Sebastian (Bowen Boys) (4 page)

“Did he tell you
anything?” Mary shook her head, then nodded. “Which is it? Did he tell you something or not?”

Like her
, the woman was marked, only Mary’s was a tattoo. She had a dragon on her throat that was small, but colorful, and the cop had sneered at them both when he’d seen it. She was ready to pop him in the mouth when another man, another panther, came forward.

“Officer James, I think you can bring it down a notch or two. These women have
been through an ordeal and you’re not helping them.” Another man made his way to them as the second one spoke. She watched as he took a small stumble when he saw her. Then he stopped moving.

“Look at them
, Captain. How do we know they didn’t work this out before we got in and roll the man for his wallet? I mean, just look at them. They look like they’ve been at this game for a long while.” The first man, James, pointed at her. “And that one, she claims she was just passing by. Women like her deserve what they get.”

Her fist was out and headed toward his face when she was suddenly stopped by a shout of
“No
.
” The man who’d stumbled was standing between her and the cop, and Ama took a step back from him. He was flipping huge.

“He’s not worth it.”

She nodded slowly
, not sure what was going on when the second cop, the captain, nodded too. “This is my brother Marc. I’m Khan. Are you…are you…Christ, what are you?”

She took another step back and
then another, and looked around for a way to escape. Things were getting just a little too much for her. When Khan closed the distance by half, she held up her hand.

“Don’t touch me.”
He nodded and looked at Marc. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m just a dishwasher. And I didn’t attack that man. He was trying to rape her.”

“I didn’t think you had.”
He looked at her hard, then took another step forward. “You’re hurt. Come back to the ambulance and let them have a look at you.”

“No.
I don’t have any money for that. And even if I did, I’m not going anywhere. I have to be at work again soon and I’ll be fine.” She looked down at the blood staining her shirt where the man had cut her. “I just want to go in and see if the apartment is still for rent.”

Khan looked at his brother
, and she knew that they were communicating through their link. When Khan looked back at her, he was frowning. She looked around again for a way to leave. But she was in an alley, and he and his brother were blocking her way out.

“You wouldn’t be
Amazing…Amazing something, would you?” She shook her head. “Then what’s your…my name is Khan Bowen. Do you know my parents?”

She
paled and took a step back, wondering which one of these men were there to tell her to stay the fuck away from their parents, or if it was both of them. “I didn’t hurt them and I didn’t take their money. I don’t want any problems. I’ve stopped helping them. That should be enough for you.”

Khan laughed. “I would say that was for Sebastian.
He’s our other brother. Marc here works on and off for the police when they need him, but he has his own investigating firm, and I…I’m the leader of my family now that my dad has retired. They—our parents—have been worried about you. You were at my house when Sebastian called you.”

“He was very rude to me.”
Khan nodded and braced his arms over his chest. “I’ve told him that there was no reason to pursue me. I said that things are fine and I’ve been avoiding your parents. If you’re detaining me here for that reason, I can assure you that I won’t—“

“I’m not detaining you
, miss. I’m concerned, that’s all. I’d like for you to come with me to the house and let my mom look at your wound. Then as soon as they’re assured that you’re going to be all right, I swear to you that I’ll bring you right back here.” He looked up at the apartment building. “Of course, I should warn you that Sebastian owns this building. I don’t know what you’ll think about staying here now that you know, but I…well, I had to warn you.”

That did complicate things a little.
She looked at Marc to see that he was talking with a couple of other cops. James wasn’t around, and she had a moment to wonder if he was hiding out to get her. But when she looked at Khan, he smiled at her.

“He won’t bother you again.”
She shivered. There was something very scary about his tone that made her almost feel sorry for the officer if he ever tried to speak to her again.

“I will go to your house
, but I don’t really need to have my wound looked at. It will heal soon.” Which it would, as soon as she ate something. “If I say that I’ll go with you to see to your parents, you’ll bring me back here? You can’t lie to me.”

