"Want some coffee or is it too late for that?"
Zyl shrugged, a fluid, supple twist of his shoulders. "Whatever you want is fine with me. It won't disturb my sleep, at any rate. I'll nap tomorrow."
Carl laughed. "I bet I'll wish I could, but that's okay. It's been fun. That makes a little lost sleep worthwhile. I guess I live a pretty narrow life most of the time." He glanced back at Zyl, who had stopped in the doorway between the main room and the closet-sized kitchen. "I really liked your buddies. They're funny but cool guys, all of them."
"I'll tell them," Zyl replied. "I think they liked you, too. They don't open up and act natural with just everyone. We're all different, you know."
Carl went ahead and poured two mugs of coffee and stuck them in the microwave to reheat. That gave him a minute to absorb Zyl's remark.
Different.
Did that mean the strangeness he'd sensed was real?
He carried the two mugs to the narrow table and put one in front of Zyl, now settled on one of the two stools. "Different? How do you mean? What do you mean?"
"They're all like me. Shapeshifters, beast kin, Were-kind. You sensed it. I could tell, but you were afraid or unwilling to believe. They recognized you as kin. I told you there's a cat inside you. Not sure what kind, but definitely a feline."
Carl sat down before he collapsed. It made perfect sense, even though it went against everything he'd always believed. All he'd told himself and clung to for some tie to reality, to sanity. "I-I-I don't know what to say, what to think. I want to deny it as I always have, but it's getting harder."
He clenched his hands around the mug, letting the heat leach into his flesh and drive out part of the sudden icy chill that threatened to absorb him. It was too much to take in, yet Zyl spoke in such a calm, matter-of-fact way that it started to sound like truth.
Zyl reached across the table and covered Carl's clenched hands with his. "I know. It's a lot to take in, forces you to make a sharp and sudden turn in your beliefs. I understand, even though I've always known who and what I am. Somehow, you've suppressed it or it's been suppressed by some outside force. You should've shifted by puberty, but I realize you never did. That trapped cat is fighting to get out. The allergies are its revenge. Maybe I can help you through it."
Carl looked up and met Zyl's green gaze, sharp but also somehow gentle, almost tender. "Can you? Will you? Help me, I mean? It's going to be hard, going to be scary and I bet it'll hurt like crazy, too. Tell me, how does it happen? How does someone become Were-kind or are they all born that way?"
Zyl hesitated, as if marshalling his thoughts or trying to simplify his explanation. "There are three ways, really. Some are born that way. It's carried on a recessive gene so requires one have it from both parents to manifest. Neither of them may ever display it if they only carry one. There's a separate gene also, one that's dominant, that can suppress the shifter genes. We're still trying to understand and unravel all this. Anyway, trueborn Were-kind are not too common. Then there's a virus that a regular human can be infected with. Most often it's through a bite, but sometimes an exchange of bodily fluids is enough, especially if the human carries one of the recessives already."
Almost scientific, Carl thought. Okay, maybe he could accept it as at least something possible. Not exactly pertinent to him yet but ... "That's kind of two-and-a-half ways," he said, recovering a bit of humor. "So then what?"
"We need to work on getting you through the first shift."
* * * *
Zyl saw the shock on Carl's face as the impact of his calm statement soaked in.
"You mentioned exchange of bodily fluids as a possible trigger. Does that imply what I think it does? I mean do you think we should..." The other man stumbled to a halt, a wash of color sweeping over his face.
Restraining a laugh because he knew Carl did not find anything about this situation humorous, Zyl nodded. "That's not the only way, but we could. I mean a blood transfusion is one method...things like that, as well as sex. I won't insist and certainly not force anything on you that doesn't feel good to you, seem right or...well, you know. I mean no rape or anything! I'd never do that. Yes, I find you attractive and have from the first. Maybe you didn't know."
Carl still blushed. "I-- Well, I thought maybe and I was definitely attracted to you. The cheetah part. You are that mysterious male, aren't you? And you as a human are beautiful, unique, magnetic."
Good, he's beginning to accept that Were-kind are real and that animal and human can coexist in a single body with each emerging at different times. Progress. Still, he could be scared into retreat, into a shell of denial very easily. Gotta go slow here.
