She’d asked Justice to let her be on top, which had challenged him. His reaction had been to nearly walk out of the bedroom and end their encounter. Breeze said they’d never allow a woman to dominate the sex in bed but Justice had when she’d gotten to be on top. She had no idea what to make of that except maybe he wasn’t as set in his ways as most Species since he had to deal with so many humans daily. Humans worked at Homeland and he had to communicate with the media, her father and a lot of other people who were invested in the well-being of Species.

She’d felt Justice’s teeth on her shoulder but she hadn’t known what it meant. She’d ignored his plea for her to hold still, unwittingly provoking him try to assert his dominance. She’d moved against him, pushed him to take her the way she wanted and he’d bitten her shoulder hard enough to draw blood. That was another no-no. Of course he didn’t want to keep her forever. Nope. He wanted to end their brief relationship before it had a chance to get off the ground.

No wonder he doesn’t want to see me again. Depression hit hard as Jessie drove her golf cart home. Earlier that day she’d woken to find one parked in her driveway with a marked map from her home to the women’s dorm. The officer posted at the gates to her housing tract had assured her it was for her use. She had a way to get around Homeland but had nowhere to go but to her lonely house.

A new officer manned the security checkpoint but he didn’t stop her. He grinned and waved her through as he opened the gates that led into the housing area. Jessie waved back and parked in her driveway. She couldn’t get over how deeply she’d managed to screw up with Justice. Species should come with a handbook titled Dating for the Clueless human chicks and fifty things to avoid doing that will insult them.

She unlocked her front door, glad as she entered that the perfume had finally disappeared. Her gaze darted to the potted plant to her immediate left and she smiled.

She’d hidden the bottle there in case she ever needed to mask Justice’s scent again. Her mood quickly deflated since she highly doubted he’d be back.

A quick shower, a change into comfortable clothes and an urge to occupy her time in the kitchen helped keep her thoughts off Justice. She enjoyed cooking, it relaxed her and she loved to eat. The only problem was the tri-tip she had put in the rotisserie cooker would feed her for a week in leftover sandwiches. She bit her lip, watched it slowly turn as it dripped juices into the drip pan and decided she could always take sandwiches to the women at the dorm tomorrow.

She was amazed by the amount of her food supply and the huge portion sizes. Of course Species probably ate an eight-pound tri-tip in one sitting but she sure couldn’t.

She turned away, decided to wash her new clothes before wearing the rest of them and settled on taking a long bath to kill time before dinner was ready.

The jets were wonderful and the water warm. She evaluated her life. Her love life might suck but she was living in a nice place and loved her new job. The doorbell rang, caused her to start but she grinned. It had to be Justice! She toweled off quickly and put her clothes back on, her mind working on a way to talk the thick-headed man into letting down his guard and to come back when the coast was clear. The doorbell rang again and she rushed out of her bathroom.

“I’m coming. Hang on!”

Jessie twisted the locks as her heart raced and she smiled, excited to see him after the night before. Two large Species males stood there instead. Both of them were out of uniform, sporting jeans and T-shirts and they stared at her with a grimness that assured they weren’t happy.

The one on the right spoke. “I’m Night. Your belongings were delivered and we were asked to bring them. Do you mind if we unload the Jeep now and carry your boxes inside? We have to inform you that your things were searched by security. It is standard procedure but nothing had to be confiscated.”

“Okay. Thanks. Sure,” she agreed. “Let me grab my shoes and I’ll help.”

The Species on the left frowned his displeasure. “No. You are too small and would only slow us down. Just sit and remain calm. We mean you no harm.” He took a breath.

“I am Sword. You are in no danger.”

Amusement sparked at his words, as if he feared she might be terrified of them but their tension forced her to hide it. They really seemed on edge about dealing with her so she lowered her gaze. They were Species and she wanted them to feel at ease with her.

Good etiquette went a long way toward gaining that goal.

“Thank you. I’ll wait inside and remember I’m not in danger.” She backed up.

“Good.” Night grunted, spun on his heel and marched down the walkway. The other one followed.

Jessie lifted her gaze to watch them grab boxes from the back of the packed Jeep and finally allowed her chuckle to escape. It was cute how they assumed she’d be terrified of them and sweet that they wanted to assure her they weren’t there to murder her. She laughed again, her gaze turning to the living room and spotted an area where they could stack the boxes.

“You can just dump them over there.” She pointed, keeping back. “Thank you. I’m sorry there are so many of them. I didn’t realize I’d accumulated that much stuff.”

An idea formed when one of them sniffed the air, his attention on the open archway to the kitchen and both of them kept doing it as they brought in more boxes. She inhaled the tantalizing aroma of the tri-tip, realized they might be hungry and decided to try to make friends. It beat sitting around all night dwelling on Justice and how to work around the problems they had. The guys finally carried in the last two boxes.