Chapter 19
Kam peered at the strange squishy food clasped lightly in his claws. “What did you say this is?”
“It’s called a custard pastry,” Uma replied as she continued to unpack the sack in front of her.
Now that they were finally out of the worst of the rut brough on by the Withering Days, the cell had been unlocked and they had been given the privacy of the cleansing room to clean themselves as much as possible. Kam still felt disgusting, and he suspected that it would take quite a few more washes before he felt like himself again, but at least it was an improvement. It was a pity that it hadn’t occurred to him in the midst of the rut, when he was spraying his seed everywhere, what it would feel like coating his fur and every inch of the space he was forced to live in.
He could not even blame Uma. She did her best to provide for them while ensuring her own safety. Part of him had still thought her measures were a little excessive when he willingly entered the cell for the Withering Days, but having experienced that level of urgency he was not so sure. He would have liked to believe that they would not have seduced her into mating, but the frenzy of need had been overpowering. And what would she have done if she had refused them? She did not possess the defenses of a female Ragoru to protect herself from the unwanted advances of males. It made his blood run cold as to what could have happened, and suddenly the appetizing smell of the treat in his hand soured as his stomach twisted.
They never should have come to the citadel so close to the Withering Days. What were they thinking?
Uma was right. There had to be something strange going on, but what? He could not even think of when the urge first took hold, or which of them had suggested setting out even though they had not intended to go far from their den in the winter. The impulsive urge to find a mate had been inexplicable. He recalled vaguely of being caught dreaming of it, even during the day. He scratched his muzzle. Was there a strange scent on the air in those days? He remembered the scent of smoke and had thought maybe some humans were traveling by their territory. It was not unusual to catch hints of campfires, despite how far the paths were from the edge of their territory. But there had been something else too other than the common scent of smoke that teased at the edge of his memory.
“Are you going to just stare at it, or eat it?”
He blinked down at Uma to find her looking at him, her eyebrows raised. On the bench an assortment of food was set out on papers along its length, some of it in varying degrees of sweetness and others rich and meaty. There were also open jugs filled with something sweet and fruity. His gaze drifted back to the pastry in his hand, and he swallowed before forcing his usual carefree smile to his face and glancing over at her once more.
“Are you certain that it is safe to eat and it is not another one of your tricks?” he countered.
“Well, if you don’t want it...” She stood, brushing her braids over her shoulder as she reached for it with her other hand.
Kam quickly shoved the pastry in his mouth, his mouth twitching up at the corners around it, his ears flattening playfully. A bark of laughter escaped Uma, and she shook her head wryly as she brushed her hands off along her thighs. He grinned back at her, the action forcing his teeth to sink deeper until a spurt of something thick and sweet hit the back of his throat. He reflexively gagged at first and snatched the pastry out of his mouth in horror until the flavor finally hit his tongue, igniting a shiver of pleasure through him.
Awed, he stared down at the food in his hand. What was that ?
A chuckle from the female beside him brought his gaze reluctantly back to her to find her grinning at him with amusement.
“That would be the custard. Good, isn’t it?”
“I have not decided,” he admitted.
The consistency was a strange, thick substance that did not quite qualify as liquid. The thought of swallowing it down made his throat reflexively tighten with disgust and yet the flavor intrigued him. He glanced over at Laro to find the lead watching him curiously, a half-eaten twisted pastry in his hand. The male was staring at him as if Kam had lost in his mind. Meanwhile his chosen pastry had an equally pleasant, sweet smell coming from it with a hint of something that made Kam’s nose tingle with interest. And there was no hint of custard there.
He went to set his pastry down in favor of the other but hesitated, his ears flattening and tipping disconcertedly as Vrin’s keen gaze followed his movements. The male’s eyes lifted to Kam’s face and his tongue slid over his teeth. Kam frowned back at him, his hand tightening slightly on the pastry. Was he making the right decision setting it aside? There was far too much interest on his brother’s face, and a tiny growl vibrated in his throat as he tucked it close to his chest and hastily reached for one of the twists, snatching it up before either male could interfere or have a chance to tease him. Vrin’s smug eyes followed him as he withdrew, but Kam cleared his throat and peered over at Uma.
“All of this is for us?”
She shrugged as she picked up a pastry and took a bite of it. “Mostly. I certainly couldn’t eat all of it.” She paused mid-bite as she watched Vrin pick up one of the flaky pastries that smelled of meat and sniff it suspiciously. “Look, I’m not trying to prank you guys. Really,” she insisted when Laro glanced warily down at the half-eaten food in his hand. “I have brought a variety here, everything from custard filled pastries and fruit tarts to meat pies.”
Meat pies. That had to be the especially fragrant lumps that Vrin was sniffing.
“Why would you gift this to us?” Laro suddenly asked. “We know that you have plenty of supplies to care for our needs while we are here. Why would you go out of your way to get us something so...” he faltered uncertainly.
