Rebel Kato (Shifters of the Primus Book 1) (5 page)

W
hen I return
to my chambers to find Liandra, she is gone. I sniff deeply, noticing a vague scent of fear. Then I see it: a scrap of fabric just outside the front door. I kneel and smell the fabric. It is hers. Whether this woman chooses me or not, I will protect her. The thought hits me with a blinding clarity that nearly takes me to my knees. I will protect her. As long as I take breath, no harm will come to my woman. My Liandra.

Perhaps I will not find her suitable for my people, but every part of me wants her. I think of her smell as I lay beside her in bed and it fills me with lust and hunger. I think of her fiery spirit and trying to tame her until she knows and anticipates my every desire. I even think of
her
trying to tame me.

And then I think of anyone daring to touch her.

I let the rage that was edging at the corners of my consciousness free. It consumes me and the beast within rises. My body lengthens and stretches, growing fur. I feel power surge through my muscles and my senses sharpen. Though the night is dark, I can see as clear as day. The trail of scent left by Liandra is unmistakable. Each fabric she dropped leaves a glowing red haze in my sight.

I bound after her, recklessly leaping great distances between platforms and sliding down trees using only my claws to slow myself. I reach a building in the lower district of the city where even the starlight is lost to the endless branches and platforms above. I can hear the rustle of the Dead Sea close beneath me and the great crunching of something massive slithering through the leaves.

I stalk closer, my sharp ears picking up a scream.
Her
scream.

I roar, pushing from my powerful hindlegs with all my might and nearly take the outer wall down with the force of my charge. The door bursts inward and the left half of the wall shrieks, snapping inward. Inside, I see Barkus and two warriors I don’t recognize surrounding Liandra. Barkus lunges toward her, knife drawn, but Liandra grabs a long splinter of wood near her and props it against the wall, one end pointed toward Barkus’ crotch.

There is a tearing sound as the force of Barkus’ lunge impales his thigh on the splinter. Liandra rolls away, avoiding being crushed beneath his weight as he falls. She sees me and screams, likely unaware that it is me.

I bring one warrior down with a single swipe of my massive paw. His head crunches once at impact and even more when I press it to the wall. I am nearly upon the last male standing when he moves to grab Liandra. She reaches into the firepit and throws a handful of hot ash into the male’s face. He yells and reels backward. I take his throat from behind and crush it between my jaws.

To avoid frightening Liandra, I quickly force my mind to calm and shift back to my Primus form. I see the relief that floods her face. Tears glisten in her eyes but she does not grovel and thank me. She only watches with hard eyes, waiting to see what I will do to Barkus.

I turn to him. He has pulled the wood free of his leg and is struggling to stand. Dark blood oozes from the wound. I grab a fallen warriors spear from the ground and heft it, preparing to drive it into Barkus’ heart when a voice stops me. I recognize the voice, but hearing it down here in the lower district. . . It takes me a moment to place it.

Then I realize. It’s my father’s voice. He steps through the door, face relaxed and then suddenly cautious when he sees the bloodshed. He has gold skin like me. Only the royal lines of Primus blood produce golden skin, but it has always turned my stomach to see my father wear it. He does not deserve the honor.

Anger flashes across his face but he quickly smooths his features. Not quickly enough to pass my notice.

Understanding washes over me. He must have known what Barkus was planning to do. Maybe this was even his idea. Perhaps my father has his eye on a woman of another breed. A Kolari, most likely. It takes all my strength to keep from striking him down where he stands, but I know that doing so would turn the entirety of the Umani Clan against me. While I have no fear of dying a good death, locked in battle against insurmountable odds to protect my female, I am also not an idiot. The best way for me to protect Liandra is to stay alive.

“Father,” I say.

“Kato,” he says, no hint of the anger that was on his face a moment ago.

“Barkus betrayed us,” I say. “He meant to kill my female.”

“Yes. So it seems. I will take him into my custody where he will await the justice of the crown.”

I clench my fists. “Of course.” Father is protecting his man. That much is clear. But to admit I see as much now would only threaten Liandra’s safety.

With that, my father and Barkus leave the building. Barkus will likely be thrown in jail for a few days as a cursory gesture to avoid suspicion, and then released.

I move to kneel beside Liandra, gently feeling her cheek. “You are injured,” I say.

She wipes at her nose, hand coming away bloody. “It’s nothing, really. I’ve had worse.”

“When this is all over, I will make an afternoon of finding every man who has ever laid a finger on you and ending them.”

Her mouth turns up in a grin. “That’s. . . Sweet?”

I grimace. “It is justice. A male should not do violence to a female. It is weakness. Disgusting.”

“To my people,” she says slowly. “A woman is not property. We’re not just things to be fought over.”

“Property? No. A woman is not property. She is a right. A male has a right to mate with a female just as she has a right to mate with a male. If the woman is strong, the man may claim her. And if the man is strong, she may allow him to do so.”

