Unstoppable Force (Force of Nature Series) (3 page)

“I would like for you to call the judge.
I’m done here. I’d like to finish up my sentence in the cell.” She moved toward
the door and out. Going back to the house, she was finishing up when she felt
someone come in behind her. Not bothering to look up, she had an idea who it
was.

“You signed a contract with me and I
expect you to fulfill it.” Mr. Force’s voice echoed in the empty room. She
hoped that he’d leave, but he stood there for several more minutes before he
spoke again. “Karl said you could be on his crew any time you wanted. And he’s
right, you did a fine job on this floor. Thank you.”

When Lou turned around he was gone. She
laid the next tile and stood to mix the grout to get a start on that. She had
to grab the wall when the shooting pain in her leg took her breath away. Looking
down, she could see where blood had seeped though her pants. Picking up her bag,
she went to the bathroom to clean up.

After she had inspected the wound, she
sat on the toilet and wondered what to do now. It was infected. After all she’d
done to prevent it, it was seeping yellow pus. She knew that this morning in
the shower that it wasn’t doing well. Frustrated because she’d done all she’d
been able to do, she wrapped it back up and took two expired aspirin that she’d
found somewhere. Limping back out to the kitchen, she began getting ready to
grout.

The chills started about halfway into
the job. By the time Karl had told her it was quitting time she was sweating. Walking
to the place she’d been assigned to sleep, she couldn’t remember how she’d
gotten there. Lying on the bed, she closed her eyes and had to suddenly get up
and go to the bathroom. She was sick. And after throwing up everything she had in
her belly, she went back to bed and tried to get warm again.

Lou heard Debbie come in later that
night. She might have asked her something, but didn’t remember answering her.
When the lights were turned out and she was sure that Debbie was asleep Lou got
up and moved to the door to outside. Burning up again, she nearly cried in relief
when the chilled air touched her bare skin. She moved beyond the steps, not
caring where she was going.

Some things in the forest frightened
her. She saw trees that reminded her of her foster father and shapes on the
ground that she thought were snakes and spiders. Moving along the trees for
support Lou thought she saw a big dog, but didn’t know for sure.

Sliding down the big tree she’d been
standing next to, Lou looked around her. She had no idea where she was and
while she had a vague idea how she’d gotten here, she wasn’t altogether sure
she could get herself back home. Shivering again, she tried to curl into a ball
for warmth. That’s when she saw the big wolf.

“Are you going to kill me?” He cocked
his head at her but didn’t come closer. “I wish you would. I’ve never amounted
to anything and probably never will. That’s what the woman at the last foster
home said to me. ‘Ginger Louise, you’re nothing but a pathetic mess. You’ll be
lucky if you make it past your eighteenth birthday.’ Showed her, didn’t I?”

The wolf lay down on the ground, but
didn’t come any closer. Lou closed her eyes and tried to will the pain to go
away. She spoke to the wolf as tears rolled down her cheek.

“I know what you are and that you don’t
normally… If I die out here, would you please not eat on me until you’re sure
I’m dead? I don’t want to wake up and you’re chewing my arm off.” The wolf
growled low and she looked at him. “I want to die. Just be gone from this
world.”

He sat up and looked to his right. Lou
looked too, but didn’t see anything until the moon appeared from behind some
thick clouds. Eyes. Lots of them too. She looked back at the wolf and saw that
his eyes were glowing too. She watched him as he moved toward her slowly.

“I want you to make it quick, please.” She
leaned her head back, exposing her neck for him. “Just take out my throat and
kill me.”

Lou felt him touch her foot. His nose
was cold and she moved her legs wider to give him all the room he needed. When
his hot breath touched her thigh, Lou moaned. She had no idea that pending
death could be so erotic. Fisting her hands beneath her thighs, she waited for
him to do it.

When his tongue licked along her skin,
she opened her eyes and looked at the other wolves standing close. The wolf at
her throat looked at them as well. His fangs bared then she heard a low, very
vicious growl. Two of the closest wolves backed up.

“Please. I’m begging you, just kill me.”
He turned back to her and she could see his eyes. They were beautiful. A warm
dark brown that made her heart pound. Shaking her head slightly, she grabbed
the fur on his chest. “Do it, damn it. What the fuck are you waiting for?” Lou
shook him then and he growled again. “Kill me.”

Pain, nearly blinding pain made her
vision swim. Her head had felt as if it had exploded. Lou looked up and then
closed her eyes quickly. A man was standing next to her. When she tried to get
away, back away, pain hit her again, this time in her leg. Crying out, Lou
begged once more for him to kill her, but the big wolf was gone.

Closing her eyes, she sobbed. “Why? Why
didn’t you make it quick?”

Chapter 3

Connor watched the woman sleep. She’d
been laying there for over nine hours without moving so much as her fingers. He
wondered how much longer when he heard someone at the door. He turned to see
Holly, his sister, there. She waddled in and sat heavily in the chair. Her
pregnancy made him both smile and scared.

“She all right?”

He shook his head.

“Clint said that she might be here for a
week or more. He said he’d never seen an infection spread so quickly in a human
before.”

“She’s malnourished. He told me that had
she been well fed and healthier, she’d be up and about by now.” He looked over
at her. “She wanted me to kill her.”

“Austin told me. He said that you’d been
helping look for her. It was a good thing one of us found her rather than a
wild wolf. One of them might have taken what she was offering.”

Connor felt the low growl come up from
his chest before he could stop it.

“He also said she was your mate.”

Connor nodded as he spoke to his sister.
“So he thinks. I think she would have offered her throat to anyone because of
her leg. She had five cracked ribs too, as well as a great many bruises all
over her body. I wish that Phil were here. He’d have her healed by now.”

