Call Me Cat (15 page)

I SAT
BEHIND
Ash, straddling him on his Harley as he called 911. When he hung up he drove me somewhere and said some words but I couldn't think. Nothing penetrated the fog around my mind. All I could do was hold onto him and try to breathe.

The motorcycle stopped
, and he helped me off and led me into a hotel room with one queen bed, a television, dresser and bathroom. Nothing fancy. I had the absurd thought that he took Cat to the most exotic hotels in the world and I got this.

He left the room, saying something I didn't catch, then returned with a
Coke he made me drink while he dabbed something onto my wrists and ankles and wrapped them in bandages. Then he handed me a sandwich from a vending machine and told me to eat.

"Catelyn, listen to me. You're in shock and you need sugar in your system. Eat. Drink."

I did as I was told and felt a carb and sugar rush jolting me awake from my fog. I shook harder, a sob building in my throat. "I killed a man. Oh my God, Ash, what have I done?"

He pulled me against his chest and rubbed my arms and back, murmuring into my ear about how it wasn't my fault and it would all be okay. The warmth, his warmth, finally reached me. The cold that had settled into my bones abated, leaving me craving more of him.

I wrapped my arms around him, resting my face in the nape of his neck, relishing the feel of his skin against my cheek. Lucky would be torturing me right now if not for this man. I would either be carved up and wishing I was dead, or dead.

Looking up into his eyes, I saw him for the first time. This man who put aside his own safety to save those he cared for. Or those who needed his help. This man who had walked away from the safety of his family legacy to carve his own path in life, come what may. This man who looked past the label of
phone sex operator and saw the girl behind the job. This man who carried the weight of his heroism with him everyday.

"Ash—" my voice cracked. I rested a hand on his cheek and he didn't pull away.

"Catelyn… " I could see him resist. He knew what I wanted and he didn't want to take advantage of me while I was vulnerable.

So I took the initiative and kissed him.

The cool mint of his mouth made everything feel right inside of me. When he stopped kissing me I made a disappointed sound.

"Catelyn, you're hurt. In shock. We shouldn't."

"Ash, you have to learn. I make my own decisions. I know what's best for me. And I want you. I need you."

I stood, slipping off the blue dress I'd thought he'd gotten for me, and pulled off my bra and panties, exposing myself to him the way Cat had so many times in our imaginations. I reached for his hand, placing it on my bare breast.

He groaned, his pants showing a visible reaction to my body.

"Make me forget," I said. "Make me forget everything about tonight except this. Just for a few minutes. Just for right now, take me somewhere else."

He nodded and I helped him pull off his shirt as he discarded his jeans.

He explored my body with his hands and mouth, trailing promises across my flesh with tongue and teeth, gentle and demanding all at once. When he bent his head between my legs and slid his tongue into me, nothing in my imagination could have prepared me for the pure pleasure that pulsed through my body.

Everything truly disappeared from my mind, my physical and emotional pain vanishing as he worked my muscles into knots with his tongue and fingers, pushing me closer and closer to the point of no return.

When I came, I grabbed his head, pushing his tongue deeper into me and screaming his name as the spasms rocked me. Not all orgasms are created equal, I learned in that moment.

He gave me no time to recover as he moved his body over mine, trailing kisses up my abdomen and breasts until his cock rubbed against my wet pussy.

He pushed into me slowly at first, easing the massive girth of his cock in one inch at a time.

A dull ache formed, then a sharp pain as he pushed through my virginity, and then another wave of pleasure crashed over me as he rubbed my clit while thrusting himself in and out.

"Oh God, Catelyn, you're so tight." He looked close to coming and I needed more.

I reached for his ass, pulling him harder into me, my nails digging into him as I begged for him to go faster, harder, deeper. I wanted to feel him throughout my body, claiming me as his. His release rocked us both, and I came again, clutching him as I lost control.

He held me after, arms wrapped around me as his fingers ran through my hair.
I'd given myself to him fully, but he still didn't know my secret. Guilt tickled my gut and kept me on the edge of sleep as I worried over how to tell Ash the truth.

I opened my mouth, ready to confess everything, when someone banged on our hotel door.
"Police, open up!"

WE DRESSED QUICKLY
and he noticed the stain of blood on the sheets. He looked at me, wide-eyed. "Did I hurt you? Did he hurt you?"

He looked ready to bring Lucky back to life just to kill him again. I shook my head. "It
… it was my first time. I'm not hurt."

