Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (24 page)

“Mine,” he told her as he slid his finger deep inside of her pussy. “Come for me. Come while I make you mine.”

His tongue laved her throat again and she was melting against him when he pinched her clit. As she cried out, her climax moved over her entire body, and when she felt him sink his teeth hard into the flesh of the pulse of her throat she knew she was a goner. The second climax took her breath away, and she felt the world darken around her.

When she opened her eyes she was on her bed. Sitting up, she found that her towel was laid over her and she was alone in the room. She might have thought it was all a dream, but her neck ached where he’d bitten her and she could see a red mark on her breast where he’d suckled at her nipple. Angry at both him and herself, she stood and nearly toppled over when a wave of dizziness rolled over her. She couldn’t stand at first and had to hold onto the bed until it passed.

Making her way to her bathroom, Alexis was cussing the fucking man. What for, she wasn’t sure. It was either that he’d left her after those incredible climaxes or that he’d given them to her in the first place. Either way, he was a dead man if he came around again. She didn’t need any more arrogant, pushy men in her life. One was more than she could handle right now.

Pulling on the first thing she could find, she was out of the bedroom and on her way to the barn before she could think. Well, she did think, but she wasn’t happy about where her thoughts were taking her. Men, knives, and blood were running rapt with sex, silky sheets, and screaming climaxes.

She was in her lab later that night when she heard the kids coming across the lot. She had to smile at them. They were a handful, but she loved them dearly. How could she not? They were her sister’s children and she missed her more with every passing day. And the children had suffered much worse than her. Especially Darcy.

Darcy hadn’t spoken a word since the day the police had found her covered in blood and hiding in the barn. Alexis had taken her there when she’d run from the house to find the man—the men in this case—who had killed her mother. She’d only meant to protect the girl, but they all had thought that she’d gone there after witnessing the murder.

The doctors had told Alexis that Darcy had probably seen the killing of her mother and was still in shock. But Alexis knew better. She knew for a fact that she’d seen her mother killed and also the person who had done it. It had been a shock for her as well to know that a man could kill his own wife and do it in front of his children. But Paddy hadn’t been alone, nor had he been the one to give her sister the final blow that ended her life.

Alexis had wanted to hit the doctors for their astute observations. She worked with her niece every day to try and get her to at least say something, anything that told her that she was going to be all right. The children crashing open the door had her racing to the front part of the work area.

“He’s here,” Tim said with his eyes wide. “He’s comed for us and I’m not going back with him.”

“Go. Now.” She herded them to the underground levels that she’d had specially made for them. She’d no more than thrown the rug back over the opening when Paddy Booth came in the building.

“Where the fuck are they? I know that you’re hiding them and I want them right fucking no—” He stopped speaking suddenly and sniffed the air. “What the hell have you done?”

His fist hit her so quickly that she barely had time to see it coming, much less duck out of its way. She knew she needed to stay alert or he’d kill her. But at some point she couldn’t stay awake any longer.

Chapter 3

Austin went into the kitchen. His mother had come in his office a few minutes earlier and said that Gordon was there and he looked pole axed. She thought something had happened, but since he was still staring off into space she couldn’t get a word out of him.

“I think that girl did something to him. It’s rumored she’s a witch. Maybe she put a hex on him or something.” Nancy Force grinned. “But I’m thinking it might be something altogether different.”

“Gordon?” His brother looked up at him. “Mom said that you were—”

“I didn’t mean to do it. I just…she was only wearing this towel, and when I touched her, it was everything I could do not to throw her to the floor and take her.”

Austin sat down, his knees already a little shaky from seeing his brother look so pale and distraught. He wasn’t sure what his brother was talking about, but his mom was right, something had happened. He just hoped that Gordon hadn’t hurt anyone in his rough housing.

“Who? Are you talking about the girl? The one from this morning? Tell me what happened. I’m sure that whatever it is, we can figure out something.” At least he hoped so.

“I just wanted to kiss her…well, I wanted her, and once I touched her I couldn’t stop. Then I realized who she was and it was too late. You think maybe it was a mistake?” Gordon started nodding his head. “Yeah, that’s it. I just didn’t get it right. No way could that be right.”

“Christ. Please tell me you didn’t rape the girl. So help me, Gordon, if you did, there won’t be a place deep enough for you to hide in that I won’t find you.” He got up and started to pace when he suddenly got a scent from his brother. “Mother fuck. You’ve mated.”

“What the fuck do you think I’ve been trying to tell you? I told you, I only meant to kiss her, and then I realized as soon as I touched her who she was. Or thought I did. You think it was a mistake?”

