Dylan (Bowen Boys) (6 page)

“I’ve got you.” She fought against the
arms that now held her. “Jack, it’s me, Dylan. I have you. Nothing is going to
hurt you. I’ve got you.”

Clinging to him, she cried. She was
safe. She had no idea why she’d feel that way, but she did. Holding onto him, she
sobbed out what she’d seen. He continued to hold her.

When she quieted down, she felt stupid.
She’d just cried like a small child, but when she tried to pull away from him,
he told her to just wait.

“Your scream woke me from a dead sleep.
I thought…Christ, I don’t know what I thought. Then you started saying
something about not being able to breath and that someone was trying to drown
you.”

“I’m all right now. I’m sorry. I had a
bad…all that blood, it scared me.” She didn’t try very hard to get out of his
arms, and he didn’t seem to mind, either. “You should go back to your room.”

“I can’t. Caitlynne and Khan have it
with the baby. And my parents and brothers are in the other rooms. Marc is
sleeping on the couch. We worked late on the dining room, and they stayed over.”
He shifted around and lay down beside her. “You okay with me being here? I
don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’m okay. It’s your house, after all.” She
tried to think of something to say and went back to the dream. “I was drowning.
I don’t think it was blood, but a pool. I was in a pool somewhere.”

“You know about what happened and what
you’re being accused of, correct?” She nodded. “There was a pool at the house
where this supposedly happened. Maybe you fell in it or something.”

“I jumped. I shot the window open and I
jumped.” Her body broke out in sweat. “Someone was chasing me. I don’t…I can’t....
All I can think of is an eye for some stupid reason.”

Dylan nodded. “Are you hungry? My mom
made some lasagna for dinner and there was some left over. Walker said you
could have whatever you wanted but for you to be careful.”

He stood up and walked to the door. When
he went out and shut it behind him, she looked around. Flushing, she realized
that she’d still been holding onto him, and he’d probably been freaked a little
about it. She moved carefully in the bed and made it to the side without too
much trouble. When he came back, if he came back, she’d ask him to move her to
the couch and him take the bed. She didn’t think he’d do it. He seemed to be a
really nice guy, but she was making the offer just the same.

When a woman returned with a tray, Jack
tried hard not to show she was hurt. Thanking the older woman, she was
surprised when she sat down in the chair next to the side she‘d moved to. She
smiled at her when Jack took her first bite.

“Dylan is talking to his brother. Every time
you give him something he runs to them with it, hoping that it’ll help. He said
you were hungry.”

“Actually, he didn’t wait for me to
answer him but hightailed it out of here without me saying anything.” She took
another bite and moaned. “But I’m glad he did. This is really good.”

“Thank you.” She reached into her pocket
and handed her a clipping. “That was in today’s paper. It says that Dylan was
voted teacher of the year. His kids love him very much.”

Jack read it as she ate. The portion she
had was huge, so she only managed to eat about a quarter of it before she lay back
to finish reading it. She handed it back to the woman.

“I’m assuming you’re his mom.” She
nodded and told her that her name was Corrine. “Nice to meet you.”

“You as well. I have pie if you want it.
It’s apple. It was all he had in the cupboards since he’d been working on the
kitchen. You’ll love it when he gets it all done. I think this is good for him
to get his mind off of what is going on with you and all.”

It took Jack a minute to realize what
Corrine was saying. “I don’t need to like anything he’s doing to his house. As
soon as I’m able, I have to get going. There are people looking for me, and I’m
reasonably sure that dead or alive means whoever I happen to be with when they
find me will also be killed. And when Company finds me again, they’re going to
find Casey.”

Neither of them spoke. When Corrine
started to stand, Jack moved to the edge of the bed and stood up as well. Pain
moved over her like a freight train, and she had to hold on to the bedpost for
several seconds to try and get it under control.