He stopped buck
ling his pants and then pulled me into another hug. "Oh, Catelyn. Why didn't you tell me? This should have been so much better for you. I could have made it so much better."

Tears stung my eyes. "It was perfect. You were perfect."

He kissed me deeply and wiped away a tear. "The next time will be magical, I promise."

I smiled and pulled on my jacket and
heels, my heart practically jumping out of my chest at the knowledge that he wanted there to be a next time. It sunk when I realized he might not feel the same way after learning the truth about me.

We let the police in and our room became smaller as Detective Gray, his pot-bellied partner and a female officer filled the space.

Detective Gray looked at my wounds and frowned. "We have medics coming, but the weather is making it hard for everyone to get through. We found Lucky's body and everything was as Mr. Davenport described. I need you to tell me everything that happened."

I did, starting with the dress and note. When Ash heard that, he looked crushed.

Detective Gray turned on him. "Tell me again how you happened upon her in the middle of nowhere?"

"I told you already. I got a text from a blocked number saying if I wanted to see her alive again, to come to that location. It said if I called
the police, she'd be killed immediately. I didn't want to risk it, so I came alone."

The woman took
Ash's phone and dropped it in a plastic baggie as evidence.

After getting both of our statements, the police packed up and stood to leave. "I need to get back to the crime scene," Detective Gray said. "We'll dust for prints, collect evidence, try to make sense of all this and see if we can lay your parents' death at
Lucky's feet as well."

"It has to be him, doesn't it?" I asked.

"It seems likely, but we just need to make sure it all adds up," he said.

I nodded and Ash wrapped his arm around me.

"I'm leaving Officer Larsen here until the medics arrive and check you out. If you need me, she can reach me," Gray said.

They left, and Larsen stood by the door talking quietly on her phone. I excused myself for the bathroom, using the privacy to clean up from my first sexual encounter. As the endorphins from my orgasms and the adrenaline from my capture left me, my body succumbed to all the aches and pains those chemical reactions had kept hidden
, and I gripped the sink to keep from passing out.

Ash found me, pale and shaking, and called for the medics, who had just arrived. My breath came too fast and I couldn't get enough oxygen to keep my head from spinning.

Working efficiently, they laid me on a stretcher and rolled me to the ambulance. Their voices came from far away, and I heard Ash arguing with someone as they hooked me to oxygen and tested my blood pressure.

"I'm going with her, and you're not stopping me," he growled.

"Sir, there's no room. Would you prefer we lost a trained medic to give you space?"

The
argument must have worked, because Ash's motorcycle engine revved, and the van door slammed shut.

The cool hand of a woman pressed against my head. "She's burning up."

A flurry of words flew over me, but I closed my eyes and let my mind wander to my time with Ash, the way his hands had known just how to touch me to bring me maximum pleasure, the way our bodies fit so well together.

I dreamed of this life with Ash, of making love every morning and falling asleep in his arms every night.

I woke to his voice, his face smiling down at me, his hand brushing through my hair. "Welcome back, Catelyn. You gave us quite a scare."

"What did I do?" I asked.

His eyes glossed over and his voice shook. "You almost died."

"
LUCKY POISONED THE
knife he'd used to cut your neck," explained Ash. "While the wound itself was harmless, the poison had infected your blood stream and was working toward your heart. If the medics hadn't arrived… " His eyes filled with tears.

Smiling, I took his hand. "I'm fine."

Ash started to say something, but stopped as Detective Gray entered the room.

"Catelyn, I'm glad you're awake. How are you feeling?" Gray asked.

Ash took a seat next to my bed, still holding my hand, as I sipped water and answered the detective. "Like I've been poisoned, beaten and left for dead," I said honestly. Morphine dripped into my IV, and I pressed the button, giving myself an extra influx of pain relief.

"It looks like Lucky was the Midnight Murderer. We found
evidence at his apartment of the other crimes, including DNA from his victims."

"How?"

"He took trophies."

I squirmed, refusing to imagine what that could mean.
"Anything about my parents?"

He shook his head. "No, but we found the stationary he used to send you letters each year, and a closet filled with pictures of you. He'd been stalking you for years, documenting your every move."

I shivered at the violation, and Ash squeezed my hand.

"So it's over?" I asked.

"It's over."

"How did you
find all this so fast?"

The detective looked at Ash, then back at me. "They didn't tell you? You've been unconscious for a week. Believe it or not, when we have something to go on, we can accomplish a lot in that amount of time."

A week? No wonder my legs felt like sandpaper and my mouth tasted of rotting cotton balls. "I'm going to need a shower, immediately."

