44

Eventually we came down enough to start breathing regularly again, and after a few minutes Kelli placed one of the fingers she had used in my mouth. It was a very erotic thing, and I still loved the taste of my own sex, but the emotion of the moment was nothing but pure tenderness. After I finished with the finger she had given to me, she pulled her hand up and cleaned the other herself, before finally wrapping her arms back around me so we could sleep.

I looked around the cabin of the plane as I snuggled back into Kelli, and I nearly lost it when I saw that Jess was staring right at us with wide eyes and a grin on her face. I could feel the heat of my blush as she winked at me and rolled over so that she could go to sleep.

Getting into London was apparently a breeze as well, because an immigration officer came to where we left the plane, which was better than having to wait in the regular lines as a group. Another company driver got us to our hotel without incident, and we were checked in and taken care of within an hour of landing. I was kind of disappointed that Kelli and I were sharing a large room with Jess, but that had been the plan with her other friends, so you take what you can get. After the night on the plane, though, I really wanted to get Kelli alone for a while so that we could really have a vacation romp.

"Is something wrong with Jess today? She's been looking at us kind of funny for the last couple hours."

"She was watching you and me last night right after we went to sleep," I replied, and I had to laugh when Kelli's mouth fell open and she blushed hard enough to match the red dress she had on. "Don't worry. She enjoyed the show."

"Oh god... Just kill me now."

"Well, love, if I did that then we couldn't give her the encore on the return flight."

Kelli just gasped at my comment and smacked me on the ass, which only made me give a devilish laugh. I think she pulled Jess aside later and apologized, but I knew there was no need to do so.

As far as our time went, it was pretty much as Jess had indicated. We were all over London that first day, and we made sure to hit the major sites early so that we could spend the crowded times at the minor things we wanted to see. Besides the palaces, Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the giant Ferris wheel, we saw some nice little locations that were also fun. The Sherlock Holmes museum was tiny but interesting, and we spent time along the Thames, but the highlight of the day for me was Harrods.

I had never in my life been to Las Vegas, but I had always wanted to see it for myself. The fact that a lot of people say Harrods is like a small London Vegas made it a must see for me. The over the top glitz, the gold, the candy, the food, all the shit you could buy. And while not all of what you could buy would be considered shit, a lot of it was. It was a long standing shrine of excess, and I was glad that I could now say that I had been there.

Kelli and I spent the Sunday that we were on our own going to a couple of art museums, and had lunch at a little place run by a pair of German immigrants. We got tickets and watched some of an exhibition match for one of the local Cricket leagues, but neither of us could really understand what was going on so we stayed for about half the time. It was a nice pace and it was good to just be together.

The train ride to Glasgow the next day was lovely, and it was nice just watching the countryside roll by, and touring around the city was rather nice as well. Jess got in much later due to her presentation, but we had a nice dinner with everyone that night, and began our touring in earnest on Tuesday. We went to see battlefields, castles, and other historical sites that were interesting, and the nightlife in Glasgow was actually pretty fun as well. We managed to find a couple of nice clubs and got in some good dancing while we were there.

Thursday that week was when things got really weird on the trip. Jess took us all out to see a small castle ruin and its lands, which belonged to an ancestor related to their family. It was a lovely bit of countryside, and it was nice to just wander around the rolling hills and to see the lightly forested areas that were part of Jess' distant history. The ruin itself had been somewhat preserved, and its most interesting feature was the small keep that overlooked the nearby loch.

The history inside the keep was quite intriguing, and we learned from the various plaques and exhibits that the last known McAlister to live in the keep had disappeared sometime during the late eighteenth century. His name was no longer known, but information from the history that had been gathered there in the restored ruin suggested that he was a man of honor that had spent many of his days in defense of the weak and oppressed. His only scandal was that he supposedly lived here with two young maidens, and the rumors that they were all lovers of a sort had caused quite a stir in the village. The trio's kindness to all they came in contact with, however, was what most had remembered about them until their strange and sudden disappearance.

I was turning the pages of a large tome that was supposedly a replica of the family history of the various lords that had called the area home, when my gasp caused Kelli to join me to see what was wrong.

"Sweetie, what's up," she asked as she rubbed my back to comfort me in my clearly agitated state. "You look like you have seen the proverbial ghost."

I said nothing, but pointed to the page that had caught my attention and had sent a spike of fear through my heart. It was a picture drawn of what was probably that last McAlister discussed in the histories and his two maidens. The art was good for its time, but still lacking in some detail. What was clear was that one of the women in the piece had what appeared to be blue hair, and the other had green, and if you looked at them carefully the cat's ears on their heads were clearly visible. This also meant that the small curve of color that was mostly hidden behind one of the women could quite possibly be a tail.

"They were Neko," I whispered to Kelli, with a look of fear on my now ashen face. "And I think they were the ones in my dream. I remember the hair."

Kelli said nothing, just pulled me into her arms as I began to tremble. I could feel the sting of tears forming in my eyes, and I looked up at her, hoping that she would tell me I was wrong.

"Why? Why did she tell us to come," I cried into Kelli's shoulder.

"Millicent," she asked, and I just nodded my head yes while she continued to hold me. "Because she is kind, and wise, and clearly knows things that we don't. If this is going to happen soon, either here or back home, there is nothing we can do about that."

"But I lose you," I whimpered.

"In the dream you did, but since the last time you had that dream you have been given a very powerful protection. You always said that in the dream you felt me die and that sealed the slave like control that whoever cast the spell had over you, right?"

I nodded again and wiped my eyes so that if anyone saw they wouldn't try and see what was wrong.

"So my death is the final catalyst that enslaves you. But I think that the ward you now have would prevent such a spell from affecting you. So I might die, but you couldn't be controlled."

"But I don't want you to die," I growled at Kelli with a ferocity that surprised her. "You have to live damnit."

"And I think I will. If my study of the magic materials that Ali gave me is correct, the spell that might be used in that way has to draw on my life force as your bond mate to power the unwilling bond. So I think that if and when this happens, I will be kept alive until either you reject the ward or a way is found past it, which won't happen."

"You really think so," I asked and she gave me a solemn nod in reply.

"Now, sweetie, let's get some photos of this material so I can pass it on to Ali and the Circle tonight. At the very least, it is important information about Neko history."

So we both took pictures and looked through as much material that we had time to before heading back to Glasgow, and Kelli even purchased three history books that the caretaker's office had for sale. I was nervous, and I felt helpless, but the more I thought about what Kelli had said, the better I felt. I would trust her and Millicent, and keep my eyes open for any opportunity to change events in our favor.

We finally had to leave and head back because Jess had scheduled us to have dinner with some of the company execs in the area that evening, and we all spent time going through Kelli's new books on the way back. By the time we returned I was in a better emotional state, and I was looking forward to a nice dinner with some dancing as well.