Belonging...
With her rasping breathing echoing in her ears, obscuring the sounds of the male behind her, the young cheetah crashed haphazardly through the underbrush. The scent of crushed foliage in her nostrils nearly masking the scent of her own fear. She stopped, her heart beating wildly in her chest, and listened. Her ears twitching, swiveling to all the compass points as she forced her breathing to slow so that she might scent the air, taste the nearness of the male that followed her intent on claiming his prize. A loud raar renting the air as he caught her scent. "Don't fight it," he called out, "just stay still and I'll be there in a moment to ease you, my darling." The endearment sounding harsh and false as he too panted for breath.
She mewled softly, a plaintive sound that caught in her throat. "Why," she moaned to herself, "why did this have to happen now?" Her tail curling protectively about herself, the black tip of it trembling against her hip and then stretching out again, as she moves forward. She made herself move slowly, fighting her mind's desire to run and run till she would fall to her side, panting for breath. Fighting the urges deep inside her that made her want to obey the male, and wait for him. To let him ease the drawing tightness of need deep inside her sex.
Her paws settled slowly, quietly in the soft moss of the forest as she forced herself to keep going. To move stealthily away from everything her nature called for her to be and do. Her mind busily reviewed the past twenty-four hours and all that had occurred. Just yesterday, she had closed her eyes for the last time as a cub. Just yesterday, she had played, laughing with the other females and talking of how one day... how one day they would all be old and bearing cubs of their own, but not really believing it would ever come to pass for her. Just yesterday, she hadn't been filled with fear and this terrible tightness that made her tail jerk with each step, made her body ache for the touch of someone who could fill the tightness and draw it from her, release her from this desperate need.
Her ears twitched as she realized she had not heard the sounds of her pursuer for some time. She noticed the edge of a clearing some distance away. Her eyes darted about, dark and hidden in the teardrop markings of her species, sensing a difference in her surroundings. Her senses still so jangled that the scent that teased at her nostrils didn't alarm it as it should. She padded closer still, the even green grass of the opening in the trees inviting as was the sun's warmth. Slowly she moved into the clearing as the scent filled her nostrils, tugging at the edges of her fear. She stopped and shivered. The instincts of her kind urged her to turn and flee back to the safety of the male, but her mind warred with that instinct, refusing that solution and after a moment she carried on.
So tired from her fleeing she took but a mere moment to ascertain the clearing was empty before stepping out and sprawling herself out on the warm soft grass. She listened intently, hearing nothing but the sounds of the forest and her own breathing, the rasping slowing finally to a more normal evenness. She stretched out, her muscles grateful for the respite, easing her long legs in the heat, her body still caught in the aching tightness that was causing all this fuss and uproar in her life.
Her mother had told her to be grateful that Mbaya had desired her as his own. It was an honor, such an honor, she'd been told over and over as the preparations had been made. The entire tribe spoke of the honor Mbaya bestowed upon them by choosing one of their own as his.
Then the waiting had begun. Each day at daybreak the five elder females would stare intently at her. Each in turn, their soft old paws would trail lightly over her body, across her thighs to press at her loins, watery eyes watching her responses intently as outside the perimeter Mbaya had waited patiently at first, then with less patience and more pacing, until even the very young of the tribe realized that something was not quite right. Finally the elders had come to her mother's den, speaking softly and shaking their heads sadly, none of them meeting Zuri's eye as they walked out past her. This time without touching her body, almost shuddering away from her as she moved to them, expecting this but willing it not to really be happening.
Later that morning they had all padded solemnly out to where Mbaya and the others waited, quietly telling him that his choice was not to be, offering him whatever recompense he should so desire for their inability to provide him with his chosen mate. For it would not do, her mother had sadly told her after the elders had left, it just would not do for the great Mbaya to have a barren mate.
Zuri had nodded, her eyes dark and filled with the sadness of disappointing the tribe but secretly she'd been relieved. She had worried about the one time Mbaya had touched her, and she felt her fur trying to crawl from her skin. She'd smiled bravely and tried to tell herself it was a young girl's jitters. She thought it merely a fear of the unknown and that when she came to know her new mate, she'd welcome his touch gladly. She'd kept that deep inside her, secret to everyone; even her closest friends hadn't known that she'd never welcomed his touch.
Days had passed, then weeks, Mbaya reluctantly giving up his vigil after choosing another mate from a neighboring village. Zuri had gotten used to the stares and since Mbaya's penance had been light, a mere formality, the tribe had forgiven her and now the stares had become clucks of pity. Her quickening should have come long before now, the old ones whispered to each other as they sat in the sun. The younger females had stopped treating her as though she would fall apart at any moment and all had gone back to a normalcy that Zuri was glad to embrace.
Yesterday had started out like all the rest of the days since. The females had gathered in the early morning sun to groom and gossip. Rasha and Zuri had moved off to the side as was their wont as the oldest. Rasha's mate Terraq who served as a warrior guard under Mbaya, was required to stand at his side while the great warrior enjoyed his new mate. So Rasha had taken to coming back to the watering hole gathering in the mornings for the company. Her friendship with Zuri was that of necessity as the rest were so much younger but they had been friendly as cubs and the friendship grew as the days passed. Rasha spoke with impunity of her days with her mate, filling Zuri's ears as she couldn't the youngsters with giggled details and descriptions. Zuri had grown accustomed to the stories and giggled back at Rasha's tales of woe.
