Khan (Bowen Boys, #2)(54)



He looked at her and she knew what he’d done. Her breath caught at what she saw in his mind. Khan walked toward her and sat on the edge of the bed.

“There was no way for you to make it to the hospital. Walker tried his best, but I knew that…Walker told me either I converted you and you died, or you died in that hotel room with Barr’s body close by.” He looked away. “I didn’t want to, but if you died, I wanted it to be because we’d done everything we could to save you.”

She thought about being a cat. That didn’t bother her. None of it did really. Not even knowing that Khan had killed the man who had tried to kill her. She reached for his hand and he pulled away from her and stood up.

“I know that we should have talked about this. There really wasn’t any time. You were dying. I couldn’t live without you. Had you been lost to me, I would have attacked Walker when I could and had Caitlynne shoot me like she threatened to.”

Monica was going to have to get more details on that later. Right now, her mate was hurting and she could fix it. “So you bit me and made me what you are. And no, we hadn’t discussed it because you refused to even consider it. And then you go and do it without as much as a simple question to me.” He started pacing the room and she knew that she had to do this to him. “What were you thinking? That I’d just say thank you, Khan, for saving my life and making me into something else?”

He didn’t answer, but she could feel his anger. When she told him to stop pacing and answer her, she could see the anger vibrate off him. He was as pissed as she’d ever seen him.

“I did what I had to do.” He stretched his neck, something she knew he did when he was nearing his breaking point. “You were dying and I did what I needed to do to save you. End of discussion.”

She leapt out of the bed and went to stand in front of him. He tried to walk around her, but she shoved him, a little too hard, into the dresser behind him. When he growled at her, she growled right back.

“I’ll say when it’s finished. This is my body and my life you changed, was it not?” He nodded. “Then we have things to talk about. Like what were you thinking?”

He put his hands on her shoulders. For all his apparent anger, he was gentle, his hands barely gripping her. Khan’s eyes were darker in the passion of his anger at her, but she knew that when he blew, he would never hurt her.

“You were dying. I had to—”

“Bullshit. Tell me why you did it.” She waited, wondering if she should push him more. Before she could ask again, he kissed her.

The kiss was passionate, not hurtful. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him to her as he took and took. When he lifted his head, he looked calmer; he even smiled.

“I did it because I couldn’t stand the thought of living another day without you. I did it because I need you. Now and forever. I did it because, even though you drive me insane most of the time, I love you more than I’ve loved anyone in my life.” He kissed her again. “I do love you. I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I knew that we should have—”

“Khan? Shut up and make love to me. With me. Please?”

“Gladly.” He picked her up and carried her to the bed. When he stood over her and started taking off his shirt, she sat up to watch him. She doubted that she’d ever get bored seeing him naked. But before he took off his pants, he reached into his pocket, and sat down beside her.

“I was told you wanted me to put this back on you.” She turned to look at him before he could put it around her throat. “Apparently, Dylan has a lot of things he can do that he’s never shared with us.”

She nodded. “I’m sure he does. He’s a very quiet and reserved man, isn’t he?”

“Yes. He’s always been. I guess we know why now. He’s been afraid that we’d feel differently about him if we ever found out just how much he knows.” Khan turned her around and sat her over his lap. “But I don’t want to talk about my brothers right now. I want to make love to my wife.”

He took her mouth and rolled them so that she was on her back and he over her. When he took the neck of her shirt and ripped it from her, she watched his eyes, not what he was doing. She felt something move along her skin and looked up at him.

“It’s your cat. She wants mine.” He took her nipple in his mouth and nipped gently at it before lifting his head again. “When we get home, we’re going to run in the woods behind my house and I’m going to let him have you. He wants to mark you both.”

The next time her cat moved, she let her. Khan lifted his head from her breast again and looked down at her. His cat was close too. She could feel him.

“We’re going to mess up this room if you keep that up. My cat wants to come out and play.” Khan buried his face in her shoulder and she felt him purr. It moved along her body as if he was touching her.

“Khan, I can’t…how do I keep her from coming out?” He laughed and stood up. “Khan?”

“Get a shirt on. We’re going outside to play.” He reached for his shirt and, on bare feet, padded to the door. “Hurry, Monica. The sun will be up soon and I would prefer that the household didn’t see where we were going.”

He walked out the door, and she sat there for a full second before she leapt from the bed to go after him. Grabbing up the first thing she touched, she went out the door after him.

Kathi S. Barton's Books