FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Areum looked over the mockups with what seemed careless glances. No detail escaped her, but she had such an eye for quality that she could analyze media with a computer-like quality. She set down the tablet, folded her paws over her lap, and nodded smartly at the foxcoon standing across her desk.

"Acceptable. Tell them to continue."

"Yes ma'am," the foxcoon answered. His fingers closed around it. For a moment he hesitated, his eyes on the tablet, then he met her stolid gaze. "You have no changes to make this time?" he asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"No," she said calmly. "Go."

"Yes ma'am," said the foxcoon again. He looked at Areum again. His eyes lingered, and then he turned to leave.

The hedgehog scanned him the way she scanned her reports and mockups for products and advertising campaigns. Areum knew Desmond inside and out; she recognized his lust and his disappointment. She had, in a way, trained him to expect sex when he came into her office. She also had trained him not to complain or whine, and she appreciated his adherence to this training. Later she would reward him in one of the countless ways she knew how. Sit on his face. Finger him anally. Perhaps let him cum on her breasts. He was a simple creature, as younger men tended to be.

She said as he walked, "Send him in when he arrives."

"Yes ma'am," said the foxcoon a third time and closed the doors on his way out.

Areum's day was busy. Running a tech company was taxing business, but that was the cost of ubiquity. The tablets and phones on the desks and in the pockets of her employees all bore her company's name. So did roughly a third of all phones and tablets on the entire globe. That wasn't even getting into other consumer electronics: computer components, Blu-Ray players, televisions, projectors. More professional electronics too: police radios, air traffic control solutions, specialized hardware for powering medical and industrial equipment. Another branch of her company had its fingers in the US military's pies.

Areum's days were busy, busy, busy, and she trusted only herself with her company's contracts. Desmond was good for arranging meetings, entering data, mollifying guests and occasional breaktime cunnilingus. Areum didn't trust the cute boy with anything more demanding.

Her day was nearing its end when the doors to her office opened and in came her newest asset. Areum had selected him carefully to speak for her brand. He was hip and handsome. Liquor companies lived and died by his endorsements. Automobile manufacturers similarly craved his visage for their promotions. But Areum was then and always a visionary, because nobody had previously thought to use a sexy singer to advertise sexy phones.

"Hey, you must be Mrs, uh," the tall, silvery-blue fox said, and then stopped. "What's your name?"

"My name is Areum," the hedgehog said without warmth, standing up from her high-backed chair. Quills stuck haphazardly out of its leather cushions. Body odor and musk hung around her. Areum was so outrageously wealthy that she presented herself unvarnished: musky and sweaty, washed and groomed but not deodorized.

She stepped around her desk to face him. Kahnso was his name - "Kocaine" Kahnso to be more specific, but that was not how he would appear in any of the advertisements. The hardest drug use he would be permitted to show in any of his advertisements - and even then only on a black-and-white back magazine cover for a gentleman's magazine - would be an unlit cigarette hanging from his lip. The implication of all his sex and drugs was fine and well, of course. There was little reason to employ Kahnso except to draw off of his organic image of lustful consumption in staggering excess; but she had to do it with some class and subtlety.

She offered him her paw and he took it, then she watched how his eyes gave her body a scan. He was not at all subtle; his ruby-red eyes lingered on her chest which was thick and jutting in her smart and custom-tailored pantsuit. As predictably as the rise of her stock prices, Kahnso also studied her hips which were suitably wide for a woman of her age, size, and motherhood.

"Say what you are thinking," said Areum firmly, her accent-neutral voice adding cold authority to every syllable.

Kahnso blinked. He took his paw back and looked at her with the face of a child caught eating cookies after bedtime. "I don't get-."

The hedgehog - who stood not on equal ground with Kahnso but in fact was an inch taller than the massive fox - sharply shushed him. She repeated, "Say what you are thinking. Be honest." Snapped her fingers, put a hint of a scowl on her stony face. "Quickly."

"Uh, your-, you got nice T&A," Kahnso said, and grinned sheepishly. "Shit. Sorry. But you said-."

