True

  “Be careful,” she called out.

  She could have sworn she heard him growl and smiled. He was cute when he was being paranoid and protective. She kicked off her shoes, walked over to the couch and sat. It was plush and comfortable. The large television drew her attention and she longed to turn it on. It was something she had missed since True either didn’t own one or had removed it before he’d taken her home with him. The remote beckoned but she resisted the temptation.

  “All is secure.”

  She turned toward him and grinned. “I knew it would be.” She patted the couch. “Come sit next to me. It’s been a long night, hasn’t it?”

  He walked over but instead of taking a seat, he leaned down and lifted her into his arms. “There is a big bed down the hall. You need sleep.”

  Her stomach growled. It was loud and she blushed a little, knowing he couldn’t have missed hearing it.

  He glanced down at her middle. “Food first though.”

  “They said they were sending something.”

  The doorbell rang. She chuckled. “Good timing.”

  He gently deposited her back on the couch. “I’ll get it. You stay put.”

  She didn’t protest. Exhaustion was taking its toll. Her side ached but she wasn’t going to mention that. True would have her flat on her back and feeding her by hand if she did. The person at the door was blocked from view by True’s big body but she heard them exchange soft words before he closed the door and turned, holding a covered tray in one hand.

  “Breakfast.”

  He placed it on the table and lifted off the lid. Two large platter-size plates were side by side with juice and milk containers next to each. Napkin-rolled silverware lay on the other side. The sight of a big steak, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes made her mouth water.

  “Take your pick of which plate you want,” True shifted the tray so their plates were in the right place. “They cooked both of them all the way through.”

  “You can tell that just by looking at them?”

  “My nose tells me. Justice told them we were just mated so they cooked mine a little more than normal.”

  “Why?”

  He sat on the floor next to her instead of on the couch. “To not offend you.”

  “You like your steaks bloody.” She remembered that about New Species. “I don’t mind.”

  He grinned. “They were being thoughtful and didn’t know that, Jeanie. It’s fine. I’m just happy to eat. They probably wanted to assure that you’d allow me to mount you and didn’t want you to be disgusted by watching blood drip from my fork. They wanted to avoid anything that might put you off.”

  She laughed. “It would take a lot more than that to dissuade me from climbing into bed with you.”

  All humor left his features as he stared at her. “Eat, Jeanie.”

  She knew that heated stare well and forgot about her fork. “You want me.”

  “Always.” His gaze lowered to her chest. “Bad. Eat fast.”

  “We could put these in the fridge and eat later. I don’t mind cold food.”

  “I would mind you being hungry and choosing to sate my physical needs over yours. Eat, mate.”

  She picked up the fork and knife since he seemed dead set on making sure they had breakfast before going to bed. The wariness left as she consumed at least half of the contents of the plate before she finally called it quits. She would never be able to finish a New Species portion of what they considered a meal. True’s plate was almost completely clean since he took bigger bites. She met his gaze.

  “I’m full and totally ready to go to bed when you are.”

  He dropped his silverware and stood. “Do you want to sleep?”

  She shook her head. “I want you. This is kind of our honeymoon. We can sleep afterward. So, where is this bedroom?” She stood.

  “There are actually two.” He stepped around the table and halted almost chest to chest with her and held out his hand. “Let me show you the one I think you will like better.”

  “Lead the way, sexy.” She tried to take his hand but he gripped her hips instead.

  He growled low, looking pleased with the nickname as he lifted her up his body until their faces were level. “Wrap around me.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He walked slowly, every step rubbing them together as he kept staring into her eyes.

  “You’re going to walk us into a wall.” Not that she’d mind.

  He chuckled. “I won’t.” He did glance away then as he maneuvered them down the hallway and into a bedroom.

  Jeanie glanced around, taking in a nicely furnished room with a massive four-poster bed. It was high off the floor. She turned back to True and he kissed her. Her eyes closed as she opened her mouth, moaning against his tongue. The slow glide of that talented tongue teasing hers was a promise of what was to come once she was naked.

  She broke the kiss. “Put me on the bed.”

  He tossed her and she landed on the soft mattress with a bounce. She laughed. “In a hurry? That was kind of fun.”

  “You’re on the bed.” He grinned, bent down and tore off one of his boots. He gripped the bedpost with one hand to steady his balance. “Now you need to be naked before I tear your clothes off. I want you too bad, Jeanie.”

  She sat up and got to her knees while yanking her shirt up her body. She tossed it aside. “I want you too.”

  Her pants were easy to shove down since they were just stretch fabric. She threw herself backward to sprawl in the center of the bed, wiggling the rest of the way out of them. She aimed and tossed them at True. He’d opened his shirt but was working on the snaps of his pants. Her pants hit him square in the chest. She laughed as his head jerked up in surprise.

  “Hurry up, slowpoke.” She stretched flat, totally naked and knew she had his full attention when he ran his narrowed gaze over every inch of her. She rolled over, lifted up to her hands and knees, smiling. “You said something about mounting. I imagine this is the right position for it?”

