Dear reader, this is a work of erotic adventure fiction, containing furry, anthropomorphic animals with human intelligence having sex with our human hero. If this isn’t for you, please read my other stories.

All characters, furry or otherwise, are over eighteen.

~~~ *** ~~~

The canine, Peter, watched Tom, the human asleep on the floor. Not exactly sure what to do, he breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the back door slam with the feline geneticist, Lucy returning to the cottage with a bunch of herbs in her hand.

“What happened?”

“He keeled over again, but this time, I think he’s just asleep”

“Typical. Although, chewing on that seaweed pod would knock out an elephant. I’ll liquidize these into a drink and it will help return his adrenalin to normal if we can get him to drink it.”

She headed to the kitchen to return with a glass full of green liquid.

“See if you can wake him up Peter, but no need to slap him so hard this time.”

Peter crouched down, pulling Tom to sit him up. Tom blinked and seemed to come around. His head was still floppy, looking as if he were a little drunk.

“Whaaaat?”

“Tom, you need to drink this… Please, Tom.”

Lucy implored, as she offered him the glass.

Tom tried to focus his blinking eyes on the glass, and took it in his hands as Lucy guided it up to his lips.

“Ugh… Yuk. It stinks. What is it?”

“A few herbs that should neutralise the effects of the seaweed pod, but you need to drink it.”

Tom looked up at Lucy, smiled and sipped the drink.”

“Ugh… It’s like drinking a salad.”

“Well, think of it as penance. Now drink it all up.”

Tom grimaced as he finished the glass. The three waited, expecting some homoeopathic fireworks, but after several minutes of raised eyebrows, Lucy broke the silence.

“How do you feel now… You okay?”

Tom nodded, handing Peter the empty glass with some leftover gunge in it. Tom had to sit upright, cross-legged as Peter left to fetch him a drink of water. Tom gulped it down, trying to wash the taste away.

“How do you feel?” Lucy asked.

“Not sure,” Tom replied, getting up and walking up and down, a lot slower this time, feeling more down to earth now.

“You okay?” Peter asked, “One day, we’ll have to sit down with a few more of those pods and get you to recap all those stories. We could make a mint, as they sound great.”

Lucy rolled her eyes at the ever-present entrepreneurial spirit in Peter.

“Come on, we’ll walk back with you if you’re feeling up to it. Peter, bring those cameras.”

The three of them walked out to head along the back of the row of cottages to Kitty’s pub. Tom was a little wobbly at first, but by the time they reached the pub, he seemed to be back to normal. Peter and Lucy left him there to walk on and Tom headed for the kitchen for a cup of tea, with Lucy’s warning not to chew any more seaweed pods ringing in his ears.

Tom entered the kitchen to find everyone else, sat down with mugs of tea except for Brenda, who was in full flight, controlling multiple pots and pans of boiling or frying food, ready for lunchtime. He poured himself a mug and Kitty warned them that because of the success of Tom encouraging guests to eat outside; they were expecting a delivery of tables and benches for the garden that afternoon.

Kitty and Sarah were the first to leave, warning that lunchtime guests were due any minute. Half hiding behind her mug of tea, Becky thanked Tom for his skulduggery that morning with Thomas. She didn’t have to say anything more, but he knew that having heard Thomas confess his love for her had been a huge romantic step forward.

Sarah popped her head around the door, confirming guests were arriving. Tom joined Sarah as their afternoon flew by in a haze of serving lunches and welcoming more arrivals. Becky worked seamlessly between helping Brenda and clearing the hatch.

The diners were a mix bunch of couples and families, made up of a variety of cats, dogs and humans. Some were overnight guests, whilst others were midway through their coastal walks. The weather was prominent in discussions, with diners asking for a local viewpoint. One minute Tom was glancing up to see blue skies, then seeing dark grey clouds flying by, noting that the winds were picking up, and hinting at the storm to come.

At one diner’s request, Tom glanced outside to confirm the weather, to see two stout British Bulldogs unload a flatbed wagon of timber garden tables and chairs. They both carried off the archetypical bulldog caricature, wearing waistcoats and bowler hats. Kitty appeared to ensure they positioned the tables as she wanted, to save anyone moving them around later.

As diners left, more arrived, keeping everyone busy. The weather was closing in, as retired captains confirmed there would be no fishing trips for tourists that afternoon or tomorrow. A few of the walking guests returned to settle in for an afternoon in front of the bar’s open fire, with a pint.

Concern grew for the crab boats and fisherdogs, as the skies darkened, but news soon came that the first boats were returning. A gradual line of bedraggled fisherdogs made their way into the bar, eager for a pint and a warmup, adding to everyone’s workload.

Whilst removing empty glasses from the bar areas, Kitty informed Tom that a parcel had arrived for him, and she’d put it up on his bed. Tom was keen to go look at the scientific equipment his fake list given to Balthazar had brought them, whilst also excited that their ruse had worked.

The afternoon melted into evening, with dinner guests now arriving. The poor little pub was now rammed with bodies, canines, felines and humans, all enjoying the warmth and atmosphere in the pub. Fisherdogs came in from working for a quick beer, and a chat, to return later in dryer casual clothes. Captains and the top dog, Captain Brown, also drifted in to settle at their table.

Whilst the atmosphere was busy and light-hearted, Tom noticed a few tense looks, mainly from the village’s canine single bitches, all glancing around the single fisherdogs, causing him to wonder what he was missing.

Thomas, the fisherdog captain, returned to the bar, to a rapturous welcome, normally reserved for Captain Brown, confirming that there was something far more to this evening than usual. One of his crew accompanied him, carrying an old-fashioned squeeze box accordion. Both were promptly toasted and given drinks to quaff.

Tom was too busy so didn’t notice exactly when the music and singing started but recognised one tune, something akin to `Sloop John B’. Although, he couldn’t recognise the lyrics that the bar were singing, although unable to concentrate on them, as he worked in the tightly packed pub.

Thankfully, Tom had a brief respite later, when all the dining guests were mid-course. He settled in the connecting gap between the lounge and the bar, leaning against the wall, to watch the singing. He half recognised a sea shanty style song, but again was unable to recognise the lyrics.

He recognised the scent of Lucy as a white-furred paw wrapped around his waist, pulling herself in close.

“This is a rare treat, Tom.”

“I don’t know, I can’t understand the lyrics.”

“They’re mainly singing in Cornish, with a mixture of English and a little French thrown in. Peter told me about Thomas and Becky… Can you see all the canine bitches looking expectantly?”

“Yeah, what’s that all about?”

“They heard the squeezebox was out and a rumour that Thomas is choosing his mate… This is rare as I can’t remember the last time a captain has done this.”

Tom looked around again and could see the hunger in all the bitch dog’s eyes. Captain Brown was sitting with his wife at the captain’s table, both bursting with pride, anticipating the result. The top dog shot Tom a look that told him he had better be right about Thomas and Becky.

The whole pub drew its breath as the musician stood in the less crowded centre of the small bar to start a new song, being joined by another fisherdog.

“This is it…”

“I can’t understand a word.”

“They’re Thomas’s crew, challenging him as their captain, to choose a mate. So his mind will focus on bringing his boat and shipmates home safely. They’re calling on him, to choose out of the local talent.”

