Arriving at the center of base, I sadly don’t get to just run straight home. I have to first get debriefed, give reports and my thoughts on the mission, what went well, what went wrong, how can we potentially improve for future missions. Lots of talking and lots of paperwork. Oh, how they love their paperwork. I also sadly can’t just bring in all my loot unnoticed. While the army doesn’t try to take anything from me, I do have to get it all cataloged and noted as being in my possession. All in all, just a bunch of busy work that has me kicking my leg impatiently as I go through my required post mission medical checkup with Dr. Doe. End result of course being that I have a perfect bill of health. Finally, I get sent home after giving another three vials of blood for the good Docters to play with.

As soon as I get released from the bondage of responsibilities and bureaucracy, I immediately head home and burst through the front door, only taking a moment to greet Mr. Lance at the door.

“Sky, I’m home!” I call out excitedly.

From further in the apartment, I hear her happily call out my name and come running. Barreling down the corridor as she jumps and throws herself into my arms where I wrap her up in a big hug.

“Mmm, I missed you. I was so lonely out there without you to cuddle with. Did you miss me?” I ask.

“Mhm, I missed you so much. Your family came by when they could, but I was still lonely without you. I wish I could go with you.”

I giggle as I give her a squeeze and she rubs her head against me, “You know it is too dangerous. I already have to keep everyone else safe while I am out there. I feel much better when I know that you are here, nice and safe, waiting for me to come home.”

“I know… I still wish that I could.” She says, mumbling into my chest.

I give her a smile and then notice as something pokes against me from where her head is against me. Taking my hand, I push aside her hair and give her horns a look. “Oh, looks like your horns are finally coming through! They're so cute.”

She looks up at me, still being a bit shorter than myself and gives me a big happy smile, “Yes, they finally came through yesterday! Dr. Doe says that they are growing nicely. I’m really excited!”

I give her another smile and kiss her on the forehead, which leaves her blushing cutely. “I’m happy that you are excited. Speaking of… I got you some presents while I was out. Have you eaten yet?”

“Presents!?” She asks happily, her tail wagging behind her even faster, “No I haven’t eaten yet. I heard that you got back, so I wanted to wait!”

“Good, because I haven’t eaten yet either. Come on, let me show you your first gift.” I say with a big smile as I take her by the hand and lead her out of the apartment.

“First? Ah wait, do I look alright for going out. I don’t want to look improper.” She frets.

“Don’t worry, you look beautiful. Come on.”

She blushes and looks down shyly as she lets me pull her behind me. As we walk out of the building, I can just barely hear her whispering the word ‘beautiful’ to herself. Which she is. She's looking rather nice today dressed up in a pair of skinny blue jeans and a nice wool sweater that is just the right size to hang loosely while also showing off her figure. It makes her look all the more huggable and I love it.

After some walking, we get to the location that I requested be set up while I was busy with paperwork and other nonsense. After all, it was in the contract that I signed that the army would get me anything I want so long as it is reasonable. And considering that I managed to bring everyone home alive with nothing but scratches, the army was very willing to be accommodating for me today as a bit of a reward.

Borrowing some soldiers and cooking staff, I put them to work on prepping her big gift.

Gently coaxing Sky out of her shy state, I get her to look up and show it off with a flourish. She gasps in amazement at what she sees in front of her.

“Tada! I hunted this for you! We’ve been eating nothing but that boar for a while, so when I saw it, I just had to bring it home. It is CHICKEN! Hahaahaha!”

Sky mouth drops open in surprise, and I can see the hunger flooding through her eyes and threatening to burst as drool as she gazes at the massive poultry being plucked and cleaned by a bunch of busily working soldiers.

She turns to me, finding it difficult to find her words, “Chicken? Bird? It’s a, it’s a big bird, right? Right!?”

“Yup, big, tasty bird. Humans raise them to eat and for their eggs. And this one is huge! Hahaha!”

“Bird…” She looks in the distance longingly as if losing herself in the past, “I ate a bird once. Caught it in a tree and ate it. The feathers got in the way, but the meat... It was so delicious! Can I eat it!? Please, can I eat the chicken!?” She asks excitedly, the only thing seeming to keep her from charging at its corpse like a mad woman, being a sliver of self-control and my presence still holding her hand.

