Finding Trix (Felines of Furyne Book 3)

by L. M. Brown

  The canine from the port arrived right on time. He gave no acknowledgement of his presence. He ordered a drink and went to sit at a table on his own. Farron waited a minute before joining him.

  “You have what I need?” Farron asked.

  “Five hundred credits.”

  The price was steep, but Farron would pay whatever was needed. He reminded himself that five hundred credits was the price Trix charged to fuck his arse. “Agreed.” He took the details from the canine and transferred the credits. Maybe he was being too trusting, but he didn’t have time to barter and stall.

  “Falcair,” the canine said. “Should be arriving there some time in the next few days.”

  “Damn. That’s a long way.”

  “Yes. It’s about five or six weeks each way. So you have plenty of time before he gets here.”

  Farron did some quick calculations and realised that Trix would be four and a half months pregnant before Delta even made it back, and that wasn’t taking into account that they had no idea where to go to try to find him when Delta did return. If he was going to be stuck here waiting for Delta he was going to have to make good use of his time and figure out where they went from here.

  “And you definitely can’t tell me which port he’ll be coming to?” Farron asked.

  “Your best option is for me to send him a message through the Canine Port Authority private messaging system and ask him to come here. Assuming he’ll want to see you, of course. If you’re a creditor trying to track him down, you might find advance warning of your presence won’t get you very far.”

  “I’m not a creditor, and I think he’ll want to see me. Can you send him a message?”

  The canine loaded up his holo-projector. “What do you want it to say?”

  Farron provided him with his personal details and his ID code for any response. “Tell him that Farron is waiting here and I need his help to find Trix. Make sure to tell him that it’s urgent.”

  “It’s done. And may I say it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

  Farron gave the canine a small nod. Now he just had to wait, and try to come up with a plan.

  Chapter Eight

  Delta supposed travelling with Gray wasn’t so bad. At least it wasn’t once Gray accepted that he was never going to get into Delta’s bed and stopped dropping hints about it.

  Gray wasn’t a bad co-pilot either. It took him a while to get used to the controls, but once he had picked up the basics, he was able to give Delta a few breaks. Delta would never leave him to navigate any of the busier or more dangerous areas of space, but there were few he would trust to do that. Even experienced co-pilots weren’t trusted that much, at least not by him.

  The most annoying aspect of travelling to Falcair was that it was so far from Lupalia, and it was difficult for him to get any news on the Canine Information Network. Information did travel across space, but it was damned slow.

  If it had been quicker, perhaps he might have found out sooner about the Pleasure Station.

  “Do they realise what they’ve done?” Delta groused.

  Gray glanced up from the console. “Who’s done what?”

  Delta read through to the end of the report before he replied. “Humans have taken over the Pleasure Station.”

  “Humans? Are those the new beings who have recently come into the sector?”

  “Yes. Have you met any of them?”

  “No. But I’ve spoken to a few canines who have. They don’t have fur or feathers, do they?”

  “No, they have something called hair. They don’t have tails like the canines or felines either.”

  “They sound odd-looking.”

  “I suspect they think the same about the rest of the species. But their looks aren’t the problem.”

  “What is the problem?” Gray twisted in his seat and put his paws up on the console.

  Delta immediately slapped them down again. “They’ve shut down the sex trade there.”

  “You mean the slaves? Isn’t that a good thing? Lupalia outlawed slavery long ago. I’m surprised the felines have let it go on so long in their own territory. They made laws banning it long before we did.”

  “The felines hadn’t the power to take on the insectoids, not alone,” Delta explained. “That’s why they’ve managed to get away with it for so long.”

  “If the humans have shut it down, isn’t that a good thing?”

  “Yes, but they haven’t just freed the slaves. They’ve banned any form of prostitution on the station.”

  “So?”

  Delta gave him a pointed look. Sometimes he forgot just how sheltered Gray’s life had been. “The reason the Pleasure Station was built in the middle of feline territory, was because they knew felines would make up the bulk of the whores on the place.”

  “Because of their diet?”

  “Yes. The felines are mostly there voluntarily, or at least they were.”

  “They’ve been sent off the station?”

  “Yes. Or at least they’ve been banned from earning credits through sexual favours, which means most of them won’t be able to earn the rent to stay there.”

  Delta only realised how his voice must have risen when he saw Gray inching away from him. “Sorry, Gray. I just can’t believe that when someone finally does something about the slavery there, they do this.”

  Gray opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again, but no words came out.

  “What is it?” Delta asked.

  “Is it really such a bad thing that they’ve banned prostitution as well? I mean, Lupalia has been talking about bringing in laws to stop it too.”

  “Unlike the Pleasure Station, Lupalia isn’t mostly inhabited by felines. Damn it. They didn’t have to go this far. Ignorant humans, they did this without thinking it through. They’ve fixed one problem but created another.”

  “You’re thinking about the whore you were with last time you were there, aren’t you?”

