Chapter 14

The Inner Hybrid

"Where the hell is she?" my mother's voice blares, and I grip my already aching head the moment her shrill demand reaches my ears.

Damn.

With more dread than I should have to face, I open my eyes to the distraught, devastated bedroom.

Holy fuck. I did all this?

"She's awake now," Jase sighs out upon hearing my mind going to work.

I grab the sheets and jerk them around me as the door to the bedroom bursts open, and Araya Crush Hawkins Banner Mordel storms in with her eyes blazing.

"Morning, Mom," I chirp with a bit of sarcasm etching my bittersweet tone.

Her eyes relax, and she props her hands on her hips as she tries to restrain her anger that is masking her terror.

Jase walks in with his head lowered, his eyes looking to be exhausted, as if something has happened I don't know about.

What?

He doesn't look up or acknowledge my silent question. He merely drops to a chair across the room from me. His shirtless body calls to my attention briefly, my mind dancing with memories from the night before.

He doesn't smile, blush, or even give me an eye roll. I know this is serious now, and my eyes cut back to my mother while my accusatory glare burns through her.

"What the hell have you done?" I scold, and she narrows her eyes at me.

"What have I done? What have you done? How dare you leave me out of this," she growls.

Oh no. She knows about the threat.

Jase shakes his head, finally acknowledging my thoughts, and I let out a small sigh of relief.

"Go on, Mother. What has provoked you?" I scoff.

"Aralia, have you no clue what I've gone through all night long? I waited on you to show up, but you never did. It's fucking noon, and you haven't even bothered to call me. Then I get here, and Jase refuses to tell me what the hell happened. Your brother has avoided me like uranium, and your aunt and uncle have somehow managed to evade me ever since you got back. What the hell is going on?" she barks.

Uncle Brazen walks into the room, wearing that I'm-sorry-but-she's-your-mother look on his face, proving he'll be of no use to me.

"Mom, I'm an officer of the United. Shit happens," I say with a shrug, and her eyes darken - her violet burning through her blue contacts, and she quickly looks away before Jase can see.

At least she doesn't know you know. She'd probably fuck up the bedroom more than it already is if she did.

Jase cracks a small grin, the life returning to him now that he's made it through the worst of an Araya lashing. He dusts a bit of the ceiling off the chair he's sitting in, and then he gives me a secretive, playful wink.

Uncle Brazen covertly gives her a set of contacts, and she takes them into her hand discreetly while pretending to cry with her eyes closed.

Jase's grin only grows as she says, "Excuse me," and walks into the bathroom as though she's trying to regain composure.

"Aria, why not just call us?" Uncle Brazen exasperates while leaning against the wall.

I smirk as my eyes fall on the disaster zone of a room that needs to have yellow tape marking off the unsound structural damage, and suddenly Mr. Cool Full Blood squirms uncomfortably.

"Oh," he pops out in an awkward octave, and then he realizes I'm still stained in blood, wrapped in a sheet, and bare on my bed. "Araya, I'll wait on you outside."

"Okay," she whimpers, but it's so tragically fake.

And she claims to be a good actress.

I stifle my laughter as he disappears from the room, but Jase lets his barely slip out while coming to join me in the bed. His arms wrap me up and pull me close to his body, allowing me the opportunity to breathe in his sex and candy.

This is what I expected when I woke up.

"Not my fault," he whispers, but I know my mother heard.

She stalks back in, and then I notice her cheeks really are streaked. She really was crying. What the hell?

"Mom," I mumble while standing up and clutching the sheet to me. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to get healed. I fell asleep shortly after."

I accidentally smile, and I look back to a blushing Jase who drops his eyes the second my mother lets a breath escape.

"Oh," she murmurs while looking around, her eyes finally taking in the destruction I've caused.

The tables are in shambles with slivers of wood all over the marble floors. The steel door to the bedroom has been warped, and it's still gasping out its pain each time it swings back or forth. The stained, ripped, and singed sheets reveal secrets of our torrid tousle, and the cracked walls only add to the scandalous tale.

Her feet crunch on shattered and scattered glass from the balcony door as she moves over to the chair where Jase once sat. She stifles a grin when she sees a bit of ceiling mounded up in the floor beside it.

"I see your gift is getting stronger," she says with a bit of menace in her tone.

Only when I taste Jase's blood.

He strangles out a cough and then shakes his head, wishing he could scold me right now. He's fully back with me now, and I breathe out a sigh of relief to know my mother hasn't scared him away.

"Tell me what happened," she says a little calmer.

Um... yeah.Right.

"We were caught up in a fight after a tracker read the trail wrong. I got shot, hurt, and then they tried to take me as a prisoner of war," I mutter very matter-of-factly, omitting several very key pieces to the puzzle.

Her eyes wince, and I know it's because her biggest fear is someone doing to me what they did to her.

"Someone saved me and delivered me back to the others once it was safe. I swear it's not as bad as it might have sounded."