"I told you to tell me what was on your mind, and you were honest." Areum nodded. "Good." She sat on her desk and made no effort to cross her legs. On the surface there was little need aside from putting on a front of basic femininity since she wore pants and not a skirt, but there was in fact a good reason why she should cover up. Her vulva made an obvious outline in the fabric, and sweat permeated it in a large, greasy splotch. Her parted legs drew the eye directly to her groin. To be as blunt as possible, Areum unbuttoned the jacket of her suit and allowed her breasts - big and sweaty, their tan fur gleaming in the warm office light - to breathe somewhat. The look of confusion on Kahnso's face pleased her more than she could possibly put into words for the pretty simpleton. Her own face was stolid. In business and pleasure, Areum was the very model of decorum.

"You were honest with me," Areum said, watching as a coy smile replaced the confusion on his face, "so I will be honest with you. I believe a working relationship that is mutually beneficial can be achieved only in light of complete and total transparency."

"Sure, whatever you say."

Utter bullshit, of course, and Areum wondered how much of it the fox fell for. Considering the oversexed smile on his face and the lump beginning to form in his pants, it was fair to guess he hadn't really heard a word to come from her mouth. Not that it really mattered, she believed; Kahnso was coming out ahead of this one. Ten million to feature in a battery of advertisements, a few shares, and sex with the CEO. She fully expected him to write a trashy song about this experience.

"Come," Areum ordered, beckoning him with one finger. As he neared, she unbuttoned her fly and shimmied out of the too-tight pants she wore. The vulgar wet splotch on the groin suggested a lack of panties; that suggestion was patently false. Underneath she wore indigo panties which were so soaked with sweat that one could have wrung them out and filled a glass. Her wild brown bush bristled over the waistband like unruly hair held back by a sweatband. "Eat me. You eat pussy. Yes?"

"You assume correctly, baby," Kahnso growled, grinning so wide that his gums showed. Exhibiting the swagger which had gotten him hired, he moved in close and knelt before her. He leaned close, touched his nose to her panties and quickly recoiled as if he'd pricked himself. "Uh, damn. Au naturale much?"

The hedgehog's paws, deceptively burly things, clutched Kahnso by the ears. First she pinched and pulled, coaxing a whine from Kahnso and scaring the grin from his face. And then she began to rub deeply, skillfully into the cups, soothing his pains away with skills practiced often on her foxcoon intern.

"One. You can address me as ma'am." Fingers digging in as if going for his brain, making even the rebellious Kahnso huff and coo; all boys of canine, vulpine, and similar blood were vulnerable to the magic of ear rubs. "Two. I do not waste time or money on things like perfume and deodorant. I clean myself of filth. Those who can't appreciate the smell of a natural body, I do not waste my time on." She peered down at him past the curves of her boobs, eyes solid, mouth as unsmiling as ever. "This relationship can be purely business if you wish."

"No. No, babe-, ma'am," Kahnso grumbled. "Sorry. Old habits."

"Forgiven," Areum said tonelessly. She released his ears, fingers teasing their way out of the cups all the way up to the points. "Now lick me. Vaginal is preferred, anal is," she very nearly smirked, "acceptable."

"Understood," Kahnso answered in mocking, robot-like stiffness. Areum understood the facetiousness but appreciated the reply all the same. He nuzzled into her cunt again through the panties. He winced at the smell again, too, but he had smelled worse. Frightful memories sprung up of unwashed groupies jumping with fleas and crabs. Areum at least had no passengers in her quills.

He slid his long fingers between her panties and her pussylips, felt along their split like running a shim along a lock, and then pulled down the panties. The way they stuck to Areum's groin brought to mind cling wrap coming off of a moist head of lettuce. They stuck everywhere on her pussy, her ass, even her thighs. He tugged them down around her knees and nosed her naked sex. A nibble on the labia, then he slid his tongue between them, probing deep. Areum's smell was powerful, taste even stronger. He shuddered and said, "You taste pretty goddamn good. Got a real-, got a kinda ripe thing going on."

"I do," Areum agreed. Her breathing was slow, measured; but her wetness was not entirely down to sweat. Certainly a man as familiar with pussy could tell that she was aroused, or perhaps her cold attitude threw him off too much for that. She felt over his silky black hair with something approaching envy. She was fond of her own hairlike quills, but boys like Kahnso and Desmond made silky, long hair appealing.

