FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"The Wage of Freedom"

The road at night was long as Seth stared out the passenger window into the blackness. All he could see was the soft white dotted line of the road and complete darkness surrounding the road. The awkwardness about being the only anthro in his company had passed hours ago and for several of the men in the car things had gotten pretty close between them. The leopard glanced around the occupants of the car, the blanket of darkness keeping them pretty obscured he could still see and pick out each of them;

Dane was the driver, he'd grown up in California, or so he said several times during the trip. After making the wrong turn three times in Utah though, Seth began to doubt the credibility of his story. He had ashen-blond short hair that fell down to his neck, a pair of dangling earrings hung from his right ear, dancing in the gentle rocking of the van. Pete was in the passenger seat, dozing under the open cover of a novel he had been reading. He had curly brown hair and a rather well groomed goatee on his chin. He was completely deaf though without his hearing aid, the coiled battery hung from his ear a lot like the earrings that Dane wore. Clint and Travis were brothers, both of them had blond hair and blue eyes, only Clint's was short, almost a buzz cut while Travis being the older brother had long hair that had to be tied in two places just to tame the length.

Richie was asleep in the seat next to Seth. His hair almost identical to Pete's, except it was confined to a bandanna and was quite straight as opposed to curly. Seth liked Richie a bit, he had rimless glasses which were cocked awkwardly up on his face as his cheek rested on the leopard's shoulder and he was snoozing soundly. He was the only one of the group that didn't smell like three weeks bad B.O. and even through a heavy Australian accent he was also the most well spoken of them. Just six guys on a road trip across the country. A sign post passed, San Francisco was almost two hundred miles away, he could almost see the city lights now, and instinctively, his tail began to slide across the velvet seats.

The van turned off the main highway at some point between two and four in the morning. Seth stretched his arms, hearing his elbows pop as the van came to a stop in front of the flooding fluorescent lights of the late night diner they'd gotten to. He was only just beginning to feel tired after the long trip while everyone else including Dane were just starting to reawaken from their half sleep. Richie pulled open the van door and let in the cool night air, as Seth joined him on the outside of the van, he watched the man tip his cigarette pack over and tap out a couple sticks, letting one slide into his mouth before offering an extended set to him.

"No thanks." Seth shook his head softly. "Muzzles aren't exactly good for cigarettes. I'm still missing a few whiskers from my experimental thirteen-year-old smoking."

Richie cracked a smirk before putting the pack into his pocket and pulling out a lighter to ignite the fag. He took a slow puff and leaned against one of the off-colored green posts that stood on the outside of the restaurant. Everyone else had gone inside already, leaving the two of them to mind the van.

"So whot's with the hitch hikin' Seth?" He asked, expelling a cloud of smoke as he spoke. "I mean you gotta be kicking yourself for hitching a ride with us no-good vagabonds' ay?"

Seth chuckled and sat on the seat, his legs outside of the van and he shook his head. "I just needed to get out of Nebraska." He said. "And I really need to thank Dane for picking me up."

"He picked me up too, mate. Outside'a Washington D.C." He said. "It's like that boy's got nothin' to do but wander aimlessly around the states picking up strangers; all male strangers, as a matter'a fact." He nodded with his emphasis.

"And he's going to San Francisco too, I see what you mean." Seth teased by sliding his tongue out from between his teeth, getting another laugh from the aussie.

"Y'ever take a cock then?" Richie asked bluntly. "You definitely seem to know what you're doing."

Seth chuckled lightly, somewhat averting the topic. "Any port in the storm." He shrugged and left out in the open. "Of course if I'm not mistaken your fingers had been tickling my tail since our last stop around sunset."

"Peh. No foolin' you." Richie took a last long drag of his cigarette before dropping it and stomping it out with his boot. "Ain' done it with an animal before though, not sure I wanna tread that water yet." He smirked.

"Uh-huh." Seth rolled his eyes a bit. "Just get your ass inside before we give these boys a show here."

"Heh." Richie chuckled again before making his way to the glass door. "Yessir."

The diner was even cooler on the inside than it was outside. A brisk chill of air conditioning almost instantly cooled the cat's nose as they walked in. The restaurant itself smelled good, if not a little layered in the smell of Freon, steaks and eggs cooking on the skillet really made the atmosphere more enjoyable. Seth and Richie found two stools at the end of the bar and straddled them. The waitress made her way down to them, a human, almost shaped like a bowling ball with shocking spouts of red hair and entirely too much eyeliner and lipstick for a rodeo clown to try on. She had on a white smock and a powder blue shirt underneath it, her skirt was entirely too short and her nails were entirely too long and red for her line of work.

"What can I getcha to drink?" She asked in a manner like she was chewing gum as she spoke. But all evidence of gum didn't really exist with her.

"Water." Seth answered.

"Black coffee." Richie said, then glanced at the gaze Seth was giving him. "Look I'm gonna be drivin' the next couple hours. I could use the little pick-me up." He said with an eyeroll. Seth shrugged, the idea did make sense after all. Rubbing his eyes and yawning, he looked back and was somewhat startled to see a largely built woman sitting in the booth behind him.

