His expression darkened and his lips pulled back to reveal his sharp teeth. He stomped over to her, bent down and yanked her to her feet. The shirt she’d been using as a cover fell to the floor between them, leaving her feeling exposed and vulnerable. He firmly gripped her upper arms but he didn’t hurt her, regardless of the clear rage he expressed.
“The sex between us is the best. Why isn’t it enough to convince you that I’d be the right mate for you? Do you believe Flirt or Jinx would be better at it than I am? Is that the reason you refuse me? Do you want to share sex with them to compare us before you can make a decision? Is that the choice you speak of?”
She forgot about being naked and that he towered over her, looking menacingly fierce. His accusations were a verbal slap. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“You’re not denying it.”
“I shouldn’t have to. You’re being completely unreasonable. What is wrong with you? How could you even think that?”
He snarled and stepped back, releasing her. “You won’t mate me and it drives me insane.”
“I’m trying to be rational.”
“I can’t be, is that what you’re saying? Do you think my animal side keeps me from being rational? You don’t mind an animal in your bed but not as a mate?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth.” Jeanie’s feelings were stung. “You’re out of line. I don’t think of you as an animal. You’re a man.”
He backed farther away. “I’m Species, Jeanie. Do your human men have my teeth? Do they appear as I do? Do you not see me for what I am?”
“I see you’re being an ass,” Jeanie ground out. “You’re insulting both of us and it’s pissing me off. I couldn’t care less about your mixed DNA or your sharp teeth. Excuse me for taking this mate thing seriously and not jumping into something we might regret down the road.”
“Regret?”
“Yes. You know, wake up one morning and realize becoming mated was a mistake. It could happen. We could end up hating each other.”
His expression closed down and all emotion disappeared behind a cold mask. “I’m going for a run. There is an officer outside the door if you need anything.”
She couldn’t believe he planned to leave. “We’re arguing and you’re just going to walk away in the middle of it?”
His hands clenched at his sides. “Yes. It’s taking every ounce of my control to do that. I need to put space between us now.”
He turned, striding toward the front door. She rushed after him and grabbed his arm. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do but she didn’t want him to go. They needed to work things out and she didn’t understand why he’d exploded into a rage.
“True! Wait.”
He came to an abrupt stop and she actually ran into his back. He turned his head, staring down at her. “Let go, Jeanie.”
The gravity of his demand wasn’t lost on her. Anger glinted in his beautiful eyes and he threw off deadly vibes but she wasn’t afraid. “I don’t want to fight with you. Why are you so angry?”
He seemed very unsettled. “I am being unreasonable. I’m sorry. I don’t want you to hate me.” He turned to face her, twisting his wrist enough to break the connection with her hand.
“I couldn’t. I’m just confused. You just…blew up.”
He slowly inhaled then exhaled, as if reaching for calm. “I realize that. No one affects me the way you do, Jeanie. I need space to calm down and running helps me think. You keep refusing to mate me. It hurts. I’ll be back.”
He spun on his heel and unlocked the door.
“You don’t have shoes or a shirt on,” she tried as a last-ditch effort to keep him in the apartment.
“I don’t need them.” He didn’t even glance back before he was gone and the door closed behind him.
* * * * *
True sipped his soda and grimly watched Darkness. “I came here to cool down.”
The male sighed. “Females are complicated. I knew something had happened when I saw you enter the bar dressed in so little.” He glanced down at True’s bare chest. “We don’t require shoes or shirts in our establishments but most of us prefer to be fully dressed in public.”
“I apologize.” He took another sip and put it down. “I should return. I made accusations I shouldn’t have.”
“You have doubts about her story?”
“No. I became insecure. I was only bred once at Mercile, never at Drackwood, after they discovered I’ve got a low sperm count. My experience with females is limited. Flirt and Jinx have feelings for my Jeanie and both of them were used often in breeding experiments and are very friendly with our females since they were freed. Perhaps if I were more skilled I could convince her to be my mate.” It injured his pride to admit it but Darkness was a male he felt comfortable speaking to about his problem. “I allowed that to cause an argument with her.”
