Secret's We Withhold

© Cederwyn Whitefurr

9^th April, 2023

All Rights Reserved.

This Week's Writing Challenge: Write a furry story with an animal you have NOT used before.

At least 1000 words, don't worry if you go over.

Tag all prompts with: WritingGroupChallenge.

Add all prompts to a separate folder.

Put the prompt description at the beginning of your story.

As always, comments are very gratefully received! Like what I write? Please, let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from you.

Want to support me in some way? I'm on Patreon! Patreon.com/Cederwyn

I present, this weeks WritingGroupChallenge – a lovely little tale, I hope you'll enjoy as much as I enjoyed writing it – I present for your entertainment -

Secret's We Withhold.

Raymond, Ray to his family and friends, sat at his desk, staring blankly at the computer screen. His mind wasn't on work, it rarely ever was – as it wasn't hard work, something you could immerse yourself into – it was – well – busy work and he hated busy work with a passion.

A sudden cramp seized his hands and he gasped, before squeezing them under his armpits, gritting his teeth and rocking back and forth, eyes squeezed closed until the agony eased and faded, eventually returning to normal.

With a gasp, he flexed his fingers, turning his palms upside down then back again, glancing at the clock.

4:24 flashed back at him.

“Urgh...another hour, then go home, pack... I hate this job anyway - “

*

Time dragged indeterminably as it always did, in that last hour. At last, he shut down and locked his work station and left the building. Rain belted down outside, thunder and lightning fought and squabbled in the heavens above, as he moaned and used his briefcase to try and shelter as he ran to his car. By the time he'd unlocked it, he was soaked through to the bones and even more miserable.

“Whats next..." Raymond growled, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, so filled with anger and frustration.

As he pulled out and started the trek home, he ground to a halt on the freeway along with thousands of others...

Fate, it seemed, had a sense of irony...

*

Slouching through the doorway, he dropped his briefcase on the small table, then his keys and began shucking off his wet suit. It clung to him like a second skin, dripping and clammy.

“That you honey?" Come the call from his wife. “How was work? You're home late tonight - “

“Yeah, its me Carol," He sighed and slipped his shoes off, then stared as he tilted them and water pooled in the heels. “Wonderful... Honey? I got an emergency meeting with some big wig clients tonight – I won't be back until for a few days. Hell, if I hurry, I might be able to make my flight – its already seven...thirty? Urgh – My flight leaves in under two hours, I need to shower and...“

Carol stuck her head out of the kitchen archway, before she sighed and come out, drying her hands on a towel.

“You go...oh my god, you're soaked through!"

“You don't say - “ Raymond laughed weakly. “Look, I'd love to chat love, but I got to gallop – literally – I got time to shower, you'll need to drop me off and...urgh, I'm so not prepared..."

“Don't panic!" Carol laughed, tugging his belt through the loops. “Go, get in the shower, I'll make us coffee to go and..."

He smiled lopsidedly at her, before kissing her cheek and running towards the bathroom, his wet socks squelching.

*

He hated himself, his life and especially – lying – his beloved. He had no meeting, no big-wig's he had to discuss business with – he drove two cities over and found a hotel, it wasn't A+++ rated, but it wasn't a cockroach motel either...

His hands ached, burned like he'd dipped them in molten lead, so bad was the pain he could barely endure it. With super-human will, he sat and suffered for thirty minutes, before at last the pain subsided to what felt like early onset of arthritis. Weakly, he climbed out of his car and walked over, unlocking the motel door, stepping through and shutting it solidly behind him.

Breathing heavily, he let his head slump forwards as he shuddered then curled his fingers into tight fists.

“Control yourself..." He snarled, his anger turning white hot within him, before he breathed out nice and slowly, his fingers slowly uncurling. “Just breathe - in and out..."

His self-loathing at the lies he'd told all his life, they hurt and stood in his mind like mischievous imps, jeering and yelling – or so he envisioned them. What hurt the worst was the most painful of all his memories – the lies he told his beloved...

He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, clutching his head in his hands as he sighed and felt the self-loathing, the hatred, the pure rage – that filled him...

*

Their romance through middle and high school had been that – hot, passionate and lacking the true romance that age and experience brought. It had been wild, truly wild, the nights filled with lust fuelled sexual experience and experimentation, the compulsion and urges of young, hormonal driven pure lust...

Oh, it was lust alright... Come a dark thought through his mind.

Raymond shuddered, pushing away the thought, his memories turning to more pleasant ones...

Years later, he'd gotten down on his knees and proposed to his beloved childhood sweetheart...she had accepted and as their love and passion eased into a more gentle, considerate and sensual thing – it eventuated in their beloved and only offspring, Alexis...their daughter...

Having her later in life, come as a surprise and a shock to both parents, but with age come maturity of spirit and mind – and together – they'd raised their daughter, taught her right from wrong – and bonded as a family...

Now, Alexis was eighteen – how the years flew by! A young woman in her own right, milk white skin, raven black hair like her mother – and from him? She inherited his kind, gentle mind and her intense brown eyes...eyes that were like twin pools of liquefied chocolate, you could just lose yourself in them...