She wasn't round like the waitress was, in fact, she didn't even seem like she belonged in this clean diner. She had a short bowl cut of hair which was dyed red, her eyebrows were also dyed though the root layer of her hair looked like it'd been black before. He wasn't sure exactly what made him pick up on her features, but he had a very creepy feeling as he looked at her. A sharp pair of green eyes averted to a cell phone she had clutched in her hand as she began to tap on an application that had apparently not been open before. She wore a tasseled front leather vest with a white long sleeve shirt and a sleeve of earrings on both ears, she was clearly not in her own environment, but Seth pushed the feeling aside and returned his attention to the drink that had been brought to him.

"You okay?" Dane asked from the center of the counter.

Seth shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am."

The majority of the group had only known each other for the last few days. The newest members to their trip; Clint and Travis had only joined them that morning, but they were already fitting in with the group like they had been there all along.

"I getcha' feeling, Seth." Richie whispered, digging an elbow into the cat's shoulder. "There's somethin' wrong with that girl, I jus' can't put my finger on it."

"Me neither." Seth whispered back. "It's probably nothing though."

"Aye. You're probably right." He said as he took a sip of his coffee. He swallowed hard, his lips pursing a bit. "American coffee ain't exactly my cup of tea." He observed as he put the glass down.

It wasn't long before the comforts of the diner started to get a little stale. The lights were intense and didn't want to let up. The group had an assortment of breakfasts and had left a few dollars each as a tip. It wasn't until then that Seth noticed the other woman had slipped out while nobody was watching. The situation made his skin crawl; the faster the six of them returned to their van and got out of dodge, the better.

The air outside was even colder. The nighttime desert air had picked up, delivering a deeper chill that almost felt humid. The group quickly clambered into the dark green van and closed the door. Richie took the seat up front behind the wheel while Seth managed to wrestle Pete from his perch on the passenger side and climbed into place.

"Alright kiddos, t's time to buckle up!" He said as he pulled his seatbelt into place and turned the engine over. It rumbled loudly and kicked on with a loud trilling, puttering noise that shook the entire van. Everyone was aware of that feeling by now, and as Seth threw it into reverse and started backing out, everyone couldn't help but feel the subtle distinctive lurch that it provided. "Sun'll be up in an hour or so, we should be in San-Fran by eight." He said as they pulled out onto the main drag. "Let's have ourselves a good trip an' keep your legs and tray tables in their locked and upright position." He tossed his head back and whispered. "'less you gotta rub one out, which I don' think any of us'd mind on that one." He chortled and they pulled out.

After a few miles, Seth began to realize he was cold underneath his fur. Looking up, he noticed that the window was cracked very slightly open, the cold air pouring in on him made him realize that he shouldn't have fought so hard to take Pete's place. Richie was intent on his driving and didn't seem to notice the feline rubbing his hand along his forearm, then it grazed across his own. "Richie..." Seth said after a few minutes of padding the back of his neck with his hand. "I just wanted to tell you that--"

A sudden flash of high-beams turned Seth's attention forward again as the entire car flooded with an incredibly bright light making him put his hands up. The collision was remarkably fast as the entire van jerked forward suddenly. Someone yowled in pain suddenly, being flung forward in the car by the stopping momentum. Somewhere in the debris he could see that it was Pete who had slammed his head onto the front dash console and fell back to the floor. Seth felt his own back twisting from the impact, at that point everything seemed to move in slow motion until the car reached its destination and slammed hard into a guard rail. The jerk caused Seth to slam his head against this window, he could hear it crack from the impact, but everything he was thinking about suddenly faded into blackness.

"Damn it Ethel, get his legs!" A voice rang in Seth's ears as he lay it looked like face down on the ground. He felt a pair of arms grab ahold of his waist and tug him somewhat violently out of his position. "Shannon!" The same voice whispered at the top of her lungs. "Get your ass over here and leave him alone!"

"But his fur is so nice and cuddly." A second woman's voice said before Seth felt the uncomfortable sensation of someone's face rubbing against his back. It was that moment he realized he was naked. But Seth's heart was pounding, what did these women want? Why did they do this?

"I don't see you doin' no work Nadine."

"Can't you fucking see that I'm setting up their cells? Come on. You three don't need to be rocket scientists to pick up a group of naked men and throw them in here, do you?"

Four of them... obviously Seth had tried to move, to make some indication that he was still awake, but he couldn't. His arms and his legs were numb, he couldn't even feel the softness of his fur as his hands brushed along it. In fact, if he didn't know any better he'd have to wonder if he was somehow hogtied, his arms and a leg bound behind his back. He tried to speak, but he couldn't even whimper in his discomfort, it was as if he was completely tranquilized or severely damaged after the accident. He couldn't even find the strength to open his eyes as he felt his body suddenly turned over and hoisted up. The woman who lifted him was girthy and strong, he felt his chin flop against her shoulder blade like it was hitting a tough pillow. She grabbed his tail and yanked it a bit like a backpack, he could definitely feel that, but as much as he wanted to he couldn't complain about it.

