Skin Walkers Conn (34 page)

Neomee
was actually trembling when the Cat turned to face her.  She didn’t raise her eyes as the Cat lifted a strong hand to her cheek and slid it down.  Strong fingers lifted her chin until her eyes met his. Then his index finger swiped across her chin to wipe the blood that trickled there.  As the Prince lifted the bloody finger to his mouth and sucked the blood from his finger,
Neomee
slowly backed away.
 

Turning, she quickly strode to the far wall to take her place among the slaves that waited there.  Typically the slaves would line the wall and stand quietly, eyes averted, until the Cats had finished their meal. 

Finding her place,
Neomee
filled in her position and turned to face the dining hall, eyes still averted, body still trembling.  None of the slaves were permitted to speak or even move. 

A chorus of murmurs rose in the dining hall as the Cats were finally able to commence their evening meal. 

Standing against the wall,
Neomee
could still feel the Prince Cat’s eyes as they bore into her.  She wondered if he still watched her or if the feeling was just residual from his earlier intense scrutiny that had left her feeling electrified.

Several minutes into the meal,
Neomee
decided enough time had passed.  She had to know.  Slowly, she let her eyes slide over to the Cat…Prince. 
Amon
!
  Their eyes locked and again
Neomee
felt electricity coursing through her body.  The Prince starred back. 

Neomee
knew she should look down, but could not.  What was that expression he was wearing?  Anger?  Hatred?  Pity?  No. 
Neomee’s
face paled with the realization as she tore her eyes away and looked down. 
Desire
.  Unmistakable, unbidden, desire. 

Granted she w
as
a slave and the lowest form of life existing in the temple, hell even the scorpions were revered, but slave or not she was still a woman, and she knew desire when she read it on a man’s face. 

For the remainder of the meal,
Neomee
fought her urge to look back to the Prince, but she knew he never took his eyes from her.  Her skin bristled knowing he still watched her. 

Dinner seemed to drag on forever.  Finally as Cats rose and began to trickle out of the dining hall,
Neomee
still refused to raise her eyes.  Starring down at her sandaled feet, concentrating too hard,
Neomee’s
head snapped up as the slave next to her inhaled sharply. 

Amon
! 
The Prince Cat was approaching.  Quickly,
Neomee
dropped her gaze to the floor and even as the Prince stopped and stood mere inches in front of her, she refused to look up.  She could feel the tension in her fellow slaves on either side of her and noted that they inched away.  Wringing her hands behind her back, her breath caught as the Prince leaned in and sniffed her.

Whoa!
 

About the Author

Susan Bliler, a Legal Services Investigator for the State of Montana,
is a member of the
Gros
Ventre
and Assiniboine tribes of Northern Montana
.

She is a graduate of the University of Great Falls, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Paralegal Studies and minored in Criminal Justice.

She lives in Great
F
alls, Montana, with her husband
and two dogs
.

Visit her at SusanBliler.com for exclusive excerpts of soon to be released works.