The home that love built

Seeing Briar smile, hearing her laughter and watching her glowing with boundless bliss brought Artorias a peace and happiness the likes of which nothing else could. He was a family wolf at his core; everything he did, he did for his family's benefit. But even amongst all of his family, it was his flawless mate and wife who held his heart like no one else did. He loved Briar so unabashedly and completely, smitten with her and dedicated to her from the moment they had declared their feelings for one another as adolescents so many years ago. Nothing in the world made him feel the way he felt when he was with her. She was his sun and moon, his day and his night, his best friend and confidant, the love of his life. His Briar. Holding her gaze in this perfect moment, Art watched as Briar lifted a paw and began to stroke over the top of his head, coaxing a delighted, relaxing smile across her dire brute's lips as he enjoyed her tender affections. Those little scratches that she made with her claws over his scalp and around his ears sent little tingles of pleasure prickling over his skin, making his tail jerk and wag a little quicker in response as he melted into her loving.

Briar's remarks about the life they got to live together brought a huge, toothy smile to Artorias' face, beaming up at his mate with nothing short of pure love and adoration. The mention of the time her father had caught them coupling in the Armada barracks matched with that naughty grin on her beautiful features made Art's cheeks flush warm and a devilish grin of his own splitting his muzzle. "Well, in that moment, the only thing I was thinking of was how good making love with you felt and how much more I wanted to do it," he replied with shameless honesty, giving a husky chuckle as he tipped his muzzle down to kiss at her belly once again, a cheeky gleam in his fire-toned eyes. Briar declared her love for him then, using her pet name for him that she'd had for him since they were pups. Artorias would have responded immediately, but the extra good scratches she gave between his ears then made the blue brute's eyes flutter and roll back a bit as he groaned with delight, his toes curling with how good those head scritches of hers felt.

When she did eventually let up and his senses slowly came back to him, Art grinned up at Briar and draped a foreleg around Briar's waist, squeezing her body closer to his. "I love you, my Deer Girl," he declared in return. "Te iubesc din toată inima și sufletul meu." The giant sapphire paw that was draped across her side began to rub slowly over her round belly, hoping to soothe her while letting his claws ever so delicately dance over her skin and through the thin fur of her underbelly, also aiming to tease her oh so gently. That naughty grin and look in his eyes never left; Artorias loved his Briar so, so much, and even in their quiet interludes together, all he could think of was loving her senseless.

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius" | "Carpathian"