Feline Good

by Lana Kole

  “Have you all finally assuaged your curiosity?” she quipped, referring to the time it’d taken them to explore while she studied.

  “I don’t know, have you?” Asher’s teasing struck a chord, and she blushed furiously, a flash of his shower show echoing in her mind.

  Turning her gaze to the words on the page in front of her, she swallowed down the embarrassment. The others were definitely a sight to behold, even Asher, who she now realized she preferred naked. He sported a black tank, showing off his muscled arms, and jeans with boots to match. He also wore rings, three on his right hand and one on his left middle finger.

  Amir dressed the most casual of them, sporting a white tee and jeans that made his ass look downright sinful. Maya noticed this when he sauntered over to the shelves, a slow whistle sounding as he looked all the way up to the ceiling.

  “What’d you find here?” August interrupted her study of Amir’s ass and pulled her attention back to the history book.

  “It’s on ancient Egypt. Mostly factual stuff, though, things they teach you in school. There’s not a whole of lot of helpful information here. I’ll keep searching.” Maya closed the book with a sigh and leaned back. August and Asher both took the two remaining books from the pile and began browsing, so she decided to go on the hunt for more knowledge.

  God knows we need it right now.

  Maya stood, throwing her arms up and stretching, a groan tumbling from her throat when her back popped. A cold draft of air tickled the skin bared around her midriff, the kiss of air on her heated flesh raising goosebumps on the exposed skin. A strangled sound came from the men at the table, and she glanced their way to find heated gazes burning into her from where August and Asher had stopped reading and now looked ready to devour her on the spot. With a blush, Maya turned for the nearest section of books to browse more history titles.

  Following the labels, she walked all the way to the right, until she was hidden behind shelves placed on the floor. With a deep breath, she was alone once more, safe from the greedy gazes of the hotties she’d somehow become responsible for. Trailing her finger along the spines of old books and novels, she lost herself in her thoughts, until she was drawn to the far corner of the library, hidden even deeper within the shadows between the shelves. Maya had just reached out, as if in a trance to pick up a book, when hands grabbed her from behind, spun her, and pushed her into the shelves. She gasped, fear striking through her for only an instant before she saw it was Amir who’d grabbed her.

  She reached forward and smacked him on the chest. “You dick! Scared the shit out of me!” Attempting to calm her racing heart, she placed the same hand she’d hit him with against her chest, the thump beating against her palm. The motion drew Amir’s hazel eyes to her throat, to the dip in her low cut shirt that she suddenly wished she could take off—uh, wished she hadn’t worn. Yes, that’s what she meant. She wished she hadn’t worn such a revealing top to draw attention to her... assets, right?

  Totally.

  His piercing gaze bore into her, the intensity stopping the breath in her throat and the heart in her chest.

  “Yes? What do you need from me?” Maya’s voice came out breathier than she intended, and she cleared her throat to try again, but he interrupted her by leaning closer.

  “We have spent fifteen years with you. Fifteen years seeing the most intimate moments of your life.” The heat in his gaze drew her thoughts to all the times she’d pleasured herself under the sheets at night. In the morning. In the shower. She gulped.

  A smirk tilted his lips up. “Yes, I know what you’re thinking, and especially those moments. We weren’t able to do anything about it for all these years, but now, finally, we can. So, think about the effect you have on us from just a simple,” he leaned in to trail his lips across her neck, and she tilted her head involuntarily, “little,” a soft kiss was pressed to her skin, “stretch.” She gasped as he leaned back for only a moment, watching her reaction before he burst forward again, crushing his mouth to hers in an explosion of pent-up emotion.

  Groaning, she opened her mouth to the kiss, and his tongue surged inside to twine with hers. Maya slid her arms around his neck to pull him closer, trailing her fingers through the short hair at the back of his neck. The shelves behind her dug into her shoulder blades and lower back, but Amir distracted her from it all as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

  He shoved his hands into the back pockets of her jeans to squeeze her ass, hard, and she whimpered. Amir ate the sound, his teeth clacking against hers in their violent kiss. When he pushed closer, she felt the bulge in his jeans press against her stomach, and her mind went blank. Maya followed him when he pulled back, eyes glazed over with lust from their kiss.

