“Move away from him, head shrink.”

“Go away,” she ordered.

Moon snarled, seeming to agree with her order.

Harley frowned. “Get the hell away from him.”

“I think he remembers me. He said my name. Didn’t you hear him?”

Harley stormed up behind her just as she felt fingers wrap around her throat, cutting off her air. Moon had her. It hurt her ears when he howled so close behind her.

Harley froze.

“Go,” Moon snarled.

“Fuck. Release her, man.” Harley growled back.

“Go,” Moon demanded again, tightening his hold.

The big Species in the biker jacket backed up a few feet. “Let her go.”

Moon reached down and gripped her upper arm while keeping a firm hold on her throat. “Kill. Go.” He forced her to her feet, yanking her hard against the bars.

She’d become a hostage. It was that simple. Moon wanted the other male to leave and she was his leverage. He could easily snap her neck. She’d have begged him to release her but she could barely breathe.

“Shit.” Harley backed up. “Don’t hurt her.”

The elevator doors opened and Rusty walked into the room, carrying a tray with two plates. She came to an abrupt halt. “Oh shit.”

Harley glanced at her before looking back at his best friend. “We’ll leave. Do not hurt her.”

“How did the human get so close to him?” Rusty retreated a few steps.

“She let him. Whoever asked her to come here made a mistake. It might end up being a fatal one.” Harley sidestepped closer to the Species female. “We’re leaving, Moon. Watch us. Don’t hurt that female.”

Both of them got into the elevator and the doors closed. The fingers loosened on her throat and arm. She shoved away from the bars on her butt and completely broke his hold when she threw her body forward. She hit the floor on her hands and knees. Gasping for air, she crawled out of Moon’s reach.

“Come,” a deep voice rasped from behind her.

Moon wanted her to return to the side of his cage. She shook her head, touching her sore throat that had to have red marks on it, if not bruises. Species were too strong. She had risked her life getting so close to him and it had almost gotten her killed. She wouldn’t make that mistake twice.

“Come!” he snarled.

Joy turned her head in his direction but couldn’t look directly at him. “No.”

Tears blinded her as she looked away. He might know her but she sure didn’t know him at the moment. The guy she’d fallen in love with never would have done that. She was lucky to be alive.

Chapter Three

“What were you doing?” Tiger was furious and not making any attempt to hide it.

“Showing Moon he could trust me.”

Joy was tired after spending a restless night in the house they’d assigned her. She’d asked to be escorted there after what had happened. She had needed time away from Moon after her close call. Her visitors had arrived after breakfast.

“She has no right being near him.” Harley wore a heavy-metal-band T-shirt with his jeans today. The biker boots must be something he wore daily. “He obviously doesn’t want her dead but next time he could force us to unlock the cell to save her life. It’s pure luck he only wanted to be left alone with her. He’s in no shape to be reasoned with.”

“Agreed.” Justice North grimly studied her. “You shouldn’t have gotten that close to him.”

“He spoke.”

Justice’s black eyebrows arched. “He did? No one told me that.”

“It was just a few words,” Tiger informed him. “He’s still dangerous and not himself.”

“He didn’t say anything to us when we were inside his cell securing him.” Justice looked at Harley. “Why didn’t he tell us to stop? He had no problem fighting us while we restrained him.”

“You did it?” Joy had wanted to be there. “Is he okay?”

“He’s angry.” Tiger shrugged. “No one was hurt.”

Relief was instant. “Good.”

“She has no right to be near him,” Harley repeated. “You don’t know their history.”

Joy wasn’t surprised that Harley was about to tell the others about her past with Moon. He had warned her he’d do anything to get her away from Moon. Harley was a man of his word.

“We’re aware of their history.” Justice dismissed it with a wave of his hand as he studied Joy. “I’m more concerned that you risked your life without consulting us first.”

“I was establishing trust. I can’t stop working with him to run a decision by you every time.”

“She allowed Moon to play with her breasts after flashing them at him.”

Joy winced at Harley’s harsh tone. “You’re making it sound vulgar but it wasn’t.” She hated the way Justice’s eyes widened in reaction. “It’s not what you must be thinking. Moon is interested in sex and it’s the only avenue I’ve found to motivate him to work with me.” Her cheeks warmed from embarrassment. “I’ll do have to get him to talk. I can’t help him otherwise. I didn’t flash my breasts either. I showed some cleavage.”

“He doesn’t want to talk,” Harley snarled. “He wants to fuck you.”

“Harley!” Justice snarled back. “Enough!”

“You know about what she did to Moon and yet you still called her?”

“Moon respects her.”

Harley snorted. “What do you know about what took place between her and Moon at site four, Justice?”

“She was his head shrink after he was released from Mercile and he spoke highly of her.”

“He trusted her and he wanted to fuck her but she bailed on him. She hurt him.”

The males in the room suddenly all turned their attention her way. Joy hugged her waist, trying to appear smaller in her chair. Her chin lifted though as she stared at Harley.

“I didn’t hurt him.”

“Bullshit. You chose your job over him. Do you think he was too stupid to know that? To figure out how little he meant to you for you to do that to him? He had feelings for you but you packed your shit and took off. You weren’t there to see how that affected him. He hated the other shrink he got stuck with too. She was a cold bitch who acted as if we were pets that needed to be handed meat treats to retrain us from the bad habits we picked up at Mercile.”

“It wasn’t like that.” Joy winced, guessing he spoke of Geraldine, her previous supervisor. The woman had no common sense. They’d never seen eye to eye on how to counsel the survivors but it made her wince inside if Harley spoke the truth. That sure hadn’t been in any of the notes she’d submitted about what was effective and what wasn’t.

Harley took a threatening step closer, his fists clenched at his sides, but halted. “It was exactly that way. He told you he wanted you and you allowed him to think he had a chance. You promised your body to make him open up in your sessions but then you fled when it was time to pay up.”

Embarrassment quickly transformed into anger. “I didn’t promise him anything. I kept telling him we couldn’t have sex. I was his therapist.”

“Ethics. Yeah. He mentioned that.” Harley growled. “Did you allow him to caress your breasts before while you were feeding him those bullshit excuses? You cock-teased him in your sessions to get him to talk and I’ll be damned if I allow you to do that to him twice, only to leave him high and dry again.”

“I did not!” She shot to her feet, glaring up at him. Her palm itched to slap the son of a bitch. “I kept it strictly professional when he was my client. He never touched my breasts or any other part of me except my hands the few times he wanted to make me uncomfortable by trying to intimidate me. I was clear that we couldn’t ever have a sexual relationship so don’t accuse me of leading him on. I didn’t!”

Harley flashed his fangs. “You are coldhearted and cared nothing about him.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Harley. You’re wrong. That’s why I quit my job. I knew it was only a matter of time before he broke me down because I felt too much for him.”