14 Months 08: February

Two weeks prior.

Darius had just returned from the hospital, and a new contract had been drawn up between Zander and Sophie when a team meeting was called to change their preparations for the Fun run and discuss the first of February event. With the theme of Heavenly Bodies taken from a Met Gala theme some years before it was a no-brainer to Darius that Sophie should go as an angel to the National Gallery Gala Event. What he hadn't expected was the argument from not only Zander but Sophie herself who thought the idea would be used by more than one of her competitors. He was unmovable on his stance though wanting to see her as such and not even contemplating some of the other ideas tossed around the table.

"I'll give if... we make it a dark angel," Zander said, leaning back in his chair offering the first compromise on Darius's choice for Sophie's Dress for the Gala. "I'll be the one accompanying her after all."

"They aren't exactly known to be heavenly," Trent pointed out siding with Darius as always.

"Why not? They have wings and came from the heavens originally. We could make it flame like that Mockingjay costume, from the movie," Leo suggested having only just arrived for his first meeting with this new team and keen to make sure the unusual melding of the personal assistant role didn't put him as subordinate to Trent who had been with this team from the beginning and knew Sophie well.

"That does have potential to be different while meeting the Alliance criteria for the themed Gala event," Sylvia the stylist put in.

"We could use Jack to make the special effects happen," Zander put in seeing the potential and appealing to Darius to compromise even a little on this rather than make Sophie unhappy with the final choice. "Sylvia could work with him to let him know what it was we envisage."

"It's better than being dressed up in white and gold like an innocent angel. You know I will only spill something on it if I wear white," she groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Fine," Darius gave in to the compromise reluctantly, but I want wings and a halo," he grumbled. It was hardly the first in the long line of compromises he would make to honour his contract with Zander. He knew his brother was doing the same for him, but it still rankled. He wondered how long it would be before he and Zander inevitably came to blows over their differing visions for Sophie's future in the game and with them. Looking across the table, he wondered if Zander considered the same thing as they looked at each other impassively.

*****

Present

The results had come in from the fun on the last day of the January and Sophie sat in front of the computer with Darius and Zander beside her watching the footage taken by the council's men and reading her results. They'd come third in the run which surprised her, fourth in the themed costumes but she couldn't complain about that as she realised too late that she hadn't followed the obvious theme. They had been given top place for the fun they had and brought with them through the race as the video shots of Zander and Stede having mock shoot outs around their running partners was featured heavily along with the music that Baby Groot danced to in the footage provided.

When she scrolled down to the scores, there were just numbers. She knew she was number nine from the last time they had checked the scores after the Jazz Club, but with all that had happened after the Ball, she hadn't had the opportunity to look. Five, which had been Mimi's number, was scratched, and she concentrated on keeping her score in her head as she compared the scores of the other numbers.

"Do we know anyone else's numbers? Stella or Layla? Maybe Victoria?" She asked believing the Kelly Gang would have won the costume prize.

"Mimi was five, which you know. Connor was last in, but he replaced someone, so I'm not sure if he is thirteen or the number of the spot he took. I saw David on the board before me, but I can't remember what number he was," Zander said.

"I took a screenshot when I registered," Darius said and fished out his phone and scrolled through the images of Sophie he'd caught over the last few months. "Bart was first, unsurprisingly David was two, Stede three, Lance four, you five, Sebastian six, Leah and Stede were seven, Ryder eight, then us," he read through the list on his phone. "Not sure about the last four except Connor is one of them and Andre, we were sitting with him and Bart at the ball."

"Its pretty close at the top, you are probably keeping up on points because of the Jazz Club, but there were a couple of good singers that night. Just as well you finished the dances," Zander said studying the screen.

"Still we have Jack on our team now, speaking of which I'm meeting with him tonight before he flies down to check on security for us. Don't wait up for me," Zander said, rising to his feet. "I'll probably drive him to the airport as well." He bent and kissed the top of Sophie's head and clapped Darius on the shoulder. This was the pattern they had fallen into over the last few weeks, one making sure the other got alone time with Sophie. The fact that Zander and Sophie planned to stay overnight in Garden City meant he owed Darius this time alone with her. The fact that they came to this silent agreement didn't mean he liked it, but for every compromise he made Darius did the same for him and for the most part the arrangement worked.

