He nodded as he reached into the basket and pulled one out. "They're very beautiful. And I'm sure that whoever carved them knew that you weren't using them as simple nature art either."

He handed her the bar and she looked at it. When he took it back and showed her the small footprints in the soap that were human that the wolf left behind, she looked up at him startled.

"I didn't see that. I swear I didn't order...do you know who did these for me?" He nodded. "Is it someone we know?" Again, he nodded.

She tried to think who she had met that carved. The soap molds that she bought were all one of a kind. The person who did hers did custom work and when she'd placed her order for the wolves, he'd laughed and told her it would be his pleasure. The molds had also been shipped several weeks earlier than she'd been told they would. She looked down at the tiny signature that was in the lower left hand corner. CWF and the year was all it said.

"It's Connor, isn't it?" She looked up at him as she asked, suddenly sure that was who it was.

"He wasn't very graceful as a kid. He was forever tripping over his own feet and had a broken ankle at least twice a summer for a few years running. Our dad showed him how to carve using a knife and a few simple tools. Mom was terrified that he was going to cut his fingers off or slice open an artery and die before he could grow into his feet. He got really good at it." He picked up the mold that she'd emptied that morning. "He loved to carve in relief and made a pretty good name for himself by the time he was sixteen. When he turned eighteen and needed money for school, he started carving enough and selling his stuff online. By the time he was in his twenties, he was a millionaire."

Alexis looked at the bar of soap in a whole new light. Connor had seen them when he'd been in here last week. "He never said anything. He just sort of nodded in their general direction when I asked if he'd seen them and he said, 'yeah,' like it was no big deal."

"It's not to him. He doesn't make them for a living. He simply likes doing it because it makes him happy." Gordon moved closer to her as she backed up. "Where do you think you're going, love?"

When he talked to her in that "I'm going to f.u.c.k you until you can't walk again soon" voice, she felt herself respond. She moved back more out of overwhelming need than anything else. He moved with her and when she put her hand up to stop him, he took it to his mouth and kissed it softly.

"I wasn't sure how you'd feel about me since I...since I killed Tom." The first night they'd been together, he'd simply held her. Then since, he'd not stayed at her house. "I didn't know what to think about everything."

"The Council of Weres had to talk to me. Well, me and Austin. I told them that I didn't want to leave and form my own pack just yet. Austin had to let them know that he was all right with me staying on for a little while and letting me keep my pack."

She knew that. Nancy, Gordon's mother, had told her that it was a big deal to have the council decide in your favor about things like this. Wolves, especially alphas like Gordon and his brother, could easily come to want to kill each other over territorial rights. Gordon had had to sign in blood, his own, that he had no desire to take his brother's pack and didn't want to do anything but serve and protect his brother's claim. That had taken just over two weeks. Just after her own trial of sorts had ended.

"Are they still sticking to their decision that I killed that man in self defense?" She shuddered when she thought of what she'd done. "Are they going to change their mind and come after me?"

She'd been her bird when it started. Terror gripped her when she saw the cane coming toward Gordon. She didn't know a lot about wolves, or vampires for that matter, but knew that silver was something that could and would kill them. She'd seen that same knife when Tom had come to her sister's house and knew that he would kill whoever it struck. She also knew that he'd planned to kill Gordon and she refused to lose another person in her life.

"When I saw the knife coming toward me I thought..." She looked up at him, scared of what he meant. "You'd be alone and I'd never get to see you large with our babe. Lots of other thoughts came to mind, but that one hurt me the most."

"I couldn't let him kill you. He would have, you know. And me shifting to the wolf was the only thing I could do. She wanted him dead and I let her go."

The wolf, her wolf, had snarled at her when she'd landed at Gordon's feet as a bird and not a wolf. She'd tried to calm her, speak to her as if she was another being when she saw the cane change. The wolf inside of her seemed to say, "mine," and Alexis let her have it. It wasn't until her claw, the one that was suddenly at her wrist even as the feathers on her arms were still fading away, was at Tom's neck that Alexis realized that the shift hadn't hurt at all and neither did killing a man.

"You saved my life and those of the others around us. Especially Rod and Hope Campbell and my brother." He moved closer and she backed up again, this time into the table behind her. "Are you still concerned that they will sentence you? They won't. Rod said that you were well within your rights as my mate to kill the man."

She'd heard him say that too. He'd been her biggest supporter even though she'd killed his child. She shuddered again.

"I didn't think I could do that, kill someone. Not even when he was there and Darcy was bleeding when my sister died. But when he tried to take you from me I couldn't see past him hurting you and me stopping him."

"I'm glad you did." He moved within inches of her without touching. "Alexis, I want you. Why don't we go back to the house and you let me show you just how much?"

Looking around the barn she realized that everything there could wait. And even if it didn't, she simply didn't care. Nodding to him, he picked her up and, before she knew it, he was taking them both to the sh.o.r.eline where the waterfall was.

"You can't be serious. It's like fifty degrees out here."

