New Species 11 True (15 page)

Jeanie had to break up the fight, not caring that it would
be dangerous. Flirt grabbed True’s throat in a move to choke him. True
responded by bending his arm, throwing it forward with all his strength behind
it and ramming his forearm into his opponent’s face. The feline’s head snapped
back, blood exploding from his nose.

“STOP!” She rushed forward but a hand snagged her ankle. The
air was knocked from her lungs when she hit the carpet on her belly. It took a
few seconds to gasp in a breath. She used her arms to push her chest from the
floor and look over her shoulder, ignoring the dull ache of her injury that
throbbed from the impact with the floor. Tiger had tripped her.

“Don’t,” he warned. “Stay away from them.”

She tried to kick free of his hold, desperate. “Let go.”

“You’ll get hurt.”

She didn’t care. True and Flirt had separated enough to
exchange punches again. Blood marred both their arms where they’d been clawed
and it ran down Flirt’s face. His nose looked broken. True’s mouth had taken a
hit if the bright red smeared over his lips and chin was any indication. The
sounds of blows hitting flesh made her wince.

“Stop them,” she pleaded, looking away from the fight,
unable to watch anymore. Her gaze locked on Tiger. “Do something.”

“I am. I’m keeping you safe until help…” he paused, cocking
his head as if he heard something, “arrives.”

Four New Species burst into the bedroom. Two of them wore
uniforms but two didn’t. A big blond male in a pair of black boxers grabbed
Flirt when he stumbled back after True’s fist slammed into his chest. The new
guy wrapped his arms around Flirt from behind and yanked him off his feet. One
of the uniformed security officers grabbed his flailing legs, suspending him
midair between them. He struggled but couldn’t get away.

The New Species sporting a pair of sweats and a tank top
prevented True from attacking Flirt again by grabbing his arm, spinning him
around and shoving him against a wall. The second uniformed New Species helped
keep True pinned there as they whispered words at him she couldn’t hear.

“Never get between aggressive males.” Tiger released her
ankle. “Especially if you’re what they are fighting over.” He sat up. “You’re a
troublemaker, Jeanie Shiver.”

“This isn’t my fault.” She looked away from him to check on
True. The two New Species prevented her from seeing much but he didn’t appear
to be struggling to break free any longer. She should stand but hesitated when
a deep rumble reached her ears. It was something she couldn’t identify and had
never heard before.

A tall black-haired male stomped into the room, the source
of the sound. A chill crept up her spine as she studied him. The New Species
stopped making the disturbing noise but it didn’t make him any less fearsome.
He was good-looking but there was something sinister about him. She could just
sense it deep down as if he threw off vibes screaming “predator” and “danger”.

The room grew eerily silent and the hairs along her arms
rose. The dark-haired News Species slowly assessed the room with his icy gaze
until it lingered on her. He frowned, not something she took as a good sign,
before he turned away to stride closer to Flirt. He stopped a few feet away.

“It’s about time you got here, Darkness. You took
responsibility for this. Handle it.” Tiger got to his feet and paused next to
Jeanie, offering her a hand. “Allow me to help you up.”

Jeanie put her hand in his, using her other one to keep the
shirt from exposing the fact that she wore nothing under it as he pulled her to
her feet. Her healing wound pulled a little internally but she doubted any real
damage had been done. Her legs felt a little shaky but they held her weight.
Tiger released her.

Darkness ignored Tiger, addressing the New Species holding
Flirt off the floor instead. “Put him down.”

Both males deposited their burden on the carpet and backed
away. Jeanie noticed no one made eye contact with Darkness and in fact, didn’t
seem comfortable being near him. Flirt climbed to his feet and put a hand over
his bleeding nose to pinch the bridge of it to stop the blood.

“Go to Medical,” Darkness ordered.

Flirt didn’t move. “I’ll leave if I can take her with me.”

“She stays here.” True sounded pissed.

“She’s not yours,” Flirt snapped. He began to circle around
Darkness to reach True.

Darkness made that disturbing, low rumble.

Flirt stopped, retreated to where he’d originally stood and
released his nose to wipe the blood covering his hand on the side of his pants.
“He has no claim to her. She saved my life, too, Darkness.”

“She’s mine to protect.” True’s rage seemed to be growing
worse, judging by his harsh snarl. “He can’t have her. I’ll kill him if he
tries to take her.”

Darkness slowly turned, his scary gaze finding Jeanie. A
sense of dread pitted inside her stomach and she took a step back. The guy was
seriously unsettling.

“Let me go,” True demanded. “Jeanie? Come to me.”

