by L. M. Brown
Then Cal's mouth disappeared and Jax found himself rolled onto his back. Cal knelt beside him, his hand on his cock, frantically pumping until spurts of cream hit both Ty and Jax across their chests.
It wasn't a claiming in the truest sense, because there had been no penetration, but the scent of the three felines mingled. Cal pulled them both into a three-way kiss, rubbing against each of them in turn. It might not be a claiming, but it made no difference to how Jax felt. He belonged to these two males, and each time he gave himself to them, and they to him, he felt it with even more certainty.
*****
Cal supposed the boat wasn't too bad after all. If it was anywhere other than on the river he'd think the place quite cosy. If they hadn't been surrounded by water he'd have been quite content.
Jax had made it clear that he had no intention of going back into the river now he was cleaned of the dye.
Instead, the two of them were happy to stay on board and watch Ty as he took his exercise by swimming several times a day.
"Do you think we'll really get fat if we don't get any exercise?" Cal asked Jax as they watched Ty pass by during one of his laps of the boat.
Jax chuckled. "I'm getting fat anyway, or hadn't you noticed?"
Cal had noticed, but he hadn't liked to refer to Jax's bump in such a manner. "Does this mean the morning sickness is over now?"
"I can't tell what's morning sickness and what's seasickness these days."
"We're not at sea, we're on a river."
"Like it makes any difference when the current is fast and the wind is rocking us about like it was the other night."
Cal turned to Jax and placed his hand over the slightly rounded stomach. "Can you feel them moving yet?"
"Not yet, but soon."
"You don't sound very happy about it. Aren't you excited?"
Jax sighed and snuggled into Cal's embrace. "Yes, but now I'm two months along, it means they'll know we're missing back on Furyne. They could already have made it to the spaceport and be on their way here."
"I doubt they're heading this way, and even if they are, we've been on the water without seeing anyone for a while now. We've taken random forks on the river and docked away from the main towns each night. Lupalia is a huge planet, three times the size of Furyne. Even if they know we're here, they would still have a huge task ahead of them to track us down."
"Logically, I know that, but the more time that passes, the nearer they could be."
Cal held him tight and rubbed down the fur along his spine. "The more time that passes, the more lost we get on this planet of rivers."
"Ty says we're not lost."
"I know, but none of us have been taking any notice of the turns we make. If we had to go back to the spaceport right now, I'm not sure I'd have a clue which way to go."
"I never imagined a world with so much water on it. Even Furyne doesn't have all this, and it seems to rain there all the time."
"We couldn't produce all the plant milk our youngsters need if it didn't. Have you ever been to Hawkri?"
"No, that's an avian world, isn't it?"
"Yes. I've seen images of it on the holo-projector. If you think Lupalia is bad for water, don't ever go to Hawkri. That place is all water. It's everywhere."
"You're making that up?"
"No, I promise I'm not."
"Do all the birds live on boats?"
"No, they have structures built on the water. Nothing is naturally grown there, not even the gardens."
"I'd like to live somewhere with a garden. Just a little one, where the children can play on the rare days it's not raining."
Cal smiled at the thought of watching their children running around a garden, kicking a ball around or playing chase.
Drops of water hitting them signalled Ty's return.
"How many did you do?" Cal asked. "Two or three laps round the boat?"
Ty flicked more water at him. "I did fifty. Would have done the same again, but I didn't want you to miss me too much."
Cal chuckled and tightened his grip on Jax. "I have our expectant papa to keep me company when you're neglecting me."
"Neglecting you?" Ty swatted at him, but Cal stepped out of his way in plenty of time and Jax caught the worst of the water this time.
Jax shot a dirty look at the pair of them, but couldn't keep up the pretence of annoyance. A smile broke out on his face and a few moments later they were all laughing as Ty tried to get Cal and Jax as wet as possible, without them actually having to get into the water.
Chapter Nine
Tollgate ahead. The notice painted on the wooden boards on the riverbank was the first sign they had seen of any other beings in nine days. Cal slowed the boat down and tried to see where this tollgate might be.
"What is it?" Jax asked as he joined him on the deck. At four months along, and over halfway through the pregnancy, there was no hiding his bump any longer.
Cal pointed at the sign. "Looks like we're heading to a tollgate."
"Can we turn back and go another way? It's not as if we're heading any place in particular."
"The last fork on the river was two days ago, and we didn't choose the other one because of warning sign for rapids. Let's see what Ty thinks."
Ty appeared a moment later and Cal pointed out the sign.
"I say we just pay the toll and go through it," Ty said. "I'll stay below and out of sight in case they recognise me as a noble, though I doubt anyone this far from a spaceport will."
"I think Jax should go below too." Cal gave Jax's belly a little rub. "A common feline might pass unnoticed."
Jax snorted. "Any feline will be a novelty around here, but I do think Ty should stay out of sight. How about Cal carries on steering us to the toll, I'll come up and join him if it sounds like there might be trouble."
"Absolutely not!" Ty snarled. "If there's trouble, you're staying below. I'll go up and deal with it."
