“We had no choice. They had the Tigris with them. He would have killed us all,” the man panted.
Seth roared in rage, releasing his claws and swiping bloody furrows across the man’s neck. He gurgled once, choking, before he dropped motionless.
Catan whimpered, remaining still where he lay on the ground. He didn’t want to draw Seth’s attention to him. Not when he was already angry. He twisted his wrists, trying desperately to find some leeway in the rope. He gasped at the burn, glancing down to see droplets of blood fall to the ground from where the rope cut into his wrists.
Seth turned away, stalking toward the other men. They left Catan alone, instead conferring in hushed whispers. He couldn’t hear them, but he noticed several kept giving him panicked glances. Laithe’s pride had a reputation for their ruthlessness when they were angered. It was one of the reasons The Other One had hidden with his men when they found out Catan had been taken in by Laithe after they left him for dead.
He was pretty sure The Other One would have made sure he had been killed if he knew Laithe was in the area when he’d attacked his family. Laithe had the power of the prides behind him. The Other One wasn’t so foolish to believe they would let him live if they ever found him.
The day was ending. It was getting close to sunset. Not a good thing for Seth and his men. If the pride was coming after him -- no -- when the pride came after him -- the darkness would aid them more than it would Seth. Leos might have excellent vision, even in the dark, but they didn’t hunt at night. However, Tigris did. And so did Pardus. Laithe’s pride would definitely have the advantage. He just needed to make sure Seth was distracted when the time came.
He was willing to do anything to make sure these men died. He only wished he knew what had happened to The Other One. Was he dead?
“Please, make him dead. I can’t go through that again. Please… make him dead,” he whimpered.
Catan turned his attention back to the threat at hand. The one remaining man who had captured him was telling Seth about Rowan. Seth was pacing agitatedly, probably cursing the fact that they had attacked Laithe’s mate.
“The other pride leaders don’t care about the abomination. By attacking the mate of a pride leader you have ensured every one of them will be out for our blood! How could you be so foolish?” Seth questioned, coming to stand in front of the man.
The man skimmed his gaze over the bleeding body near Catan, squaring his shoulders before replying. “Ash was the one who attacked her. We couldn’t stop him. The other pride leaders will be appeased with his death. They won’t come after us.”
“How can you be sure?” Seth asked, raising his head and looking down at the man. Catan tucked his shoulders, trying to remain still and invisible. He knew what that look meant. Seth was about to kill someone else.
“Ash hasn’t returned yet. They must have captured him,” the man stammered.
Seth scowled, a low rumbling coming up from his barrel chest. Catan could see the scar on his cheek turning white. “And what have they done to our illustrious leader then, hmmm? Have you given any thought to the fact that he is dead by their hands as well? And it was you that left him there, wasn’t it? Why should I let you live when Shyam is probably dead? Give me one good reason and I may be generous,” he stated quietly.
The man trembled, his big body shaking. He looked around wildly, his gaze landing on Catan, who was trying to hide in the grass. “Him! I brought you the abomination. It should be him that is punished. It is his fault Shyam was captured.”
Catan gasped, holding his breath. His eyes grew large, his ears twitching madly. He stared blindly at Seth when the scarred man began stalking toward him. Seth bent over him, shielding his smaller frame with his own. He sniffed at his shoulders, moving up to draw air in deeply when he reached his face. Catan hunched, trying to look insignificant.
Seth grabbed his arms, tossing him to his back, following him down and straddling his hips. He stilled his legs, trying not to buck up. Don’t give him a reason to hurt you. Asad will come. His hands twitched madly in front of him. He couldn’t still them no matter what he tried. He whimpered when Seth inclined his head to brush his mane against him. His heart was pounding loudly in his chest. He was sure Seth could hear it. He knew he could smell the fear on him, there was nothing that Catan could do to disguise it.
