She almost bumped into a large body and backed up, her chin lifting. The guy wore a black hoodie with matching black sweatpants. He was a really large man and the dim lighting hid his face. “Sorry.” She tried to step around him
“Dana.” He gripped her arms.
She froze. “Mourn?”
He tilted his head slightly so she could barely make out his features. “I was going to knock but I could hear what was going on inside. I knew it wasn’t a good time to make my presence known.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to meet your mother. I asked a few of the task force team members to bring me here. I changed clothes so no one would recognize what I am.”
She started pulling on him. “Let’s go.”
“I still want to meet her.”
“You said you heard us fighting. Trust me. Let’s just go home.”
He let her lead him to the stairs. She spotted his security detail immediately. Two men dressed in military-style black uniforms stood in front of a big black SUV. They didn’t have any NSO patches to identify who they were, but she knew. Mourn caught her hand and stayed at her side as they went down the stairs.
Some of the motel guests quickly made their way to their rooms, probably mistaking the two guards for cops. Dana planned to walk directly to the SUV Mourn had come in and ask the two men to drive them back to Homeland, but Mourn suddenly pulled her under the stairwell and against the building.
“You’re upset.”
“My mom does that to me. She brought Dr. Hass with her. Can you believe that? She is so manipulative.”
“I heard you tell her that you plan to move here. Does that mea—”
“Dana!” Paul’s voice came from above.
“Down here,” she called out. “I’m fine. Mourn is with me.”
“Shit.” Paul came rushing down the stairs and spotted them. He looked relieved. “Don’t take off without me. What are you doing here, Mourn?” He twisted his head, spotting the two guards. “Oh. You had the task force drive you. Good.”
“He wants to meet Mom.” Dana stepped closer to Mourn. She was upset, but his being there helped. She leaned against him and he put an arm around her.
“That’s not a good idea. Ask my wife.” Paul put on his sunglasses. “We should go.”
Someone else came down the stairs and Dana lifted her head off Mourn’s solid chest to look up. Her mother came into view. Dana clenched her teeth. It seemed as if Mourn would get his wish after all.
“Don’t let her see your face,” Paul whispered. “Just be cool.” He tore off his sunglasses and held them out to Mourn. “Put those on. You work security at Homeland.”
Mourn ignored the glasses and turned farther, forcing Dana to move with him. She gripped him tightly as her mother spotted them in the shadows, her heels clicking on the pavement when she approached the stairwell.
“I’m not done talking to you, young lady. How dare you walk away from me? I brought Dirk all this way because he’s a good man. He’s willing to forgive this nonsense, and he offered to go to couples counseling with you. We’re all aware that you are having trouble coping with Tommy’s death.” Her mother stopped next to Paul and scowled at Mourn. “Get your hands off my daughter.”
Dana sighed. “Mom, meet Mourn. This is my nonexistent boyfriend, as you referred to him. As you can see, he’s very real. And tall.”
“Hello, Dana and Paul’s mother,” Mourn rasped.
“Her first name is Daisy,” Dana supplied.
“It’s nice to meet you, Daisy.” Mourn released Dana and held out his hand.
Her mother ignored it. “You look like a homeless vagrant. I see right through you, mister. My daughter has some money, and you’re looking for a free meal ticket. Think again. She’s dating a doctor. Go find some other sucker to upgrade your life.”
“Oh. My. God.” Dana wanted to strangle her mother. “Stop it.” She grabbed Mourn’s extended hand and clung to it in case he had the same urge.
“Mom,” Paul hissed. “Don’t.”
“Stay out of this,” their mother snapped at him. “You’re supposed to look out for your sister, but you let this security person get close to her.”
Dana wished a hole would open up under her as she pressed tighter against Mourn in case he wanted to kill their mother for insulting him. She wouldn’t blame him.
“Knock it off,” she gritted out. “Right now. Don’t you dare insult Mourn. You don’t know anything about him. You’re trying to be controlling again and chase him off. It won’t work. I warned him about how you can be.”
