My Beloved Monster and Me

What had he done? It couldn't be a mortal wound; that was impossible, it had to be... right?

He looked, almost reluctantly, into her eyes. He wanted to ask if she was alright, but couldn't form the words. Evidently however the look of concern on his face was enough for her to discern his meaning. Kura checked her neck, noticed the small amount of blood and then wrapped that arm around his own neck. The feel of it there sent another wave of completely irrational joy surging through him, but it was nothing compared to what he felt when she smiled up at him.

"You didn't injure me... not severely..."

Relief came next. He smiled back down at her, and rubbed his nose against her shoulder gently, inhaling her scent. He felt her hand move through his unfamiliarly clean hair and it took all the self control he had not to purr as she did so.

"I suppose we're mated, then." She said at one point. To which Strig's eyes widened.

Mated? The word felt unreal, even after all this.

He had always been a loner, a misanthropist by design almost. What women he saw tended to run away or open fire at him and, reluctantly, he had concluded that he was destined to be alone for all his life. Lord of an empty village, an urban legend in the Yellowknife meat-locker if he was lucky.

A mate was unthinkable, or so he had thought.

With a grin, which then developed into a booming laugh, Strig rolled himself onto his back, his arms dragging Kuramidi in a ninety degree arc which pulled her onto his chest. He looked into her eyes again for a moment and then lent forward to kiss her, mindful of his teeth of course.

As their adrenaline ebbed away and the weariness caused by the chase, and what followed, caught up with them, the two began to drift off. Kuramidi fell asleep first, her head resting peacefully upon Strig's chest. He watched her small, slender body rise and fall for as long as he could, half worried to fall asleep in case he should wake up to find her gone for whatever reason.

Distantly he thought that at some point they would have to walk back the way they had come, Kura would need to gather her supplies and whatnot, and he would, he supposed, have to track down his trousers.

He hoped however, that they would have no cause to leave the cave immediately when they woke up.

Leaning forward to kiss her hair, Strig then finally lent backwards and closed his eyes, exhausted, but impatient to wake up.

~~

More to come.