“Nice?” Kam volunteered.
“Suspicious,” Vrin supplied, though it didn’t stop him from giving the meat pie in his hand another sniff.
His eyes narrowed on Uma for a long moment, and Kam was certain that he was about to throw the food down in revulsion and storm away when the captain suddenly rolled her eyes and made an exaggerated expression of disgust at him instead.
“Look, hairball, I really don’t care if you eat it or not,” she retorted. “I decided to do it as a gesture of goodwill before we head out in a day or two. I figured after your, uh... “she waved her fingers with a grimace, “ordeal, you could use a little something extra. Nothing packs on extra calories like a bunch of sugar,” she added. A tiny frown tightened the corner of her mouth. “I figured it was the least that I could do considering the crap I’ve been more or less ruining before feeding it to you.”
“I knew that was intentional,” Vrin growled, but he suddenly took a bite of the meat pie in his hand as if all of his hostility and paranoia suddenly melted away. An expression of surprise crossed his face, and he took another bite as he glanced over at Uma. “This is good,” he admitted. “I do not like those sweet things, but this is pleasing. And the tart,” he admitted reluctantly.
Kam’s jaw dropped, his mouth gaping as he turned an indignant look to his brother. “Then what was all that staring at my cussy?” he demanded, the exact name of the gooey pastry abandoning him, though he dared not to think too closely what it reminded him of.
“That was to mess with your head,” the male admitted unabashedly as he took another large bite, demolishing the last of it before reaching for another and taking a huge bite. He grinned smugly over at Kam and waved the half-eaten meat pie at him, its brown innards dripping from it. “Your cussy looks like a steaming stream of Laro’s seed—but the wrong color.”
Kam gagged a little, but he belligerently took a huge bite of his pastry just to prove to himself and his triad that the male’s words did not bother him. It was not seed. He knew that. Even if the consistency was rather similar to all the seeping, dripping—
“Blessed Mother, Vrin, what is wrong with you?” Uma demanded, her nose wrinkling and lips twisting with disgust as she tossed her own food aside and grabbed a jug. Tipping her head back, she took a deep pull of it before finally lowering so that she could draw in a sharp gasp of air. “I will never eat another custard-filled pastry in the foreseeable future,” she mourned.
Vrin scoffed and took another bite of his meat pie as Laro finished off his pastry and reached for another only to snatch the meat pie right from the other male’s hands and eat it in a single bite.
“That is good,” Laro rumbled in surprise as he grabbed two more meat pies and then immediately snatched up some sweet twists with his lower hands. He dipped his head toward Uma with a small smile. “Many thanks, Uma. Your efforts are well appreciated.”
Kam grimaced guiltily. He was not being grateful. Uma was a good female who showed care for them, and he was balking like a rog. And the treat was not filled with seed but cussy. But just to be sure... he lifted the pastry and shoved it under Uma’s nose.
“This is not made with seed from your males, is it?”
Uma’s brows shot up, but her laughter that followed was filled with so much merriment that it eased the prick of embarrassment he instantly felt.
“I assure you,” she chortled, “there is no way anything of our pastries would be made with human seed, or that of any other male. You can eat and enjoy if you can get over the imagery.” She sighed a little and cast a sad look at the remaining pastries before shaking her head and standing with her jug in hand. Leaning down, she scooped up several of the tarts and twists and a couple of meat pies before jovially raising her hand to them as she headed for the door. “I will return to secure your cell shortly. Enjoy your meal and get plenty of rest. The next part of our journey will begin soon enough.”
Kam grunted in agreement as he picked up one of the jugs and sloshed the contents into his mouth. A tart sweetness filled his mouth with the taste of apples, and he swallowed it down with a quiet sound of pleasure.
Or perhaps not as quiet as he thought because Uma chuckled knowingly.
“Enjoy!” she called but turned at the last minute to point to one of the clay jugs. “And save one of those jugs of cider for me. I will be back for it when I’m ready for a refill.”
“If we are not thirsty,” Vrin challenged tauntingly and grinned at her rude gesture in reply as she left before tipping the contents of his own jug into his mouth.
Kam eyed him, waiting for the moment to come, and then burst out laughing at the startled look on the male’s face as he lowered his jug and gave it an awed look. Perhaps the secret of this cider was something that they needed to learn more about.
Uma kept giving. Little did she know that this just made him all the more certain to never let her go. Smiling smugly at the door, Kam shoved another cussy into his mouth, this time relishing the rush of flavors as the cream broke over his tongue.
It took some getting used to, but it wasn’t bad. It seemed that was the case for many things that the citadel had to offer them—especially a certain female. He only hoped that his brothers would come around to see it as well.
He glanced at his triad brothers curiously as they ate and drank with mixed expressions of fascination and enjoyment. Perhaps this was the first step for all of them.