Feline Hunted

[RainingHeat]

The hoofbeats were a sure giveaway. And it was not the sound that alerted Gleam, it was the vibrations that ran along the earth as the animal galloped forth.

"we have company" she growled, her back going up immediately. The rider's scent, as well as the horse's, had reached her. Both were foul. The rider was just dirty, sweaty, and something else, something disgusting. The horse was heated, panting, having been whipped into running far too long at far to fast a pace.

"Go in the house.....and get my blade, Gleam."

When the horse and rider came into view, the Tigress was not present. She had gone to the cabin to retrieve his blade. Something was very very wrong, she thought. It was obvious that he had not been expecting anyone. The past days had been very quiet, he had not even sought her for pleasures, yet. She got the distinct feeling he was watching her closely for... something. Gleam already knew that no seed had taken hold this time, her body signalling that it just was not prepared to become fertitle and carry a child, or a litter, a possibility in her case. But she had not voiced this to Lucian as of yet. Why not? She knew why, deep in the back of her mind, because he was treating her as an equal right now, because he thought that she may be with child. If she told him she was not, things would change, wouldn't they??? She had not investigated what "training" apparatus he had for her, she was not sure she wanted to.

But all that was cast aside for the moment as she grasped the blade, and the small cross bow, she loading it quickly before she returned to the clearing.

"You are to bring the tigress to Duke Ellington as per his law within the allotted time, Lucian. Failure to do so will result in the forfeiture of your land and all that resides on it."

Gleam stopped dead in her tracks at those words, pausing ... listening carefully to the exchange between whoever that man was, and Lucian....

She stepped into view of the rider when she saw Lucian's gaze meet hers for a brief second. The Rider caught his breath. It was true, he had thought the Duke may have lost his mind, but it was true. This insolent Hunter had managed to capture the one feral everyone wanted. And, he was keeping her for himself, despite the amount of money she would bring in. The zoo, they would pay many pieces of gold for her. Many many.

It was then he realized that the Hunter, was no longer unarmed.

"You would pick quarrel with me, sir?!"

Gleam, had stepped back and to the side. Behind her back, she deftly held the small, very loaded, crossbow.

"Not at all, good sir. Don't you know that its bad form to kill the messenger? Especially when you want him in good health so as to return to his lord and tell him to trying growing a cock larger than fairy sprig so as to FUCK HIMSELF."

The emissary's face contorted in fury as the words registered, and for a second, Lucian was certain the man would draw his weapon and attack. But good sense won out, the man choosing to yank on the reins of his stallion instead and bring it about before riding off.

If he had indeed drawn his sword, it was certain Gleam would have shot him dead with the lethal bolt from that crossbow before he even had a chance to utter any kind of challenge. But even she knew that the Duke, whoever he was, was certainly not going to be happy.

"I meant what I said, Gleam. He can't have you. He won't have you."

She nodded, watching, and listening, as the rider faded into the distance. Turning to Lucian, she produced the crossbow from behind her back. "He would not have had the chance to strike you either" It was loaded, and ready to fire and Lucian knew already that she knew how to use one of those things.

"What does he wish with me?"


____________________________________________________________________________________

The rider was shaking his head. "Stupid ... fucking stupid"..... Was he talking about the Hunter, or the Duke?? One thing was for certain, he was not looking forward to delivering his message. The Duke was going to be pissed. The feral was stunning, that was for sure. But the Duke, he wouldn't know stunningly beautiful if it smacked him across the face. He just wanted all the better toys. The Emissary on the other hand, having gotten a gander at the Tigress Feral, knew the money she would fetch if placed for sale. She could make him very, very rich.

A very slow, very evil smile spread across his face as he rode.

 

[dryfter]

Lucian nodded softly, he knew by now that Gleam would not allow any harm to come to him. Just as he knew from her battle with Carl and his fellow hunters, that she had more than just a passing knowledge of how to work a crossbow. The thought must have crossed the rider's mind as well, as unhappy or not, the man rode off empty handed.....but not before giving Gleam a good once over with his eyes, and a look that Lucian did not much care for.

A soft hand rested on her wrist, just behind the crossbow.

"Well then....now that that's over.....and now that you've had a few days to try to adjust to living here with me...."

He gently relieved her of the weapon, nudging her back towards the cabin where he diligently placed both of his weapons back where they belonged.

"I think its time we began your training. I've been putting it off due to our recent company, and frankly, I've enjoyed showing you things and how things work here. You've been very attentive."

He could see the pensive look on her face, and he smiled. He wasn't exactly expecting her to be completely unresistant. That's why he'd cornered her in the building itself. It limited her options to run.....especially when his herding of her brought her closer to the trapdoor to the cellar.

"And now, I'm going to show you what's down here. Don't worry, Gleam....you'll get to know everything very well."

------------------------------------------------------------------

The air was dry, slightly dusty. Evidence that it had not rained for a while here. He had prepared for her arrival, making sure all was set while he had her do her best at weeding the garden the day before. For now, a lone straight backed chair dominated the room, along with many other pieces of "furniture" that probably wouldn't make sense to a still mostly innocent woman like her. Nor was it likely she would noticed the various pulleys and the block and tackle that still hung from the ceiling......

"Today's training will be simple, Gleam. In fact, I think you're going to enjoy it. I hope you'll enjoy much of your training here."

Again he watched her closely, noting the apprehension in her body language, the way her eyes darted from one bondage item to another, as if trying to recognize what they were and their use.

"Today, I simply want to show you how much you trust me. Remember a few nights ago? How I trusted you enough with my life and let you guard me throughout the night? I've already displayed my trust and just how far it extends. Today, you will do the same. Please sit down in that chair, Gleam."

He waited for her to comply, nodding his appreciation. After all, he hadn't asked her to do anything shameful, bad, or even difficult. Just sit in a chair.

"As I stated back in your forest when I first held you, Gleam. Obedience is rewarded, defiance is punished. But we both know you're obedient, right? You've been so good for me. You were perfect for my dwarven friends when they came to visit, you almost drove off Suru when she came to heal me.....and yes, her master and I had some words about that."

Lucian chuckled, clearly not upset at all. Instead, he held up a large swath of dark cloth for her to see.

"For starters, Gleam.....I'm going to blindfold you. I'm going to take your sense of sight. Your hearing, your smell.....are yours to keep. Try to make of them what you will."

 

[RainingHeat]

"I think its time we began your training. I've been putting it off due to our recent company, and frankly, I've enjoyed showing you things and how things work here. You've been very attentive."

"And now, I'm going to show you what's down here. Don't worry, Gleam....you'll get to know everything very well."

It was then that Gleam realized he had effectively cornered her. This was not something a feral let happen. To be cornered was to be trapped, captured, or dead. She had let her guard down... way way down...

She had no where to go accept down the trap door. The closer to the bottom she got, the more nervous she got, so much so, that a very low, almost menacing growl began to rumble at the back of her throat. It was closed in, and she got that horrible caged feeling, a sudden, heated fear beginning to churn inside her.

It was dim down there, and there were all manner of ... things, hanging from the walls, on the tables, even on the floor. Gleam did not like this place in the least bit, and it showed in her body language. She was tense, that low growl continued, her eyes as big as saucers as her gaze quickly darted from place to place, item to item. Her golden eyes, still very feline, were able to make out things hanging from the ceiling and it was then that she stepped back. What was this place?? Some kind of torture chamber???

"Today's training will be simple, Gleam. In fact, I think you're going to enjoy it. I hope you'll enjoy much of your training here."

She turned her eyes to Him, staring, listening.

"Today, I simply want to show you how much you trust me. Remember a few nights ago? How I trusted you enough with my life and let you guard me throughout the night? I've already displayed my trust and just how far it extends. Today, you will do the same. Please sit down in that chair, Gleam."

She almost refused, standing back and not moving to the chair, but, she did owe him her trust, he had not hurt her.. even tho he could have when they fought, he did not.

Slowly, she approached the chair, sitting down as He had asked.

"please... Luc... Master Lucian... can we not do this" She was stiff and wound up, a spring coiled and ready to go. If anything startled her now, she would bolt, it was that simple.

"As I stated back in your forest when I first held you, Gleam. Obedience is rewarded, defiance is punished. But we both know you're obedient, right? You've been so good for me. You were perfect for my dwarven friends when they came to visit, you almost drove off Suru when she came to heal me.....and yes, her master and I had some words about that."

Lucian chuckled, clearly not upset at all. Instead, he held up a large swath of dark cloth for her to see.

"For starters, Gleam.....I'm going to blindfold you. I'm going to take your sense of sight. Your hearing, your smell.....are yours to keep. Try to make of them what you will."

That did bring forth a growl, her fangs baring without her even thinking about it.

"no... NO.. Don't do that" She warned, pressing back in the chair. " No, DON'T" She went to grab the blindfold from Him, and actually snapped at him. She had to get out of there, she had to, the walls were closing in around her, she was trapped... caged... blinking, her eyes went wide, and it was almost as if she did not even see him anymore. But he was right there, again trapping her in that chair.

 

[dryfter]

She had seemed on edge from the second he had brought her down here. Though he could hardly blame her. He'd put off her training for so long, she probably had gotten it into her head that he had no intentions of putting her through it anymore.

If so, she was very wrong. Just as he was wrong in assuming she was trying to shirk his training and instead was reacting to a very natural case of claustrophobia. Still....Gleam behaved well enough for all of her nervousness, even sitting in the chair he beckoned her to.

"Good girl....."

"please... Luc... Master Lucian... can we not do this?"

There was that slip again. He would have at least thought she have had his proper title figured out by now. And why was she so frightened suddenly? He hadn't even begun yet.

He certainly hadn't been expecting such a negative reaction from her when he produced the blindfold. His good humor fell instantly the second she had snapped at him, affirming what he already had guessed. He had been soft on her, had let his personal feelings for her cloud his better judgement. She was still a wild animal, one in desperate need of training if she was to be what he desired her to be.

He slapped her face with a frown, hard enough to sting, but not enough to bruise just yet. And if she showed any joy at all at him putting down the blindfold.....it was momentary at best.

"I see. So you have no trust at all. That's to be expected I guess."

He watched her carefully, knowing she could make a bolt for the cellar door any time, and fully prepared to intercept her should she try, especially when he produced the leathers......

Thick and strong, cured rawhide cord.

"Are you going to attack me again? Or are you going to settle down?"

He reached for her, testing her reaction, pulling his hand back quickly enough when she reacted. He was baiting her, letting her determine herself when there might be an opening.....all the while holding that damnable cord.

"It looks like the chair won't be enough for you today. I'll have to go a different route."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Her hands were bound, yanked harshly above her head as she stood there before him.......nearly completely immobilized. The cord he had bound her with had hooked easily onto one of the many pulleys the large cellar sported. He'd drawn it tight until the tigress was forced to support her own weight on the balls of her feet, the heels having long since left the floor.

Lucian took a moment to admire her, to drink in her fear.....of him.....of this place. This was a fear he could conquer, he was certain. But it would get far worse before it ever got better......

For now though, he held the end of the rope that held her suspended.

"Better? Now you're less likely to attack me. If you'd like, I could put those nasty fangs of yours away."

He reached into his box of tools......pulling out a pair of calipers, noting her reaction. He had no intention of doing it of course......defanging her right here.....but the message no doubt got through that he could. And there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. A second rifling bought out a simple wooden bar......a bridle gag......that would work just as well, and involved a lot less pain and bloodshed.

For now however, he just let her look on as he silently considered his options before her. That was until he remembered the blindfold. With delicious consideration, the ranger picked up the dark cloth once more, moving closer to her....watching her struggle in her bonds......

When he reached for her, he could hear her fear as he sealed away her sight slowly.....the darkness of the dimly lit celler swallowed almost instantly by the thick cloth as it slipped neatly over her face. He took care to approach her from the rear, not allowing a second attempt at snapping or biting at him. She'd done enough of that already.

"Now then, Gleam.....it seems you've already earned your first punishment."

The sounds of rummaging....of tools being moved and systematically discarded, reached her ears. Lucian frowned softly.....he wasn't going to enjoy doing this. He had hoped for a much more.....****......training session.

She had thought him soft, had thought that his caring for her exempted her from his rules. The soft crack of a whip was unmistakable, and he saw her flinch. Unseen to her, he had struck the empty chair with a flogger......its leathery kiss marring the wood just a little.

Seconds later, she could feel it on her fur as he traced a curvy hip slowly......

"What should I do with you, hmmm? A pet that can't help but attack its master?"

He circled her like a vulture.....slowly sliding the handle of the instrument between her clenched thighs.

"Who do you belong to?"

Silence on his end. Moments later, he struck, the sound like thunder in the underground room as he watched a firm buttock absorb the shock of it all. Still he circled.

"Do good pets attack their masters?"

He struck again, her pelvis, just above her sex, those fiercely protective thighs trembling slightly. He hadn't even struck anything sensitive yet....

"All I asked was your trust, and it was too much?"

And again.....this time his irritation won out, the blow landing squarely on a firm breast, stinging the nipple there.

"Open."

The handle of the flogger was between her legs again. It was an awkward request as she struggled to even stand, yet he made it anyway.

"Obey me."

