Sunshine: Tales of an Assassin

Chapter Eleven

(Author's Note: There will be violence in the upcoming episodes, as well as other adult content, seriously, did you expect a story about an assassin not to have violence?  While I will try not to be too graphic, and do not condone violence, you have been warned, there may be trigger matters in here, and you can either read this chapter, or wait till I publish one without violence.)

***Katrina's POV***

    I followed Nathanial as he lead me, still pretending to be the stereotypical good little submissive, as he lead me to the club.  When we entered I could see that it did in truth mostly seem to have a younger looking crowd, but there were some older people as well.  The interior was done in a mix between steam punk, abandoned warehouse, and rave with lights flashing at different locations, and a synthesized beat heavy on the bass and drums pounding through the grungy feeling air.

    Glancing around without breaking character, I saw several others dressed in b**m wear, as well as people dressed in street clothes, an occasion person moving through the club in a suit alerted me to their security.  Nathanial weaved calmly through the crowd to a table where there were pillows scattered on and around the bench seat that curled into the corner.

    Already have a few eyes trailing you, we'll have to put on a good show for them, see if we can't entice a rat to crawl out with a hint of a sweet.  Nathanial's voice held a touch of humor and something else, something darker, but at the moment I couldn't analyze it as I had other things to focus on.  He slide gracefully into the seat, and as he requested a show, I was going to comply.

    Right near where he sat was one of the pillows on the ground, I shifted the pillow slightly between his feet before kneeling on it facing him, and felt a moment of thankfulness that the table was placed further away from the seats than most places or this would loose half the effect I was aiming for and require more contortionism than I wanted to deal with at this moment.  As I knelt in front of him, I could see Nathanial analyzing how I sat, a touch of surprise before a hint of approval hit his eyes, he tugged the leash, pulling me forward and throwing my upper body against his lap.  I braced my hands against his thighs, and had an upclose view of the six pack I'd been admiring before.

    I could sense eyes on me, or at least my ass that was now partly exposed with chains digging in slightly, but our goal was to catch some attention, this was accomplishing it well.

    Waitress incoming, you going to just keep looking or got something up your sleeve?

    So he wanted that kind of submissive to show off, hmm...I ran my hands lightly over his leather clad thighs, leaning forward and brushing my chest against his groin, moving so that I could use my mouth against his stomach.  Down side was I felt my skirt ride a little higher and felt more of my ass exposed, the things I do for my job.  I felt a slight tremor run through his body as I went to work making this believable, and felt a vibration under my lips, a sure sign that a shifter was either purring or growling, and since I wasn't aware of his cat's stance on humans, I would put my money on the growl.

    Control your cat, you wanted realistic, I'm giving that, but your cat needs to know this is a job and I'm not sure why it's so riled up.  I reminded Nathanial, giving him the sensation that I'd gotten, and I felt a brief flare of frustrating and anger from him before it was all locked down again.  Staying focused on what I was supposed to act like and do, I briefly heard him ordering a drink before sending the waitress on her way, and he jerked hard on the leash to get my attention, forcing me to either lean further over and look up at him, or break the collar, which it wasn't time for yet.

    I gave into the pull, almost falling completely against him, but looking up I saw that his eyes were shifting to gold, a sure sign his panther was closer to the surface, but as there were still traces of green, I knew that Nathanial was there as well.  He pinched my chin pulling me closer to him, lowering his lips down close to my ear.

    "As my cat and I were rather enjoying that feel, we'd rather not be referred to as a job while you touch us like that, kitten."  I felt the brush of his cheek against mine, before he nipped my earlobe and abruptly released me, making me tumble against his lap again.

    I actually felt a slight shudder through my body, as I had enjoyed that probably more than I should, but I also felt someone approaching us, and felt Nathanial shift for me to sit differently.  I lowered myself to sitting on the pillow, faced out to the crowd, but with one arm wrapped around his leg as he stroked my hair.  The man approaching us was in a suit, and he wore a smile that made me want to rake my nails down his face rather than let him continue to look at me like that.

    "Good evening sir, I hope you are having a pleasant night."  The suit started.

    "I'm not sure how my night is yet, as my drink has still not arrived and it is making me rather...annoyed."  Nathanial responded, and as he said the last word I felt his hand fist in my hair, pulling it down and making me bare my neck more.  Showing the edge of violence contained, seems we got our first rat sniffing.

    "Perhaps sir, you would like to sample some other services to take the edge off.  We would be more than happy to keep your...guest...well cared for while you enjoyed some other services we offer."  Damn, I really should have been listening earlier when he ordered that drink, I wondered if I missed some key word that he'd used to speed this s**t up.

    "My pet goes where I go for the moment, this little kitten is still in training and cries without her master nearby."  

    Really, crying, we'll see who cries before the night is over.  I grouched in my head, but not an eyelash flickered to show my internal thoughts.

    Weak remember, I can't let you be separated from me yet here.

    "I see, well, you can take your pet with you, though most don't tend to care for seeing our additional services, we thought she may enjoy spending time with others while she waits for you.  It is your choice though."

    Sounds like we will have to separate at some point, and I have a feeling this is going to be a bit more complicated than I thought.  We need to find out about these other pets.