Jase moves to pull me back into bed, and his arms tighten around me because he knows the truth, as opposed to the downplayed version of what I just gave my mother. She'd do the same if the roles were reversed.

She takes in a new breath as though it's the first one she has taken easily in hours. I do feel a little guilty, but I thought Rex was going to handle her.

"Did Rex not fill you in?" I muse.

"He tried to, but I thought he was lying to keep me from seeing how bad off you were. You always use diluted, packaged blood, so I assumed it must have been terrible for you to use… fresh blood."

Her lips turn up in a wry smile, and I swear my mother is blushing because of something I did . This is something that has never happened.

Crap. I can't tell her I just wanted to use fresh blood.

Jase hides his smile behind my hair as he kisses the back of my head, and his hands slide up and down my arms as my Uncle Brazen returns.

"There are… um… some men outside for you… Jase," he says awkwardly, his eyes darting nervously around the room.

I'm sure he's still reeling from the safety hazard our room has become.

Jase's eyes meet his, and then he kisses my head before climbing out of the bed and grabbing a crisp white shirt. He disappears into the bathroom, and emerges almost just as quickly, looking fully refreshed with his shirt tucked in, tie on, and shoes on as well.

Damn you're fast.

He smirks, and then walks out of the warped door to disappear outside the suite.

"Do you feel better now that you see I've healed?" I ask Mom.

"Yes, and now that I see why you were otherwise engaged," she teases while letting a pile of ceiling dust slide through her fingers.

My stepdad grumbles under his breath to exhale his torment, and then he shakes his head while avoiding all eye contact with me.

"Well, I suppose we should leave you to shower and get ready. I'll talk with you after while," she murmurs softly, and then I stand to meet her as she climbs free from the dusty chair.

"I love you, Mom. I promise I'm fine," I say reassuringly.

"You're sure this wasn't specifically an attack on you?" she whispers so low I can barely hear her.

I know it was.

"I know it's wasn't," I lie again, and she nods while accepting it before kissing my brow.

I tie the sheet around me as I walk them to the front door, and then I listen for Jase's voice once they start walking out. I hear nothing though. He must have gone somewhere.

Uncle Brazen kisses the top of my head, and I grab his arm before he escapes.

"Where did Jase go?"

He frowns a little, and then he shrugs.

"I suppose he had some business to tend to. I'm sure he wasn't planning on us leaving so soon. We can stay for a while," he offers, and I shake my head vigorously.

No.Go.Please go.

"I'd like to have some time to myself, actually," I say while shrugging, and he gives me a small wink before disappearing and joining my mother.

The scent of chocolate and dark cherry finds me, and I gasp as I follow it. That was the chocolate I thought I smelled last night. It was faint - too faint to actually pick out what it was - so he wasn't in the room, but he had been. Now it's terribly strong, fresh, and drawing me toward it.

He's here.

I look around the bedroom where I just left, and his scent is almost overpowering. I need to tell him thank you. I want to find out what secrets he knows about the company I keep.

Now that I'm not writhing in pain or bleeding to death, I have so many questions to ask. I want to grill him about his evasive answers, and now I have the strength to do it.

"I know you're here. Where are you?" I say to the vacant room that is still trembling at the mere sound of my voice after the hell I forced it to suffer through last night.

My eyes search the bathroom, but nothing. I check the closet to find our bags tossed in there but nothing else.

"Please talk to me. I just want to tell you thank you. I haven't told anyone anything about you if that's what you're worried about. All I told them was that you saved me."

No one answers, and I'm starting to worry I've gone crazy. Then I see the small box on the end of the bed that hadn't been there when I first walked back in.

It's solid black, and there's a red bow tied around it in such a decadently delicate fashion. I walk over to it, and I shiver as I pick it up.

As beautiful as it is, I'm too tempted to shred the dressed up outer-coating to find the gooey inside. The red ribbon falls to my feet, swiping my leg once with its satiny touch on the way down.

I'm a little disappointed to find a mere note tucked inside the beautifully misleading box, but when I remove it, I see a phone underneath. I quickly read the note to find out what's going on.

This is the phone I'll call you on from now on. It won't show you my number, and it'll alert me if you try tracing my location while on the phone with me. That doesn't mean I don't trust you, it means I don't trust the ones around you to trust me. By the way, good to see your hybrid getting some exercise.

Until next time,

Your helpful stalker

I laugh at the sentiment, and then I roll my eyes while sliding the incredibly small, thin phone under the mattress. I'll have to be careful not to think of this phone while with Jase. I suppose there are some ups and downs to having a mind reading boyfriend.

Time to shower, and start this chase again. Next time, I won't be so na?ve when facing these monsters.

"Have you got everything?" Jase asks while plopping my bag over his shoulder and snaking his free arm around my waist.

"I think so. Where to now?"

"Um, I think your uncle said you were being called back to Seminole for a while, and I'm going to head back out with a group to see if we can get anything new."

