Justice said nothing. The breeze stirred. She didn’t dare glance up at his face, afraid she’d see disgust or worse, rage. She’d just admitted to doing a horrible thing to his friend.
“He took me from the park to give me a taste of what he had experienced—being restrained, helpless, while someone did whatever they wanted to my body. He suffered that and more for the death of that technician.” She paused. “He didn’t force me have sex with him. He didn’t beat me or anything. He decided seducing me would be more fitting to get his point across. I consented to it. Fury and I are even now, he has his revenge, and I need to go.”
“And the blood I smelled? Did you agree to him harming you?”
“He accidently got me with his teeth. It’s nothing but a scratch.”
Justice sighed loudly. “I see.” He released her face and stepped back.
Ellie spun away and fled down the sidewalk. She didn’t dare look over her shoulder to check if Justice would come after her again. She didn’t stop until a security guard ran into her a few blocks later. She made up a lie, swore she had visited someone, and assured him no harm had come to her. She refused to give him a name but hinted it was of a sexual nature to explain her disarrayed state, which he couldn’t miss.
She didn’t miss the guard’s smirk and the way he leered at her breasts when he’d called in to report that she had been found safe. By the time she entered the dorm building she wanted to collapse from the emotional hell she’d suffered.
Four New Species women were watching television when Ellie passed the living room to go to the elevator. She paused to wait for it to open and studied them only to realize they watched her back. The woman sitting closest to her suddenly stood. Her nose flared as she sniffed the air and frowned.
“Are you all right?”
It surprised Ellie that any of them would care about her emotional state. “I’m fine but thank you for asking. Good night.” She faced the elevator doors to break eye contact.
The elevator took a long time to reach the ground floor. Ellie closed her eyes and hugged her chest. She tried to ignore the tenderness where her pants rubbed against her sex and where the underside of her breast slightly burned. She needed a bath, a strong drink, and maybe a good old-fashioned cry.
The elevator dinged as the doors slid open. Ellie opened her eyes when she stepped inside, turned to hit the button for her floor, and gasped. Four New Species women stepped into the small space with her and all four pairs of eyes were narrowed on her. They loudly sniffed, their gazes raked up and down her body, and they inched closer. Ellie backed into the corner.
Their sudden interest in her well-being alarmed Ellie. They were all tall, muscular females, and stronger than average women. She ended up trapped as the women backed her into the corner. One of them turned her head and pushed the button for the third floor. Ellie struggled to remember their names. The woman with red hair appeared as if she’d been altered with cat genes, from the shape of her eyes. She calmly turned her nearly black gaze on Ellie.
“We smell you. Blood, fear and sex. It all has a scent.”
“And we smell one of ours on you too,” the woman on Ellie’s left side stated. She was a strange-looking woman who appeared part calico cat with her multi-colored hair and feline features. She sniffed again. “Dog species, I think. Our sense of smell isn’t as great as our males though. Our males could sniff you and identify who harmed you instantly. We have a harder time identifying scents.”
“Don’t call us that,” the redhead snapped, her yellowish eyes showing anger. “I’m not a dog. I’m part canine.”
The feline-looking woman shrugged her shoulders and her gaze narrowed at Ellie. “You were attacked.” She sniffed.
“I’m fine.” Ellie swallowed hard. “Thank you for your concern.”
The four women stared at her silently. The elevator dinged as it reached the third floor. Ellie tried to inch around them but the women continued to block her way. She bit her lip hard and glanced at each of them.
“I’d like to go to my room now.”
They parted to allow her out of the small space. Ellie squeezed between the women, careful not to touch them, and fled down the hallway. They’d frightened her. She didn’t know their sense of smell was strong enough to pick up so much or that they could smell emotions. She jogged the last few steps to her room and pulled out her key card. The light changed to green and she yanked hard at the door handle, shoving it open. She stepped inside and closed the door. Someone shoved against it instead and the four women entered Ellie’s apartment. Fear welled up inside Ellie at their grim expressions. She backed up slowly, alarmed at this turn of events. The door closed firmly behind them.
