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  “Jessie Dupree? Is she all right?”

  “She’s fine. We went to her home first but she wouldn’t let us search her house.”

  “She smells,” the other one cursed. “Like bad flowers.”

  “Perfume,” the other one growled. “You should make it a law that they don’t wear it here, Justice. My nose still burns.”

  Justice hid a smile over Jessie knowing that trick. Strong perfume irritated their noses and confused their sense of smell. She had worked for Tim Oberto on the task force and was bound to pick up Species facts from the team members who worked so closely with his males.

  “I’ll send her a memo.”

  Both men looked confused. “Maybe someone was watching a horror movie. Human females in those scream all the time. We’ll have to ask everyone if they were playing one of those to track the source of the disturbance.”

  “Don’t bother anyone else. The only female alone here is Jessie Dupree and you said she is fine.”

  “Did you hurt yourself when you broke the chair, Justice? I could call for someone to come look at it.”

  Justice shook his head, swimming toward the side of the pool. “I’m fine. It just pissed me off.”

  The men hesitated. Justice climbed out of the pool and walked to a towel he’d thrown over a lounge chair days before. He wrapped it around his hips and arched an eyebrow when he faced them.

  “Is there anything else?”

  “Why is a human female living here? We don’t question your judgment but we are curious, Justice.”

  “This is the most secure area of Homeland. Her father is someone who watches out for us and works through legal issues on our behalf. I gave my word to him that she would be kept safe. She’s also saved our females and brought them to us as her last job. Jessie Dupree is a trusted friend.”

  One of them spoke. “We understand. Thank you for explaining it.”

  Justice waited until they were gone before he shook his wet hair, trying to dry off some. He turned to peer over the wall to the house next door. Jessie’s bedroom light remained on. He longed to hop the wall and knock on her window.

  Frustration gripped him as he turned away. Wanting and doing had to be different things in her case. He’d lost control, drawn blood sharing sex and had attracted attention to them being together by roaring out his pleasure. That disturbed him deeply, it was something he’d never done before with a female. She brought out sides of him that he couldn’t allow free. Period.

  He needed to think, to clear his head and stay away from her until he could figure out how to leash the frightening emotions she stirred in him. He only knew one thing for certain…

  Jessie Dupree was driving him insane.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Breeze!” Jessie grinned. “You’re here at the women’s dorm! Why aren’t you still at Reservation?”

  The six-foot-plus woman grinned. “I arrived early this morning. My best friend Ellie wanted me to come home to share some news and I’ll be here for a while. She is human and married Fury, who is Species.”

  “I’ve heard of them—on TV when they got married. I hope it was good news?”

  “The best. I’m sorry but I can’t share what it is. All I can say is her and her husband wanted something since they found love together and they finally accomplished it.”

  “That is good news.”

  “What are you doing here? Are you checking up on the woman you brought to us? They are still at Reservation and are doing fine. They have settled well. It was decided they should stay there instead of being brought here since they are enjoying the trees and the miles of land to roam.”

  “Actually, I work here now. It’s a long story.”

  Breeze’s eyes widened. “Truly? Doing what?”

  Jessie turned her head to glance at Beauty. She’d spent the morning and most of the afternoon helping her get settled in the women’s dorm. She’d taken the move well for the most part.

  Tiny and Halfpint were Beauty’s constant companions, which helped. The only bump in the nearly smooth transition had been when Beauty had seen the much taller, strongly built females. They had frightened her, but she currently sat in the living room talking with half a dozen of them without fear.

  “That’s Beauty. We recovered her night before last from an estate up in Washington. I don’t know all that my new job entails but for right now it’s helping her to adjust to her new life. She’s taking it well.”

  “I like her name. It fits. She chose well.” Breeze smiled and gave her attention back to Jessie.

  “Actually, I chose it. I keep telling her that she can change it at any time and I’m hoping she will. I feel kind of weird naming an adult.” Jessie shrugged. “I needed to make up one fast and that’s all that came to mind.”

  “Why did you need to name her?”

  Jessie clenched her teeth. “Because the only two names she could remember being called pissed me off so bad I refused to let anyone else ever call her that. We have to do paperwork and it will stick with her on record. I refused to record those names.”

  Breeze’s face hardened. “What did they call her?”

  Jessie stared at the taller woman. “I really don’t think you want to know.”

  “Tell me.”

  Jessie sighed, figuring Breeze had a right to know. “They were calling her Mud and I guess tagged her with Monkey when she was younger. Those were the only two names she could remember.”

  The tall New Species woman growled and spit out a string of curses that would have made a lifelong sailor blush. Jessie nodded in agreement. The two women stared at each other until Breeze’s anger faded.

  “Thank you. It is a really good name you chose and it suits her. I think she might keep it and you did her a good favor.”

  “Thanks.” Jessie smiled suddenly. “So, are you looking forward to getting some decent sleep now that you’re out of the hotel?”

  Breeze laughed. “They sent Tammy and Valiant to his house for good. Justice said they need their privacy since they are married now. He has guards around their property to help Valiant keep her safe. Maybe it’s a human and Species thing but no one ever has sex as loudly as those two.”

  Jessie managed to keep her smile in place—barely—remembering the night before. She and Justice had been so loud they’d set off the security alarm. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.” Breeze led her into the kitchen to grab sodas from the fridge. She waved Jessie to a barstool. “Hit me! I love that saying.”

  Jessie took a seat next to her. “The mixed couple that just got married, uh, he’s lion, right?”

  “We believe so. We mostly guess at what we were mixed with since the records were destroyed. With his coloring and his personality we can assume he was mixed with that DNA. What about him?”

  “I met Justice North and he has the same kind of eyes as Valiant. Is he lion?” That would explain the roar after sex.

  “His coloring is not right. In my free time I’m studying animals. I wanted to guess better what some of us were changed with.” Breeze looked proud. “I think he is perhaps mixed with black leopard—humans call them panthers.”

  Jessie managed to keep her mouth from falling open despite her shock. “Wouldn’t his hair be black? I mean, Valiant has orange-red hair similar to a lion. I met Flame and he has light red hair but he’s got the cat eyes. I could see that right off.”

  Breeze bit her lip. “I can’t discuss this with you, Jessie.”

  “Why not?”

  Breeze hesitated again but blew out a breath. “You are a friend to us and save our women. I know you can be trusted. Some of us color our hair. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Justice colors his hair? It explained why he looked different in person than on television and in some of the photos in the paper. He looked different because his hair color varied.

  “Why would he…I mean, any of you do that?”

  “Some of us need to appear more human but our natural col