He set her on her feet and pulled her into his arms. "I'll keep you warm. Plenty warm as soon as you're naked. Please take off your clothes and let me show you how warm I can really make you."

He didn't think she would. She looked ready to bolt back to either the house or the barn. Either way, he was going to chase her and take her. But when she stopped and started unb.u.t.toning her shirt it was all he could do not to howl at the moon.

"Slower," he told her when she started pulling at the b.u.t.tons quicker. "Take your time and let me savor the bare skin you expose for me."

"What about you? You going to be naked too or is it just going to be me?" She moved the b.u.t.tons through the holes with ease now and her lower voice was doing all sort of things to his blood flow, especially heating it.

"You get naked and I'll show you how to strip for your mate. Would you like to know what I plan to do to you?" She closed her eyes and nodded. "I'm going to eat your p.u.s.s.y until you give me as much of your c.u.m as I want. And I'm very hungry for you so that could be quite a few times. Then I'm going to slowly enter you, filling you with my c.o.c.k until I'm buried to the hilt. Would you like that?"

Her shirt fell from her fingers and onto the ground. The tiny bra she had on did nothing to hide her erect nipples and full b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His mouth watered at the thought of taking them into his mouth and suckling hard.

"Yes," she hissed as she moved her hands to the front of her bra. The clasp was undone in seconds and she teased him by leaving it there. When her hands slid down her belly to the top of her pants he knew she was trying to kill him.

The snap sounded in the deep forest, the zipper let go easily, slowly until he could see her panties along her abdomen. The lace hid from him his target. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he didn't touch her but watched.

"Take them off, Alexis. Take them off before I rip them from you and take you now." He licked his lips when she laughed softly. He looked up at her when her hands disappeared from her jeans.

"My b.r.e.a.s.t.s ache for you." She slid her hands under the lacey bra and cupped the bounty there. "My nipples are hard and long. I love it when you suck them. I could almost come when you do that."

"Alexis," he growled, and when he reached for her she stepped back. His wolf snarled for him to take, but he, the human male, loved her way of teasing him.

"Don't. You said you'd let me strip for you. I don't want to disappoint you by you going too fast. Watch me, Gordon. I want to make you want me."

He wasn't sure he could want her any more. But he put his hands on his thighs and hoped that he didn't hurt himself when he gripped himself too tightly. He leaned back on his heels and let her have her way...for now.

She leaned her head back as she enjoyed herself. Gordon was sure he'd never seen anything more erotic or beautiful as his mate standing there half naked in the deep woods. As she slipped the bra down her arms and off his breath caught. Christ, she was going to kill him.

Full b.r.e.a.s.t.s and erect nipples bounced when she let them go to go back to her pants. Her fingers danced along the top and then inside of the heavy fabric until she shimmied them down over her hips. He wasn't sure which he enjoyed more, her breast jumping when she moved or the skin she was baring to him. When she struggled to get them off her legs he leaned in and she rested her hand on his shoulder and pulled them off her legs.

"Christ, you're beautiful. And mine." This time, when her hands went for her panties, he stayed her with a word. "No. I want to taste you like this. I want to lick you slowly."

She nodded and watched through hooded eyes as he moved toward her on his knees. Touching her knees, he pulled them apart and steadied her. When she was inches from him Gordon leaned in and sniffed at her. Heaven, she smelled of heaven and s.e.x.

"I'm not going to last. I thought that if I left my pants on I'd be able to pleasure you before I took what I wanted from you. But all I can think of is f.u.c.king you. Hard, fast, and claiming you." Her moan had him looking up from his vantage point of her soaking p.u.s.s.y. "Do you want me to take you, Alexis?"

When she stepped back he growled, but as soon as she turned and dropped to her knees in front of him, Gordon yanked at his jeans and tore the zipper and snap out. Her giggle had him smile.

"You won't think it is so funny to tease a wolf when you can't walk for a few hours." She leaned over onto her hands and presented him with her a.s.s. "Alexis, I'm so sorry."

His c.o.c.k leapt when he grabbed her hips. The heavy cream at the tip of his c.o.c.k was nothing to the juices streaming down her thighs despite the lace. Tearing away the thong, the only thing keeping him from his goal, he fisted his c.o.c.k and slammed into her.

Her climax screamed from her. When she begged him for more he leaned over her and took her hard. Stroke for stroke she met him; each thrust forward was met with a push back from her. When she tightened around his c.o.c.k again, her walls milking him hard, he felt his own climax pulling from deep within him.

"Come in me, Gordon. Please, fill me with your seed and give me your child." Gordon knew she was in heat, he'd known for days it was close. "Please," she begged again before she threw back her head and howled out her release.

His wolf grabbed him and he felt the small shift hurtle through him. Canines dropped and he knew she was going to hurt, but he couldn't stop it any more than he could stop breathing. Nuzzling her shoulder he licked the area between her neck and shoulder and bit her. Deep and hard, he sank his teeth as his climax hit him. As he held her still, claiming and marking her as his, he knew that they created a child, their child, here in the dark woods.

