FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Do you love me?" asked the Tiger standing on the threshold with a large box of clothes in his hands. He was wearing a thick jacket, zipped all the way up to protect him from the weather outside.

"Of course I do." replied the Rottweiler as he ushered the other male in. "You can put it in my room for now." It was a simple second floor apartment, though it may have been on the larger side. A living room with an armchair, sofa and coffee table all in front of a television was connected to a kitchen with a small dinning table. In the back, a hallway led to a single bathroom, a bedroom, and a room that had once been a second bedroom but had since been converted to a walk-in storage closet full of miscellaneous items. The whole thing was more like a small house than an apartment, the Tiger had once thought. But then, what else were apartments supposed to be.

"But you never say it." argued the Tiger as he was led into the hallway.

A.J. paused at the door to his bedroom, leaning over the box in the Tiger's hands to stare pointedly into the other's eyes. "You, are my one and only reason for existing." he said meaningfully, but in a way that prevented it from sounding overly dramatic. Raleigh was left to blush and smile as the Canine opened the door and took the box from him.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Raleigh asked as A.J. put the box next to his bed and looked back at his boyfriend of 1 year and 4 months exactly. Sort of. They didn't officially call themselves a couple until two weeks after they met on November 12th, and today was April 12th. But as far as Raleigh was concerned it was love at first sight and so he had deemed the day they met their anniversary.

"Of course it is." said A.J. as he walked up and wrapped his arms around the Feline. "This way now when I end up keeping you overnight," he smiled suggestively, "you'll have clean clothes to wear."

"Sharing closet space." laughed Raleigh. "You really do love me."

"Did you ever doubt it?" laughed A.J.

"You could stand to say it more often." said the Tiger as he ran a few fingers through the fur of the Rottweiler's neck.

A.J. smirked. This wasn't a new conversation by any means. "I've said it before."

"Four times." The Tiger specified "In the entire time we've known each other you've said it four times." His voice betrayed some discontent, but his boyfriend knew just how to remedy that. He tightened his hold on Raleigh and brought their lips together before he could say anything else. Just a quick one, though it never failed to linger just a bit more than was intended. Raleigh might have minded these interruption if they didn't send him falling through space every time they happened. The world became blurred, the floor giving way beneath them, and it was like he was suddenly in orbit. It always surprised the Tiger when he opened his eyes to find out that they hadn't actually moved at all. And there was A.J., staring at him with that dreamy look in his eyes that he got every time they kissed.

Those flimsy lines of doubt disappeared and he smiled dumbly. He had forgotten how to make words, so he just made a simple happy "Hmmmm."

"Come on." grinned the Rottweiler. "Let's go watch the movie."

"'Kay." agreed the Tiger, though in his current state it was more a letter in the alphabet than a word.

Back in the living room the Rottweiler plopped down on the couch and was quickly followed by his boyfriend who snuggled up against him, jacket discarded on the armchair.

"Don't you need to get the movie?" asked A.J.

"What?"

"The movie?" The Tiger's faced began to freeze up, his eyes opening up a bit, and A.J. realized what had happened. "You forgot it, didn't you?"

The Tiger sat up, dismayed. "I thought you were supposed to get it..."

"Nope, remember? I was going to work later today, so you said you would pick one out and bring it."

"I did." Raleigh buried his face in his hands as he remembered. "I did. I'm soorrryy! I forgooot."

A.J. chuckled and wrapped an arm around the distraught Tiger. "You're hopeless."

"I'm sorry." the Tiger apologized again, to which the Rottweiler replied by kissing him on the nose.

"Just what am I going to do with you?"

And then a small tentative smile grew of the Feline's features. "I've got a few ideas..." And before the Rottweiler could protest, as if, Raleigh leaned in. There lips touched, first soft and warm before they started pressing harder against each other as the Tiger slowly forced his boyfriend onto his back against the couch, legs coming up to straddle his body. A few moments ago A.J. would have attempted to reason to the Feline that this could wait until after the movie situation had been dealt with, but just then he was having trouble convincing even himself. What was a movie anyway? A medium for intimacy, an excuse to cuddle up against each other and just enjoy being close to one another. This, this was all that and more. It wasn't exactly the way he had planned today to go, but the order didn't really matter.

A.J.'s hands rubbed along the other's back, fingers practically itching to feel the fur beneath his shirt. The thick material was driving him crazy, forcing him to press even harder to try and feel every individual fur of the Tiger's body. Raleigh took this as encouragement as he ran one hand through the Canine's hair while the other felt up his neck. There was something just so amazing about belonging to one another, about wanting each other so bad and being perfectly free to indulge in that wanting, that just drove the Tiger crazy. If they had any mind to voice their thoughts, he would have learned that his boyfriend felt the same way.

Unable to take it anymore, the Rottweiler began to bury his hands under Raleigh's shirt, at last feeling the familiar, electrifyingly perfect fur of the Tiger. The Feline growled his appreciation as the hand on A.J.'s neck began to travel down to the hem of his shirt to do the same, albeit taking the scenic route. Raleigh was already becoming short of breathe, barely even remembering to breathe. If the Rottweiler's scent wasn't absolutely intoxicating he might have stopped breathing altogether.

Death by kissing. Definitely one of the better ways to go.

"I love you." the Tiger managed to say between kisses and vital intakes of air.

The Rottweiler's reply was slurred, caught up in the ecstasy of tasting Raleigh on his lips. "...yu'r evrything t'me..."

That was how he always replied. Saying it without really saying it. But now was not the time for thinking. It was about feeling. Touching. And boy did Raleigh have a handful of touching to indulge in.

A.J.'s eyes opened reflexively as he let out an "umpf". Most of that moment was spent taking in the beautiful Tiger on top of him, but he also glanced over at the red numbers of the digital clock under the television. His eyes lingered, making the Tiger pause and follow his gaze.

"What it is?" he asked.

The Rottweiler gave him a conflicted smile. "Is the video store going close before we finish?" he asked.

Raleigh looked back at the clock. "We have like three hours." he assured the Canine. But A.J. smiled and raised an eyebrow at him, communicating nonverbally what he was thinking. Sometimes three hours wasn't enough time; Raleigh had trouble stopping once they started. Especially when it was cold outside. Just thinking of the warmth and how long they could keep at it made Raleigh even hornier. "We could cut out the foreplay." he suggested, but even as he said it he knew that might not be enough. They would still have to be presentable afterwards.

"Maybe." the Rottweiler encouraged, half-hoping the Tiger would decide to chance it. If even without foreplay he wasn't sure...But Raleigh looked at the clock again, then back at A.J., and then let out a defeated sigh.

"Probably not."

