Healing Cherri (9 page)

Cherri laughed. “Wow, okay, so not much support here.”

Calli and Rissa both turned to her and frowned. Calli said, “What we're trying to say is that he was made for you. So I'm pretty sure that he will get that you are like the princess of your universe, and we are all your subjects."

“
I hate you,” Cherri said and hugged her friends and laughed.

Chapter 7

They day had been exhausting and yet Declan could still feel the hum of anticipation flowing through his veins. He was going to be with her; his wolf was clawing at him in excitement. Declan never knew it could be like this, his mother had tried to explain, but he had never really gotten it. Although, he had great examples growing up. His parents were in love with each other until the day they died tragically in a freak accident. The explosion had been so hot since the propane tank on the farm exploded, no one could have survived. Not even a shifter.

He was on his way to pick up his mate. After hearing the stuff that Kade and Brooks told him, he was anxious to see his mate and make sure she was safe. He was certain she was or the alarms would be sounding. But his wolf demanded they protect their mate. He felt the same way. He knew that his wolf could take on any threat and win. This whole thing that was going to be going down though was gonna suck. He knew that Kade was planning on telling his mate tonight and the others tomorrow when they talked about their plan. His new job was not turning out like he expected.

After listening to Kade explain the girls' relationship a little, he also knew where to tread lightly. Although he, Kade, and Brooks determined that Declan also had Alpha qualities just like the three women, he was looking forward to letting his little mate know who was boss.

Calli and Rissa were standing outside of the lab when he approached. Both women looked at him warily, and it was Calli who said, “She's freakin' a little, go easy on her.”

Declan nodded and walked into the lab. Cherri was standing in front of one of the computers, talking to herself about Kiki. He stood there waiting for her to notice him. Sabrina was sitting behind the desk reading some kind of magazine and nodded at him.

“
What am I missing, his blood levels are fine, and everything seems to be on track. Why is his memory so far gone?” she muttered and bit her lip. He smiled. She was so cute when she was working.

Declan looked forward to seeing her every day in her doctor's lab coat, with her sexy clothes peeking out from beneath. She was wearing a pink and black dress today; he had noticed earlier but had not had a chance to actually appreciate what she was wearing. Her stiletto heels made him want to groan. All he could picture was her wearing them while he claimed her. He already loved her rich, dark, long hair that flowed down her back; it would look nice against some silk pillows. Shit, he had to stop thinking like that. He had gotten rock hard in a matter of seconds from walking in the lab. All he wanted to do was lay her out on the lab table and strip her naked. Then he could examine every inch of his mate and get to know what she liked.

Cherri turned around suddenly and stared at him. Her mouth in a surprised ‘O'; he could think of more than one thing he would like to do to her mouth. Declan grinned at her and waited. Cherri’s eyes darted around the lab in a panic before settling back onto him. Then her eyes narrowed and she said, “I want a dog.”

Declan opened and shut his mouth, trying to figure out what the hell his mate was talking about and what exactly the proper answer would be. He somehow thought this was a test of sorts. He decided to play it safe. “Uh, okay.”

Cherri’s eyes narrowed more. “A little teacup puppy who I could dress up in cute little clothes that match mine. And I get my hair and nails done weekly, plus we have a housekeeper and a cook. Well, Kiki was the cook, but now she's not Kiki anymore, so maybe we'll have to do the whole ordering out thing.”

Declan stepped forward and put a finger to his mate's lips and whispered, “I don’t care if you want a fuckin’ monkey that will sit on your shoulder while you're at work, or if you need to have a personal stylist come in every morning. And I can cook; my mom made sure I knew how to. As long as you're in my arms every night for the rest of our lives, I'm pretty sure I'm okay with most anything. Plus, just so you know, I hate cleaning and I had a maid in Texas too. I can afford it.”

***

Cherri sighed and looked into her mate’s eyes and saw what she had hoped to, acceptance for who she was. Declan leaned down and kissed her gently, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Damn, he was tall, she thought, as he lifted her off the floor again so they could be at eye level. She liked it when he did this, acting all he-manly.

When he lifted his head up, he said, “Can we go home now? I'm beat.”

Cherri laughed and nodded, “I need to think about this thing with Kiki; something just doesn’t seem right.”

“
Send the results to the home computer, Kade told me we were all connected with the Agency from home. We can look together over a nice glass of wine and some food.”

Sabrina cleared her throat, and Declan turned to her. “Sorry, don’t know if they told ya, until the threat is completely over, I'm living in your spare bedroom.”

“
I heard, don’t worry; I don’t plan on embarrassing you tonight,” Declan said and watched as Cherri walked around the room and gathered her things.

She paused and pushed open her communicator and said, “Da princess is leaving the nest.”

Declan laughed when he heard Kade's growl over the com link. “Cherri, we'll meet you at home. And stop using that spy code shit.”

Cherri laughed when Rissa came on and said, “Hey, those are our code names, it took us like thirty minutes to think of those, so back off. Now, Da geek is leaving the nest too.”

Declan shook his head until he heard, “Da bitch is leaving the nest,” Calli said clearly, and Kade barked into the com, “Just meet us at home.”

They walked along the top of the building to the overhead hover parking. Declan insisted on taking his own vehicle since it contained most of his stuff. He explained he had not had time to go to the hotel he was staying at to drop them off. He was too anxious about following his lab equipment. Sabrina shrugged but checked it out before allowing them to get close.

Cherri grinned when she saw the large size of his hover craft. It was made for working on the farm. There were times he needed to sleep in his vehicle at night when he was out in the fields with the cattle. This vehicle turned into a small sleeping room. He liked all the storage. He left most of his furniture back in Texas, not really caring about moving it. He gave it to the foreman and his family to use.

