FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The weekend had basically ended, once Thanatos and Bellany had left. Lexi had spent the entire day, amid the constant fighting, convincing Alisa that it was stupid to continue this little war between themselves. So, after they had moved all of the furniture back to where it belonged, and somewhat cooled down, they made themselves some lunch of mostly meat. Their afternoon quieted down, and, though they were still dressed to fight, they felt calm enough to engage in conversation.

â€So, Lexi.†Alisa began, the way she began all of her uncomfortable conversations. â€Bellany?â€

â€Yeah …†Lexi said, now in a happy place, between bites of meaty-goodness.

â€So, she and you are?†Alisa began.

â€I sincerely hope so.†Lexi said, suddenly meek.

â€Does she … um … know?â€

â€I don’t know. I told her last night that boundaries would no longer be a problem for me, but I think she didn’t pick up on the subtleties. Although, to her defense, she was a bit … flustered.â€

â€I’m happy for you. Also surprised at you.â€

â€I would not have believed that I would have â€" would have â€" would have â€" fallen for a girl so quickly and easily, either.†Lexi stuttered.

â€I always figured you for a straight girl through and through.†Alisa teased.

â€Yeah. Love and fools and whatnot.†Lexi said simply, as if the old adage would be sufficient. It appeared to be, as Alisa threw no more questions at her for the time being, and they ate in silence.

Bellany was no longer nervous around Thanatos. It was something about shopping for brand name underwear together, and giggling quietly that they both were wearing the same panties. The silky-feeling white number, with the black baroque patterns that Bellany borrowed from Lexi earlier this morning, were the same ones wrapped tightly around Thanatos’s admittedly alluring package. Especially since the white panties were all but invisible on his white coat, save for the black patterns winding about.

They passed, several times while they were meandering about, apparently getting Bellany a complete second wardrobe especially for hanging out with the little group that she had been sucked in to, people who obviously knew Thanatos as male Thanatos and female Thanatos. Thinking that, Bellany could not help but wonder what, exactly, his girl name was. It was the only thing that came to her mind.

They had finally finished their little adventure, both holding twenty ounce coffees and talking offhandedly. There were several large bags in Thanatos’s trunk, none of which Bellany would have been able to afford had Thanatos not refused to let her pay for anything. There was a hot taste of chocolate and dark roast in her mouth as Thanatos brought up her and Lexi’s relationship without Bellany’s even realizing it.

â€So,†he began, the way he began all things uncomfortable. â€Lexi’s pretty enamored with you.â€

â€Yeah …†Bellany said, in an entirely happier place.

â€Do you think that it’s … it’s …?†Thanatos stuttered to a stop, at a loss for words as a very, very rare occasion.

â€It’s what?†Bellany asked, wondering if she really was the only one left out of the loop here.

â€It’s more than just enamoring?†Thanatos said, deciding that would be his best angle of attack, if not as subtle as he would have hoped.

â€I don’t know. I â€" is that â€" true? Is that viable?†Bellany asked, now wondering if they were on the same train of thought.

â€Don’t think I’m getting ahead of anything, Bellany, but love is viable no matter with whom you’re in love.†Thanatos was biting his lip to see where this development would go. â€It’s just that my heterosexuality is a coincidence, because Alisa and I have been married for about twelve years. Figuratively, of course. What little you’ve heard of Lucien and his boyfriend, was an override of one’s natural instinct for the sake of the other’s, and an extension of gender dysphoria, and maybe a little bit of sexual attraction, of the aforementioned other.â€

â€I â€" what’s that supposed to mean?†Bellany asked, no accusation, just curiosity as to what, exactly, everyone thought their relationship was.

â€It’s â€" what do you think it means?â€

â€I think everyone thinks that we’re, um, together?â€

â€What do you think you and Lexi are?†Thanatos questioned. The same chocolate and dark roast in his hand.

â€I â€" I â€" I dunno.†Bellany squeaked. â€I just thought that Lexi really cared about me, and â€" and really wanted me to be safe â€" er, comfortable â€" er, er …â€

â€I see.†Thanatos said, smiling at Bellany’s innocence. â€Lexi is really kind like that. But, I don’t think her motives are a hundred percent chaste.â€

â€She wouldn’t try to â€" !â€

â€No. She wouldn’t. She will, however, bide her time until we all are at a party I may or may not throw every three or four months, and see how well you handle your probably-first experience with alcohol. Then, she will kiss you and kiss you and kiss you, becoming more and more not-friendly with her kiss and more and more passionate. After a while, she’ll guide you inside, if we’re outside, or somewhere private, if we’re inside, and she’ll hold you, and tell you things that only she herself is at liberty to say to you.

