Chapter 6
Kendra concentrated on covering as much ground as possible, her thick coat helped keep her warm, but she was built for the tropics not the arctic, and she felt the chill wind keenly. The constant exercise helped, but she kept scanning the horizon hoping to see indications of the forest she knew was somewhere south of where they crashed. It might not be warmer once she reached the forest, but at least the trees should cut the wind. After an hour, she saw a green line emerge in the distance and she picked up her pace. This was promising; if she were seeing a forest this soon it meant they were in the southern area of the oval she had marked on the map. She had been afraid that they were in the northern part and had several hours of snow covered terrain to travel, but thankfully that didn't seem to be the case.
It was another hour before she finally entered the forest and she paused to sniff the wind as she did so. She smelt pine, resinous and sharp, earth scents mixed with the scent of snow, but little of the musky scents that indicated animal life. She guessed that she needed to continue traveling south to find any. She needed to get further away from the snow covered plain where there was little food for large game to live upon before finding something large enough for her to hunt.
Kendra felt Dominique stir upon her back, "A forest," the redhead whispered, "We're further south then."
It was the same conclusion Kendra had drawn, and she could hear the same relief that she had felt in Dominique's voice. The redhead said nothing more and Kendra picked up her pace once again, threading her way between the sparse trees with ease. Two hours later, she smelt a new scent upon the wind, one she recognized with ease. There were deer here. She needed to go hunting; the food bars she had eaten earlier were long since gone and her stomach was letting her know it needed meat and lots of it if she wanted to remain in cat form for any length of time.
The area they were in was hilly, and she could see the occasional outcropping of what looked like limestone. With this type of terrain, Kendra felt there was a good chance she could find a cave for Dominique to shelter within while she went hunting. It took some time before she spotted what she had been searching for, a shadowed opening in a hillside underneath an overhand of rock that turned out to indeed be the opening of a small cave. Dominique stirred as she felt her stopping and sat up looking around.
"Why have we stopped?" she asked and Kendra pawed at the cave entrance and shook gently. Dominique asked, "You want me to get down so we can go in there?"
Kendra dipped her head in a nod. Dominique climbed stiffly down from her back and followed her into the cavern, ducking underneath the low entrance. Kendra inhaled deeply, she could smell nothing besides stone and dirt, there was no indication that anything was currently living within. She padded deeper into the short cavern and looked around verifying that it had no inhabitants.
Dominique was looking around at the cavern, glad to be out of the wind, "Should I gather firewood, are we staying long enough?" she asked.
Kendra nodded and pulled at the straps, looking imploringly at Dominique. Dominique figured out what she wanted and came over and took off the straps. She asked, "Why don't you just change back?"
Kendra shook her head and laboriously dragged a paw through the dirt and spelt out hunt. Dominique nodded, "You're going out hunting, be careful and let me know it's you before you enter the cave. I'll keep the handgun by my side in case someone besides you feels like joining me."
Kendra coughed in amusement, ducked her head in acknowledgement, then turned and left.
She lifted her muzzle scenting the deer again and started working her way closer to the resting herd, carefully keeping downwind of them. As she got closer, she crouched down and crept towards the deer. They were larger than the ones at home, but she was confident she could take one down. She picked out an older male lying on the outside of the herd and crept up as close as she was able then sprang onto the animal's back. The deer was only able to cry out once before Kendra seized its head in her mouth and bore down, driving her incisors through the top of its skull and killing it instantly.
The other deer lurched to their feet and scattered terrified. Kendra ripped open the belly of the deer and instinctively searched out the fattest organs to consume immediately. Once she had sated her immediate hunger, she seized the carcass by the neck and began dragging it towards the cave. It took her a good fifteen minutes to drag it that far, but she finally dropped the carcass near the cavern and looked around for Dominique.
The redhead stepped out of the cavern and approached cautiously asking, "Is it alright if I take some of the meat?"
Kendra moved away from the deer, understanding that the other woman thought she might be possessive of her kill.
