One glance at Vanni made him aware of her nakedness and he tried to cover her with the flimsy garment. The thing was long enough to go from her breasts to her knees. He took a second to close her limp legs. Protecting her modesty seemed important at that moment. He reached out, grabbed the handle and shoved the door open.
“Get a medic!”
He wouldn’t leave her side. He adjusted the skirt over her and brushed his fingers through her hair. “Vanni? Come on, open your eyes.”
Heavy footsteps sounded and Brass leaned into the SUV through the open door. “What is wrong?”
“She’s out. I don’t know if I hurt her or not.”
The other door was yanked open and Ned was there. Smiley wanted to attack when the guy touched Vanni. He grabbed her wrist and batted Smiley’s hand away from her hair to press his fingertips against her throat.“What are you doing?”
Ned met his gaze. “Checking her pulse. It’s slow and steady. What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“They were sharing sex and now she’s unconscious,” Brass grouched. “I don’t smell blood.”
Smiley was glad to hear that. His sense of smell wasn’t as acute as the canine’s. It meant he hadn’t caused internal bleeding. “Is she all right?”
Ned released her and frowned. “I think she just passed out. Her heartbeat is stable. I don’t exactly have a blood pressure monitor on me but I probably should examine her.” He reached for the skirt covering her body.
“Don’t.” Smiley lunged, bumped his head on the roof of the SUV again, but effectively stopped the human when he leaned over her still form and grabbed the backs of the seats to keep from falling on top of her. It put his face inches from Ned’s and he showed his fangs to make the threat clear.
Ned almost tripped, making a hasty retreat. “Okay. Don’t bite me. Fuck.”
“It’s the drug.” Snow arrived at the other side of the SUV. He pushed Ned out of the way, his cool stare fixing on Smiley. “Easy, Smiley. Where’s your normal chipper attitude?”
“Fuck you. He isn’t going to see her naked.”
Snow blinked a few times and frowned. “Okay.”
Shane arrived, a little out of breath. He stared at Vanni, and Smiley didn’t like it. He rumbled gruffly. Shane’s hands went up. “I have medical training. You yelled for a medic.”
“He won’t let us examine her,” Ned whispered. “He’s scary pissed and defensive.”
“Under the circumstances, that’s normal,” Brass reminded them. “Smiley? Look at me. Sit down.”
Smiley eased his ass down and released the backs of the seats so he was no longer leaning over Vanni but kept close. He focused on her. Her expression was peaceful. She didn’t seem to be in pain.
“Smiley?” Brass’ voice softened. “She probably just passed out. It’s a painful drug and humans aren’t as tolerant of it as we are. It’s for the best.”
That whipped his head around to glare at Brass. “How can you say that?”
“She isn’t suffering. We need to get her to Homeland before she wakes. I’m listening to her breathing. I’ve spent enough time around human females to know how they breathe when they are sleeping. That’s all it is unless you think you broke some of her bones. Did you become too aggressive?”
“No.” He was sure of that.
“We need to get her to our doctors.”
It made sense. He nodded sharply. “Drive.”
Brass hesitated. “Shane and Ned, I want both of you to travel with them in case she needs medical help. If she wakes in pain, you can call for a helicopter once you reach an isolated area where one can land without causing a stir. A backup team will follow in the other SUV. Snow and I have to stay here with Justice.”
Shane climbed into the driver’s seat and adjusted it to fit his long legs. The engine roared to life. Smiley relaxed a little now that some of the fear had eased. He had to believe she was just exhausted or the drug had knocked her out. It beat the alternative that she was gravely ill.
Smiley’s dick hardened painfully and a sharp stab of pain hit his gut. He groaned.
“Smiley?” Brass leaned into the SUV again. “What’s wrong?”
“Pain,” he rasped, holding his stomach, his breathing erratic.
“Sorry. I don’t want you to suffer,” Brass stated.
Brass gripped his shoulder and Smiley glanced at him when the male forced him to turn. Smiley saw the fist a second before it landed on his jaw.
Chapter Four
“I would hate to be in the other SUV,” a man stated.
