Bast Pt. 04

I grinned.

***

The lunchtime business meeting overran.

I made a point to grab a sandwich on the way back. Work blurred into a series of near-disasters that I somehow- mostly with the help of other people- managed to mitigate, if not completely avoid. Claire helped- Claire always helped- but it was still exhausting in a way my old job wasn't.

I had caught a glimpse of the sort of sacrifices that truly dedicated people need to do in order to achieve their dreams- the long hours, the stress, the willingness to put the rest of their lives on hold. All it's really taught me is that I was definitely not destined for greatness. And that was fine with me and the others. Even Kayin. Mostly.

I left a little after Claire, taking the train. I walked along streets that only looked worse the more I walked through them. I entered my old apartment. I walked over to the window. I sat down.

I didn't need this apartment. Didn't need the bigger one next to it either. I'd told everyone that the reason we didn't move was because we could be saving up for a new place. A few years with this new job and we could get a proper home- all four of us. We could make do until then. It was best to be frugal. And the extra apartment- well, it just meant that we had extra room, in case Claire came around.

(Ignoring the fact that she was around most nights anyway in Kayin's bed, where she 'looked after her like you said, Hayseed'. I was very warmly invited to join them- and I did sometimes- but most nights it was me in Efe's room and Claire in Kayin's.)

I came in and sat down. There wasn't much in the way of furnishings besides my old single bed. I sat atop of it, noting that the sheets were mouldering a little. I thought about getting them cleaned but decided that if I did that we'd end up having another discussion again about why I was still here and then-

I checked the shrine. The small one, not the larger one at our place. It was dusty too. The kibble hadn't been touched either. I sighed and replaced it; the old stuff joined the rest in the bin.

I walked over to the open window. I stared outside into the gathering dusk, looking up and down the paths. The fire escapes, the streets below. The distant windows. Waiting. Watching.

There was a noise behind me. Efe stepped through the doorway. She smiled. "Food is nearly ready."

"Claire over?"

"When is she not? It would be easier if she just moved in with Kayin." She walked over to me. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Sure." I patted the bed next to her. She sat down and took my hand in her own. I stared down at our entwined fingers; dark and pale, clasped in easy warmth. For a while we did not speak.

Eventually we got up to have dinner.

***

Yvonne had dropped by.

Honestly when Efe had suggested that she was welcome to swing by from time to time, I think everyone expected her to politely- or no so politely- decline. To everyone's surprise she not only thanked her but showed up at our apartment once a week or so. Supposedly it was to check up on us and make sure that we were all copacetic about our goals but it was also just to...well, be around people. Claire found it hilarious. Kayin was a little uncertain but allowed it with a great display of magnanimity. Efe, being Efe, welcomed her with open arms. She would bring wine and eat our spicy food and talk about things of little importance and then otherwise just...watch TV or watch Efe write a paper or the like.

She sat- primly and firmly- in her spot on the longue, talking animatedly with Claire. "And then I looked into the camera and said, "This is something you'll never get!"

Claire giggled as her hands moved in a slow pattern. "You going to send it?"

"Maybe," she said. "If he keeps slutting it up with his little bimbos..."

Kayin shuffled over from the kitchen as Efe took over. She grabbed her belly with both hands and she plopped down onto the longue next to Yonne. "I don't see why you don't just get a divorce." Without speaking or looking at her she eased her legs into Claire's lap; a moment later my friend's hands were moving to grasp her feet, rubbing and massaging.

Yvonne sniffed. "I should do that." She eyed me with a hot expression. "Now that I know that we have so many wonderful men around."

I laughed and went in to help Efe with the food. In a little while we were serving up spicy bowls to all assembled. We sat and ate. We talked about nothing in particular. We watched something Claire wanted to watch. Efe on the desk, her homework open in front of her, while Yvonne sent out a barrage of texts with an expression of intense focus on her face. Claire and Kayin didn't talk, for all that her fingers never left my fiancé's feet. I tried not to look at Bast's Shrine.

All of a sudden Yvonne let out a low, sudden snarl.

"What is it?" I asked.

She rose, her expression like thunder. "He is 'delayed'. In 'negotiations'. He won't be back for another week. She scowled, near-throwing the phone on to the floor. Her eyes flicked to me and then to Efe. "May I borrow your boyfriend?" Efe nodded and Yvonne turned to Kayin. "Can I borrow your-"

My beautiful dark-skinned fiancé snickered. "Go on. But leave something for my sister. She is too nice about these things."

