The growling started next, low noises that vibrated through him, settled in his balls.
The keening noise that came from him surprised him, his whole body jerking and throbbing. Needed. Oh, he needed.
"An neal." Then scenting came next, Feris rubbing their cheeks together and then their lips, tongue licking him.
"Yes! Feris. Please." He held Feris to him, head tipping back once more, letting Feris have him. All of him.
Feris' mouth closed over his neck again and for a second the cat was back, phallus huge and rough, teeth enormous and sharp. He might have imagined it though, for it was Feris the man who was pulling up another mark on his neck, Feris the man who growled, and Feris the man who thrust into him, sending him soaring.
The sensation was more than he could bear, and he screamed, seed pulsing out between their bodies, stars dancing before his eyes.
Feris roared, filling him with heat before collapsing against him.
Panting, gasping, he stroked the long spine, listening to Feris purr, remembering that no matter what, he was where he belonged.
~Chapter Twenty~
Dinner was a mess. Anneal was only the simplest of cooks, he knew it, anyone who knew him knew it, but he had so wanted the fancy lemon cake to turn out well. Precious lemons wasted, as well as the fresh milk he'd spent all day writing letters to attain, and he'd burnt his hand to top it all off.
It was probably a good thing Feris had wandered off, because that way he didn't get to see Anneal make a fool of himself, would not know, beyond the smell of burnt food, how stupid he was.
With a vicious curse, he dumped the remains of the cake into the hole he'd dug away from camp and covered it with rocks and dirt.
There was a low growl and then a big cat came slowly out of the trees. Golden eyes met his own and the cat began to purr. Feris came up to him, rubbing lean haunches against his legs.
"Good thing I would know you anywhere, my Feris. Otherwise you might scare me into falling into the fire or something equally idiotic." Anneal scratched down the cat's back, pushing deep with his fingers.
Feris' purr rumbled beneath his fingers, the rubbing getting harder. He watched as Feris scented the air a moment and then his big cat was licking batter from the front of his tunic.
He chuckled. "Well, I suppose that at least tastes good. It's dried meat for me tonight, though."
Feris just kept rumbling and licking and rubbing, the golden eyes looking up at him.
With a sigh he pulled away, trailing a hand along Feris' back as he walked back toward camp. He had no wish to inflict his terrible mood on Feris. Feris seemed to not be bothered by it, his cat trotting along next to him, rubbing up against him every few feet. He enjoyed the contact, though stubbornly he would not admit it. Damn it, he was angry, and out of sorts, and no warm, purring body was going to put him to rights.
They'd made it halfway back to camp when Feris dropped back, nudged his rump with the big head and then nipped. Hard.
He stumbled, practically falling over, then turned, glaring at Feris. "Stop it."
The big cat's mouth was open, tongue lolling out in a manner he'd always taken for laughing.
His own mouth twitched, but he quickly pulled it back into a frown. "I am not amused, Feris."
Head dipping, one enormous paw covered Feris' nose.
"Oh yes, certainly. How ashamed you look." Anneal had to stifle his grin again. "I was only trying to do something nice for you, you know."
Feris' ears perked up and his cat came forward, muzzle pushing into his hands and then pressing against his pockets, clearly searching.
"I said trying." Angry at himself again, he pushed off, getting back to camp and flopping on his bedroll like a sulky child. He knew he was behaving badly, but could not seem to help himself. The city grew nearer with each day of travel, and he grew more and more unhappy.
Burnt cake did not help.
Feris came into camp, growl low and deep. The big cat came and stood over him and started to lick his face. The sand-rough feel of Feris' tongue soothed him, rather than upsetting him, and he lay back, patting the space beside him. He needed the solid presence, the heavy warmth and reassurance of his love's body next to him. Feris lay down next to him, purring and warm, tongue still licking at his face, his neck.
He petted absently, soaking up the concern he could feel coming from Feris, the deep, abiding care. "I know. I know. You would never chastise me for a burnt lemon cake." Anneal buried his face in Feris' fur. "I do not wish to go."
Feris growled and then the warm fur became warmer skin. "Then don't," said his shapeshifting lover, voice rough and unused to speaking.
Rubbing his cheek against Feris' chest, Anneal wondered at the marvel that was his Feris, at his own good fortune at finding him. "I cannot sink to the level they expect, Feris. I will see him. I simply wish... well. I wish many things. But I cannot be unhappy at finding you, so I must be grateful for all of it."
"Go or do not go. No unhappy."
Nodding, he pressed a kiss above Feris' heart. "I will go. And I will be grateful for what I have." Anneal lifted his face to Feris, meeting those beautiful eyes. "Kiss me?"
Feris rumbled and took his mouth, pressing the low vibrations into him along with the hot tongue. He kissed back, eager and needy, hands coming up to hold Feris close. He tasted the wild flavor of his lover, savored it, fed him back the lemon he could still taste in his own mouth. Feris' hands were hot and heavy against his skin, stroking him with a firm touch, as soft growls and purrs came from his lover's throat.
