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