Yvonne stalked off into her bedroom, throwing off clothes as she went. By the time she reached the bed she was naked. Without even hesitating, she jumped up atop the bed and waved her ass in my direction. Turning around, she fixed me with that smoky expression of hers. "Fuck me. Fuck me hard like I'm your bitch."

I approached her, stripping down as I went. She smiled at me, her eyes blazing with righteous fury. I grabbed her ass and reached down to rub her pussy. Wet but not wet enough; I moved down to lick-

"No. Fuck me like you're raping me. Fuck me like I'm a two-bit whore!" she moaned, waggling her ass and dislodging my tongue from her pussy. She eyed the condom in my hands with a deep patrician contempt. "Shove it in and don't stop until you've bred me like Kayin!"

Well, far be it for me to dissuade a lady. I reached down and grabbed her ass, lined myself up and shoved. Her pussy was still dry and she hissed as I rammed myself in, but still thrust her hips against me, meeting my rhythm with a ruthlessness contempt for her own pain. A minute in and her pussy was sopping wet. She moaned as I bent over to grab her tits, using them as handholds put more power into every thrust. Harder and harder, sweat springing up across our bodies as we fucked. "More," she squealed, refined features transformed into a hazy and lustful need. "Fuck me like a beast!"

I took my hands off from my mauling of her tits and raised them high. A moment later she squealed as I slapped her ass, leaving red handprints on the pale, wobbling flesh. Her shocked cried turned to cries of delight and laughter as the blows rained down on her, turning that perfect ass of hers into a mass of red, tender flesh. Then I sunk my fingers in deep, slamming my hips like a madman. She dropped onto her stomach and I followed her, ramming her into the rumpled sheets.

I gripped her hair, tangling it up and pulling her face up. I stared into her eyes and spoke in a rough, low growl. "You belong to me, you understand? You belong to me!"

"Yes!" She happily panted as I forced her lips into a rough kiss. "I belong to you! Not my worthless husband!"

There was no way this was going to last. I growled, "Going to cum inside you."

"Yes! Make me pregnant! Knock me up like Kayin!" She snarled at me like a rabid beast. "Make me your breeding bitch!"

Orders were orders. I burst into her with a flare of pleasure, filling her pussy with my cum. She moaned and collapsed onto the bed, sighing and panting. I collapsed atop of her.

There was a smattering of applause from behind her. I turned to see the three other girls of the house smiling at me from the doorway.

"Wonderful show," said Claire. "We should have filmed it and put it on Pornhub. Cheating wife bred by her master."

"I knew you were a player," said Kayin, fake-scowling. "Sleeping with a married woman." I didn't point out that Claire had her hand on her ass.

"That was..." Efe's dark cat eyes were narrowed as she smiled. "I want to be there next time you sleep with my husband, Yvonne."

"Um," I said, easing myself off Yvonne, "are you sure?"

"Wait," said Yvonne. She turned around and I could see the marks on her breasts where my fingers had gripped her. She was going to have bruises there, I realised. Marks that she'd see when she looked in the mirror. Her cunt was red and puffy, with my seed trickling out. She clamped her legs together and reached down to stroke my wet, flaccid cock. "Can someone hand me my phone?"

A moment later Efe walked over and handed her phone to her. Rather than withdrawing, she climbed onto the bed and pressed her body against mine, moulding herself against me. She bent down and gently began to smell my neck, shuddering in pleasure. One of her hands moved down to grab my wet cock, slowly stroking it back and forth.

Yvonne grinned at the sight. She keyed her phone and made shushing sounds to everyone. A moment later her phone connected. "Hello, Damien," she said in soft tones. "I just wanted to call you because of-" She frowned, one hand moving to idly flick a nipple. "I know you're busy. But you just..."

She remained silent while her expression twisted into one of deep distaste. Her eyes fixed on my erection, which- under Efe's gentle ministrations- was beginning to return to its hard state. She looked up at me and slowly licked her lips, eyes bright with cold fury. "Yes," she said. "Yes. I know I should disturb your...'important work'.

