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Casey gets into trouble, Dev helps out, an old sorta-friend reappears.

I know that Casey's already been captured once, but hear me out: this time it's different! This story comes from my paid jackal consultant Luperkaios, who is an expert on all things jackal. It was originally a Valentine's Day story, hence some of the themes, but... I mean. Jackals. Thanks to Spudz for pointing out some continuity issues, which I have fixed. I hope. Patreon subscribers, this should also be live for you with notes and maps and stuff.

Released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. Share, modify, and redistribute--as long as it's attributed and noncommercial, anything goes.

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"Inhibitions," by Rob Baird

Their waiter had strongly recommended the risotto, and Devin couldn't help noticing that, once the plate was delivered, he made himself scarce. Casey prodded the baseball-sized lump carefully. "This is it?"

"Should've asked about portions, I guess."

"I guess. Any word from Jenny?"

He checked his communicator, trying to be discreet: it was a dark restaurant, most of the other patrons were impeccably dressed, and none of them were busy with anything so déclassé as electronics. "Nothing."

'Jenny' was the sixth name he'd known the meerkat under; he had no idea what her real name was, and no desire to find out. She was one of the only hackers whose skill, he felt, equalled his own, and if Dev went prying she was liable to take unpleasant revenge.

She'd reached out just after the Long Tall Sally docked at Pamir Station with a job offer. There hadn't been any details, which made it easy to guess what had happened: somebody had misplaced a shipping container, and Jenny wanted a reliable freighter to handle the results.

"Call her?" Casey suggested.

"Maybe. Not a fan of the risotto?"

"Not thirty credits worth. I've never had truffle before. It sounded so... exotic. Is this just a mushroom, Dev?"

Not that the coyote himself was especially refined. "Beats me. I think it might be?"

"This society stuff isn't really all it's cracked up to be..." This came from a jackal who was--he had to admit--much more adept at switching between high- and low-class than the coyote was.

But he agreed.And now he noticed that a few new people had entered, all clad in similar dark suits. They spoke in hushed tones, and they kept glancing around the restaurant. Devin dipped his muzzle in their direction to draw Casey's attention. "Y'know, Case..."

"Let me guess. 'I have a bad feeling about this'?"

"You don't?"

"Maybe a little. But you have a bad feeling about a lot of things, Devvy."

"Yeah, well, I'm a coyote. A lot of bad things happen to us."

Casey sighed. "At least we know we got thirty credits worth of truffles, huh? I'm gonna go settle the check, Dev. Be right back."

The party in suits was shown to a table. Terrans, all of them: two badgers, a fox, and... is that a meerkat? Is that Jenny? Hard to say, from that distance. A woman, he thought, and with her general profile. She doesn't know what Casey looks like, he realized. Could send her over...

Except, when he looked for her, the jackal was nowhere to be seen. More bad feelings. He swallowed nervously, and checked the time. She'd been gone for a minute. Two. Probably just using the bathroom.

When five minutes had elapsed, he tapped his communicator gently. "Hey, Case. You there?" Acutely aware of every second, he counted to sixty in his head and tried again. "Casey? Any time you feel like answering..."

She didn't.

He gave her two more minutes and then, trying not to draw attention--trying to stay casual, and unhurried--Dev stood and put his jacket on. He circled around in the direction of the bathrooms; there was no sign of her. The woman-who-might-have-been-Jenny was no longer at her table, either.

Outside, he set a brisk pace towards the hangar deck. "Heading back to the ship, Case. I'll meet you there." No reply--but the gnawing unease in the coyote's stomach told him he wasn't likely to get one.

You're alone. Now what?

Get back to the ship. Run a trace on her communicator and see if you can triangulate the position. And by the time you've done that, she'll be coming through the hatchway asking what got into you. Teasing you about your paranoia.

"Oi. Coyote?"

And your situational awareness. Dev brought himself to a halt, turning to meet the speaker. "Mr. Kai."