â€She’ll slide her hand down your pants, or your skirt, or bathing suit, and she’ll seal all protest with a delicate kiss and that will be that.†Thanatos said dramatically.

â€I â€" no.†Bellany squeaked. â€She doesn’t feel â€" I â€" no.â€

â€You two should really talk, Bellany. Because the way her yellow eyes light up when she looks into your pretty gray ones is by no means just a friendly gaze.â€

â€Oh.†Bellany said with a sudden lack of eagerness to talk about this. â€I â€" I dunno what to say.â€

â€What’s there to say?†Thanatos asked. â€It’s as simple as asking yourself if you have feelings for Lexi. If you think you like her, then you should simply walk in the front door and grab her up and kiss her until her lips are chapped and sore. If you don’t, you should tell her that you don’t feel the same way. You should tell her that you love her, but that you don’t love her like that, and that you’re sorry.â€

â€I â€" that seems kind of mean.†Bellany murmured, not sure if she wanted to tell Lexi she loved her, but one hundred percent sure that she did not want to tell her that she did not love her.

â€It would be easier now than sometime down the road, when Lexi thinks you love her back, to find out that you were just trying to find out how to tell her ‘no’.â€

â€I â€" okay.†Bellany said. Going immediately silent and trying to figure out what, exactly she felt with Lexi. Safe; the first thing to come to mind. Happy. Confident. Loved. Cared for. Every positive emotion she had ever felt came immediately to mind. Every positive emotion she had ever felt, she felt a hundredfold when she was near Lexi.

This was not a decision she could make without being near Lexi. She would not be able to know her feelings for Lexi, unless she was able to feel every sensation that came with proximity to the wonderful leopardess. At this point, Bellany came a bit out of her thoughts, staring out her side window and watching increasingly familiar landmarks flash by. She saw the exact spot where she had met Lexi by accident.

She saw the spot where she had bumped headlong into Lexi’s chest, because she was too blinded by tears. She traced the path they took to the park. The slow, casual steps they had taken, followed by the frantic attempt at escape on Bellany’s part. She saw the spot where she had broken down and cried for Lexi for the first time.

She saw that spot only, even after they had passed it. She traced the path with a small part of her mind, while most of her processing power was devoted to remembering their first meeting. Safe. It was the first thing she had felt when Lexi’s arms wrapped around her to comfort her. Safe. It was the only thing she had felt when Lexi was near her that night. She was nervous in the strange house, until she felt the reassuring plushness of Lexi’s fur brushed against the inside of her long ears. She was nervous in the strange shower, until Lexi’s head popped in and asked her a stupid, meaningless question.

She felt safe, even when she felt Lexi’s lusty eyes staring through her slit. She blushed as she remembered that. She really should have realized what was going on. There was absolutely nothing in her mind that made her think, for real, that she was sleeping with a gay girl. She put that thought out of her mind, and replayed as much of her first night as she could, before they arrived at Lexi’s home.

She sat, deep in thought for several more moments, until Thanatos opened her door politely, and, seeing her not moving to exit the car, spoke up quietly. â€Hey, dear. Everyone loves roadsters, but, I think there are better things to do inside, than there are to do out here.â€

That snapped her right out of it. â€I â€" sorry. I was thinking.â€

Thanatos giggled, and smirked. â€Lucien and his boyfriend are incredibly lucky you’ve never met, else you would have really gummed up the works in their dating. He would have fallen so hard over you he would have broken his teeth.â€

Bellany smiled, blushing. Not really sure what Thanatos had just said, and not blushing at the compliment. She stepped out of the car, and with Thanatos’s help, carried in the dozen-ish big bags, with several smaller bags of more intimate things. All in all, there were more than twenty bags of clothing and accessories that Bellany did not remember actually picking out. For that matter, she did not seem to remember telling Thanatos her size. She put the thought out of her mind, as she opened the door for Thanatos’s laden arms. When they entered the living room, Thanatos separated the bags into each of their respective purchases. It turned out that she had not really accumulated too much clothing over the course of four hours.

She heard two pairs of quiet footsteps on the carpet, and when Lexi walked in, Bellany steeled herself to speak. She watched, half numb, as Lexi came close. â€Lexi I â€" †Bellany began, before being abruptly cut off.

There were warm lips pressed against her own, and she felt herself being pressed back against the wall. Lexi’s arms were wrapped around her, and Bellany’s hands were down by her sides and very tense. Her eyes were wide with shock. She intoned a quiet grumble that sounded like a coo into Lexi’s lips, and Lexi responded with a coo of her own. Lexi’s eyes closed and she pulled Bellany as close as she could, and kissed her a bit less chastely. This was déjà vu if ever it had existed. If there had been alcohol involved, she would have called Thanatos a sage.

