New Species 02 Slade (5 page)

to find me if you change your mind. I’ll walk you to your

door.”

“No thanks.”

“I’m escorting you home.” He kept his amused

expression in place. “So walk, Doc. Or we could stand

here. Either way, I’m sticking with you until we reach

your place.”

Trisha spun away from him and strode quickly down

the sidewalk. She could feel him behind her but he didn’t

make a sound. For a large man, he could move very

quietly. She turned her head as she reached her yard and

gasped over how close he was to invading her personal

space.

“Home safe,” he whispered. “Are you sure you don’t

want me to come inside, Doc?”

“I’m sure,” Trisha stated firmly.

Her hands trembled when she darted to her front

door. Would he try to force his way inside her house?

Press the issue of offering to have sex with her? She

unlocked the door and spun to tell him to leave but he

had vanished.

Trisha stepped off her porch and glanced in both

directions down the sidewalk but he wasn’t within sight.

She frowned. Where did he disappear to so quickly? He

irritated her badly. She hurried inside and locked the

door firmly behind her.

Trisha dropped her purse on the entryway table as

she headed for her bedroom. She passed the empty

guestroom, remembering that she needed to order a desk

and some file cabinets to create a home office.

She peered around her bedroom. She hated the large

four-poster bed with the thick wooden poles that shot up

toward the ceiling. It took up too much space inside the

room. The house had come furnished but nothing had

been to her liking.

She stripped out of her clothing on her way to the

bathroom. Does Slade remember me? He could be playing some

sort of sick game to see if I’ll say something. She just wasn’t

sure. He was pretty convincing if he wanted her to

believe they’d never met in the past. She turned on the

shower and waited the few minutes it took for it to heat

up.

She stepped under the spray of hot water with a sigh.

Why was she attracted to him? She couldn’t deny that he

appealed to her. Maybe it was curiosity. She wasn’t sure

of her motives but every time he looked at her she

remembered the rough, hot feel of his tongue teasing her

throat, the way he’d moved against her with his heavy

body while he’d nearly made her come just from rubbing

his cock against her, and the memory of the sounds he

made. The growls had been sexy.

“Mental brain wash,” she sighed.

She threw her head back and washed her hair,

shaved her legs, and then stepped out of the shower. She

heard a distinctive sound. Her pants were buzzing inside

her bedroom where she’d dumped them when she’d

disrobed. Trisha wrapped a towel around her middle to

dash from the bathroom. She bent down, fought with her

slacks, and yanked the black cell phone out.

“Dr. Norbit here.”

“Trisha, it’s Paul. We have a situation. Can you come

back?”

“I’m on my way.” She hung up and ran for the bed.

She dropped the cell phone on it and spun. She took a

step toward her closet before slamming right into a wide,

solid body.

Trisha gasped. Two large hands gripped her bare

shoulders as her head jerked up. She gaped at Slade’s

amused expression. Her body was pressed against his,

he held her firmly by her shoulders, and his lips curved

into a smile.

“You weren’t answering your phone. They need you

down at medical.”

“You are inside my house,” she gasped.

“I have pass keys to all the homes. I’m security. You

should answer your phone if you don’t want someone to

check on you. Your nurse has been calling for five

minutes and finally called us.”

“I was taking a shower!”

His focus lowered. “I see. You look good in pink,

Doc. You’d look better though if that towel were on the

floor at your feet.” His body shivered a little against hers

as his attention drifted to her shoulders. “It’s tempting to

lick off all those drops of water.”

Her heart hammered from surprise and probably a

little excitement at the concept of him doing just that. The

look on his face made her swallow hard. He suddenly

released her though and backed away.

“I’ll be waiting for you in the living room. Get a

move on, Doc. Someone is hurt and we need to get you

back to medical right away.”

Trisha watched the tall New Species leave her

bedroom, pulling the door closed behind him. It took her

long seconds to pull herself together from the shock of

finding Slade inside her bedroom and from him touching

her. He’d let himself into her house and he’d seen her

almost nude. She looked down at the small towel that

barely covered the tops of her breasts and fell to mid-

thigh. She forced her legs to move to the closet to pull on

clothes quickly.

He waited for her by the front door. Trisha’s hair

dripped water but she didn’t care. She didn’t have time

to dry it. She walked outside and turned as the large man

closed the door, watching her.

“Up for a jog, Doc?”

Trisha nodded as she headed down her porch steps.

She turned toward the medical center, preparing to run

but instead gasped suddenly when Slade swept her up

into his arms. He had the audacity to flash his sharp teeth

as he gave her a big grin and winked.

“Hold onto me, Doc.”

He started jogging down the street. Shocked, Trisha

threw her arms around his neck to hang on. She couldn’t

believe he carried her as if she couldn’t reach the clinic

on her own steam.

“Put me down.”

“Almost there, Doc. Shut up and enjoy the ride.” He

wasn’t even out of breath when they reached the

building. He slowed to a stop and carefully eased her

onto her feet next to the door. He winked at her again

before turning away. “I’ll see you when you’re done,” he

called over his shoulder.

Trisha still reeled from the shock of his actions when

she walked inside. There was a waiting room area that

had been separated by a long counter. She saw Paul

leaning over someone lying on a bed in the open area.

