Tears of the Neko (32 page)

But Damien had been a mess for the first week
after the stabbing. He hovered over Kayden constantly, only leaving
when he absolutely had to to attend to business. For the first two
days, the boy fought a fever and chills, and Damien wiped the boy
with cool cloths. Damien fretted constantly, finding himself
staring at the boy's chest, watching for the quiet rise and fall
that assured him that he was breathing.

When Kayden was finally awake and out of the
woods, Damien sat by him in his chair and read to him, and he spent
days cuddled in their bed with him as soon as he was stable enough
to be moved from the cot. Damien was sure that Kayden must feel
like he was smothering him with how close he held him, but the boy
didn't balk and instead snuggled into his side every time.

When the trials of his brother and the
assassins came up, Damien and Harrison had attended without Kayden.
King Eudon had been adamant in calling for a swift trial, wanting
to be done with the matter as soon as possible. His uncle knew how
hard this was for him to accept that his own brother had been so
power-hungry that he was willing to kill for it. Both of them knew
that with Damien gone, as soon as Roman was of age next year, he
would have gone after the king next.

Damien insisted that, unless it was
absolutely necessary, he wanted to spare Kayden the trauma of
having to see Roman again, and his uncle had agreed. In the end,
with all of the testimony from Damien, Harrison, and the household
staff who had seen and heard bits of Roman's treachery but not
realizing what it meant until now, as well as his own
co-conspirators turning on him, Kayden's testimony had not been
necessary.

It was hard to sit and listen to Roman's two
co-conspirators describe how he had planned out Damien's death. He
had stared Roman down as the man glared back during his own
testimony. But Roman was still his blood, family, and Damien had
hoped the court would be merciful, his heart aching at the thought
of being the cause of his brother's death. But King Eudon and the
rest of the noble council were feeling much less forgiving.

"Do you have anything more you wish to say
before hearing the court's decision?" King Eudon asked Roman, after
returning to the chambers with the other nobles of the court.

Roman's jaw clenched. "What difference would
it make?"

The king cocked his head. "Have you no
remorse? No repentance?"

But Roman just glared back, his stubbled jaw
tight with anger.

Damien had already seen the other prisoners
convicted and sentenced to death, so both he and Harrison knew from
the look on their uncle's face what was coming for their
brother.

But Roman just glared back at his uncle
hatefully. All protests of his innocence gone with the testimony of
his accomplices. He didn't try to beg for his life, Damien knew his
pride wouldn't let him.

"Sir," Damien spoke up suddenly, surprising
everyone.

"You have something more to add, Duke
Whitmore?" King Eudon acknowledged.

"I wish only to beg to court's mercy for my
brother's life, your majesty," Damien said, receiving a shocked
look from his uncle as well as the rest of the room.

King Eudon's grey brow rose. "You wish to
plead for the life of a man who would have taken yours from you?
Who almost took the life of your love?"

Damien's breath hitched at being reminded of
that. "I--He is still my brother..."

"And my nephew," the king said sadly, "But
his actions are inexcusable."

Damien could only nod, biting back his grief
as Harrison gripped his arm, both brothers' hearts ripping at the
treachery caused by Roman.

"It grieves me terribly, Roman Whitmore, to
issue upon you the sentence of death for treason against the crown
as well as the attempted assassination of the Duke of Marsten, your
own brother," King Eudon had sadly looked down upon his nephew as
he handed down the sentence. "I always suspected that your anger
and ego would rule you, but I had hoped that you would find a way
to temper it with reason and humility. Obviously, that never
happened, since you refuse to even show any remorse."

The king nodded and the guards pulled the
prisoner to his feet.

As they rose to leave, Damien felt the need
to offer his brother a chance to be forgiven for his crimes, his
heart heavy with the thought that his brother's death would be on
his head.

"Roman," Damien started sadly as the guards
stopped in leading his brother away.

His brother looked back at him
dispassionately. Damien had hoped to see some remorse, anything,
that he could believe that Roman regretted his actions at all.

