by Lacey Thorn
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Book Description
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
About the Author
Dear Readers…
Gems of Romantic Fiction
ResplendencePublishing.com
Love By Command
An Alpha Enforcer Squad Story
By Lacey Thorn
Resplendence Publishing
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www.resplendencepublishing.com
Gems of Romantic Fiction
Love By Command
Copyright © 2017, Lacey Thorn
Edited by Michele Paulin
Cover Art by Tiffany Mason
Published by Resplendence Publishing, LLC
1093 A1A Beach Blvd, #146
St. Augustine, FL 32080
Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-986-9
Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Electronic Release: February 2017
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.
I spend every free moment training. I’m a Junior Enforcer. Blame it on my small stature or the fact I’m a woman. Blame it on whatever. All I know is I’ll do whatever it takes to get the Junior status negated so I can be a full-fledged Enforcer. It’s been my dream my entire life. When my commander tells me it’s mine as long as I agree to be part of an experimental new combat group, a quad unit pairing me with three male Alpha Enforcers, my answer is a resounding yes. So what if it sounds like sex is part of the agenda. I’ve never been shy about taking my pleasure where I find it.
I wasn’t prepared for the three men waiting for me. I feared they’d question my abilities and the way I was earning my place as an Enforcer. Acceptance was more than I expected. Complete trust? Not even on my radar.
I was commanded to work with them, encouraged to bond sexually with them, but falling in love was never part of the deal. If only I could get my heart to understand that.
Here’s wishing you all an alpha enforcer of your own!
Chapter One
If I didn’t hurry, I’d be late. Without thought, I stepped into my boots sans the hidden height implants, and thus, stayed my usual five-foot, four-inches. My mind was engaged with other matters. First and foremost, if I didn’t get my ass in gear, I’d be tardy to my command appearance before Lt. Certze. That wasn’t an option.
My name is Sophia Burrelis, Soph for short, and I’m one of many female Jr. Enforcers. In fact, the only female I’ve met who’s a full-fledged Enforcer is one of my best friends, Emma Certze, Lt. Certze’s daughter. Emma was activated three weeks ago and sent to the fifth quadrant, a place both longed for and feared by active Enforcers. It was a hotbed of criminal activity, and many Enforcers never made it back, not even in a body bag.
My dream was to get off the desk job and become an active Enforcer. I’ve trained for years. I can kick ass with the best of them, but my height, or lack thereof, is frowned on. Emma, my friend and full-fledged female Enforcer, is six feet tall in her bare feet. If we hadn’t been raised pretty much as if we were sisters, I’d probably hate her. But the two of us and our friend, Mandy, have been together since we were just babies.
We were all born within twenty-four hours of each other. Mandy is the oldest. Emma is exactly six hours older than me. Yep, I’m the baby.
“Hurry up,” Mandy urged, holding my quetchin out to me as I finished zipping my standard-issue Enforcer black pants into the boots.
With one hand, I pulled up my long blonde curls and wound them around my head before placing the quetchin over the looped hair. After pressing one button, I had my wealth of hair secured and was ready to go.
“Good luck!” Mandy gushed, giving me a hug then a slap on the butt as I turned to leave our quarters.
Mandy. How do I even begin to tell you about her? Mandy is the whole package. Unlike me, she’s tall, beautiful, and hands down, the most intelligent woman I’ve ever met. She’s the top code breaker in our region and highly sought after by other regions. I can’t tell you exactly what she does or how she does it—not my cup of tea—but believe me when I say she’s someone you can trust. Oh, and she’s also the only virgin I know. I tease her constantly about this, but honestly, I’m a little in awe of her.
“Go, go,” Mandy urged from behind me, and I was off like a flash down the corridor, heading toward my meeting with Lt. Certze.
What was the meeting for? If anything had happened to Emma, it would have been announced to the general population, and there would be no private meeting with me. Besides, if it were about Emma, Mandy would be included, as well. We were all three raised as sisters.
I stepped into the vestibule outside the lieutenant’s office and placed my hand on the controller. My identifier appeared, and I spoke my code phrase to allow for voice recognition, as well. In mere seconds, I was cleared, and the door slid open.
“Welcome, Jr. Enforcer Burrelis,” the lieutenant’s secretary, Amanda, greeted me. “Lt. Certze is awaiting you.” With that, she hit a button, and the doors to his inner sanctum slid open. My nerves kicked into high gear. My stomach leapt into my throat, and I was terrified I might vomit.
I stepped through and stopped no closer than two feet from his desk as protocol dictated. I immediately came to attention and stayed that way. Was this the opportunity to remove the Jr. from my title? Was this what I’d been hoping and praying for? Please don’t let me throw up in front of my lieutenant.
“At ease, Burrelis,” Lt. Certze said, and I immediately relaxed my stance—feet shoulder-width apart, hands clasped behind my back.