I don't want to be separated from him, and I almost feel a harsh stinging in my gut at the mere thought. Such a thing shouldn't be so painful, but my senses are overly heightened.

"It's just for a while," he says after reading my thoughts, making me feel like an idiot for showing him my ridiculous weakness.

"Yeah. I just wasn't expecting to take any downtime, considering the commander hasn't replaced Hedin, and this threat is out there along with the Unaligned war still in full throttle. It just seems odd they would send me to base," I murmur with a shrug.

"Perhaps the commander knows you need a rest after your scrape," he chirps casually.

"I don't need a rest. I need answers. And I need to know these guys are put down before they can complete their sick, twisted plans."

"You need rest," he sighs in objection. "Your gifts are too dormant for you to be facing the Unaligned right now. Your tracking is phenomenal, but we shouldn't be relying on you so much."

"If you don't rely on me, you end up with people like Abby. What happened to her by the way?"

His jaw clenches, and he looks away, careful to avoid my eyes.

"The matter has been dealt with," he says through gritted teeth.

"How?"

He exhales heavily, and then his arm drops from my waist before taking my hand.

"It just has. Call me when you reach Seminole. I'll come see you when I can," he says in an effort to change the subject, and then he kisses the back of my hand.

"You make it sound as though I'll be there for a while. I'm only ever there for a few days at a time before going back out on the road."

His eyes hold a secret I'm curious to interrogate him about. I'm starting to wish I had paid more attention to all of Mom's detailed lessons on the matter.

"What are you hiding from me?" I pry, hoping that's enough to make him spill.

"Nothing. I love you, and I'll see you soon. Go to base, get some rest, and live in the apartment you rarely enjoy. I'll talk to you later." he says distantly.

"I love you," I mumble when I feel a little shut out.

He kisses me hard, and it feels like more than just a couple of days will pass before he does this again, given the passion he's exerting.

I know he's holding back, I just don't know what.

"I've been asking for my next detail for three weeks. What in the hell is going on? I've never spent this much time on base," I bark to Captain Fricks's back as he tries to evade me.

"I'm sorry, Aria, but the commander feels you need time to rest and recuperate after the attack. It's standard procedure."

"Standard? Prisoners of war are taken, found, and given the opportunity to exact their revenge the second they are healed. Most of them were missing much longer than a few hours. What's really going on? Does the commander think this was my fault? Does he think I led us into that trap?"

"No, the commander knows it was Abby Perkins who steered you wrong. This has nothing to do with your abilities in the field, Aria. Just take the time being given to you, and try to stop being so disrespectful to me in front of the others," he murmurs under his breath, his eyes pointing to all the faces taking notice of our argument in the great halls of Seminole.

Nosy sons of bitches.

"Sorry, Captain Fricks. I'm just a little upset. I want to be out there tracking. I don't have to have high profile cases. I can stalk the lesser threats," I humbly offer.

That would be the best solution. I'd have more time to secretly stalk my stalkers.

"I'm sorry, but this is nonnegotiable. It's from the commander, not me."

"Then tell me who the commander is so I can berate him for a while," I growl, and he stifles a grin as though he finds something amusing.

"I'm sorry, but you know I can't do that."

His exasperation isn't warranted, considering I'm the one being tied down in the damn facility.

"Fine," I huff, my cheeks burning red with fury.

"Aria," he sighs out while massaging his temple. "This is not punishment. Please stop acting as though it is."

I roll my eyes, and then I turn to walk away while snarking, "Sure as hell feels like punishment to me."

The gossiping fools who are gaping at me quickly turn their eyes away as mine meet them, and the whispers erupt behind my back as I continue to flee. I tune out their words because I'm pissed enough to draw my gun right now, and that would be bad… very bad.

A black-suit bodyguard stands outside the lab, and he blocks my chest with his arm the second I try to type in the code.

"No one in," his grizzly voice announces.

I tilt my head to the side, and then I back up while keeping my eyes on his.

"Is Simone Jude in there?"

"Yes, ma'am. No one else is allowed in."

His intimidating, towering stance gives him all the more depth to his glower, but I'm not dealing with this shit right now. I've only seen Simone for a few minutes since she arrived. If she's going to spend all of her time in the lab, then I'm getting in.

"Tell her Aria Banner wants to see her, please."

"I'm sorry, but Ms. Jude requested that she not be disturbed."

I try calling her phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. I'm sick of this nonsense, and this hulking beast isn't going to stop me. I don't care if I have to shove his beanstalk back up his ass, I'm getting in.

"Have you ever heard of Araya Crush?" I muse.

The very mention of my mother's name makes him shiver, and he just barely nods as he pieces the puzzle together. Everyone knows my name is Aralia Banner. My chosen nickname, Aria, just throws them off.

"Did I forget to mention she's my mother?"

His eyes widen, but he holds steady, his body not budging from my path.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you in," he murmurs, his shaky tone betraying his composed appearance.

