Topic: Claimed

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:13 EST
((Contains material of an adult nature.))

Taking things slowly was one thing, but glacial might be a better word for how tentatively Demeter Forster had been moving with Neville Ashton in the months since they'd set aside their professional relationship in pursuit of a more personal one. AT least in Rhy'Din terms. But perhaps slow was a good thing. Nothing was happening before they were ready for it, or in situations where it might get out of hand. Still, there was one thing Demi had promised herself she would share with Neville before things went any further, and today was the day. Not only had be been invited back to her home - a two-level apartment in one of the city's brownstones - but she had plans for something else, too.

"I hope you don't mind ordering out," she was saying as she invited him inside. "I'm not feeling quite confident enough to cook today."

Though Neville was a little old-fashioned and a gentleman, he was a modern man, born and bred on Rhy'Din - or as modern as that made him. He had been trying to go slowly with Demeter, not wanting to make her feel pressured one way or another, and it was likely she was doing the same with him. Little by little, though, they had been growing closer and spending more time together, until she had finally gathered the courage to invite him to her place, and he had accepted without hesitation.

"Why's that?" he asked, shrugging the jacket from his shoulders to make himself more comfortable. He was dressed somewhat casually in a pair of trousers and a button-down shirt - about as casual as he ever dressed, unless he was lounging at home. "Afraid I won't like your cooking?" he teased, as he hung his jacket in its proper place near the front door.

She laughed softly, shaking her head. "No, it's not that," she promised him in a warm tone. "I'm going to show you something, and I don't know what your reaction will be, so ....I'm just generally nervous, rather than specifically worried about my cooking. That doesn't help, does it?"

"Not really, no, but no need to worry, Demi. It's just me," he assured her with that warm smile of his. Of course, he had no idea what it was she wanted to show him, but there were few secrets between them anymore - or so he believed.

At least he knew that she was not human, and he had mentioned that he might like to see the tiger at some point. She'd thought that here, in her home, would be the safest place for that. "Okay, so ....would you like a drink?" she asked, surprisingly at a loss for someone who was usually so very in control of herself and everything around her. "I have, uh ....I-I have no idea what I have." Laughing, she rolled her eyes at herself, turning to wander into the little kitchen.

Instead of laugh with her, Neville frowned, concerned about the case of nerves in the otherwise usually self-assured woman. "Dem, if you're not ready to have me here, we didn't have to come. I mean, we could always go out for dinner." They'd been spending some of their time at his place, but her place was decidedly more comfortable and airy than his. He followed her into the kitchen, pausing to take a look around. At least, there were no reminders of Nellie here.

"It's not that," she promised, turning to lay her hand gently against his chest. "I'm ready for you to be here. And I'm ready to introduce you to the wild side. That's why I'm nervous. I don't know how you'll react to that side of me. All I can do is promise you that you're in no danger, none at all."

"I told you before, I'm not afraid, Demi," he assured her in his soft-spoken way, taking her hand to brush his lips against her knuckles. "And I'm in no hurry. This is completely up to you."

She smiled with him, reassured by his unwaveringly gentle affection. "I've decided," she assured him in her own turn. "I'm just nervous. I've never shown anyone this side of me before. And I'm so scared of frightening you away. You mean the world to me, Neville. I don't want to lose you."

"Why do you think you'll scare me away?" he asked, knowing it was probably going to be a little scary coming face to face with the side of her that was a wild animal, but she had assured him she had perfect control and he had nothing to fear, and he chose to believe her. "Demi, I was raised here in Rhy'Din, remember" There are strangers things than weretigers, believe me."

She blushed a little, knowing she was going to have to be completely honest at this point. "Well ....I'm not sure what I'm more nervous of," she admitted with disarming amusement. "Showing you the shift ....or taking my clothes off first."

His eyes widened a little at her confession. "Oh, I see," he replied quietly, unsure just what to say to that. "Well, I don't have to watch," he told her. While he knew she was anxious about showing him her feline side, he hadn't thought much about the fact that she'd have to get undressed to do it.

"I could stay clothed," she considered, "but I like this dress, and the underwear. Even if they didn't get torn, they'd be pulled out of shape. And a tiger wearing a bra and panties is not a very dignified look, you know." Her smile warmed, amused by the thought of that. She might have to try it sometime, just to see how undignified it made her.

"That might look a little strange," he agreed, mirroring her smile, glad she seemed to be relaxing a little. "Don't worry so much, Demi," he assured her gently, taking her hand between his own. "No pressure. If the time seems right, then show me. If it doesn't, then don't."

"It seems right," she whispered softly, squeezing his hand as she rose up onto her toes to kiss him tenderly. "I've never wanted to show anyone before you. I want you to see me every way I am." Just in case it proved too much for him. She wouldn't blame him if it did, but at the same time, she knew it would crush her.

"It's not going to change anything, Demeter," he assured her gently once her lips were done kissing his. A thought came to mind and he couldn't help but smile a little in amusement. "Maybe I should show you my wild side, too," he teased. "I'm a little scary first thing in the morning."

She stared at him for a moment, a little slow to realize the tease, and burst into giggles, leaning into him as she laughed. "Well, I hope you brought your toothbrush, then," was her counter to that. "Now ....drink, or tiger first?"

"Are we having dinner before or after I meet your tiger?" he asked, curiously. He wasn't sure how long she'd stay in that form once she shifted or if she was able to shift back and forth at will, and though he had assured her he wouldn't go running for the hills, he wasn't quite sure what his reaction was going to be yet.

"After," she told him, hoping that would be acceptable. "I won't stay in that form long, I promise. Not more than a few minutes. I'm lucky enough that I can shift whenever or wherever I choose to."

"Which is why I should probably turn around," he reasoned, assuming that seeing her naked was probably going to incite an appetite of a different kind - one he had been careful to keep in check as much as he could up until now.

It seemed as though his decision had been made, too. Demi smiled faintly. "All right then," she agreed. "Just don't sit on the floor. I'll be bigger than you if you do." It was a fair warning sweetly given, but necessary. Stepping back, she raised her hands to the buttons of her dress, quite prepared to go ahead with it right there in the kitchen.

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:14 EST
He had been wondering about that ....Just how it all worked, but despite his curiosity, he was as good as his word, turning his back so that he didn't embarrass her by watching, but not quite in time enough for her to miss the flush that had crept into his face. He knew it was silly, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

"You don't have to keep your eyes turned away, you know," she offered, braving her own embarrassment as she shed her dress and underwear. Few women would be comfortable standing nude in their own kitchen with a man they hadn't even had the shirt off yet, but then, Demi wasn't just any woman.

"Yes, I know, but I'm only human, you know," he said, reminding her that he was just a man with a man's needs and wants, whether she was about to show him her tiger or not. Just the thought of her without her clothes on was doing things to him that he didn't want to admit to, remembering the photos he'd seen of her in the lingerie catalog.

"All right." That was all she said, but following it came an odd sense of implosion in slow motion behind him. Demi made no conscious sound, but she couldn't hide the sound of rearranging bone structure as she opened herself to the morphic shift between woman and animal. When she was done, a loud chuffing sound erupted from around the level of his hip, accompanied by the very animal sound of a creature shaking out every inch of herself for comfort's sake. Where there had once been a woman, now there stood a small tiger, her fur white where others would be orange, her eyes a piercing shade of blue.

Neville stood stock still while he listened to the shifting that was going on behind him, the almost painful sound of bone and flesh twisting and turning upon itself to morph from human to animal. He heard the chuffing of the tiger, greeting him perhaps, or letting him know in her own way that it was finished. He'd never known anyone who was given to this sort of change before, or at least, he'd never been aware of it.

He stifled a shudder that wasn't due to fear, exactly, so much as sympathy at what had sounded to him like a painful process, and yet, the tiger seemed to take no notice of it, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Of course, he realized, it would be to someone who'd been born that way. He turned slowly, warily even, to meet the tiger, closer than he'd ever dared come to a creature of the wild. His eyes widened in wonder at the beauty of her, but this wasn't just some overgrown kittycat - this was a full grown tiger, capable of tearing a man to pieces, if she so desired. And yet, there was intelligence in those blue eyes, and rather than fearful, Neville found himself full of wonder and admiration for the creature before him.