“Kit, please go run a bath.” The tallest, dark-haired woman took charge.
Kit moved toward the bathroom without a word.
“I’m Breeze,” the tallest one informed her softly. “There are a lot of us and I don’t know if you know our names. Kit is in the bathroom.” She then nodded toward the redhead. “This is Rusty and the silent one is Sunshine. Sunshine, go find her something comfortable to wear after her bath.”
Sunshine went to Ellie’s closet. Ellie stared up at Breeze in shock while the woman frowned back at her.
“I scent blood, sex, and your wrists are red from being restrained. We were forced many times to be with males in our years of captivity.” Her eyes darkened. “The human males enjoyed hurting us occasionally. Our males were always careful to never harm us when we were forced to breed with them.” She paused. “We were punished or forced to watch them penalize another if we didn’t comply when they wanted us to have sex. Our men are incapable of forcing a woman with pain but one of them restrained and hurt you. Why?”
Mute, Ellie stared up at Breeze, feeling horrified over the description of what had been done to them. She silently cursed the ones who’d done it to a very painful hell.
“I’m fine,” she swore. “No one forced me.”
Breeze growled, her canine traits showing. “Don’t lie. Who did this to you? We’ll see they suffer greatly for it. There is no reason for a male to force a breeding with a woman. We are free now. Whoever did this to you should pay. He hurt you and that is unforgivable.”
Sunshine placed clothes on the bed and moved behind Ellie. Ellie swiveled her head in time to watch the woman bend to sniff at her back. Sunshine suddenly grabbed Ellie’s shirt and yanked it up. Ellie remained frozen in stunned silence as the woman’s nose brushed along her bare back while she inhaled deeply. The shirt dropped as the woman straightened to her full height, over six feet.
“I don’t recognize the scent of him. It’s faint enough that I don’t believe he took her by mounting. He must have taken her the human way.”
Ellie tried to inch out from between the two women, felt trapped between them, but Breeze suddenly grabbed her by the front of her shirt. She crouched down on her knees and yanked Ellie’s shirt up to just under her breasts. Breeze pushed her face against Ellie’s stomach to sniff before she could protest. The other woman raised her head with a grim expression.
“Like a human, he sweated on her during the attack. I don’t know this scent either.” She frowned at Ellie as she rose to her feet. “Why are you protecting him? Do you know his name? Describe him to us, we’ll find him and make him pay. You are ours and he should have known not to touch you.”
Ellie’s mouth dropped open. She forced her mind to work. The last minute had been one big stunner after another between the sniffing and their words. They could smell Fury’s sweat on her just from his stomach touching hers? She closed her mouth and clenched her thighs. She didn’t know what they’d do if they smelled his semen. Then the last sentence sank in.
“I’m yours? I thought you hated me.”
Kit stepped out of the bathroom. “We don’t hate you. You’re our pet.”
“Kit!” Rusty shook her head. “Don’t say that. You’ll offend her.”
Kit shrugged. “She is. She’s so li
ttle and cute. She yaps around trying to please us like…what are they called? A Yorkie?”
Rusty sighed. “We decided she’s more similar to a cute little poodle with her long blonde hair.” She flashed a smile at Ellie. “Don’t take it offensively please. We enjoy having you around and you amuse us to no end. We know you care about us by the way you try to please us.”
“I need to sit down,” Ellie muttered, dazed, and tried to wrap her head around the idea they thought of her as a pet. She moved over and plopped down on the edge of her bed. She gasped when she sat down too roughly, a reminder of being tender from sex. “Damn.” She closed her eyes. They think of me as a pet. The comparison to a poodle made her wince.
“You made her sadder,” Breeze growled. “Apologize now.”
“I’m sorry,” Kit said instantly. “It’s an endearment. We like you. I mentioned that, didn’t I? Is being a pet a bad thing? People love them. We’re very fond of you.”