Satari Kai wore what, Dev imagined, passed as formalwear for the Akita: he'd traded his floral-print shirt for a simple button-down, and his khaki shorts for corduroy trousers. His grin was the same, though, and the sleeves of his shirt had been rolled up untidily. "Off in a hurry, eh? Didn't even know you were here!"

And it was not, perhaps, an ideal time to have encountered Casey's ex. "Didn't know you were here either. I'm, uh--I'm trying to find my pilot."

"Kaitlyn? How's she doing?"

"That's... why I'm trying to find her." He explained as quickly as he could to the Akita, whose head kept tilting as the smile faded from his muzzle. "So I should probably be going," he finished.

"Nothing on the communicator? You tried that?"

"Yes. But--"

"'Cause the station, y'know, they make you keep 'em on. For security purposes, that's what they say. Trackin' ya so the shops know where t'send somebody to sell ya shit, more like, y'ask me."

"Maybe. Anyway, I've got better sensors on my ship. Which is why--"

Satari clapped his shoulder. "Right. I'm comin' with. Lead on, 'yote."

"You don't have to do that."

"Didn't say I had to. Said I was gonna," Satari countered.

Either he'd gotten over his acrimonious breakup with the jackal, or he'd never minded that much in the first place. No matter which was the case, Dev understood that Satari was too headstrong to be dissuaded from his offer. So he nodded, and guided them both back to where the Long Tall Sally was docked.

"Hell of a ship. Real beaut'. You take good care of her, eh?"

"Try to." Dev sat down at his regular station and brought the computers up. Casey's communicator was still online--but silent, and he didn't want to risk activating it in case she was trying to stay hidden.

"Any luck? Always forget you're like a... like a proper hacker, right? Fuckin' smart, that's you."

"Her position is being obscured. Too much lag when I ping the communicator to be talking to it directly. It's being rerouted."

"To?"

"I don't know. So what we're going to do..." Dev realized that narrating his thought process kept the Akita from any helpful interruptions. "Is break into the maintenance computer and pull a map of the comm relays. And then... then we're going to create a probabilistic map of the possible locations."

"Why? Oh, it's colorful. What are the colors?"

"Aliased solutions. Based on the signal timing, and the relays it could be routed through, these are where she might be. Every time I ping her, the answer gets a bit less uncertain and the aliases drop out. Now, if we--"

"How 'bout there? This place?" Satari tapped his finger on the screen.

"Probably an error. Outside the station."

"Nah. At the VIP docks, see? Like she was on a ship, maybe. Wouldn't show up on your blueprints, right?"

Pretty good intuition. He started pulling up the station's docking logs. "No, it wouldn't. That berth is the freighter Aquarius. Long-distance hauler; two-eighty thousand tons. None of the EM fingerprints match a stock KDY hull--must be modified to hell and back."

"Pictures?"

Pictures of the ship confirmed his suspicions. "That dorsal spine is for an upgraded power grid. These almost look like... point-defense guns, here. And KDY uses Roland burners--those intake ports are for General Spaceways thrusters. Recognize those anywhere."

"And that?" Satari tapped again.

"I don't recognize the logo."

"I do. The Deruj family. Tangled with those bastards at the Banshee's Nest. I'd say y'might have your culprit, 'yote."

"Fuck."

Satari cracked the knuckles on his left paw, one at a time. "Guess I'm cancelin' dinner, eh? Been to Pally's? Heard great things about the risotto."

"Skip the risotto--it's not worth it. Do you have a plan?"

"Call my boys in for support and go bust 'er out, seems like. You got blasters, right? Have ourselves a fun time, I'd say."

"There are a couple of plasma rifles in a locker two frames down. I haven't used them. They were Casey's idea. I'm not really much for... well..."

"Good time to learn," Satari said, with an unsettlingly boyish grin. "D'you think she'd mind if I flew the ship? I bet she'd mind if I flew the ship. Maybe you should handle that."

He shook his head. "Wait--you want to use the ship?"

"She'll fit in the port shuttlebay of that freighter. Won't be as guarded as the gangplank, that's what I think. And we oughta move fast, before they think about leaving or something. Unless..."

"Unless?"

"You have a better idea?"

