Cats and Dogs Ch. 10

'You'll have to, because you're too bashed up at the moment to do anything else.' she thought, grinning at him.

'Just great. Not only am I stuck here with a pretty woman I want to do naughty things with and can't, but you're also gonna tell me off for what I'm thinking!'

'I'm not telling you off Dill, believe me it's going to be hard for me too, but it won't be long before you are healed and we can make up for it.' she shot him a sexy grin.

Dill just groaned in response, and it wasn't clear to Tilly or him whether it was due to the pain of his injuries or the thoughts of what he wanted to do with her when he was better. The doctor stepped in then to take over, unaware of the topic of their conversation so thinking the groan was solely down to the pain.

'I think it's time for some more painkillers Dill. Chances are they'll send you back to sleep for a while, but that's a good thing as it helps you heal.'

'I only just came to, and now you're gonna knock me out again? Sorry Tilly, looks like I'm going to be rubbish company for a while.'

'It's okay, as long as you keep getting better.' she smiled at him, letting her relief and love shine through.

Dill sent her a thought. 'I have a very good incentive. I can't wait to visit our little lovenest again babe, and until then I'll just have to consider my options for what will work best to have you moaning my name!'

Tilly felt the shiver go through her at his words. 'I like the idea, but perhaps it would be best not to think about things that are only going to drive us both crazy while we can't do them.'

Dill just yawned again and seemed unable to respond as the drugs kicked in and sent him off to sleep. Tilly relaxed and let two days worth of stress leave her body. She looked back to Dill's peaceful face, no longer afraid and able to take in his beauty despite the cuts and bruises. She let out a deep sigh. He was back and he was still hers.

'Can you stay with him for a few minutes?' she asked the doctor, and he nodded. 'I need to go see the Alphas quickly.'

Tilly ran from the room and down the stairs, using her emotional awareness and sense of smell to locate Sam in his office. The door was shut but she opened it and went straight in without knocking, only thinking of Dill and needing to tell them the good news. The sight that greeted her stopped her in her tracks, and made her forget what she was in there for. Sam was sat on the sofa, totally naked and his eyes shut with pleasure clear on his face. She couldn't see his crotch because it was concealed from her line of sight by the back of Tom's head, which was bobbing up and down. Tilly went bright red as she processed the fact she had walked in on a very intimate moment.

Tom's head stopped moving, and Sam's eyes snapped open as they realised they were not alone. Sam looked at her with a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. She cast her eyes down to the floor in a submissive gesture, and so she could no longer see the two of them.

'I'm really sorry Sam. I was so excited I didn't think. Dill woke up, I wanted to let you know. He's off again already, but he spoke to us and seemed his usual self.' She heard movement but kept her eyes averted, figuring they were probably making themselves more respectable. There was what seemed like a very long silence before Sam spoke.

'I can understand you being excited, but you could have spoken to me from up there. As you'll be aware, it wasn't the best moment. I trust this will serve as a reminder about knocking.' His voice was calm and measured, but Tilly still didn't dare look up.

'Yes. I really am sorry for interrupting.'

Tom's voice was teasing when he spoke, and Tilly did look up then, relieved to note they were now sat side by side and had their trousers on. 'It's okay Tilly, I know how pleased you must be. What did he say?'

'Not much really, he doesn't remember what happened but he asked about his injuries and how long it will take to heal. He knew his name and mine when the doctor asked.' she blushed again, thinking about what else he had said.

Sam smiled at her then. 'I gather he also made some rather suggestive comments seeing as you are going red. It's good to know he's back on form!'

'Plus' added Tom 'it will give us a chance to interrupt them sometime in return!'

'Not for a while.' said Tilly, not thinking before she spoke. Her eyes hit the carpet again when she realised what she had said, and what it suggested. Sam just laughed.

'Seems like they know he won't be able to live up to any suggestions he may have made! We're really glad to hear he's okay, but if you don't mind we were in the middle of something rather important, and I'd like to get back to it.'

Tom smiled. 'I bet you would!'

Tilly mumbled another apology and left the room, closing the door firmly behind her. Tom and Sam looked at each other and laughed. Sam spoke first.