"Ever heard of the Crush style of fighting? They train the elite officers with it," I chirp, my body slightly shifting to the side to add some zest to my attempt at intimidation.

He adjusts his collar, sweat forming on his hybrid brow.

"Please don't hurt me, ma'am. I'm just doing my job."

Damn it. I hate it when they whimper.

I shrug, and then I use what little bit of my gift that works to cut the lights on and off inside the lab to keep from making this beast cry.

The door to the lab inches open, and Simone's short, bobbed, jet black hair pokes out before her hybrid blues turn to meet my masked violet eyes.

"Hey," she says while pushing up her odd glasses that seem to zoom in.

"Hey. I need to speak to you, and Goliath over here won't let me in," I huff out, stifling a grin when the man lets a breath of relief escape.

"What did you do to him?" she grumbles.

"Nothing. I swear I didn't touch him."

She shakes her head and then motions for me to join her in the lab. I almost stick my tongue out at the hulk, but I refrain and head on in while letting the massive steel door shut and seal behind me.

"What's with all the secrecy and security?" I mumble while following her through the quiet hallway.

Her prissy little walk suits her short, petite frame. Her skin is paler than most hybrids, but her eyes are almost bluer. She reminds me so much of Aunt Symphony.

"Your blood is the reason for the security measure. I'm working on the samples you gave me, and I have been for the past week. I'm not getting anywhere though. My dad never explained how the gifts could be found in the strands of blood. Are you sure that's what your masked knight told you?"

"Positive. Uncle Grayson and the others have talked about Uncle Clay and Mom unlocking her gifts in here before. The guy in the mask said the ability to block wasn't in my mother's blood. He told me he had been friends with your father, and he said Uncle Clay showed him Mom's blood. He told me it was I who blocked mine and Rex's gifts. We need our gifts, especially right now."

She sighs out while nodding her head, and she pulls down her odd spectacles while picking up a drop of blood pressed between two small, thin sheets of glass. I prop up on the sterile steel table in front of her while gauging the dreadfully boring and clinical room around us.

"I can't understand how you hang out in here for so long at a time. It seems so depressing," I murmur while my eyes fall on the several posters showing our bodies in dissected, scientific layouts.

"I grew up in the lab. It was mine and Dad's thing," she says with a casual shrug.

I huff while flopping my head down, and I feel her hand taking mine, prompting me to look back up.

"It'll be okay. We'll figure this out. Aunt Araya is really fucking happy about you being stuck here, by the way," she murmurs, her tone becoming more playful toward the end.

"Yeah," I growl. "I swear I think she called in a favor to the commander. He doesn't know who the hell I am, so why else would he do this to me?"

"I think you could be right. Aunt Araya has always been very, very overprotective."

"Do you know who he is?" I muse, my eyes gauging hers for a lie.

"I'm not high up enough on the chain to be privy to such information. Only a handful of generals, captains, admirals and a few others know his true identity. I get why he's doing it though."

"Really?" I ask in complete astonishment.

She shrugs, and then looks back down to the blood between the glass while shifting to make notes of her findings.

"He's trying to make a difference, and he's working the lines. This war started the second Uncle Hale... well, when he was gone. They didn't think anyone else could stop them, and the Unaligned want to rule all the lands. They didn't like offering the humans the same rights as the rest of us. They wanted them farmed out and turned into packaged blood. They have a tyrant for a leader, and if he ever takes over the United, hybrids will become workhorses… especially gifted hybrids."

"I don't understand why any hybrid would serve the Unaligned in this war," I exasperate.

"They grew up differently than we did. Most don't know any better, and their values and loyalties side with the only home they've ever known. They fight for the Unaligned because they think that's what they're supposed to do. Call it Stockholm's syndrome if you want."

I just sigh. I don't understand it, but I had an incredible family inside the United. Mom once fought to keep everyone safe despite the fact they abused her, treated her like a pariah, and hated her - hated all hybrids. I suppose Simone is right in saying they don't know any better.

"So... the mystery knight told me something else," I murmur awkwardly.

"Hmm?" she asks distractedly, her attention clearly focused on my blood and not my words.

"He told me my gifts won't ever work as long as my hybrid is forced to lie dormant. Do you think he's right?"

That grabs her attention. She looks up, her eyes seeming huge, considering the magnifying specks. She lowers her glasses, and then she pushes them aside while swirling my blood free from a vial and into the air, using her gift as the catalyst.

"It's very likely he's right," she murmurs softly while separating the strands of weightless blood.

It's almost beautiful to see the swirls of red splitting, bubbling, and then pulling tightly back into a thread.

"Well, what do I do? When I share blood with Jase, I feel so strong, but it wears off the second the blood high leaves me. I can't exactly walk around drinking his undiluted blood. It wouldn't do me any good to spend all day in the bedroom."

She snickers lightly while shaking her head, finally distracted enough from her task to offer me more than an obligatory glance.

"Blood fucks are just part of a hybrid's needs. I have an idea. How about you and I go to the Catagar tonight?"

