New Species 02 Slade (6 page)

connection. Had their drugs really affected him that

badly?

In his defense, he’d never learned the name of the

woman he’d pinned under him on the small hospital bed

but everything else about her remained intact. Her plush

body pinned under his, the taste of her skin on this

tongue, and the scent of her arousal tormenting him.

He’d been sure no one would save her, that she’d be his

for the taking, and he’d relished the idea of making her

want him as much as he wanted her. Then it had turned

to hell. Humans had rushed inside the room, drugged

him, and taken her away.

He bit back a snarl. He’d royally screwed up. Late in

the night before he drifted to sleep, he always thought of

her, his sexy redhead. He pushed away from the cool

wood, snapped open his eyes, and glared at the house

she hid inside. He’d fantasized about finding her, getting

her under him again, and finishing what they’d started.

He’d planned out how he’d charm her, had studied

human romantic tactics, in hopes of winning her over if

that day ever came.

Dr. Trisha Norbit hated him. He couldn’t blame her

either. He’d purposely been an ass to her for the most

part. It had irritated him that he was drawn to her despite

having a fantasy woman stuck inside his head. It had

almost seemed as if he’d been cheating on the memory of

his redheaded fantasy woman every time his body

responded to Doc Norbit.

The cosmic joke was on him since they were one and

the same. He stomped off into the darkness. He’d just

lost all hope of ever having her in his bed.

He paused to glance back at her house. His anger

faded into sadness. Fantasies are for fools. Learn a lesson and

stay the hell away from her.

Tense. That’s how Trisha would describe her new

relationship with the NSO officer. Slade patrolled the

human section of Homeland, the area she lived and

worked in, and she had to deal with him. Since that night

they’d hardly spoken. When they did, both of them

seemed to come to the mutual agreement not to mention

anything personal. Two months had passed that way.

The guy was likable but she wished he weren’t.

Slade had a quick smile, a keen sense of humor, and

every time she’d had to deal with him, he’d gotten her to

smile. He’d made certain they were never alone since the

night she’d told him just who she was. She was mostly

grateful for that fact.

Sometimes when she walked home at night she

would catch a glimpse of him on the dark street. She

could sense his stare and knew he shadowed her to make

sure she arrived safely. It is his job, she reminded herself.

She regretted what she’d blurted to him but she’d lost

her temper.

There was something wrong with her. She mentally

kicked herself over being angry with a guy for the

reasons that she was, knowing it just wasn’t right. She’d

felt insulted that he’d forgotten her. Just over a year

before he’d wanted to keep her for days, he’d called her

beauty, and now… She sighed. He just thought she was

pretty and offered her some cheesy one-night stand. Not

even a night. He only wants me for a few hours.

“Stupid,” she muttered.

“What is?” A deep voice spoke softly from behind

her.

Trisha started and spun in her seat to gawk at Slade.

She grabbed her heart. “Don’t sneak up on me that way

again. Would it kill you to make some noise when you

move?”

His eyebrows arched as a smile curved his full lips.

“Then I wouldn’t get to watch you react that way.”

She sighed. “I’m glad you at least find it amusing. I

sure don’t.”

She glanced around the room, realized no one else

was there, and instantly tensed. Uh-oh. This was the first

time she could remember them being totally alone since

that night he’d walked her home. They’d had some

interaction when there’d been some problems between

the human, Ellie Brower, and her New Species husband.

Fury had been shot during a press conference that had

been infiltrated by a few members of a hate group and

during his recovery a nurse had drugged him, trying to

drive him insane. They’d seen each other during that

time but had kept it professional.

“What do you need?”

“Good thing you didn’t ask what I want.” He

smirked at her, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

“Justice has to go on a road trip and wants you to go

with him.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “He said to tell

you to pack for two days. I had no idea you and Justice

were sleeping together.”

Trisha glared at him. “You know Mr. North and I…

that nothing is going on between us. He’s my boss and

he’s your leader. My only dealings with Justice are

purely professional.”

His tongue ran along his bottom lip. Trisha watched

it. She looked up slightly into his blue eyes, which were

staring back into hers. “I know but I love to see you turn

all pink when you grow angry.” He suddenly smiled.

“Justice wants you ready to roll in an hour.”

“But—”

“An hour. Don’t argue with me. I’m just the

messenger.”

“But where are we going? I’m on duty right now and

tomorrow. What does Justice want with me?”

He shrugged, still smiling. “I just deliver the

messages. See you in an hour, Doc. I’ll pick you up in

front of your house.”

She watched him leave the clinic. A curse passed her

lips before she could refrain. He loved to annoy her and

he had a real talent for it. She picked up the phone to call

Dr. Ted Treadmont, the second doctor they’d hired part-

time, to cover some of her shifts.

They really needed more medical staff. Two doctors

and nurses weren’t enough. She made a mental note to

bring that up again with Justice when she spoke to him.

He headed the New Species, was their appointed leader,

and made most of the decisions at Homeland.

She glanced at the phone, half tempted to call him to

say she wasn’t going wherever he wanted her to go but

then changed her mind. She respected Justice and for

whatever reason, he needed her to go somewhere that

required packing. She might not want to go but she

would.