Damn it. That meant the Tiger had been planning to go all out. The Canine's pants practically groaned from being over-stretched. But that was another great thing about being with someone. There was always later to look forward too.

But on that note, the Rottweiler found himself happily surprised as he watch the Tiger take his shirt off anyway. He raised a questioning eyebrow, but before responding Raleigh helped him out of his own shirt. "I think I know one thing we can do that might not take as much time."

"You're so beautiful." replied the Rottweiler before pulling the Tiger down for a few more kisses.

The Feline pulled away, eventually. "Hey, were on a time crunch remember?" And just to remind his boyfriend what he was working towards, he helped himself to another handful.

"Fffff...." Raleigh was really going for it today. And yet he still thought three hours wouldn't have been enough time.

Without foreplay.

What the hell had A.J. just missed out on?

But no, not missed out on, he reminded himself.

Just postponed. Later he would let himself reciprocate the Tiger with equal force. But for now he tried to content himself by relishing in the Tiger's lips as they travelled down his body. It was surprisingly easy, go figure.

Lips to lips, to chin, neck, chest.

Detour on the chest.

Fffuuuuuccking hell that detour on the chest.

Lower now.

Abdomen.

Lower abdomen.

Happy trail.

EuPHORIC trail.

Then the buttons of his jeans.

Oh man.

Ziiiiiip.

Differently structured kisses.

Other mouth things.

Hands retracing the tongue's steps, pulling down on an elastic waistband.

Ooooohh man.

Touching, fondling.

Kisses, gentle licks. Then less gentle licks. More mouth things.

Sounds, sometimes the Tiger, sometimes the Rottweiler.

A lot of different mouth things.

Wonderful, wonderful mouth things.

And then A.J. was seeing stars...

****************

It was cold outside. The two made their way to the Tiger's car, clinging tightly to their thick clothing and the lingering warmth from their physical expressions of affection. They trudged through the accumulated snow to the minimal relief the interior of the car provided from the weather. The Tiger stuck his keys in the ignition and turned on the heater. Then they just sat there for while, waiting for the temperature to rise.

"Guess it's a good thing we left earlier." remarked A.J. "Otherwise it might have been even colder."

"Yeah." agreed Raleigh. "Shouldn't the snow have melted by now? It's April for goodness' sake. Wish we lived someplace somewhere." This made A.J. smirk. "What?"

"Nothing." he said. "Don't worry about it."

"I don't like the cold okay?" huffed the Tiger, rubbing his hands together with some vain hope that they would suddenly catch fire.

"Here." The Rottweiler took his hands into his own, breathing on them and rubbing the heat into the Feline's fingers. He breathed out a contented sigh.

"Hhhaaaaahh that feels so good."

A.J. laughed and kissed his hand, repeating the process one more time.

"I love you so much..." said the Tiger as his boyfriend continued to warm up his hands.

"You're the most important person to me." replied the Rottweiler. Raleigh gave a frustrated laugh that wasn't really frustrated at all. Somewhere on the Canine's browser history he was certain he would find websites with names like 101 different ways to say I love you. But that would have been okay, because it wasn't like he had never said it. He had. Four times, as Raleigh was always quick to remind him. Actually, now that he was thinking about it, the first time A.J. said I love you started out a lot like this.

They were in A.J.'s car, two weeks after they had first met. It had been the eleventh time they had seen each other since then. The Rottweiler was supposed to be dropping the Tiger off, but the car was parked and they had already been talking for almost an hour. A.J. had been strangely nervous, and at the time the Feline had had no idea as to why. Everything up to that point had been a strange mixture of taking it slow and rushing in. In only two weeks they were completely caught up in each other, seeing each other practically everyday though they had just met, yet besides the mildest of flirts it seemed as if every interaction they had was more on the platonic side. Like they were best friends rather than two individuals who were attempting to communicate their attractions to one another. Raleigh had thought it was because the love they both felt for each other was so palpable there was no need to try and romance it up, but later he learned that this fact had been much less apparent to A.J. When it was finally time for the Tiger to go, A.J. insisted on walking him to the door. It was cold out, snowing, and Raleigh was rubbing his hands for warmth, neither of them having thought to bring gloves for their time out. Lucky for that, because upon seeing this A.J. had worked up the courage to finally hold the Tiger's hands. Carefully at first, waiting for any possible objection, and when none came he brought them up to his lips and blew a puff of warm breath over them that Raleigh was grateful for. At least, the part to of his mind that wasn't running through a field of flowers and doing summersaults was able to appreciate the relief from the cold. They were just a few steps away from the main building; it probably would have been warmer inside. But neither one seemed to have had enough thought process to spare to think about that just then.

"Raleigh...I've been...I mean I've, I've really been having fun with you and...I don't know..." He was nervous as hell, but then he started to notice the beginnings of a smile on the Tiger's face. So maybe there was a chance for this to go well. Gosh he hoped this was going to go well. "I mean, I like you...I really like you..." Raleigh was smiling even more now, was it an oh jeez is this actually happening this is hilarious smile? Or an I can't believe this is actually happening but I really hope it is smile? His fingers shifted in A.J. palms, thumbs poking out to wrap over the Canine's hands as his eyes looked expectantly into his own. The Rottweiler's heart hammered in his chest. It was the second type of smile. "And...I was wondering, if...you maybe wanted to-"

The Tiger's hands pulled on his neck and brought his lips forward.

Raleigh's lips were soft, and unrelenting. All the feelings that had been bubbling up for the past two weeks had finally found an outlet, and there was no stopping it until he was certain the Rottweiler understood what he felt. And then a while more, just to be certain. It wasn't either one's first kiss, but it was the first time for both that a kiss felt the way everyone said first kisses were supposed to. First time they had sent each other into orbit. First time they kissed each other. And then one more first for each other.

When their lips finally parted and their eyes opened to gaze happily at one another, when words seemed far beyond what he was capable of, A.J. felt on his lips one thing that he could say, needed to, wanted to, even if it could only scratch the surface of what he was feeling, and would forever feel, for the Tiger who's hands he was still holding.

"I love you."

The way Raleigh smiled lit up his entire world.

"I love you too." replied the Tiger.

And that was that.

"I love you." said the same Tiger, one year 3 months and two-ish weeks later inside of a car out in the snow.

"You already said that." replied A.J.

"Well if you're not going to say it, then I have to say it enough times for the both of us."

The Rottweiler brought Raleigh hands to his lips again for another kiss before speaking. "You could never say it enough times to match how I feel." he said with an exaggerated voice that made the Tiger laugh.

"Says the guy who's only said it to me four times." he countered.

A.J. met his eyes as he breathed another puff of breath onto his boyfriend's hands. "I meant it every time." How the Rottweiler could switch from exaggerated proclamations of devotion to real sentiment in just a second was unbelievable.

