Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (12 page)

“I’m sorry, honey, but I have terrible news. There was an explosion from a gas leak in the basement of the Jewel. Everything was a total loss. The explosion was felt for about ten miles. The fire department said had you been there, you would never have made it out.”

She felt the room tilt. She hadn’t lived there long, not even long enough to have moved her stuff from storage into it, but it had been her first real place. She laid her head on the table top and tried to think.

“Did anyone get hurt? I mean, windows breaking or anything? Tell everyone I’ll pay for any damages. Phil….”

“It’s all right. No one was hurt. There were a few windows broken in a couple of houses just down the road, but since the Jewel was so far out, there wasn’t as much damage as there could have been if it had been in town. The insurance paid up. I kept it up since you inherited it. Your car…it’s gone too, I’m afraid.”

“I don’t really care about all that. Just make sure…make sure that no one was hurt. Make some sort of restitution to the fire department. I don’t know…don’t they have a Christmas fund or something?” Her mind raced over what to do. “Make sure that everyone’s windows are repaired too.”

“I’ve already done that. I’ll make arrangements for money to be sent to the toy drives they are having this weekend. I’m assuming you want it to be anonymous, correct?” She told him yes and could hear him scribbling as he spoke. “The Red Cross too. I’ll make sure I send them a donation as well.”

After clearing a few more things off the list he always did, he asked her about her run. “It’s okay. Austin watched some movies, I suppose. I’m sitting in the truck stop on I-forty-four.”

“You take care, you hear me? And call me if you need anything. I love you, kiddo.”

“Love you too.” CJ looked up when someone sat down. She raised her head when Austin sat next to her, his hair still damp. She closed her phone just as the waitress came to the table.

~
Chapter Eleven
~

Something had happened. Austin wasn’t sure what, but she wasn’t even rising to the bait when he tried to piss her off. When her dinner came, all she did was move the fries around and nibble at the burger.

He’d asked her twice, and both times all he got was a “nothing” from her. He was about to call Phil when Austin noticed that someone was walking toward the table. CJ groaned and put the fakest smile he’d ever seen on her face.

“Well, as I live and breathe, if it isn’t Charlie Jane Webber. How you doing, darlin’? Still driving, I guess.” The man looked over at Austin and put out his hand. “I’m Dudley Cantrell. I own Cantrell Shipping Express. Been trying to get little Charlie Jane to join my stable of drivers for near about five years. Always turns me down.”

“Because I don’t like you. Don’t you have some other person to annoy? I’m eating and don’t want to puke on that fine fake suit of yours.” Austin nearly bit his tongue off trying not to laugh at the man’s face when CJ made her statement. “Go away, Dudley.”

“See how she is?” Dudley asked of Austin. “No matter how badly she treats me, I still want her to work for me. What will it take, Charlie Jane? Hmm? You have to have a price.”

“She said to get the hell away from her,” a deep voice said just behind Austin. “I would suggest you move along, or I might have to show you how I treat men I just don’t like.”

Dudley, who had just pulled out a chair to sit, backed up. “Now, Faith, there isn’t any reason for you to get all heed up. I was only having a nice conversation with her. Tell her, Charlie Jane. Tell Faith we was having a nice conversation.”

“He was just leaving. Bye, Dudley. Oh and by the way, it’s CJ, not Charlie Jane.” CJ smiled at Dudley, and not a nice one either. “If you bother me again, I’ll have my friend drain you.”

Dudley backed up quickly after that and nearly fell twice trying to get away. Austin watched his progress, but was distracted by the woman…. Faith, he presumed, sat down in the chair next to him. He couldn’t help but stare at her.

Even sitting down, she was huge. Not fat really, though she did have a few pounds on her frame. But she was tall. Austin was six-foot-four, and she would have towered over him by another foot. Her figure was…full, he supposed, with a large chest and generous hips. He would have bet she weighed close to four hundred pounds. When she settled in the chair, Austin was sure he heard the chair scream for mercy. He looked down at the hand she extended to him and wondered briefly if she could crush his.

“You sure are a pretty thing, aren’t you? I’m Faith McKenzie. I own this here joint.” Austin shook her hand and was surprised by the gentleness of her grip. “You Miss CJ’s partner?”

“No, he’s not. He’s just along for the ride.” Austin glanced over at CJ when she kicked him under the table. “He is just enjoying the scenery.”

Faith threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, honey, he’s sniffing around for a piece of that scenery too.”

