Dylan (Bowen Boys, #3)(46)

“We’re going outside for a while.” He pulled her up off the chair. “Dad, could you please tell the others that we want to be alone until she gets used to this? She might have a few…issues.”

His dad laughed and told him he’d make sure they weren’t bothered. “Remember that there’s still a mad man out there, and if you come across him, just have a snack or two on him. Vampire blood is something like a fine wine to us, or so I heard.”

George was still laughing when they went out the door. She held Dylan’s hand tightly, for some reason a little more afraid of this than she’d ever been going into a room blind. Jack told him that.

“You’re going to do just fine. I’ve never heard of anyone having such….” He walked for a few feet before he continued. “When I bit you, I expected you to scream…was ready for it, actually. But you didn’t make a sound. Not even a small whimper. I didn’t…I fully expected that it hadn’t worked.”

“You were so afraid of hurting me that I didn’t want you to think you had. I’ve been hurt before. Badly, as you know. But when I’m on an assignment I have to….” She, too, walked a little ways, thinking how to tell him how she felt. “There are times when it’s not feasible, not even safe to acknowledge that you’re in pain. If you do, then you’re as good as dead. You don’t last long in the field when you act like a big baby.”

He seemed to understand and reached for her hand. When they were just on the inside of the stand of trees, she turned to him, just remembering to ask him something. She’d been in a hotel room when they had started her change. How did she end up back at Walker’s house?

He flushed and looked away before answering. “I thought I’d killed you when you passed out. I called for Khan, then my dad. Mom came with them and started barking out orders like a drill sergeant on maneuvers. Had me terrified I’d disappointed her. She even had the hotel management doing what she wanted without a single question. We brought you back here so that you could rest, and I’d have a little more people around so that I wouldn’t wake you every minute to ask you how you were feeling.”

She laughed. She simply couldn’t help it. Big bad Dylan Bowen, the calmest man she knew, had lost it. She was still smiling about it when he told her it was time. She realized then that they’d gone deep into the woods now. Nearly to the lake, he told her to strip, and he did the same.

“You have to trust me on this.” She nodded. “Think of your panther. You know what I look like, so think of her in those terms. She’ll come on her own, but you can’t fight her. She’s stronger and will come forth without hurting you if you let her.”

The image of a sleek black cat came to her mind. She was huge, and when she snarled at her, Jack smiled back. She and her cat were going to butt heads, she knew. When she opened her eyes to ask Dylan what to do next, she was looking at him from a different perspective. And things looked…brighter. She looked up at her husband.

“You did it.” She looked down at her body. “Christ, Jack, you look beautiful. And much bigger than Monica or Caitlynne.”

She took offense to that and didn’t know why she snarled at him. He laughed and finished taking off his clothes. She watched him as he stretched his arms over his head and shifted. Her breath caught when he was suddenly standing before her as his cat. He moved toward her slowly, and she backed up, suddenly not sure what he wanted from her.

“You run now and he’ll chase you down. Don’t move just yet. He wants to mark you with his fur.” She lay down, trying her best not to run. “Good girl. He’s sort of hoping you’ll be a good cat, but we both know that you won’t be, will you?”

She looked up at him, but spoke to Dylan. “You are two different beings, aren’t you? You’re both cat and man, but not one in the same.”

“So will you be. I don’t know why it happens that way, but I think it’s actually easier that way for us. Two different—Christ, Jack come back here. He’s going to be pissed.”

She nipped at him and took off. Something inside of her said to run, and she ran for all she was worth. Leaping over logs and bushes, she felt the dirt beneath her paws and knew that the experience would only get better as she spent more time as a cat. Trees blurred by her, small animals ran. She was nearly to the other edge of the trees when she suddenly tumbled and rolled. He’d caught her.

His panther stood over her, and his giant paw held her down. He was panting hard, and she realized so was she. He looked furious, and she rubbed her head along his chest. His low growl made her wet, and she moved against him again.

“Stop that. Don’t you know that he could hurt you?” He bit down on her shoulder when she tried to sit up. “Christ, you scared us both. What were you thinking?”

“I want you, Dylan, both of you.” He growled low, and her body recognized that he wanted her, as well. Moving easier now that he’d gotten off her, she rolled to her belly and lay down. The big cat came up behind her and held her down again, but she knew this was different. This was his way of dominating her rather than simply wanting to keep her safe and near him. When he pushed her shoulders down to the ground, she raised her ass up to meet him.

“You’re a virgin in this form. You won’t like him taking you so hard.” She moved against him again. “You’re going to make him pissy. But you don’t care, do you?”