Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (29 page)

“They’ll hear us?” she asked him incredibly. Then she flushed, knowing immediately what he’d meant. But he didn’t make fun of her. He only lifted her chin and took her mouth gently.

“Alexis, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m in love with you. And I will never hurt you or any of your family.” She tried to pull away from his words and his hand. “No, don’t. I don’t expect you to understand us. We’re a breed of predators, but we love with all of our hearts. You have mine. Now and forever.”

He took her mouth again and she was sure he could taste her tears. She hadn’t realized that they were going backward until her back touched the cool floor again. He continued kissing her, his mouth moving along her jaw until he was at the place that ached for his teeth. She knew he was going to bite her, and she knew when he did it this time she’d be his.

He shifted again, and his hips rocked into her until she could feel the tip of his cock at her entrance. She wanted to beg him to take her. She canted her hips, hoping he’d get the message. He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes.

“Mine,” was all he said as he plunged deep into her. Her scream tore from her throat. Not in pain, though there was a great deal of it, but from the climax that roared through her, over her. When he licked her throat she tensed, waiting for his teeth. He rocked into her again and again until she was nearing the pinnacle. When she dropped over the edge he sank his fangs deep into her as his cock spilled inside of her.

She heard him say, “mine” again just before she slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter 8

Gordon came awake in small degrees. First, he couldn’t understand what was going on. The darkness of the room, the scents, were familiar to him, but not really home. He heard a moan, deep and full of heat, and reached for the woman who lay beside him. Before he could do more than move his arm he realized that he was hard and that she was over him. Reaching now for her hips, he came fully awake and sat up.

“Christ, you learn fast.” He took her nipple in his mouth and suckled hard, letting it go with a small pop. He slowed down her ride over his cock and showed her how to do it. “That’s it, honey. Slow and easy, slow and easy.”

“You were so hard and you said I could—oh Christ, yes,” she screamed when he rolled her to her back. “Pleaseohpleaseohplease.”

Lacing his fingers into hers, he lifted her arms above her head. When he wrapped her fingers around the headboard, he ran his hands back down to her breasts. He moved in and out of her slowly even as she tried to get him to go deeper.

“Do you have any idea what waking up with you on my cock does to me? If you could manage to wake me up like this every morning for the rest of my days I will die a happy wolf.” She whimpered when he pinched her nipple. “I love the noises you make when I touch you. The small sounds that escape when you don’t want them to.”

“You are going much too slow. I need to come. Please, Gordon, please help me to come.” She grinned up at him. “I’ll take your cock in my mouth.”

“You will anyway, love. I saw the way you looked at me. Hungry. Are you hungry for me, Alexis? Do you want to feel my cum slide down the back of your throat?” He rocked a little faster, his game with her backfiring slightly. When she brought her hands down to him he stopped moving. She put them back and he rocked again. “My rules, love. I want to enjoy you tonight. You rushed me too much last night and I didn’t get my fill of you.”

“You bit me again.” He felt her embarrassment, the heat of it. “Why? Why did you bite me again after you had already marked me?”

“Did I hurt you?” She shook her head no. He knew that he had, at least a little. “I had to mark you again because of that other wolf touching you. He….” Gordon took a deep breath, reining in his temper. “He licked you and marked you. A wolf does not do that to someone else’s mate.”

She turned away from him as he rocked deeper. He knew she was thinking and he didn’t want her thinking of anything or anyone but him in their bed. He leaned down, took her nipple, and rolled it on the top of his mouth. When she arched up but held the headboard he lazily suckled at her while he pinched at her other peak. He lifted his head and waited for her to look at him.

“You need to know something. Something about me.” He moved in and out several times, hard then slow, fast then softly. “Something important.”

He smiled when she looked ready to brain him. “Tell me,” she said between clenched teeth. “Tell me or fuck me, but for the love of Peter, do something.”

“I’m possessive.” He took her hard. His cock slid into her wet heat faster. When his balls tightened close to his body, the tingling in his spine telling him he was close, he leaned down and nipped at her ear lobe. “Bite me, Alexis. Please sink those beautiful teeth into me and bite.”

The pain was surprising. He felt her mouth seal to his throat and she sucked hard. He didn’t have a moment to think about what was happening. His body clenched tight. Then his climax grabbed him and soared through him quickly. He fucked her hard now, not stopping until she came twice then a third time before he collapsed on top of her. He barely had the strength to raise his head.

