Eye of the Beholder

Author's Notes: I was just going to finish this story, but no, the smut bunnies were hard at work driving me crazy with this chapter. So here you go, you smut loving readers, another plotless chapter.

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He wakes up lying on his back with a good chunk of his torso and one buttock hanging over the edge of the mattress. A warm body is pressed against his side and a smile stretches his lips as her scent fills his nostrils. He really couldn't care less about his precarious perch at this moment. With a contented sigh, he tries to fall back asleep, but it quickly becomes evident his body has other ideas.

Mate, Beast purrs lustily and Hank has no doubt that it's using the word as a verb.

Mate is sleeping, Hank points out silently.

Mate awake, Beast replies smugly.

Hank frowns slightly before turning his attention to the woman lying next to him. Her head rests on his shoulder, one of her legs is draped over both of his and her hand rests on his stomach. While the rest of her body is still as if she was asleep, those little digits give her away while they gently stroke the fur on his belly.

He bites his bottom lip to keep from groaning while Beast and his body conspire against him going back to sleep. He reaches over and gently stills her fingers by laying his own over sized mitt on top of them. No sooner does he do this than she starts to wiggle around, rubbing herself, especially her breasts, against him.

“Amanda,” he softly moans and she practically climbs on top of him. “You should be sleeping.”

“Can't sleep,” she quietly replies as she squirms around until her mouth his next to his ear. “You're here.”

Before he can reply, she latches onto his earlobe and starts sucking on it and all he can do is make a low primal sound that vibrates his chest. His hands begin exploring all of that lusciously bare skin as she moves more of herself on top of him. He shifts himself and her until he's in the middle of the bed and she's completely on top of him, though he's barely aware of doing it.

His own lips start to explore all that they can reach and after brushing her hair out of his way, her neck and ear become very tempting targets that he cannot resist. She leaves off her own nibbling and starts rubbing herself over his body while little mewls escape her throat. It doesn't take long before he's at full mast and he gently pushes her down his body so that she's right over it.

It takes a bit of repositioning and wiggling around until he's inside of her and then nothing else matters but the two of them. Her hands are splayed across his broad chest as she rides him while he caresses her body, reacquainting himself with her curves. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Beast happily encourages him on, content with being with their Mate.

With virtually no light in the room, all he has are his hands and ears to judge how things are going. While he enjoys her straddling him, riding him for all she's worth, he knows it won't last long. Sure enough, a few minutes later she slows down and makes a sound of frustration.

With barely a thought, he grabs hold of her hips, digs his heels into the mattress and starts thrusting up into her. Her cries of ecstasy soon fills his ears as she arches her back and grabs hold of his forearms. He barely manages to keep himself in check so as not to hurt her while he slams himself into her repeatedly.

He starts to lose himself to the feeling of their love making with Beast happily encouraging him on. His world is so focused on her and their joining that he barely notices the squeaking of the bed beneath them or the banging of the headboard against the wall. All he seems to be able to comprehend is the sound of her ecstatic cries and the feeling of where their bodies become one.

The primal feeling of mating with no barriers between them is almost more than he can bare, but he holds himself back for her. Her screams get louder and louder and he knows it won't be much longer. Just when he's sure that he won't be able to control himself much longer, she let out one final scream while her body stiffens and her fingers dig into the flesh of his forearms.

He holds her in place, remaining perfectly still until he feels her body go lax. As soon as he relaxes his grip on her, she collapses onto his chest as if she no longer has any bones in her body and his cock nearly slides out of her, only the head remaining inside. Using his toes to grab the blankets that have been shoved to the end of the bed, he pulls the bedding upwards to keep her from catching a chill.

He listens to her breathing as it returns to normal and he can feel her heartbeat as it slows to a more sedate pace. Figuring she's had enough time to recover, he starts nuzzling her hair, craning his neck in a way no normal man could in search of soft flesh to nibble on. He's rather startled when she gently pushes her head against his, effectively blocking his lips exploration and the covers get pulled up to her chin.

“What do you think you're doing?” he softly asks, just a hint of danger in his voice.

“Sleeping,” she answers and he can hear the teasing in her tone.

“Is that so?” he inquires with a threatening rumble, though a smile is stretching his lips.

“Mmhmm,” she hums happily with a contented sigh. “Bed so warm and soft.”

Before he can come up with a response, she starts squirming around on top of him and he only just manages not to groan. Her movements cause him to slide the rest of the way out and it doesn't help his own needs as she writhes around. His eyes narrow and an evil smirk stretches his lips as he gets ready to turn the tables on his lady love.

He wraps one arm around her, pinning her to him and then in a move that would never be possible if he was a normal man, he perfectly flips them both over. They land right where they started, but with him on top and her on the bottom. She lets out a shriek of surprise as they bounce a couple times on the bed with the springs loudly protesting being used as a trampoline.

