New Species 05 Brawn (30 page)

Becca pointedly ignored Brawn but was aware of him behind
her. She swept a glance around the nice living room, spotted the cart with
silver dishes and hunger gripped her hard. She walked to the three covered
platters and noticed the second shelf contained juices, sodas and milk, giving
her a large beverage selection.

Her hand shook as she lifted the platter covers and her
stomach rumbled when the smell hit her. She almost dropped the lids to the
floor, barely managed to keep them from falling off the edge where she rested
them and grabbed for the one with the big steak. She groaned, lifted it and
turned to the coffee table a few feet away.

Tiger handed her silverware when she just lowered to her
knees and placed the food on the table. Her hands shook worse as she unwrapped
the napkin to get to the fork and knife. She didn’t look at her guests, didn’t
care what they thought, since she needed to eat.

She sawed frantically at the meat, got a bite and shoved it
into her mouth. The taste exploded on her tongue and she groaned. Thirst hit
next after she swallowed and she turned, grabbed one of the mini cartons of
milk and yanked it open. She drank, barely avoided spilling it down the sides
of her mouth and set it down hard to grab for the silverware again. Her stomach
rumbled and hunger gripped her as if she hadn’t eaten for a week.

“Rebecca?”

Trisha’s voice startled her enough to cause her to stop
shoving food in to her mouth and turn her head. “It’s Becca, and I thought you
were staying at the medical place.”

The woman held up a bottle of pills. “I forgot to give you
prenatal vitamins.” Trisha frowned, moving closer and Slade followed behind
her. “When is the last time you ate? You’re shaking.”

“I’m always hungry. I had a snack early this morning, ran
out of milk and ran to the store before breakfast. I got held up on the way to
town and then your guy was waiting at my cabin.” She finished the milk and
reached for the juice, opened the top and drank deeply.

“You weren’t that pale or shaky,” Slade rumbled. “She
doesn’t look good.”

“I had you looking out for me,” Trisha answered softly.
“Becca? You need to eat every few hours. Your body is exhausted from the
pregnancy and you need to consume more food than normal. Have you been eating
red meat? You need a lot of that.”

“Yes.” Becca stabbed another bite of steak, chewed and
swallowed it and some of the pain in her stomach eased. She could enjoy the
food more now instead of just shoveling it down. She grabbed a soda and popped
the top. She lifted and drank half of it before she set it down. “Is the
thirstiness normal too? I’m always thirsty.”

No one said a word. Becca looked up to find Trisha frowning.
“No.”

“It’s not normal? I just thought it was part of pregnancy.”

“It probably is but I’m going to need to run some tests on
you, Becca.”

Alarm struck Becca. “What could it be?”

“I don’t know but the baby is fine. You saw him yourself and
listened to his strong heartbeat. You just may be doing too much. We aren’t
designed to have twenty-week pregnancies and it’s really a strain on our
bodies. You have to rest and eat more.”

Becca nodded. “Okay.”

She finished the steak and ignored the baked potato. She
stood and took the prime rib dinner next. She sank back to the floor and dug in,
cut up her meat and ate it slowly.

“Do you usually eat this much at once?” Trisha moved closer.

Becca swallowed and eyed Trisha. “Isn’t this normal?
Pregnant women eat a lot. I bought a baby book. I usually eat about nine times
a day.”

“This much each meal?”

“No. I missed breakfast and lunch.”

“What is wrong?” Brawn’s voice was soft.

“Maybe nothing.” Trisha shrugged. “We’ll watch her and see
how she does.”

Becca finished the soda while she ate. She opened a second
one, wished she had more milk, but wasn’t about to ask someone to order some.
The room was silent. Becca finally stopped focusing on her food to turn her
head. Four people watched her every move and it made her angry.

“You can leave if you all are going to just stand there
staring at me. I’m sorry if my table manners aren’t up to par but you’re making
me uncomfortable.” She glanced around the room. “There’s no dining room table
and I’m not going to sit on the couch and bend until I’m uncomfortable to reach
over here.”

“We’re just worried,” Trisha explained. “That’s all. You’ve
been without medical care.”

“Maybe she has an illness,” Slade guessed.

“I’m as healthy as a horse.” Becca knew he probably meant
well but she didn’t like the implication. “I’ve always gone to doctors
regularly and I’d know if I were sick. I’m usually fine as long as I eat
regularly and drink plenty of fluids.”