Despite the change in hue, those eyes were still Demeter's eyes, and they still looked at him with the same love he had grown used to seeing in the brown eyes of the woman who had dared to show him this side of herself. Licking her nose absently with a flick of her long tongue, the white tiger craned her head toward him, tasting his scent on the air, and abruptly threw herself down onto her side, rolling to stretch her paws into the air like an domesticated cat might to show trust and friendship.

She was no enemy of his, that much he could tell, and though he didn't know much about cats, domestic or otherwise, it was obvious to him that she wanted to make friends. It was a little strange to think that this creature and the woman he was falling in love with were one and the same, but there could be no denying it with the proof right in front of his face. "Do you want me to ....to pet you?" he asked, tentatively, not really expecting an answer.

Flopping down onto her side once again, she chuffed at him, unable to truly answer his question in this form. And, of course, if she shifted back to answer, she would be a naked woman lying at his feet. Not a position either of them would be too comfortable with. Instead, the white tiger heaved herself up onto her paws, padding a little closer to butt her head against his hand hopefully.

Neville chuckled softly to himself, realizing she was acting just like a big kitty, hoping for a little affection. He held out his hand, letting his fingers graze her head, feeling the soft fur beneath his fingers. Her fur felt a little different than that of a domestic cat, but not so very different that he couldn't recognize it as being feline. "You're just a big kitty, aren't you?" he asked. A big kitty with sharp teeth and claws, though she had assured him she wouldn't hurt him, and he had assured her he wasn't afraid.

A long, slow blink was his reward for speaking softly and stroking her as she wanted, her head tilting to guide his fingers to where she wanted to be petted as her eyes rolled happily. Big cats couldn't purr, but there was a certain sense of satisfaction in the low rumble she managed to produce - not quite a growl, but definitely on that scale.

It was hard to believe this beautiful big cat was actually Demeter, but as they say, seeing is believing, and there was no other explanation for her transformation than the one she'd given him, and he realized that if she'd wanted to cause him harm, she'd already had plenty of opportunity. He wondered, though, just how much of the woman remained in the cat and vice versa. Somehow, he knew from her body language and the way she was tilting her head into his fingers that the growl was a friendly one. "I'm sorry, kitty. I don't really speak cat very well," he apologized, his voice soft and soothing, as he buried his fingers in her fur, not quite brave enough to meet her at eye level just yet.

She chuffed, almost laughing at his apology. Her long tongue lolled out to lick his fingers before he found purchase in her fur, those intelligent, familiar eyes rolling back once more in happy contentment. If he'd been sitting down, she would have put her head in his lap by now.

"Are you really Demeter?" he asked in wonder, once again, not really expecting an answer. Despite all his years spent in Rhy'Din, he had never mingled too much with those who were not of his own kind - until now. "You're just as beautiful in this form," he told her, unable to hide his amazement and admiration.

The white head rose to meet his gaze with eyes that were alike, yet unalike. It was still Demeter behind those eyes, not a wild cat held under control. It was just a different side of her that he had never met before. It was certainly a stretch to imagine this tiger holding psychology sessions with those who needed it. The big cat nuzzled close to him, rubbing her head against his hand and hip, marking him as hers; her safe, happy place.

He wasn't sure what it was - whether it was the intelligence he saw in those feline blue eyes or some inexplicable connection she'd made with him - but somehow, deep inside, he knew this was indeed just another side of the woman he loved, and that even in this form, she would never do him any harm. In fact, he realized, in this form, she was quite capable of protecting him, though he had no enemies he was aware of that he needed protection from. "I almost wish I would have watched you change," he mused aloud, a small frown on his face, his voice soft. He had turned away out of some outdated need for chivalry and respect, but now he almost wished he had witnessed the process for himself and seen the wonder of it with his own eyes, rather than just the end result. Still, he could not deny she was beautiful - and dangerous.

If he needed any proof that she could understand him, he was about to get it. Despite her shyness in sharing that change, Demi would have done anything for Neville, and she proved it right then and there. No sooner had his soft musing been spoken than she began to change once again, soft white and black fur shortening, absorbed back into skin that shifted beneath its covering as tiger returned to human woman once again. The last part to change back was her eyes, the piercing blue holding on until the last possible moment, until he was standing with Demeter once again, his hand buried in the long fall of her hair. "As you wish," she whispered to him, her smile hesitant but hopeful.

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:16 EST
As before, it wasn't fear in his eyes, but a sense of wonder mingled with something else. He held her gaze as she changed from tiger back to woman, watching as her eyes shifted slowly from blue to brown, his fingers buried not in her fur, but in the softness of her hair. He seemed at a loss for words, unsure what to say once the spell had been broken. Hopefully, she'd at least be able to tell from the look on his face that he wasn't afraid or repulsed, as she'd feared. If anything, the trust she'd just shown him only made him love her more.

Strange, that standing here as bare as she could possibly be in the full light of day didn't make Demeter blush and want to cover herself up. She'd never been so vulnerable with anyone as she was with Neville, and she found she liked the feeling. He gave her a sense of safety she doubted she would ever be able to put into words. Reassured by the wonder in his eyes, she rose onto her toes, brushing a soft kiss to his cheek. "Thank you," she murmured to him. "I'm not nervous anymore."

He would have given her his jacket or something to cover up with if he'd had one handy, but he didn't. This was her home, her place of solitude and refuge, and she had invited him here, not only to welcome him into her home and her life, but to share this most personal side of herself. "I really don't know what to say," he muttered stupidly. Should he tell her how beautiful she was in both forms" How honored and special he felt that she'd chosen to share this with him' She had revealed herself in a way she'd likely never done in a very long time, if ever. He flushed a little at the kiss, realizing suddenly how very naked she was and trying to keep his eyes from wandering too far. "You don't have to be nervous because of me, Demi," he assured her, though he was feeling a little nervous himself at the moment.

"Neither do you," she assured him, slipping away to pull on her dress and panties. At least she could recognize the reason for his nerves now her own were gone. Pulling her hair out from the neck of the dress, she buttoned it carefully to cover herself, turning back to him with a warm smile. "You don't have to say anything," she told Neville fondly. "I understood every word. But you do look like you might need a drink now." She chuckled, turning to the fridge to investigate the contents. "White wine" Juice" Coffee?"

Once she slipped away, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander over her form, admiring her beauty in this form, just as he had the cat's, feeling a little like a virgin on prom night, though he was no such thing. He'd been married once before, and he knew what to do with a woman. Perhaps that was partly what held him in check. "Good lord, Demi. You think coffee is going to calm my nerves?"

"Maybe not, but I did promise to feed you," she pointed out. It wasn't that she didn't feel the same longing, not at all, but more that she knew she'd laid something outside his experience in his lap. He was in command of this; now he had seen everything she had to show, she felt no restraint on her part at all. She turned, leaning back against the counter as she offered him a playful smile. "Should I take my dress off again?"

"Yes, no ....I don't know ....I need a drink," he admitted at last, and not something tame like coffee or juice. He wasn't even sure if wine was going to do the trick at this point. There was only one drug that was going to calm his nerves, and it couldn't be found in a pill or a potion. "I'm trying very hard to be a gentleman," he told her, though he wasn't entirely sure that was what she wanted.

"What on earth for?" she asked gently, moving from the counter to ease her hands up over his shoulders. "I'm here, I'm more than willing. I love you, Neville, and I want you." Her fingertips played through his hair as she met his gaze with sultry eyes. "Would you like an engraved invitation to ravish me on any surface you care to name?"

"I don't need an engraved invitation, Demi," he told her with a frown. What did he need then" He had her permission, and she had told him she loved him. What more did he need than that' "I guess what I'm waiting for is for you to say yes," he told her, surprising even himself with those words. He was tired of being alone, and Nellie wouldn't have wanted it that way. She would have wanted him to go on living and to find someone else with whom to spend the rest of his days.

She held his gaze for a long moment, studying him as he spoke. There was a question in there somewhere, but she didn't want to assume that she knew what it was. "How can I say yes when the question hasn't been asked?" she asked him gently.

"This isn't how I wanted to ask," he murmured back, a bit glumly. "I wanted it to be romantic and perfect and ....Gods, Demi, we've only known each other a few months, but I know nothing is going to change the way I'm feeling, and life is too damned short."

