Force of the Dark Wolf (Force of Nature Series) (5 page)

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 was 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
? T
hey 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 al
l
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 throw
n
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 ago 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 and 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.