Текст книги "Valiant"
Автор книги: Laurann Dohner
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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 17 страниц)
Confusion clouded her mind, the drug still in her system didn’t help, but the picture forming made her horrified and scared. New Species had been given names when they were freed. Only one still imprisoned would have a number. That would mean– Oh my God!
“927 was never freed, was he? He’s still property of Mercile? You work for them, don’t you?”
The thug grinned at her but said nothing.
She had a sick feeling her suspicions were correct. A testing facility had been missed. She had read the papers not too far back about how more New Species had been discovered. The doctor they worked for had to be a Mercile employee and that meant these men worked for that
horrible
company
too.
They’d
mercilessly
experimented on human beings for decades, had done horrible things to them, and now they’d kidnapped her.
“You won’t get away with this.” Her voice shook.
“Hear that, Pete?” Mike grinned coldly. “Bitch, we’ve never been caught because we’re the best.”
Pete turned his head to glance back. “Instead of making threats, you should be saying your prayers. You better hope 927 likes you. He’s killed two other women we gave him to fuck.”
They planned to toss her to the mercy of the New Species who’d bent those bars. The doctor believed she wouldn’t be killed because she carried Valiant’s scent. The horrific clues just kept coming together inside her mind.
The doctor thought that since Valiant was attracted to her that another New Species would be too. She didn’t buy into that theory one bit. Valiant had only been drawn to her at first because she’d been ovulating. It wasn’t until after he’d spent time with her that he’d said he wanted to keep her. They’d fallen in love but, then again, he’d been freed from Mercile, had learned that not all humans were vicious jerks who thought New Species were nothing but animals to use and hurt. The one they were taking her to had probably never known kindness from a human being. It made her close her eyes to fight tears.
She needed to remember facts if she was to survive.
They’d said they wanted to transport ten more New Species and they’d come from Colorado, where the hidden testing facility had to be. She calmed slightly, forcing her mind to concentrate on that information.
Valiant would try to find her, he wouldn’t give up, and they’d have to figure out that jerk of an attorney had taken her. She hadn’t seen him so maybe he’d try to flee the state. Maybe the police would catch him and make him tell where she’d been taken. She clung to that bit of hope.
“Don’t fall asleep,” Mike ordered her. “We’re almost there.”
She opened her eyes and glared at him. “I hope you roast in hell.”
He sat forward and made a fist. “You want to know what a little hell feels like?”
“Don’t,” Pete ordered from front. “You heard what the doctor told us before he left. We aren’t to hurt or touch her unless we absolutely have to. I bet she’s scared shitless and is baiting you to kill her. Can you blame her?” He laughed. “I’d want someone to kill me.”
Mike dropped his fist and leaned back. “Yeah. I’d want to die before one of them got their hands on me too. Fucking beasts. Want to bet on if he kills her or not?
Twenty bucks says she’s toast.”
The driver hesitated. “Sure. I’ll take that bet. The doctor is pretty smart and he’s sure the beast will want to fuck her once he gets a load of how she smells. We’re here.”
“Great.” Mike smirked at Tammy. “We’re under instructions to take you right to 927. The doctor is already here, waiting.”
The van stopped a few minutes later. Pete climbed out and opened the side door. Mike crawled over to a side cabinet and opened it. He pulled out a pair of shackles with a length of chain that was about six feet long. He glared at Tammy as he unlocked the cage and jerked the door open.
“Stick your hands out now.”
“Go to hell.” She hugged her waist, refusing to give him her wrists.
Mike glared at her. “Do it or I swear, you’re going to suffer.”
She hesitated, knew he’d get in trouble if he hit her, but held out her wrists in the end. She could fight but she’d lose. Either way, they were going to take her wherever they wanted so she could go on her own steam or be bleeding when she arrived.
Mike shackled her wrists and tossed the chain toward Pete, who grabbed it and wrapped it around his fist. Mike didn’t touch Tammy, careful not to, as he unlocked the chain securing her collar to the cage.
“Move,” Pete ordered her.
She had to scoot on her butt to the opening of the door. She breathed in fresh air and climbed outside. The collar was heavy around her throat. She glanced around but only saw a white industrial-looking, two-story building. The parking lot was small and overhead lights glared down from above as though it were daylight. A ll she could spot were trees, assuring her the unfamiliar building was remote.