Austin laughed. He liked this woman and her brash, blunt way. “I’m Austin Force. It’s a nice establishment you have here. The food was excellent.”

“Thanks. My husband cooks, though there are days when I try my hand.” They both looked at CJ when she snorted. “You think I can’t cook, girl?”

“I know you can’t. If you remember correctly, I was here last time you tried your hand at cooking. I think eighteen people died, and twelve more threatened to sue.” The twinkle in CJ’s eye made his breath catch while she continued teasing the older woman. “Then there were the small animals that died from the fumes coming from the dumpster.”

Austin couldn’t believe how beautiful she was when she smiled like she was. He realized in that moment that he’d never seen her smile until that moment. As she and Faith continued to tease one another, Austin watched her. She was having fun and laughing, so that for a few minutes, whatever had been bothering her when he sat down was forgotten.

“I have some stuff for you,” CJ said after a good belly laugh. “I was going to send it tomorrow, but when I found out I’d be coming this way…well, I decided to bring it.”

She moved a white envelope across the table toward Faith, who took it and put it down her shirt. Faith nodded before she spoke.

“You know more and more need this nowadays. You been real helpful to some of them. Cleo and me, we got a list of some who could use it. We even have some of our own to put in this year.” Faith wiped away a tear. “I don’t know where me and Cleo’d be without your help all those years ago.”

“Never mind that. You know to…you know. Keep it quiet. I don’t want…you just say whatever you did before.” CJ seemed embarrassed and gathered up her bag and coat. “I gotta get some sleep. You keep out of the kitchen while I’m gone.”

With a quick kiss on Faith’s cheek, CJ grabbed up the check and seemed to race toward the cashier. She was out the door before Austin realized she’d taken his check too. He looked over at Faith, who was staring intently at him.

“She know what you are? CJ, she know you’re a wolf?”

Austin leaned back in the chair and regarded the woman in front of him. “Yes. You’re not a supernatural, so how did you know?” He looked over when she did when a short, balding man came toward them.

“My husband. Cleo McKenzie, this is Austin Force. Austin was just asking me how I knew he was a canine.”

The man took CJ’s seat and smiled before answering. “Our dishwasher smelled you. He’s a were, though not wolf. He’s a cat…panther, I believe. Told us you were here and sitting with your mate. Imagine our surprise when he pointed to our CJ’s table.”

Austin wondered if CJ knew her friends knew of his kind, and decided almost immediately that she didn’t. Otherwise, she would have taken his and Phil’s news a little better. Austin wondered how well these people knew CJ. Before he could ask, Faith shook her head.

“Don’t ask. I won’t tell you anyway, but don’t ask. You want to know what she’s about then you’ll have to get it from her.” Faith shifted on the chair before continuing. “She’s something else, our CJ. And I’ll be honest with you when I tell you we don’t know much about her either. She’s a…what did you call her, honey?” Faith turned to her husband as she asked.

“Enigma, a puzzle of sorts. Can’t figure her out either. ‘Bout the time we get her where we think we know, she changes into something more.”

Austin could see that. She was driving him crazy too. He nodded toward where Dudley had gone. “That man, has he hurt her? Tried to do anything that would have him killed?”

Cleo laughed before answering. “About six months ago, she came in for dinner. I think it was right after her rat bastard of a father died. Me and the missus was away on a second honeymoon or he’d a not gotten to the table. But CJ, she took care of him. He was getting too close and she…well, it’s said that he doesn’t sit for too long a period of time no more.”

Austin looked over at Faith as she picked up the story. “She threw knives at him. Hit his ass about a dozen times with our steak knives before she let him get away.” She nodded to a frame on the wall and Austin burst out laughing.

There were a dozen black handled steak knives mounted on a board and framed. The caption under it said, “You fuck with ours, you get skewered.”

Faith looked at Austin before she spoke, her voice low and full of meaning. “She doesn’t think she needs anyone, or that anyone needs her. You’d do well to remember that.”

Austin thought about that as he went back to her rig. Cleo was right, she was an enigma. He just wasn’t sure yet if he wanted to figure her out. As he sat in the passenger seat and looked back at her sleeping in the big bed, he wondered about her.

She didn’t really need him to take care of her. Austin thought that pissed him off more than he wanted to admit. CJ didn’t seem to be the least bit intimidated by him either. He grinned when he thought of the knives hanging on the wall. His phone going off made her stir, and he grabbed it, whispered a quiet “hang on” to his brother, and got out of the rig.

“How is she doing? Poor girl,” Dallas said when he told him she was asleep. “Sucks what happened, doesn’t it? But she has you, right?”

