"It is... different, not being alone for the change. Better."
"Good." Giving into the urge, Darien pulled Ropur into his arms, nuzzling the strong throat.
"Oh. Yes, that feels good." Ropur's arms circled him, head dropping back to expose more of that throat to him.
"Yes." Oh, yes, he wanted more of the flavor, more of the heat. Darien tasted Ropur, tongue coming out in short licks.
He could feel Ropur's purrs against his tongue and Ropur's hands closed into fists around his tunic. Need rose urgently in him, and he traced the spots on Ropur's skin with his fingertips, Ropur’s chest and belly, arms and back.
Ropur's purrs grew louder, not as deep or resonant as when he was the cat, but much stronger than most humans could manage. "Darien... Oh."
He pushed Ropur down, tearing at his own tunic, getting them skin to skin so he could lean down and rub, press against Ropur hotly. "You feel right."
Ropur moaned, hands sliding along his back, fingers digging in, nails sharp and bright as they pierced his skin. "Yes.”
"Oh!" Darien arched, begging with his whole body.
Ropur repeated the motion, fingernails like claws on his skin, the contrast between them and the soft skin beneath him sharp. He could not have asked for anything more perfect. Somehow the contrast between man and animal excited him unbearably. Darien bent to kiss Ropur, tongue pushing across Ropur's teeth.
Ropur's mouth opened to him, letting him in. He pushed in, tasting deep, feeling like a hunter who had caught his fiercest prey live. So very good. Ropur's lips wrapped around his tongue, sucking as the lithe body beneath him bucked, rubbed up against him.
More. Darien wanted more. He moved down, licking at Ropur's throat, feeling the pulse beat there before scraping his teeth down Ropur's chest, nipping at the tiny buds of Ropur's nipples. Ropur bucked up against him, strangled sounds coming from his throat. That sound suited him so well that he did it again, teeth worrying one nipple until it was red and swollen.
"Darien," his name was purred, those sounds getting louder.
"Mmm." Yes. His name. Darien worked down Ropur's flat belly, stopping to lick the navel, then down even more, his chin brushing Ropur's prick.
Ropur froze on a gasp, fingers opening and closing on Darien's back.
"You like that." He rubbed his cheek against it, feeling the silky skin, the drops of wetness on the corner of his mouth. He had to taste. Darien turned his face, opened up and took Ropur in, licking and sucking the head of that prick.
Ropur cried out, body bucking, pushing his shaft in further. Darien put a hand to the base of Ropur's prick, controlling the depth of his thrusts, but otherwise letting Ropur move as he would, lips tight about the shaft.
Ropur's hands clutched at his shoulders, hips pushing again and again. The sounds that came from Ropur were intense, addictive. Darien sucked harder, wanting to taste the essence of his cat man, wanting to hear Ropur in the ultimate pleasure.
"Darien. Oh." Ropur bucked hard, nearly pushing him over and heat splashed against the back of his throat.
He took it all down, licking Ropur clean, glorying in the heat-male-bitterness of Ropur's seed. Ropur was purring, almost as loudly as he did when a cat, hands sliding through his hair.
Nuzzling Ropur's belly for a moment, Darien moved up to look at him, smiling. "That feels good, does it not?"
Ropur nodded, eyes wide, hand moving to touch his mouth. "Yes."
He licked at Ropur's fingers. "There are many other things that are just as good."
Ropur moaned softly, fingers sliding into his mouth. "Many more?"
"Yes." He laughed, seeing the bright curiosity in Ropur's eyes. He took hold of Ropur's hand and sucked on the thumb. "Many."
"Oh..." Ropur's body shuddered beneath his.
"Mmm." Yes. Now was the perfect time to show Ropur how that mimicked what they had just done. He licked and sucked, rubbing his hard prick against Ropur's thigh.
"Should I put my mouth on you?" Ropur's voice was husky.
"If you like. I would like that very much." Oh. He wanted that so much it hurt.
Ropur rolled him, pushed him onto his back, eyes glittering at him. He lay back, watching Ropur decide what to do first, his prick standing proud and swollen. Ropur's tongue dragged across his lips and then each of his nipples, just a cursory lick, really before Ropur honed in on his shaft.
"Oh." It came out on a moan, his hips rising at the touch. He controlled the thrust, knowing Ropur would not know how, his hands fisting at his side as he sought control.
Ropur's tongue licked at him and then Ropur's mouth surrounded him, loosely at first and then with more suction.
"Ropur." He practically growled it out, wondering if he sounded like one of Ropur's own people. He certainly felt it.
Ropur raised his head, looking up at him. "Yes?"
"Yes. Oh, please." His hips lifted, his belly going tight as he rocked.
Ropur smiled, purring softly as his lips closed once more around Darien's prick. He let out a strangled moan, his prick leaping with his heartbeat. His whole body shook, his breath coming in harsh pants as he tried to hold on to the sensation.
Ropur's head moved slowly, taking more of him in and then releasing him. The technique was far from expert, but Ropur was enthusiastic, mouth hot.
