Beast's Beauty: A Xeno Sapiens Novel (Genetically Altered Humans Book 4) Read online

  “Sunny!” Beast snarled, stepping in front of Heather and into the line of fire. “Stop it!”

  How dare he think to protect his mistress? A short burst of power snapped in anger, blasting him in the chest. He clutched his chest, gasping as if inhaling it. Terror ripped through her midsection. Was that the same snap of energy that had sucked Mike’s soul instantly? She didn’t mean for it to strike out. Everyone had said she could control it now, but Robyn and Beast had mentioned that she should try to practice exerting and releasing the control. Now she wished she’d bothered.

  “Beast!” she screamed as he went down, falling backward onto Heather, who collapsed under his weight.

  Beast’s face was relaxed in his unconscious state, but she could tell he was about to crumble to dust. His skin—normally a deep, rich, ebony that was a perfect foil for his bright golden stripes—was now a lighter shade. More—camouflaged. This wasn’t quite how it had worked with Mike. He had dusted immediately. But Beast was stronger. Perhaps there was a way to stop it before it spread from just his skin to the depth of his organs.

  The flurry of voices all around her snapped into instant awareness as Jett and Brax reached them, pulling Beast’s heavy, dead weight off Heather, who was just as unconscious. More running and yelling came from the trees. Suddenly Jason and Lily were there. They’d probably been on their own way home, but hearing the commotion made them rush to join the rescue.

  Jason barked into his communicator. “Get a hovercraft and a team out here. I have two Xeno Sapiens, but I’ll need more. It’s Beast, and he’s a heavy son of a bitch. Make sure Robyn and Amanda are prepared. Sunny?” He touched her arm. “Are you in control?”

  “Yes,” she blinked the tears away. “I always was. I was just so angry. I’m not sure how it escaped.”

  “He’s just unconscious. He’s not sucked dry, see? His skin is just…light. This is something else. You can control this, remember?”

  Lily was with the twins, kneeling over Heather, her fingers on her neck. “She’s breathing. She’s just unconscious.”

  From behind them, a hovercraft floated with several men stepping out of the interior.

  Jason pulled her to her feet. “Let’s get them loaded up. Sunny, walk with me. It’ll do you good.”

  There was one hovercraft. Beast would be riding in it with Heather. Surprisingly, the jealousy that had eaten at her was no longer there. It had vanished, leaving her in a numb state of shock.

  Jason nodded at Lily, leaving her with Brax and Jett. He took her arm and led her through the trees. He never even worried about Lily.

  That was how she should have been with Beast. She should never have worried that he was attracted to someone else. What was going on in her head?

  “I can’t believe I hurt him,” she wept.

  “Sunny, no offense, but Beast is one tough son of a…gun. I really don’t think he’s hurt. He was stunned into unconsciousness, but he’ll be fine. Relax. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “I’ve just been crazy lately. I found out he’s been spending a lot of time with her, and it made me insane. I mean, I know better…but there’s that nagging little worry that he is interested in her.”

  “He’s not,” Jason said shortly. “He’s on a case. But that’s top secret, and he needs to be the one to tell you himself. Though I’m not sure why he hasn’t.”

  His words stunned her into silence for the rest of the short walk. By the time they got to the main hub, Sunny was sure every Xeno Sapien they passed on the way to the medical wing looked at her with accusing eyes.

  Robyn stood in the hallway, waiting.

  “How is he?” Sunny asked her.

  “They’re both fine and awake.” Robyn looked at Jason. “I think it’s best if you talk to Heather. She wants to leave right away, but she’s a bit malnourished and dehydrated. It was the stress that caused her collapse. I want her to stay at least a day for observation. Especially as we’re at fault here.”

  Sunny winced. Robyn took her arm and squeezed her elbow as Jason walked off. “Quit blaming yourself, silly. They’re both fine. Let’s go see your guy.”

