“I said it’s not involunary.”

“Do you mean ‘voluntary’?” asked Allie politely.

“Probably. You’d know better than me, but I bet you don’t know this. Let’s talk tying on a guy’s dick, shall we? You’re going to have to do better than your typical untrained girl on a Saturday night. Maybe not right away, but you’d better learn it.”

Allie’s eyes were wide, her chin slightly up, as she put a bold face on while listening. She was still a little awed, but determined to keep up. Apparently it was dirty talk time, or something…

“Okay, I get it. I’m gonna lock down on the guys like they never felt before. Um- are there exercises I should do?”

“No, no, honey. Well, yes there are exercises, but you’ve got it all wrong. You’re gonna have to learn how to fake a tie. You probably don’t realise how not involunary it is…”

“Voluntary…” said Allie involuntarily.

Jennis gave her a sour look. “That you can fucking let go. Or do you know that as well? That would be clever. What does it feel like to get into a good hard tie? Remember, that might not always be ‘good’ for our purposes.”

Allie blinked. “Usually I don’t want to think about it. Um… I’m confused. I mean, it feels confused.”

“How’s that? Describe the feeling.”

The young wolf looked miserable. “Like… when can this be over, please don’t ask me to say anything, I don’t want to make noise for you, I’m scared and okay I’ll say oooh and uh, don’t hit me if it doesn’t sound right…”

“Oh, honey, no!” said Jennis. “Oh poor baby, not that! Are you sure you want to do this? I’m really not sure how I could fool Elistary into thinking you were working, but I can’t put you through…”

“No! No, I’m okay!” said Allie hastily. “I thought you wanted me to describe the feeling.”

“But if that’s how it feels…”

“I got pretty good at doing it. Who cares? I just… it’s like, as long as it’s not him? I got away, I got all the way to Verss. It’s like, I win. Do you understand how important it is that it’s not him?”

Jennis was silent for a moment, then said “…maybe.”

“So what did you want me to describe? I’m happy if it wasn’t that! It sucked!” said Allie brightly. She laughed, but it didn’t come out very convincingly.

Allie cringed just a bit at the sharpness of the look that Jennis pinned her with. It wasn’t an unfriendly look, but it made her feel emotionally naked- it was that laugh, she shouldn’t have tried to laugh, this tough courageous lady saw right through her, next thing you know she’d be saying, go home- and not that, ever…

“I’d better know.” said Jennis, as if in apology. “Listen closely. I’ll describe, you just listen and identify the feelings. And… I’m sorry in case I… never mind. Listen.”

Allie leaned forward a bit, all attention and perked ears, determined to make a good impression.

“First off, it’s not him, but I’m only going to say that up front, because I have to know. Okay?”

Allie nodded, ear quirked a bit in confusion, a bit uneasy without knowing why. But what could happen out at a posh cafe, over breakfast?

“The guy’s with you, and he’s all worked up. You’re both in bed, you have no clothes on- you look over and oh boy are you seein’ red. He’s more than peeking out, your guy there is getting good and stiff. That sharp scent cuts through the air. You can see a bit of ooze coming off him, he was excited even before he showed, and he’s real shiny. Glistening…”

Allie’s eyes got wider and wider, and she glanced in alarm at the cafe’s morning staff, but they didn’t seem to hear any of it. Jennis was almost crooning her words, hypnotically, unhurriedly.

“We’ll say you’re gonna go your basic all-fours style. You hit your pose, maybe you’re quivering a bit. Your puss is ready, when he comes around behind he sees not just that great two-tone pattern, but between your legs, your vulva’s standing out. It’s jutting, baby, it says ‘tuck in here and let’s go’. The next thing you know, his arms are around your body and he’s on your back.”

Allie listened, heart pounding, still glancing at the wait-staff. What was all this? She wriggled a bit, trying to figure out if she was expected to play it cool.

“And then, shove! His crotch is crammed up against your rump, and that cock you were looking at? It’s in you, babe, he’s slid it right into you in one lucky thrust. He didn’t even poke you twelve times with it, the boy was on target and slurp! To the hilt, two tone babe. He’s balls-deep in you, and that boy is excited. And you know what that means, don’t you?”

Allie couldn’t speak. She did manage to nod.

“He’s a strong one! Oh my, he’s a lively one. You’re hearing it echo off the walls. How can his back hold out? He’s churning you like a maniac, your pussy’s real wet and getting hotter and hotter- you’re melting- as you melt around him you’re feeling him swell up and ho boy does he ever. That boy’s well favored, you’re getting a really goodsized knot and it’s taking him a while to settle into it. You’re getting churned until it feels like your whole body’s possessed by his huge throbbing dick.”

Allie wriggled- and whimpered. Jennis’s eyes glinted.

“And the knot gets bigger and bigger until your boy can’t churn it anymore, and he settles into position as it swells so hard inside you, the pressure making you reel, and you feel yourself respond, that taut band inside you locking down behind the knot and that’s not really involuntary!”

Allie’s eyes went wide. “What? Wait, what? Don’t stop there!”

Jennis giggled, unexpectedly. “Well, it’s not. Your nipples are showing, sweetie. Do you need to hit the bathroom?”

Allie blinked. Her nipples were so stiff they ached, and sure enough, she’d been lubricating- her vulva was trying to jut, was sedately dripping against the black panties that were all she’d been able to find for underwear. Much more of that, and it’d show through her cut-off jeans. Jennis looked very amused.

“You were TESTING me?”

“Best to know now, sweetie. I think you’ll work out…”

“Finish the damn story! …please?”

“While you do what? Masturbate?”

Allie looked around, huntedly. “Are we gonna get busted? I mean, if I sort of quietly do? And not so loud, now that you’ve made your point?” She wriggled again, trembling.

“Put your napkin in your lap- or over whatever you’re gonna tickle, if it’s not your lap. There you go. Where was I?”

