She fought him and he worried she’d become bruised as her body thrashed between him and the counter. His hands gripped her h*ps as he spun away, lifting her in one fluid motion, and got her out of harm’s way. He caged her in his arms as his hold on her shifted to keep her high enough to prevent her kicking feet from striking the tile floor or the wall.

“Enough! Calm.”

He heard pounding boots rushing down the hallway and knew they were about to have company. He howled in rage that Jericho would dare return after their fight. The male should know better than to challenge him for the female. His rival charged into the bedroom by shoving the door open hard enough to force the handle to embed in the plaster, breaking the doorstop.

“Put her down.” Jericho spoke deeply, his voice animalistic. He stormed closer with his hands opened as clawed weapons.

“She’s mine.” Obsidian couldn’t glance away from his opponent but he did gently drop Alli. “Get in the shower where he can’t reach you without going through me.”

“Stop this!” Alli disobeyed him by stepping between him and the advancing male. Her hands shot out and she stood sideways, making the spread of her arms as wide as possible to keep them apart. “No fighting!”

“Are you all right?” Jericho halted in his tracks but he still posed a threat.

“He was going to bite me. I want to leave.” She appeared frightened as she watched Obsidian. “Why would you want to do that?”

He reached for her but she jerked her wrist away before he could grab it. He froze, it sinking in how terrified she seemed to be of him. “To mark you.” He swallowed hard, inhaling her scent and verifying her terror. “I wasn’t going to cause severe damage.”

“You wanted to bite me.” She took a shaky breath. “With your sharp teeth. There’s something wrong with you and I insist that you go to Medical.”

“Shit,” Jericho muttered.

Alli whipped her head around to stare at him. He frowned, dropped his hands to his sides, and stepped back. “Jericho? What is it?”

He blew out a deep breath. “He’s exhibiting territorial traits. It happened occasionally at the facilities we were held inside. He doesn’t want other males near you and he’s trying to stake his claim with a physical marker, um, bite.” He pointedly stared at Obsidian. “There’s no need for that. She won’t be taken to other males for breeding testing and your scent is already on her. That’s warning enough for others not to attempt to share sex with her.”

“You want her,” Obsidian accused harshly.

Jericho backed farther away, tense. “I don’t. She is very attractive but I have no interest in her. She’s just a friend and was a valuable employee at Homeland.”

Obsidian didn’t believe him. “She smells too good and refuses to stop scenting of food to lure other males.”

“Damn.” Jericho withdrew another step. “Humans like food. It’s just the way they are. They think smelling like dinner is acceptable hygiene. You’ll learn that in time. It’s not just her. Most of them do it. They aren’t trying to interest us in f**king them.”

“Your eyes are red with lust.” Obsidian advanced, trying to get Alli behind him so she wasn’t in view of the other male.

“I’m primate and they aren’t red. They are more auburn with a lot of brown. There’s a difference.” His features grew ruthless. “I don’t want her and she sure as hell doesn’t want me. Our females are even afraid of my differences. Do you really think a timid human is going to want to take me on?”

“You saw her bare.” He wasn’t about to believe Jericho. Alli was too attractive to believe a male wouldn’t want her.

The other male lengthened his retreat. “I’m sorry if I stared.” He made a soft noise in the back of his throat. “Those were the first pair of real br**sts I’ve seen in a while.” He lowered his gaze to the floor and his head dipped in submission. “Let’s not fight. She’s safe from other male interest and I’ve long given up on finding a female of my own. I don’t even want one now.”

He didn’t quite believe him but his anger cooled. “Why?”

Jericho revealed the odd color of his eyes when they met his gaze. “I refuse to feel any more pain.”

Obsidian studied him and paused next to Alli when she gripped his arm to stop him from stalking closer to the other male. He didn’t spare her a glance, too focused on figuring out his opponent.

“It hurts being rejected.” Jericho’s voice deepened and strong emotion flashed in his eyes. “I don’t want them anymore. I’m over it. Your doctor is safe from me. I transferred here from Reservation to work with the task force of humans who work for us. We hunt down and locate Mercile employees. It gets me away from our females. I only volunteered to babysit you because the females are banned from entering Medical with you here. The task force is on leave for two weeks but then I’m back with them. Do you understand?”

More questions filled his mind but Obsidian believed the other male didn’t want his Alli. “Humans work for you?”

“Us,” Jericho corrected, his body language relaxing. “Times have changed. Not all humans are bad and hate us. The men I work with are good.”

“Men?”

“They are human. Men. We are males.” Broad shoulders shrugged. “Don’t attempt to bite her. You terrified her. She’s human. She’s not familiar with all our instincts when it comes to sex. Do you understand?”