Collaring the Saber-Tooth Read online

  “In time, Warden. She is very protective of her family here. I can’t drag her back and you wouldn’t want that either. No, Maya must come willingly to our home. Go to Tesuss, let him take care of you till I come home.” He swirled the blood around the glass, all the while keeping an eye on this guard.

  “I am sorry, Akaos. I don’t mean to put an added burden on you. I will seek out Tesuss as you ask, but I’m afraid of her reaction to me. You know I’m still not fully back to myself. Will she be able to handle this? What if I hurt her?”

  “We will deal with this. Do you really believe the fates would give us someone who couldn’t handle us?” Akaos mentally pictured Warden’s cock, his hand wrapped around it and squeezing. “Go.” He ordered Warden and severed their connection.

  He’d seen the guard’s reaction when Maya asked about Randolph. He didn’t like it one bit. His gaze slid to Anthony’s gathering the other’s attention, and he nodded towards Tim.

  Anthony understood. “Tim, why don’t you go out to the car and inform home base we will be late tonight?” Anthony took a glass of blood from Lacey’s hand as he stood. Akaos watched the interaction between Lacey and Anthony. Yes, there was something there as well.

  “Please, use our phone. It’s in the hallway. Let me show you where.” Maya gulped her drink down and stood, stretching. He could almost see the form of the cat’s claws.

  Akaos reached up and wrapped his hand into hers, stopping her. “Wouldn’t you like an answer to your question? Tim can use the phone outside. Plus, we really don’t need guards in here, do we, Anthony?”

  Her claws scratched the skin on the back of his hand gently, as she regarded him. She nodded to Lacey. “Have Abby follow the men outside. And Lacey, make sure Abby and Gabby keep them company.”

  Setting his empty glass on the table, he held onto Maya’s hand and stared up into her face. “First, I would like to know why this Randolph is so important to you, before I tell you anything.” He tugged on her hand hard enough that she fell to her knees, leaning on him. Just where he wanted her, in between his legs and looking up at him with those big eyes.

  Maya squealed, but he wrapped his legs around her and held her captive. With Maya on her knees, he took hold of a small strand of her hair, twisted it around his finger and pulled lightly.

  “Let’s not play games, shall we, Maya? We both know you want to question that guard, but before I allow any of that, you will tell me why this man is so important to you.” He released the strand and grabbed a handful of her hair in back and pulled her head back. He leaned forward almost inches from her face.

  “You smell divine, by the way. After we get this matter straightened out, I believe a lesson in what not to reveal to unknown guests is important here.”

  He lifted her up onto his lap and exposed his neck to her as he whispered into her ear. “You are too weak, Cat de mica. You are not taking proper care of yourself. You will feed and do not worry. My blood will not harm you.” He guided her head towards his neck. “I trust you, Cat de mica.”

  Her breath was warm. He heard the small hitch when she gasped, but he could also smell her mating scent. This untamed feline was theirs to collar and rein in. His fellow warriors and family would begin again to look for their partners, now that he knew it was possible for shifters to be compatible with their kind.

  There were many lessons their beautiful bonded needed to learn, but the first and most important would to be to obey them.

  She licked the side of his neck, before she sank her fangs in deep. Her hands gripped tight to the front of his shirt. Maya scooted closer to his body.

  His cock was hard and swollen. It’d been decades since he’d been this aroused, even with the Warden and Tesuss. But their Little Cat would need time. He would have to prove to her that she could trust him.

  Her body was stiff against his. He tightened his arms around her. “It will take time, but we will make this work, Maya. There is nothing that will stand in our way.”

  He ran his hand through her hair and leaned in to draw in her scent, knowing he would always be able to find her.

  “Anthony, make sure Maya’s body guard does not come in just yet, would you please?” Akaos had heard the small female coming down the hallway towards them, but he needed more time with his female.

  She closed the holes in his neck with her tongue. “Thank you for your generosity, but…” He stopped her words, once more yanking her head back and staring into her deep gold speckled feline eyes.