Raleigh felt his face heat up, even more so because of the cold. He knew that. He knew A.J. loved him. Because he did say it, just with different words, different things he did.

Like keeping his hands warm when he was cold.

Eventually the car heated up and the Tiger felt up to driving without fear of his hands being too numb to steer. The drive was spent singing along to the radio and complaining about being unable to find anything when there was nothing on that either of them liked. It usually didn't take too long to get to the store, but the snow required slower driving and there was only an hour left when they finally reached the familiar neon blue "Movie Haven" sign.

Video rental stores, a truly endangered species, at least where they lived. Truth be told, Raleigh actually had Netflix. But there was a nostalgic feeling about going to a store and renting videos that A.J. wanted to hold on to for as long as the progression of technology would allow. They had done it on their one month anniversary, so A.J. had suggested it become their monthly tradition. And Raleigh had been more than happy for them to have an anniversary tradition of any kind. Usually they went together, but sometimes work or something else would cause one of them to need to pick it up, like today.

But as they walked in to be greeted by the familiar carpeted floor and yellow painted walls, A.J. found himself actually glad that his boyfriend had forgotten to pick up a movie. It was always nicer when they got to pick one out together.

The store was fairly small, one you could have a conversation in even when standing on opposite sides of the space, but to A.J. that just made it feel cozy. A Dragon kid named Steve greeted the two from behind the desk at the other end of the store as they walked in.

"Hey, another anniversary night?" he asked the familiar pair.

"Yup." smiled A.J.

"16 months." added Raleigh.

"Cool." he replied as the two made their way into one of the aisles and the Dragon stared back at the computer screen in front of him. The number seemed off to the Canine. 16 seemed so small to compare any length of time they had been together. He watched as his boyfriend crouched down to better examine some of the movies on the lower shelf. Everything about the Tiger's movements were so familiar to him, he could have sworn they had been together longer.

It was hard remembering what it was like before Raleigh, like trying to remember whether or not something had happened before or after you met someone. It was more like the Tiger was just off screen, somewhere else rather than someone unknown to the Rottweiler. Heck, he had barely even been a stranger when they first met. The only thing foreign about it had been the level of attraction, how badly he wanted to see the Tiger again and the inability to get him out of his head after just one meeting. He'd felt similar, twice, once in high school for someone he didn't even know that well, but that had probably been mostly due to the raging hormones of adolescence. The second time had been a bit more real, but even that had been nothing compared to what he had felt for the Tiger. And still felt for the Tiger.

Would it still feel this way, he wondered, twenty, forty years down the line? Would it all still feel so new, yet so familiar?

Forty years with Raleigh. Just the thought made his heart swell with euphoric bliss.

"You okay?" asked the Feline when he noticed his boyfriend had been staring at him for a whole minute.

"Wha-oh, yeah sorry." laughed A.J. sheepishly as he turned to look at some movies on the shelf.

It was hard for Raleigh not to feel like he won first place for something when he caught his Rottweiler staring at him, so he let himself indulge in a little victory smile. And then tried not to drool when his mind reflexively jumped to some of the perks winning came with. Damn he wanted A.J. so bad right now. Their earlier fun had only scratched the surface of the Feline's need. As soon as they got home...Oh great, now he couldn't stand up. Damn it, think of something else.

"What kind of movie should we watch?" he asked A.J.

"Something romantic and cheesy." he answered with a completely straight face. When Raleigh looked up at him questioningly he gave him a little smirk. "That we can feel all cuddly and keep each other warm.'

"Oh." Romantic and cheesy it is then. "Not like I need a movie to want to feel all cuddly with you though."

"Save the cheese for the movie." joked the Rottweiler.

"Jerk." the Tiger laughed. When he was able to stand they walked over to the romantic section and weighed the possible decisions before deciding on two different movies.

The Dragon at the desk bit back a smile when he saw the choices they had made. "Will that be all?" he asked with a stifled laugh.

"Is there a problem?" A.J. asked with mock defiance.

"Not at all," said the Dragon as he handed the movies back to them, smile having broken free "enjoy your movies."

"We will." A.J. said as he wrapped an arm around Raleigh suggestively, making the Dragon laugh as they walked out. A.J. was laughing too, but Raleigh was focusing on keeping his hormones down, at least long enough to reach the car.

****************

The second time A.J had said I love you to the Tiger was the first time they had expressed the sentiment physically. It was a little over two months after they had met. A.J. had wanted to take things slow, give their relationship time to build before taking that step. What they had was real, and he didn't want to rush in and risk destroying everything.

Raleigh, however, had been less keen on waiting. Neither of them were strangers to the bedroom, and he knew beyond a doubt that A.J. was the one for him. But A.J. had wanted to wait, so he had to respect his boyfriend's wishes. And sure, maybe sometimes the Tiger would forget to get a towel when he showered at A.J.'s house and need his boyfriend to bring him one. And occasionally he would decide last minute that he didn't like his snug clothes and change his shirt or his pants in front of the Rottweiler. Into more snug clothes. But that didn't mean he was trying to entice the Rottweiler to finally decide they had waited long enough. Those were just medical side effects from bottling up one's physical needs. Yet there were only so many side effects a Rottweiler could take before finally caving in.

It happened in A.J.'s apartment. They were listening to music on his bed, lying facing each other with their fingers interlaced. Barely even talking to each other, just listening to one love song after another. A.J. constantly found his eyes traveling down to the barely exposed half-inch of the Tiger's upper chest just below his neck. By that point he knew very well what the Tiger looked like without a shirt on, and something about knowing what was underneath turned that little exposed bit into the biggest tease the Rottweiler had ever been faced with.

Raleigh brought up his other hand and traced a line across A.J. cheek and over his lips. He had not been trying to entice the Canine that time, he was just doing it because he wanted to. But it worked. It opened the door to more touching, making A.J. unable to resist touching the Tiger's clavicle, tugging down almost subconsciously. But if he didn't notice, Raleigh did. It was his best chance. Letting go of A.J.'s hand, he pressed the one on his clavicle against his chest while his other hand wrapped around the Rottweiler's neck, gripping fur and hair as he stared into his boyfriend's eyes and tried to communicate how much he wanted it. And finally, finally A.J. seemed to decide that they were ready, because he pulled the Tiger in and kissed his lips.

The kiss was slow, soft but intense. Raleigh felt A.J.'s hands as they worked their way down to lift his shirt. He sat up, letting the Rottweiler undress him before the Canine eased him down onto his back with another kiss. When he pulled back for a breath Raleigh tugged on the hem of his shirt, letting him know what he wanted. A.J. obliged, pulling it up slowly as the Tiger drank up the sight of him.