Thomas proudly stepped into the centre of the bar. All the single bitches that previously hung on his every word now puffed their chests out and jostled for prime position. Thomas played the crowd, singing his part in the song, pointing at each eligible candidate, only to dismiss them. He even teased Kitty and Lucy, bringing laughter from the ranks of canines.

“Isn’t this chauvinistic?”

“Maybe in your world Tom… Here it’s romantic. Look at the disappointment in the failed applicants… Oh, Thomas is calling out that one challenger is missing…”

Tom didn’t need to know Cornish, to realise it was Becky’s name being called out. The entire bar joined in and the sea of bodies parted, giving a clear path from the kitchen to the centre of the bar. The kitchen door opened and a shocked Becky came out, being frog-marched from behind by Brenda, chanting Becky’s name with the crowd.

As Becky reached the clearing in the centre of the crowd, Brenda released her and Thomas went down on all fours to walk around her, nuzzling her to sniff at her rear, beneath her tail! Then Becky dropped to walk behind him, reciprocating the tail sniffing. Tom was aghast, but to all the onlookers, this was the same as swapping wedding rings.

Whilst most villagers and guests cheered for the couple, a few single bitches screamed their disagreements, to be held back by friends, fisherdogs or captains. Captain Brown made his way to the couple. Thomas rose, placing his arms around Becky to be greeted by the top dog and receive his approval, to another unanimous cheer.

Lucy kissed Tom and gave him a squeeze.

“I hope you don’t mind. Peter told me I’m your favourite kitten?”

“No, I don’t mind. Yes… You’re my favourite, but don’t tell Chrys or Clair.”

“You’re not jealous about Peter and I?”

“Of course I am, but I also like Peter. You both make a lovely couple, you suit each other.”

“Well, now with Thomas gone there is a whole new pool of candidates for you, as the next most eligible bachelor of the village.”

“Eh?”

“Your super sex toy nickname has become village-wide knowledge, not helped by your constant hard on tonight.”

Tom went to check himself, looking down to see his shaft fighting to escape his shorts. He couldn’t help but notice several other pairs of eyes were on him around the bar, as one bitch weaved her way through the crowd in the bar towards him. He blushed, realising he’d been constantly having to adjust himself with his raging stiffness all afternoon and evening, since his seaweed pod chewing incident.

“I’ll leave you to your own devices. Peter’s coming over later, as he hopes to have some news.”

Lucy unwrapped herself from Tom and slid back into the crowd before he could tell her about the parcel.

“Ah, Tom… It seems you are pleased to see me.” The poodle like canine said as she stroked the length of his stiff cock, barely hidden beneath his shorts. “With Becky no longer having a claim on you, maybe it’s time we got better acquainted?”

Tom desperately looked for help, but it came from another quarter. He caught Becky looking at him, amid well-wishers in the bar, wagging a paw of disapproval and giving a snarl of her teeth, reminding him of her threat to bite his cock off, should he engage with the other bitches in the village.

“Er no, I’ve got to get back to work, thanks all the same.”

Suitably encourage by Becky’s reminder,Tom broke free, twisting back to return to the lounge, hearing the canine promising to catch up with him. With Becky otherwise engaged, Sarah, Tom, and Kitty picked up the slack, keeping them busy. The entire pub was in a joyful mood, with more sea shanties being sung and beer flowing all around.

Tom sneaked off to the kitchen during a lull and guzzle down some water, fighting against sleep, as once again his long stint awake was catching up. As much as he wanted to avoid it, he knew he couldn’t last much longer. He reached into his pocket to pull out another seaweed pod and popped it into his mouth. This time, he sucked.

After a great deal of sucking, the sweetness of the pod crept through. He chatted with Brenda as they worked through clearing dirty dishes into the washing machines, and he slowly felt re-energised. He returned to the lounge to find the evening diners had finished and were now enjoying their evening.

Tom and Sarah now had a little more time to clear glasses and slow down. Sarah helped Kitty behind the bar more and Tom returned to his leaning post in the gap between the lounge and bar. In the bar, Becky and Thomas were enjoying being the centre of attention.

Balthazar had appeared at some time in the evening, and was sitting in his usual position at the bar, but was not enjoying the festivities like the other villagers. In fact, his face was the perfect image of being a sourpuss. Tom quietly congratulated himself that maybe this went against some plan Balthazar may have had.

Tom got the nod from Kitty to take a round of drinks to the captain’s table. Collecting the tray from the bar, he once more made his way through the crowd to the captain’s table. As he passed the right drinks around, he caught Captain Brown’s eye, as he raised his glass to him, mouthing, “For the good of the village.” Tom nodded and returned to the bar.

At the bar, Kitty passed him a beer and nodded at Peter, who was waiting for him in the lounge with Lucy. Tom squeezed his way over to the couple, seeing Peter was keen to tell him something.

“How are you feeling? I see you’re sucking and not biting.”

Tom poked his tongue out to show them the seaweed pod. “It looks like we’ve both got news?”

Peter’s eyes bulged, wondering what Tom’s news could be, but was keen to tell his first.

“We reran our tests, but this time, dug deeper, testing several levels down. At first, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but then I checked some public medical journals. It took some checking, but I found some lesser-known reports that confirmed it.”

Lucy gripped Peter’s arms, dying for him to tell the full news, rather than going around the houses.

“The nanobots put three vital genes to sleep. On their own, they don’t make a jot of difference. But together they inhibit the creation of an important protein.”

“Surely that’s no issue? You can take protein supplements.”

The two lovers looked at each other. With Peter told Lucy, “You tell him.”

“This protein is only made in the brain, it can’t be synthesised… Its full job is little known, well not without deeper research in areas that we can’t reach without having an online presence, but… Without it, you lose your free will. Whether cat, dog, or human… All mammals need this tiny protein string to engage that part of their brain. Dominant people make more of it, subservient, quiet people make very little of it. But to not make any, who knows?”

Tom’s mind was more cynical than the product of this world and knew the consequences immediately. “They can enslave any victim injected with it… This is massive… They can control politicians, entire groups of mammals, or even a whole population, making subservient zombies of them.”

Lucy and Peter had thought the worse but Tom’s leap to a more disastrous level shocked them. Tom’s paranoia leapt onto a war footing. “Don’t look, but is Balthazar watching us?”

“Uh-huh,” Lucy confirmed without a glance or moving her lips.

“Give me a two-minute head start but try to slip out and meet me upstairs in my bedroom.”

Tom broke away from the pair and went to the kitchen. Using the back stairs, he made his way up to the second floor and into his room. Whilst a few guests were in their rooms on the floor below, with Sarah and Kitty working, the second floor was empty. A little while later, the door opened for Lucy and Peter to join him. He pulled the curtains and asked the pub for the light to come on.

“You never heard this from me. I’ve been sworn to secrecy… But this is too big not to say anything. Our lives, or our freedom of thought, could be in danger with this.”

He then explained seeing Balthazar meeting with Brock and the weasels on the beach the previous evening and Captain Brown’s insistence not to say anything.

“So that’s why you wanted the cameras?” Peter asked.

“Yes. But now you two must be wary of any request by anyone for something out of the ordinary. Balthazar knows Lucy is a part of this, but not you, Peter… You must both be vigilant.”

“Phew that is big news?”

“Ah, there’s more.”

“More?”

“Oh, this is the box of fake parts we ordered.”

Peter went to pick the box up to take it, but Tom stopped him.

