New Species 05 Brawn (17 page)

“Brawn is a council member. He’s—”

"Explain the council to me."

Tiger took another breath. “Each of the four testing
facilities that we were rescued from appointed a Species to represent them
after we elected Justice to lead. We knew he would be busy dealing with the
outside world and trying to handle our people as well. Some human suggested
each set of survivors from the testing facilities have one spokesperson to
represent their needs and issues. They keep track of all the Species from their
labs and report to Justice if there is a problem. Brawn was chosen for his
ability to remain calm under pressure, his fighting skills and his
intelligence. He’s known among my people to have a good sense of humor and to
be very reasonable.”

“His fighting skills didn’t save him and my daughter,” Tim
raged. “If he was any good they’d never have been taken.”

Tiger immediately took offense. “He never would have been
captured if he wasn’t protecting your daughter. He could have fled and left
her. He’s feline. He could have easily leapt onto your roof from the window or
to the ground below without injury on his own. We believe he was mixed with
black leopard. I have hunted with him myself and he’s really fast. I told you
that there were at least six men inside your daughter’s home and you saw the
body. He fought but they had drugs. He didn’t flee because he stayed with your
daughter. Do not dare insult him.”

Trey Roberts cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, everyone calm
down, please. This isn’t helping.”

A man sitting in front of a laptop computer cursed suddenly.
He turned to face his boss, Tim. “I’ve got really bad news.”

“What is it?” Tim tensed.

“It was tough but I have hacked into the dead guy’s
financials. He’s been getting regular deposits from a shell company. I was able
to trace that to the real source of money.” He held Tim’s gaze. “Mercile
Industries is behind this. The money is coming from a slush fund they have. All
the deposits in that account were made by their investors. The dead guy was
getting paid by them.”

Tim fisted his hand and jerked his head to Tiger. “Why would
they want my daughter when they killed my neighbors? Why keep her alive?”

Tiger tensed as he studied Tim, trying to judge if the man
could handle the truth without coming completely unglued. Tiger took a deep
breath. “You need to assign one of your men to handle the task force. You’re
too emotionally invested.”

“No!” Tim yelled.

Trey suddenly reached out and gripped Tim’s arm. “He’s
right. You can stay but you have to step down for this one. I know you are
going out of your head. This is Becca, Tim. I understand but you need to let me
take this one.”

Tim cursed viciously. “Why?”

Tiger hesitated. “Mercile Industries took another human once
who had an association with a Species male. I am afraid if I tell you and you
are heading this that you will be very unreasonable. I can’t inform you of
facts without you being a father and becoming unstable.”

Tim tensed and rage swept through him. “What do you think
they are going to do to my daughter?”

Tiger hesitated. “Give over command to your second and I
will share the information we know.”

Tim turned and punched the inside of the van. He nodded at
Trey. “You’re in charge.”

Trey nodded and stared at Tiger. “What do you think is going
on?”

Tiger hesitated. “Are you very close to his daughter?”

Trey nodded. “Yes but I’m more rational and objective. Becca
and I are friends but I can stay cool-headed.”

Tiger regarded him carefully and saw a calm control there.
He nodded but he focused on the father of the missing female. “A human female
was kidnapped by a Mercile doctor and his team recently. She is mated with one
of my kind. Since this Rebecca was with Brawn they might have mistaken her for
his mate. They don’t have our sense of smell, which would make it obvious to
one of us that she slept in her bed alone. She only ended up in his room
because of the attack. He put her inside his bathroom because they had to fight
him to get to her there.”

Trey nodded. “Rebecca isn’t the type to jump into bed with
someone.”

“Brawn wouldn’t touch a female human either. He likes our
women and has been very clear that he holds no sexual interest in your
females.”

“Just tell us what you think they took my daughter for and
why I’m only hearing about this other woman being taken now. I’m supposed to be
informed of all issues that arise and my team should have been called in if a
mate was kidnapped.” Tim’s voice shook.

