Daughter Trilogy Bundle (140 page)

He dims the lights, and the projector begins the slide show.  Hale
’s eyes are burning into mine when my focus accidentally strays, and he looks away when Brazen starts talking again.

“
This is the Lankton compound.  As you can see, it was smaller, but it was still a strong facility.”

I take notice of the large castle-like compound surrounded by intricate mazes of walls for separation.  The full bloods don
’t usually attack humans anymore, but safety is still an issue to prevent an infectious outbreak.

Full bloods officers in the United are allowed to mingle with them because of their high status and rank.  I forget Brazen is a full blood most days, but there
’s always that one divide that stands between us - my dangerous blood near his perfect mouth.

“
This is what it looks like now,” Brazen says, and I snap out of my trance to see the flattened valley that used to be a proud facility.

Several gasps emerge, and one slips through my lips as well.

“This is after they hit the first arsenal.  We believe they did this as a demonstration of power.  They’re after something, and this is them showing they’ll stop at nothing to get it before they even start making demands.  We’re adding security to all the compounds in the region, and we’ve reached out to the other divisions to do the same.  Until we find out what they want, no one without our security clearance can leave the compounds.  They may have moles, so this will force them to contact them via phone, email, text, or some other electronic form of communication that we can easily listen in on.”

Brazen removes himself from his commanding position at the head of the room and comes back to take his seat by me.

“The humans are confined to the compounds at all times anyhow in case one of your kind goes rogue and forgets the law,” the pudgy man growls to Brazen.

My eyes darken when I feel my protectiveness burning through my veins.  The room threatens to shift, but Brazen pulls my hand back in his to calm me down before I rip things apart, starting with Mr. Pudgy.

“Easy, Cavine.  We’re called the United for a reason.  Humans with the right gene roam freely,” Clay asserts.

“
It should be them that are locked up,” Cavine interjects, and his eyes point to my man.

“
No one would be locked up if the humans hadn’t toyed with things outside their realm of knowledge.  You created all of us by playing God, and now we all need to work together to survive,” I growl, and the walls lightly begin to rattle, cautioning the pompous man to stand down.

“
Easy, babe,” Brazen coos in my ear.

Cavine slinks back into his seat, fear etching itself into his eyes, and then Clay cracks his neck to the side before continuing.

“Araya is right.  We all need each other to survive, so let’s stop fighting and start working together.  If no one stops rogue full bloods from feeding on a vein, the humans will become infected by the multitudes until they’re extinct.  If humans become extinct, full bloods will starve to death.  If both species cease to exist, our kind - the hybrids - will eventually fade as well since we’re the only ones incapable of bearing children.  There are good and bad people in all of our species.  I would like to think the best of all three are in this room right now,” he admonishes, and everyone squirms uncomfortably at our childlike scolding.

I glare at the pudgy man who dared to insult our stronger breeds when he depends on us to keep him safe.  He slinks down even farther in his seat as my eyes threaten the blood in his veins. 
Brazen can’t touch him, but there’s no law stopping me.

“
Please calm down, Araya.  I don’t want this place to fall apart,” Brazen whispers into my ear, and I sit back while taking a deep, calming breath.

“
He shouldn’t have said anything like that to you,” I grouse, and my eyes continue to taunt the foolish bastard on the other side of the table.

He almost snickers at my rage.  I can
’t believe he’s taking this so casually in stride.  This fat piece of shit has the audacity to provoke my full blood, and he’s just going to laugh it off.

“
I love it when you act so protective,” he murmurs against my ear as Clay sets up the next slide show.

“
I can’t believe you’re finding humor in this,” I huff.

“
I love you,” he soothes, and I can feel the anxiety inside me melting away with those three magical words.

I stifle an unwelcome grin, and he sits back in his chair when he sees he has successfully defused me.  His hand tugs mine into his lap, while Hale walks up to take his place at the head of the room to join Clay at his side.

“We’ve compiled a list of possible groups of hybrids that could be capable of something like this.  The problem with the ungifted ones from our breed is the scorned resentment they incur.  It’s a heads or tails toss up each time one of us is born, and depending on which side the child inherits their traits from, they could be completely void of any special talents.  This causes animosity and sometimes violence,” Hale asserts while flipping through the mug shots from the chip I brought in.

His eyes catch my drifting ones while Brazen studies the screen.  I
’m trapped now, and the hand holding mine needs to knock the hell out of me -
or knock the Hale out of me rather.

“
What happens if or when we do find them?  They’ve got our weapons and technology.  They’ll have uranium tipped bullets that can shred through your skins.  What then?” Cavine inserts.

I
’m really starting to hate him all the more.

“
We have a weapon they’ll never see coming, and they won’t be expecting her at all.” Clay proudly announces, and Brazen’s hand tightens on mine as a smug smirk appears on his face.

“
Her
?” Cavine murmurs with confusion.

“
Her,” Hale repeats, and he too seems very smug.

“
Araya Crush will step in if things get too hazy for us.  She’s only to be called in for emergency purposes,” Clay clarifies, and now Cavine’s pompous ass seems terrified for having provoked me.

“
What can she do?” one man asks.

“
That’s classified.  She’s our girl, and no one outside our circle can know of her abilities per her request.”

Except for my full blood fianc
é.

Brazen tries to stifle his cocky grin when he thinks the same thing I do, and then the conversation gets shifted again.