He winced. “You didn’t tell her that, did you?”
“I asked her if she wanted to share sex with them first in order to make a choice.”
“Shit.” The male leaned back in his chair. “Let me tell you something, True. I’m very skilled.” He glanced around and then held his gaze as his voice lowered. “This information stays between us. You heard I was taken from Mercile for other experiments because they wanted to see how we’d do in a military setting. They sent me and a handful of other males to be trained by what the humans call mercenaries. They were heartless humans without honor. One of the things I learned besides how to kill by human standards was how to effectively interrogate information from an unwilling participant. They brought in a female who showed me the most effective ways to gain information from other females.” He paused. “How to terrify a female by using sexual threats or by forced seduction.”
True hurt for the male. “They made you hurt females?”
“This female…” His tone turned gruff and he dropped his gaze to his drink. “She was colder than the ice in my glass. First she showed me what she was capable of doing and then I was ordered to turn the tables on her by the human male in charge. The student-surpassing-the-teacher kind of thing.” He looked up then, his dark eyes appearing haunted. “She deserved it for the cruel things she’d done to me but I was told to kill her in the end.”
“That’s the female you spoke of?”
Darkness hesitated for a long moment. “The commander in charge of the project had hired her to teach me and the other Species males how to use sex against females. That was her purpose and she did her job well. I could force an unwilling female to beg me to fuck her by the end of my training and confess to even a crime she hadn’t committed. The commander then ordered me to use that knowledge to gain information from her. She’d been lying to the commander and plotting something bad. Mercenaries kill other ones who betray their trust. They demanded I take her out.”
“You did it?” True couldn’t comprehend such a deed, especially taking the life of a female he’d shared sex with.
“I did.” Darkness stood. “Her plan would have harmed the other Species males. I protected them from being used by her.” He held his stare. “My point is that I would make a bad mate for any female regardless of my skills of seduction. You have heart, True. I don’t. Mine was torn out a long time ago and damaged beyond repair. That’s what you have to offer your female. Go home to her and tell her how much she means to you. That’s what females value the most.”
True watched the male walk away, dodging other Species as he left the bar. He got to his feet and followed him outside. Darkness was gone by the time he reached the street. He jogged back to the men’s dorm with plans to tell Jeanie that she was his heart. He could improve his skills as a lover but he couldn’t live without her.
* * * * *
Jeanie’s state of undress had finally sunk in and she’d walked into the bedroom to retrieve one of True’s shirts from the dresser. It dwarfed her, more of a short dress than a top. After a quick search, she’d located a pair of drawstring boxers from a lo
wer drawer and put them on too. She still sat on the bed, stunned by True’s abrupt departure.
It hurts. His words kept playing through her head. True had accused her of wanting to sleep with other men in order to compare them as if it were a sexual competition to establish who she wanted to settle down with. That smacked of irrational jealousy. It slowly dawned on her that he might be feeling a lot more than she ever suspected. Is it possible he loves me? Her heart rate increased. It fits.
She really wished he hadn’t left. They needed to sit down and discuss their feelings. The prospect of him returning her love made her impatient for him to return. She paced the room, finally quit the bedroom, and went into his kitchen to have a snack. Time crawled by. Where did he run to? Is he jogging around the entire property line of Homeland? It was pretty large. He’d been gone for almost an hour. She decided to lie down until he got back.
The doorbell rang. She rushed to the door, hoping it was him. He hadn’t taken his card with him and might have thought she’d locked the door. The tall New Species standing there was the same grim one from earlier.
“Ms. Shiver, these two males have come for you.”
He backed away and two men in uniform blocked the doorway. They were both human, in their late twenties and big. “What?”
