Downs, Jana - Cat and Mouse [Beast Games 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by Jana Downs

  “Sure thing, Corbin,” Cass said, moving his body subtly in front of Tobias. “We’ll be along in a moment.”

  The bear nodded and walked back into the steam room.

  “Do I really have to oil you down?” Tobias asked, half teasing.

  The cat looked him in the eye when he spoke. “Of course. It’s your duty to. I mean, Flavius gave you permission to attend me. Oiling me down is part of that.”

  Tobias was shocked for a full half minute. “Are you serious? I came to you because I wanted to. I came because I was giving this a chance. You can ask me to oil you, but you will not order me to. We’re equals, remember?”

  Annoyance flashed on the gladiator’s face. “I remember. How can I forget? You keep reminding me. I was just teasing you anyway.”

  “It didn’t sound like you were kidding.” It would take more than a few pledges of equality to get it in this relationship. Tobias stood and tucked himself back into his pants before buttoning them back up. “Come on. I’ll get you oiled and ready for your shoot.” He wasn’t a Ludus servant, but he would do it for his mate.

  Cass grabbed his arm before he could walk toward the steam room. “Hey, Tobias?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you, you know, for everything, little one.”

  The words warmed him, and he nearly kicked himself for it. Short sentences like those shouldn’t have impacted his emotions so absolutely, but they did. His chest tightened as Cassisus stood and twined their hands. I’m so utterly screwed.

  Chapter Eight

  Cassisus gripped the shined sword in his fist and tightened every muscle in his body. The bulb flashed, and his eyes instantly started hurting. He hated photo shoots. He didn’t feel like a rock star so much as a very expensive show dog. The pictures were great, and he felt like a god afterward, but during…not so much.

  His eyes constantly strayed to the mouse sitting quietly on the chair Corbin had brought in for him to sit on. It was unusual that Cassisus was the last gladiator to get his pictures taken, but the rest of the room was devoid of gladiators where they usually stood along the wall. Corbin must’ve been serious when he said that Tobias’s presence was upsetting the other fighters.

  “Cassisus, give me more face, please,” the photographer, a skinny little human named Zac, said. “I mean, the muscles are great, but the ladies are going to want to see those baby blues.” Cass raised his chin and looked into the camera as the lights flashed. Fuck, that hurt.

  “Don’t you have light enhancers for those nocturnal species?” Tobias asked from his chair. “Cats have sensitive eyesight.”

  “I didn’t even think about it. Tobias is absolutely right. Dim the lights and rearrange your equipment. Cassisus, it isn’t like you to suffer in silence,” Flavius cut in from his position in front of the laptop at the desk.

  “I didn’t even know they had that stuff,” Cass muttered, his eyes screaming in relief as the lights were dimmed and Zac started rearranging his things. Tobias had an excellent attention to detail. When Flavius had showed up with an extra tablet so that Tobias could work while Cassisus posed, he’d expected Tobias to become engrossed. He admitted to being a little disappointed that he wouldn’t have Tobias’s full attention. However, he’d been pleasantly surprised with Tobias’s ability to multitask. Tobias managed to make pose suggestions, correct the photographer, correct Flavius, and still work on his tablet without seeming to be stressed by any of it.

  “Master, the Juliets have requested the fourth for a dinner with you at the Jordinia. Should I inform them that you will meet them at the casino in New Orleans since you will be in Louisiana? The restaurant attached is rated one of the best in the state,” Tobias said, continuing to type on his tablet.

  “Fine, Tobias. Just make sure I have an engagement right after. Daniel is obnoxious and grabs my thigh constantly under the table,” Flavius replied, not missing a beat. They had quite the business relationship. They worked in unison, each knowing the other well enough to know the other’s reactions and wishes before either of them spoke. Cassisus would’ve been jealous if he suspected anything between them. However, there was nothing but friendship there. He could smell it.

  “I’ll make sure we have something pressing in your schedule for the night we have dinner,” Tobias said, making a note.

