New Species 05 Brawn (21 page)

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Only myself, you and Brawn are
aware of what happened as far as I know.”

“It’s my dad I’m worried about.” She chewed on her bottom
lip. “Have you met him?”

“Tim? Yes.”

“He’d have a cow.”

The doctor relaxed. “I see.”

“He’s protective as hell and he’d blow a fuse if he found
out how close Brawn and I got inside that cage. He would make a big deal about
it. Brawn is one of his new team members. Dad has this rule about how none of
the guys are allowed to touch me. He’d just…” She sighed. “Be a dick about it.
He treats me like I’m a little kid and he’d become a nightmare to Brawn since
they have to work together.”

Trisha’s lips curved into a smile. “I understand. He seems
pretty uptight.”

Becca slid off the exam table. “That’s being awfully polite.
Dad is a tyrant when he’s angry about something.”

The door opened and Rusty stepped inside. “I didn’t mean to
eavesdrop but my hearing is too good. Would you like me to take her to a room
with a shower and have Sunshine get her some clothes? I already ordered food from
the cafeteria. It will arrive in about fifteen minutes.” She held Becca’s gaze.
“I’m the only one in the hallway who could hear what was being said and I won’t
repeat that you shared sex with Brawn. I have met your father and I wouldn’t
want him to know either. He yells at his men too much when they are holding
meetings in security.”

Trisha laughed. “Welcome to my world. Their hearing is
amplified about four times stronger than ours and the males have even better
senses. Always whisper if any of them are around or run water to mute out the
sound if you want to have a private conversation while you’re at Homeland.”

“Sorry, Doc Trisha.” Rusty chuckled. “I don’t mean to do
it.”

“You can’t help it. Please take her down the hall to the
nearest shower. I’m going to check on the incoming males.” Trisha reached out
and brushed Becca’s arm. “I’m glad you’re okay and feel free to take us up on
that offer to speak to someone if you struggle with anything. Just call
Homeland and ask for me. Your father never has to know if we assign you a
therapist. We have some great ones who work with us. I’ll have Paul bring you
those pills. Just take them with water.”

“Thanks.” Becca meant it. “I’m fine though.”

She just wished she could talk to Brawn but knew he wasn’t
there. It was still daylight. She had no idea what time it was, but suspected
it would be a while before he arrived. She’d shower, eat something and maybe
take a nap while she waited for him to find her.

* * * * *

Exhaustion made Brawn sluggish as he stood in the reception
room at the Medical Center waiting for Tiger to return from checking on
everyone. The male exited from a hallway and approached with a soda in hand,
offering it to him.

“I figured you would enjoy this.”

He opened it and drank half of it in one swallow. “Thank
you.” He glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear.
“Where is Becca?” He sniffed. “I smell her but the air-conditioning has me
confused of the direction to take to find her room.”

Tiger frowned. “We sent her home.”

“What?” Anger deepened his voice. “I wanted to see her.”

“That’s not a good idea. She was kidnapped, held prisoner
and I already informed Tim that having a Species live in the outside world was
a failure. One of his team members will return your belongs in the morning.
You’re staying here.”

“I want to see Becca.” He crushed the can in his hand and
the contents spilled. He cursed, set it down on the counter and rubbed soda off
his palm on his sweats.

“Brawn, be reasonable, my man. She doesn’t want to see you.”

“She said this?” His heart thundered and pain gripped him.
“She refused to wait here for me? Was she informed I was coming and that I
wished to see her?”

Tiger’s gaze narrowed. “You know it’s for the best. Tim
noticed the bite mark on your chest and the scratches. He assumed they were
from Becca. He told me that you aren’t allowed any contact with her and that he
discussed it with her.”

“Did she refuse to see me?” The question came out in snarled
fury. The idea of Becca leaving was bad enough but to refuse to speak to him
was unthinkable.

“Calm down now. That’s an order.”

“I’m a council member and you don’t tell me what to do.” He
spun and stormed for the door, but had no plan of how to find Becca. He’d think
of one though, hopefully find a transport to take him to her home, and see her.

