by Marie Harte
Terrific. One more mess for his boys to clean up.
Ava understood his plight but didn't have time to care. His men had been assigned to Circ central to protect the Circs and their mates from the outside threat intent on killing and/or using them for further Circ experiments. Unfortunately, until Ava found a replacement for the Keisers, Keegan's men were currently cooking and working as handymen as well as protecting. Their one trustworthy housekeeper could only keep up with so much.
She hurried to her office before someone else stopped her. Most of the guards Admiral London had assigned them had even tempers, but a few put her on edge.
She could deal with telepaths and empaths. Guarding her thoughts and feelings from others came naturally. But the telekinetics and pyrokinetics took skill to deal with. Men who could move things with their minds or start fires with a thought made powerful enemies. Keegan had a temper but had the self-control to handle himself. She glanced at the vase and amended. He usually had self-control.
Unlike some people I might name. Bright blue eyes set in an unforgiving face stared back at her in memory, and she sighed, more than missing Gunnar, that arrogant idiot.
Once inside her office, Ava moved immediately to her desk chair and began working. For an hour, she made appointments, cancelled meetings, and coordinated with Mr. Robert Anderson, Alicia's new favorite contact in the Pentagon. Lately they'd been meeting weekly. What her grandmother and Anderson talked about was anyone's guess, but Ava had too much to concentrate on in this place to worry about the grand scheme of things.
Schemes were why they paid her grandmother the big bucks.
She snorted. If the men up north knew just who they were talking to, they'd shit a brick. Alicia might look like a professional woman in designer business suits and pearls, but the older woman could kick serious ass any day of the week.
Knowing that helped keep Ava's temper in check, because every time she thought about all she'd endured waiting for Gunnar to catch up to her, she wanted to pound something. She knew it was unfair to blame Olivia or Sheridan for having slept with him. Hell, the entire Circ team had fucked Gunnar. Ava should have been incensed, and she was…at herself. If she'd claimed him all those months ago, she could have spared herself the jealousy. But she hadn't, and her mate had needed Circ contact. Who was she to blame him for seeking ease in the Circs who loved and accepted him? Oddly enough, she didn't begrudge Gunnar the time he spent with his team. It was the intimacy he'd shared with the females that bugged the crap out of her.
Alicia Sharpe, you seriously owe me for this.
“Ava, dear, you have work to do. Focus on today, and tomorrow will come.”
“Dammit.” Ava hadn't intended for her grandmother to hear that. Trust the old woman to know every damned thing that happened in this place.
Ava tried to throw herself back into work, but after another twenty minutes, she gave up. She couldn't concentrate past Frederik Gunnar Tersch. The biggest pain in her ass she'd ever met, and the only man she wanted more than life itself.
Tall where she was short, fair where she was dark, his contrasts fascinated her. He was the most powerful Circ she'd ever encountered. Though he and his team had been created by science, Ava and her kind had lived long before the Circe serum came to be.
Her unique abilities made her the perfect mate for Gunnar, if only the stubborn man would stop running from her. She'd thought that revealing herself as a Circ would have relaxed him. Instead, he took her existence as a personal affront.
“Asshole,” she muttered.
Her phone rang, distracting her.
“Yeah?” she answered.
“The men are home.” Mrs. Sharpe disconnected before Ava could say anything else.
Anticipation filled her from head to toe. The men had left to follow a lead on the rogue Circs that had attacked the mansion two weeks prior. Raul LaGarda was their ringleader and an unstable Circ her brother had been investigating. To hear Grayson tell it, Raul wanted money, women, and power, and not necessarily in that order. She wondered if the team had found him and the others.
A sixth sense told her Gunnar had fared well, so she didn't worry about his health. But she couldn't deny how much she wanted to see him again.
