Silver Fire (Guardians) (7 page)

Thankful for the reprieve from having to deal with Derek, she quickly made her way toward the house. She noticed Derek had hung back to help Braden with the packages but judging from the scowl both of them were wearing, they were having words once she was out of earshot.
 

Sophie walked into the house and was immediately struck by the Spartan look of the furniture. Nothing fancy, just the essentials. Nothing like her beautiful home that just went up in flames. Sophie felt extreme sorrow at the loss of her grandmother’s beloved house. The county engineers should be taking a look at it the next day to assess if any of the structure could be salvaged and rebuilt.
 

“I have Christopher Blackstone on hold,” Stephen informed her. “I told him you were in a huddle with your security right now, do you want to speak to him?”

Sophie nodded and reached out to receive the phone from Stephen. Christopher Blackstone had been a friend and colleague of her father. She looked up to him like an uncle, which was why Maia’s revelations about him had unnerved her and kept her from contacting him for protection after the fire.

“Hello Christopher,” she spoke into the smartphone.

“Sophie, sweetheart,” his deep gravelly voice replied. “I’m so sorry to hear about the fire at your grandmother’s house. Why didn’t you call me immediately? You know I have plenty of room at my house in DC. I’d be happy to have you.”

“Thank you, Christopher,” Sophie replied. How should she answer that? “I’m fine. I’ve hired security.”

“Security? Are you in danger, Sophie?” Christopher’s voice was laced with concern.

“The fire was—”

“What the fuck?” A voice thundered off to her side and a furious Braden Connelly yanked the phone out of her hands and smashed it under his boot. “What part of do not use a cell phone do you not understand?” Braden stalked off to the kitchen and reprimanded Thalia for not keeping an eye on Sophie.

Sophie looked at Derek who had the same expression as Braden.

“Seriously. Did you have to smash it, Braden?” Stephen grumbled.

“Yes, he did,” Derek replied evenly, looking at Sophie. “That was a dumb move, Angel. Didn’t Connelly explain to you to use only the secure SAT phone when in the house?”

Nobody calls her dumb, but yes that was a stupid lapse of judgment on her part. Braden walked back, a dark scowl still on his face. “Who was that on the phone?”

“Christopher Blackstone.”

The curses of both men blistered her ears.
 

“Do you know he is under surveillance right now?” Braden demanded.

“Yes. But he is an old family friend, I can hardly ignore him.”

“What did he want?” Derek asked.

“He was offering me a place to stay.”

Derek and Braden exchanged glances.

“Look, speculate all you want. It’s no secret he wants my father’s research. He’ll have no access to it if I’m dead. So strike him of your list of suspects. You’re wasting your time,” Sophie said and added sarcastically, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.”

She stormed away and headed to her assigned room. Stephen followed her and grabbed her arm. “That was harsh.” His voice brimmed with mirth and pride.

“If they think they can order me around, they have another think coming,” Sophie said. “They may have all the brawn, but I hired AGS; I can also fire them.”

Thalia knocked on the door.
 

“Sorry for getting you yelled at,” Sophie told the female Guardian.

“Don’t worry. It was my fault really,” Thalia smiled, handed her the SAT phone and left the room.

 
Sophie sat on the bed and took off her shoes. Her feet were killing her from all that shopping. She called Christopher back.

“Sophie! What the hell was that all about?” Christopher demanded over the phone.

“An over-vigilant security team,” Sophie explained.

“Do you want me to come get you,” he offered. “Sweetheart, I have an army to keep you safe. Just say the word.”

Alarm bells sounded in her head, but she shook it off.
 

“Why don’t I take you out to dinner, sweetheart? You can bring Stephen and Beth if you like.”

“That sounds wonderful, Christopher,” Sophie replied. “I’ll have to clear it with my security team. Why don’t you call me tomorrow at the office?”

They spoke for a few more minutes before she hung up.

When she turned around, Derek was leaning against the doorjamb, observing her with a predatory gaze. Stephen had deserted her, that traitor.

“Alone at last,” Derek murmured.

