Loving Kit (Felines of Furyne Book 1)

by L. M. Brown

  “I see.” Kit moved back a little. “I think I understand.”

  Logan stroked the fur behind Kit’s ear. “I don’t think you do. What I’m trying to say is that I believe I’m developing feelings for you. Kit, I want you to feed from me, but I need you to understand that it will probably mean more to me than it does to you.”

  Kit rubbed at Logan’s hand. “You’re wrong. It means a lot to me, too. Halor is the only man I’ve ever fed from. Before him, I was barely surviving. For my kind, once we’re adults, we must find someone willing to give us what we need quickly or we die. That’s why so many of my species become whores. It means a steady supply of cream and security. As I told you before, I’m an oddity amongst my kind. I find it difficult to be intimate with strangers and I balked at the idea of going to my knees for anyone who offered, but the alternative was starvation.”

  “How long did you go without feeding?” Logan asked.

  Kit gazed at him sadly before whispering, “Too long.”

  “Couldn’t you just live on your own, er, cream?”

  “That would have made things a lot easier for me. Unfortunately, we cannot take sustenance from our own. I ate other foods, even tried that awful birdseed stuff. It kept me alive, but I wasn’t exactly thriving. Then I met Halor, or rather I scented him from across the spaceport I was looking for work at. Somehow, I knew he was the one I had been searching for. I can’t explain how, but I sensed it with every fibre of my being. I tracked him down and convinced him to hire me.”

  “Convinced him how?” Logan asked.

  “On my knees,” Kit replied with a sheepish grin. “He hadn’t had much contact with felines and had only just begun his couriering activities. Somehow, he hadn’t heard about my kind’s diet, though it didn’t take him long to figure it out. When I feed from him, it restores my strength, makes me faster, more agile, and sharpens my senses. But it’s more than just feeding between us. I love him, and he loves me.”

  Logan continued to pet Kit. “And how do I fit into your lives?”

  Kit smiled up at him. “I think you’ll fit in perfectly.”

  “But you and Halor are already a couple. What do you need me for?”

  Kit stared at him as though he didn’t understand the question. “We don’t need you, but what does that have to do with anything?”

  “I don’t want to come between you.”

  The door to the room closed with a soft click. Halor stood there, appearing tired, but pleased at the sight of them. “Kit, I hope you haven’t been pushing Logan to give you more than he’s ready for. He asked for a separate room, remember?”

  “It’s fine,” Logan said. “Kit was hungry and I offered him my cream.”

  “If you’re sure you’re happy with him feeding from you?”

  “I am.”

  Kit rubbed against Logan and purred loudly. “We were just talking first. Logan is worried he might come between us.”

  Halor approached them and took a seat beside Logan. “Does your species only have the capacity to love one other being at a time?”

  “What?” Logan replied.

  “Do you have siblings?” Halor asked.

  “He has a sister,” Kit replied before Logan could say anything.

  “Your mother loved her and you, and presumably your father—or fathers, if you and your sister didn’t share the same parents. Right?”

  “Yes, I guess, but what does that have to do with our situation?”

  Halor held out his hand for Kit, who climbed onto the sofa, squeezing in between them. “Each of us has the capacity to love, not just one other but many—our parents, our siblings, or most of them, anyway, our friends and our lovers. If Kit were to fall in love with you, it would not mean he loved me any less. Likewise, if you were to come to care for me, it doesn’t stop you from developing feelings for Kit, as well.”

  “You believe it’s possible for three people to all be in love with each other at once?” Logan asked. He had heard of such relationships between humans, though he had never met anyone who was in such a ménage.

  “I have seen it many times,” Halor said. “My people, as you’ll have heard, have nests. Mine, until now, has been comprised of myself and Kit alone, but most of my kind have much larger nests. My father’s nest has seven women in it plus two men. My mother is the queen. If she were any species other than a hawk herself, she would have the role of Prime Beak, but as she’s a hawk, too, she takes the title of queen. My father loves all of them—or he claims he does, at least—but the larger the nest, the more risk there is that one or more of the members will be neglected in favour of another. I don’t wish anyone in my nest to feel they’ve been put aside while another takes their place. Nests that grow too fast fall apart as the occupants fight for the attention of the owner. I don’t want that. I love Kit and he is my Prime Beak, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love another, as well.”