Kahnso growled quietly like a puppy getting scratched. He closed his eyes, mouthing her vulva, letting the sweat ooze into his fur. He reached down and unzipped his jeans, pulled them open, and slid down his boxers just enough to expose his genitals. "Just airing it out," he explained to the hedgehog.

"Mm," Areum answered. "Continue."

Kahnso did. He was beginning to prod his tongue deeper and a little harder. Now his paws touched her haltingly, but there was some promise in it. Over her thighs, on her hips. Areum welcomed the male's touch although her body language conveyed nothing. What she did offer as encouragement was a foot on the singer's penis. She brushed her toes against his meat, not really stroking, not really rubbing; only teases to coax him along.

The fox nuzzled her loins, huffed. "God. You smell pretty good, actually. Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea." She said nothing and he nosed into her clitoris. Her bush tickled his nose. "Hey, uh-, can I make a request? Do something for me?"

The hedgehog, who firmly believed in her boytoys being better seen than heard, had nevertheless been softened enough by his cunnilingus to humor him. "Make your proposition."

He rocked back on his knees and looked up at her, feeling small like this and finding it both pleasant and humiliating. But she was turning him on; there was no doubt about that. He held onto her knees just so he wasn't fidgeting with his paws. "You eat ass?" he asked her, trying not to sound hopeful.

Areum cracked a rare smile. It was gone so quickly that the fox didn't even realize he had seen it. It was hard not to smile, of course, what with Kahnso asking for something she was going to give him regardless. But the fox did not need to know that. Let him think he was getting something special from her; let him have that little victory. A gentle stroke of the ego went a long way, especially with Kahnso's type.

"Eat your ass," she said thoughtfully, toes playing along his penis. "Yes. Fair trade. Eat mine." To facilitate this, Areum stood. Her loins bumped the fox's snout and for a second he was huffing, sniffing her, stealing some needful licks across her vulva. It was a nice thing to see the singer taking so well to his role. Nice, but unnecessary. Her pleasure did not hinge on his. She turned smoothly on bare feet and braced her palms on the desk. The wide and round cheeks of her ass perked for Kahnso, musk rolling from her uncovered bottom, replacing the neutral air of her high-rise office with vulgar, sweaty stink.

"Christ, you got a perfect ass," Kahnso huffed. He was used to MILFs and their wiles; his agent was a MILF, his hairdresser a MILF too. His face smelled like middle-aged mom ass more than it smelled like liquor most days. But unlike his agent or his hairdresser, Areum did not attempt to hide the smells of sweat and natural musk. Instead she seemed to revel in the power her smell gave her.

He pawed at her ass and the cheeks were thick and fat enough to fill out even his thick, long fingers. Pried them apart, exposed her snug pink asshole, unleashed musk which was fermented and earthy after what had been a long day on her ass in her office. Nearing the ring with his nose made him shiver; the smell was powerful and sharp. "Oh, fuck," he breathed. Then he licked her asshole, just smeared his tongue over its surface. He went in again for a deeper lick, and like he'd prodded at her cunt, he poked his tongue into her anus too. Its rim tensed against his tongue and the hedgehog exhaled quietly.

Areum splayed her fingers on the back of his head. There was no need to hold him there, but to do so pleased her. It was like a muscle memory, something she did without consideration. "Smell. Do not only lick. Smell me. This is what a real woman smells like." And Kahnso smelled her, snorted her (she smirked at the idea) like she was a line of cocaine. Stupid, addled, but pretty; Kahnso was a good boytoy so far. She understood him to be quite gifted in terms of endowment. It certainly felt big against her toes. Areum had enjoyed herself with less, although with her intern and his small penis, a good portion of the fun came in criticizing him for his puny size.

"You smell so good," Kahnso bleated, words muffled, snout packed deep in her all-encompassing ass crack. "God, you smell so fucking good."

"I do. Yes," Areum stolidly concurred. "You are not the first man to tell me." Now she did pull him in harder and tighter, mashing his long muzzle deep into her crack where her sweat oozed from the fur and her smell was thick as a fog. Vaginal wetness drizzled down her thighs and the power high was taking hold, the alpha bitch sadism which made her a ruthless businesswoman and a demon in bed. "Kahnso. Given the choice. Would you fuck me vaginally, or anally?"

