Legacy of the Pridelords: A Friend’s Warmth
Story Description: Anyra, daughter of the swamp pride, is burdened with a great task: To renew an ancient tradition that maintains peace between the lion prides. Along the way, the lioness meets up with an old friend; a clumsy male that might soon be a king in his own right.
** ***Legacy of the Pridelords Chapter 1: A Friend's Warmth*****
The blistering heat of the savannah wasn't overly generous to those who disregarded its rules. It was past noon, and Anyra, daughter of the swamp pride, left her home to search for the only friend she made in a neighboring pride. Oh, she was sorely tempted to turn back now, with the sun bearing down upon her. The air was cooler around the marshlands. She had but jump into a lake, then avoid the sun's fiery wrath for as long as she wanted. Even resting in the shadow of the tall reeds growing along the bank was an option.
But here? What could she do inside a field of grasses as dry as the earth cracking beneath her paws? Sure, their golden husks camouflaged her rather effectively, yet what crazed hunter dared hunt on this heat? She had better things to worry about. Things like the breeze that brought in the scents of her quarry along with a slight relief from the heat.
Anyra breathed deep through her widening nostrils. She caught his scent. A male lion, quite strong for his age, playful and kind. For a moment, the musk took her mind back to her pride. Kvanir, her father, king of the swamp pride waited there along with the rest of his extended family. Five lionesses to bear his cubs, three sons, eight daughters, and a dozen of other younglings.
Yet none of them knew where Anyra went or why. They all waited. Wondered. Some definitely started searching for her by now.
"Stupid," the lioness grazed the hard earth with the tips of her claws. Guilt stirred within her chest. She loved her father so much. What...what if he worried about her too?
She shook her head at that. "I'm not a cub anymore. They will understand. I'll make them understand...as soon as I return."
The lioness blinked, her amber eyes shadowed for just a moment before they settled upon the path ahead. She came too far to return. There was no other choice.
Anyra resumed her quest at a comfortable pace. With the male's scent warming her nostrils, she wanted to avoid overheating herself, so she kept pushing through the golden fields until the thorn trees made their appearance. The scent was strong here. Anyra approached her nose to a clawed tree, then pulled her head back, snarling from the pungent sting of mark left behind moments ago.
"You did this on purpose," she said as she lowered herself into a predatory stance.
"I only marked the tree. Sniffing it was your mistake."
Anyra leaped behind the tree to find her male splayed on his back, enjoying the warmth of the sun upon his tawny belly...and whatever mane he sprouted around his neck. He was rather striking, a bit larger than her, a shade lighter than her golden color. His mane had a few gold tinges to it, a sign that he was still maturing. Anyra didn't dwell too much on that particular detail. Not when the male's gender was exposed in such a shameless way. His pink tip protruded just enough to fill the air with his musky scent, and the lion did nothing to prevent that. Anyra's tail flicked with impatience. She could wrestle him into submission. Or better. Slap a paw down upon his member. Dry pads felt rough against her tongue, so she could only imagine how uncomfortable they would be to a male's weakest spot.
"See anything you like?" the lion flicked his tufted tail, teasing her with an easy catch.
Anyra wasn't tempted so easily. She brushed her head along a hind paw. She liked the way his pads smelled, the way each toe slid along her head, with just the slight amount of resistance put by the male's claw tips. "Your mane never managed to impress. I should call you patches," she placed her forepaw on one of the golden clumps growing around the male's neck. "That's a fitting name for this collar, don't you think?"
"Clever. And I shall call you..." the male turned his eyes towards the sky, seemingly lost in thought...
Until his front paws dragged Anyra against him.
"Fluff cub!" he drawled out as he nuzzled into her neck. "You're still a young little kitten with soft fluffy fur."
"Graaarrr, I'll show you kitten," the lioness pushed the ground with all she had. She knew her friend better than her father. He never unsheathed his claws against her, and without the proper means to hold, Anyra threw herself out of his grip and pounced him properly this time. She immediately went for the neck, only she forgot the reach of his paws. Anyra took one of his hinds in the belly. She expected more, yet the blow was soft and weak compared to the pressure she applied around his throat. Her teeth easily pierced through the male's young mane, allowing her to end the fight before it even started.
"That was more boring than your colors," the male drawled as he allowed her tongue to moisten his neck. Anyra liked the way he purred. Even in defeat he extracted an unreasonable amount of enjoyment.
