It was the first time, and he would bet the last time, that he’d ever see so much emotion on Harris’s face. Hugging Bella back, she turned away, saying that she’d take care of things. Then when she stopped again, looking at them, Dean tensed up for what was to come next.
“You’ll be getting married. Then be out of town when this goes down.” Dean said that they could do that. “You’ll have to trust me on this. Do what I say when I say. I want nothing coming back on any of us. All right? I’ll make the arrangements, and that’ll be it. Things will be done before you return from your honeymoon.”
“Deal.” When she left them again, Dean turned Bella to look at him. “Well, my dear? Are you going to marry me? We don’t have to have anything big or elaborate. Or we can later. I think that for now, what’s she’s talking about is small and public.”
“I understand.” She looked back at the people in the hallway where they were. “This is going to kill my dad. This was going on right under his nose, and he had no idea. I can’t imagine telling him about this, much less knowing that my brother is a murderer.”
“Don’t tell him.” She asked him how that would work. “I’m not sure. Let me think on it a little while. But we’ve already taken care that Hunter isn’t to come around anymore. He’s on the run. We’ll just let him think that Hunter has fled the country. It’ll be a lie, but one that I think can protect him.”
“I’ll think about it too. I’m sure that someone will think he knows.” She shook her head. “Let’s let them take care of whatever they need to up here, and we’ll go through the rest of the house. Or the property. There used to be a nice golf cart in the barn that we can use to drive around and look at what we have here. I don’t know. I think that would be something that I’d have to think about too, maybe get some professional help with. I mean, what if one of the nurses mentions it?”
“I never thought of someone else mentioning it. Then there are the newspapers that are going to be picking up the story. Yes, I think you’re right on this one.” He smiled at her. “How did I miss that you were so brilliant? It was right there all the time.”
“You were too busy trying to take me against any available surface. You have to start thinking with your head, not your cock. Speaking of which, what do you think about children?” He told her they were small and wiggly. “Yes, I’m aware of that. Would you like to have a couple with me? I mean, so long as you help with the raising of them too.”
“Yes, I’d love to have as many children with you as you want. And I’d be happy to be a house husband. I told you that before.” She said that she had forgotten. “Grandda will be thrilled. I’m surprised he’s not measured you for birthing ability yet. The man wants a great grandchild more than anyone I’ve ever known before.”
“He deserves one or a dozen.” They were headed down the stairs now. After telling Harris what they were doing, she promised that she’d make sure that things were completely gone before they left. Everything in the room would be gone. “Thanks, Harris. I was thinking that you and I need to get to know each other better. How about we have lunch soon?”
Nodding, Harris left them. Dean would bet his last buck that Bella had touched something deep in Harris that no one, not even Shep, had been able to reach. He would have to keep that in mind. That Harris was more tender than anyone had ever, he’d bet, given her credit for. However, he’d never say that to her face.
Everything on the land was as beautiful as he’d thought it would be. Well maintained and well established, it looked like a rich man’s dream. There were several barns on the land, some that Bella didn’t remember being there before. One thing that neither of them suggested was to explore any of them. They’d had enough of that for one day.
He was able now, thanks to working with the people that ran Marshall House, to recognize trees for what they were. Like the maple trees on the land were much larger than his, and he was excited to see if he could tap them for syrup.
There were other trees on the land that he’d love to work with. He knew that living in the big house was only temporary, but he decided that he was going to make good use of the time. They even had a large pond on the back of the property that she said they used to water the orchard that was just to the left of it.
“When I was young, I used to sneak out of my room on hot nights and come out here to swim. The water was so refreshing, and if I was quiet enough, I could see deer and other animals come out to drink.” He asked her if they were shifters. “I didn’t have any idea back then that there was such a thing. But I would imagine that even though I thought I was quiet for them to trust me, they were keeping a good eye on me.”
“They more than likely were.” He looked at the pond, imagining her here, enjoying being so free. “I bet this water is very cold right now. I mean, for you, being a human and all.”
“I thought cats didn’t care for water.” Dean grinned at her. “I see. You want to play around in the water. I’m guessing with me.”
“Yes. And hell, yes.” He took off his shirt and toed his shoes off. “Unless, of course, you’re too afraid of getting cold. I mean, I could play around for a little while, then come up on the grassy place here and get you.”
She was naked before he finished speaking. He was still trying to get his belt off when she came up out of the water in the middle of the pond. Her scream had his cat scared at first, then she told him that the water was much too cold for anyone.
Diving in, timing it to come up in front of her, he realized that she was right. The water, for her anyway, was too cold. Picking her up enough for her to wrap her legs around him, he carried her to the water’s edge and laid her on the soft grass. Her teeth were chattering before he could touch her.
“You’re going to get sick.” Dean started rubbing her arms and legs. “I should have thought this all the way through. I’m sorry, love.”
“Change me.” He looked in her eyes to see if she was serious or not. “I’ve talked it over with Harris, and she said that she was up and about right away. I know that I’m not as strong as her—I don’t know that anyone is. But I want this. I want to be able to run with her and the others. I need to be safe when you’re not around.”