The fox groaned. The sound was deep and tortured. His paws felt over her hips and loins, brushing through her bush and over sticky-soaked lips. "Ass, lemme fuck your ass, it's so good. Your ass is so good."

"Anal, then," Areum agreed tightly. It was a bit of a disappointment but not a surprise; boys tended to want her anus when their noses were crammed into it like a cork. Something psychological about it, not a thing Areum was qualified to dissect. Anal was, of course, fine. She would not have made the offer otherwise. Areum was a fan of the phrase the house always wins. In business and in pleasure, the hedgehog was never at a loss.

"Enough," said the hedgehog, unhanding his head. She allowed him to inhale her smell a moment more, then she pinched an ear by its edge as if handling a piece of trash. She quite viciously pulled until the fox yelped and dislodged himself from her ass. He fell back on his knees and rubbed his relinquished ear, glaring at the quilled back of her head, blushing as well.

The hedgehog stepped aside and completely disrobed. The hate on the fox's face vanished as Areum's large breasts came into view, and his pleasure didn't seem to temper when he also saw her armpits. Like her groin, they were obnoxiously hairy and smelled powerfully. Even without her custom-tailed suit, Areum cut an imposing figure, and her face was emotionless as ever. She gestured at her large, black desk and said, "Disrobe, then lie back."

Kahnso stood up on shaking legs; one foot had gone to sleep as he knelt and he favored it as he undressed. Areum watched him just as he had watched her. Her eyes scanned his thick musculature, his large penis, his taut but somewhat round ass. A fine figure for a boytoy; good investment so far.

"Don't trust me to be in control?" he sardonically asked as he tossed his shirt aside. All that remained on his body was the star-shaped locket around his neck.

"Control is for those with power," said the hedgehog flatly. "Now. Lie back. Your rimjob."

Kahnso grinned. "Oh, yeah. I forgot I even asked for that." He sat on the edge of the desk, shimmed up a bit, then draped himself back, lying across her blotter. His legs hung partway over the edge. "So you know, I like having my dick stroked while I get my ass licked."

How wonderful for you, my big, pretty oaf, thought Areum, thoughts coming fast and much less formal in Korean, her native tongue. She wordlessly positioned herself at the desk's edge between his thighs. Her hands felt across his groin momentarily, fondling the thick red shaft of his penis, bulb of the knot, balls underneath. Everything thick and hot and fully-functional, as it should be. Even a woman as stern as Areum had her desires; Kahnso would satisfy her.

She knelt into a stance of submission, though even the way she lowered herself to eat ass had a certain decorum. She lifted his balls, nosed beneath them, smelled him along his taint. Exactly as she expected, he had a quite tame smell of shampoo and soap. Hint of anal musk, hint of sweat, things she would work on if she kept him around as a plaything. Abruptly she dug her tongue into his asshole which was perfect and pink. Forcing it in, digging him open, making him moan and squirm. It gave Areum a thrill, mild though it was, to eat ass. Like rubbing ears, it had a way of reducing even the most masculine man to a crooning puddle and Kahnso was not an exception.

"Oh-, oh. Yeah. You got it, you're a pro at that," Kahnso huffed, speaking dreamily. "Ooh, fuck. You know, I woulda signed that contract for free if I'd have known you were gonna sleep with me. Especially with that ass of yours..."

Areum would rather have paid the fox anyway. Trading sex for business was bad business; do it once and the next celebrity hired on as her company's face would wonder where his rimjob was. Better to have the paper trail and let the rumor mill do what it may once Kahnso inevitably bragged about what happened to him on the top floor.

She pushed away business thoughts, hard to manage as that was, for thoughts of her company and how best to manage it plagued Areum like nagging voices. She focused instead on Kahnso, on the taste of his asshole. It was tight, hot, rather devoid of musk but still a good snack. She avoided his penis for no other reason than to spite his earlier addendum but she forced her tongue deeper and harder into his ass with each passing moment. Her teeth prodded into his delicate perineum but he only squirmed and crooned, seeming to feel only pleasure. She began thinking of Desmond and his sensitive ass... Desmond who had one had an orgasm entirely due to Areum's savage analingus. Areum was curious if Kahnso would do the same. But Areum had a marked desire for cock. She pulled back and used the brush of his tail to wipe her mouth clear of undignified drool.

