“You need a damned keeper. This is twice now I’ve come after you at night in the middle of a damned forest. Twice now that you’ve shown me that Circ blood. So when you gonna change, princess?” His voice lowered, and his impressive body stirred. “Because as much as we just fucked, I can’t wait to take your beast.”
“I’m not --” She stopped herself. Who was she kidding? Derrick had senses attuned to everything around them. Did she really think he wouldn’t recognize a Circ when he saw one? When he tasted her? She blushed. “I didn’t know, not until a month ago. It must have been when Pearson Labs forced us to take some new vaccines. It was supposed to make us immune to a new drug they were manufacturing,” she said bitterly. “Some vaccine. Now I’ve got something I can’t get rid of.” And who knows how long I have until I lose my sanity?
“You’re Circ.” He sounded satisfied by the fact, which made little sense.
“That’s a good thing?” She shook her head. “Derrick, I’m not like you and the others. I can’t control it. Hell, I don’t even remember what happened the other night with the PPA. I might have taken them out. I probably did, but I don’t remember much more than a haze of pain and anger.”
“Welcome to my world. I never said being Circ was fun. It’s a rush, no doubt. But the beast likes to control you, and you have to fight it all the time.” He frowned. “There are very few people who can accept what you are.”
She knew his mother -- his only family, according to Pearl’s files -- had passed away a few years ago. “Did your mother know about you?”
“Of course you read my file,” he muttered. “So you know she died two years ago. Did it say how she died?”
She shook her head, expecting the worst when he grew quiet.
“A rogue Circ followed me home the last time I visited. I tried to make my mom see that her son wasn’t a demon in disguise, but she threw me out. And then that fucker snapped her neck like a twig.”
Sabrina empathized. “I’m so sorry.”
“Save it.” He laughed, but the sound grated. “He isn’t around anymore to hurt anyone else. It wasn’t a pleasant visit home, but it opened my eyes. Being Circ opens up a whole new world. It’s dangerous.” He grabbed her arms, bringing her face close to his. “But it also creates bonds that don’t break. The squad is my family now. I won’t let anything, or anyone, hurt them.”
The look he gave her sincerely pissed her off. “Yeah, well, life sucks. People die, and bad things happen to good people.” Anita flashed into her mind’s eye. “You get over it, and you move on. I sacrificed a lot to do the right thing, and so far, it’s given me nothing but trouble.” She paused. “Look, why don’t you do us both a favor and let me go?” She nodded to the dark area behind them. “I could vanish. You’ll never see me again. I promise.” His grip tightened. “If I could trust you, maybe.” He focused on her mouth, and his gaze darkened. Even in the moonlight, she could see his pupils dilate.
Her senses flared, as did the need for something more. Something just beyond her grasp. Oh no, I’m going Circ again. The skin on her arms itched under his hands, the need to change an ache that wouldn’t go away.
Derrick glanced at his hands in surprise, then met her gaze again. He banked the heat there and pulled her closer, so that they met nose to nose. “But that’s the thing, princess. I don’t trust you. Don’t let that sex go to your pretty little head. Yeah, you’re hot. But I haven’t forgotten where I found you, or who you ‘don’t’ work for.” Sabrina sneered, burying the hurt under harsh words. “Yeah, well, guess what? I don’t trust you either, Packard. I know what you really are underneath that skin.” She forced her beast to back away, more determined than ever to escape. To do that, she needed to remain in control, neither a slave to her beast nor the odd attraction she felt for this jerk. “You’re a monster. So don’t let that sex go to your pretty little head. I had an itch. You scratched it.
End of story.”
Derrick’s eyes narrowed, and to Sabrina’s satisfaction, an angry beast glared out at her.
Slitted pupils glowed with heat. She could almost smell his rage, as if the intense cinnamon that bled from his pores conveyed itself as emotion. He put her down and stepped away from her.
Though infuriated with his arrogant assumption that she had fallen for him based on a few orgasms, Sabrina couldn’t deny his beauty. As much as she wanted to think of him as a monster, as one of the many rogues she’d had the misfortune to observe, she couldn’t.
Derrick’s dark splendor pulled at her. She could only watch as his muscles stretched and his bones grew. His skin pulled tight, hardening and darkening like armor over enhanced strength. The totality of his power radiated from more than his frame; it came from that intangible aura that hung over him as he turned into something much more than a man.
