It occurred to me that I've never actually written any yaoi... Thanks again, Joules, for hosting this and doing all the html work. *GLOMPS*

                              Lutra

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Cat-House Ellis - pt 1

'Terrans breed like plague creatures and spread just as quickly.'

Maybe not statistically accurate, but a population of Terrans could easily double its numbers over a standard year, and of course these increased populations always needed more space. The Terrans had outgrown their own planet centuries ago but fortunately - or unfortunately, as some alien observers thought as they watched with dismay the Terrans spreading out from their small solar system - they'd developed sufficient technology to get them away from their beleaguered world before they starved.

'Terrans are only happy when they're fighting - an enemy, a planet, it doesn't matter.'

An over-simplification of the Terran psyche perhaps, but accurate enough given the relative number of humans - standard and modified - that found their way into the various government backed, or mercenary forces throughout the galaxy, and the amount of them that put their hands up to join the terra-forming colonies assigned to frontier planets.

Midit was one such planet. It was inhospitable enough to warrant terra-forming but not so inhospitable that the original colonists needed to be genegineered - genetically altered - to cope with conditions there. Midit was considered to be a medium-resource planet, enough resources to support future settlements, but not enough to be worth the expense of mining. The 'dust ball' as it was not-so affectionately dubbed by its current inhabitants, had only been undergoing terra-forming for fifty local years or so. Progress was being made, in another twenty years there would be enough moisture in the atmosphere to support cloud formations, and then the real work of turning Midit into a marketable paradise could begin.
       Terra-formers, regardless of species, were a special breed of being. Tough, practical, persistent… and well paid for the alternately arduous and boring work. Such hard workers were always willing to pay premium prices for their luxuries…

Moira O'Neale, a standard human, born on Terra itself no-less, and the proprietress of one of the less questionable brothels in Midit's first settlement, (imaginatively called Midit-one) stirred muzzily in her sleep. She was having one of those annoying dreams where no matter what you did you couldn't get rid of the constant, nagging noise - in this case, an irritating tapping and knocking...
      A voice whispered urgently, tight with desperation.
      "Moira? Moira! Wake up! It's me, Ellis!"

Moira jerked awake, disoriented initially and then cross as she scowled over at soft light illuminating the chintzy curtains enclosing her bed. She was a working girl, goddammit, didn't these people understand by now the hours she kept?

"Moira! Please!"

Moira knew that voice. Alarmed now, she clambered out of the big four-poster bed, slipping on her robe even as she stumbled to the door.
      "I'm coming! Hold on there, no need to break it down!" She snapped as an urgent but not very loud hammering began. Moira opened the door a crack, peering past the thick dust seal to look suspiciously at the person standing outside. The face was older than she remembered, leaner with the loss of its childish contours, but then it'd been some time…
      "Ellis?"
       "Yes, it's me. Let me in please, Moira."
      She swung the door wide enough for her visitor to slip through, then closed and locked it quickly behind him. Moira, hands on bountiful hips, regarded the slender, youngish, agitated, blond man standing in front of her. It was definitely Ellis, his slightly slanted, dark aqua eyes were as wide and beautiful as she remembered. He was still a little on the thin side for her tastes but it looked like he'd put some meat on his bones at last. Moira took in his sweat-matted hair, his dusty and scuffed clothes and boots, and his apparent lack of anything resembling luggage.
      "What trouble have you got yerself into now then?"
      Then she noticed the blood on his hands.
      "Mother of Christ, Ellis! What's happened?"
      "I've – it's a – " he slumped into her overstuffed chair, "I'm sorry, Moira, I had nowhere else to go."
      The madame decided against chiding him for rubbing dust on her furniture, instead, she gently ruffled the unkempt mop he currently called his hair.
      "I'll get you some water to wash up with."

