Chasing Dare Read online

  Although she appeared unharmed, her beautiful eyes looked haunted, her shoulders slumped. He ached to draw her into his arms when she moved to stand beside him.

  “Brave mate.” Balduen heard whisper through his mind.

  “Yes, she is. We don’t deserve her.” He responded quickly, hoping to keep the beast speaking.

  “I do.”

  “Then help me get her out of here so we can both deserve her.” Balduen replied.

  “Yes.”

  “The drugs allow you freedom?” Balduen asked.

  “Yes. Some. I am learning.”

  “You’re learning how to control us while we’re affected by the drug?” Balduen asked, thinking it would be a good idea to try to establish a friendship with the beast. Like the Tezarian’s had with their beasts. If he referred to them as a team, maybe the beast would be more inclined to help and not run amok.

  “Yes. For her.”

  “Are you free only when the drugs are affecting us then?” He had to know if he was still in control without the drugs.

  “Yes.”

  “You know what has happened to us? What they are going to do to our mate?” Balduen asked, hoping the beast could understand. He didn’t want to try to put that in mental pictures for the beast.

  “Yes. I heard the doctor speak.” Balduen sighed in relief.

  “You’re lucid even without the drugs?” Balduen was shocked. He had no idea that the parasite had this level of sentience… clarity of thought.

  The Relian’s had left the room, and he could feel the drugs leaving his system. He panicked when he knew that he’d lose communication with the beast. It was somehow comforting to speak to it, to know it understood what they were going through and wanted to help.

  “What stops you from communicating when the drugs aren’t affecting us?” Balduen asked desperately, feeling the connection with the parasite begin to fade. He needed more time with the beast to find out what it could do. How it could help them. How to control it.

  “You.”

  That was the last thing he expected to hear. And the last thing the beast said before his mind became silent again. Damn it! Now he would have to wait until the morning, when they brought breakfast, to try to talk to it again and find out what it meant.

  He heard the shower turn off and waited expectantly for Dare to come out, desperate to see if she was alright. He had heard her crying in the shower again, but refused to invade her privacy.

  He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stop himself though. The release of his beast was taking away his ability to remain… civil where she was concerned. His need to ensure her safety and well-being was beginning to take precedence over pride. His or hers.

  If they remained much longer he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stay away when he could clearly smell her pain and fear coming off of her in waves.

  He watched as she came out of the bathroom, using a towel to dry her long hair. She glanced at him for a moment, giving him a brave smile before sitting at the end of the bed near the plates of food.

  “I changed my mind. We need to eat. We need our strength.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it spoke volumes. He understood that whatever had happened to her that day had only strengthened her resolve to get out of there.

  Balduen wanted to do a human fist bump at her show of courage, but restrained the urge. Instead, he followed her lead and grabbed a plate and started eating, not caring what it was. Her eyes flashed defiantly as she stabbed a piece of meat with the spork and shoved it in her mouth.

  After they had both eaten their fill, in silence, Dare threw her garbage in the bag they put with their meal and climbed into the bed. And waited.

  Balduen knew from the way she was curled on her side facing his empty side of the bed that she was ready to talk. He quickly threw everything into the bag and placed it by the door.

  Dare watched impatiently as Baldy turned off the light and listened at the door for a moment before climbing into the bed beside her. She waited until he settled himself before pulling the covers up to their faces, and leaning in closer to him.

  Balduen breathed in deeply, her light musky scent, with a hint of a flower teased his heightened senses, momentarily distracting him.

  “Baldy?” Dare asked for the second time before he registered that she had spoken.

  “Sorry. Are you alright?” His hands had already reached for her to check her more closely for injury before he stopped himself. He couldn’t start groping her, or she would probably smack the hell out of him and rightfully so. She’d most likely been groped enough today by the doctor. That thought had him grinding his teeth in fury.

  “I’m fine. It was just me and the doc, and it was all standard tests like blood work, lots of blood work. Don’t worry about it right now. The doc said that it would be at least a week before he’d even make the first attempt to…” Dare couldn’t finish the sentence, far too emotionally raw from the violation of every part of her body.

  She didn’t think there was any part of her that wasn’t thoroughly measured, scraped for samples, tested for blood, or left untouched by clinical, soulless hands who had treated her like a nothing more than a valued test animal.

  She felt humiliated. It was the fact that he had treated her like she was less than human that had pissed her the hell off. And made her much more determined to get the hell out of this miserable damn place; and burn it down before she left so they couldn’t do this to any other woman.

  Balduen could tell that she wasn’t telling him the whole truth, the barest hint of a rumbling growl in his head, told him his beast knew she was lying as well. The ability to hear it, no matter how slight, while the drugs weren’t affecting him, made him smile.

  Balduen listened intently as Dare explained to him that the window in this room, looked out over the path that led to the barn/lab where the doctor had kept her all day and where he had told her they would be spending every day together. Except weekends.

  The doctor had been very specific that he did not think they would get any benefit out of seeing her every day and unless it was warranted, she’d be spending her weekends alone in the room with Balduen.

