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  “Never,” True swore.

  “You know you want that bitch.” Polanitis laughed. “You could nail her. Your lion-man friend could too. Hell, all of your buddies with you.” He glanced at the task force team members. “She wouldn’t exactly say no. The drug would take care of that. You should have seen her on the drug. The only reason I didn’t fuck her back then was because Brask said he didn’t want to risk killing her for no good reason. Her heart rate was already too high and he wasn’t sure she would survive a good fucking. He wanted to fix that and he only wanted a Species to fuck her. Once he found the right dosage and made sure it was possible that she could get pregnant, he wanted to do some breeding studies. He asked me to find an animal that would do her willingly, without trying to kill her, when he reached that stage of the project. We finally perfected our formula and started dosing her with drugs to regulate her ovulation cycle so we could inject her but we were shut down before that happened. We were so close.”

  Polanitis glared at True and continued to taunt him. “You lied about her, didn’t you? I should have shoved her into your room and let you loose from those chains. You would have fucked her, right? Just tell me.”

  “I never would have harmed her.”

  “I fucking knew it.” Polanitis threw back his head and screamed in frustration. “Fucking animals! I hate you all.” He looked at Darkness. “Make a deal with me. The formula works and I know you bastards want it.”

  True was sickened. The man was nuts.

  “I don’t have to make a deal with you,” Darkness calmly stated. “I just need to spend a little time with you inside an interrogation room.” He glanced at Trey. “Make that happen.”

  “Done,” Trey agreed. “Find out who they sold it to.”

  “That is a given,” the Species replied.

  “You can’t do that!” Polanitis screamed. “You’ll only get what you want from me if I get all my terms met.”

  “Go, your female needs you,” Darkness quietly ordered True. “We’ll stay until I know what he knows.”

  “Fuck that! Stop them, Tony! Do your damn job or I’ll tell them what you do to the women here,” Polanitis raged.

  True stopped abruptly and glared at Polanitis, then the guard. “What did you say?”

  Polanitis smirked. “The guards like to fuck the women inmates.”

  True snarled and his gaze locked with Darkness’.

  “The guards should have worked for Drackwood. They raped and killed the last woman inmate. I—”

  “I’ve got this. Go home to your female.”

  “Did you hear what he said?”

  “I did.” Darkness lowered his voice. “I have no tolerance for males who harm females. Allow me to make him and the others bleed. I’ll get them to confess all their crimes.”

  True growled at the shaking guard but backed up, spun around and strode down the long passage between cages and then through the double doors. He didn’t stop until he kicked open an already-damaged door and exited the building.

  Justice and Tim Oberto were still talking with Jeff.

  “This place is hellish,” True growled. “The guards killed the last female prisoner.”

  “What?” The human guy gasped. “No. Her cell door somehow didn’t lock and the prisoners got to her during exercise break. The guards were taking lunch and didn’t hear her screams. They came in to lock up the men again and found her dead in her cell.”

  “The guards were sexually assaulting her. Darkness will get the truth.” True turned to Justice. “I wish to return to Homeland. Jeanie might be awake. I wish to be by her side.”

  “I’ll ride with you,” Tim declared.

  “I’ll go as well,” Fury offered as he walked over to them.

  “I want the warden to call me the moment he returns,” Justice demanded. “What kind of place is he running? I’m ordering a full investigation and sending in the task force members to take over until everything is resolved.”

  “I agree,” Tim sighed. “My teams on site will stay and I’ll send replacements in the morning to relieve them.” He withdrew a radio, walking away to inform them of his orders.

  “I had nothing to do with this,” Jeff protested. “I swear.”

  “Save it, Jeff,” Justice grumbled. “I’ve got no love for anyone locked inside there after all they’ve done to my people but they deserve fair treatment. We’re better than they are. We left humans in charge of humans because we believed they’d have compassion. It seems it was a mistake.”

  True just walked away. He stopped at an SUV, opened the door, climbed in and slammed it closed. The other door opened and Fury took the seat next to him. Justice and Tim climbed into the SUV and they turned toward Homeland and Jeanie.

  Chapter Seventeen

  True helped Jeanie out of the SUV when they reached the dorm. He quietly thanked Breeze for driving them from Medical before closing the door and taking Jeanie’s hand. It was a huge relief to finally be back home.

  True used his security card to get them inside the building. They didn’t talk as they rode the elevator up to the third floor. No guard waited in the hallway this time. She paused, staring at what appeared to be a new door as True unlocked it.

  “They fixed it while we were gone but it still needs to be painted.”

  “Why did it need to be fixed?”

  “I kicked it open when I couldn’t get inside.” He pulled her into the apartment and locked the door. “Let’s shower.”

  He flipped on lights as they went, also removing his uniform as they progressed toward the bedroom. He was down to just his pants and boots when they entered the bathroom. He turned on the water and straightened, facing her.

  “I’m mating you. It’s not up for debate. No one is taking you from me, ever. I’m having them bring the paperwork to make it official in the morning. You will sign them.”

  She was a little stunned by the announcement but they’d both just gone through a horrendous ordeal. It really cut through all the crap and boiled down to priorities after almost losing each other. “Okay.”

  He arched both eyebrows in surprise. “You agree?”

  “You could have washed your hands of being responsible for my well-being but instead you risked your life fighting for me. You feel more for me than just grateful that I saved your life once, don’t you?”

  He reached out and his large hands encircled her waist. “Yes.”

  She reached up and gripped the curve of his shoulders. “You changed my life, True. I think I fell in love with you from the moment I met you and you spoke to me. I didn’t want you to mate with me out of gratitude. I need you to care about me as much as I do you.”

  His mouth fell open and his hold on her loosened. Even the look in his eyes indicated she’d totally astounded him with her confession. Damn. He didn’t appear overjoyed at being told she loved him. He said nothing but released her and turned away.

  He stripped naked and just climbed into the shower. She hesitated, unsure of what to do. He finally turned his head, his expression impassive. “I’ll be done in a moment.”

  It wasn’t an invitation to join him and her shoulders sagged. She’d really screwed up by confessing how deep her feelings ran. She dropped her gaze, fighting the urge to flee the bathroom, her pride wounded. The shower door opened and True grabbed a towel.

  “Shower. I’ll be waiting for you in the bedroom.”

  He didn’t even take time to dry off before he was gone. She closed her eyes and silently cursed. New Species were really different from other men but it seemed in one way they were the same. She’d freaked him out by telling him she loved him too soon. She hoped he wasn’t sprinting out the front door and running for his life the way some humans would.

  She opened her eyes and stepped under the warm spray of water, soaking her hair and skin. It would be awkward facing him but she’d apologize. She wasn’t sorry that she loved him but for dumping it on him way too soon. She could chalk it up to all she’d been through