  He growled low and quickly shed his clothes. He grasped the edge of the bed and crawled toward her, looking a little wild and savage with his sharp teeth showing and a voracious gleam in his eyes. She enjoyed seeing him that way, all well-defined muscles and bigger than life. He surprised her by reaching up and knocking her over onto her side instead of just curling around her body the way she expected.

  “What are y—”

  He pounced, grabbing her leg and twisting her around on the bed until he crouched over her. “I can’t mount you until you’re really wet.” A grin curved his lips as he looked down at her slightly parted thighs. “I know just how to get you that way. Open up for me.”

  She didn’t blush as she accommodated his request, drawing her knees up but placing her feet far apart to give him plenty of space as he lowered his face. His lips brushed a kiss over her inner thigh, moved downward and she giggled when he tickled her with his hair, which fell forward to tease her lower belly.

  “You think this is funny?” He glanced up, still smiling.

  “Your hair,” she explained.

  “I’ll cut it tomorrow.”

  “Don’t.” Her fingers ran through the loose strands, pulling it away from his face. “I like you just the way you are. Don’t change a thing.”

  One eyebrow arched and the smile faded. “Do you mean that?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t scare you at all?”

  “Nope.”

  “Good. Remember that.”

  She opened her mouth to ask why she should but True shoved his hands under her ass, grabbed hold of her in a firm grip and his shoulders pressed against her inner thighs to force them wider. His mouth was hot and wet as he nuzzled against her sex and his tongue lashed at her clit.

  Jeanie moaned and hoped she didn’t pull his hair when she fisted it in her hands. Sensations swamped her as he attacked. There was nothing gentle or tender about the way he manipulated her
body. Growls tore from him, adding vibrations into the mix. He sucked, holding her tightly when she tried to buck away from the too-intense pleasure. Raw nerves felt exposed while he mercilessly forced her to come. She cried out as the quick and powerful climax struck.

  True tore his mouth away and she went limp, eyes still closed, reeling from the magnitude of what he could do to her. His hair was pulled from her relaxed fingers and she couldn’t even gasp when he released her ass, flipped her over onto her stomach and came down on top of her. His legs got between hers and spread them to make room for him.

  “Jeanie,” he rasped.

  He lifted up for just a second, his hand brushing against her ass as he reached between them to grip his cock. The thick tip of it nudged the entrance to her pussy before he filled her, entering her fast. She moaned as he lowered his weight over her and his forearms braced alongside her arms, pinning her completely under him.

  He moved, driving in and out of her with enough force to slam the headboard into the wall. Pleasure built as he adjusted his hips to be able thrust into her pussy fast and deep. The sensation of being taken was so good she couldn’t even form words. She did manage to turn her hands, grabbing at his just for something to cling to.

  She tried to match his movements but he spread his legs more, put more weight on her, and kept her immobile. There was something really sexy about knowing all she could do was feel as True fucked her faster, harder, and his ragged breathing against her throat was just an added sensation that turned her on more.

  Her vaginal walls clamped down and she knew she was going to come. “Don’t stop,” she begged, feeling how incredibly hard and thick his dick was, worried that he wouldn’t last long enough to get her off a second time.

  The sharp sting of pain that radiated from her shoulder near the curve of her neck threw her over the edge of pleasure and she came with a scream. The mattress muffled it. True nipped her harder with his sharp teeth. She felt him coming too. Every blast of his semen created a warm sensation as his hips slowed, his cock locking inside her as he swelled, until he held still.

  He licked at the throbbing area and made an animalistic sound, filled with emotion. She couldn’t identify it but she liked it. “Mine,” he whispered.

  It took Jeanie a few seconds to catch her breath and recover. True’s weight still pinned her but he braced his arms and kept enough off her upper body so she didn’t have a hard time pulling air into her lungs.

  “You bit me?” She craned her neck in an attempt to see what he’d done but he nuzzled her with his mouth, pushing her head back down against the bed.

  “Yes. I marked you as mine.”

  She relaxed under him, letting his statement settle into her sex-hazed brain. She didn’t mind. It was odd being bitten and she knew he’d drawn blood. It stung a little less as he ran his hot, wet tongue over the spot.

  “Am I going to have a scar?” She didn’t mind as long as it healed fast.

  He chuckled and brushed a kiss on her neck. “Maybe, but it isn’t bad. Just…my teeth made a mark. There will be two little holes. Your family will wonder if you mated a vampire.”

  “You got my shoulder, not my neck.” She smiled and her fingers brushed over his where she still clutched at his hands.

  “I could bite your neck.” He kissed it again. “Your thigh. I can think of a hundred good places to put my mark on you. Are you angry?”

  “I mated a New Species.” It actually amused her. “No peeing to mark your territory though. At least not inside the house. I’m aware of that canine trait and, um, keep that outside in the yard if the need arises.”

  He chuckled, seemingly not insulted as she feared he might be. “Deal.”

  He lifted up and she turned her head enough to see him.

  “I won’t bite you again. It was instinct to bite my mate and mark her.” His serious expression told her more than words could.

