“That’s what I wanted to know. I was rough on her when we met. I caught her flashing her breasts at you.”
Astonishment slammed into Moon. “What?”
Harley grinned. “Yeah. That’s what went through my mind. I was ready to toss her over my shoulder and jog her to the front gates, thinking she was a pervert about to take advantage of you or teasing you just to be cruel. You wouldn’t respond to anything but her showing her goods, Moon. That was about the sum of it. I was leery at first of her reasoning but it worked. It seems sexy humans showing a lot of skin tames the beast in you or at least makes you talk to get to see more.” He laughed.
Hazy images surfaced of Joy and her very appealing cleavage. “I kind of remember. Not much though.”
“You were pretty out of it that day.” Harley reached up and pulled his hair away from his neck. “I can feel the pounds rolling off as we speak. Is it just me?”
“No. Humans pay for this? Doesn’t it open their skin pores or some such shit?”
“My pores are so open that my skin wants to fall off.”
“Ten more minutes,” Ted called out. “Do you need water?”
“I’m in a puddle of it,” Moon answered. “We’re good.” He lowered his voice and wiped more sweat off his chest. It was running down his body. “Do me a favor though, Harley.”
“Anything.”
“Make sure I don’t get the chance to hurt her if I lose my mind again.”
Harley hesitated.
“I didn’t feel the urge to kill but I still had the idea of slamming my chin into the bridge of her nose when she came in here and got too close to me. That would have killed her instantly if I’d had enough momentum to send the bone into her brain.”
Harley reached out and gripped his wrist. “She knows the risks. She signed a waiver absolving the NSO of responsibility in case of her death or injury.” He let go.
Moon was glad he was sitting down. Was that even possible? It astonished him that Joy would willingly do something of that magnitude to stay at Homeland.
“She is aware of the damage we can do. This morning I read the files she made on some of us. Justice let me read them after we argued a bit. I wanted to look out for you. All the shrinks’ notes on patients were transferred to Homeland when we were. One of our males told her about how he tore out the throat of a technician who leaned in too close to him while he was strapped down on a table. He could only move his head. Another Species described how he got an arm free and snapped the neck of a guard before the human could even react.”
Harley swallowed, shoving at his damp hair to keep it out of his face. “That female knows how dangerous you can be yet she doesn’t shy away from rushing to your aid. What does that tell you?”
Frustration rose in Moon. He was hot, irritable, and angry.
“She’s willing to die for you. I didn’t trust her at first and was wary of her motives but she has strong, true feelings for you, Moon. She regrets bailing on you at site four.”
“She never even attempted to contact me once we came to Homeland. Or Reservation.”
“You should speak to her.”
“I’m talking to you.”
“Okay.” Harley cast a hesitant look in his direction. “I think she loves you.”
“Love?” Moon rubbed his arms again, harder this time, trying to wipe away sweat and the uneasy feeling that made him a bit lightheaded.
His finger found something odd and he rubbed the spot while he mulled over Harley’s words. He had been obsessed with Joy when they’d been at site four. She was the female he’d wanted above all others.
Her leaving had depressed him and he’d sulked for a long time over her loss. Every time he even thought about her it was as if he’d eaten something bad and pain gnawed at his gut. Can that be love? He wasn’t sure since he had never experienced it.
“Love,” Harley repeated. “I can’t think of any other reason she’d face off against you when you were feral. Hell, you scared me and I’m not a weak little human.”
Moon frowned, distracted. His finger probed the spot again. The small lump moved against his bone, actually hurting.
“What is this?”
“There’s something under my skin.”
Harley looked down. “Is that where you were shot?”
“Yes.”
“It was a dart, not a bullet.”
“What did you say?” It was Ted, yelling from the other room.
“I found something in my arm.” Moon’s voice rose and he looked at Harley. “It’s small and it hurts when I press on it.”
“Get out here,” Ted ordered. “Let me see.”