"You have a mate?" It felt like Amber's heart had turned to ice in her chest.

"Had." Ven corrected gently.

His big hand cupped the back of her head, stroking down the thick length of her braid absently, curling the thick plait around and around his knuckles.

"Mercile forced us together. We were the first of their new breeding trial." His upper lip curled and a snarl tore from his throat. "They had tried everything to create a Species baby; forcing us to have sex with many different females, stealing our seed and our females' eggs, trying to make test tube babies. They even brought humans in sometimes…but nothing worked. Then they started thinking how territorial we were, how possessive and they decided to try and make us mate for them, one male, one female. With 134 and I, they also decided to try and remove, as far as possible anyway, the lab environment.

"It was a dangerous idea, considering how hard it was to control us, but they thought stress might be a factor in their infertility problem." He sighed. "I only found out all this later, Amber…after 134 was gone."

"Who told you? And what do you mean by 'gone', Vengeance, what happened to her?" But a suspicious knot was forming in her gut. Dear god. Surely not.

Vengeance opened his mouth, then closed it. When he finally spoke again, he didn't answer her questions, but continued the story as if she hadn't spoken.

"They tricked us. They'd had it planned so perfectly. One day I was released into a room, far bigger than the cages or cells they'd always kept us in, but still small enough that they could observe us easily. 134 was there. The room was full of plants and flowers, there was even a tiny skylight, far beyond our reach, but it was there. A real bed in the corner, too, the first I'd ever seen. It seemed beautiful to me." He shook his head again, this time in disgust.

"It was a pitiful imitation of real freedom, Amber, but it was more than we'd ever had. After we'd been alone for a couple days, they let in another male. He was on the breeding drugs they used, ones that make our kind go crazy with lust. He went after 134 as they knew he would, and I defended her. I killed him…just as they knew I would. It increased the bond between 134 and I, of course. Brought us closer together, faster. Just as they'd planned."

Amber had folded her hands on his chest, her chin on her hands, studying his face as he talked. The harsh, handsome otherness of that face. The things it had seen and felt. Things she could only imagine, but that saddened and horrified her.

"Did you love her?" Amber already knew the answer, but thought maybe he needed to say it.

"I did, Amber. I loved her very much, and she loved me." His lips trembled, then firmed on a growl. "We'd never had that before, either of us. Hell, any of us. You can't love in an environment like that, where you have nothing, are nothing…nothing but a number.

"We should have known better, but they fooled us. I didn't believe it could last…but it did. For about six months. Then one day he came. Trainor."

Vengeance's whole body vibrated as he spoke the name, raising the hair on the back of her neck. Amber didn't want to repeat it, but when Ven stayed silent for many long minutes, she finally spoke up. "Who was Trainor, Ven?"

"Just a guard. One of many. But he was…true evil, Amber. There was a lot of evil at Mercile, plenty to spare," Ven said savagely, "but he might've been the worst of them all. I knew him from before my time with 134. Hated him. Seeing him there in our 'sanctuary', it…threw me for a minute. The only guards we'd seen for ages just brought our food and removed it, or they cleaned and left. We hadn't been harmed in months. There had been only the occasional blood test. I didn't move. When I saw him. For just one second, I couldn't move." There was such bitter self-loathing in his voice, Amber could only blink. "He smiled because I saw him and I didn't move. Then he shot me." Amber's hand flew to her mouth.

"What? With what?"

"A Taser. A very powerful one. He knew my issues with drugs, they all did. I found out later it's why they picked me for 134. They thought it might mean I wasn't as affected by all their little experiments over the years as the others. That I would be more virile, I guess."

"Trainor knew perfectly well what dose that would have rendered me unconscious in seconds, but he didn't want that. No. He wanted me awake. Awake, but helpless. That's why he used the Taser, it didn't knock me out. I just couldn't move." She felt Ven's heart starting to race under her palms and Amber wanted to tell him to stop, to shut up because she couldn't take anymore, but she didn't…and he didn't stop.

"134 went after him as soon as I fell, but he just Tasered her, too. Then he walked over and picked her up by her hair." He blinked, staring down at Amber's braid wrapped around his hand as if wondering how it'd gotten there. "134 had blonde hair, almost silver. Not like yours at all, but beautiful, too. She couldn't even struggle."

