A few days passed, and in that time, nothing much happened. Aibek and his siblings continued to patrol, and they caught glimpses of the lions wandering around their camps in their human forms, but that was it. There was tension in the air as they all waited for the other shoe to finally drop.
‘Will there be a confrontation?’ was not the question. The only question was one of ‘when.’ Everyone thought it would happen when they were patrolling. That would make sense, after all. And it seemed like it would be a fairer outcome.
The world, as a general rule, did not care much about ‘sense’ or ‘fairness.’ It was a good lesson to learn, though the methods of learning it were rarely, if ever, pleasant. Aibek had been under the assumption that he had learned that lesson a long time ago, but the world evidently had decided he needed a refresher course. He supposed that went along with the lack of any sort of care for fairness.
He was out hunting, following the track of a wounded goat. How it had been wounded, he wasn’t sure, but learning the cause was secondary to finding the goat and putting it out of its misery if it hadn’t already died on its own.
Aibek learned how it was injured very quickly once he found it. He considered that moment to be about the point where his day began to very rapidly go downhill.
He found it sprawled out in the snow, dead and rapidly cooling, the snow around it red and trampled. A few feet off, a snowmobile waited, a neatly folded stack of clothing sitting on the seat. A lion crouched calmly over the goat’s body, gorging contently until Aibek crept closer.
In that moment, he very much wished the entire mountain didn’t smell like an errant lion. He might have been able to avoid what happened next.
The two of them watched each other for a few moments. It almost seemed placid, save for the agitated twitching of their tails. Beneath the surface, though, their minds both roiled. Given the choice, Aibek would quite contently go fleeing back up the mountain. The lion could keep the goat. There were other things to hunt, and the kitchen was still stocked. If he was lucky, the lion had already been out in the snow for a reasonably long time and was cold enough to want to just walk away. However, Aibek also knew that the odds of him being lucky were incredibly slim.
It was the lion who broke the stalemate, lunging over the goat’s body and throwing himself at Aibek. He cleared the entire space between them in a single heave, crashing into Aibek like a wrecking ball. He sank into the snow as he hit the ground, and it was only because of that sinking that he managed to drag himself out from under the lion’s massive paws. Not willing to risk a showdown, Aibek turned and bolted, only to grind to a halt when teeth wrapped around his tail and heaved him back. Yowling his outrage and his pain, he turned, claws bared, and smacked the lion right across the face. With a growl, the lion released his tail.
They circled each other for a moment, Aibek crouched low to the ground as the lion stood tall. It seemed as if the lion was eight times his size, though he knew that wasn’t the case. The case was that he was in trouble. True, it wouldn’t be long before the lion got too cold and had to retreat, but it also wouldn’t take long for the lion to kill Aibek and be done with it.
This was not a fight he was going to win on his own. He either needed a way to stall until the lion succumbed to the cold, or better yet, a way to get away.
Aibek feinted toward the left before he dropped low to the snow and moved to dodge to the right and bolt into the trees, only for one massive paw to slam right across his face, sending him sprawling into the snow. His ears rang, and for a heartbeat he didn’t move, until the surge of adrenaline got him up and onto his feet again.
So just making a break for it was not going to be an option, then. Good to know.
Aibek shook his head briefly, and the ringing in his ears dimmed until he could think past it. He weaved out of the way as the lion struck at him again, only the tip of his ear getting nicked. Aibek fluffed snow into the lion’s face, and when the lion recoiled, Aibek lunged forward, managing a few good swats around the larger cat’s head before he had to retreat again.
Once again, the pair of them circled each other until Aibek tried to bolt again. The lion pounced, his shoulder slamming into Aibek and sending both of them crashing into the snow in a heap of legs and tails and too much fur. Aibek flailed, keeping his face and neck away from the lion’s snapping jaws, only to yowl out his pain and displeasure when teeth sunk into his front right paw, a massive canine tooth sinking through fur and skin and muscle.
Like a viper, Aibek surged forward, teeth bared and ready, forcing the lion to release his foot and toss himself aside, out of the way of Aibek’s teeth. Both of them tumbled back to their feet; Aibek’s injured paw only barely touching the ground so that there was hardly any weight on it. Though both of them dripped blood, Aibek knew that he was the one with a fight-ending injury, and it would likely end very permanently if he didn’t manage to get away.
He had barely regained his footing before he was being swatted aside again, and the lion was upon him, jaws snapping. Aibek held him at bay with one paw at the lion’s throat, his hind legs kicking relentlessly, claws tearing into fur and muscle. Sheer girth meant the lion had the advantage, though, and it was only a matter of time before Aibek likely lost the limb holding the lion’s face at a slightly safe distance.