Trisha had no idea what to pack. She cursed and

decided to just take a bit of everything. She grabbed a

few pairs of jeans, a few pairs of slacks, and some nice

shirts along with a universal black dress, just in case.

Underwear followed. She took one pair of high heels, a

pair of slip-ons, and decided to wear the comfortable

running shoes she had on. She also packed up a few sets

of sweats to sleep in.

She walked into her bathroom to pack her overnight

bag. Makeup and personal items went inside it. She

remembered her shampoo and conditioner in case they

were heading for a hotel. She hated samples. Her hair

was too long for them to be of any use.

A black SUV pulled up and honked in front of her

house. Trisha glanced at her watch to see he’d arrived

fifteen minutes early. She clenched her teeth. Slade did

enjoy aggravating her. She grabbed her purse, her

suitcase, and slung her overnight bag across her

shoulder. The weight of all her luggage made her

struggle to get out the front door.

No one came to help her. She stared pointedly at the

security guard driving the SUV but he just watched her

as she closed her front door and fought with the keys to

lock the deadbolt. Some of her irritation eased since the

driver wasn’t Slade. She relaxed, took a deep breath, and

turned. She tried not to groan as she moved down the

sidewalk. Her suitcase was heavy and the bag dug

painfully into her shoulder.

The back door opened on the vehicle and Slade

jumped out. He smiled at her, glancing at her bags. With

a shake of his head he walked to the back of the vehicle

to open up the hatchback. He stepped out of her way,

chuckled, and waved her to put her things inside.

“Gee, thanks for the help.” She shot him a nasty look.

“I said we were going to be gone two days, not two

weeks, Doc. I guess you can stow your own gear if you

think you can wear all that crap you have jammed into

those bags.”

She did groan when she hefted the suitcase up to

dump it into the back of the SUV. “I didn’t know what to

pack and I had to bring different kinds of clothes. It

would have saved a lot packing if someone,” she glared

at him as she tossed in her overnight bag, “told me

where I was going and what this is about.”

He closed the hatchback. “Let’s go, Doc. We don’t

have all day to stand here chatting.”

Trisha was pissed. She gripped her purse in a

stranglehold. The door to the back of the SUV still stood

open, she moved before Slade could and climbed inside,

knowing he’d been sitting there. She shot him a mean

smile while getting comfortable in the still-warm-from-

his-butt seat. She slammed the door and turned to ask

Justice what was going on. The vehicle was empty except

for the driver and Slade, who opened the other door

across from her and climbed inside. The door closed.

“We’re picking up Justice last?”She hated the

hopeful tone in her voice.

Slade put on his seat belt. “Buckle up, Doc. Nope.

Justice already left. We’re meeting him in a few hours.”

She sighed, securing her belt. “Where are we going?”

She gave her attention to the security guard behind the

wheel in front of her. “I’m Dr. Trisha Norbit. What’s your

name, driver?”

“Bart,” he shared cheerfully. He met Trisha’s gaze in

the rearview mirror. “We’re heading up north to a

private resort.”

Trisha frowned uneasily. “Why?”

“Oh,” Bart started the SUV, “Mr. North has set a

bunch of meetings up there. They figured it would be

remote enough to make the press really uncomfortable if

they wanted to attempt to follow him there and camp out

to see what he’s doing. We’re hoping they don’t find out

about it until after the fact.”

Trisha ignored Slade. “What kind of meetings? Do

you know?”

“Oh sure.” The young guy was really talkative,

which suited Trisha. “Mr. North wants to buy some land

up there for New Species. He’s set meetings with all the

officials out there and the guy who wants to sell the land.

I heard he wanted you present in case someone has any

questions about medical crap.” He took a breath. “You

heard those stupid rumors about how people can catch

parvo and stuff from New Species, right? I was kind of

worried but Tiger swore it was bullshit. Do you know

Tiger, Dr. Norbit? It’s not true, is it? I can’t catch any

animal diseases from working with New Species, can I?

Because that’s something I would really hate. I think they

should give us hazard pay if that’s true. My mom says I

should go to a vet and get vaccine shots just in case bec

—”

“Shut up,” Slade snarled.

Trisha jumped at the tone of Slade’s voice and Bart

closed his mouth. She swung her head to glare at Slade.

He shrugged.

“He talks too much. It annoys me.”

Trisha tried to hide her disgust. “I promise you can’t

catch parvo from New Species, Bart. Thank you,” she

stressed those words, “for telling me where we are going

and why.” She shot Slade another nasty look. “Some

people don’t appreciate someone who is polite but I

certainly do.”

Slade turned a little, faced her more from his position

on the seat, and smiled as he crossed his arms over his

broad chest. He openly stared at her breasts and kept his

focus there. “I can be really nice when I want to be. I

know how to stimulate conversation.” His gaze rose and

he winked at her. “I’m pretty good with my oral skills

when I’m motivated.” He glanced down to her lap and

his grin widened. “I’m very good with my oral skills.”

You son of a bitch. Trisha ground her teeth, refusing to

say it aloud. He wasn’t talking about conversation and

she knew it. Why did he always try to annoy her? Maybe

he thought he could embarrass her by his blatant sexual

innuendos but she was a doctor. She took a deep breath