NAC & The Holly Group - Box set: Alpha Team

by Chelsea Handcock

  “Eyes up here Pet.”

  Ethan’s endearment brought everything back; she shouldn’t be here, she needed to go back, she needed to make sure that Lucas was okay and had gotten away. Then she would focus on her sister and nephew, finding them and getting them away from the Overseer.

  “What have you done? You need to take me back,” Sophie screamed, springing from the bed.

  “No!”

  “No? What the hell do you mean no? I told you, Ethan, our moment together was over the minute you left the Club. You need to take me back, you have no idea what is at stake here, I need to be at the Club. You, on the other hand, need to stay as far away from there as possible. Go back to your family. Forget about me and live your life.”

  “I think we can safely say that isn’t going to happen and you and I both know it. We have been fighting this so hard that it’s become second nature. I don’t want to fight it anymore. I know what you are to me.”

  “You don’t know anything, hell, Ethan, I tried to warn you,” Sophie said walking from one side of the room to the other, throwing her hands up in the air every once in a while. “I was sent to the club to entice you, what you feel for me isn’t real. It was a game, fuck, it was probably more than that. Take me back, now!”

  “No.”

  “Lord above, Ethan, why can’t you get this? I am not the weak little woman I showed you at the club. I won’t kneel at your feet and allow you to do whatever you want. You were targeted because of your preferences, they trained me to comply with them. They wanted me to infiltrate your home and report back, so that they could take people you care about. You should hate me, want me gone. Just let me go!”

  “No! It’s your turn to listen. I saw through your act the very first night when you had to force yourself to keep your eyes on the ground instead of looking at me. Then every day after that, you revealed more and more of the woman I want to know, not the imitation you created so you could do what those people had planned. Didn’t my lessons teach you anything? A person’s mouth can lie, but their body and actions will always reveal the truth.”

  Sophie knew he was getting too close to the truth, but she needed him to leave her, she needed to complete her mission. Not the one the others had laid out for her, but her own, saving Lucas, Carley, and her nephew. Ethan’s dominant personality wouldn’t allow, so she needed to piss him off enough to make him let her leave or throw her out. Turning away from him she steeled herself for what was to come. She knew that Shifters could sense lies, but as long as you mixed enough truth with them and other emotions, they were hard to detect. Turning back to him, adapting the cold and icy personality she had perfected over the years she stated.

  “My body and actions, really, Ethan? You think that I crave the slap of your hand or the sting of your whip. Let me tell you, I have had enough slaps, punches, and lashes to last a fucking lifetime. The things they wanted me to do with you disgusted me. Master William and his men took great pleasure in showing me what you expect from your slave.”

  “Slave, who the hell is talking about a slave? I don’t want a fucking Slave any more than you want to be one. But you can’t deny what your body has already told me the truth. You want me and what I have to offer as much as I want to give it to you. Your body and mind respond to my command and touch. The best actress or even whore couldn’t have pulled that off.

  “Sophie, I don’t abuse women. Putting me into the same category as William is the highest insult you could give me. I only give the woman I play with what they want and ask for; the kiss of my whip might bring pain, but it also brings pleasure. Can you say the same for those men? Did they bring you any pleasure, did you enjoy your time with them?”

  Shit, he was hitting back harder than Sophie had expected. He knew she despised them, feared them and their actions, but she needed to pull this off, too many people, including the people Ethan cared for, were counting on her pulling the wool over his eyes.

  “We don’t know each other, Ethan and for you to state otherwise is pure ignorance. I was doing my job plain and simple, you need to accept that and let me get back to it. I have given you the chance to keep yourself and your family safe. Why are you insisting on placing them in danger? The people I work for won’t allow for my absence, they will come for me. Do you understand that you need to be as far away from me as possible when that happens, or I will give them the information they want?”

  “Tsk, tsk, Sophie, you a playing this just a little too hard for me to believe your intentions are true. Answer this, why would you have warned me about your employer’s plans if you were just planning on selling me out later. Or how about the fact that you saved Lucas, one of my closest friends, at great risk to yourself? While you’re at it, why don’t you tell me who the Overseer is and where your sister is at this very moment?”

  “Lucas? Where is he? How did you…”

  “Yeah, that’s right babe, I have more information than you knew, but I think it’s about time we laid all our cards on the table.”

  Sophie started to hyperventilate; Ethan knew everything, there was no way he was going to allow her to go. Lucas was safe, but what about her sister and nephew? The Overseer wanted Ethan’s friends, and he would use him to get them, that was his plan. Sophie wasn’t going to let that happen.

  “You know what? NO! I am sick of you telling me what is best or damn, what I should and shouldn’t feel. You don’t get to do that. Let me clue you in again, Ethan, I am the enemy. I was sent to infiltrate your team, to get information on the baby that Emma Connors had, and the location where both she and Skylar Thomas are being held, and I would have done it, too. I would have sold out all the people you care about to protect the ones I care about, even for a little while. Do you understand that? I am not the person you think I am. I am not weak, timid and mild. This is an act, one I have played many times. What you feel for me isn’t real.”