  “We?” Cassisus asked. Hope soared. Was that consent to coming to Louisiana with them?

  Tobias looked up, his dark eyes as mysterious as the night sky. “I think we’ll spend enough time apart when you depart for Europe. We shouldn’t waste time. Of course, that is if the master has no objections to me accompanying the Ludus.”

  “Of course not, Tobias,” Flavius agreed almost instantly, “I expect that I would lose my head if you decided to stay. We’ll have to discuss which of the servants to leave in charge of the house while we’re gone. The last time we left and you left Herc in charge, we returned to the house in shambles. Never again. One of your uncles, perhaps?”

  “One of the mothers would probably be best. We tend to listen to the reason of women over men in our culture,” Tobias said, shutting off his tablet.

  “I need your attention here, Cassisus,” the photographer said, pointing a camera at the gladiator. “Without your shield. Cross your arms over your chest and look intimidating.”

  “Just frown a lot, Cassisus. When you scowl your face gets decidedly less pretty, and if these posters are for advertisement, we don’t want them having the opposite effect on the viewers,” Tobias interjected.

  Cass looked up. “You’re really good at this.”

  “The master keeps me around for a reason, Cass,” Tobias said in amusement. “I actually enjoy this part.”

  “God above, an opinion,” Flavius said, laughing. “You must be good for him, Cassisus. He never says what he’s thinking or feeling about a subject.” They talked to one another in the same way that Flavius’s father had talked to his business partners when he’d brought them around the gladiators.

  “He’s my mate, Master,” Cass said. He looked up in time to see Corbin staring at the back of the master’s head like he was going to eat him alive. He blinked, unable to make a connection until Flavius turned his head and caught Corbin looking. Flavius’s scent changed, an edge of lust permeating the even scent of human. Tobias raised his head and saw what Cass did. No way. Was the lanista involved with the master? It didn’t seem possible. Maybe it was an urge that hadn’t been acted on. Cass wasn’t so sure given the way they were hyperaware of one another. There hadn’t been any rumors circulating, and this was something huge. He met Tobias’s eyes and the slight shake of his mate’s head said he wanted Cass to keep quiet. Cass cut his eyes back to the photographer.

  “Master, that looks fantastic,” Corbin said, nodding toward the computer screen. “I imagine your backers will want that pose as an insert in the invitations next summer. We’d do well to do a few exhibition matches on the estate to keep interest.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement, Corbin. Thank you,” Flavius said. “Cassisus look at the camera. The shots are getting sloppy.”

  Cass went back to posing and turned over the possibility in his mind. Maybe the house of Flavius had more secrets than he thought.

  * * * *

  “Hi,” Tobias greeted as he sat in front of Cassisus’s cell. They’d been meeting every day for the past week. They were scheduled to leave tomorrow for Louisiana in the morning, and he and Tobias had spent a lot of time together. It had started in the afternoons, but now it was twice a day at least. Tobias seemed to be weakening to Cass’s charm, and the cat really couldn’t wait for him to fully commit to this courtship between them.

  “Hi, yourself, little one,” Cass said warmly. He hadn’t bothered to dress after showers. Though Tobias claimed to be scandalized by his nakedness, Cass saw the looks that he gave him every time the cat changed positions. The hunger between them was growing with each second they spent together. It wouldn’t be long until Tobias agreed to b
e with him in all ways. So far they’d confined their sexual interactions to blow jobs and hand jobs, but the time was coming for more. “Did you bring a snack?” It had become a tradition of sorts. First they’d eat together, then talk for a little while, then the night would end with an embrace. If nothing else, it was a nice way to unwind after a stressful day. Even Corbin had commented on his good mood at practice the past two days. It seemed now that Cass was mated, his temper was evening out somewhat.

  Tobias shook his head. “I didn’t have time. Master kept me in the study until almost eleven. Since I was already late, I figured that you’d rather me just come anyway.”

