New Species 04 Justice (29 page)

“It’s just a bad day.”

“That’s not uncommon. Has something happened that is unusually bad?”

“We just have a new group of people to contend with.”

“We always do.” Tiger took a seat, crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

“You look like hell. Did you sleep at all last night?” His gaze lowered to Justice’s hand.

“I hope whatever you punched looks worse than your hand.”

Broad shoulders shrugged. “I lost my temper.”

“That’s unlike you. You need to take a break.”

“I know but when do I have time?”

“How goes the building of your house on Reservation? I plan to come visit you and

sit on that covered porch I saw in the blueprints. It looks nice and the view of the lake should be a great one. We can go fishing.”

“It’s about three weeks from being completed and I’m getting a headache just

thinking about it. The inhabitants aren’t happy to have work crews in their territory.

Slade is ready to shoot me for making him deal with more humans.” Justice raised a

hand and tore his hair free of the thong holding it in a ponytail, shook his fingers

through the strands and leaned back in his chair. “Not that I will ever have the time to

enjoy it.”

“We’re working on it. The council is ready to take over some of your

responsibilities. You have me, Slade, and Brass too. We’d do anything for you.”

“I know that and appreciate it.”

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“What the hell is up with you, my man? Honestly, all day you’ve been terrorizing

anyone who comes near you. You’re acting more like a bear than a leader. It’s out of

character.”

“You sit in my chair and then we’ll see how amiable you are every day.”

Tiger blinked a few times and allowed the silence to grow uncomfortable before he

spoke again.

“Whatever is wrong, you need to find a way to work through it. Everyone has

noticed your anger. Are you growing to resent us? I’ve had seven of our males walk up

to me in the past few hours to ask me that question. Is the stress getting to you?”

Justice sighed. “I’m having a bad day. Everyone has those.”

“You don’t. You are the most even-tempered male I know, and you keep your sense

of humor. You only show this side to our enemies when you need to remind them we

are not to be messed with. Do you want to fight?”

Surprise flickered through Justice. “What?”

Tiger dropped his arms, gripped the arms of the chair and leaned forward. “Fight.

Do you need to get out some aggression? It feels good and you haven’t done it in a

while.” He rose to his feet. “Let’s go.”

Justice hesitated.

“Now,” Tiger growled. “Take off the mask and remember who you really are.”

He stood slowly and stepped around his desk. Tiger yanked open the door and

walked through the reception area. Justice glanced at his receptionist. “I’m taking a

break.”

She nodded. “I’ll hold your calls.” She refused to meet his eyes.

Guilt gripped him that he might have frightened the female with his gruffness.

“Thank you,” he responded sincerely. “I appreciate you.”

“Let’s go.”

Tiger opened the outer door into the main part of the NSO building and they

walked side by side out into the sunshine. Brass sat in a Jeep at the curb. It surprised

Justice to see him there but the male only gave him a grim nod. Tiger waved Justice to

the passenger seat then gripped the roll bar, jumped up and collapsed into the back

seat. Justice sat, pulled his feet inside and the engine started.

They drove to the main security building and entered the training room they used

to keep in shape. Tiger glanced at the Species inside.

“Everyone out. No one comes near the door. Brass and I are going to show Justice a

few new training techniques and if he likes them, you’ll be learning some new skills

soon.”

Faces glanced their way but all eight of their people left quietly. Tiger locked the

door and Brass crossed the room to lock the second door. There were no windows in the

large room, only mats on the floor and a bunch of exercise equipment set up along one

wall. Justice hesitated.

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Tiger returned, bent down and tore off his boots. He lifted his head, stood and

began removing his weapons. Movement to his left drew Justice’s attention to Brass.

The male also removed his boots and weapons.

“Should I be worried?” He kept his tone calm. “Two against one?”

Brass flashed him a grin. “Remove the suit. We’d hate to mess it up.” His gaze ran

down the length of it. “It’s nice. We’re not. We’ll avoid your face. You have to look

pretty for the cameras.”

