Page 32 of I Married A Catman

“Exactly. Whereas males are only trained in basic trades related to those supported by the Pride. The male cubs here in the Nevian Pride learn about everything related to the fishing industry, from catching and preparing the fish, to crafting the various tools relevant to that industry, as well as sailing and ship maintenance.”

“But don’t males do all the construction work? That would require some physics and engineering training, no?” I argued.

“We do not learn that. The females do. We just learn how to lay bricks, erect walls, and paint them. We learn how to do the grunt work, not the intellectual one,” Gaelec replied, sounding dejected.

“Damn,” I whispered.

I almost commented about how women spent a few millennia facing a similar treatment. By denying them any form of advanced education that would allow them to have bettercontrol of their future, they were kept under the thumb and at the mercy of men.

“I wish I could start my own Pride,” Gaelec said wistfully. “Males would get diverse and advanced training, which would open the door to them for better opportunities. They wouldn’t live in the constant fear of being cast out or with the knowledge that they remained there on borrowed time.”

“Why don’t you?” I asked, instantly perking up.

He snorted and gave me an indulgent smile. “Because it would be doomed from the start. There would be no draw to such a Pride. Without females, there’s no future. We need offspring to prosper. What female would want to settle in a place that sought to empower males, therefore taking away from their dominance?”

“What about Ylis?” I asked. “I don’t know her, but she struck me as the type who might be open-minded enough to consider such a thing. I’m sure we could find a few if we set our minds to it. Anyway, don’t females also have to leave the Pride once there are too many of them?”

“Yes,” he conceded. “Once there are too many females, it is usually a group of ten to fifteen sisters and cousins who will leave together to start their new Pride. For all that, I don’t know that Ylis would want to do that. While she never really displayed a thirst for power, she’ll likely take over the control of our Pride. Why would she throw all of that away to take a gamble on such an unlikely project?”

I pursed my lips and slowly nodded. “I guess one can dream.”

He chuckled. “One can indeed dream. But for now, my focus is to get you properly integrated within our Pride. Tomorrow, we will hold a feast. You will finally get to see our fun side. And then we’ll have a couple of weeks to see how things evolve and where we go from here.”

“Sounds good.”

Chapter 8

Gaelec

Iwashed and put away the dishes while Ophelia showered. I still struggled with my feelings about the task ahead. Before meeting her, the word dread dominated. Now, nervousness would be a more adequate term.

I actually liked her.

Ophelia was smart, kind-hearted, and seemed sincerely interested in my thoughts and feelings. My chest still warmed at her reaction to my blunder with the food. Not only was she not upset at all with me, but she turned the whole thing into a rather fun experience as we tested the appropriate preparation for her. My mind still reeled at the thought that she wanted to cook and do other things for me.

Unless a male was critically ill or severely incapacitated, females didn’t cater to our needs. And even then, they would normally assign another male to that chore. Younglings were the only exception to that rule. That didn’t mean females never cooked, or repaired weapons and tools, or performed any otherlabor necessary to the good functioning of the village. However, them doing things for us was not expected and rarely occurred.

Things could really work out between us.

A spark of hope and excitement filled my heart at that prospect. I wanted to believe that the person Ophelia was showing herself to be so far was genuine, and not just a front. I could see myself falling in love with someone like that.

I just needed to make sure not to make a mess of things tonight.

My innards twisted painfully with preemptive worry. I’d been celibate for the past twelve years since my incarceration. Had she been a Nazhral female, this whole thing would be a breeze, despite me being rusty. You had to be beyond pathetically incompetent to fail at satisfying our females. Even if you tried, you couldn’t miss their clitoris. In fact, our partners usually achieved multiple orgasms before we even got a first one, thanks to our penile spikes further enhancing their pleasure.

But what if she finds that freaky?

I looked into their males’ reproductive parts. Although our cocks shared similarities, the spikes and under ridges significantly differed. To me, human men were lacking. What kind of pleasure could they possibly give their women with that smooth, unfinished thing?

My people also didn’t do that thing humans called foreplay. We just got straight to business. The fact that both our males and females self-lubricated spared us the need for initial preparation. In a way, you could say that we did things in reverse. Only once sated did Nazhral couples proceed to cuddle, which included gentle caresses and grooming. That was my favorite moment.

Is she a cuddler?

I would be heartbroken if she wasn’t. Being wrapped up into the arms of our partner, surrounded by their heat and the softness of their fur was sublime.

But she doesn’t have fur.

None of the various breeds among her people did. A few men possessed a lot more body hair than others, but it was a minority. The things most human males seemed to share included facial hair called a beard, as well as patches under their armpits and around their pelvic area. Depending on their breed—which I believed they called ethnic groups—they had varying amounts of hair on their forearms and legs. Strangely enough, for those with hairy patches on their chests, if it trickled down their abdominal muscles towards their groin, humans called it a happy trail.

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