  He was sitting up in the bed, an ice pack on his chest where her energy had surged into him. His skin had darkened again though it wasn’t yet black. The spot on the center of his chest was still light and looked swollen.

  “I told you to leave your shirt on,” Robyn said as they entered.

  “I told you Sunny would want to admire my chest,” he said back.

  Sunny ran to him. “I’m so sorry!”

  “It’s fine,” he said, tugging her hair back so he could kiss her. “As long as you’re not mad at me anymore.”

  “I’m not,” she said.

  “Let me check that fine chest for your heartbeat and I’ll leave you two alone,” Robyn said. She ran the scanner over his muscled chest and clucked her tongue. “Lord, I don’t know why they even brought you in. This isn’t even the equivalent of a skinned knee. Check yourself out as soon as you soothe him.” Robyn winked at Sunny and left the room.

  “You’re not hurt?” She sounded confused.

  “No, my love.” His voice was soft. “I just needed you to gain control. That’s the first time you decided to own the power. You’d been avoiding it. Instead, Robyn and I practiced with a laser she’d made, and it turns out I can absorb your power. Though I wasn’t expecting the color change.”

  “I thought you and her…you and she…”

  He winced. “I know. But that’s not it at all. There’s something up with her. I was just trying to bait her, get her to open up, is all.”

  “Jason told me you were on a case. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want you to worry. You’re about to go back out to work and…Sunny, this situation has to do with you.”

  “What does?”

  “I’m not sure if Heather realizes it, but she’s a familial match for the DNA found from Mike, the human you met.”

  He avoided saying you killed.

  “What do you mean she doesn’t realize it?”

  “She may not. As far as we can tell, she was adopted by her grandmother, Elsa Marlow. Her mother’s mother. She never knew her father. That’s the DNA link to Mike, who is related to her father.”

  “If she doesn’t know him, why did she come here?”

  “We’re going to find out. We’ve been following her, trying to see what she’s up to. Even now, Jason’s friending her, feeding her bits of false information to see if the news leaks out. One of the stories is how to get me to lose my strength. He claims chopping off my braids will do it.” Beast grinned at the lie. “From what we think is happening, Heather’s protecting her grandmother, who seems to have gone missing. Our first course of action is to see where she’s being held. Then we’ll be able to determine if Heather is innocent or if she’s willingly helping her father’s family.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

  “You felt so guilty over killing him. I didn’t want to bring it all up again, just when we were getting along so great.” He pulled her to him, cradling her against his massive chest.

  She looked up at him. “If she’s innocent, I’ll owe her a big apology.”

  “That’s if.”

  “The twins will be heartbroken if she’s not.”

  “I know.” He looked worried. “That’s why we’re taking this so slow. But let’s get back to you and me. I thought you understood…you’re mine. You’ll always be mine. I will never let you go, and I will never want anyone else. I thought I showed you that every time we made love.”

  “I thought I was showing that each time we made love, too. I kept telling myself I was being silly, but I was just jealous enough to go to the den. And then I thought my fears were verified when you came out with her. I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

  “What do you mean showing that?”

  “Your lovemaking isn’t…gentle like before. It’s more demanding now. I loved it then, and I love
it now. But you never say you love me. Not until just now when you left. I thought everything was normal, and that’s when I saw you with her.”

  “I was trying to avoid telling you this time. I loved you back on the island but when I told you, everything changed.”

  “I loved you then, too, Beast. My power hit, and I sensed it would harm those who caused high emotion in me. I couldn’t hurt you, never you. I had to push you away.”

  “And now we know that I’m immune to your power. I can absorb it. Will that make you wonder in the future if I’ll be unsure if you truly love me or if you’re only with me because I can take it?”

  “No. I fell in love with you before we found that out.”

  “That’s called trust, baby. We have to trust each other. Trust what we feel is real.”

  She curled up against him, her head in the crook of his shoulder while he held her tight. “I trust you. I love you so much.”