Darien did not last much longer, and when he felt it rise along his spine, he grasped Ropur's shoulder, trying to warn him. "Now. Oh..."
Ropur's tongue slid across his slit, one hand petting his belly as he shot.
"Ropur..." Enthusiasm, yes. Ropur had that along with a natural heat and curiosity. Darien very much looked forward to teaching Ropur everything he knew.
Ropur licked at his belly and at his nipples again before settling against him. "That was good?"
"That was very good. Believe me." He settled, arms coming around Ropur and holding him close. "Thank you."
"You are very welcome, Darien." Ropur shifted closer, almost rubbing against him, that purring noise vibrating from Ropur's chest to his own.
He could become accustomed to this. It scared him, almost as much as the niggling feeling that he had become the hunted, that he had to keep moving.
Ropur on the other hand, seemed to have no such qualms, settling against him, falling easily into sleep.
He stroked Ropur's back idly, listening to the sleeping purrs, and tried to clear his mind to sleep. Wakefulness would only make him tired later, when he needed all of his wits about him. Something was coming. He did not know what, but his instincts were rarely wrong.
Darien could only be glad he and Ropur would be together to face it.
***
They ran for days as if a pack of wolves with an unending territory were chasing them down. The days were filled with loving, sucking and kissing and rubbing together, but the nights were beginning to wear on him. Ropur was not used to running full out for hours on end day after day. He was barely getting enough food to do so either.
Finally, as they made camp one morning and he changed, he did not search out Darien's mouth for kisses as he usually did. Instead, he sat across the little fire from Darien. "I would speak to you of this path we follow and at such speeds."
Darien looked at him, surprise in his eyes, but he nodded, and sat cross-legged, waiting.
"I do not understand why we must push so hard, Darien. Surely we have left behind the village and its dangers for good."
Darien nodded, but those long fingers played with the end of Darien's braid, letting Ropur know it was not that simple. "I wish I knew why I felt the need to press on so hard, Ropur. I just know it is what my mind tells me."
"How long will this mad rush continue?"
"I do not know, Ropur." Darien shifted his weight, eyes looking to the ground. "If you need rest you must tell me."
"I need to eat. The beast cannot run on only a rabbit or two. He requires more than that. And that requires a hunt." A hunt while he was the beast, for Ropur as human was not capable of
such things.
Nodding again, Darien looked about them. "Well, this is as good a place as any. We can camp here and you may hunt."
"We must wait for night. It is the beast who must hunt, do you understand? I cannot do it." They would lose a day of travel.
"Very well." Darien stood abruptly, gathering up his bow and his quiver. "I will do some hunting myself, then."
"You are mad at me." He looked down at his hands. "I am slowing you down."
"No!" Turning back, Darien dropped the bow and quiver, coming to him to put a hand on his shoulder. "I am afraid I have put you in danger. And I do not... I do not wish for you to leave me."
"I do not wish to leave, Darien. And surely if anyone is a danger to the other, it would be I who brought danger upon you?" He leaned his cheek against Darien's hand, thinking that falling upon each other's bodies was a much more pleasant way to begin each day.
Stroking his cheek, Darien smiled, shook his head. "We are a pair, hmm? We have been running hard. A day of rest will not hurt."
"As long as it is safe. I have no wish to put you in danger, Darien. Being with you is... a gift."
"Oh. Yes." Darien smiled at him, eyes bright. "A very fine gift, Ropur."
He smiled back up at Darien. "Perhaps your hunting can wait?"
"Yes. I think it can." Darien took his hand, leading him to a shaded spot.
He smiled up at Darien, free hand sliding beneath the soft hide tunic to find the lovely warm skin of Darien's chest. He heard a moan, Darien leaning into the touch, eyes hot and heavy-lidded. So fast. It was so fast between them every time.
His own need was upon him just as quickly and he pushed against Darien, having learned that rubbing was a wonderful thing. Darien cradled him easily, legs spreading for him. He was kissed thoroughly, Darien's lips soft and sweet on his.
He tugged and pulled and pushed until Darien's tunic was up beneath his underarms, rubbing his own naked body against that warm skin.
"Ropur!" Wiggling, Darien held him close, trying to get to him with mouth and hands.
"More skin, Darien." He liked it skin on skin.
Nodding, Darien wiggled some more and the tunic popped off, hanging up on Darien's long braid for a moment. Then Darien reached between them and started on the leggings. He helped, fingers clumsy with excitement and need. He purred when Darien's prick leapt into his hand, heated and silky.
"Oh." The sound was a long, indrawn breath, Darien arching under him. "Good."
"Yes, good, Darien." He nodded, pulling on the hot flesh, tugging it in his hand. The heated flesh throbbed, and he could feel the muscles in Darien's chest and belly go tight against him. Darien's neck arched, his head falling back against the ground.
He loved that he could affect Darien like this, that his touches brought such responses.
Darien finally began to touch him back, fingers counting the bumps of his spine, tracing down to his bottom to cup his cheeks. It was lovely, but distracting, too, his hand stuttering along Darien's shaft. "Oh..."
