“Justice, she was just having fun. Leave her alone and come dance with me.”
Breeze stared. “I swear if you let her stay I will help Flame guard her.”
Flame hurried to jump on that. “I will protect her with my life, Justice.”
Justice addressed Breeze. “Take her home now.”
Flame held his hand out to Jessie. “I’ll take you home.”
Jessie saw Justice’s nose flare and he glared at her. Her gaze lowered when Kit’s hand massaged his biceps and he didn’t pull away from her touch.
That’s how it is. He is allowed to sleep with Kit but I can’t talk to other men. Jessie forced a smile as pain ripped through her. “I’d love for you to take me home, Flame. Thank you.” She gripped his hand and turned her back on Justice. “I drank too much and shouldn’t drive.”
“Jessie?” Justice snarled.
She glanced over her shoulder.
“Do you remember what I said about interaction with Species males? I had that talk with you. You better remember what I said carefully.”
She gaped, released Flame and slowly turned to face the man she loved. She remembered how he’d sworn to kill any man she let touch her. Kit pressed her body against his side, ran her fingers down his arm to rest on his stomach, rubbing him just above the waistband of his jeans. It was a familiar thing to do.
“Calm down, Justice,” Kit purred. “You worry about her because she’s under your protection but Flame wouldn’t hurt her.”
“Breeze, take her home. Flame, stay here.” It was an order given harshly in a no-nonsense, threatening tone.
Anger flared in Jessie. The bastard! “Mr. North, I’m a big girl and I’m single. I don’t have anyone to answer to, especially someone I don’t know. I had an ex-husband but he was a cheating bastard who didn’t know how to be loyal. He slept around but expected me to sit home all alone. I divorced him because it doesn’t work that way and it never will with me. When a man cheats with someone else he has no right to get mad if I have sex with someone else. I’ll go home now but thank you for your…” She hesitated, knew she’d said too much but didn’t care. “Concern.” Jessie turned away. “Let’s go, Flame. I’ll give you a tour of my house since you’re being nice enough to drive me home.”
They got a few feet when she realized she wasn’t too steady on her feet and Flame gripped her arm, laughing. “You drank too much, little Jessie.”
“Probably. I had three and I’m not much of a drinker.”
“When is the last time you drank?”
“Oh, about a year ago. It was the first—”
An arm hooked around her waist, jerked her right off her feet and she slammed into a warm, hard body. She was too stunned to do more than gasp as her feet touched the floor again. Strong arms held her pinned and unable to move. A loud snarl deafened her in one ear, the one closest to Justice’s mouth, and Flame spun to see what had happened to her.
“She’s drunk and you aren’t taking her anywhere.” Justice snarled again. “Go, Flame. I’m protecting her and it’s not up for discussion. Her father would be furious if anyone touched her while she wasn’t in her right mind from drinks.”
Flame backed away, looking shocked and rushed away without another word. Jessie drew in a deep breath, her stunned brain trying to take in what had just happened but hot breath fanned her skin as Justice lowered his head to whisper in her ear.
“I will kill him, Jessie. Is that what you want? To see me rip Flame apart, limb by limb? Think before you speak or act. I’m not fucking Kit. I haven’t shared sex with anyone but you since we met. It was for appearances only, to make my people feel confident and believe everything is well.” His arms loosened. “Go home. I have a helicopter to catch in an hour and must attend a meeting at Reservation first thing in the morning. We’ll finish this discussion after I fly home in the afternoon.” His big body trembled behind her. “Be happy I must leave because you don’t want to talk to me right now anyway. I’m dangerous. I’d teach you why you’ll never accept any male but me.”
He released her as swiftly as he’d grabbed her, backed up and shot a glare at Breeze. “Take her home and keep her away from all males. She’s had alcohol, needs to be protected and isn’t sober. Smell her and you’ll understand. If anything happens to her it’s your ass.” He stormed toward the front door.