Cal rolled his eyes as the two stubborn felines squared off against each other. Ty and Jax might’ve looked like complete opposites, but in this way they were so similar it was scary. They both also had a protective streak a mile wide, one that Cal was finding increasingly sexy the more he saw of it, especially with Jax and his unborn babies.
Eventually, they agreed that Cal would steer them to the tollgate, while the others stayed below. Ty would use some of the dye to hide his markings and join him if there appeared to be trouble. Jax, despite his protests, was ordered to stay out of sight.
They continued down the river with Cal reading out the various signs they passed until they rounded a bend and the tollgate came into view.
The gate was nothing more than a low-hanging rope across a narrow part of the river. A floating raft on the water carried two canines who were in charge of collecting the payments. It didn't appear to be any sort of official barrier, just some chancers who hoped to make a few credits by extorting those travelling along this stretch of the river.
"Halt!" The golden canine held up a flag and waved it, but Cal was already slowing down.
Thanks to one of the signs indicating that the price of the toll was twenty credits, Cal already had the fare ready to pay. "Twenty credits, right?"
The canine peered closer. "Now, what would a feline being doing all the way out here?"
"Just travelling the river, enjoying the sights and the solitude."
The second canine, a female with black spots all over her white body, snickered. "Since when do felines go anywhere near water?"
Cal laughed. "I don't mind being on it, just as long as I don't get my paws wet."
The canines joined him, but their barking laughter sounded forced. He held out the credits, hoping to move things along. "Twenty credits, right?"
The male shook his head. "Ah, but that's the price for canines."
"Oh?"
"Felines pay extra."
Cal glared at them, knowing he was being conned, but unable to do anything about it. "How much extra?"
&nb
sp; The female leapt up and landed on the deck with a thump. "Ten credits per feline."
"That's fifty credits!"
"So there's only two more on board?"
Cal winced as he realised what he had given away. "Yes. There's just the three of us."
"Maybe I should check below, just to make sure."
Ty appeared at the top of the steps. "There's no need for that."
Cal gestured to Ty and Jax, who appeared behind him. While he didn't like the idea of Jax being up there, it was better he stay close than be down below deck with a canine searching the place. "My companions."
While Ty was larger and had a more commanding presence, the canine's attention was fixed on Jax.
"What's the holdup, Dala?" the male called from the floating deck below.
Dala didn't take her eyes from Jax. "You should come up here and see this, Rettie."
The male climbed aboard, and he too stared openly at Jax. Cal and Ty each took a step closer to Jax, flanking him, while keeping a close eye on the canines.
"I've heard about those," Rettie said. "Male pussies with a working pussy."
Cal hissed and Ty stepped forward with a low growl. To call any feline a pussy was an insult, even worse if it was a male feline. To call one such as Jax a pussy was considered so bad it had been a crime on Furyne for some cycles.
"You should watch your mouth." Cal snarled at the canines. "Dogs."
The canines bared their teeth at the insult.
Jax stepped forward. "Let's not start name-calling."
"We're not the ones using slurs," Dala snapped.
"Actually, you did," Jax explained. "Maybe you aren't aware that calling a feline a pussy is as bad for us as calling canines dogs is for you."
Dala flushed and hung her head. Cal wondered if perhaps they really hadn't realised their words were offensive. Jax seemed to be doing a good job of educating them on this point.
Jax smiled at the canines and rubbed his belly. "Have you really never seen someone like me?"
"No. We don't get a lot of felines around here."
Rettie pointed to a dirt path heading from the bank into the trees. "Nearest settlement is that way, population five hundred. No one ever comes to this dump, except the occasional canine who's got lost. We don't get any other species out here at all."
Cal wished he hadn't said that. It made the three of them far more memorable if anyone else came along here asking after them. He was glad they had already decided not to use their names in front of anyone else.
Dala couldn't seem to take her eyes off Jax's stomach, but thankfully held her tongue.
Jax made a purring noise as Cal and Ty continued to eye the canines with suspicion. "There are lots of duel-gendered felines born every cycle. Most of the time you won't be able to tell us apart from the rest. It's only when a male dominant feline like me becomes pregnant that anyone even notices. You'll appreciate it's not something I can hide."
"Or that we'd want to," Ty added. "Being duel-gendered is nothing to be ashamed of."
Jax leaned into Ty and smiled up at him.
"No prizes for guessing who's responsible for impregnating him," Dala said.
None of them bothered to correct her assumption. The more misinformation that was out there, the better.
Ty took the bag of credits Cal had counted out and held it out towards Dala. "Twenty credits, yes?" The tone of his voice made it clear what answer he expected to his question.
Cal wondered whether the canines, both of whom were smaller than Ty, would push their luck and try to extort more. They would have to be pretty stupid to try it.
"Didn't you hear me say there's a surcharge for felines?"
Apparently they were that stupid.
Ty gave them a cold smile. "Then perhaps you'd like to put that on your signs. Unfortunately you didn't, so we'll pay the twenty credits like everyone else."
