New Species 09 Shadow (5 page)

“He didn’t do anything.” Beauty hated the way everyone assumed Shadow had done something bad to her. She wiggled her hand free and crossed her arms over her chest. Worry for Shadow made her feel braver than normal. “Leave him alone. Better yet, mind your own business.”

Breeze gaped at her in astonishment. “What?”

“I appreciate your concern and the fact that you’d go after a man in retribution for whatever crime you assume he committed but leave him alone.”

“Are you running a fever? Feeling ill? Your immune system isn’t as tough as ours. Did you catch a cold?”

“No. There’s nothing wrong with me. That’s the problem. No one seems to be able to realize that. I’m not weak or stupid. I spent the night with a man who held me while I slept. That’s all he did and I’m grateful to him. Not grateful that he just held me without trying to have sex with me but that he was there at all. Shadow is wonderful.” She spun away and rushed to the stairs, longing to reach her room to get away from everyone.

Breeze caught up with her as she yanked open her apartment door and entered. She almost closed the door on the other Species before she saw her. The door was pushed open and her apartment invaded by a wary canine sporting a frown.

“Beauty? What the hell is going on?”

“Leave me alone.” She decided to retreat to her room since there was no way she could physically kick out Breeze.

The door slammed and she jumped, her head snapping around. Breeze hadn’t left but instead watched with her dark, intense gaze. “Talk to me. What has gotten into you? Why were you even outside last night? Did he come in here and get you? How did you even meet Shadow? He’s one of the newer males. He was assigned to the task force.”

Tears welled in her eyes and she hated them. “Why bother to talk? I’m a Gift Female. I know the rules.”

Breeze stalked her, moving on bare feet in a way that made her feel a little fear. She was an intimidating woman and had an odd expression on her face. She paused a few feet away.

“I can’t help you unless you tell me what is wrong.”

Beauty wiped at her tears. “You wouldn’t understand. No one does.”

“Make me. Talk. What does you being Gift have to do with this and what rules?”

She pondered speaking her mind. She didn’t see any anger on Breeze’s face though. “I’m not Halfpint or Tiny. They are terrified of men. I love both of them, they are my friends, but they need those rules to protect them. I don’t.”

Dark eyes widened and Breeze sidestepped to the couch and sat. “Go on.”

“I’m lonely. Do you know what it is like for me?”

“No.” Breeze’s voice softened to almost a whisper. “Tell me.”

“I just want what everyone else has.”

“We’re equal here.”

“No. We aren’t. Have you stayed out all night with a man before?”

“Of course.”

“Did angry security officers take him away? Were you called names and insulted as though you were somehow tricked into being with him? Were you followed to your room to have it invaded by someone who demands answers?”

“Who called you names and insulted you?”

“Kit. She thinks I’m a child and stupid because I wanted to know what it was like to be held by a man. He didn’t try to do anything to me sexually but I wish he had. He never will though. I’m Gift. He won’t even speak to me again and it’s not fair.”

“Oh shit,” Breeze muttered, understanding dawning. “You went in search of a male?”

“No. I wanted to feel free and alive. I don’t here. I ran into the rain to get away from this place and he found me. The hail started and Shadow took me to the small building to protect me from the storm. He tried leave right away to call for assistance but I just wanted to spend time with him.” Hot tears spilled down her cheeks. “Now he’s in trouble because I tricked him into staying with me and everyone seems to be angry at him. He did nothing wrong except believe me when I said I’d be terrified if he left me alone. I just wanted to get to know him.”

Breeze closed her eyes. Beauty didn’t know what the other woman was thinking but she guessed now she would be in trouble for admitting that she’d lied to Shadow. It was a bad trait Species detested, though it was sometimes necessary. Tricking a man into spending the night wasn’t for the good of anyone but Beauty. Brown eyes opened to fix on her face.