Austin sat down again, hard. “No. I think you’ve met your mate and that you’ve at least partially mated with her. Christ, love a duck. What does she say about all this? I’m sure she’s just thrilled to no end.”

“I didn’t tell her. After she climaxed…twice…I picked her up, put her on the bed, and got the hell out of there. Maybe she won’t notice. Maybe…ah hell, Austin, what the hell am I going to do with a mate?”

“Whose mate? You aren’t screwing around with another wolf….” Dallas burst out laughing after he leaned down and took a big whiff of Gordon’s shirt. “You’ve met her, I see. The girl from this morning? She’s a looker. I wouldn’t mind if I had—”

Dallas was suddenly across the room on the floor and Gordon was over him with his arm at his brother’s throat. It had happened so fast that Austin barely had time to get out of the way before he was caught in the fray.

“Stay away from my mate.” The threat was delivered with a low and blood-chilling tone. “She’s mine.”

None of them moved, especially not Dallas. He should have known better than to say anything like that to a mated wolf, even in jest. Austin walked slowly over to both men and kneeled down to look at Gordon.

“Let him up,” he told him with as much compulsion as he could. “Tell him you’re sorry, Dallas, and then, Gordon, I want you to let him up.”

He watched as Gordon started to relax. It was a few more tense seconds before he stood, and then he offered Dallas his hand. Austin was afraid he wasn’t going to take it. Dallas just stared at Gordon. Then when he spoke Austin was sure this wasn’t the end of it.

“You know me better than to think I’d touch your mate, I would hope.” Dallas finally took his hand and stood. “Next time you have a beef with me, I suggest you be more polite about it or I’ll kick your ass.”       

They sat at the table, but not before Gordon got them each a beer. The tension around the table chilled a bit, but it wasn’t until Gordon started talking that things got better.

“She was supposed to be sleeping, her aunt said. She told me to go on down and wake her up and for us both to come up for dinner. How the hell was I supposed to know she’d answer the door half naked and smelling like sex? Christ,” he said as he took a long pull from his bottle. “She is beautiful. Dark hair that was curling up like it was going to be messy in no time. Eyes the color of the night sky in the middle of summer when all the street lights are out. And Christ, what a body. It was everything I could do not to take more than I did from her.”

“You bit her then?” Dallas asked. “You didn’t waste any time, did you? I mean, what did you do, meet her this morning and mate with her tonight?”

“It was like I couldn’t help myself. As soon as I tasted her skin, tasted her mouth, I knew that it wasn’t going to be enough.” Gordon looked down at his beer as he continued. “She’s going to be pissed, isn’t she? I mean, I didn’t hurt her, not really, and I did make it feel good for her too.”

Austin looked up when his mate came in the room with his mom. He knew that she had heard his brother’s last statement the moment she walked in the room. Austin wanted to feel sorry for his brother, but he was completely on his own with this one. Taking a mate was hard enough, but taking a human one was really scary. Austin looked over at CJ and then pulled her into his lap when she got close enough for him to touch.

There was a good deal to be happy about in taking a mate too. This, as he snuggled into her neck, was the best part. Then he laid his hand over her growing little mound that was their child. He smiled when she grinned at him.

“When are you going to bring her around, Gordon? Your mom will love her, by the way. I already do. Having another female in this family will be really nice too. We can go shopping and do lunch together.”

Gordon flushed before answering. “I have to tell her what she is to me first. It’s going to be bad, and then there are the kids. I’m not sure what they are to her, but they’re pretty scared of people.”

“You’ll have to tell her very soon. If there is another wolf in her family and he finds out, things could be bad for her. Or the kids,” Dallas said as he poured CJ a glass of milk and their mom a glass of tea. “I’ve been trying to find out what I can about the brother-in-law, but all I’ve found so far is that he and the sister, Judith Dark Booth, had been divorced about two years before the murder. He’d been accused of being into some drugs and some thefts, but now…it’s as if he just dropped off the face of the earth.”

Gordon’s phone ringing startled them all and then the pack phone going off sent them all off. Dallas snatched up the pack phone just as Gordon started writing down things in his notebook. He stood as soon as he closed his phone.

“I have to go. A woman was just brought into the hospital by her family. They say she’s been beat up pretty badly. I’m on call so—”

“It’s Alexis Dark,” Dallas said. “Carol at the hospital called to tell me that she has been beaten by a wolf. His scent is all over her. He…Christ, she said he beat her pretty bad.”