Kendra waited till Dominique had cut several strips from the animals flank and wrapped them in a square of hide from the animal before she returned and began feeding on the carcass. She gorged herself eating as much as she could as Dominique gathered wood for a fire. Once her stomach was full, she seized the carcass once again by the neck and awkwardly pulled it after her as she climbed a nearby tree and slung it over a branch out of the reach of other predators.
Then she leapt back down and noticed Dominique watching her. She padded over and started trying to spell water with her paw, but Dominique looked at the W and said, "Water?"
Kendra nodded and Dominique said, "Wait for me, I could use some water as well and we should fill up the canteens."
Kendra waited; when Dominique came back, she was carrying the two canteens they had found on the plane. Kendra led the way to where she had found a stream while tracking the herd of deer. The stream was small but deep and Kendra plunged in her muzzle and drank deeply. Then she walked out into the stream and ducked her head underneath the water letting the swiftly flowing water wash away the blood from her kill. She lifted her head again; snorting to clear her nostrils of water then sat down and rolled over one way and then back again before standing. She padded back out of the stream. Dominique was staring at her warily. Kendra coughed in amusement and moved away from the redhead before vigorously shaking the water out of her fur. If it had been warmer she would have considered it, but it was too cold to get the woman wet.
When they got back to the cave, Dominique knelt beside the fire she had started earlier and checked the venison strips she had placed upon a rock in the coals. They were finally cooked enough to eat. Kendra laid down by the fire with a deep sigh as Dominique began eating. The redhead stared at her dozing companion thoughtfully; exactly how Kendra had killed the deer had not escaped her notice. One sharp powerful bite though the skull, that along with the color and body shape made her certain that Kendra's cat form was that of a jaguar.
Dominique was still confused, however, as to what exactly what her companion could be. She had initially assumed that Kendra was a human appearing mutate, but that was obviously not true. Above human strength while human, rapid healing and immortality, and the ability to change into a larger than normal jaguar, even with these three pieces of information Dominique had no clear idea how these things fit together. Nor did she have an idea how Kendra had changed into a cat while using neither magic nor sorcery.
Dominique finished eating and moved over to sit next to Kendra, wrapping herself in the blankets for warmth. She tentatively rested a hand on Kendra's back and when huge cat didn't object Dominique began running her fingers through the thick fur. Kendra stretched and started purring contentedly. Dominique smiled at this and continued running her hand along Kendra's back. No, she had no idea what Kendra was so she would simply have to ask when she next had the opportunity she resolved. The redhead didn't realize when she fell asleep, but she woke near nightfall surprised to find that she had been using Kendra as a pillow while she slept.
When Dominique woke, Kendra woke as well. As soon as the redhead moved from where she had been lying upon her, Kendra padded to the mouth of the cave and looked out smelling the air inquisitively. A muffled painful cry had her rushing back into the cavern before realizing that what she had heard was Demona's form change. Demona was wrapping her wings around herself when Kendra entered the cavern. The gargoyle stared at the cat curiously as Kendra moved nearer the fire and then began her painful return to her human shape.
Demona came over and rested a taloned hand on Kendra's shoulder once the woman was fully human again, "Your shape change is more painful than mine I believe," she said softly.
Kendra gasped, "It's much more painful from jaguar to human than from human to jaguar. I think it has something to do with it being easier to increase mass than decrease it though I can't figure out why that would be, it seems as if it would be more logical the other way around." In another few seconds, the pain went away and Kendra was able to roll over and stand.
She paused to examine herself and Demona asked, "Checking to see if you missed anything?"
Kendra grinned at her, "Yes actually, I always think I'm going to forget something." Kendra sighed, "I'm still tired, do you mind if I nap a few hours. I'm not really used to napping in jaguar form, but I didn't want to change back until after sunset just in case something decided to attack us."
Demona nodded, "The nights are longer this far north. We have enough time for you to sleep for a few hours." Demona grinned at Kendra as she lay back down and snuggled into the blankets, never seeming to notice that she had been nude the entire time. Unlike most humans Kendra didn't seem to have much of a nudity taboo, at least not around the gargoyle she didn't, not that Demona minded the woman's body was all sleek muscle and feminine curves. Demona didn't choose to admit the fact that she perhaps appreciated Kendra's body far more than someone who hated humans was supposed to.
