by Lacey Thorn
Confined Love
Lacey Thorn
This stand-alone book is loosely tied to Enforced Love.
Sophia has worked hard to become an Enforcer but to achieve that goal she must join an experimental new combat group—a quad unit. She is confined on a shuttle, with three male Alpha Enforcers who absolutely define the word sexy. Three tall, gorgeous men making love to her in every way imaginable. Together. Sounds more than perfect to her.
The men are right out of her sexual fantasies. Xanthus is the aggressive, golden-haired leader. Kain is the gentle lover with gleaming ebony skin. Radek can find anything they need and give her everything she wants. Confinement never looked so good.
Inside Scoop: This book contains ménage and interracial sex. We like to diversify like that.
A Romantica® sci-fi erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
Confined Love
Lacey Thorn
Chapter One
If I didn’t hurry I was going to 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 was going to be tardy to my command appearance before Lt. Certze. That wasn’t an option.
My name is Sophia Burrelis, Soph for short, and I am one of many female Jr. Enforcers. In fact the only female I know who is a full-fledged Enforcer is one of my best friends, Emma Certze, Lt. Certze’s daughter. Emma had been activated three weeks earlier and sent to the fifth quadrant, a place both longed for and feared by active Enforcers. It was a hotbed for criminal activity and many Enforcers never made it back, not even in a body bag.
My dream is to actually 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. Remember Emma, my friend and only female Enforcer? Yeah, well she’s six feet tall in her bare feet. If we hadn’t been raised pretty much like 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 my long blonde curls up 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 and 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 is the top code breaker in our region and highly sought out by other regions. I can’t really tell you exactly what she does or how she does it—not my cup of tea—but believe me when I say that she is definitely someone you can trust. Oh, and she’s also the only virgin I still know. I tease her constantly about this, but honestly, I’m a little in awe of her.
“Go, go,” Mandy said 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 need for a meeting with me. Besides, if it was about Emma then Mandy would be included in the meeting as well. We were all three raised as sisters, remember?
I stepped into the vestibule outside the lieutenant’s office and placed my hand on the controller. My identifier came on and I spoke my phrase to allow for voice recognition as well. In mere seconds I was welcomed 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. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that my stomach was in my throat and I was seriously 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 could feel 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 that I might have committed in the last seventy hours. I’m sad to say that 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?
I could feel sweat trickling down the small of my back as he continued to sit 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 his desk and the chair right in front of it. I perched on the edge with my hands clenched in my lap.
“Emma is good,” he answered with a brief smile. “She’s in good hands.”
Good hands? What the hell did that mean? Emma worked alone.
“First I must have your word that what is said in this room stays here,” he continued. “You may not discuss anything with anyone outside. 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 that 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 that still seek to overthrow, control and kill.” He opened a folder in front of him. “Her triad is considered an ongoing success and they’d like to initiate another trial to verify if it is possible again.”
I was confused. Emma was part of a triad unit that worked together? That so 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 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 prior to you making a decision.”
“Wait a minute. Will this involve me going to full 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 will 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 that you must be made aware of before
you agree.”
“I can’t think of anything you could say that would change my mind.” Hello, lifelong dream here. Give me my tiger and hear me rooooaaaarrrr!
“Regardless, we will go over them and if at the end you decide it is what you want, then you will sign and arrangements will be made.”
“Okay.” I sighed. I was so eager I was practically bouncing in my seat.
“First off, sign the confidentiality agreement.” He slid a paper across to me. “It is your binding agreement that you will not discuss anything we speak of with anyone outside this room.”
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 a number of skin cells. I wasn’t sure how it all worked but they could use those cells to prove I had 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. I could feel my pussy contracting 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 is in a triad with two men,” I supplied when he didn’t say anything.
He nodded and looked back down at the papers in front of him. “Yes, she is bonded with two Alpha Enforcers.”
“Bonded?” That couldn’t be right. Active-duty Enforcers were forbidden to bond. They could have sex and even breed but due to the high mortality rate they were discouraged from bonding. Bonding was for life.
