Betrayed & Seduced (House of the Cat Book 6)

by Shelley Munro

  Ry’s jaw set. “She won’t receive a warning from me.”

  Nanu brushed aside their fear and worry for him and embraced them both. “Remember, don’t disturb me unless Viros is on the verge of war. We should emerge around cycle seven or eight, if all goes well.”

  “And if it doesn’t go well?” Ry asked.

  “Then we’ll have a problem,” Nanu said. “Thanks.” He closed and locked his suite door, applying the extra lock Leeam had made for him. No way would Jazen leave this suite without his permission.

  With satisfaction swelling his chest, he loosened his control on his inner beast and jogged toward his chamber, now decked out as a gattoc, where Jazen lay on his gel-bed. Excitement pulsed through him, briefly dampened by the fact his younger brother wasn’t here to share his joy.

  But his new family supported him, and that was enough. Yep would cheer him on from the next world, and he took comfort from this knowledge.

  He entered his gattoc, the gauzy cream fabric transparent yet strong enough to break the blacklight chill and the blow of the capricious breeze that Leeam had delighted in building as part of the setting. Desperate to rid himself of the clothes that irritated his sensitive skin, he flung off footwear and garments. His indoor scuffs he left by the gattoc doorway while he dropped his pale green tunic and black trews on the intricate woven green, red and black mats that decorated the floor. Sensitivity to clothing was another one of the mating symptoms.

  Now that they were alone, he studied Jazen. While not traditionally beautiful in the way of his people, he liked the way her inky black hair fell to her chin. The straight strands shone in the whitelight, shorter than he preferred, but he understood in her profession, long hair might be a hindrance.

  Perhaps he’d persuade her to grow her hair longer once they came to an understanding. He eyed her plain and functional white gown and matching skinny under trews with disfavor, every part of him wanting to disrobe her. He didn’t since he wanted her conscious and aware of her actions. The drug would release its grip on her mind soon and once she woke, the test started.

  Would she accept him or would she fight their mating?

  A tiny whimper escaped her, and he slid onto the gel-bed beside her. In her slumber, she moved closer to him. She nuzzled his neck, and the sweet sensation sped down his body. His cock filled, and his inner beast hummed with pleasure. Carefully, he drew her against his chest and let their lower limbs tangle. So sweet. Her restlessness ceased, and Nanu smiled against her neck.

  Jazen belonged to him.

  But she didn’t understand or accept his right yet.

  Sweet Seduction

  Jazen woke slowly, warm and comfortable and at ease. Relaxed as she hadn’t been for cycles. Beefy arms surrounded her, and birdsong filtered into her consciousness. Birdsong? Her eyes flicked open. Where the frak was she? A silky pale cream canopy surrounded her while whitelight glowed through the towering treetops overhead.

  Beneath her, a comfortable gel-pad protected her body from rocks and hard tree roots while the transparent gauze kept flying beetles and midges at bay. She heard the insects’ drone and the insistent flap of tiny wings against the shelter.

  Her brow crinkled as she tried to recall how she’d arrived in the middle of a forest. Nothing clicked. Her mind remained blank.

  She slanted her head to study the male sharing her bed. Nanu. Her pulse bumped up a gear as she studied his strong features, his broad nose. In sleep, his features relaxed, displaying none of the teasing or determination that characteristically etched into his expression.

  Something about the man called to her, had attracted her from their first meeting, and this closeness—she admitted it to herself—fulfilled her cravings for sex. This was weird on so many levels because in her profession, she didn’t have time for tender reflections. Never would she bend her will to a man. Her mother’s actions had shown her the futility of that path.

  Her profession. Frak it! How had she forgotten?

  Nanu had a bounty on his head. He was a murderer and wanted on the planet of Indra.

  The memories slammed into her brain, yet she couldn’t summon the energy to move from his embrace. His naked embrace. Without embarrassment, she scanned his face, his broad, muscular chest and let her gaze wander down to his belly. Like her, he came from a humanoid race and as with most humanoid races, there were subtle differences.

