Best Friends (New Species Book 15) Read online

  She tucked the towel she’d grabbed when entering the bathroom tighter around her chest. “Yes. I feel safer in here.”

  “I’d never hurt you.”

  “You already have if you knocked me up. How am I going to explain that to my parents? You said a cub! Can you imagine? Hey, Mom and Dad, guess what? I met some guy, five minutes later I let him nail me, and here’s your cub-slash-grandchild. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled. I’ll be an unwed mother of a lion baby. It will probably try to maul me when I nurse it. Animals hate me.”

  He made a strange noise that sounded like a chuckle.

  “Are you laughing?”

  He cleared his throat. “No.”

  “I thought New Species didn’t lie.” She put her feet down and stood, yanking open the door. He stood there with a grin on his face. She wanted to smack him. “You’re amused? Seriously?”

  “You’re funny. I’ll teach you how not to act like prey. Our child won’t try to maul you. He’ll love you. You also won’t be unwed. You’re my mate. I said I’d marry you.”

  “How big of you.”

  He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Are you done yelling at me yet?”

  “No.”

  “You’re a prickly female.”

  “You’re a dick.”

  “I’m Species, and I know what I want.”

  “I can’t talk to you right now.” She tried to close the door again.

  He moved fast, grabbing her with one hand and pulling her out of the small room. “You are surprised by my news. I understand. I should have waited to tell you.”

  “When?” She clutched the top of her towel to keep it from falling off. She’d already lost one. “Before or after I started puking from morning sickness?”

  “You’re looking for a reason to fight with me because you are set on denying you’re my mate.”

  She was furious at his calm logic. “Okay. What is a good reason to start a fight with you? I’m dying to hear the answer, if having sex with me and not mentioning I could get pregnant wasn’t one.”

  “I’m not certain I want your parents around my cub. I don’t know if I can trust them.”

  Her jaw dropped open.

  “You asked. I expect you to argue with me about that.”

  “Oh my God. What do you think? That they would hurt their own grandchild? They’re my parents. They raised me.”

  “I expect them to be unreasonable and prickly, like you. You probably learned that behavior from them. Maybe they act like prey, too, and will be so terrified they try to harm our cub.”

  “They would never!”

  “I don’t know them.”

  “And you won’t ever get to meet them. Do you know why? That would imply I’m going to stay with you—and that’s not happening.”

  He growled low, his eyes narrowing. “You wanted a topic to fight over. That was just an example.”

  “But you meant it.”

  “I’ll have to meet your parents to learn how they react to me before I expose them to our cub.”

  She was so mad it rendered her speechless, but she recovered fast. “You are the most arrogant man I’ve ever met!”

  “Arrogant isn’t a bad word. I learned that one. It means proud.”

  “Not exactly. It means you’re full of yourself and pushy.”

  “I’m Species.”

  “Is that your answer for everything?”

  He shrugged. “I’m willing to overlook your flaws because you’re human.”

  “What flaws?” She glared up at him.

  “You act like prey and you refuse to be reasonable. Those are human traits.”

  “I just can’t deal with you.” She reached out and pushed against his chest. “Move. I need to go beat on the door until someone lets me out of here. I’m going home.”

  He stepped aside, to her surprise, and she marched past him, through the bathroom, and headed across the large interior of the basement. She made the mistake of looking back, only to realize he followed right behind her.

  She stopped, spun, and lifted her chin. “Back off!”

  “You’re my mate.” He smiled. “Probably my pregnant mate.”

  “I better not be.” She turned and hurried toward the door again. She only got about nine more steps before his arm slid around her, and he pulled her against his body. She had to let go of her towel to grab at his arm under her breasts.

  “I’ll allow your parents to meet our cub. They will probably just run away when they see him anyway. Maybe they’ll fear being bitten.”

  She closed her eyes, trying to get a handle on her temper. One. Two. Three. Four. Fi―

  He suddenly lifted her off her feet, burying his nose against her throat. A low growl came from him. “I want to bite you, but you would enjoy it.”

  Her eyes flew open and she wiggled in his hold. “Put me down!”

  “Never. You’re mine, Mary. I want to pet you.”

  “And I want to smack you.”

  He chuckled. “I like how spirited you are. I’m glad that you aren’t afraid of me anymore.” He lowered his face and placed hot, wet kisses on her shoulder. “Such a sexy mate. Let me take care of you.”

  She didn’t fight him. It felt good to be held at that moment. What if she had gotten pregnant with his baby? No, a cub, she mentally corrected.

  Part of her wanted to believe him when he said sweet things like he’d just stated. He might want to keep her and think he could care for a family, but he was kind of childlike if he thought life could be that simple. It wasn’t.

  The NSO might have given him some kind of safe haven inside the massive room designed to be his home, but she doubted whoever was in charge had learned she was with Lash yet. Otherwise, they’d have come to get her and kicked her off Reservation.

  “Mary? What are you thinking right now?” He lowered her to her feet.

  She fought tears, and won. “It can’t work out between us.”

  “It will.”

  She twisted in his arms, and he loosened his hold enough for her to face him. His height had her tilting her head back a lot meet his gaze. His eyes were beautiful and so intense. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He surprised her by lifting her off her feet again and holding her against his chest to put their faces almost at the same level. “I take mating you very seriously. Species don’t lie, Mary. This isn’t a game. I’m nothing like the human males who have hurt you. This is a lifetime commitment I’m making. Do you understand? I don’t want another female, and I’ll never leave you. I also won’t let you go. Don’t fear having my cubs, either. The NSO has some of the best doctors, if that’s a worry. Other Species babies have been born, and all of them, along with their human mothers, are healthy. There’s nothing for you to be afraid of. Just stay calm and relax. I will allow your parents into our lives if they want to be. Your happiness matters to me.”

  She put her hands on his shoulders and wished she could believe him. He might mean it at that moment, but he’d regret everything later. It was just crazy to meet someone and make those kinds of outlandish promises. They were too different for it to work out between them in the long run.

  “You don’t seem convinced,” he rasped. “Tell me what you doubt or fear. You look a bit afraid to me.” He sniffed. “You smell that way, too. I won’t hurt you.”

  She took a deep breath and gripped him tighter, liking the firmness of his shoulders under her hands. “You keep talking about the way Species are, but you’re forgetting that I’m not one, Lash. What if you discover we’re too different? We are, you know. What happens if we break up after we have a child together? Is the NSO going to shove me out the gates with our kid, or worse, not let me near my own baby?” That nightmare situation frightened her even as she spoke. “Oh my God. Could they do that? Keep me from my own child? The laws don’t apply here, do they? Those walls that surround this place will keep me from seeing my own baby!”

  Lash growled low and turned,