Force of Nature (17 page)

She was standing next to the driver’s door when he finally made it to the rig. He had better control over himself but not much. She looked fuckable, and he wanted to oblige her in so many ways. Unlocking the door and watching her climb into the truck broke him and he took the stairs just behind her and flattened her on the seat before she could get in.

“I need you. Now.” He rocked into her, the bag of food in his hand forgotten. “Go to the bed and get on your hands and knees. This is going to be fast and hard.”

She didn’t say a word, but hurried to do what he wanted. He could smell her now. Her scent was driving him on. When she disappeared into the sleeper, he followed, dropping the food on the other seat and unsnapping his jeans as he went.

She was on the bed as he’d directed. She hadn’t removed her clothes, for which he was glad and angry with. He wanted to strip them off and he wanted them gone. As soon as he was behind her, he lifted the tiny skirt up off her ass and did whimper then.

A thong. Not a pretty little color either, but a bright fire engine red. Austin wrapped both his hands in the tiny ribbons on either side and tore them from her. Her moan was enough to let him know that she was ready. Reaching between her legs with his fingers, he found her wet, dripping wet, and hot.

“Fuck, CJ. You’re going to hate me for this.” He rammed his cock deep. His hands held her steady as he took, pounded into her heat and wet channel like a mad man. When her hand cupped his balls, he looked down at her and saw his cock soaked with her juices and her hand fondling him. It sent him over the edge and he roared out his release. Even as he reached around her and pinched her clit, he could feel her tighten around him, and each surge into her got tighter and tighter. When she exploded, her climax screaming from her throat, Austin felt another smaller but no less powerful climax grab him. He dropped over her and took her to the bed.

He couldn’t move. His entire body felt as though he’d been put through a ringer and had come out the other side broken and yet sated. He rolled to his back, his cock still semi-hard deep in her, and brought her with him. When he thought he could speak and make sense, he chuckled.

“I had meant to make this enjoyable for you. I wanted to make love with you, not take you like a rutting animal.” When she turned and looked at him, his breath caught. “Christ, you’re beautiful.”

“Thank you. And what makes you think I didn’t enjoy this? I came very hard when you did.” She moved off him as she continued. “But I think I would like to see more than just small glimpse of you. But not tonight, I’m exhausted.”

She started to stand and he stopped her. He wanted her again, but not with the urgency he had earlier. Austin stood up, pulled her into his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I have dinner for us. Then I want to strip you down and massage you.” Her hum of approval made his cock twitch. “Then while you sleep, I’m going to hold you the rest of the night.”

He pulled her away from him long enough to take her shirt off. “Don’t wear this in public again, please. It’s enough to cause a riot. Besides, it makes me pissy when other men look at you.”

Her giggle made him smile. He wanted to hear it again and again. As he was turning her around so that her back was to his, he stilled.

He was in love with her. When she turned and looked at him, her face full of concern, he turned her back around until he could think and began to unbutton her skirt. His mind was about half on his task and nearly missed what she was saying.

“I love this shirt, thanks. It’s going to be so hot tonight here. I love the weather, but I wouldn’t want to live here. I love the seasons in Ohio. By the time we get to California, it’s going to be too hot to wear much more than this.”

The skirt slid to the floor and he brought his hands to her waist as he buried his face in her shoulder. She smelled like his wolf. He reached for one of his shirts and handed it to her. Taking a small nip of her wrist when she took it, he told her to sit down.

“I got us some food. It’s probably cold by now.” He reached in the seat and brought the large bag to the bed. “I wanted this to be so romantic for you. I don’t even know what that guy fixed us.”

The meal turned out to be roast beef sandwiches and large containers of potato salad. He burst out laughing when he realized how much more trouble the guy was in than he thought if this was a romantic dinner. He told CJ about their conversation.

“Maybe the guy doesn’t know how to romance a woman,” CJ said as she took a huge bite of the sandwich. “There was this girl in college. She wanted her boyfriend to romance her. He brought some of his magazines over and wanted her to do what the women were doing to the guys on the pages.”

