed her. With his tongue, he skimmed along her bottom lip before seeking entrance. Her lush mouth parted, and he groaned in pleasure. Nik ended the kiss with reluctance and stared into her eyes.
“Hello, snežinka.”
“Hi,” she said in her southern voice, which flowed seductively over his skin. Cleo smiled gently. “How was your flight?”
“It was good.”
He turned to his left and thanked the man when his bags were placed in the back of Cleo’s vehicle. Nik kept her in his embrace, loathe to release her, now. His body relaxed when the hints of his beloved Siberian fir and pear reached him. This is home.
“Come, snežinka, let’s go so I may give you a proper welcome,” he whispered in her ear, delighting in her slight tremor.
Nik relaxed as she drove, keeping his gaze on her face the entire time. Memorizing every detail like it would be his last opportunity.
“Kit invited us to dinner,” she said, downshifting at a light.
“Tonight?”