Faline

Nicolaus sounds almost bored as he takes a step in front of me without seeming to. Lion? Was that a name or...? I soon find out as the stranger speaks in a ridiculously deep voice that he must pull from deep within his body. Barry White has nothing on this man.

"Your cat is quite entertaining, she the one I've heard being called Kitten? Such a small thing with the attitude of a lion, if I do say so myself. Better keep her hidden for the next few days if you don't wish to lose her."

"Don't worry about my property, cat, and watch what you threaten. I have no qualms in settling disputes. Remember, my cat is just as big as yours."

The stranger chuckles, rubbing at his chin as he looks Nicolaus over. A muscle ticks in my jaw at being referred to as property.

"I have yet to come across a cougar who is as big as my lion, let alone an undead feline. And it was no threat, just a friendly warning. By her scent I can tell she's of your blood, so she won't be going into heat. However, there are many cats around here who won't care, not even seeing her size as a deterrent. Even those who are Vampire will take advantage, you should know this."

That last sounds almost like a reprimand. I sit behind the angry man in front of me, a little confused about what's going on. I'm personally not feeling threatened by the lion, but Nicolaus clearly doesn't like him. Then again, aside from Anthony and me, I don't think he likes anyone. This lion continues his speech before Nicolaus can get a word in.

"I offer my protection to the little cat. The stories of her exploits and antics show her to be one of spirit. I really wouldn't want to see that broken because you're too stubborn and hard-headed to keep her safe."

Nicolaus is fairly vibrating with anger, so I take a small step back. Having been at the brunt of his fury many times before, my body starts trembling. Like a switch, his rage is turned off and replaced with haughty disdain.

"I appreciate your offer, cat, but I take care of my own."

With that, he turns and moves me forward towards the room. My last look at the man shows him shaking his head, his dark eyes conveying his apology to me. How odd. I'm forced into moving faster as the male behind me threatens to step on me. We finally reach the room with no more disruptions.

This green room is starting to feel like my sanctuary in this house. The couch in the corner, the books lining one wall that only go up about seven feet, a couple of those wide recliners placed on either end of another couch, one being more normal shaped as it faces a screen that is never turned on. The bathroom door is off to the side, which is what I now head towards.

That woman's perfume is sticking to my fur. I want it off. My ever-present shadow follows me in, he kind of has to if I want the water on a decent temperature. Ears pick up the sound of him removing his pants and tossing them against the wall. Little harder than what was necessary, but whatever.

I dig at the glass door impatiently, still trying to breathe with shallow breaths. Even with my body systems slowed way down the way they are, her stench is that bad. He opens the door wordlessly, we go in and he closes it. Because I'm such a splasher apparently. I roll my eyes, but take my position near one of the lower showerheads.

I swear he's taking his damn sweet ass time on purpose. Taking his hair down and putting the ever-present hair tie around his wrist and running his hands through his dark brown locks to send the red streaks flying. Leaning backwards to crack his back, bending forward to touch his toes, I know he's now being annoying intentionally.

My maw parts in a yowl, not amused. Pawing at the air, I remind him I'm not that far from his groin. He smiles at me, tousled hair around his head causing my heart to skip a beat. The scar on the left side of his face is a fading red. I've noticed before it flushes when he gets angry. Don't understand how, doubt he knows either.

After setting his hand atop my head, he finally turns on the damn water. I don't even care what temperature it is, I get close enough that it runs down my face. Cats are said to hate water, but mine really doesn't, actually enjoying it rather. Don't know what Nicolaus' deal is, having to be with me every single time. He could just turn the water on and leave, but no, he's gotta stay and make a pest of himself.

With my head under the warm water, I try really hard not to think too hard into the heart skip earlier, pushing it to the back of my mind. He'd angled a couple of the higher heads so they're directed at me, did so the first time he dragged me in here too. Really enjoying those right now. Washing off the dirt, tree sap, and stench of that horrid woman, it's almost heaven.