  All it took was for her to recognize the smirk on his lips to snap her from the reverie, her heart still racing as her brows furrowed. “Why did you stop?”

  “I just wanted you to know how easy it is for you to set us off. Be careful, umri. After fifteen years, I’m not capable of behaving as a gentleman should. I don’t know if any of us can. Make sure you understand that before we go down this road.”

  Maya’s temper rose, her cheeks heating with anger as she realized this was all probably just a damn game to him. She was the only real woman he’d been around since they’d shifted to humans after spending fifteen fucking years as cats. Opening her mouth, she prepared a nasty response when a shimmer of light caught her eye, just over his shoulder. She shoved him out of the way, the subject forgotten as she moved toward the item on the shelf. It was a book, an old one, if she could guess.

  It was authentic leather, the wrapping worn and stained with oils from many hands. Maya held it carefully, instinctively knowing how precious the item that she held was. “Amir, I think I found what we’re looking for.”

  Without another look, she walked off, but not before she heard him mumble under his breath, “You bet we did.”

  Refusing to read too much into the comment, and determined to ignore the way her nipples perked beneath her bra, Maya tossed a look over her shoulder to find his gaze glued to her ass, and she put a little more sway in her hips, just for him. A chuckle left her as he cursed and adjusted himself before following.

  Serves him right.

  When she gently eased the book down onto the table the guys had commandeered, she smirked and explained with a simple, “Found it.”

  They leaned over the table in unison, and August reached a reverent hand out to caress one of the stones embedded in the leather.

  Cocking her head, she studied the awe in his gaze. “I take it you’ve never seen this before?”

  Shaking their heads, August answered for the group. “No, we were pretty much in the dark about everything until we changed. In the vision, Bastet only explained briefly what was happening and told us to collect a key from the safety deposit box set up in the name of the oldest.” He nodded toward Asher.

  “Do you know what the stones are?” Maya asked, captivated by the shiny purple stones and gold metallic embellishments decorating the cover.

  “If I was to guess, I’d say amethyst. The stones of protection and balance,” August responded again, and in her mind she dubbed him the most knowledgeable, the nerdy one.

  It most certainly fits, what with his love of pop culture.

  Smiling at the observation, she tapped the cover gently.

  “Well? Shall we open it and learn something?”

  Asher reached forward and did the honors, his slim fingers so fucking sexy with those rings, grasping the corner of the cover with care before he pried it open. The book was stiff with age, and the crinkling of the parchment paper sewn inside made her cringe. Maya feared if she breathed too hard on the book, it would disintegrate into ashes.

  Please, don’t do that, book. We need you.

  The elegant scrawl on the first page stole her attention, and she circled the table to read the inscription, placing a hand on August’s shoulder as she leaned forward. He
stiffened slightly under her touch, and Amir’s words came back to her as she jerked her gaze in his direction. Amir aimed a pointed look at her hand, a reminder of the warning he’d given her. Make sure you understand before we go down this road.

  This road? These… emotions? The last time she’d felt this strongly for someone so quickly, it’d ended in heartbreak, pain, and misery. Maya couldn’t survive that again. In a split-second decision, her paranoia got the best of her, and she pulled her hand away, sticking it in her back pocket.

  Disappointment flared in Amir’s eyes, and she tried to swallow past the sudden lump in her throat, regret filling her instantly at what that simple denial may have cost her.

  All choices have consequences.

  Shaking herself from her thoughts, she focused her attention back on the book before her, but Asher had already begun to read aloud. His voice, usually smooth like a morning cup of dark coffee, seemed sinister as it read the first lines.

  “I am the things that are, that will be, and that have been.”

  Maya couldn’t help the unease that slithered through her, nor the sarcastic quip that left her lips. “Well, that’s not ominous.”

  Asher chuckled before flipping the page. “That’s actually the inscription on Neith’s temple. She created everything.”