And it was all for him.

After his shirt was taken care of he leaned down and kissed Raleigh again, both trembling from the intensity they were trying to keep in check.

It was very different than what was happening in the present. The two furs had barely even managed to close the door before their lips, hands, even legs attempted to quench the hunger and thirst that had built up on the ride home. It was a good thing neither of them were wearing tight jeans, otherwise they would have had to wait even longer before they could chance leaving the car with any sort of public decency. Or more likely, they would have just stayed in the car. They couldn't get out of their clothes fast enough as Raleigh tossed the movies on the couch and they made their way awkwardly to the bedroom. It was the kind of frantic desire that resulted in flying buttons the few times it had struck them after coming from someplace that required a higher dress code. When they reached the bed all they had on were two socks and a still-attached pair of boxers between them. A.J. flicked it off his ankle as Raleigh pulled him down for more kissing.

Their hands kept their heads close together as their exposed bodies meshed against each other, some parts more appreciative than others. Raleigh let one of his hands travel down from the Rottweiler's neck across all the familiar places of his back to one of his favorite areas just below his nubby tail. A.J. showed his appreciation by moving his oral efforts to the side of the Tiger's neck that reduced Raleigh into a mewling kitten, only stopping to indulge himself in that special spot right below the Tiger's neck, the spot that had first started all of this.

The Feline let his hand go around the Rottweiler's waist to grab yet another handful of Canine goodness. That was as much as A.J. could take. He grabbed the Tiger and pulled him towards him, putting his legs over his shoulders as he positioned himself ready to take the Tiger. He leaned down and kissed Raleigh one more time, a possessive growl escaping his throat.

The animalistic nature of their actions contrasted sharply to the more controlled intimacy that had surrounded their first time together.

Raleigh had wanted A.J. so bad, and could feel the electrical pulses of craving and anticipation running through him. So he was surprised to feel a touch of nervousness under all this desire. It hadn't hit him until then how they could be affected if this didn't turn out well. What if the Rottweiler ended up thinking he wasn't good? He had been with a few others before, but this was the first time since his first that he felt the pressure to be nothing short of amazing. As they kissed their fingers became brave enough to touch. Tentative at first, polite in the given context. Then more determinedly, daring to feel over chests and backs. A.J. wanted desperately to tear off the Tiger's remaining clothing, but he forced himself to wait for the Tiger to decide when he was ready. Luckily he didn't have to wait long before he felt Raleigh's hands tugging on the hem of the Rottweiler's jeans. He looked into the Feline's face, looking for any sign of doubt. Raleigh was blushing visibly, and A.J. actually thought they might be moving too fast until he felt him give another resolute tug on his jeans.

Good enough.

He repositioned himself and allowed the Tiger to slowly undo his button and carefully pull down his zipper. It was like opening a hot, warm Christmas present. He pulled down on the jeans as far as he could before A.J. slid it the rest of the way off himself. Raleigh was left with the almost overwhelming sight of the Rottweiler's tented boxer-shorts. A.J. leaned down and kissed him one more time before moving down to kiss the spot that had sent him over the edge in the first place. He didn't know then that it would become one of his favorite spots on Raleigh's body. Or that the way the Tiger giggled in response to the Rottweiler's occasional brush against his neck would later lead to him discovering how much he enjoyed it when attention was given to it. One hand caressed the side of the Tiger's head while the other began at the Tiger's chest and made its way slowly down to the Feline's jeans. He once again looked to the Tiger's face, this time for permission, and Raleigh gave him a small nod.

The buttons were fiddled at with minor difficulty, the Tiger somewhat comforted as he realized that the Canine was a little nervous too. Then down went the zipper and Raleigh lifted his hips to allow A.J. to pull them off completely. Both were blushing now that they were left in nothing but their tented underwear. They felt like two horny teenagers about to do it for the first time. Emphasis on the horny. There was even mood music playing in the background.

A.J. placed a hand on Raleigh's cheek. "If-"

But Raleigh wasn't having any of that. He leaned towards the Rottweiler and pressed his lips against the Canine's. A.J. knew he was never going to get enough of the Tiger's taste. Gently he pulled on the Feline's underwear, trying not to keep his composure when the Tiger flopped lightly, finally fully revealed. He slid the underwear the rest of the way down, taking his time as he enjoyed the feel of the Tiger's legs. Raleigh felt both exhilarated and nervous now that he was completely exposed to the Rottweiler.

But A.J. still had his underwear on.

Now that wasn't fair.

A.J. rose to his knees to allow the Tiger to fix that injustice. Raleigh was faster, too close to the prize to take his time.

And it looked like he won first place.

A.J. finished removing his underwear the rest of the way and kissed the Tiger onto his back before getting up from the bed. "Wait here." He returned with a bottle of lube and applied some to himself, something that Raleigh thoroughly enjoyed watching, before rejoining the Tiger on the bed. "Ready?" he asked as he lifted the Tiger's legs onto his shoulders.

"Take me." replied Raleigh, already panting.

And that was all the encouragement A.J. needed.

Passion.

Passion was a good word for what the Rottweiler and Tiger felt, both in the past and the present.

Yes, a very appropriate word.

Denotatively. Even phonetically.

Passion.

What a great word.

First there was the puh sound. The sound of air escaping closed lips. It also brought to mind the sound of the word push. There was lots of pushing. Pushing in. Pushing against insides. Inside pushing back. Out. Pushing in again. Over and over. Faster. Pushing.

Then the ah sound. That one was easy. They made that sound a lot. Ah for the things they were feeling in their bodies. The tightness. The fullness. Ah wherever they felt something strong. It was pushed out of them.

The sh came next. Part of push. The sound of air through clenched teeth. Lots of things to make their teeth clench. Breathing. Push, sh. Ah. Ah. Sh. Ah.

Then the uh. That one was easy too. There were plenty of those. A lot like Ah. Ah. Uh. Ah. Uh. Uh. Sh. Push. Uh. Ah.

The nnn was less obvious, because it wasn't always nnn. Sometimes it was mmm, or mnn, or nmm. Sounds made when mouths were closed. Mnn. Uh.

They could mix too. Unh. Nuh. Auh. Nsh. Unh.

Past. Present. I didn't matter.

"Shh." "Aah."

Push.

"Ah," "Unh."

"Mmm." "Uh."

"Shnuh."

Push.

"Unh." "Auh."

Push.

"Mmhh."

Push.

"...Raleigh..." "...Raleigh..."

"...A.J...." "...A.J...."

Push.

"Unh" Nmh."

Push.

"Aah!." "Uuh!"

Push.

Auh!."

"Uah!"

There were those stars again.