“Hello, Ms. Shiver.” The dark-haired one with the dead brown eyes spoke. “You’re being transferred to Fuller. Please come with us.”
“Don’t put up a fight,” the blond man warned. “It would be pointless.”
She stumbled back, shaking her head. “No. I’m not being sent there.” She grabbed at the door, trying to close it.
One of them pushed it wide open, entering True’s apartment. “We have the paperwork. You’re to be transferred to Fuller immediately.”
“No!” She lunged, trying to put the couch between her and them. “True said I could stay here.” She caught the eye of the New Species. “Where is True? Get him.”
“I don’t know where he is.” The Species male stayed by the door. “Their paperwork is in order. Don’t fight them, female. You won’t be harmed.”
The two uniformed humans broke apart, circling the couch to reach her. Panic bolted through Jeanie. “Stay away from me. I’m living with True.” She couldn’t and wouldn’t believe that he’d changed his mind about that just because she’d refused to mate him. He wouldn’t send her to a place he said she’d never survive. “I want True. Get True!” she frantically pleaded with the New Species guard. “Keep them away from me until True gets back. I don’t think he knows about this and he won’t want me to go.”
“Wait,” the Species ordered, reaching for his cell phone. “Let me call the male first.”
The blond man reached inside his vest and withdrew a gun. Jeanie watched in horror as he spun and shot the officer. The weapon made a soft sound.
A small red thing embedded in the New Species’ arm. He glanced down at it, his eyes widened in surprise and he growled before pitching forward to fall on the carpet, facedown. Jeanie’s stunned mind took a second to process what had happened and it cost her. The dark-haired man was on her before she could scream.
One arm wrapped around her throat in a chokehold as he spun her around and applied enough pressure to make breathing impossible. She bucked in his hold in terror. The blond pointed the gun at her.
“Don’t,” the one holding her ordered. “Use the injection instead. We’re under orders to get her to Fuller alive. They want to interrogate her and those darts are too strong for someone her size. She’d overdose.”
The hold around her throat eased just enough for her to suck in air. Tears filled her eyes as she clawed at the arm holding her but couldn’t get him to let her go. The blond shoved the weapon between his vest and shirt, effectively hiding it. He reached into a pocket on his thigh and brandished a syringe.
The blond used his teeth to yank off the cap and jabbed the needle into her arm. She tried to cry out but the arm tightened around her throat, effectively silencing her.
“Pull that bastard inside and lock the door. We’ll rappel off the balcony. There are too many of them on the first floor to sneak her past and some of them might smell her if we try to go out the back. You know they can sniff out pussy from a mile away.”
The blond just threw the syringe on the floor and walked back to the door. They’d drugged or killed the guard at her door. He grabbed the downed New Species by one arm and dragged him inside the apartment. The locks engaged with a soft metal click when he sealed them inside.
Jeanie sagged against the one who held her, her lungs starved for oxygen. Spots danced before her eyes and the urge to fight was strong but her limbs felt really heavy. The tight hold around her throat loosened when he let go of it to snag her around her waist instead. She tried to scream as soon as she could breathe again but she just pitched forward. The only thing keeping her from slamming into the floor was the man holding on to her.
“The doctor said it would work fast.” He lifted Jeanie and dumped her on the couch, crouched and stared into her eyes. “She’s with us still but she shouldn’t be able to move much.”
She blinked, realizing that while she was awake, her body wouldn’t respond to her commands. Her lungs worked as she exhaled and inhaled but she couldn’t even manage to lift her hand when he grabbed her jaw, jerking her head until she stared into his eyes.
“Scream,” he demanded.
She couldn’t even open her mouth. She was helpless. The dark-haired man released her after grinning, seemingly satisfied the drug was effective, and straightened. She could only watch as he removed his vest to reveal a tight coil of thin nylon rope. He addressed the blond.
