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"Whoa!"

"That's a good 'whoa,' I hope?" Andraste settled into Clyde's arms and he took a moment to catch his breath.

"Oh, it is." He grinned and rubbed her back slowly.

"For me, too." She raised herself up enough to look into his eyes, and ran her talons through his hair.

He kissed the tip of her beak. She nuzzled him and lowered herself onto his chest again. He grinned, put his arms around her and held her quietly for a moment.

"So," she said, almost whispering, "was this your first time with one of us?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Got your sights set on any others?" She propped herself up on her left arm and waited for his answer with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

"Nope. There's no one else I'd rather be with." He couldn't explain it, even to himself, but his feelings for her were already stronger than any he'd ever had for anyone else. He'd felt that way almost since he'd first seen her walk around the corner in that hallway. That was weird, especially given the circumstances under which they'd met, but he couldn't deny it.

"Really?" she whispered, her eyes wide.

"Yeah. I mean, if you feel the same way about me. I wouldn't want Tiamat to get the wrong idea and beat the shit out of me."

Andi laughed softly. "Don't worry, I won't let her misjudge our relationship." She leaned closer so they could kiss again, and as their weight shifted on the bed, something brushed against his right shoulder. Startled, he turned and tried to see what it was, half expecting it to be a spider.

Andi looked at it, too, and chuckled. "It's not a spider." She reached over and picked up a piece of foam. "I think it came from the mattress pad. I must've--"

"Just a second." Clyde raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know I thought it might be a spider?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Somehow, I just...knew."

"Huh." Weird. "Guess we're on the same wavelength."

"Apparently." She tried her best to grin, though she was uncertain about the result. He didn't know howhe'd sensed it, though.

"I like the way you smile," he said. "It's really cute."

"Thank you." She grinned again and held the foam up. "I guess I gripped the mattress too hard a few minutes ago, and my claws tore through the cover."

"Wow." Clyde raised an eyebrow. Guess we'll have to be careful, if she's that strong.

She laughed again and moved off him, then propped herself up on her arm again and rested her left hand on his chest. She gazed at him for a moment and said, "I'm glad this isn't just a one-time fling."

"I...have to admit, it started out that way. I mean, we were all curious, I guess. And...well, when I first saw the stuff on the news about chimeras--the ones who appeared first, I mean--I thought they were kind of intimidating. But then I started noticing that some of the females were, um...well, hot." He blushed again.

"Ah. Well, some of us have higher body temperatures than humans. I do, but I think you've already noticed that."

"Yeah, I did. But what I meant was..." He caught the look on her face and realized that she was just goofing around. He laughed. "Anyway, I started noticing that some of them had nice legs, good bodies, nice, uh..."

"Nice tits?" Andi chuckled and cupped her left breast in her hand.

"Definitely. None of 'em were as nice as yours, though."

"Why, thank you."

"You're quite welcome." He grinned and put his arms around her. "Anyway, I saw some real hotties around town, so I started wondering, y'know, what it would be like. Cassie told us about this place, told us that it'd be better to try here than some place where a lot of the older models hang out."

"Yeah, some of them are pretty aggressive, prone to violence, and strong enough to tear a person apart."

He nodded. "I guess she met her boyfriend here, so..."

"Well, she met him somewhere else--I don't know the details--and when she found out about this shelter, she brought him here so he could have a proper start in life. She kept meeting him here, almost every night, so it looks like they're going to be staying together. Anyway, that's how she got to know the rest of us who live and work here."

"Yeah. So when she found out that we wanted to try, uh..." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, she suggested this place. And I'm glad she did." He kissed her on the neck.

"So am I. I'm glad I met you." She stroked his cheek again. Something seemed to distract her; she glanced suddenly at the wall behind his pillow, then chuckled.

"What is it?"

"I can hear gasping and moaning from Adonis's room again." She nodded at the wall. "I guess they 'clicked' just like we did."

Clyde grinned. "Good. Katrilla's kind of had a hard time getting dates because she's, well, a little chunky."

