Free Nikolas by Faith Gibson Page A

Once things settled down and Rafael proved to be a competent ruler, Nik moved to North Carolina, where Julian was. They had lived in the same city ever since. When you lived your life hiding in plain sight, it was easier to have a best friend who understood who and what you were.
    Jules was his wingman when they went out. Not that Nik had trouble finding women, quite the opposite. His trouble had been saying no. Nikolas Stone loved women, and he rarely turned one down. His brother had saved his ass more than once when Nikolas said yes to more than one woman in the same night. Nik had never been opposed to having two or three women in his bed at the same time, but there were some women who just did not like to share. When that happened, Julian offered his services to one of the ladies so Nikolas didn’t go home alone.
    It was a rare occurrence when Julian went out alone, though. It always amazed Nik how his brother could go years at a time without a woman. Nik could barely go weeks. It wasn’t only the sex, either. He loved the softness of a female’s body. The way they smelled like flowers after a rain shower. How they were hardwired to care for others. He’d always envisioned his mate as a shorter, plumper female who he could curl up around and enjoy the extra pounds on her hips as he thrust into her body. What was the old saying? More cushion for the pushin’ ? Somehow the fates envisioned someone entirely different. Sophia was average height and slender. Still, his bunny was beautiful. He had no problem with who the fates had chosen for him.
    An alert sounded on his computer. When he saw what the search had unearthed, he was ecstatic. The two credit cards were issued by the same company. That wasn’t what made him happy. The fact they both had the same post office box number as their address was. That couldn’t be a fluke. Nik was almost certain he’d found his mate. Why else would two women in different hotels have credit cards issued to the same address? There was a possibility they could be relatives, but if that were the case, they more than likely would be staying in the same hotel if they were on vacation.
    Nik looked up the number for the Nile Grand Hotel and placed a called. When the operator answered, he asked for room ten seventeen. The phone rang several times with no answer. If he were Sophia, he wouldn’t answer either, not unless he was expecting a call. She probably wasn’t, at least not on the hotel phone. He called the operator once more and asked to leave a message for Miss Fort. Once he told Clara he wished to speak with her, he decided to head on over to the hotel.
    If he was lucky enough that this was indeed Sophia, he was going to make the mating bond official within minutes, with her permission, of course. Nik wanted to jog the couple of blocks to the Nile Grand, but he made himself walk. He didn’t need any unwanted attention, especially if someone was watching Sophia. He entered the lobby and walked up to the front desk. When the clerk got a good look at him, her demeanor changed from bored to interested.
    “Good morning, sir. May I help you?” she gushed.
    Nikolas didn’t hesitate to flash his beautiful smile. It rarely failed to get him what he wanted. “I sure hope so. I left my key in the room. I’m so embarrassed.”
    “Oh, don’t worry. It happens all the time, Mr.?”
    “Stone. Nikolas Stone, room ten seventeen.” Nik leaned his arms on the counter, smiling even larger.
    The clerk had to enter the information several times. Her attention was more on Nik than it was the computer. She opened a drawer, retrieved a blank key card, and swiped it into the machine to register it to the proper room. She handed it over and asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Stone? Anything at all?”
    Nik winked and said, “You’ve been a doll. Thank you so much.” He pocketed the card and headed for the stairs. That had been way too easy. Maybe it was an omen. When he