New Species 11 True (26 page)

She laughed. “I used to mess up some of the blood samples
when I took yours so they would have to send me back. I’m so sorry. I felt
guilty when I had to take more blood but it gave me a chance to see you again.”

He didn’t look angry. “You touched me and got close enough
for me to smell your wonderful scent. It was worth a small sting and a little
bloodletting.”

“I would stop what I was doing and watch you every time they
took you outside for training in the north area. I hated the endurance testing
when they hit you. I would cry.”

He shifted, moving them onto their sides, still facing each
other. She hated the loss of their connection when he slowly withdrew his cock.
The swelling had dissipated.

“I hated endurance testing too.”

She debated telling him more but decided to be honest. “I
did enjoy the time you broke that one asshole’s leg. You snapped it at the knee
when you kicked out. I heard him scream all the way in my office. He cried in Medical
while they set his leg. I went down there, pretending to be updating test
results just so I could watch him suffer.”

True laughed. “He cried? He was cruel. He liked to hit me a
lot. I enjoyed it, too, when I broke his leg. He got too close and I’d been
waiting for an opportunity to do some damage.”

“I just wanted to get you free.”

He leaned in closer, studying her face. “Why didn’t you try
to find me after I was taken to the NSO?”

“I was told you didn’t want to see me. Agent Brice swore he
gave you my message. Now, I realize he lied about that. He lied about everything
and I believed it all.”

Confusion clouded True’s features. “What message?”

Jeanie frowned. “I was so worried about you after the raid
that I told Agent Brice I planned to drive to the New Species Homeland to make
sure you’d gotten out safe. He told me that would be too dangerous and he’d
arrange for a safer way for me to see you because of all the protesters at the
gate. The next day he texted me a few pictures of you wearing jeans. You were
outside at Homeland. He said he’d taken them to prove you were really alive and
well but that you told him you wanted nothing to do with me.”

True’s tone was harsh. “He lied. I want to find this
asshole. No one ever mentioned your name to me or ever gave me a message.” He
calmed a little but still looked angry. “He had photos of me outdoors, in
jeans?”

She nodded. “It looked like you were in some kind of park.
You were barefoot, wearing jeans and a black tank top, standing next to a blond
New Species a little shorter than you are and there was a lot of grass and trees
in the background. You were smiling and looked happy. It was three days after
Drackwood was taken down.”

A growl sounded deep within his throat. “Who is this human?
We were taken to Reservation at first. That photo must have been taken there.
How did he get it? It’s highly secure there. He has access to information from
the hotline here at Homeland and he had access to get pictures of me at
Reservation.”

“And he’s a big fat liar and a vicious jerk since he could
have gotten help to your people a hell of a lot faster than he led me to
believe. He kept telling me I didn’t have enough evidence. I always needed
more.”

True rolled abruptly, pinning Jeanie on her back with him
looming over her again. “When we find this Agent Brice, I’m going to kill him
with my bare hands after my people get the information out of him that they
need.” He stared down at her, his rage apparent. “Why did you let them drug you
to save me? It must have been difficult. I was given the breeding drug once. It
was some of the worst pain I ever experienced.”

“I love you. I couldn’t let you die. Polanitis said you’d be
spared if I agreed to take the drugs and let them test how they affected me.”

“How did that monster know you had feelings for me?”

“He’d placed a hidden camera inside my office. I stopped
working every time they brought you to the north area and I told you I’d cry
sometimes. It was pure hell watching you be hurt for their experiments. I knew
how many lives it could save but…” Emotion choked her, remembering all the
suffering he’d endured. “It wasn’t worth it. It tore me apart watching them
hurt you.”

True nuzzled her cheek with his. “You suffered when they
tested their drugs too.”

Her fingers brushed over him, rubbing where she could touch
his skin, which was always hotter than hers. “It doesn’t matter anymore. All
that matters is that we’re both alive and here together.”