  “His name is Trix,” Delta reminded him yet again. “And yes, I’m worried about him. The Pleasure Station is his home, and sooner or later he’ll run out of credits to pay his rent.”

  “He might already have run out.”

  Delta shook his head. “No, he struck me as a sensible sort, and I paid him enough that he should be able to pay his rent for a while yet. Providing the humans haven’t raised the rent too high, he should be able to stay there until I can get back.”

  “How much did you pay him?” Gray asked.

  “Enough,” Delta replied shortly. It was none of Gray’s business what he had paid Trix, or what he had paid him for.

  Gray seemed to realise what else Delta had said and he frowned. “What do you mean by get back?”

  Delta shot him a look of surprise. “Well, he’s going to be homeless sooner or later.”

  “So, that’s not really your problem is it?”

  “No, but I could offer him the option of travelling with me.” Like I should have done in the first place.

  Delta spun back to the flight controls and pulled up the plans for their journey. They hadn’t even reached Falcair yet. It was going to take a while before he could get back to the Pleasure Station. He hoped his instincts about Trix were right, and that he had enough credits to keep his room there until Delta could return to him.

  The idea of inviting Trix to join him gave him a warm feeling, as well as arousing him to almost painful proportions. He shifted in his seat and moaned low in his throat.

  He caught Gray sneaking glances at him from the corner of his eye, but he managed to avoid making any comment.

  “Can you navigate while I go send some shout outs?” Delta asked.

  “Yes, of course.” Gray turned to his console and Delta trusted him to keep them on their course.

  As soon as Delta was in the privacy of his room, he loaded up his holo-projector and composed several messages to friends who were frequent visitors to the Pleasure Station. He wanted to know what was happening there, and
not just the official reports that had made their way to the CIN.

  He was surprised to receive an incoming call from one of his friends within a few minutes. Jules must have been in the area to have got his message so quickly and be able to respond in such a manner. That or they had, at long last, improved the relays on the stations heading out to Falcair. Delta figured the latter was highly unlikely.

  “Delta, how you are, you old reprobate?” Jules grinned at him and flashed him her fangs.

  “Less of the old,” Delta replied with a grin of his own. “Where are you?”

  Jules snickered. “Right on your rear.”

  “What?”

  “I’ve been following you since the last station. You must be getting slack if you haven’t noticed. Even Gray spotted me, and he’s not seen me in at least two cycles.”

  Delta pulled up the scanner and saw her signature on the map. “Damn, I must be distracted.”

  “Lucky for you, I’m just heading in the same direction. If I was looking to acquire a new ship, you’d have been boarded long ago. So, what are you doing in this forsaken area of the system?”

  “Got a delivery for Falcair. Nothing exciting. What about you?”

  “Got a pick up there.”

  “Supplies or passengers.”

  “Both.” Jules waggled her bushy brows. “I’m hoping for some company on the journey back, that is company that doesn’t go running from my female parts, like someone I could mention.”

  Delta barked in laughter. “I didn’t run from them, I just found the allure of your brother Kel far more enticing. How is he?”

  “He’s found a mate now. Damn, those are words I never thought I’d say about him.”

  “So, he’s settled down.” Delta smiled as he thought back fondly of the trips he had taken with Jules and her brother before they had finally built up enough credits to purchase their own craft. They had been good co-pilots, and her brother had warmed Delta’s bed almost from the start of their time together.

  “I wouldn’t say settled,” Jules said. “He and his mate bought their own ship last cycle and have been beating me to every decent contract they can.”

  “Ouch.”

  Jules shrugged. “I’m doing the same to them, so I can’t complain. It’s interesting and keeps all of us competitive.”

  Delta chuckled and shook his head. Jules and Kel would never change.

  Jules settled back in her seat and crossed her arms over her voluptuous chest. “So, what’s this about the Pleasure Station?”

  “Have you heard about the humans taking it over?”

  “Yes. I heard about it at the last station. I’m surprised you didn’t, there was talk of little else in the bars.”

  “I only stopped for fuel and a couple of replacement parts for the storage hatch doors. So, what did you hear?”

  “That humans had shut the whole place down for several days, and when they re-opened it they had stopped anyone from selling their bodies.”

  “That’s what it said on the CIN. Do you know what’s happened to the residents?”

  “The slaves are all being returned to their home worlds, or a world of their choice if they can’t return there.”

  “I meant the voluntary residents, the felines who lived there?”

  “Ah.” Jules grimaced. “There are a few still there, working the gambling tables, but they aren’t allowed to take credits for sex.”

  “Are they allowed to feed?”

  “Only in private, and they aren’t allowed to exchange credits for it.”

  “That’s what I was worried about. Do the humans know what felines live on?”

  Jules snarled. “Oh they know. There are some seriously pissed-off felines out there. So many of them only bothered to earn enough credits for their next room payment and simply wanted to feed in peace. Now they’re left homeless and credit-less. Not to mention in danger of starvation.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Some of them left with customers who were on the station when the humans took over. Some of the ships left with as many as a dozen felines on board to pleasure their crews.”

