Cato_House of Flames

by Scarlett Grove

  Cato sighed. He couldn’t believe she had exposed him like this. Then again, he could. She was his mate and should expect no less from her.

  “Okay, I admit it. It was my database you hacked.”

  “I knew it!”

  “And you are on to something regarding your sister. I just can’t reveal what it is quite yet. I need to know something first. It’s for your own safety.”

  “Hm. You don’t have to protect me. I can take care of myself.”

  “No, I don’t think you can. Not from these people. Look what happened to your sister.”

  “You mean the sister who was kidnapped by vampires?”

  “The very same,” he said.

  “Fine. Don’t tell me,” she said, hopping off her stool. “I need to get back to work. I’ll see you around. I’ve got your deets if you want to hook up after work.”

  She disappeared out the door and left him sitting there watching her as the construction worker hooted at her from above. Cato growled. He was so close, yet so far away. Everything in him wanted to go grab her and tell her she belonged to him. They were made for each other. They needed to be together in every way. But he couldn’t. It would go against everything he believed in.

  Cato let out an irritated sigh. Did he even know what he believed in anymore? There she was, slipping into the library across the street. The picture of loveliness. The beginning and the end of all his desire. He realized in that moment that he believed in her, in them, before anything else.

  Mating analysis be damned, he needed his woman.

  Chapter 8

  Penelope was starting to get really annoyed that Cato wouldn’t tell her what he knew. If he had information that could lead to her sister, he had an obligation to tell her, no matter what it was. The ridiculous story about vampires was just that, ridiculous. And if there were rich and powerful people kidnapping exceptional human beings, all the more reason for him to help her bring down the crime ring.

  She went back to work but didn’t see him for the rest of the day. He’d just been bullshitting about being with the broadband company in the first place, and she was disappointed in herself for buying it for even a second. The rest of the day at work was almost unbearable. Candice kept teasing her about the internet guy. Telling her they would make really cute nerd babies. Penelope had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at her friend more than a few times.

  But as the day stretched on and Cato didn’t return, she was beginning to worry that maybe she scared him off. Not only did she need his help, and the information that he was keeping from her, she was really beginning to like him. She couldn’t explain it. There was something about him that just drew her to him. It wasn’t typical to find a guy who was so smart and accomplished who was also so freaking sexy.

  He was over six feet tall, had broad toned shoulders, washboard abs that he hid under those dorky short sleeve button up shirts he wore. She’d seen it the night they were researching together. If he wanted to, he could be just as hot as the construction workers across the street from the library. Easily. Probably more so. On top of that, he’d written the most elegant code she’d ever witnessed in her entire life. It was totally next-level stuff. The few seconds she’d been inside his database it had blown her mind. She was itching to get back inside at the soonest possible moment. But that was not the only thing she was itching to get inside.

  He wore khaki cargo shorts that hid his body quite effectively, but from the few careful glances Penelope had stolen, she could see he was working with impressive equipment. As she walked outside and waited at the bus stop, she shook her head at herself. She couldn’t believe she was having these thoughts. But she couldn’t help it. Cato’s deep blue eyes called to her. The conversations they shared and the energy that radiated between them made her want so much more.

  Could she really have it all? Could she really have met a man she was both attracted to and interested in intellectually? Penelope had never thought it would happen. But now it had. At the worst possible moment. She had to focus on finding her sister, and she’d thought Cato could help her.

  The bus rolled up in front of her and the air brakes whooshed as the door opened. She climbed on board and found a seat, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. She sent Cato a text.

  “It’s Friday night,” she started. “Most people are out having a good time. Are you ready to get your Batman on?”

  “I’m not Batman,” he texted back.

  “No,” she replied. She waited for several beats with her thumbs hovering over the keypad. She bit her lip and typed out the rest of the text. “You’re better looking.”

  “Which Batman are you referring to? Michael Keaton probably. Christian Bale, probably not.”

  “I’d say all of them. Even George Clooney.”

  “There’s no way,” he replied.

  “We can continue this conversation later. You want to meet me at my apartment for a little hacking session?”

  “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “Make it twenty. And bring a pizza.”

  “What kind?”

  “Canadian bacon and pineapple.”

  “You like pineapple on pizza?”

  “Don’t start.”

  “I’ll get half Hawaiian and half supreme. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds good as long as it’s a large.”

  “Done,” he typed back.

  Penelope smiled broadly as she climbed off the bus at her stop. Hurrying up to her apartment, she tidied up a bit in anticipation of Cato’s arrival. She had been so busy looking for her sister that she’d barely been taking care of herself. She picked up all the dirty laundry, rinsed off the dishes in the sink and threw them into the dishwasher and picked up all the old newspapers from the floor. She was all done by the time he knocked on the door.

  “I’m so glad to see you,” she said, taking the pizza box and turning away.

  “Me or the pizza?” Cato asked following her inside.

  “Mostly the pizza,” she said.

  “I’m glad to see you too,” he said.

  “I’m just teasing. But I am starving. A girl can’t subsist on salads and green smoothies.”

  “You’re telling me. I’ve got the appetite of a ravenous beast.”