"The Catagar?" I gasp, keeping my voice in a whisper for fear of someone overhearing. My whole body flushes at the mere mention of that word. "You mean the hybrid sex club? You go there?"

She looks at me as though I'm some sort of prude, and then the blood swirls back into the vial as she picks it up and seals it behind the last drop.

"What can I say? I'm a kinky bitch. I'm hybrid, which makes it my prerogative. As you can see, my gift works just fine."

Her menacing grin only grows, and she walks over to pull her latex gloves off, tossing them in the trash before locking my blood in a double-door safe.

"I'm dating Jase now, so I don't want to go screw some random stranger in a club. Besides, I've had plenty of sex in my life. It's not like I've taken a vow of celibacy."

She laughs lightly, some mockery in her snickers. She takes off her stiff lab coat and hangs it up on a hook near the safe.

"This may be the only way to unblock you enough for you to find out how you blocked your gifts in the first place, because I can't see anything in the blood. The club isn't for you to have sex, by the way. A hybrid's psyche is linked to their sexual energy. You are the only hybrid I know who has lived for all these centuries and yet still be timid about sex. The mere mention of the Catagar made your whole body red. You need to learn to embrace lust as part of life. You have to learn to enjoy people lusting after you. And you have to give them something to lust after. I know you don't want to hear this, but your mom has it down to an exact science, and look at how well she uses her gifts."

She shakes her head in disapproval while staring at my very casual clothing, and I shrug in response to her silent scrutiny.

"I tried the other clothes, and I did feel sexy, but at some point, I just got tired of it. It feels… I don't know. It seems like I do a lot of things out of the ordinary when I'm dressed like that."

She smiles as though I've missed something, and then her arm loops through mine as we walk out.

"That's the whole point. If you give your hybrid something, it gives you something in return."

"You keep talking about my hybrid as though it's separated from me."

The hulking man shifts out of the way as we walk through the door, his eyes avoiding mine. Our conversation halts until we're safely in the soundproof, camera-free elevator.

"Right now, it is separated. You're not just a hybrid, Aria. You're something completely different… even different from your mother. You have different needs. I think this would be a good exercise. It's not like you'll be having sex, you'll just be learning to be comfortable around sex. By the end of the night, your cheeks won't fire up quite as fiercely as they do every time someone makes the mention of the word."

I blush as if on cue, and her index finger lightly pokes my cheek while her teasing eyes taunt me with an I-told-you-so look. I guess she has me there.

"Okay. I'll go, but I want to make it very clear that I won't be having sex. I'll embrace my hybrid, but I won't be unfaithful."

She smiles while letting a small squeal out, seeming far too excited about this, and I roll my eyes while following her off the elevator.

"The club isn't exclusively for hybrids by the way. There could be some full bloods there, since that seems to be your preference," she mischievously tacks on.

"Simone," I grumble, and she lets a chuckle free while we walk into her room.

"I have the perfect outfit for you to wear. You'll look as hybrid as you want to feel."

I laugh lightly while gripping my head in anxious dread, and then I let a nervous breath slide through my worried lips.

"I really don't like the sound of that."

"Don't worry. We do use some discretion. You'll be wearing this," she says with a salacious grin.

I stare at the white mask she pulls from the drawer of her dresser, and I smirk somewhat as I think of my masked hero. The rhinestones embroidering the edges of the mask give it a little more zest, while the intricate silvery glitter streaks etch their way from the hollow eyes of the mask to the edge. It's actually a rather beautiful piece of comfort. At least no one there will be certain it's me.

"What do you think?" she asks giddily.

I huff, clearly hating this whole idea, but I force a smile through tight lips as I murmur, "Let's go find my hybrid."

The Catagar is packed, and it's definitely dripping hot sex in here. I've never felt so uncomfortable and out of place in all my life. At the same time, I feel a little more like a hybrid right now.

Hot, sweaty, hard bodies are pressed against each other as they move to the music with such a choreographed arousal. I stare through the dimly lit haze to the far mirror, still uncertain if the girl staring back is really me.

My hair has a sexy, messy edge to it, and though I sort of like the wild wavy curls, it just doesn't look like me. The dark, gaudy jewelry dangles from my neck, ears, and wrists. Then there's the dress - or what Simone claims is a dress.

The sheer white fabric clings to my body, and the only places not see-through are my breasts and lower unspeakable areas. I'm so uncomfortable, and the white fabric of the dress glows under the black lights as though someone has put a spotlight on me. The dress doesn't do much to hide my tan skin peeking out through the fabric. I can see my damn belly button.

The strapless top section cups my breasts, and the back has a gaping slit that shows my unobstructed skin all the way down to my ass. If the right breeze catches the gathered material in the back, I'm going to be showing everyone too much.

I'm wishing I had my gun. If one more groping guy tries to feel me up, I swear I'll slam him to the ground and show him how I was taught to fight.

