Khan (3 page)

He didn’t say anything when she looked
away. He knew that she was dealing with her emotions. When she turned back to
him, she was grinning. He was almost ready to cup himself when she reached over
and patted his leg.

“I love you too, moron. But this
feeling? Is it a cat thing or something else? You said she wasn’t your mate. How
sure are you of that?” He told her he was positive. “Then we have to figure out
what it is and keep her here until we do. She’s going to bolt at the first
opportunity, you know that, right? I would if I was her.”

Marc was as sure of that as he was she
wasn’t his mate and told her so. Walker came out a few minutes later. She was
being released into Walker’s care and they were taking her to his house. Marc
was suddenly glad for the extra help that came in daily to clean up after him. His
house used to be a natural growing ground for mushrooms and other fungi.

~~~

Monica looked at the couple who was
helping her. Mrs. Bowen, as Caitlynne had told her to call her, was very
beautiful, and her husband, the doctor, was very kind. She hadn’t known what to
think of the woman when she’d snapped at her, but knew what she’d been doing.
She had taken her out of her funk of being a failure.

Monica felt like that a lot lately.
Every time she would think that she’d shaken Tony Barr, he would show up like a
bad penny. A very painful bad penny. She looked around the room she’d been
given and wondered how long it would be before she could make her escape.

She’d never had a boss like Marc. He was
really nice and was always telling her what a great job she was doing. All the
people who worked for him said he was very fair and never made them feel like
he was better than them. Him coming to work the trash sting was a surprise. She’d
been slated to work with David, but he’d come down with the flu.

“Okay. I have to go and do my community
service for Caitlynne. She’s a real hard ass and I screwed up.” Marc sat on the
bed next to her and handed her a reader and the remote. “There’s everything you’d
want to see on the television and that thing is yours. I got two for my
birthday and I haven’t even opened it yet. I think that Khan said there’s a
fifty dollar credit on it so go for—”

“I can’t take your gift.” He laughed at
her. “I’m serious. I can’t take a gift that you got for your birthday. It’s not
right.”

“But you see I don’t need it so I’m
gifting it to you. That’s what Khan said to do with it. I asked him for the
receipt and he didn’t have it. He told me to give it away.” He handed it to
her. “I got something else from him. I swear. Take it.”

She took it to use, but wouldn’t take it
with her. She ran her hand over the box and looked up at him as he left the
room. Monica thought there wasn’t a nicer man she knew and wished that she’d
met him a long time ago.

Turning on the television to keep her
company, she turned it down low. The place where she had been staying had told
her that she had to move out. Apparently, Tony had been by there first and had
made a mess of things for her. Marc hadn’t told her what he’d done, but she
knew from past “visits” from him that he more than likely trashed the place. She
still wondered how he’d found her on the trash truck.

The knock at the door startled her and
she sat up. Looking at the bedside clock, she realized that she’d dozed off. A
pretty young woman walked in with a large tray. She smiled at her as she sat it
across her lap.

“Mr. Marc said you might be a little
hungry and he said to bring you something light. I wasn’t sure what you might
like so I brought you a little of everything.” She sat down in the chair. “My
name is Sally. I’m his day help.”

Monica told her who she was and how she
knew Marc. She wasn’t really sure what day help was, but assumed that it was a
cleaning person. A cleaning person who could cook. Everything smelled
delicious. And after her first sip of the beef barley soup, she knew she’d have
to eat it all.

Sally didn’t say anything while she ate.
She simply watched the television and rocked. Monica didn’t know why, but she
felt very comfortable with her and didn’t need to explain to her what she was
doing there and why she was beat to hell and back. When she lifted the tray off
her, Sally helped her to the bathroom.

“I’ve not taken Marc’s bed, have I?” She
had stopped in the doorway to the huge bath when that thought occurred to her.
“I can go somewhere else if I have. I won’t put him out of his bed.”

“No, ma’am. This is one of the spares.
He has three extras. This one has a full bath including a tub, and that’s why
you’re in here. Doctor Walker said you might want a lay-down bath later.”

Monica nodded and asked to be left alone
to use the toilet. She had avoided looking at herself the last time he’d beaten
her up, but this time she had no choice. The mirror over the sink was huge. She
nearly cried when she looked at the woman staring back at her.

Her lower lip had been taped up. Walker
said that stitches would leave a bigger scar so he’d put butterfly strips on
it. There were three there and five over her left brow. Her right eye was
filled with blood, and though it hurt a little, it looked a lot worse. She
gently touched the bruising under it and winced at the pain. There was blood in
her hair too, and she felt the tender knot there. She wanted a shower to wash
off everything he’d done to her.

She knew that wasn’t possible, but she
needed to be clean. Opening the door a little, she told Sally that she felt
great and was taking a shower. The girl didn’t look like she thought that was a
good idea and asked her to wait. But Monica closed the door and locked it. She
needed this.

As soon as the hot water steamed up the
mirror, she took off the shirt she’d been given. Trying not to look at herself,
she stepped into the hot water. Heaven. She decided that this was the best
decision she’d made in a while.

After washing her hair twice, she was
beginning to feel a little lightheaded. Holding onto the tile walls, she tried
to take shallow breaths until the feeling passed. When she realized she wasn’t
going to be able to stand much longer, she slid to the shower floor. Nope, she
was done in.

When an urgent knock sounded at the door,
she whimpered. She didn’t have the strength to answer. Everything was fading
and she knew that at any moment she was going to faint. When the door crashed
open, she felt her head roll back, and she looked up at the most beautiful
furious man she’d ever seen. And man, could he cuss up a storm.

He scooped her up and held her to him. She
