Alpha Trio: The Complete Collection (9 page)

Which left him and the surprising
redhead alone in the office that he shared with Em and Grig. One wall was all windows, allowing them to look out into the corridor and across to the Beta squad office. Gamma squad’s office was next door, but they couldn’t see it from this vantage point.

They were waiting for his mother, Elena Lupei, Commander of the Shifter special forces in general, and Alpha squad in particular. Em had called her, told her they had some new information about Cat, and she was on her way.

He should be thinking about what this meant for Shifters. Or even just what it meant for Cat and Em. He loved his brother, and not just because they were littermates. He and Em and Grig depended on each other. And whatever was going on with Cat and the vamps was big. It was important.

And all he could think about was the way Cassandra’s jeans clung to the curve of her ass, the smooth plane of her belly and the shadow of her cleavage. Her leather vest was held closed with three hook-and-eye buttons and Drei wanted to thumb them open and lick the valley between her breasts.

To start with.

Cassandra gave a soft, low, sigh. It was almost a moan. She lifted her eyes to his and took a step closer, moistening her lips with her tongue. “Now you see why it always took me so long to get your drinks when you’re thinking things like that?” Her voice was normally a little husky, but now it was like smoke.

Immediate desire throbbed through Drei’s blood at the sound. He closed the distance between them and reached down to cup her bare elbows. That first touch of skin on skin made them both groan. Drei gritted his teeth as his cock twitched to life. “No, why?”

“You’re going to make me say it out loud?” She angled her head, her body swayed softly into his.

“I can’t read your thoughts.” Drei bent, once again marveling at her height. He only had to lean down slightly to bring his lips within a hair’s breadth of hers. He could feel her breath on his face as she exhaled slowly, chuckling.

“No, I guess you can’t. So I guess you’ll just have to trust me when I say that I can only hear for a short range. And the quicker I served you, the quicker you would have been out of that range.”

Drei’s lips twisted as he stared down into her eyes. “Did it make you hot, Cassandra? Were you wet all those times, listening in on my thoughts?” His voice was a rasp. She shuddered, lashes fluttering. But instead of answering, her hands snaked quickly up his arms and around his wide neck.

Long, thin fingers reached up and gripped a handful of his short, dark hair. She tugged hard, making him grunt at the small pain. “Shut up. I’ve got better uses for your mouth.” Cassandra pushed onto the balls of her feet, closing the last inch of space between them and crushing her lips to his.

Drei wasn’t about to let her take control. His arms banded around her waist, pressing her tightly to his hard body. He plunged his tongue between her lips as soon as she parted them, parrying each flick of her tongue with a thrust of his own.

She tasted like herbs and vodka and some phantom sweetness that he couldn’t place. The combination was as heady as a drink she might mix at 5tM. He nipped at her lips. She bit back.

When her knee brushed his thigh, Drei slid one hand down from her waist to hitch her leg over his hip. Cassandra curled her booted calf around his muscled leg, giving a little growl of her own as one of his big hands palmed her ass and pressed her pussy hard against the bulge of his cock.

He sucked at her tongue, fingers stroking over the smooth, silky skin of her belly, up toward those three buttons on her vest. He wanted to get that vest off her, or at least open. Then get her pants off. He could push all the shit off his desk, lay her down there, and slide into her, finally be inside this incredibly sexy, badass –

“I take it this is the other human?”

Drei and Cassandra both froze at the sound of his mother’s voice. He had one hand on Cassandra’s ass and the other was about to pluck open the first of those three little buttons. The hand that Cassandra didn’t have wrapped in his hair was curled around his belt, as if she could yank it off without undoing it first.

By mutual, unspoken agreement, they each stepped back at the same time and dropped their hands to their sides.

Elena Lupei stood in the office doorway, dressed in an elegant grey evening gown, glimmering with shiny silver sequins. Her hair, as dark black as her sons though threaded through with some white, was up in a sleek chignon and diamonds dripped from her ears, throat, and wrists.

