“Fine,” he said sharply, “I’ll find her on my own.”
“Absolutely not,” Amanda said, “I’m not letting you wander around so you can get picked off by that rogue and whatever else is out here. It’s us or the car. Your choice.”
Cat wanted to scream, wanted to hit something, wanted to shake his sister until she realized what was at stake.
He realized, however, that there was no reasoning with Amanda when she got like this. And, there was no way that he would be able to find Diana alone. The canyons around the lake created a maze. One could easily get lost alone; even someone who knew the area as well as he did.
If only his dream had lasted a little longer. If only he had been able to see where she was. His head began to spin again and there was a sudden tug on his heart. That was when the idea came to him.
Surely, if he had been able to see Diana once, he could do it again. The tugging at his heart told him that he was on the right track. That, he should try to find her in his visions before he found her in the canyons.
“I’ll stay here,” Cat said. His sister looked at him, apparently shocked. She, clearly, had not expected that.
“You two go, I’ll keep an eye on the truck,” Cat said.
“Are you sure?” Amanda asked.
“Hey!” Ash’s voice called down to them, “are we going or not?”
“I’m positive,” Cat answered Amanda. She stared at him for one more moment before nodding.
“I’m coming,” she called up to Ash before walking away from Cat and towards the narrow roads inside the canyons.
Cat raced hurriedly back down to where the small Mercedes was parked. The air outside was warm enough to create for a trance but, it was also dry.
Inducing a trance state within yourself, without the aid of mist or priests was difficult to say the least. It required great force of will.
The only time he had ever seen it done was when his father had placed himself in a trance when he was young. He had done this to find Cat’s mother when she had not come home one night.
Cat was very young but, he remembered very well his father sitting back and closing his eyes. His lips had moved but no sound had emerged. When his father came out of the trance, he left Cat and Amanda with their grandfather and rushed to the nearest hospital.
He’d seen her there. Fatally wounded from a car accident.
But, Cat also remembered that his father had created mist in the room before entering the trance state. And, he’d whispered incantations to aid him.
Cat had never learned incantations. Those were for priests not warriors.
All the same, he was sure that his connection with Diana was as strong as his parents had been. Besides, she was the great Salt Mother. It had been proven. Perhaps the rules did not apply to her as they did to others.
So, opening the car door and crawling in the back seat, Cat closed his eyes and tried, as best he could, to shut out everything in his mind. Everything but Diana.
It was a difficult task. He could not help thinking about Diana yes, but also about his sister and Ash. His father who refused to believe him. His father who, (he might as well face it) he had never gotten along with. Not since Cat and Amanda’s mother had died. Not since their father had started drinking.
All these thoughts caused his mind to spin in quick, nauseating circles as he tried desperately to clear them.
It was no use. Cat was sure he would not be able to do this on his own.
That was when he remembered a trick Charlie had told him about. Charlie had told him that, once, when he was dating a high priestess, she had used this method to get Charlie to relax.
Cat, unable to see any other way, decided he might as well try it.
Quietly and somewhat awkwardly, he unzipped his slacks, pulled out his limp member and began to stroke it.
He closed his eyes and tried to put his thoughts only on Diana. He tried to picture her exactly as she had looked before she disappeared from his room. Her long, thick hair flared out around her shoulders on the couch, the bright twinkle in her eyes as she looked up at him
His thoughts immediately took him to the night before. The night when she had looked at him with those piercing green eyes. The night he finally realized that she wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her.
He pictured her as he had never seen her before. Naked on his bed. The gentle curves of her body calling out to him. Her pale skin gleaming in the room’s low light.
Her wrists were tied to the bedpost. She was completely at his mercy.
It wasn’t real. At least not yet, he knew that. This was all in his head.
He walked over to the bed, stripping off his shirt as he went. When he arrived at her side, Diana smiled at him. That sweet, beaming smile she had given him the night before.
He leaned over and gently pecked her lips with his own. Then, he moved to straddle her on the bed. His hand slid along her hip, caressing her smooth skin.
Outside of the fantasy, he was only vaguely aware of his hand slowly moving up and down over his growing member as he imagined his lips moving to Diana’s throat. He imagined his hand coming up to gently squeeze her full breast. She moaned and Cat reveled in the sound. He felt his hand begin to stroke faster as, in his mind, Diana moaned louder.
Inside his fantasy, he allowed his mouth to move towards her other breast. Placing a gentle kiss on the top, he moved lower and began to lick and suck on her erect nipple.
Diana moaned again. It was a deep sensual moan and Cat could feel himself growing closer to release the harder he stroked.
Finally, he imagined his hand moving from Diana’s breast between her legs. The moment he touched her center she called out to him, “Cat! Oh, god, Cat!”
The cry of his name was enough to send him over the edge. He felt himself coming hard inside his own hand. He pressed his eyes further and, at that moment, something seemed to change inside him.
He opened his eyes and she was there. Not in his fantasy, not simply in his mind. She was truly there, with him. He was truly straddled over her body.
Diana stared at him and her eyes widened in surprise.