In the past A.J. wrapped an arm around the Tiger and pulled him in closer. He kissed Raleigh on the lips tenderly. It had definitely been a big step. One that he was so happy they had taken. When he broke the kiss he stared into Raleigh's eyes as the words once again flowed uncontrollably out of his mouth.

"I love you Raleigh."

His face lit up like the forth of July. "I love you too A.J."

In the present A.J. leaned over the Tiger and kissed him energetically. "So much." he said when they paused for breath. "So, so much." An avowal made years ago, still expressing itself. Raleigh actually found it pretty romantic. And any part of him that wished the Rottweiler would start one anew could be easily contented. After all, they weren't even close to being done for the night.

****************

It hadn't always been that easy for the Tiger to quiet that part of his mind though. For a while they had been having a rough patch when Raleigh began to question why it was exactly that A.J. never said it to him.

"Do you love me?" he had asked the Rottweiler.

They were sitting on a concrete bench outside the movie theater, waiting for some of their friends to show up.

"You know I do." he replied quietly, already guessing what was coming next.

"So why don't you ever say it?" the Tiger asked without looking at him.

But A.J. reached out and pulled Raleigh's face away from the theater entrance so that he was looking him in the eye. "You, are the most important person to me. Always, and always will be."

The Feline could feel his insides shifting from the intimate words, but he wouldn't let himself lose focus. He had been trying to have this conversation for a while but each time he had been sidetracked by either the Rottweiler's assurances or his own fears of what the outcome might be.

"But why don't you ever just say it?" he said looking down at where the Canine's stomach would be found under the large shirt.

He had purposefully decided to pick today to really try and get an answer. They would be in a public place, and soon they would be surrounded by friends. He'd insist on an answer and A.J. would be reluctant but would give him one anyway and that would be that and they could finally move forward. This wasn't going to be a big thing, he assured himself. It would be some smaller trivial "well this is why I don't say it, but if you really want me to I will say it more often" type of thing. But now his stomach was in knots and the Rottweiler was starting to look guarded. Maybe this was a bit of a bigger issue than he wanted to admit.

"'Cause Raleigh, I never want it to just be something I say." said A.J. emphatically.

"But..." He wasn't sure how to reply to that. It...almost sounded like it could make sense, except... "...Would you just be saying it?"

"No! No of course not Raleigh, it...it's complicated."

Complicated. That word made his stomach turn too, but in a very different way. It was not a fun word to have applied to any aspect of their relationship.

"...Complicated." the Tiger repeated.

"No," A.J. interjected quickly, "no Raleigh, I just mean...saying it, is complicated. For me."

Okay, so it was complicated. But...not like, relationship-jeopardizing complicated, right?

Still though...

"What about when I say it?" he asked the Rottweiler. "...Do you think, I'm just saying it?"

"No Raleigh, I..." he let out a frustrated breath. "You have no idea, how happy it makes me each and every time you say it to me."

The Tiger looked in his eyes. He definitely seemed sincere. "...Okay." Raleigh said finally, shaking his head. "Sorry. It's not really that important." If he only had better control of his facial expressions the Rottweiler may have even been inclined to believe it, but as it was...

"Raleigh..." he breathed as he took the Tiger's face in his hands once more, leaning forward until their lips brushed. It was something that they hadn't done often in public, but there weren't that many people around, and A.J. was trying to make a point. "You have to know," he started when he pulled back, Raleigh's face still in his hands, "that I do. Honestly, with all my heart Raleigh. I just...have trouble saying those words. But I mean them. Always. Okay?"

Raleigh looked at the Rottweiler. He knew that, right? Almost nine months together had to mean s-did mean something. Why couldn't he just accept that A.J. loved him? Just cause he wouldn't say it...words were just words right? He meant it, that's what counted, and Raleigh knew that.

"Okay." he answered. A.J. searched his face for a moment, looking for any sign that Raleigh was still unsure. Seeming satisfied, he released the Tiger's face only to have it replace by the Tiger's fingers. "I love you." said Raleigh, looking back down at the Rottweiler's stomach, but now with a smile on his face.

"I..." A.J. looked at the Tiger for a long time before he let out a puff of air. "...me too, about you."

****************

"We still need to watch those movies." A.J. reminded the Tiger lounging on his chest.

Raleigh knew he was right. The tradition just wasn't complete unless they had at least started watching the movie. With a groan he lifted himself off the Rottweiler, only to collapse down next to him.

"I love you." he said in an afterglow murmur.

"Good thing too." replied A.J. "Otherwise the sex would have been really awkward."

Raleigh laughed as he tried once again to sit up, a bit more successful this time. "Still would have been amazing though."

He let out a surprised mewl as two Canine arms surrounded him from behind. "Hmmm. Not nearly as good with someone you know you get to keep afterwards."

Raleigh nuzzled back into the Rottweiler's chest. "Speaking of keeping afterwards, I suppose I'm spending the night?"

"...yeah."

He was surprised by the quiet tone of voice. "...or, if it's inconvenient for you I can still drive myself home..."

But A.J. just pushed pulled him onto his back and crawled on top of him. "I wouldn't even let you past the front door." he growled playfully.

Raleigh laughed again before looking down between them. "We should probably shower first, before we watch the movie."

A.J. followed his gaze. Parts of their fur were matted down with sweat. In other places were the sticky, white remnants of their love making that their tongues had missed during the times that they had hungrily attempted to clean the messes they had made. "I kind like you like this, actually." the Rottweiler said while pressing his fingers into one such spot on the Tigers belly and smearing it around a little. "We could just watch the movie like this..."

"Dirty?" Raleigh laughed skeptically.

"Yeah," A.J. said as he nuzzled the Tiger's neck, "dirty."

It took all of his strength to resist the nuzzling. He nudged the reluctant Rottweiler off of him. "I'm taking a shower. You can stay sticky if you want."

A.J. let out a loud exaggerated sigh as Raleigh was finally successful at lifting himself off the bed. "Felines..."

"Canines." countered the Tiger. "Come on."

"Huh?" the Rottweiler looked up to see Raleigh waiting for him in the doorway.

"It'll be faster if we shower together."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" asked the Rottweiler.

"Definitely." the Tiger smiled.

The water was warm, unfortunately. Warm couldn't even begin to penetrate the coldness that had pervaded the rest of the house. They had been kept nice and heated in the bedroom, but now, in the cold tiled bathroom with water increasing their sensitivity to the air, warm just didn't cut it. Anyway, sort of speaking of pervs...

"Raleigh!..." A.J. exclaimed when the Tiger helped himself to some Rottweiler goodness.

"Hmm?" replied the Feline nonchalantly.

