John

After William left, I leaned back and relaxed my neck, letting my head fall back. I bought her. I did it. I needed a drink, and I looked up at the bottle of fine whiskey. Damn, it was fine. Burned down the throat and didn’t leave that sour-ass cheap aftertaste I’d accepted came with hard booze. I was a beer man, but this John persona in a suit drank whiskey. The Men of Earth John persona didn’t drink; he did drugs. They liked to jack up with shit. Made them all a little more brave.

Felicia’s hands traveled up my thigh. I knew she knew her duties. They’d trained her as a sexual slave. I’d seen quite a bit in my life, but Felicia’s situation was the saddest. I caught her hands before she unzipped my pants. “Are there cameras in the room?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Does he plan to turn them off?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“When you drop your pants.”

I groaned. Though my dick could use some love, a blowjob from this poor creature was the last thing on my mind. But I had to do something for the camera. I knew William and possibly the other two perverts watched us.

She rubbed her face against my hand. I patted her cheek and looked down. She smiled, showing me her blunt teeth. I hadn’t expected a beast female to be…cute, with chubby red cheeks and disproportionately large eyes framed in long dark eyelashes. Poor thing.

Those seductive eyes kept dropping to my dick, though, and suddenly, a blowjob sounded great. Dick fully erect, I moved it to the side and away from her pouty lips, then glanced at the tiny camera imbedded into an old man’s eye in the painting on the opposite wall. His eyes were painted green, and one of them was brighter than the other. Since the beasts had jacked me up with enhancements, I had sharper vision than the average human. I saw the camera. “Kitten,” I said. “Would you get me a drink?”

“Sure.” Felicia stood and stayed there. I think she wanted me to look, so I perused at least six feet of curves with toned muscle, abundant long dark hair, big tits, and a shaved pussy. Almost a human female…but not. Felicia’s body aroused me.

“Do you like what you see?” she asked.

I nodded.

She walked to the bar and rose on her toes, then bent over. Jesus Christ. What an ass, and the small slit between her legs… It made my mouth water. She poured me a whiskey and walked back. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. There was something wrong with me.

“If you were my male, I’d castrate you,” Felicia whispered and dropped back to her knees. She handed me a drink and put her hands on my thighs.

I downed the liquid in one gulp and put the glass on the table. “Excuse me?”

“Castrate you, motherfucker.” She watched my dick, not me.

I sat up straight. “Why would you want to castrate me?”

“Marriage is a sacred union. It’s a promise, and it should last for a lifetime. It doesn’t include spending nights with other females.”

“I’m not married. Where did you hear that?”

“You got a kid. She came from a female.”

“Ah. Nope. Never been married.”

She looked up, eyes wide. “But you have a child.”

“Her mother passed away at birth.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

I grunted.

“I am proud to service you, then.” She grabbed my belt and yanked.

I put a hand over hers. I couldn’t let her do this. Fuck the camera. There had to be another way.

“Of all the males in the world, one John has a conscience.”

I bent down to whisper at her ear, aware of the men who might be listening. “You’ve been traumatized, and my doctor…Lers is gonna take care of you.” I dropped her a name. Lers, their healer. Every beast knew him. She nodded. We understood each other. She had smelled Alpha Beast on me, and she had to know this was a rescue mission. Vice had told me Felicia would understand. He also told me she was capable of defending herself, and she would be an asset to me. I ignored his advice now because he hadn’t seen this poor creature. Though she mouthed me plenty, she was broken.

“I have not lost my mind. My dignity, claws, and teeth, but my mind is fine. I want to service you.”

“Sweetheart,” I said, firmer.

“Name’s Kitten,” she said, “Once upon a time, it was Felicia. But Felicia was a weak bitch who got herself kidnapped, raped, and beaten. So I had to kill her off.” She pointed to her head. “Up here, you understand. Felicia is no more. She died when they took my claws. I’ve renamed myself Kitten. Call me Kitten.”

“Kitten, sweetheart, we’re not doing this.”

“Then I won’t go with you.”

“What the fuck do you mean you’re not going?” I growled.

“Unzip your pants and show me your dick. Then we can go.”

