The Picture of Desire
Story by Kael Duranus on SoFurry
Imported from SF2 with no description.
Alrighty, well, I would like to apologize how long this one took to get done. Took me a long time to figure out where I was going with this story, and then I was...well, lets say the flow of my creative energies was all dammed up somewhere. Anyway, dam broken, story finished, now we can all move on. (And I am very nearly finished with the chapter after this too. It just needs a little fine tuning)
I hope you enjoy it.
As always comments are appreciated and requested.
continued from 'Trouble in the Distance...'
I ducked the leg sheathed in blue silk, its hem snapping through the air a couple of inches from my head. I saw the obvious opening my duck had awarded me, but vicious attacks were not the point of this particular exercise. Spinning away from Shane, I narrowly avoided a three strike combination aimed at my chest, avoiding the first and parrying the last two blows before they got within a few inches of their target. Then, once I was back up to my full height, I finally launched into a counter attack, four punches followed by a round kick with my back leg, spinning into a reverse hook-kick. Shane blocked, parried and countered just as fast as I had, picking off the blows one by one. Before my leg was even all the way down from the spin kick, Shane was on the offensive once more, a pedal step kick that I blocked low with my hands in an X at the wrist, followed by a wheel kick that I ducked, leading right into a leg sweep that I hopped over, ending up with a rapid set of body blows, all of which I parried or caught on my forearms. Finally, when he ended his swift assault, we stepped back from one another, lowering our hands to our sides and then bowed respectfully to one another. The watching crowd of students cheered our performance and I turned to face them, allowing myself a smile.
We were not in a huge convention center this time, nor one of our dojos’, which our respective masters allowed us to visit freely, respect for the skill of black belts like us universal in the martial arts community. And though we wore no pads as usual, and had been looking all the world as if we had been fighting an actual match, we had been pulling all of our blows, not putting nearly as much force as we could into them. No, this evening, we were in a large gym that the University’s gymnastics team usually practiced in, pads covering the floor, though all the equipment had been moved off to the side. And these students were other college students who were talking karate classes through the university’s rec. center, not the students of our schools. I was about to speak up, continuing the lesson that the usual instructor had planned for the night, when I spotted the older black belt standing behind his students, a smartly dressed man in a suit standing beside him. The instructor motioned me to come over and I nodded slightly, motioning for them to hold on a minute, returning my gaze to the class.
“So, as we just illustrated, true martial arts is not about being tough enough to take a hit and keep on coming, like in the sport of boxing, but rather about not being hit in the first place.” At my words, a few of the students exchanged glances of surprise, and I continued. “Anyone with enough conditioning can take a hit, even a hard hit, and keep going. But the true art of what we do, is knowing how to block, or evade, anything your opponent can throw at you, so you don’t have to take the hit at all. Alright, let’s put it into practice. Pair off, three minutes a round. We will switch up attacker and defender at each round. And remember, the point is not to get hit. If you somehow hurt each other, you both are going to be in trouble. Shane, would you mind?”
“You got it, man.” He replied, and we tapped our wrapped fists together in a fighter’s salute. When the class was paired off and squaring up on the mats, trying to duplicate what Shane and I had been doing, I walked over to where the instructor was standing, unwinding the black hand wraps from my fists as I went. When I approached, the usual instructor and I bowed to one another and he explained.
“This guy said he wanted to talk to you, and that it shouldn’t take long. Said his name was James?” He said and I shrugged, the name not ringing any immediate bells. Motioning for the man to walk with me, I headed for my equipment bag, having left it against the wall, out of the way. Scooping up the water bottle I had set out next to it, I uncapped it and took a long drink, motioning for him to speak while I swallowed.
“Nice moves.” He commented and I managed a smile, knowing at once that this was the sort of guy who would happily draw out the conversation as long as he could, despite his assurances to the contrary.
“Thanks.” I replied, wondering what he wanted. His facial features looked somewhat familiar, though I couldn’t quite place where I might have seen him before.
“No offense, but you and that other guy are way too skilled to be wasting time teaching an intramural karate class in a rec. center.” He continued and I nodded, giving a brief shrug.
“We are here today as a favor to the instructor.” I said, turning slightly so I could observe the class. A few of the pairs were not half bad actually, taking the class seriously. They might even make it to black belt rank if they were to enroll in an actual school. Some others were clearly only here to watch Shane and I spar, barely into actually learning what we were teaching. “Sort of an end of the year treat for his students. Apparently a few of them were not putting any effort into defensive techniques. Anyway... What can I do for you?”