Andraste cocked her head. "That matters to humans?"

"A lot of us, yeah." He shrugged. "I think she's attractive, but I guess a lot of people don't see things that way. So she's gotten a little insecure about her appearance."

"Ah. That must be why one of your friends had to push her toward Adonis even though she was obviously attracted to him."

"Yeah. But I'm glad she found someone. She's a nice girl, so I hope this'll help her feel better about herself."

"I sure hope so." Andi glanced at the wall again, looked at Clyde and wiggled her brow ridges. "Sounds like she's feeling better already."

He laughed and traced a finger over the edge of her large, pointed ear. "Those are pretty sensitive, then?"

"Yeah. They were designed that way." She pointed at her beak. "The geneticists got a lot of the details right, even though they screwed up some other things. Like my head."

"Nah, there's nothing wrong with your head." He gave her another kiss. "I happen to like the way you look."

"Thank you." She parted her beak to let her tongue brush against his for a moment. "They also messed up a few other things in some of us. For me, it's my eyes; everything looks a little blurry, and when I mentioned it to one of the human assistants, he said that I'm probably near-sighted, whatever that is."

"Yeah, that sounds right. Are you gonna have your eyes tested?"

"I've got an appointment for that in a couple days. I'm not sure what they can do about it, though." She sighed.

"Well, there's a routine surgical procedure that can fix it."

"Surgery? Like, cutting?" She shook her head. "Hell, no!"

Clyde laughed. "Relax, it's not like that. It's done with lasers. Completely safe."

"Eh, I dunno. I don't want anybody shooting lasers into my eyes, either."

"Well, there's contact lenses."

"Contact lenses?" She looked at him for a moment, then grimaced when she realized what he was talking about. "You mean, something that would touch my eyes?"

"Yeah. I guess that doesn't sound very appealing, either."

"No. Anything else that can be done about it?" Her eyes widened a little as she grew more worried. Clyde took her hand and held it.

"They can give you a pair of glasses, then. The lenses won't touch your eyes." He gazed at her a moment and smiled. "Actually, I think glasses would look good on you. I've always kind of had a thing for women who wear glasses. Well, depending on the frames; some types of frames don't look very good."

"Ah. Well, since I don't have any idea what would look good, would you help me pick out the right frames?"

"I'd be happy to."

"Thank you." She smiled again--then she frowned and turned to look at the door.

"Andi?" Clyde sat up and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Some kind of commotion outside."

Something slammed into the door and a male voice cried out. Clyde yelped and flailed and almost fell off the bed.

Andraste was on her feet and rushing to the door before he could hop off the bed. He found his pants and slipped them on, and joined her as she opened the door.

"Uh," he muttered, "maybe you should put some clothes on before--"

"Hey!" she yelled into the hallway. "What's going on here?"

"Down on the floor!" another male voice bellowed. "Down on the floor now!"

Clyde squeezed past Andi and saw a team of people in black armor and helmets dragging Cassie and a German-shepherd chimera out of another room. Cassie was screaming and trying to wrap a sheet around herself, and Adonis was sprawled on the floor, having apparently just bounced off the door to Andi's room. Katrilla, wearing a towel, kneeled beside him, screaming and crying. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"I said, what's going on?" Andi shrieked, trying to be heard over the other voices. One of the intruders aimed his rifle at her.

"Down on the floor!" Another one grabbed her wing and pulled her through the doorway, trying to force her down on her knees.

"Wait a minute! Hey!"

"Get your hands off her!" Clyde rushed forward and the butt of a rifle came out of nowhere and struck the side of his head. The next thing he knew, he was on the floor, moaning, with someone's arms around him.

"Clyde? Oh, shit, Clyde!"

"Huh?" He finally recognized the voice. "Andi? What happened?"

She sobbed and held him tightly. He tried to look around, but felt as if his head would split open if he moved too much.

Cassie was on the floor, leaning against the wall and sobbing, holding one hand to her bruised face and reaching out toward her boyfriend with the other. "Fido! Let him go, you bastards! He wasn't doing anything!"

