Justice

Chapter Sixteen

Breeze paced the bedroom, shooting glances at Jessie and clenched her fists. “It makes more sense now. Justice is very smart.” She paused. “Now I see it. He moved you into this house to keep you next door to him. Everyone wondered why he would put a human here. They only live in the human village except for Ellie who lives with Fury. We were told it was because Justice is close with your father and he wanted you in the safest place at Homeland. These homes are guarded and secured more than any others.”

“I know.”

“He lives next door and can come in here without anyone knowing.”

Jessie nodded. “I know.”

Breeze gaped at her. “He is so smart. Tonight…” Breeze threw her hand over her mouth before dropping it to her side. “He wasn’t worried about your safety or you being in a bar with our kind. He was jealous. He was so enraged over you being there and you were dancing with Flame.”

“I know that too.”

Breeze’s gaze narrowed. “He was so enraged, Jessie. You could have gotten Flame killed when you agreed to dance with him and that’s why he stopped him from taking you home. Possessiveness in one of our males is dangerous but I warned you of that.”

“Justice was out with Kit. We don’t have commitments. I stopped seeing him two weeks ago.”

“Did you see his rage?”

“Did you see his hands all over Kit and the way she was touching him?”

“Good point.” Breeze sat down. “Poor Jessie.”

“You won’t tell anyone, will you? Please don’t.”

“I won’t ever do anything to harm Justice. Now it all makes sense. He is not stupid.

He is Justice North.”

“So a name makes him smarter?” Jessie smirked.

Breeze’s mouth softened into a smile. “No. It just makes sense why he wouldn’t claim you and would hide being with you. He represents us to your world and we all look up to him. He is respected greatly and appreciated for all he does.” Breeze’s smile faded and sadness filled her gaze. “Being with a human could harm him in many ways, Jessie.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I know. I get it. I do. I remember the press went crazy when Ellie and Fury were married. It was a circus and all those hate groups were popping up on talk shows ranting about how wrong it was for them to be together.

Fury and Ellie are just regular people no one knew about until then. Justice is…”

“Justice North. Everyone knows his face and name.” Breeze reached over and squeezed Jessie’s knee in support. “It will be big news when he takes a mate, no matter who it is. It would be more accepted in both our worlds if she were one of my kind. It’s expected.”

“I know.” Fresh tears filled her eyes. “You’re not saying anything that shocks me.”

Breeze hesitated. “You told me your secrets. Can I tell you one of ours? You have to swear on your life to never tell, Jessie. This is very serious. You are in so much pain but you need to know another reason why Justice would be so set in taking one of my kind as a mate instead of you.”

“I swear. What is it?”

“You know a lot about us but do you know that we can’t have children?”

“Yes. I don’t care about that. I’d willingly give up having a family to be with him.”

“Jessie, if Justice were to take you as a mate he would have to worry about something happening that could reveal one of our most feared secrets. We have to protect ourselves from certain things getting out there. Justice is in the public eye all the time and you would be too as his mate. There would be no hiding that secret forever with the two of you. Our other mixed couples can be hidden away and no one would ask questions in your world. It will be harder with Ellie and Fury but the news of them has died down enough since they married. They also never leave Homeland or have to talk to any humans if they don’t wish to.”

“I don’t understand. Why would the mixed couples have to be hidden?”

Breeze locked gazes with Jessie’s. “Swear on your life that you will never reveal what I’m about to say. It would put many lives in danger.”

“I swear.”

Breeze shifted on the bed. “Remember when I said I came home because Ellie had news to share with me?”

“Yes.”

“She’s pregnant.”

Shock tore through Jessie. “How?”

“She had sex with her mate after having a surgery to fix a blocked fallopian tube. It kept them from a successful pregnancy but now everything worked.”

“But―”

“Human females and Species males can conceive a baby together. We discovered this by accident when one of your females got pregnant by one of our males. We’ve hidden it from humans but that baby has been born already. Our mutated genes are dominant and the infant appears fully Species. We think all the children born to mixed couples will be. If your world found out—”

“Oh God.” Jessie reeled from shock. “Those hate group fanatics would go crazy.

They are sure that one day you will all grow old and die off. They have bets going on when the last of you will die, like those death pools some sickos make on celebrities.

They are such assholes.”

“Yes. If Justice were to take a human mate that secret would come out if you were to get pregnant.” Breeze hesitated. “Our doctors are working on finding out why we can’t get pregnant—it’s a female problem, obviously not with our males. The female reproductive system is far more complicated and we’re not sure if they’ll ever figure it out. We hope one day it’s possible since we all want children. He would want a child too if Justice were to take you for his mate. He would have the choice. It would be hard for me to resist having a child if I could. He couldn’t conceal you or that child because, as his mate, everyone would notice if you were not at his side. We hope with time that the hate groups will disband and everyone will accept our existence but right now would be a bad time to let the world know there are infant Species. We’re terrified they’ll become targets and we must protect them at all cost. They are our future.”

