A Tail of Two Kitties: A Reverse Harem Academy Tail (The Fox and the Hounds Book 2)

by Jacquelyn Faye

  "Now you can get dessert, too," he said with a happy, lazy smile.

  "Ohhh. Chocolate."

  He laughed as the tallest old person I'd ever seen walked out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron. "Welcome. Table for two?"

  "Yes, please," Remy said and nodded.

  He motioned for us to follow him, leading us back to a small table in the corner of the tiny restaurant. Surprisingly, we were the only other patrons in the place. "Are we too early for dinner? Is that why we're the only ones here? We can come back later if that would be better?"

  He paused and turned, giving me a smile. "No, young lady. We do not get many visitors as we are off the beaten path. Only traffic brought to us from the charons, finds our humble eatery."

  "Do you get a lot of students from the Academy?" Remy seemed a little dubious, and I didn't blame him. If the charons recommended a restaurant…

  "Some yes, mostly couples like yourselves looking for someplace quiet and a good meal."

  Then I noticed he didn't have any accent. He was definitely a supernatural of some sort. "Well, thank you for your hospitality." I gave him a grin.

  "May I start you off with something to drink?"

  Remy looked at me. "Mead?"

  The giant nodded and looked at Remy. "Wine."

  "Very good."

  "Uh, do you have a menu?" I was curious more than hungry. Needless to say, that meant I was very curious.

  He shook his head. "No. We serve you food we think you would like."

  "What do you think I would like?" I couldn't help but ask.

  "It is a surprise. My wife will be by to judge your order." Without another word, he left and headed for the kitchen.

  "Curious place."

  "It is," Remy agreed nervously.

  "Wanna go get some cheekin instead? Your brother found me a KFC the other night."

  "He did?"

  "Yerp. Best meal I've had since I've been here."

  He grinned but then got curiously silent. "Did you enjoy spending time with Rome?"

  "Don't tell him, but I do."

  "You do?"

  "Yeah. He can be moody, dour, and mean, but that's just a front. Underneath his crusty shell, he's actually kind of sweet. Like a candy bar. Crunchy on the outside, ooey and gooey on the inside."

  "Do you find him attractive?"

  "Uh… I better. I find you attractive."

  "True."

  He rubbed his chin just as the waiter brought our drinks and set them on the table. He was followed by a woman who was just as tall as he was, but about a thousand times angrier looking. Like we had inconvenienced her by showing up. She stared at Remy for just a moment before settling her gaze on me and giving a little gasp. That wasn't the reaction I'd been hoping for. I'd been hoping for a quick glance and an exclamation of, "French fries!"

  "Leave," she said and spun around. The waiter grabbed her arm, keeping her from storming off, and turned her back around. "Ran. We do not turn away guests. No matter whom they serve. Do you have her order?"

  "Yes, Aegir."

  "Good. Begin," he said and let her go. She stormed off to the kitchen, and I looked at him guiltily.

  "We can go? I don't want to upset your cook."

  "Wife."

  "Or her."

  "In three thousand years, we have never turned away a guest. We are not about to start now."

  "You know about my condition?"

  He nodded.

  "Know any way I can get out of it?" If they were that old, maybe they knew something none of the others did.

  He bent down and looked into my eyes, the corner of his mouth curving up in half a smile. "Use the gifts given to you. You are now in control of your own fate and that of those around you." He reached out and touched his finger to my forehead.

  "What does Seidr mean?"

  "It means snare in the old tongue." He looked at the ceiling and spoke in Old Norse. I'd heard some of the words before, but couldn’t make out the meaning. "The string of fate is in your hand."

  He turned around and left us sitting there. Remy had already polished off half his wine and was staring after the old man. "What was all that about?"

  "Beats the hell out of me. What kind of food do you think I'll get?"

  "That is what you're worried about?"

  "Fuck yeah. You don't think she's going to bring me," I paused to lean in and whisper the word, "salad. I can't handle another salad. I had one this week already."

  He just chuckled and shook his head. I scooted my chair a little closer to him and leaned my head against his shoulder, grateful for his company.