"Shut up, you slut!"

Clyde looked around slowly, wincing. With those helmets on, he couldn't tell which of them had spoken. Fido was face-down on the floor, hands cuffed behind him, shaking his head at Cassie.

"Calm down! I don't want them to hurt you anymore! Just stay there."

"Shut up, freak!" One of the cops kicked him in the side of his head.

"Stop it!" Cassie shrieked and pushed herself up. "Leave him alone!"

Adonis got his feet under him and crouched, preparing to leap at the nearest cop. Fido shook his head.

"No! You'll only get yourselves killed! I'll be okay."

"All of you," one of the armored men yelled, "shut the fuck up!"

Another grabbed a handful of Fido's hair and dragged him to his feet. "You...you're coming with us. The rest of you...anyone who interferes will be shot dead. Is that clear?"

Someone else cried out at the end of the hallway, and everyone turned toward the voice. One of the men hit the floor and rolled, the tinted faceplate of his helmet shattered. Clyde looked past him and found Tiamat storming toward the rest of them.

"What the fuck is going on?" she yelled. "Get your hands off them!" She grabbed the one who was holding Fido, flipped him over her shoulder and slammed him to the floor.

"Good," one of the others said, pulling a stunner out of his belt holster. "You're the other one we came here for."

One of the others tried to take her down, but ended up rammed face-first into the wall hard enough to crack the paneling.

Another slipped up behind her and jabbed his stunner between her shoulder blades. An electric crackle ripped through the air and Tiamat screamed and convulsed, then collapsed and lay twitching at the man's feet.

Andi, Fido and Adonis stared numbly at the sight of her, as if they'd been zapped as well. The guy who'd stunned her swaggered over to Fido and jabbed the stunner into his throat.

"No!" Cassie tried to crawl over to him, but one of the other intruders grabbed her and shoved her back into Fido's room.

"Put your clothes back on, slut. Your daddy wants to have a talk with you."

Cassie stared at him, her mouth hanging open, and a realization dawned on her. "He's the one who sent you."

"Put your clothes back on. Now."

Her face went from shock to boiling anger before she ducked into the room and picked up her clothes. "I want to have a little talk with him as well." She put her shirt and pants on and came back out, carrying the rest of her clothing under her arm. "And after I talk to him, I'll talk to my attorney."

"Gee, I just pissed myself, you had me so scared." The man gave her a shove. "Move it."

The others dragged Fido and Tiamat down the hall, and a couple of others helped their injured buddies get up and follow the rest.

One of the men paused to give Clyde and the rest a faceless stare. "Fucking perverts. If you want to stay healthy, you'll forget this ever happened. We were never here." He turned and walked away.

"Oh, Christ," Katrilla sobbed as she helped Adonis get up. "Are you okay?"

"I'll survive." He hugged her and scowled in the direction the intruders had gone. "What was this all about? Why did this happen?"

"No idea." Clyde stood and swayed, and Andi helped steady him. "I'm gonna find out."

"Clyde," Andi whimpered, "they said they'd kill anyone who interfered."

"That depends on how you interfere." He brushed her hair away from her face. "Are you okay?"

"Not really." She touched his cheek. "Whatever you're planning to do, I'm with you."

He smiled and put his arms around her. After holding her for a moment, he stepped back and turned toward her room.

"So," Katrilla muttered, "what can we do about this?"

"First, someone needs to call the police and report this. Do it anonymously, just in case. I'm gonna contact someone in the media who'll be interested in what just went down here. If that news van is still parked across the street, we'll have 'em crawling all over this in a matter of minutes." He flashed them a predatory grin and stormed into the room to pick up his shirt.

"Good." Andi joined him and began dressing. "Let's go get 'em."

#

"Ah, good morning," Machiko Ericson said as Jack entered the conference room.

"Hey." He yawned and rubbed his hands over his face. His cybernetic eyes never felt gritty the way his real ones had, of course, but all the other symptoms of sleep deprivation were present.

