Volle (18 page)

Volle sighed, entering his chambers. He had felt at the dinner like he was finally starting to fit in, to relax, and then the encounter with Ullik had tightened up his insides again. He dismissed Welcis for the night, stripped off his new clothes and hung them carefully in the wardrobe, then curled up in bed with “The Ringing of the Belle.”

Kris’s slender legs could not hold him upright before that sight; like a flower wilting before the sun, he dropped to his knees gently. His muzzle hung open as his cornflower-blue eyes traveled over the creamy white fur that highlighted each firm muscle, from the sculpted chest down to…down to…the enormous white ridge between his legs, above which the raccoon’s staff waited, firm and ready, for whatever attention the petite wolf cared to bestow upon it…

Volle felt the warmth in his own staff, picturing the scene in his mind, and as his fingers traveled lightly along it, he let his mind wander to fantasies of Prince Gennic again. He was as muscular as the raccoon, and Volle could be the petite fox who was holding the prince’s staff in his muzzle…and then being laid gently on his back as the prince’s desire pressed into him, filling him with warmth and passion.
The raccoon’s paw moved as smoothly as silk around Kris’s arousal, each touch of pads against skin like a soft kiss, each one building upon the last, sending sensations through the young wolf’s body that he had never before known.
Volle knew the sensations well, and knew exactly when to set the book aside, when his body would shiver and convulse and the familiar warmth between his legs would blossom outward to the rest of his body as his paw worked harder and his belly was
splashed with the warm fruits of his passion
.

He panted, and smiled, leaning back and setting the book aside before falling into a contented slumber.

He had to clean up early the next day, Gaiaday, to attend the Church services that the entire palace was expected at. They were held in the enormous cathedral, and people lined up outside to watch the lords go in.

The service was similar to what he was used to, except that the lords were seated by House, so he was separated from Helfer and ended up next to Lord Alister and two down from Lord Vanadi, who waved at him. Alister’s tail kept distracting Volle by twitching throughout the service, brushing his leg as it did, so that what he remembered of it went something like: “O Gaia above, bless ye all the Children of Canis and keep them…”
twitch
“…and keep them safe and prosperous. O Gaia above, bless ye all the…”
twitch
. And so forth.

He found the differences interesting, but initially hard to follow, so he just stayed quiet when he couldn’t figure out what to say, moving his muzzle and trusting his silence to be lost in the group noise. And he had to admit that the six-part hymn sung at the end of the service was more beautiful than anything he’d heard in a church in Ferrenis. The hymn was called “Dicit a vocibus omnis,” but the people around him called it the “Our Mother,” and told him when he asked that it closed every service

When he’d entered the church, he’d considered it part of his cover as a spy. He was Reformed and would stay Reformed. But talking to Vanadi and listening to the service, he began to see that many of the differences were largely cosmetic. He recognized half of the prayers and most of the hymns (save the last one). At first, he’d thought that keeping the Houses separate was too divisive, but at the end of the service the Cantor paired the Houses up, and each noble had to greet some of their counterparts in the other house. They were then called to stand wherever they were, and the six-part hymn that concluded the service was sung at that time.

“Go in the light of your spirits on the path of Gaia, and blessings run with you always,” the Cantor concluded.

“May your path be smooth and true,” the congregation responded, and then there was a general shaking of paws and patting of shoulders as they filed out of the cathedral.

As they were leaving, he found Helfer, and they arranged to change and take their run immediately. Volle beat him to the main gate by only a couple minutes, and as they started out, he told Helfer about his encounter with Ullik. “Good for you!” the weasel said. “So you have money now, eh? Up for a trip to the Jackal’s Staff tonight?”

The fantasies of Prince Gennic superimposed on the memory of the cougar Jonas floated in Volle’s mind. “You bet. You know, those books are good, but they’re no substitute for the real thing.”

“I know.” Helfer chuckled as they climbed the wall. “But for a while they were all I had. My folks wouldn’t let me go out alone until I was sixteen.”

“Sixteen? When did you start reading those?”

The weasel grinned. “Um. I think I got my first one when I was nine.”