 

[RainingHeat]

She had certainly startled him, the dark look that colored his eyes told her that. But truth be told, she had not expected the strike across her cheek, that catching her completely by surprise, so much so that her low growling turned into a yelp of shock, and pain. She had lifted her legs, with every intent of violently pushing him away, but he was too fast for her and quickly out of her reach.

"I see. So you have no trust at all. That's to be expected I guess."

Gone, for the moment, from her mind was the heights of pleasure he had taken her too. Gone was the curling up either under the stars, or in his bed, and sleeping contentedly. She suddenly did not like, nor trust, the Lucian that was standing before her. She had let her guard down, she was about to pay the price.

"Are you going to attack me again? Or are you going to settle down?"

Her yelp of surpRise had faded back into that low, menacing growl.

"I... don't want to attack you, Lucian" her voice was low, measured. "But don't cage me. This, is a cage, I can not... can not be... caged" her voice ended in a hiss. She had become complacent with him. She had... she had trusted him... her feelings for him were.. deepening, until this. "I don't want to hurt you, again, Lucian" She had gotten to her feet from the chair, as she spoke, her eyes searched for the exit. She just needed to get outside, to scent the fresh air, to see the wide open sky, and to talk to him, talk some sense into him..

"Lucian, please, let me out of here.. please"

Her gaze came to rest on the leather restraints he now held in his hands. It was not lost on her how thick those were, there would be no biting thru those.

"It looks like the chair won't be enough for you today. I'll have to go a different route."

"No" she said the word clearly, and very matter of factly. "No" it was that simple.

But he was not backing down, slowly taking a step, then another, then another, toward her.

"Lucian, do not approach me" she warned, baring her fangs, her growling becoming louder, more insistant.

His silence was unnerving to her, given that he normally talked alot. She could see a darkness in his eyes, coloring his visage, he was not happy, not happy at all. Well, neither was she.

His continued advance, his silent observation of her, the leather restraints that he held, all drove her over the edge, not to mention that small, confined space. The basement may have been large, but to her, it was much too small.

"Lucian!!!" It was then that she attacked, moving low as she charged him, seeking to drive her shoulder and body into his midsection, hoping to knock him off balance, onto the dirty floor, the trap door to freedom, out of the basement, was at the opposite end of the room, behind him. She had to get past him. She had to.

But he, was a born fighter, and he saw the motion, perhaps he almost read her thoughts across her very expressive face. If this had been outside, he more than likely could have twisted out of the way, and perhaps then advanced the attack on her. But this was in a closed, confined space, so instead, he shifted, braced himself and as she pushed into him, he wrapped his arms about her, seeking to thrown her down on her back. But she saw his change in stance at the very last second, and altho she could not stop, she did snap at him as she crashed into him, this time grazing his hand with her fangs, breaking the skin, bringing forth blood. Not nearly the wound like before, but it through him off enough that he did not get a grip on her to throw her down, and both went sprawling to the floor.

But that was all he needed, the leverage to take the dominant position over her. Gleam, when she had fallen, had hit the back wall, rather hard, her momentum having betrayed her. So for a minute, the entire world spun around her, nearly going black, until she felt him, straddling her, binding her hands with that damnable thick leather. Her eyes would not focus fast enough, her mind did not clear quite fast enough either, to prevent what he was doing, never mind that she was bucking and writhing under him, trying to throw him off.

"LUCIAN" her growl vibrated forth...

When his hands wrapped about her throat, Gleam arched her back up, hips lifting clear of the dirt floor, desperate to unseat him, to no avail. She felt the world swimming around her, her eyes blinking as she fought to stay focused... "Please... Lucian... don't........"

__________________________________________________________________________________________

She was shaking... Why was she shaking so? It was not cold, there was no cool breeze chilling her body, gliding beneath the soft downy fur that covered her to awaken the skin. Then why.... why was she shaking as she was??

Gleam snapped open her golden eyes, they suddenly going wide, registering everything around her. Not one millisecond later, she realized she was bound, arms stretched taut over her head, the leather bindings tight, restricting, she only able to barely touch the ground, only with the balls of her feet. The position was... uncomfortable, to say the very least. If she lifted her legs for any reason, her arms and shoulders exploded in pressure and pain, having to bare the weight of her hanging there.

She worked to control her frantic breathing, staring at him.

"Better? Now you're less likely to attack me. If you'd like, I could put those nasty fangs of yours away."

She felt his eyes drinking her in as she hung there helpless, but his remark about her fangs, that.... made her go ice cold. She watched warily as he pulled out a pair of calipers. Gleam thought, in that moment, that she would pass out, the shudder of pure terror that went thru her nearly sent her to that oblivion. She caught one fleeting image that her suddenly terrified mind produced, of her screaming in agony while he defanged her.

"no.. no.. please... don't do that... Lu... Luc.. she stopped, letting her head drop for just a moment.."please do not do that to me, Master" Gods, what if he did? What if he came at her right now? what if......

She had turned her gaze away for a moment, so when she heard him approaching her, she did panic, thinking he was going to defang her, right then and there. She twisted and jerked, trying to find purchase with her feet to get away from him, back away from him.. struggling wildly to keep him away from her.

"no.. NO.. GODS NO" she was nearly crying.. until she saw that he held the blindfold, and not the calipers. That eased her fear just a little, it didn't mean he wasn't going to make good on his word once her sight was restricted. She was violently shaking when he reached for her, every muscle then going taut in her fear. She was then plunged into blackness. Gleam felt the tears welling in her now covered eyes. Would he? Would he do that to her?

"Now then, Gleam.....it seems you've already earned your first punishment."

"please... no" she paused, listening intently, trying to hear where he was, was he approaching her again?

She heard noise, then his boots on the dirt floor again. She had gone silent, trembling, and listening. She did not "need" her site to discern where he was, her hearing and scent were quite well atuned...

The <CRACK> of the whip caused her entire form to jump, quiver, she turning her head toward the sound. She could not still herself as she tried to place where he was, he was constantly moving, keeping her senses confused... She tensed, drawing in her breath sharply when she felt the barest trace of leather along her body, kissing, touching, just barely tickling her.

"What should I do with you, hmmm? A pet that can't help but attack its master?"

She had not exhaled yet, hearing his words so close to her. Biting at her lower lip, she let herself breath again, ever so slowly, whispering "I'm sorry... I.. panicked, I... made a ... mistake..."

A sharp hiss as she gasps again, he was circling her, she realized, like a panther, or a wolf, circling it's prey. She felt the press of the handle against her thighs, seeking her to open them for him, seeking her to open herself to him, to allow him in, access, to allow his... dominance. Gleam's back arched as she shook, trying to keep any sort of control that she could.

"Who do you belong to?"

The strike of leather accented his question, she screaming out as the leather bites into her backside, her body violently twisting, shaking.

"you...." the word, the answer, almost lost in her cry of pain.

"Do good pets attack their masters?"

She screaming again as the whip once more tasted of her, feeding off her fear, her pain, her trembling.

"no... NO... Master" she bit at her lip again, drawing blood. "why not let ME try that whip" she suddenly snapped... She was angry, and in pain.. and scared, it was obvious. She was trying to put up a defensive wall with her snapping remark, trying to take back any control she could.

"All I asked was your trust, and it was too much?"

And again.....this time his irritation won out, the blow landing squarely on a firm breast, stinging the nipple there.

Gleam screamed again, throwing back her head as she did so. The searing hot sting exploded over and around her nipple, her breast turning bright red almost immediately

"Open."

She let her head fall forward, long red tendrils of her mane concealing her face, veiling her shoulders. Gods she was confused, her mind reeling, her heart thundering in the depths of her chest. Her breath hissing in again, but her head did not come up, when he commanded once again..

"Obey me."

The thick handle once more insistently gliding between her thighs, seeking entrance.

"no" she whispered, but would he realize she was answering his question that 3 questions ago?

She heard his breath catch, and she lifted her head, but speaking a bit clearer.

"No... Master. Asking for my trust was not too much"... "Caging me down here... was"

She let her head lower again. Softly, Gleam let the tears come, she was confused, scared, and just wanted it to be over.

She parted her legs for him at that point, steeling herself for whatever he would do to her now.

 

[dryfter]

"No.. no.. please... don't do that... Lu... Luc..

He paused. Listening.

"Please do not do that to me, Master."

The hunter frowned. Again his title was an afterthought, something she had to struggle to remember. Still....he took no pleasure from causing her pain. Yet he knew this had to be done.

Gleam had cried out, begged, hell...almost cried as he approached her, half scared out of her mind. Yet it was a different torment that she was confronted with as he finally had his way with her and stripped away her sight. Lucian stood in silence for long moments as the twisted and writhed, trying to listen for him, discern his location even as he fumbled for the flogger.

"I'm sorry... I.. panicked, I... made a ... mistake..."

"A mistake that you continue to make. A pet that attacks its master is one that needs to be defanged, perhaps even put down."

He watched her closely, noting every reaction from her pronounced intake of breath at his mention of defanging her again, to the tears that silently streamed from underneath the blindfold.

"You panicked. You panicked because you don't trust. It has nothing to do with being caged."

She did not take the strikes of the flogger well, screaming and crying out as he struck her, her body shivering beneath the blows. Yet he suspected that too could change as her body warmed to the raw skin he created.

"Why not let ME try that whip?"

His frown deepened. She was brazen and defiant. That too would have to be cured.

"Oh I have much worse here than the whip, dear little pet. Did you get a good look around or were you too busy biting me? It would be a simple task to draw you up further, and introduce you to the sawhorse I have here. That's just a beginning too. Me? I know how to control myself....even in times of duress. You......don't. Hence why you're the one in need of training."

A fresh strike from the flogger struck her other buttock. This time, he leaned forward afterward.....and gently blew across the reddened skin, ruffling her fur with his breath just enough that he could see the angry color beneath the orange and black.

"Perhaps I should bring you down here often. Perhaps you'll learn to like it. Either way, you're going to learn your place very soon."

He moved closer then.....reaching around from behind her to slide a hand along her flat belly. His touch ascended slowly until he cupped a breast, fully ready for her if she tried to twist and attack him with her fangs though he suspected she knew better by now. Especially after she'd seen the calipers.

His touch didn't stop there......it climbed higher, up and across her collarbone to rest firmly against her throat and the mithril that decorated it, squeezing it tightly but not so much so that she couldn't breathe......

"But that's not the issue is it? You're confused, aren't you? Perhaps Master hasn't been very fair?"

He paused.....gauging her ever move, struggle, reaction.

"I haven't told you exactly what I want you to be, have I?"

He leaned in close.....nibbling her shoulder just a little, standing on his own toes to do so.

"I don't want you broken, Gleam. So fight to keep your spirit. Yet that's exactly what confuses you, isn't it?"

He snorted softly, stirring her fur once more as he released her and backed away.

"What if I told you that I want to teach you how to wield a sword? Would you accept that training?"

Again, he watched her. A hybrid knowing the fighting arts? Unheard of. Not even arena slaves were given weapons. Even as she took the time to absorb all this, he neared again.

"I want your submission. I want you to never want for a man other than myself. You speak of freedom, and I speak of giving you freedom. You have the freedom to strike at any who seek to take you by force, any who would try and coerce you into disobeying me or striking at me physically or otherwise. I want you to crave my touch and lust for me as I do for you."

Fingers in her hair....jerking her head back until his mouth hovered just above her ear.

"I'm going to fuck you, Gleam. And I'm going to continue fucking you until you're full of my children...again...and again. But where a broken would run, you will not. You will protect those children, you will protect this land with me and all who reside here until every single denizen knows who you are and that you are MINE."

Gently he kissed the tip of a lone ear, his tongue reaching out to trace its delicate ridge, retreating seconds later to land another stinging blow on her ass with the whip. At least she had opened her legs at his command. He reached between them to crudely grope at her sex, letting her feel his rough palm cup her tender pussy and grind softly against it.

"You know where you fail, Gleam? You don't treat me as your Master. You still think I'm just the dirty hunter that caught you. Hunters cage. Hunters abuse. Hunters defang their catches and hamstring them so they don't run. Yet you still have all your teeth, and your legs still look great."

A fingertip dipped low.....tracing along the back of one knee where the muscle ran......

"There is nobody else here. Just you and me. You're not a public spectacle being dragged through Ellington. Didn't I save you that indignity? Yet you don't trust me."

Another sharp crack across her ass, his hand returning to her to knead her firm cheeks roughly before drifting away.

"I think you're starting to enjoy the whip, Gleam. You like it better than the calipers, yes? Perhaps I should keep them on hand......a not so subtle reminder to pets that can't remember to use titles when addressing their owner."

He could hear her whimper as he struck her again, having circled around her to land another heavy blow on her other breast, evidence of his displeasure. He could see her shivering in response.....

"Now.....I think I'm about done with the punishment. Unless of course, you need more. Let's ask a few questions and see how you do."

"Who are you?"

"Where do you sleep?"

"What is your purpose in life?"

 

[RainingHeat]

"A pet that attacks its master is one that needs to be defanged, perhaps even put down."

Gleam went still at that comment, completely still. She caught her breath, the hiss echoing in the room. Behind the blindfold, her eyes had gone wide when she heard those words, before again closing against the darkness. She shook her head slightly, unable to stop the tears that came, and between being terrified that he would make good on his threat, and her own shame that she was even in this position, and that she was crying. She was stronger than this, why, how, had he managed to get to her the way he did??

