Reed: Bowen Boys (3 page)

Kerry said nothing but glared at the older man. It was then that Khan saw the resemblance between the nameless woman and the older man. They were definitely related, and he’d bet that Kerry was a stepsister and that she’d gotten all her looks from the other side of the family. When Sebastian jerked the man back again, Khan stepped in front of Kerry and growled low. His cat wanted blood for her. The younger man was a wolf but nothing compared to Khan, being the head of his family.

“Step back.” The wolf sneered at him, and Khan took a step toward him and repeated his command. “I said to step the fuck back from her, or so help me they’ll be picking you out of the wallpaper for months, if not years.”

“She’s going to behave or else.” Khan looked back at Kerry, who looked ready to kill them all. He started to take another step toward the man when she turned on her heel and left. Idiot, as he would forever call him—who had actually threatened him—went after her.

Khan wasn’t sure what happened in the few seconds it took him to follow them. He was reasonably sure that Kerry—his new best friend—had tried her best to get away from Idiot. But he’d not been smart enough, nor did it appear strong enough, to do battle with her. Kerry was standing over Idiot and he was crying like a small child.

“Kerry?” She turned on him with her fists up, and he took a step back and raised his own hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. I swear it.”

She seemed to come back to herself and staggered slightly. He reached for her, almost afraid to, when she collapsed in his arms. He picked her up just as the rest of her family came out of the door.

“Oh, fucking great. Now she’ll miss more work and not have enough money to pay my utilities either.”

He looked at the other woman, then at Marvin. “Who the hell are these people?” Marvin looked at them as if he, too, wanted to kill them, and nodded to the older man. “This is her father, Norman Stephens. This…person…is her sister—step-sister really—Dora Stephens.” He looked down at the man still crying on the drive. “And that miserable excuse for human flesh is Gilbert Baker. He wants everyone to call him Death.”

Sebastian didn’t even try to stop the laughter that spilled from his mouth. He looked at Khan and they both shook their heads. Their limo pulled up beside them, narrowly missing Death as Khan turned to Marvin again.

“Get in.” He nodded and stepped forward. When Dora started to move into the stopped vehicle, her face alight with greed, Sebastian stepped in front of her while Khan got into the car with Kerry. As soon as he was seated, Sebastian got in as well.

“Well, that was a blast.” Khan nodded and looked down at the woman in his arms. He didn’t have a clue but felt very…well, fuck, protective of her. Marvin cleared his throat and he looked at him.

“Panther?” Both he and Sebastian nodded. “I thought so earlier, but with all the other things going on…. She doesn’t know. I’m sure she thinks there is something more to me than simply being her boss, but…. I think she has a little heat exhaustion, as well as more than likely being hungry. She missed her lunch.”

“Her family. What the fuck was that all about?” He felt his mate touch his mind and asked her to wait a moment. She laughed. “And what kind of text did she get that made her quit her job just now?”

“They…they’re demanding and sucking her dry, if you want to know the truth. They would take her last penny and ask her when she could give them more. It’s mostly her father’s fault that Dora is like she is. He made Kerry give in to her every whim when they were children, and it hasn’t changed much since they are adults. Norman seems to think that he has no control over his little girl, and when Kerry doesn’t comply with what they want, Death comes around and knocks her around. He’s gotten really good at it over the years.” He looked at Kerry as he continued. “They said they were going to visit her at each site she was on and make her lose her job, because they knew she liked it so much. They would too. I had to call the police when they started picketing outside the office last year. She’d refused to give them a credit card where she would pay the bills.”

Khan told the driver to take them to his home. He looked at Sebastian and told him to find out what he could, and Sebastian nodded and pulled out his phone. Christ, this was a cluster fuck. Khan told Marvin they were going to have a long conversation when they got to his home, then nodded, sat back, and reached for Monica.

I’m bringing home a woman and a man. Could you have a bedroom set up for her and add them both to the table tonight? There’s a mess with the cable company.
Her laughter warmed him.
Please?

Am I to assume that you’re not bringing them home for a kinky sex thing? Because if you are, then I’m going to have to decline. You’re too much sometimes…I can’t think what you’d….
She paused, and he felt her rumble through his mind.
I see. Shall I call in the rest of the family to see what we’re going to do about protecting her?

