Manticore smut (WIP)

CHAPTER 1

The first thing I was aware of upon regaining cloudy consciousness, was the dull throbbing ache in my head. I hazily began to recall bits and pieces of my prior skirmish, if it could even be called that; I had attempted to do battle with one of the fiercest, most feared monster in the land- a manticore. I had been defeated, neigh, humiliated by this seemingly unstoppable foe, she was far too strong for my likes, and I vaguely realized that thanks to my arrogance in thinking I could face her I would likely now pay the ultimate price.
	I knew the stories, men that disappeared forever into the mountains trying to fight or tame these beast, stories of them devouring every last bit of human flesh to the bone. The few men that returned from facing them often horribly scarred and refusing to speak of the battle. The manticore was a man-eater. It didn’t take a legend to understand that much.
	Fear now uncomfortably settling in, I groggily attempted to lift my head, open my eyes, and take in my surroundings. It was more difficult than I anticipated, she had really knocked me silly. After a few moments of blinking the blurriness out of my eyes and regaining some sense, I could see I was in what seemed to be a chamber in a cave. It was dimly lit by two rustic wall-mounted lanterns, and was filled with what appeared to be storage for various items; random articles strewn about; armor, unmarked crates, even a few odd weapons here and there that I could see. Trophies the beast kept? Reminded of my situation by this intimidating epiphany I tried to move as I regained the rest of my senses, only to realize my wrists were bound by thick rope to a rusty hook in the wall high above my head, I then tried to cry out in surprise only to discover I had a thick piece of cloth stuffing my mouth and tied behind my head, effectively muffling my cries. Lastly, upon feeling a chill and looking down, I also now realized I was completely naked.
	I somehow managed to overcome the urge to scream in terror at the prospect of being tied up in what was effectively a monster’s pantry awaiting my fate to be devoured as an evening meal with absolutely no way to avoid it. I needed to think clearly; I am warrior, I can find a way out of this.
I started by considering my options; yelling for help was out, not only was I gagged but when our battle started I was deep in the mountains, alone on my voyage, and now I was likely even deeper. The only one who was going to hear me was the beast herself since this was surely her quarters, and I knew that were there even other occupants, if it was company she kept it would likely be just as undesirable as her own.
I then began to tug at the rope, testing the strength of the knot and wall anchor. As I had fearfully suspected they were as immovable as she was in combat, twisting and pulling in them was only burning and chafing my wrists. I gave up for the moment after several minutes of what proved to be an entirely futile struggle. I looked around my immediate area and quickly realized in disappointment nothing was within immediate reach of my legs to try and pull to me. Of course she wouldn’t be so careless as to allow her prey a way out, she was as cunning as she was brutally strong.
	As my options grew thin my heart began to sink and my stomach felt icy, I was completely trapped by this creature. I fought hard to avoid the panic setting in and to control my breathing as intrusive thoughts of her slicing and biting into my vulnerable flesh flashed through my mind. Images of her piercing and cold blue-eyed stare and that awful razor-sharp grin that seemed to span too much of her face flashed through my mind. I recalled her taunts in our fight as she half-heartedly fought me, treating me more like a plaything than an opponent, it must have been evident to her from the very start I was not a threat. The match had been long, but only because she had herself admitted she wanted to watch me tire myself out and despair at my imminent defeat and emerging fate as her meal. I shuddered as I recalled her promises of eviscerating me. I was now in a cold sweat. The panic was becoming relentless.
I couldn’t fight my captivity.
I couldn’t fight her.
This was it.
It’s all over.
Any moment now she will prowl through the open chamber entrance and come in to tear me to pieces, likely slowly and painfully. I had never truly been faced with such certainty of death in my life, and now I was showing it; I could feel the tears welling up in eyes even as I fought them with my last vestiges of pride and attempted courage, but truthfully I was in mortal terror, horrified of the pain and suffering she would undoubtedly inflict on me for my arrogance in challenging her. I was terrified of dying at her claws, of that piercing gaze settling on my flesh with flashes of hunger like before, only to be followed by gruesome acts of carnage.
	My darkest of thoughts were interrupted by the subject of their creation- I looked up to see her slinking silently into the room with me. Pathetically, I involuntarily let loose a tiny whimper as I watched my would-be executioner enter the room, this was really it, wasn’t it? She replied with a small simpering giggle at my involuntary display of horror. The sound sent chills down my spine as she slowly entered the small chamber.
	“Scared?” She spoke so low she almost whispered “You should be, human.”
I examined her dimly lit form in a vain attempt to avoid her icy gaze and find anything to distract me, I pretended I was still fighting her, probing her body for a weakness in an effort to remove myself from my current situation on at least a mental level.
It was the first time I had been able to see her in full because of how fast she moved while fighting in the dark night. Shockingly, I realized her body was not unlike a human woman’s, so much so that in fact in my effort to distract myself from my impending end I ironically found that she was exotically beautiful. Despite the inhuman, almost feline-like, dark earthy-red fur covering part of her limbs, the paw-like hands and feet, the mane around her neck, the bat-like wings, the cat-like ears atop her head, and the long intimidating spined tail; her frame was more lovely than any maiden’s I had ever seen. Her attire, if it could be called that, left little to the imagination, and I could see where her flesh was exposed that it was smooth and soft, her hips were wide, her buttocks plump and round, her stomach smooth and flawless, her breasts were full and shapely. Her hips almost seem to gyrate as she moved towards me, her movements were hypnotic and almost cat-like in their grace.
	So breath-taking was this creature’s beauty and so far gone was my logic that for a moment I was completely entranced by my captor, lost in a momentary madness and forgetting my situation. That is until she was within arm’s length and reached up to grasp my chin; her touch violently jerked me back into harsh reality as I was finally unable to avoid her dreaded eye contact. She held my chin firmly yet surprisingly gently, her touch was soft and warm, contrasting her cold stare and demeanor, and she peered deep into my eyes. I felt another shudder run down my spine like ice dripping down my back, almost as cold as the blue vortexes in my sight. It occurred to me her eyes would be beautiful were they not currently the object of my deepest horror, their gaze so sharp it was almost painful to maintain. Her face was gorgeous as well, it could've been the envy of even nobility or royalty; full with high cheekbones and a feminine jawline, framed by light auburn hair that ran down her back a decent length.
	She flashed another one of her too-big grins at me displaying pronounced razor sharp canines, I noticed her teeth were surprisingly white and well-kept.
“What were you looking at right now, human?”
I flinched slightly at her words, for some reason it had already felt like an eternity since she had entered my vision and last spoke. She was now standing so close to my nude form I could feel slight warmth from her body against my cold exposed skin.
“Nothing.”
I found myself quickly attempting to reply, attempting to deny her any further dignity, though it came out much less intelligible thanks to the thick cloth pushing on my tongue, my face flushed in shame and frustration has my intent to reclaim some initiative was quickly made into a pointless display. She uttered another cynical simper that sent more shivers down my spine before her own reply;
“It sure didn’t seem like you were looking at ‘nothing’ before, meat,” she almost spat the last word, causing me to flinch at the degrading name. “In fact, it looked to me like you were admiring my body quite thoroughly.”
	I swallowed. Of course I must have been obvious, she had been staring at me just as I was staring at her, I remained silent in my continued fear and indecision, I had no idea if this was something that made things better or worse for my situation, as I had no idea how the mind of such a creature worked. She’s not a person, I reminded myself; no matter how beautiful, this is a monster, and now she is likely going to kill me and eat me, like some kind of animal. I then felt the tears of fear welling up again despite trying to fight it.
	“Lusting after your captor’s body in the final moments before your inevitable demise, and then denying it and weeping in fear of her…. Are all human men this pathetic? Or just the fake, self-proclaimed warriors like you?” She giggled mockingly.
	My heart pounded in my chest and I felt my face burn with a mix of anger, humiliation, and ever-present fear. Why was this creature able to see right through me?