She did not move for many long minutes, she trying desperately to calm her mind and cease the trembling of her body.

"You panicked. You panicked because you don't trust. It has nothing to do with being caged."

Gleam thought about for a moment. Being confined scared her, it always had. Her mother had told her that animals were caged, confined, beaten, abused, and that she, despite what she looked like, despite her father being feral, she was not an animal and did not deserve to ever be caged and treated like one. Gleam had feared that since she was young, and still did. But, his comment, his words, made her think, if she trusted him, completely, could she be caged? To be honest, she could not answer that, because she did not completely trust him.... yet....

The flogger was a whole other issue.

Gleam HATED pain, and each strike of that cursed whip, each kiss of that leather, drew forth a cry, a scream, of pain, mingled with her hatred for that thing. If she could have ripped it from his hands she would have. She had not... expressed... that small fact to him, because she feared he would use it against her, again another trust issue that she had. Honestly, these past days, she did not think he would EVER do something like this to her. She had completely underestimated him, and she was PISSED at herself for doing so. All of this added to her complete confusion, part of her wanting to submit to the Lucian she had come to know these past days, and the other part of her NOT wanting to submit to THIS Lucian.

Another strike with that cursed thing, Gleam arching her back as it tore across her backside, the pain stinging, flaring out to race up her spine, down her legs, around her hips. Her entire form shook, she gasping in a deep breath before releasing it. Her head down, she wondered for a second, where he was? She could not hear him, and she jerked her head a bit, wishing she could just get rid of that damned blindfold.

Then she felt him, the cool touch of his breath, across the heated welt that decorated her butt cheek. Gleam hissed at the sensation, as he spoke...

"Perhaps I should bring you down here often. Perhaps you'll learn to like it. Either way, you're going to learn your place very soon."

He was right behind her then, she could almost feel his body against her own. Her tension was palatable, every muscle coiling and holding, just as he slid a hand, from behind, along the tight plane of her belly, gliding upwards, to claim a breast. Gleam fought to stay silent, but lost that battle when a low whimpering moan escaped her lips, betraying the pleasure she felt, and the utter and complete confusion. First pain... then pleasure... First he hurt her, then he comforted her. How the hell was she supposed to deal with this???

His hand moved higher, to find and possess her throat. She was quivering now, trying to make sense of all the sensations that were conflicting inside her.

"Master.... please" her soft begging went quiet... She didn't even know if she were begging for more, or for him to stop.

"But that's not the issue is it? You're confused, aren't you? Perhaps Master hasn't been very fair?"

Surely he felt her tense, tighten at those words. She was confused. Why would she just not say that to him??? What was she afraid of? Seeming weak? His displeasure? He thinking she was not as smart as perhaps he had expected her to be???

She did not struggle, instead, she calmed just a little. Maybe he did understand, maybe, this would stop now.

"I haven't told you exactly what I want you to be, have I?"

She felt him, his mouth to her shoulder, nipping ever so gently. Did he have any clue that male tigers, and male feline ferals, did exactly that with their females when about to mate, as a show of dominance, teeth biting into the shoulder, often times even during the mating.

"Oh god.... Master Lucian" the words slipped from her lips as he nipped her, she actually leaning back into him..

"I don't want you broken, Gleam. So fight to keep your spirit. Yet that's exactly what confuses you, isn't it?"

"yes... " she finally whispered, admitting that much.

"What if I told you that I want to teach you how to wield a sword? Would you accept that training?"

That brought her head up, if she could see, she would have met his gaze then, her eyes wide and surprised. Wield a sword??? He would teach her that? She knew how to handle the crossbow, her own mother had shown her that. Tho Gleam had never stolen one for herself. But her knowledge on how to use it had come in handy already!!! But she also knew that captured ferals were NEVER allowed weapons. After all, they were seen as nothing more than animals in most cases.

"I... Yes... yes... I would love to learn how to handle a blade like that..." she was shocked that he would consider it, but then, as she thought about it, he obviously trusted her completely. Did she not owe him that same level of trust???????

"I want your submission. I want you to never want for a man other than myself. You speak of freedom, and I speak of giving you freedom. You have the freedom to strike at any who seek to take you by force, any who would try and coerce you into disobeying me or striking at me physically or otherwise. I want you to crave my touch and lust for me as I do for you."

Gleam held her breath. In her mind, she slowly dissected the words he had just growled in her ear.


I want you to never want for a man other than myself...
She had not admitted it to him, but that were already true. She wanted him, and only him, ever since he first took her. Even when in the presence of 2 other feline ferals, both very capable of mating her, her desire was only for Lucian.

I want you to crave my touch and lust for me as I do for you. And again, not admitting it to him, but she aleady did. She kept it well hidden, especially now that her heat had passed, but at night, in her dreams, she had felt that lust.

Gleam had been afraid to admit either to him, she had been afraid to allow him that much power over her, that much sway, that much dominance.

You have the freedom to strike at any who seek to take you by force, any who would try and coerce you into disobeying me or striking at me physically or otherwise
THAT statement put so much into clarity for her. SO much. It dawned on her, she would be HIS slave, NOT everyone elses. Much different than MOST of the feral slaves she had seen, or heard about. HIS... only HIS... to all others, she would act as free as she did now. That was how she perceived it.


I want your submission

I want your submission

I want your submission

Those words hung in her mind. If she willingly submitted..... Yes, she had offered her throat for his collar. Yes, she had not run, nor tried to fight it until this moment. But... the words had NOT been uttered by her lips. She had not begged to submit to him...

If she did that, she would never, ever be free again.

Was she free now? NO. But she had not submitted, freedom was still ... an option... or was it??

Her swirling thoughts were interrupted by the tangle of his fingers into her long red mane, yanking back her head, she yelped in surprise..

"I'm going to fuck you, Gleam. And I'm going to continue fucking you until you're full of my children...again...and again. But where a broken would run, you will not. You will protect those children, you will protect this land with me and all who reside here until every single denizen knows who you are and that you are MINE."

His breath warm, his words insistent, the tip of his tongue claiming her ear, caressing. Gleam relaxed for a moment to that sensation, until he stepped back, the leather taking the place of his softness, the whip striking, she wrthing in her bindings, her cry again lifting to the ceiling, but no one heard. She shook her head wildly, wanting it to stop... the pain... the shame... the humiliation...

"Please... PLEASE... no more... please...." her words melted into a low groan, his hand having found her sex, pressing into it, palm to pussy, she was not wet, Gleam did not associate this with pleasure...yet, only fear, but, his rubbing along the slit that was her cunt, that action, began to slowly bring forth the desired effect of moisture, she beginning to squirm, her deep breaths turning to quicker pantings.

"You know where you fail, Gleam? You don't treat me as your Master. You still think I'm just the dirty hunter that caught you. Hunters cage. Hunters abuse. Hunters defang their catches and hamstring them so they don't run. Yet you still have all your teeth, and your legs still look great."

A fingertip dipped low.....tracing along the back of one knee where the muscle ran......

Defang... Hamstring... those 2 words illicitated the deepest, coldest fear, inside her...

"please.. no" she begged. But, she had to trust him, trust that he would never maim her that way, never ever put her thru such agony.

She was trembling now, head down once more, she had managed to gain enough control to cease her tears. She was exhausted, unable to effectively hold herself up on the balls of her feet, her arms and shoulders burning with pain and pressure.

"There is nobody else here. Just you and me. You're not a public spectacle being dragged through Ellington. Didn't I save you that indignity? Yet you don't trust me."

Another sharp crack across her ass, she crying out, her head jerking back at the pain, before it fades once more into a searing sting that hung there... his hand returning to her to knead her firm cheeks roughly before drifting away, her cry turning to that low groan once again.

"I think you're starting to enjoy the whip, Gleam. You like it better than the calipers, yes? Perhaps I should keep them on hand......a not so subtle reminder to pets that can't remember to use titles when addressing their owner."

A sharp hiss of her breath... another strike, this to her breasts. She could no longer keep track of where he was, her other senses blurring. Gleam shivered in her bindings, shaking her head no... no more... please no more, but the words would not come.

"Now.....I think I'm about done with the punishment. Unless of course, you need more. Let's ask a few questions and see how you do."

She was hanging there, her legs too weak to offer any support anymore. Head down, long red hair once more veiling her pretty, tear stained face. But she could certainly hear him well enough.

"Who are you?"
Of course she was Gleam.. right. But she already knew that was not the answer he was expecting, just as she knew it was the wrong answer..

"Your... slave... Your pet... A Tiger Feral...You allow me to keep my name... Gleam"


"Where do you sleep?"
Most captives, slaves would give the pat answer ... at your feet... of course... but again, she already knew that was wrong...

"Where you sleep, whether that is in your bed... or mine (meaning the outdoors).. "


"What is your purpose in life?"
She paused.. taking deep trembling breath... "to trust you" three simple words that, in reality, encompassed everything. If Gleam did not trust him, she would never submit, never serve, never bare his children, never truely be his mate.

The answers came quickly actually, it was not like she contrived them, or put any kind of spin on them. They slipped free of her lips almost without conscious thought.

"please" she quietly begged. She was not sure how much longer she could take the burning her shoulders and arms were enduring. Never mind that cursed flogger.

 

[dryfter]

"Who are you?"

A pause. No more than what it would take to collect one's thoughts.

"Your... slave... Your pet... A Tiger Feral...You allow me to keep my name... Gleam"

A simple nod, unseen by her was his response. An acceptable answer.

"I did allow you to keep your name. And I will continue to do so until you or I die. A Master who cannot keep his word cannot be trusted. And its is ridiculous to think I can demand you to trust an untrustworthy Master."

"Where do you sleep?"

Lucian was expecting the pause this time, it heightened his anticipation as he awaited her answer.

"Where you sleep, whether that is in your bed... or mine.

The reply actually caught him off guard. It wasn't what he had been expecting. Yet he let it pass easily because it was so much more. After all, he decided where they slept, and she recognized that.

"Very good, Gleam. Very good."

The flogger lay still for now. She had done nothing to deserve it, and his irritation with her was fast fading.

"What is your purpose in life?"

The pause this time was longer than usual, but it was still allowed. He had asked a loaded question and Gleam had to know that punishment was coming should she answer incorrectly....or at the very least fail to please him.

"To trust you."

The handle of the flogger ran suggestively up one silken thigh in response as his lips pursed slightly in thought.

"To serve me. To pleasure me. To devote yourself to me. To take pride in being my pet. To trust me. All of these answers would be correct, Gleam. But you must know that I want them all, not just one."

The rough handle caressed the apex of her thighs, tracing the outside of her labia almost as an afterthought.

"Please...."

She was bad off, yes.....no doubt were her arms sore, and her bottom more so.....but she was hardly at her breaking point. Lucian continued their conversation, watching her closely. She had already garnered some favor, and had placed herself in the position of reward though she hardly knew it for herself. He'd found it strange.....her reaction to his little nip, but it had been noted, and it would be tested out again to see if his suspicions were correct. For now however......he would see if she would remain on his good side.

"I'm not done talking with you, Gleam. You've been a naughty pet, I think you owe me at least a little conversation. I'm sure you've noticed for now that I've stopped striking you.......or is that what you're asking for? Do you miss the kiss of the whip?"

His fingertips reached for her.....gently grazing across the reddened flesh of her ass......

"Tell me then......let's throw out a theoretical situation and say you decided to run off with another male, hybrid or not, tiger or not....it doesn't matter. What do you think would be a suitable punishment for you when I caught up to you?"

He was genuinely interested in hearing from her.....wanted to know what her opinion was. And there were other things that need to be discussed too.

"And let's chat about Duke Ellington. I'm a fugitive right now....and its all because of you."

He watched her tense at his words, watched every reaction from her tired body as it hung there from his rafters. Mercifully, he moved to the tiny winch he had used to string her up there....releasing just a few notches so more of her feet touched the ground.

"Did you know.....that I have no regrets? That I'd not do a single thing differently since I met you?"

He moved towards her then.....frowning as he made a silent decision, knowing it could be a very painful one. Especially as he lifted his freshly healed forearm, and pressed it firmly against her full lips.

"Not one. I offer you my arm again if ravaging it will alleviate your fear. If it will make you trust me and serve me fully."

His frown deepened, unbeknownst to her.

"But you won't be able to say you don't remember doing it this time, will you? It's your choice. Just as its my choice to deny the arrogant Duke the prize he truly wants. You don't belong to him, and you never will, will you?"

 

[RainingHeat]

"To serve me. To pleasure me. To devote yourself to me. To take pride in being my pet. To trust me. All of these answers would be correct, Gleam. But you must know that I want them all, not just one."

She knew that, all of those answers had sped across her mind, but the trust one, was the one answer that escaped.

She felt the rough leather of the handle of that cursed flogger, almost violating her. With a low growl, not at him, but in pure frustration, fear, and exhaustion, she writhed and twisted to the touch, gasping when it pressed tighter, she feeling herself actually moistening to the touch, the lips, and entrance to her sex becoming more tender, more heated...

"I'm not done talking with you, Gleam. You've been a naughty pet, I think you owe me at least a little conversation. I'm sure you've noticed for now that I've stopped striking you.......or is that what you're asking for? Do you miss the kiss of the whip?"

