Waterways (14 page)

Samaki’s arm tightened around him, and his head lifted slightly. His eyes shone in the dark. As the otter’s paw dug through his white fur, rubbing and letting his claws scritch the underlying skin, he said softly, “I thought you were interested in boobs.”

Kory grinned, and then the perfect line came to him at the perfect time, and if that wasn’t a sign that he was doing the right thing, he didn’t know what else could be. “I am,” he said. “You boob.”

Samaki laughed, happy and spontaneous, breaking the tension. Still smiling, he leaned his head forward until his nose was about an inch from Kory’s, searching the otter’s eyes. “Really?”

Kory closed the rest of the distance, touching his broad nose to the fox’s narrow one. “Yeah. I… yeah.”

Samaki rubbed his nose gently across Kory’s and then nuzzled across to rest his muzzle on the otter’s shoulder, pulling him into a closer hug. “I don’t want to pressure you into anything.”

“No,” Kory breathed, “I’m just figuring things out.”

The fox’s paw stroked his side. “I’m happy to help.”

Kory buried his nose in the soft, damp black fur. “You are,” he mumbled. “You have.” The scent was strange, all vulpine, musky and unmistakably male, not at all what he was used to pressing his nose into. He breathed in and let the smell fill him giddily, and it wasn’t hard to put his arm all the way around Samaki and hug him back. No, not hard at all.

And it wasn’t the fact that the fox was gorgeous, or hugging him back, or male, that made it easy, Kory realized in a flash. It was the fact that this was Samaki, his friend, someone who cared about him, whom he cared about in return. That had always been missing from his relationship with Jenny. He’d listened to her crises, told her about his, but she’d never said anything like what Samaki had just said about Kory’s father. He’d never said anything like that to her, either. The connection just hadn’t been there.

It was here, in force, crackling between them, pulsing like a living thing. He felt thrilled, terrified, and happier than he’d been in a long, long time.

He pressed his paw through the thick black fur, mimicking the trails the fox’s claws were leaving in his fur. Samaki rubbed down to the small of his back, further and further, but always stopping short of his tail. Kory let his paw wander more boldly, pressing into the curve between the fox’s back and his tail, feeling the bare fur and the reflexive push back against his paw. Then onward to the fluffy mass of tail, his paw sinking into it as the fox followed suit, his soft pads wandering over Kory’s thick tail.

Twice, Kory tried to roll the lighter fox on top of him, but couldn’t balance properly on the air mattress. Finally, Kory murmured, “I think my bed is a bit bigger.”

Samaki gave him a bright white smile. “Probably softer, too.”

“Uh-huh.” He started to pull away from the fox, and Samaki grabbed his paw.

“Kory.”

He turned, and got a soft kiss right on his nose. Samaki’s eyes were reflecting the glow of his stars. He hesitated only for a heartbeat before kissing the fox back, his lips warming the cool nose. Then their lips touched, and he didn’t want to do anything else. His paws found the fox’s slender form again, pulled Samaki to him as he sat up and leaned with his back to the bed. The fox slid into his lap easily, strong arms sliding behind his shoulders to hold him in return, and the kiss seemed to go on and on and on.

“Wow,” he said, when Samaki finally sat back and looked at him.

The fox smiled, one paw tracing the curves of Kory’s chest. “Wow?”

“So
that’s
what that’s supposed to be like.”

Samaki laughed. “I liked it too. A lot.”

Kory was aware not only of exactly how much the fox had liked it, but also of the fact that the fox could definitely tell how much
he
had enjoyed it. He shifted, found that the rubbing was pretty nice, and did it again intentionally. “So… up on the bed?”

Samaki nodded, and got up. “Let me, um, do something first…” As Kory watched, the fox hooked his paws into the waistband of his swimsuit and slowly pulled it down. He watched Kory watching him, and said, “This was getting kind of uncomfortable.”

Kory’s breathing sped up. Slowly, Samaki’s white fur came into view, as did its centerpiece, long and dark and very erect. The otter stared up at it, then up at the fox’s muzzle, smiling down at him. He struggled to his feet.

“Yeah, uh…” It was hard to talk. “Mine too.” He pulled his swimsuit down, trying to emulate the grace Samaki had shown. As he kicked it aside, Samaki reached out and brushed claws through his stomach’s fur, one paw on either side of the otter’s stomach. Kory slipped his arms up inside Samaki’s and did the same, pressing his webbed fingers through the damp black fur, letting them stray down towards the white patch. As the fox’s paws roamed across the outside of his hips, Kory let his fingers tease the edges of the white fur, venturing ever closer to the center.

