Chapter 30

Reaching the office he had as the station's news director, Jack closed the door and took a seat on his sofa. Joyce sat upright in a small armchair and just looked at him with dead eyes. When he looked into her eyes, Jack's heart sank. Although he knew she was in great emotional pain, he wanted to confirm some things.

Then he looked at her and said softly, "I love you desperately, Joyce Collier. I always have and I always will."

Hearing his words, Joyce's heart leaped. It was utterly impossible but it was happening. She was hearing the words she dreamed of from the only man she ever wanted to hear them from.

Rajah's demeanor changed dramatically, as well. Communicating, he nearly screamed, "He loves you back, Mistress! He loves you back! Oh, that's so wonderful! Soon you will be married. Then, after endless hours of the most marvelous lovemaking, one of his sperm will find one of your magnificent eggs. God will bless it, and a new soul will have been conceived. It will grow and ripen in your glorious womb and then appear as a tiny boy or girl. You will love it, cherish it, caress it and, most of all, nurse it at your breast.

"You will feel the indescribable pleasure of a tiny baby drawing its perfect food: your gloriously rich, warm, sweet milk directly from your perfect tit, accompanied by all the love you possess. Then you will raise it in a home filled with the incredible love for each other that you and Jack share. You will teach it about God. You will train it in manners, and courtesy and consideration for others.

"Then, when it's six years old, you will bring the boy or girl to our Queen, Bobbie, who will continue to build on the foundations that you and Jack have created. Then you will return home to the child's smaller brothers and sisters. You will be the finest mother in the world and you will truly be our Queen's handmaiden. After all, what greater service could you perform for your queen than using your glorious body to produce children to bask in her love?

"Can you imagine your joy in seven years or so in another circus when one of the beautiful children skipping across the backs of myself and my friends is a son or daughter of yours? A child filled with the Holy Spirit? A child who God Himself, acting as the Holy Spirit, will guide and protect? What could possibly be finer? And it's happening, my darling Mistress, because Jack loves you as much as you adore him. Isn't that wonderful?"

By the time Rajah finished his communication Joyce was weeping uncontrollably. She was disconsolate because, although the scenario he described was what she wished for in her wildest dreams, it could never happen. Suddenly she felt herself being lifted out of her chair and taken into Jack's arms. His lips met hers and melted.

Although she tried to keep her lips pressed tightly together, she couldn't. She felt her lips soften and then part as he worked his lips on hers. A flow of love between them grew in seconds to the volume of a river flowing in two directions at once.

Moments later, she was consumed by passion and could feel electricity between them that was overwhelming in its intensity. Meanwhile, Jack just moved his hands over her back and body while, involuntarily, she stroked his. Meantime Rajah had just seated himself on the floor and watched with the happiness growing inside him like a flood.

When the two eased apart, he saw new tears in Joyce's eyes as she said softly, "Jack, how could you? How could you bear to touch — least of all, kiss — a piece of filth like me? You're so pure and I am so rotten..."

"You're a dream come true," he replied softly. "I said it before, darling, and I'll say it again: I have loved you from the first moment I saw you."

"How could you possibly, Jack?" she wailed. "You saw what I was and knew what I was doing. Can you imagine telling a girl, two days on the payroll, to take Sol in her ass that night or clean out her desk right then? Can you? I did, you know."

"And you made a perfect confession today," Rajah quietly communicated. "If God Himself forgave you your sins, can Jack do any less? Mistress, God Himself told you, 'Your sins, they are forgiven. Go forth and sin no more.'

"Leaving that priest, the Holy Spirit came down upon you. Right now you're as clean and pure as Bobbie or Andrea Cartwright."

Suddenly, Rajah's attitude changed dramatically. He communicated, "Now strip off your clothes so Jack can see what he will be getting and so I can have the reward I earned by clobbering that idiot, Sol Abrams! Now!"

"But ... but ... but Jack will see—"

"What half-a-hundred or so other guys — most of whom you couldn't stand — have already seen," Rajah interrupted. "Besides, since you will not allow him to make love to you until you're married, prudence suggests that he have a look at the physical perfection he will have sharing his bed when he does. Now do it!"

In an instant Joyce was out of her clothes and resting her bare bottom on the edge of Jack's desk with her legs spread wide. When Rajah moved into position, she ruffled the fur on the top of his head and said softly, "I love you dearly, you big lug! But now I find out you're a bully, too."

Then she smiled warmly and said, "Well? What are you waiting for? My cesspool awaits."

Before moving, Rajah looked up at her with enormous love in his huge green eyes and said, "No, Mistress. A veritable fountain of purity!" With that his tongue darted out and he concentrated on getting her love juices flowing freely.

Taking advantage of Rajah's preoccupation, Joyce renewed her objections. It turned out to be funny as some of her best speeches were interrupted by her involuntary gasps, shrieks of ecstasy, or moans of pleasure caused by the tiger's very talented tongue working on her loins.