Ellis was drooped disconsolately, head in hands, when Moira returned with a porcelain bowl, a jug of warm water and a handful of washing cloths. Water was a rationed commodity on Midit, no showers here.
      "Get cleaned up now and I'll find you somethin' to eat."
      Ellis stood up and heeled off his boots; he'd gotten as far as stripping off the top half of his coveralls before he called out to his host.
       "Uh, do you have something I could wear?"
      Moira came out of the adjacent kitchen, holding a tray piled high with sweet biscuits, the only thing she had in her cupboards worth eating.
       "You've never gone modest on me?" She smirked, setting the tray down on an intricately carved, rather garish side table. Ellis smirked back, unselfconsciously stripping off the dusty coveralls. He wasn't wearing anything underneath and Moira licked her lips in open appreciation; her young friend certainly had filled out, you couldn't call him boyish anymore…

"So what are you doing here?" she asked, pulling her eyes away from the thatch of dark blond at Ellis's groin to look into his equally compelling eyes.
      Ellis sighed, too preoccupied to appreciate just how long it took for his friend to drag her eyes away from his genitals.
      "It's a long story, Moi."
      The madame glanced at the window, noticing the steadily brightening light.
       "There's time to tell it. I've got hours before I have to go to work."
      So as Ellis washed himself, wet cloth working assiduously over ivory skin, he told his tale.

Many weeks ago, during one of the long, slow, indolently hot and humid nights on Fiskizz - a human colony world, his birth-place, and where he'd met Moira several years ago - Ellis had been out of his skull on some recreational compound. He was also, he confessed, bored shitless with his life. He'd recently had a communication from her and somehow conceived the notion that he'd go and visit her on Midit. Next thing he knew he woke to find himself lying naked in a shallow plastic bath with an unwholesome looking, yellowy-grey clear gel oozing its way up his legs.
      He'd freaked: the gel was a Git'tharn, a sentient, amoebae-like race that ate by covering their food with their bodies, then slowly dissolving and ingesting it. The Git'tharn had retreated quickly out of the way of the young humanoid's panicked thrashings, waiting until Ellis had calmed down...

Ellis ducked his head grinning, aqua eyes twinkling at Moira. It turned out he'd found his way to the space docks and as luck would have it had managed to wheedle his way aboard the only vessel that was heading to Midit. Ellis had no recollection of who he'd spoken to initially but for the duration of the voyage he'd been assigned to the galley, where the head chef was a Git'tharn called Be'bebo. That was whose 'bed' he'd woken up in.
      'bebo had a liking for 'statics' - as its race called all those with a solid form - and it'd had no trouble convincing the inebriated young human to bed with it, but when Ellis had sobered up he'd been disgusted and appalled at the suggestion.
      At first.
      But - as Moira knew, Ellis was never one to say no to a new experience…
       After exacting a promise from the Git'tharn that it wouldn't try to eat him, Ellis had - not without some trepidation - let 'bebo at him.
       It was unlike anything, anyone, he'd ever had sex with. The Git'tharn flowed over and around him, surrounding Ellis in a smooth warmth that wasn't actually unpleasant. The human gasped as firmly rippling bands of... sensation – that was the only way he could describe it – pulsed rhythmically along his groin, from behind his balls to the tip of his penis, stroking and kneading him 'til he was rigid and hot. At the same time, the smoothness oozed between his arse cheeks and into his body, rapidly filling him as simultaneous ripples pulsed against his prostate. Ellis, quivering, soon lost himself in it all, blond head tipped back and lips parted as 'bebo throbbed in and around him. Ellis whimpered as he came, held completely still in a forced passivity that was weirdly erotic.
       "OK?" 'bebo's 'voice' came through the embedded translator as a mechanical jangle. Ellis swallowed several times before he could speak, managing to nod his head minutely.
      "Uhuh." He tried, unsuccessfully, to move. "Uh, 'bebo, can you loosen up a bit?"
       "I am quite comfortable."
       "Yeah, well, I'm not." Ellis jerked his body within the alien's yielding but surprisingly tough gel, desperately beating down the instinct to thrash when he found he was completely immobilized.
      Oh shit he was going to be eaten by a fucking lump of snot!
      "You are concerned?" 'bebo inquired, managing to sound puzzled through the emotionless translator.
       "Yes I'm fucking concerned!" Ellis took several deep breaths. "I don't like not being able to move."
       "Oh!" 'bebo's hold on him immediately slackened. "I'm sorry, Ellis, I didn't understand. The last static I copulated with enjoyed being held firmly."
       The Git'tharn flowed away from him, bunching itself up at the end of the tub, the several round globules of slightly darker ooze that served as its sensory centre - its 'eyes' – clustered together and trained on the young human. Ellis didn't quite scramble upright, holding on to his dignity with difficulty.
       "No, it's fine." Ellis grinned ruefully, already bouncing back to his customary good humour. "Well that was good for me, what do you get out of it?"
       "I enjoy your essences." 'bebo said after a moment's thought.
       "My essence - ? Oh." Ellis blushed, suddenly noticing the small cloud of something floating in the Git'tharn's clear innards. His blush deepened as it occurred to him that he felt – clean. Inside and out.
      Nope, didn't want to go there; Ellis firmly put the thought of exactly what it was 'bebo had harvested from his body out of his mind.
      "Would you mind if we did that again?" 'bebo asked, the faintest quiver shivering over his gelatinous body.
      "Um, sure, I guess." Ellis scratched his head and grinned – it had been weird but good. "Just don't squeeze me so tightly next time."
      "I will remember." 'bebo assured the young human.