“Brawn? She doesn’t want to see you.”

That brought him to a jarring halt. He turned and Tiger
nodded.

“I’m sorry, man. I wanted to spare you but Tim asked for a
consult with a shrink before we arrived. I was just given the report he made
when he took in all the facts.” He reached back into his pocket and withdrew
the folded paper. “She was traumatized by the kidnapping, you were her only
source of comfort and she only cared about you as a way of coping with the
stress.”

He shook his head. “She is attracted to me. She admitted
that.”

“It would only harm her if you forced this issue. Do you
want to cause her more stress?”

“No.” Brawn’s knees weakened. He was hungry, tired and
injured. His body only functioned on adrenaline and the need to seek out Becca.
He locked his legs. “I would never hurt her.”

“I know. You don’t even like human women.”

“I like her.”

“You’ll cause her pain, my man. She needs time to heal and
recover.”

“She’s injured?”

“Emotionally. The shrink recommended you make no contact
with her at all. Let her come to you when she’s ready if she ever wants to
discuss what happened.”

“She was well? The doctor checked her over completely?”

“Yes. Trisha personally took care of her.” Tiger hesitated.
“She gave her the pills.”

“What pills?”

The hesitation in answering angered Brawn. “What pills? Was
she sick?”

“You shared sex with her. It was decided to give her
medication in case you got her pregnant. It will end any pregnancy that may
have occurred.”

Brawn snarled, pure rage gripped him and stepped toward
Tiger before he even meant to. Tiger stumbled back a few steps and lifted his
arms.

“Stop!”

He did. “She wasn’t in heat when I mounted her. I told you
this! You told her classified information? I understand now why she is angry. I
couldn’t tell her that I could get her pregnant while we were locked up. It was
too risky in that place. Is she angry with me? Is that why she refused to wait?
I am sure she is on some kind of preventative drug to prevent being
impregnated. Most human females are.”

“Not according to what she told Trisha. Becca wasn’t told
what the pills really were. She thinks they are antibiotics to prevent
infection from the needle used to draw blood from her arm. She isn’t angry or
upset with you for not telling her the truth before you shared sex.”

“We shared more than sex.”

Tiger’s expression showed pity. “I’m sure you did but seeing
you will only remind her of the trauma she suffered. She was locked inside a
cage with you, forced to take your semen and it was a grim situation. She’s
safe now and if she ever wants to see you, she’ll let you know. Give her time.”

His chest hurt and it had nothing to do with his bruised
ribs, which had been injured when he’d fought with 919 to protect Becca from
the drugged male. “We shared more than sex,” he stated more firmly. “I know it
would be difficult but I want to spend more time with her. I have feelings.”

“She’s Tim Oberto’s daughter. He leads our task team and
while he likes us, he sure as hell wouldn’t be down with you doing his
daughter.”

“Where did you learn to speak that way?”

Tiger sighed. “I’m spending a lot of time with the task
team. We’ve been training together and I’ve gotten to know them. Tim is very
protective of his daughter. He wouldn’t welcome any kind of relationship
between you and his daughter. He made that very clear.”

“It doesn’t matter what he likes. I have feelings for
Becca.”

“It’s not just about you. It’s about her too and she needs
to come to you if or when she wants to see you. Respect that, Brawn. You are a
council member but this is about the best for all of us. We can’t make an enemy
of the man who heads the task team. We need him.”

“I want her.” His fists clenched.

“She isn’t a pet you can collar and take home.”

“I know,” he snarled.

“You’re tired and hungry. You need ten hours of sleep and
then we’ll discuss this, okay? Be rational.”

He fought his anger and tried to calm. “This discussion is
not over.”

“I understand. We’ll have it tomorrow after you get some
rest and good food.”

The door opened at the front of the Medical Center and Flame
stepped inside. “I’ve come to take you home and someone is bringing you food,
Brawn. We hope we timed it right to give you time to shower before it arrives.
You ready?”