The redheaded gargoyle sighed, wondering what the fools at her company were doing. With any luck they assumed that the two of them had been kidnapped instead of killed, and were being properly careful with her company thinking of her wrath if they should bungle things too badly. She sat down beside Kendra's sleeping form and slipped under the blankets with her. The air in the cave was not as cold as it had been on the plane, but it was still very cold. Kendra sighed in her sleep and snuggled against the gargoyles side. Demona tensed then slowly relaxed as Kendra settled back into a deep sleep. The redhead gazed at Kendra's sleeping form and thought of the woman's words to her cousin on the plane.
The entire episode had a surreal quality that had begun with Kendra demanding that someone come and amuse her because Demona didn't want to chat. The gargoyle had to chuckle as the remembered some of the odd things Kendra had said and done while playing with her cousin. Of course, some of the things Kendra had said were not so amusing, such as her questions about the virus and Demona's plan to exterminate the humans.
Demona frowned to herself, thinking,
Kendra was right, why did I ever make that tape, and having made it, why make it so easy for Robyn Canmore to find? I knew who she was all along and hired her anyway, and then I took her to meet Dr. Sevarius and opened the vault right in front of her making sure she saw all the pieces of my plan including the disk. A disk that was not even lying flat on the shelf, but which I put into a holder almost as if I wanted it to draw attention to itself. I don't think that I knew Robyn was stealing the disk when I spoke with her, but I did know she was there and that she had no reason to be in the laboratory at that time. I should have came in and checked, I should have been suspicious, but it didn't cross my mind and It really should have. Kendra was right, why didn't I just deliver a map and directions to Robyn Canmore, it would have been easier." Demona looked down at the woman curled up at her side, "Perhaps you are right, I am insane and just haven't realized it," she whispered.
The immortal gargoyle's thoughts drifted to what Kendra had said to her when Jon had left, that she could not have lived with herself if she had accepted her cousin's offer that she cared for Demona. Kendra may have suspected she could survive dying, but she had not known for certain, yet she had been willing to risk it to stay by Demona's side. Demona wasn't certain what she felt about that, she should probably feel angry or scornful, but with the failure of her most recent plan the thought that Kendra was willing to risk dying to stay with her was… well she wasn't sure what she was feeling, but it definitely wasn't anger and it certainly wasn't scorn.
Demona leaned back against the cave wall absorbed in her thoughts; most recent in her mind was the recent plan that could have gone even more horribly wrong than it had. Why had she ever trusted that Assassin, she could have gotten her daughter killed. What type of a mother was she that she had led her daughter into such a dangerous situation? She sighed and stared unseeing at the sky visible outside the cavern and absently began to stroke Kendra's back.
Demona was half dozing still slowly running a taloned hand up and down Kendra's back when she froze and then removed her hand guiltily. Kendra's breathing had changed and she had moaned softly. Demona frowned to herself thinking that she really shouldn't have been touching Kendra like that knowing that the woman was attracted to her. Hopefully the dark-haired woman would go back to sleep.
However, such was not to be; Kendra began writhing slowly obviously deep in the throws of a sensual dream. Demona blushed, but fascinated couldn't help but watch. She was amazed to hear Kendra moan "Demona, yes… oh… yes…oh… please." The last come out in a begging tone. The gargoyle tore her eyes away realized she really should wake the woman, but she didn't and her eyes returned to Kendra's form realizing what she was dreaming from the crossed arms over her head. Demona couldn't seem to stop her gaze from taking in the soft wanting look on Kendra's face, the dusky skin that covered smooth strong muscles along the now bared shoulders and arms, the way her hair spread… Demona tore her gaze away once again her own breathing becoming ragged and shook her head, what was wrong with her she was actually becoming aroused watching and thinking of Kendra's plea.