"Fifty credits, and be grateful we don't charge more for the expectant father."
Ty tossed the credits to Cal without taking his eyes off the canines. "Maybe you didn't hear me properly."
"We heard you perfectly well, but this is our tollgate and we'll charge whatever we want."
Ty stepped close to Rettie. "Obviously you're not used to dealing with felines, so let me tell you that we don't take kindly to this sort of thing."
"We don't take kindly to those who refuse to pay the toll. None of us." Rettie let out a long, loud whistle.
Half a dozen canines appeared from out of the trees. They dived into the water and swam for the boat.
"Just give him the fifty credits." Cal tossed the pouch back to Ty.
"It's too late for that," Rettie said as the other canines climbed on board. "Dala, go see what you can find of value below. I do believe our felines might have a few things worth trading."
Surrounded by canines, all they could do was wait for Dala to finish rifling through their belongings. It wasn't long before she reappeared.
"How did we do?" Rettie asked.
"Lots of baby items, but designed for felines. Everything's too small for canines."
"Don't they have anything worth selling?"
"Just a couple of items of tech." She held out Ty's holo-projector and a small holo-player Cal didn't recognise.
"Not that!" Jax took half a step forward, only to be stopped by a beefy-looking canine with yellowed teeth.
Dala gave him an unpleasant smile. "That sounds like it might be something of value."
Jax held out his hand. "Just sentimental value, please give it back."
Dala passed the holo-player to Rettie. "No tech has only sentimental value, not around here anyway."
"Please!" Jax appeared close to tears.
"What is it?" Cal asked.
Jax turned to him with pleading eyes. "It's a holo-recording of the babies from my first litter. It's all I have left of them."
For the first time Dala appeared mildly sympathetic. Just not sympathetic enough to give it back to its rightful owner.
Rettie dropped both the holo-projector and the holo-player holding the recording into his bag. "Now, fifty credits and we'll call it done and you can be on your way."
"That holo-projector is worth two hundred credits alone. It's brand new and barely used."
"Fifty credits," Rettie insisted.
Ty counted out the credits and handed them over. He supposed they should’ve been thankful the canines weren't taking every credit they had. "Keep the holo-projector, but give us back the holo-player."
"We'll keep them both."
"Then give us back the chip with the images on," Ty said. "They aren't worth anything to anyone except us."
Rettie appeared as though he were about to argue again, but Dala picked up the bag and pulled out Jax's holo-player. She removed the chip and tossed it to Jax. He grabbed it with one hand and clutched it to his chest.
"No thank you?" Rettie sneered. "We could have kept that too."
"We don't thank people for stealing from us," Ty replied. "Now get off our boat and raise the damn gate."
Thankfully, they did as Ty said, though not without a few more insults about felines who should stick to their own planet.
When they were on their way again, Cal and Jax headed below deck, leaving Ty to take over the steering.
"I'm sorry we've lost the holo-player to play the recording."
Jax patted his hand. "I have the chip and we can get a new holo-player. I'll see my babies again, both on the recording and in the flesh."
Cal took Jax's hand and kissed his palm. "Let's find somewhere safe to keep that chip so no one else thinks to steal it."
"The chip alone is worthless," Jax pointed out.
"Not to you."
*****
The next town wasn't large, and the three of them would stand out, but they needed to replace their holo-projector. Ty wanted to keep a track of any news of Furyne, particularly with regard to them, and they would also need it to search for Jax's children. The sear
ch was waiting until Jax was ready, but they couldn't ignore the news from Furyne. There hadn't been anything when they'd last checked, two days before they'd reached the tollgate, but that had been two weeks ago.
News didn't reach Lupalia that fast, or at least not via the Canine Information Network, which was all they could pick up in the middle of nowhere, but sooner or later, word of what had happened following the disappearance of Ty and his mates would filter through. They needed to be prepared.
Ty purchased a mid-range holo-projector, and as soon as they were back on the boat he checked to see if they had missed anything in the last few days since they had been robbed at the tollgate.
"Anything from Furyne?" Cal asked.
"I'm just looking now," Ty replied as he flipped through the various news stories without playing them.
"Surely something about your absence is considered newsworthy," Cal commented. "You're a high noble and you've disappeared right after the first mating festival to be held in cycles."
"Cal's right," Jax added. "High nobles can't just vanish without someone noticing."
"Oh, I'm sure my absence has been noticed. Whether I'm important enough to make the news is debatable. Part of me wants to hope that I am, so we can keep track of what is happening in the search for us. But if I do make the news reports it means there's more chance of those we come across recognising us and helping track us down."
Cal snorted. "Most canines won't bother with the feline news reports. They have no real interest in our species."
"It would be just our luck if we stumbled across the only canine who had read the report."
Ty continued to sift through the stories. "The stories are becoming more recent. There's a mention here about the mating festival."
"There is?"
"Yes. It's written from a canine point of view. They're most uncomplimentary about the festival, my family, and me in particular."
"What do they say?" Jax asked.
