Tying the Knot
By Green

The moon shone brightly overhead as the two men stepped out of the restaurant, softly chuckling to themselves. They proceeded to stop in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the door, lingering a moment to just smile at each other, instinctively reaching out to take each others’ hands. They were quite the contrasting pair; in addition to being different species, the dog was visibly more buff than the relatively skinny cat, but at least a full head shorter.
	“You were right,” said the border collie, “That was fantastic. I mean, I’ve never had sushi before, but I thought this place was great.”
	“I’m glad you thought so,” replied the Bengal cat, as he positively beamed at his companion, “I’ve tried half a dozen sushi bars in town, but I always end up coming back to this one. I really wanted to share it with you.”
	“Thank you, Isaac,” the dog said, more softly, and then after a moment, he added “I have to say, I never really gave much credit to dating sites... but I have really enjoyed getting to know you.” Blushing slightly, Isaac averted his eyes. He tried to play it cool, and he had an advantage, as cats were renowned for their poker faces... but he couldn’t hide the fact that he began purring at the other male’s words. He smiled sheepishly as he looked up, but he felt slightly better when he saw that the canine’s tail was wagging energetically. One didn’t need to know much about dogs to interpret that signal.
	“Me too, these have been the best dates I’ve had in years, Richard...” he murmured.

The two men let the moment drag on so they could just enjoy each other’s company, each other’s smiles. An elderly golden retriever leaning on a cane walked by and scowled at the sight of two men holding hands and gazing warmly at each other, but they didn’t let it sour the moment; Richard glanced over, noticed the man and his unpleasant expression, and silently let go of Isaac’s hand so that he could rotate his own and give the old man the finger. As the retriever continued on his way, muttering under his breath unfavourably about modern society, Richard and Isaac returned their attention to each other and immediately put him out of their minds.
	“You want me to call you an Uber?” the dog asked, reaching for his phone with his now-free hand. His date shook his head and made a dismissive gesture.
	“Nah, it’s only a couple blocks,” he said, “It’s a nice night, I can walk from here. You want to... walk me home?” Richard’s ears perked right up and he grinned shamelessly.
	“I was hoping you would say that,” he replied. Isaac chuckled, his whiskers twitching. He’d never spent much time with canines before meeting Richard online, and he found himself wondering if all dogs were as forward as his date, or if it was just Richard.

The two of them slowly walked down the street, hand in hand, chatting about everything and nothing, commenting on details of their date and where they hoped to go next time, but mainly just enjoying each other’s presence. They didn’t encounter anyone else who looked at them the way the elderly retriever had, though they did pass a human woman, listening to something rather loudly on her earbuds, who smiled wordlessly at the sight of how obviously happy the two men were with each other. Despite himself, Isaac blushed, his ears rotating back against his head in embarrassment.
	“It’s almost surreal to be walking in public like this,” he murmured, “I remember a time when I would have done anything not to be thought of as...” He trailed off, and to his surprise, Richard leaned over and nuzzled against his cheek. Canine forwardness at work.
	“I know,” the dog said soothingly, “coming out wasn’t easy for me, either. ‘It Gets Better’, remember? Looks like it came true.” Despite himself, Isaac began purring quietly once again. He smiled thankfully at his date, who squeezed his hand and winked at him.

Before Isaac could come up with anything witty and charming to say back – something that seemed to come much more naturally to Richard than to the cat – he realized they’d reached their destination, which didn’t thrill him.
	“Well, this is the place,” he said, a hint of reluctance in his voice, “Thank you for an excellent time.” Richard’s tail immediately stopped wagging and sank down low, telegraphing his feelings as clearly as if he’d pouted.
	“It was my pleasure,” he replied, “It’s been a long time since I’ve even reached a third date, you know, but being with you, it feels easy... natural.” Turning to face the other male, Isaac smiled a little wider.
	“I was thinking exactly the same thing,” he said, before a bold thought suddenly popped into his head. He acted on it before he lost his nerve.
	“Uhh... Richard, would you... would you like to come up to my place... maybe have a nightcap... or something?” Isaac asked, nervously. He already wished he hadn’t added ‘or something’, it felt too un-subtle. But the dog lit up like a Christmas tree at the anxious question, his tail flicking back up and wagging even more excitedly than before.
	“I would love to,” he replied, “That sounds like... a fantastic idea...” As he spoke, Richard slowly began leaning in closer to the nervous cat, clearly angling to meet his lips.

Reaching up and putting his hands on Richard’s shoulders as he felt one of the dog’s hands move to the small of his back, Isaac sighed in happy anticipation.
	“Oh, Richard...” he breathed, as his eyes fluttered closed... only to snap open again immediately as the door to the building suddenly opened up and a capuchin monkey stepped out with a small domestic dog on a leash.
	“Heya, Isaac!” said the monkey, his friend and neighbour Catherine, with her characteristic cheer. “Ooooh, so this is the guy you won’t shut up about!” Reluctantly letting go of his date, Isaac blushed, hard, and scowled at his friend.
	“Hey!” he protested, but it was like she hadn’t heard him.
	“I’m Catherine, I live in the apartment right next to Isaac’s, call me Cate,” she said warmly as she stepped forward and held out one of her fuzzy, long-fingered hands, “And this little guy is Bowser.” As if on cue, her pet, a mutt of no defined breed, barked happily.
	“I’m Richard,” the considerably more intelligent of the two dogs said, “Don’t call me Dick.”

Catherine giggled as Richard shook her hand. Isaac felt his ears flattening against his head and could only watch in deepest embarrassment as the monkey looked his date up and down appraisingly.
	“You know, I thought Isaac was just exaggerating because he’s got the hots for you,” she said, conversationally, “but damn, you really are a stud, aren’t you?” Richard laughed openly at that one as Isaac blushed harder than he had in his entire life. When he'd gushed to his gal pal about how sexy his date was, he hadn't exactly anticipated that she would so casually pass that information along to Richard himself.
	“Oh my God, Catherine!” he exclaimed, reaching up and grabbing at the tufts of fur on his cheeks in dismay. “What are you doing?!”

She turned back to him, but she was still all smiles, as if he hadn’t spoken.
	“I like this guy!” she said in a stage whisper, “Is he bi? I might have to steal him from you.” It was obviously a joke, but Isaac had had just about enough, and he put one arm around Richard possessively as he flicked out the claws on his other hand and held them up with a scowl.
	“Try it and bleed.” Catherine giggled and lightly bapped him on the shoulder.
	“Easy there, tiger, I’m just teasing,” she said, “It’s just been so nice to see you so happy for a change, I like it!” For just a moment, she leaned in much closer and actually whispered to him this time.
	“Besides, you’re cute when you’re all embarrassed like this, and now he’s seen you all cute and embarrassed.”

Catherine leaned back and began to walk down the sidewalk in the direction Isaac and Richard had come from, but not before giving a tug on the leash so that Bowser obediently began trotting alongside her.
	“Anyway, I gotta go, but it was nice meeting you, Richard!” she called, waving at them, “Have a nice night, you two!”
	“Uh, bye! Nice to meet you too!” Richard called back, clearly deeply amused.
	“I’m never telling you anything again!” Isaac groused... but he still waved back. As the monkey headed down the street, whistling cheerily to herself, Isaac let his head hang down and groaned quietly to himself.
	“I’m gonna strangle that woman, I swear to God...” he muttered, closing his eyes as if he could deny away the last minute or so.

He whimpered as Richard patted him on the back supportively.
	“It’s okay,” the dog murmured, “There is nothing wrong with thinking I’m awesome.” Despite himself, Isaac snickered. Richard continued, “Really, I love that you’re enthusiastic about... this.” And with that, the flirty canine planted a kiss on the taller male’s cheek. Isaac tensed up as his head shot upright again, his ears following suit so rapidly they made an audible fwip sound. He hadn’t been expecting that. But before he could say a word, Richard casually strolled over to the door, tail wagging away. Once there, he turned towards his suitor and grinned that grin that gave Isaac butterflies in his stomach.  
	“Shall we?” he asked, and Isaac belatedly hurried over, getting his key to the front door out. As he fiddled with the lock, Richard studied a point somewhere in the middle distance.
	“So...” he said, calmly, “You really said I’m a stud, eh?” As Isaac looked at him plaintively, he winked at the cat.
	“You know, you’re cute with a little red in your cheeks, anyone ever tell you that?”

A few minutes later, after (very) quickly checking Isaac’s mailbox and then taking a slow ride up the elevator, Isaac unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside. Richard followed him through and looked around interestedly as the cat, who’d been practically trembling with nervous energy ever since Catherine interrupted them outside, briefly struggled to free his keys and then re-locked the door behind them.
	“So, uh, this is my place,” he said, somewhat unnecessarily, “This is where people normally get all embarrassed about the mess, but, uh, I’m actually kind of anal when it comes to cleaning.” The tall, slender cat cringed, and he had to fight not to whimper out loud. He was nervous, which meant he was talking without fully thinking it through, which meant he had used the word ‘anal’ approximately six seconds after bringing a guy he liked into his home for the first time.

Richard showed no reaction whatsoever to the Freudian nature of Isaac’s comment, he just kept looking around, his tail still wagging at medium speed. Isaac had found the near-constant motion of the limb a little distracting during their first date, but he quickly took it as a good sign that the dog was enjoying his company.
	“Right, so, um, feel free to take your shoes off, get comfortable,” the nervous male said, glossing past his slip of the tongue, “Oh! Uh, unless you weren’t planning to stay very long, I mean, I wouldn’t want to assume...” He turned away, blushing, and took off his own shoes, more as an excuse to avert his eyes than anything else.
	“Isaac?” Richard said, evenly. When Isaac stood up straight again and turned around, he found the canine smiling calmly. “Relax. I’m right where I want to be.” The cat shuddered as a tingle ran down his spine all the way to the tip of his tail, and he stepped closer to the more muscular male as Richard reached up to embrace him. Isaac whimpered with anticipation, and the dog churred to him quietly for a moment, before he closed the distance and met Isaac’s lips with his own.

Isaac’s head swam as they kissed, as their lips parted and their tongues slipped out to meet. It wasn’t the first time they’d done it, that honour had come on their second date, but somehow this felt different from the last time, the promise of more made things seem so much more exciting. He still wasn’t entirely used to Richard’s wide, flat tongue, but that just made it all the more thrilling. As his eyes fluttered closed, Isaac softly whimpered with joy and melted into his date’s arms, clinging tight to Richard and praying his knees didn’t give out. Bit by bit, all the worry and nervousness that had followed the feline up the elevator seemed to disappear, until all that existed was the two of them, locked in this warm, gentle embrace where no one could interrupt or judge them. When one of Richard’s hands slipped down to Isaac’s butt and boldly squeezed him through his jeans, it felt like a natural escalation, so Isaac sighed through his nostrils and pushed his hips forward, pressing himself against the dog and slowly grinding against him. Eventually, they broke things off, and Isaac was delighted to see that Richard was blushing too, for a change. The kitty grinned delightedly at the shorter man and nodded towards the kitchen.
	“Well, if you’re staying, how about I pour us some drinks?” he said, feeling much more confident all of a sudden. Richard surprised him by leaning forward and giving the side of his muzzle a playful lick.
	“I would like that,” he replied, “I would like that a lot.”

Soon, the two of them stood on Isaac’s humble balcony, drinks in hand, overlooking the street below, which was quiet at this hour.
	“Nice view,” said Richard, looking out over the city.
	“If you like buildings and asphalt, maybe,” Isaac replied.
	“Just as well, the best view here isn’t out the window,” the dog quipped, smiling warmly at his host, who responded by blushing self-consciously. He gave the other male an ‘oh, you’ look to accompany his flattered smile, and and kept up the conversation to avoid seeming depraved for how badly he desired his date.
	“What I’d really like is a view of something natural, like a park, or the woods, or something...” he said, idly swirling his drink. He could still feel Richard’s eyes on him, and he liked it, but right now he was pretending this was just an innocent drink shared between two friends, if only to work up his courage for what they both so obviously wanted, so he forced himself not to look at the handsome dog.

Taking a sip, Isaac gazed off into the middle distance.
	“I grew up on a farm,” he said, “All my childhood memories are in that kind of natural environment. I suppose that’s why I’d prefer a park or something.” He smiled slightly.
	“I was always climbing trees,” he added, “I loved to get to the top and see what kind of view they had... Never had to get rescued by a fireman, either.” Richard chuckled.
	“Well, dogs aren’t exactly as capable in the, uh, climbing department as cats,” he said, briefly glancing at the relatively blunt claws on his fingers, “Most of my childhood memories are firmly planted on the ground.”

After a moment of gentle quiet, Richard glanced over at Isaac.
	“So, you said I was the first dog you’d ever dated?” he asked. The cat chuckled self-consciously.
	“To be honest, I never even had a canine friend before,” he admitted, “I’ve barely ever spent any time around, uh, your kind. I mean, my roommate in college was a poodle, but we had different schedules, we hardly ever saw each other. I don’t know, maybe it was where I grew up, or something.” Richard chuckled.
	“I kinda thought you were going to say you were afraid of us as a kid,” he said. Isaac gave him a sideways glance, but didn’t hide his smirk.
	“Why? Because I’m a cat?” he replied, “Why, Mr. MacGregor, I didn’t realize you were a specist.” The shorter male laughed.
	“Oh God, don’t say it like that,” Richard said, “I would never, some of my best friends are feline!” Isaac snickered at the cliché words, his tail floating around behind him in a relaxed posture.
	“Come to think of it, though, I’ve never been in a relationship with a cat,” Richard added, “...Although I was hoping to change that soon.”

Isaac murbled in a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment, raising his free hand to his heated cheek.
	“You k-keep saying things like that, and I’m never gonna stop blushing,” he said, though deep down, he wasn’t sure if that was a bad thing or not, “I’m – I’m not used to guys being so forward with me...” Even as the cat averted his eyes, Richard took a couple steps closer and reached up to take Isaac’s free hand in his own – caressing the feline’s fluffy cheek as he did so.
	“What can I say?” the dog replied, in a softer, lower tone, “I’m a very straightforward kinda guy. I know what I want, and I go after it... and right now, ‘Mr. Ostrander’, I want you.”

Despite himself, Isaac let out an adorable mewl as Richard brought the cat’s hand up to his lips and chivalrously planted a kiss on the back.
	“Jesus, Richard,” Isaac said, “A-are you sure you’ve been with other people before? How could anyone leave you if you treat your dates like this?” For just a moment, Richard’s smile faltered, and the border collie sighed.
	“Well, I may be charming AF, but I haven’t historically made the best choices in partners...” Richard said, “But you know, I think my luck is turning around for the better.” Suddenly he darted in and playfully licked Isaac’s nose, making his whiskers twitch.
	“Knock on wood,” the dog added, idly reaching out to rap his knuckles against the table next to them.

A few minutes later, a pair of empty tumblers sat on that table, glinting wetly in the moonlight. They were, of course, already forgotten by the men who’d been drinking from them, as they stumbled into Isaac’s bedroom, lost in each other’s arms and kissing hungrily. As Isaac’s hands slipped under Richard’s shirt and began running along the contours of his muscular back, the dog growled with need and bent in closer to his lover’s shoulder, just barely grazing it with his teeth before he hesitated and started to lean back. Reading the situation immediately, Isaac shook his head.
	“No, it's fine, bite-play is fine,” Isaac whispered, averting his eyes with a self-conscious smile, “Um, when cats get really turned on, we, uh, kinda have this sort of... pain-for-pleasure response?” Blinking slowly, Richard gazed off into the middle distance, as if performing a mental review of everything he knew about felines.
	“...That explains a lot,” he concluded quietly. Embarrassed, Isaac tried to get his date’s mind off the subject by kissing him again.

After what felt like both a very long time and not nearly enough, Isaac forced himself to push the other male away.
	“Okay! I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not come in my pants,” the cat said, breathlessly, “We need to let go so we can get our clothes off.” He couldn’t have hidden the reluctance in his voice as he said the words ‘we need to let go’ if he’d tried.
	“Well, I’m not against the occasional dry hump,” teased Richard, “But God, I want you so bad... So alright.” With clear effort, they released their embrace and moved to opposite sides of Isaac’s bed so they could keep their hands off each other long enough to get undressed.

	“Just so we’re clear,” Richard said, as he fussed with his belt buckle, “You do want this, right? I mean, I know I can be forward, but I don’t wanna be pushy...” Isaac glanced over his shoulder as he continued to unbutton his shirt.
	“Oh, I want this, I want this a lot!” he said, immediately and perhaps a bit more enthusiastically than he intended. But when Richard chuckled, it didn’t feel the slightest bit mocking, so the Bengal just grinned and went back to undressing, shivering in eager anticipation. As his pants dropped to the floor, and he was finally freed, Isaac smiled to himself.
	“You know,” he mused, “We haven’t actually talked about who’s going to top and who’s going to bottom...” He’d intended to follow that with a ‘but’ and to volunteer for his preferred position, but the words evaporated as he turned around, finally naked, at the exact moment Richard did the same. Both men’s eyes widened in shock as their gazes locked on each other’s genitals, and as one, they pointed at each other’s erections and simultaneously let out a loud protest.
	“There is no way you are putting that inside me!”

Isaac’s tail poofed out from the shock as he took a step backwards, leaning back against the wall of his bedroom, unable to take his eyes off the other male’s prick. Richard was staring similarly unsubtly, but he stayed right where he was, tilting his head to one side in befuddlement.
	“What... what am I looking at?” the dog asked, perplexed. The head of Isaac’s penis, which had long since slipped out of his sheath, was conical, and covered in distinctive spines.
	“You’re asking me that question?!” Isaac replied, incredulously. Richard’s own phallus had a tapered head, and at the spot where his shaft met his sheath, the flesh swelled out into a bulb almost twice the width of the rest of his cock.
	“Are you, like, secretly an alien or something?” Richard asked, “Oh man, it would be so rad to have an alien boyfriend!”
	“What? No!” Isaac said, and he would have blushed if he weren’t already beet red. “It’s just – it’s Inherited, alright? Isn’t that what your deal is?”

Morphic Inheritance was a common, though little-understood phenomenon in which some aspect of a Morphic person’s body was less like those of the humans who shared their shape, and more like those of their feral ancestors. Isaac wasn’t exactly thinking about the science at the moment, though, he was more concerned with his canine boyfriend’s – okay, that was a little premature – his canine date’s wacky genitals. Richard shrugged and nodded at the same time.
	“Okay, yeah, mine’s Inherited too,” he said, “It’s just... is that really what cat junk looks like? Why is it all pointy?” Isaac’s ears were already lowered, but he felt them twitch, trying to lower themselves further anyway, as if they could just clip through his skull and disappear. Whiskers twitching with agitation, the cat sighed.
	“So I guess this is the weirdest dick you’ve ever seen, huh?” Isaac muttered, wondering how in the world he was still so hard.
	“Actually, there was this one guy...” Richard mused, briefly staring off into the distance for a moment before blinking and smiling self-consciously. “But, uh, I guess that’s neither here nor there...”  

Isaac whimpered in frustration and sat down on his bed, leaning his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands, leaving a small gap between them for his muzzle.
	“Ohhh, this isn’t going the way I imagined it at all...” he sighed. He heard Richard clear his throat and come around the bed to sit down next to him.
	“Things rarely do,” the dog said, more softly, “The trick is what you do when things don’t go according to plan.”
	“What do you mean?” the feline replied, without lifting his face. His ears perked back up curiously, though.
	“Well, we’re here, we’re queer, and we’ve got weird gear,” Richard said, facetiously, “We need to figure out whether that means we cut our losses or keep going.” He smiled very slightly, not that the cat noticed from behind his hands. “So, Isaac, I’ve got a red rocket. Does that change how you feel about me?”
	“I – I’m still crazy about you,” Isaac admitted, “I’m just, you know, surprised.”