At least this mask covers the face of the girl I don't truly recognize. It seems to help me separate this world from my own - though Simone would love to have me in this world with her for all time. She's so frigging wild. So hybrid.

I laugh as she teases an unworthy hybrid, and he follows her around like a lost pup while buying her a new drink every time she runs low.

Suddenly, the scent of melted chocolate and dark cherry finds me, and my stomach knots as warm hands slide around my waist. I feel his front pressing against my back as he moves me to the music, our bodies almost melding together.

My eyes dart up to the mirror to see his face masked in red, but it's just his eyes and nose that are covered. I can see his soft, full lips right beside my ear as his hooded head lowers.

"I see you're taking my advice, finally," his incredible accented voice releases, and I shiver under the heat of his breath as it finds my neck and trails down to my shoulder.

"I'm trying," I force out with some composure.

His lips turn up in a smile as he grips me a little tighter. His red hooded sweatshirt stops me from seeing his hair completely, but I can see some of the dirty blond color sticking out.

He brings his lips closer to my ear, and he whispers so low that even I can barely hear him. "I need you back in the field. I have a lead, but I need the United's resources to follow it through. There could be at least thirty United prisoners of war in it for you. They'll be in the place I need fumigated… if you know what I mean. I think the Scorpion group has left a trail there. All I need you to do is use the prisoners as a reason for the tracking mission, and then get everyone out after the bust before they contaminate the scene."

I swallow hard as his breath lingers for a moment too long, and then I shake my head.

"I can't. I've been grounded at Seminole. They won't let me back in the field."

He smiles again, seeming to hold a secret.

"Look up Culligan Parchment. I think you'll find it useful for getting you back where you belong."

"What do you mean? What's that?" I murmur, while turning around.

My breath hitches as his eyes catch mine, and his hands burn against my back as I feel skin on skin contact.

"Just look it up, and don't tell your mind reading boyfriend," he whispers.

"Why?" I muse, though it's not like it matters.

Jase has been on silent stalk since the day I reached Seminole.

"Just trust me. Don't tell him. I haven't steered you wrong yet."

He pulls back, his smile growing as his scandalous eyes become alight with the full sight of me. He takes my hand in his, and his eyes shift toward the door where no one stands.

"I need to go. You'll have company in a minute," he murmurs gently, and then his soft, incredible kiss finds the back of my hand for a brief second.

"Who?" I muse, my eyes moving back to the doorway, but still it's empty.

I feel his hand lose mine, and I turn back around to the vacant air that is toying with my mind. I'm starting to wonder if I'm just imagining him.

I stand alone, turning away a drooling, lustful fool when he tries to grope me. Next time, I'm bringing my gun.

As the song changes, I feel cool hands running along my waist as the scent of sex and candy finds me. I want to scream, jump up and down, or dance like a silly child, but I just sway gently with the sexiness of the song, letting my hips seduce him the way a hybrid should.

My attention turns to the other wall mirror, enjoying the view behind me like a long awaited oasis in the desert. My full blood's masked face is beyond sexy as those soft, desirable lips linger too close to my cheek.

"I suppose I should mention I've been seeing someone, so this might be inappropriate," I seductively tease, and his smile grows as his hands slide down to my hips.

"You've been seeing someone? Is it serious?" he says while playing along, letting his lips trail over my neck.

I fight hard to breathe now. Such a simple, mindless task becomes incredibly hard to do.

"I thought so, until he cut off all contact with me for three weeks. Now I'm starting to question his feelings," I murmur, keeping my voice from cracking.

He bends to let his lips drag over my shoulder, the chill of his breath exciting my heated skin.

"I can assure you no man's feelings for you are in question. Should he be worried about you being in a place like this?"

I turn to face him. The game we're playing has grown old as my heart desires something a bit more real.

"Should I be worried to find him in a place like this when I've been waiting around for him to show up for three weeks?" I mumble, a slight bit of resentment finding its way into my undertones.

He smiles despite my anger, and then his lips find mine for the first time in so long. His incredible taste invades my mouth with his menacing tongue. He jerks my hips to him, and then he smiles behind the kiss before pulling back.

"I came back tonight, and I couldn't reach you on your phone. Your brother told me you came here. He rather enjoyed delivering that bit of information."

I'm sure he wanted you to think I was fucking around.

"So you're not here for that?" he asks while staring down at my racy ensemble. "Because it would kill me if you were."

Seriousness finds his last words, and my anger melts as I dissolve under those pale blue eyes.

"Hell no," I scoff, feeling ridiculous now. "Simone is helping me find my hybrid. She's trying to keep me from being uncomfortable with sex, and instead of baby steps, she threw me into the middle of the wolf pack to learn how to run."

He lets a laugh escape, and then he pulls me back to his body, his ice finding my fire as our lips connect again. My hands tangle in his hair as he pulls me to him, and I drink him in.

"I'll help you find your hybrid," he murmurs against my lips, his hands tightening, and stretching the thin material of the dress.