While listening to Rasha speak of her first time yet again, Zuri had felt an odd rush of warmth deep in her loins. She frowned and her legs moved restlessly as she shifted positions again and again. Finally Rasha had noticed and looked intently at her, a knowing look spreading over her face. "It's happening, dear." She'd smiled to Zuri, sending a young cub to run back to the village.
As luck would have it, Terraq heard the message, having arrived home for a surprise visit. He had sent a messenger to Mbaya about the turn of events. That had been yesterday afternoon and Zuri had been running, or so it seemed, ever since. Mbaya had hurried to the village, his large mouth spread in a pleased grin at the news that his first chosen was quickening. Zuri hadn't been quite so willing to accept this as a happy turn of events and had tried to tell her mother that she had no wish to go with Mbaya. Hadn't he already taken a mate? Was she no better in her mother's eyes than a second mate, she'd begged. Her mother had shaken her head and clucked of first time jitters and no one seemed to hear her pleas as the tribe elders gathered to wish her well, and thank her for bringing them recognition after all.
She'd stared at all the pleased faces so familiar and so dear and had swallowed hard, knowing the right thing to do. She'd tried not to recoil when Mbaya had offered her his paw, taking it firmly after the tiniest of hesitation that he'd seemed to ignore. But as his paw closed about hers, his mouth had smiled broadly, his other paw waving as she heard his low voice telling her that he was more than ready to make up the time she'd made him wait and he hoped she was well rested.
She'd nodded briefly and it was in that moment that the plan had formed. Letting Mbaya lead her from her home she'd turned once to look back. Knowing she'd never see it again she'd taken every detail she could and memorized them before turning resolutely to face her future. Padding along at his side, her paw caught firmly in his she'd answered his questions brightly, seeming to be so pleased in his company that when she'd asked for a brief break to attend to her privacy he'd been willing enough to stop. She'd smiled seductively over her shoulder, promising to be but a mere moment and had stepped into the underbrush. She kept going. After a few moments she'd heard him enter the thicket and then his voice calling her. When she didn't answer he'd spoken lightly of her punishment for teasing him so. Moments later the teasing tone of his voice was gone, leaving a promise of severe punishment as he'd crashed through the trees after her.
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Zuri stretched out, calming in the dappled sunlight of the clearing, her ears casting for any sound of pursuit and hearing none. She mrr'd softly to herself, puzzled at the lack but relieved to be able to rest. She meant to rest only a few moments and carry on but the long day of running and hiding caught her and held her in the soft grass as her breathing found the easy rhythm of sleep.
Mbaya watched from the underbrush, unseen as she fell asleep. Not for naught was he called the great warrior, his stealth and strength known by all of his kind. Even he, however, was uneasy in this place, with the scent of lion heavy in the air. His ears flattened and swiveled scanning for any warning sound. Another day he might have cut his losses and left but there was honor and face involved here. He'd waited for this female beyond what his advisors had considered wise and when he'd thought himself cheated of her, he'd been generous and magnanimous to her elders for wasting his time. A cheetah such as her, of her age, not coming into season was not unheard of, although rare and he'd taken it as a sign. Now however, his loins ached with his need, as she stretched and mrr'd in the grass.
Creeping closer he watched her lithe body as it lounged in the grass. Her paws relaxed so that her claw tips just showed through the soft fur of her fingers. Her mouth relaxed in sleep, her limbs curled to pillow her head, her breaths slow and even, her tail curled over her thigh.
His nostrils flared as he scented her heat, its heady aroma clouding his senses and making him careless. Filled as his nose was with the female's needful scent he missed the first warning chuff of the lion as his paws stepped him closer and closer to the sleeping form before him.
The lion chuffed again, his great head lifting in surprise at the cheetah male ignoring his warning. He shook his head and scanned the clearing, his nostrils flared suddenly and he mrr'd deeply as the female's scent bathed his senses, stirring his lust. His eyes narrowed and his paws thudded the ground in a quick rhythm. His claws starting to extend even as he leapt through air. A surge of anger roaring through him. This was his clearing and anything in it, his also. His roar of anger renting the air and startling the exhausted Zuri to her feet.
Mbaya, so intent on stalking the sleeping female, barely had time to look up before the lion landed upon him. Zuri's fur rose in fear on her scruff, a dreadful surge of adrenaline rioting within her and yet, something held her there. She stared wide eyed at the lion and cheetah. Her body's needs overriding the urge to flee. Something holding her there, confusing her so her instincts became embattled within her. She backed from the fight her eyes wide with fright and awe.
After his first clawing leap and roar of anger, the lion fought silently, his claws and teeth flashing. And then there was sound again. The grass torn and crushed beneath their paws. With a low grunt of anger the lion raised up on his hind paws and swung hard at Mbaya, his claws tearing through the cheetah's shoulder.
"She's mine." The cheetah ground out between clenched teeth, his paw clamped over his wound. His mouth twisting with anger and pain.
