Caring Carries Cakes

Disclaimer: This story was written by a friend as payment for a favor. He wishes to remain anonymous.

—

“So whaddya think?” I asked as I stood over the freshly made plate of chocolates with my paws perched proudly on my hips.

“Oh, you decided to make cookies instead?” Bakat, the apophis next door whose kitchen I was borrowing asked as she poked at one of my creations.

The lich beside her picked up another and turned it over in her hand. “High lactose content, molten core, lack of gluten. This is a chocolate. I think.”

“See, Saba gets it! Honestly, how can I trust your opinions when you can’t even tell a cookie from a chocolate?”

“Haha, yeah, I wonder,” Bakat laughed after her chocolate crumbled in her hands and fell back onto the plate. “Hey, have you ever considered buying Daniel something for Valentine’s Day?”

Saba took a bite as I stared at Bakat in disgust.

“Of course not! What kind of girlfr—” the thought trailed off as I caught the lich slowly keeling over from the corner of my eye. “Uh, did she just die?”

“Little bit,” Bakat replied.

“Maaaan, what am I going to do?!” I cried, sinking to my knees with my forehead against the table.

 

    We were gathered around the table in Bakat’s apartment, sampling my latest V-Day gift idea. The busty purple lamia with the tits for days and annoyingly silky hair was Bakat, I’d borrowed her kitchen so I wouldn’t leave traces of what I was working on all over mine. Things worked out pretty well so long as I could get her to stop whining about cleaning the kitchen.

 

    Then there was Saba, the girl on the floor looking even more dead than usual. She was quiet, and honestly kinda gloomy, but you could always count on her if you were in need of some brutal honesty. Her lithe figure made Bakat and I both look curvier in comparison too, so she was the perfect way to complete our trio. Blue and purple. Sometimes I wondered if hanging out with someone on the other end of the rainbow would be nice, then I realized I couldn’t drink well enough to keep up with an oni.

 

Whether I was surrounded by friends or not I’d met with another failure, and I hadn’t even tried for a filling this time. The rustle of fabric announced Saba’s imminent revival, and Bakat dusted her off as she stood.

“You okay?” The snake asked, “that looked like it hurt.”

Saba flashed her a thumbs up. “Dead before I hit the ground.”

“Man…”

“Maybe not the best thing to say,” Bakat sighed. “Look Carrie, don’t get so worked up, okay?”

Saba walked over to pat my shoulder with a perfectly deadpan “there, there.”

“Yeah,” Bakat agreed, “you’ll be fine. Men are really simple, if you want to make him happy all you need is steak and a blowjob.”

“True. I have tests—” Saba began

“That’s a normal Tuesday! Even if it wasn’t, I want to do something really special. I mean, it’s our first one. We need food and flowers and romance and perfect gifts. These stupid paws aren’t helping. Everyone on TV makes this stuff look so easy, but when I try it never goes right. I wish I had hands.”

“Come on, it’s not about hands, it’s about practice.”

The lich nodded. “And opposable thumbs.”

“Saba!” Bakat blustered.

“I have those.”

“Oh… right. Well anyway, it’s still the middle of January; you’ve got a month to practice.”

“That means I only have a month! This sucks!”

“Well,” Bakat mused with a finger on her lip, “if you’re that worried about not getting good at making chocolates in thirty days, you can always do what I do…”

 

“Really, Bakat?”

 

I looked down at the slip of paper she’d given me to make sure I was at the right place… and I was. The snake had sent me to the local Ryuu shrine. Several shirohebi in winter clothes bustled about a central plaza sweeping and directing the many visitors still trickling in after the new year. I sighed, and talked to one that directed me to the main shrine for a divination.

 

    The building was a garish red and white deal with a curved tile roof, lending it a feel as foreign as the shrine maiden’s clothing. In front of the door stood—uh, waited— yet another shirohebi holding a square wooden basket. Her expression was so serene I couldn’t tell if her eyes were even open.

“Greetings,” she said as I approached. “You have come to visit the Great Ryuu?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Truth was I didn’t really know what I was doing there, but if some dragon lady could tell me what to do for V-day I’d let her.

“The Great One will see you after you give your most gracious donation.” Money. Right. I dug through my purse and plopped a ten into the tray.