It had taken six weeks for the ship to reach Midit. Ellis had 'copulated' with 'bebo frequently during that time, and while it was fun by the end of the voyage the young human was hankering for something solid to hang onto while he was being fucked. Something with bones and angles that had to move whole portions of its anatomy.
      It wasn't without regret Ellis had said goodbye to 'bebo, the Git'tharn was a good – um – thing, congenial company and a reasonable boss, and he'd even, astonishingly, managed to teach the human something about food preparation. Ellis had been openly sceptical of a blob's ability to do anything other than ooze, let alone cook, but 'bebo was remarkably adroit with his pseudopods, able to manipulate utensils with an ease that left his 'static' employees looking graceless and clumsy.
      "I'll know what to expect next time I bump into one of your kind." Ellis grinned at 'bebo as they shared a final meal together.
      "You're unlikely to meet one quite the same as me," 'bebo chuckled mechanically, "By my race's standard I'm a pervert! Why do you think I'm travelling around the galaxy instead of sitting in a nice warm puddle of goo on my homeplanet?"

Midit's air, though parched and dusty, had still smelt good after weeks of recycled ship's air and Ellis had stood for several moments breathing it in before shouldering his small pack and heading off into the grimy city. He'd arrived late in the local night and there weren't many people around. Those he did see he instinctively avoided - Ellis trusted his gut feelings, they'd saved him from nasty situations a number of times in his life – but with no one to ask directions from he soon became lost...