  “Don’t even say the words. You know you’re ours. Tell me that any other male has drawn out your feline as I have. I can smell your kitten. She is part of you.”

  He trailed his gaze down her body. “Your nipples are hard, your breath is uneven, and your heart is beating too fast, but most of all, you call to the animal inside of me. You are not ready for me to release mine, but soon.”

  He lowered his head and nipped her nipple through her shirt. “He waits to mate with your cat.”

  “Your sister comes. Don’t make me repeat myself.” He slowly loosened his grip on her, but kept her pinned on his lap as Lacey and Anthony came back into the room.

  The small woman pulled away from Anthony and stalked around him as she snapped. “Release her now.” Her cat was very close to the surface.

  Maya growled deep, her eyes switched again to that of the cats, and she bared her teeth at Lacey. “Back off Lacey…My cat has found its mate and I’m having a hard time controlling her.”

  Akaos reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “Please Lacey, I mean no harm. If anything, Maya is one of the very few who I would offer my life for. Now, can we discuss what is important to Maya?”

  Lacey moved back and sat where Maya had been sitting. “Are you sure Maya?” She snarled at Anthony when he moved closer to her, but he just grinned and stood his ground.

  Maya nodded. “Yes my cat is sure, but it does not mean I’m happy about it.” Maya turned in his lap and stared straight at him.

  “I don’t know what you mean by ‘Ours’, but for now I will let that go. Randolph Arrow wiped out my family and turned me into this creature. He left me for dead over two hundred years ago.”

  If Maya carried their blood, why hadn’t he or his family known about it? Each time a person is brought into their world, one of their family should have been able to tell. Was the cat hiding her presence? Or was it because she was their omphalos?

  * * * *

  Maya didn’t move, as she waited to see what Akaos would do. She watched for any emotion to show on his face, but there was nothing. His gaze gave nothing away, not even a flicker of emotion swirled in his eyes.

  “Now, you know why I search for him and his group. No one, not even my mate, will stop me from finding him. He will die for what he did, and he’ll perish with my teeth sunk deep in his miserable neck,” Maya snarled.

  He slid his arm up her spine and rubbed the back of her neck and shoulders, but still he did not react. She could have sworn she heard someone snarl inside his head, but as quickly as she tried to delve deeper into their connection, a shield snapped her out of his head.

  For a minute, Maya didn’t believe he would say anything, but then he nodded. “I’m not going to lie to you, Maya. Randolph is a blood relation, but my family hasn’t heard from him in years, except to hear of the crimes he and his outlaw group has committed.” Akaos framed her face between his large, calloused hands.

  “We will find him together, Maya, but I ask that you let our family deal with his crimes.”

  Maya growled and jumped off his lap. “You want me to let him go? To trust the same people who have made me a freak of nature? Are you crazy?” Maya screamed, going straight for the bar behind them. She once more reached for another shot of whiskey, but he was there.

  Akaos had come up behind her. His arms came around and he grasped her hands. He squeezed them and pushed her body against the bar with his. He rubbed his prick against her ass and a small moan slipped out of her. />
  “I know I’m asking a lot, but he won’t go free, Cat de mica. He will die, but it has to be done by our kith, your family now.” He dragged his fangs across the back of her neck, which sent a chill down her spine.

  “I’ve waited for over two hundred years to find this man.” She thought, as he let her turn in his arms.

  “Do you know what it’s like to wake up alone, blood and body parts all over the place? I survived on what was left of my family’s blood while I hunted. When the change took place, I was in the middle of the forest, where any animal could have killed me and had me for dinner. The pain was so great, my screams filled the night. I survived, because I promised my mother, sisters, and father that their deaths would not go unpunished.” She once more grabbed for the whisky, but again he stopped her.

  “You don’t need that.” He yanked her into his chest and kissed her nose.

  “Yes, I do and you will too when you hear the rest.” She wiggled out of his arms and poured four shots of whiskey. She slid two of them down to Lacey and Anthony who now stood at the bar with them. No one, not even her family, knew of the horrors she’d endured at that creature’s hand, but now she knew it was time to tell her story.

