Prince of Cats (11 page)

As she made an attempt to flee, Bray pulled her so that her back was pressed into his chest. 
H
is arms wrapped like a python around her body and prevented her from striking out at him. 

Damn his massive arm
s
!
 

Neomee wr
iggled against him trying to free herself, but froze as he whisp
ered in her ear, “Keep that up lily
and we’ll need
to excuse ourselves
before we meet with the Priest
.” 

She didn’t
have to guess at his meaning when
he held her firmly with one arm while the other hand slid down the length of her body and back up skimming her most intimate par
ts through her sheer white gown, exciting her in a way she was relieved he’d never know.

“Stop it!” 
Neomee
spat venomously.  Her face tinged crimson as the Cats lining either side of the
altar room
rumbled at Bray’s public display.  She could literally feel sexual tension
materialize as if the room had
been misted with pheromones.  The Cats eyed her greedily
, jostling each other
as she
passed
.  Neomee leaned back into Bray, leery of the Cats.
 

She jumped, startled as Bray roared then hissed at the Ca
ts lining the wall, “MINE!” he roared
. 

Neomee disagreed, but had no intention of saying
so
.
 

Bray stopped in the middle of the room and held Neomee in place as a wooden door against the back of t
he room opened and an impossibly
tall man dressed in a long black tunic entered the room.  The Cats fell silent.

Chapter 11

“So, this is the slave who would attempt to escape our House of Cats?  Bring her closer.” 

Bray still held Neomee trapped in his massive arms as he ushered her forward, leaning to whisper in her ear, “Whatever transpires, do not speak.”

The Priest
pulled back his upper lip in a disgusted sneer
as Bray approached with Neomee
, “The cost of
your
impudence is death.  And so it shall be done.”  Raising his hand, the Priest stopped at Bray’s interruption.

“I have claimed her
.
  We are bound.
”

The Priest looked from
Bray to Neomee
appalled
.  His eyes quickly went to the collar around
her
neck
before flicking down the
length of her body then back up.  Clear
disdain
registered on his face
. 
“But, she is a
slave
.  Why would a Cat seek out a slave?
  They are but play things, not a proper mate!
” 

“
It matters not.  My Cat has chosen her and it cannot be undone.”

Neomee’s heart raced at the exchange. 
Seconds ago she was to die, now she was being claimed? 
What did that mean?  She’d prefer death to being a possession. 
Should I
speak at this or do as Bray ha
s
instructed
?
 
She
cleared her throat
preparing
to step forward but Bray held her in place, his vice-like grip
tightening
. 

The Priest saw the unspoken exchange and he smiled wickedly at Bray, “Delightful!  She does not wish to be
bound
.
  Is it so?  My child do you desire to be mated to this Cat?” 

Neomee could feel the tension rise in the room as the Cats leaned in, but she said nothing as she stood glaring at the Priest.
 
Mated?

“And what of you
,
my Prince of Cats?  Do you truly desire to be mated or are you simply toying with me, trying to save this, this…
thing
?”

Bray’s voice came
out
commanding
, “My Cat has chosen her.”

The Priest
’
s unexpected laug
h bounced off the high ceiling
ed
altar room.  “Well this changes thi
ng
s now doesn’t it?” 
Steepling
his fingers
, he
smiled down
at
Neomee, “You see my child, once a Cat has chosen a mate
and has
bound
himself
to that mate
,
it cannot be undone.  A
nd should anyone
,
and I do mean
anyone
,
attempt to even touch that mate, the Cat would
be
within his right to devour the offending individual.  That being said, there still is the matter of your attempted escape, which cannot go
unrecognized.”  The Priest then looked from Neomee to Bray with a sinister grin, “Suggestions Bray?”

“Release her to me and I will see that she is punished.”

Neomee swallo
wed hard
.
  How had she gotten herself in this deep. 
I should have waited!
  She knew there was a chance that Bray had been watching her, but there would not be another festival again anytime soon.  She’d been too eager and now it would cost her dearly.
 

The Priest laughed again, “I had hoped you’d be more creative.  Perhaps
…
a display
for your brethren?” 

The Cats lining the wall hummed with murmurs
, jostling each other as they made to step closer.

“
Never
!
” Bray growled. 

Neomee had heard of the ‘display’. 
Her belly dropped at the thought. 
S
abah
had experienced it
and perhaps it explained
Sabah’s
willingness to allow the Cats and Slave Master to use her body at will. 

“It is sensual,” Sabah had boasted, “The Cats fighting each other just fill every one of your openings.” 

The thought had been terrifying to Neomee but Bast had been intrigued.  “All the Cats?  That must have taken hours.”