I give her a laugh as I lead her over to a table, “Yes, but you must wait a bit. I’m having the cooks prepare one of its legs for us.” I tell her as we sit down next to each other, and I point over to where some people are busy working on removing one of the legs. Over on the side, some others are working on setting up a big open fire grill and prepping some seasonings and rubs for the meat while a guy at a table is all dressed up and prepping his knives to butcher the leg into cuts of meat.

“We’re going to have us a good old fashion chicken barbeque. It too bad that everyone else can’t join us though, people are still apprehensive about eating mutated and monster meat.” I give a shrug, “Oh, well. Just means more chicken for us. Also, they agreed to keep the rest of it stored for us in one of the cold storages underground. There’s no way that we would be able to keep all of this at home…”

Sky slowly nods along as she absentmindedly listens to me, her eyes permanently glued to her next meal and watching every step of the process like a hungry cat watching a bird in a cage. I simply giggle to myself as I watch her eagerly observe her food getting cooked, and again when the smell of grilling seasoned meat finally reaches her, and she almost loses herself again.

The moment when the food finally gets placed in front of her along with a fresh glass of some fruit juice, she looks as if she is about to cry from happiness. Quickly, she is tears into it with fork and knife and is savoring every bite, her tail happily slapping the ground behind us as she digs in. After I get my fill of watching her, I dig into my own food and am forced to laugh a bit, “Yup, taste just like chicken.”

We end up eating until we are both about to burst, and many of the people around the area are looking rather jealous, being lured in by the smell of barbequed chicken and seeing us enjoying ourselves. While I do offer for them to join us, they all sadly refuse while looking longingly at the meat. People still aren’t sure if it's safe to eat this kind of meat or not, but they most certainly are wishing that they could now.

With us finished eating and Sky looking as if she is about to slip into a food-coma, I thank the soldiers and staff for the help, and they let me know that they will finish processing it and get it stored away safely. They will bring a few pounds by our place later for us to keep in the freezer.

With our BBQ finished, I head back over to the table and put my pack on before scooping Sky up into my arms in a princess carry and start walking back towards our home. As I carry her, she happily rubs at her full stomach while playfully kicking her legs and laying her head against me.

She looks up at me with a happy little smile, “Thank you for the present. It was delicious. Tasted even better than the bird did.”

I give her a smile, “I’m glad you liked it so much. But I have more gifts for you when we get home.”

I can see the excitement in her eyes, but she quickly schools herself before saying, “You don’t have to give me anything else. You’ve already given me so much. I have hardly given you anything, but you give and give. I…”

I stop her with a kiss on the forehead, “I like giving you gifts because it makes me happy to see you excited. To see your eyes sparkle and watch you smile. Let me spoil you and treat you like a princess, that happiness is the only gift I need.”

She freezes up a bit, curling her arms up into her chest as she gazes at me with a big blush on her face before she slowly nods and whispers, “Ok.”

“Hmm, although… There is something you can give me. If you are willing.” I say playfully as I walk, completely ignoring everyone else around us as I gaze into her eyes.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“What is it?” She asks curiously, a bit of excitement flashing behind her gaze.

“You could give me a kiss? On the cheek perhaps?” I tell her, feeling a bit of heat rising in my face as she happily nods.

Looking very shy, she slowly moves forward and plants a gently kiss on my offered cheek before moving back and hiding her face behind her hands in embarrassment. I fight through my own embarrassment and giggle because of how adorable she is.

Ahh, I really was being an idiot. I had this cute girl right here and instead of being with her, I was worrying about other things. Such an idiot…

Leaning my head down, I whisper to her gently, “Thank you for the kiss, Sky; I’ll treasure it.”

She returns a meek nod as she continues to hide her face, but I can see the tip of her tail happily wiggling.

It doesn’t take too much longer until we get home, and I am setting her on the couch. Deciding to leave her be to cool her head for a bit, I go into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and for her some tea. By the time I am bringing everything back into the living room, Sky seems to have gotten herself back under control and is shyly griping the seat of the couch as she watches me deposit the drinks. After making sure that she takes a couple of drinks and relaxes some, I go back into the kitchen and fetch her other two gifts.

When the army was cataloging all of my spoils of war, they were kind enough to provide me with a small sack to store all the loose jewelry, gems, and metals in. So, walking out with two sacks, one small and velvety, and one big and bulging with clicking metal, I take and set the biggest one on the coffee table before going to sit next to Sky.

Handing her the small bag, I give her a nervous smile and say, “Here is your gift, I hope that you will like it. I picked it out because I thought it would look lovely on you.”

