The Prisoner's Release and Other Stories (18 page)

The bobcat stared back, then he threw back his head and roared with laughter. “A cougar prostitute! Oh, Mikka, you do know where to find them. All right, all right, I’m not mad any more. Go ahead, tell me what’s really going on.” Still chuckling, he looked back and forth between them.

The grey fox watched Jonas with a half-smile. “It’s true,” he said. “Jonas is trying to go into business for himself. I’m just helping him out.”

“
You’re joking. No, I guess not. You know, it was only a matter of time with you. You going to support him all by yourself?”

“
I’m going to help him find customers.”

“
There aren’t that many gay merchants or tradesfolk, but I daresay you know them all. What?”

Mikka had tilted his muzzle and was smiling at Xaric. “Oh, I don’t think they’d have to be gay.”

“
He is male, isn’t he?”

“
Very much so. But wouldn’t you like to get a blow job from a noble?”

Xaric blinked and looked at Jonas. Jonas smiled back and then licked his lips for effect. By telling himself that he wanted to bring in the bobcat as a customer, he overcame a good deal of the unease he normally felt while talking in public about his trade. He had always been good at showing off at the Jackal’s Staff; he just had to find that mindset again.

The bobcat wrenched his eyes away and back to Mikka. “But he’s not a noble.”

“
You didn’t know that, and didn’t believe me when I told you,” the fox purred. “It wouldn’t be so hard for you to pretend, would it?”

Xaric looked back at Jonas. “Aye,” he said. “The times I’ve had to abase myself…I’d pay money for that!”

Mikka grinned, showing teeth. “I’ll hold you to that.” He patted Jonas’s paw. “And he’s so good you’ll come back.”

“
We’ll see about that. I do have a lovely wife.”

“
Mmm, but is she adept at all the pleasures you enjoy?”

Xaric growled. “Our business relationship does not give you leave to pry into my private affairs. I have a lovely wife who has given me two fine kits.” But his eyes were reluctant to leave Jonas.

“
My apologies.” Mikka bowed. “I overstepped my bounds.”

“
It’s all right.” Xaric waved a paw. “Just leave my wife out of this.”

“
Of course. Your clothes are by the door. Will there be anything else?”

The bobcat hesitated, then shook his head. “No. No.”

“
I’ll be sure to let you know where Jonas sets up his business,” Mikka called as Xaric walked back to the clothes rack. The bobcat acknowledged him with a wave, took his clothes, and left.

“
Thinking about it so much he didn’t even bother to say good-bye.” Mikka rubbed his paws together and patted Jonas on the back. “We’re going to make a
lot
of money.”

Chapter 10

Mikka slept in a bed above the workshop, and that night he invited Jonas to stay in the bed while he slept on the floor. Wary of the arrangement, Jonas offered to sleep in the workshop, but Mikka pointed out that the fire was out and it would be a very chilly night. Normally, Jonas wouldn’t worry about the chill, but he’d spent the last two nights in the cold, and he eventually gave in to the promise of a warm stove to curl up near.

Despite the clean beddings, the room still smelled strongly of fox. Jonas waved off Mikka’s apologies with a smile. The bed was a little small, but no smaller than his bed at Alexan’s had been, and by now Jonas was used to his feet hanging over the edge.

Mikka had made a bed of blankets for himself on the floor, and sat there with his back against the wall while Jonas got comfortable. They’d both removed their clothes; at first, Jonas had stopped at the pants, until he realized that the fabric might be damaged if he slept in them. And then he felt silly in his underthings while Mikka was naked, telling himself that they’d seen each other many times already. Now, safe under the blanket, he curled his tail over his legs comfortably and leaned on his side, facing the fox and the stove. The warmth made his whiskers twitch and his eyelids heavy.

“
I don’t have time to go with you tomorrow,” the fox said, “but I’ll give you directions to three landlords I know. One of them will probably rent you a room to do business in.”

“
I have to tell them what I’m doing?”

“
Uh-huh. If you don’t, you could be kicked out when they find out. And they will find out.”

“
Oh.”

“
They’ll probably want a cut. Don’t give them any more than a copper per silver. If you can make it a fixed amount per month, something like one gold will be a good price, I think. They’ll probably want a couple gold a month in rent, but you should be okay.”

Jonas had the feeling that Mikka was talking about an awful lot of money, but when he tried to figure out how much would be left for him in a month, he got lost in the figures, so he just said, “Mmm.”

After a period of silence, Jonas slid into a half-dream of Mikka presenting him with a shirt woven of gold. He thought it would be heavy, but it turned out to be as light as silk. “Jonas,” Mikka said.

“
Hmm?” The vision of the shirt faded slowly.

“
What do you want? From this, I mean.”

Jonas opened his eyes. The fox’s were shining back at him. “To start a business.”

“
I know, but…why?”

“
Because I can’t do anything else.”

“
All right, but…there must be something you want, really
want
. Like…when I started making clothes, I wanted my clothes to be worn by the king. I still hope that someday I’ll see him wearing a shirt that I made, with my own paws. That would be the best day of my life.” He sighed, and Jonas didn’t need light to see the broad smile. “Is there anything like that for you?”

“
I suppose,” Jonas said doubtfully, “it’d be nice to have the king as a customer.”

Mikka laughed, a full belly laugh that trailed off into a series of chuckles. “If that happens, I insist you give him the shirt I gave you. Then come right here and tell me
all
about it. And that will be the second best day of my life.”

Jonas grinned. “Okay.”

“
But that’s not really what I meant.”

“
I know.” Jonas sighed. “I don’t know what I want. I just want to stay alive and have some sort of control over my life.”

