Saving Jax

by L. M. Brown

  "But I—"

  "No," Ty interrupted. "I don't care if you've spent your entire life working as a whore at the Pleasure Station. It's the past, it's over and done with. From this day forward you are the mate of a high noble, and I will not have anyone speaking of you in that manner. Not even you."

  "I told you not to worry," Cal said to Jax. "Now that's out of the way, let's hear what Ty has to say about these disguises. They'll have to be good if we're going to get off-world without being seen."

  Ty grinned. "I think you'll like them."

  Cal gave him a dubious frown, but Jax offered a tentative smile.

  "I just need to pick up a few things on the way."

  *****

  The lodge, a set of luxurious modified caves high in the mountains, was quiet and isolated, and perfect for what they had planned.

  "Do you have the new satchels?" Ty asked.

  Cal went to fetch them and placed them on the table.

  "Perfect," Ty said after checking them. "We take only what we can fit in these. Everything else stays here. We'll leave some debris around the lodge, to make it look as though there's been an abduction, that way they won't cancel the contract immediately."

  "You don't think your parents will be worried if you're abducted?" Jax asked. "They seem to care for you a great deal."

  "Oh, they do," Ty agreed. "They also know that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. They will probably suspect one of the other noble families, perhaps trying to force a claiming."

  "Does that still happen these days?" Cal questioned. "I've not heard any reports of such things in a long time."

  "There was one a couple of cycles ago." Ty grinned. "That's what gave me the idea."

  Cal poked at the jar on the table. "They may not cancel the contract at all if we can fool them completely."

  "That's not very likely," Ty said. "They aren't fools. We just need enough time to ensure that we can pass the babies off as mine."

  Jax rested his hand on his stomach and Cal smiled across the table at him.

  Ty picked up a bottle of something he had traded the humans for in the market they had passed through at the base of the mountains.

  "Are you going to tell us what that is?" Cal asked.

  "It's dye," Ty replied as he read the instructions on the back of the bottle. "It will change the colour of my fur."

  "Really?"

  Ty nodded. "This is black dye and I bought several bottles of it. If I can make myself appear as a plain black, perhaps with a white belly where my stripes are already so faded you can barely see them. I'll see how it goes when I'm applying the stuff. As long as I can hide the markings that make me recognisable as a high noble. If we give Jax some patches too, it will appear to anyone who sees us that we're three common felines travelling together."

  "People will still be searching for a trio," Cal reminded him. He tried to picture Ty and Jax with different markings, but he couldn't quite see it.

  "That can't be helped. If we split up, we run the risk of being separated permanently."

  "What's this?" Jax asked as he poked what appeared to be a small cushion.

  "That's for Cal," Ty replied.

  "For me?" Cal picked it up but couldn't imagine what he was supposed to do with it.

  Ty grinned at him and took the cushion back. "I'm going to sew this into one of your new togas."

  "Um… why?"

  "So it will appear as if you're heavily pregnant."

  "But I'm not dual-gendered."

  Ty rolled his eyes. "Obviously, and that's the whole point. If anyone asks if they've seen a feline with your markings, most people will remember your belly. Since you're known to be only male, no one will suspect you're you."

  Cal snatched back the cushion and tucked it into his kilt. "Does this make me look fat?"

  Jax snickered. "Not as fat as I'll be in a few months' time."

  Cal placed his hands at the small of his back, stretched, and groaned loudly. "Oh my poor aching back. I think one of you will have to carry me back down the mountain."

  Ty threw a cloth at him and rolled his eyes. "Come on and let's start packing what we're taking with us. Then I'll check in with my parents before Jax and I dye our fur."

  Cal dragged the nearest trunk across the floor and opened it. The kilt on the top was trimmed with gold and adorned with a pattern of black and white beads. It was far too elaborate to pass for the clothing of a commoner. He put it to one side and looked at the next one, which unfortunately was just as fancy. By the time he had rifled through half of the contents of the trunk, Ty had returned.

