Page 5 of Possessed By the Leonid King

Her friends who traded in carnal pleasures usually asked for a thousand credits or more per exchange, but they were good at it. They were professional seductresses with skills and moves.

Layla didn’t even have a dress. She had the black blouse and faded jeans she’d been wearing on her date and a simple white robe that came with the clean linens the service droids brought every day.

They’re clean. Everyone says cats are clean. It’ll probably be basic in-and-out stuff.

I wonder if they have fur on their—

“May I enter?”

Layla jumped off her bed so fast that she stumbled and smacked into the glass partition. That wasn’t the little old lion-man. This was a different voice, deeper and...wider somehow. It was almost like a different frequency, radiating in her ears and sliding down to rest in her middle.

“Yes. C-come in.” She tried to lean seductively against the edge of the bed, praying he hadn’t been watching her on some corridor camera to witness her spectacular burst of clumsiness a moment ago.

The being who stepped up in front of the glass partition was easily seven feet tall. He wore a black suit that looked like it might be a cross between silk and leather, which Layla recognized as Thermagyle, a polyblend of fabrics recommended for extended time in space because of how it adapted to temperature changes and gravitational force fluctuations. Above the suit, which seemed to consist of a tight, chest-hugging shirt and fitted trousers, was a massive head.

A massive head with dark golden eyes spanning a wide feline nose, rounded ears perched above hard brows, and a tawny, brownish-yellow mane that flowed past his shoulders.

Thoughts spilled into her brain.

Tall.

That head! It’s huge.

I wish I had hair like that. I wonder what conditioner he uses?

“Miss Layla?” The voice that rumbled out was businesslike and disdainful.

Layla nodded, her entire perspective changing. Nope. This is not a sex call. This is a “Will you kindly attend to returning my communications and hanging up my suits?” deal.

“I am Rupex, King of this pride, captain of the Comet Stalker. Welcome aboard as a passenger.” He pressed one paw to a panel on the side of her chamber.

The glass vanished with a whooshing shift, sliding up into the ceiling. Layla was staring at his paw. It was the size of her head, thick and furry with light brown pads. She wondered if Leonids still had claws, and when did they use them if they weren’t typically on display?

“I am Layla Threewood. Domestic and retail worker. Personal services provided based on a contract-by-contract basis.” Layla hoped she sounded professional and polished, keeping her eyes locked on the Leonid’s face. She refused to look away, even though she was growing twitchier inside with every passing second. Leonids were supposed to be as intelligent as humans, maybe even more so... but when she looked at those golden eyes with oval pupils, she felt like she was looking at something incredibly foreign and wild, something lost and intimidating.

Rupex nodded. “Would you like to move your quarters to A-Deck? It’s usually for crew, but we are currently en route to pick up our new crew.”

That would explain why she hadn’t seen other people milling about or heard other noises and voices on the ship.

“Sure. Thank you. Better than being considered ‘cargo.’” She knew her tone had dipped into the “sassy” category by the way Rupex’s eyes glinted and his massive muzzle, which was somehow flatter and more human than what she remembered from the pictures of lions she’d seen in old books about earth animals, scrunched up to reveal long white canines.

“You humans are the ones who book yourselves off-world and sell yourselves to the highest bidders, making yourselves ‘cargo.’”

“I didn’t. And do you know how weak Sapien credits are when compared to most other galaxies? Sometimes it’s the only way we can afford to get off-world and travel to a place where we can get a job. Cargo or starvation. Hmmm.” Layla held up both hands and pretended to weigh the options. “I know you Leonids wouldn’t understand that. You stay in your own galaxy and keep with your own kind, right?”

Yes, she was being a brat, but his tone had touched a nerve—and so had the mention of her poverty. Sapien-Three had once been the jewel of the solar system. No more.

“Keep to our own kind? Stay in our galaxy? Wh-what ignorant rock have you been hiding under for the last decade, human?” Rupex spat the words like a vile curse.

“Excuse me? Ignorant? Ha! They were right about Leonids. You’re all proud—jerks.” Layla substituted the word quickly for the less offensive option. Those teeth were big, and that mouth... He could probably bite her arm off in one nip.

Rupex curled his fists. She could see the tips of claws now, dark, sharp, and short. “Queen Fever, fool. Heard of it?” Rage was practically sweating out of him. His fur bristled, and his whole form seemed to swell.

There was a line here. And I crossed it.

“Nn-no?”

“Wait? No?” The anger didn’t dissipate, but it was suddenly coupled with confusion. “Are you joking?”

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