I cursed, switched on the headlights, and scurried back to where I’d dropped the keys. The narrow beams of the lights did little to illuminate the tangle of grass. I scrabbled around in the dirt and weeds and felt the sharp bite of sand spurs jabbing their barbs into my fingers. I brushed against something cool and metallic and snatched the keys, along with a handful of sand, and raced back to the Jeep.
The engine caught on the first try. With only the headlights spearing through the darkness, all the landmarks I would use to orient myself were lost in the night, and I quickly became lost. Out away from the city lights, the night was all blackness and glittering stars with only the distant glow of Naples on the western horizon to guide me. I veered onto a trail, headed in that direction, but it doubled back and turned inland, so I had to retreat and try again. Soon I was traveling blind, my sense of direction failing me completely. After the third wrong turn, I stopped and sucked in a centering breath, remembering my father’s advice.
Keep going west, and don’t panic
.
I reached over to brush my fingertips along a white paw now crusted with blood and sand. “You still with me, Robby?”
The cat didn’t answer, not even a whimper in my mind, so I jammed the gear lever into first and stomped on the gas. The glow on the horizon drew closer, eventually resolving into the individual lights of porches and streetlights. The white strip of a packed-shell road appeared in the headlights. Soon I reached pavement and floored it, the Jeep’s knobby tires rumbling on the roadway.
By the time I reached home, it was well after ten o’clock. I considered taking Robby to the emergency clinic, but whichever vet was on duty would want to know how the cat had been injured so badly. Admitting he’d been in a fight with a dragon would only earn me a night of observation at the mental health clinic. And what if Robby began to heal miraculously in front of a stranger? How would I explain that?
Oh, he’s not a cat, just a wizard from an alternate universe.
Best to take him home and check out his injuries myself.
The kitchen table was once again pressed into service as an impromptu exam area. I got out my stethoscope and listened to his heart and breathing. Both seemed stronger now, but he was so still. My cats kept vigil like a concerned family, Jasmine creeping close and helping me clean him up like a mother with an injured kitten.
The burns looked better now, but he needed more energy to heal them. I searched the cupboard to locate the bear-shaped bottle of honey. Emergency first aid for a diabetic cat in a hypoglycemic coma was to rub honey or syrup on his gums. I squeezed some of the golden liquid onto my finger and applied it to his gums. With my fingers covered in the sweet stickiness, I could only brush my face against my shoulder to wipe away the tears streaming down my cheeks.
After several minutes, his tongue began to move, scraping against my finger.
“…
more
…” The word whispered in my mind.
His licks grew stronger as strength flowed back into him with the glucose. He raised his head, and his green eyes opened to flicker around his surroundings. Confusion swirled through his thoughts as he realized where he was.
“Dragon?”
“Dead. I blew its head off.”
I felt surprise that quickly changed into a chuckle as he licked the last smear of honey from my fingers, and then he let his head drop back.
“Enough, milady. Must rest. Restore.”
I made a cup of Earl Gray and sat at the table, cradling the mug in trembling fingers until my head began to droop in exhaustion. His heart and respiration seemed to have stabilized, and he appeared to be asleep. Since I hadn’t seen how long his last recuperation took, I wasn’t sure how much time I had. Long enough to shower, I hoped, as I swiped a hand through my hair and dislodged a piece of debris I suspicioned was charred dragon. I shivered.
I placed Robby in a nest of soft towels at the foot of my bed and slipped into the shower to scrub away the day’s battle. And scrubbed again and again until I was sure no trace of that creature remained on me. I dabbed an antibiotic cream on my burned hand, took a couple of aspirins, and then slipped into my pajamas. I returned to the bedroom to find Jasmine snuggled against Robby, washing his face and ears. I crawled into bed and stuffed all my pillows behind me. Leaving the light on so I’d see him the instant he awoke, I pulled my knees to my chest, wrapped my arms around them, and prepared for a long vigil.