  Logan nodded. “What did your brother mean about felines being Prime Beaks?”

  Halor snorted. “My brother believes in the purity of the nest hierarchy. Hawks at the top, lesser birds below, and other species at the bottom.”

  “And felines below that,” Kit added. “Whores are generally ranked lowest in a nest.”

  “I guess there aren’t many feline Prime Beaks, then?” Logan guessed.

  “None,” Kit confirmed.

  “One,” Halor amended as he stroked Kit’s fur. “In this nest, all are equal, but when we’re on Hawkri, there are, unfortunately, formalities that we have to adhere to. No matter who joins this nest, whether it’s you, Logan, or even another hawk, Kit will always be Prime Beak. This nest will never include someone who won’t accept that. Can you live with a feline outranking you in the eyes of my people?”

  Logan nodded. “I would never want to come between you and Kit.”

  “You wouldn’t be,” Kit said. “You’d simply be joining us. I don’t understand all the avian hierarchy myself, but I can promise that if you do join us, we’d all be equals, just like Halor said. It might not seem so to outsiders, but I would be Prime Beak only in name.”

  “You might think that, but I believe Halor would disagree.”

  Halor smiled. “I’d like us to be on an equal footing, too. It might not work here on my planet, where the nest hierarchy is so ingrained within my people, but off-world, our nest is our own concern and each of us deserves to be equally loved by the others.”

  “That sounds good to me,” Logan said.

  “Then you’ll consider staying with us?” Kit asked. “Because we really want you to.” Kit slipped out of Halor’s embrace and knelt between Logan’s legs once more.

  Halor nodded. “We do,” he agreed. “Now, Kit, I suggest you feed then we should probably rest and try and get some sleep before the banquet. They do tend to drag on into the early hours.”

  “May I?” Kit asked, gesturing at Logan’s flagging cock.

  “You may,” Logan replied with a smile of encouragement.

  Kit worked him with his hand and lips, and Logan hardened once more. Beside him, Halor moved closer and Logan dragged his gaze away from Kit to look at the man beside him.

  Halor licked his lips and Logan copied him instinctively. A moment later, Halor pressed their mouths together and Logan moaned eagerly. With one hand on Kit’s furry head while gliding the fingers of his other hand through Halor’s feathers, Logan had never felt anything like it before. They were men—definitely so—but not human. Nothing in his life had prepared him for this. He was kissing an alien while another was sucking his cock, coaxing forth his cum so he could drink it.

  Logan closed his eyes and lost himself in the twin sensations. Kit’s rough tongue on his length teased him to the point where he thought he might scream with pleasure.

  Then there was Halor’s mouth and his tongue, equally strange in its inflexibility, as he and Logan kissed and explored.

  Kit licked along his erection, sending shivers through Logan’s body. He pulled out of Ha
lor’s kiss, gasping for air.

  “Give it to him,” Halor said. “Give our Kit what he needs.”

  Logan moaned, long and deep, as Kit clamped his mouth around his cock and sucked hard. “Oh fuck!”

  The pressure was too much to be contained, and Logan didn’t even try. He thrust gently into Kit’s talented mouth, careful not to choke him. There seemed to be no danger of that. Kit knew what he was doing, and he did it well. He alternately licked and sucked, never seeming to tire or apparently need to take a break to come up for air.

  Logan watched his cock disappearing between Kit’s lips. Kit had his eyes closed until the moment Logan began to come, when he opened them to gaze up at him as he drank down his cum—or his cream, as Logan was now starting to think of it.

  “That’s it,” Halor said. “Doesn’t he look gorgeous? My beautiful Kit—or should I say our Kit? No other species can suck a cock like felines do. Once you have been pleasured by one such as Kit, no other will ever compare.”

