One Star Shining, Ch. 7

CH. 7
Dangerous Field

***Author's Note:  Warning.  This chapter contains some details of Sexual Assault and Violent themes.  Viewer Discretion is advised.  Proceed only if you are comfortable with this.***

"So...what are you wearing?" asked the panting voice on the other side of the line.

Cassandra relaxed back in her plush chair, propping her bare paws up on her desk and leaning her head against the cushioned top of her seat.  The headset on her head jostled and pinched her thick hair, making her wince.  She adjusted herself more and tried to focus.  "What would you like me to be wearing, darling?" she asked, trying to sound demure and sultry.  She even pitched her voice higher than it usually sounded.

"Isn't that your job?" the man asked, still sounding as if he was working on something else while he was breathing into the phone.

She closed her eyes, trying to will herself to not fire back with 'Unless you want to hear about my jeans and t-shirt, this is your fantasy, perv.'  Instead she just giggled.  "Oh, you know..." she whispered into the receiver.  "A girl loves to feign modesty and tease a stud like you..."

He chuckled, sounding amused by that.  "Is it something I can grab a hold of for handling your sweet little ass?"

"Mmm, yes sir," she responded, trying to give off a little moan.  He was a power type.  Spirits, how much more stupid could she sound?  Not that she minded a good doming every now and then...  "Just not too rough, okay?  I have to keep quiet after all..."

"Oh you wouldn't be quiet when I was working you over."  There was a deep inhale of breath and she tried not to imagine what was going on on the other side.  "Your pale skin would be so raw and red when I was done."

"And my black lingerie looks so good on it..." she responded mechanically.  "Tight black bra...lacy and slightly see-through...little lacy thong...do you like girls in stockings?"  She even arched up a leg as part of the bit, imagining herself in the exact outfit she had hanging in her closet at home.  It was a bit tight nowadays.  Her thick denim jeans-clad leg hovered there in the air before she lowered it back down.

"Hell yeah, I love stockings!" the man growled, trying to sound aggressive and dominant.  It was like a puppy snarl.  "Hope I don't ruin them."

"Oh please don't sir," she pleaded, impressed by her ability to stay in character despite her boredom.  She used her paws to play a game on her phone.  The chibi fantasy heroes milled across her screen, trying to smash apart the latest wave of goblins.  She won the round and boosted up the shield-wielding tank character on the front line.  Why were these games so addicting but so hard too?  "I'd hate to get thrown out of the library archive room where you cornered me."  The bit had been provided to her as per the call description before she had picked up the phone.

"Oh yeah, slutty girl like you probably gets around a lot in there..."  The man sounded close to being done.  Do this enough times and you could easily tell by the increase in breathing intensity.  "Now I'm gonna..."  There was a sudden rustling on the other side and she heard a distant sound of a door opening.  "MOM!" the man yelled abruptly, dropping his pretend macho voice and sounding much more like how she expected him to.  "Get out!"

Cassandra covered her muzzle with a paw and tried hard not to break out laughing as she heard the obvious neckbeard arguing with his furious mother.  Something about 'going out to get a job' and 'blowing money on phone sex' came to her headset.

The man's voice returned to the other end, sounding flustered and embarrassed.  "Hey...umm I have to go...I'm not gonna be charged for this right?"

She laughed, dropping the fake voice.  "Darling, whether you get off or not, I did my job.  Hope everything with your mom goes all right."  She couldn't help the sarcastic bite in her tone.

"Fricking bitch..." the man replied, sounding annoyed.

"Thank you, I try," she sassed back.

The line went dead with an abrupt click and she flicked off her own end.  She looked back at her phone where the goblins had just finished defeating her latest attempt at defending her little castle.  Fricking game...

She rolled her purple eyes and sagged back in her chair more, putting down her phone.  She was out of energy for now and wasn't willing to spend real life money on a free-to-play app.  She checked her email a couple times, listened to a new song by one of her favorite bands, even indulged in a bit of fanfiction from one of her favorite franchises.  She saw she had another call waiting on her machine after she polished off the latest chapter and rolled her eyes before she checked the details.

Ugh.  Hell no.  She declined the call.  There were a lot of things she could pretend to do or be into but that wasn't one of them.

Noticing that closing time was coming up, she logged off her computer, hung up the expensive headset, secretly wishing she could steal one for gaming back at her house, and then gathered her things.  She slung her faded, spiked leather jacket on over her burly shoulders, the material of both it and her shirt straining to contain her, before she stalked across the hallway to the elevator.

She wasn't on the main floor anymore.  At least not right now.  She'd been trying hard to get back to her normal work schedule and activities over the last week or so but she'd not been having much luck.  The one hookup she'd gone to she had canceled on on the spur of an emotional wall building up in her.  She refunded the money to the client and attached a discount coupon, out of her own commission, as was policy, and went home to sulk.

Things hadn't been much better there either, her one place of relaxation and desirable companionship.  Tess had been gone for a while, off with her new girlfriend and boyfriend.  She rarely came home much anymore.  Things seemed pretty serious for the three of them.  Try as she might, though, Cassandra could not feel very happy for them.  It just brought to mind her own frustrations.

Her ride back home on the subway was mostly uneventful.  She checked some daily logins on her multiple fantasy app games while she stood there, one paw clicking away and the other gripping a ring up above her.  She made some polite conversation with a tiny old Human lady who got off a few stops after she had gotten on.

She kept riding, mostly staring out the windows until she came in sight of Felix Enson's Trading, which made her furiously tear her eyes away and fixate on her phone again.  That was when she noticed the slight tinge of Aggression in the air around her.  Someone nearby was turning it on very subtly.  She looked slowly up.

