Safe (The Shielded Series Book 1)

by Christine DePetrillo

  “You’re going to get killed,” Estoria said. “You’re going to get killed, and we won’t even know about it. You’re gone too long from here, Foster. When are you going to realize you should stay here with us and screw the rest of the world?”

  Darina admired the woman’s fire. The Boston Police Department could use fire like that. If it accepted GECs.

  “Essie, we’ve been over this before. I can’t turn my back and allow the globe to suffer.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking exhausted. “Not when I can do something about it.”

  A few people sitting closest to Foster nodded their agreement, but Estoria’s hardened expression didn’t change.

  “I’d like to introduce Officer Darina Lazitter, her son, Zeke, and her friend, Ghared…” Foster looked to Ghared.

  “Timms. Ghared Timms.” He gave the group his best see-I’m-harmless smile.

  Darina had to fight to keep a straight face. While her buddy had never shown any aggression toward her or Zeke, she knew he had a temper that could strip the skin right off his opponent and the muscles to match. Looking at him trying to be non-threatening was comical, especially with the slashing scar across his cheek and that barbed-wire and skeleton sleeve tattoo. She’d been there with Deo and Dixon when Ghared had gotten that tattoo. Actually all three of the males had gotten tattoos that day. Deo and Dixon had gotten identical wolf head tattoos except for the eyes. Deo had opted for yellow eyes, Dixon red.

  Ghared had offered to let her pick his tattoo because he felt guilty she’d been injured with him in his hovercopter. At first, she’d selected a delicate fairy sitting atop a sunflower. She’d been busting his balls, but he’d been ready to let that be the image. When she’d told him she couldn’t be friends with a man who had a fairy on his forearm… or a man who carried guilt around, he’d scrolled ahead on the tattoo artist’s tablet until he landed on the barbed wire and skeleton design.

  “What about this?” he’d asked. “Can you be friends with a guy who has this?”

  “Forever,” she’d replied.

  Flexing her left hand now, she looked at Ghared standing next to her.

  He elbowed her and whispered, “Stop it. I can do soft and cuddly.”

  She did laugh quietly at that, and Ghared smiled along.

  “You two are going to get us kicked out before the day ends,” Zeke said, giving them both a stern look.

  “We’ll behave,” Ghared said, grinning at the kid.

  Zeke’s expression relaxed, and a look of curiosity took over the boy’s face as he scanned the people in the room. What must it be like to finally be among people who were also genetically engineered? Zeke never talked about being a GEC, and Darina was in full support of considering him to be just like her. That was often hard to do when he was overcome by a seizure, but thanks to Foster, those days could be a thing of the past.

  She glanced to Foster’s pocket where the outline of the medicine bottle protruded. She’d have to get that back from him along with a copy of the ingredients. She never wanted Zeke to suffer from a seizure again.

  “I wouldn’t be standing here right now if Officer Lazitter hadn’t come to my aid in the city. She helped me elude my pursuers and got me to Emerge Tech safely.” He paused in his movement around the room. “Until my domicile within Emerge Tech walls was consumed by fire.” He held out his hands to quiet the group when they started talking all at once.

  “Officer Lazitter is also responsible for getting me out of harm then and Ghared and Zeke here flew us all to Vermont. I stand before you now in one piece thanks to these three individuals.”

  Thirteen sets of eyes—Estoria still wouldn’t look at them directly—flicked to Darina, Ghared, and Zeke. An awkward moment of silence stretched on until one of the GECs got up from his seat and held his hand out to Darina.

  “I’m Roben. Thanks for bringing the big guy back to us.” He smiled pleasantly as Darina shook his hand.

  “It’s my job.” She didn’t particularly care for being in the spotlight.

  “And you did it well.” Another man stood and approached her. “I’m Pike. Welcome.”