“Telling me it’s not involuntary. Go on. You tell it so well…”

Jennis barked a sudden laugh, then leaned forward. “All right. But we can’t leave right after, I do have stuff to explain. All right. Your boy, he’s swelled hard and fast, he’s just beginning to figure out he can’t move so wildly in you anymore…”

Allie’s eyes gleamed as, beneath a napkin, one furry finger traced rapid circles against the denim. Damned pants!

“That’s because your, I think they called it constricter vesty bull-eye, the one I’m telling you to learn about, when that knot started expanding so hard, it constricted. Your body locks down. You feel it just cramping onto him, and it feels like that just makes him swell harder- which it does, too, that’s why you do exercises…”

Allie panted, thinking to herself, this was a lot better when she was testing me, now she’s gone all teacherly on me, but no matter…

Jennis seemed to notice. “Alright then, first things first.” She crooned, “Oh, so hard inside you- and your body just goes crazy and locks down more and more, and then you feel that steady pulsing, that throbbing as he unloads into you, he’s coming, babe, he’s huge and stiff and you’ve got those little motions and pushes he can’t help making, he’s got this huge dumb smile on him and he’s just throbbing and flooding your passionately clenched…”

“…hh!”

“Oooh. You’re a quiet one. Is it the public setting?”

“…h!”

“Check you out. You’re bolder than I thought, I’m honestly impressed. We’re gonna get along just fine. …well?”

“…h!”

“Damn, honey. Story wasn’t that good! Something tells me you ran off because on top of everything else, you were starting to get really horny… am I right?”

Allie panted, eyes unfocused. “…h! …way to… …ruinthe… …moment… …hh…”

“Aw, I’m sorry. We do have to get back to work though. I have explaining to do. You can’t just wing it on enthusiasm, sweetie.”

Allie took a breath. “Okay… but yeah, that was it. I was okay up till then, but… when I started to really get off… it couldn’t be for him.”

“Of course not.”

“I’m NOT frigid! I’m really not!” blurted Allie, her ears flattening, as if someone somewhere had made that remark.

“I should say not. Wow.” said Jennis.

“Just… not for him.”

“Of course not. Now- can we move on? I’ve got some things to tell you about that vesty-bulleye muscle. You know the one- probably it’s pretty cramped up right now, poor thing. It likes something solid to grab.”

Allie winced. “Yeah, pretty much. But I won’t lack for that, right?”

“Betcher ass.”

Allie considered for a moment. “Why do you say I should learn to fake tying? Are we like, rushing guys out the door in order to bring new ones in?”

“Two reasons, really. One should be obvious. Some guys will bite you once you can’t get away.”

“Oh, shit. Are we talking every other one, or one in ten, or…”

“No, no! Maybe… hmm. You should know we keep track of that, and share information. It’d be one in a hundred if we let ‘em in the door freely. Some don’t even get in the door. Some, we have an enforcer on hand to watch ‘em. It’s like every few thousand, maybe- frankly, most guys just wanna fuck and won’t make that kind of trouble. Plus, Mistress Elistary is… special.”

Allie glanced sharply at Jennis. “That worries me more than the guys. How special do you mean?”

Jennis looked surprised. “Why would it worry you? What’s it got to do with you? She’s a dom. She’s damn good at it.”

“It doesn’t have to do with me? I’m worried about what she’s gonna do to me.”

“Honey, you’d have to pay for her time, and you know it’s mostly guys that make up her clientele. I don’t know what she wants with all the money but she doesn’t give a shit about us. I run the place and you mostly won’t even see her. I understand she was around more when it was getting started, but these days you won’t see much of her. When she’s around, there’s a stream of guys skulking in and cringing out. Sometimes, limping out.”

“Really.”

“Oh yeah.” said Jennis. “Don’t talk about this, but sometimes- bloody. Mistress Elistary is real special. That’s not quite legal, but she’s some kind of Resten royalty and she just doesn’t care.”

“Really.” said Allie, thinking back to recent events. She’d been caught trying to get through Tally Road on foot, something she now knew was laughable. She’d been kept in a sort of bondage dungeon by a bunch of guys, as one particular one with a scary metal bondage mask and a weird, deformed cock had worked to break her- and just as things seemed worst, Mistress Elistary had turned up and ‘rescued’ her and brought her here.

She really wasn’t quite stupid enough to fall for that- not after the haughty royal Resten lady had used the same word, ‘girl’, that she’d grown to dread from the bondage guy.

But… she was still apparently stupid enough to get all the way to Verss, just like in her escape fantasy, only to realize she had no clue, nowhere to go, and nobody to trust…

“What’s the matter, honey? I promise she won’t bother you. She doesn’t like to spend time with us.”

Probably nobody to trust.

“I just… don’t think I like her.” said Allie.

“Shit, babe, I don’t like her at all. She’s obsessed with making money, about which ain’t we all, but not everybody’s as fierce about it. I told you we have to barter with T and A for basic stuff like repairs- hell, for toiletries. If we didn’t, the place would be a fucking jail, only with less supplies. Mistress is a bitch, but she holds the lease and she holds the leash on all of us.”

“Great.”

“Don’t you repeat that. Ever. I probably can’t get away with it but you sure can’t. It’s like this: play nice, give her her cut, we all pitch in on basic needs, and it turns out we don’t do so badly for ourselves when you compare it to other places. And we’re probably in with City Hall better than anybody else except probably the Cathouse.”

“How come? Elistary bribes them with all the money she makes?”

“Hah! And you’d better learn to call her Mistress. No, Mistress Elistary beats them with whips and barbed wire, so I hear. And keeps pictures for blackmail. Verss is a very old, very big, very rich city, dear, and its tastes tend to be ‘special’.”

Allie nodded, wide-eyed. “I don’t have to do that stuff, do I?”

“You won’t be asked to. Normal madams are trained and experienced, which you are not. I do a bit of it but I’m not really an expert, just fill in on a busy night. I’ve got a few girls with a knack for it. Most guys are drawn in by the rumor, but don’t really want anything like that.”