“No… It will be too obvious if anyone sees you walking out with this box… Let’s split it open and only take pieces you need back to the cottage. Anything you don’t really need, we can leave here, so you can pick it up if you ever do. If I was on the other side, I would place some form of tracking on the box to discover where our spy base is. Whilst I don’t trust Balthazar, I have to trust Captain Brown that he’s not told anyone.”

Lucy looked incredulously at him, but Peter opened the box and started inspecting every part. Finding nothing untoward, they watched Tom, ever paranoid; peel the label off the box to expose a metallic strip, making Peter gasp.

“That’s exactly what you think it is, Tom. They could track us with that.”

Lucy blushed, now realising the enormity of what they had discovered that evening. She delved into the box, pulling out a simpler syringe and tube. “Tom, let me take a sample of your blood. We can find out what super sex’s you up… What makes you that multi-sensed mammal you’ve become. Before things get out of hand, then if anything happens to you, we will have a baseline.”

“Okay, but you must document what you have discovered and store it somewhere safe. So if anything happens to us, it will come to light.”

“It’s okay, I’ve been storing everything on my roving network I used for my… Ahem, University businesses. If I don’t log in at set intervals, the records go to multiple storage locations and to the university.”

“Add in a file of explanation and include various authorities as destinations. They can’t all be controlled by Brock.”

Tom felt a pinprick in his arm, as Lucy bled of a vial of his deep red blood. Once full, she pocketed the phial and picked up several other items. “I think that’s all we need.”

“If you two can avoid being seen as you leave and check, no one is following you. Let me know if the cameras pick up anything. This storm may give us some time.”

Tom returned down to the kitchen to reappear in the still busy bar. He continued to clear glasses and serve guests, to find at one point a very proud Thomas by his side.

“Well done, Tom… Becky is back to her old, wonderful self. I owe you more than a beer.”

“Thanks. Can you sneak out unnoticed and meet me by the beach?”

Thomas nodded but was unsure of what could be so important to pull him away from his celebrations. He returned to the bar and slipped out of the front door. Tom went back into the kitchen to leave by the back door and skirted down the side of the pub to the beach.

Thomas stood, waiting at the top of the beach. Tom met him and encouraged him down to nearer the water’s edge, just short of the spray from the breakers. He walked along the beach, for them to be obscured from the road by one of the beached fishing boats.

“We’re going to get cold and wet here, Tom. What’s all this about?”

“Have you noticed how unhappy Balthazar is, despite the celebrations?”

“Not really, but now you’ve mentioned it… It’s strange.”

“As the future top dog, I need to tell you something… It’s very important and we all need to be ready.”

Tom explained what he and Pisces had seen on the beach the previous night, of Balthazar meeting Brock, and that Captain Brown had sworn him to secrecy.

“I knew it… I never trusted him or convinced he has the village’s best interests at heart”

“I’m worried. Becky may be at risk. I think, now, more than ever, we need to keep an eye out for strangers.”

“But we’re full of tourists.”

“Yeah, that is a problem, but I think the visitors we need to be worried about will stand out. We also need to be wary of anything out of the ordinary.”

With that, the pair returned to the pub, both getting wet and cold. Tom pleased with himself, as the noise of the breakers would have kept any eavesdroppers from hearing them.

Tom returned through the back door into the kitchen and helped tidy up before re-entering the bar. Thankfully, the clientele had dwindled, with only a few fisherdogs remaining with Thomas and Becky, having decided there’d be no fishing the following day because of the worsening weather.

Kitty was walking Balthazar back home and in the lounge Sarah, Clair and Chrys sat talking, inviting Tom to join them. They chatted for a while, asking Tom to explain about the change in Becky’s temperament and getting back together with Thomas. He explained his duplicitous conversation with Thomas that morning, knowing Becky was behind, listening in.

Now sitting down, with nothing to do, Tom’s body told him that two days awake was enough. His eyelids drooped and his bed beckoned. Sarah notice, on his third yawn, telling him to get to bed and they would tidy up and will see him in the morning.

Tom yawned and nodded, wishing everyone a good night before he worked his way through the bar to drift back upstairs. He grabbed a spare towel from the linen cupboard and risked a quick shower. Feeling a little safer knowing that the kittens were elsewhere engaged.

The shower reinvigorated Tom, as he stood underneath it, letting it play on his weary body. He made a point of tidying up his rough beard once more and trim his fringe. He’ll have to ask if someone can trim his hair soon, as it was now shoulder length.

After his shower, Tom tidied up the bathroom to be presentable for the guests in the morning. Tom padded back to his bedroom with a towel wrapped around him, carrying his clothes, eager to sleep a whole night on his own. The scent that greeted him as he opened the door, told him he was not alone.

“You’ve drawn the short straw tonight, Chrys?”

“I wouldn’t say that… You’ve been up and ready all night long and… Yes, it is my turn, we kittens agreed… Lucy is busy with Peter and Clair is still trying to straighten her fur, which was why I let you shower alone.”

“I’m shattered Chrys, I may not be up to super sex toy expectations.”

Tom dumped his clothes on the floor and turned to Chrys on the bed.

“Oh, I don’t know, that is some canoe you’re hiding under that towel, but no disappearing at midnight to see anyone about a dog, because I think she’ll be busy tonight as well.”

Chrys leaned forward and pulled Tom’s towel open, drawing him in closer to her, as her lips teased over the end of his extended cock.

“I Promise… Nor will I turn into a pumpkin.”

Chrys’s eyes looked up at him, unsure of his meaning, but her lips were now around his member sucking on it. Tom stroked her head and the fur around the base of her ear, causing her to purr, whilst enjoying sucking deeply on his manhood. She pulled him into a fur cocoon, wrapping her rear legs around him.

Chrys’s purring buzzed through Tom, exciting him beyond measure, stroking and teasing Chrys’s fur. His long strokes from base to tip of her tail had her lapping and sucking harder whilst her paws caressed his body. She pulled off Tom and rolled him onto his back, stroking his body with her paws, licking him.

“Did the other kittens warn you of my preferences?” Chrys purred, winking.

Tom didn’t remember any warnings and wasn’t sure how bad it could be after the shock of being asked to spank Becky or tie her to a tree. He shook his head.

Chrys giggled, giving a Tom sly look.

“Whilst at Uni, I fell in with a crowd of canines and learned a few techniques that felines don’t normally go in for.”

“Well, I know canines have a penchant for anal sex, being tied up and maybe the odd spank or two.”

“So maybe you do know. If you strap me uptight in this, then you’ll know what to do… But keep me tied until morning…”

Chrys held up what seemed to be a tangle of leather straps and buckles, waiting for him to agree.

“Hey ho. In for a penny, in for a pound.”

Tom finished drying himself as he watched Chrys unravel the mess of interlinked straps. Chrys’s excitement grew as she slipped her rear legs through hoops in the tangle, standing to pull it over her back and fasten it across her front.

Tom’s excitement also grew as he realised she was encasing herself in some form of bondage wear, the closest he had seen to lingerie in his time in this world. As she tightened various straps, they pulled across her breasts, exposing her pert nipples from beneath her fur. Her front legs slipped through two more loops.

“Tom, pull the loose straps tight.”

Tom pulled the loose ends hanging from the hoops, tightening her front limbs together, and then the two on her rear legs. Both pairs of limbs were now bound together.