“Ride 'em, cowboy!” she laughs and he chuckles along with her.

He starts nuzzling her hair again, determining where her ear, neck and shoulder are all by feel.

“I believe I was trying to sleep,” she points out as she tries to squirm away from that questing nose, knowing that his lips will soon be tormenting her in the most delightful ways.

“I believe you were doing nothing of the sort, my minx,” he quietly replies next to her ear, that sexy rumble to his voice as his arms prevent her from getting anywhere. “You were doing many things, but sleeping wasn't one of them.”

“I have work tomorrow,” she whimpers while his teeth gently graze against her neck.

“You started this, my love,” he reminds her. “I intend to finish it.”

“And what exactly did you have in mind?” she gasps as his sensuous lips start to nibble on the sensitive skin just below her ear.

“Oh, many things Pon-Farr,” he happily purrs just before he starts tormenting her in earnest.

“Oh, dear God, yes,” she moans as his hands begin caressing her in ways only he knows how.

His lips, tongue, teeth and hands torment her and excite her all at the same time. She writhes around beneath him, but unable to escape because his large hands and bulk keeps her from getting away, not that she really wants to. Her skin burns with his touches and she alternately pants and whimpers as he continues caress her in all the right places.

He expertly uses his enhanced sense of smell, touch and hearing to know exactly where to touch her and how. He lavishes a great deal of attention on her nipples causing her to wrap her legs around his middle and the sound of her moaning his name is music to his ears. The smell of her arousal is the finest bouquet and he knows that he must have a taste.

Despite her legs squeezing him, trying to get him to stay in place, he easily starts to work his way down her body. Her whimpered moans egg him on as he continues to gently kiss, lick and nip his way down her torso. So intent on his ministrations to her, he hardly notices her hands wildly roaming over whatever part of his body that she can reach.

He's barely aware of reaching the end of the bed and carefully sliding over the foot board. A small part of his brain actually makes sure the cedar hope chest at the end of her bed can take his weight before making the final shift. He settles himself into place with the bedding beneath him as the lovely creature trapped underneath him takes up all of his senses and most of his brain power.

By the time he reaches that small patch of soft curly hairs, he's nearly as delirious as she is from just the smell of her arousal mixed with their past love making. His need for her is like nothing he's ever felt before and he never wants to lose it. He feels Beast sliding up next to him and after making sure that it has no intent of taking over, he turns his attention back to her.

Remembering her need for touch, he reaches up to start fondling her breasts again and she quickly grabs a hold of that appendage. While she clings to him as if her life depends on it, he finishes nibbling his way down to her most private of parts. Unable to resist any longer, he plunges his tongue into her depths and her reaction is instant and gratifying.

Her grip tightens around the arm he left within her reach as she arches her back and a shout of pleasure escapes her lips. He gently restrains one of her thrashing legs with his free hand while he continues to taste her sweet nectar and he uses the arm on her torso to pin her down to the bed. All too soon he can hear her cries hitting a crescendo and with practiced ease, he gives her one last lick and then briefly sucks on that special bundle of nerves that sends her screaming over the edge.

With great care, he disentangles his arm from her slack fingers and begins to work his way back up her body. As he places soft kisses on her belly, he can hear her breathing starting to return to normal. By the time he reaches the bottom of her rib cage, her heartbeat has almost slowed to a more sedate pace.

He slowly traverses his way up her body, patiently waiting for her to recover, despite Beast's urging him to hurry. He gently rubs his nose against the side of one her breasts and gets a small whimper out of her. He licks the underside of that glorious globe and faint groan escapes her throat while he enjoys the salty taste of her skin.

He continues to lave his attention around her breasts, carefully avoiding the ever so sensitive nipples. He listens to her moans as they become louder while her heart rate starts to elevate again and her breath begins to speed up. He finally starts to suckle one of those little pink nubs and the arms that had previously been lying on the bed, wrap themselves around his head.

“Hank,” she gasps as his tongue does delightfully evil things to her sanity.

“Hmmm?” he hums at her, refusing to let go of his tiny prize.

“Oh, God, Hank, please,” she whimpers and he finally releases the nipple.

“Is something the matter, my love?” he asks, sounding very amused.

“What are you doing to me?” she whispers while he nuzzles the side of her breast.

“Just seeing how feisty my filly is,” he tells her just before starts flicking the second nipple with the tip of his tongue.

“Oh God, you're going to break me,” she groans as her legs try to wrap around his torso, though they feel like they weigh a hundred pounds each.

“There are ways to gentle a wild animal...,” he purrs while he moves up her body until his mouth is right next to her ear. “...that don't involve breaking her spirit or body.”