He was placed; and he thought the term loosely, as he was more flung haphazardly into the bed of a truck. As his legs rolled they caught and rested awkwardly against what felt like the steel square shapes of a small confining cage., and now he was trapped in there, completely unsure where he was going. After several minutes, he heard the truck doors slam shut and the engine... or couple of engines rev to life and start moving.

As the peek of daylight began to come into Seth's weakly opening eye, he could see the remnants of their accident on the road. Shattered metal and glass covered the stretch of the highway, but as they continued away, the sun reflected off of something in the woods, something too big to be anything but the twisted metal of a ruined van, lying abandoned there. This wasn't a rescue, this was a kidnapping.

It wasn't long after that the pain in Seth's head caused him to black out. Between bouts of consciousness, he could tell they were driving along at a good clip, the trees, cacti and hills were rushing by so fast they had to have been going at least seventy to eighty miles an hour. A small caravan of two other trucks were following close behind, a green one and a white one each with two cages in the back that he could see on the slow, swaying curves through the desert. There was another cage in the back of this truck too, he could hear it clanging against his own cage, but for the life of him, he couldn't turn to see who it was that was captive with him. On his fifth or sixth awakening from being blacked out, Seth could see the sun falling behind the hills. However far they'd made it, it had taken an entire day and it looked less and less likely these women were headed for San Francisco.

"WAKE UP!" A loud high pitched voice was followed by a rigid slap to the side of Seth's face, yanking him from a long, exhausted sleep.

Blinking his eyes, Seth looked around. They were in a cellar of some kind, old dark gray stone surrounded them on all sides, the concrete floor was freezing under even his fur as he stood on them completely naked still as he looked up at the woman standing before him. It was the same woman from the diner the night before... or two nights before, his mind was awash with the idea that he'd actually lost track of the time. The windows of the cellar were vague in their cleanliness, and were too small to really let much light into the dark room. It wasn't until they were each doused with a massive bucket of cold water each that Seth even realized that the others were in the room with him. The woman in front of them took a long drag of a cigarette before flicking it off into the distance and walking in a long, deliberate pace in front of the men.

"Well, I'm glad you boys are comfortable. Welcome to my home." She said crudely as she cleared her throat. "You've all been selected for your..." She paused as she clutched Richie's jaw and looked at him from each side of his face. "...your looks to partake on a little venture I run here." She said. "Me and my girls, Ethel, Mary or Beth here don't want to do you no harm..."

As she gestured, Seth looked at the women. Ethel, he recognized was the woman from the booth behind them at the diner. She still wore her dark tastled vest, though now she had a tight pair of black jeans and heeled boots to go with it. Her red hair was mostly hidden under a brimmed hat as she stared at them from the back. Mary was dressed even more provocatively, convident in a halter top and shorts, she had short braided blond hair that swung over her shoulders, almost like a twenty-something Brittawny Bears. The third one named Beth had a bit more girth on her, her hair cut extremely short, almost a buzz cut that pretty much completely masked the color of her hair. She wore a denim jacket and a long dress, though her green top was cut low it almost made her look slim until one looked at her midsection. Her face was also not so drenched in makeup like Nadine's was. She teetered on over to Seth and pulled his head back to stare at him.

"This one's a cat." She pointed out rather obviously, spawning a very clear eyeroll from Nadine.

"Yes. He is." She said with a sigh. "I think he'd fit in well with the clients from the middle east. Those Arabian boys are always in the mood to find a cat to... "worship"" she snickered as she threw up her fingers like quotation marks.

"China and France might be interested too." Ethel said, tapping her finger to her cheek."

"Maybe he they wanted to end up in the soup." Mary pointed out. "They eat cat in those countries!"

"Ladies, ladies. Please." Beth said waving her hands. "Let's just put them up on the block like we do with every other Tom, Dick and..." She glanced at Seth. "Furry we find."

"On the block?" Pete spoke up. "What do you think we are? We're not slabs of meat for you to--" His voice was suddenly interrupted by a smack from the blond. Pete fell to the ground.

"Oy! He didn' do nothin!" Richie shouted. "Leave 'em alone!"

"Say, that's a pretty cute accent." Nadine said leaning in and running her long red nails along the Aussie's chin. "We might be able to use that."

"Fuck you." He snapped at Nadine who promptly moved her hand away.

"This could be done the easy way, or the hard way, boys." Nadine said, scoffing at him. "You'll make a hell of a coin on the market. Ladies?"

Beth and Ethel both grabbed Richie under his arms and hoisted him up, dripping all over the place as they practically pulled him up completely off the floor. "Let me go!" He ordered them, but instead they roughly grabbed his head and dragged him on the knuckles of his toes toward the door, slamming it behind them as they vanished into the other room.

Time went by slowly as the three of them were chained roughly to the wall of the cellar. Only their arms were shackled back, leaving their feet free; but they weren't able to break what was holding them in place. Only Nadine waited behind with them, smoking cigarette after cigarette, tossing them all precariously into the dark corners of the room as they waited. Every twenty to thirty minutes Mary would come out and take another one back. After Richie, it was Dane, then Travis. There was no word what had happened to any of them after they vanished, they came back for Clint and then Pete was the next to go. Seth had considered over and over again in his mind that they were doing this to him on purpose.