Volle barked a laugh. “I don’t think I was even interested in sex until I was twelve.” And he hadn’t done anything until fifteen, when he’d registered at the Academy and been surrounded by good-looking young males his age, away from his mother’s watchful eye. There had been furtive orgasms under sheets after lights-out, sneaking through darkened hallways to make the midnight bed-check, various scent-maskers passed down by the older boys, to cover the scent of semen. And on weekends, there were plenty of older males waiting to offer mead or money to the adolescent cubs who filled the bars.

“Weasels mature faster than foxes. It’s a known fact.”

“Ha. Unfortunately, they also stop sooner.” Volle reached down to pat Helfer’s foot-and-a-half shorter head.

Helfer flashed him a look. “You think so? I could outrun you if I weren’t holding back to let you keep up.”

“Go for it,” Volle said, and they both took off at top speed, heading back to the main gate. Helfer really was fast, and it was all Volle could do to keep up with him. He passed him briefly, but then Helfer sailed back into the lead and beat Volle back to the main gate by four or five seconds.

“There,” he grinned, panting hard. “You foxes are supposed to be so fast.”

“That’s not always a good thing…” Volle said, collapsing next to him on the stairs and panting as well. It wasn’t that good a joke, but it started them giggling, and their recent exertion made it hard to stop. A lord and lady bear, walking out, gave them a curious glance, and Renaldo, after helping the lord and lady into a carriage, looked at them disapprovingly, but they didn’t care.

After they’d laughed themselves out and lain basking in the sun for a bit, the wind started to pick up, and they walked back inside the palace. Near the Wolf Stair, Helfer patted Volle on the shoulder. “Say, why don’t you come to dinner tonight? I’ll give you the official tour of my chambers.”

“Sure.” Volle smiled. “And we can head out after.”

“Sounds good. See you around seven.”

Volle waved as Helfer jogged across the main hall, then turned around the staircase and found himself face to face with Dereath. “You two are certainly getting very cosy,” he said. His arms were folded across his black vest, and his expression carried anger, jealousy, hurt, and longing. His scent was more sour than Volle remembered it.

Volle shrugged. “We’re friends,” he said noncommittally.

Dereath just looked at him. “Well?”

“Well? Well what?”

Dereath sighed. “Are you going to apologize for the other night?”

“Apologize?” Volle stared at him. He honestly had no idea what could possibly be going through the rat’s mind.

“Yes, apologize! You invited me to dinner, you invited me into your bedroom, you practically begged me to kiss you, and then you push me away and kick me out with barely a good night!” He gesticulated violently with his paws. “And then I wait a whole day for you to send an apology, and nothing. Nothing!”

Volle just stared, stunned. “Keep it down, will you?” he finally managed to say.

“What, am I embarrassing you?” Dereath practically shouted. He lowered his voice to say, “I thought you were nice, you know, not like that Ikling. But he’s turned you against me, hasn’t he?”

“Look!” Volle exploded. “Helfer has nothing to do with this. And I didn’t invite you into my bedroom, you forced your way in there, and then tried to force yourself on me, and that’s why I kicked you out. You were drunk.”

“Oh, that’s very convenient. I suppose you’ll say that’s why I don’t remember it that way at all.” Dereath glared at him icily.

“Either that or it’s because you’re completely insane.” Volle tried to push past him to get to his corridor, but the rat blocked his way.

“Insane, am I? Wouldn’t that be convenient for you? Saves you having to be considerate of anyone with your shameless flirting. Oh, don’t think I don’t know about you. Going out to the brothel, hitting on that fox in Alister’s office, probably going to screw Ikling tonight. And I know about Ullik, too.”

Volle stared at him. How could he know? Dereath’s eyes widened and his expression became triumphant. “Ah-ha! I thought so. That old lech would take a blow job from anything on two legs—or four, if he could get it to hold still—and I thought he would’ve pressured you since you were new and all. And now I know.” He clapped his paws and practically danced with glee. “Ah, I feel much better, Volle. This makes up for a lot. Thank you.” Smiling sweetly and nastily at the same time, he slipped past Volle and up the stairs.