  She opened the pizza box and looked up at him through her eyelashes. “Oh, really now?”

  “You have no idea.”

  “So, is that what you’re keeping from me? You’re really a werewolf? And here I thought you were Batman.”

  “I’m neither Batman or a werewolf.”

  “Well, that’s two guesses, I have eighteen more.”

  “Eighteen?”

  “Yes eighteen out of twenty. From the game twenty questions?”

  “I didn’t realize we were playing twenty questions.”

  “Well, now you do,” she said, slipping three pieces of Hawaiian pizza onto a paper plate. She sat down at the dining room table and wiped her hands off on a paper towel.

  “Question number three. Are you from Seattle?”

  “Define from.”

  “Were you born here?”

  “No.”

  “Question number four. Are you an extraterrestrial?”

  “What?”

  He sat there staring at her for long moments. She took a bite of pizza, and then another, and then another, growing more nervous the longer he remained silent.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” she said. “Moving on. Where did you learn to code like that?”

  “On my home planet.”

  “Is your home planet in this galaxy?”

  “Yes.”

  “And have humans discovered it?”

  “No, they have not.”

  “Are you here to enslave all humans?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “Hmm, so let me think. Are you here because you want to mate with Earth girls?”

  “Partially.”

  “You have to answer yes or no.”

&nb
sp; “Yes.”

  “What other reason could you have to be here?” she asked tapping her finger against her lips.

  “Are we done with this game yet?” he asked, taking a bite of supreme pizza. A piece of bell pepper fell on his plate and he leaned forward awkwardly as if trying to catch it in his mouth, but he didn’t and just fumbled, dropping even more toppings onto the plate. “I revealed all of my secrets to you.”

  “One more question. How do you know what happened to my sister?”

  “That isn’t a yes or no question.”

  “Was my sister kidnapped by vampires?”

  “In all probability, yes,” he said.

  Penelope sighed and set down her pizza, rubbing her eyes. “Okay, okay, I’m done. Let’s be serious now. I need to find out what happened to her. If you know something Cato, you need to tell me.”

  “You are the one that started goofing off talking about Batman and werewolves.”

  “You played along. What was up with that story about being in extraterrestrial? That was all you, buddy.”

  “You got me,” he said. “We need to take this more seriously.”

  “Yeah. We definitely do. The longer my sister is gone, the more likely she’ll never turn up again. I’ve done a lot of research on missing persons, and the first twenty-four hours is the most crucial. Statistically speaking, my sister should be dead by now if she was kidnapped. There’s been no ransom requested. Compared to other cases like this, the likelihood of her already being dead is extremely high. But I know my twin sister isn’t dead. I can feel her. Like a sixth sense. I know she’s alive, I know she’s terrified. She’s in pain. I can’t explain it. But I just know. I have to find her. Cato, if you know something, you need to tell me now.”

  “I’m trying to help. But I’m also trying to keep you safe, Penelope. You have to understand it’s more important to me than anything else.”

  “Why do you care so much about keeping me safe? We just met.”

  “You’re a good person. And it would kill me to see anything bad happen to you. So, I have to be careful about what I tell you. If you learn too much too soon, it could be really damaging.”

  “What is it that you need to know before you can tell me the truth?” she said, standing from the table.

  They had just been joking around a minute ago, but suddenly she remembered how irritated she was by his lack of transparency. She liked him. That was the problem. She liked him too much. They could sit here over pizza and joke around all night about Batman and werewolves. But if he was going to keep the truth from her, none of that meant anything. She needed to find her sister. Flora was the most important person in her entire world. And she would die if anything happened to her.

  “I’ll tell you as soon as I possibly can. You have to trust me.”

  “Why? Why do I have to trust you? I hardly know anything about you. What I do know is that you are a liar.”

  “Penelope…”

  She let out a deep sigh and began pacing her dining room. He stared up at her, hurt beaming from his eyes.

  “Maybe I should go.”

  “No. You’re not going anywhere.”

  “I’m not lying to you.”

  “You told me you’re with a broadband company. That was a lie. Now you’re lying about lying.”

  “That was a mistake. I didn’t know what else to say.”

  “And then you brought that ID. All that bogus data. You hacked into my system and made it look like there was an information leak. Not only did you lie to me, you created a big smokescreen to convince me that you are something that you’re not. And now all I know about you is that you’re not Batman and you’re not a werewolf. But you are an extraterrestrial, from an undiscovered planet in this galaxy, here to mate with Earth girls. Aside from that, you’re a complete mystery.

  “You tell me you can help me find my sister. That you know something about her. Do you know what led me to your database? The same guy that told me my sister was kidnapped by vampires. He told me I had to find you. He said that you were involved. For all I know, you’re one of the kidnappers.”

  She walked over to the desk drawer where she kept her mace and pulled it open. She fondled the can inside the drawer and stared at him. His body was slumped and his eyes were staring down at the greasy paper plate in front of him.

  “I’m sorry about the broadband thing. That was so stupid. I went and made all of that stuff up so I could talk to you. I told you I’m trying to protect you. Please just believe me.”