  Dare was assuming that he needed the weekends to study the results of all the tests he was conducting and to determine if any changes needed to be made for the experiment.

  Balduen was impressed with the detail that Dare, had used to explain the route from where they were to the barn, including the distances between different areas that she had been walked through. She didn’t note any transport vehicles, but they might be in the front of the house and not the back where she’d been taken.

  “So, there is no change in your beast fighting the drug?” Dare asked after she’d relayed everything she could think of to Balduen.

  “Actually, I’ve been able to establish intelligent conversation.” Balduen replied with a big grin on his face.

  “You’re freaking kidding me!” Dare exclaimed before remembering that she needed to keep her voice down.

  “Are you serious?” She asked much more quietly.

  “Yes. He said that he heard the doctor and his plans, and that he is fighting the drug, but he needs to get stronger. He also mentioned that the only thing keeping him from communicating with me when the drugs aren’t in my system is me. I don’t understand what he means, but I’m going to do my best to figure it out.”

  Balduen was actually pretty surprised at how excited he was about establishing communication. As a child, he could remember being taught with the other young boys, to block the daily voice of his beast, to ignore and shun it. It was like re-discovering a part of himself that he’d forgotten even existed.

  “That’s incredible, Baldy! I’m so excited for you. For us. So it’s a he now and not an ‘it’?” Dare asked with a grin, happy that Baldy seemed so much more… relaxed about his beast being active.

  Balduen couldn’t help but chuckle at her observation. “Yes, I have decided it is a ‘he’ now. It seems
to make more sense than calling him an ‘it’.”

  “I agree. If it does have its own mind and is sentient, then you should find out if he has a name. It might help build a better bond if you try to befriend him. I have to say I’d be pretty pissed at you if you ignored me for God-knows how many years and then decided, when you were in deep shit, to finally chat again.” Dare’s comment was like a light going off in his head.

  “That’s it! Dare, you are brilliant!” Balduen grabbed her in his excitement and planted a lingering kiss on her forehead. The rumbling growl reverberating through his chest had both of them jerking quickly away from each other.

  “I’m so…” Balduen began before Dare, cut him off.

  “So what is it? What have you figured out?” Dare asked, shifting a little further away from him to avoid another potential kiss. She had no idea such a chaste kiss could be so erotic! The feel of his strong hands on her upper arms, his soft, firm lips pressing gently to her skin… wow.

  “As small children, we have the ability to interact with our beast whenever either of us would like. But, it’s when we get older and are sent to train that we are taught not only to ignore the beast, but to fight any emotions that we know are generated by the beast.”

  “Honestly, I can remember as a small child, singing with the beast to help us fall asleep. Or playing games with him when I felt lonely. As children, we didn’t understand why the beast was considered bad, when it had seemed to be a wonderful companion.”

  “Obviously, I need more information from him before I can make assumptions, but I think if I was the one who severed the contact to begin with, then I have to be the one to reestablish it. Which would explain why we can’t communicate without the drugs. If I’m in control, I’m somehow still fighting him. Like I was taught as a child. An instinctive response, if I feel the beast stirring.”

  “I need to re-teach myself not to fight the connection. I’m not quite sure how, but I plan on asking him for suggestions when they bring breakfast in the morning.” Balduen knew it made sense; it had to be what the beast was referring to when he had said that Balduen was the reason they couldn’t communicate without the drugs.

  “Baldy, that’s fantastic! Maybe you could use the way they taught you to suppress the beast to reconnect. Do the opposite of what they taught you?" Dare grinned, she really liked seeing him excited and happy. Being held captive together didn’t make for too many happy or exciting moments, so she’d take what little wins they could get.

  “That’s not a bad idea. I’ll try it tomorrow. Are you sure you’re all right?” Balduen could tell Dare was tired; her yawning had become the most her mouth had been open since she had come out of the shower.

  “I’m fine Baldy. You just do whatever you have to do to get the beast ready to kick some ass. I’ll be right here with you.” Dare said on another yawn.

  Balduen remained silent long enough for Dare to finally fall asleep. She was exhausted; he suspected it was more from stress and worry than from the experiments that the doctor had done. However, he knew she needed her sleep, and he wanted her well rested. She was going through enough without worrying about exhaustion as well.

  He smiled broadly when Dare curled up to his side in her sleep, as drawn to him as he was to her, even in sleep. Moving his arm slightly, he wrapped it around her shoulders and pulled her closer until her head was resting on his chest, her leg draped over his thighs. Ignoring the flare of heat in his loins from her touch, he began thinking of ways to deconstruct the walls in his mind that he’d made as a child.

  *****

  “The initial test results are amazing. She is definitely a descendent of the Denisovan’s as I expected. Of course, there is also the gene flow from an earlier, unknown hominid species that we still have not been able to isolate, but the tests are conclusive that she should be able to breed.”

  “We have approximately one week before she is fertile enough to begin the first attempt at insemination. I am hopeful that under the conditions, we will be able to see success by the end of the month." Dr. Camarasa couldn’t contain the excitement in his voice as he updated Grai on the initial test results.

