Chapter Nineteen
Lionel
Brad’s lips tasted so good. Hints of wine and the dinner they’d enjoyed, interspersed with Brad’s unique scent and that tinge of arousal that had blossomed through dinner and hadn’t gone down in the dimly lit backseat of the Uber.
Lionel lingered in the entranceway, having to take another taste, then again in the living room, where he perched his butt on the back of the couch, pulling Brad into the V created by his open legs.
Then it was Brad’s turn to lean against the kitchen counter as Lionel leaned over him, kissing and breathing in his mate’s scent.
Despite the intimacy, it was easy to tell Brad was distracted. Lionel pulled off those puffy lips, grinning ruefully. “You do have a pushy poodle, don’t you?” He sighed and stepped back at Brad’s rueful look. “Surprise, surprise, my lion is feeling the same way. Let’s head out to the back yard.”
“Doesn’t your lion like coming out very often?” Brad asked as they made their way to the utility room at the back of the house.
“If my lion had his way, he would remain in fur every day through summer. He’s strictly a lay on the porch in the sun type of lion, although if it’s particularly hot, he may migrate to the grass and sprawl out there, but not for long.
” Lionel winked at his mate. “There are all manner of crawly things in the grass, and my lion gets the itches if ants start attacking his mane.”
“Ah, yes, that makes sense. The king of the jungle, thwarted by pesky ants.”
“He can scratch for hours if that happens.”
“What’s he like when it rains? My poodle loves splashing about in puddles and digging in the mud.”
“Heaven forbid!” Lionel cracked up laughing.
“This one time, I was shifting with Hector and Ian, and we were at Great Falls. I’m not sure if you’ve been there, but there’s a waterfall and a river.
A really lovely place. Except it had been raining the day before.
Hector didn’t care, he found a muddy puddle to wallow in, and Ian’s a honey badger, so he doesn’t give a shit about things like wet paws.
But my lion…” He ran a hand over his face.
“I’m not sure I should tell you. It was so embarrassing. My friends teased me for weeks.”
“You have to tell me now. No secrets between mates.” Brad playfully nudged Lionel’s arm with his shoulder.
Lionel lingered by the door, his hand on the power board for his outside light system. “Have you seen those elegant horses, the ones who dance and prance to music for equestrian shows and things like that?”
Brad nodded, and then his eyes widened. “Your lion was prancing?”
“I wouldn’t call it prancing.” Lionel waved each hand up and down.
“More like four paws trying desperately not to get wet. He had to have at least two paws on the ground at one time or he’d fall over.
He was high-stepping, I suppose you could call it, with all four feet.
I’m just glad my friends were also in shifted form,” he added as Brad burst out laughing.
“Otherwise, there’d be video evidence, and they could’ve blackmailed me for life.
My lion is not a fan of water splashing up his legs, or mud caught between his toes. ”
“Oh, my goodness.” Brad leaned against Lionel’s arm, still chuckling.
“It’s fine. I would never laugh at such a fine creature, as I am sure your lion will be.
And it hasn’t rained in at least a week so he should be dry tonight.
Ooh, nighttime.” He stroked Lionel’s arm, his eyes clouding with worry.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay in the dark? ”
“You’re with me, so it should be fine,” Lionel said, touched that his mate even considered it. “And it won’t be dark. Watch.”
He flicked the main power board switch. The garden, which had been a dark void filled with vaguely outlined ominous shapes that could be seen through the glass-paneled back door, came to life as the whole area was bathed in lights.
“Wow! You made some electrician very happy,” Brad said as Lionel unlocked the door, and they stepped out onto the porch. “This is incredible.”
“Ostensibly it’s for entertaining,” Lionel explained, looking around, trying to see it through Brad’s eyes.
There were spotlights hidden among the grass, highlighting every tree, large bulbs around the porch frame, and fairy lights strung along bushes and tree branches.
All of the lights were angled so that they also sent out light to the large grassy area in the middle of the yard, meaning there were no places anyone, or anything, could hide within Lionel’s tall wooden fences.
“I tried solar lights under the trees originally, but they didn’t give off a lot of light, and they needed replacing too often.
So I called in an electrician to put in an outside power box so I could add fairy lights to the trees.
He suggested the whole garden could be lit up and run on the mains power, with a backup solar generator in the case of a power outage. ”
“You can barely see any of the wires.” Brad was standing on the edge of the porch, looking around. “It must’ve cost a fortune.”
“I believe the electrician said something about taking his wife on a cruise when he’d finished the job.
” Lionel slid off his jacket and put it on the bench he had for shifting purposes.
“Did you want me to shift first, so my lion can meet you and have a sniff, and then your poodle can come out after?” He wasn’t quite sure of the etiquette between mates.
His friends usually tossed off their clothes and didn’t worry about sniffing each other in either form.
“I’d love that.”
It wasn’t easy undressing under Brad’s gaze. Lionel’s cock thought it was playtime, but his lion was insistent. Tossing his clothes on the bench, after remembering to take off his shoes, Lionel let his shift come through before his dick took charge.
There was always a moment of adjustment after a shift from one form to another.
Lionel’s perspective changed—his lion was big, but he was still seeing the world from a lower angle.
Standing on four feet instead of two also took a moment to click in the brain department.
The lion stretched out his muscles before shaking out his mane and roaring at the sky—something else that made Hector and Ian laugh.
The roaring was something the lion side of him had always done.
He was announcing his presence, and while the neighborhood never cared, Brad whooped and fist-pumped the air.
