Utter Domination

Project Nemesis: Book One

UTTER DOMINATION By

Celeste Anwar © copyright January 2006, Celeste Anwar Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright January 2006 ISBN 1-58608-534-4 New Concepts Publishing Lake Park, GA 31636 www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence. Dear Readers, I’d like to take a moment to thank you all for your endless patience in awaiting this novel from me. Some of you know how obsessive I can be about my work, and bringing these two people together within these pages was a journey I won’t soon forget. It’s been a tough year. I’ve crossed many obstacles and learned some new things about myself and my readers, and if not for you, my devoted fans, I would never have been able to continue going. This novel is for you. Celeste Chapter One

“Subject one has resisted all attempts at harvesting, Doctor Wagner,” Doctor Freda Dallas said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts as she leaned against the door jam of Wagner’s office and carefully assumed a neutral expression. She didn’t feel neutral about it. She was angry and frustrated as she studied her superior. Wagner looked up distractedly from the file on his desk, his faded blue eyes magnified by the thick glasses perched on his nose. It was a shame, Freda thought, that the man was so totally unattractive besides being an exceptional scientist. He was ordinary enough that he might have been flattered by an attempt on her part to manipulate him by seduction except that he was too intelligent not to be suspicious of her motives and too thick skinned to notice anything the least bit subtle. “Have you tried milking the prostate?” Freda nodded. Her pose of professional indifference slipped a notch at the reminder, a frown drawing her brows together over the bridge of her nose. The tight expression made her head hurt. “Yes. It’s not working. Nothing has.” Wagner steepled his hands beneath his chin musingly. “It amazes me the control he has over his body, but I suspect it’s a given with what he is. He is a magnificent specimen. He’s next to useless without viable sperm, however.” He sat back in his chair, his features drawn into an expression of disgust and disappointment. “We’ll have to have him destroyed.” She’d expected as much and the coolly issued death penalty still sent a jolt of regret through her. Wagner was right. He was a magnificent specimen, too marvelous in her considered opinion to just arbitrarily destroy him. Besides, it went against the grain to just give up on him. “There’s another possibility, Wagner, one we considered before but didn’t want to get in to until all options had been exhausted. I hadn’t expected it to be necessary. I know none of us expected entrapment and extraction to be so difficult.” She had his attention. He looked at her expectantly, more than a little hopeful, and she knew she had him. He wanted the specimen as much as she did, not entirely for the same reason, but that hardly mattered. “Well?” “Natural extraction of spermatozoa through sexual intercourse.” It was a reach. She didn’t especially like what she was going to have to do to keep him alive, but she felt Dr. Wagner was desperate enough to consider it. He leaned forward in his chair again trying to hide his eagerness. As she’d hoped, his eyes gleamed with scientific avarice. “Go on.” “As you say, he has amazing self control, but I believe he’s near the breaking point. If we give him someone he’s attracted to, it could be the impetus we’ve needed all this time.” “You have someone in mind, don’t you?” Freda restrained the malicious smile that threatened her composure. “Erin Maddox. I’ve seen the way he looks at her when she delivers his food. He’s attracted to her, I know.” Wagner was silent a long moment, lacing and unlacing his fingers as he thought it over. Finally, he said, “She’ll never agree. She thinks they’re nothing but animals.” “I know, but her contract clearly states her obligations to the project. Which is to say she’s under our complete control. She can’t object, and there’s always formula 9 if she does.” Wagner digested that with just a trace of uneasiness. “You realize this takes it to the next level. There’ll be no turning back.” “I assumed we’d crossed into uncharted territory when we took live specimens.” He didn’t consider nearly as long this time. Clearly, he was far too excited at the possibility of finally making a break through that he’d overcome his brief battle with ethics. “Agreed. If this works, I think you just may get that clearance for level five you’ve been so eager for.” Freda allowed herself a smile. A bump up the ladder and she hadn’t even had to screw the old geezer to get it. Who’d’ve thought? “Thank you, sir.” Wagner smiled suddenly, rising from his seat, possibilities whirling in his eyes. “Have a syringe

of F9 prepared for its first human subject. I suspect we’ll need it. I’ll call her in.” * * * * “Ms. Maddox, come to my office,” Doctor Wagner’s voice compelled her over the intercom, startling her with its abruptness. What the hell did he want now? Coffee? Tea? For me to come in there and kiss his ass? She thought. Erin Maddox curbed the impulse to glare at the unit. He could be watching, after all, and she’d never get off drudge duty if he knew how much she despised leaping to his commands. There was nothing for it, though. If she wanted her job, and she did, and she wanted a chance to move up from lab drudge to something of significance, she had to do whatever he wanted her to do. She stood and answered the com unit, then headed out to the hall, following it down to his office. The facility was deceptively quiet save for the hollow echo of her heels through the barren, concrete corridor. She could almost believe she was the only person in the building. There were no televisions, no murmuring conversations between colleagues to be heard. Nothing but herself and whatever noises she chose to make--which was almost enough to make her want to run through the halls whooping and hollering just for the hell of it. She wouldn’t, of course, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t tempted. There were just too many cameras watching for her to act up. Beyond these empty corridors, however, was a different story. She knew the grounds teemed with guards patrolling twenty four hours a day, just itching for a security breach. She’d seen them the few times she’d dared to leave the facilities for fresh air. It felt like the prison that it was--that it had become for her. Thoughts of furthering her career in the government had all but been erased from her mind. She’ d been treated as an interloper from the onset of coming here and wasn’t allowed access to anything of importance until she could be thoroughly trusted--which she suspected would be never at this rate. She wasn’t a team player according to her supervisor, Doctor Freda Dallas. And she couldn’t leave and apply for another position until the term of this contract had expired, which left her completely at the project head’s mercy. She blew out a frustrated breath thinking about it, which only served to increase her annoyance over her situation. Erin reached Wagner’s office and knocked, mentally composing herself for whatever ordeal he had planned for her today. His muffled “come in” penetrated the door, and she opened it and went inside, closing it behind her. Freda Dallas was sitting inside in a chair in the far corner of Wagner’s office. Their gazes locked as she entered. Erin paused for a heartbeat--surprised to see her in there--before she remembered herself and reluctantly crossed the room and sat beside Freda in the only other available chair. If Wagner made her feel under rule, Freda made her feel positively like a slave. The woman had had it in for her from the moment she’d arrived. She didn’t know why. She never knew why some people just decided to hate her. Erin returned her cold smile, wondering what the bitch was up to now. Whatever it was, she knew she wouldn’t like it. Freda had a smug look on her face that set Erin’s teeth on edge. “Are you prepared to devote yourself fully to this project, Maddox?” Wagner asked as he settled into his chair, clasping his hands on his desktop and giving her the condescending look he always reserved for her. Was she finally going to be given the chance she’d been waiting for? It was too much to hope for. Carefully, she answered, “Of course, sir. I’ve been ready to assist in any way you deem appropriate.” “Good. Good. You may or may not know of the troubles we’ve had extracting viable spermatozoa from the specimen we’ve collected?” “I’ve not been granted access to that information, sir. No.” She didn’t find the information

particularly surprising though. Freda was in charge of that department. The woman emanated cold. She wouldn’t respond to that chilly bitch either if she could help it. “Yes, well, here’s where you come in. We need your assistance in a natural extraction.” Erin frowned. “What methods, precisely, have you been using if not natural?” The process was basically the same for any male animal. She didn’t see why it would be different in this case. Doctor Wagner stood and moved around his desk, sitting on the edge and entirely too close to her space for comfort. He looked down at her. “Freda has proposed a radical solution that we’ve not considered before. You’ll perform sexual intercourse with subject one and then return to us for swabbing once you’ve collected the specimen.” Erin stared at him in shocked disbelief, feeling a cold chill run up her spine. She couldn’t speak for several heartbeats, and when she could work her throat, her voice came out like a croak. “Are you serious?” He held her gaze, his face blank, impassive as ever. “Perfectly. I know it sounds radical, but this is no ordinary situation, you’ll agree, and unfortunately it looks like we’ve run out of other options. Are you agreeable?” The shock hadn’t really worn off, but it didn’t have to. Her gut reaction to his suggestion was enough to send a surge of outrage through her. “No. No, I am not agreeable! They’re … he’s an animal! I can’t believe you would even suggest such a thing!” Freda rolled her eyes. “Please. Do we have to put up with these hysterics?” Her attention caught by the snide comment, Erin’s head whipped toward the woman she’d begun to think of as her nemesis. She glared at Freda, forcing herself to calm down, realizing, as badly as she would’ve hated to admit it that Freda was right in a sense. She wasn’t behaving rationally and certainly not with professional, scientific detachment. She’d reacted emotionally. They were just asking her, after all. It wasn’t like she was being forced to agree with them. They were rational doctors, not mad scientists. “I’m not hysterical.” She turned to look at Wagner again, still seething at the outrageous suggestion and now irritated, as well, that they were trying to make it seem as if she was being unreasonable. “I just don’t see why you need me. He’s Freda’s little pet. Why doesn’t she do it?” “Because he tries to kill me every chance he gets and he practically comes all over himself when you enter the room,” Freda answered sarcastically. “You are disgusting.” Erin got to her feet, preparing to leave, for good this time. These people were nuts. “I’m a scientist, not a … Geisha girl. I don’t have to put up with this, and I won’t. Consider this my resignation.” “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, Erin,” Wagner said, studying his hands. The calm way he made the statement made it difficult to absorb given what it alluded to. It took several moments to sink into her that he seemed to think that all he had to do was tell her she had to and she would just cave in. Well, cleaning up after them was one thing. Spreading her legs for that … thing they had chained in one of the holding cells was another matter entirely. Even if she was insane enough to consider the order reasonable, what guarantee would she have that he wouldn’t try to rip her throat out? As the bitch had pointed out, he was dangerous. “What? You’re crazy. You’re both crazy,” Erin said, recognizing the hysteria seeping into her voice as it grew louder. “I’m prepared to do whatever it takes for Nemesis to succeed,” Wagner said quietly, standing and seizing both of her wrists in an iron grip before she could think to try and evade him. He was strong. Stronger than she’d supposed an old man would be, but then, he outweighed her by a good fifty pounds. Adrenaline kicked into overdrive, making her blood pound frantically as she tried to pull away. With all her attention focused on him, she didn’t notice Freda come up beside her until she’d pulled Erin’s hair back and jammed a needle in her neck, plunging the depressor and sending some drug flooding through her veins. Erin screamed, jerking away when they released her. Almost immediately, the room began swimming before her eyes.

“What did you do to me?” she said with a gasp, clutching her neck, waving her other hand around to find support or balance, anything to keep her from falling over before she could get to the door. If she could reach it, she could escape. “Formula 9,” Freda said tauntingly behind her. “You’ll find it makes the process much more pleasurable. By the time it kicks in fully, you won’t care what’s between your legs. Of course, we haven ’t tested it on humans yet.” “Doctor Dallas, please. Let’s try to remain professional here,” Wagner said, sounding far away. Formula 9. The words echoed in her mind, bringing horrific images with it. Oh god! She was totally at their mercy. There was no one here who would help her. She felt sick to her stomach. Bile burned the back of her throat as the room wavered. The overhead lights blinked like a strobe and then winked out entirely. **** The mechanism holding the chains stretched tight churned in the ceiling above, unreeling until the soles of Jesse Stone’s feet touched the ice cold concrete floor. Relief flooded him, but it was short lived. The churning continued, the chain lengthened until his arms dropped limply to his sides for the first time in days. Wariness invaded him then, a mere flicker of doubt, but enough to make him suspicious of their motives. They weren’t interested in his comfort. Without the restriction, and support, of the chains after so long, Jesse swayed on his feet, stumbling back and hitting the wall. His shoulder joints felt like they would dislocate from the weight of his arms. Blood rushed into his hands, making them throb with renewed feeling and the release of tension and taut muscles. Focusing his mind away from the pain, he looked down at his manacles for some sign of a weakness in the restraints that he might have missed, but he had yet to find any way of breaking them. They were coated with silver, black now from the reaction to his skin, but as strong as it was, the metal beneath had to be titanium. No amount of struggle had caused even the slightest bend or warping in the chains or manacles, and they hugged his wrists as though designed specifically for him. Within seconds of his respite, a jet of water shot from above, blasting him with frigid water as it bathed his body and sluiced away the refuse on the floor. Jesse turned his face up and opened his mouth wide, drinking the water as he rubbed his body to cleanse himself. It was the first time he’d touched himself in weeks, and the first water he’d had in days--since they’d stopped giving him food and water to weaken his willpower. His skin rippled with goose bumps as the flow abruptly stopped, and the conditioned air shivered over his flesh. He slicked his hair back off his forehead, sluicing water off his arms and chest in an attempt to quicken drying. The water at least filled his belly, somewhat, and his mouth was no longer so dry he couldn’t swallow. His throat still felt raw, however. His comfort was not their concern, therefore it followed that this had to be the prelude of yet another of their attempts to get him to lower his guard. Almost on the thought, the bolt on the door shifted as it was unlocked and the door was pushed open. She stumbled through. His gut clenched at the sight of her, at having her in the room again. He’d waited so long to see her, just a glimpse, anything. More than the promise of food that she always delivered when he wasn’t being punished, the sight of her was enough to make his body thrum with awareness, cause his blood to soar. She was the only thing, the only person in this hell hole that made it bearable. Her hair was in her face, but he knew what she looked like. He’d had ample time to catch glimpses of her--her trim, athletic figure; arched eyebrows and slanted blue eyes that were huge in her face, like cat eyes, and compelling, captivating and intense. She had a mouth that was made for kissing,

with her fully, pouty bottom lip. And he knew from watching her that she had a habit of rubbing the edges of her top teeth with her tongue when she was nervous, almost like she could sense he wanted to kiss her. Her white shirt was rumpled and twisted at the waistband of her skirt. She leaned on the door, rubbing one bare foot on the floor. He was so busy looking his fill of her, unobstructed by swollen eyes or tangled hair, that it took him several minutes to realize she hadn’t brought food, which was the only reason she’d ever come into his cell before. The moment the lust fogging his brain lifted, he was able to catch the scent of arousal in the chamber, clinging to the air. Faint, sweetly musky and so subtle it was nearly undetectable, the instant it reached him his own arousal quickened his blood. Something was wrong. “What--” he broke off, moistening his lips, clearing his throat in an attempt to lessen the harsh, gravelly tone of his voice. “What are you doing here, chère?” She looked up, her chin length bangs falling away from her forehead to reveal eyes that glittered with fever … or a high. She cocked a smile, tucking a blonde lock behind one ear. “They said you liked me,” she drawled, her eyes darkening as she watched him, drawing her gaze down his body with curiosity and something more. Almost like a caress, he could feel her eyes touch him all over. He grew hard. His balls tightened, increasing the unbearable pressure that had been torturing him since he’d been captured and forced to endure their “extraction” methods. “I came to see you. See if it’s true,” she said breathily, walking around the lab table and crossing the room until she was standing right in front of him. So close he could smell the fruity shampoo she used, feel the warmth radiating from her body, the brush of warm breath across his damp skin as she exhaled. She reached up and traced his collar bone, collecting the droplets of water that clung there as she smoothed her fingers down through the center of his chest. His heart pounded against his ribs at the feather light touch. His breathing turned erratic, causing his belly to jerk with surprise as she traversed the rippled plains of his stomach, down his happy trail to where his cock stood straight out from his body. Her fingers tickled in his damp hair, so close to where he craved her touch. Jesse sucked in a sharp breath, holding still, waiting to see what she’d do, what she had planned. “Is this for me?” she asked, looking up at him beneath heavy lidded eyes. He closed his eyes, steeling himself. “No,” he said through clenched teeth, the effort of speaking nearly killing him. He jerked in surprise when her hand closed around his shaft, squeezing suggestively. “It is if I say it is.” Christ! The heat of her palm felt so good. Too good. This had to be a dream. He had to be hallucinating from too little sleep, too little water and food. But no, she was here, real. And drugged. They’d decided to use her to get what they wanted. He opened his eyes and grabbed her biceps, holding her away from him. “Don’ do that,” he said, nearly strangling on the words. “I want to,” she said breathily. “I have to. I hurt, Jesse. I hurt so bad. You can make it stop,” she whispered, stroking him, rubbing her thumb around the head of his cock even as she rubbed her mound with her free hand. He shuddered, his fingers tightening on her arms for a moment before he commanded them to loosen their death grip. He’d lasted this long without losing control. She wouldn’t break him….

But his guard deteriorated with the insistent pressure of her hands on his aching flesh. His elbows bent, allowing her to lean close, close enough to rub her sweet, tight body against him. Her nipples were hard through the silk blouse, and he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. Jesse groaned, his arms involuntarily circling her back, drawing her flush against his chest. The touch of her body scorched its imprint onto his skin, each nuance of muscle, each trace of curve imbedded in the memory of his muscles. The agony of exhaustion was replaced with an agony of searing, mind numbing hunger, a need so raw and intense his brain shut out all but his need for possession of her. He’d been whipped, tortured, starved, but nothing compared to the pain of having her in his arms at long last, so close one rip of her shirt would allow him a taste of her skin, one shift of his hips would put him inside her velvety, slick heat. “Yes,” she gasped, running her hands over him, around his back, down his flanks to cup his buttocks eagerly. He was lost and he knew it. The voice screaming ‘trap’ in his mind grew distant, drowned out by the roar of unquenchable desire pounding through his blood. Uttering a growl, he tightened his arms around her, pivoting abruptly and thrusting her against the wall. She turned her face aside when he bent his head to taste her, presenting her jaw for his hungry, nibbling kisses. It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough. He wanted more. Pulling away, he ripped her shirt open, exposing her breasts with a force that had them jouncing against her ribs. Buttons scattered like spilt beads across the floor, unheeded as he bent and swept his tongue over her collarbone, tasting salty, sweet skin as he roamed down the valley of her breasts. She moaned unintelligently, gasping as he closed over one generous peak and sucked her nipple deeply into his mouth with one long, hard draw. She gripped his head, holding him there as he tasted her and rolled his tongue around the taut flesh. “No,” she cried as he pulled free and tortured her other breast with biting, sucking kisses. He groaned deep in his throat as he suckled, moving his hands up her backside, pushing up her skirt to discover her ass was as bare as her breasts had been. The knowledge made his muscles flex, his cock throbbing to be inside her. “I need you inside me,” she begged, her voice almost alien, her entreaty cutting his patience. He was mad for her, and her quiet, persistent pleading and movements wore down his resolve to maintain what little control he possessed. He straightened, looking deeply into her slumberous eyes as he stooped and caught the back of a knee in each hand, spreading her legs and lifting her up the wall until he could cradle himself between her soft inner thighs. He tried to kiss her again, but she arched her head back, avoiding his lips as they climbed over her jaw and throat before tugging at one earlobe. Her arousal had seeped down her legs. His hips slipped against them, and the knowledge that she was so ready for him increased his libido tenfold. Grunting in the back of his throat, fiercing her tender throat with his teeth, he curled his hips forward. The cream of her want gathered on his cockhead as he closed the distance and split the petals of her sex down the middle as he sought entrance. Her nails scraped down his spine, digging into the tops of his buttocks, urging him, prodding him to take her hard and hot and violently. The beast inside him awakened to the faint scent of his blood and her lust, growling with the hunger barely checked. “Do it,” she cried, sending him over the edge of reason into madness. He thrust past the tender edged hole, plunging hard and deep into her tight pussy. She screamed, shuddering against him, her inner muscles clenching around him as if that could halt the drive that took him deep into her womb. He stopped when he could go no deeper, instantly breaking into a sweat with the strain of

holding still when he wanted--needed--to pump into her like a madman until he’d spilled his seed. His nostrils flared with his violent breathing. The restraint gnawed like a cancer, eating away self-control. He wouldn’t cum inside her. It was what they wanted, what they had tortured him for for so long. He couldn’t let them break him with her. It became a mantra inside his head as he withdrew to the tip and plunged inside again, repeating the promise with each stroke, feeling as if he would die with the pleasure of impaling his flesh in her warm, wet cunt. She was moaning and gasping incessantly now, her body climbing toward climax. He felt the change in her muscles as they clenched and unclenched around his cock, scented the perfumed arousal as it increased its flow to ease his way, to staunch the burning drive of his thick strokes. Orgasm burst upon her suddenly, wringing cries from her throat, shudders from deep within. She rippled around him, pulling his flesh, torturing him, drawing him him to disaster. He gritted his teeth, pumping into her harder, barely restrained, growling as he sucked her jawline. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think for the pressure building in his sac. He was going to explode. Sweet release beckoned, tortured him with its siren call. Her cunt scorched his flesh. The need to ram inside her again and again held him in its fierce grip. Jesse bit her neck, sucked a love bite there as he fought himself, and the ravaging beast inside him that demanded its appetite be appeased. “Please,” she screamed as her body seized in another climax and another, and still he couldn’t pull away. “Please cum. Cum inside me. Oh Jesus, please, please….” He growled against her throat, felt frustrated tears squeeze from his clenched lids. His balls tightened. His shaft throbbed. The blood in his veins burned, turned molten as pressure increased until he couldn’t breathe. He gasped for air, and a hoarse cry tore from his throat as his cock erupted. He was gone. Too far gone. He couldn’t stop. Mindlessly, he drove inside her, pinning her against the wall, his hips slamming into her as he moved like a madman. Semen spewed within her depths, bathing her insides. Her cunt seized on him, clutching, drawing out every drop he had within him, until he collapsed his weight against her and weakly released her legs to drop to the floor. A shudder wracked his body. He caressed her face as he nuzzled her neck, breathing in her scent, memorizing it. “What’s your name,” he whispered urgently against her ear. Even if she hadn’t been too far gone to respond, too drugged with sated desire and whatever chemical they’d pumped into her, she didn’t get the chance to answer. As if they’d been watching and waiting, his chains suddenly jerked upward, nearly yanking his arms from the socket as he was hauled off his feet to dangle impotently in the air again. The door slammed open. Chapter Two Jesse roared in fury, struggling mindlessly to free himself from the manacles. “Tranquilize him,” the heartless bitch ordered behind him, and a whoosh of compressed air sounded as a tranquilizer dart left its gun and imbedded in his back. He went limp nearly instantly, and the second dart wiped him out completely. “Take her to the lab,” Freda ordered one guard, gesturing toward Erin where she slumped against the wall. Erin put up no fight as the guard strode forward, grabbed an arm, and led her outside. “You,” Freda said, looking at the two remaining guards, “Take him down and secure him to the table. Make certain the restraints are tight. If he wakes up, tranq. him again.” A curious mixture of triumph, satisfaction, and anger filled her as she watched them lower the beast to the floor and unfasten his restraints. She’d seen the hungry, predatory way he’d watched Erin and known he wouldn’t be able to resist a chance at fucking her. As pleased as she was, on a scientific level, about being right, and finally obtaining the specimen they’d wanted, as a woman it still irked the hell out of her that she hadn’t been able to drive him over the

edge herself. Dismissing it when she saw the guards had everything well in hand, Freda left to join Wagner in the lab to collect their specimen. After the show she had just watched, she was confidant the beast had left quite a large deposit inside his sweet little fuck. **** A voice nagged at Jesse, pulling him out of the blackness into harsh, unforgiving light. His chest hurt as if it was wrapped in a vice. Experimentally, he tried to shift position, but he couldn’t move his arms or legs. The faint click of the door as the catch was depressed alerted him to someone’s arrival. He feigned unconsciousness. She chuckled. There was nothing pleasant about the sound and he knew immediately that it was the cold bitch that had taken such delight in torturing him since he’d been taken. “I know you’re faking,” she said in a singsong voice. He felt her breath against his ear as she leaned closer. “We have cameras.” He lunged at her with his face, snapping his canines. She leapt back, evading his attempt to slam his head into hers and knock her insensible. Anger, he saw, glittered in her eyes when he opened his to look at her. It vanished in the face of the rage he made no attempt to hide. “Now I’m disappointed. After what I witnessed a few minutes ago, I was certain we’d made a break through with you.” His eyes narrowed. She shrugged, feigning unconcern and moved to a table beyond his vision. He heard the clink of metal against glass and stiffened, knowing even before she appeared beside him again that she’d gone to get something to inject in him. He snarled at her when he saw his suspicions confirmed by the syringe in her hand, struggling to summon his beast even as she stabbed the needle into his arm and depressed the plunger. His beast rose inside of him, but remained there. He’d suspected the restraints manacling him to the table must be silver coated as the ones in his cell were, but he had hoped that they had gotten sloppy. The furious pounding of his heart sent the drug she’d injected into him surging through his body. A wave of heat traveled with it. It wasn’t the burn of caustic chemicals like poison spreading through his bloodstream. It was synthetic arousal. Without prompting or any outward stimuli, he felt his body awakening, felt desire began to churn inside of him. It flickered through his mind that it must be the same thing they’d given her and, as he felt his body reeling out of control, that she could not have controlled the urges the drug evoked even half as well as he could. He doubted if she had even had much awareness of what she was doing. The thoughts disturbed him, made it more difficult to fight the drug in his system. He set them aside with an effort, focusing on his current dilemma. “You seemed … particularly taken with Erin,” she murmured thoughtfully, dragging a hand down the middle of his chest, her fingertips playing with stomach muscles. Erin. Her name was Erin. The name summoned her image in his mind, called up the memory of his possession of her, and his desperate struggle to retain control slipped drastically, threatened to completely evade his hold. “It would be a shame, I’m thinking, if anything happened to her.” The threat to Erin instantly altered the direction of his passions, summoning his beast. Caged by the silver manacles, it erupted inside of him. Rage supplanted desire. He bucked uselessly against his restraints with no thought in mind but rending his tormentor to shreds. Fear flickered in her eyes, and something else he couldn’t quite interpret, but a satisfied smile curled her lips, as well, and his rage turned inward as he realized he had allowed his beast to rule him, to deprive him of the only weapon he had to protect Erin--his wits. “What makes you think I have any interest in what happens to any of you mortals?” he growled. She curled her fingers around his balls, squeezing them painfully. It knocked the breath out of

him as surely as if she’d punched him in the solar plexus. He jerked reflexively, expelling a grunt of pain. “I think the thing I like best about working with you creatures is that I can do pretty much anything I want to. As long as it doesn’t leave a mark, no one gives a shit,” she said thoughtfully, her voice almost a purr of pleasure. “Aren’t you worried about what your colleagues will think when they see you fondling an animal?” “But they won’t,” she murmured, chuckling. “I turned off the cameras.” She climbed up on the table, straddling him. Her skirt rode up her legs as she settled her bare ass on his upper thighs. He angled his head to look down at her. He could see the nest of dark hair between her thighs. He hadn’t just imagined her ass was bare. She’d removed her panties. Conflicting sensations instantly drew him in two diametrically opposing directions. He hated the cold blooded bitch with a passion that made him feel ill with the desire to take her head off her shoulders. His body, however, recognized only the feel of woman’s flesh and the scent of desire, and the drug she’d injected him with magnified his natural instincts almost beyond control. He gritted his teeth, focusing his attention on the blinding light in the ceiling as she began to fondle him with diabolical finesse, massaging his scrotum and his cock until blood engorged his member, bringing him painfully erect. He battled the urge inwardly, forcing himself to recall everything she had done to him since he had been taken, every smirk that had made him long to strangle the life out of her. Slowly, the urge subsided. The painful tightness in his balls and the throbbing pulse of blood in his cock eased. She hissed angrily as his cock softened in her hands. “I guess I misjudged you. You really don ’t care what I do to that little cunt, do you?” Jesse stiffened. He tried to tell himself she wouldn’t dare harm Erin, but he had every reason to believe the cold hearted bitch would do just about anything--and no reason to doubt her threats. He gave up his battle with the drug, allowing it to overwhelm him. As his cock stood erect once more, she smiled in satisfaction. He closed his eyes to shut out her face and that smile that brought out his killer instincts. He blocked the thoughts that rambled through the drugged haze of his mind of what he would do to her if he ever managed to get his hands on her. Instead, he summoned images of Erin to mind, indulged his fantasy that it was her flesh, her wetness he felt his cock sliding through, clenching around his cock. Pleasure invaded his senses, caught him up in a race toward release. Her throaty moans of excitement became Erin’s voice in his ears and mind, driving him nearer and nearer his release. He felt her body convulse with release, the spasms of her inner muscles working along his cock in a milking motion that lifted him to the brink of madness, to the edge of release. He sucked in a harsh breath, held it, bracing himself for the explosion as his cock jerked. She was huffing with effort as she rode him faster and harder, trying to push him over the edge. A husky chuckle of satisfaction escaped her as she felt his cock jerk inside of her. “That’s a good little beast,” she murmured. “Give it to me.” The taunting note in her voice penetrated his absorption in attaining release. “Erin will be relieved to know she won’t have to milk you herself next time. As devoted as she is to the project, she’s repulsed at having to actually fuck one of you creatures to gather specimens.” He lost his erection so abruptly his head swam sickeningly from the sudden shift in blood flow. The cold bitch humped him several more times before it dawned on her that she was trying to ride a wet noodle. She slipped back on his thighs, staring down at his flaccid member in stunned disbelief for several moments before she uttered a growl of rage and slid off him. After glaring at him furiously for a handful of seconds, she stalked beyond his range of vision. He heard the hiss as the dart was released a split second before he felt the prick of the injection. For once relief hit him as the tranquilizer kicked in and oblivion consumed him. **** Without even opening his eyes, Jesse knew from the pain he woke to that he had been manacled to the pulley again, chained as he had been so long that he had lost all track of time.

It was a pain of a different kind that consumed him, though, that stirred his beast to life. Rage sent him into a frenzy of desperate lunges against his chains, so much fury that he felt for many moments that he could break them, silver or not. He subsided after a while, not because his wrists were raw and bleeding, not because the pain scouring his insides was any less, but because he no longer had the energy to struggle. She was just like the others. He’d allowed himself to be conned by the empathy he had believed he had seen in her eyes, by her gentleness. He had allowed his desire for her to weaken his mind and leave him wide open to seduction. He’d been right about her being drugged. He’d just been wrong about the reason for it. It infuriated him that he had been willing to do anything to protect her from them, endure the touch of that female, give them the seed they had been trying so hard to steal from him, when all the while she was working with them, as much a part of his torment as the cold hearted bitch he hated so badly. They would do well to keep her away from him. If they sent her again he would wrap his chains around her throat and choke the life out her, he promised himself. In spite of the promise, when the door opened some time later, he felt his body quicken with desire and gladness, hopeful as ever that it was her--Erin. A guard stepped through the opening. Settling a tray on the spot they’d marked on the floor that was close enough he could reach it when the chains slackened, but not close enough for him to launch an attack otherwise, the guard retreated. As soon as the door closed and the lock clicked, he heard the whir above him and the chains went slack. He made no attempt to reach the food. Sometimes he was allowed to. At others he was only taunted with it and the chains would jerk taut as he reached for the tray. He knew that was the cold hearted bitch. She seemed to take delight in tormenting him endlessly, maliciously. He hadn’t known why he was taken at first. They hadn’t tried to explain, hadn’t made any attempt to reason with him. They had treated him like an animal from the beginning, a dangerous animal, with no reasoning skills. It had become abundantly clear very quickly, however, that it was his seed they were after, and it hadn’t taken much of a leap to figure out that whatever they had in mind to do with it, it wasn’t something he was going to like. They could not have reasoned with him. The fact that they’d captured him alone was enough to preclude any interest he might have had in cooperating with them. The military aspect of the place had only sealed his opposition. Regardless, he had endured more than mere detached, clinical study. That would have been uncomfortable enough, probably painful, but his treatment had gone well beyond that--and there had been no doubt in his mind that the woman he knew only as the cold bitch was behind it. There was malice in her eyes whenever he saw her. She was aroused when she was around him, and more aroused when she had mind fucked him, or inflicted pain. The more he resisted her attempts to milk him of his seed, the more he endured in repercussions. After a time, it seeped into his mind that he needed the food to maintain his strength. He’d been on a forced fast so long that he’d passed beyond hunger into nausea at the thought of eating, and he was reluctant to give the cold bitch the satisfaction of snatching it out of his reach, but he needed it. If there was any chance at all that he could escape, he needed to keep his strength up. Hesitantly, he moved as close to the tray as he could, tense, expecting the chains to jerk taut at any moment. When they didn’t, he managed to catch the edge of the tray with his toes and drag it closer. He bent finally to retrieve it, only to discover that the chains were just taut enough that he could barely brush the edges of the tray with his fingertips. She amused herself for a while by letting out the slack and jerking the chains tight again when he tried to grab the tray. He glanced up at the camera eye stonily the third time, suppressing his fury with an effort. Abruptly, the chains when completely slack. He waited, certain that if he tried to reach his food again he would be jerked upward to dangle above the floor where he could only stare at the food beyond his reach. When several minutes had passed and the chains didn’t so much as creak, he made a dive for the food and wolfed it down quickly

before she could jerk the chains and make him drop it. **** “Doctor Wagner!” Freda exclaimed as if pleasantly surprised by his sudden appearance, hitting the release on the pulley abruptly as the man poked his head into the observation room door. “What brings you down?” To her relief, he didn’t seem to have noticed what she’d been doing. Plainly, he was too excited by his thoughts to notice much of anything. “I just wanted to have a look at the subject to see how he’s doing.” Freda gestured toward the observation window. “As you can see, he seems to have decided to eat. I was growing concerned about his refusal,” she lied smoothly. Wagner clasped his hands behind his back, rocking on his heels as he watched the creature below. He shook his head. “It amazes me that they seem so human at times. And yet, observe the way he gulps his food.” “Trust me, he’s more beast than man, whatever his appearance.” “That’s not altogether a bad thing, though, is it? Do you think we’ll be able to collect another specimen tomorrow?” A flicker of dismay went through her as she remembered she’d let her temper get away from her and taunted him about Erin. Belatedly, she realized it might not work to send the cunt in again. If the rage she’d seen in his eyes was any indication, he was more likely to kill the bitch than fuck her senseless. She forced a confident smile. “I’m sure we won’t have any trouble at all from here on out.” **** Jesse knew what was coming the moment the injection surged through his blood and a red haze of lust washed over him instead of unconsciousness. He’d suspected as much when he and his cage had been thoroughly hosed down, but then the stench of rotting food had grown so pervasive that he wasn’t certain but what they had simply decided they couldn’t take the smell anymore. They had no compunction about forcing him to live like an animal, no consideration for his revulsion of the filth, nor any apparent concern for the health hazards of the conditions. The toilet in the corner seemed almost as much a taunt as the infrequent feedings. He was only allowed access to it once a day. The rest of the time he either dealt with the discomfort or relieved himself on the floor if he couldn’t bear it any longer--not that that was anything he had to worry about very often. He was lucky if he got fed once a day, and he only got water when he was fed. He lived on the edge of dehydration. He had to wonder how they thought he could produce their fucking specimens even if he’d wanted to without a decent intake of fluids. He could barely piss. Despite every effort to focus on anything other than the drug creeping through him, he felt it winding tighter and tighter through him, felt his self-control slipping. He shook his head, as if he could shake the effect of the drug off by doing so, gritted his teeth as he felt his balls tighten and his cock become semi-erect. He was lowered until his feet touched the cold, still wet floor. The wheel above him stopped. They knew he was just waiting for the opportunity to kill whoever walked through the door. He leaned back against the wall, allowing his head to loll against his shoulder, struggling to allow the appearance of being firmly under the influence of the drug without actually allowing it to control him. The door opened. He knew even before he opened his eyes that it was Erin they’d shoved into the room. Her scent hit him even before he realized he’d detected it and his body spiraled out of his control. She was drugged. She was also naked. He forgot all about trying to feign the level of the drug’s control. His gaze moved over her hungrily, devouring every inch of exposed flesh as if he could touch and taste her even from across the room.

