Music and conversation assaulted Ariel as she entered the lively bar. She pressed a hand against her lower back to try and settle her struggling tail. She'd taped it against the back of her thigh this time and it hated being constrained.
She
hated the feeling of it being trapped as well as the feel of the tape on her but she had no choice. Even with the baggy pants she wore, she worried everyone would see.
The young woman scanned the room, churring instinctively as she searched the bar for her girlfriend. The curvy redhead was at the end of the bar, filling a glass from tap so she made her way through the crowd.
As she moved around tables and people standing in groups, she found her eyes darting around the room. She growled at sudden movement and eyed a slim woman as she separated from her mate to walk alone to the bathroom. Her hackles rose and she went to the balls of her feet while her tail frantically twisted against her.
But then the music crashed into her and she shook her head and continued walking. She was on edge. Anxious. Antsy.
Aroused
. The tests had shown nothing wrong.
Nothing
. While she'd need much more time for more complete testing, her DNA still matched 99% with her original sample and appeared entirely human. It made no sense at all. She'd even taken pictures of herself (and promptly deleted them) to ensure she wasn't imagining things. But then she'd worried she was imagining herself changed in the picture until her brain had clamped down and asserted control to keep her out of the endless abyss of 'what if'.
"Caitlin!" Ariel called out.
The redhead stopped, looked up with a smile at the voice and then frowned in confusion. She leaned forward quizzically.
"Ariel?" she said, uncertainly. Her eyes explored her lover's face. "You look different. Are you okay? I knew I should've stayed home with you today."
The scientist leaned in for a kiss but Caitlin turned her cheek.
"Not in front of the customers!" she reminded her. "You'll kill my tips."
"Or give you more," Ariel purred. Her throat vibrated as she licked the side of Caitlin's neck. Her tongue lashed against the girl's skin and hair and Ariel's claws dug into the girl's back, holding her in place while Ariel groomed her. She could feel her girlfriend struggling and giggling.
"Stop! Oh my god, stoooop!" Caitlin gasped. She pulled herself free while laughing with red cheeks and tears leaking from her eyes. "Holy crap, that tickled!"
Ariel's mouth hung open as she tasted the air and her tongue for the scent of her girlfriend. She churred again, quietly while her claws scored the bar and her left hand raked down her sensitive side.
A prickling sensation added to her arousal as the fur mixed in with her pubic hair began to expand beyond her mound. The light gray hairs crept along her belly until she thought she'd go mad from the feeling of it, pulling against her skin like a lover's rough touch.
"Sit!" Caitlin called out over her shoulder as she brought the waiting customer their drinks. "I'll get you your stout."
The stools at the bar were half full but, as she tried to sit, her tail flexed painfully so Ariel remained standing while following her lover with her eyes. The door opened, pulling her attention away as a huge group of students from the local college, her alma mater, walked in.
Caitlin sighed and dropped a coaster on the bar before setting a large glass of foamy, dark beer on it.
"Well," the redhead sighed again as she eyed the group. "I was hoping to get time to talk but it looks like tonight's not the night."
Ariel patted her girlfriend's hand and then stepped aside to make room for others. She ducked her face down in her hoodie while keeping her eyes up to try and keep everyone in view. Her hand flexed as a cocky looking boy with a goatee chatted with Caitlin. He smiled and reached for her but Caitlin moved her hand away to grab another glass. Ariel's claws dug into the wooden bar and she pulled, tearing strips out of the surface while growling. Her back hunched as she showed her fangs behind her trembling, blackened lips. Suddenly, her jaw flexed and she spat out a loud hiss that caused a few people to glance in her direction.
Just before she stepped over to him, one of the boy's friends pulled him away and they left to a nearby table. She could feel her fur settling against her back as the man left.
Jesus,
she thought to herself.
It's not just the physical changes.
I've never been this protective of her.
I didn't usually care but seeing her with these people... I have to get this under control.
Everything feels like it's going haywire.
I'm still turned on and I can smell her and it's getting worse.
Hormonal changes?
Are they secondary to the physical changes?
Did something trigger it or did it just take this long to develop?
A second bartender joined Caitlin as drink and food orders began to pour in. She watched her beautiful girlfriend work. Her eyes traced the swell of her hips and the way her curly hair bounced as she moved. She scented the air and her claws slid free, unnoticed as she stared at the girl's breasts and down to her midriff and lower.
