You add sex to the mess, and we'll end up ass deep in trouble, and not just from some woman mooning over you after you dump her.”
“She doesn't seem to have any trouble avoiding me lately. I don't think we need to worry about her mooning anytime soon,” Fallon muttered, annoyed all over again that he'd barely seen Olivia since their run-in Saturday night.
Shaking his head, Tersch threw his arm over Fallon's shoulders and dragged him inside.
“She's just a woman. Let her go.” He sized up Ava as they passed her in the hallway. “Take me.
Ava Belle won't give me the time of day, but you know what? I don't care. If she doesn't know what she's missing out on, I don't have the heart to tell her,” he said in a raised voice and snickered at her less-than-friendly rebuttal. “One pussy's as good as another, man.”
“Oh? Is that why you're always looking over your shoulder at the woman who could care less how big your dick, or your ego, is?” Fallon smirked, pleased to have caught Tersch in the act of doing just that.
“Ass.” Tersch removed his arm and gave him a shove. “Come on. Let's go tell Alicia we couldn't find the file she sent us after and see what the guys are up to. I thought we were supposed to start training Olivia. Seems like all they've been doing is talking.”
“No kidding.” He itched to see Olivia again. Taking a subtle sniff, he followed the trace of her lingering in the hallway.
“I can't believe you're sniffing after her like a damned dog. Dude, you're embarrassing,” Tersch grumbled but followed along.
Fallon sped up when he heard Hayashi's, Jules's, and Olivia's voices coming from the gym.
He and Tersch entered to find the three of them dressed for sport. Olivia wore shorts and a T-shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. The shirt clung to her in patches, sweat making her skin shine like gold.
Fallon's beast purred, and Tersch stalked away, muttering under his breath.
“I want to play,” the Viking announced and stripped off his shirt.
Olivia's eyes widened. “Wow. I didn't think they made assholes that large.” Jules laughed, and Hayashi grinned.
“Incredible, isn't it?” Fallon added and stepped forward, pleased to see the awareness flash in her gaze.
“Hey, Jesse.”
Her blush wasn't lost on anyone, and Fallon wanted to crow the petty victory. The woman responded to him because she belonged to him.
“Fallon, Tersch, where the hell have you two been?” Jules asked with a frown. “We've been waiting to train, just warming up. Olivia has some impressive moves. Unfortunately Hayashi's slowed down some.”
Without warning, Hayashi kicked at Jules's head. Jules barely avoided the blow but instead suffered the shot Hayashi aimed at his ribs.
“Slow, my ass,” the Asian muttered. “My roundhouse was intentionally sloppy because I didn't want to brain you. How does the gut feel?”
Jules grunted and straightened. “Terrific, thanks. Fallon, Tersch, get over here. I want to demonstrate a few things for Olivia before we give her some abbreviated training. Mrs. Sharpe has given us five more days before we head out. Our flight for Brazil leaves Saturday morning.” Olivia took the cue and sat down, her legs crossed in front of her.
Fallon wanted to join her, to plant a kiss on those full lips, but the look she gave him warned him not to try.
Jules stretched. “You two, go suit up. We'll wait.”
Fallon and Tersch left and returned in minutes dressed in shorts and T-shirts. Fallon wondered if Jules intended for them to
change
in front of her. He didn't want to with an audience. For some odd reason, his beast considered it his own personal mission to instruct Olivia in the fundamental truth of what being a Circ meant.
“Why don't you guys ever wear shoes?” she asked, looking at their feet.
“It impedes our abilities,” Hayashi answered when no one else did.
“Hmm.”
“Olivia, this is important,” Jules began. “The four of us work as a cohesive unit. Each of us understands the other after working together for several years. Our abilities give us a unique way to communicate as well. Fallon, open up.”
Fallon released the shields holding his mind closed from outside thought. Olivia's mind remained behind a wall of defense, but the others sounded clear. The union warmed him, made him feel comforted by familiar minds.
“Fallon sends messages with his mind that can't be heard or penetrated by an outside source. Tersch, when he puts his mind to it, can't be stopped.”
“Not even by a bullet?”
“Not even then.”