She joined the others in the large family room attached to the kitchen. The mansion boasted fourteen thousand square feet. It had the requisite pool, gymnasium, and an assortment of high-class amenities she would never have associated with a navy-run program. The laboratory in the basement had been specially designed for the team, in addition to the state-of-the-art security system they'd recently upgraded.
The open kitchen had dark granite counters, white cabinets, and plenty of work space. A large oak table that could easily sit twelve sat off to one side. Over the expansive counter where many of the men liked to sit and eat, the living room invited company with plush leather sofas, chairs, a huge plasma screen television, a pool table and poker table, and a fireplace. Across from the fireplace, a set of French doors led outside onto the patio. The Croatan National Forest bordered the land behind them, the tall oaks, hickories, and pines providing the perfect place for Circs to run and hunt without detection.
“They've only been gone three days, but it feels like a lot longer,” Sheridan said to Olivia.
“I know.” Olivia grinned. “Jesse just told me they're all doing well, and they learned some interesting things on their trip.”
Olivia and Jesse shared a lot without speaking. One of the perks of mating a telepath, Ava suspected.
She studied Sheridan and Olivia, two women she considered very good friends.
Olivia was tall and slender with black hair, blue-green eyes, and model-good looks.
Her ability to read emotions had made her the perfect mate for Jesse, a man who heard thoughts. She had a great sense of humor and cared for the Dawn Endeavor team. And she had a soft spot for Gunnar. As much as it burned Ava that Olivia knew Gunnar intimately, conversely, it made Ava like her that much more for her open heart.
Sheridan had only had sex with Gunnar once—that Ava knew of—and that had been to establish ties to her as the team alpha's mate. Ava didn't want to, but she understood and grudgingly accepted Sheridan's place in the team's hierarchy.
The woman had dark red hair, blue eyes, and a curvy frame that had snared Jules from the get-go. She could also heal with a touch, and she stood at Ava's eye level.
Not someone to look up to, finally.
Keegan entered the kitchen. “They'll be in shortly,” he said to Mrs. Sharpe and scowled at Ava, still not happy with her, apparently.
Join the friggin’ club.
“We'll be standing by outside,” Keegan added in clipped words.
The Circs had issue with the psychics. Though Jesse and Olivia had personally scanned every single one of the new men, trust was still a commodity much in demand around the mansion. And not only that, but the psychics had an odd effect on the Circs. Ava sensed it as well.
Jules had explained that it was as if he sensed a kindred spirit with the new guards. He wanted to take them in, make them pack. But the guards were fully human. Making them pack would have involved his beast biting and fucking them—brutal bonding humans would never accept. So the Dawn Endeavor team kept their distance from the powerful males.
Having men around their mates, and pregnant mates at that, didn't bode well.
So when the Circs remained at home, the guards normally made themselves scarce, patrolling outside yet close to the house, away from the females. Keegan and James Foreman, a pyrokinetic with a wicked sense of humor, remained near her grandmother but out of sight, at Alicia's command.
Ava scented the team as they neared, attuned to Jules's signature. He gave off a subtle waft of vanilla and grass, an earthy blend of sultry Circ. Kisho smelled like cinnamon, Jesse like mint, and Morgan like citrus. Morgan was human, but since he'd mated to Kisho, he'd taken on Circ energy, altering his physiology enough that to Ava, he was Circ.
And Gunnar… She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to manage her sudden fiery libido.
Gunnar smelled perfect. A blend of cedar and the light scent of the Amazon.
Thick, humid, a jungle of sex and lust and violence. Her beast absolutely loved his darker, wilder self, what he called his berserker. Unfortunately, Gunnar rarely let the creature out to play, too afraid of hurting anyone in the event he lost control.
She'd seen him that way once—huge, his hair long and white, his eyes black agates of danger.
She shivered, wishing she could see him like that again.
The men followed Jules into the living space. Sheridan raced to meet him and jumped into his arms. Jesse found Olivia and kissed her long and hard. Kisho and Morgan entered together, the pair of them like bookends. Different yet the same, fitting together as if made for each other. They collapsed onto the couch and sighed with relief.
