I can hear the car crunching through the gravel while it drives away and my house suddenly feels huge and empty and silent. It's an unwelcome feeling that I've never noticed before.
His scent lingers. Sweat, deodorant and a complex mix of other little things that is just him. It's a thread of warmth in the sterile house and I follow it for a moment before I realize what I'm doing. Standing in the hallway to my bedroom, I clamp down hard.
I am in control.
And yet, here I stand, in the middle of a path of tan hairs lining a pristine white carpet leading into a bedroom that smells heavily of sex and Michael. I can feel my control slipping at the thought of him. I've never felt anything like that before. My father taught law and discipline and my mother still works as an investment banker. I can't remember a time since childhood where I didn't have a tight fist around everything in my life.
So I focus on the small things I can manage. Looking away from the bed. Closing my eyes and then opening them again when I see a memory of myself on the bed on all fours. As if I were a disembodied spectator.
Small things.
My cleaners will be curious about the fur. I'll need to leave them a tip and tell them a friend was over with a dog. Which dog? What- what kind of dog am I? I don't want to think down this path but I need an excuse. Always prepared. Always in control.
All fours with my ass in the air but I can only see myself as a generic furred creature. I try to feel disgusted but I can't and I feel my eyebrows knit when I bite the inside of my bottom lip. Pressing my thighs together at the memory of-
I'll just tell them I don't know. I'm not a dog person.
Oh god.
I can't stop the little laugh at the thought of
that
but it helps a little. A little. Some big fluffy brown dog and I forgot to close all of my doors before it got off leash. That is what I'll tell them.
Avoiding the bed, I go and open a window and turn on the oil diffuser I have plugged in next to my nightstand. It's not their business that I had sex and it's not something they would ever comment on but, for some reason, I can't stand the thought of them knowing what happened. I can't separate out the thought of sex with becoming that creature and I can't stop thinking that they'll just somehow know.
I move my ancient alarm clock slightly, back to where it's supposed to be. I got it as a birthday gift when I turned fifteen and I've had it ever since. A very sensible gift and it refuses to die. The box of tissues is out of place so I fix that. And the little jade bowl I got from a trip to Hong Kong. And my wireless phone charger since it got knocked over at some point. Now the cable from the alarm clock isn't straight so I move it back.
God it's hard to resist. He's hard to resist. The smell of him.
I breathe deeply, mouth closed, nose open, eyes closed, hand on the nightstand, lips parted slightly, chin up, feet apart and my right hand touches the bed while I crawl into it. Michael made it before he left. Sloppily. Just pulled the sheet and blanket straight without tucking anything in. I should make it again. Properly this time. Tucked and folded with the mound of pillows arranged just how I like them.
Instead, I lower my body. The untied belt slips free of my silky crimson robe and it opens.
Hands and knees. Lowering myself. Face to the bed. Rolling my head. Fingers clawing the blanket into little knots.
Oh
.
Oh, god
. Knots. Reddened cock spreading me open but no - it's Michael and the scent of him winding its way through my body. Whining as I taste him in my throat, remembering how I lapped his cum from my fingers last night. Moaning as it works down my spine, pulling my ass up with an invisible hand. Groaning when the robe slides over my hips until I'm exposed. Growling quietly when I pull myself flat and I feel my teats dragging against the blanket. My soaked panties feel cold against my hot pussy.
Reaching under myself and between my thighs, I grab my panties and feel the sharp prick of my claws sliding from my fingertips. They pierce the soft cotton and I jerk when the tip of a claw touches my sex, sliding around the strange, swollen lips until I slice through the band and pull, tossing the panties to the floor.
He's there. Under me. His pillow. The scent of him. The memory of him. His hands. His voice. My hips rock against the pillow he used when he slept. Humping it like the bitch I am. In heat. Riding the stitched edge of it while I reach up to grab the mattress and the headboard. Grunting and licking my lips. The robe strokes my back with every movement. Sliding against the sparse fur beginning to cover me.
Toes digging into the bed. Lowering myself. Feeling my ears sliding against skin and hair while my tongue dangles from my mouth. Almost there, Michael. Almost there. Back arched, shoulders back, little tuft of fur where my tail would be. I can feel it brushing against my bare ass every time I move.
"Fuck!" I bark harshly, voice cracking on the hard syllables. Hard to think. My stomach clenches and I nip at my left shoulder and whine. I raise my ass and hips and push back once more. My thighs are wet and sticky and I'm riding a wave of endorphins from the orgasm. It's an incredible release and I just want to lie down in our smells and the warmth within and just sleep.
My fur retreats while my breathing steadies. I can feel it beneath my robe and it makes me shiver in pleasure. Like a lover caressing my back.
I can't clearly remember the past few minutes. My head is still buzzing and I feel so good but angry as well. At my lack of discipline. I remember pulling myself together. Looking at my clock and then the edges of my memory fray and I see pieces. The scents and sensations overpower the rest of it.
No, I knew this would be difficult. After last night and this morning, I knew I'd struggle. I just have to keep trying. Working on it until I've got a handle on it.
I set up and dangle my legs over the bed. I should shower. I should. Hot and clean. I smell like sex with a faint trace of dog and I'm a mess. I like it, though. My juices. My sex. How it feels and the thought of it. But that's not right. Clean is better, isn't it? I shake my head and my lips tremble and I growl and then stand, shaking my head again. I don't need it, no. I smell natural and good and I know it'd turn him on to be near me and have my scent. To know me and what I'd done.
So I push off of the bed and nearly stumble before catching myself against the wall. Arms back so the robe slides from my body. Stepping lightly over to my walk-in closet and then inside, shivering as the coolness wraps around the heat suffusing my body. I can't help glancing back at the bed. Feeling the ghost of Michael's warm, comfortable body calling to me.
"Slacks or skirt?" I ask myself out loud, studiously ignoring the bedroom. I have to keep adjusting my stance because my natural posture has my thighs rubbing against my sex and it's really hard to overlook. And it's almost worse when I spread my legs because my lips stick to my legs and-
Ignoring that. Ignoring the thrill building in my lower belly again. Ignoring how huge and empty and silent the house is without Michael. I'm flicking through clothes without even looking at them while shuffling my feet and remembering his hand on my back and side.
"Goddammit!" I curse loudly, grabbing a pair of slacks and throwing them to the ground like a child.
Those little ghost muscles twitch in my ears and I whine, looking back at the bed with my head and shoulders hunched. No, he's not there. Thank god. That was bad. Childish. Bad. I pick up the navy blue slacks and scratch the back of my neck where I feel a few strands of hair pulling back into my skin.
Why is this so damn hard?
Breathe. Through my mouth so it's easier to handle. And out. And back in. And out again.
Work on the little steps. I have to get ready for the meeting. I have to get dressed and go. To do that, I need to pick my clothes for the day. Every problem can be broken down into manageable tasks. That's what I learned growing up and in school. I'm meeting with the temp agency. Professional. Slacks and pumps. Nothing else on my calendar for the day that I can remember. A few phone calls I can put off and some monthly reports to read over. It's been a while since I've done a walkthrough to say hello to everyone. Was it Sandy's birthday? No. Something like that. Her husband's birthday? I'll have to check. And Michael will be there!
Another whine escapes my lips but I don't notice because now I'm worried about Michael again and whether he'll actually go to work.
I have his address on file at the office,