She looks back and forth between me and the sack excitedly before asking, “Can I open it!?”

“Of courses, please do.”

Untying the draw strings, she carefully reaches in and pulls out the necklace by its chain, holding it up in shaking hands as she looks at it from every angle and watches is sparkle in the light from the window, its four blue gems sparkling lightly with a blue glow from the light as they lock her eyes within their depths. Her voice shakes as she opens her mouth and tries to speak, unable to rip her eyes away from the treasure in her hands. “It… It’s beautiful.”

“Will you wear it for me?”

She finally manages to rip her eyes away and looks to me with a tear forming in her eye, “Yes. Yes I’ll wear it. I want to wear it!”

My body flooding with relief, I giggle a bit and then take the necklace from her and help put it on her as she holds her hair out of the way for me. With the necklace secured, she looks at herself excitedly before looking to me, “Do you… do you think it looks good on me?”

“You look beautiful.” I say, the words leaving my mouth without even so much of a thought. I soon find myself holding her face and gently caressing her as the overwhelming urge to kiss her on the lips begins to take over. Staring into her eyes, I can see that there is a similar desire hidden there. All I would have to do is move forward and her lips would be mine to take.

But I hold myself back, wrenching control over myself at the last second and standing up from the couch. Not yet Lain, stick to the plan. No jumping ahead.

Sky looks a bit disappointed as she watches me move away, but she soon grows excited again as she sees me standing by the table and holding the second bag, a smile and a blush gracing her face.

Pulling myself back under control, I move on to the next stage, “And now for your last present!” I say as I untie the bag. Up ending it, I dump its contents onto the table as necklaces, bracelets, rings, and a couple of bags of diamonds and other gems pours onto the table as Sky squeaks and chirps excitedly at all of the shiny treasures pilling up before her, glowing in the suns light cast from the window.

With shaking hands she sifts through the pile, holding up different pieces, opening up bags and marveling at their contents of sparkling gems. She shakenly looks to me as I sit down next to her and she asks, “For me? All this treasure; for me?”

“Yes, all for you. A pile of treasure fit for a princess to add to your hoard.”

“Lain…”

Tears begin to fill her eyes and I move forward to wipe them away. Taking her into my arms, I hold her close and finally tell her, my heart beating in my chest and threatening to rip through the black bones of my rib cage as the words finally escape my lips, “Sky, I love you. Will you be my girlfriend?”

The tears start to fall faster, and she throws herself against me, “Yes, I love you to!” She sniffs back some tears as she holds me, “I loved you ever since that day when you took me with you. When you didn’t leave me behind, even though you could have… I always wanted to tell you, but I wanted to wait until I was done changing; until I could properly tell you!” She says as she cries into my shoulder, her body shaking in my arms as I hold her.

Running a hand gently through her hair, I whisper to her, “I wouldn’t leave you there, I never would. Not after what I did.”

She pulls back a bit and blushes through the tears, “I didn’t mind what you did… That night, I was scared. I thought you were going to eat me. But then it got exciting… I liked it. Lain, I know that you blame yourself for the others leaving me, but that was because of me. I broke the rules and they left me. It’s not your fault.” She says as she caresses my face.

“But it is…” I tell her sadly. “I lured you into a trap. I tricked you just so I could have some fun. All because I was having a bad day. I caused it to happen. I…”

She puts her hand over my mouth and stops me from talking, “And now I am here, being held by my love and being showered in gifts. Feasting on the best food and sleeping in a wonderful nest. Dressed in wonderful clothes and getting treated like royalty. Instead of living in my little village in the trees, hiding from monsters that want to eat me, living every day off of scraps and starving for meat, and pining after a man that I didn’t even love and that held no interest for me at all.” She slowly removes her hand, her finger gently cresting the curve of my lips as they move away. “Would you rather that I had lived that life?”

“No. I want you here with me.” I tell her, my own eyes starting to fill with tears as I look at her. “Sky, can you forgive me for what I did?”

“There is nothing to forgive, I’ve never held any of this against you, and I never will.” She says with a gently smile.

The tears fall and I pull her close, her now sitting on my lap. Are faces now close together, she reaches up and wipes away my tears as I look into her eyes longingly.

“Sky, can I kiss you?”

“Yes.”

