"Willem." Kasha nuzzled under his chin, purring. "I do want to please you."
He knew enough about cats to recognize that not all purrs were contented ones. Cats purred when they hurt, as well, or when they were anxious.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you will."
Their blanket nest by the fire seemed the best choice. He placed his soon-to-be demon lover facedown on the comforter, enchanted by the play of firelight over golden ass cheeks blushed from the heat of arousal. Rose and gold--the combination struck him as so warm and inviting.
Kasha arched his back, lifting his gorgeous butt in invitation. "Is this part of the punishment? Making me wait interminably to have you inside me?"
"I want that like you wouldn't believe, but I don't have any rubbers."
"Ah." Kasha twisted to lean on one elbow. "You don't need them with me. We're different species, my dear, and can't transmit diseases to each other."
"Wishful thinking, or you know this?"
"I know it. I've lived with humans for long enough to know."
How long? Willem squashed the question. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know. "I'm not taking you dry, though."
"Didn't I just tell you what annoys me most?" Kasha rolled his pelvis against the comforter. "If you don't--"
He broke off on a soft cry when Willem ran his tongue down the crease between his cheeks.
"Oh... dear gods... "
Willem teased around the puckered ring, breathing in Kasha's scent, clean and earthy. The clean part didn't surprise him. He was a cat for most of the day, after all. When he licked over the hole, Kasha shuddered. When he shoved his tongue inside, his little demon howled and pushed back against him.
"Shh, hush." Willem nipped his right ass cheek to reinforce the demand.
Old habits, telling his lovers to keep it down. While he had never kept his being gay a secret, he had never made much effort to come out, either. His bedroom activities were his own damn business, which he'd rather not share with the neighbors. Out here in the woods, though, Kasha could scream and moan without anyone overhearing.
He drove his tongue into the constrictive passage, grabbing hold of Kasha's hips when his squirming and thrashing bordered on violent.
"Willem," Kasha got out in a strangled whisper. "Turn around. Please. Let me... oh... " He seemed to lose his train of thought as Willem caressed his balls. "Just turn."
Without losing contact, Willem spun around and straddled Kasha's head. Soft lips closed around his cock as Kasha arched and turned his head to meet what he offered. Soft, heated lips, just as he had imagined, closing hard around his head... and then he gasped, his hips jerking as that rough tongue lapped up the underside of his erection.
"Fuck," he whispered, catching his balance on both palms.
"Too much?" Kasha whispered against his skin.
"No... maybe. Give me a sec." Willem panted, trying to force his body under control. "Do it again. Not too hard."
The little bit of sandpaper friction wasn't quite pain, but the exquisite stimulation would put him over the edge too quickly. He allowed it for a few moments, letting Kasha get him wet and ready, gulping slow breaths while he ignored his body's demands to thrust.
When he couldn't stand it any longer, he pulled away, amused at the little whimper from Kasha.
"Willem, please, not yet. You taste so incredible."
"I'm not a piece of candy, babe. You keep licking me like that, I'll be raw."
He moved back around and Kasha pulled his knees up, spreading his legs wide while presenting that lovely backside. Nice to have a lover who made clear what he wanted without all the dirty talk. It turned a lot of guys on, he knew that, but for Willem it had always been a distraction, sometimes to the point of embarrassment. If both partners had the same anatomy, why the need for such graphic demands? They both knew what went where and how things should go.
His fingers dented Kasha's skin as he pulled his cheeks apart and angled his head with his thumbs, grunting at the vise grip around him as he eased past the tight ring. Not too careful, Kasha had been clear on that point, but he still waited that crucial moment for his partner to adjust. Once that telltale unclenching of muscles occurred, he thrust in hard, shoving his cock halfway into that heated sleeve. He knew it was the right approach when Kasha groaned and shoved back equally hard, demanding more.
