"Well, we've got to do something about it!" declared Jack.
"Jack," Tisana warned. "You shouldn't meddle."
"Yeah, well, what else do I have for entertainment?" she grumbled. "Nothing exciting has happened since—" The ship lurched slightly as it breached the atmosphere of Terra Minor, triggering a sudden wave of nausea that nearly had Jack losing her lunch all over the control panel. There was only one thing that would cause Jack's iron stomach to rebel. "Whoa, shit! I think I've already got something new to keep me busy!"
"You are with child, are you not?" Cat purred.
"Dammit, Cat!" Jack exclaimed. "How the hell could you know that?"
Tisana exchanged a meaningful look with Cat behind Jack's back. "It is what I do" Cat said simply.
"What?" Jack demanded, still adjusting the controls as she fought the urge to throw up. "Which part? The knowing or the making it happen?"
Cat shook his head and smiled, but didn't bother to reply. Both were true, and Jack already knew it.
"Leo knew before you did," Tisana whispered to Cat. "He said her scent was different."
"And just why did none of you bother to tell me?" Jack demanded.
"It is more fun when you discover it for yourself," Cat purred. "You may thank me later."
"Yeah, well, you know what being pregnant means, don't you?" Jack said grimly. "No cocksucking for about three months. Think you can stand it?"
Having Jacinth sprawled on their bed, sucking him for hours was wonderful, but Cat was well aware that she enjoyed it even more than he did. "I am not the one who will suffer," he chided her.
"Oh... yeah... right." Jack muttered. "Silly me..." It would be a very long three months.
AAA
<*> <*> <*> V V T
Landing without further incident, Cat went off to make the mandatory visit to the trade authority while Jack and Leo loaded up the pack droid and headed for the marketplace, leaving Tisana behind with the children.
"I'm dying to see if those sponges we picked up on Ulada will sell," Jack said eagerly. "I mean, a sponge that makes its own soap? Who wouldn't want one?"
"Someone who does not want soap?" Leo suggested.
"You always were a killjoy," Jack retorted. "Ooo, look! There's Bonnie! She'd better have Lynx with her, or I'll go looking for him! Never been to Bonnie's farm," she added reflectively. "Maybe we should pay him a visit."
"There is no need," Leo pointed out. "He is there, unloading the cart."
Following Leo's line of sight, Jack watched Lynx as he worked. Something was different. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed softly. "His hair is longer."
Leo smiled. "Did you think it would not be? Human females have a very strong, intoxicating effect on us," he said.
"Yes, but you've never seemed to be too taken with me, Leo," Jack observed. "I've yet to make your dick hard."
"It is different once we have chosen a mate," Leo said equably.
"You guys have so many rules!" Jack grumbled. "Though I guess there had to be a few, or there would have been total mayhem on your planet. Must've created plenty of it on other worlds, though."
"Some," Leo conceded. "But not all."
"Well, better keep your sword handy," Jack advised. "Here comes Salan."
Jack smiled at the dairyman's daughter, and Leo couldn't help but grin back at the girl's seductive smile. She never gave up, even after Tisana had once promised to tell Mobray's cows to kick her whenever she milked them if Salan didn't leave Leo alone. As far as anyone knew, Tisana had never bothered to follow through on the threat because Leo was completely faithful, and Salan's blatant attempts at seduction were always good for a laugh.
"Hel-7o, Leo," she said coyly. "Where's Tisana?"
"Back at the ship with the kids," Jack said, pulling Leo back out of Salan's reach. For a milkmaid, Salan had the longest, sharpest-looking talons Jack had ever seen, and she had no intention of letting her sink them into Leo—or Cat, for that matter. Not liking Salan particularly, Jack was of the opinion that she and Sylor would have made a good pair.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Salan said sweetly, gazing adoringly into Leo's golden eyes. Salan thought he was the handsomest man she'd ever seen, with Cat running a close second. Just the thought of running her fingers through his tawny curls and having his strong arms wrapped around her made her head spin. She ought to have known better than to covet the husbands of two women who were so capable of blasting her to bits— the one with her pulse pistol and the other with the fire in her eyes—but Salan simply couldn't help it—nor was she particularly intelligent. "We've been having trouble with one of our cows. I thought she might be able to help."
"She'll probably drop by later on," said Jack. "But I guess you don't have the cow with you."
Salan laughed merrily. "As I said, we are having trouble with her. She will not stand to be milked, no matter who approaches her."
Jack fought hard to suppress a chuckle. Maybe Tisana had made good on her threat after all. "We might be sticking around for a few days this time," Jack said. "Maybe she'll make a house call."
"My father would be pleased," said Salan, still eyeing Leo hungrily. She would have given her father's whole herd to get him alone for just one night. Perhaps while Tisana was busy talking with the cows... Then she remembered the threat Tisana had made. Could it be...?
Just then, Kipper came bounding across the plaza toward Jack and Leo, barking excitedly. "What the devil's gotten into him?" Jack wondered aloud as Kipper continued to bark for a moment and then began sniffing at Leo and whining.
"He wants Tisana," Leo said knowledgeably. "I have seen this type of behavior before."
