Page 12 of Possessed By the Leonid King

“Ru’s Rest? As in Rupex? You own an island? Are you rich?”

“By no means. I don’t own the whole island, just a little beach shack on it—but I’m the only one who has a house on it, last I checked.”

“So technically, it’s like you own a whole island?” Layla pressed, arching one eyebrow.

“Sure, in the same way a human might own a rusty old rowboat and call it an ocean liner.”

“You sure know a lot about humans.”

“No, I know that humans aren’t so different from the other mammalian species.” Rupex gave her a half-grin.

It was nice to have someone to smile with again.

“I was thinking about the contract and what it entails.” Rupex hastily crossed back to his desk and flicked his paws across the keys. The screen on the wall flickered to life with the image of the gated property on Sapien-Three. “Would you accept the purchase of a dwelling place as compensation in exchange for your services as a surrogate? It is on Sapien-Three and seems to be well protected. If this particular property has been purchased by the time you return to the planet, I would secure another similar property for you. If my calculations are correct, this is a fair value and comparable to what you would earn in credits. Of course, if you'd rather have the credits, we could do that.”

Layla came over and stood beside him, a hand to her mouth and her eyes wide. “This place?” Her voice was awed. “I could never live in a house like that. That's a house for rich people.”

Rupex spread his paws. “Well, if you would accommodate me as your partner in reproduction for a few months, this would be yours, wealthy or not.”

Layla hesitated. Rupex could see her eyes moving hungrily over the screen and he felt like a successful hunter who realizes he’s just discovered the right sort of bait.

“That's a database computer, isn't it?” Layla asked after a long moment of waiting silence.

Rupex nodded. “It is, and a reasonably good one.”

“Could you see how much it takes to buy out someone's laboratory contract?” She moved closer to him, hands pressing together at her waist. “Because I need a place to live, and that’s a really gorgeous place to live, but if I had a smaller place and some credits left over, I could rescue my— I mean, I could get my friends’ contracts back from the labs. They might not want to leave.” Layla gave a jerk of her shoulders and her hands fell limply to her sides. It was not a defeatist gesture, more like one of relinquishment. This woman had long ago accepted there were some things she couldn’t have, even if she wanted them.

He could relate.

“But even if they don’t want to leave, I’d like to have enough credits to offer them a way out if they’d like the option.”

Leonids admired loyalty more than beauty or even intelligence. Rupex felt his attraction to the human growing. She would have made a good Queen in that respect. “How many friends are you intending to ‘set free’ ?” he asked, his paws curving into quote marks in the air.

“Three,” Layla murmured. “If all three are still alive. At least I can try.”

At least we can try. By Bastet, if that hadn’t become the unofficial motto of every survival-hungry family in the Felix Orbus Galaxy these past six years...

“Humans typically produce one offspring at a time, but Leonid births are typically two to four with three being the most common size. Single births do happen. I was a singleton.”

“Me, too.” Layla interrupted him, her hesitant smile growing, stretching to fill her petite face.

“Hrm. Well, Marcus, the medical officer, thinks three cubs may be possible in our situation. Would a contractual addendum of credits per cub—past the agreed upon price of a Sapien-Three dwelling—be acceptable?”

“What if it was only one child? I mean, cub? I still need credits to get the lab contracts.”

Rupex licked his lips and took a perverse pleasure that was totally foreign to him in watching her shiver. “I’m sure we can arrange something. Maybe some other services can be performed once conception is achieved?”

Layla nodded so quickly that her hair shook loose from the long tail at the back of her head.

He liked her hair like that, free and flowing, a mottled blonde and brown. It reminded him of a Leonid mane in its coloring, but it looked much finer and softer. He wondered just how soft other parts of her were, and why that made his mouth water.

She was watching him. She was staring at him as he looked at her like a starving beast, nose twitching, whiskers vibrating, and paws flexing on the edge of his chair. Humans and Leonids may be equals in civilized behavior, Rupex thought ruefully as his tongue flicked out and caught the sweet-salty notes drifting through the air.

I need to stop. I need to remain in control. The contract isn’t signed. Or even written! She has to be in heat—or whatever passes for human heat. She has to have injections, and probably read some basic literature about the breeding process.

Calm, Ru. Be calm.

How was he supposed to be calm when she left his side, but didn’t leave the room? How was he supposed to write a contract when Layla went and sat on the edge of his bed, a silky, soft white island in a sea of dark, lonely sheets?

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