She would have done it if her feet didn’t feel glued to the
floor as Darkness stared at her without blinking. Her heart pounded and her
mouth turned dry. There was nothing she wanted more than to run to True and
hide behind him if it meant feeling safe, something she lacked at that moment.

“Species shouldn’t kill each other.” Darkness paused. “Decide
now before one of them dies. You may stay with True, go with Flirt, or I’ll
return you to Medical where guards will be assigned to watch over you. Answer
me now. We’ve lost enough of our people because of humans and I refuse to allow
it to happen again.”

“True,” she managed to get out.

The second he turned away, she could breathe normally again.

“You heard the female,” Darkness calmly stated. “She chose
True. Flirt, get your ass to Medical and you’re banned from this floor while
she’s here. There will be no more fighting or it will be against me. I’d hate
to ever kill another one of our males but I’ll do it. Am I clear? No female who
picks another male is worth the loss of your life.”

Flirt refused to look at her as he gave a sharp nod, spun on
his heel and marched out of the room. Jeanie watched him go, filled with
sadness. They’d once been close but she felt as if she’d somehow let him down.
It didn’t make any sense that he’d attack True. Did he think she was in danger?
She could understand his desire to protect her after she’d done the same thing
for him at Drackwood.

Darkness crossed the room and both New Species released True
and stepped out of the way. “Do papers need to be sent here?”

True didn’t answer.

Darkness remained quiet for at least half a minute. “Figure
it out and don’t forget we need answers from that female. You should know all
the facts before you make a decision. I would hate to see you hurt.”

“I understand,” True acknowledged.

“Good.” He turned his head, studying the damaged wall. “Please
ask first before you remodel your home. I’ll notify someone that you need a few
panels of drywall to repair that unless you just kick out the other side to
open up the space. You might want to get someone to look at it first. The
damage might be structural.”

“That’s not amusing.” Tiger shook his head. “I’ll have a
building engineer come take a look at it. In the meantime, you should move into
one of the empty apartments down the hall. The front door is broken so you won’t
be able to lock it.”

“Let’s go,” Darkness ordered. “Move out. The couple needs
some alone time to talk.” He directed a pointed stare at True. “Talk. We need
answers. It’s possible more Species are out there being held in captivity,
which takes priority over your physical needs. The human she claims to have
worked for knew of two locations. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.” True circled around the male, walked to Jeanie
and stood at her side.

“I expect information very soon,” Darkness insisted as he
departed.

True watched the males leave his home and heard them attempt
to close the broken front door. Soft curses implied they didn’t have much
success. All the anger over Flirt attempting to steal Jeanie drained away,
leaving only regret. Humiliation and embarrassment were emotions he knew only
too well after surviving Mercile. The staff had gone out of their way to
destroy any sense of pride a male possessed but it was much worse to have
Jeanie witness one of those moments.

He needed to apologize. The silence in the room was
uncomfortable but he wasn’t sure how to explain why he’d lied. His mistake had
been grinding his hips against the side of the bed. Once he’d made her cry out
his name, he’d wanted to hear it again. As relieved as he’d been that he wouldn’t
be the one to have to cause her the pain of being mounted for the first time,
it had also been a sobering realization that other males had touched her.
Jealousy wasn’t a pleasant emotion to experience but he had. Anger,
possessiveness and determination had driven him to make certain he was the male
who brought her the most pleasure. He’d held off mounting her until it was too
late.

“Are you okay? You’re bleeding. Do you have a first-aid kit?”

It took a lot of inner strength to turn and look into her
eyes. He feared he’d see pity but instead she peered up at him with concern. “I’m
sorry.” Those two words were difficult to say.

“For what?” She glanced at his bloody arms. “We really need
to clean and bandage those scratches. Fingernails are dirty and they appear
pretty deep. Is your kit in the bathroom or do you keep it in the kitchen?”

He reached out, unable to resist touching her. “I shouldn’t
have lied to you but I didn’t want to admit I lost control. It’s been a long
time since I had a female and I hurt enough to rub myself against the side of
the bed in an attempt to hold off until you were prepared for being mounted.
The stimulation and my excitement were too great.”

“I’m actually flattered.” Her lips curved upward with a hint
of a smile. “No one has ever gotten off while going down on me before. That’s a
pretty amazing thing in my book.”

He wanted to believe she wasn’t just saying that to be kind.
Jeanie had a soft heart. “It wasn’t an absolute lie though. My pants wouldn’t
easily have come off until I had a few minutes to recover.”