“After your MOST gracious donation,” the snake repeated.

“Alright, alright.” Another twenty dollars of my hard-earned money fluttered on top of the other.

“Most generous,” the shirohebi intoned again. Like hell I was paying more than thirty bucks for a fortune-telling, I crossed my arms and gave the reptile my best glare. That expression of hers didn’t budge an inch, but before long beads of sweat formed on her forehead. I leaned closer.

“The, uh, Great Ryuu will see you now.” Damn right she would. I walked through the door held open for me and involuntarily paused.

 

    If nothing else these guys knew how to set an atmosphere. Being one giant room probably helped, but somehow it looked bigger from the inside. The air, in stark contrast to the cool dryness outside was warm and humid; not refreshing, but extremely cozy. Somewhere in the distance a hidden musician plucked at a string instrument in a rhythm only he could understand, but the sound was beautiful nonetheless. Most strikingly though, was the floor. It was all one giant pool spanned by walkways, and also the sole source of light in the room. It lent a diffused blue glow to the surroundings. I walked silently, aided by my leathery pads, to the end of the central walkway where the Great Ryuu waited.

 

    There again was another humbling display. The path split at right angles around where she rested in the pool, her long snake body twisting out of sight under the walkway’s supports. She wore clothing similar to those of her shrine maidens, but heavily embroidered with gold and red thread. The fabric was damp after spending so much time near the water, almost see-through clear up to the curve of her breasts, but her hair still seemed dry. To top it all off, she was beautiful. It was no wonder I didn’t object when she called me forward.

 

“Come closer, child.” her voice boomed in

“Um, hi.”

“Greetings, pawed one. You have come before me today, why?”

“It’s for my boyfriend, and—”

“Oh? A matter of love? My favorite! Do continue!”

“Right.” It was really hard to get back my train of thought after that sudden flash of girlishness though.  “So uh, Valentine’s Day is coming up and I want to do something special. I was thinking of making chocolates as a gift, but I mess up every time and now I just don’t know what to do.”

“Ah, I see,” the dragon said with a nod. “I sense the issue is not in your inability to cook. In such times you must be as the snake eating its own tail.” Eating my own tail? What good was masturbating going to do? “Your heart is set on a destination, yet your path is one of a ray of light in a house of mirrors. Forging straight ahead may lead you far astray.”

“Can you say that again in English?”

“The interpretation one takes is as important as the words themselves, my child.”

“Yeah, only I have no idea what the hell you just said.” Maybe if I gave her a good shake she’d talk straight. But then, assaulting the water deity surrounded by a giant pool might not be the smartest thing I’d done today.

The dragon tapped a claw against her lip. “Well, if you’re unable to decipher The Great Ryuu’s wisdom and wish to make a man happy on Valentine’s Day you can alway go with a nice steak and a blowjob.”

“…I want a refund.”

 

    I dragged my paws as I left the main shrine building. The plaza was kept too clean for there to be any rocks to kick, but I still took a shot at an uneven paver. Ow!

“Are you troubled, miss?” I faced the shirohebi slithering towards me and gave her a good once over as she approached. She smiled just like the one in front of the ryuu’s door, only this one’s actually felt genuine. Her eyes were also open which was a little less creepy. Now if only her irises were some color other than blood red…

I sighed. “Troubled. That’s a good word. Annoyed or depressed would be the one’s I’d reach for, but that works.”

“And I see your visit to the Great Ryuu has helped you little?”

“Pff. Maybe if she didn’t talk in riddles.”

“You’ll have to forgive her,” the snake smiled, “it seems no one takes her seriously unless she makes them work for the answers a bit. What did you consult her about?” I explained and the shirohebi nodded as I spoke. “Ah. Well when I give a gift I like to make it personal.”

“Right?! That’s why I wanted to make the chocolate myself! I can’t just go to the store and buy something on our first V-Day!”

She shook her head. “No miss, you misunderstand. When I make a gift for someone I love so much I never want to let them out of my sight because if I do I know they’re so wonderful they’ll be constantly assaulted by a gaggle of filthy whores whom he shouldn’t show the time of day but will anyway because he’s a nice person and wouldn’t refuse to acknowledge anyone, I like to put a piece of myself in it. Looooooots of little pieces to show my love so we’re together forever, ehehehe.” Well that wasn’t creepy at all. Christ, her eyes were out of focus and everything.