There was, so far as Devin could tell, not really an idea in play so much as the vague notion that, somehow, the two of them--perhaps with Satari Kai's "boys"--would storm the Aquarius. The Akita stared expectantly, and Devin sighed. "No."

"Then..."

Another sigh. "I won't tell her you flew the ship. Give me a minute to run the reactor diagnostics."

"That's the spirit! I'll tell my boys to get ready. Why don't you grab the guns, too, while you're at it?"

Their cold, clean lines were out of place on the Long Tall Sally, and the metal felt alien in Devin's paws. He checked their power banks, grabbed a few batteries, and returned to the cockpit.

"Kaitlyn's idea?" Satari took one of the rifles, turning the weapon over to inspect it. "She picks well. God, I love jackals. The rekkie?"

His accent, and a combination of mumbling and needless speed, made Satari more difficult than strictly necessary for Devin to understand. "The..."

"Reactor," he repeated. "Can we take off?"

"Yes. We can take... off..." Between the final two words, the freighter had already lifted from the docks, and started a smooth turn to the VIP berths where the Aquarius waited.

It looked larger in person: four hundred meters, and painted with the gunmetal grey of an ancient warship. "We're going in a bit blind, eh? Any chance you might scan 'em?"

"Based on the hull structure?" A double hull, with plenty of internal framework to frustrate his sensors. "It won't be easy. But maybe... maybe we can do better than that. When we were at the Banshee's Nest, I found a backdoor in their security protocols. If we get lucky..."

"Got lucky?" Satari guessed, from the way Devin trailed off.

"Yeah. Okay. Here." He sent an internal diagram of the ship to the pilot's station. "You were right: she's aboard. Her communicator puts her in a room on the port side, about sixty meters ahead of the shuttlebay."

"Interesting." Satari cracked his knuckles again, and went for the radio. "Carter. If you've got, uh... is Gold Team ready? Need 'em for a bit of a, uh... boarding action, yeah? You see the Aquarius?"

A worryingly calm voice answered. "Yeah, boss."

"We need the shuttlebay taken. Gotta go fetch a hostage. Sound okay?"

"Sure. Call you when we're in position, boss. Carter out."

Devin cleared his throat. "Is this... normal? Everyday sort of thing for you?"

"Nah. See, I'd heard the Deruj Family were trying to make inroads in this sector. My sector, y'know--if you ask me, they shouldn't be here. Ain't even Terran. You ever met, uh... McGuire. Kim? I think she goes by Jenny now? Skinny girl, smart with a set."

He could only blink for a few seconds. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Container got, uh, 'lost.'" He quoted that with his fingers, and grinned. "Came from out of the Confed, and McGuire told me she thought it might be those cunts. The two of us, we figured, maybe could set a trap-like, y'know?"

"Was she ever going to tell me? You know she and I go back almost a decade, right?"

Suddenly, it appeared to fall into place for the Akita. "Is that why you're here?"

"Is that why you're here?"

"Well, I figured I'd stop by Pamir and see if any lessons needed..." He pantomimed pulling a trigger with his right paw, clicking his tongue as he did so. "Teaching. Didn't mean to get you two caught up in it, yotey. Fuck, now I really owe ya. Feel like a proper asshole. And I haven't seen ya for a while..."

"That's kind of on purpose."

He carried on, oblivious. "So I guess this is a bit of a... you'd say, like, a two birds thing? And y'know, I do love Kaitlyn. Not like--well--didn't I hear from Parker ya got hitched and all, huh?"

"Engaged."

"Congrats, mate. Clear: don't love her like that. More like a... more like she's my sister. I love her like a sister, I do."

"But not like you love... her sister..."

The Akita sighed--then shrugged easily. "That wasn't even love. You've seen Tory, right? You blame me?" Before Dev could answer, he twisted in his chair, leaning back and looking straight at the coyote. "Not, like, from high-minded ideals or whatever. More like... from a biology point of view."

"She is... easy on the eyes."

