“You…? I love you, Shan. You know that, right? Always you, love, always. Nothing’s going to keep us…”
I looked up at him, hearing the steady stream of his words but not really taking them in. Instead, my eyes took him in, really seeing Jai. He was there, my big looming lunk of manhood, staring down at me like I’d hung the stars, saying things I’d never let myself imagine. I put a hand up to his cheek, then let the thumb rest on his lips, silencing him.
“I love you, Jai.” The words, so tightly locked away, so fiercely protected, kept behind defences so fucking high… But out they came, spilled like my heart’s blood on the bright white tiles.
He just stared for a moment, giving me room to let a million fears rush in, doubts clamouring. He put out an arm and pulled me closer, more gently this time.
“You’re my girl…” he rasped. “You’re my girl.”
We cleaned up afterwards and found new scrubs in a cupboard in the bathroom, donning them before walking out. Intellectually, I knew the other shifters had to have heard what was going on, but that didn’t prepare for the actuality. We stumbled out, arm in arm, to find all five men standing in a ring at the perimeter of our cage. The walls weren’t up again, but they stood as if they were, not putting even a toe over the lines made by the wall recesses. Jai’s arm instantly tightened around my waist, a low growl escaping his chest.
“She’s mine.”
“We know,” Caleb snarled back, his hazel eyes now gone pale yellow. “We haven’t come onto your turf or made a move in respect of that but—”
“Can’t expect that to go unnoticed,” Zane said. “Damn, girl, you smell sweet.”
“Mate her. Do what you doggies do,” Kazimir said. “That will shut things down?” he asked Caleb.
“Should. Don’t know if it’s the same for cats though.”
“Do it,” Gaden said, his jaw flexing before he forced himself away.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
We all groaned when we turned to see Hollingsworth and his goons coming down the stairs. Jai pushed me behind him, much to my annoyance.
“Present yourselves to the glass, gentlemen,” the fucker said with a sharp snap. His flunky raised some sort of controller, assumably to ensure they did as asked, while Stuart came behind him, more focussed on his tablet than us. This was perhaps why. “Trousers down, please,” Hollingsworth said with the brisk tones of a school nurse, brooking no refusal. “Now.”
“No,” I said, my eyes flicking around the line of men, my heart sinking when I saw them move to obey. “No! This is a complete invasion… It’s sexual assault!”
“Don’t, Shannon,” Caleb said, head hanging low.
“No need to protest,” Hollingsworth said. “I’ve seen all I need of your Jai’s member, but I need to see evidence to confirm a theory in the others.” When his eyes fell to the men’s groins, there was something odd there. Well, odder than a psychopath that locked up people and forced them to show him their cocks.
Part salacious glee, his lips pursing for a moment, part…satisfaction. I could see that in the small nod of his head, in the way he looked over his shoulder to gesture Stuart forward. Wilson’s eyes were considerably more clinical, but even they widened at what they saw.
Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look, I told myself. Let the men have their bloody dignity.
But curiosity killed the cat and all that. My eyes darted down for just a second, and then I saw it.
Caleb was closest, and apparently, all shifter men were packing major heat, but I didn’t think it was the unsolicited dick inspection that got them so excited. At the base of his cock was a bulbous swelling, similar to Jai’s.
“Yess…” Hollingsworth hissed. “This is exactly what we need. Shifters in rut! This will give us the specimens…” His eyes slid over to me. “And the means to get them.”
Chapter 27
“No, no…” I backed away from the glass, from Jai, from the guys. “No, this is not… You can’t…”
“You’re not using Shannon for anything, you fucking bastard!” Jai shouted, slamming his hands down on the wall.
“Electrify the barrier,” Hollingsworth said to his flunky, “and remind our newest specimen of his place.”
The men stepped backwards, pants still part way down their thighs, seeming to know what was coming. All except for Jai. He was about to say something when his body went rigid.
“Jesus…” I cried, running forward to catch him as he fell in a dead faint.
There were no shifters to intervene this time, kept still with their cocks out for an even bigger dick’s edification, so that big, burly body went smashing into mine, flattening the both of us. The men’s heads whipped around as I fought to suck in breath, the wind forced out of me. Nero and Kazimir moved to help, but Hollingsworth stopped them with a click of his fingers.
“If you want the girl in one piece, you need us to help,” Nero said in a low, tense tone.
“Fine. I’ve seen what I need.”
I just stared blankly as the men jerked up their pants and clustered around me, two hauling Jai up, who groaned and then threw them off. He stood there, wavering drunkenly on his feet as Gaden held out a hand to me.
“No, Shan…” Jai slurred, taking a step towards me.
Gaden shook his head and took my hand, backing off as soon as he got me upright.
“Purse your lips like you were going to whistle,” he told me as I fought to suck in breath. I followed his instructions, feeling more blessed oxygen filling my lungs.
“Well, well,” Hollingsworth said to me. “It looks like you’ll be doubly useful. Everyone back to their cages. You have five minutes to gather some food as we will clear the rest away for the day. In the morning, specimen jars and gloves will be provided.” The fucker’s eyes swung to me. “Unless you prefer to get hands on? Shannon, you’ve been educated in the sperm sample retrieval process, so you know what to do. I’ll need at least one from each specimen before the day ends, or they’ll experience pain much worse than your beloved has. Though he will be excused if he makes his deposit inside you.”
“You’re going to make her…” Caleb said, looking sideways at me, “get…from us?”
He shrugged. “She needs to be in the room at the very least. It’s her scent that prompts this extreme response, so I’ll not chance getting lesser samples. Now, move to your cells.”
Nero grabbed a trolley of food and wheeled it over to Jai and my space before collecting items to disseminate between the others. They moved quickly enough, the compliance sitting oddly on such big, powerful bodies. Big powerful bodies I was about to see so much more of. I frowned and edged back towards Jai, just as the glass walls came down.
“Shan…” Jai groaned, and I rushed to his side.
It was around now I started to get mad.
Jai looked fine. They obviously knew what they were doing, able to incapacitate shifters without permanently damaging them, but somehow, that made it worse.