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  Slowly, so as not to scare his male, Kee stepped closer to Ben. He didn’t touch him.

  Now that they were alone, Ben would need more kindness and reassurance. Kee allowed the moment between them to span all the time it needed, watching Ben’s face the entire time. “Let’s stay.” Kee smiled his most charming smile. He could be attractive when he wanted. Kee just hadn’t tried since losing Lo. “Please stay with me, Ben.”

  *

  Shani paced outside the door, arguing with the voice in the headset. “There is no other way inside, Q. The whole place is locked up tight.”

  The steins peered out the windows of the school bus with nervous expressions. She smiled and waved to them, trying to keep them calm. “I’m gonna have to leave them, Q.”

  On the other end of the line, she heard Q-ter talking to their boss. Then he returned to the line. “You sure the stein won’t hurt the guy? Or, y’know…vice versa?”

  She walked a few steps away so the steins on the bus couldn’t hear her talking. It had taken ages just to teach them to sit and fasten their seatbelts. She was screwed if they revolted and tried to get off the bus. “I’m not sure what’s going on with the human and the stein, but there’s nothing I can do about that right now. I’ve got two dozen skittish neutrals on a bus. All I know is they’ll freak out if I try to blow up the door.”

  One of the steins on the bus called to her through his open window, “Shani?”

  She could tell he was on the verge of trying to get up. “Dude, I’ve got to get these guys to Seattle. Now. I can come back for the others tomorrow or some shit.”

  Q-ter mumbled his assent and Shani shut off her headset. She boarded the bus and started the engine, wishing again she’d brought Royce. He could have calmed the busload of steins with a wink and a smile. Of course, then half the neutrals on the bus would have wanted to fuck him.

  Royce’s charm made him perfect for fieldwork. But he hadn’t yet learned how to turn it off. Plus, with all the warrants still out for his capture, Royce had to lay low.

  The rows of steins fidgeted behind her, but they quieted as she pulled away.

  “Where Kee?” one of the steins called from behind her, the same one who’d spoken out the window.

  Shani thought about how to answer. “Um… He wanted to stay a little longer. I’ll go back and get him soon.” She worried the stein would demand she return for the leader, but instead he said something to the male next to him. She watched them in the rear-view mirror, the one bus drivers used to monitor school kids.

  The pair of steins snickered at each other behind their hands. Gossiping, it seemed, about their boss.

  Chapter Four

  Ben rolled over, a blanket his only protection from the concrete floor. Awareness crept slowly, each realization more painful than the previous one as he mentally catalogued every nuance of the suckiness of his situation. The blankets under his face smelled like old shoes. The giant stein pressed against his back reeked like the vilest locker room he’d ever been forced to shower in. He was trapped at the worst job he could imagine with a stein who would want him dead if he knew what Ben had done.

  He pressed his lips tight, wishing he dared to lift Kee’s arm and run for it. The cage door was ajar. Kee must have left it open when he came in last night.

  Trying to keep his breathing quiet and not wake his sleep partner, Ben peered over to the far desk where his backpack sat, equipped with his cell phone. After locking them in the labs together, Kee had closed Ben in the cage and left—Ben assumed to explore.

  Though who knows? It could have been Kee being sadistic. At least Kee had tossed Ben his lunch box so he had something to eat. Sometime in the middle of the night, Ben had rolled off his gloves. Ben stared at the rubber, twisted like a landed blue jellyfish a few inches away.

  “Mmm.” The bearish stein nuzzled Ben’s neck, and half-asleep—Ben hoped— rubbed his erection in the crease of Ben’s ass.

  His muscles tensing in fear, Ben shifted. He tried to put a little space between his rear end and Kee’s front, but only succeeded in catching his own dick at a weird angle in his pants. Ben eased his hand to his fly and tugged quickly, trying to be casual. He was hard as a wood plank, not having dared his usual evening routine of masturbation before sleep. Before he could snatch his hand away, Kee’s huge paw landed on top of it, pressing Ben’s hard-on beneath both their grips.

  With a hungry groan, Kee squeezed Ben’s hips back into his own, grinding hard into Ben’s crease.