I don’t know. I can’t…it’s like she needs me and I need to keep her safe. I’ve never felt this way about a human before, but there is something very…I’m just not sure what it is. You’ll have to read her when I get her there.

I will.
He felt her cat roar at him.
You should know that I think you’re very sweet, but you’re going to piss off my cat when you get here. Holding her like you are, and I’ve not even seen the two of you, makes her crawl all over me.

I’m sorry, love, I truly am, but she fainted in my arms. What was I supposed to do?
He realized that Sebastian was still on the phone with someone and they were nearly home.
I understand she’s missed her lunch, and could be dehydrated as well.

After she told him she’d make sure things were taken care of, they came to a slow, smooth stop in front of the house. As soon as the door was opened to the limo, he saw his dad and Monica come out. This was going to be bad.

Chapter 3

Her nose tickled, and she rubbed at it and felt something warm and very soft touch her. Before she could lash out at anyone, she opened her eyes and looked into the most beautiful pair of dark ones she’d ever seen. The little boy had a feather in his hand.

“My uncle gived it to me.” She nodded. “Aunt Monica said not to touch you. I didn’t.”

Kerry was pretty sure that he had but didn’t comment about that. “Do I know you? And do you know where I am?”

“Bed. I can’t tell you my name is George on accounta Momma said I can’t be a good boy if I do.” She nodded and tried to keep from smiling at him. “You can tell me your name. Then I can tell you.”

“Kerry Stephens.” She sat up just as the door opened. The little body nearly took her out when he moved so quickly off the bed to stand next to it. He looked at the woman in the doorway as if she was already yelling at him.

“George Bowen, what did I tell you about coming in here?” He looked at her and then back at the woman. “George?”

“You said not to come in here and detrub her. You said she needed her nap time.” He glanced at her again. “Aunt Monica, I didn’t touch her like you said.”

She walked over to the bed and pulled the spread back. There on the pristine cover was a small shoe print. Kerry watched the little boy as he tried to think how to get out of this one, because Kerry had no doubt that this wasn’t the first time he’d been in trouble, and she’d bet her next commission check it wasn’t even the first time today. She stood up and had to reach for the post at the head of the bed.

“Khan said you’d missed your lunch, as well as were low on fluids. If you think you can make it, I’ll have the cook fix you something light for now. The rest of them are in the study.” She moved toward her. “I’m Monica Bowen and this is George, our nephew. How are you feeling?”

She nodded that she was fine but didn’t let go of the post just yet. “How did I get here? And where is here?”

“Khan, my husband, brought you, and this is our home. You fainted when you were having a meeting with him and my brother-in-law, Sebastian. Something about the new cable company we’re going to buy.” Kerry nodded and let go of the bed. “You need some help?”

“No. If you could figure out a way for me to get back to my job site, I’d appreciate it. This is my first day on the job and I’m pretty sure I might be in trouble.” She tried to smile, but she just wasn’t feeling it. Who took a stranger to their home and put them in one of their beds?

“You’d be surprised.” Kerry looked at the woman, then at the little boy who pulled on her shirt. He smiled up at her, and she smiled back.

“You should meet my grandpa. He’s an old prink.” Kerry looked at Monica, who moaned. “Mommy calls him that all the time, and so does Aunt Monica.”

He’d stretched out the word
all
so that she knew that he had heard that numerous times. She also suspected that he wasn’t an old “prink” but an old “prick.” She laughed when Monica told George to go to the kitchen and tell cook to fix a light snack for her and him.

“I’m not staying. I have to get back. I have things to finish up.” At least she hoped that she did. “I thank you for letting me rest here, but I have to get back. Now. Today.”

“You work for the cable company, right? I understand that you were left on a job alone and yet you finished it completely, even with it being only your first day.” Kerry shook her head. “You didn’t finish it?”

“I did, but it’s not my first day. I’ve worked for the company for a long time. It was just my first day as a lineman. And I’d very much like it not to be my last.” Kerry moved toward the door and the woman. “Thank you again.”