"No." The lion's voice was even but hard, his ragged breathing quickly calming but his paws still sharp with unsheathed claws. His eyes darted to Zuri and then back to the Mbaya. "Go. Now." His words freed Zuri from the paralyzed fear that held her. She scrambled a few steps. "Not you. You stay here." The lion's voice, barely raised, seemed to echo in her head and she shook it to clear the sound. Her paws stopped on their own at his words. The lion spoke again to Mbaya, "I told you to go. Don't make me tell you a second time." With a growl and an angry look at Zuri, the cheetah slowly turned and headed into the trees surrounding the clearing.
"And where do you think you're going?" His eyes raked her spotted body and a hot darkness flared within them, a small smile quirking his lips. Suddenly with a loud snarl he threw himself sideways at the returning cheetah. Claws flashed, teeth ripped and the grass ran red with blood. Zuri gasped and held her paw to her muzzle, backing away shaking her head in horror. The lion snarled once more and shook the lifeless body in his teeth, contemptuously tossing it to the side. He dashed the blood from his muzzle with a paw and looked through her with eyes still dark with battle lust. He looked down at the male and snarled again, "I warned you." His eyes turned to Zuri this time really seeing her and he spoke, the snarl still just there beneath the surface. "Now you."
"N-no..." she stammered and flung herself to the grass, her exhausted body failing her as she tried to flee. "No..." she cried as the lion's paws thudded over her, the sun blocked by his hard body. Her nostrils flared at the scent of blood and something else. Something that set the fear in her heart aside and replaced it with the return of the throbbing need within her. "No..." she whimpered once more and then was silent but for soft sobs.
The lion's sudden roar rent the air and brought her back to her senses. She opened her eyes to see a great battle going on, between the lion and Mbaya's warriors. The lion fought valiantly and left his mark with three more warriors joining their leader in death, until finally one managed to flank him while the others pressed their attack, lancing his side with a spear. And then the air was silent, reeking of blood and heat. The gentle tranquility of the clearing forever changed.
Zuri lay quietly, trying not to breathe in too deeply lest she gag at the scent of so much blood. She almost gasped aloud at seeing Terraq so terribly wounded, and she was about to go to his side when she heard his low growl and words.
"Leave her, she's not worth this..." his breathing was harsh but didn't hide the contempt as his lip curled waving off one of the warriors who had stepped to Zuri's side to help her up. "Take Mbaya's body and the others, leave the lion and her." He spat the last word and then grunted and winced, probing the long gash from his shoulder across his chest. "All this... for a female." He shook his head slowly, as the others arranged the four bodies to carry them off. "Mbaya died defending his mate from the lion. We were too late to save him." Terraq looked around, meeting the eyes of his comrades in arms, "The lion had already killed her when we arrived. Mbaya died a valiant death," again the curl of contempt, "taking the lion with him. We were injured fighting off the rest of the lions." He waited as each of them nodded, only one glancing in Zuri's direction as she quailed in the grass, before nodding his agreement.
Terraq turned then, to Zuri. "You are dead to us. To your village and to Mbaya's memory. He was a great warrior, too great to be wasted so over one such as you." His gaze raked over her, then as one the warriors averted their eyes from her as though she had suddenly become invisible.
Zuri hid her head in shame as the cheetahs left the clearing, leaving her behind. She didn't know how long she lay there, her breathing harsh, her body shuddering as her mind relived the flashing claws and great gouts of blood. The coldness in Terraq's voice when he and the others denied her chilling her into a static state while her body recovered from the long day of flight. Her eyes finally seeing her surroundings again as the darkness crept over the clearing. She got slowly to her paws and shivered, the truth of being truly alone cut off from her village and mother far colder than the night air on her fur. Averting her eyes from the bloodied grass, now mercifully only darker patches in the twilight; she moved to cross the clearing. Her paw stepped on something softer than the ground and a low grunt of pain made her stop in amazement. In her fear and self loathing, she'd forgotten the lion, having thought him killed in the battle.
She stepped back quickly and moaned, "Please don't hurt me... I'm leaving... let me leave."
The lion growled a low growl fraught with pain, "I can't very well stop you." In the darkness she made out his shape getting slowly to his paws and standing unsteadily before her. "Go on then," he jerked his chin and almost lost his balance, clasping a paw to his side and moving to lean against a tree.
"You're hurt."
"No shit." A soft hiss of pain as he assessed his wounds. "Get out of here," he snarled, wanting only to get to his cabin before he collapsed again.
"No." She didn't even know what brought the word to her lips, whether it was the need to help him as he'd inadvertently helped her, regardless of his motives, or just in plain defiance at yet someone else ordering her about. "Let me help you." She slipped to his side, hoping she'd picked the less injured side and stepped under his shoulder to help him stay on his paws.
"Don't need your... ahhh..." he stumbled to the side muttering retribution on the cheetahs and trying to move away from her but weaker on his paws than he cared to admit to this troublesome cheetahgirl. Or anyone for that matter. "Where'd your friends go? Didn't they want to hang around and party after the ambush?"
