“None of that matters.” Jules waved away her concerns. “Sheridan, I'm not normal.” He lowered his voice. “I have a dangerous job. And I'm a lot more than a regular guy.” He paused. “I'm Circ. I have to be to survive the mating heats. I've been with women—and men.” He seemed to be waiting for a reaction.
Unfortunately, she couldn't drum up the disgust he seemed to be looking for.
Good Lord. The thought of Jules doing the other Circs made her wet. He was a sexual male, and she loved his dominance.
His nostrils flared, and he smiled, showing a hint of fang he quickly covered.
“See? That's why you and I work. You can accept what I am. I'm different, and I always will be. I'm in charge because I have to be.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “And you like that.”
God, yes, do I. She coughed and took a sip of her water. Then a sudden thought came to her. “Have you and Tersch…?”
“Yeah. A lot. And with the others too. I'm the leader, an alpha. Sex bonds us.
The team, I mean.”
She flushed, suddenly wet and wishing they were anywhere but here.
He exhaled hard. “Man, you smell good. So I take it that doesn't bother you?”
“Olivia and Ava too?”
“Olivia, not Ava. She's not one of us.”
That’s what you think. “Olivia, hmm?”
He didn't look away from her, and the lack of his discomfort somehow made it easier to accept. “Olivia's happily mated to Fallon. She's a part of my team now. But I don't want to spend the rest of my life with her as my mate. She knows her place among us, and being with her is almost intrusive now, especially with the baby coming.
“Sheridan, I know this sounds really out there, but we're not human. We're Circ, and Circs have unusual needs.”
Though Sheridan didn't like the thought of Jules with Olivia, her beast accepted it. Just the notion that Jules had kissed Olivia bothered the crap out of her; jealousy reared its ugly head. Yet her beast urged her to understand the necessity of the Circ bonding process.
A glance over to her right showed Olivia sitting with Fallon, her arm around his shoulder. The woman was clearly in love with her mate. Though she'd expressed affection for Jules, she didn't seem flirty or more than friendly with him.
“So you're not in love with her?” As soon as she said it, Sheridan hastily corrected, “I mean, you're not involved with any of your team that way? Like mates, right?”
“We're all a team. The longer you're with us, the better you'll see how we function. I'd give my life for any of them. We've been through some tough stuff, danger, pain, loss. But now Fallon has Olivia, and Hayashi has Morgan, as irritating as he can be.”
They shared a smile.
“Two of us have bonded, but Tersch and I are still alone. Or at least, Tersch is.” Jules grasped her hand again, his energy snaking into her palm. “Sheridan, I want to know everything about you. I know you like vanilla and not chocolate. That you're sexy as hell but still innocent, no matter what we've done.” He grinned at her blush. “You're a tremendous healer. Your gift is much of who you are. Giving, caring, unselfish. That's why I fell in love with you, Sheridan. That's why I mated you and why I want to marry you. We have the rest of our lives to learn about each other. I want to get started with you by my side.”
Chapter Thirteen
The waiter chose that moment to return to their table, and Jules wanted to strangle him. Fortunately, the guy had enough sense to back away with a hasty excuse.
Sheridan's blue eyes were huge as she stared at him, her full lips parted in amazement.
The violet in her aura hadn't changed. He knew she loved him, but he couldn't understand why she thought he'd reject her. The woman had guts, a kind heart, the mind of a genius, and the body of a goddess. Why wouldn’t he want to marry her?
“You love me? You want to m-marry me?”
“Yes. The sooner the better.”
“But Jules, we don't know each other.”
“What do I need to know about you that I don't already know?” he asked.
She sputtered, looking both adorable and sexy in that dark blue sundress that showed off her generous cleavage. “We might have nothing in common!”
“Opposites attract. And besides, we have several things in common.” He held up a hand and ticked off his fingers. “One, we both like to run. Two, we both get bigger when we're excited,” he said with a wicked smile, startling another blush out of her. “Three, we're both loyal to friends, and we fight to protect the innocent.”
“That's four things, not three,” she corrected in a soft voice. “Jules, I don't know. It's not rational. We barely know each other. We've spent less than a week together at most.”
“Love isn't rational. I love you, Sheridan. How do you feel about me?” She didn't answer, but her aura glowed like a beacon. “That's not the point,” she said after a pause.
“That's exactly the point. You love me. I can see it.”
“What?”
“I can see auras. And yours is violet any time you're near me,” he said with satisfaction. “The same way Olivia and Fallon are, and Morgan and Hayashi are.” She blew out a breath. “God. This is so embarrassing.”
“What? Knowing that the woman I love loves me back? Baby, it's magic, and it's right. Why can't you let yourself just go with it?”
“Because it's new and it's scary. Hell, I’m scary. I've always been different, Jules. But now I'm beyond different.”
He understood that all too well. “I could always read auras, Sheridan. Never quite fit in with the crowd. But now I'm with others the same way. Fallon reads minds, Olivia reads emotions, Hayashi can see the future, and Tersch is like some damned berserker out of Viking legend. Morgan steals energy. None of us are normal, but we all have something in common. We fight the good fight, and we fight it together. We're family.” He smiled at her, his heart so full, it hurt. “Sheridan, I want to be your family.”
Her eyes filled. “Man, you're good.”
He laughed.
“You seem a little too perfect. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.” She rapped her fingers on the table. “What about my research? It's important to me. I might want to continue it.”
“You can't do that at the mansion?”
“Yeah, I can.” She admitted. “Well, what about us?” She lowered her voice and leaned closer. “Are you still going to have sex with the others while we're together?” The outrage he might have expected to appear on her face didn't. Instead, anticipation made the scent of her arousal so damned alluring.
“Yeah, we might. Sometimes, if I'm away from you on a mission, and it's just the guys, we'll do what we have to.” His vision brightened, and he knew she had to be seeing his changed pupils. “And sometimes we'll play at home, just for fun. As my mate, you'll have to establish yourself. The men might be okay with you, but if they're not, we'll send them a message.”
She swallowed hard, and his cock swelled with need.
“We?”
“Yeah. Ever been stuffed full, baby? Ever had your mouth taken while someone pounded into your pussy? Or had your ass and pussy filled at the same time?”
She blinked at him, and he saw the flash of her beast watching with keen attention. “No.”