Author's note: Back into the action! This time with a 'romantic' scene. The translation of the title would be "one who loves and one who lets herself be loved." Nuff said.
Warning: Feline sex. I can say it louder but not clearer. Nothing too graphic, I hope.
Disclaimer: I don't own Cats and blah, blah... the usual stuff.
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CHAPTER 5 – UN QUI AIME ET UN QUI SE LAISSE AMER
"Do you always sneak in other cats' dens without being invited?" Pandora asked the cat burglar (who was still sitting on the floor); he smiled without answering, and she unexpectedly burst into laughter and held out her paw to him.
"You're getting dusty. Stand up and talk like a civilized cat."
"Last time I came near you I received a real hiding", he laughed back.
"Yes, I'm a dangerous crazy queen and I claw my enemies' guts out after killing them. Hadn't you noticed?"
Mungojerrie finally held her paw and stood up. "I told you I would look for you." He looked around. "By the way, where is Demeter?"
"I sent her with some humans I know. She'll be safe there, and that will leave me some time to plan my next movement." The queen waved her hand inviting him to sit down, and he climbed to the back of the old sofa. She gazed at him with a hard look, her arms crossed. "I still don't know why you're here."
"There's something I need to tell you..."
Pandora looked at the ceiling and sighed. "More conversations in the dark? I bet I'll have a wonderful headache tomorrow morning. All right then, shoot."
"I was the one who told Munkustrap that your mother was allied with Macavity", he muttered, lowering his head.
"Oh come on, tell me something I don't know."
"What you may not know is that Macavity tricked me too. At that time I had just told him I wouldn't work for him any more. I was beginning to be scared about Rumpleteazer, and I didn't want her to become one of Macavity's minions like me. He used to keep all his agents high on catnip... we were easier to handle that way."
"Go on", she said while she sat down near him, on the arm of the sofa.
"When we met the Jellicle tribe I felt at home for the first time in my life. However, Teazer was still a kitten and was immediately accepted, but I was almost an adult tom and they distrusted me at first... After all, I was a burglar."
The queen gave him a concerned look. "And you were still an addict."
"Yes. And only Macavity knew it. He sent one of my former fellows now and then to provide me with all the stuff I needed... to keep me stupefied. I was in that state when I saw that queen with Macavity and thought she was Demeter. Tonight, on my way here, Danfred told me I was wrong... But that day I could have sworn for my life it was her", he said, apologizing to her with his eyes.
Pandora stood up and started pacing up and down the room, her paws curled into fists. "To sum up... my whole life ruined by a fucking stash of catnip. It would be funny if it wasn't my own story. Tell me, are you still...?"
"No", he interrupted her. "I've been clean for more than a year. After what happened with Deme I felt so guilty... Every cat in the junkyard seemed to think I had done the right thing and they began to treat me in a different way. I always thought Demeter deserved a second opportunity, but..."
"...nobody dared to give her the credit you had received", she ended.
"I suppose it's useless to say 'I'm sorry'."
"It's me who should say that, after the beating I gave you... but it was the only thing I could do with Macavity there. He really expected me to kill you in cold blood."
"I have received worse beatings in my life", he said giving her half a smile. "And you didn't kill me after all... Still, all I expect from you now is forgiveness."
"Ask my mother", she whispered. "I have nothing to forgive you for. Macavity is my only target."
"You can't win", he said. "I've worked for him, remember? He is really dangerous, and has never been defeated by one single cat."
"He's just an assassin with a reputation and a lot of support from his agents."
"Not 'just' that. He's the most mischievous criminal in the world. He can play with you, with your mind, tore your soul into pieces, until you end up wishing your own death." He extended her paw towards the golden queen. "Come back to the junkyard. Come with me, Pandora. We'll persuade them to let you and Demeter stay, and..."
"Live in peace and harmony till the stars get cold?" she scorned.
"Forget about Macavity. Please... It can't be so difficult."
"You weren't there when he found us and killed my brothers," she answered, her voice trembling with sadness. "I was only two weeks old..."
"You don't have to talk about it if it's too painful."
"No, I'm fine. But it has been hard to get over. I can still see him if I close my eyes... He invaded our den in the middle of the night; I remember my mother crying in terror, trying to escape with us. For a long time I've had nightmares about that moment, about his hideous laughter and his evil look... He was like mad when he saw that my mother had kittens... And he killed them in cold blood: 'Munkustrap's breed', that's what he called me the other day; and those were also the exact words he used that time." She paused for a moment, breathing heavily, trying to find the words. "He said... he said that once he had done away with us three my mother would return to him."
The tom made a hesitant movement towards her, as if he wanted to embrace her, but he seemed to change his mind and retreated. "How did you escape?"
"I'm not quite sure... That moment is a little blurred in my mind. Somehow he got distracted, and my mother managed to grab me and fly away... and that's what we've been doing for all my life, escaping and hiding." She lifted her head with a defying expression. "I'm running no more. There's no return from here."
Mungojerrie gazed at her, admiring her courage. She held his gaze for a silent moment, her eyes burning with a fierce light.
"What are you staring at, tiger?"
"Er... nothing." He approached to her and held her paws in his. "And now you're determined to face him again... What if he kills you? What will be of Demeter?"
"If Macavity kills me, you will equally tell the truth about my mother; with her innocence proved she can go back to the tribe. As for my death... Nobody would care very much."
Mungojerrie came closer, standing a few inches away from her. "I would".
"Why? I haven't been very kind to you since we met", she grinned.
He didn't say a word, but pulled her closer to him. Their lips got in touch for a moment, but she leaned back a little. "Jerrie, this is..."