Ellis paused in his narrative to shrug into the rather tight, dull-grey coveralls Moira had found for him.
      "I see your eating habits haven't improved." The madame reprimanded sternly as he stuffed a biscuit in his mouth. Ellis grinned unrepentantly, biscuit crumbs dropping over the plush, floral carpet. Moira frowned.
      "Tch, I'll have to have Shandy vacuum in here tomorrow. Messy pup!" She ruffled the young man's hair, tousling it even more.
      "'owwy." Ellis said through another shower of crumbs. " 'm hungwy." He swallowed and licked his lips appreciatively. "Who's Shandy?"
      "My maid." Moira sighed. "Lazy slattern that she is. Pretty though. If I hadn't promised her ma I'd keep her from a life of sin she'd be earning her keep upstairs."
      'Upstairs' Ellis took to mean the brothel itself.
      "As it is," Moira continued darkly, "I've a mind to give her to Keil for a while. Teach the little cow some gratitude, see how much breath she has left to complain about how hard done by she is when he's finished with her!"
      Ellis had no idea what a cow was but this Keil sounded interesting.
      "Who's Keil?"
      "Corrim Keil, my business partner," Moira answered absently, still in the throes of annoyance over Shandy's ungratefulness, "Oh no!" She blinked and scowled at him suddenly. "You stay away from him, my lad, he's no good t'anyone!"
      Now Ellis really was intrigued. He remembered Moira mentioning Keil before she left Fiskizz and he could've sworn she'd seemed sort of giddy and girly when she spoke of him. Keil was from the genegineered colony on Sou'kah, one of the humans bred for that planet's harsh conditions. In a fit of indolent curiosity, Ellis had found out a little about the Sou'kahns but he hadn't been overly impressed with what he learnt. Big, tall and solid, built to cope with the planet's gravity, their skin was thick and came in various shades of orange, as did their rough and wiry hair - to protect them from their sun's particular radiation – and their eyes were small, deep-set and dark. In the images Ellis had looked at the Sou'kahns had not seemed like an attractive variant of human.
      "I'm serious, Ellis," Moira glowered at him, "stay away from Keil. He's a ruthless bastard with no thought for any but hisself."
      The young human smirked at his friend.
      "All right, I'll stay clear."
      "Fine. Good." Moira's expression became soft again, "Can you keep on with your story? What happened after you got lost?"
      "I wandered blindly for a while, not particularly worried," Ellis said quietly, "until I walked past this small alley." He paused. "I should've kept going, Moi – "
      "What happened?" the Terran gently prompted.
      "There was… noises. So I went to look."
      Moira nodded, hiding her exasperation. Ellis was usually too hell bent on pleasure to be curious about anything unrelated to that pursuit, but sometimes he stirred himself to investigate other things. Usually bad things, things he should keep his pretty self out of.
      "There were two people fighting in the alley," Ellis's voice dropped to a whisper, "and as I watched, one of them did something to the other, and he screamed and went down."
      "Then what?" Moira pursed her lips; attacks, even murders were not uncommon in places like Midit-one, it was a rough town.
      "Then the one still standing looked up and saw me – "
      "Oh sweet Mary!" Moira breathed, hand to her throat.
      " – and he ran. I was stunned, Moi, I didn't know whether to go after him or not."
      "No, best you kept out of it." She assured him, rubbing his shoulder soothingly.
      "But I checked the one who'd fallen."
      Moira groaned, remembering the blood on her young friend's hands.
      "Why did you do that?"
      "I couldn't just leave them!" Ellis frowned, "I checked, and he, I think it was a 'he', he was completely covered up, was – was bleeding." He swallowed convulsively. "He was already dead. He'd been cut across his throat."
      Moira breathed out, sensing there was more.
      "Then what?"
      "Then I heard something coming closer, something loud and angry. A band of people came storming into the alley yelling 'murder!' and 'catch him!' and – and I bolted."
      Moira pulled the shivering male into a warm hug.
      "Don't fret, my lovely," she kissed his still dusty hair, "It'll be all right. How did you find your way t' me?"
      "I have no idea," his voice was muffled in her broad, soft bosom, "luck, I s'pose. I just ran and ran and then I saw this place."
      "Luck and your guardian angel!" Moira chuckled. The Terran was superstitious and she believed her granny's (god be to good her) tales of supernatural forces and guardians. "Anyways, you're here now, safe with me."
      "What'm I going to do, Moi?"
      "Right now, you're going to get some sleep, then you're going to stay low until we can sort this mess out."
      Ellis nodded wearily, then started in panic.
      "My bag, Moi! I lost my bag!" Ellis leapt out of the chair.
      "What was in it?" Moira's practical calm soothed the young male.
      "Um, clothes, mostly," Ellis's beautiful eyes went wide, "and your letter, with your address! Oh shit, Moi, I'm sorry!"
      "Hold your wisht, lad, settle down." Moria spoke softly and calmly despite her thudding pulse, "Are you sure the letter was in there?"
      "Yes I – "
      "Check your clothes before you panic, Ellis."
      A thorough search turned the incriminating letter up in one of the pockets of the filthy coveralls he'd been wearing. Ellis went limp with relief, suddenly very, very tired.
      "Now, get off to bed," Moira pushed him towards the bedroom.
      "Wait!"
      "What now?" Moira said crossly.
      "What'll happen if they find me? They probably think I killed that person."
      The madame sighed; what would probably happen was Ellis would be strung up on the spot – justice could be swift and arbitrary in a town like this. She didn't say any of this to her friend though.
      "If they track you down, we'll explain things. Simple. You're not guilty, Ellis, you've nothing to fear."
      "Maybe I should turn myself in…"
      "Enough!" Moira shoved him ungently bedwards again, keen to stop that train of thought, "We'll think more about this tomorrow!"
      Ellis stripped out of the coveralls, watched appreciatively by Moira, but he hesitated before climbing in past the flowery curtains.
      "How will you explain me, Moi?"
      "What?" Moira was getting irritable from her disrupted sleep.
      "What if someone sees me here?"
      The madame stared, then a slow smirk spread across her face.
      "I'll say you're my sister, visiting."
      "Your sister!" Ellis squeaked. "You don't have a sister!"
      "No one here knows that," Moira grinned wolfishly, " and –" she put a finger over his mouth before he could utter another sound, "– they'll most likely be looking for a young man, not a young woman."
      Ellis's eyes narrowed.
      "I don't look anything like a woman, Moi," he glanced down at his lightly muscled chest and heavy genitals, "or haven't you noticed?"
      "Oh I noticed," Moira grinned lecherously, palming his penis, "but you'll not look like a man when I'm done with you."
      "What?!" Ellis backed up a step in alarm, "No! Whatever it is – NO!"
      "Ah, give over," Moira chuckled, "I've always wanted a little sister..."

