Caitlyn murmured something to Roane, and his thrusts grew rougher. Then Hale felt her hands on his back, smelled the mixture of his and Roane's cum all over her, and thrilled at the sense of belonging. Once again, everything was right with his world, and he thanked this pair for giving him back his sense of self. The rapture of possession consumed him, Roane's dominance and Caitlyn's acceptance shooting him toward that pinnacle of orgasm.
When she reached for his cock and pumped him, Hale lost his mind.
“Oh, oh fuck,” he shouted as he came hard. His orgasm lasted, coating her hand with cream as she continued to stroke him, and Roane surged once more inside him, filling him with seed.
When Roane finally stopped moving, Hale shuddered, spent and oddly calm.
“You okay?” Roane panted.
“That was so damned sexy,” Caitlyn whispered, kissing Hale on the cheek before turning to her mate. As she kissed Roane, he hardened inside Hale once more.
These two are insatiable.
Thankfully, Roane withdrew and rose to his feet. “Time to move this inside. You are okay, aren't you, Hale?”
Ignoring the deeper meaning to Roane's question, as in, what the hell is wrong with you, lately, Hale stood, aware of the cum sliding down his thighs.
“Shit, Roane. You just fucked me up the ass. How do you think I feel?” Roane grinned. “Like you need some more?”
“Funny. Have fun, you two. Go make babies,” he added, pleased when the smile faded from Roane's face. Hale knew how thoughts of children panicked his best friend, and never wasted a chance to taunt him with it. The guy would make a terrific dad, so Hale thought it his duty to remind him of fatherhood as often as possible. “Later.” He shook out his limbs and stretched, relaxed once more. Leaving his duffel where it lay, he decided to take a quick shower before leaving the compound. Walking unashamedly back to the main house, he entered his room without running into anyone. By the muffled roar through the wall, he figured Derrick and Sabrina would be going strong all night. Like Kelly, Ace, and Zack, and like Roane and Caitlyn.
But not me. Not yet.
Hale stepped into his bathroom and lingered under a hot shower, gradually changing back into his human form. He liked the fact that his friends had found people to love. It had taken Ace and Zack years to come to grips with what they meant to each other as well as to Kelly, and now the threesome was inseparable. Roane had his hands full with Caitlyn, and Derrick had finally found a woman to tolerate his gruff attitude in the mean and sexy Sabrina.
Having grown up in a caring family, Hale had nothing against marriage. His parents had cherished one another until the day they died. He didn't have trust issues or an unrequited longing for anyone. When he found “the one,” he'd know her. It had been that way for his parents, and he knew it would be that way for him.
Though taking a mate didn't necessarily mean a happily-ever-after, Hale saw the way his friends had taken to their own joinings. Sex and chemistry played a huge part in his friends' relationships, yet all four of his squad mates had found love as well. Even when Caitlyn enjoyed the occasional threesome with Hale, her heart belonged to Roane.
Circs handled the physical side of love a lot differently than most people, because they had to. Nothing like being at the mercy of your hormones every few weeks to make you rethink sexual taboos and labels. And there was nothing normal or tame about Circs in heat.
Hale slicked his hair back, enjoying the calm he'd been missing for months. He hadn't been “normal” since he'd run into McKinley at Pearson Labs during the winter.
Hell, if I’m honest with myself, it’s been longer than that. As much as Hale wanted to deny the odd dreams he'd been having, his family had a history with the unexplainable.
The Rogers family had always done things no one in their small North Carolina hometown could quite understand. Hale's father predicted the weather, without fail.
His mother knew things—where something got lost, when a friend's baby was due, who would call on the phone right before it rang. Flashes of extrasensory ability in his family had always been there. His parents were surprised when Hale showed no signs of anything more extraordinary than his ability to throw a football. And so Hale, an only child, managed to escape much of the town talk, clinging to his proclivity for sports and his popularity with girls.
Joining the military had been the natural progression for a young man taken with physical exertion, discipline, and order. The Marine Corps had treated him well. And then he'd signed up for Project Dawn. Within months, he had become something not quite human, altered genetically, physically, and mentally.
But Hale had little in the way of complaint. He loved being a Circ.
He flexed his arm, enabling a part of himself to change, and stared at the tanned, larger hand that ended in blade-sharp talons. Being stronger and faster felt great. With his new abilities, he could jump higher, run faster for longer periods of time, and rebuff the threat of most small-caliber rounds even at close range. His enhanced senses allowed him a perspective on the world most people would never know.
The mating heat took some getting used to. Despite the utter necessity of sex with other Circs, the sexual gratification was like nothing else. Though he preferred women, Hale had come to accept his needs when in that changed state. He didn't know what to call what he'd shared with Roane and the others—hell, what he continued to sporadically share with Roane and Caitlyn.
Hale forced his arm to return to normal, comfortable with the gentle slide of muscle and bone as he transitioned back. The water started to cool, so he turned off the shower and dried himself. More muffled noise came through the walls, and he smiled at thoughts of Sabrina taming Derrick.
Another pair in love. As he left the bathroom to dress, he wondered what it must be like to have someone special. To love and be loved, the way his friends did, the way his parents had. Hale had never known a true love like that, and sometimes, he wondered if he ever would. Being a Circ certainly narrowed down the playing field. On the off chance he found the woman of his dreams, she'd have to accept that Hale turned into something less than human, and that he needed to fuck other Circs, be they male or female.
Oh yeah, that'd go over like a lead balloon.
Sighing, he dressed and left the house. Picking up his duffel from where he'd left it, he entered the garage, grabbed his keys from the key rack, and started his truck. He left a short cell message for Doc about needing to get away for a few. If they needed him, they'd call. But for once, Hale hoped they wouldn't.
The others thought of Hale as the easygoing Circ, the even-tempered team member who often settled brawls, as opposed to engaging in them. But he was also the most determined of the bunch. When Hale had a question, he wouldn't rest until he found his answer. Right now, Paige Masters puzzled him. He needed to know exactly what had happened at her house, why he'd dreamed of her, and why the thought of her refused to leave his mind.
His mood darkened as an image of McKinley joined Paige's. Two pieces of a puzzle that didn't seem to fit anywhere. Hale only hoped he could solve this mess, and the sooner the better, because he had the uneasy feeling these two strangers would complicate his life. He had enough on his plate without Elliot Pearl's castoffs taking up his valuable time.
Grunting in annoyance, he pulled out of the long driveway and headed back to Avalon.
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.