The Bengal cat finally lifted his head as he felt Richard’s hand on his back, gently rubbing up and down. The dog’s smile grew as their eyes met again, and Isaac felt a familiar flutter in his chest.
	“Let’s face it, Zacky, if we had plain vanilla human dongs, we’d be all over each other already,” he said, cheekily, “But we don’t, so do we just walk away now?” His gaze dropped blatantly to the feline’s prick, which was – somehow – still totally rigid. “...Or do we get acquainted with unfamiliar territory?” Isaac swallowed, took a deep breath, and managed a tiny smile of his own.
	“...I like the second option better,” he said, “But don’t call me ‘Zacky’.” Richard shrugged in a distinctly unapologetic way as his tail began to wag.
	“It’s hard to make a nickname for ‘Isaac’,” he replied, “Maybe it’ll grow on you.” Despite himself, Isaac giggled.
	“We’ll see about that... Dick.” Richard flinched and then laughed, in that order.
	“Point made and retracted.”

Sitting up as straight as he wasn’t, Isaac turned slightly towards the other male. He’d been more than a little distracted by Richard’s penis, but now that the shock was wearing off, his attention wandered to the rest of the muscular canid, and he really, really wanted to run his hands over those pecs, almost as much as he wanted to feel Richard’s hands on his own body. Isaac felt a little self-conscious about how scrawny he was compared to his date, but the way Richard’s eyes kept hungrily roaming his body suggested that the buff dog liked what he saw just as much as Isaac did.
	“So, uh, how do you wanna start?” Richard asked quietly. Feeling emboldened by the idea that this gorgeous man lusted after him, Isaac grinned a Cheshire smile.
	“How about a... hands-on approach?” the cat suggested, going for the obvious joke.
	“Well, that depends,” the border collie replied, touching one hand to his chin thoughtfully, “Are those spikes gonna, like, inject me with venom or something?”

Isaac laughed, surprised.
	“You ass!” he replied lightheartedly, shaking his head, “My dick is not venomous! Do I sound Australian to you? ...And they’re called barbs, not spikes.”
	“Oh, that really makes me want to give you a handjob...” muttered Richard. Blushing, the cat rubbed at the back of his neck.
	“Well, they’re... a lot softer on morphics than on ferals...” he said, self-consciously. The voice of doubt in the back of his mind was starting to fret that he was losing Richard, but the dog seemed just as interested in the taller male’s naked body as before. It was proving difficult, though, to shake off the worry in the back of his mind that if his unusual penis hadn’t ruined things with Richard, the cat would still find a way. Naturally, it was at that moment, as Isaac was distracted with his own fretting, that Richard made his move. He suddenly climbed up onto the bed, his tail wagging madly behind him, and reached out to push a surprised Isaac down onto his back.
	“Relax, babe, I can see how tense you are,” the dog whispered, churring lightly to his partner, “Just lie back and take it easy, let me take care of you...”

With that, Richard leaned down and kissed the nervous male, who shuddered with pleasure and sighed through his nostrils. After a long, deep kiss, Richard broke it off and smiled down at him.
	“I know you’re worried, but hey, at least you don’t have an Inherited tongue,” Richard mused, “I hear that’s like sandpaper, not sure I’d want to kiss that...” He began to affectionately lick at Isaac’s cheek fur, only to lean back with a gasp after a few seconds.
	“Oh! I, uh, I’m sorry!” the collie said, lowering his own ears, “I g-guess that’s kind of a dog thing, I just wasn’t thinking, and then I slobbered all over you, and...” Isaac watched, surprised. He’d thought of himself as a mess of nerves while Richard remained cool and collected, but now he wondered if the confident canine wasn’t just better at hiding his insecurities. Since the kiss began, Isaac’s hands had been curled up on his chest, an instinctive position for a cat on his back, but now he reached up and put one hand on the back of Richard’s neck – to brace himself as he leaned up and licked the side of the dog’s muzzle.
	“We do it too, you goof, those sandpaper tongues are like grooming combs for ferals.” The way Richard’s eyes lit up and his smile widened actually made Isaac feel a little less anxious himself. Oh, he really liked this guy...

As their lips returned to each other, Isaac let his hand slip down onto Richard’s chest, and he began to run his fingers along the buff male’s well-defined muscles. The dog was clearly aware of the wandering hand, but let it go on its merry way as he moved one of his own strong, confident hands to the skinny feline’s body. In keeping with his rather forward personality, Richard went straight for Isaac’s soft, fuzzy belly. With feral cats, going for the tum uninvited is a good way to experience four limbs full of razor-sharp points closing over your hand like a bear trap, followed by a very angry set of jaws closing on your knuckles (albeit a rather small set, unless that feral is, say, a jaguar or a lion). With morphics, or at least with Isaac, the reaction was much subtler, in that the Bengal cat tensed up from head to toe for just a moment at the first touch, and then relaxed, practically melting beneath Richard as that hand playfully scratched through his stomach fur. Isaac felt himself begin to purr as that hand started wandering his body, carefully and tantalizingly avoiding the regions that most ached to be touched. Without either of them laying a hand on it, he felt his penis throb hard, a droplet of pre-come drooling down his neglected shaft. He’d never been this into foreplay before...

Eventually, the dog broke off the kiss in order to chuckle.
	“Your skin is so loose,” he marvelled, pinching some lightly between his fingers and pulling it away from Isaac’s body, “Did you lose a ton of weight or something?” Isaac laughed gently and shook his head, which he imagined tickled the other male’s muzzle with his whiskers.
	“No, that’s just how cats are,” he replied, “That’s why hairless cats look like ballsacks.” Richard laughed delightedly at this candid description and leaned back in to kiss his lover again. Around the time Isaac was shamelessly fondling Richard’s thick biceps on the arm that was supporting his weight, Richard was running his palm up and down the cat’s slender legs. Isaac’s anxiety had slowly faded away into an easily ignorable background noise. Richard broke off the kiss and nuzzled against the cat’s cheek.
	“Are you ready?” he whispered. Isaac’s whiskers twitched curiously. That question could be referring to a lot of things...
	“Ready for what?” he whispered back, then yelped aloud as Richard’s hand moved up and suddenly took hold of his scrotum, giving the sensitive orbs within a gentle squeeze as he licked the surprised cat’s nose.
	“For me to play with your balls, of course,” Richard teased, matter-of-factly.

The dog began to toy with Isaac’s testicles, tenderly rubbing his fingertips along the soft skin of the skinny male's sac as though trying to memorize its many wrinkles. Immensely turned on, the Bengal kitty whimpered and squirmed beneath his lover, who churred to him and began to plant kisses along his neck and shoulder.
	“So heavy,” the canine teased, whispering in Isaac’s ear, “I love playing with a set of nice, heavy balls... Almost as much as I love ‘lightening the load’, heh heh...”
	“Oh... oh, God...” the trembling cat sighed, spreading his legs a little to offer Richard more access to his treasures. He lifted a shaky hand, intending to grab hold of the dog’s own sac, which swayed invitingly beneath his rigid cock, but Richard suddenly moved down the bed. For a moment, Isaac thought he was about to get a blowjob, but instead, the collie leaned in close, grazing his lover’s fuzzy scrotum with his cold, wet nose, and inhaled deeply of the musky scent of Isaac’s arousal.
	“Christ, you smell so good...” Richard murmured, visibly shivering, “I never thought I’d get so turned on by a cat...” He extended his tongue and gently licked Isaac’s balls, just once, and then looked up, making eye contact.
	“I can’t stand it any longer,” Richard said, “I’ve got to know what it feels like...” Swallowing, his mouth very dry, Isaac beckoned him back up the bed.
	“Th-then get back up here, so I can touch you too!”

A heartbeat later, and they were face-to-face again. Isaac found he quite liked having the muscular male on all fours above him. Richard was clearly psyching himself up to touch Isaac’s feline dick, to the point where he was hover-handing it. Partially to help Richard relax, and partially out of his own impatience, Isaac reached forward and began to fondle Richard’s balls, feeling them up as thoroughly as if performing a lump check. Richard grunted in surprise, then let out a sigh of relief as his orbs were jostled and massaged. His veiny red prick twitched, and a shining pearl emerged from the tip and began to ooze down to the bed, but acting on impulse, feeling just a little bolder than before, Isaac let go of Richard’s sac and intercepted the pre on a fingertip before it reached the sheets. Looking his lover in the eye and winking, the cat playfully licked it off his finger, savouring the kinky moment, not to mention his first hint of the flavour of dog come. Richard chuckled and grinned, shaking his head in admiration.
	“Boy, did I ever click on the right profile...”

Now clearly more comfortable, Richard moved his hand back in and carefully brushed one fingertip along Isaac’s barbs. They weren’t exactly the most sensitive part of his manhood, but the cat bit back a whimper anyway. The canine was visibly relieved that the barbs didn’t hook into his finger the way their name clearly suggested to him.
	“So, uh, what are these for, anyway?” he asked, softly. Swallowing self-consciously, resisting the urge to thrust his hips against the other male’s hand, Isaac averted his gaze and studied his own bedside lamp, which he often used as a reading light before sleep.
	“Well, ah, on morphics they’re pretty much too soft to really do anything,” he said, “But on ferals they sort of...” He cleared his throat, hoping this didn’t gross the man out. “They scratch the shit out of a female’s, you know, to try and induce o-ovulation.” Like many gay men, Isaac found the female reproductive system to be an unpleasant thing, and he wasn’t sure how Richard felt about it, so he stuck to being as vague and clinical as he could.

Richard looked up in surprise, and an embarrassed Isaac instinctively met his gaze.
	“Damn, I didn’t realize you guys were so kinky,” he said, pausing a moment before adding “Though I guess that does explain that pain-for-pleasure thing you mentioned...” Suddenly the dog grinned in delight.
	“So, wait, they’re supposed to encourage pregnancy? In a woman?” he asked, clearly amused. Isaac chuckled at that and shrugged.
	“Yeah, yeah, and a tail-raiser like me got stuck with ‘em,” he replied, “Whatcha gonna do?” Richard laughed gently, shaking his head – and then closed his hand around Isaac’s aching dick, which throbbed yet again as if in relief that it was finally getting some attention. The cat shuddered and swore under his breath as Richard felt up his penis, rubbing his thumb up and down the sensitive underside, clearly no longer intimidated by the rubbery barbs. But Isaac was a cat, and historically speaking, cats don’t resist curiosity well, so as soon as he recovered enough to speak without moaning, he nodded towards Richard’s ‘red rocket’.
	“Wh-what about you?” he asked, wishing his voice weren’t quite so quivery, “What’s the lump for?”

Richard only glanced up at Isaac’s eyes for a moment before returning his focus to the cat’s erection. He continued to squeeze and fondle the hot flesh without properly stroking it, as if just getting acquainted with the unfamiliar organ.
	“It’s not a lump, it’s a knot,” he said, matter-of-factly, which gave Isaac a moment of déjà vu, “And, uh, it’s actually along the same lines, but a bit less, you know, painful.” As he spoke, Isaac found his gaze moving to Richard’s prick, even over the sight of his own being toyed with by the other male. In the instant of that first glance, it had seemed shocking, alien, almost repulsive, but now, the cat couldn’t help but wonder what that veiny, dark red tool would feel like in his hand... or in his mouth... or buried deep under his tail.
	“The knot swells up right before I come,” Richard continued, nonchalantly, “And if I weren’t as queer as a seven-dollar bill, it would keep me from pulling out of a female for a while after sex, and keep all the jizz from leaking out.” Isaac shivered, and it wasn’t just because of Richard’s hand on his cock.
	“Y-you mean that thing gets even bigger?” he asked, nervously.

Richard met Isaac’s eyes for just a moment and smirked.
	“Sure does,” he replied, “Even keeps me from losing my hard-on for the better part of an hour after I come.” The cat’s gaze dropped to that thick, hard knot at the base of his lover’s prick, and he swallowed nervously. Maybe he needed to rethink his plan...
	“S-so, um, I was starting to say earlier,” he said, failing utterly to sound casual, “We never talked about who’s gonna do what to who...” To his chagrin, the muscular male chuckled.
	“You know, Isaac,” the shorter male said, gently, “Your dating profile said you were a bottom.” The feline’s face fell as his ears flattened against his head again.
	“Oh crap!” he blurted out, “I forgot!” Richard’s chuckles progressed into full laughter, and Isaac pouted, averting his gaze irritably.
	“Awww, poor kitty,” teased the dog, “Afraid of my big, scary knot? Think I might ruin your beautiful ass?” Isaac tensed up as Richard briefly let go of his cock and trailed a single finger down to tease just at the edge of his anus, circling the cat’s tight backdoor provocatively with his fingertip.
	“What’s the matter, you sweet thing?” Richard said in a playful, husky whisper, “Are you... a pussy?”

Blushing even harder, Isaac’s head whipped around to face Richard again, his eyes widening and his pupils narrowing to vertical slits. Sitting up, he lightly smacked Richard on the back of the hand, making the surprised dog fall back into a sitting position himself, and then Isaac stuck one accusatory finger up in Richard’s personal space, practically touching his nose.
	“So what if I’m afraid?!” he replied, indignantly, “I’m as tight as a schoolboy, and that thing’s the size of my fist!” Both of those claims were exaggerated, but that wasn’t the point. “And here you are teasing me about it like I’m hiding from a spider or something! If I’m a pussy, then you’re a – a son of a bitch!” Leaning forward, his own brow furrowed, Richard got all up in Isaac’s business, to use the technical term, so close they could feel each other’s breath.
	“Oh, we are, are we?!” the dog said.
	“Yeah!” the cat replied. A moment passed, the two men glaring at each other and breathing hard... and then Richard smiled.
	“Well, I guess we are then,” he said, calmly.

With that, the spell was broken, and both men relaxed their exaggeratedly tense stances, laughing lightly together. Richard raised both arms and draped them loosely around Isaac’s shoulders, leaning in for a series of short, playful kisses.
	“Mmmm, that was kinda hot,” the dog murmured between pecks, “Kitty’s got claws... I didn’t know I liked that in a man.” Isaac giggled.
	“I wasn’t sure you knew I was playing,” he admitted, “I kinda thought you were gonna punch me when I used the B-word.” Richard opened his mouth to reply, and instead barked in surprise, tensing up as one of Isaac’s hands took hold of his cock and began exploring the uncharted territory. After a few moments, the dog relaxed again, his tail began to wag once more, and he smiled.
	“I’m not so upt-tight about that word,” he said, giving the faintest shiver as Isaac rubbed his thumb across the tapered head of his penis. “I mean... I was kinda hoping you would want to be my bitch at some point...”  Hot pre-come ran down Isaac’s knuckles as his hand slid down to Richard’s knot for the first time. Aside from the bulbous shape, it didn’t feel that different from the rest of his dick; the cat had been half-expecting it to feel as hard as stone.
	“Don’t go getting ahead of yourself...” he said, trying not to let on that he found that weirdly flattering.

After a moment, the Bengal cat sighed and his smile faded.
	“I... I am really nervous about this, though,” he admitted, giving the knot a squeeze – and being surprised by the way Richard’s entire body visibly tensed up in response. “I mean, I’m no virgin, but...” The dog raised one hand and waved it dismissively.
	“It’s okay, I was just teasing,” he said, reaching down and putting his hand atop Isaac’s, still wrapped around Richard’s own knot. “Actually, if it makes you feel any better... there’s no way I’m putting this inside you.” Isaac would have found that an amusing callback, but he didn’t understand, and said as much. The dog shrugged and began to rub the back of his neck again.
	“It’s a... canine culture thing,” he explained, “if you’re born with a knot, you’re not supposed to actually tie with anyone, until...” He hadn’t explained the word ‘tie’, but Isaac was pretty sure what it meant, and he was impatient to find out what Richard was dancing around.
	“Until what?” he asked, “Until you turn forty? Until the vernal equinox?” Richard smiled self-consciously, and Isaac realized the confident male was blushing.
	“...Until you are absolutely certain that the person you are with is the one you want to spend the rest of your life with,” he said, totally earnestly, “Until you find your mate.”

Leaning back a little, his hand sliding off his lover’s dick, Isaac swallowed. He hadn’t quite expected something that solemn, and he felt a touch shocked.
	“...Oh,” was all he said.
	“And I mean, I like you, Isaac, I like you a lot,” Richard continued, “But this is the first time we’ve seen each other naked, we haven’t even said the three little words yet, so...” He smirked at the expression on the cat’s face and returned one hand to Isaac’s shoulder.
	“Hey, don’t be all weirded out,” he said, “I’m totally willing to fuck you tonight, I just won’t be tying with you. I thought that’s what you wanted?” Chuckling, Isaac smiled slightly. He’d just been caught up in the moment, momentarily taken aback.
	“Yeah,” he replied, “Yeah, I suppose it is.” Glancing back down at his lover’s manhood, one of Isaac’s ears tilted to the side curiously.
	“I had no idea you guys even had, like, an honour code about your dicks,” he said. The dog laughed at that, but this one felt just a little forced.
	“Well, it’s kind of an old tradition,” he admitted, “I mean, the foxes never practiced it at all, and, uh... not everybody goes along with it these days.”

Taking the initiative, wanting to see that beautiful smile again, the cat leaned in and touched one hand to Richard’s face.
	“Hey babe...” he murmured, scratching the dog’s cheek supportively, “I understand if you can’t put that knot inside me... thank you God...” He stage-whispered that part, and earned a small smile from the border collie for it. “...But maybe you can, say, whisper in my ear what you plan to do to me instead.” Leaning back a little, Isaac turned his head to the side and rotated one of his ears straight towards the dog, lifted as high as it could go.

Richard snickered in amusement, and his warm breath tickled the sensitive tuft of hairs inside the feline’s ear (which, by his experience, was much more pleasing to the eye than the hair that grew in, say, a human’s ear). Leaning in closer and humouring the skinny male, Richard cupped a hand next to his mouth conspiratorially.
	“Well, I’d like to lie you down and rut you until you squeal with the rest of my dick,” he teased, “But I can tell you’re still a little nervous about it, so I was thinking that I would start off slow and give you a handjob.” Isaac swallowed back a giggle of excitement.
	“To be honest, I really want to watch you come,” Richard breathed, “I grunt and growl like a caveman when I blow my load, but I bet you’re the kinda guy who makes cute little noises when you pop. Huh? Am I right?” Turning towards his lover with a wide, playful smile across his muzzle, Isaac planted a kiss on Richard’s nose.
	“Only one way to find out, big boy!”

Seconds later, Isaac found himself on his back again, which suited him just fine, just like having Richard’s tongue in his mouth.
	I could kiss this dog all night, he distantly thought, which was good, since their actions seemed to be leaning in that direction. Without breaking off the kiss, without even opening his eyes, Richard reached down and took hold of Isaac’s dick again, and this time, he began to rub and stroke, gripping him just tight enough to emphasize the friction without actually slowing down his hand as it slid up and down the cat’s rigid shaft. Shuddering with pleasure, Isaac embraced the other male with both arms, gripping fistfuls of the fur on Richard’s back as if bracing himself against the sensations.
	“Nnngh... D-don’t stop...” he panted, after breaking off the kiss with a gasp of pleasure, “Oh, Richard...”

Isaac squirmed and whimpered with every caress of his manhood, unable to remember the last time he felt this good from a simple handjob. As he trembled, he felt his dancing tail brush against Richard’s scrotum and start it gently swaying. This planted a thought in the cat’s mind: No one is touching Richard like he’s touching me. Determined to right this clear injustice, Isaac loosened his embrace, so that his upper back eased back down to the sheets. Letting go of the dog’s back with one hand, Isaac took a deep breath (no easy feat when he was panting from the pleasure he felt) and reached down between their bodies, wrapping his fingers around Richard’s ruby-red tool and giving it a squeeze. The collie shivered and huffed through his nose, but he said nothing, just kept stroking Isaac’s cock as he smiled a little wider.

