(Note this story changes from Erotic Horror to Nonhuman, to Sci-fi & Fantasy. To me it seems to fit best in this fashion. But is it really....Romance?)
*
The old shopkeeper looked up in surprise when Harlen walked into the store with Hea the first time.
Harlen knew Hea was nervous but he felt that taking her with him was part of their lives becoming normal.
That first night she had appeared at his ranch house had been a surprise, she had that need but was also terrified, it was her very first time being away from her people.
There should have been no reason for her to fear, she easily had 5 times his strength, if not more, and Harlen was not a weak man by any stretch of the imagination.
No matter, she was hesitant, but the need overpowered the fear. Somehow Harlen knew and understood, these people did not seem to have the ability to repress urges like those of mankind on Earth.
One might think that Harlen would have been repulsed, Hea's body was covered with fur, nearly every inch of it. The hind legs curved backwards oddly, different from an earth human but functional that way. The odd squatting down that he had seen them do was defensive, the first leap could easily cover 25 feet in the light gravity of Earth.
He had discovered that under the fur, the oddly shaped rear limbs, the high set ears and three toed paws was a human woman. Different, yes, but human nonetheless.
She had stiffened at his touch, which was more of an inspection than lovemaking. Harlen was very careful, overly gentle. He sensed her fear yet knew why she had come to him. He had no idea how he knew, he just did.
Then she had relaxed, and just allowed his touch. He had found the bump on the inside of each of her paws, that extended outward when she wished to grasp, a functional thumb. There was another smaller one on the outside of each paw that did similar. What Harlen had thought was just a three toed paw was actually five, just like his own, complete with fingerprints in the bare flesh on her feel and palms. Each digit had a sharp claw on the end, kept retracted unless needed. They were an obvious very serious weapon, but perhaps just a tool? Pressing back the tuft of fur, he had discovered those, they looked like fingernails somewhat, just thick and razor sharp, the ends pointed and curving downward.
Her nose was dark and wide, hairless and flattened slightly, the eyes were large and set at a steep angle. Her skin was several shades darker than his, and Harlen was well tanned from days on end out in the sunlight working on his farm.
Harlen was also surprised at the gentleness of their lovemaking, she had waited until he seemed satisfied with his inspection. Then she had in turn inspected him, touching and nuzzling everywhere. Their joining was not like anything he had ever experienced, it was not a building to a climax. Rather it began as one and kept on for several minutes.
Then he was surprised again when he woke up the next morning and she was still there, he had expected her to retreat.
He got his first serious look at her in real light, realizing she was squatting there with her eyes drawn down to slits. She looked extremely uncomfortable, moving backwards as the morning light gained ground across the floor. He stepped over and pulled the drape at his upstairs window. She relaxed but then just stood up on her rear legs, waiting for something.
"Morning, Hea."
She looked at him puzzled, even tipped her head.
"Helllo."
"Hungry?"
That got another puzzled look, so Harlen held out his hand to her. She looked down, then reached out to take it.
He made a bowl of oatmeal, she looked at the spoon he set beside the bowl in confusion. She picked it up, placed the large end in her palm, then set the spoon back down. Harlen was going to show her how to use it but standing up, she was out the door in a flash. She was back in seconds, one hand shading her face from the outside sunlight. She held a small cloth sack, it had laces across the top. It was covered with symbols, decorations. She reached in and picked up a utensil, it fanned out like a poker hand with a simple flip of her thumb. She used that to scoop up the food, ate with relish.
Harlen saw she really liked the oatmeal.
They spent the day inside with the drapes drawn, that evening he heard sounds outside and went to investigate.
Jaha stood there, Hari at his side. The boy was now a good three feet tall, and solid looking.
"Thank you." He told Jaha, understanding.
Jaha just nodded, turned and vanished into the darkness.
Harlen looked at the boy, his eyes so large and dark, fathomless. He was naked, his body was covered with far less hair than the rest. He seemed to be mildly shivering, too.
Harlen held out his hand, the boy took it without hesitation, he led him inside. Hea jumped up and ran to Hari, making a fuss. They chattered in that almost musical tone for quite awhile, nuzzling each other in pleasure. Harlen just went and sat in his chair and watched.