  They must have read faster than her, because August spoke again after reading for a few minutes. “It looks like this book has been translated many, many times before. It started on papyrus with hieroglyphs, then transferred and translated to scroll, and then again to books, and many more before this one, apparently.”

  Maya frowned. “Well, if it’s been translated so many times, how do we know the information is accurate? Mistakes happen.”

  Amir eyed her from across the table, where he leaned with his palms flat against the marble, arm muscles stretching the sleeves of his shirt to maximum capacity. Maya swallowed at the sight he made, all commanding and broody, and sexy as fuck. “We don’t really have anything else to go on, do we?” To most, it might have been asked as a question, but instead, it came out like a pronouncement, a challenge, and she narrowed her eyes.

  “Fine. Let’s get to studying, shall we?”

  Chapter Four

  Sekhmet sighed happily as Kyril tended to her. She lay prone on the bed while he brushed her long, dark locks after their shared shower.

  The careful strokes of the bristles through her hair were so relaxing, the lull of sleep called to her.

  As he should be. Helping her relax, that is. Kyril’s men had still not found the amulet, even with her new plan, but were keeping a close eye on the woman and her pussycats.

  All these years, and Sekhmet still couldn’t get past Bastet’s irony. Black cat shifters.

  The entire situation fucking infuriated her. Sekhmet’s only intention was to look out for her fellow gods and goddesses, per Ra’s own request. There was no need to banish her like some unwanted stepchild. But that was Ra. Always playing favorites. The whole thing had been his idea, and yet she was the one punished.

  Grumbling another sigh, Sekhmet tilted her head back when Kyril stopped. He arched a brow at her, brush poised in his hand. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. I’m just thinking about the past.”

  “Ah. I see. The red beer again, hmm?”

  Rolling back over, she huffed and motioned for him to continue the calming ministrations. “Yes, dammit. I was just trying to help.”

  “By… murdering thousands of people and drinking their blood?”

  “They were being disrespectful!”

  When he hesitated, Sekhmet knew she wasn’t going to like his response.

  “You don’t think you went just a little overboard?”

  No. He. Didn’t.

  Sudden fury lit her veins, and Sekhmet gripped the dagger under her pillow. In a smooth, effortless movement, she whirled, rolling over and knocking Kyril to his back before straddling him. One moment she’d been on her stomach, and the next, Kyril lay at her mercy with a thin, red bead of blood welling where her dagger pressed against his throat.

  “Are you asking me if I overreacted? Is that really what you want to know?” Teeth gritted, her voice came out through lips thinned in anger.

  Dressed only in a sheer crimson chiffon gown, Sekhmet knew the second Kyril got hard. His thick length pressed against her through his sweatpants, hardly a barrier since she was seated across him. A tendril of heat flitted through her, converging in her core. Kyril’s disregard for the power she held was something Sekhmet would tolerate from him, and him alone. Hiding a smirk, she lifted an eyebrow at him, peering down with false disdain. “Well?”

  A fearless grin covered his face. “You know it is. You totally overreacted.” He shifted underneath her, balancing her right against his cock so the rigid length pressed against her clit.

  Heat swept over her skin, lighting up her senses, but she held strong, and pressed the knife deeper into his skin. “Is that so? The humans were being disrespectful. I truly was doing all the gods a favor.”

  “By destroying the few followers they still had?”

  “Oh, shut it. You know if it wasn’t for Ra and that Bastet bitch, I would be at the top of the pantheon as we speak. That’s why we need the amulet, remember? So, tell me again, how close are your men to finding it?”

  A scowl tightened his features and she smirked. He might have a smart mouth, but Sekhmet knew how to keep him quiet. She also knew how to get rid of that little pout on his face.

  Easing her pressure on the dagger, she leaned over him to kiss his pouty lips and grin wickedly. The red bead called to her, so Sekhmet leaned down and licked the damage away. The salty metallic tang zinged through her, and she wanted more.

  So, she took it.

