“I’m so sorry for what he did. It doesn’t appear he got—” Her voice died. To say Jacob hadn’t raped him much or seemed not to have penetrated him deeply sounded horrific to even note. This shouldn’t have happened at all. “You’re going to be fine.” At least physically, she amended. Her hands released his ass.
She moved from between his spread thighs to crawl up next to his body and leaned down to study his features. He watched her and she couldn’t miss the look of rage. His lips parted to reveal sharp fangs. He snarled at her, a little louder than the mild growl he’d given her before. His body didn’t move though.
Dear God, he has canines. She could see the sharper teeth at close range. Like a dog’s or maybe a vampire’s. She guessed it had probably been some kind of canine breed. It could account for the terrifying growl that erupted from the back of his throat that eerily resembled a vicious dog. She hesitated, afraid he’d snap at her with those sharp teeth if she got too close.
“Easy,” she urged again. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Peering into his eyes told her a few things. His pupils were unusually large and he seemed a little confused. Jacob had obviously drugged him pretty strongly but she had no idea what he’d used. The powerful guy sprawled on the floor probably couldn’t move. He’d have fought otherwise when Jacob had assaulted him. He lay meekly next to her but his eyes were lively and another growl tore from his slightly parted lips. She tried not to shiver from the sight of his sharp fangs.
“Did he do anything else to you? Did he mention what drug he gave you?”
416 stopped growling but he didn’t say anything. It made her wonder if he could speak. The drug might be preventing him from doing more than making throat noises. Ellie knew she’d have to check him over, do it quickly, and think a way out of the mess she’d created by rushing to 416’s cell. The security cameras would have recorded her going into the room.
She opened the metal pin cemented into the floor to release the arm chains that held him flat to the floor and grunted as she pushed the large male onto his back. He was very tall and had to weigh at least two hundred sixty pounds or so. She tried hard not to gawk at his wide chest or the fact that he didn’t have on any clothes.
Ellie took note of how tan he appeared and determined it had to be his natural skin tone since they kept him below ground. His coloring never changed. With his dark-brown hair and deep-chocolate eye color she thought he had to be a good portion Native American. Of course she couldn’t miss the fact that he was a great deal bigger than any Native Americans she’d ever seen. She guessed he had German or some other husky, tall ancestry too.
He wasn’t handsome in any conventional sense, his cheekbones so pronounced they made him appear too harsh. Some might not consider him good-looking but he was quite exotically beautiful. She guessed the bone structure might be caused by whatever genetic altering had been done to him. He looked human but not quite fully so. With his hate-filled glare and the tense jaw, it gave him a snarling appearance, which he actually did the moment Ellie inched closer. The deep growl made her pause, heart pounding, and fear shot through her. He looked intensely masculine and rough, projecting how dangerous he could be. It disturbed her that she found him extremely attractive. She couldn’t deny how his muscular body and pure masculine magnetism drew her to him.
If he regained movement she’d die. She knew that and he probably wished he could get his hands on her. She glanced across the room to stare at the cracked and peeling white paint that ran the length of the room on the floor by the door. The staff called it the kill line. All test subjects were shackled by each limb. Though they were strong enough to break chains occasionally, none had ever broken all four at once. They only needed one free limb to kill. She sat inside the kill zone with an enraged, huge male whose two arms were chained but they weren’t connected to anything anymore. That realization made her want to crawl away from him but she resisted the urge.
He’s worth saving. She nodded. He needs help. Check him over, do what you can for him, and pray no one walks in here. Yeah. She could just hope the drugs didn’t wear off immediately. He’d probably snap her neck before she could beg for her life. He had to hate everyone who worked for Mercile and he had a damn good reason. Her gaze landed on Jacob’s dead body, her teeth clenched, and she forced her gaze to return to 416. See how hurt he is.
