Tears of the Neko (18 page)

When his master's arm tightened briefly
around him and his master groaned against his exploring mouth,
Kayden didn't feel the fear of being trapped. He felt embraced,
loved. He shifted, rubbing against his master's side, gasping at
the sudden burst of pleasure that raked through him.

Kayden felt his body tense nervously, knowing
that this had to be wrong, he couldn't feel this way.

"Kitten," his master's husky voice calmed
him, carefully petting his head. Damien shifted, rolling to his
side and shifting Kayden to his back.

Kayden had the brief thought that he should
feel trapped now, but his master's hand stroking his side, his hip,
was soft and soothing, not forceful.

"It's okay," Damien kissed Kayden's forehead
again, working his way to his lips. "It can feel good. To let
someone touch you."

Kayden whimpered as Damien's hand strayed
under his linen shirt and raked across his sensitive belly. He felt
his body tightening, hardening, arching against his master's
hand.

When Damien shifted slightly, Kayden could
feel his master's arousal pressed into his hip and tensed again.
The hand on his stomach stilled, pressing gently, calming him. A
kiss was feathered across his lips.

"Just feel, kitten," Damien whispered. "Just
let go. I will stop any time you want me to, but I just want to
hold you. Make you feel good."

Kayden whimpered again as the hand brushed up
over his chest, the large hand practically spanning his whole
torso. Then he moaned as fingers lightly slid over his nipples. He
watched the smile spread across his master's face, saw his desire
reflected back at him in the sparkling blue eyes.

When Damien dipped his head and trailed
kisses along his throat, Kayden wriggled in pleasure, not noticing
when Damien's hand ghosted over his abs and continued lower. The
man's fingers traced over his jutting hipbone, hovering slightly in
the hollow of his pelvis. The warm hand rested over his groin and
Kayden arched into the weight, trying desperately to create
friction.

His master captured his mouth in another
distracting kiss and the hand tugged at the ties at his waist,
slipping the fabric lower. Kayden didn't have time to feel
embarrassed as Damien's warm hand engulfed him, stroking, his thumb
teasing the slit.

He moaned into Damien's mouth, and his master
devoured his desire. He felt his hips moving, creating friction
against Damien's grip. A blinding burst of ecstasy ripped through
him, and he cried out his pleasure when he suddenly felt warm fluid
spurting across his stomach.

White lights danced across his vision as he
panted, trying to understand what had happened. He'd never felt
anything like that before. When he finally calmed enough to open
his eyes, he saw his master gazing down at him, smiling.

"You okay?" Damien asked carefully.

Kayden nodded, tucking his head in
embarrassment, now that he was coming back to himself. He realized
he could still feel his master's arousal pressed against his hip.
His breath caught as he wondered how his master would take his own
pleasure now.

"Kitten, look at me," Damien urged, and
Kayden lifted his eyes to his master, shocked to see the soft gaze
there. It wasn't hard, condescending, or angry. It didn't even look
like he expected Kayden to do anything. It almost looked like ...
love.

Kayden felt a tear escape the corner of his
eye, and he tried to look away, but Damien caught his chin and
gently brushed the tear away.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about.
That was beautiful," he said, "I loved the raw emotions, and I
loved doing that for you."

"B-but you--" Kayden stammered.

But Damien silenced him with a kiss. "Just a
minute." Then Damien climbed off the bed, pulling the extra blanket
off and wrapping it around his waist modestly. He disappeared into
the washroom and returned a minute later with a rag. He gently
cleaned Kayden's stomach, then pulled up the pants and tied
them.

Kayden frowned when Damien pulled the
comforter up and tucked him back in, even more surprised when
Damien walked back into the washroom, leaving the door cracked
open.

Kayden shifted on the bed to peer into the
washroom after his master, confused that his master hadn't wanted
him to satisfy his obvious arousal. He watched as Damien dropped
the blanket, displaying his large, obviously aching member. Damien
leaned against the tile of the shower and grasped his hard cock,
jerking it quickly.