His nails clicked nervously at his shackles as he waited for his turn to go. The sunlight was already beginning to fade from the tiny port-sized windows that lined the upper layer of this cellar and he grew even more uneasy because he could hear nothing after his friends were taken back behind the curtains into the back room. He exhaled sharply, his back pressing up against the cold concrete behind him as he waited.

Finally, the door opened again, and this time Nadine got up to help Mary. They pushed Seth back against the wall as the unlatched the shackles, making his arms fall limply to his sides. Seth hadn't realized his body had grown so weak in this much time. He tried to push Nadine and Mary away, but they were overpowering him. No human should be able to do that, but his arms had been worn down from hanging for so long that he really couldn't do much more than struggle and kick wildly as they drug him across the floor toward the adjoining door. Pushing him through, the door closed into utter darkness. Not the least amount of light filtered into the room from the last one, leaving absolute blackness to the feline. A pair of hands grabbed Seth's shoulders and threw him against a wall. He could hear chains rattling over his head as he fell past them and landed against the wall. He grunted in pain, and then he heard the sound of a pop and he was pinned against the wall by a powerful hose of water hitting him.

"AHHHH!" Seth cried out in shock at the frigid waters splattering against his body. "What're you doing? Turn it off! Turn it off!" He cried out, but his words fell on deaf ears. He could feel his body get hit from every side, and as much as he rolled away to avoid the geysers, they still managed to find him. They had to have been watching him through night vision goggles of some sort. He put his hands up to shield his face, but they seemed more interested in driving the water down his body. Turning around, he let them scour his back with the water before finally turning them off. A hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him blindly into the room. "HEY!" He shrieked and suddenly felt himself dropping through some trap door into even more darkness. He struck metal and skidded, sliding down a hidden chute like a bullet, he came out into a large rounded room, falling hard onto the floor below. He was surprised to find it was pillow soft, though a cloud of some powdery substance exploded out from under him as he hit the ground and rolled some. "Ewww! Peh! Peh!" He spit the powder from his mouth, realizing his fur was covered in the off-white substance he could also tell that it smelled like perfume in the room. "What the fuck is all this?" He asked aloud, still trying to spit out the bitter taste in his mouth as the door at the end of the room slid open, revealing Nadine behind it.

"This can be torture or not. It's completely up to you." She said as she walked into the room. In her left hand she held a riding crop, which she slapped loudly against the palm of her hand. "My girls can be at this all night."

"Be at what? What the hell is your game here?"

"Profit." Nadine said with a grin and a shrug. "Pure and simple. You see, my girls and I are into a trade that law enforcement might not find particularly legal." She grinned. "So either you cooperate, or you are forced to cooperate. It's up to you." She slapped the crop into her right hand so loudly that it echoed through the room and made Seth's skin crawl.

Inside the room, he could barely make out one of the probably many cages behind Nadine and it looked like somebody was struggling inside of it. Seth frowned, he could feel his fur bristle up from his nerves as they went from his toes up to his head

*BANG! BOOM!* Noises of screeching and pounding metal resounded from overhead made the both of them look up as several men in black body armor and helmets descended through the ceiling and down toward them.

"GET DOWN! Hands on your heads!" One of the men ordered, and immediately, Seth submitted to the demands, suddenly very frightened for his life.

Nadine spat at the men coming down and turned to run away. Seth looked up just in time to see one of the men fire something at her, forcing the woman to drop to the ground convulsing as she was electrocuted by a taser.

"Oy, Seth. You alright, mate?" A familiar voice asked as one of the masked men grabbed his shoulder and lifted his helmet.

"Richie?" Seth asked in shock.

"Heh, the one and only. Detective RIchard Stone of the SFPD. Are you alright?"

Seth put his palm to his head and groaned a bit. "I'm... so confused." He said, almost getting sick on the spot.

The trip to San Francisco seemed much faster by air, as Seth and the rest of the crew from the van were airlifted in. Seth tried to make sense of the madness over the noise, all he could do was listen as Richie explained everything over the radio.

"I'm sorry we put you into this situation." He explained. "We've had this set up for a while now, after several reports of groups of men goin' missing, my department had me set up ta infiltrate one of the groups travelin' through there." He pointed at Dane. "Your van gave us the perfect opportunity."

"So... this whole thing up to the diner was a setup?"

"Pretty much." Richie shrugged. "We didn't know exactly where the victims were bein' picked for this, or what happened to them after they went missing. But I assumed it was someplace between Salt Lake City and San Francisco. Just got lucky, I guess."

"I guess..." Dane said reluctantly.

"What did they want with us?" Seth asked finally.

Richie frowned. "Our latest intel was that they were sellin' people on the black market. Mostly for slaves to different countries; different enormously wealthy people. Usually men for men, ya know. Gay trade is pretty high these days.

"So... this was all just an act?" He asked with a frown.

The expression on Richie's face recognized Seth's meaning and he frowned in turn. "Well... for the most part, yeah mate. It was an act. I ain't from Kansas City or anything." His smile lightened. "But our talk outside the diner, I meant it." He said with a smile.