God help me, she made me so hard for her. I took her face between my hands, and she climbed onto my lap. Her movement was fluid, like a cat’s. She licked her lips, her gaze on my mouth. I would go to hell for this. I leaned in and kissed her. Close to her lips, I said, “We can walk out of here. I bought you fair and square.”

“You think they’ll just let us walk out?”

“Yes, because we’re in a nice neighborhood and nobody wants to piss off Alpha Beast in his city.”

Her eyes widened, and she drew back. “We are in Beast City?”

“We are.”

“I thought we might be but couldn’t be sure. I can’t believe I’m so close to the compound.”

“I’m ready to leave this place. Let’s go.” I took her hand and interlaced our fingers, then led her to the door. She tightened her grip as I palmed the lock. “Don’t be afraid,” I said. “We’re gonna walk out to my car. That’s all we’re gonna do.”

Kitten nodded and took a deep breath.

I opened the door.

The dawn’s early light spilled over the foyer, casting the doorman’s shadow over the marble floor. I crossed the room, casual but wary of the quiet house. When we got to the door, the man stood there like a statue, staring at the wall as if I hadn’t approached. “The door.” I pointed.

He glanced at me, then at her. “My master is making a mistake. Should’ve kept the beast bitch in the house. She’s a prisoner of our war.”

I shrugged. “William must like the money more. I bought her fair and square.”

“God will judge her.”

“Kiss my ass,” Kitten pitched in.

I slid her a death stare, not wanting her to attract any more attention. “You got a blanket I could put over her?” I asked the man.

The doorman snorted. I took that as a maybe and looked around. Kitten beat me to it. She walked to the open dining space and swiped a white cloth from the table. As she wrapped it around her body, the pair of Men of Earth descended the steps. They each held glasses in their hands. With their hair mussed, their eyes glazed, and their pants haphazardly zipped, I knew what they’d done while William and I played cards. They’d been raping one or more of the poor girls I suspected he’d stashed inside this house.

And that was the issue with backup. Alpha Beast couldn’t storm this place and kill everyone. We feared endangering Kitten’s life, and now I feared for the other women too. I had to be careful. Tactical. “What’s this?” Alex, the quiet one, asked.

Kitten stood in the middle of the foyer as if frozen, unable to move toward me. God knew what they’d done to her for her to be frightened just by the sight of them. “Kitten, come here.”

At the sound of my voice, she shook her head as if something had awakened her, and came to stand next to me. I tried grabbing her hand again, but she fisted it. The men approached and stood next to her. Really close to her. I didn’t like it. I moved her to my right, next to the door, and said, “She’s mine.”

“She’s a prisoner,” Boris said. “Tom will want her back.” Ah, Tom, leader of Men of Earth. Boris and his buddy, Alex, needed to be apprehended and questioned. I hoped Alpha Beast had some sort of surveillance on this place so we could track their movements.

“He can call me.”

“You don’t understand,” Alex said. “The bitch ain’t going anywhere.”

“He lost her in a hand of poker. Collateral plus more. She is mine.”

“William is a moron. He can’t gamble with the bitch. She’s not his to gamble with.”

I shrugged. “Not my problem. Take it up with him.”

Kitten,” Alex barked. “Come here.”

Who was this guy? And then everything happened in three seconds flat.

The doorman reached for my girl.

I slapped his hand away.

Kitten stepped in front of me. Christ!

She swiped his gun.

I reached for the gun, but she shot the doorman point-blank between his eyes. She aimed and shot the other two. Then she handed me the gun and dropped to her knees, her forehead on my boots.

I gaped at the three bodies with holes in their foreheads. “Wha…” I crouched and spread my arms. “What the fuck?”

She lifted her head, green eyes pale, the color of jadestone. “You are my mate. I vow to protect and serve you for the rest of my life.”

I blinked.

She threw her arms around me and buried her nose in the crook of my neck.

“Well, fuck me.” I patted her back and looked around the place. We were dead meat. Right in the middle of the foyer, with William’s entire security team outside. I checked the gun. Four rounds left. This would not kill everyone. “Kitten,” I barked, mad as hell with her, but as I said her name, I changed my mind, taking in her situation. Before me was a woman, abducted, beaten, and humiliated, and she found it her duty to protect me.