Kayden smiled against the sheets, timidly
watching his master pleasure himself. He felt strangely aroused by
the sight, not frightened or afraid like he'd expected to. This man
had not forced him to do anything, had not used him, or taken him
against his will. This man was different. This man cared about
him.

****

Damien tried not to smile as Kayden blushed
again when he looked up at Damien. Kayden had settled next to
Damien's chair as he usually did, but now it was different. When
Kayden had first knelt by Damien's chair those first few days,
Damien knew Kayden was doing it out of duty, out of training, out
of fear. And Damien had been annoyed then by the boy constantly
being underfoot. Now, they both wanted the contact. He was sure now
that Kayden loved being touched as much as Damien loved touching
him.

Damien allowed his hand to drift idly into
the boy's thick midnight hair while he was reading correspondence
and notes about the plantations. And while the boy did still jump
briefly when Damien moved suddenly sometimes, the little neko
resettled almost instantly, resting his head against Damien's
thigh. Damien hadn't been aware of just how often he reached for
the comfort of touching the boy, stroking his soft hair, and
feeling his own body relax when the boy melted under his hand.

This morning had been an enormous step for
both of them. He knew the fact that Kayden had relinquished himself
to Damien's hands was probably hard for the boy at first, but it
showed how much his little neko had come to trust him--that Kayden
was able to give himself over to his master like that, especially
after all he'd been through with the hunters--with Ehern. Damien
had never felt so free as when he let himself go with Kayden in his
arms.

He hadn't realized until Kayden came along
just how much he missed the comfort of another's touch.

Last night, Kayden had allowed Damien to hold
him, cuddle him, and this morning, well...

He grinned down at the boy again. God, the
boy was beautiful. How had he not seen it that first night?

Because he was pissed at Harrison for
thrusting a slave on him. He scoffed, thinking back on the night of
his birthday, causing Kayden to jerk slightly and glance at him
worriedly. But Damien just smiled down at him, and a timid little
smile appeared from the boy as he rested his chin on Damien's
leg.

Damien and Kayden fell into a routine over
the next few days. At night, they would sit on the couch and Damien
would read his book while Kayden curled up next to him, watching
the fire. Then Damien had offered the boy to share his bed, for
warmth of course. But they both knew they desired the other's body
pressed up against them. Damien had taken to wearing lounge pants
to bed, so he didn't scare the poor boy off. When Damien would feel
the boy snuggle up next to him in his sleep, Damien felt his whole
body surrender to the peaceful feeling of someone wanting him,
needing him.

He loved the boy's slow tentative
explorations with his hands when he thought Damien was still
sleeping. It took all he had to keep his breathing slow and even.
When he finally 'woke up', he would roll over and smooth his hand
down the young neko's body, caressing the boy tenderly. He had
kissed the boy breathless that morning, nuzzling into his neck
before trailing kisses down the thin ribs. He was careful to watch
for any signs of anxiety, but the boy seemed to melt in his
arms.

That was the best part of the day--waking up
with his boy in his arms. It put a smile on his face, and he didn't
feel the tension in his shoulders that he usually did when he woke
up, already worrying about what problems the day would bring.

After breakfast with his brothers, they would
spend most of the day in his study, where Kayden would start off
leaning on his leg, but eventually he would drift over to the
window and lay down in the sun. The boy seemed to have chosen that
spot as his. Damien had tried to get the boy to sleep on the couch
or his chair instead, but for whatever reason, Kayden still chose
the floor behind him. Maybe the boy felt safer there, or he just
really liked the sun.

Because of Kayden's skittishness around
everyone else but himself, Damien had basically been keeping the
boy to just the three familiar rooms--the dining room, the study,
and their rooms. But maybe Kayden was getting tired of being in the
same rooms all the time. Jacob Arnett had said that nekos usually
preferred the outdoors. Why should Kayden be any different?

The boy had to be bored just sitting in his
office watching him work all day. Damien frowned as he came to the
sudden realization that all Kayden ever did was eat in the room or
dining room, watch him work in the study, then take a bath and go
to bed. Even though Kayden had taken to following simple orders the
last few days, like fetching drinks and such, Damien really hadn't
let Kayden do much else. Damien hadn't even taken him on his walks
outside after dinner, even after their recent closeness.