Drei crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at his mother. Her mouth, the upper lip slightly fuller than the lower, just like Grig’s, curved into a grin. Beside him, Cassandra straightened her vest and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. He was pleased to see that, despite the faintest hint of pink in her cheeks, she extended her hand to his mother.

“Ms. Lupei. I’m Cassandra Burroughs. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

His mother took Cassandra’s pale hand in her smaller, tan one, perusing Cassandra’s rangy frame. “From whom?”

“She can read thoughts, Mother. So, all of us. Including you.” Drei didn’t even try to hide his smirk as his mother’s eyes – the same deep brown as his – widened slightly. Cassandra’s lips remained in their slightly curved position, but he saw the twinkle in her eyes.

“Yes, I imagine it would be a useful trait in future generations of Shifters. But you don’t know whether human and Shifter DNA are compatible yet, and even if it was I hardly think we’re at that point yet, despite how it looked when you came in.”

Grig stepped up behind his mother, freshly showered, and looped his arm around her neck. “Oh hey ho, and how did it look when you came in, Mother?”

“How did what look when she came in?” Em’s fingers were entwined through Cat’s while the curvy reporter sipped a mug of hot cocoa. Her shakes had subsided, Drei saw.

Cat pulled away from Em to brush a kiss on Elena’s cheek. “Elena.”

“Hello, darling.” Elena touched Cat’s shoulder. “I hear there’s some news?”

Cassandra sighed, and told Elena everything she’d explained to them at the club. Their mother listened, perching herself on the end of Grig’s desk. When Cassandra finished, Elena remained silent for a brief moment.

“Mom?” Grig shifted to a spot next to her on the desk. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m glad this young lady was there to save your fool life tonight, Grigore. Bit by a vampire? And a poisonous one at that? Very sloppy.”

Grig ducked his head. “I know. Extra training hours this week. Promise.”

“With Andrei.”

Grig winced, but nodded. Elena patted his knee. “And this vampire that got away, Andrei? The one who’s after our Cat?”

“That’s the second time he got away. He runs as soon as the odds aren’t in his favor.”

Elena spun the bracelet on her wrist contemplatively. “We need to capture him. Find out what he knows about Cat, why he wants her so bad. Emilian, I expect you to coordinate with the other squads and make sure everyone is on the lookout and has the same orders.” She gave Em a hard look. Em nodded in response. Elena continued.

“He possesses the ability to Ice? We need to counteract that somehow. Grigore, I want you in with the doctors. Once you’ve had that wound double checked, you can see if they have anything that will temporarily incapacitate the bloodsucker.”

“Yes, Commander.” There was no questioning that their mother was in work mode now. Her eyes were flinty with determination and you could almost hear the wheels in her head spinning. When she shifted her gaze to Drei, he straightened his shoulders. Her lips pressed together and her eyes slid to Cassandra before she jerked them away.

He felt the redhead stiffen beside him and turned to see her narrowing her eyes at his mother. “You could just ask, you know.”

“Cassandra? What is she thinking?” He ignored the way his mother growled at his words. Cassandra’s green eyes met his.

“She’s pleased you’ll be keeping me occupied enough that she won’t have to post actual guards on me. Saves money and I might not even realize I’m not free to go.”

Anger, jagged and electric, spiked through Drei’s blood as he rounded on his mother. “Is that what you think? I’ll just distract her with my dick?”

Grig covered his bark of laughter with an unbelievable cough. Elena Lupei shrugged one shoulder. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Andrei.” She sighed and turned to Cassandra. “Well, I can see your talent has its disadvantages as well. But no matter. Will you stay, as our guest, until we’ve got this figured out? We will keep you safe. And we’ll just need to run a few tests. Cat can tell you, they’re all harmless.”

“No.” Drei didn’t even think about it before he spoke. He knew from the startled look on Cassandra’s face that it hadn’t even crossed his mind. But the response was immediate and primal. He bared his teeth at his mother. For the first time in his life, Drei was going to disobey her orders. “We’re not turning her over to the lab rats.”