“We do this fast. I’ll carry her. As soon as we’re in the van I’ll stash her under the seat bench in the back. You drive. We practiced this. Just remember, they can smell nervousness so think about banging that stripper girlfriend of yours or something when they stop us at the gate. Got it? Don’t blow it by speeding until after we’re outside.”
“I’m not a dumb fuck.”
“I didn’t say you were.” The dark-haired man threw the rope. “Let’s go. Fast and quiet.”
Jeanie felt sick to her stomach as she was lifted and none too gently dumped over the man’s shoulder. Though almost completely healed, her gunshot injury throbbed from the brutal pressure. He carried her into True’s bedroom and opened the slider to the balcony. The blond bumped against her as he passed them, her limp arm nearly tangling with his leg.
“Don’t drop her,” the blond joked.
“Fuck you. I didn’t risk my ass for nothing. We’re getting paid a lot and he was clear that there’s no money in it if we bring him a corpse. He needs to get important information from her.”
Numbness settled into Jeanie. Her mind was alert but her body seemed totally deadened.
True! She silently screamed his name.
“Let’s get her to Fuller. I want to be paid and then get laid.”
She had to believe that True would come for her. She silently prayed he’d come home soon and realize what had happened. That man Tim had obviously lied to True and had her kidnapped so he could interrogate her.
True will come for me. She had to believe that.
* * * * *
The first sign that something was wrong was when True stepped out of the elevator. Slash wasn’t in the hallway and he picked up the faint scent of human males. The stench of cologne couldn’t be denied. No Species male wore it. It was offensive.
He tried the door, found it locked. He realized he hadn’t taken his keycard. He knocked but no sound came as he strained to hear anything. He backed up, his heart accelerating with fear, and kicked out. His foot landed next to the lock and wood splintered as it snapped, forcing it open.
The sight of Slash on the floor enraged him. He jumped over the male and glanced around. “Jeanie?” A quick search of his home revealed that she was missing and the slider to the balcony was wide open.
True rushed to
the balcony just in time to see a human face disappear over the edge of the railing. He grabbed hold and stared down, shocked when he spotted a second male on the ground below. The one closest to him had Jeanie hanging over his shoulder. Terror gripped him at seeing her precarious position and how limp she appeared to be. It sank in that she was unconscious. The male could drop her and she was helpless to even grab hold to prevent a deadly fall. The human’s upraised arm gripping the rope and the male’s neck was the only thing keeping Jeanie from slipping out of his grasp.
True howled in rage, unable to do anything else for the seconds it took him to evaluate the situation. A blond male looked up, his face clearly visible in the lights coming from the bottom floor and True memorized his features before the man spun and rushed off without his partner in crime.
True gripped the railing tightly and swung over it, his feet finding purchase on the other side. It was tempting to grab the rope but he feared it might dislodge the male’s grip and send Jeanie hurtling to the ground. He twisted his head, leaned back, and judged the distance to the second-floor balcony. He released the railing to drop an entire floor. The sensation of falling was unpleasant but he managed to catch the metal rail to break his fall. His muscles straining, he clung, glanced over his shoulder, and saw the male with Jeanie release the rope once he reached the yard.
True just let go and twisted in the air. The twenty-foot drop might hurt but he was motivated enough by rage and fear to attempt it. He had to save Jeanie. Felines were better at landing on their feet without causing injuries from those heights but the soft earth cushioned him as he hit the ground in a crouch. His gaze sought and found the male who carried his female.
His hands clawed the ground and he shoved up with all his power, launching toward himself at the male. He wanted to just attack him but refused to risk Jeanie being hurt if he tackled the male. He got in front of him, turning with a snarl. Both arms were thrown wide to block the male from passing him.
“Let her go!”
The male came to a jarring halt to avoid slamming into him and Jeanie slid from the human’s shoulder. True lunged and caught her before she fell to the ground. One glance at her face assured him she lived as he watched her take two breaths. He threw back his head and howled his rage. The human male stumbled back, frantically looking for an escape.