Hale grinned, his teeth sharp, his slitted pupils expanding to overtake the glaring green of his eyes. “You know, my beast is in a good mood. I’ll let you have what you need, but you have to earn it. You want it? You’re gonna have to take it.”
Derrick laughed. “No problem, playboy. Who’s bigger and meaner?” He licked his lips, hungry to feel Hale around his cock. Without giving Hale time to prepare, Derrick launched himself at him.
When changed, Derrick towered over everyone, with the exception of Roane, and his muscles were more massive. Holding Hale took skill, though, because of the five of them, Hale had the most speed. He was as agile as a fucking cat, second in their chain of command, and built like a tank. Overpowering Hale was a challenge, one Derrick’s beast loved to engage. Thankfully, Hale didn’t make him work too hard. Either he felt Derrick’s need, or he realized the precariousness of their position.
Derrick’s beast didn’t care. It drove him to slake his lusts. Torrence couldn’t be allowed much more time to evade, he could feel it. Knocking Hale to the ground, Derrick quickly struck him in the solar plexus, momentarily winding him. Picking up and shoving Hale belly-down over a nearby steel table, Derrick pulled his ass cheeks apart and thrust home.
Hale groaned but didn’t stop pushing back against Derrick’s groin. A side benefit of Circ lust was the oiled secretion emitted by their cocks. Though Derrick pushed hard and fast, he slid through Hale’s anus effortlessly. Hale’s changed body accepted him with ease and an eagerness that went straight to Derrick’s head. Though the man inside him cringed at the lust spurring him on, his beast thrived on it.
“That’s it,” Derrick growled as he thrust faster. “Give it to me.” All of it. The surrender, the pleasure; slake the need. “I want to smell some cum, playboy.” He reached under Hale and grabbed his hot cock.
Hale bucked under him, clawing at Derrick’s arms, the tabletop, anything he could reach. “Yes,” he hissed, pushing through Derrick’s fingers. “Fuck, yes.” Pummeling with an animalistic desire, Derrick continued to push for more. Always needing to be dominant, his beast took great delight in commanding Hale’s body. The smack of his balls against Hale’s aroused him to no end. And when Hale’s moans grew, he frantically sought fulfillment, to shoot hard inside another Circ. An instinctive need to plant his seed, no matter the gender of his recipient.
“Now,” Derrick demanded as he came hard. He gritted his teeth when Hale tensed and shot over his hand. Loads of cum trickled over his fingers as he released into Hale’s warm body. Their climax felt like it lasted forever, yet it was gone before it started.
Sated, at least for now, Derrick withdrew and waited until Hale turned around. Staring into his friend’s satisfied gaze, Derrick slowly wiped the cum on his fingers over his own chest. Hale’s nostrils flared, and he moved closer until he stood chest to chest with Derrick.
Without warning, he grabbed Derrick close and kissed him with ruthless passion.
Biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, Hale licked the red droplet, then pulled back. “Go find your S. Torrence. I’m going to check in with the others. Roane should know what’s going on here.” When Derrick remained standing in place, dazed by Hale’s kiss, Hale sneered, “Do you need help corralling one lone female?” Hale licked his lips. “Want another go? Only this time, I fuck your ass?”
Hale wrapped a large hand around Derrick’s cock, shaking him out of his stupor. The contrast of Hale’s light-colored hand over Derrick’s darker flesh enthralled him. Too much.
Hurriedly pulling away, Derrick dressed in his trousers but remained changed while Hale turned back to normal.
“No need to share everything with the others,” Derrick mumbled, ashamed at his loss of control. His damned beast always took command in the throes of a mating heat.
Hale sighed. “Go find the woman while I wait here. I’ll keep an eye on the vehicle and watch out for the PPA.” Hale walked to their truck and returned with an earpiece he handed to Derrick. “You have any trouble, you let me know.” Hale bent over to pick up his clothes, and Derrick forced himself to turn away. Unlike his squad mates Zack and Ace, his human half had no desire to mate a male. Or a female, for that matter.
Sex for sex’s sake was all well and good. Even fucking Hale fulfilled a basic core need.
To feed a hunger. Now it was done. Time to find what he’d come here for. A woman, the enemy, named S. Torrence. Then maybe he’d find what it was about her that called to his beast with such desperation.
