Title: Marked

Author: Solarbaby

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

Words: 1286

Summary: Lily notices something on Casey's neck.

Spoilers: None, but set before Ghost of a Chance.

Notes: This is pretty much set before any of the Rasey's fics I've written yet. This is where both Lily and Theo find out. Not much Theo.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Hey, Casey, what's that?"

Casey turned, setting the dough down, and gave Lily a curious look. "What?"

She leaned over and brushed her fingers over the collar of his shirt, tugging at it a little. "Is that a…" Her eyes went wide as he pulled back. "Is that a hickey?"

"What?!" The tiger grabbed a knife off the kitchen's counter and held it up. It took a few minutes but he found out what exactly she had been looking at. Sure enough, there was a dark mark on his neck, right above his collar. "I'm going to kill him." He growled under his breath, slamming it down on the table.

Lily sent him a questioning look. "What did you say?"

He just shook his head and tried futilely to pull the green shirt up enough to cover it. "It's nothing."

"Oh, no, it's not nothing. So who's the lucky girl?" Her eyes danced with mirth and he wondered for a moment if she was just messing with him.

But he shook off the though immediately. There was no way she could know who had given him the mark. He just shrugged.

Sensing she wasn't going to get anymore from her friend, Lily pushed it from her mind.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Lily had almost forgotten about the hickey, to be honest. With an attack later on that day and a peeved Fran (they had abandoned her during the lunch rush) when they returned, she was 

officially exhausted. So the last thing she had expected to find when she entered the loft's bathroom was Casey going through her make-up on the counter. He muttered something she couldn't make out. She cleared her throat and watched in amusement as he jerked back with a guilty look. "Looking for something?"

His face turned as red as his shirt. This was what he was trying to avoid. "Actually, I need your help."

She couldn't help but grin at the earnest expression on his face. "So you decided to go through my make-up?"

If it was at all possible, his face turned even redder. "I was trying to find something to cover this up." He pulled at his collar and pointed at the mark. Casey watched as she shook her head and pulled a small bottle from one of the drawers.

"Come here." She opened the bottle and dabbed some of the liquid on to her fingers. He jumped a little as they moved over his neck. Lily pushed the collar aside a little more, the mark almost completely gone. Something caught her attention and pulled the collar some more. Suddenly, he pulled back from her grip.

"Okay, you're done." He ignored the odd look on her face and turned to the mirror. Casey frowned, tilting his head. It was like the hickey wasn't even there. "Woah." A particular look crossed his face as he turned back to look at the cheetah. "What do you really look like?"

Lily let out a laugh and gave one of his cheeks a pat. "You will never know." She gave him a push toward the door. "Now out." The smile fell from her face as he left the bathroom.

Were those teeth marks on his neck?

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Are you sure, Lil?" Theo asked his friend.

She nodded, running a hand through her hair. The rest of JKP was silent, having closed for the night so it was only the two of them.

He sat down beside her in the booth, a thoughtful look on his face. "But… marked?"

"Those were definitely teeth marks." Lily confirmed. "And it wasn't either of us who marked him," She glanced over at him. "Right?"

"Hum?" Theo saw her look and feverishly shook his head. "Oh, hell no."

"Then there's only one other person it could be."

"You don't think…" Theo sighed at Lily's nod. "RJ?"

She smiled. "Can you think of anyone else?" It did help make sense of somethings, now that she thought about it. Like why RJ had been so freaked out at the thought of Casey getting a new master.

The two elapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Casey hissed as RJ's fingers brushed the concealed hickey on his neck. He tilted his head as they made their way to the back of his head, threading through his hair.

His mate gave him a puzzled look as he brought his hand back down to the neck. He rubbed a little harder over the hidden mark, watching as it reappeared. Pulling his hand back, RJ gazed at his fingers. "Is that… make-up?"

The tiger gave a groan and let his head drop onto the wolf master's shoulder. "I blame it on you." His words were muffled.

"You have make-up on your neck and you blame it on me?" RJ raised an eyebrow at Casey as he pulled back.

Casey sent him a glare, crossing his arms. "I was attempting to cover that hickey you gave me." RJ sent him an amused look. "I had to have Lily help me."

The amused look turned to outright laughing. It turned into a yelp as Casey gave him a shove that sent him sprawling onto his bed. RJ sent his tiger a dirty glance that was rewarded with a smirk.

"There's no way I could hide this," He pointed to the mark, "short of wearing a turtleneck. And considering it's the dead of summer in California, that wasn't an option." Casey eyed the wolf master as he got up and approached him. A hand was placed on his neck and prompted him incline his head once again. He glanced up at his mate, rolling his eyes when he realized RJ looked kinda… proud and self-satisfied.

Figures.

RJ grinned and nipped at the spot, feeling satisfied when it was returned with a shudder. He let a hand slid up under the green shirt as he captured the cub's lips in a bruising kiss. One of Casey's hands slid into his hair and tightened its grip.

There was a sound of a throat being cleared.

Casey jumped back, eyes wide. In the doorway, Lily and Theo were watching the two with strange expressions. Well, Lily was staring at them, but Theo seemed more intent on staring at his feet. Both of them looked as red as a tomato.

RJ glanced to his mate. Casey, himself, wasn't looking much better.

Lily took a deep breath and entered the room. "Something you want to tell us?"

"Like what?" RJ assumed an innocent expression, as if he hadn't been plastered against Casey mere moments before. She didn't believe it for a moment.

The cheetah just stepped forward and grabbed Casey's collar, startling him. With one single tug, the teeth marks were as clear as day.

The wolf master grinned. "Oh, that. Why didn't you just say so?" The look Lily gave him could have frozen Dai Shi in his tracks. He sighed and tugged at his own collar.

There was a matching set of teeth marks on the wolf master's own shoulder.

"Oh." She turned back to the doorway where Theo was watching the exchange with something akin to panic. "Um, we should probably… you know… go then." Lily grabbed the jaguar, who looked like he wanted to say something. "Not a word." She muttered.

"That could have gone better."

"And it could have gone worse." RJ placed a hand on his tiger's shoulder. "Just wait till tomorrow."

Casey flinched at the thought of the conversation that was inevitably coming in the morning. The hand left his shoulder and slid down his back before disappearing completely.

RJ snagged a kiss before he went to shut the door.

And this time he locked it.