“Are you well?” Sunshine walked over.

Kat blanked her features and forced a smile. She refused to glance over at Darkness. It was just going to infuriate her if that woman was still touching him. “I’m great. How did I do today?”

“Very well. I learned a lot. We don’t receive many gift baskets at Homeland but I’ll be more careful now that you warned us to double-check for false compartments hidden in delivery containers. I won’t assume a truck with a business name painted on the side is safe either.”

“Delivery trucks can be stolen and employee uniforms are easy to come by. It’s better to be a bit paranoid than not. Call and confirm with the company before accepting anything.”

“Humans can be very devious.”

“They can be. It’s unfortunate that you have to deal with so many of the worst of humanity.”

“They are frightened of us because we’re different.”

“Yes.” It was a good way to sum it up. She didn’t want to get into the other dozens of reasons the NSO would be targeted. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“You’re aware of what happened when I came to Homeland. When I was taken into custody they handcuffed me to the front instead of behind my back. A cavity search wasn’t performed either. Is that normal?”

“I see where you’re going with this.” Sunshine smiled. “I paid close attention to everything you said. We usually do a more thorough search but we were off our game that day. Is that the right way to put it? Rusty was shaken up. We don’t usually have females in custody. The males wouldn’t have made those mistakes.”

“Okay.”

“I could see if they will allow you to tour Security and go over procedures if you wish. You might find ways to better them.”

“I’d like that.”

“I’ll make inquiries. I don’t see why they wouldn’t allow it. It would be beneficial to us. We have the task force team but they usually search all humans before they are brought to us. The head of the team would have yelled a lot at Rusty if he’d known she left you alone and hadn’t followed procedures to the letter.” Her voice lowered. “Tim shouts often. He’s not a pleasant human but it’s because he’s protective of us. We get treated as if we’re children at times. We try to keep our sense of humor about it, especially with him. His intentions are good.”

“I’m sure they are.” Kat hoped that was the case.

Sunshine seemed to read her uncertainty. “Tim is devoted to the NSO. He’s loud and vocal to everyone he cares about. I’d worry if he were silent. He’s what you would consider a father figure and he’s adopted us. We’ve been told loving parents can be stern. That’s Tim. We appreciate his loyalty. I’d trust him with my life, as would other Species.”

“That’s good.” It also made Kat sad that New Species had never had parents. She hoped whoever Tim was, he never let the NSO down. They’d had enough disappointments.

“Are you hungry? Some of the females would like to talk to you but it won’t be about your class.” Sunshine laughed. “It’s about human males and sex. Some of them are very curious. We were ordered not to ask any of the task force team members questions while on duty and we rarely spend time with any of them when they are off. Tim has forbidden them to interact with us in any way sexual, including discussions on the subject. We also were asked not to pester the mated human females.”

“Why?”

“We were assured it was rude and not the best idea to ask them about ha**ng s*x with other males before they met their mates. Species are extremely possessive. Breeze said one of their males could overhear and decide to ‘track down and put the hurt on some poor bastard’. Those are her exact words.”

She remembered the name. “How is your friend? She’s the one who had a roof fall on her, right?”

“She’s well. She meant to come to your classes but something came up.” A spark of humor glinted in her eyes. “I hope you aren’t shy, Kat. They will ask you everything that comes to mind.”

“Okay.” It beat returning to her cottage and sulking about Darkness’ interaction with that other woman. “Lead the way.” She shoved the rest of her things inside the purse. Darkness had left and she didn’t see the woman who’d been with him.

Images of them together flashed through her mind and she hated every one. That no-commitment talk only served to remind her that he could screw anyone he chose. It didn’t mean it wouldn’t rub her wrong. She followed Sunshine to the bar area and spotted the woman who’d been mauling Darkness. She was one of the four seated at the table. He isn’t somewhere ha**ng s*x with her at least. That improved her mood.

Sunshine introduced her to the women but the name Bluebird stuck in her mind. She paid more attention to her than the rest. Her warm, friendly smile had Kat feeling a little guilty over her instant dislike. It was Darkness’ fault. He was the one who stayed aloof and had his conditions. I agreed to them though. I’m an idiot. She sat.

* * * * *

Darkness stood at the end of the bed watching Kat sleep. His shift had ended later than expected. One of the protestors had decided it would be a good idea to throw sealed cans of soda at the officers on the wall. His aim had been poor but they’d called the local police to haul the male away. He’d been stuck answering their questions, then volunteered to clean up the sticky mess since it would attract bugs.