Chapter 8
More time passed. Finally Z’sharan sat up and slid away, and Lord Avhonari felt some regret as he left that hot, tight space at last. The wereleopard crouched by his side and helped him to sit up. He felt feeble like an old man, his body completely drained and totally sated. “I think that I need a bath,” Lord Avhonari noted rather ruefully. He was covered with sweat, Z’sharan’s near-colorless semen, and a certain amount of grime from rolling around on the rug naked. “Would you mind if I had it sent here? I don’t think I’ll be able to walk to my own room for a little while yet.”
Z’sharan shrugged. “I would like to take a bath as well,” he replied. “Unlike real leopards, our tongues aren’t long enough - nor are we quite flexible enough – to be able to clean ourselves that way. We have some hidden hot springs in my lands where we go to bathe often. We like hot water.”
“Excellent,” Lord Avhonari fumbled after his robes, although he grimaced at the thought of putting them back on before he’d bathed. But there was no hope for it – he didn’t want to summon a servant while he was naked, though they were sure to figure out what was going on when he made the request to have the bath brought to Z’sharan’s room instead of his own. Still, what did it matter? His nephew already knew about he and Z’sharan’s physical relationship – did it matter if the servants knew as well? As long as none of them discovered what Z’sharan truly was…
With that in mind, he turned to look at Z’sharan. “Please wrap yourself in a blanket, Z’sharan,” he told the wereleopard. “There are parts of you that I don’t want my servants to see naked, since they rather give your true nature away. If any of them look closely…”
The wereleopard nodded and padded over to the bed to crawl into it. He cocooned himself in the blankets as Lord Avhonari went to yank the bell pull and summon a servant to bring a bath to Z’sharan’s room that was big enough to fit two people.
The servants were clearly surprised, but most of them looked rather pleased as well to see that their Lord(who was well liked among his staff for being fair and kind) had taken a lover. Lord Avhonari was far too often celibate, it wasn’t natural. They carried in the big tub and filled it with both hot and cold water, then stacked towels and bathing salts next to it and left with bows or curtsies.
Lord Avhonari shed his robes again and looked over his shoulder at Z’sharan. “Please come and join me,” he told the wereleopard.
Z’sharan crawled off the bed and came over to climb into the tub. He just fit in between the human nobleman’s legs. Lord Avhonari found that he quite liked having Z’sharan nestled up against him, and put his arms around the wereleopard naturally. He picked up a sponge and began to clean that gorgeous, perfect skin, causing more of that lovely purring. While he loved the sound, he also frowned a bit. “You must be careful who you make that sound around, Z’sharan,” he cautioned his new lover. “If anyone but myself hears that purring they’ll know that you’re not a normal human. It would only be a few steps from that to knowing what you are, and my nephew may be many things but he is not stupid.”
“I will try not to do it,” Z’sharan replied ruefully, “But it is not easy. When I am happy it happens naturally.”
It pleased Lord Avhonari to hear that Z’sharan was happy. He sighed. “I understand. We will simply have to spend much of our time closed up in my study away from his prying eyes. He believes that we are working on a scholarly book together anyway, which is close to the truth. That will give us a good excuse to dodge him as often as possible. He will not be happy about that, but he already isn’t anyway because we’re lovers. We have to be careful of his jealousy, Z’sharan. He can be very dangerous.”
Lord Avhonari groaned, his fingers digging into Z’Sharan’s slim hips a little. The wereleopard cried out, lifting his ass to meet each of the human nobleman’s thrusts. He was lying across Lord Avhonari’s desk, his claws scoring the wood. His back arched as his human lover drove into him steadily. Both of them could feel the nearness of their climaxes, and Lord Avhonari reached down to fumble blindly between the wereleopard’s legs. He found Z’Sharan’s cock and grasped it, stroking the curved length with his fingers. A yowling wail broke from the wereleopard’s throat, and he convulsed as he succumbed to his orgasm. He shuddered, and Lord Avhonari groaned as he found his own end inside of his spotted beauty. There was silence in the study except for the sound of their panting breaths. Lord Avhonari leaned over and lapped at Z’Sharan’s shoulder, tasting the salt of his sweat on the perfect sleek skin. The wereleopard was purring loudly now, and the sound enchanted him just as it did every time that they coupled together.
