Slave (33 page)

“Ha, ha, ha!” I said grimly. “Very funny!”

“He will recover,” she assured me, “but it will not happen overnight. Stay close to him and eat well to regain your own health; he will regain his strength from contact with you, as well as your presence nearby.”

Which, of course, I had no problem doing whatsoever.

If only doctor’s orders were always so easy to follow! I’d once had a doctor on Resulus tell me that standing on my head three times a day would help my stiff neck after I’d gotten into a fight with a drunken little shithead who thought I’d overcharged him for some engine parts. I told him he could sit on it and spin—well, actually, I told both of them the same thing since I thought it sounded a little nicer than telling them they ought to go fuck themselves.

I found it odd that they didn’t view my consideration for them in quite the same light; one of them punched me and the other just gave me a shot of pain-killer and booted me out of his office. Fuckin’ assholes! I didn’t stay too long on Resulus anyway. The air was unhealthy and the people were all a bunch of whiny little shits.

I remember lying in that soft, warm bed one morning with Cat and, though I’d been dozing, I was wide awake the moment he started purring. I had massaged him with Marludian oil for perhaps an hour
or so and had finally grown too tired to continue. He smelled nice after I’d finished, though, and my mind began to drift from the scent of it. I wondered if his scars would fade if I used enough of it on him—which reminded me of a line I’d heard once: “
Pain heals,
chicks dig scars, but glory lasts forever.
”

I couldn’t remember the name of the old movie that one was from, but I know it was about football players.

The game is still played nowadays, of course, but the football isn’t just a ball anymore. It’s a droid and has a mind of its own—a nasty, tricky little mind, too! I played football when I was in school, and one time the damned ball tackled me! I got out of sports after that, preferring more lucrative pastimes.

Yes, I’ll admit it: I’m the one who sold the extra cookies I asked Mom to put in my lunch, rather than giving them away to my friends—but I charged the going rate, so you really couldn’t call me a swindler. It wasn’t my fault that the going rate for my mother’s chocolate chip-macadamia nut-marshmallow cookies was slightly inflated; I mean, she made some truly awesome cookies! I was
very
popular!

But I’d never been loved—at least not in the way that my Cat loved me. I knew from the moment I heard him purr that he would be okay and that he didn’t hold it against me for not getting to him before the Nedwuts nearly killed him. I thought I might have been a little pissed, if I’d been in his place, but I wouldn’t have cared if he’d awakened and been mad at me for the rest of my life—well, maybe I would have cared a
little
bit! On the other hand, I
was
bonded to him, and he’d simply have
to learn to put up with me. I sighed deeply and snuggled up a little closer to him.

“Mm-m, Kittycat,” I murmured. “I’m feeling very laetralant this morning. How about you?”

I didn’t really expect an answer, but I got one, anyway. “Yes, Jacinth,” Cat replied. “Very laetralant! I could lie here and let you do that to me all day.”

“Do what?”

“Mm-m,” he purred. “Your hands on my body. It was very…intoxicating.”

Obviously he’d been playing possum for quite a while. The purring gave him away, though. “That massage oil is pretty good stuff, isn’t it? I’ve sold cases and cases of it anywhere I’ve gone. I haven’t met a species yet that didn’t think it was wonderful—even the hairier ones like it.”

“I am not speaking of the oil,” Cat said. “I am referring to your hands. They are what intoxicate me, not the oil.”

“What a nice thing to say!” I exclaimed. “But I’ll bet it’s really because of the oil. You weren’t purring before I started using that!”

“I can see that you are still very stubborn,” he said.

“And very odd.”

“But you like odd, don’t you?” I asked anxiously. “I mean, you
did
say that once.”

“Yes, I like odd,” he agreed. “
Your
kind of odd.” He rolled over to face me and stretched, yawning hugely and displaying all of those sharp fangs of his. “I feel very well now. I believe I could get out of bed.”

I sighed again. “Yes, but do you
want
to get out of bed? Really?” I was pretty comfortable myself. All I had
to do was get up to go to the potty now and then—everything else was done for me. I’d never been so pampered in all my life!

“No,” he replied truthfully. “I do not. I wish to lie here and mate with you all day and all night, my lovely one.”

“I’m not sure you’re quite up to that yet,” I said firmly.