There came a snarl from the underbrush, vicious and outraged, and soon it was echoed by a second one. Serik hurled himself out of the brush, crashing into the lion’s ribcage like a wrecking ball, his hackles standing on end from his neck down to the base of his thrashing tail. The lion stumbled aside, giving Aibek just enough space to scramble out of the way.
The lion rounded, one massive paw smashing across Serik’s face and sending him tumbling aside. Before he could advance a step farther, though, Sezim bolted from the tree line, her teeth clamping down on the lion’s ear and dragging his head around, away from Serik. The lion tossed his head ineffectually, succeeding only at shredding his own ear in Sezim’s teeth. He batted at her awkwardly, and while he came close to catching her, he couldn’t quite contort himself into that angle.
Aibek dragged himself back to his feet and lunged, landing on the lion’s back. His claws flexed, digging into muscle to keep his balance. His mouth opened and he struck like a snake, teeth sinking into the back of the lion’s neck. The lion yowled fit to shake the mountain, but Aibek held fast, shaking his head in brief, fitful jerks until his muzzle was coated in blood and matted with hair that had been torn loose, and the lion was grunting distressed, bark-like noises as he thrashed back and forth to dislodge his unwanted passenger. To no avail, though, as Aibek’s stubbornness was a force to be reckoned with.
Serik hopped back to his feet, gave his head a quick shake, and prowled forward again. Eyes darting, the lion finally tore his ear from Sezim’s grip and reared up onto his hind legs until he began to tip over backwards. Aibek jumped aside, landing on three legs in the snow and stumbling aside before the lion could crash down on top of him.
Slowly, the lion hauled himself back to his feet and looked around at the trio of snow leopards circling him like carrion birds. Just as slowly, he began to back away, blood lethargically dripping to the snow with each step.
Aibek and the twins let him go. They watched him back away until he turned and bolted, and then Aibek sat down heavily, panting. Sezim prowled over, bumping her head against his chin and circling around him as she inspected him. Aibek prodded her aside with his muzzle and hauled himself back to his feet, pausing to spit out a mouthful of the lion’s mane before he turn to instead investigate Serik.
He dragged his tongue over Serik’s head, grooming him busily, rather like a fretful, clucking hen. Serik tolerated it for a moment before he swatted Aibek aside.
After that, it just left them with the task of getting back home. It wasn’t actually imperative that they hunt that evening, so they would just do it later. When there were hopefully fewer African wildcats roaming around. When his younger siblings were a bit less likely to get injured on his behalf.
On the whole, it was not one of Aibek’s best days.
Sezim bonked her face against his again before the three of them turned toward home. Considering how long it would likely take to get up the rocky incline on three legs, there was no real sense in dilly-dallying any longer than they had to.
*
In the shower, Amelia could just barely hear the sound of the front door opening and closing, followed by the sounds of multiple voices. She didn’t think much of it. As she had learned over the last few days, everyone spent basically the entire day migrating from one building to another until everyone calmed down for a while in the evening.
Things did seem a bit odd when she emerged from the bathroom to find the kitchen abandoned, and the voices filtering down the hall from the den were fretful.
“I’m fine,” Serik insisted as Amelia wandered into the den. He was sitting on the couch, hastily dressed and barefoot, while Faina carefully threaded her fingers through his hair, as if searching for bumps or cuts.
“You were smacked upside the head by a fully grown lion,” Aibek pointed out sharply. He was dressed only in a pair of pants and an unzipped hoodie, and he was fighting one-handedly with the zipper. One-handedly because his other hand was bleeding at his side, and there was blood trailing down the side of his neck from a torn ear.
Faina pulled out a penlight from the side table and shined it in Serik’s eyes. He tolerated it for about four seconds before he carefully shoved her hand aside. “So did you!” he returned, scowling at Aibek.
Sezim, dressed in pants and a bra and little else, stood between them, her hands wringing together. “I think they’re both fine?” she offered. “I mean, more or less,” she corrected hastily, flapping one hand vaguely in Aibek’s direction as he gave up on the hoodie’s zipper in disgust.
“What did I just walk in on?” Amelia asked, bewildered, as she moved to Aibek’s side and zipped his hoodie for him. He offered her a harried smile that was more just a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“Beka went hunting, and then Serik and I went out to follow him because Anara was bawling us out for letting him go out on his own with so many lions wandering around the mountain, and when we caught up to him, a lion was trying to kill him, and then we all got into a fight,” Sezim explained in a rush before she dragged in a deep breath. “I’m fine. Serik got clobbered across the head—lions have really big paws, did you know that?—and Beka has a hole in his hand, and he’s missing half an ear now.”