“Little pieces. Right. Well I’m just going to go and not come back now…”

“Oh, excuse me.” The snake blinked, and suddenly there was this aura of normalcy around her again. “I get that way when I think of my lover. Even if he doesn’t know he’s my lover yet. What was I talking about?”

“L-little pieces?”

“Right! Well, that’s the logical extreme anyway. If you just want to be certain he’s happy no matter what a steak and a blowjob will do.”

“What is it with you people and blowjobs?! Urk…” Yup, there wasn’t a single head in a very wide earshot of me that wasn’t turned my way. Dammit Carrie. “Haha, anyway, thanks for the advice,” I mumbled as I edged away.

“Any time,” the reptile said with a wave, “Be sure to come back for Chinese New Year too!”

 

    Well that hadn’t helped at all. I did my best to keep my back and my ears straight and headed to the bookstore while I was out. I drifted over to the cooking section with the help of some signs hanging from the ceiling. Crap, I didn’t even know where to start with BOOKS on chocolate. I wandered aimlessly up and down the aisle, reading spines and trying to remember  titles I’d heard mentioned during my internet searches.

“Uh…”

Yup, I had nothing. One of the covers caught my eye though. There was this really rich, moist looking chocolate… cake? Was that a cake? The cake and chocolate cook books weren’t far apart, after all. I gingerly slid a claw between the shelf and book to slide it out. I popped open the cover and thumbed through the pages. My excitement grew with each one. This was really good stuff, they even looked better than some of the candies in the other books. Hmm… Danny liked cakes, right? I’d never heard him say he didn’t. It wasn’t like I couldn’t still make them chocolate flavored at least, right? And if I baked them in the shape of a heart…

 

I left the store skipping, that baking book wrapped to my chest by both arms.

 

    C’mon, c’mon, c’mon! The door to Bakat’s apartment finally opened after the fifteenth time I rang the bell. My friend didn’t look very enthused to see me.

“Jesus, Carrie, what’s—”

“Warm up the oven!” I exclaimed as I brushed past her.

“What do you need the oven for?”

“For this!” I spun and showed The apophis the book in my paws.

“Cake? That could work. I’ll go get the mixer, but please clean up after yourself this time.”

“Hey, after that time I had to help you shed ‘cause your scales were all flaky—”

The snake darted forward and clamped a hand over my mouth. “Alright, alright, just don’t talk about that now, Bruce is in the next room.”

 

    With that I got to work. I’d never really realized how many types of cake there were before, but the variety was staggering. There were sponge cakes, butter cakes, yeast cakes, cheesecakes and a bunch of other cakes that weren’t technically cakes but the authors included because people would want to know how to make them. Then there was shape: bundt? Layers? Sheets? Rolls? There were too many options and I had to try making them all to see what I liked!

 

    Baking became a full time job. Whenever I wasn’t at work or spending time with Daniel I was in Bakat’s kitchen, trying a new recipe or refining earlier attempts. Luckily she didn’t mind the heat, but I was really going to have to give her a few bucks for her utility bills. It wasn’t like the effort didn’t show, I actually got to be okay after two weeks time baking too many cakes to count and using enough chocolate to kill a village of werewolves, but I still wasn’t there.

 

    I stood, knife in hand eyeballing a freshly cut slice of my latest work. The crumb was okay, nice texture there. Maybe I could’ve gone a little cooler with the temperature. I’d need to make a note to recalibrate the oven, too…

“Carrie,” Bakat whined next to me, “we need to talk.”

“I’m busy.”

“That’s exactly it! You’re here all day making these delicious smelling cakes now AND you make us try them!”

“And?” The frosting could’ve done with a bit more time in the mixer, huh?

“And we’re all getting fat! Have you ever seen a fat lamia? We get all stubby and gross looking.”

“Doesn’t all your fat go to your chest anyway?”

“I already went up a cup size, Carrie! Remember that cute bra I bought? Doesn’t fit any more.”

“I’m sure Bruce is heartbroken.”

“Sure he may not mind, but… what about Saba?”

We both stared at her, but the lich barely looked up from the newspaper.