She smiled her gentle smile once more, stroking her hand against his cheek. "Neville ....do you remember what I told you on that first date?" she asked him softly. "That I would have you for my mate, and be yours. Tigers mate for life, love. My yes has always been there for you, but if you want to do things properly, then I'll wait."

"Of course I remember," he assured her quietly, taking her hand in his. "It scared me a little, to be honest. Not because I'm afraid of you. I'm not," he told her, needing her to understand. He had never kept any secrets from her before - how could he when she knew him so well - and he wasn't about to start now. "But after what happened to Nellie ..." He trailed off a moment, that frown still in place.

"I was afraid to love again. Afraid to open my heart. Afraid I might lose you the way I lost her, but that's no way to live, Demi, and I don't want to lose you because I'm afraid of something that might never happen. If there's one thing I've learned it's that life is too short. No one lives forever. Well, few do, anyway. I'd be a fool to ever let you go, and the truth is I've fallen deeply and hopelessly in love with you. So ..." He moved to one knee, still clutching her hand between his own. "I don't know what you see in me or what I've done to deserve you, but I would be pleased and honored if you'd make me the happiest man in Rhy'Din by agreeing to marry me."

How could she not understand his fear when it had been such a deep part of what they had first met over" Yes, she knew him in some ways better than others, but there was always more to learn. They had shared the deepest parts of themselves with one another, the good and the bad, the secret and the open, and neither one of them had turned tail and run. As he lowered to his knee, Demi felt her own knees buckle - in part because of the feline in her that wanted to submit to a mate, and in part because she had never truly believed anyone would want to ask her this question. Her fingers curled about his, both hands wrapped about the strong fingers that held her in his grasp. "The honor is mine," she told him quietly, "and the pleasure shared. I love you, Neville. There is nothing that could stop me from saying yes."

He had no doubt she'd say yes; she had, after all, told him she wanted him for a mate on that very first date, but hearing it from her lips was so much sweeter than he'd imagined. He touched a kiss to her knuckles before moving to his feet to catch her around the waist, as if he sensed the weakness in her knees somehow, or perhaps he just wanted to hold her that way. He leaned in to touch a kiss to her lips, soft and tender and full of promise, glad she was dressed or he might have been tempted to do something ungentlemanly in that moment.

The sudden rush of joy that radiated from him was enough to give him smiling lips to kiss as she curled her arms about him, almost off the floor herself as he caught her against himself. Dressed or not, there was no mistaking the desire in both of them, but tempered with the love that had grown over the months since they had met. Teasing her fingers through his hair, Demeter nuzzled fondly to Neville, tender in her affection. "So ....not your girlfriend, then?" she teased him playfully.

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:17 EST
"No, though not quite a fiancee either, until I find a proper ring for your finger," he told her with a slightly embarrassed smile. He had not planned on proposing right then and there, but he was not sorry he had. "You are far more woman than girl, Demeter," he assured her, touching his nose to hers. "And I still think I need that drink, if you don't mind."

"And I suppose you won't let me help you pay for it, either, will you?" she asked, her dark eyes twinkling as she smiled. Another soft kiss found its way to his lips before she gently disentangled herself to open the fridge and locate that wine bottle. "The tiger wasn't too frightening, was she?"

"A woman shouldn't have to pay for her own engagement ring, Demi. I'll manage," he replied, mirroring her smile, before she kissed him and pulled away to locate the wine. "No, she's beautiful. As beautiful as you, but in a different way," he said, drawing a slow, calming breath.

"She's smaller than other tigers, I know that much," Demi said thoughtfully, still smiling as she handed him the bottle to open. Without quite realizing it, she fell into the traditional female role whenever he was around, though not so much that she would give up her work when they were married. "White tigers are rare, and I'm told that in some prides, they're considered a good luck charm. My own family were so horrified at having birthed one, they got rid of me as soon as they could." She chuckled, shaking her head as she set out glasses. "It is their loss, I think."

"I'm sure you're right about that," he said, regarding her family's loss. At least, she hadn't grown up completely alone, though from what he knew of her life, it hadn't been an easy one. "Do you have a corkscrew?" he asked, as he took the bottle from her and set it on the counter. "Do you find it strange that you've wound up with a musician and not a ....oh, I don't know ....someone more exciting?"

"Oh! In the middle drawer," she told him, gesturing toward the appropriate place. His question made her smile turn a little bemused. "I am never going to understand how you can possibly think of yourself as uninteresting and unexciting," she told him. "You're everything I could wish for or want, Neville, don't you see?"

"I suppose I don't," he replied with a frown, as he opened the middle drawer to search for the corkscrew. She had told him time and again why she loved him, but he just couldn't seem to grasp it. "I work strange hours. I don't have a lot of money. And I'm terrified of bungee jumping or whatever it is you want me to do. I'm boring as hell and as ordinary as they come, and yet, you insist I'm all you could ever want. I'm not complaining, mind you. I'm the luckiest man in Rhy'Din, but ....it's sort of like Beauty and the Beast, don't you think" Or maybe Beauty and the Nerd."

"Cliff jumping, and I will get you to do it, if only once," she warned him cheerfully. "You can't say you don't like something if you've never tried it." Watching him with the corkscrew, she smiled once more. "Neville, I don't care how much money you have, or how strange your hours are. I love you, not your job. And as far as Beauty and the Beast concerned, I rather think it's more a case of Musician and the Beast, don't you?"

"They do say music soothes the savage beast, but I wouldn't call you a beast. Far from it, in fact," he said as he unwound the foil from around the top of the bottle. "As far as cliff jumping goes ..." he smirked as he fit the corkscrew onto the bottle and turned it the lever. "You ....might ....have ....to ....push ....me," he said, one word for each turn of the lever, until there was a popping sound and he successfully pulled the cork from the bottle, not without some effort. "Voila!"

"Oh, no, you'll run and jump with me," she promised him, absolutely certain that she was going to get him to do it at least once at some point. "I won't make you do it alone." As the cork came out of the bottle, she applauded him, her smile bright. "Hooray!"

"At least, I'm good for something!" he beamed back at her. "Glasses?" he asked, holding up the bottle, all ready to pour. "So, should we start making a bucket list?" he teased, eyes sparking with amusement, though he still wasn't too sure about cliff diving.

"More than just something," she said, holding up the glasses as she stepped closer. "A bucket list' Hmm ....that might take some work. I only have three things on mine right now, and they all involve you."

"And one is cliff diving," he said with a grin, as he filled the glasses, one at a time, wondering what the other two were. He could probably make a pretty good guess at one, but he wasn't sure about the other, unless it was getting married. He'd already told her he loved her, so she could scratch that off the list. "I'm quite serious, you know. I've never done anything exciting in my whole life. I'm not so sure I'm ready for cliff diving, but I'm not so stuck in my ways that I'm afraid to try new things."

"There are plenty of things we can try together," Demi assured him. "Don't you have anything on your bucket list' Anything that you've looked at and thought you'd like to try, or places you'd like to visit?"

"Hmm," he mused aloud, setting the bottle down to take a sip of his wine. "Paris. I've always wanted to go to Paris. Or Rome. Maybe both," he admitted with a dimpled grin, though he wasn't quite sure that answered her question. "What about you?"

"Oh, my list is very domesticated," she chuckled softly. "Taking you cliff-jumping, marrying you, making a home with you. Perhaps we could make Paris and Rome our honeymoon?"

He gulped another swallow of the wine, which was helping him to relax a little, though he had grown mostly comfortable in her company by now. After all, she'd been his shrink before she'd become his girlfriend ....or fiancee. "Why the cliff-jumping" Just curious."

She laughed a little, taking a sip of her own wine as she considered the answer to that. "It's free," she said, shrugging, before giving a better response. "It's the closest I have ever come to the feeling of running on four paws as fast as I can go. And it isn't dangerous, not if you know where you're jumping. But that thrill when you leap off the cliff ....there's nothing like it."

"You've done it before then," he said, taking a lean against the counter while they chatted and sipped at the wine. "Where" Here in Rhy'Din?" he asked, curiously. He thought there were safer ways of getting an adrenaline rush than jumping off a cliff, but he wasn't quite sure what they were yet.