The light touch of his fingers across the soreness of her backside, she hissing in her breath, biting her lower lip to keep from crying out.

"Nnnno.. Master Lucian... please, do not strike me again, I do not wish to feel that .... " she almost said fucking, but stopped herself, "flogger again.. please" ... the words faded before she spoke again, her head down slightly.. "I do not like pain... I do not tolerate pain well... Master Lucian" GODS she hated saying that. She felt like she was basically saying.. yeah, I'm a weakling, walk all over me, use me, abuse me. It was clear she was completely uncomfortable, her cheeks, beneath that soft layer of fur, were bright red.

"Tell me then......let's throw out a theoretical situation and say you decided to run off with another male, hybrid or not, tiger or not....it doesn't matter. What do you think would be a suitable punishment for you when I caught up to you?"

"I would not do that" the words rolled right from her lips, no time to put a spin on it, no time to craft a story. "I would not run off with another male, I do not desire another male... only.....you " she tried to stop it short but the admission came out. What the hell was she saying. "If I ran" she left any other male out of it "and you captured me again, I suspect my punishment will be something that you know I truely fear, whether that is pain, or caging me. But asking me which it would be, is not fair, Master Lucian, I can not answer that." she took a deep, trembling breath. Then she turned the question around and answered it... "If I were the Master, and my slave had escaped, I would punish said slave with isolation. If the slave wanted to be away from me, so be it, the slave will not be with me, but would still be in my control"

"And let's chat about Duke Ellington. I'm a fugitive right now....and its all because of you."

He watched as her entire form tightened, tensed at his words, she lifting her head and turning her still blindfolded eyes toward where his voice was coming from. Now that she had calmed some, and the flogger was not tearing at her skin, she could place him with scent and sound easily. She was so tired and her arms and shoulders ached so much, that she again twisted and writhed, seeking relief.. Mercifully, he moved to the tiny winch he had used to string her up there....releasing just a few notches so more of her feet touched the ground. She sighed a very genuine gasp of relief ... "Thank you Master Lucian" Gods it felt good for the pressure to be released from her arms, wrists, and shoulders.

"Did you know.....that I have no regrets? That I'd not do a single thing differently since I met you?"

"Why?" She canted her head slightly. "Are there not other mates out there you could have taken?" It was a legitimate question. It was obvious that she did not know of the interest, maybe one would call it a bounty, on the Feral Tigress, that was on her head, not until Lucian captured her and Ellington showed such interest. She had been quite naive in that small aspect. It could have gotten her killed, in all seriousness. There was no way, even if Lucian granted her freedom, that she could go home now. NO way.

She.... needed him... now

The thought struck her harder than that flogger ever did.

He approached her, she heard him, felt him. Her body tensed just slightly, but the bound Tigress did not flinch. Now that her feet had purchase, she felt better at least, just a little.

"Not one. I offer you my arm again if ravaging it will alleviate your fear. If it will make you trust me and serve me fully."

His frown deepened, unbeknownst to her.

"But you won't be able to say you don't remember doing it this time, will you? It's your choice. Just as its my choice to deny the arrogant Duke the prize he truly wants. You don't belong to him, and you never will, will you?"

Beneath the blindfold, Gleam's eyes went wide. The tip of her tongue traveled lightly over her fangs. But in all honesty, she did not even consider ripping into him again that way. She could not. She would not.

"No... Master Lucian, I... can't" she admitted. She had ripped into his arm the 1st time in the mid of battle, more by accident than wanting to rip it off. Yes, she had hurt him. But it could have been his throat. Yes, he held back from hurting her, but now she realized, so had she.

"I have no desire to attack you again, to hurt you... please... understand... I am confused... and scared. " turning her head away. "I am afraid of losing myself, of losing who I am, who I was. I am afraid of being weak... of being humiliated. My mother told me, humans see Ferals as nothing but animals. I am not an animal Master Lucian, I don't want to be seen or treated that way. And before you say anything, no, you have not treated me that way, and yes, you have expressed desire for me to mother your children... but....." she stopped there... "Why would you want mixed children??? Yes, they will be 3/4 human, but they will be 1/4 feral. Others will see them as animals, like me, like Jakob, like Harlan. Why would you want that? Why ME Lucian. Why not another HUMAN? And what if you realize that, and seek another human, then I will be nothing more than the family pet. Worthless. Alone, not by my choosing.."

"And NO, I will never belong to anyone else... Master Lucian... Never"

That was a simple statement of fact. She would not. Ever. No matter what happened with Lucian...

GODS she needed to shut up now. What the hell was she doing??? She was fine being alone, before he captured her. Yeah, before he MATED YOU you mean, said the voice in the depths of her mind. Before he showed you what if felt like to mean something to someone. To be wanted. To be desired. Then what? He meets a human and your NOTHING to him. Just a Feral. Just an animal.. just a slave...

 

[dryfter]

"I have no desire to attack you again, to hurt you... please... understand... I am confused... and scared," she turned away from him. Unable to meet his gaze.

"I am afraid of losing myself, of losing who I am, who I was. I am afraid of being weak... of being humiliated. My mother told me, humans see Ferals as nothing but animals. I am not an animal Master Lucian, I don't want to be seen or treated that way. And before you say anything, no, you have not treated me that way, and yes, you have expressed desire for me to mother your children... but....."

"Losing who you are."

The words sounded flat, expressionless....if only for the fact that he was finally getting a glimpse at her inner pain. She was finally opening herself up to him, trusting......and this was where the molding would begin. Her words revolted him, not because they brought him pain personally, but because he had to confront what he had known all along. That he was an anomoly, an exception to her rule.

He reached up gently then, rolling a stiff nipple between his thumb and forefinger as he drew close.

"And just who were you, Gleam? Can you say you were happy all alone? Were you at peace knowing that your forest crawled with hunters and that you could be caught at any time? Did I take something special away from you?"

The grip on the small bud tightened as a particularly displeasing thought occurred to him, and he released her after a none too gentle tug.

"Perhaps you liked being chased? Is that what you miss? Knowing that all those hunters are after you.....all those strong men are looking to mate you? Do you miss that?"

"Why would you want mixed children??? Yes, they will be 3/4 human, but they will be 1/4 feral. Others will see them as animals, like me, like Jakob, like Harlan. Why would you want that? Why ME Lucian. Why not another HUMAN? And what if you realize that, and seek another human, then I will be nothing more than the family pet. Worthless. Alone, not by my choosing...

Lucian flinched. It was a good thing she had been blindfolded. The hunter would not want to see just how deeply her words cut, nor how he'd reacted, as if it had been him who had been struck soundly across the face this time.

He returned to her then.....a soft, gentle hand resting on her belly as he drew close.

"You're not listening, pet."

He felt her flinch this time, no doubt expecting more pain to go with the words, but none was forthcoming. Instead, he was content to simply remain in contact with her....

"All will see your worth, human and hybrid, dwarf and elf....and many, many more."

His lips slowly closed about the nipple he had harmed.....his tongue easing some of the sting as it circled teasingly.

"You will bear my children because I acknowledge you as my mate. There will be no other, just as you will take no other. In this....you can trust."

The sharp edges of his teeth pinned the excited little nub as he thrashed against it for a second.....releasing her with a soft pop to blow softly across the moist flesh.

"Why you? Because a part of me is drawn to the animal in you. The free spirit I seek to dominate but never break. I will bear down on you, Gleam.....until you submit to me. I will mold you into the very image of my desire. What use then will I have for another woman?"

A sad smile he was glad she couldn't see, shivering there as she stood blindly, trying to figure out his next move.

"You did well, Gleam. You're finally opening up to me."

His head dipped lower as he kissed her again, just beneath the rib cage.....and again on her navel......and again just above her most sensitive little button......

He was gone from her. Silent as a thief as he knelt before her, watching her squirm until she felt him again on the inside of a thigh, gently tracing the apex with his tongue.....turning to tease her outer lips with heated caress before nipping them softly and suckling one of the moistening folds into his mouth, giving a gentle tug.

"You were alone.....was that what you truly wanted?"

Her scent was unbelievably arousing, though he new she'd exited her heat days ago. It had been at least as long since he'd last bedded her.....long enough that he had a hard time pushing the thought from his mind right now.

"Good pets.....must be rewarded."

His lips fell upon her then. Still he denied her the right to touch him, to taste him, or reciprocate in anyway. Lucian smiled as a firm fingertip danced the outer edges of her enterence, feeling her response instantly. Yet it wasn't his finger that pushed its way inside her first.....his mouth lowering again to consume her hungrily......

He let her move as best as she was able, Gleam could rock herself against him, direct her body where she needed him most as he strove to push his tongue deeper into her twitching, needy sex. She didn't realize it, but this too....was training. And for now, he'd have to watch her closely......

He didn't want her cumming just yet after all.

 

[RainingHeat]

"Losing who you are."

She heard him repeat the words... Just a moment before she felt him touching her, fingers grasping a semi-peaked nipple, rolling the darkening surface between, she nipping at her own lower lip to try and silence the soft moan that threatened to escape, and not doing a very good job. The sound was deep, almost wanton, obviously coming from the very depths of her.

"And just who were you, Gleam? Can you say you were happy all alone? Were you at peace knowing that your forest crawled with hunters and that you could be caught at any time? Did I take something special away from you?"

"Who.. was....I ...??" The words were cut off when he twisted and squeezed the tender bud suddenly, her breath hissing at the sensation.

"Perhaps you liked being chased? Is that what you miss? Knowing that all those hunters are after you.....all those strong men are looking to mate you? Do you miss that?"

Gleam did not like the tone of his voice in the least bit when those words were snapped out at her, and it showed. Her jaw tensed, as did her body, a low growl forming in the back of her throat.

"NO" the words was spit out, harsh. "NO, I did NOT like being hunted, why would you even think that!!! Do you like it even now, knowing that you are a fugitive??? I wanted to be left alone.. It was the ONLY life I knew, after my mother was killed, killed for protecting ME!!!" Gleam was shaking, almost violently. "And as for being mated, if I had WANTED that, would I have torn your arm apart????!!!!" she stopped there, taking deep, gasping breaths, trying to curb the sudden anger she felt.

It took a few moments, but she managed to calm herself. She had not meant to have such an outburst, but he had hit a nerve, a raw nerve. Someone she had loved more than anything in the world, had died for her. Could she even think to bare the guilt of having that happen again????

"Who was I? "Did you take something special from me?" she finally responded, the anger gone from her voice, but the stress could still easily be heard..."I was free, I lived my life, away from the monsters that choose to enslave my kind, only because we are different from you. Was my freedom special?? yes, did you take it from me? yes, but truth be told, I do not blame you for that Luc.. Master Lucian... But... did HUMANS take something special from me, yes... they took EVERYTHING from me that night, that night they murdered my mother. They took the only life I knew, leaving me alone, when I was still young. I adapted, I survived, I was free, and I am sorry if that small fact was important to me.. and I am sorry if I did not see you as different from the others... right away"

"Why ME Lucian. Why not another HUMAN? And what if you realize that, and seek another human, then I will be nothing more than the family pet. Worthless. Alone, not by my choosing... again....."

She may have gotten control of her anger and her breathing, but not her sheer trembling, as if she were so cold, so very cold. At the moment, she felt so lost, she did not even hear or sense his approach, until he spoke, so very very close to her again.. his touch, the gentle lay of his hand to her quivering midsection, as of the still her, even tho she jerked back, almost expecting her little outburst to anger him, to bring the kiss of that cursed flogger once more...

"You're not listening, pet."

"All will see your worth, human and hybrid, dwarf and elf....and many, many more."

Gleam did not move, other than her trembling, the words slowly, almost possessively curling around her. No one had ever said that to her before, she never thought of herself in those terms, never seen her own worth like that. To hear him, put it to voice, outloud, she could not even exhale at the moment.

His hand did not move, but his head and mouth did, surprising her by closing over that same nipple he had manipulated before. Gleam's head canted back as she gasped, her eyes rolling back behind the blindfold as the heated sensation from his mouth raced wildly thru her.

"You will bear my children because I acknowledge you as my mate. There will be no other, just as you will take no other. In this....you can trust."

The graze of his teeth made her cry out this time, the sound rippling past her lips to hang for a moment in the otherwise quiet room.

"Why you? Because a part of me is drawn to the animal in you. The free spirit I seek to dominate but never break. I will bear down on you, Gleam.....until you submit to me. I will mold you into the very image of my desire. What use then will I have for another woman?"

"ohhhh Godddsssss" she could not help the reaction to those words, she feeling a tremor of desire suddenly grip her. The feeling of being wanted.. the feeling of knowing that someone cared, that your life was worth something to someone... is a very... very powerful sensation, one that now held Gleam, trembling, in it's grasp.

"You did well, Gleam. You're finally opening up to me."

She held her breath now as his lips trailed downwards, the heat of his breath washing over the soft fur of her ribcage, her belly.. and lower...

"MMMaster Lucian" her lips moaned his name as he laid a gentle, moist caress just at the near center of her most intimate... a moment later his lips were there, and she was whimpering... never having felt anything like this before. The flutter of his mouth, gliding over, suckling in, her tender, heated, pussy lips. Her breath hissed in, body going taut at the touch. Gleam's body responded immediately, warming, flushing, slick moisture beginning to form, drip from the tight entrance to her sex. The muscles, the walls within tightening, awaiting to be filled...

