She experienced a moment of fear—anyone in their right mind would, seeing an enormous predator approaching—but there wasn’t time for more than a moment. Pushing her legs apart, the beast wedged himself between them before laying down, his enormous head in her lap, chin resting just below her breasts.
“More petting,” it said in that horrible, fantastical voice. “Never stop.”
Maeve chuckled, giving the beast what he wanted. His large head lolled to the side, filling her palms, and between his loud purring and shameless nuzzling, she’d say the beast was downright blissful.
“Who knew you could be such a flirt,” she remarked, tracing the triangles of his ears.
“Am better half,” said the beast, throwing her a wink.
Oh, dear. Maeve wasn’t sure she could handle such a flirty Soren. She could see what he meant about the beast being a handful. Theturukdemanded her full attention, huffing if she presumed to stop her petting, and made no attempt to hide that his nuzzling was getting lower and lower on her belly.
She thought she still preferred Soren’s two-legged form in that regard. Still, she happily spent the better part of an hour exchanging teases and flirtations with theturuk, forgetting sometimes that it was still Soren.
Maeve could see traces of him there, in the intelligent gleam of his eyes and the particular way his tail swished when he was pleased. Yet, theturukwas at ease far more than Soren usually was, making her wonder if he was truly such an unruly beast.
“Why do you worry yourself so much?” she asked eventually. “You seem like a perfectly niceturukto me.”
“To you.” Lifting his massive head, the beast pinned her with a searing stare when he said, “I protect what’s mine.” A shudder of fear zipped down Maeve’s spine when the beast smiled, revealing every one of his teeth, most longer than her fingers. “You are the only one who shouldn’t fear me.”
“And why’s that?”
The beast rumbled, leaning forward to lick her cheek with his rough tongue. “You are kigara. Mate. Mine. Forever.”
“I see.” Not really, but it seemed right to say something in the face of that declaration. Fates, he really was a possessive beast.
She didn’t quite know how to resolve the beast’s words with Soren the man who’d fled from her the moment they met. If Maeve had to guess, she’d say Beastly Soren would’ve pounced on her then and there. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that, or whether she should feel anything at all. It’s not like she would’ve wanted him to pounce on her then. Right?
The beast’s body rippled, not unlike how Soren’s had right before his shift, but theturukgrumbled, shook his head, and steadied.
“Not yet,” he grumbled, although perhaps not to Maeve. No, for her, he stared at her a long while, gaze considering. “Do I frighten you?” he asked.
“Not really,” she said, and mostly meant it. “You’re Soren, after all. Just another side of him.”
The beast nodded, seemingly pleased with her answer. “One and the same,” he rumbled, again perhaps not just to Maeve.
Apparently content with the conversation, the beast reclined again. Although this time, he rolled onto his back, revealing his belly. The mane extended nearly to his groin, a dark arrow pointing toward—
Maeve cleared her throat. Fates, she’d never blushed from a cock before, but if any one deserved it, it was theturuk’s.
Purring like a big, happy kitten, theturukwriggled closer,happy to lay with his paws in the air and belly exposed so long as she was petting him.
They stayed like that for another short while, enjoying a peaceful quiet like she’d had before with two-legged Soren. Maeve enjoyed the time with both, grateful to have seen this new side of him despite his misgivings.
He deserves a reward.
Oh, yes, she liked that idea.
Eventually, theturuklicked her hand one more time before pushing up to sit on his haunches. Shaking out his mane, he said, “Whatever he says, remember—you are kigara.”
“I won’t forget,” she promised, the words heavy on her tongue.
Pleased, theturukstood, his body rippling once more. The beast contracted, limbs reshaping into that of a man. Within two blinks, Soren the man stood before her, rising to his full height. Gone was the confident smirk in his green eyes—instead, he looked down at her warily.
“You really aren’t frightened of me?”
“No, not of either of you.” And, deciding she needed to nip this uncertainty in the bud and commence with her plan, she sat up on her knees. When he bent to gather his kilt off the ground, Maeve stayed his hand. “Thank you for showing me yourturuk. I think you deserve a reward for being so brave.”
“What…?”