“You said the Cathouse is more in with City Hall? What do they do, claw politicians or something?”

“Oh no no… probably wish they did, though. Get a load of this. The Cathouse is the Nerre place, you know, it’s like a pun or something- and they’d like to consider themselves artistes and much classier than us- but do you remember ever hearing of a famous cat whore, named Faisand?”

“I think so. I even saw an old magazine. There was this headline- ‘Slim, Silvery, Silky, Sexy’. She was really pretty. Um- it was an old magazine. I was a kid and it was still an old magazine…”

“She’s still there.” smirked Jennis. “And this falls into the ‘don’t let this happen to you’ category… not so many guys want to fuck such an old cat, so she changes diapers, I’m told.”

“What, they get pregnant from us Runge, our guys? That’s impossible!”

“Oh no. She has a special clientele. I understand it includes important people in City Hall and in the police. It’s usually powerful guys, with so much power that even getting whipped doesn’t de-stress them. I’m not making this up- they wear diapers, crap themselves. They’re pretend babies. This Faisand mum-cats them- for money that would make our dear Elistary just puke with envy.”

“You’re kidding! People do that?”

“You might not understand the kind of pressure the people in this city live with, honey. You don’t live here. In this town you’re either going up or you’re going down. Well, we go down but I don’t mean that… I mean, everybody fights like maniacs for position and there’s no way to rest. If you start slipping, you could fall a very long way and end up down where the air’s stinky and the light flickers. You haven’t seen those places- hope you don’t have to.”

Allie gulped. “And that’s why you’re working for Elistary?”

“Damn straight. We’re along for the ride because the bitch is one hell of a fighter and she’s loaded with money. Just remember to kiss her puppy butt and stay out of her way. Practice it- Mistress Elistary. I’m not joking. Don’t let me hear you call her by her name that way. Miss-tress. C’mon, say it, or I’ll worry…”

“Sure. Mis-tress Elistary. You promise I won’t have to deal with her very much? I… I’ve seen enough of her.”

“We all have, believe me. Everybody’s happier when she’s not around. Well- some of the enforcers seem to have, shall we say, an understanding. That figures, but as long as they can protect us, who’s counting?”

“I gotta ask you something.”

“Sure.” said Jennis. “Shoot.”

“All this sounds… overwhelming. I realise when I tried to run away to Verss, I didn’t really know what I was doing…”

“Of course not.” said Jennis sympathetically. “You just went. I did the same thing, remember. If I can make it, you can.”

“Yeah but- is it all just horrible? Is there any fun? I hoped life would be better. I mean- if it’s not, I’m still not going back, but is it just horrible? I want to know.”

Jennis stared. “Is that what it seems like? Don’t tell me I’m a grim miserable byotch. I’d like to think I’m a fun, caring byotch. Do you think my life is horrible?”

Allie bristled. “You work for Elistary who you hate, who doesn’t take care of your place, you barter pussy for home repairs, every so often guys try to bite your throat out…”

“No, no, hang on! First of all, biters usually get your shoulders or back if they’re on your back… but hang on there. I was just trying to be honest with you! I could have snowed you just as easy, okay? Give me some credit for trying to be honest, at least!”

“But… it sounds bad!”

Jennis regarded her solemnly. “Listen. It’s a little of both. I think this is where I explain about faking a tie- and what that means. You can’t give yourself over completely to feeling bad- and you can’t give yourself over completely to feeling good. You’ve got to have a private place- if you can master that, life is definitely fuckin’ good.”

“Even while you’re getting used and treated like shit?” asked Allie.

“Remember how I said one in a thousand were gonna try and hurt you? And even then, we have enforcers and we’ll rally around, nobody’s going to hurt you and get away with it. Flip that around. Hundreds of guys, lonely, horny, some perfectly nice in their way, they just wanna fuck and they’ll happily pay you to do it. Honey, if you keep that private place safe and with the rest of you, get into it, they’ll love you for it. That has its own problems but nothing we can’t handle…”

Allie’s ears were quirked in curiosity. “You keep this- private place- and then you just go romp? What if they don’t like you?”

“Training, dear. They’d better like you. They won’t respect you- but they’ll feel really good. And you don’t have to respect them, either. Don’t give them your real heart, whatever you do. But… Shit, honey! People get sore digging ditches, at least in other places where there’s dirt to dig in. Getting fucked might get old, but it’s just a more fun way to get sore, know what I mean? Do you seriously think I’d still be doing it if I didn’t have at least SOME fun with it?”

“Well, I don’t know,” said Allie. “I thought you were stuck doing it.”

“Aren’t we all stuck doing something? Honey, I have fans. I know if some jerk gets bitey with me, there’s a good twelve guys who’d love to feed that jerk his teeth. I do my thing and make a living, and what the hell is so wrong with that, missy?”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings!”

“No- I just… don’t tell me I have no fun, okay? I’m trying to get you up to speed, not to bring you down. Maybe I can spare you some of the problems I had. What’s wrong with that? But listen- I know I said we’re having a nice breakfast in case the johns are jerks. That can happen. But dammit, I’m good enough at what I do- I’m gonna send them home happy, if nothing else. And it’s a piss-poor day that I don’t have at least SOME fun fuckin’.”

Allie considered this.

“So… when you say fake a tie, what you mean is, you’re gonna have fun but you’re able to cope if things go wrong.”

“Exactly!” said Jennis. “You need to have a sense of the things that can happen- both good and bad. You’ve got to be professional.”

“I guess I can deal with that. …you’re proud of your work?”

“I’m fuckin’ good.” said Jennis. “I may be a shaggy byotch who’s seen a lot of dick, but I know my stuff and I can make a guy feel fuckin’ awesome. There’s no reason you can’t learn too.”

“Is it all about controlling different muscles?”

“No way. A lot of it is about understanding guys. That includes exotics, too, for instance Nerre…”

“I’m gonna fuck Nerre?” said Allie, incredulously. “I thought they wouldn’t touch other species. I do know those ones at the Cathouse are outlaws, they’re shunned.”