"Jack, this is one of the things I was thinking about but did not include in my story tonight," she said and shrieked as her loins shook in orgasm. Catching her breath she added, "But I can't marry you. You and I don't agree on the time of day, let alone anything else."

Jack was still rocking from the sight of Joyce's naked beauty. She was everything he had ever thought but so much more besides. He just shook his head and replied, "That won't work, Joyce. Two days ago, maybe. Tonight, no. You have packed it in totally with the PC folks. If anything, you and Ann Henry are even more disgusted with the situation than I am."

Finally, her last line of defense: "Jack, I can't marry you. I won't hold you back professionally. They'll want you at the network in Washington or New York. I can't leave Los Angeles.

"You see, I solemnly swore to Bobbie that she would have any children of mine to educate. As long as she's here, I have to be here, too. Not only can you not stay, you shouldn't. You're the very best and deserve the professional recognition that's finally coming your way. I won't hold you back. I won't!"

Now Joyce had confirmed what Jack had suspected all along: he was hearing her last futile efforts before she bowed to the inevitable and agreed to become his wife. But playing the game, he looked up at the corner and looked pensive.

Then with a grin he said, "Good try, Joyce, but no sale. First, I'll go to Washington when, in the immortal words of a former Soviet leader, shrimp learn to whistle! Let's not hold our breath, shall we? You say you need to stay in LA. Well, darling, I want to. I want to spend a lot of time with you and those scrumptious little children that Rajah so eloquently described."

Looking at her quizzically, he interjected, "Darling, did you know that Raj could be so eloquent?" She grinned wryly and just shook her head, then let out a shriek as her loins convulsed in another massive orgasm. "And by the way, are you always this passionate or are you just showing off?"

"I never had an orgasm in my life before," she gasped, "until my darling worked on me this afternoon." There was another quiet moan as she was hit by another small orgasm and then added, "Now I think I can get off with you just looking at me."

"But back to your comment," Jack continued. "First, I don't want to leave. Second, we already own the time period and the news in LA. And when the rating books come out for this week, they won't even be able to find our competition in the numbers. Finally, with you and Raj at the news desk, we're going to be flying.

"Darling, Los Angeles is a giant market — the second largest in the country. And at the rate New York is dropping, we'll be number one pretty soon. The top news show in the top market isn't shabby. I'm paid pretty well and you will be, too. We'll have more than enough money to buy a big house and start filling it up with kids."

He looked at her with great love in his eyes and added, "You want a whole bunch, don't you? The reason you cracked up when Rajah made his speech was that he was describing your dream of a lifetime, wasn't he?"

Joyce was concentrating her attention on Rajah's head and his tongue still working on her loins.

"Wasn't he?" Jack exclaimed. "Answer the question!"

"Yes, damn it! Yes he was." Cradling her tits in her hands she said, "Jack, can you imagine the feeling of a baby girl or boy drawing its sustenance from these breasts?"

Looking up at him she said, "There's one condition: I am not a career woman. My ideal career is to be your wife and concentrate on making you the happiest man in the whole world. My body will be available to you any time, any place, for any purpose. Then giving birth and raising those children Rajah so eloquently described ... I can't wait." Then looking at Jack with all the love she could convey she said softly, "Jack, I give up."

Then she looked down where Rajah was licking up her last succulent drops. Again she lovingly tousled his head and asked softly, "Have you finished drinking at my fountain? Can we go home now?"

The great cat looked up at her and worshipfully communicated, "Mistress, I cannot tell you how happy you have just made me. I cannot tell you, believe it or not, the joy you just created in Heaven!"

But then he grinned and added, "But there is one more thing, Mistress. You owe Master Jack — he will be my master when you're wed, won't he? — one more thing. He saw the tape and its closing scene, but not the scene you really wanted to shoot. Will you show him now? Please?"

"Oh, you!" she said, feigning exasperation, and then kissing him quickly on the top of his head. Then she raised an eyebrow and added, "I'm waiting."

The huge tiger flipped on his back and spread his legs wide. Joyce dove between his legs and landed with a flop on his chest. His forelegs came together while she moved her tits with their now-so-sensitive nipples in small circles on his soft white fur. Rajah used his legs to hold her tight while she pretended to fight him to have more room for her movements.

Then she gave up, stretched out with her cheek on his chest, and just savored his wonderful softness and warmth. "Mmm, mmm," she murmured. "My darling Rajah, this is heaven!"

Looking up at a wall clock she saw it was almost two o'clock. Suddenly, the effect of the day's physical activity and its series of emotional shocks hit her like a ton of bricks. Joyce was utterly exhausted and close to physical collapse. Sleepily she said, "Raj, let's go. If I don't move this minute, they'll find me like this, bare-assed, tomorrow morning still in your arms. Let's go home, shall we?"

Reluctantly, Rajah released her and she staggered to her feet. As she sleepily sorted through her discarded clothing and began to dress, Jack nodded toward Rajah and said, "But what about him, Joyce? Isn't your landlord going to have a bird? Won't you be evicted?"