“Let’s go, you stupid bitch.” Pete pulled on her chain.
The metal double doors were locked with a key pad.
Pete punched in five numbers, blocking her view with his body to make certain she couldn’t see. The door beeped and both men led her inside the well-lit, large room that appeared to be an old reception room of some sort.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the building had been abandoned when she spotted broken windows at the back of the room high on the walls or the layers of cobwebs and dust covering a few outdated desks that had been left behind. She tried to spot any clues to tell her what company used to own the place but no logos or names were painted on the walls. They led her down a dark hallway with a lot of pitch-black openings and the smell of mold assaulted her nose. They kept her between them, holding the chains that assured she couldn’t run.
A scary snarl, though faint, came from somewhere ahead. She jerked to a halt and wanted to spin around to flee. The men holding the chains pulled them taut between them, trapping her in place.
Mike laughed. “She’s a little spooked.”
“Who the fuck wouldn’t be if they had a brain? Pull on her and I’ll follow. I’m sure the doctor is tired of waiting.”
Tammy’s gaze adjusted to the bright lights as they entered another large section of the warehouse. Concrete floors and walls with at least a fifty-foot ceiling greeted her. A wall had been constructed at some point to cut the room in half but it didn’t reach the ceiling, which she could view beyond it. Long, fifteen-foot lights had been strung at intervals above her from one side of the room to the other. They’d all been turned on until their bright strength nearly hurt her eyes.
“You’re finally here,” the older man in glasses stated, walking around the wall that divided the room.
It was the man Tammy had seen when she’d been sprung from the trunk. She now had a face with the title.
His icy-green eyes swept over Tammy, then back to the two thugs who worked for him.
“It’s about time. He’s awake, has been fed, and I tossed him in an extra five pounds of meat to make certain he wouldn’t be hungry. He didn’t finish it all but I assume he’s full. I’ve made certain he’s got nothing to feel cranky about. Now we’ll get to see if he’ll breed with her.”
“Should we strip her down before throwing her in? It might motivate him to want to fuck her more.”
“No.” The doctor frowned at Mike. “She was living with one of them and I’ll assume her clothes will hold his scent. We need to retain as much of that as possible in hopes he’ll accept her. Just toss her inside the way we discussed. Immediately join me inside the monitoring room. I don’t want him killing her just because he wants the satisfaction of having an audience to perform a grisly task for.”
“Please,” Tammy begged frantically. “Don’t do this.”
A ll three men ignored her.
“Here we go,” Pete said, tugging on her chains to pull her toward the opening where the room had been separated. “You better hope he smells something on you he likes.”
Mike chuckled. “We’ll find out real soon.”
They passed an archway and Tammy dug her heels into the floor, stopping. Someone had placed a large cage in front of the concrete walls in the back corner. The thick bars lined all four sides and the ceiling of the cage.
A solid metal floor rested on the existing concrete.
A single twin bed, just a frame and mattress, adorned the cell and a toilet sat in a corner of it. That didn’t hold her attention. The male inside sent terror straight to her heart. He was big, had wild black hair that fell midway down his naked back, and they had him wearing off-white pants that had thick seams down the sides of the legs. They hugged his waist low and fell loosely to just under his knees. Bare, muscular calves and big feet were planted a foot apart where he stood. He turned his entire body to snarl at them, revealing sharp teeth, a flattened nose, and those strong, wide cheekbones that New Species all seemed to have.
Pete yanked hard on the chain attached to her wrists to make her stumble forward. Tammy whimpered. Her gaze refused to look away as the large New Species furiously stormed closer to the bars. His hands gripped them, which made her glance at his muscular arms and chest before he made loud sniffing noises. Dark, nearly black eyes met hers.
“We brought you a friend,” Mike laughed.
“Play nice,” Pete taunted. “She’s someone you might like. She enjoys spending time with beasts a hell of a lot.
She’s screwing one of your kind. We caught her just for you, 927.”
They stopped by the cage door about seven feet from the enraged New Species who sniffed loudly again. The weight around her neck dropped away, the collar gone, and she barely took notice as the shackles were removed from her wrists. She remained terrified and focused on the New Species. They planned to push her into his cage.
