Hale

Chapter Three

Paige waited alone in the small park abutting the beach. No one passed by, nor did anyone traipse through the sand, thanks to the chill in the air and lateness of the hour. A small favor to be grateful for on an otherwise hellish night. She still couldn't believe she'd finally seen him—the man from her dreams.

The sandy-haired man did exist, and his eyes were even darker green in person.

She hadn't known he was Circ, though she probably should have guessed as much.

Every damned thing in her life revolved around the unnatural genetics of her blood.

Elliot had spared her the ability to change. Or at least, she'd thought he had. For twenty-eight years she'd lived with the increased senses, speed, and strength of a Circ. But lately, she'd felt an itch beneath her skin, a need for something more that wouldn't go away.

Robbie would understand, but she didn't want to worry him. Her best friend for years, he'd been there when no one else had. He understood how hard it was to interact with normal people, to accept that animalistic part of herself that needed to dominate, to persevere, no matter the cost to others. Normal kids shared and played nice with each other. Paige had never been happy to share when that inner voice inside her told her she could take by force what she wanted.

Learning to balance human frailties and an inner wildness hadn't been easy.

Especially with Elliot Pearl riding her all the time. Her adoptive parents hadn't been cruel, but they hadn't been kind. She thought of them as gentle jailers, feeding Elliot information on a weekly and sometimes daily basis until she'd graduated high school and then college. Finally freed from Elliot, or so she'd thought, until he ripped her brief reprieve away.

If not for Robbie in her life, Paige might have gone insane. With his help she'd been able to tolerate her time at Pearson Labs, as well as hide some of her late-developing abilities from her father. And now with Robbie in place at the labs and with his contacts, she thought they might just break free from Project Dawn and start a new life.

A subtle sound alerted her of company.

Robbie stepped out of the shadows, appearing from out of nowhere. Black sunglasses hid his eyes, a dark leather jacket and jeans covered the rest of him from his neck to the tips of his black boots. She idly wondered where he found clothes to fit his huge frame. Though she had always thought herself freakishly tall at six feet, Robbie dwarfed her.

“Paige?” he murmured, his voice gravelly with concern. Robbie, a threat to everyone but her.

She ran into his arms and hugged him tight, soothed by his calming presence. As always, just being near him made her feel safe and loved…and aroused. She reached up to brush a lock of dark hair from his forehead. “I'm so glad to see you.” Robbie nodded and tucked her head back against his chest. His heart raced, and his body tensed when she snuggled closer. As he'd once said, he was a man with a man's working parts. His physical response to her meant little compared to the emotional comfort he provided, or so she tried to convince herself.

Paige wanted to strip him down and use him in ways that would make him blush.

Thoughts of him made her burn with lust, but when he hugged her tight and she breathed him in, the need eventually dissipated. She'd thought sex might bring them closer together, but Robbie never encouraged it, despite the hunger in his eyes. He never talked about the possibility of intimacy, so she took her cues from him. Scared of hurting the only person she loved in the world, she continued to leave the decision to further their relationship in Robbie's hands.

She sighed. “I always feel so good when I'm with you.”

“Me too,” he murmured, stroking her hair. He pushed her back to study her face and raised his glasses. Blazing yellow eyes stared back at her, the pupils thin and elongated like a cat's. An anomaly, just like her. “You sure they didn't hurt you?”

“I'm fine.”

“Circe's Recruits,” Robbie said. “Those dicks didn't do anything to scare you either, did they?”

“No. But Robbie, it was him. The man I sometimes see in my dreams. He was there. He was real.” She studied him, aware of the telling silence. “You know who he is, don't you?”

Robbie grimaced.

“Tell me.” That inner voice demanded to know more, and she felt something ripple beneath her fingertips as she gripped his forearms. “When I close my eyes, I see him. I know him, and I've never met him. In my dreams he's there, watching me. But he's watching you too, Robbie.”

He blinked at her in surprise. Robbie was never surprised. “What?”

She nodded, knowing this time she needed to tell him the full truth, or as much as he could handle. “In my dreams, that man is there, watching, like he's waiting for something. I can never tell if he's there to help or hurt me. But you're there too, behind me, protecting me.”

Robbie drew back and paced like a caged lion. “Why didn't you tell me this before?”