"You were alone.....was that what you truly wanted?"

She closed her eyes behind the blindfold..."no.... NO Master Lucian... I never wanted to be alone, it was just the way things happened, the turn my life took... " the truth hurt, and in the midst of the heat she was feeling, a chill shivered thru her.... Replaced quickly by another wave of sheer fire that had been awakened by him...

"Good pets.....must be rewarded."

When he feasted on her then, she got lost in the passion, the lust, the pure desire that claimed her. Never had she felt anything like the sensations that were flooding her body now, her heart thundering wildly in her chest, her breathing coming in rapid panting gasps. She found herself rocking her hips to his mouth, as he kneeled before her, devouring her. In her desperate need to feel him deeper inside her, she lifted one leg, then the other, to rest over his shoulders, even tho her arms and shoulders and wrists protested, the rest of her was in near extasy, as she opened herself even more to his attention, tho his mouth and this licking, thrusting tongue. Gleam let her head fall back, her long red mane swaying with the rythmic motions of her body.

"Ohhhhhhhh Godddsss.... MMMMaster Lucian... mmMMMMASSTER LUCIAN... ooooOOOOOO mmMMMMMM" she was keening now, crying out continously, she no longer able to control anything that was happening to her. "please...." she begged, the word dripping with the heat she was feeling... "please"... The pleasure that flooded every nerve ending, every pore, every inch of her overwhelming. She knew what was happening, even tho she was not in heat, her body felt as on fire as if she was. The climax was rapidly ascending, rapidly building, sending her so close to the brink, so close to crashing over that wave and releasing.... soooo very close........................

 

[dryfter]

He kept her there, right at the edge, and every time she cooed and moaned he backed off just a little....teasing....tormenting....and knowing that what he had to do wasn't going to be easy......

A rough, calloused thumb stroked her tiny love button as she started to come down a little. It was entertaining to watch her stretch taut, every little muscle snapping to full attention as her climax rushed desperately to the fore once more just to be denied as contact left her.

"Who do you belong to?"

These were critical questions, though he knew she would answer the first one automatically enough, just as she had countless times before.

"The Duke wants you. You could be his very next lovely little pet. Do you want to go to him? Or do you vow to serve me?"

He was at her heat again, a tongue curling slightly and running the edges of his slit, carefully denying her any more than that for now. He reached around her....cradling her firm ass.....letting his fingertips run every so softly through her fur and across the raw flesh he had reddened himself.

"He would steal you from me. Do you wish to be stolen? Would you do anything to prevent that? Would you fight it with all your body and soul? Or would you wake up in his court awaiting his mounting of you? Perhaps on an auction block somewhere....awaiting sale?"

His words were just murmurs, but he knew she could hear him quite clearly. He was preying on her fears just as he played with her body, his lips finding her swollen little clit and humming softly across it. He was gone from her then, watching her shake and quiver, needing more than what he was willing to give her just yet.

"Would you swear yourself to me, your mate and your Master?"

He pressed himself against her from behind....knowing full well that were he to come up to her from the front, she would most likely wrap those delicious legs about him and grind herself to her needed climax. She could feel his maleness through his pants no doubt, pressing against the bruises he had inflicted, proof of his arousal and his desire to mate her yet again.

"And what of your Master? Should I protect you any way that I can? Should I take away those fears? Should I ensure that you're never taken to be sold or whored out in the Duke's court, ever?"

He waited for her answer. He needed to hear it, even though she had no idea what the repercussions would be. A lazy finger traced the underside of one supple breast.....relishing the firm curve. A second later, and he was gone.

"I will do so, Gleam. You are mine, and no other can have you, do you understand? There are others who covet you, but we will make them understand. We will make them acknowledge just who is your Master and whom you serve."

He was a distance away from her now.....he had moved to a corner of the room that he had kept hidden from her for a reason. Reaching for an iron handle in all its wickedness, the instrument's length buried deep inside a steel pail.....

The pail's contents glowed and sparked in response to being disturbed. The coals within hissing and popping in malcontent as he slowly drew out the glowing iron tip of the brand.

The tip had been specially carved of course, the wolfshead sign of the King's rangers had been most appropriate, despite the fact that he had been dismissed, retired. Lucian tensed, gritting his teeth against what he knew he was going to do.....knowing how unsuspecting his pet was right now. With this, no man could dispute his claim. With this, there could be no buyer for her at any market. With this.....she couldn't even be brought to the zoo and bred, for fear of angering the noble she belonged to.

She would be stolen property, pure and simple.....if anyone other than him owned her.

Lucian approached her, and he knew....she could feel the heat as he crept closer, though perhaps her own heated state masked it just a little. The hunter kept the brand at bay at first....reaching instead for her.....the wicked iron held at arms length as a soft hand encircled her bare ass.....pulling a thigh towards him.....his head dipping gently to kiss his way up from her knee towards her glistening tigress pussy.

He slipped his tongue into her once more.....letting her feel his caress, his desire for her, and her in turn....letting him feel herself respond, giving in just a little more as she struggled towards what he'd been denying her.

And as she drew towards that peak, that precipice of no return where she began to shake and tremble in his grasp.....

He pressed the brand to the tender inside of her thigh....searing fur and flesh.....and marking her as his forever......

 

[RainingHeat]

Gods, she was glistening wet with heat, her fur damp, her body shaking, her heart pounding, every nerve ending literally on fire, and all he did was continue to bring her to that precipice, to that cliff, where she was about to go over, to give in to the sensations that he sent crashing over and thru her, yet then he would expertly pull her back, not allowing her to fall into that pleasure. Just as she would regain her breath, he would glide his thumb over her throbbing, swollen clit again, sending her into a keening cry of desire, body winding up once more, taut, ready to spring free, rocketing back up that hill again, desperate to breach the other side and release all that she was feeling....

The next descent, she panting, head down, her form trembling... she heard his voice...

"Who do you belong to?"

She could barely get the words out from her quivering lips... "You .. Master Lucian"....

"The Duke wants you. You could be his very next lovely little pet. Do you want to go to him? Or do you vow to serve me?"

Her lips parted to answer, her hazed, lust filled mind trying to make sense of what he had just said, the words swimming. Serve the Duke or Him, that was what she understood, that was what her mind picked out from that... but just as she was about to answer, he was on her again, his tongue this time, lapping ever so gently at her dripping wet slit, her pussy was scalding hot, the warmth rivaling the same warmth of his breath.

"serve..... you" she managed to whisper... "I would serve you... Master Luian.. I .. vow... to .. serve ... you" the words came with each panting breath.

"please" she begged again, she was not sure how much more of this she could take.

"He would steal you from me. Do you wish to be stolen? Would you do anything to prevent that? Would you fight it with all your body and soul? Or would you wake up in his court awaiting his mounting of you? Perhaps on an auction block somewhere....awaiting sale?"

His words were just murmurs, but he knew she could hear him quite clearly. He was preying on her fears just as he played with her body, his lips finding her swollen little clit and humming softly across it. He was gone from her then, watching her shake and quiver, needing more than what he was willing to give her just yet.

But her voice suddenly came back... "NO... He will not steal me... no.. Master Lucian... I.... would fight it... I would KILL HIM first " she was growling, baring her teeth at the very thought of the Duke even touching her... the aggression not directed in any form toward Lucian, that was obvious.

She was shaking so violently now, he having taken her again to the brink and then backed away. She was flush, skin beneath her soft fur red in her heat, in her lust, her desire, her need... her longing... her absolute craving for him.

"Would you swear yourself to me, your mate and your Master?"

"yes.... YES... Master... Yes... please... Oh Gods... please" her begging quieted again, melting into her low moaning.

He was behind her then. Her senses too hazed, too clouded, to be able to place where he was anymore. She could only feel the desire inside her, burning, flaming, consuming her. Gleam gasped when she felt his body against her own, his hardness, his arousal more than evident, it was practically alive on it own, it was so thick, pulsating with his every breath, his every word. The raw skin on her backside sending tingles of pain that mixed so sweetly with the pleasure that coursed thru her, a sensation she never really experienced before. She leaned into him, seeking his strength, seeking his touch.

"And what of your Master? Should I protect you any way that I can? Should I take away those fears? Should I ensure that you're never taken to be sold or whored out in the Duke's court, ever?"

"please...." was all she could say to that... a soft pleading to keep her safe. She had not admitted to him that she had been afraid for most of her life, afraid of capture, afraid of being used, abused, sold... and... afraid of avoiding all that and simply remaining alone. He had shown her already, what that fear was all about and how deep it ran...

"please Master Lucian... please keep me safe... I..... trust you.. Master... please" Gods, she was showing him her weakness, her fear. It was dripping from her.

Just as the words slipped past her lips, he was gone, leaving her alone once more. She fought to still her quivering, she fought to calm her breathing, her body still caught in the need to climax and having been denied, she actually hurt, deep inside, her sex, the depths of her, ached, desperate for that flood of pleasure that comes with an orgasm...

"where.... where are you" she quietly asked, still unable to see, her senses betraying her completely now.

She heard something. Not an answer. Not even a voice, she heard something else. It reminded her of the hissing of a very large serpent. She sent still, canting her head slightly as she tried, in her daze, to figure out just what she was hearing. What.... was... that??

Was he approaching her? She thought she heard him, but her senses were distracted by something she did not expect, heat. She felt some kind of heat.

"Mmmaster??" her voice was questioning, apprehensive, and she was suddenly scared.

Catching her breath at his touch, Gleam went taut for a moment, before moaning into the soft touch, the gentle caress of his hand along the curve of her backside, the fur damp from her exertions. Her moaning again turned into keening, passion filled cry as his lips then traced a wet trail along the back of one leg, as if tracing the muscles, tasting the light saltiness of the sheen of moisture that clung to her.... upwards, until, even tho behind her, he claimed her pussy once more, her head going back as she called out to him again and again, his tongue lapping, licking, dipping within the tightness of her sex, her slick juices coaking his lips, his chin, the grasp of her pussy walls seeking to wrap about his penetrating tongue... She was shaking, trembling... "MMmaster... Lucian.. Ohhhh Goddd.... please.... pppplease.... " panting, her body suddenly at that brink again, as his tongue claimed her. She barely able to keep to her feet, her arms aching overhead as she writhed , rocking to his mouth, wanting so much more...

Just as she crested, her eyes behind the blindfold rolling back, the climax gripping her, shaking every nerve ending in her body, Gleam felt the searing, burning, tearing, ripping heat of something, and she was not sure what the hell it was, only that her pleasure suddenly roared into agonizing pain. Her eyes flew open behind the blindfold, and her scream, unlike any she had uttered since being with him, tore thru the entire house, and was heard even outside. She went stiff, tense, then jerked to get away from whatever it was that was burning into and thru the tender flesh of her inner thigh... "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" her cry pierced the air, she gasping for breath, tears evident behind that blindfold as the pain settled in and claimed her, until finally, with all that she had been thru, the pain, the orgasm, the exertions, took their toll and she fell into the sweet, calmness of blackness...her eyes rolling back.. she going limp as she passed out... her head falling forward... she still shaking, but now barely.

 

[dryfter]

That had gone about as well as he had expected.

Lucian took his time slowly releasing her from the leather cords that bound her, having long since lowered her to the floor. Yet if she thought that her bondage would be over once she awakened, she would be very, very wrong.

He cradled her limp body, letting the wicked cords unravel on their own, revealing bruised flesh where Gleam had strained against them. He had been prepared for this moment, this lowering of her unconscious frame to the ground. Silently and swiftly, he pulled her arms behind her shapely back, hearing her whimper slightly even as he closed more comfortable cuffs around her willow thin wrists. Though still sturdy leather, the broader scope of her restraint would hopefully harm her less.

He scooped her up then, as if he would a young child.....frowning as he noticed for the first time how decidedly weaker his left arm was when held in direct comparison to his right. Still, she was in no danger of being dropped.....even as he ascended the cellar stairs to the world above ground once more.

Sunlight filtered in through one of the cabin's few windows. Lucian was careful to not bring her into it. It wouldn't do to wake her just yet, though he had a feeling she would wake soon enough.

A broomstick.....left over from the cleaning they had both had to endure sans the dwarves departure. That and those damnable cords she had experienced downstairs, and her thighs were splayed wide and held there. She'd find his knots to be just as secure as they had been down in his basement.

It wasn't her cooling pussy that he moved to first. Instead, the kitchen yeilded a much more ready supply of aloe vera than what he had stumbled upon bringing her here. There was no need for an ointment or poultice either. Not with the scarring he'd done. The hunter found an errant blade and deftly slit one of the plant's plump thorny leaves. Coating his fingers in the slick goo, he began tending her.....applying it directly to the wound he himself had inflicted.

"Seems we both have left mementoes of each other now, Gleam."

Lucian glanced down at his forearm, still heavily scarred. She could have laid him open to the bone again downstairs, but she had declined. Even better, she had sworn herself to his service.

"NO... He will not steal me... no.. Master Lucian... I.... would fight it... I would KILL HIM first "

That had been the deal breaker. The moment when he had known what he had to do despite the fact that it would cause her pain.