"'Experiment's over.' That's all he said. Trainor. Then he took the knife out of his pocket and…he slit her throat."

For a second Amber couldn't breathe, she could only stare at Ven. Her eyes burned with tears that just couldn't fall. Some things were too awful for tears.

"He dropped her on the ground next to me, left her there while she bled out. And all I could think as I watched her die was that we'd been happy. Happy. Even in that goddamn hellhole." He closed his eyes. "When I woke up, I was alone. Back in one of the regular cages as if the whole thing with 134 had never happened. It might have been better if I could have believed it was just a dream…, but Trainor was there. He taunted me by telling me it all. How the scientists planned it, how we fell for it, and how he'd known it would never work, because we were abominations, not meant to live and certainly not meant to breed. He'd been planning killing 134 for months, Amber. He told me so. What kind of creature does that?" Vengeance opened those wounded eyes and stared at her, but she had no answers for him. She just wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.

They stayed that way for a long, long time. Both quiet with their own thoughts, bodies intertwined and still. Finally Vengeance started talking again.

"I had no will to live after that. I did everything possible to make them kill me, but nothing worked. I was too special. Once we were freed and came here, I started to want to live again, but I missed her so much and I was so terribly lonely. It seemed like my instinct to survive was messed up with my need for a mate, my brain insisted I needed one to have the other. Or so Doctor Joy says." He gave her a weary smile. "She is a good person, very unlike Dr. Krueger, but she still exhausts the hell out of me. I believe she might be right. Or maybe I just… hope."

Amber was thinking hard, working it out in her head. "So…your instinct to survive was driving you to find a mate? Any mate? To replace her?"

"In a way, yes. I was seeking comfort and peace, things that for a Species male only a mate can provide, Amber. But I knew better, somewhere deep inside. You can't force love and you can't replace it. I knew that, but -" He swallowed hard. "I was broken, Amber. Can you see now why I agreed to be destroyed if it happened again?

"But you know now that it won't, don't you?"

"No. It won't happen ever again, but I had to sure, Amber. You made me sure. Do I still feel lonely and sad? Sometimes, yes. Not so much lately." He lifted his hand and turned it, watching her braid slide over his fingers again. "Do I feel overwhelming lust at times, lust that makes me want to act out without thinking? Absolutely."

"There were times with you that it was very hard not to just…pounce. But it wasn't that horrible, desperate void to fill, it was just…being Species. Being male." He gave a rueful laugh, and smiled at her. "And you being you. I wanted you so much, every damn day we were together, Amber. You, in particular, not just any female. I still want you." He shifted in the bed, his eyes darkening. "But I want you, for you, Amber. Not as a replacement for 134."

She believed him. About that and everything else. And she knew her decision had been made.

"Mercile did this to you when they murdered your mate. That is on them." Amber lifted a hand when Ven opened his mouth and he shut it again, waiting for her to finish. "You're still responsible for your actions, yes. Though I would say not entirely, Ven. New Species were just learning how to deal with themselves and humans when you came here, they still are in some ways. It's not Justice's or the NSO's fault either…but you should have been put in intensive therapy, isolated from the general population until you had stabilized. As you obviously have now. But regardless, the important thing is you overcame what they did to you. I know why you chose your name now, I get it…but this is your real vengeance on them, you know. Surviving. And not letting them destroy you inside."

"They came very close." Hope was rising in his chest, threatening to choke him. His hands clenched at his sides.

"I know, sweetheart. I know. I also think," she hesitated, then said. "I think you should apologize to those two women. I think they would appreciate it…and that you need to do it. To put that wounded, broken male and his actions in the past, Ven. So you can move on, so you all can."

He sighed. Doctor Joy had already told him this, many times. He thought Tiger would probably allow it, but Wrath…

Ven sighed again. "You are right. If their mates agree, I will do this. It is time." He looked down at her hand on his chest. "Amber, does this…do you… Does this mean that you forgive me?"

"I never knew that Ven to forgive him, silly. The male I know has been nothing but honorable and kind and gentle…well, mostly." She smiled as she shifted next to him, obviously feeling the hard arousal that had been rising for the last few minutes. "There are times when it is okay not to be gentle, Ven."

"Thank god. Can now be one of those times?"

"Oh yes." She giggled when he instantly shoved her back on the hospital bed and yanked her T-shirt up. He stopped, growling at the sight of her bra. "What is this thing? I hate it."