Justice narrowed his gaze as he reached for his tie. “Pretty?”

Tiger chuckled. “Pretty. We love the hair too. Any female would be proud to have

such a nice color. They did a good dye job.”

Anger tingled through Justice. “Do you know how much I hate the stink of it?”

Tiger walked onto the largest mat, faced him and tore his shirt over his head. He

tossed it far enough to hit the floor at the edge of the training area. “Tell us about it. We have to smell you for days.”

Brass removed his shirt and stepped onto the mat. “He’s sure pretty though. Did

you see the cover of that fitness magazine they put him on? I was impressed.” He

chuckled. “That suit covers his muscles though, doesn’t it? It didn’t make him look in

shape unless sitting behind a desk is a strong workout.”

Anger burned brighter at their teasing as Justice dropped the tie, removed his jacket

and his shirt. He added to the pile of clothing until he stood in his boxer briefs. “I didn’t model for that. They took a picture of me at the charity event and slapped it on there.”

He took a menacing step toward them. “You really want to do this?” His fists clenched.

“You should hang your suit over the barbells over there. It will wrinkle.” Brass

snorted. “It would be on the evening news if you wore clothes with creases that weren’t

put there by an iron. It would make us look bad.”

A snarl tore from Justice and Tiger threw the first punch. His blow hit Justice in the

shoulder and he reacted by kicking out, hitting his friend in the hip and sending him

flying to land on his ass. Brass growled, crouched low and Justice lunged. Their bodies

tangled, hit the floor and the fight was on. They exchanged some body blows from

forearms, threw each other around and Justice finally tossed Brass away from him.

Brass rolled on the mat and Tiger dived at Justice. He rolled out of the way, shoved up

to his feet and turned in time to punch Brass as he came at him too.

The three of them fought, returned blow for blow, avoiding each other’s faces, and

mixed it up with some kick-boxing and wrestling. Brass dropped out first after Justice

put him on his ass. Panting, he held up his arms, done. Tiger snarled and launched at

Justice but he was ready for the move. He sidestepped, ducked and threw out an arm to

nail the male who had missed him by inches. Tiger hit the mat on his back, groaned and

stared up at him.

“I give,” Tiger said and lifted his hands.

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Sweat poured off Justice as he stood there, stared down at his friends and realized

he’d carry some bruises for days. The pain was good, he felt alive and some of his anger

was gone.

Tiger turned his head to glance at Brass. “See why I told you to come with,” he

rasped. “I could never beat him.”

Brass groaned, rubbed one of his shoulders and nodded. “He might look civilized

but he’s got a vicious fighting ability.”

Tiger met Justice’s stare. “Feel better?”

He did. “Yeah.”

“Do we have to do this every day?”

“Shit,” Brass muttered, “I hope not.”

Tiger chuckled. “Me too. It’s easy to forget he’s more than a pretty face.”

Justice shook his head. “You’re trying to anger me again.”

“No, I’m teasing. It’s what friends do.”

“I thought we were getting our asses handed to us so he gets out his aggression.”

Brass got to his knees, lifted up and stood. “That’s what friends do.” He walked closer

and gripped Justice’s arm. “Don’t hold that shit inside. We’re here for you. We’ll do this daily if you need to beat on someone.”

“Speak for yourself. I was kidding.” Tiger rolled, got to his feet and stretched,

grimacing a little. “I need a hot bath and a female to kiss my bruises.” He turned to

Justice and his smile faded. “Whatever is getting to you, either talk it out with us or deal with it. You aren’t yourself lately, you’ve kept things in and we’re a family. Are you

ready to share what is going on?”

Justice clamped his mouth closed. Jessie wasn’t up for discussion.

“That’s what I thought.” Tiger stepped in front of him and held his gaze. “I guess

we’ll do this again tomorrow if you are in a bad mood. And the next day. However long

it takes. Go home and quit scaring everyone. Take the rest of the day off.”

