Grayson's Gamble

Chapter One

Grayson Belle paced the soundproof office in the Pentagon, feeling like a wild animal in a zoo. The pressure threatened to undo his control. If the situation didn’t soon improve, he feared he’d pull his hair out by the roots. No, not his hair. The wild brown mane on that dickhead Decker would do one better.

To his boss he snarled, “Reassign him before I do something we’ll both regret. It’s been eight fucking months already. I’ve had enough.”

Admiral Geoffrey London smiled at the threat, and Gray snorted. Despite all the shit he’d been through in the past year, they both knew he wouldn’t hurt his superior, the man he thought of as an honorary grandfather, to make his point. But he didn’t intend to let his unhappiness go by unnoticed. When Gray continued to glare at the older man, Lonnie finally relented and took a healthy step back behind his desk.

He sighed as he sat down. “Now Gray, don’t you think you’re overreacting? You’re both doing so well together.”

“Well?” Gray stopped pacing and stared in incredulity at a man he’d always respected for his intelligence. “This is the third time in as many ops that I’ve had to pull Decker’s ass out of the fire. The idiot almost got his head shot off in Mexico. Seriously, Lonnie, the kid needs to be pulled and thrown back into training. Let Gunnar work him through his paces.”

Lonnie shook his head. “First of all, if I give him to Gunnar, he might get killed.”

“I know.” Gray smiled through his teeth. Gunnar was his brother-in-law and a badass who kept Gray’s sister in line. Any man who could do that could whip Decker into shape with ease.

“Secondly,” Lonnie continued, “that kid is twenty-nine. He’s only a few years younger than you.”

“He’s about as mature as a fifth grader,” Gray muttered.

“I think Sebastian has been doing a stellar job. The man’s been a Circ for just little more than a year. Remember how long it took the others to adjust. Not everyone is built like you, son.”

Gray clenched his jaw, wishing he didn’t have to restrain the temper building inside him. The risk of losing control was both foreign yet welcome from the sentience that lay just under his skin. That inner beast, that raw part of him that kept him safe from harm, seemed to encourage his rage. Where the hell had his legendary calm under fire gone? It seemed lately Gray wanted to beat the hell out of someone on a daily basis. Namely, his hulking partner. Until the bastard couldn’t move or utter one more smart-ass comment.

“Sebastian Decker might have been hell on wheels in the FBI, but he’s barely craptastic as a Circ,” he pointed out. “He can’t seem to control the change. Hell, last week he about tripped over his own two giant feet trying to save me. Me.” Gray shook his head, still stunned. “I’ve been working ops since I was seventeen. And I was born this way. Yet your artificial wonderboy thinks he can swoop to my rescue. Talk about delusions of grandeur.”

“And exactly why he belongs by your side. You take too many chances you shouldn’t. You don’t listen to your grandmother anymore, and let me tell you, it’s all I can do to prevent her from taking you out of action until your—and I quote—‘unsafe antics cease.’”

Gray swore. His grandmother, Alicia Sharpe, had serious pull in Washington as well as a host of other influential places. The woman played for keeps, and she didn’t screw around when it came to family. “She’s supposed to be occupied with Ava and the baby and the rest of the team. Why the hell is she putting her nose in my business?” Again.

“You might be family, but you’ll damn well speak with respect when you talk about my wife.”

“Oh come on.” Seemed like lately the admiral took any opportunity to brag about or defend his new bride. Not that Gray could rightly complain about the man protecting his grandmother.

“Boy, don’t press me.” The militant gleam in Lonnie’s eyes told Gray he’d pushed as hard as he dared about Alicia.

“Sorry. No disrespect intended.” Gray cleared his throat. “But the situation is serious. I’m so busy looking after Decker that I’m worried our missions may be compromised. He’s a liability, Admiral.” Maybe appealing to Lonnie’s rank and importance would help.

Lonnie studied him with an intensity that unnerved his beast. Gray didn’t trust the sudden smile that appeared on his face. Hell, he looked just like Alicia.

