Shadow spun, not bothering to dress or grab his discarded clothing. Beauty’s safety came first. She wasn’t alone but that didn’t matter. She was his to protect.
* * * * *
Beauty smiled. “You don’t have to babysit me, Breeze. I’m okay. I was just really upset yesterday when I called. I appreciate you dropping everything to come.”
“I’m here now.” The Species grinned. “Am I cramping your style? Don’t worry. I’m going to stay at the hotel once toga boy returns so you two can continue what I interrupted. I figure it will be a nice break if I stick around a few days to spend time with the females on assignment here.”
“Why do you call Shadow that?”
“Toga boy? It annoys him. Plus,” she laughed, “I’ll never forget what he looked like wearing that flag. It was kind of hot.”
Jealousy surged inside Beauty. “He’s mine.”
Dark eyebrows rose and Breeze grinned. “Feeling possessive? You just hissed at me.”
“I’m sorry.” Beauty was surprised by her unexpected strong reaction.
“He’s all yours. I can look but won’t touch. All our males are impressive, if I say so myself, and I do. Is he feeling possessive of you as well?” She grinned. “Never mind. He will. It’s who they are.”
“I feel things for him.”
“How is the sex?”
Beauty hesitated but then answered. “Amazing!” She blushed but refused to look away. “It’s so much better than I ever suspected.”
“Score points for toga boy!” Breeze chuckled. “I’m glad.”
“Please don’t call him that. You have to notice how that muscle in his jaw twitches every time you say it.”
“I know. It’s cute, isn’t it?” Breeze stood. “It’s good for males to be teased. It reminds them not to be serious all the time. What do you have to eat around here?”
Beauty followed her into the kitchen. “I really am sorry for asking you to come here yesterday. You have a busy life.”
“It was good to get away.” Breeze waved it off. “No problem. I’m just sorry I got delayed until this morning.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Creek called me to say you were holding up well after the initial shock and then Justice called an emergency meeting.”
“I hope it wasn’t over me.” The idea that her ordeal had caused their leader to hold a meeting made her feel a little sick.
“No. It wasn’t about you. We got some high-priority incoming threats at Homeland. It happens but these jerks sounded authentic enough to be alarming and the calls were traced to a few blocks away. They said bombs had been planted and a few were set to go off at midnight so the task force brought in their sniffing dogs just to be sure.”
The idea terrified Beauty. “Was anyone hurt?”
“They were full of shit. There weren’t any explosives. We’d have found them. Justice had us on lockdown though. Nobody is going to forget we’ve already had one helicopter shot down. I was allowed to leave once we were sure it was safe.” She pulled lunchmeat from the refrigerator and turned. “So, how amazing was the sex? What was the best part in your mind? Did he take you facing him?”
Beauty opened her mouth but then a loud sound distracted her, making her heart race as something large seemed to land on the porch. A second later the front door was thrown open in the other room and hit the wall.
“Beauty?” The snarl was recognizable.
Beauty rushed into the living room to gape at Shadow. He was naked, his body tense, every muscle from his shoulders to his thighs defined. He sniffed, his head jerked her way and he stepped completely inside the cabin. The door slammed with one forceful shove of his hand, he locked it and revealed his fangs.
“Go upstairs to my bedroom.”
“Holy shit,” Breeze mumbled. “Impressive. I guess the sex was amazing. He wants you bad.”
Shadow’s furious expression changed to confusion before glancing down his body. “Shit.” He cupped his semi-erect cock, attempting to hide it with one hand, frowning. His gaze shifted from Beauty to Breeze. “Human intruders have been scented a few miles from here inside the Wild Zone.” He glanced at Beauty. “Go upstairs, stay away from the windows and toss me down some pants.” He took a deep breath. “Please.”
He spun away, marching toward the closet, revealing his beefy ass. “There’s a shotgun and ammo in the kitchen above the fridge, Breeze. Secure that area.”
“I’m on it.” Breeze dropped the lunchmeat package aside and jerked her head toward the stairs at Beauty. “Move it. Get him some pants and avoid the windows.” She spun away and jerked open the cabinet that stored the weapon. “How many, Shadow? Are they armed?”
“At least four, possibly more.” Shadow yanked open the closet and withdrew a duffle bag. “Officers are hunting them but that’s all we know.”
Beauty rushed up the stairs. Her hands shook as she yanked open dresser drawers to find a pair of sweats and then darted out of Shadow’s room. “Here.” She tossed them over the balcony so they landed on the floor below.
Shadow appeared in seconds, a handgun gripped in his fist. He tilted his head to look directly at her. “I want you inside the bathroom, curled into a ball in the tub. You’ll be safe from stray gunfire.”
She wanted to protest. “I could fight with you if they come.”
His horrified expression hurt. “No. Go where it is safe. Now, Beauty.”
He put the gun on the table and bent to tug the sweatpants up his legs. Breeze appeared gripping the shotgun and paused by his side. A box of ammunition showed under her shirt where she’d stuffed it to keep her hands free to use the weapon.
“The door in the kitchen is locked and I shoved the table in front of it. We’ll hear them if they attempt to enter the cabin that way.” She glanced at the front door. “Do you want to cover the front or the back?”
“You take the front and I’ll take the back. Humans tend to be sneaky and think we’re stupid. They would choose to attack us from behind if their intent is to steal the Gift.”
Shadow’s words stunned Beauty. “Why would they come for me?”
Breeze glanced up, anger clear on her face. “You heard Shadow. Get inside that tub and stay down!”
They think I’m useless. It stung as Beauty backed out of their sight but stayed close enough to hear their conversation.
“Do you think they are really after her?” Breeze lowered her voice. “How would they know where to find her?”
“There were meetings about us coming to Reservation, weren’t there?” He growled his words, obviously still furious. “Why else would they suddenly breach this area? It’s less protected than Homeland. Someone must know she’s here.”
“I don’t know.” The shotgun pumped—a distinctive sound. “The humans really are curious about Species females. Justice and the council have purposely avoided our pictures being publicized by using victim laws to protect our privacy. They might just want to take pictures. Humans would know she couldn’t put up much of a fight. She’d be the perfect target in that case. They might also be after her for ransom if we do have another leak of information. Gifts are our weakest members and they think we’d pay the most for them.”
Shadow hesitated. “The asshole who owned her wants her back. I know I’d do anything to retrieve her if she were taken from me. I made it my business to learn about him after I met Beauty. The few guards captured when she was rescued stated the human was obsessed with her. They feared death by him for allowing her to be taken.”
“Son of a bitch,” Breeze snarled. “I didn’t think of that. He was one of the rich Mercile investors. He’d have the resources to send humans after her and he was never caught.”
“It won’t happen,” he swore viciously. “No one is taking her from me.”
Master. Beauty’s knees gave out and she sank to the carpet as memories assaulted her. He would do anything to get her back if he felt he could. Just the thought of returning to her old life made her feel sick to her stomach. She’d be locked back inside a dark basement, only being brought out when he wanted to dress her up like the doll he thought her to be. Guards would taunt her again, terrify her and attempt to starve her into submission.