by Marie Harte
because they were starting to detect a traitor in their midst. Him.” Jack's eyes flashed. “But then he realized the drug had potential. It wouldn't hurt the Circs, and it made some of them psychic. He's been farming out rogue Circs to foreign countries since the projects started.”
“Where's he getting them?” Jules asked.
“From a lot of different places. Delancey and Montaña were just two of his sources. There are more. But now that we know who he is, we just need to know where to strike next to take him down. I'm going after Melissa. I'll send Grayson back in one piece.”
“Jack,” the admiral tried.
“I'll do it. No one else needs to die for my stupidity.” Ava thought he was being a bit hard on himself. But then another problem presented itself.
A hard female voice yelled from just beyond the conference room. “Ava!” She paled. “Oh shit. Grandma's back. And she's pissed! We need to get Lonnie out of here, ASAP.”
Before anyone could move, the door to the conference room burst open, knocking Gunnar back a step. Instead of her petite grandmother, a raging beast with snout, snarl, and fangs hurled herself inside like the Big Bad Wolf.
“He's innocent, Grandma.” Ava made the mistake of stepping between her grandmother and Lonnie.
The eight-feet-tall monster that used to be a tiny woman slapped her across the face and into a nearby wall.
Gunnar roared, his voice deepened, and chaos reigned as everyone tried to calm a transforming berserker and Ava's furry, clawed grandmother.
“Down, Tersch,” Jules commanded. “I'll handle this.” Fallon attempted to soothe Alicia. “Easy, Mrs. Sharpe. Let's talk about this.
Lonnie's innocent.”
“Lies,” her grandmother rasped. Talk about a berserker. Her grandmother, when changed, normally appeared like Ava's beast. A slightly larger version of herself with claws, fangs, and incredibly enhanced agility and strength that appeared like a hazy film of savagery over her human frame. But unlike Ava, Alicia had another level of beast, an angrier, deadlier version that rarely appeared. Her grandmother's angry intensity rivaled Gunnar's berserker.
Ava blinked, and as the room came back into focus, she saw Gunnar in front of her. No longer a beast, now the berserker had come to play. Hell. His black, white, and blue striated eyes fixed on her grandmother, who had yet to look away from Lonnie.
Lonnie, to Ava's surprise, didn't back down. He yelled back at Alicia, “How could you think I'd turn against you? After everything we've been through? You could honestly think I'd try to hurt you?”
Alicia lifted him by his throat and shoved him up against a wall.
“Do it, then. Cut me in half,” he dared her, shaken, distressed. “There's nothing for me without you, Alicia.”
Her grandmother paused and loosened her hand, dropping Lonnie to the ground.
Gunnar charged.
“No, stop!” Ava stumbled to her feet and changed. She noticed Jack slip out the door and watched as Jesse and Jules rescued Lonnie. Jesse raced outside with the admiral, taking him to safety.
Jules turned to confront Gunnar, but Ava held him back.
“Just go. Let me handle this, okay? For Gunnar's sake, please don't.” Jules looked from her to Gunnar. Then he nodded. “I'll stay out of the way, but I'm not leaving.” He posted himself at the door.
“All that talk about patience and trust,” Gunnar's berserker roared at her grandmother. “You tell me to trust you. To trust my gut, that my past doesn't matter. Love wins in the end. And you slap your own granddaughter away like a fly on the wall?”
Nimble and fast, Alicia slashed at his gut and darted away from his instinctive return blow. “Stay out of this.”
“No.” Before Gunnar could launch himself at her grandmother, Ava inserted herself between them. To Alicia she warned, “Leave my mate alone.” Alicia paused. “Mate?”
“He's mine.”
“She's mine,” Gunnar parroted.
Her grandmother cocked her head and sniffed. “Not yet.” Gunnar raged. “She's mine!”
“Then why haven't you claimed her?” Alicia snorted. “Pitiful. At least I marked the man I loved. Had the sense to make sure everyone knew he was mine.” Her grandmother raged again, and red points of fury dotted her eyes. “Until he turned on me!”