  “Even you?” Logan gasped out as Kit continued to tease every last drop of cum from his increasingly sensitive cock.

  “Even me,” Halor admitted. “Though I am not without talents of my own, just as I am sure you have unique gifts to bring to this relationship, as well.”

  Logan couldn’t reply. His power of speech had disappeared, along with his capacity for intelligent thinking. His thrusts became more erratic and only Halor’s strong arms holding him in place prevented him from sliding down onto the floor. He moaned over and over as he came, filling Kit’s mouth as the eager feline drank from him.

  Finally, when he had nothing left to give, Kit released him and licked his lips.

  “Good?” Halor asked.

  Kit nodded. “Different to yours, but so good.”

  Logan thought Kit’s speech sounded a little slurred, and when he tried to stand, his feline grace appeared to have deserted him. He stumbled over to the bed, face-planting into the mattress with a small giggle.

  “Is that normal?” Logan asked, still a little breathless.

  “No, it’s not,” Halor said. He released Logan and hurried over to the bed. “Kit? Kit, are you well?”

  “I’m great!” Kit replied with another giggle. “Logan’s cream is yummy.”

  Logan was still too shaky to try to stand but he leaned forward to take a closer look. “He sounds drunk.”

  Halor nodded. “I think he is, though I’ve never seen him so before. Certain types of berries tend to intoxicate my kind. There’ll be some at the banquet later, but I’ve never seen a feline under the influence. I think perhaps your cream might be the cause. He’s drunk a lot more this time than he did back on the ship.”

  “Will he be okay?”

  Kit gave a loud snore that caused both Logan and Halor to smile.

  “I expect so,” Halor said. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll let him sleep here, rather than waking him by carrying him across the hall.”

  Kit gave another deafening snore, and Logan laughed quietly. “He really is the most adorable creature.”

  Halor snorted. “Try getting any sleep with him in the bed with you and you won’t think him so adorable.”

  Logan staggered to his feet and climbed onto the bed. “I guess I’ll find out. Are you going to join us?”

  Halor’s smile was a little shy, but he climbed onto the bed, too. “By the way, I meant to say earlier, thank you for what you did for Kit.”

  “I didn’t do much,” Logan said as he closed his eyes.

  “Yes, you did. You threatened Vorgan on his behalf and stood up for him when he called him a whore. Kit may come from a people who survive by whoring themselves to anyone who will have them, but that is not what Kit is. He calls himself an oddity, but I am one, too. My people gather others together, building their nests and increasing their power. I have no interest in such things, though your addition to our unit seems to have given my mother the false impression that I have changed in that regard.”

  “You mean my being here has caused a problem between you and your family?”

  Halor crawled up the bed so he was level with Logan. “My problems with my family are longstanding and not likely to disappear any time soon. Your being here is a joy to me, so don’t trouble yourself. We’ll be gone, heading towards your ships soon enough. Now, sleep and regain your strength. I’ve seen the seating plan for this evening and you’ll definitely need it.”

  Halor’s warning sounded ominous, but before Logan could ask him to elaborate, he too was snoring, though not as loudly as Kit.

  Logan decided to follow their example. After all, Halor and Kit had been here before, so they surely knew best.

  Chapter Five

  Kit linked his arm through Logan’s as they followed Halor into the large circular hall at the very centre of the nest.

  The room always took him by surprise, and from the expression on Logan’s face, he was equally in awe. The room was a perfect half sphere with a domed roof. The clear glass of the dome started just above head height and showed the twilight sky, the first stars just visible in the growing dark. The gold branches of the royal tree stretched up all around the dome. Rather than blocking the sunlight, the branches reflected it back into the room, providing the centre of the nest with light long after the sun had dipped below the edge of the dome.