The threat of danger permeated the air around him, yet she maintained her ground, daring him to step closer.
He did, baring his teeth and clenching his mighty fists. An answering challenge welled from within. That scared the crap out of her, and she began sweating as she fought to keep the change buried deep.
“Let it out, princess. Give it what it really wants,” Derrick growled, his voice husky and all-too-appealing to ears that now recognized the pitched nuance of his sexual need. Then his cock rose thick and long before her in invitation.
Pain tore her from her attraction as she fought her body. Nothing about her transition was natural, she tried to remind herself. Simply a product of Elliot Pearl’s scientific madness.
She didn’t know what might have happened had Hale and Zack not suddenly appeared.
She gasped at the sudden pinch in her neck and turned to see Ace standing with a gun pointed her way. Before she could panic, everything fogged, and she fell into Derrick’s arms, the very last place she wanted to be.
“Derrick, tell me again what she said about Senator Kuntz?” Doc asked for the second time.
Derrick, now dressed, and the others stood in one of the labs while they watched Doc take Sabrina’s vitals. She hadn’t so much as twitched since Ace had knocked her out an hour ago. Talk about déjà vu.
Derrick sighed and repeated parts of his conversation with Sabrina word for word, skirting references to their more personal discussion. He frowned by the time he came to the part where she called him a monster. He was a monster? She worked for a mad scientist who’d been willing to experiment on a pregnant woman and her fetus, for Christ’s sake.
The woman tied him in knots. He’d told her about his mother, and he never talked about her. Judy Packard hadn’t accepted the new and improved Derrick any better than Wendy had. He could only be thankful he hadn’t told Sabrina about his cheating ex-fiancée.
Wouldn’t that have amused the ferocious little liar lying so still on Doc’s exam table?
Derrick ran a tense hand over his head, still not sure why he’d opened up to Sabrina on their walk home. “Don’t let that sex go to your pretty little head,” he’d said, because he’d been scared out of his fucking mind. He wanted her more than he’d wanted Wendy, more than he’d ever wanted any woman. She made him purr with contentment -- not just sexually, but emotionally. He’d felt more at peace losing himself in her body than he had in a long, long time. And he didn’t know what to do about it.
She didn’t hide the fact that she came from the PPA, but she’d lied about being Circ.
He still didn’t believe her story about starting the project’s downfall. How could he? Then why did she rescue Kelly when she could have let her rot? Why did your confirmed phone conversation with Harry verify her as his source of info -- information that had taken down dozens of rogue Circs in the years we’ve been working with Doc?
“Derrick? I need to know about her beast. You said you felt it?” Derrick avoided the curious stares aimed his way. He wished like hell he and Doc were having this discussion in private. But what reason could he give for not wanting the others to overhear? That would imply he and Sabrina shared something special. Something personal and private. And he refused to go there.
“I was holding on to her arms to keep her still. She’s almost as slippery as Hale when she tries to avoid you.”
He ignored the finger Hale shot him and continued. “While I was holding her, I felt her muscles fluttering beneath my hands. Her scent deepened, like apple, only sweeter.
Really intense,” he murmured, staring at his hands, which had been so close to her skin.
“What else happened?” Zack murmured, glancing knowingly at Derrick’s growing erection.
“I’m surprised, D. Didn’t think you’d do it with the enemy, even if she is hot. Oh, I get it. You’re going to seduce her into telling us the truth?” Ace asked, a hint of approval in his voice.
“No, I’m not going to fuck her into telling me the truth,” he snapped. “What the hell’s wrong with you? I’m not getting anywhere closer to that woman. She’s trouble,” he told them, willing himself to believe it.
“Oh boy.” Hale shook his head. “D, I hate to say it. But you’re going down, man. You wouldn’t let me touch her when we first found her. You growl whenever any of us look in her direction. You took off when she disappeared with barely a glance in Caitlyn’s direction.
And I can still smell the sex rolling off you. Just admit you’ve got a problem, and we’ll see if Doc can help you.”
“Fuck off, Rogers. I don’t need any help. There’s nothing between me and the female but some harmless sex.”
“Really?” Hale shared a look with Doc. “Then you won’t mind if I have a go at her. If you can’t seduce the information we need out of her, I’m sure I can --” He’d barely ended the statement when Derrick’s fist caught his jaw. Derrick couldn’t see past the rage clouding his mind. He’d changed in an instant, aware of nothing but a possessive need to pound Hale into the ground. Protect and claim. She’s mine, his beast urged.