  “I don’t believe that, Sophia. This whole situation has torn you up, you’re not cold and unfeeling as you are trying so hard to convince me. I also don’t think your conscience would allow you to place an innocent woman and child into that man’s hands.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Jesus, don’t you get it, Carly and I were taken off the streets years ago, she was their prize, and I was expendable. I didn’t meet whatever genetic requirement those assholes wanted. I learned very early that I needed to give them something or they would dispose of me. So, I did, I let them teach me, I let them use me. Do you understand what I am saying, I learned to lie, cheat, and steal just to stay with my sister? Hell, I learned to kill even fuck for her safety. That is gone now, I don’t have to buy her time, I don’t have to go back to the vile man and place. I’m done taking orders that sicken and piss me off.”

  “Babe, listen, I hear what you’re saying, and hell, I can’t say that I blame you, but you’re not going after them; me and NAC with get your family back. Hell, I don’t want you anywhere near that piece of shit when this all goes down. I want you safe. It pisses me the fuck off that they did that to you and your sister, but I’m not going to change my mind about this. You are staying back even if I have to tie your ass down to make that happen.”

  “No, I refuse to be controlled any longer, even by you, Ethan. I am my own person with my own thoughts, feelings, wants, and needs. No one, not even you, can decide what those are. I’m angry and I will get my vengeance, I won’t stay behind like a good little girl and wait for the men to make everything all better. I will be right there, standing by your side, taking the Overseer and his disgusting crew out. I will avenge my sister and my nephew; you can either agree or get the hell out of my way.”

  Ethan watched as Sophie started to go off the rails. She was scared, the smell of it permeated the room, riling his bear. When she stopped breathing and then started only to continue too fast, he knew he needed to do something. Sophie usually responded to his voice, but this time she was too far gone in her own head.

  Ethan moved in front of her a
nd placed his hands on her shoulders, and using his thumbs, he pushed up her chin, holding her in place, making her unfocused eyes level with his own. She needed him, wanted him, he could sense it and so could his bear. He had been holding back, not knowing her true intentions or where her loyalties lay, but he was done with that now. He accepted her as his mate, she was just going to have to get onboard. Sophie responded to his dominance in a way other woman hadn’t. She submitted freely and wholly, but only after he pushed her limits, and that was what he was going to do now.

  “The First rule, Sophie, subs don’t curse in my presence,” he stated when her eyes started to clear and her breathing slowed due to him caging her. When her eyes dilated and became round with desire, he continued, “Second rule, subs are not permitted to lie, even if it is a lie of omission. Do you understand?”

  Sophie couldn’t let him draw her in like this, she needed to fight him. Most of all, she needed to fight her own feelings for him. Ethan wanted a sweet little sub with no backbone, and Sophie wasn’t anything close to that. She might let him take charge in the bedroom or in other intimate situations, but she would never be one to wait for and do whatever he told her.

  “It doesn’t surprise me, Sophie, that you are acting so differently than you did at the Club. You say that sweet, submissive little subbie I have been spending so much time with doesn’t exist, and yet, I see her in your eyes right at this moment. I do have to admit, I like this version better. I’ve never wanted a doormat as a mate, just one who had complementing kinks. I think the fates have chosen well; what do you think?”

  “I think you are an asshole who doesn’t listen to the words that people are saying to him.”

  “I like the fight in you,” Ethan laughed, “but I have already warned you once Pet, I’m not going to do it again. Now, what did you say? Last chance to save your ass.”

  “I said you are an asshole!” Sophie narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin away from his thumbs. “Take me back, now, I don’t want to be here with you.”

  Before the last word left her lips, Ethan was sitting down on the bed with Sophie over his lap. Peyton or someone must have put one of his t-shirts on her, but her ass was bare, just like he wanted it. Bringing his hand down, he landed the first swat, making sure to leave his hand long enough for the warmth to sink into her body. As he continued, he didn’t need his bears heightened senses to tell she was becoming aroused. The smell of her sweet honey practically engulfed the room.

  “Fuck, stop,” Sophie squirmed, “you have no right, Ethan! Shit, ouch, stop you son of a bit-”

  “Every time you curse, I’m adding five more, so keep it up, Sophie, I can do this all day.” Ethan flipped her up after a few more swats, and said, “Better, now. Are you back with me or should we continue your new lesson?”

  ‘You Bastard!’ she screamed when her butt hit the couch. Her face was red with temper, Ethan had never seen a prettier sight. This was his mate. When she took a swing at him, he smiled. If he thought Sophie was perfect before, now he knew. He liked her with fight much more than the subdued version of her he met at the Club. Without missing a beat, Ethan had her back over his lap giving her ass five more swats. When he sat her upright again, Ethan could tell Sophie was battling with her desire to scream and yell at him, but she stopped herself when he quirked his eyebrow her way.

  Ethan hid the satisfaction he felt as Sophie glared at him. When she got up and walked to the other side of the room rubbing her ass, he couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer.