  His arms tightened around her. “I love you, too, Sunny. I always have. I always will. When you welcomed my touch again, I wanted to be aggressive. I wanted to show you how much you needed me, would crave me. I was so focused on changing my lovemaking from what it was before—on the island. When I worshipped you with reverence.”

  “I welcome both ways. I’m looking forward to exploring how many different ways we can make love. If you can take me home now.” She grinned as she looked up at him and then sobered as his almost black lips—with one strip of gold bisecting them—touched her gold ones.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next day she went to visit medbay. Heather was turned toward the window, watching the beauty of the setting sun.

  “Knock, knock,” Sunny called softly.

  Heather turned toward the door, a look of surprise washing over her face to see her. “Sunny. Hi.”

  “May I come in?”

  “Of course.”

  Sunny stepped inside, coming to the chair near Heather’s bedside. “I hear you’re going to stay another night and leave tomorrow morning.”

  “Yes, though it would be fine if I left tonight. I’m perfectly all right. It was just anxiety, and then I passed out. But Dr. Becker just wants to make sure.”

  “I’m really sorry about this. I jumped to conclusions that were unwarranted.”

  Heather looked away quickly.

  “I wouldn’t have really hurt you,” she said. “Beast was wary because in the past, I hadn’t been able to control a rogue burst of angry energy that I’ve developed from my alien DNA.”

  “Jason told me it was broken, and I’m not in any danger.”

  Sunny nodded, willing to go along with any story, though she wondered why Jason would say it was broken. Then she realized…if Heather wasn’t innocent, if she knew Mike or the fact that he was dead, she would be able to surmise that Sunny was the one who had done it. If she knew that, everyone could assume she was working with the gang who’d kidnapped Sunny.

  “You’re not in danger. But when Beast stepped in, all I could think was why he was defending you if there was no reason to. I thought perhaps he liked you more than he should.”

  Again, Heather looked guilty. She traced the edge of the blanket on her lap.

  “He’s never been…like that. He just escorted me to and from the den and the main hub. That’s it.”

  “I understand. And I hope we can be friends?”

  Heather’s smile was uneasy. “I’d like that.”

  “I really am sorry, Heather.” Sunny let the truth ring in her voice because no matter what, she was. Heather was a nice person—obviously under some sort of manipulation, no matter what anyone else thought. Hell, Sunny herself had been under Mike’s burgeoning control. At this moment, she could have been stuck in his home, watching his two brats for him.

  Heather’s smile was just as genuine. “It’s really okay. No harm, no foul.”

  It was at that moment that Sunny knew she was innocent in this game of blackmail and deceit. Beast was right, and they would need to band together to prove it to the others.

  “Heather, if you ever need anything, you let me know.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind giving me a shuttle ride to the main gate tomorrow, I’d appreciate it. Originally I was going to leave in the morning, but Dr. Amanda extended it to the evening. I understand a cab will be called for me once I’m outside the gates.”

  “Of course,” Sunny smiled. “I’ll be here in the evening. Seven o’clock?”

  Heather nodded. “Amanda wants to keep me a full forty-eight hours, so I’ll be able to leave by then.”

  “That long? It must be pretty boring for you.”

  “It’s been okay, actually. A few curious Xeno Sapiens have showed up and visited with me. They have their own humans and wanted to know if we were all the same.”

  Sunny couldn’t help the burst of laughter. “Well, that’s reverse curiosity.”

  Heather’s grin was wry. “Right? After we were trying to be so politically correct when we arrived for our orientation weeks ago. But it’s been nice to get to know people.”

  “No Brax? Jett?”

  “No, but they are sending letters with others. I’m glad for that. And I’m excited to meet them next week. I feel like I know so much more about them already. So I’ll write some letters back, telling them about me. How I grew up, what it was like to study on Alpha One. Amanda says she’ll make sure they get them after I leave.”

  “Or if you want, I can drop them off on my way home. I pass by their place, remember?”

  “That’s right! If you wouldn’t mind, that would be awesome. Maybe they might even write me another tomorrow if they get some of mine tonight.” She fished in the small drawer next to the bed for the letters.