“It is not half an ear,” Aibek protested, lifting a hand to probe at it cautiously, only to freeze with his hand halfway there as Faina snapped, “Don’t touch it.”
Faina turned her attention back to Serik, asking a series of questions that seemed inane at first but that Amelia was pretty sure were to help determine if he had a concussion. Aibek turned away, stepping into a pair of shoes and heading for the door. “I will clean up in my room,” he offered, and then he fled before Faina could raise a protest.
No one moved for a moment. Sezim stayed in the middle of the room, fretting silently. Anara stayed frozen by the fireplace, her gaze darting between Serik and where Aibek had been standing. The tension was thick enough that it could have been cut with a knife, and Amelia was sure she was going to start choking on it if no one did something soon.
Finally, Amelia jerked into motion, stepping into her boots and beginning to pull on her mountain of winter gear. She lifted one hand in a wave as she grabbed the doorknob, and then she stepped out onto the porch. As she hopped from the stairs into thigh-deep snow, she was glad she had thought to put her borrowed thermals on when she had gotten out of the shower. Even still, she was glad the clumsy trek to Aibek’s building was short.
She knocked on his door, and when she didn’t get an answer, she simply pushed the door open and stepped inside.
She could hear swearing coming from the bathroom. She couldn’t understand the actual words, since they weren’t in English, but the tone of voice used for swearing was remarkably similar from one language to another. Amelia shed her gear efficiently and made her way to the bathroom, where the smell of rubbing alcohol hit her like a wall as Aibek awkwardly tried to wrap his hand.
Amelia held her hands out expectantly. “Let me.”
For a few seconds, he didn’t move. And then he reluctantly held his hand out to her. Amelia unwound the already unraveling gauze. “You know he’s going to be fine,” she pointed out eventually, as she rewrapped the gauze. “I get you’re worried, but you’re overreacting a bit.”
Aibek scoffed but otherwise didn’t reply.
“You would have died if they hadn’t caught up to you,” Amelia pointed out as she taped the gauze down. “Don’t get me wrong, everyone would rather it have not happened at all, but no one’s unhappy that they got there when they did.”
“I do not need my family getting hurt on my behalf,” Aibek insisted, his words too firm and his voice too sharp. He seemed to realize it, though, his gaze cutting aside to instead focus on a corner of the wall.
Amelia’s eyes narrowed in thought, her brows furrowing together. She worried the corner of her lower lip between her teeth for a moment before she asked, “Beka, will you tell me what happened to your dad?”
He drew in a sharp breath, his eyes darting back to her face. “You don’t have to if you really don’t want to,” she added gently, but as his shoulders dropped, she knew he would.
He sighed slowly and pulled his hand out of her grip, instead gesturing her toward the couch. “Alright,” he conceded quietly. “Somewhere slightly more comfortable than standing around in the bathroom, though.”
She followed him to the couch and sat down beside him, drawing a knee up and turning sideways so she could face him, her ankle tucked under her other thigh. She had some idea of what he was going to say, just based on the last few minutes. Aibek was silent for a few moments before he drew in a deep breath.
“I was twelve when my dad died,” he offered quietly. “Anara remembers him a bit, but I would not be surprised if Sezim and Serik do not remember him, other than from pictures.
“We were not living here for very long at the time and were not planning on staying particularly long. We moved often so he could pursue his causes. Typically, we were good at staying under the radar, but I was just old enough that my parents were willing to let me have a bit more freedom.” He snorted. “I was a kid, and I thought I knew how to do everything I would ever need to do, so in retrospect, it was no surprise that a trio of hunters who were camping on the mountain caught sight of me while I was having a romp. They did not see a rare, misplaced animal. They saw a pelt that no one else in the area would be able to get and would be worth a fortune.”
Amelia wrinkled her nose distastefully. She wasn’t against hunting, of course; she was a wildcat. She was just against hunting that involved needlessly slaughtering things for no other reason than to get a trophy. As far as she was concerned, there were infinitely better ways for people to brag about how big their dicks were.
Aibek carried on. “I wound up leading them right back here on accident. I imagine the only reason I had not been shot by then was because I was small and they wanted to see if I would lead them to my parents.” His tone took on a decidedly self-deprecating slant. “Dad could smell them coming and met me on the incline, and he went at them like a honey badger while I ran to the main building.”
Aibek fell silent, staring down at his hands until Amelia rested a hand on his knee. “What happened after that?” she asked, though she had a good idea about what the answer was going to be.
He sighed and continued speaking. “He killed two of them, and the third fled. We were worried he would be back with more friends, but we did not see him again. Dad was shot four times during the scuffle. He lived for half an hour after that.”
