by Brenda Trim
How was PRL finding these test subjects? It was against the law to experiment on humans, even shifters. She couldn’t see these men answering an ad to make extra money by donating their blood. Besides, neither of the men she saw was there voluntarily. The only way she was going to get answers was to get back into the room with the shifter and talk to him. And Jim was her ticket to getting in.
“That’s wonderful news, Jim. I would like nothing more than to find a cure. So many lives have been lost. What exactly are you telling me? How did you get permission for these shifters to participate and why is the situation so volatile? Is he refusing to cooperate? Is that why he’s chained?” she asked, attempting an allegiance with Jim.
“Yes and no,” he stated on an exhale completely ignoring her question about the legality of the study. “The man you saw claims his blood can’t help. He refuses to shift for us which is what I think needs to happen. My theory is blood from his animal form differs from his human state, and that’s the blood I’m after. Plus, you saw how violent he becomes. He’s chained so that more of my employees aren’t killed. I refuse to risk their lives,” Jim explained as he began pacing the spacious office.
“I can understand why you’d say that. I wasn’t prepared for the rage and violence he displayed. I knew I shouldn’t have run from the room but I was terrified. He threatened to kill me, as well,” Liv told her boss, and another tremble ran along her spine when she remembered his gray eyes filled with fury.
Again, she questioned his threat. She had been close enough that he could’ve grabbed her if he wanted to, yet he didn’t.
“Yes, I heard everything when I watched the tape. So, you can understand why that section of the building is locked. We have over fifty employees and I can’t chance a repeat of last night. I don’t want you anywhere near that hall again. Are we clear?” Jim asked, but it wasn’t a request. It was an order.
Part of Liv wanted to steer clear of that dreadful hallway. She wasn’t lying when she said it was terrifying. Nothing in her life was as horrifying as witnessing two murders. The idea that it was from the shifter’s bare hands scared her to death. He could snap her neck with one hand.
She placed a palm over her roiling stomach as her mind continued with the Sherlock Holmes routine. She needed to delve deeper into this matter. Jim clearly wanted this kept secret. Two lives were lost. How could he hide that? What about the families? She didn’t recall if David had a family but surely someone was going to miss him. And, why the hell didn’t Jim involve the police?
Liv had countless reasons to avoid the shifter. And yet none of them would keep her away. His steel gray eyes branded into her mind and she couldn’t shake them loose. Regardless of his actions, he was being tortured. If she stood by and did nothing, she may as well put a gun to his head and pull the trigger.
Why couldn’t she be a doormat and nod her head like a good little girl and go on about her life? That would be the safest choice but she couldn’t. Not at the expense of another person’s life. She had to be given access to him and find out exactly what was going on behind the scenes of the company she worked for but she had to approach this cautiously. And from the right angle.
“Jim, I might be able to help,” she suggested, pasting a seductive smile on her face and batting her lashes as she stepped closer and placed a palm on his chest. She might suck at lying and have a rotten poker face but she knew how to appeal to the opposite sex.
As expected, his demeanor softened, and his eyes roamed down the length of her body. She frequently caught him checking out her ass but had never given the married man the slightest bit of attention. Now, as she flirted with him, he was practically drooling on himself.
“What do you have in mind?” he murmured, voice heavy with lust.
Manipulating Jim was too easy. For God’s sake, he had no integrity. He was an idiot for so easily falling prey to a woman’s advances. It was men like him that had Liv avoiding the altar. It seemed no one could stay faithful anymore. First opportunity to stray and most didn’t think twice before cheating.
“I noticed the shifter seemed to have a soft spot for me if you can imagine that,” she prompted as she twirled a long red curl around her finger.
“Yes, I can imagine that. I can envision a lot more,” he insinuated, tugging the lock from her hand and wrapping it around his thick digit. She pictured the digit in his pants getting thicker by the minute.
Taking two steps back, she put enough space between them that he released her hair. “Well, what I’m thinking is maybe I can try and earn his trust. If he’s comfortable with me, maybe he’ll consider shifting. After all, if their blood holds the key, I want his cooperation as much as you do. I just happen to think you catch more flies with honey,” she teased with a wink.
“I bet your honey is the sweetest,” he professed, licking his lips.
Yeah, this guy was a total player. Liv couldn’t help but feel sorry for his wife. She had met her once, and the woman seemed nice enough. Why did so many men cheat? Was something missing from their marriage or were they simply eager to taste a little strange? Again, reason enough to avoid going down the aisle of matrimony.
Trying to get the overly-aroused male to focus was a challenge. “I can start spending a little time with the shifter and see what happens. I might need to be left alone with him,” Liv instructed, hoping to get Jim’s approval without causing alarm.
“I don’t know about that. He’s unpredictable. The last thing I want is for that animal to harm you in any way. I kinda like having your cute ass around,” he openly admitted and reached out, swatting her backside. Pervert.
Didn’t take much for this tool to think she’d given him the green light. She couldn’t help but wonder how many other women he’d pursued at work. She hadn’t heard any rumors floating around, but that didn’t mean anything. Affairs in the office happened all the time.