Both men were now rubbing and stroking and teasing each other’s dicks as they trembled and writhed and moaned in pleasure, really getting into it. In stark contrast to their reaction when they’d first seen each other naked, the two lovers had clearly embraced their anatomical differences. Richard showed no fear of Isaac’s barbs, freely rubbing back and forth across them, tugging the rubbery protrusions in one direction, then the other. Meanwhile, Isaac was gripping and massaging Richard’s thick, firm knot just like the rest of his unit. The slender kitty particularly enjoyed the discovery that the dog was very sensitive to having the base of his prick squeezed, the surprisingly narrow stretch of flesh under the knot, leading into his sheath. This would later be explained to Isaac as a reflexive response to the sensation of tying with a mate. Moving his free hand to the back of Richard’s neck, the Bengal cat pulled him down and kissed him passionately, losing himself in the heady ecstasy of the moment.

As they continued their mutual stroking, as the pleasure built up within their bodies, the lovers’ reactions began to grow more pronounced. Isaac started to roll his hips without even being aware of it, lifting his rump from the bed in his quest for ever more stimulation, and Richard hunched down and began thrusting into Isaac’s hand, growling with need as pre freely dripped from his prick down onto Isaac, who was too consumed by lust to care. They kept moving closer and closer without realizing it, until their knuckles brushed into each other, hitching up their rhythm. Breaking off the kiss, they both glanced down between them and realized what had happened... and then, without a word being exchanged out loud, they both opened their hands as the muscular dog lowered himself a little more, pressing his hot, rigid cock up against Isaac’s. The feline moaned shamelessly as they closed their hands over both of their hard-ons and began stroking both of them together, even as they alternated thrusting with their hips so that the sensitive undersides of their pricks rubbed against each other; by now, both of them were so coated in pre-come that they glistened, so the rubbing was smooth and the friction was anything but uncomfortable.

	“Oh – oh my God, this is so f-fucking good...” Isaac mewled, “I’ve n-never actually done this before...”
	“I have,” panted Richard, “and y-you’re a fucking – Hnnf! – a fucking natural, babe...” He leaned down to kiss Isaac, only to duck to the side at the last second and bite the cat on the shoulder. Isaac tensed up, arched his back, and moaned wordlessly before settling back down; if he hadn’t been so consumed by desire, he would have felt self-conscious at the incredulous expression on Richard’s face.
	“Damn... you really do get off t-to that...” the dog muttered, “That’s so hot...” Isaac was glad he approved, but instead of saying anything, he reached down between them and scooped up their balls in his free hand, pressing their delicate orbs together and gently rolling them around in his palm as he continued to assist Richard in jerking the both of them off. An old line about what happens when the balls touch distantly wove through Isaac’s mind, but he’d known he was gay since he was fourteen, so the childish joke failed to have much impact. Richard grunted as their scrotums made contact, and Isaac whimpered as he felt the more muscular male’s prick throb, hard, against his shaft, followed by the sensation of hot pre running down onto the head of his own cock.
	“F-fuck... I – I’m not gonna last much l-longer...” the taller of the two sighed, bemoaning his fate.
	“Course not, you s-started earlier,” the dog replied, matter-of-factly. As the Bengal had been distantly worried that Richard would tease him for coming first, that was music to his ears, and he stopped resisting the pleasure quite as hard as he had been.

Words fell away as they kissed and stroked and kneaded and writhed together, their pelts glistening with sweat, Isaac’s bed creaking beneath them, and their breath coming hot and fast. Soon enough, the cat knew he could fight it no longer, and he broke off their latest kiss to whimper, letting go of their balls as he did so that he could grab onto his own head with that hand.
	“Oh Christ, I – I’m so c-close, Richard, I – hnngh! – I’m gonna fucking cooooome...” he moaned, already beginning to tense up.
	“Do it, Isaac baby, come as h-hard as you c-can, come for me!” Richard panted encouragingly, his eyes and grin wide with excitement. Seeing his own overpowering desire mirrored in his lover’s eyes, the feline surrendered to the moment, letting out a high-pitched yelp as his orgasm burst forth from within him, flooding his entire body with tingling pleasure. His dick began to throb and flex against Richard’s, shooting thick, creamy volleys of feline jism onto his stomach and chest with each pulse, one making it as far as one of the cat’s nipples before landing. And all the while, Isaac whimpered and mewled, shaking with ecstasy that was only fuelled and strengthened by the fact that the other male was eagerly taking in the sight, drinking in each and every detail of the skinny cat’s climax.  

It was such a hard orgasm that there were spots dancing in front of Isaac’s eyes by the time he finished, so he can be forgiven for being too distracted to realize exactly how much Richard was enjoying himself as he continued to stroke their cocks together. No sooner had Isaac finished spilling quite the impressive load on himself before Richard hunched forward with a potent growl.
	“G-goddamn, I – I’m right there too,” the dog managed, “I’m g-gonna fuckin’ nut all over y-you!” Isaac hadn’t even had time to go flaccid, so his manhood was still nice and hard as his lover followed him into release with a snarl. Isaac could feel every flex, every spasm of Richard’s erection as the canine began to come – and he could feel Richard’s knot swelling up even further as that red, veiny prick began spurting hot, wet semen onto Isaac’s body, leaving him even more of a sticky mess. Being covered in fresh come like this made the cat feel a little slutty... and he loved it.

When the grand display had ended, Richard let out a sigh and pitched over onto his side, flopping down next to Isaac, who just lay there limply, basking in the moment. He was purring at full volume, and Richard’s tail was weakly wagging even now in his exhaustion. Their hands sought each other out and laced together, and Isaac couldn’t help but think this was the start of something wonderful. He turned his head to face his lover, shivering as he found the dog gazing at him adoringly. And even with his tongue lolling out, even panting as hard as he was, Richard was still deeply handsome in the cat’s Inherited eyes. They smiled silently at each other and moved their necks just enough to share a quick peck on the lips.
	“What did I tell you?” Richard said, when he could speak. He raised his free hand and pointed at himself.
	“Grunty caveman sounds.” He turned the hand around and pointed at the come-covered cat.
	“Cute high-pitched noises.” Isaac laughed tiredly and gave his hand a squeeze.
	“You called it, alright,” he chuckled, before sighing contentedly. “That. Was. Amazing. I had no idea it could feel that good with just hands and dry humping!” Reaching over with his free hand, Richard dipped a finger into the warm goo coating much of Isaac’s torso, then brought it to his lips as if he were tasting cake icing.
	“Mmmm. Nothing dry about that humping, babe.”  

Isaac found he quite liked it when this wonderful man called him ‘babe’ and ‘baby’.
	“You know, sweetie,” he replied, angling for a nickname of his own, “I wouldn’t have minded if you wanted me to finish you off with my mouth...” The dog laughed.
	“Are you kidding? And miss the chance to contribute to such a mess?” he teased, “I’ve marked you, Isaac, you’re my kitty now!” Isaac giggled, still feeling light-headed from that release.
	“How very medieval of you,” he replied playfully.
	“Well, if you’d like, I could do the traditional method of marking you as my property, but, uh, you’d have to wash the sheets...” As he spoke, Richard leaned up on his side, took hold of his dick, and pointed it at Isaac, who raised his free hand, alarmed.
	“Don’t you dare!” he gasped, lowering his ears... and then keeping them there when Richard burst out laughing.
	“Relax, babe, nobody does that one anymore, not for like, five hundred years. Besides, you’ve seen how hard this thing is, right? No way I’ll be able to piss for a while...” In truth, that hadn’t really occurred to the cat, who was content to just float on a cloud of post-coital bliss. He reached out curiously and gave his lover’s manhood a poke, finding it just as stiff as it had been during their frottage play.

	“Huh, it really isn’t going down,” he observed, “You dogs are weird, man.”
	“Normally I’d say it gives us more cuddling time, but you’re covered in come,” Richard deadpanned. “I kinda like to lick up the mess afterwards, but that is a lot of jizz, so, uh, you want me to get you a towel, or...?” Isaac grinned at the shorter male, parting his lips just slightly for a moment so his purring came through loud and clear.
	“I don’t mind a good cleaning...” he replied coyly (or about as close to ‘coyly’ as one can get while splattered with fresh ejaculate). Richard let out a breath the cat hadn’t realized he’d been holding, and his tail began to wag a little faster.
	“Oh good,” he said sheepishly, “’Cause I really wanted to do it, but I thought if I said that I’d sound like a come-slut...” Laughing delightedly, Isaac crooked one finger at his lover.
	“You say that like it would be a bad thing,” he purred. The dog rolled his eyes as he got up on all fours, bent down, and – with a wink thrown towards the eagerly-watching Isaac – began to lick the semen from the Bengal cat’s soft belly fur with long, slow drags of his wide, flat tongue.

Isaac sighed contentedly, shivering as his lover gradually licked up their mingling seed.
	“God, I love being groomed...” he muttered, “But I never ask anyone to do it for me because the first time I did, the guy called me a throwback...”
	“Well, fuck him then,” Richard said calmly between licks, then paused again to add “Actually, scratch that, fuck me instead.” The cat tittered at that, but before he could make a joke about how he preferred to be the one getting fucked, his phone let out a jingle. Glancing at his wristwatch, which he’d never bothered taking off, the cat frowned slightly.
	“Who the fuck’s texting me at this hour?” he murmured. He had to suppress a giggle as Richard’s tongue teased over his glazed nipple, and then the dog glanced up at him calmly, licking his lips.
	“You can check it if you want,” he said, “I’m pretty much done here.”
	“Are you kidding? Checking my phone with a gorgeous stud of a man like you in my bed?” he replied, only half exaggerating. At that very moment, Richard’s phone loudly played a snippet of a song from the 80’s, and as the collie sat back on his knees, he smiled benevolently at his lover.
	“There, now we can both be distant and distracted,” he said, delightedly.

Without giving Isaac a moment to protest this, the muscular dog turned around and bent over the side of the bed, reaching down to grab his discarded pants, and giving Isaac an amazing view of his rump and the back of his balls in the process, thanks to his tail, which was still flagged high and wagging from side to side. Even preferring to bottom, Isaac wasn’t blind to a nice ass, and he made a mental note to ask Richard if they could switch somewhere down the road. This was, of course, followed by a moment of silent yet giddy excitement as Isaac realized that he was seriously thinking about this as the beginning of something long-term, which had been a void in his life for a long time. Belatedly reaching down the other side of the bed and getting his own skinny jeans, Isaac retrieved his phone and eyed the notification warily.
	“It’s from Catherine, the monkey you met earlier,” he said, as Richard sat back down next to him, “I swear to God, if she’s texting to ask how deep you are inside me...” 

As Richard settled down, and his still-hard penis flopped against his stomach, he laughed heartily at that.
	“Oh my God, please tell me she’s actually done that before,” he said, “That would make my day... or at least it would if this weren’t the same day you took me to bed.” The cat giggled before answering.
	“No, Cate’s never actually gone that far, but, uh, she does overshare sometimes... And she can get a little overenthusiastic when her friends start seeing people,” Isaac replied, “Particularly when it’s me, since I, uh, don’t get into a lot of relationships.” 

The slender male sighed and shook his head, but couldn’t keep a smile off his muzzle. 	“I swear I wouldn’t be surprised if she was already planning our wedding...”
	“So, what’s she say?” Richard asked, conversationally.
	“Uhh...” Isaac hesitated, “Maybe we should just go back to cuddling...” The dog snickered.
	“You started blushing as soon as you looked at the screen,” he said, “There’s no way I’m letting that one pass!” Lowering his ears, Isaac surrendered.
	“Okay, okay... she says, um... ‘Just letting you know, all jokes aside, your boy is a total hottie. You win this round of dating.’” Richard burst out into delighted laughter.
	“I knew I liked that girl!” he said, “Hey, don’t be embarrassed, babe, she’s happy for you, and she thinks I’m sexy, that means she’s a great friend and she has good taste.”

Isaac managed a chuckle, despite his embarrassment, and it helped when Richard smiling that damnably charming grin of his, but he was still quick to change the subject.
	“What does yours say, then?” he asked. Unlocking his own phone, the dog poked at his screen, squinting ever so slightly. 
	“Mine’s from a buddy of mine, Calvin, I think you’d like him,” he said, tapping at his phone, “Looks like he got accepted into that uni program he applied for. Let’s see... ‘that’s... awesome... dude... I’m so... proud... of you... big grin emoji.’”
	“Don’t you work with computers? I thought only baby boomers narrated their text messages,” teased Isaac, “How is it so charming coming from you?” Completely unphased, the collie shrugged.
	“Maybe it’s because I’m so handsome and witty.” The skinny male laughed cheerily at the humble-brag, and leaned over to kiss his lover on the cheek.
	“Tell Calvin I said hi,” he said facetiously. Isaac expected the dog to make a joke out of it, but Richard just looked over at him with a smaller, earnest smile across his muzzle.
	“How would you feel about meeting him yourself?” he asked, casually dropping his phone to a soft landing on top of his clothes.

The Bengal cat swallowed, his tail beginning to flick about in agitation.
	“Are – are you asking me to meet your friends?” he asked, carefully. Reaching over, Richard laid his hand on the other male’s knee.
	“Yes, Isaac, I’d like to be your boyfriend,” he said, “To answer your real question.” The feline wasn’t exactly proud of the high-pitched noise he made, but he was too happy to be ashamed of it.
	“I’d love to get serious with you, Richard!” he said, “God, tonight has been awesome!” Carefully reaching over and removing Isaac’s phone from his hand, then reaching past him and gently laying it down on the bedside table, Richard regarded Isaac with bedroom eyes and a sexy smile.
	“But before I show you off to all my friends as my shy, sexy kitty,” the dog continued, “I’m going to kiss and cuddle you until we can both get it up again, and then I’m going to fuck you so well, neither of us will be able to walk until the sun comes up.” Those toned, muscular arms pulled Isaac into his embrace, and the cat let him, eagerly hugging him back.
	“I was gonna sleep in tomorrow anyway...”

And then there was only giggling and kissing and purring.

* * *

Five years later, the setting sun shone warmly through the window of a condo where Isaac Ostrander stood at the balcony. He had a steaming cup of coffee in his hand as he idly gazed over the public park, far below. The view was gorgeous, and yet it wasn’t his favourite thing about living here. That, of course, would be the company. He turned around, closing the sliding door behind him, and strolled past the mantle over their decorative fireplace, which, when activated, gave off about as much warmth as a poorly-optimized computer. Atop that mantle were a series of framed pictures that brought a nostalgic smile to the cat’s face. Isaac and Richard MacGregor on stage at a karaoke club, drunkenly putting their all into Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell. A candid shot of Isaac and Richard taken from behind as they walked hand in hand through the very park the Bengal cat had just been admiring. Richard and Isaac kissing eagerly at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve a couple years ago, goofy hats on their heads, silly string flying through the air around them. And of course, Isaac and Richard raising their glasses at a bar with their closest friends, including a beaver named Calvin Sheldon and a capuchin named Catherine White.

The cat took a cautious sip of his coffee to find that it had cooled enough to drink, just as his boyfriend burst from the hallway in a bit of a tizzy.
	“Have you seen my nice shoes?” Richard asked, fiddling with his tie, “Wait, why aren’t you getting ready? Gaaah, we should have started sooner, we’re going to be late!” Isaac watched him in mild amusement, his tail floating about behind him.
	“We’ve got plenty of time,” he said, just firmly enough, “Relax, sweetie, I thought I was supposed to be the high-strung one.” He crossed the floor, put a hand on his lover’s shoulder, and turned the dog to face him, before holding his coffee out to the side to avoid spillage as he leaned in for a quick kiss.
	“Deep breaths, Rick,” he whispered, “Who’s my studly son of a bitch?” The border collie managed a smile at that.
	“I am,” he replied, “Who’s my playful pussy?” With a soft murble, Isaac nuzzled against his cheek.
	“I am,” he said, “So as long as we’re together, we can stand to be fashionably late.” Turning away, he sighed dramatically.
	“On the other hand, Cate will probably tell everyone we stopped for a quickie if that happens, so maybe you’re right.”

Isaac turned towards the hallway, intending to go change into a nicer top, maybe that nice polo shirt he’d picked up the other week, but he only made it about seven steps before he stopped and looked back at the dog, his whiskers twitching curiously.
	“Are you feeling okay, Richard?” he asked, gently. His boyfriend turned towards him with an uncharacteristically nervous aspect to his face.
	“What? No, I’m fine, what do you mean?” he replied, quickly. Isaac shrugged.
	“I don’t know, it’s just that you’re all anxious today and, uh,” he grinned a little self-consciously, “After that last thing I said, I thought for sure you would make a joke about actually stopping to fuck if Catherine was gonna say it anyway.” The cat forced his smile off his face.
	“Are you not attracted to me anymore? Is that the problem?” he asked, managing to keep a straight face.

Richard walked over, a sly smile on his muzzle.
	“Okay, one, I can tell when you’re BSing me, baby,” he replied, “But two, you know I only have eyes for you, and if you want me to prove it, I’ll bend you over the couch right now and fuck you three ways to Sunday!” As he spoke, he put an arm around Isaac and none-too-subtly slid his hand down the curve of his back, clearly intending to slip it into the back of the cat’s pants to fondle his ass. It was a favoured tactic of the collie’s, but Isaac grinned and stepped away.
	“As much fun as that sounds, we would definitely be late if I let you do that,” he said, with a hint of regret, “so maybe I’ll just get a move on before my self-control erodes completely.” As he headed back out into the hallway, Isaac smiled. One tease, and he had Richard sounding like himself again.
	“I’ve still got it,” the feline whispered to himself.

A few minutes later, Isaac emerged from his room in a nicer outfit. It wasn’t exactly a tuxedo, but then this wasn’t going to be that fancy of a party. When the cat came back out, he found Richard standing there, staring off at nothing in particular as he handled his right pants pocket.
	“You lose your keys, sweetheart?” Isaac called, concerned. Looking up at him, the dog smiled and confidently dipped his hand into his left pocket.
	“Nope,” he said, “Got ‘em right here.” As he pulled the jangly collection free, a very feline part of Isaac found itself struck by curiosity. What was Richard carrying in his other pocket? He tried to shrug it off, to focus on the party instead.
	“Then grab your glasses from the kitchen table, and let’s head over,” he said, “I wanna congratulate Calvin before it gets too crazy over there.”

The drive over seemed to zip by in an instant for Isaac, and not just because Richard was driving just a little faster than he normally did behind the wheel. Isaac barely noticed, as he stared out the passenger’s side window and thought about the party. They’d been looking forward to it for a while, after all. It was to celebrate their beaver friend Calvin’s graduation from university, having finished the program he’d been toiling away in for the entire time Richard and Isaac had been together.
	“Has he talked about what he’s going to do next?” Isaac asked, idly.
	“What? Oh, Cal?” Richard replied tersely, “Uh, I don’t know, I hadn’t asked him yet.”
	“Mmmm, me neither,” the Bengal cat said, still lost in thought. He stayed that way until they reached Calvin’s home.

As he got out of the car, Isaac couldn’t help but stare, impressed.
	“I’ve never actually been here before,” the cat admitted, “Dude’s got a big house.”
	“Yeah, nice big open plan, and a matching backyard,” Richard said, admiringly, “There’s a fire pit back there, lots of space for everybody... that’s why we wanted to hold it here.” Isaac’s ear twitched as they walked up to the front door.
	“What do you mean?” he asked, “Of course we’re holding it here, this is Cal’s place.” Richard lowered his ears, embarrassed.
	“Oh, right...” the shorter male said, a little lamely, “Sorry, I guess I’m a little distracted... I used to get so stressed whenever you two spent any time together.” 

The cat laughed as Richard smiled a blushy smile.
	“I know, it wasn’t exactly subtle,” Isaac teased, “I can’t believe you spent so long trying to hide the fact that you two had knocked boots. It was just a one-night-stand before we met, right? I’m not exactly worried he’s going to steal you away from me.” The skinny male made a dramatic sweeping gesture over himself.
	“After all, he’s got to compete with all this,” he boasted facetiously. Richard laughed at that, relaxing a little.
	“Okay, okay, I was just a little reluctant to tell you I met my best friend on Prowlr,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck.