"We're going to run out of time for the movie." he complained. As much as someone can complain when someone you like is fondling you. "Aren't you tired?"

He felt the Raleigh put his weight on the Rottweiler's back as the Tiger let his body sag. "Exhausted." he admitted. "I'm surprised I can even stand right now."

"Then stop trying to make me horny." laughed A.J.

"But you're so...I mean, we're naked in the shower together..."

"Sorry to disappoint you," chuckled A.J., "but I think I'm completely spent. I don't think I could handle anything more."

Raleigh groaned in disappointment, letting go of the Rottweiler's manhood and resting his head against A.J's shoulder. "...yeah, I think I am too." he admitted.

A.J. turned around to face the Tiger, pulling him in under the water and planting a redundantly wet kiss on the Tiger's lips. "If I had any energy right now I'd be all over you." he murmured into the Feline's ear, making him laugh. "Now come on, let's get cleaned up."

And so they began the process of scrubbing each other clean. It wasn't sex, but it was intimate and felt amazing just the same.

****************

"So what did you want to talk about?" asked a slightly younger Raleigh sitting on his bed. His voice was a little stiff, betraying some anxiety of what was going on. When A.J. had called asking to come over he had said he wanted to talk about something. His voice had had a hint of something in it, and though Raleigh wasn't quite sure what, it was enough to make him very, very nervous.

"Yeah..." A.J. moved away from the door he had purposefully locked behind him to sit next to the Tiger. Raleigh's roommate wasn't home, but this was going to be hard enough without the risk of him suddenly walking in on them. The Cat wasn't known for respecting his fellow Feline's privacy. "Raleigh..." He had been looking at the floor the entire time. When he did look up it was only to quickly glance at the Tiger's face before looking down at the space between them. "I know I-...I know sometimes it can be hard being with me. I know I put you through a lot, and you deserve better."

"A.J. I don't, I don't want anyone el-"

"Oh! No!" the Rottweiler quickly amended, having just realized what this might sound like. "No, no Raleigh! Sorry." he grabbed onto the Tiger's hands to reassure him, grimacing at the slight tremor he felt. "I didn't mean it to sound that way."

"You did that on purpose." Raleigh accused jokingly, trying to calm himself down.

"Honestly I didn't." A.J. chuckled sheepishly. "No. Raleigh, I could never...give you up."

"So then?" Raleigh asked, feeling much better about the whole situation now that that fear had been dismissed. "What did you want to talk about?"

"...Yeah, um..." This time it was Raleigh who reassured the Rottweiler, rubbing his thumb along the tops of the Canine's hands. "Raleigh...every day you tell me...how you feel, and every day I want to say it back to you, and I try to but...I don't. And that isn't fair to you."

Raleigh could see how difficult this seemed to be to the Rottweiler. He let go of one hand and brought it to the side of the Canine's face. "I know you love me. You don't have to...say it, if..."

"I want to Raleigh. I want you to know, how much to me."

"I know."

A.J. smiled at that, letting the Tiger take his hand once again. "So, I think at the very least you deserve, an explanation for, why."

Raleigh's ear's perked up. Was he really finally going to... "You don't have to..." he said, attempting some semblance of respect for the Rottweiler's privacy. But mostly out of common courtesy. He really really really wanted to know.

"I want to Raleigh." he countered. "For...for us."

Well, Raleigh wasn't to argue. He was all ears. "'Kay." he replied simply.

"Okay..." A.J. took a small breath. "So, uh...you know my parents are divorced?" Raleigh nodded once. "Yeah, um...I guess...I mean when I was growing up I guess, I mean even I could see they didn't...love, each other. They would say it, but it was always like, ironically you know? Like throwing it in each other's faces. It was like they were trying to make each other feel bad about it. And once when I got older, after they had gotten divorced, I remember my mother telling me that she really did used to love my dad. But she said she was too in love to know he wasn't any good for her." Raleigh saw the slightest glistening in the Rottweiler's eyes, and he squeezed A.J.'s hands comfortingly. He squeezed back. "Neither of them was good for the other, I guess.

"And you know, everywhere I looked after that it just looked like people were saying...that they loved each other, left and right. A lot of them obviously weren't going to last. So I guess...it just stopped meaning anything to me, you know? Not the feeling, I mean, just the words. They were just words. Didn't mean anything."

A.J. paused to look at the Tiger. Raleigh wanted to reach out to the Rottweiler, somehow take away all that bad things that had happened to him. A.J. was an amazing person. He didn't deserve a life like that. No one did. But A.J. smiled at him again, letting him know he was okay.

"The first guy I dated actually broke up with me because I wouldn't say it." The Tiger's eyes widened a bit in surprise. He knew A.J. had dated someone before him, but he never told him that part. "But then I met you." he continued. "And suddenly I was crazy about you. And when I tried to ask you to be with me and then you kissed me..." they both smiled at the memory, the Tiger with just a bit of smugness. "...And I said it. Without really meaning to."

Raleigh wordlessly interrupted by raising an eyebrow meaningfully at the Rottweiler.

"No! I mean I meant it, I just didn't-"

"Uh-hu." Raleigh uttered with a laugh.

"You know what I mean." Insisted the Canine, chuckling. "So yeah. When I got home that night I actually kind of freaked out." he admitted. "I mean, one part of me was obviously happy as hell about what just happened. But then, another part of me was also kind of scared. Saying it felt great, but what if later it just became words. I was scared if I kept saying it to you it would start to lose its meaning. And I guess...I know it's stupid, but...I guess I'm still scared of that. Not that I'll stop feeling this way, 'cause I know I won't." Here he looked meaningfully into the Feline's eyes. "Just that...I'll lose my way of letting you know, that...I do feel this way, about you."

Raleigh smiled at the Rottweiler. "I know you do A.J." he said before pulling the Rottweiler in for a kiss.

One day they were going to bump into a satellite.

When they pulled back the Tiger enjoyed the feel of his boyfriend's breath on his face before speaking up again. "And you do say it to me A.J. Just all the little things you do for me, and with me. All of it tells me how you feel."

Quietly, A.J. pulled Raleigh close to him. "Thank you." he whispered in the Tiger's ear.

"I'm still going to keep bugging you to say it though." Raleigh added after a minute. "Just in case it ever works."

"Okay." the Rottweiler laughed, consenting.

The next day was Raleigh's birthday. He was awoken by the feeling of someone gently nudging his shoulder. "Raleigh..." he heard someone whisper.

He knew that voice.

When he opened his eyes he saw A.J. kneeling next to his bed, smiling at him. "A.J.?" he smiled confusedly as he rubbed his eyes awake and sat up. "..What are you?..." He froze for a second when he saw the small bouquet of red roses sitting prettily on the nightstand next to his bed. A.J. just smiled even wider. "Happy Birthday Raleigh."