I rolled my eyes as Efe left a trail of kisses along my shoulder. Both of her dark hands were pumping my cock now, using Yvonne's juices as lubricant. I lent forward gently so that my cock hovered just above the pale woman's glorious mounds. Yvonne smiled at me as she kept talking. "A whole other week? But what will I do to keep myself busy? Go to the spa? Hang out with my friends and gossip?" cooed the naked businesswoman. "That sounds like fun."

My cock- despite shooting its load no more than a few minutes ago- grew stiffer. I was aware of movement; Kayin and Claire coming to watch the scene with hot, eager eyes, their hands moving shamelessly over each other's bodies. Claire stifled a moan as my pregnant fiancé dove her hands up her shirt, fingers tracing slow circles over her nipples.

Yvonne's voice became breathy and soft as she murmured into the phone. "Well, I suppose you know best, dear. I'll just hang out with some friends, tend to my own business...you know," she said, "maybe what I need is a child. Something to keep me busy?" She cupped her breasts together so that my cock-head slid in and out of her deep cleavage. "What do you think of that? Dear?"

I came, shooting cum all of her face and tits. She laughed as the ropes of my seed spatted onto her. "What's that? Sorry, just saw something funny on TV...Okay. See you in two weeks!" She tapped off the phone and then- covered in my cum, surrounded by a bunch of randy women- said, "We are going on holiday."

"Holiday?" I gasped as post-orgasm weakness flooded over me. Efe untangled herself from me as I half-lurched, half fell off the bed.

"Awesome," said Claire, and I wasn't sure if she was referring to the scene in front of her, the offer for a holiday or the way Kayin's hands were moving inside her pants.

"We can go on my yacht," said Yvonne, rising from the bed, one hand moving to scoop a little of the cum from her chest to lick it. "A whole week of sun, beaches, and..." she eyed me. "Breeding." She nodded at Efe. "Um, with your permission, of course."

"Hmmm." Efe continued to cuddle up against me. "I don't mind so long as I get him some of the time."

Yvonne turned to Kayin and Claire. "You two in?"

Kayin murmured something that sounded like yes, while kissing Claire's neck. Claire murmured a faint, "Fuck yes," while letting her.

"Wait," I said. "What about Bast? We can't leave."

Everyone looked at each other. Then everyone looked at me. It was Claire that spoke first, gently untangling herself from Kayin. "I think she'll be fine," she said.

Kayin said, "Bast was looking after herself long before you came along. She didn't look like a stray, remember?"

Yvonne said, "She's been gone for three months, hasn't she? I mean, she's a cat. She comes and goes.

Efe said quietly, "It will be okay."

I paused. "Look. Let's just- we've got a lot going on at work."

Yvonne said, "I can fix that-"

"And now, now's not the right time." I eased myself off Efe. "I think that right now, we just stay here. I mean, we've got the plans for the wedding, and besides there are issues with Kayin's pregnancy- what if we run into problems out there? I think that right now we just- no. No, okay?"

Silence. I looked away and abruptly picked up my coat. "Look, I need to go out and grab some things. I'll be back soon." And I walked out of the door.

***

I wandered through the streets of the city with no real plan or scheme. I trod past the shops, the bars, the train station and the bus stops. I eyed the dark alleys and the windows, looked up and down the street corners as though I was looking for a lost child.

After an hour I got exhausted. I stopped and stepped into a bar, feeling the heat of embarrassment flush my cheeks. I sat and nursed a beer and contemplated what I should do next. Put up fliers? Go door to door? I should definitely-

"Hey."

I turned to see my girlfriend walk up to me. My cheeks flared red afresh and I looked away as she sat down alongside me. She took me by the hand once more. Eventually she said,. "Cats are like this."

"I know."

"She has a collar. That means she has an owner."

"I know."

"She's fine. Probably being spoilt rotten while you sit here."

"I know."

"My boyfriend, simping over a cat."

I managed a laugh. "You've been in America too long."

"Hmmm." She hugged me. After a while she murmured softly, "We all love you." She saw my expression and continued, "We are not being to leave you because Bast is gone."

I took another pull of my beer. "Would you have ever looked at me? If Bast hadn't told you to?"

For a moment I thought she was going to lie. "No," she said. "I didn't really know you back then. Neither did Kayin. She just... she had a lot of anger."

"Efe, my life is...it's wonderful. Better than wonderful. I live the sort of life any other man dreams about. But I didn't earn any of it. The job, the opportunities, the, the..."

"The women," Efe said.

