Ch. 9: Predator

She nodded, going on down the hallway and expecting him to follow behind. They passed the room where he had been staying and hooked around to the next hallway, going down only a few doors before coming to the one with the emerald "E" on it. "Home sweet home," she said, opening the door to a room twice the size of the one he was staying in. Perched atop of the king sized bed was a giant cat, white with black stripes, and colossal teeth coming out of its mouth. The beast had been sleeping, but as the door opened, so did its eyes. They were a sparkling blue as well.

It picked its head up, looking at the man coming behind her, looking as though it might bristle. "Sasha, behave..." at her word, the cat laid her head back down, still looking curiously at the man. "Come..." she said, snapping her fingers. All at once, the monstrous cat stood up and jumped down onto the rug below the bed, stretching its legs and arching its back like a common house cat before lazily walking toward them.

"Sasha, Prince Hayward. Prince Hayward, Sasha..."

The prince's plan to do anything inappropriate were abruptly put on hold when he walked into her room. Like so many things in this castle, he had seen nothing like the big cat waiting for him. Unlike before, however, he was not dumbstruck. In fact, he appeared largely unmoved, putting up a good front as the cat approached. He licked his lips—twice, in quick succession—and smiled at the creature.

"Well hello, Sasha," he said simply, holding out the back of one hand for the cat to sniff. He balled his fingers into a fist, not to strike with but just out of habit when meeting a new animal; if a dog snapped at him, it would do much less damage nipping his knuckles compared to getting hold of an outstretched finger.

Hayward regarded the cat curiously and respectfully, but without fear. He was used to being the apex predator, the most dangerous thing in a room, and it was interesting to have competition. His eyes ran all over her, from her giant teeth and muscular jaw to her strong shoulders and wide paws. He could only guess at the damage those paws could do. A sly smile returned to his lips as he looked at the princess again. "Well. It's good to see that you're already used to sleeping with dangerous animals," he said simply.

"Hah, very cute..." she said, rolling her eyes at him and stroking Sasha's head. The cat purred loudly as she rubbed against Elissa's legs. "She's not going to hurt you, you know..." she looked at his balled hand. "At least not while I'm here. She's a good girl, aren't you, Sasha?" She the purred louder, rubbing her head against the princess's hip, trying to get her to continue petting.

She leaned over slightly, kissing the top of the cat's head, then scratching under her chin. "She really likes it when you scratch there..." she informed him. The cat sat and craned her neck upward, as if encouraging her to pet there more. She scratched her jaw harder than put her hands behind her back, signaling she was done petting.

Sasha rubbed against her legs once more, then moved on to him. She sniffed him solidly, more so than she ever had any other person Elissa had introduced her to, but Elissa simply chalked it up to not being Elven. He looked different. She was sure he smelled different.

Then the cat began doing much the same motion. She bumped his hand with her head, forcing him to pet her whether or not he wanted to, then made a circle around him, rubbing against one leg, then the other and coming back to the hand once more.

"Sasha sit." Elissa said sternly. The cat looked back over its shoulder, disgruntled at being given a command, but sat nonetheless. "Good girl. Sasha, bed." She pointed and the cat gracefully jumped back up on it. "Sasha lay down..." she cat made a few turns then plopped down in the middle of the bed and put her head on her paws, ears still up at attention. "Good girl." She said with a smile, looking at Hayward. "See? Well behaved."

Hayward was still slightly hesitant around the enormous cat, though he opened his hand to scratch her head properly as she circled around him. He was pleased—and slightly surprised—that Sasha had no problem with him. He didn't always get along with most animals. She seemed to treat him like just another person, which he appreciated.

He winced slightly as Sasha returned to the bed, wondering how on earth the bed survived the animal's claws. Who knows, maybe more magic. He chuckled and rested his hands on his hips. "You have somehow trained a cat—a big cat—to behave better than my horse. I am... impressed, and perhaps a bit baffled," he admitted. He had no problem paying the princess compliments at that point, especially when they were deserved.

He licked his lips again. "I imagine it makes for a rather full bed, though," he added. He stopped short of saying there might not be room for him.

"Well, the bigger the cat, the more dog-like they tend to be.." she admitted truthfully. "She plays fetch too...." she laughed but noted his words. "Are you saying that you would like to be in my bed, sir? Isn't that extremely forward of you?" Her eyes glistened with a smirk on her face.