Kendra suddenly arched and lowered her head baring the back of her neck and drawing Demona's gaze again and whimpered, "oh… yes… so good. Yes… harder…oh please… yes," the black haired woman's tone lowered into a demanding hiss, "bite me…"
Demona realized she had to leave the cavern, the smell of Kendra's arousal was strong in the air and she was beginning to seriously consider what might happen if she turned the woman's dream into reality. The gargoyle managed to slide out of the blankets, stealing one as she left. Standing just outside the cavern mouth, she tried to persuade herself that she didn't want to go back inside, press Kendra down into the blankets, and claim the woman as she was so sweetly begging. From within the cavern she heard Kendra cry out, "Oh yes, oh," There was pause as if Kendra had drawn in a breath, then, "Demona," the last carried such tones of pleasure that it was obvious to the gargoyle what had occurred. Demona closed her eyes, her mind replaying that last passionate cry, and then opened them on a shaky breath.
What was wrong with her, she knew it was normal for some humans to be attracted to their own gender and it certainly didn't bothered her, but she had never been attracted to a female before and definitely never to a human. She lashed her tail, feeling the unmistakable tension within her body, there was no denying it, she was aroused, aroused by the thought of claiming a human woman. She already knew part of what was affecting her, she had identified it days ago, Demona smirked remembering, though then she had hardly know exactly how wild Kendra could be. She could easily admit to herself that the thought of such an obviously powerful and strong woman wanting to be dominated by her was very arousing in and of itself. The second reason though was less easy to admit to, she was lonely and feeling unlovable and here was this beautiful woman dreaming passionate dreams about her…
Suddenly she heard, "Oh shit, you stupid idiot, damn what have I done."
Demona stepped back into the cavern saying, "Kendra it's alright, I'm here." Kendra blushed deeply at the sight of her and Demona said, "You didn't offend me, I just needed to step outside for a moment."
Kendra looked unsure, "You're not mad at me."
Demona shook her head, "I'm not mad at you." Demona said, "I'm going to pull the rest of that deer down from where you hung it earlier and see what meat is left on it. We should probably take everything we can strip off of it with us." With that, she left.
Kendra stared after the gargoyle amazed that Demona hadn't appeared to be even slightly angry with her for daring to dream about her the way she had. The flame-haired gargoyle had been unsettled perhaps, but not angry. Kendra cocked her head to the side as she considered Demona's reaction and allowed herself to wonder if the attraction she felt was not entirely one sided. She sighed, right now though wasn't the time, they needed to cover as many miles as they could tonight before dawn changed Demona to her human form. Kendra changed into her jaguar form and shook herself, relieved to feel the mental turmoil and sexual tension drain away with the transformation. As a jaguar she was less emotional, and without hesitation she exited the cave to watch while Demona striped the rest of the meat from the carcass and wrapped it in one of the survival blankets.
Demona asked, "Do you mind carrying the backpack and meat?"
Kendra shook her head and led the way back into the cavern. There Demona fastened the harness to her and lashed down the backpack and meat firmly to make sure they would not shift.
Demona unfolded the topographical map and laid it on the floor of the cavern, "I believe we are in this area," she pointed at the map with a taloned finger, then trailed it south to the nearest marked water, "We will head south and hopefully in a few hours find this river. We can follow it downstream and cross here before morning if I am correct about our current location."
Kendra nodded and loped out of the cavern, with one last look Demona left as well and climbed up the cliff to get some height then glided away with Kendra following. They made good time to the river and started following it downstream. Demona stopped occasionally and stared at the map intently. Finally, they found the ford marked on the map and Demona smiled, it was the correct river, they knew where they were. Of course, where they were was out in the middle of nowhere and with no human habitation marked on the map for hundreds of miles, but at least now they knew where in the middle of nowhere they were.