“You took pain for me.” His voice deepened. “You suffered so
I could live. I never thought anyone could love me, Jeanie. I will give you so
much pleasure to erase the memories of the pain if you’ll allow me.”

“I love you, True.” She cupped his face and stared into his
eyes. “The past doesn’t matter. A future with you more than makes up for it.”

True kissed her nose. “I’m so happy you’re my mate.”

She smiled at him. “Me too, True.”

He took possession of her mouth, kissing her soundly. One
hand lowered as he shifted over her, a big palm curved around her breast and
his thumb circled her taut nipple. She arched her back to press more firmly
against him as she adjusted her legs to wrap around his thighs. She wanted him
again even though they’d just made love. She could never get enough of True.

The doorbell rang. True growled as he stopped kissing her. “We
should ignore that.”

The doorbell rang again and someone knocked loudly a few
times, using their fist.

“It sounds important. You know what happened last time.”

“You’re right. Stay here.”

She was loath to let him go as she spread her legs and
unhooked her ankles from the back of his thighs. He lifted up, rolled over and
slid off the edge of the bed. She turned on her side, smiling at the sight of
her aroused, very naked mate. The heated stare he gave her showed how much he
hated leaving but then he turned away, moving toward the door.

“Uh, True?”

He turned and stared at her. “What?”

“As much as I love to see you naked, you might want to put
something on before you answer the door.”

He grinned. “You love seeing me naked?”

Her gaze slowly traveled down the long length of his body. “Oh
yeah.”

He walked to the dresser as the doorbell rang again. He
quickly yanked on a pair of sweats and gave her a brief glance before striding
out of the bedroom. “Don’t get dressed,” he called out. “I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry,” she urged, grabbing for the sheet since he’d left
the bedroom door open. She covered up in case whoever was at the door needed to
come inside. She just really hoped it wasn’t bad news. One glance at the clock
assured her it had to be something important for someone to show up in the
middle of the night.

True unlocked the door and yanked it open. He growled and
showed his teeth as he glared at Jinx. “What do you want?”

Jinx’s nose wrinkled as he inhaled. “I interrupted you
sharing sex with Shiver.”

Jealousy over the male’s interest still burned. “She’s my
mate. And yes, you did interrupt. What do you want?”

“Easy. I know she’s yours. She agreed to mate with you?”

“She did.”

“You signed the papers?”

“Not yet but I plan to call for them to be printed out in
the morning then we’ll sign.”

“I’m glad.” The male didn’t reflect any joy on his face.

“What do you want? It’s late. My mate needs sleep.”

“We all know what happened and have been awake since the
human males attempted to take her.” He paused. “We met again in the library
while we waited for word of her condition. We were overjoyed to know that all
the drugs left her system.”

“I am as well. Did you come to make threats because I wasn’t
here to protect her? I don’t need a reminder.” Feelings of guilt surged to the
surface. “I believed she was safe or I never would have left her side. Be
assured it won’t happen again.”

The other male frowned. “Don’t beat yourself up, True. We
were all shocked that she was attacked. It was ballsy of the humans to sneak
into the dorm and we just now figured out how they got inside. At first we
believed they must have broken a seal on a window on the first floor but no
damage was discovered. It was the computer logs that archive every entry to the
building that proved they used a security card to get in through the back door
that is used for food and supply deliveries.”

True growled. “Only Species have access to the dorm.”

“And some of the task force team still do, we’ve discovered,”
Jinx whispered. “Do you know what that means?”

His shoulders slumped as the information settled into his
stunned mind. It wasn’t good news since he liked the members he worked with. “I
do. I know most of them.”

“We consider them friends but they are suspects. I thought
you should know right away. Don’t trust them when it comes to your mate. The
card they used was an old one issued to the task force when they ran things
here. It wasn’t deactivated for some reason when we took over internal
security. There’s no way to know who used it since it was a general security
card and was not assigned to an individual.”

