Dawn Endeavor 4: Gunnar's Game (14 page)

Though he didn't
change
, he swore his beast joined him in the effort. Milky white seed continued to jet inside her, so much that it began trickling down over the base of his shaft, where they remained joined. And then she moved.

Despite his able readiness as a Circ to engage in sex, coming so hard had been both painful and pleasurable. He wanted to beg her for a minute to recoup, but his body didn't seem to need the respite. He remained just as hard as if he hadn't spilled inside her.

Ava rode him, her breasts bouncing, her stomach contracting. She pinched his nipples and scored his chest. When she leaned down to kiss him, their tongues dueled, and he emerged the victor. Especially when he readied once more to fill his mate.

Ava broke the kiss and whispered into his ear, “Oh, Gunnar. You're so hot. So thick.” She licked his ear and stuck her tongue in, and he came all over again, unable to stop the ferocious pleasure darkening his vision. “Yes. All inside me.

Claim me, baby. Claim me good.”

“Ava, fuck. Yeah,” he moaned and jerked his left wrist free from its restraint.

She continued to slam over him until she came again.

But this time he held her tight, gripping her back to press her down, her full breasts against his chest.

When she calmed and he'd regained his ability to do more than hug her and breathe, he ripped his right wrist free.

“Oh, wow.” Ava shuddered in his arms. “That was amazing.” She blinked at the broken restraints. “I can't believe you freed yourself from those cords. They're the latest in Circ technology, supposedly unbreakable,” she rasped, still trying to catch her breath.

“Do they work on you?” he asked, feeling replete, yet not finished. Not yet.

“Yeah.” She swallowed loudly. “You're not angry or anything, are you?”

“Angry?”

“That I claimed you. You're mine now, Gunnar. Forever.” He wanted to be more upset that she'd put herself in possible danger, but the drug she'd given him had made it possible to finally have her. “I should be mad, but all I can think about is teaching you a lesson.” She leaned up on his chest and frowned down at him. “A lesson? Honey, you should be thanking me for fucking the breath out of you.”

“Nice mouth, mate.” He liked the word as it slipped off his tongue. Mate—a word he'd never thought to use for himself. “But I've tasted your tongue. And your pussy.” He palmed her fine ass, willing and able to go another round. Thank God for Circ genetics. He could go all night long.

And so could Ava.

His grin widened.

“Oh hell. That smile is scary. Do I even want to know what you're thinking?” Ava wished she'd never asked that question. Because Gunnar had whispered in detail what he'd fantasized about doing to her. And now, bent over on her hands and knees, she remained still while he shoved that monstrous cock up her ass.

“No, don't move. And don't use that speed of yours to get free. You owe me, you little witch.” His gruff order turned her on, so she let him play his games.

For years she'd wanted to find a male to take charge of her, but Ava's strength knew no bounds. Though she gave the appearance of being smaller and less powerful, in actuality, she could take on several Circs at once and emerge the victor with ease. Only Gunnar had ever managed to outdo her; only he called to her softer, feminine side to let go and place her trust in the dominant male.

And now she was paying for it. She'd
changed
back at his request, smaller now. Human. “Ow. Come on, you're too big.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw him staring down at himself, where he ended and she began, with awe.

“If you knew how many times I've dreamed of this.” His whisper melted her mental resistance, though her body could only handle so much in this frailer form.

“Feel that burn, baby? That's me inside you. Fucking you.” He pulled out and pushed back inside, stretching her wider.

Ava had played with anal sex before, but she'd never been with anyone Gunnar's size. The brute knew it and took great pleasure in baptizing her narrow ass.

“I'm going to drop a load in this ass. Make it mine.” His low growl thrilled her. So possessive, so dark and demanding. Now if she could just get him to allow his berserker to come out to play.

“You going to fuck me or talk me to death?” she jeered him.

When he pulled back, then pounded back inside her, she wondered what she'd asked for.

“Oh, fuck. That is so good. Keep mouthing off, Ava. I like it,” he said in a thick voice. He continued to take her, no longer gentle. Grinding into her, he rammed that large cock deep.

The rough finger that grazed her clit threw her into a frenzy.

“Yeah, you like that, don't you? My kinky lover likes being fucked up the ass, don't you?”

She felt as if he'd split her in two, and the hell of it was, she liked it. A pain junkie just like her mate.