“Justice?” Kit cursed. “Damn!” She approached Jessie and put her hands on her hips. “You made him mad,” she pouted. “We were having fun and I don’t like your father if he puts such worry in Justice over your safety.”
Breeze came forward, looking confused. “Let’s go, Jessie.” She sniffed. “How many drinks did you have?”
Talk, she ordered her reeling mind. “Um, a few.” She closed her mouth.
Breeze led her outside to the golf cart and drove her home. The silence stretched between them. Jessie still felt hurt over Justice’s dancing date, humiliated by the scene he’d created and really drunk. She shouldn’t have had that third drink.
“I’ll walk you inside.” The other woman studied her. “Species rarely drink alcoholic beverages. They taste and smell bad.”
“You’re politely saying I stink, aren’t you?”
A laugh answered her and Breeze helped her stand. The world swayed a little for Jessie and she remembered she didn’t drink often for a reason. Lightweight. The hand tightened on her arm and steadied her.
“You are small and shouldn’t drink that awful stuff, Jessie. You’re smart and don’t need it. You should see how uncoordinated you are and your eyes are all shiny.”
“Not a good look for me, huh?”
“No.”
Jessie laughed, loving how blunt Species were. She tried to unlock the door but the darn keyhole kept moving. Breeze softly growled, jerked the key out of her hand and opened it. She turned the lights on.
“I’ll help you get into bed.”
“I can do it myself. This isn’t my first drunken rodeo.”
“What does that mean? We didn’t have any bulls at the bar.”
Another chuckle came from Jessie as she peered up at the tall woman. “It’s a saying. I’ve gotten shitfaced before. Thank you for bringing me home but I can handle it from here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Thank you.” She spun, stumbled and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. The door closed loudly behind her, assuring her that her friend had left. Depression hit hard.
Justice and Kit had looked good together and he might not have slept with her recently but the familiar way the Species woman had touched him left no doubt they’d been lovers in the past. He’d probably been living it up and flirting with other women while Jessie had been staying home, miserable. It made her mad and worse, really hurt. She wasn’t sure if he’d told her the truth. For all she knew he could be banging the hell out of every Species woman at Homeland.
Hot tears filled her eyes and she regretted getting drunk since it made her more hormonal and less rational. Justice was a jerk but he’d been a hot one. She’d loved being in his arms and the guy could make her come screaming. There was the part about her falling in love with him too but she snorted over that.
“I have bad taste in men,” she sniffed. The sound of her broken voice and the pain in it shattered the last bit of bravado she had as the sobs hit. She staggered to her bed, climbed on it, curled up and pulled her knees up.
She had fallen in love with a workaholic guy, the leader of New Species, her boss. It had spelled disaster from the moment she’d seen him looking so sexy in his tank top. The tight jeans hadn’t helped either. A woman would have to be blind and dead not to notice Justice.
“Jessie?” Bright light flooded the bedroom as Breeze rushed into the room. “Did you fall? Are you harmed?”
Shit! She wiped at her face, sniffed and forced her body to move. She sat up but refused to glance in the direction of the door. “I’m fine. I cry when I drink. It’s just a human thing,” she lied.
“I thought you left.”
“I know some people get sick and throw up when they drink. I’m your friend and I was left in charge of you by Justice.”
Hearing his name only hurt more and sobs racked her body. She shoved her hands over her face, swore to never drink ever again and tried to talk.
“I’m fine. Just go home, Breeze. I’ll be great in the morning.”
“What is it, Jessie? You are always so happy and now you are red, wet and sad.” Breeze gripped her shoulder and forced her hands down by shoving at them to search Jessie’s gaze. Breeze softly cursed. “I see pain. Who has caused it?”
“It’s nothing. No one hurt me.”
“You just glanced away from me,” Breeze accused. “You’re lying. Don’t do that. We’re friends but I refuse to have a dishonest person around me. You must be honest.”