“Thank you.” Justice meant it, glancing at them both. “I needed this.”

“We know.” Brass dropped his arm. “Take the Jeep. The keys are over there near

my boots.”

Justice showered quickly in the locker room, dressed and waved to his friends as he

left. He grabbed the keys but knew returning to his office wasn’t going to happen. The

fighting had helped but rage still burned in his soul. He was angry at life, angry that

Jessie had thrown him out and that he’d lost her.

He took the private road to his house because he didn’t want to deal with questions

from the officers at the entrance to the Species section of why he was home midday. As

he parked the borrowed vehicle in his driveway a sound made him turn and he

watched with narrowed eyes as Jessie drove up the street, parked next door and

avoided even glancing his way.

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She ignored him and it pissed him off. He hesitated and glanced around. No one

was within sight. He turned back to watch her saunter toward her door. He moved fast,

kept his pace light and she never saw him as he came up behind her. She unlocked her

door, opened it and stepped inside. She turned then, saw him and her eyes widened.

He stepped inside before she could react, his hand shot out to close the door and he

kept his body between her and the alarm that would alert the officers to rush to her

home. She wouldn’t be rid of him that easily again.

“We need to talk.”

Her blue eyes flashed astonishment but narrowed with anger quickly. He was glad

he didn’t frighten her—that was not his intention—and stepped closer to invade her

personal space. Her scent tortured him. Her lips parted and his gaze fell there. The urge to kiss her gripped him strongly and he fisted his hands to prevent them from cupping

her face.

“Don’t you have some Species woman to woo into being your mate? Should I pack

my stuff soon so she can move in instead?”

“I’m not looking for a mate.” His anger intensified. “I tried to tell you this last

night.”

“Do you want to take me out to dinner somewhere not private?”

She was baiting him.

“You know that isn’t going to happen. We’ve been over this. It is dangerous for―”

“Your future Species mate to find out about us? Would that hurt your chances of

her accepting a home where your past lover lived?”

“Jessie,” he growled. “Stop.”

She suddenly reached up, flattened her hands on his shirt and pushed. “Leave.”

He pressed back, his body trapped her against the wall and his palms landed flat on

the surface next to her, keeping her there. “I miss you. I didn’t sleep last night. Can’t we discuss this reasonably?”

“No.” She licked her lips, drawing his attention again. “We can’t.”

Frustration, anger and regret flashed through him hotly and he reacted. His head

lowered, his lips sealed over hers and when she gasped, his tongue took advantage. She

tasted of sweet coffee and chocolate as he kissed her. She tensed and tried to turn away

from his hungry mouth but he cupped her face to hold her still.

Her hands fisted on his shirt but she didn’t shove. She responded and he growled

as passion replaced everything else. Jessie was his for the taking and his cock filled with blood. His need to show her how much she meant overrode all else and he let go of her

face to remove his jacket. Material tore but he didn’t give a damn.

Jessie helped as buttons popped off his shirt to ping on the tile entryway. She

spread his shirt with force, not taking the time to unbutton it. His hands slid between

them, grasped her shirt and it easily shredded.

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She whimpered against his tongue, kissed him wildly and her hands rubbed his

bare chest. He cupped her breasts, tore at the bra that kept him from feeling their

softness and jerked the cups down enough to free her nipples. His fingers and thumbs

found the taut tips, pinched them gently and she moaned.

He let go, frantically worked open the front of her pants and hooked his thumbs in

the waistband, catching hold of the thin straps of her panties. He broke the kiss when he slid to his knees, kissing his way down her throat to her chest and sucked a nipple

inside his mouth. Her fingers slid into his wet hair, held him tightly and he just jerked her clothing, freeing her of everything from the waist down. His knee moved, pressed

down to hold them and she jerked her feet out of the tangle of fabric.