CHAPTER 2

	To my small relief, she broke eye contact, but seemingly only to examine my body as thoroughly as I had examined hers moments ago. She let go of my chin and stepped back a short distance, taking me in and sizing me up. She now seemed to have a faint smirk… Of amusement? Before I could consider that further I felt my cheeks burn as her gaze seemed to linger just a little too long over my manhood, I took careful notice that her tail was now whipping back and forth behind her. I watched her face and saw her lick her lips dramatically.
	“You look absolutely delectable right now, ‘warrior’” She changed her pitch slightly for the last word, mocking me again, using a tone almost like a parent would to a child.
I felt the fear run through my body again, damnit, how long would she draw this out? Every moment was agony, every second I was left untouched left me pondering my impending doom.
She stepped forward again and I flinched as her warm and powerful body now pressed against my own. Close enough that I could smell her, it was a scent I couldn’t quite name, but strangely I found it somehow mildly pleasant despite the circumstance. Her voluptuous form pressed against my own was another feeling that would've been enjoyable in another context. She placed her paws on my sides and put her head closely next to mine as I froze in sheer terror, and she whispered in my ear with a voice like poisoned honey.
“Don’t be afraid meat, give in to your fate with me, and I promise nothing will hurt at all.”
	Goosebumps erupted all over my flesh as her words and breath gently brushed past my ear, harshly contrasting her terrifying deception. I tried to remain stoic and didn’t dignify her with another muffled reply. She didn’t seem to care as her paws began to slowly stroke my sides, was she checking my tenderness? I quickly failed my act and shuddered again at the thought.
What happened next made me jump more than anything before, as she slid her tongue into my ear and probed the surface all across it, but again she didn’t seem to notice my reaction. I then reflexively tried to pull away from the unwanted intruder now tasting my ear like a sweet, only for her to move a paw up and hold my head against her mouth.
I whimpered again involuntarily as her warm, wet tongue continued its thorough investigation of my ear, even eventually continuing to my jawline and cheek. I felt more goosebumps break out as she moved her head downward to lick even the slightly sensitive nape of my neck. Her tongue was mildly rough like a cat’s, but warm, and had it not been for the continual images in my head of her devouring my body I thought it wouldn’t be uncomfortable. I jumped again as she nibbled slightly on my neck, my heart beat so loudly I thought it was about to burst from my chest and I didn’t move an inch. I waited for a harder bite, for pain.... But for some reason, she was… gentle and tender with her teeth, only nipping at me hard enough to pinch a bit. As she continued tasting the skin on my neck and collarbone, I then realized her right paw was sliding slowly from my side down my stomach to my groin.
	I felt goosebumps again at her sly touch and swallowed, I could swear it was so loud she must have heard it, but she was still seemingly far too interested in tasting my neck. Her paw reached my genitals and now my body was frozen stiff, too terrified to budge. She grasped me in the her warm paw and began to gently tug on my flaccid phallus. The unusual contrast of her smooth, warm pads, and soft, almost silky fur provided a sensation on my most sensitive of places that I had never experienced before and I found myself gasping in moments as she began to gently massage me.
	What’s happening? Have I lost my mind? I experienced a bizarre and brief moment of lucidity in which I realized this creature was now behaving in a manner that could only be described as sexual. Is she teasing me before rending me asunder? Is she trying to relax my body so I will be more palatable? Is this all a game to her just as our battle was? Is she as insane as I felt right now in this moment? I had no more time to consider as pleasure seared through my loins and I realized with shame I had quickly become fully erect from her continued rubbing and stimulation. Her rough tongue still lapping at my neck, her soft paws, one on my chest and one gently stroking my manhood, all contrasting my absolute restrained helplessness proving to be amazingly erotic and overcoming any vestige of logic I had remaining. I found myself releasing a quiet moan into my gag as she continued to stroke me with her soft pad and stimulating fur. She finally stopped lapping at my neck to coo hungrily into my ear again.
“Ara ara~ Almost time to have a taste of my yummy dinner~”
	No, Please, I wanted to shout, I wanted to fight, the familiar fear rising up again in my belly, but my primal male instincts, infused with the insanity from the sheer terror and other mixed emotions I was feeling prevented me from putting up any sort of real resistance as she continued to stroke me. “It’ll be okay.” I find myself thinking. “Is this such a bad way to perish?” I thought lazily. ‘No! You’re stronger than this! Fight her!’ A small rebellious part remained, but it put up only a small resistance. I felt myself half-heartedly and futilely pull on the ropes binding my wrists again to no avail. As I did so, the beautiful creature now knelt in front of me, but I knew it was not out of any kind of submission. I watched as she stared with a look of hunger in her eyes at my now fully erect and helplessly throbbing manhood, her face only inches away.
	Oh no, oh no Illias, I thought, the horror boiling up throughout me like never before as the most terrible thought yet occurred to me. It really was all a game, I fell for her bait, I lost again. She was going to begin devouring me now starting with the most terrible and sensitive piece she possibly could, and it was because I let her trick me into filling it with blood for her.
I closed my eyes and braced myself. Here it goes, this was gonna be it. I waited as several agonizing seconds passed, waited for the pain and shock. Waited for my masculinity to be removed by those razor-sharp teeth.
	 Instead the sensation I experienced made me gasp not in pain but pleasure.
I opened my eyes and looked down to see her warm, wet, and slightly rough tongue slowly running along the underside of my manhood, pausing to swirl slowly around the tip. She repeated, running her long tongue along my length paying special attention to my tip, teasing my head gently and then suckling at it with her full lips. I let out another involuntary cry of pleasure in surprise at her unexpected and pleasurable assault. She then grasped my hips with her paws and took my whole erection into her mouth, and began to suck on it like her life depended on it.
	The pleasure was so intense I couldn’t help but cry out loudly, I had never felt something like this in my life. Being a virgin, I had only dreamed of what it might be like to experience something like this with a beautiful woman, but in the most convoluted way this was beyond my wildest dreams.
I looked down again to see her eyes looking up into mine, but both shockingly and pleasantly, instead of the fear I had experienced only moments before, it seemed to only heighten the excitement I was experiencing. Her gaze was fierce and seductive, her expression unlike any I had seen on a woman’s face before, a combination of hunger and lust, contrasted by control. Each motion of her head as she slid back and forth produced lewd slurping sounds that only served to send my mind further into a blank state of mindless pleasure. I could vividly feel her coarse tongue pressed hard against the bottom of my shaft, sliding back and forth with her head, sometimes pausing at my glans to flick it and run little circles around it. The feeling was exquisite, she knew exactly what she was doing. I could see my length glistening from being covered in her saliva whenever she pulled back, leaving strands between it and her lips which were thick and wrapped firmly around my length.
