Fueled by Lust: Cato (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Celeste Prater

  She was no more than a few steps from the tent and she dropped to her knees and planted her ass onto the back of her legs. Cato squatted next to her and she felt his hand drift down her back.

  “You okay, baby?”

  She nodded and glanced up to him. “Oh, Cato. This is beautiful. I know this place.” When he smiled, she placed her pad on the ground and opened it to the first sketch she’d made of this breathtaking world. “I’m so glad you wanted to wait until it was sunrise here. I needed to see this.”

  They both stared at her picture and back up to the mountains shrouded in mist. The tip of the sun was barely rising over the highest peak and the sky was as she’d rendered on the sketch. The three large moons were light purple and hovering high above their heads. Cato turned to the next picture and ran his fingers over the yellow tree, green rocks, and purple flowers blanketing the ground. He lifted his hand and pointed to the right.

  “Look there. The yushta has grown since you drew it, but that has to be the same one. See? The horizon matches and the slope of the ground is the same.”

  Luna stood and walked toward the giant tree swaying in the morning breeze. She felt like it was beckoning for her to come forward. Cato picked up her sketchpad and followed. As soon as she was at the edge of the full canopy, the branches reached out and wrapped gently around her body. They stroked her skin and pulled Cato close to her. Luna laughed and ran her hands down the smooth wood. She felt tingling along the bottom of her feet and marveled as it moved higher up her body until her entire form was vibrating and filled with the most exquisite sensation. Her strength was increasing and she felt exhilarated. Surprise skittered through her.

  “Oh! It’s speaking to me. Not words. Thoughts. No, more like feelings. It likes me.” She turned to Cato and smiled. “It likes that you’re with me.”

  Cato touched her hair. “See, this world never forgets its children.”

  Luna gasped when the tree gently pushed her and Cato to the ground. As soon as they were prone and touching elbow to ankle, the branches released and swayed over their heads. Cato reached over and clasped her hand.

  “Open your mind, Luna. Insedivertus wants to enter us. Close your eyes, baby.”

  Luna closed her eyes and immediately tightened her grip on Cato’s hand when energy suffused her body. She’d thought the earlier tentative greeting was mind boggling, but this new sensation was beyond understanding. She felt like every cell was being cleansed, reformed, and juiced. Her heart thundered in her chest as vibrating fingers of electricity moved effortlessly through muscles and bone. When it finally released her and drifted quietly away, her chest was heaving and she felt sweat beading her body.

  “What the hell was that? I feel like I could run a damn mile and not get out of breath.”

  Cato laughed. “We just got super charged, that’s what. Our energy gets out of whack and Insedivertus stabilizes it.”

  Luna turned her head when she heard a soft whooshing sound at the vortex site. A sleek, bullet-shaped vehicle hovered above the ground then gradually settled on the magenta grass. Her mouth fell open. She turned back to Cato just as his lids flipped up to hers. “I can’t wait to ride in that thing.” She smiled, then immediately noticed he was gazing at her with curiosity. “What?” His eyes lowered to her neck.

  “Turn your head again. I think I’m seeing things.”

  Luna turned her head back in the direction of the craft. “What was it?” She tried to turn her head back, but he stopped her with two fingers on her chin.

  “Well I’ll be damned. Your mark has completely filled in, Luna. It’s totally dark. This is fucking amazing. Hell, Kallon’s going to freak.”

  Luna reached up and touched her neck. “You’re kidding me. How is that possible?” She lifted herself from the ground and clasped his hand when he joined her. “Shit, what am I saying? How is any of this possible?”

  Cato shook his head. “The hell if I know. I’ll let Kallon figure it out.” He started pulling her toward the transport and snorted. “I’ll need to keep an eye on him. He’ll have you in his damn lab for hours.” He looked over at her and grinned. “No worries. He’s going to have to fight me for you. I’ve got other plans in mind.”

  Luna felt her skin shiver with excitement. She felt extremely connected to him and couldn’t wait to feel his skin against hers again.

  Cato helped her into the transport and strapped her in. He crawled in next to her and raised his brows at Maxim.