“No!” Sabah had chastised, “Several of them fill you at once.  Only the ones that successfully claim a position will spill their seed into you.  A Cat will not enter you where another has spent his release.  It is a battle for
positioning.  It is erotic!”

“I do not think I could handle two Cats at once,” Bast shook her head in dismay.

“Two,” Sabah’s features split into a wide grin
as she
bragged
, “I pleased three cats!”

“Three?” Neomee and Bast gasped in unison.

Eyeing the Cats in the room with her now, Neomee’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest at the prospect of even just one of them attempting to mount her or force her to use her mouth to give them pleasure.  Her eyes flicked
up
to Bray and
she turned slightly to
quickly swe
e
p
her gaze
down his
bronzed
body. 
He’s the only one I’d ever permit to touch me.
 

The thought of her
domineering
Prince Cat bending her over and
mounting
her sent a thrill racing down her spine.  She imagined his hips slapping against her ass
and the sound ricocheting off the walls as his
brothers and the Priest
stood witness
. 
She was startled to discover that the thought
actually aroused her
…
and that was all it took.

“THERE!”  The Priest shouted. 
“
Can you smell it?  She does not object!
  While it would be more entertaining if she did.
”
  The Priest licked his lips as he looked down the length of Neome
e
suddenly not so repulsed by her appearance
before repeating in a sinister tone
of confirmation
, “She does not object.
  She wants it.
”

Neomee
paled and
gasped in shock, “
Yes I do!
”

The Cats groaned hungrily,
greedily
and stepped
closer.

“OBJECT.  Y
-Y
ES I DO O
-O
BJECT!” 
She
shouted as she
pressed her body harder into Bray
’s solid form at her back
.  The temperature in the room felt as though it had increased
a thousand
degrees in two seconds.  Sweat beaded Neomee’s forehead. 
What on earth
do they smell
?
  The sexual tension in the room was nearly tangible.

“ENOUGH!”  Bray roared.  “Get back!”  He demanded in a low growl.  “There will be no display.
  I will not share.
”

Share?
 
She’d forgotten that there would be more Cats vying for entrance to her body
.
  The thought sobered her quickly as she shrunk even closer to Bray’s chest.

The Cats relaxed back into themselves and seemed to
ease
their approach. 

The Priest looked disappointed,
h
is eyes flitting
from the Cats to Bray
.
“Fine
. 
If you’ll not punish her with a display for your brethren, then s
he’ll
have to
accept the punishment
that would be meted out
for any
favored slave who belongs to a Cat
.” 

“She is not just my favored slave Priest.  She is more than a play thing.  I have claimed her!” 

The Priest turned to smirk at Hondo before responding, “
It is my understanding that she attempted to escape
before
you claimed her.”

Amon, what does that have to do with anything? 
She felt Bray tense behind her.

“When she committed her crime she was not yet a claimed mate, which merely makes her your favored play thing.  The laws protecting mates does not apply to her.”

Bray spoke through gnashed teeth, “If they do not apply then why offer the option for a display?”

The Priest shrugged negligently, “For amusement.”  He
turned and
ascended the steps to the altar.  Raising his voice and his arms to the gallery he spoke evenly, “Will it be pleasure or pain?”

“It’s the same and you know it!” Bray spat at the Priest.

What? 
Neomee’s head spun, she had no idea what she was being asked. 

The Priest lowered his head to look evenly at Bray as his lips fought to hide his grin, “It is not.  The difference between a display and pleasure is the difference between fifteen men and one.
”  The Priest shifted his gaze from Bray to Neomee, “
Choose my child.”

Trembling, Neomee
slowly
turned in Brays arms,
“What does he mean by pleasure?”

Leaning in, Bray put his lips to Neomee’s ear, “It’ll be exquisite, but you’ll be on display for all to witness
, but there will only be one man
.
  You will be forced to submit.
”

“And the one man?”
Neomee bit her lip
as she dropped her gaze to her hands
, her heart thundering in her ears
.

“Me.”

Neomee didn’t raise her eyes,
“And by pain
he means
?”

“
Thrashing
with a whip.  It’ll be pain that you won’t be able to endure.”
  Bray lifted his hands and cupped Neomee’s face, forcing her to look at him.
 
“I wo
uldn’t hurt you Neomee, it won’t
be so bad.  Trust me.”

She pulled away.
  Her
face flushed with the fear of the choice
she must make.
  Her options were either
Bray and his brothers fight to have an orgy with her, allow just Bray to mount her in front of everyone, or take the whipping.  Her shoulders slumped.  As erotic as the image of Bray taking her had been earlier it was now terrifying
when she actually
consider
ed
performing the deed
in front of the other Cats and the Priest.