“No, you don’t quite understand, sweetie. It’s not that they’re not allowed to touch us. We’re sort of an exception to their rules- those kitties have some of the toughest rules about fucking I’ve ever heard of. They’ve gotta do everything just right. They go crazy with the stress of it, but they stick with it…”

“I think I read something about that once, in a book.”

“Oh yeah?” said Jennis, wryly. “Maybe you can tell me about it. I wouldn’t have read that book. I told you, you got a lot more schooling than me- at least that kind.”

“Oh!” said Allie, blinking. She hadn’t really registered what the older wolf meant, and now she met Jennis’s level gaze and was barely equal to it. “Do… you want to know what they said?”

“Hell yeah. We’ll trade information. I know a lot about them that’ll be more useful to you. What’s the book say?”

Allie eagerly started to explain. “It says it’s their natural weaponry! I mean, the reason they’re so uptight and strict. It said, because they’re capable of causing terrible injury, their social protocol becomes the instinctive defense mechanism…”

“I know they can hurt you real bad if they lose their shit- I’ll be warning you about that, there’s a particular situation you have to avoid. Is that what you mean?”

“What situation?” said Allie.

“Later. Trust me, I won’t skip that, sweetie. So they’re uptight because they can do so much damage?”

“That and their females. It’s like, they go into these heats and go berserk- the whole society is set up to deal with their fucking habits. Those creches they have, where they don’t even know their own mothers sometimes, if the mother’s work is too demanding to bring up her kittens…”

“I’m surprised they’re not crazier than they are, but what about the natural weapons you mentioned? It might have to do with the part I’ll be telling you about.”

“It’s because they have to avoid fighting over women! They’re too deadly- as they got smarter and evolved and learned things like primeval martial arts, they could take down bigger prey, but they also could kill each other totally off. They’re really passionate, apparently, though it doesn’t show…”

“Speak for yourself, honey.” said Jennis. “Fuck yes, they’re passionate. But incredibly detached.”

“Exactly!” said Allie, her eyes shining. “Their protocol is a deeply seated societal mechanism for detachment- a system that gives them responses which don’t involve them fighting each other. But… I don’t see how we fit into that.”

“We don’t.”

“But- you’re saying I’ll probably be getting fucked by Nerre…”

“Probably, hell. They have an eye for beauty. Your two-tone fur pattern qualifies. You’re definitely getting kitty dick, unless there’s a problem with that happening.”

“I don’t know if there is or not.” said Allie, uncomfortably. “I’ve heard some stories about them… but how could I possibly be getting fucked by Nerre if their rules are so strict?”

“I’m not sure you’re gonna like this- but their rules apply to people. We’re not people, to them.”

“What? Then what do they think we are, robots?”

“We’re animals, hon. We don’t count. We’re not good to eat because we’re not Ause-native prey animals- but we’re not off limits to fuck, for sport.”

Allie was speechless. Before long, she found voice, a careful, edgy one. “I… seem to remember seeing once… something in a magazine about how we manufacture more than HALF their spaceships and industrial machinery…”

“We’re clever animals. Actually, they find us charming…”

“If perhaps uncivilized??”

“Yeah, you got it! Honey, in some ways they have a point. Go hire some really heavy security sometime and go down to the lower levels of Verss and look at how we live and then come back here and call us civilized. They don’t have that, not that way. They actually have this thing where the lowliest janitor is supposed to be as good as royalty if he’s never broken their rules- they talk about it like it’s a religion. I guess for them it is.”

Allie still felt uncomfortable. She’d let herself be swept up in Jennis’s story, and wanted so badly to impress the lady wolf that she’d masturbated secretly in public to seem bold- but hearing about these Nerre after that had caught her off guard. Now everything felt rather shameful- the swell of her furry breasts under the lowcut T-shirt, the way her panties were now squishy, the musky scent sneaking out- Allie felt trapped, judged.

“Oh, honey.” said Jennis sympathetically. “Don’t judge them so harshly. Hey, they really kinda revere animals- in some ways we’re really special animals to them. Almost people. Give ‘em a few hundred years and they’ll be keeping us as pets on their home planet.”

Allie looked sullen. “I don’t really like it. It’s like rubbing your nose in the fact you’re a whore. One minute, you’ve got it seeming like it’s a sort of art form and interesting job, and then suddenly I’m an animal.”

“Babe, to a Nerre on Ause you’re an animal whatever you do. Remember about the private place I mentioned? You need to go there and shrug off what the Nerre think. You don’t really have to deal with them, but I’m telling you, they’ll be checking you out, and they’ll want some.”

“Will they want me to moo? Or shit on the floor, or something?”

“Hell no! The kitties tend to be a lot more fastidious than that. It’s hard to explain. They’ll want to fuck you- and more than that, pretty much all of them will want you to enjoy it. Honey, our own wolf boys are more likely to just fuck your tail off and not pick it up for you. The kitties care about everything, up to and including how to fuck Runge ladies nicely.”

Allie hesitated. “They better not demand that I moan for them. Nuh-uh!”

“What? Maybe you should learn that- but that’s not what I mean. Nerre are real exotic. Once you’re used to the physical details, they’re a treat…”

“I heard their dicks are spiky and that’s why the ladies scream…”

“I think there are species on Ause like that, but you’re wrong. The ladies scream because they come super hard- and if that was true, they’d scream AFTER the dick comes out, right? And don’t they scream when it’s to the hilt and being rammed as deep as it can go?”

Allie bristled a bit. “I should get used to that from you. And how would I know? You probably know better than me.”

“I asked one, hon. I wanted to know why he did me the way he did- they all have this way of fucking that’s very different from our way. He’s a regular. He was nice and explained a lot.”

“Even though you’re not people?”

Jennis laughed quietly, a low knowing chuckle. “He doesn’t like people- and he loves me. Why do you think he lives on a planet of non-people? He lives here in Verss. Real high up, too.”

Allie blinked. “Okay, didn’t expect that. You’re better than people?”