  "So, about Rome. You know he really likes you, right?"

  "Yes, but he has a funny way of showing it. I wish he'd just calm his titties and be nicer to me. I am what I am, it's not like I'm going to calm down, stop cracking jokes, and mellow out. Not in my DNA."

  "Maybe he doesn't want you to."

  "He's got a funny way of showing it."

  "He's alpha. Maybe he equates that with being calm, cool, and collected all the time."

  "Maybe he should pull the panties from his butt. He needs try to have a little fun."

  "Or a little fox?"

  I grinned up at Remy. "Yerp. A little fox goes a long way."

  "That it does." He smiled and kissed the top of my head.

  I sat up, looked into his eyes, and pressed my lips against his. He tensed for a moment but melted into the kiss like chocolate in my hand. Technically, he was getting hard in my hand, I couldn't resist caressing him as we sat there waiting for our food.

  "Kaede," he hissed as he pulled away.

  "What? There's like nobody in here."

  "That’s…not."

  "Cheekin."

  "What did you call me?" He gave a little chortle of disbelief.

  "Cheekin. Bwak bwak." I even did the little flappy wing thing with my arms and bobbed my head.

  "Don't start something you can't finish, Kaede."

  I was reaching for his zipper when he pushed my hand away. "There's something I need to tell you first."

  "That you wuv me? Cuz I already know that much."

  "No." He sighed and just when he was about to tell me more, the waiter brought out two heaping plates of food. Just the way I liked them.

  "Saved by the dinner bell," I said and gave him one last rub.

  A little moan escaped his lips, quickly hidden by a mouthful of whatever the waiter had set in front of him. He gave out a longer, louder moan and looked down in surprise at his food. "Wow."

  "That good?"

  "Yes." He nodded for emphasis.

  "What is it?"

  "Osso buco with Risotto."

  "Gesundheit."

  "That wasn't a sneeze."

  "You sure? Kinda sounded like a sneeze."

  "No. It's Italian. Braised veal. Want a bite?"

  "You really expect me to eat baby cow, you murderer?"

  "I didn't cook it. I'm just eating it."

  "I’m just teasing. Yes, I want a fucking bite."

  He scooped out some of the fall-off-the-bone meat and paired it with a tiny bite of the big fluffy rice and held it out for me. I leaned over and let his fork slide into my mouth, wiggling my eyebrows at him as I did.

  "Woah."

  "See?"

  "I'm still mad at you, though."

  "What? Why? What did I do?"

  "You moaned louder when you took a bite of that than when I was rubbing your junk. That's a fox paws."

  "Fox paws?"

  "Faux pas."

  He shook his head and offered me another bite in apology. Not one to refuse food, or a properly prepared bribe and apology, I took it, moaning even louder than he did.

  "You better be moaning pretty damn loud, later."

  "Assuming you're getting some."

  "Kaede…" His eyes scrunched in worry.

  "Shush. I'm teasing. Finish your food."

  He sighed, something was bothering him, and I had no idea
what it was, but we were on a date and having fun. Mood killers could come later. So, could he.

  My food on the other hand, while it looked delicious, was a complete and utter mystery to me. Just like Remy's plate, mine was true to my heritage and looked Japanese in nature, but that didn't exactly give me a clue. There were literally thousands of traditional Japanese dishes and while it was beautifully prepared, I was at a loss. Taking the silver chopsticks, I picked up a bit of it and popped it into my mouth. "OMFK"

  "Oh em eff kay?"

  "Oh, my friggin kami. This is Okonomiyaki."

  "Bless you."

  "Shut up. That doesn't sound anything like a sneeze. Try this."

  I sliced a piece of the thick pancake layered with cabbage, vegetables, and seafood with my chopsticks and held it out for him. He looked at it dubiously, but gave in and took it daintily. He chewed for a moment, and then all the flavors bombarded his tongue like a cluster of fireworks. His eyes widened, and he smiled. "We're going to have to come back to this restaurant."

