Paris was pissed off, seriously pissed off. He had spent all morning tracking this lioness, and either he was out of shape tracking wise or she was real good at covering her scent, neither explanation was very appealing but he admitted he was lax when it came to that skill. Women always came to him, not the other way round, he never needed to track! He sounded arrogant and that pissed him off too.
Paris stopped his bike and peered closely at the sign hanging atop some sort of make shift wooden gate, it was the entrance to what seemed to be a ranch of sorts, he glanced behind him, the road he had driven up ran for miles, all he could see when he looked over his shoulder was a vast region of land that ended at the horizon. He was hot and hungry and grouchy, sweat was trickling down his face and stinging his eyes and, he shifted on his bike and winced, he was hurting where a man should never hurt. He'd tracked her to New Mexico, Ax had offered to keep his bike safe but he couldn't leave it in his hands, he'd come back and find his prized Harley with no wheels or something. The road after the gate wasn't as long as the one he had just came down, in the distance a black spot that his perfect eyesight knew was a huge manor house, perhaps he should just leave his bike here and flash himself to their porch. He would be out of the sun and it was hardly going to get stolen, this place was harder to find then the key to fort Knox.
Paris sighed and got off his bike, he cupped himself through his jeans grimacing and hating Ariel Sophronia more then ever. She had messed things up for him several different ways, not only did have to interrupt his life to go chasing after her because she wanted to play hero to some psychotic cub and because she was so good at hiding her scent it had taken him a week, also when he got back to the shitty bar in Arizona and went to find himself the pouty brunette she had waited for him at the bar for so long that she had drunk her way through several bottles of Jack Daniels and didn't remember her name. Oh and then, as the list continues, he went to find himself some nice chick with a gorgeous body to spend some lonely hours with and when he was talking them into the mood all he could think about was a tall blonde lioness and the way she roared. So now he was sweaty, grouchy, hungry and horny, what could be worse?
"Savitar I curse you," Paris muttered to himself before flashing to the front porch of the manor house, he sighed before rapping lightly on the door with his knuckles.
Ariel had been sitting with her aunt and cousin all morning and felt bitchy, rather then insult anyone which she was likely to do if she opened her mouth she chose to simply watch her family as they moved about the kitchen. Since lions were creatures native to several different countries no human alive would believe that the woman in front of her was her aunt, Faraa had the smooth flawless skin the colour of coffee, her beautiful almond shaped eyes were a lighter brown, almost hazel and were fathomless with their wisdom but also their kindness. She wore a long, white dress that complimented her beautiful skin tone and her long black braids were wrapped up atop her head in a beautiful red, silk scarf. Smooth and unlined though she was Faraa was nearly five thousand years old, she was her paternal uncle's mate and Ariel's aunt by marriage but she loved her aunt who had become a substitute mother. Ariel looked down at the lion cub at her feet that was cleaning her paws and felt a rush of sympathy towards her, Aiyana. Poor, sweet Aiyana. It hadn't taken Ariel particularly long to get the cub to trust her, she found that Aiyana was mostly vicious since she was so hungry and though still very cautious over the week she had improved with a speed that Ariel had to marvel at.
There was a smash of glass from behind them and with a grimace Ariel looked over her shoulder at Ly, her cousin from her maternal aunt. Again the difference in their family resemblance was shocking. Ly or 'Little one' as she had called herself from a child and therefore been called it ever since, was a petite, beautiful woman who looked barely out of her teens, she was in fact one hundred and eleven which in were years was still practically a whelp. Ly had typical oriental hair and features, her sleek silky black hair swung down to her waist and she usually wore it on a side parting with a lovely white flow tucked behind her ear, today the flower was pink.
"Tell me you didn't just break my best china cup!" Faraa said sharply, her lightly accented voice somehow making Ly cringe even worse. Ly rubbed her hands nervously over her jean clad thighs and cleared her throat, Aiyana who had raised her head to snarl at the noise also ducked when Faraa spoke.