“Slip the loose ends from the front legs to my rear leg buckles and pull them together…”

Chrys was already panting in excitement, her body pushing against her bonds to reinforce her bondage.

Tom did as asked, slipping the front leather straps through the buckles and pulled, bringing her four limbs together. Chrys gasped in pleasure… She nodded to her side.

“Tom, you can’t tell anyone about this, use the collar… it’s a shameful taboo and but so exciting.”

Looking beside her, Tom saw a wide leather collar, with various `D’ rings and leash clipped to it. In his world, a pet’s lead like this would be commonplace, but not in this world. He understood Chrys’s warning. As he placed it around Chrys’s neck, she exhaled and panted, barely able to contain her excitement.

Tom slipped the collar through its buckle and tightened it. To have Chrys’s body quiver and his scent picked up what he knew was her excitement, lubricating her between her tightly bound rear legs.

“Tighter Tom, pull all the buckles tighter…”

Tom went around each buckle, pulling them tighter, leaving the collar to last.

Chrys’s body quivered and twisted, testing her bonds, her breathing now short as her excitement reached a peak.

“Ohhhh. Tom, this is perfect, now the gag… Don’t hold back, pull on the lead as you fuck me, slap and spank me… Treat me like the bad pussy I am…”

Tom picked up the last tangle of leather straps, letting it drop to hang untangled from his hand. In his hand an enormous dildo with straps hanging.

“Oh… Please, place that in my mouth, the straps over my ears and to my collar… Don’t forget, leave me until morning.”

Tom’s bedroom reeked of Chrys’s sex. As he inserted the dildo into her mouth, her eyes rolled back in ecstasy, and a surge of her scent filled the room. Tom soon worked out how the tangled mess worked, with straps going either side of each ear, then connecting to her collar. As he tightened each one, they pulled her head back, restricting her movement further.

Chrys fell sideways onto the bed, inside her bonds, writhing in pleasure, her tail high in the air, offering herself to him. Tom joined Chrys in heat, with his senses filled with her desires, knowing how to satisfy them both.

One of Tom’s hands gripped the base of Chrys’s tail, causing her body to tense in response, and his other pulled at her lead. Her head pulled back, forcing her to arch her back, fighting her restrictive bonds, as she hummed and purred in pleasure. He gripped and dug his fingers into the base of her tail, encouraging more moans of excitement.

He knew which winking muscle Chrys wanted him to enter. With her tail held up, he engaged the tip of his shaft into her as she calmed, waiting for his entry. He yanked on her tail and lead, pulling her onto him as drove into her tightness.

“Mmmph…”

Chrys’s body tensed once more as he drove deep inside her, feeling the wetness of her fur against his body and another emission of sex scent poured from her. Keeping his pull on her lead and collar, he released her tail and spanked her rump. He could time each slap with each drive of his cock deep into her, for her to respond with another gagged moan.

It surprised Tom at how much the vision of Chrys bound and writhing beneath him turned him on. Her sweat dampened her fur and juices ran down her rear legs. He lost himself to his own desires as he thrust deeply into her whilst pulling on her leash and tail.

Tom gave up on Chrys, knowing she was happily having multiple orgasms, but focussed on his enjoyment, as he experienced that feeling deep inside, knowing it wouldn’t be long. He bent over her arched back, still pulling on her lead, but his other hand gripped her breast, squeezing and tweaking her nipple hard.

Still, Chrys gave muffled moans at each of his thrusts into her, “Mmph… Mmph… Mmph…”

Even strapped up and restricted, she tried to push her rear back onto Tom… He nibbled the fur around her neck, knowing he was close to her prime erogenous zone.

Her moans went up an octave, “Mmph… Mmph… Mmph…”

He gathered the required fold of skin in his mouth and as his orgasm erupted into her, he bit as hard as he dare…

“Mmmmmmkkkkkkk.”

Inside her bonds, Chrys vibrated, bucked and twisted as her largest and final orgasm peaked. She felt his warmth burst inside her as he drove his shaft as deep as he could, holding it there, pulling on her collar and holding his bite.

At last, her quivering body relaxed. Emptied, Tom pulled out of her and led alongside her, stroking and kissing her. They both relaxed into sleep, with Tom remembering Chrys’s request to remain tied up for as long as possible.

In the early hours, Tom woke to feel Chrys cold and damp. He pulled the duvet over them both and paused at her gag, wondering whether to untie her now, rather than risk anyone calling to find her trussed up like a Christmas turkey. Chrys must have been awake. Sensing his thoughts, her head shook a negative and nuzzled into the pillow, as far as her bonds allowed.

The next time Tom woke, the sun was trying to break through the curtains. Tom heard the odd bump of Kitty and Sarah next door, so started relaxing the straps and buckles that held Chrys. As he pulled the dildo out of her mouth, she purred and tested her jaw, opening and stretching her neck muscles.

“Tom… That was perfect, if only you could leave me here all day… Thanks.”

Tom had to pull the duvet off her to unbuckle her legs and arms. She stretched and untied her chest buckles. When she removed the collar, she blushed in shame and hid it beneath the pillow. She had to sit up to remove the bondage bodysuit, wrapping it up into a ball to hide it underneath the bed.

Tom slid back under the duvet with her and they wrapped themselves up in each other’s limbs, kissing.

“Thanks, that was worth the wait. Don’t worry you lived up to your super-sex toy nickname.”

He knew they had little time, but enjoyed the last few minutes they had snuggled up together in the warm duvet. Chrys, like Lucy, was a typical student, barely able to register Kitty and Sarah tiptoeing downstairs that early in her drowsy state .

When Tom rose to dress and leave, Chrys didn’t notice him either, remaining in her exhausted slumbers. Despite having a late-night, enjoying Chrys’s delights, Tom had slept so well he felt refreshed and ready for another busy day.

Brenda’s bacon rolls were a welcome breakfast as they all chatted, preparing for the day ahead. Both Sarah and Kitty warned Tom, exactly like Lucy, that he was now the most eligible bachelor in the village and a few of the local bitches already had their claws out for him. As they set out the tables for breakfast, they all noticed the irony of having furniture outside, now they had rain and a storm due.

Looking out the windows, they saw Captain Brown and a few fisherdogs preparing for sea. The top dog entered the pub wearing a heavy long black waterproof coat, to speak with Kitty Alone. He turned and headed past Tom to leave, to once more congratulate Tom for bringing Becky and Thomas together.

“You can’t be going out in this weather?”

“This is just the calm before the storm. I have several hours to do a job to do for Balthazar before the main storm front hits.”

Tom’s blood ran cold. He couldn’t speak openly in front of guests or Kitty, so he ushered the Captain outside into the rain.

“You know you can’t trust Balthazar Captain… And he’s sending you out in a storm?”

“Tom, I’ve said my piece on this. You’re being paranoid again. Balthazar wouldn’t be that extreme, you forget… Our world is different Tom”

“Yeah, yeah I know…”

Tom mimicked the captain’s own words, “For the good of the village… But the village and Becky can’t lose you now.”

“I won’t be lost to the sea. I’ve been caught in worse storms than this. Calm yourself.”

With that, the Captain pulled his large yellow sou’wester hat down over his head and walked off, not impressed with Tom’s arrogance.