“I’ve seen Sebastian in action, Gray. I don’t know if you realize it, but part of your last mission was caught digitally. From what I saw, Sebastian saved you from being shot.”

Gray huffed. “I’d have healed in minutes.” Born with an ability to self-regenerate, to communicate telepathically, and to turn into a stronger, faster creature with an astonishing capacity to endure, Gray rarely needed protection from anyone.

“But you shouldn’t have to heal when you can avoid harm altogether. Damn it, you’re not listening.” Lonnie pushed down on a button. “Miss Preston, could you please send in Mr. Decker?”

“Right away, sir,” came the response.

Gray groaned. “Not him again. I’m here on my day off as it is. Is this really necessary?”

“I think we both know it is.” The hard-nosed admiral sat calmly while Sebastian Decker, the bane of Gray’s existence, entered the office.

Six feet five and barely contained by the broad muscle and tightly packed frame of a man in his prime, Decker had the nerve to wink at him before coming to stand before the admiral’s desk.

“Yes, Admiral?”

“Stand easy, Sebastian.” Lonnie smiled at him as if the two were fast friends. That in itself irritated Gray. But when Decker eased back and invaded Gray’s personal space, he barely contained a growl. Lately Gray had a hard time restraining his beast around the male. The damn thing wanted to fight, to prod and test Decker’s strength. He’d seen plenty of evidence that the bastard could and would fight to protect himself, but Gray had the sense Decker always held back when they sparred. And he didn’t like it.

Decker placed his hands behind his back and stood at a modified parade rest. In doing so, his hand grazed Gray’s arm. It was all Gray could do not to grow claws and rake them down Decker’s powerful chest.

Lonnie continued to watch them. Decker looked straight ahead, while Gray silently dared the man to make eye contact. Just once would be all it took, and Gray would… What? Gut him? Caress him? Kiss him?

Oh shit. Not those thoughts again.

Lonnie cleared his throat, and Gray blinked to focus on the admiral once more. He lived for the job. He just had to keep reminding himself of that. “Sir?” In private, Gray would address him with familiarity. But in front of a peer, he always afforded Lonnie the ultimate respect.

Lonnie, however, ignored him. “Sebastian, do you have a problem working with Grayson?”

“No, sir. Gray is legendary in the field. It’s an honor to work with him.”

Gray didn’t want to see where this questioning led. “Admiral—”

“Out on missions, would you characterize his performance as top-notch? Does he get the job done with minimal casualty?”

“Most of the time.”

Gray didn’t like Decker’s answer and glared at the man. “What does that mean?”

Decker turned his bright blue gaze in Gray’s direction.

Fuck, but the man has amazing eyes. His beast approved, rumbling deep inside Gray’s chest. Lonnie took no notice of it, unable to hear. But Decker’s eyes narrowed. His Circ senses, so attuned to the smallest change, must have heard the ultrasonic sound.

Decker’s lips twitched as he turned back to the admiral. “Gray will do anything to accomplish the mission, to include putting himself needlessly in harm’s way.”

“Needlessly?” Gray scowled. “I—”

Decker interrupted. “He thinks because he heals easily, he’s not at risk. But he forgets the enemy always has surprises in store for us, since it seems like everyone out there knows we Circs exist.”

“Bullshit.” Gray fumed.

The admiral stopped him from saying anything else with an upraised hand. “And his mood swings?”

“Mood swings?” Gray repeated, not understanding Lonnie at all. “I’m not moody. Christ, where the hell are you going with this?”

“Getting worse,” Decker answered. “But I can handle it, no problem.”

“Good, good.” Lonnie clasped his hands together on top of the desk. Then as if they’d never discussed mood swings or Gray’s alleged idiocy in the field, Lonnie briefed them on their next assignment. “I’m sorry to throw you two out there again, but we can’t ignore these reports of a rogue Circ. After that last batch we found in Mexico, I thought we’d contained the breakouts. But the file I have indicates another rogue, possibly the beginnings of a nest. Reports lead me to believe this one might turn mutant at any time.”