"I want you to know that I forgive you and
will pray for mercy--"

Roman suddenly laughed, and it sounded
hateful and depraved. "Forgive me? Mercy? Brother, you've condemned
me to death."

Damien scowled at his brother's lack of self-
culpability. "You've condemned yourself, Roman. With your own
actions."

The ugly laugh continued. "Yes, I suppose I
have. And if it hadn't been for your stupid little
pet
that
night, you'd be dead of poisoning now instead of me. And no one
would have known any better."

Harrison gasped at the vehemence of his
brother's words, quickly taking in the shocked look on Damien's
face at the outright admittance of guilt. Now that he'd been
sentenced, Roman didn't seem to have any compunction about his
crimes.

Damien felt Harrison pull on his arm. He
sensed Geoff Brenner stepping closer to his other side.

"Let's go, Damien," Harrison said, trying to
hold himself together. "Good bye, Roman."

"Yeah, head on home to your little
tiger
, Damien," Roman sneered.

And Damien froze, realizing suddenly that
Roman had been the only one to ever call Kayden that.
Maybe it
had been Roman that first called him tiger and not the hunters like
Damien had assumed.
Damien forced a deep breath, refusing to
let his brother bait him in the middle of court. He turned with
Harrison to leave.

As the guards started to lead him away, Roman
turned to his brother with a sadistic leer. "How does it feel to
know that I had him first?"

"What?!" Damien whipped around at the
words.

And Roman smiled maliciously. "Oh, your
little pet never
said
anything. Fancy that."

Damien was suddenly in Roman's face, and a
hushed silence had fallen over the entire room. Even the guards
were too stunned to move at the moment, even taking a step back
from the enraged Duke.

"What did you do, Roman?" Damien
demanded.

"Oh, don't worry it was before you even met
him," Roman said flippantly.

Damien suddenly had a fistful of Roman's
shirt and had hauled him up close, rage radiating off of him,
practically snapping the air like lightning.

"He cried and I had him shaking in fear
of
me
," Roman hissed in Damien's face. He had nothing left to lose
now, and he could see the hurt that he was causing his brother, and
he was reveling in it.

The rage was sparking in Damien's eyes, his
face flushing with anger, his body shaking with rage.

"I made him
bleed
," Roman sneered,
casting his last stone at his brother.

"Fuck! You son-of-a-bitch!" Damien shouted,
shoving Roman away.

"Oh, shit," Harrison breathed, but Damien was
unaware of anyone but the laughing face of the brother he hardly
recognized now--so distorted in hate and malice.

The laughter sent Damien over the edge, and
he lunged at Roman, swinging his fist at the man's coarse jaw. He
didn't even feel the pain exploding in his hand as his fist snapped
Roman's jaw, breaking it and sending blood splattering from his
mouth. Roman hit the floor heavily, cracking his head on the gray
stones.

No one even stopped him when he stepped over
to Roman and stomped his booted foot on the gasping chest, cracking
a couple ribs--he wasn't laughing now. Damien glared down at his
brother as the man coughed out blood.

"Just remember this: the boy you raped is the
reason you are going to die. You are not my brother. And you can go
to hell."

****

Damien had been so upset by Roman's admission
that he'd had to spend the rest of the day out riding and shooting
skeet. He could barely control his shaking, as he had stormed out
of the court. Geoff Brenner just followed him at a safe, discreet
distance, allowing his master some privacy to come to terms with
what had happened in court.

Damien had eventually collapsed in his study,
Harrison cautiously joining him, and they both drank copious
amounts of whiskey until he'd exhausted himself. Harrison had tried
to allay his anger, but had admitted feeling guilt over noticing
Kayden's hesitance around Roman but never suspecting that Roman had
hurt the boy so badly.

Then he'd held Kayden tightly in his arms all
night, petting his hair, crying silently.