Seth felt cold and angry. He didn't want to blame Richie for this, but it irritated him. Why would Richie violate their trust like that? Or at least let them in on what his plans were? Maybe it would have been easier to go along with it. But instead, it felt like the days they'd known each other had never happened before, and Seth sat back, glaring at him with a frown.

Two months had passed since the incident. Seth stared at his alarm clock one morning and watched the 6:30 rollover to 6:31 before sitting up in his bed. The apartment he'd gotten was small, and didn't block out the sound of San Francisco's morning traffic as it started up outside. A fiery glow came through his closed window behind him as he rubbed his eyes and stretched, listening to his back pop lightly as he did.

Seth had managed to get a job at the garage down the street. He'd always been good with his hands, though working from noon to ten o'clock almost every night was a pain in the ass. He slipped from his bed and admired himself momentarily in the mirror. The time he'd been there was showing though, his forearms and biceps had increased in size from lifting engines and toting tools, fixing cars, or motorcycles, which were more his cup of tea, he enjoyed a lot more than flipping burgers for a living, that was for sure. He slipped on a pair of his sunglasses and pulled open his door.

He lived on the second floor of an apartment complex, the halls were on the outside of long corridors overlooking a courtyard. It reminded him like a big motel. In fact, he'd remembered hearing something about the place being rebuilt from one of the old 1980's ones. The walls were plastered in a stucco beige that had obviously been redone within the last few years, it gave the complex a very Aztec-clay tan look which was made even more exceedingly tacky by the city surrounding it. He sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes under his glasses as he headed down the stairs to his car. At this hour in the morning, not many people were up, there was the occasional scream and yell across the yard, but the ones who were yelling only rarely came into view.

"Shit." He proclaimed in aggitation as he fondled his pockets for his keys, not finding them. He must have left them on the head of his bed. He didn't have time to go to the office to get them to let him back into his room, he had a seven o'clock appointment at the clinic down the street. A soft wind rustled the cat's shirt, which flapped in the breeze, causing him to look up. He could see the Farmington estate from here. The upper roof of the distant building reflected against the sun, giving off an almost golden glow from its red tiled exterior. He'd heard about Jack Farmington, a rich entrepreneur who lived in the area, mostly because the property values were driven down by some of the elements of the neighborhood. He'd never seen the man, but Seth assumed simply that he was just some other stuck up snob hoping to get away from paying too much like everyone else around him. Though Seth admitted, he'd misjudged people before.

The cat made his way down the narrow alleyway between the apartment complex and the main drag in this neighborhood. Though, in this neighborhood, "drag" could have an entirely different meaning. He didn't need his car on such a nice day, it was a three block trip, and he'd been worrying about becoming too lethargic lately. He chuckled to himself and patted his scrawny stomach; maybe there would be a need for him to put on a few pounds, after all.

"Hey!" A familiar voice called from behind Seth as he made his way into the crowd. He clenched up a moment and continued on even faster, it couldn't have been, could it? "Hey! Seth! It's me, mate! C'mere for a sec!" The voice called again as Richie caught up with him at last. "Well, I'll be damned. Seth Blake. Ain't this a surprise?"

"Is it really a surprise?" Seth asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Sure. I didn't have any idea I'd be runnin' into you out here!" Richie exclaimed. "Damn what a small city. I live a few blocks away from here myself."

"Really?" The sound of surprise lacking in his voice rose even more to the surface. "You lived only a few blocks from me these past few months and you happened to not know I lived in the same neighborhood?"

Richie thought for a moment before responding; "Nope." He said with a smile. "So, checkin' out the old Farmington place, ey?"

"Not really. I just sort of notice it on occasion."

"Well you're lucky you didn't wind up in a place like that a couple months ago."

The thought got his attention so fast that Seth nearly walked into a stop sign. "Wh-what was that?"

"Oh, you didn' know? Farmington's a suspected slaver of sorts. Last we heard he's got about twelve different concubines he treats himself to on a weekly basis."

"Really..."

Richie nodded. "Nadine and her girls had confessed to supplyin' both men and women to him, but no one's seen him or any of these people he's bought from them, so the police can't do much about it."

"Well. Maybe it's for the best then." Seth suggested as he continued onward, Richie following with him.

"Do you ever think about it?" Richie asked after a few moments.

"Are you still following me? Think about what? Seth asked, his tail swishing back and forth irritably.

"The kidnapping."

Seth frowned. "It's not like we knew there was going to be backup, was there?"

"I still felt the same things you did, Seth." Richie sneered. "That sense of capture, the anticipation of being trussed up to be carted off to some sick auction. To become slaves to someone else... just losin' complete control of our lives." He paused. "Do you think about it?"

"Sure. Everytime I close my eyes." Seth said. "I feel my heart pounding like it was back then, I feel the fear and confusion of not knowing what was behind that door..."

"Fear?" Richie repeated. "Before you answer, I want ya to think about it, Seth... was it really fear, or excitement?"

"What?"

"Hear me out. The idea of losing one's free will, to give it completely over to someone. What an experience right? The idea of bein' totally dependant on someone else... that doesn't excite you in the least?"

Seth scoffed. "No! Of course it doesn't!"