“I’m going to make some calls and make sure Shadow isn’t in trouble. Then you and I are going to talk. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

“I know. I’m restricted to my room. Kit grounded me.”

“She what?” Breeze rose to her feet with a snarl.

“That’s what Gifts are to all of you, right? Children? Why did you bother to save us? It’s a prison without abuse but it’s still captivity. Sunshine, nicer living conditions, and food aren’t enough.” Beauty fled to her bedroom and closed the door.

* * * * *

Shadow paced the room, hating that he’d been denied the opportunity to change into his clothing. The flag secured around his hips had made other males laugh when they’d seen him, more than a little amused, until they’d heard why he was being taken to Fury.

The male entered his office with a grim expression. “Shadow.”

“Fury.”

“That’s taking team spirit a bit far.”

Shadow bit back a snarl. “My uniform was soaked from the storm and this was all that was available. It was better than being naked. Book and Jericho refused to allow me to change.”

The corners of Fury’s mouth twitched. “It isn’t every day you see a male wearing a wolf head wrapped around his waist.”

“I didn’t do anything to the Gift Female. I spotted her running in the rain. I believed she was a human at first but quickly determined her origins. I only took her to that building to get her out of the hail but she was too terrified for me to leave her alone to radio for help. I only held her to keep her warm.”

“I’m aware.” All humor fled from Fury. “I just spoke to the males. They didn’t pick up the scent of sex.”

“She’s a Gift Female.”

“You know protocol.”

“She refused to allow me to leave her alone. I had left my radio in the cart.”

The other male raised his hand to his chest. “What is she? This high? Do you expect me to believe she prevented you from doing the right thing?” His palm lowered. “Try again.”

Shadow adjusted his stance and crossed his arms over his chest. He felt ridiculous in the flag. “May I speak freely?”

“Always.”

“Something upset her enough to make her leave the safety of the dorm. I was concerned and she behaved fine until I intended to call a female officer for assistance. Have you ever looked into Beauty’s eyes? I couldn’t say no. She wanted to spend the night away from her home and asked me to stay with her. I hoped she’d tell me what was really going on but she didn’t.”

Fury leaned back against his desk. “Are you implying she’s being abused by someone there? That one of our females is harming her? Do you have proof of that?” Anger glinted in his eyes. “I want to get to the bottom of this immediately.”

Shadow hesitated. “I don’t know. She didn’t want to go back, Fury. She nearly panicked when I said I’d leave her to call for assistance.”

The door opened and Shadow’s mouth opened in astonishment as Breeze stormed into the room wearing just an oversized T-shirt that fell to her thighs, her hair a tangled mess.

Fury straightened. “Hello, Breeze. I would say good morning but it isn’t one. What is going on at the women’s dorm?”

Breeze studied Shadow from his bare feet upward to his attire and finally held his gaze. “Shadow.”

“I didn’t do anything to the Gift Female.”

She turned to stare at Fury. “We have a problem.”

“I’m aware. I left my mate and son at home to be here on my day off. Why was Beauty out in that storm instead of safely inside her apartment? Do you know? And before you tear into the male, I believe him—that he didn’t attempt to initiate shared sex with her.”

“I’m not here to castrate him. I just left Beauty.” Her gaze cut to Shadow. “She defended his actions.” Her hands gripped her hips as she focused back on Fury. “This is hard to say but we majorly screwed the pooch.”

“What?” Fury’s eyebrows shot up.

“It’s a human saying,” Breeze explained. She pointed a thumb at Shadow. “It means we have made a major mistake. Our Beauty resents being classified as a Gift Female and she’s curious about him.”

“I don’t understand.”

Shadow was with Fury on that one. He was confused too. “Curious how?”

“Stay out of this, toga boy,” Breeze muttered, dismissing Shadow. “Are you hearing what I’m putting down, Fury?”

