Cat's Choice (18 page)

Chapter 9

Caterina and Tripp had fallen into a deep sleep after the heavy emotions of the evening. As the hour approached dawn , Caterina’s eyes began to move under their lids. She was not dreaming.

Caterina sat on a bench in the garden behind the Pack house. She was taking a rest from planting some zinnias and marigolds in the flower bed. She looked up as someone came walking down the path. The sun was behind them, so she could not see their face yet.

As the figure grew closer, she can see that it was a man, and he was holding a small child.
He crouched down and put the child on the ground; it was a little girl.
She held up her hands and said, “Mama, mama,” and began to toddle towards her.
Caterina smiled at the little girl then looked up into the face of the man.
It was Orfeo. “What are you doing here?” she asked, snatching up the child.

“Cara, what is wrong?
We came to see you planting the prett y flowers.
Are you un well?” h e asked her.

“No!
You’re not supposed to be here!”
She got up and ran, holding the child in her arms.
As she ran, the scene changed, and it became night, trees and bushes pulled at her clothing.
She realized she was no longer holding the child.
All at once, she heard a voice cackling, in the distance.
Diavolo!
She ran and ran until her sides began to ache, and the night grew deeper and darker; up ahead she saw a cave.
She ran into the cave. “Adolfo! Adolfo, you must help me. Diavolo is coming,” s he cried.

Once again, as they did before, arms reached out to grab her and hold her still. “Adolfo, save me!”

Adolfo looked into her eyes. “Caterina, you are dreaming. You are safe in the arms of your mate.
Remember what I told you, you have a difficult choice to make.
Choose with your heart.
It’s time to wake up now.”

Caterina was thrashing on the bed, and it woke up Tripp. “Shh, shh, baby, it’s going to be okay, wake up now; everything’s all right. Wake up now, sweetheart.” Tripp kept repeating, calling words as he held her in his arms, willing her to wake up from the nightmare. After a while, she seemed to calm and then a few moments later; she woke up.

“Oh! Tripp, it’s you! I was dre aming and Adolfo came,” s he said.

“Is there anything you want to share? Sometimes sharing a dream can lessen the effects, ” Tripp said as he gently moved her hair out away from her forehead with his hand.

“He reminded me that I had a decision to make, and that was going to be difficult. I think I know what decis ion he was talking about now,” s he said.

“Well? Are you going to tell me or do I have to guess?” he said, trying to keep the situation light.

“Adolfo told me that I would have to pick between two fates. With one choice, I would live happily ever after with my mates, and in the second choice, the world as we know it would end, and I woul d be at the mercy of Diavolo,” s he said in a small voice.

“Let me guess. As much as you’d like to have a happy ending, you know that means m a ting with Orfeo, and you’re still too scared to make that commitment.” At her nod, he continued, “How about we get up, have our showers and brush ou r teeth? Then I’ll make you some breakfast, and we can discuss it. We can go over all the pros and cons, and we don’t have to think about the whole wide world; let’s just think about you, me and Orfeo.”

As much as he wanted to pull her into his arms and give her a kiss after holding her all night, it felt like he was standing on the edge of the cliff, he wanted her so badly. All it would take is one touch from her to set him off. Knowing that she wasn’t ready for that level of commitment, he stood up and headed towards the bathroom. Showing her that he could be trusted to hold her all night long and not take advantage of her, he waited for her to be ready and make the first move.

So he was that much more surprised when Caterina reached up a hand and brought his head down to hers for a kiss. His hair trigger exploded, and he had to hold himself back with every ounce of his strength not to take over from her.

After a minute, she lay back down, looking at him with dreamy eyes that held a touch of fear.

“Caterina? We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. But will you let me take care of you? Let me ma ke you feel good.” And he leaned down and took her mouth in a slow, gentle kiss, meant to ease her into arousal instead of slamming her into it.

He didn’t take off her t-shirt, she’d mentioned scars, and he didn’t want her feeling self-conscious. He slid his hand underneath her shirt, thumbing a nipple but not pinching or pulling. No sharp movements, just a slow, gentle glide upwards. It was kind of like climbing that long hill at the start of a roller coaster.

Layer after layer of sensation was built as he kept on kissing her and caressing her breasts. Then he let his hand drift down her belly, inching it under her pants and down between her legs. He reached for her magic button hidden in her folds and began massaging it with two fingertips.

All the while, he kept up with the drugging kisses. He could feel that her heartbeat was speeding up. Her hands were clenched, one in his hair and one holding his shirt.

He increased the pace of his fingers, and she felt the tingling in her thighs and stomach . He quickly dipped a finger down and gathered up some of her juices to help lubricate the attention he was giving her clit. Faster and harder with his fingers as his tongue kept pace.

