On the Prowl (Bad Things #2)(2)

“Let me explain…”

Explain claws? “You already did. You’re a…” Monster. Rose couldn’t get that word out.

“I should have stayed the hell away from you.” His gaze swept over her face. “But there was something about you, from the first moment. I saw you, and I wanted you more than I’ve ever wanted any other woman.”

Her heart was about to jump right out of her chest. He wasn’t touching her, but she could feel his heat surrounding her. He was so big, well over six feet, and he dwarfed her own five-foot-five frame.

His dark head leaned toward her. “But I never wanted you to fear me.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have flashed your claws,” she blurted. Because how was she not supposed to fear those things? They were like knives that had just grown straight from his fingers.

“I’m a shifter. It’s what I’ve been since birth.” Dark stubble lined his jaw. “If I could change who I was, I would. Trust me, I’ve wished to be different more times than I could count but I never wanted it more…” He swallowed. “Never more than when I met you.”

A shifter. That meant…he turned into some kind of animal or something, right? “What do you…become?” Was she seriously having this conversation?

“A panther.”

Right. Sure. Because of course he wouldn’t turn into something cuddly and sweet. He would be a panther. Raw power and danger and claws that could rip her throat open in one swipe.

She felt dizzy. Rose really didn’t want to faint on him. “I need you to let me leave.”

“That’s the last thing I want to do.” And then he was locking his hands around her shoulders. She couldn’t help it, Rose flinched, but his claws didn’t slice into her. He touched her with the hands and strength of a man, not some kind of beast. “You think I’ve ever told another human what I am? That’s against the rules. I’m not supposed to tell mortals, but you’re different.” His gaze still blazed. “Because you’re mine.”

When he touched her, her body reacted. It was like a heat burned between them, one that raged and destroyed everything in its path, everything but the white-hot need and passion that erupted. He touched her, and she wanted. It was a desire unlike anything she’d ever felt before. And, yes, maybe she had thought it was unnatural at first…

Then she hadn’t cared.

But now… “What did you do to me?” Rose whispered. “How did you make me want you so much?” Even then, when she was terrified of him, she wanted him. Her breasts were aching, her body readying when she should be running as fast and as far from him as she could.

“I think you were made for me.”

Rose shook her head.

“And I was made for you.”

She didn’t believe in soul mates. She hardly believed in love. She—

“I will never hurt you,” Julian vowed. “Believe that, if you believe nothing else. I told you the truth because I don’t want to lie to you. I want you to know all of me. Everything. No secrets and no—”

But he broke off, his eyes widening in alarm.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

She heard the thunder, as if from a distance. She heard the blasts and she felt the wooden door shake behind her.

Then the pain came, erupting through her body. Her right side. Her left. Her back and then—then straight through her chest.

Julian was shouting and jerking her away from the door. She grabbed his arms, holding tightly, and she looked back over her shoulder.

There were…holes in the door. As if someone had…shot through the door?

She could feel a warm wetness on her body. Julian had her in his arms and he was running through the house. He rushed up the stairs and put her on the bed.

“Don’t move, love. Just…f*ck, stay here, I’ll take care of them. I’ll take care of you.”

Rose tried to speak, but couldn’t. A faint moan was the only sound to escape her lips. She tried to lift herself up, but…something was wrong. She couldn’t move her legs. And the pain that had wracked her just moments before?

She didn’t feel it any longer.

She didn’t feel anything.

But she could hear screams. Desperate, terrified screams that seemed to shake the night itself. And she heard the inhuman snarls of a beast.

Her breath whispered out and her eyelids sagged closed.

She was dying, and Rose knew it. Someone had shot through the door. The bullets had torn into her and now…now her life was over.

***

“I hope you know what you’ve done.”

That voice—low and oddly sinister—pulled Rose from the darkness. Her eyelids flew open and she sucked in a greedy gulp of air.

“Be sure you hold up your end of the bargain, panther.” Again, it was that sinister voice talking. One that seemed to reek of power and danger. “Because there is a price for the gift I’ve given.”

Her gaze shot to the man speaking. He was tall, with dark hair, glinting eyes, and a face that seemed to be cut straight from stone. For just an instant, she actually wondered if she was looking into the face of the devil. But then he smiled at her…

Rose didn’t wonder any longer. She knew.

“Welcome back,” he said.