“Me too. Smiley is going to be pissed that Brass decked him when he comes around. They don’t fuck around, do they?” The second voice belonged to a guy too.
Vanni lay on her side in some kind of vehicle. It was dark when she opened her eyes and it took a few seconds for memory to return, fear coming with it. She was alone in the backseat of one of the SUVs—probably the same one she and Smiley had been in. Someone had put seat belts on her. One was around her thighs, the other around her rib cage. Her skirt was draped over her like a blanket but she was naked underneath. The feel of leather against her skin assured her of that.
“No shit,” the first one stated. He was in the driver’s seat.
“Sometimes I wonder if we’re crazy to work with New Species. What about you, Shane? Do you ever think you should be doing something else?”
“Nope. I love the NSO. It’s just been a bad night, Ned. Nobody expected an attack like that to go down at the hotel.”
Ned was silent for long seconds. “I was right there just twenty feet away. You expect this shit in third-world countries, not at home.”
“What shit?”
“Terrorists being women. I saw her sit next to Smiley and didn’t give it a second thought. She looked innocent enough.”
“I heard her say she didn’t drug their drinks.”
“You buy that?” Ned snorted. “How are you so naïve? I forgot. You’re like a full-grown Boy Scout and think all chicks are as sweet as your sisters. Wake the fuck up and live in the real world. We’re lucky she wasn’t an assassin. I’d have felt like a real asshole if she’d killed him in that bar. I’m guessing she’s some hooker they hired.”
“She doesn’t look like one.”
Ned laughed. “How would you know? Have you ever paid some chick to fuck you?”
“No.”
“Exactly. I have and not all of them are dolled up all the time. I did one who reminded me of my third-grade teacher. It was kind of hot since I had a crush on her.”
“You’re sick.” Shane cursed softly. “The engine light just came on. Radio it in.”
“Just pull over at the next gas station. Why bother them? It’s probably a loose battery cable. That happened to one I drove last week.”
“The oil light is blinking now.”
“So we’ll buy some oil and I’ll put it in. It will take a few minutes. Otherwise we’re going to have to wait for the other SUV to catch up and they’ll transfer her to it while we’re stuck waiting for roadside service. I just want to turn her over to Medical and go home.”“She needs to be taken to Homeland as fast as possible. They are only about thirty miles behind us.”
“She’s out cold. It won’t matter and hell, we’ll probably be on the road before they reach us. Just pull over at the gas station.”
“Fine. I’m radioing it in though when we stop.”
“Boy Scout.” Ned chuckled. “You’re probably terrified Smiley will tear you a new asshole if he thinks you might have had a few minutes to examine her. Did you see the way he damn near bit off my face?”
“They are protective of women.”
“He should want her strung up for drugging him. I wouldn’t give a damn what happened to a chick who laced my drink so I had to fuck her.”
“Shut up, Ned. We don’t know if she’s guilty or not.”
“I think she is. He sat at the corner of the bar. She was the only one to take that empty seat next to him and was close enough to dope his drink.”
Vanni wanted to protest but kept quiet. They thought she was still unconscious and she wasn’t sure how they’d react if she let them know she was awake. Did the NSO really think she’d do something so awful?
“I just hope both of them are going to be okay.”
“She’ll probably end up arrested and he’s going to have a hell of a headache from that sucker punch. Take the next exit.”
“I see it.” Shane sighed. “I hope you’re wrong. Smiley seemed to really like her.”
“I’d say so. I don’t even have the super nose they do and I want to roll down the windows. It smells like a brothel in here.”
“Keep the windows up. I don’t want her to get cold.”
Ned laughed. “No comment about the brothel remark, huh? Do you even know what sex smells like? Don’t tell me Boy Scout is still a virgin.”
“I’m not. Why are you being such a dick tonight?”
“I’m tired and just want to go to bed. Pull into that truck stop. They’ll have oil. I’ll run in while you make the call to the other SUV. Pop the hood for me.”
The SUV slowed and they made a few turns. Vanni closed her eyes when they drove under the bright lights in case one of them turned around to check on her. She didn’t know what else to do but she didn’t want to talk to either of them. The SUV stopped and the engine shut off.