“Well, that question has kind of an odd answer.” he replied, dawdling and I gave him my best ‘get on with it’ look. The class was due to be over in little less than half an hour and I was itching to get to my dorm and go through the mirror to my world once more, intending to spend the last weekend before finals relaxing in paradise before the tests began. “It involves my brother, Scott.”
“Hang on a sec,” I said, covering my surprise at his pronouncement by turning towards a pair of nearby students, cupping a hand to one side of my mouth as I shouted. “Mind your footwork!! Keep moving your feet or you are going to get pinned down!” Turning back to him, I continued, realizing why he looked a little familiar. His face had many of the same lines as Scott’s had, at least, it did before he became his fursona. My mental image of my best friend had been that of his wolf form so long that I had almost forgotten what his human self looked like. “Sorry, you were saying?”
“Scott, my brother.” James repeated, smiling at my outburst. “I understand that he still talks to you from time to time.”
“Yeah on occasion,” I said; now I was the one stalling a little, to get my thoughts in order. “Once every so often nowadays.”
“Well, I am trying to get in touch with him, as you know.” He continued, looking down at his manicured fingernails. “I’m worried about him. Its not like him to just up and quit something so suddenly, and certainly not something as important as college. What does he say when he talks to you?”
“Mostly just checking in on how me and our mutual friends are doing.” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant as I half turned back to monitor the class once more. This was exactly the conversation that I had been rehearsing for ever since he had reached out, looking for information on his brother. I had long ago decided that the best policy was to tell as much of the truth as I could, without letting slip details that would make him want to have me committed to a psych ward. Easier said than done, as it turns out. “The tone of everything he says is always upbeat, so he seems happy, wherever he is.”
“Did he say where that is exactly?” He quizzed, looking at me in an evaluating way.
“I don’t think so...” I said, trying to sound like I was thinking about it. “Yeah, not that I recall. I gather that he is doing some traveling, somewhere pretty far away.” That last bit was more of a lie than the rest, but what could I say to the guy? ‘Scott, who isn’t even human anymore, is in a whole other world, with a bunch of creatures like him, having the time of his life and he actually can’t talk to anyone but me because he isn’t coming back?’ Yeah, I’m sure that would go over real well...
“Hmmm...” James said, his gaze showing that he didn’t quite believe me, though he could obviously tell I was being at least mostly truthful. “Well, thanks for telling me that much. I don’t want to keep you from your class, so I’ll be on my way. Oh, I’m going to be in town for a while, if you think of anything that might be helpful.” With that, he held out a card to me and I took it, nodding.
“Will do.” I replied and he nodded to me before wandering away. Feeling a little uneasy, I started to tuck the card into a pocket of my bag when I got a better look at it and immediately did a double take. At first glance, my eyes had only taken in his name, but directly underneath it were the words ‘Special Agent’ and underneath that ‘Criminal Investigations Division’. That set off all kinds of red flags in my head, and I just stopped and stared, finally identifying the official seal embossed into the card’s surface. That complicated things a whole lot. Setting the card and water bottle back down on my stuff, I turned back towards the class, trying not to fidget nervously.
It was taking every ounce of self control I had to remain calm, all the hairs on my head standing on end, and I could feel the chilly sensation of dread poised at the top of my spine, ready to race down towards my feet. I might have taken a bit more care crafting my answers if I had known I was speaking to someone so used to hearing people lie. Finally, after a few more moments of wrestling with it, I took a deep breath, forcing the feeling to back off with a supreme effort of will, at the same time making a mental note to ask Scott why he hadn’t mentioned that his older brother worked for the FBI.
Finally, I shook my head, turning back to the class; it was too late now. All I could do was move forward. Besides, it wasn’t as if I had lied outright to him. In fact, most of what I had said was the truth, and the rest was pretty close to the truth, at least, as close as I could reasonably get. Turning my attention back to the class, I walked out among the sparring pairs and focused on the task at hand instead. Pausing beside a pair of mid ranked belts, I watched for a moment, then spoke up.
“Keep your hands up, elbows in, or your ribs are going to be wide open. No, higher than that, in front of your face. You have to hunch a little bit...”
***
Pushing my dorm room’s door closed behind me, I flicked the light switch and heaved a sigh at the sight of the mess that covered my desk, kicking off my shoes and socks. With all of the studying I had done of late, I had been lax in keeping stuff organized. An untidy tower of textbooks almost as tall as my desk currently blocked access to my chair, teetering precipitously towards the middle of the room, and stacks of notes overflowed all over my keyboard, the mouse nowhere to be seen beneath the paper pile. Fortunately, I had scored at least a 90 percent on all of my last midterms, so I felt good enough with the material to justify taking the weekend off to relax. Besides, I had all of Monday to do last minute prep for my first finals, which were not until the afternoon of the day after that anyway. Almost shaking with anticipation, and unwilling to wait any longer than absolutely necessary, I opened up the door to the closet, my heart leaping with joy at the sight of the full length mirror there. Grinning at my wolfish reflection, holding up one finger in a signal for him to wait, I set my equipment bag down on the ground and immediately unzipped it.