“Diana,” he said. He touched her cheek, bent down and kissed her fiercely. She returned the kiss with equal passion. She told him everything. Everything she knew. Including who had taken her. Who Manaba was working with.
“Cha...Charlie…” she stammered. When she did, Cat’s heart seemed to freeze. He didn’t want to believe it. He stopped and stared at her willing it not to be true, praying for some kind of other explanation. But, when he looked down at Diana, he realized that there was none.
When he looked at her, he realized how much sense it made. Diana had left without a struggle. He himself had said that she must have been taken by someone he trusted.
In the end, he forced himself to set the issue of Charlie aside. The key was to find Diana. He also quickly realized that the only way to get her to transform, the only way to get her to completely devote herself to the vision, was to do what he had done to himself.
He moved his hand once again between her legs and circled her clit gently. It felt different now than it had felt in her fantasy. It felt more real. When she cried out, he fought against the urge to touch his member once again, to come with her.
He did not have to fight for long. Almost instantly, the bed beneath them disappeared. Cat found himself in a dark, almost unbearably hot cave. He looked around for Diana. He nearly panicked when he did not see her, until he looked to his right.
A large white cougar stood directly in front of him. He looked at the animal’s green eyes and realized fully what had happened. Diana had transformed. She looked at him for one moment before moving further into the cave.
Cat followed.
They moved through turns and corners and long dark stretches before a tiny pin prick of light could be seen cutting through the darkness.
Diana moved forward and Cat followed until, finally, they came to an opening. In front
of the opening stood a large, beautiful canyon that Cat recognized, to the side was the paved dirt road.
He knew now, where Diana was. She was not inside the canyons, she was on the edge of the land. She could be reached by car at least as far as the road.
Diana turned and looked at him. When he stared into her eyes, she seemed to be begging him, urging him to find her.
“I will,” he said aloud as he moved towards her, “if you can get here, if you can get away from them long enough to make it to this opening, I can find you.”
The cougar nodded. Then she stiffened her eyes and moved beyond Cat to the inside of the cave. Cat listened for a disturbance. Soon enough, he heard footsteps sounding through the cave.
Diana quickly bounded away leaving him at the entrance. He stood there for one moment before his eyes jolted open and he found himself, once again, in the back of the car.
He took two deep breaths and rubbed his eyes one moment before opening the door and carefully stepping out.
He knew now where she was, but that was only half the battle. Now, he had to decide how best to get there.
The cave was at the perimeter of the salt lake. It was near enough to the road that driving would, no doubt, be the quickest option.
But, both Charlie and Manaba, he was sure, would hear a car from a mile off. Especially one as distinctive as his. He would have to go on foot. Still, climbing through the canyons was slow, hard work. It would take hours if not longer on two legs.
The only other option was to transform.
Cat, despite his ability, generally did not like to use his cougar form unless absolutely necessary. In cougar form his body was powerful but, his mind was not nearly as sharp. He was less cunning and less reasonable.
Still, he realized that, for this task, speed was needed much more than reason.
So, reluctantly, he pushed his eyes closed, emptied his mind and felt himself sink to the ground, his limbs grow long and sturdy.
When he opened his eyes, he in his cougar form, sprang towards the canyons and headed swiftly into the wilds. Determined to find his mate.
Chapter Three
“You seem rested.”
Diana’s eyes flew open as she looked to her side. Manaba had appeared with a washcloth and, what looked like, a bowl of some kind of green liquid.
“I hope you weren’t trying to go into a trance on your own,” Manaba said off handedly as she kneeled down beside Diana.
Diana felt her cheeks burn and her heart began to race. What if Manaba knew what she had seen, what she had done. What if this woman could somehow...sense...that Diana had contacted Cat.
“How would I go into a trance on my own?” Diana asked as Manaba dipped the washcloth into the green liquid, “isn’t that why we need you?”
Manaba, who until that moment, had not met Diana’s eyes looked up sharply at that.
“What do you mean ‘we’?” She asked sharply. Apparently that had off set her. Diana realized quickly, that, perhaps that was something she could use.
“Just something Charlie said to me,” Diana answered with an off handed shrug. Though, she continued to watch Manaba. Just as Diana thought, Manaba’s face colored and grew sour at the mention of Charlie.
“What else did he tell you?” Manaba asked. There was a dark jealous tone in her voice as she took the washcloth and roughly began cleaning the blood away from the claw marks on Diana’s arm.
Diana tried not to smile in triumph. She knew again from her dealings with school yard bullies, finding the weak link was always the first step to bringing the whole group down.
“Not much,” Diana said as nonchalantly as she could, “but, he did tell me that you saw me as a threat.”
Manaba snorted at this as she continued to rub fiercely against Diana’s wounds.
“A threat?” Manaba asked derisively attempting an unbelieving smile. “Why would I see you as a threat? You can barely transform, you’re weak enough be captured and besides, I’m at least ten times more attractive than you are.”
“I’m just telling you what Charlie said,” Diana said fighting against the urge to cringe at the way the ointment stung. She did not want to show any weakness at all to Manaba.