A male Wolf was staring at her over his own cellular device.  He was tall, leanly muscular, and had grey fur that actually gave him a rugged, feral look despite his professional business suit.  When he spotted her having noticed him, he grinned, showing just a hint of teeth.  His eyes were...intense but kind of cute?

Now that he had her attention, he gestured wordlessly at the back of her phone.  She almost glanced at it before she remembered that the pop-socket on the back bore the One Star logo.  She glanced back at him through her thick, obscuring head of hair, purple eyes lancing into yellow.  He didn't quail before the direct gaze.  Instead, he lowered his paw and scooted over slightly in his seat, making room for someone else to sit down.  More specifically her.

She sighed and decided to just roll with it.  It got tired playing the domineering Alpha all the time.  She crossed over and settled herself down beside him.  Immediately she noticed that he was just as tall as she was.

"It's funny," the man began, flicking some of his thick bangs out of his face with one of his tufted, pierced ears.  "How I can ride the train all the time and never once run into someone as stunning as you."

She feigned a chuckle.  Pick up lines already.  At least he wasn't pretending to be subtle or anything.  "What can I say?" she murmured back.  "It's funny how little people notice sometimes.  I'm still finding streets and stores I've never heard of around here."

"Ah, so a local!" the man chuckled.  He extended a paw, wrist up.  "Luther Kilrose, of Kilrose Executive Consulting."

"Wow, namedrop and everything," she hummed.  She dutifully sniffed at his wrist, taking his scent, and then, as per social protocol, offered him hers as well.  "Cassandra Ellis, of nobody and nothing special."

Luther gave another laugh.  It was a rich sound, confident and low.  "I beg to differ on the last," he shot back.  "You definitely are something special, even to the most casual observer."  He folded his paw around hers once he had sniffed at it, although he squeezed a bit harder than one might have normally.  "A pleasure, Ms. Cassie Ellis."

Her hackles threatened to rise and she had to fight down a surge of Aggression at the hated shortening of her name.  She instead gave him a big, toothy smile, batting her eyes at him from underneath her thick bangs.  "Charmed, I'm sure," she replied, putting on a haughty, faux-English accent.

The Wolf blinked once and then beamed more in response, not picking up on the intimidation she had intended.  Or just blatantly ignoring it.  "Fiery!" he responded.  "I like a girl with a good sense of humor and a personality."  She noticed where his eyes wandered to.

She snorted a bit, taking back her paw.  "Yup, personality and character, right here."  She purposefully gestured at her chest.  The train shuddered a bit right then, making them jiggle prominently.  Luther wasn't the only one who stared.  It wasn't like she was the only busty one here, but when something that perfect moved like that, people of all walks of life tended to look.  Even Cass tended to bounce a bit for fun in the mirror sometimes.  "Sense of humor I picked up along the way."

Luther chuckled and sounded genuinely amused by her antics.  "I won't argue that," he stated matter-of-factly.  He dropped all pretenses as the general hum of conversation around them resumed.  "So I see you work for One Star."

Internally she had to fight not to roll her eyes.  Why was she in such a bad mood?  "Yes indeed," she told him.  "But I'm off the clock right now."

His eyes sparkled.  "Not on your way to a liaison or meet-up?" he queried, trying to sound innocent perhaps.

Cass met his gaze evenly.  At least he had the decency to speak to her face, even if his eyes did keep gravitating downwards.  She ordinarily couldn't blame people for it, especially given her usually being taller than most and that just where their eyes naturally would look at first.  "Oh yeah, customer totally wanted the raggedy look: jeans and leather jacket tomboy for their fantasy," she drawled.

Again, he laughed.  It was like it was his automatic response.  Maybe he was trying to seem fun and interesting?  She had seen his type before.  Usually she responded better.  "I don't know," he teased back.  "It does have a certain appeal."  He glanced away from her at last, fishing in his pocket and pulling out a card.  "Well, if you're off hours, maybe you'd fancy getting a drink."  He didn't request it so much as blatantly state it, extending the card between two, gray-furred digits.  "And if you work overtime, we can consider the drinks a bonus."

Dutifully, Cassandra took the card and tucked it into her own pocket.  "I'll consider it," she shot back, trying to sound casual and flirty.  Instead she just ended up sounding dispassionate.

For some reason, Luther seemed to take that as some sort of affirmation.  Maybe the dull, emotionless girls were his type or something.  "I'll be looking forwards to your call."  He again held out his paw to touch hers.  His eyes trailed across her outfit once more.  "Oh yes, I'll be looking forwards to it."

She gave him a tight-lipped smile and stood up, having noticed her stop was coming up.  "Well, we will see," she gave him as she strode away.  She glanced back once.  His smile at her was wide and seeming pleased with himself before the train whistled away down the tracks.  His yellow eyes seemed to leave an after-image in her vision, like looking into a bright light tended to do.  She supposed he actually had been very handsome.

Cassandra sighed and made her way back to her crappy apartment.  Another evening of binge-watching a tv show while playing rollercoaster with her volume control depending on the trains that whistled by overhead.  She stomped down the dimly lit hallway to her room and went to unlock it with her keys when she noticed that a familiar smell lay behind the door.  She tested the knob and found it unlocked.

Opening it, she found Tess inside.  Her heart lifted a bit to see her friend and roommate.  It sank when she saw that Tess was folding her clothes out on the bed and sorting them into a pair of suitcases.  The feline jumped when the door closed shut with a snap and she turned back around, looking up at Cass with wide eyes.  Her fur was sleek and well-groomed.  She had a new piercing.