“Let’s just try it and see. If he shows any aggression, I’ll haul my cute ass outta there faster than he can shift,” she joked, turning so Jim could admire her backside.
She was wearing her favorite pair of jeans that hugged her butt just right and wanted him to see what she had to offer. His eyes widened in appreciation and Liv didn’t miss the erection straining in his dress slacks. Before he could act on any naughty thoughts playing through his mind, she sashayed out of the office.
“See ya in the morn, boss. Enjoy your evening,” she cried out as she lifted her arm and waved bye without turning to look at him. She heard a groan as she rounded the corner of his office and quickly headed towards the exit of the building.
Stepping out into the bright sunny afternoon, she had to shake off Jim’s creepy advances. Unfortunately, there would probably be more to follow. She would have to string him along until she knew what was going on in the secured area at PRL.
For the most part, she considered that meeting a win for Team Liv. Now all she had to do was get the shifter to trust and confide in her. If Jim’s story was legit, she hoped she could convince the man to cooperate. What if his blood did hold the cure? Thinking about the lives they could save had her skipping with joy all the way to her Jeep. She couldn’t bring back her grandmother but she could save others, and that fact made her heart swell.
Not to mention what it could do for her career. The doors it would open. Maybe she wouldn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck for once in her life.
Look out, people. Olivia Kimbro was ready to take over the world.
Right after she ate, that was. Now that her stomach settled, she was starving for a pizza.
4
The dreaded click of the door handle alerted Lawson. He loathed the sound. To him, it meant another round of needles to his flesh or beating to his body. Quickly sitting up, he grabbed his head when sharp pain exploded around his eyes.
His face hadn’t recovered from injuries received during his last pummeling, and he could barely see out of his right eye. Typically, his body healed itself within twenty-four hou
rs, but this was the worst beat-down yet.
Lawson had open wounds from being whipped with a metal chain and several broken ribs from repeated kicks to the chest and abdomen. He recalled spitting up blood right before a blow to his head knocked him out cold.
They’d tortured him because he’d killed two men but his compassion for these cruel humans was gone. No one had shown him an ounce of sympathy. He was treated worse than an animal.
His body had more holes it in that Swiss cheese and he was black and blue all over. He may heal quickly, but the constant blows and needles, coupled with the lack of proper food and bathing facilities left him weaker than normal. Mentally and physically. Honestly, he wished they’d drain all the blood from his body and let him die. It would be better than the continuous suffering.
The whippings had become more frequent, and Lawson wasn’t sure how much more his body could take before shutting down. It didn’t help that his will to live was slowly vanishing. If he didn’t find a way to escape soon he was going to die in this shithole and that just pissed him off.
At least he managed to do a little damage to Jim’s lackeys before they beat him unconscious. Lawson smiled at the memory of snapping the arm of one male and breaking another’s leg. Holy shit, it hurt like hell moving any muscle on his face.
Opening his left eye as best he could, he was shocked to see the red-headed female step inside the room then shut the door behind her. She was the last person he expected to see again. Ever.
He figured she would remain in his dreams instead of flesh and blood before him. Regrettably, she had consumed Lawson’s past two nights, haunting his dreams with her terrified green eyes. He was more captive to the endless echo of her horrified scream than he was to the chains binding him to the cement wall at his back.
Taking quick stock, he was humiliated to the core at his appearance. The sweatpants he’d worn from day one were so filthy it made him sick. Not from dirt so much as the stench of rancid clothes in desperate need of washing. The smell disgusted him, and he could only imagine how bad it was for her.
What he could see of his dark hair and long beard was matted, and his finger and toenails were overgrown and discolored. It was an embarrassment, and he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.
Many assumed shifters were dirty by nature because of their animal side, but they weren’t. Clean-freak was a term his family attached to him because of his obsessive tendencies. Most shifters were hygiene fanatics, and to be this squalid made Lawson physically ill.
The worst part was his toilet. It consisted of a large bucket in the corner of the room that wasn’t disposed of on a regular basis, which added to the odors. He’d been there so long his senses were muted, but it still turned his stomach to think of his poor living conditions.
“Oh, my, God, what did they do to you?” the female exclaimed, rushing towards him.
He quickly held up a hand, halting her steps. “Don’t. Stay away,” Lawson ordered.
He was impressed with her bravery. She witnessed him commit a violent act against two humans and had the courage to come back to his room. Alone. She was rushing to the side of a murderer. Did she have a death wish?
He sure as hell wouldn’t have returned to the scene of the crime, especially this nasty place.
She held up her hands defensively and backed up. “Okay, I won’t go near you. If it’s okay, I’ll just sit on the ground right here and keep my distance,” the female muttered, squatting to the cold tile floor. She fumbled with her knee-length lab coat as she crossed her legs.
He noticed she wore tan slacks and a black blouse under her lab coat. Her sweet scent still intoxicated him, but he found he was a little more in control of his libido this time. Another result of his dinner date with the guards. They beat him so bad he couldn’t even get aroused.
She placed a red tote bag on the ground beside her. Red. It matched the long strands of her silky hair. It was also his favorite color. It suddenly occurred to Lawson that his captivity was void of color, and this female was a beacon in his dark world.