  Her hands trembled as she downed her shot of whiskey. Tears slid down her face, but Maya refused to be comforted or touched while she told the story of her rape and torture so long ago.

  Not one of them said a word, as she paced back and forth and all she wanted to do was to run to her retreat and hide in her tree. Her haven had given her comfort for so long. Before she could think about it bones crunched and she snarled and ran out of the room. Maya shifted in the air and ran as if her life depended on it. The memories were just too much.

  She could see the hands and teeth as they continued their torture. The pain had been great, but the most horrendous thing was the cries of her mother and sisters that still rang in her ears. All these years, she could still hear them, and could still do nothing. It’d taken her years to find out what happened. Their bones had been removed from their bodies while they were still alive. She jumped and climbed to the top limb of her tree. Maya paced back and forth, her heart beating off the charts, her claws digging into the tree, but nothing seemed to calm her. Her growls filled the room and shook the windows.

  Maya finally plopped down on her branch, fresh tears dampened her fur. What she hadn’t expected was him, Akaos. He stood on the branch before her and slowly inched forward. “My, Cat de mica, let me help. Let me ease the pain and memories. They will still be there, but they won’t hurt so much.” He sat next to her and ran his hand over her great head “You are beautiful. I apologize for all that this man has done to you. We will get him, I promise. I need you to shift back, Maya. Can you do that for me?”

  His voice reached something deep inside her and she lifted her head to stare at him. Akaos didn’t move. He just waited. Could she trust him that much to enter into her mind? Her cat did that for sure. Maya shifted once more and clothes now covered her instead of fur.

  Akaos carefully pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “Hold on tight.” He slid off the branch and she couldn’t help smile as he landed on his feet, as if it were nothing to jump twenty feet to the ground. “For me to help there must be the first exchange of blood. Will you agree to this?”

  Maya leaned back and stared up into his face. He set her on one of the large stones in her haven. “You ask a lot, vampire, but I’ve always listened to my cat. Take what you need.” She bared her neck and he smiled. There was something that swirled in his eyes. What did she just agreed to?

  Chapter Four

  Akaos knew their mate didn’t have much of a life, always caring for others. Tesuss and Warden listened with him as she told her story, pacing back and forth. Her tears rolled down her face made their hearts ache.. Even though Akaos was light years away, he could feel Tesuss and Warden’s fury along with his own.

  Anthony drew Lacey away from him as he stalked toward his woman. His need to hold her and comfort her was too strong to ignore. Soon she would know he was no Vampire.

  Randolph Arrow was a dead man walking. Akaos would personally carry out the sentence for what he’d done to her, and what he had done to her family. No one on Earth knew Akaos was a Cometedge, other than Randolph. Vampires were a totally different race from his kind. Coming from a separate world, a group of Vampires had settled here long ago. Oh they were watched, but so far none of them had threatened the human population.

  His people, the Cometedge came from a different realm. They were born to protect others and were considered, the Keepers of the Gates, but no one was supposed to know this. Most simply thought of them as a different, possibly older type of Vampire, and they were content to let that fiction stand.

  There’d been twelve of his family who had stepped through the portal to Earth. He’d left his Kith to come here only making trips back when necessary. Only three times since coming here on Earth had Warden and Tesuss ventured to this land.

  They came to protect and see if any of Earth’s females were capable of copulating with their kind. Of the twelve that come here, only four still remained. He didn’t know why, but Akaos didn’t want to give up on this world yet, and now he was glad he hadn’t.

  They were known as The Elders to the Vampire and human races. Some labeled them Ancients.

  He stepped in between her legs and laid his hand at her throat offering a soft caress at first, but soon he skimmed down her neck to the top of her shirt. “I hope you don’t mind losing this?” he said, before he ripped her shirt down the middle, exposing her round breasts to his view.

  “I prefer that you are naked when were alone.” He lowered his head and ran his tongue over her hard nipple.