As they approached the door, Isaac gave his lover a playful sideways glance.
	“So?” he asked, expectantly.
	“So what?” Richard replied.
	“So, was he any good!” the cat laughed, “Does he have a really big dick? Did he get you off hands-free? C’mon, we’re a team, dish! How was it?” Richard made a sound about halfway between a laugh and a surprised bark.
	“Yeah, there is no way I’m having that conversation,” he chuckled, pulling the taller male over for a smooch on the cheek.
	“I love you, but God you make me crazy sometimes,” Richard churred. Isaac nuzzled back.
	“Love you too, Rick, and you know I only do it to keep things interesting...”

He began teasingly licking at Richard’s cheek as if grooming him, making the canine giggle like a schoolboy, until a third voice cut in.
	“God, you two are always so cute together,” Calvin Sheldon said, from his spot leaning against the doorframe, “If I hadn’t just left that cheating bitch, you’d make me hate being single.” The two guests broke off the intimate nuzzling, but their hands automatically found each other.
	“Hey, don’t think about her,” Richard said, totally unashamed of the public display of affection, “Think about you, you’ve accomplished something you should really be proud of!” The beaver responded with a broad, beaming smile which nicely showed off his species' distinctive front teeth. They were rather orange, but this was apparently the norm for beavers, so the cat and the dog didn't mind.
	“Thanks, Richard,” Calvin said, “That really means a lot to me.”
	“He’s right,” piped up Isaac, “You deserve to enjoy tonight. You’re the man of the hour, after all!” The beaver snickered, which seemed like an odd reaction to the cat, but then their host nodded and pushed off the wall, beckoning them after him.
	“Nice of you to say,” Calvin said, “C’mon, we’re missing the party.”

Calvin’s place was impressive, at least to the Bengal cat, who’d never lived in anything larger than the condo he shared with his boyfriend. There were quite a few friends and well-wishers present, and as he idly scanned the crowds, Isaac found that he could recognize almost everyone here, which wasn’t that surprising, since Richard and Calvin were best friends, so their social circles overlapped quite a bit. He hadn’t quite been expecting the numbers, though.
	“Big turnout,” he murmured. Richard shrugged calmly.
	“Cal’s a popular guy,” he said, seemingly more interested in staring out through the glass back doors at the fire pit, where someone was tending to a rather large amount of meat. Smirking, Isaac wrote that off as a dog thing, and slipped into the kitchen.

For once, the kitchen at a party wasn’t clogged with people – all this room had its benefits – and Isaac effortlessly made his way to the fridge, where he retrieved a couple beers, plucking them from clusters of his and Richard’s personal favourites. As he returned to his lover, he was relieved to see that Richard had stopped leering at the fire pit, and had somehow found Catherine, who laughed delightedly with him as Isaac walked up. The cat nudged the muscular male with an elbow and handed over Richard’s beer.
	“Here, sweetie. Hey Cate,” Isaac said, nodding to his sister-from-another-mister, “I thought you had a thing? Glad to see you could make it.” The capuchin donned her widest smile, which, as a monkey, was rather impressive indeed.
	“Oh, I rescheduled,” she said, waving dismissively, “Believe me, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Richard and Isaac clinked their bottles together.
	“To Calvin?” the cat suggested.
	“To Calvin!” Richard agreed. Not wanting to be left out, Catherine raised her own beverage, some kind of mixed drink. Isaac could never remember all the little names, and he couldn’t identify the drink any more specifically than ‘yellow’.
	“Yeah, to Calvin!” she giggled. After Richard took a good swig and sighed contentedly, he nodded to Catherine.
	“Listen, I need to go take care of a thing,” he said, “I think Calvin wants free IT or something, but it’s his place, so I’ll let it slide. Keep my man out of trouble, would you?” Snickering delightedly, the capuchin looked at Isaac and wordlessly pointed at her eyes and then at the cat, who couldn’t help but grin.
	“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, “I knock over one shelf because of a laser dot, and suddenly I’m the guy you can’t leave alone at a party.”

Richard laughed as he walked away.
	“Hey, you said it, not me, babe.” He threw a wink and that one special smile Isaac’s way, and even after five years of dating him, it still planted a fluttery warmth in the cat’s skinny chest.
	“Someday, I want someone to look at me the way he looks at you,” Catherine sighed, “You two are so good together.” Isaac chuckled slightly self-consciously.
	“Don’t you swoon over us like we’re a romance movie,” he scolded her, with absolutely zero fire in his voice, “Makes me worry you’re writing fanfiction about us.”
	“I do not swoon, Isaac,” Cate lied matter-of-factly, “And if you don’t want people fawning all over you two, you shouldn’t be so gosh-darned adorable in public.”

A mutual friend walked up as they were laughing together, and Isaac found himself pulled into a conversation about a recently-released movie he’d particularly enjoyed, and not just because he and Richard had been nuzzling up a storm while watching it. This sparked quite the enthusiastic discussion of the plot, the acting, the meaning of a scene Isaac hadn’t entirely understood, whether or not there would be a sequel, everything worth talking about. It was only after mentioning in passing that Richard had really enjoyed the ending that the feline realized that his boyfriend had been gone for nearly ten solid minutes by that point. Isaac wasn’t exactly the clingy type, at least he didn’t like to think so, but he did find himself curious about what was taking up so much of the dog’s time.

As the other two continued chatting, Isaac quietly excused himself and walked off in what he was pretty sure was the direction of the bathroom. Finishing his beer, the distracted cat put the empty bottle down on top of a cabinet as he passed, and immediately let himself forget about it. Wiping off his lips, Isaac began to snoop. He unhurriedly made his way through the halls, peeking into each room he passed as subtly as he could. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten so distracted by that movie talk! Where had Richard said he was going? To help Calvin with a tech thing? Something about that itched at the back of his mind as he tried to work out where in a strange house he was most likely to find computers, but he let it slide as he stumbled upon a most unexpected sight. Leaning against a wall unobtrusively in a back corridor, a colourful mixed drink in his hands, was a familiar mouse.
	“Dan?” Isaac said, his whiskers twitching curiously, “That is you! Heh, I wasn’t expecting to see you here!”

Dan must have been lost in thought, as he seemed momentarily startled when Isaac addressed him, but he quickly shook it off.
	“Oh, hey Izzie,” he said, raising his drink, “I, uh, I didn’t see you there. But you know me, ‘where there’s a party, there’s Dan’, just like everyone says.”
	“I’m pretty sure no one has ever said that in the history of civilization,” Isaac deadpanned, “But it’s good to see you all the same.” They laughed together and exchanged a bro-fist. If Calvin was Richard’s best friend, then Dan was Isaac’s, but after the rodent moved out of town shortly before Isaac started dating Richard, they didn’t get to see each other as often as they’d like.
	“To be honest, I didn’t think you’d even met Calvin,” the cat said, “we’ve just been kinda lousy about making all our schedules line up.” Dan took a swig from his drink and then looked down the hall, in the direction Isaac had been heading.
	“What can I say? I’m a social kinda guy,” he replied, “I wasn’t about to say no.” Smiling at that, the Bengal cat patted his friend on the shoulder.
	“It’s great to see you, and I wanna catch up later,” Isaac said, “But I’ve kind of misplaced Richard, so I need to go round him up.”  

The mouse raised his drink and smiled.
	“You do you, Izzie,” he said, “Tell Dick I said hi.” Isaac smirked and gave his old friend a Look, but said nothing. He had long since noticed that his friend never used that nickname in front of Richard, and realized Dan only used it in private to annoy Isaac. Chuckling to himself, he continued on down the hall, his feline curiosity at full power by now. The itch to know where his boyfriend was and what he was up to was impossible to ignore.
	Maybe I am a little clingy... he reflected, or maybe I’m just too nosy for my own good... He’d just gotten started with the introspective pondering when his train of thought was derailed by the distant sound of a very familiar laugh. Isaac grinned in delight. Maybe he was nosy, but at least he was good at it. The saying everyone loved to quote to nosy felines was ‘Curiosity killed the cat’, but no one ever seemed to mention the other half of the phrase, ‘but satisfaction brought him back’.  

As Isaac turned the next corner, he saw Richard ahead of him, just as the dog emerged from a room. He was looking back over his shoulder with a smile on his face before he turned and noticed the Bengal cat standing there.
	“Isaac?” Richard asked, clearly surprised, as he closed the door behind him.
	“Heya big dog,” Isaac said as he walked over, “You’ve been gone for a little bit, everything alright?” He turned to look inquisitively at the door Richard had just closed, but the shorter male pulled his attention away with a quick kiss. When they broke it off, all of Isaac’s focus was on his boyfriend.
	“I’m fine, babe,” Richard said, wearing Isaac’s favourite smile, “Calvin royally messed up his router’s spline reticulation, so it was interfering with reception. Hey, does your phone have a signal?” There was something about that casually boring explanation that tickled at the back of Isaac’s mind, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it, he just got his phone out. Sure enough, it was asking if he wanted to connect to the local wireless network.
	“Uh-huh!”
	“Excellent, that means he’ll stop bugging me about it,” the dog said, putting his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders.
	“C’mon, looks like everybody’s gathering in the living room,” Richard said, pointing, “Let’s go say hi.”  

Sure enough, it seemed like everyone in the house had assembled together, as if it were time to sing Christmas carols, or host an impromptu breakdance party, or watch Superbowl commercials. As Richard and Isaac walked up, Calvin was addressing the masses.
	“...but basically, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for coming,” he was saying, “I worked hard to get through that program, I earned that degree, and it means a lot to me to hear all my friends cheering me on.” A few people clapped, there was one audible awww, and Richard smiled at his lover and gave his shoulders a squeeze before releasing his embrace. The beaver turned glanced over his shoulder, saw Isaac and Richard standing there, and smiled just slightly. It was at this moment that something strange happened. Isaac could swear that something like a third of the room suddenly looked at him, but wherever he looked, no one was making eye contact.
	I wonder if this is what being paranoid feels like... he pondered, trying to shake the feeling off.
	“But, uh, while we’re all here,” Calvin continued, gesturing behind him, “My best friend Richard here has asked if he could say a few words.”

There was no clapping this time, but somebody whistled, and a suspiciously Catherine-like voice cried out ‘Woo, Richard!’ as if it were a sporting event, which earned a few chuckles. Richard stepped forward and raised his hand.
	“Hey guys,” he said, as his hand idly jostled the pocket where he was not carrying his keys, “Heh, I’ve got so much to say... where do I even begin?” Isaac didn’t want to steal the spotlight – far from it, in fact – but he couldn’t resist.
	“Well, start at the beginning, keep going, and when you reach the end, stop.” That got a bigger laugh than the cat had expected, and he blushed as he smiled. Richard winked at Isaac before he continued.

	“Tonight is about the man of the hour,” the border collie said, “Because tonight is the end of one phase of his life and the beginning of another, if I can be overly dramatic.” Richard chuckled to himself, putting on The Smile as he gazed somewhere into the distance, and Isaac recognized that his lover was lost in memory. “When I first met him, it was through a dating app that shall remain nameless.” There was a subtle titter in the audience, and the cat couldn’t help but smile, surprised that even that many people knew that Richard and Calvin had originally met through a one-night-stand. “And I will admit, I was initially worried,” Richard continued, “You know how these things go! I'm worried that either he's lying on his profile about liking Die Hard or that he's gonna murder me in his basement, the usual internet troubles.”

The crowd laughed merrily at that, but Isaac was a little distracted, one ear twitching curiously. He could have sworn that Calvin didn’t like Die Hard, and that his preference for the Lethal Weapon series was the source of a long-standing, albeit lighthearted argument between Richard and the beaver. He thought he remembered Richard telling him so while they cuddled through the Bruce Willis movie as part of their Christmas Eve tradition. He didn’t dwell on it, though, as his boyfriend was still talking.
	“But none of that becomes a problem, and over the past half a decade we have become the best of friends,” Richard said, earning a few more awwws. “There are good times and bad, but he has always had my back and I will always have his. But as I look to the future and consider this man, I can't imagine wanting to do anything other than spend every moment in his arms.”

At that moment, Isaac stiffened where he stood, his eyes widening as more than a few people in the crowd sent none-too-subtle looks his way. His heart began to pound as a shocking thought emerged and refused to be ignored.
	Is this...? Is he...? Oh my God, Richard...
The dog stopped for a moment, turning away from the crowd so that he and his damnably sexy smile were directly facing Isaac, and he winked at the suddenly anxious cat. As if Richard’s eyelid was a trigger, a group of people emerged from the hallway. Isaac’s parents, his siblings, and some very close friends. All wore absolutely delighted smiles, and the feline swallowed as he realized they had come from the direction of that room where Richard had supposedly been fixing Calvin’s Internet.
	Oh sweet baby Jesus, he thought, this really is happening!

The muscular canine pulled Isaac’s attention back to him by gently touching his shoulder.
	“So, I think in a certain sense, I have to do exactly what it is I'm about to do,” Richard said, “I love you, man, with all my heart. And if you'll have me, I’d like to have a big, gay wedding with you.” As he spoke, the border collie dropped down to one knee, reaching into that pocket he’d been fidgeting with all night and retrieving a small box, which he popped open to reveal a ring. The cat let out an adorable meep noise, but fortunately it was quiet enough that he thought only the handsome kneeling male had heard.
	“So, what do you say?” Richard murmured, “Will you marry me, Isaac?”

With tears of joy forming at the corners of his eyes, a trembling Isaac sucked in a shaky but deep breath to steady himself enough to answer.
	“Oh... oh my God...” he said, moving a hand up to his mouth, “Oh, Richard, yes! Of course I’ll marry you!” There was a mighty cheer from the room, as Isaac felt the eyes of every single person at the party on them, plus a few he hadn’t even known were here! The border collie held up one hand silently, and Isaac anxiously offered his left hand, which shook visibly in his excitement. As people laughed and cheered, and about four million photos were taken with phone cameras, Richard carefully slid a beautiful ring onto Isaac’s slender finger, which sent such a strong wave of joy flowing over the cat that he felt dizzy for a moment. He belatedly realized that since they’d walked into the room, Richard’s tail had held absolutely still behind him, as if he were nervous about how Isaac might answer. Now, of course, it was wagging like it had never wagged before as Richard stood back up, pulled the skinny cat into his arms, and gave him a big, deep kiss. This time, everyone in the room clapped.

Immediately afterwards, the two of them were fairly swarmed by people wanting to hug, shake hands, or just offer their congratulations. It was kind of a blur to Isaac, who stuck to Richard’s side as if he lived there, and kept getting distracted by his engagement ring, as in, he would feel it against his skin and think Oh my God, I'm wearing an engagement ring. There were engraved characters surrounding the central stone – ones and zeroes. Seeing him toying his finger across it, Richard leaned in during a relatively quiet moment.
	“It says ‘I love you’ in binary,” the dog explained, “You know, because we met online and computers have always, uh, been a thing with us.”
	“That’s so dorky,” Isaac chuckled, “I absolutely love it.” His boyfriend – no, his fiancé – put his arm around his shoulders and laughed with him.

After the swarm of general well-wishers subsided, the families came in for more personal congratulations, and they naturally made quite the event out of it. Isaac’s mother was practically crying already, telling Richard she loved his proposal while reminding her son what a catch he’d landed. His father was still deeply amused that even with their non-traditional arrangement, Richard had asked him for permission to marry his son. And his siblings all swarmed him at once in a supposedly congratulatory, somewhat crushing hug that sounded like laughter and purring. Isaac hadn’t even seen Richard’s family hiding in plain sight in the crowd in the living room, but as the dog caught up with his siblings, Isaac learned that Richard’s sister Cynthia had filmed the whole thing on the digital camera she loved to brag about, and was talking about posting it online. Normally, Isaac was hesitant to share moments of his life on the Internet, but tonight? He had enjoyed that proposal so much, he quietly hoped they went viral.

Finally, once the newly-engaged couple had a little breathing room, then their best friends approached casually. Catherine seemed to be wiping tears out of her eyes.
	“Oh my God, Richard, that was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen!” she gushed, “I am so glad I didn’t steal you from Isaac after all!” Dan, who didn’t know the capuchin that well, looked at her in surprise, but diplomatically avoided asking the obvious question. For a moment, the joy on Cate’s expressive face was tinged with concern.
	“Um, not to rain on your parade or anything,” she said, “but is Calvin seriously okay with you hijacking his party like this?”

For just a moment, Isaac was had, and he gasped before logical thinking kicked in. Behind him, Calvin laughed and stepped between Richard and Isaac, putting an arm around their shoulders. He had to reach up slightly for Isaac, as beavers were not known for their intimidating size.
	“Don’t mess with him, Cate!” he said, “This was never a graduation party, it’s an engagement party in disguise!”
	“Well yeah, but – but we’re at your place!” Isaac said, self-consciously.
	“Sure,” Richard replied, “He’s got the biggest, nicest place out of any of us, and he kindly let me use it for a romantic, unforgettable proposal.”
	“In exchange, I got a bunch of people to congratulate me on finishing the program,” Calvin laughed, “That was nice, but you were the man of the hour all along, Isaac.”

	“So I’m figuring out...” the cat said faux-grumpily, earning some chuckling.
	“I thought I blew it when Izzie caught me out of that room where you stashed everyone,” Dan said, “But he didn’t suspect a thing! ‘I didn’t know you even knew Calvin, Dan!’” Thinking back to that encounter, Isaac shook his head, amused.
	“I’m a social kinda guy,” the feline repeated, remembering his friend's words, “I wasn’t about to say no.” The mouse’s smile grew, and he winked at his old friend. Glancing at his lover, Isaac smirked.
	“Level with me, sweetie,” he said, “literally everyone else here knew I was about to get proposed to, didn’t they?”
	“Mmm-hmm,” Richard confirmed, as if it were no big deal, “And no one so much as let a hint slip their lips! God, it was so worth it, the look on your face when I got down...” They shared a brief kiss, and their friends laughed and raised their drinks.

It was around the time that the impressive barbecue was finally ready that Isaac wondered if he would ever stop purring again, but he was okay with that if it meant he would feel like this for the rest of his life, filled with love and happiness. The meat, which had distracted every predator in the place at least once over the course of the night, was of quite a variety of sources and styles. Calvin Sheldon himself was a vegetarian, which wasn’t uncommon for his species, and since it was his place, there were an equal number of vegetable dishes and mushroom shish-ka-bobs ready right alongside them. As everyone ate, marvelling at the cooking and the array of flavours available to them, someone offered a toast to Calvin, both for graduating and for being a good sport about hosting someone else’s engagement party. This, naturally, was followed by someone toasting the happy couple, who still hadn’t left each other’s personal space since the ring went on. As Isaac enjoyed a flavourful sausage, Richard turned to him and whispered in his ear.
	“Enjoy the food, but don’t stuff yourself too much, babe,” the collie breathed, laying a hand on Isaac’s ass and squeezing a cheek right through his jeans, “You’re getting another stuffing when we get home...” The cat’s face turned beet red and he... began to purr a little harder.

Things went incredibly well, overall; The two families about to be joined didn’t immediately loathe each other’s presence, which was a good sign for the wedding reception. Isaac caught up with some friends he hadn’t seen in a while. Richard was given props for the speech by practically every person he knew. And for once, being the centre of attention wasn’t terribly humiliating for the introverted kitty, which may as well have been an early wedding gift from the universe. As the night approached its end, Richard and Isaac stood by themselves in the kitchen, with Richard pressed up against isaac from behind, hugging him nice and tightly. Richard’s tail continued to wag, and Isaac’s seemed to be doing its level best to curl around the dog’s leg like the stripe on a candy cane. The message of his body language wasn’t exactly subtle: Mine.

