Sharp Change (7 page)

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Hey yourself, beautiful. How are you feeling?” He bent and kissed the curve of her neck, sniffing her shoulder and making her sigh in contentment.

“Good. So fill me in on what I’ve missed. Who would’ve thought I’d sleep the day away? I have to say it did wonders for my exhaustion.” She stepped out of his arms and sat back down next to her sister.

Chase and River took seats, with Chase next to Sophia. He pulled her chair flush to his. Sophia leaned toward him, and he pulled her into his embrace before he spoke. “So far there’s not much to tell. We have two enforcers, Seff and Riel, looking into your lab and the administration.” Chase gave her a worried look. “Is there anyone there that ever made you uncomfortable or gave you a strange feeling being around them? Anyone ask too many questions about your work or what you did while you were there?”

Sophia thought back to all the people at the lab. She turned to look at Chase, who was watching her. She shook her head in a negative. “I don’t really know anyone that made me feel that way. Since I’m almost everyone’s boss, none dare to question me. The only person that’s had a problem with me since I started at the lab was Dr. Warren, and he’s just a miserable old man.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “He thinks I’m too young to be in charge. I haven’t really had problems with any of the staff. Even the administrators are nice old people who try to get me whatever I ask for.”

She leaned her head into the curve of his shoulder. Disappointed that nobody came to mind right away, she was quiet. There had to be something she wasn’t noticing because no one knew about her private research. Something didn’t fit.

Chapter Seven

After dinner, Sophia and Chase bade her sister and River a good night and retired to their bedroom. The minute he got her upstairs he tried to tell her to go to sleep, but she would have none of it.

Stripping down to nothing she started pulling off his clothes while he grumbled that she was tired and needed to rest. Still, he didn’t try to stop her when she pushed him to lie on his back and straddled his hips.

She bent and rubbed her naked breasts on his chest while their mouths fused for a scorching kiss. His hands caressed her back in soft circles, trailing down to squeeze her ass cheeks.

She kissed his neck and slowly licked her way down to his nipples. Running her tongue in circles over the tight buds, she nipped lightly and blew cool air over the sensitive skin. He groaned.

Moving down she licked and sucked her way to his hard cock. Her face was just inches from the thick, velvet-covered, steel pole. When she looked up, she saw him tensely gripping the comforter in his fists.

Licking her lips, she smiled up at him, noting the flare in his eyes. She wrapped a hand around his hard length and slowly pumped him from root to tip.

Chase moaned when she repeated the action, and a bead of liquid trickled from his slit. She spread the fluid as she pumped, lubricating his dick to a glossy shine. Then she lowered her lips to run her tongue in a slow circle over the crown of his cock.

God, but he tasted good. His flesh was hot and smooth. She inhaled his manly musky scent
.

She moved her jaw and rubbed the underside of the plump head with her lips. His hips jerked, and he pushed his cock into her mouth. She kept a firm hold and slowly worked more of his hard length in until he hit the back of her throat.

Then she pulled him out and did it over again until he was slick. Her cheeks hollowed in tight suction while she slid him down her throat.

Her saliva slid down the sides of his cock as she continued to blow him. His hands had moved to hold her hair away from her face so he could watch her mouth. The entranced wonder on his face made her want to make it absolutely perfect for him. His eyes darkened when she took him in and hummed her pleasure in the back of her throat.

“Sophia, baby,” he groaned. “You’re fucking perfect but…you have to stop, or I’m gonna come in your mouth…”

She clamped her lips tighter and sucked harder while her hand pumped his lower half. His hands tightened in her hair, and his hips thrust his cock harder into her mouth.

That’s what she wanted, for him to lose control. To let her pleasure him until he couldn’t hold back. Her pussy soaked when she watched his reaction.

“Sweetheart…” he growled.

He tried to pull her head away, but she continued to pump his length and suck hard on him. She opened her throat more and took in as much of him as she could, curling her fingers around his ass and digging her nails into his cheeks.

The small aggressive move was enough to bring him over the edge. He came with a shout of her name and jerked in her mouth. She swallowed as much of his hot release as she could, but he kept coming, so she let go of him with her lips and moved his pulsating cock to spew over her breasts. His hot semen dripped down her front while her own juices soaked her thighs.

Chase stared in fascination when Sophia held his cock, licked his length, and then rubbed his seed over her breasts. The sight was so hot he became hard again while watching her.