“She’s undead. I don’t know what she even does with all that food—”

“Secret,” Saba muttered.

“—But wherever it goes it’s not sticking.” She could use some more meat on her anyway; she was practically skeletal.

Bakat sighed, but wasn’t quite ready to relent. “What about you though? You’re not gaining any weight.”

“100 sit ups, 100 push ups and a 10k run every single day. And a little aerobic sexercise for good measure.”

“Oh?” The apophis’ eyes lit up at that.

“Yeah, I’ll let you borrow my wrist weights sometime. Anyway, taste.” I popped a sliver of baked good into her open mouth before she had a chance to complain about anything else. Bakat’s eyes widened, and not just in surprise.

“This is really good!”

“It should be better. I’m doing everything right, but it’s like… the book isn’t there to show me where I’m messing up so I can perfect everything.”

“So take a class,” Bakat suggested.

That wasn’t a bad idea, actually. “Where do they have baking classes I can still get into?”

Saba’s ridiculously soft voice came with the answer. “Community center.”

“The community center?” Bakat asked with a tilt of her head, “I forgot we had one of those.”

“Mmm, a good one. Lots of classes. Poisonous but Fun Plants and Berries, Knitting, Basic BDSM, Necromancy, Baking.” With a lineup like that I wasn’t sure if those should be taught in a castle somewhere or my grandma’s living room. “One starting Saturday.”

“Hmm…”

Bakat shrugged. “Sounds like a sign to me.”

 

    As it turned out, my luck couldn’t have been better. After signing up I Googled the instructor, one Mrs. Ramsay, and it turned out she used to run one of the best bakeries in town before retiring. I guess she picked up teaching for the hell of it after she didn’t need to keep the tricks of her trade secret any more.

 

    The first day of class the room was packed. A quick head count revealed we had far more people than ovens and everyone barely fit in the room. This was going to be annoying.

“Alright, listen up!” the instructor looked like an old lady, but she had the voice of a drill sergeant. “It seems the oh so brilliant coordinators gave me a class with too many people! There’re too many of you and not enough of me or equipment! Line up and I will select who among you gets the privilege of taking my class!”

 

Uh-oh. How was I going to approach this? The submissive route? Match her will? I tittered nervously as she made her way down the line asking different questions to each person ahead of me and either sending them to the front of the room or out the door. Could you do that someplace like this?

“You!” she bellowed when she finally made it to me. “Why are you here?!”

“To make great cakes, ma’am!” ‘Ma’am?’ Well I guess that answered that question; it was damn hard not to be meek around this woman. I could probably learn more from her than just baking.

“You don’t want to make cakes! You don’t have the passion for cakes!”

“No, ma’am!” Somehow the room managed to go even quieter as the woman mad dogged me. Crap, that was a really dumb answer. There was no going back now, but why was I there? Of course. I struggled to suppress a smile as I finished. “Ma’am, I have a passion for my boyfriend, ma’am!” I could practically see her brain ticking while she connected the dots. C’mon…

She raised a finger and pushed it into my chest. “You.” ‘Front’ or ‘out’ would be her next word. Please say front! “Front.”

 

Yes!

 

    I milled about at the front of the room with the other people that made the cut, trying to keep my tail from wagging. I’d just gotten myself into a class from one of the best bakers in town! Even if she was kind of a bitch, so long as I kept my head down I was sure to pick up what I needed!

 

    After dismissing the last of the rejects Mrs. Ramsay circled the chosen few like a shark. After a few passes she nodded to herself like she’d decided something, and took a spot in front of a wide white board. She leered over us in silence before making three circles on the whiteboard.

“This is the part of the class where I’m supposed to read the syllabus to you. You all seem to be over the age of five, so I’m going to trust you can read it yourselves. Now listen up, here comes the important part.” There was a faint rustling as several people pulled out paper for notes. “I will give you techniques. I will give you recipes. That is not what it takes to make a good cake. No, there are three things you need. The first,” she said putting a marker next to the first circle and writing, “is patience. Patience to learn. Patience to research, patience to cook. Second is the best ingredients you can find. You cannot make a great anything without great material. You all paid an unusually large fee to be here. That is not because I’m an expensive instructor, it’s because I refused to teach with the cheap shite that is normally provided for this class. As we move forward you will learn why I insist on the best. Finally, the one important thing that cannot be bought or learned… is passion. I don’t care if you have a passion for sweets like the fat fuck in the corner there, passion for attention like our friend the overdressed soccer mom or,” her eyes softened just a little as she glanced towards me. “Passion for a lover. Whatever it is, if you can funnel it into your work in the kitchen you WILL need it to succeed. Now stop staring at me, you slack-jawed pricks, we’ve got cakes to make!”