There was a long pause in silence as they continued down the street, Seth hadn't even realized they walked past his appointment as they turned down an alley about half a mile further down and started up the hill. They didn't talk much on the way up, mostly the memories of their kidnapping were still on their minds. Both men were nervous, but somehow they knew that there needed to be some sort of closure to this... before they knew what was going on, they were standing beside the two large white double doors of the large building. They stared at the small button on the side of the door and Seth looked at Richie who was still staring intently at it.

"G'on then." Richie said, looking at the cat. "This was your idea."

"Hey, you didn't have to follow me." Seth argued.

"Then you'd be ringin' the doorbell anyway. Just do it."

Seth paused for a time, then slowly brought his hand out to press the buzzer, only to find himself inches away when the door opened on its own, and a man's face slipping into the sunlight, which made the men jump.

He was an older gentleman, but not terribly elderly at all. He had a thin wire of a goatee around his face, except on his chin where the thin beard flared out into a spike that drooped under his chin. His light blue eyes took in the sunlight and seemed to light up like the sky above. He was well dressed, in a red button up shirt which looked like it was made out of a silk or similar material. Immediately, Seth and Richie started to back away from the door, each hoping to make a break for the road.

"Now, hold on." The man's voice was gruff and deep, it sounded almost commanding, and both of them instantly complied with the halting order. "I know you two..." He said. "A couple months ago, was it? You were involved in Nadine Cross' arrest and conviction for kidnapping, right?"

"She... she sort of kidnapped us." Seth said, unable to hold back his irritation. "If it weren't for men like you, she probably wouldn't have gotten away with it as much as she did."

"Men like me?" He chortled. "Well, I don't know much about that, but I'll at least attempt to introduce myself." He smiled. "I'm Jack Farmington. But I suspected you knew that, right?"

"Richie Stone." The other human said with a nod. "This is Seth Blake."

"So, why did you sound surprised that we knew you deal in slaving?"

"Because I don't." Jack said sternly. "I knew about Nadine's little trade, sure. Not many men over fifty-million dollars worth of assets didn't. But I never bought a single slave from her that I didn't simply turn over to a better life. Would you two like to come in? I can explain things a little better over a cup of tea, and you boys sure look like you could use some."

Jack pushed the door open wider, allowing Seth and Richie to enter, as they stepped into the main room, the door closed behind them; it was fairly cold in the house, the air conditioning was working overtime it seemed to keep it cool. And it was large, the two of them looked up a staircase laid up in front of them that extended up and split to a double set of stairs at a large bay window about halfway up the flight where the staircases split off. Seth was in awe, he felt his tail swish a bit. He'd never seen a home this large in his life.

"I trust you boys like this place." Jack said, stepping up behind them. "I've been here nearly fifteen years myself. So I greatly appreciate company whenever I can find it."

"So, if you're not into the whole slaving thing, why do you have so much inner knowledge of their circles? What was Nadine to you?"

"Well... I did give her a few tips to the trade." Jack admitted. "But I never participated; I grew up as a psychologist with an in-depth knowledge of how peoples' minds worked." He guided the two of them to a large table, where a fresh pot of hot water and tea had been recently added to the table. "Just as I figured I'd see at least two of you sometime before the year's end. He chuckled and sat in the chair at the end of the table, bringing his hand out to gesture that Seth and Richie join him in the chairs beside him, which they did quickly. "What is it that lured you two up to my estate? Surely it wasn't for me to bore you with the details of me being a slave trader, which I am not." He put a finger to his chin. "Maybe it is deeper than that?"

"What do you mean?" Seth asked in the mid-pour of his tea.

"Maybe you came to me because the thrill of it proved to be too much for you."

"That's ridiculous." Richie said. "We were all victims of that woman."

"But you were in on it, sort of." Seth said. "You had to have felt safer than we did."

"The way it happened was completely not what I expected." Richie explained. "I didn't plan for them to almost kill us and take us someplace I couldn't recall. I was lucky to get a transmission out of that place... I was in it just as deep as the rest of you were."

"And were you excited about that? The idea that you would be sent to be with someone you'd call master? Someone who would treat you like his pet, Richie?"

Richie frowned a bit and shrugged. "I-I dunno... I've never been in a position to let myself be controlled like that."

"But... would you allow yourself to be?" He asked, pausing briefly as he folded his fingers over each other.

"What?" Seth asked curiously.

"Nothing, nothing." Jack shook his head and smiled. "I only know a vague impression of how you boys must have felt in their control. I'm here to help, though. Anything you two want to ask, please, fire away."

It was easy to talk to Jack, both Richie and Seth found that he not only had advice for them, but he was an excellent listener, even as they talked to him about their experience, he didn't act like he was judging them, he actually helped them feel more normal. Their lives outside of Jack's house even began to come back together. After three or four visits to Jack's home, becoming used to his servants, becoming used to the massive home they were guests in, things seemed to be moving along for both of them as their fear for the days that had passed faded into mere memories. As the days passed into weeks, both of them seemed to show marked improvements not only in their lives, but at their work as well.

It had been nearly six months since the incident that had changed their lives. Seth walked quietly up the gravel driveway toward the Farmington mansion once again. The night was cool under his fur and he was actually fairly surprised that he was invited over so late at night. He knocked on the door and took it upon himself to open it up and step inside.