Her expressive face looked so damned cute. Fallon wanted to…
“
Focus, dammit
.” Jules frowned at him before continuing. “Hayashi, as you saw, is lethal with those fists and feet. He's also learning to better control his visions.”
“For example, I can tell you that at some point in our stint in South America, the five of us are going to be running in the forest. We're going to separate.” Hayashi paused, his face blank.
“You'll go with Jules and Fallon. Tersch and I will lead them away while you three get to safety.”
Olivia leaned forward. “Safety? From who? Montaña's men? I thought I was supposed to stay in the city while you four investigated the lab.”
“What I see is a possibility, not an exact future,” Hayashi said quietly.
Jules continued. “A possibility that makes it vital you can defend yourself in a worst-case scenario.” He paused. “Olivia, are you Circ?”
The entire room quieted. Fallon waited anxiously for her answer.
“Am I what?”
“Circ,” Fallon repeated, remembering an image of her
changed
eyes.
“Um, no. I've never been treated for anything other than a superficial cold. I'm surprisingly healthy—no weird shots, no genetic manipulation. Hell, I was almost out of breath on my run the other day.” She refused to meet his gaze. “I don't have any superpowers, no stamina, no incredible strength.”
“I don't know about that,” Fallon murmured, remembering all too well the hold she'd had on his beast.
She ignored him. “I'm sorry. I'm empathic. End of story. I can feel your disappointment and your disbelief. But I don't know what to tell you.” Jules watched her for a moment. “
Fallon, I need you to stay back. I'm not going to hurt
her, but I need to see something
.”
“
What are you going to do
?”
Jules didn't answer him, and Fallon's beast didn't like the potential threat to the woman he considered his.
When his team leader vanished, Fallon swore.
“Oh my God. Where did he go?” Olivia scrambled to her feet, her mouth open. She squealed in fright when her feet left the ground. “Jesse, something's got me!”
“Dammit. Jules, let her go.”
Olivia settled back on her feet and raced into his arms. They watched as Jules materialized in front of them.
“How did he do that?” she asked, breathless. “My God, that's incredible!” And she had yet to see them shift into their beasts.
“
Ask Jules if he wants her to see us
change,” Tersch prodded.
Fallon mentally repeated the question as he stroked Olivia's back and hugged her tight.
“
Not yet
.” Jules sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Olivia, I just thought if you were scared enough, you might… Never mind. We'll take care of you out there. But if what Hayashi saw comes to pass, you'll need to know you can trust us. You'll follow orders, no question, or you're not coming along.”
She swallowed audibly. Fallon tried to calm her quivering frame. Talk about a lot to throw at a person. “I will. I promise.”
“Good. You can start now. I want you to get out of Fallon's hold.” “
Fallon, don't let her
go
.”
Fallon tightened his arms. She couldn't move.
“Try harder.”
She squirmed, but all she did was arouse him.
“Now
change
, Fallon.”
“Jules, I don't know.”
“I do. She needs to know we can protect her. And we can't afford for her to panic on us if we have to
change
during the mission.”
“What's going on?” Olivia breathed, still struggling.
“I don't like it. No.”
Jules's entire stance changed. Aggression swelled from him in waves as he faced Fallon.
“You're refusing me?”
“Hell.” Tersch plucked Olivia from his arms. “Come on. Hayashi, let's continue this while they come to an understanding.”
“Good idea.”
His team leader growled low in his throat. “Get outside, now.”
“Fuck.” Fallon cast a last, longing look at Olivia and left the room. He didn't make it a foot outside before Jules knocked into him. Then all hell broke loose.
Olivia ached from her toes to the top of her head. The insane thought she'd had when Gunnar had offered to help instruct her had been one of relief. She worked out, and she'd had defensive training. How hard could it be to keep up with a super Circ? Even after witnessing Kisho's incredible karate skills, she'd been prepared for some defensive tutoring, even looked forward to it.
Two days later, she felt so stiff, she could barely move. Her sluggish brain did little more than suggest ways to rest so she'd experience less pain, but she didn't have the energy to turn over.