"Cass!" she cried and flung herself toward the big Husky woman.  She hugged her around the middle, face buried in the big bosom of her larger friend before she leaned back, smiling.  It dropped off her face when she saw Cassandra didn't really try and return the gesture.  She looked back behind her at where her purple eyes naturally gravitated to.  The suitcase.  Tessa's ears fell.  "Oh...right."

Cassandra sighed heavily and when Tess looked back up at her, she pasted on a weak grin.  "So," she growled softly.  "Things are getting serious for you guys, are they?"

Tessa stood back a bit, tail curling around one leg and she rubbed at one arm with a paw.  She couldn't make herself meet Cassandra's face now.  "Y-yeah..." she admitted.  "Things are...r-really great."

"Well, I'm happy for you."  Cass tucked her big paws into her pockets and tried to look nonchalant.  "Do you need help packing?"

The girl's eyes went, if possible, even wider and she looked up at Cass, dumbstruck.  Then the gravity and hidden meaning of what she had said sunk in and she seemed to wilt, like a sun-starved flower.  "I was going to tell you..." she murmured.

Cass shrugged.  "Eh, it's no biggee.  I'm happy for you."  She tried to smile.  It didn't stick.  Instead she just strode past Tessa and removed her jacket, hanging it up on a metal hook on the wall, only after using her paw to screw it back in securely to the plaster.  Small flakes drifted down from around it.  She watched them glide to the ground and settle, dirtying the already marred and stained floorboards a bit more.  Somehow that felt incredibly symbolic to her all of a sudden.

She glanced back and saw Tessa still standing there, looking guilty.  She met the Feline's eyes and the smaller girl tried to smile but again it just wilted into sadness.  Her ears were folded down as well.  "I'm so sorry..." she said then.

For some reason, that small little utterance made her chuckle.  She tried to cut it off but it kept building more and more, developing into a deep, almost frenzied laugh that rang around them.  Tess seemed to shrink even more at the sound, not at all comforted or consoled.  Cassandra wiped at one of her purple eyes, still giggling.  "For what?" she asked.  "Having your own life more in order than mine?  For having someone that wants to develop a real relationship with you?  For having, not only one, but two people to warm a bed with?"  Her words had started to become bitter as she talked.  The humor was gone.  "For having...anyone but your own resentment and self-sabotaging attitude to blame for when everyone leaves you behind?"

Tessa started to sob, quietly and mutedly, hiding her pretty face in her paws.  She quivered and sank down onto the bed.

Abruptly, she couldn't stand the emotional outpouring.  Cass took a deep breath and let it all wash away.  When she opened her eyes again, she just sighed and walked over to Tess.  Her big arms went around the slender girl and she hugged her against her shirt, feeling the tears immediately begin to soak through the fabric.  "I'm sorry," she said, voice low and dry.  "That wasn't fair to you."

Tessa quivered against her, not speaking other than in little, scattered hiccups.  Her voice was muffled.

Chuckling, Cass leaned back and extricated the Feline from her chest.  "My tits don't have ears, you know," she joked.  She chucked the girl underneath her trembling chin and rubbed up along her jaw to behind her ears.  The purring started up, trembling and weak like a faltering motor.  "Come on.  Let me see that pretty girl smile of yours."

Blinking through her tears, Tessa tried hard to give even the smallest smile up at her.

She grinned back, flashing only a few teeth and then leaned down to kiss her on the brow.  "No more crying," she said firmly.  "Let's get you packed.  Are you taking the cat with you?"

They both glanced up at Artemis, who was slumbering on her little throne on a shelf.  Tessa sniffed.  "Do...you want me to leave her here with you?"

Cass laughed.  "Nah, let the Princess have somewhere else to run around and claim as her domain.  I assume you all are going to have a bigger place with there being three of you?"  Tess nodded.  "Then there you go.  Just send me pics of her every now and then.  Maybe let me crash on the couch if I'm ever around."

The little Cat girl nodded.  "Of course," she promised.  Once she had finally gotten over her emotions, they took to packing up most of her belongings in the suitcases and then Cass walked her out to the curb to hail a taxi.  When they had her stuff loaded up in the back, along with Artemis, sulkily stuffed into a carrier in the backseat, she again hugged the huge Canine tightly.  "I'll call when I'm all settled."

Cassandra worked hard to keep a flat, open smile on her face.  "You just get yourself moved in and enjoy it, young lady.  Have some fun for me."

The Feline huffed.  "Thanks, mom, might as well ask me if I have protection."  They chuckled together.  There was a pause as they stayed hugging one another before Tessa spoke up again.  "What...are you gonna do?"

Cass shrugged.  "I got plenty in savings and bills will be less with just one person.  Rent's never bothered me.  I'll be fine."  She had to assure Tessa of that several more times before the cabbie honked his horn, anxious to get going.  "She's coming, hold your horses," she snarled at the Reptile at the wheel.  He raised his scaly hands, immediately cowed.  She then turned her attention back down to the little Feline in her arms.  "Get going already," she chuckled.

They kissed one another once on the cheek before Tessa climbed into the car and waved as it trundled slowly away and up towards an onramp to a intercity highway.  Cass waved back as it sped out of sight.  Only then did she let her smile drop off her face.  Shadows hung over her severe expression as she stalked back inside the building.  She returned to her room, chasing a few seedy onlookers away from the open door with a snarl before she slammed it behind her and sat down on the much less cluttered bed.