  "Hell to the friggin yeah, we are. Think they would adopt me? This place has two floors, maybe they have a spare bedroom above. I could wash dishes."

  We ate in silence and drank, not to get drunk, but to compliment the meal we were plowing through. Remy finished first, but I was picking at the last few bites, not because I was full, but because I didn't want the meal to end. It was the best time I'd had since coming to Iceland. The meal was fantastic, but the company was perfect. Every time he flashed me a smile, I got a little warmer inside.

  "That was amazing," Remy said, breaking the silence.

  "Fuck yes, it was." I practically lay back in the chair, rubbing my happy belly. Remy's eyes were following the movements of my hands. It was time for a little pre-dessert teasing.

  Letting them slide down over my skirt, I "accidentally" let it rise up as I moved them back over my tummy. He stopped following my hands and focused intently on the front of my panties. If there had been anybody else in the restaurant, they would have gotten quite the show, too.

  "Kaede."

  "You like?"

  He nodded, unable to tear his eyes away.

  The door chimed, and I quickly flipped my skirt down, covering myself before anybody saw me. When Roki, David, and Rome walked in, I was kind of sorry I had. Raising my hand into the air, I waved at them to get their attention. Roki saw me first. Of course. I was pretty sure he had hidden a GPS tracker on me somewhere. The man could find me in a crowded bar thirteen blocks away. He always said he just followed his nose, but I'm pretty sure he used tracking software.

  "Kaede-sama," he said with a relieved grin as he walked up to the table. "Rome-sama," he gave him a little bow.

  "Ha! Your nose is off tonight. This is Remy."

  "Kaede…"

  I turned and grinned at Rome, until I saw the worried look on his face. "Remy?"

  He shook his head.

  My heart stopped. The conversation we'd had about him, me touching his junk, the kisses…the great conversation, the romantic dinner, the snuggles… All of it came flooding back, and I narrowed my eyes.

  "Rome." I made his name a sneer of recognition.

  His eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and he held out his hands to try and calm me down before I flipped serious shit on his lying ass. "Kaede, I've been trying–"

  His words were interrupted with my fist. Even I was surprised I punched him in the mouth, and all I could do was stare at my hand. The skin on my middle knuckle split open, and I was bleeding. I must have cut it on his tooth. Looking up, I took solace in the fact that his lip looked worse than my knuckle. His eyes were closed, but it didn't look like it was from the pain I'd caused him, more like the pain he had caused me.

  "Fuck you, Rome. Why the fuck did you lie to me?"

  He sat silently as I stood up and pushed through the three of them standing there, not stopping until I was out the front door of the restaurant. I hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye to our wonderful hosts or thank them for the wonderful meal. The meal that would forever haunt my memory of an almost perfect date with the biggest asshole on the planet.

  Chapter 10

  I could hear their shouts behind me, and it tore my heart to ignore them. I just wanted to be alone for several years, until I got over the embarrassment factor of being tricked.

  "At least I didn't jump him."

  Maybe you should have. Guilt would be a wonderful punishment.

  The last thing I needed was a Fenrir shaped earworm in my head. He'd probably smile and tell his buddies.

  I do not think so. He seems to care for you a great deal.

  Friends don't trick friends into showing them their panties.

  Did he ask you to?

  Look, you've been out of the dating game for a couple thousand years, I don't think you're exactly qualified to be having this discussion.

  I felt him leave my consciousness with a small, Humph. I put a tic mark in my win column. The score was like fifty-eight thousand to three, but I always rooted for the underdog. Especially when it was me.

  The voices were getting closer, yelling my name as loud as they could. Tears freezing in the wind, I popped to the end of the intersection, turned the corner, and popped another block away. Ignoring the looks the people of Oddi were giving me, I covered my face and ran as fast as I could, peeking through my fingers and looking for a cab.

  Then I realized how screwed I was. I didn't have fare for a charon cab, or a human cab.

  I dropped to the icy ground beneath me and drew my knees up to my chest, burying my face in my knees and giving up. They would find me sooner or later. I just hoped my ass didn't freeze to the concrete before then. None of them had a spatula.

