“Even in that second minute when I mind-zapped you and dropped you on your arrogant ass?”
“Especially then.”
He grinned, reflecting back on how he’d met the tough black-haired Breedmate with the uniquely powerful psychic ability. He pressed his forehead to hers, holding her watery jade-green gaze. That this extraordinary woman was his, he could hardly reconcile the fact. Nor would he ever want to take a breath without her at his side.
Another contraction buffeted her and she rode it out, settling into the pain. Owning it. Niko could only curl his fingers around her hand and hold fast, willing all of his strength to her even though his warrior of a woman seemed to have an endless reserve of her own.
In the brief lull that followed, she lay back and closed her eyes, shoring up for the next round.
“Talk to me,” she murmured softly. “Tell me about the mission tonight. Did we smoke that son of a bitch down in Dorval?”
He chuckled under his breath, shaking his head. “There really is no stopping you, is there?”
Her mouth curved in a slow smile. “Would you have me any other way?”
“My love, I’d take you any way I can.” He stroked her beautiful face. “And I have, if memory serves.”
Now she laughed, and the sound of her comfort with him--her complete trust in him as her mate and her partner in every other thing they faced together--made his heart swell in his chest. He continued to caress her, needing the tactile contact as much as she seemed to. And if hearing about Order business might give her some measure of ease in the midst of her labor, who was he to argue?
“We were too late closing in on Mackie or his gang. The bar and his residence had both been cleared out not long before we arrived.” Niko sighed, letting his curse leak out of him on the exhalation. “He knew the Order was on to him somehow and he had time enough to evacuate--along with what appears to be substantial amounts of UV munitions. But he did leave us a couple of consolation prizes.”
Nikolai gave her a quick rundown about the live round Aric and Rafe recovered, and the brick of narcotics that was all but certain to be Red Dragon.
“Lucan’s not going to be happy to hear we lost Big Mack tonight,” he confided. “Hell, I’m not happy about that either.”
“You’ll get him,” Renata assured him, her inky lashes lifting to reveal confident, determined green eyes. “We’ll get him, Niko. Because we’re not going to stop until every last member of Opus and their followers are erased from exist--agh!”
The contraction rolled over her like a freight train, the worst one yet. Nikolai hated the pain she was in, hated that he had played a role in putting her through it when he planted his child inside her. He murmured tender words of encouragement as her body struggled and fought to the other side of the agony.
Niko swept the cool cloth over her face and neck as she relaxed once more, so caught up in Renata he hardly heard the knock on the door. Rafe slowly opened it and took a step inside.
“How’s it going in here?”
Nikolai had only one answer. “I’m mated to an incredible woman.”
Rafe smiled. “No one would ever argue that point with you. Renata, can I do anything for you?”
She shook her head on the pillow, her fingers still entwined with Niko’s. “I’m good. The baby’s almost here now.”
Rafe glanced at Niko for confirmation. Although it wasn’t unusual for Breed births to occur privately at home, without medical attendants, having a healer present at the command center was a comfort Nikolai could not deny. But he was loathe to share Renata and this moment with anyone else.
Almost anyone.
“Rennie?” Mira peeked in around the half-open door.
“Mouse.” Renata’s face lit up at the sight of the former orphan who had become a daughter to both Nikolai and her in the past twenty years they’d been together. She held out her free hand to Mira. “Come in with us. You belong here too.”
They were family, the three of them. More recently, Kellan had brought their number to four.
And soon, a few minutes at most, they would welcome another into the fold.
“We should call D.C.,” Mira said to Rafe as she stepped inside the room. “They’ll want to know the baby is finally coming.”
Nikolai smiled at the air of command in her. She hadn’t been born from Renata’s body, but Mira had grown up under her wing and guidance to become a force to be reckoned with.
Rafe smirked. “I made the call on the way here. Lucan’s had the jet fueled and on standby for more than two weeks. They’re already en route as we speak.”
Niko nodded at Rafe and his daughter. “Thank you. Both of you.”
The warrior healer departed in silence, closing the door behind him. Mira rushed to the other side of Renata’s bedside and pressed a loving kiss to her temple.
“What can I do?”
Renata smiled tenderly. “Take my hands, Mouse.” Then she glanced over meaningfully at Niko and gave a mild nod. “He’s coming now.”
There was barely a moment before the next contraction seized her. Together, he and Mira helped her through the last of her ordeal. Then, when it was time, Nikolai was the one to receive the slippery, squalling miracle that was his son.
He held the crying baby in his palms, rendered mute and practically useless for the wonder of what he had just experienced with the two women he cherished more than anything else in his long life . . . and now this, the precious gift he cradled in his hands.
Renata told him what to do next, somehow clear-minded enough to think and talk and do the right things for their child after all she’d been through, while Niko could hardly do more than stare