Jessie closed her eyes, pain seared through her and the magnitude of Justice’s position had never been clearer. “I get it. He can’t ever be with me.”

“He’d risk too much. It would not only put your life in danger but his own and those babies. All of your kind who mated or could mate with our males would represent the possibility of creating more of us. The hate groups would stop at nothing to prevent that.”

“I get it.” Her heart was breaking. She’d had hope that he’d miss her, he’d change his mind, but now that was dashed to bits. He wasn’t paranoid. He’d understated the danger if anything. “It’s really over between us.”

“Do you want to move into the women’s dorm, Jessie? Is being next door to him too hard?”

“I have to think about it.”

“I have never been in love but it must be torture.”

A laugh bubbled up from Jessie. “Yes. That’s a perfect word to describe it.”

“Justice is not serious about Kit. Sometimes he will take a female dancing or share sex if they are both interested. He never sees anyone more than once in a while. Does that help you? If he mounts Kit tonight it will just be sex. You are the female he put close to his house and slept with in a bed. He never has asked a female to do that before.

I would have heard about it, and to be honest, they would have agreed to allow Justice to constrict some of their freedom. He’s well respected and any female would be honored if he wanted them close to him. He feels for you. Know that and be comforted by it.”

All Jessie felt was raw, horrible, gut-wrenching pain. “I need another drink.”

“I will join you. I hate alcohol but we will suffer together.”

“You’re a great friend. Thank you.”

“I’m just sorry you fell for Justice. Flame would have been a better choice and you could have had him as your mate.”

Justice paced the living room at Reservation. Memories of Jessie haunted him. He was always given the same hotel suite when he visited, it was considered his second home and his gaze lingered on the couch where she’d given him a massage.

He missed her. It was a constant ache that never faded, a pain that made his heart hurt and a deep sadness that wouldn’t leave him. Jessie Dupree had changed his life and attempting to forget her seemed impossible. He cursed, ran his fingers through his hair and hated life.

The computer screen beckoned him and he sat on the edge of the couch, close to the exact spot he’d been in when Jessie had put her hands on him. He clenched his teeth.

The news had run with the story about a Species male marrying a human. They didn’t know Valiant or Tammy’s names but it hadn’t stopped the press from going to print or television.

He read report after report of incoming phone death threats, a few copies of gate incident reports at both Homeland and Reservation when the protesters grew rowdy after hearing about the wedding and finally the assessment level the human task-force team had sent. They were at high alert for an attack.

The cell phone rang and he snatched it up, flipped it open and pressed it to his ear.

“Justice here.”

“Sorry to call so late,” Brass said and sighed. “Were you sleeping yet? I know you just arrived an hour ago and have a meeting first thing in the morning.”

“I’m still awake. What is wrong?”

The hesitation on the part of the other male made him tense. It had to be pretty bad for Brass not to want to share the information or to call him at that late hour.

“Tell me. I’ll imagine far worse.”

“I doubt it. Your meeting has been moved and they are coming here to your office instead of you going to them. Miles Eron called, their offices were broken into and though they didn’t get access to our files, it was clearly their intent.”

A headache formed and Justice leaned back, his free hand rubbing his forehead.

“How do they know that? Maybe it was just a human crime.”

“Miles said he keeps all our information locked in a safe and they weren’t able to break into it but they spray-painted graffiti on the walls. It was geared against us.”

“What did it say?”

“Just the general stuff and how they are angry that Miles and his company work for us. He said the damage was minimal but he’s afraid you coming there would be a risk to your safety. He’s driving here instead.”

“Damn.”

“They are either humans who hate us or it was vultures looking for the names of Valiant and Tammy. Some of our officers have reported that some paparazzi have come to the gates to offer them money for information on the couple. They have been heavily harassed by them all day and evening. It’s ongoing. I wouldn’t put it past them to break into Miles’ offices and make it appear as if a hate group did it. He agreed with me and so did the police investigating since the damage wasn’t bad and nothing was stolen.

They targeted the safe as if they knew where to look.”

“Just what we needed.”

“I also have another issue.”

“Terrific. What else is wrong?”

“We had two breaches at Reservation. They were caught before they cleared the walls but they did reach the top before they were apprehended. One of them had a camera and is known from his police record for trespassing to take photos of celebrities to sell to the tabloids. The second male was armed and ranting about killing the woman who would dishonor herself by allowing a minister to marry her before God. We had them both transferred to the local sheriff. One is going to jail while the other is being sent to a hospital for a mental evaluation.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Justice sighed loudly, thinking of Jessie again. That man with a gun could come after her if anyone found out they’d been seeing each other. It just proved being with him put her in too much danger. He might miss her and it tore him up but she was safe at least.