Later, he showed Hari what was to be his bedroom, watched as the boy tugged and pulled the blankets into a circle, almost like a nest. He circled and kicked at it until finally satisfied. Hari looked at him and smiled, then curled into a tight ball on top of the blankets and slept. Hea slept with Harlen but on top of the covers, curled up in the same fashion, a portion of the blankets tugged up around her.
He had expected more lovemaking, but she showed no sign of interest in that. He had even reached for her, but all that happened was she showed confusion. It took him awhile to understand that her cycle was months apart, and when she felt the need she came to him. The rest of the time she did not.
Finally she realized that Harlen had different needs, after that she used her hands to help him. Harlen's entire sexual life before had been just once each year, a trip to Reno for a week of pleasure, the rest was solo sexuality.
He relished in the change, it was fine.
Just one time Harlen had hinted that she use her mouth. Her expression was first one of realization and then shock, she darted to the corner of the room and squatted down facing him. Even her claws came out. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to return to the bed, Harlen never suggested that again. Oddly, she would nuzzle his groin, though.
That part Harlen never completely figured out. There were no words that he knew to try and explain or ask, and there seemed to be no words in her language at all. It was a knowing somehow, Harlen felt it also.
Harlen also expected there would be more children, but that didn't happen. Why, he had no idea. He just accepted things the way they were.
Harlen knew that they were here to stay. The child was his, thus the mother too. For months they lived together, getting more and more used to each other. Slowly Hea and Hari both seemed to adjust to the light, they no longer cringed when sunlight shone in the window although they did carefully step around the direct rays.
Harlen knew they had some instinctive fear of Sunlight, perhaps it was somehow a danger in their world? Both of them went outside on cloudy days, and Hari delighted in the rain, running though puddles at speeds that we amazing.
It was always a joyous time, like all children everywhere, rain puddles were for splashing.
There was one problem, though. It was getting on to Spring, time to go to work. He couldn't have them running around his farm, not naked and covered with hair.
So Harlen went to town, at the clothing store he purchased some pants and shirts he thought were about the right size for Hari. Then he picked out several long housedresses. He also bought a pair of electric clippers and lots of shaving cream and razor blades.
Hea looked at him oddly at first when she saw what he had purchased. So Harlen put some of the shaving cream on his own forearm, drew the razor across it.
Hea nodded when he did that, understanding.
Harlen used the clippers to trim the hairs shorter, then began the laborious process of removing it.
It took almost all of one day and part of the next. She just stood and allowed it. He had one hell of a time with her hands and feet, accidentally nicking himself on one of her claws when he pressed on it to reach between. She leaned down and licked the cut until it stopped bleeding. Finally he wiped her down briskly with a towel, checked out his handiwork.
Hea liked being rubbed down with the coarse towel, she turned back and forth trying to get him to do it some more.
She was beautiful, her bare breasts high and firm, the muscles of her upper body now didn't look so large. Her hips were still muscular and heavy. Her face was round, with puffy lips, the dark slanted eyes looked almost oriental. He had left arched eyebrows, and shaped her pubic hair into what he thought looked normal. Even her neck now appeared more like any normal woman, with the hair removed it no longer seemed to begin at just the shoulders. He left the hair on her head untouched, except he shaped it as best he could into a pageboy style. He had discovered she could lay her ears flat against her head, the hair did a good job of hiding the fact that they were set high on her skull.
He was rather proud of his handiwork. Hea now looked like a slightly large in the rear end woman in her 30's.
Harlen went and got one of the long dresses, lifted her arms and slid it over her. It actually was a pretty good fit. Then he spotted her tail, it stuck out the bottom a foot or so. Harlen hadn't shaved that since he knew now it was fully functional, a part of her every motion. She had used it during their lovemaking sessions, making that funny low "Krikrikrikri" sound he knew was her way of giggling. The sensation was amazing and Harlen liked that.
He looked and scratched his head, not knowing what to do.
Hea understood, though. She reached down, lifted the hem of the dress, then her tail wrapped around her waist snugly. She dropped the dress back down, smiled at him.
"Chi yie ke?" She asked him, wanting to know if it was ok.
