Werecat Avenue (8 page)

Gretchen walked into the kitchen to find Cam
making more food. It looked to be some kind of soup in a large
pot.

“
Smells good, what is
it?”

“
An old family recipe,
flower soup. Many Fae including my grandmother are
vegan.”

“
Are you vegan too?”
Gretchen asked. Gretchen, like all Werecats, was a big meat eater
but it smelled delicious and Gretchen was starving.

“
I’m not Vegan but I don’t
eat a lot of meat generally. I could take it or leave it. Would you
like some soup? It’s ready now.”

“
Yes, please that would be
great. I couldn’t imagine not having my steak and hamburgers.”
Gretchen laughed as she got a bowls for the soup. Cam scooped out
two hearty helpings for herself and Gretchen. They sat at the table
and began eating. Gretchen was surprised how good it tasted. She
had never tasted soup like that before. They continued eating when
there was a knock at the front door.

“
Keep eating, I’ll see who
that is,” Gretchen said to Cam as she left the kitchen. Richard
beat her to the door and was standing there with a scowl on his
face. Gretchen looked and saw it was Tanek.

“
Go away vampire, we don’t
want your kind here.”

“
I have come to call upon
Gretchen; I thought she might enjoy an evening walk.”

“
Richard, I believe I am
capable of speaking for myself.” Gretchen smiled at Tanek standing
at her door. He was looking handsome as ever. She never pictured
herself with a vampire, but why not?

“
Gretchen, you aren’t
seriously going out with this guy. He's the walking dead. Mom would
kill you.”

“
Don't worry about mom,
besides you will have Cam all to yourself if I leave for a while.
She's in the kitchen and I'm sure she would love to feed you some
soup she made.” Richard didn’t like the idea of his sister dating a
dead guy. As much as he hated it, he knew if he gave Gretchen much
more grief about it she might throw him out.

“
Vampire, you keep your
fangs and your hands to yourself.”

“
On my honor your sister
will be treated like the lady that she is.”

“
Never forget it.” Richard
left obviously unhappy. Gretchen stepped outside and joined Tanek
on the porch. Her house had a large country style porch, perfect
for sitting on a nice evening.

“
I can’t be too long. I
have work at midnight.”

“
Don’t worry about that,
Penny will cover for you until you show up. That is if you want to
show up. Either way, I’m paying you plus tips.”

“
That’s nice of you but I
don’t want any special treatment.”

Tanek smiled and held out his hand to her.
“Let’s go for our walk, shall we?” Tanek asked

“
Sure why not.” Gretchen
took his hand and was surprised how warm it was. She always thought
vampires would have a cold touch. Tonight he wore his blonde
shoulder length hair down. It blew gently in the breeze and
reminded Gretchen of a cover on one of the romance novels she loved
to read. He was dressed much more casually than she was used to
seeing him and she liked seeing him this way. He had on a black
shirt with black jeans. He looked very much the part of a
vampire.

“
Do all vampires like
black?” She asked.

“
Well, I’ve never thought
about it but we do seem to favor darker colors. Where should we
walk? I’m not familiar with this neighborhood.”

“
There is a path over here
that leads to some woods. I love to run in the woods in my cat
form.”

“
Would you like to run as a
cat? Don’t worry, vampires are very fast; I can keep
up.”

Gretchen didn’t know why but that idea
excited her and she wanted to see if he could really keep up.

“
That actually sounds like
a lot of fun. I normally run with Monroe but this would be a nice
change.”

*****

Cam sat at the table as she continued eating
her flower soup. She started thinking about her grandmother and the
time they spent picking flowers and vegetable to make soup. She
lived in a remote cottage far away from the other villages in the
kingdom. Her grandmother had always warned her to stay away from
the Fae of the court that they could never be trusted. Her mother
grew up in the country with her grandmother; she met her father on
one of their rare trips to gather supplies from the closest
village. He immediately fell in love with her and they were married
shortly after. Cam often wondered what she would be doing if she
had never met the King. Would she be married and living a happy
simple life? Cam knew the king was madly in love with her but she
wasn’t sure anymore if she really loved him or if she got caught up
in the excitement of being loved by the King.

Richard entered the kitchen and sat next to
Cam as she ate her soup. Cam looked up at him and wondered if he
saw through the Fae mist like his sister.

“
Hello Richard, How are you
tonight.”

“
Oh I’m doing much better
now that I get to sit with you.” He smiled.

“
Richard can I ask you a
question?” Cam asked as she continued eating.

“
You can always ask me
anything.” He was hoping she would ask if he was single or
something that would show she was interested but he knew that was
unlikely.

“
What color does my hair
look like to you?”

“
It is the most stunning
color of red I have ever seen. And your eyes are a lovely shade of
blue.”

“
You are like your sister,
you can see through Fae mist.”

“
What is Fae mist?” Richard
asked confused.

“
Fae like myself are able
to look more like humans so we can blend in. Humans normally think
I have brown hair and eyes. But you can see my red hair. You are
different and special like Gretchen.” Cam grabbed Richards’s hand
and felt a heat go through her body. She looked at Richard and saw
a desire in his eyes she had never seen in any man or Fae. Even the
king had never shown her such a look.

“
Cam, I don’t know what to
say. I should go, um….” He abruptly got up from the table and left
the kitchen.

*****

Blake was walking away from the Fae family
the young Fae had told him about. They had no idea where Cam went
but they didn’t seem too sad to see her go. It was getting late and
he got a lead from the family that she sold furniture to the
antique shops and consignment stores. They were all closed at this
hour; he would have to check back tomorrow. His phone started
ringing; he looked at the caller id and saw it was Autumn. He
decided this wasn’t the time to get distracted as tempting as it
was. He thought it was time he checked in with the King; the search
wasn’t going well and he needed some ideas how to proceed.

