His? She dropped her bundled and jerked back with all her might, elbowing the Cat holding her in his ribs. She heard a crunch followed by a groan as she lifted her foot to stomp on his. The Cat dropped his hands and Neomee rolled around him and sprinted from the trio. Fleeing at lightning speed down the corridor, a chill crept down Neomee’s spine as she heard Bray’s unmistakable laugh, “She wants to play!”
Three roars filled the air, but Neomee didn’t dare stop. She flew through the catacombs, leaping over fallen stones and banging her shoulder as she took a corner too quickly. She was getting further from the doorway that led out of the temple, but with three crazed Cats on her tail, she didn’t have a choice. Her mind raced as quickly as her feet, What was that thing? What were they going to do with it… to me?
Completely lost in the tunnels, the fact didn’t stop her from running. In the nearly black tunnels, she turned every corner she could find in hopes of losing the Cats and crisscrossing her scent in an effort to confuse them. Her breath coming in painful pants, Neomee turned another dark corner and ran five feet down the corridor before she collided with a stone wall. This time she knew it was a wall as it offered no warmth. Quickly she stood and felt along the wall hoping to find an opening. She found none.
Damn it, trapped!
Neomee turned to retrace her escape down the tunnel when she saw a large black shadow cross the end of the hall. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand and slid down the wall and scooted as tightly as she could fit into the corner. Please pass me by, oh Amon, please!
The shadow that crossed the end of the tunnel reappeared and was now slowly stalking towards her. She didn’t move or make a sound as the figure came to within a foot of her and stopped.
“Something else you shouldn’t do?” Bray’s voice cut through the darkness, “Run from a Cat.”
Neomee slowly stood on shaking legs. If she was going to die, it wasn’t going to be huddled in a cowering heap before the Prince of Cats.
“Master, I was afraid is all.” The darkness lent a strength to Neomee’s voice that she didn’t actually feel.
Bray stepped closer and Neomee’s body was pressed tightly between the wall and his massive frame.
In their proximity, she could feel and practically hear the steady thump of his heart beat as his hot breath whispered over her hair. She held up her hands and placed them palms down on his chest to shove him from her, but he didn’t move an inch.
Bray chuckled at her attempt, his hand coming up to stroke her cheek in the darkness while the other found her slight waist and pulled her closer into him as he smelled her hair, “Mmm, you smell good enough to eat.”
Neomee’s hands still resting on his chest, she made to shove him away again, “Master, I should get back to my station. The f-festival has begun, I may be needed.”
Bray leaned down to nuzzle her neck, “Oh, you are needed.”
There was no mistaking his intent. Struggling to keep her pulse under control, she shoved at his unrelenting frame.
A rumble grew deep in Bray’s chest as he slid a large hand up Neomee’s satiny throat, catching her chin in his hand and holding her head in place. Neomee tried to pull back, but with the wall so tightly at her back and Bray crushing her into it she had no room to move. She felt a cold band slide behind her neck and didn’t know what was happening.
“Please Master, don’t!” Neomee tried again to pull free from his grasp, but his grip was iron clad. “Bray!”
Bray hissed long and deep as he closed the band around her throat, clicking it in place. For some unknown reason, Neomee’s knees gave out and she began to slide down the wall. Bray grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into him, holding her body up with his strong arms.
“A-are you going to kill me now?” Neomee raised her chin defiantly, annoyed with herself at the telling catch in her voice.
“No. I have no intentions of killing you lily.”
“I do.” Another Cat appeared at the end of the corridor.
Instantly Bray released Neomee and shoved her behind him as he growled at the intruder. “Her life will cost you yours Hondo.”
Neomee couldn’t see over the massive expanse of Bray’s back, but had he not been blocking her she doubted she’d make out anything in the thick darkness that blanketed the catacombs.
“You of all people know the rules Bray.”
Neomee could hear footsteps approaching and felt the tension rising with each step.
“A slave attempting to escape must be put to death.”
