Brawn - Laurann Dohner [36]
“Exotic animal collectors.” His voice deepened.
“Yeah or other freaks.”
“Why were you screaming after they took you away?” He sniffed her and opened his eyes. “Where are you hurt?” One hand released her back to gently cup her injured face, avoided touching her cheek, but studied it. “You were stuck.” His hand dropped to her waist.
“One of the bastards bruised my thigh. They think they can use me to control you because it made you mad enough to roar the first time I screamed. I also kind of attacked one, trying to free the Species guy so I got nailed in the face.”
He wrapped both arms around her and lifted—surprised her with that move—and carried her to the cot. He adjusted his hold, sat down and put her across his lap. One arm remained behind her back but his other one gripped the hem of her nightshirt, tugging it up to expose her thighs.
She didn’t protest, saw he was intent on examining the red marks and he pulled the material down quickly. His gaze met hers and silence stretched between them.
He finally sighed and lowered his focus to her mouth. “We need to talk.”
Shit. “I know.” She whispered, hoping it was soft enough not to be overheard. “They think we’re sleeping together already and I didn’t tell them otherwise. I just let them keep assuming. It seemed the smart thing to do at the time but now they expect me to um, help you donate sperm.” She rushed on before she lost her nerve, “You should have seen what they did to that other Species guy. I would rather do whatever it takes than let them hurt you that way.”
“What did they do?”
She dropped her gaze to his bare chest, unable to look him in the eyes as she muttered a description of the machines and how they worked. His arm tightened around her waist but he remained silent until she stopped talking.
“Look at me.” He took a deep breath and peered into her eyes when she did.
“What?”
“You know what needs to happen if a rescue team hasn’t found us by the time they want those samples. I don’t want them to do that to me.” Anger tensed his jaw. “It’s too much to ask of you, isn’t it?”
A blush warmed her cheeks and it was her turn to study his mouth. It was a plush one, full and tempting. “Any other time I’d probably be happy to, um…yeah. This isn’t exactly romantic, is it?”
“Becca.”
She stared into his blue eyes. “I know. It was a sad attempt at a joke.”
“I won’t force you to agree to this. Say no and I’ll go with them willingly to avoid putting you in danger if I fight.”
She hesitated, her mind working and made a decision. “I was attracted to you the moment we met and I still am so touching you to help turn you on wouldn’t be a hardship. I just wish we weren’t here under these circumstances. I’m not an exhibitionist so that’s going to make it worse.”
“What is that?”
She grinned, glad for the humor. “It’s someone who enjoys having sex or committing sexual acts in front of other people. They get off on it. It arouses them more that other people can see what is being done to them.” She glanced at the camera and all her bravo disappeared. “There are probably cameras in that room too. I forgot to look, too horrified by what was happening. Shit. I hope they aren’t keeping recordings of any of the feeds. My dad is going to have a massive heart attack if I end up being featured on some porn site with you.”
He gripped her jaw, turned her face until their gaze met and kept hold of her. “I will make this up to you somehow and we will survive this.”
The sincerity in his voice assured her that whatever they had to face, they would do it together.
“You can trust me. I hate these bastards.”
Rage filled Brawn as he tried to console Rebecca Oberto. She tried to be