Harimal gritted his teeth, suppressing his terror, marshaling the strength to engage this monster. “Forgive me if I don’t exchange pleasantries. What do you want?”
“Very little, now that I have you.”
“You do not have me,” Hari snarled.
“Ah, but I do, felinus.” The creature’s head was supported by a metal skeleton extruding from the chair. Other parts of his anatomy were also attached to apparatus. Hari tried not to look.
“Where am I?”
“My base. Its location is not important. You will not be leaving. Suffice to say, you are a long way from home.”
“Who are you?”
“I will indulge your questions because I know curiosity killed the cat—is that not what humans say?”
“You tell me.”
“As for who I am. You do not know? How disappointing! I am a starlord.”
Hari snorted. “The last starlord died during the wars.”
“Ah, presumed killed. I survived.”
“Less than more,” Harimal countered. Judging by the attachment of apparatus to the creature, it was on life support.
“All you need understand, felinus, is that I control you from this moment. You exist for me, only for me.” His words made a mockery of the felinus love pledge.
“Go to hell.”
The alien eyes narrowed. “Hell is a human invention. A starlord recognizes no hell.”
“Except the ones you make yourself—for others.”
“Exactly so, felinus, exactly so. Your life here can be hell, or it can be relatively pleasant, provided you acknowledge your master.”
Harimal lifted his head and flicked back his hair. “I have no master.”
“No? Just so that you are completely clear about your position here, I will give you a small demonstration. A small one. Defy me and the lessons will increase exponentially in severity and length.” The starlord’s six-jointed finger flicked a switch on the arm of his chair.
The collar around Hari’s throat tightened, almost strangling. Hari’s gaze was lethal, he intended it so—his own warning to the obscene creature before him.
The starlord merely smiled.
From inside the collar, Hari felt a row of needles erupt into his flesh. Tiny pricks, annoying, hurting, but bearable. Just.
The needles discharged a tiny jolt of power into his skin; his every nerve ending spiked in pain. As if stripped raw. Agony sliced him from head to toe, inside out and into his brain. He bit his lip against crying out and tasted his own blood.
The torture ceased and Hari pitched forward onto the floor. Shuddering, he forced himself to his knees.
“That, felinus, is just first level. There are twenty more. You do not want to test them. I assure you by the time you reach the tenth you will be insane. But even crazy, you will still be useful to me.”
“What do you want?”
“Convergence.”
“Impossible. Even if I would grant it, I can’t do it alone.”
“Watch felinus and understand.”
The video screen flickered to life on the wall, displaying an image—an all too familiar image that made his blood congeal. It was Rendezvous with Samantha and John and Taren and many others in the Recognition of Desire ceremony. The VDU altered and Harimal watched Kuno and Samantha making love in a temple in the holo-room. Then he saw himself and Kuno and Sam and their dance…
He glanced, horrified at the starlord.
“Yes, I have breached the security and I enjoy these…ah, stimulations. But I need more. I want the real thing. I have used many, but none have the essence I require. When I saw you and the woman, and the level of passion you attained—at last, I thought, creatures worthy of my attention!”
“You’ve been collecting?”
“Harvesting. As is my due.”
Harimal flinched, his gut cramping. “You’re insane.”
The starlord raised a talon. “Ah, felinus, insanity is just a matter of perception, surely you must agree? What, nothing to say? How disappointing.” The monster paused, its slitted eyes narrowed. “My race is all but extinct, but we bequeathed an interesting legacy to the galaxy. We created the felinus. Every shifter species is our own grand design.” The alien paused. “I see doubt in your eyes and that is to be expected. You will soon learn that the starlord is supreme. I was once worshipped as a god and will be so again.”
Harimal swallowed down hard, panic tightening his throat. There had been endless debates as to the origins of the felinus and the other shifter species. They had not evolved, at least in the true sense and had spontaneously appeared in the galaxy in all their infinite diversity and beauty, some insisted by genetic mutation, but others said, created. And that being so… He quashed that thought.
