Pendant of Fortune (47 page)

Volle, who had slept next door to a personal servant for five years in the palace, shook his head. “Not particularly.”

“
All right.” Streak smiled and put both paws on either side of Volle’s muzzle, bringing him close.

Volle parted his muzzle as the soft fur of the white wolf’s touched it, and felt a familiar warmth and taste as their tongues brushed each other. He pulled his muzzle closer, pressing it against Streak’s, keeping their teeth apart with expert care. Their bodies slid closer together as well, and this time the soreness when Streak pressed on Volle’s sheath was easy to ignore. He felt his tail swing back and forth as a wave of euphoria washed over him. This was what he had missed, this was what he had gone to all that trouble for, this was what he wanted.

Streak felt the same, he could tell. The wolf’s tongue thrust insistently against his and his arms tightened as though he wanted to pull the fox into himself. Volle pressed against him without protest and returned the embrace until he felt they were just sharing one breath, back and forth.

Finally, with a sigh, they let their muzzles slide apart. Streak brushed Volle’s whiskers with a tender smile. “I missed that.”

“
Me too.” Volle nuzzled the wolf’s paw softly.

“
All right. Now come over here,” he tugged Volle toward the bed, “and tell me what happened that day.”

Volle sighed and sat down on the bed. He debated whether to hold anything back, but decided against it. He kept his voice low, so that if Forrin were listening he couldn’t hear, and told Streak what Dereath had done. The only details he left out were their conversations; it would have needlessly upset Streak to hear some of the things Dereath had said.

When he reached the part where Dereath had drawn blood, he hesitated and found it hard to describe. Streak took a second to understand, and when he did, his eyes widened in horror.

“
Oh, merciful Canis! No wonder…” He chewed on his lip. “Is it…healing? Can I see?”

Volle was reluctant to show Streak, but he knew he’d have to eventually. “I don’t know how much you’ll be able to see in the dark. It is healing. It’s just sore now. I don’t know if it’ll leave a scar.”

Streak tried a smile. “It could be interesting.” His ears were still down. “What else?”

Volle finished the story, and Streak sighed. Volle reached over to pat the wolf’s leg, and then realized that his paws were clenched into fists and that what he’d thought had been a sigh had been a low, strangled growl. “It’s okay,” he started to say, but Streak cut him off.

“
It’s not okay.” His voice was trembling. “You went through all that for me, because of my stupidity. And that…son of an outcast did it to you. And he enjoyed it! If he weren’t in prison, I’d go up to the castle and wring his neck right now.”

Volle took the wolf’s fists in his paws and looked into his muzzle. “What’s important is that we’re here, together. Let him be. He can’t hurt us now.” Something gnawed at him as he said that, knowing he wasn’t being quite truthful, but he pushed it aside.

“
If he does anything like that again. If he ever
touches
you again…”

“
He won’t.” Volle looked into Streak’s eyes. “I promise.”

Streak relaxed slowly, his paws uncurling. “I feel like it’s my fault,” he whispered.

Volle shook his head. “You didn’t make him do those things. Blame him.”

“
Oh, I do.” His whisper regained its edge.

“
But not tonight.” Volle kissed Streak gently, surprised to find himself swelling with arousal despite the soreness that accompanied the feeling. “Tonight let’s just celebrate being back together again.”

The wolf’s ears came up slowly. “All right. You’re right.” He kissed Volle back. “But I still want to see.”

“
Okay.” Volle stood and started to undo his pants. He wanted Streak to be happy; in a way he felt like he was protecting the young wolf from the extremes of emotion that could get him in trouble at the palace. Distracting him with sex seemed to be working, and, Volle admitted to himself, it had its side benefits as well. He let his pants fall to the floor and shed his shirt a moment later.

Streak knelt in front of him, eyes close to Volle’s sheath in the dim light. He sniffed the fur after examining it and then licked gently. “You’ll have to take it all the way out,” he grinned, nosing at the top of Volle’s sheath.

“
I trust you can remember how to do that.” Volle chuckled softly.

“
Mmm.” Streak bent to licking again, and Volle shuddered. While he remained in his sheath, the pleasure of the licks countered the pain nicely, but as the wound slid past the tight ring at the opening of his sheath, a sharp pain made his knees buckle and brought a gasp to his lips.

“
You okay?” Streak was on his feet, holding Volle and looking anxiously into his eyes.

“
Yeah,” Volle panted. “Just…a bit of pressure on the wrong spot.” The pain was fading quickly.

Streak examined him worriedly for another few seconds, and when Volle smiled reassuringly at him, he nodded and dropped to his knees again. He caressed Volle’s emerging length with gentle pads and brushed his nose and tongue along it. Volle felt a twinge as his tongue brushed past the wound, and then heard a growl and an exhalation of breath.

Worried that Streak was going to get upset again, Volle reached down to pet his ears gently. “It feels better when you lick it,” he said.

“
Does it?” In the moonlight, Streak’s eyes shone up, but Volle could still see the spark of a smile in them. He nodded.

“
I guess it’s my duty to keep licking, then.” He leaned forward and bent his tongue to the task.

Volle gasped; after a few licks it really was more pleasure than pain. The aching subsided, replaced by urges and a rush of blood he hadn’t felt in days. “Oh…” he moaned softly.

“
Mmf. ‘Sbetter,” Streak mumbled around his shaft. “Like old times.”

“
I missed you…wolf…” Volle panted.

Streak responded by sliding his entire muzzle over Volle’s erect, trembling shaft and holding it there, letting his tongue rub gently up and down. Volle closed his eyes, his knees weakening, paws sliding to Streak’s shoulders and resting there.