"Hello?" Seth called out as he stepped into the front room. "Jack? You home?" He asked again, but there was no answer.

The cat closed the door behind him, and heard a soft clicking noise coming from upstairs. Slowly, he climbed the stairs to the second floor, stopping briefly to admire his reflection in the window halfway up. As he reached the top landing, he could hear voices coming from the room two doors down. He walked down to it and tapped lightly on the door. "Jack? You there?" He asked as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. "WHOA!" He shrieked as he spotted a completely shocking view;

An armchair was about the only piece of furniture in the room, a roaring fire glowed from the fireplace as Seth's eyes focused in on what was happening. At the foot of the chair, sitting on all fours and allowing Jack to rest his feet on him was Richie. His eyes were down, his face resting on the insides of his elbows as he was lowered against the floor. Richie was completely naked, his cock rigid and up against his stomach as he remained there, completely still.

"Oh, good evening, Seth." Jack said, his face still mostly submerged in the dark lighting of the room. "Would you care to come in?"

"I-Rich-Jack! What the hell man? What's this about?"

"Oh, this?" He pointed at Richie before uncrossing his legs and resting his feet against his back again. "Richie has agreed to indulge his fantasies with me, that's all." He said.

"That's all? You've made him your slave, and I'm supposed to be alright with that?"

"He isn't my slave." Jack said, sounding offended by the very notion. "This is completely voluntary, and Richie is allowed to go whenever he wants. But we have an understanding; so long as he's under my roof, he has to obey every command I give him. He is my pet and I am his master."

Seth was still trying to grasp the concept of what he was seeing, his heart was pounding so hard it was like a drum beating in his ears. There was something strangely arousing by this, he didn't want to, but he could feel an erection building in his pants, which he tried to hide by feebly backing away from what he saw. "Y-you... why would you do this?"

"It's what he wanted." Jack said, sitting up. "It's what you want too, I know it. That thought, that loss of control, your body craves it. All I'm asking is a few hours a day, submit yourself to me completely. Give into that desire, the feeling you realize you're missing, and I promise you, you won't be disappointed.

He saw Jack's fingers flex up some at the side of his chair, somehow on instinct alone, Seth knew what he wanted... and he knew what Jack wanted as well. "I--I think I better go." He said.

"Very well." Jack said, his fingers falling limply over the arm of his chair. "Just know that the opportunity will always be here for you, if you change your mind Seth... I'm sure you will, too."

Seth whimpered a bit, he wanted to leave, but his feet felt like they were rooted in place. He watched Jack's foot slide along Richie's backside, and he could hear the human groan a bit as the foot pressed against his rear. Something in the back of Seth's mind told him he wanted this, the loss of control, the ability to drop his inhibitions and to become nothing more than a mere pet for Jack. Quickly, he marched forward and crouched beside the chair. He rested his head against the man's hand, prompting Jack to slowly run his fingers through his fur. Seth couldn't fight back the purring noise as the man's fingers touched his scalp, making him want more and more to become just a mindless pet like Richie had become.

A feeling of calm washed over him all of a sudden. He put his hands onto the floor as the buzz rushed through his mind, putting to rest some of the doubts he'd had only moments ago about giving into this. His heart was still pounding, but it was more of a sense of arousal now, he wanted to be controlled, he felt with every fiber of his being the same sort of rush that he had when they had been kidnapped. "Get comfortable, Seth." Jack said in his same nearly commanding tone of voice. "Take off your clothes and spend the night with us."

Seth couldn't even tell the difference now between being clothed and being naked. He only realized he was naked when he caught his reflection on windows, or the occasional mirror as they walked through the mansion. Jack had given him and Richie each a collar. His was red while Richie's was black, a pair of leashes tethered them to Jack's hand as he guided them through the house to the other wing. Inside, a large, wood post bed stood. No curtains surrounded it, but it was thick with plush blankets and pillows. Jack smiled as he released the leashes and began to strip down.

For an older man, Jack wasn't in very bad shape at all; his arms were a little scrawny for his size, and maybe his thighs were a little thick. But his stomach was flat as a washboard, and his round butt really revealed much of the man's pride. Seth watched with his mouth hung open as Jack climbed onto the bed, letting his slippers fall precariously to the foot of the bed as he looked back at them, standing on his hands and knees. "Seth, I'd like for you to do this." He said, reaching his hand back and spreading his cheeks to expose his ass.

He gasped softly as Seth's hands spread the cheeks apart again and his rough feline tongue followed the trail from his balls to the hole. He winced a moment and whispered. "Careful with that... it feels good, but go too rough and it's like sandpaper."

Seth took heed of the caution and licked slower, barely grazing the hole with the tip of his tongue, again and again as he began to round the rim with it, boldly dipping it in deeper and deeper with each passing. Seth's hand was resting underneath Jack's cock and he was surprised when he felt it begin to drip a few small drops of precum onto it. "Oh, yesssss..." Jack whimpered and moaned as he pressed his ass against Seth's tongue.