“It is so good to be home.” Morgan pulled Kisho into his arms and just lay there with his eyes closed, his head back against the couch.
God, I want that. To belong to someone else, to need and be needed.
Almost against her will, Ava sought Gunnar. She turned to see him frowning at her, his bright blue eyes narrowed in anger.
She sighed. What had she done now?
“Good trip?” Alicia asked, one brow raised in inquiry.
To Ava's trained eye, her grandmother had always spent more attention on Gunnar than the others. Though Jules commanded the team, Alicia had always seemed partial to Gunnar, though Ava had never understood why.
Gunnar answered, “Raul's dead. We killed two of his three buddies but brought the fourth to Quantico for the admiral to deal with. Fallon read him before we handed him over, though.”
“Excellent.” Alicia beamed and took Gunnar by the arm before he could blink.
“Why don't the rest of you settle in and relax. Gunnar can fill me in on the mission.
Keegan has the guards in hand. There's no one new and no problems to speak of.”
“You expecting one?” Gunnar asked. He stood stiffly under her grandmother's touch, but he didn't refuse it. Progress.
“Not at all. I just like to make sure we're all on the same page.” Alicia paused.
“Ava, dear, see to it that Gunnar has fresh towels. I'm not sure that was properly attended to.”
“I'll have James—”
“Ava.” Her grandmother frowned.
Gunnar smirked, and she wanted to smack him right in the mouth, then kiss his fat lip all better. “Fine. I'll see to it. Welcome home, guys.” She left the living room and started down the hall toward the wide stairway leading to the Circ wing upstairs. Once up on the second floor, she paused to grab a few large bath towels from the linen closet—God forbid Gunnar actually find his own linens—and continued on her task.
She walked into his room, expecting the worst, and got a pleasant surprise.
Housekeeping had obviously taken the time to fix Gunnar's mess. The usual Tastykake wrappers and dirty clothing no longer littered the floor. The king-size bed had been neatly made, dark blue and gray pillows littering the headboard. The room had a masculine feel while still being luxurious. Across from the bed an antique desk was being used as a small media center. A video game console and a stack of magazines sat beneath a television mounted to the wall. The smaller chairs that graced the other rooms had been replaced with a large, ugly recliner to fit Gunnar's massive frame.
She tingled just thinking about his size. Though small, Ava knew she would fit him if the blasted man would give her the chance.
Ava pushed through another door and walked into an attached bath. Gray and green porcelain tiles covered the floors. A huge shower stall with multiple showerheads, a large sink, and a toilet completed the room. In this wing, the Circs each had a bedroom suite complete with bath.
Down the hall in the next wing, where the guests stayed, some rooms had attached baths, and others didn't. Ava snorted. Her own room, downstairs next to her office, was a third the size of Gunnar's. A half bath connected the bedroom to her office, but in order to shower, she had to make use of a guest bathroom upstairs.
She hadn't minded so much because she'd never figured on making the mansion her permanent home. And with Gunnar's recent attitude, she'd begun to wonder if she'd made a huge mistake in thinking him her mate.
Mine. My mate. Her beast growled low in her throat. Trust the animal within her to want the most obnoxious Circ she'd ever met. She could only be glad she didn't suffer the same mating heats as the team. She couldn't imagine needing to have sex with a Circ and being denied Gunnar time after time. It was bad enough she had to watch him flinch from her touch.
She knew he was afraid he might hurt her. But she had no idea how to get him over his fears. Maybe I should just jump him, tie him up to the bed, and have my way with him.
Her beast liked the idea, a little too much.
Sighing, Ava turned to leave the bathroom. She made it as far as Gunnar's bed before pain, the likes of which she'd only felt once before, splintered her mind. She didn't even get a chance to cry out before she fell to the floor and passed out, trapped in a nightmare of jumbled thoughts and images that seemed never ending.