'That should make sure she always knocks. I think she was more embarrassed than me, and that must be a first, especially given the situation! Speaking of which....' he gave a look of lust to Tom, who just grinned.

'I don't think I can remember where we were.'

'Tease!' growled Sam. 'You were on your knees giving me great head. Now get back there!'

Tom smiled again and slipped down to the floor, pulling Sam's trousers down as he went. Sam's hard dick sprang up as soon as it was released, and Tom looked at his face, licking his lips before he went back to work. Sam groaned just at the sight, and at the first contact of Tom's tongue started to growl softly, encouraging his mate to keep pleasuring him. Tom dove down and sucked back up his whole shaft, sending shivers of pleasure through his whole body. Sam's hips started to move of their own accord, setting up a counter-rhythm to Tom. Being interrupted had calmed him down a little, but it didn't take long for Tom's skilled mouth to have him back at the brink of orgasm.

Tom seemed aware how close he was and began to purr as he bobbed, knowing that this would send Sam over the edge. Tom wanted to suck Sam dry and used his tongue and lips to drive his lover wild. Sam was incoherent, and finally, as Tom increased his purring, the vibrations and his erotic touches were too much and Tom's mouth was filled with come. He savoured the flavour and purred his own pleasure at having made his love come so hard. He straightened up and looked at his mate, amusement on his face at the sated look that Sam gave him. Tom was now hard and rather hoped to be getting the same treatment very soon, but his thoughts of that were ended when there was a knock at the door.

He took one look and realised it would be up to him to deal with whatever this was, since he looked a lot more respectable than his mate did right then. He moved to the door, licking his lips and taking a swig of water from a bottle on the desk as he went, not wanting it to be too obvious what he had just been drinking. He opened the door and Alex was there with two women he didn't know. From the look of them though, they had to be Dill's mother and sister. Tom walked out into the corridor, shutting the door behind him and leaving Sam to recover.

'Hello, you must be Dill's family. It's nice to meet you.' he said, shaking hands with the mother and then the sister. 'I'm Tom, Alpha of his team. I'll take you up if you want to see him.'

'Yes.' replied the mother, very briskly. Tom could tell she was not all that pleased to meet him. He supposed that having to visit her son when he was seriously injured probably wouldn't endear her to the people he worked with. It probably wasn't worth pointing out that the main reason he was lying upstairs was his refusal to follow orders which led to him being alone when he was attacked. At least Dill's sister looked friendly, and she gave him a small smile when he introduced himself.

'If you'd like to follow me.' he said, leading the way to the main stairs. 'The good news is he woke up briefly earlier on, and the doctor was able to speak to him. It seems he is going to be fine. He is on painkillers at the moment so he is going to be sleeping a lot, and he might not wake up right now, but you are welcome to stay for a few days while he recovers further.'

Dill's mother just grunted. His sister did speak. 'Thank you. We're both glad to hear he's going to be alright. We've been really worried. I'm Cassie, by the way, and our mum is Anne.'

Tom shot a thought to Tilly to warn her. 'Dill's family are here, I'm on my way up. His mum's pissed at us.'

'Great' came her reply. He resisted the urge to smile, but talked loudly enough that she would hear him through the door.

'Here we are. I need to warn you he is pretty bruised and not his usual handsome self, but he'll be back to normal in no time.' He opened the door and ushered them in, noticing how nervous Tilly seemed, and shooting her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. She managed to speak despite her nerves.

'Hello, I'm Tilly and I've been looking after Dill. I'm afraid he wasn't awake for long, but he should be back with us at some point. If you want to hold his hand and talk to him that's fine.'

Anne bustled past her, almost pushing Tilly out of the way to see her son. She sat down straight away and took Dill's hand, murmuring to him. Cassie looked at Tilly apologetically. 'Sorry, mum's been really concerned.'

'Do you want me to stay?' asked Tom.

'No, I'm sure we'll be fine.' replied Tilly, not at all sure of it actually, noting the animosity from Dill's mother, but at least his sister did seem friendly and genuine. When Tom left the room though she did feel uncomfortable. Anne just sat whispering to Dill, so she was left standing in the middle of the room, not quite sure what to do with herself. She was relieved when Cassie started talking.

'I'm Cassie, Dill's sister. Thank you for taking care of him.'

