((Contains material of an adult nature.))

Once the celebration was over, each of the four couples retired to their own suite, but it was Marissa who found herself still drawn outside, to the lights in the sky that were unique to this world and this place. Emrys had his arms around her, his hands protectively and possessively laid across the flat of her stomach beneath which their children were slowly growing. "It is beautiful here, isn't it?" Marissa mused aloud, content for now to just savor the moment.

"It truly is," he agreed softly, resting his cheek against her hair as they both looked out over the snow glittering beneath the dancing lights that lit up the sky. "Serene, and peaceful." A faint smile crossed his face as he considered his next words. "This may sound strange, but ....this view" This is almost as though what I feel when I'm with you has been painted on the world around us."

She arched a brow as she gave him a sidelong look, surprised and yet not so very surprised by his words. "That's lovely. I didn't know you were a poet," she told him with a soft smile, as she laid her hands against his and leaned back against him, savoring his closeness and his warmth.

"You make me a better man than I could ever have dreamed of being, Marissa," he murmured to her tenderly. "Just by loving me, you make me better. And I will be better still, every day, because I love you. I promise you, I will learn to eat with a knife and a fork. I will learn how to cook basic meals. I will build another bedroom and bathroom onto the cabin for our children. I will do anything and everything you need me to do, and an awful lot that you don't need done, because you are everything to me."

Marissa turned to face him, needing him to understand what she was about to say. "Emrys, my darling," she started, taking his hands in hers, a soft smile on her face, her eyes bright with happy tears. "It doesn't matter if you use a knife and fork or if you learn how to cook. Those things are not important. What is important is that I love you. You have made me so happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be. It's not because of the cabin or the pigs or our simple way of life. It's because of you. No matter where we live or what we do, I will always love you just for you. I cannot say it any plainer than that. You are everything to me, too, Emrys. Everything."

He smiled, drawing her close for a long, tender kiss. They still had their bumps, and there would be more of them over the years, but this, the core of what they shared, would never change. "You're still going to make me meet your matriarch though, aren't you?"

"Make you?" she echoed, chuckling. "You already passed the test. You met Rhiannon. I'm sure news of you will get back to Colleen. Besides, I had to meet Seren, didn't I?" she countered, looking amused at his worries and knowing they were unnecessary.

"Love, we both know Seren is about as intimidating as a drunk duck with a severe cold," he informed her laughingly. "The more I hear about Colleen, the more I feel like I'm supposed to have a job at the very least. But even if she hates me at first sight, she will never chase me away from you."

"A job?" Marissa echoed again, laughing at his worries, which were mostly unfounded. "You really don't understand, do you?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. She wasn't laughing at him exactly, only at the thought that he was so worried about something that really didn't matter.

"No ....no, I think it's quite clear that I really don't understand much at all," he chuckled with her, hugging her close. "But that's all right. You do the thinking, I do the other stuff."

Her expression sobered a moment, as she realized this was something she had never really explained. She didn't think it would make a difference between them, but he did have the right to know. "Emrys, I know I never told you this. I never thought it was very important, but ..." She paused a moment, that worried look on her face again, though in her heart, she knew there was nothing she could tell him that would make him love her any less. "My parents left me a sizable inheritance. There's no need to worry about money or jobs, but so long as you are with me, I am happy with a simple life."

His smile didn't falter once. "You know, I never worried about money or having a job before we met," he said thoughtfully. "I worried about it afterward, when we were still finding our way to each other. But somewhere along the way, I stopped worrying. I love our life together, and we could live it without a cent or a penny between us. I trust you, and no, I don't understand money or how it works or how much of it we use in a week, but I don't need to. We both have our own strengths, our own skills, and we compliment each other. So until you tell me I need to worry, I won't."

"Then we won't worry together," she told him, touching a soft kiss to his lips, as if to seal that promise. "And Collie will adore you, but don't expect to meet her anytime soon. I'm told she is away from Rhy'Din right now, and I do not know where she is or when she will return."

"Ah, so I will probably be able to hide behind a baby," he nodded sagely, kissing her once again. "Works for me." With a wink and a grin, he swayed with her under the northern lights, basking in her love. "Want to run with me a while?"

Her smile reappeared at his suggestion. While other couples might want to get cozy in bed and whisper sweet nothings, Marissa and Emrys never felt so alive as when they were running together beneath the moonlit sky. "I thought you'd never ask," she replied, stepping back so that she could shuck her clothing and let the wild tiger inside her be free.