  “Stop.”

  If Kee was going to rape him, there was nothing he could do. And hell—maybe he even deserved it after all he’d done at Built Labs. But Ben felt the urge to make himself clear. He was too scared not to. Voice thin and reedy, he said, “I do not want this.”

  Kee stopped thrusting. His hold loosened. “I… I’m sorry.” He rolled back far enough to give Ben space. “Won’t hurt you.” Kee rubbed his face. He sounded groggy, but more in control.

  Ben coiled up to sitting. His dick caught at another weird angle at the change of position. As much as he wanted to adjust himself, Ben kept his hands resolutely at his sides. “I need to use…” Ben gestured in the direction of the cell’s toilet, trying to convey he wanted to go to the bathroom.

  “Yes.” Kee pointed to the john. “You can go.” He rubbed his hand on the scant beard of his jaw, his eyes trained on the bulge in Ben’s pants. “You need help?” Kee licked his lips. They were very pink under the moustache of blond fur.

  Ben shook his head as emphatically as he could. “No. What I need is privacy.”

  Confusion carved wrinkles in Kee’s face.

  “A door?” Ben gestured to the door of the cage. “A bathroom with a door?”

  “Oh.” Kee’s face relaxed into a smile. He hopped up from his place on the floor.

  Regardless of what Kee had found elsewhere in the lab, he hadn’t bothered putting on any fresh clothes. He still wore only his filthy pants. “Come, I’ll show you.” He reached for Ben’s hand.

  Kee’s palms were lined with dirt. Ben shook his head no thanks and stood to stretch out his sore muscles. He knew perfectly well where the lab’s bathrooms were located, but could tell the stein wanted to be in command of the situation.

  Kee grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers as if they were boyfriends. He led Ben out into the hallway. “Then we’ll have food. And water.” Excitement laced Kee’s words.

  His every step bounced.

  Ben didn’t look forward to that meal—where he had to explain to Kee the food in

  his lunchbox had not been the same dehydrated organ meats the labs fed the steins.

  Hopefully Ben could escape before Kee forcefed him kibble. Ben followed quietly, opting to keep his mouth shut. “Water sounds great, thanks.”

  The interior passage was windowless and lined with doors before it reached an open storage area. At the far end, a red exit sign hovered above the locked exit. Ben calculated how far it was, and if he could incapacitate Kee long enough to reach it.

  Maybe if he found a weapon. Or if he located the sedatives Frith kept locked in the refrigerators marked with skulls and crossbones. But Frith had always kept that key on his person, scared Ben or someone else in the labs would break in and steal the drugs.

  “Hey…” Kee tugged Ben around to look at him. “I want to…” The stein patted his forehead as if he were trying to find words. He opened his mouth and closed it, his face scrunching up in thought. Finally, Kee smiled shyly and said, “Thank you, Ben.”

  Ben’s guilt bubbled up from the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know what Kee could possibly be thanking him for. Maybe Kee didn’t understand Ben had been going to kill him, or that Ben had done so many other horrible things. He decided not to remind Kee of that fact. Still, Ben flinched under his attention . God, it feels weird to have a man look at me so closely. Ben had been overlooked for so long.

  “Um, sure.” Ben shrugged. “You’re welcome.”

  With a nod, Kee
led him to the bathroom door. He opened it with something that sounded like a sigh. “I want you to be happy.”

  Ben stepped into the washroom and closed the door. Happy wasn’t how he’d describe what he felt, but he wasn’t terrified anymore. He peered at himself in the mirror—at the shadow on his jaw and the way his hair had fallen all around his face.

  His t-shirt was dirty and ripped in places and his half-open work suit was filthy from the floor. He cupped some water in his hands and scrubbed his face without soap.

  On the plus side, he felt slightly less guilty now that he no longer had the

  responsibility of killing twenty-seven innocent steins. However, he did need to figure out how to get out of the labs. Ben was starting to think Kee just needed time. Maybe after they talked a bit the stein would relent and let them leave.