Guilt ate at Jessie hard. Breeze had been nothing but honest and kind to her. She’d shared secrets about Species, had trusted her, and she wanted to do the same but this was too big to tell. “I wish I could blurt it all out but I just can’t.”
Anger suddenly filled Breeze’s face. “Did Flame cause you pain? Did he touch you in a bad place? Was he coming on too strong at the bar? I will cause him such great pain he will—”
“No,” Jessie shook her head. “He was a total gentleman while we danced.”
Breeze was baffled. “What has caused you pain? Are you ill? Do you need a doctor?”
“You have no idea how much I need someone to talk to but I just can’t.”
“I understand. It is classified. We have these things too.”
Jessie cried harder. That fit her and Justice’s relationship all right. No one was ever supposed to know. Breeze said soft, soothing words and put her arms around Jessie. She patted her awkwardly on the back as she hugged her. Eventually Jessie stopped crying.
“I’m sorry I fell apart. I shouldn’t drink. Usually I can control myself when I’m like this.”
“It’s fine, Jessie. We all have moments when we cry.”
“You cry?” Jessie studied her.
Breeze hesitated. “I did when I was young but I learned that tears don’t ease the pain or change the reasons for it. I do envy you the ability to release some of that hurt through the physical exertion of crying. You should be tired now and will sleep after that much crying. I will tuck you in and stay with you until you fall asleep. Our females who you bring to us enjoy having that done. It makes them know we care and I care about you, Jessie. You are my friend.”
“Thank you. You’re my friend too. I appreciate you letting me fall apart on you the way I did. It really helped not to be alone.”
“Any time.” Breeze hesitated. “Just try to give me warning next time you feel this way. I will wear a thicker shirt so your tears don’t soak my skin.”
A laugh burst out of Jessie. “I apologize for getting your skin wet. I promise, I will tell you immediately if I feel advance warning the next time I cry.”
“Thank you.” Breeze winked at her.
Breeze pulled back the covers and Jessie climbed in. Breeze disappeared into Jessie’s bathroom and came out moments later with a hairbrush and tissue. She handed the tissue to Jessie.
“Blow your nose.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Breeze laughed and pointed to Jessie’s hair. “I will brush it. It will soothe you and everyone enjoys having it done.”
“That’s so nice. I appreciate it.”
Jessie relaxed as the other woman draped her hair down her back, applied the brush at the bottom and slowly worked out all the tangles. It did feel nice. Her body relaxed and she yawned. The brush paused and the bed dipped as Breeze shifted. One of her hands shifted Jessie’s hair to lay it over her shoulder and a soft growl tore from her.
“Who did this to you?”
Confused, Jessie turned her head to frown at her. “Did what?”
Breeze gripped her shoulder, shoved the shirt out of the way and revealed more of her skin. She glanced down, saw the almost-healed red marks that remained from when Justice had bitten her hard enough to break the skin and knew the color drained from her face. There would probably be a faint scar there for the rest of her life once the redness faded.
“Jessie? Who did this? This is from one of our males.” Breeze uttered a foul word. “There are only two ways for a male to bite like this. He either mounted you from behind and you fought so he bit into you to force you to stay under him or one of my kind mounted you and is going around biting humans. Some of humans who have slept with Species beg our men to bite them. They think it would be a turn-on but it is strictly forbidden for our males.”
“Leave it alone,” Jessie urged softly.
Breeze released Jessie’s shoulder, stood and glared at her. “You’ve been mounted by a Species male. It was either by force or one is biting females for the novelty of it. That wound isn’t that old. Is this why you were crying? I want a name now.”
“Please, Breeze. It’s not that way. You need to drop it.”
“I’m calling for officers. You don’t understand the seriousness of this. If one of our males is forcing your females into sex or biting them for fun, they need to be stopped immediately.” Breeze spun for the door.
“Stop!”
Breeze turned and Jessie gave her a pleading look, panicked at the idea of her friend making that call. “It’s not that way.”
A growl tore from Breeze. “How is it? I’m calling the officers.”