  "Your clothes are completely unsuitable," Cal told him as he discarded a robe.

  "I suspected as much. I'll have to borrow some from you."

  "You're larger than me," Cal reminded him.

  "I'll make do and get some new clothes once we're off-world."

  Cal agreed and moved on to the second trunk, Jax's, which wasn't much better, but at least contained a few items that were suitable. He packed their bags, hiding their funds in a secret inside pocket, and went to see how Ty and Jax were getting on with the dye.

  "What do you think?" Ty asked. "Do you think I'll pass inspection?"

  Cal blinked and did a double take. He peered closer, at the parts where he knew Ty to have stripes in his fur, but the dye had done its work well. Although he could just make out the slight difference in shade, it was only when he stood close to him that he could tell. "Is it permanent?"

  "The container says not. We'll take some with us and reapply it if it starts to fade before we're safe."

  Cal took a couple of bottles and added them to their luggage. Jax appeared from the bathing chamber, and Cal grinned at his affronted expression.

  "I can't get the patches right," Jax complained. "I look stupid."

  Cal chuckled and nudged Jax back into the next room. "Ty's new markings aren't perfect either, especially round the back. Come on, let me see what I can do."

  Jax sat on the bench beside the hydro-shower and Cal knelt at his feet.

  "It's not so bad," Cal said as he touched up one of the patches.

  "The bottle says the dye is supposed to be used on hair. We don't have human hair, we have fur and skin."

  "Well, there's plenty of it on your skin," Cal replied. "Hey, this patch here on your hip looks like a cock."

  Jax twisted round in an effort to see it. "Oh fuck, can you fix it?"

  Cal was already working on it, adding dye to turn the phallus-shaped marking into something more rounded.

  "What about my tail?" Jax asked. "Do you think it needs some patches too?"

  Cal rubbed the dye into the fur in two places and decided that was enough. If they went too far he'd end up with no dye left for touching them up.

  "I still look weird," Jax said as he looked in the mirror.

  "You look fine. We'll be wearing cloaks, since we're coming down from the mountains, so no one will see most of your body anyway. We'll just be three common felines, and no one will look twice at us. Well, maybe at me since I'm going to be pregnant, as well as devastatingly handsome."

  Jax gave a small chuckle. "Do you know where we're going once we're off-world?"

  "No."

  "Aren't you worried?"

  Cal shook his head. "I'd trust Ty with my life."

  He took Jax's hand and led him back to the main room.

  Ty had taken their clothing from the trunks and put them away in the cupboards, save for the pile in his arms. "Laundry basket," he explained. "To make it look like we were here a while before the abduction. Go outside and find a rock to break the glass in the door. Do it from outside and pick a pane that would let you open the door from out there, as if you were breaking in. Make sure to open the door and come back in, that way the glass will be placed as if someone had entered that way."

  "You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?" Cal asked. "What about the security on the place?"

  "It was disabled when th
e lodge was vacated after the last harvest. My mother gave me the code to enable it again, but I think it best we leave it turned off."

  "Are you sure you don't want to hire someone to break in on camera and drag us out of here?"

  Even though Cal was being sarcastic, Ty seemed to be giving his question serious consideration. "No, the fewer people who know what we're up to the better. The fewest is us three and I think we should leave it at that."

  Cal silently agreed and went to break the glass on the door.

  They tipped over a chair and knocked a cushion to the floor, put half-used toiletries into the bathing room, and mussed up the sheets on the bed.

  "Do you think, maybe we should have sex on the bed too?" Cal asked. "You know since we're supposed to be making it look like we've been living here a while."

  Ty shook his head. "I've put some stained sheets in the laundry already."

  "You have?"

  Ty sighed. "It was a real waste of cream too, but it should convince anyone who looks that closely that someone's been having sex around here."

  "Is there anything else you can think of?" Cal asked.

  "I'm sure there are lots of things we should be doing to add to the illusion, but I can't think of anything right now. A dozen things will probably occur to me as soon as we take off. I think we should get out of here and get to the spaceport, otherwise we'll still be here when the staff arrives."

