His Purrfect Mate (11 page)

Next to the
pictures of the stolen statues lay a broad, flat ceramic plaque, which was adorned with a painting in shades of red and black. It featured a gruesome war scene.  A huge demon floated over a field of bodies, which were immersed in an ocean of red.  Its grotesquely long tongue protruded from its mouth, lapping up blood.

There were two smaller demons in the picture, floating beneath
the larger demon.  One had horns that curled like a ram, and one had horns like a bull’s.

A man
floated above them, on the upper right portion of the plaque, and he held a spear in his hand, and a lightning bolt shot from the spear towards the demons. The man was shown in profile, as was common from art of that period. He wore a helmet and the traditional ankle-length skirt made of goat skins.

Underneath the scene was cuneiform writing.
Chloe squinted at the scene, brow wrinkling in concentration. 

Kenneth chewed on his lip.  Chloe in full-on scholar mode was just about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.  He felt the blood rushing to his crotch, straining against his pants.   His heart was pounding in his chest, so hard he feared that she could hear its echo in the huge room.

“Good lord,” Chloe said. “This is the Great Priest Garmesh. This explains so much.”

“
Never heard of him.”

“He was the ruler of one of the mightiest cities of that time-period.
   Basically, in 3000 b.c., most of the population of Sumer had organized into city-states clustered around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The cities were perpetually warring with each other for dominance.   They were organized around religious life, with the temple at the center of each city.  Garmesh was a priest and the ruler of the largest of the cities, and he had conquered several nearby cities, all these statues and a massive ziggurat were built in his honor, and then he and the city of Kar abruptly vanished from the historical record.”

“Car?
Like what you drive?”

“
Kar with a K. Well, the cuneiform alphabet doesn’t translate literally to our alphabet, of course.”

Kenneth looked at the picture.  “The picture shows him larger than the demons, and above them. It looks as if he defeated them.”

Chloe straightened up to look at him. Her wavy brown hair flowed over her shoulders, silky as a chocolate river. He imagined himself tangling his fingers in that hair, tipping her head back, nibbling at her plump pink lips as if they were sugar candies…

“
Very good,” she said, nodding enthusiastically. “The picture does clearly show that he triumphed over them.  If they’d won, the picture would have shown him in an inferior position, smaller than them, probably mortally wounded. Well, there might not even have been a picture; these appear to be some kind of demons. Demons probably weren’t big on commemorative artwork.”

Kenneth felt a warm gl
ow wash over him at her approval.

“So do I get a gold star?” Kenneth grinned.
“No, wait…I’d like to choose my own prize.” 

Chloe choked back an amused laugh.

Now he felt like the dorky kid who’d just won a date with the captain of the cheerleading squad.

Then she grew serious again, looking at the picture.

“So it appears as if his city was attacked by a plague of demons, and he defeated them…but then he vanished, and his city fell into ruins.
Why, if he conquered the demons? And why would there be statues of the demons? The Sumerians generally made statues of benevolent deities, of gods who protected them and conferred some benefit – gods who brought rain, the sun god…I would think it would be bad luck to create statues like this.” She shook her head, puzzled and fascinated.

“The statues do seem to bring some kind of bad luck, if what you told me about your grandmother is true.  It was after she had contact with the statues that she apparently went mad. Remember, my grandfather acted as if he were on some kind of a mission after that. He travelled back to Turak again and again.  I think it’s pretty clear that he was seeking answers as to what happened to her.”

“Perhaps,” she agreed, looking thoughtful.  
“But he ended up marrying someone else.”

“After five years,” Kenneth pointed out.
  “And Sophronia was on her third husband by then; her previous two husbands had died.  I did the research. And I know that he was under considerable pressure from his family to marry a respectable panther and continue his bloodline.  So when the situation with Soprhonia appeared hopeless, he entered a marriage of convenience, but he still kept seeking answers.”

“Why would
only she have gone mad, and not him, if they both handled that collection, and both were responsible for purchasing it?” Chloe asked, rhetorically.

Kenneth shook his head. “It’s all a mystery to me,”
he said, but she’d already turned back to the statues, and he suddenly felt an odd sort of loneliness deep inside him, a sensation he’d never felt before.

Chloe
lost track of the time that she spent in the room, meticulously examining each piece, until she could no longer ignore the rumbling in her stomach.

When she looked up, she realized that Kenneth was standing there, waiting patiently.

“Oh! What time is it?” she asked. “I’m sorry, I was a little distracted.”

He smiled patiently. 
“It’s three p.m.  A late lunch or early dinner, depending on how you look at it, is waiting for us outside in the garden.”

He had been extremely gracious, she thought.

“Was that terribly boring for you?” she asked. She hadn’t meant to be openly rude.

“No, not at all.
I enjoy watching you work. There’s a passion that you bring to it…” there was a gleam in his eye as he spoke. “You’re lucky that you love your work so much.”

“I am, aren’t I?”
Chloe said, surprised. She hadn’t ever particularly thought of herself as lucky before.

