"Oh, goddamn," I said. "It's so…"
My voice wavered and trailed off, and just as the orgasm faded I was ready for another. Thankfully, Jack was ready to give me just what I wanted. He stood up and pulled his shirt off, the killer body that I couldn't get enough of on full display. My eyes scanned eagerly over him, and I took in every detail that I could before he removed the rest of his clothes and got down to business. His prick was rock-solid and pointed right at me; as always, my mouth watered at the sight of it.
"I need that in me, right now," I said.
"Yes, ma’am," he said, moving toward me.
Jack spread my legs apart and slid into me, my pussy already beyond wet from his superb oral abilities. My eyes shut as tight as could be as he entered me, and within seconds he was bucking hard, pounding into me at a steady, solid pace. I wrapped my legs and arms around him, pulling his sculpted body close as he thrust into me over and over.
"Yeah," I said, "just like that."
Jack grunted as he filled me, his thick member splitting me in half over and over, impaling me in the way he knew I wanted. He wasn't too far off from coming. Before he did he grabbed me hard by the hips and, using that bear strength of his, flipped me over like I was as light as a pillow.
And I loved it. I didn't know I had it in me, but it turned me on so much when he manhandled me. I always thought I was more of a…traditional lover, but Jack brought something out in me, something more attuned to my animal nature.
Soon, he was buried in me again, his hips slapping hard against the curve of my ass. He grabbed onto my hips and drove himself into me at a constant, steady rhythm, only moved his hands to slap my ass or grab a handful of my hair and give it a nice, firm tug.
The feeling of his hand coming down on my ass was incredible, the perfect mix of pain and pleasure. I knew that it would take only a little more before I came again.
And when he brought his palm down on my ass for the third, then forth time, I did just that. This orgasm was somehow even more intense than the first, and my legs went limp under me. Jack pounded me as I came, and I was a moaning, screaming mess by the time he was done with me. With another deep plunge, Jack came, emptying himself into me. Soon, we were both blissed-out and spent, a pile of sweaty limbs.
"Okay, now we really need to get ready for work," I said,
We sprang out of our post-coital pile and got to it, showering getting dressed. An hour later, were strolling through the entrance of Sapien HQ.
"Yo, Dragonslayer Jack!" one of our fellow agents said, giving Jack a hearty slap on the back as he passed.
"Sick of your new nickname yet?" I asked as we rode the elevator up to the second floor.
"I don't know. It's kind of growing on me."
After the fight with Anandrox, we were able to bring an end to the upcoming war between the tigers and the wolves. There was more than enough evidence at Anandrox's place to prove his involvement, and though both sides were itching for a fight, neither was ready to spill blood over a dead dragon's doing.
Jack and I proved to be a pretty solid team. Our work on the Anandrox case went over well, and any doubts about my abilities were quickly dispelled. And I was starting to think Jack was warming up to the idea of working with a partner, after all. Doesn't hurt when you're sleeping together, in my opinion.
But rest wasn't in the cards for us Sapiens, and just as soon as we finished our victory lap for solving the Emmanuel Martin murder, another incident, this time between some lions and bears, was heating up. And Ms. Delahunt figured that we were just the right team for the job. Our day was to start with a briefing and instructions.
"Ready for another low-key day at the office?" Jack asked, getting ready to open the door to Ms. Delahunt's office.
I knew it'd be anything but. With Jack Swift at my side, however, I knew I could do anything.
"Let's do this," I said.
Then he opened the door, and together, we entered.
THE END
Book 3: Untold Chaos
Sarah J. Stone
CHAPTER 1
JERROD
"You checked your ammo, right?' I asked, keeping my eyes on the road, the skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan looming up and into the night sky on both sides of us.
Sophia, my partner and lover, flashed me a smart-assed smirk. "Of course, I did. But if you don't believe me, I'd be more than happy to show you."
She formed her fingers into a gun and stuck the tip into my side. "Bang!"
"Hey, not while I'm driving!" I laughed and swatted her hand away.
"You really think I'd show up to an operation like this with a half-full mag?"
"It's happened before," I said, not content with giving her only a little bit of shit.
"Okay, it happened the one time," she said. "And that was it."
"One time's more than enough for me to have rights to make fun of you about it forever."
"Fine," she said. "I'll let you have that, but only because I've got about ten things to give you shit about. You can have one for me."
"'Ten things'?" I pulled the car into a slow turn. "What're you talking about? I'm the consummate agent."
"How about the fact that whatever mission plan our CO gives you ends up being considered ‘helpful suggestions' rather than anything you should actually listen to?"
"Hey! I can't help it if I can come up with a better plan than any of those pencil-pushers ninety-five percent of the time."
"That five percent, though, is what's gonna cause us some trouble."
