Unlocked (The Alpha Group 3)

The wax on her back had hardened, and with every punishing thrust, little flakes broke off and drifted down onto the bed. I forced myself into her with a single minded urgency, as though by pushing deeper I could claim just a little more of her. There was nothing else in the world at that moment but her body beneath mine.

Her muscles tightened and her sounds became choked, and then another orgasm ripped through her. Then sensation of having her come around my cock drove me wild. I could feel every trembling contraction vibrate through her and into me.

It was too much. I felt the vestiges of my self-control shatter along with her. A mounting tension began building inside me as my hips took on a life of their own. It started low in my balls, radiating upwards and through my shaft then spiralling out further still.

"I'm going to come on you, Sophia," I panted, savouring the little sounds of encouragement the spilt from her lips.

As my pleasure reached its apex, I pulled myself free. There was a bursting sensation and my vision dimmed as I spurted liquid heat onto her back. Seeing her like that, coated in wax and water and me, was the perfect conclusion to the night's activities. It was so fucking hot seeing her marked in that way.

"Well now I know you've made a mess back there," she said.

I laughed. "I may have. Let me fix that." I went to get a towel and took my time wiping her clean. Thanks to the oil, everything fell away easily.

"Fuck, I love you," she said, as we lay there afterwards.

"That's the post coital hormones talking."

"Maybe," she said with a grin, "but it's still true."

"Well, I love you too." I reached out and gave her ass a squeeze. "Particularly certain parts of you."

She punched me playfully. "Now who's talking with their hormones?"

We snuggled together for a while, enjoying the comedown. Gradually, her breathing softened, and I assumed she'd fallen asleep, but then she spoke.

"I can't wait until this is all over."

"Me too," I said, running a hand through her hair. "I know this is rough, but you're dealing with it really well. I'm proud of you. And I'm so damn lucky you're putting up with it at all."

"You are rather lucky." She opened her eyes and gazed up at me, a playful little smile playing on her lips. "Then again, so am I." She let out a little sigh. "I'm just not much of a homebody, you know? Before all of this, if I wasn't at work in the evenings, I was out with Ruth and Lou, or Elle, or you. I can't wait to have that again. I want to be able to go out to dinner with you on my arm and watch all the other women in the place drool."

"If that's the case I dare say we'll be rendering the whole place incapacitated. You obviously don't see how most men look at you."

She laughed. "Perhaps in the interests of public safety we'd better stay here, forever, then."

"Perhaps." Some of my mirth slid away. "It won't always be like this, Sophia. We'll fix this, eventually."

"I know," she replied, but there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

I wished I could reassure her, but the truth was, I wasn't sure myself.

CHAPTER TEN

Sebastian

Thomas intercepted me the next morning, as I was arriving at the house.

"Can I have a word?" he asked. He looked concerned.

I motioned him towards my office.

"What's up?" I asked, as he closed the door.

"I heard something last night from one of our guys overseas. It's just a rumour, nothing concrete, but word on the street is that The Syndicate might be planning something big."

My eyes widened. The Syndicate were one of the closest things we had to a rival. They were less tightly knit than us, more of a financial conglomerate than anything else, but that only made them more ruthless. Russia, China, Saudi Arabia - anywhere with big oil or natural gas production - those were their strongholds. We'd had an uneasy peace with them for decades, mostly because butting heads would cause both of us immense damage; but it certainly wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that they were behind the recent attacks.

"Any idea what?" I asked.

Thomas shook his head. "It's just whispers at this point. It may not even be connected to all of this."

"You don't sound like you believe that."

He smiled thinly. "You know me. I don't like coincidences."

"Me either. I can't see an end game in it for them, though," I said. "We're not remotely close to any of their power bases. Even if they did manage to somehow destroy us all down here, it wouldn't make any difference to their operations. If they were going to make a play, I'd expect them to go after Europe or America, not us."

"Maybe they're just sending a message?"

"Maybe," I replied, although that didn't feel quite right. These attacks felt targeted and meticulous. "If it is them, they've certainly upped their game. They're not exactly the most subtle group, but the people messing with us right now are like ghosts. They're always one step ahead."

Thomas nodded. "That's been bothering me too."

"Well, keep your ear to the ground. Maybe they'll slip up and give themselves away. We could use a gift like that, right now. This whole situation is really starting to wear on me. Not to mention the toll it's taking on Sophia."

My discussion with her had been on my mind all day. I desperately wanted her to be happy, and would have liked nothing more than to spend our nights out on the town, but that was a spectacular way to leave us both exposed. Leaving her alone at work was bad enough, but at least her office had door scanners and security guards and a thousand sets of watchful eyes. Bars and restaurants were a different story. They weren't contained, they weren't a known quantity. Even with our little rag tag security team, there were a million things that could go wrong.

But as the afternoon rolled around, I was struck by an idea. I tracked down Tony and Aaron, and organised for them to just go straight back to the house. Tonight, I'd be playing chauffeur.

A few hours later, I was waiting on the footpath outside Sophia's office. As she exited the building and caught sight of me, her face lit up with a curious smile.

"Hey you," she said.

"Hey yourself."

"To what do I owe this pleasure?"

I grinned and held up the bag I was carrying. "I thought maybe we could have a little dinner party in your office. Just because we can't go to a restaurant doesn't mean we can't eat out."

"Oooh, my office. How exotic!" Her voice was sarcastic, but her smile only widened.