Best Friends (New Species Book 15) Read online

  “I should have ordered our food to be taken upstairs.”

  She shook her head. “I’m having fun. This is nice. I like your people.”

  “I’m glad you said that.” A feline lifted his plate from the table near theirs, rose to his feet, and moved to their table. “I have questions about your females, if you don’t mind. I want one for myself.”

  Mel felt honored anyone wanted her advice. “Sure. Ask away.”

  Snow groaned. “You’re going to regret this.”

  More New Species joined them for dinner. They had to move a few tables together. Mel answered questions, mostly about the women in town who were single.

  One thing became clear. There many more males than female New Species and most of them seemed super lonely. It hurt her heart. The NSO really needed a way to introduce them to some women.

  Snow kept his arm around her, snarling warnings when someone asked sexual questions. He deemed them too rude and ordered her to ignore them. She had a blast, though, for the next hour until she yawned. It had been a long day.

  “Enough. My female is tired.” Snow held up his hand. The males around the table became silent.

  Except for Flirt. “Of course. Bring her to more meals.”

  Everyone at their table and at a few around them agreed. Mel smiled at everyone, gave a wave, and let Snow lead her out of the cafeteria. Once they were alone in the elevator, she leaned against him.

  “I had fun.”

  “They did too. You’re exhausted. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t sleep well without you last night. Then I worked a full shift, and then…you know what happened when I got home.”

  He kissed the top of her head and surprised her by releasing her, stepping back, and scooping her into his arms. “I’m going to strip you, cuddle with you, and you’ll sleep, Mel.”

  “What about lots of sex?”

  “We have forever. You’re mine. I’ll convince you, but after you have plenty of rest.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded, yawning again. “Good plan.”

  Chapter Eleven

  A soft noise woke Mel. She opened her eyes, instantly realizing she wasn’t at her place. Memories of the day before returned. Snow had brought her back to Reservation and they were in his bedroom.

  She turned a little to stare at Snow’s handsome face on the pillow next to the one she used. He’d kept the bathroom light on, so she could see him well. It was dark outside still, sometime in the middle of the night.

  He whimpered, his face contorting a little, and his body jerked suddenly.

  She sat up, reaching for him. Snow seemed to be having a nightmare.

  “Snow?”

  He jerked more violently and his eyes opened. He sat up fast, almost bumping into her. His gaze sought hers. She put her hand on his chest and felt his heart pumping rapidly.

  “Are you okay?”

  He moved fast, grabbing hold of her and pulling her onto his lap. Mel found herself cocooned in his arms, pressed tight to his chest. “It was just a dream.”

  “It must have been a bad one.” She wiggled a little and wrapped her arms around him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  He rocked a little, adjusting his legs to make them both more comfortable, and buried his face in her hair. She heard him inhaling deeply. It made her sad that whatever he’d dreamed had messed with him that much. It must have been a doozy of a nightmare.

  “I was back at Mercile.”

  She could understand how upsetting that would be. “They were shut down. You’re never going back there.”

  “I know.” He kept rocking them both. “It was a memory. I was reliving the past.” He nuzzled her. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

  “Don’t say that. Never say that. I sometimes have nightmares, too. Everyone does.”

  “I think almost losing you caused me to think of when I’d nearly died. At least, one of the more traumatic incidents.”

  That horrified her. “How many times did they try to kill you?”

  “Life was always uncertain while in captivity,” he rasped.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” It made her furious. She wanted to know what Mercile Industries had done to him. “What happened?”

  “I don’t want to make you see me differently.” His hold on her loosened and he lifted his head.

  She stared up at him, hating to glimpse that haunted look in his beautiful blue eyes. “I see a wonderful man. Nothing from your past is ever going to change that.”

  “I nearly lost you earlier. That human male could have kill you.”

  “I’m okay, Snow. I’m more worried about you right now. You can tell me anything. What were you dreaming about from your past?”

  He stopped hugging her with one arm and reached up between them, touching one of the scars on his chest. “This.”

  She glanced at the white round circle that marred his skin. “How did it happen?”

  “They would shoot us with darts that were attached to wires. They caused so much pain. Electricity darts…and sometimes they was so strong it caused our skin to burn. They’d made them so strong to take one of my kind down instantly.”

  Her anger grew. “Why would they do that?”

  “I refused to do what they demanded. That’s all it took for us to be punished.”

  “They had no right to hurt you, ever.”

  He began to rock again, hugging her tightly. “I am aware.”

  She thought about the other marks she’d seen on him. “Those circular scars are all from those darts?”

  “Yes. The skin around the darts would be burned and hurt for a long time. They faded some with time.”

  She snuggled tighter against him. “What about the ones along your back? Are those from darts, too?”

  “A few, but mostly those are from attacks by the technicians. They liked to hit us often and hard with metal sticks. I learned later they are called batons. They would extend a bit and hurt a lot. Our bones are hard to break, but they could do it if they kept hitting the same spots over and over.”

  “Oh, baby.” She clutched him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I killed some technicians. They were guards for Mercile.” His body tensed. “To keep them from killing me. I was remembering one of those times while I slept. I had angered one of them, and he attacked me. I managed to fight through the pain enough to grab hold of the wire the dart was attached to and yank on it. The technician didn’t let go fast enough, and it caused him to stumble forward and fall next to me. And I killed him. Does that make you afraid of me?”

  “No!” She didn’t even have to think about it. “I’m glad you took out some of those jerks.” She released him and reached up, cupping his face. “I love you, Snow.”

  He seemed to search her eyes. “You don’t look afraid.”

  “I’m not. I could have killed those two jerks who came into the diner, the ones that I shot. I was raised with guns. I know what they can do. I’m surprised they both lived, to be honest. I was sure that one was a goner that I nailed center mass in the chest. Are you afraid of me because of that?”

  “Never. You were brave and did it to protect Species.”

  “Same to you, Snow. You have every right to save yourself from bad folks. I was aiming for that jerk’s face who broke into my place with my dishes. A flying piece of glass could have cut him just right and made him bleed to death. I also hit him in the head as many times as I could too. Head trauma and all that. It can definitely kill. I wanted to hurt him and put him down so he would stop coming after me. I don’t feel bad about it. He had it coming.”

  A smile curved his lips, and that haunted look left his eyes. “I love you so much, Mel.”

  “Right back at you. You can tell me anything about your past and it’s not going to change how I feel about you. I see the man you’ve become, and I like everything about you. You’re a survivor, and I’m glad for that. I wouldn’t have met you if you’d let those j