Head spinning from the overload of pleasure, Willem clenched his jaw and gripped Kasha's hips to control his movements. It had been awhile, and the last thing he wanted to do was make a poor showing this first time. He kept his thrusts long and steady, pulling out almost all the way and then sliding back in until his pelvis met Kasha's sweet butt.
"So perfect," Kasha whispered, his back arching to change the angle of Willem's thrusts. "You fill me so completely... gods."
Willem leaned against Kasha's back, nipping and licking at his shoulder while he reached a hand underneath to toy with Kasha's furry balls and tease along his cock. His fingers slid over the leaking head, and then he curled his fingers around, sliding his hand down Kasha's surprisingly thick erection.
"Willem... "
"Hmm?" He thrust harder as he drew his hand back up.
"Willem, be careful of the--"
"Ow! Damn!"
Kasha jerked and moaned. "--penile spines."
He snatched his hand back to shake it out. Damn stupid. Of course Kasha had the little ring of backward pointing spines on his cock. He was a cat.
"I'm so sorry," Kasha murmured.
"Shush. My fault." He stroked Kasha's back to make it clear he wasn't angry. "Didn't think of it in time."
"If you only stroke down... "
"Got it."
The little bite of the spines hadn't done a thing to dampen his desire. The tingling burn along the webbing between thumb and forefinger actually spurred him on. Flushed, heart racing, it was as if the spines had injected him with some sort of sexual fever. He closed his fist around Kasha's cock again, careful only to stroke downward, and returned to pounding deep into the lithe, squirming body beneath him with unprecedented ferocity.
Kasha writhed on the blanket, shoving back as hard as Willem thrust into him. "Willem... oh, gods... " He stilled, muscles trembling, and then shoved back once more with an unearthly howl, his channel clenching in hard pulses.
Willem gasped, his balls drawing up in a sudden rush. He buried himself balls-deep inside the breathtaking tightness of Kasha's body, the thirty-foot wave of his orgasm rushing in on him. He bellowed as it crashed over him, sweeping him up, tumbling and tossing him until he lost all sense of direction. With a hard groan, he collapsed on top of Kasha, crushing him into the blankets as the aftershocks left him trembling and panting.
When he caught his breath, he levered himself up on his arms and withdrew much more gently than he had entered. Kasha shivered and moaned as he slipped free, shaking from head to foot. With a frown, Willem gathered him into his arms to hold him on his lap, stroking his back and sides.
"Hey, you all right, babe?"
"I'm shattered," Kasha whispered against his throat. "Nothing but a kaleidoscope of jagged pieces."
"Did I--"
Kasha put a finger over his lips to shush him. "You are not a stud, my dear Willem. You are a god."
Willem grinned and tipped Kasha's head up for a tender kiss. "A little over the top, there. But I'll take it."
Chapter 4: Retribution And Reconnaissance
Kasha woke as a cat the next morning, sore and unreasonably content. His first bout of sex in several decades had a good deal to do with that, but the sunbeam caressing his body and the large, sleep-warm body beside him certainly didn't detract.
He rubbed his face against Willem's jaw, delighting in the rough stubble. Such a handsome lord he had this time, so considerate and giving. If only they could simply stay here, tucked away in their mountain stronghold. Ah, well. Willem needed more. He deserved more. It was a selfish, ridiculous thought, the one that kept whispering to him that
he could have his lord to himself, truly be his lover, his partner.
A product of his loneliness, such absurd thoughts. He was merely the instrument of change, the faithful servant. When human lives settled again, when the novelty of magic wore off, they wanted human things and a human life. Willem would need that, too, perhaps sooner than later. It would be good to see him content, perhaps even in love, before Kasha had to leave him, the day Willem no longer needed him and dismissed him. Rightly so, a banished, disgraced kasha had no place in a good man's life.
When Willem began to stir, he stared in unabashed fascination as the blankets slipped from one broad shoulder, hard-packed chest and flat abdomen exposed as he rolled to his back, the soft line of golden hair from chest to navel inviting him to move his eyes lower. Kasha pawed at the blankets to pull them down farther, to the pelvic crease, to the lovely morning erection lying heavy on Willem's stomach.