"Aw, damn," Kahnso huffed, looking his body at Areum as she stood. "I was digging that."

"More another time, if I find you satisfactory," said the hedgehog with all the warmth of a talking calculator. She climbed over him, peered down at him, made him feel small all over again. She pushed against his cock, forcing it between her ass cheeks like a sausage into a bun. For several moments she ground against him, smearing sweat from her sopping crack all across his penis. She studied his face with no outward emotion, watching as he huffed and grimaced. "You like my behind," she observed. "Not only how it smells but how it feels."

"Yeah," Kahnso answered. "I do."

Oh, enjoying yourself too much to make a sarcastic jab? thought Areum, smiling inside. Yes. I think I will have you back again.

"Good," said Areum, and lifted herself, scooting back on her knees. Her thick fingers closed around his penis and she guided it to her anus. Kahnso's breath hitched; his paws clutched her meaty thighs. Areum dropped slowly, smoothly, and penetrated herself on the singer's cock. The burly hedgehog allowed herself a brief show of pleasure, a soft moan as she slid down, down and came to rest against his knot. Just as quickly her face was stolid again, mauve eyes examining the fox with a frigidness he could almost feel.

Her gaze was cold but her body was hot, dense with muscle and fat. Kahnso thought to remark on this - positively of course, he very much liked this woman - but the part of his mind responsible for his tact, although malnourished and atrophied, found the energy to dissuade him from speaking. Kahnso just looked at her, gazing at her heavy breasts. The manner in which she stared at him made him uncomfortable in a way he had no vocabulary for. He avoided her gaze; her tits were handy for that.

Her bounces were slow to start but she gained speed like a train building up momentum. The sex was good for her; Kahnso's penis fell into her oftentimes capricious sweet zone. Not too big or small, and the knotted shape pleased her. Areum trained her anus for times like these partly for the pleasure, but mostly so when she did sit on somebody's cock, she was able to maintain her stoicism.

For Areum, the pleasure gained from anal sex was all in the anus itself. Each time she pressed against his knot, slightly spreading her pucker further, Areum felt twinges of titillating sensation. Fragrant wetness drizzled from her vulva. She grabbed one of his wrists and moved its paw to her loins.

"Finger me," she commanded, and released him.

"Sure, yeah," Kahnso agreeably cooed. He traced his index along her pussy's plump lips. The heat was incredible. He grinned and said, "Damn, like an oven down here. Wet too. You must like it in the ass."

"Anal sex is serviceable," she answered. "Finger me. You are here to give pleasure, not tease."

Kahnso found her beautiful but frightening, exhilarating in the same manner as an earthquake or a near-miss on the highway. He wriggled a finger into her, quickly added its neighbor, then he knowingly curled them in a beckoning gesture along the ceiling of her vagina. His fingers dug into the loving yet durable pink of her pussy and scraped along the nerve cluster of the g-spot. Areum's pleasure was considerable yet nothing was betrayed by her expression.

"You don't fuck around, do you, baby?" Kahnso asked softly, speaking with some admiration.

The hedgehog pinched his ear. "Ma'am," she corrected, as though in reply to his yelp. "Do not condescend to me with pet names. You are the pet." She looked at his frowning, pouting face. Her ride never slowed or dulled. His fingers, petulantly still at the moment, gave her more conventional pleasure. "Continue," she said. "To answer your question, no."

Kahnso had begun to humor the idea that Areum's coldness was a front and that underneath was a fun woman who needed a little coaxing to come out. Now that idea had been rightly banished from his thoughts. Areum was an iron bitch, probably the meanest woman he'd ever wanted to fuck. That was attractive in its own way. In defeat, he said softly, "Sorry, ma'am."

