Silver Fire (Guardians)

by Victoria Paige

  He waited for the shower to come on and for the shower door to close. Derek already felt his cock hardening in anticipation and hoped Sophie was in the mood. Opening the bathroom door, he casually walked in and started to strip.

  “Derek!”

  “Thought I’d join you.”

  “I—”

  Derek opened the shower door and got in, almost losing control when he saw her naked body all slick and wet with soap and water. She had covered her breasts and her pussy. As if that was going to stop him from touching her.

  Grinning devilishly, he said “Scoot forward, Angel. Share the water will you?”

  “I—”

  The spray of warm water more than heated up his skin. His balls felt heavy with his arousal and when he pulled her body toward him—her back against his front—he bent his knees so his cock hit between her butt cheeks. Derek groaned and shoved his face on the curve of her shoulder.

  “Fuck! I want you so much,” Derek hissed into her hair. He wanted to fuck her alright, but more than anything, he wanted to relieve her stress any way he could. He took the shampoo from her hands and started to wash her hair, massaging her scalp slowly with gentle pressure.

  “God, Derek, that feels, unh,” Sophie moaned as if she was on the brink of an orgasm. Rinsing the suds from her hair, he proceeded to apply the conditioner she handed him and then a wide toothed comb. “Sorry, I’m high-maintenance.”

  “No problem, Angel, you’re mine to pamper today.”

  After combing the conditioner through her hair, he grabbed the French-milled soap he had bought for her and started to rub the bar on her soft silky smooth skin. It was so erotic, Derek could easily lose himself and come right there. He gently turned her around and soaped her breasts, running circles around each orb and then slowly slipped the soap between her legs. She moaned.

  “Raise one leg on the ledge, baby,” he whispered. He needed to be inside her, but at the same time he wanted to taste her. He wanted to do so many things to her. So many positions he wanted to try with her, he felt like a serious pervert. “There, do you like that?” He slid the soap back and forth between her legs, parting her with his fingers while taking in the desire that ignited her gray eyes into silver. He watched them as they grew hooded and then he couldn’t resist anymore. He set the soap back, grabbed the detachable shower spray and rinsed the suds from her body. He then pulled her fully into him and kissed her deeply, ruthlessly exploring the depths of her mouth, kissing her so hard he was pretty sure she couldn’t breathe. He then trailed his tongue on her breast, paying homage to each peak before kneeling and kissing just above her belly button.

  “Derek—”

  “What, baby?”

  “Kiss me there—”

  Derek slung one of her legs over his shoulder. He parted her slick pink folds already swollen with arousal. “Like this?” He swiped her cleft with a flick of his tongue.

  “Harder, please.” She flexed her hips forward.

  He buried his face between her legs as he sucked on her clit and then speared his tongue hungrily into her entrance. He felt her nub swell and returned attention to it, inserting one finger into her slick channel, while catching her clit between his lips and sucked. She was moaning in earnest now until she screamed his name and came in his mouth, a spurt of warmth drenching his fingers. He lowered his mouth to suck in her sweet juices and groaned with the sheer pleasure of it all.

  Heavily aroused now, his cock was rock hard and ready to explode. He got back on his feet, bracing her into the corner and lifted her legs to wrap around his hips. He surged inside her.

  “Derek, ahhh...”

  “Sophie. Fuck,” Derek grit his teeth as her inner muscles grabbed his cock greedily. He pulled out once and pushed inside again until he was able to get into an erotic rhythm that prolonged their pleasure. He canted his hips to thrust deeper into her, his groin rubbing against her clit, and after a few hard thrusts she came again, digging her nails into his shoulders. He increased his pace, pumping into her fiercely as he chased his own release.

  “Fuck. Oh, Fuck,” Derek shouted hoarsely as he came long and hard. “Damned fucking good, baby.” He continued to rock his hips into her until the shudders of his climax ebbed. He lowered her legs and rubbed his nose in her hair. “So good, baby,” he repeated.

