Ryland (23 page)

“I’m assuming you think I’m the tramp?” Bronwyn
laughed and shook her head at Ryland when he stood beside her. “Mrs. Cunningham
here is a tad pissy because her husband isn’t here to meet and greet her.”

The woman in question lunged again and
Mike caught her. Ryland laughed. This was the most fun he’d had in weeks. She
looked at him when he shrugged. “You can tell her. The police had pretty much
put you in charge anyway. Tell her where her husband can be found.” Ryland
nodded to Mike and walked away.

“See that field over there?” Bronwyn
pointed to where her husband’s body still lay. “He’s just there, about three
miles straight ahead of you. But you’ll have to walk if you want to see him.
The terrain is a mite off for a car.”

Mrs. Cunningham glared at her. “Call him
here. I’m not going to ruin my shoes to go out there and talk to him. Just tell
him to get his ass over here and get his brats. I have a plane to catch.”

“I can’t call him. Well, I suppose I
could, but he won’t answer me. He won’t answer you either.” The woman huffed.
“And being pissy with me isn’t going to get you anything either. I’ve had a
shitty week cleaning up after your husband and I’m not in the mood to fuck with
you.”

“Why you miserable piece of trash.” This
time when her hand came toward her, Bronwyn caught it. She slowly bent it back
until the woman was nearly bent in half trying to keep Bronwyn from breaking
her arm.

“Now we’re going to do this a different
way. One where you politely ask me a question and I answer it maybe as
politely. A sort of give and take thing. Now, you want your husband here,
correct?” Her hissed yes wasn’t great, but it was an improvement over her
slapping Bronwyn. “Well, that’s not going to happen. I don’t have the manpower
to pick all of his pieces up and I’m sure after a week lying out in the heat
you more than likely don’t want to see him anyway. He’s dead, in case you
didn’t get that.”

Mrs. Cunningham paled, but it didn’t
stop her from making more demands. “You’ll tell me the truth or so help me
I’ll…I’ll”

“Yeah. You should have a threat right on
the tip of your tongue. I find that practice makes perfect if you don’t want to
be floundering for one at a sticky time. Like me, for instance. I have two. My
standard is ‘tell me the truth or I’ll shoot your foot.’ I use that one when
I’m serious, but not terribly so. Doesn’t mean I won’t shoot your foot, just
means I’ll reconsider if you continue to piss me off rather than make some
redeeming comment. The other is—”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Bronwyn nodded and winked at Mike. She
took the woman down a few more inches until she was nearly standing on her
head. “Good one, but not a smart one when someone is ready and willing to tear
your fucking arm out from the socket if you continue to piss her off.” Bronwyn
got very close to her face and looked at her. “I’m not one to fuck with again,
Mrs. Cunningham. I’m not in the mood and I can tear your throat out before you
can take your next breath.”

She let her cat take her. Bronwyn
dropped to her paws just as Mike grabbed for Mrs. Cunningham to steady her. She
snarled at the woman who simply fainted.

Laughing, Mike looked at her. “You’re
sure one to piss off, aren’t you?” He lifted the limp woman up and carried her
over to the tree. When he came back, he asked what he was supposed to do with
the kids.

“Sell them?” She told him she was
kidding. “Ask Sandra if she can help out with…why are you shaking your head
no?”

“You know I won’t leave you unattended,
not without one of the others around.”

She looked at him and tried to read his
mind. It wasn’t working with him either. She started to turn away when he
touched her arm.

“You don’t know, do you? You have no
idea why we won’t leave your side.” She shook her head at him. “Cunningham was
going to kill Forest, had been thinking about it for weeks. All of us had seen
it, even Forest did sometimes. But he wouldn’t believe it. He kept saying that
it was just stress or some shit. But we all saw it. So why did you not let
him?”

“I didn’t stop him from killing Forest. You saw that Cunningham shot him.”

Mike shook his head.

“I didn’t save him. I wouldn’t have
after what he did to Sindy and the others.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. But you didn’t
have to let him kill Cunningham either.” She started to speak, but he stopped
her. “You let him be killed by the people he treated the worst.”

She looked at the lab when Mike did. He
looked like she had when she’d first come out. Used up and pissed, more savage
than human. She realized then that he’d been a part of it too.

“You’re a survivor like me, all of you
are. What can you do?” He looked at her and smiled. “You’re older, so either
you were a donor or you were a recipient. I don’t think he would have kept you
around if you were a donor, so you had to be like me.”

“Not as much as you, but a little. I can
shift, but only to the cat, and I can’t read minds. I can block you, but if you
worked at it hard enough you’d break through. Some of the others have talents,
but aren’t very good with them. They need practice. As you said, practice makes
perfect.” She waited for him to continue and felt a frisson of fear settle over
her. “You let me and a few of the others out the day that you blew the
building. Told me this place can only win if I let it and told me to get my
fucking ass out before you threw me out.”

“So you won’t leave my side because of
some sense of duty? I don’t want you to waste your life for something as stupid
as me kicking your ass when it needed it.” He shook his head again. “Then what?
Why do you hang around me like I’m worthy or something?”

