her boredom. She broke into a slow run along the sidewalk. The park-like area extended for a great distance along the guarded walls.
Ellie reached into her bra to turn up the volume on her MP3 player until music pounded in her ears. She went through phases with types of music and recently she’d been into heavy metal to fit her mood. She traveled steadily along as the path turned away from the walls and toward the park that contained a large pond. She enjoyed running next to the water.
Ellie slowed to a fast walk for a good block when she started to tire until she reached the pond. She stopped to stretch, bent over to touch her toes, and then straightened. She saw movement from the corner of her eye. She turned, expecting to see another jogger appear but she saw no one. She frowned. She could have sworn she’d seen someone.
Ellie shook her head and dismissed it. She figured the wind moving the treetops had drawn her attention. She stretched her arms upward and twisted her body in various positions to loosen muscles. Her body ached when she jogged but she wanted to get into shape. At twenty-nine it seemed to be a good time to do it.
She smirked, knowing her ex-husband would drop from a heart attack if he got an eyeful of her now. She’d once been more than a little overweight. She had almost totally become a different person after her bitter divorce from a cheating, verbally abusive ass who believed her pathetic enough to take whatever he dished out. He’d been wrong. She wasn’t a doormat, would never stay with someone who didn’t know how to love, and had ended the marriage despite Jeff’s protests.
She’d completely turned her life around after she’d witnessed suffering firsthand while working at the testing facility. Forty pounds lighter and free of her ex, she had a much happier outlook. She chuckled. She’d actually lost two hundred forty pounds of unwanted weight since Jeff had accounted for two hundred of them. Her final cut from her past had been escaping her parents after they’d tried to guilt her into taking Jeff back.
The hair on the back of her neck suddenly prickled. Her limbs froze while just her gaze darted around the park. Landscapers had planted lots of trees, turning the area into a mini forest area surrounding the water. A few park benches had been strategically placed and the buildings were located on the outer edges of the park. She could just make out the tops of them from where she stood. She studied the darkness once more, the sense of being watched growing.
Ellie reached down the front of her shirt to grip her MP3 player and pushed the “off” button as she removed it. She listened intently but didn’t hear anything out of place. She started to turn the music back on but a soft growl made her jump. A dog? She looked over her shoulder to scan the surroundings again.
There were a few guard dogs patrolling Homeland but their handlers were always a leash away. Security guards would be in view if one of the canine units were in the vicinity. A sudden urge to return to the dorm gripped her.
Ellie took a few steps but heard another growl, closer this time. Her body tensed with alarm. She scanned the area again to search for the source while she shoved her headphones down to her neck and held her music player in a tightfisted grip. She hoped one of the dogs hadn’t gotten loose. They were large, mean animals, and well trained in defending the property. They’d treat her as if she were an intruder.
“Hello?” Her voice rose. She hoped a security guard would answer. “Is anyone there?”
Fury had been watching the women’s dorm where Ellie lived and had caught many glimpses of her through the first-floor glass windows. She worked with his women and he’d been proud when they gave the human the cold shoulder until he’d seen the sadness on Ellie’s face. It tore at him to witness her pain. He shouldn’t care but he did.
He had been stunned when he’d seen her leave the secure building alone, jogging away from safety. Didn’t she realize the danger he posed? That he’d be watching her? Didn’t her survival instincts scream out that he’d be close?
Obviously not since he’d easily followed her and watched her slowly run into the park where the secluded area nearly begged for him to approach her. Then she stopped as if she were waiting for him. He inhaled her scent on the wind and groaned as his body reacted. He wanted to be closer to her more than his next breath and it really angered him. She was his enemy.
He snarled as he battled the beast that lurked inside him for control. His human side knew she was off limits. She’d been an informant, had helped his people. It was the reason she’d been at his testing facility, but the animal side of him wanted to draw closer to touch and to claim her. That truth startled him.
He balked at following his instincts. She had betrayed him after he’d trusted her to never do anything that would harm him. Regardless of her reasons working for Mercile, it didn’t excuse what she’d done to him, or the anger he lived with, knowing the price her actions had cost him.
He trained his males to keep their animal instincts on a tight leash and he needed to do the same, set an example, and stay in control. He had responsibilities to Species to show them life existed outside the testing facilities and that they weren’t just animals created by Mercile, who had drilled insults into their heads all their lives. Ellie was living proof, though, that he had a weaknessher.
She peered around her in the darkness, as if she could sense him. His animal howled inside his soul to go to her, to take her, and to touch her. He fought the urge but then he moved toward her regardless of his wishes. Once again he’d lost control when it came to her. He just couldn’t resist her scent, the strong desire to look into her eyes and hear her voice.
Rage boiled through his human side while his animal reveled in pure lust at the sound of her sweet, taunting voice. He battled himself once again when he inhaled her fear, wanted to protect her, but also needed to terrify her to send her as far from him as she could get.
Movement once again caught Ellie’s attention. She gasped when Fury stepped from behind a tree twenty feet away. Her entire body reacted to the sight of the tall, attractive male, and the sensation of danger radiating off him. She swallowed, her breathing increased and fear jolted through her when the shock wore off. She hadn’t heard a dog at all—the growl had come from him. Fury had made that scary sound.
His long silky hair cascaded down over his shoulders and chest, as free and unrestrained as he appeared to be at that moment. The black clothing he wore hugged his broad shoulders, impressive muscular arms, and outlined his trim waist. An air of danger emanated from him when his dark gaze seemed to fasten on her, swept down her entire body slowly, and a soft growl grumbled deep within his throat. His jaw clenched, the muscles tensing, apparent even in the dim light.
He took a step forward, more of a predatory motion than the way a man would move, advancing on her slowly. Her gaze lowered to his muscular thighs, outlined in his tight black pants, all the way down to his black shoes. He radiated strength and sex appeal and she swallowed hard. Her heart speeded up, her breathing increased, and her body became aware of him as a purely male being.