  *****

  "Have you ever been off-world?" Jax asked after they had checked in under false names at the spaceport.

  "No," Ty replied. "We barely left the jungle. What about you?"

  Jax nodded. "I travelled with my parents when I was a child, but I've not been off-world since they passed. These crafts are very different to the ones we travelled in. They're much bigger than my father's personal ship."

  The public spacecraft were large and slow. From the number of passengers milling around the concourse, it was going to be crowded too.

  "Come on, babe," Ty said.

  Jax smiled at him. They had decided to use terms of endearment since leaving the lodge. That way they hoped to avoid slipping up and using one of their real names in front of someone who might recall them, if questioned.

  Cal sat on a cushioned seat, patting his fake belly with a dopey smile on his face. Jax hoped he didn't look like that when he was heavily pregnant.

  "Let's get our expectant papa on board," Ty said. "I'll get the bags."

  "I can carry my own," Jax replied.

  Ty shook his head. "I can manage. Come on, let's get on board and find our rooms."

  Jax didn't argue. Ty had been faking over-protectiveness of Cal, but that didn't stop him from being genuinely concerned for the both of them.

  They headed up the ramp, handed over their passes, and used the entrance map to find their quarters.

  Once inside Jax curled up on the bed and yawned.

  "Tired?" Ty asked.

  Jax nodded. "I just need a nap. It's been a long few days with all the travelling."

  Ty sat beside him and stroked his fur. "Do you want to feed before you sleep?"

  Jax smiled up at him, touched by how often both Ty and Cal had fed him since they'd claimed him. No longer was he limited to one meal a day, or even less. Instead, he was fed regularly and never made to feel as if he were a nuisance. "What about you? You've been feeding me and Cal, but when was the last time you fed?"

  "I'll feed from Cal once you're fed," Ty assured him.

  "You can feed from me if you like," Jax said. "I'm not that tired and I like having my cock sucked as much as any other feline."

  Cal crawled over to him on the bed. "In that case, why don't I snack from you while you feed from Ty? After all, we're feeding for our litters, aren't we?"

  Ty smacked Cal lightly on the rump. "You don't have to keep up the pretence when we're alone."

  Cal grinned and raised his arse higher, purring in delight.

  Ty shook his head. "I'll feed from Cal after you two have fed."

  Jax shifted so he could reach Ty's cock. He took the flesh into his mouth and sucked at the same time Cal devoted his attention to Jax's hard shaft.

  "That's it," Ty encouraged. "I'm not having you go hungry again. We've got to make sure our babies are healthy."

  Jax smiled as Ty's cream spilled into his mouth. He gulped it down at the same time Cal licked along the most sensitive part of his cock. He bucked his hips as Cal took him deep into his throat. He released Ty's cock in case he accidentally nicked the flesh with his sharp incisors. He moaned as Cal milked him for everything he could give.

  Then Ty's lips were on his and they kissed desperately, with more teeth than lips. He clawed at Ty's back, realised he had removed his cloak, and felt relieved that he wasn't going to shred the fabric and ruin it.

  The passion he felt in Ty's arms overwhelmed him. Never had he imagined a kiss could send such ripples of desire through him. Then there was Cal, still sucking him with eager slurps. His entire body felt aflame and he couldn't seem to stop coming. Pulse after pulse tore through him and all he could do was hold on tight.

  Heat hit his stomach. Ty shook in his arms, and Jax realised he too had been unable to hold off his orgasm. He pulled Ty down onto the bed and held him as they trembled with the aftershocks of their climaxes.

  Cal rose from his cock and licked his lips. He sat back on his knees, his cock hard. Jax wondered where his kilt had gone, but he didn't take more than a second to worry about it. Cal crawled up the bed and climbed on top of Ty. "Your turn."

  Ty didn't seem capable of doing anything more than lying there, while Cal fed him his cock.