After only minutes of this just when I thought I was about to lose my mind, she released me from her mouth with a lewd wet popping sound and began to gently fondle my sensitive testicles with a paw as she whispered up at me, never releasing eye contact,
	“See? What did I say, meat? You’re my good little warrior now aren’t you?” That shit-eating grin was back, but now somehow it was so erotic accompanied with her words and gentle caressing it made me want to explode. Another brief second of lucidity made me wonder why I was so aroused by being controlled by a creature who wasn’t even human and had effectively beaten me senseless in order to arrive at this moment, but I quickly dismissed it as I could feel the desire to release rising my loins washing away all logical thought.
	“Are you going to give me lots of delicious milk, meat?” She asked coyly, an amazingly arousing and eortic pouty expression appearing on her beautiful face below gazing up from my waist, one paw still slowly and gently massaging my scrotum, the other rubbing and tickling the inside of my thigh.
 	“Yeeeshhh!”
I yelled unintelligibly into my gag,  my will finally completely breaking at her temptations, all I knew now was I wanted release, and I wanted it now.
	“What a good warrior.” She grinned again malevolently.
Then, slowly, ever so slowly, she took my throbbing member into her mouth again.
	“Mmmm!” I moaned without caring anymore into my gag, craving release in her warm, wet, mouth, which she didn’t hesitate to give me. Within seconds of her sucking, slurping, rubbing her warm tongue against my shaft again, and caressing my thighs and scrotum with her soft touch, I was releasing into her waiting mouth. My mind went blank in the ecstasy, a burst of pleasure I had never felt in my life seared through me and I could feel thick ropes of my come shooting into her throat as she greedily continued to suck and even hilted her throat on my manhood. I screamed into the gag in the white hot pleasure so intense I thought I would lose my mind.
	I was soon yelping and incoherently begging her to stop as she continued the relentless assault even after I had expelled all I was worth, my post-climax sensitivity turning her pleasurable sucking into a hellish, ticklish, overstimulation. I tried to pull away with what little room I had to maneuver and strength I had left, but she then held my waist with her incredible strength and suckled hungrily at my tip like if she lost a single drop her life was forfeit.
After a hellish minute she finally stopped and I could hear her licking and smacking her lips and swallowing like she had just had a royal meal, it would of been erotic all on its own as well if I hadn’t been panting and sweating trying to gather myself from the mind-shattering orgasm afterglow combined with continued confusion which was again mounting now that I was starting to have my wits return to a small degree
	“Goodness me, I don’t think I’ve ever had anything that delicious~”
	I vaguely heard her mutter in what sounded like excitement.
“Now I *really* can’t wait to taste you!”
She stood and flashed me that grin that now evoked a mixed reaction in the pit of my stomach.
“This might be it~ You might be the lucky one, fake warrior!”
	Her excitement began to bring back a bit of my concern, I was still alive but also still fearful, but now I was mostly just confused beyond measure. She raised a paw to my face again and I flinched only slightly less at her touch now.
“I was actually intending on leaving you in here alone for a while longer after that snack, just to let you wonder a little more~” she giggled evilly again, “but I don’t think I can wait after a taste of something that magnificent.”
She was looking into my eyes again and I could see a new hunger, one that managed to be even more terrifying and intense than the one she had displayed before.
“Now you get to see what it’s really all about,” She whispered so quietly I almost couldn’t hear her. “now you feed me a real taste of your very essence, and I change you forever.”
	The familiar chills and goosebumps were back. The surprisingly pleasant sexual encounter must have just been an hor-d’oeuvre for her, and now I was getting devoured for sure. Despite the overwhelming mental and physical toll I had experienced in the short time I had, my body and mind still managed to feel the horror of pain and death here to the very end. I sobbed quietly as she put her head next to mine and whispered yet again.
“Do try to relax meat, you won’t taste as nice as before with that pathetic cowering, I thought you were a man, a ‘warrior’.”
I could hear the grin on her face in her words without seeing it, what a truly sadistic creature she was. I hated myself for now feeling arousal at her full breasts pressed against my chest as she whispered in my ear. I was disgusted with myself for being so attracted to this monster, yet even despite my recent release given by her I could feel myself getting hot and bothered again so soon by her shapely form and it’s close proximity to my own. That fellation really had felt amazing, what would it be like to do other things with this creature I wondered....
I rapidly tried to clear my head of it, she really had broken me, for me to still think of such things moments before my imminent death. Again she displayed an unnatural tendency to understand what was going on in my head and spoke in my ear.
	“How does it feel that you gave your seed to a monster? You’re a virgin right?”
	My heart skipped a beat at her accurate words and she suddenly giggled again, almost girlishly this time.
“I knew it!” She whispered excitedly “I’m your first! What a pathetic human, giving his first experience to a monster girl instead of another human.”
She whispered almost seductively and my heart sank at her degradation as she teased me for my unwilling intimacy with her, I felt slightly sick.
	“It’s okay ‘warrior’,” she then cooed, yet still mocking me.
“No one can resist me after all, and you’ll find that I’m much, much better than a human girl could ever be, I’m quite confident in that.”
She finished silkily, I shuddered slightly in another unusual combination of arousal and fear.
“Now it’s time for the real taste. Thanks for the meal!”
She finally leaned back again and I could see her wicked grin and flashing hungry eyes, she raised her tail up to my eye level and swished it back and forth.
	“Want a peek first??”
She snickered slightly. I followed her strange, scaly, spined, tail swishing back and forth in more confusion as she gestured at it with a paw and a nod. She then pointed it at my face and I watched frozen again in fear and confusion as the end of it opened slowly almost like a blooming flower. Almost the moment it began to dilate, a thin, clear liquid began to ooze out of it and drip down from it slowly. It was close enough that a few drops fell onto my bare stomach and made me jump in surprise, it was slightly viscous and almost hot in temperature.
	“Mmmmm,” she licked her lips again, “Look how excited you have me to try some of you! You should be honored human, I don’t think I’ve ever been this eager~”
Her gushing words only exacerbated my confusion as I watched the tail open a few inches and saw inside. I could see it was pink and glistening, covered in the ooze that had dripped out, I could see countless ridges, folds and bumps covering flesh that… almost resembled a lady’s womanhood? It was pulsating slightly. Could this be? No, surely not, right? A disgusting and mortifying, yet exciting and arousing thought entered my head at the sight of the unknown organ inside this monster’s tail opening.
	“Figured it out yet?”
She asked, her tone sounded, sarcastic? She was still grinning from ear to ear with that too-big, too-toothy, fanged smile of hers, still causing that alien mix of euphoria and horror in my gut.
	“It’s time~”
	The beautiful creature stated all-too-happily, and began to move the end of the tail downward to my groin. I watched in once again mounting terror as she moved the entrance of the tail in line with my manhood and slowly, ever so slowly began move the waiting, terrifying, moist orifice towards my tip.

