The Panther

by Ezra Dawn

  “Why yes, yes I do but call it what it is agápi mou.”

  “And what would that be?”

  Winking salaciously, I say, “Foreplay.”

  I wake up deliciously sore with the sun streaming through the blinds. Reaching out behind me, I find Kuro’s side of the bed empty. Hearing footsteps, I sit up in time for Kuro to come into the room with a tray of food. “Good morning, agápi mou, how are you feeling?”

  Smiling at him, I say, “Deliciously sore, and you? How are you feeling?”

  “Like I’ve been rode hard and put away wet,” he says, with a saucy wink as he sets the tray down on my lap and crawls into bed beside me. As we eat our breakfast of hash browns, sausage, and toast, I sense something through our link that’s off somehow. Worried about what it might be, I ask, “Is something wrong,” to which Kuro responds with a heavy sigh but, nothing else.

  Hoping he’s not having regrets, I swallow the fears that are trying to form and say, “Do you… um regret what we did last night?”

  Kuro turns to me sharply and says, “Absolutely not, last night was magical and the best night of my life.”

  “Then, tell me, what’s bothering you. I can sense something is off with you through our link.”

  The reminder of our mind link has him smiling as he remembers us testing it out last night while we basked in the glow after I made love to him. It’s quickly followed with a sense of determination. Kuro turns to me and says, “While I was making breakfast, I got a call about a job. It’s a council assignment and urgent, but I don’t want to leave you.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Prague.”

  An idea begins to form in my mind, and I blurt it out before I can second guess myself. “What if I go with you? You do your job and then we can sightsee together.”

  “Are you sure that’s something you want to do, agápi mou, after everything you’ve been through?”

  Nodding, I say, “Yes. I have to face my fears sometime and with you at my side and in my head to reassure me, I think I’ll be able to handle it since I’ll know everything will be fine.”

  Kuro kisses me softly and says, “I love you.”

  “I love you too, chaton.”

  He grins and raises an eyebrow at me. “Did you just call me kitten?”

  Of course, he’d know what that means because he’s an international assassin. Blushing deeply, I bite my lip and shake my head.

  With a laugh, he leans in and nips my earlobe, “Little liar.” When he teases me like this, I’m reminded of when we were kids, and it makes me so happy that some of his old self is beginning to shine through again. I know he’ll never be exactly as he was, but I think he’s well on the way to becoming the perfect combination of both versions of himself and that’s more than I could ever hope for.

  Sticking my tongue out at him I say, “Well, chat noir seemed too obvious a choice.”

  Kissing my cheek, he says, “I’m only teasing, agápi mou, I don’t care what you call me whether it’s kitten or black cat because the feeling of hearing you say it will always be the same; warm and loving. Where’d you learn French anyways?”

  “Google translate,” I say, deadpan which makes his laughter return in full force bringing a smile to my face. “I was trying to figure out what agápi mou, means because you neglected to tell me and since I didn’t know how to spell it, or what language it was, I ended up searching for something I could call you that wasn’t used every day by everyone.”

  “It’s Greek for my love.”

  Looking down I pluck nonexistent lint from the sheets and say, “That’s a lot better than kitten or black cat.”

  “It is not. It’s the meaning behind the word that matters, not the word itself.” Kuro grips my chin and tilts my head up so I’m looking at him. With a mischievous glint in his eye, he says, “Now, that we have that cleared up, say ‘I love you, kitten.’”

  Biting my lip to fight back a smile, I shake my head.

  Kuro responds by giving me the puppy dog look and saying, “If you don’t tell your kitten you love him, you miss out on an after-breakfast blow job.”

  Laughing, I say, “You’re terrible.”

  He crosses his arms over his chest, and I swear if he were standing, he’d be tapping his foot. “Kitten is waiting.”

  Throwing up my hands in exasperation, I say, “Fine. I love you, chaton.”

  Kuro’s expression is smug when he asks, “Now, was that so hard?”

  Growling at him, but without any heat behind it, I say, “You’re incorrigibly infuriating.”

  “But you love me anyway.”

  Shaking my head, I sigh and say with the hint of a smile, “I’m questioning my sanity in regard to that sentiment this very minute.”

  He chuckles and kisses me softly. “Feeling better about your choice of endearment now?”

  Tapping my chin with my forefinger as if pondering the question, I remember one of the random things I searched in google translate, smirk at him and say, “I don’t know… I think I might change it to douleur dans le cul.”

  Kuro moves the tray with what’s left of our breakfast on it to the floor and pushes me down on the bed. With a sexy smirk on his face, he says, “I thoroughly enjoy being a pain in your ass… and now, I think I’ll show you just how much.”

  “After you give me the blow job you owe me.”

  “But of course, agápi mou, I’d never deny you.”

  Gesturing to my now, hard cock tenting the sheets, I say, “Best get on with it then,” to which he laughs and says, “Your wish is my command,” then slips under the sheets. Before he takes my cock in his mouth, I say, “Wait… what about your job?”