“Shit,” Ava murmured and gripped Tersch's large hand behind her. She was more concerned with her grandmother than with the berserker. Something wasn't right. Alicia Sharpe knew better than to condemn a man without undue proof, despite the vision she and Kisho had seen. What else did the woman know that they didn't? Ava opened her mouth to ask when her grandmother flew into action.
Alicia struck out. But before Ava could move on her own, Gunnar jerked her back and planted his body in her grandmother's way. Her claws bounced off Gunnar's hardened skin. He didn't backhand her or slap her away. Instead he stood still, waiting.
Alicia swung again and again. Gunnar remained, buffering Ava from harm while refusing to strike back. Blood trailed down his flesh, his wounds inflicted by Alicia's lethal claws.
“Enough,” he snapped when she geared up to attack again. “You nearly killed Admiral London, and you strike out at me? I thought you loved him. All that bullshit about resolving conflict and keeping a level head I've had to listen to for a fucking year. I was finally starting to believe you. And now this? What the fuck are you doing, Alicia? This isn't you.”
Ava stared at Gunnar in shock. He sounded unbelievably rational, considering he'd transformed into his wildest and most uncontrollable state.
Her grandmother trembled and blinked rapidly.
Jules approached, looking small next to Alicia and Gunnar. He frowned and murmured, “Her aura isn't right. She's dimmer than she normally is.” In a louder voice, he said, “Anderson is the guilty party. Jack and Fallon confirmed it just before you arrived. Apparently Anderson's been pulling the strings from DC, and he's psychic.”
“With mad skills,” Ava added, suddenly understanding a bit more. “Just his touch convinced Jack that he'd married Melissa. I bet Anderson's been tainting you every time you've met.”
Alicia stilled. Her eyes flashed, but less with rage than comprehension.
Jules nodded. “That would explain her aura. I don't always look with my inner sense, so it would have been easy to miss her fluctuations before.” He turned back to Alicia. “Anderson's full name is Robert Leonard Anderson.”
“I know that,” Alicia snapped, though she sounded more together than she'd been before. “I thoroughly investigate everyone I work with.” Almost to herself, she added, “But a psychic? I never realized.”
As the team watched, she began to shrink. “Lonnie could be short for Leonard, I suppose.” She continued to grow smaller and less hairy. A haze of light made it hard to see her, and then, in the blink of an eye, she was once again dressed in a business suit, her pearls just so, her hair perfectly in place. Yet the air of sorrow around her couldn't be missed. “Anderson's been manipulating me the whole time, hasn't he? Him and his wealth of psychics. Whenever I'd get too close to discovering the truth, he'd announce the need for an unscheduled visit, a fiscal issue, manpower problems, some concocted reason to see me in person.” Ava and Jules shared a glance. “Yes.”
Controlled rage replaced the look of sorrow in Alicia's dark brown eyes. “Well then, someone has a date with the devil, I think.” She drew in a deep breath and faced Ava and Gunnar once more. “I apologize for striking out, Ava. I would never intentionally hurt you, dear. I lost myself a bit there. And I don't like when that happens.”
“It's okay, Grandma.” Ava watched her grandmother carefully as the older woman approached. Gunnar stood stiff, but he allowed Alicia to hug Ava tight.
Already Ava's bruises healed, courtesy of Circ genes.
Alicia faced Gunnar. “Gunnar, honestly, if you want to hold on to Ava, you're going to have to fully claim her, and don't pretend you don't know what I mean.” His berserker would have to claim her—Ava
and he both knew it.
Gunnar growled low in his throat. “I won't hurt her.” Jules sighed. “No, you won't. We've been telling you that for months.” But Alicia wasn't done. “Otherwise, Keegan might think he still has a chance.
They dated briefly a few years ago, you know.”
Ava gritted her teeth. Blasted woman! The growling behind her grew louder.
Great.
Jules raised his brows. “Well, on that note, I think I'll join you, Mrs. Sharpe.
You and the admiral have some talking to do, and we seem to have lost Jack again.
I'll get with Fallon and find him.”