With an ease that belies the time they've been apart, he slides his turgid length into her and her responding moan is music to his ears. She pushes the side of her face against his as he starts to move. He sets a sedate pace, fiercely reminding himself and Beast that her pleasure come first.

His slow, careful thrusts illicit small mewls of pleasure from her that are sending shivers down his spine. As much as he would love to lose himself in her, he dares not with an eagerly waiting Beast in the background. When she takes a slightly uncomfortable grip of fur on his back, it almost distracts him enough for Beast to take over, but he manages to hang onto control, but only just.

“Hank,” she gasps next to his ear as her free hand lands on his backside. “Harder...faster...”

He gladly complies while Beast slides up next to him and her cries become wilder and louder. He starts to gently nip her neck and shoulder and her screams reach a fevered pitch. The fist with his fur in it tightens as the fingers of the other hand dig into his butt cheek and he can barely control himself.

“OH GOD, YES!” she screams above the noise of the bed squeaking and banging against the wall. “RIDE ME, HANK! RIDE MEEEEE!!!”

With a deafening roar, he arches back as he rides out both of their orgasms. He gives one final shudder and barely catches himself in time to keep from crushing her beneath his bulk. After catching his breath, he finally manages to move off of her while trying not to drip on anyone or anything.

He sits on the edge of the bed, grabs a couple tissues from the box and cleans himself up. Once he's finished, he tosses the tissues out, thankful that his mutation allows him to see, though not perfectly, in such a dark room. He looks down at her and smiles because she's asleep again spread eagle across the small bed.

He runs a gentle fingernail down her ribs and she rolls onto that side in an automatic response, never waking. As he gets ready to climb into bed with her, he sees a strange anomaly on her backside and it takes him a moment to realize it's her birth control patch. He gets this strange urge to pull it off of her and then to make love to her all night long.

His blood runs cold at the mere thought and he quickly takes a step back from the bed. Turning to the most obvious culprit for these feelings, he focuses in on Beast. His primal half pushes for him to permanently claim their Mate and he none to gently forces Beast back into its proverbial cage.

He knows he doesn't dare trust Beast to behave, especially if she's beside him and they're both wearing nothing more than their birthday suits. With a sigh of regret, he carefully tucks her in and then goes off in search of his clothes. Soon, he's dressed from the waist down and settling in on the couch to read what appears to be a well loved book from her bookshelf.

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The sound of softly padding bare feet draws his attention away from the book in his hand and he looks over his shoulder at the door that leads to her bedroom. Groggy eyed and with hair that looks like a rat's been living in it, she comes staggering out with a bathrobe on, though it's not tied. She stumbles off into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and he can feel blood starting to head down into his pants.

Mate, Beast whines plaintively

Mate is exhausted, Hank explains while trying to get his libido under control.

Want Mate, Beast pouts.

We don't always get what we want, Hank points out and Beast snarls at him.

He returns his attention to the book in his hands and in a short time, he's lost in its pages once more. Before long, he hears the bathroom door open again, but he keeps his eyes firmly glued to the tome in front of him, refusing to give in Beast's urging to look at her. When he hears her coming up behind him, Beast starts going nuts and he steadfastly refuses to give in to that part of himself.

While he's having his internal conflict, her hands land on his shoulders and then slide down his broad chest. He barely manages not to moan as she rubs her nose against the shell of his ear.

“Why are you out here?” she softly asks and then starts to nibble on his ear.

“Couldn't sleep,” he gasps while her fingers explore his pectoral muscles. “Why don't you go back to bed?”

“You coming with me?” she purrs just before she starts planting kisses on his neck.

“Aren't you tired?” he questions as he sets the book off onto the end table as carefully as his shaking hands will allow.

“Exhausted,” she admits while her seeking digits find his nipples and starts to play with them. “But I'm even hornier.”

“Gah!” he incoherently replies and she chuckles as she sinks her teeth into his neck.

“Come back to bed with me,” she urges.

“I don't think I can walk that far,” he admits as his hands slide up her arms. “In fact, I'm not even sure I can stand up at this moment.”

“Then I guess I better join you on the couch,” she responds, her voice taking on a sultry tone.

She barely starts to move before he grabs her and flips her over the back of the couch and into his lap. She grins at him as moves around until she's straddling his lap and her robe parts just enough for him to catch a glimpse of cleavage and the small patch of pubic hair. He lets out a groan that starts in the vicinity of his toes when the smell of her arousal hits him.

“I think we just broke the laws of physics,” she snickers while her arms snake around his neck.

“Nothing broken...yet,” he tells her breathlessly.