“No. Could you speak plainly? Not all of us love human slang and I haven’t even had coffee or donuts this morning.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “Here’s blunt for you. Beauty is curious about males. As in I think she resents the protective bubble we’ve formed around her to keep them from offering to share sex. We have a Gift Female who might be ready to experiment a little with having physical contact with males.” She jerked her thumb at Shadow again. “Get it? We never thought any of them would want to be touched but we should have.”

Shadow felt about as stunned as Fury looked. He hoped his mouth hadn’t fallen open the way the other male’s had. He sealed his lips tightly together to make sure. His mind began to work again and he forced the air from his lungs.

“She didn’t try to initiate sex with me.”

Breeze turned her head to stare at him. “Are you sure?”

“I’d have noticed.”

She approached him until only inches separated them. “She’s not a typical female, toga boy.” Her hands suddenly flattened on his chest and dug in enough to make him growl out a warning not to hurt him. “This is how I’d come at you. I’d knock you on your ass if that’s what it took to get my point across of what I wanted from you but she’s not me.” Her hands released him quickly and she spun to face Fury. “Her just asking him to stay with her might be her version of attempting it. They’ve never dealt with our males. Maybe humans enjoy timid hints and those are the only males she’s known. Toga boy here might have missed those.”

“Stop calling me that,” Shadow demanded. “She spoke to me and never said anything that implied she was interested in sharing sex.”

Breeze looked at him over her shoulder. “What did she talk about?”

“Her captivity.” He paused. “She shared some details about the male who had her and her life.”

“See?” The canine female threw up her hands. “There you go. Human women babble about their pasts when they are around a hot guy they are interested in. I watch their movies and that’s a dead giveaway.” She frowned at Fury. “What should we do? Give him to her? It won’t be hard for her to unwrap him with the outfit he’s wearing.”

Shadow staggered a little. “What? Give me to her? No!”

Fury had the audacity to laugh. “True. It’s just a little knot at the waist.” He ran his fingers through his hair and his expression changed to a grim one as he watched Breeze. “Is that what you suggest? We send him to her to appease her curiosity? I think we should find a male who has a lot of experience with human females. They are vastly different from Species and so are Gifts. He might scare her, and hell, maybe we should consider one of the task force members. Maybe a human would be better in this case. I know a few of them very well and I’ll consult with Tiger and Brass. We could find a very mild one whom we could trust to back off if she changes her mind.”

The idea of someone from the task force touching Beauty sent anger coursing through Shadow. “Humans abused her and you want to send one to her bed? No!”

“Fury has a good point though,” Breeze sighed. “Our males are aggressive. It’s not as if we have any Gift males. We could send Smiley to her. He’s primate and very mellow. He’s also smaller than toga boy and won’t crush her. Primates like sex face-to-face too. I’m sure she’d appreciate that over being mounted from behind. I can’t see her taking the swelling and locking together afterward very well either. She’s little.”

“So is my Ellie and she handles me fine.” Fury glared.

“I’m not dogging on canine males. Hello! I’m canine too.” Breeze rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying she’s Gift. She might not appreciate a fully turned-on Species with the canine traits.” She glanced at Shadow. “Toga boy is canine. I’d suggest a feline but again—the aggressive traits.”

“I said, stop calling me that,” Shadow growled, losing his temper. “Are you certain she wants to share sex? She didn’t give me that impression and I slept with her on my chest all night.”

“Maybe he’s right. We might be reading too much into this. Talk to her, Breeze. Maybe she’s just confused or it’s a passing thing.” Fury sounded hopeful. “We should investigate this more but if that’s the case, I insist on it being a Species male. Shadow has a point. Humans abused her.”

“You do that. It’s my job to protect my females and see to their needs.” Breeze glared at him. “She feels enslaved by our rules regarding Gift Females. She said so. I’ll go over your head if I have to and Justice owes me big-time. I refuse to back down.”

Fury regarded her warily. “What do you have in mind?”

Breeze turned her head to narrow her gaze at Shadow. He could almost see her mind working, plotting something.