Circe's Recruits 3: Derrick by Marie Harte Page A

Instead of pushing her out of his system, he’d damn well become addicted to her. Some help his beast turned out to be.
    Sabrina muttered something against his chest, then leaned back to look up at him.
    “What?” he asked.
    “Why do you always smell like cinnamon?”
    “Why do you smell like apples?” he countered.
    Stymied, they stared at one another until Doc cleared his throat.
    “Sabrina? I need your permission to run some tests --” Before he could finish, Sabrina was shaking her head. “No way.”
    “Sabrina, you haven’t changed yet, and I’m worried. What Elliot did to you may not be reversible, but we can work on fixing the broken aspects of the mutation.”
    “He hasn’t managed that in four years,” she scoffed.
    “Princess, let him finish,” Derrick interrupted, annoyed she wasn’t giving Doc a chance. “You want to be a mindless monster that kills for fun?” When she blanched, he continued, “Then give Doc a shot. What do you have to lose?”
    “My freakin’ mind?”
    “What there is of it,” Derrick muttered and grinned at the curses she uttered. She was so damned cute when riled. Not cute, dangerous. Appealing, his beast countered, and he mentally counted to ten to control his unruly thoughts. Just because he wanted to help a fellow Circ didn’t mean he’d forgotten anything. She was still the enemy, still a woman he didn’t -- wouldn’t -- trust.

    “Sabrina,” Doc tried again. “Without any help, you will lose control of yourself. Despite not wanting to, you’ll hurt people. You’ll be stronger and faster than many of our squad. Do you want to chance hurting Caitlyn or Kelly? After all you went through to save Kelly’s baby from Elliot, do you want to be the one who kills her child?” Sabrina scowled, and Derrick could smell the fear drifting from her pores. “Fine. You do what you have to, but don’t let me hurt Kelly or Caitlyn.” She gave Derrick a shuttered glance. “Or anyone else.” The stubborn woman sighed. “Maybe you should just do us all a favor and kill me.”
    “Hell, no,” Derrick growled, purposefully ignoring his alarm at the notion of Sabrina’s death. “Not after all the hell you’ve put me through. You’re going to deal with this shit. Doc’s going to fix you, you’re going to answer our fucking questions, and then your ass is mine.” He grabbed hold of her hand, ignoring how hard she grabbed him back.
    “Jackass,” she muttered, but she didn’t let go.

Chapter Seven

    Dr. Elliot Pearl scowled and reread his missive again. “Now? They want to see me now?”
    McKinley slowly moved from his position against the wall, startling Elliot, who’d forgotten the massive man’s presence. “Dr. Pearl?” The deep voice sounded more like a growl than a question. Elliot glanced at his bodyguard, refusing to be cowed. Regardless of his fall in status within Pearson Labs, Elliot maintained the title of head scientist. Without his tireless work, the drug that enabled them to control the newest batch of Circs wouldn’t exist. McKinley worked for him, and Elliot resolved to be more in command around the Circ.
    He forced himself to meet McKinley’s changed eyes. Golden amber surrounded slitted pupils, a clear indication that McKinley was more than human. Unlike the other Circs Elliot had dealt with for the past twenty-plus years, McKinley never looked anything but the way he did now. He didn’t change, and he didn’t look completely human. Instead, he had the height and brawn of a super soldier in human skin, but with the eyes and senses of a fully transformed Circ. The man radiated danger by simply breathing.
    Elliot focused and composed himself. “I need to leave in the next five minutes. Please see that my car is ready to go while I grab my briefcase. And check on Simon Dunn for me as well. The CEO wants a full update on the casualties of our last altercation with Circe’s Recruits.”
    McKinley cocked his head, as if aware of what Elliot