“The powers that be wish to see if, by sending fully bonded units out, the mortality rate will decrease. We’re losing too many Enforcers and they’re willing to try any means to combat that.”
“But through bonding?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Unbound men once made great Enforcers due to the fact that they had nothing to lose, no fear of death. No mate, no child, no conflict. But that concept doesn’t work anymore. We need Enforcers who will stop and 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 is because of the bond they have formed. They are smarter because of this. They are 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 that I would be doing?”
“Emma formed the first triad. They would like to progress forward another level.” He lifted his head and locked gazes with me once more. “They’d like to see how a quad unit would work.”
Quad unit? As in four people? As in me and three hunky Alpha guys?
“Okay, 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 am to be the first female in a bonded quad Enforcer unit with three Alpha agents. I will 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, Alphas at that?
“Are they aware of this?” I wanted to get an idea of what types of attitudes I might be facing.
“They are being briefed just as I am briefing you,” the lieutenant told me.
“And are you aware of their take on a quad unit?” My curiosity and uncertainty got the best of me for a moment.
“They are Alpha squad. They will do as bid with no questions.”
A typical response from my lieutenant. He was all about command.
Oh, but they might be very resentful of a woman coming into their little group, especially one who had not yet experienced the demands of full Enforcer status. My thoughts churned as I worked through one possibility after another. But bottom line was, what choice did I really 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 had 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 leery, observant, and as cautious as I could. I would not let emotions become involved.
“It is an honor to be chosen to pilot such a program,” Lt. Certze spoke into the silence left by my internal debate.
“Did Emma know that 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 would form an attraction with no persuasion.”
“And now? With me?” Good for Emma, but I didn’t want three men to be commanded to have 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 is hoping to get volunteers for this program.”
“Have you spoken to Emma? Is she happy?” I can’t explain why this was important to me, it just was. Emma is 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 that he was telling the truth.
I took a deep breath and made a choice that would forever alter my future. “Yes, Sir. I will take part in the formation of the new quad squad.” I felt the grin tug at my lips as I watched his cheek twitch at my choice of terms.
“The first formal quad unit,” he informed me and 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 will 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 are back.”
I had to get back to my quarters and tell Mandy everything that I could, which, thanks to that little skin-cell signature, wouldn’t be a whole hell of a lot. I knew about Emma now and how, through her, I now had a similar opportunity. The only thing that bothered me was that with Emma still gone as well, Mandy would be alone. It was only because we forced her that she ever left her books and gadgets behind. I had a feeling she would 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 that I would 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 little fact. So much to do and not nearly enough time. But then this was what I’d been waiting and hoping 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 about something that I had to sign a confidentiality agreement for.
“Yes, I signed,” I said and was startled by Ama
nda’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 shirt,” she told me, grinning.
I placed the folder on the edge of her desk and ripped the package open immediately. Five beautiful black t-shirts spilled out into my hands. They were the most beautiful shirts I’d ever seen. There, just above where my heart would be, sat the tiger. I could feel tears pooling 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.
My tears burned away as anger took over. I grabbed my file, mumbled thanks and took off as quickly as I could. I deserved to be an Enforcer. Yet, now that I had finally reached it, I didn’t feel validated. The shirts were mine, the title was mine, but for some damn reason I couldn’t get rid of the thought that I was earning both of them on my back or my knees or any other position my Alphas came up with. Suddenly my happiness was gone and I knew why Lt. Certze had looked so weary. He knew how much this meant to me.
I took a deep breath. They’d all underestimated me though. I knew I was a damn good fighter. Plus I’d picked up a thing or two from Mandy along the way. I might not be at her level but I was smart. They might all feel like they were doing me a favor. So it was up to me to show them just how fucking prepared I was.
Chapter Two
“Two hours!” Mandy exclaimed.
I glanced at the digital readout on the wall unit. “Closer to an hour now.”
My one stop had turned into several and eaten up way too much time.
“I’m so excited for you, Soph! Enforcer! I just wish Emma was here to see this.”
“I know.” But I knew Emma had known from the moment she gave my name to the Liege Commander that I would say yes. Mandy and Emma sometimes knew me better than I knew myself.