“For now that’s our details.  We’ll divide and conquer tomorrow.  Araya and Hale will stay here to train the newbies to keep the charade going while the rest of us start checking out the arsenals ourselves for clues.” Clay says with a bomb-dropping tone, and now Brazen’s jaw has taken on a clenched position I don’t think it will release from.

“
Wouldn’t it be wise to bring Araya along in case we find someone who might know something?  Her skills don’t start and end with her gift.  Her interrogation ability is far more advanced than anyone else’s here,” he counters, and it’s almost adorable to see him trying to keep me with him instead of leaving me here with Hale.

“
I don’t like bringing Araya out into the field without needing her.  It’s too risky,” Clay interjects, and I know he’s thinking about what happened to me five years ago when the guilt etches itself onto his face.

Hale
’s eyes drop when the guilt weighing them down becomes too heavy, and then Brazen’s jaw tenses again.

“
I’ll be there to ensure nothing happens to her this time,” Brazen declares.

Hale seems to be even more burdened now, and he just walks back to his seat as if he can
’t bear to stand anymore.  I resist the urge to comfort him, to free him of the guilt he shouldn’t feel.

“
We may need her to interrogate, but we’ll wait until we have a lead.  If ambushed, they’ll surely take her,” Clay interjects, and then Brazen finally gives up the fight before he pisses of the commander.

“
I don’t like this,” he growls into my ear.

“
I don’t either, but you don’t have anything to worry about.” 
I hope.

The meeting adjourns, and Brazen almost rips me free from the room before Hale can try anything else.

“So I guess you weren’t really trying to make peace with the rivaling clans these past couple of months,” I observe.

“
Sorry.  It was classified,” he tartly remarks.

“
So is my gift, but I told you what it is,” I mumble.

“
It’s amazing to me the commander of the United happens to be your best friend, but he’s making you -
our strongest weapon
- stay here with your ex, his other dearest friend,” he explodes.

Whoa.

“Did you really just refer to me as a weapon?” I scoff, and I jerk my hand free from his.

“
Don’t act like that.  You know what I was saying.  I was using his phrasing, not my own.  You shouldn’t act proud when he says it, and then act offended when I repeat his words,” he admonishes.

“
So we are going to fight then?  You come home after two months of being gone for reasons you lied about, even though I have top level security clearance, and then you want to start a fight the only night we get to be together before you’re whisked away again.  I’m starting to think I’m engaged to a ghost rather than a full blood,” I snort.

His eyes soften, and then he pulls me into his soft embrace while forcing me to feel his exquisite body pressed against my very sexually frustrated one.

“I’m sorry,” he sighs.  “I just wasn’t expecting your ex to be involved so thoroughly.  I had a feeling he would be here, but I wasn’t prepared for you to be here.  I sure as hell hadn’t thought of you having to stay behind with him.  I genuinely thought they would bring you along due to your incredible skills,” he murmurs so seductively soft.

“
That’s better,” I utter with a seductive tone of my own, and he gives me his heart melting grin to show me a peek at the man I’m mad about.

“
Let’s go to our quarters,” he murmurs as his lips fire up against mine.

“
Let’s,” I breathe into his mouth, and a small chuckle erupts when he spins me around.

“
Ms. Crush.  Captain Mordel,” a man says from behind us, and I’m ready to display my
gift
at this point.

“
What?” Brazen exasperates as we turn to see a gentle older human.

“
I’m very sorry, but Captain Banner asked me to show you were you would be staying,” the man warily states.

“
I’ve already been given a tour, and Ms. Crush will be staying in my room tonight,” Brazen gently offers, and the human seems a little more at ease.

“
I’m sorry, Captain,” the man humbly responds, “but Captain Banner insisted you have larger accommodations since the two of you will be staying together.”

Brazen grumbles under his breath,
“I didn’t think he was the considerate type.”

“
He’s usually not,” I whisper back, and the man starts leading us down the hallway to the housing section for the United.

Hale waves with a smirk before disappearing into a room not far from where the man ushers us to a door.

“Perhaps he just wanted you closer,” Brazen growls when he sees the short distance between us and Hale.

“
I doubt he wants to hear what I plan on doing to you tonight,” I seduce, and the anger drops from his face to reveal his truly aroused gaze.

He shuts the door behind us, and I grab his tie to start pulling him to the very large bed in the minimalist room.  His eyes show the menace his lips just start to as they pull me in and claim me captive.  My head falls back as his teeth dangerously scrape across my neck, and then his tongue plays across my collarbone before he carefully unbuttons the shirt.

My pants fall free to the floor to reveal the very slinky underwear I have on, and he immediately goes to work with removing his clothes.  I feel the thud of the bed as we crash to it.  His erection grinds through my lacy underwear and his designer boxers as he slides between my legs.

His fingers slide over my bare body until the reach the apex of my thighs.  He moans as he slides my underwear to the side and dips a finger into the place quivering for him, and his lips stroll down to lightly kiss the place that can
’t handle another second of stimulation.

I grip him by the hair to start pulling him back up to me, unable to play this game of foreplay right now.

“I love you,” he breathes into my mouth.

“
I love you,” I groan, and his mouth trails down to my breasts to allow his teeth to just barely scrape over them before he slides my underwear down.

I moan loudly as I feel the throbbing intensify, and then his daring lips play against the inside of my legs again as he slowly crawls back up.  My closed eyes shield me from the sight of his perfect body that would send me into convulsions right now.