Cat Got Your Tongue?

“Good morning, habibi.”

Lex stretched, almost purring from the sensation of a warm female body behind him, whispering little nothings in his ear. Except he’d gone to bed alone last night, hadn’t he? And he knew that voice, though his head was pounding too hard to pinpoint exactly why he should be nervous about it.

No more going to that wolf bar, his inner Id swore. It was wasted effort, of course. It was simply too much fun to watch the scat go down at the Pleasure Club every time there was a special event.

Ok, no more drinking ourself under the table at the wolf bar, his id amended. And that lusciously warm body behind us is Dorri. His eyes popped open with that last bit.

“Good morning, Dorri,” he said cautiously. His memnii, the part he’d been talking with, didn’t lie but didn’t always remember things exactly, either. No, he didn’t have anyone else living in his head with him, but rather had learned deal with the eons of accumulated memories by treating them like another person. Surely this couldn’t be Dorri, though.

“You remember me, Lexor,” the voice said warmly. “I wasn’t sure you would.” Her pleased sounding purr rumbled softly, reverberating both of them, as she snuggle in closer.

“Dorri, what are you doing in my bed?” Lex said impatiently, though he didn’t dare move. Yes, this fiery little Persian yazat, or lesser goddess, could very well go from happy and content to ripping the hide from his back in a flash. That he could deal with. Having this female, the one she he had ever considered keeping forever, at his back once again was a dream-come-true. He was a little bit afraid it really was a dream, brought on by guzzling cheep Coors beer at the wolf bar last night and watching the doggies make mules of themselves.

“I’m cuddling with my favorite Egyptian,” she hummed happily. Lex fought the urge to purr when she began kneading his back with her human fingers. Oh, gods, that female was seductive!

“Mmm,” he moaned in agreement. “But I though you told me you could never give yourself to one of my heritage. Not unless I turned my back on my own kind and forsook all things Egyptian.”

“Yes,” she agreed with a happy sigh. “But I am not giving myself to you, habib. I am using you as cover.”

Her words were like a cold splash of water. He didn’t flinch from the sting, having suspected that her being in his bed was not necessarily a good thing. He had loved her deeply, had done everything he could to win her. But her people were very strict, very certain about good versus evil. There was no shade of gray for them. And Egyptians, even demigods like him, could never be anything but evil.

“Cover for what?” he asked once he was sure he could speak past the lump of out-raged sorrow in his throat. She was still “petting” him but the tender caresses were failing to distract him. Well, most of him—his cock was very much distracted at the moment. Luckily, his god-blood meant he had enough blood to have both his heads operational at once.

“Mmm,” she murmured, then slid up behind him, rubbing her chest against his back—skin-to-skin, so he knew she was as naked as he was. “There is a tiger clan here stirring up trouble.”

“I know,” Lex interrupted, become a little short tempered from his remembered humiliation at Dorri’s hands all those years ago and at the painful erection she was giving him. “Khan is what brought me here, as well. He had my grandfather’s grimmorie.”

“You said ‘had.’ I take it you have recovered it?” Dorri asked, sitting up to look Lex in the face over his shoulder. Lex slid to the side and rolled onto his back. She was as lovely as ever, perhaps more so now that youth’s first blush had passed. Before him lay a woman ripe with wisdom but still comely enough to inspire sonnets.

“Yes, my servants did recover the ancient book,” Lex confirmed, forcing his eyes to remain on her face and not wander over the other luscious skin exposed to the chilly early morning air.

“They why have you not returned it to its rightful owner?” she asked with consternation. Lex started, a bit affronted with her unspoken accusation.

“I did return it to my grandfather,” Lex spat.

“And yet you remain here?”

“I like it here Dorri,” Lex sniffed. “While heaven is a grand place to visit, ot is overly stuffy. Watching wolves act silly is more entertaining than watching the same court intrigues play out exactly as they have for millennium. The folk who live in Talbot’s Peak judge a being not on who their family is but rather on the actions of the individual.”

He felt a petty tingle of pleasure when the lovely kitten blushed at his own unspoken rebuke. He had not forgotten being shunned for nothing he’d done. He had not forgotten her publicly humiliating him for asking her to marry him. He was, indeed, pleased she realized just why he had chosen to live in this place of ice, snow, and barroom drama.

“You said something about using me, I believe?” Lex asked leadingly as he rolled out of the warm bed. He grabbed a robe and slung it over his shoulders. When she didn’t answer, he looked back to find her staring at his still exposed chest rather than meet his eyes.

“I-I-I-“ she stuttered nervously. “What I mean is, it has become clear to us in the god realm that Shere Khan needs to be watched a little closer.”

“Khan has been stirring up trouble for a very long time,” Lex rebuked not too gently.

“We know that,” Dorri spat back, finally starting to show some irritation at being cast in any light other than perfection. She wasn’t as pure as driven snow like she like to pretend, and they both knew it. “We have been keeping an eye on him but as of yet, have not been able to insert anyone into his intimate circles.”

“I am not in his intimate circles, either,” Lex said sharply.

“No, but you are here and have been long enough to be firmly established. From the moment Kashli saw you in that disgusting mutt club-“

“You will find no welcome here if you cannot speak politely of Dante’s club. That wolf does a lot of good for everyone,” Lex centered her. He didn’t mush like Dante, either, but there was no denying that the wolf had the best interests of all species in mind with his every action. It was noble; a personality trait a yazat should know is common to wolves. They sometimes had peculiar ideas of what was best for whom, but they always stuck to their own internal codes of right and wrong.

I thought you would welcome me,” Dorri sniffed.

“No, you didn’t,” Lex dismissed. “I won’t deny I enjoyed our coupling last night, though I didn’t realize who you were at the time, but you knew full well I would be leery of your sudden reappearance in my life.”

“We need to get some one of the Truth Guard in close to Khan.” Dorri shrugged one shoulder elegantly, though she still would not meet his eyes. “It was decided that since you were in town and already well established that I would come here and rekindle our love. It would be a ready-made excuse for me to come here and remain.”

“Don’t lie to me Dorri, ‘Our love’ was one-sided only. You never had any feelings for me. Though if you are here to use me, then I guess you are trying to rekindle what we had before.”