Red marks marred his stomach. Her fingers traced the proof that Jacob had punched him there. She felt his ribcage where more marks showed. She didn’t feel any broken bones. His belly had firm, hard muscles even while he lay lax, but she didn’t feel anything that would suggest internal bleeding. She tried to stay professional but her fingertips lingered a little too long as she traced an integrate pattern of muscle groups. She couldn’t deny touching him affected her as a woman. He was forbidden, dangerous, and sexy.
Her gaze lowered to his pelvic area, unable not to look at the male she found so appealing, and she gasped. She moved before she thought, gripped his slightly engorged cock, and worked the painful looking bands down the shaft. She tried to be gentle but Jacob had tightly wrapped a thick piece of rubber around the man’s penis a few times. She managed to work it loose and threw the offensive thing away as soon as she got it off. Her fingers gently massaged the reddened skin before she realized how inappropriate the action was. Her gaze lingered there, realized that, even mostly soft, he was impressive. Blood flow had been painfully constricted and prevented from reaching the shaft.
“That son of a bitch,” she muttered, cursing Jacob for doing such a horrible, vicious thing. Her cheeks warmed when she realized what she’d done. More embarrassment slammed her when she realized how her body responded to touching him, even just to remove the offensive implement of torture. She’d been handling his cock.
416 growled. Her gaze flicked up to his face. He watched her with dark, furious eyes. She realized she cradled him still inside her palm and released his cock quickly. “Sorry! I had to remove it.” She glanced down at his appendage and saw the line where the rubber band had injured him was still red and angry looking. “I’m sure it will be okay.”
She hoped so anyway. Jacob had obviously done it to hurt 416. If left that way too long, lack of blood supply to his cock would have done severe damage, but of course that bastard had planned to kill him. It would be a horrible crime to disfigure such a sexy guy. That thought made her want to groan and made her more aware that her body responded to the naked male sprawled in front of her. She mentally shook that line of thought away, couldn’t afford to go there, and needed to stop looking at his bare body.
She bit her lip, thinking hard about how to get them out of the mess they were in. She needed to be free to leave work after her shift and get the data she’d stolen to her handler. Her gaze flicked to the dead guy once more. He lay there, bloody, on the concrete where she’d left him, the cause of his death obviously the blunt-force trauma from pounding his nose with the kit. She’d experienced pure rage to do so much damage. It could be mistaken for damage from a fist. Her gut twisted.
“Shit. I can only see one way out of this.” She met 416’s angry gaze. “I’m sorry about this. I have no choice.” She hesitated, wanted to tell him who she really was, why she had to do something horrific to him, but didn’t dare. What if he tells them? He could. He has no reason to trust anyone who works here. I’m safer if I just have him assume the worst.
416 had been certain Ellie would never harm him. Panic jolted through him from head to toe when she apologized to him for her intent. He tried to move but his body refused to budge. He could move his eyes, blink, and swallow. A few growls had come forth but he couldn’t talk. Does she plan to kill me now? Then why did she take out the technician who attacked me?
Anyone but her, 416 thought frantically, worried he may die helpless, on the floor of his cell. He inhaled the clean scent of the woman who never failed to stir his body. Ellie always came to him sweetly, her touch gentle, and her gaze kind when she’d taken samples
from him. She’d been the only human he’d ever met who gave him warm, honest smiles, and he’d even looked forward to the times she entered his domain. He’d trusted her not to hurt him. She was the only person who could walk inside his cell without him tensing up in anticipation of dread, pain, or humiliation.
He saw fear lurking in her beautiful blue gaze as she stared at him and it wrenched his heart just a little. He’d purposely never threatened her or snarled as he did the other technicians who approached him. Until today. The idea of terrifying her had made him feel regret. It would have ended the smiles that he’d grown to appreciate when she’d begun working there. It hadn’t been long. He had no concept of time but she hadn’t been a part of his life until recently.
His body started to respond to her presence when his cock twitched. It made him suffer pain, throb from whatever the male had done to him, but the movement he felt made him hope that the rest of his body would recover soon as well. Ellie did things to him, made him long to touch her blonde hair and press his nose against her throat to inhale her wonderful scent. He sometimes dreamed about her under him, naked, with him free from his chains. He longed to touch and taste every inch of her body, to hear her voice and learn everything about the woman who fascinated him on every level.
