“I need to talk to him. That’s another thing. I can’t get through the cat to talk to Boyd. Have you been able to reach him?” She said that she’d tried but was hitting a wall. “Yeah, same here. I don’t know what you can do, but we have to get him to shift and talk. Otherwise, it looks like a simple case of Boyd waiting here for Ross so that he could kill him.”
“Did he?” Lauren just smiled. “Oh, so he did. And what would have happened had he gotten hurt? I would have kicked you all over this building is what would have happened, in case you didn’t know.”
“You’re stronger than anyone thinks, did you know that?” She told her that this was about Boyd, and he was everything to her. “Yes, for this time, but I think that you’d be that way if I was hurt too. Or any one for that matter. You’re a force that I have to be worried about as well. After this is over, I’d like to talk to you about working with me. I have read your files, and you and I can work well together because of how good you are at your job.”
“One thing at a time, please?”
Lauren led her into the room where Boyd was. The big jaguar was on the desk that had a computer on it, just lying there as if there weren’t like fifty armed men around just waiting for him to make a bad move. He was acting like a normal little cat, ready to take a nap in the sunshine.
But it wasn’t normal. The cat was covered in blood. His white chest was dark with it. She could see that it had something in its claws, and when she looked into the eyes of the cat, he pulled his paws under his body. She was told again not to touch him, but enough was enough.
Smacking him on the end of the nose had him snarling at her. When she did it twice more, he stood up with his hair standing and swiped at her. He was close enough to kill her, but all he did was swipe. So, Reilly hit him again.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, holding him hostage? Does it look like anyone around here is going to hurt him? No, they are not. His family is here, and so am I. You need to let me talk to him so that I can help him.” The cat snarled again, showing off his large teeth as if in warning to her. “You don’t scare me, you fucking shit head. I told you to let him go, and if you don’t, I’m going to get a gun and blow you the fuck out of existence. I’m not shitting you. You might not be an immortal like him. Did you think of that?”
The cat laid down again, and she didn’t even turn around but asked Lauren for her gun. As soon as it touched her hand, the cat disappeared, and Boyd was there. But he didn’t look any better than the cat had. She went to him and grabbed him into her arms. Reilly heard Lauren ask them all to leave the room, that Reilly had this.
“I was so worried when they wouldn’t let me see you. And you were being held here by that cat of yours.” Boyd kissed her, telling her that he loved her. “I love you too. I’m so glad this is finally over. Are you all right?”
“You hit my cat.” She said that he’d given her no choice in the matter. “He was afraid for me. He talked to me while he held me. Telling me that he and I were the only one that could have done this for our mate. And that I should be proud of the fact that I was the one to do it with him.”
“Well, he scared the shit out of me.” She held him tighter as Lauren entered the room again. “Here is your gun. It’s a good thing that I didn’t have to use it. I don’t even know how to turn it on.” Reilly handed her back her gun and Lauren laughed.
“You are definitely coming to work with me. And we’ll make a hell of a team. And you don’t turn a gun on, my dear friend, but use it like you mean it.” Reilly asked her if she was serious. “Yes, about both things. You’ll find that I never kid about weapons, and that having you come to work with me might just save me time in having to do the leg work for files I get.”
“I don’t know if I can work with you. You’re not exactly someone that people want to be around much. But I’ll consider it if you teach me how to turn that on and use it.” Lauren slid the bar on the top back and a bullet came out of the top. Before she could ask her if that was normal, she pointed the gun at the wall and fired twice into it. “That’s it?”
“Yes. And I’ll pay for the damage, Boyd.” He told her that she would too. “I will gladly teach you how to use a weapon. And so you know, you don’t turn it on. It has no safety other than where your finger is, and when you use it, you make sure that you kill whatever it is you need to point it at. My motto is, kill or be killed. I think I might have that put on a T-shirt.”
They were still laughing at the joke when Colin came in with Jarvis. He was a man that demanded respect. And it had very little to do with him being what he was. People, she thought, just wanted to impress him. But Lauren seemed to not care who or what he was, she treated him like she did most everyone else.
“Jarvis, are you trying to get yourself killed by walking around my crime scene? I told you to wait until I gave you the news.” He said that he had some as well. “What is it? And it had fucking better be important.”
“I called Joseph and let him know that it was over.” She thanked him for that. “Also, you should all be aware of the bodies that have been uncovered at the home of Joseph and Evelyn. Not just bodies, but animals as well. A great many of both.”
“I’m sorry. I know that he’s a good friend of yours. Is he coming back here? I hope not.” Jarvis said that they weren’t coming back. “Good. We’ll put Ross in an unmarked and see if we can find out who the others were. How did you come upon this information before I did?”
“Hawk. And he has some information on a couple of them.” Lauren thanked him again and Jarvis looked at Reilly. “I have something to tell you, my dear. As I have said, I’ve spoken to Joseph today, and he is relieved that Ross is gone. He told me that if I saw you again, I was to tell you just how sorry they are that this all happened, and that for them, they’d like to do something for you. As of this morning, you’re going to be the sole heir of their estate. Before you tell me that it’s not necessary, they would like for you to make sure that there is a fund set up for victims of senseless crimes, as well as helping out families like the ones that were hurt by their son.”