He was almost as tall as Valiant. Maybe an inch or two shorter at about six-feet-four, if she were to guess.
His shoulders, thick chest, and muscular arms were very similar in size to Valiant. It was his face that terrified her the most.
A vicious, low growl of warning rumbled deep from within his throat as sharp teeth flashed. Like Valiant, this one had more dominant animal features than most of the New Species. That probably accounted for how terrifying he looked as he snarled at her, flashing teeth that looked as if they could easily tear her apart without effort. Fear sizzled along Tammy’s spine like lightning and ran down the length of her body.
Tammy realized something as a hand shoved her forward, past an opening into the cage. A thick glass wall partition stood between the man growling at her two captors and the door they’d just opened. The man behind the glass suddenly lunged and his body slammed into the clear barrier. A loud crack came from the action and parts of the glass spider-webbed.
“Son of a bitch,” Mike hissed. “Hurry up. That isn’t going to hold for long. He’s really being aggressive today.”
Pete pushed Tammy hard, knocked her off balance, and she stumbled farther into the cage but managed not to fall face first on the metal floor. The door slammed closed behind her and she turned, lunging for the bars that now locked her inside. She jerked hard but the door didn’t move. She stared at Mike and Pete, pleading with them silently. They refused to even glance her way as they spun and disappeared into the other half of the warehouse at a hurried pace, seeming not to be able to flee fast enough. The hair at the back of her neck rose.
She knew why. Her breathing increased and her fingers clung so hard to the cold metal that she knew they were turning white. You can’t get out. You’re going to have to face him. Maybe he can be reasoned with. She drew in a deep breath and blew it out. You have no choice. Just talk. You have nothing to lose.
Tammy slowly released the bars and turned, dread making her stomach heave a little. The scariest eyes she’d ever seen watched her from the other side of the partition just feet from her. His seemingly black gaze narrowed and he growled at her again. She backed up, moved away from the door, and pressed against the bars as far away from him as she could get in the small space.
His hands lifted and he glanced at them. She followed where he looked, wishing instantly that she hadn’t. His hands ended in thick fingernails similar to Valiant’s but they hadn’t been clipped. They resembled short but lethal claws that scratched over the damaged part of the glass. A piece of it fell away, letting her know he could get to her. A scream rose but became trapped inside her throat. He scratched the divider with his nails again. It was a hideous sound when more bits of the glass fell away to ping on the metal floor.
“Please,” Tammy begged softly. “Don’t hurt me. I was kidnapped and brought here against my will. I’m not your enemy. I don’t work for Mercile Industries.”
The New Species stopped watching his hands to peer at her instead. She only saw aloofness in his stare as their gazes met. His hands pulled away from the glass, he backed away, and she hoped her words had meant something to him.
He suddenly lunged forward, his body turning at the last second, and his shoulder slammed into the glass.
More of it cracked. Tammy whimpered again and slid along the bars until she reached the corner a few feet away. She couldn’t escape. He was going to break through and reach her.
Her knees seemed to turn to liquid and she slid down to the cold, unforgiving floor, on her butt. She drew her knees up in a protective manner and wrapped her arms around them tightly to hug her body. He moved with her to the edge of the cage. He growled again.
“Listen to me. Please? I know a lot about people like you. Do you know that a lot of them are free now? The testing facility they were imprisoned inside was raided by the government and they’re no longer locked up. They live outside, no bars, and no cages.” She sucked in air, knew she babbled, but was proud she could at least speak. She kept going. “They call themselves New Species. They are really free and if they knew where you were they would come to save you. Do you understand me?”
The man’s eyes narrowed more and he stopped growling. He did continue to glare at her. She hoped that he wouldn’t break through the glass and just kill her in the blink of an eye. Her talking seemed to have at least distracted him from battering through the glass.
“I live with one of your kind. He tells I belong to him all the time. It kind of annoyed me until he told me that he never owned anything, never was allowed to care about anything, because it was used against him. He named himself Valiant. He’s part lion. He has the most amazing golden eyes. He loves me and I love him. We live at New Species Reservation. It’s a large area of woods and open land. It’s where your kind live and work together to have better lives. It belongs to them and they are in charge there.”