Before Decker could ask any of his stupid questions, Gray interrupted. “The rogues won’t be our worry here.”

“Rogues are always a threat, Gray. You constantly underestimate them,” Decker said in that uptight Northeastern accent that annoyed him.

“True,” the admiral agreed. “Like you, Sebastian, they were injected with the Circe serum and at first, turned Circ. Soldiers able to transform into bigger, faster warriors with claws, fangs, and hardened skin. They sense danger and can repel small-caliber rounds when changed. But because they’re rogue, their strength is doubled, as you’ve no doubt experienced in the field.”

“Exactly.” Decker nodded. “Superstrength too, so they’re not easy to take down, Gray.”

Gray didn’t need the history lesson. “That’s Circ 101, genius. But in the time you and I have been partnered, we’ve yet to run across a mutant. You don’t know what they can do.” He turned to Lonnie. “I thought they’d capped the last one in Brazil last month.”

Lonnie’s mouth turned grim. “So did I. The Circe’s Recruits team suffered a beating but managed to take care of a nest growing in the jungle. Problem is we have information that indicates the leader of this new group is turning fast. His name is Al Ross, and he’s gathering a following we don’t want.”

“Terrific, just what we don’t need. A gang of mutants.” Gray turned to Decker, conscious the man smelled faintly like cocoa. Though most Circs tended to have a unique scent all their own that any Circ could identify, Gray always detected Decker with little effort.

“So we have mutants.” Decker shrugged. “We take care of them like we handle rogues.”

Gray knew Decker had yet to face the real rough stuff, and he was curiously loath to subject the younger Circ to the ugly side of his condition. Which made little sense, so he forced himself to continue. “Mutants are rogue Circs who react even worse to the Circe serum. When they don’t satisfy their sexual urges with other Circs, the buildup of hormones mutates their genetic structure. So instead of looking like hulking weightlifters on steroids, they get seriously weird. Their skin grows black, their eyes turn red, and they kill everything in their path…after fucking it. Nothing much human about them except their capacity to destroy.”

“Hell.”

“Yeah.” Gray sighed. Maybe after this operation, he’d take a few weeks off. He was getting tired, exhausted by the constant cruelty he saw way too often in the course of his job. Lately, even time spent with his precious niece couldn’t nudge him from the depression settling into his bones. His beast felt restless, his need to shift into his more primitive, stronger form all-encompassing.

“Gray?”

He blinked at Decker, not surprised to see a measure of concern in the man’s eyes. “What?” he snapped.

Lonnie answered, “Your partner was asking if you needed to sit this one out. He said you took quite a hit saving him from a bullet—one he wouldn’t have been exposed to if you’d taken more care with yourself in the jungle.”

“Ah, I didn’t exactly say that, Admiral.”

Holy shit, Decker was blushing. Gray blinked, bemused at the sight of his partner looking less than reassured. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought himself attracted to the guy. But Gray had always favored women. Unlike most of the artificially created Circs, he’d been born this way. He didn’t undergo mating heats—periods of intense sexual arousal, when only sex with another Circ would do. The Circ way of perpetuating the species.

Lonnie pierced Gray with his stare. “You might not have said it, Sebastian, but we both know it’s true.”

Gray refused to agree.

“Very well.” Lonnie stood up and handed a folder to Decker. “I want you two to study up on your quarry. No picture, I’m afraid. This rogue was never part of an official project. But we have a name, his last location, and a few crime scenes. Your plane tickets are reserved for Friday, so you have three days to get yourselves together while we gather some last-minute intel from our sources out West.”

“Where West, Admiral?” Decker asked.

“Bend, Oregon. Center of the state, and in the Cascade Mountain Range. Lots of mountains out there for our guy to hide in. And lots of snow too.”

“In June?” Gray asked.