He could have remained inside of Z’Sharan all day, just enjoying the afterglow. But unfortunately he couldn’t. The two of them were supposed to be deep in their ‘scholarly research’, and even though his nephew Traggen knew the truth about their relationship it was best that they actually did get some work done. Traggen was already angry and jealous. No need to stoke his anger any further. Otherwise he might set out to destroy his uncle’s love affair out of pure spite, and Lord Avhonari couldn’t afford to have him looking too closely into the nature of the ‘foreign visitor’; Z’Sharan. He withdrew from the soft, warm tightness of Z’Sharan’s sleek body with a long-suffering sigh. He reached for his robes, which were flung over a nearby chair. “I‘m afraid,” he said hoarsely, “That we should continue with the histories of your people, Z’Sharan. We can couple again later.”
The wereleopard sighed, shaking himself a bit as he straightened up. The sight of his seed leaking down the beautiful creature’s thighs almost made Lord Avhonari change his mind. His mouth went dry with lust at the sexy vision. The golden eyes looked gravely up into his. “Is it because of the cub?” he asked.
Lord Avhonari sighed. “I’m afraid so. Traggen is sulking and avoiding me for the moment, but at any time he could decide to stick his nose into my affairs. As I told you before, he is a sly, petty creature who would stop at nothing to destroy my happiness. And he would take great glee in turning you in to the King if he learned about your unique nature.”
Z’Sharan blinked. “You should discipline him,” he said. Lord Avhonari scrubbed at his face with his hand.
“I’m afraid it’s a bit too late for that. I should have done it when he was a child, but my sister insisted on coddling and spoiling him. And this is the result. He is a spoiled, petulant child still. I despair of him.”
“It is always a sadness when a cub turns out badly,” Z’Sharan’s remarked.
“Indeed. Here,” the human nobleman handed his lover a cloth to wipe himself up with. “But let’s not talk of him anymore. We have much more interesting things to discuss, like the story you were telling me of the shaman who carved the Sky Spirit’s name into his flesh as an act of worship.”
Z’Sharan wiped himself clean and got dressed in the clothing that Lord Avhonari had had made for him. The human nobleman went to fetch pen and paper so that he could record what the wereleopard told him. They settled into the chairs on either side of the desk, and as he began to listen and write Lord Avhonari mused that this was ALMOST as good as getting to couple with Z’Sharan. Almost.
Traggen lounged on a settee, staring with lidded eyes across the smoke-filled room. Pretty boys wearing the bare minimum of clothing circulated through the room, some serving food and drinks on silver trays while others played musical instruments or attended to the other needs of the wealthy men gathered in the parlor. One boy was sitting in the lap of an older man, who smirked as he ran his hands over the beauty’s glossy pale skin. The boy giggled and squirmed his bottom, making the older man gasp. Soon they’d be heading upstairs to get a room together. Traggen snorted in disgust. It wasn’t that he didn’t like this particular brothel…he did. Very much. The prostitutes were all young and beautiful, just as he liked them. One of his favorites was free, too, a delicate blonde with green eyes and an innocent face that hid a wildly kinky and inventive mind. He was sashaying toward Traggen right at this moment, in fact. All he had to do was drag the beauty upstairs and his day would be set. And yet…
He couldn’t get his mind off of the ‘scholar’ living in his uncle’s house. The one currently sleeping with said uncle. What a beauty! So exotic, with those amazing golden eyes and the odd cast to his features. There was something familiar about that cast, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on…this Z’Sharan reminded him of someone. He frowned over this thought, but in the two days since he’d walked in on his uncle kissing the foreign man, he hadn’t been able to think what it was that was so familiar about Z’Sharan. And that bothered him almost as much as the fact that the foreign beauty had referred to him as a ‘cub’, and clearly preferred his stodgy older relative over him.