Areum patted his head. The action was unconvincingly stiff, as if a robot had performed it. Much more fluid was her riding; Areum bounced in his lap with shocking grace for a woman of her size. Her fingers trailed down Kahnso's muscular breast with hints of desire not shown in her face. "Harder," said the hedgehog. "Finger me harder."

"Sure, yeah. Yes ma'am," Kahnso said, huffing. He found himself stabbing long fingers into her cunt. Soon he added his ring finger into the mix. Kahnso found that three digits fit quite well inside of her. He jabbed them in as if trying to force his way out the other side. Her vagina was slimy and outrageously hot, and Kahnso began to wish he had picked it instead of her ass. And that, of course, was saying much; Areum's ass was doing wonderful things to him.

The phone on the desk chimed for Areum's attention. Without looking at it, she punched a button on its surface. "Busy," Areum said.

"Yes, ma'am," replied the soft and diffident voice of Desmond. The line went dead and Areum abruptly dropped down onto Kahnso, elbows hitting the desk, so much weight shifting that the sturdy piece of furniture jostled.

Areum's lips were close enough to Kahnso's for a kiss. She did not take one; kissing was of little interest to her. Kisses were for family, not the men she seduced. Smelling herself on Kahnso's breath was a pleasure, however; she smelled his lips surreptitiously, her eyes looking into his without much focus.

"Stop fingering me," said the hedgehog. "I want your knot inside of me. Push back."

"Yes ma'am," Kahnso said quietly, but eagerly, a grin appearing. He palmed her hips and ass, unashamedly fondling her. Areum was of no mind to scold; she appreciated the fox's good taste.

The way the hedgehog started to slam her ass into Kahnso was entirely graceless, all function over form. For the first time with Kahnso, she started to pant. Even her panting was clipped and dignified. Short huffs, no drooling, none of the blissful delirium some women sported on their faces when they were really riding a dick. It didn't really matter; Kahnso was huffing and groaning enough for the both of them. He bent in a leg, braced his foot on the desk, and used what little leverage it gave him to push his hips into her crashing ass. Areum was still doing the brunt of work. Not that the hedgehog minded in this case.

"I have-," Areum huffed, "not been knotted anally in some time." Instead of passionate, Areum was detached. The words made sense to Kahnso but the inflection didn't. He looked at her uncomprehending but horny, so desperately horny for her. He squeezed her ass and made her fatty cheeks extrude between his digits.

"I'm gonna cum," Kahnso wheezed. Sweat had broken out on his body and it oozed through his fur. Finally he started to gain a little musk.

Areum nosed into his neck. She licked him along his cheek, pulling sweat out of his fur, tasting his body and the salt he had to give. She smelled him nakedly this time. "You are sweaty," she said - and now there was a hint of lust to her voice. Just a twinge of it, the most Areum would ever allow herself. "Very good."

Kahnso had not been with Areum enough to know that "very good" was incredible praise; Desmond would have dropped to the floor and kissed her feet with gratitude upon hearing those words. But it was Kahnso's prettyboy stupidity which Areum found fetching. She took amusement in his reply, a confused "Uh, thanks."

The hedgehog mashed her ass down, down, against Kahnso, cheeks clapping, sweat drooling onto his balls, her musky asshole marking him as hers for weeks to come. And he would be back in her office, she had decided that much. She would not cum this time but that was fine. Next time. The anal sex was still good. His size was satisfying even without climax.

Areum brought herself down into him with such power that his knot wedged its way into her. Her anus opened wide, nearly doubling the diameter it was already gaped to. The hedgehog closed her eyes tightly and a grimace showed briefly on her stolid face. And then the knot was inside, Kahnso gasping beneath her, hugging her tightly. Areum regained her usual stoicism and she writhed against him, allowing anal walls to milk the fox, finish him off.

Areum didn't have to work long. Kahnso nuzzled with her and growled. Areum allowed the nuzzle, pulled away when he tried to kiss. "No," she said flatly.

He gave no answer. Areum knew why; she felt the throb in his cock, the way his knot swelled further still inside of her ass. It was incredible, that full feeling she so rarely received. Satisfaction was its name. The massive spurt of semen which entered her ass sent a tremble up her spine. After that the effect was diminished, her anal flesh already painted, but the growing feeling of fullness as his plugging knot kept the semen inside was a pleasure to her. Not, of course, that this showed on her face.