It was nearing midnight, and Sophia and I were on our way to a recon operation. Details were sparse, but the operation was a pretty standard check-in on a meeting between the Shepherds and the Carvers, a pair of lion clans who we'd gotten word were having a little pow-wow out in Queens during the late hours of the morning. Normally, such a meeting wouldn't be under the suspicions of the Sapiens, the shifter intelligence agency responsible for knowing all that there was to know about the goings-on of the different species in the city, the agency for which Sophia and I were both seasoned agents, but the amount of secrecy under which this little meet-up was happening caught the eye of a couple of higher-ups. So, grunts that we were, Sophia and I were sent off to find out what there was to find out.
Nothing more than a simple recon op. We'd stay out of sight, make sure all was on the up and up, and hopefully be back in bed before sunup. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a bad feeling about all of this.
"Something about this operation seem off to you?" I asked, pulling onto the Queensboro Bridge and watching the city over the river grow larger by the second.
"Like all of your bad feelings, I think it's all in your head."
"Hope so."
As I drove, my eyes flicked over to Sophia. The window on her side was down just a bit, and the cool evening air blew gently through her ruby-colored hair. Eight months since we'd been made partners, and five since we'd become…more than that, and I still couldn't get over just how goddamn beautiful she was. Red hair, skin like cream, and a body that I couldn't imagine getting tired of exploring. And I'd done a lot of exploring over these last few months. We were both bears, after all, and it didn't take us long to figure out just what it took to make the other very, very happy.
Things had gotten serious over these last couple of months. What'd started out as a little fling brought on by the heat of the job was turning, right under my nose, into something real, something deeper than the shallow flings that I was used to. A few weeks ago, after a particularly intense after-work "debriefing," those three little words that I thought I'd never say slipped out of my mouth. She smiled and sent them right back. We were over the damn moon about it, but now we were faced with the reality of being both partners and being in a relationship that was getting more serious by the day.
"Eyes on the road, hotshot," Sophia said, a half-smile forming on those beautiful lips of hers.
"Then try not to be so distracting."
"How
about this—keep your head in the game until this op is over, and I'll give you plenty to be distracted by once we get back to my place."
"Deal."
We drove in silence over the length of the bridge.
"Hey," she said. "You…given any thought to that thing I mentioned from earlier?"
"'That thing'?" I asked. "That's a pretty casual way to refer to us quitting the Sapiens, getting normal-shifter jobs, and moving out to Westchester or some such shit."
"I'll take that as a ‘no,' then."
I took in a sharp draw of air as we drove deeper into Queens.
"It's…just a lot to ask. You know being a Sapiens something I've dreamed about since I was a fuckin' cub, right?"
"Oh, I know."
"I mean, I live for this shit. And not only that, but with this gig we can actually make a difference in this city. We keep the peace, remember? It's up to us to make sure war doesn't break out between the rest of these animals. I just don't know if I could trade that for sitting in some office being a personal assistant to some personal assistant to one of the Three or something."
"You can make a difference in those jobs, too." She turned toward me. "Less chance of getting killed, too. And that's an important trait for a job if you're ever thinking about…you know."
"I know, I know," I said. "It's just a lot to think about."
"I don't want to put too much pressure on you, but, well, I want to put some pressure on you. Just keep it in mind, you know?"
"Sure, sure," I said. "But we're here, so let's shelve the family planning for later."
Sophia nodded, knowing that she, as usual, wasn't going to make much headway with this particular topic. I pulled the car into a spot a little ways away from the warehouse where the lion clans were meeting and killed the engine.
"Remember," Sophia said. "This is recon. We get in there, watch from a distance, and make sure that everything's on the level. Once we confirm that nothing shady's going on, we get out of there."
"Works for me."
We checked our guns one last time and got out.
"Place has a back entrance," I said. "Let's get in there real quiet-like."
Sophia nodded and we ran softly over the gravel leading up to the back of the massive warehouse. I took a quick look around, noting that there weren't any cars parked around the place. Lions tended to be the flashy types, so not spotting a small fleet of luxury cars gave me pause. It meant that they either weren't meeting, or they were meeting—and didn't want anyone to know about it.
The back entrance was key card locked, and Sophia went to work without a word. She was the brainy, techy type, and her skills always came in handy when making discrete entrances like this. Moments later, the panel was accessed and the door was unlocked. We entered as quietly as cats, shutting the door behind us.
The door led to a narrow hallway, and the low murmur of conversation could be heard as soon as we stepped in. My stomach tightened this meant that the meeting was happening, and the signs were pointing to it not being something on the level.
"Stay close," I said. "I got a bad feeling about this."
Sophia nodded, her expression serious. Eventually, we reached a ladder that led up onto the rafters of the warehouse, and without even saying a word to one another, we scaled it to the top.
We were good partners like that.
Soon, we were on the second floor on top of a large bank of cargo containers. Moving carefully, we approached the floor of the warehouse. Bright lights were on, so we stayed in the shadows; getting spotted was the last thing either of us needed. Finally, we reached the end of the cargo containers and looked down. Sure enough, on the warehouse floor were two groups of tall men in expensive suits. Among the groups, a man from each took point, standing like the tip of an arrowhead that was facing the other group. I assumed that these were the men in charge. Sophia raised a finger to her lips, and we turned our attention to the meeting in progress.
