Circe's Recruits: Gideon: A Multiple Partner Shifter Book (21 page)

Carter, bent over, came all over a pillow. “
Yes.
Damn, Alex.”

“Oh man. Not again,” Eli complained and grabbed it, tossing the stained pillow with the soiled sheets into the large canvas bag by the door. Housekeeping had to be wondering what the hell they were up to, but the discreet staff did their job. They cleaned, brought food and booze, and stayed out of the way.

God bless Norton’s millions.

Alex swore as he finished, leaving a mess inside Carter the guy didn’t seem to mind, since he purred like a freight train.

They all glanced at one another, then as one, raced out of their villa stark naked. They pounded through the silky sand into the ocean. Letting themselves float and play, they embraced their beasts and eased their cares away, far into the evening, past the setting sun, in their own private retreat.

Returning to their home away from home, they threw on some shorts, a sarong for Bailey, who looked like a freakin’ queen in the thing—and knew it—and gathered around the long table to eat the bounty laid out for them. Staff had brought a feast, and Eli was already digging in.

“Hey, save some roast pork for me,” Carter complained.

While the team ate and teased, Gideon excused himself. “Be right back.”

Bailey and Alex gave him a look.

“Just checking something.” He’d been avoiding the call for days, but he knew he needed to check in.

“Hurry up.” Bailey gave him a look. Bossy little thing, but he really loved that about her. Like the rest of them, she fit right in, right into that once vacant spot in his heart.
Oh man, I’m getting sappy again.

“Just who’s boss around here?” Gideon teased, trying to feel a little less emotional. But Bailey, that vixen, smirked at him and mouthed,
“Love you, too.”

Everyone else answered the question of who was boss at the same time. “Bailey.”

“Smug is not your color.” He gave her a fake glare, unable to ignore her gorgeous smile, and left for the back bedroom, where he’d left his phone.

He called the number the pilot had given him.

Roane answered on the first ring. “Damn. I thought you were going to call me.”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing?”

“I’m surrounded by smartasses.” Roane sighed. Then his tone grew serious. “Look, there are some things you need to know.”

“Yeah?” Gideon stared out the window at the ocean, trying to calm his racing heart. The moon shone down over a glorious sight. Palm trees swayed in the mild breeze. The tang of ocean air, sex, and Circ made him want to roll in the occasion, committing it to memory. Best few days of his life, and he never wanted this peace to end.

But this call to Roane had done just that.

“So we did a thorough clean up. Amelia Norton is really dead.”

“You’re welcome.”

Roane snorted. “Had it coming to her, have to say. A real evil woman, that one. Anyhow, we found out that someone skimmed thirty and a half
million
from her account before she died. And that was off the hundred million she had tucked away for her off-the-books Circ project. But that’s also gone.”

“How’s that?”

“We think Lang took the money, but even he got swindled. I can’t see him stealing from himself, can you? A hundred mil, now more like sixty and a half. You don’t know anything about that, do you?”

Satisfaction bloomed. “Nope.”

“Didn’t think so.” Roane paused. “We also came across some remains. Manuel Rodriguez. Doc had all of him, ah, that we could find, cremated for you.”

Gideon rubbed his chest, feeling a sense of peace cover his sadness, now he could finally bury his buddy. Smith and Lang would eventually pay. He’d personally see to it. “Thanks, man.”

He waited to hear about Ollie.

“Another thing.” Roane’s tone warned Gideon to be wary. “We found a file. Your friend, Ollie. Oliver Torelli, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, he’s not dead. At least, not that we could find. You said your buddy died, that he couldn’t handle the El13 serum?”

“That’s what Lang said. Smith too. They lied?” Gideon’s hand shook. “
Tell me,
damn it.”

“We found files on an Oliver Torelli. He’s alive, Gideon. Or at least, he was when Lang escaped with him and the rest of his experiments. But Gideon, he’s been labeled a mutant. You know what that means.”

“That he’s less than human. Like the rest of us.”

“Not like the rest of us.” Roane’s voice gentled. “We’ve had some luck with regressing mutancy, though. Find him and bring him to Doc. He might be able to turn your guy back. But he’ll never be who he was.”

“Thanks. I’ll get back with you later.” Gideon disconnected.

Ollie is alive!
His joy tempered by the fact his buddy might be truly lost to him, he couldn’t help focusing on the positive. He’d find Ollie and do right by his friend.

If Ollie could be saved, Gideon would make it happen. If not, he’d give the guy the end he deserved. A quick and painless death.

He turned around to see the entire group watching him. He glanced at the phone in his hand, then tossed it to a nearby table. “You heard?” With Circ hearing so sensitive, there were little secrets in the group.

“Yeah.” Alex smiled. “Ollie’s alive, huh?”

“Some part of him is,” Gideon said, then slowly smiled back. “So something else for us to celebrate.”

Eli strode forward. In a lightning fast move, he hauled Gideon over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Cocky son of a bitch. “Come on, oh great leader. Pull that stick out of your ass and enjoy our last few days of freedom. Then we’ll go grab your friend and introduce him to Carter’s butt-lovin’.”

