Khan (4 page)

“I didn’t mean to scare you. Or her.” He
looked up again. “Is she all right? Does she need anything?”

“No. I helped her to dress, and she
cried herself to sleep. That other man, her husband, he hurt her badly, Mr.
Khan. No woman should have to be afraid of a man who said he’d love her for the
rest of her life.” She handed him another shirt and he pulled it on. “You
frightened her too. You should learn to control your temper around her. She
will not take it.”

He had a feeling that Sally was right. Miss
Monica didn’t strike him as the type to sit back and let people scream at her. Or
talk to her like she was a small child. But it was going to be a moot point
when he had her leave. And she was going to leave.

After he left Marc’s house, he went to
find him. The construction site was near his house, so he simply walked this
time. By the time he got there and saw his brothers, he had nearly convinced
himself that she wasn’t his mate and that he had made a mistake. Yeah, and
monkeys could fly.

“I just left your house,” he told Marc
after they shook hands. “I think maybe I might have scared Sally. I just wanted
you to know.” He couldn’t do it. He had planned to tell him that he was sending
his guest to their parents’ house, but didn’t because he could see Caitlynne
across the way. He turned to leave when Marc stopped him.

“She called me.”

Khan wanted to pretend that he had no
idea who he meant, but Marc knew better.

“Sally said she had called you when my
phone was turned off a little while ago. She told me what happened between you
and Monica.”

“Nothing happened between us. She was in
distress and I helped her to the bed.” Reed came toward them and Khan realized
that he’d been a little loud. “I picked her up out of the shower and put her
into the bed. Nothing else.”

“And you wouldn’t let her wear my shirt.”

Khan didn’t say anything to Marc’s
statement. It was true, but he wasn’t going to get himself into anything with
him right now. He started to walk away when Walker said his name.

“Is it her?”

Khan didn’t turn, but shook his head.

“Are you sure? Because you smell like
her, and if what you say is true, then you won’t mind if Caitlynne and I take
her back to Washington with us.”

Khan didn’t remember moving or that he’d
taken Walker to the ground. He was just over him with his hands around his
throat. When he realized what he was doing, he let him go and stood up. Backing
away from him, he looked at the rest of his brothers.