"Nope," she replied with a sleepy grin. Then she rummaged through her purse, found a piece of paper which she gave to Jack, and then continued with her dressing.

Jack looked at it and laughed. It was a permit to have a cat in her apartment. On the line that said, "Cat's name," was written "Rajah." On the line asking for "Cat's description" was the word, "tiger." He realized that, when Joyce had applied for the permit and the question of description had been asked, she had casually replied, "tiger." The agent naturally assumed that she was describing a tiger-striped house cat, but notwithstanding, it was all completely legal. Moreover, the permit ran with the duration of the apartment lease and any subsequent renewals.

As he returned the permit to her, he reflected on how naturally she moved. When he commented on her grace, Rajah communicated, "Master Jack, my mistress is an incredibly beautiful woman with a magnificent body, as you could see. Believe it or not, she has embarked on a program to make herself even more perfect for your eyes. Sir, I think some work on your part is in order."

With a grin Rajah continued, "Indeed, self-preservation requires it. If you do not improve substantially, she might kill you with her lovemaking, and we certainly can't have that, can we?"

Jack grinned but realized that Rajah was both very serious and giving very good advice. He vowed immediately to start making regular use of the facilities at his health club.

Joyce was now fully dressed, but was literally reeling with fatigue. After Jack tenderly kissed her goodnight, Rajah volunteered to carry her through the sprawling building and out to her car.

Sleepily, she grinned at Jack and said, "See, darling, he's even better than a car. He can move nearly as fast, but he can also move indoors and even navigate stairs. Isn't he neat?" Then she peered at Rajah owlishly and asked, "But can you babysit?"

"I cannot nurse a baby," Rajah replied seriously, "But I can entertain them and — most certainly — protect them!"

"I am certain of that!" she replied sleepily.

She was on his back but was now so tired she couldn't even sit upright. She looked like a rider asleep in the saddle. To her surprise Rajah trotted through the labyrinthine corridors of the sprawling studio building with no direction from her, in spite of this being the first time he had ever been in it. When she commented on it, he told her that cats had an extraordinary sense of place and direction. By this time of night, the building was nearly empty, or, in view of its 24-hour operation, as empty as it ever was.

As they passed the guard at the door, she called out sleepily, "G'night, Charley."

He replied, "Good night, Miss Collier," without looking up from his newspaper and thus did not see that she was riding on the back of a Bengal tiger.

Once out the door — Rajah even handled that himself because it had a stampede bar — she got off his back and said that since he had been such a wonder carrying her all the way out of the building, she would get the car and come back to pick him up. Rajah grinned and sat down on the sidewalk to wait for her.

As she walked towards her parked car, she was glad that it was a minivan. Taking out the second seat allowed Rajah to lie down in the center of the vehicle and thus spread his considerable weight among all four wheels.

In spite of the fact that there were only a handful of vehicles left in the sprawling parking lot, she noticed there was another car parked close to hers. They were almost the only pair of vehicles left. Because of her fatigue, her brain didn't register any possible danger lurking in the darkness between the cars. She just wanted to get her car moving and get back home.

As she started to unlock the driver's door, a dirty burlap bag was dropped over her head. Two men had grabbed her from behind. One held her tightly while the other held an ether-soaked cloth to her face. Although the cloth was outside the burlap bag, the bag's weave was so coarse that the anaesthetic fumes easily penetrated.

While trying not to breathe she could hear the men gloating: They would rape her in any event; if KNBC paid their ransom, she would be released. If not, they would keep raping her until she was dead.

With her face covered tightly with the ether-soaked cloth, Joyce couldn't make a sound, but she mentally screamed to Rajah to save her.

The tiger was looking around the area curiously and patiently waiting when he heard his mistress's mental scream for help. In just two bounds he was running at over forty miles per hour towards her car. Although Joyce and her assailants were in the deep shadows between the two cars, with Rajah's superb night vision they might as well have been standing in the sunlight. Once he knew the situation, he changed course and used one of the cars to conceal his approach.

When he reached the corner of the car, he crouched and sprang. This time there was no holding back. With his enormous claws fully extended, 600 pounds of furious tiger ripped open the backs of both men simultaneously. Having struck, he let out a mighty roar of rage.

The last mental communication from his mistress had mentioned rape. One of the men was on his back on the ground staring up, petrified with fear, at the blazing green eyes above him. There was a quick swipe of Rajah's great paw followed instantly by an agonized scream from the fallen assailant. Where his crotch had been there was now only a large hole with blood flowing from it in a small river.

The second man was on his face and screaming when Rajah used the claws of his great paw to flip him over on his back while tearing off most of his shoulder in the process. With another swipe of his paw he ensured that the man, if he lived, could never rape anyone ever again.

Then, with huge bounds he raced back to the studio entrance and roared as loudly as he could. The scream of the enraged tiger was loud enough to awaken the dead and easily loud enough even to penetrate the building's soundproofing. The guard came running followed by Jack who was leaving the building himself. Seeing Jack, Rajah lay down and communicated to him to get on his back and to tell the guard to call for the police and an ambulance immediately.