A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) (11 page)

“I don’t want to continue discussing this,” she said.

“I don’t think you have any choice.”

“Oh, but I do,” she corrected.

Areo used her feline speed to zoom past Sev. She came to a halt at the base of a large tree. Grateful to be wearing a pair of tan shorts, she carefully and skillfully climbed to the highest point in the tree and stretched out, unworried about exposing her bottom.

She watched the fluffy white clouds drift across a light-blue sky. From the sun’s position, she guessed it was around noon. Sev did not follow her this time. A part of her was relieved. She did not want another confrontation. The other part of her was in shambles. She had hoped and prayed that when they met up again, things would be different.

In her fantasies, Areo had created the ideal life with Sev. She had dreamt of them living in a world where no one cared if she was of two races. A place she could call home. A place where she could belong, as she did on Aaren. No one on Aaren questioned who she was. No one cared who her parents were. Everyone respected
her. Trusted her. Depended on her. And that was why she had to return. They needed her. And she needed them.

Her nose picked up an out-of-place odor. Areo sniffed the air, trying to pinpoint its origin. She saw it then. At a distance, a spiral of black smoke curled upward. Without a moment’s hesitation, she began to leap from one tree branch to another. At the end of the forest, she jumped to the ground and sped toward the fire.

Fear suddenly grabbed a hold of her heart as she realized where she was—smack in the middle of the Feron village. A few feet in front of her appeared Sev. He was shouting orders. She quickly hooked her translator on. She searched and found the Seacats assisting the fleeing Ferons and putting out the house fires. For a moment she stood transfixed, watching Sev, uncertain how he would react in a crisis. She found herself impressed by his command of leadership.

A high-pitched squeal pierced the air. To her left, a Feron lay trapped beneath a collapsed table with burning rubble on top. Areo hurried over to him. She kicked as much of the debris as she could off the table. Then she reached for the Feron to pull him out. Another explosion erupted. The violent tremors flung more burning debris onto them.

Areo quickly shielded the Feron’s head and upper body and cursed whoever started the fire. When nothing else fell, she yanked the Feron out.

“Go! Get out of here,” she instructed, after she had him standing on wobbly legs.

She watched the soot-covered weasel scurry to safety on all fours. Taking a deep breath, Areo placed her hands on her knees, intending to stand. Someone seized her right arm and yanked her upward.

“What in the blazes are you doing here?” asked Sev. “Are you out of your cat’s meow? Get out of here. You could get hurt!”

“I can’t. These Ferons need help.”

“And they will receive it from us Seacats.”

Areo sharply inhaled. Sev’s words stung like the lashing of a whip across her back. He was the last person she had thought capable of racialism. She yanked her arm free from his grasp, not
wanting to be touched by him. “I may not be a
Seacat,
but I’m no coward.” She brushed past him in search of where her services were needed.

The Seacats did their best to keep the flames from reaching the untouched homes, but they failed. They were at a loss to why the fire continued to burn. Something was not right.

After she finished aiding an injured Feron, Areo tried to reach Sev. She had noticed a suspicious being near one of the burning homes. Just as she was about to place her hand on his arm, she heard a terrifying screech. The two went in search of the source and came upon a two-story wooden hut. Areo listened carefully as Miko explained to Sev that Erra was unable to get Seon out. He was still upstairs in his basket.

Flames filled the entire first floor, barring their entrance. Sev, Jugar, and Miko tried to enter the burning home by vaulting off the ground and onto the second-floor windows. The smoke was too thick for them to enter. Fern tried to help, while Erra continued her high-pitched squalling.

Areo figured Fern must be little Seon’s sire, since he was the only Feron trying to enter the crumbling abode. Many of the tiny beings were beside themselves with grief over what they felt was the certain death of Erra’s only offspring.