Gunnar had shown her ways to incapacitate men. From grabbing and twisting testicles to grabbing and twisting thumbs. Wrist locks, knee kicks, and the nose smash. Timing, Kisho had added, was everything. A woman of her size had an advantage, but she couldn't hope to defeat a man as large as the Circs training her. From what she'd read in the folder, Montaña's men would be tough to beat. Most of them had trained in his select mercenary camps, and those who hadn't had done time in South American prisons. Just the people she didn't want to run into in the middle of the jungle.
As if suffering extreme exhaustion weren't enough, she hadn't seen Jesse since his altercation with Jules. It felt as if every time she gained a foothold in her tentative relationship with the man, something else stopped her from seeing him. She'd been playing it cool, wanting him to come to her. And then Jules had put an end to that.
“Probably for the best,” she murmured. This mission demanded her full attention. In just three more days they'd fly south, where she might actually end up running for her life in the heart of the jungle.
I am insane for even contemplating going.
But the thought of leaving Jesse and the others in the hands of untrustworthy men, possibly enemies, made her ill.
A knock sounded on her door.
“Come in.” She didn't bother to sit up. Clad in the same workout clothes she'd worn since the afternoon, when Kisho had put her through the wringer, she lay on her bed.
Gunnar poked his head around the door. If she weren't mistaken, he pulsed with disappointment. “Hell, I was hoping to find you naked and in the tub by now.” She grinned. “If I had the energy, I would be.”
“Jules wants to see you.”
“Now?” She groaned and sat up. And suddenly Gunnar was right there.
He knelt next to the bed, almost at eye level with her.
“You are huge.”
He grinned, and she noted how handsome he actually was. Whenever she was near Jesse, everyone else paled by comparison. “You have no idea.” She shouldn't have, but she glanced down at his crotch. To her shock, he looked
very
happy to see her.
Her cheeks heated. “Um, I'm not sure…”
“Come on.” He stood and picked her up as if she weighed nothing.
“
Oh
.”
“You're a sexy little thing. No wonder he's so hot for you.”
“Jules?” First Jesse, now Gunnar and Jules? Had she entered a dream state where everything seemed surreal?
“No, Fallon. Guy's had a hard-on for you since you walked into the damned house. He's a pain in the ass about it too. Nearly choked me when I mentioned we should hit it.”
“Hit what?”
He rolled his eyes. “I said we should screw, what else?”
“Good Lord. You talked about me like that?”
“Honey, you're sexy. You could be starring in your own porno. Your smooth skin and bright eyes? That long black hair? You have killer tits, lips made for blowing—”
She clapped a hand over his mouth. He chuckled and licked her palm, and she ripped her hand away.
“Okay, I won't say it. But you can't deny you're hot.”
“Thanks, I think.” Talk about bizarre. She had the odd notion Gunnar's compliments were sincere. As if she should thank the barbarian for likening her to a porn star. “Where are you taking me, exactly?”
“Jules's room. Fallon's waiting there too.”
She settled down at news of Jesse. But this close to Gunnar, she could feel every bit of his excitement. Arousal and anticipation raced through his veins.
Unnerved, she squirmed in his hold. When one of his hands crept too close to her breast, she smacked his chest.
“Then stop moving,” he growled.
The low timbre made her shiver, not with fear, but with a foreign desire.
Alarmed, she wondered what she felt: her emotions or his?
“Do Circs feel with a greater intensity?”
“I don't know. Depends on what you mean by intensity.”
“Do you guys get hornier more than most?” She tried again, going for blunt.
“Oh, that. Sure. We're hard all the time.”
“For God's sake.”
“You asked.” He hefted her in his arms and walked down the hallway and across into the men's wing without incident. To her relief, they didn't pass by anyone. “And here we are.” He pushed through the door and kicked it closed behind him.
Fallon and Jules waited within, both tense and unhappy.
Jules nodded. “Good.”
“Where's Kisho?” she asked, half hoping Gunnar would turn around and take her right out the door. While she secretly delighted in seeing Jesse again, the uncomfortable notion she was the cause of the unrest between the men made her want to flee.
“We don't need Kisho for this,” Jules answered.
“We don't need you either,” Jesse spat back at Jules and clenched his fists.
She couldn't be sure, but it appeared as if his skin had grown darker since she'd last seen him.