'I've been glad to help. We've all been worried about him as well.'

'I hope we'll get to speak to him soon though, it would be good to hear his voice. He's rubbish at keeping in touch. We didn't even know he'd moved until we got the call about this.'

Tilly was surprised at that, because she knew how fondly Dill spoke of his family, particularly his sister. 'It has been pretty full on since they arrived here, so he probably didn't think to. Plus this whole arrangement was intended to be temporary. I'm not so sure now, but Council will make a decision at some point.'

'You're not one of Dill's team?'

'No, I'm not. You met Tom, who is Alpha of the team Dill is in. I work for Sam who heads up the other team, though they're pretty much interchangeable these days. Did you meet Sam?'

'No. Tom came out of an office downstairs and brought us straight up.'

Tilly realised they had probably just finished off what she had stopped earlier, and smiled at the thought that Sam had probably been looking rather too dopey to introduce to Dill's family. 'Sorry, private thought. I'm sure you'll meet him later.'

'So what did Dill say when he woke up?'

'Mainly he wondered why he felt so rough.'

Tilly heard a movement behind her and turned to see Dill's mother standing up. The waves of emotion coming from her were not positive, and the tone of her voice was hard, her accusations strong.

'I told him if he took up with those people he would end up hurt or dead. It's a miracle he isn't. Where were they when someone was beating my poor baby half to death? He told me they always take care of their own, so why is he like this?'

Tilly had to resist the urge to slap her. She was only concerned about her son and lashing out at anyone she thought she could hold responsible. She tried to keep her voice calm as she replied 'Your son is one of "those people", as am I. Our job can be dangerous, but we know the risks and we take them because of the good we do. And if we didn't take care of our own, Dill would be dead. We went into more danger to save him.'

Anne just glared at her and went back to sitting by Dill. Tilly took a deep breath, trying not to get worked up. Cassie broke the silence.

'Why don't we take a bit of a walk. I'd really like to see the grounds, and I think mum can look after Dill for a little while.'

Tilly looked at him lying there. She didn't really want to leave, but it made sense to get an opportunity to calm down, and let Dill's mother do the same. She nodded and they left together, heading down the stairs and talking as they went.

'I'm sorry about my mother. As you'll probably have guessed, she never wanted Dill to join the commando teams, and she feels like this incident confirms every bad thing she ever thought. It probably hasn't occurred to her he's been in danger lots of times and come out of it unscathed but not been able to tell her.'

'I do understand. But it's hard to hear someone belittle what we do, or suggest that we don't take care of our colleagues. We have to trust each other with our lives, and sometimes that trust is called on.'

Cassie hesitated for a moment before asking. 'Was it really so bad that he could have died?'

Tilly nodded. 'If we'd got there a moment later he wouldn't be here. I don't like thinking about that possibility.'

They walked in silence until they were outside, both dwelling on that thought nonetheless. Cassie spoke up again.

'You really care about him, don't you? I can feel it. And I'm also sensing when you say "we" saved him, you're talking about you.'

Tilly didn't quite know how to answer that, and thought for a second. 'I'm not supposed to tell you exactly what happened, but yes, it was me. And of course I care about him, he's one of us and we really do look after our own.'

Cassie just laughed. 'Did Dill tell you anything about me?'

'Yes, a few things. He's really fond of you.'

'About my empath abilities?' she asked, cocking her head and smiling knowingly at Tilly.

Tilly went red. She'd forgotten that, but he had, and when she remembered what they had done the night he told her she went redder, and concentrated on putting a shield on her thoughts. 'Um... I suppose I deserve that, the amount of times I catch other people out on what they are feeling. I'm empathic too. And Dill did tell me about you, but I forgot, else I'd have made a bit more effort to put my shields up earlier.'

'It's okay. You know that you kind of get used to it. Not so much when it involves your brother though!'

Tilly laughed. 'You don't have to tell me about that feeling. When my brother first saw Tom it was a very weird moment.' She paused, realising she might have said too much, and checking Cassie's face for signs of horror. She seemed surprised, but no negative feelings seeped out.

'I don't mind. It might not be a good idea to mention that to mum though. She's a bit set in her ways. Your brother has good taste by the way!'