“Good. You’re my daughter. I only want what’s best for you, and this security guard isn’t it.” She pointed at Mourn. “What the hell do you think you could offer my daughter with your minimum-wage job? Nothing!”
“Mom!” Paul groaned. “Stop. Everyone who works for the NSO makes really good money.”
Mourn forced Dana to release his hand and unwound his arm from her waist. “You are very unpleasant.” His voice had deepened to almost a snarl.
“Listen to you.” Their mother huffed. “You sound like a meat-headed Neanderthal.”
“Enough,” Dana almost begged. “We’re leaving.”
“Not with him. I’ll scream for Dirk. He’ll get rid of this riffraff.” Her mother stopped pointing and fisted both her hands at her sides.
Paul groaned. “The task force is coming over here.”
“Go away,” Mourn ordered them.
Dana watched the two guards spin around and return to the SUV, taking up the same position as before.
“Don’t talk to me that way,” their mother huffed, unaware that he hadn’t been speaking to her since her back was to the parking lot. “Do you hear that, Dana? He’s disrespectful to your mother on top of it. He’s a loser.”
“That’s it,” Mourn snarled. He gently pushed past Dana and got closer to their mother. He stopped when Dana grabbed his waist, clinging to it.
“Don’t. She’s not worth it, and she is my mother,” she pleaded. “I get it. Believe me. I do. I want to hit her sometimes too.”
“Is this overgrown thug going to hit me? I dare you, young man. I’ll have your ass thrown in jail where I’m sure you belong.”
Mourn snarled again and lifted his head just enough to reveal some of his face to their mother. She gasped, jerking back. Paul caught her before she tripped and held on to her to keep her from running away. Dana winced, seeing her mother’s fear.
“I’m Species,” Mourn ground out. “I’m deeply in love with your daughter. I won’t back down from being with her for you or anyone else, female. I don’t care if you gave birth to Dana. She’s mine now.”
Their mother’s mouth opened and Paul suddenly clamped his hand over her lower face, leaning in. “Don’t scream. He’s not going to hurt you.”
Dana released Mourn and stepped to his side. “You can’t tell anyone, Mom. It will put you in danger. Stop being rude to him.” What Mourn had said registered and she turned her head. “You’re in love with me?”
“Yes.” His tone softened. “How could I not be? You make me happy.”
“I’m in love with you too.”
Daisy yanked Paul’s hand off her mouth. “Stop it. Both of you. This isn’t happening. I refuse to let it.”
“Shut up, Mom.” Dana smiled up at Mourn. “I was afraid it was too soon to tell you how I felt.”
“It’s not.” Mourn reached up and removed her glasses. “We were meant to find each other.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Dana tore her gaze from Mourn and glowered at her mother. “Stop already. You’re ruining our moment.” She looked back up at Mourn and smiled. “You make me happy too. I don’t want to go back to the life I had. I want to stay with you.”
“We’ll be mates.” He leaned in.
Dana rose on tiptoe and braced her hands on his chest to kiss him. Someone grabbed her arm though, and yanked her back. She cursed and jerked away f
rom her mother. “What is wrong with you?”
“You’re making a huge mistake,” her mother hissed. “There’s a wealthy doctor up in my room. What can this New Species give you that Dirk can’t?”
Mourn snarled. “How about this?” He gripped his hoodie and ripped it open, exposing his chest and abs. “He doesn’t sexually attract her. I do. I love Dana. I would do anything for her. She’s the reason I want to live.”
Dana chuckled, openly admiring the skin he’d exposed. “You are so sexy,” she told him. Then she shifted her gaze. Her mother’s eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open. “Any more questions, Mom?”
Her mom kept staring at Mourn’s exposed chest. It amused Dana when she realized he’d rendered the older woman speechless.
“He has that same effect on me.” Dana reached out and slid her hand over his stomach. “And he purrs. Meet your future son-in-law. We’re getting mated.”