  Darina shook his hand as well and soon a line of people formed in front of her. She, Ghared, and Zeke shook more hands than any of them probably ever shook in their lifetimes. Each person was nicer than the next. Some of them looked like ordinary humans. Others, like Estoria, couldn’t hide their bad genetic code. Skin conditions causing odd complexions, limbs that weren’t formed correctly, strange coloring in the eyes, and other unusual traits comprised the group. Foster had his work cut out for him if he ever hoped to help them all.

  When the meet and greet wound down, Foster dismissed the group, promising to check in with each of them later. Darina admired the way the GECs regarded him as their leader and the authority exuding from him was damn sexy. This job would be easier if he was an old, ugly dude.

  Foster Ashby, unfortunately, was the total opposite of an old, ugly dude, and she couldn’t stop noticing that fact.

  “Roben,” Foster called as the man passed by.

  “Yes?”

  Resting a hand on the man’s shoulder, Foster asked, “Could you show Ghared and Zeke around? I want our guests to feel comfortable here. They might,” he shot a quick look at Zeke, “even want to be put to work.”

  Ghared slung his arm around Zeke’s shoulders. “Me and the kid don’t shy away from work, do we, Z?”

  “Nope.” Zeke’s eager smile could have powered a hovercopter for eons.

  Darina’s heart almost couldn’t take the joy she felt at seeing him so happy.

  “What about Darina?” Ghared eyed Foster suspiciously. “Shouldn’t she get the tour too? It will help her keep your ass safe if she knows her way around and sees if we need to fortify this place.”

  “She’s getting a tour,” Foster said. “I’ll handle it.”

  Ghared’s blue eyes narrowed to thin slits. “See that’s all you handle, buddy.”

  Darina gave him her own narrowed glare. “Ghared.”

  “What? I didn’t fly you here so Dr. Smooth could put the moves on you.”

  “Gross.” Zeke looked away, shaking his head.

  “He has no time for moves, Ghared. Besides when have you known me not to be able to take care of myself?” She threw her hands on her hips.

  “Well, there was that one time…” He shot her a teasing grin.

  “Get out of here.” She turned to Zeke. “Mind your manners,” she said, feeling the need to mother him suddenly.

  “I’ll keep him in line,” Ghared said, giving her a wink.

  She watched them go off with Roben who had already launched into tour guide mode.

  “He’ll either intrigue them with every detail of this place or bore them to death,” Foster said, standing close to her again.

  “I’ve yet to see either of them bored to death.”

  “Good.” Foster looked down to his boots for a moment, then met her gaze. “I hope I wasn’t being presumptuous in assuming you’d allow me to give you a private tour.”

  She looked at the already empty great room around them. “So just us?”

  He nodded slowly. “I wanted to give you my full attention.”

  “Right. Good. I should probably stay close to you anyway. To protect you. Keep you safe, you know.” Did she sound as stupid to him as she did inside her own head?

  Get it together, moron.

  “Staying close sounds like a good plan to me.” He smiled and Darina’s knees felt not quite capable of holding her weight. “This way.”

  He guided her down the hallway that led to a huge kitchen and dining room. The slate tile floor, in various shades of gray with a few reds mixed in, continued into the dining room where stone wainscoting met mustard-colored walls.

  “Some of the people here are in charge of cooking. We’re mostly vegetarian,” he said. “We grow everything right on site so anything prepared in this kitchen is good for you and tastes absolutely wonderful. Pike, who y
ou met a few moments ago, is one of our best chefs, but many of the others know their way around this kitchen too.”

  “Do you cook?” The vision of him surrounded by ingredients, slicing, dicing, chopping, made her suddenly hungry… and horny.

  “When I have time, which lately is never.” He gazed longingly at the stove. “Do you?”

  “No. Generally, after I get my hands on food, Ghared cooks for me and Zeke.” She shrugged. “I forget to eat half the time.” Right now, however, devouring something—or someone—was definitely on her mind.

  “You wouldn’t forget to eat if you lived here. You’d look forward to eating. Everything that comes out of this kitchen tastes incredible.”

  Everything?

  She couldn’t stop her gaze from combing down the length of Foster.

  He caught her and smirked. “Wondering what I’d taste like?”