She followed Kenneth downstairs, into a kitchen which was as oversized as the rest of the mansion.  The floor was an apricot colored terra cotta, the gleaming steel refrigerator was industrial sized. 
They walked through the kitchen and out into the garden, where a plate of appetizers had been spread out before them. 

“We could eat in the dining room, if you’d prefer a more formal experience,” he suggested.

“Oh, no, this is fine.  I’m not the formal type, myself.” She grabbed a plate and began piling on the appetizers. Stuffed mushrooms, rolls of prosciutto, wrinkly black olives
,  shrimp drenched in spicy tomato sauce…

She sat down and began working her way through the plate.

“I do love a woman with a healthy appetite,” Kenneth said. She looked at him suspiciously.

“No, I mean it,” he said. “I’m used to women who order lettuce with no dressing for dinner, and then spend their meal staring hungrily at my plate, but refusing to take a bite.”

?” “That’s a shame. You do serve a delicious spread.”  She bit into a little sandwich with cheese and capers.  Delicious.

Kenneth was charming and attentive as
she ate, but didn’t flirt with her at all. He attacked his food with gusto, enjoyed his wine, and made polite conversation.

That was exactly what she wanted, wasn’
t it? She’d promised herself a thousand times, perhaps a little too fervently, that she wanted nothing to do with the man.

Then why did she feel herself burning with frustration?
Why did she feel as if the distance between them across the table was much too wide, a huge gap that she wanted to bridge?

This is ridiculous, she scolded herself.  I can finish up her
e within a couple of days. I just need to start writing up my findings first thing tomorrow, and I could be home by week’s end.

Home.
On the other side of the country from Kenneth, or maybe on another continent. She had no idea what he’d be doing after she left, or where in the world he’d be.   That thought left her feeling strangely sad and empty.

Irritated
with herself, she scooped up a piece of chocolate mousse, only to watch it slide off her spoon and plop on to her chest.  She grabbed a napkin and mopped at her chest.

Had he noticed?
He had, hadn’t he, she thought, flushing red with humiliation.  He was just pretending not to notice, carrying on, sipping his wine, so as not to embarrass her.

Mortified, she pushed her chair back and
rushed from the table, running through the maze of hedges. She stopped when her dress caught on a thorny branch, wrestling desperately with the fabric.  Kenneth jogged up to her.

He didn’t say “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

He didn’t say “Why did you run off?”

He did say “h
ere, let me get that.” Gently, he reached out and freed the fabric from the branch.

“Oh, go away…it’s hopeless!” s
he choked out.

“What’s hopeless?”

“I’m the clumsiest cat ever! How could you ever even like someone like me?” Her eyes swam with tears and she blinked frantically, desperate not to cry.

“It’s actually one of the things that I like about you.”

He turned her around and gathered her in his arms.

“Why?”

“Because it’s nice to feel needed.”

“Don’t hug me. I spilled chocolate mousse on my chest.”
If he made fun of her, she knew she’d burst into tears.

But he didn’t.

“I happen to love chocolate mousse, so thank you for that,” he said with a wicked gleam in his eye, and he bent down and lapped the smear of chocolate on her breast.

The feeling of his tongue sent a red hot thunderbolt of desire through her body.  She couldn’t help herself; she gasped aloud.

He ran his tongue over it again, and again.

She could swear he’d already lapped up all the chocolate, but he was still teasing her with his
tongue. He slid the edge of her dress’s neckline down, lower, lower, until he’d exposed her ruby red nipple. He sucked her nipple into her mouth and she whimpered in pleasure as he scraped her tender flesh with his teeth.

“We’re…we’re outside,” she panted
, looking around. “We should…”

“We should get naked. Yes.
  There’s no-one on this side of the house now; I sent them all away.”

Because he’d assumed they’d be together? Part of her knew she should be furious at his presumptuousness…a very, very small part. Mostly she was so aroused she was afraid she’d orgasm the next time he touched her.

He shed his clothes in less than a minute. He was every bit as magnificent as she’d thought he would be. Back at her grandmother’s house, she’d caught a brief glimpse after he shifted and his clothes ripped off him, but now he stood there in all his glory. His cock was thick and erect, jutting upward from a thatch of curly coal black hair.

Blushing, she
pulled her dress off and dropped it on the ground.

Suddenly, a devilish thought seized her.

“If you can catch me, I’m yours,” she said, and before he could say a word, she’d shifted into panther form.   Her senses blazed to life, and the evening air was full of intoxicating smells.  She could smell the rich, loamy earth, and the fragrant rosemary hedges, and the musk of Kenneth’s arousal.

On all fours, she turned and ran through the maze, tail switching behind her. 

Ha. She’d show him, Mr. Smarty-pants. She had endless stamina when she was in panther form. She could ran all night. She’d lead him on a chase he never –

She only made it around one corner before she tripped over a root that jutted up from the ground
and landed with a thud.   She scrambled to her feet again, and Kenneth landed on top of her in panther form, sending her sprawling onto the mossy ground. His fur was silky, and the muscles sliding underneath his pelt were massive, and his eyes were so luminous they glowed like blue candle flames.

Instantly she shifted back, and so did he. He was lying on top of her, naked.