  She snorted. “You ask for much since we’re not mated yet…” Maya grabbed onto his head when he sank his fangs into the swell of her breast.

  Her blood rich was warm. He’d tasted nothing like it since…hell, never. His eyes shot to hers, the connection instant. The barrier he set in place to keep others out of his mind rose up and, like a slap in the face, shut her out.

  She flinched at the mental slap and tried to pull away, but he held onto her. He rolled her other nipple between his fingers and squeezed. Her lips parted in a silent “O” as she tried to hold back the moan and pleasure that moved through her.

  Taking enough for their first joining, Akaos closed the holes, but drew the nipple between his teeth and softly bit down. She arched up and grabbed at his shoulders as her small plea escaped.

  “Akaos!”

  “Soon.” He released her nipple and kissed her breast. His gaze never left hers. “I am sorry about that mental slap. I’m afraid after so many years, it’s an automatic reaction for me to shut out others. I ask that what you find in here…” He tapped his head “…be kept between us? Some of it you won’t understand right now, but soon.”

  Kissing a path back up to her neck, he nipped at it. “My enemies are great, Cat de mica, and what you see could cause a panic if released.” He lifted his gaze and caught hers. “We have waited for you for so long. You are our omphalos. Soon you will meet the others.”

  He lowered the protective shield in his mind and waited to feel her touch. Very slowly, Maya touched his thoughts, tentative at first, like that of a butterfly’s wing. With each touch, she became bolder and moved further into his mind, searching. She gasped, and her eyes grew large.

  “He’s your descendent?” Her words were shocked, but not accusing. But then she frowned. “You’re not vampire, but something else? I don’t understand? Who are Tesuss and Warden?”

  He nodded. “I must take back what I gave. My family rarely endows someone with this responsibility, but on occasion we have. I believed he could handle the gift, but he was my one mistake. It has haunted me for centuries. As he grows in age, so do his powers. Only my family and I can destroy him and his followers. Tesuss and Warden are our kith. They are also your husbands as you would say it. Three warriors and three
hearts.”

  Maya shoved him back and snarled. “No! We do this together. I’m no fledgling and he knows this.” She smiled and once more a shirt covered her body and claws replaced her nails.

  He allowed her to escape his hold and watched the sway of her hips. Akaos knew she was ignoring what he had said, but she would soon find it impossible to avoid the words.

  “Do you know why he destroyed my kind?” Maya moved out of her private space and into the long dark corridor. He followed, trying to comprehend what she was asking, but the form of her hip-huggers on her ass…

  “Are you paying attention?” She peeked over her shoulder and grinned, knowing he’d been staring at her butt.

  “Concentrate here.” Pointing to her lips she laughed and proceeded down another hallway.

  “For a long time I couldn’t understand why he concentrated on my race, the saber-tooth. Until…” She stopped a door and paused, her hand on the door.

  “No one has been in this room, but me. You shared your world with me, now see my world. What I lost so long ago and why he’s so afraid of it.”

  Tesuss snorted in his head. “He isn’t afraid. That’s the problem.”

  Maya frowned. “Yes he was. That’s why he wiped out my race,” she threw back at Tesuss.

  She opened the door slowly, light that was as bright as the sun hit him, and he shifted immediately to shield his eyes. The sun might not hurt him, but he still didn’t like it.

  “You think to hurt me!” He accused her, his eyes blinded by the light for only a minute.

  The minds of both Warden and Tesuss surrounded him and shoved her back away from him as he adjusted to the light.

  Even before he could see again, he heard her small cry. “No.” One word, but filled with so much hurt that his heart stopped. His eyes now clear, he scanned the room. She stood in the corner, her back to him, but he could see her shoulders shake and she rubbed at her eyes.

  “I’m sorry Little Cat. I didn’t mean to yell. Tesuss and Warden are very protective of me. They didn’t know what you were doing when they moved you away from me.” He leaned over and placed a small kiss to the back of her neck. He slid his hands around her waist and reached up, cupping her breasts. “Why do you have it so bright in here, Little Cat?”