Seth growled low in his throat, running his teeth gently down the side of Catan’s neck. He tilted his head in submission. He won’t kill you if you give in. Just act small, vulnerable. He moved his ears, desperate to look at anything but Seth. He could see the shuttle from where he was pinned, and the clearing beyond. It was almost fully dark, the light disappearing fast in the grasslands. He shifted his eyes, trying to find something to lock on. Something that would let him escape the man on top of him. His gaze was snagged by two glints further out in the field, coming closer. He paused, curious. The light glinted again, joined almost immediately by two more glinting lights. He looked to the left of the lights to find more.
Curious, he kept his gaze on the lights, watching them approach the clearing. The other Leos were silent, sitting back to see what Seth was going to do. Seth, himself, had quieted. He was probably waiting for Catan to panic and try to get away. They had liked that before. Seth and The Other One had enjoyed it when he’d tried to fight them. He remembered that much.
He kept watching the lights, watching, watching until they came even closer. And then he realized what they were. They weren’t lights. They were eyes. He bucked once, startled. Seth chuckled, no doubt thinking that he was trying to fight him. He grabbed his wrists, twisting them painfully until Catan let out a whimper.
“That’s it, Abomination. You know what to do. You know what I like, don’t you? I want to hear you scream for me,” he sighed, licking a foul path along Catan’s cheek.
He gagged, trying to breathe in through his mouth so he didn’t have to smell the fetid breath so close to his sensitive nose. Catan tried to move his eyes to see where the men who were approaching had gone, but he couldn’t find them. Where had the eyes gone?
Seth lost patience with him, jerking him up and turning him quickly. His feeble attempts to stay on his back were all for naught. Seth outweighed him greatly. He landed on his stomach and his abused hands were crushed into the ground below when the heavy weight of Seth settled over his back. He mewled softly, trying to find the eyes in the grass. Seth exhaled deeply, ruffling the tufts of hair at his ears.
“I missed you, Abomination. Did you miss me?” He laughed.
Catan shook. Where had the eyes gone?
Seth pulled him up to his knees, hampered by the rope tied tightly around his ankles. He grumbled, unable to get him in the position he wanted. Catan felt him move, probably to release his ankles, and he tensed. Waiting for the perfect moment. He looked forward again, directly into Asad’s gaze. He widened his eyes, silencing his cry at the last moment.
Asad gave a low snarl, barely perceptible, rage evident in his shining, amber gaze. He crouched directly in front of them, hidden among the tall grass. He spread his hands, gaining more leverage.
Seth snapped the rope at his ankles. Catan felt him moving, the pressure along his side changing. He moved to straddle his back just as Asad leapt.
Catan ducked, plastering himself to the ground. He felt the rush of air when Asad moved over him, taking Seth with him. Seth shouted, his voice broken off with a gurgle. Catan heard other sounds, snarls and grunts. His limbs refused to move.
He was suddenly hauled upright. Panicked, he tried to jerk back until he realized it was Asad in front of him. He whimpered, falling hard into Asad’s chest, dropping his head to burrow in as much as he could. His hands twitched against Asad’s rippled stomach, the soft fur a balm to his abused wrists. Asad caught him close, wrapping his arms around his back and pulling him in tight. He rubbed his mane against Catan, soothing him with his scent. Catan purred, rocking back and forth in Asad’s strong grip.
He heard Asad murmuring something
to him, but it didn’t matter. He was safe. He could let go now that Asad had him. His vision went black, and Catan let his body fold into his protector.
Chapter Three
The hot, heavy press of The Other One held him in place. Catan squirmed, trying to get away, but it only served to amuse The Other One further. The man’s hard cock was an unwelcome intrusion into his abused body. He bent closer, his fetid breath foul to Catan’s sensitive nose. “You’ll never be rid of me, Abomination. When you close your eyes, the last thing you will ever see is my face. The last thing you will ever feel is my body using you,” he laughed.
Catan jerked awake, startled by the short, panicked scream reverberating through his room. Almost immediately the door opened, a dark shape blocking out the light coming from the hall. He gasped, his heart thumping in his chest until the shape moved and the familiar features of Asad became clear.
“It was only a dream, kitten. You are safe here,” Asad rasped.