"I didn't mean to!" Ly whined, she rubbed herself very feline like along the counter top and Ariel cringed, her head was beginning to pound.
She knew what was making her aunt so cranky and her normally rather graceful cousin so clumsy, it was why she herself had not left the house and was also feeling irritable. The female lions were in heat. She hated this time of year! That's why the house was so empty, there was normally always at least five of her family members running around the house, however they disappeared for three days during mating season and weren't seen again until it was over. Usually strolling in looking pale with shadows under their eyes but none the less looking satisfied. Another perfectly good reason to hate this time of year, she was always edgy and in need of desperate relief, but Ariel had her own reasons why she refused to mate with anyone and though they were common knowledge in her family, they were her own.
Faraa looked at the clock again and gritted her teeth she was waiting for her mate Ariel's uncle Theo to come home. He was away on business and Ariel was sure he'd get a great welcome home present with his mate in such a state.
Ly was staying in the house for reasons that completely escaped Ariel.
"Dammit!" Ariel cried when Ly who was clearing away the cracked cup and managed to knock the bin over in her attempt, Ariel unclenched her fist and exhaled then with a more patient tone. "Can you not go and find Charlton or something?"
Ly gave her a disgusted look. "His name is Carl! Carl." she said slowly and deliberately then with a snarl. "How hard is that to remember, Gods you piss me off! And for your information, Carl is human how would he stand three days of this, he'll think I am some kind of nymphomaniac! And just for the record, your both feeling the effects of the season so don't keep picking on me. Mind your beeswax!"
Ariel hated that saying that her cousin had used since she was a child, it was in fact older then her nickname, Ariel ran her tongue over the edge of her teeth that were itching to bite into something. She eyed Ly contemptuously and Faraa let out a disgusted breath and with delicacy picked up a fine china cup and sipped her herbal tea.
"Kill her," her aunt said in a casual but un-amused voice, "or I will."
Ariel gently patted her chignon and blew out a breath abruptly getting up from the table when she heard the sound of breaking glass behind her, without looking at Ly's latest destruction she muttered that she was off to bed. She was halfway up a grand white staircase when she heard her aunt growl and the slap of a kitchen cloth being thrown on the counter, then Ly's indignant voice.
"I'm going to Carl's house! I can't stand this!"
"That makes two of us," Ariel breathed and continued all the way to her bedroom.
Once she closed the door she pulled her hair down and rubbed her aching skull with her fingertips, she lay down on her bed and tried to think of something, anything non sexual. It was hard when she thought of just what she had been doing if her own mate had been here, however Ramirez Fernandez was not and she would not wish it to be so. Though there were times such as when she was in season that she craved a mate not just for the sex, and that was mind blowing, but for the intimacy after it when you were mated.
Ariel blew out a tired breath and with her mind turned on the over head fan, her light flimsy pale pink skirt was unbearable brushing against her sweaty, ultra sensitive skin. Ariel couldn't take it and magically tripped down to her bra and panties, it was funny, she thought, that she only became concerned with her nakedness after she had lost her mate. Perhaps it was because she had always felt that with her mate she could be uninhibited and without one she found all her old inhibitions coming back. Ariel gritted her teeth and shook her head. She needed no one but her family! She needed no mate! And with that like an act of defiance against herself maybe she stripped off the undergarments and repeated the words she had promised herself the day Ramirez died.
"I need no mate, I will never have another lover for I know longer wish to have a mate or ever potentially have one, especially not Katagaria!"
She repeated it so many times that she fell asleep to it like a lullaby and instead of waking only minutes later worrying about things she should be taking care of, Ariel succumbed to hazy erotic dreams of a tall, handsome lion with golden curls a few shades lighter then her own.
Paris was startled when the door flew open and stepped back when a ferocious looking woman stood there, instantly he smelt the scent of lioness in heat and raised an eyebrow at her. He watched as she curled her lip.