  His hair was a little weird. The locks didn’t appear as black as she remembered. Perhaps because she was observing his hair so closely. She reached out to touch the tip of her finger to one of the fat, round strands. It was warm, radiating heat. She jerked from the contact, and to her astonishment, the strand lifted, as if seeking her stroke. Frowning, she ran her finger along the length and a faint hum sounded.

  “Ah, Jazen. That is fantastic,” Nanu mumbled. “Do it again.”

  She tore her hand away as if burned and struggled from his embrace. “Your hair is sentient.”

  “Does that scare you?”

  “No.” She’d seen weird shit during her travels. “How did I get here?” She tested her memories again and still came up with…nothing. “I remember arriving at the castle and getting locked in a room. But after that, everything is blank. Wait! Did Ry let my transfer to Chobe go through? It’s important.”

  “Yes. Ry told me to tell you that the currency transfer to your brother was successful.”

  “Thank the stars.” Rafi would be safe now. The money-lenders were brutal, but they held to their own code of honor.

  “Never mind that,” Nanu said. “We can discuss more about arrival and your family later. I want to kiss you. I’ve craved your kiss ever since I first saw you.”

  His words diverted her, and her gaze darted from his hair to his face. A firm mouth. One that was often curved and smiling, the upper lip thinner than the bottom. She focused on his bottom lip and drew closer.

  “Let me kiss you,” he murmured his hands smoothing across her shoulders and down her biceps.

  A handful of cycles ago, she would’ve protested, but why fight when she yearned for the physical contact? Her mouth dried. Her lifeforce muscle pumped faster, and she swallowed twice. Something about this situation seemed weird, yet her desire to kiss Nanu never lessened. He didn’t hurry to make contact. Instead, he let her close the distance between them.

  His lips were as warm as his hair tendrils. Once they fit together, he drew her against him and moved his mouth lazily against hers. Her pulse thumped at the sense of rightness, at the dash of pleasure winding through her body. Emboldened, her tongue darted out to lick his lower lip, and he groaned, giving her fuller access. She took advantage, sliding their tongues together in the commencement of the mating dance.

  A decadent honey flavor burst over her taste buds. This time it was she who groaned. She explored the flatness of his teeth and gloried in his tight embrace. Breathless, she thrilled to his touch, pleasure soaring through her mind. She’d never experienced, never imagined a kiss to rival this one. The dance of their tongues lit signal fires over her body while the stunted spikes along her backbone—a useless inheritance from her anonymous sire—prickled with growing enjoyment each time Nanu ran his fingers over them.

  While she’d wanted other men and indulged her sexual curiosity in the past, she’d never craved a man with the intensity in which she desired Nanu in this moment.

  Her stomach fluttered in anticipation of a more intimate contact. Her breasts peaked against her tunic. Her sex throbbed. Longing filled her mind, and her lifeforce muscle beat double-time.

  She pressed closer and barely flinched when a tendril of his hair stroked her cheek. The sentient strand merely upped her pleasure and a naughty thought drifted into her mind. Could his hair caress her breasts or strum her sex button?

  Delight bubbled between them, and Nanu lifted his head, crinkles radiating from the corners of his sparkling eyes. “What?”

  “Your hair is amazing.”

  “It doesn’t scare you?”


  “Should it?”

  “My hair is a useful weapon in close combat fighting.”

  She blinked. “You won’t hurt me though?”

  “No.” He rolled their bodies until she lay flat on the gel-pad.

  His familiar visage peered down at her, although she hadn’t seen his hair act this independently before—it hadn’t when he’d been her patient on Narenda. But now, the strands lifted and writhed around his head, pale pink showing through the black.

  “Where are we?”

  “We’re in my gattoc.”

  There was no mistaking his satisfaction. While she sought details of their location and inquisitiveness burned within her, he didn’t scare her. He didn’t appease her curiosity either and that didn’t irritate her in the slightest. Strange, when he’d practically abducted her. She shook her head and, thankfully, jogged back into a work mind frame.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “I wanted to be alone with you.” His finger smoothed down her cheek and traced around her lips.

  “You should’ve asked instead of abducting me.”