God, this was awkward, and I was way out of practice with the opposite sex. Her Beast Mother had chosen the last male on earth who knew what to do with a female mate. Man, I could find my way in life, get what I wanted most of the time, but women? Didn’t know what to do around them. I cleared my throat when she sniffled. “Don’t start crying.” It came out as a command when I intended for it to come out comforting.

“Okay.”

I found my baby voice, the soft, comforting tone I used when speaking with infants. “Sweetheart, I’m not…I’m not saying anything about your mating thing. I was just saying that we’re fucked.”

She looked up at me with a frown. Okay so baby voice didn’t work. I patted her shoulder for reassurance that I hadn’t lost my mind.

“Where is the backup?” she asked.

“There’s no backup. We thought it best if I went in alone. I was supposed to scout out the situation, but the cards were dealt, and I saw an opportunity.”

“I fucked up,” she said, looking at the bodies. “We were gonna walk out.”

“We are walking out,” I said. “Just not as planned.”

“I have a confession to make.”

“Right now?” I heard footsteps approaching. Whole bunch of them. They’d try to enter the house any second now. And yet I felt I had to let her have this moment with me. I’d seen this mating thing with beast guys. She was a woman. They processed everything at high emotional altitudes I couldn’t possibly understand, so I did what I felt I should do. “Tell me how you feel. It’s all right. I’m with you in this.”

“I had to clear my name. Those two men who took me would’ve run the moment I left this forsaken place, and I would never have seen them again. I couldn’t leave them alive. I had to clear my name.”

“Great. Fucking great.” She’d just told me she’d planned to kill them even when she’d agreed we’d walk out. “Baby, this house has a security team. Twelve armed men.”

A knock came on the door. “Mr. Ghason, everything all right in there?”

She pinched her lips and whispered, “I didn’t know about the security team.”

I grabbed her hand, and we ran into the living space. We crouched behind the couch. I presumed the security didn’t have a visual inside the house, only outside. “I got four bullets left.”

Kitten squeezed my hand. “You have me.”

Hell. “Listen to me, Kitten. I don’t want you to do anything stupid. Do not put yourself in harm’s way.”

“Felicia was a warrior female,” she said, speaking of herself in third person. “Kitten needs to honor herself, and the only way I can have my honor back is by killing those who want to harm me and my mate. And maybe collect a trinket or two, Mayhem style.” She eyed the men on the floor.

“What is Mayhem style?”

“He collects trinkets. I’ll collect a pinky from each one of those men.”

I stared at her profile. “Look at me,” I ordered, and she obeyed. “You are serious.”

“Are we gonna do this or not?” she asked.

“This place is secured,” I reminded her.

Kitten smiled so wide, you’d think she was at the carnival, excited to get on the ride she’d been dreaming about since she was five. “I’m impressed and proud you breached the security. You must be a great…soldier.”

“I ain’t no hero.”

“But you could be my hero.”

“Kitten, I can’t risk your life.”

Her smile faltered. “Listen, male. I need my life back.”

“Your Alpha would not approve of collecting trinkets.”

“My Alpha consumed his mate’s family because they hurt her. He ate her uncle while the man was still alive. It was slow and painful, just how Rey wanted it. So, yeah, he would most definitely approve.”

“No. I order you to stand down.” I wondered if that would work.

Kitten made a sour face. “Only one pinky?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

I believed she ignored me. Oh man, she’d die for me. I had to keep her close, so I hooked a hand over her hip and brought her between me and the couch. Sweat dripped from my brow, and I wiped it with a sleeve when I heard a noise. I tilted my head. It was some sort of rumbling. No wait. Puhhhhrrrr. I raised both eyebrows.

William ascended from down below. He paused at the dead bodies on the floor, then spun around and searched the seemingly empty house. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked, as if his toddler had accidentally broken a vase. I put a hand over Kitten’s mouth and scooted closer. As I pressed my body against hers, my dick threatened to pierce through my zipper and enter her. Sure enough, Kitten purred so loud, the people across the street could hear. The heels of William’s fine polished shoes clicked on the marble floors as he walked into the living space.