He sat at his desk, fingers laced, just looking at me. I felt the weight of his silence like the squeezing of a hand around my heart and lungs. I wasn’t being promoted. I frantically combed my memory for any infraction I might have committed in the last seventy hours. Sadly, a lot of things came to mind. What can I say? I like to have fun, and I make no apologies for it. If free time is really free time, then anything goes. Right?
Sweat trickled down the small of my back as he continued sitting there. It took everything I had to remain still and silent.
“Have a seat, Soph,” Lt. Certze said, and with his break of protocol, I seriously began to worry.
“Is everything okay with Emma?” I asked, immediately moving toward the chair right in front of his desk. I perched on the edge with my hands clenched in my lap.
“Emma is fine,” he answered. “She’s in good hands.”
Good hands? What the hell did that mean?
“First, I must have your word that what is said in this room stays in here,” he continued. “You may not discuss anything with anyone outside this office. That includes Mandy,” he said, catching and holding my gaze.
I nodded. “I agree.”
“Emma, along with her two partners, have formed the first triad Enforcer squad. It’s a new program the Liege Commander has implemented. Three people working as a linked unit to combat the criminal elements. Three sets of eyes, three bodies, three minds working as one to combat the terrorists who still seek to overthrow, control and kill.” He opened a folder in front of him. “Her triad is considered an ongoing success, and Command wants to initiate anoth
er trial to verify if it’s possible again.”
I was confused. Emma was part of a triad unit that worked together? That didn’t sound like Emma. She was a rogue, going her own way. But she’d been gone for three weeks, to the fifth, and was still alive. Unless…
“Is Emma actually in the fifth quadrant?” I asked.
“Yes,” Emma’s father answered.
“Okay, so what exactly does all of this have to do with me?” I queried. I was a desk jockey, after all.
Lt. Certze sighed deeply, and his eyes closed briefly. “Emma gave your name to the Liege Commander as a female candidate for the next grouping.”
“Emma recommended me?” Of course, she would. Emma and I had fought many times, and I’d kicked her ass more than half of them. She always said I’d make a better Enforcer than just about anyone she knew.
He nodded and went back to the folder in front of him. “There are several things I need to go over with you before you make a decision.”
“Wait a minute. Will this involve me getting promoted to Enforcer status? Getting my tiger symbol?” The tiger symbol on the black shirt was what differentiated the juniors from the full-fledged Enforcers. I wanted that symbol more than anything else.
“Yes,” he said. “If you accept a place within the test team, you’ll be promoted to Enforcer but—”
I interrupted. “Hell, yes! I’ll take a place in the test group.”
He shook his head. “There are things you need to know, Burrelis. There are elements regarding this team you must be aware of before you agree.”
“I can’t think of anything you can say that would change my mind.” Hello, lifelong dream here. Give me my tiger and hear me roar!
“Regardless, we will go over them, and if at the end you decide it’s what you want, then you’ll sign and arrangements will be made.”
“Okay.” I sighed. I was so eager I practically bounced in my seat.
“First off, sign the confidentiality agreement.” He slid a paper across to me. “It’s a binding agreement, and you will be subject to discipline if you break it.”
I took the paper and held my right thumb out to him. I felt the fiery burn as he ran the laser over it. I immediately touched it to the appropriate line on the document. My print was left behind along with some skin cells. I wasn’t sure how it all worked, but they could use those cells to prove I’d signed the contract and punish me for any violation of its terms. Some scary crap in my opinion.
He took the signed paper and slid it back into the folder.
“Let me start by sharing some pertinent information about Emma’s situation.” He took a deep breath, and I swear he looked uncomfortable. “Emma was linked with two other Enforcers from the elite Alpha Enforcer squad.”
His gaze met mine to see if I understood what that meant. I wasn’t stupid. The Alpha squad consisted entirely of men. Alpha men. My pussy contracted at the thought of those Alpha men. I like sex a lot. And I’m not opposed to multiple partners, if you get my meaning.
“So she’s in a triad with two men,” I supplied when he didn’t say anything.
He nodded and looked down at the papers in front of him. “Yes, she’s bonded with two Alpha Enforcers.”
“Bonded?” That couldn’t be right. Active-duty Enforcers were forbidden to bond. They could have sex, but due to the high mortality rate, they were discouraged from bonding. Bonding was for life.
“The powers that be wish to see if the Enforcer’s mortality rate will decrease by sending out fully bonded units. We’re losing too many Enforcers, and they’re willing to try any means to combat that loss.”
“But through bonding?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Unbound men once made great Enforcers since they had nothing to lose, no fear of death. No mate, no child, no conflict. But that concept doesn’t seem to work anymore. In fact, it’s led our troops to become reckless. We need Enforcers who will think before they act. Emma and her triad have managed to capture members of one of the most wanted terrorist cells in the fifth. The Liege Commander believes it’s because of the bond they’ve formed. They’re smarter because of this. They’re more cautious, more aware. I don’t have all the specifics. Most of the information is classified.”
Damn. Everything was on a need-to-know basis. So it was a little disconcerting that my lieutenant wasn’t in the need-to-know loop. “So what exactly is it I’ll be doing?”
