# Earning His Stripes, Part 3

Author: StGeorgesHorse
Tags: Anthropomorphic, Emotion, FEELINGS, Female, Human, Love, Magic, Otter, Spellsinger, Tigress, Transformation

#4 of The Spellsinger Tales

            The two fell fast asleep an
hour later. She was snuggled against his chest again. He had the presence of
mind to drag his cape across them both before he too collapsed from exhaustion.
He awoke to flower petals in his face, a cramp in his back and an otter on his
chest. She yawned, smiled, and snuggled in closer.
"Morning sugah! Did you
have a good night?" 
"That depends. Are you
asking about after I fell asleep or before?" 
She giggled, a sound he deemed
appropriate in this form, but not so much in a tiger. "Both I suppose. But
then, I rather expect I know the answer to "before", so I guess I
mean after." 
 Jon-Tom yawned, shifting slightly to ease the
knot in his back, but not so much as to dislodge her. "I slept just fine.
It kind of helped that I was worn down to the bone." 
She giggled again. Her nimble
paws found their way to his crotch. "Sugah, right you are. Your bone has
withered away to nothin! Oh wait, nope, I was wrong. Feels like there is a
little life in it yet!"
He protested. "Might the
lady give me the honor of relieving myself before we get started again?" 
She giggled even more.
"You better make it fast honey. This body seems to be in constant need of
attention!"  
He was sure it was, if his
friend Mudge was any indication. Sex was all he seemed to talk about, other
than money, food, stealing, and; well that was about it. His friend was a
bundle of energy, leastwise when it suited him. There was a good chance that he
was going to wish for his friend's never ending sexual appetite before the day
was through.
 He walked over to the trees, answered his
bladder's urgent call, and returned to the otter. She was propped up on her
elbows, watching him walk back. "Dang it, honey, you are way too slow. You
had better pick up the pace or I'm going to end up leaving you
behind."  She giggled again at some personal joke. Her amusement
rippled through her frame from head to tail resulting in her tail remaining
fixed in the air. "Well, come on. This here lady is a waiting. Get a move
on it!"
She continued waggling her tail
high in the air. "Hey Jon-Tom, ya think this here backside is up to your
kind of abuse?" He was a bit taken aback. "How about we start in
front and see what happens."
She sighed. "OK. But ya
got to get there from here!" She was wet and ready, willing and able, and
raring to go. As turned on as he was, he couldn't help but think that this just
wasn't like her. It had to be the effect of these new forms. He for one didn't
want to take advantage of her with her morals compromised. She had no qualms
now about trying new things, or old things in new ways. While that might be a
good thing, it seemed to him that she was going a little overboard. At the
moment she really didn't seem to care.
He positioned himself behind
her, acquiescing to her present need. He slid in, pushing gently. She would
have none of it and pushed back hard. He sank in deep. She grunted with
pleasure and emitting high pitched yips, ground her pelvis down hard. She had
all four limbs securely planted and was rocking back and forth with increasing
speed. With a shrill squeal she climaxed, falling limp on top of his cape. 
Jon-Tom was alarmed by her
behavior. Rather than continue on, he made the decision to pull out and call it
quits. He reluctantly withdrew from her wet dripping hole. She woke up and
turned on him, teeth bared. 
"Oh no you don't."
She shoved him onto his back, perched over his crotch and firmly impaled
herself upon his manhood. As she did, she clawed his chest and yelped at the
same time, all the while pushing forcefully against his groin.
It was only when he felt a
squeeze at the base of his cock that it dawned on him that she had followed
through with her plan. Her sphincter muscles were stretched tight around the bottom
of his shaft and his cock was deep inside her bowels, deeper than he thought
possible. She remained were she was, grinding her hips. He knew that it had to
be uncomfortable for her, but if it was, she wasn't showing it. Instead, she
growled with pleasure. She opened her eyes, looking all dreamy-eyed at him.
"You fit much better this way, Jon-Tom. Before I couldn't get you all
inside." He lay still, allowing her to move as she pleased. He was afraid
that if he engaged with her, something might rip or rupture. In the end, it
turned out that otters are much more
flexible than they appear. The two came together in a writhing entanglement of
bodies. When she collapsed again. Jon-Tom was quick to pull out before she
could come to her senses.
When she did come to, she was
ready to go again. He declined with as much aplomb as he could muster.