“What does it matter? They're just dreams.” She waited to hear him deny it, as he'd done before. But she knew he didn't mean it. Robbie was a Circ, and something more.

He could do what the others in Pearson Labs couldn't; he could manipulate psychic energy like a weapon.

Unlike the rogues her father tried to fashion into true Circs, Robbie had been born this way. The rogues turned crazy, psychotic. The newer ones didn't even look human anymore, nor could they change into anything other than the deformed mutants they'd become, slaves to their hormones and hungers. She'd seen enough in her excursions to Pearson Labs to know her father would have killed to create Circs like her Robbie.

Robbie didn't have mating heats. He didn't change. He retained his strength and abilities in human form, the better to blend into any populace and successfully perform missions for the highest bidder. If her father's bosses had known exactly what Robbie could do, they'd have captured him and never let him go. Smart man that he was, Robbie hid his psychic talent from everyone but her. And something else her father had never known—Robbie didn't blindly follow the orders her father had given him. He had an agenda all his own.

“They're just dreams,” he repeated. He shoved his glasses back on and ran his fingers through his hair. To her satisfaction, his fingernails sharpened into claws.

Good, he wasn't unaffected. Far from it.

“Who is he, Robbie?” she asked again.

He must have sensed her determination, because he stopped pacing in front of her and sighed. “You're a pain in the ass, you know that?”

“Oh, please. You're no picnic, you monster.”

He grinned, flashing fangs at her. Another part of Robbie she loved. With him she felt free to be herself. They both knew they didn't belong in society, but with each other.

“You're not going to let this go, are you?”

She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Shit. Okay.” Robbie paused and looked around, then focused his attention on her again. “His name is Hale Rogers. He was one of the original subjects in the first Project Dawn. He's second in command of Circe's Recruits.” Hale Rogers. Like a silent click, his name snapped into place within her mind.

“What else?”

“What do you mean, what else? The guy was a Marine, and now he's one of Doc's civilians.” Robbie's gaze narrowed. “One of Doctor Evan Dennis's men. Your dream man belongs to your uncle.”

She'd been trying her best not to think about the man her father had respected, loved, and ultimately tried to destroy. Would Evan want to know her, or would he want to continue her father's experiments? What would he do if he knew everything she was capable of doing?

Robbie sighed. “Honey, you need to see your uncle. If for no other reason than to get some closure. I might be wrong, but I don't think he's anything like Elliot. Doc seems like a genuinely nice guy. His Circs love him. He takes care of them. And Mike Shields can't say enough about him.”

“Mike Shields? You mean, General Mike Shields?”

He nodded.

“I thought Shields hated everything my father tried to do with Project Dawn. He tried to shut down the project.”

“He did shut down the project, with Senator Kuntz's help. That, and Sabrina Torrence's cagey sabotage.” Robbie smiled. “The woman was a mess. You have no idea how many times I covered for her sloppy detective work.”

“But she did it. She stopped them once.” Paige held out hope that Robbie and she could finish the job. Petty Officer Sabrina Torrence had at first been like all the rest—

oblivious to the reality of what Elliot Pearl was doing to the servicemen who'd volunteered for Project Dawn. He'd cared less about saving lives and helping the country than he had about starting a new evolution of man. He'd known about the problems with his serum, but he hadn't stopped the project. Only a third of his original test subjects had remained clear of mind, while the others turned into raging maniacs.

In the course of exterminating the rampaging monsters, only five of Circe's Recruits persevered. And her dream man was one of them.

“You said before that Torrence is now mated to one of my uncle's men?”

“She hooked up with Derrick Packard. He's huge, arrogant, and wears his anger for the world to see. But he's less dangerous than Rogers.” Robbie scowled. “Rogers is different. He's faster than the others. And I think he might have some mental mojo.” Robbie tapped his forehead. “It took a lot of energy it shouldn't have to put him down before.”

“Really?” Paige found any talk about Hale fascinating. He'd been a part of her for so long that she felt as if they were already friends. When she'd struck him with that tranquilizer in the house, she'd felt as if she were betraying him. But her timely intervention had saved him from being ripped apart by the rogue dragging him into her kitchen.

“I don't like the look on your face,” Robbie growled. “Rogers is no good. You keep away from him. We don't need his kind of trouble.”