And he quickly raised his head to watch as her orgasm flow through her, making her freeze as the new feelings washed over her . Her body shaking, her hips lifting as her legs squeezed his hand and arm. A long moan left her as she collapsed against the pillows.

He pulled out his hand and licked his fingers. “Thank you, Caterina , that was beautiful. Now I’m going to hop in the showe r and then fix us breakfast,” h e said, jumping from the bed after giving her another quick kiss on the mouth.

Thirty minutes later, they were sitting in the kitchen of her apartment, and Tripp was whipping up eggs in a bowl as she sat at the table.

“First off, why don’t you share your dream with me, if you remember it all,” said Tripp.

So Caterina told Tripp all about her dream from the night before, up to and including her short visit with Adolfo.

“Well, you’r e smart, so I think you understand the meaning of the dream. Let me ask you a question. If it hadn’t been a Vampire , but instead had been a werewolf that had held you captive and treated you so horribly seven years ago, would you have still slept in my arms last night? Would you have been able to see the difference between an evil werewolf with a handsome face and the kind werewolf with a scarred face?” h e asked.

He had just put the bread into the toaster and was about to pour the egg mixture into the pan when he said that. Caterina jumped up from her chair and ran over to him. “You’re a wonderful man, Tripp . I don’t ever want to hear you talk about that scar again. Of course, I would want to be with you; you’re my mate. And besides, you’ve grown on me. And I really like your mother; she reminds me of my own.”

“Maybe that’s not a good example.”

“No, I understand what you’re saying. You’re saying that I shouldn’t judge all Vampire s from the actions of one. However, I have met more than one Vampire . I’ve been attacked and chased for the last seven years by many Vampire s. So it’s a little difficult for me to give my trust to another one,” she said.

“I understand your point. And I promise you right now that as it comes to this issue; I will always be on your side. No guys ganging up on the girl. I swear, cross my heart,” a nd he used the age-old custom of drawing a cross on his chest the way he did as a child when playing with his brothers.

“Oh, you,” she said with a giggle as she walked back to sit in her chair. “And there’s another thing. I don’t know if I can let him drink my blood. I have scars , Tripp. Diavolo didn’t care how he took my blood, and he tore at my flesh.

“Caterina, I don’t care if you have scars from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. You are my mate, and I will love you until the day I die. And then I will follow you into the next plane of existence and love you forever. If you are uncomfortable with your scars, then we will do everything that we can to heal you.

“I do need to ask you a question though. Did my mother speak to you about how werewolves mate, and how they bite during mat ing and gener ally bear scars?” h e asked with a sheepish grin. He carried their plates to the table , going back to the refrigerator for orange juice and butter for their toast.

“That’s different. She said tha t when we made love, and you bit me, that it would give m e the best orgasm of my life,” s he said going red in the face.

“Well, that’s true,” he said with a grin. “To be serious though, your exper ience has always been with evil. I would expect that the bite of a lover, any lover, would have the same results. Actually, I have an idea. There are some humans traveling with the Vampire s, I understand they are humans who willingly donate their blood. How about if you spoke to one of them? I think they would tell you the truth,” h e asked.

“Okay, I’ll talk to one of them. It’s daytime now so they should be awake, right?” s he asked.

“Yes.” He was just going to suggest some ways to contact the human visitors traveling with the Vampire s when there was a knock on the door. So he got up to answer it. It was Cami and Cloe.

“How’s our girl this morning?” said Cami, walking in.

“She’s feeling much better. She had a dream this morning about Adolfo.” They all walked into the kitchen where Caterina was standing at the sink washing the dishes. “You don’t have to do th at , sweetie; I’ll wash the dishes, ” s aid Tripp.

“You made the breakfast; I’ll do the dishes,” Caterina said firmly .

Tripp felt he had contributed all he could, for the time being, so he gave Caterina a kiss on the head and a warm hug and told her he would see her later, that he had to check in and work. So he left her with the women.

After he left, Caterina explained to Cami and Cloe about the dream and Adolfo’s prophecy. That gave them both some food for thought.

“Well, I like Tripp’s idea of talking to one of the human guests traveling with the Vampire s. Let’s go see if we can f ind one. Cloe , you up for that?” s aid Cami.

“Absolutely, I’m with you ladies. And Tripp has a point about good versus evil , Caterina . You might want to talk to Bama. She was captured and tortured by the leader of the Rogue wolves. And like you, she escaped, and now she’s very happy with her two mates.”

Not wanting to talk about this subject for a little while, Caterina remembered that Bama was the member of the Chosen Counsel that had the store in town. She’s the one who picked out all her new clothes. So on the way downstairs, the three of them discussed fashion. Cloe, for a person who wore primarily T-shirts and jeans, actually had quite a lot to contribute.