Zuri bristled and started away from the lion, only to feel his weakness as she pulled away her support. Stepping quickly back she tugged his paw, letting it drop quickly, "tell me where to take you, and they -aren't- my friends." She shuddered as her footpaw found more still wet stickiness on the grass. "You killed Mbaya," she said in a monotone, trying not to see the splashes of blood in her mind, "they were defending their commander." Her voice failed as she recalled the contempt in Terraq's voice and words and how quickly the cheetah she'd grown near and played with all her life had turned from her with those horrible words. "They took him back to my..." she faltered but pressed on, "the village for a hero's burial. And the others you killed." She stopped and bit her lip. "They will tell the story of his valiant death, and mine..." a soft tremor in her voice betrayed her and she waited quietly.
"Valiant..." the lion snorted and flinched a little. "Well... whatever they want to say, we know what happened, don't we, little one?" She turned her head sharply, searching the shadow of his face at the sudden change of his tone.
"I'll help you to your lair, lion, and then I'll be on my way." My way...the words echoed in her head, what way was that? All she'd known was gone now, stripped away from her and leaving her alone and frightened, but she'd not let the lion see her fear. She owed him the assistance she offered, and then ...well then she'd do what she had to do.
The lion leaned more than he wanted to on her, and nodded. "You'd better," leaving her wondering if he meant help him or be on her way, she blinked as he continued, "I need to get in somewhere and rest." He jutted his jaw off to the far end of the clearing, "that way." She nodded and slowly they moved on across the clearing to where a small building was camouflaged by the trees. "In here..." the lion's voice was still strong but she could hear the pain in it. She pushed open the door and they made their way across the single room. He eased himself off her shoulder and onto the bed, "light that lamp will you? And I'll be fine now, you can go." He glanced up at her and something about her stance as she hesitated, before turning to the lamp made him add, "or stay. There's the couch over there. Get yourself something to eat if you want it." He added as an afterthought. "I just need to get some rest..." he relaxed back on the bed with a soft groan of pain and barely concealed relief.
She turned back from lighting the lamp her eyes adjusting at the light softly eating away the shadows, "thank you, but I'll go..." she gasped at the rent in the lion's side. "You're seriously injured, do you have anything for bandages?" She stepped to the lion's side and shook his shoulder fearfully, realizing only now that he'd used the last of his strength to get to his home. He muttered something and waved a paw at the bureau. Quickly she found what she needed and attended to his wound. The lion stayed still, finding complete consciousness only long enough to roll over when she asked him to, although not before mumbling about being fine with some rest. "Well you can rest with a bandage on as well as not, can't you?" She snapped at him and he rolled onto his side lapsing out again. Covering him with a quilt she found folded at the foot of the bed she picked up the other; placing it on the couch. She added more wood to the fire, before curling into the corner of the couch to watch him. When, in the wee hours of the night, his breathing seemed to have eased to a regular rhythm without the hitch of his breath catching at the pain she finally let herself drowse in the warmth of the fire.
Morning arrived gently, the light eventually rousing her. She stretched and then realized she wasn't in her mother's home with a quick start that sent her from the couch to the floor in a tangled heap of quilt and tail. She looked quickly at the lion. Staring intently till she detected the even rise and fall of his chest and sighing with relief. Rubbing sleep from her eyes with her paws she quietly stirred the coals to life and added more firewood; located a pot and found foodstuffs to make a stew of sorts. Setting it to cook over the fire she turned to find the lion's eyes open and upon her. "Oh, oh... you're awake..." she stammered.
He nodded slowly, still watching her. "And you're still here," he murmured softly.
"I'm sorry, I slept longer than I meant to..." she began to explain, but he waved her off with a barely lifted paw and a slow shake of his mane.
"It's okay. Shelter was what you needed, shelter is what you got." His voice left her feeling that he meant something else but she couldn't puzzle out what it was. She looked into his eyes for a moment trying to discern his meaning but he held her gaze steadily, not giving her any help. She gave a shrug and turned to the stew, stirring it. "That smells good enough to eat," he smiled at her as she turned back and she returned the smile without thinking.
"It's not quite done. If you'd like some breakfast I can make you something," taking two bowls from the cupboard she turned a questioning eye to him. He shook his mane again but otherwise stayed quite still. "Aren't you going to eat?" He nodded but drew back the covers to reveal the blood soaked bandage, "Yes, but I'm afraid you're going to have to bring it here."
The bowls forgotten she moved quickly to his side and pressed her paws gently to the wound, feeling how the blood was still fresh right through. "You're still bleeding," she began.
He nodded again. His eyes considering her for a moment as his mind warred with the notion of asking for her help. "Can you sew as well as cook?"
"Sew...?" she stammered.
"Sew. As in, this wound together so I don't bleed to death." His voice was calm but weaker now she realized. With a soft snarl that was half pain and half annoyance he grimaced and said, "Don't tell me your great warriors," weak or not that phrase was fraught with angry and sarcastic undertones, "never get hurt in battle and need to be sewn up."
She nodded and bit her lip blurting out before she thought, "yes, but that's the adult females, the mated ones, who do that..." She stopped and busied herself pressing to the wound, ducking her head and hoping he'd not caught the unspoken information.
