“He stopped me immediately. I’ll never forget the look in his eyes. He was horrified.”
“Did you tell the females about this?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
She blinked back tears. “He was honestly nice to me. He looked at me in a way that no one ever had. I mattered and was a person to him. I’d have had to admit to the women that I touched the front of his pants. He swore no one would ever hurt me again and I wanted that. He was willing to die to protect me. We were being shot at by a sniper and he used his body to shield me.”
Shadow’s eyes softened. “Every male at Homeland would give their lives to protect you. That’s the truth. You never have to share sex to be safe. You matter and are precious. Do you know this now?”
“I do.”
“Good.” He glanced away. “It was an honest mistake, Beauty. Don’t torment yourself anymore with the nightmares.” His hand dropped from her face to return to the small of her back where he rubbed.
She snuggled against him. He was warm and so strong that she really did feel safe being held by him. His heartbeat slowed. He had large hands but they were amazingly gentle and the soft petting of her lower back was welcome.
“Tell me about you,” she encouraged.
His rubbing paused. “I was raised at Mercile. They kept us chained inside rooms and experimented on us.”
“How were you freed?”
His body tensed. All his muscles seemed to harden against her before he blew out a breath and relaxed again. “I had been moved to a new place where they did other things to us. I don’t want to discuss it. It’s not a good story.”
“Do any of us have those in our past?”
His chuckle surprised her. “No.”
“Please tell me?”
Shadow held the small female secure in his arms. She was dainty and he was afraid he’d scare her by moving too fast. Her skin had been chilled when she’d first rested her cheek against him but she warmed quickly. He was glad for that despite it being torture to hold her so close when he had to trap his hard dick between his thighs to hide it.
“Mercile employees had learned that other facilities had been breached by law enforcement. They were being hunted and they managed to drug and move some of us to a new location. They were desperate for money and we were the only means they had of making enough of it to attempt to flee the country and avoid prosecution.” He paused, not wanting to tell her the rest.
“How did they do that? Were they offering to ransom you to the NSO?”
“No.” He managed to hold back the anger he still felt. “It seems there are a bunch of rich humans who would love to own a Species baby.” The idea enraged and sickened him that some infant might be treated as if it were a pet. “It isn’t a good story.”
Her hand on his chest moved, stroked him gently, and he hated the way his dick throbbed. She didn’t have Species hands. Her palms and fingertips were more human than Species, their texture soft. Beauty had been through a lot and the fact that she trusted him enough to sit on his lap left him in awe of her courage.
“Please tell me? I shared with you.”
She had. The thought of what had been done to her seemed to lessen his own trauma. She was so small that she wouldn’t have stood a chance at defending herself. At least the bigger females were strong and had lashed out at their captors whenever possible. He was relieved she hadn’t been molested as a child but it made him angry that she’d been harmed at all.
“They gave me drugs.” He couldn’t refuse to tell her his story. “The breeding drugs.”
“What are those?”
She hadn’t come from Mercile. She’d been spared the testing, had been given away to an investor—a more personal, hellish experience in his mind. Gift Females had been cut off from all others of their kind and most of them had been murdered at the hands of their abusers.
“Mercile invented a drug that increased our sex drives to near insanity.” Shame filled him that he’d been used that way. “They did things to us to force out our semen to sell.”
“Why would they do that?”
“They wanted to freeze it and sell it to other humans who believed they could use female humans to carry our young inside their wombs. They planned to sell the infants.”
Beauty snuggled tighter against him. “I’m sorry. Were they able to do it? Do you have young out there?”
“The doctors don’t think it worked. I desperately want to believe that is true. I have nightmares about helpless infants in the hands of those monsters. My offspring.” His voice deepened but he tried to refrain from snarling. “I would track them down and save them if it was the last thing I did, even knowing I’d die.”
She continued to stroke his chest and he appreciated the comfort she tried to give. “The doctors are smart. I’m sure they wouldn’t say that unless they believed it. I know Dr. Trisha and Dr. Alli well and they wouldn’t lie to us.”
“I know. I trust them too. Our sperm dies quickly and they said it wouldn’t have survived the freezing process they used to ship it to another country. That’s where the buyers were located.”
“You should stop worrying about that then.”
He hated to do it but he shifted a little. His ass was starting to hurt from sitting too long in one spot on the hard wood under him. Beauty didn’t seem to mind or even notice since she didn’t protest in any way.
“The storm is passing. I should radio for help.”
“It’s still raining.” She pulled away from him enough to stare into his eyes. He loved hers. They were such a soft brown and so sweet that it amazed him that she could trust anyone after what had been done to her. “Stay with me. Please?”
He didn’t want to leave her either. “I’ll stay for a little while longer but then I must call in for a female officer. You need to be returned to the women’s dorm.”
She smiled. “Isn’t that funny?”
“What?”
“That we call it that. Do you know what has been difficult for me to learn since I came here?”
“What?” He was curious and liked it when she appeared amused.