“We watch you because Cunningham isn’t
the only one wanting you for a lab.” He walked to the car, but never stopped
looking around. She realized that he’d been doing it for days now, all of them
from the ambush had been. Bronwyn looked for Ryland and he was suddenly coming
for her.

~~~

Ryland watched her sit quietly in the
chair. She’d told him everything that Mike had said to her and now she simply
sat there, staring at nothing but the table. He wanted to hold her, but she
looked like she’d break if he did. When she stood up he waited for her to pace,
but she went to the door instead.

“You said you wanted to run with me. I
need that now. Can you…will you come out with me? I don’t need sex if you’re
not in the mood, but I need… Ryland, my cat wants out.”

He stood up and started taking off his
clothes. When she opened the door and stepped out onto the deck, he followed
her just to simply watch her move. Her shift was fluid and without any
hesitation. He abandoned his clothes and shifted as well, knowing that he would
have to wear tear-away pants around the house if he didn’t want to buy suits
every week.

She ran for miles seemingly without
reason. Ryland saw the other cats and, when they saw him, they moved back. He
was glad that she’d told him what they were doing; he’d been ready to have a
talk with Mike anyway to find out what he was doing with his mate. Now, he knew
the conversation would still happen, but it would be about keeping her safe
rather than him backing the fuck off.

When she neared the pond they’d found
the first time they had shifted he moved up beside her, but didn’t touch her.
She drank of the water and moved to the edge and looked at her reflection. He
looked as well, marveling at the beautiful white tiger she’d become.

“They’re gone, all of them. They always
do that when you and I are together. They must trust you to keep me safe.”

Ryland’s cat snorted at her.

“I won’t leave you.”

“Damned right you won’t.”
He moved up
behind her and rubbed his body over hers.
“You smell good.”

“You’re marking me again. Are you afraid
that one of the other cats will try to move in on your territory?”
He shook his
big head at her.
“Then why? Why rub you scent over me out here?”

“Because my cat wants to fuck you, love.
He wants to
mount you from behind and take you to the ground.”
She shivered, and he
could smell her arousal. He growled low in his chest as he moved closer. When
she took off he leapt after her, knowing that when he caught her, she was his.

It took him less time than he would have
thought to find her scent. When he did, he ran after her quickly, his heart
pounding in need. He saw a flash of white just ahead of him and detoured to the
left to cut her off. When she crossed just in front of him he jumped out and
took her to the ground. His cat growled at her when she tried to fight him. He
sank his teeth into her shoulder and forced her to the ground. Christ, he was
going to enjoy this.

“Don’t move. I don’t want to hurt you
any more than I have to.”
She growled back at him and he moved over her,
still holding her down. She tried to throw him off again and he bit harder
until she was still.

His cock lengthened from his body as he
moved behind her. Ryland had had sex like this before, but not with Bronwyn.
She moved again when he let her go long enough to get a better grip on her. He
forced her head all the way down and she lifted her rear up for him.

He knew that he would hurt her like
this. There was no help for it. Were cats were survivalists and when they
entered their own mates, it was to breed. His cock would expand into her and
they’d be coupled like that for a while after sex to ensure that his seed was
planted.

They’d never talked about children, and
he was glad that she wasn’t in heat or he’d surly get her pregnant. He moved
into her slowly and felt his cock thicken more. She felt it as well, apparently,
as she moaned.

“You’re not supposed to enjoy this. A
female cat is supposed to lay still and service her mate.”
He laughed when
she told him she wasn’t a normal cat and for him to get to work.
“You
certainly aren’t a normal cat. You’re all mine.”

He moved slowly in and out, letting her
get used to him. He wanted nothing more than to pound her into the dirt then
hold her there until she was in heat so he could fill her belly with their
child.

She was rising up to meet his strokes;
his balls slapped against her body harder each time. He was as close to coming
in her as he could stand when he reached down to mark her. Ryland bit her
again, holding his teeth in her until she stopped moving. When she shifted
beneath him he felt his balls tighten, his body ready to come. When she cried
out her own release he took her hard, faster and without mercy. Not that she’d
beg for it.

His climax moved over him like a soft
summer storm. Complete and fulfilling, warm and relaxing, it rolled. He roared
as it took him and heard her mewing. Ryland collapsed on her and licked the
wounds at her shoulder to make sure there would be no infection.

He lifted his head when she moved. He
nipped at her shoulder and told her what was happening. She growled at him.

“You could have at least taken me in the
soft grass, asshole. There are rocks in places that there shouldn’t be.”
He laughed.
“This
is so not funny. You’re going to dig them out of me when you’re finished.”

“Gladly.”
He moved again,
trying to take as much pressure off her as he could, and decided to distract
her.
“How about a baby?”

“No, thanks. Having you around is hard
enough. I don’t want to raise anyone’s rug rats that I don’t have to.”
She moved again
and he nearly told her she wasn’t helping when she looked up at him.
“Why do
you ask? One of your brothers didn’t bring one of the Cunningham kids here, did
they? So help me I’ll kill them if they did.”

Ryland had met the Cunningham children
and could understand her completely. They were evil. He supposed that wasn’t
the correct term to speak about someone’s kids, but that was the best word he
could come up with about them. He, as well as everyone else who’d come in
contact with them, had been glad to see the back of that car when they’d left.
And that mother was a piece of work.

“I was talking about you and I having a
baby.”
He moved off her and to the ground. He watched her stretch and felt badly for
the stones still in her fur. Next time, he’d be a little more considerate. She
froze in mid-stretch.

“Us have a baby? I don’t know anything
about them.”
She shifted, so he did as well. “You can’t want me to have a kid. I’ll probably
leave it somewhere or ruin it. What if I drop it or something?”

“You won’t drop it. You’ll be a great
mom once we tone down the language and maybe try to have fewer weapons on you
when you leave the house. But other than that, you’ll be fine.” She looked at
him like he was being serious. “I was kidding. You’ll be a perfect mom no
matter if you carry a machine gun on your back and the baby in one of those
carriers.”

“I wouldn’t carry a machine gun with a
baby. For one, the gun would be too awkward, and secondly, the baby would be a
distraction if I had to shoot someone. Like its father. In his nuts. Shame the
kid will be the only one.” He lunged for her and tackled her to the ground,
careful of where he dropped her. Her laughter made him smile.