Pandora and the Baron

Do bear with me on this as I lost my editor and have been bouncing trying to find another one with no luck so if my grammar and such is off please bare with me but I promised you chapter 4 so here it is My thanks to 1sickbastard for his help with the first little bit of this chapter before he went poof on me and to my husband and family whose ears I bent when my brain decided to take a vacation on me.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter as I had loads of fun writing it and I am still working on writing out Chapter 5 so hopefully I will get it written up and then typed up very soon to be able to submit it.

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He shook his head unsure of what to do. He knew she was angry and hurt by the fact that he had lied to her. He was ready to throw his hands up and call it quits. Then again the cryptic message left by his mother kept coming back to haunt him. What was coming that had her so worried?

He turned on his heel and walked into the bath to find Pandora curled up crying. A soft sigh rolled off of his lips as he walked up to her. "Pandora, my dear I know you are upset with me."

He kept his voice soft and tempered. She whipped her head around to face him her eyes had changed to brilliant silver. He had never heard of something like this happening. Her voice came out broken and stressed, "You lied to me."

She sobbed and hiccuped, "You lied about what you were."

He understood why she was so upset over his deception. "Pandora, the deception was necessary," he told her gently.

She just growled and snarled at him. His shoulders rolled lightly as he eased some tension. "Why did you continue to lie to me?" she snapped.

He shook his head and growled because he didn't know what to tell her. It was more that he didn't know how much to tell her. Now this was defiantly a dilemma. Did he want to chance telling her that the Lady Caine was the one that had raised him?

He knew everything had to come out, especially if he wanted Pandora as his mate. "Pandora, I had hoped for time so we could get to know each other to tell you the truth. I didn't want to just dump everything into your lap."

He paused and took in a ragged breath. His breath escaped in the form of a stressed sigh. "I wanted things to go slow and easy for us. I didn't want to take the chance that I might lose you."

She listened as he spoke and knew that on some level he was right. On other levels he was completely off base. She knew from the change in his scent he was stressed or hiding something from her.

Did she really want to know if he was holding back information? She shook her head calmly as she watched Eric. Pandora remained curled up on the bench she wasn't sure if she wanted to know his story. She knew that in time it was all going to come out.

She was curious. How in the world he had masked his true scent? Pandora knew that soon she needed to tell him how she knew the Lord Caine. She took in a slow, deep breath as she looked at Eric. Her voice came out soft and whispered, "I think it's time we were honest with each other."

Eric looked at her and smiled, "Yes, my dear I think it is time for the truth to come out."

He walked over and sat down beside her. His hand curled around hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. He watched the silver begin to leave her eyes. They returned to that mystic green with small flecks of silver in them.

She looked down at his hand then back up at him, trying to figure out how much to reveal. She didn't want to tell him too much and risk pushing him away. This was her particular dilemma to figure out.

Eric, on the other hand, faced the same thing. How much of his past should he reveal? The one fact he was sure of was that he loved Pandora. He knew she was probably full of questions. He wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her that the Lady Caine had raised him.

They both looked into the others eyes to see flashes of discord. Pandora let out a soft chuckle at their current situation. "Sire, it seems we are both at odds with ourselves," she said calmly.

He smiled and shook his head, "So we are, my dear one. Now how do we resolve this?"

Her head canted to the side as she thought for a few moments. Then her head popped up as if a light had gone off in her head. "Sire, maybe we can take turns asking each other questions," she said brightly.

He thought about it some and there was kind of fuzzy logic to her idea. What could it hurt to let her ask him a few questions? He in turn could ask her a few questions. "Yes," he replied.

He paused a moment to take in a breath. "Being as the idea is yours I think you should ask the first question"

The smile that brightened her face gave him anxious butterflies in the pit of his stomach. She let out a joyous little cry and the blushed at her own outburst. "I'm sorry Sire, I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did."

He just laughed and gave her a dismissive wave with his free hand. She let out a very audible sigh. This gave him reason to let out a soft laugh. "I guess my first question, Sire, has to be. What is your name?"