The scent of her arousal drew his gaze to the thatch of hair at the apex of her thighs. His cock responded by engorging so rapidly with blood that darkness swirled around him. It took every ounce of will power that he could summon to tear his gaze from her cunt. His eyes locked on her face as he struggled to call forth his beast, to resurrect the fury he had felt toward her since the cold bitch had taunted him with her deception. Even with his own mind reeling from the injection, though, his body screaming with the need to yield to his urges, he could tell by the way she was moving that she was scarcely aware of where she was and, briefly, it flickered through his mind to wonder how willingly she worked with them if they had to drug her to send her in to collect the specimen. But then the cold bitch had said she could barely stomach coupling with him because she thought of him as an animal. She looked up at him at that moment. Her eyes, already dark with desire, grew darker still, glazed. She moved toward him unsteadily. He stiffened as she nuzzled her face against his chest, trying to brace himself, trying to hold on to the anger he’d managed to summon. She began stroking him with her hands, rubbing her body against him. “Jesse,” she crooned breathily, curling her fingers around his cock and making his belly clench spasmodically. “I need this. I hurt. Please, Jesse.” He ground his teeth, squeezing his eyes tightly as pleasure akin to pain went through him. Mindless, driven purely by instinct, he reached for her. The chains thwarted him, jerking his mind back to his goal. He didn’t want to fuck her. He wanted to throttle her. He was almost relieved when she ceased to stroke his cock, sliding her hands upward along his body. The relief was short lived. She slipped her arms around him, plastering her body against his. A groan escaped him in spite of all he could do as she curled around him, pressing her hips rhythmically against him so that he could feel the moist heat of her cleft teasing his cock. He held his breath. He struggled with his beast. He lost control as she grasped his cock and pushed it between her thighs. Uttering a guttural growl, he began moving in counter to her thrusts, trying to push his cock inside of her when he could get no leverage to do so. The effort cost him, drove him beyond the ability to reason. The certainty hit him that, like the food and water he was taunted with and not allowed to taste, the cold bitch had deviced a new torment for him, to tease him with Erin, her smell, her touch, with the possibility of assuaging his need for her and dangle it just out of reach. He strained against the manacles again, this time with no goal in mind other than penetration. He scarcely noticed the abrupt release of the chains beyond the fact that his efforts to grab her were rewarded. He dug his fingers into her buttocks, bending his knees and driving upward as he pulled her thighs apart. His cock slipped along her cleft, just barely penetrating the opening of her body. It was enough, though, to send him over the edge. Seizing her, he turned as he lifted upward for leverage, braced her against the wall drove into her in a series of desperate lunges. A shudder went through him as he felt her moist heat closing around him. He sought her mouth, nipping her neck with the edge of his teeth as she twisted her face away. She groaned with a mixture of pleasure and pain as he plowed ruthlessly past her resisting muscles, heaving against her in hard thrusts until he was buried inside of her to the root of his member. He couldn’t think beyond his own burning need. Scouring her tender flesh with his lips, his teeth, and his tongue, he began pumping into her with barely leashed savagery, his movements as frenzied as his need was desperate. She cried out, jerking as her body convulsed in pleasure. The sound drove him beyond even the tenuous hold that remained to him. He groaned hoarsely as his orgasm caught him and he felt his body pumping his seed into her. Weakness washed over him as he spent himself on her, his arms and legs beginning to tremble with fatigue.

Through the darkness of expended ecstasy, a thread of reason emerged. He dragged in a shaky breath, allowing her to slide down the wall until her feet touched the floor. Even as he reached for her beautiful white throat, however, the chains tightened, pulling his arms over his head. He let out a roar of fury, surging against the manacles. Her eyes opened, widened slightly as she slid weakly to the floor. Awareness flickered in the depths of her eyes, and terror--and revulsion. “Next time, I’ll kill her,” he growled furiously as he watched them enter the room and drag her away. He meant it. He dwelt on little else while he waited for them to bring her to torment him again, ruthlessly quashing the memories of all the times he had waited and watched for her return as the only highlight in the hell they had deviced for him. They doubled the injection the next time they brought her to him. By the time they had shoved her through his cage door, he was writhing on the floor, his body and mind on fire. The moment she came within his reach, he dragged her down, pinning her to the cold stones with his body and thrusting inside of her until he found release. After they had brought her to him again, he ceased to think of much beyond taking her. He craved her more than food or water, with or without the drug. He hated her almost as much as he wanted her and he made no attempt to hide it from her. **** Disbelief dominated Erin, filtering out much of the emotions that she was certain she would have felt if her life had not become a nightmare she couldn’t entirely grasp. When the drug had finally worn off, she’d found herself in her own bed in her own quarters. Despite the aftereffects of having been drugged, however, right up until the moment she tried to move, Erin had convinced herself that she’d had some sort of ‘bad trip’. The protest of her muscles, particularly those along her inner thighs, made it impossible to even hold on to the dubious comfort of worrying that the drug they’d given her had damaged her mind. She hadn’t dreamed it. She hadn’t hallucinated because that bitch had pumped an untested drug into her. The moment she slipped her hand down between her legs to cup her bruised nether lips, she knew beyond any doubt that they really had thrown her in with the beast. She actually had fondled him and begged him to fuck her and he had been all too willing to do so. She had become their newest pet project. She didn’t know what they had given her beyond the fact that the bitch had called it Formula 9. Undoubtedly, it was something that had been developed here, something most likely developed for the creatures, not humans. She had barely been conscious of anything at all beyond a frantic need to be penetrated. She had needed it so desperately that she suspected she would have been willing to try to rape him if he hadn’t seized the initiative and assuaged the need. She hadn’t been pushed to that, though. Almost as soon as she’d begun to rub herself on him, he had yielded to his animal needs. She shuddered at the memory, feeling warmth and shame flood her all over again as she recalled the pleasure she’d felt when he had pummeled her. She’d ‘done it’ with a creature that wasn’t even human and gloried in it, begged for it. He was an animal. However human he appeared because of the silver that controlled him, that was all he really was and the savage fierceness of his possession was proof of it. It was more demoralizing to have to accept that she’d actually enjoyed coupling with the beast than if she’d merely been savaged by it. By the time they came to take her back to him, she had convinced herself that she would die before she’d let that thing near her again. The moment she saw the two guards with Freda she knew the forlorn hope she’d held out that they wouldn’t dare try such a thing again had been a pipe dream. When the guards grabbed her, she began screaming, biting, and kicking. Beyond a demonstration of her reluctance, the exercise was useless. The guards held her down

impassively while Freda injected her. The drug went through her and set her blood on fire. She was breathless with arousal, every touch burning her up with need. By the time they hauled her to her feet and led her down to the beast’ s cage, she was almost ready to tear free and race to him. Fear washed over her briefly when she saw the look in his eyes, but the urges were far too strong to resist. If she had known positively that he would rip her to shreds, she didn’t think she could have refrained from going to him and demanding that he ease the ache inside of her. Chapter Three During the times when she was completely lucid, Erin was certain nothing could be worse than what she’d already experienced. She discovered that she hadn’t reckoned on Freda’s penchant for tormenting anybody and anything within her power. She had lost track of time since she had been confined in her quarters, lost track of the number of times they had taken her to pleasure the beast, but she knew weeks had passed, perhaps as much as a month, maybe even more. The day arrived when the guards came and she was injected not with the drug that drove her wild with need, but a mild sedative instead. It made very little difference in her ability to fight them off. It made a world difference, however, when she was shoved into the beast’s cage. She was far more aware of her surroundings, far more conscious of the threat she faced, and she did not have the drug driving her libido out of control. Such was not the case with him. She could see they’d given him a powerful dose to overcome his resistance. The moment his gaze settled on her his eyes darkened and his features hardened with barely leashed desire. But she saw there was wildness in his eyes, too, something she had not noticed before in her own state--and hate and rage. It was small wonder considering what they’d done to him. She huddled near the door where they’d left her, afraid to approach him. He seemed to sense her terror, as hard as she was trying to hide it, sensed that something was different. He ceased struggling against the chains, breathing deeply, raggedly. He still watched her with a predatory gleam in his eyes, but she could see he’d begun struggling with the drug they’d injected in him. They were watching. She knew that the moment the pulley overhead began to churn and the chains went slack. His arms dropped to his sides. Pain contorted his features. Despite her fear of him, pity twisted hers. He saw it when he opened his eyes. It enraged him and she saw his control slip. “What?” he asked in a low rumbling growl. “You think you’re so good, chère, you can collect your specimen from over dare?” Erin moistened her lips. “They drugged me. I didn’t know what I was doing.” His lips curled. Amusement didn’t touch his eyes, however. “Coulda fooled me, chère. Seemed t ’me you knew just what you wuz doin’. You spread them purty white thighs real nice.” His gaze flickered down her body to rest on the curls at the apex of her thighs. “They gave me three hits,” he added broodingly. “What you think about that, chère? You think, maybe, they’re figuring they don’ need you no more? Think they figure I’ll take care of their little disposal problem?” Erin shuddered, sorry now that they hadn’t drugged her out of her mind. The sedative did nothing more than disorient her, slowing her reactions, muddling her thoughts. He bared his teeth in a parody of a smile. “Come closer, chère. I got a little somethin’ I wanna share wi’ you.” Erin shook her head slowly, backing away until she was plastered against the door. The

cold metal sent a shiver through her. She glanced up at the camera. As if it had been a signal, the churning of the pulley began again. Alarmed at the sound, Erin’s head snapped toward him just as the beast bounded toward her. She didn’t have time to scream. Before she’d managed to do more than suck in a sharp breath he was upon her, his hands closing around her arms, pinning her to the door. She squeezed her eyes closed, expecting any moment to feel pain explode inside her mind as he shredded her flesh. She jerked all over when she felt his heated breath against her ear. “Now I get ta do a little experiment of my own, chère.” Her eyes opened wide as he lifted his head, capturing her chin and forcing her to look up at him. His face closed in on hers as he dipped his head toward her. She felt the heat of his ragged breaths on her face, the scent of his breath. Her body reacted instantly to the chemical it had been taught to respond to--his. Warmth displaced the fear, unfurling like an opening blossom in her belly. “You don’ wanna kiss the nasty beast, do you, chère?” he murmured, nibbling her lips with his. “Too personal? Too intimate? It’s not like jus’ fucking the beast, is it, chère? Cause din you cain’t pretend you don’ really want it, cain’t be all scientific and detached. It’s too much like makin’ love, ain’t it, chère?” Her lips tingled from his touch and his nearness. Her mouth had gone cotton dry from the short, quick breaths she took. She licked her lips to moisten them, inadvertently touching his lips as she did so. He fitted his lips to hers more firmly, flicked his tongue out to tease the seam that posed the only barrier to his intimate caress. Dizziness washed over her that had nothing to do with the drug they’d injected her with. When he opened his mouth over hers and parted the seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue, delving inside to explore the sensitive recess of her mouth, she offered no more than a token resistance, her thoughts too chaotic to consider anything else. The warmth became heat. The heat became need. The resistance inside her fled. Her body remembered the pleasure he’d taught it to feel and opened to him as if he’d uttered an incantation. In a sense it was just that. The rake of his tongue along hers filled her with his chemical essence. The thrust of his tongue evoked keen echoes of his possession. She didn’t know when she ceased to accept him passively and became a willing participant, but one moment she was merely unresisting and the next she found herself stroking her tongue along his. He tensed, immediately suspicious, but as she lifted her hands and skated them lightly, tentatively over his belly, she felt his wariness crumble, felt his needs supplant his reason. His hold on her upper arms relaxed. His hands moved to her back, pulling her more tightly against him. The kiss, which had begun with gentle persuasion, sharpened with hunger. He broke from the kiss abruptly, lifting his head to stare at her. With an effort, Erin lifted her heavy lids to look up at him. Raw need glittered in his eyes. Behind them was a war zone. The drugs threatened to slip the leash he held upon it, his natural desires working against his reasoning mind and joining forces with the effects of the drug. He swallowed thickly. “That was … a mistake, chère,” he muttered, dipping his head abruptly and fastening his mouth over the flesh along the side of her neck. She felt the sting of his teeth as he scored her flesh. Goose bumps broke out all over her, making her more acutely sensitive to every slight brush of his skin against hers. He sucked the sting away, lathing it with his tongue, moved lower, nuzzling the upper slope of her breasts, sucking tiny love bites and then moving on. “The floor or the wall, chère? One’s as cold and hard as the next. Either way, I’m gonna have ta have you now.” The question filtered through her mind dimly, sluggishly. By the time she’d grasped the gist of it and tensed, it was too late. Her head swam as he pushed her to the floor and covered her body with his own. She gasped as her back met the cold floor. He seized the opening, covering her mouth with his in a kiss as he unleashed his beast upon her. The savagery of his possession, instead of frightening her as it should have, evoked a similar need inside her.

He broke from her lips and moved down her body to taste and suckle her flesh, teasing her with the sharp edge of his teeth. When he reached the sensitive skin of her belly, she gasped, tangling her fingers in his dark hair. Ignoring the tug, he moved lower still, pushing her legs apart and parting the petals of flesh around her cleft with his tongue. A wall of need slammed into her as he teased her clit. She cried out, writhing beneath him. He caught her wrists, disentangling her fingers from his hair and bearing her arms to the floor. She struggled to close her legs, fighting the insidious heat racing through her, making her heart pound. Releasing her wrists, he caught her thighs, pushing them wide and then wedging his arms between them and grasping her wrists again. She groaned, bucked as he settled his mouth over her clit. Within moments she ceased trying to escape and began to writhe with fevered need. He teased and suckled her unmercifully, until she began to jerk and moan with release. Before the convulsions had even died away, he slid up her body and began to tease first one and then the other painfully erect nipple, stroking her cleft with the head of his cock and then wedging it into her opening. She gasped, panting for breath as he began working his way past the tightly clenched muscles of her channel, moving deeper with each foray. He was shaking as badly as she was, a fine sheen of moisture coating his body by the time he’d claimed her fully. He hesitated, as if struggling to regain control and then released a harsh breath. Slipping one arm beneath her hips, he set a frantic, pounding pace as he began thrusting and retreating. Erin cried out as her body convulsed again in climax, this time harder than before. He ground his teeth, faltered briefly and then began to thrust harder and faster than before as his body exploded with rapture. Erin went perfectly limp in the aftermath, fighting to catch her breath as he slumped heavily against her, his own breath sawing harshly in and out of his laboring lungs. She roused slightly as he pushed himself slightly away from her. When she managed to pry her eyelids open, she saw that the fire of lust had ceased to glaze his eyes. They were filled now with barely leashed rage. “One day I will kill you all for what you have done to me,” he said in a menacing whisper. “But you, chère--you I will save for last.” **** The drug had all but worn off by the time Erin was shoved into her quarters again and left to dwell on her situation. Foremost in her mind was the threat. It made her cold all over each time she remembered it. She didn’t for one moment suffer any doubts that he not only fully intended to do what he ’d promised, but that he was perfectly capable of it. She knew they would never release him. They would keep him as long as they were interested in studying him, and then they would destroy him. The thought gave her no comfort. It made her feel ill. Whatever he was, they had no right to take his life and yet after what they’d done to him they would have no choice. She had not been comfortable about the capture to begin with, even though she’d known he wasn’t really human, but in the back of her mind she had always considered that at the worst it was only a life interrupted. They would study him, find out what they could, and then he would be released. Up until he’d uttered that promise, she had willingly made herself believe that what they were doing wasn’t really wrong. As fearful as his threat had made her though, it had made one thing clear. They had tortured him beyond endurance, turned him from dangerous to deadly. More specifically, that twisted bitch Freda had. Worse, she was well versed with scientific studies. They might continue to hold him and experiment on him for years. And she’d become part of the experiment. It almost seemed to her that he hated her worse than all the others. She couldn’t understand why he would, but the things he’d said seemed to indicate that he did. She had never harmed him. Except for taking his food to him, she had scarcely even been

around him up until Freda had hatched her brilliant plan to use her. But maybe that was all it had taken to make her his prime target? She had succeeded in stealing his seed when he had guarded it in spite of every other method of torture Freda had been able to come up with. There was only one conclusion to draw from that. For some reason, he was particularly drawn to her, and it didn’t take a great leap to get to the root of his hatred. He felt betrayed by her. He had let down his guard, and she had betrayed him. He had to know she had been drugged just as he was. Surely, he had enough reasoning ability to see that she couldn’t have been willing if they’d had to drug her? But apparently not. And they hadn’t had to give her Formula 9 this time. She felt vaguely ill. She had responded to him and she couldn’t even comfort herself that it was the drugs anymore. It revolted every feeling to realize that they had forced her to couple with that creature until she’d become chemically dependent on him, until she’d begun to crave the feel of his flesh pumping into her. She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. What was she going to do? She couldn’t escape. The place was guarded like Fort Knox, maybe even worse. Even if she could manage to break out of her quarters, she’d never escape the facility itself. The alternative was to give up and allow them to use her until they were through with their little experiment--at which time they would probably kill her, too, if the beast didn’t get tired of playing with her and take care of it for them. He’d implied as much when they’d thrown her in with them without dosing her with Formula 9 first. Was that it? The fucking bitch, Freda, had wanted her to be completely aware of what was happening? She’d expected the beast to rend Erin limb from limb when she’d given him the freedom to move about his cage freely? Tamping her fear with an effort, she pondered that change curiously. A horrific thought occurred to her after a while. She thrust it aside, but it kept returning, stronger each time until the certainty finally settled over her. Either she was pregnant, or they were hoping for it and they were afraid the Formula might damage the embryo. She couldn’t rest after that, couldn’t put it out of her mind. She kept trying to tell herself that it just wasn’t possible. A hybrid between the two species would never develop to maturity. But the moment the word hybrid entered her mind she knew without any doubt whatsoever that that was just the sort of possibility that would fire their imaginations. Whether it was possible to achieve their ends or not, they were going to try. With her. What could she do, she wondered a little wildly? Nothing, her mind answered. As long as she was confined to her quarters she had no chance at all of getting way from them. She might not have a chance anyway, but she certainly didn’t if she could change that much. The only chance that she could see at all was to convince them she’d had a change of heart and was willing to cooperate. She doubted they would be fooled, but she had to try. The next time the door opened and a guard shoved food inside, she remained where she was, seated on her bed and trying to appear perfectly calm. They were watching her. She knew that. When she’d eaten, she tried to rest, knowing she needed to do everything she could to keep her wits about her. She dozed fitfully despite her resolve. They came again, as she had known they would, to take her to the beast. She tensed, but she managed an outward calm. “I don’t need that,” she said, allowing her gaze to flicker to the syringe Freda was holding.

Freda’s brows rose. “I suppose you think you’re going to convince me you’ve accepted the situation?” Erin shrugged. “I can’t do anything else, can I? I just don’t like the drugs. Besides, it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” Freda laughed humorlessly. “Considering all the caterwauling I’ve been listening to, it would be a lot more accurate to say you’re enjoying yourself immensely.” Erin reddened, but held onto her temper. “I guess I like it rough and raunchy. That isn’t the point, though, is it? I’ve been getting the sperm samples for you. I just don’t want to be drugged.” Freda’s eyes narrowed speculatively. Erin could see her mind working. It went against the grain with the bitch to do anything anybody might want. Now she was thinking Erin was enjoying it way too much. The problem was, she needed the samples and no one had been able to get them but her. Otherwise, Erin was sure saying she was starting to enjoy it would have been enough to nip the little experiment in the bud right then and there. “Maybe we’ll try something a little different this time,” Freda murmured thoughtfully. Erin cringed inside, wondering what sort of ‘something different’ Freda had in mind, knowing it wasn’t going to be anything she would like. “Take her,” she ordered the guards. It took every ounce of will power Erin could muster to watch them stride across the room to drag her off of her bed without cringing, without putting up any resistance at all. When they had her on her feet, they turned and looked at Freda expectantly. Smiling a secretive smile, Freda turned and led the way from the room. Surprise flickered through Erin as they passed the beast’s cage. Freda opened the door of the observation room. Erin was escorted inside. “Since she’s decided to join us, I’m going to let her observe this time. Strap her to the chair there.” Confused and alarmed, Erin tensed as they pushed her into the chair and strapped her wrists to the arms with a roll of tape they found in the supplies cabinet. “You two can wait outside the beast’s cage. I’ll be with you in a moment.” Erin knew the moment she met Freda’s satisfied smile what was going through the woman’s head. She thought Erin was going to be jealous! She almost laughed at the notion, realizing Freda was so eat up with it herself she was attributing her own emotions to Erin. Revulsion replaced her amusement when Freda touched a button and a screen lit up, showing the interior of the Jesse’s cage. He was hanging from his arms, Erin saw in horror, suspended a good foot from the floor. How long had the fucking bitch been torturing him like that? Leaning toward the console, Freda grasped a lever. The pulley holding the beast began to unwind the chain. His feet settled on the floor and then his arms dropped to his sides. He groaned. Erin flinched at the sound, knowing he must be in excruciating pain to give that much away. Freda pressed a button and Erin heard him let off a faint hiss as the needle broke the skin. As she watched, his eyes became clouded, glazed. They were glittering with roiling emotions when he lifted his head and looked directly at the camera. Rage was clearly one of them, but she saw desire, too, and knew Freda had given him an injection of the Formula even before she noticed his body reacting to the drug. Freda hit the button again. After studying him for several moments, she hit it a third time. “Are you mad!” Erin exclaimed, unable to contain herself any longer. “You’ll kill him with that.” Freda folded her arms over her chest, studying Erin. “He’s become more and more resistant. He fights it every time.” Erin had had time to regret the outburst. “What you mean is he resists you,” she said tauntingly.

Freda slapped her across the cheek so hard it jerked her head sideways. Erin was so stunned by the sudden attack, disbelief shielded her from the pain. She merely turned her head to stare at the woman, realizing Freda really wasn’t entirely sane. Very deliberately, Freda hit the injection button again. “Watch and learn,” she said cheerfully as she hit the button to release the door lock. The door of the observation room had already closed behind Freda before Erin gathered her wits enough to realize she’d been given the only opportunity she was likely to get to flee. Her head was pounding from the blow. It pounded worse as she bent over and began working at the bindings with her teeth. Fortunately for her, they hadn’t been prepared for the order to bind her to the chair. They hadn’t had cuffs and the chair certainly hadn’t been equipped with manacles. The tape they’d used was hard to rip, but she thought she had a possibility of tearing it loose. It was tough, for all that, and wound around her wrists several times. She tore several small pieces off and spat them out before she managed to get a rip going. She’d broken a sweat from wrestling with the stuff by the time she managed to get one wrist free. Pausing to catch her breath, she glanced at the screen worriedly, wondering how long Freda would be occupied with her pet. The scene froze her. Jesse was fighting the manacles. Blood dripped from beneath the cuffs, ran along his arms, dripped onto the floor. Freda, just beyond his reach, had stripped naked. From the camera angle, she couldn’t really see what Freda was doing, but she could see the movement of the woman’s arm. Either she was masturbating, or she was stroking his cock. Erin suspected the latter. Unexpectedly, anger surged through her. Trying to shake it off, Erin focused on the other binding. It was no easier to tear with her fingers, though. Bending finally, she gnawed at the tape as she had the first until she’d started a tear. When she caught it with her fingers the next time, she managed to tug it free. Rubbing her burning wrists, she leapt to her feet, mentally reviewing the layout of the facility. The corridor beyond the room led up to the next level. From there, she would have to traverse another corridor before she reached the closest exit. She glanced at the screen again. She was never afterwards entirely certain what thoughts went through her mind as she turned to the console. Partly, she supposed she considered a distraction necessary. She knew part of it was the certainty that as long as they held the beast they would hold her and that she would be his to use until he, or they, decided to move on to something else. Empathy for his suffering certainly figured into it. Hatred for Freda did, too, and beyond that--she just plain didn’t like the bitch fondling him. She hit the release on the manacles before she had time to reconsider, slamming her hand down on the door lock release at almost the same instant. A shockwave went through her as she saw the creature shift before her eyes from man-like to the horrific beast she’d seen before in the tapes they’d made of his capture. She wasn’t certain whether she screamed, or Freda screamed, or perhaps both of them as the nightmare creature emerged from man’s flesh. The beast seemed to have nothing on his mind but escape, however. He thrust Freda aside as if she was no more than a cardboard figure and raced toward the door. Screaming in rage, Freda scrambled to her feet and launched herself at the beast, locking her arms around one of the beast’s arms even as he yanked the door open. Male screams combined with Freda’s as the guards outside encountered the beast. Almost instantaneously, gun shots erupted in stereo, coming from the microphone and filtering through the door at the same time. The ice freezing Erin to the spot left her abruptly. She surged toward the door of the observation room, intent only on escape herself. As she erupted into the hall, she heard a sickening gurgle. It drew her gaze inexorably. Horrified, she watched as the guard slid to the floor. As if he’d heard her, or sensed her presence, the beast’s head whipped in her direction. For several painful heartbeats, their gazes met. Abruptly, he whirled away from her and charged down the

corridor in the opposite direction. Cautiously, Erin ran after him. The bodies of both guards and Freda blocked the corridor. Freda had a stunned look on her face. A black hole was centered in her forehead. One of the guards had shot her. There was blood everywhere. Erin slipped and fell in it as she struggled over the bodies. Nausea washed over her when she looked down at the blood all over her. She fought it. Scrambling to her feet, she fled, nearly slipping and falling again from the blood coating her shoes. In front of her, she heard more gunfire, more screams as the beast fought his way toward freedom. She found herself muttering under her breath. “Let him go! Let him go!” Fully expecting to fall over his body each time she encountered more bodies, she looked for him among the dead. He could not be unscathed. Terrorized as the guards were, they were too close to miss. She saw the blood trail and knew it must be him. From out of no where a wall of pain and distress filled her. She didn’t want him dead and yet she couldn’t shake the fear that she’d signed his death warrant by releasing him. However powerful he was, he was never going to survive the bullets they ’d put in him. By the time she reached the exit, he’d cleared a path for her. Beyond the door were two more bodies. In the distance, she heard gunfire as the guards gave chase. After only a slight hesitation to determine which direction he had taken, Erin whirled in the opposite direction and ran for all she was worth. She made it all the way to the beach before they caught up with her. When she felt the sting, she thought at first that a bee had stung her. The world began to spin even as she looked down at the dart protruding from her leg, however, and she felt a sense of anger and defeat wash over her even as she began to fall into darkness. Chapter Four

One year later. There were no notable landmarks. The island looked no different than a dozen other semi-tropical islands, and yet Erin knew the moment she beached her boat and scanned the dense forest that edged the sandy water front that she had found the place at last. Tension coiled inside of her immediately. After glancing uneasily up and down the beach, she dragged the boat higher, gritting her teeth and fighting the weight as it left the water completely and she didn’t have buoyancy to help her move it. Her hands were red and chafed from tugging at the rope by the time she’d managed to drag the thing into the trough of a dune and covered it with the fronds she found laying on the ground to help to conceal it. Very likely they already knew she was here, but if they hadn’t detected her there was no sense in making it easy for them. Moving along just inside the tree line, she followed the white strip of sand until she found what she’d been looking for, a narrow trail leading deeply into the heart of the island. It was deceptively ‘ natural.’ If one looked closely, they could detect the hand of man in the regularity of the trail, the arrow straight path it took. It was unkempt for all that, and doubt flickered through her. Pushing it aside, she followed the trail cautiously, her gaze constantly flickering to the woods on either side of the trail in search of any movement. She wasn’t particularly comforted when she saw no guards. By the time she reached the facility, she knew it had been abandoned. The urge hit her like a slap in the face to simply crumple to the ground and weep. She had been so certain that she would find him if only she could find the facility again. She hadn’t been able to think of anything else since she had finally managed to escape. It

was devastating to discover she had searched so long and she’d been wrong. He had to be here. He had to! She didn’t know where else to look. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she moved cautiously toward the door, half fearing, half hoping, that the sense of abandonment was as false as the natural trail--that she would find they were laying in wait for her. She didn’t care if they did capture her again if she could be with him. She needed to touch him, to hold him and assure herself that he was alive, that they hadn’t harmed him. The door opened easily, giving the lie to her hope. She stepped inside anyway, began to trot down the corridor when she found only her own footsteps echoing back at her. Mindless in her desperate quest, she searched the facility from top to bottom, refusing to accept that it was deserted, trying to convince herself that she would find him every time she opened another door and found only another empty room. Despair crushed the air from her lungs when she realized that there was no where else to look, that she had searched every single lab and office and store room. He wasn’t here. Too miserable even to think of any other possibilities, she trudged out of the facility again. The blank camera eye that stared down at her as she stepped outside again seemed almost like a slap in the face. She glared at it, feeling fury surge through her. “Where is he, damn you!” she screamed. Her voice echoed through the trees, but no answer followed it. Lost in sorrow and her rambling thoughts, Erin had no real idea of how long she stood in the same spot, simply staring blindly at her surroundings. Slowly, though, she became aware that the sun had set, that evening was closing in and as it did, the jungle around her had begun to come alive with the whispering movements of its denizens. She wasn’t going to make it back to the mainland before it was full dark. A wise person would have found a place to settle for the night, she knew, since she was risking getting lost in one of the bayous. She found she didn’t care. The only thing that she cared about beyond finding him was getting as far away from the facility, and her memories, as possible. The hair on her back crept even as she headed for the trail again. She dismissed it. The facility itself was enough to give her the creeps after everything that had happened there. The feeling didn’t abate with distance, though. It became more pronounced. She realized after a time that she’d been vaguely aware of other sounds around her, furtive movements in the underbrush. A short distance away, she heard the abrupt baying of a canine. Goosebumps ran up her arms and down her back as she heard the sound picked up by another throat, and then another. A pack of wild dogs, or wolves. The former was more likely, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility of the latter, not when they’d captured Jesse in the bayous that surrounded the landward side of the island. It was stupid to run in either case. She couldn’t outrun them if they were already on her trail and running only stirred their hunter instincts. She broke into a run anyway, hoping she was near enough to the end of the trail to make it to the beach and her boat. The sound of something heavy landing beside her registered a split second before something slammed into her and drove her into the ground, landing on top of her. Too stunned by the impact to move or scream, or even think, Erin didn’t even move when the weight lifted slightly away from her. In the dimness, a face loomed above hers. She jerked all over, though, when he leaned close and dragged in a deep breath. “It’s her,” he said to someone nearby. The brush rustled. “Where you goin’ in such a hurry, chère?” She recognized the heavy Cajun accent. She didn’t recognize either voice. “I heard dogs,” she managed to say, still breathless with both fear and exertion. The man still holding her uttered a bark of a laugh. “Weren’t no dawgs, chère. I tink you know dat. It’s why you run so fast, no?”