She nodded. "There are places outside the city, freshwater and sea water, where it can be done safely," she smiled. "One of them is even partially heated - the waterfall is fed by a hot spring, and falls into a freshwater pool, so the water isn't hot and it's never cold, either."

He had purposely not remarked on the honeymoon suggestion, as he knew it would involve a discussion about money again and how his bank account was lacking, while hers was not. "Ah, the hot spring. You mentioned that before. And here, I thought you just wanted to soak," he teased, with that disarming smile of his.

"We could do both," she flashed her own grin in return. "Soaking after we jump, of course. I'll make you earn that relaxing soak, love." Giggling, she slid a little closer, touching her cheek to his shoulder. "There are plenty of things we could do."

"So long as it's not a safari," he murmured. He turned a sideways glance at her as she rested her cheek against his shoulder, charmed by her gentle nature, despite the tiger that prowled inside her. "I only want to make you happy, Demi. That's all I want," he told her quietly.

"You do make me happy," she murmured to him. "But this isn't just about me. It's about us, and you have as much right as I do to state what you would like and hope to achieve." She raised her head, dark eyes smiling into his. "We're a partnership, neither one more important than the other."

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:17 EST
"I don't much care what we do, so long as I'm with you," he told her truthfully, setting his glass down and turning to face her. "We don't have to decide everything today, Demi. It's enough for now that we are together," he said, a soft smile on his face before touching a kiss to her lips.

"Always," she whispered to him, her own glass finding a home beside his as her lips met his. Gentle arms wound about his waist as she leaned into him, sharing her breath as they drew back from one another. "I should give you a tour of the place, shouldn't I?" she suggested. "Or should we decide on dinner, first?"

Her kiss left him just a little breathless as their lips parted, and he found himself wanting more. Something coiled tightly in his middle, but he did his best to ignore it for now, for her sake, though he doubted she'd want him to deny his desires, especially when they involved her. "Whatever you wish, Princess," he replied with a soft smile, a little reminiscent of the film they'd watched together a few weeks ago.

"There's not much to see," she admitted, reluctantly easing back to take up her glass again. "But we'll be more comfortable upstairs. There's a couch and everything." On this level was only the front door, kitchen/diner, and the bathroom; the stairs up suggested more comfort.

"After you," he said, reclaiming his glass and gesturing with a hand for her to lead the way. The apartment seemed small enough that it wasn't too hard to navigate, but this was her private space and it was up to her how much she wanted to show him.

Barefoot for her own comfort, she caught his gesturing hand with her own free on, and moved to show him the way upstairs, to a bright space that opened out onto a small balcony. One wall was filled with books - her library, as she'd called it - and a wide corner couch took up much of the room to enjoy the view over the balcony and across rooftops. Through an open door to the right of the stairs, the bedroom was obvious, though it didn't contain a bed exactly - more a luxurious sort of den, piled deep with pillows and cushions, soft blankets and quilts draped all over the slightly sunken place where a bed should have been. "It isn't very big, I know."

"It's big enough for one or even two," he said, taking in her private space with an appraising eye - not critical, but appreciative and not missing a detail. "Do you sleep ..." he broke off, unsure just how to ask without prying too much, but without a bed, he wondered if she preferred to sleep in her tiger form. "You must have quite a view at night," he remarked, admiringly.

She followed his glance, laughing softly. "No, I don't sleep as a tiger," she assured him. "I just ....I didn't have a bed until I was almost sixteen. I used to sleep on the floor with the rest of the pack that raised me - denning, it's known as. You keep each other warm on cold nights. I find it comforting to sleep low, among pillows and blankets. I suppose it's the animal in me - I don't have a pride or a pack, so I make do." She shrugged, turning her eyes toward the wide French doors and the view beyond. "It's a lovely view," she agreed. "In the snow, the city seems almost silent up here at night, but now the weather is warming, I can hear the music and the people in the streets down below."

"And here you are, safe in your den above all the chaos, with only the stars for companions," he mused quietly. Though he was no poet, it seemed he sometimes had a way with a phrase. He couldn't remark much on her past with the pack. He'd been an only child, with two adoring parents to love and support him. If it was a pack, it was a small one, but once his parents had died, it left him with no one.

Demi considered him with a faint smile. "Put like that, it seems very romantic," she admitted, tucking her arm about his back to lean into him. The abundance of candles set about the place suggested that the ambience would be even more romantic when the sun set. "For a man who doesn't think much of himself, love, you have a lovely turn of phrase."

"Not really," he replied. "It's probably just the theater rubbing off on me a little," he said, knowing he was no poet, no writer, though if pressed, he was able to compose a little music here and there. Standing there in what served as her bedroom was almost too tempting, but there were no reminders of Nellie here, no ghosts to hinder him or make him feel guilty for moving on. "What's wrong with romantic?" he asked, turning back to her.

The question took her by surprise, offering a rare, unguarded glimpse of the loving gaze that she leveled on him when he wasn't looking at her. "I don't remember saying there was anything wrong with romantic," she offered innocently, drawing her lower lip between her teeth for a long moment.

"I guess I'm a softie," he said, looking just a little embarrassed about it. A man who was unafraid to admit that Princess Bride was one of his favorite movies and who had declared his love for her via Hoagy Carmichael had to have a little romantic blood running through his veins.

"Do I really seem like someone who would think that romance, that softness, was a weakness, or something to laugh at?" she asked him, curious but not offended. Both hands on her glass, she half-turned away, her profile highlighted by the low cast of the sun through the windows. "I'm as susceptible to it as anyone is," she said quietly. "But no one's ever tried. No one but you. I'm a lot more fragile than people seem to think I am, Neville. I've just spent a long time learning how to seem strong and hard. Perhaps I really am too good at it now."

"That makes two of us then," he told her quietly, turning her to face him, that soft smile of his on his face as he tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. "You don't have to be afraid with me, Demi. You don't have to be anyone but who you are. I love you and nothing is going to change that. We're going to be okay. I promise," he told her, dipping his head to capture her lips and seal that promise with a kiss.

Her lips brushed his tenderly as he kissed her, gently curved with a smile of her own as once again he seemed to effortlessly calm the worries broiling inside her. How could he not know how very special he was, to be able to tame a tiger with just a word" "If I don't feed you soon, we're going to get distracted," she warned him with a playful light in her eyes.

"Order out," he told her, not really wanting to watch while she cooked and went about domestic chores. Not tonight anyway. "Pizza, Chinese, I don't care which," he told her. "Just ....no cooking or dishes tonight."

"Is there anything in particular you want on your pizza, then?" she asked, hoping it didn't show too much quite how delighted she was with the sudden decisiveness from a man who had been afraid to express an opinion just a few weeks ago. "I'm not a huge fan of fish, I must admit."

"Anything but anchovies," he replied in agreement, turning to look around at their surroundings. He tugged her by the hand until they were in what seemed to be her living room, one wall completely encased in glass and promising to offer a splendid view of the city and night sky. "What do you think about eating here?" he asked, rather than in the more stark and less romantic kitchen.

She yelped as he tugged her about, laughing at her surprised reaction, only to be drawn to the wide expanse of glass that looked out onto her small balcony and the view beyond. "I think that's a lovely idea," she agreed with him, nodding to the balcony itself with its wide seats and small table. "We could eat out there, you know. The seats are heated."

"You don't think it would be too romantic?" he teased, unable to hide the smirk from his face and the twinkle from his eyes. Maybe it took one to know one, but now that he knew she didn't mind his tendency toward romance, he had no reason to hide it any longer.

She met the teasing challenge head on, raising her brows above her warm smile. "I could light the candles, what do you think?" she countered brightly, bouncing up suddenly to kiss him before she whirled away to find her phone and the takeout menu. Ordering sooner rather than later seemed to be a good idea.

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:18 EST
He laughed as she hurried to kiss him before searching for her phone. "I think that's a splendid idea, and I'll go fetch the wine while you place the order," he told her. Sooner was probably better than later because if she waited much longer, they might get so distracted with each other that they didn't eat at all.