 

    That was the day I discovered hell. I’d been cooking for hours a day anyway, but even though the class was about as much time as I’d been spending baking my sessions were never so much work. With three weeks of that ahead of me I might just die before valentine’s day even came around. Christ, even my paws were cramping!

 

It was that night Daniel chose to come over. Even Bakat would’ve gotten the door slammed in her face, but I didn’t have it in me to turn Danny away. He just walked right on in with his usual smile, then we chatted a bit and settled in on the couch. Normally that would be the time for me to milk a few shots out of him, but all I really wanted to do was go to bed so we ended up snuggling. He always did like doing that, the little cuddle slut. Not that I minded.

 

    I settled into his shoulder, staring at the TV without actually looking at it. On a whim I slung my tail across his lap—maybe if he wanted to fool around a little I’d let him if he did most of the work—but Danny seemed far more interested in my paws instead. He took one heavy limb in both of his hands and squeezed at my pads. More than anything he was just playing with me, but it still felt amazing.

“Long shift?” He asked as he poked at one particularly large kink.

“You could say that. I had to deal with a boss that might be related to Satan.”

“You got a new one?”

“She’s a temp.” I hated dancing around the truth like this, but if I didn’t I’d ruin the surprise. I needed a grand ‘Carrie, I didn’t know you baked!’ unveiling.

“That’s weird. Switch.” I offered him my other paw and Danny set to ‘work,’ this time taking the chance to play with the fur growing between my digits.

“Well, every once in a while—wait, go back to that spot. Yeahhhhh that’s good~”

Danny snorted. “You know, I really do love these things. I could do this all night.”

I groaned as he found another tight spot before continuing. “I don’t see why, they’re just paws. ‘course if you wanna keep rubbing me I won’t say no.”

“Whaddya mean you don’t see why?” he asked, bringing my paw to his face so he could rub his face in it as he spoke. “They’re soft and squishy and warm and fuzzy and—” Danny twisted so he was nose deep in my paw cleavage and took a deep whiff—“And they smell like vanilla.”

 

    Vanilla? Vanilla?! I’d scrubbed those things clean, how did they still smell?! Forget that Carrie, you need a distraction!

“Wha—” Danny exclaimed when I jerked my arm away. “Where’s the fire?”

“My paws are fine!” Before Danny could say anything else I took my tail out of his lap and twisted so my head rested on his thighs facing his body, and for good measure wrapped my arms around him too. He sighed.

“I think I might’ve spoiled you.”

“Well don’t stop now.”

 

I flicked my ears while I knew he was looking down at me. Danny rested a palm against my head. C’mon, take the bait and don’t ask any more questions… ah! One of his fingers lightly brushed against the guard hairs in my top ear. Even as my ear whipped in frenzied circles at his touch a shiver slid down my spine accompanied by a crazy strong tingle. Goosebumps followed in the sensation’s wake, sending my already racing heart beating even faster before it finally slowed. Ah, what sweet torture. That first touch was always ridiculously intense, but the happy squeak I couldn’t suppress and my tense legs forcing me farther into his lap only encouraged him to do more.

 

Danny’d really gotten a feel for my sensitive spots over the last few months and he picked at them relentlessly, teasing my hairs, gently tugging at my ear and scratching my mane. As he went the feelings faded into sort of a background buzz that wrapped my entire body in a warm pleasure. A warm, soothing pleasure in the arms of my lover.

“You really are too cute, little lion,” he sighed.

All I managed to murmur as exhaustion made my eyes too heavy to keep open was a sleepy “roar.”