Austin waited for her to finish and when she didn’t, he prompted her. “You mean like Penthouse and Playboy? Tell me that didn’t work. And please tell me that you didn’t watch.”

She looked at him with so much shock that he burst out laughing. “No, thank you very much, I did not watch. And yes, it did work. She married the guy as soon as the semester was over. I think they have like seven kids or something.”

He watched her finish her food as her eyes got heavier and heavier. Taking the remnants of their dinner off the bed, he pulled her down to the mattress. Starting at her feet, he began to massage her toes and worked his way up her calves. She moaned several times but said nothing.

When he realized she was asleep, he pulled the cover up over her and turned out the lights. He stepped outside the rig and called Phil.

“I’m in love with her,” he told the vamp when he answered. “Falling over my lower lip, heart pounding, toe curling in love with her.” The fucking bastard laughed. “I’m serious. What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

“Hope the hell she loves you back. Because I got news for you, she’s the real deal. But you hurt her and I’ll hunt you for the rest of your days and then drain you.” Austin believed him.

“Where are you right now?”

“Amarillo, Texas. Tomorrow she said we’d get to Kingman, Arizona. Then from there we’re only about five hours from the warehouse. She said I can stay, if you are wondering.”

She hadn’t, but she hadn’t mentioned him going back either. Austin started to explain that to the man, but he spoke first.

“So, from where you’ll be tomorrow, you’ll be about…let me see…”

Austin closed his eyes. He wanted to go back in and cuddle up with his mate, not try and figure out the vampire who knew her better and was talking in riddles. Austin looked at the empty lots surrounding them and wondered if he could shift and go for a quick run when Phil came back.

“You’re going to be just a bit over two hours from Vegas. You want me to book you a room and a wedding chapel?” Austin sat down hard as Phil continued. “I can have a limo pick you up if you know where you’re going to stay, take you to the chapel, and then bring you back to the rig sometime after noon. You’ll still make the deadline and you’ll be married too.”

Married. He looked over his shoulder at the door that his mate was sleeping behind. He rubbed his hand over his heart and realized he wanted to do this more than he wanted to take his next breath.

“Call my mom and family; tell them to meet us there. You’ll have to give her away, of course. I have a ring. Tell my mom to bring the ring my grandma gave me.” He heard Phil laugh.

“What’s so funny? This was your idea.”

“Yes, and if you fail to make her see that it’s best for you both, then I’ll deny it. Otherwise, I plan to take full credit. I’ll call your mom in a bit. I don’t think you should tell her. She may chicken out. I told you she tends to run when she’s scared.”

Austin agreed. Plus, if he pulled this off, she’d be a Force and not a Webber for real. They made plans for a little while longer. A suite with champagne and flowers, a dress for her to wear, and flowers for her wedding. They decided that the deluxe wedding would be best, Phil reading off what it entailed, and Austin told him he’d pay him for it when he saw him tomorrow.

“You’re a good guy for a vamp,” he told Phil before he hung up.

“Yeah, and you’re an okay guy for a dog.” Phil laughed. “I’ll text you tomorrow when I have everything set up. Let me know when you leave and I’ll make sure that everything is set up.”

After hanging up, Austin crawled back into the rig with CJ and stripped down. When she didn’t stir when he got into the bed with her, he pulled her soft, warm body into his and closed his eyes. This time tomorrow, she’d be his wife or he’d be a dead wolf. Smiling, he hoped he could convince her not to kill him.

~Chapter Seventeen~

CJ didn’t think she’d ever slept so well. Her body felt alive and humming with life when she got back in her rig after a hearty breakfast with Austin. She did notice he was acting strange, but felt much too good to let it bother her. Dressed in some very old shorts and an older T-shirt, she got behind the wheel and was off before six o’clock.

“We should be in Kingman at about five o’clock if there are no problems. We’ll stop for lunch at about noon. That should take us to about the border to Nevada. There’s this restaurant there called the El Rancho. Best Barbeque and steaks I’ve ever eaten. And the place is fun too.

And I need to stop at Richardson’s Trading post. I need to pick up a few more of their Navaho blankets for gifts.” She flushed when Austin laughed. “Sorry. I slept really well and I was sharing.”