He took a moment to stow her clothes inside, his own with them, and conceal the key to their igloo beneath the snow. Yet just moments later, the large wolf that had only truly been his since he had known her was bounding out across the snow, tail wagging wildly as he nudged his tigress affectionately. New land to explore, new scents to learn, and a mate who was everything he could ever have asked for, all rolled into one. Not bad for someone else's wedding day.

She wasted no time in shifting, even as he stowed their clothes. It was cold here, especially at night, but the tiger hardly noticed. When he returned, she answered his nudge with a chuff of recognition, proving that what they had said before proved true. It didn't matter if one was a cat and one was a wolf; the bond between them was one of the heart and the soul. She bounded after him, eager to explore, eager to run, eager to let the wild part of her heart free, so long as he was by her side.

Not far from there, another couple watched that same sky from the comfort of their bed, warm and soft with their love. Kisses were shared, bodies tangled together, as they gazed up at the wonders of the Northern Lights. "Penny for your thoughts?" Dorian asked as he held Seren close.

She laughed softly, nestling just that little bit closer in the tangle of sheets. One hand rose to belatedly unwind the sparkle from her hair before it grew so entangled it would have to be cut out. "Am I supposed to be thinking?" she asked him as she settled down again. "I thought I was supposed to be delirious with lust around about now. Why, are you thinking?"

"And here, I thought you were always thinking," Dorian teased, touching a kiss to her nose. Wasn't that the way it was with women" Not a moment went by when their wheels weren't turning on one thing or another. "I am thinking about how happy I am," he confessed with a grin.

"I might be," he shrugged, chuckling at the amusement in her eyes. With a sudden motion, he rolled her onto her back, fingers and lips creeping down over the well-loved curves and planes of her form. "Can't you imagine it?" he murmured, his breath warm against her skin. "Raising a new generation of Starlight players?"

He was distracting her with lips and fingers, kisses and caresses, making it difficult for her to focus on his words and their meaning. "Hmm' But Starlight is a traveling company, and the city already has the Shanachie," she pointed out. "So, what are you suggesting exactly, my love?"

"Who says that every actor has to perform in a theater?" Kit murmured, doing his damnedest to distract her even as he spoke. He was very good at it, too. "Best place to start, new show in every town or city. Worked for us."

"Yes, but none of us were ever formally trained," she pointed out, tilting her head so that he could have full access to her neck - or any part of her body he wanted really. Meanwhile, her fingers did some wandering of their own, down his back and up his sides, while she molded her body to fit his.

"And we were crap when we started," he laughed, raising his head to grin down at her. "Seriously. Have you ever heard anyone deliver Shakespeare the way I did those first years?" In a smooth motion, he sat up, pulling up up with him to straddle his thighs as he tucked her close. "We could give the touring company a fighting chance by sending them out ready to deliver a good performance. Take some of that stress away from their first professional shows."

"You were certainly unique," she replied, eeking a little as he pulled her up with him, her arms going around his neck, her legs around his waist as she settled herself as close as she could. Let him try talking coherently now, she thought with a grin. "You've done a lot of thinking about this," she said, as she pushed her hips against his, turning her head to nibble at his earlobe.

Kit let out a strangled groan as she slid just that little bit closer, ending the sound in a defeated chuckle as his teasing was turned around on him. "You want babies, do you?" he grinned back at her, bucking hard against her just to see what the reaction would be.

The bucking got a little whimper out of her, but only made her tighten her embrace, her fingernails raking his back as she practically purred into his ear. "I want your babies," she clarified, as she pushed him onto his back, straddling his hips and rocking back and forth in a steady rhythm.

"You'll have to take that up with my sperm," he informed her, dropping back with a low groan of delight. Quite how it had taken them this long to get here was anyone's guess, but now he had her, he was definitely not letting Delilah go.

"I'm pretty sure your sperm don't have much choice," she replied, tossing her hair back behind a shoulder as she leaned close, her lips almost brushing his. "What do you say, old man' Ready to settle down and be a father?" she asked, purposely tormenting him as much as he'd allow.

"Oh, there's life in the old dog yet," he laughed, surging up to knock her onto her back. "Shut up and let me screw you into oblivion, you unspeakable temptress, you."