That infuriated him to no end. How could such a spectacular creature prefer Lord Avhonari? It was true that he had money and power, perhaps that was it. And he was rather handsome, in a rigidly disapproving sort of way. But he was so boring! So uptight! So morally prosy! His uncle had no idea how to have fun. None whatsoever. Traggen was bitterest of all not only because he’d been rejected in favor of his uncle, but because Z’Sharan had looked at him rather like something that the foreigner had scraped off of his slipper. Like he was dirt, not good enough for some measly foreigner who liked musty old books and mewing himself up in libraries. That was like a burr under his skin. Traggen was used to men fawning over him, not looking at him like he was an ill-tempered child in need of a good hiding with a belt. He would find a way to get even, Traggen decided as the blonde beauty sauntered toward him. No matter what it took. He would get even with both Z’Sharan and his uncle alike. There had to be something he could do. Some way to hurt both men. He’d start looking in the morning, but for now…he reached out and grabbed the wrist of the blonde.
"Hello, wondrous creature,” he crooned as he dragged the prostitute onto his lap. “Have you missed me?”
The blonde wound his arms around Traggen’s neck. “Of course I have, Traggen,” he purred. “Where have you been all this time?”
“I’ve been a prisoner on my mother’s estates,” Traggen replied with a grimace as he ran a hand down the boy’s half-naked torso appreciatively.
“That’s too bad. I got lonely.” The blonde straddled his lap and came in for a kiss, which Traggen returned with enthusiasm. For a short time his humiliation at the hands of his uncle and his uncle’s guest would be forgotten.
Lord Avhonari and Z’Sharan entered the walled garden together. The human nobleman shut the gates behind them, then turned to his lover. “We should go further into the garden, away from all prying eyes,” he told the wereleopard. Z’Sharan nodded. He paved beside Lord Avhonari as they made their way into the heart of the walled garden, to the place where the little pool of fish was. When they reached it, Lord Avhonari waved a hand at a bench. “I’ll sit here,” he said. Z’Sharan waited until he sat down, then began to remove his clothing. Lord Avhonari looked appreciatively at the wereleopard’s nakedness, marveling once more at his beauty.
Z’Sharan turned to look at him. “I will show you something that no other outsider has ever seen,” he said gravely.
“I am honored and humbled,” Lord Avhonari replied quietly. “That you have chosen to show me this.”
Z’Sharan nodded, then closed his eyes. His hands flexed, the claws curling and uncurling. He took a deep breath – and Changed. Lord Avhonari gasped as his lover’s skin rippled, and things moved underneath the surface as the muscles and bones reconfigured themselves.. Z’Sharan’s nose and mouth pushed outward to form a short snout, and fur began to sprout out of his pores. His hands widened as his fingers shrank, and soon his hands were paws. He fell forward on all fours, and a tail grew out of the base of his spine. It twitched and twined in the air as Z’Sharan completed the transformation. Then, where a humanoid figure had stood, a gorgeous leopard blinked its golden eyes at the human nobleman instead.
It was breath-taking. Astonishing. The most amazing thing he’d ever seen. Lord Avhonari stared at the splendid beast, who padded over toward him slowly. Z’Sharan sniffed at his knee, then licked at one of Lord Avhonari’s hands with his rough tongue. The human put out a hand and stroked the glossy fur of the leopard’s head. “Tell me…Can you understand me in this form? Nod your head a bit if you can,” he said.
The leopard’s head dipped in a brief nod. “Marvelous,” Lord Avhonari breathed. “Truly you are a most fascinating and amazing creature, Z’Sharan. To be able to assume such a form – I’ll admit it makes me a little jealous,” he said with a crooked smile. “I, too, wish that I could transform in this way.”
The big spotted cat snorted and butted his head against Lord Avhonari’s hand. Then he laid his head on the human’s lap, looking at him out of those gem-like golden eyes. Lord Avhonari petted him, running a hand over the small ears and scratching at the base of them to make the leopard purr for him. It was a beautiful summer day, and Lord Avhonari was content. What other man could say that he’d spent the day with a person who could turn into a leopard? He was lucky and completely blessed. He sent a prayer of thanks to the Gods for sending him Z’Sharan, even if it was only for a little while. Soon enough the wereleopard would have to return to his home and his own people, but until that day arrived Lord Avhonari intended to enjoy himself and his time with Z’Sharan to the fullest.
