Force of Nature (3 page)

“Mr. Campbell, Miss Webber is on line one. She said to tell you if you have someone in the office to get rid of her. I told her you were alone.” Phil smiled at his secretary. “She believes that you’re having a ‘nooner,’ sir.”

Laughing, Phil picked up the phone. “I’m not having a ‘nooner,’ as you so eloquently put it.

I don’t have time what with taking care of your crap all the time.”

CJ snorted before speaking. “You should. Get laid, I mean. Might make you smile more. I’m coming back now. I’m about…I think about seven and a half hours out.”

“You think you’re seven and a half hours out or you are seven and a half hours out? Either way, I’m ready for you. But since you’ll have your rig, you’ll have to stay at your house and not Grandmother Marston’s. You won’t even know the old prick ever lived there.”

She was quiet on the other end and he waited. Trying to get her to do something he thought was best was difficult at best, but trying to prod her along only made her more stubborn.

“I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. Maybe it’s just as well if I stayed there for a bit anyway. Did you get my envelope?”

He picked up the overnight envelope off his desk and dumped the contents on the desk again. “Yes, I got it this morning. How about if we hold off on most of this stuff until you get here? There are some things you don’t know yet and I would like to talk to you about them face to face.”

Phil picked up the list of things she wanted done. Selling off the houses was first on the list, the rest of her grandmother’s things—stocks and bonds and her jewelry—was secondary. CJ

didn’t know that her father had money in the bank and as his only surviving family, she got that as well. He wanted to talk to her about that and the house she’d grown up in.

“All right. I’ll go there. I should be there about two or so if I don’t get caught with too many hours. I’ll call you when I get up.”

“Okay, we’ll have dinner together and make plans to meet in the office.” He hesitated for a few seconds. “It’ll be all right, CJ, you’ll see. We can maybe go into practice together finally.”

She was laughing when they hung up. He wanted her as his partner more than anything. She was brilliant and her knowledge of the law still amazed him.

~Chapter Three~

Austin was on a run. He loved the very early mornings with everything so quiet. He was just rounding the end of his property when he saw the Webber house. It was dark, as usual, but there was a big fucking truck parked in the drive. He moved closer to see if someone was moving in when he realized it was this CJ person’s. Pissed for no other reason than he was, he went up on the porch and looked around.

He could smell someone different had been here, but not knowing who, he shifted and went to the forest edge to get his pack he had dropped when he’d seen the truck. Pulling on his pants and shirt and tennis shoes, he went back to the house and knocked on the door, wincing when he realized that he had pounded rather than knocked.

He couldn’t hear much on his side of the door, but knew that someone was inside. The longer he stood there waiting, the angrier he got. He tried to calm himself, but couldn’t think past the fucking lawyer not telling him CJ was back in town and this sleazy bag hadn’t contacted him yet. He kept pounding on the door until he heard someone yelling.

He stepped back when the door was snatched open. Austin was glad that he’d taken the step just far enough back to where he could still hold onto the doorjamb. Christ almighty, he needed to hang on.

The furious woman standing there was gorgeous. Even in her fury, she was a sight to behold. A t-shirt hung down to her knees did little to hide the ample curves and long legs. When the door had pulled open, Austin saw her breasts leap and bounce from the movement and his cock jumped in his jeans.

“What the fuck do you want? Because I swear if you’re here to sell me encyclopedias, I’m going to shoot you right between the fucking eyes.” She lifted her hand to brush hair from her face as she snarled at him and he watched her shirt stretch across her taut nipples.

“I’m here to…” His mind drew a complete blank. Austin couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“You’re here to what? Drool? Make an ass of yourself? You’re doing a fine job if that was the plan. I’m going back to bed.” As the door started to close, he remembered he’d been pissed.

He grabbed the door before she could close it in his face.

“No. You’ll tell me where to find CJ. I have a few words I’d like to say to this asshole. One of which is not contacting me as soon as he came in town.”

The woman laughed. And Austin could feel it as though it was heat scorching his skin. Then she knocked his hand away from the door and started to slam it shut. He stepped in just as the door would have connected with the frame.