Women. Nothing but trouble, he reminded himself as he loped into the woods. With a growl and a groan, Derrick merged fully with his beast and tracked down the source of his latest unease. Her scent was a heady fragrance that wrapped around his balls and wouldn’t let go.
“Led by my dick. Christ, I’m turning into Hale.” Sometime later, what he found shocked the hell out of him. Half a dozen dead PPA agents littered the forest ground. Heart-wrenching weeping hurt his beast, and he took a step back as surprise hit him once more.
Curled up in a ball by a large boulder lay a naked female. Her golden skin was scratched, bruised, and bleeding. Long, dark hair covered her face until she shifted and looked at him. Gray eyes clouded with grief pierced him where he stood. The emotional punch hit him hard, and as he stared at her, he felt his heart rip in two.
Not liking his connection with what had to be S. Torrence -- the enemy -- Derrick snarled and approached, fully expecting a fight on his hands. But she didn’t do more than turn her head away, trembling with surrender.
The submissive gesture undid him. Heedless of the danger, Derrick said nothing as he took her in his arms and carried her away. She remained stiff for several heartbeats before she finally relaxed. Curling her hands against his chest, she sighed and eased into his hold, her soft curves pressing into his hard flesh like licks of fire over his skin.
Scared at her effortless effect on him, Derrick wanted nothing more than to drop her and never set eyes on her again. His beast, however, nearly purred with satisfaction as her scent filled his head.
“Nothing but trouble,” he grumbled, remembering the last woman who’d left him as fast as she could run, the way they all did.
Torrence paid no heed to his irritation, nor did his beast. Derrick promised himself to keep an eye on her even as he kept his distance from the dangerously intriguing female.
Then she snuggled closer, and he started purring for real.
Sabrina hadn’t felt so safe since she’d first discovered what Pearson Labs was really up to nearly four years ago. Yet now, in the arms of a clearly wild Circ, she settled helplessly against his hard chest. Stroking her fingers over the rough texture of his enhanced skin, she mused at the dark color.
She’d seen Elliot Pearl’s secret files and was familiar with the members of Circe’s Recruits, Evan “Doc” Dennis’s men. This was Derrick Packard, the ferocious, African American ex-Marine. He had a history of brutal efficiency when dealing with the enemy, which he must have considered her. The fact he hadn’t killed her spoke volumes. His contradictory behavior should have sparked terror, but she couldn’t manage more than a tired sigh.
“Easy,” he growled and ran a massive hand over her knotted hair. The gesture soothed her, and despite her need to stay aware, her eyelids closed.
The rumbling under her ear meant something, but after the strain of the past month and the horror of the last few days, she couldn’t think. She inhaled his scent, relaxed, and fell into a deep sleep.
Rough jerking jarred her awake. Prone, she tried to remember how she’d gotten that way. She moved and gasped at the cold that met her body. Her naked body. A blanket fell off her shoulders, and she shivered in the dark confines of the…truck?
“She’s coming to,” a deep, calm male voice said. Unnerved, she clutched the blanket tight and slowly sat up, still foggy.
An overhead light in the truck came on.
“I’ve got her.” The low rumble soothed her. Derrick Packard. She blinked and studied the dark eyes measuring her with disapproval from the front seat. Packard was no longer in his Circ form, yet he was just as intimidating as a human. Chocolate brown skin highlighted muscles earned from dangerous training. His face was smooth, his hair short on top and shaved on the sides, a typical military haircut. A square jaw, chiseled cheekbones, and a stubborn chin warned her to tread warily. And that was to say nothing of the firm lips and angry glare directed her way. “One wrong move, lady, and you’re history.”
“I’m history? That’s the best you’ve got?” Sabrina quirked a brow, conscious of how often that expression irritated the men who worked with her. Great, Sabrina. Pull the tiger’s tail. Why don’t you just put your head in his mouth while you’re at it?
The other male chuckled, but Packard’s scowl turned downright vicious. He smiled, showing a hint of sharp teeth.
The first stirring of fear swirled low in her belly.
“Honey, you should be thanking your maker you’re in the backseat right now.” She swallowed and forced herself not to respond. Fear often made her say things she shouldn’t, which made her wonder how she’d survived as long as she had working for Elliot Pearl.
