Blood of the Neko - 5. Chapter 5

Damien awoke earlier than usual the next morning, knowing he wanted to leave quickly to get to the Court. He figured the sooner he could get there, the sooner he could be done. Damien smiled as he felt the warm body he was wrapped around stir slightly when he shifted. The silky black locks fell across his lover's cheek and swept across his shoulders. His dark lashes lay on his cheek in peaceful slumber. He didn't want to wake the boy, but he couldn't resist trailing kisses over the bared shoulder.

Damien noticed a small smile twitch at the corner of the boy's lips, but Kayden didn't wake. He merely sighed and shifted contentedly in the sheets. Damien laughed softly, drawing the sheet down slightly as he kissed his way down the boy's spine.

He froze. Frowning, he leaned back to get a better look at Kayden's skin. What the hell? He ran his fingers softly over the odd bruises. They looked like fingerprint bruises. Damien's breath caught as Kayden rolled slightly, and he saw a reddish brown bruise on the boy's side. It looked like--

No, it couldn't be. Damien hadn't sucked on Kayden's skin hard enough to leave that mark. And he'd left enough of them in the past to know what they looked like on the boy. But where had this one come from--

Damien jerked back so suddenly, it caused the young neko to blink in confusion at the abrupt withdrawal of warm fingers. Damien's eyes narrowed as Kayden's bright green ones blinked up at him.

"Sir?" the neko queried, obviously concerned by Damien's look.

"Where are these bruises from?" Damien demanded, his fingertips brushing over the ones on Kayden's arm as well as the dark, small one near his hipbone.

Kayden's eyes flickered to the bruises briefly before he quickly dropped his eyes and rolled back onto his stomach, burying into the bed. "I just fell yesterday, landed on a rock."

"Fell? How?" he asked, pressing his lips into a thin line.

"Um, off of Bella," Kayden mumbled into the pillow.

"And these?" he gritted his teeth as he indicated the fingerprint ones.

"Oh, um, Finn must have grabbed my arm too tightly... when he helped me up."

Damien felt his heart pounding in his chest as he stared at the figure curled into the bed. Kayden was lying. But why would he be lying? Unless he knew the answer would upset Damien. He cursed under his breath as he shot off the bed.

He'd had to face his brother Roman's lies and betrayal, and it nearly destroyed him. It had been Kayden who had brought him through it all. If Kayden was now lying to him, what could that mean?

"Maybe I should dismiss Finn, if he's hurting you," Damien said tightly as he disappeared into the bathroom.

"No!" Kayden shouted emphatically, and Damien felt his heart sink. "Finn is a really great teacher. He's been helping me to learn to ride bareback. It was just an accident. You know I get bruised all the time from all the climbing and--"

"Fine," Damien snapped from the bathroom, not wanting to hear anymore about how much Kayden liked Finn. He splashed water on his face before he quickly shaved, trying not to slice his face in his anger.

Kayden had said he loved him. Why would he lie to him like this, like Roman had?

Damien bit back angry tears. He loved that boy so much. How could Kayden do this to him? How could he lay there and say he loved him when he was out screwing around with Finn? Did Kayden love Finn more than him now? They had been spending a lot of time together lately.

He slammed his straight razor down next to the washing bowl, roughly rubbing the towel over his face. Sighing heavily, he slammed his hands to each side of the bowl as he dropped his head in defeat.

Fuck.

Damn it. He didn't have time for this right now. He needed to cool down first. Think about how he wanted to approach Kayden about it. Did he even want to? Could he just pretend he didn't know? Did he really want to hear Kayden admit that he'd found someone else?

He stormed into the bedroom and whipped open the armoire. He dressed faster than he ever had before. As he sat yanking on his boots, he heard Kayden creeping up next to him.

"Sir?" he whispered warily, but Damien didn't even look up at the boy. He couldn't. Not right now.

"Damien?" the quiet voice almost broke his heart. Damien knew that Kayden sensed something was wrong.

When the small hand touched his cheek, Damien recoiled, causing Kayden to jump. When Damien glanced up, he was struck by the look of fear on the boy's face.

"I-is s-something wrong?" Kayden asked hesitantly.

Damien felt guilty for making the boy so nervous. Kayden didn't usually stutter unless he was in an unfamiliar crowd and he was scared. "I'm just busy," Damien said as gently as he could. "I have to get to the Court early this morning."

Kayden seemed relax slightly. "Oh, okay."

Damien stood quickly but didn't look at his lover. He couldn't meet his eyes right now, or he would probably blow up. "I'll be back this afternoon. Go back to bed if you'd like. Have fun today."

He vaguely saw Kayden nod from the corner of his eye as he strode to the door. When he opened it, John Drystan was waiting there.

"Sir, Lord Harrison is already waiting for you in the dining room. Breakfast is ready to be served, and Master Cessel sent word that the horses are ready. I believe Captain Brenner said he would meet you at the stables."

"Very good," Damien said, slipping easily into his Grand Duke persona. He straightened his vest, nodding to John as he strode toward the stairs without looking back.