“Really?” he laughed. “I thought you’d at least try to pretend to play hard to get.”

She smacked his shoulder. “I was trying! Then I tripped. 
Stupid roots. I told you, I’m the world’s clumsiest panther.”

“Then you’ll need me by your side at all times, so I can be there to catch you when you fall.” His eyes twinkled wickedly. “Because I suspect that’s going to happen a lot.”

“You-” she spluttered indignantly, or tried to, but then his mouth claimed hers, and she lost the power of speech.

He slid on top of her, and she shivered with delight at the feeling of his rock hard body
pressing against her.

He cupped her face with his hand,
his tongue thrusting inside her mouth and leading her tongue in a hot, passionate duet. He tasted sweet and smoky at the same time, and he sucked at her hungrily, with a passion that made her shudder with desire.

His knee slipped between he
r legs, nudging them apart, and she felt the rigid length of his shaft pressing against her stomach.  She circled her arms around his back, pulling him against her, his hardness against her soft flesh.

Slowly, he pulled away from the kiss, and she whimpered and tangled her fingers in his silky back hair, trying to draw him back in.

“No, I want to taste all of you,” he husked, and began kissing his way down the tender curve of her neck, and then nipping at it.

“
Ohh,” she wailed. “Oh, God. Yes.”

With each nip of her tender flesh, he swirled his tongue around the area that he’d just teased wi
th his teeth.  She clutched at his hair with one hand, her other hand on his shoulder, fingers squeezing him.

More.
More. Don’t stop.
Had she said it out loud? She couldn’t be sure.

He moved on to her breasts, sucking one ruby tip into his mouth and tugging at it gently. Liquid heat shot through her veins, and she wrapped one leg around him, brazen and shameless.

“I love what you’re doing to me,” she gasped. 

“I love doing it. I love the noises that you’re making,” he murmured into her breast
.

Part of her thought, this is madness. I’m surrendering to the devil himself.

She wanted him so badly, though, every cell in her body aching for him, her nerve endings burning with desire. She wanted to pull him inside her, wanted to melt into his body until they were one. 

Whatever hell I wake up to tomorrow, she thought, it will be worth it. This one night of m
agic and bliss will be worth it.

She understood now why her grandmother had fallen so hard for Kenneth’s grandfather. The Chamberlin men were irresistible.

He cupped one breast in his hand, running his thumb over the rosy bud, while he continued his conquest of her other breast, biting and sucking at her nipple. Her flesh was unbearably sensitive, and she cried out as teeth rasped across the tender flesh. 

Then he moved down lower, and she shivered in anticipation as he scraped
his teeth across her flat belly.  When he dipped his tongue into her navel, heat pooled in her abdomen.

His tongue swirled slowly, lazily, and she couldn’t suppress a low moan of pleasure.  She
wanted to writhe, to scream out loud, but she forced herself to lie perfectly still, quivering with anticipation of what was to come.

Then he worked his way lower, lower, until he was between her legs
.  His strong hands spread her thighs apart, and then his fingers slid between the wet pink petals of her pussy. He was breathing hard.

“You smell like heaven,” he groaned. “Like honey and roses.” She was spread wide open, and he ran his tongue lightly along the seam that he’d exposed.  Little jolts of pleasure shocked her.

“Please,” she whimpered.

“You want it? You want me to kiss you?
To suck you?”

“Yes! Please!” she cried, and he
moved his hot mouth onto the swollen bud of her clitoris and sucked at it, wrenching a small shriek from her throat.

She
lay there helplessly, as the heat inside her grew unbearable.  His suckled her sensitive flesh, and one finger slipped inside her slick wet opening and curved inward.  Tears pricked her eyes; she wanted to weep with pleasure, at all the unbearably pleasurable sensations stabbing at her.

He moved his finger inside her until he found a sensitive spot
that she didn’t even know existed, and she let out another shriek.  Could people hear her? Could anyone see them? She didn’t even care any more, she was so desperate for release.

He sucked harder, and at the same time stroked her with the one finger.  Sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled between her breasts, and the soft mossy ground was like silk beneath her.  The heat inside her suddenly bunched up into a ball,
and then exploded like a grenade, hurling jagged shards of pleasure throughout her whole body.   She cried out wordlessly as her orgasm rolled over her in wave after wave, and blessed relief came. She felt as if a sweet, liquid fire was flowing throughout her whole body.

Kenneth moved up, wrapping his arms around her. They were
both drenched in sweat, and the cool night air and her damp skin made her shiver.

“I’ll keep you warm,” he murmured into her ear, wrapping himself around her. 

“When you hold me like that, I feel so safe,” she said, resting her head on the moss.

“You should feel safe. I’d die before I let anything happen to you.” It sounded so perfect, the words that she yearned to here. Could she believe him?  She wanted to believe him. She’d been raised on a lifetime
of mistrust of the Chamberlins, and now she was torn between wondering if it had all been lies, and wondering if she’d just let herself be misled by pure lust.

Kenneth buried his face in her hair and breathed in deeply. “You smell so sweet…and you taste even better,” he husked.