She raises an eyebrow. “So you would allow me to refuse you?”

“To refuse my claim? No. A claim is something no male or female can take from me. It is my right to claim what I wish. But you may choose to leave.”

“Except I do not have that choice. If I leave, me and my people will die.”

I take her hand and help her stand. “No,” I say. “I cannot vow to protect your people, but no matter what comes of us, I will protect you.”

“And my sister?”

“If you wish it. Her as well,” I say.

K
ato’s hand
is warm against mine. He is gentle with me but firm—like being strapped tight into a flight chair. I feel no pain in his grip but I know he’ll keep me safe if there’s a call for it. It is a nice feeling, one I have never felt before. It has always been me doing the protecting and I had started to convince myself that I didn’t need anyone to look after me. But the last day has shown me the world is a more dangerous place than I realized. Having a male like Kato to protect me is becoming more appealing by the minute. It doesn’t hurt that he’s easy on the eyes, either.

We reach his chambers, he helps me to his bedroom. I notice distantly that we pass several perfectly good places to sit on the way to his bed, but say nothing. My mind is still racing. I think about telling him the entirety of my feelings. That I’m only hesitating to accept his feelings now because I don’t want to hurt him, to use him. Even though I know it’s selfish to put myself and my relationship with him before the entirety of my race, I can’t bring myself to use the only male who has ever really cared for me, albeit in his own strange way.

I worry that loving him would be a lie that even I can’t see. If an abyss stretches out below me and all I have to do to save myself is grab a strong hand, what choice do I have? Can I really say I wanted to grab the hand, or did I have to? In the same way, how can I know that what I feel for him is genuine, and not some convoluted form of self-preservation? I want to explain all of this to him, to rid myself of the guilt.

Before I can speak, he sits beside me, the warmth of his thigh against mine causing me to shiver with a thrill of excitement. He looks into my eyes, the green-gold of his eyes fiery and intense. I feel myself getting wet just from his closeness.

Without thinking, I realize my hand is on the firm muscle of his chest, feeling the hard point of his nipple against my finger and the sharp lines of his muscle.

“I. . .This—” I breathe.

He stops me with a kiss. It is warm, no—hot. There’s a heat to him that seems to come from inside. It’s like my ears clog and my heart stops. For a few, flickering moments, he is my everything. Sound dampens, my sight goes black—I don’t know if I close my eyes or if my brain just shuts them down from sensation overload. My world is the soft, wetness of his lips moving against mine. The playful flicks of his tongue in my mouth and against my lips. The feeling of his hand exploring my body.

Despite all my reservations and doubts, I don’t know if I have the power to stop this from happening. My body wants it too much for my mind to intervene.

Kato growls, a deep purr-like sound coming from his chest that vibrates through his hand. His hand is actually vibrating as its sliding closer to my pussy. Am I letting this happen? I blush deeply, holding my breath in anticipation. He slides his hand inside my fatigues and his fingers explore my clit. The vibration and warmth of his skin nearly send me over the edge at his first touch. I gasp, pulling away from his kiss for a moment before hungrily returning for more, thrusting my tongue into the heat of his mouth.

He nimbly continues to tease my clit while his other fingers slide down and up the lips of my pussy, spreading the wetness across them. His hand is so dexterous that each finger seems to move as if he had absolute control—one circling my clit, another tracing the lines of my valley, another gently entering my opening, another still resting against the sensitive nerves beneath my clit while it vibrates. I gasp, the pleasure so great that it hinges on pain. His kisses fall from my mouth to my chin. His hand retreats from my pussy just long enough to pull my fatigues apart with a single motion. I inhale sharply.

He continues moving down my body, kissing me and fingering me. I feel myself building to climax as his kisses reach the tops of my breasts. He slides his mouth down, flicking his tongue against my skin. His hand caresses my hips, my thighs, and my face. When his mouth meets the hard tip of my nipple, I cum. It hits me from nowhere, like a shockwave from the dark of night. My eyes squeeze shut and I let the waves of pleasure rock through me, my hips riding hard against his hand.

He responds by plunging his finger even deeper inside me, finding my g-spot and driving me to another climax before my first has even finished.

“Oh. God. Yes.” I breathe.

“Not God,” he whispers. “Kato.”

My
Kato.

His kisses pass over my belly and he finds the sensitive skin where my thigh meets my pelvis. He slides his tongue along it, biting my inner thighs softly. The vibrations of his purring travel through his tongue as well. My back arcs and I can’t help from crying out. I feel my vision blurring and the blood rushing away from my head. I think I may actually pass out for a moment, but I manage to stay awake.

In a single moment, as if he knows I am on the edge of overstimulation, he pauses. His touches retreat and all sensation leaves me. It is like stepping from a warm bath to a frozen night. The shock nearly making me curl into a ball. I lift my head and look down. I see his beautiful green-gold eyes and chiseled features smirking up at me from between my legs.