Mmm. I suddenly like hybrid lessons much more.

He smirks deviously, and then he pushes me against one of the mirrored walls. His hands rest on the reflective glass as his lips devour mine, and he leans into me, forcing my head to angle up as high as it can go to meet him.

His hands move from the glass to the skin of my exposed legs, and then he starts sliding my dress up. My eyes open to see his still closed.

He can't be… we're not going to…

He smirks as his incredible mind spies on mine, and he pulls back before jerking me up to wrap my legs around his waist. I look around the room at all the couples showing their desire in front of the hundreds of eyes, and I gasp in disbelief at what he's acting as though he's going to do.

"We can't," I whisper, my body trembling as he pulls my underwear to the side to let his finger slip in.

My head rolls back as the exquisite chill of his touch finds its way inside me, and his lips gingerly stroll down my neck.

"You want to find your hybrid, and I want to fuck my girl. It seems like a good solution to both desires," he crudely interjects, and my whole body heats up with a crimson glow outshining my white, black-lighted dress.

"But I can't-"

My words are interrupted as his body finds mine, his erection filling me, making my moaning gasp unexpectedly gush through my parted lips. My back presses harder against the strong mirror as he withdraws and surges in again.

"Jase," I murmur, my lips trying to ask him to stop, but my body not allowing me to finish as I moan out again from his newest, almost violent thrust.

His lips issue silence to mine as they devour me, and I'm left to revel in his incredible touch as he takes me in front of the club full of strangers.

His hands grip against my ass, forcing his thrashing force to find me at an even more incredible angle, and I gasp again as the breaths start trying to evade my grasp. My hands tangle in his hair as my head falls back, and my lids fall down to block out the room around me.

I tune out all the sounds except for the incredibly erotic music pounding through the speakers and his delicious breaths. His scent is all I allow to find me when I drown out all other smells. With my other senses dropped for the most part, my sense of feel magnifies, empowering each touch he offers.

I feel him inside me so tightly as he pulls back and surges forth. I feel his breath igniting the chills on my collarbone. His perfect lips find my chin, and the wet, delicious taste of his mouth finally finds mine once again.

His fingers press so tightly against the sides of my ass that I can count all ten. Each breath I exhale becomes his next one to breathe in. Each sound I make quickens his rhythm. Every second I grip tighter, I'm closer to screaming out his name.

"Fuck," he breathes against my neck as my mind starts driving him crazy.

It's enough to push me over that edge I was already barely able to keep from dropping off. I'm so thankful for the loud, hell-raising music blaring when I scream out, and then I feel his warmth rushing through me with such a strong, incredible, and awakening force.

His head falls into the nook of my neck while he still holds me to him, and my panted breaths continue as I stare through the hazy smog at the ceiling.

"I love you," he murmurs against my neck as he kisses it.

"I love you," I utter without a second of hesitation as I lean up to press my lips against his while keeping his body clenched between my legs.

I don't feel ashamed of what I've done in front of so many people as I should. I'm not thinking like a timid human or a conservative full blood. I don't give a damn about all the eyes still staring at us, envying the passion we just exhibited. I'm his to own, and this is the first day of my life I've ever felt free from my restricting inhibitions.

He smiles behind our kiss, and he leans back while finally lowering me to the floor. I adjust my dress to hide the part of my body that will only ever belong to him, and he jerks me to him before kissing me so hard it forces me to start bending backwards.

"You have to stop thinking. You're making my less than logical fantasies run awry," he murmurs softly against my lips before pulling back.

I smirk, my eyes lighting up with a touch of curiosity, and then I wrap my arms around his neck.

"Define logical. "

"Sensible and based on facts - clear rational thought, and sensible reasoning," he sardonically counters with a smug, I'm-cute-as-hell grin.

Smartass.

He lets a laugh free while pulling me back onto the floor, and one of his gripping hands slides down to cup my ass while the other pulls me at the waist to fully press me against his incredible body.

"You know what I mean," I mutter, the chills consuming me in the most delicious way as I start to lose my will to interrogate.

He shrugs as we sway with the music, our bodies almost steaming against each other as our extremely polar opposite temperatures bottom and top out.

"It means I'm thinking about things we shouldn't yet be discussing, at least not for a few years."

A few years? Marr-

I stop thinking, my brain shutting down before his mind hears my thoughts, and I feel his smile against my forehead when he kisses it.

"Did I scare you?" he almost whispers.

I wish.

He smiles bigger, and then he tilts my face up to give his incredibly soft lips a better angle before scooping me up.

"Has your hybrid had enough lessons for tonight?" he teases.

"My hybrid has had more lessons than I planned on, so yes."

He laughs lightly as he holds me to his chest, and he starts carrying me out the door before turning to a brawny guy I've never met before.

"Find Simone Jude and tell her I'm stealing Aria for the rest of the night."

The guy smiles while offering a nod, and I turn out of the bridal style carry to wrap my legs around his waist and devour him completely on the way to his car.