“Fuck you, Eli.” Carter flipped him off. “Seriously though. If he’s as sexy as you are, Gideon, I’ll be gentle for his first time. Promise.”

Bailey laughed. “Me too!”

And Gideon knew that whatever came next, he’d be okay.
They’d
be okay. He had a family that stuck. Thicker than blood. They weren’t straight or gay. Weren’t even fucking human.

They were Circ.

About the Author

Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado,
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author Marie Harte has over 100 books published with more constantly on the way. She’s a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after. Visit
http://marieharte.com
and fall in love.

Other Paranormal Romance Releases

Circe’s Recruits

Roane

Zack & Ace

Derrick

Hale

Gideon

Cougar Falls

Rachel’s Totem

In Plain Sight

Foxy Lady

Outfoxed

A Matter of Pride

Right Wolf, Right Time

By the Tail

Prey & Prejudice

Dawn Endeavor
(for more Circs!)

Fallon’s Flame

Hayashi’s Hero

Julian’s Jeopardy

Gunnar’s Game

Grayson’s Gamble

Ethereal Foes

The Dragon’s Demon: A Dragon’s Dream

Duncan’s Desire: A Demon’s Desire

Havoc & Hell: A Dragon’s Prize

The Dragon King: Not So Ordinary

PowerUp!
The Lost Locket
RetroCog

Whispered Words

Fortune’s Favor

Flight of Fancy
Silver Tongue

Entranced

Killer Thoughts

For more contemporary, paranormal, and futuristic romance, visit
marieharte.com
and fall in love

D
on’t miss book one in the Circe’s Recruits series—
Circe’s Recruits: Roane

CIRCE’S RECRUITS: ROANE

EXCERPT

“Derrick and Hale, post at the exits. Zack, the blanket.” Zack nodded, helping Roane wrap the woman up in an overly large blanket.

“Ace is waiting with the SUV,” Zack murmured.

Moving with a sense of urgency and praying Vincent Hoff and Simon Dunn were the only two assholes the Project’s Protection Agency — the PPA — had sent after Caitlyn Chase, Roane hefted Caitlyn in his arms and hurried down the alley toward the parking lot. Derrick held him back a moment, then nodded and shuttled him to the vehicle.

Ace had popped open the back hatch and sat waiting behind the wheel, tapping at it nervously. “We need to fly,” he said as Roane gently set the woman down and slammed the hatch shut. “I’ve got cops looking for me from that accident scene on Beach. The other guy is majorly pissed that I smashed his precious Lexus.”

Roane waited for Derrick, Zack, and Hale to enter the vehicle before climbing in the front passenger seat.

“Slow down, we don’t want to draw attention,” he warned Ace as the man pressed the accelerator.

“Talk about your backseat drivers,” Ace mumbled but slowed a fraction. “So what’s the deal with the package?” He looked in his rearview at the back.

“She started
changing
, right there in the alley,” Derrick said with a grin. “Damn if she didn’t do Roane some damage.”

“Some,” Roane agreed, suddenly feeling the sting of several deep gouges. “The stubborn woman wouldn’t listen.”

“Would you have?” Zack asked with a snort. “She just got mauled by two dickheads from the PPA and has no idea she’s a Circ.”

“And then she had to face you,” Hale added with mock terror. “Hell, I’d have gone for your jugular the minute I laid eyes on your ugly face.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Ace agreed and turned onto Washington Street, heading out of Cape May proper. “Now, how about you idiots shut up while our fearless leader tells me where to go?”

“I’d like to tell you where to go,” Derrick muttered.

“The compound,” Roane said, staring out the window. “Zack, contact Doc and let him know we’re coming. He’ll need to identify what they drugged her with.”

Zack nodded and reached for his cell phone.

As they merged onto the Parkway, Roane thought about the woman they’d just saved. He stared at his arms. She’d raked him with inch-long claws. But despite the low growl when she’d been threatened, he had the impression she’d wanted more to escape than to harm. Interesting qualities for a lab rat. All of the former patients from the project were psychotic, Circs with no conscience who preyed on the weak. Caitlyn was the first they’d found who seemed fairly normal. Until her untimely change.

Normal. He scowled, wishing he could banish the picture of her voluptuous body from his mind. Her sheer, white cotton shirt had done nothing to mask the perfection straining beneath. Instead, with her every effort to be free, the shirt had either molded to the fullness of her breasts or slid open to accent the slick valley between those bountiful mounds. God help him, but Roane had zeroed in on the heat of her hard nipples as they raked across his chest with more force than her damn claws.

“Doc’s standing by.”

He nodded to Zack and blatantly stared at the speedometer, causing Ace to swear under his breath and slow down. A low, sudden groan captured everyone’s attention from the back.

“She shouldn’t be doing that, should she?” Derrick asked, shifting in his seat. “The dart should have put her down for another few hours, at least. The ones the PPA use normally do.”

Roane narrowed his gaze when he realized the rest of his men were squirming as well. He took a breath and froze as his dick swelled to a massive erection.

“Shit, she’s in heat.”

Circe’s Recruits: Roane