They lapsed into silence again, Aibek staring at his lap and Amelia watching his face. Eventually, he sighed and stated, “I do not appreciate it when people get hurt on my behalf. Especially not when it is because of my own stupidity.”
Amelia opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, he cut her off. “Please do not say that it was not my fault. I do not need the platitude.”
Amelia closed her mouth for a moment as she re-thought what she wanted to say. “You were a kid,” she settled on. “How were you supposed to know that was going to happen?”
He remained conspicuously silent. Amelia’s eyes narrowed slowly, and she eyed him thoughtfully. She was not a therapist. If she was going to talk him out of his mood before it got too bad, then it would most likely be entirely on accident. If she wanted to help, it wasn’t going to be with her words.
There was something she could do, though. It was guaranteed to distract him, they would both most likely enjoy themselves, and frankly, it had been on her mind for a few days at that point. She shifted so she was kneeling on the couch.
Amelia climbed onto his lap, her knees framing his thighs, and she leaned forward to kiss him. His hands hovered at her sides like he wasn’t sure what to do with them, before he set them on her hips, his injured hand simply resting against her, and his good hand squeezing gently.
When the kiss broke, Amelia reached for the zipper of his hoodie and drew it downward in one quick, efficient motion. Aibek swallowed and pointed out cautiously, “You know I do not expect you to…” He trailed off at the end.
Amelia scoffed and leaned forward, bumping their foreheads together gently and then kissing the tip of his nose. “I jumped out of a moving car and started wandering a mountain with no idea of where I was and no backup plan. Do you think I’m the type to just go along with anything if I don’t like it?” Her eyebrows rose and her voice turned pointed at the end.
Aibek huffed out a quiet laugh. “No, I do not,” he admitted, and he pressed forward to kiss her once again. Amelia shifted on his lap, her hips rocking against him, and soon enough, she could feel when his cock began to take interest in the situation. His hands began sliding up her sides, dragging her sweater up as his hands moved higher. Soon enough, as his hands were passing her chest, Amelia’s patience ran out, and she leaned back enough to peel her sweater off over her head. She tossed it aside, letting it fall into a heap on the floor. She unclasped her bra and let it slide down her arms before she let that fall to the floor as well.
Aibek lifted his wrapped hand, curling it around the back of Amelia’s neck, his fingers tangling with her hair as he drew her back in for another kiss. It was hurried and impatient, just as Amelia was herself on most occasions. The feeling of Aibek’s other hand kneading one of her breasts, though, was a rather decent incentive to slow down and enjoy the moment. His thumb circled her nipple until it hardened into a bud, and she drew in a small gasp when he flicked his thumb back and forth across it. He shifted the angle of his head, the kiss deepening as he moved his hand to instead massage her other breast. By the time he decided he had given her breasts enough attention, Amelia was grinding herself against his lap, and she could feel his erection rubbing against her.
They were both still way too dressed. She leaned back, the kiss parting wetly, so she could instead push his hoodie down from his shoulders. They disentangled from each other long enough for him to shrug it the rest of the way off, and then they were kissing again, as if they were being drawn together by magnets.
It was only for a moment, though. Amelia’s hands went to the button of Aibek’s pants and slipped it, and she pulled the zipper down. Once again, she sat up on her knees as she unbuttoned and unzipped the fly of her own pants, though she could only shimmy them halfway down her thighs before she had to stand up as well. She let them fall to the floor, followed by the long thermal underwear she had been wearing underneath them, and those were followed in turn by her panties. Considering she was already on a roll, she leaned down to pull her socks off, as well. As she finished stripping, Aibek used it as an opportunity to lopsidedly pull his pants and boxers off until they were low enough for him to simply kick them off. They flopped over the edge of the couch before they slid down to the floor.
With both of them bare from head to toe, Amelia crawled back onto his lap, and their mouths crashed together once again, the kiss heated and sloppy and hurried. Aibek’s tongue dragged along her lower lip before pushing at the seam until Amelia parted her lips to grant him access. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and shoulders, pressing herself against him as their tongues tangled with each other.
After some rather pointed, emphatic shifting on his lap, Amelia planted her hands on Aibek’s chest and shoved, pushing him down so he was lying back against the arm of the couch.
They grinded against each other like a pair of overly enthusiastic teenagers, until Amelia was dripping and Aibek’s cock was flushed and leaking at the tip. Finally, Amelia wrapped one hand around his cock, stroking it slowly a few times before she began to straighten up again.
Aibek regained something like clarity for a moment to ask, “Do we need—?”
“I’m clean,” Amelia informed him impatiently, cutting him off. “You?”