The man growled at her, tensing. She saw his muscles bunch and he put his hands against the glass. He started to push. The glass groaned and she heard a cracking sound. He would break through. She only had about four feet between her and the barrier. She fought back tears.
“The first time I met Valiant he scared me. He growled the way you are right now. I’d never seen anything like him before. I thought he would kill me but he didn’t. I’d accidentally gone to the wrong place and ended up at his house. He terrified me but he was also the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. His eyes are amazing and he has this mane of reddish-colored hair with blond streaks running through it.” Her voice broke and she blinked back more tears. “He’s a little bigger than you are. Taller. That’s another reason he scared me. He picked me up, carried me into his house, and we started talking.”
The glass cracked more while the New Species continued to push on it. Tammy darted her focus away from his eyes to the barrier between them. Large jagged splinters in it had spread upward toward the top of the room and down to the floor. She didn’t have much more time before it gave way.
“Valiant told me I’m family to your kind now that I’m with him. They call each other that since none of them had parents or blood relatives. That means I’m family to you too. Valiant…” her voice broke from emotion and hot tears slid down her cheeks. “He loves me and he’s got to be terrified for me right now. He doesn’t know where I am. I was kidnapped from Reservation. He’ll be looking for me and he’ll never stop. Please don’t kill me.”
The man backed up to study the glass. Tammy stopped talking to watch him. She hugged her body harder, trying to appear as small as possible while she pushed back tighter into the corner. She knew he examined the glass, searching for the weakest parts. Her words didn’t seem to matter and nothing she’d said made him want to stop attacking the partition to hurt her.
He moved suddenly, backed up about five feet, his attention fixed on one section of damaged glass. She held her breath when he paused but gasped as he lunged forward. He twisted his massive body at the last second before he threw his entire weight against the partition and to her horror, it gave way. He came barreling through it and slammed into the bars only feet from where she huddled. The wall section where he’d broken through crashed to the floor, barely missing her.
Tammy whimpered and lifted her head as he straightened to his full height. He rolled his shoulder that had taken most of the impact from the glass and the bars. A few scratches marred his skin but the wall had broken in chunks, obviously some kind of safety glass.
He turned toward her, glaring, and growled. He took a step toward her and another until only inches separated her body from his legs.
“Please,” she begged softly. “Don’t do this. I’m telling you the truth.”
He spread his thighs as he crouched, pinned her between them but didn’t touch her as he sniffed. Tammy stared into his dark, terrifying eyes, hoping he’d have a harder time killing her if he were looking into them. She saw emotion flicker in those dark depths. His hands reached for her, fisted her shirt between her breasts, and yanked her hard from the floor when he quickly rose to his feet.
Tammy heard material tear when she was forced to stand. She whimpered again. He had her by her shirt and used it to slam her against the wall bars at her back. She stared up into his face and locked her knees together to keep from collapsing. She shook badly when he hunched down to get closer to her face with his own.
Black eyes narrowed into slits as he continued to sniff her. His mouth tightened into a grim, tight line when he stopped. A soft grumble came from his mouth, far too near her own. He pressed in closer until his hot skin touched her arms, which still hugged her waist, and his head lowered more. He smelled her hair, his nose brushed over it, and he bumped his chin against her cheek, pushing.
Tammy squeezed her eyes closed and turned her head away even though she could feel his warm breath fan across her neck as he continued to examine how she smelled. Please don’t tear out my throat with those sharp teeth. She couldn’t get the actual words out, too terrified to speak with his hands on her, and his body nearly crushed hers against the cold metal. His sharp teeth never touched her.
His body against hers turned rigid. Her heart hammered inside her chest so hard that it began to hurt.
He moved, easing the pressure of his chest away from hers until she breathed easier. It took every bit of courage she had to look up at him again as she turned her head back. He glared into her frightened gaze.
He backed away and released her torn shirt. “Stay.”
He snarled the word.
Tammy didn’t dare move. He watched her intently until his gaze lowered down her body to study her. It shocked her when he suddenly dropped to his knees before her, his hands gripped her hips, and his face pressed against her skin between her breasts where he’d torn open her shirt. She sucked in air but managed not to scream, too terrified it would set him off. A hot tongue suddenly licked the side of her breast and he snarled.
She stopped breathing but his tongue left her skin.