  “You’re right. I wasn’t that hungry anyway.” He eyed the other man beneath lowered lashes. Would tonight be the night Tobias stayed? He’d gotten a privacy partition from the master for good behavior, and it had arrived this morning. What would the little mouse say about such a thing? “So what was the master having you work on until this late? It’s my understanding that he never works after supper.”

  Tobias shrugged. “New Orleans is a fish of a different flavor. He’s very nervous about your matches. The school is expensive, and the only way to keep up with costs is to perform well.”

  “He shouldn’t worry. We’re going to win in New Orleans and in Europe. There is no one in the American circuit who can compete with Flavius’s gladiators.” It may have been an arrogant thing to say, but it was truth. He couldn’t think of a better group of men. “So are you looking forward to coming with us?” It would kill Cassisus at the end of the week to leave Tobias behind. It was the reality of his job, but it was one he wasn’t looking forward to. He was beginning to realize that Tobias had a passion for his work in the same way that Cassisus did. They were well matched in that.

  “I am. I think it’ll be a nice little jaunt from the familiar,” Tobias said, repositioning himself so that his shoulder was pressed against the bars with his face in profile. He stretched his arms out by his side, and Cass admired for the millionth time the beauty that fate had given him. Tobias wasn’t flashy like some of the other gladiators that Cass had tangled with in the past, but he was certainly a tempting morsel nonetheless. Cass reached through the bars and entwined their hands.

  “It’ll be a honeymoon of sorts,” he murmured. “Will you come into my cell tonight, Tobias?”

  The mouse turned his head so that they were looking at one another eye to eye. “Not tonight. Master has promised a private cell when we reach Louisiana.”

  “So we’re going to be together then?” He didn’t want to seem like he was impatient to have Tobias under him. He understood that as a virgin, Tobias didn’t have the experience or the knowledge to understand exactly how much closer joining with Cassisus would make them, but he would in time.

  “I want to. I mean, you are beginning to mean something to me. It is the next logical step.” Still, the hesitation that Tobias displayed stung.

  “If you’re not ready, we don’t have to. I just want you to know that I do desire you in all ways.” Tobias had the power in this little dance of theirs whether he knew it or not. Cass was all right with that for the most part. He had been selfish with lovers in the past, and that ruined a lot of those relationships. With his mate, he didn’t want to fuck up.

  Tobias smiled, the expression soft and amused. “You’re very clear about your wants, Cass. I am lucky to have a mate who is so understanding. You really don’t mind waiting on me, do you?”

  Cass shook his head automatically. “Of course not. I want this to be right between us.” He tugged on Tobias’s arm to bring him closer. He pressed a kiss to Tobias’s lips and nose.

  “I’m getting spoiled on your understanding,” the mouse murmured, pressing his face against the bars. “You don’t ask a lot from me.”

  That was true. Cass only wanted his mate and the relationship that came with the title. He wanted something that was his, and he wanted something that came without a price. Tobias didn’t need him for anything, and Cass knew that they were at the point in their courtship where Tobias spent time with Cass because he wanted to, not because he was ordered to. If he was ordered to spend time with the gladiator, he’d only come at designated times. Tobias snuck into the Ludus more often than not because he had a spare moment between chores. It exasperated and amused Corbin, because while Cass showed off his skills in the practice arena, he also tended to preen whenever Tobias was near.

  “Sweet boy, you give me a lot more than I had hoped for.” Cass had assumed from the beginning that their courtship would be difficult. Oddly enough, it seemed that things—no, his end of things—had fallen right into place. The other gladiators still razzed him for being with a mouse, but for the most part they’d just accepted it. Most likely because of how the master and the lanista had treated the situation. Corbin was understanding about their desire to spend time together, and Flavius was actually accommodating as well. It brought him back to the subject he’d been meaning to ask Tobias about since the photo shoot but hadn’t actually had the time to do so.

  “So are Corbin and Flavius involved or something?” Cass asked casually, leaning against the bars.