"Why don't you switch back for a while? This has been fun, but I think I
miss your old self." 
She pondered that for nearly
three seconds. "Nope. I like this form. It's fun, and fast and agile. And
it likes sex...a lot!" She smiled at him, batting her eyes coquettishly.
 He decided he had better be firm. "I'll
tell you what. You change back for a while and we can do this again
later." She pouted a little but relented. "Fine. I guess I have to be
a tiger again." 
Jon-Tom was quick to agree. He
got his real Roseroar back.
She seemed disoriented for some
time. She stood only to fall. He thought something serious was wrong. She
pushed him away. "You idiot man, can't you see I have to get used to this
body again. Being an otter was a totally different experience. Now I'm me and I
have to adjust."
 She stood only to tilt to one side. She
finally gave up and slid to the ground. "Don't stand there gawking, get
over here and sit with me." 
He complied. She rested her
head on his shoulder. "Ya know sugah, I really liked that body. I think I
understand your friend a little better. Given a chance, I would have sex all
day!" 
He almost hated to ask.
"How about now?" 
She grinned back at him
"What? Haven't you had enough?" 
He let out a deep breath.
"I have had enough to hold me until you're ready to do it again." 
She pursed her lips as best she
was able "Now isn't that a diplomatic answer? Well, if it's all the same
to you, I think that I'll wait a while. Otters don't seem to spend much time
thinking of the consequences of their actions. I had better rest a few of my
more delicate parts." He understood, but instead of remarking on it, stroked
the soft fur on her head. She purred and fell asleep.
When she awoke it was well past
noon. Jon-Tom was hungry, not surprising considering the energy he had expended.
She awoke to the sound of her own stomach growling.  She sat up, working
the kinks out of her arms and legs. Her yawn gave him a close look at her
fearsome teeth. He was glad she and he were on good (or was that great?) terms.

"Howdy sugah. What's to eat?"

"Nothing as of yet. I've
been here with you the entire time. But since you're awake, I'll see what I can
do." The pond was still at hand, but it had been she who had caught the fish
the day before. He still didn't have a pole or a spear. Spear. That gave him an
idea. He had taken a college course on early humans, and one of their
assignments was constructing a spear. The professor had been a stickler, and
not only had they had to make it, they had to use it. His had been for impaling
fish. Maybe, just maybe he could do it again.
He didn't know where to look
for the necessary materials. Just then his map flashed. In quick order he found
a straight branch, some tough thorns and some strong thin vine. With the blade
in his staff he went to work. The tigress sat down to watch him. "Why not
just use the blade?" "Because, it may go into the fish, but there is
nothing to keep it from coming loose. It may not be as efficient as you in
otter form, but it may be safer." 
She sighed. "I wish I was
an otter again." Jon-Tom said nothing. She looked sidelong at him. "I
know sugah, but I'm hungry and it would be the quickest way..." 
"OK, OK. I think you make
a wonderful otter." And there it was again, that brown furred sexual
powerhouse. She looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye. Without a word she
was into the water and off like a torpedo. Six fish later she erupted onto dry
land, the last remaining fish firmly in her teeth. She spit it out and
approached the spell-singer.
"I'm still on the hunt
sugah!" 
It was what he had been afraid
of. Otters seemed to have only a few things on their mind. He had nothing
against another round or perhaps twenty with her
 "Good. I'm ready to be preyed upon, but
only after we eat, and only by my lovely tigress." 
Her nose twitched. Her whiskers
took on a life of their own. She sighed. "Oh all right. But I think I like
doing it in this form better than any other so far." 
"That may be, Roseroar,
but I would rather take a break from otters. To be honest, they tire me
out." 
"Oh, and I can't do that
in tiger form?" 
He answered cautiously.
"Why don't we see? I know one thing for certain; I'll never get tired of
trying!" 
She winked and smiled at him.
"I think it's time to be a tiger again." 
He happily agreed. The old
Roseroar was back once again.
They roasted their fish, ate the
smoky flesh with relish and sat back, enjoying the fire. Jon-Tom heaped on more
wood, sat back and watched the flames dance in the air. They were both silent
for a while, absorbed in their own thoughts. After a prolonged silence, the
tigress spoke up. 
"Jon-Tom, have I been
making a fool of myself?" 
His reply was perhaps too
ready. "No, not at all!" 