"Yeah. Claire, Kayin... you think I would ever have met Yvonne in a thousand years?" I sighed. "I feel like this is all a dream and I'm about to wake up. Or there's a bill to come, you know? And I'm about to realise I can't pay it, could never have earned it and you're all going to get taken away-"

I couldn't talk after that- mostly because my girlfriend was too busy kissing me to let me speak. Eventually she pulled away and said, "You are a very silly man."

"Well-"

"Bast is a nice cat. Isn't she?"

"Y-yes."

"Do you think that she would be so mean to me and my sister? You think she has been giving you a favour, that you get to be with me. But you are wrong. It is a favour for all of us. All of us are lucky."

"Really?"

She chuckled. "Kayin is happier than I've seen her in a long time. She and Claire...I do not think she will be marrying you. Sorry. Not so long as she has the courage to tell that girl how she feels. But she will have all of us to look after the baby. Whatever our parents think."

"Of course."

"And Yvonne...I do not think she was happy before she met you. Even with the money. Her marriage is not nice. She did not have any friends. I think she does not care about the money she spends on us. But she does care about being with you. I think she is free with us in a way she was not before."

"And you? You deserve someone who doesn't sleep around-"

"Have I ever said that I minded? At first I might have been polite...but I find I am not like Yvonne. When my man, he conquers other women, I find I like it. Knowing that they are able to give women so much pleasure." She smiled, looking away. "I think I would like to watch you when you go out with Claire next time. Not join in but...watch."

"Wow. I didn't know."

"I did not know until it happened. But maybe the cat knew somehow." She reached out and took my hand. "Listen. Maybe Bast will come back. But if she does not...then I think it is up to us, to make each other happy. And so far you have been doing a very good job at making all of us happy."

I leant back against my chair. "I've been an idiot, haven't I?"

"You are a nice man. But I think you need to understand how nice." And she leant over to kiss me. "Now. Will you come back? I promised the others I would bring you back."

We got up and left, walking into the night. We snuggled against each other. I felt exhausted but in the best sort of way. I held my lover's hand in my own as we made our way back.

An idle flicker of movement made me turn. Bast was slinking along down the road, just a little way away from us. Her eyes were lowered and her gaze was fixed on some distant horizon. Her tail flicked from side to side as she moved.

I called to her and she turned. For a moment our eyes met and I peered into something more than the small, furry animal in front of me; something vast and deep and achingly kind. Then she turned and, without a backward glance, vanished into the night.

Efe and I watched her leave. After a while I said, "I guess that's it."

"She has moved on," Efe said. "Maybe we should too."

We continued to walk back to the apartment. After a while I said, "We should move. Somewhere we can all live together."

"That would be nice."

"And I should explain to my parents what's going on. They deserve to know about... I mean, everything."

"My family too, I guess. Although it will be difficult to explain."

"And I guess we're going on that vacation."

"Yes. Um, I was not meant to tell you but Kayin and Claire were planning to tie you up until you agreed to go."

"Okay."

"I did not say that I would stop them."

I laughed and hugged her closer. We headed back to our home.

***

It was six months later.

"Are you sure?" Efe asked.

"Yes. It feels right, you know? Just...just right." I ignored the way Kayin rolled her eyes as I bent down and smiled.

The kitten peered up at us with bright green eyes. It's pawed helplessly against the side of the cage in the animal shelter, its tiny little body marked with a tabby coat. It meowed in a way that was clearly intended to tug at the heartstrings of anyone listening.

I was pretty much enraptured.

"We'll have to keep him away from Mark," said Claire, hefting the small bundle in his arms. "It's not safe to leave cats alone with babies."

"I know." I reached down to gently touch the side of the cage. The little kitten pawed back. That settled it, as far as I was determined. "I want to get her anyway. I kind of feel like I owe it to general cathood after everything and besides," I smiled at the assembled group of women, "I'm a cat person now- remember?"

Claire sighed. Mark contributed to the discussion by making a series of giggles and reaching out with two tiny hands for his other mother. Clucking her tongue, Kayin took him from Claire and cuddled him close.

I approached one of the attendants at the shelter- a pretty girl with olive skin and long, dark hair. "Could I get this one?"

I spent some time signing forms. After a while a small, meowing bundle of fur was deposited into my arms. She looked up at me with eyes that were small and curious and friendly. I smiled back at it.