  Two sets of hands pulled me from the ground and straightened my skirt over my exposed butt. I assumed it was Roki and David, but the smell was wrong, spicier and less familiar. Looking up, I gasped as Kottr and Fress gave me an apologetic look.

  "You wish to be away from the ones chasing you?"

  "Yes," I managed to get out between sobs.

  "Get on," Kottr said with his deep voice.

  "Get on what?"

  He and Fress left me standing there, walking away from me and melting into two giant felines. A golden chariot appeared out of nowhere and hitched itself to harnesses around their chest. They both looked over their shoulders with feline eyes, one gold and one blue in each head and nodded to the chariot behind them.

  My name spurred me into action, and I leapt on, grabbing the reins in the holder. Without a word they took off and time stopped as we raced through the still roads of Oddi and into the fields of snow on the outskirts of the village.

  I didn't have to direct them, and I had no need to ask where we were heading. I knew the way back to the Academy, and we didn't stop until we rolled up to the gates leading to the school.

  My hands were frozen, and I had difficulty letting go of the leather strap between them. Fress was at my side in a moment, gently uncurling my hands and rubbing them between his hands. When they still wouldn’t uncurl, he brought them to his lips and breathed his warm breath over them, gently massaging them.

  "Thank you," I managed to whisper between chattering teeth.

  "You are welcome. I am sorry you are unused to our weather."

  "It gets cold in California, but nothing like this."

  "Come, let us get you into the school and warm."

  "I can manage. Thank you," I stammered and stepped off the sloped floor of the chariot.

  "The goddess would never forgive us if anything happened to you. Come. We will tend you."

  I turned around and the Chariot and Kitty Kottr was gone, he was standing there again in his human form. "Kottr and Fress. The cats who pull the chariot of the goddess Freya in battle. I knew I'd heard your names before."

  They both grinned at me, each taking an arm and helping me up the steps, not carrying me, but I'd almost wish they had. I couldn't move. The cold had seeped into my bones,
and my muscles were cramping. My leg locked up and Fress scooped me into his arms.

  "Shift."

  "C-c-can't. Some-o-one will-l see."

  He frowned. "The contest."

  I nodded.

  He just shook his head and flashed an angry stare at the main building, like it was the buildings fault. Maybe he was giving a mental finger to Uncle Tatsuo. It was sweet either way.

  "I'll be okay. You're warm."

  He nodded and picked up the pace, heading for our dormitory building. "Kottr…" The rest of whatever he said was lost to me as it was in Old Norse.

  Kottr nodded at him once and ran ahead.

  "Where's he going?"

  "To prepare a hot bath for you."

  "Pretty sure I'm going to be stuck with a lukewarm shower, but I appreciate the thought."

  He smirked and picked up the pace, moving as swiftly through the school entrance as he could. With the added weight of me, he was no match for the speed of his partner, but we were still moving fast enough for the wind to whistle in my ear. It wasn't helping my temperature situation at all, so I buried my face into his chest and closed my eyes.

  "Stay awake, Kaede."

  "C-c-can't."

  "Yes, you can. We are almost there."

  "Where?"

  "Our room."

  "But I live with Roki."

  "Not your room, my room."

  "You're taking me to your room? Is there a bed? What about food?" I wasn't even sure if he could understand my incoherent mumblings.

  "Food, bed, and bath."

  "And beyond?"

  "Beyond what?"

  "Infinity."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Not what, where. We need to go there."

  "Where?"

  "To infinity. And Bed, Bath, and Beyond."

  I couldn't hear his laugh, but I felt it when my eyebrows started rubbing up and down his chest. Then the laughter turned into something else. A rumbling purr started in his chest, lulling my senses.

  "If you want me to stay awake, you better stop putting me to sleep."

  "How am I putting you to sleep?"

  "Stop purring, kitty."

  "My apologies."

  "Don't. 'Twas nice."

  He lowered me, reaching out and opening one of the double doors leading into Breckenridge Hall, and deftly swung me inside, avoiding banging my head or feet against the frame. "We are home."