  He knew that the gifted and hybrids were part of a missing genetic link in the evolution of humans but hadn’t been able to isolate the genetic sequence, until now. Dare and those like her, were a new species that had yet to be fully understood, and he was more than thrilled to be a part of discovering everything there was to know about her species.

  “Good. That is encouraging. Is she holding up well under the circumstances? Will she be stable enough to carry the child?” Grai’s only concern was the safety and well-being of the child she would hopefully soon carry.

  “I am doing everything I can to keep her relaxed and comfortable. I do believe that the Valendran is doing more to help keep her calmer than anything else though. They do seem to be bonding well together.” The doctor admitted grudgingly, watching Dare cuddle into Balduen on the computer. He hated to rely on someone else to ensure the outcome of his experiments, but in this case, he didn’t have a choice. Allowing her to bond with her mate was keeping her calm and rational.

  “Continue to see that you do. The comfort and care of her as the mother of the new Relian race is of the utmost importance to me. Ensure she is neither harmed, nor under undue stress. If that means providing that same comfort and care to her mate, then that is what you will do.”

  “Neither of them is to be harmed in any way. Is that understood?” Grai growled the question into the phone. He had no patience for this man, but needed him, and that irked him even more, preferring to rely on himself than anyone else. However, he couldn’t fix this, and the life that depended on it meant more to him than his pride.

  “I understand completely.” The doctor’s normally deep and loud voice had dropped dramatically when he answered.

  “Good. Is there anything else that you need?” Grai expected the man to ask for more money. It seemed that everything on this planet required a monetary exchange of some kind, although somewhat confusing to him, it hadn’t taken long for him to realize the importance of amassing as much currency as he could get to further his operations on the planet.

  “No, I believe we are fine at the moment. If I can think of anything, I will email you as normal.” Jose didn’t voice his opinion about the need to get rid of Lucretia; he had no proof yet of her instability. However, when he did, Grai would be the first to know.

  “Good. Keep me updated.” Grai didn’t wait for the doctor’s response and hung up the phone as the door to his office opened. Sighing, he resigned himself to another unexpected meeting with his brother, Traze.

  “Hey bro!” Traze said as he walked in and threw himself into his favorite chair in front of Grai’s desk.

  “Why aren’t you at home? Don’t you have school tomorrow?” Grai asked impatiently, needing to make one more phone call before he headed home as well.

  “Yes, I have school tomorrow. I came by to tell you that four of the Dark Ones have been recaptured and taken back to the ship. We still don’t know how many escaped from the ship before you put extra security on the shuttles, but if we’ve found four, then there are probably twenty more that are still loose.” Traze explained, watching his brother’s reaction carefully.

  “Shit! What’s being done to track them? Is the scanner Koda made working?” Grai had been hoping that they’d had better luck finding the Dark Ones. Some things didn’t need to be released upon any world, especially not this one; he thought.

  “The scanner found the four that we’ve recaptured, but it’s the distance they’ve put between us and them that’s causing problems with the scanner. Koda is working on adjustments to make it work better but for now… there’s going to be some explaining to do if the humans start being ripped to shreds by an unknown dark creature.” The nonchalant way that Traze said it, wasn’t fooling Grai.

  “I’ll put teams on the lookout for news articles or web activity associated with them, so
we can quash any news before it spreads. How is Sabienne doing?” Grai asked with concern. He knew she would still be devastated over the loss of her mate Dreka, but was hoping that a new life on the planet with her children, far away from Kalai would help heal some of her pain.

  “She’s still depressed and she cries every time someone isn’t around her to keep her distracted. I put her at her daughter’s home, and her great children are keeping her much more occupied than she was at our place, and she seems a lot happier.”

  Traze hated what happened to Dreka, who had been more of a father to him than his own had been. However, seeing Sabienne so distraught had nearly taken all his control. She had adopted and cared for all the brothers after Kalai had murdered their mother in a fit of rage when Traze was still an infant. They would never forget what the couple had done for the brothers and would do what they needed to in order to keep Sabienne safe.

  “That was very good thinking Traze. You did very well. Now you need to go home and get your schoolwork done. It’s getting late, and you need to get some dinner and sleep. I’ll be along in a little while.” Grai had one more phone call to make if he could just clear out his brother first.

  “Man, I don’t know why the hell, we’re bothering with school! Talk about pointless! Seriously, why are we bothering? It’s not like they’re teaching me anything I don’t know! I could do more to help if I didn’t have to go there!” Traze made the same arguments he’d made a dozen times before and by the look on Grai’s face it still wasn’t going to make a difference. Sighing in frustration, Traze pulled himself out of the chair and headed to the door.

  “One of these day's bro, you’re going to have to realize that I grew the hell up!”

  Grai barely noted the slamming of the door behind Traze, before he picked up the phone and dialed the number he had memorized.

  “Hello?” The soft, sweet voice that answered could turn his heart inside and out.

  “It’s me. Are you alright? How is he?” Even though Grai had them watched by human mercenaries, since his own men couldn’t be trusted, he still worried about their safety constantly.