Darius heard the engine of Zanders car turn over and slowly ease down the driveway. They had offered Jack house seven in their cul-de-sac, but he had refused saying it was best he kept his distance in case he was ever needed to launch a rescue mission as he put it. Roo and Bear, on the other hand, were only too happy to move into Zanders house temporarily and take on the roles of driver and security for any of the brothers if they needed it, which helped to ease Darius's mind somewhat as they worked to uncover what was happening with the council and their interest in the six girls.

"He's not very subtle is he," Darius chuckled pulling Sophie into his arms. "It's not easy getting used to this new dynamic, it must be even harder for you," he admitted.

"It's only been a few days, so I guess I'm okay with it so far," she said suddenly unsure of herself. While they seemed to be okay with her sleeping with both of them, she knew that neither of them liked it but rather put up with it as a necessary evil. It was more than just hard for her to talk about, she felt like she was walking through a minefield blindfolded and she did her best not to give one more attention than the other which had become an exhausting game for her, and she often retreated to the music room and let them come to her.

Darius stood, pulling her with him having every intention of taking her up to the bedroom they shared. Unable to wait though, he grabbed her face pulling her to him in a deep kiss. He pulled at the band holding her hair up and tugged the streaked caramel tresses down about her shoulders and to fall down her back.

"Angel!" he groaned, looking at her with longing as if not having his usual morning tryst with her had been killing him. His hands lowered from her head and undid the buttons at the nape of her neck until the top of the dress fell to her waist. Upon the sight of her hardening pink nipples, he growled, pulling her into his pelvis. He slowly walked her back into the wall. He grasped both of her wrists and pulled them above her head and held them with one of his large hands as his other hand explored her curves. She trembled with anticipation as his hand freely roamed her body. "Keep your hands up," Darius growled at her.

He swiftly let go of her hands and tugged the rest of the dress down over her hips, letting it fall to the floor. He pressed her close making her legs widen slightly. He slipped his large fingers into the waistband of her panties and slipped them slowly down her thighs before she spread them to accommodate his body. He dropped down on one knee and Darius's mouth dove forward into the warm moist space between her thighs, the place he longed to fill with his cock. He buried his tongue deep inside her, and she trembled clamping down on his head with her thighs. Within no time at all, she came hard with his hunger for her nearly collapsing on top of him. Her hands twisted in his hair as she moaned until she cried out.

Whenever she was with Darius, she was one hundred per cent invested in him. It was the same with Zander, but she doubted that either believed her which was why they pushed her so hard with foreplay before fucking her senseless. The idea of a quickie was a thing of the past for either of them as if they had something to prove to her and each other. She prepared herself for the onslaught she knew was coming, but he must have read her resignation in her face along with the needy desire she always felt when he took her as he came to his feet. She went to kneel and return the pleasure to him, but he stopped her looking deep into her eyes.

"I have never felt anything like what I feel when I'm near you. My whole body lights up, and I know yours does too. I'm not a womaniser, and I haven't dated anyone for years. I didn't even care. It wasn't that I didn't want a relationship, but the last one I had was toxic from start to finish. You are everything I ever wanted; you know that don't you?" Darius towered over her, but he pulled her close against him to take away the look of confusion in her eyes. He kissed her again, slowly and gently before he said, "I didn't ever want that kind of relationship again. I didn't think I would ever want anyone again, then I turned around and saw you. You were this amazingly stunning innocent-looking, Angel. I got hard just looking at you, and I've wanted you every second of every day since that moment," he paused to take a breath daring to look down into her eyes.

