“You won’t. They’ll shoot me with drugged darts, lock me up for a week, and assign me to the other head shrink.” He moved in closer and his hands gripped her waist. It was small and her skin under the material was pliable when he gently squeezed, fascinating him with how different she was from his own kind. “You don’t like her. I’m yours and you won’t give my care to someone else.”
Her mouth opened, closed, and her breathing became erratic. “I don’t dislike Geraldine.”
“Lie,” he stated.
“She’s a colleague of mine and I’ve never said I dislike her.”
He muffled a snarl. She wanted to start an argument to distract him from sharing sex. It wasn’t going to work. “You look at her with disgust and irritation. You don’t like her and you won’t allow her near me.”
Her hands flattened on his chest. They felt good but would feel even better if she were touching his bare skin. “We treat our clients differently, that’s all.”
“What is the difference?”
Joy licked her lips, teasing him with her tongue. “Besides her making more money? Degrees. She’s got more of them than I do. As far as training and qualifications though—not much. We’re both doctors, trained in psychotherapy. She’s a psychiatrist, I’m a psychologist. I have a Psy. D. after my name but she has an M.D. after her name. She makes a distinction, as most of them do.”
“You are nicer. I’ve heard she’s mean. You won’t hit the alarm. They will give me to her. You don’t want that.”
Her fingertips dug into his shirt to grip him more firmly. They were not strong enough to force him back when she pushed. He really liked the feel of them.
“I don’t.”
He knew it. “Let me touch you. It will be good.”
That tongue darted out again to swipe her lips. “Listen to me,” she whispered. “We can’t do this.”
“You want me. Don’t lie.”
“I do,” she admitted so quietly he had a hard time hearing those two wonderful words.
Satisfaction filled him. “Good.”
“But we can’t do this.”
Frustration rose fast. “We can.”
“No, we can’t.” She glanced toward the door, then back. “May I ask you something? Total honesty?”
“Yes.” He’d tell her anything she wanted to know.
“If I were to say yes, after you got what you wanted, would you stop coming after me? Is this curiosity to have sex with me once or more?”
He didn’t have to think. “More. Once would never be enough.”
“That’s what I thought.” Her chin lifted and determination shone in her eyes. “Back off or I have to hit the alarm. I don’t want to but I will do it.”
He could see the truth in her eyes and growled, jerking away. It would be easy to stop her from sounding the alarm. His reflexes were better than hers. She’d never reach the button if he threw her out of the chair, took her to the floor and pinned her. As tempting as that was, he’d never do it. He’d lose her forever if he broke the trust she’d given by allowing him to be alone with her during their sessions.
“It can’t happen,” she whispered. “I wish it could but it can’t.”
“Why not? I want you, you want me, and no one is here to stop us.”
“They’d figure it out.” She straightened in her chair, her spine stiff. “I think we should call it a day, don’t you?”
“No. I don’t want to leave.”
Beautiful eyes pleaded with him. “You need to go. We’ll continue this tomorrow.”
“Fine.”
Anger warred with frustration. He spun and marched out of her office. The next day they told him she no longer worked there and wasn’t coming back. He never saw her again.
He was confused because she stepped closer to him. How could she have gone when he was looking right at her?
What is real? What is memory?
A growl tore from him as he clasped the bars that blocked his path to Joy.
“Easy,” Joy crooned. Moon was acting irrational, his expressions changing as she regarded him. “I’m right here. You need to calm down. Relax.”
The Species behind the bars wasn’t the 466 she’d known. He’d been moody, a loner, but slowly making progress at letting her get close to him. She’d fallen in love with 466. Then the version of Moon she’d seen on Harley’s video had been charming, outgoing, and he enjoyed sports. Of course, his motive for the latter may have been that he’d wanted to play with the females. That was a strong possibility and it made her little green-eyed monster stir.
The male she faced was neither of those versions though. He was dangerous and unstable.
Don’t forget that
, she advised herself. “Do you know me?”
“You left me.”
The words startled her but she was grateful to hear them, despite the way he snarled the accusation. He remembered the past and obviously wasn’t happy with her. It didn’t matter. He was talking and knew who she was.
“I had no choice.”
One hand snaked through the bars, reaching for her. “Come here.”
Should she move close enough for him to touch or not? Anger radiated from him but she wasn’t a stranger to him any longer. Joy took another step closer.
“Don’t hurt me.”
“Come,” he harshly demanded.
She stepped within his reach. His hand gently gripped her upper arm, steering her closer with a light tug. She pressed against the bars, peering up at him.
“Why am I here?” He glanced at the bars.
Hope flared that the drugs were wearing off. “You’ve been sick.”
Confusion clouded his features. “I don’t catch colds.”
“You were on guard duty and you were shot with a dart that was filled with an unknown drug.”
“Guard duty? We have guards. Why would I do their job?”
Alarm rattled her. “Where do you think we are?”
“The motel.”
Shit!
He is in the past, not the present.
She tried not to panic. “Think hard. Do you remember leaving the motel at all? Going to Homeland?” She hoped the hints would trigger memories.
“What is that?”
Oh God.
Huge chunks of his memory are gone.
Calm down and hide how freaked out you are
, she ordered herself.
His memory hadn’t returned.
He seemed able to remember her and the time in the desert, at least. That was improvement.
“Let me out.” He looked at the bars again. “Unlock the door.”
“I can’t. I don’t have the key.”
He growled and his hold on her tightened but not enough to hurt. “Why did you do this to me?”
“I didn’t.”