“Look, I’m sorry if I was trespassing. Just let me go. I’ll leave.” “It’s a liddle late for sorry, chère. Dare’s somebody got a bone ta pick wid you.” Rising, he hauled her to her feet. “Be a good liddle gal now, you hear? He won’t be happy if we have ta git rough.” Despite the threat, she fought for all she was worth as soon as she was on her feet. She caught them off guard, managing to slip free for a handful of moments before she was tackled again. That time they bound her wrists before they hauled her up. She screamed, partly from frustration and partly with the forlorn hope that someone might hear her and come to help. “Scream all you like. Dey ain’t nobody ta hear ya out here but the brethren, chère.” She knew he was probably right and the fear broke through the cocoon of shock that had surrounded her. The failing light concealed them in deepening shadows, but she didn’t need more light to know what they were. She would have known even if the one holding her had not mentioned the brethren. There was an air about them that told its own tale. She was in the company of wolves. **** The soft, sucking sound of mud and the faint splash and gurgle of water around the poles vied with the croak of frogs, the chirp of crickets and night birds, and the croaking, thankfully distant, bellows of alligators as the boat they were in moved smoothly through the bayous. Erin jerked as yet another blood sucking insect latched onto her, wishing she had her hands free so that she could beat the swarming mosquitoes back. She had heard others, but she had not seen more than the two werewolves that had captured her. They had walked her all the way across the island to the landward side. When she’d finally collapsed from weariness, hoping to at least slow them down so that she could have time to come up with a possibility of escape, the one behind her had simply picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder as if she’d weighed no more than a feather. Unfortunately, she weighed considerably more and her own weight was sheer agony, especially since they picked up the pace when she was no longer slowing them down, loping along the pitch black paths as if it were broad daylight. They hadn’t been moving long before she’d been begging them to let her walk on her own again. They ignored her. She blacked out when she was finally set on her feet and the blood ceased to pound in her brain. When she came around, she was already in the boat. The one that had been carrying her moved to the front and picked up a pole while the other one shoved the boat into the water, waded out and climbed in. Without any apparent hesitation about where they were going, they moved along the inner coastal waterway for a while and then nosed the boat into a shallow thread of water running through the marshes that was barely wide enough for the boat. It widened a short distance in and the boat began to move more smoothly. For what seemed like hours, and probably was, they followed a map in their heads that led them deeper and deeper into the swamp. Erin had long since become too tired to really feel much fear. It was there still, but lying beneath layer upon layer of weariness, misery, despair, and the grief that had ridden her so long she hardly even recognized it any more. A light somewhere ahead of them finally penetrated the daze she’d fallen into and Erin strained to peer though the darkness. She found that they were moving toward it. A rough hewn cypress dock that looked too rickety to stand on emerged from the gloom. The tendrils of fog that had begun to creep along the surface of the water, parted slightly and she caught a glimpse of weathered boards amongst the trees a short distance from the docks. She doubted she would even have seen that much except for the fact that there was a light in one of the windows of the cabin. She suspected, even in daylight, the building merged with its surroundings so completely that it was virtually invisible to anyone who didn’t know it was there.

As they poled the boat toward the dock, a dark figure emerged from the deeper shadows. The flickering light from the torches set along the dock limned his figure, the shadows elongating as he moved toward the end of the dock until he seemed like a giant as he planted his feet slightly apart and waited. Despite the wide legged stance, she might have thought he was completely relaxed except for the fact that his hands were balled into tight fists. The side of the boat butted against one of the poles holding the dock up. It jolted Erin out of her abstraction. The man on the dock didn’t speak until she’d been lifted out of the boat and deposited on the dock in front of him. He crouched before her, studying her face in the flickering light for several moments. He lifted a hand, flicking a finger over the place along her neck where there was a tiny, whitened scar. “I knew, eventually, the mark would bring you back to me, chère.” A wave of shock swept over Erin as his voice filtered into her mind. “Jesse?” He wrapped his hands around her waist, lifting her to her feet as he stood, thrusting his shoulder into her belly and hauling her over the hard ridge like a sack of potatoes. It knocked the breath out of her, focusing her attention on struggling to drag air into her lungs. “She was alone?” “Oui. No others. She went back ta de place, like you said she would. She was callin’ for you so we come ta bring her ta you. Run like hell when she seen us, though. You watch her, mon ami. I guarantee she be gone you doan mind out. She fast, move like greased lightnin’ when de mood move her.” “Many thanks--for everything, mes ami,” Jesse responded. “You shore you doan need help wid dat one?” one of the men asked with a laugh. Jesse swatted her ass smartly with the palm of his hand. “But, oui, mon ami. Dis woman an’ me, we go way back, don’ we chère? We been good friends, very good friends.” The swat jolted Erin out of her shocked stupor. She sucked in a painful bite of air and let out a huff of anger. Rearing up abruptly, she wiggled her legs, trying to free herself from his grip. He placed a palm in the middle of her shoulders and shoved her down again. The two men in the boat began to laugh. Waving, they pushed the boat away from the pier and disappeared into the gloom as Jesse turned and strode purposefully along the dock, the heels of his boots beating out a threatening tattoo that made Erin’s belly quiver with dread. The darkness closed in around them as Jesse stepped off of the dock and onto soft, mossy grass. He continued without any noticeable difficultly in negotiating the pitch darkness. His feet struck wood again a few moments layer as he climbed a shallow set of steps and crossed a wooden porch. A door creaked open on rusted hinges. Erin’s head spun as he turned to close it again, bolting it. She caught a glimpse of a surprisingly comfortable living room and then he crossed the room and opened another door. She let out a gasp of fright as he shifted her from his shoulder and she felt herself falling. She bit her tongue when she hit the mattress and bounced. Before she could recover from the fall, he grabbed her bound wrists and yanked her arms over her head. She tried to jerk free, twisting at the waist at the same time to kick him. He released his grip on her hands long enough to shove her flat and straddle her, then pushed her arms above her head again and secured them to the headboard. Even in the dimness of the room the look he bent upon her was enough to freeze the blood in her veins. She was too mindless with fear to consider giving up without a fight though. The minute he climbed off of her, she launched another attack, drawing her knees up and kicking out at him. He sprawled across her, pinning her to the bed as he grabbed one leg, straightened it in spite of all she could do to prevent it and tied something around her ankle. She winced as he jerked the knot tight. He levered himself off of her then. She swung her foot at his face as he reached to grab her other ankle. He caught it mid-air. Shoving her leg to the mattress, he looped something around her ankle and jerked that tight as well.

She stared at him, panting for breath as he got off the bed and moved around to the foot, checking the rope he’d used to secure her ankles. Apparently satisfied, he moved away from the bed. Erin heard a scratching noise. The smell of sulfur wafted past her nose as a match sprang to life. Holding it to the wick of a lamp, he adjusted it, replaced the globe over the flame and moved back to the bed, setting the lamp down on a small table beside it. Erin’s belly tightened spasmodically as he settled on the side of the bed and she saw his face clearly for the first time in the light of the lamp. Her memories hadn’t done him justice. Or maybe she had simply never really looked at him before when she’d only thought of him as an animal? Analyzed one by one, she supposed there was nothing particularly remarkable about his features or the lean plains of his cheeks and strong jaw and chin. There was a hint of a cleft in his chin and a slightly crescent shaped dimple in each cheek, faintly visible even when he wasn’t smiling. His nose was straight and well shaped, his nostrils flaring in a way that left them just shy of a perpetual sneer. His lips were well defined, but thin and hard. His brows were nothing more than a thick, dark slash, without a hint of an arch. His eyes of all his features, was the only one truly remarkable. Surrounded by thick, curling black lashes, they would’ve been beautiful if not for the fury glittering in them as he studied her. Taken together as a whole, he was enough to knock any red blooded woman’s socks off, particularly with the long, glossy black hair that framed his purely male face. “I thought you were dead,” she said finally. His lips tightened. “Thought? Or hoped?” She felt the color leave her face. “You think I wanted you dead?” “Didn’t you? Isn’t that why you released me? It was you, wasn’t it, chère?” She gaped at him in disbelief. “I was trying to help….” “Me? Or yourself?” he growled menacingly. Dragging his shirt off, he displayed his back for her and then his chest. Erin was so mesmerized by the play of hard, bulging muscles with his movements that it took her several moments to realize his back, chest and arms were marred with scars--round scars--at least a half a dozen, she thought, though it was very likely that some of the bullets had passed through him and made two holes. She found it nearly impossible to accept that he’d been hit that many times and survived. But then again … he wasn’t human. Strange that she had to remind herself of that now when before she hadn’t thought of him as human at all. Or maybe it wasn’t so strange. In the scheme of things, the revulsion she’d learned for her own species because of the things they were capable of made it a little harder to decide which species was more animalistic than the other. He, at least, had had ample reason to behave as he had. He’d been put through things that would have broken a human’s mind. The pursuit of knowledge wasn’t an excuse for what they’d done to him--and to her. He leaned over her, bracing a fist on either side of her on the bed and she realized the question hadn’t been purely rhetorical. He wanted to know. The problem was … there was no simple answer. “If I’d wanted you dead, I didn’t have to do anything at all. They would’ve destroyed you when they were done. Don’t tell me you don’t know that!” It wasn’t the answer he’d been looking for. She could see that in his expression. He pushed away from her abruptly, stood up. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest when he pulled a long knife from a sheathe on his belt, testing the sharpness of the blade with the ball of his thumb. His gaze moved from the thin cut on his thumb to her, snagging her gaze for a pregnant moment. “You should hold real still, chère.” She stared at him blankly, unable to grasp what he meant until he leaned over her and grasped the leg of her trousers. Hooking the knife under it, he drew it upward slowly. She jerked instinctively and felt a sting as the tip of the blade nicked her thigh. “What are you doing?” she gasped with a mixture

of horror and outrage. He didn’t even glance at her. His concentration was focused on slicing her clothing off. When he’ d sliced the cloth through the waistband, he moved around the bed and repeated the process. Her panties didn’t take even half as long to remove. “Jesse! Stop! Don’t do this! Whatever you think I’ve done, you’re wrong.” He ignored that, too. Her blouse fared no better than her pants. She started struggling despite the warning when he grasped the straps of her bra. “You made your point! Stop it!” Having cut the straps, he slipped the knife beneath the part of the bra that connected the cups and sliced it before his gaze met hers again. “I haven’t even begun ta make my point, chère,” he said in a low, menacing growl. Erin licked her lips, jogging her mind for anything she might say to reason with him. “I did the only thing I could. I knew they would shoot at you, but at least it gave you a chance. There was no other chance. I couldn’t get out of the facility myself.” His eyes narrowed as he studied her thoughtfully. “Me, I’m thinkin’ you didn’t care one way or the other, chère, so long as I was gone. I’m thinkin’ you figured that was the only way to make sure they didn’t put you in with me again, because you’d realized you was startin’ to like me fuckin’ you.” Erin felt the blood rush from her face that he’d hit so near the mark. It flooded back with a vengeance until her cheeks were pulsing with color. “That had nothing to do with it!” She might as well have saved her breath. She saw her reaction was enough to tell him a part of the truth she hadn’t been willing to acknowledge even to herself. The chances of explaining her chaotic emotions at that time to him were pretty much nil, though, because she hadn’t completely understood herself. She still didn’t. “What are you going to do?” she gasped, struggling to stave off hysteria. “I made you a promise,” he said evenly. Erin stared at him, trying to recall everything that had passed between them so long ago. It wasn’t easy given that she’d spent an entire year doing her utmost to submerge those memories. That particular memory surfaced without a great deal of prodding though. “You killed the others?” “Unfortunately for me, they were gone by the time I recovered enough to look for them. The trail was too cold to follow. I’m sure you know the cold bitch is dead. That only leaves you and the rat bastard that orchestrated my capture and torture. But I’m thinkin’ you can give me him.” “You didn’t kill Freda Dallas. The guards did. I don’t believe you’re a cold blooded killer.” “Then you’d be wrong, chère. She was lucky. It happened real quick. Caught her by surprise when they lay down on me and got her too. I have to say I was very disappointed I didn’t get a chance to settle things between us, but then maybe it was just as well. Sick bitch woulda probly enjoyed it. I wonder if you will.” “I didn’t have anything to do with what they were doing!” Erin cried out with a mixture of anger, fear, and desperation. “They brought me into the project later, after they’d captured you. I didn’t even know what they were doing until they sent me in there the first time.” His lips curled, but there was no humor in his eyes. “Then this is gonna be a real surprise for you, ain’t it, chère?” Erin started fighting the bindings uselessly. “Let me go! You have to let me go! I don’t know where Dr. Wagner is. I’ve been looking for him since I escaped. That’s why I came here. I thought they might have reopened the facility. It was the only lead I had.” Something flickered in his eyes, but she could see that he didn’t believe anything she’d said. “This is the way it works, chère. Over dere is the facilities. You get to use them once a day. Now I’m a soft hearted son-of-a-bitch so I’m gonna let you tell me when you need to go instead of takin ’ you when I feel like it. You need ta think real hard before you ask, though, ‘cause that’s once a day, no matter what. “It won’t be a real problem for you long, though, cause you only get food and water once a day, too--if you’re good and I’m feelin’ charitable. If you piss me off, you don’t get any ‘priviledges.’

You just get to look at the food and water and think about using the facilities.” Horror filled Erin, not just because of what he was suggesting he was going to do to her, but because she realized he was telling her that that was what they’d done to him--for months. Even she had no idea how long they’d kept him chained in that cage, but she knew he had been captured long before she came to the facility, and she knew she had been a part of the experiment for over a month. “I want to find him as much as you do. Let me go! I’ll help you.” Frustration filled her as he left the room, closing the door behind him. She tugged at the bindings after he’d gone, twisting her head to look up at them. Her fingers were already numb. The rag the others had used to bind her wasn’t tight enough to completely cut off the circulation and she’d had her hands bound in front of her, which had allowed some circulation. With the binding Jesse had looped around her already bound wrists, and the position of her arms, it hadn’t taken long for the numbness to become more pronounced. Concentrating, she wiggled her fingers and arms as much as she could, not because she thought there was any real chance of getting loose, but to keep some of the circulation flowing through her arms and hands. She was rewarded for her efforts with stinging pain. Gritting her teeth, she continued until her fingers didn’t feel so stiff and swollen. If she could only pull herself up a little higher on the bed, she thought, maybe she could get enough slack to slip her bound hands from the loop? She discovered very quickly that there wasn’t enough slack in the cords around her ankles to allow for it. Even when she’d stretched until it felt as if every joint from her groin down would separate, it wasn’t quite enough. She subsided after a while, wondering if he did mean to kill her. Her throat closed at that thought. * * * * Jesse strode through the front room and out onto the porch, staring up at the night sky while he struggled to bring his heart rate and breathing back to normal. He felt more than vaguely nauseated. For several moments, he held his hands out, palm up, staring angrily at the tremor in them. He hadn’t anticipated the things he’d felt from the moment he’d set eyes on her. He wondered if she’d been able to tell the effect she had on him, or if she’d been under too much duress herself to see his sorry state. After a few minutes, he plopped his butt down on the edge of the porch and settled his feet on the lower step, struggling to summon the hatred that had consumed him for so long, that had carried him through the months it had taken him to recover from his wounds, that had kept him from totally losing his mind in the months after that when he had searched for her so frantically. Of all the stupid things that he had done because of her, marking her was probably one of the stupidest. The link alone had tortured him. It hadn’t been strong enough to help him find her and yet it had been strong enough to taunt him. Propping one elbow on his knee, he speared his fingers through his hair, propping his forehead on his palm while he tried to remember, and sort through, the things she’d said. Derisively, he realized he didn’t remember a hell of a lot. He’d been the next thing to mindless, roiling emotion even before he’d stripped her. From the moment he’d begun that, it had been far more torture to him than her because he hadn’t been able to get his mind off of his memories of stroking her soft skin, her taste, the way she’d felt when he had sunk himself deeply inside of her. The sounds of pleasure she’d made. His mouth went dry. With an effort, he pushed the memories aside. He hadn’t waited all this time to allow himself to be sucked in by her again. The fury he’d been questing for rose inside of him at that thought. He hated all of them for what they’d done to him, but he hated her worst of all. Nothing they could do could touch him as she could. Nothing they could have thought of to do could have given him nearly as much pain. He’d thought he loved her. All she’d had to do was be the one bright moment in that hell, the

one person who offered him any kindness at all. He would’ve believed he was in love with her even if she hadn’t been so beautiful he’d been almost willing to gnaw his arms off to get to her. He might have been more than tempted if he hadn’t seen that she was as afraid of him as she was fascinated by him. It made him cringe inside to know that even after everything he’d learned about her, that was what had driven him to mark her, not the half formed lie he’d told himself--that it would make it easier to find her later. In his mind, she was already his mate. He had only had to seal it with his mark. He dismissed those thoughts. He wasn’t in love with her. He never had been. That was only part of the mind fuck. He’d lusted for her. He didn’t even feel that much any more. Not much lust, anyway. Nothing he couldn’t handle. All he wanted to do was to give her a taste of what they’d put him through, just enough to make it as impossible for her to ever forget as it was for him. Once he’d toyed with her a while, she’d be begging to tell him where that son of a bitch was and then she could go to hell for all he cared. Living with it would be more torture for her than a quick death. But living with the expectation of death was only a part of what he’d had to endure and she was going to get a good taste of it before he let her go. Let her think he meant to kill her. Let her get a good taste of what it was like to be tied up and treated like an animal. Before he was done, she would hate him as much as he hated her. And that was what he wanted. He felt so nauseated at the idea that he thought for several moments that he would be sick. It pissed him off even more. He had a weakness for the woman. He could deny it all he liked. That wasn’t going to change the situation. One way or another, he was going to get the information he wanted out of her, though, he decided grimly. If she decided to make it easy on herself … he would just wash his hands of her and call it a day. The harsh truth was that getting what he needed out of her was probably going to be more hellish for him, or as much anyway, as it was for her. Chapter Five Jesse thought he’d braced himself for what came next. The moment he stepped into the room with her, though, her delicate scent hit him like a ton of bricks. It made no difference that fear laced it, that he could see the uneasiness in her eyes. There was just a trace of desire in it, as well, and that was all it took to send his own libido into overdrive. Gathering his wits with an effort, he moved to the drawer where he’d placed the device and removed it. Her eyes widened when he held it up and flipped it on. “What are you going to do with that?” He frowned, studying the device. “It took me a liddle while to come around to this. Thing is, chère, part of what made it so hellish in dere for me was that I was determined not to give them a part of me and they was determined to git it. “Now wid you, it’s different. There’s only one thing you can give up that I want.” “I don’t know where he is! I told you I didn’t!” Erin exclaimed, staring at the tubular shaped object with a mixture of dread, embarrassment, and revulsion as he settled on the bed beside her. “I’m thinkin’ if you’re still singin’ the same tune come mornin’--well maybe you don’.” She jumped as he stroked the thing along her neck and down to one breast. The vibrations from the device sent a surge of sensation through her. Her nipples puckered as blood surged into them. She held her breath, trying to focus on anything other than what he was doing, fearful that her body was going to give her away at any moment. Relief flooded her when he moved lower, but it was short lived. She felt his fingers stroking the hair on her mound, parting her nether lips. The hard, vibrating plastic skated over her clit, sending a sizzling jolt through her. She caught her breath, held it, squeezed her eyes shut. None of it made any difference, not the low pitched whine the thing made, not the foreign feel of

it against her. Her belly began to tighten with the stimulation. A knot of need rose in her throat. Moisture gathered in her channel, dampened her cleft. He stroked a finger along her cleft, gathering moisture on the tip. She refused to look at him when she sensed he’d lifted his head to study her. She let out a short gasp as he finally moved the vibrator from her clit. He traced it along her cleft and began to slowly push it up inside of her. She clenched her muscles instinctively, trying to resist, but the moisture and his insistent pressure triumphed. Heat and tension grew steadily as he thrust it in and out of her, stroking her g-spot until she found she could no longer be still, until her hips began to move with him of their own accord and she was dizzy with trying to hold her reaction inside. He removed it slowly, slipping it back along her cleft and moving it in a teasing circle around her clit until she could no longer control the little pants of breath from the accelerated beating of her heart and her laboring lungs. She wasn’t even aware of the point when she passed beyond resistance to the point where she began to struggle to reach release. When he stopped, removing the vibrator and laying it on the bed beside her, she was too surprised to realize what his intent was at first. She was still trying to figure it out when he got up abruptly and left the room. She stared at the door without comprehension, her body still sizzling with unfulfilled desire. Slowly, it dawned on her that he’d achieved his goal. He’d taken her right up to the point where she was so close to release she thought she’d die if she didn’t get it, and then he’d left her. Just as they had done to him over and over until he was practically a raving maniac. “Oh god!” she murmured. She had over an hour to contemplate her situation before he returned. An hour for her body to finally cool and stop throbbing with need. She’d had just enough time to think he was wrong in believing he could torment her like this. It wasn’t something she couldn’t handle. Not that she could tell him what he wanted to know even if she could, but she knew of no way to convince him of it. His face was grim when he came back, determination in every line of his body. Anxiety immediately assailed her. He sprawled out on his side on the bed beside her, studying her body as if it was a problem he had to figure out. It didn’t take him long to figure it out though. He began to stroke his fingers lightly over her from her neck to her groin, never touching a single erogenous zone, but passing teasingly close. By the time he’d stroked his fingers along her body once, her nerves were already taut. Heat had blossomed inside her belly. Every nerve ending on her body seemed to open to him, waiting for the slightest touch to send a shock wave of pleasure through her. She held her breath, tried to hold perfectly still, but the insistent stroking along her skin made her belly quiver. When at last he traced a circle around her nipples, goose bumps erupted from her neck down. A shiver went through her as he raked his fingers down along her belly again. She sucked in a sharp breath as his fingers parted her flesh and he stroked her clit. The sound drew his attention and he transferred his gaze from what he was doing to her face, studying her as he teased her clit with one finger tip. She turned her face away, biting her lip, struggling to control her breathing. For a moment, she managed to focus her mind away from his touch, staring at the glow of the lamp and the wall beyond it. Insidiously, her body received the pleasure of his touch, funneling it through her body and along her nerve endings into her mind until her gaze and her mind became unfocused and her mind turned to mush. Her eyes slid half closed as her attention shifted to accepting and capturing the sensations. She was only dimly aware that he’d leaned closer until she felt the heated, faintly rough, moisture of his tongue lap against her clit. A mind numbing shock wave of ecstasy flooded her blood stream like 180 proof liquor. She sucked in a sharp gasp, felt her skin grow taut with sensation. Her hips rose of their own accord when he lifted his head.

Swallowing with an effort, she turned her head and met his gaze for a pregnant moment. With great deliberation, he dipped toward her again. She tensed, dreading his touch and at the same moment wanting it. An involuntary moan scraped along her throat and escaped as he closed his lips over her clit and she felt the mind blowing heat and suction of his mouth. The muscles in her belly went taut, relaxed fractionally and tightened again, growing steadily more tensed as he continued to tease her. She rapidly lost all awareness of anything but the pleasurable jolts moving through her, winding tighter and tighter until, of its own volition, her body began to writhe with feverish need to find release. Disappointment flooded her when he stopped. Lifting his head, he studied her a moment and got off the bed abruptly, striding from the room. Her throat closed on the painful need that was still pounding through her. She dragged in several ragged breaths, willing her body to cool, to dismiss the urgency to find release. Sluggishly, her body responded and the need gentled, but she felt like groaning with despair when he came again. She lost count of the number of times he returned to torment her with pleasure. After a few times, her body simply refused to cool. It remained on edge. As if a fever had descended upon her, she lost all touch with reality, dreading the caresses he lavished her with almost as much as she craved them. Each time she felt his mouth and hands move over her, the tension rose faster and higher, coiling inside of her until she thought she would die with the need to find release. He seemed to know to a nicety just how far he could push her without allowing her to find it. By the time the darkness outside the window began to lift, she’d begun to wonder if she would lose her mind. Her body was on fire. She’d stopped even attempting to struggle against enjoying his touch. As tortuous as it was, she wanted it, needed more. “Jesse, please,” she murmured when he settled on the bed and began to caress her again. “Please what, chère?” he growled. “Don’ touch me, you nasty beast?” She licked her lips, struggling to make sense of what he’d said. “They showed me the video … when they captured you,” she managed to gasp as she felt his lips moving along her inner thighs, the scraping bristle of whiskers against too tender flesh “…to make sure I knew how dangerous you were.” He paused, lifted his head to study her. She licked her lips. “Knowing what you were capable of, I was too afraid to see beyond that … to look at you any other way … until….” He shifted upwards on the bed. Bending one arm and propping his head in one hand, he stroked his free hand over her breasts, plucking almost absently at her nipples with his fingers until she had to struggle to catch her breath for the heated sensations flooding her. “Until?” he prompted. “We became lovers.” He issued a derisive laugh. “No self respecting Lycan would take a weak minded mortal as a lover. I fucked you, chère … ‘cause I’m an animal and pussy is just pussy to me.” Erin swallowed with an effort. “It wasn’t just fucking. You wanted me--none of the others. You wanted to kiss me.” His gaze zeroed in on her lips. Her lips tingled at the touch of his gaze. Her throat closed with the thirst to taste him. “To assert dominance, chère, ‘cause I could see you hated the idea of kissing a beast.” “I didn’t hate it. I wanted it. I still want you. Don’t … torture me anymore. Make love to me. I need to feel you inside of me. It’s been so long, Jesse. Please.” His eyes narrowed. She saw both desire and anger glittering in his eyes. Lifting his head from his hand, he leaned toward her. She stiffened as his dark head descended toward her breasts, holding her breath. Desire and need rushed through her as he nipped at the inner side of first one breast and then the other. She let out a ragged gasp as he moved lower, feeling frustration surface--and boiling need that was as corrosive as acid as it flowed through her blood. She jerked all over when his mouth settled over her clit, the heat and nudge of his tongue instantly driving her to mindlessness. She knew, though, that he hadn’t listened, or believed, anything she’d said. He wouldn’t give her what she needed. Her throat closed, this time with frustration. Without even

realizing it, she began to weep. “Please, Jesse,” she gasped softly. “Tell me what I want to know,” he murmured after a moment, ceasing to tease her clit and nipping at the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh. “I don’t know!” she almost wailed. “I came to find him!” He shifted upward until his face hovered just above hers. His ragged breaths fanned against her lips, making her mouth go dry. She met his gaze. “I need you,” she whispered hopelessly. His expression went taut. He seemed to struggle with his own desire for several heartbeats and then he trapped her lips beneath his in a kiss that was almost as punishing as it was devastating to her senses. Her mind reeled. So much passion curled around and through her as she felt the raw hunger in him that darkness skated the fringes of her mind. She kissed him back with fevered need, struggling against her bonds to hold him closer. She felt a painful tug on her wrists and then her arms, numb and useless, dropped to the bed. Grasping her around the waist, he dragged her down the bed until her knees bent and his hips were cradled between her thighs. She gasped when she felt his erection pressing against her cleft almost bruisingly. “You lose, chère,” he growled against her throat as he broke the kiss and fumbled with the fastening of his jeans, wreaking havoc with her senses as he gnawed love bites along her throat and shoulder. Mindless with need, she arched against him, thwarting his efforts to free his distended flesh for many moments, frustrating both of them. At last, she felt his silken skin plow along her cleft, gathering the moisture of her need. She tilted her hips eagerly, trying to align her body with his. A groan that was part frustration, part relief escaped her as she felt his cock head penetrate her, begin to spread her flesh. She’d forgotten how tightly he filled her, how glorious it was to feel his hard flesh fisted within her channel. Impatient to feel him fully, she lifted up to meet his probing thrusts. She heard him grinding his teeth as he fought for control, felt moisture pop from his pores. He hesitated for a long moment when he had finally worked his hard flesh deeply inside of her. Uttering a groan, he lifted slightly away from her, nuzzling his face along her neck and then winding his way downward with love bites that made goose bumps of keen sensation chase along her flesh. The love bite he placed on the inner slope of her breast sent a wild combination of pain and fiery need through her. She cried out, feeling her body thundering toward completion as he began to move in slow cadence, thrusting deeply and then retreating with exquisite deliberation that had her panting for breath, struggling against him to urge him to move faster. She was so caught up in achieving the bliss her body was striving toward, she scarcely noticed the path of his lips until they fastened over one nipple. Alarm rushed through her instantly. “No!” she gasped. Even as she cried out in panic, she felt the rush, though, as her milk glands expanded and filled. He released her nipple abruptly. Jerking away from her, he stared down at her nipple for a long moment, too stunned for the implications to sink into his mind for many moments. As the realization sank into him, he lifted his head and caught her gaze. Erin stared back at him with a mixture of guilt and trepidation. What he might have said or done she was never to know. At that moment, he lifted his head, gazing up at the ceiling. Startled, she looked up, too. Moments ticked past and then she, too, heard the sound that had drawn his attention. The thrum of helicopter blades bouncing off of the trees. Rage filled his eyes as he looked down at her again. “You bitch! You brought them with you!” he ground out through gritted teeth. Erin felt her jaw go slack with stunned surprise. “I didn’t! You have to believe me, Jesse! I didn’t know!” He leapt off her, sprang from the bed even as he adjusted his jeans. Before her horrified gaze, he shifted. She screamed in terror at the look he bent upon her, but after hesitating only a moment, he

leapt through the window with a crash of shattering glass and vanished from her sight. Briefly, relief flooded through her, but it was very brief. If he was right and it was them, she had to flee. Her arms landed on her body so hard the club they made knocked the breath out of her. It had taken every ounce of will power she could muster even to move them that much. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to work feeling into her arms and finally managed to sit up. Her fingers were stiff and uncooperative. Doing her best to ignore the approach of the helicopter as it drew steadily closer, she wiggled her fingers and finally sat up, leaning to reach for the binding around first one ankle and then the other. She was weeping with fear and frustration by the time she managed to free her ankles. They were close. The sound had become near deafening. She was stark naked, but she didn’t have time to grab anything even if she could’ve pulled it on with her wrists still bound. If she could elude them, she could come back for something to wear. She saw the chopper hovering just above the trees as she reached the edge of the porch. Even as she stared up at it, lines dropped and men began repelling down them like spiders dropping from spun web. Leaping off the porch, she glanced around a little frantically. It was full daylight, and too late to hope they hadn’t spotted her. She suspected it was Jesse they wanted most, though, and he’d had plenty of time to disappear into the swamp. There was no boat at the dock and she certainly couldn’t swim with her hands still ties and her arms still woefully uncooperative. Finally, she dashed around the side of the cabin, searching the tree line for a path. Seeing nothing, she ran toward the woods anyway, leaping over the tall fronds of wild ferns, praying she wouldn’t land on a cotton mouth or a rattle snake--or a gator. She hadn’t made it far into the brush when she was body slammed. The breath left her lungs in a painful rush as she landed on the ground with the man on top of her. She screamed, slinging her bound hands at the man like a bat. The struggle was a frustratingly short one. Before she’d managed to club him more than twice, someone else seized her arms. The soldier that had tackled her grabbed her legs. She kicked at him, managing to free one foot long enough to really piss him off by kicking him in the face. He lost his cool, leaping to his feet and kicking her several times before the guy holding her arms released his grip on her and shoved him back. “Stand down, soldier! We ’re supposed to bring her back.” She hadn’t managed to recover the breath he’d kicked out of her when both men grabbed her and hauled her to her feet, half carrying her and half dragging her back the way she’d just come. She saw Dr. Wagner as soon as they’d rounded the cabin and crossed the ‘yard’ toward the dock, where the helicopter had settled low enough to disgorge the bastard onto the cypress planks. He looked so pleased with himself, she saw red as fury replaced the sense of defeat that had swallowed her when they’d captured her and begun dragging her back. She caught the soldiers off guard. Pulling free, she closed the short distance that separated her from Wagner and slugged him with her bound fists. “Where is he, you son of a bitch? What have you done with my baby?” she screamed at him, pounding him several more times before the soldiers caught her and dragged her back. Chapter Six Stunned by her attack, Wagner merely stared at her blankly for several moments, examining his bloody nose. “Any sign of the beast?” he asked finally, transferring his gaze to the guards. The soldier holding her right arm shook his head. “He heard the chopper. He’s probably miles from here by now.” Wagner looked enraged for several moments. “You said the tracker we implanted in her would lead us to him,” he said angrily. “What use is the damned tracker if you were going to scare him off with the chopper?”

