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"Are you okay?"
That... was not the question she was expecting. "Yes," she said, confused.
And then squeaked in alarm as Mr. Confusing-and-Delicious (yes, she was still aware of how
hot he was, even when he was breaking her heart) suddenly lunged forward and she found
herself wrapped up in his arms, her legs dangling over his forearm, while his other arm was
securely supporting her back. She grabbed at his neck, just to feel more on balance.
"Don't you ever do that again." He started pressing kisses to her temple and the top of her
head, his hands squeezing her tightly, as if he was afraid to let her go.
For a moment she thought he meant shift into her creature, but only for a moment. Somehow
she knew that wasn't what he was talking about, but that just left her even more confused.
"Do what?"
"Do what? Do what?" He sounded infuriated, but the emotion coming through her head was
fear. Bethany was startled to realize that she could read him more clearly than ever... and she
didn't sense any disgust. No rejection. And his fear wasn't of her, but for her. "Jump in front of
a bullet! Do not ever do THAT again!"
His dark eyes were practically bulging as he glared at her.
"Oh, that."
"Oh?! That?!" Mr. Naked-and-Inarticulate snarled, his hands tightening as if he had just
remembered that he was carrying her, and so he couldn't throw them in the air in exasperation.
"I knew they wouldn't hurt me," she explained, although she couldn't help but be touched about
his freak out.
"How could you poss-" His voice cut off and his arms tightened even more, making her squeak,
as he turned his head back in the direction of Dr. Montgomery. Kasim was just coming around
the jeep, carrying the doctor's limp form over his shoulder, just as gloriously naked as Steele
was. He looked like an ebony statue, sunlight soaking into his dark skin, his hair hanging down
his bare back and a very nice cock swaying gently in front of him as he walked. Bailey trailed
behind him, a man's bloody jacket wrapped around her, unashamedly checking out his ass.
Bethany had to admit, she was finding the show of male flesh absolutely delightful. She had a
feeling it was probably rude to stare the way she was - no one else was giving each other a
second glance - but she couldn't help it. There were just so many penises - penisi? peni? - and
she was getting quite an education on the many variations.
After all, it wasn't like she was going to get to touch any of them. And, if she was being
honest, she didn't really want to. But checking them out visually was fun. Holy crap, was that
guy pierced?!
"I'm going to kill that fucker as soon as we get our answers," Steele said, in the darkest tone
she'd ever heard him use. It sent shivers vibrating up her spine and completely distracted her
from the silver glinting in another man s shaft. She couldn't just let him make a statement like
that and not argue.
"Get in line," she responded, poking his chest with her finger. "I called dibs on tearing that
asshat apart years ago."
The muscle in his cheek jerked as his jaw clenched. Bethany gave him a brilliant - and
menacing - smile. She wasn't kidding. She wanted answers too, but then she wanted blood,
and she deserved to get it.
"So you knew the bullet wouldn't hurt you?" he asked in a low voice as they trotted closer to
where people were gathering around the two prisoners. Several of them looked at Steele,
obviously wanting to talk to him, but apparently no one was willing to approach until he made
eye contact with them, but all his focus was on Bethany. She sighed.
"Bunny in a half-shell, that's me," she said, resigned. "Even silver bullets don't pierce the shell,
although they can do a lot of damage if someone shoots inside the shell. That's why I put my
back to him. I'm pretty much invulnerable there, unless someone sets me on fire or uses
explosive rounds. My brothers are a little more vulnerable, they aren't as fast as I am and they
can't pull inside their shells." She glanced over Mr. Muscles-Aren't-Even-Straining-Yet's
shoulder. "I have no idea about Bailey, although she does have the shell."
"I see." The muscle in his jaw was still clenching.
Bethany frowned. "Well if you're going to be pissy then put me down." She tried to push away
and he snarled at her. She bopped him on the nose.
Mr. Pissy-and-Pouty glared. "Unless you want a public spanking, you better cut that out right
now, little bunny foo-foo."
Now it was her turn to pout. His muscles were just like his name - hard as Steele - and there
was no way to get away from him unless she was going to shift into her animal. Which, if she
did that, she'd be crushing him again. Which might be kind of funny but...
Okay, so she kind of liked having his arms around her and being carried. Plus, this way no one
could see her naked parts. Not that anyone was looking. They truly didn't care, but Bethany
had been raised modestly by human standards and she'd been without privacy for so long in the
lab that she just couldn't feel comfortable naked. Peeking over Steele's shoulder again, she
could see that Bailey was clutching the blood-stained jacket she was wearing tightly around her,
obviously feeling the same way. Heck, she must be, otherwise why would she be running
around in a dead man's clothes?
Steele finally started looking around, meeting the eyes of his people, and barking orders like
the sexy alpha male that he was. She thought about asking him to put her down, so that she
could help, but somehow she knew that he wasn't ready to let her go yet. So she let him keep
holding her. The fact that she was enjoying it as well was just a bonus.
******
"So let me get this straight," Steele said, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and ward off the
impending headache he could already feel growing. This was his third interrogation of the day
and by far the worst. The two mercs hadn't had much information to give up, because they
hadn't been in charge. He'd handed them off to Raoul who had promised that he was doing the
right thing. Raoul was going to fill them in on exactly why their buddies had died and then let
them loose to gossip.
The Company was going to have a bitch of a time hiring any more mercenaries. At least, any
that had any kind of honor and a reasonable price.
Now he was talking to Dr. Montgomery, with Eli watching from his office computer, while Doc
and Dr. Phil dug the trackers out of Bethany and Bailey's arms. At least they hadn't needed to
be knocked out for it, since they'd both insisted on sitting in on all the interrogations. This was,
by far, the worst, and not just because he could feel Bethany's bloodthirsty desire to rip Dr.
Montgomery into tiny bits riding on top of his.
The worst part was that the doctor didn't seem the least bit unhappy about anything. The
asshole was beaming at Bethany and Bailey like a proud parent, obviously overjoyed. Which
just made Steele want to rip the man's throat out. Unfortunately, he'd been nothing but
cooperative.
"Let me get this straight," Steele repeated, trying to gather his thoughts. "You kidnapped five
children, experimented on them, and tortured them, all for the good of humanity." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]