Marie Harte - Grayson's Gamble

“Got?”

“On Ross. Focus, Gray. Hell. For such a professional, you sure do lose track easy.”

“Dickhead.” Gray’s frown remained, but he answered while he cleaned. “Ross has apparently been keeping himself apart in the mountains for months. He’s rogue, and he’s killed.”

“How many?”

“Three. The rest we figure he’s made into his own little army.”

Bas finished cleaning up the glass and started mopping. “So while he’s amassing forces to do his bidding, he’s killing the opposition maybe?”

“Doesn’t feel right, but it’s what’s in the file.”

“That you got from trusting some psychic asshole out West.”

“Pretty much.”

It annoyed Bas that Gray seemed so unconcerned. How could he blindly trust those people? The psychics he’d met had put him through hell and back. Almost as bad as the scientists experimenting on him to see how he’d respond to different doses of the Circe serum. But the psychics… They’d hurt him deep down, where he thought he’d buried his fears.

“You okay?”

He blinked and saw Gray looking at him. But damn if he could read Gray’s expression. Man would have made a fortune playing cards. “Yeah, fine. Just tired from last night.” He leered at Gray. “Oh Jesus. Is that a blush?”

Gray, as usual, ignored what he didn’t want to hear. “So Ross is to be put down hard. No questions, no second chances. We find him, we take him out before he pulls in more rogues. It’ll be bad enough getting in undetected. Our job is to eliminate the threat and return home.”

“Ross, but not the others.”

“No.”

“Cut the head off the enemy and the rest will fall?” It made sense to Bas.

“Something like that. Mrs. Sharpe is convinced Ross is the key. Then she’ll send in a cleanup crew to handle the other rogues. But this Ross needs special handling.”

“Great. We’re just going to wander into the lion’s den and hope we find him before more of his rogue buddies find us.”

“That’s about the gist of it.”

“Gee, sounds like fun.”

Gray grinned.

“Almost as fun as yesterday.”

Gray’s smile disappeared. His eyes darkened. But instead of responding, he turned away. “Good point. After all that fucking, I didn’t get much sleep. You should rest up too. You’ll need your energy tomorrow.” Then he walked back down the hallway without a backward glance.

Bas wanted to hit something. His beast wanted Gray, and the creature made his head ache and his skin itch to feel more of the sexy Circ against him. Irritated, tired, and now smelling like a Starbucks gone wild, Bas felt himself slip again. Energy poured out of him in waves.

“ Shit .” Gray’s loud yell had him racing down the hall. He burst into Gray’s room only to see Gray face-first down on his bed, unable to move. His legs were spread wide, his arms pinned above his head to the bed.

Perfect , his beast rumbled. Without meaning to, Bas started to change .

“What the hell is going on?” Gray snarled, the sound muted through the sheets. He managed to turn his head and caught Bas’s eye. “What are you doing?”

Bas wished he had more control. He’d be embarrassed about it later, but right now, his libido controlled his strings. “Need you. Too hot.”

Gray blinked. “Shit. You’re in a mating heat?” Between one heartbeat and the next, Gray’s pupils elongated and his hair started to grow. “Fuck. You just pulled me into it, you bastard.”

Bas stripped down to nothing in seconds and forced himself to change back to human, though it wasn’t easy. His beast complied because Bas promised him Gray. “Not my fault.” He wanted to speak in more than two- and three-word sentences, but he couldn’t. Not now. With brutal hands, he yanked Gray’s pants and underwear off, leaving him gloriously bare from the waist down.

“Why can’t I move?” Gray asked, but he didn’t appear to be struggling.

“You can if you want.” At the thought, his mental holds on Gray disappeared.

His lover sat up so fast, it made Bas’s head spin. And then Gray switched places with Bas and bent him over the bed to mount him from behind. No foreplay, no soft words or kisses. Gray’s slick cock shoved hard between Bas’s ass cheeks.

“Fuck, yeah. You need it? It’s yours.”

Not it . You. Bas could only take what Gray gave him, hoping it would be enough to strengthen their weak connection. Physically, they fit like a lock and key. But emotionally, Gray might as well have been on another planet.

Their rhythm grew frantic. Gray gave while Bas received. Each tug, each shove was returned with a shift of his ass, a jiggle of his hips.

“Bas. Here I come.” Gray came into him, and the warmth of his seed pushed Bas’s beast once more. “Oh no, you don’t. You don’t come till I say so. You think you can play mind games with me? Do you know who you’re fucking with?”

Gray knew what he’d done. Oh hell. Not good. As usual, when confronted with discomfort, Bas tried to joke his way out. “I know exactly who you are. A sexy asshole with control issues and a superiority complex.” Bas grunted as Gray continued to fuck him with brutal, orgasm-inducing strokes, that hard cock growing stiffer despite his climax.

“Okay, junior.” Gray panted. “Here’s the discipline you’ve been lacking.”

Bas didn’t know what the hell Gray meant, and then Gray pulled out and flipped Bas onto his back as if Bas weighed next to nothing. Apparently Bas hadn’t been the only one holding back when they’d fought.

Gray stared into his eyes as he ripped off his button-down shirt. So much for the stockbroker. The beast had returned wholeheartedly. “Open for me.”

Bas frowned, then panicked when he felt a familiar pressure on his mind. But before he could pinpoint the sensation, it disappeared.

“I said open for me.” Gray glared down at his legs.

Weak with relief that he’d only imagined a psychic assault, Bas spread his thighs wide.

“Arms over your head.”

Excitement made him more than hard and left him aching.

“We’ll get to that in a minute,” Gray murmured as his gaze slid over Bas’s erection. “Now move your arms wider. That’s it.” Gray leaned over him, dragging that thick cock against Bas’s belly.

Bas felt cuffs around his left wrist. Then his right.

“You need to be ridden hard, I think.” Gray considered him. “I normally do this with women, but you seem to need it more than most of my dates.”

Bas hated the idea of Gray with anyone else, but he refused to put himself out there more than he already had. “Gee, handsome. And here I definitely would have pegged you as a man’s man. A real bottom.”

Fury flashed in Gray’s eyes. “You don’t know when to quit.” Gray leaned close and… bit his shoulder.

Bas yelled out in pain just as he felt another shock. Gray moved like lightning. One minute he had his fangs buried in Bas’s skin, the next he’d managed to wedge his hips between Bas’s thighs and shoved the tip of his cock into Bas’s ass. But instead of ramming deep, Gray withdrew his bite and steadied himself on his forearms, his shaft moving with extreme slowness. The bastard took his time as he fucked him, making him feel every inch.

“Damn it.”

Gray chuckled, but the meanness didn’t leave his eyes. “Feel it. Every fucking inch. Coming inside you before was perfect. I needed it.” Gray glanced down at Bas’s weeping cock. “Bet you need it too, don’t you? Need to come all over me, to feel me slide deeper inside your hole.”

“Quit playing,” Bas snapped, while his beast delighted in the powerful male’s attention. The dominant Circ cared, offering a bonding even if Gray didn’t consciously realize what the bites and sex meant. Bas’s beast knew, and as Gray watched him while they fucked, new thoughts entered his mind. Of how good it feels to fuck Bas. But I wish I didn’t want the sexy, obnoxious Circ so much. I shouldn’t be so drawn to this unnatural creature. Shit, he’s a scientific experiment. But he’s so hot, and he feels so fucking good. I can’t stop myself. Why him? Why is he so different, so important to me?