Read Dawn Endeavor 4: Gunnar's Game for Free Online

guy as Lonnie.” Mrs. Sharpe didn't react, but the absolute stillness in her petite frame reminded him of how Jules had reacted before. Her tension said what words did not.
    The woman was seriously freaked.
    “Mrs. Sharpe?”

    “Lonnie?” she whispered. She paused in thought. “That can’t be right. No.” She closed her eyes, then opened them, her expression bleak. “But it makes a twisted kind of sense.”
    Oh hell. The woman was blinking back tears. In the year Tersch had been working for her, he'd rarely seen anything upset her. An arched brow, a mocking smile, one or two sharp words, but nothing of panic or grief, even when Ava had been held at knifepoint in the woods outside the house, right before they'd killed Montaña.
    “You're not going to cry, are you?” he asked in a hoarse voice. Where the fuck was Ava? Olivia, hell, Sheridan?
    Mrs. Sharpe blinked. “Of course not. I had something in my eye.”
    “Right.” A part of him wanted to hug her, to reassure her that he'd protect her.
    But he couldn't make that call, not when he feared hurting her in the process. If only he could keep a handle on that monster inside him. The raging chaos that wanted nothing more than to destroy.
    She took a deep breath and exhaled a shaky sigh. “I have a few things I need to look into. I'll talk with the rest of you later. Let the others know to meet in my study after breakfast tomorrow. Nine o'clock.”
    He started to really worry when she didn't make any “don't be late” comments before she left.
    Not sure what the hell was going on, Tersch decided to grab a shower, then a late lunch and some rack time before dinner. While the others were no doubt screwing themselves silly, his libido had been sated by Jules and the guys yesterday. Maybe it had been a mating heat after all, because seeing the female Circs today hadn't aroused him at all. Normally, he felt at least a pull of attraction at remembrances of Olivia or Sheridan in their Circ forms.
    But now all you can think of is Ava, normal or changed— and that is a sight worth seeing again . His beast purred his pleasure at the thought. The creature wouldn't leave well enough alone. Even his damned berserker wanted to mark and claim the female, and that wasn't happening. It would be one thing if Tersch could fuck Ava out of his system. He'd take her and forget her. Except he knew it wouldn't be that simple.
    Not with Ava.
    The man would make love to her; then his beast would push his way into claiming her, fucking, biting, petting, which would then lead to his berserker trying to break free from the tight hold he held on it. And that creature wanted nothing more than to possess Ava. No, not possess, own . As if Ava would allow that to happen. But when the time came, he'd just have to make her realize…
    He started, aware he hadn't questioned the when of claiming her, but the how.
    “Hell, this is not what I need right now,” he muttered and stomped up the stairs to his room.
    Someone had cleaned it, because he'd left it a mess, as usual. Chaos made him feel at home. A clean room reminded him too much of his early years spent trying to please Eric Tersch, a time best forgotten.
    He closed his bedroom door behind him and sighed as he finally relaxed.
    Letting the tension ease from his tired muscles, he stripped off his boots, socks, and shirt. He walked into the bathroom and grinned at the stacked towels on the sink.
    “Bet that burned her ass.”
    Some twisted part of him got off on making Ava serve him. Probably because it annoyed her to no end, and he liked the strange relationship they had. He wanted her but wouldn't have her. She wanted him but didn't want to desire him. And they both knew how the other felt, so they dealt with their common frustration by pissing each other off. It worked for him.
    He shifted on the balls of his feet when her scent hit him—the clean, pure smell of Ava Belle. Oddly enough, she didn't smell like a typical Circ. Nothing fruity