Brawn shot a glare at Tiger. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

* * * * *

Becca sat inside her bedroom but the feeling of being safe
inside her own home was gone. Her dad sat at the end of her bed watching her
grimly. He’d shadowed her since some of his men had driven her from Homeland to
the house. He’d been waiting in her living room.

“Are you hungry?”

“They fed me.”

His gaze studied her intently. “You’d tell me if they made
one of those New Species touch you, wouldn’t you?”

“I swear none of them hurt me, Dad. How many times do I have
to say it?”

“Tiger and Trey wouldn’t tell me much, no matter how much I
threatened. What the hell was going on down there?”

“There was a woman doctor who used to work for Mercile and
she had a bunch of goons working for her. They planned to sell the New Species
to someone in Europe so they could earn enough money to flee the country. They
knew they are wanted by the police. They have some buyer over there who wants a
set of them. I guess there are three types of New Species and the doctor only
had one so she had Brawn kidnapped and plans to kidnap another one.”

“Feline, canine and primate. I read the report and we’re
trying to find the leak.”

“Good. Can I ask you something?”

He tensed but gave a firm jerk of his head. “You’ve earned
some answers after what you’ve gone through. What do you want to know?”

“What is going to happen to them?”

“The males are under a doctor’s care. The New Species have a
few specialists working for them and they’ll do whatever they can. They’ll call
in consulting doctors if they think someone can help. Those guys will get the
best care possible now that they are home.”

“I’m glad to hear that but I meant the ones who took Brawn
and me. Are they going to pay for what they did? That’s what I want to know.”

He reached out and rubbed her foot through the blankets.
“New Species law is brutal. You were right to leave on that helicopter. I
wasn’t thinking straight or I would have sent you to Homeland myself. Those
sons of bitches are never going to know freedom again.”

“The NSO can give them a trial and sentence them to life in
prison?”

He hesitated.

“Tell me. Please?” Tears pricked her eyes. “I’ll sleep
better at night. They killed Tina and Mel. They came into my home and—”

“We have a prison, baby. It’s not known, it’s not for
general population, but one that only holds people who have committed crimes
against New Species. Justice North is a damn smart man who negotiated some
impressive deals.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Mercile was funded in part by the US. It’s not widely known
but the public would be pissed if they knew where their tax dollars were being
spent. Everyone involved wants to keep it that way. New Species could sue the
United States and win in court the way they’ve gone after Mercile to be
compensated for the years they were imprisoned. It was cheaper to settle and
better for public relations to just keep it under wraps. They were given
Homeland, the money to start it up, and my task team to hunt down Mercile
employees who weren’t captured and to recover New Species still out there. We have
found five testing facilities and there could be more. We don’t know but some
New Species were given to investors.”

“Given to investors?”

He looked down. “Women, baby. The company traded money for
flesh.” His gaze lifted and his mouth grimaced. “Sexual slaves. We try to find
them.”

Tears fell. “Oh my God.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed her foot. “That’s what my team is mostly
for. We hunt those sick bastards down who bought them and try to find out if
the women are still alive.”

“Have you found any?” She hoped so.

“Some. Usually it turns out bad. I won’t lie. Justice
demanded to have a task force put at his disposal with full resources to track
them down and I was assigned to lead it. We can do what most law agencies
can’t, don’t have as many rules as they do and that includes starting up our
own prison. We take the ones we arrest there and they aren’t getting out.
There’s no such thing as parole or time off for good behavior.”

“It’s at Homeland or Reservation?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s at another location and I’m not
telling you where. Some of the people who used to run Homeland before New
Species took control are now in charge of that facility. It’s not a resort, let
me assure you. They aren’t mistreated but they sure aren’t watching cable or
getting visitors.”

“New Species now get to hold the people prisoner who once
kept them locked up. That seems fair.”

“No. Justice didn’t want to put any of his people in that
uncomfortable situation. The prison is completely staffed by us.”

“Your team?”

“Humans.”

“They are human too, just not completely.”