Free A Price for a Princess by R.E. Butler Page A

Perseus said.
    I drifted away again, peace settling over me.
    When I woke the next time, it was to a purring vibration against my back.  I opened my eyes and found Perseus laying in front of me, a relieved look on his face.
    With a quick kiss he said, "Thank the great horse you're awake!"
    My mouth was dry, but I managed, "What happened?"
    The purring stopped suddenly and I rolled to my back and found myself looking into the eyes of a very handsome golden furred cat-man.  A Leonemen.  My heart stopped beating for a moment and I reached blindly for his hands and looked at them.  "Oh, it's you!"  I laughed, tears springing to my eyes and I hugged him tightly as he chuckled in my ear, a purring sweet sound.
    "In the fur."
    I looked at Perseus who was smiling at me.  "He saved you, sweetheart.  If he hadn't been right there, you could have slipped into a permanent sleep."
    "Tell me your name," I pulled one of his fur topped hands to my cheek and he smiled.
    "Ekho.  When I stopped having the mate-dreams, I was afraid it meant you'd died.  Perseus said he thought you stopped having them because you'd found him already."
    "So tell me what happened!"  I demanded and they both smiled.
    Ekho said, "Ananda was cleaning a poison dart fish when she saw you snag Bartholomew by the tail.  She thought you were going to hurt him, she didn't realize he had stolen your bracelet.  When she tried to pull you away from him, her claws broke through the skin and the poison on her fingertips got into your system.  I sucked most of the poison out.  There's a healing essence in our tongues, and that helped to ease the pain.  You've been asleep for a day."
    I looked over at my right shoulder and found a bandage.  It was then I realized I was naked.  I blushed hard and wished there was a blanket handy.
    Sensing my sudden shyness, Ekho pulled a blanket around from the bottom of the bed and covered me up.  "You were feverish for a good part of the healing sleep, sweet.  I promise I didn't look.  Too much."
    I laughed, my blush easing.  He was my second mate, after all.  I would have just liked to be conscious for the introduction.
    "Is Bartholomew okay?"  I remembered pulling on his tail pretty hard.
    "Of course.  He's very sorry.  Unfortunately, before their father died and left them orphans, he taught him that stealing was a good way to support the family instead of working hard.  I'm trying to teach him better manners, but its slow going."
    I told them both how antsy I'd been feeling since we'd arrived in the town, and how relieved I felt now to not only be awake and not in a coma from poison but to have found both of my mates.
    Ekho moved to Netic Springs six months ago, escaping a prearranged mating his mother wanted for him.  He had already had the mate-dreams with me, so he knew that mating with another wasn't going to work for him, but his mother thought she knew best and would not take no for an answer.  Instead of continuing to fight with her, he left and headed south, hoping to meet me along the way.  He met up with a few Leonemen in town and decided to stick around and hope that I eventually crossed his path or he was drawn to go somewhere else to find me.
    Golden brown hair slightly darker than his fur color dusted his shoulders.  His eyes were bright green like spring grass with narrow pupils like a cat.  His nose was slightly flat and his lips were plump, and when he smiled my insides went melty.  I wasn't sure how tall he was, but he was lean and muscular, and the golden lion-like fur dusted his cheek bones, ran down his neck and across his shoulders and arms, and down either side of his body.  His muscular chest was completely bare of hair and the lower half of his body was covered with light colored trousers, obscuring my view.  The fur was short and soft like velvet.
    He drew his knuckle across the back of my cheek.  "You're so beautiful.  How'd we get so lucky?"
    I really felt blessed myself to find