She heard the unmistakable sound of a knife being unsheathed before Bray argued, “She is no slave. We are bound.”
“You lie!” Hondo uttered something before Neomee heard many footsteps approaching. Many torches lightened the darkened catacombs and Neomee took advantage of the light by peering around Bray’s shoulder to discover a very large, very angry Cat standing six feet in front of Bray. Hondo, she assumed, was surrounded by four other Cats.
Wordlessly, Bray stepped aside and pulled Neomee in front of him keeping his hands clamped tightly on her upper arms.
Hondo inhaled sharply, anger flashing across his face as he glared at the collar she wore. “This changes nothing. She still attempted escape.”
“It changes everything, and you know it.” Bray challenged.
Neomee stood on trembling legs and wondered how they managed to hold her weight. Amon, they’re going to kill me!
Bray left her side to approach Hondo, “We are bound Hondo, she cannot be harmed.”
Neomee silently prayed that there was truth in Bray’s words even as her mind begged for her to invoke some form of self-preservation. Before she could conjure up a back-up plan, Hondo shouted, “MA’AT!” and the Cat standing beside him cast a thick woven net that covered Neomee, the weight of it dropping her to the ground.
Bray’s roar echoed through the tunnels as Hondo and the other Cats backed away.
“If you will not allow her to be killed than I demand that she go before the Priest.” Hondo sneered at Bray, “You know you must comply. It is ma’at, it is our law.”
Bray turned and scooped Neomee up, net and all, and threw her over his shoulder before crossing to stand in front of Hondo. The two Cats glared at each other wordlessly before Bray turned with Neomee and exited the tunnels.
Once above ground, Bray turned his head to say over his shoulder, “Don’t worry, I won’t let them kill you.”
At his revelation, Neomee’s fight instincts kicked in and she began struggling in his hold. If this was her one chance at escape, she was going to take it. The arm clamped around her thighs tightened and her struggling waned as she was carried into the temple’s altar room.
The room was used for ritual, sacrifice, and punishment. She didn’t want to be involved in any of the three. She tried to kick her legs free but was awarded with a hard swat on her ass that made her gasp.
“Damn it lily, be still.” Bray set her down so she stood on her own two feet and he slowly peeled the too heavy net from over her.
As she made an attempt to flee, Bray pulled her so that her back was pressed into his chest. His arms wrapped like a python around her body and prevented her from striking out at him.
Damn his massive arms!
Neomee wriggled against him trying to free herself, but froze as he whispered in her ear, “Keep that up lily and we’ll need to excuse ourselves before we meet with the Priest.”
She didn’t have to guess at his meaning when he held her firmly with one arm while the other hand slid down the length of her body and back up skimming her most intimate parts through her sheer white gown, exciting her in a way she was relieved he’d never know.
“Stop it!” Neomee spat venomously. Her face tinged crimson as the Cats lining either side of the altar room rumbled at Bray’s public display. She could literally feel sexual tension materialize as if the room had been misted with pheromones. The Cats eyed her greedily, jostling each other as she passed. Neomee leaned bac
k into Bray, leery of the Cats.
She jumped, startled as Bray roared then hissed at the Cats lining the wall, “MINE!” he roared.
Neomee disagreed, but had no intention of saying so.
Bray stopped in the middle of the room and held Neomee in place as a wooden door against the back of the room opened and an impossibly tall man dressed in a long black tunic entered the room. The Cats fell silent.
Chapter 11
“So, this is the slave who would attempt to escape our House of Cats? Bring her closer.”
Bray still held Neomee trapped in his massive arms as he ushered her forward, leaning to whisper in her ear, “Whatever transpires, do not speak.”
The Priest pulled back his upper lip in a disgusted sneer as Bray approached with Neomee, “The cost of your impudence is death. And so it shall be done.” Raising his hand, the Priest stopped at Bray’s interruption.
“I have claimed her. We are bound.”