Zyl reached again and took Carl's hands in his. "Close your eyes a minute and just feel. Let your intuition and your inner senses respond." He felt subtle tension quiver along the other man's nerves, tighten his muscles and dance goose bumps over his skin.
Although Zyl usually shunned the use of the mind control power all Were-kind had to some degree, he sent the thinnest trickle of warmth and care through the junction of their clasped hands. Within a few heartbeats, he felt the slow relaxing that slipped over Carl's body. The hands he held softened, fingers losing their stiffness. Then the least trace of a returning current of responsive energies began to flow back to him.
The connection begun, they both stood and moved to the side, coming closer as the table's barrier no longer separated them. Carl still had his eyes shut. He moved almost as if in a trance. An instant's icy panic touched Zyl. Had he exerted more control than he intended, perhaps too much, so he had taken over the other man's mind?
No, even when he shut off the delicate exchange, Carl's reaction did not vary.
"You can open your eyes now if you want to."
Carl's lids snapped up and his dusty blue gaze fixed on Zyl's face. He smiled, an expression so bright and unexpected that Zly's heartbeat stuttered.
"I want this...well, something. I'm not real experienced, but I've known for years I was gay. If you are, too--and it seems like that's the case--I'd love to do whatever you want. I'm maybe not a real sub, but lean that way. I want my partners to take charge. And if it makes me become a shifter, maybe that's what needs to happen."
The tingling current flowing between their clasped hands seemed to grow stronger, hotter, more insistent. Zly let it lead him. He took a step and then a half step more until they were standing just a few hairbreadths apart. He released Carl's hands and lifted his own to settle on the other man's shoulders. Carl reached as well and put his hands at Zyl's waist. They both angled their heads so noses did not bump and there was no hesitation as they kissed, the first powerful expression of a union yet to come.
Carl tasted like coffee, yet also a subtle flavor that seemed unique to him. Zyl knew his beast senses, even when he was in human form, were much stronger and more sensitive than those of most humans. Scents and tastes were especially keen, powerful and significant. He'd now know Carl anywhere, any time and under any circumstances. Just a hint of his scent would be enough.
Their arms tightened around each other as the kiss went on. Tongues dueled and fenced, breaths gasped as their mouths moved, turning and shaping different connections.
Yes, Carl's feline. What kind?
Zyl was too bemused for now to sort that out, but any doubts he'd had vanished in a trice. He knew soul-deep they were almost kin and yet different enough to intrigue, attract, strike mutual sparks from each other. A crazy joy and excitement sang through him at this discovery. Maybe he'd been sent to his current base at this zoo for a purpose even beyond the Were-kind work he already knew.
He felt Carl's stiffening cock nudging at him, even as his own had gone rigid while the kiss went on. Need and hunger began to take over, blurring his other senses, thoughts and inhibitions. This coming union was essential, pre-ordained and filled needs he had barely realized existed. He growled low in his throat.
Carl responded. "Yes. Yes! I want you, need you. Whatever--I'll suck you or you can fuck me or anything. We just have to do something, anything. Now!"
Zyl reacted at once. He let go of Carl's body to grab his T-shirt, jerking it up and over his head. Though not a big man, Carl was well built and apparently managed to get enough sun not to be stark white under the shirt. A light dusting of pale hair circled his flat tan nipples and darted down to his belt. Not quite blond or brown, but a subtle shade in between, a few darker hairs mingled with the light. Definitely feline fur, though. Not cheetah--maybe ocelot? That image flashed through Zyl's mind before lust took over completely.
Carl began tugging at Zyl's shirt, popped off one button and fumbled the others free until Zyl could shrug it off. They pressed together then, skin to skin, with a sizzle of energy and heat that should have scorched them both. They rubbed, in a distinctly cat-like way, against each other's bodies, the tawny hair on Zyl's chest making a silky mat between them. Through it, there was enough contact to heighten mutual awareness for both of them. Zyl felt Carl's cock stiffen even more. It pushed against his lower abdomen through two layers of denim, while his bucked in the confines of his Levi's. It was time to get rid of their pants, too.