Color rose to her cheeks but she spoke. “Why? The fact that
you were, um, wet should have meant they weren’t as tight…um…”

“Canine males tend to swell at the base of their dicks. I
knotted while tucked down my thigh, making the pants too tight, and…” It was
difficult to explain to a human, especially her. “It would have been painful if
I’d forced them off until the swelling went down unless I tore the material.
You being out of sight would have helped me soften.”

She took that information well, not asking more awkward
questions.

“We need to treat your injuries. Where is that first-aid
kit?”

“In the kitchen under the sink.”

“I’ll get it.”

He hated to let her go. “I’m going to shower first. I need…”
He refused to tell her his seed had spilled down his thigh as well as staining
the front of his pants. “To get clean. It will wash off the blood and it will
help me heal faster.”

“Do you want me to wait or should I just come in there while
you’re in the shower?”

His dick began to harden just thinking about her sharing the
small stall with him. “You are welcome to shower with me.”

Her mouth parted. “Oh. Okay.”

He inwardly winced. “That isn’t what you meant, is it?”

“I’d love to shower with you.”

He searched her eyes, seeing sincerity. “Go get the kit and
wait for me in the bedroom. I’ll hurry.”

Jeanie appeared ready to argue but instead seemed to rethink
it when she nodded in agreement. He watched her hurry out of his room. He
glanced down at the front of his pants and wanted to howl in frustration. He
spun and quickly stormed into the bathroom to start the water. The pants came off
and he tossed them into the corner. The stream of water wasn’t as warm as he
liked but he was in a hurry to wash away the evidence of his failed control
before she saw him naked.

He hung his head, eyes closed, and took deep, calming
breaths. It was his responsibility to get answers from Jeanie but he’d wanted
her more than he wanted to do his duty. He’d failed to make their first shared
sex a success and he’d fought with another male in front of her. It just wasn’t
his day.

Jeanie’s hands weren’t very steady as she finished taping
the gauze around True’s arm. He wore a pair of gray sweatpants and nothing
else. His exposed chest and arms were a major distraction. Every drop of water
from his damp hair drew her attention. The urge to use her fingertips to trace
each one that slid down his tan skin was almost impossible to resist.
Knock
it off. He’s hurt. Stop thinking about sex. Focus on what you’re doing.

The deep scratches were cleaned and bandaged. He hadn’t
complained or made a sound when she’d gently cleaned the wounds. It didn’t
surprise her. The burning sensation from antiseptic would seem tame in
comparison to the extreme pain they’d suffered at the hands of Drackwood
employees and Mercile Industries before that. She placed the tape inside the
kit and faced him, her gaze finding his.

“All done. Are you sure you don’t want me to call someone to
get pain medication? You’re going to have some bruising.” She glanced at the
red marks he’d sustained during the fight. “I know you’re tough but there’s no
need for you to be uncomfortable when a pill will help.”

“I’m fine.”

She remembered another time when she’d talked to him about
pain medication. He’d been chained in his cell at the time after sustaining a
brutal beating. It had shaken her up when she’d heard he’d been hurt. Her first
instinct had been to go check on him but that would have raised red flags if
she had demanded an escort to his room. Instead she’d had to go home and worry
all night that he might die. The next morning she’d smuggled in the pain pills
from her dentist and taken them to him. Seeing what had been done to him
firsthand had been horrifying but pure rage at the ones who’d done it had kept
her cool enough to avoid falling apart in front of the camera in the corner.

“What are you thinking about?” He tilted his head slightly,
peering at her with curiosity. “You’re paler than usual.”

She wasn’t about to share the memory. “Can I ask why you
fought with 712? I mean, Flirt. Don’t you two get along?”

“He wants you and that isn’t going to happen.”

“You mean he feels protective. I just don’t understand why
he thought you’d hurt me. I know you wouldn’t so why doesn’t he? Don’t you two
ever talk?”

True caught her gaze and his eyes narrowed. “He wants to
mount you. He’d like nothing better than to take you to his home and to his
bed.”

It stunned her. “I don’t think so.”

“He does.”

“I spent a lot of time with him at Drackwood. He never
indicated he was attracted to me that way. We were friends, if anything.”

“Species weren’t friends with the staff.”

She could understand why he’d protest that concept. “I wasn’t
exactly like the other employees. I talked to him a lot and kept him distracted
when he was healing from injuries. When I wasn’t taking samples, I’d hang out
in the treatment center. They were always understaffed and appreciated the
help.”

“He wants you.”