“No,” Hari whispered.
“No?” The starlord sighed. “Are you going to be difficult? How tedious!” His talon hovered purposefully over the pain trigger. “The felinus were created for starlord pleasure. Dig deep into the cat memory, Harimal. You know I speak the truth. The blood of the starlord runs in your veins.”
Hari shook his head to deny the starlord, to deny the truth.
“I assure you, yes.”
“Well, if it’s true, then your creations exceeded your expectations. We fought you in the wars and exterminated you. We are free.”
“Is that so? May I point out that you are chained to a wall and I am not.” The starlord stroked the cord attaching his three ridged cocks to the chair’s main frame. “Your life is mine and you have no other reason for existence, other than to please me.”
Harimal lifted his chin. “I please no one except of my own choosing.”
“We shall see, once the woman is captured. She is already under surveillance by my agents. It is only a matter of time before she is brought here to be your partner.”
“I will not.”
The starlord waved a dismissive talon. “And do not think you can escape me by using the felinus death ritual. The collar has sensors to alert me to any thought processes I do not approve. The pain for such a thought…a taste, felinus, just so you are not tempted.” He flicked a switch.
Harimal screamed.
Sam watched from the doorway as John thrashed on the bed. One moment he burned with fever, the next he was shivering with cold. She had tried to rouse him, but no matter what she did, or said, he remained oblivious, lost in a dream.
The doorbell chimed and she used the remote to deactivate the lock. Taren strode into the bedroom, followed by Kareena and Lenar.
“He’s in the first stage of mutatis,” Taren said, touching John’s forehead.
“Here?” Sam asked. “I thought it only happened on Chizan.”
“The ceremony is performed there, but mutatis can hit you anywhere.”
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Sam asked. “What can I do?”
“Kuno has denied himself too long.”
Sam blushed. “We…er…”
Taren smiled gently. “I can sense your mingled essences, so I know you have loved, and recently. What I meant is that he has rejected the call of home for too long. A cat has to return to Chizan every few years or pay the price. As Kuno is now doing.”
“Didn’t he realize?” Sam asked.
“He’s got a stubborn streak a light year wide,” Kareena said.
“I’d noticed,” Sam retorted.
“Yeah, well, he hasn’t gone home ever since he and his father had that final argument. He thought being hybrid, he’d be spared the Call. Not feegling likely,” Lenar snapped. “I told him. We all did. And he’s Ronsevaal, so of course his blood is going to burn.”
“Ronsevaal?”
“The ancient blood, the royal line of Chizan. The Ronsevaal have been kings for over four hundred years. He’s san-Duran—a Prince of Chizan.”
“How can I soothe him?” Sam asked.
“You cannot, kitten-sister.” Taren smiled gently. “I will help him.”
“Why can’t I?”
Sam glanced at her friends. “What are you going to do?”
“Love him,” Taren whispered.
“You mean…?”
“Does it shock you, Samantha? You would offer yourself to him to ease his pain. Why can you not allow me this honor?”
“You’re a man.”
Taren lifted his wings and shook them in anger. “I am Avenor. I am Kuno’s clan-brother. I have the right. We have shared before.”
Sam swallowed against the shock.
“It’s the felinus way, Samantha,” Kareena responded. “When we’re in pain, friends give comfort in the best possible way.”
“I tried to wake him.”
“You can’t. He’s put himself into a trance to deflect the mutatis and to spare you.”
“I’m tougher than I look.”
“Kitten-sister, I have no doubt,” Taren said. “But this suffering is beyond your skill to heal.”
“To hell with that, bird-brain.”
Kareena gasped. Taren grinned. “Very few humans would get away with that insult, Samantha. But do not push the point. Lenar, remove her. Kari, I need you to monitor.”
“If she’s staying, then so am I.”
“Samantha-Sharille, your presence will make it worse for him.”
She narrowed her gaze at the cat-wing. “Is that the truth?”
Taren lifted his chin, his gaze challenging. “I always speak the truth to you, clan-sister. Lenar!”