She didn’t so much as move to her left as she leapt to it. The gun was in her hand before he could think to get out of its way. She pointed it at his chest without a single waver as he was pressed against the now closed door.

“You’ll take your ass out of my house this minute or I will use this. You’re in my house, which means that I could shoot you and get away with it.” Her calm voice had the opposite effect on him that he was sure she’d meant to give. Then it occurred to him what she’d said.

“What do you mean, ‘your house?’ This house wasn’t put on the market yet. And if that fucking ass of an attorney sold it to you under my nose, he’s going to have—”

She pressed the gun to his chin, bringing her body within inches of his. “You hurt Phil and I will tear you apart limb by limb. I’m CJ Webber, you moronic ass, and if you’re that company that wants to buy this place from me, then you’re going to be shit out of luck.”

His body reacted to hers. And it wasn’t just her body, but her scent. Need coiled in his body.

His beast, close to the surface because he was mad, snarled at him to take her, mark her.
Mine
, was all he could think. She was his and he needed to take. Before he could think about what he was doing, he pulled her body to his and turned her so that she was pressed against the door and he was pressed into her.

Her sharp intake of breath only increased his need. Burying his nose at her neck, he drew her scent deep into his body and lungs and closed his eyes. Moving the gun from his chest, he held her hand above her head and he licked her pounding pulse. Rocking his hard cock into her, he nipped at her and licked again. He wanted to bite her, wanted to taste her. The pain was a surprise and he took a step back.