That single word sets my world on fire and my heart beats heavily in my chest. Sliding an arm behind her waist, I pull her in until we are both pressed against each other, our faces drawing nearer and nearer until our lips finally meet. For an instant that feels likes hours, static electricity courses through my brain in burst of ecstasy. In my arms, I can feel as she grows more and more excited by my touch, the both of us shifting and holding each other, refusing to let go. She opens her mouth for me and with a touch of her tongue, invites me to deepen our connection. Our tongues dance together, pushing and pulling, wrapping over one another as saliva is passed between us, her breaths becoming mine and mine hers.

Slowly we part, breezing heavily as I gaze into her eyes. Her face is flushed with heat and her eyes are doughy as her chest rises and falls with every breath of hot air that escapes her still open mouth. Her tongue looking lonely, as if it doesn’t know what to do with itself now that we have parted.

Neither of us can speak and I quickly give in to my desires, taking her by the shoulders, I push her down to the couch and embrace her, locking my lips with hers again as both of our hands rove over and explore each other’s bodies. My hands gliding down her shoulders, slowly climbing the peaks of her breast before sliding back down and along her stomach until eventually finding themselves flowing over her rear and then down her leg. As my own hands explore every inch of her body, I can feel as her own travels mine. Our hands having no set destinations as we feel and explore, grab and squeeze, as claws threaten to cut open clothes to get to the soft flesh underneath, wanting to tear each other apart in an attempt to become even closer. Eventually, we part our lips again, our hand having finally settled, hers holding my back with one on my rear as my own lays upon her chest with the other buried in her dark blue hair.

We gaze at each other longingly, words no longer able to reach our lips as animalist urges drown our minds and bodies. My hand moves slowly from where it rests on her rising and falling mounds, slowly creeping down and across her stomach until it finds its way to the buckle of her belt and quickly works to unclasp it before moving to unbuttoning her pants. My eyes never leave hers as I work, which is why I see when a flash of understanding go through her eyes. Quickly her hand leaves my back and goes to stop my hand from doing its work.

I can’t stop myself as a feeling of guilt and rejection courses through me, and I know that she sees it.

“Ah, Sky I’m sorry…!” I try, but she stops me. A look of guilt in her eyes.

“No, no don’t apologize Lain. You didn’t do anything wrong. I promise.”

“Then why…?”

“It’s too early… I’m not done growing yet. We can’t do that until I am done. Actually, I have a surprise that I wanted to tell you about when it happens.” She tells me with a small smile but also guilt in her eyes.

“Oh… But you do want to do it right? I’m not forcing you to or anything right? I don’t want you to if you don’t want to…”

“No no no.” She says shaking her head, “I want to, I really want to, just not yet.” Slowly, she wraps her hands behind my head and pulls herself up to me before planting a kiss on my lips and then gently whispers into my ear, her breath still hot from the excitement of earlier, “Once I am done growing, I am all yours. Then I will show you just how much I love you.”

My world freezes as my mind works in overdrive to process and memorize ever word that was just said, searing it into the deepest folds of my mind with a red hot iron so that it can never be forgotten, brain cells forever being dedicated to the sole task of memorizing every single word, letter, vowel and consonant, the way it was said, the sound of her voice, the heat of her breaths, the smell of her hair, the feel of her body, and the look in her eyes as she pulls away mischievously. Every single second of that moment being forever burned, seared, cauterized, and scarred into my very mind to remain forever.

“Will you wait for me?” She asks nervously but sweetly, probably not understanding just how profound of an effect her words had had on me.

I give her a nod and a kiss, “I can wait, but it will be torture you know.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers back, “I know that I am being selfish.”

“No, no. Not at all. Besides, I’ll manage... I am allowed to kiss you, right?”

“Of course! Whenever you want, my lips are yours and yours alone.” She whispers sweetly as she strokes my cheek, tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear.

“Then I think I’ll be able to survive a little longer.” I tell her softly as I embrace her. Our lips come together yet again, and we do not part for some time.

For the rest of the day, we hold each other on the couch cuddling and touching each other as we please, sharing kisses as the desire hits us until the sun eventually falls and night comes to the world. Sky falls asleep in my arms, and despite being incapable of sleep myself, I happily hold her in my arms and pet her hair as she sleeps, her head resting peacefully against my chest.

I am perfectly content with spending the entire night simply watching her sleep in my arms. And for once in my life, even if it is for only a single night, I find myself to be entirely free from stress or worries. There is only love for the girl being held in my arms.