“I was raised around all humans and they never used the terms female or male. I’ve had to try to learn to use those words. And there is the whole ‘human’ thing. They were just people to me. Why isn’t it females’ dorm instead of women’s dorm?”
He couldn’t help but smile back. “I’m unsure. I think that’s just what the building was named when we were brought here and it stuck.”
“Why are Species called female or male instead of women or men?”
“Mercile referred to us solely as that. They were men and we were less. Just males.”
He hated to see her humor fade as sadness invaded her gaze. “Oh. I know about being thought of as less.” Her chin lifted. “The guards gave me mean names.”
He didn’t even want to know what she’d been called. It would piss him off. “I like the name you took.”
“The rescue team chose this one for me and I kept it.”
“It is very fitting.”
She smiled again. “You think I’m attractive?”
Beauty took his breath away and trapped it inside his chest until he forced his lungs to work again. “Yes.”
“Good. I think you’re attractive too.” Her hand left his chest and timidly rose to his hair, her fingertips brushing the ends of it. “Why is it so short?”
“I worked with the task force of humans who work for the NSO. I just returned to Homeland days ago. I lived in the basement at the unit’s headquarters. We cut our hair to fit in with the others.”
“I hate basements.” Her hand lowered to curve around the top of his shoulder and made him very aware of her light touch. “Did you have windows?”
“No.”
“I didn’t either,” she admitted. “I remember the times I was taken out into the sunshine.” Her eyes closed as if she clung to the memory so she could picture it vividly in her m
ind. Her expression validated his guess when she smiled. “It was so warm and bright. Those are some of my best memories of growing up.”
“I’m glad you had some good ones.”
Her eyes opened and she smiled. “There was a small courtyard with grass and a water fountain. Once a week I was allowed outside for an hour or two. Master didn’t like how pale my skin would become and he said I needed a little color.”
Shadow wanted to wrap his fingers around the human’s throat and choke the living shit out of the one who’d abused Beauty. She was grateful that someone had allowed her time out of her cell because they hadn’t liked the way she looked. It also explained why she would run outside during a storm. She had no idea how dangerous it could be.
“Promise me something, Beauty.”
“Okay.” The instant agreement stunned him a little. She didn’t even know what he wanted but granted his request. It reinforced her innocence.
“Stay indoors when there’s a storm. You could have been struck by lightning or a tree could have fallen from the wind and rain. It’s dangerous to go out in them.”
“I know.”
“Then why do it?” He frowned, showing his displeasure.
“I just wanted to do something, anything, to break free I guess.”
“You are free.”
Her hand slid from his shoulder to the center of his chest and she ducked her head, laying her cheek against him. “I’m really not, Shadow.”
Her words alarmed him. “What do you mean? You are free. Is someone saying otherwise? Look at me. Tell me.”
She hesitated. Had someone at Homeland abused her? Frightened her? Was someone bullying her and ordering her to do things she didn’t want? He’d get her to talk and he’d immediately handle the situation. He’d beat on anyone who intimidated her.
“I’m a Gift Female,” she whispered.
“Yes. Who has frightened you? Who gives you orders?”
She finally met and held his gaze. “No men are allowed to approach or talk to me. I’m not allowed to work with them the way the bigger women do. We never leave Homeland to visit Reservation.” Tears glistened in her eyes and it tugged at his heart instantly.
“It’s for your protection.”
“Against what? You? Are you going to hurt me?”
“Never!”
“Exactly. Are other Species men going to hurt me?”
“No. They’d never dare.”
“I’m…” Her voice died.
“You’re what?”
“I’m lonely.”
Her tears spilled over and slid down her cheeks. He couldn’t resist wiping them away with his thumb. It hurt him to see them. “You’re surrounded by females. I’ll talk to them and they will spend more time with you. Just tell me what you need to make sure you get it.”
“You’re the first man who has ever held me, Shadow.”
Her words slowly sank into his stunned mind.
“Male. Sorry.” She sniffed. “You’re holding me. You don’t want anything more than to keep me warm and comfort me. I’ve never sat on someone’s lap before or gotten to listen to their heartbeat. Even touched their hair.”
He was mute, astounded.
“I listen when men visit my friends but that’s never going to happen to me. I’d never have gotten to speak to you if it wasn’t for you finding me in the storm and bringing me here to safety. Being a Gift Female is a prison of sorts. Master had sex with me a long time ago but he never held or talked to me. He just did what he did and never even removed all my clothes. I’ve never been kissed. The other women know all that but I’ll never know what it’s like.” Her attention dropped to his chest. “May I tell you what I always wanted to know the most?”
“What?” He managed to get one word out around the lump in his throat.
“I wonder what it would be like to sleep with someone holding me and have him there in case I woke from a nightmare.”
Shadow had never considered what life was like for a Gift Female. They had only females to comfort them and he couldn’t imagine being segregated from over half his own kind after knowing freedom. There were fewer females than males. The female officers he dealt with were warm and he always appreciated their touches when they gave out hugs or pats when he worked side by side with them.