The warm feeling on her lips was poison, Bellany thought, as she felt herself fall into Lexi like she had so many times before. She relaxed slightly, and her eyes drooped almost closed. The grumble turned into a coo that quickly went silent. Oh, how she forgot herself. Oh, how she hated that she was lost in Lexi’s embrace. Why, why did she have to let Thanatos tell her the truth? Why did she have to let him convince her that she was having second thoughts about this whole thing? Why, why, why! She sighed quietly, letting the warm breeze brush Lexi’s cheek.

Bellany’s hands had gone to limp strands of protein and calcium. She wrapped her arms around Lexi’s lower back and leaned her weight close. Oh, now I am just being obscene, Bellany thought nervously. Lexi gripped her closer, and, before she realized what she was doing, brushed her tongue against Bellany’s lips.

Lexi realized what she had been doing, very much in front of her sister and Thanatos, as soon as she felt Bellany go tense again not long after. The kiss ended abruptly, but their lips parted very slowly. Lexi smiled, eyes half-lidded, a hot blush in her ears. â€Mmm,†Lexi murmured innocently, â€coffee.â€

â€Um, hi.†Bellany replied.

â€What were you about to say, before I interrupted you?†Lexi asked suddenly, that attention deficit brought about recently, as a side effect of this territorial fight, Bellany thought.

â€I â€" †I was going to say that I don’t think I love you. Bellany almost said. Now, though, I am not sure about that. That feeling was far beyond something that a friend could muster. Kiss number â€" oh, Bellany was not keeping count â€" and they were just getting better. â€I was going to say I had fun with Thanatos. And that I now have a whole second wardrobe. Also, I missed being here.â€

â€Aww,†Lexi cooed cutely, thanking her with a kiss. Bellany froze a bit less solidly this time.

â€Are you and your sister done with your fighting?†Bellany asked, trying to stop the kissing, in a cruel twist of her indecision.

â€I think we are. If not for good, at least for the afternoon.†Lexi said with a bit of relief. â€Which reminds me, I am going to go put on clothes that are not soiled from my last workout and the last several fights she and I have had.†Lexi said, walking slowly away, dragging her arm along Bellany’s shoulder.

For some reason, Bellany felt uncomfortable now, with two pairs of eyes staring at her, and the girl who, though there may be more to her than Bellany had thought â€" well, not more than she had thought, but more than she had dare hope â€" was her guardian in this place, was gone temporarily.

Lexi reappeared before the silence became terrible, and before anybody had begun to speak. She was in a too-tight black T-shirt, and gray, faded denim. She looked good, Bellany could not help but think. She was rapidly beginning to regret almost telling Lexi she was not in love with her. In fact, she had already struck that from the record in her mind.

Lexi walked into Bellany and wrapped her arms under Bellany’s. Locked in the hug, Lexi leaned in close and buried her nose in her neck. She had missed this warm, earthy smell of nervous bunny. She cooed with a muffled sound into Bellany, and wondered, perhaps too late, how she would play this one off.

Bellany squeaked quietly, resigned to the affection, and absolutely not worried about the teasing repercussions, cursing silently her doubting. Last night â€" last week â€" the last two weeks, the only thing Bellany had been able to think was how much she wanted Lexi to want her back. She cursed herself for worrying about the consequences. She was sad that she could not come to terms with anything. Real, concrete decisions were bad enough, but now, this nebulous â€" this abstract â€" idea of love, which most people cannot figure out as it is, this was torture.

Bellany quivered a bit, letting her thoughts get the best of her. She squeaked when Lexi wrapped her arm lazily around her, and rested her head against her shoulder. â€I like the outfit.†Bellany murmured, trying to find the part of herself that had been so eager to have affection from Lexi just this morning.

â€Thanks.†Lexi replied, blushing bashfully, â€I wear this all the time.†She said, trying to play off the comment that wreaked havoc with her confidence.

The quiet, nervous whispering ended when Bellany let out a quiet yawn. She never really had been one for shopping. â€Tired?†Lexi asked.

â€I â€" yeah, a bit. It’s strenuous, having to share a changing stall with a boy who is apparently physically attracted to you, and who is very, very much nice to look at.â€

Lexi shot Bellany a wanton smirk, and managed to refrain from kissing her. â€That sounds awesome.†She joked before continuing, â€if you want, you can go and take a nap?†She whispered lovingly.

â€I â€" â€she started, â€yeah, I wouldn’t mind.†Bellany said, thinking of all the things that would potentially happen when she touched her head to the bed. She scuttled off, to the searingly curious gaze of Thanatos and Alisa, while Lexi tried to keep herself from blushing.

â€What?†Lexi squeaked a bit more obviously than she had hoped.