Sabrina sat back and glanced out the window, trying to identify her whereabouts with the aid of the full moon. They left the main road, what looked to be a highway, and drove along a two-lane street with no traffic. The farther they drove, the more rural it became.
Distance between houses grew. The isolation should have worried her, but she knew Packard and his friend wouldn’t take her to Pearson Labs. She could rest easy on that score. Then again, she didn’t know much more about Doc and his Circs other than the brief descriptions she’d filched from Elliot Pearl’s private files.
Doc had a loyal crew with Circe’s Recruits -- the only remaining members of the original Project Dawn. Doc’s Circs were a complete success and no longer Pearl’s to play with. They hated the PPA and Pearl in particular, but they likely had no idea how far Pearl had fallen in the chain of command. Hell, if he’d been the only man still pulling the strings, Sabrina would have ended his reign of terror long ago. But after Project Dawn had initially crumbled, another government agency had stepped in. Pearl was now no more than a lackey, except in the scientific department.
All her hard work for nothing…
“Hey, princess. I asked you a question,” Packard said in an overly loud voice.
“Yes?” She continued to stare out the window.
“What the hell happened out there in the woods?” She cringed. She’d been trying in vain not to think about that. “I don’t know.”
“Please.” He snorted. “You can tell me now or save it for later. Either way, you’re gonna talk.” His tone brooked no nonsense, and Sabrina realized that while he might not be taking her back to Pearson Labs, escaping from five Circs would be nearly impossible.
Though she didn’t have much strength in her limbs, she needed to move. No telling how soon they’d arrive --
“Here we are,” the other man announced.
Dammit.
They pulled into a long driveway. Nothing but farmland around the place that she could see. They drove past the house and into a large barn in the back. Inside, the barn was actually a steel-framed garage. She wondered what other surprises this place held in store.
But more than that, she wondered why the hell these Circs had brought her here. Could this be their compound? Pearl had wanted to storm the place for years but had been under strict orders to leave it and Doc’s Circs alone.
That didn’t mean Sabrina had to play nice.
Before she could figure out what to do next, the back door of the truck opened.
Packard yanked her into his arms, tangling the blanket around her as he held her against his chest. Blushing at the thought of him or his friend seeing her naked, she forced herself to think of more important things. Like what they would do to her if she didn’t tell them what they wanted to know.
Why lie about any of it? I hate Pearson Labs, Elliot Pearl, and the damned PPA. I can never go back. Not that I’d want to. She sighed in resignation. She really had no other choice. It had been her decision to free Kelly Malloy, a pregnant Circ Pearl had been drooling over. Sabrina had given the woman an encoded data disc full of Pearl’s prized experimental findings. What, then, was stopping her from helping Doc and his team as best she could?
Fear.
Fear that she’d make another mistake in judgment, in trusting the wrong people. Look at what her time with Pearl had been. Just because Doc and his team were Pearl’s enemies didn’t necessarily mean they were the good guys.
Packard tightened his arms around her, and one of his hands grazed her ribs exposed by the shifting blanket. A surge of heat lit her body from the inside out, and she sucked in a breath. What the hell was that?
“Hold on, D.” The other man pulled the blanket back down, and his fingers grazed her side.
She instinctively jerked away, then wished she hadn’t. Hell, the first thing she’d learned working for Pearl was not to show fear. But God, she was so tired. She met the other man’s gaze and recognized him at once. Hale Rogers, second in command to the Recruits’ leader, Roane Weston. Like the others, he was strong and sure. Hale excelled in keeping the peace, and if she recalled correctly from his file, he was faster and more agile than the others.
Pearl’s picture of the man hadn’t done him justice. Nor had his notes mentioned how piercing Hale’s gaze could be, or how green his eyes looked, even in the dark.
She tucked her head closer to Packard’s solid chest, the only place that felt safe in her crazy world.
“Dammit, Hale. I’ve got her. Get the fucking door,” Packard growled.
Hale said nothing.
She assumed he’d gotten the door, because Packard walked outside with her into the crisp October night. Hale forgotten, she glanced around. Unfortunately, a bank of clouds covered the moon, making the area pitch-black.
Unable to see a thing, she marveled at Packard’s sure steps and knew she shouldn’t have. Circs had incredible night vision. To him, this probably looked like an overcast day.