As she explored her lover's body with her amber eyes, she felt waves of heat course through her. It washed over her and she moaned, ducking her head while her nails sunk into the bar and her knuckles turned white. The torrent dragged at every nerve, hooking their own little claws into them. She hugged herself and bent deeper as she shook from the sudden waves of stimulation. Her muscular legs pressed together as a miniature orgasm tore through her. Her mouth opened wide in shock and her eyes fluttered. Lost in her own pleasure, she sighed and her voice rose with it into a distinctive yowl.
"-alright?" Caitlin asked near her.
Ariel arched upward to kiss her lover suddenly and ferociously.
"I need you," she panted. Her tongue dragged against the girl's freckled neck. "I need to fuck you so bad. I need to taste you and grind against you and-"
"Jesus!" her girlfriend said, stepping away with wide eyes as Ariel's teeth nipped her skin. "I'd love to but I have to work. Look, it's getting too busy. Go home and rest because you still don't look good. I'll wake you up and if you still want it, I'm all yours. You can pay me back with another back massage because mine is killing me again."
"Tell them you're sick," Ariel pouted. Her hands flexed against her sides. "Come home with me. I
need
you so bad."
"Just go!" Caitlin said as she walked over to a waiting customer. "Love you!"
The young scientist growled. Her jaw muscles flexed out and she hissed as another woman brushed past her. For a fraction of a second, her hands moved as the urge to slice through her exposed neck stormed through her brain but she stepped back and shoved her hands into her hoodie's pockets as the woman mouthed a 'sorry!' before disappearing into the crowd.
"I have to get some air," she told herself as she zig-zagged through the room. "Too many people. Too hard to concentrate on everyone. Too many smells."
The cool night air enveloped the black-haired scientist as she stepped out of the bar. Her shoes crunched on gravel while she walked to her car but she paused as she placed a hand on the door. With a quick look around, she lowered her hood and raised her head to the moon. She breathed deeply and tiny black and orange hairs pushed through her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. They spread to cover her cheeks and jaw before fading to dark gray under her chin.
Beyond the parking lot lay a dirt road and the wide main road it connected to. Beneath the nearly overpowering arousal was the bone-aching need to run. To stretch her legs to the limits and let her feet eat up the concrete until she couldn't take another step.
She grabbed her phone and keys from her purse before hiding the bag in the back seat of her car. After a moment's thought, she slipped out of her shoes and set them on the floorboards. She immediately stood on the balls of feet and then went to the tips of her toes to stretch. Her calf muscles strained as the ever present claws on her feet scraped the dirt and gravel covering the lot.
And then she walked away from all of it. Her furred ears swiveled to monitor for voices and cars but she ignored them as she placed her phone and keys in the zippered pocket of her hoodie. She walked down the dark unpaved road and began to lightly bounce. Her powerful muscles coiled and released and she thrill of the impending run mounted.
Yet it didn't feel right. Not yet. Not quite.
Ariel glanced around the empty road and the bar hidden behind trees and bushes behind her. She slid her jogging pants down to expose firm thighs and a wrist-thick tail bound to them. It twitched in anticipation as she sliced through the tape holding it and immediately sprung free, breaking the last line of tape before she could do it herself. She purred in pleasure as she finally felt complete.
Pulling up her pants, she breathed deeply and exhaled. And then she kicked off, scattering rocks. She touched down, barely wincing as her smooth skin hit the road. Her foot rolled forward to her toes and they splayed as the knuckles bent and her claws tore into the dirt. She kicked as her legs flexed and she leapt forward in a compact, fluid line of motion.
Dirt turned to concrete as it merged into main road. Sparks flew from her claws and her tail twisted as she turned in a wide circle until she reached the sidewalk.
Her scored, scratched feet began to swell and the throbbing pain she'd felt while running vanished as thick padding grew along the soles of her feet. She laughed and the wind whipped past, stealing the air from her lungs while she raced down the sidewalk with her tail streaming past.
The first car she passed flicked its lights at her but she barely noticed. Only when she began gaining on a second car did she grin fiercely and take it as a challenge. Her breath burst from her in a controlled rhythm as she pushed herself harder. She could feel herself sweating and an ache began to form at the edges of her muscles but she pushed past the car and then a third just beyond it.