"Yes. I think perhaps it is time I showed you something else, hmm?" Darien's voice sounded like claws on bark, rough and scratchy. Darien pushed at him, turning him so that his prick was at Darien's mouth, and Darien was at his.
"Oh! Oh, Darien." He nodded eagerly, catching on right away. He lapped at Darien's shaft.
Darien's encouraging noise was muffled as Darien's lips slid over the head of his own prick, tongue working the underside. He whimpered, shook. So good. He licked and licked and then began to suck.
They moved in time, Darien raising and lowering on his shaft, mouth moving wetly. Darien's hands moved as well, squeezing his bottom again, fingers digging in before one finger dipped between, touching him where no one ever had.
He froze, startled, body going tight.
Pulling back, Darien licked the very tip of his shaft. "I will not hurt you, I promise."
He swallowed and nodded, taking Darien back into his mouth.
"Ropur." Darien sounded so pleased, and he could feel the smile on Darien's lips before his prick was engulfed again. The broad finger pressed between his buttocks, pushing at the tiny hole there, circling it gently.
He shivered, the sensations strange, but also good, making Darien's mouth around his shaft seem bigger. He tingled, and the taste of Darien made it a closed circle, made him pant. He could hear and feel Darien breathing as well, could feel the heat of Darien's skin. He began to bob his head the way he knew Darien liked, his whole body beginning to shake.
The finger slid... inside him. Just like that. And Darien sucked hard, going all the way down. He cried out, his whole body going tight as the pleasure pulsed from his shaft. Without even meaning to, his body squeezed hard on Darien's finger.
Darien moaned around him, tongue moving fast, hips rocking as his mouth was filled with Darien's seed. He swallowed it down and then cleaned Darien's prick before letting it fall from his mouth. He was panting and breathless, still shivering.
Darien moved back up alongside him, petting him all the way. "Did you like that?"
He nodded. "It was strange, but good."
"There are many more things..." Darien kissed him, lips and tongue moving on his mouth.
"I like the things you teach me, Darien." Ropur kissed back, playing with Darien's tongue.
"Mmm. I like to teach you." Those lips caught his again, Darien pulling him close enough that they could have shared the same skin.
"Then we are both lucky there is more." He pushed their lips together again, demanding more kisses.
Darien's chuckle puffed against his lips and he got his kisses, deep and drugging. It was funny, how he felt safe and secure in Darien's arms, their endless rushing nights fading away under the onslaught of that heated mouth.
They curled together, rocking and rubbing. Darien held him, loved him, hands working over his skin. It was as if they had not yet been together this day, as if it was all new.
"Will you show me more?" he asked, looking up into Darien's eyes.
"I will show you whatever you wish. There are so many ways we may be together." That smile was wicked, happy.
He laughed in response, feeling good, feeling at ease.
"Did you know that two men can be together almost like a man and a woman?"
He laughed again, believing Darien was teasing him.
"It is true." Darien pulled him closer, rolling them to their sides. Then Darien took his hand and drew it around behind that strong back and down to Darien's bottom. "You will not believe how it feels."
"Show me?"
"Yes." He got a kiss, Darien's prick rising against his belly. Then his fingers were brought back around and up so that Darien could suck on them. It was suggestive, arousing.
He moaned, his own shaft growing, pushing up along Darien's. He gasped, hips moving instinctively. Darien moaned, too, the sound shockingly loud, even around his skin and bone. When his fingers were slick and wet, Darien pushed them back down behind, showing him without words where they should go.
His eyes flew to Darien's. "Are you sure?"
"I am. One at a time. When the way eases, add another." The smile was back, those dark eyes hot and wild.
He trembled, pressing one finger against Darien's entrance. It was too small, his finger would not -- oh! Oh, it slid in, just like that, into such tightness, such heat.
Arching, moaning, Darien rubbed against him, skin heating against his. The shaft alongside his own jerked, Darien obviously enjoying his motions.
"I... so hot." He was breathless from it, amazed.
"Wait. It is better later. Two now, Ropur." Darien's voice sounded almost like a purr.
With a little more confidence this time, he pushed another finger into Darien. They slid in easily, Darien's body sucking the two of them in. Darien bent, mouth on his neck, lips and tongue moving. He shivered and pushed closer, fingers going deep.
"Oh." He got an answering shiver, bone deep and good. Darien crowded against him, whispe
ring instructions on how to stretch him.
He did as he was told, fingers opening and closing, moving in and out. Darien was like silk inside, heated silk. He rubbed their fronts together as he continued to push his fingers in and out of Darien. Such good things Darien showed him.
"Now the last one, Ropur. Stretch me so I may take you."
"Are you sure?" he asked again. He had no wish to hurt Darien, but his fingers and... his shaft? How could Darien take them?"
"Yes. Please. Ropur. I need you." Teeth scored his skin, Darien biting into his throat, low sounds coming from him.
Shifting Too Page 17
