Ellora's Cavemen: Tales from the Temple II (17 page)

“You have beautiful eyes, Kat.” He decided to trust his feelings instead of centuries-old inbred instincts. Cedric turned his back to her, stood, and walked away.

His eyes were black as night, and seemed as fathomless. Their compelling depths had nearly drawn her out of hiding. She crept back into the darkening forest and followed his movements down the beach. Upon reaching his small campsite, he stretched and began removing his clothes.

Laughter filled her chest at the sight. Men were so helpless without clothes.
They
can’t even run through the forest for fear of hurting their little…
she searched for the words she had heard from other humans…
cocks, pricks, dicks, so many names for something so
small.

Kat crept forward in the encroaching darkness. Curious about him, she lay on the beach and watched him in the water. He moved closer, and she bunched her muscles, ready to flee at the slightest danger.

100

Tail of the Tiger

He couldn’t believe his eyes. She had actually come out of the forest. “Please, don’t go.”

“Who are you and how did you know I was here?” Her tail swept across the sand.

“Oh! Wow! You do talk.” Although her English was good, with just a hint of New England accent, her words were slow as if she seldom used speech to communicate.

He started to move closer and she lifted her hips in the air.

“I don’t blame you for being afraid.” Holding his hands up, he stopped and backed away. “My name is Cedric. I found out about you from going through my father’s files.”

“I was told a man would come one day and that I should kill him to make the world a safer place.”

“Regrettably, the person you speak of was my father and he is already dead.”

“Come out of the water, Cedric, before you fall prey to the large creatures of the sea. I believe you call them…sharks.”

She backed up as he drew near.

Picking up a piece of wood, he added it to the fire and sat down. Kat came out of the darkness into the flickering light of the fire.

Cedric stared open mouthed at the beauty of the half-ling. Amber eyes caught the fire and flashed in the night. Her dark rose-colored hair flowed around her face in a wavy halo before falling to just below her shoulders. Except for orange and black-striped skin on her forehead, it could have been her image cast on movie theaters, television screens, and magazines around the world.

Human skin covered most of her chest. Her large breasts sagged slightly from years without wearing support. The rest of her, covered with the short orange and black-striped fur of a tiger, intrigued him.

“You find me repulsive?” Kat crossed her arms over her breasts.

“Different, but never repulsive.” Cedric lay back on the sand, turned on his side, and propped his head on his arm. “I see your mother in you.”

“My mother?” Quicker than his eye could follow, she sprang across the fire and crouched within reach. “You knew my mother?”

“Not personally.” He watched the corded muscles in her legs and arms quiver.

“Since discovering my father’s files, I’ve watched every movie of her I could get my hands on.”

“Movie, what is a…movie?”

“I can show you on my boat.” He lifted his arm and pointed out towards the cove.

“I thought you might want to see her.”

She sniffed the air and whipped her head back to glare into his eyes. “ There is no one on your boat.”

101

R. Casteel

“No, I have a picture of her.” Cedric watched the indecision play across her face.

Her long sleek tail swished in the sand.

“I will see this picture, and if it is not as you say…” she trailed off and smiled.

Kat didn’t need to say any more. Two large canine teeth glistened in the light of the fire. “Come with me, and I will show you.” Cedric stood and held out his hand.

Slowly, she raised her hand to take his. He felt her tension pulsating through her fingers. Even this small measure of trust elated him and he smiled.

Surprisingly, she smiled back.

102

Tail of the Tiger

On the short ride in the dinghy, Kat rode crouched down in the bow, her tail brushing his legs and knees as she scanned the waters ahead. Upon reaching his sailboat, she sprang to the deck and sniffed along its length from stern to bow.

Cedric climbed aboard, went below, and started the generator. Kat hissed and drew back. “Sorry, I should have warned you. It’s a little noisy but necessary for the lights.”

Crossing the small cabin, he loaded a DVD into the player and turned it on. “It’s a little cramped in here.” Picking up the remote, he stretched out on the bed, and turned the television on. You might be more comfortable sitting over here.” He pointed to the bed.