Still Streak kept licking, sliding his muzzle back and forth, careful not to press too hard on the small wound. Volle felt two days of chastity and nearly a week of frustration and tension melt away from him, drowned in waves of arousal that crested higher and higher. He heard himself moaning and felt his paws clench more tightly on the wolf’s shoulders, and then felt a shiver as the wolf stopped and gently drew his muzzle back.

“
I want to be part of this too,” he said. “I don’t think you can mount me tonight, so if you’re not too sore…?”

Volle grinned and clenched his rear experimentally. “Not a bit of it, dear.”

Streak’s tail wagged quickly as he divested himself of his own clothes, in what seemed to Volle like record time. He found the small pot of lubricant and sat down on the bed with it, patting the space beside him.

Clambering onto the bed, Volle dropped his muzzle into Streak’s lap and nuzzled the warm sheath, sighing happily. Streak reached around behind him and applied the cream, more gently than usual, though Volle could have told him not to worry. It actually felt cool and quite good, and he was amply distracted with the growing length under his tongue. He drew his tongue along it, and the familiar shape and taste were like coming home.

He hardly realized he had Streak in his muzzle and was sliding his muzzle vigorously up and down until he heard the wolf’s harsh panting and smelled the musk of his arousal, stronger even than the pine smell now. He grinned and lifted his muzzle. “Okay. I think you’re ready.”

“
Oh, sweet Canis…this is going to be the quickest mating we’ve ever had, I think.” Streak panted, his eyes wide with desire as Volle lay on his back, head on the pillow. The wolf knelt between his legs and held his stiff member with one paw while the other guided his own erection under Volle’s sac. Volle felt the pressure, a moment of discomfort, and then the warm hardness covered by cool lubricant, sliding into him as neatly as it ever had.

He panted himself then, so close to his climax that he tried to keep Streak’s slick paw away from his shaft, sure that the least touch would push him over. Streak’s motions almost did that anyway; the wolf’s knot was already as big as it would get, and his quick thrusting motions were making Volle shudder all over.

“
Oh fox…” he whined, “I can’t hold on…” Then that knot was pressing against Volle’s rear, and he was grabbing Streak’s paw and rubbing it quickly up and down his shaft, because the sensations were too much for him, too. Streak’s howl was cut short by a series of moans as his knot popped into Volle and his hips worked back and forth, his body shuddering as it released its passion into the fox.

The noise had barely died down before Volle had begun panting and moaning himself, the touch on his member like fire. Dimly, he felt some pain from the wound, but it was thrust back far away where it didn’t matter. He was exploding, bright spots danced before his eyes, and his back arched as he finished with a deep, loud moan. He felt the splashes of warmth on his chest first, then on his stomach, and finally on his paw. For a long moment, he held the tension, and then he collapsed on his back, pulling Streak down with him.

They shared a deep, warm kiss, stroking each other’s fur as the feelings subsided. Volle was aware of a small ache on his member, but much less than when he’d been squeezed at the dance. He sighed happily. In a few days that too would be gone.

Streak nuzzled him and pressed his muzzle into the pillow. “Phew,” he said. “Fox, that was so…Mmm.”

“
Yeah,” Volle said, and stroked a paw down the curve of the wolf’s back, playing with the base of his tail. “For me too. Wow.”

“
Mmm. Say…”

“
Hmm?”

“
Why does the pillow smell like otter?”

Chapter 11

Volle froze for a moment. He’d completely forgotten about Ellitt. But Streak didn’t seem disturbed at all. “’Sa matter?” he mumbled into the fabric. “Prob’ly just some of the servants had a good time in here. Musk’s pretty strong.”

For a moment, Volle realized he could skip the whole episode. He could let Streak believe that and go to sleep, warmly tied together, their own musk the overpowering scent in the room, and in the morning he would tell Helfer never to mention Ellitt.

But that wouldn’t be right. He could do it, but he would always know, and one day Streak would probably find out. There were enough lies in his life, and he had promised to keep Streak free of them as much as he could.

“
Listen,” he said softly into Streak’s ear.

“
Hmm?” The wolf was half-dozing already.

“
Streak.” Volle nosed him gently. “I have to tell you something.”

One blue eye opened and looked at him. With an effort, the white wolf lifted his head. “What’s up?”

Volle took a breath. “This is what Helfer and I fought about.”

As objectively as possible, he told Streak about Ellitt. He left out the parts about how good it had been, and emphasized that Helfer had called him, that Volle himself had been half-asleep, and that it hadn’t meant anything to him.

He watched Streak’s expression go from curious to guarded, and kept his paws on the wolf’s sides. “The thing is, afterwards, I realized that…I don’t want anyone else. I know you were worried about that, but that night…it just made me miss you more.”

“
You did that here? In this bed?” Volle nodded cautiously. Streak searched his eyes. “Was he better than I was?”

“
Course not,” Volle said. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“
Yeah.” The wolf shrugged. “You just have so much more experience. I wonder how I measure up sometimes.”

Volle squeezed Streak’s shrinking knot playfully, making the wolf yelp. “You’re the best.”

“
Now I know that’s not true.” But Streak was smiling now, leaning forward to lick Volle on the nose.

“
Sure it is. I’ve spent a whole year training you.” Volle looked up innocently, ears askew on the pillow.

“
Training…” Streak giggled and tugged on Volle’s rear, his knot small enough to let him slide out. He lay flat on the smaller fox, pinning him gently to the bed and nibbling at his muzzle. “Is that what you call it?”

Volle giggled, squirming. “That’s what I just called it.”