Of all colors, she was red. It represented love and life and passion to him. All of them now distant memories to what his life had become.
Her soft voice drew his attention. “My name is Olivia Kimbro, but my friends call me Liv. I’m one of the research scientists here at PRL. What is your name?” she asked, reaching into the bag and pulling out a clipboard with some papers attached to it.
The entire time he’d been in this fuckhole, not one single person had the decency to ask him something as simple as his name.
Not that knowing his name would grant them the knowledge they were seeking, but it had shown him how little these humans cared. He stared at her saying nothing. Why should he share anything with her?
These humans had brought him nothing but pain, torture, and misery. Why now was one female suddenly showing interest, if that’s what it was? Could be a setup for all he knew. In fact, he wondered why they hadn’t sent a female before now to coerce him into shifting.
“I can’t say I blame you for your silence. I would probably do the same thing. How about this? I’ll tell you a little about me, and you can decide after that if you want to talk to me. I have to warn you, though, my story is pretty dull,” she divulged as she reached into the bag again and pulled out a Granny Smith apple, quickly tossing it towards him.
Reaching up, he snagged it midair. “Wow, nice reflexes,” Liv said with a chuckle. “I assume that’s a shifter trait. I’ve never met a shifter, so forgive me if I’m ignorant.”
Lawson liked the sound of her voice. It was smoky and soft, and it intrigued him. In fact, he wanted to lay back and have her talk or maybe read to him. A full-length novel from start to finish. He didn’t even care what it was about so long as it took hours for her to complete it.
Looking at the bright green fruit in his palm, he turned it, studying it closer. Again, to see color was a breath of fresh air. The firmness and unblemished skin of the apple was perfection in his opinion. He had lived off cold oatmeal and stale rolls since they captured him. Oh, they loaded him with various supplements to keep him healthy but the food provided was bland and tasteless. He didn’t know if he should eat the apple or hang it on the wall like a fine piece of art.
“It’ll go bad if you don’t eat it,” she remarked as if reading his thoughts.
He brought the fruit to his mouth and took a large bite. Sweet and tart burst against his tongue, and he closed his eyes, savoring the experience. He couldn’t recall eating anything with more flavor. Taking another bite, he groaned from the pleasure. It was cool and crisp and smelled like a sunny day. One more thing he hadn’t seen in forever.
“Wow, maybe I should’ve kept that for myself. My neighbor, Cassie, would call that look on your face orgasmical,” Olivia said, giggling.
Lawson’s eyes popped open to see her gaping with interest. Her alluring green eyes locked with his and he couldn’t stop the arousal that spiked in his groin from her heated look. Okay, the beating didn’t deter his need because fuck if he didn’t want her.
Liv felt a blush spread across her face and quickly diverted her focus, glancing down at the clipboard as she looked through the attached papers. There was no personal information in his file, only the results of what the other scientists had found from his blood samples.
Unfortunately, she saw nothing but a blur due to her discomfort, but she kept her focus anywhere but on him. The shifter’s penetrating gray eyes reached in and played peek-a-boo. Liv swore he could see straight into her soul and that had her crossing and uncrossing her legs as she bit her lip. Beyond unnerving. She had unwanted skeletons in her closet like anybody else and certainly didn’t need this man dissecting her mistakes and failures.
Take a deep breath and get back on target, she told herself. She needed to win his trust. Otherwise, he’d never shift for them and they needed the blood from his animal. She wondered what animal he became. Bear? Lion? It was impossible to tell by looki
ng at him and it killed her to see the multiple injuries covering his body.
Whatever happened between him and her boss last night didn’t go in his favor. Yes, he killed two men but they were beating him mercilessly. She saw it with her own eyes. They were attacking him while he lay there defenseless, trying to protect himself.
Now, his face was swollen to the point he looked disfigured. One eye was closed shut and the other wasn’t much better. His upper torso was covered in welts, and the skin was split open in several spots. Her heart wept for the abuse he endured.
Judging his massive muscles, Liv knew the man was incredibly strong but even a shifter must have limitations. He looked like those had been exceeded.
Again, her mind wondered about his animal. She heard when they shifted they had no control over the actions of their beast. How primal and raw that must be for them. Part of her acknowledged it might be freeing, as well. Curiosity was eating at her insides about his animal. Liv acknowledged she was a little turned on by it.
Shaking off her inappropriate thoughts, she considered where to begin in her less-than-interesting life recap. “So, I’m from Tennessee. Grew up not far from Chattanooga and went to the community college here in town. My dad disappeared when I was very young. To be honest, I barely remember him. No brothers or sisters but my mom and I are super close. She’s my best friend. Do you have any siblings?” she rambled, finally meeting his eyes again.
No reply but Liv saw something spark in his steel gray orbs. Was it her talking about her family? Did he have one, and were they searching for him? So many questions zipped through her mind.
How long had he been held captive? How was he captured? Why was he so resistant? It seemed he should want to help save lives if he could. She had to get him to open up if she was going to get to the bottom of what was going on at her workplace.