The lion smirked softly filing the inadvertent admission for later when his wound gave him a twinge and reminded him of more immediate needs, and he nodded, "I can tell you how to do this, but you're going to have to just do it, and not think about it." Not giving her time to process what he'd said he continued, "Go into that chest by the bureau. You'll find needles and sinew wrapped in some leather." He nodded to the bureau where she'd gotten the bandages. She moved there and found the items, carefully unwrapping the soft hide to lay them on the table. She glanced up at him and caught him in a grimace of pain as he shifted position to make it easier to get at his wound, and her resolve tightened. This lion had given her freedom, however unintentionally and now he needed her help. She wasn't going to think about pushing a needle through his flesh. At the thought her paw shook and she knocked against the bowl. "Easy, now... ," the lion's voice rumbled, somehow soothing her and she turned to look at him with wide eyes. "You can do this." He half laughed, "In fact you have to do this. Or you could just let me bleed to death." His voice turned from wryly amused to anger in a word, "but maybe that's what you'd like to have happen."
"No, no, of course not," her anger flared at this insinuation. "You helped me, and even if you hadn't I'd still help you." Her body bristled with anger, all thought of queasiness and self doubt gone, as the lion had intended. He nodded at her words and gave a small shrug of his shoulders.
"Then let's get on with this," he murmured, nodding as she unpicked the bandage from his wound. "There's whisky there, on the shelf," he pointed with his chin and she glanced to it. "You'll need to clean the wound, just pour it in." She stared at him wide eyed slowly nodding as his eyes held hers. Retrieving the bottle she took out the stopper and started to pour it, only to have it taken from her paws. She watched as the lion drank quickly, her eyes staring at his throat watching the muscles work as he swallowed a goodly portion before handing the bottle back. "Pour it on as you take the bandage away." He instructed her step by step, his words soft and easy on her ears, leading her through the stitching and bandaging, never raising, just taking her along through the task, despite the pain she obviously caused him with the sewing and her uneasy clumsiness. Finally with a heavy sigh and a clean bandage that stayed white the lion eased himself to his back and his eyelids drifted closed.
Zuri busied herself with clearing away the old bandage and putting things away, remembering to pour the last of the whisky over the needle and sinew before wrapping it away. She stood watching the lion sleep and finally after a time she lightly pulled the quilt over him and retreated back to the fire to serve herself some stew. She ate efficiently and then found a few things to straighten before going outside to find more wood for the fire. The day passed slowly and each time she crept back into the cabin, she listened carefully to his breathing, sighing with relief as each time it was even and steady. Knowing that sleep was what he needed most at the moment, she was as quiet as possible and only when the day's light was low in the windows did she light the lamp, turning down the wick. The room was barely lit with a rosy glow when the lion's eyes opened slowly.
He watched her lithe form as she puttered about the room, the delicious scent of simmering stew in his nostrils not quite able to mask her scent. The scent that had drawn him to the clearing in the first place instead of skirting it as he'd intended on his way home. He gave himself a wry shake of his head at the circumstances. The first willing, and any female in heat was to be considered willing he reflected, female he'd been around in far too long and he was too weak to get out of bed. But perhaps he didn't need to get out of bed he thought to himself, perhaps she was more willing than she realized and might join him. She continued to straighten and fuss with things that were perfectly fine where they were as he watched her, oblivious to his wakeful state. He shifted, intending to push his shoulders to sit up in bed and caught up short with a soft hiss that had her turning and rushing to his side, "Don't try to get up." She cried, pushing at his shoulders with her paws. "I mean," she dropped her paws to her side, embarrassed at her boldness, "you can't get up yet, you'll disturb the wound too much."
"That's not really an option, my dear," he smiled through a wince as he turned back the quilt, a moment's confusion at finding himself naked. He stared down at himself, then at her, secretly delighting in the shell pink blush in her ear wells.
"I undressed you," she whispered, "I wanted to be sure you weren't injured anywhere else." She finished in a rush of words as she turned her back quickly, picking up the lion's loincloth intending to pass it to him. He nodded and slowly got to his paws, the sound making her turn back, dropping the loincloth and move to his side again, "You need to stay in bed."
The lion's lips quirked in a small grin but then nature called again. "'Afraid not, little one, I've other needs at the moment..." he moved slowly from the bed, each step pulling at the stitches in his side but he stilled the wince that threatened, determined not to let it show.
"Oh," she murmured, the blush deepening as realization dawned. "Do you...do you need ... help?" she stammered, her face flushing hot beneath her fur till she thought her eyes must glow like coals in a fire.
"No need," the lion ground between his clenched teeth, striving for a lighter tone than the harsh snarl caused by the pain. His body ached, his side throbbed and his knees felt as though he were a mere cub and yet in his nostrils, her scent. Bathing his senses with her need as she moved about him, hovering as he hobbled his way to the door, she was unaware of how madly he wanted to throw himself upon her. To curl her tightly in his paws, catch her scruff in his teeth and snarl. To bear her to the ground with his weight, spreading her thighs with his knees, his paw tugging her tail to the side as he sent himself deep inside her virgin slit. Her gasp and sudden movement to the other side of the room brought him back and he shook his mane with anger, disliking being seen so vulnerable, so wounded and yet so needful all at once. "Relax little one, you're safe..." he snarled and curled his paw around the door jam to assist himself, "for now..." he murmured to himself with irritation as he gave vent to a few more snarls of frustration. "What the hell, you're about split in half and you're thinking of that bothersome spotted body of hers. Get it together, man." He chastised himself for a few moments more, attending to one of his needs and firmly telling the other need to stow itself away before finally making his way back inside.
