Tears of the Neko (16 page)

Tonight, Kayden wasn't just sitting in front
of the fire though; he was stretched out on his belly along the
rug, his arms folded under his chin as he gazed at the flickering
flames. The boy had always held himself so tightly curled and
balled into himself that Damien was shocked to see the little neko
stretched out so lazily and content. He smiled that the boy finally
was feeling secure enough to relax in his presence this way.

Damien caught his breath as he realized the
boy hadn't put on his shirt in the warmth of the fire, and the
flames cast an erotic glow as they danced across the sharp planes
of the boy's back.
Wait
, Damien frowned,
did he have
scars on his back?
It was hard to tell with the flickering of
shadow and light.

But then Kayden slowly turned his head
towards Damien, a lazy smile on his face that melted Damien's
heart. God, the boy was beautiful.

He smiled back, before quickly rushing into
the washroom. The image of the boy's long lithe figure lazing out
on the rug burned into his mind, sending tingles down his chest to
his groin. And those beautiful green eyes, and those thin pink
lips...

Over the last week since their 'cat nap',
Damien had allowed himself to touch the boy more and more, stroking
the boy's head, a quick peck on the forehead before bed, a
feathering touch down his back. He noticed that the boy had calmed
and even seemed to enjoy the comfort offered by his caresses, and
he wondered if Kayden had ever felt the gentle touch of someone who
cared for him.

Damien startled himself with that thought.
Cared for him? Did he care for the boy?

And with a sudden clarity as he stared at the
green eyes glittering back at him, he realized that he did, more
than he had ever cared for anyone before.

He shook his head and he shed his clothes
quickly. Stepping under the water pipe, he pulled on the rope to
release a tumble of water. He quickly soaped up, groaning when he
brushed his hand over his groin. At first he tried to stave off the
images of wanting to hold Kayden, to feel the boy's body against
his, but when it was obvious he couldn't fight his growing need, he
leaned against the cool stone with one hand and quickly sought his
release.

****

Kayden rolled over as Damien came back into
the room after his shower, meeting the blue eyes that stared at him
with something he couldn't define. His gaze raked over the damp
skin of the man's broad chest, and he felt an electric jolt through
his body, setting all his nerve endings on alert. His ears flicked
forward in avid interest, and his tail flipped in the air,
instinctively trying to draw the man's attention, not that he had
to try.

He blushed as his eyes cast lower and he
noticed his master's obvious interest. A flicker of fear crossed
his features at the thought of Damien taking him like Roman had. He
rose fluidly, moving toward his door.

"Goodnight, sir," Kayden said softly.

Damien moved closer, and Kayden hesitated
when Damien caressed his neck. He closed his eyes, just wanting to
bask in the feeling of his master's warm, gentle touch.

When soft lips covered his, he started in
surprise at the gentleness. Damien's warm tongue darted out
teasingly, and Kayden melted under the heat of his master's kiss.
Kayden's knees almost gave out as he gave in to the gentle pressure
of the probing, feeling the hesitant exploration, seeking, asking,
but not demanding.

"My little tiger," Kayden heard whispered
against his lips, as his master's hand slipped down his bare back
to hover over his buttocks--and his mind abruptly flashed back to
the blinding pain in the storeroom and the attacks by other slave
cellmates.

He gasped and wrenched himself away, his eyes
glistening with tears and fear. "Please," he choked. "Don't call me
that."

****

Damien froze in shock at the abrupt change in
the boy's demeanor. While he'd momentarily thought he'd seen a
flash of panic as he'd approached, the boy had practically melted
in his arms. Damien knew he wasn't imagining the heat of their
kiss.

But suddenly, the boy had seized up and tears
streaked down his face.

"What?" Damien tried to think about what he'd
said. "My little tiger? I thought you didn't mind nicknames."

Kayden bowed his head. "I just don't like
that one," he mumbled. "It hurts."

Damien frowned. Maybe that was why the boy
hated Roman so much--Roman had called him tiger too. "Because a
master who called you that hurt you?"