  “I saw the way you checked me out when we first met. I experienced the same bolt of lust, so I figured I’d act rather than tiptoe around the subject.” Male approval throbbed in his voice for an instant before his face blanked. “Then you decided you’d collect the bounty on my head.”

  “Are you sure you weren’t mistaken and received mixed messages?”

  “No, I’m sure about the bounty. But we won’t discuss that now. Back to the kiss. That’s more important. You kissed me. You started our kiss, and I intend to finish it,” he purred.

  He was right. She had given in to her urge to touch him. The kiss had been the next step in becoming intimate with his gorgeous body. Yes, he spoke the truth. She did want this even though her mind warred, one side for and the other screeching at her stupidity.

  He was a wanted man.

  Trouble came in this sexy package called Nanu.

  She centered herself and speared him with her determination. “I’ll want explanations later. I want to know how I got here. Why I’m here.”

  “You’ll get them,” he promised.

  The momentary tension slid from her muscles as she weighed his agreement. “Good. Kiss me again. Your flavor tempts me. It’s like nothing I’ve experienced before.”

  “Excellent.” He beamed at her seconds before he claimed her mouth.

  This time he didn’t bother with preliminaries. His lips collided with hers and seconds later, their tongues twined, the decadent honey tang filling her mouth. She moaned against his lips, her fingers biting into his shoulders as she tried to melt against his chest.

  Her mind kept nagging her. This was a bad idea. Wrong, wrong, wrong, yet pulling away from him—impossible.

  He held her to him, and she realized he wore not a stich of clothing while she remained dressed. His cock pushed against her lower belly as the kiss continued. Tongues and mouths mated, and the more they kissed, the stronger and more tempting the honey flavor became. Leaving his arms appealed less and less.

  Finally, she pulled away, panting with the sheer need that flooded her body. And it appeared the same urgency afflicted Nanu. His eyes glittered with lust and arousal.

  “Can I remove your clothing?”

  “Yes.” Wait. No! This was a ridiculous idea, yet…there was nothing she wanted more, and she approved of him requesting rather than taking control or ordering her to comply. Her garments weighted her arms and legs, a heavy encumbrance, anyway. They clung to her torso and limbs and she wriggled, desperate to strip. She levered away from him, and immediately mourned the loss of his body heat. Her hands grasped the hem of her tunic.

  “No, please. Let me.” His amber eyes glowed and his hair tendrils lifted and swayed around his head as he waited for her response.

  “Yes,” she whispered, something about this confident man appealing to her in a big way, despite the conflict with her job and his bounty. His expression made her want to understand him, and the lust surging through her veins ordered her to leap at him.

  Later, she’d jump back into warrant-taker shoes. Could she deceive him and claim his bounty after this intimacy?

  She hesitated. Sex complicated things, yet she ached for him with a painful intensity. Later. She’d consider the consequences as soon as she rid herself of this strange urgency to couple with Nanu.

  “Yes,” she repeated, agreeing to go ahead without reservations.

  His hair tendrils settled against his head as he beamed at her. The glow in his eyes intensified. His mouth curved into a pleased smile. A toothy smile.

  Her own lips parted in an O of astonishment. His teeth. She’d noticed the whiteness of them earlier, but they’d resembled hers—flat-tipped and even. Now, his incisors bore wicked sharp points.

  She flinched as he closed the distance between them, wary without understanding why. Something had changed in a matter of secs.

  “Jazen,” he murmured, the tips of his fingers grazing her cheek. “I’d never hurt you. Never. You’re safe here in my gattoc.”

  “You have a price on your head,” she blurted.

  “I didn’t murder that woman. My brother didn’t murder the woman either. All we’re guilty of is helping her escape a bad mating. Her husband ordered her assassinated. We had nothing to do with her death.”

  He spoke with conviction and didn’t avoid her gaze. Was he telling the truth or spouting lies? She scrutinized him closely, seeking a sign either way. It was difficult to concentrate when he was so naked, so big. So…aroused. “But—”

  “Enough.”

  His stern tone had her snapping her mouth shut. She saw the glow of his eyes, the longing in his expression. Her deep inhalation calmed her unease and the tension dispersed from her muscles, replaced by desire again. Since his request matched the insistent need simmering inside her, she waited for the answers to her many questions. Once Nanu relaxed enough to drop his guard, she’d make her escape, either with Nanu in cuffs or without Nanu at all.