  Slowly, she trailed the dagger down his body, a thin white line appearing before it welled with red. Kyril groaned as she lapped up the first few drops, and a smirk curled her lips. When she reached his abs, her wrist moved up and down over the valleys and hills of his muscles, before she threw the dagger aside as she reached his waistband.

  Leaning back up, she began with the top of the cuts, sucking every precious crimson drop from his skin as she made her way down his body. With each droplet she swallowed, her arousal burned hotter, until she was sure he would find her soaked and dripping. By the time she reached his waistband, she had no patience, so she freed his erection, ridding him of the pesky modern material, and tugged the pants down his legs.

  His hands reached down to grasp her hair into a ponytail, tugging sharply, just the way she liked it. Sekhmet gasped as he pushed her down on his cock, and she wrapped her palm around his hard length before sucking him inside.

  Kyril’s groan reached the deepest part of her black soul, and if her mouth hadn’t been full of his big cock, she would have grinned in satisfaction. Squeezing the base of him, she moved her hand in time with her head, bobbing up and down. When she paused to swirl her tongue around the crown and then ran it up the underside of his cock, he pulled her hair hard in appreciation. So she did it again, before sucking him deep inside. He reached the back of her throat, and she swallowed around him before humming in the same breath.

  Without warning, he tugged her off him, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her up his body. Muscles clearly defined with his movements, he grasped the sides of her chiffon gown and tore it apart, jerking her body with the force and baring all of her to him. Their tanned skin looked beautiful together, but his even more so with the fresh blood decorating the thin line she’d cut into him. His motions had reopened his cut, and she purred at the sight.

  Her purr soon turned into a cry when he gripped her hips, lined her up with his cock, and drove in deep and hard, with ruthless ferocity. He filled her so completely, she stilled for a moment, struck by the overwhelming sensations. Kyril wasn’t having it, as he lifted her off his dick until just the head remained, before yanking her hips back down and thrusting up at the same time.

  The
force tore a cry from her lips, and she moved with him, bouncing her hips as she leaned down to lap at the irresistible crimson beading from the shallow wound.

  The taste, the delicious fullness, the pure ecstasy of it all was explosive in its intensity, and Sekhmet hurtled toward the precipice. A husky groan spilled from Kyril’s lips as her core rippled around him with the impending release. He pushed her back up, so he could lean forward and suck a taut, dusky nipple into his mouth. His tongue swirled around the bud before nipping at it, and she clenched down on him in response.

  His hands gripped her hips, and she relished the bruises he was surely painting on her skin as he helped her grind them both to new heights.

  When he reached down to finger her clit, she lost it, shattering into a million pieces, her core fluttering around his dick as he slammed into her twice more. Kyril followed her lead with a shout, spilling a flood of his cum inside her.

  Sekhmet beamed, content with the control they held over each other. She might be addicted to him, but he couldn’t live without her.

  Now, she just needed that fucking amulet so she could get her happily ever after. Gods be damned.

  Chapter Five

  Hours later, Maya chuckled to herself as Asher jerked awake across from her. He rubbed the red spot on his forehead from where he’d been sleeping facedown. Covering her mouth, she giggled even more when he leaned back in his chair all casual, acting as though he hadn’t slept through the majority of their research.

  “What? Didn’t get enough rest as a cat? Sleeping eighteen hours a day not enough for you?”

  He tossed a ball of paper at her, and Maya caught it in her hand with reflexes quicker than she found normal. She chuckled to brush off the weirdness, unraveling the ball to give her hands something to do. Concern crossed Asher’s face for a split second before he hid it behind a facade of nonchalance.

  What she revealed took her breath away. It was a perfect sketch of her likeness, the black pen capturing the strands of her hair, the curve of her jaw, and the fullness of her lips. Even her nose ring was included, and she reached a hand up to touch the metal ring, awed at such an amazing talent. She gaped at Asher, whose cheeks flushed red, his embarrassment visible even against his tanned skin. Before the others could see, she carefully folded the paper, tucking it in her back pocket to keep for later. A soft smile graced her lips, and she winked at Asher to let him know his secret was safe with her.