“I don’t have time for your sexual innuendos, Lockwood.”

“I told you to call me, Derek.” He walked into the room, took the phone from her and pulled her up from the bed, holding her about six inches from his body, which was radiating serious heat. She could feel herself getting uncomfortably flushed—sexually aroused. “You know, Angel, that bed is so tempting right now, but I want to take it slow with you.”

“There’s no taking anything with me. Why can’t you accept that?” Sophie said angrily.
 

“I’ve told you I’ve had a taste of you, I want more,” Derek muttered, his eyes dropping to her mouth. Her lips involuntarily parted. “So here’s how it’s going to go. I know you’re clean. You haven’t had sex in thirteen years, am I right?”

“Of course I’m clean!” Sophie retorted indignantly.

Derek grinned. “You’re going on birth control.”

“Excuse me? I’ve already been since I was fourteen, but what gives you the right to dictate to me? Are you even listening to me? Nothing is happening between us.”

The infuriating man’s grin got wider as he continued talking over her. “I’m going to have myself checked out tomorrow to prove I’m clean. I never have unprotected sex, however, in this big town, there seems to be a misconception that I have the plague.”

“Doesn’t seem to prevent you from having a harem.”

“You’re beginning to sound like Maia,” Derek said with a trace of exasperation. “We got that straight, Angel, I want to bury myself inside you with no fucking condom between us. And that’s after I eat you until you scream.”

Oh my god
. Her sex spasmed at his words, a warmth pooling between her legs.
This man can talk you into an orgasm
.

Smiling at her, he brushed her lips with his and trailed it down to her ear and whispered, “You’re wet for me, aren’t you?”

Sophie tried to control her trembling but couldn’t, and then she was immediately clenched against a hard chest as Derek’s mouth claimed hers, plundering her lips ruthlessly. His tongue tangled with hers as he molded her body to his. He broke the kiss too soon, and Sophie whimpered in protest. He chuckled softly before burying his face in the curve of her neck. “
Jesus
, I gotta go. I don’t think I can control myself around you right now.”

“Well I’m sure one of your three women can help you out,” Sophie said.

Instead of getting mad, Derek grinned, that grin that made him look so boyish and charming. “Jealous, sweetie?”

“No!”

“I’ve informed all my women that I am currently unavailable.”

“You’re an arrogant reprobate.”

“Dream of me, Angel.” Derek kissed the top of her head affectionately and walked away. Sophie was left wanting more of him.
 

CHAPTER FOUR

Derek let himself into his condo and threw his keys on the kitchen counter. He walked over to the refrigerator, opened it, grabbed a beer, and popped it open on the edge of the counter. His housekeeper always frowned at him whenever he did that. It was barely 9:30 p.m. on a Tuesday evening and he rarely was home so early. He did not entertain women until 11:00 p.m. and he was usually at the bar having a few drinks with Jack or Maia, sometimes with both of them. They formed an odd trio ever since both of his friends had hooked up and gotten married. They never made him feel like a third wheel, although sometimes his man Jack had problems knowing the boundaries defining public displays of affection.

He had never seen his friend this gung-ho over any woman, and watching this unfold was making him hesitant about pursuing a particular blonde-haired angel. Derek had been tempted to settle down before, but never was the urge as strong as with Sophie. He tried to talk himself out of showing up at the bungalow after Stephen had given him what sounded like the brush-off from her. But did he stay away? No. He had been irritated as hell. He also felt more determined. Which was saying a lot because Derek Lockwood never put much effort in pursuing a woman. His usual female acquaintances were women he met at the numerous social functions he attended in Washington DC and New Park. Usually, they were high-powered lawyers or lobbyists, too busy to have relationships. Sometimes they were daughters of politicians and socialites such as Layla Robinson. Layla had not been happy when Derek cut short their arrangement. They had been regular partners on and off in the last few years. Sometimes Layla would bring a friend and they would have threesomes, but recently she had become more possessive and kept showing up by herself. His other current partners were students at Georgetown University finishing up their Master’s degrees in foreign service/economics. He met them at a bar the week before.