"He may just want to see Max," Jack suggested, but then remembered that animals knew a whole lot more about what went on in the lives of people than anyone gave them credit for. "Or he may want to tell us that Lynx and Bonnie are—"
"Hey, Jack!" Bonnie called out as she spotted them. "Come see the baby!"
Leo and Jack made their way over to Bonnie's stand and were suitably impressed when introduced to Shaulla. Jack commented that Ulla looked more like her mother than her father—which wasn't true, of course, but she thought it was something Bonnie would like to hear.
"Shaulla?" Leo echoed, looking at Lynx curiously. "That was your mother's name, was it not?"
"Ooo, good sign!" Jack said under her breath as Lynx nodded. She might have been busy tickling Ulla under the chin, but she was watching Lynx out of the corner of her eye. Yes, he did look different. He was even smiling—sort of—and so was Bonnie. Jack's own expression brightened immediately. "So, how's life on the farm been treating you, Lynx?"
"I am well," Lynx replied warily. He knew Cark trusted this woman with his life, but she was... strange. He was even more wary of Leo, who had been very quick to realize how Shaulla had gotten her name. He knew he shouldn't have been so reluctant to admit that he and Bonnie had mated, but for some reason, he didn't wish to discuss it, even with his old friends.
"Well, huh?" said Jack. "Just well?Yd say you look a damn sight better than well. Longer hair, picked up a little weight—hell, I even saw you smile!" Her eyes narrowed sharply. "You've been getting some, haven't you?"
"Jack," Bonnie chided. "Couldn't you at least try to be a little more discreet? You'll embarrass him."
"Never met a Zetithian yet who was embarrassed about much of anything!" Jack declared. "Hell, they'll walk around naked if you don't make them put clothes on! Of course, they usually start a riot when they do that—but that's beside the point."
"The point is," Leo said, cutting Jack off abruptly, "that Lynx has been thriving on Bonnie's farm. I believe we should not discuss it any further."
Jack laughed out loud. "You think so? Well, you guys just go do your thing, and we girls will talk!" Kipper was still nudging Leo in the leg trying to get his attention. Jack tapped the comstone mounted on the breast pocket of her flightsuit. "Hey, Tisana," she said. "You need to come talk to this mutt of Bonnie's; h
e's got some sort of bee in his bonnet."
Tisana rolled her eyes, even though Jack was nowhere near. "Would you please speak in plain Stantongue," she said wearily. "I know very well that what you meant is not what you said."
"Bonnie's dog needs to talk with you," Jack said, speaking slowly and enunciating each word with care. "Got it?"
"Yes," Tisana replied. "I'll be down later."
"Oh, and Tisana?" Jack added in a quiet voice. "You know that problem we talked about? It's not a problem anymore."
Tisana silently thanked every deity she'd ever heard mention of. Jack on a matchmaking mission was a fiasco waiting to happen. "I'm so glad," she said. "See you later." After tapping her stone pendant to break the link, she added, "And I hope you haven't stuck your nose in where it doesn't belong."
"She always does," Larry piped up. He might have been off in the corner playing with his brothers, but Larry didn't miss much.
"You know, for a three-year-old, you're pretty smart," Tisana remarked.
"About my mother, I am," Larry replied. "We shouldn't have let her go to the market without us."
"Leo's with her," Tisana reminded him. "And your father won't leave her alone for long. They'll keep her out of trouble." She did her best to sound reassuring, but Tisana had often wondered how Jack had managed to stay out of prison for the entirety of her life, because she was forever setting people off. Even now that she didn't have to twist any arms to get information about her sister, she still got into the occasional fight—and not just with the Nedwuts.
" Want me to go check on her? " Max asked, eagerly wagging his tail.
Tisana considered this for a moment. "No, she '11 be all right. She doesn 't usually get into trouble on this planet... well, hardly ever. "
Max hoped she was right, but when it came to Jack, he tended to agree with Larry.
"So, what's up?" Jack asked Bonnie when they were finally alone. "Aside from his dick, that is."
Bonnie couldn't help but laugh. She'd never met anyone quite like Jack. "Don't ask me," she said, throwing up her hands. "He just finally... well... I don't know what happened, but one day he just decided he didn't hate me anymore. I think Ulla had a lot to do with it."
"Likes kids, huh?" Jack eyed her speculatively. "That's nice. Learn anymore about what happened to him?"
Bonnie wasn't sure she should tell Jack, but on the other hand, she didn't want Jack to embarrass Lynx by asking him. "He was a harem slave, Jack. The women there just... wore him out."
Jack blinked in surprise. "Wore him out? Shit, I didn't think it was possible to wear one of them out! What'd it take? Ten, twenty women?"
"Fifty," Bonnie replied grimly. "For ten years."
Jack's low whistle signified her admiration. "Damn! He's got to be either the best or the... well, shit, I don't know!" Shaking her head in disbelief, she added, "Fifty women!" She looked questioningly at Bonnie. "And he was the only man they—?" Jack stopped short, realizing her error immediately. No woman in her right mind would have taken another man over Cat, and Lynx had to be just as good—if not better. Lynx would have been the only man the women craved.