"A bra. What's wrong with it?" Amber looked down at the satin pink cups, then up at him, raising her eyebrows.

Ven laughed at her expression. "It covers you from my eyes and mouth, that's what's wrong with it. Get it off."

Amber took her time, flicking her fingers over the front closure, biting her lips as the heat inside him built. She was obviously teasing him. He didn't like it.

Well, maybe he liked it a little…

When he finally growled, she pulled the damn thing open at once. His eyes narrowed. He was beginning to suspect Amber enjoyed his sounds as much as he did hers. He growled again, louder this time and watched her shiver, her eyes half closing, those beautiful breasts trembling.

He grinned. It was good to be right. His tongue touched his lips as he looked down at her and her pink nipples went dark and tight.

"Amber," he breathed before lowering his head. He brushed each peak with his lips before turning his attention to just one, drawing the hard nub into his hot mouth.

Her hand slid up to cup the back of his head as he teased her sweet flesh with tongue and lips and teeth. Mine, he thought, with a fierce surge of joy. All mine.

Amber felt his hand easing its way down her ribs and tummy, the rough warm weight of it making her squirm. Then he thumbed open the button of her pants, working his fingers inside. When one digit slid under her panties, stroking her slick core, Amber bit back a moan, all too aware of Justice's prescence outside the door, but her hips thrust uncontrollably into Ven's touch.

Please, she begged silently, looking into his eyes.

"You want me very much, don't you, Amber?" His words rumbled against her skin before he pulled back to see her eyes.

"Y-yes," she stuttered, trying to breathe as he continued to stroke her, with two fingers now, driving her crazy.

"Tell me," he demanded. "Tell me what you want from me."

She squirmed. She'd never been one to be shy about sex, but there was no privacy here, at any second Justice or the doctor could walk back in….

A blunt fingertip teased her entrance, slipping inside her just a fraction. Her head twisted back and forth on the pillow as everything inside her tightened. She needed that finger inside her, she needed him.

"Ven."

"I love when you say my name, Amber, but that is not what I asked you. What do you want?" Her cheeks heated at his intense look, the fierceness there.

"You know," she whispered.

"Oh I do." His finger pressed inside her soaked pussy another inch, then two. She gasped, arching her back. His eyes fastened on her breasts and she cupped them for him, letting her fingertips tease the taut tips. His eyes went black, but he was ruthless. "Say it," he growled.

"Make me come, Vengeance. I want you to make me come."

"So come, Amber." His voice had gone low and hard, his thumb swirled over her clit now, sending tendrils of need deep into her belly. His finger plunged inside her all at once, thick and deep. Then two together, the width of them stretching her as she fought the scream that wanted to tear from her throat. Her hands tightened on her breasts, pinching her nipples as the pleasure built inside her. Ven lowered his head, letting his lips brush just below her ear.

"Come for me, beautiful." The warmth of his breath, the deep tones of his voice, the hard press of that gorgeous near-naked body against her, his fingers inside of her….she whimpered, and pressed her face hard into the pillow as those whimpers turned to moans.

His mouth opened on her skin, hot and sucking. Nipping now. Faster and faster, his fingers fucked her, his thumb caressing that tiny ball of nerves…she couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Then there was the sudden, sharp sting of Ven's teeth as he bit her. Shocked, her eyes flew open, as the flash of pain became the spark that ignited the powderkeg of pleasure and shot her straight into ecstasy.

Amber's body shook, coming off the hospital bed, her toes curling inside the shoes she still had on. Every muscle going taut as a bow as the orgasm rippled through her. She almost screamed as Vengeance slid his fingers from her too abruptly, while her muscles were still fluttering. He leapt half over her body as the door opened. Amber held her breath, Ven's big body blocking out most everything from her view.

"Let's get that blood now. Vengeance. Justice says you've been cleared to…" The doctor's voice trailed off as he must have noted Ven crouched over Amber. "What the hell are you doing?" He didn't sound angry, just baffled.

Then Justice entered the room, his dark hair just visible under the muscular arm blocking Amber's vision. She groaned, leaning her head into that arm as she heard a soft laugh, quickly muffled.

"Hold up, Doctor, let's give them a minute. Ven, that's one minute, fix your female's clothes, damnit. We need to talk."