Demona estimated that they could easily travel 40 or maybe 50 miles a day with the long winter nights. If they could both hold that pace, they would reach a sizable town within five days. She decided to continue following the river, which ran due south and motioned to Kendra to come over. When Kendra padded over next to her and was looked at the map curiously, Demona pointed to where they were, "This is where we are now, and this is where I would like to get to before morning. Do you think we can travel that far?" Kendra looked at the map and shrugged. Demona said, "Well let's see how far we can get." Kendra nodded and waited for Demona to find a tree to climb and become airborne then followed the gargoyle.
A few hours before dawn, they passed the point that Demona had wanted to achieve. An hour later the gargoyle started looking for a suitable place for them to rest during the day. She spotted a likely looking deadfall and waited for Kendra to arrive then asked in a low voice, "Smell anything?"
Kendra sniffed, there was something here, but she wasn't certain what it might be, as she couldn't get enough of a scent. She cautiously approached the deadfall, and getting a better scent stopped and hissed, the hair along her back and tail instinctively rising. She moved to block Demona and shook her head.
Demona asked, "I don't see anything what are you smelling?" Kendra pawed out a clear patch of ground and started spelling snake out. Demona caught on as she was starting on the k and said "Snakes, I understand, no I guess I don't want to share a deadfall with snakes. Do you have any suggestions?
Kendra nodded, and led the way to a spot in the forest that she had noticed earlier. A large tree had died years earlier creating the opportunity for younger trees to take its place. Now the area had several seven and eight foot saplings growing within it. Kendra began to rip the ones in the center out of the ground. Demona moved to help her looking at her curiously as they cleared a small circle out of the middle of the saplings.
Kendra glanced around and sniffed to make sure there were no enemies near and changed to human. Shivering she got her clothes out of the backpack and began putting them on while explaining to Demona, "Bend down the remaining saplings and tie them at the top to form the supports for a shelter, I'll help as soon as I get dressed. We can use the pine branches to insulate the sides and block the wind." They prepared the shelter and then laid out the survival blankets on the inside. Demona used her claws to dig a deep hole in the cold ground for a fire pit while Kendra gathered wood and started a fire going.
It was almost dawn when Demona crawled into the shelter to transform; she dressed and emerged as Dominique. She grumbled at Kendra, "Go warm up you're shivering in those clothes, I'll finish putting something together for us to eat." Kendra nodded gratefully and went into the shelter and huddled under the survival blankets until she warmed up and fell asleep. Dominique entered the shelter an hour later with a bowl of warm plain stewed venison and woke her up long enough to eat. The redhead then slipped under the blankets with her and did not protest when Kendra pulled her into a loose embrace sharing her body heat.
They both slept into the afternoon, when Kendra woke and stretched, being careful not to waken the red headed woman sleeping peacefully in her arms. Kendra pulled Dominique closer and savored the feeling of the woman in her arms, feeling very protective of her. It was amazing to Kendra how she felt different about each of Demona's forms, she wanted to be dominated by Demona, and she wanted to make tender gentle love to Dominique. Though she suspected she would have no objections to either of Demona's forms wanting to dominate her, she thought with a small grin.
After the two dreams she was finally willing to admit that maybe it would be nice to not always be the strong one in a relationship. Maybe it would be nice to let someone else… ok who was she kidding… let Demona take control of the relationship… and of her… at least occasionally. Demona aroused her so very powerfully because Demona was stronger than she was and was physically able to dominate her. That was something her human ex-lovers had not been capable of doing, and now she wondered if perhaps that was one of the things she had been missing in her past relationships.
Suddenly she noticed Dominique was awake and looking at her with an arched eyebrow. The redhead asked, "Do you ever think of anything besides sex?"
Kendra flushed, "Food?"
Dominique began laughing, "Are you sure you're not a male in disguise?"
Kendra sat up and whipped up her shirt and looked down at her breasts and then back at Dominique, "Yep, I'm sure I'm not a guy."
Dominique looked at Kendra's exposed breasts and said in a breathless voice, "No I guess you're not." She tore her eyes away from the dusky swells tipped with rose colored nipples. "You really don't have much of a problem with nudity do you, that's unusual for a human."
Kendra lowered her shirt, "I'm sorry I just feel comfortable around you, but I shouldn't have done that. I'm too impulsive sometimes, a thought comes into my head that seems funny and sometimes I just follow along without thinking."