She looked around at her furnishings, her few possessions, the over half-empty closet.  She stretched out on the bed, star-fishing her limbs out as wide as they would go and touching the edges of the foldout mattress.  She stared at the ceiling, willing the wave of emotions tightly held in check inside of her to stay below the surface.  She succeeded in keeping herself from crying but resentment was not as easy to contain.  She sat up.

She couldn't be in this room right now.  She looked at her hanging jacket as a train rumbled by overhead, dust drifting down around her ears.  She brushed it out of her hair and walked over, plucking up her jacket and sliding it back on, intending to go out.  Maybe she could go to a bar and drink away some of her woes.

A stylized card fell out of the pocket as she tried to worm her bulky arm down one of the sleeves.  Her eyes caught it and she bent down to pick it up off the floor.  She read the name on the pale, marigold surface, the letters inked and raised against her paw pads.  She traced the words and numbers on it, crinkling one corner absentmindedly.  Her expression hardened.

The phone in her paw clicked dully as she dialed the number.  "This is Kilrose," replied a deep, playful voice after about two rings.

"This is Cassandra," she told him.  She didn't wait for him to respond.  "Consider this overtime.  I'm not looking for any games, any attachments, no special requests, and nothing special.  I don't need a date, or anything fancy.  Just give me the time and place."

"So matter of fact," chuckled Luther on the other end.  "I like that in a woman.  I knew you'd be calling."  She tried hard to not get more annoyed than she was at his tone.  "Why don't you come by my personal apartment.  Say...two hours?"

She arched an eyebrow.  "I don't charge cheap.  This ain't me just giving it out; I got bills to pay."

"We will work it out," he responded.  He gave her the address.  "See you soon," he murmured into the phone.  She could all but hear his pleased smile.

Cassandra hung up and took off her coat again.  She removed her basic clothes and went for something a bit more sultry.  Off went the t-shirt to be replaced by a black mesh-top blouse that plunged dramatically down into her cleavage before the actual material began, leaving everything collarbone and up to be barely visible through the shear, black material.  She replaced her jeans with a matching dark pair of bottoms that hugged and displayed the muscles in her legs, nylon mesh at her calves with black boots on to emphasize the gothic, tsundere look the guy seemed to have a thing for.  She put on purple hazy makeup on along with thick dark eyeliner, combed her hair into more of the way she had had it on the train.  After that she killed time until she knew it was getting close to her appointment.

She rode the train, again, to the agreed upon location.  She felt many eyes on her this time but pointedly put headphones into her ears even if she wasn't actually listening to anything, to discourage other conversation.  Just another day on the job.  She logged onto the One Star database while she waited for her stop, logging in and marking the contract by hand as an escort.  This usually wasn't done all that often but as long as she filed everything it would be fine.  This wasn't her first rodeo.  Now if only she could shake this annoying itch.

Finally she had arrived.  She exited the train on long-legged strides, filed down the packed stairs, wove her way through the crowds and came in sight of the apartment complex.  It was a massive type.  High up above, she saw the telltale, fang-like penthouse top with lights on.  She somehow suspected that, no matter how well off, that Mr. Kilrose wasn't at that floor.

She walked right past the security guard, giving him the passcode for being invited by a resident without looking at the man, and rode the elevator up in silence.  As the numbers slowly ticked by, she closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath.  It was just another job.  She had bills to pay.  She lived alone now after all.  She'd done this before.

So why did this feel so...fricking...boring?  So annoying?  So...unfulfilling.

She heard the elevator ding and she strode through the still opening doors.  She saw the entrance to a large-sized apartment and knocked on the green, polished door.  From inside, she could smell something fruity and pleasant, as well as hot water vapor misting the air.

"Hello?" called a familiar, husky voice that dripped with personal satisfaction.

"It's Cass," she replied, voice flat.

The door opened with a rattle of its security chain and deadbolt lifting.  Standing there, freshly showered and dressed in a bathrobe, was Luther.  He arched an eyebrow at her, grinning wide.  "Well..." he drawled.  "And here I thought you could not possibly get any lovelier."  She inclined her head graciously even if she didn't really feel all that flattered.  "Won't you come in?" he asked, standing to the side but not giving her much room.

She slid past him, big fluffy tail brushing his chest.  She heard the door close behind her and she turned immediately after she set down her personal bag.  Her paws went onto her hips.  "Okay.  How are you wanting this?" she asked.

Luther arched an eyebrow at her.  "So quick to jump into things, are we?" he teased.  "Champagne?"

She eyed the glasses set up on the side table, bubbles glistening in the dimmed light.  Beads of condensation dripped down the smooth, fluted glass to their polished stems and rounded bases.  The black lacquered table reflected the light above it.  Unbidden, her memories surged to the forefront of her mind.  She remembered her first experience with the fizzy drink.  The soft, tender eyes of the one who offered it to her.  The feeling of his lips against her muzzle...

She shook her head fiercely.  "No, thanks.  I don't care for the stuff."  She put a paw back through her hair and brushed it out.  Then she remembered.  "Oh and, before we get started, few things to discuss."

But Luther had already plucked up the glasses while she was speaking.  He had forced one gracefully into her paw before she could object and he winked one yellow eye at her.  "Come now, don't spoil the romance," he chided, almost as if admonishing her for doing something wrong.  "Let's enjoy ourselves before we...really enjoy ourselves."  He seemed to put special emphasis on the 'we' part of that sentence, as if this was a treat for her more than for just him.

Who the hell are you to decide what a special treat is for someone like me?

She shook off those thoughts and set down the glass pointedly.  "No, thank you," she said more firmly.  "As I was saying, a few things to handle first before we get to anything."