"Yes, master," she chuckled, bent over the couch in her search for the takeout menu, the phone already in her hand. The more she relaxed in his company, the more he was seeing the impulsive side of her nature, the side that was inclined to twirl when she was happy, and laugh like a child when something pleased her. of course, bent over like that, he was seeing something else, too, but at least she'd put the panties back on, even if her bra was adorning the cooker hood downstairs.

He let his eyes admire the view for a moment, chuckling to himself at her childlike impulsiveness, but restraining himself from the temptation to pat her bottom before finding his way back down the stairs to fetch the wine. He made no remark regarding her comment, not wanting to be her master or her slave, but he equal.

She was still audible from the kitchen, placing their order confidently as she located her matches to light some of the candles. With the sun beginning to set, it was the perfect time to light them, remembering to turn on the low level heating on the balcony as she did so.

He wasn't gone long, returning within a few minutes with their glasses and the bottle. He paused a moment to step out of his shoes, leaving them out of the way near the stairs, before returning to the living area. "Where would you like me to put this?" he asked, bottle in one hand, glasses in the other.

"Hmm?" She looked up, shaking a match to put it out as flames flared on a couple of the candles. "Oh, just a moment ..." Flicking the spent match into the trash, she turned to the glass wall, pressing against the seal on the right side. An entire section of the glass dropped inward a little way, just far enough to be slid across and open the way onto the balcony. "Wherever you'd like," she told him sweetly, backing out onto the balcony to light the little tealights that lived in various colored glass jars about the space.

"You must find my apartment awfully dull and depressing compared to this," he remarked, unsure why he'd said it, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew he was going to have to move. But then, now that he had proposed, it was only a matter of time before they decided where they'd live. There were a lot of things they needed to discuss, but not all at once and not right away. He followed her out to the balcony and set the wine and the glasses down on the table, looking over to watch her lighting the candles.

"There is nothing dull or depressing about your apartment, love," she told him firmly, shaking the last match as she surveyed the candles thoughtfully. That should be enough light for now, anyway. "We live in two very different places right now. That doesn't mean we won't be able to find somewhere that suits us both." Dropping the matchbox onto the table, she turned to him, confident that they would make a home together.

"All I need is my music and my clothes," he told her, though that wasn't quite true. There were other possessions he'd want to take with him - his piano, for one thing; his books, mementos, photographs - but other than that, there wasn't much he needed or wanted to take along. "I'm not very good at that sort of thing," he admitted uncertainly. It had been Nellie who'd picked their apartment, who'd decorated it, who'd made it a home. Like Demi's place, it had once had a woman's touch, but now it felt empty.

"Nonsense," Demi told him quite firmly, drawing him down to sit with her as they waited for their meal to arrive. "You must have some opinion about what sort of place you want to live in. I'd like to stay in the city, near the theater, but I'd like a garden. I don't know whether that means a house, or a ground floor apartment. What about you?"

"A rooftop garden," he suggested. "Someplace where we can sit and watch the stars come out." He wasn't too sure if that place was an apartment or a house either, but he agreed it should be near the theater, if only for convenience sake. "And ..." he looked around thoughtfully a moment, a small frown on his face. "I'd like to bring my piano with me."

"Oh, of course you should bring your piano," she insisted, shaking her head at the thought that they might ever have left it be. "I never thought for one moment that you would leave it or sell it. That piano is a part of you." She smiled at him fondly, gently flicking his hair off his brow. "I like the idea of a rooftop garden. And easier to create one, if there isn't one already to be found."

"So long as we have a rooftop," he remarked. Not every apartment or house in Rhy'Din would accommodate such a thing, but maybe if they were lucky they'd find someplace that did. "Should we start looking or wait a while?" he asked, uncertainly. He'd only just asked her to marry him, but he wasn't sure how long a courtship she was looking for.

"That all depends on how soon you'd like to marry, and how much of a fuss we want to make about it," Demi pointed out, leaning against the cushions comfortably, one hand in her hair, one foot tucked beneath her leg as she faced him. "If you were a tiger, we'd be mated and as good as married as soon as we spend the night together, but you're not. And I have to admit, I like the idea of an official ceremony, no matter how big or small."

Once again, there was that frown on his face, knowing he had so little to offer but his heart and himself. He had no great fortune, no mansion, no fancy car, but what he did have was a heart full of love, just for her. "I have no family and few friends. We could get married tomorrow and no one would be the wiser, but I think you deserve more than that. I know you deserve more than that. I want to give you everything, Demi," he told her, brushing her hair gently back from her face. "I would give you the stars if they were but mine to give."

Her smile softened as he spoke, understanding that sentiment more than he might think. "Don't you think that I feel the same way about you?" she asked him gently, catching his hand to press a soft kiss to his palm. "Like you, I have no family, and what friends I have I am still in the process of making. Love, we could be married tomorrow and I would be happy with that, but I think we would both like somewhere to live together before we make those vows. You've already given me everything I could ever have wished for, just by loving me. I wish you could see how wonderful you are, Neville. Truly."

"You see the best in me, Demi," he told her, gently. It was the truth, after all. She wasn't seeing him through rose-colored glasses. Like anyone, he had his flaws and failings, but she always seemed to look past that to find the best in him. If only he could see himself the same way. He turned his hand to cup her cheek, his fingers drifting to stray into her hair, remembering the feel of her fur against his fingers, though he still preferred the woman to the cat. "We have the rest of our lives to figure it out," he promised her, drawing her close into his embrace and touching a kiss to her hair.

She almost purred, curling into his arms as he gathered her close. "One day you'll see yourself the way I do," she promised him softly. The way Nellie must have seen you. They both had flaws and failings, but perfection wasn't worth loving. Love came from the cracks and the mistakes, the little things that were forgiven or fixed or compromised over as time went on. It was easy to love perfection, and terribly boring, too. "I'm not dressing up as Catwoman for Halloween, though."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. "That's okay. I don't think I'd make a very good Batman." He wrapped an arm around her, content just to hold her there while the candles twinkled around them and the sun set slowly setting the sky on fire. "You know, I could get used to this," he said, slowly opening up further, sharing more and more of his thoughts. Some people might find the quiet boring, but to him, it was peaceful and there was no one he'd rather share it with than her.

She giggled softly, nestling comfortably against him. "I've never understood why people like to fill the quiet with noise," she admitted softly. "Why they have to talk just to fill the silence, or cover their walls with garish artwork when they have the sky above them and the world around them to look at. Music is different; music expresses what I don't have words for a lot of the time. But just words ....they're not always necessary. I don't feel as though I have to talk to keep you entertained. That's very rare, you know."

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:19 EST
"You don't," he replied. "Just being with you is enough. You don't have to say anything. Anyway, people who always have to fill the world with noise never stop to notice the beauty in the silence. The sound of a heartbeat, the gentle rhythm of rain on the windows. The sound of the city when it's just waking up or going to sleep. Birdsong greeting the day, crickets chirping at night. Even in the dead of winter, you can almost hear the sound of snowfall if you listen hard enough."

"You find music everywhere," she murmured, impressed by how in tune he was with the world around him. It was rare, indeed, to find a human who listened to the world and didn't try to drown it out. He was closer to the tiger than he might realize. One thing they couldn't ignore, however, was the sound of the doorbell.

"Oh ....botheration," Demi muttered, untangling herself. "Perfect timing, as always." She dropped a kiss on the end of his nose. "Back in a sec." And off she went, jogging down the stairs to collect their dinner.

Even if he had a chance to deny it, he wouldn't have. She was right about that, but then he was a musician. It was his job to hear music in the most mundane of settings, but there was nothing mundane about her. Far from it. The fact of the matter was that he'd always heard music. Sometimes, he even heard music when there was no one about - as if notes were playing in his head, just for him. It was a gift, his mother had told him. A gift that no one seemed to have understood until now. Not even Nellie had understood that part of him. She was too practical for that, and he'd stopped trying to explain it. He might have told Demi more if the doorbell hadn't rung, announcing the pizza had arrived. He sighed, cussing softly to himself. He hadn't even offered to pay for the damned thing.

At least he knew her well enough to know that offering to pay for the food when she'd invited him to her home for the first time would be soundly rebuffed in as polite terms as possible. Demi was only gone a few moments, eschewing the temptation to fetch plates and cutlery in favor of really going alfresco for once. She bounced back into view, one large pizza box held high above her head. "Success, my pretty!" she announced cheerfully. "One meat feast, huge and terribly unhealthy."