Volle sagged against the wall. He didn’t know who Dereath would tell, and likely Dereath would time it to be the worst possible person at the worst possible time. But it wasn’t all that bad a piece of information. Apparently Ullik had done the same before, and he’d been new and afraid. All in all, he thought things could be worse.

But he was definitely starting to hate that rat.

Chapter 8

He told Helfer about it over dinner, and the weasel nearly choked on a piece of cucumber. “Ullik? Oh, poor thing. I’m surprised you can still eat.”

Volle sighed. “It was probably the worst thing I ever had to do. I mean, not harmful, just horrible.”

“Yeah, I bet. Ugh.” Helfer patted his paw sympathetically. “I can see why you wouldn’t want that spread around, but really, most everyone knows what Ullik is like, including his wife. If it gets out, people might snicker for a bit, but most of them will be sympathetic. Believe me, Ullik will come off worse than you will.”

“I don’t know about that, if that’s what everyone thinks he’s like anyway.”

Helfer shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it. It was your first day. All the young lords have done stupid things. I got drunk at my first banquet and threw up on a footmarten.”

Volle giggled. “Did you really?”

“I think so.” Helfer grinned. “I sort of remember being at the table, and then everything went all spinny, and I grabbed at a uniform. The next thing I remember is the horrible smell and people pulling me off the poor thing. Then I think I passed out.”

“I don’t throw up when I drink,” Volle mused. “Don’t know why.”

Helfer leaned across the table. “So…I really don’t want you to have to relive it any more, but I have to ask. Is it as small as they say?”

Volle blinked at him. “Is what small?”

“You know. Ullik.”

Volle grinned and held his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. Helfer howled with laughter. “There you go! If that story gets out, and people ask what it was like, you can just say ‘stick your thumb in your muzzle and that’s about the size of it.’”

They laughed over that for a while, and when he had calmed down a bit, Volle smiled. “Thanks, Helfer.”

“Aw, what are friends for? And speaking of friends, my good friends call me Hef.”

Volle grinned. “My good friends just call me Volle. Sorry.”

“So how do you tell them apart from just your friends?”

“Well, the good ones make me laugh.” He winked.

While Caresh cleaned up dinner, Helfer showed Volle his ‘laying room.’ “I got tired of cleaning the bedsheets,” he explained, “so I set up this room to conduct my more, ahem, messy activities in.” He plopped down on a couch and patted the seat next to him.

Volle grinned. “Not sure I should, in here.”

“Piffle. I already told you, I don’t ride mounts from the palace stables.”

Volle sat down. The couch was certainly more comfortable than anything in his chambers, and he resolved to speak to Welcis about that. “So why did your bedsheets keep getting messy? Too much P. Zinsky?”

“That, plus I do have the occasional visitor.” Helfer grinned, and kept going before Volle could ask any more. “Those chests have lots of fun stuff in them. You can go through them and borrow whatever you like. I keep the really private stuff elsewhere.”

Volle eyed the small chests. “Maybe another time. I don’t really have anyone to use them with now.”

“Oh, there are things you can enjoy yourself,” Helfer said. “Plus, you’ll get that fox into bed eventually.”

“Mm. Maybe.” Volle thought about Arrin. He should invite him to dinner again. He added that to the list of things to discuss with Welcis.

“Anyway.” Helfer pointed at the doors. “Private bath there, which you saw. And, by the way, you’re welcome to use it if you need it. Wardrobe in that one. I’ve accumulated a lot of clothes.” He grinned. “Bedroom behind the curtain there. My parents didn’t like doors. I wanted one for my room when I lived there, but when I moved out here I decided I liked the curtains, so I left them.”

“It’s a nice effect.” Volle smiled and looked around. “Feels very open.”

They talked for a little while longer, and just when Volle was thinking that his meal felt pretty well digested, Helfer stood and stretched. “Ready to go?”

Volle grinned. “You read my mind.” He stood, tail wagging, and followed Helfer out the door.