Shaking my head to get water out of my ears, I steal a look at my shower companion. His arms are stretched forward, leaning on the wall with his head facing down under the spray, eyes closed. I take a moment to study him since he's not engrossed in me at the moment.

Chestnut hair having darkened with the water makes it look black, reaching his lower back, the red looks like streams of blood. His already pale skin looks like marbled alabaster, scar once more fully faded back to its normal paleness.

The man's slim build bellies his solidness, his strength. Defined muscles move easily under his skin. Hands that my sister would call 'poets hands' due to his long fingers, not sure how long fingers tie into being a poet, but whatever.

My eyes make their steady way down to a tapered waist and softly formed eight pack. Yes, it is real. His just doesn't have that over-packed rigidness to it. The side of his rear end shows hard muscle leading down to strong legs.

I don't bother looking at his feet. Feet are feet. Nothing really attractive or otherwise about them.

I avoid his groin, it being relatively easy since his left leg is pushed forward, me being on his left side means his bits are hidden. My heart does that whole thumping thing again. Scared of what it means, it makes my fear rise, which speeds up my heart to an even louder beat, which catches his attention.

My gold eyes dart right back up into his open ones.

The direct gaze of his slit pupils sends a thrill through me. I can tell he sees it from the way his eyes darken in heat. Now we're in trouble.

Darting my focus to the water levers, I try my luck. Pulling up to stand on my hind legs, I quickly bat at the one for the cold water, hopefully hitting it the right way. To my satisfaction, cold water suddenly blasts at us both.

He jumps back with a laugh. Granted it doesn't really do much, he could stand under ice water for days and have no adverse effects, but it's the meaning behind it that I was going for. I blow air out of my nose at him, then turn back to my drench bath.

Nicolaus continues laughing at me, but comes back and fixes the water. His deep laugh rolls through me, so in annoyance, I stick my head directly into the water. Shaking my body several times, I rub along the rough faux stone against the one wall that isn't glass. The small seat jutting out is ignored as I continue moving, the roughness feeling really good on my sides.

The male grabs a hold of my hips and pulls me back, extended claws are no help on this floor. I know what he's up to and I really don't care for it. I'm all for soap being used, but not when he's the one rubbing it into me. The action is way too intimate for my peace of mind, especially since it's not like he's indifferent while doing it, as evidenced by the swelling of his groin.

Unlike the Mistress of the house, I don't know Nicolaus to be into the human-animal copulation. He just seems to be happy to be able to grope me no matter what form I'm in. I grumble in my chest, the noises coming from me just sound mean. He ignores all my posturing and complaining.

He tugs me into a spot where little to no water is directed. I drop my rear, sitting down grudgingly with ears splayed and stare at the wall. He lowers himself with the bottle of whatever he's been using on me, it smells nice enough, I guess. Pouring a stream down my back, a hand goes under me and pushes into my belly to make me stand.

I do so, but I take payment; whipping my tail around to smack against his cheek. Wet fur against skin sounds loud. I yelp as he catches it between his teeth, my head turning toward him just as he lets go.

"Behave yourself, it's just soap."

I just look at him, he laughs and goes about rubbing me down with the 'soap'.

"I love the white spots on your ears. All black but for one spot on each ear. Too precious."

He whispers it, but I don't think he intended to say anything aloud to begin with. News to me about the ear spots though. Might explain why he's always molesting them. I can't help it, I let loose a shake, soap flying everywhere. Crouching down quickly, I wait for the slap, eyes closing in resignation.

It never comes, he just goes about his rubbing. Okay... This is weird, not that I'm complaining, mind you. It does worry me though. I look over my shoulder at him. He looks to be deeply engrossed in cleaning my coat. My crouching down directing his hands to the top of my head and cheeks.

Rising back to my feet slowly, warm hands go under to my belly, chest, legs, and feet. Literally lifting each paw to get between the pads, his thumbs rub between my toes. It feels weird but strangely amazing. So much so in fact that it takes me a couple of minutes to notice that I'm purring. I stop abruptly, ashamed.