"You can't kill him, Gleam. He's a noble, as am I. For a hybrid to kill a noble.....you'd be hunted far worse than you ever have been. Hunted, tortured, humiliated, and killed."

A long moment of silence as he slowly began to bind her, producing bandages from a recently well used shelf. He only wished that doing so would produce the usual thrill he felt from touching the perfect symmetry of her thighs......

He had marred that perfection. But at the same time, he had laid claim to it.

"I won't have that for you. This way he can do nothing. This way even if he gets you, he can't have you. You're free.....in a sense. Though what do I know of freedom?"

His voice was sad as he continued to mutter while working.

"You wanted me to protect you. I only hope you realize that I was doing just that. Now nobody can contest that you are mine. You can't be stolen. You can't be spirited away. And should you ever be......may King Roland himself strike them dead.....if I don't first."

 

[RainingHeat]

Her mind, her dreams, were filled with the most confusing of thoughts and images. She saw her mother, smiling, singing her a lullabye that Gleam remembered from when she was so very little. She heard the words, the melody, felt that soothing sensation that always accompanied that song. She saw her den, and the village, and moreso, the children playing in the fields. In one vision, she too was playing among them, kids were always so accepting...

Lucian appeared suddenly. Her capture, his hand on her throat, asking if she had ever been mated?? What kind of question was that? Why did he care? He parading her naked in the village, the other hunters, and she shooting and killing Carl.

Lucian again, as they approached his home, the fight, and his almost brutal taking of her right then and there, the feel of his cock, long, hard, thick, pushing inside her, her screams of pain when he broke thru her barrier... her screams of pain, mingled then with low, purring moans of pleasure. He exploding inside her as she shook in his embrace...

"Who do you belong to??"

"You Master Lucian... I belong to You"

Moaning again, feeling him inside her again.. cock... and... and tongue. A new feeling... she writhing to his touch.. moaning.. begging... screaming..

Screaming...

Screaming in agonizing pain.. searing, burning, tearing into her inner left thigh, the scent of scalding flesh, fur, skin. Her desperate, pain filled screams echo in the eerie quiet of the room, other than the hissing sound of heat touching flesh...

"Where.. where am I?" Gleam was completely disoriented. Completely. What the hell had happened?? And why could she not move??? She felt no pain, yet, her mind still in a haze from the ordeal she had endured.

"You wanted me to protect you. I only hope you realize that I was doing just that. Now nobody can contest that you are mine. You can't be stolen. You can't be spirited away. And should you ever be......may King Roland himself strike them dead.....if I don't first."

She heard words, jumbled up a bit.. something about protect you... mine.. can not be stolen... King Roland? Who was King Roland? Strike them dead if I don't first? Gleams fuzzy mind tried to make sense of what she heard. Was the Lucian's voice??

"Mmamster Lucian??" her voice was cracked, weak, the screaming having torn her throat raw... It took her a moment to realize she was still blindfolded...


"why can't I... why am I bound?" she tried to move, and that was when the pain struck her like a sledgehammer, making her cry out again, her left thigh was throbbing in exquisite agony, she could barely move it, not just because she was bound, but because of the pain as well. What.. what had he done to her?? The question lingered in her lips, but she did not ask it... not yet.

"what... happened???"

"Master Lucian... why... why are You doing this to me?" Gleam then turned her gaze away, would not look at him, she not understanding what was happening nor why, her mind still struggling to understand... "why?? Please.... please don't hurt me anymore... please..." She was so confused as to what had happened.. still having no clue that he had branded her thigh, no clue whatsoever...

 

[dryfter]

"Mmamster Lucian??"

She was awake. Lucian moved to attend her immediately. His heart went to to her, as for a brief moment he realized that the first words she uttered after such a terrible experience.....had been his name. He was close enough to scent as he knelt over her, the blindfold still in place, close enough to feel her tremble as he softly placed a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"Why can't I... why am I bound?"

The hunter frowned. He hadn't wanted to risk her attacking again after what she had gone through, what he had put her through. Not until he'd said what he wanted to say.

"Just relax Gleam....relax....I'm here."

Yet she struggled against her bonds reflexively, and was rewarded with an instant reminder of just what she had experienced in his cellar. Lucian's frown deepened as he saw her stiffen in response to what had to be exquisite pain....pain that his lotions could only dull slightly for now.

"Master Lucian... why... why are You doing this to me?"

"I'm protecting you."

He kept his words soft and gentle, his touch gentler as he stroked a cheek....feeling the stiffness of her fur where the tears had dried.....

"why?? Please.... please don't hurt me anymore... please..."

"Your trial is over now, Gleam."

He reached for the blindfold, peeling it away finally, taking the time to run his fingers along her scalp......loving the feeling of her vibrant hair running through them. A soft sadness filled his visage, more than aware that he had hurt her. Now it would be up to him to see her through this.....and he wouldn't leave her side.

"I've marked you, branded you."

He let her gaze follow his own to where the mark was bandaged properly, no doubt already beginning the slow healing process. Even his smile held on to hints of sadness and regret.

"You'd kill him. That's what you said, remember? That you'd kill the Duke?"

Lucian knelt in silence beside her, letting her drift back through her apparent confusion to what had transpired.

"Do you know what happens to hybrids that attack and even so much as scratch a noble? They die. Executed as if they'd gone rabid. You'd be gone forever, Gleam."

His sadness deepened further at the very thought. He'd finally found her, finally had the one he wanted and would most definitely grow old with.

"I can't lose you like that."

He watched as she took this all in. She was still bound, so if she decided to attack she was limited at best. For now, he was thankful that she still seemed submissive. Gone was the aggression she'd shown down below.

"But with this mark....."

Lucian traced a soft finger along the bandage, careful to not directly touch where he had branded.

"Not even the Duke can seize you. We'll wait. We'll wait until it heals and we'll acquiesce to his demand to follow his stupid law. But if that fat fuck thinks he's going to take that opportunity to wrest you away from me and take you as his own, he's going to be disappointed."

His face grew grim at the thought. He would make sure he was well armed for this trip, though it be days in the future. No doubt even now, the Duke was readying his troops for a foray into his forest in an attempt to cede Lucian's land.

"Gleam. I'm sorry."

His head bowed slightly and for a brief second, she saw the shame in his eyes.

"You did nothing to deserve that pain, and yet I inflicted it on you anyway. I only hope someday you see why it was necessary. For now though.....you need your rest, you've been through a lot. Please rest.....and I'll bring you something to eat soon."

 

[RainingHeat]

"Just relax Gleam....relax....I'm here."

For a minute she had thought he had left her alone, alone in what, at the moment, she perceived as hell. Her senses were off, clouded, hazey, between her ordeal, the pain, her just waking up. When she heard his voice she did calm, if only for that instant...

"don't.... don't leave me" she whispered, barely discernable.

Your trial is over now, Gleam."

As the blindfold was loosened and peeled away, Gleam slowly opened her golden eyes. They were both reddened from her ordeal... and even the dim sunlight made them ache for a moment.

"I've marked you, branded you."

It took her a full minute to even comprehend what he had just said to her.

"You did.... what?" the words were slow, deliberate, as the weight of those words sunk in...

She followed his eyes down, to her inner left thigh, where right now, all she could see was a bandage against her skin. The pain underneath was like nothing she had ever felt before, yet it was nothing to the memory that assaulted her, the memory of the searing, burning that threatened to eat right thru her thigh, her very mind exploding in a red hot wave of excruciating pain.

"You'd kill him. That's what you said, remember? That you'd kill the Duke?"

Lucian knelt in silence beside her, as she remembered her words. She had answered based on sheer emotion, given what she was enduring at that time.. the sheer emotion of not wanting to be taken from him... it was that simple.

"Do you know what happens to hybrids that attack and even so much as scratch a noble? They die. Executed as if they'd gone rabid. You'd be gone forever, Gleam."

His sadness deepened further at the very thought. He'd finally found her, finally had the one he wanted and would most definitely grow old with.

"I can't lose you like that."

She listened intently to what he was saying... her heart was thundering in her chest, and her breath caught when he said he could not lose her like that. Gleam felt a tingle in every nerve ending that for a moment, superceded the pain she was in. Swallowing hard, she nodded to him, just to let him know she was listening and she understood... words would not come.. not yet...

"But with this mark....."

"Not even the Duke can seize you. We'll wait. We'll wait until it heals and we'll acquiesce to his demand to follow his stupid law. But if that fat fuck thinks he's going to take that opportunity to wrest you away from me and take you as his own, he's going to be disappointed."

"You.... did this... to protect me..." she whispered, more to herself than to him.

"Gleam. I'm sorry."

His head bowed slightly and for a brief second, she saw the shame in his eyes.

"You did nothing to deserve that pain, and yet I inflicted it on you anyway. I only hope someday you see why it was necessary. For now though.....you need your rest, you've been through a lot. Please rest.....and I'll bring you something to eat soon."

She repeated what she had said... "You... did this .. to protect me.. Master Lucian..." she finding his eyes with her own. "You risked my... my hatred of you for doing this, simply to keep me safe. Keep me safe even if I hated you... " she was trembling, as the realization hit her of what he had done, and why.

If she was not bound as she was, she would have reached out to him. "please.... please don't leave me" Gods, she did not want to be alone. She hurt, everywhere at the moment... but to be alone and suffer the pain she was in, and the fear she felt at everything he had said, she was not sure she could handle that, at all.

Maybe she should have felt anger at what he had done to her, the pain he had indeed inflicted on her. And, surely she would have, had she not heard his own pain in his voice, and seen that flicker of shame in his eyes...

"Gleam. I'm sorry"

"just... stay with me... please"... she felt her eyes closing again in exhaustion, her body needing, demanding sleep, in order to try and deal with all that had been done to it...

 

[dryfter]

And then she was gone again......her last words ringing in his ears as he hovered there above her in indecision.

"Just... stay with me... please."

Lucian sank silently to his knees beside her. Slowly, he lowered his head to rest upon her chest, doing the best he could to take solace from her gentle rhythmic breathing. She would be sore in the morning no doubt with how he had bound her......but for now, the true scope of her exhaustion had won out. There would be plenty of time to release her now that he was sure she understood why he had done what he had.

"You... did this .. to protect me.. Master Lucian..."

Her words were as haunting as they were the first time they'd reached his ears. He had been expecting rage, anger, near madness.

"You risked my... my hatred of you for doing this, simply to keep me safe. Keep me safe even if I hated you... "

He sighed. He certainly wasn't going to get any sleep today......but it had been a request that couldn't be denied. Not if he was to ever show her any sincerity. The sound of Gleam's heartbeat was soothing at least, his own eyes closing peacefully though no sleep would be found.....

------------------------------------------------------------

"Your services are no longer needed."

There were dozens of them. Nobles. Dressed in finery he thought he'd never own. Drinking wines he thought would never pass his lips. All frowning and showing obvious displeasure, not a single one daring to find even the slightest amount of amusement at his expense.

Only open loathing.

She was furious of course. Queen Theresa had managed as a queen should, keeping her poise despite how well known her fury was. Someone had to be punished for her husband's indescretion. And logic dictated that someone be the one who had been King Roland's accomplice in making it happen.

And though the court had assembled, and not one dared so much as flinch in her presence......she knew that once it was dismissed they would talk. That was what nobles did......talk......gossip was its own currency in some parts.

The thought that her own husband had taken an animal to his bed. The knowledge that the beast was now showing with his child, a child that could quite possibly threaten her own for the soveriegn line......

No. Never. They had both been put to death.....one dying with the death of the other. And it was made crystal clear to Him that their death was no accident. And yet he continued to pursue....these.....creatures......

Sure there was some grey creeping into her dark locks, and sure she did not fill out the gowns of the royal balls as well as she had in the past. But she was not the only one who had aged. Did she not deserve more respect than this? And this ranger....this....man....had aided the King in her disgrace.

Never again.

"You are banished from the Capitol, Lucian Galandros. You are hereby stripped of your rank and exiled, never to return. Dare to show your face before me again, and I'll have your head seperated from your shoulders. I do hope you understand how merciful I'm being considering your charges."

A soft, silent nod. The look on his face was pained....and for a moment, she felt joy. He could taste some of the disgrace he'd forced upon her unwittingly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nobles weren't the only ones who had an abrupt change of character as soon as they'd left court. Fortunately, he was smarter than most nobles, and kept to himself as his own comrades.....his fellow rangers, escorted him though the city streets. He was naked, and more than once endured a rotten, smelly tomato as it struck his ruddy flesh. Stripped of armor, stripped of clothing, and stripped of dignity. He could hear their laughter as he passed, more than one spewing filthy words of hate at him as he refused to hang his head in their presence.

After all, he had friends. Friends from outside this court. A few that still remained within.

"Endure it, Lucian."

His juice splattered face turned to his right, acknowledging the words spoken by a fellow ranger with a carefully kept goatee and mustache.

"This won't break me, Fynn."

That brought a grin, which ended just as quickly as the man's commanding officer promptly boxed first his ears, then Lucian's.

"We'll meet again, Lucian. I'm sure of it."

"SILENCE FYNN."

Still, he had learned an important lesson. One that came long before his summons to court.

The risks nobles would take to satisfy their hidden desires. And if they ran as deeply as King Roland himself......then there had to be more. Many many more. And where there was a demand for something.