Justice would be furious. Their secret would be out if the officers were involved. Every bit of pain she’d gone through would have been for nothing and he’d think she’d done it out of revenge. She wasn’t that petty. “If I tell you the truth will you swear to me that you will never repeat any of it to anyone?”
Breeze looked uncertain. “I won’t be silent if a male is harming females.”
“That’s not what happened. It wasn’t forced and…” She touched the bite mark. “It wasn’t just one of your men going around biting my kind for the hell of it.”
Breeze sat on the bed. “I give you my word. Talk.”
She bit her lip. “The day that Tammy and Valiant got married I met one of your males. I was attacked by a newly freed male and a guy protected me. We had dinner together and one thing led to another. It was mutual.”
“His name?”
She hoped to avoid answering. “We had consensual sex.”
“He bit you?” Breeze grimly frowned. “Did you change your mind during sex and he tried to force you to stay under him? They don’t have much control once they start. I’m sorry, Jessie. Did he hurt you bad?”
“He didn’t hurt me at all.”
“You saw him again. Here?” Her gaze fixed on the mark on her shoulder. “It’s barely healed. You have been here about three weeks, right?”
“It was here.”
“How did the bite happen?”
“We were having sex.” She paused. “He gripped me with his teeth. He told me to hold still. Do I really need to say this out loud?”
“You will if you don’t want to explain it to our officers. Spill.”
Jessie’s cheeks warmed. “He was trying to be really slow and gentle with me so he didn’t risk hurting me but I wanted him not to be. I kind of forced the issue and he bit me. It’s that simple. It didn’t hurt and he was sorry but it wasn’t to hurt me.”
Breeze kept staring at her, silent, and kept the frown in place.
“What?”
“Why were you crying before? Does he live at Reservation and had to go back? I know some of our men from there were here a few weeks ago. Tell me his name I will get him back here. You obviously miss him to shed tears at his absence.”
“We’re not seeing each other anymore. I broke it off with him.”
“Why are you crying? Did you change your mind and want him back?”
“I wish it were that simple.” More tears threatened to spill. “I need your promise you won’t say anything to
anyone. I really need a friend right now, Breeze. I need someone to talk to. Someone I can trust.”
“You can trust me. What secret is making you cry? I won’t drop this.”
“I had to break it off with him because he doesn’t want anyone to know he would sleep with me.” Hot tears fell down her face. “He slept in my bed night after night but during the day if I had passed by him he probably wouldn’t have spared a glance. I’m so in love with him that it makes me sick. He has it set in his head that one day he’s going to get a Species woman as his mate. That’s his big plan and I’m not in it.”
Breeze softly cursed. “He is stupid. You are a fine female, Jessie. Any of our men should be proud to claim you. How long were you together?”
“He slept in my bed for four nights straight and he would probably still be in it if I hadn’t told him I couldn’t do this secret-lovers thing anymore. I just can’t live that way, Breeze. It hurts that he’s never going to openly acknowledge me.”
“He is stupid. Some of our men have mated with your kind and are happy. I have a plan. I will pretend to know nothing and make him spend time around Ellie and Fury. He will see how happy they are and learn it can work between you. Tell me his name and I will do this.” Breeze grinned. “We will fix this.”
“He already knows them.”
That wiped the grin from Breeze’s face. “What is the problem? Everyone can see how happy they are. He should embrace the happiness he can have with you.”
Jessie’s heart pounded as she hesitated. “The problem is, he believes he’ll be letting your people down if he’s with me. He’s worried about hate groups going crazy, my dad pulling his support from the Species issues in Washington and that all hell will break loose. I think he’s also worried that he’ll be setting a bad example to your people if he picks me over one of your women.”
Breeze frowned. “No one has that much influence on all of us or your father.”
“There is one,” Jessie whispered.
The color slowly drained from Breeze’s face. “Justice.”
Jessie burst into tears and Breeze softly cursed.