So comforting, that touch, so arousing, and Anneal gave into it, letting Feris blot out everything but the feel of him and the taste of him. So good.
Feris pulled at his clothes, his lover too impatient, as usual, to work at the fastenings. He helped, pulling his shirt off, working open his trousers, waiting for the feel of Feris hands on the newly bared parts of him. Begging for Feris' touch.
Thick fingers slid across the tips of his nipples, slight hint of nail giving the touch an edge.
"Please! Feris!" Anneal moaned, arching under the touch. So needed. So wanted.
Feris growled, rolling him over onto his back and pushing their hips together, pressing him into the ground. The length of Feris' shaft slid along his hip and against his own, silk on silk.
"Oh!" He wrapped his legs around Feris' hips, rolling up, trying to get more. "Love."
Feris rumbled. "Love."
His lover's head bent, tongue and teeth sliding over his nipples. The touches sent fire straight to his belly, making his body twist and jump. He scraped his nails down Feris' back, cupping those firm buttocks in his hands, pulling Feris closer.
Feris growled, the sound vibrating against his belly and in his balls, making them tight, pushing the need higher.
"Oh. Oh, Feris. In me, love. In me." Anneal spread wider, sliding up against Feris, letting his lover feel everything of his need.
Feris slid down his body, licking and biting gently. From nipples to belly to shaft to opening, and then Feris' tongue was sliding into him, stretching and slicking him. All he could do was thrash, cry out, beg for more, Every nerve in his body called out to Feris, begging, any other thought but need gone from him.
Feris' was rumbling, purring and growling, tongue fucking him hard and fast, a promise of what was to come.
"Please. Feris. Now." He thought perhaps Feris liked to hear him beg, hear his pleas. Not out of mean spiritedness, mind, but out of pride at how he pleased Anneal.
Feris roared and surged up, thick, hot prick sliding into him as Feris' mouth covered his. He could taste his own musk on Feris' mouth. It made him crazed, made him wrap arms and legs about his lover, biting at Feris' lips as they came together with a violence he had never matched with anyone else, ever. Only Feris.
Low, deep growls were pushed into his mouth, Feris slamming into him over and over again.
He bared his throat for Feris, head falling back, hips rising up, cock so
hard it hurt. He was gasping, nonsense words falling from his lips. Feris' growls grew louder, he could feel his lover fighting the urge to shift and wrap the huge cat's maw around his neck. Instead Feris began to bite, teeth pressing into the skin of his neck far less gently than the cat would have done.
The marks he could feel spring up under those teeth pushed him over the edge of pleasure, heat spilling between his body and Feris'. His words became a wail as his body clenched hard about his lover, keeping Feris deep inside.
Feris' growls became roars and once his body loosened beneath the pressure of his pleasure, Feris continued to thrust, body shaking. His lover was close. Anneal took it all, took everything Feris had to give him, nails digging into the firm skin of Feris' back, his own teeth finding Feris' shoulder and biting down hard.
Roaring loudly, Feris slammed into him one last time, filling him with heat.
The noises his lover made gentled, became closer to a purr as Feris collapsed onto him, trusting him to take the weight.
Cradling Feris' weight was one of his great pleasures, cat or man, and he held his love easily, knowing that no matter what he had to do, or how much he disliked it, Feris made him happy. He would work to be content with that, and dwell on what he had gained, not what he had lost, for he was a truly lucky man.
***
Feris hated it when An neal went to trade for goods. Oh, sure, he always brought back treats, but even as a man, he could smell the wrongness, the otherness in the way An neal smelled.
An neal returned at sunset and without a word, Feris went to him, stripping his lover's clothes away before shifting to himself.
Rub. Lick. Make man smell right.
Make his man smell right.
Rub. Lick.
Rub. Lick.
An neal sighed, happy sound, rubbing his neck. His man.
Feet first. Then legs. Knees. Silly knobby things, making An neal laugh.
Hips. Thighs. Rub. Lick.
Man's heat. Smell strong here. Good. Right without rub and lick.
Rub and lick man's heat.
"Mmmm. Feris." An neal scratched, rubbed, felt good.
Belly now. Rub. Lick.
Back. Rump. Smell strong and good here. Rub. Rub. Lick. Rub. Purr.
Then arms, chest. Stand against man and lick cheeks.
Rub. Lick. Purr.
Smell good. All good. His man. His.
"I do not like it either, my Feris. You've made me quite the hermit." An neal rubbed cheeks.
Purr. Rub. Purr. All good.
He shifted into man again, still rubbing his cheeks against An neal's, hands heavy on An neal's shoulders. "Men are stupid and stinky."
"Why thank you." An neal smiled, not taking offence. "I like the way you smell as a man. Spicy and wild."