Silence descended for awhile, with only the sound of Z’Sharan’s soft purring to break it. Lord Avhonari knew that there were other things he should be doing, but he just didn’t care. His work would still be there when he returned from this little idyllic interlude. He felt too lazy to care about politics or the state of the Kingdom right now anyway. He pulled gently at the leopard’s whiskers, making Z’Sharan chuff and mouth at his fingers. He laughed. “I promise not to pull them out,” he teased.
The leopard gave him a LOOK, which made him chuckle. “How eloquent you are even when you can’t speak with your mouth, Z’Sharan,” he remarked.
The wereleopard sniffed, then padded away to peer into the pond. Lord Avhonari watched him as he cautiously dipped a paw into the water and began to fish, finally pulling up a fat morsel that flopped in his grip. He began to eat it with relish. The human shook his head. He couldn’t imagine wanting to eat raw fish. Still, Z’Sharan seemed to be enjoying it. His tail flapped idly against the ground as he tore a big hunk off the fish and devoured it whole. He was so very beautiful. In either form, in fact. The grace and deadly beauty of the big cat mesmerized him. Lord Avhonari felt another spurt of wistfulness run through him. How he wished that Z’Sharan could stay here in his home, keeping him company and warming his bed. But that was a selfish wish, and one he knew he couldn’t try to make come true. It would endanger Z’Sharan to stay here for too long, for someone was bound to wonder eventually about the little foreigner’s odd nature and appearance. Lord Avhonari would never do anything that would cause harm to fall on his lover. Even if it meant letting Z’Sharan go, he would do what was best for the wereleopard. He wanted Z’Sharan to be safe and happy. And he would be, once he returned to the jungle that was his real home.
Lord Avhonari silently cursed Traggen's timing in showing up at his house. If his nephew hadn’t arrived, he probably could have gotten away with keeping Z’Sharan for a few months. But now that Traggen was on the warpath, that time had been cut in half. Soon he’d have to schedule his ‘vacation’ and leave for foreign lands with his visitor, taking Z’Sharan back to where he’d originally come from. Soon he’d have to give up the one person he’d found who made him happy without any strings or expectations attached. Soon. But not now, and for now he was going to enjoy wheat time he had left with Z’Sharan.
The wereleopard returned to him, licking blood off of his lips in a self-satisfied manner. Lord Avhonari laughed at him. “I’m glad that the decorative fish in that pond please you so much,” he told Z’Sharan. “Although something tells me that if you continue to prowl this garden at night I might not have any left. Hmm?” and he ran a hand over Z’Sharan’s head once more.
Z’Sharan plopped down beside him at his feet, lounging there in a graceful sprawl. His eyes went half-lidded in contentment. He was so like a domestic cat that had had a particularly juicy mouse for lunch that it made Lord Avhonari’s lips twitch. He reached down to stroke the wereleopard’s spine, causing more purring. His fingers traced the spots that littered the amber-colored coat. A tail thumped his leg, and he caught it up and stroked the rather fluffy black tip. How soft it was. He ran it over his cheek. Z’Sharan gave a little growl, not of annoyance but rather like a laugh. Lord Avhonari grinned a bit as he realized that was exactly what it was – the leopard equivalent of a chuckle. “I’m so glad that I amuse you,” he told Z’Sharan mock-sternly.
The wereleopard chuffed again and twitched his ear. He bit lightly at the human’s finger, a love bite that barely dented the skin. In retaliation, Lord Avhonari tapped the end of his nose. Z’Sharan’s golden eyes nearly crossed as he tried to look at that finger. He looked rather indignant, a peculiar expression on his furry face. The human laughed. “Ah, Z’Sharan,” he said as he cupped the big beast’s chin in his hand. “How glad I am that I got to meet you, even though you were in such a dire situation. I think that my life shall never quite be the same,” he said in a rather melancholy voice. Z’Sharan butted his knee with his head, then laid it in his lap again comfortingly. Human and wereleopard remained that way for some time, both drawing comfort from the presence of the other.
