New Species 02 Slade (7 page)

and forced a smile. She’d been harassed by drunk men in

the emergency rooms far too often to allow him get the

best of her.

“Oral skills are always a wonderful thing to have,

Mr. Slade.” Her gaze lowered to the crotch of his black

pants, lingered there. She slowly allowed her gaze to

travel up his body to examine every inch of him until

they were staring into each other’s eyes. She saw his

smile had faded, knowing her actions had wiped the

amused look from his face. “I guess you could say I have

a real oral fixation myself.”

She smiled wider at him, licked her lips, letting her

tongue glide slowly over the surface. His jaw clenched as

he adjusted his weight. She noticed his interest.

“Good conversation is very important, don’t you

think? It’s so stimulating and pleasurable if done right.

As a doctor it may surprise you how much I’ve learned

on the subject. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a really

good conversation and sometimes I nearly ache from

wishing someone could stimulate me.” Her eyes

narrowed. “But unfortunately I haven’t met anyone yet

who I want to really talk to. I just keep meeting jerks who

have no finesse.”

He growled at her. She chuckled and turned away

from him to stare out the window to watch as they left

Homeland. The guards at the gate just waved the SUV

past. Trisha didn’t bother to look at Slade. She was afraid

he’d be staring at her still. She turned toward the

window and shifted until she found a comfortable

position.

“I hope you both don’t mind but I’m going to take a

nap.” She couldn’t resist. She turned her head to meet

Slade’s gaze. He still watched her and his amazing blue

eyes looked at her without amusement. He actually

appeared angry.

“Have a nice nap, Dr. Norbit. I’ll wake you when we

get there,” Bart offered. “Mind if I listen to the radio?”

“Not at all.” Trisha turned back to the window,

realizing how tired she really was.

* * * * *

our ass.”

Trisha jerked awake as she slammed against the

window. She groaned as pain exploded at the top of her

forehead. She was half asleep, disoriented, as she jerked

her head to glance around the SUV to see what was

going on.

Slade leaned forward between the seats and Bart still

drove the SUV. Trisha studied their surroundings, seeing

they were in a wooded area on a two-lane highway with

dense trees on each side of the road. The sun had

lowered in the sky and it would be night soon. She held

her forehead where it still hurt but then pulled her hand

back to look for blood. There wasn’t any.

“Step on the gas harder,” Slade growled. “They are

going to hit us again.”

Who will hit us? Trisha turned her head to peer out

the back of the SUV. She saw a red truck with a metal

grill coming fast at the back of the vehicle. She knew her

mouth opened as the truck moved closer, realizing it

would ram them. She softly gasped as it plowed into the

back of the SUV.

The SUV swerved, fishtailing on the narrow road.

Trisha’s head was thrown forward against the back of the

cushioned driver’s seat. Her seat belt dug painfully into

her lap as she realized she had pushed down the

shoulder belt while sleeping.

“Oh my god,” Bart sounded as though he were

sobbing. “They are trying to kill us.”

“Punch the gas,” Slade roared. “Our engine is bigger.

They wouldn’t be able to catch us to ram us if you’d find

your balls and put on some speed.”

“I can’t,” Bart yelled. “I’ll lose control. The turns are

too sharp.”

“Next time, I’m driving,” Slade snarled.

Trisha experienced fear as she watched the edges of

the road. There were trees everywhere and one side of

the narrow road rose uphill while the on the other side,

the one she sat closest to, dropped off into a vast space of

trees. She stared downward. They were on some winding

mountain road heading up.

“Call for help,” Trisha got out, confused and terrified

at waking in a hellish situation.

“There’s no cell signal.” Slade snarled his words,

obviously furious.

He turned his head, looking back. He cursed,

throwing himself into the seat next to Trisha. She was

shocked by the sight of the weapon he withdrew from his

back from under his waistband. It was a black handgun.

“Oh crap,” she gasped.

The truck rammed them again. Trisha was thrown

against the door next to her but this time she managed

not to hit her head. Her hand got smashed instead

between the door she gripped and her body. Slade was

thrown into the back of the passenger seat before he

moved onto his knees and bent into the back section of

the SUV. He pointed the weapon.

“Cover your ears, Doc.”

She did that just as Slade opened fire. Glass

exploded. The sound of the gun going off was

earsplitting. The SUV fishtailed wildly as it nearly

tipped on two wheels. Bart cursed a blue streak, taking a

turn too fast.

Trisha twisted around to face the back. She saw white

steam pour out from under the hood of the red truck, not

needing to be told that Slade had shot into the engine. He

had to have hit the radiator or something else. The red

truck slowed and the SUV pulled away. Slade stopped

firing. He cursed as he dropped the empty clip and

shoved in another full one from his side pocket. They

took a turn and the red truck wasn’t behind them

anymore.

Trisha gaped at Slade. His blue gaze flashed to hers.

“Are you okay, Doc?”

She managed to nod. “Who was that?”

Slade shrugged. “My guess is they weren’t friends of

ours.” He threw himself down on the seat sideways,

placing the gun down between them. He tore his focus

from her to watch out the damaged back window. Wind

rushed into the SUV from the gaping hole. He yanked his

cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open, stared at

it for a few seconds, and viciously cursed.

“There’s still no signal.” His gaze met hers. “Where’s

your cell, Doc?”

