“It’s different.”
“Because I’m a woman?” She snorted. “I’m a soldier first. It’s my duty to escape.”
He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them to meet her steady gaze. He had to tell the truth, just once. He owed her that much. “Because you’re my woman. I might not be able to have you, but I don’t want you dead.” His fingers moved over her injured hand and dropped to her leg. “Or hurt.”
Mari looked up at him. “I can’t be your woman if you’re planning on running away from me. Ken, he’s destroying everyone’s life. He has to be stopped. It isn’t just me. There are others, both men and women, he’s got locked up for his stupid breeding program. We can come up with a plan to make this all right.”
“I’m not a product of his breeding program, Mari; I wish I was. I wish I had that excuse for my behavior, but I don’t. People are born with things wrong with them—little glitches most people ignore or can’t ever see. Mine is dangerous. I may be attracted to you physically because Whitney paired us, but it’s more than that, and whatever it is, it’s growing stronger.”
“With me too. The more I’m near you, the more I seem to care about you. The sex and the emotion are all woven together. Whitney’s never been able to make me do what I don’t want to do. He can’t control my mind—or emotions—so he isn’t doing this. He tied us together chemically and sexually, but he couldn’t make me want to make everything better for you.”
“There’s no making it better for me, Mari. The sooner we both accept that, the better off we’ll be. The only thing I can give you is the certainty there will be no other woman. Whatever happens in your life, and I swear, I can’t think about you with another man because it makes me crazy, but whatever happens, wherever you are, you’ll always know there’s no one else for me.”
“There has to be a way to make this right.”
“Mari.” His voice was low and compelling, washing through her body like the touch of fingers on skin. “You’re afraid of me, and you have good reason to be. I don’t trust myself and I’m not going to f**k up your life any more than Whitney’s already done. The last thing you need is to be tied to a man who could fly into a jealous rage and do you physical harm.”
“I’m capable of protecting myself, Ken, and I don’t think you’re the type of man to be beating women.”
“No, just losing my mind and nearly raping one because another man looked at her.” He shoved a hand through his hair, leaving it more disheveled then ever.
“I wanted you. I didn’t care the circumstances, or the excuse. I wanted you.”
“There are things you don’t know about me, none of them good. You’ve been through enough with Whitney and his program. We’re taking you to Lily. She’ll make certain you’re healthy and she’ll help you start a new life.”
“Lily Whitney, the doc’s daughter?”
“Don’t say her name like that. She’s as much a victim—maybe more—than any of the rest of us.”
“You really trust her? I’ve worked with Whitney on and off for years and I sure don’t trust him—or his friends. They know what he’s doing; they don’t approve, but they don’t stop him or even tell someone higher up what’s going on.”
“Tell us where the compound is, Mari. We’ll get the women out.”
She shook her head. “You know there’d be a fight. The men would protect the laboratories. Hell. They’re under orders. They have to protect the base.”
“Then we’ll have the admiral shut it down.”
“The minute the orders came down, Whitney would move everyone. He’s got places all over, and he’d never willingly allow anyone to shut him down. He’s protected, Ken. You can’t just walk in and get him.”
“But you thought Senator Freeman might be able to help you.”
“We hoped. His father has a lot of influence with Whitney. We thought if I talked to him and explained what was really going on, he would intercede for us. We know his father is already upset by the experiment. Whitney wants babies. He’s certain he can produce the perfect weapons, psychically and physically, so that no one would ever suspect a child of being brought into a country and doing whatever needed to be done.”
“Whitney wouldn’t just give you that information.”
“No, but I have friends. Not everyone involved agrees with what he’s doing. One of the women is already pregnant, Ken. He’s going to take her baby away from her if we don’t get her out of there. I have to go back and help them.”
“You wouldn’t have to if I let Whitney get to me.”
“No! He’d never let you near the others. He’d have you in a lab and dissect you so fast you wouldn’t know what happened.”
Jack returned, handing Mari the jeans, his gaze narrowing when he saw the blood running down her leg.
“He’s thinking of allowing Whitney to take him prisoner,” Mari said. “You can’t let him do that.”
“Actually that’s one way, but I’m thinking maybe the admiral can get me assigned to the compound. If he’s using the military as a cover, and he has soldiers guarding the place, then we should be able to get assigned,” Ken said. “Put your arm around my neck. I’m going to lift you a little so we can slide the jeans on. There’s no need for you to be nude with a bunch of men around.”
“She’s bleeding again. Why the hell is she bleeding so much?” Jack asked.
“Be careful,” Ken cautioned as he watched Jack clean up the wound. “Did she reinjure it?”
Jack was gentle as he slid the jeans over the light cast on her leg. The doctor had put on more of a splint than an actual cast, because he wanted air to get to the bullet wound. “Doesn’t look like it.” Other than the excessive bleeding, her body seemed remarkable, healing at such a rapid rate that both men knew it was impossible even with genetic enhancement. “Whitney shot you full of an accelerant, didn’t he?” Jack asked, his voice grim. “I should have expected he would do something like this.”
Ken’s fingers tightened to the point of pain on Mari’s shoulders. “He gave you Zenith? Oh, God, baby, tell me you didn’t let him shoot you up with that stuff.”