  “No rubbing, Sophie. When you get punished, you don’t get to relieve the ache. Do you understand?” When she stayed quiet, he repeated the question and watched as all her emotions flashed across her face. When she finally dropped her hands to her side and nodded, he considered letting it go, but decided he needed to continue as he was, “Not good enough. Now answer me correctly.”

  “I understand your point, perfectly,” Sophie answered snidely.

  Ethan stood and stalked over to her, letting her see the predator he hid inside of him.

  “I will give you that, for now, Sophie, but soon, very soon, you will learn to accept that I know what you need and what is best for you. You need to trust me, I promise I will never let you down.”

  “Now, come here, I find that I need to hold you for a bit. I know you are mad at me, but the last few days have been hard on both of us. I just want to take a couple of minutes to hold you, so that me and my bear know you are safe and out of harm’s way.”

  Sophie went to him, she didn’t need any further prompting; maybe there was a way for them to work this out without either of them getting hurt. Cuddling up on the bed, Ethan spooned her from behind and petted her like he had at the club. When she heard his breathing level out and the soft snore coming from him, she smiled. Man, if wishes were horses, she would have this for the rest of her life.

  Sophie woke up for the first time in six years feeling completely safe and comfortable. There were no threats of beatings or experiments. Nothing, just the safety of Ethan’s arms around her. Snuggling her body closer to his warmth, she noticed the distinct feel of his erection press up against her backside. Damn, that was another thing she wanted badly.

  “Damn, babe, you don’t know how much I want to take you up on that offer, but we need to go out and talk with my team.”

  “Your team?”

  “Yeah, hell, you don’t know, I work for NAC, a Shifter run security company that specializes in rescue and retrieval. Our mission, until recently, has always been to protect woman and children from the evils of this world. Trafficking, slavery, and abuse, just to name a few. More recently our focus has turned to our own kind and the atrocities that have been committed against them without our knowledge. We just found out that humans have been aware of our race for many years and have been using that knowledge to try to create Shifter children of their own.

  “We also found out we have a few bad apples in our own race who are trying to create purebred children to take over the world or some shit. That’s who we think William and the others worked for; they are called the Association.”

  “It’s not them.”

  “What, what do you mean?”

  “I’ve heard the Overseer talk about the Association he created or built it or something, I’m not sure, but he splintered away from them; as far as I know, his group doesn’t have a name. They do want children though and run tests to determine genetic value. He’s obsessed with getting his hands on the baby I told you about and Skylar Thomas.”

  “Babe I’m going to give you a choice; my team can help you with your sister, I can promise you that, and even if you don’t agree with what I’m going to ask of you, I will still get them to help with your sister it’s what we do. But they need this information as well as the location where she’s being kept.”

  Sophie bit her lip; she was so prone not to trust that she was almost afraid to believe what Ethan was telling her was true. She needed to start somewhere if she wanted whatever this was between them to work.

  “Okay, I will talk to your team, but Ethan if they don’t agree to help, I will be going on my own to get her back. I won’t waiver on that. But, Ethan, I don’t know where the facility is, I was always blindfolded when I went and left there. The best I can determine, it’s somewhere in Northern Ohio, in the Toledo area.”

  “Hey, at least that’s somewhere to start. Peyton and Wyatt are geniuses on those computers glued in front of their faces. If you give them a location to start looking, I’m positive they will hit pay dirt. You just need to trust us, shit, babe, just trust me. I won’t let you down.”

  “Ethan, you have no idea how hard it is going to be for me to do that, but I will try. I promise I will try, I’ve just been let down so many times before that…”

  “I understand, Babe, I’ll earn your trust, so will NAC, just give us time. That’s all I can ask.” Kissing her on the forehead, Ethan got off the bed and started to leave; when she didn’t move, he came back to
the bed and slapped her on the ass Sophie moaned. “Come on, babe, get to it before I decide to say fuck it and do what I want to do instead of doing the right thing.”

  Damn, why did Ethan spanking her have to feel so good?

  Chapter 20

  Sophie walked out into the open concept kitchen and family room. Her first view of the back wall took her breath away, it was so beautiful. It was completely covered in windows and one huge sliding glass door. The sun was shining in the distance, and she could see a dock out over a lake. She longed to go out there and just dip her feet into the water. It had been so long since she had been able to anything as simple as letting the sun soak into her skin and breathe in the fresh air.

  Sophie continued to walk closer to the windows and sliding glass door, ignoring everyone in the room. On her part, it was a draw for her to be outside for just a little while, but her movement served two other purposes. She hadn’t missed the four large men, each as big if not bigger than Ethan. She had also seen a woman standing in the kitchen area. But she continued to ignore them all when she got to the door and unlocked it, pulling the doors open. She waited to see if any of them would jump and pull her away. When nothing happened, Sophie smiled and stepped out onto the deck.

  The deck was large; to her left was a sitting area with a table and chairs to seat eight complete with umbrella, a couple of loungers were on that side as well, but closer to her than the table. To the right was a hot tub. It was covered, but Sophie could smell the chlorine and hear the churning water. A few brightly colored towels hung over the edge of the railing. This was what she always imagined a vacation home would be like, not that she had gone a vacation in a very long time.