“There’s one major difference between you and her, Trisha,”
Tiger said. “Slade took care of you. He made sure you rested and ate regularly.
We should assign her a female to do the same.”

Trisha nodded. “I agree. We’ll see if that helps. I’m still
going to run tests to make sure everything is okay. I checked the baby but I’m
going to run a blood screen on her.” She walked to the phone. “I’m calling
Doctor Harris to bring me a bag and I’m going to draw some blood immediately.
We’ll need to test for gestational diabetes tomorrow morning. We have no idea
how that would affect a woman’s body with a Species baby on board.”

“I think you are overreacting.” Becca hoped she was right.
“I’ll feel fine once I eat and take a nap. I just went too long between meals.”

“Do not assign her a female to care for her. I will do it
myself.”

Becca’s spine stiffened at hearing that familiar voice. She
refused to look at Brawn. “The hell you will. Don’t you have a hot date to get
ready for?”

The room was unnaturally silent. Trisha broke it finally.

“Date?” She whispered but Becca heard.

She lost her appetite, gripped the soda and struggled to her
feet. “I’m going to go lie down. Feel free to come in to take blood, Trisha.”
She walked toward the hallway and was proud she refused to even glance at
Brawn.

“Becca,” he growled.

She froze. “Just go away and stay there.” Becca was proud of
herself for not letting her anger at him sound in her voice. She was almost to
the bedroom door when she heard Tiger speak.

“You should leave, Brawn. The female doesn’t want you here.”

Becca closed the bedroom and stared at her new home. The bed
was big, the room large too, but she couldn’t take in any more details as tears
blinded her.
Damn it.
Brawn had a date and it hurt so bad she wanted to
scream. Instead she kicked off her shoes and sank onto the big, soft mattress.
Her fingers gripped a pillow and shoved it under her head. It caught her tears.

Brawn tried to follow Becca but Tiger jumped in his way and
spread his arms. “Don’t. Be smart.”

“Move.”

“She wants you to go.” Anger glinted in Tiger’s eyes. “And I
agree. That was horrendous.”

“What happened?” Trisha stepped between them, hoping to
prevent a fight and glanced at each of them. “What date?”

“Lover boy over there has a date with Breeze. We ran into
her on our way up here and she mentioned she’d wear something sexy that he
could easily remove from her body to share sex.” Tiger growled. “I could smell
the human’s pain.”

“I wasn’t going to share sex with Breeze. I agreed to take
her dancing and share a meal.” Brawn’s body tensed. “Move or I’ll throw you.
I’m going to tell Becca the truth.”

Trisha faced him. “How many women have you had since Becca?”

He lowered his gaze. “None.”

She relaxed. “Good. That’s going to help some when you tell
her that but right now you can’t go back there. Did you see how pale she was?
How shaky? She needs rest, not to argue with you.”

“I need to tell her that there isn’t anything between Breeze
and me but friendship.”

Trisha put her hands on her hips, refused to budge and
lifted her eyebrows. “Let me play devil’s advocate here. She’s going to ask you
if you’ve ever had sex with Breeze. Have you?”

“Yes.”

She winced. “Nope. You aren’t going back there right now.
Let her get some sleep. Right now she’s fragile and sick. She is going to be
more upset when she finds out there used to be something between you and
Breeze.” She glanced at Slade. “Tell him.”

“Human females get jealous.” Slade grinned. “It is cute.”

Trisha lifted her hand and extended her middle finger. “It’s
not.” She stared up at Brawn. “You want to do what is best for her and the
baby, right?”

“I want to go to her.”

“She needs rest right now more than anything else. She needs
time to adjust to being here. We forced her to come and you blew it big-time
when you tried to claim her. Sometimes you guys are so damn dense. You don’t
come at a woman like a bull, just charging your way in and demand to take over
her life. Don’t be so aggressive. It’s called finesse. You should leave and go
look that word up if you don’t know the definition. Look up patience too.”

Brawn’s gaze lifted and he stared toward the hallway. “She
was hurt. I need to soothe her and assure her that I won’t be taking Breeze or
any other female anywhere.”

Trisha patted his chest. “Hey, I’ll handle that, okay? I’m
going to be here for a bit and I don’t snarl or roar when I lose my cool.”

