Page 42 of Black Bay Protector
While Kong rumbled angrily, Lark pointed out, “You made us expendable cogs in the war machine. You were going to profit from us.”
Doctor Dietrich shook her head hard and swiped out her hand. “No. I never agreed to that.”
“And these new soldiers? The families that mourned them? You agreed to join that project. Where was your altruism then?”
Without waiting for a reply, Lark latched onto Kong’s arm and pulled him from the room.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Asthedoctorhadwarned, Paige’s first official shift in the infirmary was slow. The lack of patients, however, allowed her to get her bearings, familiarize herself with her surroundings, and meet some of the administrative staff that also worked in the building.
When her shift was over, Jace was waiting for her and they ate dinner together at Black Bay’s mess hall before he took her on a tour of the base to introduce her around.
Everyone was warm and welcoming, bursting with questions about how they’d met. She let Jace field those for the most part, and she couldn’t help but grin at the way they teased him for his so-called clumsiness. “You’re part cat,” one of them pointed out. “How could you miss that jump?”
“I was shot!”
“Yeah, right. So you say,” another chimed in. “I think you spotted her through the window and played the injured male to get some pets and cuddles.”
“I’d like some pets and cuddles,” someone else yelled.
Laughter erupted and Paige couldn’t help grinning as she pointed out, “He crashed through my sliding glass doors, that certainly made an impression.”
She was still smiling as they drove to another green part of the base that backed up to the high exterior walls where another handful of shirtless men were working out in the fading light of sunset. Come to think of it, aside from Lark, she’d only seen three other genetically modified women. “Why are there so many men?”
“Lark once wondered the same thing. When she dug through the files she discovered that more males were initially created for ease of breeding.”
“I’m sorry. What?” Surely she’d misheard.
“Another part of the experiment they were planning was to see what gifts our offspring are born with without the use of genetic manipulation. A female can have one natural pregnancy a year, roughly, while a male can be used to impregnate pretty much as many females as they wanted.”
Potentially hundreds of little Jaces running around. “Did they ever…?”
Jace shook his head. “We were freed before they advanced to that stage.”
Paige blew out a breath of relief.
“Do you want kids?” he asked.
The question was asked casually enough but Paige didn’t miss the glint of longing in his eyes as they flicked down to her belly.
Did she want kids? She’d always thought that she might someday, but that hypothetical someday had always been far, far away. Now…
An image of a baby with black hair and yellow eyes like his or her father filled her head and her chest tightened with a sudden spike of yearning.
Jace would make an amazing father and suddenly she was excited by the prospect.
She nodded. “I think I would. Yes.” She’d have to have her IUD removed, but that was no big deal.
Jace grinned and nuzzled into her neck with a low growl. “While I’d like nothing more than to go home right now and work on that, these guys are probably wondering why we’re just sitting here in the Jeep.”
Her heart rate sped up as heat unfurled low in her belly and her core throbbed in anticipation. “Let’s meet them quickly.”
With another growl of appreciation, Jace vaulted out of his side of the vehicle and came around to assist her. Hand in hand, they walked over to the group of men eyeing them curiously.
Unlike the previous men she’d met, these guys weren’t of a mind to tease or joke around. They barely even smiled, looking her over like she was an unwelcome curiosity – a bug that had somehow gotten into their house. One man, in particular, wore a frown that made her nerves jangle. He was also horrifically scarred. One side of his face was pock-marked as if he’d been sprayed with some sort of acid, and deep furrows ran through his skin where that acid had dripped down in places, giving that side of his face the look of a partially melted wax sculpture. His eye on that side was milky white under a drooped, scarred lid, while the other eye, a clear and stunning aquamarine, regarded her with an unsettling intensity.
Trying her best not to squirm in discomfort, Paige smiled brightly and addressed the group. “If any of you ever need to come into the infirmary, I’ll be sure to take good care of you.”