“I want to make love to you first.” She nodded and smiled at him. “I can’t believe that I’m doing this. You’re going to be in so much pain. It’s going to hurt you, love. I don’t want you hurt anymore.”
“Dean?” He asked her what she needed. “Shut the fuck up and make love to me so that I can be warm. Then change me into a beautiful jaguar so that I can be strong enough to bear you wonderful children that will be just like you.”
He didn’t tell her that the chances of them having a full blooded cat wasn’t all that high. He didn’t tell her because he was sure that if she spoke to Harris about it, she would have told her. Kissing her now, tasting her chill and her need, he ran his hands all over her body that he could reach as he made love to her with his mouth. The more he touched her, the warmer she got. His cock was aching to fill her, his own body warmed up more than he’d been. Moving her up further on the grass, he rolled her to her belly and rubbed her back until she was moaning loudly.
“You have the most perfect skin.” She moaned again, telling him that she loved this. “Me too. Touching you gives me such pleasure. And when you make those little noises that you make, it’s all I can do not to continue doing it well past the time you’re nothing but putty in my hands.”
“I was thinking about how wonderfully rough your fingers are. They’re so strong, and make every tense muscle in my body seem to melt away.” Leaning down to her back, he nipped gently at her flesh. “Oh, Dean, that feels so amazing.”
The more he touched her, the more he wanted. She was so responsive, her body loosening up so nicely. When she seemed about as relaxed as he could make her, he turned her over so that he could touch the rest of her.
Dean
decided that he needed to taste her nipples. Lap at the pretty indentation of her navel. Doing just that, he was thrilled when she pushed his head down to where her needy scent was the strongest. Enjoying her had never been this freeing.
~*~
Bella’s body was on fire. Every place that Dean touched her, it felt like a finger of flames entered her at that point and shot throughout her body. She had been too warm, too hot, then chilled to the bone when he moved to another area of her body.
But it was his tongue that was filling her now. His hands were doing things to her body that she was sure no other man in the world knew they could do to a woman with just their mere hands. Bella had come so many times that she was sure that she didn’t have anything left in her. Then, just as she was ready to beg him, tell him she was finished, she’d come screaming again and again.
“Dean, please. I need to rest. To breathe.” Even begging him, telling him that he was killing her, didn’t stop him. Finally, she knew that she needed to stop him, or she really would just melt into a puddle of nothingness.
Yanking his head up by his hair, she heard him growl low. There in his eyes, she could see his jaguar. As he stared back at her, Dean started up her body, never breaking eye contact as he moved up and over her.
“Say it.” She was slightly confused by not just what he was asking her, but also the roughness of Dean’s voice. “Tell me that you love me. Tell me, Isabella.”
“I do. I love you with all my heart and more.” He slammed his cock deep inside of her. It was painfully erotic, and she screamed out a release that made her feel broken and used when she came down from it. “Change me into your cat, Dean. I want to feel you when you’re close. Know that I can be with your cat forever. Take me. Change me.”
She had no idea what she expected, but when he licked her throat to her ear and over the crown of it, she came again. He took her hard, slamming his body into hers as if he were trying to become a part of her. That thought, the suddenness of the truthfulness of it, had her holding onto him as he fucked her even harder.
“Take me.”
Dean nodded and threw back his head and cried out. It was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen, the way his body was muscled and toned up as he was still inside of her. Bella had never realized how powerful, how amazingly close, having sex was. Then he pulled from her and shifted.
His cat was larger than she remembered. As if he read her mind, he told her it was because she needed him. He wanted to protect her at all costs. Asking for her permission to change her, she could almost feel the differences in the two of them. Beast to man. Man to beast. He lunged at her belly when Bella told him she was his, the bite there, the first of three, nearly had her screaming out in pain.
It was painful. The way his big head shook her body had her lifted up and off the ground as her teeth rattled together. The pain seemed to grow by increments, from hardly anything to an overwhelming need to beg for him to stop.
I cannot, my love. Stopping now would kill us both. For if you die, I will lie down beside you and die simply because I cannot live without you in my life. Focusing as best she could on the jaguar, she asked if it was Dean or his cat. It is I. His other half. I am the beast that lies within my host. I am the part of him that will make you ours.
“You’re not a beast, my lord. Only a part of my Dean that makes him special.” He thanked her. “There is no need for that. You own my heart as much as Dean does. Finish me for you both. So that my cat can run with you.”
As you wish. He pulled his massive head from her body, and her warm blood slid along her belly to her navel and pooled there. You are strong and will be fine when we are finished with you.
The next bite was to her thigh. The moment his teeth sank hard into her flesh, the breaking of her bones made her sick. The feelings in her leg were tingling, and moving her toes caused her a great deal more pain, so she stopped. Dizzy with the pain and loss of blood, she closed her eyes as the cat spoke to her of things that he planned to do with her.
Going in and out of it, she only knew that she’d been bitten the third time because she could see the cat’s head at her side. Reaching up with her other hand, she ran it through his soft fur. The purring made her smile, and all she could think about was that he really was indeed a cat. Closing her eyes again, she felt good, wonderful even, despite the pain.