“No. You just yell.”

She shot Slade a grin. “You stay out of this.”

He lifted his hands. “Easy, Doc. I’m just saying.”

Brawn lifted a hand and ran it through his hair. “What do I
do to make her accept me?”

“Give her time.” Tiger sighed. “I even know the answer to
that. What happened to never touching a human?”

Brawn glared at him.

“Sorry.” Tiger shrugged. “I’m just still in shock. This is
why I’m never getting involved with one. They are too emotional and react
strangely. One of our females would have punched you in the face if you hurt
her. I understand the direct approach and appreciate it.”

“She’s emotional and probably feeling insecure.” Trisha
glanced at Slade. “I’d be devastated if you’d made a date with a woman after
we’d gotten together. Being pregnant only makes it worse. You remember how big
and horrible I felt. I was a waddling mess with bloated ankles.”

He closed the distance between them. “You are always sexy
and when you were swollen with our baby, it made me want you even more.” He
gripped her hips and pulled her against him. “I’m addicted to you.” He growled.

She grinned. “Don’t do that. It’s been a few hours since I
nursed Forest and my breasts already ache. You’ll make me leak.”

He glanced down at her breasts and his chest rumbled. “If he
is not hungry, I will tend to them.” His tongue darted out to lick his bottom
lip. “I love your milk.”

“Too much information,” Tiger said and chuckled. “But I like
warm milk too.”

Slade glared at him.

“In a glass,” Tiger amended quickly, his smile fading. “I
wasn’t trying to angle for some of her breast milk.”

Slade suddenly grinned. “Her milk is much better than
anything in a glass.”

Tiger dropped his gaze. “I bet it is. It smells good. Every
time I’m near your mate I crave milk and cookies.”

“That’s all you better want,” Slade growled.

Trisha shoved away from Slade. “I’m starting to blush. Let
me call Harris and get him to send a kit to me.” She stared at Brawn. “Give her
time. You both need some space right now to let things sink in.”

“I want to be with her. I
need
to be here.”

“It’s not about just you right now.” She held his gaze. “Be
the bigger man. Do what is right for her and I’ll talk to her about Breeze,
okay? I’ll make sure she knows you aren’t going on your date and that you
haven’t been sleeping around. That will help a lot. That’s the truth, isn’t it?
Tell me now if it’s not.”

“I haven’t touched a female since Becca except to dance with
Breeze. She was worried about me and showed up to take me to the bar. I agreed
to go out again with her later.”

“She expected to share sex.” Tiger shrugged. “Just saying.”

“She will be disappointed.” Brawn fisted his hands. “I will
stay in the living room.” He glanced at the couch and winced. “I’ll sleep there
or in the second bedroom.”

“No, you won’t. Damn, Brawn. Be reasonable.” Trisha held his
gaze again. “Go home, punch something, do whatever it takes to deal with this
but you can’t ever act the way you did today. What made you roar at her? Was it
because she didn’t want to be your mate?”

“Yes. She’s mine.”

“That’s the kind of thinking you need to get a handle on.
Never say that again until you two patch things up. She’s scared, pregnant and
we’re holding her here against her will. She’s terrified her father is going to
find out and hurt you. Or worse, you’ll hurt him. He’s her dad. You’re the
father of her baby. She’s in a bad situation.”

“We all are considering who her father is.” Slade pulled out
his cell phone. “I need to call Justice. All task force members are banned from
Reservation while she’s here until we find a way to let Tim know the truth
safely.”

“Agreed.” Tiger sighed. “I’m going to assign a guard outside
and we need a female to care for Becca.”

“I’ll do it,” Brawn hissed through clenched teeth.

“You’ve already upset her.” Trisha stepped closer. “She
could lose the baby if she gets too stressed. Is that what you want?”

Horror swept him. “No.”

“You want to win her trust and for her to talk to you?
That’s the way to do it. I’m human, if you forgot. I know what I’m talking
about.”

Brawn spun and stormed out of the room. He didn’t bother
with the elevator, instead took the stairs and ran down them quickly. He burst
out of the hotel and kept running until he reached his home.

The second the door closed he threw back his head and
roared. It felt good to get it out. Becca was carrying his child, she was hurt
and angry. He stood there until he caught his breath. Someone knocked on the
door and he moved away from it and threw it open, hoping Becca had asked for
him.