Tarth City, Top Tier District
Chocolate Works
Jawk stayed on his side of the car as the long hoversine drove through Top Tier. Luc insisted on dinner before they continued to the starport and chose the Chocolate Works, a male strip club. Although it catered to male clients one night a week, tonight was most definitely not the night. A line of women wrapped halfway around the block by the time the hoversine arrived.
Jawk shrank against the seat. Was this Luc's way of punishing him for being aggressive? No way any self-respecting Kin male would walk into a male strip club. No way in seven shades of Kin hell.
"I have a private entrance and a private box. No one will have any idea we're even here."
Jawk scrunched up his shoulders and then forced them to relax. At the sting of his own claws pricking his palms, he opened his hands. He rubbed his neck.
The service proved excellent, as good as anything Batchelors provided. The waiters were handsome, dressed in immaculate evening clothes, and wore white gloves. Aside from their faces and necks, not an inch of skin showed. The entire wall over the dance floor and catwalks was one-way glass. The Kin menu was full of raw meats.
"I'm surprised Kin eat here." Over the menu, he caught Luc's pleased grin.
"I called ahead and asked them to put together a dinner menu for you."
Leaning back in his seat, Jawk dropped the menu. "You called ahead?" Printed on heavy paper and bound in leather, the menu could hardly have been created in one afternoon at the whim of a wealthy patron. "When? We just met yesterday."
Luc folded the menu. "I'd had you investigated long before I extended my first invitation. I'm very careful who I let close to Wulf." He opened the menu once more. "But to be specific in my answer, I called them today."
"And if I hadn't agreed to join you?"
One side of the man's mouth lifted. He raised his head. With those solid black eyes of his, no damn telling where he looked. Luc's smile widened. After a brief pause, he gave a small shrug. "I would have gone to plan B."
"Which was?"
He tilted his head back down. "I'd have come up with something."
No freaking doubt. Jawk toyed with the menu. "Kin males wouldn't come here," he murmured in his native Felis.
"That's true. They don't. Except to work."
"Pardon?" Jawk stiffened. Did I say that in Etymis?
Luc closed the menu and set it down. "Kin males don't come here," he responded in Felis. "Although a great many perform. Female Kin are frequent guests. Apparently a group of Kin ambassadors came here not long ago, and it turned into a boisterous affair." His Felis sounded like it came from a native speaker. Every sibilant and breathy accent was perfect. "Two of them had to be escorted out by security." He patted one finger against his lips. "But you didn't hear that from me."
"So, you speak Felis." Wilting on the inside, Jawk considered what he might have said around the man. Had he given away any hint of his true purpose for allowing Luc to seduce him? Jawk swallowed. Luc is seductive and wily, his former master had told him. Do not trust him. And never let him see you sweat. Jawk rubbed at his neck again. "They didn't tell me you spoke Felis."
"So..." He leaned both elbows on the table, hands folded in front of his chin. "Someone told you about me?" He switched back to speaking Etymis.
Jawk set his ears downward. "A couple of the guys at Batchelors saw me get into your car the other night." Purposely, he raised his head and met Luc's gaze, letting him see his discomfort. "Next day, they warned me you take advantage of boys like me."
One eyebrow twitched upward. "Oh, they did, did they? What did you say?"
He released one claw. "That I'm no boy."
Luc steepled his fingers. "Did they cause you any trouble?"
"No." Jawk played with the flatware next to his plate, lining it up so the ends of the utensils were in a straight line. He chewed his lower lip. "I'm a private person. I don't like others knowing about me. Besides, if my mother had any idea..."
Luc threw back his head and laughed, one hand against his chest. He stood and went to retrieve a bottle of wine from a low rack across the room. "I never broadcast information about my sex partners." He uncapped the wine and poured some into Jawk's glass. "Relax."
He tightened and released his shoulders, took a few deep breaths. He'd appeased the man enough to avoid suspicion, but he must never let his guard down again. "I never expected to come here for dinner."
The man chuckled. "I see." Luc set down the wine, studying him for a moment. "I have an idea." Making motions to stay seated, he came around behind him. "Relax. I'll massage your shoulders."
Jawk stiffened, head turned to one side, but the heat of the man's large hands against his shoulders won a small moan of pleasure. Jawk closed his eyes. The combination of pressure, deep massage, and a kneading motion along his neck and the top of his shoulders melted his resistance. "You're good at this."
When Luc leaned down close to one of Jawk's ears, the warmth of the man's breath made it twitch. "I'm good at a lot of things."
He smiled. "I bet."
Luc continued the firm pressure and deep massage until their food was brought in. "Excellent! I'm starved. Let's eat."
The service was surpassed only by the excellence of the food. The dinner show started not long after, and Jawk could not help but enjoy it. A set of three Kin males dressed in white leather came out accompanied by the pounding of kooms, the biggest, deepest Kin drums. Sacred, on their world. But there was nothing sacred about their performance. Each chained to the other, the three broke apart the chains with their bare hands and spread out among the female audience.
Although the table abutted the glass, Jawk leaned closer to better see. The women were gnawing at the chains, breaking them off with their teeth. Not even Kin warriors had teeth that strong. "What are those chains made of?" He turned toward Luc, one ear out in curiosity.
"Long strings of chocolate."
Raising both ears and brows, Jawk laughed. "Humans."