Justice Read online

  “They are drawn to me for the wrong reasons. It is because they think they owe me for all that I do. I don’t want a female who feels gratitude.”

  Tiger’s grin faded. “You want one to come to you because she likes you for who you are.”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re lonely, aren’t you?”

  Justice sighed. “I guess I am. It would be nice to have one person to share everything with. I would enjoy having the same female to go to bed with at night and hold.”

  “I understand loneliness. I feel it sometimes.” He suddenly grinned. “Then I just find someone to come to my bed and feel much better afterward.”

  Justice laughed, his amusement over his friend’s simple fix for what ailed him near comical. “You’re so easy.”

  “It works for me.”

  “Wait until you meet one that you want to keep longer than a few hours.”

  Tiger’s smile died. “You found one in particular that you want to spend more time with?”

  “Yes. Unfortunately. I should have canceled the press conference, broken all the phones and kept her in the bed with me for as long as possible.”

  “Kept? You had her in your bed?”

  Justice sighed. “Yes.”

  “That good, huh? I’m sure she will come back eventually and spend more time in your bed. You are well liked and respected.”

  “I don’t think she’s impressed with me.”

  “All of our women are.”

  Justice just nodded. He wasn’t about to admit that she wasn’t one of their females but it would be a hell of a lot easier if she were. He’d at least have access to her to tempt her back into his bed if she lived at Reservation or Homeland. He had no access to Jessie since she lived in the outside world.

  “Stay with me for a while.” Justice hated to ask anything from someone else but he despised the idea of being alone even more. The sexy female would haunt him otherwise. “We’ll watch some movies Ellie suggested to me recently and I’ll order some food.”

  Tiger stood and gripped his shoulder. “It sounds fun. I’m not sexy, not going to fuck you but I’ll spend the night.” He chuckled.

  Justice laughed. “For that, you can order the food.”

  * * * * *

  Jessie strapped the gun to her thigh and tightened her bulletproof vest as she studied the men around her. They looked tense but she didn’t blame them. She’d overheard the team commander going over the security measures they were about to face. The old man who owned the mansion was paranoid and had a thing for hiring mercenaries to guard the grounds.

  Tim Oberto walked to Jessie, looking grim. “You stay to the back, do you hear me? Just because your daddy got you a permit to carry a gun doesn’t make you a real team member. You’re here to hold the woman’s hand and prevent the big boys from scaring the piss out of her. This one is going to be dangerous, Jessie. I will personally put you over my knee in front of the entire team and spank your ass if you pull a stunt similar to the one in Mexico five months ago. You remind me of my daughter and I’d do the same to her.”

  Jessie frowned. “Mexico wasn’t my fault.”

  He snorted. “Bullshit. You heard that woman scream and you didn’t wait for the team to clear the scene. You flew in there and the only thing that saved your ass was being short. That bullet missed your head by an inch because he aimed higher, expecting a man when you kicked in that door. You hold back until the scene is cleared and the woman is secured. You can take her in hand then and only then.”

  “The only reason the female in Mexico is alive is because I went in. He planned to set fire to the place with her tied to a bed to destroy the evidence, which was her. A few more minutes and he would have finished the job.”

  “Your life is more important.”

  She shook her head. “You and your men risk your lives. Why can’t I do the same for the Species?”

  “Because I’m in charge and I said so.” He smirked. “Another stunt like Mexico and I swear I’ll haul your ass in front of the men and whip your ass as if you were my daughter. Then I’ll call your father. I bet he’d yank your chain so hard he’d have you at home baking cookies for him in five minutes flat. That’s what I’d do.”

  “You don’t know my father.” Jessie glared at him. “He raised me and I know him much better than you do. He taught me to be tough and that some things are worth taking chances on. He is with me on this. These Species we save are worth risking our lives for and he knows that as much as I do. If anyone gets their chain yanked it will be yours, so back off from beating your chest and telling me to act more like your version of what a woman should be.”

  He spun away. She watched him walk to the assault vehicle he’d set up as the command post. “Bitch,” he rumbled.

  Jessie glanced at her watch, refusing to let him bait her temper. Tim was a dick but he cared about his team, including her. It was two thirty in the morning and the raid would go down soon. She thought of Justice and figured he was definitely asleep at such a late hour. She sighed, wishing she were next to him in his bed, curled up against his side. Of course, wishing didn’t do a thing since she was two states away from him.

  Jimmy Torres pointed to his watch, held up one finger and jerked his thumb toward one of the black vehicles. She pulled her hair back to secure it tightly at the base of her neck in a ponytail. She clearly wanted to be identified as a woman and her long hair helped. Her all-black, bulky outfit sure didn’t look feminine and the bulletproof vest hid her breasts.

  She approached her team. Five men waited inside the black SUV parked a block from their target. She sat in the backseat. It was a tight squeeze to close the door and she glanced at the two guys sharing the bench seat with her. The task force was made up of all men who were at least six feet tall and muscularly built. They only hired large, strong men since sometimes they didn’t want Species males to noticeably stand out from the humans they worked with. It made them easier targets to pick off if it ever came down to a firefight.

  Jessie shivered, thinking about that. So far she’d been lucky. The closest she’d ever come to being shot was the mission in Mexico. Shots had been exchanged but Jessie had stayed away from the fighting until she’d broken ranks.

  The men had been pinned down but she’d been able to slip around to enter the back door of that house and go after that poor Gift Female. Tonight they were going in all at once. It was a large estate with three buildings on the grounds. The Species female could be stashed in any of the three locations. If the rich asshole still has her. If she is still alive and if the jerk who paid Mercile was given one of the women. The chances are good. You know that. Think positive. We don’t get called in unless they honestly believe we can recover one of them.

  “What’s the word on this one?” Jessie glanced at Jimmy, seated next to her.

  “We received a tip from an anonymous caller that this jerk is holding a weird-looking woman on his property and she’s being chained up. When the police ran the jerk’s background it turns out he has a strong association with Mercile. They called us. A report like that immediately gets flagged. The tipster also implied this rich asswipe is about to move the woman. We knew we had to move on this one tonight. We’re hoping he hasn’t moved her yet since whoever called said it would go down tomorrow morning.”

  Jessie felt hope. “It sounds like a hot tip.”

  “That’s what the bosses said.” Jimmy grinned. “So when are you going to hole up inside a motel with me so I can have my dirty way with your body?”

  She smiled over the conversation they always shared before a raid. She was pretty sure the ex-Marine wasn’t seriously hitting on her, that he was just trying to make her laugh by distracting her from becoming too nervous. He was good at doing that.

  “When I’m ninety-two. Do you think you’ll still want me by then?”

  He laughed. “Sure. I’ll let you climb on my lap in my wheelchair. I’ll pop some blue pills and we’ll talk about the first thing that co