The sound of her voice had always been music to his ears. He wanted to see her smile, learn her laugh and a hundred questions filled his head that he wanted to ask her to know more about the woman who had captured his soul. Her skin appeared unbelievably soft and smelled so good, too good. But now she had stated that she planned to harm him.
It was the worst kind of cruelty and painful betrayal roared through him. He also felt shame at what she’d witnessed. She’d saved him from being raped by the dead male but knew of the suffering he’d taken, the indignity of the human’s cruelty. It pained him to know she’d never look at him again without that image lurking inside her memories. It hurt him on many levels and enraged him. They’d even managed to take away his fantasy of her ever regarding him as a sexual male.
He snarled again in an attempt to scare her, to prevent her from doing whatever she planned. His body refused to work, his limbs unresponsive, but he knew he wouldn’t kill her even if he did manage to break free. He’d just throw her away to a safe distance past the line to prevent the temptation of following what his instincts demanded. He wanted her in ways he knew weren’t possible for a prisoner and his captor.
He watched her rise to her feet and move out of his line of view. When she’d turned him onto his back, it blocked his view of the dead man. He tried to turn his head but couldn’t. He heard her though, smelled her, and heard strange noises. What is she doing?
He had no clue but he dreaded it. All the humans were cruel. They showed no mercy. It still stunned him that she’d killed his attacker—for two reasons. First, she had done it to stop his assault and second, she wasn’t a big woman. She’d taken down a male. He may have misjudged the female. He’d believed her soft, delicate, but she’d attacked a fully grown male in a wild and brutal assault. His heart raced. He tried desperately to move his limbs but they remained unresponsive.
“You’re a worthless bastard. I hate you. I want you to know that,” Ellie hissed.
His mind accepted her words, pain gripped him, but he wasn’t stunned by it. He’d known everyone who worked inside the testing facility considered them nothing more than breathing flesh to abuse. Why he’d thought she’d be any different had been a mistake on his part.
Stupid and unforgivable. Fury gripped him and his finger twitched. He moved his mouth, a silent snarl trapped inside his throat, and promised he’d get even with the woman for fooling him into believing she was different.
“You’re a worthless bastard. I hate you. I want you to know that.” She just hoped that wherever Jacob had gone after death, he could still hear her. She wanted him to know what she thought of him. She wasn’t sorry she’d killed Jacob. It messed with her mind but she figured she’d get over it soon enough. He didn’t deserve her guilty feelings.
Ellie cleaned the kit, studied it, and didn’t spot any traces of Jacob’s blood. The case had dented but she doubted anyone would notice that fact right away. She hid the bloody tissues she’d cleaned it with inside the kit. She had to touch his body and grimaced as she tugged his pants down more to fully expose the condom he’d put on to leave no doubt of his intentions.
Ellie tried to calm the rising panic growing inside her. Her gaze drifted to 416 on the floor. He hadn’t moved an inch, thankfully, and she still breathed because of it. She could only pray that her plan worked and that what she’d been told was true. He was too valuable to kill. The doctors and staff would abuse them but Jacob had planned to kill 416 against Doctor Trent’s orders.
He will be fine. I have to believe that.
She removed another tissue from the kit and wiped some of the still-fresh blood from the floor. She turned to face 416. Will he hate me for doing this? Probably. She just didn’t have a choice. They’d never allow her to leave the underground facility if they suspected her of Jacob’s death. She didn’t even dare tell 416 what she planned to do. If he told anyone, they’d secure her, demand answers, and she’d never reach the surface. She needed to be able to avoid all suspicion to save him and all the other test subjects.
She found the needle that Jacob had used. Luckily he’d recapped the thing after he’d injected 416. She hated to risk 416 getting an infection, but she had no choice but to reuse the needle. She hoped Jacob had not let it touch anything before recapping it. Ellie hesitated. Once done, there would be no going back.