There was no time to waste. Areo ran to the back of the house. She faced the wall and began to take deep, even breaths. She concentrated. Areo scanned the hut’s interior with her heightened senses to locate Seon. She found him. It was time to use one of her unique gifts. She phased through the back wall and entered a room nearly engulfed by swirling flames and crumbling objects. Areo concentrated harder to keep the flames from burning her flesh. The smoke was dense and choking. Areo coughed and gasped for breath.

She found the stairs that led to the second floor. They had collapsed. Areo scanned the second floor with her senses in search of a spot untouched by fire. Dodging the falling debris, she hurried to the opposite side of the room. She then crouched, jumped, and phased through the ceiling onto the second floor beside Seon’s crib.

In between her coughs, Areo heard the baby’s weak wailing. Seon was suffocating. Areo snatched Seon out of his bed and sheltered him with her body. There was a loud crack followed by a crash. The ceiling behind her had collapsed. Time was running out. Areo jumped and phased through the remaining ceiling and landed on the rooftop.

She swiftly ran to the front end of the hut. Someone yelled down below. Areo viewed the scene around her. Plumes of fire and smoke made her cough harder and squint, distorting her vision. Blurred shapes scurried back and forth. The world spun around her. Areo teetered. She heard a faint, familiar voice calling out her name. There was another crash behind her. The remaining roof she stood on was about to give. There was nowhere for her to run. She was trapped.

Areo had no choice but to jump before the roof succumbed to the flames. There was no time to worry about what anyone would think if she leapt off the roof. Her body tingled as the blood rushed through her veins. Areo felt like she was about to faint; the darkness was closing in fast. She fought against it. Hearing her name called repeatedly reminded her of who she was—a Seacat. She needed to get Seon to safety—that was her first priority. Areo used her powerful legs to spring off and away from the edge of the roof.

Sev’s racing heart halted when Areo jumped off the collapsing roof. In slow motion, he watched her small frame soar through the air, rotate, then land and roll on the hard ground. Once her body came to a full stop, she remained still.

Sev was the first to reach Areo’s side. He grabbed the infant from her embrace and practically threw the tiny ball of fur into Miko’s hands. He turned back to Areo, but Jugar had already lifted her limp body into his arms.

“What are you doing?” Sev tried to take her from Jugar. “Where are you taking her? Areo!”

Jugar would not release her. “No, Sev! You have to get back to the fire. You and the Seacats must help the Ferons. I will care for Areo.”

“No!” Sev barked. “She is mine!”

“Restrain yourself!” Jugar yanked Areo from Sev’s grasp. “You are the Lord of Oceanica, or have you forgotten that? You are needed here! I will take care of Areo.”

“Sev, Jugar is right. We need you here,” confirmed Miko, placing a hand on Sev’s right shoulder.

Sev’s panic-stricken mind registered Jugar’s seething glare. Between heaving breaths, he managed a curt nod.

An anxious Sev ran through the metallic corridors of his home. He was more determined than ever to keep Areo safe by his side. He arrived at Medical Wing C and entered her private room unannounced. He found Areo fast asleep in her oversize bed. Her lowered lashes looked like crescent smiles on her angelic face. His heart pounded faster.

After Jugar had whisked her away, he could not stop thinking about what he would have done had she gotten killed in the flames. Sev rushed through saving the village, for his heart was no longer in it. It had left with Jugar. The Ferons were his allies. He wished them no harm and would always aid them. But during the entire crisis, his thoughts were on how much he wanted to be with Areo.

Areo’s serene features brought him peace. Sev knew then he could not relinquish her. He weaved his fingers gently through her hair and lowered his mouth over hers. His tongue sensually outlined her lips. On the fourth slow stroke, it was captured.

He moaned and eagerly engaged Areo in a steamy dual. She made him feel alive, igniting a fire in him that burned hotter and wilder than the fire at the Feron village. Sev pressed her shoulders into the mattress. He sprung off the floor and covered her like a blanket with his large frame.