When she opened her eyes the next time, she was in bed. Reaching for the warmth that was next to her, Bella felt comforted that Dean was with her. Letting sleep rather than pain take her under, Bella knew that the first thing she wanted to do was to let her cat meet her mate.
Waking up in their bedroom, she was glad to see Dean still there. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep, but didn’t think it had been all that long. Bella figured that she was wrong. There was no way that only half a day had gone by as the room was now dark, the sun only just coming up. The orange and red streams of the sun cresting made beautiful patterns across the big room.
Needing a shower, she made her way into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. There was not one wound on her skin, but she had bits of dried blood all over her. Standing under the warm spray of water, Bella washed her hair twice, feeling dried something in it, and then scrubbed her body to get her blood flowing again.
When she was finished with her long clean up, she had to rest on the toilet. Bella was starving—another reason for her to believe that it had been more than one day that she’d been out. Dressing in something cooler—she couldn’t believe how warm the house was—she was just entering the kitchen when someone knocked at the back door.
“That would be the groceries that I ordered.” Sitting at the table while things were brought into the house, Bella could smell each item that was in the bag as soon as the bag was set on the table. Mrs. Wendy, who had been the cook for her family for as long as she could remember, smacked her hand when she reached for the one with the cookies in it. “You’d think you’d have slept late enough that I could get things cooked up for you. My goodness, you do look the picture of health.”
“How long was I down?” When she was told that it had only been a few hours after Dean had brought her in, Bella asked the cook if she was sure.
“I’m as sure as I’m standing here. That man of yours, he’s a right nice young man. Someone that I think I’d have picked out for you myself.” Bella thanked her. “I got a call from your daddy yesterday. I’d no idea that he was recuperating in the hospital. But he asked me if I’d mind coming in and cooking for you and your soon to be husband. I was thrilled beyond words when he asked that of me. Told me that brother of yours wasn’t to be here no more either. Here.”
The platter, not a plate of food, was set in front of her. Mostly it was just fruit and vegetables, but Mrs. Wendy told her that it would hold her over until she could cook her some sausage and eggs.
“Dad’s not recuperating, Mrs. Wendy. He’s been diagnosed with vascular dementia. I don’t know how much he knows about it. When we left him there yesterday, someone was explaining it to him again.” Mrs. Wendy said that she was sorry. “Not as much as I am. I think it’s been there for a while, but since he let you all go, no one was here to keep an eye on things.”
“He didn’t let us go, child. We told him that we could no longer work with Hunter being here. He’s not a nice man at all.” Bella told her that she was sorry. “Yes, as we all were too. But it had nothing to do with you or your daddy. There was no being around him without him causing trouble or making demands on any of us that wasn’t proper. We could no longer hire anyone to work on the house when there would be a need for it. Men or women, he’d hurt them. Once we’d had to call an ambulance for one of them he’d taken without her permission.”
“You’ve heard about the upper floors where he was staying then.” She said that her husband had told her first thing. “I’m so sorry about that. I don’t know what’s going to happen to
him now. I really don’t. I had no idea that he was even remotely that sort of person. I mean, I knew that he was a terrible person, but not a murderer.”
“There is no telling sometimes what is in the mind of others. You didn’t have a thing to do with his self.”
That was true. And even though she didn’t know exactly what was going to happen to Hunter, she knew that soon enough he’d be out of her life. Out of everyone’s life from now on.
Dean joined her a few minutes after she finished eating her food. Another platter of food was set before Dean, and he thanked Mrs. Wendy. No one mentioned Hunter again, for which Bella was thrilled. They instead spoke about how she was now a cat and had bounced back faster than he’d thought she might.
Later, she decided, she’d tell him about his cat and the conversation that the two of them, herself and his cat, had had. She didn’t want to sound silly if it was something that all mates did when they were being changed. Instead, she was glad for the flow of conversation now. Dean seemed to sense that they needed other topics to talk about today.
At a quarter till nine, the two of them got up to get going for the day. Dean had already asked her several times how she was feeling, and it finally took her digging her new long claws slightly into the back of his hand for him to get the message. Laughing all the way to her car, she thought perhaps today was going to be much better than she’d thought it would be yesterday. Hopefully, things were starting to look up for the two of them.
By the time she was pulling into the job site that was close to home, she’d spoken to Dean three times and Harris about a dozen. This whole linking conversations with as many people as needed was way better than a phone. This particular application was something that she’d never been able to make work on her very expensive cell phone.
Today is the big day. Meet us at the courthouse. I’ve already spoken to all the others, and they’ll be there. Remember what I said—just be calm, and it will all work out for all of us. I’ve also made arrangements for the two of you to spend two days in Chicago. It was the only flight I could get out today, and I own a house in Chicago. Dean asked if she’d leave them a list of restaurants. I did you one better. There are three plays there that I’ve gotten you tickets for, as well as dinner out. Two of them are within walking distance of the house. The third one I’ve made arrangements for a limo to pick you up. The thing is, you’re to both make yourselves as visible as possible. Go to lovely restaurants. Walk around when you can. Let people see you.
Dean: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance (Marshall's Shadow Book 2) Page 10