"But what were they doing?" The doctor's voice had become almost strident.

"You're a doctor, surely you can figure it out." Justice's voice was dry as the door squeaked open.

"He can't have sex! He shouldn't even be awake! My god, Justice, your people-" Dr. Harris sounded like he was ready pull his hair out before the door closing cut him off.

Amber couldn't help but giggle as silence fell. She pushed at Ven, who rolled away reluctantly, watching her reach for her bra. Instantly, he snatched it out of her fingers and ripped it in two before she could blink, sending the pieces arching unerringly toward a trash can in the corner.

"I can't believe you just did that."

He grinned and shrugged, without a hint of apology. She swatted him as she yanked her T-shirt down. "I'm too damn busty to go with a bra, you idiot."

"What does that mean?" He cocked his head curiously.

"It means my boobs are too big to just be bouncing around free all the time!" She glared, he laughed..

"You aren't serious?" She stomped her foot. His jaw dropped when he realized she apparently was serious. "That's just…stupid." His eyes trailed over the shirt clinging to her breasts. "Very, very stupid."

The door opened again and Amber buttoned her jeans back up with a yelp. "We'll talk about your fashion sense later," she hissed before turning to Justice, crossing her arms over her chest with a tight-lipped smile.

Justice's eyes flickered to Amber's reddened face, her arms and then to the bright tangle of pink fabric hanging over the trash can in the corner. He coughed once, looking at the floor for a second before raising his eyes, but they held a twinkle that couldn't be hidden.

Amber blushed harder and gave Ven a narrowed look, but he only winked.

"So." Justice's shoulders shook once before he cleared his throat and got down to business. "You're cleared to leave, after Dr. Harris gets his blood, Ven. The panel was convinced it was a misunderstanding and that your interaction with Miss Keeley was friendly, mutual and that the violence incurred was essentially a harmless misunderstanding."

Amber sank against the wall in relief as Ven nodded. Justice continued, "I also have a proposition for you, Amber. Well, actually both of you, if you'll agree."

Amber straightened, wondering what in the hell was going on now.

"And this needs to stay quiet whether you agree or not, Amber. I'm about to tell you very private Species business. You've already signed a waiver, and I trust you, but I need to be clear, you mustn't repeat this to anyone, Amber."

She nodded, even more curious.

"I know our original schedule has you working at Homeland through next week, and then moving on to Reservation, but circumstances have…changed. We are getting ready to make a major purchase of land farther north, on the Oregon border. Half a million acres to be exact. This had been in the works for awhile, but I just found out we cleared a major legislation huddle just about an hour ago. It's been a day." He smiled ruefully, rubbing the back of his neck.

I bet that poor guy gets a lot of stress knots from his job, Amber thought sympathetically, even as her ears perked up. Half a million acres. Wow. That was nearly double Reservation and Homeland's acreage combined.

"Anyway, I want you, along with the team you've been training to fly up and look the parcel over in about a week. I want your impressions of the land and a high level overview of any concerns, including your recommendations on at least five build sites that would be free of watershed or reasonable wildlife issues. And I need this report within two weeks of your arrival there."

Amber blinked. "That would be a huge undertaking, Justice. I…"

He nodded quickly, but raised a hand to cut her off. "I get you can't say yes right away, if at all. I'm having a proposal drawn up as we speak. A proposal that includes a very generous offer of compensation, I might add," he stressed with a smile.

"But here's my other idea, I was thinking, while you look it over, why don't you take a few days off? In fact, how would you feel about taking those days off together -you and Vengeance - at Reservation? A mini-vacation of sorts. We can give you one of the private cabins. Call it an official apology for the incident today, if you like. And a way to get you familiar with the lay of the land over there…not to mention a mild bribe of sorts. I think you two would enjoy some time alone together, am I right?" He winked and Amber smiled despite herself.

"Yes." She said immediately. "I mean, not yes on the offer, at least not until I see it." Amber laughed. "But as to the cabin and all, I would love to. Of course, it's up to Vengeance, too." Her eyes flew to Ven's, who had been watching them both, his eyes dark and quiet. Now his gaze settled onto her alone, making her breathless in a heartbeat.

Vengeance continued looking straight into her eyes as he answered Justice. "Yes. We accept. Get the helicopter prepped. We'll be ready in an hour."