CHAPTER 3

	“Wait!” I found myself cry out involuntarily, the sound emerging more like a pleading sob from my gagged lips rather than a cry for mercy or caution, I thrashed as best I could in my bonds, but with her strong paws now holding my sides I could gain no purchase. Instinct told me nothing good would come of that tail engulfing my most sensitive of places, that I was in grave danger. I looked up to her face again to see her smiling with that maniacal oversized grin as usual, and I could feel my stomach clench, she was looking into my eyes and I could see hers flash in anticipation and excitement unlike anything she had displayed before.
	But then I found myself wondering what it was going to be like inside that tail, I thought about the way it looked, the way it pulsed, the dripping hot ooze… Maybe this would be amazing…
“No!” My brain cried out, my tiny and almost eradicated logic screamed in agony,
“This is bad and you are falling into her trap, you are becoming her prey!” But what could I really do? What can I do except relax and try and endure whatever torment she has in store for me?
	I was reeled violently and shockingly from my ongoing internal struggle by a sensation I could never of prepared for followed closely by a gasp elicited from the lips of both her and I almost simultaneously. The entrance of her slowly advancing tail had finally begun to engulf the tip of my head, and I could feel the warmth and folds the instant it began to make contact.  I looked down and watched the appendage of my impending torment and ecstasy ever so slowly swallow my length. I groaned and I could vaguely even hear her panting as her tail advanced, was this beautiful abomination able to feel pleasure from this lewd and unnatural act and orifice? I shuddered in the unwanted yet increasingly familiar mix of horror and pleasure at the thought.
Her tail hilted itself on my length and I moaned again, simply the feeling of being inside the ridged, bumpy canal of her warm, tight, oozing tail was already causing my head to go into a fog of mindless pleasure. Then the insides began to pulsate and squeeze my manhood, sending me into a whole new agonizing level of erotic euphoria. I screamed in inexplicable pleasure as her insides pulled on me and urged on my already rising climax, her undulating depths tugging, rubbing, and almost swirling around my manhood in a erotic dance of fleshy pleasure. Within mere seconds of being inside and subjected to the sublime stimulation I found myself expelling gobs of my seed into her waiting depths. The fast and forced orgasm turned my mind to blank mush as I groaned and arched my back. I could vaguely feel her paws holding me steady and hear her gasping again,
“Oh yes... Oh Goddess you’re delicious!”
Her excited words were lost in my clouded head, the sensation still rolling through me with such intensity nothing else in the world mattered... But the joy quickly turned to the ticklish, painful hell that was post-climax stimulation again. Though I had already been spurred into coming twice by her now she was relentless in her stimulus, her tail continuing its otherworldly torment, pulling on my masculinity without hesitation even after I spewed every last drop, milking me for all I was worth. I screamed in a mixture of pain and pleasure and incoherently pleaded and begged for mercy as I felt the folds and bumps continue to rub, push, pull, and squeeze me, the warmth still spreading through my loins as her tail continued its ceaseless attack. She proceeded without regard, her face now lost in a madness more terrifying than anything she displayed before. She silenced me momentarily by pressing her lips harshly against my own, hungrily nipping at my lower lip and kissing me passionately. I could hear and feel her hyperventilation and she wrapped her arms around me tightly, her warm and soft embrace swiftly becoming my world, her heaving chest and supple flesh pressed against my own. Moments later I sobbed as I found myself somehow coming again into her waiting organ, despite my climax from only moments ago, the continually pulsing depths and rubbing folds proved too much even in this hellish state. I yelped as the unwanted pleasure again coursed through my loins with the power of a rampaging animal, her tail endlessly urging me to give everything I had, determined to milk every last drop and give me never-before-felt levels of ecstasy and overstimulation.
The agony continued another minute that felt like hours before I finally began to feel my sensitivity falling to a manageable state and my nerves didn’t feel like they were being rubbed off. I tried to gather myself as I shuddered, my body covered in sweat from both of us. Heedlessly she continued her assault for several minutes, kissing my neck and was still stimulating me with her tail of heaven and hell, but to my relief I was finally falling flaccid again. I hung loosely in my bonds and her embrace, panting as I tried to regain my senses. I heard her sigh softly and she finally pulled back slightly to look into my eyes again. I was too tired to react physically anymore to her piercing gaze, but I still felt that bizarre mix of hatred, arousal, and intrigue when I saw that cold blue stare.
“Only good for 3 meals?? This won’t do at all, warrior.”
She scolded me, almost pouting. I found myself too defeated and exhausted mentally and physically to care about her mockery anymore. She certainly didn’t mind kicking me while I’m down, the sadistic beast.
	“Well thankfully for both of us I have just the solution for that!”
She suddenly regained her enthusiasm with her signature grin and tilted her head coyly.
	“Ready for more? Of course you are~”
	As she teased she brought her tail up again, she seemed to be examining the many barbs that covered the bulbous end, which harshly contrasted the soft delightful inner depths, and she casually pulled one of the needles out without flinching. She held it up in front of me with another of her signature grins.
	I might of felt the familiar dread that had pervaded my consciousness, but I was too far gone in fatigue to feel it or wonder anymore, I was finally resigned to my fate. However, I was harshly reminded that my senses were still in working order as she proceeded to jab the sharp barb into my inner thigh, I yelped at the sharp prick, the first real pain she had inflicted on me, I realized with a pang.
	“Shhhhhh…. Don’t worry, it will all feel amazing again soon, warrior…”
	She whispered malevolently and in excitement. The pain faded quickly, and was replaced with a warmth spreading through my loins and lower body. I tried to look down at my leg but instead her body caught my gaze once more, and I felt my face flush at the sight of her supple flesh again. Suddenly I could feel burning desire swiftly mounting in my waist, back with a vengeance and impossibly, somehow even stronger than before. She began to tease me again, leaning in to give more of her playful and erotic licks and bites at my neck. Her feline-like ears twitched and one brushed the side of my cheek and for some reason I even found myself blushing at the simple tickle. Her paws were wrapped around me again, her body pressed closely against my own in a fluffy and warm embrace. I could feel her formidable breasts pressed against my chest and suddenly I found myself desperately wishing I could grope those firm, supple orbs. Her thigh brushed against my manhood and I realized somehow I was at full mast again, the simple passing touch causing it to twitch involuntarily, I became painfully aware how sensitive I had become as a fire spread though my nerves from the simple touch.
	A hazy thought passed through my desperate and fatigued mind; She must have poisoned me with that barb. It made sense that such a lewd creature would be able to inflict this state with her venom, but I found myself caring less and less as my lust heightened; I needed release. My body began to betray me as I could feel my member twitching in the cool air and even found myself trying to move my body around in her embrace in such a way that I could feel that warm thigh against it again, hungry for more stimulation on my pulsing manhood, thrusting slightly at nothing.
“Ara ara~ what might you be trying to do, warrior?”
	She whispered with that lusty teasing voice again closely into my ear, and it only served to spur my desires. I wanted that tail again. I didn’t care anymore that she would take more of my seed, that a monster would force me to give my intimacy and life fluid for nothing more than sustenance, I only wanted to feel that pleasure again, I wanted her glorious orifice to give me release. I knew it was likely the venom thinking and acting for me, but my senses were so overpowered, my lust so strong, that I found I cared little.
	“I’ll make you a deal, warrior,” the whispered words of sickly sweetness continued “beg me for more, and if you are convincing enough, I’ll give you exactly what you want.”
	Her words stung with a haughty smugness, I knew she was being completely honest, and that she knew her poison was strong enough to make me demean myself for more. Even in the drug induced haze of lust I couldn’t help but feel shame that this sadistic creature was manipulating me like clay in her paws. I felt the surging in my loins again and felt my masculinity twitching painfully in the cool air again, begging all on its own for some kind of stimulus. It was worse than the hungriest I had ever been, worse than dying of thirst, the overpowering lust began to become all I knew.
	“P-please give it to me…”
	I muttered unintelligibly. I could feel my face burning again and I avoided her gaze, she then leaned back and took her arms off my sides only to grab my chin again and look into my flushed face. Her gaze was filled with fiery passion and a lust that matched my own, only setting my fire ablaze ever further.
	“Give you what, meat?”
She spoke through clenched teeth yet with more playful dominance.
	“P-please give me release!”
	I could almost feel my sanity cracking in my head as I begged this monster to rape me for the 3rd time this evening, bound to her wall and in total submission to her, her poison coursing through my veins, my will no longer my own thanks only to my animal instinct overpowering me.
	“Ara~ I don’t know what that means, warrior, please tell me what it is you want.”
	 Her eyes flashed in sinister malevolence, I was starting to sweat again. I whimpered as the soft pads of her other paw ever-so-gently and lightly ran along the underside of my manhood, just barely making contact, sending me into a small fit of spasms from the craved stimulus, the otherworldly pleasure sent me over the edge mentally and I finally broke completely-
	“Please suck on me with your tail again! Please drain me for all I’m worth! Please make me come again and again in your tail!”
	It sounded even more pathetic out loud than it did in my head, but I no longer cared in the slightest, all I knew is I wanted her tail back on me again, the lust was now so strong I didn’t even care if I lived or died.
	“I knew you could do it, warrior~” She cooed like a chiding parent
She released my head and grabbed my side and chest once more, and for a shadow of a heartbeat I considered her words with a now familiar combination of excitement and horror, wondering what I had done, only before she engulfed me entirely inside her tail once more.
	I screamed in hellish pleasure as it hilted on me. Though it seemed impossible, it was even better this time then before, her venom drugging me to a point of sensitivity I could never of fathomed in my wildest dreams. I could feel every single little nook and cranny, I could feel each and every fold, bump and lump of flesh as it passed over my skin, the warmth spread through my entire body and the single point of pleasure became my entire existence. She slowly and agonizingly began to slide it back and forth, and the insides resumed their squeezing and tugging on my entire shaft. I moaned without hesitation, and as I looked up I could see she too was groaning quietly as she moved her tail, her gorgeous chest was rising and falling more rapidly now as she began to pant, I looked at her face and saw her watching our unholy matrimony closely and hungrily, she was licking her lips between exhales, her ears were twitching and I could even see the wings on her back shuddering slightly. Seeing her excitement only added to the experience, I found myself wanting to please her, wanting to fill her with my seed, wanting to give her everything I had, my logic entirely broken in submission to her and my lust as I tried to thrust further into her without regard.
The folds and ridges wrapped around me tightened further, clenching my turgid manhood in a death grip as it continued it’s vibrating and sucking. Every little bump was heaven, every fleshy wall sublime, every part of my shaft and glans was being pushed, pulled, sucked and vibrated. It was mere seconds before I was being given sweet release once more. I cried out and my head emptied completely as gout after gout of my seed was expelled into the waiting depths of her orifice all over again, I could feel my seed being whisked away and hungrily sucked deep into its depths as the stimulation only intensified, wringing me completely of every last drop.
	“So good!” I heard her pant, “give me more~”
I began to scream again as it didn’t stop. Here came the hellish torment again, every last nerve felt like it was on fire, in danger of burning me up as the tail relentlessly continued it feeding. Sucking and pulling, swirling and vibrating, all the while the oozing lubricant accommodating it’s quick and powerful contractions and movements. Heedless of my incoherent babble she never stopped the pulsing undulating depths, each fold and bump becoming a form of exquisite torture on my sensitive member. As before, a second orgasm washed over me only moments later, more ropes of thick seed being greedily drained away by her hellhole of sublime ecstasy, but this time it didn’t end at the second time.
	This time my manhood stayed as hard and erect as ever, all too happy to endure every last touch. I realized in terror that the venom wouldn’t allow me to go flaccid, that this will go on until this beast had her fill. I continued my useless whimpering and begging as climax after climax crashed through my body, each one seemingly wiping a bit more of my consciousness, my mind flowing away in the warm sickly pleasure that never ended, it might have been minutes, it might have been hours. My mind and body were being torn asunder, divided with the love for her sweet embrace and endless pleasure, every last nerve in my genitals aflame and craving release from the hellish torment. At last, mercifully, I felt my consciousness fade as I blacked out, my last sight of her still panting and moaning, looking almost as desperate as I, her endless hunger never sated as I heard her demanding I give her every last drop.