  Sunny took them with a smile. “Okay, I’m off then. If you do get bored tomorrow, have someone get a hold of me, and I’ll come to visit. Otherwise, I’ll see you at seven.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Sunny.”

  Heather waved as Sunny left the room.

  Beast waited for her out in the hall.

  “All finished?” he murmured.

  She nodded, reaching out to touch his skin. “It’s strange to see you without the darkness against your stripes.”

  He shrugged. “It’s only coloring. I imagine it’ll come back one day. If not, we’ll get used to this look. It was worth it to find out I can absorb your power. Now you never have to worry.”

  She nodded, because he was right. Though she loved the deep black of his skin, the muted shade was a reminder of her power inside him. She didn’t have to worry about hurting him anymore. “We’ll stop off at the twins’ den to give them her letters on the way home.”

  They headed out of the building and began to walk back through the trees that led to their cabin.

  “Tomorrow we’re following Heather in the invisi-car to see where she lives. She’s supposed to keep her address updated with us, but we have reason to believe she hasn’t. Remember how she spoke of returning to Earth-Ground to care for her grandmother? It’s odd that her address isn’t her grandmother’s address.”

  “I don’t think she’s guilty at all,” Sunny said. “Especially after talking to her. I think she’s a victim in all of this.”

  “So do I. It’s why I volunteered us.”

  Sunny hugged him tightly, an arm around his waist as they walked.

  “You and I,” his voice rumbled from deep in his chest. “We’re always on the same wavelength.”

  “We’re a team. We’ve always been a team. I just needed to get my head out of my ass.” She grinned up at him, stopping their walk.

  “But it’s such a cute ass,” he whispered, kissing her forehead. “I’ll be waiting there for you in the invisi-car tomorrow when she calls you to take her to the gates. We’ll follow her.”

  “Just you and me?” This pleased her to no end.

  “Yes. We’re a team,” he reiterated, touching his forehead to hers.

  * * * * *

  Sunny bounded up the ste
ps and into the halls of medical. Spotting her from the window of her office, Robyn flagged her down.

  “Are you picking up Heather?”

  “I am.”

  “That’s nice of you to take her to the gates,” Robyn said. “Amanda’s giving her one last check over.”

  “I don’t think she’s a terrible person,” Sunny said.

  “I don’t either. That’s why I have this.”

  From a bag on her shoulder, Robyn produced a square box. She flipped it open and showed Sunny two symbols next to the viewing screen. “The blue one is visual. The red one enables sound.” She laughed. “Sorry about using nail polish to mark the buttons. I was throwing this together on short notice using pieces laying around here.” Her voice became business-like again. “So, there are two ways to do this. If she goes into a solitary home, it would be perfect. You can pick up on each room with both buttons. However, if she lives in a place with lots of people, you might want to just have the visual button on and mute out all the sound, because it will pick up everything going on and make for a sea of confusing voices. Later, we can try to splice some computer generated lip reading to match the visual of the focused conversation we want. How long will you guys be watching her?”

  “Long enough to see where she’s staying, for one thing. See if she contacts anyone, who she hangs out with, stuff like that.”

  “I can come up with a better version later, but this recorder is all I had time for with such short notice. I’m going to see if I can link it with my computer here.” She snapped the box shut, placing it back into the shoulder bag.

  “I’m more than happy you came up with this.”

  “Hey, I want to keep you both safe. It’ll be great protection if you can stay hidden inside the invisi-car and watch from the viewing screen. And I think you and Beast are on the right track,” Robyn said softly. “Now that we’ve gotten to know her, Amanda and I both believe there’s more to the story than meets the eye. I trust you guys to figure it out for her sake.”

  “And for Brax and Jett.”

  “They’re beside themselves with worry for her,” Robyn agreed. “Take the fancy designer purse with the recorder.” She smiled. “It’s Amanda’s anyway.”