Oh, this is bad. This is so incredibly bad.

"Sasha down..." she said pointing to the floor, and the cat did as commanded, going to lie on the rug in the corner of the room. "Problem solved." She said, staring him straight in the face as if challenging him. "Your move."

"Well, no, I didn't say that," he replied. "But I suppose I didn't need to, either." His mind was racing, but while it tried to figure out how best to deal with the situation, instinct was kicking in and being far less patient. Exactly why he reacted the way he did was hard to say. It was probably a bit of pride, wanting to reassert himself after she'd 'won' their earlier pillow fight and was now directly challenging him, combined with desire, of course.

Whatever the reason, the result was impressive. She could look at Hayward, his physique and his scars, and see that he was a strong and experienced warrior. But some things had to be witnessed rather than merely observed: he was fast.

He rose briefly on his toes and the predatory grin returned and then, in a blink, he crossed the brief space between them to sweep her off her feet. It wasn't a particularly gentle move, all speed and little grace, but he was careful not to hurt her even as he picked her up and carried her to the wall. As he reached it, he held her against his chest with one arm and absorbed the impact with the other, leaving her pinned to the wall with both of his hands behind her back. He always enjoyed the rush of showing off, proving his strength, and his heart pounded a little as he held her in place.

Hayward pulled his head back and then leaned in and planted his lips against hers, holding her there and kissing her hungrily. He only hoped that the cat wouldn't consider this an attack and try to intervene. That could be painful.

She kissed him back just as forcefully, and as it broke, she smiled. "Not the move I was expecting. But. Not a bad one," she replied with a chuckle. She drew up one of her legs to wrap around his waist, staring him straight in the eyes as she did so. Her moves were slow, deliberate, then speed returned as she plunged her lips back on his, tearing at them, teeth pulling his lower lip. This was going to be a power struggle if it was happening. A constant balance of who was the predator and who was the prey. It was obvious they were both used to being in dominant positions, and she wasn't likely to give in to him quickly. Of course, they both wanted the same end goal, but how they went about it...would be interesting.

Don't sleep with the princess. The slightly wiser voice in the back of his head reminded him.

Fine, he answered, I'm just going to play around a little, maybe get her wound up a bit before I leave.

As she looped her leg around him and kissed him once more, he let out a low, hungry growl and pressed his hips firmly against hers. She was still fighting, and he wanted her to give in. He ran one hand up the back of her neck and into her hair, massaging her neck and scalp and cushioning her head slightly from the wall. His other hand moved down her back to her butt to help support her weight. It wasn't necessary right then, but that was about to change.

This time, he broke the kiss—sort of. The fingers massaging her scalp curled into her hair, got a tight grip, and then pulled back and down, prying her lips from his own and turning her face slightly upward and to one side. This left her neck nicely exposed, and that was where his lips were planted next, starting just below her ear. He kissed down the side of her neck, trying to leave only slightly pink marks in his wake and no real hickeys—yet. To reach lower, though, he had to arch his back a little, which meant he couldn't use his chest to hold her to the wall. His hand took the weight instead, supporting her butt as his lips explored as much as her shirt would allow.

She wasn't exactly giving in, but she wasn't stopping him either.

It felt good, his lips on her neck, and she bit her own lip not to moan and give him the satisfaction. It wasn't as if she could do too much at that point anyway besides just enjoy herself...he had her pinned. And then..he didn't. She wrapped both legs around him as he gripped her bottom. Her hips rocked against his, now able to use the wall and her legs as leverage.

He did seem to want to reach farther down than her shirt would oblige, and she didn't mind giving him that. He was pretty good with his mouth thus far. So she tugged her shirt up over her head and threw it on the floor, revealing her pert and perky breasts, fully exposed and readily available for whatever he wanted to do to them. Her hands came back down to rest around his neck, gripping it tightly and looking into his eyes once more. She pulled his head downward, back to where it had been prior to the shirt's removal... letting him know he was not in complete control of this situation. Her hips rocked against his once more, a wicked smirk on her lips knowing she was enjoying toying with him as much as any other pleasure she derived from him.

Do not fuck him. Do not fuck him. Play with him. Make him desperate to have you, but do not fuck him.