  Tobias hesitated. “I wasn’t sure you noticed at the shoot. Don’t tell anyone your suspicions. You know it’s forbidden for humans to be with our kind. They’re usually more discreet, so much so that I can barely tell that they have any sort of feelings beyond the professional kind. Lately it has been more pronounced. That’s between you and me.” The look the mouse gave him said that he would bite the hell out of the cat if he so much as muttered a syllable about them being involved to anyone else.

  “How long have they been together? Do you think they’re mates?” Cass was fascinated. He’d never seen a human and a shifter together as a couple, so the idea seemed bizarre to him.

  “I have no idea, but I’m not going to bother Master with questions about it. He doesn’t think anyone knows, and I think I’m the only one who really does. Flavius and I grew up together. I probably know him better than his own parents. All I can tell you is that one day he came back from his meeting with the lanista disheveled and smelling too strongly of bear for them to have been touching casually. Every once in a while I’ll catch the scent of their coupling, but for the most part, they somehow mask the smell. It’s odd.”

  Cass shook his head. “Not as odd as you think. I know of some gladiator masters who use their gladiators as an in-house harem. They cover it up with a spray serum that you can buy online. It’s illegal in the states, but anyone can get anything if they have enough money and influence.”

  “Why the curiosity over the master?” Tobias asked, jealousy flickering in his brown eyes. Cass’s body jerked. He loved when Tobias went all jealous. It let the gladiator know exactly how much Tobias wanted him for his own.

  “It’s a vague curiosity, I assure you. You seem to be close, that’s the only reason I ask.” He’d learned a lot about Tobias in the past few days. The oddest fact being that Tobias shared a friendship with the man who owned them, and just as odd as that, that Tobias had this strange sense of justice that flew in the face of all conventional wisdom. He thought like a free man. The mask of civility and subservience was just that, a mask. Cassisus loved inciting his temper over and over again and seeing the real Tobias beneath the calm exterior.

  Tobias shrugged, and the action raised his shirt just a bit to expose a thin strip of his back. Cass’s eyes widened at the ugly bruise that marred the skin. Without thinking, he grabbed the hem of his mate’s shirt and raised it up. “What the hell is this?” He growled. How dare someone hurt Tobias!

  The mouse jerked his shirt out of Cass’s hands and glared. “It’s fine, Cassisus. Nothing to worry about. It was an accident.”

  “What was an accident?” Cass demanded. He needed reassurance and answers. If the answers weren’t what he wanted to hear, he would have retribution.

  Tobias hesitated. “I just ran into the side of the table, Cassisus. Please, calm down. Your cat i
s practically pacing in your eyes.”

  “Uh-huh. Why don’t I believe you? Did someone hurt you, mate?”

  “No,” Tobias said stubbornly, sliding backward out of Cass’s arm’s reach.

  “Tobias, don’t lie to me. Did someone hurt you?”

  “No. Stop shouting at me, gladiator. You’re going to wake the whole cell block!” Tobias hissed, his eyes going to the darkened cells on either side of the gladiator.

  “I don’t give a fuck. Tell me. Now.”

  Tobias sighed like the whole thing was vastly inconvenient to him. “The kitchen is run by a flock of bird shifters. I went to grab a snack from there for you, and they told me that they didn’t have anything to give a traitor. When I asked them what they meant, they were all too happy to inform me that my mating to a predatory shifter was radically outside the social norms and would not be tolerated by them.”

  “They hate me because I’m a predator?” Cass asked, shock circling through him. “But we’ve always existed in harmony with one another!”

  “It’s not you. They think that I’m elevating my position in the slave hierarchy and bucking their system. Flavius hasn’t really addressed it, but the others are jealous of my special privileges. With you gladiators, it makes sense. With me…not so much,” Tobias explained.

  “But you’re Flavius’s right hand!”

  Tobias shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. As far as they know I’m his personal assistant and a slave just like them. They think I’m taking advantage of my mating.”

  “How are you taking advantage? If anything you’re getting more work than you had before you knew me. I mean, you’re coming to my cell and fetching food for me and all sorts of things that involve my personal happiness and not yours.” The gladiator frowned. “It doesn’t make sense that you would be hurt because of that.”