"I never want to be without you," he murmurs so sincerely through a worried breath.

"I didn't come here to get rid of you," I chuckle out, my legs gripping tighter to his sides. "You didn't really think I was going to do something, did you?"

"I hoped not. I really hope you feel about me the way I do you."

I smile a little too girly before finding his pouting lips.

I can assure you, I love you more. "My senses are heightened, making our separation these past few weeks almost unbearable."

He smiles salaciously while putting me in the passenger seat, and he blurs to be in the front seat almost too fast for me to follow. He pulls my hand in his as he revs the roaring beast, and then he kisses the back of my fingers with those sex-laced-candied lips.

Mmm.

"Baby, I can read your thoughts, feel your desire, and taste your love, but mine is still just as strong without the overly heightened senses. Separation has been hard for me too - more so than I care to admit. It's necessary though." He sighs while shifting to first and speeding away from the intoxicating seduction offered by the Catagar.

"Care to explain?"

I lean over to him, my head falling on his arm as my arms wrap around it. He smiles as his hand slides to be on my leg once the final gear has shifted.

"We're chasing after a group, and you're grounded. I need to know I'm out there keeping you safe."

Grounded. Not for fucking long.

"What does that mean?" he asks, suspicion in his tone.

"Nothing," I grumble, my mind drawing up a white screen in place of my thoughts until I think of flowers, candy, cats, crazy spider web patterns.

"Aria, tell me. What's going on?"

"I think my mother called the damn commander," I say to deter his interrogation.

"Oh?" he says in a strange octave.

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm going to find him and have a word with him about my grounding ."

He smiles lightly, and then I feel his lips against my head as his breath cools my hair.

"I see. I heard he's out on silent stalk right now. Besides, he's just trying to keep you safe."

I sit up, my hands dropping from his body while wiping his hand away from my leg.

"I'm sick of people keeping me safe. My dad did it, my mom has done it for far too long, Uncle Clay did it, along with Uncle Grayson, Aunt Angelica, Rex, and Uncle Brazen. I'm tired of everyone treating me like I'm so damn breakable. Maybe my hybrid wouldn't be so dormant if everyone stopped treating me like some fragile little human. The commander is a stupid, cowardly son of a bitch if he's giving into my mother's wishes. I don't deserve to be grounded. I'm a tracker. Trackers track. So what if I suck at using my gift? I'm just supposed to be leading the others to the threats that could end this war, and I'm damn good at my job."

He sighs out heavily while his hand forces my body back to him, and then he grips me a little tighter.

"You really hate the commander, don't you?"

His body tenses as though he's holding his breath for my answer.

"Honestly?" I derisively snort. "Yes. I don't think he has the balls to lead, and he'll never be the man my father or my Uncle Clay was. I'm sure you're ready to defend him though."

His lips tighten to a thin line, and then he shakes his head.

"Not tonight. I just want to spend some time with you before I head back out. My team leaves at dawn, which is now just three hours away. I really didn't have time to come back, but I had to see you."

Now I feel like a jerk for sparking an argument, and my anger flees as I curl into his body. He feels a little stiffer now though. I shouldn't have said anything about the commander. Everyone in the United is so loyal to the faceless phantom. Everyone is so used to being led by someone they love, they're willing to love the next leader.

"I'm sorry. I just hate being tied to the compound again. My dad always pissed me off because he didn't think I was good enough to be in the field. I don't appreciate every breath I take being doubted."

"You're not doubted, Aria, you're adored. There's a difference, and you should stop acting so childish about it."

Whoa.Childish?

"So much for not fighting," I gripe.

His head flops back, and then he runs a hand through his hair to tousle the sexy tendrils.

"I'm not trying to fight, I'm trying to reason. You're very important in so many ways. Your tech expertise alone is invaluable. Your abilities in tracking are unparalleled, but you're a liability in the field right now. They want you. What's worse, no one can know they want you because they'll want to know why they want you. It paints you a target, so I happen to agree with the commander because I love you too fucking much to watch you be ripped from my life, since I'm planning on spending eternity with you," he admonishes, and my lips edge up in an involuntary grin.

He rolls his eyes angrily for his over-sharing slip, and then he gasses the car harder, avoiding my eyes.

"Eternity, huh?" I muse, all of my anger dissipating as I dissolve under his blistering yet icy breath.

He can't stifle his grin, and my lips find his neck before I slide over into his lap. His breath hitches, and he grumbles under his next breath as he shifts the gears down to slow the car.

"It seems you've gotten your hybrid in check just fine," he mumbles through his arousal as my daring hands slide down to the rim of his pants.

"Mmm hmm."

My grin spreads against his neck, and he lets a bit of a laugh escape before tilting my face to meet his.

"Eternity," he says very seriously, his voice bringing forth the heated lust that is driving my body.

My lips consume his as he skids the car to a halt just in front of Seminole.

I'm yours for as long as you want me.