She grimaced. "You're just
being nice honey. I know that I was behaving improperly. I have made a disgrace
of myself." She looked crestfallen. 
He slid  over next to her.
He looked her straight in the eyes. "Roseroar, you are a terrific person.
It doesn't matter what you look like, or even how you act in a body you're not
used to. I love you for who you are inside."
She glared at him, eyes wide in
the firelight. "I don't believe you!" she growled.
 He was taken back a bit. "But Roseroar, you've
taught me to look at the who rather than the what. It has been a remarkable
experience being with you. I wouldn't have missed it for the world." 
She stared at him until he
thought she was going to burn holes through his head. "Not that you stupid
idiot. If you enjoyed the sex even half as much as I did, then there had better
be no complaint from you on that point." He had that "I have no idea
what you're talking about" look on his face. She leaned in close, her nose
touching his. "You just said that you loved me." He sat back. She was
right. He did.
"Now sugah, I like you a
lot. I might go so far as to say I love you too, but when it comes down to it,
we are way too different for it to mean much of anything. But if you said it
and you meant it, I would like to know." 
He didn't answer right away,
knowing that their present relationship hung in the balance. When he did, he
was sure of what he felt. "I said what I meant and I meant what I said. I
do love you. You are terrific and if you were a human, I would want to make as
many babies together as we could. And in between times we could keep on
practicing."  
She was still reluctant to
accept his explanation. "I want to believe you, really I do. But love is
not the same as sex. You can have one without the other. If you really love me,
then that changes everything about us." He looked horrified, like she was
going to maul him, or perhaps do something worse.
"Now don't go getting all
upset. If you love me, all you need to do is prove it. Otherwise its just
words." 
He didn't like where this
seemed to be heading. "How am I supposed to do that?" 
She grinned down at him.
"Simple. You unconditionally give your love to me, and I will do the same
to you." 
He relaxed momentarily, until
his brain noted that there was no physical way of doing that. In the end it
would still just be words. He said as much. 
"Sugah, you grew up in a
different land. I assure you that if we do this, there will be no question ever
again in either of our minds as to whether or not we have true feelings for
each other." He didn't know what she had planned and was marginally afraid
that he might have overstepped his emotions. 
"OK Roseroar, what do I
need to do?" 
She motioned to him. "Put your
hand on your chest, and tell me that you love me, and that your love for me is
given freely. And then give it to me."
He was both relieved and
intrigued by her request. But he felt so strongly that he had feelings for her
that he put his hand to his chest and avowed "I hereby state that I love
the tigress Roseroar and that I give my love freely and of my own
volition." His hand started to glow until the light was so intense that it
hurt his eyes. He was afraid that he was on fire, for there was heat in his
hand. He fearfully jerked his hand away from his body. It came away slowly,
like he was pulling on taffy. As he did, the glow clung to his hand, leaving a
trail to his chest. That came to an end and retracted to a globe of light
gathered about the end of his wrist. He felt a little disoriented. "Now
what?"
She was looking at him
intensely. "I Roseroar, do hereby acknowledge from the bottom of my heart
that I am in love with this human." Her big paw raged with a blinding
light. "Now, put your hand on my chest, and I will do the same to you. The
moment the lights touched one another they disappeared. Jon-Tom gasped and
reeled. Roseroar had a better idea of what would happen, but she was still
knocked to her knees. Her eyes lit up as brightly as did her paw the moment
before. She couldn't see it of course. All she could see was his eyes, glowing
like hot coals. To him, her eyes shown like diamonds in sunlight. He sat
stunned, unable to speak. When he finally found words, they were hardly what he
could have hoped for.
 "What the hell just happened?"
"Something that I've heard
of sugah, but that I've never been witness to. They say it only happens in
private, between two true loves. I didn't think the tales were really true, but
I guess they are." 
He cleared his throat.
"You mean you had no idea what would happen?" 
She wrinkled her nose at him,
looking briefly akin to her otter form. "Kinda like yo spell singing,
isn't it?"  Her poke at his abilities was ignored. She continued on.
"I have heard of this, but I sorta figured that if it didn't work, then no
harm done. But I didn't wish to go through the rest of my life wunderin if you
lied to me or not." His protest was halted with a paw across his mouth.
"Don't talk. Feel inside you. Do I love you?" 
