She nodded and tried to stand up. He didn’t seem to want to let her go.
“I will have to leave if I am to attend my regular duties.”
He sighed and helped her back to her feet. She smiled as she left the door, “Now you owe me one.”
He barked a surprised laugh that must have reached the hall outside. The guards were grinning as she passed and as quickly as she could, she went for a shower, scrubbing the traces of her scent and his from her form.
She was in a clean uniform and polishing the staircase in under half an hour. Several folks passed her by, some fellow maids who called out greetings. Onari simply kept her head down and polished for all she was worth.
A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her peculiar meditation. She looked up and wished she hadn’t. “Your Majesty.”
“Come. Now.”
She got to her feet and swiftly moved to put her equipment away. He tried to forestall her, but she gave him a glare and completed her task.
With her hands reeking of polish, she looked up at the shifter king. “Where are we going?”
He sighed and grabbed her by one arm. He hauled her out one of the side doors to a two-man skimmer loaded with crates. He took the controls and before she could realize what that meant, they were off.
As they flew, he opened in a conversational tone, “You have changed much since you were a child.”
She snorted. “Yes, Your Majesty, that happens to females. They grow and change over the course of twelve years. You remember me then?”
“I remembered those eyes of yours. They have remained the same throughout the passing of time.”
She bit her lip. “They say my mother had the same eyes, but since I have only seen one portrait of her, I couldn’t say for sure.”
He glanced at her, his silver eyes gleaming. “I met your mother once. She was beautiful and gentle, her eyes glowed with good humour. A little tiger like me should have been beneath her notice on her wedding day, but she gave me a rose and told me to take care of it. One day it would grow into something beautiful.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “And did you?”
He flew them into a small gap between two mountains. A large cottage sat in a valley surrounded by lush rosebushes. “You tell me.”
Iro landed them on a small pad and she wandered out of the skimmer to smell the roses. Tears started down her face as she realized that the blooming and beautiful bushes were a touchstone to the mother that died before she could know her.
Behind her, Iro unpacked the skimmer and carried the boxes into the cottage.
She didn’t know if it was hours or days that she spent caressing the flowers and tapping the thorns. The petals of each rose were the softest she had ever felt. As she rubbed one against her cheek, she remembered a scent, warm and woman that had to be her mother, a soft cheek rubbing against her own and a cascade of laughter.
Her mother. Queen for a year and dead when her daughter was two months old. Everyone had told Sehra that it was complications from childbirth, but complications didn’t kick in six weeks later and as soon as she figured that out, she ceased to see her father as a parent, but rather as a warden holding her prisoner.
“Come inside, Onari, or should I call you Sehra?”
She turned and nodded. “Sehra is fine, Your Majesty.”
He wrapped an arm around her and led her into the cottage. “Sehra, you have had my cock down your throat, you can call me Iro.”
She blushed and shivered at the memory. “I don’t know how I could have forgotten that.”
“I have to say I am rather insulted.”
“Sorry. I was distracted by the roses.”
He had set out the supplies for tea and a snack.
“Iro, what is this place?” Bemused, she watched as he handed her a cup of tea.
“My private hideaway. I come here to hunt and think things out.”
The word caught her attention. “Hunt?” Her voice was wistful.
“Yes. Would you like to?” He raised a brow.
“Now?” She slugged back the tea and looked at him hopefully.
He grinned. “You are serious?”
“I haven’t been able to run in three years. Pacing in my rooms isn’t the same. I need to run.”
“Then we shall run. Wait on the hunting though. You might not want to over stimulate yourself.”
Before he finished speaking, she was at the door and stripping off her clothing. She stepped into the cool mountain air with a smile and raised her arms to unbind her hair.
Iro stripped next to her and quirked a smile. “I remember your hair being lighter.”
“It is, but it was thought to be a little bit of a giveaway, so we dyed it.” She shook her head and the braid unravelled into a dark cloak. She glanced over at him and his erection made her blink. Apparently, he was excited to be going for a run.
She raised her arms to the sky and called her other form. Her body transformed in a smooth glide of fur and claws, leaving her on all fours, scenting the air.
Iro’s male scent overpowered the roses. When he stood next to her in his black and white stripes, she gave in to the urge to rub against him.
He started to purr as she rubbed her head, neck and body against him. Just when he started to lean back against her, she jumped and started to run.
She stretched her limbs, digging her claws into the grass as she ran. The wind ruffled her fur and she worked her muscles until she regained the grace of movement that had once been hers.
A steady thudding behind her caused a frisson of alarm. She was in the presence of a larger predator and he was gaining on her.
The first strike with his head knocked her to one side and she regained her footing quickly, darting under him and tangling his feet, turning and changing direction in an effort to evade him.
Sehra pinpointed the cottage in her view and streaked as quickly as she could toward its dubious protection. She didn’t make it.
The huge body of Iro struck her and bore her to the ground. She tried to squirm loose, but he caught her and held her with his jaws on her neck. A few moments of struggle and she surrendered, relaxing under him.
Her beast receded, leaving her naked human neck in the jaws of the tiger. The crushed green grass under her filled the air with the scent of chlorophyll.
A deep purr of satisfaction came from Iro’s beast and as he bore his weight onto her back, she felt his fur give way to skin.
Her pulse pounded, her body pulsed moisture in invitation and Iro slid behind her, parting her thighs with his knee and moving between them.
He transferred his grip on her neck to her shoulder and pulled her onto her knees.
Iro ran his hands along her breasts and belly, stroking each inch of her as if committing her to memory.
She twisted against his hands and rocked her hips against the hot rod of his cock in invitation. Her body writhed, shifted and slid against his, begging without words.