Luther almost looked a tad annoyed at her brusqueness before his twinkling sparkle came back.  "Ordinarily I'd be slightly put off," he admitted.  "But there's just something so hot about a woman who is firm with you.  So rigid."  He shrugged then and downed his glass all at once before he nodded, standing loosely at attention, tail waving behind him.  "I'm all ears."

All eyes, maybe.

She cleared her throat.  "This is my price," she showed him her phone as she spoke.  He didn't even seem to blink at the quote on the screen.

"More than acceptable," he replied.

She nodded.  "Secondly," she stated and then, to even his surprise, unzipped the front of her pants and showcased the white holster across the front.  "I'm not like other girls.  Problem for you?"

The lupine eyes went rather wide as he stared at the extra equipment she was obviously packing before he flicked his attention back up to her.  He seemed almost wary before he took something else about her in and shrugged.  "I've no special issue with that, although, truth be told, I am a bit shocked.  Just another facet of mystery to you.  I've never met one with your condition in person but it doesn't bother me."

Condition.  Right.

"I will say though that I'm not much for...receiving," he continued, actually looking a bit shaken.  "I'm used to being the...mounter, so to speak.  So."  He raised an eyebrow at her pointedly, almost as if it were a warning.

She shrugged, redoing her pants back up for now.  "Not everyone's as open to it, true.  It's what I was born with."

"I'm sure you have plenty of experience with other...varieties of the use of your otherwise all lovely assets."

Something about what he said made her fur bristle a bit.  "Otherwise?" she asked him, gritting her teeth.  "I'll have you know that plenty of guys don't have any problem with it at all.  Some even say it completes me."  She closed her eyes, trying to get a reign in on her emotions.  She didn't need to be thinking of him right now.  "Sorry," she said a moment later.  "I wasn't planning on trying for that sort of stuff anyway.  Not everyone is into it after all."

"Understandable," Luther agreed.  "I personally don't mind just..."

Her lip curled at the obvious withheld comment in his eyes.  "Point myself the other way?"

He grinned.  "There you go.  Nothing against you, I just don't swing that way."

She had the abrupt urge to swing something else by him.  Preferably the door.  Right into that stupid, smugly twisted nose.  "If that's all then," she growled out softly.  She took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of the bed.  "Then we can proceed as you desire."

"Oh I desire..." the male Wolf growled then, putting down his glass and slowly stripping himself out of his bathrobe, allowing it to fall to the floor.  She eyed him up and down once, eyes coolly sliding along muscled, furry limbs, a respectable amount of fluff and definition balanced, before she came to his already unveiled package.  Her eyes widened.  Luther grinned more ferally.  "Like what you see?" he asked.

Cassandra could not help herself.  The intense, emotional response to seeing him hanging freely, veiny and already knotted at the base, overpowered everything she had prepared to contain herself.  There was no other possible way to react to seeing what was in front of her, no way she couldn't compare it to her last experience.  She laughed.  Hard.

Immediately, the smug, self-satisfied look dropped off Luther's face.  "What the hell are you laughing at?" he demanded.

Cass put a paw over her muzzle, still chortling.  "Nothing, nothing, I apologize..." she snorted, not meaning a word of it.  She still hadn't looked away from his member.

He coughed, getting her to look away from it.  His expression looked utterly irritated.  "I'd rather you drop the laughing bit right now," he growled warningly.

For some reason, that just made her grin more.  "Oh I mean nothing by it sir, not even a little bit," she assured him, flashing her teeth.

"Then why the fuck are you laughing while looking at my dick?!"  His Aggression spiked through to the roof and abruptly things got a lot less funny.

Her smile dropped off her face and Cassandra's eyes hardened.  She noticed his paws were clenched, jaw set, and tail bristling.  Everything about him screamed animosity.  "You're small," she snapped out, dropping all pretenses.  "You throw yourself around like you've got an anaconda down there, when I've seen bigger serpents in a garden.  The last client I had actually had me walking funny.  Me.  And he was way shorter than either of us."  She smiled again at the memories, now much more welcome.  "Just not where it counted..."

Luther's barking snarl drew her attention again.  "I'll give you a reason to walk funny," he growled at her.  He surged at her, faster than she had expected, and his paws latched onto her.  He drove her down onto the bed, leaping atop of her with impressive dexterity.  "You don't have room to talk, Hybrid," he snapped in a hostile tone.  "I've never had complaints, not once."

"For the right price, I'd imagine not," she snapped back at him smugly.  She lay there completely relaxed underneath him, letting her paws hang loose.  Even so, her arms and legs tightened to their utmost in preparation if this guy tried anything else.  His teeth so close to her neck didn't bother her in the slightest.  "But your whole 'I'm embodied by Spirits of desire and every woman is lucky to grace my sheets' attitude makes a lot more sense now."

"You don't know when to keep your mouth shut," he growled, voice gravelly and eyes tinted red at the corners.  "I've got you in all manner of holds now.  Prostitution is illegal in Arknought.  I could get you fired, maybe even face jail time."

"That's why I'm an Escort, bottle-brush," she chuckled.  "One Star operates fully legally.  Never once have I taken payment before it was due when on an official contract, which is always termed as a meet-up, a date, or a social event.  Our situation implies this.  You invited me over to your own personal place of residence as a guest.  You want to admit to a judge you knowingly hired me to pay me for sex?  Hang yourself out to dry if that's what you want.  Our lawyers are paid more than you are.  Your number's on our reference page now.  Technically, I could file this as Sexual Assault if I really wanted to."  That made him balk for a second and she winked up at him.  "If I felt the need to really.  Assault implies you can even break down the doors with that puppy dog of yours."