The admiral nodded. “Oh, and before you think about doing anything ‘we’ll both regret,’ you screw with this mission at all, you answer to Alicia from now on. You go by the book on this. My orders, my way. We clear?”

Gray wanted to stay far away from the matchmaking woman. Lately, Alicia’s answer to everything involved mating and babies. Gray had a career to think of, that and a life he chose to live. He’d be damned if he’d let some ancient mystic tie him up in fate and destiny with a great big bow. Even if she was his grandmother.

Gray left with the admiral’s blessing, but Bas—as Sebastian referred to himself—stayed behind at his superior’s request. “Sir?”

Personally, he liked Admiral London. The man had been straight up with him from the get-go, unlike the pricks at the laboratory where he’d been kidnapped and injected with that nasty serum that turned him Circ—involuntarily. He could only be glad he hadn’t succumbed as so many others had. The mating heat had never affected him, much to the bemusement of the admiral and the myriad doctors who’d studied him.

But he feared he might be more like the Circs of Circe’s Recruits and Dawn Endeavor than anyone thought. Lately he had…needs. Sexual needs that his beast wanted only one particular man to satisfy. The scent of Grayson Belle lingered like a fine cologne. Wild and earthy and uniquely male. A mug on the admiral’s desk trembled, a residual of Bas’s telekinetic energy escaping, and he hurriedly tamped it back down. Another problem he’d been trying to handle lately—his unstable and unwelcome psychic ability. Fortunately, the admiral didn’t notice.

“Tell me, son, how is he?” The older man nodded to the closed door through which Gray had exited.

“Honestly?” Bas continued when the admiral motioned for him to speak. “He’s like a time bomb waiting to explode. It’s like he’s craving the excitement. I can’t explain it, but I can feel him tensing, sizing me up, and it’s all I can do not to attack him first.”

He hadn’t wanted to share Gray’s problem, but he worried about his partner. Truth was he lusted after the guy with a hard-on that wouldn’t quit. That caramel skin, those hazel eyes, the black hair that kissed the nape of his neck and framed a face too wild to be classically handsome. Yet Gray captivated all the same. He was Circ to his bones. A fact Bas’s beast never let him forget.

“At each other’s throats, hmm? That’s good.” The admiral smiled.

“Sir?” Did the man want them to kill each other?

“We’ve been waiting for these reactions from Gray for some time. It’s okay, Sebastian. He’s not quite like you and the others. Gray is different, special. He just needs to release his beast every now and then. When you’re in Oregon, keep an eye on him but encourage him to let go of that wildness. It’ll help, trust me.”

Bas did trust the admiral, as much as he trusted the admiral’s wife, Alicia Sharpe. She had a presence about her that heralded great power and soothing peace. Beautiful, graceful, and never a hair out of place. And she was Gray’s grandmother. How could he not like the woman? Besides, his beast accepted her, and he heeded his beast’s instincts. They’d kept him alive on more than one occasion.

“Now go on. Make sure you two read that file before you leave the building. Oh, and I’ve found you a place to stay for the night. I know you have a place in Alexandria, but I want you and Gray to be tighter, to trust one another. Yes, I realize the trust issue is on his end, not yours. Still, if I order you two to get along, he can chafe, but he can’t refuse.” The admiral tossed another paper at him. “That’s the address and directions to your shared temporary lodging. I’m sorry about the suddenness of this new mission, but it’s necessary. Now track down Grayson and find our rogue Circ.”

Bas nodded. He gripped the folder and paper and left the room. It didn’t take him long to find Gray. His beast easily picked up the trail of anger and exotic jungle, that rare scent that made him ache in the most inappropriate of places.

Though at ease with his bisexuality, since becoming Circ, Bas had been more and more drawn to men, or one man, in particular. Grayson Belle had become his sole focus. He dreamed about him, to the point he couldn’t think the word sex without an image of Gray popping into his mind.

He found his partner in a nearby break room, empty except for Gray.

