“Thank you,” she whispered.

Never in a million years would she think she’d eat raw meat and thank a man for using his sharp teeth to rip it apart to make the bites small enough for her to chew and swallow. She also never believed she’d be hungry enough not to gag at either reality.

Tammy couldn’t eat it all. What she didn’t eat, 927 did. He ate more than Valiant had. He removed the empty tray and walked to the cell door. He turned the tray and shoved it outside the cell. When it dropped it made a loud crash that Tammy winced over. He returned and twisted open the metal thermos. He sniffed it before handing it to Tammy.

“It is safe. Sometimes they put drugs in my drink but I’d smell it.”

She smiled at him after enjoying the icy-cold water and handed it back. He drank while staring at her. Her smile slipped at the odd expression that darkened his eyes and made him study her a little too intensely for comfort.

“What?”

“You are attractive. You smell sweet.”

An uneasy feeling made her nervous. “Valiant said when I’m scared I smell that way. I’ve been scared a lot since yesterday.”

He hesitated. “You belong to this Valiant?”

She nodded. “We’re getting married.”

“Married? What is this?”

She considered her words. “It’s a ceremony that binds us together until we die in my world. He wants to marry me to make sure human law acknowledges that I belong to him.”

He nodded. “But you already belong to him?”

“Yes.”

He softly growled. “That is too bad. I want you.”

She inched back from him, feeling fear. “No.”

He frowned. “I said it is too bad. Do you not understand this?”

“I belong to Valiant.”

“Keep your voice down or they will hear us. I know. I agree.”

Her heart rate returned to normal. “I was afraid you didn’t care that I am his. The way you said that implied you were going to…touch me anyway.”

He shrugged. “I would want him to protect you if you were mine and you were taken from me to be given to another. I would kill him if he mounted you. I will not force breed you, Tammy. I may want to but I can control it. My mind rules my body.”

Good thing.

“I just hope that this Valiant comes for you soon.” He stood. “You smell too good. It has been a long time since I allowed my body to give in to the urge to breed. Much too long to be this close to you.”

That made Tammy uneasy again. It almost sounded as though it were a threat. As if he warned her that his control would only last so long. She bit her lip. “What do you do in here to keep busy?”

He shrugged. “I grow strong.”

She glanced at the large room. There was the twin bed and the toilet. The small hose with the twist-turn to shut it on and off and the drain in the floor were the only other things. She had no idea what he meant.

“You must get so bored.”

“Bored?”

She tried to think of a way to explain it to him. “You have nothing to do.”

“I get strong.” He moved to the floor beside her and did pushups. She watched as his muscles strained and tightened while he quickly lifted up and down. He eventually stopped and glanced at the wall. He ran at it, twisted, and slammed his body against it. He did that a few times, switching shoulders as he hit it. She stared at the bars and realized they’d bent slightly, just barely, and she wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t been searching for damage.

He stopped doing that and walked to the front of the cell where the bars were. He gripped them and did pushups while standing. He finally turned and strode to the center of the cage. He suddenly crouched down and leapt high into the air. His fingers caught the bars of the roof, his body hung feet from the floor and she watched in amazement as he did pull-ups. He seemed to do them forever until sweat dripped down his body. He released the bars and landed gracefully on his bare feet. He turned and looked at her.

“I get strong.”

No wonder all the New Species men were huge and buff. It’s not a mystery anymore how muscular and in shape they are if this is what they did all those years inside their cells.

She nodded. “I saw that.”

“I bathe now. You may turn away.”

She did. She put her back to the area with the hose. She heard water come on and she heard the odd sound of Velcro. She wanted to look to see what it was but she didn’t. He wanted to bathe and even she knew their definitions of that couldn’t be too different. The sound of water running lasted a while. It shut off. She heard that sound of Velcro again.

“I am covered.”

Tammy turned, still sitting on the floor, and faced 927. He had washed his body and his hair was wet. She saw him return something behind the toilet as he bent.

“What did you put behind the…” She pointed.

He leaned back down. “Soap and deodorant.” He lifted them and showed her. The soap hung from a tiny rope and he’d been given a travel-sized deodorant. “They give us these to keep clean and not to smell. We do not enjoy bad odors from our bodies. It makes us irritable.”

“At least they give you toilets. I guess that is good.”

“They do not clean our rooms. We would kill them if they got so close.”

“I understand.” The jerks who’d brought her there didn’t want to have to clean up the cell if he didn’t have the ability to go to the bathroom decently.