"Mornin', Boss." Corona ducked through the door, followed by Taura, who closed it behind her. Neither of them looked quite as tired as Jack felt, but Taura was shivering again. They took seats on either side of Jack as he plopped down at the big oval table. Corona waved at something off to the left, and Jack looked up and found Ralphie and Rocky Spunkmeyer sitting at the end of the table.

"Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't notice you there."

"Hiya, guys." Rocky chuckled and the corners of her beak curved slightly in an attempt at a smile. "You look like you had a long night."

"Eh, we didn't go to sleep until later than usual." Jack chuckled and aimed a lopsided grin at Corona. "It's my fault."

"I gotta take some of the blame." Corrie giggled and swatted him on the butt with her tail.

Jack grinned, then he arched an eyebrow at Machiko. She somehow gave the impression of being sleepy without letting it show on her face. Maybe it was the way her steel-gray hair, normally kept in a bun so tight that merely looking at it made his scalp ache, was currently tied into a simple ponytail with numerous stray hairs all over.

"Still," Jack muttered, "we were both expecting to get more than ninety minutes of sleep."

"So was I," Taura grumbled. "You were louder than usual; the noise kept me awake until you were finished, and then I was too...distracted to fall asleep."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Corona scooted her chair around Jack and leaned over to put her arm around Taura. "The apartment we're in must have thinner walls than the one we had before."

Taura shrugged. She glanced at Jack and looked as if she was about to say something, but she thought better of it and just stared at the table.

Corona raised a brow ridge at Jack, but he didn't meet her gaze. He managed to suppress the sigh that almost slipped out. Let's not get started on this again.

"I'm sorry to drag you out of bed at such an early hour," Machiko said, getting up and folding her wings around her shoulders to keep them out of the way, and walking over to the counter behind Rocky and Ralphie. She stopped in front of the coffee maker in the corner, scooted a tray of foam cups over to it, and picked up the carafe. "Something came up."

"Of course." Jack slumped forward and propped his chin on his hand. "What went horribly wrong this time?"

"Someone busted in on a chimera shelter on 334th Street and grabbed two of the residents and a guest," Ralphie said, and smiled as he accepted a cup of coffee from Machiko. "Thanks." He took a slow sip and brushed a hand through his shoulder-length black hair. "After reading the police report, we figured they were cops or military. Or maybe a security team from one of the big corporations. But I've been talking to the cops, and if they were involved, they're not admitting it. Or the ones I spoke with simply didn't know about it."

"I'm thinking it was someone else," Rocky said. She took a cup from Machiko and placed it on the table. "A couple kids of some very wealthy people got roughed up, and if some cops had done that, their careers would be shitcanned so fast, it'd make the air crackle. The cops know that, so I doubt they had anything to do with it."

"Probably corporate security, then," Jack mused. "Or mercs."

Machiko passed out cups to him and the girls, took one more for herself, and returned to her seat.

"Or a team of criminals," Corona said. "Maybe they want ransom."

"Yeah, that's another possibility."

"I'd be inclined to agree if not for one thing," Machiko said, gazing into her coffee and turning the cup slowly. "The people they abducted were two chimeras and one human. I hate to say it, but we're not worth much money. If they wanted ransom, they would've grabbed more of the rich humans who were there."

"So the ones they did grab must've been targeted for a reason." Taura crossed her arms tightly over her chest, trying to stop her shivering and twitching. "I don't suppose the police report said anything about a motive?"

"Nope." Rocky sighed and brushed a lock of her wavy orange hair away from her eyes. "They just took brief statements from the witnesses and left it at that. To be fair to the police, the people they interviewed seemed less than eager to answer some of their questions."

"So you'd like us to have a talk with the witnesses?" Corona said. "See if we can get more answers from them?"

Machiko nodded, then she looked at Taura and added, "I'd like you to see if you can get into the shelter's security camera network, as well as any cameras you find on the streets around the shelter. Maybe that'll help us identify the intruders, or at least give us an idea of where they went when they left."

