Force of the Dark Wolf (Force of Nature Series) by Kathi S. Barton

other stone he would have completely gone by it and that would have made him lose his way. Clever, he thought . Smiling , he moved toward the opening and down a small set of stairs. When he got to the bottom , there stood Alexis. He stopped a few feet from her.
    “I thought you’d changed your mind,” she told him softly , and she bunched a towel in her arms. “I was just about to lock up when I heard you. Aren’t you supposed to be very quiet when moving?”
    “If I know I have to be.” He took a few steps toward her , took the towel , and wrapped it around his waist. He knotted it at his hip as he continued. “Why did you have this built? Are you expecting trouble?”
    “Always. I learned that I should always have another avenue of escape.” She moved back when he was close and for now , he let her. “I’m still not very happy with you. Any of you , for that matter.”
    “You should be mad at me. I am an idiot and a fool.” He ran his fingers down her cheek. “You saved my life and I let you down. Again. I’m sorry.”
    She looked away and he moved closer. When she moved back again he simply lifted her chin and kissed her gently on the mouth before moving in to the room. And Christ , what a room it was.
    He’d been in here before, but he’d been seeing her for the first time in that white towel. Now he could see what Phil had said about the room was true. It was a work of art.
    The windows that he’d been talking to her though were huge and showed so much of the outdoors. The only lights were from the moon reflecting off the water and the dewy grass. He heard her shut the doorway between where he’d been and the room , but was so focused on what beauty lay before him that he didn’t turn. A half dozen deer walked into view as he watched.
    “They come every night about this time. I think that the big boy, the buck , thinks I’m caged up or something and trusts I won’t hurt his little family.” She moved to his side as she spoke , but far enough away that he couldn’t touch her. “Sometimes there are more , but always these few.”
    “They’re hungry this time of year. It’s too early in the spring for them to have enough food. But they look healthy and strong. They’ll be fo a ling soon enough and you’ll have more than you’re little grove can handle , I think.” He looked over at her as he finished. “You could move a few of the pairs over to my brother’s land. They have several hundred acres there that they maintain.”
    She nodded and he turned to watch her look out the window. He looked around the room, wondering what other surprises she had down here. He smiled when he saw that she’d not only made the outdoors come into her room from the glass , but she’d brought a great deal of the forest in here too.
    Her bed was made of fallen timber. He could see that someone had preserved the natural wood and had done so without losing the beauty of it. The four large logs looked to be from a variety of trees that held a mattress that had to of been specially made to accommodate it. The walls were made of barn siding and looked to be an old oak. When she started to move away he reached for her and pulled her into his arms with her back to him.
    “I’m sorry, Alexis. What I did, what I said to you , was horribly wrong and mean. I was afraid, terrified actually. Not at you , but…well , at me.”
    “I wouldn’t have hurt you.” He heard the past tense of the sentence and felt his heart skip several beats. “You should probably go. I have to look over this file that Phil gave me. He and I have an appointment in the morning.”
    “I want to help you sort it out. I need to. I won’t sleep with you.” He grinned at the expression on her face. “Unless you want me to. I’m not saying I don’t want to, because I very much do , but you have to trust me and I know you don’t.”
    She looked over at a small table tucked in the corner and he could see the file there. There was also a