"...I still don't know how I feel about this plan," one of the lions said, a broad-shouldered man in a crisp suit, his voice resonant and regal.
"And as I said before," the other said lion, a slimmer, but still strongly built man in a sleek, coal-black suit, his voice craftier and higher, "your feelings don't matter. I don't want to put too fine of a point on it, but that's the truth."
"A very arrogant thing to say for one in your position, Aubrey," the other man responded.
Aubrey Carver, I thought.
This was a familiar name to the Sapiens. Generally, the lions are forthright, if not a little guileless in their attempts at gaining more power for their species. Unlike the wolves, for example, the lions preferred to rely on brute strength and aggressive diplomacy. Aubrey Carver, however, was unlike the rest of his kind. He had the strength and pride of a standard lion, but a strong penchant for underhanded dealings. I'd heard rumors that he'd been attempting to scheme his way into the lion Three, and this meeting being as secret as it was had him written all over it.
"I can approach this subject from a position of arrogance because I've done my research," he said, now strolling back and forth, his bright blonde hair almost seeming to put out its own light. "And I'm coming to you now because I wish to present you with an opportunity."
"Funny thing to call taking the leader of a fellow lion clan," the other man said.
"I call it that because that's exactly what it is. You ally with me now, turn a blind eye to my…removal of the leader of the Remington clan, and you'll find that the power of your own clan will grow significantly. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a position in the Three for you at some point in the future."
"And all it takes is a little blood on my hands."
"All it takes is for you to look the other way. I'll do all the dirty work."
I turned to Sophia, who was watching the events with wide eyes. Our gaze met, and neither one of us needed to say anything to convince the other of the severity of what we were hearing.
"We need to get out of here, and now," Sophia whispered. "The bosses need to know what's going on with the lions."
But I didn't budge. "No," I said. "We need to hear more. We need to get this recorded; there needs to be more than just our word on what we're hearing right now."
"Jerrod," Sophia hissed. "This is some serious shit. We stay here any longer and we risk getting found. And if we get found…"
She didn't need to finish the sentence. But I knew having this meeting recorded would make the difference between having an investigation started tomorrow and having everything delayed until we had something more concrete. And from what I'd heard about Aubrey, he was skilled as hell in manipulating bureaucracy to work for him. If it came down to a couple of Sapien agent's word against his, he'd win out every time.
"I'm getting in closer," I said, keeping my voice low. "You can come with me, or you can go back to the car. Discussion over."
With that, I moved along the cargo containers to find a better vantage spot. Over my shoulder, I saw Sophia tense up before following after me. I knew before I started that she'd never abandon me, for better or for worse. Finally, I reached a suitable position in the scaffolding over the main floor. Pulling my recorder out of my pocket, I flicked it on and began recording. Sophia arrived at my side and we both continued to listen in.
"And then once the Remington clan is decapitated," the other said lion. "Then what? You just swoop in and take power?"
"I take more power," Aubrey said. "And you leave the details to me."
And then a long moment hung in the air. The longest moment of my life.
"And," Aubrey said, "will someone do something about the two spies lurking about?"
My blood ran cold. Sophia and I locked eyes. I don't know how we'd been found out, but Aubrey somehow knew we were here. He turned around and looked straight up at us, his blue eyes brilliant and piercing, even from this distance.
"Hel-oo!" he said in a sing-song voice, giving us a finger-waggling wave. "I s-ee you!"
"Carver," the other lion said. "You said you'd secured this fucking place!"
"No matter," Aubrey said. "Two agents aren't much of an issue."
He turned to his guards. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he said. "Kill them already!"
Sophia and I exchanged one final look before going for our guns. And right at the moment we pulled them out, the guards withdrew theirs and started firing. Gunshots cracked through the air and the whizz-pang of bullets hitting the steel body of the scaffolding sounded. I raised my gun and fired off a few of shots, hitting one lion guard and missing with the other two. Sophia drew a bead of her own, hitting a lion with a pair of shots right into his chest. The leader of the other clan ran for cover, but Aubrey stood stone still in the center of the floor, his eyes locked on us, a cocky smile on his face.
More shots rang out, my heart pounding as I grabbed Sophia's wrist and pulled her down the stairs leading from the scaffolding down to the first floor.
"Come out now and I promise I'll go easy on you," Aubrey said.
Not a fucking chance.
Once behind the more solid cover of the cargo containers, I resumed firing. My ammo was getting low, and judging from the number of shots Sophia had taken, so was hers. Our only chance was to get back to the car and call for backup. But with the amount of guards, that was going to be a tricky proposition.
I came out from cover and took another couple of shots, neither connecting with anything but concrete and steel. Hopelessness gripped me; it was only a matter of time before the guards flanked us.
And as if on cue, a trio of lion guards swarmed at us from around the other side of the cargo containers.
"Jerrod!" shouted Sophia, pushing me hard. "Look out!"
As the last word left her mouth, one of the guards raised his pistol and fired a shot. Everything after seemed to move in slow motion. Sophia hit the ground hard, red already seeping through her white blouse.
Shifter Wars Complete Series Page 25