Ellie opened her eyes and forced a smiled. “Well, it takes some getting used to but thanks. I’m glad you like me. That’s the important part.”
“We do,” Rusty assured her. “Now tell us which one of our males hurt you and we’ll go beat the shit out of him. We can identify the difference between male and female with our noses, even if they are primate, feline, or canine, but telling the difference between individuals is more difficult to determine. You need to tell us everything you can about the male who hurt you so we can figure out who it was.”
Breeze cracked her knuckles. “We’ll allow you to watch. It will make you feel better to see him bleed.” She glanced at the others. “We can’t kill him though. We’ll just beat him up severely to make sure he is in pain for a good week.”
Ellie glanced at each of the women. She wasn’t sure if she should be grateful they’d do that to get justice for her or deeply disturbed for the same reason. “I so appreciate the concern. You have no idea how much this means to me. I could almost cry I’m so touched but it’s not what you think. He didn’t force me.”
“Explain why security arrived here checking rooms after they informed us you were missing? They stated there were signs of a struggle in the park.” Breeze studied Ellie with a calculated gaze. “We’re smart so please don’t insult us. You walked in smelling of sex, fear, and blood. Your wrists are red, which tells us you were tied down. I know it is a kinky human thing that we have read about but you had sex with a New Species male. We are not into that kind of sexual play and would never tie anyone down since it reminds us of the testing facilities, yet one of our males restrained you. Tell us his name or tell us what he looks like if you don’t know it. We will punish him and make sure that you are safe. You are our pet and we will not have anyone abuse you ever again.”
This had to be the weirdest conversation Ellie had ever had, hands down. They thought of her as the house pet, a poodle, not the house mother. She resisted flinching. She had always hated her wild and curly hair but poodles had horrible frizz issues. Perhaps some anti-frizz shampoo could go on her shopping list.
They were being protective and that meant the world to her. She had been certain every woman living inside the dorm hated her. This could be the first step to get to know them and maybe teach them what she could. It had to be a good thing, in her opinion.
“I’m fine. Please just drop it. It’s a private matter. I wasn’t hurt and the blood you smell is from an accidental scratch.”
Kit moved closer to inspect Ellie. “She’s too afraid to name him.” She leaned down, grabbed Ellie’s shirt, and shoved her nose against Ellie’s stomach. She sniffed and then jerked away. Horror flashed across her features and she made a soft sound.
“Fury,” she gasped. She stumbled back. “Not Fury. He—” She went silent.
Rusty uttered a curse. She lunged at Ellie, grabbed her, and shoved her flat on top of the bed. Fear hit Ellie as hard as a brick smacking her when the big woman yanked her shirt viciously upward to her breasts and pushed her nose tight against her skin. Sniffing sounds were followed by a snarl. Rusty jerked back and spun away. She walked to the corner and her hands slammed against the wall hard enough to make Ellie flinch.
“Fury,” Rusty confirmed with a shaky voice. “It was definitely him.”
Breeze appeared to be the only one who stayed calm. She regarded Rusty and Kit grimly. “I thought you said he’s a protector? Didn’t you say that, out of all your men, he took the most punishment to protect you against pain and suffering? Are you sure it’s his scent?”
Rusty nodded as she sniffled. She turned suddenly to reveal the tears tracking down her face as she stared at Ellie with confusion.
“Why would he do this to you? Why?”
“We aren’t blaming you,” Kit added quickly. She sounded miserable, as if she were going to cry too. “We’re trying to understand why he would do this. He was always the most careful to make sure we suffered no pain when they ordered us to have sex. When one of us flat-out refused to have sex with him, he took the beatings and wouldn’t touch us. He suffered so we didn’t have to. He would have died before he drew blood on one of us or hurt us in any way. We are just trying to understand.”