One of her small hands massaged and tweaked a slippery nipple while the other rubbed the swollen lips of her cunt, dipping one finger into her sex. She looked into his eyes, and he could see the lust riding her.

She moaned in need. “Fuck me, Chase.”

In the blink of an eye, she was on her back. He thrust his cock into her slick cunt in one smooth move. She moaned with each hard thrust. Desperation drove them both. Her nails dug into his shoulders. She pulled him farther in her and wrapped her legs tightly around his ass.

She lifted her hips off the bed, tilting her pelvis to bring him even deeper in her.

He growled and fucked her like the animal he had inside. With every thrust he slammed deep in her, moving her body up the bed and then hauling her back down to do it again. She whimpered and purred, coming closer to orgasm.

“Look at me. You’re mine, Sophia,” he growled.

Her gaze locked with his. “Yes, yours.” Her head flew back, breaking eye contact with him.

“Who do you belong to?” His hands cushioned her head, pushing her to look at him once again.

“You, Chase. Only you,” she moaned.

“Baby you feel so good.”

“Harder, Chase…please.”

Her body tensed, and her legs started shaking. He rocked his hips, and his dick hit her at an angle causing her breath to hitch. He moved a hand between her thighs and rubbed a thumb over her swollen nub. Once, twice, and on the third touch, he pinched her clit and rammed her pussy with his cock. She screamed and splintered into oblivion.

Her vaginal walls fluttered and contracted around his driving shaft. Above her, he groaned, stiffened, and jerked inside her, filling her with his semen. Her sex clenched and sucked his release deep into her womb.

She was exhausted and ready to fall into sleep. She completely ignored the sticky mess she was covered in. He left and returned a few minutes later to carry her to the bathroom. He had drawn a bath. Then he washed them both and finally allowed her to get some rest.

* * *

Sophia woke to the smell of food. Her stomach grumbled and cramped until hunger pangs dragged her out of bed and into the shower. While she was dressing, she could hear voices coming from the kitchen. There was Julia’s soft pacifying tone, River’s clear questions, and Chase’s sexy deep growl. There were also two others she didn’t recognize.

“Good, you’re up. We were wondering if you were planning on showing up. Chase wouldn’t let us eat until you came down. He said it was rude. I’m Riel by the way.” He winked at her when she walked into the kitchen, and she smiled at his easy charm. They all sat around the dining room table talking over coffee and tea.

Chase stood to give her a kiss that was cut short after a few coughs and groans intruded. She felt her face flame and pulled up a chair to join them.

The two men who she’d never met stood and bowed their heads.

Riel smiled. “It’s an honor to meet our leader’s chosen mate.” He bowed and took a seat.

She smiled and blushed again. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too.”

The other man, who seemed to be older and much more intense, had been watching her with a closed expression. He dipped his head. “It’s my pleasure to welcome you into our pack, Dr. Reese. My name is Seff, and I am at your service.” He kept his voice formal.

“Please, call me Sophia. It’s nice to meet you too, Seff.” She smiled. She sat down, and everyone started talking at once.

“So tell me what you have learned.” Chase spoke over the conversations and brought the discussion back to the main business of the lab.

“The employees inside the lab have all been verified. We had to look deeper into their lives to see if there were any strange links. You told us of a Dr. Warren.” Seff kept his gaze on Chase. “It seems he’s got very little love for shifters and humans alike. He likes to believe he’s going to discover the next big drug, so he takes exception to a young woman telling him what to do,” Seff said, looking around the table. “Anyway, he’s got witches and other shifters in the family, but no hyenas.”

Riel took over and added what he knew. “We looked into Sophia’s direct employees. All employees have shifter, witch, or human in their families, but none have any hyena relations. Not sure where that link is coming in, but I’ll look into everyone working in the lab and on the research.” Riel lifted his coffee and took a sip.

“I’ve been trying to get access to the security footage from the night you both got attacked,” River joined in. “It seems my guys can’t find any evidence of a recording for that evening. Apparently the system malfunctioned and stopped recording, making it difficult for us to see what happened.”

“Did anyone find out why there was no one around when we got attacked?” Sophia asked. “That lab is extremely busy on a regular day, and even on evenings you’ll find people working well into the night, waiting on some result or jotting down notes on their work. It was strange to see that nobody was there. It was as if everyone had been told to leave.”

Seff said he’d find out more from employees and where they had gone off to while his leader and the doctor were attacked.

“So all in all we have nothing,” Julia stated.

“What happens to your storage when someone attempts to open it?” Riel asked.