His eyes flared to fiery orange and Luther's own muscles coiled.  His hackles were raised, lips pulled back from his teeth.  "I'm not a puppy dog!" he snapped down at her, incensed by her words.  His paw lashed out, clipping her cheek and ear with his claws as he slammed it down into the bed beside her dominantly.  "Who the hell have you been with that's shorter than me but bigger?!"

She felt the sting of the small cuts on her but paid them no mind.  "Last client I spent time with was a Human.  And he had twice on him what you're swinging," she growled up at him.  His shock at that gave her the window she needed as he relaxed slightly from surprise.  Her paw hammered up, wrapped around his neck and she heaved hard, twisting her lower body up off the bed while her back remained flat on it.  Luther went crashing up over her and hit the headboard and wall behind it with a heavy thud, tail up to the ceiling.

She extricated herself from underneath in a flash of white fur and dark clothing.  She took a fighting stance, taught to her by the self-defense specialists at the Agency.  Luther remained bowled over on his shoulders, looking back at her in surprise with his ass still in the air and tail hanging down mostly over his naked body.

Cassandra allowed her own Aggression to sing forward and to the front of her emotions.  Anger and rage gathered in her eyes, making the purple orbs almost shine.  Her Alpha energy came to the forefront and her teeth slowly bared down at the Wolf.  He recognized the danger he was in immediately, ears folded back even as he struggled to sit upright again, now facing her directly.

"I'm leaving," she announced.  She began to back away toward the door, eyes focused squarely on him.  "Try and follow me, and I'll do much worse.  You can still swing with girls as you are.  But not if I get my teeth on you."  She bared them more openly.  Her questing paw shot out behind her, groping for the latch to the door.  She managed to unlock it while never once removing her eyes from the Wolf on the bed, jerked it open, and then hurried out of the room, closing it behind her with a snap.

She turned and made a mad dash for the elevators.  She heard shuffling and banging around in the room she had just left as she hammered a paw into the button to summon the lift.  Her rage had given way to panic and her instincts warned her of real danger.  The elevator blessedly opened behind her and she leaped inside, already smashing her paw on the button to a random floor.  The doors had just started to close when Luther burst out of his room.  The Wolf was wearing a pair of pants and nothing else.  He saw her just as she was going out of sight.

The look on his face sent shivers down her spine.  She groped for her bag to get her phone and call the police, file him as an aggressor and flag him on the agency's website.  She didn't have her purse on her.  She had left it behind in his room.  Luther charged at the elevator, reaching for the rapidly closing opening.  She leaned herself back against the far wall just as the doors finally closed tight.  She could hear his claws scrabbling on the metal surface just outside.  Luther's enraged snarl echoed up the shaft after her as the elevator began to leave his floor.

Cassandra sunk to the floor of the elevator, panting hard.  Her heart was hammering inside of her chest and her Aggression was spiking harder than it ever had since she had run away from home.  She tried to use a breathing technique but she couldn't get herself to calm down.  The doors opened again and she bolted out of them and headed straight towards the very expensive looking pair of security doors ahead of her, uncaring for what floor she was on.

She needed to get to a phone and call the police.  She didn't have her phone or her stuff.  She had to get ahead of this.  Her paw pounded on the doors frantically, resulting in surprisingly little retorts as she realized they were solid steel and heavily reinforced.  What kind of apartment complex has this heavy of doors?

"Hello?!" she called through them.  "Is somebody in there?!  Please I need your help!"

She thought she heard a TV playing through the doors.  She glanced behind her.  The other elevator was slowly rising.  She saw the numbers steadily increasing.  Luther knew what floor she was on and was heading up after her.

She turned back and hammered again.  "Please, somebody answer the door!" she cried, voice becoming thready and scared.  She had never felt this panicked before.  There were muffled voices on the other side.

To her complete and utter relief, the door suddenly buzzed and swung inward.  An old Human man with grey hair and glasses, short beard on his face, wearing a completely immaculate suit, looked up at her in alarm.  "Young lady?" he asked, voice posh and utterly professional despite his surprise.  "This is a private domicile.  What on earth..." he paused as he saw her face.  His eyes went wide behind his glasses.  He looked behind her at the elevators, also noticing the numbers had almost reached this current floor.  He wasted no time.  "Inside, quickly," he told her without delay and made room for her to bolt in.

She did so, tail barely clearly the doors before they slammed shut again with a hiss of pressurized air.  The door locks automatically slid into place.  She doubled over, gasping and pawing at her throat and chest as she struggled to get her Aggression under control.  She didn't have her emergency medication that all Anthros carried for situations like this.  Her vision swam with black and yellow and red.

A gentle hand fell on her shoulder and she fought hard not to lash out.  "Young lady, it will be all right," the man said above her.  "Can you please explain to me what's going on?"

"Guy...following me..." she gasped out.  "Attacked me...in his room."

"Attacked?" the old Human asked, immediately growing even more stern and angry despite his cool voice.  "Tell me everything.  Why were you in his room?  Did he hurt you?"  He palmed her face and lifted her muzzle somehow with incredible ease.  He saw the cuts on her cheek.  "Stay here."  His order was crisp and severe.  He guided her over to a huge couch and sat her down.  He moved out of her sight for a bit, leaving her to furiously try and get her emotions and heartrate under control, before he returned with a glass of water.  She took it gratefully and sipped at it.