  “I don’t have any reason to believe you.”

  “If you don’t believe my words, then can you believe my heart?”

  He stood and walked across the room, taking her hand out of the drawer and placing it against his chest. He looked into her eyes, his gaze beseeching. His lips beckoning. She looked away, about to pull her hands back to grab the mace and spray it in his face. But something inside her took over and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Reaching up on her tiptoes, she planted a hot, deep kiss on his gorgeous lips.

  Deep wells of desire flooded over into her consciousness, drowning out all the words and worry. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his hard body. She could feel the coiled strength inside him as he held her. Rubbing his hands up and down her back and over her behind and down her thighs.

  Their kiss deepened, growing wet and ravenous. His tongue darted in and out of her mouth as he held her head with one hand and the small of her back with the other. She cupped his face in her palms, feeling the slight bristle on his chin. They consumed each other, groaning as the flood of longing pulled her so deep she had to gasp for air. They held each other, panting.

  “Oh my God,” she gasped.

  “Penelope,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I can’t do this. I want to more than I can possibly say. I have to go.”

  He let her go, turning away. He charged for the door without looking back and it slammed closed, leaving her alone, aroused and confused.

  “So that’s what it feels like to make out with an alien,” she muttered to herself, trying to calm her wild heart.

  Chapter 9

  Cato left Penelope’s house, feeling like a fool. Why had he engaged in that silly banter? He’d revealed far too much. More importantly, why had he kissed her? Of course he knew why. He couldn’t resist her. It was driving him crazy. Every moment of every day since the first time he’d laid eyes on her, his dragon had been screaming in his ears. He couldn’t think, he could barely walk, talk, or go about his day without feeling the mind-splitting agony of his inner dragon. It was getting to be too much, even for him. After that kiss, Cato had to admit to himself that he believed Penelope was his mate, regardless of the mating analysis.

  He grumbled at himself as he made his way across the street and entered the building where he had rented an apartment. Penelope wanted him, too. That kiss didn’t lie. He couldn’t stay away from her any longer. He had to see her again, at the soonest possible opportunity.

  He walked into his apartment, sat in front of his computer, and jiggled the mouse to wake up the screen. He began typing, interfacing with his ship’s AI Bethi. He was still doing research into the possibility of a vampire vaccine. If he could develop something, it would go a long way in the fight against the vampires. But no matter how interesting the concept, Cato could not calm down his dragon or turn his thoughts away from Penelope, and the feeling of her soft body in his arms, for more than a few moments at a time. He swore in Dragonian and picked up his cell phone.

  “I know it’s late,” he texted Penelope. “But I was wondering if you wanted to spend tomorrow together.”

  He stared at the cell phone for long moments, and then finally set it down. With a sigh, he went back to work on the vaccine. A moment later, his cell phone buzzed. He picked it up and looked at the screen. There was a text message from Penelope.

  “I thought this was a booty call,” she said.

  “Do you want it to be a booty call?” he
asked.

  He gritted his teeth. Why did he keep falling for her teasing?

  “Maybe,” she replied.

  “I was just about to get in bed.”

  “I’m just kidding. I’d love to hang out tomorrow. Did you have a plan?”

  “Not really. I just wanted to see you again.”

  “I want to see you too. Sorry about earlier. I’m just really frustrated. And I hate not knowing what’s going on. I hope you’ll share your secrets with me soon.”

  “Believe me, I want to.”

  “Whatever’s going on with you, Cato, I’m going to try to trust you. Usually, I wouldn’t, but I have a good feeling about you. And if you cross me, I’ll just mace you in the face.”

  “Fair enough. Do you want to meet up for brunch? Maybe a picnic?”

  “That sounds great,” she typed out. “I better be going to sleep now. I haven’t been getting enough of that lately.”

  “Me too. Good night.”

  Good night, my beautiful mate, he thought to himself. He groaned and set down his cell phone. Rubbing his eyes, he trudged to his bedroom and collapsed on the mattress. As he was breathing deeply and trying to relax enough to go to sleep, Bethi spoke inside his mind.

  “Mating analysis complete,” the AI said.

  Cato shot up in bed, suddenly wide-awake.

  “What is it?” he asked. He already knew the answer.

  “It is confirmed that Penelope Baptiste is your mate.”

  “Yes.”

  He collapsed back on the bed, his inner dragon purring inside his mind. Finally, the beast relaxed and curled up in the corner of his consciousness. For the first time in days, Cato was able to think straight. As he drifted off to sleep, he imagined his life together with Penelope. Kissing her, making love to her, raising their children together. His heart throbbed in anticipation and he settled into blissful dreams about his future.

  When he woke up the next morning, he was in the best mood he’d been in his entire life. He couldn’t stop smiling. He took a shower, beaming. He ate his cereal with a grin on his lips. He checked his computer, nearly chuckling with delight. Then he noticed some very interesting information results from his research the night before. There was a distinct possibility that it would be possible to develop a vaccine for Dragon Souls by synthesizing the blood of mated Dragon Souls. He scratched his chin, considering the applications. There was still a great deal more work to do, but this preliminary analysis was promising.