She laughed as he finally took charge of the situation. No arguments there. "Yes, dear," she replied, grinning up at him and reaching for him to pull her down on top of her. Kit was one of the only people able to completed render Delilah speechless, but who really wanted to talk at a time like this" They might not have reached a final decision, but the door had been opened. They could discuss the details later, after they had worn each other out.

Laughter was never lacking in their relationship,; neither was enthusiasm. But it wasn't necessary for all encounters in relationships, and in the last glass-domed igloo, the last of the newly-wedded couples were lounging together in a nest of cushions, damp from a hot bath, sharing champagne and chocolate strawberries and simply enjoying one another's company.

Demi smiled as she sipped from her glass, reaching over to gently swipe a smudge of chocolate from Neville's lips. "Penny for your thoughts, husband?"

"A penny isn't worth much," Neville pointed out, wondering what thought he could share that was only worth a penny. "How about a silver?" he countered, touching a kiss to her fingers as she swiped the chocolate from his lips.

"How about a kiss?" she negotiated fondly, leaning closer to fulfill her end of the bargain with a tender touch of lips to lips. Neither of them were exactly dressed or undressed, making use of the hotel's complimentary bath-robes, but she'd never been uncomfortable about Neville. She didn't think it was going to start being uncomfortable now, just because she'd taken his name.

"A kiss?" he echoed. "If a kiss is worth a silver, what will a gold piece get me?" he asked with a grin. Neville had always been the more serious twin, even before he knew he had a twin, but there was something about Demi that brought out the playful side of him.

"Hmm ....a gold piece may well involve the girls making an appearance," she told him thoughtfully, breaking into a husky laugh at his playfulness. He had relaxed so much over the past year, and though he was still a little formal in public, he had definitely embraced her playful side whenever it came out to play.

"Oh, two for the price of one. Sounds like a bargain," he teased back. They'd already made love in the bath, but neither seemed unwilling to try again. He plucked up a chocolate-covered berry and offered her a bite, his gaze focusing on the soft lushness of her lips.

"Mm ..." Biting off a small mouthful from the berry, she blew him a kiss as she chewed, nestling close to look up at the electric patterns the lights painted over the dark sky above them. "You do realize you just offered to pay me for a look at my breasts, right?"

"What's yours is mine and mine is yours, so I'm really paying myself," he reasoned, knowing this line of conversation was silly, if nothing else. He slid an arm around her as she leaned into him, sighing with contentment. Part of him wondered what the others were doing, though the answer seemed obvious. He didn't really want to talk about them right now though. Of the four couples, he felt like the oddball of the bunch, only related through Dorian, but he was content here with Demi, and it was good to know they had family, even if they were an odd bunch.

"So does that make you the pimp or the prostitute?" she asked impishly, tilting her head back to share her grin with him as he sighed his contended sigh. "Oh gods ....now I can't stop myself imagining you in a hot pink zebra-skin top hat and frock coat!"

He laughed again at the image that brought up, flushing a little. "I think you have the wrong twin," he said, knowing Dorian was the flamboyant one. He was just plain old Neville, the cello player.

"Oh, I definitely don't have the wrong twin," she assured him, setting her glass down to curl her fingers through his hair. "I never had the wrong twin, even before we knew the other one existed. I always had the right man for the job, even if I scared him silly by saying I love you on the first date."

"You know," he started, dashing the tears from his face and sniffling hard. "When I found out Nellie couldn't have children, it almost broke my heart, but once the shock wore off, I realized it wasn't the end of the world. We could still adopt if we wanted, and we'd always have each other. We'd grow old together. And then, well, you know. I never thought I'd meet anyone else ....never thought I'd fall in love again. And then I met you. I don't know what the future holds for us, Demi, but I want to grow old with you. I want us to have a life together - a home, family - the whole thing. That's what this was all about, getting married, promising to always be there for each other. I honestly ....I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I know what you are. I know there's not much that can hurt you or take you from me. I want to grow old with you, Demi. I want us to have it all. I love you, and I don't want to be afraid anymore." It was a plea of sorts, though he was a little afraid even of what he was asking her for.

She kissed him softly, glad to finally hear him say all these things he had been holding back. Fear was her greatest enemy when it came to Neville, and somehow, some of those fears were finally subsiding. "You're not the only one who's afraid," she told him, a little tearful herself. "I can't really be hurt, but ....but you can. I could lose you, just like that, and it terrifies me. I want to protect you and I can't. I won't hold you back from living your life, and I have to accept the risk that life doesn't always last until grey hairs and old age. You will never lose me that way. But I might lose you, and it breaks my heart to know that."