“Same,” he answered, his hands sliding up and down along her sides.
“Then we’re just fine,” she assured him before she sat up on her knees. Aibek got a hand between them, wrapping it around his cock to hold it steady as she lowered herself down onto him. Her mouth fell open as she moaned, her chin dropping toward her chest. Beneath her, Aibek groaned, one of his hands curling tight around her hip, his other hand simply resting against her ribs.
Amelia’s hands curled into loose fists against Aibek’s chest, and for a few moments, they were motionless and silent, save for the sound of their slow, panting breaths. Finally, Amelia’s thighs tensed, and she raised herself up until just the head of Aibek’s cock was in her. She sighed out a breath and he grunted, his hand tensing against her hip to help lift.
Amelia’s moan was almost startled as she lowered herself again, Aibek’s hips lifting to meet her. The first few thrusts were slow, almost methodical—it was not the least awkward position they could be in, but they certainly weren’t going to take the time to switch just then—but soon enough they got the hang of it. After that, it was off to the races.
Amelia had phenomenal thighs. She was a sprinter. Good thighs were part of that package. She took full advantage of them there on that couch, lifting herself off of Aibek’s lap as she rode his cock. Not that she was doing all the work, though. Aibek’s hands were steady against her hips, and with each thrust, his hips left the couch to meet her, until the only sounds they could hear were the damp sounds of skin meeting skin.
Amelia’s breath stuttered out with each thrust, and heat was coiling in her belly, building and building and waiting to boil over. Each moan that fell from her lips was breathier and higher than the last. Beneath her, Aibek’s breathing had turned to low, steady groans, and each upward jerk of his hips was getting more erratic.
Like elastic stretched too far, the tension in her belly snapped and she came, every muscle drawing taut. Her back arched and her head fell back, and the wanton moan that escaped her lips was loud enough that she was glad there was no one else who could hear her.
Aibek’s hips jerked a few more times until he came; it seemed like only a few heartbeats after her. Amelia stayed more or less upright for a moment, her chest heaving, until she gave up on that and flopped down against his chest as nonchalantly as she could manage.
“Comfortable?” Aibek asked eventually, still sounding out of breath. Amelia hummed pleasantly in reply. They didn’t speak for a few moments after that, their thoughts wandering absentmindedly.
There was a bed right over there, Amelia reflected. Why hadn’t they made it to the bed? True, it had been her idea to get started on the couch, but in retrospect, she couldn’t help but wonder why they had stayed on the couch.
Not that she was complaining. She had thoroughly enjoyed herself. But still, it was a bit odd. She had just had her brains screwed out eight feet away from a perfectly good bed, and in truth, she didn’t even mind. It was a nice couch.
“Do you always look this philosophical after sex?” Aibek wondered dryly, his fingers toying with the curls at the nape of her neck.
“Trust me, I’m not thinking about philosophy,” Amelia returned, an impish smirk quirking up one side of her lips.
“Sounds frightening,” he stated blandly. “Dare I ask?”
“There’s a bed. Right there,” she stated, verbalizing her thoughts from before. “Somehow, we couldn’t even make it that far.”
“Your fault,” Aibek informed her. “I cannot quite put my finger on how you managed it, but you were very distracting.”
Amelia rolled her eyes and prodded the tip of his nose with one finger. Pulling her finger away, it was soon followed by a brief kiss. “Quite the head-scratcher, I’ll admit.”
“Would you like to move to the bed?” he asked, as if he was being so magnanimous with the offer.
Amelia hummed slowly, tapping her lower lip with one finger in a parody of thoughtfulness. “Well,” she began after a moment, “we would probably both fit better on your bed than on your couch. It would just be practical, really.”
“A very good point,” Aibek agreed.
And then Amelia yelped in surprise when he sat up and got to his feet, lifting her in a bridal carry as he stood. Her arms flew up to latch around his neck, and the words, “I swear to god, if you drop me—” were already pouring from her mouth before the brief trek was finished and she was being deposited on the bed, her complaint unfinished.
Amelia stretched her arms over her head, her fingers brushing the headboard, and then she went limp on the bed. Aibek prodded her over to one side, freeing up enough space that he could lie down without squashing her.
Amelia turned onto her side and squirmed backwards until her back met Aibek’s front, and he slung an arm over her middle. Soon enough, she could hear his breathing evening out with sleep, and she let it lull her away from the land of the waking.
If she dreamed about anything that night, she couldn’t remember it, and Aibek was calm and quiet against her back from the time he nodded off until dawn broke the next morning. A lot could be said for the benefits of wearing each other out. Even so, Amelia refused to be budged from bed until a full two hours after Aibek woke up.