Cat touched his folded arm gently. “Elena’s not lying, Drei. None of the tests are very painful or invasive.”

He fought the urge to shake off her hand and snarl. He and Cat may snipe at each other, but she was like a sister to him now. He clenched his jaw and tried to speak as calmly as possible. “Maybe not for you, Cat. But you can’t read minds. You think they won’t want to prod her brain a little?”

Cat made a soft, shocked sound of denial, but Drei kept his eyes on his mother’s face. She was cooly beautiful, calm, but he saw a muscle beside her eye twitch. Cassandra gave a low gasp. His mother may have been able to avoid thinking about what the doctors might do to Cassandra when she’d initially asked, but clearly her thoughts had touched on it when he brought it up.

Cassandra paled. Elena dropped her gaze and brushed at her dress. “I just meant blood tests, for Christ’s sake, Andrei.”

He didn’t need to hear Cassandra’s choked laugh to know his mother was lying. He did snarl then. “Not fucking happening.”

Ignoring the startled looks of his brothers and Cat’s wide-eyed worry, Drei crouched, threw Cassandra over his shoulder, and stalked out.

“Andrei! Come back here! That’s a direct order!” his mother called after them. But he kept walking, big strides eating up the hallway.

Hair hanging down, ass in the air, with his arm clamped tightly around her waist, Cassandra wrapped her arms loosely around his ribcage and sighed.

*****

Drei kicked the door closed first and then set Cassandra on her feet. Her cheeks were flushed dark red, but not in anger or embarrassment. All the blood had rushed to her head as he carried her out of HQ, away from his mother and brothers and Cat, down the street to his house.

Thankfully, Cassandra hadn’t struggled at all, and it was still early enough in the morning that there weren’t many people out on the street. One bleary eyed guy had seen them and cautiously called out, “Hey lady, you alright? Want me to call the cops?”

Cassandra had lifted one hand to wave and shouted back. “No thanks, I’m fine.”

The man had looked comically confused. Drei threw him a feral grin, unable to contain the amusement he felt at the redhead’s nonchalance.

Now that she was back on her feet, she took a moment to smooth her hair back before taking in his living room.

Unlike his brothers, Drei preferred having an actual place to live. Grig and Em had apartments that were little more than places to sleep in between working and partying. Or, Grig did. Em’s place was decidedly more home-like now that Cat spent most of her time there.

But he’d bought this place a few years ago and actually taken the time to decorate it to his tastes. It was convenient to HQ, walking distance, but it was totally his. There was a living room, dining room/kitchen, two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a decent sized, private yard out back.

He watched Cassandra studying the decor in the rooms she could see – lots of cool tones in the living room, greens and blues and grays, and warm tones in the dining room/kitchen, reds, oranges, and umbers. He liked natural wood and simple furniture and complex artwork.

Drei wondered what she thought of the place, wished he could read her mind too. She looked like she went to the gym or did some sort of physical activity, her arms and belly were toned and muscular. Would her eyes twinkle if she peeked into the second bedroom, which he’d converted into a combination weight room and office?

“I love the dining room table,” she offered, head cocked. It was satinwood, carved all of a piece, a huge chunk of smoothly polished wood. He loved that fucking table. He loved that she loved that table.

“It’s a great table.” Drei’s eyes dropped to the upper swells of her breasts where they pressed against her leather vest. They should probably talk about what had just happened back at HQ with his mother.

Cassandra took a step toward him, eyes twinkling. “We probably should.”

They should probably figure out a safer place for her to go. Because his mother was not going to give up the idea of the lab rats figuring out what made Cassandra tick.

“She probably won’t.” Cassandra moved another step closer, a smile playing around her wide mouth.

It was probably weird that he liked the idea of her hearing his thoughts, knowing that she knew exactly what he was thinking. Cassandra chuckled.

“It really is.”

Drei’s big hands curled over her hips, squeezing, molding her flesh. His throat was dry at the thought of touching her bare skin, laying her beneath him. He cleared it. This attraction, the way he felt about her abilities, his instinctual reaction to protect her from his mother... He had to face it. It probably all meant she was his Mate.