The security was tight even on the roof parking, and she noticed several of the Enforcers were standing guard. Her eyes were drawn to an extremely tall, muscular guy who was standing across the lot. She had seen him before and noticed his build, but had never gotten any closer because Calli warned her not to mess with her Enforcers. But damn he was fine; his short, military-style haircut made him look fierce, and even from where she was standing she could see he had green eyes. They were bright and distinct. His facial features looked chiseled in a classic fierce warrior face. He was handsome and sexy. Shit, what the hell was she thinking, her hot mate stood right next to her, and she was thinking of another man? The girls were right. She was a slut.

She heard the zing of a small motor just before she noticed that Calli, Kade, Rissa, and Trina stepped out into the open. The small machine was something she had never seen before, and she looked up and pointed, ready to laugh. It was about the size of a trash can and had the same look, kinda boxy with rounded edges, and she was looking at the back and could see it had several pipes sticking out. When it turned and faced her, she frowned when she saw the lights that were on the front. A red scanner swept over the top of the roof.

She heard Kade and Thomas yelling, and Declan grabbed her and fell on top of her, knocking her to the ground. She could see the man she had been fantasizing about run to them and cover both Declan and her. What the hell was going on? Cherri wondered, and then she heard the shots.

Calli was screaming for Cherri, but she was covered with two huge men and could barely breathe. Declan was whispering into her ear trying to soothe her; she heard crying, and then she realized that it was her.

It seemed to take forever for the shooting to stop. She felt Declan try to push the man off of them, but he wasn't moving. Instead, she was listening to a deep voice yelling above her.

“
Clear the fucking roof and someone shoot that fucking bot down!” He-man said, and she felt shivers running through her. Then she heard Declan say, “What the hell?” And she knew that he was feeling something too.

There was a loud noise, and then she heard falling metal. “Clear,” someone called, and then she felt the pressure from the body above her ease up.

Declan slowly moved off her and then felt every inch of her while she lay on the ground to make sure she was not hit in anyway.

“
I'm fine,” she snapped and brushed his hands away. “Where the hell are the others?”

Declan had paused and then turned toward the man standing in back of them barking orders, and she felt the electricity flow around them like it had the first time they met and were close enough to each other.

“
You've been hit,” Declan said, and stood up and grabbed the man’s arm.

The large man frowned at Declan, who almost met him eye to eye.
Wow
, Cherri thought, as she looked at the two of them standing in front of her,
they were any woman’s wet dream
.

Cherri jumped up and grabbed the two men and rushed them back into the building. Most of the Enforcers were studying the thing that opened fire on them. When they reached the door to the building, there was another Enforcer standing there. “Nikolas, how bad is it?”

“
Just me, it was programmed to find her,” he said, pointing at Cherri.

“
The building is on lock down; Kade and Calli are calling the shots from the command room,” the Enforcer told them.

The three of them nodded and then entered the building. She pushed them to the med lab, so they could take care of the man who saved them. Declan went to the supply closet and gathered all the stuff, while Cherri pushed the man to the table and pulled at his black shirt that was standard issue around here. Cherri hated black, but Calli and Kade both wore it, black tee-shirts with black cargos, and black boots.

“
Shirt off,” she said briskly.

“
It's only a scratch,” the man protested.

“
I will determine what's wrong and what medical needs you have,” Cherri said briskly and then stopped when her hand touched the bleeding wound on his upper bicep. The bullet had grazed him good. The trench would have to be stitched carefully. She felt the zing of attraction, pulled back and looked up, and the man stared down at her.

“
Well shit,” she said and turned to Declan, who was standing close to them. “Do you feel it?”

Declan nodded and looked at the man. “What's your name?”

“
Nikolas Stable, and yours?” he replied curiously.

“
I'm Declan Chase, and this is Cherri Rett, soon to be Chase,” Declan said and stood straighter. The alarms sounded, and they all paused to listen.

"THERE IS A BREACH IN THE MEDICAL WING, I REPEAT, A BREACH IN THE MEDICAL WING. ALL AVAILABLE ENFORCERS COME IN ARMED."

“
Kiki,” Cherri whispered and then went to run out the door. Both of the men grabbed one of her arms and held her back. Sabrina ran into the room and said, “The roof is clear; we have another threat in the med wing. We’re going on lock down."

Just then the loud alarms Cherri had only heard when there was a drill went off, and the heavy bullet-proof doors closed locking them inside the lab.

“
Well, this sucks,” Cherri said, shaking the men’s arms off her. “Get back up on the table. Sabrina, call Calli and see where everyone is. Declan, help me stitch Nik up.”

“
It's Nikolas,” the large man said gruffly to her, and she looked up and glared at him.

“
Listen, you and I both know there's some freaky shit going on here. Declan is my mate, and so are you. Deal with it, if I want to call you Nik, I will. I want a fucking puppy, and I'm going to have one, so get over yourself and hold your fuckin’ arm out so I can stitch it,” she ground out and the large man looked at her with narrowed eyes and then held out his arm. “Now, I'm a high maintenance bitch, as I already explained to Declan, so you just have to deal. Declan seems to be a nice man; he's from Texas and has the sexy drawl thing going on, but don’t let that fool ya. He's a bossy son of a bitch. So how are you going to fit into all this, I have no clue. I think you seem like you're like a big teddy bear, but you're gonna be possessive. Could be a problem, but I think we can all work around it.”

Both of the men were looking at her like she was crazy, she was calmly talking and stitching the arm of a man she just met and with her other mate. Towards the end of her speech, they both detected a bit of panic running through her voice, but her hands never wavered and so they let her rabble on.