Zyl released Carl and took a short step back as he reached to undo his belt and lower the zipper on his jeans. Dragged by the weight of the belt, they slipped off his lean hips. A slight shove and twist sent his shorts after them. The fabric pooled around his ankles.
Carl lost no time in copying Zyl's actions. In seconds, his denims and Jockeys were also on the floor. Almost before his clothes hit the deck, Carl dropped to his knees in front of Zyl. With care bordering on reverence, he reached to close one hand around Zyl's now fully erect dick.
"Oooohhhh." The sound Carl made came somewhere between a moan, a sigh and a gasp.
Zyl felt his whole body go taut as Carl's hand closed around him. Although the touch was more gentle than demanding, it sang through his nerves like savannah wind through tall grass. He could almost hear the sound of the surging energy. He could both hear and feel his accelerating heartbeat and the rush of blood pouring into the sensitive, powerful bit of his flesh that the other man held and then began to stroke, in a slow yet urgent rhythm.
When Carl bent forward and put his lips over the tip of Zyl's prick, he almost exploded. "Wait," he managed in a half-gasp. "We should be doing this to each other, both at the same time. For starting the shifting activation, I mean."
"What?" Carl drew back, looking up at Zyl with a blend of shock, fright and confusion painting his face. "Are you sure? I mean,
I'm
not sure this will even work or if I really want it to. I just want to share something special with you."
Zyl hesitated for a breath or two. An unexpected tenderness and concern swept over him. He wasn't used to feeling any care for others, except a few of his close contacts in the Were-kind world, who were off limits for sex. But for a human? Sure, in his human guise he'd had sex with various human males. It had generally been satisfactory, but he'd never felt a quiver of emotional attachment. The act either filled a sudden and immediate need or provided a means to get close to someone for information or influence.
With a shock, he recognized this was different. Maybe it was because he was so sure Carl really was Were-kind, too, although for now not a member of his team or under the same command, so therefore not strictly off limits. No, if he was honest with himself, he had to accept it went deeper.
He put his hand lightly over the kneeling man's head. "Get up, my friend. We should meet as equals here and share this fully with each other. Don't you have a bed, someplace we can be comfortable?"
Carl struggled to his feet, wobbling a moment before finding his balance. "There's the futon..." he said, waving a hand toward the other end of the main room. "And yeah, sure, I have a bed. The door, just behind you..." He hesitated. "There's not a lot of furniture. I don't have much company."
Then he seemed to collect his wits and his dignity. "Let's go to my room. I think I made the bed this morning. If not, excuse the mess."
Zyl laughed. "I slept last night in a grassy nest in the cheetah compound. A bed is a bit of a luxury." He followed Carl, halting when the other man paused to flick a light switch. The lamp cast a soft glow over the cramped room. A double bed took up most of it. The bed was made, at least the spread pulled up and only a bit wrinkled and lopsided.
Carl turned back to him. "I can be bottom," he said, "unless you prefer not to do it that way."
Zyl cuffed him on the shoulder. "Equals," he reminded. "What say we lie on our sides, head to feet?"
The smile Carl gave him was unexpected and beautiful. "That'll work." He flopped down on the bed, kind of cattycorner across it, with his feet to the upper left. Zyl wasted no time in joining him. They might have lost a little stiffness from their erections, but neither had any problem getting them back. A few quick caresses had Zyl hard as a bone and Carl in much the same state.
Zyl paused for a moment. "No condoms if we're going to do this right. You okay with that?"
Carl nodded with an affirmative mumble.
This time, Zyl welcomed the moist warmth of Carl's mouth an instant before he drew the head of the other man's cock into his mouth. Normally, he could maintain control enough to feel his own arousal escalate and yet continue to fellate his partner without hesitation. This time it was hard, really hard. He had to concentrate on not letting his teeth scrape or nip as heat flooded through him. Staying careful and controlled took enough effort that he rose to the crest at a slower rate than normal. He could feel the tension build, the pressure gather and release nearing, yet still he was not quite there.
His balls drew up tight, aching with the need to let go. All at once, he felt Carl shudder and then explode. That was enough to trigger his climax. In a dim corner of his mind, he realized Carl stayed with him through the full sequence and waited until the last shuddering spasm to pull away. Either the other man took the exchange of fluids part seriously or he'd done this a few times before.