Her mother finally snapped out of it, gawking at Dana. She still didn’t speak.
“Priceless.” Dana removed her hand from Mourn and held it out to him. “Take me home, Mourn. Paul, do you mind staying with Mom until she recovers?”
“Not a problem. I’ll explain things to her once I get her doctor out of the room so we have privacy.” Her brother cleared his throat. “I could have lived without knowing about the purring.” He addressed Mourn. “Welcome to the family. It’s a crazy one, but it’s all yours now too.”
Mourn released his hoodie and grasped Dana’s hand. “Dana is worth it.” He lifted his upper lip and revealed his fangs to their mother. “We’ll learn to get along.”
He didn’t look pleased about it, but Dana was just relieved that he wasn’t rushing away from her after getting a dose of his future mother-in-law. She tugged on him and he followed her back to his security detail. One of them opened the back door of the SUV for them while the other one climbed into the front driver’s seat.
Mourn let Dana get in first, and then followed. He pulled her onto his lap as the driver started the engine, and the second guard belted into the front passenger seat. Dana wrapped her arms around Mourn and shoved the hood down to see his face better. The windows were tinted so she felt it was safe to do it in public. He looked angry.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Stop apologizing for other humans.”
“I warned you that she’d be rude and unreasonable.”
“You did, but she birthed you. We’ll have to find a way to get along.”
“Or we could tell the guards at the front gates to ban her from ever visiting us.”
He finally smiled, and the anger melted from his features. “She is your mother.”
“She’s a pain in the ass.”
He laughed. “I meant everything I said to you. I love you, Dana. I want you to be my mate.”
“I’d like that so much.”
“You aren’t afraid to mate me anymore?”
She shook her head. “No. I just want to go home with you.”
“You’ll move in with me?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t ever let you go.” He held her tighter. “You’re mine.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
She leaned in and brushed her lips over his. He growled softly and kissed her back. One of the men in the front seat cleared his throat. Dana had forgotten about them, or that they were even in a moving vehicle. She reluctantly pulled away.
“Sorry,” the guard in the passenger seat murmured. “We’re not that far from Homeland, and she’s still technically a guest until you sign papers so she’ll need to be patted down. Two canines are manning the gates we’re going through. You might want to hold off on celebrating that she agreed to mate you until you get her home, Mourn.”
He growled.
“What does that mean?” Dana arched her eyebrows, curious.
“They’ll smell arousal on you, and possibly tease us. I don’t want to subject you to that.”
“Oh.”
Mourn shrugged. “It would be goodhearted teasing but you blush easily. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable because they’ll know I was touching you.”
“Thank you.”
Mourn pulled Dana against his chest and smiled. She would sign papers. He was grateful he’d insisted on leaving Homeland to meet her mother. The experience hadn’t gone as well as he’d hoped, but the end result was all that mattered. It had been worth arguing with Slade, and getting him to assign two task force members to escort him to the motel.
He’d had to tell the male how much Dana meant to him, and how he wanted her to be his mate. It was important that he impress her mother so he’d have one less barrier to overcome before securing her agreement. To meet a human’s family was important, and Slade had understood. He’d warned Mourn not to start any fights and he’d had to give his word.
Regret surfaced as he reevaluated his actions. He probably shouldn’t have bared his chest to her mother, but Darkness was the one who’d given him the idea. He’d said human females were impressed by muscles. He’d been desperate to show Daisy why he’d be a better mate for Dana than some doctor with a lot of money.
“Forget everything my mother said,” Dana whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.
“She doesn’t like me.”
“I don’t care. She’ll come around, or it’s her loss if she doesn’t, Mourn. You’re a wonderful person.”
“Perhaps I can train to be a doctor.”
She lifted her head to hold his gaze. “That’s not what you want to be, is it?”
“No, but I would become one if that will help your mother to accept us being mates.”
“You are so sweet, but stop thinking that way. Do you know what I want?”
“Tell me.”