She took a shallow breath as he sniffed her then pulled his head back. One hand released her hip to grab the bottom of her shirt, which he yanked up to expose her stomach. He shoved his nose against her belly but it didn’t hurt. He inhaled deeply as he rubbed his face downward to the top of her pants. He paused at the waistband.
I’m not dead. He’s not killing me. That’s got to be good, right? She tried to think of something to say but decided now would be a time to keep her lips sealed.
That was until the guy spread his thighs to lower his body and he suddenly pressed his face into the vee of her legs.
“Stop!”
Her hands reached for him without conscious thought, grabbed his broad shoulders, and she pushed at him. He didn’t budge an inch, too strong and big to move.
His head snapped up, mouth parted to reveal sharp teeth, and he snarled at her. She jerked her hands away as if he’d burned her, terror jolted through her at that deadly glare he gave her, and he lowered his head again.
He pressed his face back into the vee of her thighs and nudged against her sex, sniffing her there, as if he really were a dog. He jerked back, stared up at her, and released her shirt as he rose to his feet again.
Tammy fought back a scream when he spun her body around, pressed her face against the bars, and began sniffing from the top of her shoulder and down her back. He moved the shirt out of way by jerking it up.
She stared at the concrete inches in front of her nose where the cage had been pushed against the warehouse wall. He growled a few times as he lowered, his hands holding her in place, and crouched behind her to even sniff the back of her thighs. He didn’t bury his face against her ass at least. She tried to take comfort in being spared that.
He spun her back, staring at her in way that left his thoughts and feelings a mystery but he didn’t appear enraged anymore. His dark gaze actually didn’t seem as cold or frightening. He suddenly reached out and his hand encircled her upper arm but his hold didn’t hurt. He actually seemed careful not to bruise her with his big hand.
“Come.” His voice came out gruff, deep, but it wasn’t a growl or a snarl.
He backed up, pulling on her to make her follow. She moved on wobbly legs, not sure what would happen next. He backed up more, pulling her another few feet, and turned his head to stare at the gap he’d created in the partition. He inched through it, careful not to touch his skin against any of the rough edges, and left her no choice but to step through it as well. She meekly followed him, too grateful he wasn’t killing her, until she realized where he’d led her to.
Fear made her try to pull out of his grasp when she spotted the cot just feet away. “No.”
His dark gaze narrowed in a threatening way. “Lie down now.”
“I belong to Valiant.” She couldn’t help the rush of tears that blinded her until she blinked them back.
“Please don’t do this.”
His mouth moved, twitched, but that was the only show of emotion on his face. “Rest. I won’t mount you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Some of Tammy’s panic and fear eased as she decided the New Species probably wouldn’t lie to her. He was big enough to force the issue if he wanted to rape her. He could have killed her by now. The fact that she still drew breath had to be a great sign that he wasn’t as vicious as her kidnappers believed or that he’d smelled Valiant on her and it meant something to him. She let him direct her to the bed where she carefully sat on the edge.
The New Species crouched in front of her, knees wide open, putting her legs between his thighs. He seemed to enjoying pinning her in by doing that, she noticed, and didn’t like how he also had a preference for invading her personal space. He was too close for her comfort.
His gaze searched hers. “How many?”
“I don’t understand.”
“How many New Species freed?”
“I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but hundreds.”
He took a few deep breaths but seemed to get angry again. “How many hundreds?”
Tammy hesitated. “I don’t know. New Species don’t really want that known to the general public, um, humans. I would guess at least three hundred of them live at Reservation. There’s also Homeland, a big converted military base they were given, and it’s another big piece of land where more New Species live. There have to have a few hundred there too. Probably more.”
“Tell me some numbers you know.”
“I don’t understand. I just said I’m not sure of how many of them there are in total.”
He lightly growled. He pointed to himself. “927. What are the numbers you know? What is Valiant’s number from before?”
She understood. “I don’t know any. They don’t ever use their testing-facility numbers. They all picked names when they were freed. I never wanted to ask Valiant what his was when he was still imprisoned. I didn’t want to make him sad by making him remember his life from before.”
He blinked. “They chose their own names?”
She nodded. “Yes. Most of your kind have names like Justice and Breeze.” She paused before listing off the other names she’d heard. “Tiger. Flame. Brass. Rider.