Derek shook his head as he evaluated his long life of promiscuity. His last girlfriend was in high school. He spent two years in college fucking his way through the sororities before he dropped out and joined the Army. He had witnessed many of his friends get cheated on by their wives or girlfriends while they were away fighting for their country. Derek was already in Army Special Forces when his squadron team leader and best friend, Harry, saved the lives of his men by using his body to absorb the blast of a grenade. It was the ultimate act of valor and at first Derek could not comprehend why Harry had sacrificed himself. He had a family. But responsibility toward his men, coupled with the grit of being a true leader, led to that fateful split second decision—all, except Harry, had survived. Harry left behind a daughter and a pregnant wife. The experience left an indelible mark on Derek’s consciousness.

Derek left Special Forces when he was twenty-nine, and had gone directly to work for AGS as a tactical analyst at their datacenter. He’d met Jack through a mutual friend who requested the use of their intel on the Colombian drug cartel that had been targeting families of Ex-Navy SEALS.
 
Zero traveling enabled him to finish his business degree. It was not long after that he had started missing the thrill of the mission and asked to be put in tactical operations where he had frequently worked with Maia. The two also became great friends.
 

Four years before,
 
Jack had asked Derek to become a business partner at MDI to function as the main liaison with the design engineers. He worked at MDI ever since but still contracted with AGS on some of their assignments.

Derek had no close family. His mother died when he was ten, his dad passed away when he was twenty-four. He was not close to any of his relatives and after he joined AGS he decided it was better not to cultivate any close familial or romantic relationships. Their missions were frequently dangerous, and the threat of blowback was very real. But Derek loved women and sex, he had experimented in all types of sexual deviances and kinks and for the longest time he had been satisfied. But lately he’d been feeling this void, and each sexual encounter had left him wanting for more. But whenever he was in the presence of Sophie, he felt whole and contented. He hadn’t even had sex with her! His brain was scrambled. She was not his type. At all. Derek preferred brunettes. He wanted them voluptuous both in chest and ass. Sophie was none of those. She was blonde, she was too tall, her breasts were small. Her ass was almost non-existent and yet—and yet, something in his chest twisted whenever she was near, and his damned cock responded quickly to her nearness and scent. Whenever he recalled the night she watched him have sex, he wanted to storm over to wherever she was, strip her naked, bend her over a desk, lay her on a bed or lift her against a wall and plunge himself deep inside her. He didn’t care if it was in her lab, in the bungalow or here at his condo. He wanted to fuck her; to mark her as his.

And she was damned complicated. The death threats against her he could handle, he could protect her if only she would let him. It was that other issue that was driving him crazy. She responded to him and yet was repulsed by him. What if she could never get over the man who had taken her innocence and her heart?

Fucking hell
. Chugging down his beer, he got up to get another one.

***

In another part of New Park City
.

A dark-skinned man made his way through the dank alleyways between run-down apartment buildings in the Cloverleaf district that abutted the warehouse district of New Park City. The area had been in steady decline in the last decade and gangs and other low-life criminals had moved into the area. He went inside one building and made his way up the rickety stairs until he reached the eighth and last floor. He headed straight to the last room and knocked in code.
 

The door cracked open and the eyes of a large black man appraised him before letting him in.

“I have not found her,” Paki told the man who let him in.
 

The big man, Tebogo cursed in Afrikaans and said, “We know she’s alive. Tony saw her outside her house after the fire. She’s alive, breathing and walking. She left with her reporter friend but never returned with her.”

“We have eyes at the research center. Several tinted SUVs go through there every day, and we’re not sure if she is in one of them.”

Tebogo stared at Paki for a moment before exhaling harshly. “Make the deal with our contact. The information is going to cost us money we cannot afford right now, but we have no choice.”

Paki nodded, turned around and left.

***

“Make it happen,” Sophie told Braden in an unrelenting tone. “I AM having dinner with Christopher Blackstone tonight.”

Braden had given her a noncommittal answer last night when she informed him of her dinner plans with Christopher Blackstone.