There was money. And where there was money, there was a chance. There was still a chance to achieve his dream. All he had to do....

Was continue to do a good job.

 

[RainingHeat]

Her sleep was dreamless this time. No memories of her mother or her childhood. No dreams of her capture. Her exhaustion had taken her well beyond there, to the peaceful oblivion of deep, deep sleep.

It was hours, hours and hours and hours.. and hours...that she lay there sleeping, moaning, whimpering every so often as she sought to move, to change position, and was unable to. But the Tigress did not awaken.

Once her golden eyes did finally flutter open, it was strangely quiet, and very dark. Obviously it was the middle of the night, the sun having long since gone down. Where was Lucian?? She was about to call out to him, when she heard his voice, whispering quietly to someone. It took Gleam only a moment to recognize Suru's soft voice.

"Do not worry Master Lucian, the sleep is her body's way of healing, strengthening. The brand will heal nicely, you did a very good job. I know it has been 2 days, but trust me, she is ok."

2 days? She had been asleep for 2 days? Gleam tried to move, but was still tightly bound and boy did her arms, shoulders, back, ache. She wanted free, wanted, needed to stretch, if he would let her. But, she stayed quiet, not wanting to attract Suru right now. She was.... she was not quite sure how she felt, having been marked as she was. Branding, branding was for animals, mostly herd animals, cows, deer, horses.

He had branded her.

She wanted to see it, wanted to see what he had done to her.

But she stayed silent until she heard the faint, quiet goodbyes of Suru and Lucian.

As she stepped into the darkness, Suru turned. "Oh, Lucian, one more thing" she stepped close to him again. "Both Harlan and Jakob have been told. Neither are happy that you marred her pristine flesh that way, you knew they wouldn't be, given they are in the same basic family as she is. Jakob especially is ... a bit.. troubled by all this. You know he too was branded when thrown into the pit, so he knows what she went thru, the pain, the possible humiliation. Just be prepared to explain yourself is all Master Lucian. "

Then she was gone.

Gleam heard none of that, it was too far away and her senses were not back to normal as of yet.

"Master Lucian" she finally called out, hearing him coming to her voice.

"Please... unbound me... please.." she quietly implored. "I need to stretch.. please... I .... I will not run, or attack, I promise" Could he really think she would now?? Did he really think that???

 

[dryfter]

"Oh, Lucian, one more thing" she stepped close to him again. "Both Harlan and Jakob have been told. Neither are happy that you marred her pristine flesh that way, you knew they wouldn't be, given they are in the same basic family as she is. Jakob especially is ... a bit.. troubled by all this. You know he too was branded when thrown into the pit, so he knows what she went thru, the pain, the possible humiliation. Just be prepared to explain yourself is all Master Lucian. "

They might be disturbed, but they wouldn't dare confront him. Still.....he wasn't about to argue with the healer that had been sent to him. Suru was skittish enough already. That and....she was right. They both deserved an explanation.

"Summon them."

A soft nod, a swift blurring of form, and the graceful doe was gone.....prancing off into the distance.

"Master Lucian"

He reacted as if a jolt of electricity had been shot through him. Just that quickly was the doe forgotten, the door of the cabin closing behind him as he moved back to her.....

"Gleam...."

"Please... unbind me... please.."

There was something in her look that held him rooted in place.

"I need to stretch.. please... I .... I will not run, or attack, I promise."

She wasn't lying. Somehow he just knew it, just as he knew he probably still deserved it anyway.

He moved the blanket covering her. Suru had been allowed access to the brand and the bandages covering it, but he had respected her modesty pat that point. Even now, he could feel her eyes on him as he deftly undid the cords holding the broomstick and thus, her ankles wide.

"You want to see it, don't you?"

He would, if he were in her position. So it wasn't unthinkable that it was crossing her mind this very moment.

"It shouldn't hurt as much anymore. This was Suru's second time here after all."

Yet instead of reaching for the bandages, he moved to help her rise to a sitting position instead. Lucian remained silent as she stretched her legs, noticing each twitch and twinge as she tested her supple muscles, his own attention turned to the cuffs that held her arms behind her. He could almost see how her muscles knotted from days of laying like that.

"This isn't exactly what I had intended to have happen when I bound you. Here you go."

Slowly they loosened.....the cords holding them tight against her wrists falling away beneath his touch.

"See for yourself."

 

[RainingHeat]

"You want to see it, don't you?"

She met his eyes when he said that, and simply nodded. She did not want to say anything at that moment, did not want her voice to bear any accusing inflections, or any anger. She wanted to see it, and needed to accept and deal with what he had done to her..

"To protect me" the words whispered in her mind, quiet, insistant.

"It shouldn't hurt as much anymore. This was Suru's second time here after all."

She did not answer nor return his gaze. It still hurt. No matter what Suru or anyone else did to it, that mark was going to hurt for a long time. It had burned thru several layers, deeply searing into skin, flesh, muscle. The pain was an ache now, deep, throbbing just a bit. But at least it was not the agony that she had endured when he had pressed that damnable thing into her, just as she was cumming. The thought made her shiver just a little...and as he free'd her of her bindings, she drew the small blanket he had covered her with, around her.

To protect me

She stretched now that she were completely free of the cuffs, and bindings. Her muscles protested, cramping, spasming, then relaxing as she worked them, but she had not stood up... yet...

That... came next. Her right leg first, bare foot touching the ground. When her left leg came down, foot meeting the hard floor, a dagger of pain sliced thru her, from the brand, shooting up into her hip and up her spine. She went tense, taut, as she gripped the table, letting the sensation pass, and it did pass. Gleam swallowed hard, taking a deep breath and finally was on her feet. The whole of her left leg hurt, never mind where he had struck her with the flogger. That, her backside, her breasts, her belly, was just tender, more than anything. It was his mark... HIS MARK... that hurt.

"This isn't exactly what I had intended to have happen when I bound you."

Gleam turned to look at him then. Unsure what he meant by that.

"Did you not mean to brand me, when you first bound me in that basement? Or was that just a last minute decision?" she did not mean for it to come out like that and she lowered her head. "Sorry, I just don't understand what you meant. Were you... planning this? or.. not?... Not that it matters Master Lucian. The results would have been the same. If You had planned this and told me, I would have fought it, with all that I am I would have fought it. Perhaps this is better, because this way, you did not get hurt"

To protect me....

Then would she have fought it??? YES, the voice inside raged at her. YES. Your body is yours and he marked it, he claimed it, never, ever, to be your own again. Protection not withstanding... he MARKED YOU....Branded YOU, like cattle....

Yes, she would have fought it... and more than likely lost.

"See for yourself."

Gleam looked down, the bandages were loose, to allow air within, to facilitate the healing process. She peeled them off to observe the mark that now lay permanently burned deep into the flesh of her inner left thigh. It was a Wolfshead, which was ironic given she was feline.. She recognized it tho, having seen it on several of Lucian's belongs... just beneath the Wolfshead, were his intials LG ... His... His initials, His name... His... everything...

Gleam stared at the inflamed, red, angry mark for a very long time it seemed. It would heal, she told herself, but it will always be there, no fur would cover it. Always there, for any that got even remotely that intimate with her, to see.

Gleam turned and looked at him once again, her eyes narrow as she picked her words carefully.

"one thing.... Master Lucian.... If you ever intend to mark me again, you will give me warning. You will give me the chance to make the choice to deny that kind of maiming to my body. That is all I ask." she was trembling as the words came from her lips, but she did not look away. She wanted his word, that he would never do this again, or she would be warned if he did.

"I know you did this to protect me... I know that" she had seen the look in his eyes. Gleam stepped away from him, taking a very deep breath. When she turned around again, she lowered to her knees, her lithe, supple body descending as smoothly as a water droplet on a leaf.. She had said what she needed to say, regarding what he had done to her. Her leg ached, tingled, another sharp pain as she moved, but she ignored it. She kept her head and eyes down as she spoke next, the words came very.... very... slowly...

"I.... submit.... to you.... Master Lucian"

 

[dryfter]

"Did you not mean to brand me, when you first bound me in that basement? Or was that just a last minute decision?"

Finally, her irritation showed through just a little just as he had known it would.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure which path would be taken.....though it was a path I'd considered for a while now. I knew.....I knew it would have to be done. I knew that unless you were broken you would fight, and you would never submit to a man like the Duke. So I guess you could say that I knew I would be branding you.....part of me had hoped not to have to, but I knew....."

He watched in silence as she peeled away the bandages. It was his first time seeing his completed work as well, and he flinched slightly as he knew he would. He had burnt his brand into her, and there it would remain.

"One thing.... Master Lucian.... If you ever intend to mark me again, you will give me warning. You will give me the chance to make the choice to deny that kind of maiming to my body. That is all I ask."

"So is that a request or an order?"

His eyebrow cocked quizzicly, wondering if she had actually intended for her words to come out that sharply towards him. Still, considering all he'd put her through, it was a slight he was willing to let pass for the moment. The last thing he needed was for her to suddenly become aggressive.

"I know you did this to protect me... I know that."

Did she? Did Gleam have any idea how hard things might be on her if and when he took her to Ellington? Did she know of how he had been in constant communicae with both the elves and the dwarves in regards to potential invasion? Hell, he'd even sent word to Fynn via falcon just that afternoon. If the man was still alive, he'd respond soon. Fighting the spoiled noble might be easier on her than taking her to him. Granted, there would be a lot more bloodshed.....and that was one thing he'd been sworn to avoid if at all possible. The elves had made that quite clear to him.....

At least she was standing, though he could see various muscles protesting at the effort. It was easy to tell when she was as perfectly toned as she was. His heart sank a little as she turned and drifted away from him for a moment, seemingly deep in her own world of thought. But as she turned towards him once more.....there was a light in her eyes that he'd never seen before, a softness, and a passiveness that Gleam had never allowed......

She sank slowly to her knees, returning to his feet. Her voice gentle and subservient even as she struggled to find the words.

"I.... submit.... to you.... Master Lucian."

He knew it wasn't what she was expecting, but after long moments of awed silence at her swallowing of her own pride, he knew she deserved a response. Especially if she was to be his pet, his beloved mate, as he told her she would be. Silently, he himself dropped to a knee before her, smiling softly as her chin jerked upward to gaze at him in sudden surprise. Both arms enfolded her and pulled her close.....him needing the comfort of her being close every bit as he knew she needed to know she would be more than just a kept animal.

"You have one last ordeal to make it through, Gleam. Though this one you will not undertake alone."

Strangely, she did not stiffen in the slightest, did not anticipate more of the same pain she had already endured. Lucian was grateful for it......

"You will heal, and together we will go to Ellington. The Duke plans war. He plans to take this land, all so he can get at you. And while his forces are paltry compared to the fury I can bring down on him, such bloodshed is needless. I asked you once to help me protect this land and its denizens. Are you willing to do that for them?"

His hold on her tightened ever so slightly, willing her to be the strong tigress he had always known. Silently, he prayed that her kneeling before him wasn't the same as him having shattered her proud spirit when he had branded her.

"When we return, your sword lessons will begin. For now though, you must continue to rest and heal. I will have to deal with Jakob and Harlan. I'll need both of their aid if I'm going to pull off something I have planned for our little trip there."

 

[RainingHeat]

Her golden eyes widened when he came down to a knee before her. She had not expected that he would come level with her when she admitted her submission. She met his gaze, the words that she had spoken still hanging before them both. When he reached out for her, she accepted his embrace... hell, she didn't just accept it, she needed it, desperately and as his arms encircled her, she let herself lean into him, she wrapping her own arms about him. Her body began to shiver, tremble just a little as she let the magnitude of everything, everything that had happened, just wash over her.

"You have one last ordeal to make it through, Gleam. Though this one you will not undertake alone."

She did not flinch, did not move, she just simply listened.

"You will heal, and together we will go to Ellington. The Duke plans war. He plans to take this land, all so he can get at you. And while his forces are paltry compared to the fury I can bring down on him, such bloodshed is needless. I asked you once to help me protect this land and its denizens. Are you willing to do that for them?"

"why? Master Lucian. Why would he do that to get to... me? " she just did not comprehend the fuss over her. "To answer your question, yes, Master Lucian. I would not let another be hurt or killed because of me, and..... more importantly, this is your land, your home, and your... friends, your responsibilities. Yes, I will stand at your side to protect all that is yours."

"When we return, your sword lessons will begin. For now though, you must continue to rest and heal. I will have to deal with Jakob and Harlan. I'll need both of their aid if I'm going to pull off something I have planned for our little trip there."

She was about to ask what he had to do with the other 2 feline ferals when it dawned on her. They were the same species as her, felne ferals. More than likely, they will not be happy about what he had done to her. Branding was a vicious thing, usually only done to pit fighters for identification and to the zoo ferals, for breeding identification. It was never pretty, and as Gleam had found out, caused a great amount of pain.

"Tell them to talk to me, Master Lucian, if they are upset. " She would make sure they were ok with what had happened to her. It was not like they were going to stop it. Stopping Lucian was not an option, that much she was learning.

She pulled back to look at him. She had felt him tighten his hold on her, even felt him shudder just a little...

