Wild Magic Two: The Dark of the Sun- a M/M shifter fantasy romance

6- Kitten

CAIN—

"Lady Sera is beautiful," a voice slurred directly into my ear. I rolled my eyes as his body pressed against my back heavily, as if he had lost his footing. I could smell the wine on his breath, could almost taste it in the air around him, and I wasn't surprised when I turned in my chair to glare up into the very glassy eyes of the Emperor.

"No," I growled, my beast so close to the surface I could hear him in my own voice. And I could tell the Emperor could too, for he stumbled back and plopped his ass onto a chair across from me.

I sat at one of the tables in the banquet hall, one of only a few remaining wedding guests. I had wanted to wait until Edon and the prince left to take my leave, but once they had I'd begun to notice the Emperor's increasing inebriation and stayed.

Because my beast demanded it no matter how much my rational mind rebelled.

"Excuse me?" the Emperor hiccuped, his hand on his chest, looking very much the offended lady.

"She's not for you. Find someone else to warm your bed for the night."

The idea of the Emperor with Lady Sera had my hackles raised and my beast growling in my chest so loudly it slipped past my lips.

I couldn't tell which— Lady Sera or the Emperor— the growl was directed at.

The flash of emotions that played across the Emperor's face had my breath catching. The tear that slipped down his cheek was like a flashing alarm for my beast. He bit and clawed, trying to escape; forcing my body forward, leaning so close to the man I could feel his hot, tear-scented breaths on my skin.

"You think very..." he hiccuped, swaying, before continuing, "very little of me, don't you, Cain?"

I stayed silent, watching him, unsure how to move forward. He was crying? He had been flirting with me, playing with someone much lower in status because it could never be serious. And now he was crying?

Why?

"I wasn't asking for myself, but for you. I was congratla-congrach- congratulating," he managed on the third try, "you on your sweetheart. Nothing more. She's... she's beautiful."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. He wasn't the first to assume, and although Lady Sera had told me multiple times it didn't bother her, I knew it couldn't be good for her reputation for so many to think she was slumming with a castle guard.

"She's not mine. I'm not hers."

My words were simple and clear, brokering no confusion, but the look in the Emperor's eyes was all uncertainty and doubt.

"She looked very comfortable in your arms. And you seemed... calm in hers."

"Calm?" I choked out. When was I not calm?

"Relaxed? Not so on edge? Safe?" he listed off, drawing his wine goblet up to his lips before seeming to realize it was empty as he set it down with a frown. "Need more wine."

His voice was no more than a whine, but I shook my head.

Gods, nobles could be a handful.

"I think you've had enough, your majesty. Would you like me to escort you to your bedchambers?"

"Gods yes," he moaned as he slumped toward me and licked his lips silkily.

"To put you to bed alone, your majesty, because it's my job to ensure the safety of the castle's occupants and the prince's guests. The answer to your advances is still no."

He frowned, but the teasing glint was back in his eyes, the tears and sulking seemingly forgotten.

"That's too bad. I'm even more flexible when I'm drunk."

The shiver that dripped down my spine drew goose flesh on my neck and arms.

I shook off the picture in my head— the Emperor, bent in half as I pounded into him, his body twisted under and around me, as flexible as he had claimed— and stood. I held my hand out to him, waiting patiently as he studied me.

"Thank you, kitten," he murmured, taking my hand.

It took everything in me to keep a hold on his hand and not drop it like a hot coal. Because at the nickname, my beast sat up and roared, and it took all of my concentration to keep the damn cat from pouncing through my skin and tackling the Emperor, marking him, claiming him, devouring him.

Mine! he roared, his claws fully exposed and digging into the earth beneath him, his tail flicking in furious rage at my reluctance. My human emotions angering him. Mine! Claim! Mate! Mark! Claim! Mine!

My beast continued screeching in my very soul, rending his claws against my concentration, as I propped the Emperor up and made my way through the halls to his bedchamber. Again, his guards seemed to be missing, and I wondered if they were just terrible at their job, or if he ordered them to leave him to his own devices.

The fuck that would continue if I was the one in charge of his safety. If I was someone with less morals, or even just a little more greed, the Emperor was completely helpless in my arms. I could rob him, kidnap him for ransom, rape him. There was nothing he could do to stop me.

Mine! my beast hissed at the idea of any others touching him, hurting him, claiming him.

Shut up! He's not mine! He never can be! I yelled back, flinching at the heat in my chest. The closer the Emperor pressed to me, the harder it was to fight my beast back. 

Mine! he screamed back almost mindlessly.

By the time I reached the Emperor's rooms, I was exhausted both physically and mentally, my thighs quivering as I kicked the doors open and dragged the taller but much smaller man across the threshold.

He mumbled something, but even I couldn't hear it. I threw him atop the bed, not bothering to pull the blankets back, before turning away. I was stopped with thin, nimble fingers digging into my wrist.

"Stay. We don't have to... have to fuck," he whispered, his voice almost silent as his eyes drifted open and closed as he visibly fought to stay conscious. When his eyes were open, they seared into me as if seeing straight through me. "But stay. Hold me. I'm so cold. Always... always so cold. And alone. Always cold and alone. I don't want to be alone anymore, Cain."

My body, soul, and heart moved inexorably towards the bed, reaching out to the visibly pained man who writhed on the bed for me. The man who was so much more, had so much more depth than I had seen before.

But my mind, scarred more than my skin, broken by betrayal and barely healed from that agony, drove my body backwards almost violently until I hit the wall next the door with a painful jolt.

"I can't," I snarled, twisting to push through the door and out of the Emperor's rooms.