She looked sad and impulsively Dominique hugged her, "No it's alright I'm getting used to it actually, and I think I would miss the surprises if you stopped. I'm glad you're comfortable enough with me to do things like that. You have a wicked sense of humor and I quite enjoy it."
Dominique relaxed her hold, but remained leaning against Kendra enjoying the feel of resting against the black haired woman. She knew she should draw away, but her own desire was rising with the contact. The sound of Kendra crying out her name was replaying in her head and she could no longer deny that she wanted to hear that cry again, something inside her hungered for it. Dominique was used to getting what she wanted, and right now she wanted Kendra, but Kendra was human or part human and the part of her that hated humans just couldn't believe she would actually consider sex with one of them.
While she was thinking, Kendra shifted position, resting her head in the hollow of Dominique's shoulder. The redhead's racing thoughts derailed at the feel of Kendra tucking her head into her shoulder; the move was so trusting and invoked a protective feeling in Dominique as well as causing her heart rate to increase. The redhead growled softly, she had the overwhelming desire to push Kendra down to the floor and… Dominique tried to reign in her thoughts and think rationally, she wasn't sure that she wanted a… relationship with Kendra. She wasn't sure that she didn't either, she was only sure that she wanted to stroke her fingers over the dusky skin she had seen so much of, wanted to test the texture and feel of all of it. She wanted Kendra to call out her name in passion for real, not to a dream lover. Damn it… this desire was overwhelming and it wasn't as if Kendra was completely human.
Dominique said trying to keep her voice from betraying her need, "I've never been with a female before, but I would like to make love to you Kendra. I'm just not sure how ready for a relationship I am right now, and I don't want to lose you as a friend."
Dominique waited and Kendra looked up at her in surprise, "Casual is fine, I've never really had a serious relationship…" Kendra trailed off looking uncertain for a moment then looked into Dominique's eyes and saw the raw need there.
Dominique leaned closer to Kendra and tentatively kissed her, then deepened the kiss as she felt the black-haired woman shift toward her. Kendra leaned at first forward expecting to take the lead, but Dominique resisted, leaning forward and pushing Kendra back onto the floor of their shelter instead. Dominique pulled back and looked intently at Kendra and then started unbuttoning the black-haired woman's shirt baring the breasts that she had gazed at earlier in desire. She reached out and touched the dusky skin, noting the paleness of her hand against it, then began stroking the soft swells pleased when Kendra's soft moans and the way she arched her back made it clear that she appreciated how this felt. The dusky rose tips she had noticed earlier were stiff with arousal, she leaned over to take the nearest one in her mouth.
"Yes," hissed Kendra arching into the contact.
Kendra's fingers combed restlessly through her red mane as Dominique teased and tormented both nipples into reddened prominence as Kendra urged her on with her soft cries. Eventually she kissed her way back up to Kendra's neck claimed the full lips in a possessive kiss while trailing one hand down the woman's stomach and unbuttoning and unzipping the leather pants she wore. Kendra groaned and pulled off her own pants and under clothes and shrugging out of her shirt leaving herself totally nude. Dominique pulled the blankets over the both of them and resumed her explorations of Kendra's body.
Dominique was surprised at her own excitement and desire, she had thought Thailog had excited her, but the thought of having Kendra writhing under her in passion drove all thoughts of the cloned male away. Then there was the fact that Kendra seemed to be afflicted with a fine quiver, at first the redhead was confused by the occasional trembling, but a look at Kendra's face made it clear that the trembles were definitely not caused by fear. Dominique's last doubts melted away at this evidence of exactly how much Kendra desired her touch, and each uncontrollable quiver that ran along Kendra's body just increased the redhead's desire to possess the black-haired woman.
She trailed a hand across Kendra's inner thigh and felt Kendra open her legs wider inviting Dominique to touch her. The redhead accepted the invitation and groaned as she felt how wet Kendra was for her, a groan matched as Kendra cried out her name as she felt her touch. Dominique found it interesting that Kendra called her Demona in both forms when she was crying out in passion. She always called her human form by her human name otherwise.
