The Heat Behind His Eyes

The Heat Behind His Eyes Chapter 1

Warmth. No, more than warmth: heat. Radiating from his body, his entire being, most noticeable in his eyes.

This is Rai's first impression of the smaller cat, dashing through the forest, fighting for his life from a group of bandits. Not desperation, with which Rai is all too familiar—it's heat, mixed with the desire to survive, perhaps? Rai can't tell, but he is magnetically attracted to those honey-colored eyes. He'd just finished collecting on his last bounty and was resting when he heard the commotion.

When Rai's functioning cool blue eye meets the amber pair, they fly open in surprise as the fleeing cat trips over a root and is sent flying to the ground. Rai's breath draws in sharply. What is this feeling?

Is it the warmth that pulls him into action? The adrenaline remaining in his system from catching his latest bounty? The draw of the younger cat's strangely shaped, oversized black ears? Whatever the case, Rai feels that call to battle.

Both cats jump to their feet, Rai moving his body in between the smaller cat and his pursuers as a protective barrier. With three quick slashes—his paces coming naturally in an elegant dance from years of practice—the first onslaught is finished, the pursuing cats lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Curiosity pulls his face toward the smaller cat once more in evaluation. Did he really feel that heat, or had it been his imagination? The smaller cat, still startled by Rai's presence, and even more surprised by his assistance, boldly meets his gaze and confirms the warmth Rai had felt minutes earlier. How could a cat his size, alone in a forest, running away from a dozen bandits, on the verge of losing his life, cast his eyes with such defiance, such bravado? And toward his savior, no less!

Does he remind me of myself? Rai ponders, as he meets the gaze. Fueled with adrenaline from the earlier short fight, the smaller cat's attractive shapely build, compact and muscular, doesn't escape Rai's notice, nor his interest. And neither does his interesting black tail, strangely hooked at the end. Black ears and a black tail? How unusual.

Their eyes lock for several short minutes, just long enough to leave an impact on Rai at least, before he hears additional cats approaching noisily.

"Go," he hears himself say. Why is he protecting this cat? Why does he feel drawn to him? Why would Rai want to risk himself to protect him? On a whim, of course—simply out of boredom, he is sure... or is it something more? Does this small cat hold the key to that warmth that Rai has been seeking for so long?