She moved quickly before she could change her mind. She crouched by 416 and wiped the bloodied napkin over his knuckles and hands, smearing Jacob’s blood there. She refused to glance at his face while she framed him for murder. She just couldn’t.
They wouldn’t kill him. Those guys killed techs sometimes. She’d heard that plenty, yet they were still alive. They don’t kill test subjects. They are too valuable. He’ll be fine. She chanted that inside her head.
She rose, dumped the last bit of blood evidence into the kit and removed the syringe from where she’d placed it inside the case, and turned. She hated to hurt him. Tears filled her eyes. He lay there helpless. She wanted to hug him even if he wished her dead. Someone should show him compassion but it couldn’t be her at that moment. Someone needed to take the blame for Jacob’s death to make sure she could leave unmolested to get that data to her handler. Once they received enough proof, a judge would issue search warrants. The testing facility would be searched, the test subjects discovered, and Mercile Industries would be exposed for all the dirty secrets they hid from the world.
She crouched over 416. His beautiful but angry dark gaze focused on her. Rage burned in his intense glare. She swallowed the bile that rose at what she had to do to him next. “I’m sorry. Really. I have to do this to you.”
“I’ll kill you,” he rasped. One hand flopped on the floor next to her. “I swear this!” His throat worked. “I will kill you with my bare hands.”
Fear gripped her that he would do just that, he had obviously started to regain control of his body. She looked down to find the injection site that Jacob had used. She jabbed the needle in, the suppressor already locked down from the original injection, and then lurched to her feet without giving 416 another glance even as he snarled from the pain she’d just inflicted.
She yanked up her kit, ran at the wall next to the door, and turned her face at the last second before she slammed into it. Pain exploded down her cheek. Her knees threatened to buckle and the taste of blood filled her mouth. She didn’t have a mirror but it reminded her of the observation room. What if someone had stepped in there and witnessed what had taken place? She figured, if that were the case, security would have already flooded the room to arrest her.
She hoped her face looked as bad as it felt. Her fingers shook as she punched in the code to the door. It beeped, the steel rods inside the door
slid, and the door popped open as she desperately jerked on it. She stumbled out of the room, the door slammed automatically behind her, and the sharp buzz confirmed that it was locked. She collapsed to her knees in the hallway, turned her head to locate the security camera, and screamed.
“Help! Oh God! Help!”
Seconds passed and seemed to grow to a least a minute before the sound of running, booted feet reached her ears. Four security guards turned into the corridor, coming at a dead run. The men panted when they slowed and stared at her in confusion.
“I walked into the room to take a blood sample,” she sobbed. “Jacob was sexually assaulting the test subject. He attacked me.” Her hand rose to her face where it throbbed. “I think I passed out and when I came around I saw 416 break his arm chains free. Jacob stabbed him with a needle but whatever he gave him didn’t take effect fast enough. I think he’s dead! I think that thing killed him before it collapsed to the floor.”
God forgive me, she silently prayed as her mouth closed. The security guards grabbed for their Taser guns, one of them fumbling to press in a code to get the doors open, and then they rushed inside 416’s cell. The door sealed behind them. Another security team arrived, along with some of the medical staff. It was Doctor Brennor who treated her in one of the employee rooms. He looked grim as he cleaned her mouth.
“You’ll be fine.”
She nodded. “What will they do to 416? I can’t believe Jacob was doing that to him. It’s wrong.”
Anger tightened the redheaded doctor’s mouth when he frowned. “I know. We made these things to find cures for diseases that animals are naturally immune or resistant to. And to prevent diseases from crossing from animals to humans ever again. Do you know how much damn money they cost us create? The staff should use hookers if they want to get off, not expensive test subjects.”
Ellie had to lock her jaw and lower her gaze not to show him how disgusted, horrified, and enraged his cold assessment of living, breathing people made her.