Dominique continued her wandering touch tormenting Kendra by almost giving her what she wanted, but never stopping long enough to allow Kendra release. Dominique watched Kendra intently, she knew from her explorations of her human form what should arouse Kendra, but putting it into practice on another woman was slightly different. She was running on instinct and memories of watching the other two women make love. Thankfully Kendra made it clearly known when she really liked what Dominique was doing to her.
Finally Dominique thrust her fingers into Kendra feeling the warm flesh immediately clench around her fingers as if to hold them there and watched the results, admiring the trembling tensing of her stomach and neck, the deep flush on her face, the glazed passionate eyes and the deep groan the action elicited. It took a few minutes to figure out how to do what she desired, but finally she figured out how to angle her hand so that she could both thrust inside Kendra's warm soft depths and circle the sensitive nub outside with her thumb. She smiled as Kendra moaned her name pleadingly and timed the movement of her thumb and thrusting fingers together until Kendra was writhing wildly.
"Demona," Kendra cried out her name in the same tone as she had during her dream, a rush of possessive satisfaction surged through the redheaded woman at the sound, and then she had to hold onto the black-haired woman tightly as she arched and shuddered in her pleasure. Several more followed, as Dominique did not ceasing her tormenting touch until she felt Kendra was finally exhausted. Dominique gazed into the sapphire blue eyes and was satisfied with the almost drugged look the woman had as well as the obvious total relaxation in her body.
She pulled the blankets over both of them and rested Kendra's head on her shoulder, watching as Kendra fell into a doze, her face relaxed and a smile upon her lips. Dominique still felt her own arousal, but hearing Kendra cry out her name as she came, feeling the woman's innermost depths spasm in release around her fingers had filled some deep need in her, leaving her feeling relaxed and satisfied despite her arousal. She could wait for Kendra to recover.
She smiled down at the relaxed woman in her arms, then as a thought surfaced she shook her head, she still had not asked Kendra how she was able to change into a jaguar. Dominique smirked; there would be time later after more important things were taken care of to ask her questions. Relaxing into the warm body of the woman in her arms, the redhead's eyes closed dozed as well.
Kendra stirred a short time later still feeling languorous in the afterglow of their first lovemaking. For someone who said she had never made love to a woman before Dominique had been amazing. She shifted until the dozing redhead was lying on the silver blanket and carefully removed the halter top Dominique was wearing exposing pale coral tipped breasts. Kendra lowered her lips and set about gently waking her lover. She could tell exactly when Dominique woke from the change in her breathing and from the arms that came up and wrapped around her.
"Kendra," said Dominique softly then, "that feels so good." Dominique arched slightly pressing her breast harder against Kendra's mouth and Kendra stroked her free hand down Dominique's body snagging her one remaining piece of clothing and removing it. Then teasing her by drifting across the wetness she had exposed and playing with the soft curls, but keeping her touches light and teasing. Dominique groaned and opened her legs wider and bucked slightly trying to get her to touch where she wanted.
Kendra grinned and capitulated, knowing that Dominique was likely still aroused from earlier and it would be cruel to tease her too much. She stroked deeply into the redhead, enjoying how the yielding tender flesh parted at her entrance and then gripped her fingers greedily. She withdrew her fingers from the warm depths and then glided along the tender flesh to stroke the engorged muscle there on either side while her thumb just barely grazed across the crest. She continued her slow patient strokes as she suckled and nipped at Dominique's breasts.
Feeling the increased tension in the redhead's body and how forcefully Dominique was rising to meet every inward stroke Kendra quickened her tempo knowing that the redhead was close. She held Dominique to her as the redhead jerked in sudden release and cried out her name. Leaving her hand temporarily still, she waited a few minutes then began gently stroking inside her lover once again. Dominique drew in a breath and Kendra saw the redhead realize that she was going to become aroused all over again. Dominique began moving to match her rhythm twisting beneath her then crying out once again in her pleasure. Kendra enfolded the redhead in her arms, holding her shuddering form through the aftershocks while stroking her back to calm her.
