Page 7 of Loaned to the Leonid Knight

“Well, I try to watch my sugar, but these do look tempting.” Farhet reached for one, and his huge paw touched her much smaller fingers on the edge of the plate.

Sasha felt the recoil as well as saw it. The instant repulsion on his face made her scoot backwards. His paw yanked away from her so fast that the cloud cakes toppled off the plate and landedwith a splatter of cream and sugar on her crisp blue pants and his immaculate suit.

“Don’t touch me!” he hissed, shaking his paw as if it were covered in filth.

“I didn’t! You touched me. Accidentally.” Sasha’s mouth fell open.

Don’t touch me? How the hell are we supposed to do the deed without touching?“Are you feeling okay?”

“What? No. Yes! I’m perfectly well. Leonids don’t like to be touched by those outside of their Pride,” he snapped, reaching for a napkin.

Sasha said nothing. Rupex was the King of this Pride, his crew being his family of sorts. He was not an overtly affectionate being, but he didn’t shy away from contact. And Marcus? Marcus was constantly reassuring people with a gentle pat on the arm or shoulder.

“Are all humans so... so hairless?”

Sasha’s mouth fell open. “Hairless!” She shook out her long, lustrous mane of dark brown, almost black hair. “What do you call this?”

“I mean... On the rest of you. It’s... It’s very unpleasant. It’s a very unpleasant sensation to be touched by something so...raw and bare. You can see all of your skin!”

“Well, you’re covered in fur. That’s how Felids and Canids are, isn’t it? A lot of humans would find that odd. Humans have hair in certain places. Just not a lot.” She held out her arm, which was considered quite hirsute by certain beauty standards. Dark hairs as fine as silk rested on her skin. She didn’t want to think about the little mustache she would undoubtedly sprout when she hit forty. Maybe even thirty-five.

“That’s still rather obscene. I can see your skin!”

“What did youthinkyou’d see? You’ve seen humans before, haven’t you? At least in media?”

“I have, but not close up. I’m sorry, I just... I think we should avoid all unnecessary contact. It doesn’t seem hygienic, touching a person’s skin without any sort of protective fur coating.”

“But you intend on sticking your penis in me? How hygienic is that?” Sasha was too insulted to mince words.

To her horror, the giant Leonid seemed to sway. His eyelids fluttered, and he licked his lips nervously—before sinking to the couch with a low groan. “They have to be lying. There must be some way we can do this differently. What if they just rubbed some of your—ugh—secretionson me? Then you could insert the specimen when you’re feeling fertile.”

Sasha sank down, too. “Farhet, no offense, but you are not fit to be in this program. If humans make you this uncomfortable, you can’t possibly—”

“Don’t youdarepresume to tell me what I can and cannot do! I am an Imazi, from the Imazi Hills! I am not going to let some squeamishness on my part or some—disfigurement—on yours ruin my chances of being King of my Pride, at last!”

With a growl and a leap that made her shriek softly, Farhet rose and stormed out of the room.

“Oh. No. No effing way am I going to do anything with that jerk!” Sasha exclaimed in the empty room. She was stunned by Farhet’s words and his obvious discomfort around humans, a discomfort that was far from mutual. She had actually started looking at Felids with an interested eye, actually started wondering about what was under their clothing, how it would feel to be smothered in a passionate embrace by a big, muscular Leonid with a deep, rich voice...

Farhet soured all of that. She shuddered in her seat, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

If he doesn’t want me, there’s gotta be someone else eager to try this program. Someone else who’ll gladly overlook the physical differences for the sake of a child.

What if Farhet insists on trying, just to spite me? Do I turn him down? Will that force me out of the program?

With a groan, she slid from her seat and down to the floor, mopping up the cloud cakes as all the what-ifs ran riot in her head.

“I’M SORRY, THE FELIDanatomy is precisely and wonderfully made. You cannot ‘trick’ it with a Queen’s natural lubricant dabbed on you. We’d need the male genitalia to be coated in it constantly—and that’s not something easily harvested. The best and only effective way I’ve found so far is to administer the chromosomal compatibility shots and subsequent boosters to the human Queen and let the natural method of reproduction occur.” Marcus was staring at the pacing Leonid with genuine concern on his face. “Didn’t this issue come up during the screening and application process? Why in the world would you consider a human partner if you find their appearance so distasteful?”

Farhet glared at him. It was clear he was not used to being questioned. “I’m sure that you know the cure is sometimes as difficult as the disease. Lack of Queens plagues our planet, our entire galaxy, and you ask how I could consider a surrogate with such a hideous appearance? Because Ihaveto, Doctor. I have a family lineage to think of, a Pride that will need a new leader soon. It doesn’t matter who the mother is as long as I have a cub to present to my father before he passes. It... It doesn’t matter. Will you excuse me? I need to make a few calls.”

“I’ll be happy to excuse you, but this isn’t settled. From what you’ve said, you and Sasha didn’t hit it off, and you’re afraid of physical contact with her. I’m not sure what you expect the surrogacy program to do to assist you.”

Farhet shook his head, a cold smile on his lips. “The Imazi Pride needs no further assistance. We always protect our own. I’ll have this straightened out in a few hours. If you’ll excuse me?” Farhet rose from his chair in the medbay and left the room, a confident swagger in his step.

Marcus rolled his eyes. “Well, this’ll be something to see,” the older Leonid muttered to himself.

“GIDEON. I WANT YOUto take a long-range shuttle to the coordinates I send you.”