Marie Harte - Grayson's Gamble

“I know exactly what they are,” she snapped and turned back to him. She held out her forearms. “Look at me. I’m the same fucking thing.”

“No, you’re not.” And he meant it.

She opened her mouth to respond but said nothing. Then she frowned. “I, well, it feels like I am.” She continued toward the exit. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back in a few hours. I won’t let you starve.” A pause. “And if you’re really who you say are, I won’t kill you. But you can’t stay here.”

She left before Gray could say more. He heard her on the steps, the sound of a door closing, then silence. So much for getting a bead on where she went or what she did next. Gray pulled and twisted, but the damn restraints didn’t budge.

“Woman is paranoid.” And smart. She could hold a Circ down here indefinitely if she wanted.

He turned to Bas. In sleep, his partner looked no less soft but strangely vulnerable. Bas’s head faced him, and his breath fanned Gray’s face. Unable to stop himself, Gray let loose his telepathy and tried to penetrate the fog around Bas’s thoughts.

“Bas? Answer me. You okay?”

It took some doing, but when Gray’s beast joined forces to push at Bas’s inner awareness, the stubborn man finally answered. “Gray?”

Relief made him light-headed. Though Gray had seen and believed Ali had only used a tranquilizer, who knew what she’d drugged him with. Not all chemicals worked on Circs in the same way.

“I’m right here next to you. Your girl knocked you out with a dart.”

“Smart, isn’t she?” Trust Bas not to be angry but amused by her.

Like Gray, but he refused to admit it aloud. “Yeah, smart enough that she knocked you on your ass and trussed me up like a Thanksgiving turkey. I need you to push the drug out of your system and wake up. Let me free, and I’ll—”

“Fuck it all up, the way you normally do.”

“What?”

“Gray, I love you, man. But you’re an asshole when it comes to people. Undercover, sure, you blend in. But as yourself, that arrogance just hits people the wrong way.”

Gray tried to get past Bas saying I love you. Had he meant it? Did that love extend to the romantic, or had he meant it more as a brotherly, one-warrior-to-another kind of way? And why the hell did it matter so much to Gray to know the answer?

“So what’s your plan?” he managed.

“Stay tied up. See her as she is. I spent one hell of a night with that woman. Yeah, she’s not your typical Circ. Then again, neither are we. You were born this way, Mr. Perfect. And I don’t react to the serum the way most of the rogues and Circs do.” Bas paused. “I’ve never needed another Circ before you. No mating heats, no weird urges. And I don’t want it with anyone other than you…and Ali.”

Gray knew what he meant, because he felt the same. “So you want me to trust this woman you just met. Excuse me, fucked. Because why? She made you come a few times?”

Bas chuckled. “You know, for a while, I was really mad at you. But I felt you freak out when you thought she’d shot me. We’re connected, hero. More than you want, but it’s there all the same. You love me, asshole. Admit it.”

Gray balked, not comfortable about the path his future seemed to be taking. “Why should I admit anything? For all you know, you’re still dreaming.”

“Nope. This is real. You love me. I love you. And we just found the last part of our happy little family, who just happens to be a mutant slash rogue slash Circ. How does that fit your five-year plan, control freak?”

“I’m not a control freak… Okay, so I am.” Gray couldn’t deny that one. “But I have important things to do, Bas. Alicia Sharpe is my grandmother.” There. He’d admitted what only a select few knew. A woman who’d lived for hundreds of years, a woman much less than normal and whom everyone thought of as a political powerhouse, was his grandmother.

“Yeah, I know. She told me.”

“She did?” Gray couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah. And I know she’s a lot more like us than she seems. She screams power. No biggie. I’m good with that.”

“You are?” Gray knew it couldn’t be this easy. “What about my telepathy? It freaks you out.”

“A little.” Bas opened his eyes and stared at Gray. Aloud, he added, “I had a hard time with the PWP. They did things to me. Fucked with my fears, made them sharper, pulled crap out of my mind I’m still dealing with.”

Gray didn’t know.

“No one knows, Gray. Well, maybe your grandmother. But it was never mentioned in any files that I know of. The ones I found, I destroyed. So no, I don’t like psychics.”

“But you are one. Your telekinesis? You held me down with your mind, Bas. I didn’t imagine that.”

Bas grimaced and leaned up on one elbow. “I didn’t mean to. I wanted you, and the power got away from me.” Bas toyed with Gray’s shirt and pushed his hand underneath it. The feel of that large palm over Gray’s belly made him shiver. Bas smiled. “The power got away from me with Ali too. But I didn’t hurt her. And I didn’t hurt you.”

“No, you didn’t.” Gray groaned. “Quit teasing me. It’s been three days since we fucked. I need you again.”

Bas shook his head. “Uh-uh. Made love, not fucked. You know, you’re just like Ali. Both bossy, mean, and sexy as hell. But my beast knows who you are. It knew the minute I set eyes on you. Her too.”

Bas stripped Gray of his clothing using his mind, his hands, and at one point, his claws to work around the restraints. “You still haven’t admitted it, hero.”

“Quit calling me hero, junior.” Gray flashed growing fangs at Bas.

“Then end the attitude.” Bas glared down at him. “I’m a Circ, same as you. I don’t give a shit if you were born this way or trained to become so hard. But the Christ complex you’ve got going isn’t pretty.”

Gray flushed, because Bas had said what his sister and mother had been nagging him about for years. “I can’t help it. My father’s the same way. We’re expected to be the best, stronger, faster. We’re here to do important things, Bas.”

“Well, so am I. You think it’s chance I happened to do so well in the FBI? That I’ve always been better than others? I’m not bragging; it just is. But I’ve worked for it, and so have you. I took to the serum, Gray. Think about that. I’m not rogue. And for all that Ali looks mutant, she’s not. I’ve never heard of any mutant who could reason and feel with more than their cocks. Or in her case, pussy.” Bas gave him a small grin. “We’re different but the same. And I don’t like being made to feel less than you because my dad wasn’t Circ.”

“And mom. Don’t forget her.” Gray couldn’t resist.

Bas scowled and wrapped his hand around Gray’s cock. “Little shit.”

“Not so little,” Gray choked before losing himself to the rhythm of Bas’s hand.

“Say it.” Bas let go to remove his clothes, then he moved over Gray and grabbed his cock again. “Admit what you feel. Don’t be afraid.”

“Not afraid.” His beast growled, but he knew the truth. To give over to that emotion was to submit, to surrender. To trust. He’d seen so much deceit in his lifetime, so much sadness and despair. Death, destruction. Hell, even Jack Keiser’s “wife” had betrayed him. And they’d all liked the woman before they’d learned of her treachery. Even Gray.

“Then let me convince you.” Bas rubbed his wet dick against Gray’s, slick with a Circ’s need, and Gray couldn’t help the cum that spurted, the need too intense to ignore.