“You ordered me caged?” Anger narrowed his eyes and he softly growled. “I hate being locked up.”
“I didn’t order it.”
“The other doctor you hate did this to me?”
“I didn’t hate her. I just thought she was kind of a snob.”
“You left and I became hers.” He pressed his face against the bars. “I don’t like her and this is payback for my refusal to speak to her, isn’t it?”
“No.” She carefully chose her words, not wanting to send him into shock or cause him emotional trauma by hinting that he’d lost so much time in his mind. “It wasn’t her choice either. You were dangerous.”
“I wouldn’t hurt any of the female guards.”
He was definitely in the past. “I know that. But you haven’t been yourself. What is the last thing you remember?”
“You left me.”
“How long has it been since I left?” She wanted to pinpoint his time frame and then she could keep track of his progression.
His mouth twisted into a grim frown and he shook his head. “I don’t know. A while.” His other hand slipped through the bars and cupped her face. His fingertips created a welcome rasp along her cheekbone where he caressed her. “Why can’t I answer that?”
“You’ve been sick,” she reminded him. “Confused. It’s okay. You’re getting better.” She slid her hand through the bars to rest her palm over his warm, firm chest to stroke him. “You’re going to be okay though. That’s why I’m here. I’m not leaving you again, 466. I promise.” She felt it was safer to use his number rather than his name since that was what he was familiar with in his current state.
His hand released her to slip his arm around her waist and urge her closer. He inhaled, closing his eyes.
“You smell different.”
“I changed my shampoo and conditioner but I’m not wearing perfume. My body wash is new too.” She didn’t have access to her own products, using what the NSO had provided instead. She planned to ask them to allow her to order the brands she used.
Dark eyes opened to silently watch her. “Tell them to let me out.”
She wished she could.
“I need out of here.” His breathing increased. “I hate being caged.”
“I know.” Her hand trailed up his chest and down to his stomach near his bellybutton, then back up, trying to comfort him. “Relax. Don’t get upset. Just talk to me. I’m right here.”
“I need to get out of this cage.” He stopped stroking her cheek to yank his hand back and fisted the bars. “Get me out.” His tone deepened into a growl. “Call the guard, Joy. I won’t hurt anyone. I’ll tell them I’m yours and they will have to take your orders.”
Temptation was a bitch and she debated what would happen if she did call out to other Species. Would seeing who guarded him set his progress back by confusing him more? It might be the push to help him remember who he’d become since she’d known him. Shock could also set back his recovery. She didn’t know what to do. She’d studied mind-altering drugs, but not how they affected New Species.
“I’ll go talk to the people in charge.”
That drew another frown but he released her waist, backing away from her and her touch. “Do that. Get me out of here.” His gaze lowered down her body, hesitating on her breasts, before he met her stare again. “I don’t want bars between us. You aren’t leaving me again. You gave your word and I’m holding you to it.”
“Okay.” She nodded, her hand feeling cold after losing the contact of his warm skin. She closed it into a fist. “I’ll do that right now. Just stay calm. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He looked down his body and growled, raising both arms. “Chains.”
“I know.”
Another snarl tore from him before his chin jerked up so he could hold her gaze. “Get me out of here. Get these off me. Take me to your office and tell them I’ll talk to you.”
“I will.” She backed up, hating to leave him, but needing to talk to the Species about immediately changing his living conditions. She spun, walking quickly toward the elevator.
“Joy?” She stopped, glancing back.
“Don’t run from me again. Promise.”
“I promise. I’m not leaving you this time. I’ll be back as soon as I can talk them into getting you out of there and removing those chains. I’m coming back as soon as possible.”
Justice North sat behind his desk while Tiger and Fury had taken seats perched on the sides of the massive piece of furniture. Joy swallowed, waiting for the last person to arrive. Dr. Treadmont finally showed up for the meeting Joy had asked for. He closed the door behind him.
“What did you wish to speak about?”
“Moon believes he is at site four.”
Silence greeted that statement until Dr. Treadmont asked a question.
“What the hell is that?”
“There were remote sites we were relocated to after we were freed from Mercile,” Fury answered. “We were hidden from the press and given time to assimilate into life outside of Mercile.”
“They were motels,” Tiger added. “Out in bum-fuck nowhere that the government was easily able to buy or gain access to because they were abandoned. They sent in crews to clean them up, do repairs, and that’s where we were housed. They put guards around the area to keep anyone from seeing us in case stray humans happened along.”
Justice spoke next. “That’s where Moon met Dr. Yards. She was his shrink. The ones put in charge of us after our release not only wanted us to adjust to life outside Mercile but they wanted us to learn modern technology while giving us mental-health care.”
“I was Moon’s therapist,” she corrected, though she knew she’d always be a “shrink” to Species. “From what I could tell by our conversation, he believes that he’s still living at the motel. He’s come a long way though. He remembers me.”
And he remembers that I left him.
She decided to keep that part out. “He had a normal conversation with me. That’s a huge improvement from him saying one or two words. I think he’s slowly recovering. I’m hoping more memories will come back and he won’t have a huge gap of missing time.”
Harley growled. “Fuck.”
“That’s good.” Justice didn’t look convinced though. “Isn’t it?”
“I think so. I’m hoping his full memory will return. We need to allow him to ease into it. I don’t want to risk big shocks setting back his recovery. It’s a possibility. The chains and the cell distress him. I called this meeting to ask if we could upgrade his living conditions.”
“I will need to assess him,” Treadmont stated, shooting Joy a frown. “We don’t know her well enough to trust her judgment. I want Dr. Kregkor to talk to him.”