â€That was … familiar of you,†Alisa blurted. While Thanatos simply sat in his blissful state of smugness.

â€I â€" †Lexi started, and stopped, wondering what she had to explain to her Alisa. â€Yes?â€

Alisa, taken aback by the simple answer, literally saying, ‘Jealous?’ to her face. â€Bellany seemed a bit uncomfortable …. †She suggested.

â€I would imagine that she is yet to come to terms with the whole gay thing?†Lexi defended, already having a bad feeling about this.

Bellany heard the opening argument before she had made it down the hall, and wondered if Alisa always talked about people before they were out of earshot, or if that was a product of this dominance thing. She decided she could break the rules once, and slid into bed fully clothed, sans shoes. She slid the sheet up over herself, and found sleep elusive. Bellany decided she would go for it when Lexi came in, consequences be damned, and future be damned as well. She shed her skirt, and unbuttoned her shirt, having a short argument with herself whether it was sexier to leave the shirt open, or just shed it.

Sliding the silky black fabric off her shoulders, leaving it crumpled on the side of the bed near the door, Bellany smoothed her fur with a hand, and wondered if Lexi would prefer the socks on. She decided that, in this, her own preference would take precedent, so the white thigh highs stayed. She slid the sheet down until it covered one breast and, feeling the chill in the room, brought the red and gray and black duvet to the same revealing position. After this act of needless seduction, Bellany again found her fatigue, and drifted into a slumber filled with semi-lucid dreams.

â€Well,†Thanatos started, falling a bit out of his smugness. â€I think she’s been having a lot of second thoughts about this whole thing.†He said innocently, trying to put all the blame off of himself.

â€Oh?†Lexi cooed, hiding a fire in her eyes that smoldered out in her voice. â€Yes?â€

â€Ah … we got to talking, while we were out, and she voiced a certain amount of, um, trepidation about her newfound homosexuality and her newfound girlfriend.â€

â€And you certainly didn’t have anything to do with that.†Lexi acidly affirmed an unasked question.

â€Ah, not much. No.†He defended, far, far too weakly.

â€I sincerely hope that you do not think there will be no repercussions from this, Thanatos.†Lexi mewled, somewhere between fighting hot, and crying.

â€No, I’m pretty familiar with this kind of thing. Remember when Alisa and I â€" †Thanatos began, cut off by a glare.

â€They were kissing when you found them. Bellany and I are only on those terms because she appeared at my window on the brink of â€" fuck if I know â€" probably blowing her stupid little bunny brains out, and she mistook sex for love. I don’t â€" and I, again, sincerely hope that you don’t either â€" think those are quite the same circumstances.†Lexi said, going from frantic to desperate in mere moments.

â€If it was not me, it would be somebody, or something.†Thanatos murmured in apology. â€I’m sorry, though, that it happened under such circumstances.â€

â€It’s fine.†Lexi said, keeping her voice steady, before trotting off into the kitchen. There was really nowhere else to go. The bedroom was probably the closest thing to a minefield Lexi would ever want to walk into, the living room was obviously occupied by Thanatos and Alisa, and the bathrooms, closets, and sundry nooks and crannies were unsuitable for brooding without appearing sulky. She sat at the kitchen table, and, head propped upon furred arms, stared half out the window and half at her suddenly very small, very insignificant reflection.

There is nothing I would ever do to harm Bellany …. Lexi thought, somewhere between reverie and torpor and consciousness. But, I am the worst person in the world to try express my feelings with chastity. I am too grown up for my own damned good. She huffed, thinking this whole courtship would be much better suited if they both were on the same unenlightened, blissfully ignorant level. I can’t just say, ‘I love you’, I have to show it. I have to prove it with my actions. That is how things are supposed to be! Actions speak volumes and words speak nothing.

Her rational side kicked in hard, and, amidst the giant cloud of thick black mental smoke of grinding gears, she thought, You just told Thanatos that sex and affection are different entities. Why, then, do you insist on showing your care with carnality?

She was getting into this argument, now, emotions were firing up their guns, and posting their defense. Because our basest feelings revolve around pleasure and pain. I just want people I love to associate me with pleasure.

_Well then, go into that living room and do to Thanatos what you have wanted to do to Bellany for almost a month, and do to Alisa what she thought you were doing to Bellany this morning!

It’s … different …. She heard her inner voice squeak quietly.

Oh?_

There are different kinds of love. She added, climbing up from the nonexistent mud and mounting her guns again. I do other stupid things to Thanatos and Alisa. I always offer sex to him, and Alisa and I have more than our fair share of familial groping. Does that not count? Does physicality have to be sexuality?