  “Plane leaves in four hours, we have plenty of time. Now lay back and enjoy.”

  “Sir, yes sir.”

  As soon as the words leave my mouth, I picture him in an army uniform giving me orders, eliciting a groan from Kuro who says, “Oh, we are definitely exploring that fantasy sometime soon. You’ll be my sexy, sassy, little cadet and I’ll be your sergeant who’ll court martial you and sentence you to endless sex and blowjobs. Gods I’m hard just thinking about it.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Me either.”

  Four hours later, after a morning romp between the sheets, Kuro and I are boarding a private jet for a nine-hour flight to Prague. When I asked about the flight while we were packing Kuro told me he always flies private for his jobs, so we get to avoid the crowded airport and commercial flights. I know even if he didn’t always travel that way, he would’ve planned to do so, because of me. I love that he takes my fears and concerns into account when making decisions. It makes me feel safe and loved. We packed light since we don’t plan to stay very long. After we take our seats, and the plane prepares for take-off, I turn to Kuro and say, “You never told me what’s urgent about this job.”

  “It’s a kidnapping situation. The man I’m supposed to target has ‘allegedly’ kidnapped thirty teenage girls over the past three months to sell into the sex trade. I say allegedly because there’s no concrete evidence. Everything is circumstantial and coincidence. A conviction can’t come from that so, the council has entrusted me with it. I’ve got everything I need in the file I was emailed to take care of the job immediately, so once we get checked into the hotel we can get something to eat, you can go to the room and rest for a few hours if you like, then I’ll take care of the job and be back in time to join you for lunch and we can spend the rest of the day and the next one sightseeing before catching a flight back the morning after. And if you want to stay a bit longer, I can call and arrange for the flight to be changed to a different day.”

  Taking his hand in mine, I say, “I like that plan. We’ll play it by ear.”

  When the plane takes off, I squeeze Kuro’s hand like a vise until we reach cruising altitude and can relax. I’ve only ever flown once before and that was during a family vacation when I was thirteen. Hearing the sound of the engines whir faster as the pl
ane picks up speed reminds me of the time when I was thirteen… but I feel like I heard it somewhere else before. Suddenly, I’m hit with a memory, and gasp. “Kuro! I just remembered something from my time in the lab.”

  He looks at me with wide eyes. “What is it?”

  Grinning at him, I say, “I remember how I was transported once. It was very early on and only just came to me because of the sound of the jet engines. The guard who was responsible for sedating me messed up the dose and I woke up in a coffin in the cargo hold of a plane. There were fake documents on my chest, but I can’t seem to recall the name they transported me under. I remember panicking because I thought I’d run out of air before we arrived to wherever it was, we were going when I heard this beeping noise and the sound of a fan kicking on then air started blowing in. I tried getting out but, I think the lid was strapped down, and then I started feeling sleepy, so I think they pumped a sedative in with the air, in case something caused a delay and I woke up in the coffin. But my point is, that has to be something your hackers could track right? If they know where to look.”

  He kisses me hard and says, “Agápi mou you’re a genius. That is the best lead we’ve ever gotten. I think it’s right up there with the northern lights lead you gave us. If we combine the coffin information with what you already gave us, we can look for places that have an influx in coffins being transported to those areas and narrow down a lab location. I’ll text the information to Joel when we land,” then he stands up, using our joined hands to pull me with him and says, “Now, what do you say we go to the bedroom in the back of this jet and join the mile-high club?”

  “I’d say, what’s the mile-high club?”

  He puts an arm around my shoulders, leads me to the back bedroom and says huskily, “Allow me to enlighten you, young padawan.”

  When drops to his knees in front of me after the door closes and takes my cock into his mouth, I say, “I think I like the mile-high club.”

  Next time we do this, I’ll plan ahead and bring costumes, I’ll be the pilot to your co-pilot.

  I’ll agree to that, only if you’re the elf to my reindeer and bake cookies with me naked at Christmas.

  Agápi mou, I’ll bake cookies with you naked anytime, as long as you promise to let me lick your spoon.

  Barking out a laugh, I say, “You’re terrible.”

  He pulls off my cock and winks, “You love me anyway.”

  After a nine-hour flight to Prague, Benji and I check into the hotel we booked and order room service for breakfast. With the time zone change, in order to avoid jet lag since it would be early morning when we arrived in Prague, we slept through most of the flight once we exhausted ourselves joining the mile-high club. While we eat, I read over the file the council sent me about the man I’m targeting. They’ve included satellite and thermal imaging of the house and surrounding area along with blueprints of the man’s house plus his daily schedule which will help me take him out.

  You’d think bad guys would learn not to have a routine. It makes them prime targets because their schedule is so predictable. With a little research any assassin sent after them will know exactly where their target is every hour of the day. The thermal imaging doesn’t show where he’s holding the girls, just how many guards are usually stationed around the house. The file also contains a list of properties this guy owns including ones under his aliases and shell corporations associated with him. Thermal imaging of those places narrowed down the buildings where the girls could possibly be held.

