Marc (6 page)

“You have to leave me alone. I’m not
what you think I am.” He grinned bigger and nodded. “I mean I’m a woman like
you see, but there’s more to me than you see. And I’m being followed. You can’t
want to get involved even if it’s just a one night fuck because these people
will hurt anyone they think are close to me.”

“Does it have anything to do with the
fact that you’re a panther?” Her body froze and her blood felt as if it stopped
flowing through her body. He touched the place where he’d bitten her and ran
his finger over her breast to her heart. It seemed to skip several beats as he
watched her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking
about.” He nodded once and touched his mouth to hers gently. “You have to stop
doing that. I have…I have a husband and he won’t be happy when I tell him what
you’re doing.”

“You’re not married. In fact, you’ve
never been with a man before. I can smell your virginity on you like a sweet wine.”
His mouth moved up her chin to her lips, where he suckled the lower one into
his mouth before he continued. “You have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy
making you mine.”

She felt her cat purr and he raised his
head to look at her. She had to get away from him, now before it was too late. Jonny
shoved at him and he took a step back, then another. She moved toward the door
and he followed her, not touching her again.

“I’m not feeling well. I have to go home
and….” She grabbed up her bag and put it on her shoulder. She felt as if she
wasn’t really there, that someone else had taken over her body and was speaking
for her. She turned to look at him, unsure why she wanted him to take her into
his arms.

“You can’t hide from me now. If you
don’t come to work tomorrow I will find you, and if there’s anything that even
resembles a bed, I’m going to take you on it. You’re safer here at work, where
I can’t do all the things I want to do to you because of the people here. Do
you understand what I’m telling you?”

She nodded, then shook her head. “You’re
scaring me. I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re scaring me.”

“I know, love, and I’m sorry for that,
but I didn’t know. I thought once was the only chance I’d ever get.” He walked
her to the elevator. “May I kiss you again?”

He didn’t really wait for her to answer,
which she supposed was a good thing. He took her mouth in the most amazing,
gentle kiss she’d had. But then she hadn’t had that many to begin with. When he
stepped back, she entered the elevator, and he stopped the doors before they
closed.

“Your real name, what is it?” She shook
her head and stepped further into the cubical. “No matter, you’ll give it to me
soon enough after you learn to trust me.”

She was nearly a block from her
apartment when she realized she had gone that far. She moved into the first
store she saw and watched the street. She hadn’t been paying attention, and
that would get her killed.

When no one seemed to be watching, she
walked around the store again just to make sure. When the clerk looked at her
for the second time, she purchased the first thing she touched and put it on
the counter. He smiled at her when she realized what she’d bought.

“That one is pretty reliable. My
girlfriend and I use it all the time. I suppose one of these times we’re going
to get caught, but it’s a good pregnancy test.” He asked her if she wanted a
bag and she nodded, mortified.

She stuffed it into her bag and left,
this time more alert than before. She was just rounding the corner to her
apartment when she saw him. It took her a few seconds to remember if he’d been
someone from the office or from the house. When she remembered his name, her
skin grew clammy and she backed against the building. She was sure he’d not
seen her, but she was still afraid. She watched him move to a car. He drove
down the street before she moved again. It was time to go. They were too close
for her to live there any longer.

Chapter 6

Marc waited for her to come out of the
building for ten minutes. He wished he’d realized sooner that she lived there,
but he’d been so wrapped up in not believing she was his mate and hadn’t bothered
to look into where she was or even how close she was. Her fear had made him
move toward her to find her. Dumb luck had him in the alley when she’d gone
into the building at the basement level. He pulled out his key to open the door
when she didn’t come out after ten minutes.

The entire first floor looked like she’d
never been through there. He looked at the stairs and noticed right away that
she’d gone that way, but she’d been careful to step on the carpet and not the
wood on either side. Even the cobwebs hadn’t been disturbed. He moved up to the
second floor and noticed the same thing. He looked up the stairs to the third
floor, where he heard her talking. He wondered if she was alone, and realized
she was. There were no other scents in the stairwell but hers.

This part of the building was vastly
different than the rooms below. She’d cleaned it, and it nearly sparkled. He
looked in the kitchen and saw that she had two more boxes of the noodles on the
counter, and there was a single plate and fork on a clean towel on the counter.
He moved toward where she was, pulling his gun just in case. She was stuffing
clothes into her backpack when he saw her.

He had expected her to be on the defense,
but her shifting from human to cat startled him, especially how smoothly she
did it. He didn’t move as she looked at him, a low growl coming from her
throat. He slowly put his gun away, stepped into the room, and closed the door.
If she wanted to, she would be able to break it down, but he was hoping to get
to talk to her before she wanted to run again.