	CHAPTER 4

	I awoke with many of the same sensations and feelings as the last time I remembered regaining consciousness; extreme fatigue, mild muscular soreness all around, and total confusion. Strangely though this time I was feeling quite comfortable, warm and soft sensations engulfing me, and as I hazily tried to remember where I was I had to resist the temptation to fall right back asleep in this warm, fuzzy bed. Then it hit me, warm fuzzy bed? Something isn’t right.
	In shock as the memories rushed back to my battered, fatigued, still-half asleep mind I opened my eyes and attempted to sit bolt upright only to be immediately thwarted by two powerful fuzzy manticore arms wrapped snugly around my arms and waist from behind. I froze in fear and surprise for several seconds, only to realize from the quiet rumbling from behind and lack of movement that it was probably safe to assume my captor was still asleep. I began to take stock of things and saw I was in a fairly large and comfortable bed in what was likely her quarters. It was still what appeared to be the inside of a cave with the dim lighting from rustic lanterns again. It was likely that thanks to her powerful night vision she didn’t require much in the way of lighting and I found myself feeling yet another strange mix of feelings at the very human accommodations and appearance of her home, aside from the obvious cave location. The ceiling was fairly high and I could see a wooden table, 2 sturdy chairs, (Did she often have guests?) and even what looked like a pantry against the far wall.
	I found myself oddly comfortable in her embrace and blushed furiously when I realized I could feel her bare breasts pressed against my back, we were both completely nude, but I was kept warm by her close, partially furry hug. I found myself totally confused once more, how could this be the same hated and feared monstrosity I heard so many tales of? Just as I wondered she pulled me a little closer and growled softly. I froze again, but after several seconds of her resumed snoring I concluded that she was still asleep.
	Regardless of that, this creature was obviously extremely dangerous, she bested me in a fight without so much as scratch, knocked me unconscious, poisoned me with an aphrodisiac, and had spent the entirety of last night… Well, brutally raping me. I seethed in shame and anger as I recalled my pitiful begging and pleading of her, strange venom or no, I was better than that. Then I felt even angrier with myself as in the moment, the memories combined with the feeling of her bare breasts, pleasant scent, and warm embrace stirred something in my crotch once more.
	Before I could consider it further I busied myself by beginning to wiggle downward out of her arms wrapping me. I had to get away from her, and if there was ever a time it was now. Thankfully she had released me from those tight ropes and removed my gag, and while my body was sore and tired from her ravaging I felt I could at least possibly hobble somewhere nearby outside to hide and later escape, assuming her keen sense of smell wouldn’t detect me first, I thought darkly. I was in deep for sure. I somehow managed to wobble free of her fuzzy imprisonment and looked back to make sure she hadn’t woken, and what I saw made my heart skip a beat.
	Her delicate face was framed by her smooth and shiny auburn hair draped messily over it and her pillow, a slight smile playing over her lips, her feminine nose and feline-like ears were twitching ever so slightly. Her leathery wings and that dreaded tail were lying flopped backward lazily behind her. Her paws lie outstretched in front of her where I had been lying moments before, almost like they were beckoning for me to return, or as if she was requesting a hug. Her full chest was rising and falling slowly and gently, a small snore emitted each time with a sounded almost like purring. The curve of her body was perfect, her waist fairly small and her hips wide and thighs thick, her almost flawless skin slightly reflecting the dancing candlelight from the lanterns. I swallowed quietly, I truly despised myself for admitting it, but her beauty was quite literally breath-taking.
	I shook my head, grit my teeth and punched my temple quietly a few times eliciting pain to distract myself and bring me back to reality. No matter what she looked like or what she did to me this was my adversary, mankind’s nemesis; she’s a monster. She wanted nothing more than to rape me violently and treat me like a plaything, there is nothing beautiful about her, regardless of her not actually eating me! I tried to remind myself in vain, and I still found it difficult to tear my gaze from her form.
	Brushing that aside I began the hunt for my armor and clothes as a first priority. I was immediately surprised yet again to see my clothes neatly folded on the wooden table I had spied from before. I proceeded to silently pull on my trousers and shirt, and tried to look for my boots, armor, and weapons around the room as I dressed, but couldn’t immediately find any of them. I was just about to start searching the rest of the cavern when she spoke, causing goosebumps to erupt across my flesh and the hair on my neck to raise.
	“I see you found your clothes, that’s good, I guess you know better than to tempt me at least.”
She yawned loudly and I turned to look at her again, moving slowly in fear that she may pounce me again any second. She stretched luxuriously on the bed and I couldn’t help but think of a feline yet again, her movements managed to be so distinctly cat-like for something with a form so humanoid in appearance. After the gratuitous stretch she let out another loud yawn as she sat up, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning back, her arms planted on the bed behind her supporting her, her bare breasts swaying seductively, she looked at me and followed my gaze. The familiar grin lit up her face once more causing a chill like ice in my spine.
	“Like what you see?”
	She teased coyly. I found myself blushing furiously and feeling angry again, with myself for the continued attraction and at her for the blatant condescension. She ignored my fuming expression and proceeded to put on nearby undergarments and a long, sleeveless, purple dress she had draped on her bed post. I found myself unable to break my stare, and I unconvincingly tried to assure myself it was due to caution.
	“Better not spoil the view I suppose~”
	She giggled slightly as she got dressed, she turned after putting it on and I saw it didn’t conceal much since it was quite form fitting and only served to accentuate her curves.
	“Sit.”
	She commanded, gesturing at the nearby chair at the table. I stared without moving, hoping to show some level of defiance, but her piercing icy eyes stared into my own and I saw her tail start to wave back and forth behind her. I sat.
	“You learn quickly, good.”
	She smiled as she walked past me to the nearby cupboard and I fumed silently, feeling helpless and pathetic yet again. I gloomily wondered what I could do to escape, how could I outrun such a creature, what had she planned for me. I briefly wondered if I could kill her when she wasn’t paying attention but I found myself feeling strangely guilty at the thought, why though? It’s not like I could with the reflexes and strength she possesses anyway, I rationalized, not to mention I don’t have a weapon nor do I know where to find one here. For now I had to play her game, I concluded perhaps a little too easily in defeated disappointment.
	“You must be hungry, eat.”
	Her second simple command harshly thrust me back into reality as she placed a plate of jerky of some kind in front of me. I sniffed at it suspiciously.
	“It’s rabbit.”
	She chuckled slightly, reading me all too well as usual as she sat opposite me with a lazy smirk on her face. It actually smelled appealing and it suddenly hit me how hungry I really was, it had to have been at least a day or so since she had captured me and then… used me. So it’s no wonder I was famished. I hungrily bit into the rabbit jerky and found it was surprisingly palatable, she had actually seasoned it quite well. I felt another strange pang of irony at the human-like behavior of preparing such food.
	“Hopefully its to your liking, I have quite a bit and depending on your behavior and other circumstances it may be a while before I can get anything else.”
	She informed me lazily, examining her formidable claws with seeming disinterest as I wolfed down the much-needed nourishment, but I did pause at her puzzling mention of my behavior. I looked at her and we made eye contact again for several moments.
	“Ara~ Not much for talking unless it’s to beg for mercy or release, eh?”
	I felt my face get warm again from embarrassment and anger.
	“I just have nothing to say to you, beast.”
	I tried to sound brave, anger in my voice, if I wasn’t going put up a fight I may as well show some verbal resistance I thought weakly.
	“Oooh, you do talk!” She chirped happily, now smiling and examining me, defeating my act easily and ignoring my challenging tone. I avoided dignifying her with further responses and ignored her as I continued to eat; I tried to focus on getting food in my belly instead. After several moments more of her uncomfortably watching me eat with a faint smirk, resting her cheek on her paw propped on the table, she probed further;
“You got a name, warrior?”
Her mocking tone on that final word never went away. I considered for a moment, I really didn’t want her to know anything more about me than she already did, but I was also getting pretty tired of being called ‘meat’ and the like, and whatever trust I could gain would probably help me get away in the long run, I reasoned, but I silently noted that I had started thinking like I would be spending a prolonged period of time with her.
“Alexander.”
	I stated gruffly.
	“Mmmm, what a dignified name~”
	She replied, and I could swear she was mocking me despite missing the usual tone she used.
	“But it’s just a tad long for me, I think I’ll call you Alex~”
	She giggled slightly again and I continued to eat and pay her no mind, I just had to play her game until I could figure a way out I reasoned. I can make it through this.
	“How about you, Manticore, you monsters got names?”
	I asked glumly, doing my best to play nice with her.
	“Zarine.” She replied immediately. It had a foreign feel to it, but it was unsettlingly human-sounding for my taste, too pretty for such a savage creature.
	Several moments later I was finishing eating when she spoke again, a with a bored look on her face while she seemed to pick something off of her claws.
	“Well Alex, I was going to have a morning snack, but fortunately for you I’m still quite full and I decided to cut you a break after last night, since I might have gone a -teensy- bit overboard for your first night, after all we have plenty of time for more fun, but I just couldn’t help myself~”
She simpered again cruelly, and I felt chills as she spoke. So this creature really did gain some form of sustenance from raping me like that, and she was very clearly indicating she intended on continuing to use me for such purposes.
	“Y-you’re going to keep… doing, that… to me?”
	I stammered, trying to keep my head on straight as I felt fear clench my stomach as reality revealed itself. She tilted her head in that almost feline-like motion, and looked at me with a look a housecat might give a mouse asking if it was going to be eaten.
“Of course! Although some things may change, it will go on for the rest of your life. You’re going to be my mate after all, Alex~”