Cassandra licked her lips and pressed her body against him. “I probably am.”

He kissed her this time, slanting his mouth over hers, drawing that full lower lip between his teeth and worrying it before swiping the bite away with a sweep of his tongue.

“Andrei,” she groaned into his mouth, arms sliding around his waist. Her long fingers slid beneath the hem of his t-shirt and glided up his back, tracing the muscles along his spine. Lightning followed in the wake of her touch.

He cupped her ass and pulled her tight against him, rocking his hips to rub the steely length of his erection against her bare belly. Cassandra moaned and undulated in his grip.

Their tongues tangled and retreated as they claimed each other’s mouth. Drei reluctantly released her ass to slide one hand up into the fiery silk of her hair and tug her head back. He slid his lips along her cheek to nip at her ear, then down her jaw, nibbling, to her throat.

He sucked at the pulse point below her ear as his right hand stroked over her side to finally attack the buttons that held her vest closed. “Clothes, off,” he growled against the skin of her collarbone.

“Yes!” Her hands clutched at his back as she began to heel-and-toe off her boots. She kicked them away, pulled her hands out of his shirt and began fumbling at the button of her jeans.

Drei popped the first button free of its hook and then moved quickly on to the second and third. He slid his mouth back to hers and renewed his passionate assault on her lips as he pushed his hand beneath the leather vest. Her skin was warm and damp beneath the leather, and he was beyond pleased that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Fuck, Cassandra.” He cupped the soft mound of her tit, squeezing, and felt her nipple pebble against his palm. She gasped, her fingers fumbling. Cassandra finally slid down the zipper on her jeans and shoved them down her legs, kicking them free of her feet.

“More,” she murmured against his lips, nipping at his chin. Drei used his free hand to push the vest from her shoulders and then stepped slightly back to look at her.

Heat poured down his spine like lava. She’d not been wearing any underwear beneath her jeans. When the vest fell to the floor it left her naked but for a pair of plain black socks. His cock pulsed painfully in the confines of his jeans. Cassandra smiled, turned on her heel, and strode toward his bedroom door, leaving her clothes and boots scattered where they had fallen.’

Drei didn’t need her to issue an invitation. He tore at his bootlaces and kicked them quickly aside, tossing his socks after, and hurried behind her. He tugged his t-shirt off over his head just as she slipped through the bedroom door, the rounded curve of her naked ass disappearing from view.

When he turned the corner, she’d already peeled off her socks and sprawled out across the deep crimson of his comforter on her stomach. Her slender legs were crossed at the ankle, toes pointed in his direction, the silken flame of her hair pouring down the long, pale column of her back.

And for fuck’s sake, that ass. Round and smooth and perfect. Cassandra looked back over her shoulder at him and grinned, her lips slightly swollen and red from his kisses.

“I thought you’d like the view.”

“Christ yes. The things I want to do to your ass.” His cock leapt. Cassandra’s eyes twinkled.

“I know. I heard, remember?” She wiggled her hips a little. Drei groaned. Her smile got bigger. “I would stand behind that bar, night after night, and hope it was you who came to get drinks for your brothers... because then I could listen to all the deliciously dirty plans you had in mind for me.”

He climbed onto the bed, straddling her thighs and bent to take her mouth, sucking at her wicked, teasing tongue. “And here I thought you didn’t like me.” He kissed the back of her neck, nipped the spot where it joined her shoulder, and then dragged his lips down the groove of her spine.

“I know,” she replied breathlessly, arching her back into his touch. “I could never think of what to say. My brain was always too full of the images you put there.”

Drei pressed his mouth to the small dip at the base of her spine, just above the upper curve of her ass. “Like this?” He’d pictured doing this to her enough times. He swiped his tongue over one pale curve, biting down gently. Cassandra gasped, her hips twitching.

“Yes!”