“I don’t think you should be doing that.
You’ve been shot several times and you’ve lost a great deal of—”

“I have to go. I have to get out of here
right now.” She stumbled for the desk where a gun and several other things were
laying. “I’m guessing these are mine.”

“Yes, but—” The door opened, and there
stood Dylan and two other men, including Khan. “Thank goodness. She’s leaving,
and I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Don’t come near me.” She picked up the
Glock and held it in front of her when Dylan started for her. “I don’t want to
have to shoot you, but I certainly will.”

“She’s remembering.” Dylan looked at one
of the men. “Some of it is still fuzzy, but it’s coming to her. Go get
Caitlynne. She’ll need to know this, too.”

Jack moved toward them, circling to the
right with her gun in front of her. She was getting sick to her stomach and
hoped she didn’t throw up. She’d had broken ribs before, and tossing cookies
was not fun.

“Someone set her up. She hid in a tree
for hours to see who or what they were up to and…. Snow is a person. Casey
Snow. She moved the vet to another state until this is over, if it ever is.”

“Stop that. Fucking stop that right
now.” She looked as the doorway filled with more people. “Being able to read a
person’s mind doesn’t give you the right to do it. I want you to leave me the
fuck alone.”

“Jack, we have to help you. There are
things going on, things you can’t understand right now.” Caitlynne spoke softly
as she moved into the room. “Dylan needs to help you; he has no choice.”

“Everyone has choices. And mine is to
get the hell away from here.” She took another step. “Please, you have to
believe me. You’re safer if I leave.”

“You’re going to have to convince her,” Khan
said. She looked at Khan when he spoke. “She thinks that she needs to leave so
that you can remain safe. Show her that you can protect her if the need
arises.”

Jack watched Dylan move into the room, then
the other men joined him. She looked at Corrine when they started to unbutton
their shirts. This was just getting too creepy.

“I think you might want to sit down,
dear,” Corrine said to her. “This is about to become very frightening for you.
Oh, and don’t run. If you do, it will cause you problems, and I don’t believe
you need any more of those right now, do you?”

She shook her head and looked back at
Dylan. The man had a chest that just screamed to be licked. When he winked at
her, she flushed, then thought of shooting his dick off.

“Not nice. What will I do with you if
you do that?” She flushed more when she caught images of them together in the
big bed, and looked at the bed. She knew that he was doing that and tried not
to think how enjoyable it would be. His low growl had her looking at him again.

The room tightened, and she had a
feeling that all the air had been sucked out of the room. When she lifted her
gun, she only raised it a few inches when she realized what had happened. The
room was full of panthers.

“Holy mother fuck feathers.” She
stumbled back into the chair behind her as one of them walked toward her. “Stop
right there.”

He, of course, didn’t. His paw was a big
as her thigh, and she trembled when she could see the tips of his claws
sticking out. He took it off her leg and laid his head in its place. Jack
looked at Corrine and Caitlynne.

“I can shift as well, but I’m hoping
that this will be enough to convince you that we can help you much more than
you can do on your own.” Jack heard the words that Corrine was saying, but it
was too much. “That’s Dylan on your lap. The others can’t touch you because, if
they do, he’ll kill them. He won’t want to, but it’s in his DNA to protect
you.”

“Me?” Her voice squeaked, and she tried
again. “Why me? I mean, I’m not a family member. I’m not even sure that I like
you all.”

He growled low, and she looked down at
him. He rubbed his massive head over her lap, and she heard him purr. She
looked up at Corrine again.

“You’re his mate,” Corinne said. Jack started
to ask what that meant when Dylan lifted his head suddenly. She didn’t know
what was happening, but he looked tense, and it made her feel the same way. When
the other cats moved toward the opposite side of the door, she knew whatever
was coming was fucking huge. Dylan put his mouth over her wrist and held her.

“What the fuck is he doing? I need
that.” The cat that walked in the room wasn’t as big as Dylan, and his black
fur was tinged in gray. He looked older, softer, and a little heavy. The snort
from Dylan made her look down at him.

