At 'Higher for Hirer' Feral put the phone down firmly. "Thank you for the use of the phone, Ms. Cunningham and thank you, Baloo for the rescue" without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and stalked out to the dock to wait for Khan.
Inside the office, Baloo, Kit and Rebecca looked at each other in shock.
"Boy, did you see that! He was giving orders to Khan!" Baloo finally said in awe.
"He must be very important for Mr. Khan to take that from him." Rebecca mused. "Oh well, it's not any of our business. You'd better unload that cargo while I call the customer." She said briskly putting the matter from her mind and returning to work.
Shrugging his shoulders, Baloo signaled Kit to follow and headed out to the Sea Duck. They carefully stepped around the fuming Commander and began to unload the two crates. Wildcat, their mechanic, brought a dolly to move the crates up to the office.
"Woah!, What's with the prickly Kat on the pier?" Wildcat asked as he helped the two load the crates on the dolly.
"Ah, just some out of a town visitor with a beef with Mr. Khan. Apparently he's important to Khan, so the big guy is coming down here to speak to him." Baloo said absently. Wildcat looked at the imposing Kat a moment longer then shrugged his shoulders and wheeled the cargo up the pier to the office. Meanwhile, Baloo and Kit tidied up the Sea Duck.
While they were busy and out of sight, a black limousine drove up and parked beside the pier entrance. Shere Khan stepped out of the car and cautiously approached the tense Kat. He carefully invaded the tom's personal space. Feral growled and stepped further away. Khan froze and held out a placating paw.
"How could you do that to me? Especially after what we did together?" Feral snarled angrily.
"Please, Ulysses. You don't understand. Let me explain." Khan said carefully, urging his mate to listen.
"I'm waiting." Feral said tightly crossing his arms across his chest.
"You are very important to me and I have a strong protective streak so I did something stupid and tried to keep you safe without taking in the fact that you would resent it. I'm very sorry." Khan said quietly.
"We only had sex, why does that make you protective of me?" Feral asked peeved and confused.
"It wasn't just sex. It has to do with my family history. At the time of my birth a prophecy was foretold by my father's seer. He said that I would meet and lifemate with a powerful male from a distant land who would be capable of bearing my cubs. He said I would know this male the moment I met him because we would be intensely attracted to one another at first glance.
As I grew older and built my empire, I searched for such a male, but as you well know a Kat like you is very rare. My family was growing concerned that I would never marry or mate before I died then you appeared before me with your Mayor. You know what happened next. What you were not aware of was my bonding us together that final time." Khan explained.
"What! How could you? A bonding of that type is supposed to be agreed upon by both parties! You took away my choice! " Feral was stunned and very upset throwing his arms out in agitation.
"I know! I'm sorry, but I didn't have a choice. The compulsion was too strong and you didn't exactly fight me off." He pleaded trying to get Feral to understand.
"It was unfair to start with since I was in heat, which is why I didn't want to come on this trip in the first place. I couldn't have held off your advances because I was too far in my cycle to be able to refuse." Feral shouted in fury, his paws clenched in fists.
Too upset to speak anymore, Feral turned his back on Khan and stared blindly out at the bay, his body tense and rigid. 'What was he going to do now? He was permanently bonded to the most powerful and wealthy tiger in the world and to top it off, he could very well be pregnant. Crud! Could things get any worse?' He could feel a headache growing and his stomach was in knots.
Distressed by his mate's anguish, Khan closed the distance between them and gently wrapped his arms around Feral's waist. He nuzzled his mate's neck trying to comfort him. "Please Ulysses, I could not prevent it! I admit I was stupid in locking you in my penthouse but I have an intense need to keep you safe! You are everything to me, the bond made sure of that. Don't you understand? You have such power over me! I can do nothing to hurt you and will do anything to make you safe and happy because I can't do otherwise." He pleaded softly.
Feral shuddered at the feel of Khan's body pressed against his own. He knew Khan was telling the truth because he was no longer in heat and still desired the tiger as intensely as he had that first mating. Their bonding was well and truly in place. It wasn't love, not yet, but it was just as strong.
Sighing in acceptance, there was really nothing he could do about it except to demand he be allowed to return home. After all, Khan was wealthy enough to commute if he desired to be with him on a regular basis. And if he was pregnant...well they'd deal with that later. He was not giving up his career and home!
Having made his decision, he turned in Khan's arms and looked solemnly into his beautiful green-gold eyes. "Understand one thing! I am not staying in Cape Suzette! If you want to see me, commute to Megakat City. I am not giving up my life to move here. Perhaps when I retire sometime in the future, but not now, clear?" He made his demands clearly with no compromise in his voice or manner.
'To be separated by miles,... no!' His mind wailed its refusal! But he could tell by his mate's implacable face that there would be no negotiating on this. The businesskat who always got his way in every business deal was meeting his match. He felt a twist in his gut. His mate was going to be a very difficult Kat to live with. Sighing, well he didn't want someone who would obey his every wish. That would get boring fast. He could see life with Ulysses would never be that. Making the best of it, he conceded gracefully.