Connor had brought her to the clinic by
himself. Austin had offered to help carry her, but he’d told him to back off. The
twenty minute walk had made him think all sorts of things and not the least of
those thoughts was the fact that she’d wanted him to kill her. And when he’d
gone to her to get a better scent of her flesh, she’d never backed away. She
had really wanted to die.

Clint had performed a three-hour
surgery. Not only was her leg badly infected, but there had been small pieces
of stone and leaves in it. He’d been impressed with the stitches that someone
had put in as well. Connor had a feeling that she’d put them there herself.

“Austin said that she’s here because of
a court order. Vagrancy, I think he said, or something like it. She was in a
dumpster when the cop found her.”

Connor nodded. He’d read the report too.

“Do you suppose that she’ll go back on
the street when her time is up here?” Connor didn’t expect an answer and wasn’t
really surprised that Holly didn’t say anything. “When I was on duty for the
department I saw all kinds of people who lived off the streets. Not many of
them survive. And she’s been doing it for a very long time.”

The woman on the bed moaned and both he
and Holly stood up. He was leaning over her when she opened her eyes and looked
up at him. There was no smile of recognition, but she did look terrified. He
should have known better than to startle her and when she hit him, he let
himself fall back rather than try to grab onto her.

“Christ. What the hell did you hit him
for?” Holly looked like she was going to attack Ginger, but Connor stood up
quick enough to stop her. “She fucking hit you.”

“And I’m a stranger and standing over
her when she woke. She had no choice but to defend herself.” He glanced at
Ginger. “Isn’t that right? I frightened you, didn’t I?”

It took her four tries to speak. He had
been told by Clint that her throat would be sore from the tube down it. When
she did Connor wanted to laugh at her, but only just refrained from doing so.

“Where are my pants? My shirt and
underwear too?” She sat up only to lie back down. “How do I get out of here?”

“You’re not. Not for a little while yet.
Hello, Miss Cavanaugh. My name is Doctor Clint Burris. I’m your doctor.” Connor
looked at his friend and doctor as he walked through the door. “Hey, Connor,
how’s our patient?”

Before he could answer Ginger threw back
her sheet. He wasn’t sure what her plan after that was, but she’d frozen at the
sight of her leg. He walked over to the side of the bed and picked up the
sheet.

“It’s going to get better now. There was
a great deal of things in it and when you’d sewn it shut, it sealed those
things inside. Now that Clint has taken them out, it’s only a matter of time before
you to get better.” He’d spoken softly to her, gently, but he wasn’t sure she’d
heard. All of her attention was focused on the large bandage on her thigh and
the tubes running from it. “They’re to help with the drainage. You have—”

“Where are my clothes? I want to leave
here now.” He could hear the pain in her voice and he wanted more than anything
to cradle her into his arms and hold her. But he couldn’t, not yet at any rate.
“Is there a form I can sign to get out of here?”

“No. Not here. We’re a different kind of
hospital. There are no AMA, or against medical advice papers for you to get out
with. You’re going to have to stick it out until you’re released.” Clint sat on
the edge of the bed then stood quickly.

Connor put his hand over his mouth in
hopes of no one realizing he had growled. Everyone he could see had heard him
and he felt horrible about it.

“Sorry, Connor. I forgot.”

“Forgot what? Never mind. I don’t care. Please
tell me how to get these things out of me and I’ll be on my way. There’s this
guy I work for…I can’t remember his…Force, his name is Force. Call him. He’ll
tell you that I have to be released to go work for him.” Holly laughed and
Clint cleared his throat. Both of them looked at him. “What?”

“Austin was here earlier. He said you’re
to get the best of care.”

Ginger snorted.

“As for you working for him, I think
that’s been taken care of too.”

“Yeah. Okay, so I go to jail.” She
looked around. “Or is that where I am now? In jail, I mean.”

“No, not in jail.” Connor cleared his
throat. “Do you know why you were out in the forest last night?”

She didn’t say anything, but did look
away. He could smell her fear. “There was a wolf there. I remember him…” Ginger
looked back at him and her fear was replaced with anger. “I want you to leave
now. I have to get dressed.”

Connor watched his sister and friend
leave the room. He sat in the chair he’d been in for several hours and looked
at the beautiful woman glaring at him. Christ, she was his mate. “You’re in the
clinic on the Force compound. You had a very high fever when you were found and
brought here. Clint operated and cleaned the wound. During the procedure, he
found—”

“Cop. You’re a cop, aren’t you?” Connor
nodded and, before he could continue, she did. “Thought so. Only a cop or a
lawyer would state the facts and not give any sort of inflection in their
voice.”

“I resent that. I was merely telling you
why you can’t leave here. There was a good possibility that you could have lost
your leg. Maybe even your life.”

Her laughter startled him. “You think I
give a shit about my leg or my life?” She shifted in the bed and he smelled the
blood. “And you of all people should know that. Get out of here. I don’t know
who you are or what the fuck you’re doing here, but I want you to get the fuck
out of here.”

Connor stood up. He wanted to walk to
the bed and pull her onto his lap and beat her ass. But he only stopped short
of it when he smelled the blood again. He took two steps to the bed and leaned
over her. His mouth was only a few inches from hers and he was tempted to kiss
her until they were both breathless.

“My name is Connor Force, brother to
Austin Force.” He touched his lips to hers briefly and then moved back. “You’ll
stay here or so help me I’ll come back here and get into that bed with you and
keep you there.”

Her face flushed; he was sure it was
anger more than anything. Before she could hit him again, he backed off. He was
nearly to the door when she finally found her tongue.

“I had ninety days to stay. If anyone
thinks I’m going to add the days on that I’m in here, then they’re fucking
nuts.”

He opened the door and looked back.

“And don’t come back here.”