	“I never realized how badly I wanted to hear those words until you were saying them,” Isaac murmured, “I was happy being your boyfriend, sharing a place, never really thought about the future... which should tell you already that you’ve had a positive effect on me, since I used to worry so goddamn much. But you’re right, it was something that had to be done, I... I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” Richard churred and took Isaac’s left hand in his own, cupping it from behind and laying his fingers flat over Isaac’s.
	“Now you know why I was so hellbent on looking nice tonight,” the dog said.
	“So how does this work?” Isaac asked, as Richard began to toy with the ring he’d placed there so recently. “Do I just go out and get you a ring I think you’d like? Since we both know now, do you just pick one out and I get it for you?” He laughed softly.
	“I’ve never been engaged before, sorry, and it doesn’t seem to come with a manual.”
	“I would love any ring that came from you,” Richard replied, “But hey, it’s 2019, we’re not exactly traditional to begin with, so maybe we can look for one together.” He squeezed his fiancé’s hand.
	“Don’t worry about it, babe, tonight’s just about making it official,” the collie said, “I’ll show you some websites tomorrow.” He paused a moment. “You know, it’s funny, whenever we get all affectionate, I keep half-expecting to hear Cate going ‘awww’.” The skinny feline nudged his partner in the side and then nodded across the kitchen.

Turning to look, Richard grinned delightedly.
	“Check it out,” Isaac said quietly, with a smile. Across the room, Catherine leaned against the wall, looking uncharacteristically bashful as she laughed at one of Dan’s jokes.
	“They’re really hitting it off,” observed Richard, “They’re kinda cute together.”
	“Oh yeah, definite OTP material,” Isaac deadpanned, “Problem is, they’ve been here before.” The dog looked at him curiously.
	“Hmmm?”
	“Well, those two take ‘on-again, off-again’ to the limit,” the Bengal cat replied, “Feels like this happens every time we all meet up, they always get like that after a few drinks.” He raised his own glass and took a polite sip before continuing. “They have a wild affair for a week or two before backing off because they’re scared of something deeper.” Isaac looked away from the playful couple to give his fiancé a rather pointed look.
	“Not that you heard me say that, of course.” Richard winked back and adjusted his glasses.
	“Goes without saying,” he agreed. They silently shared a bro-fist and grinned to themselves. Being engaged meant they had each other’s backs before everyone else’s, naturally.

The border collie looked over to the two friends fawning over each other, and then back to his lover.
	“So, what do you want to do?” he asked, “Try to warn them off? Remind them that this hasn’t gone well in the past?”
	“Oh, heck no,” Isaac replied calmly, “Getting involved is more trouble than it’s worth, let them figure it out.” He looked askew at Richard. “...Does that make me a bad friend?” The dog shrugged nonchalantly.
	“Maybe, maybe not,” he said, “They say discretion is the better part of valour...” The skinny male laughed softly and reached up to boop his fiancé’s nose.
	“What a diplomatic answer,” he chuckled, “You’re very good at that, did I ever tell you that?” Richard smiled and looked over at the would-be lovebirds again.
	“Who knows?” he said, his tail wagging yet again, “Maybe seeing some good friends finally get serious and tie the knot will make them reconsider what they want for themselves.” As the handsome collie used the words ‘tie the knot’, his lover tensed up for just a moment, a dormant thought belatedly making itself known. A shiver of anxious excitement ran down Isaac’s spine, all the way to the tip of his tail, but he said nothing for now, merely smiled at the sentiment. After a moment, he moved to poke Richard’s nose again, and the canine suddenly snapped his hand up, grabbed Isaac’s wrist – and planted a gentle kiss on the tip of the finger that had been teasing the dog’s nose.

The rest of the night felt like it absolutely flew by while also feeling like it took about four or five weeks. Amidst the dancing and food and nuzzling with Richard that bordered on the sort of Public Display of Affection that gets called out on the Internet, Isaac actually had a really great time. Eventually, after announcing their departure, the happy couple were re-congratulated for their impending nuptials by the friends who remained, and Isaac got a hug from a deliriously happy (and more than a little tipsy) Catherine, who planted a big, popping kiss on his cheek with her muscular primate lips and told him it was going to be a beautiful wedding. 
	Chuckling, Isaac replied “Damn straight it is... but I apologize in advance for the dresses I choose for the bridesmaids,” and then left with Richard amidst happy laughter. Isaac had only had the one beer, so he was quite good to drive, but he’d noticed that Richard had held back himself, and didn’t seem the slightest bit under the influence. The feline suspected that had something to do with the promise Richard had made, which even now, echoed in his mind.

	You’re getting another stuffing when we get home...

On the way back, the cat and the dog began broad, general discussions about the wedding, starting with what season they’d like to host it in. The only consensus they’d reached by the time they got home was that a winter wedding was likely to be avoided, partly to make it easier on some elderly relatives who didn’t normally travel, and partly to avoid the Christmas season making their future anniversaries feel less important. As they walked in the door, Isaac stepped out of his shoes and sighed contentedly. He loved to see his friends, but social interaction always took a lot out of him, and it was invariably lovely to be back home, even if he had kinda wanted tonight to last forever. Then again, it felt like it had been a lifetime since they’d last been here, and a lot of things had changed in the meantime; Isaac was half-surprised not to find the place covered in thick layers of dust.
	“If you’ll excuse me,” he said, a tired smile on his muzzle, “I’m gonna step into the bathroom and freshen up a bit.” The master bathroom adjoined their closet, so he planned to slip into something more enticing on his way back, but the cat had only taken about two steps before stopping dead in his tracks.

That part wasn’t his idea. Richard had taken a firm hold of Isaac’s tail, and he gently – but firmly – began to tug the taller male backwards.
	“Richard!” protested Isaac, who appreciated having his tail manhandled about as much as any cat does, but the dog said nothing, he just kept tugging until he pulled his fiancé right into his embrace. With the dog’s strong arms around him, Isaac found it difficult to remain annoyed at his lover, but he stubbornly managed to keep it up for about six extra seconds. That was when Richard began whispering to him in that damnably sensual low voice of his.
	“For days, all I could think about was how important you were to me, how important that little speech was,” the dog murmured, “I re-wrote it about forty thousand times, even called my father for advice, and he’s never been all that thrilled about me being gay to begin with.”

He nipped at Isaac’s ear, and the cat shuddered, despite himself.
	“Not a word of complaint this time, mind you,” Richard added, distractedly, “Maybe he can see how happy you make me...”  
	“Richard, I...” the feline started, but the more muscular male continued as if he hadn’t spoken... as if he could sense that Isaac hadn’t actually had anything to follow that statement with.
	“And then, tonight came, and you of all people helped me stop being so stressed about it – of course it was you – and I said the words, and you said yes, and suddenly it wasn’t this stressful, terrible thing anymore, it was a glorious, happy moment...” One of Richard’s strong, tough hands slipped under his lover’s shirt and began to tease one of Isaac’s nipples.
	“...And as soon as that stress wasn’t weighing down on me anymore, as soon as you said yes, all I’ve been able to think about is getting my hands on you, Isaac. Freshening up can wait...”

As that hand continued to tweak and toy with Isaac’s nipple, its twin began to peel the cat’s polo shirt up and off. Feeling slightly conflicted, Isaac squirmed, halfheartedly resisting being stripped.
	“Oh, Richard...” Isaac sighed, reaching up and back to caress his lover’s cheek, “C’mon, we’re – we’re celebrating something big and important, let me put on something nice and pretty first. You like that silk robe, right?” In response, the dog swept his fiancé off his feet and carried him back to their bedroom, his tail wagging madly the entire time. Richard deposited the self-conscious male on their bed and immediately climbed up after him, getting on all fours above his kitty and giving him a deep, slow kiss. Despite his words, Isaac eagerly kissed him back, his resolve crumbling even as he knew how embarrassed he would be once Richard got a peek into his pants. Leaning on one elbow, Richard began to scratch his lover behind the ears as he kissed Isaac about the muzzle and throat. As the purring began anew, the Bengal cat sighed and surrendered to what was about to happen, relaxing and letting Richard’s free hand unbuckle his belt.
	“I have wanted you all evening, baby,” Richard churred, “God, did I miss the feeling of your fur... the way you smell...” He licked Isaac’s ear, and the skinny male shivered eagerly.
	“...Your taste...” whispered the dog with a smile as he unzipped his lover’s pants.

Seeing it coming a mile away, Isaac closed his eyes. Above him, Richard crawled backwards down the bed until he reached Isaac’s fly.
	“I think I’ll start by sucking your cock,” Richard said casually, as it was a toss-up which one of them enjoyed his dirty talk more, “I love it when you pop in my mouth, babe, I...” He trailed off as he pulled Isaac’s skinny jeans open, and the cat blushed and swallowed a whimper.
	“Isaac...” Richard said, sounding surprised instead of horny this time, “Did you... have you been wearing panties all night?” The evidence was right in front of him, lightly frilly and bright pink. The dog snickered, and Isaac groaned and covered his face.
	“I – I wanted to feel pretty, okay?” he said a little defensively, “I know I’m not very girly, but s-sometimes I wear them because it makes me feel sexy, and uh, kinda naughty... I never mention it because I thought you’d tease me.” Richard responded by crawling back up the bed and touching Isaac’s face, making the cat reluctantly open his eyes to meet his fiancé’s gaze.
	“Is that because of the nightgown thing?” the border collie asked softly.

Isaac nodded wordlessly in surprise. Last year, on the anniversary of their first date – an anniversary he supposed they wouldn’t be celebrating much longer – Isaac had tried to spice things up by appearing in the bedroom wearing a slinky nightgown, but Richard had just made a joke about how the cat didn’t have the boobs for it.
	“I’m sorry, baby...” Richard murmured, “I – I thought you were kidding around, I’m sorry if that hurt your feelings...” He looked down at the pink bulge peeking out of Isaac’s fly.
	“...And I’m sorry if you felt you couldn’t share this with me,” he continued, “I’d never tease you if I thought it would actually hurt.” The cat swallowed.
	“Thank you, sweetheart,” he said, quietly, “That actually means a lot to me.” With a small smile, Richard reached down and lightly trailed one finger along the underside of the bulge, and Isaac sighed softly, shivering as his cock throbbed and a dark spot appeared in the panties where his pre-come had soaked into the thin material.

	“That’s actually really sexy, babe,” Richard said, almost self-consciously, “Now I wish you had shared that with me... Let me get a better look.” He pulled the cat’s pants the rest of the way off, and Isaac self-consciously lifted his butt off the bed at the appropriate time to help get them past his hips. Richard smiled with approval at the sight of the feminine garment containing his lover’s pelvis, and the blatant tent in the fabric from Isaac’s erection. The dog began to gently rub Isaac’s erection through his panties, and the feline moaned, feeling a shiver run down his spine.
	“...I can’t believe you wore bubblegum-pink panties to your own proposal,” Richard chuckled.
	“You told me it was just a regular party!” Isaac laughed, “I didn’t think it was gonna be the most important night of my life, or I’d have worn – I don't know, my silk boxers!”

Isaac's laughter was quickly supplanted by a long, low groan as Richard took a firmer grip of his future husband's dick and began to stroke.
	“Look how much you’re preing,” the dog murmured, his eyes locked on the glistening dark spot on Isaac’s panties, “God, you must need it so bad...” Swallowing a whimper of pleasure, Isaac grinned a somewhat predatory smile.
	“I had to laugh, earlier,” he said, “When you told me how much you needed me... as if I hadn’t felt the same way since you made that proposal.” Moving back up the bed, Richard growled with need as he pulled Isaac in close for a hungry kiss... and kept stroking and fondling his rigid cock. When they broke it off, Richard grinned at his lover.
	“I kinda want to make you shoot in these,” he said, matter-of-factly, “Man, I bet that would be hot...” He began to stroke the skinny male a little faster and harder, but Isaac immediately grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
	“Come on, Rick, I’m already making a mess of these panties...” the cat protested, his ears down.

It was true that Richard loved to tease his kitty, but it was also true that after five years together, the canine was quite good at reading Isaac’s body language. Naturally, he picked up that his fiancé was actually uncomfortable, rather than just playing along. He let go of Isaac’s penis and smiled softly.
	“Well, alright, if you’re gonna be a pussy about it...” he murmured. The cat smiled, relieved, and he reached up to boop his fiancé on the snout.
	“Not just any pussy,” Isaac replied, moving his hand down to scratch his lover under the chin, “I’m your pussy... You son of a bitch.” Richard closed his eyes and pushed back against Isaac’s fingers to really enjoy the chin scratches, then churred as the cat pulled his hand back.
	“Damn straight...” the border collie whispered, as he moved in again to take Isaac in his arms.

As their tongues curled and entwined together, their hands began to wander each other’s bodies. Isaac casually loosened his fiancé's tie, briefly holding the two ends like handles keeping Richard's lips pressed to his own before slipping it free and tossing it blindly over his shoulder. Richard, meanwhile, made a beeline back to Isaac’s panties; now that he’d been warned off getting them too messy, the dog was suddenly in a hurry to get them off his lover’s pert rump. Hooking his thumbs under the waistband, Richard pulled them down Isaac’s fuzzy legs, freeing his stiff prick, which had begun to feel more than a little confined in a garment not meant to contain it. Isaac sighed into the kiss as that strain was eased, and he shivered as the slightly damp panties were tugged down and off, freeing his lower body. Breaking off the lip-lock, Isaac suddenly grabbed hold of Richard’s upper arms and rolled him over, pinning him to the bed... though both of them were perfectly aware that if the muscular male didn’t want to be in that position, Isaac probably wouldn’t be able to do much about it.

On all fours above the man he loved, naked from the waist down, Isaac bent down close, his tail flicking about erratically with excitement. Cats’ tails don’t wag, but they do flick and twitch like snakes having epileptic fits when their owners are agitated or excited.
	“Very naughty of you, trying to get me naked before you’ve so much as taken your socks off,” he teased, “I know it’s big money on the Net, but I’m not into being naked with a fully-clothed partner.” For his part, Richard was putting up absolutely no resistance to the hands holding his wrists against the bed, and he was instead happily enjoying the view, openly leering at Isaac’s rigid prick, its barbed head glistening with pre.
	“You know, now that you mention it,” the dog murmured, “these pants are feeling kinda tight...”

But when Isaac released his grip on his lover, he started to un-tuck Richard’s shirt instead.
	“First, I want to ogle your chest,” he said, “Serves you right for teasing me so much...” The cat proceeded to peel the shirt off his fiancé, who obliged by leaning forward just enough that his back didn’t touch the bed. Once he had the garment free, Isaac bent down again and began running his hands over Richard’s chest, tracing the muscles under the black and white fur with his fingertips. The dog wasn’t exactly a super ripped bodybuilder or an action movie star, but he was toned enough to get Isaac purring happily.
	“So strong, so manly,” the Bengal cat said playfully, “I could run my hands through that fur all day...”
	“Funny,” replied Richard, “I was thinking something similar...” His hand slid up Isaac’s thigh and gripped a soft, pert buttock, giving it a squeeze before curving around so that the dog’s fingertips teased at Isaac’s tight anus. As a finger brushed over his back door, the cat shivered and yowled in surprise.
	“No fair,” he pouted, “You know I love it when you play with my ass, and I’m already all worked up!”
	“Well, maybe you should work faster then,” Richard teased, before a slightly more serious look came over his face. “R-really, baby, these pants are tight, and I’m kinda worried my knot’s gonna grow inside my sheath...”

Isaac bit his lip and swallowed, but not (just) because Richard was continuing to rub and massage the tight pink rosebud under his tail. It was the problem his lover had brought to light. Tonight, more than most, Isaac really didn’t want that to happen.
	“Okay, sweetie,” he replied, “I’ll have you free in a jiffy.” He turned around to unfasten Richard’s belt, and silently insisted to himself it was easier from this angle than if he’d just backed further down the bed, and that he hadn’t done it this way so that Richard could keep toying with his rump. The fact that he was pressing his ass back against his lover’s teasing fingers was neither here nor there, of course. Soon he had the dog’s pants open, and before he started to actually remove them, he tugged down the waistband of Richard’s boxers, allowing the tapered head of his partner's dick to peek out.
	“Hello there, old friend,” Isaac said, “It’s nice to see you again.” He bent down and planted a kiss on the underside of Richard’s cock, and the dog grunted as his manhood pulsed and a droplet of pre-come oozed down to his belly fur. This entire time, the border collie had just been rubbing his fingers back and forth over Isaac’s entrance, but now, seemingly rewarding the eager kitty, the tip of one of Richard's fingers pushed past the tight ring of muscle and into Isaac's rear. Shivering again, Isaac swallowed a moan, but he couldn’t do anything about the purring.

Thusly encouraged, the cat slid his fiancé’s pants and boxers down his legs, not taking his time the way Richard had because that finger under Isaac's tail was making him just a touch impatient. In no time at all, Richard’s legs and pelvis were freed from their fabric imprisonment, and the skinny male turned around again, bending down to give his lover a deep, sloppy kiss as their hard cocks pressed against each other, getting both men even more turned on. Once their tongues broke off the embrace, Isaac got up into a kneeling position and pulled his polo shirt up and off, tossing it to the side of their bedroom without looking and instantly dismissing it from his mind as if he’d banished it from existence. Finally naked – save for the ring which had very recently become his favourite garment – he sighed with relief.
	“Ahh, that’s better,” Isaac murmured, stretching and enjoying the way Richard watched him.
	“Mmmm... It’s so important to stretch before exercise...” The dog said calmly... as he began to work his finger in and out of Isaac’s tight rear.

The needy feline moaned shamelessly, tensing up as his backside instinctively clenched down on the intruding digit.
	“It’s amazing that you’re still so tight after all these years...” Richard observed, “Or at least, it would be if I didn’t know how neurotic you are.”
	“Rick!” Isaac gasped, partially out of surprise at the slightly unflattering words, and partially because that finger had grazed his prostate.
	“Oh, don’t act like it’s not true, there might as well be a picture of you in the dictionary next to 'uptight',” the dog teased, grinning, “I’ve seen the way you worry yourself silly over everything. If I put a piece of coal in here, I bet it would be a diamond in a week.” Richard’s playful jibes had Isaac blushing with embarrassment, which was a strange feeling to combine with the intense arousal that probing finger was coaxing out of him. As he drooled a droplet of pre down to the sheets, Isaac moaned again.
	“I w-wish!” he managed to say, “It would s-save me a bundle on your r-ring...” Richard laughed delightedly at that, and he removed his hand from Isaac’s butt in order to grab the tube of K-Y next to the bed. Isaac watched impatiently, his rump feeling awfully empty now, as his lover lubed up his finger before returning it to the warmth beneath Isaac’s tail, getting his inner walls nice and slick.
	“Ohhh... oh God...” the feline groaned, closing his eyes to focus on the pleasure, “Jesus, s-sweetheart, you’re getting me so worked up... I can’t wait to f-feel you inside me...”

Isaac bit his lip to swallow more cries of pleasure as Richard cleared his throat.
	“About that,” the dog said, uncharacteristically bashfully, “I wanted to talk to you about that, puss...” Isaac’s eyes snapped open, instantly understanding where this conversation was going, something that was no doubt telegraphed to Richard by the way his rear started clenching down again.
	“Isaac, you heard the proposal, you know what I’m about to say,” Richard murmured, smiling gently, “I love you. You are the most important person in my life. And I want you to be my mate, not just my husband.” Having dated a dog for five years, Isaac now had a better understanding of the importance of that term to canines. With his free hand, the muscular male reached down and took hold of his own knot.
	“I... I want to tie you, baby,” he whispered, sending a powerful shiver down Isaac’s spine, “What do you say?”