"As if, little cub! I have my own mate, why would I want an animal!"
Paris let out a relieved breath, no wonder he wasn't trying to jump the slender black woman on the door step, it was easier to resist them if they were mated.
"Whatever Arcadian!" Paris growled back pushing his way into the house, "I'm here to see the Katagaria cub brought to your place by Ariel Sophronia."
The woman opened her mouth as if to curse him then shut it, she raised an amused eyebrow and Paris went cold.
"Shit she's in heat!"
The woman laughed evilly. "No lion, she isn't. She hasn't even gone through puberty yet, my niece was right, she was just feral, no trelosa. Just in need of a kind word, good food and a gentle touch."
Paris scoffed. "I'll be the judge of that."
Again the woman gave an evil laugh. "Of course, Katagaria."
The woman made as if to shut the door, locking herself out of the house, but before she did she paused and shot a measuring look at Paris.
"I'm going to find my mate Theo, can I trust you to behave yourself in my house?"
Paris shrugged. "Lady, I really do not want to be here, so if you don't mind just point me towards the cub and I'm gone."
The woman inclined her head, "she and Ariel are in the house somewhere, go find her."
And with that she closed the door, leaving him in a sunny hallway consumed suddenly by the scent of lioness in heat.
Paris felt himself harden to the point of pain and he reached down and rubbed himself through his jeans, he needed to get out of here! The smell as intoxicating and exciting, he licked his lips and walked through the hall way into a large den, he just entered the room when he saw the ends of a tail swish around a door leading out of the room.
Paris shot after it keeping a safe distance so he didn't scare the cub, following the progress of the tail that he caught glimpses of slinking out of doors and around corners.
"I've had enough of this shit! Come here!"
He launched himself after her in his lion form and sprang round the corner, down a passage and then came to the bottom of a staircase and stopped dead in his tracks. Paris was barely aware of Aiyana exiting the passage via some door or other, his mind was completely consumed by the scent of unmated lioness. He inhaled deeply and growled, a part of his mind, the sane part protested as his sleek, agile body loped up the stars. Seductive even in his animal form, Paris shook his wild mane and rolled on his back on the landing carpet, the aroma was pungent up here, seeping in to his pores and mind like an hallucinogen.
Paris crawled forward on his belly to a white, wooden door that stood open just enough so a sliver of the room and bed was visible. Paris flashed into his human form and lay crouched on the floor, his one eye visible, stalking his prey, he bit his bottom lip and released it slowly as he savoured the sight before him.
Ariel lay upon her bed completely bare to his gaze, her honey coloured skin complimented by the creamy sheets, she writhed and moved and arched her back as if agitated, waiting for her lover to come to her. Not bothering to cloth himself Paris stood up, pushed the door open and loped into her airy room. The warm breeze floated through the window of her attic type room with a sloping ceiling, the painted white floorboard lending a cleaner, more spacious look to the place and in the middle of the room was a four poster bed, laying on a quilt of white with red and yellow rosebuds stitched on it was a goddess. Her dark blonde locks unfurled around her shoulders and fanned over her pillow, her dark lashes lay like ebony crescents on her cheeks that were flushed.
Paris raked his gaze down her, taking in her full, plump breasts, her nipples hardened and pink, along her flat stomach, her leg was raised so all he could see was one long beautiful thigh that concealed from him her fair curls that he had glimpsed when he first entered the room. Her hands fisted in the duvet and she moaned as if pained in some way, Paris knew she was trying to ride out the mating heat on her own but now he was here there was no turning back, he had to have her. It was either that or death and he didn't want to end his life without tasting her first.
He watched as Ariel turned her head in his direction and open her eyes, he saw recognition there the moment before they darkened with a passion the likes of which he barely came into contact with and his body combust into flames. Having never wanted to be mated Paris had only selected humans for his lovers as a Katagaria and human could never mate, also women of his own kind were usually very inattentive and rough. Not to say that he didn't like it that way but he liked to vary his sexual positions, where as with Katagaria lions the male had to hold the female into submission on her stomach while he pleasured himself because it was likely she would kill him.