He grunted and shoved harder, gouging her waist as he took her. In and out, deeper, harder. And that finger. He continued to punish her clit with soft strokes, bringing her so close to orgasm. Then he'd pull it away, frustrating her.

“Make me come, Gunnar.” She tried to shift under him but couldn't budge him.

“Beg me.”

“Ass.”

“Oh, yeah. Here I come.” He yelled and shot hard, filling her with slowing thrusts. “Oh, baby. Motherfucking perfection.”

The jerk. The scent of his cum made her mad to draw him in. She needed to climax, to join him in that same bliss.

“What's that?” he asked, panting. “Need something, little Circ?”

“Gunnar, please.” She rocked back, feeling his balls slap against her clit.

“
Pretty please, mate
. Say it.”

“Pretty please, mate.”

“That's right.” He remained inside her ass, still half-hard, and rubbed her clit with his rough thumb.

She came hard, clenching her ass around him again.

“Damn, that's good.” He lifted her back to his chest, still joined as one. “This little pearl is so full.” He wiped her cream over her clit. “You smell so good, Ava.

Like me, but sweeter.” He buried his nose in her neck and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her against him with ease. “I never want to move again.” After a moment, she gave a weak chuckle. “You might not want to move again, but we're going to have to. I'm swimming in you, and that iron bar up my ass refuses to soften.”

He laughed. “I can't help it. I'm always like this around you. And now I know why. I swear, sticking my dick in you is like shoving into an electrical outlet. So hot in there. That pussy and that ass.” He gently withdrew, leaving her sore, sated, and wanting to do it all over again. “I have water, but we both really need a shower.”

Ava wondered if she should press him about his berserker, but she didn't want to spoil the mood. “Do you think we could lie here together, in all our filth, for just a few more minutes?”

Grinning, her Viking pulled her with him onto some blankets and positioned her atop his chest. She leaned up on her elbows so she could see him.

His light blue eyes looked bright through her Circ senses. He liked that she smelled like him, but she liked more that he smelled like her. Claimed, taken. Off the market.

Pleased, she started purring.

“You are so sexy when you do that.” Gunnar stroked her back and began to purr as well.

“So are you.” She sighed. “I hate to ruin the moment, but I have to say this. If I ever catch you with another woman, without my consent, I will gut you and make it really hurt.”

His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, same goes.”

“I don't suffer mating heats. You don't need to worry about me.”

“Well I do, worry about you, that is. You're too pretty for my peace of mind,” he grumbled. “And I don't like the way other men look at you. Never have.” She liked this side of him very much. “Yeah, well, how do you think I feel, knowing you've banged everyone in the house with the exception of my grandmother?” At his flush, she added, just to be mean, “You didn't have sex with Alicia, did you?”

“Ava, please.” He cringed. “Give me a break. You know about me and the guys and why we fucked. It's a—”

“Circ thing, I know. And I understand about Olivia and Sheridan. But that's over now.”

“I know.” He sounded glum.

She stretched her claws over his chest and dug in.

“Sometimes you are such a bitch.” He grinned. “No wonder I fell so hard for you. Don't worry, baby. Yeah, I was with the guys a few days ago. Circ stuff. Sue me. I'm part of the team.”

She frowned. “I get that, I said.” And she wanted to see the guys in action for once. How sexy to watch three men take her mate down, to see him as a part of something greater, the Dawn Endeavor team.

“Olivia and Sheridan don't smell right anymore. I haven't craved anyone but you ever since you came out that you were Circ.”

“Good. Keep it that way,” she growled, satisfied when he hugged her closer.

“Whatever you put in that shot did the trick, baby. God, I was so scared of hurting you. But we can be together without worry now. Just dope me up with that suppressant and we can fuck like bunnies.”

Ava paused. Great. How to tell him the needle had been full of a saline solution, a placebo she'd stolen from the lab before searching out her stubborn mate? She'd always known he could control himself if he stopped being afraid and just did it. But she didn't think now was the time to tell him. He hadn't hurt her because it wasn't in him to harm someone he loved. Which brought back what he'd said before, about killing his family…

“Gunnar?”

He ran his fingers through her hair, and she relaxed into his arms. “Yeah?”

“Tell me what really happened with your family. I know you didn't kill them.” Curiosity over his history had plagued her since he'd tried to scare her away. She could only hope the great sex had softened him into telling the truth.

