Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (54 page)

Holly lay low and waited, knowing that Phil would either give her the signal that she could move or he’d come to her. As she watched the two men she decided to listen in on their conversation for a little while.

“…electric running all around the property too? That’s gotta run into some big bucks. How’s this guy affording all this?” The guard didn’t answer and suddenly, Phil spoke to her.

It’s a test for the guard. He’s not been in my employment for all that long and I send out someone on occasion to see what sort of information a person can get from the guards in a normal conversation.
She snorted at him.
Do you have a better idea on how to make sure you and everyone else on the estate is safe?

He was laughing at her, she knew, but she did actually have an answer.
If the guard is a supe, then you can bet he smelled you all over your man. I did.

Holly nearly laughed out loud when Phil started cussing. He’d begun to slow down when she thought of something else.
Of course he could have known you were flying about the estate, as you call it, and knew that you were watching him. Does everyone know that you’re an owl?

His command for her to return to the house was funny and she told him so. She’d not listened well to orders as a child and less so as an adult, so there was no way she was going to listen to a grown man ordering her about as if she were too dumb to know better.

Would you please come back to the house? I’d like to fuck you senseless and I can’t do it out of doors, as was my plan, knowing that they can smell us both.

She pretended to consider his plan, but in the end got up to do as she wanted, not what he’d told her. His low growl made her wet and she hurried along the wet leaves to get to him and let him have his wicked way with her. She was nearly there when she heard him walking toward her.

I thought I was meeting you inside. Have you changed your—?
It wasn’t Phil. She knew the moment he asked her what she was talking about that she’d made a mistake.
There’s someone out here. Someone that smells like you coming toward me. Where are you?

Above you. I don’t see…wait, there he is. I don’t know who it is from here. Stay there and let me see what I can find out.
She didn’t move from her dip in the ground. The person was getting closer if the vibrations in the ground were any indication.
It’s my brother. I asked him to come and talk with the guards. He also has some information for us. I’m sorry, love, I wasn’t expecting him to come to the house until tomorrow.

She stood up when he told her she could and moved slowly toward the second man. Not that she didn’t trust Phil’s brother, but she didn’t know him at all. When the man spotted her, he stopped all movement and spoke to her.

“My name is Rolland Campbell. I’m here to see my brother, Phil Campbell.” He raised his hands palms out. “I don’t have anything on me, just a file to give him. Do you know where he is?”

She wondered if he expected her to shift and answer him buck-naked. She growled low in her throat and he took a step back. He didn’t move again until she heard Phil coming toward them.

“You can’t possibly be that stupid. What the fuck, Rolland, are you trying to get yourself killed?” Phil stood beside her and put his hand on her head. “This is my mate, Holly. And she will come inside and sit with us after you tell me what the fuck you’re doing wandering around my property in the middle of the fucking night.”

“Dad sent me. He has some information on your rogue and he said that it would be better if no one knew I was coming.” Rolland pointed at her. “I don’t suppose she’ll shift now, will she? I bet she’s a beauty.”

He’d barely gotten the words out when she pinned him to the ground with her jaws locked around his neck. He didn’t move as she bit down just enough to draw blood. Phil’s laughter made her want to turn to him and see what he’d found so funny, but he told her before she had to.

“I’m thinking she doesn’t care for your idea of a joke. Next time you’ll remember that wolves don’t share and neither do vamps.” Phil turned and walked away, shouting over his shoulder. “When you two are finished getting to know each other come on in. I have a really good bottle of wine that I was going to break open when we got back inside.”

She let him go and stepped back. He sat up but didn’t move to hurt her. Rolland grinned at her as he sat on the cold, wet ground.

“I’m sorry. I was only kidding. I’m going to stand now and then go inside. If you’ll please forgive me, I’d like to start over…once you’re dressed, of course.”

He stood up then and bowed before her. He was whistling as he made his way to the house and she shook her head. The man was nuts. Either that or he was just trying to throw her off her game. Running back to the house, she entered through the open door at the office and was glad to see jeans, t-shirt, and under things in a neat pile waiting for her. She’d have to thank Phil later. Maybe when his brother left. Grinning at the prospect of thanking her mate properly, Holly joined them in the living room.

Chapter 14

There were several stapled sheets of paper in the file his brother had handed him. He looked at them one at a time then handed it to Holly. She hadn’t said a word since Rolland had handed him the file and began explaining what it was.

“Dad was doing some research on the time period. He was just telling us how when you’ve lived as long as he has, the years seem to have less and less meaning. Things change too quickly to get all worked up about them anymore.” Phil knew that to be true. He wasn’t as old as his parents, of course, but he had been a little jaded for some time.

“It says here that someone would come through the towns in that area once or twice a year and record any births and deaths for a particular area at the courthouse. According to what Dad was able to find, this kid, Sykes, was born in the early part of nineteen fourteen, not sixteen like we were told.”

Phil looked at the record of birth. It was filed in the later part of the year in fifteen, but the date was what his brother had said. He was still trying to figure out why someone would purposely lie about it when Holly suddenly started cussing.

“I think she found what Dad did.” Phil looked at Rolland as he laughed. “The name, look at the name of the mother.”