“I’m way better than people. I kinda love him too a little. He can afford me as often as he wants, doesn’t try anyone else anymore, and if anyone hurts me, I’m pretty sure he’ll snuff ‘em if he knows. Gives me some courage to face the day, you know? I’ve got regular fans but to him, I’m really special. Would you really rather count as ‘people’ to him, when he hates people?”

Allie’s ears were quirked all different directions, and the young wolf was almost tearful. “Are you making that up?”

“Not one bit of it. Hey, what’s the matter?”

“Sign me up. I mean it. I… I want to be special to somebody, too.”

The older wolf leaned over the table, squeezed her paw. “You are, okay? You made it this far. You’re a lot like me, really. Wipe your eyes. Uh, maybe not with that paw…”

“No, it’s not wet. I was just rubbing.” Allie sniffled. “You’re just full of surprises, Jennis. I had no idea the world could be like this.”

“Suddenly you’re hot for Nerre? I’d better tell you more. We might not have one for you right away- and honey, listen to me. That one I’ve mentioned? I’ve had him for years. Do not try to seek out that from your first day. Learn to do the job and find your place in it. I’m not gonna stand for you seeking love in johns. Seriously!”

Allie pulled herself together visibly, rewarded by an approving glance from the older wolf, who added, “Shall I tell you what the nice kitties need from you? And I’m damned well going to tell you what to watch out for, now more than ever. Before we leave this place!”

“Um- okay!” said Allie.

“The important thing to remember,” said Jennis, “is that they’re not built like us.”

“But you say they don’t have spikes like I heard?”

“Mmm- not exactly. There’s definitely a texture, but that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about your basic shape. It’s also possible you’ll have to be careful about penis length.”

“You’re kidding. They don’t look that big.”

“They’re not… it’s more behavior… look, how about I just tell you the whole thing and then you can ask questions?”

“Okay.” said Allie, fascinated and somewhat humbled.

“Most important thing is the knot. There isn’t any.”

“Well, I knew that!”

“Ssh, I’m not done. Instead of that, they sort of taper. They’re comfy to enter you, but think about it for a bit. No knot, tapering shaft that’s thicker at the base… are you seeing where I’m heading with this?”

“Into the arms of your Nerre lover, apparently.”

“No, listen. Our guys thin back out again behind the knot. It’s a whole erogenous zone, a trigger for them. We’re made to lock down on that, instinctively. Now, my dear- what happens to you, when you lock down, and you’re stuck ON the knot?”

Allie looked stunned. “Um. That doesn’t happen. Ow! When would that happen? I’ve never heard of it.”

“You’ve been with Runge guys. I can tell you that if it does, with one of us, you’ll either pop it into you, or you both jump around and it’s pulled right out. And the guy’s usually pretty pissed off… but that’s another story. But picture the kitty dick I described. Tapering, thick at the base…”

Allie nodded, wide-eyed. “I think I’m starting to see what you mean.”

“Now let me fill in one more detail. Nerre can be a lot stronger than they look. You know how us Runge move and thrust? Humping, then settling down with a tie? Well, know what the kitties do?”

“What?”

“They SHOVE. As deep as they possibly can.”

Allie blinked. “Are they trying to make up for not being as big as our guys?”

“No, no, it’s not like that! I’m talking their instincts. One of them, my favorite, he told me once that Nerre females ovulate when the dick bottoms out in them. I don’t know why it’s that, but it’s affected how they are. The whole species is like, ram it into me until I’m burping sperm, know what I mean? That’s why they move how they do. And if you’re having one…”

Allie was pretty quick. “Taper- and it’s thick down there- and they shove as hard as they can… yikes.”

“Yeah. It feels like regular lovemaking gone horribly wrong- like you’re straddling the knot and you can’t get it to go through and the guy won’t pull out, he’ll almost always go into these snarling thrusting spasms, real primal…”

“What the hell do you do?”

“First of all, you can’t react in the normal way. We can clamp pretty hard in a tie. They don’t like that- well, most of them don’t like that. It pinches and it’s the opposite of what Nerre do- what their females do. They tend to melt into a puddle, claw the bed, shudder and shriek. You gotta do like them if you’re going to please the kitties.”

Allie considered this dubiously. “Really?”

“Oh, and stick your butt WAY up when they mount, or they WILL go up your ass.”

“Eeep!”

Jennis laughed. “Don’t be so shocked! I’ve known a couple who do that on purpose! But you should be careful not to do it by accident. Most of them won’t like it, not one bit.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Is it dangerous to get it wrong like that?”

Jennis leaned forward. “Not that, no. They might not pick you again if that happens. But there is a dangerous part, and we won’t let it happen to you knowingly, but you’d better learn what it is because you won’t get a second chance.”

Allie looked worried. “What’s that?”

“Double kitty.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t ever, ever be with two Nerre at once.” said Jennis.

“You just said they’re not very big- or at least, they don’t have knots. What’s so dangerous?”

“It’s cultural.” said Jennis. “Didn’t I tell you, they have these incredible rules for fucking? It’s all based on enforcing that they fuck one at a time, and don’t fight each other over it. They’re obsessed with following their own rules. Well… some of the ones that leave the planet, they think they’re gonna break the rules.”

“I still don’t get it. Why shouldn’t they?”

“It’s drummed into them so hard that they really can’t get away from it. It’s like their greatest crime is double-teaming some lady. They just can’t do it- they’ve just got to take turns. And every now and then you’ll get some who figure they can do it if it’s a Runge or whatever getting double-fucked…”

Allie didn’t like the expression she saw on Jennis’s face. “What happens?”

“Nine times out of ten, as they come, they will both freak out- and tear you and each other apart.”

Allie couldn’t speak.

Jennis added, “If they do that and survive, they always suicide, pretty much right away.”

She looked at Allie, sternly.

“Don’t ever try to take on a pair of Nerre. You should be able to sense something’s wrong- they’ll be crazy tense, maybe also all fucked up. The whole situation will feel totally wrong.”