Samaki seemed to be waiting for him. As Kory’s paw circled ever closer, the fox’s lazy caresses grew more intense, and his breathing quickened. Kory hardly knew what he was doing, but he couldn’t keep his paws away for long. He looked up into the shining eyes and brushed the back of his paw against the fox’s maleness.

Samaki leaned forward and kissed him, and Kory could see the white tip of his tail swinging back and forth behind him. Emboldened, he turned his paw around and brushed the pads up the fox’s erection, feeling the curves and the slightly different shape. He smiled, and then smiled wider as he felt the fox’s fingers brush him, sending tingles down his legs. Together, they explored each other’s shapes, shivering at the feelings, until they ended up pressed close and hugging again, arousals buried in each other’s fur. Samaki pushed Kory backwards gently until the otter sat down, then lay down on the bed.

The fox straddled him and then slowly lay down on top of him. Kory hugged the fox to him and they kissed again, while the fox’s tail swept back and forth over them both.

“Mmm. What now?” Kory murmured, when they’d broken the kiss and were nuzzling.

“Whatever you want,” Samaki said back softly.

“Well, you’re the one with the experience.”

Samaki laughed softly. “I just know what I want. I didn’t say I had any experience.”

“You don’t?”

The fox paused. His breath ruffled Kory’s whiskers. “Let’s just say that I know enough to know we should do what comes naturally. We can keep it simple this first time.”

“Okay. That sounds good.”

“I mean,” Samaki said with a grin, his tongue lolling to one side, “if we just keep doing what we were doing a minute ago, I think that will work just fine.”

By way of answer, Kory brought his paw up between them, and did just that. Samaki panted over top of him, then squeezed himself off to lie on his side next to Kory so that he could return the favor, their paws working in unison as their breath came hot into each other’s fur. Kory tried to keep quiet, a little self-conscious about his panting and grunts, but he felt less so as Samaki squirmed against him, making all kinds of little yips and squeaks. He kicked the wall once, and froze until Kory said, giggling, “That’s just the hallway.”

It was strange, having another paw pleasuring him while going through the motions on someone else. It was wonderful, too, to feel the effect his paw was having on Samaki, and to feel Samaki’s paw and press against him to show how much he enjoyed it. Kory couldn’t remember anything so intimate, so personal, in his past anywhere. He felt his breath coming faster and harder, but it was Samaki who jerked against him first. Warmth coated his paw and the musky smell reached his nostrils.

“Oh,” Samaki was moaning, “Kory…”

He kept working on the otter while he moaned and climaxed, paw moving nice and quick, and Kory was so wound up that it was less than a minute before he was burying his muzzle in the fox’s fur and moaning, “Samaki…” It was an awkward name to moan, so he moaned again, “Foxy…” and that felt much better, a nice thing to moan as the fox brought him off.

For a short span of time, they both just lay there. Samaki was the first to talk.

“I think,” he said, “that was more than just fine.”

“Oh, yes.” Kory pulled the fox on top of him, ignoring the stickiness in their fur. They hugged tightly and nuzzled again and again, paws stroking each other’s fur.

“So can I ask you something?” Samaki said, and when Kory nodded, went on, “What made you decide to try?”

“That’s easy,” Kory said. “You did.”

“I hoped you might be gay, but didn’t want to pressure you.”

“You didn’t. And I’m not sure I am gay.”

Samaki tilted his head. “You know… I dunno how it is in Westmont, but back in the city, what we just did here is pretty gay.”

“Well, I know.” Kory’s whole body felt like it was grinning. “I just meant, I didn’t decide to sleep with you because you’re unbelievably gorgeous and I’m attracted to guys. I wanted to sleep with you because you’re… because you’re you.”

The fox smiled and stroked his cheek. “You’re unbelievably sweet, you know that?” He kissed Kory’s nose. “You want to know a secret?”

Kory nodded. “Mm-hmm. If it’s about you.”

Samaki’s ears folded slightly back. “Um, that night we went to the movie… I took you through the dark street on purpose so I could hold your paw.”

Kory giggled. “I bribed my brother to stay out late so my mom wouldn’t pick me up and I could stay over.”

“Really?” Samaki laughed. “That’s cute.”

“Then I didn’t do anything.” Kory sighed.

Samaki nodded. “We had a nice night anyway. And you weren’t ready then. I’m glad you are now.”