"And himself?" he asked, curious. He bent and licked at the skin beneath An neal's ear. His lover knew that when he spoke of men An neal was not included in their number.
"Oh. Then it is a heavy musk. It excites me. You always excite me." He could feel that An neal meant it, feel the heat and hard where they rubbed together.
"MMmmm... love," he said, rubbing his hips harder. He liked the way An neal smelled when he was excited.
"Yes. Love." An neal cupped his buttocks, pulling him so close, lips closing over his.
He growled into An neal's mouth, tongue pushing in to taste there. Oh!
He pulled back, eyes shining. "Lemon candy!"
"I could not let my Feris down, could I? Yes. I got you lemon candy." An neal looked so pleased. Happy.
He purred for An neal, rubbing their cheeks together and then taking another kiss. He pulled An neal's tongue into his mouth, sucking until he could no longer taste the lemon there, only his An neal.
When he was done, An neal was breathless and flushed, hips pushing against him over and over.
He grinned at An neal, still purring as he dropped to his knees. He would take the real flavor of An neal into himself.
He took the hot and hard into his mouth, sucking and purring.
"Feris!" An neal touched his hair, flesh in his mouth moving and jumping. "Oh... love." The long thighs near his face shook and twitched.
He breathed deeply and took An neal in as far as he could. When his nose was buried in the dark curls that surrounded the sweetsalty flesh in his mouth, he breathed in again. Yes. An neal. Strong and good and his.
He began to purr again, lips moving on the hot and hard of his An neal.
The scent was strong, hot, the taste bitter and salty. An neal pushed into him, noises sounding deep in his belly.
He loved making An neal lose control, loved the animal instincts that found a home in his man.
It made him growl and suck harder, fingers digging hard into An neal's hips.
The splash of An neal's seed on his tongue came soon after, a wild cry sounding, echoing around them. "Feris..." An neal wobbled, slid out of his mouth to kneel before him. "Inside me."
He growled, his own animal instincts coming to the fore and without stopping to think, he pushed An neal down onto his back and pressed his hardness into An neal's body, crying out as the tight stretched around him.
Hard fingers dug into his back, An neal shouting, legs parting wide and wrapping about him. Hot, so hot. An neal bared his throat, head falling back.
His head dropped to An neal's throat, teeth wrapping around the skin, drawing the blood to the surface as he rutted. Their hips slammed together, flesh noisy, scent rising strong and good between them as he marked An neal as his.
His An neal. His. Moving beneath him, hips pushing up into him, hard and hot back, rubbing against his belly. "Feris. Please. Please." It was a chant, one of need, begging.
He roared, pushing harder, going deeper. "My An neal," he growled. "Mine."
"Yours. Yes. Love." An neal scratched him, nails in his back, his name coming out on a sob.
He roared again, pleasure pushing through him, escaping into An neal's body.
He collapsed onto An neal, burying his nose against the dark mark on An neal's neck and breathing deeply. He could smell himself on An neal. It was a good smell.
"Oh, love. Thank you. For taking away the touch and smell of them." An neal petted him, voice rough and deep.
He nodded, prick sliding from An neal. "Stinky, smelly men. Now my An neal smells right."
"Yes. Now I smell like you." An neal's legs slid down, and they curled together. "Yours."
"Mine." He growled and shifted to himself.
Scenting. Him smell. An neal smell. Him and An neal smell. Good.
Purr.
***
Hot. It was hot, dusty and miserable. Anneal sometimes very much missed the luxury of cool stone walls and large shaded windows and cool breezes. He sighed. No sense dwelling on it when he had work to do. The skin Feris had gotten for him needed to be scraped and cured before he could use it. It was a process that usually drove Feris away, just from the smell.
He wiped the sweat out of his eyes and scraped and scraped, working until the sun was high overhead. Only when he had it pegged out to dry did he stop, and only then did he allow himself a trip to the creek to get clean and perhaps cool.
Feris was there, lying in the sun on a rock in the middle of the water, fast asleep and half purring.
Oh. Basking like that, his Feris was amazing. Not that he wasn't always, but gods above and below, the sun made him shine. Anneal waded into the water, shedding his trousers as he went, intent upon basking a bit himself.
Feris growled and shifted, head shifting back to look at him. The growl became a purr, one eye closing again, the other watching.
Grinning, he joined Feris on his perch. His cat was always on the alert, it seemed. He stretched out, dangling his feet in the cool water.
Feris' purrs increased in volume, one big, heavy, hot paw coming to rest on his belly.
"Ugh." He shifted. "It's too hot, Feris."
Feris growled and the paw returned, this time sitting
on his hip.
"You will have your way, won't you?" He was not inclined to be angry, though, as he was starting to feel better.
His cat growled and got up, stretching and yawning before resettling, head now where the big paw had rested, yellow eyes watching him.
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