Only in the eyes of one leopardess. Logic whispered, finger on the button, fictional world on the brink. A white explosion against which there was no argument wiped away the fields and cities and strongholds of emotion.

I cannot just change everything in the span of a lazy weekend afternoon nap. Emotion’s refugees cried out to the uncaring logic.

No, but it is something to work on. Said the hard sole of Logic’s combat boot.

Lexi shook her head free of the smoke of her little war. Things just seemed so much more productive when armed with fictitious nuclear warheads and giant robots. She did not move, and wondered what the implications of not being an overly touchy girl were. She liked being touchy. It was fun. Especially among her little clique, all of the long, thick, soft fur, and, as for Thanatos and recently Bellany, the short, thick, soft fur. This whole argument that she lost to logic was putting her in an altogether pouty mood. Fuck logic, she thought, it would not be the first time I have ignored it. Like, for example, chasing Bellany into the park, she cited, as her crowning example of why not to listen to her own reasoning.

She went outside for a short walk, and tried more to clear her head, not expecting to make much more progress on this whole situation until she was in Bellany’s arms talking very seriously about this whole thing. Lexi was convinced of one thing, at least; she would not lose Bellany. She would end up kissing her forever, even if it took the same twelve years it took Thanatos and Alisa. Though, if she was perfectly honest with plausibility, it would be somewhere around three months, when Thanatos had everyone over to celebrate the equinox with mulled wine and an entire roast adolescent pig. She would just kiss Bellany goodnight, and not stop kissing her until the good night was a great night.

She kept her vision focused on the sidewalk in front of her, though she was unsure if her mind would register anything she would see until it, like Bellany, ran into her. Lexi tried to keep herself from falling into fantasies about what a wonderful winter night it will be, if only she could play her cards well enough not to lose Bellany. She would prefer, however, to play her cards so well that she would have no reason to wait until Bellany was drunk. After thinking that, she cleared her mind completely, and focused all of her attention on nothing.

Step, step, step, step, was the inadvertent metronome to her meditation. It provided a nice way to keep herself from thinking. If nothing else, it was a wonderful, if hot, afternoon. She slowed down, uncomfortable. She sped up, uncomfortable. She went back to her previous pace, and muttered to herself, â€I’m an idiot.â€

Bellany was trying to decide if she wanted to make her triumphant reappearance, or just relax in bed. Letting her head fall back against the pillow, she wondered where Lexi was, as lucid dreams and half-awake fits of the imagination were significantly less enjoyable than even one second talking to or cuddling with or kissing or staring at Lexi. She finished remembering her first night with Lexi, and had worked her way well into the events leading up to the second meeting, when she blushed, remembering prematurely the feeling she had when Lexi was resting on top of her, speaking such magic that she simply went to putty in her hands.

She wanted that feeling to stay. She wanted that feeling to stay, and to be initiated by Lexi. She wanted to stay so under her thumb that she could get off just to almost-chaste touches and strong words. Thinking that, why was I so shocked to think that Lexi liked me? Bellany thought.

Because you wanted this affection to stay unrequited, so you did not have to worry about any of the repercussions of being in a homosexual relationship. Or in a relationship of any sort. She thought back. She always was amazed when she asked an internal question and received an answer. It is inspiration, not illness, she said to herself with a silent giggle.

Getting back to seriousness, Bellany kept thinking about herself and Lexi. She wanted so much for her to be here now. She wanted to be able to talk things out with her, since this very much affected both of them. It, then, seemed only right that they should come to this together. Also, she wanted Lexi’s warm body to curl up against, as she had been finding herself more and more in need of her presence to sleep the past week, whether it was from habit, or from need for affection, or the need for support from the abuses she had been dealing with at home.

That was another thing she never wanted to lose with Lexi. As soon as she entered her presence, there was a subdued feeling of optimism, as if everything would be okay. She thought herself incredibly stupid for even associating Lexi with that, but could not deny the fact that she had been crying last night, and was now lying in borrowed underwear, with a miniskirt and shirt crumpled on the floor that were tantalizing enough to make Alisa drool for her. She wanted to keep that optimism, no matter what. It had twice kept her from doing something drastic, and it was proving to be invaluable as a boost for her confidence.

She looked dramatically at the door, hoping that would be enough to bring Lexi walking through the door, but, alas, it was not. She pouted a bit, and decided to get dressed and head back out into the living room. She slid the unbuttoned skirt up her legs, wishing Lexi had been there to see them slide off her legs. Bellany pushed each little chrome-looking button through its hole, and opened the bedroom door quietly. Alisa’s door was closed, so she naturally assumed that she and Thanatos were in there having sex.