He stared morosely at the only man he actually wanted to be with. Asad wasn’t moving from the doorway. It had been like this since he had been rescued by him. He was more than ready to start a relationship with the larger Leo, but he just didn’t know what to do to show his desire.
He huffed in exasperation, ducking his head and rubbing his cheek against his shoulder. Before he could respond, a small, hairless hand curled around Asad’s biceps. Stepping aside, Asad made room for Rowan to enter the small space. Catan purred when she knelt down and took him into her arms. “Can you give us a moment here, Asad?”
Asad chuffed out a low, coughing grunt. Crossing his arms, he studied Catan. Catan stared back. With one last, long glance, Asad finally nodded, closing the door and shutting them in together.
“What’s wrong? Did you have the dream again?” she asked, running her hands along his arms.
He nodded, unable to form the words. It didn’t matter. He had told her about the dream the first time he had had it. Now, over a week later, she was used to being interrupted because of this nightly ritual. He couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t having dreams about Seth. Every night, The Other One invaded his sleep, even though Catan knew he was dead. He couldn’t hurt him anymore.
“Do you want me to tell you a story?” she asked.
Catan raised his head, staring into her almond-shaped brown eyes. “One from your planet?” he asked, his voice rough with a lingering trace of his terror.
Rowan smiled, turning to sit cross-legged in front of him. She took both of his hands in hers, squeezing them gently. “One of my favorite stories when I was a child was called Beauty and the Beast. It was about a beautiful woman, gorgeous inside and out. One day, her father went away. Beauty wasn’t worried about him until the day his horse returned without him. She started to worry then, so she decided to go looking for him to see if she could find him.”
Rowan paused, waiting until Catan nodded before continuing again. “Well, it turned out she did find him, in the home of a terrible beast. He was a horrid man, keeping her father prisoner because he trespassed on his property. Beauty made a bargain with him. If he let her father go, she would stay with him voluntarily. It was a bargain the beast immediately agreed upon and she got her first look at her captor. He was covered in fur, entirely, from head to foot. He had terrifying, sharp teeth, and he growled fiercely at her.”
“He l-looked like us?” Catan asked, amazed.
“He looked more like one of the Leos,” she said. “He had a thick mane that bushed out around his head.”
“Was he a bad man?”
“No, sweetie, he wasn’t bad. After awhile, Beauty started to see a different side to him. The more time they spent together, the more she started to fall in love with him. It turned out that he was a prince that’d been cursed to become a beast, because he wasn’t very nice to someone. In order to break the curse, he had to find someone who would fall in love with the man he was on the inside or else he’d become the beast forever.”
“D-did she love him?”
“Yes, she did, and they broke the curse together, freeing him,” she said, frowning.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t it a good thing that they fell in love?” he asked, leaning forward.
Her troubled eyes met his. She smiled bitterly. “I always hated the ending. I completely forgot about that when I started telling the story. When the curse was broken, he turned back into a human. I always wanted him to stay the beast. She fell in love with the beast, but she spent her life with the human shell of him. Besides, I always thought he was ugly in the movie. It just plain ruined it for me for him to change from this gorgeous, caring beast into this little, ugly human.”
“Well, that sucks,” he pouted.
Laughing, Rowan collapsed into his chest, hugging him close. “Yes,” she hooted with laughter, “it certainly does. So I guess it’s a good thing I managed to land my own beast. Or two,” she smirked.
Catan grinned. “I’m gonna tell Laithe and Fahd you called them beasts.”
“Don’t you dare, or I won’t finish telling you all about Earth.”
“Well, maybe I could be persuaded to keep it a secret.” Pausing, he thought about her story. He couldn’t believe she had had fantasies about men like them before she had ever heard of them. He was constantly amazed about the differences between them. She was completely hairless, except for the smooth, sleek cap of brown hair framing her face. Unlike the smaller females of his clan, she was rounded in all sorts of interesting ways. He could stare at her for hours, the differences between them amazing to him.
She was so gentle, so unlike the men around her. He raised his hand, smoothing his palm down her arm.