Taking a few moments to hang up my tournament uniform properly, I paused, feeling as though I was forgetting something important, though every other part of me was screaming at me to get on with it and get into the other world already. Then, suddenly, I snapped my fingers and smiled to myself, reaching down and retrieving the card from the pocket where I had tucked it, slipping it into my wallet for safe keeping. I would need to tell James something to get him off my back, but figuring out just what I could say had to wait until I talked to Scott again. Finally, slipping my wallet back into my pocket with a hand that was shaking so badly in eager anticipation I almost dropped it instead, I turned to the mirror and reached out towards it, laying my palm on its surface, my gaze locked to the crystal blue orbs of the wolf in the mirror. Just looking at him, I found myself smiling, the familiar giddy sensation welling up in my heart.
My reflection smiled as well, and after a moment, his white furred hand reached out, laying its palm flush to the other side of the mirror from mine. We held that pose for a few heartbeats, the thin surface of the mirror separating me from what lay within my heart, and then, with the same peculiar rippling effect as ever, the mirror parted between us, no barrier separating me from my true home, Ronan’s palm meeting mine. But, for the first time, the wolf didn’t slide his hand forward to pull me into the semi solid barrier, in fact, he didn’t reach for my wrist at all. This time, he laced his fingers through mine, clasping my hand tightly and beckoned with his other hand, giving me a gentle nod. My heart aching, my smile widening in surprise, I stepped forward, curious what this was about, but the barrier that had seemed so solid moments before parted quickly between us, giving way as if it were no more substantial than the surface of a puddle. Stepping quickly across the void between the two worlds, the gap seeming curiously shrunken, I found myself suddenly in the familiar warmth and welcoming scents of my world. And finally, when my feet touched the ground, Ronan at last pulled, gently, but irresistibly and I came to him eagerly, pressing in close to his muscular chest, breathing the first breath filled with his wondrous, indefinable scent, wrapping my arms tight around him, nuzzling into his warm white fur.
“Welcome back.” He whispered, putting his arms around me and holding me to him, nuzzling my hair in return.
“You have no idea how much I have been looking forward to this, this week.” I replied, raising my head to meet his muzzle in a kiss that sent the familiar feeling like liquid fire down my throat, clinging to him while the wolf’s tongue slipped intimately into my mouth once again. My heart was already hammering against my ribcage like a jackhammer, as if straining to be let out.
“Oh, I think I might.” he said with a chuckle when our lips finally parted, his fingers already teasing the bottom edge of my shirt, ever so slightly caressing the skin beneath it. After a moment longer, the wolf lifted the garment’s edge, leisurely dragging it up and over my head. I couldn’t tell if it was precisely deliberate on his part or not, but this time, his claws caressed me as he pulled, all the way up from the small of my back to the base of my neck, making me shiver in delight, raising goose bumps all over my body. Calmly looping the shirt over a peg, the wolf turned back to me, and I knew then that he had indeed meant to tease my back with his claws, for he didn’t go for my belt, instead, he pulled me close once more, gently guiding me so my bare chest was pressing against his. Letting out a pleased sigh at the glorious sensation, I nestled my face into the fur of his neck, breathing in his scent as he settled his arms around me once more, gently stroking my spine with his hands, neither of us in any hurry to move on.
Finally, when that wonderful embrace had lasted for a few minutes, Ronan deftly snaked a hand around my waist and effortlessly undid the belt, pulling it out of the loops in one smooth motion, tossing it at the wall carelessly, his other hand tracing around the edge of my shorts’ waist line, gently teasing my hips, making me twitch. Curious at his behavior, I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing, but he preempted my question, pressing his muzzle forward in another insistent kiss that traced even more fire into my throat. Even as we kissed, the hand that had undone my belt was back, this time reaching for the button holding my fly closed, or so I thought. That notion however was immediately thrown out the window when I felt his fingers go lower instead, caressing the outline of my privates beneath the layers of cloth, making me shudder, my member stiffening even faster at his teasing touch.