“It’s set up in a way that it locks down after a finger and voice recognition failure. What that means is that it resets and you have to wait for twelve hours before you can attempt again. It’s my backup.”

“When someone tries to access your storage does it have any alarms or does it send any notice to the building security? I’m trying to gather more information so I can interrogate the guards,” Seff said.

Chewing on her lower lip, she considered the question. She’d been asked if she wanted alarms but always felt they could be disabled, so she had dismissed the idea in favor of the finger and voice recognition with a shutdown backup.

“Not that I’m aware of. I specifically declined the alarms. They wouldn’t know if someone was trying to get to my research unless I notified them.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I guess that brings us to another dead end.” Sophia turned to Chase and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I think the cold storage is the best place for my work right now. Don’t you think?” She looked up at him.

“Yes. Until we can figure out who wants your work, it’s safest inside the locked storage,” Seff answered.

“Unless they can get their hands on her,” Riel stated, ratcheting up the tension around the table with his words.

Seff, Chase, and River turned to glare at him.

“Sorry to say it, but it’s true. The samples are safe unless they can get their hands on Sophia to get the vault opened. This means she can’t be left alone without protection.”

River sighed and turned to Chase. “He’s right. I’m sure by now they’ve realized they can’t get the storage opened without Sophia. They’re going to want to get their hands on her soon, which means she’s not to be left alone.”

“What do you mean I can’t be left alone? What am I, four?” Outraged she looked at River and gave him an angry glare.

“We’ll all take turns until we get rid of the threat—” River broke off as Riel’s cell phone went off.

The enforcer looked at the number and stood to answer the call away from the table. Meanwhile Chase continued to pile more food on Sophia’s plate. She wondered if he was trying to turn her into a cow. Here she was trying not to eat them out of everything they had, and he just kept adding stuff to her plate thinking she wasn’t paying attention. She rolled her eyes but continued eating.

Riel returned, concern written on his face. “That was Tryx’s phone. The caller wasn’t Tryx. Not really sure who it was, but it’s clear they have her. They stated she was fine for the moment, but they want Sophia if we want her back.”

He hadn’t finished speaking when the other three men stood ready to take action.

“We can’t let anything happen to her. Do you have her phone’s GPS turned on?” Seff asked.

“Everyone in the pack has an active GPS on their cell phone. If hers is working, they want us to find her. It might be a trap,” Riel said.

“I hope so. I need to get my hands on whoever is behind all this and finish it once and for all.” Chase’s voice had deepened to an almost unintelligible growl.

“So who stays with Sophia?” Riel asked.

River stood and walked toward Chase’s open home office. Everyone quickly followed as the men gathered weapons, and Riel sat down to access the mapping of Tryx’s phone location from Chase’s laptop.

“Oh for God’s sake. Give me a frigging break and just go. I’m not going to go anywhere, and I’m sure anyone looking wouldn’t think to find me here.” Sophia’s rage had been simmering since they started talking of watching over her like she was some newborn, and now that someone actually needed all of them, they were still debating who would stay with her.

“Absolutely not.” Chase turned and pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly to him. “I’m not taking any chances with your life.”

His concern soothed her, and she leaned into his body. The fear she saw in his eyes was enough to stop her ranting.

“Riel, you stay and track the signal while we go and find Tryx.”

* * *

Seff drove Chase’s SUV while the alpha called two other enforcers, Kane and Troy. The men were working the streets as cleaners to ensure resolution of any problems the pack members got into with humans. They were usually left to work on their own.

River was on the phone with Riel to get an exact location and verify there had been no movement. They met up with Kane and Troy about a mile from where Tryx’s phone’s GPS had locked its last location. Chase had given Tryx’s shop a call and verified with her assistant she hadn’t shown up and was truly missing.

They drove the vehicles off the road and hid them behind a group of thick trees. Splitting up in groups of two, they shifted out of their skin and set out in a large circle around the area, slowly closing in on the coordinates Riel had passed along.

In the center of the clearing lay a woman bound and gagged with a cell phone next to her. Her clothes had been torn, and cut marks dripping blood were visible on her arms and legs. The woman’s blonde hair was covered with dirt and leaves. There was no one else around, and she resembled Tryx, but as they neared her they realized she wasn’t Chase’s cousin.

Once they got closer to the unmoving body, Chase scented her and knew she was a human. Kane picked up the female and removed her from the scene. Growls sounded around the group. Their display of aggravation made Chase wonder what else could be done to find Tryx.