  “Kallon run you off, Maxim? I thought you’d be at the palace. Wasn’t expecting you to come back for us.”

  Maxim shook his head. “Ass. No, he didn’t run me off. The Trejani got excited when Kallon told him about Luna’s mark. He wants you both at the lab. He’s anxious to meet her and for Kallon to start the analysis.”

  Cato looked at her. “See? I said you’d freak out some Insedis, and you’ve started at the top.”

  Luna rolled her eyes. “Great. I’m going to be the resident freak around here.”

  Maxim swiveled the seat around after the transport started moving forward. She made a quick guess the thing was on autopilot or he sucked at driving.

  “Oh, you got that all backward, sweets. If anything, you’ll be highly regarded. I thought Cassie and the Filia getting claimed by a Lemarok was big news, but this is going to blow the doors off that.”

  She frowned. “What’s a Lemarok?”

  Cato laughed. “You’ll see soon enough. Maxim, you won’t believe what happened before you arrived. Luna connected with Insedivertus and she has a full mark now. Show him, baby.”

  Luna turned her head and Maxim’s mouth fell open.

  “Damn! Kallon’s going to love this.”

  “I hear you.”

  Luna snorted. “I’m only going to give blood once. He better get all he needs because I’m not going to become his damn pincushion.”

  Maxim laughed and shook his head. “I won’t tell Kallon you said that. He’d die before he stuck you with a pin. We’ve got much better ways of extracting fluids. You’ll never feel a thing.”

  Luna smiled. “Good to know.”

  Cato pointed out the window next to her. “Hey, baby. Take a look. That’s the Trancis River. You drew that, too.”

  Luna grabbed her sketch pad and flipped to the page. Sure enough, she’d captured that same image of the wide river. A great plain extended on the far side. Tall gold and turquoise grasses blanketed the ground. It looked like a giant, invisible hand was sweeping across and bending them before they swayed back into place. The river was at a different angle than her picture, yet she’d caught the sharp bend where it extended and butted up against an expansive area that housed a sprawling city. Luna unbuckled and plastered herself to the window.

  “Oh, my god! It’s beautiful. That’s Urbis, right?” At Cato’s nod, she glued her eyes back to the twinkling buildings. The sun had risen fully and she could see that the Insedi had utilized their resources wisely. It appeared the whole city was built according to the natural slope of the land. They hadn’t hacked out a square patch of ground and slapped a city on top. Nope, it was built into the side of the mountain and stretched out toward the river. She imagined the smaller structures closer to the river were homes.

  No building was exactly the same shape. In fact, the more she stared, she realized that if all the lights were extinguished, it would look like an additional mountain range. They were basically camouflaged. The top of the buildings reflected the sun’s glow and she surmised they were taking advantage of its power through solar panels. She also caught glimpses of small turbines built into the walls that were possibly using the wind for electricity generation. Hell, for all she knew, they had some type of glowing rock that powered the entire planet. They were so much more advanced than Earth, she couldn’t even comprehend what they were capable of.

  She pointed to a structure that sat closest to the mountainside and was centered among the others. It had several towers scattered around its exterior. “What�
��s that?”

  “It’s the palace. We’ll be going there later.”

  She sat back down and buckled herself in. The closer they came to the city, more transports flew past her window. She could see Insedi walking among the structures and going about their day. It dawned on her what was missing the second they landed in front of the medical center. She turned to Cato.

  “I’m such an idiot. I didn’t even realize the extent.”

  He frowned and touched her arm. “What, baby?”

  “There aren’t any women.” She swallowed hard. “I mean Insedi women. They’re all dead. Are Cassie, Lina, and I really the only ones left?”

  Cato knelt in front of her and clasped her hands. “There was one that survived. She was recently reunited with her mate. But you’re right. As far as we know, and aside from her, you’re it. Cassie and Lina are human. Once they mated, they became half-Insedi.”

  Luna shook her head and tried to comprehend the enormity of the situation. She was rare and that freaked her out. No wonder the guys had looked at her so strangely when Kallon had found her mark. She grasped Cato’s hand and steeled herself for the visit with the prince.