“You tagged me?” Erin screamed furiously, disbelief momentarily distracting her. She realized then with a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that Jesse had been right. She had led them to him. She hadn’t escaped. They’d let her go so that she could help them capture him again. Bait. The bastards had used her as bait. “I’ll kill you if you’ve hurt my baby,” she ground out. Wagner frowned at her. Feeling around the pockets of his lab coat, he produced a syringe. “You won’t be in any condition to do anything,” he said almost pleasantly, stepping up to her and stabbing the needle into her arm. Pain lanced through her and she winced, feeling despair fill her as the drug began to circulate through her. “Take me to him. Please! He needs me!” “He’s in good hands,” Wagner said easily, his voice beginning to slur in her ears and grow distant as the sedative kicked in and her knees turned to jelly. “Take her to the chopper. This is a bust. We’ll have to think of another way to trap a specimen.” **** Jesse emerged from the reeds slowly as the chopper lifted off, struggling against the temptation to leap onto the dock and hitch a ride on the helicopter’s pontoons. While he internally debated the pros and cons of giving in to the urge, the chopper gained altitude and the moment was lost. Frustration surged through him for several moments, threatening to further disrupt his ability to think. After a moment, he tamped it. Summoning his beast, he loped after the chopper, trailing it with his keen senses, praying they wouldn’t turn toward sea where he would have no way of following. His prayers were answered. They followed the coast line for miles and finally turned inland. He shadowed them until they reached the edge of the swamp, watching from the concealment of the trees until the helicopter was no more than a speck in the sky. A sense of purpose filled him as he saw it begin to descend. He had hoped that they would not go far. He hadn’t expected that they would, but there had been a risk in allowing them to leave without him. He stayed to listen a while, reaching out with his senses until he could no longer even hear the chopper. That didn’t mean it had landed, but the swamps was where their prey lived. Knowing that, they wouldn’t have set up shop far from the source. He’d wondered if he was mad to give Erin the second mark, virtually sealing his own fate. He was fiercely glad now that he hadn’t been able to resist the impulse. Their tie was stronger. He could follow her. After a time, he melted back into the swamp and lifted his head to summon the brethren. Ordinarily, he would not have been able to contain his impatience to go, but it was different now. There was more at stake and he couldn’t risk harm coming to them. He would need help to take back what had been stolen from him--his woman and his son. * * * * It took an effort to throw off the after effects of the sedative. Erin’s first awareness was of discomfort, minor aches that nevertheless discouraged her from coming fully awake. Memories began to intrude, however, making it impossible to seek oblivion again. She opened her eyes slowly, staring up at the ceiling for many moments before she allowed her gaze to sweep the room she found herself in. It could’ve been the same room she’d been imprisoned in for nearly a year. It had the same institutional look to it, clean, cold and impersonal. The inevitable sense of loss swept over her as she became fully conscious, aware of the aching tightness of her breasts, and she placed a hand over her flat stomach. Joshua was gone. For weeks now she’d thought of little beyond finding him. She’d thought, or at least made herself hope, in the beginning that they were only running tests on the baby and they would bring him to her once they’d satisfied their curiosity. When one week had dragged into another and then another, the hope had dwindled and the

determination had grown in her to find her baby and take him back. She’d refused to allow herself even to think of the possibility that she might fail, struggling to pump her breasts the best she could to keep her milk in production so that she could feed her baby when she had him back. She’d been so focused on escaping and rescuing Joshua, she’d blinded herself to the ease with which she’d finally won her freedom. They’d let her go in hopes of recapturing Jesse--or another Lycan, anyway. It was possible they thought he was dead considering how many times he’d been shot while escaping. And she’d led them right to him. Before the full implications of that could set in, she pushed herself upright. She saw she was wearing one of the ugly gray shifts they had provided her with since she’d been imprisoned. Once she’d studied the room thoroughly, she was certain she was in the same cell, not just another one that looked like the one she’d occupied for so long. Looking back, she realized her naiveté was almost pathetically laughable. Even after they’d drugged her and used her to collect the specimens from Jesse, she had been screaming the house down when she’d been brought here and imprisoned, demanding her rights, threatening to sue, threatening to bring charges against them. It wasn’t as if they didn’t know they were romping all over her rights as an American citizen. Jesse, whatever he was, had those same rights and that hadn’t deterred them one iota. They were the government. She had no rights unless they gave them to her, unless they upheld them and they weren’t the least bit worried about consequences. She’d been afraid when she’d first come to the conclusion that they didn’t care about her rights. That the reason they were so unconcerned was because they didn’t intend for her to live long enough to make waves. It had dawned upon her after a while that that wasn’t necessarily the case. She couldn’t prove any of the things that they’d done to her. Even if they finally decided to let her go, it was much more likely that she’d find herself institutionalized for paranoia than that anyone would actually listen to her. The sense of impotence made her blood boil. She tamped it. Raging wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Throwing her legs over the side of the cot, she got up and used the facilities, then washed her face, brushed her teeth to get rid of the horrible cotton mouth from being drugged, and combed her hair. They were watching, she knew. They were always watching. As if in answer to her thoughts, a panel in the door slid back and a tray scraped along the floor as one of the guards pushed food in to her. She turned at the sound, just in time to see the arm disappearing again. The panel slid shut. She had little interest in the food, but she retrieved it anyway, taking a seat on the cot with the tray across her lap. As she nibbled at the tasteless food, she considered her situation. They’d brought her back and they hadn’t given her her baby, so it had nothing to do with any anxiety about his health. She refused to consider that they might have no reason to be concerned about it because he was beyond the need for care. He was alive. She felt it in her soul and she didn’t believe that was only because she wanted it to be true. She felt certain that she would have sensed it if he was dead. Maybe she was lying to herself. Maybe that was something every mother believed deep down, that they’d just know because the link was so strong between them and their child, but she refused to consider that it was only hope. And if she was right, then there was only one reason that she could think of that they’d brought her back. They expected to have use of her. Either they meant to use her to breed another hybrid. Or they meant to try using her as bait to catch another Lycan. Possibly both. Either way, they weren’t going to allow her to escape. They’d already tried that and failed to

capture the Lycan they wanted. If that was the agenda, then they would try something that gave them more control next time. Unwelcome, thoughts of Jesse crept into her mind. Guilt had swamped her for a long time after she’d orchestrated his escape, because so many had been killed, but mostly because, by releasing him, she’d been his executioner. She wasn’t certain how she felt about the fact that he’d survived. Relief was part of it. That she needn’t shoulder the guilt of having a hand in his death, and the death of her child’s father. Her feelings went beyond that, though. In the first months after she’d been imprisoned, she’d had nothing but time and her thoughts. As reluctant as she’d been to relive that time, she hadn’t been able to help it and every time the memories had replayed, she’d discovered some nuance in his expression and the things he’d said and the way he’d behaved that she hadn’t noticed before. She’d convinced herself she cared for him and mourned his loss. She was no longer certain that it was anything else beyond a need to convince herself that what she’d been through hadn’t been the clinical nightmare she’d thought, though. Maybe some, or even most, of it was true. Maybe not. It didn’t really seem to matter now one way or the other. If she had guessed right and he had had feelings for her beyond lust, he hated her now and she doubted she could change that even if she wanted to. That thought had no sooner crossed her mind than she realized she did want to. It didn’t really matter how she’d come to care for him, it seemed, whether she’d fallen for him by way of fantasy, or because of who and what he truly was. The bottom line was that she did care--enough that it hurt to think he hated her and the need filled her to try to make him understand that none of the things that had happened were things she’d done or even had any control over. It seemed unlikely she would get the chance. The agency wasn’t through with either one of them. If they captured him again, particularly if they used her to do so, he would hate her all the more and she didn’t think it was likely that he would allow his desire for her to influence him in her favor. She wasn’t even certain he desired her anymore for that matter. It seemed to her that he had been pretty damned good at teasing her and remaining aloof. In the end, he had given in--just long enough to discover her secret--and he probably hated her even more for that. It was hopeless, she realized. If there had ever been a chance, there wasn’t one now. Worse, she didn’t know how he might feel about Joshua. If he’d been human, there was probably at least a 60/40 chance in her favor that he wouldn’t give a damn about the baby one way or the other--certainly not enough to challenge her for the child. He wasn’t human, though. He was Lycan, and she had no idea how strong his parental instincts might be. If they were strong enough to goad him into going after his child, he would take Joshua and she would never see her baby again because he hated her, because she was human and she knew that as much as he despised humans in general and her in particular it was very unlikely he’d allow her near his young. If the worst case scenario was that Jesse would find Joshua and take him away from the agency, then she could rest easier with that than to think the agency had their hands on her baby. What were the chances, though, that he could find Joshua when she hadn’t been able to? He hadn’t even been able to find her. If she’d understood what she’d heard correctly, he had had to rely on her returning to the lab. God only knew where they’d taken Joshua, she thought, swallowing against the knot of misery that formed in her throat. He could be in the same facility where she was, but she didn’t think so. She’d been transferred to the current facility after his birth. He was either still at the hospital where he’d been born or they’d taken him to a different facility altogether to prevent any chance that she could get near him. When she’d finished eating, she got up and set the tray on the floor in front of the panel on the door. They hadn’t given her anything to eat with. She’d used the utensils before to destroy the cameras and tried to work the lock open. Since then, she’d gotten nothing she couldn’t eat with her hands. She searched the room for the cameras anyway, squirting a good dollop of mustard on the lens

of each--there were three, two in plain sight and the last ‘hidden’. She would’ve used the catsup except that she liked catsup. She wouldn’t be getting any more mustard. It was a lame rebellion, but the only thing she could do at the moment. For now, she had a little privacy at least. She moved back to the cot and settled on it, trying to jog her memory of her outward trip the day she’d escaped. Assuming she was in the same facility, she had to be on one of the lower levels, which meant underground. The walls were poured concrete. She wasn’t going to be able to dig out. There was a dropped ceiling in the room, but she knew the metal was only strong enough to support the tiles, which meant they wouldn’t support her. The vent in the ceiling was no better. The opening was so small she doubted anything bigger than a rabbit could climb through the duct work. That left the door, and unfortunately, electronics wasn’t her field. She might be able to beat the panel off of the lock, but she didn’t have a clue about changing the wiring to open the door. If she had time, she might manage it by trial and error, but she knew that if she disabled their ability to see what she was doing, she wouldn’t have much time before they came to check on her. A sense of frustration and urgency washed over her. She had to figure out some way to escape and find Joshua. * * * * “Dis is an ant hill, mon ami. How we supposed to sneak in and grab the female? I count ten guards around the perimeter. I guarantee we stir dis ant hill, gonna be a lot more pourin’ out of the hill.” Jesse glanced at Tavian. “Which is why I’ll need help. It’s gonna take a hell of a diversion to pull this off.” Tavian exchanged a look with Billy Ray. “Dynomite? I doan mind rock’n roll, but there’s only three of us. Gonna take some big noise to create the distraction you talkin’ about,” Billy Ray muttered. Jesse frowned but shook his head. “I need to have a look inside first.” Tavian and Billy Ray exchanged another speaking glance. “How you gonna have a look in the ant hill without sneakin’ in? I ain’t seen no way in or out but the front door,” Tavian put in. “There’s always a back way, mes ami,” Jesse said, smiling grimly. “No matter how secure, any place with people, ant hill or not, gotta have air, gotta have power, gotta have water supply and sewage. I found the air shaft. I’m goin’ in the back door, see if I can tie in to their computer system and have a look see. When we know what we can expect inside, you two gonna convince the pack to help with the diversion.” Tavian looked troubled. “I doan know, Jesse. The pack is pissed about these doin’s, but it’s gonna take some fast talkin’ to convince them this is somethin’ we need to do.” “Then you’ll have to make them understand that I ain’t the only one these bastards is after. They got it in mind to use the Lycan for some kind of war toy, make no mistake. They stole my seed to breed half-breeds. They ain’t gonna stop there. If this is where the research is being done, it’s a threat to the whole pack--and not just this pack. I ain’t just talkin’ about retrievin’ what’s mine. I’m talkin’ about protectin’ the brethren from the humans. This is ain’t just personal. It’s all out war.” There was only one guard within sight of the mouth of the air shaft. Jesse studied him a while. It wouldn’t take much to take the guy out, but then they would know something was up and they’d beef up security at the very least. The place was already swarming with security. He didn’t want to make it any harder to crack the nut. It took patience and three nights of watching to learn the pattern. The guy was shy, though. When he needed to take a piss, he went off into the trees. The fourth night, Jesse waited until he disappeared and bounded across the short distance to get a closer look at the shaft. The cover, not surprisingly, was locked down, but the lock was a simple pad lock. Just inside was a powerful fan. Below that, rungs had been set into the concrete for maintenance of the second fan,

which looked to be about twenty feet down. About twenty feet below that he heard the whir of a third fan. A quiet entrance was going to be a bitch. It took fifteen hours to figure out how to interrupt the fan sequence without alerting the breach to security. When Jesse returned to implement the plan, he discovered the guard he’d been watching had been replaced. Two days later, the guard returned and Jesse went down the shaft. As tricky as it was to interrupt the power supply and crawl through the ventilation fans, it was worse on the return trip. It had taken nearly thirty minutes to install the remote device that he would need to hack in to the facility’s computer system. Afterwards, he could do nothing but wait for several hours and hope the guard ran true to form. He ran out of luck when he at last climbed out of the shaft again. He was scarcely half way back to the cover of the trees when the guard reappeared from the brush. He had no time to consider what to do, only time to react. Tamping the instinct to shift and confront the threat, he raced for the tree line. A shout went up behind him. Cursing under his breath, he realized as he reached the woods that he only had two choices: He could risk getting caught in human form and hope, if he managed to elude them, that they thought it was only some curious human. Or he could shift and allow them to know that a Lycan had been nearby. It wasn’t much of a choice. If he was caught, he was going to be too busy trying to escape to do either Erin or the baby any good. Shifting abruptly, he outpaced the pursuit fairly quickly. When he’d eluded them, he circled around to the Hummer he’d left parked in the woods three miles away and returned to his apartment in the city. If his objective had been to hack into the data, it would very likely have taken him a matter of days to crack the security. Since his only interest was in getting into the surveillance system, it took him only a little more than half a day. The layout of the facility and the guard stations were fairly predictable. It was obvious from observing the guards and the lab technicians that security had been beefed up since his intrusion, but he saw nothing to indicate that they’d realized he’d breached security and actually entered the facility. It was as much as he could hope for. It might be months before they took security down a level. At the very least, they would be looking at weeks. He wasn’t willing to wait that long. As hard as he’d tried to focus strictly on the objective, he knew they were experimenting on the baby and possibly Erin, as well. As soon as he’d mapped the layout, counted the guards, located watch stations and the cell where they were holding Erin, and studied Dr. Wagner’s movements over a three day period, he met with Tavian and worked out the assault of the facility. It was strongly in their favor that the humans thought of them only as sub human. They would be expected to behave as animals, not intelligent beings. When Tavian went to summon the pack that had adopted him and nursed him back to health after he’d been wounded in his escape the year before, he returned to his own pack to convince them to take part in the operation. In a general way, each pack was more inclined to see other packs as their enemies and it was a rare thing for two packs to join forces. The experiments and threat to them all went a long way toward convincing the majority. The possibility of a sanctioned attack on the humans convinced the remainder. Half the Lycans participating were to launch an all out frontal attack. Once they’d diverted the humans into retaliation and pursuit, the remaining half would enter the facility through the air shaft. **** Three times a week a guard came and took Erin to an exercise room where she was allowed an hour to expend excess energy and work to keep in shape. Without a clock or a window in her cell to help her to guesstimate the passage of time, it was hard to keep up with how many days she’d been imprisoned or when to expect the events that made up her daily routine. And yet, Erin sensed that something was off the moment she heard the mechanical click of the lock to her cell.

She tensed, studying the guard suspiciously as he stepped inside her cell, but she could see nothing outward that seemed to indicate they had anything in mind for her. It wasn’t until she’d obeyed his demand to come with him and stepped outside the cell that she discovered she’d been right to begin with--something was in the wind and it wasn’t going to be something she would like. A lab tech stood just outside the door. As she stepped through the doorway, he grabbed her wrist and stabbed a syringe into her arm. By the time her brain had caught up with the surprise attack, the drug was already circulating through her system and the world seemed to shift around her. Pocketing the syringe, he gripped her upper arm. “What’s that for?” Erin demanded, but the words came out slurred. “Just a little something to keep you calm.” Alarm bells rang out. If they were concerned about her being calm, she was definitely in trouble. She tried to struggle, but she found she was already too uncoordinated and woozy to even give them much of a challenge. Supporting her between them, the two men escorted her to the elevator and took her up one level. Despite the drug, Erin felt her alarm escalate. The holding cell where she was imprisoned was in the lowest level of the facility. She hadn’t been above that level since she’d arrived. Had they caught another Lycan? Caught Jesse? Was she to be used to extract more specimens? She supposed she should have been at least a little relieved when she saw this was not the case. She wasn’t. Although the room they took her to didn’t appear the least bit extraordinary, she knew them well enough by now to know better than to think it was a simple examination room or that they had nothing more diabolical in mind than a physical to determine her health. That suspicion was borne up by the fact that the guards immediately dragged her to the examination table in the center of the room. Lifting her off her feet, they placed her on the cold hard surface and held her down despite her attempts to pull free while a medical assistant wearing a putrid green lab coat proceeded to strap first her arms and then her ankles. “What’re you doing? What’s happening?” Neither the guards nor the lab assistant answered her. The door opened at just that moment, however, and she turned to see who’d come in. Dr. Wagner curled his lips in a smile she supposed was to reassure her, though there was no warmth in it. His eyes looked as cold and reptilian as gator eyes. It was the first time she’d seen him since she’d been recaptured and she felt ill with the hate that welled inside her, sick with the power of her desire to tear him limb from limb. “Bastard!” she snarled at him, balling her hands into fists and straining against the straps as he made his way to the foot of the examination table and looked her and the situation over. Dismissing the guards with a jerk of his head, he focused his attention on his lab assistant. “No. No. No. We need her feet in the stirrups for the procedure, Johnson,” he said, stepping back to watch the technician critically as the man did as told and glancing at the guards by the door disapprovingly several times. Obviously, he didn’t appreciate having the guards inside his lab and just as evidently he knew it was useless to demand that they leave the room. “Where’s my baby? Where’s Joshua?” Erin demanded, her voice a shrill scream now with fury that Wagner behaved as if she was a piece of the furniture. He sent her a look of surprise and finally frowned thoughtfully. “Joshua. Hmmm, that has a nice ring to it. I’ll pass it along. They can put it in his records. I can’t guarantee they’ll use it, of course. I’m fairly certain, considering what they have in mind for HL001, that they’ll probably prefer just to use the clinical designation, but they may not want to completely dehumanize him.” A mixture of horror and relief collided inside Erin at his calm announcement--relief to at least discover that he was alive--horror to realize what they had in mind for him, for despite the wild thoughts that had plagued her since they’d taken him from her, she hadn’t truly accepted that they could, and would, behave with such a complete disregard for human life.

“Jesse will kill you,” she managed to say, though she couldn’t deliver it with the fury she felt roiling inside of her. His brows rose and then came together in a frown. She saw he was trying to place the name and her heart sank. “Jesse? The Lycan we had before?” He was astonished, she realized. He must have thought that Jesse was dead--and she’d just given away the fact that Jesse wasn’t. She wasn’t in any condition at the moment to consider the consequences of her revelation, though, and in any case, Wagner stunned her by snickering like a juvenile caught in the act of some malicious prank. “This could be awkward.” “What are you talking about?” Erin demanded, struggling to lift her head to see what he was doing as he moved to the supply cabinets at the end of the room at her feet and began searching for something. She saw when he turned at last that he was holding a strange looking syringe. He tapped it with one finger, smiling now with a good deal of pride and excitement. “I’ve a half dozen little Jesses right here.” Erin stared at the syringe blankly as he set it on a sterile tray and dropped the end of the table where she lay. Fipping her gown back to her waist, it took no more than a few seconds for the answer she was seeking to present itself. “Clones?” she demanded in disbelief as he pulled a rolling stool up and settled on it, his face framed by her spread thighs. “We hope to get three or four out of the batch,” he responded absently. “The hybrid might work better for us, but we need some pure breeds before we’ll know that, don’t we?” “Clones! You’re insane!” Erin exclaimed, struggling against the restraints as he picked up antiseptic and began to swab the skin around the mouth of her sex. Frustrated when she couldn’t escape him, she started screaming and cursing him. Wagner glared at her. “This is a delicate operation. You must be still!” “I’m not just going to let you do this to me, you fucking lunatic!” Erin screamed, trying to fight off the effects of the sedative they’d given her. Furious, Wagner shot to his feet abruptly. “I can’t work like this! Johnson, get another syringe and tranquilize her!” “Don’t you dare come near me with that thing, you son of a bitch!” Erin cried out, twisting her head to watch as the technician moved to the cabinets and began searching the drawer for a syringe and the medication Wagner had ordered. “What’s that?” the guard demanded abruptly. It was several moments before Erin realized that the men in the room with her had frozen like deer caught in the crosshairs of a hunter’s rifle, their heads lifted to listen to some distant sound. Almost the moment Erin quieted to see if she could hear whatever it was that had caught their attention, the alarm began to blare. Her heart jerked painfully at the high pitched sound and then began to race with hopefulness and fear as she heard the sound of distant gunfire. Chapter Seven The radios clipped to the guards’ belts set up a squawk of static. “All units, all units. We’re under attack. This is not a drill. Three men down. I say again. Three m--” The voice cut off abruptly, interrupted by another burst of static. One of the men grabbed the walkie-talkie off his belt and jerked the door open, peering up and down the corridor outside. “This is twelve. Say again.” Nothing but static greeted him. He turned to stare at Dr. Wagner, as if searching for an answer. “Stay here. Phillips, come with me,” he added. Barely glancing at the other guard to see if he was complying with the order, he strode into the corridor. “Hold on a minute!” Wagner shouted even as the men dashed out the door. “You can’t leave us unarmed!”

“What should we do?” Johnson demanded anxiously. Wagner stared at him a long moment. “Nothing,” he responded finally. “I’m sure they’ll have everything under control in a few minutes. Did you get the syringe ready?” “You want to proceed?” Johnson demanded, obviously outraged that Wagner could even consider going on as if the facility weren’t under attack. “You’d prefer to cower in one corner?” Wagner snapped. “We’re perfectly safe. We’re three levels below the entrance. The militia will contain the security problem.” “They won’t!” Erin put in. “It’s Jesse. I told you he said he would come after you, you son of a bitch!” She turned her head toward the door then and began screaming Jesse’s name as loudly as she could, crying for help. “Shut up!” Wagner glared at her. “The Lycans are fierce creatures, but he won’t make it past the lobby. Get the syringe, Johnson. Sedate her and gag her. We’ll continue with the implantation.” Johnson merely stared at Wagner for many moments, as if trying to decide whether it was worth the risk of ignoring Wagner’s order and fleeing. Finally, he seemed to shake himself, his gaze zeroing in on Erin as she continued to shout in the hope that Jesse would hear her and come to her. Jerkily, he strode toward her and clamped a hand over her mouth, then looked around distractedly for something he could use as a gag. Wagner strode to the supply cabinets and began jerking out one drawer after another. Finally, he turned with a roll of tape in one hand and a small towel in the other and headed for her purposefully. Struggling, Erin managed to wrench free of Johnson’s hand long enough to utter one last scream for help before Wagner shoved the rolled towel in her mouth and held it tightly while Johnson wound tape around it to hold it in place. “The sedative now, Johnson,” he said when Johnson had finished securing the gag, “and we’ll just give that a minute to kick in--” Wagner broke off before he’d finished what he’d been about to say as the sound of pounding feet came to them from the corridor beyond the room. Something slammed into the door hard enough all three of them jumped. Johnson dropped the syringe from suddenly nerveless fingers and whirled to stare at the door. His eyes nearly bulged from his head as he saw the steel door buckle. Someone screamed as the door suddenly gave way to the pounding against it and nightmarish creatures filled the doorway. Letting out a bellow of rage, the Lycan in the forefront surged toward Wagner. Gripping him by the throat, he lifted the scientist from the floor. Wagner’s scream of terror was cut off abruptly. Blood surged into his face until his head looked in imminent danger of exploding from the pressure. He clawed at the arm holding him aloft. A second Lycan surged toward Johnson, swiping a blow at him with bared claws. His scream of terror became a gurgle as he was lifted off his feet by the blow and flung across the room. He hit the wall like a rag doll, his arms and legs limp and dangling uselessly even before impact. The Lycan that had struck him surged toward the supply cabinets at one end of the room. The third Lycan that had entered the examination room had headed directly for the equipment and was occupied with beating it into palm sized pieces. Erin dragged her gaze from the Lycans moving around her to the one that stood near her feet, slowly squeezing the life out of Wagner. “Jesse?” she asked, her voice muffled by the gag. The Lycan whipped his head in her direction. After studying her broodingly for a moment, he dropped the limp form he was holding and turned toward her. Her heart managed a little gallop of fear in spite of the sedative she’d been given earlier as one of his great paws settled on her thigh. Grasping the restraint, he snapped it as if it had been no more than a thread and then moved to the next. Uncertain of whether he meant to kill her or not now that he’d finished with Wagner, Erin began struggling to remove the gag the moment he’d freed one of her hands, hoping she could convince him to set aside their private war until Joshua was safe. “They’ve got the baby--your son,” she said a little frantically, wondering just how much Jesse really understood when he was in his beast form.

Jesse grasped her jaw brusingly, his eyes seeming to burn a hole in her as he met her gaze. Apparently satisfied, he moved back to Wagner as the man uttered a groan, placing a foot in the center of the scientist’s chest. “Join the others and make sure every lab is searched, and every specimen destroyed,” he growled at the other two Lycans. “I will have a little talk with Wagner about my son.” Wagner’s eyelids twitched and then, slowly, his eyes opened and more slowly focused on the beast standing over him. They began to bulge then with fear. Leaning down, Jesse grasped him by his shoulders and hauled him to his feet. “Today you die, Wagner,” he said in a rumbling growl. “You have two choices, quick and easy, or slow and very painful. Where is my son?” **** Apparently Wagner was laboring under the mistaken belief that he wouldn’t die if he held onto the information Jesse wanted. Jesse stared down at the unconscious man speculatively for several moments, realizing that the child would be moved the moment word got out about the assault on the lab and, quite possibly, any information he did manage to get out of Wagner would be useless by the time he could test the truth of it. Even if he’d wanted to, though, he couldn’t leave Erin to her own devices. She’d been sedated. She was still conscious, but her reflexes were sluggish and awkward, and in any case he needed to move her to a secure location for his own reasons as well as her safety before he went after the child. Kneeling, he used the restraints he’d ripped off of Erin to bind the scientist, then dragged him into the corridor and handed the prisoner over to Tavian for further questioning. Returning for Erin, he scooped her off of the table and left the examination room, following the corridor to the elevator and taking it to the ground level entrance. Even before the doors opened, however, he heard gunfire. The guards had dug in at the entrance. Punching the button again, he went down two levels and got off. The Lycans who’d followed him down the air shaft were still moving from lab to lab destroying the research they could find, but that was their objective. His was to get Erin and the baby, and only that. “I can walk,” Erin said stiffly. Jesse slid a glance at her. Without answering, he shifted her onto one shoulder and loped down the corridor in search of the main ventilation shaft. When he’d found it, he settled her on the floor and began pounding at the wall until he’d made a hole large enough to fit through. The fans had only been disabled temporarily and were once more churning, but subterfuge was no longer necessary. Searching for the wires that powered them, he ripped them loose. Instantly, the fan motors died and the lights all over the facility began to flicker. Lifting Erin again, he hoisted her over his shoulder and began the climb, pausing as he reached the first fan and ripping half the blades out to climb past it. He hesitated when he reached the top, listening, but all of the gun fire seemed to be coming from the entrance. After a moment, he shoved the protective grid from the opening and climbed out. Almost the moment he emerged a bullet whizzed past him. It was followed in quick succession by a half a dozen more. Launching into a run, he headed for the cover of the trees. A bullet slammed into him before he reached them, punching a cry of pain from him and causing him to stumble. Recovering his balance with an effort, he gritted his teeth and kept going. He didn’t stop until he was certain there was no pursuit. When he thought it was safe to do so, he paused long enough to check to be certain that Erin hadn’t been hit by a stray bullet and then hoisted her onto his shoulder and headed for the rendezvous. **** Erin didn’t even realize she’d succumbed to the sedative she’d been given until she roused and discovered that she was no longer moving, at least not in the miserable position she’d been in from the moment she demanded Jesse let her get around on her own steam. The last thing she remembered was thinking she was going to die when Jesse had climbed into

the air shaft with her slung over one shoulder. Maybe it wasn’t the sedative so much as abject terror that had made her pass out? She was almost surprised to discover she wasn’t hog tied when she roused enough to look around and discovered she was wedged into the back seat of a Hummer between two Cajuns--the same two, she thought with a mixture of dread and anger, who’d captured her at the old facility and dragged her through the swamp to hand her over to Jesse. It was night, and except for the pale glow from the instrument panel of the vehicle and the faint light from the moon and stars, the vehicle was dark inside and yet she could discern enough to identify the men on either side of her and Jesse. Jesse, now once more in human form as the others were, was driving. In the front seat beside him was a man that was a stranger to her but whom she had no doubt was also Lycan. A noise behind her drew her attention and she turned to discover two more men in the rear of the Hummer--make that three. Wagner, who was hog tied and gagged, was lying between them in the cargo space. The two Lycans were wearing bloodied bandages and had obviously been wounded in the battle. She didn’t flatter herself that the skirmish that had taken place between the FEDS and the Lycan had been because of her--Jesse had made it clear enough that the focus of the raid was to destroy research about the Lycan--but she still felt guilty to see that they’d had casualties. The soldiers must have had silver bullets issued, she decided. She’d seen the miraculous healing powers the Lycan had. If they’d been shot with anything else they would’ve healed themselves by now. Wagner didn’t look as if he was in great shape, but then she was surprised he was even still alive. She doubted he would be long if the looks his two guards were giving him were any indication of the general attitude toward the man who’d so callously chosen their species for his experiments. After the brief glance behind her, Erin covered her face with her hands, massaging the throbbing pain in her temples and between her eyes. Her mouth felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton. She swallowed several times, trying to gather moisture into her mouth, realizing it was the after effect of the sedative, as was her swimming, throbbing head. Something nagged at her. She frowned, trying to focus on what it was. “They’ve implanted a tracker on me,” she said finally. “Jesse! It’s how they found me before. Wagner’s probably got one, too.” Jesse glanced at her in the rearview mirror but said nothing. The man beside him swiveled around in the seat and gave her a once over that made her distinctly uneasy. “Doan you worry about it, chère. We’re goin’ to take good care of you.” Dark or not, Erin was all too aware of the hungry gleam in the man’s eyes and it unnerved the hell out of her. She glanced uneasily at the back of Jesse’s head and then at the two men beside her and subsided, wishing she’d simply kept her mouth shut. She was still wearing the hospital gown, but nothing else, and she felt completely naked and vulnerable. Clothing wouldn’t have protected her if the man was serious about what he had in mind, but it would’ve given her the illusion of security, at least. **** By Erin’s reckoning, it was nearly midnight when Jesse pulled the Hummer off the freeway and took to the narrow backstreets of the city. Some forty five minutes later, they pulled off the road and into a small parking lot in front a small block building. Instead of parking in front, Jesse drove around the side of the building and parked behind it beside another Hummer which, as nearly as she could tell in the dim light, was painted jungle camouflage. She wondered if it was a custom job or if the vehicle had been purchased from the military. A light came on by the rear entrance even as Jesse stepped out of the vehicle. Erin thought at first that the light was motion activated, but at almost the same moment a woman opened the door wide and stepped back, inviting them to enter. As Erin climbed out, she heard the barking of what sounded like a sizeable pack of dogs. The Lycan that had been seated on her right side grasped her arm just above the

elbow, urging her toward the door and Erin realized the barking was growing louder as they approached the door. Glancing back, she saw that Jesse and the man who’d so unnerved her had helped one of the men from the back and was supporting him between them. The Lycan who’d been seated beside her was helping the second man. The stranger was the only one of all of them who showed no sign of an injury she realized, even as she studied the bloody bandage around Jesse’s upper chest and shoulder in consternation. As she was dragged inside the building Erin’s attention was snagged by the woman still standing in the doorway. The woman met her curious gaze with a calculating one that didn’t hold so much as an iota of friendly curiosity. In point of fact, her gaze was downright hostile. Erin couldn’t fathom why until the woman’s gaze lit on Jesse. Enlightenment blossomed. The woman had a ‘thing’ for Jesse. Either they had a history, or they were currently involved. Erin wasn’t certain of which, but she knew the two of them weren’t just casual acquaintances and it was also obvious from the deadly look that the woman knew about her. Encountering the woman’s challenging glance with a neutral expression, Erin held her gaze just long enough to allow the woman to know she wasn’t intimidated and then assuaged her curiosity about the building they were entering. Cages lined the walls. Dogs and cats, every hair bristling with alarm, stood at the door of each, raising a near deafening din as the rag tag group entered the building. The woman was a veterinarian? She supposed she had known that in the back of her mind from the deafening racket the animals were putting up from the moment they’d gotten out of the vehicle, but it hadn’t connected in her mind with the bullet holes in the Lycans until now. Horrified at the thought, Erin turned to glance at the men entering the building behind her. From what she could see no one was either surprised or disturbed besides her, which, when she added in the fact that the woman had been ready to let them in when they arrived, meant that this wasn’t an unscheduled stop but an arranged one. As soon as everyone was inside, the woman closed the door and locked it, then threaded her way to the front of the group and led them down a narrow hallway. The men filed into an examination room. When Erin paused and turned to follow them, the woman took hold of her upper arm, drawing her to a halt. “You’ll come with me.” Erin frowned, but the woman’s grip was surprisingly strong. “Where?” she demanded. Instead of answering, the woman gave her arm a tug that nearly wrenched it from the socket. Erin was still trying to decide how much of a threat the woman represented when Jesse stepped into the hallway. “We need to lose that chip,” he said tightly. Erin glanced from him to the woman and back again. “You might have said so,” she retorted. “I suppose you would have considered cooperating if I had?” the woman said tartly, speaking directly to Erin for the first time. Erin glared at the woman and then glanced at Jesse again, realizing that, with or without restraints, she was obviously still considered a prisoner. Now wasn’t the time to argue, however. If the FEDS had recovered their cool by now from the assault on the facility, they’d discovered their prize breeding mare and mad scientist were missing. “I wouldn’t have told Jesse about it if I hadn’t intended to cooperate,” she said tightly, following the woman into another examination room. The woman shoved her in the direction of a table. Pushed off balance, Erin fell against it and turned to glare at the woman’s back as she moved to the supply cabinets. “Get on the table.” Erin didn’t even look at the table. “I’m not one of your patients,” she ground out. “We need to do a scan to find the transmitter.” Erin turned from the vet and glared at Jesse when he spoke. “Maybe so, but I’m not lying on an animal gurney. The floor’s probably cleaner.” The female vet turned with some sort of electronic device in her hands. “Put her on the table and strap her down.”

