The night had been fun and Grayday was somewhat sorry to leave the merry gang behind, but the siren-call of his wife was too strong to ignore, and he knew that Easy and Lavender were in good hands among their siblings and extended family. Besides, he was eager to hurry Catori away from the other men, blood or not. Being unable to see their faces, he assumed they had all looked on her with lust; he knew he would have, had be been able.
He followed after her, nose ever-reaching for the enthralling scent that emanated from the core of his wife. Blindly, he bumped into her when she stopped and turned, and Grayday followed with searching teeth, coming through her feverish fur. It did not occur to ask her if she was sure, or to wonder if this time, things would be different. Without a thread of uncertainty, he drew himself atop his mate and took the skin of her neck between his teeth, hips already working against hers. It was impossible to achieve anything at his frenzied pace; deliberately, he slowed his thrusts, and his legs burned with the effort.
"Love you," he mumbled against her spine, finally sinking into her welcoming heat.
whoops excuse my crap posts while I get back into the swing of things
Skipping along through this because my muse only wants fluff rn
The leader could sense his mate's eagerness and required no more prompting to carry on. And, as was always the case where he and heats were involved, the male was destined not to last for very long. Perhaps a bit longer than he had in his youth, but still not quite as long as he would have liked.
"That snuck up on me," he admitted between pants, shifting his weight to one paw so that he would not crush his mate. There was a tiny edge of embarrassment to his voice, but he was not too concerned. They had all night, and the upside to heats was that, although they always stole away his stamina, they did tend to shorted his recovery time by half.
He butted Catori's shoulder with his nose, feelings of love and affection washing over him in powerful waves. He was glad that he was already sure of his love for her, because if he hadn't been, he knew he would always wonder if another heat had spellbound him once more.
"I wonder what they'll look like," he said, speaking the next thing that occured to him. He knew by now that he would never see his children again, but was comforted by the knowledge that he would have Catori there to describe them to him in detail.
Grayday rumbled his agreement, rubbing his cheek against Catori's shoulder. All his children were beautiful, but Cat - she was something else. He couldn't even imagine what their kids would look like, and it burned him that he would never be able to see... but Cat's words were a balm on that wound, and a reminder that he was not without ways to experience the world, his children, his wife...
"We'll have as many as we're meant to," he said with certainty; he'd come to accept that all things were predetermined by their Creators. Probably, their children had already been named and designed by the combined efforts of their respective gods. Thus far, the gods had given him only beautiful children, only healthy children. His litters had been full and complete, even if the first had been somewhat small. "The gods have been good to us," he shared, feeling a little silly speaking on the matter. "I feel... as if we're doing something right. Like everything will be alright."
He hid his face against her fur. "Not that I'm complacent. I'm on the lookout for any trouble," he assured. "I just wanted you to know that I feel good about this."
"Ah," said Grayday with a silly grin, "but that's because I was on the lookout then, too!"
He shoved his muzzle into the warm fur of her neck, enjoying the moment of closenes with his mate. Never before had he felt so... so safe with a woman. It was almost a foreign concept, that a wife should be as reassuring to him as he was to her. But with Catori, he finally felt as though he stood on even ground with someone. She was his to protect, but she was his shieldmaiden as well.
"I love you, Cat," he said baldly, feeling as though he couldn't say those words enough. He'd never get enough of her.