“I mean, you almost died and have been unconscious for a couple of days, Cat! I really think you should rest now.”

“But I
have
rested,” he growled. “Now I wish to mate.”

I just love it when he says things like that! “You big, sweet-talking Kittycat! C’mere and kiss your master!

She’s been very lonely without you, and should probably tie you up to make sure you never run off like that again.”

“If you wish,” Cat purred, “I will remain chained to you forever.”

“I wish,” I replied, looking up into his eyes. What I saw there made me gasp. “Cat!” I exclaimed. “Your eyes have turned blue! Well, the pupils have, anyway. They have a blue glow now instead of gold.”

“And your eyes are red,” he said as he studied my own eyes. “We have both changed, have we not?”

I nodded. “I guess our kittens will end up having purple eyes then,” I said thoughtfully. “You know: if you mix red and blue, you get purple?”

“Kittens?”

“Oh, you know!” I said impatiently. “Baby cats! On Earth, we call them kittens.”

“Jacinth!” he demanded sharply. “Are you telling me that you are having kittens?”

I giggled helplessly. “No, but Tudrock tells me that we will be able to—someday. She says it’s my responsibility to have as many kittens as possible so that your bloodline is not lost.”

“And who is Tudrock?” he inquired.

“Your doctor,” I replied. “She’s the reason your eyes are blue, and also the reason you’re still alive. Boy, have I got a lot to tell you! A lot of strange things have happened since you wandered off and got lost.”

“I did not wander off and get lost!” Cat protested in something of a huff. “I was stunned and taken prisoner by Nedwuts.”

“Yeah, well, it was your own damn fault
that
happened!” I informed him. “Did you know that killing Nedwuts isn’t a crime here? They’re dead meat once they set foot on the planet! If you’d just killed all of them when we first saw them, we wouldn’t have gotten into such a fix, and then I wouldn’t have had to go and bump off the rest of them!”

“You did that?” he asked gently. “I would not have believed you capable of such a thing.”

“What?” I squeaked. “Because I’m a girl? Listen, I’ve had to kill before, Cat! This wasn’t the first time, but I hope it’s the last.” I paused for a moment. “I killed them because of what they did to you, Cat. I thought you were dead—or at least dying.”

“But I
am
dying, my lovely master,” he whispered softly, reaching out to stroke my arm. “I am dying for your touch and your kiss. I have been denied for far too long.”

“Too long?” I exclaimed. “Gee whiz, Cat! It’s only been, what, two or three days? And before that it was how many years?”
“But I am yours now,” he reminded me. “I must have you often.”

“And just how often is often?” I asked cautiously.

His upswept brows lifted and his pupils dilated with a blue glow. “Now and as many times as I can before the sun rises again.”

I tried real hard to look serious, but I’m not sure I was very successful. “Cat, we’re gonna have to lay some ground rules here; we can’t be mating all the time!

I mean, we’ll never get anywhere or get anything done, and besides that, who will take care of the kittens?”

“We will get a—what do you call someone who cares for children?”

“A nanny?” I suggested. “Or a babysitter, or—how about a cat-sitter?”

“Yes, a nanny,” he said, eyeing me in a rather irritated fashion. I don’t think he appreciated the “cat-sitter”

remark. “If we are to have many children, then we must mate often.”

“Oh, so that’s how you’ll justify it! Gee,” I said morosely. “I can hardly
wait
to be pregnant all the time!

You know, I’m not so sure I would like that. Maybe we could, um, loan some semen to some other women who’d like to have kittens, too. I know some ladies who apparently trade semen around the way most neighbors trade recipes.”

“Oh, and where is that?” Cat inquired.

“I promised not to tell, but if you’ll just give me some, I’ll be sure it gets to the right people.”

Of course, I wasn’t entirely sure that the locals would want to introduce Cat’s genes into the pool—though he
only
looked
fierce; he was really just a big pussycat after all. It might also be difficult to explain to a flat-nosed, round-eared, and flat-toothed man why his children all came out looking feline. Then again, these Statzeelian males apparently weren’t all that bright: after all, the women had convinced them that they needed to interbreed with Terrans. I wasn’t sure just how they would convince the guys to let their women bear Cat’s children, but they were a pretty resourceful bunch, and I was pretty sure they’d think of something. On the other hand, if it were to get out that Cat’s coronal fluid could cause repeated orgasms, the women would possibly decide that it was worth the risk, whether the males approved or not.