Blake was walking toward the French quarter
to see the king when he saw a pregnant human; she was short with
brown hair and green eyes. She smiled as she walked across the
street with that pregnant glow human woman were known to have. It
occurred to him that Cam had something in common with all pregnant
women; she would need medical care and supplies for the baby soon.
After he made rounds to the antique stores he would check doctors’
offices and baby stores.

He stepped up to the doorway of the King’s
house and knocked. He heard some voices and some shuffling around
before the door opened and he saw the king standing at the
door.

“
Blake this is unexpected,
please come in.”

Blake entered and immediately sensed
something was off. He sensed another Fae in the home.

“
You are not alone my
king.”

“
That is correct, but you
don’t need to worry yourself about that. What brings you here
tonight?”

“
It is your mistress Cam,
she is not like the criminals I normally hunt. It is more difficult
than I first thought to find her. Normally the other Fae will hand
over a criminal without a second thought. She is sweet and innocent
looking and since I cannot say why I need to find her no one will
trust me. She doesn’t hang out in the normal seedy places criminals
dwell.”

“
I thought it might be
difficult. Keep at it; she loves flower soup so check the local
florist. If that is all, I have my guest to attend to.”

“
Thank you for your
understanding my king.”

“
Stop calling me that, I’m
just Kieran.”

“
Forgive me I forgot,
Kieran.”

Chapter 10

Gretchen walked with Tanek until they
reached her favorite spot, a pond she liked to swim in. Most
Werecats hated water but for some reason in her mother’s side of
the family they all loved it. It was a warm evening and she
couldn’t wait to take off her clothes but was feeling
self-conscious in front of Tanek. Gretchen stood by the pond and
inhaled all the scents of the forest. Here in the woods is where
she always felt at home more than anyplace else.

“
Tanek, could you turn
around so I can get undressed?”

“
Of course, but I’d rather
watch.” He smiled jokingly.

“
I bet you would, just turn
around.”

“
As you wish madam, I am
turning around.”

Gretchen quickly undressed and tossed her
clothes on the ground. Tanek turned around when he heard a cat’s
meow. Gretchen was sitting on the ground in her cat form. She
walked up to Tanek and rubbed his leg and purred. She was now a cat
but she still had the same violet eyes. Tanek picked up her strewn
clothes and neatly folded them.

“
Ready?” Tanek asked.
Gretchen nodded and meowed and immediately started running. Tanek
was keeping up and running right beside her. Gretchen was delighted
that he could keep up. She darted back and forth between
trees.

She climbed up her favorite tree and was
shocked when he climbed up after her. Tanek sat on a branch next to
Gretchen. She climbed onto his lap and started purring. He started
petting her. Gretchen never in her life had ever let anyone pet her
and it felt wonderful. She jumped off the tree and Tanek followed
her. Just as he landed he saw Gretchen change back to human
form.

Gretchen had never done something so bold;
all she could think about was kissing Tanek in the forest
surrounded by all the trees. She pushed him against the tree and
her nipples instantly became erect. She quickly kissed him before
she lost her nerve. She probed him with her tongue; she felt his
fangs descend into her mouth against her tongue as she continued
kissing him. She moaned and she felt the hardness of his erection
through his pants.

Tanek ran his hands along her bare back
making his way down to her round bottom. Gretchen moaned as she
savored the feel of his hands on her bare flesh. She had never had
the hands of a man on her body. Her brothers thought it was
hilarious to scare her dates so bad they wouldn’t even hold her
hand. One of her dates was brave enough to give her an innocent
kiss goodnight and Richard turned into a cat and practically
scratched his face off. This was very nice and long overdue.

Suddenly Gretchen pulled away from the
kiss.

“
Tanek, before we go any
further I need to tell you something.”

“
What is it?” he
asked.

“
I don’t really know how to
say this. Um, well I'm not exactly what you would call
experienced.”

“
I thought you may be a
little inexperienced. It’s okay many women your age have only had a
few lovers.”

“
No, Tanek you don’t
understand. I have never been with a man ever. I’m a
virgin.”

Tanek looked at Gretchen for a moment and
just smiled. “I am honored you would share this with me. I will
never push you into anything you are not ready for.”

“
Thank you Tanek, you’re
the sweet for a vampire.”

“
Not too sweet. I’m hoping
to do a little more kissing before we head back.”

Gretchen loved that idea and pressed herself
up against Tanek and nuzzled his neck. “Kiss me. My sexy vampire”
Gretchen whispered to him.

He pressed his lips against hers, kissing
her ferociously. Gretchen kissed him back tasting him with her
tongue, she moaned as his fangs came down. Tanek dipped his head
capturing her breast in his mouth gently suckling her nipple.
Gretchen felt his fangs scratch her lightly; she never felt
anything like it. Her body was on fire with desire. She wanted more
but at the same time wanted to slow down and not get carried
away.

“
Oh my god, Tanek we need
to stop.” Gretchen moaned.

He stopped immediately and backed off.
Gretchen leaned up against the tree and looked at Tanek with his
blonde hair blowing in the breeze. She knew slowing things down was
the right thing to do. But all she wanted was to feel more of the
fire she felt with him.

“
Let’s head back to the
pond so I can get dressed.”

“
I'll follow you, lead the
way.”

Gretchen changed back to cat form and ran
back to the pond. This time she never looked back to see if Tanek
was following. She ran as fast as her furry legs would carry her
hoping to clear her head. She reached the pond and started dressing
just as Tanek reached the pond. He turned around so she could dress
with some privacy.