Chasing Cats

by ERIN BEDFORD

  He slithered onto my side of the bed, and I fought the urge to move away from the feral look in his eyes. Chess slid his hand along the length of my arm, sending a trail of heat over my skin in its wake. I couldn’t repress a shiver as that hand moved from my arm to slip around my neck, and then up to cup my face in his hands.

  I found myself leaning into his touch, the need to have him close too strong to ignore. My eyes fluttered closed, and I let myself enjoy his touch a little bit more. He moved in closer, leaning his top half over mine.

  “I think I know what you were dreaming about.” His mouth hovered above mine, brushing so lightly against it before nipping at my bottom lip. I leaned in as he pulled away. “I want to hear you say it.”

  I moaned at his teasing words. As his hands found their place on either side of me, my senses filled with nothing but his heady scent. My hand reached up tangling itself in his hair, his strands were just as soft as in my dream. I imagined what they’d feel like against my hot skin.

  “Tell me, kitten, and I’ll give you what you want,” he purred against my throat as he arched my neck to the side, exposing my throat to him.

  He bit at the junction where my neck and shoulder met, and my breath caught in my throat. With a smile, he slid his hand up the line of my thighs.

  “You,” I croaked out, unable to hold back anymore.

  “Yes? What about me?” He teased, his smile pressing against my skin.

  “I was dreaming about you,” I shoved out as I fought to keep my hips on the bed and to keep from forcing his hands where I needed them most.

  “Hmmm. And did you miss me, Kat? While I was gone? Or were you too wrapped up in your prince to notice?” His grip tightened on me, the hard sound of his voice was like a splash of cold water to my libido, and I jerked away from him.

  “No,” I snapped at him, irritated at my own lack of self-control. “And stay out of my head.”

  He gave me an amused smile. “Sadly, dream manipulation has never been one of my gifts, but I did partake in one of Seer’s more interesting gatherings. Mass daydreams can be so satisfying when in the right setting.”

  My lips twisted down at the thought of a bunch of Fae sitting around getting high and having mental orgies. I’d been on the receiving end of one of her vision quests, and it didn’t leave me satisfied in the least.

  Changing the subject, I drew the covers up around me. “Where were you?”

  “Working. Where else?” He shrugged as if it was an everyday occurrence.

  “But you left.” I winced at the desperation in my voice. “You weren’t here and…”

  My voice broke and all the events of the last few days caught up with me. Tears fell down my face and racking sobs filled my chest.

  I curled my hands into fists and clenched the covers to me while trying to hide the agony on my face. My chest felt heavy and full of so many emotions I couldn’t keep them in any longer, but I was never a pretty crier. My face would get blotchy and my nose red and puffy, so much so that I turned my face away from Chess to try to hide it.

  “Shh.” He ran his hand through my hair and then stroked my back. “If I had known you would be this upset, I would have woken you first, or at least left a note. Know that I didn’t leave because I wanted to.”

  “Then why?” I asked in a small voice, coated with tears.

  “A messenger came, and there was business that needed my attention. I didn’t think you would care.” His words had a slightly bitter tone to them.

  “I do care,” I retorted. “I mean. We’re friends. I would want to know if you were going to be in danger.”

  His cat-like eyes watched me for a moment before he spoke. “Right. Friends. And how is that working out for us?”

  I opened my mouth to answer, to say we were fine, but snapped it shut. We weren’t fine. We weren’t even close to fine. The world was falling apart, and I still couldn’t admit that I wanted the Fae in front of me, because of pride, or plain old stubbornness.

  Mrs. Jenkins’ words echoed through me. I might not love Chess, but I knew I liked him. I missed him when he was gone. When there was a problem, I thought of what he would do, and like it or not, I was jealous of the other Fae who had been in his bed. And God help me, I wanted him. I wanted him more than anything in this world or the next. I didn’t know much about anything else in my crazy life, but I did know that.