“Emma formed the first triad. Command would like to progress forward another level.” He stopped avoiding eye contact with me and finally locked his gaze with mine once more. “They’d like to see how a quad unit will work.”
Quad unit? As in four people? As in me and three hunky Alpha guys? I really hoped I wasn’t drooling. And eager. Please, don’t let me sound too eager. Unless…
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Am I the only female in this unit?”
He nodded.
“And will the male Enforcers be members of the Alpha squad?” I asked.
Once again, he nodded.
“Let me get this straight. I’m to be the first female in a bonded, quad-Enforcer unit, along with three Alpha agents. I’ll be promoted to Enforcer and will see active duty along with the members of my unit.”
Lt. Certze nodded once more.
I wasn’t sure how exactly that would work. How did you bond with three men? I would be an Enforcer, but could I handle three men for more than one encounter? Alphas at that?
“Are they aware of this?” I wanted to get an idea of what types of attitudes I might be facing.
“They’re being briefed just as I’m briefing you,” the lieutenant told me.
“And are you aware of their take on a quad unit?” My curiosity and uncertainty had gotten the best of me for a moment.
“They’re Alpha squad. They’ll do as bid with no questions.”
A typical response from my lieutenant. He was all about command.
Still, they might be resentful of a woman coming into their little group, especially one who hadn’t yet experienced the demands of full Enforcer status. My thoughts churned as I worked through possibility after possibility. But the bottom line was, what choice did I have? It had always been my dream to reach Enforcer status, and not as a desk jockey. Of course, this scenario felt a little too much like sleeping my way to that goal, but I refused to see it that way.
Sex was great, and I’d never shied away from multiple partner encounters. So, three men? No big deal for me. I knew I was smart enough, competent enough to be a full-fledged Enforcer, so that didn’t worry me either. What I didn’t want was to be manipulated and used toward an end I hadn’t yet figured out. So I would be as leery, observant and cautious as I could. I wouldn’t let emotions become involved.
“It’s an honor to be chosen to pilot such a program,” Lt. Certze spoke into the silence left by my internal debate.
“Did Emma know she was being sent into a triad test program from the beginning?” I couldn’t believe she had. Emma would have shared that with us, unless she’d had to sign a confidentiality statement. That would have sealed her lips.
“No, Emma was unaware of that piece of information. It was considered best to see if the three formed an attraction with no persuasion.”
“And now? With me?” Good for Emma, but I didn’t want three men commanded into having sex with me. Not unless I was the one doing the commanding.
“All parties will be aware of the arrangement this time. The Liege Commander hopes to get volunteers for this program.”
“Have you spoken to Emma? Is she happy?” I couldn’t explain why this was important to me, it just was. Emma’s my sister though no blood connects us. It mattered to me that she was happy.
“She is.” For the first time, Lt. Certze smiled. His whole face softened, and I knew immediately he was telling the truth.
I took a deep breath and made a choice that would forever alter my future. “Yes, Sir. I’ll take part in the formation of the new quad squad.” A grin
tugged at my lips as I watched his cheek twitch at my choice of terms.
“The first formal quad unit,” he informed me then handed me a folder with papers in it. I took it but held fast, not allowing myself even a peek at the information inside until I was alone. “You’ll report to the south bay dock in two hours. I encourage you to spend those hours wisely as it might be some time before you’re back.”
I had to get back to my quarters and tell Mandy everything that I could. Thanks to that skin-cell signature, it wouldn’t be a whole hell of a lot. I knew about Emma now, and through her, I’d been given a similar opportunity. The only thing bothering me was that, with Emma still gone, Mandy would be alone.
She never left her books and gadgets unless we forced her. I had a feeling she’d rarely ever leave our quarters with no one to urge her. I loved Mandy like a sister, but my excitement didn’t dim with that knowledge. It just meant I’d have to find time for one more stop before I reported. It was my job to make sure Mandy would be okay with both Emma and me away.
Two hours. I had to keep reminding myself of that fact. So much to do and not nearly enough time. But then, this was what I’d waited and hoped for my entire life.
“Enforcer Burrelis.” Amanda interrupted my thoughts as I left the lieutenant’s office and stepped back into his secretary’s domain.
“Jr. Enforcer,” I corrected her with a smile. Not for much longer, though.
“You didn’t sign the agreement then?”
I wondered just how much she knew.
“Yes, I signed,” I said and was startled by Amanda’s happy laughter.
“I’ve always had a soft spot for you three.” Amanda had been at the desk in this office for as long as I remembered. She’d known Emma, Mandy and me since we were born, more or less. I watched her reach beneath her desk then hand a package to me. “Your new uniform shirts,” she told me, grinning.
I placed the folder on the edge of her desk and ripped open the package. Five black shirts spilled out into my hands. They were the most beautiful shirts I’d ever seen. There, just above where my heart would be when they were on, sat the tiger. Tears pooled in my eyes, but I refused to shed them. I’d worked my whole life for this moment. Trained until I was black and blue and bloody. And every day, I’d reported to a desk.