Chapter Three
“I trust the mission went off without a hitch,” Mrs. Sharpe said as she handed him a cupcake.
Tersch looked at it with mistrust, wondering at the woman's game. She was usually all over his ass to eat healthy. He also didn't like the fact that the others had left him here alone with her while they cozied up to their mates upstairs. Even the psychics who normally bugged the shit out of him had disappeared.
That fucking Keegan. Bastard was always making eyes at Ava when he had work to do.
“What's up, Alicia?” He stared at the chocolate confection in front of him with suspicion.
The older woman laughed. “Honestly, Gunnar. You can eat it. It's not poisoned.”
“Yeah, right.” He gave it another sniff but could detect nothing but empty calories and cream. He ate it in one bite and sighed after he finished chewing.
“Damn, that's good.”
When she said nothing, he persisted. “What?”
“How are you feeling?”
The warmth in her gaze took him aback. He never liked this side of her. The softness confused him. Normally hard, unflappable, and commanding, when Mrs. Sharpe took him aside, away from the others, she turned all maternal on his ass. He much preferred her cold and imposing.
“I'm good.” He cleared his throat, wondering when the hell Ava would return.
Much as he needed to avoid the sharp-tongued little witch, he was never quite right without her. Besides, she made a strong buffer against her grandmother. Christ, he'd never seen that one coming.
“You seem stronger,” Mrs. Sharpe commented.
He shrugged.
“The power inside you has grown, boy.” Her eyes flashed to that funky red, making him feel both uncomfortable and strangely reassured. He'd have a hard time hurting her. The beast inside him respected her; the berserker sensed great power. To Tersch's surprise, he thought the monster might fear her. And that easily, she kept him in check.
“I don't feel any different. I'm the same.”
“Still angry with me and Ava?”
“What, for lying to all of us for a year? For not telling us your goddamn granddaughter is as much a Circ as the rest of us?” She smiled, annoying him. “Why, is that a problem?” Because if I’d known she was Circ from the beginning, I would have taken Ava and made her mine before my anger got so out of control. Now I change into my berserker even when I don’t mean to, and I’m afraid I might hurt her. A chip off the old block, like my fucking old man. “It's not, I just…” A strange sense of unease hit him hard.
“Gunnar?”
Tersch glanced around him but didn't scent, see, or hear anything amiss. He didn't know what the hell to think. “Ah, you think the compound is secured?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his beast pushing at him to take a look around.
“Hold on.” She turned from him and found a phone. After making a call to security and reassuring herself all was well, she turned back to him. “I don't sense anything amiss either, but it never hurts to check. Now tell me about Raul LaGarda.”
“Fallon read him before I had to deal with him. Hey, he was going to kill Jules.
I had to stop him.”
Mrs. Sharpe just watched him, sighed, and shook her head. “Right. So tell me what happened.”
“Don't you already know?”
“Don't be flippant, dear. If I knew, I wouldn't need to ask, now would I?” The hell of it was, he didn't know what she knew. Half the time he felt like he was playing some kind of game with the older woman and losing. She always smiled at him, and Tersch knew he was far from pleasant, even on a good day. Now Ava, she never pulled her punches. The sexy woman called him an asshole right to his face. That he could respect. Ava didn't play games, not like her spooky relation.
Mrs. Sharpe grinned, and he did his best to guard his thoughts. He cleared his throat and took the next cupcake she handed him, feeling like a calf being fattened up for slaughter. “LaGarda was the same rogue Circ who helped Sheridan and Jules escape from that jungle prison a few months back. The bastard also admitted to helping Melissa Ramirez—that was her real name—pull one over on us.
“He didn't know who he was really working for other than her, but he thinks she knows. Said the woman always referred to the guy as Lonnie.” Mrs. Sharpe didn't react, but the absolute stillness in her petite frame reminded him of how Jules had reacted before. Her tension said what words did not.