Maybe it took tears and confessions to reach this point, to reach the decision he'd been avoiding for months. It wasn't just about being like the rest of them and not being the outsider anymore. It was, and had always been, about her, but until this very moment, he hadn't realized just how much she shared his deepest fears. "Okay," he said, nodding in understanding, and touching her cheek with gentle fingers to wipe away her tears. "Then do it. Make me like you, and we'll grow old together."

"Tonight?" She blinked in surprise, her own tears turning to almost disbelieving laughter at his very sudden certainty. "Are you sure" It's a big change, and it'll hurt, at least at first. But it is quicker than the wolf change. Cats do everything better." She couldn't help adding that, natural one-up-man-ship insisting that she get in a jab about lycans in general.

"I think we better do it before I change my mind," he admitted with a bit of a chuckle himself. It was fear that was holding him back, that had held him back for so long, but he wasn't as afraid of the change as he was of losing her or leaving her alone.

"All right." Gently, she drew back, pulling him over to the bed, easing him down to make himself comfortable. "You're going to pass out," she warned him. "But I'll be right here when you wake up, I promise. You'll see the world the way I do when you wake up." She kissed him, holding him close for a long moment. "Are you ready?"

He nodded his head again as he listened to all she was telling him, trusting her implicitly. After all, if he couldn't trust her, who could he trust. He savored her embrace for a long moment, his heart racing with mingled fear and anticipation and maybe just a little excitement. "I won't lie and tell you I'm not a little bit scared," he admitted. "But I'm as ready as I'll ever be." In fact, if he let this moment slip away again, he wasn't sure he'd ever gather the courage to let her do it again.

"The tiger adores you," she reassured him. "She's probably more excited about this than we are." She wished she could explain more clearly for him, but he'd know soon enough why she spoke about her animal half in the third person. With a last kiss, she eased back, shucking off her robe to shift without hesitation or embarrassment, easing from human to tiger with the familiar crackle and pop of bones realigning themselves.

When the white tiger was ready, she jumped up onto the bed with him, laving his cheek from chin to temple with a long lick of her tongue, the low rumble in her chest the closest she could get to a loving purr for his reassurance. Then, very gently, she took his forearm into her mouth, piercing blue eyes meeting his as she bit down, one heavy paw on his chest holding him down as she held on to let her saliva mingle with his blood. The taste of human blood was such a temptation ....but this was her mate. She could no more harm him than change the course of the stars in the sky, just the thought of it enough to cause her actual pain. Releasing his arm from her mouth, she licked at the wound, cleaning it as best she could, and settled down to wait, holding vigil over her mate through the long night ahead.

There was no way to prepare for what was about to happen, for what was happening. As terrified as Neville was of the change, of how it would feel and what he'd become, he had never feared the tiger. She was as much a part of the woman he loved as Demi herself, and he knew if he stopped her now, he might never gather enough courage to say yes again. It was now or never. Once it was done, it was done; there was no going back. Pale and trembling, he drew comfort from the knowledge that it was Demi's tiger who would change him, no one else. He grit his teeth against the pain as her teeth sank into his flesh, his fingers curling into her fur and holding on tightly as pain like fire shoot up his arm. Was this what it felt like for Dorian'

But Dorian had already been turned; Dorian was lycan, but Neville would be something else. His grip on her fur tightened as the infection worked its way through his body, altering his DNA. It was like every fiber of his being was burning away to be replaced with something else. He was biting his lip so hard he could taste his own blood, clinging to the last remnant of his humanity. After this, he realized, he would be human no more. It was the last thought that coursed through his mind before the agony became too much to bear and everything went dark.

As his body went limp beneath her, the tiger mewled in concern, turning her attention to licking fully at the wound she had inflicted, aiding its healing in her own way until the flesh was closed and no longer bleeding. Then she shifted back, and Demi took up her vigil over Neville as he endured the burning agony of that fundamental change in his very DNA. She changed the sheets underneath him, consigning the bloodied cloth to the laundry that would be collected the next day; she bathed his feverish skin with cool water. She stayed close to him throughout that long, long night, until the dancing lights retreated from the sky above them and finally she passed out herself, exhausted with loving concern, laying beneath the blanket at his side, her hand resting tenderly over his heart.

