Of course her absent would rattle a worrisome mother. Their bond was something a fool like her couldn’t grasp. A tether comprised of love and affections kept one to the other and which such a bond was stretched beyond its limits, there was bound to be pain felt by both parties. The Nomad just hadn’t anticipated the break of her own hastily constructed bond would pain her to this extreme.

Truly the woman felt lost. With no bundle to coddle, to feed, to keep warm at night, she had returned to the voided state she had only just escaped from upon her ompre’s return. She had grown so fond of the girl she was willing to do anything to keep her be it escape these lands and return to the Nomads with babe in tow, so long as it kept their bond alive and strong. But such a dream… no; such a desire was not to be fulfilled like this. Against her own selfish desires, she could not allow the child to suffer her greed, not when she had cried for her mother after their time apart. She could not bring pain, physical or emotional to so innocent a child. And so she returned the babe to her caretaker’s- her mother’s arms and was left to suffer a punishment worth than banishment; a love lost.

It was only hours before that she was forced to return the child, but sitting idle within the entrance of her den, it felt like days had traversed in her stillness with tears of loss ever flowing in silent streams. There was nothing she could do other than this; dwell within the emotions caused by her wrong, experience what it was to endure a loss both of love and friendship. Love. Yes… she now knew what it was to love a child, to have no regard for anything else but for their well-being and happiness. She needed no explanation that what was felt was indeed the fabled sensation spoken of by the child’s caretaker and mother. That which had filled her heart with so much joy… then just as quickly was snatched away leaving her hollowed. It truly was love that invoked her want to keep the child… and it was this love that she feared she would never feel again.

Her lone suffering was short-lived as she had hoped. Though eternity trickled by within her mind, the outside was only witness to a few hours since the parting of child and surrogate. He was always there, her ompre, and in her broken heart she had hoped he would be here with her now if not to console, then to let her know that someone would not fault her, even if this was her own mistake.

He must have seen this coming when her own mind refused to acknowledge it. His reservations had often made her uneasy when she had the pup even if he was not unkind to her. The distance was apparent and to her better judgment, she did not address it knowing in the back of her mind what it pertained to. She did not want to hear it then… but perhaps it was best that she heard it now.

He called for her softly lingering just at the entrance of her den before carefully crawling inside, now allotted more space since her work to expand it. She recalled the giggling bouts the little one had as she watched the woman dig away at the walls of the den to provide more room for the child and herself to play, and for her and her ompre to share their nights in relative comfort when given the time. Little Sarian had filled the den with her laughter and energy bringing light to the otherwise dull space. The furs along the floor still held her scent, especially the hide they slept on in the corner. She could not look to anything within this home and not see or smell the child. Even the strips of hide strung across the ground surfaced a joyous memory shared with the little one. And she feared it would only be that from now on; a memory.

She slipped into her lover’s comforting arms, holding dearly to him seeking whatever comfort he had to offer. She would take anything if it meant easing this pain only a little. “I… I had to give her back,” she whispered as if the child’s absence and her distraught form was not enough to tell. “I don’t think Shiloh will ever let me have her… or see her again. I thought I could keep her. She made me so happy…”

.There was truth in his words, however painful it was to hear. Try as her surfaced maternal instinct would to contest it, the apparent truth was that the little one was not hers to have. She had imprinted on the Shiloh and the fragile girl would forever hold the love in Sarian’s eyes that the envies Nomad wished to have. She has been made aware of it now, this profound need to have the little one as her own to fulfill a natural desire to be bother nurturer and role model. Thinking back on her own past, she understood now why the blood mothers were distanced from their offspring less they were within the same pack family; the maternal bond was too painful to sever if allowed to flourish. She had never thought to question if it was the right course for the pack to take til now.

He tried to coax her into a calmer state, assuring that motherhood would be hers eventually. But it provided little aid to her wounded heart; a mere patch meant to close a gaping wound. She could not even begin to create a time table for herself, when this walk of life would be hers. Since her coming of age it had always been told that her pairing would be arranged, pursuing an interest with another was unwise and unnecessary. But she was not of the Nomad flock now and hadn’t the slightest idea where to begin in the pursuit.

The topic had followed its intensions of distracting her from the pain of loss if only to have her tread on more dangerous, uncertain ground. His words were unsettling, forcing her withdrawal from his arms while her startled hues searched for his icy gaze. “Then that of you and me?” the woman inquired, resorting to nomadic gesture as her hand drifted between them. “Have I not ‘met some nice guy’? Haven’t we mated…?”

