Prince of Cats (17 page)

“I thought Cat’s mated for life and only did so once.”

Bray turned to look at her
as she still sat
sprawled half naked on the floor, “It is up to our Cat.  If he chooses to
seek out another mate, or to remain alone is solely up to our Cat.
  It is
rare
to mate more than once in a lifetime, but it is not unheard of.
”

“Oh.” 

Exhausted, Bray fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.  Neomee stared at him from her spot on the floor
for long minutes
.  When
she
finally heard the rhythmic cadence of his breathing, she knew he’d fallen asleep. 
She
rose from the floor and dressed herself before leaving Bray to his past and to his dreams.

Chapte
r 17

Bray woke to the morning sun shining down on him through the window.  He rubbed his head trying to recall the past night
’
s events and he felt as though he’d been kicked in the belly when he finally remembered. 
Neom
ee!
 

Sitting up,
he
scanned the room for
her
but
it
was empty.  He knew she’d been hurt by his revelation last night
.  He hadn’t missed the
shock
and disappointment
she’d attempted to disguise
, h
e’
d
also
scented her pain.
  Was it sad
istic
that her pain pleased him? 

He knew that the root of her disappointment was jealousy but wasn’t sure whet
her she’d realized it or not.  Regardless h
e needed to explain himself, he owed her that much. 

Leaving the room,
he
followed the corridor to the dining hall where he hoped to find
his mate
but befor
e he even reached the end of the long corridor,
he heard a faint whimper.  Stopping
,
he
strained to listen.  There, he heard it again.  Sniffing the air,
he
could faintly smell fear and desire mingled together.  Sniffing again, Bray recognized Neomee’s scent.  The hair on the back of his neck stood on edge and a low growl escaped hi
m as he began tracking her
.  Hearing whispers, he followed the scent and the sound through the doorway that led to the lower catacombs. 

Once below, Bray ran through the dark tunnels now locked onto the
sweet smell that was his
mate.  She was in danger and afraid
.  As a result he was pissed, and on the verge of shifting
.  His incisors drew blood as they lengthened and punctured his lower lip
.

***

“Please, don’t.  I’m bound…I-I
belong to someone.”  Neomee pleaded with the Cat that stood before her, his palms resting flatly against the wall on either side of her as he leaned in
to
nuzzle her neck. 

She’d left the quarters she shared with Bray in the middle of the night.  Unsure where to go or what to do she roamed the temple until the sun rose, then she’d decided to sneak into the dining hall to steal a quick bite before Bray woke.  She never made
it
. 

She
’d been
grabbed from behind and drug down to the catacombs.  At first she thought the Cat carrying her was Bray, but slung over his shoulder she saw in th
e dimly lit tunnel
that this Cat lacked the three black strip
e
s that Bray always wore painted down his back.  It was not her Prince of Cats
!
 
She’d
struggled against him in vain, trying to free herself but succeeding only in making him laugh. 
He carried her deep
in
to
the catacombs
and the further he got, the faster her
heart raced.

“I am mated to Bray,
Prince
of Cats.”  Her voice sounded
shaky
even
to her own ears.

The Cat nuzzling her inhaled deeply, “You may be bound, but you are
no
Cats mate.  Not yet.”  The Cat reached up and slid the straps of her go
wn down until her gown pooled in
a white linen heap at her feet. 

Neomee gasped,
crossing her arms over her chest as she tried
to cover herself, “Please stop!”

Even in the
dark, she
could see the white of the Cat’s teeth as he grinned down at her.  He removed his hands from
where they were braced on
the wall and
bega
n fumbling with s
omething below his waist
that she couldn’t see. 
She
tried to take advantage of the opportunity to run but was caught by her hair and
yanked
back to the wall.
She felt the Cat’s naked flesh press into her own
, his thick erection pressed against her soft belly.  Neomee shoved at the Cat, erupting into hysterical tears as she screamed
, “STOP!  NO, DON’T!
NO
OOO
!” 

The Cat laughed again as he leaned down and lifted one of Neomee’s legs onto his hip.  She could feel his
cock
probing for
entrance. 
“Please don’t,” she whimpered.

“Play nice
and keep quiet
pretty girl and I promise not to hurt you.”

Neomee
closed her eyes and bit her lip to stifle her cry.  In the darkness she heard a roar
then she was lying naked on the ground.  Her eyes flew open and she tried to make out shapes in the darkness as she quickly retrieved her gown and clumsily pulled it over her head. 

Two dark shapes hissed and growled
in a tangled mess of fur and dust
.  They fought ferociously, clawing and biting at each other. 