“Yes.
You have my word.” He looked at her for a few seconds. “I can’t lie to you, can I? You never told me what you are.”

“No
, I didn’t. And I don’t plan on it either. If you’d be so kind as to let me finish here, I’ll go with you, but I cannot stay. I do have a job and I need to work. Mr. Gunn was kind enough to give me one and I won’t leave him hanging.”

“Peter Gunn?”
She nodded. “He’s a good man. I’m guessing that you know what he is, as well as my brother and me?”

“Yes.
I know what all the paranormals are here and anywhere else I go.” She looked at Marc as he approached them again. “Do I need to fill out any paperwork?”

“No, you’re fine. I’ve taken care of everything for you.
I might have to come by and see you sometime soon to fill out a statement, but until then, you’re free to go.”

Chapter 4

Sebastian was just pulling into the driveway of Khan’s house when his brother pulled in behind him.
He was surprised to see Marc as well and a woman with them, but only nodded to them and asked to speak to Marc. When the other two went into the house, Sebastian looked at Marc.

“
Who’s that? Never mind. I have enough problems right now.” Marc laughed. “I want you to do a background on that woman I was telling you about. She’s apparently talked Peter into her taking one of the apartments at the building I own.”

“I know.”
Sebastian started to ask him how he knew when Marc nodded to the house. “That’s her, your tenant. She stopped a man from raping one of your other tenants today and was cut. Khan brought her back here so that Mom and Dad could see that she’s fine. Of course, she’s not but she said she’d heal.”

Sebastian started toward the house
, then stopped. He’d made a scene with her and if he went in there now, he might again. He was debating on just leaving and coming back some other time when Marc slapped him on the back as he started for the house.

“What do you think they’re going to think of you if you just leave now?”
He was right and Sebastian followed him to the steps. “But if I were you, I’d keep my mouth shut. She handled a man tonight without anything more than her hands. I’m pretty sure one panther isn’t going to cause her one bit of a problem. Not to mention Khan says she’s something powerful and makes him want to bow down before her.”

He paused before stepping onto the steps. Powerful? Christ, just what they needed
, something in the house that made Khan nervous. He moved into the kitchen and noticed that the only people there were the cook and Khan. He asked if their parents were there.

“Mom is taking care of Ama’s cut.
Monica is showing Dad what she was able to figure out for him on some search he was doing, and Bill and I were discussing the finer arts of a hamburger grilled on the grill or one in a pan. Which do you prefer?”

Sebastian sat down.
His brother apparently knew all about his parents and his fight with Ama. He started to explain when the door opened and his mom walked in. Then a very beautiful woman came in behind her. Sebastian felt as if he had been hit with a two-by-four.

“
Sebastian, sit down, you’re making her nervous.”
He glanced at Khan when he whispered through his mind.
“She’s ready to bolt and if she does, you’re going to be in more trouble now then you were just a few days ago. Sit the fuck down.”

He sat down
, but felt the need to stand when she smiled at them all. His mom nodded toward them all as she spoke. “Everyone, this is Amarizi Auburn. She’s the young lady that helped your father and me when we got our computers. She’s come to tell me that she’s okay, and she’s agreed to help us when she can next week.”

“So that explains the Amazing part.
I remembered something about your first name but not how to say it. I think Ama suits better anyway.” Khan offered her a seat which she took, as far from him as she could get. “Would you like to stay for dinner? We’re having some sort of burgers. I just don’t know if they’re grilled or fried.”

“I can’t
. I have to get back to work.” She glanced at Sebastian, then back at Khan. “Can you take me now? I have to get back there before five.”

Sebastian felt the low growl come up from his chest and spill from his mouth. Everyone turned to him as he stood.
As soon as his mom stepped in front of Ama, he started forward.

“Don’t touch me.”
The words were low, coming from Ama, but they only seemed to fuel him. “If you come any closer, I will hurt you.”

