Free Weasel Presents by Kyell Gold Page B

“No no no!” Jherik laughed, squirming and clinging to the fox but unable to move him. “Hey, you’re stuck!”
    Benton stopped and grinned. “It’s a knot.” He licked Jherik’s chest fur. “You never got tied with Mishel?”
    “No. I never had anyone...in me before.”
    “Oh.” Benton looked suddenly worried. “I thought you’d...I mean, I wouldn’t have if I’d known...”
    Jherik hugged him. “I liked it. Don’t worry.”
    “Okay.” Benton sighed.
    “How much do you know about Mishel?” Jherik said cautiously a moment later.
    “I think he comes from down south somewhere.” Benton murmured.
    “I mean about him and me.”
    “You came in that one time with him all over you,” Benton said in a low voice.
    “But you said...it sounded like you know I’ve been seeing him a lot. Don’t worry,” he said, as Benton looked away. “I told him tonight that I don’t want to see him any more.”
    “Really?”
    Jherik nodded. “I...realized that he didn’t have what I was looking for.”
    Benton exhaled and nuzzled him. Jherik stroked his ears. “So...how much do you know?”
    Benton sighed. “He used to brag. In the barracks.”
    Jherik found himself picturing the barracks building as seen from the grove of trees, and he suddenly remembered that the narrow windows in the mess hall looked out onto that grove. There normally wouldn’t be anyone in the mess hall that late. Normally. Putting that together with Mishel’s penchant for staying right at the edge of the grove, he found that he didn’t want to pursue that line of questioning any more. “Why didn’t you say something to me?”
    Benton was quiet for a long time. Jherik kept stroking him, and eventually the fox spoke. “I didn’t want to say anything. Because I didn’t know if you knew, and I thought that I might only be telling you because I wanted to be with you too, and I thought you must know how I felt and if I told you, you’d just put it down to jealousy.” He sighed. “I don’t know. I was confused, and jealous, and I thought I’d never have a chance with you, especially next to someone like him.”
    “How long...how long have you felt like that about me?”
    Benton pressed his muzzle into Jherik’s chest and didn’t answer. Jherik rubbed him gently. “Benton?”
    “I don’t know,” the fox said muffledly. “Your brother talked about you and how you were so sweet and passionate. He talked about how he envied that passion, and I thought you sounded like such a great person, and then you started feeling bad, and I just wanted to make you feel better. And then you spent all that time to teach me. That was so nice. So I guess it’s been either a year and a half or a few weeks. Depending on how you look at it.”
    “Wow.” Jherik extended his claws slightly to comb through the fox’s soft fur. “I have some catching up to do.” It still bothered him that he hadn’t picked up on it sooner, but better late than never, he supposed.
    Benton murmured something, and shifted his hips, his knot sliding through Jherik and out. Jherik shuddered at a final wave of pleasure, then took advantage of his mobility to lean down and kiss Benton again. “Come on,” he said softly. “I think we both deserve a good night’s sleep.”
    “Yeah.” Benton grinned, and his grin grew wider as Jherik leaned over and scooped him up. The cougar managed to throw the lock, checked the hallway to make sure it was clear, then scooted across and into his own chambers, and shut the door behind him.
    Yakua’s cot was empty. Jherik padded through the main room and slipped into the bedroom, closing the door behind him with his rear. He leaned against it and sighed, and Benton hugged his neck warmly. He smiled, nuzzling the fox back, and the fox’s tongue sought his again. He met it gladly.
    When they broke from the kiss, he lay Benton down in his bed, thinking about how often he’d dreamed of having someone share the bed with him. The thought