wanted to tell him she was fine, but knew it for the lie it was. When he took
her into the bedroom, she saw Sally and wondered about the look on her face.
The woman looked pale as a sheet. The man put her down on the bed and she was
sure that he’d licked her neck.

“Don’t eat me, please? I hurt too much
now.” Monica had a moment to wonder why he went stiff when she realized what
she said. “I can manage from here, thank you.”

“What the hell were you thinking? Didn’t
Walker tell you to take a bath? And who locks a door on someone when they’re
this weak?” She wanted to brain the man standing over her, but he continued. “You’re
naked.”

“Of course I am, you moron. Who takes a
shower in their clothes?” Now that she was out of the hot water, she was
regaining her strength. “And in case you didn’t notice, I’m a big girl and can
make decisions on my own without the help of a big man. Why don’t you go back
to the cave you came from and leave me the hell alone? And you’re paying for
that door too.” Monica had never spoken to anyone like that before, but found
she couldn’t be upset about it now. The man was a bastard and she wasn’t going
to take it from him. When Sally cleared her throat, they both looked at her.

“I have you another shirt, miss. It’s
another one of Mr. Marc’s.”

The man took it from her and tossed it
across the room. He told Sally to get out.

Sally took off like the hounds of hell
were after her. Reaching for the sheet, Monica tried to cover her body and
glared up at the man when he continued to stare at her.

“I want you to get out of here. I’m in
Mr. Marc’s house and he’ll—”

“You’re human, aren’t you?”

She stared at him. What the hell else
would she be? She asked him this, then said, “You know, I don’t really care. You
should leave. While I appreciate you doing what you did, as you can see, I’m
fine now. Thank you again.” He didn’t move.

“Who did this to you?” He tore the sheet
from her and looked over her body. “Who hurt you like this? And where do I find
him?”

Monica was afraid. Not for herself, but
for any person who crossed this man. She flinched when he dropped to his knees,
and when he reached out and cupped her head, she was sure he was…she had a
feeling he was going to tear her throat out. But all he said was he wouldn’t
hurt her.

His breath on her throat made her dizzy.
It made her want to bring him closer and have him never stop. When he ran his
tongue down her throat to her collarbone, she moaned. Before she could do
anything stupid like reach for him, he stood up and backed away.

“I didn’t touch you. You’re the one
that—” She took several deep breaths even though it hurt her badly. “I don’t
know who you are, but I would like for you to leave me alone, please. I’m…I’m
going to be gone soon and I don’t want to cause Marc any problems.”

He didn’t move except to pick up the
shirt and tear it in half. When he tossed the sheet at her, she quickly covered
herself up and waited for his next move. When he spoke this time, she knew that
man was off his rocker.

“Don’t let anyone else touch you. If
they do, then I’ll hurt them. And don’t think you’re going to stay here either.
As soon as possible, I’m having you moved.” He turned to the door then looked
back at her over his shoulder. “I don’t want you.”

Then he was gone.

Monica looked around the room and then
at the sheet. Blood stained it in a couple of places, and she knew it was
because she had opened her wounds. She wiped at the tears on her face she hadn’t
realized were falling and thought of the man. He didn’t want her. She had no
idea why that hurt her so much, but it did. And when Sally came back in the
room and helped her into another shirt, Monica rolled to her side and shut her
out. Sobbing, she fell asleep.

Khan sat in the kitchen of Marc’s house
and waited. He knew where he was and could have gone there, but he couldn’t
leave just yet. Anger boiled over him like a summer storm, and he didn’t trust
himself with anyone yet. He glanced up to the ceiling to where he knew the girl
was and glared. His fucking mate.

When Sally had called him and told him
that she couldn’t get the door to open and she was afraid that the woman she’d
been caring for was dead, he hadn’t thought, but had shifted and gone to Marc’s
home. He was sure it was Caitlynne and that she’d fallen, but when he’d gotten
to the bedroom and saw the blood, her scent hit him. Kicking open the door
happened before he could get a hold on his cat and then he was picking her up. Now
he’d tasted her. Not once, but twice, and he wanted more.

He got up and adjusted his cock. He’d
been hard since he’d smelled her. Knowing that he wasn’t going to touch her
again did little to his frame of mind. She was up there, and she was naked. He
had told Sally that she wasn’t to let her wear any more of Marc’s shirts and
had given her his. He had gotten all the way downstairs before he realized what
he’d done.

“Mother fuck.” Khan stood up and began
pacing the room. He was so fucked right now he didn’t know what to do. He
glared again and wondered, not for the first time since entering the bedroom,
if Caitlynne had anything to do with this.

He knew that she hadn’t, but he wanted
to blame someone. The woman upstairs was his mate and she was a fucking human. He
paced more until he saw his reflection in the door glass. He looked manic.

Not only that, but his cat was showing. His
eyes had darkened and his body mass had expanded. Taking deep breaths in his
nose and out his mouth had him calm a little, but a quick trip to the bathroom
had him combing his hair and tossing cold water on his face. He looked at the
man staring back at him.

“You’re so fucked right now you’ll never
be able to get her away fast enough.” The man seemed to mock him, and Khan
splashed water at his reflection. He stood there for several seconds wondering
if he could jerk off and give his cock some relief, but knew it wouldn’t help. He
needed the woman.

When he came out, Sally was standing in
the kitchen. She looked slightly afraid of him and he tried smiling at her. He
didn’t think he’d done any good when she backed up. He sat down and tried to
calm them both.

“She frightened me. When you called, I
thought it was Caitlynne and she’d fallen and hurt the baby.” Sally nodded. “Then
when I saw the stranger, I was so relieved that I got a little pissed at her
for scaring you.”

“It’s Miss Monica. She was hurt early
this morning at work. Mr. Marc brought her here so no one would hurt her again.
I think it was her husband who beat her.” Khan nodded. That sounded like
something that Marc would do. Protect someone.