Tall, Dark & Heartless

"One second!" he yelled as he leaned forward, slapping his hands on the table on either side of her h*ps and leaned in. "I'll be right back," he said, giving her a sweet kiss before he pulled back and walked out of the room, probably to kill the poor Sentinel with bad timing and leaving her alone with her thoughts as she slumped back against the wall. He sent her a wink before he stepped out of the office and closed the door behind him.

She knew that he hated the fact that their baby girl had never breathed fresh air or enjoyed the sun on her skin, that she couldn't go outside and neither could Isabella for that matter. As difficult as it was being locked up inside the compound every day, and it was horrible, some days she thought she'd go crazy if she didn't step outside for even a minute, she knew that it worse for Chris.

He felt helpless in so many ways and it was killing him. For a man like Chris this was hell. She knew that he would give anything for the two of them to be able to take Jessica out for a stroll like a normal family, to take away his father's guilt and the personal hell Joshua was going through, but he couldn't. He might be a Sentinel, but in many ways he was still just a man who was taking on way too much.

The fact that he cared so deeply and unconditionally for his family only made her love him more. There was still a war going on and he would do anything to stop it to ensure their safety, which was why he was taking on way too much. When he wasn't training he was patrolling and when he wasn't doing that he was making it his personal mission to take care of everyone except himself. She couldn't even remember the last time he got a full night of sleep and with Madison's babies due any day now she knew the possibility of that happening anytime soon were pretty much nonexistent. He was going to take on one more responsibility and do everything he could to lighten his father and best friend's load and she couldn't let that happen.

At least not the way things were going. As long as they stayed at the compound he was going to make everything his sole responsibility. Instead of allowing the Manhattan compound to take over since the missing Pyte and human belonged to them, Chris took over and wasn't backing down. No one was foolish enough to try and stop him. He might be young in Sentinel years, but Chris had already made a name for himself as someone not to piss off and it didn't hurt that he had the Council's backing.

Eric hadn't said anything yet, but she knew that the Council was considering promoting Chris up the ranks once again. He was already the regional trainer for New England, a position that normally went to a Sentinel with at least one century of experience under his belt and the next step up would be a Lieutenant. Not that he cared, he really didn't. Her man didn't care about titles or bullshit as he liked to call them. All he cared about was getting the job done and protecting his family, which was why he was trying to singlehandedly stop this war.

It didn't matter that most of the Masters, demons and shifters believed that she was dead, there were still enough of them out there that believed that she was alive and would stop at nothing to get their hands on her and her program, Tattletale. As long as the war continued they were not safe and that meant they had to continue to stay at this compound and live a life of seclusion. It also meant that their lives were in danger and that was what kept her mate up most nights pacing the floor while he held their sleeping daughter in his arms.

As his mate it was her job to fix this problem and of course run like hell when he found out because there was no doubt in her mind that once he caught up with her that he was going to spank her ass until it was black and blue and the thought of even sitting pained her, but it would be worth it. If she could lighten his load, and she knew she could, then she owed it to him to go through with her asinine plan and take away at least half of his stress.

She'd worry about her ass later.

Right now she had to figure out a way to put her plan into action without him finding out. Madison was already on board with this plan. Actually, Madison may have cried a little hysterically when Isabella shared her plan with her and she wasn't sure at first if she was against the plan until she started vigorously nodding while she sobbed uncontrollably. Thankfully the very pregnant hormonal Pyte was easily calmed with chocolate so they were able to sit down and come up with a foolproof plan.

Now all they needed to do was to get Ephraim, who would do anything Madison asked so she wasn't too worried about him, and Kale to help her out. Kale might be a problem, she admitted to herself. She needed to figure out a way to get Kale to do her this one itzy bitzy little favor without freaking out.

Normally there wasn't anything the werewolf mercenary wouldn't do, hence the mercenary title, but since she was carrying what the man already deemed was his godson he was a tad overprotective sometimes. She couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't tie her up and rat her ass out to Chris. Since that wouldn't work for her she was going to have to resort to flat out manipulation to make Kale help her. Not that she was above doing that. It was just that they needed to hurry up if they were going to-

"I'll be another minute, Munchin," Chris said, popping his head in the door. His eyes dropped down to her br**sts and god help her, but the look he sent them had them swelling up for his approval.

She used to hate having her br**sts touched, but with Chris she couldn't get enough. She'd lost count of the number of orgasms he'd managed to give her over the past couple of months by just focusing on her br**sts. It still amazed her how her body reacted to Chris, how it craved him. Sex used to be boring and pointless for her, but then again that was because she wasn't with her destined mate. Sex between Sentinel mates was anything but boring and she wasn't just basing that on the incredible sex she shared with Chris.

Her first day in the compound she learned a few very important things. First and foremost, she could get junk food twenty-four seven thanks to the compounds state of the art cafeteria. Secondly, never enter a room, closet, stairwell, elevator, hallway, bathroom, storage room or even the great common room without first making your presence known otherwise it got kind of awkward, especially when the Sentinel couple didn't stop.

The most interesting thing that she'd learned, besides picking up on a few interesting positions that Chris had been more than happy to try out with her, was that not every Sentinel couple was in love. That was actually kind of weird, at least to her since she was madly in love with her mate and of course the whole "soul mate" concept.

If someone was made for you, shared two half souls with you, wouldn't that make the person your perfect half? The person that you were meant to love forever? She thought so, but apparently she was wrong. Less than half the Sentinel couples were actually in love. When she asked Eric about that, he gave her a pained smile as he explained that many Sentinels looked at their mates as their partners, a comrade that they shared a close bond with to help them in their job, but were unable to love their mate more than their job.

His reaction to her question left her a little confused, that is until Chris took her aside and gently explained that Eric and his mate did not share a love bond, which kind of surprised her since Eric and Meredith seemed very close. She knew that they loved each other, the problem was that they loved their jobs more. It was actually kind of sad, she thought as Chris walked back into the office, closing the door behind her and going back down on his knees and picking up right where he left off without a word.