Neomee
sat
frozen in pla
ce, praying that one of the Cat
s was Bray and praying that he won. 
Prince of Cats is the title given to the best warrior.  He’s earned the title
, s
he reminded herself
hopefully
while
using the backs of her hands to swipe away her tears
. 

The larger Cat sunk
his
teeth into the throat of the smaller Cat and the smaller Cat kicked and writhed in an effort to free
himself
until
he
finally stopped moving and
his
neon yellow eyes ceased blinking.  The larger Cat used
his
teeth to thro
w the smaller Cat against the fu
rthest wall where its bones jarred audibly before falling in a dusty heap of fur and blood.
  The Cat’s dead stare bore into Neomee
.  S
he couldn’t look away and didn’t see Bray shift as he approached her. 

Falling to his knees, he grabbed her roughly and pulled her into the safety of his embrace, “Are you alright?”

She blinked
in shock before breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably in his arms.  “H
-h
e was going to…”

“I know.”  Bray cut in.  He pulled back to stare at her tear stained face, “Are you okay?”

Neomee nodded, “I’m fine…he didn’t…” Her words trailed off, she couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

Bray pulled her close and held her for long minutes while she cried until she finally pulled away to
glare up at
him. 
“I thought yo
u said this meant something,” s
he tugged angrily at
the collar around her neck.  “He didn’t care.  It didn’t mean anything.” 
She
struggled to her feet and Bray rose with her
steadying her with his hands
.

“I told you, it’s only part of the mating bond.  It
shows
them that you
have been marked
, but they are Cats Neomee, the
y
can smell the truth of it.”

“Ughh!”  Neomee swiped angrily at her tears, “Again with the smelling.”  She shoved
passed
Bray and made for the exit but was stopped by his hand around her wrist.

“I’m sorry Neomee.”

“Me too,” she retorted angrily and tried to pull her wrist free.

“No,” Bray began more softly, h
is hand tightened on her wrist.  “I’m sorry Neomee.”

Her
heart thudded to a halt.  There was something in his tone, something she hadn’t heard before
.  The way he said the words sounded…off
. 
It didn’t sound like he was apologizing for what had just happened to her, but was apologizing for what was about to happen to her. 
She tried to jerk out of his grasp, but he wouldn’t relent.

“Bray?” s
he whispered turning to look at him.

“I cannot let this happen to you again.  I will not.”  He jerked her back and slammed her against the wall.  As the previous Cat had done, Bray had her gown off in seconds.

“Bray!  What are you doing? 
Have you lost your mind
?
  Stop!
”  Neomee shoved against him,
slapping at his hands as she tried
to sidestep him.

He crushed his body into hers, holding her in place and she heard his kilt and belt hit the dust
y
floor.  He used his knees
to spread her le
gs and lifted her until her back was pressed into the wall
, her feet left the floor
and she was straddling him.  She continued to fight him.

“Bray!  No!  Amon, no!  Not like this!”  She whimpered as his mouth claimed hers
.
She
continued to fight him, turning
her head from his seeking lips
.  She arched her back hoping for
leverage, but it was a mistake. 
Her bare breasts rubbed invitingly against his torso. 
She gasped and clawed at his bare chest as
his rigid cock sought
entrance
. 
She
str
uggled frantically to free hersel
f
“Bray please!  Stop!  STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!”
  Her screams bounced off the walls of the
corridor
. 
This can’t be happening!
 
A sob tore free and
more
fearful tears breached her eyes.
  “You’re hurting me!”
  She felt Bray’s entire body tense and when he froze she
also
stopped moving.

“Neomee?” His voice was a strangled whisper.

She continued to sob, “P-please don’t hurt me.”

When he pulled back to stare down at her there was a pained expression on his face.  “Neomee, I’m sorry.  I didn’t…”

The instant his hold on here loosened, Neomee
jerked free
. 
Falling to the ground s
he snatched her tunic from the floor and raced down the corridor
without looking back.

Alone, Bray groaned and rested his head against the wall
in the dim catacombs.

***

Neomee was inconsolable.  She refused to talk to or even look at Bray.  In their shared quarters she took a blanket and slept on the divan every night
, but she woke ev
ery morning in the bed
.  She
even refus
ed
to question
how she got there
.  If
Bray
approached her too quickly or too closely, the room filled with the scent of her terror and it made Bray physically sick to know that hi
s proximity was the cause of her
distress. 

He’d tried explaining that he’d done
what he h
ad
only to protect her, but she never gave any indication if she believed or even heard him. 
To make matters worse, she was having nightmares about
the incident
. 
Many nights she woke
from a nightmare screaming his name. 
The first night she’d had the nightmare, Bray raced to her side to wake her
.
H
e’d assumed she was screaming
for
him.  When he got to her side she was crying in her sleep, “Bray
, no!
  Don’t
!
”