“Me too.”

After another kiss, Samaki said, “I should tell you one more thing.

Kory nodded. The fox looked up at the ceiling stars, and Kory felt his tension. Before the otter could ask about it, the fox recited slowly,
“Scarlet the passion, the color of my heart.”

The otter stared at him.
“Coral a sunset, God’s work of art.”
Samaki went on, and looked down into Kory’s eyes.

“Oh, no,” Kory moaned, a different tone from his moans of a few minutes ago. “Where did you read that?”

“The paper.” Samaki pulled back the pillow Kory was trying to cover his face with. “Oh, come on. It’s really good.”

“How long ago did you read it?” The hot flush of embarrassment was fading, very slowly.

“When it came out. What’s the matter? It really was good.” The fox’s paw brushed his cheek tenderly.

Kory sighed. “My English teacher posted it in the hallway of our school. I got teased for it for weeks, and my… the girl I was dating said why didn’t I ever write anything like that for her, and, well, that was Jenny, you remember.”

“Oh.” Samaki rested a paw on his shoulder. “Well… I’m not that upset about you not having a girlfriend.”

“I guess that worked out okay,” Kory admitted.

“And… to tell you the truth… that’s why I was at the pool that day.” Kory felt the motion as the fox’s ears flicked.

“Huh?”

“I read about you in the paper and the poem really touched me. I wanted to meet the otter my age who could write like that. I kinda had a crush on you, I guess, without even meeting you.”

The warm embarrassment was returning. “Me?”

“Heck, yeah. I cut the poem out and put it up on my wall.” He licked Kory on the nose. “But I hid it before you came over.”

“So you were hoping to meet me at the municipal pool?”

“Nah.” Samaki laughed, and Kory felt the vibrations in his own stomach, and couldn’t help giggling along. “I was just trying to practice so I could be a good enough swimmer that when I went over to Caspian, I wouldn’t embarrass myself. I’m glad I didn’t know you have an indoor pool, or I probably wouldn’t have even tried that.”

“Wow. Well… I’m glad you did,” Kory said. “Really glad.”

Samaki paused for a moment, and then said, “Want to hear something kinda silly?”

Kory smiled. “Only if it’s from you.”

The fox nuzzled him. “When I read the poem, there was a note of… of something behind it, of longing, or searching… and I thought, uh…”

Kory poked him in the hip, tickling gently. “Go on.”

Samaki squirmed and giggled. “I thought, he’s looking for me. I felt like you sent that poem out into the world to find me, and I had to find my way to you.”

Something was making it hard for Kory to talk, all of a sudden. “Maybe… maybe I did,” he said, swallowing. He stroked his paw down the curve of the fox’s back, over the swell of his rear, and pulled his tail up to bury his fingers in. “I didn’t know I was doing it.”

“That’s okay,” the fox whispered. “I did.”

“I fell for you back at the pool, you know,” Kory said. “When you laughed at my joke, and then walked out of the dryers, so pretty, so handsome…  I just didn’t realize it for a while.”

Samaki smiled and kissed him. “It’s not easy. But I’m glad you did.”

“Oh, me too.” They kissed, more warmly, and Kory felt the stirrings of interest awaken again. The fur between them was all matted and sticky, so when they parted, panting, he said, “Maybe we should clean up a bit?”

They scampered to the bathroom, naked, Kory looking around to make sure his mother and Nick weren’t making a mid-night visit. In the shower, they cleaned up with soap, and in the process of cleaning, found that the soap was quite nice between paws and the parts they were trying to clean, and ended up kissing, and then presently they managed to get themselves sticky again, so they had to clean up all over, panting and leaning on each other and giggling giddily.

Back in Kory’s bed, they snuggled up close, exhausted and happy. Kory found that his muzzle fit nicely into the curve between the taller fox’s neck and shoulder, and Samaki seemed to like curling his tail around Kory’s. They whispered goodnights to each other, nuzzled and yawned, and Kory drifted off to sleep with the feeling that he was floating, insulated from the world and borne up by something much more buoyant than mere water.

In the oppressive heat of August, Kory felt uncomfortable any time he wasn’t swimming. While he loved to be in the water, he didn’t particularly like having it dropped onto him, nor did he like the thunder and lightning that accompanied summer storms. In previous summers, he’d worked as a lifeguard in the pool to earn spending money, but this August, he’d found something besides swimming that relaxed him no matter how hot the air was.