  His candor caught her off guard. “Oh… umm… I…”

  Laughing, he said, “You don’t have to answer that. I couldn’t resist.” He motioned to a door at the back of the kitchen. “C’mon. We have enough daylight left to see the grounds.”

  “Lead the way.” Hopefully to a wide open space where she didn’t have to be so close to him.

  She fell into step beside him instead of letting him lead, but maintained at least a seven-foot gap between them. He showed her all the crops they grew—everything from strawberries to things she’d never heard of. He explained they used science to create hybrid produce they could grow in Vermont’s climate or in the property’s many greenhouses. His description shouldn’t have turned her on, but the guy was a freaking genius. Darina had no idea she’d find brilliance so damn attractive, but holy shit, she did.

  Foster led her to the barn she’d seen in Estoria’s painting. The woman had really captured the building, and Darina felt a familiarity when looking at the structure.

  “What are these flowers?” She fingered tall, orange blossoms that lined the barn. Nothing in the city was that vibrant.

  “Those are day lilies. They’re all over this land.” He said it like they weren’t anything special.

  Darina disagreed. Crouching to touch her nose to the fragrant petals, she asked, “You don’t like them?”

  “I guess I don’t really think about them. They’re so abundant here.”

  “They’d sure make the city look better.”

  Foster picked one bright blossom and tucked it behind Darina’s ear. “And you make them look better.”

  They stood in front of each other for several silent seconds, their gazes connected, and Darina’s pulse drummed in her ears.

  “Do you have animals?” she asked, hoping to get back to the tour and away from the way Foster’s staring made her feel.

  Blinking slowly, Foster said, “Sheep, horses, cows, chickens.” He ticked off the list on his fingers. As he ushered them into the barn, something barked behind her, its low raspy, neighing making her turn around.

  A large, four-legged creature loped toward her with long strides. Black and white with big, pointed ears and a long muzzle, the critter’s pink tongue lolled over the side of its mouth.

  “What in the world is that?” Too big to be a dog. Too small to be a horse. Darina had never seen anything like it.

  “Oh, that’s Homer.” Foster stepped around her and threw his arms out by his sides. “Hey, boy!”

  Darina held her breath as Homer bounded toward Foster and knocked him down.

  “Homer!” she yelled, fearing Foster had been hurt.

  “No, no. I’m okay. He’s just saying hello.” Foster reached his arms up as he lay on the floor in the barn and scratched the sides of the mammoth beast’s head. “Homer’s a dorse—combination dog and horse. Rescued him too. Did you know the government dabbled in hybridization of animals as a warfare option?”

  “I did not.” What else didn’t she know? “So he’s a GEC too?”

  “Yep. He got cast off like the rest of us here. Dorses didn’t learn commands well, so the government didn’t want them.” He gave the critter a few extra scratches. “But he’s got a home now. He’s a good fellow with a big heart. Did you miss me, Homer?”

  That big pink tongue unrolled and sloshed across Foster’s face.

  Darina laughed as Foster struggled to his feet, still petting Homer. “You’re soaked.”

  “Homer gives the best kisses.” He raised an eyebrow at Darina. “So far anyway.”

  Chapter Six

  Emerge Tech Building Crumbles to the Ground.

  Now there was a headline Mikale could applaud. Official news wasn’t broadcast any longer, but freelance writers often penned stories of interest and circulated them underground. Mikale’s sources had picked up this story, and he loved knowing his associates had been the ones to cause the blow to the world’s largest, functioning corporation. Of course, no one else would know his people were the catalyst for Foster Ashby’s domicile to be reduced to soot, but he still reveled in the satisfaction of knowing he’d run the doctor out of his protected cocoon.

  “Nowhere is safe, Foster.”

  His former colleague, however, had done a good job of disappearing. That fire should have scorched him and ended Mikale’s primary obstacle in completing his mission. The help Foster was receiving had to be phenomenal.