Jesse’s face tightened as his gave flickered from Erin to the other woman. “That won’t be necessary, Juliette. She’s offered to cooperate.” Anger washed over Juliette’s face. “Do you want me to take care of this or not, Jesse?” “Just locate the damned thing--or give me the scanner and I will.” “You going to extract it, too?” Jesse glared at her. After a moment, she moved toward Erin, flipped a switch on the scanning device and moved it slowly down Erin’s body, studying the gauge on it. When she’d reached Erin’s feet, she stood up and gave her a cold stare eye to eye for a moment. “Turn around.” Erin didn’t particularly want to give the woman her back. After a pregnant moment, she turned, though. The woman found the device in her hip. Figured! The needle she stabbed into Erin’s hip to deaden the area made her knees buckle. She had to grip the examination table she was leaning against to keep from falling on the floor. Right up until the woman sliced into her flesh and began digging for the implant, Erin thought it might almost have hurt less to have the procedure without the medicine to numb sensation. When she gasped, Jesse stepped around the table opposite her and grasped her arms. She wasn’t certain whether it was to support her--morally and physically--or if he thought she might try to lay the woman out, but it was good for her that he did. It kept her from passing out and crumpling to the floor. If she’d been in any condition to do so, she would have knocked the woman out. By the time Juliette had finally dug the electronic implant out, closed the incision with a couple of stitches, and plastered a bandage over it, Erin was beginning to wonder if she would puke or pass out first. She was relieved when she did neither, but she was only saved from the latter by the fact that Jesse gathered her against him when the woman was done with her, holding her tightly to prevent her from falling. “Fucking bitch,” she managed to mutter when he’d half carried her to a chair and helped her to sit. “You can be damned sure I won’t be recommending you to anybody I know.” It occurred to Erin belatedly that she wasn’t really in any better position to defend herself now than she had been when the woman had been torturing her with her scalpel. She hadn’t said anything at the time because she wouldn’t have put it past the bitch to ‘accidently’ cut an artery if there was one handy for cutting, but she was as weak as water, dizzy and nauseated. If the woman felt like stalking across the room and slapping her head off she wouldn’t be able to stop her. Thankfully, she decided to pretend she hadn’t heard Erin’s comments. When she’d finished wiping up the blood and dropping her instruments in the sink, she left the room and went down the hall. Erin supposed to torture the poor, wounded men. Lucky for them they had someone with some medical knowledge and access to medicine on their side! As the dizziness finally subsided, it dawned on Erin that they’d been completely prepared to remove the tracking device from her. That not only meant that Jesse had gone with the intention of rescuing, or recapturing, her. It also meant that he knew about the device or at least suspected. Was that why he wasn’t being as nasty as he had been before? Had some doubt shaken his conviction that she was a totally cold, insensitive, traitorous bitch? Without asking, there was no way to be certain and she didn’t really feel up to a verbal battle at the moment if she’d guessed wrong. Besides, she wanted her baby. From what Jesse had said, she knew he meant to go after Joshua and she wasn’t going to do anything to rock the boat until she had her baby back. Erin was half drowsing in the chair where she’d been left when the sound of footsteps coming in her direction roused her. With an effort, she lifted her head and focused her eyes. Jesse filled the doorway on the opposite side of the room. He studied her for several moments in silence but before she could wonder what thoughts were running through his mind, he moved toward her.

“We’re moving,” he said, his voice brusque. Nodding, Erin got to her feet with an effort. Jessie caught her when she swayed on her feet, half supporting her as he escorted her from the examination room. The building that housed the veterinary clinic was strangely quiet as they moved along the hallway. Even the dogs had ceased to bark. They set up another alarm as she and Jesse neared the kennel, however. Confused when no one joined them, Erin glanced at Jesse questioningly several times, but she didn’t ask him what had become of the others and he didn’t volunteer the information. Outside, she discovered the Hummer had disappeared. In its place was a dark late model sedan. “A cliché,” Erin murmured with a touch of amusement as Jesse opened the passenger door and pushed her inside. When he’d settled beside her in the driver’s seat, she studied him for several moments in the dim pre-dawn light. “What happened to the others?” He glanced at her, but he didn’t answer as he turned the key in the ignition and started the car. Frowning, mentally shrugging it off since she wasn’t actually that interested anyway, Erin focused on fastening her seatbelt. “They’ve been removed to a safe house for recovery,” Jesse said as they left the parking lot and turned onto the dark nearly deserted street in front of the building. Erin’s brows rose. Everyone, including Juliette apparently, had gone to the safe house while she was ‘resting’ in the room where the bitch had removed her tracking device? It was hard to avoid the implications of that, that she was the least important participant if she’d been the last to be moved to safety. “Are we going there, too?” “No.” So what was she, bait? She thought angrily? Again? He was using her to lead the pursuit away from the others? “Did Dr. Wagner have a devisc on him, too?” “Yes.” “Did, but he doesn’t now?” Erin persevered. “They won’t know that for a while.” Erin digested that for several moments, studying the cityscape outside the car windows and absently trying to place her location. “For a while?” she echoed. “You didn’t destroy it?” Instead of answering this time, he shrugged. “You’re playing a seriously stupid game with some very bad people,” Erin snapped, more scared than angry. His lips tightened. “But then, being a dumb animal, I cain’t help myself.” Erin gaped at him. A chaotic wash of emotions went through her--frustration, hopelessness, anger and most difficult to deal with, empathy. She could see his point, unfortunately. In her own way, she’d been just as guilty as the others in treating him as less than human, not to the extent he seemed to believe, but she had considered the Lycans little more than beasts. They were beasts when they shifted, controlled more by their instincts than their instincts were under their control, but Jesse at least had a gentler side when he had mastery of his beast, and he was intelligent--and quite devastatingly appealing both in personality and physical appearance. As frustrated and frightened as she’d been about everything that had happened, she couldn’t avoid that knowledge. Truth be told, believing what he believed about her, he had every reason to behave horribly toward her, to hurt her, or at least want to. He very obviously hadn’t wanted to hurt her or he would have. Something else occurred to her as they drove, Jesse moving steadily and with purpose through the city, as if he was very familiar with it and had a specific destination in mind. The Lycans obviously moved among them. Even with everything she’d discovered about Jesse, she’d had a deep rooted

prejudice about his kind. She supposed, in the back of her mind, and not too distantly, she’d thought they eked out an existence hidden away in the swamps. Juliette was one of them, she realized with sudden insight, and practiced veterinary medicine right under the noses of humans coming and going every day with no clue of what walked among them. No doubt they all did. They had money behind them--a lot of money. Unless they went around stealing tremendously expensive vehicles and electronic equipment, and somehow she didn’t believe that. “What were they doin’ when I arrived?” Erin looked at him blankly. He frowned, but more, she thought, because he didn’t want to be forced to make an issue of his interest than because she didn’t answer at once. “In the lab,” he added tightly. Enlightenment dawned. She repressed a shudder with an effort. She thought she’d repressed it. “They were about to impregnate me with a little Jesse.” His head whipped toward her so fast she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d gotten whiplash from it. “An extremely repugnant thought for you, I see,” he said dryly. Erin flushed, but she grew angry, as well. “Was I supposed to be thrilled only because it was yours? I’d like to see how fucking excited you’d be about being strapped to a table and having some asshole shove a syringe full of sperm into you!” Several different emotions flickered across his face in rapid succession, too swiftly for her to grasp them all. “I’d just as soon no’ have sperm shoved into any of my orifices,” he said wryly. He hesitated, obviously struggling with the urge to say more, and she knew suddenly that he wanted to ask her if the clinical aspect was the only reason she’d been repulsed. He repressed the impulse and a flicker of amusement replaced her anger. “You know what I meant,” she added a little testily. “If it had been you, instead of me….” His whole mood shifted abruptly. “I know exactly what you mean.” Erin sighed. For just a moment they’d almost had a conversation that wasn’t completely antagonistic and then she’d just had to resurrect the past! A sense of hopeless frustration filled her with the realization that their past was always going to hang between them like an impenetrable wall of anger. Even if she could master the knack of thinking hard, and examining what she said before she said it, which she thought it was doubtful, she would have to worry that anything she said would touch off a memory better left buried. After a moment it occurred to her to wonder why it mattered. It did matter. She could lie to herself all she wanted to, but it mattered a lot, and not just because she needed his help to find the baby. She couldn’t undo what had been done to Jesse, but she didn’t deserve his hate for her part in it. She’d been just as much a pawn as he had been, and she had neither consciously tried to hurt him, nor been indifferent to his suffering. It just plain wasn’t fair to be tarred with the same brush as those who had deliberately, and with malice, or at least an absence of conscience, trapped, imprisoned and tortured him. Her feelings were more even than a sense of injustice, though, and regret for having been involved, she realized abruptly. Like it or not, a bond had been forged between her and Jesse. She might not have chosen it if she’d had the choice, but it existed now regardless and she yearned to see that side of him that he had only teased her with, the passionate lover and intriguing companion. Chapter Eight Despite the nagging pain in her hip from having the tracking device removed, weariness invaded

Erin after a time and she dozed. When she woke, roused by the slowing of the car, she saw that Jesse was turning onto a narrow dirt track that led through a thick tangle of vegetation. It seemed obvious from the encroaching brush and the high grasses that grew down the center of the track like a Mohawk hair cut that this track wasn’t used often. In spite of that, or maybe because it was used so seldom, the road was fairly smooth. When Jesse stopped at last, Erin stared at the run down building in front of them a little uneasily. There was no doubt that the mansion had once been a grand one, but that had probably been before the Civil War. Now she had to wonder how the antebellum mansion could remain standing. There was hardly a fleck of paint to hold it together. The wood, weathered for so many years and battered by nature, was the same muted color as the woods around it so that, as huge as it was, it blended so well with its surroundings it would have been easy to miss seeing it at all. The grounds were not in much better shape than the building itself. Waist high weeds and young pines cluttered what must once have been a beautiful lawn. Jesse had pulled under a porte chochère, she saw as she got out of the car and looked around. Having moved around the car to meet her, Jesse cupped a hand beneath her elbow and guided her inside. Surprise filled her when they entered. It was like stepping through a passage into another world. The interior of the house, far from ramshackle, was beyond clean and neat and well kept. It was opulent. Thick rugs carpeted the hardwood floors and thick drapes covered the tall windows. The furnishings were modern, not new, but certainly in good condition. A man stepped into a doorway at the far end of the narrow hallway where they’d entered. After nodding at Jesse in silent communication, he disappeared again. Jesse guided her down the hall and into a wider hallway that appeared to bisect the mansion. Reaching a grand, curving stairway, they went up and followed another wide hallway to a room near the rear of the house. Expecting to be shoved inside and locked in like the prisoner she knew herself to be, Jesse surprised her by entering the room behind her. Without a word, he began to undress. Erin gaped at him, trying to wrap her mind around his actions. He glanced up at her after a moment. “You should try to rest.” Feeling color wash into her cheeks at the comment, which made it clear that he didn’t have on his mind what she’d thought he had in mind, Erin turned away. She wasn’t wearing much, though, and she certainly had no need or intention of taking the gown off. Instead, she looked around a little hopefully for signs of a bathroom. There were two narrow doors along the wall adjoining the one that separated the bedroom from the corridor. After a slight hesitation, she headed toward the larger of the two and was rewarded with the discovery of a well appointed bathroom. The door had no lock on it. Erin studied it in dismay for a moment and finally yielded to her needs. When she’d relieved herself she moved to the shower, adjusted the water and, dropping her gown onto the hamper close by, got in. The heat of the water stimulated her milk glands. With a mixture of emotions she watched as tiny beads formed on the tips of her nipples and began to flow down her belly. She felt a sudden urge to cry. What was the point, she wondered, in struggling on and on to keep her milk in production for the baby she might never hold in her arms again? The baby that might never suckle at her breasts again? It was nothing more than an irritant and an inconvenience to her, a constant reminder of what she’d lost, and of no use to Joshua. Even if she found him, he would’ve been bottle fed all this time and might refuse to take the nutrients and antibodies her natural milk could give him. Fighting the depression and sense of hopeless, she massaged her breasts to stimulate the glands. She jumped and then froze when the bathroom door opened abruptly, gaping at Jesse as he crossed to the shower and pulled the curtain back. His gaze went immediately to her breasts.

She released them guiltily, and then blushed with a mixture of resentment and embarrassment. It wasn’t as if she’d been fondling herself for the pleasure of it! Snatching the curtain from his grasp, she jerked it closed again. He cleared his throat. “I brought you a clean shirt to put on.” How thoughtful! And he had to jerk the curtain open to tell her? “Thanks!” she responded shortly. He didn’t leave. “I’ll just leave it on the hamper.” “You could’ve done that without looking me over!” she muttered. She heard the distinct grinding of teeth. He snatched the curtain open again. “I was just checking to see if you were floating face down in the damned tub,” he growled. “You lost a lot of blood.” Surprise flickered through her. He’d been worried about her? “Worried ‘bout the beast getting’ a glimpse of you?” he added after a moment. “Well, I’ve seen every inch of you, chère --tasted you too--and been inside of you. It’s a little late to be so damned concerned about me lookin’ at you.” Anger surging to the forefront again, Erin slapped at the water, spattering his face and chest liberally with it. “Bastard!” He grabbed her forearms and hauled her against his chest. “Bitch!” he growled, shoving his fingers into her wet hair and planting his mouth roughly over hers. Heat spiraled through Erin the instant his mouth ground against hers, forcing her lips to part. Weakness and desperate need followed the heat as his tongue breached the weakened barricade of her lips and plundered her mouth thoroughly. Shivering, her arms trapped by his grip, she curled the tips of her fingers into his sides, settling fully against him and kissing him back with all of the pent up desire that had been tormenting her since forever it seemed. He stiffened at the collapse of her defenses and then gathered her closer still, lifting her against him and pulling her from the shower. She uttered a sound of protest as he withdrew the pressure of his mouth from hers almost as abruptly as he’d claimed her, and then a sound of encouragement as he dragged his lips along her cheek to explore her ear, the side of her throat. The heat of his flesh and both his and her own desire almost instantly replaced the heated water that had washed over her moments before. Finding her arms freed, she twined them around his neck, pressing as tightly against him as she could. His hands skated down her back, cupped her buttocks, massaging them as his fingers delved the cleft of her ass and then lower. Grasping her along the tops of her thighs, he lifted her. A gasp escaped her as her butt settled on the cold surface of the vanity and then another as he bent her back and covered the tip of one breast with his mouth. For a moment, reality intruded and the anxiety filled her that his suckling would stimulate her milk glands again. That concern vanished almost at once, however, as a bolt of heat shot through her, culminating low in her belly. Releasing her breast after only a moment, he lifted her against him once more and strode from the bathroom with her in his arms, falling across the bed with her. The impact barely fazed her. It flickered through her mind that they would have the sheets thoroughly soaked, but she wasn’t in any state to care at the moment. Already drunk with the delightful, rough caresses of his hands as they explored her, his essence, the scorching heat of his mouth, all that filtered through her heat fogged mind was that the sensations were so much more pleasurably intense without the drug that had been pumping through her system before when they had come together. Now, she was far more aware of his lightest touch, the pleasurable sensation of his weight along her length. He did not pull away from her to remove his trousers. Instead, he settled beside her, his mouth and tongue driving her mad with want as he struggled with the fastening of his pants and skimmed them from his hips, working the material down his legs until he could kick free of the encumbrance. The

moment he was free, he rolled over her once more, tangling his legs with hers, stroking her smooth skin with the soles of his feet as his hands glided over her body cupping and then massaging her breasts. He covered her mouth in a fiery, possessive kiss, pressing his body against hers and she felt the hard length of his erection undulating along her hip. The strength and weight of his body, the heat, the solidness and breadth of his engorged flesh, and the silken feel of the skin that sheathed his hardness sent a thrill of anticipation through her, magnifying her need in a heady, dizzying rush. Returning his heated kiss with fervor, she shifted closer, feeling fresh waves of pleasurable sensation wash through her as the faint abrasiveness of his chest and arm hair slipped across her smooth skin. Being with him was everything she remembered, and yet surprisingly more intense without the drugs that had driven her to him in the beginning. Her reaction sent his own desire spiraling out of control. His kiss became more fevered, more aggressive. When he tore his lips from hers at last and turned his attentions to her body, she felt the nip of his teeth along her skin and goose bumps burst forth, heightening and expanding her senses until a restless need to feel him inside of her began torment her. He ignored the increasing desperation of her attempts to urge him to take her, seemingly determined to explore every inch of her body with his lips, tongue, and teeth. She sucked in a hoarse breath, digging her fingers into the hair on his scalp as he moved along her lower belly. The muscles of her belly jumped and clenched almost painfully as he wove a chain of kisses across it from one hip bone to the other and then nipped at the exquisitely sensitive flesh of her inner thighs. Dizzy with need, it took a moment for her to realize his intent. By the time she did, it was too late. He had pushed her thighs wide and wedged himself between them. She clamped her thighs tightly against him anyway, her fingers tightening in his hair. Ignoring the tugging command, he stroked his fingers along her cleft and then parted her nether lips, covering her clit, almost painfully swollen with need, with his mouth. A sharp cry tore its way up her throat as she felt the heat and suction of his mouth. The tension that had been slowly but surely coiling inside of her shot skyward. She gasped again, squeezing her eyes shut, struggling to stave off instant culmination, desperate to hold on to the pleasure only a little longer. The finesse of his mouth and tongue were delightfully torturous, however. Within moments she felt herself quivering on the brink of release, heard herself chanting his name, whether as a curse or benediction even she wasn’t certain. She came unexpectedly, explosively, wracked by one shockwave after another of rapturous release. The stinging nip of his teeth along her thigh barely penetrated the liquefied bliss of her mind, but it sent a fresh, hard shockwave of ecstasy through her that tore another cry from her hoarse throat. He shifted, moving over her while the waves were still pounding through her. Supporting the weight of his upper body on his arms, he pressed the rounded tip of his cock into the mouth of her sex. Her channel, still convulsing with release resisted his penetration. She spread her thighs wider, lifting to meet his second thrust, feeling almost faint with her gasping efforts to drag enough air into her lungs as she felt his hard flesh spreading her, delving slowly deeper. He was gasping hoarsely himself by the time he’d filled her fully. “Now you are mine--irrevocably,” he whispered in a harsh, gravelly voice that sent waves of tingling pleasure spiraling through her. With a tremendous effort, she opened her eyes to look up at him, but no thought of contradicting his claim entered her mind. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she lifted upward, closing the slight distance between them and pressed her lips to his. Her mute acceptance seemed to send him over the edge of restraint. He began to move within her in hard, swift driving thrusts. Surprise flickered through her briefly as she felt her body instantly respond to his stroking thrusts along her channel. Within moments she was struggling upward toward release again, her body coiling tightly for the leap into glory. The bubble ruptured as she felt his great, sweat slickened body begin to shudder, felt his cock jerk inside of her. For many moments it almost seemed as if her soul soared free of the restraints of her physical self. Awareness of her body certainly vanished at the white hot explosion of ecstasy that mushroomed upwards and outwards and finally,

slowly began to dissipate, leaving her as little more than a limp puddle of exquisite repletion. She drifted for an endless time, aware of little beyond the harsh pulsing of her blood in her veins and in her ears. Jesse lay bonelessly atop her, however, and after a time she began to grow uncomfortable under his weight. When she began struggling to shift to relieve the pressure against her ribcage, he rolled off of her and onto his back on the bed beside her. She grew cold the moment his heat left her. Shivering, she rolled onto her side to look at him. He was staring at the ceiling, she saw, and wondered what thoughts were going through his mind. His expression told her nothing. Doubts, unwelcome and certainly not summoned, began to creep into her mind. She wasn’t sorry it had happened. She had never tried to lie to herself that she was physically attracted to Jesse--at least not since the episode in the bayous. Her body had been humming for his possession ever since and it was a relief on many levels to have worked that burr from under her skin. But was he sorry he’d caved in to his own needs? After a few moments, she slipped from the bed and went into the bathroom to clean up and dry off, shrugging into the shirt he’d brought her to put on. It was his shirt and even clean a faint trace of his scent clung to it. Her traitorous body hummed to life again. Frowning, trying to ignore the fresh provocation, Erin returned to the bedroom. Jesse, she saw, had climbed beneath the covers. He rested on his stomach now, a pillow gathered beneath his head. His bare back and arms, browned from the sun, and his flesh supple and toned with muscle snagged her gaze, made her belly tighten. There was no denying he was a beautiful--specimen of a male--whatever he was. Swallowing her wayward thoughts with an effort, Erin moved to the bed and climbed in, rolling onto her side so that she was facing way from him. The silence between them hung heavily, though. She knew he wasn’t asleep. She didn’t think he was. She knew she should just let well enough alone. They’d come together in explosive, wonderful sex. If she just kept her mouth shut, they had that much going for them. Finally, mentally kicking herself, she gave up the struggle to let sleeping dogs lie. “Why did you come after me?” He remained silent so long she’d begun to think he wouldn’t answer her at all. When he finally did answer, she regretted, as she’d known she would, opening her mouth. “The objective of the exercise was to destroy the research the government had been doing on the Lycans--and to get my son.” Chapter Nine Erin was surprised at how much that comment hurt. The pain angered her, or maybe it was just anger at herself for being so stupid as to give him the opening to slice a little deeper? Struggling to catch her breath at the suffocating weight of the pain, she tried to focus on what he’ d said about Joshua, tried to fan the faint glow of hope his interest in the baby spawned. “I haven’t seen him since he was a few days old,” she managed to say finally, voicing the fear that had never been acknowledged but was never far away. “I’m not even sure I’d recognize him if I saw him.” “If he is my son, I will know him.” It took several moments for that comment to penetrate her misery. The moment it finally did, Erin rolled over and sat up. “You are such a complete fucking asshole! You know that? If he’s yours? If?” Jesse lifted his head and turned to look at her, his face a mask of surprise. Erin’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t try to pretend that just slipped out!” she growled. Anger glittered in his eyes. “Exactly how am I supposed to be so certain he is mine, chère?

We weren’t exactly dating at the time.” “We were fucking, though, weren’t we? The last time I checked, that’s the way it was done.” She realized she wasn’t being completely reasonable. On the other hand, it was still insulting to have her character questioned. She wouldn’t have suggested it was Jesse’s baby if there’d been any doubt in her mind. It dawned on her abruptly that she actually hadn’t suggested Joshua was his, much less told him point blank. He had assumed the baby was his and she had said nothing at all. At least, he’d talked as if he believed the baby was his and she had assumed he had no doubts that Joshua was his. Obviously, she’d been wrong. “You were no virgin,” he growled, his own temper thoroughly aroused by now. Erin abruptly dismissed the temptation to admit that she’d been wrong to pick a fight with him over the baby’s paternity. “And you were?” she gasped indignantly. “That’s not the point.” She knew it wasn’t, but she was beyond feeling reasonable by now. “Right. That’s what’s really eating you, isn’t it? It isn’t doubts about the baby. It’s wondering how you stacked up! Men!” Turning away from him abruptly, she pounded the pillow into a ball and flopped down on her side with her back to him. “Tell me if he is mine, chère.” Erin ground her teeth. “Oh, I just know you’d believe me … like you believed everything else I tried to explain.” He grasped her shoulder and pulled her onto her back. “Did I get you pregnant? Or did they do it? Do you even know yourself whose sperm they used?” Erin stared at him in stunned silence for several moments as that slowly sank in. In spite of all she could do her chin wobbled. “You weren’t accusing me of … of anything?” she asked a little weakly, suddenly feeling like a complete ass. The darkening of his skin told its own tale. He had doubted. He had thought terrible things about her. Maybe part of his suspicions had been based on the possibility that they’d experimented on her and she didn’t know who’d fathered the child, but she could see his distrust of her ran bone deep. “I wasn’t artificially inseminated,” she said wearily, trusting his hand away and rolling onto her side away from him again. “Believe what you want to believe. I don’t care.” It was a lie, of course. She did care and worse, she strongly suspected, unless he was totally dense, he knew it was a lie. She didn’t know why or how or when she’d begun to care what Jesse thought of her, but she did. **** The sun was already setting when they arrived at the docks. Erin hadn’t been told where they were going. She resented it, but then she assumed they were going after the baby and she didn’t really care where she had to go, or how far. The vessel she was led to--she wasn’t certain whether it would be called a ship or a boat--was obviously privately owned. The name Juliette was scrawled across the bow. Erin gave Jesse a cold glance. He pretended he hadn’t noticed, grabbing her arm and hurrying her up the gang plank when she stopped to look the boat over. “Juliette?” Erin said questioningly when they’d reached the main deck. “This wouldn’t be the dog lady, would it?” Someone snickered close by--one of the crew members she supposed, but she didn’t look. She was too busy gauging Jesse’s reaction. He sent her a thoughtful glance. “It’s the name of the ship.” “I got that,” Erin said dryly, following him as he strode across the deck and down one level via a set of narrow stairs carrying the luggage he’d brought with him. One bag was for her and contained clothing she suspected had been purchased specifically for

her since everything fit her as if it had been. Jesse hadn’t said so and he’d certainly led her to believe that he hadn’t gone after her to rescue her, but it seemed evident that he’d expected to return with her. Or maybe his last girl friend was just conveniently of the same size? Unfortunately, she hadn’t paid that much attention to Juliette. “We’ll stay in this cabin.” “We?” Jesse dropped the bags and turned to study her for a long moment. “Unless you get seasick, in which case I’ll sleep on deck.” There was a gleam of teasing humor in his eyes when he said it. Erin wasn’t immune to it, so she simply chose to ignore it. “I guess it’s a good thing you weren’t around while I was pregnant then because I spent six months puking my guts out,” she said tightly, looking the cabin over with jealousy gnawing at her insides. “I hope you at least changed the sheets.” She could hear his teeth grinding. “There’s nothing between me and Juliette, chère, not like you’re thinkin’ anyway. This is her yacht.” Erin relaxed fractionally--enough to shrug as if she didn’t particularly care. “She makes enough money as a vet to afford something like this?” she asked in surprise. When Jesse said nothing, she turned from her examination of the cabin’s appointments to look at him questioningly. He looked--irritated. “I gave it to her,” he said reluctantly. “You?” Erin gasped, so stunned by the discovery that Jesse could afford something this expensive and give it as a gift that she was distracted momentarily from her jealousy, but only briefly. “And there’s nothing between the two of you?” Jesse grimaced. “She’s my sister.” “Your sister!” Erin echoed, but then her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You mean really your sister? Or are you just referring to her as your sister because she’s one of what you call the brethren? She is a Lycan, isn’t she?” He looked torn between amusement and irritation. “She’s my half sister--by blood.” Erin wasn’t entirely convinced. Looking back, she really couldn’t recall anything Juliette had said or done that had led her to believe she was Jesse’s lover. She had been very possessive, but Erin supposed that could’ve just been a sisterly reaction to having her brother drag in a female that had been involved in his captivity. Maybe it was nothing more than that Juliette hated her for the same reason Jesse did? Or maybe Juliette hated her because she wasn’t Lycan? The crew, Erin discovered without a lot of surprise the following morning, was Lycan. She knew because they were some of the same men that had been involved in the raid on the government facility. Almost a dozen of Jesse’s pack had accompanied them on the trip, twice the number needed to crew the ship and more than enough to fill the crew quarters. Those who hadn’t been able to find quarters below settled in the other guest cabins, which Erin supposed explained, at least in part, why Jesse was bunking with her. Possibly, it was also because she was the only female on board. She didn’t know if Jesse had made the decision to protect her from any unwanted attentions or not, but she was relieved to discover they all seemed to consider her his property and off limits even though the situation made it impossible for her to be sure of whether he would have chosen the arrangement otherwise or not. She offered to help in the galley, not because she was such a great cook but because she didn’t particularly relish the idea of being cooped up in the cabin all day with nothing to do. She knew nothing at all about boats. She supposed she could’ve offered to swab the decks or something, but Jesse spent most of his time on deck and she didn’t want him to get the idea that she was hanging after him. He’d made it fairly obvious, in spite of the fabulous sex they’d had at the safe house, that he wasn’t even close to forgiving her, or falling beneath her ‘spell.’ She ended up sleeping by herself most of the time because Jesse only came to the cabin to sleep when she left it. She was relieved about that--at first. After a few days at sea she’d had time to do a lot of thinking, though, and she wasn’t too stupid to see that her situation was precarious. Supposing they did

find Joshua and rescued him and Jesse was relieved of all doubts that the baby was his, she had to wonder if, after going to so much effort to rescue him if Jesse would willingly part with him. It seemed to follow that if Jesse was willing to risk so much for the baby when he wasn’t even sure it was his that he wasn’t just going to give the baby to her and walk away. They could fight over him, or she could try to make some sort of peace between them and they could stay together. She wasn’t entirely certain how she felt about them all living together, but it didn’t take a lot of thought to realize both she and the baby would be better off with him than without him. The government wasn’t just going to give up when and if they managed to wrest Joshua away from them. They would come after her and the baby again. She would be on the run, possibly forever, unless she could at least make a truce with Jesse that would make it possible for her to live among the Lycans and have their protection. That wasn’t going to be easy when Jesse was avoiding her. She couldn’t even find out where they were going, much less discover what plans Jesse had for her future or even if he had any. He’d said she was his. She hadn’t been in any state to really soak that in at the time he’d said it and she’d thought he was just talking man talk anyway. Men tended to be territorial. It seemed reasonable enough to suppose that Lycan males were at least as territorial or more so, but she didn’t feel terribly reassured by the claim made in the heat of the moment. For all she knew, he might not even remember he’d said it, much less feel that way now that the thrill was gone. Physically, he was attracted to her, or at least he had been. She didn’t place a lot of faith that that was an enduring situation either, particularly when he seemed to feel just the opposite about her on every other level. For her own safety and Joshua’s, she was just going to have to swallow her pride and try to woo him. Now was the time. Now might be her only chance. If they did find and rescue Joshua, she was going to be focused on the baby on the trip back and caring for him wasn’t going to give her a lot of time to seduce Jesse. If she couldn’t convince him that he was wrong about her and/or to keep her and the baby close, then she was going to have to try to steal the baby from Jesse and she would be on the run from both the government and the Lycans. Looking at it that way, her pride was the last thing she needed to be worried about protecting. The plan was easier conceived than executed. Jesse was wary. He didn’t trust her, at all, and he was highly suspicious of her motives when she tried the tactic of smiling at him encouragingly whenever he looked her way and ‘accidently’ happened upon him after searching for him all over the ship. Hanging around the cabin while he was in it was a bust, too. He either slept through it, pretended he was sleeping, or, occasionally, he would slant an irritated glance at her through half closed eyelids for disturbing his sleep. She’d spent too much of her life being a scientist and not nearly enough being ‘just a woman.’ The scientific studies she’d read on the mating ritual didn’t seem to be that much help and, despite Jesse’ s snide remark about her lack of virginity, she didn’t really have a lot of personal experience to draw from. She’d had a few boyfriends, but she hadn’t been the aggressor in those cases. She had no idea of what to do when he wouldn’t allow her close enough to even attempt to flirt, but it was obvious to her after only a few days that remaining passive and trying to encourage him to come to her wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Would it help, she wondered, to try to arouse his lust and keep him so busy expending it that he didn’t have time to think about the lack of any other common ground in their relationship? She wasn’t certain that it would, but then she was willing to try anything except that she couldn’t quite get up the nerve to simply strip down, crawl into the sack with him, and molest him while he was sleeping. He’d be vulnerable then and easy enough to manipulate, she knew, but the sticking point was that that kind of

behavior was completely uncharacteristic for her. The more she thought about it and tried to work up her nerve, the more unnerved she became. After almost a week at sea, she discovered that Jesse spent much of his nights in the main cabin of the yacht, a large cabin that was used as the living area and dining hall combined. She’d already ‘ strolled’ the upper deck for nearly an hour looking for him when she decided to go below and see if he’d taken over one of the other crew members’ bunks. Hearing voices and an occasional chuckle in the main cabin, she’d frozen in the corridor for quite some time, trying to decide whether she had enough nerve to casually stroll through the room filled with men in search of Jesse. Was it even worth the attempt when he was so surrounded that it wasn’t likely she’d get the chance to try to draw him into conversation? Finally, trying to act casual when she felt downright faint--as if she was entering a bear den instead of a room full of men--she decided she could pretend she was looking for something to read. The moment she stepped into the doorway, all conversation died and she found herself staring at nearly a half a dozen men. Jesse and Tavian had a large map spread out on the table before them and had obviously been studying it before she came in. Billy Ray and three other men whose names she’d heard but couldn’t remember were grouped around the other end of the long table with playing cards in their hands. Despite her intention to try to behave casually, she checked in the door way when they all looked up, as if she’d been pinned to the frame. Panic washed through her. Her mind went blank and refused the simple order she forced through it to ‘act natural.’ After many moments, enough to assure them all that there was nothing casual about her entrance, she managed to force herself to move forward instead of whirling on her heel and dashing back to her own cabin. Every muscle, bone, and tendon in her body protested the mental order to move, though, and she felt horribly awkward and selfconscious as she focused on the cabinet that she knew held books and magazines and headed toward it. Behind her, she heard movement as the men shifted in their seats. To watch her, she wondered? Someone cleared their throat. “I’ll take two.” She heard the slap of cards on the table and a miniscule amount of relief went through her. “I think we’re going to have to risk following the coast line of the mainland if we want to make time,” Jesse said slowly. “They know we got Dr. Wagner. They’ll also know we had the chance to question him. They’re bound to be expecting us. I can’t see any benefit to us in giving them more time to prepare.” Mainland? What mainland? Erin wondered as she knelt in front of the cabinet and began to shuffle the books and magazines absently. She hadn’t seen a sign of land in days. She was fairly certain they’d been heading south, south east, though. Cuba? There wasn’t a great selection of books and magazines. Even if she’d been really interested in finding reading material she would’ve been hard pressed to find anything to her taste. Did the woman never read anything but medical journals and animal magazines? Cripes! Talk about obsessive! The selection of books wasn’t any better. Those were about animals too. Finally, more for something to do with her hands than anything else, she picked out a couple of nature magazines and took a copy of The Call of the Wild, closed the cabinet, and stood once more. After studying the couch speculatively for several moments, she decided she’d had enough excitement for one night. Her heart simply couldn’t take planting her ass on the couch and pretending to ignore the room full of Lycans while they pretended to ignore her and stared holes through her when they thought she wouldn’t notice. Without glancing toward any of them, she tucked the book and magazines beneath her arm and headed out again. She was shaking so badly with reaction by the time she’d gotten to the end of the corridor she was grateful to reach her own cabin again. Dropping the reading materials on the floor by the bed, she stripped down to her panties and t-shirt, crawled into the bunk, and pulled the covers over herself. She was running out of time and she was completely out of ideas.