Surprised, she considered her friend. She nodded to make him happy, but inside she wondered why Robbie felt so threatened by Hale Rogers. She could see the tension in his frame, the worry in his eyes. Robbie never showed his emotions unless dealing with her. Was he perhaps jealous? He'd never shown signs of it before, not even when necessity demanded she find men for sex, to ease the desires that consumed her every month. He hadn't reacted to those meaningless occasions at all. Yet Hale Rogers had done the impossible. He'd made Robbie nervous.

Paige wanted more than ever to meet Hale in the flesh. But not right now. “Oh my God. He's here.”

He appeared, much like Robbie had, from the shadows of the nearest building.

“Paige Masters.” His low voice sent shivers down her spine, but it was the danger he projected when he glanced at Robbie that quickened her womb and shot her libido into overdrive. “And McKinley. I fucking knew it.” Hale thanked his enhanced vision to see anything through the pitch-black night.

He couldn't stop himself from studying the blonde. Same long, straight hair, same whiskey brown eyes, same kick-ass body he'd seen in his dreams. And there, dwarfing her, stood McKinley. A giant with muscles on top of muscles. He looked like he could break the woman in half, yet the protective way he positioned himself in front of her spoke volumes.

Jealousy reared, and then the wind changed direction, literally. The mingled scent of cherries and evergreen hit him hard. Hale glared at McKinley, wondering what the hell the male thought he was doing by releasing his scent. Because damned if it wasn't provocative—an adjective Hale had never in his life thought to apply to McKinley.

“Robbie?” Paige stared at the man with wide eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Robbie?” Hale smirked. “Robbie McKinley? A boy's name for a grown thug.

Funny.”

McKinley tore his glasses from his face, treating Hale to a fiery glare. Yellow eyes burned through the darkness, glowing under the night sky. “Don't start a fight you won't win, Rogers. You little prick Circs think you know best when all you manage to do is screw things up.” McKinley took a step in his direction.

Interestingly, Paige moved with him.

When he'd seen the pair talking in the park, he'd questioned his sanity. What were the odds he'd taken an alternate route to her house tonight, only to run right by his quarry? Astronomically high. This had to be some of McKinley's psychic bullshit.

Hale glared. “Look, asshole. You wanted me here, I'm here. Tone down the perfume, and we'll talk.” To Hale's shock, McKinley flushed, with anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell.

McKinley bared his teeth. “I should have taken you apart the last time we met.

Instead, out of pity, I let you live.”

“Yeah? Well, now's the time to correct your mistake.” Hale snarled at him, his fangs and claws automatically pushing forth, breaking skin. He welcomed the pain, welcomed the beast wanting to…play? He stopped in his tracks, confused at the idea that this felt more like a strange dance than a prelude to battle.

McKinley froze the minute he did, studying Hale with befuddlement. “What—

How the hell did you find us here?” He glanced at Paige, who shrugged.

“I didn't tell him. The last time I saw him, he was passed out on my kitchen floor.”

“I thought you were there.” Pleased he hadn't been dreaming that cherry scent, Hale grinned at the sense of vindication. Strange, but he was beginning to enjoy this bizarre encounter. His beast thrilled at being near Paige and McKinley—Robbie. He glared at the male, aware of McKinley's uncertainty. “Is Robbie your real name?” McKinley stepped back, the spell broken. “It's McKinley. Now turn around and go home.”

“I'm not going without Paige. Doc, your uncle,” he directed at her, “wants to meet you.”

She paled, and a surge of protectiveness for the female overwhelmed him.

“I told you—” McKinley growled.

Hale interrupted, wanting to wipe the grief from Paige's bright eyes. “Evan Dennis is your uncle, Elliot Pearl's half brother. They worked together, until Doc—

that's what we call him—found out what Pearl was really up to.” Realizing he probably shouldn't say half of what he wanted to say about her father, Hale continued carefully.

“Doc tried to get your father to stop the project, but he wouldn't. So Doc left with us and has been helping us ever since. He's an expert in all things Circ.” He gave a wry grin, pleased when she returned it.

“He's dying to meet you, Paige. He never knew you existed, had been told you died at birth with your mother.” By that asshole, Pearl. “Doc's had a hard time of it, lately. He took the news of your father's death hard. And then to find out he has a niece he's never met? He's worried sick and anxious to meet you.” Hale turned on the charm, gratified by McKinley's continued silence. “I promise I'll take you to him myself. He just wants a chance to get to know you. He'll help you in any way he can. Doc's a great guy.” He’s nothing like your father.