The living room was quiet as Bellany sat down and flipped on the television. Immediately the room was flooded with the quiet droning of the international news; there had apparently been another assault rifle-fueled rampage in the Southeastern quarter of the country. Ah well, she thought, it was bound to happen again, anyway. Her mind drifted away once the news had made its complete loop of daily stories. The blue background of the newsroom was very soothing, and she quickly fell into a thoughtless reverie.

Bellany jumped when the front door opened, and immediately grew bright-eyed at the sight of Lexi, slightly silhouetted against the slowing sinking sun. â€Hi,†Bellany squeaked eloquently, wanting to add the rest of her little greeting, but found no words.

â€Feeling better?†Lexi asked concernedly.

It her a moment to figure out what she was supposed to be feeling better from. †â€" Yeah.†Bellany murmured, â€yeah, I’m good now, thanks. Have a nice walk?â€

â€Um, not really, but nothing bad.†Lexi answered, wondering if she should be the one to kill the small talk.

â€Lexi,†Bellany said, subdued, â€sit.†She ended simply, leaving no room for argument.

â€Ah, o â€" okay.†Lexi mewed, obviously not going to be the one to get serious.

â€I â€" †she started, but decided to open things with a kiss. She pressed her lips gently to Lexi’s, and put one arm over her shoulder, keeping her close. She broke moments later, leaving Lexi with some mixed signals. What, exactly, was going on here? â€What do you think of me?†Bellany asked directly. For a girl who could barely form a sentence, she was certainly not having trouble now.

â€I â€" I think that you’re a wonderful â€" †She was cut off by a look from Bellany that told Lexi to be serious. â€I really like you.†She murmured, looking anywhere but at Bellany. â€And â€" and I want you to really like me. Because you â€" †Lexi paused, not sure what to say. Bellany did not reply, waiting for Lexi to finish, which led to a very uncomfortable silence.

â€â€˜You’ what?†Bellany finally asked, after at least a minute.

â€You â€"†Lexi tried again, â€every time I look at you, I think how much I care about you, and how happy I am that you’re here, and that, for only a day and a night, or two, or however long you’re here with me, you’re content.†Lexi mewed, finding herself losing her characteristic boldness by the second.

â€That was… roundabout.†Bellany muttered quietly, unsure if Lexi could hear. She spoke up, saying. â€I already knew that … what do you think of me, though?†She said softly into Lexi’s left ear, smiling a little as it flick-flicked from the warm breath tickling the sensitive inside.

â€What do you want me to say?†Lexi practically squeaked.

â€Your feelings.†Bellany shot back with a warm voice.

Blatancy was usually no problem for Lexi. But for some reason, she did not want to tell Bellany how she really felt. For all of the attraction, for all that had already happened, for everything that she and Bellany had already talked about, she knew she would lose Bellany if she said the ‘L-word’. â€I â€" †Lexi started, and faltered, again. â€I think, I think you’re a wonderful girl, and that it would be a grievous error if someone disliked you …. †All of it was true, but she knew she would be unable to skirt the issue much longer.

Bellany had to think of a new way to approach this. She could not, obviously, say, ‘do you love me?’, without getting at least a little bit of a puzzled glance. She sat in silence for a few more moments. Before she decided to just be direct with it.

â€I knew that too,†Bellany murmured. â€So, I will have to just be direct: I,†Bellany paused for effect, â€think,†she paused again, suddenly feeling stupid for pausing. â€I,†another pause. â€L â€" †this time, it was no dramatic pause, the word was stuck. Love, love, love, love! She thought frantically, but all that came out was a quiet squeaky â€L â€" â€.

â€W â€" what?†Lexi asked, disbelief clear in her eyes, that were staring directly at Bellany, who was now looking anywhere except Lexi.

â€I said,†Bellany whispered, for it was all that she could muster. â€I said, I think I … love you ….†She wondered if Lexi heard that. She did not think she would be able to say it again if she, in fact, had not heard.

â€Oh.†Lexi said. â€That’s what I thought you said.â€

The silence was awkward before. Now it was terrible. The air felt heavy, and Bellany felt like the world was spinning. Oh, wait, she felt that way because her vision was just the tiniest bit swimmy. She did not realize that she needed Lexi’s approval this badly. She did not want Lexi to take all of this the wrong way, and call her a freak, despite what had happened between them. It was not her place to know that she had had an orgasm when she had told that silly story of what, exactly, predators do to girls like her. It was not her place to know that she had only stopped by last night, so she could reaffirm that nobody cared about her, before running off, this time for real.

â€Bellany?†Lexi asked, apparently not the first time. â€I â€" I â€" †she tried, failed, and decided to go for a different approach. She pressed her lips to Bellany’s, and, closing her eyes, brought her arms awkwardly around her shoulders. Kiss number seven, and it was holding true that the magic kept growing. She felt a soft pressure from Bellany kissing back. She felt arms wrapping around her shoulders, and smiled as much as she could while still in the kiss.