Areo reached for his shirt and pulled him closer. Sev growled. He quickly threw her covers off and seized her curves. His mouth branded Areo his as it first paid homage to one breast, then the
other. He took his time moving up and down Areo’s elegant neck, inhaling her scent and tasting her skin.

He reached for her top’s drawstring. Areo made no move to stop him. Sev tugged the cord. The sides fell apart. His fiery gaze bore into a blazing brown one as he removed her blouse. Cupping both beautiful mounds, Sev covered a puckered tip with his hungry mouth.

He was incapable of coherent thought. Intense energy surged through his being. His body trembled with its sheer force and his eyes ignited brilliantly. Sev nudged Areo’s legs apart with his right knee. A second scent reached his nose. It was her arousal. Sev wrapped his arms around her waist and purred into her mouth.

Areo felt light-headed. Her flesh tingled. This had been her dream for years—to be within her lover’s arms once more. She savored the feel of Sev between her legs, thrusting forward. His urgency fueled her desire for him. Each jolt of his powerful hips demonstrated how much he wanted her. And Areo longed to encase him.

Sev’s rapacious mouth over her breasts, sucking, biting, made Areo feel delicious. His wicked tongue flicked over two hardened nubs. Areo shivered with delight. She treasured every precious movement, each loving gesture, and every passionate kiss he bestowed upon her.

“Sev.” Her hips matched his, movement for movement.

Sev framed her face within his big hands to peer into her glowing eyes—her soul. “I never meant to insult you. Don’t ever think that your mixed blood means anything to me. All that matters is, do you want me?”

“Yes! God, yes!” Areo admitted in a sexually frustrated voice.

She pulled Sev’s head down for a planetary kiss. She flattened her feet on the bed and lifted her hips hard against him. Sev growled into her mouth. He pushed off. Areo helped him remove his sword and shirt. While he fumbled with the strings to her shorts, Areo explored each smooth muscle on his stomach, chest, and arms.

She detected a faint beep. She saw Sev’s wristguards and knew what the sound was. Her heart, which had been overflowing with happiness, began to crumble. Fate was against her.

“Sev, someone is calling you.”

“Blast-it string!” Sev extended his claws and tore it. “I won’t let it keep me from claiming you.” He pulled the sides open and tugged downward.

“Sev, stop.” Areo placed her hands over his to keep him from going lower. “We have to stop.”

Sev pulled the shorts lower, exposing her. He growled with hunger.

Areo covered her sex with her right hand. “Sev, stop!” she said more forcibly. “We can’t go on. There’s someone trying to contact you through your wristguards.”

“What do you mean we can’t go on? I want you. More than you will ever know.” Sev grabbed her wrist and removed her hand. He growled with unbridled passion as he stared at her exposed pubic area.

“And I want
you.
But we can’t do this.”

“Why not?” Sev unexpectedly yanked the shorts to her knees. “I need you.” He quickly pressed his arousal against her pubic bone and kissed her.

They were playing with fire. Areo could not let it continue. She had no power to resist Sev when he kissed her. She pulled her lips away and pushed at his chest. “Get off me, please.”

“Princess—”

“I’m sorry. But you are the Lord of Oceanica. And I am nothing but a half-breed.”

Anger swiftly erupted in Sev’s eyes. “Don’t say that to me! You are a woman.” He roughly pushed ten digits into her curls. “The woman I desperately desire.” He kissed her.

Areo whimpered. She tasted Sev’s hunger, his need, his passion. If she did not get the cat off her, all would be lost. With a mighty shove sideways, she pushed Sev onto the bed and quickly rolled off the opposite side.

She yanked her pants up and crossed her arms over her breasts. “I think you’d better leave,” she said between heaving breaths.

Sev’s expression showed stunned disbelief. “What?”

“You heard me. I also think you had better refamiliarize yourself with Oceanan laws. There’s something you missed. Something you need to know.”

“Like what?”

“Like the way things work around here.”

“What do you mean?”

Areo lowered her eyes. “I’m not the woman meant to share your bed.”