Her silence came as an affect of doubt; genuine uncertainty for perhaps the first time since their involvement. It had never been a matter of where they stood with the other. Usually their interactions were wordless, made through gesture and conducted by instinct as their more primal minds reigned over them. They needn’t claim the other verbally… wasn’t their scent enough to prove it? Was she really alone in believing that they were bound to each other? Still she did not fully understand how it came to be but knew that it was so and the details could have been gathered in time. But what point was there if he did not see her as she did him? She hadn’t expected them to be labeled as mates…but something promising, at least.

A saving grace was in her favor when he confessed to having taken her as his and it brought her some relief to hear this. But the uncertainty lingered, in both herself and Saluce. The thoughts yet to be touched still set between them. She was too fond of him to let this uncertainty waver her thoughts about him, if anything it encouraged her to pursue this more so there would no longer be doubt on behalf of their involvement… their relationship.

Within the darkness she felt for his hand while drawing herself against his form. “I see you as mine,” she whispered, her muzzle drawn into the warmth of his chest, gently nosing through his fur to rasp the skin beneath with a possessive tongue. “…and perhaps these types of things should be talked about… in the future.” Discussing it immediately would have been absurd, especially with either knowing next to nil about the other. She hoped this bridge would be crossed again perhaps further down the line when this relationship was less shrouded in doubt and revealed more under the light of certainty. She was simply content now with an idea of where his thoughts were. “We don’t have to talk about it now,” she growled softly hoping to assure him of this. “We could talk of something else if you’d like.”

Gladly they put the conversation on pause to the relief of the once mourning female. Though something still bothered him apparently, the strain of thought blatant upon his face. She fell comfortably into his arms as they slipped around her pulling her deeper into his desired warmth. Her legs uncurled from beneath her and were better situated around his waist. Her idle tail came to life then, swaying at leisure to his adoring affection. What bothered him was soon revealed in the form of a question, one which brought a smile to the woman’s lips. “I would like to consider it… as long as you feel my being around you won’t disturb you.”

She had hoped it would come to this eventually, but did not want to force her intentions upon him. Truth be told was growing tired of their secretive routine; a shared night followed by a swift departure that lasted days on end. It hadn’t bothered her in the beginning, but once the frequency increased she began to question if that would be their extent. Considering this was looked upon as hopefully a positive step, toward what, she didn’t completely know. All that mattered was the possibility still able to be explored when the time was right and both were willing.

Their proximity, however, always seemed to detour her thoughts from matters of momentary disinterest to one that was readily agreed upon as a better topic deserving their attention. They needn’t discuss anything about it or harbor doubt. It was perhaps the only topic that either of them was ever sure about, one X’yrin was glad to give her full attention to. And him too, as the scratches on her back suggested. “But that too,” she whispered, tongue seeking the contours of his neck. “We can talk about later.”

What made the woman an able warrior was not solely thanks to her strong will and determination… but the simple fact that she was a fast learning, in tasks as well as in the art of appealing to one’s desires. Her teacher had schooled her well, the sensations elicited from her dexterous tongue and digits where the result of his consistent… and rigorous practice. But through their lessons she had discovered an affinity for their art she’d never thought resided in her.

Her appetite had grown insatiable, hidden will beneath the guise of poise and composure. But when not under the sights of her pack a friends, only here with her lover’s eyes upon her, she was free to satisfy that hunger by preying upon her willing victim. Gentle rasps upon his neck evolved to tender nips to the fur and flesh beneath. A mere prelude to the parting maw seeking to gentle clasp his throat; a feigned command for submission, the unconditional surrender of him that was hers, and hers alone. She felt his flesh hardened between them invoking her legs to quiver with anticipation and a longing whine slip from her maw.

She needn’t ask him for what she wanted. If subtle gesture was not enough, then she trusted the descent of a clawed hand to his lap would soundly usher the point across the silent threshold.

Her wiles alone should have made him compliant, it had worked before time and time again. So what was reason was there not to obey her wishes now? Even as the teased the hardened flesh with the tips of her claws, she received nothing more than a growl and tilt of his head. Her claws ceased their ministrations and her muzzle withdrew from his neck. Worry played within her eyes a moment, searching his own for a tell of what kept him from fulfilling her burning wishes.

Her ears fell back whilst a long, low cry sounded in her throat. Did he not want this now? Was that it? Clearly, his body reacted to the contrary, but why keep himself at a distance when her body was readily willing to accept his? Her lush tail freed itself from beneath her and struck the ground in frustration. Defined maw trembled with a pout on her lips, her curse as an emotional female showing prominently through.

But it was all a farce, a role assumed for their little game, hastily discarded as those pouting lips peeled back unsheathing glistening ivory fangs. Claws once content with delicate touch sought to latch onto her lover’s sides as her muzzle bared up to his menacingly with the anger of denial reverberating in her chest. She had learned from their previous bouts that denial was not something either of them took very well. So why he would tread on such dangerous ground was beyond her. Her growl carried but a single command of which she’d never thought she’d have to utter for him. But her growing need was dire, testing the limitations of how long she could contain herself.

