“Yes. I marked you as mine.”
She relaxed under him, letting his statement settle into her sex-hazed brain. She didn’t mind. It was odd being bitten and she knew he’d drawn blood. It stung a little less as he ran his hot, wet tongue over the spot.
“Am I going to have a scar?” She didn’t mind as long as it healed fast.
He chuckled and brushed a kiss on her neck. “Maybe, but it isn’t bad. Just…my teeth made a mark. There will be two little holes. Your family will wonder if you mated a vampire.”
“You got my shoulder, not my neck.” She smiled and her fingers brushed over his where she still clutched at his hands.
“I could bite your neck.” He kissed it again. “Your thigh. I can think of a hundred good places to put my mark on you. Are you angry?”
“I mated a New Species.” It actually amused her. “No peeing to mark your territory though. At least not inside the house. I’m aware of that canine trait and, um, keep that outside in the yard if the need arises.”
He chuckled, seemingly not insulted as she feared he might be. “Deal.”
He lifted up and she turned her head enough to see him.
“I won’t bite you again. It was instinct to bite my mate and mark her.” His serious expression told her more than words could.
“It’s okay. Really. I found it sexy and you just nipped me hard. Just once, huh? I found it kind of hot right at the second you did it. Great timing. I don’t think I’d find it sexy if you bit my thigh and definitely not when you’re going down on me. That might be ouchie.”
“I wanted to taste your blood.”
That disturbed her a bit. “Like bloodlust?”
“No. I know your scent and your taste but not that of your blood. Now I do.”
“Is that important?”
He hesitated.
“True?”
“It’s just instinctive. I don’t know why.”
She let that sink in. “It’s okay.”
“I won’t always behave or think like you do. Sometimes I might seem more animal than human.”
“I know and I accept that. It was just a little bite. Is there anything else you want to taste on me?” She grinned. “Just so I’m warned?”
He shook his head, watching her intently. “But I can’t promise I won’t play with your hair and run a few strands under my nose from time to time. I love how it smells.”
“So how does my blood taste?”
“Good.” He grinned. “I know it now and I’ll never forget.”
“So if I cut my leg shaving and you cut your face shaving, and our blood got on the same towel, you’d know which was mine and which was yours?”
“Yes. I don’t shave though.”
She’d forgotten about their lack of facial hair. “Right.”
He rolled onto his side, pulling her with him, and curled around her. “Sleep. You must be tired.”
“I am.” She loved being curled in his tight embrace with him still connected to her.
He snuggled even closer. “I love you, Jeanie.”
Tears filled her eyes. She really had needed to hear the words and he’d finally said them. Better yet, she knew he meant them.
“I love you too.”
“Sleep. I’m right here and you’re safe.”
* * * * *
True woke, instantly aware of his surroundings. Jeanie’s slow, steady breathing assured him she still slept. The noise that woke him sounded again, faint and barely distinguishable. He identified it as the vibrate function on his phone. It came from his discarded pants on the other side of the bed.
He carefully extricated himself from Jeanie and tucked part of the blanket around her body to assure she stayed warm. She didn’t stir, testament to her lack of heightened senses or just that she was very tired. One glance at the clock showed they’d been sleeping for six hours. He slid off the bed, bent to retrieve his pants, and walked out of the bedroom. The door didn’t make a sound as he closed it and strode down the hallway into the living room as he pulled out the cell phone. Four text messages waited. He read them and placed the call.
“Hello, Darkness.”
“Sorry for disturbing you. I wanted to keep you informed of what was going on.”
“You’ve been assigned to give me updates? I just saw the texts from Slade.”
“The team went inside Boris’ home and successfully planted transmitters on all his electrical devices. He won’t be able to cough without us knowing about it. They also installed some cameras so we can see him in most of the rooms. They cloned two disposable cell phones they found stashed in his garage and put a tracker on his car. Tim’s tech guy downloaded all his information from his computer. The human returned home half an hour ago and the ghost program is up and running. He logged in to two email accounts we were unaware of and we were able to watch everything he did as if we were standing behind him.”
“What did you find out?”
“He’s pretending to be two other different people and we’re searching all transportation records to see if he’s flown or even taken a bus or train to any locations under those names. We’re checking rental car agencies too. So far we haven’t found anything but it strongly suggests your female may have been right that he has other humans he’s fooled and is using for the same thing he used your mate for.”
True clenched his teeth, furious. “You think there are more Species out there and he knows their locations.”
“It appears so.” Darkness rumbled in that ominous way of his. “I still believe I could torture the information out of him but this is a good plan in case I failed to get all the information he is hiding. We might recover other Species. I called Fuller and let it ‘slip’ to the assistant warden that your female was so traumatized by the kidnapping attempt that she needed to be heavily medicated and that the doctors planned to keep her that way for a few days. Boris has been in contact with Jeff and that news was relayed to him. He’ll feel safe for a bit longer that his Agent Brice identity is still a secret.”
“I don’t like it. He could send more humans after Jeanie.”
“Your female is safe, True. Tim has a van parked two blocks from the human’s house and Boris is under constant surveillance. They can be inside his home to arrest him within minutes if he plots anything against her. So far he hasn’t mentioned your mate in any way except for his conversation with the male he works with. Boris swore it was a mistake that males were sent to pick her up and he’d been under the false impression that she was a high-ranking Mercile employee. Of course he’s lying to cover his tracks but that’s all that was said.”
True bent, tugging on his pants while using his shoulder to hold the phone against his ear. “Her location is safe though, correct?”
“No one knows where she is except Species and Tim. He said he wouldn’t relay that information to anyone on his team. He didn’t like it because he trusts them but Justice ordered him not to. The fewer people who know, the better. Her safety is paramount to all.”
That alleviated some of True’s fear. “How long do you think it will take to track down those two new identities you just discovered?”
“Tim believes we’ll know in a day or two and we’re aware of everything he does, which will provide more clues. Hang on, I’m going to put the phone down a minute and check something.” True heard typing. In a few seconds Darkness picked up the phone again. “Sorry. I’m in contact with the task force via the computer. They just relayed that Boris has logged in to a bank account under one of those identities and is transferring funds to Dubai.”
“Where is that?”
“The Persian Gulf.”
“Where is that?”
“On the other side of the world.”
“He’s going to run?”
“It appears he plans to but he won’t get far. Don’t worry, True. We won’t allow him to escape. He’ll pay for what he’s done to your mate and our people. We’re all over him.”
He needed to believe that or he’d sneak off Homeland the way Moon had done to find his mate, only he’d have fewer loving reasons. He wanted to get his hands on the human and wring his neck until he drew his last breath. True wanted to make certain Boris could never harm Jeanie again.