The Priest looked from Bray to Neomee appalled. His eyes quickly went to the collar around her neck before flicking down the length of her body then back up. Clear disdain registered on his face. “But, she is a slave. Why would a Cat seek out a slave? They are but play things, not a proper mate!”
“It matters not. My Cat has chosen her and it cannot be undone.”
Neomee’s heart raced at the exchange. Seconds ago she was to die, now she was being claimed? What did that mean? She’d prefer death to being a possession. Should I speak at this or do as Bray has instructed? She cleared her throat preparing to step forward but Bray held her in place, his vice-like grip tightening.
The Priest saw the unspoken exchange and he smiled wickedly at Bray, “Delightful! She does not wish to be bound. Is it so? My child do you desire to be mated to this Cat?”
Neomee could feel the tension rise in the room as the Cats leaned in, but she said nothing as she stood glaring at the Priest. Mated?
“And what of you, my Prince of Cats? Do you truly desire to be mated or are you simply toying with me, trying to save this, this…thing?”
Bray’s voice came out commanding, “My Cat has chosen her.”
The Priest’s unexpected laugh bounced off the high ceilinged altar room. “Well this changes things now doesn’t it?” Steepling his fingers, he smiled down at Neomee, “You see my child, once a Cat has chosen a mate and has bound himself to that mate, it cannot be undone. And should anyone, and I do mean anyone, attempt to even touch that mate, the Cat would be within his right to devour the offending individual. That being said, there still is the matter of your attempted escape, which cannot go unrecognized.” The Priest then looked from Neomee to Bray with a sinister grin, “Suggestions Bray?”
“Release her to me and I will see that she is punished.”
Neomee swallowed hard. How had she gotten herself in this deep. I should have waited! She knew there was a chance that Bray had been watching her, but there would not be another festival again anytime soon. She’d been too eager and now it would cost her dearly.
The Priest laughed again, “I had hoped you’d be more creative. Perhaps…a display for your brethren?”
The Cats lining the wall hummed with murmurs, jostling each other as they made to step closer.
“Never!” Bray growled.
Neomee had heard of the ‘display’. Her belly dropped at the thought. Sabah had experienced it and perhaps it explained Sabah’s willingness to allow the Cats and Slave Master to use her body at will.
“It is sensual,” Sabah had boasted, “The Cats fighting each other just fill every one of your openings.”
The thought had been terrifying to Neomee but Bast had been intrigued. “All the Cats? That must have taken hours.”
“No!” Sabah had chastised, “Several of them fill you at once. Only the ones that successfully claim a position will spill their seed into you. A Cat will not enter you where another has spent his release. It is a battle for positioning. It is erotic!”
“I do not think I could handle two Cats at once,” Bast shook her head in dismay.
“Two,” Sabah’s features split into a wide grin as she bragged, “I pleased three cats!”
“Three?” Neomee and Bast gasped in unison.
Eyeing the Cats in the room with her now, Neomee’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest at the prospect of even just one of them attempting to mount her or force her to use her mouth to give them pleasure. Her eyes flicked up to Bray and she turned slightly to quickly sweep her gaze down his bronzed body. He’s the only one I’d ever permit to touch me.
The thought of her domineering Prince Cat bending her over and mounting her sent a thrill racing down her spine. She imagined his hips slapping against her ass and the sound ricocheting off the walls as his brothers and the Priest stood witness. She was startled to discover that the thought actually aroused her…and that was all it took.
“THERE!” The Priest shouted. “Can you smell it? She does not object! While it would be more entertaining if she did.” The Priest licked his lips as he looked down the length of Neomee suddenly not so repulsed by her appearance before repeating in a sinister tone of confirmation, “She does not object. She wants it.”
Neomee paled and gasped in shock, “Yes I do!”
The Cats groaned hungrily, greedily and stepped closer.
“OBJECT. Y-YES I DO O-OBJECT!” She shouted as she pressed her body harder into Bray’s solid form at her back. The temperature in the room felt as though it had increased a thousand degrees in two seconds. Sweat beaded Neomee’s forehead. What on earth do they smell? The sexual tension in the room was nearly tangible.