  The inside of the room was set for the banquet with numerous circular place settings in the centre of the floor. The king and queen, along with those who were honoured by a place at their table, ate in the very centre. The rest of the tables spread out from the middle, with the occupants seated in order of rank. The tables were low and there were no chairs, only cushions with stiff backs suitable for leaning on. Everything, from the place settings to the drapes around the doors, was decorated in midnight blue with gold trim, the royal colours of the Hawk clan.

  If tradition served tonight, Kit knew Halor would be placed in the third circle of settings with Kit and Logan joining him there.

  Vorgan was nearby and Kit could barely hold back his hiss of annoyance at his least favourite member of Halor’s family—not that he was particularly fond of any of them, though one or two of Halor’s younger siblings were tolerable. Vorgan, however, was a particularly unpleasant individual and Kit hadn’t liked him from the moment they had met. Something about him made Kit’s fur stand on end.

  “You look very handsome,” Logan whispered into Kit’s ear. “The green fabric of your kilt brings out your eyes.”

  “Charmer,” Kit replied, his spirits restored at Logan’s compliment.

  Halor approached his father and bowed low, his wing-like arms spread wide, showing off the bright colours of his plumage. Even a few thousand years ago, the Hawks had still grown feathers on the backs of their winged arms. Now the feathers no longer sprouted, but the colours remained on the skin, bright markings showing what feathers would have grown.

  “Father, may I present to you my Prime Beak, Kit, with whom you are already acquainted, and Logan, lately of planet Earth, currently journeying through our system.”

  “A delight, I’m sure,” Lorcan, the Hawk King, said, though his tone indicated he thought meeting Halor’s companions was anything but.

  Kit bowed deeply and Logan copied him.

  They exchanged awkward pleasantries for a few minutes then Halor made his excuses and guided Kit and Logan to one of the third circle of tables.

  “A bonus of being the lover of one of the younger sons,” Kit whispered, “is that we are seated far away from the high table and the elder ones.”

  “Kit,” Halor murmured, “behave. You wouldn’t want to give Logan a bad impression of my family.”

  “Of course not,” Kit replied. “They can do that all by themselves.”

  Instead of scolding him for what Kit knew was an unnecessarily snide comment, Halor took his hand and kissed the palm, reminding Kit why he loved him so much. “Come. Let us watch the dancers and wait for the servants to bring in the first course.”
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  Halor sank onto one of the cushions and pulled Kit down beside him. Kit pointed to the space on his other side and Logan sat, too.

  “I think I prefer this seating arrangement to any other visit,” Kit commented. He picked up a couple of seeds from the bowl of nibbles on the table and popped one into Halor’s mouth, letting his lover suck on his fingers as he took them. “My favourite bird on my right, and my favourite human on my left.”

  “I thought I was the only human you’d met?” Logan said.

  “You are, which means you don’t have to work nearly as hard as Halor to remain on the top of my list.”

  Halor poked him in the ribs and Kit chuckled, feeding him another seed.

  Logan’s stomach chose that moment to make an embarrassingly loud rumble. “Sorry.”

  “There will be something you can eat, too,” Halor assured him. “My mother made sure to ask after your diet and has arranged for suitable food to be served.”

  “Like what?” Kit asked. “What do humans eat? Besides fruits, that is.”

  “According to the database from Logan’s ship, pretty much anything, apart from seeds and cream.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Logan said. “We do eat some seeds, but not usually on their own or in large quantities like you. I’ve tasted plenty of cream in my time, too, both the sort I put in my coffee and the kind Kit likes.”

  “I’m sure you have,” Kit purred.

  “There won’t be any meats at our table,” Halor explained. “My people have been vegetarians for many years, but we can provide breads, jams and savouries, cheeses, fruits, and other delights.”

  “You can get human food here in such a short amount of time?” Logan asked.

  “Yes, of course. It can be teleported here in moments from the space station we always get our supplies from,” Halor said.

  “Teleported?” Logan frowned. “You have that technology?”

  “Yes, for the last two hundred years, though it has some limitations. Nothing living can survive the journey and there must be a device at both ends of the trip, so we could not teleport to your craft, for example.”