"I don't think you're anything other than the woman I will always want. I never think about your past. In fact, the thought of anyone near you or even thinking one lascivious thought about you makes me certain I'd fucking want to kill any bastard that came near you. But then there is Zander, and I know I've got no right to think that way about you anymore, but I want you so badly for myself. I have wanted you since the moment I saw you. Zander will tell you the same thing. The problem is we saw you even before we met you. We have been in love with the idea of you, it's like you stepped out of a tenth-grade fantasy we created, and now Jack is here and spending time with you. Ash already loves you. Tell me, what am I supposed to do with all that?"

"You're not making any sense, Darius," she shook her head. "Ash and Jack? They don't care about me. They are here for you. They love you just like Zander does," she appealed to his knowledge of the truth rather than his jealousy in seeing her with other men which she had a glimpse of at the Ball.

"Fuck!" Darius cursed, frustration and lust riding him hard. He lifted Sophie like her weight was nothing; he held her up and lowered her onto his throbbing cock, and she gasped as he lowered her onto him with one swift movement thrusting up at the same time.

Sophie gasped as he impaled her, burying himself to the hilt. He paused, burying his face in her neck, giving her a minute to adjust. She was so tight and wet. He then began thrusting into her, hard and deep slaking his need to possess her and mark her as his. He loved the sounds she made as he bent to suck her nipples while holding her ass with one arm and pressing his other arm into the wall, so he didn't crush her tiny figure with his much larger body. He increased the speed of his pumping as Sophie stretched around him taking, everything he gave her with moans and loud panting breaths.

"Fuck, Sophie!" Darius groaned her name.

"Yes ... Fuck! Yes!" Sophie gasped inhaling a deep breath only to exhale it in three moaning purring noises deep in her throat. "Oh! ... Oh!! ... Oh! Fuck!" Her body arched as she came again for him her tight pussy clamping down on his cock, feeling it embedded so deeply within her.

Darius pulled Sophie to his chest, never stopping his thrusts. He wrapped one arm around her back and the other under her round ass as he carried her from his office up the stairs to their bedroom. He lowered them down, so his pelvis spread her wide. His driving force became frantic, his pumping wild and unfettered now. His balls slapped lightly against her ass, and his ass muscles flexed like a jackhammer crashing his pelvic bone against her clit. His raw, guttural groans ramped up until he saw her arch her head back yet again. Her eyes rolled up and back then closed as she cried out for him again. Her climax was huge as if the others had only been precursors to the main event shattering her into a thousand pieces and clamping down hard milking his cock deep inside as her wetness drenched him making everything slick and hot around him.

Her fingernails bit into his skin as she scratched down the long length of his back. Her body shook, clenching down over and over on his cock. The warm drenching wetness felt so hot on his length like a deep heat was gripping him pulling his cum from him. He lost all control as his body responded, shooting out, thick ropes of cum deep inside her. It blasted out of him in waves that felt like electric currents propelling him through the climax. He felt his orgasm tingling from head to toe in the most full-bodied orgasm he'd ever endured. He'd never imagined it was even possible. He never wanted this sensation to end.

He continued to rock back and forth inside her body until he couldn't hold his own weight anymore and he collapsed against her finally slipping from her completely spent. "Oh, Angel, you are so, so...," he was lost for words as he kissed her passionately, almost reverently. "You're mine," he murmured into the kiss.

Sophie smiled softly saying nothing as she tucked her head under his chin and snuggled close. She curled into his huge chest, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled her close, and they laid there wrapped in each other's arms for long minutes. Darius knew at that moment this woman could fill every desire he'd had his entire life. He pulled her tight daring to dream for the first time in years that there could be a different path for him, a different life to the one he was living. As he held her warmth against him, knowing he never wanted to let her go. He considered the alternatives.

He looked deep into her green eyes and smiled, giving his imagination free rein just this one time before he pulled it back to the reality of their situation. He imagined that he could keep her, he could see her carrying their child, suckling a baby at her sweet breasts. He knew that the longer she was with him, the less likely he would be ever to let her go. He pulled her tight to him again, grasping her by the wrists and pulling them above her head as she moaned loudly into his mouth. The sound went straight into his groin, and he growled, "I'm not done with you yet, Angel. I don't think I will ever be done with you."