“And you believe everything Charlie tells you?” Manaba asked. She now looked up at Diana. She had, apparently, eliminated all hint of jealousy from her features and now looked at Diana with an amused, almost pitying expression.
“Is that why you left with him the moment he asked you to? Even though you knew Cat was meant to be your mate? Even though you knew there was a traitor in the Zuni camp?”
Diana, against her will, felt her heart sink at this. It was true. She should have known not to go anywhere with anyone. Not to trust anyone. She should have known that the vision she had had in the reservation was real. That Cat was her true mate and Sandra...this woman, Manaba was her true enemy.
The truth was, as she had told Cat in the vision, she had been afraid. She had allowed her fear to block out what she knew, she had allowed it to overcome her rational mind.
She felt her cheeks fill with color and the nonchalant smile fade from her face. Manaba allowed her own self-assured smile to grow in response.
“The truth is,” Manaba said, “Charlie’s good at reading people. He knows what you really want, what you really need. He knows your fears and your dreams. And, he works as hard as he can to tell you everything you want to hear. To become what you want him to be.”
Manaba took the washcloth from Diana’s arm and stood with the ointment.
“The truth is,” Manaba continued, “I matter to him a hell of a lot more than you do. And, when he’s gotten what he wants from you...he’ll toss you out.”
Diana told herself to keep looking at Manaba right in the eyes, she told herself not to show weakness. But, the more she looked, the weaker she felt. She knew there was truth in Manaba’s words. She knew Charlie couldn’t be trusted, no matter what he said. Perhaps he would kill her once he was finished with her.
“Now,” Manaba said, apparently glad to have regained the upper hand in their little game of tug of war, “you’ll have to go through training again. I’ll take you.”
Manaba moved to untie the ropes binding Diana to the boulder. Diana remembered the shard underneath her leg. Once her constraints were untied, she would have to find a way to grab it.
“I just hope you’re not stupid enough to try anything again,” Manaba said as though reading Diana’s thoughts, “after all, there are two of us and only one of you. Not to mention, Charlie and I are a hell of a lot stronger than you could ever be.”
Diana had thought of that. That’s why she couldn’t wait until she got to the training spot to make her move. Even if the training spot was much closer to the cave’s entrance than anywhere else.
She had to strike when Manaba was on her own. And, what’s more, she had to hit her so that she would not be able to follow or alert Charlie.
One rope loosened and Diana felt her hand flop to the floor. Manaba moved to the other side and felt her other hand fall to her side. As she did, she covertly slipped her hand underneath her thigh and grasped the pottery shard.
“Up,” Manaba said grabbing Diana’s injured arm and pulling at it forcefully, Diana grunted in pain and Manaba smiled.
“This way,” Manaba said, almost gleeful at Diana’s discomfort.
Still holding Dina’s wrist forcefully, she all but dragged Diana behind her. Meanwhile, Diana looked around her at the cave. Waiting as patiently as she could for the perfect spot, the perfect time.
She felt the sharp, jagged shard scraping against her right palm, almost itching to be used.
Finally, they came to a point where two rocks created an arc in the cave. It was something she remembered from the vision. She had been here before, she was sure of it. That meant, that she knew how to get to the opening from here. She knew how to get to Cat.
This was the time to strike.
So, with her hand shaking
, Diana raised the pottery shard and shoved it forcefully into Manaba’s neck.
Manaba screamed out and immediately fell to her knees. Diana quickly kicked Manaba in the stomach Manaba groaned and fell back against a large rock hitting her head as she did.
Diana did not stop to see whether or not Manaba was truly out cold. There was no time.
Instead, she rushed through the rock arc and turned right. This path, she knew would take her to the cave’s opening. She walked a small straight path then turned left, almost immediately, she took another right, left then right again.
Just as she saw the pin prick of light shining through the caves opening, she heard another scream, clearly from Manaba.
“Charlie!” Manaba called, “Charlie! She’s going to the opening!”
Diana didn’t wait to hear the response, she didn’t even listen for the pounding of footsteps or the padding of cougar paws.
Instead, she focused on running, as quickly as she could towards the opening.
Then, though she was not listening for it, the sound of pounding cougar hooves forced its way into her ears. She reached the opening and moved quickly behind the largest boulder she could find.
She stopped and caught her breath as she tried desperately to think.
Diana knew that she could not possibly hope to outrun a cougar. Especially not one who had had as much training and strength as Charlie clearly did.
That was when another idea came to her. It was a long shot, a very, very long shot but...if she had been able to go into a trance on her own…
The padding of the paws got closer and closer. She realized then that she had no other option. This was the only way.
Slowly, she closed her eyes and listened to her breathing. She cleared her mind of everything. Everything but what Cat had said, what he had done to her in the vision she had. The feel of his hands on her skin, his lips searing, burning her own. Her cry as he had brought her to edge of release.
As the memories flooded through her, she felt herself sink into her own mind, sink to the ground. Her limbs lengthened, fur covered her body. Somewhere, buried in the back of her mind, she was amazed that this had worked.
BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE: The Unforgettable Southern Billionaires: The Complete Collection Boxed Set (Young Adult Rich Alpha Male Billionaire Romance) Page 33