Alicia tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, the way Ava had walked with Gunnar just a few days ago. “Good, good. We need to get back to normal. This is all so embarrassing.”
“Love usually is,” he answered.
Alicia smiled, looking much more like her typical, vivacious self. “Did I frighten you when I changed?”
“About wet myself, thanks.”
She laughed, and Ava breathed a sigh of relief. Gunnar's growls grew louder.
“Keegan fucking Price?” Gunnar's whisper simultaneously scared and aroused Ava. Because his voice didn't sound human at all. She'd been waiting for him, but until now, she'd been the one doing the chasing. She'd been in charge. If she truly accepted Gunnar, she'd have to relinquish control and trust him.
When Jules and Alicia reached the doorway, Jules stopped. “Maybe I should stay.” He cast a wary eye at Gunnar, who was practically frothing at the mouth as he stalked Ava.
Alicia chuckled. “You trust him, Jules. Remember that. My, I haven't changed in months. That felt more than good. Gunnar, not too rough. Remember, she'll be the mother of your children some day.”
“Sooner than later.” Gunnar tossed several chairs aside. He threw one so hard, it hit the wall and crumpled in on itself. “Payback's a bitch, Ava.”
“They'll be fine, dear.” Alicia tugged Jules with her. “Trust me. Trust Gunnar.” Jules stared at Ava's grandmother for a moment. “You're back, golden all over.” He looked over at Ava and Gunnar and sighed. “Be gentle with him, Ava,” he teased and shut the door behind him when he and Alicia left.
Ava tried to think of a way to ease her mate's temper and found herself pinned to the wall instead. He towered over her, a giant in his berserker's form. Oh boy.
Then he leaned closer, and his hot breath warmed her cheek. A fang scraped her neck, drawing a line of blood.
She shivered, and her thighs slid, moist from her growing need.
His fist punched a hole in the wall a few inches from her face, and she jumped.
“Nice. Your pussy is so wet for me. I think you like the fear.” Gunnar ripped her clothes off, scratching her in places.
And it felt so good she moaned out loud, no longer able to pretend she didn't want him just the way he was. Listening to instincts ingrained into her since birth, she slowly shifted into her beast, needing the enjoyment of all her senses in the open.
Gunnar grunted and tore his pants off, leaving him gloriously naked. “About time you stopped hiding from me.”
“Not me hiding,” she rasped, on fire from the heat of his body bleeding into her. Though her tough skin repelled threats easily enough, it was sensitive to her mate in ways she'd never realized. She could almost feel him inside her, a part of her, as he leaned closer, rubbing against her like a large cat.
His thick voice deepened. “Time to play, Ava. Just like you played with Price,” he ended in a snarl and bit her shoulder hard.
She gasped from the pain, as well as the erotic temptation of her mate in a rage. He was wild, naked, and hard as hell.
Finally. It was time.
Chapter Ten
He'd tried. God, he'd tried so hard not to allow this to happen. But he was helpless to the monster now. Knowing she'd given Keegan Price her surrender, when she'd yet to give him the same, set his berserker to raging.
The taste of her coppery blood lay like sugar over his tongue. He lifted her higher, sucking at her neck, and forced her body into contact with his. Those full, firm breasts trailed blazes of fire down his chest. And he could smell her pussy creaming, so wet, so ready for him.
Her claws dug into his scalp as she ran her hands under his hair. She tugged to pull him away, and he smiled against her shoulder.
“No,” she gasped. “I want you to kiss me.”
He withdrew from her shoulder and grinned down at her, blood dripping from his fangs to land on her breast. “It's what I want that matters. You're mine now, Ava. All mine.”
Tersch shoved her back against the wall and angled her for penetration. He slammed her down over him, gloving his thick shaft inside her hot pussy. The sheer ecstasy held him as he rocked her hips over him, aware of nothing but the carnality of the moment and the woman he finally owned.
“Yes, yes,” he rumbled as he took her faster and harder. He squeezed her hips, nipped at her neck and cheek, and bruised her swollen clit as he shafted her with brutal force.
“Harder,” she growled, shocking him.