Kayden nodded hesitantly, casting his gaze
back to the floor, and Damien worried at the regression of the boy
to the skittish slave he'd been over three weeks ago.

"Okay," Damien said softly, soothingly. "I'm
sorry, Kayden."

When he moved to embrace the boy in apology,
Kayden flinched backward, shocking Damien.

"Kitten," Damien knew his voice sounded
anxious, fretful, "I'm sorry, kitten." He moved slower and noticed
that Kayden allowed him into his space again, but he made sure that
Kayden knew he could escape if he needed to. When his hand gently
caressed the back of Kayden's neck, the boy looked up at him, and
Damien could see the tiny edge of green of his eyes, the boy's
pupils blown in fear, tears hovering on the edge. But he didn't
pull away this time, focusing on Damien's soft voice and gentle
touch.

He swept his thumb carefully across the boy's
cheek, wiping away the tears.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, kitten," he said,
and he felt the boy shudder in his hands as he relaxed slightly. "I
would never do anything to hurt you."

Kayden just kept nodding, as if he were
trying to convince himself to believe that Damien's words were
true. Damien carefully kissed the boy's forehead and heard Kayden
let out a slow breath. He smiled to himself, maybe not all was
lost.

When Kayden turned, Damien noticed again what
he'd thought were scars across the boy's back and shoulders in the
dim light.

"Kayden," Damien said softly, and Kayden
looked back over his shoulder at him.

Damien tentatively stepped closer, his hand
ghosting down the pale skin of the boy's back. There weren't many,
maybe five or six. But the fact that someone had beat the boy badly
enough to leave any scarring meant that they'd whipped him enough
to severely break skin. Damien closed his eyes at the thought of
Kayden's slight back torn and bleeding. No slave master should be
causing such damage to any slave. He felt the boy shiver under the
soft touch.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" Damien
asked carefully. "Why didn't you leave the master who did this?
Slavery is a choice. You--"

Kayden looked up and Damien could see tears
glistening in the boy's eyes.

"Talk to me, kitten. I don't care if you
don't talk in front of others, but please talk to me," he said
softly.

Kayden seemed to debate his words. "It was
E-Ehern and Th--"

Damien leaned forward, not recognizing the
name. "Who?"

"T-the hunters."

Damien frowned. "What hunters?"

Kayden began shaking uncontrollably as if he
were suddenly freezing. Tears slipped down his cheeks. "They killed
my parents. Took me--"

"What the hell?!" Damien snapped, angry that
such a thing was happening in his domain. "Hunters?! They captured
you and enslaved you against your will?!"

Kayden had stepped back at Damien's outburst,
a little afraid by the angry tone. And Damien was suddenly sorry
he'd lost his temper and scared the poor boy.

"Come here," Damien urged Kayden to follow
him to the couch. Damien looked for the blanket he usually kept by
the couch. When he didn't see it, he just grabbed another from the
end of his bed. He wrapped it around Kayden's slight shoulders as
he settled the boy on the edge of the couch. Then he sat in his
wing-backed chair next to the couch, keeping a polite distance. He
wanted the boy to know he was safe. As much as he may have wanted
to hold the boy, he didn't want to scare him any more than he
already had tonight.

"Tell me," Damien said softly, attempting to
keep the rage out of his voice.

And Kayden hesitantly told him about the
men--Ehern and Theo and others--who had bound and caged him for
over five years. How they had found amusement in terrorizing him
with their guns, whipping the voice from him, and beating him into
submission.

Damien felt tears pricking at his own eyes as
he thought of an twelve year old Kayden being held down and
petrified of what would happen to him at the hands of the menacing
men. He vowed silently to talk to the king and the legislature to
figure out how to hunt these men down. He felt his hands clench
into fists as he leaned his arm forward to rest them on his
knees.

Now he knew why Kayden was so terrified of
loud, sudden noises, as well as why he never talked--he'd had his
voice practically beaten out of him. The fact that Kayden trusted
Damien enough now to talk to him instilled him with a sense of
contentment.