"I won, didn't I?"
"With the same move you've done ever since we met. Try something else next time."
"Like melting you with my intense gaze?" the lioness pressed her nose against the male's, getting a quick lick from the soft tip of his tongue.
"I don't mind your whiskers either."
Anyra buried his muzzle under one of her paws. "Don't even think about that. Last time you pulled my whiskers, I...I went for your ears, and...stop that!"
The lion slid his tongue through her soggy toes, causing a warm shiver to course along her spine. Anyra lifted her paw just slightly to allow him better access, watching his barbed tongue as it slid along her pads like the forgotten moisture of her swamp.
"You have sensitive paws," the male observed as he continued licking her a few more times.
"I take them from my father," the lioness waited for him to finish, then turned around, presenting her friend with one of her hinds while her own tongue sought the mottled pads of the lion.
"Is he ticklish too?"
"No. Maybe. I don't know, exactly," Anyra grabbed one. She rounded the warm pads, savoring the earthly smells they bore, enjoying how soft they felt along her barbed tongue.
"You never licked your father's paws?"
"You do?"
"I do many things with my father. Some...less usual than you might expect."
"Like?"
Veranor grabbed her paw inside his maw. Anyra did the same. She enjoyed tasting her friend's claws. The tips were quite sharper than his fur, which turned into a spiky mess once both lions finished their ministrations. Anyra dropped on top of him, a soft growl leaving his throat along with an onrush of moistened air.
"A-Anyra...that's..."
"What? Too warm for you?"
"Close..." the male's lips trembled over his snowy fangs. "Too close."
"What if I like it close?" her tongue played along his nose, going between his ears before returning upon the same path. "I like the way you grab me. Your paws are soft, your warmth so enticing..."
Veranor kicked his hind legs. That didn't help against a stubborn lioness. Anyra still held on like a boulder, teasing him with lick after lick until the male rolled on his side. She didn't have to look to know what troubled him. Not when the scents already provided the answer.
"Why are you so silly about this? We were just cuddling," the lioness said playfully.
"It felt a bit more than that to me. We should do something else, like...like..." the male bowed his head with a soft growl. "I don't know. You pick something."
"Staring at our genders? Playing with them? Mating?" Anyra antagonized the poor male with unwanted licks.
"Stop. Stop it."
She looked into his amber eyes. "I've seen how it looks. Not like you ever made an effort to conceal it."
"Anyra...stop. I'm asking you nicely."
"My father is the same, you know. Well, not the same. He is quite bigger than you in every aspect. One time I caught him-"
She didn't have the chance to finish with Veranor's paw slamming her in the dirt. She snarled, he growled, and both lions engaged in a short paw slapping fight before stumbling onto their fours.
"I'll smack it. You know I will."
"You can try," the male growled back at her.
Anyra waited for him to charge, her slender constitution slightly better matched against the male's larger bulk. She managed to avoid him twice before one of his slaps took her in the nose. Anyra tried to regain her senses, but even her instincts couldn't protect her against the heavy mass of fur and flesh that overwhelmed her. Veranor latched a paw around her neck, and, using his greater weight, he managed to wrestle her down, and Anyra could do nothing to oppose that. One of her paws slipped, and she collapsed with a growly male standing on top of her.
"Down. I win."
"You don't win until you bite," Anyra launched herself at his neck, only to be slapped back by one heavy paw.
"Graarrr...I demand..." she spat his paw out so she could look into his glimmering eyes. "I demand another contest."
"And lose again? I don't want to have my paws bitten."
"No. They shall sting with fatigue after I best you in a trial of endurance."
"Now?" the male tilted his head in disbelief. "You want us to run now, when the sun burns the brightest?"
"Now," Anyra said.
Veranor knew he had no way out. He lazily allowed the female to rise on her fours, then complied with her request by following at her side until froth gathered around their lips. He never intended to win this one, and though her chest burned and her paws stung from the extended running, Anyra felt much better than him.
"I win..." she collapsed on the ground at the same time as her friend. Veranor rolled on his back, exposing his belly to the sky, breathing in copious amounts of dry, arid air.
"Never...put me through this...again. I hate the heat. Hate...how rough the ground feels on my..."
"Breathe."
He did, three times before he opened his maw again. "I'll follow you anywhere. Just...don't make me run again. Not during midday."
Stupid male. He didn't have to push himself so hard, but here he was, exhausting himself just to please her. She was impressed, humbled, grateful to have him here, with her.
