Brawn Read online

  She parked in front by the door, shut off the engine and released her seatbelt. She stood, stretched a little and wiggled her butt. The bumping around on unpaved road always made her rump feel a little numb. She shoved the door shut, opened the back passenger one and leaned in to grab the two grocery bags.

  “Hungry? I am starving! We missed breakfast when we ran out of milk and it took longer to get to town than normal thanks to that logging truck hogging the road. I wasn’t about to try to pass him.”

  She hefted the bags, used her hip to close the door and climbed the porch steps, careful not to trip. The chair next to the door took one bag as she used her keys to get inside, turned and grabbed the bag again. Her foot shoved the door closed behind her.

  “I want a big ole steak. Doesn’t that sound good? And milk.” She walked into the kitchen, dumped the bags on the counter and reached in for one of the meat packages. “Sorry for the tummy rumbling you’re hearing.” She chuckled. “I bet it’s pretty loud in there where you are since I can hear it out here.”

  She grabbed a pan she’d left on the stove, pulled it to the front burner and tore open the plastic. Starved was an understatement. Hunger seemed to plague her constantly. She dumped the steak into the pan and tossed the packaging in the trash next to the stove.

  “Five minutes, kiddo. We’ll be slurping milk and chowing down on a T-bone.”

  She turned to put away the rest of the groceries and movement caused her to gasp. A tall man dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt stepped into her kitchen from the dining room. Terror gripped her instantly. She hadn’t locked the door when she’d entered the house and her frightened gaze jerked up to his face.

  “Oh shit,” she muttered. It wasn’t just some random stranger bent on robbing or killing her. He was a New Species. His light-red hair was windblown and his catlike eyes blinked at her. His hands slowly rose, palms out at his side.

  “Easy, female. I am not here to harm you. I came to talk. Doctor Trisha sent me. I’m Flame. Don’t be alarmed.”

  Becca backed up. Alarmed? A New Species was inside her cabin. Her hands darted protectively over her stomach and his gaze lowered, noticing her reaction. He looked at her, held her gaze and remained where he stood. She backed up more.

  “Careful. There’s a hot pan behind you.” He tensed. “Don’t get burned.”

  “Get out,” she whispered, heart pounding.

  She stopped moving but panicked inside. She’d made a huge mistake trusting that doctor and they’d obviously traced her call. They would have had to do that to find her. The proof stood in her kitchen, watching her.

  “Doctor Trisha is worried. You’re safe and no one will harm you. She just wants to make sure you and the baby are fine. She flew to Reservation two days ago when she talked to you last. She didn’t trace your call. We did, to the local cell tower that relayed your call. Do not be angry with her. She didn’t break her promise but had no control over what we did.” His gaze lowered to her stomach again and he sniffed. “Your baby is New Species and you need special care during your pregnancy.”

  “Just forget you found me and go away,” Becca pleaded as she blinked back tears. “Just leave me alone.”

  He met her gaze again and sorrow filled his exotic eyes. “I can’t do that. You and your baby need to see a doctor. You are about halfway through your pregnancy. If we left you alone you would be in for a shock when you hit your fifth month. That’s when your baby will come full term.”

  Becca’s mouth fell open. It took her a second to recover. She’d guessed the baby might develop faster but nothing had prepared her for that. ”What?”

  “It’s a Species baby. It will be male, it will look Species and it will be born at around five months, full term. We develop faster. You told the doctor enough for her to know the father of the baby is like me. I’m feline. The baby will have features like the father. You won’t be able to pass your child off without anyone taking one look and knowing what he is. Hate groups will come after you and your child. They will try to kill you both. Mercile Industries might come after you and your child as well.” He paused. “Some of the employees are still out there avoiding capture, being hunted, and they might try to use you both as leverage against us or worse. You are putting yourself and your baby in severe danger by not coming to us. We would never hurt you or your child. We’d never take him away from you. Your pan is burning. May I turn off the fire under it?”

  Becca turned her head, saw smoke rising and the smell of burning meat finally registered. She reached over to turn it off. She stepped away from the stovetop but kept her distance from him. He held still, not moving as she watched him warily.

  “No one knows about this baby. I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to hide. I’m good where I am and you can leave.”

  The New Species frowned. “Reservation is fifteen miles from here. Let me take you there to allow Doctor Trisha to look you and the baby over. If you refuse, we will just put a detail of security around your home to keep you and the baby safe. That isn’t up for debate. You and the child need to be guarded around the clock. It’s more dangerous for you here but we would never force you to live in captivity. We know all about that.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t go with you and you can’t send people here to protect me. You don’t understand. I don’t know you, which is good, but there’s going to be hell to pay if anyone recognizes me.” Terror gripped her. “Are there any humans around or is it just you?”

  “It’s just me.”

  “Thank God.” She could breathe again. “Please just forget you found me and go. The worst thing you could do is send a security detail here. Swear to me you won’t do that.”

  “Explain why that’s dangerous. It would protect you.”

  The baby kicked hard. Becca flinched and rubbed her stomach. The New Species male smiled suddenly as he met her gaze.

  “I saw that. He is strong. Trisha said that by the time she was in her sixteenth week it felt as though her son might kick his way out.”

  Shock tore through Becca. “Doctor Trisha?”

  Flame nodded. “I am allowed to tell you. It is confirmed that you are pregnant with one of my kind. She has a son named Forest who is Species. Trisha is married to one of us. She had her baby at twenty weeks. Would you like to see her son? Would you like to see what your baby is going to resemble? Species are cute as infants. He is canine mix so his features are a little different but I think you will be less frightened to have a Species baby if you see Forest. He claims the hearts of everyone.”

  “I can’t go. You need to leave and don’t let them send anyone else.”

  He frowned. “You need to see a doctor. You are frightened. I can smell your fear. Please stop being afraid. I’d rather shoot myself than cause you any harm. What is your name? We searched but couldn’t find anything with your name on it.”

  “We?” Her fear increased.

  Flame frowned. “You are terrified.” He suddenly paled. “Did one of us harm you?” His focus jerked to her stomach and then back to her face. “Did the father hurt you? Did he force you?”

  She shook her head.

  Flame’s frown deepened. “But you are afraid. Why?”

  She met his eyes. “I don’t want the father of my baby to know. At least not yet. I have enough to worry about without dealing with the crappy situation with him. I also don’t want my family know. It’s…complicated.”

  “You’re terrified. Tell me why now.”

  She bit her lip. “I can’t. Let’s just say my family is in a situation to hurt the father and while I’m not a fan of his, I don’t want anything to happen to him. I also don’t want my baby growing up without any family since mine will be in prison for murder. You need to just leave.”

  Flame watched her and his features softened. “You’re giving me no choice but to do this the way I didn’t intend. I won’t reconsider and leave you this way without a security detail. I was certain I could talk you in to going with me but I see