CHAPTER 5

	My stomach dropped through the floor. So this really was the end game, she had no intent of releasing me, she was going to keep me prisoner forever. My bleak future of endless rape, humiliation, and exhaustion flashed before my eyes and I felt the anger and frustration surface yet again. I found myself speaking without thinking, my emotions doing the talking and logic quickly failing me in the heat of my newfound discovery, I stood and shouted-
	“Kill me instead monster! I would rather die than be your “mate”. I would rather face the eternity of dishonor of violation and then death from you than a lifetime as your entertainment and play-thing masquerading as a “mate” of some kind! I would rather you take my effects and even my very corpse as trophies than live to serve your desires!”
	I screamed at her, but she didn’t so much as flinch at my words and volume. She just sat there with that awful smirk, staring, her tail gently swishing behind her, her head cradled in her paws, never breaking eye contact. Her lack of reaction only served to drive my rage and vexation further, I could feel tears of anger welling in my eyes and her smug yet beautiful face began to blur in my vision. I wanted to escape, to never see her again, to forget my failures in fighting her and indulging in the pleasure she had given me and her abuse, her treatment of me like cattle when I should of been fighting her to the very end.
I turned and walked instinctively toward the hall I had seen on the far end of the cavern, my pain and exhaustion momentarily all but forgotten, I saw three doors built into the cavern and recognized the furthest as a likely exit and began to beeline for it. Some small part of me that still sustained some vestige of logic was shocked she hadn’t risen to stop me or tried to restrain me. It was only as I reached to grasp the handle of the door her voice rang out to me in the small cavern-
	“Go ahead and leave if you like, Alex.”
	For some reason I stopped upon hearing those words, my hand now motionless outstretched inches from the handle of the door, curiosity and surprise getting the better of me.
	“But I must ask, where will you go?”
	I remained silent and frozen.
“Do you know where you are? Do you have any weapons, or food to sustain you for your journey?”
	Her words reverberated in my head. She was right… No, no, did it matter? Wouldn’t it be better to die of exposure than to live as this creature’s slave? I’m a warrior, not a coward I tried to convince myself, and felt hollow, it sounded like a lie in my head.
	“Winter is here Alex. What will you do when the cold sets in? Even if you manage to find food and shelter, even if you manage to get your bearings, will you survive the long journey in the cold of these mountains?”
	No. I couldn’t. I knew from the sound of confidence in her voice and even from simple common sense there was no way I could safely leave here. I knew in the deepest pit of my stomach there was no dishonesty in her words. I didn’t want to accept it, but I knew nothing she had said was a lie. More than that, I knew my screams of defiance had been little more than a ruse to try and preserve my dignity, I could still feel fear clenching my belly, sweat on my brow, I didn’t want to die. I knew it in my heart. Death was as terrifying a prospect as ever, my anger had only spurred me into disregarding it in the heat of the moment.
“And even if you did, Alex, I would find you~”
	Her words dripped with poison honey again, sweet and venomous
	“I’ll never let you go anymore. I’ll find you on the tallest mountains and deepest valleys, my dearest.”
	I felt a chill sear my spine, but somehow I felt a stirring deep within me as well, the desire that came with being a man, the memories of what she could give me. I slowly lowered my hand and hung my head in shameful defeat. A feeling that was swiftly becoming far more familiar than I ever would of wanted or imagined. I’m pathetic.
The manticore was right. I had nowhere to go, and even if I did, she would surely recapture me in short order.
	My mind then wandered into a dreaded place I knew it would; Would it really be so bad to be this creature’s mate? Some small part of me asked meagerly. Maybe she isn’t as bad as you think? It inquired. She did feed you and give you pleasure no woman has before... I tried to ignore it, which was all I could do as I seemed to now have run out of rage to feel, unable to summon the same anger I had been feeling only moments before, instead now I felt only the shame and humiliation of total defeat. I felt the tears well in my eyes yet again and even had to suppress a sob as my identity faced yet another crisis and my already damaged and now frail sanity experienced another crack before suddenly feeling Zarine’s arms gently wrap around me.
I jumped in surprise but as seemed to be usual with her, she didn’t so much as twitch at my reaction. Her embrace was gentle, rather than restrictive, and I felt her quietly and slowly rest her head against the back of mine. I had never had a woman do this to me before in my entire life, and suddenly the overwhelming feelings of confusion, sadness, and her unexpected change in tactics of providing unusual comfort and relief from her now gentle touch finally overwhelmed me completely, and in my state of now extreme vulnerability I lost any vestige of strength I had left, or whatever I was pretending to have.
	I began to sob, to weep. I wept like a young maiden abandoned by her first love. I felt the warm tears pour over my face as I fell to my knees, but Zarine never stopped holding me. Her warm embrace continued even as I fell to my knees, supporting me slightly but never restricting me. I wept for my sanity, for my future, for failing myself to an extent I never thought possible, and most embarrassingly and worst of all, I wept because I felt safe to do so in front of her now. I vaguely heard her whisper and coo to me softly, though I barely took in her words.
“Shhh, I’m here for you Alex, don’t be afraid anymore. I’m going to take care of you. You’re strong you know, stronger than you think... that’s why I’ve picked you, I know in my heart that you’ll help me too someday… Soon I’ll love you forever.”
	I didn’t really hear her words as my last lines of defense shattered. Unable to accept my failure, yet also lacking the strength to do anything about it or accept an imminent death, my consciousness failed me, and I slowly fell into a deep dreamless sleep yet again.