“And I should say no, thank you?” managed Allie.

“Honey, if you see that coming, you should run away as fast as you can.”

Allie looked stunned. “Um… yeah. They’re pretty quick, too, aren’t they?”

“It usually isn’t like that.” said Jennis earnestly.

“Uh-huh.”

“It usually isn’t anything like that. I just had to tell you. You’re not going to let that happen, now, are you?”

“No!” said Allie. “Um… what else don’t I know? How about Tompar, what’s gonna happen if I get Tompar fucking me?”

“Oh my god, no!” said Jennis. “Are you kidding?”

“Well, you say I was wrong about Nerre dicks being, you know, covered with needles and spikes. You mean the stuff about Tompar is true?”

“That depends on what you’ve heard, my dear. What stuff?”

Allie thought. “Okay… I think it boils down to two things and they’re both nasty. They explode you and they poison you. Oh, and if you’re a guy and fuck a Tompar lady, she crushes your dick and laughs at you. So how much of that is real? Or do you even know?”

“Heh! It’s my business to know. It sounds crazy, but a lot of that is true- but not the way it’s phrased. I’d better try to explain it in case you run into Tompar elsewhere- what you described sounds like your basic hate talk…”

“They do sound really nasty. It makes you wonder why the Estrai keep defending them.”

“I think the foxies would defend them anyway if it was romantic. No, I mean you’ve got their motivations wrong, which isn’t really fair to the Tompar. And you’d never know it, because they’re not gonna speak up and defend themselves…”

“You’re saying they explode you, poison you and crush your dick… but they don’t really mean it?” asked Allie.

“Okay,” said Jennis, “let’s take it one thing at a time. How about the poisoning- because that could happen to you even if you were in heavy petting with a Tompar and you weren’t planning any penetration. You should think of it as play bites… love bites?”

“It sounds pretty hardcore, if your love bites are venomous.”

“I had a boyfriend like that once… no, seriously. Tompar will do love bites. There’s poison involved. But what you don’t know is, it’s a smaller dose than a full-on Tompar strike. They’re snakey love bites, not meant to kill. Tompar get high on them.”

“Oh!”

“Oh yeah. It gets worse, babe. It’s so much a smaller dose that you’d get high on it as well. People have… well, Runge, we’re big enough that we can almost get away with it. Estrai and Nerre and Resten are pretty out of luck, Aintar forget it, no way. But I’ve heard of our species getting fucked by Tompar and living. In fact, I’ve seen movies of it.”

“I heard the movies end in death.” said Allie.

“Yeah, for five of the six girls, it did. I didn’t let that girl keep that movie, don’t you try to bring anything like that home with you. I should also mention that I asked around to find out who made that movie, and of course it was Runge who made it. The only Tompar involved- was the star.”

“Okay, so they aren’t setting out to kill you but they do love bites to get high. How do they explode you?”

“That’s simple- it’s a big exaggeration. They inflate, like our guys do. If you can take a really big knot, it won’t be that which kills you, it’s the love bites that’ll do it.”

“That makes sense. All right- how do they crush your dick?”

“We tie and then subside. They tie- and the female compresses the dick until it can come out. They have to do it before they love-bite each other enough to get really sick… so there’s more than a bit of truth to that as well. It’s not a problem for you or me- or something like a Nerre who’ll just slide out- but a Runge or Resten male is in bad trouble if he ties in a Tompar. At a certain point he’s gonna be a very unhappy wolf…”

“I guess I can see why you don’t let them come to Mistress Elistary.”

“No.” said Jennis. “That’s just common sense. There’s something more. Maybe it’s just because Elistary is a Resten and not one of us? I know Resten don’t tolerate Tompar very easily. Trust me- don’t even mention Tompar around Elistary. She’ll rage about them, and she’ll be a jerk to everybody the whole night. We’ve learned to just not mention it- ever.”

“Really. What’s her problem?”

“Babe, we have to work for a living and she owns the building. We truly do not care, we just know not to mention it. Do us a favor and don’t even say the word?”

“Okay… did you ever get, you know, a hint?”

“Allie! Don’t even say it. Seriously!”

“Okay.” said Allie.

“Got any other questions? Like how do we go to bed with Vorsi males?”

“Now you’re making fun of me.” protested Allie. “That’s totally impossible.”

“I heard it’s possible, but Vorsi keep to themselves so much… it just wouldn’t ever happen.”

“How would you even know if it was possible? They barely talk to anybody who’s not a Vorsi, and they wouldn’t even fit into the building!”

“I just heard about this third or fourth-hand, so it might not be true, but check this out. Somebody was out in the country on Restred when a Vorsi ship came in. They’d had the area cleared, they wanted to have some kind of picnic, just take in the sights. This guy was miles away- but he had his telescope.”

Allie listened, fascinated, as Jennis laid out the tale.

“So he’s watching what are basically big scaly dragons hanging out in a meadow- one was painting a landscape, they had some kind of picnic stuff happening and he says it was hard to even understand- food floating in the air, flickers of light, just a maxed-out weird-shit-o-meter. People don’t get to watch them do anything, so he was beyond interested.”

“And the next thing you know, one’s climbing on top of another one, and they’re facing away from him. He realises he’s gonna see what nobody ever sees- he’s gonna watch Vorsi fuck.”

Allie giggled, unexpectedly. “Sort of like watching heavy machinery cuddle?”

“No, get this. He’s expecting them to hump, and he’s wondering if there’s going to be earthquakes, when suddenly he sees this thing, it’s hard to see, like a snake or something between them. And suddenly he realizes, it’s dick. Then he realizes there’s two of them, twisting and coiling against each other… and they begin doing all this stuff, caressing, tickling, thrusting in here and there and it’s against the background of these huge Vorsi bodies that are totally motionless…”

“Seriously? Prehensile dicks? …and the tips are so small that, you know- it’d fit even in us?”

Jennis chuckled. “You look interested.”