"I've never been one to be accused of being overly healthy," he retorted cheerfully, reaching to take the box from her, a quizzical expression on his face. "Should I fetch some plates?" he asked before turning to set the box on the table.

"I believe someone made a request for no dishes tonight," she smiled a little teasingly, easing back down to sit beside him. "Besides, pizza is a lot more fun if you eat it with fingers out of the box. No need to stand on ceremony."

"I like the way you think," he replied with a grin, claiming the empty space beside her. "After you," he told her, waiting for her to choose the first slice before doing the same.

Flipping open the box, Demi chuckled, claiming a slice for herself as she settled back against the cushions. "Do you like camping?" she asked him curiously. It might have seemed an odd question from a woman who clearly liked the finer things in life, but she was also a wild thing. Marrying those two sides of her nature promised to be an adventure in itself.

She had to wait a minute for her answer until he was finished chewing and swallowing his first bite, clearly ravenous. "I do, actually," he replied. "It's been a long time since I've gone, though. I don't have my gear anymore. Why' Is that something you'd like to do?" he asked before taking another bite.

"I'd love to," she admitted, twisting a strand of mozzarella around her fingertip as she chewed. "I like warmth and comfort, but there's nothing that really compares with camping out. Building your own fire and listening to world around you switch over as night falls ..." She laughed suddenly. "The insect bites are worth it!"

"There's repellent for that," he remarked. "Are we talking about tent camping or under the stars?" he asked further, as he carefully folded a slice of pizza in half before biting into it.

"Both ....either." Demeter shrugged, smiling. "I think if it was both of us, we should take a tent. Even if we didn't use it, at least it would be there, just in case. Keeping you warm is something I can do, but I can't keep you dry."

"We'd have to rent some equipment. Maybe a truck to haul it in, too," he mused aloud, though that seemed do-able. "It'll have to wait until I can get a few days off though, unless I can find a sub," he said with a frown. The gala was about to start and then it would be the theater company again. Between performances and practices, he didn't get a lot of time off. Then again, he was probably due a few days off, so long as someone could cover for him.

"How about this, then?" she suggested. "You investigate when you can get time off. I can arrange my own clients around whatever dates you find, if necessary, and once we have dates, we can arrange everything else we might need."

"I'd say you have a deal," he replied with a grin, before finishing off that first slice of pizza and licking his fingers clean for good measure. "I'll check with Mataya tomorrow and let you know. We should probably wait until the weather is better anyway."

"Probably," Demi chuckled, nibbling her crust in a surprisingly delicate manner. But then, she seemed to eat everything daintily, no doubt a conscious choice when set beside the necessity of being more than a little brutal when she ate in tiger form. "Have you camped much outside the city?" she asked him then, genuinely curious now.

"Not in a few years," he said before taking a swallow of his wine. "My Dad used to take me when I was a kid. Nellie was never much of a camper, so I haven't gone in a few years. She preferred a bed and a shower to the great outdoors," he said with a faint frown. At least, he was able to talk about her without breaking down anymore or getting angry. "Sorry," he apologized, as if he thought he shouldn't be talking about her now that he was with Demi.

Her smile gentled. "Don't apologize," she told him, reaching over to draw her fingertip along his brow, smoothing out that frown. "I don't mind you talking about her, love. She was a part of your life for a long time. Besides, I like hearing about her, the way you talk about her. There's nothing wrong with it."

"We didn't always get along, you know," he told her, that frown hardly smoothing out at all. He didn't really want to taint the evening with talk of his late wife. She'd heard a lot of this already when he was in therapy, but there were a few things he'd kept to himself. "She wasn't perfect, but then neither am I. I'd rather remember the good things than the bad."

"Well, no one always gets along with anyone," she pointed out, picking pepperoni off her slice and transferring it to his without thinking. "But it's not perfection that we love people for. We love them for their flaws, and there are always more good memories than bad. If it had always been bad, you would not have been together."

"I know," he admitted, mature enough to have learned that. He was no schoolboy; he'd paid his dues and then some. "No one's perfect, right?" he asked, already knowing the answer to that, too. "Should I give you a list of my faults or let you figure them out on your own?" he asked, a small smile on his face, half-teasing, half-serious.

She giggled softly. "I thought you said that finding everything out is half the fun," she countered, filling her mouth with a large bite of her pizza and demonstrating one bad habit of her own in one go as she continued. "You'd give me a big long list that wasn't true half the time, anyway."

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:19 EST
"It is, but I'm not so sure faults and bad habits were what I had in mind when I said it," he told her, hardly noticing what she might consider a bad habit of her own. So far, he had to admit, he thought she was damned near perfect.

"Take the good with the bad," she shrugged. "You can be a little conservative - it might take you a while to get used to quite how ....free ....I am when I'm at home." She flashed him a charming little wink and a smile.

"In what way?" he asked, only just noticing the extra pepperoni she'd added to his second slice of pizza. "If you didn't want pepperoni, why'd you order it?" he asked with a laugh.

Biting cheese off her fingertip, she grinned at him over her knuckles. "Because it's less bother to order it straight and pick the pepperoni off when it arrives," she admitted, displaying a certain laziness that probably came from the feline side. Her eyes sparkled as she owned up to it, though. "Oh, I don't own any pajamas," she told him in answer to the first question. "And I tend not to get dressed until I absolutely have to. The first thing that comes off when I get home is my bra. I like to be ....free."

"No, it's not!" he disagreed with another chuckle. "I wouldn't have cared if you'd skipped the pepperoni," he assured her, eyes twinkling once again in amusement, replacing whatever sadness he might have been feeling at the mention of his wife. "Are you saying you like to traipse around your apartment in the nude?" he asked, with a smirk.

"Yes," she nodded, utterly unabashed by the confession. "Much to the embarrassment of the poor little old man who lives opposite and occasionally gets a glimpse of me through the windows. Poor man, the first time nearly put him in the hospital."

He tried not to let his eyes wander appreciatively over her form and failed miserably, that smirk still in place on his face. "I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for him or envy him. You could just close the blinds," he suggested mildly.

"I could, but then I can't feel the sunshine on my skin," she pointed out. Perhaps it was a little selfish, but she didn't see why she should hide herself, especially when she was in her own home. "He's about ninety, I very much doubt there's any harm in letting him look."

"Maybe we should rent a penthouse. Someplace high enough that you can have your sunshine without any peeping toms," he suggested further, though he wasn't sure if they'd be able to afford the rent. "If we're sharing secrets, I don't like to shave on my days off," he declared. Not nearly as daring as a woman walking around with her clothes off, but it was all he had at the moment.

"Mmm, naked sunbathing," she teased, leaning over to kiss a spot of sauce from his lip. Her third slice had virtually disappeared, but she was full enough. Pizza had that effect on her. "Ah, you like to cultivate the rugged look when you don't have to be perfectly turned out, hmm?"

He smiled as she kissed the sauce from his lips, just as he was finishing up his own third slice. "I'm not sure I'm ever perfectly turned out," he admitted, a little embarrassed. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't have much fashion sense." They seemed exact opposites in that regard, as he thought she was always gorgeous.

"No, I think you have classic fashion sense," she corrected him fondly. "You know what suits you, and you dress well accordingly. You don't have to slavishly follow fashion to be well turned out, love."

"If you say so," he told her, not very convinced. He drained his glass of wine and leaned back with a sigh of satisfaction, glancing out to find it was finally getting dark. "The stars will be out soon," he said, thinking aloud.

"I do say so," she insisted, smiling as he settled back comfortably. She leaned her head back to look up at the sky. "And the moons already rising," she murmured, nestling a little closer. "Listen ....you can hear half the city going to bed while the other half wakes up."

"Which are you?" he asked, turning back to watch her as she looked at the sky. She seemed to belong to both day and night, a creature who was both woman and feline, and he wondered which was the stronger of the two.

"Oh, if I had the leisure, I'd go to bed after midnight and wake up late in the morning," she confessed, smiling at the sky as it darkened and began to twinkle with stars. "I like to watch the sun rise sometimes, but my favorite kind of day begins at noon, so I can watch the sun set and the moons rise." She shrugged, tilting her head to look over at him. "What about you?"