Dominique buried her face in Kendra's shoulder, "That felt wonderful," she sighed.
Kendra smiled, "Your welcome, and thank you for earlier, for someone who hadn't been with a woman before you were quite amazing."
Dominique smirked, "I've always been a quick learner."
"Lucky me," Kendra commented sincerely.
The redhead chuckled, sniffing the air she commented, "It smells like an orgy in here, and we stink."
Kendra smiled and stretched lazily, "Well there is a reason for that," she commented smugly as she sat up and moved toward the loose pine branches that covered what functioned as the door of their makeshift shelter. She pushed the branches aside and poked her head cautiously outside glancing around to make sure nothing had decided to be curious about the noises emanating from the shelter. The air had gotten quite a lot warmer than it had been she noticed, no wonder the cold hadn't been that bothersome while they made love. Kendra leaned forward and grabbed one of the pots from the backpack. She filled it with water and set to heating on the coals from the fire, then she scooted back into the shelter and snuggled beside Dominique, "Ten minutes or so till we have lukewarm water."
The redhead turned and rested her head upon Kendra's chest sighing contentedly; a passing thought had her green eyes narrowing. She pulled away, supporting herself on her elbow, "This seems like a good time to ask you how exactly you transform into a jaguar, you don't use any magic or sorcery, or if you do you don't use a kind that I recognize," she commented curious.
"Ah," Kendra murmured, "That is a bit of a tale, and to be honest with you I don't really have a good understanding of exactly why it works."
Dominique could see the bafflement in Kendra's blue eyes, "Perhaps if you explain it to me I might have an idea, I've studied sorcery for almost a thousand years now, and I've searched for knowledge about every other type of magic as well. There is a good chance I might know something, or have an idea where we could find more information," she offered.
The black-haired woman looked at her hopefully, "That would be nice. I guess the place to start is at the very beginning…" Kendra related how she had come upon the jaguar in the temple; how she had climbed down to free it only to have it free itself. How she had lost consciousness and had woken up covered in blood, but unhurt and the jaguar gone. "Does that mean something to you?" Kendra asked seeing the thoughtful frowning look on Dominique's face.
The redhead shook her head slowly, "I'm not certain, perhaps…you were able to turn into a jaguar after that?" she asked.
"No, not immediately," Kendra responded, "First there were the dreams…" she described how she had dreamed of becoming a jaguar, how in her dreams she learned how to submerge her human form within the body of the jaguar and how to submerge the jaguar within her human form. "The night of the full moon when I first transformed for real…was terrifying for me, but it was also exhilarating. The night, the scents, the world was so much more than I ever could have imagined," Kendra finished wonderingly.
"Shamanism?" Dominique offered hesitantly, "I was never able to find a practitioner, and there is very little written about it that is more than hypothesis and conjecture. What little information I found mentioned animal spirit guides and the shamanic practitioner's ability to transform into the shape of their spirit guide." Those were not the only two pieces of information she knew, but those were the two characteristics that applied right now.
Kendra frowned, "But I've never met any animal spirit guide," she said, disappointed.
Dominique laid a comforting hand on her chest, "As I said what I found was mostly conjecture, that part might not be correct. When we get home I will show you what books I have, and we can look for more information. I'm sure that between the two of us we can figure out how you got your abilities."
"Thank you," Kendra's blue eyes warmed at Dominique's promise of help. She leaned forward and tenderly kissed the redhead, reluctantly pulling back from temptation she said, "The water should be warm now and I know we need to get ready to go soon."
They washed the essential parts, dressed and Dominique fixed more warm food for the both of them. It was almost nightfall; Kendra sighed and looked with fondness at the shelter where they had made love. They hoped to make 50 mile or so traveling due south before stopping two hours before sunrise. Demona didn't like stopping so early, but there was no meat left and they would need the time to hunt. She turned and waited for Demona to glide off it was time to leave this place.
Continued...