"Are you bleeding again?" her eyes darted to his side, checking for telltale stains on the still white bandage. The lion let himself down into a chair, slowly and shook his head, part of his mane falling over his brow and shadowing his eyes. "It's just... you seem so much weaker than when you got up..." she bit her lip as his eyes flashed at her from under his mane, boring right through her very being it seemed. "I'm sure it's just that you're still tired and hungry."
The lion held his gaze upon her, his eyes narrowing with resentment at her insinuation of weakness. Finally he nodded, jutting his chin at the stew. "That still good?"
"Let me get you some," she bustled about serving him a bowl of the stew. "Would you like a blanket?" She asked, being very careful to not let her eyes slip below his chin. It was disconcerting as that gave her little to look at of him but his eyes. They disturbed her, reading through the pages of her soul, as they seemed to do. She twisted her fingers around each other and her paws shifted, her thighs brushing against her loincloth with a soft rasp of fur, her tail curling and jerking slightly against her thigh.
Slowly eating the stew, each spoonful more painful than he'd ever admit as he leaned forward, he looked back at her. He shrugged at her question, noting her nervousness and how her eyes seem to tremble as she made herself look into his. Look anywhere but at his nude body. "Sure," he mrr'd finally, relenting some as it seemed she might well fly out of a window if he continued to display himself to her.
"Why were you running?" He asked in a carefully idle tone as she brought him a quilt, letting it drape over his lap. His lips curled in a smile as he thought of grabbing her and pulling her to his lap and what her reaction might be, but a quick burst of pain in his side reminded him that although only a cheetah she might flail about enough to give him a good rap on his wound.
"Mbaya would have had me as his mate." Her voice shook a little at first then strengthened as she told the story, "I wasn't quite as happy about the match as he was. When he thought me docile enough I slipped away from him into the forest and he chased me." She grimaced, and leaving the cheetah warrior's intentions when he caught her unspoken she continued. "I thought I'd gotten away from him, when I stumbled into the clearing," a rueful look stole over her face, relaxing it in the soft lamplight, "I should have known he was still right behind me. He is...was a great warrior. The leader of the guards of our people." She explained his standing simply, letting the story unravel as a storyteller might. "It was a great honor for my village, my mother was so very proud." At this her voice shook and her eyes became bright with unshed tears. "Then I did not quicken." The lion's nostrils flared imperceptibly, as he ate the stew, slowly letting her unburden herself. "Oh I did, eventually, but for quite some time it seemed I wouldn't," she quickly added, noting the flare and curling her tail around her thighs protectively, her paws curling through the rungs of the chair as she sat across the table from him. He nodded, spooning the last of the stew from the bowl and pushing it from him.
"Did you find another bottle of whisky when you were straightening up?" his voice careful, although a touch of annoyance crept through at the thought of her straightening his simple surroundings, making it neat. Moving things in that way that females are wont to do.
"Don't you think you should have something more sustaining?"
"NO." the sudden roar of sound made her jump back from the table, the chair clattering to the floor. "I'm not dead, and I'll drink what I want." She nodded and almost quailed from him but then her tail lashed quickly, her jaw lifted and her eyes flashed dark.
She snarled back, "I only suggested it because of your wound. I thought that perhaps some broth or other food would be more appropriate to slack your thirst." He nodded curtly, somewhat ashamed of his reaction to her suggestion and also amused at how tremulously she held her ground before him. He tried not to notice how her righteous gasps of breath made her breasts sway softly, and the sweet curl of her tail as it slithered up her thigh nervously, accentuating the gentle rise and fall of her muscles beneath her spots. He let his eyes play over her body, deciding the route his paws would take when he took her and a surge of heat rushed into his loins, stirring him so that he was grateful for the bulk of the quilt in his lap.
She watched him, her eyes noticing how his roved her body and she fought the tremble and rush of need that welled up inside her, making her insides ache for fulfillment, to be sated and stroked and held and her paws took an unconscious step to him. He watched her, the want of her goading him, pressing hard to the quilt with another quick surge of heat to his loins as his lionhood swelled to fill his sheath. With a low growl he held out a paw to her, urging her to him with his eyes. His other paw swept the quilt from his lap to show her what she could have if she but stepped forward another step.
Her eyes stared into his, so deep and dark that she longed to know what dwelled within, caught within them she stared, watching, poised on the balls of her feet almost stepping forward. The movement of the quilt as it slipped to the floor caught her eye and she followed it, broken from his spell. Her eyes widened at the evidence of his lust. Curling her paws around her stomach with a low groan she turned and swept from the cabin, fleeing her need with a strangled gasp as he lunged for her. Slipping under his paw she shoved passed him and ran, fleeing outside to the cooler air, taking great gulps of breath to try to calm.