"I'll get on it as soon as we arrive."

"Good. Well, if there's nothing else...?"

"Actually," Corona said, "I got a voicemail from Detective Ramirez on the way over here. She was kinda vague about what she was doing, but said that her daughter might be at risk because of something she's investigating. She asked me to guard her, if it becomes necessary." She met Machiko's gaze. "Her daughter, Kim, is a friend of mine. I hope it won't cause any problems if I help her out."

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your investigation, I've got no problem with it." A haunted look crossed Machiko's gunmetal face before she regained her composure. She reached out and patted Corona's hand. "I've lost too many friends to say no."

"Thank you." Corona smiled, but looked worried at the same time. "I called Lola back, but she didn't answer her phone. I hope she gets my message soon."

Machiko nodded. "If necessary, Kim can stay in one of our safe houses."

"Thanks, I'll let her know." Corona stood and turned toward the door. "We'll get right on it."

#

What the hell_?_

Ramirez collapsed with a groan, unable to believe what had just happened. It had to be a dream, had to be. Yet, she realized as her mind cleared slowly, the evidence was right in front of her--under her. Her bare chest resting on another, its skin kind of leathery. Her face half buried in someone's hair. The sheets on her bed twisted in her clenched fists.

This isn't happening. Christ, this can't be happening! She pushed herself up and squeezed her eyes shut. She remembered everything, had been aware of it all along but unable to stop herself. It had happened, but opening her eyes and seeing him beneath her would make it real, and that was more than she could handle.

Her thoughts were sluggish, her mind still feeling as if it was wrapped in cotton. The last time she'd been in control of herself was...when?

The garage. Opening my car door. Turning, finding someone behind me. Then everything had gone all fuzzy on her. She'd gotten into the car, started driving...everything was a blur from then on.

Until...

A voice under her, groaning softly, sounding confused. "What...uh...what just happened?"

She gasped and opened her eyes--and found herself staring at the face of a draconid. Beak, horns like a Triceratops, large glowing yellow eyes with reptilian pupils, and a mane of long, bushy, dark red hair. Mere inches from her face.

Her heart pounded and for a moment she couldn't breathe.

Oh, shit! It really did happen! The memory was still blurry, but it was clear enough--seeing him walking down the street, picking him up and bringing him home, taking her clothes off and...

No! Oh, shit_, no!_ She drew in a breath, wanting to scream, but was unable to get her body to work properly. Get up! Get up, goddamn it!

But she couldn't. She wasn't paralyzed--she could move her arms and legs--her body simply wasn't obeying her brain's orders to get off the bed.

The draconid looked around the room, moving slowly, his eyes wide, his expression dazed. "Where am I?"

Ramirez managed to push herself a few more inches away from him. Then she noticed an odd sensation on her chest and looked down.

His hands are on my breasts! That freaked her out enough to overcome her body's semi-paralysis. She leaped off the bed and stumbled backward.

"Shit!" She backed up against the wall, trembling, and stared at him. "Shit!" She looked around frantically, saw her clothes scattered all over the floor--and finally found her gun near the foot of her bed. She dived at it, yanked it out of its holster and popped back up, aiming it at the draconid.

His eyes grew even wider and their glow brightened. He held his hands up slowly and shook his head.

"Wait--don't shoot me! I don't even know what happened!"

"You don't know?"

"I..." He looked around again, then down at himself and finally at her again. "Uh...did we...?"

"What the hell do you think?"

He flinched and scooted back against the headboard. "I'm sorry! It wasn't my idea! You're the one who picked me up."

"You're the one who got into my car!"

"And you're the one who drove me here and--"

"Whatever." She kept her gun on him for several more seconds, then she looked into his eyes and saw how confused and terrified he was. She sagged against the wall and ran her free hand through her damp hair. This can't be fucking happening. It's got to be a bad dream.

"I'm really sorry about this," the draconid stammered. "I don't know why this happened. I was just walking down the street and everything turned into a blur." He shook his head. "I wasn't in control of myself."