Smiley.” She paused. “I was told they picked names of things they loved or something that had some meaning to them.” She stared into his gaze. “They would have come to break you out if they’d known about you.” She whispered. “They don’t know about the testing facility in Colorado. They thought they found them all and had set everyone free.”
He suddenly lifted up and spun away from her. It made Tammy flinch as he snarled loudly and began to pace the cell. She scooted until her back rested against the bars of the cage wall. She hugged her chest and pulled her knees up, just watching him silently. He appeared agitated and really angry. She’d answered his questions but regretted saying that last part. Perhaps he was so angry that others had been found when he hadn’t been.
“Valiant will never stop searching for me. That means he’ll find us. Me and you. They’ll free you.” She said it softly, hoping her voice didn’t carry to wherever the doctor and his two thugs had gone. “We really do love each other and he won’t give up.”
The New Species stopped pacing to regard her. He slowly approached and crouched next to the bed. “The technicians will take you away from me if I don’t mount you soon.” He whispered the words.
Tammy shook her head frantically, afraid, and knew exactly what that meant. Sex. “No.”
“I will scent you and it will buy time.”
“What does that mean?”
He suddenly reached out and grabbed Tammy by her calf, gave a hard jerk, and his other hand gripped her arm to turn her on the bed where she fell flat. She gasped but had a few hundred pounds of muscled New Species pin her down when his body dropped over hers.
Tammy stared up at him and whimpered, thinking she’d been safe, sure he wasn’t going to hurt her after they’d talked. His face remained inches from hers and he looked grim. He lowered his face and buried it against her neck.
“Relax. I won’t hurt you,” he breathed very softly against her ear. “They listen always. This close and soft they cannot hear. I won’t mount you but I need to make them believe I am interested. They will take you from my cell otherwise and they could kill you if they think the experiment is a failure. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she got out softly, struggled with her fear, but forced her tense muscles to relax. “They have microphones listening to what we say?” She kept her voice just as soft as he had.
“They watch with cameras too but do not search for them with your eyes. They will become suspicious.”
He shifted over her, pinned her closer to him, completely covering her with his body. He was careful not to crush her. Tammy experienced raw fear at how tiny she felt, how helpless, and had no choice but to trust that he wouldn’t hurt her. The man was big, smelled of a strong soap and sweat. It wasn’t unpleasant, but foreign.
She was used to the way Valiant smelled. She put her hands on his chest. His skin felt as hot as Valiant’s, almost as if they ran a fever, but they just had a hotter temperature than humans. She resisted the urge to attempt to push him off, already knowing it would be a useless effort.
He buried his face against her neck again, sniffed really loudly, probably for the microphones, before he spoke softly to her again. “Will Valiant really come looking for you and not stop?”
“Yes.” Tammy had no doubt. “They all will. The New Species, I mean.”
A soft growl tore from his mouth. “I will do my best to keep you here. They will kill you if they believe I won’t do as they wish by mounting you. You’ll have no value to them otherwise. They’ll take me from here, back to where I came from, and consider the test of breeding me to another human a failure.”
Tammy closed her eyes and fought more tears. The man dropped his face against her neck and adjusted until he’d wiggled his hips until he’d wedged between her thighs. Fear and mental exhaustion finally caught up to her. She wanted to cry, admitted to a little self-pity that this had happened to her, and she gripped his skin just to find some comfort.
“Lie here with me and rest. You are safe from me, little one with pretty eyes.”
“My name is Tammy.”
He inhaled her skin at her neck. “It is good to smell another of my kind on you.”
“They don’t let you see others?”
“No.”
He was alone. She shifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. He didn’t protest the hug-like hold she had on him. He had her totally trapped under his big body but she didn’t feel threatened.
Deep down she understood one thing. He was alone and he needed to hold her too, probably longed for the comfort just as much as she did. She closed her eyes and relaxed. Her mind instantly drifted to Valiant. He’d find her somehow. He had to. A yawn surprised her and all the adrenaline started to drain from her body.
* * * * *
Tiger glared at Charlie A rtzola. The man had been found tied up inside his car near Reservation. He’d pleaded innocent to willingly stealing Tammy but Tiger wasn’t buying it. The human was ignorant of their sense of smell or he just thought they were really stupid.
