Tempting My Trouble

The moments of being alone that followed up to her presence were agonizing for every second that would pass by while she was quiet behind him. His world was deafened under the haunting memories of Katar, he could not hear her behind him but he felt like she was still near. He had not even realized that he was growling through his breathing, the low rumble resonating within the rock cave that they shared their company in. He realized it only now as he was alone, as Katar's voice paused for a brief moment. Had he scared her? This was their first night together under claimed Ruina territory, and Elias could only hope that she would be understanding of this... moment of hesitation as he tried to hold himself together.

The fear of scaring her away must have started to overpower his fear of hurting her like he had done to Katar, as the ghostly voice of Katar had gone quiet. He was beginning to focus, wondering if Zuriel had already run- had already given up. He would not blame her, not after how he'd hurt her the first night they were together. She was in season then, too- and it seemed that.. nearly every time he was around a woman in heat something within him broke. He hadn't told her that his time in good standing for the last two years was spent primarily alone. How would he fair against his demons when he slept next to a woman that made him crave to claim her every single night? Would she be able to handle his hunger even if she hadn't taken this chance to flee just now?

He was about to look for her when he heard the click of her talons against the pebbles beneath them, making his ear flick. The relief that he felt sent his whole body into a storm of emotions, the feeling of them becoming something physical as waves of sensations washed over the back of his neck and spine- starting from the left side of his brain and making him just... utterly.. lost in such a feeling. For the moment, he was weak and trembling as she placed her paws on either side of his face, not even able to look at her as he simply shut his eyes and tried to gain control over this feeling. The sweet scent of lavender accented her already intoxicating fragrance and he inhaled deeply, his wide chest expanding quite dramatically to accommodate. The feeling of her, the smell of her and the help of the herbs almost immediately quieted his trembling.

'Let him go,' she whispered, both of his ears lifting to the precious sound of her words. Something compelled him to reach out and hook his left leg around the middle of her back to support her as he pushed his maw past her paws. He found her cheek with his own as he embraced her. If she lost her balance with her front two paws being shifted so suddenly, he would catch her and hold her still with that leg, and use his neck to wrap around the back of her nape and hold her to him. For now, it seemed as Elias gave in to his desire to engross himself in his mate- Katar did in fact 'let him go'.

He held her until the overwhelming feeling of being near her became easier to handle, and when he felt like he could listen to his senses and embrace the reality around him once again- he would carefully remove himself from her and help her find her balance if she needed. He focused on the dagger made of a ram's horn at his paws, stepping back enough that he could pluck it up with his teeth. His neck twisted from left to right a bit as he situated the knife in his jaws, getting it into a perfect position where he could control the blade as precisely as possible for a wolf. His ruby gaze drifted over to Zuriel finally, his head hanging even lower than his spine as he neared her once again. He said nothing, but his eyes told enough of his expectations as they trailed down her front half and lingered on her dainty paws.

As he waited for her to present one of them, he anchored his weight while sitting and lifted his own left forelimb. His teeth gripped the blade as tight as they could, muscles in her is jaws visibly twitching and then tensing as they readied themselves to aim. He brought his head low, his left forepaw coming up as though he were to scratch his own muzzle- though guided itself to the sharpest point he knew on the blade in one quick motion. He moved cautiously once he got closer, gliding his paw last minute slightly to the end of the blade and managed to slice into the skin between ankles and toes, along the inside of his leg. The skin there rested above visible veins and he took advantage of one of them just like he had done in the earlier oath to reopen the wound, though the movement had been so clean and quick that he hoped for an easier wound to heal after the process.

For now, though.. blood ran thick down from the open vein and trickled down to the bottom of his paw. He ignored it and used the very same paw to dig a bowl into the pebbles and soil of their den, of the Citadel of Ruina. Droplets began to form a puddle as he worked, but then his toes found their final resting place in the dampening soil. He waited for her leg, teeth tightly holding the blade even still as he dropped his widespread crown down in front of her.