Tiger hesitated. “We handled the situation and didn’t want
to call you unless we had to. They took the other human to breed with Species
they’d stolen from Mercile before the testing facility they worked in was
breached by your law enforcement. They wanted her because she was mated to a
Species. The doctor assumed that since one Species would take her to bed that
another of my kind would without killing her, perhaps believing that because
she carried one of our male’s scents would make her irresistible. They probably
took your daughter alive to breed her to a Species male. They want to see if a
human female can get impregnated by my kind.”

Tim paled and leaned back against the inside of the van. He
shook his head. “No.”

Tiger nodded grimly. “They shoved the other human female
into a cell with a Species male who had never been freed but he didn’t touch
her. He could smell her mate on her and protected her as if she were Species.
We’re hoping Brawn is the only male they have and that’s why they came after
him. She should be safe if that’s the case.”

“Should be?”

Tiger hesitated. “They forced us to breed with our females.
When we refused they would harm the female until we agreed to breed or they
used drugs to send the male into a mindless state where he was left without
option.” Tiger hesitated again. “If that happens and they use the drugs, your
daughter would not withstand it well, if she isn’t killed. Our females barely
survived a forced breeding. The males lose the ability to control or to think.
Afterward the male will not even remember what he has done. He would not be
responsible for his actions. You have heard of a date rape drug? This is
similar to one only the male gets aggressive and his body is in torturous pain
unless he breeds with a female. The drugs strip him to the animal inside.”

“I’m going to kill the assholes,” Tim ground out through
clenched teeth. “You’re saying you think they took both of them to force him to
rape my daughter?”

Tiger nodded. “He will not harm her if they don’t use the
drugs and he will refuse to have sex unless they threaten to kill or torture
her. Brawn knows we are trying to track him if they didn’t find the device. He
managed to hide the coin tracking device we gave him long enough to get us to
this area. He will do anything to keep her alive if he can.”

Trey softly cursed. “You know this guy well?”

Tiger nodded. “Yes.”

“If he’s forced to, uh, touch her, he won’t hurt her?”

Tiger gave him a sincere look. “He wouldn’t. Brawn is very
resistant to touching a human female. He doesn’t hold interest in them. I am
more afraid that whoever took them will use drugs. That’s my biggest fear.”

“Will he kill her?”

Tiger shrugged. “It would depend on whether they use the
drugs. I told you how they work. He wouldn’t be responsible for what happens if
he’s out of his mind.” Tiger studied Tim. “If that’s the case, it would be an
accident if he killed or seriously harmed your daughter. He is a victim in this
too. That is why you had to step down.” He stared at Trey. “If you can’t
guarantee his safety from your men if they drugged him and the worst has
happened, you need to say so now. Your task force will be removed from this
mission. That’s why we insisted upon coming here with our own team of males.”

Trey looked grim. “On the drugs he’d rape her, wouldn’t he?”

“On the drugs he wouldn’t be himself. He would be mindless
and in agony. It would be like someone injecting you with drugs that made you
so crazy you would have no recollection of what you’d done. You would be in so
much pain that it would turn you into a mindless animal. When you woke later you
would be horrified if you had harmed someone. Do you understand?”

Trey nodded. “He won’t be harmed, no matter what. I give my
word.”

Tiger nodded. “What about your men? If we find the worst
will they react and just kill him?”

Trey sighed. “I’ll talk to them now. I swear we won’t kill
him, regardless of the circumstances.”

“There is one more thing.” Tiger paused. “You remember the
raid in Colorado on that testing facility we took down? We have talked to our
recovered people. We did not rescue all of them. There are about two dozen
males and one female still unaccounted for and we might find them there. They
may have taken Tim’s daughter to another Species male to breed. You cannot kill
them either, even if you find his daughter’s body inside one their cells. But,
if another of my kind has harmed his daughter or if she was killed without the
male being drugged, I’ll put him down myself. Some Species were driven mad and
may be beyond saving.”