Chapter Ten “Ain’t never seen two people mope so much in all my days. Dere ain’t nobody here gonna bother you, chère. Why you always hidin’?” Erin had been so deeply in thought she hadn’t noticed the man who’d stopped beside her even when his shadow blocked the uncomfortable glare of the sun. His voice penetrated her abstraction, though, and her head jerked upwards. “Excuse me?” Tavain shook his head and moved to settle one hip on the railing. “He tole you you were his woman, right, chère?” Erin blushed to the roots of her hair. She didn’t have to say anything. Her reaction was enough. Tavian chuckled. “No need to be so shy about it, chère. It’s a natural ting. An’ we’re not like the humans. We know when a female’s been marked by one of our own. She’s off limits.” Erin blinked. “Marked?” she echoed. Tavian chuckled again. “Did you tink doze were just love bites, little girl? Naw. For sure he mark you. Else how else he fine you, huh? Once done, cain’t be undone neider. So why you mopin’ here when your man waitin’ below, huh? An’ why he always look like somebody been torturin’ him every time he look at you?” As embarrassing as it was to be caught up in such a conversation with a man--Lycan--she barely knew, Erin was too intrigued by what he’d said, and too desperate for someone to talk to to send him on his way. “I guess that’s because he hates me,” she muttered. Tavian grunted. “You tink dat, chère? He hate you? Shore did go ta lots of trouble for a female he hate, doan you tink?” Erin shrugged. “He didn’t come after me. He came to destroy the research facility, and to get the baby.” “So--not finding baby boy, he sling you ober his shoulder and take four or five bullet holes to get you out of dere cause he hate you? Baby girl, dat doan even make sense to me, especially since I know different. I been tryin’ ta keep my nose outta his business, but seems to me the two of you ain’t got enough sense between you to work dis ting out widout a little push in de right direction.” Erin couldn’t help but smile. “I suppose he confided in you that he was madly in love with me?” she asked doubtfully. He shrugged. “Sort of did. It was me and Billy Ray find him after doze government boys fill him full of holes. Never seen anybody so shot up. Lycan or not, I was wonderin’ if he was gonna make it. He was outta his head for a while dere, babblin’ ‘bout that place--an’ you. Mostly you. Finally figured out he was hurt more inside than those bullets did damage. He love you so much de thought that you betrayed him was what was killin’ him. Had to start to hate to git through it.” Erin felt a lump form in her throat. She grimaced. “I doubt it’s a love/hate thing, whatever you’re thinking. He hates all of us, equally, or maybe me a little more than the others, but I didn’t betray him, whatever any of you think. They used me, too. I’m not trying to claim that I’m completely without guilt, but it wasn’t me that did those things to him. It wasn’t my idea and there was nothing I could do to stop them.” Tavian gave her a hard, penetrating look. “You set him free.” Erin looked away guiltily, staring at the swells along the side of the ship. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “That was as much for my sake as his. I couldn’t escape and I knew they wouldn’t stop until they were completely satisfied. And when they were done with us they would’ve either buried us in some government prison somewhere forever or killed us, probably the latter.” “You love him?” Erin felt her face redden again. “I don’t really know how I feel about him, to be honest. I just don’t want him to hate me.” He studied her thoughtfully for several moments. “Some men, dare a man’s man. All de men look

up to dem, wanna be like them, follow dem through hell if dey ask it, dare just natural born leaders. Some men, dare a woman’s man and all the women’s just migrate in dare direction when they come around. Jesse, he’s both. Everybody love Jesse. I doan tink you’re an exception.” She didn’t think she was either. “I haven’t had much chance to see the lovable side of him--except from a distance,” she said wryly. “So try a liddle bit harder,” he said testily. “How?” Erin demanded hopelessly. He shook his head. “Women are supposed to know these tings.” Erin gave him a resentful glance and looked away again. “Well, obviously I don’t.” “You got ta see somethin’ to want it. Quit hidin’.” “I haven’t been hiding,” Erin retorted irritably. “I just don’t feel comfortable walking up to people I don’t know and trying to carry on a conversation with them.” He grasped her arm and hauled her to her feet. “You know me. If you let him ignore you, he will. You have to make it so’s he cain’t ignore you.” She wasn’t entirely comfortable, at first, even around Tavian, but after a few days she became more so. With no other plan to follow, she decided to take him up on his suggestion, though, and made it a point to move about the ship more openly, stopping whenever she saw Tavian to talk, whether he was with a group of the others or not. She found it was easier each time and began to feel less uncomfortable and more able to actually join the conversation in progress. Inevitably, whenever she joined any group, Jesse left, but although she was disappointed at first, she realized fairly quickly that Tavian had been right. He did notice. Any time she nerved herself to look around for Jesse, she discovered that he was watching--and he didn’t look at all pleased about it, but at least he wasn’t unaware of her. She’d just begun to think Tavian’s tactic might actually work when they arrived at last at their destination. Her first clue that they’d arrived was when the ship stopped and set anchor. Merely curious at first, Erin moved to the porthole of the main cabin and glanced around to see if she could see any reason for the fact that they’d stopped. There wasn’t a sign of land, unless one counted the hazy line on the horizon which might be land and might be nothing more than a low lying cloud. She hadn’t heard anything to indicate the ship’s engines had broken down. She couldn’t hear a lot of activity topside either. Her interest thoroughly aroused and excitement beginning to hum just beneath the surface, Erin left the main cabin and went topside. Tavian and Jesse were standing at the bow of the boat with binoculars. “What is it? Are we there?” Jesse and Tavian both lowered their glasses and turned to look at her. After a moment, Tavian nodded and departed as if he and Jesse had exchanged some sort of telepathic communication. “We’re close enough,” Jesse said finally. “We’ll wait for dark before we go in.” “I’m going with you,” Erin said, a little breathless from the adrenaline pumping through her big time now. “You’ll wait here.” Erin gaped at him. “You aren’t serious! I need to go with you to take care of the baby.” Jesse frowned. “You’re human, not Lycan. You’ll only slow us down.” Turning away from her, he lifted the glasses again. Erin glared at his back. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t pick another fight with him--or allow him to provoke her into a fight. She couldn’t hope to make any sort of truce unless she could manage to speak more than a dozen words with him without it turning into a battle of wills, or a shouting match. She knew he was right. Jesse and the others were capable of shifting, and as beasts they could move through the woods at least twice as fast as a human could, maybe more, besides having far better

night vision. She was already turning away when he caught her arm. Surprised, she looked up at him questioningly. “You’ll be safer here. My son needs his mother. I don’t want anything to happen to you and I can’t be sure I can protect you if there’s any shooting.” Warmth flooded Erin, washing away the hurt and anger almost instantly. Fear reared its ugly head, though, fear for Joshua if he should be caught up in a gun battle, and for Jesse. “Do you think I’ll be safer alone?” Something flickered in his eyes. “You won’t be alone. Billy Ray will stay to guard you and the boat, and also Kenneth and Zack. They can take the yacht into deeper waters if necessary, but I don’t think it will be. We won’t go in until its dark. Even if they pick up the boat on their radar, they’ll probably just dismiss it as local fishermen.” “What if you don’t come back?” Erin asked shakily, swallowing against the hard knot threatening to form in her throat from the moment she’d spoken the thought hovering in the back of her mind aloud. A terrible sense of loss descended upon her. She could no more imagine the many years lying before her with no hope of seeing Jesse and Joshua than she could cease to breathe. She knew then, without room for doubts, that Tavian had been right. If she could not imagine life without Jesse she also couldn’t deny to herself that she loved him. “I will,” Jesse said implacably. “You don’t that,” Erin whispered. “You can’t promise me something that might be beyond your power.” The grip on her arm loosened. Time seemed to still. For many moments Erin was certain that Jesse would slip his hand up her arm to cup her cheek. He seemed to sway infinitesimally closer, as if to gather her to him and kiss her. Near the stern of the boat, something fell, jarring them both back into reality, spoiling the moment, though it might only have been wishful thinking on her part. She would never know now for Jesse merely dropped his hand and stepped back. “Billy Ray will know what to do,” he said gruffly as he turned away and resumed his study of the distant horizon. She stared at his broad back, fighting the urge to move closer, to make the first move if he wouldn’t. The need to feel herself cocooned in the warmth of his body, to have his arms wrapped tightly around her and soak up the reassurance of his strength and life was nearly overwhelming. Doubts of her welcome held her to the spot and finally she merely turned away and fled below. She found she couldn’t bear the confines of the cabin, though. After pacing restlessly about the room like a caged animal for perhaps an hour, watching the agonizingly slow progression of the sun toward the horizon, she couldn’t stand it anymore and left the cabin, heading for the galley. It wasn’t her night to cook. Billy Ray didn’t object to her abrupt appearance or her determination to help, however. After pointing her toward a pile of vegetables waiting to be peeled, he returned his attention to the meat he was preparing. She had no idea what he planned to cook--some Cajun dish, no doubt, that would scorch the tender skin of her mouth and set her on fire--but she didn’t care so long as she had something to do. When she’d peeled the potatoes and diced them, she scooped them into a colander and rinsed them and then set them aside and started on the onions and peppers. When her hands, arms, and shoulders began to cramp, she shoved a stray lock of hair from her face, stretched to relieve the ache and glanced out of the tiny porthole set in the galley bulkhead. They sun was sinking into the sea, turning the water and sky into a fiery red-orange glow. Her stomach knotted. They would probably wait until they’d eaten to pull anchor. Weary now, Erin finished the last of the cutting and preparation and rinsed the vegetables, leaving them to drain in the sink. Removing the apron she’d donned when she’d settled to work, she headed back to the cabin. A hot shower relieved the cramping muscles and drained the last of her

tension. When she’d dried off, she merely wrapped a towel around her and trudged back into the cabin, collapsing face first on the bunk. The mattress dipped, rousing Erin sometime later. Still groggy, she lay still, listening for the sounds of a storm that might account for the rocking of the bunk. Instead, she heard the rustle of fabric. The towel she’d wrapped around herself was flipped away. A hand, large, warm, rough with calluses, skated up one thigh and then over her buttocks. Her heart seemed to stand still in her chest. She tensed, waiting to see what he would do next. She felt the heat of his breath along the cleft of her ass moments before she felt the nip of his teeth along one cheek. Goose bumps erupted, racing up her body and along her arms and legs. She rolled onto her side, stared at Jesse, crouched at the foot of the bunk, for several moments and lifted a hand to him in invitation. Releasing a gusty sigh, he surged toward her, settling the weight of his body along hers, twining one long leg around her and dragging her lower body tightly against his. His cock, hard and erect already, dug into her belly. She arched against it, slipping an arm around his waist and cupping and massaging his buttocks. He was deliciously bare. A faint smile curled her lips as she familiarized herself with his upper chest and neck, tracing a path along his hard male breasts and upward to his throat with her mouth, tongue, and the edge of her teeth while she explored his back with one hand, feeling the rounded, puckered scars that dotted his flesh. She tried not to think about that. He’d expected a welcome. She was ok with that, better than ok. If she’d known all she had to do was sleep naked…. His lips beckoned. She teased the corners with light kisses then nipped her way across his full lower lip. He sank his fingers into her hair, cupping the back of her skull as he opened his mouth over hers in a deep, scorching kiss. Pleasure erupted in her veins like wildfire. His taste and scent invaded her senses like a heady drug as he thrust his tongue into her mouth and raked it along hers. Heat washed over her, made her skin tingle with acute sensation, keen awareness of the touch of his flesh against hers. She wrapped an arm around his neck, pressing her breasts tightly against his chest. They swelled, growing heavy as her need increased. Her nipples puckered into hard nubs. Groaning, he broke the kiss, releasing the fistful of hair he’d captured and stroked his hand down her back, catching one of her thighs and dragging it across his hips. The head of his cock nudged against her clit, evoking a riot of sensations. She undulated against it, increasing the pressure, feeling her belly clench as a warm wetness bathed her sex in anticipation of his possession. When he shifted and his cock slipped along her cleft, however, she pulled slightly away. She was determined this would be a night he wouldn’t forget. Pushing against his shoulders until he rolled onto his back, she shifted over him. He was staring at her quizzically when she lifted her head to look at him. A smile curled her lips. “I read a hooker’s guide to giving head once,” she murmured. “Want to see if I mastered it?” His lips twitched. Without a word, he folded his hands beneath his head. Taking that as consent, Erin began to work her way down his body with a slow thoroughness that left no part of him unexplored. By the time she’d reached his cock, beads of sweat had broken from his pores and his body twitched with feverish heat. Coming up on her knees, she bent over his hips, wrapping one hand tightly around his shaft, stroking him from the root to the tip over and over, first the under side and then the top, taking care that she massaged every inch of his exquisitely sensitive shaft thoroughly. A sense of satisfaction filled her as his fingers clenched on the sheets on either side of his hips, fisting and relaxing rhythmically. His breath caught in his chest, was expelled harshly and sucked in again. His belly quivered. The muscles all over his body tensed, trembled with his effort to remain still and passive to her ministrations. Heat flooded Erin. Her throat closed with an unnamable thirst. She stared at the cock in her hands, resisting the urge to cover it with her mouth and suck him.

Switching hands, she continued to stroke his cock and began to gently massage his testicles. He jerked, his shoulders coming off the bed. With an obvious effort, he lay back. His hands moved over her shoulders, stroking her, and then clutched the sheets again. Erin felt her belly clench. Her throat tightened as she felt the heat of his need washing over her. “Chère,” he muttered on a harsh breath. “Shhh,” Erin murmured soothingly, leaning down at last to place her mouth over his cock. A harsh groan erupted from his throat. He went rigid, began to thrash restlessly. His cock jerked in her mouth, as if he would explode in that moment. Erin’s belly clenched with her own ravaging need. Abruptly, he bolted upright, grasped her shoulders and shoved her back onto the mattress. Almost before she’d caught her breath, he was driving into her. His cock head slid almost bruisingly along her cleft and plowed into the mouth of her sex. Planting the soles of her feet on the mattress, she lifted to meet him. Mindless with his need and completely beyond control, he pumped into her again and again until she felt the root of his cock grinding against her. His frantic need surged into her, sent her own control spiraling beyond her grasp. She curled her fingers into his arms, dug her nails in, meeting each thrust with a burgeoning sense of desperation. When he stilled abruptly, dragging in a harsh breath, Erin lost the battle to stave off her release. Groaning, she bucked against him as she felt her body begin to convulse in waves of ecstasy. Slipping an arm beneath her hips, he began to thrust hard and fast, uttering a guttural cry as his own body exploded with release. **** Erin pretended she was asleep when Jesse eased from beneath the covers and dressed. She was fairly sure she couldn’t go up on deck and watch him leave without behaving badly and making everyone, Jesse included, uncomfortable. It was better this way. If she felt like crying, she could cry without having to consider whether it would worry anyone else. She almost gave up the pretense when he’d finished dressing and stood beside the bed staring down at her for what seemed a very long time. Finally, he merely turned and left, closing the door quietly behind him. She turned onto her back then and lay listening to the sounds around her. Even without the distant sound and vibration of the engine, she could tell the ship was moving. The closer it came to shore, the more violently waves battered the hull and the ship bobbed in the water. Abruptly the engine stopped. The ship didn’t. For what seemed an endless time it glided silently through the water. Finally, she heard the sound of the anchor being released. The forward glide slowed and finally ceased altogether. Hearing the Lycans moving about on the upper deck, Erin threw the covers off at last and got up. To her disappointment, she saw nothing from the cabin’s porthole but winking stars and the ripple of their light on the water. She wouldn’t be able to watch them leave. The ship was facing the wrong direction for that. Feeling a sudden need to catch one last glimpse of Jesse, Erin began to scramble for clothes, dragging them on haphazardly and then dashing from the cabin and along the gangway. Silence had fallen by the time she reached the deck. She rushed to the starboard railing anyway, peering through the darkness toward the darker shape some distance away rimmed by a pale ribbon of sand. She’d almost given up the effort to find them when her gaze finally lit upon a dark shape moving through the water. She studied it hard. After a time, she thought she could make out the individual shadows crowded into the dingy. She couldn’t tell which of them was Jesse, though. “They will be back before dawn.” Erin glanced at the man who’d come to stand beside her. “You think?”

He leaned down, bracing his arms on the railing. “Tonight they will only reconnoiter the place. Tomorrow, or the next day, or maybe even the day after that, they will sweep through it, destroy all the data that has been collected, and be out again before the Feds know what’s hit them.” Erin frowned as she studied Billy Ray. “Jesse didn’t tell me that.” “No?” Billy Ray grinned. “Maybe he git carried away by the worry in his lady’s eyes, no?” Meaning he was too busy enjoying himself to consider her feelings? She knew, suddenly, that that was not the case. He hadn’t said anything because he fully intended to go in tonight if the opportunity arose and she was pretty sure Billy Ray knew that. He was only trying to distract her. She saw the dingy had reached the beach. Dark shadows poured out of it and disappeared into the thick jungle vegetation that edged the ribbon of sand. With an effort, she forced a smile to reward Billy Ray for his efforts to reassure her. “So--even if he finds an open door, he’s just going to look around and come straight back?” Billy Ray shrugged, but grinned. “If they welcome him, then maybe he will go in and take care of business, but Jesse is no hot head, nor one to fall into a trap. He is smart, very smart. He will study the problem and pick it apart before he strikes.” Erin nodded, realizing she was reassured. “We’ll wait here for them?” “Oui, for now. If they are not back before dawn, we will have to move further from shore, but I don’t expect that.” There was nothing to do but wait. She was going to be a raving lunatic long before dawn. She remained by the railing for a while after Billy Ray had left. When she could no longer bear the inactivity, she wandered about the deck, her ears strained to listen for the sound of distant gunfire. She found no peace when the sound never came. Instead, her fertile mind began to torment her with other scenarios, of the men walking into a trap, captured, taken to the laboratory to be tortured and dissected. Time hung upon her like a pall. The moon rose, but seemed to stand still in the heavens, not moving by so much as an inch. Finally, when she realized that everyone but the night watch had gone below to try to rest, she went below decks and paced her cabin for a while. After glancing at the porthole for the dozenth time, she decided to go to the main cabin. At least there she might see something when and if there was something to see. She was sorry she’d taken a nap earlier. At the time, she’d been so exhausted from her anxiety she’d welcomed the chance to rest. Now she couldn’t even seek that modicum of peace and staring at the clock on the wall of the main cabin wasn’t helping her nerves any more than staring at the moon had. Mentally taking herself to task for working herself into a mass of screaming nerves, she strode purposefully to the cabinet that housed Juliette’s collection of reading materials and dragged out a stack of magazines. After a brief internal debate, she chose the couch and settled with the stack beside her, flipping the pages idly and trying to focus on the pages rather than the thoughts teasing at the edges of her mind. It would’ve been easier, she thought wryly, to distract herself with the damned things if they’d actually held anything of concern to her, but even the ads, which naturally enough were related to the subject of the magazines, didn’t pique her interest. She persevered, struggling to focus her mind away from her worries. She’d flipped through most of the stack when a sound outside caught her attention. She froze, listening more intently. She’d just decided it was purely imagination when she heard a very distinctive thud on the deck above her. She was on her feet before she even formed the thought. They were back! Dropping the magazine, she strode briskly from the main cabin, glancing at the clock almost absently as she moved past it. Three O’clock. Three hours. A prickle of uneasiness went through her. She didn’t realize why, or what errant thought had caused the wash of anxiety until she’d reached the stairs and started up.

They’d only been gone three hours and it had taken them a good twenty minutes even to reach the shoreline from the ship. Could they possibly have gone, stayed long enough to see what they needed to, and come back in no more time than that? Abruptly, the door at the top of the gangway was flung open. Erin stared upward at the beast that leapt through the opening and uttered a scream of pure terror. Chapter Eleven Jesse’s face was grim as they emerged at last on the beach nearest the island that was their objective. It had taken nearly two hours to reach this point, far longer than he’d expected. The island itself where the facility lay was a good six miles from the mainland, no great distance if they could have crossed it openly in the dingy they’d lugged through the jungle, but to cross with stealth would take more time. The moon was high now. They would have to settle and wait until it was nearing the trees on the western horizon before they could chance a crossing. The uneasiness that had been plaguing him since he’d left the ship deepened, making his flesh creep. He’d struggled with the undefined anxiety that something was wrong ever since. No matter how much he assured himself, he was certain that it was nothing more than reluctance to leave Erin. The seed she’d planted in his mind had been sown in fertile soil. From the moment he’d left her he hadn’t been able to get it out of his mind that she was vulnerable. Ordinarily, he would never have doubted that the three men he’d left to guard her and the yacht were perfectly capable of handling most any situation. He was certain the only reason he doubted it now was the fear Erin had planted in his mind that someone would harm her or take her from him. He was almost certain. Irritated, he left the men resting near the forest edge and followed the tree line a little further down the beach, sniffing at the wind and trying to catch the scents of the jungle. It was an exercise in futility. The wind blew almost constantly off the water, carrying scents inland. If there was anything there…. The hackles along the ridge of his spine rose abruptly as a faint scent teased at his nostrils. Whirling abruptly, he raced back toward the others, uttering a warning call. Almost before the sound had ceased to vibrate from his vocal chords, a chorus of feline snarls answered. From every direction if seemed save the beach that trapped them at the water’s edge, dark shapes sprang forth, leaping from brush and the overhead limbs of the trees. Something heavy impacted into his back so hard the weight and momentum of it slammed him into the ground. Claws tore at his back. Snarling, he twisted beneath the beast’s weight, clubbing it on the side of its head with his fist. Any doubt he’d nurtured that the beast that had attacked him was no more than an animal vanished in that moment. The blow would have taken the head off of a man, crushed the skull of any jungle cat. Blood shot from the creature’s nose and mouth, spattering him, the smell driving his beast mad with bloodlust. The adrenaline that surged through him in response magnified his strength. He bucked, breaking the creature’s grip on him and launching it into the brush. Coming up onto all fours, he bellowed a challenge. Even as he struggled to get his feet beneath him and rise, three more creatures sailed from the tree limbs above him, driving him into the dirt once more, pinning him. “Yield,” the creature on his chest bellowed. “We have your woman!” It took several seconds for that to penetrate Jesse’s maddened mind. When it did, he uttered a roar of pure rage and fought harder, but defeat was already seeping into his mind. His ears told him the battle was already lost for the rest of his men. They were outnumbered perhaps three to one. Strength would avail him nothing at this point. They had Erin. He could not save her if he allowed the madness to push him to a fight to the

death. Abruptly, with a tremendous effort, he began to struggle against his beast, to find control. “Release us,” he snarled. “We have no quarrel with your clan. We are here to kill the humans on yonder island and take back my son.” “You have encroached on the territory of the panthers without leave,” the one who had threatened Erin snarled. “We do not take trespass lightly.” “Our quarrel is not with the clan of the panthers,” Jesse growled as they hauled him to his feet. “And neither should yours be with us. Those humans there have taken the Lycan to build their armies. No shifter is safe if we do not destroy them, not even your people.” “We leave them alone and they do not bother us,” the panther responded, but he turned to study the distant island through narrowed eyes. “You can tell your strange tale to Carlos. But I will warn you now he is in no benign mood and unlikely to listen to anything you might think to say now. You know the protocol. You should have gone to him at once and negotiated a treaty between our peoples. Then, perhaps, he would have given you permission to bring your war to our doorstep--and maybe not. But it is less likely now.” Jesse lurched against the two panthers that held his arms. “There is no time!” he snarled. “If you have my woman then you know she has only just given birth to our son! They hold him there to experiment on him. They are breeding more!” The panther’s eyes narrowed. “Si! I have seen your woman. She bears your marks. If it is as you say, why would she bear your mark? You chose her as your mate! Carlos is not likely to believe your lies, señor Lycan!” Jesse ground his teeth, but he resisted the urge to argue further. It was useless to even speak to the leader’s lieutenant. Besides, if they had Erin he would have to go with them to get her back. “Take me to Carlos, then. If he is intelligent enough to lead your clan, then he will not be so stupid as to ignore a threat to us all.” **** Erin knew she was in a state of shock. As balmy as the night was, she was shivering uncontrollably. Clamping her teeth more tightly together, she drew her knees more tightly against her chest, shifting her buttocks on the deck to ease some of her discomfort from sitting on the hard surface. To her surprise, the Lycans on either side of her shifted closer to share the warmth of their bodies with her. She glanced up at Billy Ray in gratitude. At least, she thought it was Billy Ray. He had shifted into beast form and she had trouble distinguishing between the Lycan when they morphed. “What do you think they intend to do with us?” she whispered. His yellow eyes examined her piercingly for a moment. “They would have killed us already if they had been ordered to do so.” It was some reassurance but not quite what she’d had in mind. She peered through the gloom at the creature that was guiding the yacht through the shallow waters of what looked like a cove. She hadn’t noticed it before. She wondered if Jesse had, if he would find them, or return to discover the ship gone and believe they had abandoned him and others. The screaming demons that had descended upon them were not Lycan. It had been hard enough for her to come to accept that the werewolves actually existed. To discover that there were others, werecats, was a jolt and at least partly the reason for her shock. The assault had been enough to thoroughly terrorize her, though. Her own animal instincts had taken over from the moment she had looked up to see the great, black beast crouching above her, ready to spring. Mindless with terror, she’d whirled and raced back to the main cabin--the only avenue of escape open to her at all and that would’ve proven to be no more than a trap even if she’d succeeded in barricading herself in before the thing was upon her. She’d fought it, too mindless to realize that her efforts were useless. She was bleeding from dozens of claw marks and the thing hadn’t even tried to savage her with them or its teeth. She

wondered if she had any cracked ribs from the thing pouncing upon her and slamming her into the deck. She felt bruised. Every breath pained her and every muscle in her body protested to the slightest movement. Maybe that was why they hadn’t bothered to bind her as they had the others? They knew that, as a human, she was so frail next to them that she was already too battered just from being captured to present any sort of flight risk. She held on to that thought. The hope that her weakness might be turned to an advantage was all she had. The ship lurched abruptly as its prow dug into soft sand. They’d grounded it. Erin shot Billy Ray a panicked glance. Unless the incoming tide released it, they were thoroughly trapped now with no way to flee but on foot. As soon as the ship stopped moving, the panther people who’d captured them swarmed upon them, dragging them to their feet. She screamed as she was tossed over the side. The sound was cut off abruptly as the air was forced from her lungs when she landed in the waiting arms of a man-panther standing in the water below. She was still struggling to drag air into her lungs again when the creature tossed her over his shoulder and began to jog up the beach with her. The impact of her ribcage against the beast’s shoulder forced the air from her lungs again and internal darkness swarmed up to swallow her. A profound blackness like a cave greeted her when Erin finally roused. For many moments, she couldn’t focus beyond the pain spreading through her ribcage and pounding in her skull, but when she’d managed to shift slightly and relieve some of the pressure, the pain receded sufficiently enough for her to assimilate the fact that she was still moving and that the heat radiating into her came from the body of the creature that was carrying her. They were moving quickly. Around her, she could hear sounds that indicated many others. How could they see where they were going? From the foliage brushing along her arm and tangling occasionally in her hair to snatch painful strands loose, she knew they must be deep within the jungle. Where were they being taken and what did these creatures intend to do with them when they got there? She shied away from that thought, unwilling to deal with it until she had to. The slim hope she’d nurtured that she might be able to escape since they hadn’t bound her like they had the others died though. Even if the thing wasn’t carrying her, she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. They obviously could see quite well. She wouldn’t have a chance in hell of outrunning them or hiding from them. After what seemed an eternity of suffering, Erin began to notice that she could pick out darker shapes within the blackness. At first, she thought she was only imagining it. Then she wondered if it was dawn. She realized shortly that it was neither. The trees were thinning, allowing some light from the night sky to penetrate to the floor of the forest. Abruptly, the creature carrying her stepped from the trees and into a clearing. The contrast was sharp. She reared upward again, bracing her palms on the creature’s back to look around. They were moving through a field of some kind. Around her, she saw others emerge from the trees, her fellow captives among them. She didn’t see the stone fortress until the creature carrying her passed beneath the outer wall. Vegetation gave way to dusty, bare dirt and then to stones set into the dirt in a swirling pattern. Twisting her head, Erin saw a collection of shabby huts leaning against the outer wall of the fortress. It looked ancient. She wondered if it had once been just that. Or, perhaps, it had been a mission? The style, from what she could see, was Spanish, but then she’d heard the were-creatures speaking Spanish. She didn’t understand one word in ten, but she knew Spanish when she heard it. She wobbled when the beast carrying her set her abruptly on her feet. Her feet and legs had long since lost circulation. Her knees buckled. She would’ve collapsed on the stones except that he grasped

her upper arm. It wasn’t enough support. She sank anyway. Hauling her upright again, he wrapped an arm around her waist and half carried her while she struggled to put one foot in front of the other. Stout wooden doors, looking as ancient as the building itself, lay before her across a wide verandah. Glancing around and upward as she was shoved toward the doors, Erin noted details that seemed to bear up her suspicion that this had once been a mission, dating back, no doubt, to the Spanish conquest and colonization in the Americas. It was too far inland, she thought, to have been a fort, but she supposed she could be wrong. Maybe it had originally been built as both? The interior, she saw once they’d entered the main structure, was lit with lamps. Exposed electrical wiring and bare bulbs testified to an attempt to modernize at some point, but she supposed so far into the jungle electricity wasn’t easy to come by. It would take generators, and that meant a lot of fuel would have to be hauled in unless they only used the electricity sparingly. Brightly colored rugs and dark, heavy furniture littered the great room, which looked to be a gathering point for a large household. Without pausing, the creature carrying her crossed the main room and stepped through an arch. A wide corridor lay before them. Erin’s first taste of panic since she’d come hit her when she glanced back and discovered the Lycan were being led off in a different direction. She burst into motion so fast, she very nearly managed to break free. “No! Put me with them! What are you doing?” The creature snarled. “Be still, gringa.” She ignored the command, fighting him every step of the way as he dragged her down the corridor and finally shoved her into a tiny room. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or more worried when he simply stepped out again, slamming a heavy door and bolting it from the outside. Shuddering in reaction, Erin lay where she’d fallen when he’d pushed her inside, struggling to calm her pounding heart and catch her breath. After several moments passed and the beast did not reappear, she pushed herself up slowly to a sitting position and looked around. The room was dark except for a little light spilling through a small, barred window high in one wall. She could see that the room contained nothing more than a narrow cot barely wide enough for one and wooden stool. Aching all over, she got up from the floor with an effort and moved to the cot. The springs squawked in protest as she planted her butt on the lumpy mattress, and both dust and less pleasant smells rose from the fabric. She found she was too weary to care. Struggling up again, she ripped the thin coverlet off and beat the surface haphazardly to make certain nothing creepy was lying in wait for her and finally sprawled on the miserable cot and wrapped the cover around herself. The tiny cell was bright when she awoke. She lay still for some time, staring up at the exposed beams in the ceiling above her, listening to the sounds of movement around her and trying to identify something familiar while memory slowly returned and her mind sharpened. They’d been taken prisoner and she had no idea why. Hearing a flurry of new activity outside, Erin sat up abruptly, trying to determine the direction the sound was coming from. She realized after several moments that the noise was outside the building and glanced up at the window. From the floor, she doubted she could reach it, from the bed, maybe. Scrambling up, she stretched upward until she could grasp the edge of the sill and then curled her fingers around two of the bars set into the stone, pulling herself up until she could rest her chin on the sill and look out. Below, she saw a large group of manbeasts coming through the gate of the outer wall. A group of Lycans formed the center of the group that had just entered. Grunting with the effort, Erin dug her toes against the wall, trying to get a better view. A sense of recognition, faint at first, grew in her as she studied the Lycan at the forefront of the group. “Jesse,” she murmured, torn between despair at the realization that he, too, had been captured and relief that he seemed unharmed. Almost as if he’d heard her, he lifted his head and his amber gaze met hers across the distance. She saw him tense, as if to bolt into action and for several moments fear gripped her. Evidently it gripped the panthers, as well. The men she’d seen loitering in the courtyard, that she’

d assumed were as human as she was, fell to their knees. Their bodies began to contort. Within moments, they rose up onto two legs as manbeasts similar in form to the catlike people who’d captured her. “Oh god! Don’t Jesse! Please don’t! You can’t hope to win against them all!” Again, it was almost as if he’d heard her whispered plea. After several nerve wracking moments he seemed to force the tension from his body. As he relaxed his threatening stance, she saw the tension leave the other Lycans. Reluctantly, Erin gave in to her protesting muscles and lowered herself until she could touch the bed again. Settling on it, she blew on her burning palms absently, trying to think calmly about the situation--trying not to think what their capture would mean to her poor baby. She wouldn’t give in to despair. Jesse still had a chance to escape. He was smart, and strong and capable. He would find a way, and when he did, he would go after Joshua. She knew he would. Boredom had dulled most of Erin’s fear by the time a guard came to collect her late in the afternoon. She was almost more relieved to think something would be settled than afraid anyway. A female had brought her food and water around mid day and, revoltingly, a bucket to take care of her needs. The flat bread had been tasteless, though, and the meat and peppers stuffed into it hot enough to make her breathe fire. She’d finally dumped the contents into the slop bucket and tried to assuage her hunger with the tortilla and water alone. She thought she might kill herself if she had to endure much time as their prisoner, if she didn’t starve to death first. Her milk was going to dry up very quickly with no more food than bread and water. She thought the man who came to get her was the same one who’d shoved her into the cell just before dawn, but she wasn’t entirely certain. She didn’t really care until it occurred to her to wonder if there was any chance at all that she might use the only weapon she had with her--her femininity. She was doomed, she thought a little hysterically, if that was the only weapon she had. The man scarcely glanced at her as he caught her arm and hauled her down the corridor to the great room. The room was filled with people, or at least what appeared to be people. She knew better now, and she was still relieved that they were once again in human form. Her heart skipped several beats when she saw that Jesse and the other Lycans were seated among them. As if he sensed her presence or had heard their entrance, Jesse turned to look at her. His gaze flickered over her torn, bloodied clothing before it met hers. Fury blossomed in his eyes. She must look like hell. “I’m alright,” she said quickly, fearful at the tension she saw in him--that he would do something rash. Her outburst drew all eyes and she was almost sorry she’d said anything. “Thes is your woman, Lycan?” Erin glanced at the man who’d spoken, alarmed at the tone of his voice more than what he’d said. There was a satisfied purr to it, almost as if he welcomed the opportunity to taunt Jesse and saw in her a pawn he could use to goad Jesse into doing something stupid. She hoped she was wrong, because they were very badly outnumbered. Jesse ground his teeth. “She is, and the mother of my son,” he growled, threat evident in his voice. A satisfied smile curled the man’s lips. It was hard to gauge when he was seated in a chair, but he looked to be close to Jesse in height and build, perhaps a little shorter and a little broader, but of a similar weight. He was swarthy, his hair as black as ink. She thought he must be around Jesse’s age, or perhaps a few years younger. She didn’t at all care for the assessing glint in his gaze as he studied her thoroughly from head to foot and finally gestured to the guard to bring her closer. “She is human,” he said as she neared him, glancing at Jesse again. “But then I have always believed the Lycan were not very discerning in their breeding habits.”

