The Curious Case of Cat and Cupid [manxman]

Chapter Four

Saturday, February 11th

Moonlight shone in from the open living room window. I'd moved out of my bedroom an hour ago to force myself to stay awake and wait for the cat to turn back into the cupid. Even as I sat there, gaze fixated on the clock, I felt myself slipping every few moments. My eyes burned like hot coals were on them, while my eyelids fought desperately to close. Without warning, my head would lull back before I would jump, snapping myself upright, almost giving myself whiplash in the process.

It was a few minutes past two o'clock when I heard it. The soft, warm body at my side suddenly stirred, meowing loudly before jumping off the sofa. Coop ran to the middle of the floor, where there was more space, and hunkered down, as if he were shrinking in on himself.

I scratched my eyes and sat forward, propping my elbows on my knees. The moment had arrived.

In a swirl of black magic, the cat I'd kept tethered to my side expanded, growing into a tall, handsome man without a single stitch of clothing.

"By the gods," I muttered, taking a long look at him. Sometime during his limited inhabitation of his normal body, he'd bandaged himself up—probably using my supplies in the bathroom. It was enough to stop the worst of the bleeding, but it would need more intensive care to prevent infection.

Aside from that, he didn't look half bad. Warm skin wrapped taut over a muscular chest and arms, all the way down to long legs. He had black dreadlocks that spilled down his back and shoulders. To top it all off were those peculiar brown eyes that almost looked more honey-colored in the yellow glow of the kitchen.

"Well, you remember where I keep my pajamas, or would you rather I grab you a pair?" I asked finally.

He blinked slowly, like he was just seeing me for the first time. "Uh, I can... It doesn't matter." He shrugged, chuckling awkwardly as he rubbed at the back of his neck. That voice, though. It was deep and smooth, nothing like the jagged, terrified screams of agony that I had heard before.

Grinning, I said, "Come on." The couch creaked as I stood up. I nodded my head toward the bedroom. "You can just come with."

"Okay." Ducking his head sheepishly, he tagged along as I headed into my bedroom to dig him out a pair of pajamas.

I delved straight into the bottom drawer of my dresser to find a pair of sweatpants that'd fit him—or at least get close. I was in shape, but I was more lithe than him. Thankfully, we were about the same height, so the pants wouldn't be too short.

"So, about how long do we have before you change back into a pussycat?" I asked, tossing a pair of light-gray sweats at him.

He caught them and swiftly pulled them on. "About three hours, so it should be enough to get you up to speed on everything you haven't found out yet."

"Sounds good." I tossed a T-shirt at him and propped my fists on my hips as I leaned back against the bed. "First of all, what's your name?"

A soft smile graced his full lips. "Cooper. Cooper Lovington."

I chuckled. "Holy shit, was I actually that fucking spot-on with calling you Coop?"

He nodded. "That's made all of this a little easier, you using a name so close to mine instead of Mr. Whiskers or something."

"Wow... Also, what the fuck is wrong with all of you cupids having such ridiculous surnames?"

"What do you mean?"

I blinked owlishly. Had he actually not noticed? Eros, Lovington; I'd even met some with the last names of Amore and Venus.

Shaking my head, I said, "Never mind. So, uh, you're the missing cupid."