Free Oath of Challenge Conquering Kate by Marly Chance

shaky hand, he ran his hand through his hair. Then he raked his hands over his face. Finally, he dropped his head into his hands.
    A minute went by. Eventually raising his head, he said, “Kate, we must talk about your habit of not fainting. My heart cannot take the strain.”
    Kate sat up slowly. He reached forward suddenly and wrapped her tightly in his arms. She could feel his heart beating like a drum against her chest.
    She leaned against him weakly and took deep breaths. Hearing the sound of running liquid, she shuddered and said faintly, “Please. Turn it off.”
    Immediately, the shower stopped. Kate tried to regain her composure but it was proving nearly impossible. She felt sick and shaky, but there was something happening that was causing her worse distress. Tair’s emotions were bombarding her in rapid succession: fear, relief, and exasperation were all flooding into her at an alarming rate.
    She was not about to discuss how she could feel his emotions right now. Not to mention how he had stopped that hellish shower. She said in a stronger voice, “Thank you. And I will thank you even more if you refrain from telling me how you did it. I’m sure it involves superhero powers I’d just as soon not confront at the moment.” She pulled away from him and sat up straight.
    He nodded and leaned back against the wall. Kate remained sitting, looking at his gray face. Okay, so she’d freaked out a little. So she had a rather strong reaction to the sight of blood. They both needed to get a grip on their messy emotions. Lifting her chin, she demanded, “What the hell kind of vampire wet dream was that?”
    Tair gave her an exasperated look and said distinctly, “Kate, the dark red liquid is vara . It is similar to your water. And it is absolutely, definitely, beyond any doubt not blood of any kind.”
    Feeling foolish, she went on the defensive immediately. “And I was supposed to know that how ?”
    Remembering the attacking rat-thing suddenly, she looked around frantically. Spotting it on its side apparently dead, near the wall, she scooted back to Tair’s side of the room and leaned against the wall next to him.
    With pure revulsion, she asked, “And another thing…What the hell is that? Don’t you have any kind of pest control here?”
    Tair’s mouth lifted at the corners in the beginnings of a grin. “ That is Deva, and although she is a pest, she is also my pet.” His smile grew wider as he saw Kate’s incredulous face.
    Kate couldn’t believe it. She didn’t bother hiding her disgust. “You keep a rat for a pet?”
    Tair laughed. He couldn’t help it. His shoulders shook and it was some time before he could choke out, “No.”
    Kate watched him laugh like a loon and wondered what kind of idiot person would keep a big ugly rat as a pet. Not her kind of person. Yuck . With an arched brow, she waited impatiently for an explanation.
    Tair brought his laughter under control finally. With sparkling eyes, he said, “Deva is not a rat. Deva is a sheka .”
    There were pet names and then there were pet names. Kate felt her temper engage and grow with astronomic speed. In clipped accents, she said, “As an endearment, you refer to me as a rat?!”
    Seeing the anger in her flashing eyes, Tair felt a tug of answering desire. She looked beautiful and deadly, but he supposed he should try to calm her. Crawling across the floor, he picked up Deva carefully and began stroking her stomach. With a quiet purr, Deva shapeshifted back into her natural form.
    Kate watched as Tair picked up the dead rat thing. Turning it over onto its back, he rubbed its stomach gently. The thing purred and then changed into a furry creature with sad brown eyes. It seemed to peer at her with hurt accusation.
    It looked kind of like a kitten only with the longer nose and floppy ears of a dog. It had large whiskers and a shiny brown coat that looked soft. She blinked, but the cat/dog was still there and the rat was nowhere in sight.