She said slowly. He tipped his head calmly he saw no harm in her knowing his name. "My name is Eric LaForta, but you can call me Eric," he said with a bright smile.

She mulled over his name for a few seconds. "Thank you Eric. Now I believe it's your turn to ask me a question."

Her voice carried just a hint of a purr to it. He thought for a while about what he wanted to ask her. "I am curious, my sweet, as to what your full name is?"

"To be honest I don't know what my full name is. I don't even know if Pandora is my real name or one given to me by the pride."

He watched her eyes widen then narrow down as she spoke. This revelation took him by complete surprise. How did one not know their own name? There were a few possibilities and none of them were nice.

"We will get to the bottom of this my dear," he said gently.

Her mystic gaze widened at what he had said to her. She was shocked that he cared enough to want to help her. "Thank you very much, Eric," she said softly.

"I am curious as to how you are able to mask your scent with that of a vampire?"

Her voice sang with absolute curiosity. He couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips. His head shook swaying the long crimson locks against his back. "It is a simple spell that I was taught long ago. If you like, my dear, I can teach it to you."

Her smile was bright and joyful at the idea of being taught magic. The only magic she knew was that which allowed her to shift forms.

He saw the way her face lit up over his offer. It was doubtful that his mother would mind any. The sight of her happiness warmed his heart and soul.

"I am curious as to how you came to be on my land?"

The funny thing here is that his land was still with in the region ruled by the Caine family. He saw the slight tilt of her head as she though about his question. Then came the full on blush of pure unadulterated embarrassment.

"To be honest," she said in a whispered tone.

"I was out exploring and got lost in Darken Forest," she paused for a second then took a breath and continued.

"I wandered around for a while till I came across a trail. I followed the trail to your castle."

He thought about what she told him. His mind was frantically working to figure out what trail she used. The only trail he was able to come up with was the one he used for hunting. That trail went from his castle to the forest the straight to the Castle Caine. He nodded his head politely to her.

"I see you were brought here by sheer luck," he laughed.

"Then again the Fates may have had a hand in it."

She let out a soft musical laugh at the idea. To her the Fates were just a story. She believed that she alone controlled her destiny. She didn't know how wrong she was.

He loved the sound of her laughter. The way it made her face light up and her eyes sparkle. This all made his heart skip a beat. He knew she was the one he wanted for his mate. There had been a time when he had considered another for his mate.

He remembered the day the Lady Caine had introduced him to Fyre. She was a small slip of a girl who was a good head and shoulders shorter than him. He still remembered her eyes!

They were the purest shade of gold he had ever seen. Her hair was a bright and very vivid shade of red. She had a very timid personality that gave him pause.

He remembered being told about her position which was as a willing servant. He had seen the pride shine on her face. When she showed him the obsidian colored collar that encircled her neck.

He had known by the sweet earthy smell of her that she was similar to him. Her scent was a tantalizing mixture of earth and snow. It was later that he was told she was a snow leopard.

There was a shock for him to have a man come to him. This man was a little taller that himself. He had the same heart stopping good looks as the Lady Caine. The only difference lay in the eyes.

They held a kind of wildness to them. A wildness that could make even the strongest man think twice. This man he learned later was the brother to his teacher. This was the man that owned the beautiful Fyre. He was the one that held the heart of the enchanting snow leopard that Eric had started to fall for.

The Lord James Von Caine, better know to most as Wildcard. He warned Eric off of Fyre with a few well placed torture scenarios. Those mental images were enough to give Eric nightmares for a couple of months.

The sound of Pandora clearing her throat snapped his mind out of its wandering. He smiled as he said, "My apologies dear one my mind wandered off on me."

She just smiled and nodded her head to him. She was a tad bit curious as to where his mind had wandered off to. If she had seen his memories she would have been shocked.

Pandora had known Fyre they had played games out in the courtyard. A smile crept across her lips as she remembered the fun they had. They had chased each other around the courtyard playing tag.