He set his glass aside so that he could wrap his arms around her and draw her close against his chest while they watched the starry show in the night sky. "I work strange hours. When I'm working at the theater, I don't get home 'til after dark, and then I'm usually too restless to sleep right away. Weekend performances are afternoons, so I don't have to get up too early, but ....I like to watch the sun rise sometimes, too." His favorite time of day though' That was hard to say.

Wrapped in his arms, Demeter stored this information away. As a psychologist, she had a certain amount of leeway when it came to arranging her appointments, and a later start to her day would likely suit most of her clients better, anyway. "I'm always on call, unless I arrange cover," she told him, answering the given information with a little of her own. "I'm not concerned that any of my clients will need me out of hours at the moment, but there might come a time when someone does."

"What happens if one needs you while we're ..." He shrugged, glad she was not looking at him so that she didn't see his blush. "I don't know ....camping or something." Or away on their honeymoon, presuming they went on a honeymoon. He'd never needed to call during off hours when he was under her care, but he assumed she must have a service that took her calls when she wasn't available.

"I'd arrange for someone else to cover my clients while I'm out of touch, and make sure that they all know who they'd be contacting," she assured him. She took her job very seriously, but that didn't mean that it was her absolute priority in life. Tilting her head back, she brushed a soft kiss to his neck. "If I ever do have to abandon you, I promise I will make it up to you."

"I'll try not to be jealous of your patients, if you try not to be jealous of my students," he told her with a soft smile, that was only partly in jest. He knew her job was an important one - far more important than his, he thought. She had helped him deal with the grief of his wife's death, and he knew there were others who needed her help just as much as he had.

Her fingers curled into his hair as she held his gaze, her smile soft to match his. "I can't promise never to be envious of your students, but I can promise never to be jealous," she offered warmly. "I'm not afraid of losing you, and I don't think I ever will be. I trust you."

"You won't ever lose me, Demi," he assured her quietly as he met her gaze. If there were any doubts in his mind, he wouldn't have proposed. He could think of nothing else to say that hadn't been said already and so, he leaned closer, his fingers gently brushing her cheek, and touched his lips to hers in soft and tender kiss.

"Nor you, me," she promised him, her voice just as quiet, just as certain. She received his kiss with a soft smile, easing closer to answer it with her own, tender and loving and longing, her arms curling to his shoulders as her fingers played into his hair. Stolen kisses were a thing of the past now they had made themselves official; she saw no reason to hold herself back from pouring everything she felt into each kiss he gave her, sharing far more than words could ever express in intimate affection.

Despite their promises, Neville knew from experience that life really was too short. Though they might never intend to break those promises, Fate might have other plans. Still, he felt more hopeful and optimistic than he had in a long time. No matter how much time they had together, he intended to make the most of it, and there was no time like the present to start. He returned her kisses, withholding nothing, hands creeping up against her back, waiting for permission to take the next step.

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:22 EST
Did he really need that permission' She had shown him the most personal secret she held; she'd agreed to marry him. What more permission did he need" And yet she could feel the unspoken question in the shift of his hands over her back, rising up to straddle his lap, heedless of the way her dress hiked high to her hips as she settled close to him.

If her body language was anything to go by, it seemed obvious that she was not only giving him permission but encouraging him to continue. As she settled herself on his lap, his own desire became acutely apparent, his hands moving from her back to slide up her thighs, thumbs yanking her dress higher, while he deepened his exploration of her lips and mouth.

She whimpered softly into his kiss, a sound that was more encouragement than dismay, her body jerking just that little bit tighter to his as she felt the heat of his hands war with the cool air on her thighs. Her own hands were not idle, moving to skim over his neck and shoulders, inching their way between them both to undo the buttons keeping his skin from her touch. It had been a long time since she had been with a man, and longer still since she had actually wanted to be this intimate with anyone. Impatience was on the verge of winning the battle with tender consideration.

Even Neville knew this was no time to be timid and shy. He could tell from her reaction to his kisses and caresses that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her, and though it still surprised and even shocked him that a woman like her would find him attractive, the time for worrying about it was over. He shrugged his way out of his shirt, even as his fingers were tugging her dress higher, and then he was tucking her legs around his waist and moving the short distance to the couch. He kissed her again as he laid her back against it, hungry for her kisses, before breaking away to catch his breath. Without further hesitation - or permission - he suddenly moved again, this time to further his exploration, starting with her toes and working his way slowly upwards until he reached that special place that made her a woman.

It was strange, how neither one of them could see what the other saw in them. Demi did not feel worthy of his love, but she would never stop wanting it, wanting him. Borne aloft in his arms, her hands kept roaming, wanting to touch, wanting to tease, wanting to learn all there was to learn about him, even as they traded those hungry kisses back and forth. She couldn't feel any hesitation in him, something borne out by the way he laid her down and began his exploration of her, discovering the ticklish arch of her foot and back of her knee on his way to his prize. Giggles didn't last long, though, overwhelmed by the tender trust in the way she sighed his name with pleasure, restless for more.

Some men might have been in a hurry, but Neville wasn't one of them. No virgin, he knew what to do with a woman, though he also knew each one was different and unique, taking joy in the discovering the nuances that were Demi, in every giggle, every smile, every soft sigh of breath. Hearing her sigh his name did something strange to his insides, deepening his desire, and yet, he was still master of his own body, focusing his attention for the time being on coaxing and pleasing her the best way he knew how.

And what he knew was more than enough to bring the woman in his arms gasping to a peak she hadn't thought existed, writhing as his name fell from her lips in a prayer that might just have been heard in the heavens themselves. There was no restraint in her, no attempt to calm her motion or quiet her voice, wanting to share what he gave her with anyone who might hear her, needing him to know that he was giving her a gift that no one could ever match. Buttons gave up the ghost as her writhing stretched her dress to breaking point, her toes pointed with aching, agonizing pleasure when, at last, she collapsed back against the couch, dazed and breathless, in wonder of this man who had just proved he wanted her in every way possible. "Good ....grief ..."

He didn't waste much time once he was through, hands and lips and tongue in further exploration as he peeled the dress away to reveal the remaining secrets that had been hidden from view. Good grief weren't quite the words he would have chosen to describe that view or what he was feeling. There were no words really, though he was struggling to control his own desires.

Laid bare before him, Demi's smile was half-lidded and sultry. She rose up onto her elbows, her hand moving to still his as her breath ghosted against his lips. "My turn," she whispered to him, catching his lips in a grinning kiss that promised she was about to turn the tables on him in the only way that might possibly make them even once again. It was his turn to be laid back, his turn to be tenderly stripped as hands and lips explored with loving desire every inch she could get to.

She found him trembling, not with cold but with desire, even as she turned the tables on him and returned the favor. Where he might have once flushed with embarrassment, he now only flushed with desire, hoping he didn't disappoint her, but not willing to break the spell by asking. He tangled his fingers in her hair, while she worked her own magic, echoing the sighs and moans of pleasure that had come from her only a short time ago, but stopping her before she got too far, with a groan of her name.

She pouted playfully as he stopped her, dark eyes stormy with her own desire as she rose once again to catch his lips in another of those hungry kisses. "Not going to let me play?" she asked innocently - or as innocently as anyone could perched naked in the lap of someone they really wanted to do more than just tease.

"I want you, Demi," he replied, eyes dark with desire, a very serious expression on his face, despite her teasing. He thought if he didn't have her soon, he might die, and though she had offered to return his favor, he wanted something more and that something more was quite obvious.

"I'm right here," she breathed, giving him all the permission he could possibly wish for as she slid ever closer, skin to skin, heart to heart, promising everything and more with a single kiss. She didn't care where it happened, but she knew that after tonight he would never be rid of her. She was his, utterly and completely.

But he didn't want to take her there, on her couch. She deserved better than that, and despite the difficulty he was having maintaining control of his own desires, he surged forward to scoop her up in his arms and carry her toward the pile of pillows and blankets that served as a bed. He laid her down gently, covering her body with his, his mouth capturing hers as he took her at last and claimed her for his own.