"Get away from there you nosy chit!"
      Moira's strident bellow jerked Ellis out of a troubled sleep. Heart pounding he frantically burrowed right down in the voluminous, sweet smelling bed linen and held his breath. Someone whined petulantly - Ellis couldn't make out what they were saying – then Moira spoke again, loudly. Very loudly. A warning for him?
      "It's my sister, if you must know. She arrived late yesterday, not that it's any of your business! Now get away from there and let her sleep!"
      The bedroom door was shut firmly and Ellis cautiously poked his head out from beneath the covers – only to duck back down when the bed curtains were twitched aside.
      "It's all right, it's only me." Moira grinned in at him. "I've got you some breakfast."
      "Is that Shandy out there?" Ellis whispered.
      "Yes, but she'll be gone soon enough." Moira slid a plastic tray towards him. "Eat up then we'll get to work."

Ellis sat naked on the edge of the bed, eyeing with distaste the piles of bright clothes Moira was cheerfully tossing about.
      "Why – precisely – do I have to do this? Couldn't I just stay in here out of sight. You could say I was sick or something." he finished hopefully.
      "This is just a precaution. You'll be stayin' in here anyway, but just in case someone catches a glimpse of you – ah, here it is." Moira held up a bundle of emerald green fabric, unfolding it and smoothing out the creases to reveal a long sleeved, loose robe, delicately embroidered around the high neck-line. She grinned at Ellis. "You'll look a treat in this, it really suits your colouring."
      He glowered at her.
      "Why can't I just wear coveralls? Everyone here does anyway."
      "Ah but you're not from here, remember?" Moira was rummaging around in the cupboard again. She pulled out a pair of matching, silky trousers. "These should fit well enough."
      "I still don't see – "
      "For pity's sake, Ellis, use your head!" Moira frowned at him. "Someone in coveralls could be a man or a woman but if we dress you deliberately as a woman that's what people will see."
      Ellis subsided with a sulky pout.
      "Don't you be sticking that lip out at me, young lady," Moira smirked, "Now stand up and we'll do something about your figure..."