“Satisfy me.”

The Optime body presented opportunities that the other forms couldn’t even compare to. For one, the defined digits made it that much easier to emanate a broader range of sensations that the heavy, clumsy paws could not. And the delicate touch of a claw was better felt by these sharper, more susceptible senses. Suffice it to say this was the favored form when it came to time spent intimately alone with her ompre.

Her pleading growl was muted instantaneously as his deadly teeth unfurled in silent challenge. His ever mobile claws continued searching her form, playing to his wants to get a rise out of her instead of dutifully appeasing his queen. But she was helpless to him, fallen from the role of queen to damsel as she was captured and held in place for him to exact his rite; to remind her just where she stood in this complicated waltz. Her parted lips gradually closed with only a whine ushering from their subtle crease. She lowered her ears to appease him but her face still encapsulated need that was not easily overtaken by a show of dominance. If anything it raised her whine to a more audible octave and curled her tail with anxiousness.

And then her eyes beheld the transformation of a snarl to a knowing smile, causing her sweeping tail to cease its movements. Her body was solely under his control as he sought his turn to conduct this ballad of their desires. Lowered to her back she looked upon his hovering form with wild eyes partially veiled by auburn locks, trailing down his wanted form til it was fixed on the hardened flesh yet to be enveloped by her own yearning folds. She mewled impatiently, trying hard yet failing to suppress the show of need her writhing form conveyed.

There was a point to him drawing out the climax… her mind was simply too clouded in ecstasy to bother to care what it was. That grinning face of his was enough to make her want to snap at, to punish him for prolonging the release she was craving. It was all on purpose, even the innocent mind could tell the lengthy licks along her neck were meant to rouse her, provide only a hint of that pleasure she sought. Mews of pleasure soon became savage snarls. Her writhing form ascended a new level of motion; composure damned for the sake of her begging.

Obsidian claws raked through the furred ground of the den, clutching harder as his skillful tongue descended, relinquishing its touch of her form for a painful moment. She whined softly, pleading that he not stop so soon. The moment was depravity was fleeting. His hands upon her inner thighs coaxed her reception to his whims whilst a chill coursed up her spine. She struggled to keep her tail still, to not swat him across the head as he delivered his sensual brand of torture upon her. Hastily she snatched at her tail howling in both pain and pleasure as her claws dug into it, the other slicing through the hide on the ground and scratching at the earth.

Her body was known better to him than it was to herself. Where she knew how to move it, how to execute it precisely through combat, the male between her quivering thighs learned how to make it quake, how to stir the dormant sensations never felt save for through the closeness of combat. It was almost sinful how he made her feel with the right touch…

But such touches were brought to a gradually pause and as he drew up her form she looked on in mild disappointment; a whine of question her lips as to why he had stopped yet again. However the pause was not wasted allowing the ravaged female to catch her breath and slow her thundering heart to calm her trembling form. Her tail now released was free to sway beneath her with content then raise a little to catch her lover’s own. Her hunger was not yet satisfied merely appeased with her true wants still well conveyed by the lust clouding her eyes.

At his touch her ears drew forward receptively, her eyes drifted closed falling prey to pleasure’s gravity. What questions she did have for his actions were silenced as they should have been, unwilling to interrupt the ballad of passion with words. However her partner did have the same intentions. His words were carefully whispered bringing her eyes to open again, a questioning look upon her face. His invitation was well received and met with complying limbs lifting and wrapping themselves around his inviting waist, but still she was bothered by this shift in mood. When he was but moments ago purposeful in fulfilling her wants, he was tender now… possessed by something unknown. She could not yet search his eyes to see what ailed him, but it was spoken soon enough and left her still.

Heated blood quickly frozen throughout her form coursing an alien chill as his confession had a moment to adhere; he loved her. Such a notion was almost silly to be wasted on one that hardly knew what it entailed. Only briefly had she learned its meaning and experienced its unbridled essence for herself on behalf of the child now taken from her arms. For the child, she had experienced love and offered it unconditionally, but did not believe it could have been felt for her. Hearing it was so strange… so unfamiliar… But hearing it from his lips ushered a new elation all together; it finally having settled that it was the man she had come to adore that had such an emotion for her… as she had for him.

She did not waste her breath explaining how such an emotion was lost to her culture or how she was beyond happy to know it was not lost on her. Her arms slipped across his back, lifting her form slightly to draw herself closer to him and rest her muzzle upon his shoulder. “I love you, my Ompre…” a soft smile adorned her maw as it slipped gently along his shoulder and settled within his neck. “I do love you.”