Sebastian hadn’t realized he’d been moving until he looked at his mom’s face.
She looked furious and her cat moved along her skin. She would attack him if he moved to Ama. Taking a deep breath confirmed what his cat and his body were already telling him. Ama was his.

“I
need to touch her.” His mom looked at Khan as he moved up behind Ama, and Sebastian felt the need to kill wash over him. “Khan, you have to move away from her. If you don’t, I’m going to kill you.”

Khan seemed to freeze in place but took a step back.
“I didn’t know. I had no…Monica is coming. She’s not happy with you.”

Monica came into the room just as Khan finished speaking. Her cat looked ready to do battle because Sebastian had threatened her mate.
Sebastian put up his hands and waited for her to move around him. Her body was tense and ready for him to make a move so she could leap at his throat. He looked up in time to see Ama move toward the door.

“If you leave here
, I’m going to chase you. And there’s no way you’re leaving here with my brother, any of them. Sit.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew that he’d fucked up. But the blood running through his veins was hot with both the need to take her as his mate and to hurt anyone who tried to keep him from her.

Suddenly he found himself across the room and held hard against the cabinets.
No one was touching him, but he knew it was Ama who held him there. She stepped nearer to him but never let him down. Sebastian stared at her as her body took on a change that took his breath away.

Her eyes now glowed to a bright green,
and her hair, white as the brightest light, was flying about her shoulders like she was in a storm. He was pretty sure they were. The tat around her eyes started to morph and change, too. Before it was just above her brows. Now it grew to cover her cheeks and forehead, which were glowing brightly as well.

“You do not talk to me that way.”
He nodded as she pointed her finger at his chest. “I’m a person not a…not a….”

“Dog?
No, you’re not. I don’t know what you are, but you’re not a dog.” Sebastian opened his mouth to take more of her scent in. “Christ, you’re beautiful and smell delicious. Let me down now, please, Amarizi. I want to take you right now. I need to mark you right fucking now.”

He noticed that his family had left the room.
Amarizi started to pace, and he asked her again to let him down. She didn’t even look in his direction, and he stayed right where she held him.

“That man said you’d be difficult. He told me that someday a man would come to me and claim me.
He said that once he did, all my….” She turned to look at him, anger burning in her eyes. “You’re not going to do anything to me. I refuse to be any man’s mate. I don’t like what I am now, and I won’t have any more of this…this thing unleashed. You’ll stay away from me.”

“I don’t think you understand.
I won’t be able to now. I’ve found you and…. Do you think we could have this conversation without me dangling three feet off the ground? It’s a little disconcerting to think you can do this to me.”

He felt himself being lowered and when he reached for her
, she slammed him hard against the cabinets again. This time only his head hit, and he stayed on the floor. He’d be glad when she couldn’t hurt him. His head was beginning to ache pretty badly right now.

“I said you’re not to touch me.”
He nodded and sat slowly in the chair. He also left his hands flat on the table, not giving her any excuse to toss him around again. When she started to pace again, he noticed that her hands were tight in her pockets. He wondered what she was hiding there.

“I would very much like to know what you are.
I know that you can’t be human because of the marks on your face. Those aren’t tats like I first thought, but a part of you.” She nodded. “You’re powerful, and I would imagine that you’re even now trying to hold a great deal of that in you. Are you hurting?”

“You have no idea how much
I want to be naked and be what I was meant to be. I don’t want to be this. I….” She pulled her hands from her pockets then and yanked her sleeve up. “This is moving along my skin like it wants to be free. Like if I were to go outside and strip down that I could change and be what I…. I want your brother to take me back where he found me, and for you to never come near me again.” The marks on her arm were moving, the web-like marks almost pulsing. He desperately wanted to touch her, but she backed up when he answered her.

“That’s not possible
, and I think you know that as well.” He stood and she backed away from him more. He let her as he moved to the cabinet and took out two glasses. “I take it my mom knows what you are, as well as my dad. Can I know?”

