Sylas

SYLAS

" T he insects are loud tonight," Alex says.

I mumble a reply which isn't words as such, but I can't be responsible for my inability to speak when I have my head in her lap, and she is doing things to the shoulder of my right wing which are causing my brain to shut down with pleasure.

"Especially the one which sounds like a mobile phone ring tone," she adds.

"M-furn?" I attempt to lift an arm and fail.

"It's a way humans contact each other," Alex explains.

I hum in response and let the sounds of the forest wash over me as easily as water.

The one thing this place doesn't have is a bath which I miss more than I thought I would. Instead there is another of the showers . Their only saving grace is I can take my little eregri in with me and wash her thoroughly, enjoying all her little squeaks and moans.

The mere thought of what she might be like if we had a bath makes my cocks hard.

", look!" Alex hisses in my ear.

I open my eyes, and the canopy is filled with bioluminescent lights, some pink, some green, many white.

"What do you think they are?"

"Apro." My voice buzzes with the afterglow of her touch.

"What are they?" I catch sight of her face in the twilight. Her eyes are wide with interest, the lights illuminated in her pupils.

"Tiny mammals, they glow during the mating season."

"Some mating season." Alex laughs softly. "Looks like they're going to be busy tonight."

"Do you want to have a closer look?" I ask, twisting and propping myself up on an elbow.

"Like fly at night?" She looks unsure.

"We could fly, or we could walk. If they're mating, they'll be everywhere."

"Could we?" She clasps her hands together.

"You'll be safe with me. I'm the biggest predator around," I growl.

"Don't I know it." Alex grumbles a bit but gets to her feet.

She was less than impressed by the antrap I brought back earlier today. I wanted some fresh meat rather than the rehydrated stuff we've been eating.

Out on the forest floor, it's much more humid than up at canopy level as we pad together through the trees until we come to a small clearing where the air is filled with the Apro, swirling gently in their mating spirals.

", it's gorgeous." Alex puts her arm around my waist and leans into me.

"I'm not sure I'd use ‘gorgeous' as a description." I chuckle. "Maybe an orgy…"

She looks up at me with a strange expression. "You mean they're…mating…right now?"

"Yes. A lot." I point across to one spiral. "A female takes many mates. They vie for her attentions and compete to be the best in the hope they may gain access to one of her eggs."

The spiral I'm indicating suddenly shoots upwards into the branches above. Alex cries out gently.

"What happened?"

"She got bored." I'm grinning a little to myself. "And decided to give her prospective mates the chance to catch her."

A ripple of desire shakes my body.

"Is that something you'd like me to do, ?" Alex says, her voice cracking. "Run and have you chase me?"

I lean into her, tipping her face up to mine with a single finger.

"I am a predator, you are prey. If you don't run, I will devour you." I force the words past fangs which seem too large for my mouth.

I lean in farther in order to scrape them over the soft, tender flesh of her neck where the artery flows beneath her skin.

"I can smell your blood, little morsel, and I want it. If you wish to stay intact, you will flee from me."

Alex's breath catches in her throat, the perfume of her arousal intoxicating me instantaneously.

And then she is gone. Her footsteps are deadened by the debris on the forest floor but audible nonetheless. Every single inch of me aches to chase, to open my wings and crash after her, making short work of the tasty snack I know will be waiting for me.

But if this is to be any sort of challenge, I have to be patient, like the male apros, circling the myriad of spirals, waiting for their chance to dart in and become part of the frenzy. To claim a female and an egg.

It's only when I hear the howl of the nightbirds, their discordant chorus setting me on fire, do I finally give up any semblance of holding down my feral side.

"I am coming for you, little treat, and when I find you, you had better be ready," I growl out before plunging after her scent.