  He stepped up to the toilet and lifted the lid. Ben unfastened his pants and gave a little frustrated groan that he was still hard. Much as he would have liked a quick wank, he somehow felt Kee would know, and be tempted to help, or want Ben to return the favor.

  So instead, Ben breathed deep and tried to get his dick under control. He imagined dirt and grime and the smell coming off Kee when he gripped Ben in his burly arms.

  But for some reason, Ben didn’t soften at all.

  Kee waited outside the door, listening for what Ben might be doing inside. He hadn’t meant to touch him so forcefully when they’d woken. Still, the satisfying heat of Ben’s sex in his hand had been worth it. Ben had been aroused, so much that his cock had pulsed under Kee’s hand. Kee shifted his own sex under his pants, excited beyond reckoning at the memory of Ben’s ass cradling his cock.

  From inside the bathroom, Ben called out, “Could you grab me a razor?”

  “Huh?” Kee leaned into the door, listening harder, but when Ben only repeated the question, Kee tested the handle and found it unlocked. “What do you need?” The room

  was filled with warm steam. It caressed Kee’s skin and wrapped him in sultry Ben— scented perfume. He growled at the feel and smell of it.

  Ben had gone inside an enclosure at the edge of the room and pulled the plastic curtain closed. From what Kee could tell, there was water raining down inside. Kee touched the thin plastic membrane, wanting more than anything to pull the barrier aside. He waited for Ben to act first.

  The human popped his head around the edge of the plastic. His wet hair dripped around his face. He looked beautiful, but he wore a frightened expression. “Um, I need a razor. And some soap.” He eyed Kee, clutching the plastic sheet to his body.

  Kee took a step back. “I don’t understand.” He sensed Ben’s fear, and tried for his most disinterested manner, the one he used to do with Lo when he wanted to tease.

  “A razor?” Ben pinched two fingers together and mimicked running something

  over the short hairs on his face.

  “Oh.” Kee recalled something he’d seen on the tee vee—rugged men scraping the hair off their faces in a mirror. Now that he thought about it, Kee realized Ben’s face had been smooth the previous day, but looked rough now. He ran a hand over his own chin.

  Kee’s face hair wasn’t thick, not like some bearded males he’d seen on tee vee. He resisted looking in the mirror to check whether his own face hair changed from day to day. Kee had seen himself the day before, and learned that he wasn’t pretty like Ben.

  Perhaps that was why Ben wouldn’t allow Kee to touch and kiss his sex. “I don’t know where they are.” He looked to the door, noticing it was closed. He and Ben were together in a warm, tiny room. And Ben, as far as Kee could tell, was naked.

  From his hiding place behind the curtain, Ben rolled his eyes. “They’re in the bigger shower.” He reached for a towel hanging on the rack, but couldn’t quite grab it. “Fine, I’ll get them myself.”

  Taking the hint, Kee lifted the cloth off the handle and handed it to Ben. Their fingers brushed—Ben’s skin soft and wet against Kee’s calloused knuckles.

  Ben darted his gaze to the ground. “Uh, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” Kee smiled as his male disappeared around the edge of plastic.

  Then he lost his breath when Ben appeared, a towel wrapped around his lean waist, his body bare and damp. He was hairless except for a small patch of fur at the center of his chest and a rogue trail skimmed down his flat belly pointing like an arrow under the towel.

  Ben cleared his throat, his hand gripping the fabric. “Kee?”

  Kee snapped his attention back to Ben’s face, which had grown redder along the upper edge of his cheeks. “Yes?” Kee’s lone word sounded rough and guttural.

  “Well.” Ben lifted his chin and swallowed—his sign of fear. “I don’t know what went on here between you and the others when Frith and I weren’t in the labs.” Ben broke eye contact and looked away.

  “The others?” Kee wondered what he meant. “Other steins?”

  Ben rubbed the blotchy redness climbing his neck. Kee noticed the trembling in his hands. “Yes, you and the other steins… Well, it seems you may have done some

  experimenting.” If Ben lifted his chin any higher, he would be staring at Kee over his nose. “With your bodies.”

  Kee caught an inkling of what Ben meant. But he didn’t know how to explain the

  lonely nights, where he and his men took solace in one another. “I had Lo.”