"Easy on more than that." Satisfied, the dog returned his attention to the cockpit. "She knows just what to do with her muzzle to get a man in trouble, I tell you. And to get a man off. Really... same thing. Do regret it--don't get me wrong--but in a moment of weakness, mate, trust me, that girl can make a moment of weakness very appealing."

"So when Carter lands..."

"Changing the subject, 'yote?"

"I just feel like, tactically, we might have other topics to cover?"

Satari chuckled. "Straight to business," he said, as if there had been nothing odd about the conversation. "Carter knows his stuff, mate, don't worry. He'll tell us."

It wasn't more than another five minutes before Carter called in: his teams were ready to move, and he thought that taking the shuttlebay would be a simple affair. The declaration was remarkably casual, and Dev considered raising an objection--but Satari didn't seem bothered, and the Akita had already taken the freighter's controls back.

"Ready, mate?"

"I guess. As much as I'll ever be. What'll we do? Let them secure the bay and then dock the Sally?" Hopefully, the Aquarius wouldn't be expecting them--he'd done what he could to scrub the ship's records at the Banshee's Nest, and they'd been traveling under an alias anyway. That left only the docking part, if Satari was up to it.

"Something like that, yeah. Reckon so."

"Wait, 'something like'?"

"Yeah. Reckon so," he said again, affably. "Can you rig the deflector shields to compensate for a hull breach?"

His ears went back. "Uh... yes. Probably." No matter what Casey said about Satari--volumes, none of it good--Devin had gained an appreciation of what might have brought the two together in the first place. "You think we might have a hull breach?"

"Nah, mate. I think they will."

They were pointed straight at the Aquarius, and Satari's paw was waiting on the ship's throttle. "You're going to ram them. Okay. Okay, I don't know what I was expecting. Yeah. I can compensate for a hull breach."

"Thanks!" Abandoning the throttle for a moment, he rubbed his paws together. "Carter, we're in position. Ready when you are."

Satari Kai's mercenaries--"guys," the coyote guessed, did not properly convey their character--headed for the freighter's shuttlebay in what looked to Devin suspiciously like a dedicated boarding ship. Nobody on the Aquarius was watching, or they were too slow to react; Carter announced that he'd landed without difficulty.

And Satari went for the throttle. "Brace for impact, 'yote."

It was said with a grin, and the grin had Casey's gleeful deathwishery about it. Definitely understand how they got together, Dev thought, as the Aquarius drew closer. He adjusted the inertial dampeners, too, to anticipate the collision.

The impact was still jarring: the Sally came to a stop plunged to the wing roots in the larger freighter, having punched through her double hull and into the inner compartments. "Ha!"

Devin spared the Akita a glance: he was obviously pleased with himself. "We're in one piece. Structural integrity's holding. The deflector shields have intersected with the freighter's hull. It's airtight."

"Ha!" the Akita repeated. He jumped from the pilot's seat and went for the hatch, with Dev at his heels. "And now..."

Satari had managed to ram them into the Aquarius so precisely that the hatchway opened only half a meter above the freighter's deck; according to the blueprints, they were six frames away from the jackal's holding cell. "Not bad."

"Yeah!" His grin was fanged, and the rifle he clasped in both paws looked very natural. "Ready? You know how to use one of these?"

"Not really. I fired my dad's pistol a couple of times. That's it."

Kai nodded, briefly slung his rifle, and unholstered a small gun that he handed to Dev with too much forcefulness for the coyote to reject. "Safety's on the right side. Point 'er at something you're mad at and pull the trigger. Simple as, mate. Let's go."

He jumped to the deck and Dev followed, content to let the Akita lead. Satari ignored the flickering lights, and the sound of distant alarms; he made his way straight aft, head on a swivel.

"Intruders!" a voice boomed from the ceiling. "I don't know who you are, but you won't get away with this."

Kai pointed his rifle upward and fired. Sparks flew from the sizzling loudspeaker. "Coulda been eatin' risotto. Cunts--'don't know who you are,' my arse. Need to be taught?"

"Do you know who they are?"

"On the wrong side of us." He came to a halt, jerking his muzzle towards an intersecting corridor. "She should be just down there. Cover me and I'll go get her out, okay?"