Gordon was out the door and into his car before the rest of them could gather coats and purses. Dallas went out with him and Austin went with the women. Connor, their brother, showed up just as they were loading into the car, and he jumped in with them. Austin hoped it wasn’t as bad as they said, but he had a feeling that it was going to be much worse.

~~~

Alexis could only open one eye and it was blurry. She tried to roll over, but it hurt too badly so she simply moved her head. That wasn’t much better, but at least she could see more. The first person she saw was the cop from earlier.

“The call came in and I’m on duty. How are you feeling?” he asked as he put his face down to her level. “They are going to give you something for pain, but the doc said he wanted to assess your pain level first.”

“Ten times infinity,” she told him as she tried to move again. “The kids? Where are they?”

“In the lobby with my mom and your aunt. Tim is trying to decide if he trusts us or not, and Sis is telling my mom all about her dad.” He brushed the hair from her mouth as he continued. “He sounds like a real winner. Did he hit you?”

She didn’t even try to pretend she was going to answer him. Alexis had enough going on at the moment, and a nosey cop in the mix wasn’t going to help her. Especially not with Paddy and the children, and most assuredly with all the other shit she was trying to juggle.

“I’d like for you to go away, please. I don’t know who called the cops, but nothing is the matter. I…I fell, that’s all.” She hated lying, but whatever had pissed off Paddy, she was sure he wasn’t finished with her yet. “I’m really okay. Thanks anyway.”

She tried to get him to back off by sitting up, but he just pressed her back into the bed. When she tried it a second time, he leaned down to her and nipped at her ear lobe. Her body seemed to like it a whole lot more than she thought it should. When he licked her pulse, she couldn’t help but moan.

“Unless you want me to join you in this bed to keep you here, I would suggest you be still.” Her body shivered in reaction to his threat. “Christ, you smell delicious.”

His mouth moved along her throat and then along her ear again. She could feel him with her entire body. Feel everything about this man and what he was doing to her. She moaned when he moved to cup her breast. She was about to beg him, for what she wasn’t sure, but he suddenly stiffened and she moaned again when he didn’t continue.

“Gordon,” someone said from behind him. When he started to pull away, she whimpered. The damned man actually winked at her after he kissed her quickly.

“Alexis, this is my brother Austin, and you’ve met his lovely wife CJ.” The door opened again and another man walked in with a pretty older woman. “This is one of my other brothers, Dallas, and my mom, Nancy.”

Alexis nodded. She was too busy trying to get her hand from Gordon to pay much attention to what was going on. Plus, she hurt. Her head was pounding and her busted lip felt heavy and swollen. Every time she moved she could feel where Paddy had kicked her…even her toes hurt to wiggle them. When she was finally able to free herself, she huffed when he sat on the edge of her bed and put his hand on her leg.

“Miss Dark, could you tell us what happened today? Who hit you—?”

She cut off the one he’d called Dallas. “No one hit me. As I’ve told this man, I fell. Not that it’s any of your business anyway. So I’d very much like it if you all left.”

CJ giggled and Alexis wasn’t sure, but she thought the mother laughed as well before Dallas glared at her. With a raised brow, Mrs. Force had him backing off. That too might have been funny, but Alexis had had enough. She finally managed to press the nurse’s call button before anyone else could ask her about today. The nurse answered and Alexis asked for a doctor.

“Miss Dark…Alexis…there’s no reason for you to try and protect your brother-in-law. We take care of our own whether it be the victim or the abuser.” She laughed at Dallas’s statement as he continued. “We have laws…laws that are enforced to keep everyone safe. Especially when our females are hurt.”

The nurse coming in the room kept her from telling him just what he could do with his laws of safety. Ignoring all of them, but especially the one trying to grab for her hand again, she simply smiled at the nurse.

“Doctor Cable is on his way up, miss,” Nurse Jenny said while she glanced around the room nervously. “He’s not going to be happy about all the visitors either. It’s not even visiting hours. And that man is a stickler for rules.”

“Exactly,” Alexis snapped before turning to Gordon with a final jerk of her hand from his. “What is with you? I want you to stop touching me. In fact, why don’t you and the rest of your family get the hell out?”

She tried to move away from him again. Then he did something that made her blood freeze and her heart skip several beats. He growled low in the back of his throat. Terror slammed at her. She managed to look him in the eye as she asked what she thought she might already know. “What…what are you?” she whispered. And she knew…just knew that he was going to tell her something she didn’t want to know.

“I’m a wolf. A born werewolf, as a matter of fact. Not like your brother-in-law, but one born to parents who were weres.” He leaned closer to her and her nipples peaked even though she was terrified. “And I’m your mate.”