“ENOUGH!” Bray roared. “Get back!” He demanded in a low growl. “There will be no display. I will not share.”
Share? She’d forgotten that there would be more Cats vying for entrance to her body. The thought sobered her quickly as she shrunk even closer to Bray’s chest.
The Cats relaxed back into themselves and seemed to ease their approach.
The Priest looked disappointed, his eyes flitting from the Cats to Bray. “Fine. If you’ll not punish her with a display for your brethren, then she’ll have to accept the punishment that would be meted out for any favored slave who belongs to a Cat.”
“She is not just my favored slave Priest. She is more than a play thing. I have claimed her!”
The Priest turned to smirk at Hondo before responding, “It is my understanding that she attempted to escape before you claimed her.”
Amon, what does that have to do with anything? She felt Bray tense behind her.
“When she committed her crime she was not yet a claimed mate, which merely makes her your favored play thing. The laws protecting mates does not apply to her.”
Bray spoke through gnashed teeth, “If they do not apply then why offer the option for a display?”
The Priest shrugged negligently, “For amusement.” He turned and ascended the steps to the altar. Raising his voice and his arms to the gallery he spoke evenly, “Will it be pleasure or pain?”
“It’s the same and you know it!” Bray spat at the Priest.
What? Neomee’s head spun, she had no idea what she was being asked.
The Priest lowered his head to look evenly at Bray as his lips fought to hide his grin, “It is not. The difference between a display and pleasure is the difference between fifteen men and one.” The Priest shifted his gaze from Bray to Neomee, “Choose my child.”
Trembling, Neomee slowly turned in Brays arms, “What does he mean by pleasure?”
Leaning in, Bray put his lips to Neomee’s ear, “It’ll be exquisite, but you’ll be on display for all to witness, but there will only be one man. You will be forced to submit.”
“And the one man?” Neomee bit her lip as she dropped her gaze to her hands, her heart thundering in her ears.
“Me.”
Neomee didn’t raise her eyes, “And by pain he means?”
“Thrashing with a whip. It’ll be pain that you wo
n’t be able to endure.” Bray lifted his hands and cupped Neomee’s face, forcing her to look at him. “I wouldn’t hurt you Neomee, it won’t be so bad. Trust me.”
She pulled away. Her face flushed with the fear of the choice she must make. Her options were either Bray and his brothers fight to have an orgy with her, allow just Bray to mount her in front of everyone, or take the whipping. Her shoulders slumped. As erotic as the image of Bray taking her had been earlier it was now terrifying when she actually considered performing the deed in front of the other Cats and the Priest.
The throng of Cats surrounding the room waited tensely…eagerly for her response.
Scanning the room, Neomee lifted a quivering hand to her throat and stepped back to look at Bray. Her finger’s slid under the collar that bound her and she could feel the bruising on her throat where Bray had choked her days earlier.
Recognition flashed across Bray’s face, he knew the instant the thought entered Neomee’s mind. Trust. Neomee didn’t believe she could trust him.
He grabbed her roughly by the arms and pulled her into him hard, “Listen to me, you will not be able to take the pain. I swear to you the pleasure will quash any humiliation you might feel, I swear it.”
Too late.
“PAIN!” Neomee shouted to the Priest. “I choose pain.”
Bray never released his grip on Neomee, but turned to glare at the Priest, “I won’t allow it!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Bray. She has made her choice.” The Priest smiled with giddy anticipation. “But I’ll make you this offer my child.” The Priest snapped his fingers and several Cats leapt on Bray, they had his wrists, ankles, and throat tied in an instant. Bray growled a low feral sound as he struggled against his restraints.
“Stop! What are you doing to him?” Neomee made to run to Bray, but was restrained by two Cats. Without his warm strength at her back she suddenly felt vulnerable and frightened.
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