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More time passed. Finally Z’sharan sat up and slid away, and Lord Avhonari felt some regret as he left that hot, tight space at last. The wereleopard crouched by his side and helped him to sit up. He felt feeble like an old man, his body completely drained and totally sated. “I think that I need a bath,” Lord Avhonari noted rather ruefully. He was covered with sweat, Z’sharan’s near-colorless semen, and a certain amount of grime from rolling around on the rug naked. “Would you mind if I had it sent here? I don’t think I’ll be able to walk to my own room for a little while yet.”
Z’sharan shrugged. “I would like to take a bath as well,” he replied. “Unlike real leopards, our tongues aren’t long enough - nor are we quite flexible enough – to be able to clean ourselves that way. We have some hidden hot springs in my lands where we go to bathe often. We like hot water.”
“Excellent,” Lord Avhonari fumbled after his robes, although he grimaced at the thought of putting them back on before he’d bathed. But there was no hope for it – he didn’t want to summon a servant while he was naked, though they were sure to figure out what was going on when he made the request to have the bath brought to Z’sharan’s room instead of his own. Still, what did it matter? His nephew already knew about he and Z’sharan’s physical relationship – did it matter if the servants knew as well? As long as none of them discovered what Z’sharan truly was…
With that in mind, he turned to look at Z’sharan. “Please wrap yourself in a blanket, Z’sharan,” he told the wereleopard. “There are parts of you that I don’t want my servants to see naked, since they rather give your true nature away. If any of them look closely…”
The wereleopard nodded and padded over to the bed to crawl into it. He cocooned himself in the blankets as Lord Avhonari went to yank the bell pull and summon a servant to bring a bath to Z’sharan’s room that was big enough to fit two people.
The servants were clearly surprised, but most of them looked rather pleased as well to see that their Lord(who was well liked among his staff for being fair and kind) had taken a lover. Lord Avhonari was far too often celibate, it wasn’t natural. They carried in the big tub and filled it with both hot and cold water, then stacked towels and bathing salts next to it and left with bows or curtsies.
Lord Avhonari shed his robes again and looked over his shoulder at Z’sharan. “Please come and join me,” he told the wereleopard.
Z’sharan crawled off the bed and came over to climb into the tub. He just fit in between the human nobleman’s legs. Lord Avhonari found that he quite liked having Z’sharan nestled up against him, and put his arms around the wereleopard naturally. He picked up a sponge and began to clean that gorgeous, perfect skin, causing more of that lovely purring. While he loved the sound, he also frowned a bit. “You must be careful who you make that sound around, Z’sharan,” he cautioned his new lover. “If anyone but myself hears that purring they’ll know that you’re not a normal human. It would only be a few steps from that to knowing what you are, and my nephew may be many things but he is not stupid.”
“I will try not to do it,” Z’sharan replied ruefully, “But it is not easy. When I am happy it happens naturally.”
It pleased Lord Avhonari to hear that Z’sharan was happy. He sighed. “I understand. We will simply have to spend much of our time closed up in my study away from his prying eyes. He believes that we are working on a scholarly book together anyway, which is close to the truth. That will give us a good excuse to dodge him as often as possible. He will not be happy about that, but he already isn’t anyway because we’re lovers. We have to be careful of his jealousy, Z’sharan. He can be very dangerous.”
Lord Avhonari groaned, his fingers digging into Z’Sharan’s slim hips a little. The wereleopard cried out, lifting his ass to meet each of the human nobleman’s thrusts. He was lying across Lord Avhonari’s desk, his claws scoring the wood. His back arched as his human lover drove into him steadily. Both of them could feel the nearness of their climaxes, and Lord Avhonari reached down to fumble blindly between the wereleopard’s legs. He found Z’Sharan’s cock and grasped it, stroking the curved length with his fingers. A yowling wail broke from the wereleopard’s throat, and he convulsed as he succumbed to his orgasm. He shuddered, and Lord Avhonari groaned as he found his own end inside of his spotted beauty. There was silence in the study except for the sound of their panting breaths. Lord Avhonari leaned over and lapped at Z’Sharan’s shoulder, tasting the salt of his sweat on the perfect sleek skin. The wereleopard was purring loudly now, and the sound enchanted him just as it did every time that they coupled together.