"When I was old enough, they sold me to
Master Farth at the slave market," Kayden finished.

Damien took a deep breath to keep his voice
even and non-threatening. He was ready to go after Farth and the
hunters himself. "Farth knows better than to keep a slave against
his will. Why didn't he let you go? Surely he knew you were ....
unhappy."

Kayden shifted to look up at him, and Damien
looked into the emerald eyes bright from the tears that he'd let
flow. "Where would I go?"

Fuck,
Damien thought. And it made
perfect sense now that Kayden would choose to stay with the slave
master at the market because he hadn't learned how to survive on
his own.

When Kayden hid a yawn, Damien smiled
slightly, then gathered the boy in his arms.

Damien carried him to the other room,
watching as the boy curled up on the cot. When he saw Kayden pull a
blanket up under him, burying his face in it, Damien was surprised
to see that it was the extra blanket that he usually kept on the
couch. He watched as Kayden closed his eyes and inhaled slowly,
breathing in the scent of the blanket--his blanket, his scent. A
slow smile crossed his face as he pulled another thick blanket over
the boy.

The next couple of days, Harrison noticed a
sullenness to his brother's temperament. Damien had been in an
almost foul mood as soon as he'd come back from the legislative
meeting he'd been at earlier in the day. But Damien had seemed
almost hesitant and nervous around Kayden.

He wondered what had happened between the two
to make Damien so tense around the neko now, especially after they
had been so relaxed around each other a couple days ago. It wasn't
like the usually stoic man to be so worried about a slave like
that.

Harrison watched both Kayden, who sat across
from himself, and his brother carefully that night as they sat down
for dinner, trying to decipher what was going on. Damien almost
looked like he was afraid the boy would crumble and break if he
touched him again.

Damien had insisted tonight that Kayden sit
on the chair next to him, since it was just him and Harrison. Roman
had gone out the last couple nights and they didn't expect him to
be home. While the little kit seemed nervous to sit on the
furniture in front of him, Harrison only grinned and told the boy
how glad he was that he seemed to be settling in.

Harrison debated talking to his brother about
Penelope with him looking so sullen.

"I'm glad you are settling in, Kayden,"
Harrison said amicably.

The boy nodded, peeking at both him and
Damien through his midnight locks.

There was an awkward silence as their plates
were set in front of them and the metal covers removed.

"I wanted to talk you about something,
Damien," Harrison said as soon as the servants were gone.

"Oh?" Damien said absently, his eyes darting
to the small neko. Harrison could tell he was worried about
something with the boy. His mind wasn't on anything Harrison had to
say.

"I can talk la--" he started.

"Oh, good!" came the loud voice from the
hallway. "I didn't miss dinner!"

Harrison saw Kayden nearly jump under the
table, as they looked up at Roman breezing in, whipping off his
gloves and throwing his coat over a chair at the far end of the
table.

The man stopped suddenly when he spotted the
young neko slave seated at the table.

"What the hell is he doing sitting at the
table?" Roman snapped.

Damien frowned at his brother, his jaw set.
"I told him to."

"It isn't proper," Roman stiffened.

It's just us," he waved between the brothers,
"just family, what does it matter?"

Harrison saw Roman look to him for support,
but he just shrugged. He didn't care.

"He's in my seat," Roman finally ground
out.

"And you haven't been here the last two days,
and we had no indication you would be tonight," Damien replied
irritably. "It's my choice. I wanted him here, at the table, in a
chair, for once."

For once, Harrison noted, Roman held his
tongue, perhaps sensing his brother was in no mood to be argued
with tonight. Instead, he dropped into the chair next to Harrison
and glared at the boy across the table.

When a plate was dropped in front of him,
Roman stiffly began to eat without further comment.

Harrison noticed that Kayden barely ate
anything after Roman arrived. The boy really didn't like being
around Roman, he thought. Of course, Roman had always been rather
loud and obnoxious. Harrison remember being pushed around by his
older brother many times growing up, until his father had caught
him and put a stop to it. It hadn't stopped Roman from being a bit
of a brat with the servants and slaves though.