"I won't pretend to be happy about it, but it's a deal and to put our seal on the agreement, I demand a kiss." His eyes glowed with suppressed passion and, giving Feral no chance to refuse, he leaned in to capture his mate's mouth in a burning kiss.
Groaning, Feral was lost in the fiery heat of the tiger's mouth. Khan's embrace making him burn, heat pooling low in his body, urgently wanting to be filled. He wrapped his arms around the tiger's neck and pressed closer letting the passion flow uninhibited between them. They swayed together for several long minutes before finally pulling apart, out of breath.
"Shall we return to my Tower, my mate? We have a Mayor to bring up to date and legal matters to take care of to seal our bonding." Khan purred quietly as he led Feral to the limousine, his arm still firmly around the tom's waist.
"Hmm, pushy aren't we? But you're right the legalities must be followed and I am very hungry. After all, I missed lunch. Mayor Manx is going to be very shocked." Feral smiled anticipating the look on his Honor's face. He slid onto the limousine seat making room for Khan. Seating himself, Khan pulled Feral closer for a more prolonged kiss. Feral sighed and didn't resist.
On the Sea Duck...
"Wow! Did you see that?" Baloo exclaimed in amazement. "Who'd guess old Khany could be that hot for someone least of all another male! If I hadn't seen with my own eyes I'd never have believed it!"
"You got that right Papa Bear. It looked kinda weird to see two males kiss like that, eww." Kit said, a little shocked and disgusted.
"Hey, little britches! It don't matter what the sex, true love strikes everyone the same. Apparently, even old Khan didn't escape its clutches." Baloo smirked in amusement.
"Ugh! I'm never going to do that!" Kit said with the earnestness of a 12 year old.
"Never say never, Kit. Anyway, we're all done here. I'm going to tell Becky about what happened and then I'm headed for Louie's." Baloo said striding toward the office.
"Okay, Baloo. I've got some friends expecting me over soon so I'd better get going." Kit agreed.
"Sure thing, Kit, have fun." Baloo waved his copilot off.
Khan Tower...
"Ah, Mayor Manx, so sorry to keep you waiting. I trust you enjoyed the tour of my building?" Khan oozed fake charm as he and Feral walked into his office.
"I most cerrtainly did, Mr. Khan. It's a magniificent place, never seen anything liike it, truly amaazing." Mayor Manx gushed. "I hope yourr business went well?" He inquired politely while staring in confusion at Feral's changed attire.
"You might say it was a rousing success." Ignoring Feral's muffled snort. He paused a moment to collect his thoughts. "Mayor Manx, I'm afraid I haven't been exactly truthful about my dealings with your Commander. Please have a seat and get comfortable while I explain what's been happening since your arrival." Khan said. After they were all seated, he dropped the bombshell on his Honor. When he'd finished, Mayor Manx could only gape open mouthed at the pair, unable to make a sound.
When he finally did speak, it was to blurt out, "Mated? You aand Ferral are maated? But... but...you are both males?
"I'm not exactly male, Mayor. I'm a hermaphrodite. I was in heat when we started this trip that is why I didn't want to come along. Too late to do anything about it now." Feral shrugged his shoulders dismissively.
"This is alll soo confussing! But..but...you will bee going baack to Megakat Ciity with me tomorrow, right?" the Mayor seemed out of his depth.
"Yes. I've already told Khan that I am not moving to Cape Suzette. He doesn't like it but knows he can't change my mind. He'll be commuting to see me." Feral assured Manx.
"Oh, good! I would haave hated to trry and find a replaacement for you, Ferral." the Mayor said relieved. Then brightening, "Welll, this is a wonderful thingg. It briings our citas closer together." he burbled happily.
"Yes...well, now that that's settled, I'll have my assistant escort you to your room to freshen up for dinner. I'm sure we've all worked up an appetite." Khan said briskly as he rose to his feet. His assistant bustled up and took Mayor Manx to his room. Looking at his mate with a lustful grin, he wrapped an arm around Feral's waist and led him to the elevator to his penthouse.
He stole a kiss aboard the car and held the brown tom's body tightly as the doors opened to his quarters. "You'd better cool yourself off Khan or we will never make it to dinner and I for one am very, very hungry." Feral smirked and slipped away from the tiger's embrace.
"I'm hungry too, but not for food." Shere Khan growled and gave his mate a smouldering look.
"Oh, I'm sure of that. Now where are my clothes?" The Commander demanded, shaking his head and keeping out of Khan's reach.
Sighing in frustration, the tiger relented and reached into a hidden cupboard for Feral's uniform. "Here you go! It will please me greatly to strip this from you later tonight."
"I look forward to it." Feral teased Khan with a sultry look before taking his clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.
Moaning at the flirtatiousness of his mate, Khan changed his clothes and waited to escort Feral to dinner.