He concentrated on his feelings
only to find they weren't there. There were feelings of love, but they had a
fierce, catlike quality. He searched through them and found memories of their
times together, but instead of seeing it from his perspective, he saw it
through her eyes. The love that was there washed over him and nearly drowned
him in emotions.
He was in tears.
So was she. "It's OK
sugah. I'm sorry I doubted you. I thought that maybe you were just patronizing
me and I couldn't go for that at all." She sniffed back tears. "It's
too bad that you're not a tiger. I would be set for the rest of my life!"
But even as she said this, she felt within his emotions another love. While it
dampened her spirits, it did so only marginally. She looked deeper into the
emotions roiling inside her and saw the image of a skinny little human with red
hair. But the image was diffuse and blurry. Then it was gone, eclipsed by the
distinct image of a tigress. She recognized herself but was surprised at the
image. The picture from Jon-Tom's soul showed a princess, draped in robes and
festooned with jewels. The manner of dress was foreign to her (being in the
style of India) but it showed the high esteem he placed upon her. If he only
knew the truth.
She sat there staring at him,
and for his part, he gazed back enthralled. Roseroar was the first to speak.
"Well, we know how we feel about each other. I must say human, you don't
always show it on the outside, but you have very fierce feelings on the
inside.  What you lack is experience and confidence. I think that if you
gain the first, you will have the second. Then beware the magician that crosses
paths with you!"  
He smiled at her appraisal. It
was hard to be confident when others were always knocking you down a notch or
two. For his part, her emotions for him were almost scary. She was extremely
loyal to those she felt deserved it. He understood why she wanted to know if he
really did love her. If he had been lying she would have been devastated. But
he had not. "We seem to have settled this matter rather concretely," he
said. "But what now? Do we keep each other's...whatever it is we
exchanged, or do we somehow go back to normal?"
She had no clue. "Honey, I
have absolutely no idea. The only thing I know right now is that I want to make
love to you right here, right now. No arguments!" 
He wasn't about to give any.
This time there was no kinky stuff, nothing weird. Just two lovers locked in a
sensuous embrace. The mood was relaxed, and the two held each other, joined as
one, for over several hours. There was no flailing, only long slow strokes and
quiet moans. When they finally came they did so together. As one their bodies
lit up. To an outside observer it would have been impossible to look at
directly, but at the same time it illuminated nothing around them. They lay
together for a while, neither one noticing the glow encasing them. Only when
they disengaged did the light subside, diminishing until it was nothing more than
an aura about their bodies.
She laid back, feeling as giddy
as when she was a cub. He lay beside her, bathed in a glorious feeling of
companionship unlike anything he had ever felt before. She laid there in
silence, looking up at the sky. She couldn't help but to delve deep down inside
herself, searching for that faint memory Jon-Tom had of that human girl. She
wasn't out to sabotage their newly affirmed love, but she had enough sense to
know that at some point in time, love or no, they would have to split up. She
wanted to know more about this girl. She wasn't such a fool as to not know that
a being could love more than one at a time. She herself had no one at home, and
while her experience with the spell-singer was extraordinary, no one would
chastise her for her relationship with him. But there would be no cubs between
them. It would take impossibly strong magic indeed for that to happen.
Try though she might, no image
of the girl would appear. It was then that it dawned on her that the images
that were showing up were her very own; her soul, if that's what it was, had
been returned. About the same time Jon-Tom sat up and looked over to her. The
look on his face said that he had come to the same realization. "Are
you...back to normal?" 
She laughed with a roar that
exposed her enormous white teeth. "Honey, just what the hell is normal
anymore?" He declined to answer on the grounds that he sure as hell didn't
know either.
They sorted themselves out and
sat together. Roseroar leaned back against a tree and invited him to sit, much
like a child on an adult's lap. He eased against her, relishing the feel of
soft fur tickling his back. She was initially reluctant to broach the subject
so soon, but then there was never going to be a better time. 
"Jon-Tom, have you ever
met someone that you wanted to be with the rest of your life?" 
He leaned his head back a
little. "I think you already know the answer to that." 
She replied firmly. "I
don't mean me. Before you go squawking about how you love me, I already know
that you do. But this world would soon be unpopulated if different kinds stuck
together and there were no cubs born to replace us as we got old." 
He mulled that over. "I
don't like where this is going. I love you very much and would be happy to have
babies...uhh cubs with you." 