He was unaware of her tender ministrations that saw him through the night, the blackness of unconsciousness giving way to strange dreams full of teeth and claws and fur, as the tiger tried to imprint itself on his being. They weren't nightmares exactly, just strange dreams, like watching some foreign landscape from someone else's eyes. The nights were long here, and it wasn't until the first rays of morning chased the darkness away that he began to stir beside her. There were always some aches and pains upon awakening, his body stiff and slow to shed the bleariness of sleep, but when he at last managed to pry his eyes open, he found there wasn't so much as a minor ache.

He felt as vigorous as a young man again, and more alive than he'd ever felt in his entire life, but hungry. Starving, really. It took a moment or more before he remembered what had taken place the previous night - not the wedding, but what had come after. It hadn't just been some strange dream, then" He glanced at the arm where the tiger's teeth had sunk deep into his flesh and found no sign of a wound, not even so much as a scratch or a scar.

Beside him, his mate slept, dark hair spread over the pillow, smooth skin warm with slumber. Her fingers gently twitched against his chest as she sighed in her sleep, something beginning to stir in her, too, as he opened his eyes to his first morning as a tiger.

Well, at least she wasn't answering the door naked, Neville thought with a chuckle. Far more modest than she was, he was still in bed, beneath the covers, and determined to stay there until the girl left. The smell that was wafting his way was making his stomach growl with hunger, and he realized with further wonder that he could differentiate between the various dishes just by their smell, even mingled as they were.

Tipped more than generously for her service, the girl left giggling. Demi closed the door behind her, locking it tight, and turned back to Neville. "Well, come on then," she told her mate. "You did say you were hungry, didn't you?"

"I'm starving!" he confirmed with a grin. "Breakfast in bed?" he asked, unsure if she wanted to come back to bed or eat at the table. He felt like he could eat a horse or maybe a cow all by himself - literally.

She laughed, lifting two plates laden with sausages, bacon, and steak from the trolley left to them. "You look very comfortable there, I'd hate to put you out," she teased, laying the two plates down and skipping back for cutlery. "Go on, eat, I know you need to."

"I'm starving, but I can still wait for a knife and fork," he told her, even as he picked a sausage up in his fingers and devoured it, licking his fingers clean. "Why all the meat?" he asked, curiously, though he was making no complaints.

"Red meat is what a tiger lives on in the wild," she explained, crawling back onto the bed with him to take up a piece of bacon in her fingers and begin to eat herself. "It's the best way to recover some of that energy you've lost in the change. Whenever you have to heal something relatively major, red meat will always be your go-to meal afterward."

"I guess I've got a lot to learn," he admitted, wondering how much of being a tiger would be instinct and how much he'd actually have to learn. He took up a slice of bacon and took a bite, amazed to find that food even tasted different to him now. It was hard to explain, but it was almost as if becoming a tiger enhanced his senses so much that things like bacon and sausage tasted different, and he wondered why he'd never realized it before.

"A lot of it is instinct," she assured him, lounging on her side as she used a knife to cut her steak into four pieces. She wasn't usually so carefree when it came to eating, her habits at the table as fastidious as her bathroom habits, but this morning was a special case.

"And you'll teach me the rest?" he asked, though he already knew the answer to that question. She would not have changed him only to leave him to puzzle it all out for himself. "I feel so ....alive," he said, still in wonder of it all. "What happens now?" he asked, though she'd told him a little.

"Of course I will," she promised confidently, licking juices from her fingers. The meal was disappearing faster than she had expected it to, but then, she'd forgotten her own need for red meat after last night's little display of near immortality. "Now" Anything you'd like to happen," she shrugged. "We'll run tonight, when the moon rises. I get to share with you my favorite feeling. Oh! And you'll be able to understand what I mean when I say you smell like moonlight on snow!" Her eyes lit up, genuinely delighted to realize this.

"Won't I smell different now that I've changed?" he asked, each answer she gave spurring more questions. He cut into his steak, so hungry he just barely remembered his table manners. In all his life, he'd never felt so hungry, but it wasn't just the kind of hunger that was satisfied when one's stomach was full. There was a yearning in it that he couldn't quite place, a hunger of another kind.

"A little," she nodded. "It's a very subtle difference. To me, you smell incredible. But your brother and the others will know you've turned as soon as they sniff you. It's a very slight edge to your scent that gives away that you're a 'shifter, a predator."

"But he's a wolf, and I'm a tiger. Won't that make us natural enemies?" he asked, though he was well aware that Marissa was tiger and Emrys was wolf, and they were anything but enemies. He scarfed down the steak as he awaited her reply, quickly shoveling it into his mouth like he'd been starving to death.