He could have remained inside of Z’Sharan all day, just enjoying the afterglow. But unfortunately he couldn’t. The two of them were supposed to be deep in their ‘scholarly research’, and even though his nephew Traggen knew the truth about their relationship it was best that they actually did get some work done. Traggen was already angry and jealous. No need to stoke his anger any further. Otherwise he might set out to destroy his uncle’s love affair out of pure spite, and Lord Avhonari couldn’t afford to have him looking too closely into the nature of the ‘foreign visitor’; Z’Sharan. He withdrew from the soft, warm tightness of Z’Sharan’s sleek body with a long-suffering sigh. He reached for his robes, which were flung over a nearby chair. “I‘m afraid,” he said hoarsely, “That we should continue with the histories of your people, Z’Sharan. We can couple again later.”
The wereleopard sighed, shaking himself a bit as he straightened up. The sight of his seed leaking down the beautiful creature’s thighs almost made Lord Avhonari change his mind. His mouth went dry with lust at the sexy vision. The golden eyes looked gravely up into his. “Is it because of the cub?” he asked.
Lord Avhonari sighed. “I’m afraid so. Traggen is sulking and avoiding me for the moment, but at any time he could decide to stick his nose into my affairs. As I told you before, he is a sly, petty creature who would stop at nothing to destroy my happiness. And he would take great glee in turning you in to the King if he learned about your unique nature.”
Z’Sharan blinked. “You should discipline him,” he said. Lord Avhonari scrubbed at his face with his hand.
“I’m afraid it’s a bit too late for that. I should have done it when he was a child, but my sister insisted on coddling and spoiling him. And this is the result. He is a spoiled, petulant child still. I despair of him.”
“It is always a sadness when a cub turns out badly,” Z’Sharan’s remarked.
“Indeed. Here,” the human nobleman handed his lover a cloth to wipe himself up with. “But let’s not talk of him anymore. We have much more interesting things to discuss, like the story you were telling me of the shaman who carved the Sky Spirit’s name into his flesh as an act of worship.”
Z’Sharan wiped himself clean and got dressed in the clothing that Lord Avhonari had had made for him. The human nobleman went to fetch pen and paper so that he could record what the wereleopard told him. They settled into the chairs on either side of the desk, and as he began to listen and write Lord Avhonari mused that this was ALMOST as good as getting to couple with Z’Sharan. Almost.
Traggen lounged on a settee, staring with lidded eyes across the smoke-filled room. Pretty boys wearing the bare minimum of clothing circulated through the room, some serving food and drinks on silver trays while others played musical instruments or attended to the other needs of the wealthy men gathered in the parlor. One boy was sitting in the lap of an older man, who smirked as he ran his hands over the beauty’s glossy pale skin. The boy giggled and squirmed his bottom, making the older man gasp. Soon they’d be heading upstairs to get a room together. Traggen snorted in disgust. It wasn’t that he didn’t like this particular brothel…he did. Very much. The prostitutes were all young and beautiful, just as he liked them. One of his favorites was free, too, a delicate blonde with green eyes and an innocent face that hid a wildly kinky and inventive mind. He was sashaying toward Traggen right at this moment, in fact. All he had to do was drag the beauty upstairs and his day would be set. And yet…
He couldn’t get his mind off of the ‘scholar’ living in his uncle’s house. The one currently sleeping with said uncle. What a beauty! So exotic, with those amazing golden eyes and the odd cast to his features. There was something familiar about that cast, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on…this Z’Sharan reminded him of someone. He frowned over this thought, but in the two days since he’d walked in on his uncle kissing the foreign man, he hadn’t been able to think what it was that was so familiar about Z’Sharan. And that bothered him almost as much as the fact that the foreign beauty had referred to him as a ‘cub’, and clearly preferred his stodgy older relative over him.