So this is the plan - Ellis thought sourly as he regarded himself in the full-length mirror – pretend to be Moi's sister and stay out of sight until she can smuggle me off planet. He wriggled in the constricting undergarment that cinched in his middle giving him a semblance of waist and hips. The robe was split at the sides, almost to his hips and it fell to just below his knees; combined with soft trousers that tightened around his ankles it gave the illusion of a willowy femininity. From the neck down at least, as for the rest of him? Well, maybe he could pass for a woman – from a distance, looking into the sun with your eyes shut. Moira was happily humming to herself as she gathered what she needed to tackle the rest of his transformation.
      "Your hair is long enough we won't need to use a wig – a wide shawl should suffice, and you can draw the edge of that over your face if need be, that's a common practise here, anyways, keeps out the dust." She turned his head from side to side, peering at his face. "Fortunately your facial hair is light and scanty…"
      "Scanty!"
      "Yes," Moira chuckled, "you've not much of it at all – or body hair." She picked up one of his hands and examined the back of his wrist. "We'll not have to shave your arms, and as for your face - " she ran a light fingertip down his jaw, " – make-up will cover what's left after shaving. Now sit down there and I'll get started."

Ellis stared at the beautiful, delicately feminine woman staring back at him from the mirror.
      "Holy shit."
      His – her – eyes were wide and limpid, her lips full and subtly coloured.
      "Yes, I think that works," Moira clucked in satisfaction, "now if you'd stop standing like a man…"
      The loud knocking on the apartment's main door made them both jump.
      "You stay here," Moira whispered urgently to Ellis, "I'll see who that is."
      The madame shut the bedroom door behind her.
      "Keil? What are you doing awake at this time?" With his ear pressed against the bedroom door, Eliis could just make out Moira's girlishly nervous laugh.
      "I've come to pay my respects to your sister, Moira," the darkly masculine voice that answered had a guttural quality to it that sent unexpected shivers up Ellis's spine.
      "My sister? How did you - ? Shandy." Moira grumbled. "No, I'm sorry, Corrim, my sister is still resting, but I'll be happy to pass on your greetings."
      "Maybe later then," Ellis could hear the smirk in the Sou'kahn's voice, "but while I've got you here I'd like you to have a quick look over these figures."
      "Very well." Moira sighed in a put upon fashion, "What have we got...?"
      There was silence for a minute or so then Keil spoke again, quietly, so that Ellis had to strain to catch it.
      "What's your sister's name?"
      "Hmm?" Moira sounded distracted. "Ellis –" there was a fraction of a second's pause "– son. Alison."
      "Will she be taking up employment in the 'Slipper'?" That was the name of the brothel, Ellis remembered.
      "No she will not!" Moira snapped. "Allison is a delicate flower of a girl, she'll not be following in my footsteps!" Moira made an irritated noise. "These all look fine, Keil. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get ready for work."
      Ellis heard the apartment door click shut firmly and he let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.
      "He's gone." Moira said quietly as she came back into the bedroom. "I have to go to work now, Ellis. You'll be safe in here. I'm the only one who can unlock the door from the outside." She kissed him, carefully so as not to disturb the lip colour, "There's plenty of food now in the kitchen, and an entertainment console in the other room. I'll see you later." She patted his cheek. "Be good now, and don't step outside."