CHAPTER 6

	I awoke to the smell and sound of sizzling bacon, my body wrapped in a warm cocoon of thick blankets on a comfy bed. Before opening my eyes I tried to convince myself that everything from before had been a terrible nightmare. The horrifying battle, the brutal rape, the revelation of being told I was going to be human cattle for the rest of my life, but I knew the truth.
	This had been the clearest my head had been since being knocked silly by Zarine (when did I start using her name?) days ago. Was it days now? I wasn’t sure. Though my head was now more clear and I felt more rested, it felt like it could've been centuries. I heard gentle humming join the sound of the sizzling meat, it was clearly a woman’s voice, and it was quite beautiful. With a pang I realized that without context and without opening my eyes this was the best thing I could ever remember waking up to- A beautiful woman, who was fascinated with me, cooking food while I gently awaken in a comfy and warm bed, after a long night of passionate love-making.
Ha, my head kept going strange places since my defeat to this monster.
The key element here is the one cooking the food and fascinated with me was not a woman but a beast, a captor who was treating me like nothing more than a pet. I might of felt my heart sink a bit were I not still out of emotions to feel, although this was probably all influenced by my still somewhat sleepy state of mind.
	She seemed to have heard me stirr with that unnaturally bestial sense of hearing she likely possessed because she suddenly spoke to me.
“I’m sure you’re hungry Alex. I know just some jerky couldn’t of been enough to fill your belly after fighting and being ravished, so I’ve prepared us a meal worthy of kings.”
I managed to ignore her scathing comment, mostly because I realized as she pointed out I was indeed still famished and a real meal sounded and smelled like heaven even if I was in the captivity of satan herself. Almost right on cue she followed her comment up-
	“Please be grateful my mate, I had considered simply tying you down and force-feeding you whatever was convenient but you’ve managed to convince me with your thus-far decent behavior that I can allow you a bit of freedom and pampering. Please don’t make me reconsider my dear.”
“Thank you.”
	I muttered hoarsely.
	“You’re quite welcome, dear”
	Her voice suddenly only inches away, I shrank back on the bed with a tense jolt of surprise, my fatigue suddenly evaporating, my eyes bolting open.
	Zarine stood over me holding 2 plates of food, her eyes slightly narrowed and that signature too-sharp, too-big, too-white grin splitting her face as she looked down at me.
	“Eat up~”
	She sing-songed to me as I stared and tried to calm my racing heart. It may only be one end of the room from the other, but she had moved so quickly and silently.
	She offered me a plate. I complied and took the plate with waiting utensils from her paw as she sat down cross-legged across from me on the bed. She had made what appeared to be a traditionally human dish yet again. It was bacon, eggs, and sliced, seasoned potatoes. This time I didn’t hesitate for nearly as long before digging into the delicious-looking morsels before me.
	“I had to go hunt the boar and find the eggs for that while you were sleeping, pet, I hope you are grateful, dearest…”
	“Thank you”
	I mumbled again between mouthfuls, ignoring the insulting title, and eagerly devouring the delectable plate. She may have found one of my weaknesses I thought to myself surprisingly humorously, I would behave however she wanted if she kept making me food like this when I’m this starving I considered with a mental laugh.
	“You learn obedience so quickly!”
She  almost squealed between mouthfuls, it was amazing how girly this creature could sometimes act. I continued to eat without concern. After a few more minutes of hungrily scarfing the welcomed meal I had eaten my plate clean. I looked up at her after avoiding her gaze during eating to see she had finished as well. She was smiling again and her eyes caught mine the moment I gazed upon her. I felt myself flush a bit again and looked down. I heard her giggle quietly as she then produced and offered me a leather pouch with a cork. I was quite thirsty so I accepted it, her warm furry paw grazing my hand and causing a swirl of emotions within me that I ignored as I uncorked and drink with thirst unlike any I had before.
It seemed to be water, but was sweet and fragrant, I hesitated only for a moment upon tasting it, wondering what it was or what she had done to it before quickly disregarding my suspicions and drinking without care, I was too thirsty too worry anymore.
	“Do you like it? It’s mixed with nectar from some of my favorite flowers…”
She inquired, the tone in her voice sounded almost, hopeful?
“It’s good.”
I replied both honestly and without hesitation. I forced myself to look into her face again and then even examined it, it was as beautiful as ever, her piercing blue-eyed gaze and long lashes were swiftly becoming something I was more entranced by than fearful of, her full lips, her flawless skin. I allowed myself a moment of awe and after a few seconds I thought I could almost see her blush for the first time since I had first seen her, and for the first time she broke her gaze before mine. Yet even from the side, her head cocked slightly, I now saw her face was indeed flushing and turning a lovely shade of pink.
	I felt something swell up within me that I had not really fully acknowledged until this moment, though I knew somewhere in my deepest depths it had been slowly blossoming from the first moment I saw her in full; affection. For a moment, I completely forgot the circumstances of our meeting, the conditions she had now forced upon me, the fear, her haughty arrogance and degrading nicknames and words, at this moment I saw only a gorgeous woman showing her true feelings, a delicate flower, gorgeous beyond measure and so fascinated with me that she now found it hard to look into my eyes, that she wanted only to care for me and to keep me for herself until the day we died. Something deep within me finally snapped, yet I barely noticed, found I cared little, and even welcomed these new feelings, and though I would not acknowledge it on the surface at this juncture, somewhere within me I knew I had changed forever.