She remembered their being a man and a woman watching her and Fyre. She hadn't known it was the Lady Caine and Eric. Nor had she known that the Lady Caine was showing her off to Eric.

Pandora looked over to Eric and saw a kind of wild strength in his eyes. She knew by the look he gave her that he would always protect her. Her head canted to one side a touch.

Her gaze roamed over his body hungrily. Somewhere in the recessed of her mind she knew Eric was her mate. She took in a deep breath to allow his scent to etch itself into her mind.

His scent was a tantalizing mixture of damp earth and the early morning mist. A scent she wasn't ever going to forget. It was forever burned into her mind.

With a sensual feline grace she rose up to her full height. Their fingers were still intertwined. She gave his hand a gentle tug.

He stood up with the tug, his body moved with that same feline grace. She loved the way his muscles rolled under taut skin. Her hand reached out to trace the lines of his chest. She was mesmerized by how warm and smooth his skin felt. She wanted to touch, taste, and explore.

He saw her hungry expression and knew that she needed to feel like she was in control. His body jumped at her every touch. His heart hammered in his chest like he had just run two miles.

He soft exploitative touches tore him apart and then rebuilt him. He didn't know how much longer he could control himself. He wanted to let her do this so she felt in control.

She heard him groan as she traced the fine lines on his chest. His groans encouraged her as she moved to nip at his shoulder. She grazed the sensitive spot at the juncture of his neck and shoulder with her teeth. His sharp breath was music to her ears.

She rested her teeth on the spot she meant to mark. His low thunderous growl told her his control was rapidly slipping. She matched his growl with one of her own as her teeth sank into his shoulder.

The coppery taste of his blood washed across her tongue. She let go of his shoulder and lapped up the last few traces of blood. "Mine," she growled in his ear.

He felt the sharp and sudden pain when she bit into him. The word she growled in his ear was all he needed to hear. His tentative control was almost completely lost with one word.

He grabbed her shoulders as he looked down to her. The look she gave him caused him to groan. It was a look filled with a defiant challenge.

She was doing what came natural to her. It was her right to challenge her mate. She had to make sure he was strong enough to protect her.

He knew what she was up to this was her way to test him. His grip on her tightened till he saw her wince in pain. He let a low growl rumble deep in his chest.

The pain she felt from his steely grip was nothing but an annoyance. She twisted her body with a sharp quickness to break his hold. Then she darted off her robe discarded on the run.

She leaped into the air in a single fluid motion as the shimmer over took her in mid-air. When the shimmer died the soft thud of padded feet came to him. She spun around to face him there was a deadly gleam in her eyes.

He casually shed his robe and shifted with the swiftness of a lightening strike. His silvery body was easily twice the size of hers. He watched her a moment or two as he considered his options.

Then he made his move as he jumped at her striking her ass with a paw. He saw her jump and run off. It was on as he shot off after her snapping his teeth at her.

Pandora was startled by the strike but this was her test could he catch her. She stretched her body out in the run as she headed for the bed chamber. This was fun to her because she loved to run.

She ran straight out to the bed chamber and slipped under the table. Eric was hot on her heels but he went over the table. She made a run for the door determined to make him work for her submission.

He saw where she was headed and decided to let her run inside the castle. She hit the door with her body and squeezed through a small crack. Eric took his time and pushed the doors open.

He strode through his pin point ears flickered easily to listen for her. His nose twitched as he caught a whiff of her. He trotted off in that general direction.

Ears flicked and a nose twitched as he skimmed the shadows in search of her. A muscular body moved as silent as death upon quick wings. He did have the advantage because this was his castle.

Pandora ran all out down the hall not really having a care where it lead her. She skidded to an abrupt halt when she came into the banquet room. This room was massive and expansive with several long tables and chairs.

Her ears swiveled back as her gaze darted around to find a place to hide. When she spotted the exposed rafters she jumped up on a table then up on a rafter. Her sleek body stretched out along it getting comfortable.

