Walker (Bowen Boys, #1)(23)
“Yes. He was big and black. He looked at me like he knew just what I was…how did you know that?”
“He’s my dad. And when I came to find you when my mom said you’d saved Dad, I looked for you as a panther as well.” She snorted and he continued. “My entire family are werepanthers. And my brother Khan became our leader when my dad retired.”
“Right. And I’m Tinkerbell.”
She lay back on the bed and he found he wanted to join her there so badly that he had to adjust his cock twice so he wouldn’t hurt himself. He realized she was speaking and tried to calm his throbbing cock.
“You don’t really believe that, do you? I mean, seriously. Who believes that sort of shit? No one, I’ll tell you, no one.”
“Would you like to see him?”
She only stared at him as he stood up.
“Don’t run from me, Caitlynne. If you do, I will chase you down and bring you back here.” He was glad now that he’d pulled on his boxers and not his pants. He slipped them off and let his cat take him. Walker loved to shift. It didn’t matter if it was from human to cat or the other way around. The feeling of the change was what he loved. The cat moved along his skin like he was going to consume him, and when he did, he had to blink several times to make this non human eyes see Caitlynne.
She hadn’t moved, for which he was grateful. He didn’t want to have to chase her, but he would have if she had left. He leapt up on the bed and lay beside her. She didn’t move, not even when he licked her arm.
“Okay, don’t be fresh. I’m still…mother f*ck. You’re really a panther.” Walker moved closer to her and put his head on her lap. When she reached her shaky hand out and caressed the top of his head, he purred for her.
Neither of them moved for several minutes. He could see her well, but he knew when she turned her head she was going to say something he wasn’t going to like. He moved up her body carefully, trying not to scratch her with his claws.
“This doesn’t change much. I’m still a gunman for the government.” She turned back to look at him. “I’m working for the government as a hit man. I’ve been doing it for a long time and I like it. And I’m damned good at it. I don’t just kill people, though that’s something that happens more often than not, but I also infiltrate computers, companies, as well as bank accounts. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
He growled low and licked her arm again. When he was off the bed, he let his human side take him back. Shaking his hair out, he started for the bed and her. She started for the other side when he grabbed her leg and held her. “You aren’t going anywhere without me. I didn’t tell you this before I shifted, but you’re my mate. Do you know what that means?”
“You can’t be serious. You think I’m going to be your little cat bitch? Think again, bucko. I’m just plain old human Lynne McCray.” He pulled her toward him when she struggled to get away. “Let me go, you overgrown ass. I’ve got to get out of here before I’m found with you.”
“No.” He waited for her to calm down and when she did, he wasn’t fooled when she stilled. “You’re my mate, which means where you go, I go. And I can find you anywhere because I have your scent now.”
Chapter Eight
The little town was shit. There wasn’t a single car, including the police vehicles that he’d not be caught dead in. But he had to play nice with the locals or they’d stop him at every turn. He was smiling at the dumbass that was showing him a dead fish that was hanging on the wall when he thought of McCray living in this town.
She’d hate it too, he would think. More than that, she would have turned her nose up at it. He had always imagined her to be high maintenance and not a little bit on the snob side. Conrad had never liked McCray, but he had thought of her often.
“You can go on over to the house if you want, but there isn’t anything much left of it to show you.” The chief of police, Terrence Palmer, took him out to his cruiser and held the door open for him. Conrad looked over at Nestor, who smiled and climbed into the back seat when that door had been opened.
“It’s a far piece to walk if you want. Plus, there are the dogs. Lynne’s neighbors said they would protect anyone from strangers, but you don’t know the mind of a dog now, do you?”
They were finally moving when Conrad asked a question. “You didn’t find any bodies in the house? I don’t know where she’d be if she wasn’t in there.” The chief looked at him oddly and Conrad tried to think what he’d said wrong. “I mean, she had to be home. She was on leave from what I’ve heard.”
“Leave? I don’t know about that. She wasn’t home much lately. Said she was working late at the local school. Never saw a woman more dedicated to teaching as she was.”
Conrad winced. He’d forgotten that she was a teacher and glared at Nestor when he didn’t so much as look his way. The man was supposed to keep him straight. How the hell was he supposed to remember all the shit that went on in the office? He had better things to do.
“Yes. She is good at her job.” He looked out the front window when the chief nodded. “Christ.”
The house wasn’t just blown up, but leveled. He hadn’t been able to see if from the view of the cameras for the simple reason that the explosion had taken them out. There was debris in both the empty lots on either side of her house as well as all over the yards of the people across the street. When the cruiser stopped Conrad got out with the rest of them.