“Mine won’t have one either if you don’t have a

signal.”

“You never know. We might have different carriers.

Where is it? I don’t want to sit here debating. I’d rather

try.”

She reached for her purse but it wasn’t where she’d

placed it. She peered down and realized it had fallen to

the floor. She pointed. Slade lunged for her purse. His

hand practically crushed the bag as he yanked it up. In a

heartbeat he’d flipped her purse over, emptying all the

contents out on the seat between them with a few rough

shakes.

Trisha had to fight the urge to yell at him when her

mouth dropped open in shock. Those were her things

he’d just strewn all over the seat as thought it were

garbage. He shoved his hand into the mess he’d created

to find her cell then he flipped it open.

“Damn it,” he growled. He threw it to the floor.

“That is my phone! Don’t break it.”

Her temper flared. She was also scared and really,

really angry. She unfastened her belt to reach forward to

lean down to check on her cell phone. Slade shoved her

back against her seat with his hand.

“It doesn’t work anyway,” he snarled, glaring at her.

“Throw your phone but not mine. That’s rude.”

“I’m sorry. I would hate to be impolite when

someone just tried to kill us.”

“Hello?” Bart shouted. “There’s another truck. Could

you guys stop fighting? I think we have another

problem. It looks as if they weren’t alone!”

Trisha turned her head to stare in horror out the back

of the SUV. A second truck came at them fast, this one a

blue pickup that had a metal grill, almost the twin of the

red one. She watched as a man stood up in the back of

the truck bed, one arm gripping the roll bar over the cab

of the truck to keep on his feet, and lifted his other arm to

try to point a gun at them. Her mouth opened to scream

out a warning.

Slade reached over, grabbed Trisha’s shirt with his

fist and yanked her down over the seat. His body

crushed down on top of hers, causing her purse and its

contents to dig into her stomach. Slade’s hand shoved in

between the seat and her. He grabbed her breast,

squeezed it, and his hand turned. He found his gun and

yanked it out from under her none too gently. A loud

noise sounded but it was muffled for Trisha since Slade’s

thighs were against her ears.

My head is between Slade’s thighs. That meant the lump

at the back of her neck… She gritted her teeth. How can

Slade be aroused when someone is shooting at us? She

struggled to get out from between his legs but his

massive, bulky weight kept her down. His muscles

suddenly squeezed, nearly crushing Trisha’s head in the

process.

“Stay still,” he demanded. “Those are my nuts you’re

pushing back against.”

“Screw you. Get off me,” she yelled.

A large hand suddenly slapped Trisha’s ass hard,

sending a jolt of pain from it to her brain, stunning her.

“My face is right here, Doc. You don’t hurt me and I

won’t hurt you.”

Trisha just screamed. She was angry, terrified, and

her butt stung from where he’d struck her with his big

palm. Something rammed hard into the SUV and it

caused Slade to topple onto Trisha. They were thrown

forward and Trisha’s body slid with his. They both

slammed into the back of the front seats together.

“Drive,” Slade ordered Bart harshly. “One more hit

that bad and— SHIT!”

Shit? Trisha felt alarmed by Slade’s tone. A second

later the SUV bounced wildly. She and Slade were

actually lifted completely off the seat. She heard a male

scream. Bart. Then she was slammed hard back down

onto the seat with all Slade’s weight coming down on

her.

She heard a horrible noise as everything rattled,

bounced and shook so hard Trisha wondered if she

would be shaken apart too. A loud boom rent the air

suddenly a second before the truck tilted crazily and she

was thrown again. She screamed in pure terror.

was thrown again. She screamed in pure terror.

She didn’t know what was up or down. She knew

nothing but pain, fear, and the feeling of motion. Hands

grabbed her thighs, she bumped into Slade’s body

roughly, then something unforgiving. Glass sounded as

if it were exploding. Metal groaned and smashed loudly,

in deafening volume. Trisha continued to scream but

everything stopped moving suddenly.

She panted, laying on something hard. Her shoulder,

ear and hand hurt. She tried to calm down as she opened

her eyes but instantly wished she hadn’t. She discovered

her body sprawled on the roof of the SUV. The broken-

out back window was to her immediate right, telling her

that somehow she’d been tossed into the back luggage

area. She stared at dirt and grass on the ground, just an

arm’s length away. Close to the back of the SUV stood a

thick tree trunk. It finally settled into her mind that the

SUV had landed upside down.

Trisha moved and it caused pain to shoot up her leg

from her knee. She groaned. She put her hands down and

tried to push herself up even though her shoulder ached

but only managed to lift her head a little. She turned it to

the left to stare at Slade a few inches from her. He lay

sprawled on his side with his back to her, his head

resting by her hip. His arm moved as he touched his face.

“Shit,” Slade groaned. “Doc?” His voice deepened as

his entire body jerked. “DOC?” Alarm deepened his

tone.

“I’m here behind you. Are you all right?” Trisha

cleared her throat. Her voice had broken as she spoke.

Slade twisted his head to look her over. “Fine. Are

you injured badly?”

“Hurt but alive. Can you see Bart? All I can glimpse

from here is the back of the seats and you.”

Slade moved slightly and groaned as he lifted his

head. “I see him. He’s belted in upside down but

moving. I can hear him breathing.”

A pained moan came from the front of the SUV.

Trisha licked her dry lips, instantly tasting blood. She