The street was less crowded than on their last visit. It was a bit earlier, at that crepuscular time between day and night; the nocturnals were just stirring and the last of the diurnals were winding down their day. Volle thought again about home as they walked. All the things that made Divalia different from Caril stood out in sharp relief to him: the grey of the palace walls, the absence of certain odors (the river had a very different smell), the presence of others (he’d identified one of the unfamiliar smells as the odor of one of the wood types that was used in the buildings here), and just the whole feel of things was somehow different.

When they walked into the Jackal’s Staff and Tally greeted them each with a warm hug, the feelings diminished somewhat. Enclosed in this now-familiar environment, he could pretend that anything was outside. In here were lust and perfume and bright colors and soft music. It was its own little world, existing apart from the rest of his life. Fleetingly, he felt irritation that Seir would have to invade it.

Tally had dyed his ears blue this evening. They twitched as he put an arm around Volle. “Richy’s available if you want him.”

“Actually, I was wondering if Jonas is available.”

“Jonas.” Tally tapped his muzzle. “He should be in about fifteen minutes. What about you, darling?”

Helfer grinned. “I’ll spend an hour with Richy.”

“Don’t tire him out now. He’s got a whole night to work.”

Helfer raised a paw. “I promise.” His grin belied his promise, though.

Tally patted him on the back of the head. “I’ll send Richy out, and Jonas when he’s done. Have a drink, darling.”

This last was to Volle, who nodded and poured himself some water. The raccoons were playing again, and though they weren’t experts, the music was pleasant enough. It wasn’t any tune Volle recognized, but then, he mostly just knew bar songs.

Richy emerged from the back a moment later and walked slinkily up to them in a tight green loincloth. His fur was just as clean and soft as it had been the other night, and once again the sight of the loincloth and the edges of white fur below it brought Volle’s sheath to life. Now that he knew what lay under the loincloth, he was more aroused still, because the bit of white fur he could see showed lines that he could trace up along the sheath, and that brought back memories of the wolf sitting in his lap, arms and legs wrapped around him, tight rear warm around his hardness.

His muzzle was just as adorable, too, with soft grey ears and bright green eyes. He smiled at Volle. “So you’re abandoning me?” He put on a mock pout.

“No, no,” Volle grinned. “I just talked so much about you that my friend insisted on seeing for himself how lovely you are.”

“Flatterer.” But his ears went back and a smile curved further up his slender muzzle. Volle wished he could change his mind, go and take the wolf in his arms at that moment, but Helfer was already stepping forward and offering his paw courteously.

Richy took it, and led him to the back. Volle’s sheath throbbed harder at the sight of the wolf’s rear swaying back and forth and the tail swinging over it. He knew Richy knew he was watching him, and just as he ushered Helfer into the back, he turned and blew Volle a light kiss.

Volle sighed and drank his water. And next week he wouldn’t even get to see Richy, because he’d be meeting Seir. He looked unenthusiastically ahead at the next two weeks. Mister P. Zinsky was going to get several reads, he thought.

He barely noticed the fifteen minutes going by. His mind floated along aimlessly from one memory to another, carried along by the music of the raccoons. The worries about Dereath and Ullik, the wondering about the dinner with Tish, the anxiety over a possible plot—all this faded away, and when Tally came over, he greeted him with a warm relaxed smile.

“Jonas is ready, darling. Room three.”

“Right.” He stood, but Tally was still standing there waiting, and it took him a moment to realize what for. “Oh. Sorry. How much?”

“Five, dear.” It was the only time Volle had ever heard him speak quietly, and though he was still smiling, his eyes were all business.

Volle counted out five silver pieces from his purse and slipped them discreetly into Tally’s paw. The white fingers closed around it and Tally purred and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Enjoy, dear.” And then he swept away to another customer, paws outstretched. Volle had no idea where he’d put the money.

He let himself in the back and found room three. It was very similar to the room he’d been in with Richy the last time, except that the bed was oriented differently. Stretched out on it was Jonas, naked, one paw draped over his long pink erection. He smiled as Volle came in.