“All right. I can do that.” Jarvis thanked her and told her that he would relay the message to them. “But I need something in return from them. I need for them to enjoy their lives. To not think about me or the countless other people that he hurt in some way. He’s been caught and taken care of. That should be the end of it for them.”
“I will do that. And thank you.” She said that she’d done nothing but said what was in her heart. “And that is just what they needed to know.”
Chapter 10
Boyd was in the kitchen when his cell phone rang. It was a strange number, so he nearly didn’t answer it. Saying his name, thinking it was going to be some salesman, he waited for the person on the other end to speak.
“Boyd?” He wasn’t sure who the voice was for sure but said that it was him. “I’m naked and so wet. Can you come back to bed with me?”
He nearly killed himself twice running out of the kitchen and to the stairs. Not only did he drop his cup of tea all over the floor and slip in it, but as he was going out of the big room, he shoved open the door and it came back too quickly, face planting him right between the eyes.
Negotiating the stairs was tricky, as he had a slight headache and his eyes were blurry from the hit. As it was, he ended up not only in the wrong bedroom, but also the bathroom. He had to stand very still when he made it to her.
“Are you all right?” He nodded then shook his head, and she laughed at him. “Oh, Boyd, your head is bleeding, and you have a knot on your forehead. What did you do to yourself?”
“I was coming to you.” Boyd virtually crawled to the bed to be with her. After telling her what he’d done to get to her, he laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes. “I thought it would be so romantic. You know, rush up the stairs, stripping off my clothing as I went. But all I did was get hurt and make a fool of myself in the bargain. Can you hold me?”
He knew that his voice sounded whiney, but his head was hurting, and he really did feel foolish. But once she curled her body around his, holding him tightly to her bare breast, Boyd felt better. She was his, and there wasn’t anything in this whole wide world that he’d not do for her.
“I’m sorry that I got you hurt.” He told her it was worth it to have her like this. “Well, I’m no less needy. But I’m willing to wait for you to recuperate for a minute. But don’t ask me to wait much longer than that.”
He was still grinning at her when he saw her breast very close to his mouth. Leaning over her just a little more, he was able to take the ripe little cherry into his mouth and suckle until she moaned. This was a much nicer way to recover than just being held, he thought.
She moved under him, her hips rising upward until he wanted to taste her. Why not? He moved down her luscious body, all the while nipping here and tasting her in other places. Boyd was going to take his time this morning. He had suffered dearly for this chance.
Reilly’s navel held a special attraction to him. Swirling his tongue in the small indentation, he loved the way her breath caught and her hips rolled again. Every part of her called to him, but he was aiming for one in particular, and he was going to taste her there until she begged him to stop. Maybe he’d stop, he thought.
“You’re hurting me.” Smiling at her from his position between her thighs, Boyd told her that he was going to make her feel much better. “Boyd, I don’t think that you can do that from there. I want to feel you inside of—”
Her scream of release when he bit down on her clit made him hungry for more of her. Her cream flooded his mouth as he suckled her there as well. Sliding his finger into her heat, he watched her face while he ate at her. Tasting her while he watched her enjoying what he was doing to her was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen.
Reilly rolled her hips, first trying to get away from his fingers and mouth, then coming back. Her words, in direct contrast to what she was doing, made him want more of her, to give her more. Boyd fucked her this way, his mouth and fingers enjoying every part of her. There couldn’t have been a more beautiful sight to him than to see her like this.
“Please?” He raised his head from her heat. Looking at her body now, he could see why men wanted to paint women in the nude. There was never a better sight than a woman in the heat of passion. “I need you, Boyd.”
“I’m giving you all that I can, love.” She moaned again as he felt his cock ache with the need to take her, to fill her with his own release. “What is it you need from me, Reilly? Anything that you wish, it’s yours.”
He continued to taste her, to slide his fingers deeper and deeper into her sheath. Boyd wanted her limp when he took her just so that when she came with him, there would be no way that she would feel unsatisfied with him.
“Take me.” He told her he was. “Then fill me. I need to feel you inside of me. Your cock a part of me like no other has been. Please, Boyd, give me your all. I want to bite you when we come.”
He moved up her body, trying his best not to hurry, not to rush to do as she wished. And when he was at her breasts, he tasted each of them in turn as he slid his cock into her entrance. Her legs wrapped around him; not just around him, he thought, but becoming a part of him as much as he had her.
Reilly held him tightly, her nails digging deeply into his back until he felt her tear open his skin, his blood move down along his back. His cat seemed to be enjoying the way she didn’t hold back, the way that she not just begged for more of them, but that she met them, stroke for stroke and need for need.
When she pulled his throat to her mouth, licking along his pounding pulse, he knew that she would bite him. That the two of them would be forever changed when she took his blood into her. And when she shouted out that she was coming, her body bowed up from the bed and her arms held him even tighter. This was beauty, he thought. And all his.