His balls felt as if they’d been kicked. Which, from the look on her face, she had done just that. He moved another step back and saw her fist coming for his face. He couldn’t have stopped it if his life depended on it. The pain, this time, exploded in his face. He knew his nose was broken the moment she’d hit him. When he felt the floor rushing up to get him, all he could think about was that he could have handled that a bit better.

~~~

CJ looked down at the unconscious man. She was furious with him and herself. He’d pissed her off royally and then he’d made her hit him. She started pacing the room and trying to figure out what to do next. She supposed she should call the police, but then she’d have to tell them what he’d done…so not going to happen. CJ went over to his big body and searched for a wallet.

Austin J. Force. Figures, she thought. With a name like Force, he was probably used to making woman do what he wanted. She pulled out a business card and found his name on it, as well as a phone number. She wondered what it meant by “alpha” under the company name of Force Enterprise. A woman answered the phone.

“Hi. I’m wondering if you know an Austin Force? And if you do, could you please describe him for me?”

“Has something happened to him? He’s my son and he was out for…he went out early this morning.” The woman sounded frantic and CJ hated that she’d done that to her.

“Yeah, well, he’s a little beat up at the moment and unconscious. He apparently didn’t think that when I told him to get out, that’s what I meant.” CJ looked down at the guy as she continued. “I don’t suppose you could send somebody to come and get him before I roll his as…butt out on the porch, could you?”

“Of course. I’ll send his brothers. I’m sure between the three of them, they can…are you all right, Miss…?”

CJ flushed. She supposed she should have told her the lady her name. “It’s CJ Webber. I have the house on Mulberry Street. My father, Charles Webber, used to live here. Do you know where it is?”

“Yes, I know of it. My son has been talking to your lawyer about purchasing it for some time now. I’ll send the boys to get him. If you’d be so kind as to tell me how he came to be in his current condition, I’d appreciate it.”

CJ heard the cold snap of the woman’s voice. She knew that Mrs. Force had known her father. She thought about telling her she wasn’t like him when she looked down at the man again. She wouldn’t believe it if someone had told her the same thing.

“We had a misunderstanding. He wanted to lick my neck and I thought maybe we should get to know one another first. Not that that’s going to happen, but still, a girl must have some say in the matter when a guy nearly has sex with her against the wall, wouldn’t you say?”

CJ had meant it as a joke. The woman’s sharp inhale at the other end made her think she’d gone too far. She nearly said she was sorry when the woman told her the boys would be by soon and hung up.

She went to the room she’d crashed in and pulled off her shirt. She wanted to shower, but knew from the address that they would be here before she got out. She was pulling on her socks when the doorbell rang. She went to the door and opened it to three men the size of trees.

“Sheesh, your mom must be an Amazon. I was worried about you being able to pick him up, but I guess you can manage it.”

“Hi,” the first one said with a smile. “You’re new around here, aren’t you?” She was sure that if she laughed at him, it would hurt his feelings.

“No, I used to live here a long time ago. If you guys would be so kind as to get your brother and—”

The woman who came in behind them was beautiful and small. “You must be CJ Webber.

I’m Nancy Force, mother of these four. I’m so glad to meet you.” She shook CJ’s hand like she’d been pumping iron all day and had forgotten that she was a person. “These are my sons, Gordon and Connor, and this is Dallas. He’s Austin’s twin.”

Gordon and Connor looked scary alike. Both were tall and muscled to the point of wow. CJ

could see them having fun at everything they did and doubted very much that they went dateless on a Friday night, or another night for that matter. But it was Dallas that drew her attention. He looked enough like the man on the floor to be his brother, but little else. She could see that he’d be serious all the time and she wondered if she was imagining the hurt in his eyes. She looked down at Austin when she figured out their names.

“Austin and Dallas. I take it you like Texas? Nice state if you like it big and hot.” Mrs.

Force was looking at her oddly as the three men picked up Austin and carried him out the door.

“Well, it’s been nice. I hope we—”

“Did he break the skin when he bit you, Miss Webber?” The question had been so soft that CJ wasn’t sure she’d heard it right. “If you don’t mind, I would like to look to see for myself.”

CJ put her hand over the small bite. She had seen were he’d scraped her with his teeth, but he hadn’t broken the skin. She was suddenly worried about disease when she looked back out at the truck he’d been tossed into.

“Do I have something to worry about here? You know AIDS or something?” The older woman’s laughter had her turn back to her. “I don’t think this is the least bit funny, you know.”

“No, he has no diseases. He can’t get them. May I?” She stepped closer and lifted CJ’s hand out of the way. “He didn’t break the skin, did he? I’m so disappointed.”

CJ moved back and stared at her. “I think you’re all nuts. And if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to leave. I’ve had enough for one day.”

Mrs. Force nodded and moved toward the door. “It’s very nice to finally meet you, CJ. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a great deal of each other from now on.”

“Not if I can help it. Tell your son to stay away, Mrs. Force. I don’t want to have to shoot him for trespassing.” CJ stood in the doorway as the woman walked toward the truck.

She turned back to CJ before climbing in. “I’ll tell him, but it will do neither of you any good. And I wouldn’t shoot him if I was you. It will only make him angry at you and Austin won’t be happy about having to punish you for it.” Then, before she turned again, she said, “Or maybe he will. I’m not sure about that one. Good day dear.”

CJ stood there for a long time after the truck left her drive. Strange people, the Forces were.

She started to close her door again when she saw something on the carpet.

“Well, shit.” She’d forgotten to give them back his wallet. She was just going give it to Phil and have him return it to the jerk. Picking it up and putting it on the table, she went to get her shower. She had a lot to do today and she suddenly wanted to get going.

After the shower, she felt reasonably better. The boxes that held some of her things were sitting on the floor to the bedroom that her parents had shared and she went to get one of them to find something to pull on her feet over her socks. She noticed there were other boxes there as well and decided to ask Phil about them.

She was in the kitchen when her phone rang. She answered it while she pulled out eggs and things she needed to make breakfast.

“I hear you had a run in with Austin Force.” CJ put the eggs on the counter before she dropped them, the mark on her neck suddenly burning. “He’s quite a guy, isn’t he?”

“How did you…you know, I forget sometimes how small this town really is. Yeah, he came by thinking to have a conversation with CJ and he was a little put off that I hadn’t called him.

Wanna explain that to me? Oh, and he seemed to be under the impression I’m a male.”

“Is he still? I doubt there’s a man alive who would mistake you for a male for much longer than it would take to look at you. I hear that you took care of getting him out of your house fairly easy.” His laughter made her grin.