The hot slide of the blunt head against her opening froze her in place and the moment that he was inside her, she pushed back to take him within.
Her body concentrated on the feel of him inside her. The slide of the flared head dragging within her stroking every inch of her as he thrust and retreated.
Sehra dug her nails into the ground, the scent of soil mixing with the earthy scents of sex.
Iro maintained his bite on her shoulder as they bucked and strained together, the sun beat down on them, the roses sent a column of enticing vapours across them and after an endless round of thrusting and pumping, they roared and screamed their releases to the valley at large. Lightning flashed on the mountaintops and she shuddered as her body milked his dry.
Iro bore her to the ground, lapping at her neck with a tongue roughened by a partial shift. Sehra had heard that men would use their tongues during sex, but she hadn’t really understood how.
Iro rolled her to her back and propped himself up on his forearms, licking his way up her neck and rubbing his face against her skin. She shivered and when his lips covered hers, she enjoyed the first true kiss of her life.
He leaned up on his arms and frowned down at her. “I have a decision to make.”
She cleared her throat. “What is that?”
“Do I keep you here, all to myself, or do I wed you properly and keep you with me at all times?”
Sehra blinked up into his silver gaze. “That would cause problems with Lanar.”
“Your father is a madman, but no one goes up against the Regav and lives. To keep you with me, I believe I am willing to risk just about anything.”
She stroked the black hair from his face. “Nothing too drastic, Iro. Simply stay with me for a week if you can.”
He caught on to her immediately. “Do you think it will take that quickly?”
“I would not be surprised. If anyone has a chance on knocking me up at the first strike, it’s you.” She grinned and he nipped her nose.
He lifted her to her feet and swung her into his arms. “I think it may take more than once.”
She chuckled. “More than once? If you insist.”
Iro took her to the one bedroom in the cottage, lashed her arms to the bedpost and proceeded to try to answer the call of her heat in the most direct manner possible.
Four days later, a courier arrived and grovelled past the king’s ire. Sehra was curious, but she kept away from the confrontation. Iro was irritated enough at being called away from licking between her thighs, she didn’t want to draw attention from the messenger with her scent.
He was scowling when he returned to her. “We have to go. Get dressed and join me in the skimmer.”
She nodded and quickly found the clothing that she hadn’t bothered wearing since they arrived. It just slowed them down.
In the skimmer, he explained. “The Lanar are back. They have seen your light displays and have figured out you are here. They have come to ask my assistance in combing the mountains for you.”
She sighed and began to braid up her golden hair. After her first shift, the energy had burned off the hair dye. She was back to looking like Sehra of Lanar.
“It will be fine, Iro. Trust me. We accomplished our goal.”
He brightened, “Really?”
“Yes, but I don’t object to your practicing for the next one.”
He laughed and reached out to draw her next to him. He often reached for her and she always came to him. He was an even-tempered man, but her presence calmed him.
The palace was in an uproar and Mistress Welks quickly took charge of Sehra the moment that Iro gave her a nod.
Sehra was bustled up the back stairs and into the queen’s rooms, a selection of royal gowns ready for her and Lira standing by. Sehra squealed and hugged her companion. “You made it.”
“Your father banished me. It was easy enough to call Fortuna and get a ride. I hear that you have made some new friends.”
Sehra laughed and gave Lira another hug. “Friend is a mild word for it. If I had known that sex could be like that, I would have snuck out of my room eight years ago and whored my way through the town.”
Lira scowled. “You would not.”
“I know. But it sounded funny out loud and made the dressmakers’ change colour.” She giggled and winked at the scandalized looks on the women’s faces.
They washed and dressed her quickly, braiding her hair into an elegant arrangement on top of her head. The gown she was dressed in had a low neck, a cut out abdomen that showed her belly button and two slits up the full skirt sides to help her walk. The colours were in the same range as the white tiger’s. Black, white and silver.
“They are waiting for you in the audience hall.”
Sehra nodded to Lira, hugged Fortuna and went to deal with her unwanted fiancé.
She passed a number of guards and maids, but few if any recognized her as Onari. The audience chambers were full of nobles, and several faces she recognized from the court of Lanar.
Iro was on his throne and frowning down at his supplicant. His hair was slicked back and she knew he had scrubbed off her scent so as to keep their secret until the proper moment.
She approached from the back of the room and was beside Mekar before he knew it. He tried to grab her arm, but a growl from Iro stopped him.
“She is mine. She has run from my people and needs to be returned.” Mekar was sneering at her. “I look forward to punishing her for her pathetic attempt to escape.”
“I cannot return with you. I am carrying a citizen of Regav and must remain here until the child is old enough to be on its own.”
“Slut!” Mekar raised his fist and began to bring it down on her face.
A bolt of lightning rippled through the room and struck the tips of Mekar’s shoes.
“The next one goes through you, cousin.”
Iro got up from his throne and extended his hand to her, nodding for her to take it.
“I hereby announce my selection of Sehra of Lanar as queen consort. I will take her without a dowry for naught but her spirit and genetic heritage. It is time that we get some powerful talents on Regav to defend our people. Mekar, take your people and go. If you attempt to take either my wife or my child by force, you will be destroyed.”
The nobles half-shifted and growled as the Lanar contingent tucked metaphorical tails between their legs and left.
When it was down to Iro and Sehra, the crowd shifted back to human and applauded.
Facing her lover, Sehra smiled and looked out the window to the sky over his shoulder. The stars were bright and twinkling in joy.
If her mother had joined the stars, then it was her who had guided this course and that was the best thing that a mother could give a child. True love.
About the Author
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.