Trisha shoved away thoughts of Slade and what had just

happened. She moved quickly.

“What do we have?”

Paul turned. “Severe laceration. He’s going to need

stitches, Trisha.”

The next half hour remained busy for Trisha. One of

the human male secretaries of Homeland’s director had

accidentally sliced open his palm with a kitchen knife

while attempting to make dinner. Trisha cleaned the

wound, gave him ten stitches, and bandaged the injury.

She gave him pain medication and a tetanus shot. The

medical center had its own fully stocked drug cabinet

and she just dispensed what medicines he needed. She

watched him leave.

Paul finished cleaning up. “You do nice work,

Trisha. I doubt he’ll have much of a scar.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ve got this. You go on home. I’ll do the paperwork.

You’re off.”

“Sorry I didn’t answer my phone. I was taking a

shower.”

Paul grinned. “I see. You need to comb your hair. It’s

kind of in clumpy, damp curls.”

“Good night,” she sighed, walking outside.

Relief hit her when she didn’t see Slade anywhere.

She walked about ten feet before she sensed him. She

stopped and turned to watch him stride down the

sidewalk, moving right for her. He smiled as their gazes

met.

“Ready for me to escort you?”

“I can find my own way, thanks. I’m thirty years old.

I have mastered getting home.”

“You can’t be too careful these days, Doc. You never

know what kind of animals are wandering around.”

She shot him a look. Like you? She didn’t say it out

loud but was tempted to. She kept walking. He stayed

beside her this time. She had to move quickly to keep up

with his longer legs.

They reached her yard and Trisha turned to study

the man who peered down at her. She unlocked her front

door and opened it only wide enough for her body to fit

through. She turned, faced Slade, and backed into the

safety of her home.

“Don’t ever walk into my house again. What would

you have done if I’d still been in the shower?”

He grinned. “Walked in there to tell you they needed

you at the center and handed you a smaller towel than

you had on. Maybe a hand towel.” His gaze roamed her

body slowly and he smiled wider. “Or a washcloth.”

She tensed. “You enjoy needling me, don’t you?”

He just shrugged, still smiling.

“Is there any particular reason or am I just special?”

His smile faded. “Maybe I’m interested to see how

our two species breed too.”

“Well, find someone else to harass.”

He shrugged. “Fine by me. If you aren’t interested,

you just aren’t. I was just looking for a sex partner but I

won’t bother you again. You should have taken me up

on it, Doc.” His eyes narrowed. “I just wanted a few

hours to answers all those questions you have. You’re

pretty enough that I thought it might be worth my time.

Night, Doc.” He turned away and started to leave the

porch. He was halfway to her sidewalk when she opened

her mouth.

“Only a few hours, huh? And pretty? Last time you

kept calling me a beauty.” Trisha allowed her anger to

flow. “Last time you offered to have sex with me for

days, 215. Should I feel insulted?”

He spun around. She knew shock when she saw it

and it etched his handsome features. That answered her

question. He really didn’t remember her. She glared at

him.

“I think I liked you better when you were recovering

in my hospital. You were more appealing half dead than

you are fully healthy. That’s really sad.”

She slammed the door closed the second he took a

step toward her. She twisted the locks, slamming the bolt

into place.

“Doc? Open up the door.” He growled the words

from the other side of the door.

“Good night, Mr. Slade.”

He twisted the doorknob but the lock held. She heard

keys jingle. He would try to unlock her door? She bit her

lip.

“I’m calling security,” she threatened. “Remember

them? They were good at stopping you before even

though you said no one would come to save me last

time.”

He uttered a soft curse. “You’re the Doc from the

hospital, aren’t you?”

“Oh, so you do remember me.” She leaned against

the door.

“Your hair is different.”

She touched her damp hair. She’d tried her hand at

being a redhead the previous year when she’d worked at

the hospital where they’d met. Now she was back to her

normal color, a honey blonde. “This is the real me. I

decided I didn’t want to dye it red anymore.”

“Open up the door and talk to me.” He growled the

order.

“Why? So you can insult me more? Be a bigger ass?”

Trisha tensed when only silence answered her

question. Would he try to get inside her house another

way? Why would he even care if she were the same

woman he’d accosted a year before? She listened but

didn’t hear a thing on the other side of the door.

“Mr. Slade?”

He didn’t answer. Trisha finally moved from the

door to rush around the house to make sure all the

windows were locked. She relaxed certain that he had

gone, and didn’t plan to bother her. She entered her

bedroom and clicked off the light. She slept wearing

sweats just in case he returned and decided to surprise

her with another unannounced visit.

* * * * *

Slade pressed his forehead against the door, his eyes

closed, and listened to the doctor move away. Shock still

gripped him that the woman he’d just insulted and

angered was the same woman who haunted him on a

nightly basis since he’d been freed.

Dr. Trisha Norbit had changed her hair color, had

grown it longer. He’d been pretty drugged when he’d

awoken inside the human hospital but he should have

recognized her scent or placed those beautiful blue eyes

of hers when he’d seen them again. The memory of them

made him want to kick his own ass for not making the