"I know sugah. But that
fact is we can't, which is for the best. Can you imagine what an equally mixed
up mess this world would be in if it was filled with half human/half tigers? Or
any other combination you can think of." 
Jon-Tom was about to protest
but his mind drifted to Mudge. If cubs were viable, there would be half-otter
babies stretching halfway around this planet.
He spoke cautiously, but
honestly. "There was one. She is as independent and fierce of heart as you
are Roseroar. Maybe she was too independent, or proud, or something. I tried to
hit it off with her, but she would have nothing to do with me." 
She nodded knowingly. "She
was short, skinny and had a head topped with red fur?" 
He craned his neck around until
he could see her face. "How do you know that?" 
"Because sugah, when you
gave me your love, you gave me all of it, including that part you had reserved
for her. I'm honored, I really am, but you will need to keep that for yourself.
If you give up on her, you give up on yourself. And that just isn't like you.
Be patient. If she is to be your mate it will happen."
All this talk of red-haired
Talea made him melancholy. He liked the girl, but she had rebuffed him more
than once. Here he was with Roseroar. True, until a short time ago he would
never have had relations with a non-human. She had shown him that what was
important was what was inside.  He wanted to stay with her; fur, teeth,
claws and all. But deep down he knew that if she wanted to be a mother, to have
children and all its benefits, she would need to have someone capable of giving
her that. As a mere human, it was never going to work between them.  He
knew it from the beginning, but selfishly didn't want to spoil their
activities.
 She read his mind. "Honey, now don't go
fretting about our relationship. It' still along way before we get me back home
and therefore a lot of time to experiment. I just wanted us to be clear on
where it was headed, and where it wasn't. And right now, I think the direction
is up!" So saying that, she reached a big paw around and gently rubbed his
cock. It sprang to life at her touch. In no time at all, Jon-Tom found himself
in deep. Literally.
The next day they set off
again. Food was abundant, though for him it was easier. He ate fruit where it
hung down from the trees, or dug out tubers and roasted them in the fire. She
politely declined such edibles. "Sugah, you should know by now I eat meat.
I'll find something, don't you worry."
 She did, in the form of the largest snake he
had seen outside of the riding snakes. She identified it as poisonous.
"But only if it bites you," she added as an afterthought. He was
about to tell her to be careful when with a well place throw, she launched one
of her swords straight between its eyes. When it stopped writhing they
approached it, still cautious. He had no way of measuring, but as he was six
foot tall, and he managed to mark off over three of his body lengths, the
reptile was at least twenty feet long. It had an impressive set of fangs.
Roseroar wasn't going to take any chances. She tied the jaws shut, severed the
head and threw it into a gully. The body was going to be more meat than either
of them could eat in one sitting. "No problem honey. I'll show how to
smoke and dry it. I don't believe in waste."
It was tedious work, stripping
the meat off and lacing it over branches strung between two poles. While they
worked, their more immediate needs were cooking over another fire. The smell
was mouth watering. By the time they finished with the soon to be jerky, their
supper was finished. They sat together eating in silence. Jon-Tom was thinking,
as was his fashion, about how to improve something that didn't need it. He
really did like Talea, but he was leaning away from ever having a relationship
with her. He wanted one with the tigress, but knew it wouldn't be fair to her.
The only way to make it happen was for him to become a tiger. He knew he could
do it with his magic, for look what it had done to her. But he had no way of
knowing how to reproduce something that he had no control over in the first
place. He wanted to broach her about it, but came to the realization that there
was nothing to talk about. The way his magic tended to work might turn him into
a wart hog, or a horse, or a llama. And that wouldn't go over too well.
"Whatcha contemplating
over there spell-singer?" 
He snapped out of his thoughts,
looking slightly embarrassed. Since she had asked, he felt he had to tell.
"To be truthful, I was wondering what it would take for us to have a baby,
err, cub together." 
She looked down at him, her
eyes glowing with compassion, but her words filled with cold logic.
"Nothing. I've told you already that it isn't going to happen. Yes, maybe
magic could do it, somehow, but would it be worth the effort? Sometimes things
just have to happen naturally. Like begets like, as the adage goes. I wish you
would quit dwelling on it and just enjoy what we have. Soon enough I'll be back
in my lands and it will be time for you to return to yours. Or rather, back to
that old shell-shocked wizard I guess."

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/782708

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