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"How did we ever end up in a classy place like this? How'd we ever get in!?" Commented Rosaline as she looked at herself in the mirror of a clothing shop. Months had passed since she joined Nikko (nee-ko) after they were run out of town. They had been plenty of places and had grown much more relaxed around each other.

The town they were in now was known for its rich residents. While on the road elsewhere, Rose had caught the eye of a noble unintentionally while he was out riding. He had asked them to join him and his familyâ€"he was the son of one of the wealthier malesâ€"for dinner with the intent to win Rose's favor; he had even mentioned his two sisters, suggesting they would be able hostesses. Rose had accepted his offer because it had been several weeks since they'd had a decent place to stay and nearly a week since they had eaten. Now they were in a clothing shop, buying nicer clothes at the young lord's request.

Rose adjusted the dark red dress over her sleek, white fur, the tight bodice holding her heavy breasts modestly and the layered skirt hiding her slender tail. Not only did she think the color matched her name but also complemented her black and white coloring. "What do you think?" she asked Nikko as she turned her back on the reflected image of a white-tigress anthro.

He was quiet for long enough to bother her, but he swept her worries away with a wide smile and two words. "Absolutely fabulous!" She still could not believe this human had accepted her so readily. Dressed in a dark red tux that only showed its colors in sunlight, he was breathtaking. She would have loved to get her claws into the blood-red vest and white button-down shirt underneath or run her fingers through his slicked-back dark hair, a few chin-length strands brushing the elegant, mysterious scars that colored his cheeks. She even wondered what the matching gloves would feel like stroking her fur.

"You look even better than usual," she teased as she stepped away from the mirror. Self-consciously, she touched the onyx and silver hoops that weighted down the tips of her pointed ears, causing them to fold. Nikko handed her the elbow-length, fingerless, black gloves she had also purchased, which she slipped on with a shudder of pleasure. The leather duster she typically wore waited for her on a nearby table beside the pouch of coins with the elderly human seamstress guarding them. Rose threw on the leather, a signal for the woman to snatch up the pouch and see her customers out. "Feels kind of odd, you know, to be dressing up like this after spending weeks wandering the wilderness."

Nikko's laugh was light for his deeper voice. "Though you have to admit it's a nice change to eat decent food for once. Even if you have to put up with drooling admirers." Offering his arm with a graceful bow, he added, "So, my lovely tigress, shall we then?"

She took his arm in a formal fashion with a feline grin. "We shall, dear human." Nikko laughed at the absurdity of it all and led her away.

Before long, the two were at the door of the riverside mansion. They were greeted by an elderly human butler who took their jackets and hung them in a hall closet; he also led them slowly to a lounge where the family sat. Rose was on guard as they were announced as "Sir Nikko" and "Madame Rosaline." The family's beady eyes were simply too judgmental.

The young mouse anthro that had taken a liking to Rose was perfectly groomed, not a wheat-colored hair out of place. His hazel eyes were locked on her unnervingly as he stood to greet them. His long nose and trimmed whiskers twitched over her hand as he bent to kiss it. "I was getting worried," he informed her as his fleshy, thin fingers gripped her a little too tight.

"No need to, my lord," she replied politely, resisting the urge to grimace.

"Please, call me Don."

"Of course, Don." As Don led her to a loveseat in the lounge, she made a silly face over her shoulder to Nikko, proving she was faking the whole formal business. His reaction was half a smile just before two females surrounded him.

"Welcome, Nikko," squeaked the younger sister.

"Yes, welcome," the older quickly added. The dusty yellow fur and hazel eyes seemed to be a pattern in the young mice. Sara, the youngest, had dressed in a baby blue, strapless dress that had little to hold it up and that danced around her ankles; the rose tucked behind her round ear was already wilting. Rachel, preceding her sister by only a year of age, could have been a twin but with darker coloring to her outfit and a couple inches more in height.

"I thank you for your welcome," he replied, looking down at both. "Dare I say it...you look like flowers that bloom but once a year with all your beauty." That earned him a swoon from both and a discrete eye roll from Rose.

She turned her attention back to Don, listening as he regaled her with stories of future inheritance. He apparently shopped at the same shop they had been to because his blue tux was so similar to Nikko's. Rose found it easiest to focus on the white carnation tucked into his jacket front than to look at his pointed face. However, her eyes did wander to the quiet parents that were simply older versions of their eager children. Intimidating with his tell-tale graying, the man of the manor watched from behind the economy section of the paper. Mother-dear kept her nimble fingers busy as she watched her daughters compete.

"Would you two excuse me?" Rose heard Nikko ask. She turned to see him pull himself from the females' clutches. "Private need," he added over their disappointed sighs before disappearing into the hall. The daughters retired to their seats beside their mother, but Rose was irritated to note that Nikko had appeared to ditch them all.