Tom returned inside and got busy with guests’ breakfasts. Some guests were anticipating calling their walks off, whilst others were keen to get moving before the weather deteriorated further. Kitty warned that a few new guests, due that day, had cancelled.

As soon as guests left, Sarah and Tom changed their beds and cleaned their rooms. The work seemed endless, but the morning passed quickly. When they finally stopped for coffee, Lucy turned up, beckoning Tom to join her in the now-empty lounge.

“Peter’s doing more research into the genetic material from Tor Rock. There are further little tweaks that the nanobots do, but they all point to the same end, loss of free will.”

“This is a genuine concern and we all need to be vigilant, especially as Balthazar knows you’re involved, but not Peter. Last night he didn’t look overly happy at Thomas choosing Becky as his mate, so I fear for them as well.”

Lucy nodded, now more understanding of Tom’s paranoid streak than before.

“There’s more… I’ve been able to look at your blood and whilst extremely similar to ours, there are a few differences in the DNA and proteins, which may explain my discovery.”

Tom leaned in, hoping to hear something positive. Lucy double-checked around, cautious not to be overheard.

“I don’t know whether it’s your DNA or the fact that the first feline you met was on heat…”

“But?”

“Well… you didn’t just meet, you swapped DNA…”

“Yeah… But there’s a BUT in there?”

“You have some form of super-nanobots in your blood that have mum’s DNA signature. You also have mixtures of all the others you’ve met along the way, like a history of conquests, if you like.”

Tom blushed but still wasn’t sure if this was good or bad news. “But?”

“Well, under normal circumstances, canine and feline nanobots remain dormant when they meet resident human nanobots and gradually die off and exit the body… But yours are all active.”

“So what about these super-nanobots?”

“We don’t know for certain, but it is like nothing we’ve ever seen, not that we’re experts and we daren’t access any of the IGC databases or research websites to find out.”

“But what do you think?”

“Peter and I are only guessing, based on our scans… But we think the super-nanobots control the others, based on how your `super powers’ turn on and off, the super-nanobots tell the others when and what to kick in and turn off. We don’t know for certain, it’s just supposition. We’ll need to do more scans and research, but it is groundbreaking.”

“So I am a super sex toy then?”

“It seems so.”

Lucy giggled and rolled her eyes.

They finished their coffees, doing what the English do best; they looked out the windows and discussed the weather. Tom told Lucy about his concerns for Captain Brown being sent out on an errand by Balthazar. As the next rain squall came in, a human walker came through the garden gate and burst through the door for shelter.

She was slim and tall, unzipping her coat to reveal the latest tight fitting walking fleece that stressed a nice pair of medium breasts. She wore baggy waterproof trousers that hid her full shape down to her walking boots.

“Hi, I’m Roxanne. I booked in for this evening, but with this weather is a bit too much, so I took a shortcut thinking I could take shelter for the day.”

She dropped her rucksack off her one shoulder as Tom smiled and walked over to help her with her rucksack, lifting it down to the floor.

“Hi, I’m Tom. It’s no problem. It’s far warmer and dryer in here. I’m sure your room is ready. I’ll just check with Kitty. In the meantime, would you like a cup of tea or coffee to help warm you up?”

Roxanne took her coat off, and shook her head, flicking her now free, long blond hair around. She smiled a broad red lipstick smile, removed her coat and shook the worse of the weather off and hung it on a hook.

“Oh, I’d love a coffee, thanks.”

Tom offered her to sit at the table he and Lucy had just vacated. He glanced at Lucy, who was putting her coat back on, grinning knowingly back at him, with a look that hinted that here was another possible notch on his bedpost. Tom feigned a shocked look and went into the kitchen to find Kitty.

“Kitty, a Roxanne has arrived. She has booked to stay the night but with this weather has arrived early to stay dry.”

Kitty nodded and went out to the bar area. Tom sorted out a cup of coffee from the machine and set a tray out. He arrived back in the lounge to find Kitty with Roxanne, with a room key in her hand, which she passed to Tom.

“Room ten Tom, if you could take her rucksack up for her?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Tom placed the tray of coffee on the table for her, picked up her rucksack, and took her room key. “Roxanne.”

“Oh, just Roxy, if we’re to spend the day together, please.”

She beamed another wide smile at Tom as he lifted her light rucksack up and headed for the stairs. She was far more attractive than any other human he had seen over the time he had been there, even more than the human family’s daughter.

Once he had placed her rucksack in her room, he was keen to return to her and hopefully make conversation. Returning to the lounge he found her positioned with her chair to half catch him returning and half watch the view outside the windows. He placed her room key on the table.

“Thanks, Tom, you busy?”

“Oh yes, we’ve had a few cancellations, but we’re still busy over the next few days. I don’t really know much beyond then”

“Aha, that’s not what I meant by busy… I meant busy now? I’m a PE teacher and it’s nice to talk with adults when on holiday. If you have the time?”

The pub was empty, and he knew they had about an hour before the lunchtime rush.

“Well, if you don’t mind… We’re not expecting our lunch bookings for a while, but I don’t know if I constitute an adult though.”

Roxy giggled and pulled the spare chair back, inviting him to sit. Initially, there was a pregnant pause, as they both sat watching the rain lashing down outside.

“You like to walk on your holidays, regardless of the weather?”

Tom nodded to the rain outside the windows, stating the obvious.

“Yes… Sitting on a poolside or on a beach seems such a waste. I was looking forward to this, just to get away from screaming excitable students. Do you like to walk?”

“Yeah… When I dropped out of Uni, I walked along the coastline. Well, initially I was just going to walk the Bristol Channel, but I just kept going.”

Tom didn’t want to explain about his ex-girlfriend or his homeworld experiences too much.

“Oh wow, the benefit of no job… So why here?”

She gestured around the pub.

“Ah… long story.”

And one he didn’t know how to explain. Thankfully, he took his own advice and kept his story simple.

“Well, my tent got damaged in a storm overnight when I camped on the cliff top, between here and The Lizard. When I arrived here, I chatted with Kitty. She needed help, so I stayed. I’ve grown to love the village. The fisherdogs are a little quirky but once you get to know them they’re okay.”

“Tent, you were camping?”

“Ex-student, no money… I would camp off the beaten track and sneak into campsites along the way to shower and stuff. They never noticed with all the other campers coming and going.”

“Is that the reason for the beard and hair?”

Roxy giggled, ruffling his hair and scratching his beard.

“Ah, well… Being a typical bloke and there being a lack of mirrors, I let it grow its own way. Funnily enough, I was thinking only last night it needs trimming… I’ve tried, but possibly only made it worse.”

Roxy giggled.

“If you want, I could trim it. I often have to trim students’ hair, although they are a lot younger.”

Roxy saw Tom’s eyes brighten, then look at the bar, seeing if Kitty had heard.

“That doesn’t come under some kind of guest fraternisation rule, does it?”

“I don’t know… Although I wouldn’t want to lose the beard, the felines and canines here are a little flighty with naked humans.”

Roxy blushed as Tom corrected…

“Ahem, you know, clean-shaven… Not fully naked, well they don’t like that either, but… Oh, you know what I mean?”

“Well, I’m not used to trimming beards, but I’m sure I can manage.”

Before he could stop her, Roxy finished her coffee and headed for the kitchen, carrying the tray, leaving Tom gob smacked. After some howling laughter in the kitchen, Roxy returned with a pair of scissors and a beaming smile.