“Close the door.” His voice was a musical baritone, and Volle could hear the purr behind it. His yellow eyes traveled up and down Volle’s form, while Volle waited. He wasn’t sure why he was waiting, nor what for, but the echo of royalty in the panther commanded his respect. He looked at the lithe form stretched out on the bed, and his eyes were drawn to the long pink erection, more slender than Richy’s, but with the characteristic feline ridges near the tip, almost like barbs on an arrow.

“Let’s see you.” The cougar moved one paw lazily toward Volle, up and down, while with the other, he stroked himself slowly.

Obediently, Volle lifted his shirt off, then undid his trousers and stepped out of them. He was breathing a bit more quickly and was not surprised to feel his arousal growing. Because of the royal family, cougars always held a sense of majesty for him, and the interest in him was very exciting. Jonas’s scent was strongly feline, and though it wasn’t quite the same as the royal family’s, it was at least the same species, and in this situation Volle could easily pretend. The pretending, of course, made him much more submissive, but he enjoyed that as well—letting himself go at the whim of the beautiful creature on the bed.

“Rrr. Very nice.” Volle’s erection grew harder at this, and his tail wagged slowly. “Come here.”

He followed the cougar’s crooked finger to the bed, and onto it, scrambling up on his paws and knees. The scent was more powerful here, and if he glanced to the side, he could see the muscles rippling under the short tawny fur. A large, velvety paw stroked down his back, along his rear, up his thigh and hip to his chest, and then down to curl around his rock-hard member. “Oh, you like this, do you?”

He panted agreement. The paw stroked slowly. Volle’s arms trembled on the bed. He saw movement, and turned his head slightly so he could see the cat reaching for a pawful of lubricant. With a low moan, he closed his eyes and lowered his head.

“That’s a good fox,” the cat purred, and Volle could almost hear the Prince’s voice saying that. In his mind, Jonas became the prince, and it was Gennic’s paw that rubbed gently under his tail, first with the back of the knuckle, just teasing the fur, and then with a soft pad slick with lubricant. The pressure on his tail hole reminded Volle how long it had been since he’d been mounted, and produced another moan from him. His tail arched high in anticipation.

He heard a low chuckle from the cat and a gentle nibble at his tail. “Patience, patience.” The paw stroking him slowed its strokes so that they became light caresses, feeling and exploring every inch of him in detail. The paw cupped his hanging sac while the other continued to play under his tail, rubbing and probing, relaxing him.

Volle sighed, moaning again, and spread his legs a bit more. After long and gentle caresses, he felt the weight behind him shift on the bed, and the panther switched paws, bringing the slick one to his member. “Ready?” Volle nodded his head once, and felt a warm pressure under his tail. He lifted his head and moaned, pressing back into it, and the entry was tight and smooth as the cougar slid into him. On the thrust in, Volle barely felt the ridges on the cougar’s length, but when Jonas pulled out, they plucked at his muscles, sending electric sparks of pleasure through him.

He shivered, gasping, and clenched his muzzle tight. It felt so good, and the cougar’s muscular body atop him pushed him further into his fantasy. The prince’s paw stroked him, the prince’s maleness pressed all the way into him, the prince’s hips pressed tight against his rear, and it was the prince’s purr he heard with backswept ears and felt through his back. He felt as though he might burst from the dizzying sensations, but somehow he managed to hold himself back, to keep himself on the edge of orgasm.

Until the cougar’s warm breath hissed in his ear, the paw stroking ever more insistently, and Volle felt the surge of pleasure explode through him. “Oh…oh…highness!” he cried, his whole body straining as it finally gave in to the sensations. He felt himself clench around the member inside him, heard the cougar’s hiss of pleasure, and felt the spasms in his groin send warm splashes all over the stroking paw and the bed.

It lasted forever, and was over far too soon.

He lay on his side, panting. The prince was gone, and Jonas was cleaning him up. He looked with half-lidded eyes at the cougar’s lithe form, and noticed his erection, still firm and full, and now clean of lubricant. He sniffed the air, and though his musk was thick in the air, he didn’t smell any sign that the cougar had finished. Remembering that Richy also hadn’t finished, he didn’t say anything. He did, however, lean forward and lick gently at it when it came into view.