"A.J...." Magically he maintained enough composure to not tear up, opting instead to pull the Rottweiler up on the bed and hugging the life-out of him before kissing him happily on the lips.

"There are only six of them," A.J. explained, "but the thought's still there."

The Tiger just laughed and kissed him again. "I love you!" he exclaimed. "I love you so much."

A.J. laughed, more quietly now. He looked into the Tiger's eyes and tightened his grip around the Tiger's torso. "I love you Raleigh."

So much for trying to keep his composure. The floodgates behind his eyes opened right up. "I love you too A.J." he replied with the biggest and slightly wet smile.

It was a Sunday luckily, so A.J. was able to take the Tiger out for breakfast. Afterwards they went to visit his family for cake, then to spend time with some friends later in the day for more cake. It was almost ten when A.J. by the time A.J. drove Raleigh home, Raleigh's roommate nodding off in the back seat. When they got inside he wished them both goodnight and uttered a final "happy birthday" to Raleigh before shutting himself in his room.

"So...any chance of you spending the night?" the Tiger asked his boyfriend.

A.J. smiled. "I don't know..." he replied. "I have work tomorrow..."

"You know it technically still my birthday..."

"Well..." The Rottweiler pretended to consider for a moment before answering. "Okay, but only because it is still technically your birthday."

Raleigh showed his gratitude with a kiss before going to the kitchen for a glass of water. "Do you want anything?" he asked.

"Nah." A.J. replied, sitting down on the futon that acted as a sofa for his boyfriend and his roommate. "So what do you wanna do?"

"It." replied the Tiger as he came over and reached a hand out for the Rottweiler.

It took a moment for "it" to register. "...Oh!" he remarked happily as Raleigh led him into his room...

Minutes later they were both already starting to sweat, naked as the day they were born. Raleigh was sitting atop A.J., straddling his chest as the Rottweiler pushed upward. His hands were on the Tiger's hips, one of the things Raleigh enjoyed about being with A.J. Something about it, about it being the Rottweiler that was holding him like that, felt amazing. With other's the touch made him feel desirable, wanted, erotic. And with A.J. he definitely felt all those things too, but also other things. It made him feel beautiful, loved. This all culminated into being really hot for the Rottweiler, who was thankfully more than happy to allow the Tiger his indulgence. The room got hotter, a welcome feeling due to the too early signs of approaching winter. Pressure built up, before it became too much. Or just right, depending on whom you asked. Names were cried out, the proximity of their actions to one Cat forgotten for the time being.

The stars wished Raleigh a happy birthday too.

Best Birthday Ever.

****************

"We should probably try leaving the shower now." A.J. suggested. "The steam's starting to fade."

"...Okay." Raleigh agreed reluctantly. "Let's go."

Showering had been nice. The aftermath, not so much. When they finished they realized they had forgotten to bring clothes with them to the bathroom. This meant that eventually they would have to endure an unforgivably cold trot back down the hall to A.J.'s room. Neither had wanted to move at first though, both preferring to soak in as much warmth from the steam as possible before exposing their wet fur to the cold air outside the bathroom. They were both at least very thankful the hallway floor was carpeted as they finally left the bathroom with towels wrapped tightly around them.

"I guess it was a good idea to bring some of my clothes over." remarked Raleigh shakily as he shuffled through the box on the floor.

"Yeah." A.J. replied quietly. Raleigh didn't see the look that crossed A.J.'s face.

"And we still have time to watch most of one movie." the Tiger laughed.

"Yeah, guess we really lagged it in the bathroom, huh?"

"Yeah." agreed the Tiger as he pulled on sweatpants and a thermal long-sleeve.

A.J. put on similar and held out a hand to the Tiger. "C'mon." Raleigh happily accepted.

A.J. took his hand in his and led them back to the living room. Raleigh loved it when they held hands. It was small and trivial, something they had done a million times before, but that just made it even better. A. freakin' J. was holding his hand, and it was the most normal thing in the world for them. How unbelievably amazing was that? He was the luckiest person in the world.

The living room was just as they had left it; clothes carelessly discarded on the floor, creating a trail back to the bedroom, one DVD on the floor, the other on the edge of the couch. Ignoring the mess, A.J. led them instead to the kitchen, where he grabbed a bag of popcorn and tossed into the microwave.

"I'm making a Hot Pocket too." said Raleigh as he opened the Rottweiler's freezer. For some odd and unfathomable reason he felt a little hungry.

"Grab me one to?" A.J. requested, also hungry. Strange.

"'Kay."

When the popcorn and the hot pocket were both nice and warm, they made their way over to the couch. "Which one do you want to watch first?" asked the Rottweiler.

Raleigh looked at the two covers as he considered. "Hmmm...this one. It looks like it's in someplace warm."

A.J. chuckled as he popped in the DVD and settled comfortably on the couch next to Raleigh, who was already almost halfway into his Hot Pocket.

A few minutes later both Hot Pockets were devoured and the two males were snuggled comfortably on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn. The movie was nice; adequately cheesy and romantic. And except for one dramatic scene with rain, the weather in the movie was warm and sunny. As they popcorn dwindled they grew more and more entangled in each other's limbs. By the end of the movie midnight had come and gone, another anniversary successfully carried out. Raleigh was barely awake when A.J. nudged him. "C'mon. Let's go to bed."

Raleigh just made a noise as he stood and held A.J.'s hand, partly to help keep him steady against the soreness and fatigue, and partly just because he could. In the bedroom Raleigh just flopped onto the covers, and the Rottweiler had to fight him to get the blanket out and over them both. As he settled in he found the Tiger staring at him with his perfect eyes.

"I love you." he whispered.

"You're everything to me." he answered.

Raleigh smiled and rested his hand on one of A.J.'s under the covers. "Wake me up before you go to work, 'kay?" The Rottweiler's work hours started earlier than the Tiger's, and sometimes when he slept over he awake to find A.J. had already left for work. There was always a sweet and apologetic sticky note waiting for him, but it was still a feeling the Tiger didn't particularly care for.

"Actually...Yeah, okay."

This time Raleigh caught the look though.

"Hm? What's wrong?" he questioned.

"No, nothing. I'll ask you later."

"Ask me what?" Raleigh asked again. He was awake now, and A.J. knew it.

"Nothing." he sighed, smiling. "Go to sleep."

"No, tell me." Raleigh insisted. To help make his point he sat up, crossing his arms and leaning back against the pillows.

A.J. laughed another sigh. "Weren't you exhausted a minute ago?"

"I was, but then something piqued my interest."

"Raleigh it...it's something that shouldn't be done in the middle of the night when were both tired. In the morning, promise."