"I'll do what I can."

"Good 'yote." Satari pounced around the corner, and a long burst from his rifle suggested a good reason for his hastiness. Devin heard no answering fire, only the hiss of a plasma torch and, then, the heavy thunk of a door being kicked open.

And then Casey. "Wait... Satari? What are you doing here? I don't want to see you. Am I dreaming?"

"Sorry, jackal, no dice. Let's get ya out of these restraints, eh?" An unmistakable chatter of distant gunfire added emphasis to Kai's suggestion.

"Think you're a hero or something." The growl in Casey's voice was sincere, but a bit muddy. At least she sounds like she's okay, Devin thought. "You should've stayed away from Tory, you fuck. My sister wasn't--you think I care about being--ow!"

"Be easier if you calmed down. Gotta cut through these."

"Mother fucker. You think I care about being cheated on? By you, you... you fucking... you fucking asshole? No. No, you... I don't--that doesn't matter. But my sister deserved a better life than having you corrupt her."

"We all make mistakes."

"I sure as fuck made one dating you. I knew you were gonna run around on me, just... fuck. Thought I could save my sister. Why are you even here? Why can't you stay out of my life?"

"Rescuing you."

"Could've done it myself. I don't need your... what is that, a plasma cutter? I'd rather chew my own paw off."

"I know, I know. Hey! Coyote! Way's clear? Got the jackal free, so... let me just--at least help, would you, Kaitlyn? Try walking. That's better."

"That's not my fucking name."

"We're comin' out!" the Akita called over. "Careful, though. Constructor."

Devin cocked his head, trying to figure out what the hell Satari meant by that. "What? What constructor?"

"Devvy?"

Satari rounded the doorway with Casey leaning on him for support. "The crew. Cunts drugged her, that's what. Some kinda truth serum, y'know? So if there was anything you were curious about..."

He shrugged the jackal off and she took a few unsteady steps before falling against the coyote. Quick reflexes let him catch her. "You okay, Case?"

The jackal smiled, reaching out to ruffle his fur unsteadily. "My big, handsome coyote. Satari was here. Prick."

"Still here," the Akita said. "He's not that big."

"Big where it counts." Casey patted his chest. "I knew you'd come. Why are you working with Satari?"

"He volunteered. And he's come through for us."

She sighed muzzily. "Your lack of critical thinking skills really shouldn't surprise me at this point. Oh, well--do you have the ship, at least, coyote?"

"Right this way. C'mon." She proved to be capable of moving, if less than gracefully--it took several times as long to make the journey back to the Long Tall Sally, and the echoing gunshots kept getting closer.

Satari kept his weapon pointed down the corridor. A dark, suited figure came into view as Dev finished pushing Casey through the freighter's hatch. "My cue to leave," Kai told them. "The cavalry."

"Carter?"

The figure tapped the side of its neck, and the armored helmet retracted to reveal a sharp-eyed tiger. "Yeah? Do we know each other?"

"Not 'til now," Satari cut in. "Proper introductions later an' all, maybe, yeah? What's your situation, Carter? Doin' okay?"

"Gold is in good shape. No casualties. One fireteam with me. Two teams waiting in the shuttlebay. Kind of a bitch getting up here, but they paid for it. These dumb fucks didn't know who they were messing with."

"Who's the third team? Paul? Yeah? Have him get to the auxiliary control. Frame 130, dead amidships. Set demo charges and scoot. Me and your team'll hold the transverse cargo liftway until Paul's done."

"Why the liftway, boss?"

"Only way to get reinforcements from the bow would be taking the starboard side and crossing over. So we'll pin 'em down, give 'em a party--then we egress, blow the charges, and get proper drunk. Sound good?"

"Sounds good."

Satari turned to Devin, holding up the rifle. "Mind if I borrow this?"

"Sure."

"Get your ship unstuck and run. With auxiliary control out, they probably can't follow ya, but... better not chance it, right? See ya 'round, 'yote. Give Kaitlyn my regards."

"Fuck's sake," the jackal mumbled. "Not my goddamn name."

