we need to have words

Her reassurance brought from him a dismissive noise of acknowledgement from the back of his throat, his anger at whatever had harmed her fading almost entirely in her very distracting presence. Should she have asked him to leave now to retrieve said hide, Az wasn't sure if he could even bring himself to stand. His wide paw lifted, aiming to come gently upon the side of her neck opposite to where his face nuzzled in close and hold her to him. The feeling of her plush fur between his toes made it hard to resist flexing them and hooking into his Empress more securely with his claws, though he did manage to resist. Even having gone from her for so long, she still felt like his, and everywhere Hattori's scent touched her he was driven to overwrite with his own.

The reminder of what she would do for him was like a dagger stabbing into his chest and he grimaced against her fur. She'd offered him the prize he'd always wanted - a throne beside hers, an Empire to rule beside her. Not giving her an answer that day was foolish, and the more he thought on it the more he wondered if the offer had already expired. Or had she given it to another? Biting back his growl, he nuzzled himself deeper into her fur. Before he knew it, his jaws were parting and he was peppering gentle nips down the side of her neck. Her suggestion was a sound one, though he dismissed it almost immediately and without consideration. "I don't want fresh air." He replied easily. 'I just want you, can't you see that?' The frustration bubbled, though melted away as fast as it had come on.