Kayden had frowned at him, looking at him
like he'd lost his mind, but Damien only shook his head and held
him closer. He was sure Kayden figured it was the stress of the
trial with his brother. His heart ached at knowing what his own
brother had done to the boy, but he knew why Kayden had never told
him--it was the same reason that the boy hadn't wanted to admit
that Roman had attacked him in the dining room--would anyone have
believed him then?

He hadn't believed his brother was capable of
such heinous deeds. His blind faith in family and brotherly love
had kept him from seeing the obvious signs of hatred in the man,
and Kayden had known that. And it made Damien love Kayden even more
that the boy would want to protect him from the knowledge that his
brother was so evil.

****

Now that Kayden had fully recovered from his
stab wound and the one fear that had kept him anxious and nervous
had been removed from the manor, namely Roman, Damien had begun to
see a whole new side to his playful lover. And found himself
falling deeper and deeper in love with the boy every day.

He loved the feel of the boy curled up on his
lap in his study. He relished the passionate kisses of the little
neko. And he loved wrapping his arms around the boy every night and
holding him tightly as they drifted off to sleep.

Kayden made him whole, loved.

He stared up at the graceful figure on the
ledge again. The new clothes gracefully sculpted the lithe body,
loose to allow ease of movement, but accentuating the boy's lean,
developing muscles. Today, in the warm spring sun, he only wore his
favorite forest green pants that hung on his narrow hip bones.

"Kayden, you know it takes ten years off my
life when you climb up there. Now, get down from there," Damien
demanded, trying to keep a stern face.

The boy's ears twitched and his tail flicked
mischievously as he looked down at his master through his long
midnight locks. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

Damien saw the slight flexing of the firm leg
muscles an instant before it happened.

"No!" he cried but was too late.

Kayden was launching himself off the ledge at
Damien's chest.

"Shit!" Damien cursed as he staggered
slightly when the light little body pounced on him. He heard John
chuckling from the doorway as he wrapped his arms around the
clinging body. He dropped into the chair behind him as Kayden
smiled down on him with a playful grin.

"That's
not
how I meant to come down,"
Damien growled.

"I know," Kayden winked mischievously.

Damien laughed, wrapping his hands in the
silky black tresses of the boy's hair. "God, I love you."

Kayden leaned in and kissed him deeply, then
grinned again. "I know."

Damien gaped at the brashness of his formerly
shy neko. "You little..." he suddenly started tickling the boy's
sides.

Kayden giggled uncontrollably, trying to
squirm from his master's hands. Damien breathed in the scent of the
boy as he wriggled against him. Slowly, Damien stopped and Kayden
settled on his lap. Damien's eyes settled on the silver chain that
marked Kayden as his before traveling down the boy's bare chest.
His gaze rested on the scar, and he felt a slight frown furrow his
brows at the memory of that night he'd almost lost his boy. His
fingers ghosted over the puckered skin.

Damien felt Kayden's hand wrap around his
fingers, pulling them away from the reminder of how Kayden had
almost died protecting him.

Kayden's lips brushed across Damien's palm.
"I love you too."

Taylor Ryan
is the pen name for Sharon Hunter's M/M novels. She also writes
young adult fiction as well. She lives in the northeast with her
two daughters and her husband as well as their many sugar gliders.
She loves reading as much as she loves to write, and she also works
as an editor for other authors.

Blood of the Neko
--
In the sequel to
Tears
of the Neko
, Damien, the duke of Marsten,
must journey to the mines to deal with a problematic overseer. When
his feline lover, Kayden, comes face to face with nightmares from
his past, will he be strong enough to survive them, or will he fall
prey to his fears and their resolve to draw the Blood of the
Neko?

A Dash of Neko
--a series
of short, mostly humorous, stories that occur between the first and
second book of the Neko series.

All
In
--
When Jason agreed to basically
babysit his friend's step-brother, he knew the kid was a
temperamental brat--I mean, Brad had told him that the kid had even
tried to kill him, so the hateful attitude didn't surprise him.
Unfortunately, what he didn't expect was a sixteen year old mute
whose anger was born from something much darker than just disliking
his stepbrother. And finding out what that is pushes Jason to fold
or go all in.