The golden-haired shifter lifted Sam up into his arms and she struggled for all she was worth. He deposited her at the far corner of the apartment. Even as she rushed forward, the shimmer screen between her and the bedroom erupted, barring her way.
She rounded on Lenar. He raised his hands in surrender. “Kari and Taren know what they’re doing, Samantha. Let them ease his pain, and when it’s done, you can go to him.”
Sam faced the bedroom. The opaque screen allowed not even a glimpse of what transpired. Not a sound.
“What are they going to do?”
“Love him.” Lenar said.
“You don’t mind?”
The shifter raised a brow. “Mind? What’s to mind? You are so human. Kareena and Taren will share with Kuno. If you want to share with me, then fine.” He took a step towards her. She held up her hand.
“I only want John.”
“So human,” Lenar whispered.
“At least I’m not some rutting tom cat feegling the brains out of every passing pussy.”
Laughing, Lenar flung himself onto the sofa and reclined, watching her, his golden eyes glinting.
Sam paced up and down across the apartment, back and forth. Counting steps. Until she grew dizzy.
“You’ll wear a hole in the floor, kitten. Relax. It’s going to take hours. They’ll do him properly. Kari is nothing, if not thorough.”
Sam swallowed nervously. John had told her that felinus shared love with close friends, but she hadn’t realized that the sharing might extend to a ménage. The thought was disturbing. Yet, as she paused in her pacing, she remembered the time in the holo deck when she had lain between John and Hari. After her initial shock, it had seemed so natural and Harimal had been acutely sensitive of her and her needs. And now she knew Harimal, loved him as a brother, the thought of loving the two brothers at the same time was…interesting. Hell, no. More than interesting. Exciting. She bit her lip. She was part of the felinus world and there were worse things in the universe than sharing love.
“Let me comfort you, Samantha.” Lenar’s purr washed over her. The damn cat had moved so stealthily, she hadn’t known he was behind her until his hot, spicy breath teased her nape.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
His hands cupped her shoulders and drew her back against him, his fingers tracing up and down her arms. He kissed the groove of her neck.
Sam turned and put her hand to his cheek. He pushed his face into her palm and smiled.
“I’m fond of you, Len. Truly. It’s just that I can’t use you.”
He smiled. “There is no talk of being used, Samantha. The hurt you have, I can soothe.”
She kissed him gently and pushed away. “Thank you, but not this time.” Sam faced the screen. “What are they doing to him?”
“You want a blow by blow description?”
Despite herself, Sam laughed. “No, just an abridged version. Kari was going to monitor, what’s that mean?”
“Kareena is a very skilled monitor. She’ll gauge John’s reflexes, his needs. She’ll link with Taren and Kuno.”
“Link…that’s a polite term.”
“Oh, she’s not going to fuck Kuno. No, that’s Taren’s privilege. Kari’ll control the passion, monitor it, make sure that none of them are engulfed by it. But if Kuno wants it both ways, then Kari will oblige. Only,” Lenar paused. “Only, I sense that Kuno won’t have her. He wants you. Only you, Samantha, and that’s his strength and his weakness—at this time.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Once you’ve experienced mutatis, you’ll understand.”
Sam studied him. “Have you had it?”
“I was sixteen, and Kari fourteen. It hit us both early. Age of consent for felinus is sixteen, but mutatis overrides that. It damn well dominates everything, Sam, so I didn’t steal her from the cradle.” Lenar grinned. “Actually, it was Kari who did the stealing. Single-minded, is my kitten. She set her sights on me and I was feegled before I knew it.”
“I think you protest your innocence too much.” She smiled. “My name is Samantha and I exist for Kuno, only for him. The felinus pledge isn’t a hollow saying for me, Len.”
He inclined his head. “The pledge is the essence of all that is felinus, Samantha. We reserve it for our mates. But we also give pleasure to ease pain, for those who are friends or kin. If you are intent on suffering alone, then that’s your choice.” He sniffed disdainfully. “Humans can be so masochistic.”