I jerked awake, the last sparkles of colored light whirling away into the darkness as a hand caressed my face.
“Wake up, Laura.” Robby traced my upper lip with a fingertip.
All I could see of him in the darkened room were his eyes, glowing softly in the reflected light of the clock. I reached out and felt the hard curves of his chest against my palm, taut and warm and naked.
“I fell asleep…”
“Aye, that you did. Sitting up with your head lolled down against your chest like an old granny snoozing the afternoon away. It looked most uncomfortable. You were exhausted, so I cast a wee sleep spell on you, turned out the light, and tucked you in nice and cozy. While you slept, I used your shower and searched the kitchen for a bit more to eat.”
“How do you feel? Have you regenerated?” My hand drifted down his body, feeling the rippled muscle of his flat abdomen before gliding across his hip. He felt wonderful to my exploring fingers. Warm and hard and so very close.
“Aye, but a tad sore, as if some giant beastie has been beating me…” His voice caught and he gripped my wrist, steering my hand away from his hip. “Some parts are just a wee bit more painful than others.”
I realized the sensitive spot corresponded to burns on the cat’s flank. “Oh, Robby, I’m so sorry…”
He shushed me, his breath warm against my face, and then his lips stilled any further apology. Softly at first, he brushed a series of kisses across my mouth, leaving a trail of moist heat. His tongue, tracing the outline of my mouth, sent frissons of desire through me, and I answered with a fire of my own. We explored each other, our tongues entwined in a slow and intimate ballet. Behind my eyes, colored lights exploded, spinning and arcing like fireworks on a summer night, and filled me with the beauty and ecstasy of this moment. Far too soon, he lifted his mouth from mine.
“Wow, was that more wizardry?” I asked.
“Nay, only the ancient magic between a man and a woman.” His voice was husky, rumbling in his chest. He brushed his hand along my ribs and pushed up my nightshirt.
I nibbled at his chin, teasing him. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just magic away my clothes?”
His chuckle held heated promises. “Some things are better done by hand. Else I would not have the pleasure of this.” His palms skimmed across my flesh, leaving behind a lingering fire as he slid my shirt over my head and tossed it away in the darkness. He cupped my breasts, catching my nipples between thumb and forefinger. I shivered, pushing against his hands. Then his mouth replaced one of his hands, his tongue worshiping my breast. All his silken hair, loose across my chest and arms, was an exquisite torment. His hands started on my panties, fingers gliding down my thighs and calves like heated velvet.
I tangled my hand in the softness of his hair and pulled his lips back to mine, drinking in all the sweetness they could give. Eventually, he broke the kiss, nibbling at my lower lip before he licked and nipped his way down my throat to the hollow of my shoulder and back to my breasts.
A delicious shudder rocked me as took his time at the bud of each nipple, pulling my body against his mouth and lapping at the sensitive peaks. An electric current boiled through me like unseen lightning. When I thought I would spin apart from the power of it, his mouth moved on, down my stomach, my belly, and further to tease the center of my passion. His lips and tongue wrung an elegant melody from my senses, thrumming across my nerves in a building crescendo.
Just as I thought that wave of passion would break over me, he began his slow, sweet trip back up my body to recapture my mouth. The heat of his hard body stretched across mine, skin to skin, intoxicated me. I felt the hardness of his erection against my thigh and longed to feel it deep inside me, stroking me, touching the very essence of my being.
“I need you now, Robby. Please.”
“Nay, my love, slowly, slowly. There will never be another first time for us, so I want it to be all you could ever imagine.”
His slow, shivery kisses carried me once again into that star-strewn sea of passion, pulling me back each time before I fell. He lifted his head, his eyes incandescent in the darkness. I took his maleness in my hand, guiding him to the moist heat between my legs. He thrust into me, finding all the empty recesses of my being and flooding them with his desire. We moved together, driven by a primal need, meshing like two halves of an immense, passionate whole until an orgasm crashed over me in waves of sensation. Fireworks exploded inside my head like the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve all rolled into one. Driven by Robby’s thrusting cadence, each surge grew stronger and deeper until my mind was ablaze with rainbow light. A satisfied growl erupted from Robby’s throat as I felt his pulsing release.