He poured them both a glass of iced tea and sat one across from him at the table and took his to the other end and sat down with it. He wasn’t sure she would sit
, and he had no idea why he knew she needed something sweet to drink, but he sat very still waiting for her to move. When she sat down and picked up the glass and drained it, he pushed his toward her. She did the same to it.

“
Thank you. I need a lot of sweets when I’m stressed.” She looked at him as he stood up, got the pitcher, and poured both glasses full again. She picked up the third glass and drank it down, and shook her head when he asked her if she needed a refill.

“Can we start over?”
She looked at him, panicky, and he smiled. “I mean from the beginning. My name is Sebastian Bowen. My parents are Corrine and George. As you know, I’m a panther, a full blood. I own the computer store downtown where you met my assistant, Debby, the other day.”

“I’m not sure she’s all there. Debby
, I mean. She is a woman who has some major commitment issues, and not the sort that has a man wanting to be with her.” He laughed and told her he agreed with her. “I’m Amarizi Auburn, but I prefer to be called Ama. I don’t know my father, and my mother is…. I’m an earth faerie, or so this man told me a few years ago. I have a job working in a pizza place for Peter Gunn.”

He had heard of faeries but not any sort of specific kind.
“And what exactly is an earth faerie, and what is the mark on your face?”

“I can control things that are earthbound.
Not a lot of them are very useful or else I’m not very good at them yet, but Jacob told me that I’d get the hang of it with practice. He said…. What is it?”

“Jacob the
wizard?” She nodded, and he felt the air rush from his lungs. “He was here last year. My sister-in-law and brother Dylan helped him with something. He told me…he said that you…he said that my mate was coming soon. I thought he meant like then, but…. Christ, he told me that you’d be more than I’d ever hope for.”

“I’m not going to be your mate. Never.
Whatever magic I hold now is too much. I don’t want any more.” She stood up and so did he. “I want to go back to my job now. If you won’t let your brother take me, I’ll call a cab.”

“I’m sorry
, but…. Do you know what will happen if another male touches you? I will kill them. And you and I are going to be mates whether you want it or not. I’m not saying that to piss you off, but it’s fated that you and I are together.” He didn’t tell her that he wanted it as well, and figured he’d live longer if he didn’t. “Look, I’ll take you back to work. I don’t like it, but I know right now that you’re stressed and I don’t want you hurting like this.”

He moved to the sink
, pulled down a travel glass for her, filled it with the rest of the cold tea, and handed it to her. He needed to touch her, and if this was the only way, then he’d do it this way. When she reached for the glass, he thought she was going to take it and disappoint him, but she looked up at him as her fingers were inches from his hand.

“Touching me without permission is
certain death for you. Telling anyone, and I mean anyone, what I am is death for you as well. But if I allow you…if you touch me now, as you want, then you’ll see me for what I am and not like you see me now.” She looked at his hand then at him again. “You’ll be able to see me like I truly am, which is more than even your parents can. Their touch was an accident. I would give you permission so that you can see the monster that I am. It will change your mind about wanting me, I’m sure. Do you want that?”

What she was saying
frightened him on so many levels. Seeing her? What did that mean, and what was he going to see? Without thinking any more about it, he lifted his finger from the glass and ran it along her outstretched hand, and felt the power from her as it moved up his fingers to his body. Christ, she wasn’t just powerful, she was electrifying.

~~~

She watched his face as he moved his fingers along her hand and up her arm where she’d pulled up her sleeve. He never took his eyes from hers, and she could see each emotion he had as he touched her. Each bit of magic that ran up his fingers and into him.

“
Your skin is very soft and warm. Do you run hot?” His question had all sorts of images popping into her mind, most of which had to do with them both being naked and sweaty sheets, and he seemed to know it. “I’m betting that I’m making you hotter right now. The thought of seeing how hot you can really get has me hard as stone.”

She glanced down without thinking and saw that his cock was indeed hard
, and as she watched him it seemed to swell more. When she looked back up at him his eyes were closed, and she watched as he licked his lips. Every cell in her body seemed to heat up more.