Tilly laughed. 'I'll be sure to tell him that! And to stop beating about the bush, yes, I do really care for Dill, and he feels the same way. I should apologise now, because as you probably know he's rubbish at shielding. He was like an open book when he first got here.'

'That must have been fun for you! I find it takes all the romance out of it when all you can feel is lust following you around.'

'I guess so. But it makes it much easier if you do want someone, there's no guessing games. I've only just had to give a push in the right direction to someone who was trying to work out if the guy she liked was into her. We've got it easy really, it's just the moments when other people can't keep a lid on things that make it awkward. And I really should know better!'

Their conversation was interrupted when they noticed the two lions walking towards them. Tilly smiled a welcome but Cassie looked rather nervous. Tilly looked at her quizically.

'Not used to seeing anyone except panthers, and I wasn't expecting to either. Sorry.'

'It's fine. We tend to forget that not everyone has been to HQ and met pretty much every species going. This is Peter and Michael.' Tilly said, as the lions reached them. She looked from one to the other, and drew a blank. 'Sorry guys, I can't tell you apart just yet. This is Cassie, Dill's sister.'

The lions purred a welcoming sound and Cassie seemed to relax. 'Are there any others here then?'

'Actually based here no, there's only panthers and wolves.'

Tilly was stopped by Peter's thought. 'And your two new trainees!'

'Really? You're staying here? That's great news.' she turned to Cassie. 'These guys are still in training, but it seems that the boss has decided they can complete it here.'

'We're just avoiding Sandra while she's with the visitors. We thought a run would be in order until dad leaves.'

'Has she given you any trouble? I heard how she reacted to Sam and Tom.'

'No. I think we gave her a surprise though. Should be entertaining if she asks dad about it!'

'I'm not sure I want to ask what you did.'

She heard Peter laugh as he spoke. 'Nothing major, honestly, but I think I may have made it obvious there is something going on between us. She looked rather shocked!'

'By the sounds of things, you may want to avoid making things too obvious to Dill's mum. She's not keen on any of us commando types, but Cassie says she's also a bit stuck in her ways. I've already had to bite my tongue when she accused us of not looking after Dill, so best behaviour if you see her.'

Tilly turned back to Cassie. 'Sorry, one half of the conversation must be a little odd. Mark and Sandra from Council are here, and she's been pretty nasty to Sam and Tom about their relationship, so I was concerned about how she's been with these guys. And I wouldn't normally say not to confront attitudes like that, but your mum has enough on her plate right now.'

'I appreciate it. She's not usually this bad, but hearing that Dill was injured has really hit her hard. I can see how much everyone here is friendly and cares about each other, but all she can see are his bruises.'

The lions made their excuses and left the two women alone. Cassie couldn't help asking a bit more about things.

'So it's pretty multi-species here then, and by the sounds of things there are lots of couples, and of the rather non-traditional kind.'

'I guess so. There are four wolves, although we have another one staying at the moment, who has also been ill, and five panthers, plus the new trainees. As for being non-traditional, it doesn't seem that odd to me, but I've known about Sam for years. It was only a surprise when Tom turned up and I could tell how strongly he felt for him. The boys you just met, well, they were assigned here partly because Mark wanted them to have some positive influences. Sandra is quite high up in the organisation, and since she called Sam and Tom perverts when she found out about them, I think he wanted to get them away from that environment as well.'

'I think it's great that it's all open, and that the different species get on. Mum's kind of a homebody and likes to lead a pretty sheltered life. She doesn't even change that often. When Dill wanted to go away and train she was really unhappy, and tried all sorts to get him to stay.'

'I know it might not be a consolation to her, but he is really good at what he does. Slight problem with following orders, but he's getting better now he's not so full of himself!'

'That sounds about right. It's weird seeing him asleep, I expect him to be awake and teasing me!'

'Judging by how he was earlier, I'm sure he'll be up to that as soon as he does see you. Speaking of which, I think he's waking up.'

'How can you tell from here?'

'I don't really know. I've got a strong connection to him, and I could tell when he was coming back into consciousness earlier on. It made the last couple of days even harder, because I couldn't feel anything from him, and I'm used to his presence always being there in the back of my mind. I think we should head back if you want to see him.'