Holly handed him the sheet of paper and got up to pace. He read down the copy of the certificate and saw the name. He looked up at his brother before looking back at the name again.

“Is this right?” Phil knew it was before Rolland said anything. “Anye Sykes is the mother of our rogue? How could she not know…or does she?”

“Oh she knows, all right. Dad said that Anye has been searching for any and all information on this province for decades. He figured she was a history buff, but he thinks now that she was trying her best to make sure all these records were destroyed too.”

He looked up at his brother when he started laughing again. “What do you mean ‘these records too’? Did something happen to other records?”

“The courthouse was burnt to the ground in nineteen fifteen, about four months before this was marked in the registry. The accounts were that someone left a candle burning…on every floor of the three-story building. They never figured out how the entire thing seemed to burn for hours before the fire squad was called for.” He handed him another sheet of paper. “This was in one of the Bibles that Dad had unearthed a few days ago. Look at the bottom of the page.”

Phil looked it as Holly sat down beside him. There at the bottom was a list of names and dates. Births and deaths had been recorded with a not so steady hand over the years until about nineteen twenty. Then one could see that the handwriting was written by someone with a younger hand and a better grasp for spelling. But he was focused on the entries for the years they were talking about.

Birted Theresa Eliseth Skyes by mouther Anye Sykes 1914~02~14

Died Anye Sykes 1914~02~16 Bleeded to deeth

Anye bled to death. He wondered if someone had found her with marks or if she’d simply disappeared as her daughter had years later. And he also wondered if Anye had sent Suzanna to change the daughter so that she could keep her with her. He didn’t think either story rang true.

“What if they have the same maker? I mean the daughter and mother. What if the two of them were made vampires by the same psychopath and Theresa killed her?” Phil looked over at Holly as she continued. “Your dad said there were a lot of unexplained deaths. We’ve pretty much figured out that this Reeves person was responsible for most if not all of them. Who’s to say that she didn’t just happen upon the daughter and changed her without knowing who she was?”

“She’d know as soon as she tasted her, but I like where you’re going.” Phil got up to pace and think. “Okay, assuming that they have the same maker, that means if I could get a small taste of Anye, I’d find the daughter. But that would be damned near impossible, especially if she caught on. Then there is the whole—”

“You go near that broad and I’ll chew your dick off and serve it up at the next pack meeting.” Rolland laughed at Holly’s outburst, but he covered his cock. “You think I’m kidding?”

“No. No, I don’t. But I’m pretty sure we can think of more productive ways to keep me from biting her.” Phil walked toward her and spoke to his brother as he did. “Rolland, go home and lock the door on your way out.”

He heard his brother laugh and then the door shut. Phil continued toward Holly as she moved away from him on the couch.

“We have a lot of things to go over yet. I mean, that rogue isn’t going to stop anytime soon.” She moved further back. “Phil?”

“I want to see you naked. Take off your clothes and lay down on the couch for me. I need to taste you again.”

She stopped trying to get away from him and stared up at him as she shook her head. “It’s my turn. I want to see you naked and suck your cock until you come. I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to do that to you.” He moved closer to her when she reached for him. “Come here, Phil, let me have my way with you.”

He pulled his shirt up over his head and tossed it on the floor. Holly ran her finger down the zipper of his pants before she moved to his belt. As she unbuckled it, he thought about her mouth taking him and his cock ached to feel her.

“I’ve thought about this all night,” he told her. “But my plan was to take you outside. I was going to press you against the nearest tree and fuck you.” She pulled his belt free of the loops and then kissed his navel. “Christ, love that feels good.”

She twirled her tongue in his crevice then rubbed her cheek over his covered cock. He laced his fingers into her hair as she unbuttoned his pants. She moved the zipper down the teeth one at a time and he was ready to snarl at her to hurry when she finally reached into his pants opening and fisted his cock. Even before she had him free of his opening, she had her mouth over his engorged head.

“Humm,” she hummed, and he threw back his head. He looked back down at her when she shifted off the couch and onto her knees in front of him. “I want to feel you fuck my mouth. I know I have to swallow you to have you fit, but all I can think of is having you fuck me this way.”

He couldn’t answer her. He nodded, about the best he could do with her where she was. As she moved his pant legs down and off him he watched her lick him, suck him, and fondle his balls.

“Roll them in your mouth,” he told her in a strangled voice. “Take my balls in your mouth and suck them too.” She did as he asked and he moved as gently as he could against her cheek with his cock. He wanted to ram it deep in her throat, but was afraid of hurting her. He was thicker than most men and well endowed. He guided her head back to his cock when he’d had about all he could take of his balls being in her mouth.

She caught on quickly. Before he could teach her how to take him deep in her throat, she was wrapping her hands around his ass and helping him fuck her. With his hand in her hair, he moved it so that he could see each time his cock moved in and out of her. Her eyes were closed, but he could feel her excitement, smell her arousal and, Christ, he could almost come like this with just her mouth on him. Lifting her by her hair, she let his cock go and he growled when she tried to take him again.

