“You remembered this and had a nightmare.”

She nodded. “I was scared when I was rescued. I didn’t know it at the time but Master had heard his association to Mercile Industries was discovered and he fled the country. He must have feared they’d find out he owned me. He left me with those men. They were always telling me to be nice to them, asking me to do sexual things with them. They had mean eyes and handled me roughly when they took me to a new location to hide. I hated the way they watched me shower.” She shivered at the memory, remembering her terror that she’d be attacked. “I often made them angry so they’d punish me by not allowing me to get clean.”

The arms around her tightened and Shadow hugged her against his body. She liked how warm and safe it made her feel. “I think Master hoped no one would find out he had me and he’d threatened the men to keep me alive in case he could get me back. I’ve thought a lot about it. He must have ordered them not to touch me. It’s the only thing that could have kept them from just taking what they wanted.”

“Don’t call him that. No one owns you.”

“It’s the only name I have for him. It was a rule.”

“There are no more rules.”

She nodded. “Not with him.”

“You’re free and never going back. There’s no need to have nightmares.”

“The man who helped rescue me asked me to be nice to him. I thought he wanted me to do things to him,” she admitted softly. “That’s what I was dreaming about. He was very kind and I’d been so afraid for so long. They kept me hungry and locked in chains in the dark. They said things about what they’d do to me if Master said to kill me. They were planning on hurting me first.” Her voice choked up. “The man who rescued me was so nice. I thought if I was nice to him, he’d keep me safe. I had never given in to someone before but I did with him. I thought if I allowed him to have my body that he’d protect me from my old life.”

“What is his name?” Shadow snarled. “A task force member shared sex with you? I’ll kill him.”

Her head snapped up and rage showed on his face. “No. He stopped me immediately. That’s why I feel shame and dream about it. He was horrified. I misunderstood and I touched him wrong. Nothing happened between us.”

He leaned in closer, staring deeply into her eyes. “The truth? You can tell me anything. I’ll make him pay if he took advantage of you.”

“He didn’t. It’s my shame.”

“You were mistaken and scared.” One of his arms slid from around her waist and his big hand gently cupped her face. “You were trying to survive the best you could. There is no shame in that. Are you sure he didn’t take advantage of you? Touch you wrong? Perhaps ask you to touch him?”

“He stopped me immediately. I’ll never forget the look in his eyes. He was horrified.”

“Did you tell the females about this?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

She blinked back tears. “He was honestly nice to me. He looked at me in a way that no one ever had. I mattered and was a person to him. I’d have had to admit to the women that I touched the front of his pants. He swore no one would ever hurt me again and I wanted that. He was willing to die to protect me. We were being shot at by a sniper and he used his body to shield me.”

Shadow’s eyes softened. “Every male at Homeland would give their lives to protect you. That’s the truth. You never have to share sex to be safe. You matter and are precious. Do you know this now?”

“I do.”

“Good.” He glanced away. “It was an honest mistake, Beauty. Don’t torment yourself anymore with the nightmares.” His hand dropped from her face to return to the small of her back where he rubbed.

She snuggled against him. He was warm and so strong that she really did feel safe being held by him. His heartbeat slowed. He had large hands but they were amazingly gentle and the soft petting of her lower back was welcome.

“Tell me about you,” she encouraged.

His rubbing paused. “I was raised at Mercile. They kept us chained inside rooms and experimented on us.”

“How were you freed?”

His body tensed. All his muscles seemed to harden against her before he blew out a breath and relaxed again. “I had been moved to a new place where they did other things to us. I don’t want to discuss it. It’s not a good story.”

“Do any of us have those in our past?”

His chuckle surprised her. “No.”

“Please tell me?”

Shadow held the small female secure in his arms. She was dainty and he was afraid he’d scare her by moving too fast. Her skin had been chilled when she’d first rested her cheek against him but she warmed quickly. He was glad for that despite it being torture to hold her so close when he had to trap his hard dick between his thighs to hide it.

“Mercile employees had learned that other facilities had been breached by law enforcement. They were being hunted and they managed to drug and move some of us to a new location. They were desperate for money and we were the only means they had of making enough of it to attempt to flee the country and avoid prosecution.” He paused, not wanting to tell her the rest.

“How did they do that? Were they offering to ransom you to the NSO?”

“No.” He managed to hold back the anger he still felt. “It seems there are a bunch of rich humans who would love to own a Species baby.” The idea enraged and sickened him that some infant might be treated as if it were a pet. “It isn’t a good story.”