  Mikale had spent the day gathering intel on Officer Darina Lazitter, but it’d only taken him moments to know she was the one. For his plan to work, he needed not only to cleanse the planet of the humans now in existence but repopulate the vacated planet as well. To achieve that phase of his mission, he needed a suitable—no, an exceptional—female with which to mate. His specifications for such a female had been detailed, and he feared he might never find what he needed.

  Until he received the lovely officer’s file on his tablet after losing Foster in the city.

  She was beautiful, intelligent, resilient, had a glowing police work record, and just looking at her picture made Mikale’s whole body respond. For some reason, he felt as if he knew her already. She was… familiar and enthralling. The women he normally interacted with didn’t even begin to offer him stimulation.

  A soft knock sounded on his office door, and he knew that would be yet another woman who would fail miserably at arousing him.

  Still, a release was a release. He was tense and nothing let him unwind like sex.

  He got up from the couch and answered the door. A short, blonde woman leaned against the wall opposite him. She wore an almost transparent sleeveless dress in shimmery silver that complemented her fair skin nicely. By regular standards, she was gorgeous.

  By Mikale’s standards—ones only solidified after seeing Darina’s picture—this woman was mediocre at best.

  “Are you Mikale?” Her voice was on the high side and sounded a little fabricated. She was merely trying to be what she thought he wanted. He had to give her points for effort.

  “Yes. Come in.” He stepped aside and let her pass.

  She smelled like flowers, and he wondered how she’d managed that. No flowers grew in the city. As far as he knew, the only place to get flowers was within Emerge Tech. Scientists there grew them to use in cures.

  Or deadly plagues.

  The ground petals of some flowering plants could be toxic. Mikale knew exactly which ones.

  “My name is—”

  He silenced her with a finger to her pouty lips. “You name isn’t necessary, love.”

  Her brows lowered, and for a minute, Mikale thought she was going to give him trouble. Though he paid for the activities these women provided, some of them insisted on being treated in a civilized manner.

  He wasn’t feeling very civilized today.

  The woman shrugged, grabbed the hem of her dress, and slowly peeled the garment from her body. She dropped the dress on the floor, and standing in only silver high heels, she cupped her own breasts then swept her hands over her stomach, and down to her thighs.

  Widening her legs, she asked, “Do you want to to
uch me first or watch?”

  Options. He liked options.

  “Touch.” The sooner he finished with her, the sooner he could get back to searching for Foster and the good officer.

  He took the woman’s hand and led her deeper into his office. After removing his clothes, he sat on the couch, rolled on a condom, and pulled her down onto his lap. She wiggled slightly to get comfortable, and Mikale closed his eyes, instantly picturing Darina in her place. That had him going rock hard in record time.

  Deciding to keep his eyes closed and not spoil the image, he coasted his hands over this woman’s shoulders, down her arms, around to her breasts, which filled his palms to overflowing. Using only his fingertips to guide him, he continued traveling over her body until he felt the heat of her ready core. He dipped a finger into her wetness and reveled in the deep, throaty moan she released.

  What sounds would Darina make?

  He couldn’t wait to find out. That day would come. He’d make sure of it. Together they’d build a new human race, and he’d have that future his mother had always wished for him.

  He buried his length inside this woman sitting atop him, but it was Darina’s name that looped in his brain. It was her surrounding him. It was her digging her fingernails into his shoulders. It was her gasping in pleasure. It was her bringing him to the edge and pushing him over as he thrust into her again and again.

  “Wonderful.”

  The sound of the other woman’s voice wrenched him out of his fantasy. He opened his eyes and stood, giving her barely enough time to dislodge herself from him.

  “That was amazing.” She fluttered her eyelids at him as she sat on the couch and folded her legs beneath her.

  “And now it’s over.” He picked up her dress and handed it to her. “You can go now.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but he turned away, and whatever she was going to say died on her lips. She must have gotten up because he heard the sound of skin shifting on leather. A few huffing breaths escaped from her as she slipped on her dress, and her heels clicked on the floor. Their quick tap-tap-tap let him know he’d pissed her off.