Ash laughed. "I'll give you a
sponge bath myself."

I blushed and looked back at the detective. "
I still don't understand why Lucky did this."

"The oldest
reason in the book. Revenge. Lucky was a diagnosed psychopath and had committed other crimes before the Midnight Murders. Your mother, who worked at the DA's office, had convicted him once for assault and sent him to prison. He killed her when he was released."

"How was he not a suspect back then?" Ash asked. "Surely your department looked into any released convicts Catelyn's parents had prosecuted."

"We did, but Lucky went under a different name at the time and had a solid alibi," Detective Gray said. "We're still not sure how he did it."

"Thank you, Detective," I said.
"I'm so glad this is all over."

He left
, and Ash kissed my forehead. "Catelyn, I need to tell you something. I—" We were interrupted by Professor Cavin, who came bearing yellow roses, my mother's favorites.

He set the roses by my bed. "Catelyn, it's good to see you awake."

"I'm sorry I've missed class."

He waved my apology away. "That can wait."

"Professor, when Lucky was about to… torture me, he kept asking about the other book my mom was going to write. Why would it be so important to him?"

Cavin rested his chin on his chest. "I already gave my statement to the police, so it couldn’t hurt to tell you." He looked up at me, a sadness in his eyes. "She made me promise not to tell anyone, even if something happened to her. She said it would put you in danger, so I respected her wishes, even back then. But it's time to talk about it. You
r mother was obsessed with researching and understanding sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies and how they presented in many top entrepreneurs and CEOs in big businesses with statistically higher numbers than the general population."

A shiver crept up my back. "
That's nothing new."

"Except
," he said, pausing, "she planned on outing high-profile, wealthy businessmen who she believed were sociopaths. And who, she believed, had criminal and dangerous tendencies. She would have destroyed their lives, if her book had been published. One person in particular, would have lost everything."

"Who?"

"She never shared that, I'm afraid. But… a few days before she died, she told me she was close to discovering the identity of the Midnight Murderer. I believe he was the one."

"And you didn't tell the police?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"It wouldn’t have made a difference. No one could find her research, and she never told another living soul who she was writing about."

A nurse popped her head in. "You have another visitor, Miss Travis, but you can only have two in here at a time."

Professor Cavin stood. "Once again, I'm sorry I kept this from you. We can talk more later when you're feeling better."

He left the room and Bridgette came in, s
miling when she saw me. "You're never allowed to be kidnapped again," she said.

She hugged me, and I released Ash's hand to hug her back.

Looking between the two of us, she raised an eyebrow. "Have you two finally worked out your shit?"

Ash
clutched my hand again in response.

Bridgette gave me a knowing look
, and I shook my head slightly. I hadn't told him about Cat.

With a twinkle in her eye, she backed out of the room. "I'm going to grab some coffee. You must be dying from caffeine withdrawal," she said.

"I am. Thanks!"

Ash frowned. "I don't think they'll let you have coffee yet. You haven't eaten in a week.
"

"Right. Well, they can try to stop me."
We chuckled. "You wanted to tell me something," I reminded him.

His dark eyes became serious.

And then he kissed me, his unleashed passion tearing through my body. I moaned, and our tongues danced with fire, the pain in me mixing with pleasure. I grabbed the back of his head, pulling him closer, needing him inside me.

And he pulled away. "I want you
, Catelyn. I know you deserve better, I know you deserve a man who's good and kind and honest. And I know I'm not him. But when I'm with you, all that slips away. When I'm with you, I don't care. All expectations fall away, and we are two people together, imperfect and beautiful."

I pulled my hand away. Thi
s
wa
s
what I wanted. What I needed. But how could I tell him about Cat? "As
h,
I… "

He leaned back. "If you won't have me, I understand. I'm dangerous. Back in the mine, I wanted to hurt Lucky. I wanted to kill him." He stifled a nervous laugh. "Does that make me a monster?"

"No," I said, and then I knew. I could no longer deny the part of me that was Cat, could no longer pretend that she didn't exist. She did, and she was strong and brave and had helped me make it through these hard times. She'd been able to see Ash in a way that Catelyn, with her fears and insecurities, hadn't. She'd made me stronger and I embraced her. "It makes you human," I finished, speaking both as Cat and Catelyn. Speaking as me.

His eyebrows jumped as he recognized my words.

"Ash, I lied to you. When you asked if I had a nickname. I do. You can call me Catelyn, if you want. But… "

I swallowed hard, my palms sweating. "You can also call me Cat."