“I can see why you stay here Tom… They’re lovely. Kitty said to use the public bathroom upstairs, but you’ll have to clean it afterwards.”

Tom laughed… At long last, he seemed to have found a human woman that tickled his fancy and his stirring cock knew it. He got up and led her upstairs. First, he showed her the shared bathroom, then she went to her room to change out of her waterproofs.

Tom went up to the second floor to call into his room to collect the spare chair. He double checked Chrys had gone with her toys and clothing. A little sad she hadn’t bid him farewell, but that seemed to be their way here.

After carrying the chair back down to the first floor, he placed it in the centre of the bathroom, removed his T-shirt, and sat down. Roxy appeared without the waterproofs, in a tight pair of leggings and trainers. She laughed to see him bare-chested.

“You’re not supposed to laugh.”

He gave an embarrassed chuckle as he crossed his arms across his chest, feigning a hurt look on his face.

“Sorry, that wasn’t fair… You’re quite fit, not normal for a plain old waiter.”

Her eyes betrayed admiration.

She playfully snipped the scissors as she approached him and produced a ladies’ comb. Although she had a battle trying to comb through his knotted hair… She laughed at the protests Tom made each time she snagged and yanked at his knotted hair.

With most knots taken out, Tom sat back and enjoyed being the attention of this blonde svelte woman, enjoying her breasts brushing his shoulders and elbows as she moved around him. Her hands were soft as they stroked him, snipping and brushing the hair clippings off his body, with the odd hand sweeping across his shoulders and abs.

He was sure she meant to brush her palms over his hard nipples, just for the sake of it. She ran her comb through his hair one last time and gestured for him to look in the mirror on the wall. The results surprised Tom with his hair now far more respectable. He even had white skin peeking out around his exposed neck.

“I’ve not finished, sit back down.”

Roxy giggled.

Tom sat down for Roxy to kneel, sexily between his legs, brushing her breasts up his inner thighs, smiling up at him, knowing full well what she was doing, as she could feel his shaft hardening through his shorts. She slowly clipped away at his beard.

“I’ll trim it back first, and then I can always cut some more off, if you want.”

Tom enjoyed her hands bunching up his beard as she cut, leaning her breasts into his cock as she brushed them up and down. Roxy’s head bobbed in and out, first in close to cut, so Tom could feel the warmth of her breath. Then she’d lean back, checking the symmetry of the cut, giving Tom a bird’s-eye view of her freckles and long eyelashes.

A few times, their eyes met. Each time Tom looked deep into her luminescent green eyes, wishing for her to kiss him. A few times he thought she was, but she would tease him with her hands darting in to snip at his beard once more, for her to grin, seeing his disappointment.

Tom felt cheated when she stood up, gesturing for him to view her handy work in the mirror once more. He could barely recognise his face looking back at him. She had done a great job with his trimmed beard matching his hair.

“Well done, that’s perfect, you’re wonderful, thanks.”

He turned to find her close behind him. He instinctively went to hug her, but she stepped back, smiling as she saw the frown on his face. She stepped back forward to give him a polite hug, pecking a kiss on his cheek.

Tom bent over and ruffled his hair to loosen all the clippings. A second pair of hands joined his but dropped to brush his chest and body. Tom straightened up as Roxy passed him his T-shirt, mimicking a sad face, when he put it back on, covering his body. Tom went and got their equivalent of a hoover, but Roxy remained to help.

“Oh, no Roxy, it’s okay. You’ve done enough, lovely. I’ll finish up here, thanks.”

She shook her head as she took the suction tube, engaged the suction and started on his beard, laughing. Her strength surprised Tom as she held him, dragging the hose end over him, sucking on his beard, hair and cheeks.

The pair giggled and laughed as they tussled and wrestled together until Tom found himself sitting on top of her. He had her pinned down to the floor, holding onto her wrists as she laughed, pretending to suck more cuttings from his beard with the hoover’s extended hose.

He leaned over her, his head level with hers, looking into her eyes, both willing the other to draw closer. Tom wanted to go further, but he didn’t want guests or, even worse, Kitty finding him in this position. He’d done enough playing and needed to return to work.

“Ahem, I’m sorry… Things are getting a bit out of hand. I’ll need to tidy up as we will have other guests arriving soon.”

Tom released her and stood up, offering his hand to help her up.

“Oh, sorry, I thought we were having a little fun.”

“Oh, ahh, yeah, we were, but I have work to do.”

Roxy pulled herself up to face him. She held his hand and brushed her hair straight with her free hand.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ve distracted you enough already. Maybe later, we could have a rematch? You do remember my room number, for later, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh… Sounds like a very nice plan. But first, you go down and I’ll tidy up, then I’ll sort you out some lunch.”

Roxy pecked a light kiss on his cheek and echoed, “Sounds like a plan.”

She turned and slinked down the hallway, kicking her hips out with each step, knowing that Tom was watching her. Tom watched her disappear down the stairs, annoyed with himself, as he still seemed awkward in coming forward with human women, especially one’s that he desired.

It didn’t take long for Tom to tidy up. He double-checked the bathroom for hair and tidied the hoover away. He returned the chair to his room and made his way down to the ground floor.

Roxy had returned to her original table and was enjoying another coffee. Kitty was signing in guests at the bar. Tom thanked Roxy again, as he passed her on his way to the kitchen to be greeted with nods of approval, and put on his black apron.

From then on, the day was a blur of waiting on tables and clearing plates for Tom. He ensured Roxy received all his attention whenever he had time. When he couldn’t, she enjoyed reading various holographic magazines as she ate or sipped tea or coffee, watching the rain squalls outside.

Despite some guests cancelling, Kitty’s was full of fisherdogs, captains, wives, and families taking advantage of the fishing being called off, coming to socialise and eat out. Becky came into work as usual, but was conscious that her father had not yet returned from his errand.

During the late afternoon, in a slow period for Tom and Sarah, with lunch over and dinner still a long way off, Thomas burst into the bar, calling to the fisherdogs for help. He motioned for Tom to join them. They braved the storm and went out over the road to the fisherdog’s small storehouse on the beach.

Tom had never been inside before, as he joined the huddle, standing amongst the concerned fisherdogs, squeezed into the tight space that reeked of fish. Tom guessed there were thirty or more wedged in the stone-built building. Thomas stood on some stacked boxes and called everyone to order.

“As you know, Captain Brown went off on some errand this morning and is overdue. His boat tracker has not been working since late morning when he should have been meeting the Mer-pod leader Triton.”

There was a ripple of concerned whispers, with fisherdogs glancing concerned at each other. Thomas coughed theatrically to quieten the crowd and continued.

“We’ve not had any response from Triton or any of the Mermen watchers. So we have to consider the worse. I need dogs to walk the coast and look for any signs.”

A voice blurted out, “You mean wreckage?”

“We have to consider the worst and hope for the best. We’ll set out Eastwards along the coast path and check every cove, cliff and beach, whilst scouring the horizon for his boat.”

The crowd all nodded, and a humble ripple of murmurs spread through everyone.

“Nothing is to go beyond these walls, least of all to Margaret and Becky.”

Fisherdogs started squeezing past Tom, some already in wet weather gear, others pulling coats on as they ducked outside into the gale. Thomas emerged from the crowd and thrust a coat and hat into Tom’s Arms.