She watched and waited for Eric to follow her into this room. Eric stood at the entrance to the banquet room and saw her go up. He knew how to sneak up on her.

His body shifted as he crouched back and gathered his strength. Then in a liquid movement he made his jump. He landed with a predator's deadly silence.

Huge paws moved across the rafter quietly as he stalked his prey. He froze when her ears flipped back towards him. His body crept along till he struck out to knock her down.

Pandora let out a startled cry when she was knocked to the floor. Her body twisted and turned in air so she landed on her feet. She looked around puzzled about what had hit her.

Eric kept his body flattened down for now as he contemplated his next move. He stood up and let a cry of pure challenge echo off of obsidian walls. His body sprang off of the rafter to land right in front of Pandora.

Her head jerked back when he landed right in her face. Small pin point ears flattened back as her paw flashed out to strike at him. She meant business because her claws were out.

Eric shifted to one side but not quick enough her claws still caught his shoulder. He grunted at the pain but that wasn't about to stop him. His head lowered as he rushed her bowling her across the room.

This was his opportunity and he took full advantage of it. Eric leapt at her but she was quick. She rolled out of the way and back up to her feet.

They started to circle neither one showed any sign of weakness. Ears were flattened, powerful muscles rippled under sleek coats. Long tails lashed as claws clicked on a stone floor.

Eric and Pandora were locked on to each other and neither noticed the two figures that were leaned against a wall. Eric made his move as he swiped at her shoulder. He left marks as she hadn't been quick enough with her dodge.

He didn't give her any time to recover as he jumped on her back. His jaws clamped down on the back of her neck. He snarled into her neck to demand her submission.

The two figures stood as still as statues save for a female hand that moved to still the man. Two pair of eyes watched Eric and Pandora closely. Then fangs flashed in a pair of smiles as they disappeared.

Pandora struggled under Eric because she didn't want to make it seem easy. Eric used his front paws to push her down under him. He shifted his hindquarters to line his cock up.

She stilled herself when she felt his cock at her weeping slit. Her long tail flipped off to one side. She let out a soft whine as she shifted back towards him.

He snarled again and bit down on her neck harder to show her he was the alpha male. He felt her go completely still under him. It was only then as she showed her submission that he slammed into her.

She cried out as he buried his cock into her hole. Her body rocked as he hammered her wet tunnel. She moved with him as her shoulders rolled to balance herself.

Eric moved like a piston in and out of her there was no gentleness this time. This was purely animalistic it was a show of dominance. He grunted his pleasure into the back of her neck.

She cried out her pleasure as his cock claimed her and called her submission. She began to feel a tension build up low in her belly. Her body rocked with his even with the pain she felt.

He slowed his pace some as her tunnel began to quiver around his cock. She was trying to milk his cock for all it could give her. He bit down hard as he shot load after load of hot ropey cum into her. The coppery taste of her blood sent him sailing.

She screamed out when he bit down on her neck. All she felt was the intense pleasure as he pumped all his cum into her till she was completely full. Then she felt something wonderfully odd as his barb extended to lock him inside of her. She felt that earlier tension shatter and tickle every inch of her skin.

He let go of her neck and licked the wounds he had made. Now she was covered with his scent and carried his mark. She was his and no other male was going to touch her.

Slowly his barb receded which made her shiver with pleasure. When he pulled himself out of her there was a wet pop as some of his seed spilled out down her back legs. He slid off of her and moved to stand beside her.

Both heads snapped up as twin snarls rang out. Muscles tensed up as hackles rose. Both showed pure aggression over an unfamiliar scent.

Gazes locked onto a tall male figure dressed in light armor. His long flowing hair was a platinum blond color. He had fair skin and soul piercing blue eyes. The man was tall and whip cord lean. He moved with a warrior's boldness.

A long sword rested against his hip. He strided towards Pandora and Eric with the utmost confidence. The long blood red cloak he wore flutter out behind him.

The emblem on his armor was twin dragons holding the Caine family seal. They both knew the rose and dagger belonged to the Caine family. It went with out words that this man carried that emblem.