“Justice?”

“I’m here.”

“Miles will meet you in your office here at nine o’clock. I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

“It’s my job.”

“Good night and try to get some sleep.”

“You too.”

He hung up and stared at the spot where Jessie had sat on the back of the couch.

His eyes closed and he allowed the pain to grip him. His fingers curled tighter around the phone. The desire to call her house was so strong he nearly gave in to it but it would only make things harder. He would talk to her tomorrow after he returned to Homeland. He’d do it before the event at the bar tomorrow night, which had been planned to help Species relations with humans.

A decision had to be made about whether he should have her continue to live in the house next to his. It was too tempting to be so close to her but the idea of Jessie anywhere else was just too hard to consider. He might not be able to be with her but knowing she was so close would have to do.

He rose to his feet, turned everything off and headed to bed. He doubted he’d sleep.

His thoughts were too fractured between the safety of his people and the fact that he wished a long-haired redhead waited between his sheets.

Images filled his head of what he’d do to Jessie if she were there. He’d touch and kiss every inch of her body. His cock twitched just considering the possibility. He swore he could almost smell her. He sniffed the room, sure her real scent had long faded. No trace lingered. It was all in his head.

Some males who had mated reported being obsessed with the need to be close to their mates. It stopped him cold on his way to the bathroom. Oh God. She’s not my mate.

Stop it! Don’t go there! It’s bad enough already without those crazy thoughts.

He walked into the bathroom, flipped on the light and gripped the counter to lean forward. He peered deeply into his own eyes, their appearance so different from humans and a constant reminder that life had handed him difficult challenges.

If any other male had wanted to take a human for a mate he’d strongly back them on it. He’d happily deal with whatever headaches arose from the fallout. They’d plot the best way to deal with whatever threats arose and handle them. They didn’t mind challenges—life would be simpler without them but they didn’t shy away from battles.

Of course it hadn’t been his female who’d been put in danger. Jessie would be the one with a target on her back, he’d be putting everyone out, and he’d sworn to do everything in his power to make life easier for Species. Anger tightened his hold on the edge of the counter and it cracked under his strong hands. He glanced down, saw the damage, softly cursed and released it.

Everything he touched seemed to break when it came to Jessie. His jaw clenched and a growl threatened to rise. “Not her, not for me. I won’t put the woman I love in danger.”

Three beers later Jessie knew she’s passed well beyond drunk to flat-out bombed.

Breeze had taken down a six-pack of beer by herself and drank most of a bottle of wine she’d found buried at the bottom of the fridge. Breeze studied Jessie.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“I can’t stand up.”

Breeze laughed. “Lightweight. Justice deserves you. You are wonderful and you deserve a good male as your mate. He should take a chance and so should you. Maybe your world won’t be as opposed to the idea as Justice thinks. For the most part they took it well when Ellie and Fury married. It was bumpy at first but it seemed your kind loved them after Fury nearly died protecting Ellie. Maybe they will one day find out about our children and not be disagreeable. Who really could hate a cute little baby?

You and Justice deserve to be together and be happy.”

“He won’t think so and I don’t like the part about Fury nearly dying. I don’t want Justice to be shot.”

“Our males are stubborn sometimes and set in their ways. They won’t see reason when they should. We should make him see that he should be with you despite causing some trouble.”

Breeze blurred as Jessie watched her, pretty sure it was her eyesight and not the woman melting. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. He doesn’t listen well.”

“There is a party tomorrow night at the bar we went to tonight. I’m going to get you invited, Jessie. You are going to get dressed up and show Justice that he can’t ignore you.”

Jessie laughed and nearly fell out of the chair. She gripped the table to keep upright.

One hand missed and she hit her thigh.

“Jessie? Look at me.”

Jessie did. “Which one of you? There are two.”

Breeze shook with laughter. It made Jessie feel motion sick and she groaned.

“Don’t worry. I will take care of all of it. We will make Justice realize you are the female for him. You won’t cry anymore.”

“What does that mean?”

Breeze looked thoughtful. “I hope you are not shy.”

“Shy?” Jessie suffered a bout of lightheadedness. She tried to shift on her seat but slumped over.

Breeze laughed as she caught Jessie before she hit the floor. “Lightweight,” she chuckled, lifting her and tossing her over her shoulder. Breeze carried her into her bedroom and dumped her on the bed. “Now let’s see if you own anything sexy.” She approached the closet, a determined look on her face.