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discomfort start to make itself known in his rear again. Before he could say anything, though, Pike slid out. The relief made him shudder again, and the raccoon, arms still wrapped around him, chuckled. “Feels as good goin’ out as goin’ in, eh?”
    “ Yeah.” Jonas was already starting to regret saying yes as his logical mind woke up. “What’s wrong with us? You’d think we hadn’t just spent six hours having sex.”
    Pike grinned. “Six hours of foreplay, dear. That’s all it was. I didn’t come until now; did you?”
    “ No.” Jonas was sleepy, too, now, and trying to work out how to get Pike out of his room before he fell asleep.
    “ I liked this, Jonas. Was nice. You’re as good as I thought you’d be.”
    “ Mm.”
    “ I really mean that. This was really special.”
    “ Mm.”
    “ Didn’t you feel that?”
    Jonas opened his eyes tiredly. He was starting to feel that he wouldn’t mind if Pike stayed with him if he would just shut up. “Better than with Richy?”
    Pike was quiet for a moment. “This was different. Wasn’t it for you?”
    Different from the six hundred previous times I had someone up my tail? “Sure.”
    Pike rested a paw on his side. “This job can get tough if you can’t keep a bit of yourself aside for the people that matter. Make some occasions special. You know?”
    “ Mm.” Jonas had closed his eyes again. “You said…never fall in love.”
    Pike chuckled. “So I did. Caring about someone, though, that’s what our job’s all about.”
    “ I care.”
    “ You’ll do okay.” Pike was stroking his side. “You’ll be good. I can tell. You won’t let this job wear you down.”
    “ Mm. Won’t have to.”
    “ What?”
    There was some reason he shouldn’t be telling Pike, but he couldn’t see that it would hurt. “Gettin’ out.”
    “ Oh. With your client?”
    “ Mm.”
    Pike was quiet for a long time. Jonas was hovering on the edge of sleep when he thought he heard the raccoon say, “Then this was a very nice goodbye.”

Chapter 3
     
    Jonas was so excited when the night started that he almost came all over the belly of his first client, a weasel merchant who had insisted on being on bottom. Picturing the fox beneath him, Jonas felt his groin tighten, and he drew his paw away with an effort.
    Every time he got his assignment that night, he opened the door expecting the sharp aroma and russet fur of his savior. Every time, he was disappointed.
    After his fourth client, he was given a break. Tally was in the back room for the first time all night, and Jonas took advantage of the opportunity.
    “ Tally? Was there a fox in tonight asking for me?”
    “ Hm?” Tally was taking some notes and not paying attention to him, or pretending not to.
    “ A fox, tall and thin. He usually comes tonight.”
    The cougar shook his head. “If anyone asked for you, dear, then you’ve already seen them.”
    Jonas sighed. Maybe Alexan had spent the night packing and would be late. He couldn’t accept that the fox wouldn’t come back one last time. He’d said he was leaving in a week and he hadn’t said good-bye. He had to come back.
    “ I haven’t seen Shurian, either. This was his night, too.”
    “ The night isn’t over yet,” Tally said absently.
    “ I guess not.”
    “ Let me get you a drink from the bar,” Tally said. He had never offered that to Jonas before. Must sound pretty pathetic.
    “ All right.” He sank down into the wooden chair and curled his tail around one of the legs. Alexan would show up, he kept telling himself, but the hollowness of his vision was seeping through his self-assurance. Why would a successful merchant bother with a prostitute? He’d never promised to take Jonas with him, after all; that had all been in Jonas’s mind. Maybe he had a wife and family. Or maybe a mate. No, he didn’t have a male mate, Jonas was fairly sure of that. It was one of those things he knew. But he knew precious little else, and though he tried to