She decided not to argue with True. He could be right but
she doubted it. Flirt might feel protective of her after the times he’d seen
her defy the doctors and properly treat his injuries. “I hate that the two of
you fought.”

“I didn’t want to cause you distress.” He straightened his
head.

“You could have been hurt.” She studied the bandages and the
bruises forming on his torso. “Worse.”

True reached out and clasped her hand. “We need to talk.
Sit.”

She liked the feel of his warm fingers wrapped over the top
of hers. She took a seat to his immediate left. When she sat too close, his
weight dipping the mattress left her no choice but to brace her feet to keep
from sliding against his hip.

“The task force team and Darkness need answers. I believe
there is a human out there who used you but they want proof.”

“I never deleted the texts on the cell phone. I was too busy
reading the messages and typing responses to worry about anything but making
sure no one approached me to see what I was doing. I’d shove it back inside the
bag and bury it as fast as I could.”

“Where is it?”

She described the area by her apartment where she’d buried
it in the loose dirt behind a patch of flowers next to some boulders. “I’m the
only one who knew where I hid it. I didn’t even tell Agent Brice. He never
asked though.”

“We’ll send someone to retrieve it.”

“Good.” It gave her hope that her story would be
substantiated.

“We’ll need a detailed description of this male.”

“I can give you that. I also need to make that list of
employees at Cornas. You’re sure no one else was arrested?”

He ran the pad of his thumb over the side of her hand. “Just
you. The two males with you were dead.”

Her gut twisted at the memory of having to kill them but she
refused to fall apart. Instead she focused on the fact that everyone had used
the emergency exits to escape. “Shit. They all got away?”

“Yes.”

“But they didn’t take any New Species with them, right? All
of them were accounted for? They survived?” She gave him a headcount of New
Species at Cornas.

He nodded. “Our teams had to blast open their doors with
low-level explosives. Evidence was left that Security attempted to reach them
but failed. There were scars on the doors from bullet strikes and it appeared
as if they’d used one of the emergency axes to try to pry loose the hinges on a
door. They failed.”

Relief was immense. “Thank goodness.”

“You disabled an entire floor of locks with a stun gun. What
made you think to do that?”

“I saw an electric door lock malfunction at the hematology
lab.”

“Hematology lab?”

“It’s where they processed all the blood tests. I took a
sample there once and found two of the technical support guys working on the
door. One of the security officers was doing rounds and reached for his
identification card to swipe and accidentally hit the on button for his stun
gun on his belt. His other hand was touching the keypad. The jolt he got was
enough to reach the pad and fried the circuits inside. It took them half an
hour to replace the lock and get the door open.” She paused. “I realized I
could use a stun gun to disable the doors if the need ever arose, and it did.”

True continued to caress her. “You need to be completely
honest with me, Jeanie. I won’t hate you or be angry if you were aware of more
than you’ve claimed. I know money, to humans, is very important and you may
have reasons for needing to withhold the location of Species to get the NSO to
pay you. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me the absolute truth. The human
task force will find out everything, they always do, and this is the time to be
honest.”

He slid off the bed to his knees, putting them at eye level.
“No matter how bad you think it is, even if you believe I’ll be enraged by the
details, I will protect you. Do you understand?” He lifted the hand holding
hers and brought it to his lips. The kiss he brushed against the side of her
thumb was featherlight. “I’ll forgive you. Just confess anything bad you’ve
done now. I give you my word I won’t allow anyone to take you to prison.”

“I’m not lying to you, True,” she said each word with care.
It hurt being questioned again after being intimate but she understood why he’d
have doubts. It was even touching that he’d make the offer if she had been
neck-deep in the horrific things done to him and other New Species. “Everything
I’ve done since discovering what Drackwood was really doing in those sublevels
has been to get New Species free. It was never about money.”

“Okay.”

“I really thought I was working for someone who represented
the NSO. I had no idea he wasn’t who he claimed to be. I trusted him because he
had a badge and everything he told me seemed reasonable at the time.”

He settled her hand on the bed, releasing it. “I’m going to get
you paper and I want you to write down all the names of the humans you can
remember at Cornas. I also need a description of the so-called agent. We are
going to find him and learn if he knows the location of other Species. Did he
tell you about another job he had for you? A new place? Ever mention other
medical facilities where Species were being held?”

She shook her head. “Just Cornas after Drackwood was taken
down.”

“I’ll be right back.” He rose to his feet and exited the
room.

Jeanie missed the warmth of his touch. It didn’t take him
more than a minute to return with a notebook and a pen. He passed them over.
She mumbled, “Thanks,” and opened the cover to begin writing.