Blood was on her chin, his blood. His cock surged again, making him groan. When their eyes met she started to turn away and he stopped her with a word. She looked back at him with tears. He kissed her gently and laid his head on her breast, but not before glimpsing her teeth. His mate had canines like his.

~~~

Phil looked down at the notes he’d taken on the Dark family. There wasn’t a great deal about them other than the few things he’d been able to track down at the county office in Montana. Then he picked up the second stack of notes. The Strong family, which he’d just happened upon, had a long and illustrious line. And he’d found out from his mother they didn’t just have the last name as Strong, they were a breed of beings that were actual Strongs.

Alexis Strong Dark was a shifter…he just knew it.

He got up and walked around his desk. He loved his home and it had been his for over three hundred years. But he was lonely. Lonely for a mate and even lonelier because he knew who she was. Grabbing up his brief case, he went to the door and thought he’d try and get some more information from Austin on where Holly was. It was high time that little Miss Holly Force came to terms with who her mate was. And damn the girl for making him the heavy. Before he knew it Phil was knocking on the front door of the Dark home. Just as he thought, everyone was in the kitchen when he’d been let into the family home.

“You here for some home cooking, blood-boy?” Gladys had taken to calling him that a few days ago. He tried to not let it bother him, but today he just couldn’t help himself.

“Yes. What type are you anyway? I’ve a craving for….” He sniffed the air. “Hmm, my favorite. Type B positive.”

She paled slightly and he felt bad, but before he could apologize she slapped him on the shoulder with a hearty laugh. “You can’t tell what my type is from sniffing the air. You’re a card all right, Mr. Campbell. I think I might grow to like you.”

He sighed. He was afraid she might grow on him too, and he just didn’t want to think about losing another friend. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, giving a little of his magic to her. She would never know and he would have her around for a bit longer. He also made a mental note to do the same to Jessie.

He had the gift of longevity. Not many vampires possessed his power, especially not half-breeds such as him. He had given the gift to CJ and Austin, also to the other boys in the house. Nancy Force he had not. She knew that he’d been doing it slowly over the months and told him if he did that to her she’d hurt him.

“I want to go to my husband soon. Well, not soon, but when my time is right. You keep your voodoo and leave me to my own death.” He’d kissed her cheek, but kept this gift to himself. “Now go and make me a grandma before I die, will you?”

That had been three months ago, and he was no closer to keeping his promise to her than he’d been back then. He walked into the dining room just as they were sitting down. He glanced at Darcy and knew that the girl was watching him. She was another puzzle he wanted to solve.

“Well, Alexis my dear, have you and your mate given any thought to my offer?” He needed her blood now more than ever. He was worried when she glanced at Gordon. He could feel the tension between them. “What is it?”

Gordon cleared his throat and handed a plate to Tim. “Why don’t we bench this until after dinner? Then we can go out onto the deck and talk. And Tim here has an announcement to make.”

The boy grinned, the first happy grin Phil had seen from any of the children since he’d met them. But something had happened to the couple at the head of the table. They would barely look at one another and they didn’t speak to each other. He knew that they had mated, become a true mated pair, but their scent was different. It was more. Phil couldn’t help but wonder if they’d found out something about Patrick Booth. But he doubted it would be that easy.

“I got an A plus on my math test today. Gordon helped me with figuring out how to add them up without using my fingers so the teacher would catch me.”

“Really?” Alexis asked. “You taught him to cheat without being caught. Great. What’s next, are you going to show him how to shoot your gun?”

“Can you?” Tim asked excitedly. He realized they were kidding about the same time Alexis shot him a look. “Oh. Well, that’s not fair to get a kid’s hopes all up then take ‘em away.”

“If you bring home two more As I’ll show you how to throw a knife,” Jessie said without missing a beat. “In my day I was quite the shot.” She put peas on Phil’s plate as she continued talking to Tim. “I could knock the eyeball out of a rat a yard away.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, you could not. Why, you can barely thread a needle much less throw a knife.” Gladys turned to Tim as she took the peas off Phil’s plate. It was dizzying how fast the two women teamed up on his food. “You stay away from her, son, when she has a knife. She’s more likely to cut your pecker off than to throw it with any kind of accuracy.”