Dev pulled himself into the Long Tall Sally and closed the hatch behind him. "Cockpit," he told the jackal, who became easier to guide with a destination in mind. Not easy--every few steps she stumbled and became all but deadweight--but he managed to wrestle her into the copilot's seat.

"Wait... are we in another ship?"

"Yeah."

"Your idea? No. It was Satari's. That prick," she repeated, and sighed. "But he's a good pilot. Better than you."

Fortunately for them both, the Akita had left the ship's controls active. "Thanks, Case," Devin muttered, and pulsed the thrusters experimentally. The Long Tall Sally shuddered, but remained fixed. "I'm doing my best."

"Mm-hm. I meant it. Y'know? I said you were big where it counted. Got a big heart, coyote. I love you."

"I love you, too." Metal screeched in protest all around them, and the deflector shields sparked angrily as the freighter began to pull free.

Casey stared out the viewscreen for a second or two, then turned back to the coyote. "I know you do. You're such a sweetheart, Devvy. I love you so much. I never thought I'd actually... love someone, I guess. Not like that."

With a final, heavy jolt they tore away from the Aquarius, and their nose spun towards open space. "Well. There's a first time for everything. I'm happy I met you, jackal." Hyperdrive--where's the damn hyperdrive? "We can maybe talk more in... in a bit? If that's okay?"

"I act like a bitch 'cause... it's safer. But you see through it. I should've told you how happy I was when you proposed. That ring--oh, fuck, did they take it?" She held her paw up, eyes narrowing as she inspected her own fingers. "They didn't. Good. I was so happy. Coyote!"

"It was pretty clear. You didn't need to tell me anything but 'yes,' jackal."

"But I want to say it. I want to say a lot of things. I dunno what they gave me, but it's real nice, coyote. Nice feeling. Are you trying to do an FTL plot?"

"Yeah. We should be making ourselves scarce."

"Don't beat yourself up 'cause you don't know astrogation. You know a lot. You're real good to me." She batted his fingers away from the navigation console. "KS133 is your primary? Sigma Sagitarii is your secondary, so... m is .98 radians, kappa-one is 11.029, kappa-two is... mmm, negative 3.515."

"Okay..."

She giggled, and stuck out her tongue. "You're very cute when you're out of your depth, coyote. You think just 'cause I'm a bit... uh, addled... I can't get you a plot? Use Beta Scorpii as the tertiary, and there you go? See? Valid solution. Zoom."

Zoom. He activated the hyperdrive, and the Long Tall Sally slipped easily into lightspeed. "We'll have to figure out another place to go. Later. For now, you should probably lie down."

"If you say so." She let him take her back to their quarters; let him undress her, and help the jackal brush her sharp teeth. Let him set her in the bunk, and tug a blanket over her. When he started to stand, though, she pulled him back. "Stay. C'mon."

"I figured I'd let you sleep this off."

"'Cause I'm not myself?" She pawed at him until the coyote gave in, joining her on the bed. Casey twisted to face him, and licked his nose gently. "I love you so much, Devvy. I want to spend my life with you. Is that okay?"

"That's okay, jackal. Of course it's okay. I did ask you to marry me."

She worked her way closer. "I never even thought about hoping you'd do that. Until you did, and... was that the... yeah. That was the best day of my life. And y'know. Coyote. You make every day really good, so..."

"Tell you the truth? I never felt better about anything than doing that."

"What about cuddling? I love it when you cuddle me."

"You bite me when I try, jackal."

"Do I? That does sound like me. Well, I like it anyway, Devvy. Snuggle me now?"

The coyote got an arm under her, wrapped the other around her back, and pulled his mate gently to his chest. "If you were less bitey about it, you could have more of this. I like holding you."

"And I don't want to be anywhere else but in your arms." The jackal's tail wagged, rustling the cover in a steady rhythm. "You know what you should do? You should do that thing where you... where you bend me backwards and kiss me. I always thought that looked really romantic. Try that sometime."

"Romantic, huh?"

