Circe's Recruits 2: Zack and Ace by Marie Harte

She turned bright red. “I mean, I can, it’s just that --” Kelly looked over her shoulder to see what caught Caitlyn’s attention.
    Ace stood in the kitchen wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else. Talk about a perfect body. He grabbed a soda from the refrigerator and paused when he felt them staring at him.
    “What?”
    “Nothing.” Caitlyn shook her head.
    Ace gave her an odd look. He winked at Kelly, saluted her with his drink, and left.
    “Double wow,” Caitlyn breathed. “You have your own personal bookends.” Kelly laughed out loud. “Bookends? I think I like that better than ‘boy toys.’”
    “Yeah, well, I don’t want to talk about your sexy playthings. They remind me of my ‘boy toy,’ and I’m deliberately steering clear of Roane for a while. That idiot had the nerve to argue my designs for our bedroom.” Caitlyn scowled as she reached for her ample purse. She pulled out three bottles of nail polish. “How about we hang out and do girl stuff? Pretty Pink, Barely Blue, or Primal Purple?”
    “Primal Purple.” Though she wondered if the polish would cover her beast’s nails later tonight. Kelly felt the need to change with every breath she took. It wouldn’t be much longer until she let it out. At the thought, her beast purred its approval. “Once you changed, did you finally settle into your own skin?”
    Caitlyn nodded. “I was scared at first, but after you embrace that part of yourself, you’ll feel better than you ever have. You can’t deny who you are, no matter how much you might want to. And trust me, after you claim those knuckleheads who’ve been mooning over you for years, you’ll wonder what held you back so long.” Remembering how good she’d felt sandwiched between them, Kelly smiled and focused on the polish in Caitlyn’s hand. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough.

Chapter Seven
    “Caitlyn Chase is leaving. Derrick Packard is driving her back,” Simon reported to central command.
    “Good. Keep an eye on the house. I want to know the minute Malloy is vulnerable. Our Circ is standing by.” Command disconnected.
    Some days it paid to be a normal human. Simon grinned, feeling superior once more.
    For all that those dickhead Circs strutted around Pearson Labs, there were many instances where only a human could perform.
    Take this cushy assignment. He had to watch the woman’s house. Due to the house’s isolated location, Simon remained a quarter mile away near a neighboring housing development, where he could better blend in. He’d planted surveillance equipment several nights ago, keeping watch on the woman he’d once seen with Caitlyn Chase -- the one that got away.
    Malloy wasn’t bad. Big breasts, a nice ass, and dark red hair he could easily imagine digging his hands into. She didn’t have that same animal magnetism Caitlyn had, but then, from what he understood, she hadn’t changed yet.

    That was what the surveillance was for. According to Pearl, the woman neared her time. She’d turn into an animal, one who wanted nothing more than to be fucked by her own kind. Able to sniff out any rogue Circs in the area, she’d alert the assholes with her of the PPA’s presence. Hence the need for a human operative. He blended in with the rest of her neighbors.
    Simon sighed. So far, so good. English and Two Bears remained inside the house. Two Bears had recovered nicely, and English hadn’t taken enough damage the last time he’d seen him. Not enough to seriously mess up his sexual performance, at any rate.
    Simon still wanted to know how Pearl received so much information on Circe’s Recruits, but the scientist remained closemouthed. No doubt he relished knowing what his original Circs were up to every second of the day. Then too, there was a rumor floating about that the PPA had a mole within its own ranks. Several subjects in the subbasement had expired sooner than anticipated, and computer files vanished, or so Simon had overheard Pearl tell McKinley in