That infuriated him to no end. How could such a spectacular creature prefer Lord Avhonari? It was true that he had money and power, perhaps that was it. And he was rather handsome, in a rigidly disapproving sort of way. But he was so boring! So uptight! So morally prosy! His uncle had no idea how to have fun. None whatsoever. Traggen was bitterest of all not only because he’d been rejected in favor of his uncle, but because Z’Sharan had looked at him rather like something that the foreigner had scraped off of his slipper. Like he was dirt, not good enough for some measly foreigner who liked musty old books and mewing himself up in libraries. That was like a burr under his skin. Traggen was used to men fawning over him, not looking at him like he was an ill-tempered child in need of a good hiding with a belt. He would find a way to get even, Traggen decided as the blonde beauty sauntered toward him. No matter what it took. He would get even with both Z’Sharan and his uncle alike. There had to be something he could do. Some way to hurt both men. He’d start looking in the morning, but for now…he reached out and grabbed the wrist of the blonde.
"Hello, wondrous creature,” he crooned as he dragged the prostitute onto his lap. “Have you missed me?”
The blonde wound his arms around Traggen’s neck. “Of course I have, Traggen,” he purred. “Where have you been all this time?”
“I’ve been a prisoner on my mother’s estates,” Traggen replied with a grimace as he ran a hand down the boy’s half-naked torso appreciatively.
“That’s too bad. I got lonely.” The blonde straddled his lap and came in for a kiss, which Traggen returned with enthusiasm. For a short time his humiliation at the hands of his uncle and his uncle’s guest would be forgotten.
Lord Avhonari and Z’Sharan entered the walled garden together. The human nobleman shut the gates behind them, then turned to his lover. “We should go further into the garden, away from all prying eyes,” he told the wereleopard. Z’Sharan nodded. He paved beside Lord Avhonari as they made their way into the heart of the walled garden, to the place where the little pool of fish was. When they reached it, Lord Avhonari waved a hand at a bench. “I’ll sit here,” he said. Z’Sharan waited until he sat down, then began to remove his clothing. Lord Avhonari looked appreciatively at the wereleopard’s nakedness, marveling once more at his beauty.
Z’Sharan turned to look at him. “I will show you something that no other outsider has ever seen,” he said gravely.
“I am honored and humbled,” Lord Avhonari replied quietly. “That you have chosen to show me this.”
Z’Sharan nodded, then closed his eyes. His hands flexed, the claws curling and uncurling. He took a deep breath – and Changed. Lord Avhonari gasped as his lover’s skin rippled, and things moved underneath the surface as the muscles and bones reconfigured themselves.. Z’Sharan’s nose and mouth pushed outward to form a short snout, and fur began to sprout out of his pores. His hands widened as his fingers shrank, and soon his hands were paws. He fell forward on all fours, and a tail grew out of the base of his spine. It twitched and twined in the air as Z’Sharan completed the transformation. Then, where a humanoid figure had stood, a gorgeous leopard blinked its golden eyes at the human nobleman instead.
It was breath-taking. Astonishing. The most amazing thing he’d ever seen. Lord Avhonari stared at the splendid beast, who padded over toward him slowly. Z’Sharan sniffed at his knee, then licked at one of Lord Avhonari’s hands with his rough tongue. The human put out a hand and stroked the glossy fur of the leopard’s head. “Tell me…Can you understand me in this form? Nod your head a bit if you can,” he said.
The leopard’s head dipped in a brief nod. “Marvelous,” Lord Avhonari breathed. “Truly you are a most fascinating and amazing creature, Z’Sharan. To be able to assume such a form – I’ll admit it makes me a little jealous,” he said with a crooked smile. “I, too, wish that I could transform in this way.”
The big spotted cat snorted and butted his head against Lord Avhonari’s hand. Then he laid his head on the human’s lap, looking at him out of those gem-like golden eyes. Lord Avhonari petted him, running a hand over the small ears and scratching at the base of them to make the leopard purr for him. It was a beautiful summer day, and Lord Avhonari was content. What other man could say that he’d spent the day with a person who could turn into a leopard? He was lucky and completely blessed. He sent a prayer of thanks to the Gods for sending him Z’Sharan, even if it was only for a little while. Soon enough the wereleopard would have to return to his home and his own people, but until that day arrived Lord Avhonari intended to enjoy himself and his time with Z’Sharan to the fullest.