"Don't judge. It's for a good cause. I'm gonna have to invite Satari to our wedding, aren't I? He's bailed us out too often. Maybe it's okay. He brought me to you." She snickered softly, and kissed the coyote's nose. "Cheating on me with Tory was primary, and buying this ship was secondary, and... and getting married is tertiary, but I didn't know it at the time. Wonder what the kappa values are..."

"Check in the morning?"

"Yeah! Did I show you the dress I was thinking about?"

If there was anything you were curious about... "Dress?"

"It'll look nice. And I'll... I'll finally have a use for the necklace my folks gave me when I left. I showed you? Oh," she sighed, when he shook his head. "I'll show you that in the morning, too. More tired than I thought."

"Sure. Get some sleep, Case. Rest."

He stayed with her. Watching the jackal, at first, checking her pulse now and again. As far as the coyote could tell, she was simply unconscious, and it made her remarkably peaceful. His paws worked through her fur, smoothing it out.

You get me into a lot of trouble. His touch kept wandering: brushing her cheekruff, toying with her ear until it flicked reflexively. And I wouldn't change it. Not a single thing. Not for a moment. The image of their ship came to mind, jammed into the Aquarius, and he chuckled to himself.

No, not a single thing.

An unhappy groan roused him from his own sleep--six hours later, by Dev's bleary glance at his wrist. The jackal lying next to him had stirred: her eyes were shut, and her paw batted about unevenly until she found the coyote. "Dev?"

"Casey?"

"Fuck. Fuck. My mouth is cotton. Where's water?"

He rolled over her, got up, poured a glass, and sat back down before handing it to the jackal. "Here. How are you feeling besides that?"

"Fine, the longer I'm awake." She pushed herself upright. "Yeah, I think I'm okay. Like I slept real well. Did Satari Kai plow the Sally into the side of a freighter, or was that a weird dream?"

"That happened."

"Fuckin' Satari. There was a gunfight, too?"

"Yes. That also happened."

"Were we in bed? Did I..."

"Say a bunch of things? Yes. Yes, you did."

She finished the glass of water, setting it aside warily. "I doubt that."

"Oh, trust me. You--"

Casey growled, gripped his sides, and twisted the coyote to pin him to the bunk. "I what? Do I have to bite you, coyote?"

"I don't know. Do you have to?"

The jackal straddled him. Her eyes had narrowed, hardening, and her teeth stayed bared when she pressed her nose to his. "I don't, right?"

"I don't know," he said again--partly to tease her; mostly because he was glad to have the jackal back to normal, painful as it occasionally happened to be. "You bite me a lot, anyway. Even when I try to cuddle you."

Her eyes flashed. "Devin, I swear to God..."

His grin was coyote-mischievous and coyote-toothy. And he ran his paws down her sides until they were framing her hips, giving the jackal a firm grope. "Do you need to be distracted, dear?"

"Me? Or you?"

He shrugged. "Could go either way..."

"Uh-huh?" Casey's hips rolled against his crotch thoughtfully, and her eyes glinted. "I think I have a fairly good idea."

She ground against him again. The bulge in his underwear was quickly growing damper, and the next time she lifted herself off him the coyote took the opportunity to slip them off all the way.

He hadn't been all that subtle about it, and the way his newly freed cock stood stiffly up, already teasingly close to the jackal simply confirmed the obvious next step. This was, of course, a playful growl from his lover, and her hips gently lowering until they met--just barely--and she settled an aching half-inch onto his shaft. "So..."

"So?" Dev jerked his hips up a little and, just as deftly, she rose with him to keep the coyote from entering her. "So do you need distracting, or not?"

"I need a coyote who--" He bucked again, and her lip curled. "Who is not so fuckin' impossible."

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling Casey down for a kiss. Quick, deep and fierce enough that her big ears wavered for a heartbeat. "Or you just need a coyote..."

"Who's not so--"

But the kiss had her off-guard, and when Dev arched his hips up, and his stiff length pushed halfway in to the jackal, her stance faltered. And before she could help herself she'd dropped into his lap, taking her mate's shaft in one quick, heavy stroke.