She nearly dropped it when a loud knocking came at the doors to the penthouse.  She looked over at them, eyes wide and panicked.  Sure enough, a voice came a bit later.  "Hello?!" demanded a stern, male voice.  "Excuse me?  I'm looking for a woman that came to this floor?"

The older man looked straight at her and held a gloved finger to his lips.  She nodded immediately and shrank back out of immediate sight of the doors, ears perked as the old man crossed back to them.  "Please stand back," he instructed Luther.  "These doors are sealed and won't answer while you're knocking like that."

"Oh, of course," he replied immediately, voice cool and professional as well now to mirror her savior's.  There was a small shuffling of paws and then the old man in the suit opened the locks and the doors shortly after.  She smelled Luther from here.  "Hello," he said loudly.  "Incredibly sorry for disturbing you.  I'm a tenant here on floor 18.  I'm looking for a woman that came up the elevator.  She must have gotten out on this floor."

There was another shuffling of feet before she heard the old man say, quite flatly.  "Excuse me, sir, but you cannot just barge in.  This is a private domicile of this apartment building and we are not taking visitors at this time."

Luther must have moved back.  Cassandra peeked around the corner, unable to stop herself.  She saw the old man blocking an only slightly open door.  Luther's scent came clearly through the opening.  "My apologies," responded the Wolf, sounding annoyed but compliant.  "Anyway, this woman.  She's a Canine, like me, but not wolf.  White fur, purple eyes, wearing all black.  Have you seen her?"

"Cannot say I have sir," the old man replied.  "As I said, this is a private residence.  I must ask that you cease trying to look inside.  When addressing a household guardian, it is important to only look them in the eyes so that you pay respect entirely to the one who protects the threshold.  Or so says the Legions' Code, article 109."  His tone was matter-of-fact and entirely glib.  He seemed completely at ease, save for the clenched, white-gloved fist against his back, firmly out of sight of the Wolf outside.

"My sincerest apologies," Luther responded, although he, like Cass, sounded dutifully surprised that a Human knew anything about the Legion's Code.  "It's however urgent that I find her.  She attacked me in my own residence and I came looking for her."

"How unfortunate.  I should hope that you are unharmed," replied her host.

"Yes, yes, just surprised.  I invited her up for a drink and she suddenly sprang at me.  Took me completely off guard.  I fought her off and she ran.  I think she's an Alpha and isn't medicated."  He actually sounded like he believed it.  "Ah, where are my manners?  Luther Kilrose."

"Alphism is not a medicated condition," responded the old man.  "My name is Benedict Frith."  His back inclined slightly in a short bow.

"That isn't...what I meant was..." Luther uttered, voice broken up by confusion as the man seemed easily able to pierce through normally Anthro-only knowledge about conditions or ancient traditions.  He coughed.  "In...any case.  I'm pretty sure that she's still on this floor and there is only the short hallway between the elevators and the other one is still here."  He must have gestured behind himself for Benedict glanced down the hallway as well.

"That certainly is curious," replied the elderly Human.  "But I have no person of that nature here.  You are on floor 18, you said?"

"Yes sir."

"And Luther Kilrose was the name?"

"Yes."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Do you need my number or anything to remember my face or name sir?"

"Oh, I have a very good mind for faces," replied Benedict.  He began to shut the door.  "Part of getting old, you know."

"Could I come inside?" asked Luther suddenly.  "I don't have my phone on me and I'd like to place a police report."  His shadow moved forward, as if he were again trying to press his way inside.

"Sir, you are not welcome at this time," retorted Benedict immediately.  "Without proper consent, you are not permitted to enter.  This is a private domicile and we are not..."

"Taking visitors at this time," grumbled Luther.  He seemed unwilling to step back though.  Until, however, he seemed to register something about the shorter Human that Cassandra realized too.

Benedict was grey in hair and slightly wavering in voice but he had a solid build.  His shoulders were straight.  His posture was relaxed but completely still, as if every muscle in his body were perfectly flexed, nerves balanced on a razor's edge.  He was prepared to move in any direction possible or necessary if it meant barring the Wolf's egress further.  What was more, the fist behind his back made a rolling, crackling sound as his knuckles popped.

Luther took the message.  "Well...do call me if you hear anything," he insisted, voice actually grating in his throat from withheld apprehension, finally stepping back.

"I will do just that," replied Benedict.  The door snapped closed again and the locks latched together again.  He waited, still unmoving, until the sounds of the Wolf retreating, rather hurriedly, down the hall, came to both of their ears.  Only then when the distant ding of the elevator sounded and then receded, did the old man relax.  He turned to look back at her.  "I apologize for that," he said, voice back to how it had been.

She stared at the Human in shock.  "F-for what?" she managed.

"That unsightly display," he replied.  He smoothed his jacket front with a gloved hand.  "I do not like resorting to intimidation like that, but even an old codger like myself can recognize when an aggressive person intends to try something unprofessional and so rude as to barge into a place not his own.  Only those whom I work for may enter unchallenged."  He bowed to her then.  "I shall go get a phone immediately.  And some bandages for those cuts."  His eyes became stormy behind his glasses.  "The nerve...lying to me like that to my own face."

Benedict stalked off, posture perfectly straight-backed.  He reentered the room with a very expensive looking phone and some medical equipment only a second or so later.  He tended to the cuts on her cheek and ear first then picked back up the cellular device.  To her shock, as he dialed the number for the police, his glasses' rim lit up and a small microphone unfolded from one corner.