Allie bristled a bit, but without earflattening or being upset. “I think I just like the idea of the differentness. Sometimes the regular thing’s ruined for you and you just want something weird and really different…”

“Hope the regular thing doesn’t stay ruined for you. You should work happy- well, reasonably happy. You just won’t get the right kind of attention any other way.”

“Anyway, what happened with the Vorsi? That’s amazing. Did he watch them come? Did they move then?”

“This might creep you out… the guy’s watching these, what did you say, prehensile? These prehensile dicks getting busy. And guess what- he’s gay, and he’s never seen anything so hot. So he’s watching, and he’s getting kind of aroused himself, and he keeps the telescope steady and reaches down and begins to touch his dick…”

“And? And??”

“Two dragon heads pop up, and they’re both staring down the telescope at him. The instant he touches his dick, boom, they’re staring back at him and they don’t look happy.”

“Holy shit!” said Allie.

“The guy panicks, but he freezes. He can’t move. And then, the dicks pull out, they go back into the Vorsi bodies, the two Vorsi get off each other, they’re all dropping everything and getting back into the ship, and it blasts off. And no Vorsi ship ever visits that Resten planet again.”

“Wow!”

“Vorsi want their privacy.”

“Apparently!”

“And although they could probably really do crazy things with a Runge female like us, it just ain’t gonna happen.”

“Sort of like the Nerre thing, huh?”

“No, it’s beyond that. With Nerre, it’s like whether they will have sex with animal people, rather than real people. I think to Vorsi, we’re more like bugs. Fuzzy bugs, maybe even cute, but bugs.”

“I guess the guy was lucky they didn’t squish him. But- why would they care if a bug was watching them?”

“Wouldn’t it startle you,” said Jennis, “if you were fucking and suddenly noticed a bug was watching you through a telescope- and masturbating?”

“Yikes.” said Allie. “I see what you mean…”

“Let’s just say you’re not going to see any Vorsi looking imploringly at you and asking to rent wolf pussy…”

“Oh geez, do they usually look imploringly? That’s not very sexy.”

“Okay,” said Jennis, “enough with the advanced stuff, you’d better hear about some real basics. Get used to unsexy. It is your JOB to bring the sexy to them. Yes, some of them will look imploringly, or worse.”

“Worse? How?”

“Well, I guess it depends on what you like. You got two basic kinds, the kinds that are trying to be sexy and fail, and the kinds that don’t even know how to try. I actually like those ones best, because you can make such an impression and leave them so happy. You know, what we do can really leave a guy happy.”

“Orgasms tend to do that, yeah.”

“Oh no no, missy- you can do better than that. I’m glad we started talking about it, because we’re going to give you these ones to start. You’re not getting anybody challenging or tricky until I think you’re ready to handle it.”

“O… kay… so you’re saying you’re gonna give me guys who look imploringly at me and don’t know what to do? Am I gonna have to draw them a diagram? Do I get a whiteboard, or charts?”

Jennis snickered at the younger wolf. “Hardly. I assume you know what to do… hang on, here’s a thing. Are you on contraceptive pills? Ain’t no maternity leave, dear. A lot of us have had surgery but if you haven’t, you need to get your own pills.”

“Wouldn’t Elistary provide them?”

“Listen to what you just said, sweetie, and think about it.”

“Um.” said Allie. “Yeah. I don’t have money right now, do you have any? Maybe I can go get some tomorrow.”

“You’re quick. Do that. Don’t ever take a pill the owner gives you. Some houses, the nasty ones, they’ll put drugs in to get more leverage over you. I’m pretty sure Elistary isn’t doing that, but she’s got some of the girls really whipped and I don’t know where she keeps getting them… but they are clean and don’t make trouble…”

“I’m sure they don’t.” said Allie darkly.

Jennis glanced at her. “Hm. Do I want to know this? Sounds like you have your suspicions.”

“I’m not sure. All I have is suspicions. Put it this way?” said Allie. “She owns the place, she’s giving me a room, but aren’t I really working for you?”

“That’s right.” said Jennis. “I’m your floor manager. I’m the one that has to work with Mistress Elistary, and you should stay clear of her and try not to talk to her or attract attention. She doesn’t even set your pay. That’s a fixed percentage and I won’t let her chisel away at it, either. If she throws some kind of expense at me, I absorb it out of my cut, which is double scale as a floor manager. I should be getting triple scale, but out of that bitch? It’ll never happen.”

“Got it.”

“Back to looking imploringly. Here’s the thing- guys that use whores do it for various reasons. Some are so afraid of women that they need a formal way to get sex. Some are busy with their jobs- especially in this city- and they just will not spend the time required to keep a mate, so they’ll turn to a whore, sometimes even develop a favorite, like me with that kitty. Some are such jerks that women spot them immediately and run. Remember, you’d think there are lots like that, but it’s really not- the sad truth, babe, is that you can be a real jerk and still hang onto a girlfriend. She just has to be nurturing and not too bright, and you’re good to go. On the whole we don’t get mostly jerks, we get the desperate or the selfish.”

“I see,” nodded Allie. “So it’s going to be desperate guys, looking imploring, and going ‘please fuck me’?”

“More like ‘please ACCEPT me’. These guys, they’ve already decided that no woman will take ‘em. A lot of times that’s ridiculous, they’re fine, but in their heads they’re horrible. They get a whore, because if they pay money you have to let them fuck you, but what they really want is to not feel horrible about themselves. That’s how you earn your living.”

Allie thought. “Should I be acting like, oh, you’re so big?”

“Only if the guy is dumb, and dumb guys don’t get so twisted in their own negative thoughts. Dumb guys are slightly less likely to resort to us, because they’ll just ask a girl, “Wanna fuck?” without worrying about what might happen. We get a lot of really neurotic guys, sometimes they’ll even be worried about if they’re impressing you and if you’re faking it all. I can see why, too, ‘cos the cheaper street girls mostly need money for drugs and there’s no jollies in it for them at all.”