Her growl was too slurred to be angry, and when she recovered from a few seconds of being a panting mess Casey's oath wasn't all that persuasive either. "Son of a bitch. Coyote..."

He thrust shallowly, as much as being pinned between the bunk and a tense troubledog allowed. "Yes?"

With that, Casey put her paws on his shoulders and shoved hard, holding the coyote down. "Fine. Be that way."

Dev didn't have to ask what way she meant--with him fixed in place she took back control, pumping her hips in a steady, rocking pace that forced him deep as she ground against the coyote's crotch.

He adjusted his hold, taking her sides to guide the jackal's strokes, but it didn't seem to matter much. She wasn't about to be guided--riding her coyote hard, using her claws as a warning every time he shifted too far or thrust too readily to meet her.

So he just laid back and enjoyed the ride. Lingered on the slick texture of the jackal's cunt, sliding over his throbbing length. Groaned at the snug, gripping warmth engulfing him, and the exquisite pressure as she shoved them firmly together. Growled for her, panting her name in hoarse, strained encouragement.

"Coyote," she gasped raggedly back. "Oh, fuck, Devvy..." With every driving plunge of her eager hips, every tug of his swelling shaft she was panting more and more heavily, and as her tempo increased the purposefulness of it built, too.

Another oath from her, and a deliberate, sliding push of her hips that told him she was more than aware of his knot. Casey switched to shallower strokes, teasing herself on him, grabbing his shoulders roughly as each throb spread her a little wider on his shaft.

"Dev," she managed--followed by a high whimper that bent downward into a telling, heavy groan. She bucked erratically, putting emphasis on the heavy downstrokes that kept him hilted, taking no chance that she might wind up anything but tied.

The coyote for his part was fairly certain they were already locked together--the halting rise of her hips tugged pointedly on the base of his knot, stuck fast. And as her thighs started to tremble, and her ears splayed, and her eyes rolled back he let his mate pull him over the edge with her.

For one thing he was damn close--buried all the way in the slippery, satin-soft warmth of her cunt, his tip digging into her folds as she shuddered on him. Wouldn't take much more--just another gasp from her, another spasm.. an involuntary arch of the slender canid's back that slammed him just that fraction of an inch deeper...

With a helpless, wordless grunt he let go, cock flexing in quick, rhythmic jolts that pumped one long, heated jet of cum after another into the jackal. She yelped when he started to flood her--barked his name again--and though he dimly heard it he was lost in the carnal rush of claiming his bitch, seeding her deeply, every warm spurt of his load trapped by the girthy wedge of his knot...

After the yelp, though, her claws dug in and that was the second thing--the rough, primal grasp that sent a twinge through his shoulders, almost enough to distract him. Almost more noticeable than the pulses that clenched tighter around him, and while he continued to spill in her it was nice to have the pain after the first wave of blissful pleasure.

She didn't relax until her own climax was well-faded. Then she stared at her paws, one at a time, and forced them open. And, the exertion having drained her, she fell on his chest, her panting gradually slowing.

Devin lapped at her ear. "I love you, jackal. Feeling better?"

"A bit... maybe..."

"Distracted?"

She nosed into his neck, almost--almost--nuzzling him. "Maybe. Y'know. I remember Satari said, uh... if there was anything you were curious about..."

"Didn't seem right."

Her nip was gentle, jackal-affectionate. "I appreciate it."

"Besides, I already know everything I need to."

He felt for her paw, brushing the warm metal of the ring on her finger. Casey snickered when she realized what he was doing. "I love you, coyote. Even if you are a coyote."

"Love you too, jackal. Even if you're a jackal."

"You love me being a jackal, anyway." She grunted, nosing him more firmly. "And we're agreed we can, uh... forget about all this, right? Everything I said last night?"

Of course, he did love her being a jackal. And occasionally, she had a way with words. He took her ear between his teeth to echo them. "Your lack of critical thinking skills shouldn't surprise me at this point."

She sighed, flattening herself atop him. "What am I gonna do with you, Dev?"

But it was a rhetorical question, and he hugged her warmly.

And she sighed again, longer this time, with a wag of her tail. "Fine. That'll do for a start."