She barely gets her mouth open to respond before his hands slide into her robe, pushing it open so he can see her perfectly smooth skin. She sucks in a good deal of air when his finger tips gently brush over a nipple and she arches into his talented hand. His hands explore all of that luscious flesh before him, memorizing every dip and curve and he can tell he's driving her mad with need.

He contemplates what he wants to do to her next when she grabs one of his wrists and shoves the hand between her legs. He doesn't need to ask what she wants, he already knows. With great care to make sure his nails don't scratch her, he rubs a knuckle against her clit.

Her reaction is instantaneous. She throws her head back, arches her back and lets out a throaty cry as her hands grab hold of his upper arms. His free arm supports her back while she leans backwards and he carefully rubs that sweet little spot.

He watches as she writhes around on his lap and he couldn't look away if his life depended on it. Her cries make his ears ring, but he wouldn't cover his ears even if he could. He's completely mesmerized by her and it's a strange combination of disappointment and satisfaction when she screams her completion.

He extracts his now damp fingers from her womanhood and then carefully pulls her limp body forward. He gently lays her against his chest with her head resting on his shoulder. Once he has her comfortably positioned, he rubs her back, ignoring his own pressing need that's making his pants seem incredibly too small for him.

Eventually her body stops trembling, her breathing returns to normal and her heart rate settles back down to a regular pace. With a content little sound, she wiggles around in his lap to get more comfortable, tucking her arms in to keep them warm. He bites his bottom lip and barely manages not to groan as her movements and sounds make keeping Beast and his libido in check a very difficult thing.

“Thank you,” she whispers as she buries her nose into the fur on his neck.

“For what?” he quietly asks.

“For coming home to me,” she softly answers. “There were times I thought you'd never come back.”

“As I told you before, my love, I could do little else,” he replies while his nose finds its way into her hair. “You hold my heart and I wouldn't have it any other way.”

“You're heart's not the only thing I'm holding,” she teases as she starts stroking the bulge in his pants.

“Amanda,” he breathlessly warns.

“Seems to me that one of us is wearing way too much clothing here,” she chuckles while her other hand finds the fastening to his pants.

Before she can even start to try to undo the button on his slacks, her robe is ripped from body and she suddenly finds herself sitting on the coffee table. He stands up, towering over her and she immediately reaches for him. In short order his pants and boxers are around his ankles and he quickly kicks them off to the side.

He stands before her, his manhood tall and erect and she reaches out and gently strokes it. He lets out a groan that she can practically feel in her own chest. Before she can even blink, the table she's sitting on is pushed back and he's on his knees in front of her.

He gently caresses her face and then carefully brings his lips to hers. She gladly returns the buss and soon finds his hands wandering over her body, finding all of the right spots to make her gasp and moan. His lips, teeth and tongue are soon adding to her sensory overload and she gladly runs her hands over his incredible body, pulling him to her.

All coherent thought is gone, she just knows that those wonderful strands of fur are making her even hornier and she wants more. She rubs herself against him and he groans as he holds her even closer. She wouldn't notice if the room was on fire as she pushes her chest against him and it's not until she suddenly finds herself pulled to the edge of the table with his long, hard cock pressing against her lower lips does she stop moving.

“Oh God,” she breaths as he moves her arms around his neck.

He folds her into his embrace once more, slides into her incredible wet heat and then he starts thrusting, barely holding himself back.. Her head falls back as her cries permeates the room and she convulsively grabs the back of his head. The guttural sound that reverberates through his chest, vibrates through her body and her legs come up to wrap around his waist the best they can.

He pulls her off of the table so that she can be at the perfect hight and angle for him and she doesn't fight or tense up when he does this. Her cries become louder as he penetrates her up to the hilt and he feels Beast beside him, helping him with pleasing their Mate. To have her like this, in his arms, completely trusting him, he knows he won't be able to hold on much longer.

“OH GOD, YES!!!” she screams as her body goes stiff.

He doesn't hold back as his own orgasm hits and he roars it for the world to hear. With what little control he still has over his body, he sinks back onto his heels and holds her closer. She's completely limp in his arms and the only reason he knows she isn't asleep yet is because her breathing hasn't returned to normal.

“I love you,” he whispers as he buries his nose into her mussed up hair.

“Love you, too,” she murmurs back, unable to move. “Come back to bed with me?”

“Of course, my love,” he softly replies.

He carefully repositions her in his arms and then rises to his feet, though not as gracefully as normal. He goes over to turn off the lamp on the end table, only stumbling a little as he goes. While he's trying to figure out how to do it and not drop her, she reaches over and does it for him.

He briefly nuzzles her hair and then carries her back to bed. In short order they're cuddling under the covers again and he feels her drop off to sleep within moments of them settling down. After firmly impressing upon his primal half how hurt and upset their Mate would be if the birth control patch was removed without her consent, he, too, closes his eyes and drifts off to dream land.