He suddenly pushed his chair back, causing
the boy to fall back a little, startled. "Come here, kitten,"
Damien beckoned the neko to rise.

Kayden rose smoothly and looked up at Damien
with wide questioning eyes, but no fear was betrayed there. A hint
of longing maybe...

Damien paused in his mission to get them
outside and leaned in, sweeping his hand to the back of Kayden's
neck. He caught Kayden's soft lips in a gentle, chaste
kiss--testing, questioning. When Kayden pressed back, parting his
lips slightly, Damien smiled against the boy's mouth before delving
further into the warmth, relishing the taste of the boy. His thumb
swept up the boy's throat as Kayden whimpered softly. As Damien
started to pull back, he was pleased to see that Kayden tried to
chase his lips, rising on his toes briefly before blushing at his
forwardness.

Damien chuckled and leaned back down for
another kiss, feeling Kayden's tiny hands press on his chest,
fingers curling into his shirt.

"I take it you are okay with me kissing you
now," Damien smiled, wrapping his other arm around the boy's thin
shoulder.

When Kayden tried to just nodded, Damien
lifted his chin, giving him a slightly raised eyebrow.

Kayden blushed again, a rosy glow rising over
his cheeks as he lowered his eyes. "Yes," he croaked out. "I--like
it."

"Good," Damien grinned, "because I like it
too."

The bright green eyes flashed up at his
chiding tone, and Damien wrapped his arm tighter around the boy,
pulling him into a warm embrace. Damien rested his cheek on the
boy's head, feeling the warmth of the boy's breath on his
chest.

Damien laughed as a soft pointed ear tickled
his chin when Kayden twitched in his arms. "Come on, let's take a
walk outside for a change."

Kayden followed closely behind him, nearly
silent. And Damien noticed as soon as they exited the study that
Kayden shrank in on himself again, slinking even closer to him.

Damien pondered briefly why the boy was still
so nervous out in the open in the house, but then the incident with
the king's guard had probably put him on edge. He couldn't blame
the poor little neko. He'd been ready to kill the guard himself for
reacting so violently to the accident, but he also knew that the
guard was just doing his job. You never knew just where a threat
was coming from--the least likely person could be the greatest
threat.

At the door, Damien glanced over the boy's
clothes. He had on the same long pants that dragged the floor as
the drawstring hung them on his hips and a light white linen shirt.
Damien paused and picked up a light cloak. It wasn't cold outside,
but it had been cool and he thought because Kayden was so thin that
he might be chilled. He held up the dark green cloak.

"Would you like this?" he asked the boy
gently. "There's a bit of chill still in the air, especially with
the rain coming later."

A slight smile appeared on the thin lips and
the little neko nodded gratefully. Damien swung the cloak around
the thin shoulders. As he clasped it in the front, he leaned in and
kissed the boy's forehead, then swept the ebony locks from under
the edge of the cloak.

He turned and opened the front door. A neko
guard nodded reverently at him as he exited, raising a brow at the
little figure that followed him. Kayden pulled the cloak around him
as he slipped past the guard, and he could feel the eyes of the
other neko on him as they descended the steps and turned to make
their way around the side of the house.

As Kayden stepped on the stones with his bare
feet, he winced slightly at the sudden cold. But it wasn't anything
he wasn't used to before, just unexpected. The thicker, calloused
soles of his neko feet were more protected than a normal human's
foot would be. The hem of the long pants dragged over his toes,
protecting his small feet from the cool breeze.

A wide semi-circular cobblestone path arched
in front of the broad veranda that lined the front of the house.
Kayden recognized the mass of bushes that grew outside of the study
window as they reached the edge of the house.

Damien paused and turned to Kayden, waving at
the expanse of land in front of the house. "Do you like it?"

Kayden nodded as he gazed at the open land.
It was a little too open for him, not enough trees to hide amongst,
but it was still nice.