Silence descended for awhile, with only the sound of Z’Sharan’s soft purring to break it. Lord Avhonari knew that there were other things he should be doing, but he just didn’t care. His work would still be there when he returned from this little idyllic interlude. He felt too lazy to care about politics or the state of the Kingdom right now anyway. He pulled gently at the leopard’s whiskers, making Z’Sharan chuff and mouth at his fingers. He laughed. “I promise not to pull them out,” he teased.
The leopard gave him a LOOK, which made him chuckle. “How eloquent you are even when you can’t speak with your mouth, Z’Sharan,” he remarked.
The wereleopard sniffed, then padded away to peer into the pond. Lord Avhonari watched him as he cautiously dipped a paw into the water and began to fish, finally pulling up a fat morsel that flopped in his grip. He began to eat it with relish. The human shook his head. He couldn’t imagine wanting to eat raw fish. Still, Z’Sharan seemed to be enjoying it. His tail flapped idly against the ground as he tore a big hunk off the fish and devoured it whole. He was so very beautiful. In either form, in fact. The grace and deadly beauty of the big cat mesmerized him. Lord Avhonari felt another spurt of wistfulness run through him. How he wished that Z’Sharan could stay here in his home, keeping him company and warming his bed. But that was a selfish wish, and one he knew he couldn’t try to make come true. It would endanger Z’Sharan to stay here for too long, for someone was bound to wonder eventually about the little foreigner’s odd nature and appearance. Lord Avhonari would never do anything that would cause harm to fall on his lover. Even if it meant letting Z’Sharan go, he would do what was best for the wereleopard. He wanted Z’Sharan to be safe and happy. And he would be, once he returned to the jungle that was his real home.
Lord Avhonari silently cursed Traggen's timing in showing up at his house. If his nephew hadn’t arrived, he probably could have gotten away with keeping Z’Sharan for a few months. But now that Traggen was on the warpath, that time had been cut in half. Soon he’d have to schedule his ‘vacation’ and leave for foreign lands with his visitor, taking Z’Sharan back to where he’d originally come from. Soon he’d have to give up the one person he’d found who made him happy without any strings or expectations attached. Soon. But not now, and for now he was going to enjoy wheat time he had left with Z’Sharan.
The wereleopard returned to him, licking blood off of his lips in a self-satisfied manner. Lord Avhonari laughed at him. “I’m glad that the decorative fish in that pond please you so much,” he told Z’Sharan. “Although something tells me that if you continue to prowl this garden at night I might not have any left. Hmm?” and he ran a hand over Z’Sharan’s head once more.
Z’Sharan plopped down beside him at his feet, lounging there in a graceful sprawl. His eyes went half-lidded in contentment. He was so like a domestic cat that had had a particularly juicy mouse for lunch that it made Lord Avhonari’s lips twitch. He reached down to stroke the wereleopard’s spine, causing more purring. His fingers traced the spots that littered the amber-colored coat. A tail thumped his leg, and he caught it up and stroked the rather fluffy black tip. How soft it was. He ran it over his cheek. Z’Sharan gave a little growl, not of annoyance but rather like a laugh. Lord Avhonari grinned a bit as he realized that was exactly what it was – the leopard equivalent of a chuckle. “I’m so glad that I amuse you,” he told Z’Sharan mock-sternly.
The wereleopard chuffed again and twitched his ear. He bit lightly at the human’s finger, a love bite that barely dented the skin. In retaliation, Lord Avhonari tapped the end of his nose. Z’Sharan’s golden eyes nearly crossed as he tried to look at that finger. He looked rather indignant, a peculiar expression on his furry face. The human laughed. “Ah, Z’Sharan,” he said as he cupped the big beast’s chin in his hand. “How glad I am that I got to meet you, even though you were in such a dire situation. I think that my life shall never quite be the same,” he said in a rather melancholy voice. Z’Sharan butted his knee with his head, then laid it in his lap again comfortingly. Human and wereleopard remained that way for some time, both drawing comfort from the presence of the other.
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