"No," she smiled, shaking her head. Seeing how fast he was eating, she dropped half her steak onto his plate as well, knowing he needed it more than she did. "Tigers and wolves aren't enemies, exactly. In the natural world, they're both apex predators, so they find it difficult to share territory and, yes, they will fight over it. It's different for 'shifters; the hostilities are almost always caused by cultural differences, and that's just not what?s happening with us. We're a pack, or a pride, or whatever you want to call it. Those ties bind us closer than a natural wolf pack or tigers' pride; they're emotional, more than instinctual. You're not going to come to blows with anyone the first time you show off your tail."

"We aren't identical twins anymore," Neville pointed out with a small frown. At least, not when they were in their animal forms, though he wasn't sure if it mattered. He could have asked Emrys to change him, and then he'd be wolf, but if he was going to change at all, he wanted to be like Demi. "I'm like you now," he added, still with that sense of wonder in his voice. It all seemed so unreal, like some strange dream, and yet, he felt more alive than he ever had before in his entire life.

"You were never identical to me," she pointed out gently. "Or to Seren. We could tell you apart every time, even if you'd tried to fool us. You can use all your senses to tell people apart; the way they look is such a small part of the way we see the world. Close your eyes, and you're not blind. You'll never lose your way in the dark, because the dark doesn't exist for us. We're cats; we have excellent night vision."

"Will I be a slave to the moon the way Emrys is?" he asked, wondering if he shouldn't have asked all these questions before he'd agreed to be changed, but it no longer mattered. The deed had been done, and there was no turning back, even if he'd wanted to. What he wanted most in the world was to be close to Demi and to share every aspect of their lives together; to that end, this was the only way.

"For the first few months, you won't be able to resist changing your shape when full moon's light touches you," she warned him. "But as you get used to the way it feels, you'll be able to spot the signs that it's happening and learn your own way to suppress it if you have to. I went through it when I was thirteen, and it really didn't take long to find out what worked for me. You need to be wary of your temper, though. Strong emotions, especially negative emotions like anger, or fear, or sadness ....they can exert the same pull on you that the full moon does. You've seen what I'm like - if I've had a really bad day, I have to go for a run. I can't not answer that pull. It's like my human mind needs to just fade into the background and let my animal instincts get rid of the agitation and anxiety and everything else that comes with it. Animals don't get emotional, after all."

He wasn't sure if he understood exactly what she meant, but he knew he'd find out eventually. Anger wasn't so much a problem for him as was fear and sadness, but he had Demi to help him with that, and these days, he had far more to be happy for than sad. "It sounds like almost a relief," he said, wondering what it felt like to make that change and escape all the problems that came with being human. "How do I hide what I am from other people?" he asked, knowing how some would react with fear and maybe even hatred if they knew the truth.

"You have fur right now, you know," she pointed out with a smile, reaching over to run her fingertip along his arm. "All these little hairs" That's all humans have left of the fur their ancestors wore. It thickens up when you shift form. Wearing clothes over it - it's like wearing a tight hat over your hair. Takes a while to get used to it, but no, it doesn't feel like being naked. And the tiger will be driving, so it's just a case of trying to drop the human modesty."

Neville smirked, wondering if she minded all that so-called fur. If she did, she'd never complained. "I imagine when I'm a tiger, I won't be too worried about clothes," he guessed, taking her hand and touching a kiss to each of her fingers.

She bit her lip as he caught her hand, the sweet thrill of her mate's lips touching her skin - no matter how innocent it might be - having the kind of effect on her that he would not be able to miss, or misconstrue, any longer. Neville was never again going to be able to accuse her of not feeling as lusty as he did; he was more than capable of smelling her desire now. "You don't seem too worried about clothes right now, either."

"It's just us. What do we need clothes for?" he asked, pulling her close, his hands moving to explore the familiar curves and valleys of her body, now that they were finished with breakfast. It was their honeymoon, after all, and now that he had eaten, there was another kind of hunger on his mind.

One hand pushed the plates off the bed with a couple of thumps as he pulled her close, long legs unfolding to wrap about his hips as his hands began to explore her. Even this was different; she didn't need to be gentle with him anymore, secure in the knowledge that she wasn't going to break her mate if she got a little too enthusiastic. Grinning, she growled teasingly against his ear, ghosting her fingernails up along his spine. "Ready to claim what?s yours, Mr. Ashton?"