His ears slowly lowering in nervousness and self-consciousness, Isaac managed a smile.
	“Oh, Richard...” he breathed, raising a hand to his heart, “I know how much this means to me, I know how important it is to make it all ‘official’ to you... Of course I’ll let you tie with me, I’m just... a little intimidated.” He slipped his other hand down and gently pushed the dog’s hand off his prick so that he could hold the knot instead.
	“It’s so big and so hard,” he said, “I’m a little worried that, um... that I won’t be diamond-tight anymore afterwards.” He giggled softly, and Richard beckoned him to lie down against his chest, which Isaac gladly took him up on.
	“It’ll be fine, I promise,” a clearly excited Richard said, “We’ll treat it like it’s your first time, use lots of lube and take it slow.” He was making a visible effort not to come on too strong, which Isaac appreciated, even if he was absolutely certain the border collie’s tail would be wagging if he weren’t lying on his back.

The cat whimpered, more from the intimacy than from the pleasure this time, as Richard began to gently stroke Isaac’s back, petting his silky-soft back fur as the cat purred away atop him.
	“I love you,” Isaac whispered. His fiancé kissed him on the top of his snout.
	“I love you too,” Richard murmured back. After taking a moment to just bask in the closeness with his favourite man, Isaac took a deep breath and sat back up.
	“S-so I guess we just get started,” he said, “Unless you need to do something?” Snickering, Richard shook his head.
	“No, Isaac, we don’t have a ritual before getting our knots wet for the first time,” the dog said, before dipping a finger into the damp fur on his belly where his lover had been lying, “But... look how much you’re preing, were you like, edging yourself in the bathroom at the party or something?”
	“You know as well as I do that I didn’t spend long enough in the bathroom to have any fun,” Isaac replied, grinning, “I spent the whole party in your arms... fantasizing about you.”

	“Well, you’re so worked up, I’m kind of afraid you’ll blow your load as soon as I put it in you, before I even get my knot in,” Richard said, half-seriously, “We’d better just lie here until you cool off a little.” Whiskers dancing with agitation, Isaac pouted about as hard as he could.
	“What?!” he asked, dismayed. The handsome collie booped his nose and winked.
	“I just wanted to see the look on your face,” Richard said, “How about I go down on you and play with your ass instead?” Smiling ferally, Isaac slipped away from Richard and lay down on his back, legs casually splayed wide to put his treasures on full offer to his fiancé.
	“Now that is a plan I can get behind!”

Rolling over, Richard crawled up to Isaac, who shivered with anticipation as his fiancé made himself comfortable between the cat's legs. The shorter male immediately began rubbing one of Isaac's inner thighs with his dry hand. Leaning in, Richard pressed his cold, wet nose to the spot where Isaac’s cock emerged from his sheath and took a deep breath.
	“I love the way you smell, kitty,” Richard murmured, lightly nuzzling against Isaac’s soft scrotum and jostling his balls. He flicked his tongue out and teased it against the underside of the cat’s shaft.
	“Love the way you taste, too. Come to papa...” He’d never said that in bed before, but the skinny male had more important things to focus on. As Richard took Isaac’s achingly stiff tool into his mouth, the Bengal cat moaned with pleasure.
	“Oh my God, yes, this is amazing...” he sighed, before managing a playful smile. “But I’m n-not gonna call you ‘daddy’. We just saw the man t-today, and I am not into that.” The dog glanced up and met his gaze, the corners of his mouth curling up in amusement. The look in his eyes seemed to playfully say we’ll see about that.

Richard began to bob his head up and down along the length of Isaac’s turgid prick, running his wide, flat tongue along the sensitive underside as he suckled gently.
	“Mmmm, Rick, that’s so g-good...” he mumbled, closing his eyes, “D-don’t – hngh! – don’t stop...” He writhed and squirmed beneath his lover’s ministrations, already beginning to pant. Suddenly, Isaac arched his back off the bed and yowled with pleasure as Richard slipped a couple of fingers back under his tail and into his tight, gripping backside. It was as if the dog had waited for Isaac to lose himself in the blowjob in order to catch him off guard. As those fingers began pushing in and out of him, rubbing and teasing at his inner walls, the cat moaned happily, feeling himself beginning to purr once again. He was doing rather a lot of that lately, and he quietly hoped it was the start of a trend.

Richard licked and suckled at Isaac’s cock, his tongue rubbing all along the sensitive shaft and pressing the rubbery barbs near the crown this way and that. The whole time, he continued to give his lover a spirited fingering, and the feline squirmed and whimpered with pleasure, struggling to resist the bliss building up inside him so that their dalliance could keep going.
	“Nngh... I used to think y-you were way out of my league, did I ever tell you that?” Isaac asked, rhetorically, “I mean, the muscles, the smile, that cute b-butt of yours, you’re the complete package!” Richard opened his eyes again and looked up at his husband-to-be with a curious look in his eyes.
	“I’m serious,” Isaac said, “When we set up our first date, when we were talking online, I was just expecting your pictures to be some kind of editing or photography trick, because everything else, from your sense of humour to your taste in movies, was just too perfect.” The cat opened his mouth to continue this train of thought, but what actually came out was a gasp, followed by “Oh my God, go b-back and do that thing with your tongue again...” The dog was only too happy to grant that request, and as Richard did the thing with his tongue again, Isaac tried to suppress a moan and failed, shivering as he cried out happily.

Isaac nearly lost it right then, but he managed to keep it together long enough to pick up where he left off.
	“We were dating, and I k-kept wondering to myself, why is this guy with me? What about me makes me worth his time? I mean, I’m an actuary, for God’s sake, c-careers don’t get much more boring than that.” Richard stopped his suckling, as if he were about to protest his fiancé talking himself down like that, but Isaac finally met his gaze again and smiled meekly.
	“And then it f-finally hit me, sweetie,” he murmured, “I kept seeing that b-beautiful smile of yours because I was the one making you smile, because I was the one you enjoyed spending time with.” Richard’s eyes gave a twinkle, making the smile obvious even if his mouth was otherwise busy.
	“I’ve never met anyone who makes me f-feel the way you make me feel,” Isaac said, “I want you to know that there – aaah! – that there isn’t a hint of d-doubt in my mind...” He closed his eyes for a moment and moaned as his prick throbbed in his lover’s muzzle.
	“Though I gotta say,” he added, in a slightly less serious tone of voice, “You b-being this good at giving head is c-certainly a very nice cherry on t-top...” The cat gave a goofy grin and laughed softly as his lover fixed him with a Look.

Having said his piece, and because it was growing increasingly difficult to concentrate, Isaac just lay back with a gentle sigh and let Richard have his way with him. The cat squirmed and writhed and yowled as the pleasure built and built. It was almost like a battle between the border collie’s efforts to make the kitty climax and Isaac’s doomed efforts to hold off the inevitable. Of course, this was a battle where even the loser was a winner, which made it rather more enjoyable than most fights. Eventually, after many a gasp and a moan, the skinny, trembling male could sense his defences starting to crumble, and he whimpered with pleasure.
	“Oh – oh God, Rick, I – I’m almost there, I’m g-gonna come...”  Isaac sighed. The lithe feline yelped as Richard responded by churring around the rigid shaft in his mouth and redoubling his efforts under Isaac’s tail, giving him a most energetic fingering indeed. Where before, those digits had been teasing and playful, just lightly brushing past his most sensitive spots without lingering, now Richard was focusing on working his lover’s prostate, blatantly trying to get the cat off.

Panting and shivering, feeling the end hurtling closer, Isaac suddenly felt acutely aware of his hands, and after fruitlessly patting his naked chest as if searching for something to do with them hidden in his fur, he took hold of his engagement ring with his right hand and began to rotate it around his finger, as if reminding himself that it was there. It had grown comfortable remarkably quickly, as if he’d been wearing it for years. Now, it made even this blowjob feel tender and romantic, adding an edge he was quite enjoying to the ecstasy.
	“God, fuck, I – I’m right th-there,” he panted, “I’m gonna... I’m gonna... oh, Jesus Christ, Richard, I’m fucking coming!” He arched his back off the bed, every muscle in his body tensing up, and began whimpering and mewling with pleasure, those cute little high-pitched noises that his fiancé found so endearing. Meanwhile, the dog put his free hand on Isaac’s hip as if holding him in place while the Bengal cat’s softly-barbed cock began to throb and flex against his lover’s lips and tongue, pumping hot, wet feline semen into Richard’s eager mouth, hitting the inside of his cheeks with jets of fresh come. Moaning with pleasure of his own, Richard began to swallow again and again as a yowling Isaac ejaculated copiously, helpless against the pleasure that surged through his body and had him seeing stars.

It felt like it went on and on forever, and Isaac was distantly surprised he hadn’t flooded the room with come, but eventually he slumped back down to the bed with a satisfied groan, feeling drained both literally and metaphorically.
	“Oh... oh my G-God... that was s-so fucking good...” he panted, closing his eyes in the hopes the room would stop spinning, “I c-came so hard it almost h-hurt. A++, would nut again...” He smiled slightly as he heard Richard snicker in amusement before swallowing one last time and pulling back, leaving the cat’s quickly-softening penis glistening with saliva, the air of the room suddenly feeling much cooler after so long spent in the gentle warmth of Richard’s muzzle.
Smacking his chops as if he’d just enjoyed a delightful feast, Richard sighed contentedly.
	“Who’s your daddy now?” he teased. The feline intended not to dignify that callback with a response, and yet he found himself giggling delightedly. Crawling up the bed and laying down next to Isaac, the dog churred again.
	“I love making you come,” he whispered directly into his partner’s ear, presumably to be heard over the purring, “You always make me feel like some kind of blowjob superhero.”
	“F-face it, sweetheart,” Isaac managed, smiling tiredly, “You’re a natural!” 

He giggled to himself and opened his eyes, gazing at the ceiling like it had the answers to life’s problems written on it, as the border collie began to nuzzle at his cheek.
	“Some p-people play the piano... some people write fiction... you suck dick,” Isaac said playfully.
	“I suck your dick,” Richard replied rather pointedly, “I’m not going out and sucking any old dick that happens by.”
	“Well that just c-cinches it,” the cat insisted with a laugh, “You're this good, and you don't even need to practice!” Richard laughed along with him even as he pulled the taller male into his arms for after-cuddles.
	“I love it when you talk like that,” the dog said, “You always make me smile.”
	“I’m an actuary,” Isaac said, reaching out and gripping his lover’s wagging tail by the base, feeling it wiggling in his hand, “Either you’ve gotta be a no-fun robot, or you need a sense of humour not to die of boredom.”  

Isaac made another cute, high-pitched noise as, after one last affectionate caress of his prostate (which made his softening cock leak some leftover jism onto his thigh), Richard slipped his fingers free of the cat’s backside.
	“And look at that,” said Richard, matter-of-factly, “Now you’re all loosened up and ready for a proper dicking once you recover.” He inhaled sharply as Isaac’s long, slender fingers curled around his knot.
	“I’m sure that’ll be fun, he murmured, letting the purr leak into his voice, “But there’s no way we’re skipping to the main event before I return the favour.”

As the cat began to squeeze and fondle the thick, rigid knot, Richard growled with need, but his ears lowered uncertainly.
	“A-are you sure?” Richard asked, “It takes me so long to recover, I thought I might wait for the, uh, ‘main event’.” He sounded uncharacteristically unsure of himself. Finally stirring, Isaac began to move further down the bed, bringing his face in line with his fiancé’s dick.
	“Believe me, I want you under my tail about as badly as you want to be there,” Isaac replied, casually, “But we’ve got time.” He chuckled. “We just got engaged, Richard, if you thought we were doing anything tonight that didn’t involve fooling around or cuddling, you need to get your head examined!”

Not allowing his partner any time for counter-arguments, Isaac leaned in and began to lick Richard’s red rocket like a lollipop, dragging his tongue from the knot to the tip. Caught off-guard, the dog cried out wordlessly and shivered. Since Richard was still lying slightly on his side, Isaac could see that his fiancé’s tail was wagging, which was a nice clear flag of approval in the cat’s mind. One of the benefits of dating – of being engaged to a canine was that his body language was very easy to read. Cats had a reputation for being inscrutable, as if their species had spent millions of years perfecting the art of being aloof. But dogs? At any given moment, Isaac could tell how his partner was feeling with an accuracy that bordered on mind reading. So, while Richard’s words had sounded slightly reluctant, Isaac knew for a fact that the border collie had quickly become quite enthusiastic indeed once he put his tongue to use.

A little more impatient than his lover, Isaac only kept up the licking until he was rewarded with a drop of pre-come. After licking it off and savouring it for a moment, he eagerly took Richard’s tool into his mouth, churring at the familiar but sensual taste against his tongue. He immediately began to suckle on the crown as his lips slowly slid down the muscular male's shaft. Richard groaned with approving pleasure.
	“Oh God, babe, yes...” the dog whispered, hunching forward slightly and putting a hand on the back of Isaac’s head. The hand rested gently, but had a firm grip. Isaac churred again. He loved it when Richard did that.

As his lips reached Richard’s knot, the Bengal cat sighed happily. He loved going down on his fiancé, it was never something he did out of obligation. This was a trait they had in common, which was a nice change of pace after a few of Isaac’s exes – not that they were anywhere near the front of his mind tonight. Settling down, he made himself comfortable, and moved one hand to the back of Richard’s knot. The cat’s muzzle wasn’t as deep as his partner’s, but he still thought he could take Richard all the way to the root. But as nervous as he was about getting tied under the tail, he was even more afraid of the idea of accidentally getting tied in the mouth and stuck that way for the better part of an hour. He could only imagine how badly his jaw would ache... So Isaac kept the knot a hands-only zone, which Richard had never protested, to his credit.

Isaac blinked, shaking off the thoughts that threatened to wander. He had more important things to focus on. Things like running his tongue along the underside of Richard’s hard cock and feeling his lover’s pulse through the taut crimson flesh. Things like the brief moment of anticipation between feeling Richard throbbing in his mouth and tasting a hint of the unique flavour of his fiancé’s seed. Things like the way the buff man groaned when the cat began to fondle his balls with his free hand, and how hot it was when Richard’s voice got lower-pitched and slightly growly as he was pleasured.
	“Mmmm, just like that...” the border collie rumbled, scratching Isaac behind the ears and flooding his head with endorphins, “Keep it up, babe... Good kitty.” Isaac shivered indecently as his lover whispered those last two words to him. He wasn’t sure why Richard’s voice did that when he was getting lucky, but as much as Isaac had a history of over-thinking certain things in his life, he wasn’t about to look this particular gift horse in the mouth.

With Richard’s fingers scratching and rubbing at the back of his head, Isaac sighed contentedly and began to bob his head along his lover’s manhood. He licked and suckled eagerly on the stiff, red shaft, his hands massaging the dog’s knot and testicles. Richard swore under his breath and shivered from head to toe, which felt like a victory to the excited feline. If he hadn’t just blown his load himself, Isaac would have been massively turned on already, but his barbed cock had retreated into its sheath as if resting up for next time. Even so, the cat found himself wishing he had an extra hand as he fellated his partner, so he could rub and grope his own sheath until he gained his second wind. Isaac let himself get caught up in the moment, lost in his ministrations to the muscular male, until it felt like his entire universe consisted of this bed and the other man in it. To his slight chagrin, he was still purring, as he’d been particularly happy tonight to begin with, and it could clearly be heard over the occasional slurps and gulps that rang out in the room as Isaac continued working over his lover.

Richard wasn’t quite as talky as Isaac when it came to being on the receiving end; his vocalizations mostly consisted of sighed profanity, praise for Isaac’s skills, and variations on ‘oh my God’. But his tail was going strong, slapping lightly against the bed on each wag since the dog was lying on his side, and he was already panting quietly, his tongue lolling out of the side of his muzzle and dangling free.
	“Fuck... Jesus Christ, that’s s-so good, baby...” the border collie groaned, unwittingly checking off all three options at once, “That’s it, j-just keep bouncing my balls like that, hnnngh...”

Naturally, Isaac chose that moment to take his lover’s tool out of his mouth.

Stroking the thick shaft with the hand that had been around Richard’s knot to keep the dog nice and stimulated, Isaac looked up at his squirming partner and smiled.
	“You know, I’ve been thinking about it, and maybe you were right,” he teased, “maybe we should back off until the main event...” Lowering his ears, Richard groaned in frustration.
	“Okay, okay, you were right!” he said, “It’s way better if we don’t wait! Just don’t s-stop, babe, you’re gonna give me blue balls...”
	“Say please,” Isaac retorted, his tone as sweet as you like.
	“Please get me off, Isaac!” Richard immediately said, “God, I need to come s-so bad!” Giggling, Isaac moved his hand back down to the knot.
	“Well, if you’re sure...” he said playfully, before taking Richard’s prick back into his mouth, engulfing the entire shaft above the knot in one movement. The dog groaned with relief.
	“Oh, thank God...” Richard sighed, “fuckin’ cats...” He was trying to sound annoyed, but he just couldn’t hide the affection in his tone. It was hard to tell from the outside, but Isaac was purring even harder than before, and there was a smile twinkling in his eyes, if not on his muzzle.

As Isaac resumed sucking his fiancé off, he switched grips, swapping which hand was tightly grasping Richard’s knot and which was playing with the collie’s heavy balls. This didn’t really change anything about the experience, at least not as far as he could tell, but he liked to do it every once in a while anyway, just because he could. Doing this, however, got him thinking about that knot, and how important Richard had made it sound to his people. The skinny male didn’t know about sacred bonds and ancient traditions, but he did find himself anticipating the upcoming tying even as he feared the physical pain. He’d never really played with the knot, except to hold it like this when he was otherwise pleasuring the dog attached to it, and now he found himself curious.

Isaac glanced up and silently asked permission, giving the knot a squeeze, and Richard nodded without a word. Looking back down, Isaac adjusted his hand, letting his fingers slip under the rock-hard lump of flesh, his grip now completely encircling it. The second the cat caressed the underside of the knot, Richard grunted and shivered, which gave Isaac a playful feeling. He once again slipped his muzzle off of his lover’s cock, but this time he immediately began licking and slurping along the sides of that rigid dick, interrupting the canine’s protests. As his hand began to stroke Richard’s shaft, Isaac started kissing and licking the knot directly, as if treating it to all the attention he’d neglected to give it over the last five years.

	“Oh – oh, Isaac, that’s... that’s so nice...” Richard said. He actually sounded surprised, which pleased the playful kitty. Encouraged, Isaac continued to focus his affections on the dog’s knot, running his tongue over it until it glistened with his saliva in the dim light even as his fingers rubbed and massaged it. He squeezed the narrow base of his lover’s dick, and Richard tensed up and growled with need.
	“Fuckin’ C-Christ...” the dog panted, “Do that again...” His dick had throbbed in the moment, leaking some warm pre onto the side of Isaac’s cheek, which he found an interesting sensation. Feeling obliging, the cat moved back up towards the tip, swirling his tongue around the tapered head of his lover’s penis as he squeezed and clenched the sensitive base with his hand.

Richard moaned, his hips pushing forward involuntarily as his cock pulsed again, leaking more pre directly onto Isaac’s eager tongue.
	“Ahhhn... oh, fuck...” the dog groaned, shivering. His hand briefly tightened its grip on the back of the skinny male’s head, a sign of approval if ever the frisky feline had seen one.  
	“God, your dick tastes so good...” Isaac murmured provocatively, knowing that such talk got his fiancé even more worked up. Sure enough, Richard whimpered with pleasure – a rare victory for the Bengal cat, who rarely got such cute noises out of his big buff pup. As much as Isaac was enjoying teasing his lover, though, he could tell, from years of experience, that Richard was getting close to the edge, and it wouldn’t be long now. Accordingly, he had mercy on the dog’s knot and leaned back to take the rest of Richard’s prick back into his mouth.

Isaac sighed through his nostrils as he closed his muzzle around his future husband’s cock, immediately beginning to suckle again. His free hand moved back down to Richard’s sac and began working his balls once more, but the hand that had previously rested passively on the border collie’s knot was now groping and squeezing at the sensitive region. Richard lowered his ears and moaned, and Isaac shivered with anticipation. This time, there were none of the light touches and playful teasing that marked Isaac’s previous ministrations. Playtime was over, and he wanted to get Richard off, needed to get him off, to bring his fiancé the same incredible pleasure the dog had skillfully brought him.