Bonnie nodded. "They never left him alone for a minute," she said. "They didn't feed him much, or let him sleep, either."
"No wonder he didn't like women!" Cocking her head, Jack went on to ask, "Sure you didn't do anything to change his mind?"
"Don't know for sure," Bonnie shrugged. "But I think it might have been the food."
Jack grinned. "Then you must be needing more chocolate by now."
Bonnie couldn't argue with that.
Then Jack remembered something else. "Haven't seen anything of Sylor, have you?"
"No, but I think he's around somewhere," Bonnie replied. "Lynx said he could smell him."
"Not surprising," Jack commented. "Think he might cause trouble?"
"I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did. Did you know Vessonians can disappear? Like chameleons?"
"I've never heard that," Jack admitted, "but I wouldn't put it past them. I never did like that bastard!"
"Must be something they like to keep secret then—I could see where they might not want the word to get out. I didn't know it myself until Ulla vanished one day. Scared me half to death!"
"That would make Vessonians about as much trouble as Treslanties, then," Jack remarked. "They're the only ones I've ever heard of that could do stuff like that, which makes it a real pain in the ass if you're ever looking for one. 'Course, Nedwuts are even worse if you're trying to keep a Zetithian safe." Jack had killed a number of Nedwuts since she met Cat—though killing them didn't get you in trouble anywhere anymore. It was a wonder they didn't figure it out and stay home, but they couldn't seem to get the idea into their thick, ugly skulls. "This is one planet you're safe from them on," Jack commented. "Tougher landing regulations than Earth! Good place to raise Zetithians." Eyeing Bonnie speculatively, she went on, "Any possibility of that?"
Bonnie smiled. "Doing everything in my power."
"Good girl," Jack said approvingly. "I knew you could do it! I'm doing my part again too."
"You're expecting?" Bonnie exclaimed.
"Yes, I am," Jack said proudly. "Not sure what we'll name this bunch, but if they're all boys again, I'm leaning toward Groucho, Chico, and Harpo—though Cat's more in favor of Kirk, Spock, and Bones. I don't really like the idea of naming a kid 'Bones,' though," she confided. "Sounds a bit macabre to me."
"That's wonderful!" Bonnie said. She was excited about Jack's pregnancy, but, as before when Jack had nicknamed her older sons Larry, Moe, and Curly, the significance was lost on Bonnie. Jack had made a study of ancient Earth culture, so Bonnie could assume that the names referred to someone—she just didn't know who.
"I had enough trouble naming one child," Bonnie said. "So far, I haven't given any thought to what I'd name triplets."
"Well, I'mhere to tell you that if Lynx is the father, there will be three of them," Jack declared. "You know, I still haven't figured out how that works. I need to talk to Vladen. I could understand a Zetithian female always having a litter of three, but how it works with a human mother, I haven't got a clue. Tisana said the women in her family only have one daughter, but she had a couple of boys, too, so if you're smart, you'd best be making a list of names you like—and lots of them, because you're gonna need 'em!"
Jack took a deep breath before continuing—though Bonnie felt in need of one as well. Talking with Jack always left her feeling a little breathless. "So, Bonnie," Jack began. "Is the nooky fabulous, or what?"
"You know it is," Bonnie said, laughing at Jack's choice of words. "I've never even heard of a man who can do what he does!"
Jack let out a low whistle. "Hmm," she said, tapping her chin. "I believe I need to hear some details!"
Knowing that Jack had sent him off with Lynx primarily to have him discover more about Lynx's past, Leo figured he'd better ask a few questions. If Lynx didn't want to talk, Leo couldn't very well make him, but knew that the attempt was expected of him.
"So, you are... happier now?" Leo ventured.
Lynx became instantly wary. Leo might have been an old friend, but it was hard to change deeply ingrained habits overnight. "Yes," he said cautiously.
"Being a free man is much better than being a slave, isn't it?"
Lynx thought that this went without saying, but agreed anyway.
"Being a slave wasn't always bad," Leo went on casually. "I had some good times, even then, but my life is so much better now. I have Tisana and our children to love—which is our purpose."
"Our purpose?"
"Yes," Leo replied. "Giving women joy was always our purpose—one which I was never privileged to fulfill until I met Tisana."
As Lynx had been required to give women joy whether he liked it or not, he hadn't seen it as being much of a privilege—though that was changing.
Noting his grim expression, Leo prompted him: "Is there anything you wi
sh to tell me?"
"About what?"
"Anything," Leo replied with an expansive wave. "Your life since the war, the places you've been, how you came to be on this planet—I don't think you told us all of the details."
Lynx wondered when he would ever feel comfortable talking about any of it. Somehow, he didn't think he ever would. "I was first sold to a man on a planet called Paemay," he began, intending to keep his explanation to the bare minimum. "He had many female slaves. I was their slave for many years." Looking pointedly at Leo, he added, "Do I have to tell you anything more?"
Leo regarded him gravely. He had an idea that Lynx hadn't wasted that time polishing their fingernails or combing their hair. "Ah," Leo said with a nod. "Then you must teach me what you have learned," he said. "It would be nice to be able to give my wife something... new."
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