Anyra crawled towards him. She wanted to smell his scent. To feel the warmth leaving his body. So she placed her head on top of his chest, then waited as her breath slowly returned to her as the male's paws kneaded into her fur in a most enticing way.
Once they were rested, the lions walked towards the closest oasis. Water was a necessity after an extended run, yet Anyra couldn't just pass an opportunity to flaunt her skills. She waited for her male to finish drinking, then leaped into the shady oasis, splashing him with dozens of hefty droplets.
"Grarr, what are you doing now?"
"Relaxing," Anyra paddled through the lukewarm water. "Join me, and I vow to keep you afloat from the dangers of this pond."
"Not even my own father is so cruel as to force me into that pit," the male backed away, staring fearfully at the water's surface.
"It's a lake, Veranor. You drank from it. What, did the water stick in your throat?"
"You're being unreasonable. Hunt whatever frogs you want. I'll wait for you on the bank."
It was no fun swimming all by herself. Anyra circled the small oasis a few times to cool herself down, then joined her friend, purposefully rubbing her wet fur against his much to the male's snarly displeasure.
"Don't be so closed to my ideas. This is one skill that may save your life one day."
"How? What good is there in walking through water?"
"Well..." Anyra pushed her wet muzzle into his ear, slowly licking around its twitching outline. "If a group of rival males chases you down..."
"That will never happen," Veranor laid his head on the ground.
"Let's say it will," she continued along his neck, pleased with the soft rumble reverberating within his throat. "They're stronger. Numerous. Your only choice is to go in the only place they wouldn't."
"Grarrhhhh...but...but what if they're swamp lions, like you?"
"No chance," Anyra passed along his side, approaching the male's tensing flanks. "There's only a few of us, and many of you...'
Poor Veranor tensed like a herd of angry buffalos stood before him. His claw tips pressed into the ground, his tail as stiff as his form. Anyra kept licking. She rolled her tongue around his haunch a few times, then climbed above the base of his tail to stir the shivers running underneath the male's increasingly damp fur.
"Enough!" Veranor stumbled onto his fours, half of his malehood already poking through his tawny sheath.
"Good that you're up!" Anyra strode towards the oasis. "We'll start with a paw first. Push it through the water, and, if it doesn't bite, you can walk right in."
The male advanced as if his life was in peril. He lifted one forepaw, dabbed at the water a couple of times...
And when he lifted it again, Anyra pushed her whole weight against him, sending the startled lion face-first into the lake. It was amusing, almost painful to see him slap the water without any kind of precision.
"Hold still! Breathe through your-"
He tried, but he was clumsier than a crippled cub.
Anyra leaped after him. That poor fool was going to leave her alone before his time. She dived as deep as she could, allowing his frantic paws the support they needed to push him out of the water.
Veranor shook himself not one or twice, but three times, panting with fright, his pupils wider than they'd ever been. He even trembled. Anyra licked his dripping muzzle, rubbing against him, keeping him as warm as she could.
"That was so stupid of me. Lay down. Let me warm you up."
"The- the water. It's..."
"You're out. There's no water. Just ground, see?" she gently guided her male onto his belly. "Lay down. Focus on me. I'm here, not the water. It's gone. All of it."
The male blinked. He was still distracted, still afraid. Anyra pressed herself against his chest. She licked around his head, then pushed her nose into his neck, breathing three warm gusts before doing the same all over again.
Slowly, Veranor's breath steadied, and she let out a long growl of relief.
"I definitely deserve to be punished for that."
"Anyra..."
"No," the lioness rolled on her back, looking at him expectantly. "I went against my better judgment. Forced you into the water against your will. Please...tell me how wrong I was. Bite...bite on my paws. Just...don't hold it in. Father always told me anger is a poison. It withers you, little by little, until there is nothing left..."
The male came over to her. His warm breath washed over the lioness' moistened paws, then approached her nose, slowly, until a long growl of utter fulfillment trembled in the female's throat. Veranor not only forgave her. He licked her as lovingly as her father, his calming tongue traveling between her closing eyes.
Anyra's limbs trembled. Warm shivers rushed along her body in rhythm with her male's licks. He lingered on her head for a bit, then descended along her neck, passing each of her four paws before settling on her belly, going lower, and lower, and lower...closer to a place he rarely cared to inspect. Anyra's toes spread as a sliver of his warm breath fell upon her bare lips. She tensed, for she never expected her gender to feel so weak as it did now. A strange heat burned within her nethers. She...wanted her lion to approach. Wanted to feel his caring tongue upon a part of her that had barely been touched before.