“Damn.” True reached up and ran his fingers through his hair
in frustration. “Has it been deactivated or can they still gain entry to the
dorms?”

“Luna is all over it. She is at the control center right now,
going through the computer systems to find other irregularities and errors in
our security measures. She’s making certain only Species’ cards work on the
dorms and double-checking to make sure Control is secure. The only human with
access is Jessie, Justice’s mate. We know we can trust her.”

He agreed. “Is that card how Tim got in to interrupt our
meeting?”

“No. A male allowed him inside. It won’t happen again.
Everyone living at the dorms knows not to permit any humans inside while your
mate is in danger, even the ones the males want as overnight guests.” He
paused. “She is still in danger. You realize that, don’t you? I find it
suspicious that she was due to view photo records of human staff at Homeland
and they attempted to steal her before it could happen.”

True had been too worried about Jeanie’s well-being after
her trauma to really give much thought to anything else. “Shit.”

“That’s good news.”

He growled at Jinx. “How can you say that?”

“They must fear she’ll find something and the one pretending
to be the agent has to be in our records.”

“You think it’s a task force team member?”

“We do. It adds up. They knew how to gain her information in
the first place when she contacted Homeland about Drackwood and even when we
were going to strike the locations where Species were being held. Two males
arrived tonight to grab her. Did she recognize one of them as the human who
lied to her?”

“No. She would have told me.”

“Then we’re looking at two humans being involved—the
supposed agent and the surviving male accomplice who came after her.”

True tried to be rational but it was difficult with his
boiling temper.

“The guards they interrogated at Fuller are corrupt.
Darkness called to inform us that they admitted they’ve been taking bribes from
some of the prisoners. They never dared allow any of them to escape for fear
they’d share the location with someone from the outside world. They weren’t
just afraid someone would break out the prisoners, they were afraid of being
killed in retaliation for all the abuse they dished out to them. They gave some
of them extra food and smuggled in illegal luxury items for them to use as
money. Darkness hasn’t been able to interrogate every guard yet since they
weren’t all on duty but they have interaction with the task force team members
on a regular basis. It’s his theory that it wasn’t just money that exchanged
hands. The guards could have traded for information with the prisoners and then
shared what they learned with the one pretending to be the agent. That’s how he
might have known about other locations where Species were being kept.”

“That’s how he knew the location of Cornas Research, where
he sent Jeanie,” True guessed.

“That is what Darkness suspects.”

“What about Polanitis? Was Darkness able to gain information
from him?”

Jinx shook his head. “Not yet. The human is mental and
smashed his head against the bars until he caused a bad concussion. He’s in Medical
at the prison, being treated for that injury. They believe he will heal but he
did it on purpose to save himself from being questioned. He feared Darkness
that much.”

“I hate that human male,” True snarled, wishing death upon
him. He glanced down the hallway. “I want an officer guarding the door again.”

“Already done. I asked them to step away to talk to you in
private. There are two now. Jericho volunteered and so did Flame.”

“Good.” He was sure he could protect Jeanie but he wanted
help, refusing to allow his pride to affect his judgment and ignore the fact
that the odds of keeping her safe were better with backup.

“I also came to ask if you would bring your mate to Security
to view those files now. The longer we wait, the greater the risk of them
making another attempt to stop her. Tim wasn’t at that meeting when we spoke of
our plan but other Species were. They were with him at dinner and I’m not sure
what he may have overheard at the bar if they discussed those plans.”

True’s teeth clenched as he gave a sharp nod. He was
furious. “It had better not be Tim.”

“His daughter is Species and so is his grandson. He’s one
human I would trust but he may have mentioned what he overheard to one of his
team members about your mate planning to view photos of those employees’ faces.
He might have made some calls to his team members to update them on what was
happening here after he went back to the office.”

“Give me ten minutes and you can help me escort her to Security.
You said Luna is in Control?”