  Chapter 34

  Cato was surprised when they rounded the corner leading to the lab and saw a cluster of senators surrounding Drusus in the hallway. Every face was drawn with concern as they conversed. Drusus had Lina’s hand clasped with his and Severus had his arm around Cassie. Whatever was going on, it looked to be serious. He thought best to steer away from anything that smacked of politics and opted to find Kallon instead. Maxim must have agreed because he stayed hot on his heels. He opened the lab door and Kallon glanced up.

  “Ah! Excellent. Hop up on the table, Luna. Let’s get this started. Once I have your blood, I’ll have to run it through our genetics database. We’ll know something by tomorrow morning at the latest. You ready?”

  Luna nodded and smiled. “Yes. Let’s find out who I belong to.”

  Cato grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up into his arms. “You belong to me. Let’s get that straight once and for all.” He smiled and kissed her on the forehead before setting her down on the table.

  He loved the grin that grabbed her cheeks and wouldn’t let go.

  Maxim moved to the side of the exam table. “Cato, tell him what happened.”

  Kallon’s eyebrows rose in question.

  “Oh. Yeah. I can’t believe I forgot. Look behind her ear.”

  Kallon turned her head and stared at the refreshed mark. He immediately glanced over to Maxim and frowned. “This isn’t funny, Maxim. Coloring it in with a marker is just mean.”

  Maxim furrowed his brows and scowled. “Great! You automatically think I did something. Bite me, doc. I had nothing to do with this.”

  Kallon arched a brow. “Oh? And give me one good reason I shouldn’t? Who found his boots on top of the apartment last night and his wallet in the toaster this morning? Caelius, that’s who! So, forgive me if my mind immediately thinks of you when something doesn’t look right. I’m surprised he hasn’t gutted you by now.”

  Maxim pouted. “I would never play a joke on you, Kallon. Caelius is just too fun to play with. Did you see his face? It was hilarious. He knows I only do it because he’s my friend.”

  Kallon’s hand went to his hip and his eyes narrowed. “Are you saying that I’m not your friend? That hurts, Maxim.”

  Eyes widening, Maxim put his palms out. “No. You didn’t understand. Caelius is…well. You are…you know what I mean. You’re my serious friend.”

  Everyone glanced at Luna when she burst out laughing.

  “Listen to yourselves. You guys are hilarious. I can tell you’re good buddies. Now kiss and make up.”

  Kallon’s bark of laughter resounded throughout the room. He glanced back to Maxim. “Yeah. Come over here and give me a kiss, you ass. It’s the least you can do for hurting my feelings.”

  Maxim snorted and rolled his eyes. “Ha-ha, very funny. You couldn’t handle my kiss. You’d start following me around like a little puppy.”

  Kallon snorted. “Well now. Who thinks highly of themselves? Maybe you’d finally get to see how it’s done right and start following me around.”

  Cato blew a shrill whistle and got everyone’s attention.

  “As much as I’d like to see which one of you kisses the best, let’s focus back on Luna. Doc. It’s not a joke. Her mark filled in when Insedivertus jolted her with the super juice after you guys left.”

  Kallon’s eyes went wide as saucers and he looked back at the mark. “Son of a bitch! That’s amazing. There could only be one reason for this. Our world recognized her and kickstarted her Insedi DNA. Damn! I wish I’d taken a blood sample before we left Earth. I haven’t got anything to compare it against. Shit! The data would’ve been priceless.”

  His grumblings halted when the door opened and Drusus, Lina, Severus, and Cassie walked in. Drusus smiled at Luna.

  “Hello, Luna. I’m Drusus. I’m glad to see you looking well.” He introduced everyone else then reached back for Lina’s hand. “We were extremely surprised when Kallon told me that you carried a faint Insedi mark. This is amazing. I’m curious as to which line you hail from. You’re going to make a lot of Insedi happy to hear their ancestors survived.”

  Luna smiled back. “Thanks. My curiosity’s getting the best of me. I’d like to know as well.”

  Kallon spoke up. “Trejani, if you think that’s fascinating, wait until I tell you the latest.” He shared the news of the newly formed mark and Drusus’s eyebrows rose.