“I’ll hold you for as long as you want, Beauty.”
She sniffed. “Will you sleep with me?”
He was going to get in deep trouble in the morning when he returned her to the women’s dorm and had to answer questions. Gift Females were off-limits. Spending a night alone with one was against the rules. He knew that but he couldn’t deny her. She gazed at him with hope and longing.
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
His dick had softened, all interest in sex gone with her admissions. He was grateful for that. He glanced away. The floor was harder than the long wooden box he sat on. It wasn’t going to be comfortable for him but she was all that mattered.
“We’ll sleep here until morning and then I’ll return you home.” He shoved away the thought of what he’d face. Tiger or Fury would wish to speak to him. Worse, he could be taken to Justice. He hadn’t been free as long as they had and his motives might come under scrutiny. “You can sleep on top of me. You’re safe.”
“I know. Thank you.” She smiled.
Consequences be damned, he thought, staring at her. “I’ll keep you warm and you may listen to my heartbeat if you wish.” He glanced at the light. “Do you want it on or off?”
“I don’t care.”
He just turned—she didn’t weigh much at all—and stretched out flat on his back along the bench. His feet hung off the end but Beauty settled down over him, sprawled facing him. Her hands curled at the top of his shoulders and she rested her cheek over his heart. He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from sliding off him to the floor.
“Comfortable?”
“Yes. Are you?”
“Yes,” he lied.
“Thank you, Shadow.”
“Don’t ever thank me for this. I’ll be here if you have a nightmare. You’re protected.”
He closed his eyes to block out the soft light from above and forced his body to remain lax. Her breathing against his skin was warm and he knew as time passed that she fell asleep when her own heartbeat slowed. He doubted he’d slumber at all, too worried he might turn over or touch her wrong in his sleep.
Chapter Three
Beauty woke slowly, enjoying the warmth of her bed and the strange noise that somehow seemed comforting. Her eyes opened to stare at something odd hanging from a wall few feet away. It slowly dawned on her that she was staring at net bags filled with an assortment of balls.
She froze, confused, but then realized the noise she heard was a heartbeat. Shadow. Memory returned instantly as her fingers gently dug into firm, hot flesh. In her sleep her hands had lowered to his sides to become trapped between his biceps and ribs.
It was a nice feeling, being so warm and snug on top of a man. She breathed in his scent, enjoying it. The smooth skin under her fingertips tempted her to explore. The thought of running her hands all over his body was hard to resist. The only reason she didn’t do it was an uncertainty if it would wake him. He might get angry. That wasn’t something she wanted to test. It would ruin the unique moment of waking with someone for the first time in her life.
The room was lighter than it had been the previous night as she gently lifted her head to find the source. A small window at the back of the room allowed in sunlight. Her focus shifted to Shadow’s handsome face. He slept peacefully, looking much younger.
His arms rested over her back, a heavy weight she enjoyed. Her legs were stretched down his as she became aware of something else. A firm object was nestled between her slightly parted legs. The silky material of the flags they wore prevented a lot of her skin from touching his but something else was definitely between her thighs.
Beauty gently twisted he
r head and stared over her shoulder to find the source. Her lips parted when she realized what was poking up. Fear gripped her for a few seconds but she calmed. Shadow was aroused and it was a scary sight. His cock jutted upward between her thighs. The material covered the thick, rounded shape but she knew what it was.
Her legs tensed, unintentionally squeezing his sex with her thighs. He sucked in air, his chest under her expanded, and she turned her head in time to peer down into his blue eyes. They were confused at first as he blinked but it only lasted a heartbeat before his memory must have kicked in. His nose flared and a soft rumble came from his throat. It was almost a soft growl or maybe a moan. She wasn’t sure which but she was fascinated by him.
The arms around her waist tightened but then relaxed. His hands rubbed gently, almost a pat to assure her she was safe. She continued to stare into his sexy eyes. They were very attractive and she didn’t want to look away. The urge to explore his body with her hands struck again. Would he mind? Get angry? Stop her? She opened her mouth to ask permission but never got the words out.
A faint sound from outside drew her attention to the door. The body under hers seemed to harden all over and she gasped when the arms tightened around her waist. Shadow moved fast for someone who’d just woke. He shifted her quickly, lifted her to the side, and she watched with wide eyes as he crouched on the floor next to her. A deep snarl burst from his throat and his hands clawed against the concrete flooring in preparation to launch an attack. She could see his lips part and he showed his fangs.
The door burst open and Beauty whimpered, terrified at the sight of two big men filling the doorway. She almost slid off the long box in her haste to flee. She ended up huddled on it instead. Her attention shifted to Shadow. He was big and he was defending her against danger. Some of her fear eased.
The two men who stepped inside were in uniform. Shadow slowly rose to his full height. “Hello. I apologize. I heard someone approach and didn’t realize it was you.”
Beauty stared at the two officers as they watched her. She noticed both of them had paled. The one on the left snarled and rage changed his features into something scary as he glared at Shadow.
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