  Chess moved away, and I could physically see him closing himself off from me. I had a feeling if that happened; I wouldn’t ever get this chance back. If I wanted him, it had to be now.

  “We’re not.” I grabbed his wrist, stopping him from leaving. “Friends, that is.”

  He glanced down at my hand and back to my face, a cautious look in his eyes. “Then what are we?”

  I pulled him down to me and muttered, “Hell if I know,” before pressing my mouth to his.

  Chess didn’t hesitate to cup the back of my head and press me closer to him. Angling my head slightly, I opened my mouth to him and let his slightly rough tongue slide in. Kissing someone with feline qualities, like sharper canines, was a slight challenge. You couldn’t really go crazy unless you wanted a tongue piercing. Since I didn’t, I let Chess take the lead and found myself so consumed in our kiss that I didn’t realize he had laid me back onto the bed until I felt him pressed between my legs.

  I pulled back from the kiss with a gasp and then let out a slight groan. We were moving so fast. I mean, I wanted this, but I wasn’t sure I wanted this right now. Not with everything that was going on. Especially since I just admitted to myself that I craved him.

  “What is it?” He leaned back, watching my face, his eyes still full of desire. “I thought you wanted this.”

  “I did. I do,” I explained, a blush filling my face. “Its just there is so much happening, I don’t know if it would be right. Or if it would even be me doing this because I wanted to, or me being so overwhelmed. You know with the Shadows loose, Fae going missing left and right. Then there are the faeries and Alice being in the human world. You know what I mean?”

  “Faeries? Alice? Here?” He pulled back as if I had bit him. He stood from the bed and started for the door. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was so distracted by the fact that you were actually back, that I forgot.” I pushed away from the bed to go after him. I placed my hand on his arm, stopping him before he could open the door. “And then we were a little preoccupied.”

  A silly grin filled my face at what had just happened.

  He pressed his lips to mine in a soft kiss. “Yes, that we were. But for once, and I cannot believe I am saying this, there are more pressing matters than consummating our new non-friendship.”

  “You’re right.”

  Chess’ eyes darkened. “If Alice and the faeries are here, than others may follow. Others that may want to take matters into their own hands. I have to go back and take care of a few things, make some preparations.”

  “The Fae are already through, what else is there to prepare for?”

  “For all hell to break loose.”

  Glass shattered behind me as if it’d been waiting for Chess to say those words. I spun around and backed up. My bedroom window had been smashed and was now a big gaping hole. The frame around it had been ripped apart, and in its place, a burly figure loomed over us.

  “What is that?” I took a step back, my back bumping into the wall behind me.

  Chess tensed up beside me, his eyes focused on the creature. “That, my dear, is a troll.”

  “That’s a troll?” I pointed at what looked to be a supersized man on steroids, with a pig snout for a nose and tusks coming out of his mouth. It wore only a flap over its private areas and dragged a large club behind it, which it now waved in the air with a roar.

  “Are you all right in there?” Alice’s voice chimed in from behind the door before the doorknob rattled.

  “We’re fine. Don’t come in here.” I called o
ut to her. I didn’t know what would happen if the troll saw Alice, especially since the rest of the Underground hated her guts. Luckily for me, she actually listened to me this time and moved away from the door.

  With Alice gone, Chess leaned over and whispered, “He might not look like much, but believe me, love, you don’t want to be getting on this guy’s bad side. They're stupid but strong as hell.”

  Once the troll was done with his war cry, his tiny eyes looked around my room, as if he was a child in a toy store. Not paying us any mind, he stomped his large feet over to a line of rag dolls my grandmother had on display on the dresser.

  “What is he doing?” I kept my voice down, trying not to draw the troll’s attention.

  “I don’t know.” Chess shrugged. “Why don’t you ask him?”

  “What?” I scoffed. “I can’t do that, he’ll eat me!”

  “That’s silly. Trolls don’t eat beautiful ladies.” Chess smirked at me.