“So there’s no point crying oh such a big fat knot. So what do I do?”

“Hopefully it shouldn’t be that hard. Just keep your head, be careful about the ties and learn to be able to release- we’ll try to start you off with guys that are pretty decent, and just try and method act it? Try to enjoy yourself, try to have enthusiasm. That’s gonna be the one factor separating you from the street girls. You’re more high class, you’re an artiste. It’s important.”

“That’s how I get through to these neurotic guys?”

“Damn right. It works great, and you might find it an ego boost. We’ll give you some of the busy workaholic guys, they can afford someone new and fresh like you and they’ll like that a lot- and you can have some imploring ones, maybe those first of all, so you can build confidence. You’ll tell them how to do it, tell ‘em they’re sweet…”

“I had a friend at school who hated that. He’d freak out if you called him sweet.”

“Hah! Maybe he’ll turn up one day. He’s been rejected with that word, a lot. I see those guys come in all the time. Girls seem to like your tough, bold guys- especially younger ones go for that and write off the nice, unsure ones who don’t know how to make a move. It’s pretty natural, I guess.”

“You sound skeptical.”

“Well, it’s stupid. Put it this way- I’m the one who fucks those nice guys that the popular girls won’t touch, okay? They usually end up with good jobs. Their money’s as good as anybody’s- but more than that, I guarantee that their dicks and knots are as big as the popular guys. They just don’t believe it, because they keep getting rejected so much. I’m telling you it can be fun work.”

“I thought you’d get a lot of guys with inadequate dicks. Not that I care, it’d probably be comfortable.”

“No, sweetie, trust me on this. It’s guys with inadequate feelings, inadequate egos. A lot of the time, nobody’s even tried them out in bed. You have to get them past that by having a spirit of fun and confidence about it, and that’s when it becomes fun work. Lots of grateful guys, some of the dicks are really hot stuff. Honey, I’ve had a double-fist knot in me. Had to go for an extra hour because even I couldn’t release it. It felt awesome, if I was the one hiring a gigolo this guy would get triple scale, and he held me so nicely, like I was real precious. Oh my God that was a good day at work. And that guy? He thought he was ugly with a small dick, because lengthwise there wasn’t much to him.”

“Really? …was he ugly?”

“Nah, he was kinda funny lookin’ but I always say, why should I care about your face if I’m gonna have you on my back?”

Allie laughed.

“Hey, it convinces them! You can’t make them believe they’re not ugly, but if you’re smart you can convince them that they feel good to fuck. So often, it’s just the simple truth. If it didn’t feel good, why would people be so obsessed with it?”

“Yeah, I can live with that- do you think I can work out my own way of showing it? I don’t like the idea of yelling oh you’re so big.”

“Don’t do that! You should come up with your own style. As long as you’re in control and showing enthusiasm. You’ll do fine!”

Allie looked down at her breakfast- or what remained of it. It’d been such heavy conversation that she hadn’t noticed how quickly they’d been eating. Well- she’d been ravenous because she’d been kept in a bondage jail for weeks and fed poorly- and this Jennis lady apparently burned up calories happily fucking neurotic boys all night and leaving them happy. If there were better excuses to be hungry, Allie wasn’t sure what they would be.

“Shall we trot off to work, with tails held high?” said Allie.

“If you want the kitties to feel comfortable, learn to hold your tail real hard to the side.” winked Jennis.

“Um- I think I can do that. I’ll practice. And, butt stuck way up, right?”

“Right! Maybe we can find you one who’s good with new girls. The great thing about them is how civilized they are about it, while at the same time being snarling, thrusting fuck-beasts.” Jennis crooned the last part of this lavasciously, with a wicked glint in her eye.

“Are you trying to get me worked up again?”

“Yes. Because you’re not getting kitties right away, you’re going to get either a busywuf or an imploring-boy. Whichever turns up first. Ready to get started? And don’t forget to pick up your pills tomorrow when you have money.”

“I won’t forget. I promise. I want to shower when I get back to the house, okay?” said Allie.

“Whoa, almost forgot. No personal shower. We have a gang shower, and it’s part of the job. Is that okay? Boy, am I glad I remembered to mention that part…”

Allie quirked an ear. “There’s going to be guys fucking me while I shower? That sounds inconvenient. I’m not sure I like it.”

“Peep show, dear. Not uncommon. You won’t see anybody, and you’re not expected to put on an act or do anything, because you don’t get any commission for actions- the take is divvied up between everybody, so don’t put any effort into it. That crowd wants you candid anyway. They actually like it better if you don’t do anything, because they pretend you don’t know they’re watching.”

“Uh-huh. Yeah, okay. I’m glad you told me- thanks.”

“I’m just glad I remembered. You seem pretty well-adjusted, sweetie, and I forget how inexperienced you really are.”

“I’m glad you’re going to be there. Okay- let’s get back, and I’ll start off with a nice peepshow shower, as if there’s nobody watching. What if I randomly want to masturbate, tickle my nipples, or wash my puss thoroughly?”

“Heh!” said Jennis. “Just don’t try to look for the peepholes. And don’t ever tell any johns that we’ve got yellow-and-black caution tape picking out where they are, on our side. That’s a secret…”

Allie laughed again. “Okay! That’s gonna be funny, I’d better laugh at it now so I don’t give the game away. Let’s go.”

As the two left the cafe, one of the staff called out to them- apparently throwing caution to the wind in her scorn and contempt.

“Hey, we’d give her a menu too, honey, but you know she can’t read…”

Jennis bristled, hard, and her ears went back. “Just keep walking.” she hissed. “That bitch isn’t going to be working here by the end of the day.”

Allie did as Jennis asked, unhesitatingly- both of them keeping their chins high, maintaining a dignity against the attempt to steal it. Then, as they got a few feet away, Allie turned her head.

“Hsst! don’t! keep walking!” said Jennis, but the young wolf’s voice sang out anyhow.

“She reads me just fine. I guess it’s you that didn’t!”

With that, Allie and her new boss departed.