Obviously, this was intended to be a huge insult, and it seemed to Erin from Jesse’s expression that it had struck home. “It wasn’t by choice,” she interjected quickly. “We …uh … were prisoners and the scientists used us both in their experiments.” The man grinned at Jesse. “So--you did not choose the Lycan?” Erin glanced uneasily at Jesse as the guard leading her shoved her into a chair beside the man who’d summoned her. Would it be better to say she had? Or she hadn’t? She hadn’t had any opportunity to assess the situation she’d found herself in and suddenly regretted saying anything at all. She drew no clue from Jesse’s expression. He looked murderous by now, but that hardly told her which way to jump. Without waiting for the response to his question that she had no clear idea of how to answer, the man lifted her limp hand nearest him and examined it. “And yet you bear the marks, I’m told, of the beast who claimed you as his mate. Me, I think that sounds like choice, not force.” Erin’s head whipped in Jesse’s direction of its own volition, as if her mind had no control over the action. “Marks?” she gasped faintly, her mind too chaotic to form any sort of opinion over the news. She felt the brush of a hand along her throat. Jesse’s chair squawked against the floor as he made an abrupt attempt to surge upward. Billy Ray and Tavian, seated on either side of him, grabbed him before he could get to his feet, restraining him. Jesse gave both of them a deadly look, but he subsided. “As you say, mine,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “Take your hand off my mate, Carlos, or I’ll take your head off your shoulders.” Carlos withdrew his hand, but he chuckled. “You’re in no position to make any demands, señor Lycan. This is my territory,” he continued, his voice becoming deadly cold now. “And I can have your head removed from your shoulders. Your mark means nothing once you are dead. Perhaps I will keep your woman to entertain me.” Jesse ground his teeth, but he seemed to come to grips with his temper with an effort. “You can challenge me for her, according to the laws of the werefolk, and nothing else, or your own people will think you nothing more than a coward.” Carlos’ hand tightened on the hand he still held until Erin winced. Fury glinted in Jesse’s eyes as they flickered over her face and then settled on Carlos again. “You will live to regret it if you simply dismiss what I’ve told you,” he ground out. “If they do not know you are here already, they will, and they will be just as eager to experiment on your people as mine.” Carlos shrugged, but Erin could feel his tension. He wasn’t as certain the feds wouldn’t target them, or that the entire tale was fabricated, as he was trying to pretend. “Take them back to their cells until I decide what to do with them.” Jesse stood. “She comes with us.” Carlos’ eyes narrowed. “You do not issue orders here,” he growled. “It’s the law!” Jesse ground out. “And even you are not above that.” Carlos flicked a glance around at his people. Apparently what he saw there was not the support he’d expected. His full lips tightened with anger, but he forced a shrug. “For now,” he said finally, releasing his grip on her arm at last. Rubbing her arm, Erin surged to her feet and made good her escape, hurrying toward Jesse. To her surprise, he grabbed her, enfolding her tightly in his arms. Warmth flooded her. Before she could hug him back, the guards separated them, shoving them to get them to move. Erin contained her impatience. At least she would be with Jesse. The thought was more of a comfort than it should have been under the circumstances. Chapter Twelve The cell she’d spent the night in was practically palatial compared to the one she was escorted to with the Lycans. This cell was perhaps twice as big, but contained her and eight men, none of whom

were small. There wasn’t so much as a single narrow cot or a stool to sit on. When they’d all managed to squeeze inside and the door had been barred behind them, the men looked around and settled on the floor with their backs to the wall. “What now?” Erin asked, looking up at Jesse hopefully. He was busy examining the floor for a place to sit. Catching her arm, he led her to the corner and sat down, drawing her down on his lap. “We wait.” More than a little discomfited at being pulled into his lap, Erin resisted as Jesse drew her close, cradling her head against his shoulder. “For what?” He shrugged. “The big party. You aren’t hurt?” “I feel like hell and probably look worse, but, no, bruised and a little battered and scratched. What party?” Jesse lifted a hand and, after rolling something around in his mouth a moment, removed it and tossed it onto the stone floor. “The Fed party. I’m thinking they’ll probably wait for dark to hit this place.” Erin sat upright and looked down blankly at the metal that had hit the floor. “That’s--” “Dr. Wagner’s locator chip. I thought it might come in handy.” “But … it’s dead,” Tavian said sharply. “You said you’d deactivated it after we’d run it around the city a few times to have the Feds chasing their tails.” “Deactivated, not dead. I activated it when we were captured.” The Lycans in the room all exchanged worried looks. “You sure that was a good idea?” Jesse’s lips flattened into a thin line. “No. But I am certain our current situation is really bad.” “They didn’t kill us,” Billy Ray pointed out. “Which only means they have something else in mind for us that we probably won’t find any more to our liking,” Jesse said dryly. “How’s it going to help us if the Feds get us?” one of the other men demanded. “I ain’t keen on becoming one of their specimens.” “How many clan members did you count coming in?” Jesse retorted. The man shrugged and glanced at his neighbor. “About thirty,” Tavian supplied. “They came at us with roughly three to one.” “Yeah, mon ami, but you stopped fighting as soon as they tole you they had your woman. If we had fought on--” “They caught us with our pants down, trapped between the jungle and the beach. The end results woulda been the same.” “I would’ve been willing to fight to the death,” the man groused. “We came to rescue my son and destroy their research. Dyin’ wouldn’t have helped our clansmen.” “And this will? They’ll be expecting us now. There won’t be no sneak attack.” “They will be diminished now,” Jesse growled. “They are too arrogant to resist the temptation of assaulting this compound. They’ll throw everythin’ they’ve got at it. When they do, we’ll use the distraction to escape … and the panther army will become part of our army, whether they agreed to help us or not. While the clansmen and the Feds are busy slugging it out, we’ll take the facility and take care of our business here.” Tavian grinned abruptly. “Good thinking, mon ami!” Billy Ray studied Jesse thoughtfully. “What if they’re not interested in rescuing Dr. Wagner?” Jesse grimaced. “Then we’re up shit creek without a paddle. Anybody else got any suggestions? I’m wide open.” A man near the back spoke up. “So dey come and dey distract de panther clan. We’re stuck in dis cell. What den?” Jesse shook his head. “This cell cain’t hold us once we shift.” Everyone looked the cell over a little doubtfully. “The walls must be two feet thick, solid

stone.” “The door isn’t,” Jesse said dryly. He glanced at Billy Ray. “I suppose it’s too much to hope they didn’t scuddle the yacht?” “It’s on a sand bar in a little cover maybe six miles north of here. The tide was out when we hit it, though. It shouldn’t be too hard to dislodge it once the tide rises again.” Jesse frowned in thought. “When we make our break, I want you five,” he said finally, pointing to Tavian, Billy Ray and three other men, “to take Erin back, and get the yacht out into open water again.” Tavian and Billy Ray immediately began to protest. “This ain’t a democracy. It’s an order,” Jesse said tightly. Erin sat up. “What about the baby?” “We’ll get him.” “Sneak in, you mean, and then out again?” “I don’t think we’re going to have to worry too much about stealth--the bulk of the soldiers will be here, unless they don’ take the bait.” “But all the noise will scare him,” Erin pointed out. “I’m the only one here that has something to keep him occupied and quiet.” She was almost sorry she’d mentioned it. The comment drew all eyes to her breasts. Suddenly self-conscious, she sank against Jesse’s chest again. When she looked up at Jesse, she saw that he was studying her with amusement. “Point taken. Billy Ray, take two men with you to retrieve the ship. The rest of us will hit the lab together, but you’ll stay out the way. Clear?” Erin nodded. “And you’ll follow orders.” Erin gave him a look. “For the raid, right?” His lips twitched. “Chère,” he murmured warningly, and then stopped abruptly as if he’d just realized they had an interested audience. “Let’s not fight about it now. Later you can explain what Carlos meant about the marks,” she added in a whisper. He nuzzled her ear. “You’re wasting your time whispering,” he said low near her ear. “Lycan hearing is extremely acute … and fighting wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Erin felt her face catch fire. Several of the men chuckled. She tried to convince herself it was because of something someone else had said that she hadn’t overheard, but she had a bad feeling she was wrong. * * * * The Feds announced their arrival at dark thirty with a bomb blast that shook the walls around the captives so hard debris rained down all over them. The concussion rattled Erin’s teeth together. She bit her tongue, wincing as the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. Jesse curled around her until the chips of stone, splinters of wood, and sand had stopped showering them and then set her away from him abruptly and came up on his hands and knees. Wakened so abruptly from a doze and still disoriented, Erin lolled groggily against the wall, watching in growing horror as the men in the cell began to shift into their beast forms. Within moments, all signs of humanity vanished from them and surrounding her were snarling man-wolves. Jesse launched himself against the door, battering it with his shoulder. It splintered with the second blow and burst outward with the third, falling into several pieces. The men poured through the opening. Erin had pressed herself against the wall to avoid the stampede. When the men had cleared the door, Jesse reached inside, grabbing her arm and hauling her behind him as he strode down the corridor. The noise outside the main structure was almost deafening. Explosions and gunfire mingled with the hoarse cries and screams of men and manbeasts. The air was a suffocating soup of dust, smoke, and gunpowder. Blinded by the smoke, Erin stumbled along in Jesse’s wake, trying her best to keep up with him, her heart pounding so hard with fear her lungs labored all the harder to provide her with oxygen, making her dizzy. Before the group could clear the building, a knot of the panthers burst inside. Both groups halted abruptly at sight of each other, tensing to battle. “This way,” the leader of the group bellowed. “There’s a passage beneath the mission that leads to the caves. It exits at the falls about a mile from the coast.” The Lycan all turned to look at Jesse questioningly. He nodded. Turning, they followed the panthers down the narrow hall that led to the cell where Erin had spent her first hours at the encampment.

The door opposite her cell door opened to a narrow flight of stairs that led almost straight down, more like a ladder than stairs. Swinging Erin up into his arms, Jesse held her tightly to his chest as he raced down into the darkness below the mission. The cool air below soothed Erin’s eyes, but she could see no better in the darkness. One of the panthers lit a torch. “I am Carlos’ second. I can not go with you, but Juan will show you the way. There are caves beneath the island fortress, as well. The gringos thought they had sealed them off, but there is another way inside that he can show you.” He grinned suddenly. “You should hurry and find your son before we send these gringos scurrying for home.” Jesse motioned for his men to follow Juan. When they’d passed, he held out his hand to the man who’d helped them. “If you ever find yourself in need of a friend, I am your man.” The beastman took it in a firm clasp. “I will remember … in case of need, señor Lycan.” “Jesse.” The man grinned. “Guillume.” Jesse grinned back at him. “Good hunting, Guillume.” When Guillume had headed back the way they had just come, Jesse set Erin on her feet. As she stared at him blankly, he knelt on the floor. “We need to move fast, chère. Get on my back and hold tight.” Disconcerted, Erin nevertheless didn’t argue. The faster they went the better as far as she was concerned and she knew she couldn’t possibly keep up with him on her own. To her stunned amazement, he began to shift once more when she’d climbed onto his back. In the blink of his eye, he was no longer manbeast, but a great wolf that looked like any other save for the fact that he was far larger than most wolves. She was nearly unseated when he launched himself into a run. Burying her face against his back, she tightened her arms around him, unable to focus on anything beyond hanging on for all she worth. When Erin finally nerved herself to open her eyes for a look around, she discovered they’d left the smooth artificially formed corridor behind. The walls that closed in far too closely for her peace of mind on either side of them were pock marked, as if they’d been blasted. The sound of rushing water grew louder and louder as they traveled until it became a deafening roar. She could see no sign of it, though, and finally decided that the water must be following some other channel in the rock. As the flickering light of the torch the lead man was carrying finally sputtered and went out, the cavern descended briefly into blackness. Erin realized after a few moments that it wasn’t a total absence of light, however. Lifting her head, she saw in the distance a lighter patch. As Jesse raced toward it, the area around them grew brighter and brighter and she realized they were nearing the mouth of the cave. The narrow stone corridor they were following widened abruptly into a tremendous cavern. Water rushed along channels on either side of them now, splashed and trickled down the walls, gusted from natural spouts here and there. Within moments Erin was soaked to the skin with the fine mist rising from the water, her hair plastered to her skull and dripping rivulets of water along her cheeks and forehead. She didn’t dare loosen her grip on Jesse even for a moment, though. She was still trying to blink the water from her eyes so that she could see when they emerged from the mouth of the cave. The night sky was like a great, midnight blue bowl above them, sprinkled liberally with winking silver specs of light. Rising just above the trees, the full moon was a huge golden-orange globe of light that lit everything beneath it like dawn. The water rushing through the cavern burst forth into nothingness and dropped below them to drop some fifteen to twenty feet to form a round pool. The others had vanished when Erin opened her eyes, but she saw them swimming toward the banks. She had just enough time to utter the words, “Jesse don’t you dar--,” when he leapt from the ledge toward the water below. Her arms and legs tightened around him spasmodically. She sucked in a breath to scream and strangled as they hit the water and plunged beneath the surface. Releasing her grip on him, she pushed off of him and swam frantically upward. By the time her head broke the surface of the

water, she could do nothing but cough and splutter, pounding the water around her desperately to stay afloat. Two very human hands caught her around the waist, hauling her against a hard chest. “Are you alright, chère?” She couldn’t stop coughing. “I think I filled my lungs with water,” she said in a hoarse, choked voice. “Next time close your mouth. It works better.” She would’ve slugged him if he hadn’t been holding her from behind. She had to content herself with elbowing him in the ribcage. He grunted, but she was fairly certain that was more to appease her than because she’d actually managed to knock the breath out of him. The resistance of the water was working against her. Without another word he began towing her toward the bank where the others had gathered to wait for them. The moment they saw Jesse nearing the water’s edge, however, they took off once more. Three of the pack split off and followed the bank of the stream. The others plunged into the jungle headed southeast. By the time Erin had managed to expel most of the water from her lungs and drag in a decent breath of air, Jesse had shifted into the form of a wolf once more. She would’ve far preferred to walk at this point, but Guillume had suggested they should hurry and she had a feeling that he was right. The Feds were sure to pull back to the island the moment they realized they were taking the worst of the beating. Without complaint, she climbed onto Jesse’s back once more, clutched him tightly and prayed it wouldn’t take them long to reach the shore. Guillume had said it was only about a mile from the fall. The first fifteen or twenty minutes was rough going as Jesse plowed through the undergrowth, bounding over some of the brush, pressing through other areas. In time they landed upon a narrow trail and the going was easier. As the trail began to take a more northerly turn, though, Jesse left it, pressing through the thick jungle growth again. Erin was exhausted just from the effort of holding on while Jesse ran. By the time they finally emerged from the jungle onto the beach she could barely cling to him. The tide was in and very little beach was visible. Grateful that that much of the ordeal was over, Erin slipped off of Jesse’s back and sprawled in the loose sand. She didn’t get the chance to actually rest, however. The other Lycans had already retrieved the dingy and pulled it into the water. Jesse shifted from full wolf to manbeast, rising up on two legs. “Get into the dingy, chère, and lie on the floor.” Erin nodded. Pushing herself to her feet with an effort, she followed Jesse across the narrow stretch of sand, waded water until it was almost to her knees and yelped when Jesse yanked her off her feet and deposited her in the dingy. Juan and the Lycans surrounded the boat and began moving deeper. “You’re not getting in?” Erin whispered uneasily when they made no move to do so. “It’s not designed to hold so many. Don’t talk. Sound carries on the wind.” Erin fell silent, staring up at the stars and trying not to think about the possibility of sharks. Lulled by the rocking of the boat and the soft splash of water, Erin found some of the fear that had gripped her since they’d fled the panther compound dissipating. As it did, a sense of excitement began to grow in her. Soon they would have Joshua. She couldn’t allow herself to think otherwise and could not bank her rising excitement. She knew he was alive. She didn’t know what they’d done to get the information out of Dr. Wagner, but she didn’t doubt for a moment that it was true. It flickered through her mind to wonder what they’d done with the man, not that she particularly cared what happened to him as long it was something bad. He might not have been able to stop the research. He might not have been able to prevent anything they had done to her and her baby, but the fact was he hadn’t tried. He had treated them all as if they were of no more importance than lab rats. When it seemed to her that enough time had passed that they must be nearing the island and she ’d grown bored with imagining what it would be like to be reunited with her baby at last, Erin turned

over carefully and lifted her head just high enough to peer over the edge of the boat. She caught a brief glimpse of a rock looming upward from the sea and then a hand landed on the top of her head and shoved her flat again. Fuming silently, she lay still, but the resentment didn’t last more than a second. Her heart was pounding with joy and excitement. Almost there! Only a little while longer and they would have Joshua! The sound of waves crashing against the shore finally overshadowed the noise of lapping water around the boat. Erin tensed, listening as it occurred to her belatedly to worry that they might be spotted. That was why Jesse had made her lie down in the boat and why the others had swum the distance, buoyed by the boat they guided through the water, because Jesse knew there was still danger that they might be spotted and come under fire. She felt like an idiot. She knew nothing about war tactics, or soldiers, or security. From the sound of the battle at the compound she’d assumed they’d thrown everything they had at them, but they wouldn’t have done that. They might have taken most of the men and left only a small group to guard the island, but they would have left armed men to guard the facility. Her joyous excitement deflated like a popped balloon as visions of Jesse running through the halls dodging bullets with baby Joshua in his arms rose to her mind’s eye. He could be killed. They both could. Would Joshua be better off if she left him alone and didn’t thrust him into danger by trying to free him? She was still weighing years of torturous tests and the lack of any affection or attention that would be her baby’s life against the possibility of harm coming to him, when a dark shadow fell over her. Her heart felt as if a giant hand squeezed it. When she whipped around to see what had caused the deep shadow, though, she was relieved to discover it was no more than an outcropping of rock. With the wet squeak of something rubbing against rubber, the dingy slipped under it into an inky blackness. Sound echoed around them, intensified by the water and with no where to escape. They were in a cave. And the entrance to the cave was virtually completely submerged. The scrape of something against rock caught her attention. She rose up and turned toward the sound just as light seemed to explode around them. As the glare died, she saw that Juan had climbed from the water onto a ledge and lit a small lantern. Setting it aside, he picked up a second lantern, lit it and set it on an outcropping of rock at about shoulder level. The dingy bumped against the edge of the ledge. One by one the Lycans released their hold on the rope around it and heaved themselves up onto the ledge. Tavian leaned toward her, holding out his hand while Jesse remained in the water, holding the dingy steady. She reached up, clasped his hand and was yanked from the dingy so hard she thought for a moment he’d dislocated her shoulder. That was what came from having most of her weight on the ass end, she thought irritably, rubbing her shoulder absently while she waited for Jesse to emerge from the water. Sloughing the water off, he made hand gestures at the other Lycans. Erin gaped at him, completely at sea. He fixed her with a stern look and pointed to the ledge. She looked at the ledge and then back at him. “Stay,” he mouthed. She narrowed her eyes at him, setting her jaw stubbornly. “NO!” she mouthed back at him. She heard his teeth grinding and saw a muscle working in his jaw. He glanced around as if looking for help. The others had already followed his silent command, however, and disappeared. Catching her shoulders, he lowered his head until his mouth was by her ear. “Not one shriek or gasp. No blubbering. Not one sound,” he muttered in a low growl. Erin gave him an indignant look when he pulled away. “I’m not stupid!” she mouthed. He pretended he didn’t see that. “Asshole!” she mouthed at his back as he turned away to follow the others. Naturally, he missed that, too, but she knew better than to cross him. He’d stick her back in

the dingy and shove it off--or something equally macho. Trailing the pack, she moved as quickly and quietly as she could manage given that she couldn’t see nearly as well in the dark as they could. Her calves began to protest almost at once as they followed a tunnel that curved sharply upward. The tunnel was narrow. Jesse’s broad shoulders blocked most of her view, and most of the light from the lantern Juan was carrying, but she could hear, faintly, the movements of the others in front of them, the brush of their arm or leg along the rocky surface of the corridor, the light scrape of a foot not lifted quite clear of the floor. She didn’t want to think about how much noise she was making. She was winded before they had climbed far at all, and wondered if her panting breaths sounded as loud to them as it did to her. When Jesse glanced back at her, she closed her mouth, certain she must be making as much noise as she’d feared, struggling to get enough air without using her mouth. The third time he looked back at her, she flicked a hand at him as if shooing a fly. “Rest?” he mouthed at her. She shook her head firmly. She did need to rest. She already had a stitch in her side and she’d reached the point where she had to pant just to get enough air in her lungs, but she wasn’t going to let him accuse her of holding them up later if things went badly. Thankfully, the tunnel they were following began to taper off after a while. It still sloped upward noticeably, but the angle was easier to handle. About fifteen minutes later, they reached a fork. As Erin followed them to the left, she peered down the corridor they’d abandoned. A few yards beyond the fork, rubble littered the corridor from floor to ceiling. This must be the part the Feds had blocked off, she decided. Did that mean they were close, she wondered? Chapter Thirteen Apparently they were. Less than ten minutes later they halted. Erin craned to see around Jesse, who was still blocking her view. To her dismay, she saw a huge boulder blocking the end of the tunnel. The light, she discovered, was no longer coming from the lantern Juan had used to guide them. At some point, he’d extinguished it. Through a narrow crevice along the top of the boulder, artificial light flooded the passage they were in. So close! Erin thought mournfully, wondering why they hadn’t turned around already. She realized then that both Juan and the Lycans had tensed, their heads cocked as if listening intently. Unconsciously, she strained to hear, too. She didn’t hear anything. Apparently, neither did they, for after a moment, Tavian moved up beside Juan and the two of them began to shove at the boulder. It could not be moved quietly, but she saw that they were able to move it with amazing ease--which explained everything. They’d paused to make certain no humans were close enough to hear, and the humans weren’t guarding it because it hadn’t occurred to them that the boulder didn’t present a problem to the werefolk. They emerged into a cavern that had been converted into a huge storage area. To Erin’s surprise, instead of crossing it immediately toward the elevator shaft on the other side, the men spread out, examining the cases quickly. Juan, who’d apparently been more than once before, went directly to a large crate, pried the lid off and began pulling AK47’s from it. Seeing him, the others hurried over to help themselves to weapons, as well … except for Jesse, who continued to search the crates and boxes. She didn’t know what he was looking for, but he was making her nervous as hell. She wondered if she should arm herself? Apparently not. When she held her hand out for a gun, Juan merely gave her a look. It irritated

her, but since she really didn’t have a clue of how to use it she decided to let the insult slide. By the time the men had loaded the weapons, Jesse was back and loaded down with all sorts of things. He tossed coils of rope to several of his men and then some wicked looking knives. She hoped that was just to cut the rope. The vinyl bag he’d slung on one shoulder clanked quietly as if it contained metallic objects of some kind. More ammunition, she wondered? The men were armed to the teeth now. When he turned to look at her, Erin knew he was about to argue with her about going any further. She was tempted to let him bully her into staying where it was safe, but she wasn’t going to cower in safety while Jesse and the others took all of the risks to save her baby. Glancing away from him before he could start mouthing orders at her, she headed for the elevator shaft. Jesse caught her hand as she was reaching up to punch the button. She glanced up at him in surprise. He was glaring at her. Shaking his head, he pointed toward the stairs. Feeling a little sheepish, Erin allowed him to drag her toward the stairs. It wasn’t until they reached the first landing that it dawned on her that the elevators had security cameras in them. She was really, really bad at this. Again the Lycans paused to listen. Instinctively, Erin copied them, though she knew by now that she might as well be deaf compared to the Lycan. Gesturing to her to wait, Jesse moved to the front and eased the door open a fraction of an inch, peering into the corridor. He hesitated, as if waiting for something. After a moment, he snatched the door wide enough to push through and disappeared. Tavian grabbed her before she could move. A minute passed and then several more. Erin was sorry she wasn’t wearing a watch, though she wasn’t certain of how much better it would’ve made her feel to know how much time had elapsed. Finally, when she’d reached the point of considering trying to wrest free of Tavian and taking off, Jesse pushed the door open again and motioned for them to follow him. Erin glanced up and down the corridor, wondering what Jesse had been up to. She saw a camera lying on the floor at one end, the wire severed. As they raced down the corridor, they passed what looked like an electronic junction box. The panel had been ripped off of it and the wires inside were now a ragged tangle. He’d been disabling the video feed? Wouldn’t that alert the guards just as quickly, she thought? Maybe not. Although she tensed with the expectation that any moment an alarm would begin to blast, none did. There was nothing but labs on the lower level they discovered when they’d checked every room along the corridor. Backtracking, Jesse punched the elevator button and pushed her behind him while they waited for it to arrive. Thankfully, there was only one occupant when the doors opened. The man, who was wearing a lab coat, only managed to gape at them soundlessly before one of the Lycans slammed him into the rear wall, knocking him unconscious. When they’d piled onto the elevator, Jesse looked the panel over and punched every button. When the elevator halted on the next level, he motioned for two men to get off. Nodding, they stepped from the cubicle and the doors closed behind them. When they reached the next level and the doors opened, two lab techs were waiting. Two of the Lycans reached out, grabbed them and yanked them inside. Erin closed her eyes, swallowing against the bile that rose in her throat when she heard the sickening crunch of bone. They flew wide again as Jesse grabbed her and hauled her into the corridor. She looked up at him questioningly as he motioned to the others. Two more Lycans stepped out just as the doors began to close. The others remained where they were and went up to the next level. Lifting his head, Jesse sniffed the air and then pointed down the corridor. Frowning, Erin raced to keep up with him. Without any hesitation, he led her directly to the nursery. Erin’s heart slammed against her ribcage when she saw the wide observation window.

