To TheAlmightyWarrior! ^_^ Thanks for helping me name The Kurgan's beast dog. I feel like I've been away from you all for so long...But heres another chapter! Enjoy. . .
Fall turned into winter smoothly and without problem. The leaves all fell from their trees, the animals grew their winter coats and Arielle had become herself again. As he usually did, he returned late from a hunting trip. The boar he had speared was being taken to the kitchens were it would be prepared for him and his mate. When he reached his room he found her gone. . .again. He scowled and growled in irritation.
"She's always gone somewhere. . ." he growled.
He stomped through his castle for fifteen more minutes before she came bounding out of the kitchens with a grin on her face. "It's Quibbles puppies!" She shouted excited and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the kitchens.
He let her attempt to drag him along. As they went he remembered when she named his pet beast.
. . .Both had ventured into the back lawn of the castle and he watched her as she went about, remembering things she knew before. The dog came running from around the castle chasing a chicken. When it saw its master and Arielle it changed direction and went to the woman. She laughed and pet its head and it licked her hands. It stood up on its hind paws and licked her face, she laughed. The Kurgan grinned at that sound, he had missed it.
He crossed his arms and sat on a stone bench, the landscape was dark from the storm clouds overhead. Arielle rushed over to him and he couldn't recall ever seeing her so excited. Something about it seemed off somehow, it was like an itch he couldn't scratch. She was usual calm and collected, this time she was running all over the place and seemed overflowing with energy. He was glad she responded to her name and wanted him in bed again, but he couldn't shake that something still wasn't there yet. Something wasn't right.
She sat next to him and the dog put its front paws in her lap. She giggled, "I thought of the perfect name for him," she said.
He raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"
She looked as if she was trying to contain some hilarious secret, that wasn't like the Arielle he knew. "Quibbles!"
When she said it his eyes darkened, "No." It was plain and simple.
She laughed again, it was the same laugh but a different tone, "You know it's adorable." She squished the dog's face between her palms and his tongue lolled out, "Just look at him! He looks like a Quibbles!"
He growled in his throat and looked irritated, "No war beast of mine will be named that." He couldn't even say the name. Deep down he liked the irony of a war dog being named something like that but it would have preferred it was someone else's dog. For the sake of his mate's happiness though he let it pass. . .
When they reached the kitchens he came back to reality and looked down where his mate was kneeling by the back door over a female dog that was in the process of giving birth. He peered down at the scene.
"We'll kill them as soon as they're all born," he stated.
Her reaction was nothing he ever expected from such a soft woman. She slowly rose to her feet and turned to face him, "Do what?"
He grinned, "You heard me woman. We have no use for them and I want my hunting dog able to work."
Suddenly she scowled and put a finger on his chest, glaring at him furiously. He hardly felt it though but was taken aback. She jumped on him so suddenly that he fell back, though a bit playfully to make her think she was strong. She straddled him across his waist and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulled him close and glared at him in the eyes.
"If you touch them I will kill you. Don't you dare hurt those puppies!" She screamed.
He laughed, "As you wish mistress."
He grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her in close, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Now come up to the bedroom, I want you beneath me."
At that she was gone from him and again stooping beside the mother dog. "No," she said curtly.
His eyes narrowed, "What?"
"I said no master. I want to watch the puppies be born to make sure she takes care of them."
In The Kurgan's world puppies weren't so well taken care of. He stood behind her and watched her curiously.
"What's the attraction pretty?" He asked
She didn't look back at him, "I love small animals, especially puppies. It's such a beautiful thing to watch them be born and grow." Her voice was filled with such compassion and love for the whelps.
The Kurgan growled again and then grabbed her waist and threw her over his shoulder, "They'll still be there when I'm done with you."
"Put me down Kurgan! Put me down this moment!" She shouted, beating him with her fists again.
He only bellowed with laughter, "You wish me to rape you here?" He grabbed her buttocks with his free hand and she stiffened.
"Absolutely not!" She shouted indigently.
He chuckled and slapped her ass. "Of course you can see the bitch and her pups again. If you can walk properly after I'm finished." His laugh could be heard throughout the whole castle as she screeched like a wild cat and cursed him.
Only a few minutes later a half naked Arielle ran down the stairs and whirled into the kitchens, catching the servants by surprise. They all averted their eyes as soon as The Kurgan lumbered after his woman, half dressed himself.
"Damn you wild cat!" He shouted, his face showed anger but his words were hinted with lust.
He stormed into the kitchens and looked at where the mother dog, there was Arielle leaning over them on her knees.
He looked at her, "Now get back into my bed before I have you right here!"
She didn't seem to hear him though, "They're all clean. Must mean she's done."
"So?" He asked rudely. "Go now!"
She still didn't pay attention to him, "Oh no. . ." she whispered. She picked something up and then stood up and turned around. In her hands was the runt of the litter, a small red dog that strongly resembled the mother.
"The runt," he said.
"She pushed it away with her nose," Arielle said. Her eyebrows creased and she seemed concerned. "Is the mother taking care of this one?" She asked a man who stood by the ovens.
He shook his head, "She don't want anything to do with the runt. She know it aint no good."
"Woman, I won't please myself with you here," he warned.
"But I have to help it Kurgan!" She said, suddenly looking up at him with big sad eyes. "It's going to die and she won't feed it."
"So? That's what happens to the runt of the litter," he said. His eyes shone hungrily as he looked at her half dressed form. Her hair had grown out during her time in Kurgan's world and she had it braided normally, but now her hair was sticking out in rumpled places and her cheeks were flushed.
She glared back at him, "I bet you were the runt of the litter Kurgan." She said, the corners of her mouth lifting enticingly. The look on his face made her pale and she backed away, "Let me give someone instructions on how to care for it first!" She shouted.
He nodded his head, "You have till ten. . .One."
She dashed out the door and found the woman who had alerted her that the dog was having babies in the first place. The elderly, plump, woman with light red hair and rosy cheeks, Mel. She put the puppy in the other woman's hands.
"Five! Six!" The Kurgan said as he slowly walked towards her.
"Please! Milk the mother or a goat or something and then fill a cloth with the milk. Feed it like a bottle to it and take care of it for tonight!" She said quickly, the other woman nodding.
Arielle's eyes widened and knowing that the runt was in good hands she took off up the stairs, her lover lumbering behind her. He stopped counting and growled loudly as he took off after his prey. Her mock-shrieks could be heard in the hall before he laughed and pulled her into their room.
Later that night as Arielle lay wrapped in The Kurgan's arms, he sighed with pleasure and then looked down at her, "What makes you want to care for something as pathetic as that runt?" He asked.
She snuggled against his side, "It's just so small, I don't want it to die. If I have to force the mother to feed it I will," she said.
He grinned at her determination and then stretched and closed his eyes. As he began to drift off to sleep he began to wonder if there was more to her wanting to save the runt. Maybe it was because she knew that with him she would never have children.