“I trust you with their lives by telling you this, Vanni. You can’t share this news with anyone without endangering the Species children. There aren’t many, but some. It’s possible for me to get you pregnant if we’re both in good health and blessed. My genetics are stronger than yours. The question isn’t whether I would be willing to be father to a human child. More importantly, would you be willing to mother a Species child? He would look like me, a primate. All our children are born male. It’s the way we were created in Mercile’s laboratories.”
“I’ll never tell and I’d love to have kids that are just like you.”
Warmth spread through his chest, as well as an overriding sense of relief when she smiled. No deceit showed and he knew he could trust her words. “I want you to be my mate, Vanni. I want to spend the rest of my life with you in my arms. I’ll marry you in an official human ceremony. I know you will want that.”
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
He scowled. “It’s important to all humans.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he liked the way she rested her head against his shoulder. It proved she trusted him when she snuggled closer. “I got kind of sick of making wedding plans. It burned me out. Would you elope with me?”
“What is that? I’ll do it but you need to tell me what to do first.”
She chuckled. “You would do it, huh? What if it’s something horrible?”
“I’ll still do it for you if it makes you happy.”
She eased her hold on his shoulders and cupped his face. Her kiss was welcome when she planted her lips on his. He tried to deepen it but she pulled back though she stayed close.
“Elope means we run away together and just get married. Sometimes you invite a few close friends. I don’t want a big wedding. It would remind me of the nightmare with Carl.”
“Where would you like to elope to? I’ll arrange it.” She was saying yes. He’d make it happen. “We have a helicopter and we’ll take a security detail.”
“We could do it here. I don’t care where. It’s just supposed to be somewhere pretty and private so we can enjoy doing it together.”
“Reservation,” he decided. “I know the exact spot. Would that be okay?”
“I need to take Beth. She’s my best friend. She’d never forgive me otherwise. Who is your best friend?”
“I have a few.”
“Invite them.”
“What about your siblings and parents?”
She shook her head. “No way.”
“You don’t want your family there?” It concerned him. “Will they be upset if you marry me?”
“Not you specifically but I’d rather send them a video afterward. My brother is being a butt. My sister already tried to take over my wedding once. She and Mom were yelling at each other when we went to pick out my dress. Beth got into it with them when we were picking out bridesmaid dresses. They wanted to put her in purple. She hates that color. You have no idea how stressful and awful a big wedding can be. Everyone wants to put in their two cents and they fight. A wedding should be about the bride and groom committing to each other. Everyone seems to forget that.”
He arched his eyebrows. “It sounds stressful.”
“We won’t have that.” Vanni smiled. “We’ll keep it simple. You, me, Beth, your friends and a minister. That’s all we need.”
“That will make you happy?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll be my mate?” He wanted to make sure before he allowed too much excitement to hit.
“Yes.” Her features grew animated. “This is crazy, isn’t it?”
“No. This is wonderful and perfect. You’re perfect.” He slid his hand into her hair and cupped the back of her head gently, pulling her forward.
He loved to kiss Vanni. Her lips were soft and she opened up to him. He could easily get addicted to her taste and wanted to. He felt a little guilty for not telling her it was possible she might already be carrying his child. He wanted to give them a little more time together before he shared that information. She wanted babies. That was the biggest hurdle down. She wanted them with him.
The doorbell rang. Smiley regretfully dragged his mouth from hers. He wanted to take her into the bedroom and make love to her. He groaned. “I need to get that or they will come inside.”
“Okay.” She smiled at him, her cheeks flushed and rosy.
“You’re so beautiful.” He would never stop telling her that. He lifted her off his lap and stood, having to adjust his stiff dick. It wasn’t comfortable crossing the room with a hard-on. He unlocked the door and jerked it open just enough to peer out, shielding his lower half from whoever had bad timing.
Jericho sighed when he saw him. “Sorry. We need to speak.”
“Not now.”
The male crossed his arms over his chest. “Now.”
Smiley lowered his voice. “She just agreed to be my mate. Go away.”
“You said you’d wait awhile before signing papers,” the male grumbled.
“If they asked me to sign them. I want to do it. She’s mine. We are going to elope.”
“What the hell is that?”
“Get married.”
Jericho opened his mouth then closed it. He shifted his stance. “We know who sold the drug to the Woods Church. There’s going to be a meeting about it in Security. I thought you’d want to be there.”
“Who was it?”
“Does the name Dean Polanitis ring any bells?”
“I could never forget that bastard. He ran Drackwood Research.”
“His people turned on him during interrogation at Fuller.”
“Do we know how much of the drug he sold?”
Jericho hissed. “A few hundred doses at least.”
“Shit!”
“We have to recover all of it. We’ll have to worry every time we leave the NSO otherwise. They could dose us or the females near us. Our enemies could also sell it or hire a chemist to figure out how to make more to put into the mainstream human population. Imagine that horror. The human males without honor could use it against their counterparts.”
Smiley was aware of Vanni walking up behind him. His erection wasn’t an issue anymore. He opened the door wider and made space for her to stand next to him, putting his arm around her. “Did you hear all of that?” One look at her face assured him of the answer. Her features appeared grim.
“I heard. You should go to this meeting. Jericho is right. You have to find that drug and destroy it.”
“We have a wedding to attend.”
She peered up at him. “It can wait. This can’t. What if they drug someone else?” She clutched his shirt. “I don’t want anyone to suffer the way we did. It’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life.”
He knew she was right. “They don’t need me. You’re my priority.”
“You have no idea how much that means to me but this is important too.”
“She’s right,” Jericho announced.
“Fine.” Smiley rubbed her back. “I’ll return soon.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll hurry.”
Chapter Nineteen
Security was a hive of activity when Smiley and Jericho arrived. The human task force was assembled and entered ahead of them. There was also a familiar vehicle parked nearby, a transport van from Fuller Prison. Smiley frowned.
“They brought a few of the prisoners here. Darkness and I want a shot at them,” Jericho informed him.
“We need Gregory Woods and the male who works for him, the one who Tasered my Vanni.”
“We’ll get them,” Jericho assured him. He jerked open the door and they entered the building. Loud voices led them to the main operations center. It was standing room only.
Justice climbed up on a chair and snarled, commanding silence and everyone’s attention. He paused until he had everyone’s attention before he spoke.
“We leaked the video of the bartender to the press. It hit every broadcast about twenty minutes ago. We need everyone here because shit is hitting the fan faster than we believed it would.”