  “It’s okay. Really. I found it sexy and you just nipped me hard. Just once, huh? I found it kind of hot right at the second you did it. Great timing. I don’t think I’d find it sexy if you bit my thigh and definitely not when you’re going down on me. That might be ouchie.”

  “I wanted to taste your blood.”

  That disturbed her a bit. “Like bloodlust?”

  “No. I know your scent and your taste but not that of your blood. Now I do.”

  “Is that important?”

  He hesitated.

  “True?”

  “It’s just instinctive. I don’t know why.”

  She let that sink in. “It’s okay.”

  “I won’t always behave or think like you do. Sometimes I might seem more animal than human.”

  “I know and I accept that. It was just a little bite. Is there anything else you want to taste on me?” She grinned. “Just so I’m warned?”

  He shook his head, watching her intently. “But I can’t promise I won’t play with your hair and run a few strands under my nose from time to time. I love how it smells.”

  “So how does my blood taste?”

  “Good.” He grinned. “I know it now and I’ll never forget.”

  “So if I cut my leg shaving and you cut your face shaving, and our blood got on the same towel, you’d know which was mine and which was yours?”

  “Yes. I don’t shave though.”

  She’d forgotten about their lack of facial hair. “Right.”

  He rolled onto his side, pulling her with him, and curled around her. “Sleep. You must be tired.”

  “I am.” She loved being curled in his tight embrace with him still connected to her.

  He snuggled even closer. “I love you, Jeanie.”

  Tears filled her eyes. She really had needed to hear the words and he’d finally said them. Better yet, she knew he meant them.

  “I love you too.”

  “Sleep. I’m right here and you’re safe.”

  * * * * *

  True woke, instantly aware of his surroundings. Jeanie’s slow, steady breathing assured him she still slept. The noise that woke him sounded again, faint and barely distinguishable. He identified it as the vibrate function on his phone. It came from his discarded pants on the other side of the bed.

  He carefully extricated himself from Jeanie and tucked part of the blanket around her body to assure she stayed warm. She didn’t stir, testament to her lack of heightened senses or just that she was very tired. One glance at the clock showed they’d been sleeping for six hours. He slid off the bed, bent to retrieve his pants, and walked out of the bedroom. The door didn’t make a sound as he closed it and strode down the hallway into the living room as he pulled out the cell phone. Four text messages waited. He read them and placed the call.

  “Hello, Darkness.”

  “Sorry for disturbing you. I wanted to keep you informed of what was going on.”

  “You’ve been assigned to give me updates? I just saw the texts from Slade.”

  “The team went inside Boris’ home and successfully planted transmitters on all his electrical devices. He won’t be able to cough without us knowing about it. They also installed some cameras so we can see him in most of the rooms. They cloned two disposable cell phones they found stashed in his garage and put a tracker on his car. Tim’s tech guy downloaded all his information from his computer. The human returned home half an hour ago and the ghost program is up and running. He logged in to two email accounts we were unaware of and we were able to watch everything he did as if we were standing behind him.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “He’s pretending to be two other different people and we’re searching all transportation records to see if he’s flown or even taken a bus or train to any locations under those names. We’re checking rental car agencies too. So far we haven’t found anything but it strongly suggests your female may have been right that he has other humans he’s fooled and is using for the same thing he used your mate for.”

  True clenched his teeth, furious. “You t
hink there are more Species out there and he knows their locations.”

  “It appears so.” Darkness rumbled in that ominous way of his. “I still believe I could torture the information out of him but this is a good plan in case I failed to get all the information he is hiding. We might recover other Species. I called Fuller and let it ‘slip’ to the assistant warden that your female was so traumatized by the kidnapping attempt that she needed to be heavily medicated and that the doctors planned to keep her that way for a few days. Boris has been in contact with Jeff and that news was relayed to him. He’ll feel safe for a bit longer that his Agent Brice identity is still a secret.”

  “I don’t like it. He could send more humans after Jeanie.”

  “Your female is safe, True. Tim has a van parked two blocks from the human’s house and Boris is under constant surveillance. They can be inside his home to arrest him within minutes if he plots anything against her. So far he hasn’t mentioned your mate in any way except for his conversation with the male he works with. Boris swore it was a mistake that males were sent to pick her up and he’d been under the false impression that she was a high-ranking Mercile employee. Of course he’s lying to cover his tracks but that’s all that was said.”

  True bent, tugging on his pants while using his shoulder to hold the phone against his ear. “Her location is safe though, correct?”

  “No one knows where she is except Species and Tim. He said he wouldn’t relay that information to anyone on his team. He didn’t like it because he trusts them but Justice ordered him not to. The fewer people who know, the better. Her safety is paramount to all.”

  That alleviated some of True’s fear. “How long do you think it will take to track down those two new identities you just discovered?”

  “Tim believes we’ll know in a day or two and we’re aware of everything he does, which will provide more clues. Hang on, I’m going to put the phone down a minute and check something.” True heard typing. In a few seconds Darkness picked up the phone again. “Sorry. I’m in contact with the task force via the computer. They just relayed that Boris has logged in to a bank account under one of those identities and is transferring funds to Dubai.”