Hours later and Ellis was bored. It had taken all of three minutes to thoroughly explore Moira's tiny living room, with its lack of space and abundance of stuff. Sure there was an 'entertainment console' but this back-water planet wasn't broadcasting anything worth watching. He'd switched it off shortly after flipping through the pathetically few channels, and then left it off, conveniently missing any of the local news broadcasts. Moira had some books though, old-fashioned paper ones, as well as a vast number of 'chip books' – books encoded on chips of high-density plastic that could be displayed on a hand-held monitor. Annoyingly, they all seemed to be lurid romances. Ellis sighed in disgust as he scanned the hundredth chip with 'passion' in the title. Didn't Moi read anything else? How could she run a business? Her brain must be mush from all this tripe.
      Moira had breezed in a little while ago to see how he was and to give him the depressing news that the town was abuzz with speculation about the murder of one of its more prominent, and respected citizens. The cry had gone out for the murderer – him he assumed, he certainly fitted the description of the assailant being bandied about - to be found and made to pay for his crime. But she assured him the fuss would die down in a few days and that's when they'd get him off-world. All he had to do was stay out of sight until then.
       Ellis reached for another chip in the forlorn hope it was something other than a romance. In the silence of the room he caught the sound of subtle movement outside the door. Shit, someone was trying to get in! Ellis's instincts prompted him to scramble as quietly as he could to the bedroom - he'd wager his first born it wasn't Moi.
      He'd squeezed himself under the bed, thankful for once for Moi's love of frills and flounces; the overhanging bed decorations safely hid him from view. Ellis listened hard, forcing himself to breathe as lightly as he could. Yes, someone had come into Moi's apartments and they were prowling around the other room. Who the hell - ?
      The bedroom door inched open, and the someone stepped into the room, treading carefully and lightly over the thick carpet. They paced over to the bed – Ellis could hear the faint rustle as the curtain was quietly moved aside, obviously checking for an occupant – then the intruder moved to the tiny bathroom and much larger closet. Whoever they were, they knew the layout of Moira's apartment – and they had expensive tastes in footwear. Ellis caught a glimpse of heavy-duty, dusty, but still obviously well-made and maintained boots. Black, real leather by the look of it, moderate heel, square toed and... large.
      Whoever they were didn't hang around after they'd given the rooms the once over. Ellis slumped in relief when he heard the distinctive sound of the apartment's main door snicking shut.
      Ellis inched out from his hiding place, standing up on legs gone wobbly from reaction. He'd have to tell Moi about this, her apartment wasn't as secure as she thought. Ellis opened the bedroom door a fraction, peering out into the main room before hesitantly stepping through. He scuttled over to the main door, hastily checking the lock – stilling as he felt the warning prickle on the back of his neck.
      Oh shit.
      "Hello, Allison."

Ellis froze, eyes wide and staring at the door. He didn’t turn around.
      "Let me introduce myself.," the intruder paced closer as Ellis surreptitiously tried the door - it was locked. " My name is Corrim Keil and I work with your sister." A large hand alighted softly on Ellis' shoulder. "I didn't know Moira had any family."
      Ellis felt himself being pulled around to face Keil but he desperately kept his eyes on the floor.
      "Very pretty," the Sou'kahn rumbled appreciatively. "Look at me now." He placed a finger beneath 'Allison's' chin. Ellis resisted for all of a second before the inexorable pressure Keil was exerting forced him to look up - and up. Ellis' first impression of Moi's business partner was sheer, physical size. The man was enormous; the top of Ellis' head barely came up to Keil's armpits and he was broad enough across the shoulders to make two widths of the much slimmer man. Keil radiated strength and power, not just from the obviously well developed musculature discernible beneath the ubiquitous coveralls but also from his presence. This was a man used to getting what he wanted.
      "Very pretty, indeed." Keil's hand moved lazily from Ellis' shoulder to his chest, blunt fingertips trailing goosebumps across silk encased flesh.
      "Get your hands off me!"
      Ellis had had to defend himself on more than one occasion and despite his slight build he was quite strong and he had a mean right hook. Keil stumbled back a pace or two in surprise then, moving with astonishing speed pinned Ellis hard up against the apartment door. The young male struggled futilely, trapped beneath the weight of the big man, one of Keil's brawny forearms tight across his throat.
      "Such a delicate flower of a girl."
      Ellis let out a strangled squeak as one of the Sou'kahn's large hands settled heavily over his groin.
      "Now, I begin to wonder why a perfectly good man," Keil began to knead Ellis' groin in a maddeningly gentle fashion, "should be hiding away dressed as a woman." He smirked down at Ellis who was flushed crimson, dying several deaths of humiliation as his lax genitals began to stir beneath Keil's knowledgeable touch. Ellis gamely tried to glare defiantly at the Sou'kahn but found himself distracted by gleaming, angled, dark orange on amber eyes surrounded by thick and long bronze lashes.
      "I wonder," Keil's lips - the bottom one was invitingly full and sensuous, Ellis noted abstractedly - quirked up into a hard smile, "if it has anything to do with last night's murder?"
      "I had nothing to do with that." It came out somewhere between a whimper and a snarl - Keil's hand was still working steadily at Ellis' groin.
      "No? Why did you run?"
      "Would you have stayed around to face an angry mob baying for your blood?"
       "Good point." Keil conceded. He brought his lips close to Ellis' own, close enough that the trapped man could feel the warmth of them a hair's breadth away. "Now that I have you, what shall I do with you?" Keil's breath gusted hot and sweet against Ellis' mouth.
      "Wh-what?" Up close, Keil's pale orange skin was smooth and clear and he smelt of something warmly musky.
      "Shall I turn you in, or - ?"
      "Or what?" Ellis stammered, perilously close to giving in to the sensations Keil was eliciting from his nether regions.
      "Or you be nice to me and I'll forget I've seen you."
      "What!" Keil's 'offer' had the effect of dousing Ellis in cold water. Ellis was not averse to sex with a male but he'd be damned if he'd be blackmailed into it.
      "Moira's implicated now, you realise." Keil's eyes narrowed shrewdly, watching the younger man's reaction, "Be a shame to see her executed for something you didn't do."
      Ellis glowered malevolently at Keil, smart enough to know he couldn't win but resenting the situation mightily.
      "Fine, I'll be nice to you," he hissed, "just leave Moi out of it."
      "Smart boy," Keil stepped back abruptly, releasing his captive. Ellis scowled as he straightened up, blushing further under the Sou'kahn's silent scrutiny.
      "Well come on get on with it."
      Keil laughed, a surprisingly amiable sound.
      "I wouldn't insult Moira by using her rooms for my - " he ran a smoulderingly possessive gaze up and down Ellis' body, " - purposes. I'll pick you up tomorrow evening after Moira's gone to work." He tweaked a nipple sharply, making Ellis squeak and glare again. "Not a word to her - " Keil frowned. "What's your name anyway?"
      "Ellis." Sullenness personified.
      "Not a word to Moira, Ellis. Remember, her life is in your hands."