The lion snarled, his paw just missing his grasp on her arm as the sharp bright pain danced merrily in his side again. "Wait..." he called after her, getting painfully to his feet and snarling under his breath about females and foolishness. Moving slowly to the door of the cabin he watched her. Watched her pacing, noting the flow of her spots from muscle to muscle as they moved; the soft flow of the leather she wore about her breasts and loins hiding the places he most wanted to see her without spots. Smiling a little at the way she was obviously talking to herself, paws moving to emphasis her points, he watched. Ascertaining himself that she wasn't about to dive off into the night he left her there. Allowing her time to think, he told himself, when truly it was all he was able to do to move back to the bed and ease himself into it. He rarr'd, somewhat annoyed, at the quilt that still lay in a heap by the table and sufficed with a light blanket that was still on the bed. For a time he listened to her sounds, her pacing growing more erratic and then lessening till he had to strain to be sure she was still there. Finally, well after the dark had melted the twilight, she appeared in the doorway. Hesitantly she peered in, her paws holding to the jamb as though she might need a leaping start to rush away.
Deciding that any word from him would make her run away, he remained silent, letting his eyelids slip down to watch her from beneath them. She swallowed and stepped in, closing the door behind her. Walking to the quilt she took it up and folded it in front of her body over her arms. An obvious battle going on within her, she finally stepped to the bed and slowly, gently so as not to disturb him, spread the quilt over his body beneath the light blanket. "Thank you," he mrr'd softly, in a gentle tone. She started and then nodded stepping a quick few steps back but then stopping still, "It'll do you no good to take a chill now." He nodded, waiting a beat and then smiled, "Done with your discussion?" She looked at him, tilting in puzzlement. "Outside," he continued, "You were having quite a chat with yourself." She blushed and her eyes shifted away then back to meet his.
"You scared me." She said it simply.
"Or you scared yourself?" He asked, gently.
She shrugged and looked at him quietly. "It's going to continue, the need will increase," he mrr'd, and she nodded in response. "I can help you with it," his voice gentle, soothing her as it had before. Speaking slowly he urged her to let him ease her. Holding himself in tight control he spoke, telling her exactly what he would do, how his paws would touch her and help her through the worse of the need and how in time she could learn to control it. He ignored the blush that rushed to her face, continuing to speak soft and low so she had to take a step forward again to hear him. His paws ached with the desire to pull her to him, to lay her long spotted body against his and take her as befitted a lion but he continued to sooth and cajole her with his voice.
She listened, eyes slipping from his as rushes of pink swept through her ear wells, then back again to meet his steady gaze. Her ears twitched and sometimes flattened at his words, but she listened still, caught in the soft sound of his voice. The low rumbled purring beneath it steadying her somehow. Her breathing quickened and she stepped her paws restlessly as the need clawed at her insides, tightening and easing only to tighten again. Her body swayed unconsciously and she took another step towards the bed.
The lion nodded slowly, keeping his voice low and smooth, a gentle rhythm that urged her, encouraged her as her paws moved slowly. He edged slowly over, easing himself as much as moving slowly so as not to startle her. "Sit here, pretty cheetah," he cajoled, patting the bed at his side. Her eyes fled his face, looking at the paw and then at his body outlined beneath the quilt and she shook her head, clutching her paws around her torso as though to squeeze the needful feelings from her, half turning away. "No... I ... I can't..." He continued in the slow tone, "You're going to drive yourself crazy if you don't let me ease you, spotty...come to me... I won't hurt you, only give you pleasure and surcease..." He prr'd softly, again glad of the weight of the quilt as her scent assailed his nostrils, curling through him to wrench at his gut till his loins throbbed for his own release.
Zuri's ears flicked and trembled, twisting to catch the lion's soft whispered words. Her body trembled and she stepped a bit closer, caught in the soft whispers. Feeling how they surged softly through her body, urging her nearer and nearer. She took another step closer, her eyes dark and wide as she watched the soft rise and fall of the lion's chest, scanning his barely concealed form. She quivered and all but turned when he folded back the quilt slowly, revealing the blanket still beneath. The light blanket had bunched at his waist, baring his chest. Her eyes darted over his body, skimming over his legs, refusing to look at the bulge of his burgeoning sheath beneath the fabric, focusing instead on the swells of his thighs, the flatness of his stomach. She mewed softly and her paws turn pads up as she lifted them, elbows bending to reach gently towards him, eyes asking him what her mind would not allow her to voice.
The lion nodded slightly, answering what she could not say. He kept a steady purr under his whispers as he watched the way her spots rolled over the contours of her body. The light bodice and fold of the leather loincloth catching his eye again and again. Slowly, ever so slowly, he raised his paw, holding it out to her. She mrr'd and took another slow step to place her paw in his. He remained still, barely curling his fingers then slowly tightening them, still watching her carefully, determined to get what he wanted to give her, but unwilling to simply take it. His purr deepened and he curled his wrist, tugging her paw gently. Sucking in a deep breath, shivering as her fur rises, tail furling and unfurling around her thighs; she held the breath and then let it out in a whoosh as her muscles unfroze and she curled to her hip on the side of the bed.