Chapter 21.

Phil knew as soon as he was shown into the house that something had changed. It took him a few minutes to figure out what it was. There was laughter. Not just from one or two, but the whole house seemed to be in on a great joke. When he entered the kitchen, a place he knew that they spent most of their time, he stood watching them for a minute.

Sis was sitting on Gordon's lap. She looked so comfortable there he wondered if she was beginning to trust him more. She had a slice of apple in her hand and Phil watched as Gordon sliced another off the large, red apple in his own hand. Smiling, she took the offered piece as she popped the last one in her mouth.

Tim was sitting next to them. He was grinning, a big grin that showed that in the past week he'd managed to lose one of his front teeth. He too was enjoying an apple, only his was already on his plate sliced up. He leaned to his brother Jake and whispered in his ear. The other child laughed and stole a slice off his brother's plate.

Jake didn't say much when Phil had first come around. He seemed a great kid, but he knew from CJ that he possessed a very high IQ and had been tested recently. The results weren't back yet, but Phil was willing to bet that the kid was nearing genius status. Phil had found the kid reading encyclopedias on more than one occasion. He couldn't wait to tell Gordon he'd told him so.

Darcy was staring at him when he looked at her. Her smile was soft and reached her eyes. She'd changed the most. Everything about her showed her good health and well being. Phil had heard from Connor, Gordon's twin, that she talked more about the night her mother was killed. She had opened up to him, he said, because he'd let her see that a wolf could shift and not hurt. Phil thought she was a little in love with the wolf and hoped that Connor took a care where she was concerned.

"You should come in and join us." Phil looked over at Alexis when she spoke. "We have plenty of fruit to go around and there is homemade ice cream for later if you'd like to stay."

"I picked the berries all by myself," Tim chimed in. "Well, Jake and Darcy helped a little, but I did the...what did you call it, Gordon?"

"Toting. You did the toting. A real man totes his bounty home while the others gather. It's a good wolf who can provide for his family." Phil laughed when Alexis. .h.i.t him. "Okay, it's a good wolf who can let his mate provide for him."

"Have a seat, Phil. I'll get you a plate so you can have something too." Alexis started to stand when Gordon beat her to it. The look between them made him look deeper into the woman and he was surprised by what he found.

"Congratulations are in order, I guess." Alexis flushed and Gordon puffed out his chest. "Would you like to know what it is?"

He could tell almost from conception what the s.e.x of a baby would be. It was another of those odd quirks he got being a half breed. He grinned at the two of them when she shook her head no and Gordon yes. Phil decided to hold off until they got more into their lives.

"Uncle Phil, did you know that Aunt Alexis and Gordon are gonna adapted us? We're not gonna be wolves, but we are going to be..." Sis looked confused for a second then brightened before she continued. "We're going to be a force to reckon with."

"I'm sure you already are, pumpkin," he told her. "And I believe you mean 'adopt' not 'adapted.'" She nodded and continued eating.

Gordon came back with a gla.s.s and a jug of tea. He set the empty plate in front of him before going back to his seat and picking up Sis. Looking around the table Phil thought of the things he had to tell them and the things that he needed answers for. First, though, he filled his plate with leftovers.

"You might as well spill it. Some of us have work to do." He looked up at Gordon as the kids left the room. "They have to clean their rooms and you look ready to bust. Say it."

"Okay. First and foremost, where is Holly? I need her. If she wants to bail on me, then I want to know. My family wants me to come back to Europe with them to live. I can't...I don't want to make Holly do this if she doesn't want to."

He held his breath while Alexis and Gordon looked at each other for several seconds. He could have looked into her mind, but decided not to. He wasn't sure what he'd find and was surer he didn't want to know.

"She's in New York. I don't know where at other than a fancy hotel. Last time we heard from her she was buying something for a company. What, I don't know, but that's where she was as of last week." Gordon looked at Alexis again before continuing. "You need to claim her whether she wants it or not. She's your mate and that alone can do strange and sometimes terrible things to you if you don't claim each other."

"She doesn't sound like she's going to be easy, Phil," Alexis said with a huge grin. "I've never met her, but I'm pretty sure she comes by her last name naturally. I would say the 'take and conquer' approach is the best way for her."

"You don't care that she'll be p.i.s.sed?" Phil was surprised by their shaking heads. "And if I tell her it was your idea, are you going to have to go into witness protection until she calms down?"

Gordon stood up and started gathering plates. "Not if you do it right, we won't."

About the Author.

h.e.l.lo! My name is Kathi Barton and I'm an author. I have been married to my very best friend Sonny for at times seems several lifetimes a in a good way, honey. And together we have three wonderful children and then the ones we brought into the world - Paul and Dale Barton, Jason and Wendy Barton and Danielle and Ben Conklin. They have given us seven of the greatest treasures on Earth. They don't live at home seven days a week! No, seriously, seven grandchildren a Gavin, Spring, Ben, Trinity, Sarah, Kelly and Kian.

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