At the same moment, the wolf’s other hand suddenly went lower as well, groping my rear through my shorts. Surprised, I clung to his chest tightly, hands grabbing clumps of fur, returning the kiss eagerly, my brain going haywire. I hadn’t had this intimate of a greeting in months, not since my relationship with the red panda girl had changed; of course, I wasn’t at all inclined to complain, my body responding without my input. Finally, when his teasing hands had stopped their ministrations, my wolf broke the kiss once more and I gasped for breath, my heart pounding so hard, I could swear the wolf heard it. Ronan just grinned coyly at me while he deftly undid the button and fly with one hand, effortlessly dropping my shorts to the floor.
Pausing to step out of the garment, I noticed that the large wolf’s own member was peeking out from its sheath as well, and I reached out, caressing the furry envelope with one hand, giving it a few gentle strokes, my other hand cupping his heavy balls, coaxing more of him out into the open. Giving a pleased exhale of his own, Ronan didn’t bother with the teasing this time, hooking his thumbs beneath the waistband of my underwear and pushing them down over my hips so I could step out of them as well. Finally, as naked as he was, I eagerly stepped up close to him, my hands still full of wolf nethers, utterly surrounded by his alluring scent and before I could do much else, his hands were back, one hand gently massaging my balls, the other enclosing my hard shaft, stroking the sensitive flesh, his furred hands setting my blood on fire. I wanted him bad, as bad as I had wanted it the first time I had come here, my knees getting weak with the desire. Unable to keep my hips from thrusting into his grasp, I looked up at his eyes, my own filled with desire at the sight of the look on his face.
It was a look that was half love and half mischief and I didn’t even try to stop myself as I leaned close, kissing him once more, the wolf returning it with the same passion, both of us still teasing one another. Finally, after a few more gentle strokes, Ronan let go of my privates and I immediately started to sink down to my knees, prepared to dive on his member with my mouth and start the weekend off right, but I had barely sunk down an inch when he caught my armpits with his hands, his muscular arms easily keeping me from going down.
Glaring at the wolf in confusion, I tried to lunge forward, giving his balls and shaft a gentle squeeze to indicate my desire, as if it wasn’t obvious. But the wolf’s smile just got a little more teasing and sinister and he gently stepped back out of convenient teasing range, shaking his head slightly. Turning towards the wall at the same time he let me go, he neatly sidestepped my next move, avoiding my hands as I reached for his hips. I started to ask him what the big idea was, but my question was cut off when a blue ball of silky cloth hit me in the face, the robe draping itself over me like a net and I growled as fiercely as I could manage at the injustice of it all. To my surprise, I heard Ronan chuckle, but his tone of voice was labored, almost husky, obviously as horny as I was, which made me even more curious. Finally, when I had reluctantly clothed myself, the haphazardly tied robe doing a poor job of concealing the tent over my groin, I saw that the white wolf was having a similar issue, his skin flushed beneath his fur, his robe even more badly tented than mine. Giving me a quick kiss on the lips, Ronan finally explained, whispering quietly.
“Not supposed to let it go there.” He whispered, a note of regret accompanying the arousal in his voice. “Natalie’s orders.” Grumbling, I restrained the urge to grope him again until he was so aroused he couldn’t help it, the state I had been in a moment ago.
“Who is in charge around here, anyway?” I complained, frustrated, meaning it to be rhetorical and he grinned, turning and pulling me gently out of the room by one arm.
“You know the answer to that already, lover boy.” Ronan said, his voice resuming the usual tenderness it carried, though he was still clearly horny as hell, and fighting down his arousal. He gave me a light swat on the rear which propelled me towards the stairway leading upward, and continued. “She is up on the roof again, I think.”
“Thanks Ronan.” I grumbled, feeling cheated. “Thanks a lot.”
“Any time.” He replied over his shoulder, whistling nonchalantly as he walked off, a mischievous grin on his lips once more, and for the first time, I noticed his tail wagging eagerly as he walked. Still grumbling, I started off in the opposite direction, heading for the roof top sundeck. It took me until I reached the first landing of the stairwell before it occurred to me what the wolf had meant. It wasn’t in Ronan’s nature to be such a tease, so if it had been the red panda girl who had said I wasn’t supposed to get it on with him despite the teasing, then she wanted me good and aroused, a prospect which suddenly made me pick up the pace, almost sprinting up to the roof despite my boner, which showed exactly zero sign of abating.
Panting slightly, I came out onto the roof with a broad grin on my face, looking around for the one whose fault it had been that I was so frustrated. And there, standing at the railing looking expectant, was Natalie, her deep red fur brilliant in the late afternoon sun. As I headed for her, stumbling a little in my haste, I noticed that her robe was artfully undone, barely held in place by its belt, revealing plenty of her luscious body, and all but the outermost edge of her perfect bosom. If I hadn’t already been aroused, that sight would easily have done it and I picked up my pace, hurrying to her and pulling her into a warm kiss, her familiar sweet taste sending a lightning bolt through my body as I pulled her in close. Her hands found their way beneath my robe as if by magic, caressing my hips delicately and she giggled when she felt how aroused I was, gently caressing my equipment with her hands.