An hour later, she was able to remove herself from Don's side, dodging his hidden groping, by volunteering to fetch Nikko from the bathroom as the family believed him to be. She instead found him out in the yard, perched in the thick foliage of a tree as naturally as she would have been. "Dinner is being served," she called up to him.

"Do you have any idea how high pitched their voices are?" was his warning before he climbed down. On a sigh, he added, "I guess we should go, then. I can put up with them if it means we get food...I think." The smile on his lips distracted her briefly.

"Try listening to LORD DON'S length descriptions of his land, investment, and other values of wealth." She followed Nikko back into the house. " You'd think he was expecting me to marry him just because he's wealthy; not to mention the roaming hands."

"He is. He's expecting you to swoon for him like all the other women he meets." The irony invoked a chuckle, a sound that tugged on Rose's lips.

"Think he's stupid enough to suggest marriage after knowing me for only a few hours?" She doubted he would be so brash.

"I'd say so."

No one greeted them inside until they stepped back into the lounge. A nervous maid, who looked like she could be half-rat, directed them to the dining room. Rose watched as Nikko's back straightened, a polite smile took to his mouth, and indifference filled his eyes while fluidity graced his movements. Rose took the hint and became quiet with a fake smile, perfect posture, and practiced grace.

The family was already around the table, expecting the two. Don was on his feet as soon as Rose stepped into the room, pulling the chair beside him out for her. She sat as Nikko sat across from her between the sisters. "Forgive me for being so long," he was saying as Don took his own seat again. "I fear I got lost." The embarrassment in his voice was believable enough to send the female mice giggling, causing Rose to smirk.

The food was carried out of the kitchen by servants of human and rodent alike. It was a feast to Rose's eyes , but having Don fix her plate before he got his own was uncomfortable. Yet, it appeared to be the proper thing; even Nikko did his part and served the sisters; their combined thank-you ended with glares toward each other behind his back.

"What do you think of the decline in winery production?" the father asked from the head of the table, eyeing Nikko and drawing him into the father-son discussion of investments.

"Being on the move so much, I haven't yet heard much of it. So forgive me, but I couldn't say."

"Why do you travel so much?" the mother piped up, surprising Rose with how harsh her voice actually was. "Don told us he'd met you on the road, looking a little neglected."

"If I may," Rose intercepted, waiting for the father's approving nod before continuing. "We travel for the joy of a certain freedom that comes with it. I was growing tired of my hometown when I met Nikko. So, I decided to travel with him and have been quite happy ever since."

"Have you ever thought of marrying?" She did not answer the father's question right away, not quite knowing how to answer. Don holding her hand did not help her mind find the polite response.

However, Nikko saved her from speaking. "With all of our travels, I guess the idea never came to mind. For now, it may be best for thing to carry on as they have and to see what happens when it does."

"A shame," sighed the father. "A prize like your lovely consort here shouldn't be left to wait until time has done her injustice. As you seem to be her current guardian, I offer you this proposal: her hand in marriage to my son for a fine dowry of five of my top wineries as well as five hundred gold."

Rose's shock was plain on her face as she looked to Don. The mouse looked like he had already won the finest cheese. Her hope was placed into Nikko's hands with a pleading, brown-eyed gaze. The father continued to encourage blindly. "I'll even give you one of my daughters; your pick of the two."

Not that Nikko accepted. His smile vanished as he stood abruptly. "Forgive me, but I do not approve of selling off people as if they were cattle." His glare even had Rose shivering. "She can make her own decisions just as well as you can. Why don't you ask her instead of me?" Swift strides carried him from the table and out of the room, leaving every female too shocked to speak, including Rose.

"Well I never! Letting a woman decide what her guardians should be choosing. Where was that boy raised?" huffed the father.

His wife did not disagree. "He must be some peasant."

The down-talking of Nikko angered Rose more than being treated like some jewel to be passed from hand to hand. "As a matter of fact, his is of a lower class than you...as am I! And personally, I like making my own decisions," she snapped as she stood. "Oh! And I'm keeping this." She flashed the expensive ring their jump-the-gun son had slipped onto her finger when Nikko had stormed out. Before they could protest, she followed her companion with her skirt hiked in her claws, her cold attitude enough to freeze the soup on the table.

She found Nikko at the door, his eyes on the dark sky. He had his jacket and gloves over his arm as if he would fight, but the moon's light had his pale skin glowing. Rose pulled on her coat, which she had swiped from the closet, and stuffed her gloves in one of the many pockets. "We best find a place to stay," she said curtly as she reached him.