“What’s wrong, Catan?” she asked, pulling away to look in his eyes.
“I want to be this close to Asad,” he muttered.
“So do something about it. I know he wants to be with you. You didn’t see his reaction when you were taken. The man is in love with you, Catan,” she said, brushing back the fur on his forehead.
“I’ve tried,” he ground out, exasperated. “I’ve tried to let him know, but every time I touch him, he moves away. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.”
“Oh, Cat, it’s gonna be okay. We just need to put our heads together and come up with a foolproof plan to knock his socks off,” she said, a crafty glint entering her eyes.
“Really?” he asked, sitting up.
“Of course. It’ll be simple. We just need to find the one thing that will entice him beyond measure, and bam, he’s yours.”
“I can do that,” he said. “But there is one thing I don’t understand.”
“What, Cat?”
“What exactly are socks, and why would we want to knock them off?” he asked, confused even further when she erupted in peals of laughter.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” she guffawed, holding her stomach.
A snicker sounded in the doorway, where the door had been opened without them hearing it. Over Rowan’s laughter, deep chuckles could be heard from the two men staring down at them. Laithe and Fahd shook their heads, sending Rowan off again when she glimpsed their confused faces. Laithe might look like an older version of Asad, but Catan wasn’t as infatuated with him. Laithe had been his protector, more like the father figure that he had missed when his own father had been killed. Fahd, on the other hand, kind of intimidated Catan. He was entirely covered in black fur. He was spotted like Catan, but his spots were black. The black on black coloring was daunting to a Lynx that had never met one of the rare Pardus. In truth, he hadn’t met any other clans before being rescued. But Fahd and Rajiv were the only ones he shied away from. Fahd normally went out of his way to make sure he wasn’t scared, while Rajiv mostly ignored him. It was actually comforting, now that he thought of it. Rajiv ignored everyone.
Asad pushed past the two men, striding toward the bed where Catan and Rowan were sitting.
He couldn’t help but laugh along when Rowan stared down at Asad’s feet, hooting
with amusement. Asad huffed. Glancing up at him, Catan feared he was annoyed with them until he caught the gleam of humor in his eyes. Asad winked at him, causing a blush to heat his cheeks.
He got so flustered around the other man. It was one of the reasons he was getting so frustrated. He had really tried to let Asad know he was interested. He often brushed up against him when they were near each other. What more did the Leo need?
“What’s going on in here?” Laithe asked, laughter ringing in his voice.
“Nothing. We were just, ah, discussing a little story.” Rowan snickered, looking at him.
Catan smiled, thumping his tail once against the bed. He thought he heard a groan, but when he looked up at Asad, the other man had his indifferent mask firmly in place. He tilted his head, thoughtfully looking up at the Leo.
Fahd paced toward them, throwing himself down to lounge on the bed beside them. He reached forward, running his hand along Rowan’s thigh. She was wearing a strip of sunshine yellow cloth, this time wound around her breasts and down her waist to gather at her hips. Fahd let his hand linger on her thigh, brushing it back and forth, each time getting closer and closer to the edge of the cloth.
She smiled sweetly, shifting in place. She reached for Catan again, pulling back when Asad jerked once, stepping forward. Her eyes grew large, the brown giving way to hints of green. Suddenly she narrowed them, reaching deliberately for Catan again.
He glanced nervously when Asad moved agitatedly beside him. What was going on? Asad looked at Laithe, frowning when he came closer, moving calculatingly onto the bed to sink down onto the other side of Rowan and him.
Rowan peered up at Asad, snickering before asking him, “What’s wrong, Asad? Cat got your tongue?”
Fahd choked. “I think he is mad because little Cat doesn’t have his tongue.”
Asad growled low in his throat, his only response. Laithe remained silent, pinching his mate on the arm when she opened her mouth again. Catan could feel the heat come up his cheeks again. He moved his hand, brushing it against Asad’s thigh. Asad jerked, startled eyes staring down at him. Catan studied him closely, his own eyes wide with wonder.
The Felidae 2: Asad’s Mate Page 3