“Well, I see Ronan did as I asked.” She said, her voice teasing and I glared at her. Smiling sympathetically, she ground against me gently, her robe falling open the rest of the way so it was fur against skin as she did so, but she carefully avoided allowing our nethers to touch, making me whimper with denied arousal.
“Why are you being so evil today?” I finally asked, eyeing her exposed body hungrily, desperately torn between wanting to beg her to have sex right here and now, and wanting to wait, to find out what she really had planned. If it was anything like the last surprise she and Keira had sprung on me, it would be worth waiting for. Assuming I didn’t explode from pent-up arousal first, of course.
“Well,” she said softly, leaning in and giving me a sensual kiss on the neck that made my entire body quiver, her teeth ever so slightly nibbling my exposed flesh. “For one thing, you are so cute when you are dying with arousal. Besides, I’m allowed to have a little fun.” She said, moving up to kiss my earlobe, whispering in my ear the words I so wanted to hear in that moment. “Come on hon, we should move to a more appropriate setting.”
With that, the sexy red panda girl turned around and walked off, her hips swaying seductively and I followed her a pace or two behind, mesmerized. I still had no idea what she was up to, and at this point, I couldn’t seem to muster the will to wonder about it much, either. My brain was filled entirely with her delightful curves, only halfway hidden by her burgundy robe, the almost hypnotic way her hips swayed while she walked, her tail tip curling sensuously with each step. I actually found myself slowing my pace slightly in spite of my desires, just so I could have a better look at her, drinking in the sight. Natalie slowed to a stop at the doorway to the stairs leading down then turned back towards me, beckoning enticingly with a seductive smile on her lips before disappearing inside, making me hurry to follow, my heart skipping a beat as it thundered in my chest.
The panda girl must have run down the stairs the second she was out of my sight, because I completely lost track of her as I stumbled down the stairwell, tripping myself more than a few times. My legs just did not seem to understand that they did indeed have to actually make contact with the steps in order to get down safely. Finally, my legs feeling like jelly and my heart lurching with every step, I set my feet on the floor beneath the stairway, the hallway stretching out before me in its many shades of blue. But I didn’t need to guess where the seductive woman had gone, for she was waiting for me, standing outside the closed door to the bedroom, her robe revealing far more than it concealed, the deep red cloth only an accent to her beautiful fur. Pausing for just a moment to take in the beauty that the panda girl represented, I tried to freeze every detail and nuance of her form into my mind. Everything, from the tips of her ears to her toes was gorgeous, seductive and oh, so sexy. Then, the vision of perfect desire before me smiled evilly, beckoning me towards her and I obeyed, stumbling again, my shaft so hard and pent up it almost hurt because at last, she wasn’t walking away from me. Instead, she waited until I was within arm’s reach, then she wrapped me in her arms, holding me tight, our lips meeting in a passionate kiss.
All pretense of teasing was gone, the panda girl’s warm, short furred palm encircling my member, stroking it sensuously and I almost collapsed right there and then from the sensation. I was so horny by that point that her touch was almost orgasmic in intensity and I pressed eagerly against her, sliding my hands through her fur, clinging to her tightly as I ground into her grip. Dimly, through the sweet haze of the kiss, I felt her maneuver me around so my back was against the door, pressing herself against me passionately and I pressed against her as well, silk-soft fur wrapping my body. Her hand left my shaft a moment later, finding its way to the door knob, pushing it open behind me. Not wanting to fall backward, I clung to her all the stronger and she leaned in, whispering into my ear, her voice husky with lust.
“Are you ready, my love?” She asked and I nodded jerkily. How could she possibly think otherwise, with how I had been treated since I arrived? Then, she pulled back slightly from me, giving me another, deep kiss on the lips, her gaze suddenly shifting into a grin that I could only have described as being that of a trickster whose joke has come to fruition. At the same moment, she said the very last thing I ever expected to hear in that moment, her voice louder, with a clear tone in it. “He’s all yours, boys.”
“Wait, what?!” I exclaimed, startled by her statement, but I had hardly gotten the second word out before several strong hands grabbed me from behind, pulling me suddenly into the darkness of the bedroom and I saw Natalie’s evil grin broaden, the panda waving in a teasing way, her other hand taking hold of the door.
“Have fun, hon.” She called, shutting the door between us, amusement in her voice as the door cut off all but the dimmest light coming in through the balcony curtains...