He'd only taken an Arcadian once before and the experience hadn't been a good one as they both ended up trying to kill each other anyway.
But this, this would be sweet.
Ariel made a purring noise and watched Paris kneel on her bed, felt it dip before he crouched over her his body hard and aggressive and completely male. A dusting of blonde hair ran from his chest to a small line that trickled down past his navel into honey coloured curls at his centre, his muscles rippled as he moved and positioned himself atop her, holding his weight up on his arms so he could look down on her. Ariel had no thought of why she should resist him, it was completely impossible, she just smiled up into his golden eyes before stretching out on forefinger and trailing it down his chest and stomach.
Paris hissed with pleasure and lowered himself so he was cradled in the shelter of her thighs, Ariel cried out and began instantly moving beneath him, rubbing herself against him, needing more. Paris laughed then lowered his head and traced her ear with his tongue whilst a hand cupped her breast, he kneaded and squeezed lightly before trailing it down her stomach.
Ariel moaned, her hands sliding round his hips then up his smooth back, feeling the muscles tense and flex beneath her palms.
"You shouldn't be here."
"You need me here," Paris replied, pressing kisses and scraping teeth down her neck, collar bone then to the fullness of her breast, Ariel gasped out a laugh.
"Not really, any man could do this," she teased and Paris growled wildly, biting harder on her lush flesh, he didn't like that she would mention another while he was with her, it set off the ire of the beast and Paris could not leash him. Paris caught both her wrists, her dainty wrists in one hand and held them above her head, his grip was bruising but Ariel laughed at him. She laughed while her eyes burned with intensity as she rocked her hips against his body, making herself gasp and writhe, begging for him to enter her. But Paris wouldn't oblige instead he tortured her by holding back, still pinning her under him he trailed one hand down to test her readiness, then pulled away and braced that hand against the headboard.
"I'll play with you later," he growled and thrust deep, Ariel screamed out climaxing immediately, Paris ground his teeth against the urge to release himself, but for some reason he wanted to brand himself into her mind, make sure she would never think of another whilst he shared her bed. Make her pine for him when she was with another. Paris was used to having to hold himself back when making love to human women, but the combination of the freedom of taking an Arcadian, and though he hated to admit it, his little jealousy, he moved inside her with reckless abandon.
There was no thought or sense, no logic and reason just pure head rushing feeling that had him using more force and strength on her body, it excited and delighted him that she matched him stroke for stroke, thrust for thrust. Biting him when he bit her, scratching when he finally let her hands free. He thrust, she cried out, he stiffened and she screamed, he roared and she purred. Paris rolled off Ariel, his mind temporarily out of action, he couldn't help smiling when she curled in to his side, purring and rubbing like a cat.
Ariel had no sense of what just happened, all she knew was that she hadn't felt the likes of this in all the years she had lived, even her experience with her mate hadn't ever included something as earth shattering as what she had just experienced. And, she thought with an evil grin, judging by the look on his face neither had he. She watched as he grinned and discreetly looked down to find him still ready for action, that was the beauty of having a were for a lover, they didn't tire until the sun went down and came up again, and even then they could carry on.
Paris hissed when Ariel leant up and bit gently on his nipple, he cupped her head in his hand, in fact his hand felt bigger then her head and Paris flushed as guilt washed through him when he remembered how brutal he had been with her delicate body.
"I was rough with you," he began but cut off when she growled, his entire body clenched as she leant up to nibble his lobe, her breasts flat against his side.
"Again," she breathed the demand before biting hard on his shoulder, Paris's smile belied his long suffering sigh.
"Well, if I must I must." Rolling her under him he took her again, and too lost in each other they let their voices rise and it floated out of the top window filling the summer evening with sounds of loving.