By now, Richard was trembling and panting constantly, his left foot twitching as Isaac’s skilled lips, tongue, and hands brought him closer and closer to the point of no return. He’d stopped scratching Isaac behind the ears, his grip tightening slightly as every muscle in the shorter male’s body began to tense up.
	“Oh – oh God...” Richard moaned, “I-Isaac, I’m gonna c-come, oh Jesus Christ, I’m gonna come so f-fuckin’ hard...” Isaac groaned at these words, almost as eager as his lover for that moment. Encouraged, the feline redoubled his efforts, directly working Richard’s most sensitive spots and bracing himself for the final sprint to the end.

Finally, even the muscular canine could fight it no longer, and with a loud bark, Richard hunched forward, instinctively curling around Isaac as if shielding his mate from something. Shuddering from head to toe, the collie growled and grunted as his dick began to flex and spasm, sending thick, creamy jism spurting into his lover’s mouth. Isaac moaned quietly around his mouthful as the distinctive taste of the dog’s come splattered against his tongue, and he shivered with indecent glee as Richard began ejaculating into his mouth. But after only a couple of productive, potent shots, Isaac acted impulsively and pulled back, letting his fiancé’s erection slip out of his mouth. Richard cried out wordlessly in protest, but only momentarily, as Isaac closed his eyes, opened his mouth wide, and began vigorously stroking the collie’s throbbing cock, encouraging him to keep coming. Both men moaned as Richard continued to spill his seed, this time painting the cat’s face with long, gooey strands of hot canine semen that draped themselves over Isaac’s handsome features and glistened wetly against his fur in the soft light.

When it was all over, when the trembling collie had finished emptying his balls all over his future husband's face, when Richard’s muscles finally relaxed and his dick stopped throbbing, the dog let out a prolonged sigh of relief.
	“Ohhh, shit... that was a nice one...” he mumbled, “I’m kinda d-dizzy...” As he leaned back, the dog chuckled quietly when he beheld his lover.
	“Damn, babe, I really gave it to you...” Richard said, grinning tiredly. Isaac was in no position to argue. There was come on his cheeks, come on his nose, come running across one eye, which he kept tightly closed even as he peeked at his fiancé. He could even feel come in the fur on his chin, threatening to drip. After taking one last moment to relish the flavour, Isaac swallowed the semen he’d managed to collect in his mouth and giggled self-consciously.
	“No kidding,” he managed to reply, “Fuck me, that was hot.”

Isaac shuddered spontaneously; the scent of warm, fresh jism was overpowering, and he was starting to feel his arousal waking back up. Richard grabbed his delicate shoulders and pulled the taller male into his embrace, lying down with the cat in his arms.  
	“Not for like an hour, remember babe?” the dog teased, “It’s prime cuddling time until then. But first...” Churring softly, Richard leaned in and began licking Isaac’s face, cleaning the semen away with gentle strokes of his wide, flat tongue. It wasn’t the first time he’d done it since that first night they went to bed together, and it would be far from the last time, but Isaac still found it charming and sensual.

Once the glistening seed was licked away, and the cat’s facial fur was clean(er), Richard rested his head against the mattress with a contented sigh and gently pulled Isaac over so that the skinny feline was partially resting atop Richard’s torso. Isaac allowed himself to be tugged along like a teddy bear and nuzzled against his lover’s chest, purring loudly and listening to the dog’s heartbeat.
	“Mmmm... I love you, Richard,” he whispered. The border collie began rubbing his back and churred to him again.
	“I love you too, baby.” Isaac’s posture made it awkward for him to touch his hands together, so he just pressed his left middle and pinky fingers against his ring finger, feeling the hard metal engagement ring that had so recently graced it, and his smile widened more than a little.

Time passed as the two men held each other affectionately, kissing and cuddling and nuzzling and snuggling, with a fair amount of purring and tail-wagging going on at all times. They did end up taking a break to rehydrate and hit the bathroom, as they’d been going at it rather energetically so far and worked up quite a sweat. Once both males were comfortably back in bed and in each other’s arms, smelling summer-fresh, Isaac sighed contentedly.
	“I can’t remember the last time I felt so good,” he murmured, “It’s like every problem I ever had stopped mattering when you got down on one knee...”
	“Funny, I’ve been thinking the same thing since you said yes,” Richard replied, teasing his fingertips through his lover’s hair.
	“God,” Isaac giggled, “We’re gonna get married. I can’t believe it’s really happening...” He moved to fiddle with his ring again but Richard’s hand lay itself over Isaac's and gave it a squeeze.
	“I was thinking we could have the wedding in the springtime,” the dog mused, “Nice and beautiful, everyone’s in a good mood that winter’s over... Well, ‘cept my cousin Jay, but he’s kind of an odd duck.” Nuzzling back against Richard’s bare chest, the Bengal cat smiled.
	“Springtime is lovely,” he agreed, “But let’s avoid one of those hippie-style outdoor weddings, okay? I don’t want to worry about my allergies while we’re saying our vows.”

Richard raised a single eyebrow as he regarded his fiancé.
	“My sister got married outdoors, you know,” he said, conversationally.
	“Of course I know,” the cat replied, “I was your plus-one, and we both got sunburnt noses.” He laughed softly.
	“On that note, let’s definitely not do it in the summer.” The shorter male smiled back and nodded sagely.
	“Sounds good,” Richard agreed, “But don’t think I didn’t notice the part where you called Sam a hippie...” As he trailed off, Richard's eyes began to run up and down his partner’s lanky body and he smiled, but not in the usual leering kind of way he did it.
	“What?” Isaac asked, his whiskers twitching curiously, “Do I have something in my fur?” He began self-consciously running his palm along his pelt, feeling for patches of dried come, until he remembered that he'd just showered.
	“No,” Richard said, waving dismissively, “It’s just, I’m imagining the big day and... God, you are going to make such a beautiful bride.”

The cat laughed even as he blushed.
	“Oh, shut up...” he said, failing utterly to hide the fact that he loved it.
	“No, I mean it,” Richard said, leaning forward just enough to free his tail to wag, “With the right veil and bouquet, every woman in the place will wish she was you. Shame about the tradition, though, a white dress is absolutely out of the question...” Isaac snickered, then turned around in Richard’s embrace and draped his arms loosely around the dog’s shoulders.
	“Mmmm, it’s a good thing I look good in black, then...” he replied playfully, “Because I’m about as far from being a virgin as you can get!” The two men laughed happily together, and then Isaac leaned in to give his fiancé a kiss.

As their lips embraced and their tongues began that slow, intricate dance together, Richard reached up to hug Isaac back, and he immediately began to rub up and down the skinny male’s back. Those confident hands slipped down onto the cat’s soft, perky buttocks, and Isaac distantly wondered if it was possible to damage something inside himself from purring for too long a period. He supposed he was about to find out, but his attention was pulled away from that train of thought as Richard slipped a finger back under his tail and began to play with his anus, and the feline arched his back with a gasp that broke off the kiss.
	“Oh! Oh, Richard...” he moaned, tensing up as that finger pushed back into his body, making itself comfortable again.
	“I love it when you moan for me...” Richard murmured in a low, husky voice. Down below, since they were pressed together, Isaac felt his lover throb lightly inside his sheath.
	“Nnnngh... F-feels like someone’s ready for the encore...” Isaac managed. Richard responded by churring to him and nipping him on the shoulder.

As the dog kissed and licked and nipped at Isaac’s neck, he also rubbed and teased and massaged the cat’s sensitive inner walls. As Richard’s fingertip lightly grazed his prostate, Isaac moaned again, shuddering against his fiancé's body.
	“That’s it,” the border collie teased, “I’m glad you’re such a butt-slut, babe, I’m gonna get you so hot and bothered by the time I put it in...”
	“No fair...” Isaac whimpered, echoing their earlier conversation, “You’re a son of a bitch...” Richard licked the cat's nose and smiled that damnable smile.
	“No, I’m your son of a bitch,” he politely corrected, “...You pussy.” Isaac giggled and grinned back. He then began to roll his hips, pushing back against Richard’s probing digits as the tip of his penis slipped back out of its sheath. Incensed by his lover’s words almost as much by the finger on his weak spot, Isaac reached forward and began to fondle Richard’s package, giving his balls a tender squeeze and rubbing his fingers up and down either side of the canine’s sheath.

Richard pulled back a little in order to nuzzle against Isaac’s cheek, and the cat took advantage of the moment to move back in and recapture his fiancé’s lips, hungrily kissing the dog and sighing happily through his nostrils as the two men tongue-wrestled and played with each other’s most sensitive parts. Isaac swallowed another moan as a ripple of pleasure spread from his rump through his entire body. For his part, Richard shuddered against the skinny male as his cock began to emerge from his sheath. Isaac squeezed and groped it, massaging the slightly moist red skin and encouraging it to get nice and big, and as hard as it could.
	“I want you so fucking bad, Isaac...” the border collie murmured, “Get me nice and hard so I can pin you to the bed and... bury my bone.”

Isaac groaned, and for the first time in a while it wasn’t because of something lewd.
	“Richard, we talked about this,” the taller male sighed, “No p-puns in bed, it’s distracting.” His lover flashed that special grin again and winked at him.
	“Distracting?” the muscular male teased, “I seem to remember you loved it when you were rimming me and I went ‘Why’re you so quiet all of a sudden, babe? Cat got your tongue?’” Although he smiled, Isaac stifled a giggle and gave his lover a Look.
	“Keep that up and I’ll pin you to the bed, and we can do this cowgirl-style,” he said, poking the collie in the chest, just under the small tuft of fur that decorated his pecs. To Isaac's delight, Richard’s face fell slightly, and the hand playing with Isaac’s butt froze in place.
	“But... it’s my first time tying,” he said, “I can’t have you be the one doing all the work...” The dog’s ears flattened slightly as Isaac’s tail began to twitch around in amusement.
	“That’s what I thought,” Isaac teased, “My big buff pup wants to be the one who puts his knot in. Best drop the wordplay then, stud.” Isaac knew that Richard quietly loved it when he called him that, so he’d thrown that in to soften the blow to the dog’s ego. Sure enough, Richard managed a grin and resumed toying with the feline’s tight, welcoming rear.

The two men writhed and shuddered as they grinded against each other, and Isaac cried out in pleasure as Richard bit at his shoulder again, working the loose skin between his teeth. He’d always enjoyed indulging Isaac in his ‘weird cat thing’, which the skinny male appreciated. With the musky scent of masculine arousal filling the air, it was easy for both of them to lose themselves in each other, but once they’d both gotten as hard as they could, Isaac forced himself to break off this latest embrace.
	“Wait!” he gasped, putting a hand on the arm leading under his tail, “Let’s n-not get carried away, I don’t wanna blow my load before you put it in...” Richard froze for a moment, and to Isaac, it seemed like an active struggle against his instincts as the border collie slipped his fingers free of his lover’s backside.
	“...Good call,” Richard finally said, “Make yourself comfortable, babe, I’ma grab the lube.”

As Isaac rolled away from his fiancé, the dog stood up and crossed the room to get a fresh tube of jelly lube. There was, in fact, a nearly-used-up tube in the drawer in Isaac’s bedside table, which Richard was surely aware of, but Isaac agreed with the unspoken suggestion that they needed a moment to cool off before continuing. Isaac’s tight anus was quite well-lubricated by this point, thanks to all of Richard’s energetic fingering, so Richard focused on lubing up his own prick. Isaac could see his future husband’s face light up as he kept going and smeared jelly directly onto his knot for the first time in his life. Swallowing as he eyed up that glistening knot, Isaac reached out to get a dab of lube himself, to make sure the jelly under his tail was fresh.
	When you’re dealing with knots, he thought to himself, there is no such thing as too much lube.

Once the two of them were satisfied they were slick enough, Isaac met Richard’s eyes, lowered his ears submissively, and gave him a shy smile, which he somehow managed to pull off despite being totally naked and visibly aroused. It was a gift.
	“So, um, it’s your big moment and all, so how do you wanna do this, sweetie?” he asked, tapping the tips of his forefingers together, “Up against the wall? Missionary with hand-holding? Or...?” He trailed off, and he couldn’t keep from smiling a little wider as he let the set-up dangle. Richard chuckled, clearly seeing the slow pitch he’d been offered, and took full advantage of it, his tail wagging excitedly as he stepped closer to the bed.
	“Doggie-style,” the muscular male said, “I was thinking doggie-style.”

Isaac felt his backside clench in anticipation; he’d been hoping Richard would say that. There was just something so, so primal about the idea of being taken on all fours, of having this buff, sexy man spooned against his back, rutting into him like a wild beast before that thick knot was shoved deep into his tight, welcoming rump... He was surprised to realize how much he was looking forward to the act, even as it made him nervous. Nodding as he tried to look casual and collected, he turned around on the bed, acutely aware that his fiancé was staring at his ass. Practically tingling with excitement, the cat bent over, getting on his hands and knees, and spread his legs slightly as he flagged his tail way up high, giving his lover quite an eyeful. Looking over his shoulder and grinning, well aware of how sexy his can was, Isaac winked at Richard.
	“Then come and get me, big dog,” he teased. From the way the border collie was staring at his glistening, lubed-up back door, it was hardly necessary, but Isaac underlined that statement by swaying his rump from side to side and then giving his own right cheek a good slap. As he watched, Richard’s dick throbbed, and a tiny droplet of pre drooled down to the carpet between his feet. Isaac actually giggled delightedly as Richard climbed onto the bed behind him, since if he was already leaking, that meant Richard wanted Isaac just as badly as he wanted him back.
	“Still got it...” he whispered, as the buff canine placed a firm hand on the Bengal cat’s slender hip, holding him in place as Richard took hold of his cock with his other hand and moved in closer to line himself up.

Isaac looked forward and bit his lower lip as he felt the narrow tip of Richard’s prick brush against his anus. They’d done it more times in the last five years than Isaac could count, yet knowing that this time, they were going to take things to the next level made things feel different. They felt new and exciting once more, like it was the first time he’d experienced any of them; the cat practically felt like a virgin again. He tried to keep his mouth shut and his noises contained, but Richard just began rubbing his red, veiny cock up and down, dragging the tip of his penis back and forth across his fiancé’s slick entrance in a slow, unhurried way that suggested he had all the time in the world. After only a few seconds, Isaac whimpered with need, aching with the need to feel his lover inside him.
When the cat began to grow impatient, he pushed back against that teasing dick, only for Richard to effortlessly move back with him, keeping juuuuust out of reach. When he heard the dog chuckle, Isaac blushed and groaned softly.
	“How can you tease me after we’ve spent all day waiting for this?” he asked, incredulously, “Goddamn, you’re making me crazy! Stick it in me, Rick, I’m begging you, just fuck me already!”

Richard tutted disapprovingly.
	“Tsk, tsk, tsk, so impatient, so crass,” he sighed, “Do you kiss your fiancé with that mouth?”
	“I’m gonna kick my fiancé’s ass with that foot if he doesn’t fuck his fiancé with that dick!” Isaac retorted, his tail beginning to twitch in annoyance. It was strange, he was still a little afraid to take that knot, but he didn’t want to put it off any longer, at least not if it meant Richard's dick against his entrance all night long. To his surprise, Richard churred happily.
	“You know, babe, it’s kinda hot when you get all demanding like that,” the dog mused, “Sometimes I almost swear there’s a power bottom hiding somewhere inside you...” His prick finally stopped moving, lined up directly with Isaac’s anus, and he gently patted the cat on the butt, as if apologizing directly to it.
	“Ha. Don’t tempt me...” the feline muttered, rolling his eyes as if he weren’t smirking.

Isaac expected Richard to come back with some snarky, playful comment, but instead, he caught the cat off-guard by pushing his hips forward. After all the fingering and teasing he’d received tonight, Isaac’s back door put up zero resistance against the intrusion; there may as well have been a tiny welcome mat resting beneath it. The cat arched his back, threw back his head, and yowled with surprise and pleasure as his lover’s thick, crimson manhood slid into his backside, spreading his inner walls to make room as it was buried under Isaac’s tail all the way to the top of the knot in a single smooth thrust.
	“Christ!” he gasped, instinctively clenching down. Behind him, Richard growled in approval as the cat’s hot, slick channel gripped his cock as tightly as if it were a winning lottery ticket. Putting both hands on the skinny male’s hips, the dog adjusted his knees to make his stance more comfortable, and Isaac bit his lip and swallowed a moan as he felt the rigid prick within him wiggling around, particularly when Richard’s movements applied pressure to his sensitive prostate.
	Oh God, Isaac thought, forcing his muscles to relax, He’s gonna make me come so hard, I’m calling it...

As they both got used to the moment, Richard began to rub one of the cat’s buttocks, and he growled again. Isaac didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know that Richard was currently looking down; the eager canine loved to just enjoy the view after he put ti in, but before the thrusting began.
	“I don’t know what you’re so worried about,” the dog murmured, “You take it like a champ, babe, this knot is gonna be no sweat.”
	“That’s easy for you to say, you’re not the guy taking a knot up the ass,” muttered Isaac, pouting slightly. Richard gave his tush a playful swat, just the one spank, and the cat yelped, reflexively clenching down again.
	“Come on, kitten,” the muscular male said, “You know I wouldn’t want to do this if I didn’t think you were ready. I just bottomed out in one thrust, and all you did was moan. You’re gonna love this.”
	“Okay, yes I am,” Isaac admitted crossly, which earned him a laugh from his lover, “But you don’t have to keep teasing me about it!”
	“Sure I do,” Richard replied, “You told me yourself that you love it, that that it really revs your engine when I do.” Isaac groaned, even though his fiancé was remaining perfectly still.
	“I wish I knew what I was thinking when I confessed that...” he sighed. Richard patted him on the butt and laughed gently.
	“No take-backsies!” the dog declared, in a sing-song voice that made Isaac smile, “Hey, I didn’t complain when you realized that my knot is my flashing red weak point, did I?”

Reaching down, Richard began to scritch his fingertips along the slinky cat’s back, which made him shiver with delight and press back against his lover’s hands.
	“Come on, kitty, what can I do to make you smile?” Richard cooed. Isaac’s ears twitched, and he resisted the urge to lower them submissively as he looked over his shoulder.
	“...Hold onto my tail when you fuck me?” he finally said, a tad uncertainly, “A-at least at first?” Richard responded by grinning at him, and moving one hand up from Isaac’s hip to curl tightly around the base of the Bengal cat’s long, stripey tail.
	“Of course,” Richard said, “Whatever you want, babe.” He gave a little tug on the cat’s tail that made Isaac shiver in anticipation, though admittedly, it might also have been the wink and the special smile that accompanied it.

With that, the dog began to slowly pull back, sliding out of Isaac’s rump until only the tip remained within him, and then he abruptly reversed directions, plunging his cock back into the cat’s tight rear until his knot nudged Isaac’s entrance again. The feline closed his eyes and moaned as Richard bumped his prostate on the way in. He loved it when the border collie used his tail-base like a handle, really taking charge of that booty. Gripping that tail tightly, Richard kept going, drawing back and thrusting until he got a nice rhythm going, and he was properly making love to his fiancé at last.
	“Yessss...” Isaac hissed, digging his claws into the bed beneath them as he shivered with pleasure. The dog hated when he did that – it poked holes in the sheets – but in this moment, after the emotional high of the party, and the anticipation that had been building all night long, the sheets were the furthest thing in the world from Isaac’s mind.

