Dylan (Bowen Boys, #3)(45)

There was no doubt that he was going to kill her. But he was going to make her suffer. Not like he’d done to the human, but suffer greatly. He was going to take her first. Then when she was still sated from sex, he was going to cut into her slowly and watch her die. A kind of killing that he’d perfected over the years, one that took time, energy as well as a high tolerance to hear someone scream and scream a great deal. He was going to enjoy killing the girl.

Closing his eyes, he felt the sun take him. The higher in the sky it raised, the more his body began to shut down. Two hours after the first rays of the sun touched the earth, Lucius was dead to the world, quite literally.

~~~

Jack opened her eyes and quickly shut them again. The room was much too bright and too crowded. Opening them slowly, she looked at the people sitting around in different positions of sleep and frowned. She supposed that they had come to see if she was going to hurt Dylan again.

“How do you feel, my dear?” She looked over at George, her new father-in-law. “I heard that you had a very easy time of it. Dylan, however…well, he’s been put to bed by his brother. He didn’t take you hurting all that well, I’m afraid.”

“He’s a wuss. He kept telling me he was sorry, and I’d finally had enough.” She looked around again at the sleeping people. “Is he still bleeding? I hadn’t meant to slug him all that hard, but it was hard to concentrate on not screaming when he was speaking nonsense.”

“So he said. No, he’s not bleeding, but I wish I could have seen his face when you hit him.” George roared with laughter. “I think you’re going to have splendid children. I’m hoping that you’re going to have a passel of them for me and the missus to spoil. But Dylan said that you made not a sound when he bit you. He said that it was what made him know it wasn’t going to work, having an easy time at it and all. And I will think on the ‘wuss’ part. He is very touchy when someone calls him that.” Jack tried to sit up but lay back again. “You’ll be weak for a little while. I nearly said a few days, but I don’t think you’ll ever follow any rules that others put to you, will you?”

“Not if I can help it.” She had heard George say that Dylan said he knew it wouldn’t work. She wasn’t a panther, and closed her eyes against the pain that caused her. She’d wanted it so badly. She turned to look at George when he cleared his throat.

“Are you hungry? I was about to go down and have a nice snack. If you were to go with me, I could have a bigger one and blame it on you. Corrine wants me to watch my weight. Says a fat panther is sloppy.” He snorted, and she laughed softly. “I’ll bring you something up if you’d prefer.”

She sat up slowly. She didn’t hurt now after all the pain she’d had before. She felt really good and amazingly hungry. When she stood up, George reached out for her but didn’t touch her. She was getting used to that, the sort of no touching, yet helpful, way the men acted around her. Kissing, she’d figured out, was fine so long as you cleared it with the male. Hugging, too. But no lingering touches at all. They were halfway down the stairs when Monica joined them. She looked as fresh as a daisy.

“The babies woke me when they got hungry, otherwise I’d still be napping.” She moved to the sink to wash up. Jack sat down, hunger beating at her. She leaned back in the kitchen chair and waited to get some energy before she tackled a snack. But Monica had it under control.

“I wanted a snack, and George said he’d help me down here. I asked him to join me, so I’ll fix it.” Monica shook her head. “I don’t want to put anyone out. Just give me a—”

“Just please. I love to play in this big kitchen. And I remembered how I felt afterwards. I was tired for a week, I think. You just sit. Your energy will come back, and you’ll feel really great. Especially after you shift.”

“It didn’t work.” They both looked at her, and she looked at George. “You said that Dylan knew it wouldn’t work. It didn’t, right? That I didn’t become like him? I’m simply a pain in the ass human.”

“Oh no, dear. I’m terribly sorry. You’re a panther. Well, you’re more than likely going to be a pain in the ass human, as well, and I believe that trait will flow over into your cat, but that’s for you and Dylan to work with. As a matter of fact, it worked very well, and quickly, too. I’m thinking that the old tale that all humans die during the change…. Are you all right, Jack?”

She nodded from her position. She should get used to having her head between her legs, because she’d been that way a lot lately. When the door to the kitchen opened, she didn’t even have to look up to know it was Dylan. He had a scent now that she could smell, and it made her hungry. For him.

“Behave.” She smiled at the thunder in his voice. She peeked up at him when he knelt down in front of her. “How you felling this morning? Any better?”

“If you say you’re sorry again, I will hit you.” He rubbed his nose, which looked good and had no sign of the earlier abuse she’d given it. “I feel great. For a panther, I guess. It worked.”

“Yes. You’re just like me.” He leaned into her ear. “Except for a few more interesting parts that I would love to explore a bit more. You game to go out and shift?”

Shift. Was she ready? Yes. No. She had no ideam and sat up and looked around. What if she screwed it up? What if she couldn’t go back? She wasn’t terrified as much as scared shitless. He grinned at her and stood up.