*****

Sophie stepped off the Jet in Garden City and went through the security checkpoints in the private airfield with Zanders entourage of Bear and Roo along with the now three stylists who were part of her team as well as Trent and Leo. Her travel arrangements were getting ridiculous, and she was glad her stylists would be flying back tonight after she left for the ball. Trent and Leo would stay, and she was unsure why they had come in the first place she wouldn't have to follow any schedules here she didn't think, but she had not been as vigilant as usual in the last two days at checking her schedule.

As they stood to the side, waiting for their luggage to be checked over, Sophie took out her phone and checked in case she was missing something important. There was nothing that she could see, but that didn't mean much she knew when it came to Darius and Zander. Putting her phone back in her purse, she looked up as a man approached with a wide smile.

"I'm so sorry for the delay, Mr Blackwater. My men are sometimes too efficient at their jobs. Let me escort you the rest of the way," the obsequious little man held out his arms as if he didn't know how or why this delay had happened to them.

"If you insist," Zander muttered dryly taking Sophie's hand and moving toward the exit where he hoped to hell the cars they had ordered would be waiting. Instead, the little man led them to a private lounge area.

"I was hoping Mr Blackmore would be accompanying you, today," the little man said.

"Obviously not," Zander responded in almost a bark concerned about why he would be expecting David to be on the flight.

"I hope he has not come to any harm recently," he almost whined.

"Is that a threat of some sort?" Zander stopped walking and scowled at the little man.

"Not at all, not at all, we just expected him today, and we are disappointed not to see him with your entourage," he held up his hands.

"Why would you be expecting him at all?" Zander asked, narrowing his eyes. He was curious now as to why this little weasel was here other than to earn brownie points with the alliance. His hand flashed out and grabbed the man by the collar putting on a show for anyone watching wondering if the security men would do anything about it. "Why?" he growled in the man's face.

"There is a rumour that he has something people are looking for. Then as if a lightbulb went off behind his eyes, he glanced beyond Zander to where Sophie and the stylists stood watching surrounded by the four men who travelled with them. "Perhaps it's you that rather than him possesses the treasure being sought?"

"Fuck!" Zander growled and pulled out his phone. "Roo security tapes. Now! Leo, go with him."

"Only those within the sphere of the Alliance could have guessed. Though I doubt anyone else would have thought it through. It wasn't hard after the sighting at the ball with Mr Blackmore walking her back into the building," he shrugged his shoulders. "It seems you have confirmed my suspicions were on the wrong brother," the little man grinned but cried out as a moment later the power went out. Even as the emergency lights came on the little man knew he had played his hand badly. He'd thought to blackmail David Blackmore for his silence, but now he would be happy to leave with his life as he stared into the dark scowl of Zander Blackwater.

"David, have you left yet?" Zander barked into his phone. "It seems someone recognised you with the Frankie look alike at the ball. Take precautions coming down here. I just got delayed in security because a weasel was trying to make a name for himself looking for you and the girl." He threw the little man at Bear who immediately restrained him. Then he took Sophie's hand in his and began to walk as he talked, eager to get her out of the airport. "Fly commercial if you have to, just avoid Kingsford-Smith Airfield for now 'til we can get it swept properly."

They made it to the curb, and an old turquoise blue combi van pulled up beside the dark cars they had ordered double parking as the driver let out a loud whistle to gain their attention. Zander looked up and froze, stopping Sophie from entering the first car they had approached.

"Thank God!" Zander let out a breath of relief and walk toward the van dragging Sophie with him and barking orders over his shoulder to those they were leaving behind. "Bear, you know where to take him. Roo will help you. Trent, you and Leo get the girls to the hotel we will meet you there later. Call Darius and tell him Sophie and I are with Tom and not to panic and fly down here, that's just what they want." He had shoved Sophie onto the front bench seat of the old van and climbed in behind her still barking orders, to move fast.