He always had a thing for brown eyes – his beloved were a hazel colour, his own, like their daughter, were dark and soulful and...

*

He was snapped out of his memories, as this time, not only his hands – but his feet as well – felt like they were alternatively being crushed and immersed in molten lead. Pain built on pain, forcing him to curl up on the bed in a fetal position, biting down hard on the pillow to muffle his anguished cries.

For nearly an hour and a half, the pain lashed him, tortured him, drove him to the very edge of madness itself – before it slowly, inexorably, eased from the bone snapping pain, to a burning – an abysmal ache – finally – to numbness and tingling – eventually, to nothing.

Sweat soaked, he peeled his clothes off and left them where they lay, as he made his way to the compact bathroom – the scent of his sweat making him want to gag – it was intense, musky, overpowering – and extremely obnoxious to his olfactory system.

After the shower - he would make the call – he'd been given some numbers, no names, just numbers – of certain clientele who were discrete and come recommended, highly recommended – for what they were charging him – in cash – he knew he'd get his moneys worth...

THAT thought – hurt worse than any pain imaginable – knowing he was to cheat on his beloved wife with a high-class Escort...

*

After the shower, naked and chilled by the AC in the room, he pulled out his other phone – the one his beloved knew nothing about, and looked over the numbers.

“No, no...no...oh fuck it - “ He growled, then scrolled up and down randomly, before he hit dial.

Holding the phone in a trembling hand, he held it to his ear. After four quick rings, a seductive female voice answered and he felt his throat lock for a second, before he put confidence and assurance into his voice and spoke to her...

*

A knock come at the door, Raymond having taken two tablets earlier, knew in short time, it'd take effect and it'd be a most entertaining night... Forcing his guilt aside at betraying his beloved, he knew the reasons why he was about to do what he done...

It didn't make it any easier...

*

Candles burned in the hotel room, lovely scented ones, that'd help set the mood. Quietly, the door opened and the lithe, seductive figure posed in the doorway, before she walked into the dim, candlelit room.

“I don't usually make house calls - “ Come the voice as the young lady approached. “You paid double the normal rate, so exceptions were made and..."

She stepped into the glow of the glow of the light, her eyes wide and expressionate, before she froze, her small handbag falling from her limp fingers and falling to the ground – a cell phone and string of condoms falling out as she stared wide eyed – the man on the bed staring right back – white as new fallen snow as they seen each other...

“DAD?" Squealed the girl, her hands flying to her face.

“Alexis?" He moaned, then leapt off the bed, gagging and gurgling, a hand held to his mouth to hold back the bile that rose up his throat.

Alexis stood shaking like she was in a blizzard, shock, disgust, abject horror and guilt sluicing through her mind in a wild, reckless, inconsolable emotional state.

For an hour, she stood there, before the bathroom door creaked and she backed away, wide eyed and now terrified...

Her father had entered the bathroom – what come out – was not her father...

A grey furred Caribou stepped from the bathroom, his cloven hooves muffled by the carpet. From throat to groin – and on the socks at his ankles – his fur was a ash-grey colour. The rest of him, was a darker, more charcoal grey – nine rounded antler tines adorned each antler that sprouted from his head and he stepped closer – coming into the light of the candles.

“Nnnngh - “ Alexis gurgled, backing up until her buttocks collided with the table against the wall. “No...no, no...it...its a cruel joke, it has to be..."

Lifting his head, almost feeling it was weighted down with bricks tied to his antlers, the Caribou just stared at her, tears in his eyes that slowly trickled down his muzzle.

“Alexis..." Come a voice – deep, masculine, familiar – yet bestial, like the vocal cords were neither human nor beast...

“NO!" Alexis squealed breathlessly, her fear and adrenaline surging.

“Alexis Summerton!" He roared at her, using his dad voice.

Alexis's eyes were like the full moon that shone through the window, lighting the bed...

“Nghgh..." Alexis moaned, before she shuddered and blinked away her tears. “Dad?"

He wept as well, hanging his head, as he timidly took another step. Bravely, Alexis took a step – then another – before she timidly reached out and ever so gently touched his furred chin. Lifting his head up, she stared into the dark brown, mournful eyes of the Caribou – who gazed back with an intelligence and warmth she only knew come from one person...

“Dad...you... you're a...." Alexis moaned, staring and stroking the fur of his chin.

“Promise, not a word to your mother...swear it!" He spoke quietly.

“One...problem... I'll keep your secret... if you keep mine...Oh, and Dad? I'll...uh... I'll need that money before I leave..."

He glared at her, his dominance shining through the look he gave her, before he sighed and tossed his head towards his briefcase.

“Its in...there... Promise me Alexis!"

“I...you're...really a...a..."

“I'm not a Therian Alexis, I can't bite you and make you – well – me..."

“I need...to sit down..."

Alexis sat on the bed, as Raymond sighed then crouched down, his hind legs following as he lay on the floor, resting his head on his daughters lap.

He had much to tell her, it was going to be a long, long night...

END