He glanced down at her and saw a beast staring back at him. Slit pupils surrounded by dark, brown heat. She glowed with sexual energy—his mate.
“What I want, remember?” he rasped, but he dug deeper into her anyway.
She cried out and tightened around him, and he continued to surge in and out, sawing like a beast as he sought fulfillment. When she bit his chest and dug her fangs into him, the added pain pushed him over the edge.
Tersch yelled out his pleasure as he poured into her, filling his little mate with a warrior's seed. Her breasts shook as he continued to pump. “I haven't had a taste of these yet, have I?” He grinned, showing her his teeth. But the savage woman flashed her own set back at him.
“Go ahead. What are you waiting for?”
She met him taunt for taunt, and the fury to dominate grew. Stop it, Ava. Just let it have its way, Tersch wanted to warn her. But the berserker only smiled, meeting her challenge.
“Oh, I like you. So sweet and sharp. Prickly, aren't you?” He pulled out of her and carried her to the conference table. Along the way, he kicked another chair free, and it broke the projector mounted in the ceiling. The destruction suited him, a mess all around him he controlled. No one to tell him to clean up, no one to order him around. No one to hurt him again.
Before he could bend her over the table, she caught his chin in her hand and leaned up to kiss him.
The sweetness of the gesture confused him for a moment.
“Let me pleasure you first.” She licked his lips and pushed her tongue between them, stroking him, teasing him with the promise of her mouth. The brush against his fangs made him shudder with need. “Let me lick you clean, mate, on my knees.” Mate. He liked that. Liked that the woman knew where she belonged. “Yes. Between my legs. Down, surrender.”
He stepped back and watched as she lowered herself to her knees and took his huge cock in her hands. Though he'd just come, he needed to fill her again.
Everywhere.
“Beg me.” He took hold of her soft brown hair, enthralled with the texture. The berserker wanted to hold on to the softness, even as it didn't know what to do with it. “I want…” It didn't know why it suddenly needed more than this.
But Ava broke all thoughts Tersch might have had by taking him all the way to the back of her throat.
He groaned and let go of her hair. Instead, he wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed as she blew him. He could see her struggling to breathe.
Between his cock and his hands, he limited her airflow. Her scent intensified. The woman liked it.
In heaven, he fucked her mouth with firm strokes. Her tongue stroked him.
Her teeth nipped him. She cupped his balls, rubbing them into a firm sac as he readied to spill. The berserker loved her scent, the raspy sound of her breaths as she took his cock to the back of her throat. The gagging sounds she made were like music, drawing him
faster and deeper into a heady climax.
He squeezed her throat tighter, and she choked when his cockhead hit the back of her throat again in a hard push. To his shock, he felt the rumble of a purr in her throat and came faster than he'd have liked in a loud, all-out roar. Ava swallowed him down, and the hazy look in her eyes turned him on all over again.
“Keep those lips tight around my cock until I tell you to let go,” he ordered.
“Think of this the next time you remember what you did with Price. When you gave him what was mine,” he growled.
She gave a subtle nod, and his berserker fell even more in love with her.
Taking her punishment, accepting, not fighting. Submitting.
“Yes. So pretty. So strong,” he crooned and stroked her neck, pleased with the bruises he'd left. He noticed a few bites as well, though they'd begun to heal.
Frowning, he hefted her to her feet and lowered her to the table, making sure to keep her knees bent at the edge.
“Gunnar?” she asked softly.
His gaze sought her slick pussy. Only a thin strip of hair decorated her mons, and the sight of her plump, wet lips entranced him.
He sank to his knees and sucked her clit into his mouth, loving the taste of him all over her.
She cried out and tightened her knees around him, but he shoved her legs painfully wide and refused to let her take control.
“Mine,” he warned as he continued to lick her, sucking and gently biting that hard clit that throbbed just for him. “My cunt. My mate. Mine.” She thrashed and begged as she came all over his tongue. The sweet proof of her desire soothed more of his anger, tempting him to ease his lust because she'd experienced pleasure. Her joy made his that much brighter, his satisfaction that much more complete.