Though he'd never thought to tell her, she'd never really needed to be gentle with him; even less so now that he was like her. "I thought you'd never ask, Mrs. Ashton," he replied with a grin, the sound of her growl doing something to the part of him that was tiger that only made him want her more, not to mention everything else she was doing to him. But she seemed to want him to claim her, not the other way around, and so, he intended to do just that, pushing her onto her back to cover her with his body, his mouth capturing hers while his hands moved in exploration of her body again.

It was his turn to claim her; she'd claimed him months ago, the first time they had slept together, marking her territory in love and lust and carrying his scent on her skin proudly in the aftermath. Now it was her turn to be claimed, but that didn't mean she was going to lie back and let him have all the fun. Small she might be, but Demi knew a few things about her husband, her mate, that could reduce him to putty in her hands if he let her play for too long.

He might have taken his time making his mark on her, if the tiger inside him didn't want her so badly. It wasn't that he wanted her more than he had before, but only that he seemed to have more vigor, more endurance than he ever had before, or so it seemed. He had only just been turned and was still learning just how much stronger he actually was. As it was, he felt like there was no end in sight to his vigor, and he wondered how long it would take before he tired. In the meantime, Demi was going to benefit from his newfound vigor.

Energy and vigor and loving desire fueled them both well beyond what they had shared before this moment in time, the world narrowing down to just them, just their touch, just their taste, their scent, the heady knowledge that this would always be at the core of what they shared. It was far more than simply a physical joining, this first true mating of theirs, and had they not managed to knock themselves off the bed entirely, it might well have gone on indefinitely. But as they landed with a thump amid the floating debris left behind by an unfortunate pillow that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, Demi burst into giggles, truly delighted with her Neville in every single way.

It was only the thump as they both hit the floor that stopped them from going at it again. "Sorry," he apologized, flushing a little. Despite the change, it seemed Neville was still given to embarrassment from time to time. "I guess I got a little carried away." He hoped he hadn't hurt her. The truth was he'd never felt more full of life. If he'd wanted her before, that was nothing compared to how he felt now.

Laughing, she held him close, blowing stray feathers out of his face. "You can carry me with you any time you like," she promised him, nuzzling to his lips for a long, teasing moment. "I cannot wait to see you on four paws, love. You're going to be such a handsome feline."

"Will I look like you?" he asked, full of questions again, even as he picked a few feathers from her hair. He wasn't sure what he was going to look like as a tiger, nor did it matter much. It wasn't like the tiger would care.

"You'll be bigger than me," she admitted with a shrug of one shoulder. "We'll find out what your coloring will be tonight." She lingered with him for a long moment, her eyes soft and loving until suddenly she gasped, her eyes snapping wide with guilt. "I didn't take my pill this morning!"

Dark brows arched upwards, wondering just what it was that had caused such a reaction in her, before she admitted her faux pas. He chuckled, looking almost amused, his alarm fading as he visibly relaxed again. "So?" he asked, dark eyes bright with amusement.

She bit her lip, her smile almost shy but for the bright hope in her eyes as she held his gaze, her fingers teasing through his hair. "You never answered my question last night, you know," she mused softly. "Any new year wishes I should know about?"

"Which question was that?" he asked. A lot had happened between then and now, and a lot had been said. He didn't want to guess but be sure which question she was referring to. "New Year wishes" All I want is to be with you," he assured her, nudging his nose against her neck.

Demi laughed once again, letting her head fall back as he reacquainted himself with her scent. "Honey, you're not only with me, you're in me right now," she pointed out with a low chuckle. "Question is ....are you doing any gardening in there, or do you want to wait for spring to sow your seeds?"

"I don't think I have any control over that," he pointed out, making no move to stop planting his seeds, so to speak, nor reacquainting himself with her scent - memorizing it, really. He'd thought he knew all this already, but since becoming a tiger, everything old had become new again.

Just for that, she pinched his backside as she laughed again, lifting her head to try and catch his gaze. "You're avoiding the question, kitty cat," she pointed out in amusement.

"Oh, now, I'm a kitty cat, kitty cat?" he teased, a smirk at the pinch, which barely even registered. He rolled onto his side, propping himself up with an elbow to rest his head against a hand, while his free hand casually traced the curve of a breast. "Which question is that?" he teased again, feigning ignorance. "What about you? Any New Years wishes that haven't been covered yet?"