“I wasn’t going to shoot him.” He let go
of her wrist. “This is fucking off the charts insane, you know that, right? I’m
going to wake up in a minute and this is all going to be a dream. I mean, there
can’t be four panthers in this house, in this room with me. I’m a reasonably
sane person, right?”

She leaned back in her chair and stared
at Dylan when he nodded at her. Standing up, she made her way to the bed. The
sooner she lay back down and woke up, the faster this would be over. Dylan, the
cat, crawled into it with her, and she didn’t argue with him. Only insane
people argued with figments of their imaginations.

Chapter Five

Dylan watched her lay there. He knew she
wasn’t asleep, but she didn’t move, either. His family left the room as soon as
she lay down. He remained his cat and stayed on the bed beside her. The first
few tears hurt him more than he would have thought.

“I didn’t kill that family. When I got
there, they were dead already. I had an assignment to kill him, just the male,
but not anyone else.” She moved over more, and he nearly moved closer to her.
“I know you think I should be happy about what you’ve done, showing me what
you…fuck, I don’t know what I think, but I’m still leaving. I’ll tell Caitlynne
all she wants to know, but after that, I’m going to leave. And I swear to you
that no one will ever know what you’ve…that I was here.”

He jumped down off the bed when she
finally cried herself to sleep. Dylan shifted, pulled on some comfortable pants,
and took her tray to the kitchen. Khan was sitting there with his mate and
Marshall.

“She all right?” Dylan shook his head at
Khan. “I’m sorry, Dylan, I thought it would help. I think it shows that she’s a
strong woman to not have run from the room screaming.”

“She said she’d talk to Caitlynne and
tell her everything, but she’s still leaving.” He turned to look at his
brother. “I don’t know what to do. I need her. I know that we’ve not mated or
anything, but I can’t let her go.”

Marshall cleared his throat. “Actually,
there is something you can do. Bite her. Well, not just bite, but you can mate
with her. Do it tonight. I think if you do, she’ll be more inclined to stay
with you. Provided you do it correctly.”

Monica laughed. “I think he’s telling
you there’s more than one way to mate with her and it doesn’t necessarily
involve full-out sex.”

Dylan flushed when he realized what she
was saying. He looked at Khan, who was nodding. This wasn’t the way he wanted
to have her come to him, but he couldn’t think of any other way to do it.

He looked up the stairs. “She’s not
going to be happy about this when she figures it out. And I fully intend to
blame it on you if she means to shoot someone.”

Marshall stood up and patted him on the
back. “You do that. But let me know first. I’d like to show her what a pretty
tiger I am first. She might like me more than you.”

Dylan had been up and down the stairs that
day more than he thought he had in a month. When he entered the bedroom, she
was gone. Then he heard her cursing in the bathroom. He went to the door to
knock, but she opened it before he could touch it.

“Is it too much to ask to take a shower?
Wash my hair? I want to shave my legs and underarms, but I’m bound up tighter
than mummies of Halloween.” She tossed the brush at the counter. “I can’t even
brush this mop properly. I’m fucking cutting it off.”

“I can help you.” She looked at him as
if she were seeing him for the first time. “With the shower. I don’t…I would
hate for you to cut your hair off. I love it.”

“You don’t have to fuck with it one
armed, either.” She looked at his hair. “You have really nice hair. I wouldn’t think
a teacher could have long hair like that.”

“Normally they don’t, but because I’m so
amazing at my job, they cut me some slack.” She snorted and looked back at the
shower. “I really can help you. If you’re worried about the wounds getting wet,
Mom sponged them off daily and Walker said so long as they were dried well, it
would be fine.”

Lies, he knew, but he wanted her to be
naked even if she was soapy and slick. His cock took a hard twist, reminding
him that he wanted her anyway he could get her. Dylan moved to the linen closet
and took out four towels. Then he reached into the stall and turned on the
water.