Mate. The lion was bigger than his natural counterparts, and he was almost eye-to-eye with the smaller man. But Brad’s grin was wide as the lion padded closer, reaching out his hand as soon as the lion got within touching distance.
“Look at you. You’re incredible.” Brad held out his hand for a sniff, and then ran it up the lion’s nose.
“Your fur is so soft, and look at all the tones in your mane. Just beautiful.” His hand crept up, scratching behind the lion’s ear.
The lion tilted his head, one side and the other—that wasn’t an easy space for him to reach, and the scritches felt really good.
Brad quickly got the hint and used both hands, making the lion feel like his eyes were crossing as he tried to focus on both sides at once.
“As much as I could do this all night,” Brad said about five minutes later, “my poodle is dying to play with you. Give me a second and I’ll get undressed.”
Play? The lion stepped back, giving Brad room to move.
And then, worrying that the porch space wasn’t that big, he made his way to the grass area of the yard.
He really didn’t want to step on the cute poodle.
I’ll lie down, he decided. The grass was dry.
Hopefully he wouldn’t be as intimidating to his much smaller mate.
Clearly, the poodle had never heard of the word intimidation. The moment he emerged, the poodle raced from the porch, his paws barely touching the steps as he hurried onto the grass, yapping madly.
I’m here. Are you pleased to see me? Ooh, look at that mane. Perfect place for a snuggle.
The lion barely had the time to work out what the poodle meant by snuggle, when he had a bundle of wiggling energy headbutting his chin, then went snuffling up one side of his face and then the other.
You smell so good, and your mane is so fluffy. Shall I call you Fluffy? It could be our cute name for you, and you can call me… The poodle stopped sniffing for a moment. What would you call me?
The lion wasn’t sure. He was still stuck on “Fluffy.” Are you sure Fluffy is a good name for me?
Yes! The poodle stepped back so the lion could see him. He was nodding wildly. No one would guess anyone would call a majestic creature like yourself Fluffy, so it will be our private secret. My Fluffy.
The lion could accept that weird logic, so long as no one else ever heard about it. I will call you… Bubbles, he sent back with a quiet chuff which was as close to a laugh as he was going to get. You’re bubbly.
The poodle tilted its head to one side as if considering it. Are you sure? He started racing around the lion’s whole body. Shouldn’t I be The Intimidator, or… or… Valiant? I’m a big, brave poodle.
Bubbles. The lion’s eyes were busy trying to keep track of where his mate was. What are you doing? There were feet on his hind leg.
Showing you how valiant I am. Look at me climbing the mighty fluffy lion.
I can’t see you, you’re on my back. And he was. The poodle had climbed up the lion’s back and now had its front paws on the lion’s head, right between its ears.
Definitely Valiant. Ooh, stick. Before the lion had a chance to ask what the poodle meant, he felt paws running down the side of his neck, and the poodle was racing off to the side somewhere.
What are you doing with a stick? Deciding he really didn’t want his mate climbing his body if he had a twig in his mouth, the lion got up and slowly turned around. The poodle moved so fast the lion wasn’t sure where it was.
The poodle had found a stick, but it definitely wasn’t a twig.
It was a fallen branch from a tree. What made the lion rumble deep in his chest was the effort the poodle was putting into moving it.
He had his teeth sunk into the end of it, and his whole body was undulating as he was trying to drag it out onto the grassy area.
You still haven’t told me what you want with a stick.
Moving over to the tree, the lion picked up the other end of the branch gingerly with his teeth, planning to drag it out onto the grass.
He wasn’t a fan of the taste of decaying wood and dirt, but he felt he should help his mate.
What he hadn’t counted on was the poodle was still hanging onto it as he carried his end.
Wheee. This is so much fun. And then, as the lion dropped the branch, horrified that he might have hurt his mate, the poodle shook his head, still hanging onto his end. Again. Again. Let’s play tug-of-war.
You have got to be kidding me. The lion had never been so grateful for the tall fences ensuring the backyard was private. Trying to ignore the dirt on his tongue, the lion picked up the branch end again, not lifting it as high this time, as he started to move around the yard.
Go faster. Go faster. The lion could feel the poodle’s excitement through their bond, and that was without the way the branch was vibrating with poodle wiggles.
It was actually fun, and no one was more surprised about that than the lion.
He moved faster, trotting around the garden with the stick in his mouth, tugging the poodle with him.
At one point, the lion had to turn around, or he was going to knock the poodle into a bush. As he flicked his head to the other side, the branch still in his mouth, the poodle end of the branch raised up, taking the poodle with it—all four feet off the ground.
Clearly surprised, the poodle let go and landed on his butt, shaking his head.
Horrified, the lion let go of his end of the branch, planning to go over and give his mate a thorough check over, but the branch hadn’t released from his teeth when the poodle was back up again, grabbing his end again and tugging madly.
I’ll make you fly next, Fluffy, the poodle promised. You just wait and see.
It was quite sometime later when the lion knew he had to have a drink. His mouth was filled with dirt and bark chips, which really wasn’t pleasant. Dragging his mate over to a large water bowl, the lion dropped his end of the branch, enjoying a drink—anything to get rid of that taste.
That was fun, mate. The poodle nudged his head and the lion moved to give him room.
Fortunately it was a low, wide, shallow dish.
When he’d gotten the worst of the bark from his mouth, the lion padded over to the center of the grass area, lying down.
He was pleased when a few moments later the poodle followed, snuggling under his chin and against his chest, his little eyes closing.
The lion licked over his mate’s back and then closed his eyes. Nap time was a perfect idea. Ants and other crawlies tended to sleep at night, so they’d be fine.