  “That was something else,” Sophie breathed dreamily and Derek suspected if he weren’t holding her up, she would crash to the floor. Pulling her back under the shower spray, he gently washed her again. Turning off the water, he grabbed a towel and dried her briskly. He nudged her out and said, “Go dry your hair, Angel.”

  After his shower, Derek walked into the bedroom. It was empty. Frowning he went to the living room and saw Sophie passed out on the couch. Her hair was slightly damp. The poor woman was probably too exhausted to completely dry her glorious mane of blonde hair. An emotion tugged on his chest as he lifted her in his arms and carried her to his bed. Their bed.

  “Um, I must have passed out,” Sophie mumbled sleepily. She was wearing a short kimono robe, which had now come undone and revealed her nakedness underneath. Derek felt himself harden. He’d always had a strong sex drive and it had been easy to manage before Sophie. Now he had to restrain himself. He did not want to behave like a rutting stag and scare her off. No. He was going to leave his woman alone so she could recover from the events of the day. Not fuck her brains out.

  “Yes you did,” Derek said raggedly. “Uh, baby, shouldn’t you change out of that robe?”

  His blonde angel stretched, smiled lazily and said, “I guess I must.” She rolled off the bed and took off her robe, bending over her suitcase and baring her ass to him.

  Unbelievable, Derek thought and looked away, but his eyes kept returning to her swaying ass as she rummaged through her suitcase. His cock was fully erect now and its bulbous head pushed out of his boxer shorts. She slipped on her sleeping shorts, and tugged her camisole over her head and jumped back into bed.

  “Are you coming?” asked the minx, all curled up on his bed.

  Yes, he could come in his boxers.

  “It’s 4:00 p.m., I probably shouldn’t.”

  “Just a nap. Naps are good.”

  I’d rather fuck you.

  When Derek didn’t answer, Sophie flopped on her back and raised herself on her elbows and looked at him, her eyes bugging out when they zeroed in on his raging hard on.

  “Oh,” was all she said.

  Derek stared at her, keeping himself motionless, because all he wanted to do was pounce on her.

  “You want to take care of that?” Sophie asked and the little tease cocked her legs and spread her thighs.

  “Sophie, my self-control isn’t all there and you need to rest,” Derek said thickly.

  “I can rest after,” Sophie whispered as she bucked her hips and removed her sleeping shorts. “After you do me hard.”

  That was all it took. Derek stalked toward her and dragged her by the ankle until her ass was at the edge of the bed. Sophie’s squeal of laughter was quickly cut off when he slammed inside her.

  “Derek,” she gasped in surprise as he turned feral in his possession. Her hips slightly off the bed, his fingers digging into her sides, he impaled her on his arousal and pounded into her repeatedly until he came hard.

  ***

  Justin Bishop surveyed the barn on a rundown farm off Route 522 in Culpeper, Virginia. The location was perfect. The barn was far enough from the main highway and fairly accessible by a dirt road. Unmowed grass surrounded the property, and since it was the middle of summer, it was tall and lush and provided the perfect screen from prying eyes. He rented the property under false identification—Dan Brown—provided by Opperman. Justin smirked at the unimaginative name his contact had provided him. Although the more common the name, the easier it was to work covertly.

  An advantage of the property was its proximity to Washington DC. He planned on making frequent trips to visit the beautiful scientist, who had some
how managed to get under his skin in such a short time. He should know better than to get personal with his mark, but there was some vulnerability in those gray eyes that spoke to him and he was just biding his time to make his move.

  The authorities should have a sketch of his face by now. What they were looking for was a college-age guy not a 32-year old man. He was quite adept at leveraging cosmetic prosthetics to disguise his age. It was one of his specialties to blend in the background.

  A truck was making its way down the dirt road. A delivery from Christopher Blackstone—from his middleman at least. Blackstone knew he was being watched by every local and international agency, so he had funneled some funds to a dummy company that manufactured farm equipment and he, as Dan Brown, was the owner. Justin unlocked the barn gates and the truck drove straight through. Another car followed the truck inside. The occupants were Ukranian nuclear physicist, Yuri Demko, and two South African lab technicians—all hand-picked by Blackstone.