Moments later, they broke slowly. Lexi tried again, and managed to coo, â€I love you so much.†Into Bellany’s blushing ear. Lexi wanted to keep kissing, but, unfortunately, Bellany extricated herself from Lexi’s embrace, and disengaged her own. She moved back to her little space on the end of the couch, separating them with a distance of no more than an inch.

â€So, um,†Bellany started, â€what does that mean … for … us?†She blushed at her stupidity, and looked anywhere but Lexi’s shining yellowish eyes.

â€I think it means that boundaries aren’t going to be an issue for you, either, Bellany.†Lexi murmured in that same ear, the majority of it laying over her face, until it flicked from the tickling of her breath. Once that mood had been broken, she also said, â€it also means that I get to kiss you whenever I want, and make you cum for me with very graphic snuff stories that involve your distant evolutionary relatives.†She joked.

Bellany somewhat froze at that remark. She knew? Well, now that she thought about it, of course she knew. She spent the rest of that day without underwear on, until they went to bed, when she borrowed a slinky little number from Lexi. She had not seen anything of the pair she had left here, so it was obviously hidden and in the same condition as it was when she dropped them in a soiled heap on the bathroom tiles. Of course she knew, she had been there. She had seen her reactions, from the first little tremors of her thighs to the way she lifted herself and Lexi off the bed when her back arched hard. There was a soft blush creeping up her cheeks from remembering that, and she wondered when she and Lexi would do that again.

Things devolved into a much more comfortable silence, not long after Lexi’s little remark. The news was going back to a kidnapping that had happened early last year, and Bellany could not help but think that they sure were good at reporting missing little girls, but not actual news. Lexi wrapped her arm around Bellany’s back and leaned her head against her shoulder. Bellany heard an almost-silent sigh and felt that arm give a gentle squeeze, putting her in contact with Lexi.

They watched the news for a little while longer, not really paying attention when the loop ran its way through again. There was breaking news of a fire about six hundred miles south, and the police had found another finger bone washed up on the Southern shore. Thanatos and Alisa appeared a few moments after that story ran through, looking a bit flustered and obviously freshly groomed from being freshly unkempt.

Lexi made a quip about it, and Thanatos shot a gleefully satisfied look, while Alisa shot fake-murder. Thanatos asked what everyone wanted for dinner, and when everyone finally stopped saying they were not hungry, decided upon another vegetable stir-fry. The short crossing of paths over, Lexi kissed Bellany’s neck lovingly, and pulled her tighter to herself. Bellany lifted her chin, getting a bit more into it than she had planned. It was not her fault that she was very sensitive to tactile sensation.

She kept enough wits about her to touch Lexi’s forehead when she began to nibble down a bit, settling in the crook of her neck. She kept enough wits about her to stop Lexi from going any further than they already had. Lexi looked up, only blushing a bit at her forwardness. Her eyes showed a simple desire to continue. â€Oops,†she murmured with no contrition, figuratively sitting on her hands. Bellany decided that she somewhat missed the feeling, though she would by no means speak up about that.

Not terribly much later, Thanatos announced that the food was ready. Lexi and Bellany walked into the kitchen, where it appeared they would all, for once, be eating together. They sat down together and Thanatos handed them plates of what appeared to be a very lemony stir-fry. There were little cubes of either yellowfin tuna or very masterfully seasoned tofu, in which Lexi found no end to pleasure. They ate in silence, a silence that was very uncomfortable, especially for Bellany who felt two pairs of eyes trying to look through her.

Bellany finished her meal first, thanking Thanatos for making it, and politely excusing herself from the table, hoping to escape the intense stares. She headed into Lexi’s room, and casually reclined on the bed, waiting for Lexi to finish and appear. She wondered if she should shed the skirt and the shirt and try to be drastic with things, like this afternoon, but decided she wanted Lexi to make that decision.

Not long after Bellany had gotten comfortable, Lexi came in. She shed her shirt and pants, all the while saying with her eyes, you know the rule. Bellany shed her skirt and shirt, again leaving the socks on for her own enjoyment. Lexi crawled into bed beside Bellany and wrapped her arms around her as soon as she had gotten under the covers. She pressed her lips to Bellany’s and already she knew where this was going.

Bellany wrapped her arms around Lexi in the same manner she had arms around herself. She pressed back against Lexi, holding the back of her neck in an uncharacteristically dominant gesture. The hot pressure on her lips was electricity, she could feel a hot tingling on her lips and tongue, and wanted very badly for Lexi to deepen the kiss. The hands on her shoulders were holding her close, and the feline claws digging lightly into her back were fire that Bellany could not live without.