  “Oh.” Ben’s gaze dropped so he stared at his feet. His face creased on one side as if he were thinking. “I guess I kinda knew that.” Then Ben squared his shoulders in that way of his. It looked completely unintimidating when he wasn’t wearing clothes. “Well, I think you should know I’ve never… I mean, not with a male or a female. Or, y’know, any kind of human.”

  Frowning, Kee tried to understand Ben’s meaning. He wasn’t sure which part Ben meant—the soft eyes and secret smiles he and Lo had shared, or the sweaty, thrusty

  parts. “Never…?” He studied Ben more carefully, trying to gather more information from the shifts of his expression.

  “I’ve never had sex. Or anything really. So, as you can imagine, all this touching makes me very uncomfortable.”

  Confused, Kee repeated the one word Ben had placed the most emphasis on. “Sex?”

  He had an inkling the word meant something about the flesh between men’s legs. Kee

  blushed—he knew Ben had a sex. Without meaning to, Kee’s gaze darted to the front of Ben’s towel.

  Ben slumped against the wall. He put a hand to his forehead for a long moment, frowning. Then he made a circle with his forefinger and thumb. He took the index finger of the other hand and poked it in and out of the hole.

  For a moment, Kee studied the hand signal. Then, in a rush of comprehension, he burst into laughter.

  “I’m not sure what you find amusing about this.” Again with the chin and the stiff, rigid expression.

  Kee wasn’t surprised his frightened male hadn’t opened his body to anyone else. In fact, Kee was pleased he hadn’t. But the longer they stood together in this warm, damp room, the more Kee considered maybe Ben had not done other things either. Maybe Ben had never tasted another man’s skin, or touched another man’s cock. The idea made Kee swell so fast, he was certain Ben could see it grow.

  Ben raised his hands in surrender. He backed away as far as he could in the small room, until he bumped into the sink.

  “I won’t hurt you.” Kee kept his arms relaxed at his sides. He studied his man carefully, trying to understand how to make him less scared. He pointed to Ben and then to himself and shook his head. “We won’t do sex.”

  “We won’t?” Ben slumped in relief, but his lip curled down for a split second.

  Kee wondered if he’d mistaken Ben’s expression. That tiny frown looked… Was Ben disappointed? Kee’s heart soared. He fought not to growl and beat his chest in victory. Ben’s small expression made Kee happier than any sex could have. He took

  Ben’s hand and brushed his thumb over Ben’s pal
m, watching his male shiver, then relax.

  “No.” Kee opened the door. Steam leaked through the top of the doorway and into the hall. “No. We’ll find that thing…” The answer came before Ben had a chance to

  speak. “A razor.” Kee smiled to his ears that he remembered the word. “We’ll find razor. So you can…” He only paused a moment this time, drawing upon the words he’d heard from the tee vee. “Shave!” He grinned that his thoughts were coming faster. “You must shave.”

  Ben followed behind Kee. He had to admit—the guy had some serious shoulders.

  Like a gymnast’s set on top of a wrestler’s body. He had a nice ass too. Ben always felt nervous when he checked out a guy’s butt, since he was never sure what he’d do with it if given the chance. He’d watched plenty of anal in pornos, but always imagined himself in the role of the fuckee. Anyway, the whole thing seemed difficult, and unsanitary, and possibly embarrassing or painful.

  Kee opened the double doors and pressed them wide. What lay behind was a space the size of a living room with four showerheads along one side and a group of cabinets along the other. The floor dipped toward a metal grate in the center of the room. Letting go of Ben’s hand, Kee crossed the far wall and touched the tile. There was a shift in his body—Kee’s shoulders rolled forward and he hung his head as he studied the wall. But instead of seeming more relaxed, the muscles in his back bunched, as if Kee were readying for an attack.

  “Do you remember this place?” Ben stayed near the door. Neither Kee nor the steins in the cell next to him had been bathed since Ben had started working for Built.

  Only the newborns got showers, and Ben had always assumed they didn’t remember.

  Ben ventured farther inside. “Are you okay?” He touched Kee’s shoulder.