Four hours later, the screen dissolved and Kareena staggered from the bedroom. She fell, exhausted, into Lenar’s waiting arms.
Sam saw Kareena safely settled on the sofa with Lenar and then slowly entered the bedroom.
John was awake, reclining on his right elbow, facing Taren who sat on the edge of the bed. Sam saw John’s fingers laced with Taren’s. A look between the men spoke of love and of deeper things, hidden, private. Sam felt a tinge of envy and regret. Regret that others had soothed her lover.
Taren stood up and Sam saw his trembling. It took a moment for her to realize he was naked. The swirling feather and knives tattoos covered all his body, highlighting contours and muscles. He was lethal. Capital ‘L’ Lethal.
She hesitated. “Am I intruding?”
“Kitten-mine!” John said, holding out his hand. “You can intrude nowhere. You are welcome everywhere.”
“Not in this room for some time.”
Taren sighed. “She is so human.”
“That’s why I love her,” John said.
Sam halted in front of Taren and before her courage failed her, she stretched up and kissed the assassin full on the mouth. “Thank you.”
“The pleasure was all mine,” John said.
Sam frowned. “You had no pleasure, Taren?”
“Not much.” He grimaced and flexed his shoulders. “Kuno fought me; I have his teeth and nail marks where you do not want to know.”
The intense silence in that room spoke of battles and pain and surrender. Sam glanced between the men. In Taren’s eyes she saw shadows and hurt.
She touched his wrist with her fingers and felt his trembling. He edged backwards. “Don’t, Samantha!”
“I’m sorry. I’ve offended you.”
“Kitten-sister.” He shook his head. “John used to tell me how wired he was over you and I never understood the meaning of the word—until now. I am so wired at the moment
and you touching me…” He shook his head again.
“Wired?” she demanded and saw John and Taren exchange glances, a smile passing between them. “What? Ah, I see.” One look at Taren and she knew all she needed. “You channeled away some of John’s frustration. It’s in you, I can sense it. You can’t walk around like that.”
John laughed. “He’ll go and feegle in the cyber-net.”
Sam raised a brow. “You like simulation?”
“I am a long way from home, Samantha. Sometimes it is necessary.”
“And you find it satisfying?” She glanced at John. “Have you?”
“Once. I hated it. Gave me a goddamn headache for three days after I withdrew.”
The double entendre made Sam smile. Then she sobered. Taren had comforted John, at great cost to himself. He was hurting. What sort of person let a friend suffer alone? In that moment she understood the felinus world, their humanity. The irony hit her. Humans, so proud of their humanity and their superiority over all, would turn away in fear or disgust, or in jealousy, not sharing a lover because of their own inadequacies.
Am I human or am I felinus?
Sam held out her hand to Taren. “I…I’m flesh and blood, not some cyber-replicant. Let me ease your pain.”
“I can’t, Samantha.”
His rejection was like cold water hurled in her face. She swallowed down hard.
“Samantha, you do me much honor,” John said.
“The honor would be all mine,” Taren replied. “But I must refuse. Taking an assassin as a lover at any time is no easy thing.” He bent down and kissed her lips.
“You taste of John,” she whispered.
“I can taste of a lot of things, Samantha.” He kissed her again.
When he lifted his head, Sam saw fire in his eyes and severity, the resolve battling with desire.
“Kuno?” Taren whispered, his voice hoarse, his gaze upon his clan-brother.
“It would be my honor. You are too hyper to walk out of here. You need soothing and not some feegling in cyberspace.”
“Sam,” Taren said.
She smiled. Rarely did Taren use her shortened name. “May I touch my clan-brother?”
He spread his arms wide. “If you so desire.”
She reached out and stroked one of his wings. Beneath her fingers she felt his heat, his shivering. The fur on his wings was like the most expensive velvet, mottled with his colors—cinnamon streaked with black. She swept her fingers back and forth, marveling at the texture.
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