Her mouth scraped over his throat, then she bit down. He’d forgotten about his own release until that moment. When she suckled at the wound she’d made, Boyd felt his body poise as if on a great cavernous opening, then waiting for whatever was to happen, making his breath stop, his heart too. And then, when his own body came with hers, the explosions took him under.
When he woke, he knew that it was much later than he’d ever slept before. His body was stiff from not moving, his bladder full. Stumbling his way to the bathroom, he smiled when he saw the note from her. Picking it up, he turned on the water and pulled out a clean towel.
Your family of females called and said that they were kidnapping me for the day. Did you know that it’s Christmas Eve? Me neither. Anyway, we’re to meet you all in town later. Don’t know when you woke, but I wish I was there to tell you how much I love you. Call one of the brothers to see what the plan is.
It was Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve, and he’d not gotten her a single thing. Hurrying now that he had a plan, he could not have stopped the smile from filling his face if he’d had a gun to his head. When he arrived downstairs to have a quick breakfast, he was completely surprised to find Bear there, making him eggs and bacon.
“I’m a cook. Before I started helping Hutch, I was a renowned chef, did you know that?” Boyd told him that he’d not. “I want to come and work for the two of you. I’ve had enough of the wild life, and I need to settle down and make a life worth living for myself.”
“Why us? I mean, why not Lauren?” Boyd bit into the egg that had been put before him. Looking up at Bear, he wasn’t sure what to say to him. “I thought this was just some eggs and bacon. But Christ, man, this is like biting into a bit of heaven and then having every present you’ve ever wanted given to you.”
“It’s the fresh herbs.” Whatever it was, he wanted this every day. “Anyway, why not Hutch? She’s a good woman and the best man that I’ve ever worked for. I never went into a situation with her that she didn’t have all her information in a neat list, but she told us that she’d never hold back from us. And she didn’t. When we were going into a nasty situation, we knew.... I digress. I need to make a life for myself without Hutch being there to pick me up and knock the shit out of me when I need it. You’ll come to know that I suffer from depression. Not as bad as some, but I do have my days.”
“You can work here for as long as you wish. And if you need help or just want to talk, Bear, we’ll be here for you. But I would like for you to hire a staff.” He asked if it could be vets. “I don’t care so long as you trust them.”
“Hutch would have my ass if I didn’t trust them to be in your home.” Boyd had forgotten that Lauren’s men had, and some still did, called her Hutch. “And I talked with Reilly. She can make a man feel like a million bucks with just one of her smiles, don’t you think?”
“I do. She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.” Bear asked him if he had anything that he wouldn’t eat. Boyd gave him a very short list of things, mostly to tell him that he wasn’t much of a sweet eater. He said this as he was scarfing down a Danish that made his belly hurt. He’d been too full before eating it, and now felt as if he was going to explode after. He might put on weight with Bear here.
Wendall came out of the pantry then, a stuffed animal or something in his mouth. When he dropped it in front of Bear, the man picked it up, gently telling the dog that he’d been a good boy and threw it back into the pantry. Boyd didn’t even bother asking. As a jaguar, he knew that he was going to catch grief from his family for being a dog owner.
Afterwards, they worked out the arrangement on where Bear was going to live—he had a home in town that he’d just bought—then what he was going to be paid. Nope, Bear told him, he—like Hawk and Hutch—was a long timer and would be paid forever.
Boyd went to the mall. He thought this might be the biggest mistake of his life when he drove around the parking lot six times before finding a place to slide his car into.
He knew what he was getting. It was just a matter of getting in and out before Reilly got home.
But as he started looking around the stores, he could see a great many sales on things that he thought she’d like too. So, he began to fill bags of things for his new wife to be.
Fourteen trips to the car later, he thought that he had exhausted what he could get there. The ring was in his pocket, and he could not wait to give it to her. Also, on New Year’s Eve, he was going to marry her. At his parents’ home, right around the Christmas tree, with his family and hers with them.
It wasn’t too late when he got home, and he was happy to see that he’d also beaten Reilly home. She had mentioned coming home to change before dinner, and he was worried that she’d do that before he got everything in the house. He had been thrilled to death to pay the extra to have all the things he’d bought today wrapped by seasoned people. Even more happy that when he started putting things under the tree, he noticed that Bear had put the gifts he’d gotten for his family there as well. Boyd had even purchased a few things for Bear, as well as Wendall. He was a sap, Boyd knew that, but he loved life right now.
~~~
Reilly had never had many friends when she was living alone, and even less when she’d moved here to live with her dad. Not that she’d been all that far from him when she’d moved out, but she’d been working so hard to get things the way she wanted, and had forgotten herself in all her life. Now she had an entire extended family that made her feel loved and appreciated.
Bea came to stand beside her as she tried to decide if Boyd would like the shirt she was looking at. It was really nice, and she thought it might be fun for him to wear to the office. He was the type of doctor that wore polo shirts, not a shirt and tie.
“Boyd?” She nodded and asked the older woman what she thought. “I love it. So will he. Did you get those other things you were looking at?”
“Yes.” She thanked her again for the help. “I’ve not known him that long, but it feels like it’s been all my life. Do you understand?”
Boyd_McCullough’s Jamboree_Erotic Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance Page 12