Pushing her back against the opposite side of the corridor, Jesse tried the door knob. Finding it locked without much apparent surprise, he slammed his shoulder into it. The door burst inward, striking the wall so hard it bounced back. The man directly behind Jesse caught it, ripping the upper hinge loose. Through the glass, Erin saw the two techs inside freeze, gaping at the door in wide eyed horror, too petrified with fear even to scream. Before they could recover enough wit to do so, Jesse and the other two Lycans had bounded across the room. Erin looked away, but she pushed herself from the wall and rushed inside. The two techs lay crumpled in one corner. Joshua, screaming like a banshee, was lying in a crib in the center of the room. Pain clenched at Erin’s chest as she stared at him. He was so thin he looked almost malformed, his little body shrunken so that his head looked too big for him. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at him, unable to force herself to move. Abruptly, rage ousted her devastation. Rushing toward the crib, Erin began frantically dismantling the monitors that had been strapped to him, removing the IV from his tiny foot carefully. Fucking low life bastards! She raged inwardly. What the hell had they been doing to him? He looked as if he was on the verge of starving to death. Mopping the tears from her eyes and cheeks with her hands once she’d disentangled him from the medical apparatus, Erin quickly bundled him in the blanket he was lying on and scooped him from the crib, holding him close. Almost instantly, as if he knew her though she knew he couldn’t possibly remember her after so long, he began to quiet, snuffling as he nuzzled his face against her chest. It took her several moments to realize he was searching for the milk he smelled. She looked up to discover that Jesse was watching her. Her chin wobbled so hard she could barely speak. “He’s hungry.” His lips tightened. “Wait here and feed him,” he said harshly, motioning for the men to precede him from the room. She wanted to, and yet she was fearful they would be caught if she lingered to feed the baby. Jesse wouldn’t have suggested it, though, if he’d thought they would be in danger. Moving away from the bodies of the techs, Erin quickly unfastened her shirt and pushed the cup of her bra down, guiding the baby to her breast. He snorted as he finally found what he’d been looking for, grabbing it and tugging on it for all he was worth. Such happiness filled Erin she thought for several moments that she wouldn’t be able to contain it. The urge to laugh was nearly overwhelming. She muffled the sound, which erupted as a little snort that was almost her undoing. Cuddling the baby close, she covered her mouth with one hand. Hysteria. He was so adorable, though. Ignoring the sounds of mass destruction she was only vaguely aware of anyway, of muffled cries and screams and crashing, Erin carefully examined the baby while he ate, lifting his foot where the needle had been to kiss it. When she lifted her head again, she saw that Joshua had opened his eyes to look at her questioningly--as if he was wondering what the hell she was doing hanging over him while he was trying to eat. She bit her lip to keep from chuckling. He looked just like Jesse when he glared at her. As if the thought had summoned him, Jesse appeared in the doorway at that moment. “Time to go,” he said shortly. Nodding, Erin tugged her nipple from the baby’s mouth. The moment she did, he set up a wail of displeasure. She looked at Jesse a little helplessly. “He’s as hard headed as his mother, I see,” he murmured wryly. “He’ll have to eat on the run, though. We’ve got trouble heading our way.” A shockwave of fear rolled over Erin. Lifting her head, she heard the distant sound of gunfire and realized she’d been hearing sporadic fire for several minutes. Tightening her hold on the baby, she

rushed from the room and down the corridor. Joshua lost his grip and began to complain again, but Erin doubted his weak cries were loud enough to filter very far. Jesse grabbed her when she headed toward the elevator, guiding her toward the stairwell instead. When he’d opened the door and examined the area from top to bottom, he swept Erin and Joshua into his arms and started pounding down the stairs. Alarmed at the rate of descent, Erin clutched at Jesse with her free hand. “I can run,” she finally managed to say. “I can run faster,” Jesse retorted. “You can’t shoot and run with us in your arms,” Erin shot back at him. He ignored that. Someone burst through the door on the next level down as they neared it. Before the guard could bring his weapon up, Jesse slammed into the door with his shoulder. The man flew backward, uttering a horrible gagging noise as he was crushed between the metal door and its frame. Erin shrieked as Jesse leapt over the railing. The impact when they landed on the landing below gave her whiplash. A headache blossomed behind her eyes almost instantly. Worriedly, she glanced down at the baby, but he seemed to have been cushioned from the controlled fall. His eyes were wide and curious when she leaned back to look at him. Relieved, she cuddled him against her chest again, cupping the back of his head to protect him from jarring injury as Jessie leapt over the next railing, sailing downward to the level below. When they landed jarringly, Jesse’s hand was cupped firmly against her head that time, protecting her as she protected the baby. The storage level, Erin was relieved to see, was still empty of threat. Setting Erin on her feet, Jesse dropped the vinyl bag he’d been carrying, jerked the zipper open and rifled through the contents until he’d unearthed a flashlight. The bag contained electronics of some sort, Erin saw, but she was still more in the dark than enlightened. Looking up at her, Jesse lifted the flashlight. “Go down to the cavern and wait for me there.” “You’re not coming?” Erin gasped, fear surging through her all over again. “I need five minutes… ten at the most with one of their terminals to plant a virus to destroy the data they’ve collected. Just be careful. I don’t think they’ve had time to send anyone to the cavern, but we can’t be sure of anything. Move quietly, quickly, and carefully. If you hear anything, anything at all, turn around and head back this way. We’ll be right behind you.” Erin nodded shakily. She wanted to argue with him, but she knew it was worse than useless. He wouldn’t listen and all she would be doing would be adding to the danger by delaying him. He grabbed her shoulders before she could leave, jerking her to him and hugging her and the baby briefly. Erin stumbled back when he released her almost as abruptly, staring up at him. “Jesse, I….” She stopped, licking her lips nervously, but she couldn’t bring herself to say what she wanted to. “We need you. Don’t take any unnecessary chances.” Nodding, Jesse hefted the bag and headed back toward the stairs. Erin watched him until he’d disappeared, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time she ever saw him. Resolutely, she turned when he’d vanished from her sight and rushed across the wide cavern toward the opening. She paused when she reached it, holding her breath to listen. When she heard nothing, she flicked the flashlight on and began the long trek down, pausing every few minutes to listen. Dismay filled Erin when she reached the cavern at last. The water had risen until it was lapping over the ledge where they’d come ashore and the dingy was no where in sight. Chapter Fourteen Joshua began to fuss as Erin paced the ledge that was growing narrower every moment, it seemed, as the water continued to rise. They weren’t going to make it. There was no way to get out. Soon, if the tide didn’t begin to

turn, she would have to retreat back up the passageway. Stifling the urge to give in to despair, Eric gave the baby her other breast, stroking him soothingly while he fed. Within moments, he’d fallen asleep. Holding him awkwardly with one arm, Erin adjusted her clothing, then settled him against her shoulder and commenced to pacing again, trying to think of some alternative other than simply returning and allowing them to be captured. There wasn’t an alternative and she knew it. This was the only way out, unless Jesse and the others killed everyone in the facility. She was tempted to march back and demand that he wipe them out so that she could take her baby home. She wasn’t an idiot or some weak minded female! She was intelligent. She was a scientist! She was accustomed to making her own decisions. She’d never had to make a decision for anyone else, though, particularly not a helpless baby. If not for Joshua, she could swim out. But what would be the point if she couldn’t take him? She’d wondered if it was right to risk his life to save him, but she no longer had any doubts. If they hadn’t come, he would not have lived much longer. She was his only hope. She had to think of something! Erin had already started back up the passage with no clear objective in her mind when she heard the sounds of men coming toward her. Panic instantly gripped her and she whirled and raced back to the cavern, looking wildly around for a place to hide. There was no place to hide. Rushing to the lantern, which was still lit, Erin blew the flame out and crouched against the cave wall furthest from the passage, curling into as tiny a ball as she could manage. “Chère?” “Jesse?” Erin gasped, surging up, but afraid to move when she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. In a moment she felt the warmth of his nearness. “We have to go. The men are back from the assault on the compound.” “We can’t get out! The cave entrance is completely under water … and the dingy floated away.” Jesse was silent for several moments. She felt him move slightly away from her, heard the splash and clank as he dropped the bag onto the ledge and poured the contents out. “Give him to me.” “You can’t put him in the bag!” Erin exclaimed, horrified at the very idea. “It’ll protect him while we swim out.” “It’ll leak.” Uttering a sound of impatience, Jesse disappeared for a moment. A light came on and Erin saw that he’d settled a flashlight on an outcropping of rock to illuminate the area. Bending down, he filled the bag with water and lifted it. Erin stared at the bag blankly, but she realized after a moment that the water wasn’t pouring out of it. If it would hold water, it would hold the water out. She didn’t like the idea of putting Joshua in a wet bag, but she hardly had a choice. After pouring the water out and shaking as much moisture from it as he could, Jesse set the bag on the rocky ledge again and dove into the water. His head surfaced a moment later. At the far side of the cavern, he caught the loose dingy and towed it back. When he reached the ledge again, he met the gaze of the Lycans, who were waiting for orders, and jerked his head in the direction of the cave entrance. Almost as one, they dove in and headed for the mouth of the cave, disappearing when they neared it. “We’re not going to be able to get the dingy out,” Erin said, placing the baby in the bag and leaning down to set the bag carefully in the bottom of the dingy. “Let me worry about that.” Erin slid into the water, gasping sharply in surprise to discover that it was colder than she’d expected. Together, she and Jesse guided the dingy across the small pool. “How well do you swim?”

“Well enough,” Erin said grimly. “Well enough to carry the baby?” She nodded jerkily, trying to fight down the terror that was threatening to consume her. Jesse lifted the bag from the dingy, closed the zipper tightly and handed it to her. “I’ll meet you on the other side.” Erin clutched the handle of the bag in a death grip, summoning the courage to dive with her baby inside of it. Finally, feeling vaguely nauseated from her fear, she pulled the bag close, sucked in several deep breaths and dove. The bag, filled with air, was very nearly ripped from her grasp. Erin found herself fighting the current and the bag as she struggled blindly through the opening. It seemed to take forever. Her lungs felt like they were on fire by the time she managed to surface on the other side. The moon was nearing the far horizon, but there was still enough light for her to see well enough to move away from the entrance. That, too, was a struggle, for the current was flowing strongly into the cave, as if the cave was sucking the water inside. Her teeth were chattering by the time the dingy popped through the opening. Relieved, Erin rushed to catch it before it could be dashed against the rocks. When Jesse surfaced, he had to pry the bag from her fingers and lift it into the boat. Grabbing her as soon as he’d settled the bag, Jesse lifted her up until she could slip into the dingy behind the baby. With shaking fingers, she jerked at the zipper, struggling and finally managing to open the bag wide enough to see Joshua. An indignant threat of a cry greeted her and Erin felt like melting with relief. She discovered when she’d scooped him from the bag that he was wet all over and shivering, whether because he was cold or frightened she wasn’t certain, but she pulled him close, trying to convey her own warmth when she had little to give. He was very unhappy about his situation. Small wonder when he’d been sleeping peacefully and then found himself jostled awake and thoroughly drenched. Erin bounced him a little frantically, stroking his back and uttering soothing noises to try to quiet him, but he continued to fret. She glanced at Jesse a little helplessly as he surged upward and rolled into the dingy with them. “Lay down in the bottom of the boat,” Jesse whispered harshly. It was filled with water by now, but Erin didn’t argue, knowing Jesse wouldn’t have ordered her to do it if he hadn’t had good reason to do so. She’d scarcely landed when she heard the report of a gun across the water. Something hit the water within a yard of the boat. “Fuck!” Jesse growled, diving forward and nearly crushing Erin and the baby beneath him. She heard a meaty thud. Jesse grunted, his body jerking. Two more thuds followed in rapid succession and then seemed to move past them, slapping into the water around them. It dawned on Erin after moments of shocked disbelief that Jesse had shielded her and the baby with his own body. After a moment, he levered himself up and looked around. Apparently deciding they were out of range, he rolled out of the boat and began towing it. Panic set her heart to racing harder than ever before. “Jesse! Get out the water! You’re bleeding.” “If I don’t put some distance between us and the island, I’ll have more holes in me,” he growled. “The blood will draw sharks!” Erin cried. “Quiet!” Erin bit her lip, but as fearful as she was for Jesse, she didn’t want to draw the Feds to them. Noticing the baby had grown quiet, she peered down at him. Apparently, he didn’t mind being in the water, he just didn’t like being wet and exposed to the wind. Shifting to the edge of the raft, she began stroking the water with one arm, steadying the baby with her other hand. The shooting stopped. She could hear shouts wafting across the water. The sound of a motor, and then two different motors filled the air and grew louder. Erin glanced behind them. She saw nothing, but she heard the boat. The Feds were after them and it wasn’ t going to take them long to catch up.

She paddled faster, trying to ignore the sense of hopelessness that gnawed at her. Abruptly, gunfire erupted again. She dove into the bottom of the boat, covering Joshua with her body. The sounds grew louder, revving engines and splashing water vying with the report of gunfire. They were sitting ducks in the dingy. Erin was just contemplating whether they would be better off in the water when she realized the gunfire and the sound of engines were coming from two different directions. Lifting up slightly, she saw the Juliette heading straight for them. Joy and relief filled her until she looked behind them and saw the Federal boat closing in on them. It was hard to say which was closer, but she began to wonder if they were going to be run down by both boats. Abruptly, an explosion rent the air and a ball of fire and smoke flashed, lighting the sea around them like daylight. * * * * The moment Erin’s feet settled on the deck of the Juliette, she clutched the squalling baby tightly and headed for the stairs. He’d been screaming almost nonstop since the Lycans had blown the Federal boat out the water and she was terrified that he’d somehow been hit by a piece of flying debris. When she reached the cabin she shared with Jesse, she settled the baby on the bed and quickly stripped his wet clothing off. She collapsed, weak with relief when she saw no sign of an injury. The explosion had simply terrified the baby. As far as that went, it had terrified her. She’d been certain, at first, that it was the Juliette that had gone up, their last hope of rescue. She could hardly believe they’d managed to pull it off. Erin soothed the baby. His crying began to subside almost as soon as she’d removed the wet clothing. Standing shakily, she struggled out of her own wet clothes and left the baby long enough to grab something to dry off with. She’d just tucked the towel around her when the door to the cabin was flung open with a force that cracked the wall behind it when it slammed into it. Jesse stood in the doorway, swaying slightly. He’d shifted into his man form for the first time since they’d fled the panther clan’s compound and didn’t have so much as a stitch of clothing to cover him. Blood coated him liberally, dripping from the fingers of one hand and running down one thigh. “Is he alright?” “I think the explosion scared him.” Jesse nodded and shame filled Erin as she stared at him. He was bleeding all over from the bullets he’d taken to protect her and Joshua and she’d scarcely given him a thought as she raced down with the baby. Even now it was hard to ignore the call of motherhood and leave the baby crying to see after Jesse, but she resolutely dismissed the baby and surged toward Jesse, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Let me see to your wounds.” He shook his head. “They’ll close. I just need to rest.” His words were slurring and he leaned more heavily against her with each step. She barely managed to stagger across the room with him before he collapsed like a felled tree face down on the bed. Joshua let out a yelp when the impact bounced him, his little arms flailing frantically. Erin made a dive for him as he came down again, gathering him close, but the incident had scared him all over again. She walked the floor with him until she’d calmed him and then settled him carefully on the bed beside Jesse. He was still far from happy, but she thought he would be alright while she examined Jesse. Regardless, Joshua’s distress wore on her as she examined Jesse’s wounds, distracting her. Gritting her

teeth, she tried to block out the fussing and ignore the urge to coddle him, knowing Jesse had lost so much blood he needed her attention far more at the moment. If he’d been human, she doubted he would ever have made it as far as he had without collapsing. She found two deep wounds and three superficial wounds that were nevertheless bleeding profusely. Leaping to her feet, she rushed from the room to search for medicine and bandages. The cabinet in the bathroom was well stocked with just about everything. Grabbing a cloth and some disinfectant, she headed back into the bedroom to bathe Jesse’s wounds so that she could see them better. He was Lycan, she reminded herself, trying to dismiss the anxiety eating at her. His body healed itself rapidly--unless the bullets they’d used had been silver and she doubted that had been regular issue even considering the purpose of the island facility. They’d gone to assault what they’d expected to be a Lycan stronghold though. She gnawed her lip worriedly, but she knew she couldn’t take the chance that the bullets were silver and would slowly poison him, draining the strength he needed to heal himself. Leaving the bed again, Erin pulled a drawer out of the chest across the room, grabbed a pillow off of the bed to use as a mattress and finally settled the baby in the makeshift crib. When he seemed quieted, she left him and went back into the bathroom to search for something she could use to dig the bullets out. Unfortunately, Juliette hadn’t left a tray of medical instruments. She had to make do with tweezers. After sterilizing them the best she could, she bent to her task, focusing on the glint of metal she could see imbedded in his flesh rather the flesh itself. She was shaking all over and sick to her stomach by the time she’d dug the slugs out, but a sense of relief filled her, too. The bullets had been silver. Almost as soon as she removed the slugs the blood began to slow and finally stopped oozing altogether. She discovered when she looked at his face that his eyes were open and he was watching her. “You should see about the baby.” She shook her head, smiling wryly. “Poor little fellow gave up on getting fed again and fell asleep.” Almost before the words were out of her mouth, the baby made a liar out of her, letting out a cry so filled with hurt Erin rushed to see if he’d somehow injured himself. He hadn’t, she saw, relieved, but it was obvious his feelings were hurt that he’d been abandoned. Lifting him from his makeshift crib, she looked around the cabin and finally moved to sit on the edge of the bed, loosening the towel and settling him to her breast. Snuffling like a baby puppy, he found her nipple and latched onto it, suckling hungrily, his tiny hands balled into fists under his chin. Jesse chuckled and Erin glanced around to discover he had levered himself up on one elbow to look over her shoulder. Shaking her head at him, she shifted so that she could lie down, holding the baby beside her. From out of no where the urge to cry settled over her as she watched him. She’d missed so much. He hardly looked like the baby she remembered. “He’s changed so much since I saw him last,” she murmured unhappily, fighting the fear that it wasn’t Joshua at all. As if he sensed the fear that had arisen in her mind, Jesse spoke. “He’s mine,” he said quietly, stroking one hand soothingly along her arm. Erin glanced at him, but she realized immediately that he was in touch with senses that had long since failed humans. He would know his young by his scent. That was how he’d found Joshua so easily. She should have realized that before. Relief flooded her. It was short lived. It sank into her as she studied Jesse that he hadn’t said ‘ours’ and new fears immediately raised their ugly heads, but she didn’t want to think about that now. Joshua needed her.

Jesse must realize that or he wouldn’t have brought her. “Thank you,” she said shakily. “Thank you so much for helping me find him.” He stared at her hard for several moments and finally sank back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling. “My son needs his mother.” A hard knot of misery tightened in her throat and uneasiness formed a taut coil in the pit of her stomach, but she pushed the thoughts away. She didn’t want to think about her tenuous situation now. She would think about it later, when she had to. Nodding, she transferred her attention to the baby, stroking his soft cheek. He opened his eyes at her touch, looking up at her. A frown drew his brows together and she smiled at his expression--so like his father’s--feeling relief that she saw the resemblance that assured her he was hers. The first weeks of his life had been stolen from her. They hadn’t really had a chance to form more than a tenuous bond before they were separated. Now, she thought she had some chance of it. For at least as long as Jesse felt his son needed her, she had that much security to cling to. He would guard them from the others, and he would not harm her. A sense of peace settled inside of her despite the doubts that still teased at the fringes of her consciousness. She had Joshua safe from those demented scientists. That was all that really mattered at the moment. As she had known would almost inevitably be the case, the baby so consumed her time on the trip back home that she had little opportunity to explore what had seemed to be a promising beginning between her and Jesse. As delighted as she was to have Joshua again, and as much as she enjoyed the time she spent getting to know her son, the adjustment wasn’t easy for either one of them and tending him was so exhausting that she hardly knew where she was half the time. Jesse seemed distant. It took her a while to notice it though, and even when she did she wasn’ t certain what, if anything, she could or should try to do about it. She wasn’t even certain why he seemed to have withdrawn. Maybe motherhood was a turn off to him? Or maybe he was just having trouble coming to grips with the new responsibility? Struggling to unravel the puzzle, it occurred to her after a while that he seemed to have been very withdrawn after they’d returned from the island, more specifically after she’d removed the bullets. Had it bothered him that he’d needed her help? Was he embarrassed, maybe, because he thought he’d seemed weak? That sounded like something a man would worry about, but somehow she didn’t think that was it. He’d actually seemed fine until she’d thanked him for rescuing the baby. Wondering how that could’ve angered him, she turned it over and over in her mind until abruptly it made sense. He’d felt distanced by the way she’d said it, as if she was thanking a stranger for a favor. She hadn’t meant it that way, but maybe, since she’d been so wrapped up in the baby that she ’d been reluctant to spare the time to patch him up, he wasn’t being overly sensitive to have taken it that way. The certainty grew in her that she’d royally screwed up, and that that was exactly why Jesse had grown so distant, but she couldn’t think of any way to retrieve her mistake. Trying to explain at this late date would only be awkward for both of them and not at all convincing. She put it from her mind. She couldn’t deal with more than Joshua at the moment. When she’d learned how to cope with tending an infant, she would find some way to smooth things over between her and Jesse. Chapter Fifteen Within a week, Erin found herself ensconced in a penthouse apartment at the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city. It took several more weeks, though, before Erin and Joshua had acclimated to each other and Erin was actually able to think of life beyond diaper changes, feeding time, baths and

bed. Joshua, to her delight, blossomed under her attention, rounding out very nicely in the ensuing weeks until he merely looked thin, not emaciated, and his head ceased to look abnormally large compared to the rest of him. He was, in fact, beautiful--just like his father. She was certain every parent lied to themselves and thought their baby was beautiful, but she was certain she was being completely unbiased. By the time he’d settled into a routine that included a full night’s sleep for Erin, she had come to the conclusion that a full frontal assault was the only way to deal with the situation between her and Jesse. Tavian had told her Jesse loved her. Carlos had said that the ‘marks’ Jesse had given her meant that he had chosen her as his ‘mate.’ And Jesse had not denied any of it. He’d risked his life for her over and over again. If he didn’t love her, he was just a lunatic. She didn’t think he was a lunatic, except maybe in the sense that he’d fallen in love with her, but if that was true, then she was a lunatic, too, because she loved him. The plan was easier conceived than implemented, she discovered. Every time she thought she might have the opportunity to speak with Jesse and began rehearsing how to launch the assault, either the baby woke up and demanded attention, the phone rang, or the door bell … or she discovered that Jesse had locked himself into the room he called his office and only snarled at her when she knocked. She was just going to have to be brazen, she decided one night after she’d finally settled the baby in his crib. Jesse was hurt and he wasn’t going to let down his guard. Slipping from the baby’s room, she searched the apartment for Jesse. He was locked in his office again. She knocked anyway. “What?” he barked through the door. Erin fumed. He hadn’t even bothered to get up and answer the door. “I’m standing in the hall naked.” Silence greeted that announcement. She’d just begun to wonder if even that lure was going to work when she heard him push his desk chair back and stride across the room. He looked down at her blankly when he’d jerked the door open. Slowly, a frown formed between his eyes. “What did you say?” Erin smiled up at him. “I said, come to bed.” He blinked several times, rapidly. She could see the wheels turning in his head. They hadn’t shared a bed since they’d rescued Joshua. “I … uh … I should finish that software program I’ve been workin’ on.” Erin sighed. Moving closer, she slipped her arms around his waist. “I know I deserve it, but you don’t have to make this so hard for me,” she murmured against his chest. Almost tentatively, he looped his arms around her. “Make what hard?” She smiled against his chest, tempted to say something outrageously dirty. She tamped the urge. “If you’ll come to bed with me, I’ll show you something else I learned from that little book I once read.” He drew back to look down at her. A slow grin curled his lips. “I’m no’ sure my heart could take it.” Erin smiled at the teasing tone of his voice, but there was something in his eyes that made her ache. She swallowed against the knot that formed in her throat. “I love you, Jesse. I’m so sorry for everything. Don’t … push me away. I’m trying.” He swallowed audibly. Lifting a hand, he brushed the backs of his fingers along her cheek and then pulled her tightly against him. “The first time I saw you I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I could see the fear in your eyes when you looked at me and I knew you thought I was an animal, jus’ like the others did, but I never saw disgust in your eyes … or hate. You were the only thing I

had to look forward to. You were what kept me sane. “I think I knew all along that that cold bitch had lied about you. The thing was, it was easier to hate you for that than to accept that they’d had to drug you to make you come to me.” Tears burned Erin’s eyes and despair filled her. It was useless to try to deny or to explain. She’d tried already and it had only made things worse. There was no way the truth could make them better, or that a lie would be believed. He knew exactly how she’d felt then and unless he could accept it and put it behind them, it was always going to lie between them, ugly and hurtful. “I can’t change what happened, or undo it, and all the wishing in the world won’t give me another chance. Isn’t it enough that I love you now?” “In spite of what I am?” Erin pulled away from him. “Because of what and who you are!” He looked unconvinced. “You just think you love me because I saved Joshua.” Erin stamped her foot. “I knew it was that stupid remark! Because I said thank you for rescuing me and the baby? For taking three bullets and going through pure hell to bring us out safely, you think I don’t love you? You think it’s just … gratitude? For a smart man you can be really stupid, Jesse! “I am grateful. How could I not be after all you’ve done? What kind of person wouldn’t be grateful? “But I sure as hell wasn’t drugged when we made love on the ship. And I wasn’t drugged when you tied me up and drove me crazy in that little cabin. That was good, old fashioned lust, damn it! And I wouldn’t feel that way if I didn’t love you! “Fine! Have it your way. I hate you you stubborn, pig headed thing! Go! Play with your damned software. I’m going to bed.” Giving him a shove, Erin turned and stalked down the hallway. She very nearly slammed the bedroom door before it dawned on her that doing so would almost certainly wake the baby. Not that it mattered, really, Erin thought, flopping down angrily on the edge of the bed. She was going to be awake half the night anyway because she was boiling mad. The door opened. When Erin turned to glare at him, she saw that he’d propped his shoulders against the door frame. His arms were crossed over his chest, a faint smile playing about his lips. “Do you really?” “What?” Erin demanded crossly. “Hate me because I’m pig headed.” “Yes!” she snapped sulkily. “No! Sometimes, damn it!” “And the rest of the time?” “I am NOT going to say it again,” Erin snapped, snatching a pillow off the bed and throwing it at him. He caught it, flipped it in his hands a couple of times and pushed away from the doorframe, moving slowly toward her. “You offered to show me what else you’d learned from that book,” he said tentatively. “I’m not going to do that either.” Before she’d realized his intentions, he pounced, grabbing her and then carrying her down in the center of the bed. She looked up at him in surprise. “I love you. I love the way your eyes shoot fire at me whenever you’re mad as hell. I love the freckles all over your cute little nose, but most of all I love your mouth.” Erin couldn’t help but smile back at him. “My mouth, huh?” He leaned toward her, nipping at her lips. “Absolutely. Do you think you could show me that little trick you learned now?” Erin burst out laughing. “I believe I’ll let you show me your tricks first,” she said haughtily. The End

Other titles from New Concepts Publishing by Celeste Anwar: Carnal Appetite Carnal Knowledge Carnal Thirst Born of Night The Color of Twilight Your Every Desire Resurrection Dark Thrall – The Fallen (Now in Trade Paperback) Beauty Ravished – Dark and Dangerous (Now in Trade Paperback) Carnal Desires (Contains Carnal Appetite, Carnal Knowledge, Carnal Thirst, and Born of Night – Now in Trade Paperback) A peek at Dark Thrall, from THE FALLEN paranormal romance anthology, now available in Trade Paperback from New Concepts Publishing.

DARK THRALL By Celeste Anwar

Chapter One Once upon a time, Raphael had been the greatest seducer in all the land of Pearthen. His sexual prowess was renowned, and his skills in the bedroom highly sought by the voracious and timid alike. Raphael loved women. He loved their skin and smell, tasting their curves and breasts, listening to their lilting voices. He enjoyed wooing them almost as much as he enjoyed making love to them. He’d had the pleasure of many courtships--far more than he cared to admit, especially in light of the fact that it was because of a woman that he’d been permanently banished to Earth. He had no hope of regaining entry into Pearthen, and since he’d become one of the fallen, he’d been unable to settle down into the comfort of his old ways. Even before he had been banished, Raphael had always preferred to make love, not war, as the Earth saying went. There was certainly no incentive for him to hunt down his enemies after he had been expelled from Pearthen, when doing so would not regain the favor he had lost or free him from his banishment, and yet he had been forced into fight and/or flight too many times to count. Raphael was tired. He was miserable, and he was lonelier than he had ever believed possible. He had endured the misery of having no company but his own for quite some time before it dawned upon him that, just as he had no reason to fight his enemies, he also had no reason or incentive to abide by the laws of Pearthen which forbade him to interact with humans. He lived on Earth now--forever. He was an Earth person, if not a human. There was no reason at all why he should not settle among them and look about for a companion and produce a child. All he needed to do was to find the right woman, but to do so he realized he must first learn to blend in with the native population. As little as he cared what the laws of his former land were, he had learned a lesson from his banishment. He could not flaunt his conduct. If the humans realized that he walked among them it might create a disturbance that the Elumi would notice and then banishment would not be his punishment. He would be beheaded instead. After observing the mating habits of humans for quite a while, he finally decided that he had mastered the technique and decided that it was time to test his knowledge. Since the majority of the mating appeared to take place in specific buildings in the city that he’d chosen to live in, he shifted into

his purely human form and procured himself clothing that he thought would be suitable for the ritual. When he was satisfied that he was dressed properly to pass, and enticingly enough to attract the female of the species, he made his way to the gathering place he had chosen and hit his first road block. The man at the door demanded ID and ten bucks. As far as he knew, bucks were deer, a species of cattle known to roam the forests of Earth. And not only was he not certain how he would catch these animals, but he also wasn’t sure how he was to get them to the man. Deciding, finally, that perhaps he hadn’t observed closely enough, he moved aside and waited for a human man to go through. He was distracted by the fact that there were far more females going in than there were men. And not only did the guard at the door not ask for ID, he also didn’t ask for ten bucks. Thoroughly confused by now, and far more interested in following the women in than waiting to see more, Raphael was just wondering if perhaps he should draw the man off into the alley and challenge him to a fight, when a male human arrived. The male human was asked to produce an ID and ten bucks, just as he had been, which at least relieved him of the suspicion that he’d been singled out. Curiously enough, the man pulled out a small container and handed the guard a thin rectangle and a green piece of paper. The guard looked the stiff rectangle over, looked at the man, and handed it back. He put the piece of green paper in a drawer, hit the back of the man’s hand with something, and the man went inside. Raphael retreated a short distance to think that over. Obviously, what he needed was one of those square things, because that had the ID and the ten bucks in it. He decided he would have to relieve one of the human males of one of those objects. Retreating to the corner of the building, he propped one shoulder against it and settled to wait. He’d been waiting for a few minutes when a likely looking prey appeared. Sizing him up, Raphael decided this one would be easier to take than most, not that he was particularly worried about it. He knew he was a good bit stronger than the strongest of human males, but he thought that it wouldn’t work the best in the world if he found it necessary to struggle with the man. It might draw unwanted attention. This one was a full head shorter than him and as thin as a willow switch. Rafael was fairly certain there’d be no problem at all. As the man walked by him, he grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him into the alley. “I have need of your … thing,” Raphael said, slamming his victim into the wall. The male’s mouth worked, but no sound emerged. His eyes looked like they would pop from his head. “I need your thing,” Raphael said more emphatically. “Oh fuck,” the man finally said. Raphael frowned. He knew that word. That word definitely lay in the range of his vocabulary, but there was no way in hell that he was going to fuck a male to get what he needed. “No fuck. Just give it to me.” “What do you want?” the man whined. “It’s sort of … square. And it has ID and ten bucks.” The guy looked almost relieved. “God damned foreigners can’t even speak English and they’re robbing people….” He dragged something from his pocket and held it out. Raphael released him and took it. “Thank you,” he said politely. “You can go now.” He waited until he’d seen the man run away. When he was certain the man was gone, he went back up to the guard at the door. The guard looked him over. “I told you you had to have an ID and ten bucks. What’s the matter? You deaf?” Forcing a feral smile, Raphael handed him the object he had procured. The guard looked at him strangely. After a moment, he opened it up. Sure enough, it contained one of the square things. He took that out, looked it over, and then looked at Raphael. “This says your name is Chris Smith. You’re twenty one years old, blonde haired, blue eyed, and you weigh one hundred and twenty five pounds … and you’re female.” Raphael frowned. The man had spoken much faster than he could grasp the strange words. He

could see, though, that the man was waiting for some sort of response. “Yes.” The man stared at him for several moments and finally took a piece of paper out of the wallet and handed it back to him. “Next time, try rolling a man. Just a suggestion.” Raphael was still thinking that over as he made his way into the building. It worried him to think he might have difficulty telling the male human from the female. He had been certain that the human he had captured had been a man. He’d never had that problem before, and he began to wonder if he really did want a female human if it was so difficult to tell them apart from the males. He was distracted from his disturbing thoughts by the deafening rumble of thunder inside the building. It was also far darker inside than it was outside. Flickering lights added to the confusion. He stopped when he reached the main room, still debating with himself as he surveyed the sea of humans as to whether to proceed or to retreat until he had had time to study the humans a little more closely. There was hardly even room to move. He realized, however, as he glanced towards one particular spot in the room, that this was definitely the place. There, men and women bumped and gyrated in some strangely erotic mating dance. Lust immediately surged through his blood, seeming almost to pound in time to the beat he could hear in the noise. He would find the woman here. Threading his way between tables and chairs and people of all shapes, sizes, and colors, he stopped when he reached the mating floor, surveying the possibilities. Almost at once, his gaze was drawn to one particular female and a sensation like he’d been punched in the belly struck him. Her coloring and build reminded him painfully of the women he had known in his own world, but the similarity ended there. She was tall for a human female but she was not as tall as an Elumi women, and she was not muscular as the warrior women of Pearthen were. She looked as if she would be soft to the touch. Her hips curved outward, her waist deeply inward. When she turned, he saw the soft globes of her breasts bounced gently and swayed mesmerizingly with her movement. The way she moved set blood to pounding in his temples and his groin. He knew the moment his gaze met hers that fate had smiled upon him. This was the woman he wanted. This was the woman who would bear his child. Coming later in 2006, watch for the second Project Nemesis book, tentatively titled NIGHT PROWLER, an erotic paranormal romance. Yvonne Jackson was at the top of her field. As a hunter/tracker, she’d never failed to catch her quarry--outlaw or animal--once she’d set her mind to it. But with the IRS breathing down her back for taxes her scumball ex-husband had dumped on her, she was in over her head and desperate to avoid going to jail, without any hope of ever making a clean start for herself with a $300,000 tax bill hanging over her head. So when a government agent offered a way out of her predicament, she jumped at the chance. The assignment was simple: locate and track a genetically altered pack of wildcats that had been intentionally released by internal saboteurs. Yvonne had an elite team under her command, weapons, tranquilizers, the latest in computer and espionage technology … and a special pheromone--developed specifically by the government before the cats had escaped--that should draw the animals straight to her. They hadn’t had time to test it before, but with her skills, they were confident she would succeed in rounding up the beasts. Piece of cake. What she didn’t realize going in, was that she wasn’t hunting animals, but something else. Something science should never have been able to create. Animals couldn’t hide their tracks like this. Animals couldn’t be this intelligent, this adaptive.

Animals don’t turn human when tranquilized. And the pheromone, which should have been a godsend, which should have made her mission ridiculously simple, didn’t just draw them in. It drove them completely insane with lust … for her.