“Hell. Now what?” Gray asked. Another soul blinked at him through Gray’s eyes, and Bas let that creature see the inner beast chafing within himself. Like called to like, if only Gray would acknowledge the fact. But Sebastian’s partner had a bit of a chip on his shoulder when it came to Circs created outside of the government’s official projects. Circe’s Recruits and Dawn Endeavor were two teams of Circs who consistently—though unofficially—did Alicia Sharpe’s bidding. The admiral had entrusted Bas with the information when he’d brought him on as Gray’s partner. Yet Bas wondered how much Gray knew about those teams, or how Gray actually fit into the Circs.

“Well? I’m not getting any younger.”

Or sexier, Bas’s beast whispered to him. He couldn’t help a small growl, which further irritated his partner. In an effort to make peace, Bas held out the paperwork the admiral had given him.

“Our lodging for the next three days.” He nodded at the paper Gray glared at. “The folder contains the info on our next mission. So let’s study the documents then get out of here to—”

“Wait a second. This address. You sure the admiral gave it to you?”

Bas couldn’t mistake the suspicion on Gray’s face. “Yeah. Why? What’s wrong?”

Gray looked from the paper to Bas and back to the paper. Then he muttered a few choice swearwords under his breath. He grabbed the folder from Bas’s hands and breezed through it in a few seconds, then closed it and handed it back to Bas. “Take that back to the admiral and meet me at the admiral’s spot in the lot.”

Bas had questions, but the shuttered look on Gray’s face kept him silent. He left and scanned the folder before turning it over to the admiral’s secretary. Then he looked for Gray at the specified area in the parking lot, only to find Gray behind the wheel of a dark SUV.

“Get in,” Gray ordered through the open window.

Surprised at the curbside service, Bas entered. “Thanks.”

“Shut up.”

“And there’s the Gray we know and love.” Bas gave him an overlarge grin. For the life of him, he didn’t understand why Gray’s peevishness made him more attractive.

“Look. I don’t know if you and the admiral set this up or what, but let’s get something straight. I’m not into sharing.”

“Ah, o-kay.” What the hell was he talking about?

“So don’t even think this is my idea.”

“Right. Look, hero, why don’t you just tell me what the hell crawled up your ass and died?”

Gray clenched his jaw tight. Bas knew he absolutely hated it when Bas called him hero. Which was why Bas made sure to call him that several times a day.

“You do know where we’re staying?”

Bas sighed. “Long as it has a bed, I’m game. It’s been nearly eight months of nonstop action. I barely remember where home is. Honestly, I don’t give a rat’s ass where we go. I want to sleep, eat, and take a nice long hot shower without interruption. Think you can handle that…hero?”

Gray growled at him, and Bas wanted to purr. Gray was so damn sexy when he scowled. All dark and broody. The power just bunched up inside him, waiting to be sprung free.

When Gray continued to sulk beside him, Bas slouched down in his seat. He closed his eyes while his partner drove, honest about being tired. The pace they worked had been incredible. Righting wrongs and cleaning up science gone wrong from Ecuador to Norway to Mexico had been more than tiresome, yet still exhilarating, being able to be so close to Gray. The man moved like the wind, had a mind that never quit, and the tenacity of ten bloodhounds. They’d occasionally routed rogue Circs but normally found themselves cleaning up drug wars. Only the drugs they found weren’t the illegal kind but the experimental kind.

Remembering how many times Gray had saved innocents and nearly gotten himself killed while doing so aggravated his beast until Bas reminded him that the man sat safely beside him, close enough to reach out and touch.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” Gray’s familiar voice rasped. “We’re here.”

They parked in front of a nice-looking brownstone in an upscale neighborhood. Expensive cars sat along the street, and the surrounding landscaping screamed money. A real step-up from the last hotel they’d stayed in.

“The admiral went all-out on our digs, eh?” Bas sat up, stretched, and bumped his head on the ceiling of the SUV. “Damn.”