“Strip. Then over the couch. Lean over the back of the couch and hang on. I’m going to fuck you. Hard, fast, and quick.” He wasn’t kidding. He knew that as soon as he entered her he was going to come. He only hoped she was as ready as he was or she was going to be slightly disappointed.

She stripped out of her clothes so quickly that he was a little saddened. But as soon as she was naked, standing before him, he was glad for her years of practice of stripping down to shift.

She stood behind the couch and he moved up behind her. When she opened her legs wide he could see her juices as they streamed down her thighs. He wanted to lick her clean, but knew that if he did, he’d have to bite her and he wanted to feel her pussy tighten around him as she came. Fisting his cock, he moved the head in her juices as he leaned over her.

“You are wet enough that I could fuck you for hours and you’d not be sore.” She moaned and he nipped at her shoulder. “My cock is so full that I can’t wait to feel it come inside of you deep.”

“Please, Phil. I need to feel you inside of me.” She moved her ass back to his cock and tried to reach for him between her legs. Her hot fingers grazed his tiny eye and he felt his balls tighten up to his body.

Guiding his cock to her entrance he moved in and out of her to just his head. She moaned again and he wrapped his hands around her hips. He saw her grab the back of the couch and hang on. Phil couldn’t wait any longer. He slammed into her deep.

“Mother fuck,” he shouted as he pistoned into her. She met him stroke for stroke as he took her, and as soon as he felt his cum rush to fill her, he leaned down and bit her shoulder deep. Her climax screamed from her. He reached around to her clit and pinched as he suckled hard, bringing her to another powerful climax.

Again,
he told her through their link
. Come again for me.
As she came for the third then the fourth time, Phil fed from her. Her rich, thick blood filled him in ways nothing ever had before. When he’d had enough he licked her wounds closed and then bit his wrist to give to her. As soon as she wrapped her mouth over his vein he felt her come again. He, too, even as spent as he was, came again, his body exploding inside of her as she milked him dry.

When Holly collapsed over the couch back, he pulled his wrist away and sealed the wound. He leaned over her without strength for several minutes, wondering how on earth he’d lived this long without her. When he thought he could carry her without dropping her, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to their bedroom.

He watched her sleep after he lay her down and crawled in beside her. She was curled to her side with her right hand under her cheek. He moved her hair from her forehead and she sighed gently. Phil was in love with this woman, had been for nearly five years. She moved closer to him and spooned into his body. Wrapping his arm around her waist, Phil closed his own eyes.

He wanted to catch this rogue and then he was going to make it his life’s work to make sure Holly was happy. He decided that he was going to take her away for a while. Somewhere she could run when she wanted and they could make love anywhere they felt like it. He made a mental note to talk to her about her job. She needed to let her family know what she’d been doing.

He had a moment’s thought about the man, the one who’d tried to kill her that day, and yawned. Smiling, he realized she’d worn him out. Tomorrow they would talk. Tomorrow, they’d have a family meeting and they’d get everything out in the open.

~~~

The meeting the next morning wasn’t going well. Holly looked over at Phil and decided that she was going to smack him. He was grinning like a loon and she knew it was because Austin and Gordon were pissed off. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Everything came to a halt.

“Now that I have your attention, I would like to finish.” CJ giggled and Austin glared, but they didn’t speak. “I have been working undercover for nearly nine years. I’m very good at what I do. So good, in fact, that I have been promoted eight—”

“You’re a hired killer,” Austin exploded again. “You kill people for money and you expect me to think just because you’re good at it that I’ll just—”

“So help me, if you say anything that even sounds like I need your permission to do it, I will show you just how good at my job I really am.” Austin’s mouth shut with a snap and Holly continued. “As I was saying. I’m very good at my job. Not just the killing part, but the tracking, the way I get to the heart of the matter before I finish up. I’ve been on several jobs where all I did was track. And no, before you ask, no one knows what I am.”

At least she didn’t think they did. The text she’d received that morning had her thinking that someone on the inside knew she was wolf. She ran her fingers over her pocket where the phone rested and wondered if she should have told Phil, then dismissed the thought. He had enough going on right now without her adding to it. She looked over at Dallas when he spoke.

“Who is it you work for actually? I’m assuming that it’s something in the government. Any initials that will make me know something more?” She grinned at his wink. “You know you can tell me. I’m gonna find out soon enough anyway.”

“No. And you won’t search either. Not yet at any rate. Leave it be for now.” She sat down on the arm of the chair Phil was sitting in. “But I do need your help. Not really so much your help as I need you to keep an eye out. I think maybe I might be being followed.” She waited for the shouts and wasn’t disappointed. She let them go on for a few more minutes then simply put her fingers in her mouth to whistle again, when Phil stopped her with a hand on her thigh.

“They need this. One thing I’ve learned over the years with this group is that they do better with arguing. I believe it’s their way of dealing.” They both watched them and when they calmed a bit, Phil continued. “The person who is looking for her drives a dark SUV. He’s the one that hit her a few days ago. I have a bit of information on him and the best part is that he’s been dead for several years. Same as your sister.”

Holly was surprised by that. She knew that she was declared dead in the company, but she also used an alias, even within the company. No one knew her real name, and she had made sure they didn’t know her family either. That was what had scared her so much about the text.