"Good boy," Areum said to the fox. She pulled out of his embrace without struggle. Kahnso's arms fell placidly on the desk, and he lie there huffing softly. In his afterglow, she found him to be quite cute.

She touched a button on her phone, paging intern and secretary Desmond. "Yes, ma'am," Desmond answered.

"Send her in."

"Yes, ma'am," Desmond said again.

Kahnso rubbed his stomach, pawing at some lazy itch. "Who's coming in?"

"Quiet," Areum flatly replied, and Kahnso was quiet, if not grumpy.

About a minute passed before the doors to the office opened. Areum turned her head as far as she could to see her daughter. A smile so wide and genuine that it actually gave Kahnso a startle spread across her face.

What followed was entirely in Korean. Areum spoke vivaciously in her native tongue. Kahnso, who knew English and English alone, stared at the scene with something approaching discomfort.

"Nee, my girl, I apologize. Mother was busy."

"I can see that," replied Needle, nickname Nee. Part hedgehog and part panda, Needle had none of her mother's massive height but all of the curves. Evidently seeing her mother in such a position was neither uncomfortable nor uncommon to her. "I just wanted to ask you if I could borrow Desmond for the night. He was going to take me to the comic shop and perhaps dinner."

Areum chuckled, smiled. "Yes, yes. Of course you may abscond with Desmond; I'll have my hands full with this fool the rest of the day, I'm sure."

Kahnso touched her hip. The shyness of the gesture was like that of a little boy tugging at mommy's shirt.

"Not now," Areum said in her stony, clipped English. And then she turned to her daughter again. In Korean her thoughts flowed more freely; her emotions were tied more to her natural tongue than the one she had learned solely to conduct business with the world. "Do you need any money?"

Needle, not given to smiling (must run in the family, Desmond had thought more than once), managed a brief, sheepish grin. "If you don't mind. I hate to make Desmond pay for my expensive habits."

The mother hedgehog nodded. "I'll take care of it." She leaned down, received a kiss from her daughter and gave one in return. Both on the cheek, but markedly more affection than Kahnso had seen. Needle didn't seem to notice or mind the smell on her mother's lips. "Enjoy yourselves."

"Thank you," said Needle, and she left as abruptly as she'd come.

Areum looked down at Kahnso to see he was grinning. "Look at you," he teased. "Being a good mom. I assume that was your daughter, anyway."

"She is," Areum affirmed. Then she pinched his ear. "This does not leave the office. Do you understand?"

"Ow, ow!" Kahnso yelped, grabbing her wrist in both paws. Areum pinched tighter, lifted his head by the ear. He yelped again and threw up his paws, palms splayed. "I'm sorry, I get it! Christ!"

The hedgehog let him go. It made her want to smile. He had such a low tolerance for pain; boundaries to be pushed, opportunities to be explored. As Kahnso rubbed his ear and looked defiantly away from her, Areum said, "You will come home with me tonight. Spend the night."

"Will I?" Kahnso asked, trying his hardest to sound tough. To Areum, whose ears had heard plaintive groveling from greater men, he sounded like what he was: a spoiled child reeling from his first lick of discipline.

"You will. Or not. You have a choice." She shrugged and her breasts heaved. "But I require your answer now."

Kahnso huffed. His ear stung like a bitch. Did she know how much that ear-pulling shit hurt?

"One condition if I do," he growled. "No more ear pulling."

"No conditions," Areum flatly denied him. She felt now over his chest. Her fingers cinched around his nipples buried under his snowy fluff. She rolled them a bit, mere teases. "Yes or no?"

Kahnso grumbled. "Fine. Fine. I guess."

Inside, Areum was grinning. I knew that you would say that, you vulgar oaf. Outwardly she nodded. Nothing to do now, anyway. Not while the knot kept them together. She settled against the burly fox and closed her eyes. It was nothing to do with cuddling, everything to do with making the best of her situation. But the fox was soft, and his smell had grown adequately musky.

Kahnso needed a little work, but what boy didn't? Areum was happy to have him as a plaything. She welcomed a challenge.