  No one captured her.

  “All right,” she agreed, and this time, she pushed her ruminations aside to concentrate on him. He knelt in front of her to unlace her boots, and she gave in to the temptation to skim her fingers over his hair. Nanu lifted his head, pushing into her palm. An exuberant hum filled the air. The tendrils vibrated beneath her touch. Intrigued, she stroked the fat strands. They twisted around her wrist, caressing her, the warmth of them radiating up her arm. Wow, they were unlike anything she’d witnessed during her travels.

  “Let’s get the rest of these clothes off you,” he said, standing in a fluid motion.

  There was no sexy way to wriggle out of her tunic, but that didn’t seem to deter Nanu. He whipped the white garment over her head and removed her breast band before she blinked. Her gaze darted down his body and came to rest on his shaft. His cock bore distinct ridges. She stared, attempting to discern their purpose.

  “Beautiful and exotic,” he whispered, drawing her attention upward. He stroked her slowly and ran his fingers over the blunt spikes on her back.

  Jazen closed her eyes, hating the ugly spikes that always caused a conversation when someone saw them. They mostly remained beneath the surface of her skin, but when her emotions rose, the blunt spikes did too.

  “What race gave you these?” he asked when she remained silent.

  Her gaze shot to his face before shooting to her webbed toes. Tiny spikes grew beneath the nails of her toes, barely visible and of no use. “My mother worked in a brothel. My father was one of her many customers.”

  “It matters not,” he whispered.

  Uncertain, she lifted her head to read his expression. Her tension ebbed. He didn’t care about her background, the genes lurking in her past. Under his bright gaze, she felt desirable and worthy of a male’s attention, the sensual glitter in his eyes distracting her from ogling him back.

  Secs later, he removed her trews and undergarmen
ts, leaving her naked.

  Nanu straightened again, his intense mien darting disquiet through her. She took half a step back and another until she tripped over the gel-pad. She toppled, and Nanu followed her down, caging her between his body and their bed. He pressed his lips to hers and everything in her past ceased to exist. Jazen gripped his upper arms, eager to taste more of his honeyed sweetness. His talented lips caressed hers while his tongue stroked and licked and teased her to the point of madness. The sweet flavor of him fueled her lust until she writhed against him with acute urgency, every part of her aching and throbbing for his touch.

  Never had she wanted to slake her lust this badly. Her worry about Nanu’s past. Poof! Her concern for her brother. Poof! Her anxiety about her imprisonment. Poof!

  Instead, she grabbed Nanu’s beefy shoulders and rubbed her breasts against his muscular chest while the seductive honey scent of him filled her with dizzy pleasure.

  “I knew the first time I saw you,” he murmured against her neck. “I knew our bodies would fit together.” His teeth scraped over a pulse point at her throat. “I knew it would be magical between us.”

  Their lips met again, and eagerly, she made darting forays with her tongue, desperate to enjoy more of his addictive flavor. Her tongue raked over one of his sharp teeth, and a flash of pain had her pulling away.

  Nanu shuddered and groaned, refusing to release her. Instead, he sucked on her wound and the throb of pain receded in a flash of pleasure. The blissful sensations sank down her body, frisking her breasts and settling between her thighs.

  Nanu lifted his head, his amber eyes glowing with a fierce heat. In a tender moment, he pressed their foreheads together and nuzzled his cheek against hers.

  “I’ve been waiting for you my entire life,” he murmured before kissing her again.

  Wait. What? His entire life. What did that even mean?

  Before she quizzed him, his passionate kiss claimed her attention, and she promised herself she’d ask more questions later, once her brain was functioning at full capacity.

  This place…what had he called it? A gattoc? The tent structure was strange yet romantic with the plants and flowers entwined in the frame. It reminded her of the promo holos for the Middlemarch Resort on the planet Tiraq. They catered for women and provided sexy holidays. She’d heard a woman might locate almost anything at the resort, but she hadn’t had the finances together or carved out the time to fritter away on a luxury resort holiday.