"what... is it that troubles you Master Lucian? You, you peppered me with questions down in that.......... " she paused before she could even spit out the word "basement... seeking to get into my... head.... what, what is it that is in your head Master Lucian? The Duke? The pending fight? What you did.... to me?"

Reaching up, she let one hand come to rest on his face, against his cheek, the soft fur was not present on her palm, instead just the silken surface of her skin, a pale almost golden color, a bit lighter than the fur that covered the rest of her.

*****************************************************************************************

Suru paused, before approaching the den of Jakob. She had brought Dakar with her because, to be honest, she did not trust Jakob all that much. She was prey to him after all, when all was said and done. Harlan had taken the summons with a grain of salt. He was not happy, that was written all over his face. Suru was sure it was because, both he and Jakob were without mates, and both had been getting harder to deal with because of it. Suru had to wonder how smart Lucian had been bringing Gleam here as he did. Sure, neither male would cross him, most of the time. But when sex, mating, heat, came into play, all bets were off. But at least, for the moment, Gleam was no longer in heat.

"Jakob? Master Lucian is requesting to see you when the sun rises, at his homestead"... All Suru could see were the lightly red glowing eyes of the Cougar. She could hear him growling, knew that he was not happy. Dakar stepped from the shadows, crossbow held at the ready. "Just relax Jakob" he warned.....

 

[dryfter]

What... is it that troubles you Master Lucian? You, you peppered me with questions down in that.......... ," she paused before she could even spit out the word "basement", ... seeking to get into my... head.... what, what is it that is in your head Master Lucian? The Duke? The pending fight? What you did.... to me?"

A million answers came to mind, and like normal for the human brain, unfortunately for Lucian they came all at once. It was her touch.....soft and warm.....that brought him out of his silence, that stilled the chaos her words had brought him, though he frowned as he realized what he had to do was simply tell the truth.

"You'll find that a lot troubles me these days, Gleam. More so that perhaps most who live here. That's why I thought.....perhaps it was time that I find a mate. Someone who was less apt to let me deal with my troubles on my own."

A soft smile.

"Even if she brought a few with her."

He turned and kissed her palm as she sought to stroke his cheek, taking her hand in his own and simply holding it.

"The Duke would do anything for you, Gleam. Quite frankly, you're the most attractive hybrid seized in his domain in a long time. And the man can't stand someone else having something better than what he has."

His grin turned a touch more wry.

"But that branding will stop him. He'll be furious, and there's no telling what he might do. But he won't have you, not now. You're considered claimed, spoiled to one such as him who wants a pristine pet to mark and slowly destroy himself. Just remember Jacinta if you need a reminder of how female hybrids that are turned over to him end up. She was his pet for over a year."

Still....there hadn't been a mark on the jaguar's flesh. Fynn never felt the need to burn a stake in to Jacinta. Yet they both knew as each searched their memories.....that the mark that had been left on her, the true mark, was still healing.....as a real Master had taken the stricken creature under his wing.

"The elves abhor war, as do I. It only brings destruction....and that's one thing they won't tolerate. The defilation of their proud forest. The dwarves are a little simpler than that. They're currently offended by something the Duke said a while back....."

His serious nature lightened visibly, enough to permit a soft chuckle.

"He proclaimed human steel to be superior to dwarven steel. The dwarves have been itching for a chance to prove him wrong ever since. So if he does make a move on this land, he's going to find a very pissed off Darkhaven ready to ally against him. Thurgaard's brother didn't take well to having his Ellington shop shut down and being run right out of the city."

He slowly rose to his feet, never once having let go of her hand, instead using it to make sure she followed suit after him. There was a time for her to be on her knees in submission.....and that time had passed minutes ago.

"It's much more likely that he'll skip having a battle entirely. There's no guarantee he'll win, and for the Duke, that one fact alone is a strong deterrant. However, he'll have been slighted. I have no doubts what so ever that my life will be in grave danger in Ellington at some point or another. Yet I can't not go....not if we wish to keep the elves as an ally in all this. They won't back us unless we've shown that we've attempted at least to avoid a violent conflict. I wouldn't doubt if they send an emissary of their own to assure just that happens. In fact....I've a pretty good guess who that emissary will be too."

------------------------------------------------------------------

He hadn't waited until morning. Lucian knew he wouldn't.

"Harlan."

A growl had been his only answer, fangs bared. It was quite clear that the panther wasn't happy.

"You've a job to do."

"No."

It was almost a bark. And despite the darkness, Lucian could see the finely tuned muscles rippling beneath the panther's inky fur.

"It's the Duke's fault she had to be branded, Harlan."

"It's YOUR fault, Lucian. The Duke never branded any of us!"

"That's not true."

Now it was a contest to see just who was the most unsettled. Harlan by being contradicted, Jakob by hearing Harlan utter such a preposterous statement and being reminded of his own brand, and Lucian coming to find that the cougar had flanked him and put him in a very bad position. Especially when it was immediately apparent that he was in every bit as foul of a mood as the panther he despised.

"Go on, Lucian. Tell us how you were forced to brand, Gleam."

The snarl dripped of sarcasm. The once honorable ranger now reduced to just another piece of human trash in the stocky brawler's eyes. He was no different than the rest.

"We're being made to appear in Ellington."

"So what."

Both ferals snapped the words at the same time, creating a reverberating effect that caused even Lucian to flinch.

"There's a good chance I won't be coming back."

Their circling stopped for a hesitant second. The sound of the two of them taking in his scent the only thing audible to him. He was glad he had left Gleam at the cabin. He appreciated her offer to help, but in the end, he had to stand up for the decision he had made. And he had to do this alone if he ever wanted a chance of regaining respect.

"Perhaps that's for the best."

"My death? Perhaps. Though now at least, Gleam won't be sent to the zoo for breeding. She certainly won't have to endure the Duke's flaunting her to every socialite who wishes to kiss his pampered ass."

Jakob snarled the second he had invoked her name. Though surprisingly it was Harlan that caught on first.....emerald eyes widening in the darkness.

"That might not work, Lucian. She could be killed too. Marking her might not be enough?"

"What are you talking about, Harlan? He BRANDED HER!"

The panther nodded softly, horrified by the images that ran through his own mind as he started to put the pieces together.

"He was going to take her. What was he threatening you with, Lucian?"

The cougar's fang filled jaw slammed shut, glancing first at his dark counterpart, and then at the human.....still waiting to be filled in on what he was missing, yet strangely alarmed at just how quickly Harlan's fury had subsided into something much more disturbing.

"He's going to try and cede this land into his own territory if I don't follow his stupid law and bring Gleam before him."

Amber and green eyes widened, and the air was filled with an aggravated, alarmed hiss as both men considered their treatment should they no longer be considered free anymore......

"That...cannot come to pass."

"FUCKING BASTARD! HASN'T HE CAUSED ENOUGH PAIN!"

"Gleam said if she were taken, she'd try and kill him."

That calmed Jakob's fury once more, his head spinning from a sudden overload of his volatile emotions.

"No...no, she can't do that. Even if she succeeded, their king....the human king would hunt her down and hang her head from his walls. No...NO....that can't happen."

Lucian simply nodded, as did Harlan, the panther long ago having finally understood the true grimness of the situation.

"And now it won't."

"Huh?"

It was clear that Jakob was having a hard time handling all this, while the panther, much better suited for things other than just fighting.....was nodding softly, yet casting furtive glances at Lucian....not really trusting either.

"Lucian used the human law against them. Now the Duke can't have Gleam. Though its quite possible that there will be some fallout from this. I just can't see the Duke letting this slide, especially considering his frustration at not having been able to catch a certain theif that's been openly humiliating him by letting out his prized pets."

Lucian's frown deepened. Yes....there was that too.

"Well then.....we have to make sure Lucian lives. Is that it?"

He finally turned and looked at the cougar, Jakob's arms crossed across his expansive chest, almost covering the jagged scar he sported there. A simple nod from Harlan was all the answer the great cat hybrid needed to split into a huge grin again.

"Good. Cause I really didn't like thinking you were the bad guy, Lucian. And besides....if you're dead, that means Harlan and I get to fight over Gleam. And I don't relish the thought of fighting over your corpse for a female in heat. If that thought is insufferable enough, then the thought of her dying too is damning."

"You said you had a job for us, Lucian?"

 

[RainingHeat]

Gleam listened carefully, intently to Lucian as he spoke. She, honestly, could not understand the Duke's fascination with her, but then again Gleam did not fully understand the ways of humans in general. Only her mother, and even then, there were things Gleam did not understand and never had the chance to ask.

She had questions, but she was still tired and in pain from everything that had happened, and when Lucian stood, taking her had to bring her to her feet, she followed suit. The bed, the softness of the feathered cover, the clinging of the cool sheets, felt really good to her this night, much more than sleeping on the ground would have. She had half thought that he would seek her for pleasure after he had marked her the way he had, but he seemed to know, to understand, that she still needed to accept what he had done and to push himself on her was not going to help with that.

She was alone when she awoke, a fact that she found more than disturbing. Something wasn't right. The cabin was dark, but Gleam's feline golden eyes could easily see into those shadows, and nothing moved. There was no sound, no movement, no fresh scent of Lucian, anywhere. She got to her feet, wincing as her left leg protested yet again for her moving a bit too fast. The jab of pain shot thru her, but Gleam all but ignored it. Where... was Lucian???

Instinct... pure instinct, kept her from calling out for him. Something was wrong.

She put her back to the wall as she began to move, the position defensive, until she got to the door. It was opened, again that put Gleam on the defensive. It was then she scented the Panther and the Cougar. Agitated, both of them were, it hung heavy in the air, at least to her. She stayed silent, and after determining the wind direction, she began to slink into the night air that surrounded the cabin, careful to stay downwind of the 2 Feline Males. She scented Lucian, a moment later, he too as agitated as the other two, only moreso. Their voices drifted to her a second later, carried on that soft night breeze...

"Go on, Lucian. Tell us how you were forced to brand, Gleam."

"We're being made to appear in Ellington."

"So what." Both ferals snapped the words at the same time, creating a reverberating effect that caused even Lucian to flinch.

"There's a good chance I won't be coming back."

That stopped Gleam in her tracks. She was closer now, and could see Lucian from behind him. Harlan was lost in the darkness, but his strong scent told her where he was, same with Jakob, only he was closer to Lucian and that made Gleam more than nervous. Her own back was up now. If either made a move.....

"There's a good chance I won't be coming back."

What the hell did he mean by that? Was the Duke going to kill Lucian? Just because of..... HER????? Her face lost all color at that thought.

"Perhaps that's for the best."

"My death? Perhaps. Though now at least, Gleam won't be sent to the zoo for breeding. She certainly won't have to endure the Duke's flaunting her to every socialite who wishes to kiss his pampered ass."

Jakob snarled the second he had invoked her name. Though surprisingly it was Harlan that caught on first.....emerald eyes widening in the darkness.

"That might not work, Lucian. She could be killed too. Marking her might not be enough?"

"What are you talking about, Harlan? He BRANDED HER!"

"He was going to take her. What was he threatening you with, Lucian?"

The cougar's fang filled jaw slammed shut, glancing first at his dark counterpart, and then at the human.....still waiting to be filled in on what he was missing, yet strangely alarmed at just how quickly Harlan's fury had subsided into something much more disturbing.

"He's going to try and cede this land into his own territory if I don't follow his stupid law and bring Gleam before him."

Amber and green eyes widened, and the air was filled with an aggravated, alarmed hiss as both men considered their treatment should they no longer be considered free anymore......

"That...cannot come to pass."

"FUCKING BASTARD! HASN'T HE CAUSED ENOUGH PAIN!"

"Gleam said if she were taken, she'd try and kill him."

That calmed Jakob's fury once more, his head spinning from a sudden overload of his volatile emotions.

"No...no, she can't do that. Even if she succeeded, their king....the human king would hunt her down and hang her head from his walls. No...NO....that can't happen."

Lucian simply nodded, as did Harlan, the panther long ago having finally understood the true grimness of the situation.

"And now it won't."

Gleam stepped back at hearing all this. How.... had it come to this. She was a threat to everyone who lived here... All because of her, Lucian could lose his home, his land, his .... life... yet, instead of ridding himself of her to keep all those things safe, instead he branded her with HIS initials and symbol, so ALL would know that she belonged to him... and only him. WHY??? It made no sense to Gleam suddenly. The talk of a mate, his admiration for her wildness, sure that was all well and good, but this was his home, his land, his LIFE that was suddenly on the line.

She did not hear the rest.. She could not... The Tigress retreated back to the cabin. For a moment, a brief moment, she thought about running. About just going to the Duke herself and sparing Lucian and the others any pain, but she carried his brand now, she could not.

She paced then, back and forth, completely at a loss as to what to do, to keep Luican and the others safe. That was where he found her when he returned, pacing, thinking, talking to herself. When she heard him approaching she tried to cease, but could not, her nerves a jangled mess. When he came in, she stopped her pacing, but she did not approach him... She was shaking, arms wrapping about herself.

"I.. I should go... go from this place.... away from you, and the others, then... then you will be safe... you, Harlan, Jakob, Suru.. the Stag... what if, what if he comes here because of me... Master Lucian... what if he takes away everything you have worked for, what if he... kills you?????" that made her growl, because sure as the sun rose and set, if he did, she would kill him, even it she died doing it. It was that simple.