"Same here." She shook her head. She was still a little fuzzy, herself, as if she had overslept and was just now waking up.

"Not that I didn't enjoy it. But I don't like not being in control of myself." He shuddered and rubbed his hands over his upper arms.

"I can so relate to that. I mean, about not being in control of myself." Ramirez frowned and tried to keep a grip on herself. "It was like somebody else was pulling the strings."

"Yeah, that's exactly what it felt like."

Ramirez nodded, and then frowned again. What the hell am I doing, standing here, naked_, talking with this anthro?_ Still, as freaked out as she was, there was something about him that had a calming effect on her. Maybe it was his gentle voice or his behavior; he was clearly every bit as shaken up as she was.

She looked down at herself again, noting the sweat all over her body, and thought about hopping into the shower. But she didn't want to leave this guy alone. She kept her gun pointed at the floor as she picked up her panties, but was ready to snap it up at the first sign of trouble. "Um, you had some clothes when I first saw you; they're somewhere around here, right?"

"Yeah. We both got undressed in a hurry." He looked around and nodded. "Ah, there they are." He picked up a pair of cargo shorts and a tank-top that was designed to fit around his wings.

Shit, I'm still naked. She shook her head, slipped her panties on and gathered up the rest of her clothes.

A thump from downstairs made her freeze for an instant before turning toward the door. The draconid had heard it as well, and was staring at the carpeted stairway outside.

"That sounded like a door closing. Is anyone else here?"

She shook her head. "My daughter lives with me, but she's probably still out with her friends." She glanced out the window; it was still dark outside, except for the street lights and the neon in the distance. For once, she was glad that Kim wasn't here.

She pulled her pants on, slipped her T-shirt over her head, and charged into the hallway and down the stairs. She kept her gun pointed at the floor, just in case Kim had come home early.

She hoped that whoever was in here was a burglar, rather than her daughter. The last thing she needed was to explain to Kim why a chimera was in her bedroom.

She reached the front room and did a quick visual sweep. Finding no one, she opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch.

A dark gray van was parked across the street. A man in a black topcoat was walking toward it; he turned to look over his shoulder, saw her, and launched into a panicked sprint.

Ramirez didn't know how she knew, but she was certain that the guy had just been in her house. She bolted after him, reaching him just as he got to the van. She tackled him, slamming him into the side of the van, then spun him around, shoved him back against the van and pointed her gun at him. She backed up a few steps to stay out of his reach.

"NCPD! Don't move!"

He looked into her eyes and everything swirled around her and turned into a blur. When her head cleared, she was walking back toward her house. The draconid had followed her out and was staring at her with his head tilted to one side.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh?" She blinked and turned back, suddenly remembering the van. The man had just gotten inside; he gave her one last look as he started the engine.

The draconid ran past her and grabbed the van's door handle. The man looked at him, and he froze and then let his arm fall to his side.

What the hell? Ramirez tried to get a good look at the man's face, but the van drove off down the street before she could get any closer. With a sigh, she walked up to the draconid, who was blinking and shaking his head.

"What happened? I was gonna pull him out of the van, but..." He glanced around. "Where'd he go?"

"He did something to us. When he looked at us. First me, then you." Ramirez shivered.

"He must have caused us to have sex, then. What I felt just a moment ago was the same thing that happened before you took me to your house."

"Yeah, same here. The bastard must've been in my house." This was creepy as hell, but she was also starting to get pissed. First time I've had sex in years, and it wasn't by choice. And the guy I screwed isn't even human. And a total stranger was in my home_, probably watching us the whole time._ "Son of a bitch!" She stormed back across the street and into the house, and the draconid followed her.

"What now?" he mumbled, a look of utter bewilderment on his face as he watched her slam the front door and lock it.

She snarled through clenched teeth. "I'm gonna find out what the hell is going on. I'm gonna find out who did this, and I'm gonna make him wish the fuckin' ground had opened under his feet and swallowed him whole!"