New Species 02 Slade (35 page)

being my friend.”

“A friend? I thought we could elope to Vegas and

have Elvis marry us.” His gaze sparkled as he teased. “I

had it all worked out too. We could buy some mangy

mutt, buy us a rusty old RV, and find some city dump to

live next to. I hear it’s a great place to find furniture.” He

lifted up the material on his arm and exposed his thick

biceps. “I had a spot picked out here to have your name

tattooed on me and I thought I could have my name

tattooed across your ass. That way I could actually say I

owned your ass.”

Trisha laughed. Moon walked upstairs and sat on the

edge of the bed holding a plate with a few pieces of

buttered toast. He set it down on the bed next to Trisha

so she could easily reach it.

“It’s not her ass you have your name put on, Harley.

You have her tattoo it on her arm so when she forgets

your name, it’s right there. We all know how memorable

you aren’t. She’d have to be a contortionist to see your

name on her ass.”

“If she’s a contortionist,” Brass called out as he

climbed the stairs, “then she’d have to marry me instead.

And you never have Elvis marry you. That’s a bad omen

if I ever heard one. Everyone knows marriage started by

a dead guy ends in a dead marriage down the road. And

speaking of road, she’s high class and don’t forget it. You

don’t buy some rusted-out RV. You buy a fifth-wheel

travel trailer and live in style. That way you can unhitch

it and not have to remove the patio every time you need

to go somewhere.”

Trisha wanted to flinch when she saw Brass’ face. He

had bruising to his cheekbone and jaw, cuts all over, and

there was swelling near his eye. He held her worried

gaze and winked. “I’m still incredibly good-looking.”

She laughed. “Yes. You are.”

Moon sniffed suddenly. His gaze turned to Brass and

Harley. They sniffed too. Three pairs of eyes turned to

the window before they glanced away.

Trisha tensed. “What do you smell?”

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Moon muttered. “Just

a hint of a storm outside.”

“Oh. I hope the roof doesn’t leak.” Trisha glanced up

at the slanted wood beams of the ceiling and back at the

guys. “The cabin seems pretty solid though, even if it is

outdated inside.”

“I’m sure it won’t, Trisha.” Brass motioned to her

food. “Eat up.”

Trisha ate while the men kept teasing her. She

laughed, listening to them get more outrageous about

funny marriage scenarios. She saw them glance at the

window a few times. It had grown dark outside. The

window remained open but she didn’t see any flashes of

lightning or hear rain.

Trisha finished all of her soup, ate both slices of

toast, and finished off her milk. Moon took her dishes.

“I’ll bring you cookies and some more milk but I’m

going to take a jog first. I enjoy a good run at night. Can

you wait for your snack?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

He smiled at her and disappeared downstairs.

“I know,” Harley chuckled. “You could marry me

and we could go live with your parents. I hear that

humans living with their in-laws always have a

successful marriage.”

Brass smacked his forehead with his palm. “Where

do you hear this backward bullshit? That’s a surefire way

to kill a marriage.”

Trisha laughed. “You’d run for the hills or worse if

you ever met my parents and would probably buy a gun

and shoot them. I don’t want to be married to a guy

who’s doing twenty-to-life in prison.”

“Yeah.” Brass nodded seriously. “Then she’d have to

divorce you for cheating on her inside the state pen.”

“Cheating on her?” Harley looked confused for a

second and grimaced. “That’s… just wrong! I am

attracted to females.”

“It depends on who you ask. I heard once that some

men find true love behind bars.” Brass winked at Harley.

“You do have a nice ass. I’m sure I’m not the only man

who will see it that way.”

“I’m never bending over in front you again.” Harley

flipped Brass off. “And that’s not an offer. I have way

higher standards.”

“Enough,” Trisha laughed. “You guys are starting to

make my stomach hurt. Why don’t we give my tummy a

break and pick up our card game? I was kicking some

serious ass.”

“You were not.” Harley stood. “I’ll get the cards.” He

strode to the stairs. “We were letting you win.”

“He’s a sore loser,” Brass whispered.

“I heard that!”

Slade turned when Moon crept up next to him. The

wind picked up. Slade hooked his thumbs inside his

jeans pockets, having gone home and changed before

he’d returned.

Moon took a deep breath. “Are you enjoying

standing out here listening to us cheer her up?”

Slade said nothing.

“You really upset her when you made nasty

accusations. She treats us as though we are brothers and I

can promise you there is nothing between her and

Justice. I’ve been on her security detail for weeks and she

just hangs out with us when she’s not working. I knew

she was sad but I didn’t know why until today.” He

paused. “You shouldn’t have left her the way you did.

Why would you do it? She’s amazing.”

Minutes passed. “I was afraid that being with me

would endanger her. It made sense at the time but it was

all for nothing. I feared for her safety above my desire to

be with her. I’ve put her in much more danger now that

she’s carrying my child. She’ll be a target for the hate

groups and I unknowingly put her in more danger by

not being there when she needed me.” Slade’s voice

softened. “I also wanted to give her time to make certain

how she felt about me but I really needed it myself too.

Does she know I’m out here?”

“No. We told her we scented a storm coming. It is

hard to want something very much when we have

learned anything we value gets taken from us.”

Slade silently agreed.

“She thinks you used her for sex and you don’t care

about her. She is carrying your child and hurting. Do you

realize she is a miracle?”