With a grunt, I thrust my pussy against his face and I feel him laugh into me. His tongue slides against my clit, the warmth and vibrations almost too much. He licks slowly down the valley of my pussy and teases the outside of my opening. I gasp as I feel his tongue slide inside me. It’s long. Long enough to reach my g-spot.

This time I scream. My hips rock against his face and I squeeze my own tits, pulling at my nipples in pure ecstasy. In near delirium, I think I scream something about an angel with a gold cock and a vibrating tongue, and then everything goes black.

I
stand over her nakedness
, my cock throbbing in time with my heartbeat. She is breathing softly, in a deep sleep now. I take pride in knowing that the pleasure I gave her was so strong that it made her lose consciousness. If just my fingers and my tongue could drive her so far, I laugh to think of what my cock would do to her.

I hear a loud crash. It sounds as if the front door is knocked off its hinges. I grab my spear, still naked, and run toward the sound. When I reach the foyer, I see my father, flanked by five of his men.

“So you’ve already bedded the whore?” asks my father, his eyes drifting to my still erect cock.

“Why are you here?” I ask.

He laughs. “Because I need to end this charade. Do you really believe that I would abide the tradition of binding? Yes, your mother was my mate. We bound ourselves together beneath the sacred tree for eternity. But she died. And I still have a hungry cock. So I have sampled all the women our men have sampled. And I keep a Kolari female in my chambers. I want her to bear me sons.

“So let me make this as simple as I can for you. Send your female away and never speak to her again, or I will visit horrors upon her and her sister that she never dreamed of. She thinks a slow death by starvation is cruel, but she will be begging me for it after I spend even one hour with her.”

My pride nearly takes the reigns from my head. I feel my arm tensing, as if preparing for battle. But unbidden memories rise up of a time before when I let my pride rule me. My sisters and my mother fill my mind’s eye, their corpses still fresh when I found them.

No. Never again. I breathe slowly and deeply. I will take his blood for this. But not now. Not when my death would mean Liandra’s. I will find a way to get her to safety, and then I will return. Then, I will plunge my bare fist into my father’s chest and rip his spine free. I will watch the Sakkars in the dead sea feast upon his corpse.

“Is that all?” I ask through clenched teeth.

“No,” he says, motioning for his guard captain’s attention. “Grakul, I want you and your men to break a few bones,” almost as an afterthought, he adds, “but leave Kato alive. I wouldn’t want him to think my threats are idle.”

My father turns, leaving me alone with five well-armed and armored warriors. I am naked with a spear I grabbed from beside the bed. Good, a fair fight.

The first man makes a jab for my kidney, but I spin, feeling a brush of wind as the blow strikes wide. I catch his spear with my free hand, pinning it to my back. The man doesn’t let go quickly enough so I fling him hard into the wall. Something inside him breaks and he falls to the floor, motionless.

Three of the guards come at me together. I jerk my head back as the point of a spear comes within inches of my nose. I lift my leg to dodge a jab aimed for my calf. I turn the movement into a spinning leap, bringing my spear around to slice through the tendons and bone of one man’s neck. He falls with a strangled scream.

One of the men pulls free his curved
Sabire
, raining a volley of slashes, cuts, and jabs at me. His partner accents the attacks with long jabs of his spear, aimed to catch me if I dodged predictably.

Instead of dodging like they expect, I let one of his swings land directly in my shoulder where it sticks into the muscle of my arm. A shock of white-hot pain runs through me but I push it aside. I pin the blade into my flesh with my free hand and dodge the spear aimed for my chest. When the warrior with the spear thrusts again, I use the pinned
sabir
to spin the other warrior in its path. The spear jabs into the back of his head.

As the odds dwindle and my victory is clear, I lose interest in the contest. Using my spear, I quickly jab both men in the heart before they can so much as raise their arms to defend. With wide eyes, they fall to their knees in death.

Then I hear her scream. Before I have time to think, I have shifted into my panther form with a dangerous lack of control. I feel the beast taking more control than it ever has before, and with it, granting me more power. I’m bounding through my rooms so quickly that everything around me is a blur. When I reach the bedroom, I see Liandra, still beautiful in her nudity and the guard captain, Grakul. He has one hand to his face, where a small dagger sticks from the socket. His other hand holds a spear to Liandra’s throat.

“Move and she—” Grakul begins.

But I am fast. Faster than his thoughts. My claws sink into his chest and pin him to the wall before he can so much as blink. The beast has taken me so strongly that I nearly begin to feed on him. But the power of my own mind exerts itself, forcing the beast back until it finally fades to a dull thump at the far reaches of my thoughts.

I shift back, breathing heavy. Blood leaks from my wounds and patters to the floor. I pick up Grakul’s still twitching body and throw it outside to join the rest. When I return, Liandra’s face is drawn with worry.