Trey nodded grimly. “Understood. I’ll give my men the heads
up that this might be a bigger recovery than we thought and that no matter what
we find, you are in charge of your people who are inside.”

Trey left quietly to go talk to his teams still searching
buildings alongside the twenty Species males who had shown up to help them look
for the missing couple.

Tim stormed out of the van and started to hit the exterior
of the vehicle with his fists. Tiger calmly watched the dents appear inside of
the van and understood the father’s rage. He stepped out of the command van and
waited for Tim to calm. Eventually he did and Tiger saw the grief in the
human’s eyes.

“Brawn will do anything to protect her if he can.”

“This is my fault. I took him to her house. I did this.”

“Mercile Industries did this by hiring vicious humans who have
no regard for life. Hate them, Tim.”

He nodded. “We have to find my daughter and your man.”

“We will. The signal was lost in this area. It’s just taking
time because there are so many buildings where they could be hiding. By morning
we will have searched every single one and we’re pretty sure they are here.
They would have destroyed the tracking device long before it led to this area
if they were aware of its existence.”

“You can’t smell them at all?”

Tiger shook his head. “I wouldn’t scent them from outside
unless I am close to a building and there is a breeze coming from their
direction. Our males are with your teams, they are some of the best hunters we
have and I have faith we will locate them. The waiting is the hardest, I
understand, but we’ll know by morning for sure. You just need to hang in
there.”

“This is my fault.”

“We’ve been over this.”

“I should have made her leave her house or gone home after
my date. I should have made sure she was sleeping in her old bedroom. I—”

Tiger gripped his shoulder. “You would have died too if
you’d been home. They were well trained to take one of our males. I don’t mean
to offend you but we’re stronger and faster. If Brawn didn’t stand a chance,
you wouldn’t have either.”

Tim’s voice choked with emotion. “I just want to get my
daughter back alive.”

* * * * *

Brawn jerked awake when he heard a noise. His hold instantly
tightened around Becca, who was curled in his arms. She breathed slowly,
sleeping soundly. Her hand rested around his arm and he studied her face as he
sniffed the air. No stench of his enemy offended his nose. They were currently
safe from harm.

She was beautiful. He’d never thought he’d find a human so
appealing but she was. She was so different from his kind. Her nose wasn’t
flattened, just a cute bump on her face. The bones in her face were softer, not
dominant. She felt small and fragile in his arms and he could break her easily
if he wasn’t careful.

His body responded instantly when she shifted a little and
her thigh rubbed against him. They weren’t even naked but just being close was
enough to make his dick harden and lengthen between their bodies. He wanted to
mount her again. Sharing sex with her was different and wonderful. She was so
soft and tight. So wet, hot and fragile. He bit back a groan.

The memory of the sounds Becca made while he’d mounted her
made his desire to take her again grow stronger. He physically ached to be back
inside her but she’d been sore afterward and probably still was. He should have
been gentler but she’d taken him so well that he couldn’t stop the need to feel
every inch of his dick buried in the soft, tight heat of her sex, which encased
him perfectly.

His shoulders burned a little where her nails had dug into
his skin during their passionate encounter. He glanced down at the bite she’d
left on his chest and mourned that it wouldn’t scar. She had delicate, flat
teeth but they’d felt good when she’d sunk them in enough to cause slight pain.
No female had ever marked him and he was glad she had. He only regretted the reminder
wouldn’t be permanent.

He suddenly understood how Justice and the other Species
males could take a human mate. They were not as strong as Species females but
their softness and kittenish responses gripped a man inside his chest. His gaze
returned to study her face. He was unable to stop staring. He doubted he’d ever
be able to look at her enough.

He lifted his hand to stroke her soft auburn hair and some
of it curled around his finger. It was too short, only just past her shoulders
and he wanted to see her grow it long, to her ass. He fantasized about winding
his fingers through the long strands that could spread across his stomach when
her head rested on his chest while she slept. His fingers brushed her cheek.