Willem's eyes fluttered open. He stretched, powerful biceps on full display.
"Damn!" Willem sat up and pulled the blankets close. "Cold in here."
With a twitch of his tail, Kasha tamped down on his disappointment at having the tantalizing view spoiled so soon. His eyes half-closed, he contented himself with catching teasing glimpses of skin while Willem built up the fire and started breakfast, oatmeal for the human stomach, another tin of tuna for the feline.
Willem stroked his ears while he gazed into the fire. "Kash, when you said you were bad yesterday, did you really mean you were bad? Did you do something bad?"
Before the claiming, Kasha could have lied or ignored him. Now, his heki-sama had asked a direct question. The compulsion made anything other than truth quite painful. "Yes. I did something of which perhaps you would not approve."
The petting hand froze on his head. "What did you do?"
Kasha paced to the other side of the hearth to give himself a bit of room. "It was a matter of retribution. Of setting things right."
"Retribution?" Willem's pale complexion edged toward gray. "Damn it, Kash, what did you do? Who was it?"
Oh, this isn't going well at all. "I paid a brief visit to your ex-lover."
"To Joey?"
"Yes. It was a matter of justice, for his cruelty to you."
Willem surged up, yanking on clothes as quickly as his shaking hands allowed. "Is he... oh, my God, did you hurt him?"
"It's merely discomfort, Willem. He is unharmed. For the most part."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Dammit, if I didn't want to get back at him, why the hell would you?"
"You kindness would never have allowed it." Kasha tucked into a ball, wishing he could shrink into the stones.
"Got that right. Did I ask you to fight my battles for me?" Willem shoved his feet into his boots, fished his wallet from his pack, and threw on his jacket. He stabbed a finger in Kasha's direction. "We'll talk about this when I get back. He sure as hell better be all right, or you and I are gonna have a problem. Hear me?"
"Yes, m--yes, sir."
He flinched when the door slammed hard behind Willem. So much for keeping it from him. It had been a mistake, the little bit of teasing the previous night. Willem might act the wide-eyed ingénue sometimes, but he was far too sharp to miss such hints.
Patching things up would have to wait until later that day. By then, perhaps the miscreant ex-lover would have realized the solution to his dilemma and then Willem's temper might cool. It shocked him, the hurt his new lord's anger caused. He didn't relish anger aimed at him from most sources, but this desolate feeling was less familiar.
No time for regrets or speculation now, though. He searched the pack until he found the little metal crane, placed it under his hat, and set the hat on his head. Before seeking his Willem's forgiveness, he had much to accomplish that day.
* * * *
Willem waited for an answer to his question, shifting from foot to foot, while Gunther checked gauges on the mash tun.
"Yes, that prick you used to live with," Gun finally said as he straightened. "He called this morning looking for you. Didn't know where you'd gone, and I told him so."
"Did he sound okay?" Willem ignored the gentle accusation. He knew Gun would worry, but how could he tell him he had hunkered down in someone's hunting cabin without permission? Not as if he had a phone up there, either.
Gunther shrugged. "He sounded hysterical, but I can't tell you any more than that."
"What did he say?"
"Will." Gunther ran a hand back through his short-cropped hair. "If you hook up with him again, I'll kick your butt from here to Poughkeepsie."
"Not gonna happen. But I heard something and I'm worried."
Gunther gave him a long, hard look. "Fine. He said if you turned up to ask you to come by the apartment."
"Did he say why?"
"No, and I didn't ask the little creep. After what he did to you? I don't much care if his hair was on fire."
One corner of Willem's mouth tugged up. Before the breakup, he had thought Gunther didn't like Joey because he was so openly gay. It had never occurred to him that the dislike stemmed from how he treated Gunther's little brother. "All right. Thanks, Gun."
He turned to go, but Gunther's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "You plan on telling me where you landed?"
"I will. When I have something permanent." The hand didn't budge. "I'm okay, Gun. Really."
