Текст книги "True"

Автор книги: Laurann Dohner

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“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.

Chapter Nine

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.”

Anger surged but he forced it down. The male wasn’t malicious, just curious and wary. “She didn’t know Species were kept there until after she took the job. I believe she did her best to get us freed.”

“I heard what she said about the agent. You think he exists?”

“The team is sending someone to find the cell phone she used to communicate with him. It will prove her innocence.”

The male cocked his head, studying him. “What if it can’t be found?”

True knew Tim would suggest she’d lied. The human really wanted Jeanie returned to his custody. “I’m hopeful it will be.”

“I hope they find it too. She seems like a nice human.” Flame hesitated. “It’s tense downstairs. Some of the males are nervous to have her in the dorm. I wanted to warn you.”

“She’s no threat to them.”

“Jericho pointed that out but they are aware of what she did to him. He had to sit with an ice pack against his balls in the community room downstairs. She nailed him hard enough to cause lasting pain.”

“She didn’t mean to. She was afraid. You saw her. Instincts took control.”

“Do humans have those?”

“I’m sure they do.”

Flame appeared thoughtful. “They are so foreign to me.”

“Humans?”

“The female ones. They aren’t as tough as our females and they don’t say what they think. We have everything in common with our females and nothing with the humans.”

True couldn’t deny Jeanie was different from Species females. “Differences can be good too.”

Flame sighed. “I’ll take this to the elevator. Darkness is on his way up. Tim is not happy that you took the female from Medical.”

“I don’t care.”

“He’s the one you have to deal with when you return to work once you’re not taking care of the human. How long is she staying with you? I’ve been assigned backup duty to keep watch and Jericho will change shifts with me when he’s feeling better.” He lowered his voice, glancing down the hallway and then smiled. “I can’t believe the little human dropped him. He’d never have allowed one of the males to get that shot in. Everyone is teasing him about it.”

That news didn’t amuse True. “Is he angry with her?”

“No.” Flame shook his head. “The opposite.”

Jealousy flashed through True as hot as a fire igniting. “He is attracted to her?”

“No.” Flame took a step back. “That look is scary, man. Calm down. If looks could kill, I’d be exhaling my last breath on the floor. He feels bad for her is what I meant. He’s referring to her as that ‘poor terrified female’. He admires that she fought instead of just fainting the way he expected one of them to do. That’s all. Admiration and sympathy but not attraction. I doubt he’d ever look at her without wincing after the number she did on his nuts. That’s not the kind of reaction a male wants in that region.”

The elevator opened and Darkness stepped out. He strode toward them. True tensed, hoping the male wouldn’t chew him out over the fight. Darkness stopped and held out his hand.

“Is that her notes?”

Flame passed it over. “Yes.”

“I apologize,” True got out, not wanting to say more on the matter.

Darkness grinned. “For kicking Flirt’s ass? No problem. I took my time arriving, hoping you’d do a little more damage to him.” He tucked the notebook under one arm. “He earns his name and the bruises around that busted nose will make him less pretty. He’s always riding my ass about how I need to smile more or I’m never getting laid.”

True was surprised. “I would be happy to hit him again if he comes after Jeanie.”

“He won’t.” Darkness sobered. “I banned him from going near that female and he knows I mean business. His pride took a beating worse than your fists gave him when she chose you.”

Flame cleared his throat. “He is right though. You might get more offers to share sex from our females if you smiled more.”

Darkness turned his head, silently staring the male down. Flame dropped his gaze. “Just saying. It wouldn’t hurt. I can’t remember ever seeing a female visiting you or you going to the women’s dorms.”

“Mind your own business.”

Flame nodded, quickly backing away. True almost pitied Flame since Darkness did intimidate most Species. His past had been rougher than most and therefore they were uneasy about how he’d respond to their teasing. Flame wasn’t done, though, and True smothered a groan, deciding the male was either too naïve or just looking for a fight.

“Some human males are attracted to other males. Is that it? None of our kind have felt that way yet but there are so few of us. It is bound to happen at some point. No one would tease you if that’s why you don’t smile at our females.”

Darkness rumbled, his dark eyes turning almost black.

Flame backed up enough to bump the wall. “Sorry.”

“I’m attracted to females. Is that what everyone thinks? I like males instead?”

Flame kept his lips firmly sealed but barely nodded.

“Fuck.” Darkness shot True a furious look. “Is that what you think too?”

“I don’t think about you and sex at all.”

That seemed to appease Darkness because he looked back at Flame and stepped into the male’s space, going nose to nose with him. “You shouldn’t talk to me about why I’m not with a female when you can’t shut up about the one you want but don’t have the balls to go after her,” he growled. “But to appease your curiosity I’ll share a secret with you that better not get out.” He paused, the rumble from his chest ceasing. “I’m not too eager to allow anyone close to me, considering the last female I fucked was one I had to kill.”

He spun away then, leaving both of them in stunned silence. The elevator door opened, he stepped inside and it closed. Moments passed before Flame gaped at True with a horrified expression.

“He was messing with me, right?”

True pondered the expression he’d seen on Darkness’ face. “I don’t believe so.”

“Shit. I stepped in it, didn’t I? I didn’t mean to upset him.”

“You have to remember he isn’t quite like us, Flame. We all did what we had to, to survive while held in captivity but they expected much worse from him.” Thoughts of Jeanie filled True’s mind. What if Polanitis had dosed me with the breeding drug and thrown her into my cell, loosening the chains enough for me to reach her no matter where she tried to flee? The answer was easy. It would have badly damaged him inside if he’d killed her when he’d been insane and would have had to live the rest of his life with that knowledge. “I’m moving us down the hallway to new quarters and taking her to get clothing.”

“Both corner units are open at the end of the hall. Take your pick. I hate going to supply to pick out clothes so do you mind if I stay here while you take her? I was told to guard the door, not escort you both everywhere. I could transfer your clothing and personal items to the new unit while you’re gone.”

“That would be appreciated. I want the one on the same side I’m on now. I like the view.”

“Done. I also want to avoid going downstairs.”

True didn’t blame the male for wanting to avoid Darkness for a while. “I’ll tell her we’re leaving now.”