Ellie clawed her way to her feet by gripping the bed to get up. “Please, it’s not what anyone thinks. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me and it’s just a scratch. It’s a private matter. We, uh…damn. I don’t know how to explain this. He doesn’t want anyone to know and I already had to tell Justice North tonight when he found me at Fury’s house. They did that to you at the testing facilities? God.” Ellie sat down again, forgot her tenderness, and winced.
“It won’t leave this room,” Breeze swore softly. “You have our word, we will never repeat what you tell us. They are upset that this male would hurt you when he means so much to them. You need to tell what happened. We will protect you from him.”
Ellie groaned. She studied each woman, noticed Breeze looked sternly at her, her arms crossed, waiting for her to spill the whole story. Kit and Rusty were pale, shaken, and appeared ready to cry. Pained. That word fit. Sunshine just looked curious.
She couldn’t allow them to think the worst of Fury. Two of them obviously knew him really well. Ellie hated the jealousy that surfaced at the concept that he’d probably had sex with two of these women. They may not have had a choice. That helped a little. She took a deep breath and started from the beginning. She ended up telling them everything right up until the moment they’d followed her into her room. She wiped away tears as she studied each woman. She feared they might hate her now that she had confessed what she’d done.
Kit and Rusty had settled to sit on the floor while Ellie shared her story. Breeze stayed by the door and Sunshine sat on the bed near Ellie. Ellie met Breeze’s eyes.
“I just want to take a bath, go to bed, and never talk about this again, okay? He didn’t force me and he didn’t mean to get me with his teeth.”
Breeze nodded, giving Ellie a sad smile. “You are a giving woman, Ellie. Most women wouldn’t understand his need for revenge by taking you tonight. They would have…” She sighed. “They would have lied, saying he harmed them without consent. You didn’t deserve his anger. You know that, don’t you? You saved his life. It is male of him to want payback. He was wrong. I sense your shame at what you had to do by allowing Mercile to believe he killed that technician but I understand the reason. I would have done the same.” She took a deep breath. “He won’t get near you again. We will take turns guarding you.”
“That’s not necessary. We’re even now and he won’t come near me again.” Ellie stood. “Thank you for caring and for understanding. I feared you’d hate me for what I had to do. I just wanted to save him from Jacob and I needed to get the evidence to my handler. I never thought they’d beat him for it. I’m really all right and I’ll feel a thousand times better tomorrow. I just want to put this behind me.”
“Go take your bath and throw your clothes out to us. We’ll clean them to remove his scent,” Sunshine offered
softly. “You did what you had to. Horrible things were done to us—that is the kindest I’ve heard. You could have been killed by the technician instead.”
“I know it doesn’t mean much but Fury is a good man.” Kit gave her a sad smile. “I know he didn’t mean to hurt you in any way. He was always really careful with us.”
Ellie nodded, her guess about Fury’s sexual history with the two women confirmed, and she tried not to let jealousy eat at her. She walked into the bathroom but left the door cracked open. The full tub of warm water waited. She undressed, handed her clothes through the door, and eased into the bath. She winced as she settled down and the water made her aware of the underside of her breast. She lifted it, tilting her head, and saw two scratches from his sharp teeth. Damn.
She closed her eyes, relaxed. At least she wouldn’t have to fear Fury plotting to get his hands on her anymore. Of course now she had sexy, erotic memories of them together to live with. She doubted she’d ever get over him.
Her ex-husband had hurt her enough to make her swear off loving anyone again. She’d promised to never allow anyone to matter so much that they filled her thoughts constantly but then she’d seen Fury that first time. Something she thought dead inside her roared to life. He’d become an obsession—first to save him, then to make it up to him for what she’d done. She’d been left with helping his people since she hadn’t known what happened to him.
Fury mattered more to her than her ex-husband ever had. She’d been sure once she’d known love, certain nothing could ever hurt her the way her destroyed marriage had when she’d learned she’d married a cheating bastard, but she’d been wrong. Her feelings for her ex were nothing compared to how Fury made her feel.