“For some reason, I think you should be with us. You were seen talking with the Captain before he left… Is there anything you need to tell me?”

“He admitted Balthazar sent him on this errand, I warned him not to go, we can’t trust him.”

Thomas’s face angered and snarled, “I agree. We’ll deal with him later. Come on, the sooner we get out there, the sooner we can get back in the dry. We have more than enough daylight left.”

Tom pulled the coat on but had barely got it on before Thomas bustled him out into the rain. They joined a steady line of Fisherdogs walking out to the coast path. Faces peered out of Kitty’s pub through the rain drizzled windows, knowing something was afoot.

Tom pulled the hat on, to see Roxy’s watching him and gave him an encouraging wave, which he acknowledged with a smile. Staring out of the bar’s window was Becky, with tears in her eyes showing that she already knew what was happening. Kitty stood alongside with her arms around her shoulders, comforting her.

Trudging along the incline of the path up the left-hand side of the beach, through the cottages, Tom double-stepped to catch up with Thomas a few steps ahead, as he realised he could assist on a level Thomas wouldn’t have considered.

“I assume we couldn’t put any boats out?”

“No, he was mad going out. Like you, I warned him against it.”

“But you’ve not been able to contact the Merpeople?”

“No, normally the watchers are around… But not today. They must be in deep water, who knows?”

“What if someone were to swim to find them?”

“They’d be mad… And swiftly dead, look at those breakers.”

Beyond the cliffs the sea was storm-tossed, with huge white-tipped waves crashing over themselves and any rock in their way. The pair hurried on, catching up and passing groups of Fisherdogs ahead as Thomas barked at them to spread out and search. They passed the Captain’s house and hurried onwards.

As they turned around the headland, they walked headlong into the biting wind. In front of them, in the distance, a Fisherdog burst out of the tree-covered path, waving at Thomas and ran against the flow of fisherdogs spreading out, searching over the cliffs. Panting as he reached them, he pointed out to the white-tipped waves on the horizon.

“A few hours back, Old George swore he saw a flash of light, out by the island… He dismissed it, thinking it was just a sunbeam, cracking through a break in the cloud, way out to sea… But now knowing Top Dog is missing, he’s not so sure.”

Thomas nodded and patted the out of breath dog on the shoulder. Tom’s mind ran…

“The island? Do you mean those rocks out on the horizon that are barely above water at low tide and submerged at high tide?”

“Yes, but we always sail well away from them… The Captain wouldn’t have gone close to them in this weather. Low tide was an hour ago, so they would still be above water.”

“I can go… I can swim out… Come on.”

Tom burst into a run, losing his hat, leaving Thomas to run behind, his shouting barely audible over the wind.

“You can’t swim out there, it’s too far you’ll drown.”

Tom ran as fast as his legs could carry him, then dropped to his oddball all fours, running, knowing Thomas would be hot on his heels. They ran through the wood and as they reached the fallen tree, he leapt over it and started making his way down to Mermaid’s Cove.

“Tom, you can’t do this. It’s madness. You’ll be dashed against the rocks… We can’t have two deaths on our hands. I won’t allow it.”

Tom was already stepping carefully down the slippery wet steps in the cliff, looking down a now tiny beach, the rocks and cliffs either side being attacked by gigantic waves. Thomas was above him, out of arm’s reach. Tom folded the coat up and started stripping his clothes off.

He sought the notch in the cliff with his hands, searching through the long overhanging wet grass. The deep cut in the cliff was still bone dry, and he stuffed his clothes in there as deep as he could. His boots were the last to go in. Standing naked, shivering on the stone steps, he looked up at Thomas, who was still pleading with him, his words lost in the wind.

“Trusts me, Thomas… Wait for me.”

He scrambled the last few steps on the loose pebbles, into the foaming water swilling around the edge of the beach. Stepping deeper into the water, the waves tried to pull him deeper. He struggled to hold his position, took one last look at Thomas, and dived into the foaming sea.

As soon as he hit the water, the turbulence exiting the cove pulled him out, churning him over and over like a washing machine. He swam hard to avoid being dashed back onto the rocks, taking the deepest breaths whenever he had the chance. He dived deeper to get out of the waves.

He could barely make it and had to surface to gasp a lung full of air. He saw Thomas standing on the clifftop, searching the spray for him, relieved to see him further out. Tom ducked back under and swam deeper, finding it less turbulent the deeper he went, although strong currents still pulled at him.

The kelp beneath him was almost flat against the sandy bottom as he tried to pair his legs together, wondering how long his tail would take to grow. He almost gave up when he surfaced for another breath, but his legs itched, hinting that the process of tail growth had begun.

It saddened him to see he had barely moved from his last breath, seeing Thomas on the cliff waving for him to return. He was now committed and turned seaward to try once more. As he progressed away from the cliff, the washing machine effect diminished and he felt he was making headway.

Each time he surfaced to breathe, he checked progress, which was slow and tiring, but he was winning against the wind and waves. He kept heading outwards, monitoring the sea bed, hoping for signs that would lead him to the tidal rock island.

As he swam, another problem played on his mind, initially he expected it to be noisy underwater, with the waves pounding the land, but he assumed it would diminish as he swam away from the cliffs… But every time he ducked beneath the water, despite leaving the cliffs further behind, a mish-mash of sounds, with squeaking noises, not unlike dolphins, in the background grew louder.

He could definitely feel the benefit of a tail as he progressed. The sandy bottom gave way to rock rising upwards, signalling he was close. The noise underwater was now hurting his ears. He followed the rock, surface wards but staying clear of the rock, not wanting to get dashed against it in the swirling waters.

His head broke water to see Captain Brown looking as if he were sitting on a wave. When the water receded showed him perched on all fours, clinging to the highest point of rock. Tom swam round to face the captain.

“Hi, how are you?”

“Tom? What the? How did you get out here?”

Tom flicked his tail up above the waves and smiled, as yet another wave washed over the captain, knocking him aside, forcing him to scramble back on the rock pinnacle.

“Captain, how are you?”

“Wet and bloody cold… I’ve been here for hours.”

“It’s okay. I’ll whistle for Pisces.”

Tom waved the shell whistle attached to his neck, but for the Captain to shake his head.

“Don’t you think I’ve tried my own… It’s useless, there’s too much noise. They can’t hear it… Tom, I can’t hold on much longer…”

“Is it always this noisy underwater during a storm? And I thought you’d avoid this rock.”

“No, it’s never that noisy… And I didn’t hit this rock… I had to swim here, after something hit my boat, sinking it.”

Tom ducked his head underwater again… The noise was painful. He put his fingers in his ears and swum around… It still hurt, but not as painful. The noise was definitely louder on the one side of the rock… Swimming further, he saw something glinting below on the seabed.

As he dived, the noise was unbearable, hurting his head, even with fingers in his ears. The kelp on the sea bed swayed to cover, then uncover the shiny metallic object. It was like an old-style lantern. He reached for it and his hand received an electric-like shock…

He checked his hand. It was okay, not seeing a burn mark. He tried again to realise it wasn’t an electric shock. It was a high-pitched vibration… He picked it up and swam for the surface… The vibration was so strong it was giving him pins and needles in his hand and arm… He could barely hold on to it as he rose.