“I won’t claim her. You know how I feel
about this and I won’t have anything to do with her. None of you can make me
either.” He flushed when he realized how stupid he sounded. “I’m going home,
and I don’t want any of you to come near me. Take her with you, I don’t give a
shit. You can have her.”

~~~

Monica woke late. When she looked at the
clock, it was just after midnight. Moving slowly so she didn’t cry out if she
hurt herself, she took herself to the bathroom again and found a new toothbrush
and paste on the counter. After brushing her teeth twice, she moved back to the
bed. An elderly man sitting in the rocker startled her.

“I’m George Bowen. I’m Marc’s dad. How
are you feeling?” She told him fine. “Good, that’s good. I can have Corrine,
that’s my wife, bring you up something to eat. She’s been up here about ten
times every hour since we came over. Got you some more of that stew you ate
earlier.”

“I don’t have to be waited on. If you
can tell me where my clothes are, I’d like to get dressed, please.”

He nodded toward the little table near
the windows. She went there and found her pants had been washed, but the shirt
wasn’t hers. She looked at him, and he laughed.

“I believe it’s one of Khan’s. After
earlier, we didn’t want anyone to get hurt so we dug up one of his that was at
the house. We can be a bit possessive when something like this happens.”

She nodded, not having a clue what he
was talking about or who.

Going back to the bathroom, she found
folded in the shirt, a pair of panties, and some socks. She had no idea where
they had come from, but they were cleaner than the ones she had on and she
hurriedly pulled them on. The shirt like the one she had just taken off was
huge, but she didn’t have anything else. Finding a brush, she dragged it through
her hair and knotted it at the back of her head. She had to find someone to cut
it soon or she was going to.

When she came out again, she was
exhausted, and happy to see the man had left. She went through the opened door
and stood in the hall for several seconds, trying to figure out where to go. She
went toward the sounds of people talking and ended up in a brightly lit
kitchen.

Walker was there, as was his wife,
Caitlynne. Marc and George were standing next to an elderly woman who was
giving them both a hard time about something. Two more men she didn’t recognize
were there as well as a man from earlier today. She nodded to them all and
looked at Marc.

“I’m feeling much better now and was
wondering if you’d take me to my apartment? The landlord said he had some of my
things, and once I get them, I can head on out.” He glanced at the man. “I can
make payments to you for what you’ve done for me. And to you, Walker.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Marc shoved
his elbow in the man. “Monica, these are my brothers. This is Reed and
Sebastian, and this is my mother Corrine. You’ve met Caitlynne and Walker, and
now my dad. This man, the man from today, is my brother, Khan. He’s very sorry
for what he did to you today.”

“I might have overreacted. I really
would like to go now, please.” She looked at them all when they seemed to as
one look at Khan. “Is there a problem?”

“You might say that.” Caitlynne stood up
and came toward her as she spoke. “They’re all idiots. Come on. Corrine has
some soup for you. These guys were just leaving. Unless you have something to
say, Khan, you can leave as well.”

He looked as if there was plenty to say,
but he only shook his head. When the others walked by her, they either tipped
their heads or smiled at her. She felt like she was missing something and when
Khan turned to look at her, she turned away from him. She had to keep telling
herself he didn’t want her.

The soup was warm and very good. When
Walker came in and asked to see her eyes, she let him. She noticed that he was
careful not to touch her. Not even when she started to stagger when he asked
her to stand up. When he asked her to wait a few minutes before walking, she
looked over at Caitlynne and Corrine. She wasn’t sure, but she could swear the
two of them were conversing. After Walker left the room, she continued to
stand.

“I need to be taken back to my place,
please. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but something is.” Corrine nodded
and looked at Caitlynne. “I’m hurt, not stupid, so tell me.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

She turned to look at Khan.

“You’re either going to my house or my
parents’ house. I’d prefer if you went to theirs, but—”

“I’m not going to either place. I’m
going where I want, with or without your permission.” He came toward her and
she stood her ground. “You’re a bully and I don’t like you.”

“Well, it matters very little what your feelings
are, I guess. As of now, and until you heal enough to be on your own, I’m your
boss. Now sit down before you fall.”

She looked around and noticed that both
women were gone.

“I said to sit.”

Monica had had enough of him. Striding
toward him, she poked him in the chest as she backed him to the wall, and she
yelled. She hated yelling, but this man had gotten on her last nerve. “Listen
here, you overgrown spoiled child, I will not be ordered about like I’m a small
child or some dog you hate. I’m a person, a real, live, living person who has a
brain and knows how to use it.” She stopped when he did, knowing he couldn’t go
any further. “You are not my boss, you are not my master, and I will not put up
with you acting like you are. I am leaving this house right now, and when I do,
if you come near me, talk to me, or so much as glance in my direction, I will
buy me a gun and shoot you.”

When he didn’t move, she growled low.
Something she’d not done since she was a child. She’d learned how to do if from
the neighbor’s cat. Her mother had hated it, and she had broken herself of it
so as not to get sent to her room without supper.

“Are you quite through?”

She looked up at him and could
see…humor? It was sparkling in his eyes. Instead of answering him, she turned
on her heel and moved toward the door. She was nearly there when he grabbed her
from behind.

She hadn’t meant to cry out. But he’d
touched her ribs where they had been broken and she couldn’t help it. The room
filled with people immediately, and she could hardly breathe. When one of them
yelled at Khan to let her go, someone else said to get her outside. She was
suddenly in Khan’s arms and out in the cold.

“Breathe,” he kept saying.

She looked up at him and tried. When he
said it four more times, she snapped at him. “I’m fucking trying. Will you stop
ordering me around?” She heard laughter and glanced up to see Walker. “I hurt.”

“I know, honey. You’ll need to be
brought back in now and I’ll see if you injured anything else. I would say that
you didn’t, but I don’t want to take a chance.”

Khan held her as he carried her up the
stairs. She tried not to touch him, but she had never been carried like this
before and thought it was kind of nice. When he put her on the bed, she noticed
that it had been made and everything was put back into order. Not that she’d
made a mess, but she had left a towel on the floor, unable to bend to pick it
up.

“Put her there, Khan.” He laid her
gently on the bed as Walker had directed. “I’ve got it now if you want to go
back—”

“I’m not leaving. You can try to make me,
but I’m not going anywhere.” He looked around the room before looking at his
brother again. “I can’t. Not with you in here.”

Walker nodded and came toward her. When
he started to lift her shirt, she heard a low growl. Both she and Walker looked
at Khan.

“I’m sorry. I can do this. I know you’re
trying to help her.”

Monica hurt too badly to try and figure
it out.

“I’m going to give you something for the
pain. You’ll feel warm for a few seconds then you won’t hurt. I’m doing this so
that you don’t cry out. I know you don’t understand right now, but if you hurt,
he’s going to try and kill me.” She nodded at Walker just before she felt a
small pinch in her arm. “Close your eyes, Monica, and let it take you.”

Monica tried to open her eyes, and they
felt like they’d been glued shut. She had a feeling of coming out from a long
tunnel, and every so few inches, she stepped in something sticky. When she
finally managed to get them open, she shut them again quickly.

The arm lying across her chest scared
her. It was a male arm she knew because a woman would look ridiculous with one
as massive as this one. Then she was giggling when she pictured a woman like
that in her mind. But sobered quickly when the man attached to the am sat up
and looked down at her.

“How are you this morning?” Khan sounded
like sex and sleep. She moved her thighs together when she felt warmth gather
there. “Don’t do that.”

She tried to pull away from him, but he
held her. “Don’t do what?”

“Don’t try to hide your scent from me. I
like the way you smell. Especially when you’re aroused like you are.”

She jerked away from him only to
remember her ribs.

“Be still. Do you want to be injured
forever?”

His voice had gone from soft and sexy to
hard and commanding in a second. Before she could tell him she wanted to get up,
he rolled to the side of the bed and sat there with his back to her. When he
didn’t move right away, she started to get up on her side only to realize she
was naked again.

“Where are my things? I need my…who
undressed me?” She saw the flush on his face and knew that he’d done it. “You
pervert. I suppose you had sex with me too. Well, I’d better not catch anything
from you. And don’t think I know what you—”

“I didn’t have sex with you.” He stood
up and turned his own naked body, hard and huge. “Do you think I’d still be
this hard had I entered you in any way?”

She swallowed twice and tried to take
her eyes off his cock. He was hard and long and thick. She licked her lips once
and looked up at him when he groaned. He looked to be in a great deal of pain.

“I would like nothing more than to bury
myself inside of you. Not that I have any intentions of doing so, but if I did
have sex with you, you’d not have to wonder in the morning if we did.” He
stroked his cock twice and looked down at her. “For that matter, I’d probably
be buried in you before you woke, screaming out my name.”

He moved around the bed, and when she
thought he was going to make good on his threat, he went into the bathroom and
slammed the door. She heard the shower turn on and thought of joining him there
when she realized what she was doing.