Paige looked from him to McKinley and clutched her boyfriend's sleeve. “I…I don't know. There are things I have to do.”

“So do them. You won't be under house arrest. Doc just wants to meet you.”

“No.” She shook her head, her hair sweeping her face as the wind increased. “I can't. Not now.”

“Yes, now.” McKinley shocked the hell out of him by agreeing. “This is the perfect time. You can't keep hiding, Paige,” he said softly.

The look on his face was tender. These two had a relationship, of what kind, Hale wasn't certain. Not sure he liked the thought of McKinley and Paige together, he tried to emotionally distance himself from the couple and focused on his reason for this visit.

“He's right. You can't keep hiding,” Hale reiterated. “Look, just meet with Doc.

Pick any time and place. Just talk to him. Then take off, move to Bermuda if you want, whatever. But give the man some peace. He's a good person, and he'd never try to hurt you. He only wants a chance to get to know you.” He could see her wavering. He almost had her. And then a feeling of wrongness struck. He looked all around him and noticed car lights approaching from the western avenue toward the park.

McKinley swore. “Paige, go with Rogers. I can't be seen. And you can't afford to get caught. Not now. Go. I'll meet up with you later.” He pushed Paige in Hale's direction. “You'll be safe with Doc. Go, Paige. Now.” McKinley turned those inhuman eyes on Hale. “You hurt her in any way, I'll tear you apart. And then I'll start in on your friends.”

“Fuck off, Robbie. She'll be fine. But you touch any one of my friends, I'll carve your fucking heart out.”

McKinley had the audacity to smile in challenge, and Hale took a step forward, responding to the dare despite the danger fast approaching.

“Oh, for God's sake.” Paige pushed between them.

The minute her hand fell on Hale's chest, he stilled. A sense of recognition passed through him, followed by a wave of heat so intense, he nearly stumbled to his knees.

His cock was on fire, his senses aflame.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he croaked, alarmed to appear so vulnerable in front of Paige and her monstrous boyfriend. “Fine. Let's go.”

He did his best to get himself under control. McKinley darted away from the direction of threat, and he and Paige followed. They rounded the corner of another building and stopped, watching as McKinley raced in another direction. Hale called on his discipline and willed his aroused body back to normal. When she would have touched him again, he jerked away.

“No, don't.” I can’t handle this right now. Your scent, the dreams. It’s too much.

“I don't understand.” She frowned and moved closer.

“Look, Paige, you touch me again and I'll forget everything but getting inside you.

You know about the mating heat, right?” If she was indeed Subject 31, she knew what he was talking about.

She blushed and immediately put distance between them. “I, oh. I'm sorry.”

“Yeah,” he breathed, grateful she understood. “Follow me, and I'll take you to safety.” He didn't wait for her to answer. He turned from the building and began running, ultrasensitive to her presence right behind him. He'd parked several blocks away, and when they reached his car, he hurriedly unlocked it.

Once they'd both strapped in and were on the move, Hale made several turns, not driving in any particular direction but to avoid the threat he could feel just on the periphery, out of sight. Finally on the road out of town, he turned onto the Garden State Parkway and made a decision. Taking the northern route away from Doc's compound, he drove several miles until he found the back road he'd been looking for. Once on it, they continued to ride in silence. Paige's scent wrapped around him. He could feel the heat of her body even though a good two feet separated them. A glance at her showed her just as stiff, just as uncomfortable.

The tension in the truck built, until he couldn't take it anymore.

Hale pulled off the road behind an abandoned shack, grateful for the clouds that covered the moon. He yanked off his seat belt and jumped out of the SUV. Rounding to her side, he yanked open the passenger door, unbuckled her belt, and dragged her outside.

“What are you—”

Unable to wait, he plastered his mouth to hers. The taste of cherries invaded his mouth, his senses. Their parted jackets allowed the press of her breasts against his chest, and her nipples stabbed into him. Surprising him with a sudden aggression, she opened her mouth wider and thrust her tongue into his mouth.

Between one heartbeat and the next, Hale lost his damned mind.