  “We have to find out if there are more offspring. I have to give this some thought on how we can locate them. The odds of Cato finding Luna has to be astronomical. They could be spread across the Earth by now, if they even survived.”

  Kallon spoke up. “I was thinking the same thing. But first, I’d like to be sure that she’s from one in the line of the unfortunate one hundred. Her ancestor could’ve been a rogue that never returned after mating. We’ll know soon enough.”

  Drusus nodded. “Yes. Let’s be confident before we tell any of the citizens. I’d hate to give false hope.”

  Cato noticed that Lina and Cassie were being quieter than usual and sticking close to their mates. They gave Luna sweet smiles, but he could tell something was bothering them. Severus carried a morose look and kept glancing to Drusus as if judging his mood. Perhaps whatever had transpired in the hallway had dampened their spirits.

  “Forgive me, Trejani, but is everything okay? I noticed the Senate elders paid you a visit. Is there anything that I can do to help? Tell me if it’s none of my business and I’ll drop the subject.”

  Drusus leaned back against the wall, pulled Lina into the circle of his arms, and sighed. “Thank you, amici. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that you can do right now. I was just informed that father’s ship has gone off grid. He’s not responding to messages. He should’ve arrived on Messor by now. The pilot reported a small electrical glitch earlier, but they didn’t seem overly concerned. Messor sent out two haulers in case. They’re reporting no sign of him. They sent out scouting vessels at our request. Fortunately, they’ve reported no wreckage. We don’t know if he’s had to go into stealth mode, redirect, or something’s disabled the Athenian. Either way, we’re gathering a battalion to leave first thing tomorrow. We have no idea how long we’ll need them to stay, so we’re outfitting for a month.”

  Cato felt his insides seize as Drusus relayed the news. This was beyond bad.

  “What of Basilius? Any word of his arrival on Messor?”

  Severus shook his head. “No sign of him yet. Either they both got caught up in whatever happened, or he never left Protonecis. Hell, their Senate could’ve been mistaken and he’s been dead this whole time. We may be worrying about him for nothing. We’re just not sure. The Messor government took Bellator into protective custody and he’s none too happy. This is a clusterfuck of major proportions.”

  Glancing to Kallon, Cato saw t
he look he expected to see. The male was shell-shocked. Ulixes was on that transport as well. Cato’s mind flashed to the night they’d all gone bowling. Kallon had confessed to him that he’d not had a chance to kiss Ulixes. He was upset at missing his opportunity before Ulixes had been whisked away for his trip with the emperor. The big Protonecian could very well be his mate. Kallon’s brows furrowed from the dread of what might occur, only to morph into regret for what hadn’t. He wasn’t surprised when the doctor shook out of his stupor and approached Drusus.

  “Trejani, if you don’t have reservations about this, may I accompany the battalion? With that many warriors, you’ll need a doctor.”

  Drusus didn’t hesitate. “Of course. I was going to ask you anyway. You just saved me the time.”

  Cato could see the relief wash over Kallon’s features.

  “I’ll order supplies to the ship and have staff assignment reported as soon as possible.”

  The prince looked directly at Maxim. “Well. Go ahead and ask. You look like you’re about to jump out of your skin.”

  “I want to go, too.”

  Drusus nodded. “Very good. I’m glad to know you’ll both be available to my father, as well as Ulixes, if warranted. I’m unable to go with the battalion so will rely heavily on you to keep me informed of the truth of things.”

  Everyone remained quiet for a few moments as the ramifications of what transpired clicked home. Drusus was, in effect, the emperor until his father returned. It was gut-wrenching to think he might not.

  Drusus cleared his throat. “We’ll leave you now. I want to get back and check on the progress. Luna, welcome to your ancestral home. Don’t let this latest news dampen your stay. We’re thrilled to have you amongst us. My Avelina had a room prepared for you and Cato. We want you both to join us tonight at dinner.” He glanced to Kallon and Maxim. “That includes you both as well. Severus will contact you on the time.” He pushed away from the wall and halted when every male in the room stood straight as a board and slapped their palms to their chests. They balled their fists over their hearts and bowed deeply to him. His voice came out low and strained.