Ellis slumped unhappily against the door after Keil had left; Moira's life was in his hands - and arse and mouth no doubt. Ellis had complete faith in his ability to 'be nice' to Keil - shit, he'd be so 'nice' to the man Keil wouldn't be able to walk for a week - but could he trust the Sou'kahn to keep his word? Moi didn't think very highly of her business partner. Well, Ellis figured there wasn't a lot he could do about it unless he wanted to try and sneak off-planet right now and he didn't fancy his chances of success there.
      Fine, he'd let Corrim Keil fuck him and he'd make sure the big bastard had no complaints. Then he'd try and work a way out of this mess…

The intervening hours were a subtle torture for Ellis. Small details about his humiliating encounter last night kept sliding sneakily into his consciousness to nibble at the edges of his indignation. Things like the way wisps of Keil's shining bronze hair had escaped from the tidy pony-tail to fall over his eyes and frame his face. Things like the tiny folds in the skin at the corners of his mouth and how hard that immense body had felt pressed up against him like that. Things like how Keil bore little resemblance to the brutish, ugly Sou'kahns Ellis had seen images of. Sure he was immensely built and powerful and his skin and hair were shades of orange but there was a fineness about his features that in the right frame of mind could almost be called beauty… Ellis grumpily accepted that under different circumstances – like not having to barter his body for his freedom - he could've been looking forward to tonight. Life just sucked sometimes.
       Moira was too preoccupied with her own business to comment on her young friend's moodiness but she happily accepted his invitation for sex before she had to go to sleep. Ellis was glad of the distraction from his thoughts; he really liked Moira and indulging himself with her softness helped him forget his antagonist's tantalising hardness for a little while.

"Be good, lovely boy," Moira smiled at him, patting his cheek gently. "I might not be able to look in on you tonight, it was pay-day today for a lot of the 'formers and the Slipper'll be busy."
      "I'll be fine," Ellis hid his relief behind a quick grin; it hadn't occurred to him what could happen if Moira came back while he was on his… date. " I'll read some more of those godawful books you've got lying all over the place."
       Moira laughed and left, closing the door firmly behind her.
       Ellis' smile dropped; Keil would be here for him soon. Maybe he should have something to eat? No, not a good idea given the tremulous state of his stomach.
       Ellis, hidden again behind green silk and make-up, paced back and forth across the small room, waiting…

© 2003 May 28^th Lutra

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© 2003 WordWrights

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