“Don’t let my mom get to you. I fell in love with you just the way you are. I don’t plan to live the way she wants me to. You shouldn’t either. We’ll both be happier that way. We’re building a future together. She can deal with it, or not be a part of it. Period.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
“Good.”
“We’ll be home soon. I remember everything we’re supposed to do.”
She grinned. “You held that thought, huh?”
“As if I’d forget.” He reached up and stroked her cheek. “I swear I’ll be a good mate.”
“I swear that I will be too.”
“We’re motivated to be happy together.”
She nodded. “Yes. We are.”
Chapter Eleven
It wasn’t just two guards posted at the side gate when they entered. A third canine New Species met their SUV as they cleared the first gate. He wore jeans and a T-shirt instead of a uniform. Mourn got out, and Dana scooted across the seat. He helped her down.
“Hello, I’m Slade.” He smiled at Dana, but then focused on Mourn. “I take it there were no problems?”
“I didn’t break my word.”
“It went really well,” the driver of the SUV stated. “We had no trouble. No one realized who we were, and we were on the lookout for camera phones. It was very uneventful.”
“Good. I appreciate you taking Mourn outside. You’re relieved.” Slade nodded to each man.
“Not a problem, sir.”
Both task force members walked away toward a building, just leaving the SUV there. Dana studied Slade, wondering who he was. He seemed to sense her watching him.
“How did your mother take meeting Mourn and learning that you are with a New Species?”
She grimaced. “My mom is kind of difficult. It could have gone a lot better, but that’s all on her.”
“It’s not because I’m Species,” Mourn added. “She wanted Dana to mate with a wealthy doctor.”
Slade put his hands on his hips. “Where is Paul?”
“He’s with our mom, explaining how she can’t tell anyone I’m with Mourn, and he’s also probably trying to calm her down. She likes getting things her way.”
Slade’s mouth twisted into a grim line. “Do you believe that she’ll go to the press to complain about you being here in hopes of putting pressure on us to force you to leave? We wouldn’t do that, but I’d like to warn our public relations team if it’s possible.”
“No. She’s aware that she’d have to move out of her home and go into hiding if anyone ever links our family to New Species. She won’t want to leave her friends and start her life over. She complained to me often about how Paul could mess up her life when he took a job here. She’s angry, but she will seethe without involving the press. My poor brother is getting an earful of it right now since he’s the only one she can bitch at.”
Slade nodded and looked behind Dana. He shook his head. “She doesn’t need to be patted down. She’s Paul’s sister and she’s with Mourn.”
Dana glanced back, realizing one of the gate guards had waited patiently behind her to do just that. He nodded and returned to his post. She looked back at Slade. He glanced between the two of them.
“Dana has agreed to be my mate. We need papers,” Mourn informed him.
Slade’s mouth curved upward. “Congratulations.”
They shook hands, and Slade pulled him into a quick hug. He turned to Dana and just smiled. “It’s nice to have you added to our New Species family.”
“Thank you.” She was relieved.
Slade gazed at Mourn. “I’ll let legal know to draw up the papers. Do you want them tonight or is the morning soon enough? The ones who do them have gone home already, but I can place a call.”
“Tomorrow is fine.” Dana didn’t want to put anyone out.
“I will prove I’m stable now.” Mourn hesitated. “Do you think anyone will protest me taking a mate?”
“No.” Slade shook his head. “We’re happy for you both. Take my Jeep and drive your mate home. I need to stay in this area for a while. We’re expecting trouble.”
“May I help?”
“No thank you, Mourn. It’s more of an irritation than a serious problem. A few aggressive protestors pitched eggs at some of our males who were patrolling the wall so we turned on the water cannons.” Slade smiled at Dana. “It doesn’t harm them but it stings severely and we use very cold water. It tends to make them run away, but they always return to antagonize us after dark. Last time they splashed paint on a few of the gates. I volunteered to stay at this one for a while, to man the water cannons.” He chuckled. “I admit that it amuses me to soak them before they can cause damage.”
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