“Ava, I don't want to ruin this.”

“You won't. We claimed each other, right?” Actually, she'd claimed him. She wondered if he realized he had one more step to go—releasing the berserker, the core of him, to claim his mate. Until he truly accepted that part of him, he—and she—would never be complete.

“Right.” He sighed. “You really want to know, huh? I guess you should. In a nutshell, my dad was a psycho. He had his own berserker, but he couldn't control it.

He never turned into a freak show, like me. He was totally human. But the fucker was strong and always so goddamn angry. I grew up under his fists. He had big hands.” He lifted his own hand and glanced at it. “Like mine.” Ava took his hand in hers and kissed his fingers.

Gunnar blinked and tried to smile at her. The horror in his eyes brought her to tears, but she knew he wouldn't welcome them, so she forced them away.

“Yeah, the old man was a dick. My mother wasn't much better. She was a shell of a woman who blamed me for everything wrong in her life. My younger sister was the one good thing in my family. She could do no wrong, unless Dad had been drinking. He tended to forget everything but being angry with a bottle of Jack in his hands.”

“Gunnar.”
I’m so sorry, baby.

“I loved Sophie. We all did. Life sucked, but it was all I knew. I don't want your pity,” he suddenly snapped.

“You don't have it,” she snapped back, one blink away from tears.

Fortunately, he didn't call her on it. “Anyway, there was a girl at school I couldn't get out of my thoughts. I'm not sure why, but she liked me back. I knew it was wrong, but somehow we were going out.”

She could see where this headed.

“I had warned Susanna not to come to the house. Told her all about my asshole father. But I didn't show up for school for a solid week, and she was worried.”

“Why?”

“My dad had beaten me pretty bad. I jumped in front of Sophie during one of his rages, the way I usually did. But I wasn't thinking. I yelled back at him, sick of what he was doing to us, to me and Sophie. My mother just watched, blaming me, probably. Dad went mental. Broke my arm and nearly my back.”

“Holy crap.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed her hair as if seeking a source of comfort but not wanting to ask for it. He glanced away from her face, caught in memories she'd forced him to relive. “Well, Susanna came to the house on a bad night. I was still healing. Even then I healed fast, but nothing like now. So Susanna snuck in, and my dad caught us.”

“Having sex?” she asked in amazement.

His dry chuckle relieved her. “No, he caught us in my bedroom. She was packing me a bag. We were going to grab Sophie and leave. But he found us.” Gunnar grimaced. “It happened fast. Dad hit me around. Sophie came in, already bloodied from his fists, and tried to protect me. So he struck her again. This time he killed her. My mom started shrieking, and he slapped her too. But she was conscious, could have called the cops for help. Instead she watched while he broke Susanna's neck.”

Oh, dear God
. “You told me you killed them.”

“I did.” The hollow look in his eyes scared her. So much pain. How had she never seen it before? “I didn't protect Sophie, and I dragged Susanna into the mess.”

“How old were you?”

“Sixteen. Nearly seventeen. Old enough to know better.”

“So what happened?” He seemed steeled for pity, but she didn't give him any, and he relaxed under her.

“Something in me snapped. I don't remember much, only a rage unlike anything I'd ever felt before. My berserker.” His smile was devoid of warmth. “It finally woke up. I ripped the fucker's head clean off and passed out. When I came to, I was in the hospital. Social services took me from my mother. When she told them I'd turned into a monster and killed him, they accused her of being on drugs. She did like to drink a lot. Anyway, I escaped into foster care for a year or two, then joined the navy. The rest is history.”

They lay there together, each watching the other warily.

Ava wanted nothing more than to comfort him, but she knew he wouldn't accept it.
God, I love him so much
. She cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“Thanks for explaining; I was curious. Ah, I had another message from Grayson earlier. The bastard knocked me out cold again.” Gunnar sat up suddenly and cuddled her against him, checking her scalp and then the rest of her for injury. “You idiot. Why didn't you tell me? Are you okay? I'm going to brain your brother when I see him again.” Ava bit her lip to hide a smile. Her mate recovered quickly from his sorry past when her health was in question. And there was the secret to Frederik Gunnar Tersch. The grizzly was actually a marshmallow inside once she peeled past the gruff exterior.