"Yes, this is the Arknought Police?" he asked.  "Very good.  My name is Benedict Frith, warden and butler to the penthouse suite of the Drury Apartment Complex, address 1509 Burkhead Lane.  I would like to report a suspicious man stalking after a woman he attacked and injured while here on the premises.  Yes I have her in my care.  No we do not require medical services."  He glanced at her, tapping the microphone with a finger.  "Do you need an ambulance, ma'am?"  She shook her head, hair waving.  He nodded and again touched the mic.  "No, no ambulance or hospital needed.  Aggressor is a Male Canine, Wolf, name of Luther Kilrose.  Apartment floor 18.  I do not have a room number, all floors on this complex above floor 10 are single apartment only.  Evidence?  Call it...an old soldier's intuition.  The Legion trains you to look for details like this.  I may be Human but scent does not lie.  Yes.  Yes.  Thank you officer."  He hung up the phone.

Cassandra met his eyes, mouth hanging open.  "How...how on...why did...?" she stammered.  Her head swam and she sipped again at the water to make her gall cease to rise in the back of her throat.  The rush of adrenaline and inability to use it made her suddenly queasy and lightheaded.

Benedict was by her side in a flash.  "Take it easy," he instructed her.  He put a hand on her shoulder and somehow helped her up to her feet.  He was very solid to lean against.  "Let's get you to the guest room and have you lie down.  The police will be on their way."  She didn't fight him.  She felt herself being led down a darkened hall, past numerous doors, and then into a room.  She was laid down on the bedding and Benedict helped her remove her shoes.  He took them and laid them out on the floor next to the wall and then flashed away.  He moved so fast for an old man, without ever seeming to really hurry.

She reclined down into the lusciously soft and luxurious bedding, feeling guilty for her attire as if she was going to dirty the sheets with that alone.  When Benedict returned, she sat back up.  "I cannot thank you enough for helping me," she told him as he handed her a cup of pills.  She eyed them, sniffing once or twice.  "What's this?"

"Sleeping medication," he explained.  "My master suffers from insomnia and night terrors.  He rarely goes to sleep until very late in the evening and these help him.  May I ask your name, miss?"

"Who is your master?" she asked, disliking using the term.  All Anthros hated the term of any kind of servitude, given the years their species' spent as Slaves to Humans during the War of Royals.   She realized he had asked a question and she responded.  "Cassandra Eliss.  But you can call me Cass."

He immediately seemed to pick up on that and he smiled gently.  He looked like a benevolent and kindly grandfather all of a sudden.  "Some discretion, Ms. Eliss," he replied.  "But he is not my owner nor am I beholden to him by anything but loyalty.  Think of me like Deutomont from Hellscape."

She had just swallowed the pills and snorted a bit at the obscure reference.  "Don't tell me you're a Captain Hellion fan?"

He made a crisp salute.  "Yes indeed," he replied.  "That is one Dracobat that I deeply admire.  The design on her costume as well as the cinematography of her movies are incredible.  Plus."  He adjusted his glasses.  "My grandson is a huge, huge fan.  Old man has to stay hip and with it."  He stood at attention while he spoke.

Cassandra couldn't help but snort hard.  "Wow..." she growled, genuinely amused and put more at ease by this strange old man.  "You do know Dracobats are just a myth right?  Tie back to the Royals era when they still had members among the ruling Clans of those days?"

"Allegiances and bloodlines to the great Royals themselves," nodded Benedict, again impressing her.  "The Legion knows well about all ancient family heritages.  We were after all formed from the Alliance between our peoples after peace was finally found, following the Four Royals legend.  The Scaling was a blessed marking of those directly descended from them."

"Pardon me for asking..." Cass started to say, already blinking sleepily.  She reached for her top and began to pull it off of herself but paused.  "Umm...is...there any way there are some clothes I can borrow?  I'm really sorry but this stuff isn't that comfortable to sleep in."

Benedict grinned softly, eyes lacking even a shred of lechery.  He just looked at her like he would a granddaughter, fur or not.  "I served with the Legion as one of the Houseguard of the Embassy," he explained.  He turned to a dresser and immediately fished out a set of clothes for her.  "That was ages ago.  Now I am but an old man.  As for clothes..." he looked her up and down once, then looked at the shirt he had pulled out.  "I'm afraid my master is Human, like me.  So these might not...fit well."

She shrugged.  "Do you mind if I get changed?"

Benedict performed a perfect about-face pivot and looked away from her as she stood up blearily out of bed and undressed, leaving herself only in bra, thong, and holster, and then tugging on the incredibly tight clothing.  The shirt bore some obscure anime reference in Japanese, straining around her chest and only coming to her naval and shoulders rather than the arms, and the comfy shorts only reaching her thighs instead of her knees.  Even so, she felt better and climbed back into bed.  At her clearing of her throat, Benedict gathered her clothes and set them to the side as well.

He skillfully tucked her into bed and bowed at the waist.  "There is an intercom button at the side table.  Please use it if you need anything.  You are very safe here."  There came a distant buzz of a doorbell and he turned to go.  "That should be the police.  Get some rest, Ms. Ellis.  I'll take care of everything."

He left the room, shutting the door by pressing a button on the frame before exiting.  The door slid closed on some sort of electronic sensor and the room was abruptly cast completely in darkness.  A second later, a soft, gentle hum of energy passed and she saw floor lights in a gentle blue light up, showing her where the corners of the room were without hurting her eyes or disturbing the darkness.

Her head sank onto the plush pillows, her tumultuous emotions finally having calmed down.  Bless that old man for taking her in...  This was a dangerous field for sure.  No more off-duty contracts, she swore to herself, before her eyes closed and she sank into perhaps the deepest sleep she had ever experienced.  Tomorrow was another day...