Kerry wasn’t sure she’d let her pass, and when she did, the woman leaned in and sniffed her. It made all the hair on her arms dance, and she took a step back before she did something again, like bite her. Monica smiled and followed her down the stairs, and nodded to the right when she looked back for directions.

To say the kitchen was huge would have been a major understatement. And it was crowded as well. Although there were only five people in the room, they were large and muscular, which made Kerry nervous. She took a step back and bumped into someone when one of them seemed to lunge toward her. She stood with her back to the refrigerator as the man behind her stepped away.

The man in front of her stopped and smiled. “I’m sorry. You’re slightly overwhelmed right now. I’m Dylan, Dylan Bowen. You’re Kerry Stephens. Little George told us you were coming down.” She didn’t take the hand he held out, somehow getting the feeling that if he touched her then she’d be…she wasn’t sure what would happen, but she kept her hands to herself.

“I was just going to call a cab.” She looked at the phone across the room. It seemed miles away across dangerous grounds. She had no idea where that thought came from, but she was sure she wasn’t far off the mark. She looked at the older man who came in from the outside. He looked like these men, only older. He nodded to her and told the others to back off.

“Can’t you see you’re scaring the piss out of her? Bunch of morons.” An older woman came in the door behind him and he turned to her. “They’re ganging up on her and she’s ready to bolt. Can see it in her eyes.”

Kerry looked at the woman and felt she’d seen her before. When it occurred to her, she let out a long breath, not even realizing that she’d been holding it. The woman smiled at her when Kerry smiled first.

“I remember you. We shared a table the other morning at that place on Seventh.” She nodded. “You told me your name was…Corrine.”

“Yes. Who would have thought we’d see each other again?” She opened the refrigerator and took out a large pitcher. “Come and have a seat, dear. I’ll have someone take you home after you’ve had a bite to eat. And something to drink. I think we’re having steaks on the grill tonight. I’m sure Khan and Monica won’t mind if you join us.”

“No, we’d love you to come; please do.” Monica handed her a plate with a thick roast beef sandwich on it, as well as a sliced up apple. “We’ll all be here, so it will be even more overwhelming than it is now. There are a total of thirteen of us coming. Reed and Caitlynne just returned from DC, and we’ve been planning this for a month.”

Kerry took a bite of the half sandwich she’d picked up. It was delicious. She moaned and looked at Monica as she chewed. When George sat next to her she offered him the apple slices. She didn’t care for them.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I have to work tomorrow and I have no car here.” She didn’t even know if she could get her car now, because she had parked it near the truck she was out in today on the lot. “I need to get going. Thanks.”

“I insist.” She looked up at Khan, the man she’d seen earlier. “You’re going to stay for dinner, then we’ll talk about this business with the man who left you on your own today. He needs to be punished for what he did. How many other times has he—?”

She stood up and he shut up. There was something very…wonderful about having a man as large as him backing away from her. When she reached for the other half of the sandwich and wrapped it in her napkin, no one spoke. But as she made her way to the door Khan stepped in front of her and she snapped.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? I’m not sure what decade you live in, but in this one it’s considered bad form to bring someone to your home without their permission, and it’s kidnapping if you don’t let them leave.” She heard the older man laugh and decided she liked him. “I said I want to go, and you’ll either let me or so help me I’ll knock you on your ass.”

The door behind her opened again but she didn’t turn. She was afraid it was another man and she had enough going on with the one in front of her. When he smiled at her she frowned. She’d never been aggressive to a stranger before, but it had worked on Death pretty good when she’d confronted him over the weekend.

“Khan, what’s going on here?” The newcomer. She had no idea why she knew that, but she turned just a little to look at him and nearly moaned.

The other men were good looking, handsome as a matter of fact, with dark hair as well as dark eyes, but this man was…more. He had the same dark good looks, but he didn’t seem to overwhelm her. As a matter of fact, she wanted to snuggle up to him and let him hold her. She turned away from him, embarrassed at where her mind had gone. But when he came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, she stiffened, suddenly terrified.

“This is Kerry Stephens. She is going to work with us on the cable project. I’m sure with her experience she can….”

Khan stopped talking and she opened her eyes, not even realizing that she’d closed them. The warm breath on her bare neck made her dizzy.