  Delta frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “Me neither, especially considering many of them were offered cream and nothing else for their passage.”

  “So they’re stuck on ships that give them no credits and are trapped there until they’ve outstayed their welcome.”

  “Pretty much.”

  Delta growled and shook his head. He was glad Trix had his own credits and the ability to keep his room on the Pleasure Station. He didn’t want to think of him ship-hopping for his cream.

  “What’s his name?” Jules suddenly asked.

  “Huh?”

  “The feline who’s got under your fur,” Jules teased. “I recognise that look. My brother has been wearing it since he met his mate. So, what’s his name?”

  “Trix.”

  “Handsome?”

  “Very.”

  “Good in bed?”

  “Do you even need to ask?”

  “No, I guess not. I take it he lives on the Pleasure Station?”

  “Yes, or at least I hope he’s still there. If not, I’ve no idea how I’m going to find him again.”

  “And you really want to, don’t you?”

  “Yes. Like you said, he got under my fur.”

  “I sense there’s more to this than you’re telling me.”

  Delta shrugged. “There might have been three of us in the bed that night.”

  “You randy wolf.”

  Delta shot a quick glance at the door to check he was still alone. Jules had never understood why he insisted on keeping quiet about his wolf blood, even off-world. She didn’t understand that Delta had kept it quiet so he didn’t have to worry about his crew quaking every time he barked an order at them.

  He didn’t see it was anyone else’s business that his distant ancestors were from one of the last true wolf clans, or that thanks to a healer who had been summoned to help him though a childhood illness, he was the first of the line in several generations to have a little more of the blood of the wolf in him.

  The ability to handle himself in a fight was handy, the prejudices of everyone else against wolves, not so much.

  Jules caught his expression. “You mean Gray doesn’t know? I thought your families were close?”

  Delta snorted. “My parents are constantly fawning over his, if that’s what you mean. I’m sure his family wouldn’t even notice if they never heard from mine again. Besides, my family doesn’t exactly shout about my tainted blood from the roof tops.”

  “But how can Gray not be aware? He’s be stalking you for how long now?”

  Delta chuckled. “I wouldn’t say ‘stalking’, pursuing perhaps. And while he has known me a long time, he’s never seen me in a fight, which is how most people realise my blood has the fire of the wolf in it.”

  “I see. Anyway, we’re getting side-tracked. Tell me about this third. Canine or feline?”

  “Neither. Avian, from the swan clan no less.”

  Jules whistled and her eyes lit with mischief. “I didn’t know you had a feather fetish.”

  “I don’t. It just sort of happened.”

  “You just happened to end up spending a night with a feline and an avian?”

  Delta smirked at her, sensing she was eager for more details, but he had no intention of giving her them. Though there was one thing he would tell her, because it was important and might help persuade her to do him the huge favour he was about to ask.

  “Trix is dual-gendered.”

  Jules’ mouth opened into a small oh. “You mean you…?”

  “Didn’t run screaming from those female parts?” Delta suggested. “No, of course not. But there are many that do, which is why I’m more worried about him than I would be for any other feline whose pleasures I may have sampled on visits to the station.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying
I need to get back there as soon as possible.”

  “And where do I come into this?”

  “Can you come alongside and take my delivery? You’re going there anyway and can keep the credits.”

  Jules didn’t take long to consider his offer. “You know I will.”

  “And maybe take Gray with you, and drop him off back on Lupalia?”

  Jules rolled her eyes. “How did I know that was coming?”

  “Can you?”

  “I guess I could put up with him, but if he causes any trouble at all, I’m dumping him at the first spaceport I come to. Naked.”

  Delta laughed. “I’ll warn him of your threat.”

  “There’s no need. I’ll tell him myself. Now, let me come alongside and I’ll be on board within the hour.”

  “Thank you.”

  An hour later and Delta had left his cargo and Gray with Jules. Gray hadn’t been happy about it, but he’d wisely held his tongue. He’d even wished Delta a safe and swift journey back to the Pleasure Station. Delta almost believed he’d meant it.

  Delta set the craft to full speed and took as many risks as he dared as he set his course for the Pleasure Station. He couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread that Trix was no longer there. Even though Delta knew Trix had enough credits to stay there until Delta could return, Trix had no reason to believe anyone was going to come to find him. Why would he? They had made no promises to each other. Delta and Farron were just a couple of horny customers who had paid Trix a hefty sum of credits for the honour of being the first ones to fuck him in the vagina. Trix had no reason to even suspect that Delta might struggle to get him out of his mind. He supposed everyone who made a living by selling their body dreamed of the one customer who wanted to make things more permanent. Trix was probably no different in that respect, and just like every other whore, he would have discarded such nonsense in the face of reality.

  He cursed himself for not offering Trix a permanent place with him that very night. Not just Trix, he reminded himself. Farron was a key part of what they had shared, too. He should have at least asked them both to consider staying with him, even if the answers were almost certainly going to be no.