He earned himself a fresh giggle with his sudden surge of movement, the clutch of her arms and legs about him betraying that he had surprised her with the bold motion. Nuzzling to him, she lay back, drawing him down to claim and be claimed in a tangle of limbs and loving caresses, tender endearments painting the air as they rose together to the moment when they would be mated for life. She could feel the tiger behind her eyes roaring with triumph as that moment came, finally irrevocably claimed by the male of her choice, submitting without a second thought, even as the woman cried out for the second time, unashamed to show every nuance she felt.

It hadn't occurred to him in that moment of unbridled passion that the tiger inside her was claiming him for a mate, and even if it had, he wouldn't have changed a thing. He had taken her and claimed her for his own, just as he'd given his whole self to her - heart, soul, body, life - giving her everything he had to give. Vows and a ceremony were only a formality; they had claimed each other with only the sky and the stars and the moons to witness, and each other. What else was needed? "I love you," he whispered softly as he held her close, his voice thick with emotion, as their passion peaked and slowly ebbed away.

"Always," she whispered back to him, sharing her breath with him as her fingers stroked tenderly over his skin, both of them tangled as much in the softness of quilts and blankets as they were in each other. "I love you, Neville," Demi breathed, and she meant it. They were not just words; they were a promise from every part of her to every part of him. He was hers, and she was his, and she would not allow anyone or anything to come between them now.

Demeter Ashton

Date: 2016-04-27 20:22 EST
"I've never felt as happy ....as content ....as I feel when I'm with you," he told her, feeling almost guilty for admitting, almost as though he was betraying his wife's memory, but it was true. As much as he'd loved Nellie, he felt something more with Demi - some sort of connection he couldn't quite explain or understand. He'd worried once that he'd never be able to love again, but she had proved him wrong and then some.

Nestled close against him, she smiled, brushing her lips to his shoulder. "Somehow I don't think that's entirely because I'm a large version of a domesticated cat with boobs," she commented, her silly humor never far away when they were together. "You make me calm," she told him softly. "All my life, I've been aware of the tiger in my mind, always watching, always clamoring for freedom. But with you, she's quiet, content. And that's something I've never experienced before."

He rolled to his side, afraid he might crush her with his weight, pulling her along with him, unwilling to let go of her just yet. Gentle fingers traced her cheek before straying into her hair, eyes searching hers, though for what he wasn't quite sure. "I'm terrified of losing you," he confessed quietly. It wasn't the fear of her leaving him, but of losing her the way he'd lost Nellie. It was a promise she could not make, and yet, the uncertainty only made him love her more and want to make the most of each moment.

Rolling with him, she eased herself up to look down at him, laying her palm over his heart as she held his searching gaze with gentle confidence. "You won't," she promised him. "Not until I am old and gray, and my natural time comes. You don't need to fear losing me to an accident or an illness, Neville. I heal very fast, and I don't get sick. Silver is the only thing that prevents me from healing, the only thing that can kill me outright. I am afraid of losing you, but you don't need to fear losing me, not like that."

"Even you wouldn't have survived that, Demi," he told her, meaning the explosion in the marketplace that had taken Nellie's life. Or if she had, the healing would have been unspeakably painful, but he understood what she was telling him - or he thought he did. "And here I thought all that was nothing more than myth and legend," he said. Sure, he'd known there were such things as weretigers, but he'd never known one personally before.

"We're quite difficult to kill," she murmured. "I've never seen it done myself, but I have heard that even if we seem dead, unless it was silver that killed us, the light of the moons can revive us." She shrugged, leaning down to touch a kiss to his lips. "It could well be myth and legend. That doesn't mean it isn't true."

"Remind me to get rid of every piece of silver I still own," he told her, only half in jest, making a mental note to make sure the ring was gold and not silver. He smiled into her kiss, feeling strangely lazy and content and happy to remain right there beside her as long as time would allow. "Mind if I stay the night?" he asked, though he could have guessed the answer.

Her smile softened at his question, bright and sweet and deeply delighted that he had asked at all. "I was hoping you would," she admitted, easing down to lie close beside him once again. "I bought a spare toothbrush, just in case."

He chuckled a little at her remark. "That's good because I forgot mine." He slid an arm around her shoulders to pull her against him, wondering why he'd been worried at all about what she'd think of him or if he could please her.

Curling into his side, Demi beamed her soft smile, her arms wrapped about him in the little nest of soft furnishings that was her bed. "I have to admit, I can't wait to meet this beast you say you are first thing in the morning."

He smirked at her comment. "Just imagine me with messy hair and bad breath needing a shave," he told her, though he was probably exaggerating a bit. He didn't think much of himself on a good day and still thought they were a little akin to Beauty and the Beast.

"Mmm, care to share the bath and let me shave you?" she suggested, half-teasing and half-serious, grinning up at him where she lay comfortably against his side. "You needing a shave and me wandering around naked ....we're going to be lucky if either one of us gets to work on time tomorrow."

"So long as you don't shave my chest," he replied with a grin. "We could be bad and call in sick," he suggested, though he doubted either of them would do it. They were both too mature and responsible for that.

"And let you miss your triumphant solo at the Gala" Never." She grinned back at him, warm and content, knowing she would sleep well and soundly tonight for the first time in over a decade. Because she wouldn't be sleeping alone; because the warm body curled to hers belonged to the man she loved and who loved her. She might have given him a yes, but he had given her far more than that. She intended to spend the rest of her life making sure he knew how much she appreciated him.

He chuckled in response to her question. "I'm a cellist. It's not much of a solo," he told her. Besides, no one would see him in the pit. It was the ballet who would get the applause and the recognition, not the orchestra, but that was fine with him. He didn't really like being in the spotlight. "Okay, so, no calling in sick. I still don't have to be at the theater until later. What about you?" he asked, as he settled himself comfortably against the pillows.

"I have two appointments tomorrow," she told him. "The first at one o'clock, and the second at three. We have all morning, if we want it. I don't deal with more than ten clients at the moment. The professor didn't want to overburden the newbie."

"I didn't fall in love with you because you were my therapist, you know," he told her with that familiar worried expression on his face. He'd heard of people forming attachments in such circumstances sometimes, but he didn't think that was what had happened with them.

Demi smiled, tilting her head back to meet his eyes. "I know," she assured him softly. "You didn't fall in love with me until after we started dating. Before that, you just wanted to shag me." She winked at him impishly, feeling very secure in teasing him this way, especially after the activities of their evening thus far.

"Are you sure it's not you who wanted to shag me?" he asked, eyes dancing with mischief in the light cast only by candle and moonlight.

"From the moment I smelled you," she told him, thought how seriously he would take her was his business. It was the truth, though - she'd wanted him before she'd even laid eyes on him. It had been plain torture, those sessions in her office, so close and yet so very far away.

If he didn't know her so well, he might have taken offense at that, but knowing what he now knew about her, he took it as a compliment. "And what do I smell like, exactly?" he inquired, wondering if it was his natural scent - whatever that was - or the aftershave he was wearing.

"Like moonlight on snow, on a silent night," she sighed softly. He already knew how she felt about nights like that, nights that called to both sides of her nature and urged her to enjoy them. "Your scent is a siren call to me, love."

Both brows arched upwards in surprise at her assessment. "I didn't know that smelled like anything," he mused aloud, though now that he thought about it, there was a certain scene to the air on a snowy, moonlit night. It was sort of a clean, fresh smell, but it surprised him to know his scent reminded her of that. Once again, he felt the desire to ask, Why, me" but withheld it for once, knowing some things just couldn't be explained, no matter how hard you tried. "Whatever I'm doing right, I'll have to keep doing it."

"Then you'll never do it wrong," she told him with a tender smile. "You just have to be." Easing up, she brushed her lips to his, sharing that smile with intimate affection. "You can't stop me if I go first this time," she murmured playfully, the sparkle in her eyes promising him that this time she was going to have her way with him before he could stop her.

He smiled into her kiss, feeling truly happy and content. "Who says I want to?" he asked, making no move to stop her, though the night was still young, and if he had his way, they'd both have plenty more of each other before sleep claimed them.

After all, what better way to spend their first night as a mated pair? Marriage would come, in time, but from this moment on, nothing could come between the tiger and her loving mate.