  I’ll be working with a team of mercenaries who operate in a similar fashion to me and are going to mount a rescue op while I take care of business. They’ll be searching the list of locations the girls could possibly be held in and I’ll take out the snake who kidnapped them. His house sits on a hill, so all I have to do is find a good vantage point to get a good shot. I brought my best rifle so, if there isn’t a spot nearby that I can use, I’ll be able to shoot from further away.

  Normally, on a job that requires me getting information from the target, I wouldn’t use a rifle, I’d interrogate them first until I got what I needed and then I’d carry out the hit. This time though, since I have the mercenaries helping, I don’t have to go that route. Although, on the off chance none of the locations are correct, it might be better to interrogate him and verify the information. Because, if it’s wrong, those girls will never find their way home again. Deciding to follow that plan has me glad I brought other weapons besides the rifle just in case. I’m always prepared for any outcome because there’s a chance something could go wrong, whether it’s not being able to secure a good enough vantage point for a sniper shot or having something come up last minute that requires a change in plan.

  Every time I do a job, I use the same private airplane and order a car service that picks me up on the tarmac so, I can avoid airport security. It’s the only way I get my weapons in and out without leaving a paper trail or needing to buy one. I have a hidden compartment in the plane that’s not on the blueprints and can’t be found by x-ray or any kind of imaging that holds my weapons in case airport security or any other authority ever decided to look. The transport cases for my weapons are laced with magic so, if they’re opened by anyone who isn’t me, all that person will see, and feel is clothes instead of the weapon that’s truly there.

  Finishing my breakfast, I return the dishes to the room service cart and finish my coffee. After memorizing my target’s schedule and coming up with a plan, I walk over to my bag and pull out my usual work outfit of black tactical pants, bulletproof vest that goes under my long sleeve black shirt, and my leather gloves. I feel Benji’s eyes on me while I get dressed. Looking over my shoulder at him, I see the heated look in his eyes. Grinning at him, I say, “You keep looking at me like that and I’ll never get this job done.”

  Benji licks his lips and says, “Sorry, can’t help it. You’re sexy as fuck dressed like that.”

  Raising an eyebrow, I tease, “So, I’m not sexy normally?”

  He throws a pillow at me and says with a laugh, “Chaton, you know you’re sexy twenty-four seven.”

  “Oh really? Tell me more…”

  “Your ego doesn’t need anymore stroking.”

  Waggling my eyebrows at him I say, “I can think of something else for you to stroke,” and grab my crotch for emphasis.

  “After you finish your job.”

  Pushing my bottom lip out in a pout, I say, “Party pooper,” earning a laugh from him. Walking over to my weapon case, I attach my smaller weapons to my person. Knives, spare magazines, handguns, and a couple different types of grenades. Grabbing my tool kit that contains everything I need to pick locks, disable alarms, and interrogate someone, I slip the straps on the bag over my shoulders wearing it like a backpack. Leaving the rifle behind, I close the case, and use my magic ability to disguise myself and mask my scent.

  Seeing the change, Benji’s draw drops. “Holy shit, Kuro. If I didn’t already know that was you, I’d never be able to recognize you.”

  “Good, that’s the goal. Are you sure you’ll be okay here by yourself?”

  He nods. “I’ll be fine. I’ll probably just stay in and watch TV.”

  Sensing the worry, he has for me and my safety that he’s trying to hide through our link, I know I can’t let him stay in this room and torture himself by imagining the worst. Remembering the amenities on the website for this hotel when I booked it for us, I grin to myself knowing how I’ll distract him from his worries while I’m gone. Making sure I have my phone and the address for my target’s house. I walk over to where Benji is sitting and press a kiss to his lips. “I’ll be back soon. I love you.”

  “I love you too, chaton. Be safe and I’ll see you soon.”

  With one last kiss, I exit the room we’re staying in and after assessing that no one is in the hallway and I’m out of view of any cameras, I let the disguise fall from my face while still keeping my outfit hidden so, I can put my plan for Benji in action. Taking the ele
vator down to the lobby, I walk over to the concierge and say, “Hello, I’m staying in room 1213 and I’d like to book my husband an appointment at the spa for a few hours of pampering while I attend a business meeting.”

  The concierge smiles at me and says, “I can certainly take care of that for you.” As she types on her computer she says, “What treatments did you want to book for him?”

  “I want him to be pampered, so, let’s do a facial, a seaweed body wrap, a Swedish massage, and a mani-pedi. This is a surprise, so I’ll need someone to call our room before his appointment and tell him how to get to the spa. I’d like the earliest appointment available for today so, he’ll be done in time for us to enjoy lunch together. Charge the services to my room.”

  She continues typing and clicking the mouse. When she’s done, she turns to me and says with a smile, “I’ve booked him for an appointment as soon as the spa opens this morning at seven. He’ll be finished with his treatments by noon and I’ll call personally to let him know about his appointment. I’ve also taken the liberty of putting a reservation in for lunch at the hotel restaurant for twelve thirty.”