“Just remember, inside, you break it, you bought it. And don’t even think of taking a step into the master suite. I’m not kidding.”

The way Gray talked about the place, he made it sound as if…

Bas followed him out the door of the vehicle and up the steps of the nearest building. Gray pressed a button on the keychain and locked the car door before using a different key to open the brownstone. “Wait here.” He slammed the front door shut after entering and then opened it a minute later. “Had to deactivate the alarm. Well, come on in.”

Bas blinked, amazed and excited to be able to see this more intimate side of Gray. “This is your place.”

“No shit, Sherlock. Well, come on. I’ll show you all the places you can’t be.”

Art from countries all over the world graced the walls. African masks, South American throw rugs, a German cuckoo clock. An eclectic mishmash that should have seemed thrown together instead looked sophisticated surrounded by dark brown woods and black leather furniture. On one hand, the place looked like a friggin’ museum, but on the other, Bas thought he could easily sink into the oversize furniture and not get up until the next morning.

He followed Gray around like a puppy, mentally thanking the admiral up and down. Finally, some alone time with Gray. One-on-one, in the man’s own home, where he’d feel more comfortable. Where he might finally relax enough to let Bas in.

Except the whirlwind tour stopped scant minutes after it had started. Gray forbade him from going down the hallway toward his room. “You can have the guest room. Here.” Gray nodded him toward a tasteful bedroom containing a queen-size bed and a dresser. “The bathroom is in there.” A hall bath done in blues and browns. Simple yet efficient. Very Gray-like. “Kitchen’s open and stocked. Had a friend of mine fill it for me when we wrapped Mexico.”

The surge of jealousy that hit Bas surprised him. His beast didn’t like the thought of Gray with anyone other than him. “Friend?” He coughed to cover a growl and forced a laugh. “I’d love to meet the person you trust with the alarm code to your house. A hot chick? Some smokin’ dude?”

Gray flushed, and Bas found the blush more than attractive. His dick hardened, and he thanked the jeans that kept his erection contained.

“She’s a friend of my grandmother, dickhead. Sixty-four and counting. Is sex all you think about?”

“Um, yeah. I’m a guy.” The surprising surge of lust that wafted from Gray urged him to take a step closer.

Until Gray set a finger tipped in a one-inch claw to his throat. “Let’s get something straight. I don’t have mating heats. I’m not like you manufactured Circs. I was born this way. I like women, not men. And if I catch you in my bedroom without an invitation, I’ll make you wish you’d never met me.”

“No way.” Bas stepped closer, feeling the bite of pain as the claw bit into his neck. “I could never be upset I’d met you, Gray. You’ve been so gosh awful nice so far,” he said in a bad Southern accent.

Gray just stared at him, those hazel eyes unblinking. And then the bastard laughed. The smile on his face was the most beautiful thing Bas had seen in a long time.

“Christ. You’re a serious pain in my ass.”

Man, I wish.

Gray stepped back and wiped his bloodied claw against Bas’s neck. The touch felt like a caress. Gray must have seen the heat in his eyes because his own narrowed, and he backed away in a hurry. “I’m tired. I’m going to catch some shut-eye. We’ll talk about the mission tomorrow.”

“But the case file, how do you know—”

“I read fast. It’s all in here.” Gray tapped his forehead. “Towels are in the linen closet. ’Night, Decker.” Then he spun on his heel and disappeared down the hallway Bas had been forbidden to enter.

Bas heard a door slam. He glanced down at his cock, trapped beneath unforgiving denim, and swore. “Another lonely fucking night. Just you and me.” He looked at his palm, then down the hallway again, wishing it might have been different.

His beast protested the entire time he showered and jacked off—twice—to images of Gray on his knees, sucking Bas to heaven. All in time, guy. Your foot’s in the door now. Just don’t blow it—at least not until he asks you to. His beast didn’t like the advice, but he took it all the same. And Bas slept a little easier, knowing the object of his affection lay just a short distance down the hall.