Seth received a bit of a shock himself when he felt another tongue begin to probe his cock. From tip to base at first, Richie was giving him a blowjob. But every so oftten, his tongue would slide back further, lapping at his ass as he sat under the feline, stroking himself in time with his long, slow lips as they worked their way along Seth's length. "Nngh..." Seth couldn't argue with the use of Richie's maw, his tail swished wildly, enjoying the warmth on both ends of his body. He didn't relent though, as long as Jack was angling his ass down onto his tongue, Seth had nowhere else to go, nothing else to do. All he could do now is ride out the pleasure.

"Come, my pets." Jack said as he moved forward, removing himself from Seth's blissful tongue as he rolled over and sat back on the bed, his arousal prominent as he angled it upward. "I'd like to see you two play some. Why don't you enjoy my cock, Seth while I watch Richie play with you?"

The words came off more as a command than a question, but neither of them argued with it. Seth came forward onto the bed, feeling his member drag along the blankets as he made his way to his master's cock. He quickly covered the flesh with his mouth and began to suck on it. His hand wrapped around Jack's balls and tugged them slightly as he felt Richie move into place behind him, pressing a warm, thick cockhead against his hole. Seth wasn't about to argue, he'd wanted Richie to fuck him from the moment they met, and now would be his chance...

Letting out a rough human grunt, Richie affixed his cock and pushed into its mark. Seth growled and huffed, resisting the urge to bite down on the cock in his mouth. His tongue dragged down and brought the fuzz of the man's balls up some. He felt Jack's hand rest approvingly on his head as he thrust into Seth's throat deeper, making the cat's tail sway even wider than before, until it was resting against his thigh. He hissed a bit and rocked back some.

"That's it, my pet..." Jack whispered, tightening his grip on the fur atop Seth's head and fucking into his throat again and again. "Just take it all..."

A long trail of precum drained down Seth's tongue and rolled off, dripping uncontrollably from the side of his mouth as Jack pushed in further and harder, until his stomach was pushing the cat's lips back roughly against his teeth. He'd never experienced this kind of control, it was rough and hard, but his heart was pounding harder than it ever did under Nadine's captivity. At the same time, Richie was angling himself in different ways every time he pushed himself in to the hilt. Each time it followed with a forceful grunt as his hands ran down his back, pushing in so hard it was like he was giving Seth a massage.

"Yes, Richie... breed him, I'll let you do it this once." Jack said, almost as if he were commanding the other human to cum. "Breed him! Fill him with your cum!"

"AhhAAAAHHH!" Richie bucked in so hard he almost lifted Seth off his knees. There was a sudden flood of warmth filling Seth's hole. Gagging, Seth couldn't even yowl or roar in a passionate response, he only managed to grunt and hiss a bit as his own load hit the sheets, filling them with his white seed.

Abruptly, Jack pulled himself from Seth's mouth. "On the bed..." He said with a commanding voice and Seth complied, quickly laying on his stomach with his used ass in the air. Jack straddled the cat, his cock easily slipping into the used, cum-covered hole as he did so. He rocked in hard, oddly enough he felt thicker than Richie, getting close to the end of his shaft it grew tight again. Jack whispered something and licked his lips as he plunged in, tossing his head back. Deeper and harder Jack buried himself into the cat, the feeling of being stretched even further was making Seth's head spin, he could feel himself getting hard again. As the rocking rubbed his shaft against the mattress, he could feel himself quickly approaching the edge of his second load as Jack's thrusts slowed some. "You're... mine..." He huffed before practically throwing himself forward, completely penetrating the cat all the way to the hilt. Seth cried out again, another load burying itself into the blankets as he came a second time. Another substantial load exploded in him as Jack huffed and came, loudly crying out as he did. At once he collapsed onto the bed between his two pets.

Seth came to just as the dawn light was piercing the blinds of the bedroom. He winced and awakened to the light of the day. Jack lay in between him and Richie, flat on his back, one arm around each of them, a prominent tent standing in between them as they looked at each other and smiled a bit.

It was only a matter of weeks before both of them received substantial promotions at their jobs, and soon afterward, Seth didn't bother returning to the apartment he'd rented as the two of them moved in with Jack. The memories of what happened with Nadine were still fresh in their minds; that sense of no control, that sense of having someone else forcing them to do whatever they'd wanted was still there. But only for the times they were with their master. Slowly, Jack's teachings progressed further; beyond the sexual dominance he showed, he also allowed them to do tasks for him that tested their free will.

"Now, my pet." Jack said, glancing at Seth, who, on training sat immediately when being addressed. Jack sat in his arm chair in front of his favorite television program, his legs rested on Richie's back, who remained still. His head still buried between his forearms as the other two spoke. "You will address me in the proper manner, your life; both of your lives, will not be the same after this point. Call me 'master' but only when spoken to. I will do my best to provide you with what I can, and we will not talk about this to anyone else. Do you understand?"

"Yes, master." Both Seth and Richie spoke at once, bowing their heads as Seth averted his gaze from direct contact.

"You are mine. Both of you. And I will protect you from all harm, so long as you both do as I say without hesitation, without question. Do you understand?"

"Yes, master." Both said again.

Jack's smile broadened. "Then with that being said... let's retire a little bit early tonight."

THE END