Pain lanced through Slade at the reminder of his past. Anger quickly followed. Is that how she viewed him every time she looked at him? As a victim? As the half-wild creature he’d been when he’d awoken inside the hospital room assuming she’d just been new enough to the testing facility to be foolish enough to remove his restraints? Usually, given an opportunity, he would have instantly killed a human male but she’d been female.

He’d never kill a female. He’d grabbed her instead. Even half out of it, he hadn’t wanted to harm her. Once he had her body pinned under his, her scent had filled his nose, and he’d peered into those incredible eyes, her pouty lips, and his body had roared to life. He’d wanted her more than any woman he’d ever touched.

He’d wanted to keep her for as long as possible. Enjoy every inch of her and make her burn with the passion he felt. He would have gone days without food or water just to know her body. To possess something so wonderful and forbidden. Any punishment would have been worth the cost of pleasuring them both until they couldn’t move. Then and only then, he’d have released her from his arms. The memory of the time they shared could have lasted him for years when his mind threatened to break from the pain and agony he suffered on a regular basis.

Of course it hadn’t gone the way he’d planned. He’d been in for a shock when more humans rushed into the room to pin him down, his reflexes slowed by the drugs in his system, and he’d awoken to discover his world changed forever. He no longer was locked inside his cell, no longer chained to a wall, and the scents around him assured him that nothing was familiar. They kept him restrained but he understood why it had been necessary. He wouldn’t have attacked them but he would have tried to flee.

Four females in uniforms had leaned against the wall of the hospital room to inform him he’d been rescued, his people freed, and they’d slowly explained he needed to calm down. They’d shown him videos on a little machine of more of his people, taped footage of the rescue, and sworn no harm would befall him. It had taken time for it to sink in that they were telling him the truth. The shock had staggered him. The females meant no harm, they didn’t work for Mercile, and that life no longer existed.

He’d been transferred from the hospital to a remote motel in the desert with dozens of his people. All female military officers had been assigned to protect them at the secured location. Humans had quickly assessed that New Species males wouldn’t attack human females and had used that as a way to assure they didn’t feel threatened. It had worked. The females hadn’t even carried guns except for the ones who patrolled the perimeters to keep humans away.

The U.S. Government had promised them a place of their own, where their people could live safely from the press and from other humans who viewed them as a threat. They’d read books, watched television, and talked to humans who answered all their questions. The months spent in the desert waiting for such a place to finish construction had calmed them, assured them that they had human rights, and his new life had begun at Homeland. He’d gone from being a test subject to a man. The Doc obviously didn’t agree. To her, he’d always be 215.

It hurt. All he’d wanted was to have her view him as a sexual male, her equal, and he’d messed that up for good by insulting her by not recognizing her when he met her again. She obviously didn’t have forgiveness in her heart. The pain turned to anger quickly. Damn her. If any male deserves some leeway, it is me.

The memory of touching her, tasting her skin, and the scent of her arousal flashed. She might not think of him as a man but her body could be persuaded otherwise. Lust and desire gripped him hard. Maybe she just needed to be taught without her mind mucking up the truth. He moved before he could talk himself out of the crazy idea.

Two hands suddenly grabbed Trisha by her shoulders. Slade took her to the ground, flat on her back, and suddenly ended up on top of her. Trisha struggled but she couldn’t get him off her. He pinned her down with his body. She opened her mouth but his hand clamped over it.

“Are you going to scream and tell those murderers where we are? Sound can carry a long way.”

She had planned on yelling at him. She shook her head against his palm. The hand instantly released her. Trisha pushed at Slade.

“Get off me right now,” she hissed.

“Do you want to know why I won’t say your name, Trisha?” He spoke softly to her, almost whispered.

She swallowed, surprised that he’d finally uttered her name. “Why?”

“It gets under your skin the way you get under mine all the time. I think it’s only fair if I annoy you as much as you do me.”

“How do I annoy you? You’re the one who’s always got some smartass remark to say and who constantly makes some sexually rude comment.”

“You’re the one I want to f**k so bad you make me ache.” He growled at her. “That’s more annoying than me shooting my mouth off, Doc. Trust me. I don’t make you so hard that you worry about busting out of your pants. You do that to me.”

His words left her speechless. She’d never expected that answer from him in a million years. Out of all the things he could have said, those things wouldn’t have even made her list.

With his traumatic history she could see him hating anyone in the medical profession. She also thought he might think her a snob because people always accused her of being standoffish. She didn’t mean to be but she just didn’t know how to relate to people.