“You’re a beautiful panther. I knew you
would be the moment I saw you.” She snarled at him and circled around him as he
moved closer to her. “I knew you were a cat, you see, even if you didn’t tell
me. I could smell you as one of my own kind.”

She stopped moving and sat down. He
didn’t think she was willing to listen, because her fur was still standing at
her neck and her claws had not retracted. He sat down on the floor and held his
hands in front of him as he talked to her.

“I bit you. Do you know what that
means?” She shook her head. “I didn’t think you did. You seem to be very
uninformed about what you are and knowing who the others are around you. It
means I’ve marked you as my mate. I took your blood. That’s how I knew to come
looking for you. I could sense your fear.”

She looked out the window and then back
at him. He supposed that he could have moved toward her, but thought she’d have
his throat ripped out before he could shift to bring her down. Besides, he
wanted her trust more than anything.

“You’re being chased by someone. He
wants you because you’re a cat, right?” She lay down but didn’t answer him. He
was okay with that for now. He reached out to her mind and connected with her.

Would you rather talk to me this way?
She lifted her
head and growled low.
I want to speak to you, and if you won’t shift, this
is the best way. I’m not here to hurt you but to protect you.

I don’t want your protection. I don’t
need it.
She
looked at her bag, then back at him.
I have to change and you’re keeping me
from being able to.

I’m not leaving you. You can either
shift with me here or I shift with you and we sit here all night. Either way,
I’m not leaving you until we figure out together what’s happening.

She really was a beautiful woman and a
gorgeous cat. He smiled at her and stretched out his legs as he started talking
to her. She laid her head down and watched him. Marc had a feeling it was going
to be a long night.

As my mate, you and I are connected on a
level that no other animal or human can breach. We’ll be able to communicate no
matter the distance. You can’t block me from speaking to you nor finding you. The
same applies toward me. Especially when you’re afraid like you were before. What
scared you?
He didn’t expect her to answer, so he wasn’t surprised when she didn’t
. I’m
assuming that it has to do with Roy Dawson and his animals. Does he want you
for breeding purposes, or something else?

He’d seen her stiffen and knew that she
was afraid of the man. He was going to tell her how he’d found out the man’s
name when she spoke finally. He didn’t move as she started telling him things
he couldn’t believe of a human being.

He has a bunch of people like me. Well,
not any of them are like me, I’m the only panther. He sells us to people who want
an exotic animal in their homes.
She’d said
sell
like it was a
dirty word.
When we get into the house we’re supposed to case the place and
report back to him what we’ve found. He tells us what to steal, and he comes to
collect it where he tells us to leave it.

And you were a part of this bunch?
She nodded.
How
long did you work for him before you escaped?

A month. He had my friend, Anita Kidd. He
said that he would kill her if I didn’t do what he wanted of me. That once I
was in the house and got him what he wanted from the family, he’d let her go,
and me. But he lied to me, so I told him that he had to let us go. When he
didn’t, I made my own arrangements. That’s when I saw him kill her as I was
leaving to find her. He killed her while they were in his bedroom.

He didn’t think that sounded right but
didn’t comment. He watched her as she got up to move back and forth in front of
him. Marc had no idea why but he had a feeling she had forgotten about him in
favor of the memory she was having.

I don’t know though. It sounded like her,
but….
She
looked at him as he shifted his legs again, but again he had the feeling she
wasn’t see him.
She wasn’t very upset with him, not like I thought she’d be
for being tied up. She’d sounded like…almost like she’d been reading from a
script. Him too. I wonder now if they had been practicing for this moment, like
they knew at some point that I’d have to see this.

Why?
She looked at him this time,
really looked
. Why do you think they were practicing? What did you hear or
see that made you think that? Tell me, Joan, don’t think just say it.

She was laughing when I climbed out the
window and left. I heard her laughter.
She looked at him, confused.
Dead
women don’t laugh.

She lay down again and watched him. He
didn’t try to fill the silence with small talk and was pretty sure she’d not
tolerate it if he did. Instead, he let her think about whatever it was she was
thinking about while he watched her. After an hour or so she finally spoke
again.

I would like to shift now. If you’ll
just step outside I won’t be able to leave. I can’t stay this way for very long
or I won’t be able to shift back.
He started to tell her that was an old
wives tale but didn’t. If she shifted they could leave here soon and he could
take her to his house. He nodded and stood up and walked to the door. Before he
stepped through it, he turned back to her.

“Joan, will you tell me your real name
now?” She watched him for long moments before she answered him. He thanked her
and moved out of the room so she could change, and he contacted Khan.

I need you to find out all you can about
theft’s concerning homes with exotic pets and anything you can find on Jonny Thomas.
He repeated it
twice more so that Khan could write it down.
She’s coming to my house for
now, and I’ll bring her to you sometime in the next few days.