"Fiiiiine." Raleigh sighed. "I'll wait 'til seven."

"Thank you." said the Rottweiler as he shifted and closed his eyes.

However, he did not feel the Tiger shift back down to join him. When he opened his eyes to look Raleigh was still sitting up with his arms crossed, looking up at the ceiling. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for seven." he replied simply.

The Rottweiler groaned, "You're going to wait. Until seven?"

"Yup. Only six hours and thirty-eight minutes to go."

A.J. knew this game. He knew how to win it. "Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Raleigh replied.

And the game was on. Funny thing though, it becomes really hard to sleep when you become actively aware of the Tiger next to you waiting for you to sleep. But he tried, relaxing his mind and listening to the quietness of the room, which wasn't so quiet at first when he also became aware of his breathing. But eventually it started working. He could feel himself starting to nod off...

"Six hours and twenty-eight minutes."

"Dammit Raleigh!" he cried as his eyes shot open to glare at the Tiger. "Do you have any respect for my sleeping?"

"Nope." answered Raleigh with an innocent smile that was clearly hiding a malicious smile underneath.

A.J. sighed again and sat up, letting the Tiger know he won. "Fine." he laughed despite himself. "I was gonna tell you..." He looked at the happy Tiger waiting expectantly for him to continue. "Okay, you know I...love having you sleep over, right?"

"Yeah."

A.J. nodded. "...And you like sleeping over too right?"

"Yeah." Raleigh repeated happily.

"Okay...Raleigh, one of the best feelings in the world to me is when I wake up next to you. And knowing you have to leave afterwards, it really sucks. Uh...and I guess that's because..."

The Tiger could hear his heart beating in his chest. Was he going to say it? Any guilt he might have felt for pressuring the Rottweiler vanished. This definitely shouldn't have waited until morning.

The fourth time A.J. had said to Raleigh I love you was on their one year anniversary. Unlike there other's they had gone all out. They made love in the morning, watched a movie at the theaters, went to fancy place to eat, then another to dance. Which led them to more love making back at A.J. apartment. But the undisputable best part for Raleigh was when A.J. had said I love you.

It was before they left for the movie, sitting only half dressed on Raleigh's bed. Raleigh was in the middle of re-zipping his pants when A.J. interrupted him. "Wait." A.J. grabbed his hands to stop him. He had pulled his underwear back on as well as the shirt he had been careful not wrinkle. "I have to do this now." He took a deep breath and looked into the Feline's eyes. Raleigh guessed what was coming. He had been hoping all week that A.J. would say it to him today. "You deserve to hear it more often than you do. And today especially, I want you to know..." Don't kiss him yet Raleigh. Let him finish, hold on.

A.J. took another deep breath. "I love you Raleigh." In the tiny span of time between A.J. saying those words and Raleigh giving in to the urge to melt their lips together, the Tiger saw the smile on A.J.'s face, indicating how happy he seemed with the results. They hadn't just been words, he had meant them.

It had been the most expected time. The most anticipated, unlike the others. And if it were even remotely possible to place them in any sort of order, this one would have been number one. A.J. had wanted to say, intended to say it, and absolutely meant it when he did. It had been perfect.

And now Raleigh was starting to feel that same anticipation again, all traces of fatigue gone. Was the Rottweiler going to say it?

"...because we live separately, so..." ...that wasn't it. He suddenly felt like a deflated balloon. Saying they lived separately didn't convey feelings of love at all. "...I was wondering if you wanted..." He could have at least used one of his alternative phrases instead. "...to move in with me." Wouldn't that have wor-

Wait what?

"Yes." Raleigh said without thinking, the words not yet clicking in his head.

But then they did.

"Yes! Yes, yeah! Of course! A.J.!"

The Rottweiler opened his mouth to speak but was quickly silenced by the Tiger lips.

There was more than one way to see starts. Comets, planets, binary systems, galaxies. It was no wonder they had to breathe so much for air afterwards.

But when they finally grounded themselves, the Rottweiler remembered himself.

"Wait, Raleigh. I don't want you to rush into this."

"I'm no-" But A.J. lifted a hand to stop him.

"Just...sleep on it, okay? Maybe tomorrow it won't seem like such a good idea."

"A.J. I-"

"Please Raleigh." he interrupted again, laughing. For all his talk, he was clearly ecstatic about the Tiger's answer. "For me?"

Raleigh looked hard at him. He knew A.J. was thrilled, but he also knew he wasn't going to budge on this. He let out a nice, big, exaggerated sigh. "Fine." Less defiantly. "Okay. I'll sleep on it."

"Thank you Raleigh." he smiled. Raleigh pulled him in for another kiss though, communicating to the Rottweiler how happy he was feeling.

But for all that happiness, and all that excitement, Raleigh was asleep in under five minutes...

****************

...What time was it? Raleigh didn't know. The room was dark, and his eyes shut again instantly. He felt A.J.'s hand petting him. He must still be awake. Raleigh had fallen asleep clinging to the Rottweiler's torso, using his chest like a pillow. He shifted, just slightly as he attempted to go back to sleep. A.J. must not have noticed, because he only paused for a second before resuming running his fingers through the Tiger's hair. This happened sometimes. Raleigh would wake up for just a minute to find A.J. still awake, fiddling with some part of him. Tonight it was his hair. It always felt nice, so he would just pretend to still be asleep. Tonight was special though. Through the silence of the room, just on the edge of his hearing, the Tiger's ears picked up the words whispered quietly by A.J.

"I love you Raleigh."

Raleigh never told A.J. about the fifth time A.J. had told him I love you...or the sixth, or the seventh...and tonight was lucky number eight. If A.J. knew he might stop, and then Raleigh might never catch him saying it when he thought the Tiger couldn't hear him. So this eighth time was going to be another secret one.

Or maybe ninth Raleigh thought. After all, asking your boyfriend to move in with you was definitely saying something, right?

Raleigh would sleep on it for as long as A.J. wanted him to. As long as he got to do it in the Rottweiler's bed. Maybe he wouldn't answer though. Maybe he should just show up with all his stuff.

After all, wasn't it A.J. who taught him that? Sometimes you don't have to say it. You can show it instead. Just make sure you mean it.

*******************

D:{

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...FILTHY...

But what did you think? Non-explicit doin'it scenes 'cause yeah stuff.

Don't forget to go read Free Associations now by Valanx!!!!! It's a series I've been spazzing over for a while because it is great! I still don't know how to link so you figure that bit out.

Also, if you like this you or may or may not like my series This is the Part... A story about the crazy person I alluded to ealier.

But, they're not really similar. Like at all. So I can't say whether or not liking this would mean you liked them too. But you very possibly could.