We slumped together in a dreamy intimacy, the sheets damp and twisted around us. My body still quivered with the echoes of our pleasure. Robby claimed my mouth for another soul shattering kiss and then studied my face. His thumb traced a lazy circle on my jaw.
“For years I dreamed of being with you like this. I told myself that it would never happen, but I could not stop my thoughts from turning to you. Wondering what you were doing at that very moment. Many a night on the trail, wrapped in a cold bedroll, I warmed myself with thought of holding you. I feared I was but a fool for refusing to give up the dream, but I see now even a fool’s dreams can come true.”
I captured his chin in my hands. “And was I everything you dreamed I would be?”
I felt his lips turn up in a grin before he answered. “Nay, my love.”
“What?” I shouted, trying to push my way up.
He laughed, twisting around to pull me on top of him, forcing my mouth against his for a deep, satisfying kiss.
“You were much, much more than a lonely fool could have ever imagined.”
I could see his face in the dawn glow seeping into the bedroom. His dark hair lay fanned out against the white of the pillow.
“And what do we do now?” I captured one long silver lock and twisted it around my fingers.
“As soon as it is light, I will have to go out and destroy all traces of the dragon and its nest. It would be unfortunate if some hunter stumbled across those remains. Your Natural Inquirer would quickly spread that tale to all corners of the land.”
“
National
Inquirer. And yes, they’d love that kind of story.” I giggled. “But I was thinking about after that. Will I see you again?”
“Oh, aye.” In the half-light, I thought I noticed a frown crease his features. His words were hesitant. “That is, if you wish to see me.”
“Now you are being a fool. Of course I want to see you. Every. Chance. I. Get.” I punctuated each word with a kiss. “But I was afraid your job would keep you away, on the trail of a yeti or something. And you do live in another world.”
“Another world which is only next door. Through the arbor in your back yard and down the Road but a dozen leagues. Only a few minutes’ walk. Close enough for some of that lasagna you spoke about. Or you could come visit me.”
“But what about your master?” I remembered my last run in with the old man. To a twelve year old, he was scary. Even now I didn’t look forward to meeting him again.
“Procyon Bey has moved on to find another apprentice. I am now the Master of Starhollow, and I say you can come visit anytime you want—as long as you remember to not bring any technology with you.”
I snuggled my face into his shoulder and felt the rise and fall of his chest beneath me. This was where I had belonged all my life, and I’d only now discovered it. His hand massaged the muscles of my back, traced a line down the valley of my spine, and caressed my bottom.
“As I recall, Laura, your birthday is next month.”
“Yeah, the eleventh. You remembered after all these years.”
“I never gave you that birthday present. It is late—sixteen years late—but how would you like to meet a unicorn?”
My squeal was every bit as loud as it had been that distant summer. “A real unicorn? Robby, that would be wonderful.” My kiss kept him from replying for long, joyful minutes.
“You said it was the bestest gift I could give you.” He laughed at my fractured grammar.
“I was wrong, Robby. You are the best thing that could have happened to me. I love you.”
Beneath me, a rumbling purr filled his chest, and his hands kneaded the muscles of my back and tangled in my hair.
His mouth, moving against mine, promised one more trip into the heart of passion. My last coherent thought before surrendering to the honey of his lips was that he gave all new meaning to letting my cat share my bed.
For as long as she can remember, Christina has had strange people living inside her head. Wizards, cyborgs, mercenaries and cats—lots of cats. She finally gave in to their demands and decided to turn them loose on the world through her science fiction and fantasy books.
She’s ridden in rodeos, driven racecars and flown airplanes. All good experience for becoming a writer. These days she lives in sunny Florida and proudly wears the moniker Crazy Cat Lady.
http://www.christinawestcottauthor.com