@@@@

Kayden stared after his master in shock. Damien hadn't been so snappish in a long time. He wondered briefly if it truly was the sight of his bruises that had set his master off, or if he was just so preoccupied with what was going on at Court. He glanced down at the small bruise near his hip. It seemed so small, and compared to things that had happened before, it was nothing. The fingerprints on his arm were Joseph's, having caught him after tripping him in their training. But of course, Kayden couldn't tell Damien that his guard had done it. That might make the man ask more questions. It made more sense that he would have fallen from Arabella, and Finn would help him up.

But now, was Damien worried that Finn might be hurting him intentionally? Kayden fretted over what he should tell Damien. Maybe he just needed to reassure his master that Finn was a good friend, that he was really helping him with his riding.

He decided to dress instead of heading back to bed. This way he'd be able to see Damien before he left for the day. He ran down the stairs to see Damien and Harrison finishing up their quick breakfast. Damien was deep in conversation, talking about something that Oliver had told him about the mines.

Kayden darted into the kitchen after them. Harrison turned and smiled at him.

"Hey there, thought you'd still be in bed at this hour," he greeted.

"I wanted to come with you to the stables and say good-bye," Kayden smiled.

He was surprised by the narrow look he received from his master. He didn't understand it, but he edged closer to him anyway, knowing the man would never hurt him.

"It's rather cool out this morning, Kayden," Damien said firmly.

Kayden froze as he touched his master's sleeve. Kayden. Not kitten. Damien must truly be in a bad mood.

"I don't mind the cold. I just wanted the chance to see you off," Kayden leaned closer, ignoring the glances of the kitchen staff. "I wanted to give you a kiss good-bye."

Damien leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, instead of leaning a little further down to meet his lips. Then he quickly turned and called for Harrison.

"Let's go. Brenner is waiting for us by the stables," he yanked open the door and strode out, leaving a stunned Kayden and gaping kitchen staff in his wake.

Harrison was frowning as he passed Kayden. "Is something wrong? Did you two have a fight or something?"

Kayden blinked rapidly, trying to quell the tears forming in his eyes. "I-I don't k-know," he finally said, staring after the strong back of his master. "He was fine last night, maybe even a little possessive. But this morning--"

"But this morning, he's been an ass," Harrison guessed, staring down at the distraught young neko that he had saved from the slave markets over a year ago. "Don't worry. He's probably just upset about the mine situation."

Kayden frowned.

"The king and court finally seem to want to do something about the problems at the mines, after Damien told them they needed to do this a year ago. He's probably just irritated by the stubbornness of the court."

"Do you really think so?" Kayden breathed hopefully.

Harrison patted Kayden's shoulder. "Yeah, I do. But I'll ask him about it."

Harrison started toward the stables and realized that Kayden was right next to him. The stubborn little neko hadn't even thrown on a coat.

"It's still cold this morning," Harrison said, his breath forming a small cloud in front of him. "It'll be warmer later, but right now, you should go back in."

Kayden set his jaw and continued walking. "I'm saying good-bye, no matter what mood he's in."

Harrison just shrugged and followed the young neko across the yard. As they approached the stables, they could see about six horses already gathered, some of which already had their riders. Captain Brenner had brought along three extra men as guards for the two lords.

Kayden spotted Damien talking to the stable master, and he rushed forward.

"We should be back before sunset," Damien was saying.

"Very good, my lord," Cessel nodded.

Damien turned and stopped short seeing Kayden there. "Please," Kayden begged, hesitantly reaching for his master's jacket, his eyes staring up at Damien worriedly. "Have I done something wrong? You've seemed upset all morning, and I don't know why. Please. I love you. Tell me what's wrong."

@@@@

Damien's heart almost broke at the look on his kitten's face. Hell, maybe he was wrong. Kayden did look so innocent right now.

He softly touched Kayden's cheek, feeling the boy shaking under his fingers. "We can talk later, kitten," Damien said, and he felt Kayden melt slightly at the sound of his pet name. "I'm just very distracted right now."

Kayden nodded quickly and appeared to be slightly less panicked. Damien pushed his apprehensiveness back down as he lightly kissed Kayden's lips. "I'll be back soon. Go visit with Lady Penelope. You know she misses you."

The duke turned toward his large stallion. Grabbing Gemini's reins, he launched himself up on the magnificent beast. Kayden had backed away from the mass of horses stomping around in the cool morning air.

"Are we ready, Captain?" he asked formally, feeling the need to distance himself from his emotions.

"Yes, sir," Geoff Brenner stated, a little surprised by the formality. He glanced over to two of the guards hovering on the periphery. One was a large neko, Rafe Saladin, and the other was Kayden's guard. "Saladin, Nash. You two are in charge."

The two men nodded their assent. "Yes, sir."

Damien turned Gemini to head him toward the gates. As he glanced back toward the stables, his breath caught when he saw that damn red-headed stable hand wrapping his jacket around his lover's small shoulders. He ground his teeth together as the man curled Kayden against his body, as if hugging him, before pulling him into the barn.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath.

"Sir?" Brenner asked, coming up on his left side.

Harrison was also looking at him oddly. He set his shoulders and yanked on the reins, kicking Gemini into motion, without saying another word. He didn't bother to acknowledge the exchange of glances between his brother and his guard.