"Crazy?" he purred in her ear.
"And forbidden. And dangerous. Specially for you, tiger."
"I don't care... You've been in my mind this whole time. I've searched through all the city to find you, and I won't leave you... unless you want me to", he said holding her near him in a tight embrace.
"You'd better watch what you get into; I'm the hunter now, but I can end up being the prey... and you with me." She ran a paw on the back of his neck, her contact sending a shiver up his spine.
"Yes. With you. Always", he whispered against her lips before kissing her again.
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Heat.
Her head began spinning, overwhelmed by the sensations as she closed her eyes. His breath next to her neck was a burning wave; when he touched her throat with his lips she shivered, her paws tangled in the fur of his head. The queen let go a sigh as he reached her mouth again and his kiss grew bolder and more demanding, tasting her, yanking her hard against him.
Motion.
Pinned between the calico tom and the wall, Pandora drove him down slowly to a pile of old blankets laid on a corner. Still attached to his lips, now her paws were running up and down his back; tilting her head to the side, she nuzzled his neck while her tail curled around his leg.
Games.
She was ticklish (but he had no way to know it). The touch of his paws on her waist made her giggle softly. Mungojerrie realized the reason and, with an evil smirk, started to badly tickle her. She managed to roll over him, her knees binding his hips, her paws firmly holding his. "Will I have to tie you up again, tiger?" she asked as she leaned down with deliberate slowness to nibble his lower lip. "I could get used to it, luv… but not tonight", he said, suddenly shifting to his left side and making her lose her balance. Now they had switched places, the queen immobilized under his weight, his left paw holding her arms over her head while his right one made its way down along her breast.
Perdition.
It had been his fault, believing her innocent expression and her pout as she asked him to free her paws. A wicked grin curled at the corner of her mouth as she inched her fingers down his waist, and he was immediately lost. Her touch sending chills along his body, the tom began purring wildly, his eyes darkened with craving as he went on kissing, biting, his mouth on hers, on her throat and breasts, down her stomach, and then down her inner thigh making her scream.
Addiction.
He felt he was hooked on her and all inside him was desire. The need for possessing her was as sudden as unbearable. Hearing the golden queen half-purring, half-moaning under him as he caressed her thigh, he felt he could die that way, in her arms. This was how he wanted to end his existence, in this forbidden body, with his forbidden love.
Madness.
The queen was almost scared by his reaction. Having excited him more than she intended, the aching hunger in her lover's eyes was so intense that she couldn't control his passion any more. Her paws grasped the blanket senselessly; she heard the deep growl from the male chest and felt a wave of burning fever when he entered her, sliding into her body and mind and finding a wild, unbridled rhythm.
They were tangled together, beyond words, beyond the world that made them miserable. Nestled in each other's embrace, an eternity passed as they softly sank into darkness.
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The rumbling sound of a car came from the street. Pandora opened her eyes lazily, looking for Mungojerrie. She couldn't help smiling when she saw him... he had fallen asleep with his head on her lap, like a kitten.
"Wake up, sexy thing. It's morning already... you must go back home or they're going to miss you."
He sat up and kissed the base of her throat, then gently rubbed his nose against it. "Does that mean you're not coming with me, luv?"
"Not until my enemy is dead and my mother is free from all charges. Besides, all the Jellicles must think I'm insane or something like that, considering how I behave last time."
"Syren and Danfred will speak on your behalf. And I will, too."
"Yes, they will, but Danfred is a newly arrived to the tribe, and my cousin is still treated like a kitten. Nobody will pay attention to their reasons. And what will they say if they actually learn... about us?" she said with a devious smile as he traced a line of tiny kisses along her jawline.
The calico tom became rigid. "Everlasting Cat, Munkustrap's going to kill me!"
Her eyes flashed suddenly with a harsh expression: "Don't tell him. Tell anybody you want but him."
"But, luv..."
The golden tabby queen pulled him apart and scowled. "No. I am not accountable to my f... to Munkustrap, and I don't want him to know where I am."
"You're being stubborn." He held her close to him again and nuzzled her temple. "He's your father after all, and he's eager to find you."
She pulled back again to look him in the eye: "Do you trust me, Jerrie?"
"I would place my life in your hands... In fact, I reckon I already have", he said tenderly. "But what does it have to do with...?"
"Everything. Can't you see what's all about? Had he trusted my mother instead of believing the word of a silly adolescent catnipped tom - I mean you, tiger, and it's the bare truth - nothing of all this would have happened."
"You forgot to add 'burglar' to the list", he smirked, but his voice sounded gloomy.
She buried her face against his chest. "I'm not blaming you. You were just Macavity's pawn in this game. And the game's not over yet. Now, I'll tell you what to do: go back to the junkyard, tell the Jellicles you've found out that my mother was innocent, but you couldn't find our den."
"And what will you do?" he asked, leaning down to nibble her collarbone.
"I need time to think... my first attempt has failed, and I must act quickly, but first I need a plan. And I can't think clearly with you here to distract me." Her words were serious, but she was smiling at his attentions.
"As if it weren't such a pleasure to distract you," the calico tom muttered before giving her a playful kiss.
"Mmm, you're being nasty. Now, go!"
Mungojerrie stood up and made his way to the window. "Will I see you tomorrow, luv?"
"Try and find me... if I'm in the mood."
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And the moral of the chapter is... say no to catnip (or human equivalents), or you'll be hooked, tricked, beaten, and... ahem, whatever else.
Was it too indecent for you to review? I hope not...