“
Well, that’s a start. Do you want a mate?”

“
No.” Not any more.

“
Sorry. I know it’s soon. But you can still want that, even if Alexan wasn’t the right one.”

“
No.” He didn’t deserve a mate, or even friends like Benton and Mikka. He thought about the people he’d betrayed and squeezed his eyes shut. His tail arched up against the blanket, then settled down again.

The room stayed silent. He could hear Mikka’s breathing, and the regular sound in the warmth and darkness eased the tension of remembering his past. “Maybe,” he said into the dark, eyes still shut, “I just want to be the sort of person who could have a mate.”

“
Why couldn’t you?” Mikka said softly.

Jonas thought about how to answer that question without confessing his failures. Sasha danced in front of him, and Alexan, and Pike, and the fox whose name he didn’t know.
Because I can’t be trusted
, he thought, but he couldn’t make his mouth say the words.
Because I’m better off on my own. Because I don’t want anyone to have that power over me.
The ruminations faded away into the blackness of sleep.

He woke into darkness some time later. The short bed and the smell of fox confused him for the span of several heartbeats into thinking that he was back at Alexan’s, and the soft breathing he heard was the red fox’s. They must have brought him back to life, he thought nonsensically, and as he came more awake, he remembered where he was and who was in the room with him.

He was lying on his stomach, his erection pressed into the bedding. He shifted a bit, purring at the sensations, and wondered what kind of dream he’d been having. Slowly, he eased onto his side and slid a paw down his belly, brushing his length. He shouldn’t do more, he knew, not with Mikka right there; if the fox didn’t wake, he’d certainly smell it in the morning. But his paw kept moving. He could curl up and take himself in the muzzle, he decided.

He peered down at the floor to make sure Mikka was asleep, and saw that the grey fox had lost part of his blanket during the night. Like Jonas, the fox was fully erect, though he was lying on his back, so Jonas could see his sheath and the long taut length protruding from it very clearly. Lust and indecision seized him. “Mikka,” he whispered. If the fox were asleep, and stayed asleep, Jonas could proceed with his original plan.

Mikka didn’t move. Jonas watched him while his mind raced through fantasies of sneaking over and taking the sleeping fox’s member into his muzzle. He dismissed those and bent his body around, sliding his erection between his lips. He closed his eyes as he licked with his tongue, body shivering in response, and he let out a low, inadvertent moan.

A rustling from the floor answered him. Slowly, he slid his muzzle back and turned. Mikka was now lying on his side, facing away from Jonas.

“
Mikka?” Jonas whispered again.

“
I’m not looking,” came the soft response.

When Jonas thought about it, the decision wasn’t all that hard, really. He was aroused, and lonely, and there was a familiar partner three feet away. Still, it took him nearly a full minute to get up the nerve to whisper back, “I’m not in business yet.”

The grey fox turned over, his eyes gleaming in the darkness. Jonas could see the duller gleam of his member’s skin against the white of his belly’s fur. Jonas slid back, making room on the bed.

“
Are you sure?” Mikka whispered.

Jonas nodded, then said, “Yes,” not sure if the fox could see him in the darkness. But Mikka apparently could see very well, because he was moving to the bed before Jonas got the word out.

They squeezed together on the small bed. Jonas hadn’t expected Mikka to evoke any memories of Alexan
(and how his eyes had looked when…
), but he had a short burst of panic as the fox slid into the bed, remembering his dream. Fortunately, the only memories the grey fox brought to his mind were of the times Jonas had serviced him. He put his arms around Mikka, a gesture he’d never really felt confident doing in the past; nor did he now, but his arms moved almost automatically when the fox pressed against him. He expected Mikka to tell him what to do next, but Mikka’s arms slid around him and the fox snuggled closer without a word.

Jonas felt the fox’s erection press into his stomach, and he rubbed gently back and forth against it. Mikka shivered, his thighs rubbing against Jonas’s erection in return. The sensations were pleasant, but not intense, and Mikka seemed as content as Jonas to go on rubbing for some time, their paws sliding gently through each other’s fur.

Finally, Jonas nuzzled the fox’s ear and said, “What do you want me to do?”

Mikka rubbed his muzzle into Jonas’s chest and murmured, “Save that for the paying customers. Let’s do what you want for a change.”

Jonas thought about that while his paws searched out Mikka’s tail. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, except to finish, and his instincts pushed him to make sure Mikka was happy. And he knew very well what would make Mikka happy.

With one paw, he probed under the fox’s tail. “I’d like to be in there again,” he breathed into the fox’s ear.

Mikka let out a low moan and pressed against him. “Okay,” he panted. “You talked me into it.”

Jonas smiled, nuzzling the fox’s ear and sliding his paw around a little more. He enjoyed the way his touch made the fox squirm against him, so he kept playing until Mikka gasped and whimpered, and rolled over with some effort, pressing his rump against Jonas’s erection. Jonas pulled Mikka against his chest and mouthed his ear, stroking the fox’s fur down his chest and stomach. Mikka wriggled against him, rubbing his paws down the insides of Jonas’s legs and trying to wag his tail against the cougar’s belly.

He’d often been in this situation with some of his clients, when they approached him submissively, and once he’d gotten over the fact that it was the more aggressive Mikka beside him, he felt much more at ease. He switched arms, working the lower arm out from under the fox and groping around the bed. The strongest scent in the room was fox, but beneath it he could smell the linens, the straw of the bedding, and the scent of an oil which he knew he was going to need in about a minute. And if he knew Mikka at all, he knew the fox would have it within arm’s reach of the bed.