CHAPTER 7

The days that followed consisted of a fairly routine makeup, so of course my would-be ‘mate’ and captor was intent on enjoying herself and continuing her life as usual regardless of my feelings. When she woke first, it seemed to be a 50/50 chance of either being treated to a lovely breakfast in bed with her admittedly warm, but watchful company, or an exhausting session of being pumped mercilessly with that simultaneously agonizing and ecstasy-inducing tail of hers before the day even began. I remember the first time I woke to it I was rapidly reminded of our first encounter and felt a diminished sensation of the fear from the first encounter, followed by the all-too-familiar defeat as I could do no more than lay back and pathetically drool at the rush of intense pleasure. I had all-too-quickly resigned myself to these morning ‘milkings’ and the carnal joy they supplied, I remember feeling a pang of guilt and shame when she made scathing remarks the first few times.
“Hey, should a strong warrior like you really be making a face like that when being used by a monster?” Her girlish giggling and lip biting did little to make her words sting less.
Though I also remember feeling a tad of pride(?) when I wore a more defiant expression upon waking to this a few times, and she would make more indignant comments on some mornings like;
“Don’t give me that look! You’re the one who woke me with that raging hard-on!”
Her face sometimes even getting a bit of that lovely pink tinge, but her eyes filled with the hunger I had seen many times now that was becoming increasingly endearing, arousing, and cute rather than intimidating, much to my shame and regret; the ever-present feeling of embarrassment at my ease of accepting submission to this creature, no matter how lovely. I had even tried to wrestle her off a few times that she attempted her forced morning milkings. The first attempt at thwarting her tail rape had involved the seemingly obvious route of trying to dislodge my manhood from her tightly clamped end bulb, only to result in me pricking my fingers on not one, but several of the spines covering it, she immediately laughed as I realized my foolish assault had just poisoned me with her dreaded aphrodisiac venom worse than before.
	“Atta boy! I’m pretty hungry, that’s the spirit, meat~”
	She had groaned as she continued her relentless assault. I had only been able to moan and drool as my eyes rolled into my head and she excitedly “relieved me” into her depths what felt like nearly a dozen times that morning in only short order, I remember I didn’t even leave her bed that whole day I had been so exhausted afterwards, I vaguely recall her gently spoon-feeding me afterwards with a look of concern on her face in the aftermath, uttering soothing words and even apologizing? Too spent to remember much after her brutal assault, I was sure that part had been a dream....
Other later occasions of my resistance had been more roundabout in execution; I tried other obvious routes like shoving her off of me or flipping my body over, but all it seemed to take on her part to rebuke my efforts was a firm paw pushing my chest down and/or her sizable and cushy rear end planted firmly on my face or chest, the difference in our strength was humiliating beyond measure. She would often give off that haughty giggle as I would try to thrash around, gritting my teeth as the waves of pleasure met me. Could I even find it in myself to really strike her, (something in me stopped me from ever really trying to hurt her, though I didn’t want to consciously admit that yet) I had rationalized with serious doubts that it would really hurt her or accomplish anything beyond her deciding I merely needed more “punishment” for my resistance as she usually did when I put forth resistance, which mostly involved being edged before climax until I had to debase myself by begging for release from the painful hell of denial at the height of my arousal from her skillful techniques. There had even been a few such occasions where she stopped on the final climb only to walk away and busy herself making us food or with some other ‘cavehold’ chore, resulting in frustration and pain as I tried to stifle my arousal, casting her angry glances when she would shoot me the occasional smug look of satisfaction at my helpless form attempting to ‘calm’ myself from the awful denial, my pride somehow still strong enough to at least prevent me from requesting further assault once she had broken away from me entirely.
When I was the one who awoke first I seemed to have a slightly better chance of not receiving proactive intimacy, since I would usually slide and sneak out of her loving, clingy grasp and find something to busy myself with. Usually I would just do some stretching and exercise, I figured if I was going to keep up with her or ever have a chance of moving on I needed to be in peak physical condition so it only made sense. She did have an annoying habit of waking up silently and just staring for a while when I would do this though, I had caught her staring hungrily at my body several times in the middle of a push up or sit up, sometimes she would even add a teasing wink or lick her lips suggestively when I made eye contact, my returned glare or eye-rolling only met with her shit-eating grin.
	After breakfast, (which was usually actually very good, she had definitely proven she knew how to cook) some form of entertainment was usually in order. I remember expressing surprise on the first day she revealed one of her favorite past times to me and requested my participation.
	“You play Chess?” I asked with genuine shock as she lowered the hand-crafted wooden set and board onto the table.
“Is it that strange?” She huffed with an eye-roll. “Let me save you further shock and tell you I’m probably better at it then you too” She finished with smirk.
	“We’ll just have to see about that.”
I shot back, finding myself more excited at the prospect of playing with her than I should of been. As I sat and she began to set up the pieces I picked up a knight and examined it. It wasn’t the nicest set I had ever seen but it was fairly well crafted, the details were made with care and the pieces were nicely matched.
“Where did you get this?” I asked with genuine curiosity.
“I made it.”
She replied without skipping a beat, still busy setting the pieces up. I blinked at her shocked yet again, how she managed to do such a detailed task with her furry digits was beyond me, and to even do it with a noticeable measure of talent to boot.
“You are just full of surprises aren’t you?”
I found myself laughing a bit at the thought and absurdity of all this, and I realized with a pang that it was the first time I had done so in quite some time. She seemed to have noticed and it caught her off guard as much as me, she paused and looked up at me, her head cocked in that feline fashion again, and I could almost swear I saw that blush on her face again.
	“That was a nice sound Alex… I hope to hear you laugh more you know…”
She broke her gaze and swallowed, seemingly embarrassed at her slightly apprehensive words. I felt my heart skip a beat when she used my name and unexpected tender words. The ensuing silence felt strangely awkward and I find myself doing something I had only done once before this; I complimented her.
	“These are, uh, really nice… They’re nice pieces I mean, g-good set.”
I said awkwardly, almost choking on my words with internal struggle as my face burned. What the hell was wrong with me? Why am I complimenting this psychopath? And why the hell am I acting like a school boy? I chastised myself internally. Well you’re just complimenting her work like before, it’s ok to admire her craftsmanship and cooking isn’t it? That has little to do with the situation, I found myself rationalizing again. She looked up again and a small, soft smile played about her lips, her cheeks noticeably pink now. I grit my teeth behind my lips in frustration at my emotions betraying me as I felt my heart flutter at her gaze and looked away.
She finished setting the board up in silence, giving me the black pieces,she was never one to give me an edge, I sighed mentally. My feelings thankfully faded as I distracted myself with the task at hand, it was high time to assert some form of dominance over her, and chess had been a fun pastime of mine, I wasn’t the best in the tavern where I came from, but I held my own and was confident she couldn’t have had as much practice as me.
	As it had turned out, we were evenly matched, our first game had actually resulted in a stalemate to both our surprise. Further rematches seemed to switch victors, the games going on for decent lengths and often involving narrow victories. We both seemed to be enjoying it so it swiftly became a part of our daily rituals. Though I loathed to admit it I found myself anticipating it each day and relishing in the change of pace in life with Zarine. Before long we found we were using it as a way to converse and learn more about each other as well, I knew she was interested in me of course but strangely I found myself curious about my captor as well, I tried not to think about why I wanted to get to know her and instead rationalized as usual when I would consider it by convincing myself I was probing for weaknesses in her, though admittedly nothing I had gleaned really indicated the presence of any kind of weak point or soft spot beyond her infatuation with me.
I explained my history reluctantly over these social sessions as she pursued it, seeing no real harm in telling her a little about my rather trivial past. I told her about what I perceived as my average and boring upbringing in a decently sized village not far from the mountains we now resided in, my childhood dreams of becoming a great paladin someday defending others from evil and monsters, she earned my scorn whenever I would mention this as she would quietly giggle whenever I referred to my desire to pursue Paladinhood.
I also admitted I had never seen a monster in my village or even nearby, this local region I was raised in seemingly monster-free for my youth, much to the dismay of my young, adventurous and admittedly naive self. To my annoyance this also seemed to elicit some giggles from her.
“So what finally brought you out of your village and onto my mountain?”
She inquired casually as her fluffy, dark red paw grasped her castle and took my knight, falling for my bait, I maintained a poker face but felt mental triumph as my trap fell into place.
I knew she would ask this eventually and I already felt my embarrassment flaring up before even opening my mouth.
	“Well…” I distracted myself by taking her castle with my bishop, “Check, by the way.” I interrupted myself, allowing myself a moment of smug satisfaction to offset the creeping shame. She didn’t seem phased though, her attention now focused more on me than the ongoing battle before us.
	“I, erm, may have heard there was a manticore that had taken up residency in the mountains near our village… And I thought it would be a good chance to prove myself since I hadn’t battled any monsters before….”
I trailed off at the end, feeling my cheeks flush in a bashful display, I looked up only to see her covering her mouth with a paw, her cheeks puffed up in an admittedly cute and amusing display, making a few odd chuffing sounds before finally bursting into laughter, I loathed to acknowledge it but it was an adorable sound, a chiming melody I never seemed to get tired of. Though I felt my cheeks burn even brighter, for some reason that I immediately hated I felt a smirk creeping onto my lips at her amusement, knowing full well why she found it so funny, the irony not lost on me as I sat and played a casual game of chess in the home of the very creature I had sworn to myself to destroy, becoming her unwilling lover instead, how sad was that? I actually laughed with her for a moment, lost in the uncanny irony of the whole situation, genuinely enjoying each other’s company.
She wiped small tears from her eyes with a meaty paw as she caught her breath smiling at me.
	“Bet you didn’t expect this did you?” She said softly, something glowing in her eyes.
“Nope.” I just sighed in defeat.
	“Ara ara~ Well you bit off a bit more than you could chew, lover boy,”
She chortled and reached across the table punching me softly in the arm.
	“But honestly I’m glad you did…”
She finished so quietly I almost didn't hear. Her tail wrapped gently around my leg under the table and I didn’t flinch, I found I was getting used to her more gentle unexpected touches and mild physical displays of affection.
	“Yeah well I was pretty stupid.”
	I found myself admitting.
“I knew full well what your species is capable of, and that yours was said to be one of the more dangerous monsters in the land, so really I should've known better.”
Not yet admitting to her out loud that I was mainly grateful I wasn’t dead despite my outburst on my first night, but I suspected she knew that much anyway.
“Yeah, well I admire your honesty and your courage, warrior.”
	She chuckled, back to her usual mocking words and sarcasm, but also perhaps some truth?
	“But you know my types love to spread that kind of rumor for fun, plus it occasionally wins us prizes like you~”
	She grinned evilly and a small chill went down my spine at her scathing words. The harsh contrast of her affectionate tail, still wrapped around my leg, and her biting words gave me pause, a physical manifestation of her 2 sides. Possessive, controlling, sadistic, degrading… Yet gentle, caring, nurturing, even... Loving... She was still a mystery to me, there was no doubt about that.
	“Checkmate.” She stated in her most classic poisoned honey tone, her paw flicking my knight off the table entirely without care with her other castle that she now grasped, that awful grin splitting her face, her sudden statement jerking me back to reality from my ponderance. I stared crestfallen, realizing she had been playing me all along, here I had thought I was the one in control of the game this round, but I had been more distracted by our conversation than I had thought.
	“Time for a punishment game for your awful performance this match, ara ara~”
	She cooed with now wearing false pouty expression on her face, her tail now reaching up from my leg under the table and dexterously pulling off my trousers. I simply sighed and slouched in defeat in my chair, knowing by now there was nothing I could do once she got into this mood, before I was overtaken by her insane pleasure and the world seem to fall away as always.


To be continued