He broke surface twenty feet away from Captain Brown, who was searching for him whilst fighting to hold on to the rock. Tom held the lantern up in the air and ducked only his head under the water… Apart from the slightly louder bubbling and sloshing of the storm against the rock, he heard exactly what he expected without the painful noise.

Tom tread water with his tail, whilst one handheld the lantern out the water and his free hand ran his necklace through his fingers until it found the shell whistle. He placed the tiny tube in his mouth, ducked under the water and blew… Apart from lots of tiny bubbles, a high-pitched whistle that also hurt his ears came out. He blew twice more and then swam to Captain Brown.

“Can you hold this out of the water?”

Tom asked, handing the Captain the lantern.

Captain Brown snarled back, showing his teeth.

“I can hardly hold on myself, let alone collect rubbish off the seabed… Throw it away.”

Tom explained it was some kind of sonar device, blocking the Merpeople’s whistle. He examined it to find what could only be a power switch. Thumbing it across caused the vibrations to stop, allowing him to ease the pins and needles in his hands.

With the device quiet, he dropped the lantern back into the water to let it sink to the bottom. Once more he blew three high-pitched whistle blows through his shell whistle. He listened but couldn’t hear a reply or acknowledgement, so returned to the surface.

“That device is off now, so they should be able to hear us, so I’ve whistled again.”

“I can’t hold on much longer Tom… would you be able to swim me back to safety?”

“I don’t know… It took all my strength to get here. Thomas is on the clifftop with all the other fisherdogs looking for wreckage. Is there any way we can signal them?”

“No, I used the last of my flares hours ago.”

Tom ducked below the water again and blew the whistle three more times, but this time, he thought he heard three distant echoes back. He popped his head back up to see Captain Brown now looking furious.

“Tom… I can’t hold on much longer… Please?”

“I think I heard a reply to my whistles then, so we may not have long to wait… I wouldn’t be able to keep you above the water on my own in these seas, all the way back.”

He dipped his head underwater to repeat his three whistles again, and this time heard three definite replies. Tom surfaced to see that the water had almost covered the rock, with the Captain struggling to keep his head above water, as the waves washed him back and forth. Now he was sure help was coming, Tom realised he had an opportunity.

“You now realise I was right about Balthazar.”

“Whaaat? You’re going boast, you told me so?”

“Why have you avoided the obvious, after we had proof of his duplicity?”

The Sea washed over the Captain, forcing him to lift his head even higher to breathe. He glared at Tom, thinking things over.

“Okay… We never thought he would go this far.”

“We? You and Margaret.”

“No… The king and I… Have you ever heard of keeping your friends close, and your enemies closer?”

Tom nodded, but this didn’t add up. “The king? Why would the King be interested in what happens in Dogwatch Cove?”

“Because… You can’t tell anyone this… Only Margaret knows…”

“Okay… what?”

“The king is my eldest brother… I’m third in line to the throne. The bureaucrats have tried to overthrow the king before, and Balthazar is one of the most powerful. So they put him in charge here, so I could monitor him.”

“And he could try to murder you?”

“We didn’t know he would go that far. This world isn’t like this Tom.”

“So how is Brock linked to all this?”

“We don’t know… We thought Brock may work for him.”

“I’d suggest it may be the other way around.”

“Really?”

“My paranoia now says yeah, we know he has a submarine and it seems the technology for that sonar device, they want you out of the way…”

Tom didn’t know how much time he had before help arrived and ended his opportunity to learn more. Something had been niggling him since he first spoke to Chrys.

“Why won’t they stop the wormholes that brought me here?”

“I’ve told you, they are random, accidental ripples from the first tests.”

“I don’t buy that… Not that random that you can predict them… Let me guess, it’s all down to the positions of the moon and planet’s gravitational pull… So the ones that brought me in spring will repeat themselves in autumn?”

“Yes, they will return in autumn, but the scientists predict them…”

“I bet you, if I knew the orbit of each planet, I could predict them too, it can’t be rocket science.”

“So why the issue? You thinking about returning home?”

“No… But, you know how my paranoia has proven right in this case… What if I were a war-mongering parallel world? How would I perceive annual, predictable wormholes appearing and possibly knowing inhabitants of my world have gone missing as a result?”

“We’ve not had a problem before.”

“No? You’ve admitted how previous visitors have gone mad, some possibly from my world, but what about the lizard people?”

“Not enough to be concerned about.”

“Maybe, not in this world… Trust me, in my world, they’d treat this as an aggressive act.”

“But they won’t be able to predict them.”

“If I can rough guess a time, then imagine how close they will be with scientists working on it. What about the lizard people? You do not know what they are like, except for the bodies in the sea. For all you know, they could amass an army waiting for autumn. You are not prepared to fight an invasion; you’ve never had a world war to know what you are opening yourself up to.”

Even fighting the howling wind and waves washing over him, Captain Brown pondered. Trying to take it in, despite the precarious position he was in. Tom had one last rabbit to pull out of Pandora’s Box, now it was open.

“So, why can’t Becky become Top Dog?”

“You know how to push your luck… A few generations back, the bureaucrats somehow enlisted the help of the Queen to overthrow the king. Since then, they’ve never allowed any female to be in a similar position, not even mother, Margaret, nor Becky.”

“Surely it is just a title?”

Captain Brown glared at him, just as a wave washed over him off his perch and he had to scramble back onto the submerged rock. “No, there is more to it than just a title…”

Just then, Flip and Flop popped up nearby, chattering in their squeaky language, saving Edgar from continuing his explanation, but not before Tom shouted, “Promise you’ll tell me? I need full disclosure, Edgar.”

Captain Brown glared ferociously at Tom for using his first name, just as three Mermen appeared with Pisces.

“We heard your whistle… Edgar, what happened?”

It took a whole raft of explaining to catch Pisces up on Edgar’s position.

Then Pisces explained hers, “We heard Killer Whales in the area. Orcas kill merpeople indiscriminately, so with them and the storm, we left to head for deeper waters. This isn’t on their migration routes, so we assumed the storm had brought them by accident.”

Tom explained about the sonar device he had found and that it must have been the source of the Whale’s song.

Tom swam down to find and return with the sonar lantern device to show a shocked Pisces.

“I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it…”

The mermen helped Captain Brown off his rocky throne, half carried and half floated him across the rough seas. The group headed to shore for Mermaid’s Cove. Tom followed with Pisces, still carrying the sonar lantern, being flanked by Flip and Flop.

Tom caught Pisces up with his news on what Lucy and Peter had found about the genetic material in the yellow box that the Merpeople had found. He also told her about Balthazar’s involvement in the Captain’s false errand. Tom had to admit to ignoring her advice and biting the seaweed pod, much to her annoyance, but entertaining her when he described his resulting antics.

Pisces suggested the mermen head to the old Fisherdogs cottage beach, as it would be easier for Captain Brown to land. She sent Flip and Flop forward to tell the main group.

She and Tom swam ahead to Mermaid’s cove to warn Thomas, so some fisherdogs could meet them at the beach and help the top dog reach home safely. Tom would also need to reach the freshwater stream to lose his tail before the beach disappeared underwater over high tide.

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If found anywhere other than sexstories. com with this note attached, then they’ve posted this story without my permission.

Although ratings are nice, nothing beats a comment or PM.

I always welcome CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

Nellymcboatface

To be continued. ~~~~~~~

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