Phil looked around the table at the stunned faces. While the silence reigned he had a pork chop put on his plate and taken off, as well as a pile of mashed potatoes that would have fed a small army. He finally took his plate and moved far away from the two older women. He wasn’t even hungry, but they were making him nuts with the switches.

Tim nodded and didn’t say another thing about learning to throw a knife or shoot a gun. Phil did notice that he cupped himself whenever his aunt got close to him. The rest of the dinner was made in relative chaos, but the kind that he had seen in hundreds of families over the centuries. After dinner the kids were set up with a movie, and he went out into the warm night with the adults. Austin and CJ came just in time for dessert.

“How true is it that Caroline found Alexis and is not her real mother? Or you for that matter?” Phil would know if she was lying and could see the slight tension in Jessie’s shoulders before she smiled at him. “If you lie to me, I will without a doubt know it. And will do whatever necessary to get the real truth from you.”

The sharp intake of breath to his left told him that Gladys hadn’t known, or at least he assumed she didn’t. He was beginning to realize that this family had secrets that even he wasn’t aware of. His quick glance at Alexis made him think she didn’t either, but she’d suspected. Jessie looked around the group of people and then sat down hard in the chair next to her.

“She was Caroline’s daughter. And before you ask me, yes, I know who your father is. We never meant for you to find out. It was supposed to be—”

“Wait. No, no, no. That can’t be right. You told us that she was…you found her. The whole story was too wonderful to be…tell them you’ve made a mistake, Mr. Campbell. Tell them that….” Gladys looked around and then at Alexis. “You knew, didn’t you? They told you.”

“No. I never knew. But there were times…. I look like her. I remember saying that to her once, to Mom, that I looked a great deal like her, and wasn’t that wonderful? She smiled at me and told me that it could be my curse too. That I would be recognized for that and that it could be her downfall.” Alexis looked at Phil. “Tell us what you know, and I’m sure that Jessie can fill in the blanks of what you don’t have.”

“I can’t. I know that you want the information, but I was sworn to secrecy. I have to continue to protect you until such a time that you’re called upon.” Jessie stood then sat again. “He’ll find you. Or at the very least he’ll come here. I’ve been watching over you for so long that…Phil, you should have asked me first and not told her. Why did you do that?”

The energy rolled off Jessie and hit Phil hard. It wasn’t the power that he was surprised by, but the amount of it. Jessie was at least part shifter too, and he knew that he was going to hurt very soon. He closed his eyes against the assault. But as the power slid over him it moved away just as quickly. He opened his eyes slowly. Alexis was standing before him.

“Stop it. Stop it right now.” Jessie stood, faced her niece, and then turned and walked away. The closing of the door was a soft click in the otherwise silent night. Alexis turned to him, anger in her eyes. “Tell me what you know. Tell me what I am and how you figured it out.”

Her voice was hard, but he could feel her fear. She really had no idea that what he knew was going to irrevocably change all their lives forever. He nodded to Gordon as he took a seat. “You’ve mated with her. You want to tell me what the problem is?” Gordon stiffened, as did Alexis. He knew that he was going to tell him it was none of his business, but right now he didn’t care. “Jessie is right. Alexis is going to need help. If you aren’t going to stand behind her or beside her, now would be the time to bail on her.”

“She’s my mate. I can’t let her get hurt. Tell me what I need to know to make sure she’s safe.” Gordon glanced at Alexis then quickly away before he continued. “Our issues have nothing to do with whatever is going on right now.”

“I bit him. He and I had sex and I bit him. With my teeth, and I…I drank his blood.” Alexis looked at him as tears fell. “Am I part vampire too? Is that why he is so repulsed by me?”

“I never said I was repulsed. I merely said that you can’t go around biting anyone else. I won’t have you drinking from everyone because you didn’t share you wer—”

“Shut the fuck up, Gordon.” Austin stood up and shoved his brother in the chair when Gordon stood. “Sit down and shut the fuck up before I do it for you. Of all the stupid, asinine…what the fuck do you mean she can’t…? Have you been paying attention to what’s going on around us? You’d rather she die than drink from…? You fool. You don’t deserve a mate.”

“She’s not a vampire. Not even a half-breed like me. And for the record, when Holly and I come together as mates, you so much as breathe a bad word to her about me drinking from her and I will tear you apart.” Phil pulled out a file and handed it to Alexis. “Here you go, sweetheart. If you have any questions give me a call. I’m leaving. I wouldn’t want to sully the air around here anymore.”