  Jax ran his fingers over his stomach and gathered up the drying cream. He raised his hand to Cal's lips and let him suck them clean.

  "Fuck his mouth," Jax whispered.

  Ty nodded, his lips still clamped around Cal's length.

  Encouraged by them both, Cal began to thrust, gently at first, then harder, until he was spilling into Ty's mouth. Ty gulped over and over as he fed from Cal.

  Jax stroked Ty's arm and then Cal's thigh. They were still feeding when he closed his eyes, intending to take a short nap.

  "Is he asleep?" Ty asked.

  "Yes. He must have been really tired to actually fall asleep during all that."

  "I'm not that noisy," Ty replied as he pulled Cal into his arms. "Besides, I've heard that pregnant felines can sleep through anything."

  Cal traced his finger along Jax's chest. "It's apparently true."

  Ty chuckled. "Let him sleep."

  Cal rested his head on Ty's chest. "Any idea where we're going?"

  "This craft is bound for the main port in the neighbouring sector. We'll disembark there."

  "And from there?"

  "I have no idea. We'll find out what ships are going where and then decide. Wherever we go, it's going to be wherever is best for Jax and the babies."

  *****

  The journey to the space station was relatively quick. Jax was still asleep when the announcement came through the speaker system that they were going to be docking shortly.

  "Where are we going to go from here?" Jax asked, around a wide yawn.

  Ty picked up their bags and slung them over his shoulder. "First, we're going to pick you up some proper maternity clothes and items you'll need for the birth and the babies. I also want to get a new handheld holo-projector, one that I can be sure doesn't have any form of tracking device in it. Then we'll see what ships are going where and make a decision about which one to book passage on."

  Cal wrapped his arm around Jax's waist, and they followed Ty off the ship.

  "Do you feel as guilty as me about making Ty carry everything?" Jax whispered to Cal.

  "Not at all." Cal grinned and gave Ty's arse a leer. "I like the view from back here."

  "I can hear you," Ty called over his shoulder.

  Cal and Jax laughed, but made no effort to fall into line beside him.

  "Do you remember being he
re, or at a similar space station before?" Cal asked.

  Jax shook his head. "I was very young when I travelled with my parents. The only thing I remember with any real clarity was sitting on my bed in our spacecraft, watching the star-scape outside the portal, usually when I was supposed to be asleep."

  Cal pointed ahead of them. "There's a holo-tech store over there."

  "I see it," Ty replied. "How about we find the maternity store first? I'll leave you there and join you again after I've picked up the holo-projector and got the information about the outgoing public flights."

  Jax and Cal agreed and they found the store right around the next corner. Jax was halfway through the door, eager to see what they had in stock, before the others had even realised it was there.

  "I've never seen anyone so excited about maternity clothes," Cal teased. "Or should they be called paternity clothes?"

  Jax snorted. "Since my female hormones will become dominant over the next few months, maternity is probably the right name. I don't really care what they're called though, I'm just happy to have some."

  "Didn't you last time?"

  "No. My uncle refused to let anyone know about my shame. I'm surprised he even had a healer attend the birth. I half expected him to make me deliver them alone."

  "Your uncle is a beast."

  "I won't argue with that." Jax hurried to one of the racks and picked out a soft pink toga. "Oooh, look at this."

  Cal screwed up his nose as though he had smelled something foul. "It's pink."

  "So?" Jax raised his nose in the air and gave a haughty sniff. "I'm secure in my masculinity, even if you're not. Besides, I look fabulous in pink." He looked down at his new black patches. "Well, I did before the dye job."

  An assistant wandered in their direction, so Jax kept his next comment to himself.

  "Oh no, that's far too small for our expectant papa," the assistant—Tilla, according to her name tag—said. She took the garment from Jax and put it back on the rack. "It's not a good colour for him either. Here, let me find something more suitable."

  Jax sized up Cal and realised that the assistant was right. They couldn't buy clothing for him when they were pretending Cal was the one who was pregnant.