His body started to respond to her presence when his c**k twitched. It made him suffer pain, throb from whatever the male had done to him, but the movement he felt made him hope that the rest of his body would recover soon as well. Ellie did things to him, made him long to touch her blonde hair and press his nose against her throat to inhale her wonderful scent. He sometimes dreamed about her under him, naked, with him free from his chains. He longed to touch and taste every inch of her body, to hear her voice and learn everything about the woman who fascinated him on every level.

The sound of her voice had always been music to his ears. He wanted to see her smile, learn her laugh and a hundred questions filled his head that he wanted to ask her to know more about the woman who had captured his soul. Her skin appeared unbelievably soft and smelled so good, too good. But now she had stated that she planned to harm him.

It was the worst kind of cruelty and painful betrayal roared through him. He also felt shame at what she’d witnessed. She’d saved him from being raped by the dead male but knew of the suffering he’d taken, the indignity of the human’s cruelty. It pained him to know she’d never look at him again without that image lurking inside her memories. It hurt him on many levels and enraged him. They’d even managed to take away his fantasy of her ever regarding him as a sexual male.

He snarled again in an attempt to scare her, to prevent her from doing whatever she planned. His body refused to work, his limbs unresponsive, but he knew he wouldn’t kill her even if he did manage to break free. He’d just throw her away to a safe distance past the line to prevent the temptation of following what his instincts demanded. He wanted her in ways he knew weren’t possible for a prisoner and his captor.

He watched her rise to her feet and move out of his line of view. When she’d turned him onto his back, it blocked his view of the dead man. He tried to turn his head but couldn’t. He heard her though, smelled her, and heard strange noises. What is she doing?

He had no clue but he dreaded it. All the humans were cruel. They showed no mercy. It still stunned him that she’d killed his attacker—for two reasons. First, she had done it to stop his assault and second, she wasn’t a big woman. She’d taken down a male. He may have misjudged the female. He’d believed her soft, delicate, but she’d attacked a fully grown male in a wild and brutal assault. His heart raced. He tried desperately to move his limbs but they remained unresponsive.

“You’re a worthless bastard. I hate you. I want you to know that,” Ellie hissed.

His mind accepted her words, pain gripped him, but he wasn’t stunned by it. He’d known everyone who worked inside the testing facility considered them nothing more than breathing flesh to abuse. Why he’d thought she’d be any different had been a mistake on his part.

Stupid and unforgivable. Fury gripped him and his finger twitched. He moved his mouth, a silent snarl trapped inside his throat, and promised he’d get even with the woman for fooling him into believing she was different.

“You’re a worthless bastard. I hate you. I want you to know that.” She just hoped that wherever Jacob had gone after death, he could still hear her. She wanted him to know what she thought of him. She wasn’t sorry she’d killed Jacob. It messed with her mind but she figured she’d get over it soon enough. He didn’t deserve her guilty feelings.

Ellie cleaned the kit, studied it, and didn’t spot any traces of Jacob’s blood. The case had dented but she doubted anyone would notice that fact right away. She hid the bloody tissues she’d cleaned it with inside the kit. She had to touch his body and grimaced as she tugged his pants down more to fully expose the condom he’d put on to leave no doubt of his intentions.

Ellie tried to calm the rising panic growing inside her. Her gaze drifted to 416 on the floor. He hadn’t moved an inch, thankfully, and she still breathed because of it. She could only pray that her plan worked and that what she’d been told was true. He was too valuable to kill. The doctors and staff would abuse them but Jacob had planned to kill 416 against Doctor Trent’s orders.

He will be fine. I have to believe that.

She removed another tissue from the kit and wiped some of the still-fresh blood from the floor. She turned to face 416. Will he hate me for doing this? Probably. She just didn’t have a choice. They’d never allow her to leave the underground facility if they suspected her of Jacob’s death. She didn’t even dare tell 416 what she planned to do. If he told anyone, they’d secure her, demand answers, and she’d never reach the surface. She needed to be able to avoid all suspicion to save him and all the other test subjects.

She found the needle that Jacob had used. Luckily he’d recapped the thing after he’d injected 416. She hated to risk 416 getting an infection, but she had no choice but to reuse the needle. She hoped Jacob had not let it touch anything before recapping it. Ellie hesitated. Once done, there would be no going back.

She moved quickly before she could change her mind. She crouched by 416 and wiped the bloodied napkin over his knuckles and hands, smearing Jacob’s blood there. She refused to glance at his face while she framed him for murder. She just couldn’t.

They wouldn’t kill him. Those guys killed techs sometimes. She’d heard that plenty, yet they were still alive. They don’t kill test subjects. They are too valuable. He’ll be fine. She chanted that inside her head.

She rose, dumped the last bit of blood evidence into the kit and removed the syringe from where she’d placed it inside the case, and turned. She hated to hurt him. Tears filled her eyes. He lay there helpless. She wanted to hug him even if he wished her dead. Someone should show him compassion but it couldn’t be her at that moment. Someone needed to take the blame for Jacob’s death to make sure she could leave unmolested to get that data to her handler. Once they received enough proof, a judge would issue search warrants. The testing facility would be searched, the test subjects discovered, and Mercile Industries would be exposed for all the dirty secrets they hid from the world.