Gunther relinquished his grip with a sigh. "Fine. You check in sometimes. Don't make me come looking for you."
"Hard-ass."
"Slacker."
They shared a little smile at the exchange of boyhood insults, and then Willem strode away, too worried to delay any longer.
The apartment he and Joey had shared was only two blocks away, not that anything in town was more than a few minutes' walk from the brewery. Just three rooms and a bathroom above the old hardware store, now a Goodwill, he had loved the scents of old wood and the creak of ancient radiators. Joey had always carped about finding a better place, but Willem had felt at home there.
I guess that should be ironic. Oh, well.
He walked up the steps at the back of the building and knocked. "Joey? Joey, open the door! It's Will!"
No footsteps came to the door. Willem pressed his ear to the wood. Nothing. Maybe it was all a false alarm and Joey was at work, perfectly fine. Still, he had come this far. He reached up and groped around the top of the doorframe until he found the key that Joey "hid" there. Maybe it was an out-of-the-way place for someone Joey's height, but at six-foot-four, Willem could practically stand on his tiptoes to spot it.
He took a cautious step inside, wary of what he might be walking into. Under the creak and hiss of the radiators, another sound reached him. Someone sobbed from the bedroom.
"Joey?" He hurried down the hall, imagining a dozen different disasters. Joey lay curled up on top of the bedspread in his red silk bathrobe, face buried in his hands, body trembling as he wailed.
Willem called softly from the doorway, not wanting to scare the hell out of him. "Joey? Sweetheart? It's me... "
Despite his careful intentions, Joey startled and squeaked as he scuttled toward the headboard, pulling the robe close around him. His face was blotchy from crying and ashen, the way he looked sometimes after the worst hangovers. "Will? Oh, holy shit. I didn't hear you. Oh, damn." He buried his face back in his hands, his voice trembling. "I didn't want you to see me like this!"
"Like what?" Willem eased down onto the edge of the bed. "I've seen you with the flu, hon. Whatever's happened, it can't be worse than that. Gun said you called. He said you sounded scared."
"It's awful, Will! I don't know what to do. Leo ran out on me and he thinks I have some horrible new strain of VD or something and--"
He put a hand on Joey's foot, the only part he could reach with Joey continually scooting away from him. "Leo's an ass. If you're sick, we need to get you some help. Now take a breath and tell me what's happened."
Instead of answering, Joey straighte
ned his legs out and, with his bottom lip caught between his teeth, opened his robe. Willem sucked in a breath at the sight of Joey's groin, red and inflamed, with oozing, crusty blisters covering most of his skin.
"That... has got to hurt."
Joey nodded, tears starting in his eyes again as he closed the robe.
"Does it go all the way around?"
"Yeah. My ass is covered, too." Joey pulled in a huge sniff. "I can't drive myself to the doctor. I can't even get dressed, it hurts so bad."
"Maybe you should've called an ambulance, hon."
"And let the paramedics see me like this?" Joey shrieked.
Willem wasn't sure if he stopped himself before his eyes rolled. Vain and preening, he might be hurting, but it was still Joey under those nasty blisters. "Have you been fooling around in the woods lately?"
"No! I--" Joey's nose crinkled, an expression that meant he was thinking hard. "I don't think so. I mean, there were a couple nights I was really, really trashed."
"So Leo could've had you rolling around in the bushes somewhere?"
"I guess. Why?"
He patted Joey's ankle. "Looks like the poison ivy Kurt used to get. Not, um, where you have it, but he'd always get it real bad. Puffed his face all up. Blisters that wouldn't quit."
"You think that's all it is?" Joey scooted closer, his eyes pleading for reassurance.
No, I know what it is. But I can't tell you my damn cat put a spell on you. "I'm pretty sure."
Joey swiped at his eyes with another sniff. "I've been so damn scared, Will. The only thing that made it any better was thinking about you. That's why I called Gun looking for you. I know it doesn't make any sense."
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