Dawn Endeavor 4: Gunnar's Game by Marie Harte Page A

not.” He burned for her. “You're pissy, arrogant, and mean.”
    “ Gunnar .”
    “Please. You know it's true. Why the hell do you think I walk around with a hard-on every time you're near? Why do you think it's so fucking difficult for me to stay away from you? You're bitchy, gorgeous, and hardheaded. You don't take my shit or cry because I hurt your feelings when I say something stupid. You’re mine ,” his beast had to add, just to be heard.
    “So then what's the problem?” She cocked her hip and leaned a hand on it, showing her annoyance. “You think I can't handle your beast? Honey, you're strong, but you have nothing on what I can really do.”
    “Ava, I want you. My beast wants you. But my berserker, it wants to dominate you, real bad. I get angry a lot, and it's hard to control myself on a good day. But around you, I have a hard time keeping it together. I'm afraid I could seriously hurt you, honey. And I could never live with myself if that happened.” She studied him with an odd look. “You think I'm buying this?”
    “Why would I lie?” Frustrating woman. He was trying to be honest, to be up-front and put his cards on the table.

    “Because you're scared. Scared of making a commitment, scared of having someone to love and toe the line for. You like playing too much.”
    “Dammit, that's not true.” He clenched his fists. She made him sound like some selfish playboy. Didn't she realize how difficult this was for him? How much he wanted her but denied himself for her benefit?
    “Sure it is. I read your files, Gunnar.” She smiled, showing sharp white fangs.
    “I know all about your time in the navy. I've read detailed accounts from your old captain and from the doctors who treated you in Pearson Labs, back when the Dawn Endeavor program was brand new.
    “A different woman every night, sometimes two at a time. You liked to play around, and you liked your sex a bit rough.” She shrugged. “So do I, but you don't see me trying to avoid how I feel for you because I want to play the field.”
    “You're missing the point.” He forced himself to remain calm. Like hell she'd play the field . “That was years ago. I don't want anyone else. Shit. I don't want any other female Circ but you.”
    The canny woman was now grinning at him. She liked him wanting her and hurting because of it?
    “Ava, I never hurt Olivia or Sheridan, because I didn't love them. I like them, I respect them and their mates, and I'll treasure the softness they gave me when I needed it. But with you, I can't be gentle. Or safe.” He swallowed hard, seeing Susanna in his mind's eye. “I can't protect you from me.” Ava changed in an instant and launched herself at him. She knocked him to the ground and straddled his abdomen, her tiny hand around his throat and cutting off his air supply.
    He stared at Ava who wasn't quite Ava. A shimmer of her beast lingered over her human form, like a shadow of animalistic rage over the beautiful woman underneath. This Ava had fangs and claws and unbelievable strength. She hadn't grown much, yet her strength was that of a Circ much, much larger.

    “I don't need your fucking protection .” She spat the word like a curse. “I'm stronger and faster than you'll ever be. Your hesitance makes me question why I thought to consider you worthy of mating with me. You act like you're scared of your own shadow.”
    She insulted his manhood. His beast didn't like the challenge. But it was his berserker that he worried about. The monster wouldn't tolerate its mate's rejection.
    Just what Tersch had been trying to avoid.
    He struggled against letting her see what she should be so scared of and rasped, “Ava, shit. Let me up and back away.”
    “I've seen your berserker before.” She huffed and loosened her hold on his throat. “I'm not impressed.”
    “Don't do this. Don't do this,” he chanted, holding on even as his beast broke through his constraints as well as his clothes. His shirt split; his