"Yes, but I want to get out of this town as soon as possible. How dare they ask me such things?" The anger in his voice seemed as sharp as hers.

"We'll leave in the morning. This should be enough to pay for some good lodging and then some." She showed off the ring, smirking as it flashed with her movements.

"Yes." With that one word, she heard him relax. "That should be able to feed us for a little while, too. Let's go, then."

Rose led the way, walking the streets in the dark of the night. The open jeweler's store they found bought the ring happily for a heavy purse and even directed them to different inns. Settling on a less lavish establishment to stretch out the money, they approached a tipsy bloodhound innkeeper slouched over the front desk.

"One room or..." A hiccup interrupted him. "...or two?"

"Whichever" was Nikko's answer.

"One; two beds, if you can." Rose passed over the payment.

"Of course!" The innkeeper perked up at the sight of the solid coins and grabbed up the candle from the desk.

"It's cheaper," Rose whispered, justifying her choice. "Let's us have more money to use when needed. Having always kept track of the finances since she had joined Nikko, she doubted he would care. She would have liked to share a bed with him, to curl up against him in sleep, but this was more logical.

"True," he whispered back. She had not realized how close behind her he was; the warmth of his breath on her shoulder sent a shiver up her spine and brought tingles to the tips of her whiskers. She could feel the urge to purr.

"If there is anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask," the bloodhound panted as he opened their room. He lit the candles and left them alone, his eyes watching them too hopefully with each step back he took out of the room. It was a simple room, Rose noted to keep her mind off Nikko; not many things were complex those days. Two beds filled the room with their wooden frames and hard mattresses. The rough end table between them held a candlestick, as did the lopsided desk on the other side of the room. All cloth in the room was old, from the worn rug at the feet of the beds, to the tattered draperies over the single window to the rumpled bedding.

Rose sat on the bed by the window and slipped off her dress shoes, musing aloud. "We could probably sell these clothes back to the seamstress and get our old things back, clean. Or we could pawn them off and get some newer, more durable clothing more suitable for our traveling."

"Yeah. I think I'll just stick with my old clothes; they're in good enough condition."

Rose nodded absently as she focused on unlacing the front of her dress; with her back to him, she refrained from giving Nikko a show. Her stockings followed her dress to the floor before she folded them on the desk, kicking the shoes under it. With only a silk slip to hide her charms, cinched just above her ample breasts to keep it from falling, she returned to the bed and glanced to Nikko. A double take confirmed that he was only wearing a pair of black boxers that hugged his hips and thighs. Tasty nipples stood out on a toned chest, and his stomach was just soft enough to make her want to lay her head on it.

However, Nikko did not seem to notice her staring as he yawned and stretched out on his back on his bed. His gaze watched the ceiling before his lashes fluttered closed. Not wanting to disturb him, Rose slipped under the covers of her bed and watched him in the dying candlelight. It was not often that she saw him so at peace, but eventually the shadows robbed her of her view.

Disappointed, Rose rolled over to her other side in an attempt to sleep. Nikko's nearly naked image kept sneaking into her dreamy thoughts, coaxing her toward him with hungry eyes and a sexy smile. His hands touched his neck and his chest. His fingers pinched his nipples as his eyes looked to level of hers; Rose could not resist sliding her hands under her slip. When her dream rubbed his buds, so did she; she mirrored every brush, tweak, and tease the image gave until moving on.

Hands slid down stomachs, sending a ripple of anticipation through Rose. But when her dream's hand disappeared behind the cursed boxers, her hand found her opening slit. As her fingers spread her growing moisture, the image faded to leave only feeling and sound. She nearly believed she could hear Nikko groaning and whimpering even as she gasped to the brush of her fingers on her revealed clit. Legs wide, need growing, she circled the precious bump and bit her lip to hold back the moans that filled her throat. Her body tensed and shuddered, and it became harder to be quiet, especially with deep moans ghosting through her ears. Each stroke got her closer as her finger pressed and scratched desperately. Between her need to find release to the thought of her traveling companion and the fear of being heard, she was caught up in a whirlwind of emotion. However, the thing that pushed her over the edge and caused every strand of her fur to stand on end was when she thought she heard Nikko whisper her name in the throes of pleasure. A yowl of sweet release caught in her throat as she dug the claws of her free hand into the mattress and bucked her hips, her tail stiff against the bed.

When she finally began to return from her heated private moment, she felt the familiar rumble of her own purring in her chest. Her fingers still tucked into her now dripping, hot slit, she returned to her side from her stomachâ€"a position she had entered naturallyâ€"and closed her thighs around her hand. As she sighed, preparing to sleep, she caught the delicious scent of human musk on the air mixing with the familiar smell of her heat.