"I ... don't..." she faltered, lips trembling slightly as she licked them, surprised to find them slightly swollen from biting them. "I mean, I haven't..." again her voice dropped off. He held her paw lightly in his, gently curling his claws to tease at her pads. When she didn't continue he rumbled softly, "mwrar, sshhh now, sh..." his other paw patting the bed, "lay here now...shh...just lie with me for now, let yourself relax." He tugged again at her paw, and she curled to her side with her back to his chest. At first she laid terribly still and he let her. Softly he prr'd and murmured still, slowly starting to skim his paw over her shoulder and arm, careful to stroke lightly and steadily, smoothing the lie of fur, claw tips tracing gently around each spot. He rolled a bit closer, his own body atremble with lust, desire, and eager to feed the need within her. With a concerted effort he managed to keep his purr steady and deep, stroking her arm, curling over her shoulder then up to her elegant neck, each time moving to cover more and more of her body with his paw.
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Her breathing became quicker and soft mews trembled on her lips to fall lightly into the silence of the night. She felt the shift of the bed as the lion moved back to rub his paws over her back and instinctively she curled back to him, surprising herself with a low moan of pleasure as she felt the hardness of chest bathing her with his warmth. Her shoulders rolled lightly and her legs moved restlessly, sliding against each other to fill the air with the soft sounds of fur on fur.
He drew in a quick breath, holding himself back by the barest of threads. His arms ached to fold her close and he tried not to press to her spotted back but moves to her anyway. His sheath so full and taut he can't avoid rubbing against the sweet swell of her rump as she pressed to his heat. He bit his lip, eyes half closing as he bucked gently, rubbing to her soft spotted fur. His paw slid down her arm to curl over her paw. Gently he moved it to press to her mound. Lifting his head he gave his mane a shake, smiling as it fell over her shoulder. He leaned to whisper in her ear, "shh now..." feeling her tensing when he pressed his paw over hers. "It's okay. You've touched yourself before..." his tone, matter of fact, and she breathed a few deep slow breaths before murmuring "yes...I .... Yes..." His fingers take hers and lead her, sliding under the loose fold of her loincloth and pressing to her bare sex.
Her hips shuddered a little and her fingers curled under his to tease at her slit. She arched her neck back, curling her body as her thighs pressed to each other before sliding slightly apart. All of her spots quivering as her body trembled, shivering as though cold, she presses back to the lion's warmth, seeking it instinctively. Her eyes tightly shut; soft mewls on her lips she quivers like a tightly drawn bowstring against him.
He groaned softly, nosing at the back of her ear, then down her neck to nuzzle and nibble lightly at her scruff. Each quick gasp and tremble of her making his lionhood surge. His prrrs somewhat ragged now as he tries to stay in control. His paw presses to hers, a low growl of pleasure as he feels her fingers teasing, sliding over the wetness that has slipped from within her to coat her fingers and now his. The pain of his wound a distant thrumming in his side his body shifts, paw curling under her side to lift her to him. His other drawing hers from her slit and sliding over her thigh to drag it back over his.
She moans in his arms, caught now in his warmth. She wouldn't move from him even if her body would let her, so strong has the need for release become. Her head falls back on his shoulder and her body writhes gently against his. Her leg curls back, running the flat of her paw down his leg as she rocks her hips gently against his. A quick tug and her loincloth joins his on the floor and she gasps. Her eyes fly open and she mewls but his paw curls about her tightly and his teeth find her scruff. "Now, my spotted cheetah," he growls to her, muffled by her scruff in his teeth. Rolling her against his hips he slips half under her, letting her feel the hardness of him between her thighs and groaning against her fur when she bucks her hips in response. He shudders hard, feeling the heat of her slit and how wet and slick she feels, gasping as her fingers slip over his flesh. His paw tugs her thigh, spreading her over him and he snarls a hot groan as his tip catches in her soft folds.
Her body tenses then, a slow moan of fear rising in her throat. His paws soothe her, stroking her sides and stomach, his murmurs simply sounds in her ears that she strives to hear. He stays still, his tip just pressing to her, letting her want him. Slowly he strokes her sides, tracing his fingertips over her fur. She swallows hard, feeling him, muscles flexing within her and she nods slowly, lip caught in her teeth. He smiles against her neckscruff and groans as he slowly presses himself within her. Each hitch of her hips; each soft pleading moan making him tremble and fight for control till finally he's sheathed himself within her and she trembles in his paws.
Together they lie for a moment; her unwilling to move as she fears the pain; he gentle and strong willing her to trust him. Slowly she shifts, gasping a little at the pressure and pleasure, and her need rises. She moves again and he groans to her fur and tugs at her scruff as his paws roam her body, tugging her tightly against his. She quivers, feeling him press to her movements and she groans at how her insides tremble and pulse, holding him tightly so that she feels his very pulse against her own. Her hips shiver and she rolls them slightly, gasping suddenly as a bright flush of heat fills her, pulsing through her, filling her with warmth and wet that makes the lion all but lose control as he rocks himself slowly against her lithe body. She cries out, gasping at the suddenness and completeness of her release, her body melting to his as she covers him with her juices till his pouch is wet.
He moans and curls his body and paws around her, holding her, breath flowing over her ears and fur as he groans, his hips rocking in hard quick thrusts against hers till he fills her with his release. Again and again his body bucks to hers, sending himself deep and hot within her; each pulsing squeeze of her muscles to his drawing his release from him to cover her quivering insides.