We’d have to be sure to include a good-sized dose of that along with the semen, I decided—though snard packed a pretty healthy wallop all by itself! I would have to consult Tudrock about the possibilities. Maybe they could cross Cat with those Amazon SWAT team members—now
they
would have some seriously nice kittens! Cat, however, had a one-track mind when it came to mating.

“Oh, I will give you some snard,” he promised. “I will give you as much as I can. Beginning right now.”

I guess it was my own damn fault for teasing him for so long, but I thought it best not to spoil him too much—

after all, I couldn’t have him getting as ornery as the Statzeelians! Anyway, when he pulled me up against him I bumped into a very hard, very wet, very aroused Cat cock. “You weren’t kidding, were you?”

“No, I never kid about such things,” he purred. “When I say I want to mate with you all day and all night, that is exactly what I mean.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to eat something first?” I suggested helpfully. “I know I’m supposed to have provided strength for you while you were sleeping, but I’m sure that eating a good hearty breakfast would be much better for you.”

“I do not want to eat,” Cat reminded me. “If I had wanted to eat, I would have asked for food.”

“Always say what you mean, don’t you?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Do you not wish to mate with me?”

“Well, I don’t know,” I muttered. “I just haven’t felt like it lately.” I was lying through my teeth, of course, but for some reason I felt like teasing him a little—just to see what he’d do.

“Then you must lick me and taste me to increase your desire,” he said, pushing my head down to his cock.

“Lick me, my lovely master, and I will bring you joy unlike any you have ever known.”

“Now where have I heard
that
before?” I wondered aloud.

“Sh-h,” he whispered. “We have talked enough.

Lick me.”

His cockhead was thick and hard and oozing buckets of coronal fluid. How could I possibly resist it? Well, I couldn’t because I’d been thinking about it the whole time I’d been giving him that massage, just hoping that he’d wake up in an amorous mood. I didn’t stall any longer, but lapped up his sweet syrup and waited for it to take effect.

I wondered if it would be any different considering all that had happened to us since the last time, but it still worked—possibly even better, for the orgasm was slower to build, before blossoming into full-blown ecstasy.
“Good?” he purred.

I couldn’t answer him for a moment—being in a total body spasm sort of limits your ability to speak. “Yes,” I gasped. “Very good. I think I’m ready for you now. In fact, I’ve been ready for hours.”

“You have been toying with me,” he accused, directing a glowering look in my general direction. “You will pay for that.”

“Whatcha gonna do, Cat?” I taunted him. “Fuck me to death?”

“No,” he replied. “I will only do it until you are helpless and speechless and fall asleep in my arms.”

“Ooo, sounds nice!” I said with heartfelt approval.

“Go for it, Cat! Knock me out.”

And he did. He rolled me over and slid that big, ruffled cock inside me and began stroking my slick tunnel with his intoxicating penis. I must say that for someone so recently near death, he showed surprising stamina; he didn’t stop for a very long time, getting into a steady rhythm that sent my mind and body into orbit. When he finally came with a deep, throaty growl, I was truly helpless and speechless, and I did fall asleep—just about the time Alanna came in with lunch. I told Cat to eat for both of us while I drifted off. Damn! I sure do love my big, purring, beautiful, lovable—and
extremely
fuckable Cat!

Slave 221107.qxd 1/30/08 4:36 PM Page 308

WE STAYED WITH RANATA FOR A FEW WEEKS, AND

during that time I discovered that perhaps I could get used to the quiet, domestic life after all. I did grumble a bit about all the trouble I’d gone to finding Ranata when I could have been doing something much more construc-tive—especially seeing as how I’d spent the past six years chasing her across the galaxy only to find her happy as a clam with a bun in the oven. I had to explain that statement to Cat, of course—he got quite a kick out of the bun in the oven thing, but he never did get the part about why a clam would be so happy, although the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that people only thought they were happy because their shells were sort of curved like a smile. But all in all, I had to admit that the past six years hadn’t been a total waste. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t have found Cat if I’d stayed closer to home, so I didn’t fuss too much about it.