They were both playing a dangerous game, it seemed, and she was clearly willing to push the boundaries far beyond what he expected of a princess in order to assert herself. She had kissed him to win a pillow fight; she had answered a remark about her full bed by emptying it and inviting him in, and now she had answered teasing kisses by pulling her shirt right off. Hayward momentarily froze before she pulled him back in and he planted his lips on the upper slopes of her breasts.

What the hell?

Was about as close to a fully formed thought as he could manage at that point. There were two possibilities: that she really wanted him right then, or that she was teasing him. He hadn't been planning to take her to bed yet, but he wasn't sure he would turn down the invitation, either.

Hayward pushed back, lifting his head away from her chest to look into her eyes. His green eyes seemed to burn with desire, almost glowing. "Elissa... you are the worst princess I have ever met!" he said, then pressed his body close to hers again, grinding between her legs and pushing her head back against the wall with another hungry, forceful kiss. He broke the kiss again to look at her. "And my favorite, by far," he added. His hips rocked against hers again, his own desire and arousal unmistakable even through their pants.

She was trying so hard to continue playing her game, but she was losing herself fast. Dear Gods, his erection felt good between her legs. She could feel her folds growing wet with anticipation.

Don't. Fuck. Him. DON'T.

She kept trying to tell herself, but the way she kissed him back was not exactly looking promising as to following her own advice. Rocking her hips again and moaning into his mouth, pleasure was finally getting the better of her. She couldn't contain it any longer. She wanted him so badly.

Elissa unwrapped her legs, pushing him off her just enough that she could wiggle out of his grasp and fell to her knees in front of him, her hand stroking his cock through his britches, hesitating momentarily whether or not to cross this line. Because once his pants came off... all bets were off.

Hayward knew this too. They were already flirting with the point of no return, but so long as they both still had pants on, there was still a chance. Once they were off, there wasn't likely any way of stopping them. Still, he had what he wanted. She wasn't fighting back. She wanted more. For a brief moment, his less proper impulses took control to slow things down. Perhaps he'd make her beg a little.

She had wiggled from his grasp, but she was still right in front of him. He reached down with both hands to cup her cheeks, turning her face up toward him. Then he tightened his grip a little and lifted her back up to her feet. "Now, now, Elissa," he chided her. "I'm afraid you're going to have to be a little more... patient." He planted his lips hard against hers, still holding her face in his hands.

Just a little longer. Just a little longer, let's see what she does—

A distinctive knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. Ta-tap, ta-tap, ta-tap. Hayward froze. He was holding a half-naked princess. That would not look good. And that knock...

"That thrice-damned old man," he growled. He slowly let go of Elissa. "That's Dantares. He came to get me." He took a step back and turned his head, forcibly dragging his eyes from her body. "I should go. You should probably cover up." He was all but panting for breath, trying to regain his self-control before he did something rash like barricade the door so he could finish with the princess.

She heard the knock and immediately her blood chilled. Who was knocking? And why? And were they coming through the door? Apparently, he knew the answer to two of the three of her questions. She stood frozen for a moment after he released her, then grabbed her shirt, sliding it back on and taking a deep breath, glancing at herself in the mirror. Her face was red, her hair slightly messier than it had been before. If the man saw both of them, there probably wouldn't be much doubt that something had been going on. And then of course there was the matter of the bulge in his pants, highly visible and hardly difficult to find a cause for.

His face was flushed as well, she could see, but it didn't show up quite as prominently against the darker tone. A distinct problem with pale skin... any hint of blush turned her into a tomato.

She smoothed down her hair slightly and cleared her throat. "Coming..." she said, trying to sound as normal as possible, looking at him as if he might have some better alibi than she could think of.

Hayward took one last deep breath, then grabbed Elissa by the shoulders. "Relax," he breathed. "He'll just laugh." He pulled her into another kiss, this one a good deal gentler than the last. Then he took a step back and flashed a roguish smile. "I trust you'll still meet me to watch the stars tonight? You still owe me a rematch, after all." He winked, and then headed for the door. No doubt he would see her sooner than that; it was only afternoon and they would certainly have dinner together. He paused by the door to look back and smile one last time, then slipped silently outside and pulled the door shut again behind him.

Dantares looked unamused. "Don't tell me you just—"

"We didn't," Hayward assured him. "Now, let's go." He set off down the hall before he changed his mind, hurrying back toward his room.