  The occupants of the truck got out and opened the lift, revealing crates of all sizes. Yuri stepped out of the car and approached Justin.

  “Bishop.”

  “Demko.”

  Justin handed him a lockbox. “It’s all there. Files and disks. That research does not leave this facility.”

  Demko nodded. “Understood.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “About two weeks. It would take less time if we had the cores.”

  “I’m working on that.”

  Justin looked at the lab technicians and then at Yuri. “Are you certain you can accomplish this? Do I need to make provisions to bring in Dr. Leroux?”

  Nostrils flaring, Yuri said stiffly, “I am certain. There are basic designs and improvisations I could do. Blackstone was adamant he does not want Dr. Leroux harmed in anyway.”

  Justin smiled grimly. “He shouldn’t have mentioned Dr. Leroux’s name to my boss in the first place.”

  Justin was a freelance “facilitator” and worked frequently with Eric Opperman. Justin performed the dirty work while Opperman managed the backend manipulation. Their job, simply put, was to get things done and get rid of obstacles along the way. Whoever paid them was the boss, and currently it was Damian Stoltz. The research belonged to Stoltz, not Blackstone, and he was making sure he had his two henchmen stand guard at all times. He had requested more military contractors from Stoltz. Once the zefinium bombs were built, they needed to be moved quickly to avoid getting on radar and whoever stood in their way would be eliminated expeditiously.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Endpoint Systems is here,” Polly Smith informed Sophie, who was busy cataloguing some isotope enrichment results from this morning. Her meeting with MDI yesterday went very well and she was thankful to have her work to keep her mind occupied and away from the stolen research. There was nothing she could do at this point; however she knew the CIA and AGS were working to track down Justin and his crew. She had a feeling Derek was involved too. He had been acting differently since Sunday, not withdrawn or cold like he was after the first time they had sex, but he was definitely distracted.

  “Good, send them to the lab,” Sophie replied. She was doing damage control as much as she could; she was getting rid of the weaponized zefinium cores. Christopher Blackstone had not been too happy about the core disposal when they spoke on Sunday, but he agreed it was the best option given the disappearance of the research.

  Two men dressed in work jumpsuits entered the lab, rolling a huge lead crate with them.

  “It’s not plutonium, you know,” Sophie said with amusement.

  “Standard transport, ma’am,” one of the men replied courteously.

  Sophie shrugged and walked over to where the cores were sitting in the high-tech safe box. Unlocking it and lifting the lid, she lightly touched the objects with her fingers as she felt the back of her eyes sting. It was as if she was saying good-bye to her father all over again. Smiling ruefully, she nodded to the men.

  They walked over to where she was and used a Geiger counter to measure the radiation levels. As predicted, the levels were too low to cause any harm. They transferred the cores carefully to the depths of their container and handed Sophie a clipboard with the chain-of-custody paperwork.

  Sophie signed three sheets of documents, handed the clipboard back and watched the sum of her father’s life work leave her lab.

  Stephen must have noticed her turmoil and came up beside her. “You OK, sweetie?”

  She heaved and let out a puff of air. “Yes, actually. It’s bittersweet. But there’s a big relief too you know, as if I’ve been set free.”

  “You’ve been hanging on too long,” Stephen replied.

  She knew what Stephen meant: the memory of the summers with Jean Pierre Leroux. Ever since her parents’ divorce, the only time she spent with her dad was in the summer. Because of his work, he had stayed behind in France after the break-up. He would bring her to his lab and even in her pre-adolescent mind, she was fascinated by the science that consumed her father’s world. He would attempt to teach her about the atom and how the beginning and end of all things revolved around this one tiny particle—she was his eager student. Those were happy times, before the explosion took his life and left her lost and angry. Then Adam came along, showing her a different world, a sensual world. He was taken away from her too. Swearing to avoid such devastation, she spent years building up her wall, and now when she thought she had fortified her defenses enough, an infuriating man took a sledgehammer and brought them down.