Fascinated by the images coming over the screen, Kat eased onto the foot of the bed and curled up to watch. “There is so much about your world that I do not understand.”

Cedric exhaled a breath in a long sigh. “I lived in it every day, and I feel the same way.”

“Look!” she sprang to all fours. “Is she my mother?”

His eyes darted to the screen. “Yes, Kat. Cynthia Marcella is your mother.”

“She is so beautiful.” She stretched out on the bed like the half-cat she was with her legs tucked up underneath her.

“So are you.” The words slipped out of his mouth before he realized it.

“I do not look like her,” she hissed. “I am ugly.”

He felt sorry for her. “No, Kat. You are different from your mother…
Hell
, you are different from anyone else in the world, but you are
not
ugly.” He fought an overpowering urge to touch her. “You have your mother’s face, her body, and even her smile—minus the couple differences in your teeth.”

Turning her head, she gazed at him for several long seconds. “You are a strange human, Cedric.” She turned back to watch the screen.

“Tell me more about my mother.”

“Well, as you can see, she was a beautiful woman. Cynthia was a talented movie star, but it became an obsession with her. She couldn’t accept the fact of growing old and when my father informed her of his own dreams and research, she insisted on being included.”

“Did she…know about me?”

“No. Your mother never knew about you, or the other creatures created from his sick, twisted mind.”

“I wish I could have known her,” she sighed wistfully as she watched the screen.

103

R. Casteel

Kat’s tail never stayed still for long. He soon realized it was a good indicator of her emotions as it swayed back and forth across the bed. When Cynthia’s face appeared it lifted with the tip twitching like the tail of a snake.

Several times, it brushed across his lap. The soft fur against his skin felt strangely erotic. The way she was lying on the bed, gave him a close-up and interesting view of her female genitals.

Kat, in that area, was totally woman.

Come on Cedric, she is a half-ling. Okay, a beautiful half-ling, but you’re not going to get a
stiff dick over her.
Despite his self-admonishment, his cock began to stir from its bed of hair.

Raising her head off the bed, Kat sniffed the air. Her body shifted, her hips lifted and wiggled as she arched her tail.

Moving her head to the side, her eyes traveled from his toes, up along his legs, and zeroed in on his erection. Sniffing the air again, she turned on the bed to face him.

Her intense gaze at his cock only intensified his emotions and made him uncomfortable.

Confusion spread across her face. “You…wish to mate with me?”

“No!” He looked down at his betraying cock and a little voice from somewhere whispered in his ear.
Liar.

“I have seen your kind mating on the beach. It was always from a distance though, never up close.” She lowered her head to within a couple inches of his cock. “I smell the same strong scent from you, as I did from them.”

Cedric gripped the sheets to keep from running his fingers through her hair and forcing her to take him. He had never forced a woman and just because she was a half-ling, he wasn’t about to start with her.

“Does it hurt, when you are like this?”

“No, not so much in physical pain.” He relaxed his hold on the sheets but didn’t let go.

Her head moved from side to side. “Then why do you grab the sheets as though you are in great pain?”

“I was afraid if I touched you, you would run away and I would never see you again.” He released the sheets and folded his arms across his chest.

Kat curled up and watched the television for a few minutes. “I won’t run away.”

Come on, Cedric get a grip!
His hands shook as he reached out and his fingers touched the long thick strands of her hair. It was coarse and tangled from neglect.

Reaching over to the small shelf beside the bed, he picked up his hairbrush.

“Sit up and I’ll brush your hair.”

“What is that?” She reached out to touch it.

104

Tail of the Tiger

He noticed for the first time the difference in her hands. Short cat-like claws protruded from the tips her fingers. Their pale, needle-sharp points glistened in the dim cabin light.

“It’s called a hairbrush, used for taking the tangles out of your hair.” He ran his fingers through her thick tresses. “If you don’t like it, I will stop.”

She sat up with her back to him and he began working his way through the wavy mass of dark-rose strands. A low rumble became noticeable in the cabin. Kat was purring.