Lexi pressed her tongue against Bellany’s lips, which were promptly opened enough to allow Lexi intrusion. They both coo-groaned into the other’s lips, Lexi slid her leg over Bellany’s, and moved directly on top of her. She moved her hands from her back to her chest, pinning her to the bed, in which Bellany found no end to pleasure. Bellany’s hands slid down Lexi’s back, holding her hips lightly, gripping with distracted fingers that wanted very much to be holding her somewhere unimpeded by those black and pink and purple panties.

Bellany realized how long they had been kissing when her panting was not enough to keep her sufficiently conscious. Lexi noticed Bellany’s little problem not long after, and broke the kiss. She broke the kiss very slowly, holding on to every nanometer of Bellany’s lips for as long as she could. She smirked at the blushing, panting Bellany, and leaned close.

She whispered into Bellany’s blushing ear, â€I love you so, so, so much.†And nibbled her way to the tip of her ear, resting near the middle of her shoulder blade. Bellany squeaked passionately, it was rapidly becoming known to Lexi that she had very sensitive ears. She bit gently up the other side of her ear, and, when she reached Bellany’s, also very sensitive, neck, she licked and kissed her softly.

Bellany had her breath back, and she was sure Lexi knew it. That did not matter at all, Bellany thought, as she felt those warm lips pressed against her tender neck. She squeaked again and arched her back into Lexi’s gently nibbling teeth. Her hands moved quickly from Lexi’s hips to Lexi’s head, rubbing her scalp and ears. And of course pressing her eagerly against herself. She let out a quiet, oh so quiet groan as Lexi closed her mouth on the crook of Bellany’s neck, letting her teeth do a bit less delicate work.

Lexi decided that she had done enough of her teasing for now, and kissed her way back up Bellany’s neck to meet a very eager kiss. Bellany sighed through her nose, closing her eyes as she felt Lexi lick her lips enticingly. She opened her mouth again, and felt that warm, rough tongue rubbing against her own. Lexi’s hands trailed down from her shoulders, and rubbed Bellany’s chest on either side of her breasts, making her arch her back into the kiss.

Lexi broke the kiss soon after her hands trailed down, and followed the same path with her lips. She kissed her way down Bellany’s chest, and hovered over one sensitive nipple. She looked up longingly at Bellany, eyes asking if this was alright. Bellany looked down at Lexi’s hesitation, and realized she was asking permission. Bellany put her hands on the back of Lexi’s head, pulling her slowly back up to her face.

â€I â€" I’m â€" um â€" this is going to sound dumb, and I’m sorry,†Bellany started, â€But I’m really tired, and I want to be able to enjoy it when we … ah … â€

Lexi grinned at Bellany’s sudden meekness. â€I’m glad you said that.†Lexi whispered quietly into her ear. â€I’m fucking exhausted from dealing with Alisa all morning. I want to be able to remember your face when we have sex.†She added, face now very close to Bellany’s asking for the last kiss they would share that night.

Bellany leaned forward and touched her lips to Lexi’s in a very subdued, very satisfied, very happy, tired, and unchaste kiss.

â€I love you.†Lexi murmured when their lips parted.

â€I love you too.†Bellany said back, cuddling up in the crook of Lexi’s neck, arms wrapping around her shoulders. Lexi did the same, leaving them in a tangle of cuddling arms and entwined legs.

Though neither of them admitted it, they were both very flustered and very in the mood. Fuck tired, Lexi thought, I want Bellany to cry my name. She could go without sleep tonight, it would make no difference to her. She could just sleep all day with Bellany, resting satisfied in her arms, until eight or nine when she would have to get Thanatos to drive her home, bleary-eyed and tired, wishing that she did not have school that week so she could spend the whole week with her.

The problem was, she still knew so little about Bellany that she was unsure her sleeping habits, and her ability to fend off sleep. Nothing would be worse than hearing Bellany’s contented coos of pleasure go to contented coos of sleep. She buried her nose in Bellany’s neck, inhaling her intoxicating, obviously aroused scent. She was oh so eager to think of what would happen next weekend, and wondered how far into the foyer she would make it before being undressed and moaning for more.

It did not really matter, Lexi thought, it will still be a six days until I’ve got a chance to really spend the night making Bellany feel as good as she deserved to feel every moment. I may as well stop thinking about it. She squeezed her gently in a hug-within-a-hug, and kissed her neck gently while she fell slowly into slumber, made peaceful by Lexi’s arms wrapped around her. Lexi herself felt fatigue finding its way into her mind, and fell contentedly asleep with Bellany wrapped in her tight embrace. It was going to be a long week.