  She was relieved to set free her old ghosts, but was she setting herself up acquiring a new one?

  “Hey, where did you go?” Stephen nudged her arm.

  “Confusing times,” Sophie murmured.

  “Your look tells me it’s about more than work.” Her friend was eyeing her shrewdly.

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “Yes—OK. It’s Derek. He’s confusing me.”

  “Is he acting like a jerk again?” Stephen asked sharply.

  “What? No, he’s been perfect.”

  “But?” Stephen was looking at her impatiently.

  “Well, it’s just that...” She felt her face flush and then lowered her voice. “After some wild and primitive sex last Sunday, we have not had sex since.”

  “Sweetie, it’s Wednesday. Two days without sex does not make it the end of the world.”

  “Are you forgetting the man in question here?”

  Stephen’s lips curved downwards as he nodded in agreement. “You have a point.”

  “Well?”

  “Well what?”

  “Any advice?” Sophie asked, exasperated.

  “Jeez, chill sweetie. I have an idea, let’s call Beth and analyze Derek Lockwood to death.”

  Stephen brought out his phone and punched a speed dial number.

  “I can’t leave without Derek.”

  “Since when do you do as you’re told?” Stephen teased.

  Sophie shrugged. “You have a point.”

  ***

  Sophie debated the lunch choices before picking a Cuban sandwich and handing the menu back to their server. The lunch cafe in old town Alexandria was quite a way from Silver Fire Research but for the first time in her life, Sophie found the lab a bit stifling, like she wanted to get away from it for a while. Beth was debating whether to get a glass of wine or a craft beer with her fish tacos even as Stephen was glowering at her. He was starving and had not even looked at the menu when he ordered his lamb burger.

  “You girls are crazy wanting to sit outside in this heat,” Stephen complained as he loosened his tie. He had earlier discarded his suit jacket. July in Northern Virginia was unpredictable but was frequently hot and humid.

  “You’re the one who keeps insisting on wearing a suit, Stephen,” Sophie reminded him. She had dressed casually this morning in an embroidered white linen blouse, capris and espadrilles. Derek had raised an eyebrow at her casual attire but at the moment she didn’t care.

  “
So what’s going on, baby girl?” Beth asked.

  “What? I can’t just have lunch with my best friend?”

  “It’s the middle of the work week, and I thought you were backed up at the lab, what with the days you were closed.”

  “The projects that matter are on track,” Sophie replied, thinking of her business with MDI. Their meeting yesterday had been brief. MDI knew how to hire good people. Their design engineers were brilliant, and Sophie had no difficulty explaining to them how to leverage the infinite power of enriched zefinium. “The plans on rebuilding the house had stalled.”

  “That’s because you want to re-design it,” Stephen reminded her.

  “Not all of it.”

  “So now we’re done with the boring conversation, let’s move on to a more interesting topic,” Beth drawled. “How’s sex with Derek? And I want details.”

  “I don’t kiss and tell,” Sophie said with mock demureness.

  “Spill,” Beth insisted.

  “No.” Sophie replied, but she couldn’t help grinning as she remembered the shower sex.

  “Hell, look at that self-satisfied smile on your face.”

  Stephen cleared his throat. Beth frowned at him. “What?”

  “Sophie is worried about the demise of their relationship because they haven’t had sex in two days.”

  Beth gave a shout of laughter. “Has Derek turned you into a nympho?”

  “Beth!” Sophie exclaimed, mortified. Several patrons beside them turned to look at their group. Some with amusement, some with censure.

  “Well, we’re talking about Derek,” Sophie said, sotto voce.

  “So what did you guys do the past two nights? Play Monopoly?”

  Sophie looked at her friend with annoyance. “Well, we do make out. But before anything gets too heated, he pulls back.”

  “Maybe he’s taking it slow,” Stephen said.

  “That’s the whole problem, I told him I wanted to take it slow, but now that he’s um, shown me great um, sex,” Sophie broke off and glared at her friends. “Stop laughing, both of you!”