She heard chairs scrape and thought someone growled. She wasn’t sure about the second thing, and decided that she didn’t hear the man holding her do that. Before she could tell him to let her go, Khan nodded once and stepped from in front of her. The door closed and she was turned around.

~~~

Reed looked at her but didn’t let her go. She was beautiful even with the sunburn on her nose and forehead. He wanted to take her hair down and see if it was as soft as it looked, but didn’t want to let go of her just yet. When she took a step back from him he growled again. She looked at him oddly.

“Is there something wrong with you?” He shook his head. “The reason I’m asking is because you’re holding onto me like I’m holding you up, and you seem to be under the impression that growling at me is okay. It’s not, in case you’re wondering.”

“I’m Reed Bowen.” She didn’t say anything and he found that he wasn’t sure what to do. “I’m just coming home from DC. I’ve been working and living there for about three years now.”

“Good for you. Let me go.” He did so reluctantly. “Thank you. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to leave. It’s been really…I started to say nice, but this is the strangest family I’ve ever seen. And now I must go.”

“No.” She looked at him again, and this time he could see she wasn’t happy with him. “I mean, I’d rather you didn’t. I want to get to know you.”

She didn’t say anything but moved toward the door. He followed her, and when she put her hand on the knob he pulled her body to his so that he was spooned behind her. Reed leaned into her throat again and licked along the long column of it. She trembled under his touch and he bit gently at her flesh.

“Don’t do that again.” Her voice was husky, warm feeling, and he wanted more than anything to turn her around and press her against the door so he could kiss her, but he couldn’t let her go just yet, even to do that.

“Don’t leave me.” He licked again, taking as much of her taste into his mouth as he could. “I want you to come home with me…no, that won’t work. I don’t have a bed yet. But we could go to a hotel.” Before he could clarify what he’d meant to say, he felt his body fall backwards and then nothing else.

~~~

Reed looked up at Khan and Marc, wondering why they were looking down him and not standing in front of him. He had no idea what was going on, but he was soaking wet and they were laughing hard. He started to sit up when a boot on his chest held him there.

“Not yet, little brother. Walker went to get his bag. You might have a concussion.” Reed frowned at Sebastian. “She really hit you hard.”

“Who did?” He looked around the room for Kerry and then at his brothers. “Where is she? What did you do with her?”

Khan laughed. “Dad took her home. She didn’t look all that thrilled to be here once she knocked you on your ass. What did she use anyway? The chair?”

“I don’t…what the hell happened here, and why the fuck is Dad taking her home? I told her I was….”

He tried to remember what had happened. He’d told her about his bed, then he’d mentioned a hotel. He looked up at Kahn, who nodded at him as if to say he was glad he got it.

“She hit me.” His brothers laughed. “What the hell did she do that for? She’s my mate, for Christ’s sake. I wasn’t going to hurt her.”

“But you didn’t tell her that, and even if you did, it’s doubtful she would have understood.” His mom hit him in the head when he was helped up and sat in a chair. “You idiot. What the blazes were you thinking treating her that way?”

“I didn’t do anything to her.” But he had, now that he thought about it. He’d treated her badly, suggesting they go to a hotel, and they’d not even as much as kissed. “I was a bastard. And I should have known better than to treat her the way I did.”

Walker looked him over and told him that he’d been lucky he’d only hit the table on his way down and not the stove. It was metal and he might have bent it. As it was the table was broken. For some idiotic reason Reed was proud of her for knocking him out. When everyone left but his mom and Monica, he looked at them sheepishly.

“I found her and scared her off.” Monica nodded. “I didn’t think about…I guess I didn’t think at all. But she was right here and I couldn’t help but want to mark her.”

“And now she’s gone.” His mom patted his hand and stood up. “What do you plan to do about all this? Are you going to stalk her again and make her even more terrified of you? I don’t think she’ll go very easily.”

Reed didn’t have a clue what to do. He wanted her to be his mate, have the same relationship that his brothers had with theirs, but he didn’t want to have all the turmoil that they’d had leading up to it. He looked around the room and saw something just under the cabinet. He stood up to get it and nearly fell over. She’d hit him pretty hard. Monica leaned over and picked it up for him.