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She sniffed the scratches. As she nosed his thigh, a half smile came over Gamu’s face. “Careful, Missy. Especially now. After all, you’re in season and I find it a big turn on when a lioness touches me there.”
She looked away in disgust.
“Just you be careful with him,” Gamu warned. “He’s made it with you but he’ll never pledge to you. At least not with me around. But say the word and I’ll go far away. I am rather fond of you, my dear, and I don’t want you to be deprived of your happiness and consolation, not after what you’ve been through.”
She looked away. “He COULDN’T be attracted to you!”
Gamu sighed. “You’re right. Whatever you say.” He then added, “But tell me, was he a little awkward? You know, in his technique? He wanted you, but he didn’t quite know what to do?”
She looked at him, explosively angry. “How DARE you ask me that!”
“But it’s true. I can tell by your reaction. He’s not a virgin, you know. Why do you think they sent him packing? Do you really think the lionesses wanted him out of there because he was impolite?? They found him crouching with Ajhada in the bushes and that’s why he was forced out. You can’t trust him around other males. My dear, you must always remain a rogue if you want him--if you love him. Always a rogue. Out here in the open, you have a chance. And who knows--being a father may change him like nothing else would.”
She started to sob. He comforted her with a soft nuzzle. “Poor, dear Ela
“No, don’t go.”
“If you really wish it.”
“I do.”
Kubali came back. “It was nothing. Just a rabbit.”
Gamu made a show of an overly affectionate greeting, kissing and rubbing Kubali full length. I
Kubali came to Ela
“Don’t you TOUCH me!”
“La
“You know EXACTLY what’s wrong!”
Kubali looked at Gamu. “What have you been telling her??”
“Not what you think. Only about how we used to play as cubs.”
Ela
“Out of what?? We’re out in the corridors, remember?? Now La
“Well no longer! No more putting up with me! Get out!”
“Aren’t you going to at least tell me what I did?”
“You know what you did!”
“Fine!”
“OK!”
Kubali turned in a huff and charged off into the sava
CHAPTER: STORMY WEATHER
Gamu watched Kubali disappear into the distance, then when it was too late for her to cry out, he looked back around at her. “La
“Someday. Not today.”
“Yeah, I suppose so.” Gamu sighed and rolled on his back.
Ela
“Am I?”
“You feel like a leaf in the wind.”
“So I do.”
She rose and came about to face him. “What’s wrong, Gamu? Are you sick?”
“I was never more well in my whole life.”
“Then are you afraid?”
“Afraid?” He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
“If you’re not afraid, why are you trembling?”
He looked at her hungrily and intently. “You’re the one that said you hated a liar. You’re the one that wants the truth all the time. I asked you if you could ever get over him. You said someday.” He rose to his feet and faced her. “You are many things, but foolish is not one of them. I inhale the fragrance of a beautiful lioness in her receptive days and feel her warm body next to mine. Oh gods, I’m not made of stone! Ever since I first saw you, I fought my inclinations for Kubali’s sake. But now he’s gone, and I look at you lying there, so alone, so sad, so vulnerable, so very beautiful.”
She backed back a step, but he advanced another two, bringing him almost nose to nose with her. “Here’s the truth, if you can handle it. I breathe in your essence and it spreads like fire through my being. Ever since I met you, I have had passionate fantasies of your soft, beautiful body under mine while I explore you and tremble. Oh gods, to know this pleasure would heal a world of hurts for me.”
Her tail clamped firmly down and she trembled. “There’s no law against dreams. Not as long as they end when you wake up. I will defend myself if I must!”
“Who said I would force myself on you? La
She looked at him with mixed pity and disgust. “Maybe I should remove the temptation. I will go away--far away. Maybe you’ll find someone else to crouch with.”
“Why? Am I ugly?”
“No.”
“Stupid??”
“No! Of course not.”
“Then why not??”
“You are great for a story or a joke, but the thought of you mounting me makes me sick. Even pity won’t make me crouch for the likes of you. Understand?”
She turned to leave.
“You never know how long a single female can make it in this land.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Then, as if on cue, a hyena came up from the grass and growled menacingly. Gamu stood protectively in front of Ela
Behind some bushes Gamu began to beat the earth, while Griz’nik began to shriek horribly. Gamu growled and tore into the earth, and Griz’nik made one heart-rending yip, then fell silent. Griz’nik got the rabbit he had cached away and watched with amusement as Gamu minced it in his jaws, soaking his face in blood, then wiping his mane with his paws to bloody them. “Not bad,” Gamu whispered.
Gamu returned to the shocked Ela
She shrank from his touch. “If you respect me at all, you’ll keep this locked away inside of you and never mention it again. And unill I’m through my period, I’d really prefer that you sleep apart from me. Stay nearby, but don’t touch me.”
The icy silence that she began continued for some hours. Gamu was begi
“I guess so.”
She had spoken! Hearing her voice again was a balm for his woes, and he did anything to hold her in conversation, becoming too talkative to seriously stalk prey. Instead they settled for making a new kill by watching the buzzards. Ela