Austin didn’t answer. He didn’t know what had happened because she hadn’t told him. He couldn’t even be mad because she hadn’t. Austin leaned back against the cab and closed his eyes. He’d been a complete ass with her from the start. If he was smart, he’d call someone to come and get him or catch the next flight out and let her be.

“Austin,” his brother asked. “She didn’t tell you, did she? Damn it, Austin, either take her as your mate or fucking leave her alone. The girl has been through enough. Come home. When this is over, then you might start over with her.”

“What happened?” Austin refused to acknowledge that his brother was probably correct. She was his, damn it.

“The Jewel blew up earlier today. Gas leak from a line that should have been closed off a decade or two ago. The fire marshal said that if anyone would have been inside, there would have been no way to escape. He said that the house went up in a fireball so quickly that it’s small wonder more windows weren’t broken out. As it was, there were houses about ten miles away that got a little kick back from it.”

Icy sweat formed on Austin’s body. She would have been there had she not been on this run. He sat down on the step and let the fact that she was asleep behind him wash over him.

“Was anyone hurt? And did she have insurance?” Austin didn’t want to think about her being hurt. He also didn’t want to think about why. “Tell whoever it is we’ll take care of the damages.”

“Too late. Phil had a crew already doing repairs before the fire department left the scene. He contracted some of our guys to do the work, paid them double to do it today. There were no reported injuries.” His pause made Austin leery. “Then one of the pack members called a bit ago to let me know that a gift card came to them by courier. She sent everyone a five hundred dollar credit card for their inconvenience.”

The fact that he would have done the same thing made him smile. She was something else. He stood up and looked at the door behind him before he spoke.

“I’m not coming home. I’m going to work this out. I’ve been…well, I’ve been a fool.” He thought his brother snorted, but ignored it. “Work with Phil, get as much cleared away as you can before she gets back.”

They talked for a few more minutes and then hung up. Austin climbed back into the rig and then back into the sleeper. It was do or die time. He needed her in his life whether she wanted it or not. Smiling, he thought it might be fun to see who came out on top.

~~~

CJ woke when she felt someone near. Looking around the semi-dark cab, she saw a shape and nearly cried out when Austin told her it was him. She rolled over on the bed and covered her head when he turned the light on.

“Go away. I have a long day tomorrow and I—hey!” She flipped back over when the covers were stripped off her. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“I need to speak to you. Now.” Austin started unbuttoning his shirt. “But first I’m going to shift, and I don’t want you to freak out.”

“I don’t freak out, thank you very much. And shift your ass out on the seat. I’m too tired to fuck around tonight.” She found herself watching mesmerized as he undid the buttons. “I want you to stop that right now.”

“I have to stay as a wolf for at least an hour or it’s too much on my system. Don’t scream because we’re too close to the other rigs for them not to hear you.” When he pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the floor, he started on his belt. “I’m taking off my clothes because the shift will tear them up.”

“Shift? I don’t…you’re thinking you’re going to change into a wolf? Here? Now? Oh no you don’t, buck-o. You just get that notion out of your head right now.” She tried sitting up in the bed to get away from him, but he grabbed her leg. “Let me go, Austin. This isn’t funny.”

His belt hit the floor and he worked the snap and zipper with his free hand. She could see his cock hard against his briefs. She licked her suddenly dry lips and looked up at him when he groaned.

“I want you. I want to bury myself deep inside your pussy and fuck you. But you need to see this.” He let go of her leg and pulled his pants free along with his boxers. 

Before she could move, there was a tightening in the tiny room. Then he began to change. She watched as he stretched out his arms and they suddenly became furred. His hands began to morph and his fingers elongated. When he said her name, she looked at his face as it too began to change. His jaw lengthened and teeth began to fill the space left open. Then he was gone. In his place lay a black wolf. She scrambled back to the wall when it moved toward her.

“Stay,” she commanded with her hand up. “Don’t come any closer. I’ll…I’ll shoot you if you do.”

He moved up the bed, crawling with his belly on the mattress. When he touched his nose to her foot, she jerked it close to her body. He lay there for several seconds before he began to crawl again. She was so crunched in the corner she could barely breathe.

His tongue lapped at her hand she had wrapped around her leg. She peeked at him and was surprised to see him sitting close to her, his tongue hanging out like a big, sappy dog.

“If I pet you, will I get to keep all my fingers?” He snorted at her question. At least she thought he did; either that or he sneezed.