Kai
This is a story that felt like it needed to be written while I took a break from my "mainstream" sci-fi works. Unfortunately, it's one of those stories where one either "gets it" or does not as nothing is explained explicitly.
Kai's whiskers twitched as he watched a heavy woman enter the bar, locate him in the gloom, and come towards him.
"I was...I was told I would find you here," she said nervously, scanning the rest of the bar patrons.
Kai studied her from head to toe and said nothing.
"I...I want to be eaten by an animal," she said in a hushed voice as if she didn't want to be overheard. She pulled her winter coat around her nervously.
"One hundred," Kai told her as he drained the rest of his watered-down gin.
"But I was told seventy-five!" she protested. Then, immediately realizing where she was, repeated quietly, "I was told seventy-five."
Kai signaled for the bartender to bring him his bill. "Who told you?" he asked the woman.
"I heard it from my friend," the woman lied, saw Kai knew she was lying, and corrected herself. "I heard two women talking about it in the store."
The bartender brought him his check and Kai looked it over, pulled out his wallet and looked it over. He laid three twenties on the counter, giving the bartender a fat tip, and saw he still had money remaining. Feeling generous, he told the woman, "Eighty-five."
She bit her lower lip and gave a quick nod of her head. She turned and started out of the bar with Kai following as he zipped up his jacket.
Outside the wind howled through the buildings, carrying the snow with it. Kai squinted and flared his tail to help retain his body heat.
"Where are we going?" he asked her, leaning close so that she might catch what she was saying with her human hearing.
"I don't know. I've never done anything like this before."
Kai sighed silently. "We can go to back to your place or to a hotel. You'll have to pay for the room, though."
"My husband's on a business trip. We should be fine at my apartment."
He nodded and followed her the five blocks to her building.
The winters in Columbus were unpredictable in February. When he'd first arrived here two years previous, it had been like spring had preceded him. The second winter had dumped two feet of snow in a single weekend. This winter seemed to be shaping up like the last.
Once inside the small foyer, the woman stamped her boots on the floor. Kai bent over and brushed the flakes off his fur.
"My name's...."
"No names," Kai cut her off.
"What?"
"No names. It's a rule I have."
She gave him a queer look, shrugged, and lead him to an elevator. Once inside, she pressed the button for the fifth floor.
Kai braced himself with the handrail. He'd been in elevators numerous times but a primeval fear always stole through him as if he was somehow remembering his ancestors being snared. He had learned to hide his fear well with the exception of clutching the rail.
At last the elevator sighed and the doors opened. Kai followed her down the hall to a room on the right. She inserted the key card and the door clicked unlocked. She pushed it open and he followed her inside to a tidy living room decorated in cream. His nose twitched as he caught the scent of old potpourri and unused candles.
"You can hang your jacket here," she showed him as she hung hers up.
Doing so he took another look at her. No, not as large as he thought, but large nonetheless. Still, it had never stopped him before and it would this time either.
The woman looked nervous again. "My husband doesn't touch me anymore," she explained to him.
Maybe if you'd exercise a bit, Kai thought. Instead he said, "I'm sorry."
"I don't know why I'm doing this." The nervousness was back in her voice and she began to wring her hands.
"Do you want me to leave?" He always gave them at least one chance to stop.
She looked around and suddenly reached over to lock the deadbolt on the door. "No," she said quickly.
Kai could hear her heart beating faster and could smell her excitement building. He'd found that their two species weren't so different in that regard. She knew she was doing something taboo and Kai was willing to accommodate her.
"Do you want something to drink?"
Kai shook his head and remained quiet.
"Where, um, where do you...."
"Bedroom, usually. Or the sofa if you prefer."
The woman managed to nod and shake her head at the same time. She took his hand and lead him down a hallway.
Kai could smell the scent of cleaned linen and immediately knew where she was taking him. They passed photos on the wall of the woman and, presumably, her husband and three children. He watched the children grow up through their images and his attention was drawn back as she opened another door.
A large bed dominated the small room. Everything was decorated in white and Kai began to wonder if this woman didn't have any other colours in the house.
"Excuse me," she said. "I have to...." She indicated to the bathroom and Kai simply stared at her. She left and closed the door behind her, something which Kai always found amusing considering what he was being paid to do. Still, humans entertained him and that was his reason for being here - at least he'd managed to fool himself into believing that.
He heard her peeing, the toilet flush, and wash her hands. He was thankful for that last part as it meant she should have good hygiene. It hadn't always held true in the past but he was thankful that most humans felt the need to be clean.
The door opened and she walked out again to stand before him nervously.
"Um, do you rip my clothes off now or something?"
"Whatever you would like."
"Should I lay down on the bed?"
"If you prefer."
"Should I turn out the lights?"
He'd been asked these questions and more before and they could go on all night. "You're paying me to eat you. I will do that and I will follow whatever fantasy you want me to, up until that point," he explained. "I can attack you like a wild animal in the dark and rip your clothes off or I can be your lover with the lights on."
"Yes, that one," she said quickly as if she thought hesitating would change her mind.
Kai nodded and motioned to the bed.
The woman walked over to it and he gently reached out to untuck her shirt, being careful that his nails didn't tear the cloth. He slowly fingered the buttons and undid them one by one. He could smell her excitement growing and, annoyingly, her breath was in his ear.
He fully opened her blouse and laid her back on the bed. In a practiced motion, he reached around her, teasingly letting the fur on his face brush against her cheek, and unbuttoned her bra.
She sighed in anticipation and shuddered as he ran his fingers down her breasts and across her belly to where placed his hands upon her pants.
"Yes," she panted.
Kai undid the snap and pulled down the zipper. Immediately her scent filled his nostrils causing his whiskers to twitch. She slowly rolled to one side, then the other, so that he could take them all the way off. He reached up and grabbed the straps of her panties.
"Rip them off!" she unexpectedly shouted. Kai complied and she inhaled sharply.
The tangy scent of the woman's sex filled Kai's nostrils. He enjoyed the earthy smell and it reminded him of home, and it was always home he thought about as he did this. He breathed on her and she wrapped her legs around his head to pull him closer.
It took him less than five minutes to do what he did. She begged him for one more and he told her that it would be another eighty-five which she quickly agreed to. In less than fifteen minutes he'd pleasured her twice, cleaned himself up, and collected his hundred and seventy.
He explained that he could let himself out and she nodded in ecstasy. She could worry about vacuuming his orange and black hairs from the carpet and the sheets, that was not his concern. He put on his jacket and slipped out the door. Passed the elevator, he found the stairs which he gratefully took to the bottom floor.
He pushed open the door to the outside and felt the snow had turned to sleet. He laid his ears back and trudged down the road, back the way they'd come earlier. The usual hollow feeling was beginning to eat away at him and he thought about the home he could never go back to. A tear formed his eye and fell down his muzzle, mixing with the rain already frozen there.
He yanked open the door to the bar and went back to his familiar seat at the far end. It embraced him like an old lover and the bartender came over to him.
"The usual," Kai said, embracing the glass as it was poured.