She trusts you then? Good. We can’t help
her if she won’t let us. How did you get her to open up? You didn’t fuck her
into submission, did you?
Khan’s laughter pissed him off a little, and he had
to take a couple of short breaths so he wouldn’t snarl at him.

She’s my mate. I just figured it out
today.
That shut him up quickly. He waited for Khan to say something, anything, but he
didn’t. Marc closed off the connection as soon as he heard Jonny moving toward
him.

~~~

She let him lead her to his car. It
wasn’t that she was giving into him, she was just beaten. When he turned onto
the main highway, she looked at him. She tried to think her best way out of
town.

“I think the best solution is for you to
take me to the bus station. I’m pretty sure I have enough money for a ticket to
somewhere. I’ve about four thousand dollars.” He glanced at her but didn’t say
anything. “I have some money here that I’d like you to give to the owner of the
building I was using. I’m not sure how much rent it is but I—”

“I own the buildings on either side of
me. I bought them several years ago with plans of turning them into offices. I
just never got around to it.” She nodded and reached into her bag to get his
money. “And I’m not taking your money, so if that’s what you’re reaching for,
you might as well put it back.”

“But I lived there for almost two months
without paying for anything. I’m not a mooch. I already paid the man I took the
clothes from. He didn’t seem to have any problems taking my money.”

“Did he know you took the clothes and
then eventually paid him back?” She shook her head. “Well I do, and I’m not
taking it. Also, just to give you a heads up, I own The Vintage Shoppe too. And
I’m not taking you to the bus station.”

She looked out the window and wondered
how much a plane ticket was going to cost her when he drove past that exit too.
Jonny turned in her seat and looked at him. He was driving her nuts.

“I demand that you pull over this minute
and let me out. I thought you were going to help me get away. They’re close,
and if you’re with me, he might do something stupid and….” Something he’d said
at the apartment occurred to her. “You said I didn’t recognize that we were the
same. What did you mean by that?”

“Just what you think it means. I’m a
panther too. My entire family is. My parents were full-bloods, and so each of
us boys is as well.” He glanced at her. “I don’t know that you’re a full-blood,
but you’re very close. Are your parents both panthers?”

“Neither of them is. I think maybe I was
adopted, but I never asked and they never treated me like I was anything but
theirs. Then when I was thirteen, I became this thing and they still loved me.”
She watched the trees fly by as he got off the highway and onto a street. “I haven’t
seen them in five months. I was afraid that Roy will go and hurt them to get me
to come to them.”

“Where do they live?” She told him that it
wasn’t any of his business. “I can go and bring them to my house so they’ll be
safe. You have to trust me.”

“No, I don’t.” She picked up her bag
when he put on his turn signal on. She was ready to take off, but once she saw
the large gates open, then close behind them, she turned to him. This was
getting to be too much.

When the car stopped, he grabbed her arm
and held her. He was much stronger than her, and he held her until she stopped struggling.
He didn’t let her go, but he did loosen his hand enough that it didn’t hurt.

“You’re going to come into my house, and
we’re going to sit down and have a nice conversation. We’re going to go over
all the information you have about Dawson, and then we’re going to—”

“You’re going to fuck me, aren’t you? Whether
or not I want to, you’re going to finish what you started at the apartment.” He
let her go and stared at her for several seconds before he got out of the car. When
he came around to her side, she thought he was going to jerk her out, but he
opened the door and held out his hand to her. She felt foolish and childish.
When she took his hand, he helped her out and reached in for her bag. When she
started to demand that he return it, he simply handed it to her. He pressed her
to the car gently and looked down at her.

“I don’t rape women. I especially
wouldn’t rape you. You’d kill me before I got my pants down.” His lips twitched
and she watched them as he continued. “I’m your mate, and as such, I don’t want
to do anything but cherish you.”

She licked her lips, thinking about his
being on hers. The way he’d suckled at her breast and bitten her. When he
growled low, she looked into his eyes and saw his cat just there on the
surface. Her entire body heated in response.

“I can smell you, your arousal. Do you
know what that does to me? To my cat?” She nodded. “I guess you do. I want you,
Jonny. I could take you right here if you’d let me.”

He rocked into her, and she moaned. Shifting
his body, she opened her legs so that he could be closer to her heat. When he
rocked into her again, she dug her nails into his shoulders to hang on.

His mouth slid over his bite from
earlier and she felt her cat stir. When he lifted his head from her shoulder,
she watched him as he cupped her ass and pulled her up to his hips. His cock
was pressed hard into her soft folds, and she wanted more of him.

“Say it.” She trembled at his words as
he growled them at her. “Tell me, Jonny. Tell me what you want.”