But he only took in her scent. Two sniffs. That was all he dared before he pushed his head back to expose his fangs as all felines did when they smelled something of particular importance.
Anyra rolled on her fours. She rubbed around him twice, licked him, nuzzled him. And when Veranor grew accustomed to her presence, she insistently pushed him towards the ground, until he exposed himself fully to her desires.
It was her turn to lick now, so she bathed her dearest male from the top of his nose all the way to his gender. The smells had never been so enticing to her nostrils before. His musk was stirred by his recent bath, and Anyra could hardly help herself. She approached his wet sack, sniffed three times, then snarled as the male's scent dug deep into her nostrils, feeding her instincts with everything they needed. A young male in his prime, apt to breed just waited for the proper touch to fulfill his greatest purpose. She wanted to lick him. Do things to him she never thought before. It was wrong. Something deep inside her warned her of this dangerous choice.
But Anyra just couldn't help herself this time. Her wet tongue poked through her fangs, then slowly met an equally pink surface that throbbed under her touch.
Veranor growled, but she didn't care about any of that. She lapped at the wet tip of his member, drawing in his tastes once, twice, trice before the strength of his scent overwhelmed her instincts.
"Rawwrrhhhh," Anyra buried her nose into a paw, licking and kneading to rub the overwhelming scent off her nose.
When she opened her eyes, Veranor stood next to her, calmly pushing his head under her neck.
"I'm sorry...I...I don't know what came over me," Anyra struggled to reach his ear.
"You managed to stop."
"It was hard. Too hard. And I don't even know why."
"You do," the male licked her neck with long, loving strokes. "Every creature needs a mate, and we are both approaching that part in our lives when we crave the company of another. Anyra..."
"Don't," the lioness nudged him. "Don't stop... I like how it feels. So warm...so-"
"Be my mate."
A lump formed in her throat. "What?"
The male stared back, honesty and affection brewing inside his amber eyes. "I care about you deeply. We hunted together, played, slept together. I want us to keep doing these things. And when the time comes..."
"You want to mate," Anyra said as her tail flicked with a strange combination of excitement and fear.
"I was thinking about inviting you in my pride, but we can also mate. Later," the lion licked his muzzle apprehensively. "I don't want to...cubs, They're very cute. Fluffy. I want to have them with you, but mating is not...it's very..." he shook his head, then tried again "Mating is complicated. It changes things. Right now, I want you just the way you are, young, playful, and innocent."
"I almost killed you..." Anyra said, barely resisting the urge to nip one of his whiskers. Remind him of the choice he was making.
"You changed your mind. What matters is that we are together. Will be. I really want you to come with me because we also have a slight issue with our pride. You see...my pride has a severe lack of females. My father mated only once during the past two years, and my mother only gave me brothers. We need females if we are to expand our legacy. I need you. Will you be the mate I need? The lioness I want to spend the rest of my life with?"
It was a heavy question...but that bastard made it hard to say no with his constant licks and playful gestures. Anyra couldn't find it in her heart to refuse him. Not when she felt the same about him. Veranor was the best lion she met. He was warm, kind, and sillier than any male had the right to be, which made him very desirable.
After a hefty amount of licks, Anyra gave her answer. She was going to remain by his side. Now she only had to find a way to tell her father about this life changing decision.
She departed at sunset, as hard as it was to leave Veranor's embrace. After so many hours spent with his scent around her, Anyra barely had the strength to turn her back on him.
"Go."
"You first," the male stubbornly held his ground.
"You really want to see what's under my tail, don't you?"
"Among other things."
A wicked thought crossed her mind, and she turned around, lifting her tail, inviting Veranor to take a closer look.
Instead, he was the one who sprayed first. Spicy particles washed over her back, and Anyra couldn't help but growl her displeasure.
"I win!"
"Should have left you into the water, you stupid, stupid male..."
"Until next time, my mate!" Veranor said as he departed.
Anyra quickened her pace. How could he have the same though as her? How? His scent was all over her now, more bitter than it had ever been. She couldn't just return to the oasis and face him again without ruffling his fur, so the lioness kept on her path, walking under the sun's fiery gaze as her mate's smell accompanied her with every step she took.
** ***End of Chapter 1*****
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