“I’m going to make some calls. I’ll just be in the next
room. A few arrangements need to be made.”

She nodded, not looking up from the list she printed neatly
to make certain it was legible to anyone he gave it to. Her mind wandered as
she wrote, thinking of one action she’d taken that caused guilty feelings. She
wasn’t sure if True would have a problem with what she’d done to help New
Species at Cornas Research. The more she thought about it, the more she decided
to tell him. He wanted her to totally come clean about anything bad she’d done.
It had been unavoidable.

The sound of his voice could be heard from the living room
but she couldn’t make out the words. The list was finished and a written
description of Agent Brice outlined when he returned to the room. She closed
the notebook and held it out with the pen.

“Here you go.”

He accepted it. “I’ll go pass this off to Flame. He’s
stationed outside my door.”

“To make sure I don’t make a run for it?”

He hesitated. “The door doesn’t close all the way. No one
will enter my home.”

Jeanie figured the New Species in the hallway pulled double
duty and True just didn’t want to admit they believed she’d try to escape. “You
know how you told me to tell you about anything I’ve done that might have been
wrong?”

He’d turned away and taken a few steps before she’d spoken.
He halted, his shoulders stiffened, and he slowly turned. The expression on his
face wasn’t a happy one. “What did you do?”

“I’m not really proud of it but I had no choice.”

He approached. Her heart rate accelerated when he crouched
down, dropping the notebook and pen on the floor to brace his hands on each
side of the bed next to her hips. “Tell me.”

“I didn’t have access to the room with the mainframe
computer. It was above my security clearance. I also knew I had to get a stun
gun. Only security guards carried them.” She kept looking into his eyes, hating
seeing the anger and suspicion there. She didn’t glance away, though, because
she wanted him to know she wasn’t lying. “I barely slept the night before the
raid. I learned it was going to go down after I’d already left work because
they’d kept me there that day longer than normal. I got home around eight
thirty, changed my clothes to go for my jog, and got the text around nine.”

“Go on.”

She bit her lip and sighed. “The guards watch the monitors
so they’d spot me on the cameras in a section I wasn’t allowed to be. Protocol
would have sent them running to question me for being there, preventing me from
doing what I had to do. That morning when I arrived I told them I saw a
suspicious white van passing slowly by and that I thought I’d seen it before. I
knew they’d want to review all the outside security feeds to check it out. They
couldn’t watch the hallways and look at old feeds at the same time. There were
only four monitors.”

His features relaxed a little. “The lie was necessary. I
understand.”

“That’s not it. I’m getting to the part you might not like.”

His mouth twisted downward but he didn’t say anything.

“They had this kid working Security. He was barely out of
high school and we didn’t really have lives working there. I mean, it wasn’t as
if we could complain if they kept us fourteen hours instead of a standard
eight-hour shift. We all lived in fear of pissing someone off by saying no. It
meant that our social life suffered and the only other people we spent time around
were other employees. I told Security I was a little freaked out and this kid
liked me since he sure didn’t have time to meet girls his own age. He had what
I needed.” She hated the tears that filled her eyes and she blinked them back.

“You killed him to get his stun gun?”

“No!” It shocked her that he thought her capable of
committing premeditated murder. It quickly dulled though when reality set in.
She
had
killed two security guards. Part of her mind kept attempting to
shield her from allowing that to sink in. “I just fooled him into thinking I
liked him to get close enough to grab his stun gun and I knocked him out to
steal it and his card.”

“That’s everything?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll be right back. We need to move down the hallway
to another home until this one is repaired.” He glanced down her body. “You
also need clothes. I don’t mind you wearing my shirts but I didn’t enjoy other
males seeing your bare legs. We have a supply store and they keep clothes for
the Gifts there. Not many since they enjoy shopping online but they should
carry pants that might fit you.”

She watched him leave the room and sagged a little on the
bed. Her eyes closed and the sound of his soft voice carried. The relief that
he wasn’t angry that she’d flirted with some kid to use him still didn’t
alleviate her guilt.

True disconnected the call and nodded to Flame as he passed
over the notebook. The male accepted it but glanced at his bandaged arms,
frowning.

“You should go to Medical.”

“Jeanie took care of it.”

He sighed. “She worked for Mercile on the medical staff?”

“No—Drackwood.”

“I don’t understand how you could protect her. She seems
nice enough but I’m not sure I could trust a female who worked at such a place.
Don’t you worry that she might harm you if you go to sleep? You’d be vulnerable
sharing a bed after you adjusted your senses to ignore her every movement so
you wouldn’t wake.”