He was alone, completely and utterly alone now. The one he had followed the trail of footsteps had deserted him. Retiring from the very thing the younger male had been so avid on channeling into himself, to be the very thing his father and grandfather had been. Heat flared up his throat and out of his nostrils, feeling wholly scrapped by the rest of his family that hid in the north despite their allegiance not even being with the man that ruled it now. It boiled him alive from the inside though it hardly showed on his face as he brushed off his new badge, one awarded for his efforts in the war. He had no one to rejoice in his accomplishments with, to praise him that mattered by any standard and he could feel the cold steel of gazes by those he barely knew not approving of him gaining rank. Those that only saw him as a Highlander brood, spit at his feet and told him to go home, he wasn’t welcome. He would never be welcome. A sneer pulled at his lips, glaring into the twisting flames of a setting sun to strain past the tears of his sister that haunted his thoughts. He had never liked to see her cry and he had been the cause of it. Not like he could change that. As far as he was concerned fate had already been decided and his fate hung on another that perhaps did not know it yet as he looked for a different woman among fallen cobble and dehydrated roots blanketed in a thin layer of snow. Would she have deserted him as well? Pretty commoner princesses lacking any rule except the spices and those cursed ruby gems that thrived to entrap him. He much rather ensnare her first before she could take his breath away and make him bow to her but first, he had to find her. Carve her out of the stone left in the wake of this destruction until she was pure perfection so he may lace her forever at his side and stop her from being the next rodent to throw him aside like scrap. As if to play with his very thoughts a flutter of marigold would dance into his vision, making everything else around him look lacking in color. He would prowl, watching her for a few long moments as he stalked her as though she was nothing more than prey. Where he had wanted her dissociated from him last that he saw her, such a notion was unimportant now as not a single coworker lingered near to judge his choices in company. Rushing forward, he was only fueled by what he wanted and the frustration that constricted his veins all morning long. In one quick motion he would capture her, so long as she did not try to dodge him. Hoping to take her by surprise with intent to trap her onto her back between his stems, emeralds earnestly sought those rubies as his head lowered toward hers. |
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He had not expected her to be such an easy catch but as she buckled under him and fell into his control so easily, a wave of euphoria washed over him. The roguish smile pulled at his lips, curling his pale muzzle upwards in probably the warmest smile he had ever worn in a year or two. The way her eye looked up at him would cause his head to tilt, not finding her surprise to be all that alluring but it was better than fear peering up at him. Taking in a long breath, he would draw in her scent, lowering his head down little by little as his gaze never broke from her. That acidic sweetness never fully left his senses no matter how long they were apart for, sometimes wrapped in it even as he fell to the caress of slumber. Forever a phantom, one he couldn’t seem to fully erase from his mind, no matter how much he wanted to. Just as his muzzle was a hair's breadth away from brushing hers, he would notice the shimmer of tears filling the rim of her eyes and it would cause him to hesitate. So many seemed to cry around him as of late and though he told himself he didn’t care, it would cause his ears to preen back a little in concern before tipping forward in more so curiosity as his gaze scanned her tears for answers as to why she would be suddenly shriveling up. Where his sister’s tears had made him cringe, Sakura was simply all the more beautiful as it brought all the more color to those rubies. That smile turned more into a smirk at her words while an aired laugh puffed from his nostrils to the absurdity of her question, not at all taking into consideration of her feelings all this time he had avoided encounter after encounter with her every time he caught sight of marigold or caught a fragrance at all full of those familiar herbs she exuded. Work had been his prime focus, but that focus was wavering in his craving for her. That selfishness would not allow him any thought in how he spoke or how she might take it as he lowered his head to growl possessively in her ear. “I will always seek what is mine, Sakura,” his breath said with a husky depth, his breath a gentle warm breeze against her delicate skin. That confidence that had been missing in the past encounters was far bolder this time as his head raised enough to meet her eyes, burning into them fiercely before lowering once more to sap away the brine before it could ruin her cheek fur. Tasting her. |
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The way she gazed up at him with that desperate adoration swirled something primal within him, gaining something he had sought for a long while, that she so selflessly provided. To carry such a strong need for another, a codependency, it tickled him in a way he couldn’t explain. The teetering between wanting to fix or break something consumed his thoughts, taking in how vulnerable she was to him and how easy it would be to shatter everything. Breaking wasn’t his flavor today. No. He needed everything she could give him to regain that bleeding self-worth and loneliness that had infested his every thought and feeling since the war ended. He could still be in control even when allowing another to overtake his pride. He was allowing this; she wasn’t making him do anything. He held the power here. The attention. That pining gaze that seemed to only become more needy the longer he returned her gaze, hungry for something he could only fathom. This wasn’t love. This wasn’t hate. It was blind infatuation, a hopeless yearning that dulled the monster he felt he sometimes was. It was infuriating because he felt like he needed it, not just wanted it. His gaze would soften at the way she turned to putty to his possessive declaration. Wanting her to beg while she did so, not just with her eyes. With her voice. With her body. With her entirety. The validity of her response sent a burning and shiver along his spine as his tail rose and his stance became firmer. A grin pulled at his lips, lowering his head once more though pausing as she spoke of her insecurity, as if begging him to prove her disbelief otherwise. He brought some of his weight off of her, cradling her body between his forelimbs to prevent her from rolling away. Muzzle would trail the delicate curve of her neck, hoping to send a violent shiver into her body at his touch before he’d place a slow, ravishing kiss against her chest. Eyes would flicker upwards, not lifting his muzzle from where it rested against her, allowing the heat of each breath to soak into her skin. “Perhaps I should take you now where you lay. Make everyone know who you belong to; wearing my scent for days to come, inside and out,” he growled with a hint of playfulness. How far she would go to please him in order to feel wanted by him? |