  My eyes narrowed in a scowl. How was I supposed to know what trolls ate? I’d never seen one before now. Everything I had ever learned about trolls was from fairy tales. They normally lived under bridges and required you to answer a riddle to get by, but this guy didn’t look like he could spell his own name, let alone spout out a riddle.

  “Excuse me.” I cleared my throat and took a hesitant step forward, but the troll’s attention securely focused on the doll he was playing with. I tried again a bit louder this time. “Excuse me.”

  The troll glanced toward me with a curious expression, as if he hadn’t known I was even there.

  “Hi.” I gave a small wave. “That’s a nice doll you have there.” I pointed to the doll in his hand with a smile. “That belonged to my grandmother, but she’s gone right now, so you could have it if you want.”

  He looked to the doll and back to me, clearly confused at the concept.

  “It’s a gift,” I offered up, hoping he would know what that meant.

  “Gift?” it said in a voice that sounded like he had been gargling rocks.

  “Yes. A gift.”

  He looked down at the doll, and then to me. When his gaze slid over to Chess, he scowled. “Why?”

  I stepped in front of Chess, trying to bring his focus back to me. I didn’t know what his beef was with Chess, but he was talking and not destroying things, and I wanted to keep it that way.

  “Because we are friends.” I smiled up at him.

  “Friends?” He pointed at himself and then at me.

  “Yep. Friends. So as your friend, I have to ask, why did you come through my window?” I gestured toward the hole in my wall.

  The troll looked back toward the hole as if not remembering he had been the one to create it. He scratched his head, and I could see him struggling to remember.

  “Did you come to see me?” I asked.

  “You?” He tilted his head to the side. “Who you?”

  “I’m Kat.” I placed my hand on my chest. “Who are you?” I was beginning to feel kind of silly having to dumb down everything I said, but if it kept him happy, I’d even go so far as interruptive dance to get the big lug out of my house.

  “Bar,” was his delighted reply.

  I raised my eyebrow at the name but didn’t question it. “Well, it is nice to meet you, Bar. Do you remember why you came here? To the human world?”

  “Humans?” He tensed up, his eyes on alert. “Where humans?”

  Knowing I was going to regret it, I held my hands up. “I’m a human, Bar. And this is Chess, the moderator.”

  I gestured to Chess behind me.

  “Moderator!” The troll roared, his hand tightening around the doll. He stomped his feet, causing the whole house to shake. “Bar not bad! Not bad.”

  Chess stepped out from behind me, his hands on his hips. “I am not here for you, you big lug. But I might be if you don’t stop playing games and tell us why you busted in here.”

  Suddenly it was like the lights went on in the troll’s head. Before it was a dim bulb that made me think he had been dropped one too many times as a child, but now there was intelligence there. But also fear.

  “The queen wants the human. The queen ask Bar to get human.”

  Of course, it was my mother who sent him. I knew she wanted power but to go this far was getting ridiculous.

  Chess seemed to figure it out as well and stood in front of me. “The queen will have to wait. I need the human right now.”

  “But the queen.” A tiny quiver filled Bar’s voice.

  “The queen can answer to me,” Chess’ voice rang with authority that had my insides tingling. “You can go back and tell her what I said, and if she tries to punish you, I will see to it.”

  The troll hesitated. Chess obviously had more pull than I thought he did, even if he wasn’t exactly the moderator anymore.

  “Go!” Chess’ voice rang out throughout the room.

  The troll scrambled back out the way he came, his hands clutching the doll I had given him.

  When he was gone, I sighed as I took in the damage to my grandmother’s house. How the hell was I going to explain this? I dragged my hand through my hair and set to work on picking up broken pieces of the wall and putting them into a pile.

  “Your mother is getting out of hand.”

  “Yeah,” I muttered, focusing on not getting cut by the shards of glass littering the floor.

  “All the more reason I need to go.”

  My head jerked up. “Go? Now? After I just got attacked? What if he comes back?”

