He rejected the idea and left her cottage before he changed his mind. The protective urges he felt toward Kat were only growing stronger. It was a bad sign. He couldn’t afford to form an attachment to her. She wasn’t a female he could ever fully trust. None were though. He refused to make that mistake again. Caring meant pain. He’d had enough of that to last him a lifetime.

He sat on his bed and moved the open laptop to the night table, turning it so he could keep watch over Kat’s still form. He lay down, leaving the lights on for once as he prepared to sleep. He wanted to understand the female. A well-lit room didn’t give him a sense of security. He preferred the dark. It was just a reminder of how different they were.

Darkness reached out and turned up the volume to the listening device in her living room. The TV had been left on, the movie she’d been watching was still playing. He could detect her light breathing though. He closed his eyes, focusing on it instead of the human voices. He should switch the feed back to Security but didn’t.

Chapter Nine

“That was a great class.” Jinx grinned. “Thanks for having lunch with the males today.”

Kat smiled at the ten males who were jammed around three tables that had been placed in a row. “Thank you for asking me.”

“We behaved,” Flirt muttered, shooting Jinx a dirty look.

The male grinned. “I threatened them with punishment if they brought up sex.” He stood. “I’m in charge of chores in the men’s dorm this week. None wanted to scrub toilets in the downstairs bathrooms. Are you ready to go on the tour I promised?”

Kat set her napkin next to the plate. “I am.” She really wanted out of there. New Species were nice but the way they’d watched her every move had been a little unsettling. They were curious, she understood that, but it made her self-conscious. She followed Jinx outside to a waiting Jeep. He motioned for her to climb inside.

“We’ll go to the training facilities first. Do you have to train to be a crime lab technician? Physically, I mean. Of course you went to school to learn all the techniques you know.”

She put on her seatbelt, noticing that he didn’t. He just started the engine and threw it in gear, only glancing behind him once to make sure he didn’t pull out in front of traffic. There wasn’t any.

“Some.” She kept it vague.

“Good. There won’t be any sessions right now but sometimes we drift in to work out our frustrations or extra energy.”

She studied the feline male. He had gorgeous blue eyes and a carefree personality. The muscular body displayed in a T-shirt and snug jeans proved he was fit. Long black hair whipped freely around his shoulders as he drove fast, barely slowing for a turn. She gripped the edges of her seat.

“Are we in a hurry?”

“Sorry.” He slowed. “Darkness put me in charge of giving you the tour and I don’t want to mess it up.”

Her interest peaked. “You’re afraid of him?”

“No.” He chuckled. “He’s definitely intimidating but he’s fair. It’s just that he never asks anything of anyone so I want to make sure I do exactly what he said. You’re to tour the training rooms and then I’m to take you to Security.”

“Is he on duty?”

“Not yet. He assigned me to you because he felt you’d be more at ease because he’s just not friendly. He asked Sunshine first but she couldn’t trade her shift today. I was his second choice.”

He parked in front of a building and turned off the engine. “This is it. It doesn’t look like much from the outside but it houses sparring rooms, weight rooms, some offices, showers, and we even have a climbing wall. That was added after we took over.”

She paused by his side as he used a card scanner to unlock the door. “I noticed all the common areas have those, except the bar.”

“It’s for security reasons. This place was built as a military base but we were given it when it was complete. Upgrades were made. It assures us that if the gates are breached we’re able to be secure inside the buildings.” He tapped the glass as he held open the door. “Weapons grade is what I think you would call it. Bullets don’t pierce the glass and metal shutters slam down in case of an emergency.” He pointed up, showing her where they were hidden above the interior doors.

“Impressive.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve had to use them.”

“The breach when Homeland first opened?”

He growled softly. “Yes. We’re always upgrading our security. That was a lesson.”

Kat let the subject drop. He showed her the reception area. It was a lounge setup with a hallway leading past closed office doors. None of them were marked. He opened a door to a room that held weight benches and free weights.

“May I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure. What do you want to know?”

“It’s about your name.”

He laughed. “Say no more. I tease that anyone who causes me harm will have bad luck but the truth is…”

Seconds ticked by. “The truth is what?”

His expression grew serious. “I was heavily abused as an adolescent. I have damage to one ear after suffering a blow to the head. It can’t be fixed. It messes with my equilibrium. I didn’t want to call myself clumsy so Jinx sounded better.”

“I’m sorry.” She regretted bringing it up.

“It’s all right. I was one of the lucky ones. Damaged Species were usually killed but they spared me because of my intelligence and because I have a pleasant disposition. It wasn’t a happy place at Mercile but you lived longer if you played their games. I was good at pretending I didn’t hate everyone who worked there.”