I don't know what's going on with me, but I need to start controlling it before it gets any further and leads to disastrous events. His eyes flick to mine just as I quickly look at the wall again. I sense his smile as he rubs into and around my throat.

"Your purr is very deep for one so small. Your vocals are a lot different than that of other felines I've seen and heard."

I don't know if that's a compliment or an observation, so I do nothing. The events of the day, night, whatever, start catching up with me. Vampires can be active during the day as long as they're away from the light. Throughout the day they're in a weakened state, but nothing debilitating, only needing a few hours of sleep at a time to be energized.

My brain is still working on a human level, which means it's saying I should be tired with all I did for the last... however many hours it's been. I yawn widely, ears going back and everything. Nicolaus now washing down my back legs and tail notices it and pulls back his thick sudsing. My fur looks white from all the soap scrubbing.

Nudging me towards the water, he gets to his feet while I go and lay under one of the lower heads, feeling too lazy to do anymore. The man comes over to me with a smug expression, and it finally dawns on me what had been going on. He was washing me, yes, but he was also messaging. The tired laziness coming from muscles being stimulated into relaxing. I call foul.

I huff, letting him run his hands over me again to rinse off, tugging my tail directly up to get me to my feet. With him lifting it from the base it doesn't hurt exactly, but it's not the greatest sensation either. Have someone lift you by your ass end and tell me what it feels like.

Once I'm thoroughly rubbed squeaky clean, he finally lets me out to shake the water off several times before leaving the enclosed area. I'm not allowed to get too far, getting pulled back by my hips once again as I try darting out of the room. I yowl a complaint, which again is ignored as he takes a thick towel after me.

Have to say one thing about the owner of this place; they love their luxury. Once I'm all fluffed and mostly dry, I take off into the other room before he can even think about grabbing for the hairdryer. Hopping and shaking first one leg then the other as I run off; wet toes feel queer when you're a cat.

In the main room, I shake a few more times, then start rubbing along the couches. The material of them almost like a thick felt. With the nature of this place, having absorbing materials on the furniture just seems like a really gross and horribly bad idea.

Think I got lucky with being in this room, for I haven't been able to pick up anyone else's scent. Then again, this place has a lot of rooms. Many being themed, like the one I had first woken in. Nicolaus walks out on silent feet, nude as ever, rubbing a towel over his head. I ignore him and go about my own way of drying off.

The thick carpet is lovely as I flop over and roll on my back. Legs stretching out, claws catch on the shagginess below to pull myself around. I had been told by my Vampire before that what I was doing was a combination of drying and rubbing my scent everywhere. Explaining that feline bloodline Vamps rub ten times more than their wild counterparts due to their not taking in any fluids to be turned into urine, which would usually be a big part of marking.

I admit I soak up all the information he deems important, much of it being really fascinating. There's a lot he doesn't tell me though, many things having gaping holes in their explanations. I can't exactly push when I have no words to speak. I actually start to wonder if his changing demeanor is because I'm not talking. I seem to get in less trouble, too. Go figure.

I stand and shake once more, then settle down to clean more dampness from between my toes. My eyes catch his as he watches me, rumpled up towel in his lap as he sits on the straight couch. Long wet hair hangs around his shoulders, wetting down the sofa material. I'm not sure how, but the red streaks in his hair seem to be natural even if they do look like they were placed specifically.

Shaking my paw, I get back to it, closing my eyes in the process. My body jerks as a loud knock sounds at the door, startling me so bad that I start hissing. Nicolaus motions for me to stay back as he answers it, wrapping the towel around his waist. A fit man in nothing but a towel always has that 'Oh my gah' factor to it, a drool factory becoming every woman's, or man's, brain process while staring and making a complete fool of themselves.

I shake my head hard and take up position between one of the chairs and the end of the couch, staying as hidden as possible while still being able to see what's going on. I have a pretty clear view aside from him standing in the way. The man calls out, asking who and what they want.