Gasping with pleasure as Richard nudged his prostate again, the Bengal cat started pushing back against his lover’s thrusts, at least as much as he could with Richard having such a firm hold of his rump and tail, which was now twitching and dancing in Richard’s hand as Isaac shivered and trembled in bliss. Every time that the border collie sheathed himself in his fiancé’s backside, a pulse of pleasure radiated out to fill Isaac’s body, and every time he clenched down on the warm, rigid length buried inside him, he heard Richard grunt or growl behind him.
	“Yes... yes!” the cat cried out, flashing his fangs with a delighted smile as his prick throbbed, hard, and he felt it leaking pre down to the bed beneath them. That smile disappeared as Richard gave his ass a good, solid slap, and Isaac gasped once more, feeling the stinging blow as tingling ecstasy across his buttock.
	“Nnngh! ...Oh, God, I fucking love b-being a cat...” he mumbled. Behind him, the muscular male laughed happily and rubbed at the spot he’d walloped, soothing the tender skin.
	“I can’t help it,” Richard teased, “It’s just s-so big and round and soft... you might as well have a t-tattoo that says ‘slap me’... Actually, that m-might be kinda hot...” Isaac laughed and pushed back against the next thrust with a little more oomph than usual.
	“In your dreams!” he replied, squeezing down as hard as he could with his talented rear. As his slick channel gripped the dog’s manhood, Isaac could almost swear he felt his lover’s dick pulse within him. He bit his lip and shivered happily at the mental image of that red rocket smearing pre-come all over his inner walls like it was tagging him, laying claim to the skinny feline.

	“Ohhh, Rick, I’m yours, I’m all yours...” Isaac sighed. He felt a strong hand under his chin, tilting his head back, and Richard bent down and planted a kiss on his forehead.
	“Damn straight you’re mine,” the collie growled, giving his lover an upside-down wink. Isaac shuddered with pleasure at the low, sexy tone in his fiancé’s voice.
	“It’s only f-fair, after all,” Richard continued, “I'm y-yours, too... You’ve got me wrapped around your little finger...” Isaac whimpered with joy that was only partly from the excellent dicking he was receiving, and for a moment, he thought they were going to try for a Spider-Man kiss, but to his surprise, the dog actually stopped thrusting. Lowering his ears, Isaac mewled plaintively.
	“C’mon, sweetie, d-don’t make me beg again...” he whined, turning to look over his shoulder so Richard would look right-side-up.
	“Nah, I just wanna make this official...” the buff male replied. He gave Isaac’s tail one last playful tug, then let go of it entirely and bent forward.

Isaac shivered as he felt the heat of Richard’s chest pressing against his back. The dog planted a kiss on the side of his lover's throat, then curled his arms up underneath the Bengal cat and hugged him tight as he adjusted the position of his knees to make it easier to drive himself into Isaac's backside.
	“Oh Jesus...” Isaac whispered, before he realized he’d said it out loud. Richard chuckled, but said nothing before he pulled back from the feline’s tight ass using only his hips and legs. He held it there just long enough for Isaac to feel a moment of intense anticipation, and then Richard shoved home with more muscle than he’d been using in the previous position, immediately starting a faster pace with slightly shallower thrusts. Stars danced before the cat’s eyes as his fiancé rutted into him, and he cried out in  wordless pleasure. Isaac felt his lover shudder against him, felt Richard's hot breath against the side of his neck, and he groaned as that thick, crimson cock slid into his welcoming rump again and again.

The rogering Isaac was receiving was amazing, of course, but there was so much more to this than simple penetration; the cat’s powerful nose was picking up the scent of masculine sweat and arousal pheromones that permeated the air, filling his lungs and making him feel almost high on desire. He loved the friction he felt as their pelts rubbed together, as the fur of his back and Richard’s muscular chest meshed together and intertwined. Even the lewd slapping sound that rang out every time the dog drove himself home under his fiancé's tail was getting Isaac worked up.
	“God, yes...” he mewled, “Fuck me, Richard, fuck me!” Only too happy to take him up on that, Richard moaned softly and then started moving faster, really giving it to the skinny male, who was on cloud nine from all the pleasure he was receiving. One of Richard’s hands slid down the Bengal cat’s soft, spotted tummy, and inasmuch as he was thinking about it at all, Isaac assumed the other male was just enjoying the softest fur on his entire body. But the hand kept going, and Richard took a firm hold of Isaac’s hard dick, which he began to stroke as he continued making love to the trembling feline.

As it happened, at the same moment that Richard got a grip on his lover’s cock, he nudged Isaac’s prostate again, and the needy kitty gasped, feeling such an intense jolt of pleasure that he almost came right there and then. He began to whimper as his cock began drooling a steady stream of pre, which ran down the dog’s knuckles as Richard started stroking. The smooth movements of the handsome canine's hand smeared the clear fluid against Isaac’s shaft, which began to glisten. The pre-come served as mild lubrication, making it easier for Richard to keep jerking the sensitive flesh, which in turn caused Isaac to leak more pre. On top of what he’d already been feeling, the feline could barely hold back the pleasure.
	“F-fuuuuck...” he groaned, clenching down on his partner's prick, “That’s s-so fuckin’ good...”
	“You b-bet your sweet ass it is...” Richard growled, squeezing one of Isaac’s nipples between two fingers with his free hand, “Hrrrrgh... Your s-sweet... hot... tight ass... Goddamn, I love fucking you, b-baby...”

Richard nipped at the loose skin between Isaac’s shoulder blades, but he didn’t pinch quite hard enough to trigger the feline response to make his lover’s body suddenly go limp and floppy. Truth be told, Isaac didn’t think that’d be so bad, and a part of him wanted to just flop down to the mattress, face down, ass up, and let his big, manly dog have his wicked way with him... But then that wouldn’t be proper doggy-style, and this was important to Richard, so Isaac forced his arms to hold him upright even as they trembled with pleasure. He did, however, make a mental note to look into that feline response later, since the idea of being ‘helpless’ and at the buff male’s mercy was kind of a turn-on...

Having already sated themselves once that night, the two lovers kept it up for an impressive amount of time, panting and gasping and whimpering and moaning and growling as Richard eagerly drove himself into his fiancé’s slick, welcoming backside, and Isaac rolled his hips to push back against his future husband’s thrusts as best he could in this position. He'd never felt this close to Richard before, and he wanted the moment to go on forever, but Isaac could feel that his resistance was starting to crumble, that it wouldn't be long before he plummeted headfirst into a powerful orgasm. He mewled plaintively as his ears flattened against his head, though he wasn't aware he'd made a sound. He wanted so, so badly to hold out until the border collie tied him, until their love was truly sealed, once and for all. Once upon a time, that knot had looked alien, unpleasant, even threatening, and Isaac had wanted nothing to do with it, but now, after five years falling deeper and deeper in love with the man attached to it, there was nothing in the world Isaac wanted more than to feel that thick lump of flesh pushing into his ass... with the possible exception of hearing Richard say 'I do'. But that could wait. Right now, he concerned himself with getting that knot under his tail.

Isaac sucked in a shuddery breath, trying to compose himself enough to speak coherently, as opposed to just moaning with need, broken up by occasionally gasping his fiancé's name.
	“Nnngh... I'm g-getting so c-close, sweetie,” he whimpered, “I'm – I'm gonna come... P-please, I wanna f-feel it...” He swallowed a moan, but only so he could finish speaking.
	“T-tie me, Richard!” the cat cried out, shoving his hips back against the next thrust with more gusto than before, “I know you've w-wanted to for years n-now... so tie me, and... and make m-me your bitch!” He played shamelessly to Richard's love of dirty talk, and he was not disappointed by the results. The border collie let out a growl that toed the line of becoming a snarl, and he let out a huff through his nostrils that tickled the back of Isaac's neck.
	“Ohhhh, baby, you have n-no idea how long I've wanted t-to – ahh! – to hear you say that...” Richard sighed, “Breathe out... t-try to relax... b-because here I come!” He thrust forward one more time, and this time, he kept pushing. Isaac lowered his ears submissively and moaned softly at the feeling of increasing pressure against his anus.
	“Yes!” Isaac cried out, playing on the canine weakness for certain phrases again, “That's it! Breed me, p-pup, breed me!”

The trembling Bengal cat took deep breaths and forced his muscles to relax when all they wanted to do in the world was tense up, to brace themselves, as he felt more and more pressure from Richard's knot against his backside. His heart pounded like a jackhammer, his anxiety over the potential pain warring it out inside him with his desperate lust to be locked physically to his partner. Now that the moment was finally upon him, his desire was winning. The dog's free arm tightened around his chest, and Isaac lifted his left hand from the bed and, after touching his engagement ring with the side of a finger, laid that hand over Richard's. The force eased off for a moment, and Richard whispered in his fiancé's ear.
	“Okay, one more go, on three... two... one!” With that, he bit down on the loose skin on the back of Isaac's neck and rammed himself forward, and the slender kitty gasped as his lover's knot finally – finally! – pushed into him in a single shove. Five years after reacting with horror to the very sight of it, Isaac practically came on the spot as Richard's rigid crimson prick was fully hilted inside him for the first time, tying them together both metaphorically and literally.

Arching his back and tensing up, Isaac cried out in shock. The knot felt huge inside him, as if there was suddenly a baseball up his rear, and even his feline pain-for-pleasure response was overwhelmed by such a forceful intrusion.
	“Oh – oh God, it's – it's so b-big!” he whimpered as tears appeared at the corners of his eyes. He squirmed beneath the muscular canine, who was trembling himself, but – Isaac suspected – for entirely different reasons. After all, his knot had always been extremely sensitive, and this was exactly what it had been made for. Well, his mate wasn't a woman, but close enough...
	“S-so tight, fuck...” Richard swore under his breath, growling with need, before coughing and directing his attention to his fiancé's well-being.
	“Y-you okay, babe?” he managed, “Didn't break your p-perfect ass, did I?” Suddenly distracted from his aching behind, Isaac craned his neck to look over his shoulder at his lover.
	“Awww, you think m-my ass is perfect?” he asked, a small smile appearing on his lips. The dog winked at him.
	“Would I have t-tied with it if I didn't?” he replied, “But c'mon, you were always s-so worried...”

Isaac swallowed and looked forward again, contemplating the condition of his butt.
	“Well, it – it kinda hurts, but I think I'll be okay, it's fading...” he managed to say, “B-but we didn't come! How are we supposed to get off if you can't move?” He whimpered at the mental image of the two of them stuck there, unable to reach orgasm, waiting for their arousal to die down. The trembling cat couldn't put into words how much he didn't want the night of his engagement to end with blue balls... Isaac was pulled out of his worrying by a deep, relaxed chuckle.
	“Oh, d-don't you worry about that, babe,” Richard whispered to him, “I've got juuuust enough wiggle room t-to work with...” Isaac was about to ask him what he meant when the dog shifted slightly within him – and the skinny male realized that Richard's knot was perfectly nestled against his prostate.

	“Oh fuck!” Isaac gasped, as pleasure spread throughout his rump, and he involuntarily clenched down hard. Richard clearly appreciated that part, since he shivered against his lover and growled happily. As soon as Isaac's inner walls relaxed, Richard gripped him a little tighter and began to hump against him, making tiny thrusts with the inch or so of flesh between his sheath and his knot. Since this caused the knot to rub back and forth across his oh-so-sensitive prostate, this very quickly had the Bengal cat right back up to the level of arousal he'd reached before they stopped to tie. He moaned, pushing back against his fiancé's thrusts as best he could with such short, rapid movements, and then moaned again as Richard reached back down to take hold of the feline's hard dick again. Isaac was beyond words at this point, so overwhelmed by the pleasure coming from his prostate that he was seeing stars again, and he yowled and cried out incoherently as the man he loved took him for a ride.

That thick, hard knot was rubbing against Isaac's prostate so quickly and so continuously that it didn't give him the slightest chance to get used to it; he couldn't have fought off the ecstasy building inside him for long if his life had depended on it. So it wasn't much of a surprise when it was only about a minute after the knot-fucking had started that the dazed kitty found himself teetering on the point of no return. Even as Isaac feebly struggled to resist, Richard leaned in and bit down on the loose skin on the scruff of Isaac's neck, and the dam suddenly burst.

Isaac yowled like a feral in heat as one of the most powerful orgasms he could ever remember experiencing exploded forth from within him, and his stiff prick began to throb and spasm in Richard's grip, spurting long, ropey strands of thick, creamy jism onto the sheets beneath them with such force that it would have splattered audibly if they hadn't been making so much noise. As he came and came and came, Isaac's inner walls squeezed and kneaded his lover's cock in perfect time with his ejaculation, which pulled Richard into the abyss with him... though his climax was so close on Isaac's heels, he might have been set off by the very same bite. Thrusting forward hard enough that Isaac almost toppled forward onto the bed, blatantly trying to bury as much of his prick in the cat's backside as possible, Richard let out a loud, if muffled groan as he began to spill his seed into the snug confines of his future husband's welcoming ass. A delirious Isaac noted with joy that when he clenched down, he could actually feel Richard's cock flexing within him as the border collie emptied his balls into the cat’s tight rump, painting his bowels with fresh canine sperm as if marking, once and for all, that they belonged only to each other.

The two men shuddered and ground against each other as they rode out their pleasures, moaning and whimpering as they coaxed as much pleasure as they possibly could from one another's shuddering, sweaty bodies. Once they had succeeded in doing so, once it was finally over, Richard and Isaac held still for a moment, and then toppled over with synchronized groans, flopping down to the mattress on their sides. Isaac whimpered as this movement jostled Richard's knot against his prostate, since his nethers had now become quite over-sensitive in the aftermath of his orgasm. Speaking of which...
	“Oh... oh my God...” he whispered, panting, “I – I haven't blown a load like that s-since... since the first t-time I tried playing with my ass...” Richard's arms slipped around him from behind and hugged him tight.
	“Listen to you purr...” the dog murmured, rubbing one hand over the slender kitty's soft belly, where the vibrations could be felt at their strongest, “Between that and the tie, I c-could die happy right now.”
	“Please don't,” Isaac quipped, “I would find this much less romantic if you were a corpse.”
	“True,” Richard conceded, “but it would be one hell of a way to go.”

Isaac couldn't help but giggle at that, as he placed one hand atop one of his fiancé's.
	“Was it good for you t-too?” he asked. He felt like Richard had ejaculated about a pint of semen inside of him, but it was always nice to confirm.
	“Like you wouldn't believe,” the muscular male laughed, “You know, they tell you that tying feels amazing, but I c-can't get over how good you feel around my dick, Goddamn...” Isaac giggled again, shaking his head at the casual bluntness of the comment, something he quietly loved about his future husband.
	“You charmer, you...” he replied, before his smile faded just a touch as his emotions turned to more important things than amusement. 
	“...I love you, Rick.” The border collie nuzzled against him from behind and licked his cheek.
	“Love you too, Isaac, now and forever. That's what this means, after all.” He pulled back slightly with his hips, tugging at the knot buried under the cat's tail and making him whimper again.

The cat sighed quietly.
	“I really, really wish I could kiss you,” he said, “Do you think next time we could try it missionary-style so we could make out afterwards?” Richard churred to him and licked his cheek affectionately.
	“Of course, babe, I just really wanted... this was important to me, I mean...” As he struggled for words, Isaac patted him on the back of the hand.
	“I know, sweetheart, I know.” He could practically hear his partner grin sheepishly.
	“I'm not sure if I ever really thanked you for being so supportive of all my... canine stuff,” Richard said, “So thanks, babe. It really means a lot to me.” Isaac smiled and leaned back to nuzzle against his lover, parting his lips slightly so his purring became more audible.

	“Anytime,” Isaac replied, “After all, you really mean a lot to me.” After a moment of wandering hands and cuddling, the slender male added “You know, now that we've tied the knot, so to speak, I was thinking... I love bottoming, but maybe it'd be fun to finally introduce you to my barbs.” He suppressed a giggle as Richard froze in position, one hand halfway through caressing a nipple.
	“Well, I...” the muscular collie stammered. To say the dog sounded hesitant was a bit of an understatement, but after a moment, he relaxed and sighed. “Okay, fair's fair... but for right now, let's just snuggle and not worry about it, okay?” Beaming like a Cheshire cat, Isaac clenched his inner muscles and made his fiancé shiver.
	“Okay!” he replied, cheerily. Richard spent the rest of the night acting like it was no big deal, but the cat couldn't help but notice, with some amusement, that Richard followed this exchange by reaching down to touch Isaac's penis. It had only gone down to half-mast, thanks to the rigid knot still buried in his rump, and the dog began toying with the barbs, as if to reassure himself that they were of the 'rubbery' and not the 'sharp hook' variety. 

Isaac's attention was turned away from his future husband's trepidation about his manhood when his phone buzzed on his nightstand, where he'd left it while they were cooling off after those exquisite BJs earlier. He intended to ignore the text, but Richard's ears perked up. 
	“That's Catherine's tone,” he observed, as he idly tugged on a barb, and some leftover jism drooled onto his finger, “Aren't you going to check that?” 
	“Wasn't planning on it,” Isaac replied, “I thought we were cuddling.” 
	“Come on, aren't you curious? I know I am!” the dog said, “She never messages you this late at night.” Isaac had to admit he too was wondering why the capuchin was reaching out to him at this hour, and he reached out to grab the phone. Unlocking the device, he opened the message – and laughed out loud. 
	“Looks like you were right,” the kitty giggled, “they did decide to get serious this time!” 
	“What do you mean?” Richard asked. Isaac could practically hear his fiancé's ears standing up inquisitively.
	“She says 'Dan asked me to move in with him, and now we're celebrating! He's so deep inside me, and it's sooooo good!'” Even as he felt the strangest sense of déjà vu, the cat joined his fiancé in a delighted belly laugh, a most curious sensation indeed while they were tied together. 

Sighing contentedly, Isaac wiggled back against his big buff pup so that more of his back was pressed against Richard's chest. Comfortable, he looked down at the sheets and swallowed, thinking that he would have blushed if his entire face hadn't still been flushed from exertion.
	“Uh, sorry about blowing my load all over the sheets...” he said, rather self-consciously, “I wasn't even thinking about that...” It was true, all he'd been thinking at that moment was how amazing he felt as he came; where, exactly, he'd been ejaculating hadn't even entered his mind. Richard leaned forward again, peering over Isaac's shoulder and examining the glistening cat jism slowly soaking into the bedsheets. After a moment of silent observation, he simply leaned back down into his previous position.
	“Eh,” Richard said, shrugging, “We've got other sheets, and I'm still in afterglow.” As Isaac giggled, the dog began licking the back of his neck. But only a few moments passed before the Bengal cat began to pout, surrendering to his instinct to fret.
	“Ohhh, it's gonna soak into the mattress...” he whined, his whiskers dancing in agitation. Richard paused in his licking a moment, then reached out and grabbed one of the pillows on the bed. After slipping it out of its pillowcase, the dog calmly discarded it, then dabbed the fabric case against the come on the sheets.
 
	“Richard!” Isaac protested, unable to hide his smile. After sopping up the cream as best he could, the border collie idly tossed the damp pillowcase in the general direction of the door.
	“There,” he said, clearly pleased with himself, “Now we can go back to cuddling, and once I'm free of your perfect tush, we can go change the sheets... and maybe get you a little ice.” Sighing exaggeratedly, Isaac crossed his arms.
	“You're lucky I love you so much...” he grumbled, “...Though my butt's feeling better than it did before, I guess I got used to it.” Glancing across the room at the befouled pillowcase, the feline sighed again, more naturally.
	“I'm marrying a dog,” he muttered, “And I couldn't be happier. Wouldn't have seen that one coming...” Richard laughed merrily behind him and went back to licking his fiancé's neck and cheeks. Isaac couldn't help but smile along with him.

And so, the two males cuddled together, now as intimately connected physically as they had been emotionally for quite some time already. They may have had their differences, they may have been from different worlds, but it was the things they had in common, and the feelings they'd built together, that allowed them to become so close that the very idea of spending their lives with anyone else now seemed as strange and ridiculous as their unfamiliar genitals had once seemed to each other. That had just been the first of many obstacles that lay along the path they'd chosen to walk, but as long as Richard and Isaac were walking that path together, there was nothing their love could not overcome.