    "Then I appreciate your offer and will take you up on it."  Nathanial stood, giving my leash a slight tug when I didn't move fast enough for him, or just because he was having far too much fun with it, I really couldn't tell which at this point, but the man simply smiled and lead us down a hall where two men stood near a door with a keypad.  

    He's angled in a way I can't see the pad, will that be something that you can work around?

    Shouldn't be too much of an issue, may take a few more moments than the numbers, but I've worked around stricter systems.

    As the door opened, the two men stepped aside, and we continued down the hallway, the sounds of people and flesh meeting flesh in violent ways slowly overpowering the music. Slowly I was able to pick up the scent of blood and sweat.  Looks like we found the fighting ring.

    "If you wish to participate, your pet will need to remain outside the ring, but I'm sure we have plenty of places to keep her chained so she doesn't wander off."

    Nathanial was taking off his vest,  treating me to a rather nice view of the muscles rippling in his back, as he noticed different posts that were staked into the floor around the area, one fairly close to one side of the ring, which he walked to, tugging again, while I mock stumbled to keep up with him.  He attached the end to the post, and I noticed that he had put me in direct line of room with one way glass, we were going to get some attention alright.

    "Why else would I be here if it weren't to participate?"  Nathanial eyed the suit with a slight smirk.  "It's good for a pet to see what can happen if they don't behave, but I'd rather she learn the first lesson by watching, delicate skin like hers shouldn't be damaged right away after all."

    I think it will better at this point to seem a little more possessive and controlling, as well as jealous.  Let your eyes wander more like you are looking for an escape.

    "Very good sir, we'll be happy to accommodate your desires, and hope that we'll provide the best services we can.  Please step into the ring."

    Nathanial nodded, walking up to the ring, while I cast about occasional glances when I could see he wasn't looking taking in details as I could.  Eight noticeable guards, two per corner of the room, plus another four counting our suit that were wandering through the crowd that I could spot.  A stocky male entered the ring with Nathanial, already sporting bruises and blood.  His hair a greasy dishwasher blond, his energy had the same flavor as the Shrew, hyena shifter most likely, or male b***h, wasn't sure which, maybe both.

    "Don't worry pretty boy, I won't mess up that face of yours too badly...or maybe I will and show that tasty little pet of yours a real man."  The snicker that followed gave a way the hyena part, and I had to mentally groan.

    Really can he get much more cliché?  I'd expected a comeback, but as I shifted my view off the hyena for a moment back to Nathanial, I caught the glint of gold in his eyes, and the tension in his body.  I could feel a slight rumble and the hyena took his eyes off me to focus on Nathanial, letting loose another of those annoying coughing laughs that only they seem able to do.

    "What's the matter pretty boy, afraid a real man will take your little pet from you?  That's sounding more and more appealing to show her what she's missing."

    After he finished, he launched himself at Nathanial, fists flying.  Nathanial dodged the first attack, bringing his knee up hard into his opponent's gut, knocking some of his breath out, but since they were both shifters he recovered quickly.  The hyena attempted another attack, throwing a rather wild right hook towards Nathanial, seemed he relied on speed and power, not aim or strategy.   Nathanial blocked the hit and followed through with an uppercut and a kick to the sternum, knocking him away.

    "Looks like you might be the one in need of a real man, though I can't say any would want anything as ugly as you."  Nathanial smirked as the hyena spat blood and growled at him.  I  watched both, occasionally flicking my eyes over the rest of the arena as if looking for escape, it was easy to tell for me that Nathanial was playing with him, he'd gone after me harder in our sparing match than he was going after this shifter, but I saw the benefit of not showing full strength.

    Feeling a bit bored though, I let myself get caught with my eyes on the other shifter, only to hear Nathanial growl and cause me to focus on him again, his eyes full golden.  s**t.

    Part of the plan, remember?

       All I got in response was another growl, this one in my head, and Nathanial turned back to the other shifter who was grinning at the show, charging him now with fists and legs flying intent on damage.  To be fair, the hyena did manage to block a few and did get a few solid hits in on Nathanial, which seemed to enrage his beast more, though I could tell he was still at some edge, holding back some, but something had set him off, this wasn't fully just for show anymore.

    In the end though, Nathanial managed to get the shifter into a choke hold whispering something in his ear that made the shifter start fighting harder to attempt to dislodge Nathanial from his back, but in the end only caused him to succumb to the hold that much faster, and as he lost consciousness,  Nathanial kicked his limp body away from himself, and walked towards the edge of the ring, his eyes blazing gold with only a hint of green left in them for the moment, and for once I actually felt like prey being stalked by a hunter.

    Nathanial reached me, and grabbed the chain near my choker, lifting my head so I had to look him in the eye, his other hand unhooking it from the post.

    "Your eyes belong on me and only me, kitten, and I recommend you learn your lesson.  Perhaps I need to remind you of your place pet."  With that he shoved me away causing me to stumble and mentally curse him some as I fell into the arms of the suit that had escorted us.  "Take my pet with the others, she needs to learn a lesson and I don't want to look at the little b***h right now."  

    With that Nathanial turned his back on me, and I let out a little sob like I was fighting with tears, but the man in the suit simply nodded his head, using my leash to pull me along much harder than Nathanial had while I acted like I was fighting it.  Time for stage two.