  Chess placed his hands on my shoulders and rubbed them in a soothing manner. “You’ll be fine. He won’t come back, believe me.”

  “But why was he more scared of you than my mother? You’re not even the moderator anymore.” I leaned into his embrace, accepting his comfort.

  “I might not be the moderator anymore, but I still have a certain pull in the Underground. And like you, my power isn’t limited by rules.” He placed his chin on top of my head and stroked my hair. “What worries me is how he got out in the first place?”

  I leaned back to see his face. “From what Alice said, the guards aren’t that good at their job, but since he said my mother sent him, I have no doubt that he was probably let out.”

  “Which is also a huge problem.” Chess placed his clawed finger under my chin, tipping my head further back. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Not while I’m around, but since I won’t be for the next few days, you need to keep alert to your surroundings. Don’t leave the house for anything other than your job and make Alice pull her weight around here. She might make a horrible Fae, but she still has more control over her magic than you do.”

  “I’m not a child. I can take care of myself.” I pouted.

  He nipped at my lip with a grin. “I am well aware of that.”

  His hands slid their way down my hips and pulled me close. My heart rate sped up.

  My eyes fluttered closed as he dipped his head down. His lips engulfed mine, and I opened my mouth to him, savoring his kiss. Each sweep of his tongue caused my insides to light on fire and soon my hands found their way to his shoulders. I pushed myself up on my tiptoes to get closer to him. Just as his hands began to trail further down my hips, the bedroom door slammed open, revealing Alice’s horrified expression.

  “What in the name of all that is good happened here?”

  * * *

  AFTER CHESS LEFT, leaving me aching to continue where we had left off, I explained to Alice what had gone down. When that was done, I wanted nothing more than to go back to bed but that wouldn’t happen until I fixed the new hole in my wall.

  I found a piece of plywood big enough to cover the hole, and though it wasn’t the prettiest of jobs, it was enough that I collapsed onto my bed and tried to sleep.

  Chess had said he’d only be gone a few days at most, and not to worry, but of course telling me not to worry only made me worry more. So after tossing and turning f
or about an hour, my senses acutely aware of the hole, I gave up trying to get to sleep.

  I made my way to the kitchen, and without turning on the kitchen light, opened the fridge door. The light from the door illuminated the contents of the kitchen and a quiet Alice sitting at the table. My heart leapt into my chest.

  “What are you doing sitting in the dark?” I flipped on the kitchen light before turning back to her.

  “Thinking.” The one word said volumes to what she was thinking about. It was the same thing I had been thinking about since Chess left. The possibility that our worlds, the human and the Fae world, would go to war.

  I wanted to believe that the human race was more open minded than that, but with the way we treated our own species, I had little hope that we wouldn’t have the strike first and dissect later mentality. It didn’t bode well for any Fae or half-breed.

  “I don’t know what to say to make you feel better, Alice.” I opened the freezer and pulled out an ice cream carton. I grabbed two spoons from the drawer and sat down at the table. “Whatever will happen, will happen, but until that time comes, there is nothing that rocky road ice cream can’t fix.”

  “Rocky road?” She cocked her head at the outstretched spoon and the carton in my hand. She took the spoon from me and watched as I peeled the top off the carton to reveal the decadent chocolate, almond, and marshmallow goodness inside.

  Digging my spoon in, I took a big bite and simply moaned in delight. Literally, nothing could beat good old ice cream therapy. Okay, maybe a toe curling orgasm or two, but not much else.

  Alice dipped the spoon into the carton, pulling out a small amount, and slipping it into her mouth. Her eyes lit up.

  “Oh, my! That is good.” She placed her hand to her mouth and then dug her spoon in again to get more.

  “I told you.” I gave a smug smile as I loaded my spoon with another bite.

  She shoveled another spoonful into her mouth, no longer caring if she was ladylike or not. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted. How do you not simply spend all day eating these kinds of foods?”