He slipped his hands beneath her, squeezing the firm flesh of her breasts, rolling the nipples between his fingers as he nipped and licked her hips and buttocks. Cassandra squirmed beneath him. Drei slid back further, dragging his hands down her ribcage, molding her waist briefly before lifting her onto her knees.

Drei slid off the bed and knelt, pulling her back toward him, urging her legs apart. Cassandra let him position her, still watching him over her shoulder, biting her lip.

Below the luscious round curves of her ass was the slick mound of her pussy, smooth shaven and glistening with her juices. Desire kicked like a mule in Drei’s gut. She was fucking exquisite. And she was his.

He nipped the back of her thigh, making her jump and mewl, before he slid his tongue between the slippery folds of her cunt. Cassandra tasted like water from mountain-fed stream, slightly mossy and mineral, clean and fresh and sweet.

“Oh god, Andrei!” She pushed back against his invading tongue, her juices flowing into his eager mouth. Drei sucked at her pussy lips, nibbled her sensitive inner folds. His tongue flicked over the hard button of her clit and speared into her tight, silken passage.

Drei drank her like a thirsty man, using his tongue and lips and teeth to caress her silky, drenched flesh. Cassandra arched and rocked, rubbing herself along his eager tongue. She bucked and tossed her head and cried out with abandon, egging him on. Her throaty moans a musical counterpoint to the wet sound of his sucking and licking.

His big hands kneaded the smooth flesh of her ass, lifting her and holding her open so he could explore every dip and crevice with willful exuberance. He opened his mouth wide, covering her quivering mound as he pressed his tongue flat against the hard peak of her clit.

Cassandra shuddered and groaned, shoving herself back onto his tongue. “Yes! Drei! God!”

Her buttocks clenched in his hands and Drei felt her ripe, wet flesh convulse against his tongue, a fresh surge of slick, sweet juice drenching his lips. Drei groaned his own approval as he lapped at her twitching, spasming pussy, sucking gently at her sensitive clit.

Thighs shaking, panting, Cassandra collapsed forward onto his bed with a sigh. Drei chuckled at the picture she painted, still on her knees, that luscious ass in the air, her flushed cheek pressed to his comforter and her hair wild around her head. He kissed the backs of her knees, her thighs, her buttocks and hips, stroking her satin skin and marveling at the steely give of the muscle beneath.

Drei worked his way back up her body, stretching out beside her and pressing his mouth to hers. Cassandra lifted her head to kiss him back, biting at his lower lip and sucking his tongue.

“You know, for a man who doesn’t talk much, you sure have a way with your tongue.” She chuckled, extended her own tongue to glide against his. He laughed with her, stroking his hands over whatever parts of her he could reach. Drei couldn’t get enough of touching Cassandra.

He ran his hands over her hair, lifting it to study the gleaming red and gold strands as they slid through his fingers. He traced the line of her ruddy brows and her long, straight nose. His cock was throbbing painfully in his jeans, nearly bursting with the need to be buried inside her, but Drei believed in being thorough. He was going to tease her back to the peak of arousal before plunging into the hot, slick confines he’d just explored with his tongue.

“Oh, no sir. I’m not just a spectator here, Drei. I’m all about participation.” Cassandra rolled to her knees, her grin as feral as any Shifter girl’s could ever be. “My turn.”

She shoved his shoulder, hard, turning him onto his back, and bent over him. Her hair fell around him like a wall of flame as she took his mouth in a ferocious kiss. She held his head, short fingernails scratching lightly at his scalp as she rubbed her tongue along his.

Cassandra’s breasts were firm and high, her pink nipples stiff where they brushed against his chest. She twisted her torso, dragging them back and forth, over the dark patch of his chest hair, her mouth never leaving his as she attacked his lips.

She worked her way lower, nibbling on the cord of his neck and scraping her teeth over his shoulder and collarbone, undulating her naked body to rub her breasts against his muscled abs. Her lips brushed over his chest, teeth nipping at one flat nipple, her tongue tracing the curve of a rib, the ridges of his 6-pack, the line of muscle at his hip that led like a beacon straight to his cock.