He tried to keep his mind off of her by counting the brush strokes but he soon gave up. The more he brushed, the softer it was to touch, and he wanted that much more to caress her whole body. Her damn purring didn’t help matters one bit.

“I’m finished.” He laid the brush down. “Run your fingers through your hair and feel the difference.”

“Oh!” she lifted the long strands and let them slide through her fingers. “Its so soft, it doesn’t even feel like my hair.

“What are they doing?” She pointed to her mother on the screen.

“They are kissing.”

“Why do people kiss?” Kat lay back on the other pillow and watched her mother and the man engage in an open mouthed, tongue-probing kiss.

He chuckled. “There are several reasons really—when greeting a close friend, affection between family members, a way of saying thank you, or showing passion and desire between two lovers.”

“Then how do you tell them apart?” She rolled onto her side facing him. Her breasts touched his arm and he felt her heat roll across him like a warm tropical breeze.

“It’s difficult to describe, but I’ll…”

“Show me the difference.”

Her words knocked him off balance. “Are you sure?” Playing with fire around gasoline would be safer.

Kat briefly hesitated. “Yes.”

Leaning over, he brushed the hair from her face. “A friendship kiss is light, and normally on the cheek.” Cedric gave her a soft kiss. His lips left a warm feeling that spread across her face.

“Then we have the family embrace.” His mouth puckered and gently touched her lips. The heat began to spread and her heart skipped a beat.

“I wasn’t ready for that one. Can we do it again?” She followed his example and puckered her lips.

Cedric gave her a second kiss on the lips and watched her smile. “That was more enjoyable.”

105

R. Casteel

Kat lifted her hand and touched his face. His eyes flashed with an emotion she didn’t understand. She brushed his cheek again and he captured her fingers with his hand.

“Next…” His voice grew husky and vibrated with nervousness. He kissed her fingers and then, turning her hand over, he placed a longer kiss in her palm. “Is between lovers.” He kissed her arm where her skin began to change, “and is usually longer, more intimate, and placed—anywhere on the body.”

“Anywhere?” She licked her suddenly dry lips and turned away from the intensity of Cedric’s eyes.

Visions of women on the beach with their mates licking them and kissing their breasts swam before her eyes. His touch brought her back to the present. Light as his fingers were on her breasts, they sent out tiny shock waves.

“Everywhere.” His head drew closer, lowered, and his lips lingered on her skin.

“Oh!” Lifting her hand, her fingers glided along his side and back. It grew warm within the cabin. The heat seemed to center between her legs and tail, and spread outward.

Cedric lifted her breast and kissed her nipple, drawing it into his mouth. Her fingers dug into his skin and her breath came in rapid shallow pants. Rolling onto her back, she brought her other hand up to curl her fingers through his hair.

He lifted his head. “Last of the kisses,” he whispered, “is the most sensuous and shared between lovers.

His mouth covered hers. His tongue traced her lips, delved between them, and coaxed her to do the same. Cedric captured her tongue and sucked on it.

Driven by the wild new sensations, her fingers raked along his back. Her tail cracked like a whip against the bed and she hung onto Cedric for fear of falling into the unknown world before her.

His hand caressed her fur, sliding lower along her side and over her leg. A finger traced wet, swollen, female flesh between her legs. Her tail lifted and curled into a protective barrier shielding herself from him.

Cedric broke the kiss. “I lied earlier.”

His rough hurried breathing caressed her cheek. Her sensitive ears picked up his increased heartbeat.

“I do want to mate with you. I want you more than any woman I have ever known.”

The heavy, musky scent of his need and hers swirled together in the air. Looking into the black depths of his storm-tossed eyes, she could see the truth of his words.

Slowly, she lowered her tail, reached up, and pulled his lips back to hers.

His finger dipped inside her and she stiffened.

“Relax,” he whispered in her ear.

106

Tail of the Tiger

Her body reacted to the rhythm of his finger sliding across her inner flesh. She could no more stop the purring than she wanted Cedric to stop what he was doing. A feeling of loss swept over as he removed his finger from inside her.