Slade turned his head to glare at the other male. “Of

course I know, damn it.”

“But you left her alone.” Moon shook his head in

disgust. “I wouldn’t allow anything to stand in my way

to be with her if I were lucky enough to find a woman

similar to her who cared for me, especially not my own

fear. I know all about loss with our shared past. I know

how terrifying it is to feel anything because it opens us

up to the possibility of deep pain.” He took a breath. “I

would risk anything for a woman I loved.”

“She was attacked for her association with us. I

believed being with me would only increase the danger.

It wasn’t just all about my fear of growing attached to

her.”

“She knew the risks when she took the job. She is

smart, Slade. Homeland had been attacked before she

arrived and it can happen again. She watches the news,

sees the protestors spew their hatred of us to anyone

who will listen when they make their threats, yet she still

came to us. She allowed you to touch her knowing what

Ellie and Fury faced and still do. She was present when

Fury took the bullets meant for his mate. You may have

believed you were being honorable but you were wrong.

She’s already in danger and the degree doesn’t matter.

What does matter is having a strong male at her side to

protect her if someone tries to harm her. You failed in

that.”

Pain lanced through Slade at the truth of the words.

“She won’t forgive me.”

Moon glanced at the house. “You need to make her

understand how much you care and that you’ve learned

how much she means to you.”

Slade glanced at the cabin. “Any ideas on how to do

that?”

“Actually, yes. I’ll go inside and talk to the guys. I’m

sure they will do what I say. They care about Trisha and

want her to be happy. I believe you can make her

understand if you love her as much as I suspect. It might

not sit well with Brass though because he is very close to

her as a friend. Stop growling. There is nothing between

them.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“I am going to talk to them and we will camp outside

tonight after she goes to sleep. You are going to go in

there to get your female back when she is alone.”

* * * * *

warm body. Her hands touched hot, bare skin. She

gasped as her eyes flew open but it was too dark to see

anything. She’d fallen sleep at some point and the men

had gone downstairs. She scooted back.

“I guess the floor was too hard for you? You better

be dressed from the waist down,” she warned the guy

sharing her bed. She wished she had their keen sense of

smell or sight to determine which of the three she spoke

to.

“Mmmm,” the voice murmured softly. The body

adjusted closer and an arm slid over her waist.

“Hey,” Trisha protested and shoved at his chest.

“Roll to the other side of the bed. I don’t mind sharing

but I’m not a body pillow you can curl around.”

He didn’t put space between them. “I’m trying to get

some sleep, sweet thing. You’re making it impossible to

do with you pushing on me.”

Trisha gasped and tried to sit up, her hand fumbling

for the lamp on the nightstand. The arm moved from

around her waist and she twisted away. Her fingers

brushed the base of the lamp and almost knocked it over

in her haste. She blindly reached for the switch and

pressed. Light blinded her for a few seconds.

She turned and gaped at a bare-chested Slade. Tan,

muscular skin was revealed to his waist where the sheet

pooled and covered the rest of him. She wasn’t sure if he

wore pants and didn’t want to know. The fact that he was

in her bed shocked her.

“What are you doing?” She couldn’t believe he was

sprawled on her bed. “How did you get in here?”

“I strolled inside the front door I helped fix after you

fell asleep.” Slade rested on his side. He propped his

head on the palm of his bent arm and smiled at her.

“Turn off the light. It’s the middle of the night and I want

to hold you.”

Trisha gawked at him. “You leave me high and dry

and now you want to hold me? You dare climb into bed

with me? Are you for real?”

“Yes.”

“Have you lost your mind? I haven’t. Get out!”

“Come here, sweet thing.”

Trisha tried to scramble out of bed but Slade gently

grabbed her, hauling her flat onto her back on the

mattress. He pinned her under his big, warm body,

careful not to hurt her when he did it. Two things became

instantly clear to Trisha. One, Slade was totally nude.

And two, he was aroused since she could feel the thick,

hot erection bump against her inner thigh. They were

skin to skin where her nightshirt had ridden up. She

sucked in a breath, beyond stunned that he’d dare pull

that kind of stunt.

“I missed you.” His beautiful gaze studied hers and

his voice came out gruff.

I want to hate him for sounding sexy and looking so

attractive. Remember—he abandoned me. That wasn’t hot or

sexy. It was mean and cold. “You knew where to find me.”

Trisha flattened her hands on his chest, pushed with all

her might, but he didn’t budge as she glared at him. Her

teeth clenched. “I’ll yell for help if you don’t get off me.”

“I hope you have a really loud voice because I sent

them away. I wanted us to be alone. This time I didn’t

want to have to put my palm over your lips.”

Memory was instant of the last time he’d done that to

keep her quiet while he fucked her. Her body instantly

responded when her belly quivered and she hated it,

wanting to hate him. She glared into his eyes.

“You left me and now you want me back? Is that

what you’re saying? For how long this time? Do I wake

in the morning and what? Not see you again for weeks?

Maybe months? No. Get off me, Slade.”

He shifted his weight to make certain he didn’t crush

her stomach and cupped Trisha’s face. “I was scared.

You frighten the hell out of me and that’s the truth.”

“Scared?” She took a deep breath, trying to calm, and

resisted the urge to smack him. She was tempted. “So