When he reached over and pulled her in for a quick kiss when she stopped to pull into traffic, she felt her skin heat. A low growl from him made her body ache.

“If you keep growling at me like that, we’ll never get there. Stop it and behave.” She looked over at him when he growled again. “I mean it, Austin. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before.”

“I’m in love with you, CJ.” She jerked around to look at him then back at the road. “I am. I know it’s not what you expected, it’s not even what I expected, but I do love you.”

“You can’t love me. I’m not…no, you just can’t. Maybe it’s your hormones or whatever.

I’m not really the…nobody loves me.”

She wanted to tell him that her own father hadn’t, but then why should he? She wanted to tell him that she’d been alone for nearly all her life and that too made her not loveable. She glanced over at him when he chuckled. He was just horny, that was all, and decided that he would get over it soon.

They were driving down the road when she noticed that he seemed to be very busy with his phone. She didn’t ask, but she wanted to. If he loved her like he said, he’d want to share, she thought.

He loved her. That thought kept her mind busy. Why? That was the real question. Why would anyone in their right mind love her? It was the sex, that was all. Nothing more.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about.” His command had her blurt out what she had been thinking before she could stop it. “So you think it’s only the sex. Okay, I can see that. You are a very sensual and sexy woman. But for me, it’s much more. You make me want to be a better man.”

She snorted before commenting. “Sure I do. You’re the bossiest man I know. And opinionated. But why do you think you love me?”

He looked out the window before answering. “I love you because you’re the most beautiful, amazing woman I know. Even knowing that what you’re doing can get you hurt, you still do it.

Even knowing that you’ve been lied to by your best friend, you’ve already forgiven him and didn’t turn him away. I love you for your sense of humor, your laughter, and I love you because you are brilliant and stand up to me.”

She didn’t know what to say to that so she didn’t. He turned in his seat again and leaned against the window as she drove. When his phone rang, a tone she knew to be his brother’s, she felt relieved when he went to the sleeper to use the computer. Pulling out her phone’s headset, she called Phil.

“Austin said he loved me,” was her greeting when he answered. She found she wished she’d called anyone else but him when he laughed. “I don’t think it’s the least bit funny, you jerk.”

“Why wouldn’t he love you? I do and I have excellent tastes.” She snorted again. “You don’t think I have good taste or you don’t believe I love you?”

“Both. Why? I don’t understand why anyone would love me. He said all this stuff about making him laugh and that…well, other stuff too, but why? Is that a reason to love someone?”

He was quiet for a few seconds and she thought she’d lost the connection. But when he spoke, his voice was low and very emotional. She felt tears fill her eyes.

“The first time I saw you, you were on campus. I wasn’t a student there, but as soon as I saw this little kid from nowhere struggling to make it across campus alone, I figured I’d found an easy target. Yeah, I had you tagged for a good lay and some food. Little did I know you’d capture my heart. You’ve been my protector and my friend for longer than anyone I’ve known.

And CJ, when you live as long as I have, that’s saying a lot.” She wiped at the tears as he continued. “Now, why do you love me?”

“Because you made me feel protected and important to you.” It hit her as suddenly as that.

“Oh God, Phil, I’m in love with a werewolf.”

For the most part, Austin stayed in the back. She was glad about it. It gave her time to think and to wonder. She had no guidelines to judge how much “in love” someone could be with another person. She just knew that every time she thought of Austin, she got all warm and fuzzy inside. When he finally came up to the front as they were pulling into Gallup, she glanced over at him.

“Okay, so I guess I love you too. I’m not sure why yet, but I can’t think of any way of not loving you.” His laughter made her feel stupid. “I don’t think this is funny, asshole. You tricked me.”

“Tricked you how? You know what, I don’t care. I love you too. Now. What are we going to do about it?” She didn’t know what he meant and pulled into a space just to the left of the restaurant.

“I’m hungry. I’m going to shop for an hour and then eat a huge steak and baked potato. If you want to come along then go ahead.” She was out of the rig before he answered. When he took her hand as she was entering the shop, she couldn’t help but feel good.