“I told you,” Hale breathed as Roane, also changed, stepped between them.
“Easy, D. Don’t let Hale get to you.” Roane wouldn’t let him look away, forcing the issue. “Back down. Let it go. No one’s going to touch Sabrina but Doc.” When Derrick caught Doc leaning over her, he took a step in Doc’s direction.
“Whoa, big guy.” Zack stepped between them with Ace by his side. Both men retained their human forms, their scents strongly of one another and Kelly. Oddly, reminders of Kelly calmed him down.
“No one’s touching anybody,” Ace said with a glare at Hale. “Playboy was playing you, Derrick.”
“She’s PPA.” Derrick forced himself to back away and change back. Roane, he noticed, didn’t shrink down but stood with his arms crossed, ready to move at a moment’s notice.
Embarrassed because they thought he had a thing for Sabrina -- the enemy -- he flushed.
“Look, she’s a beautiful woman. So I fucked her. So what?”
“Derrick, she responds to you.” Doc motioned him closer, pushing Zack out of the way.
“I’m worried that she hasn’t changed yet.”
“She said she didn’t know when Pearl had injected her with the serum. Maybe she needs more time.” Derrick shrugged.
Doc frowned. “From the material I’ve read off that disc, Elliot still doesn’t know why he could never duplicate his success with you five. The newest bunch of Circs are lasting longer before they deteriorate into madness. But he’s manipulating their genes and guessing at what will work. He has to use his wonder drug to manage them, effectively turning them into mindless drones. They’re stronger than you five, but very uncontrollable without medication. If Sabrina is right, she’s going to soon follow that path.”
“Come on, Doc. She’s here. Can’t you work your magic and do something with her?” Derrick asked, his voice gruff. He tried to mask his concern, but he could feel the others staring at him.
“I’ve tried working with the samples I took from her before. Perhaps with her willing cooperation to run more tests…”
“She’ll agree.” Derrick would make her.
“There’s still the matter of whose side she’s on.” Zack held up a hand when Derrick would have interrupted. “Sorry, D. But I still don’t understand why she tried to escape.
Nobody here has hurt her. And since she’s supposedly gone out of her way to put Pearson Labs out of business, I don’t see why she’d hesitate to tell us what she knows about Pearl.”
“He has a point,” Hale said.
“Maybe she’s scared,” Caitlyn added. “Before she knocked me out, she mentioned she’d seen things at the labs that freaked her out. I know she was stringing me along, but I can’t help but wonder if some of that is true. Maybe to her, all Circs are psycho.”
“But we’re not.” Ace frowned.
“She’s been dealing with Derrick since she’s been here,” Hale cut in. “Of course she thinks we’re nothing but trouble,” he said, giving Derrick a sly glance.
Derrick grinned despite his worries. “Fuck you, playboy.”
“You wish.” Hale snorted.
“And we’re back to that immature man-to-man banter you boys have perfected,” Kelly added as she entered the room. She joined Ace and Zack and gave Sabrina some intense scrutiny. “Doc, you have to help her.” She looked around the room. “I don’t care that you don’t trust her. And I’m sorry she hurt Caitlyn, but this woman saved me and my baby. If nothing else, I need to repay that debt. And I’m not going to take no for an answer.” Doc rubbed his eyes under his glasses. “Don’t look at me. I want to help her. But like I said, I’m not Elliot. I need my patient’s consent.”
“Then Derrick will see to it that she agrees.” Kelly nodded at Derrick. “She smells like you, Derrick.”
“She does not.” Damn, he felt himself blushing. Thank God for his darker skin.
“I’m pregnant. I can smell pancakes from the diner a mile away. Trust me, she’s yours,” Kelly said bluntly. “So fix your attitude and claim her.”
“You can’t tell me what --”
Kelly narrowed her stare and snarled.
Ace and Zack exchanged a glance, and Zack murmured, “Derrick, she’s a little testy lately. I wouldn’t argue just now.”
Hell, they weren’t kidding. Derrick watched as Kelly’s eyes changed and her nails lengthened.
“Hormones are all over the damned place,” Ace added, holding his hands palm up in supplication when Kelly turned her scowl on him. “Truth is truth, babe.”