 

    It was moments like that which became my motivation. Mrs. Ramsay was a demon, the pace of the class was frantic and people dropped like flies, but I soldiered on. And you know, through all that screaming and demeaning I got good. As it turned out, everything was a twist on concepts already learned; by the final sessions I didn’t struggle at all. Still, no matter how good I’d gotten it all felt impersonal. I thought back to what that shirohebi had said. A piece of myself, huh? The first thing to come to mind was some sort of trademark decoration like the lady Mrs. Ramsay called out as a soccer mom liked to do, but that seemed so superficial.

 

    What was even special about me? Danny seemed to love my fur, but there was no way I could bake that into a cake. I could probably shave it into the shape of my meat lotus, but that would be garish. Wait, what if I made a cake he could f—no. What was I, a succubus?

 

It was so easy to get lost in thought while I was cooking, I had nothing to do but perform a few tasks I’d now repeated so often I could do them in my sleep and think about Danny. The things I was going to do when this all came together… I didn’t even notice the man creeping up behind me until he landed a solid swat on my backside. I jumped and my tail shot out straight to my side; I just barely managed to stop myself from shooting a volley of spines in surprise.

 

Easy, Carrie. Now’s not the time to go ballistic. Just play it cool and everything will be fine. Of course, it really wasn’t fucking helping that he’d yet to take his hand off my ass.

“You know, you’ve got this cute way of wiggling your butt when you mix.” The wood-handled spatula in my hand audibly cracked under the pressure I was squeezing it with, but the jerkoff behind me didn’t seem to notice. “We’re supposed to be in here baking, but the only cakes I can think about are yours. Hey, after this let’s you and me—ow!” The prick STILL touching my ass shouted when I caught the skin of his hand between two claws and pinched to pull it away. I turned to face him with a smile that was probably more grimace than anything and delighted in watching the color drain from his face.

“Uh, hey, baking, am I right?” He managed a strained smile as I stepped toward him. He kept his distance, babbling as I walked toward him sporting a toothy smile of my own. “Listen, so if you don’t want to go out later that’s fine, I kind of had plans l—”

 

Then he was next to the garbage can, right where I wanted him. It was one of those big red thirty gallon deals halfway full of cake cuttings, icing and fruit peels, all just waiting for someone to stick to. The bastard managed one more step back before I caught his collar in both hands.

“You wanna see some cakes, asshole? I’LL SHOW YOU SOME FUCKING CAKE!” In one movement I flipped him ass over appetite and head first into that gelatinous pile of refuse. “I’LL SHOW YOU TO SLAP MY ASS! STOP SQUIRMING AND I’LL SHOVE THIS SPATULA SO FAR UP YOURS—”

 

“—ME DOWN! IT’S HIS FAULT FOR BEING A MOLESTING MOTHERFUCKER RUNNING AROUND TOUCHING TAKEN WOMEN’S BUTTS!” I screamed at the oni dragging out of the community center in a full nelson.

“Yeah, yeah. Just—stop kickin’!”she grunted. “Just be glad anyone’s got the balls to grab your ass. I want someone to go for a quick pinch there’s gotta be a lotta whiskey involved.” With that said she unceremoniously dropped me at the foot of the steps leading to the door. “Oh, and Mrs. Ramsay says you’re not welcome back. In less kind words.”

 

    I listened to her footsteps fade away with drooped ears. Man… I’d probably learned enough to make a damned good cake, but I’d never gotten a chance to ask what I should do to personalize things. Here I was again on a path but with no idea where to go. With no better goal in mind I wandered to my car and sat behind the wheel. The essence of Carrie, huh? The essence of a manticore.

 

What was it Danny even saw in me? I knew for me it was his genuine but poor sense of humor, gentle caring, and those cute little faces he made when I hunted him down. That kept him around me? Hmm… I pulled the rearview mirror towards me and studied my face. Then stuck my tongue out. Then grinned in that way only manticores can.

“Think, think, think,” I chanted to myself while rubbing my face into my paw  It wasn’t like I wasn’t cute or anything, and I did have a smirk that could strike anger and boners deep into the hearts of men, but it couldn’t just be physical, not with him. Whatever it was I wanted to funnel it into a desert. I still had no idea what, though!

 

    I glared at myself in the mirror until my tail, lashing in frustration, caught my attention. A manticore’s tail… shaping a cake like it was still out of the question, but there was more to Ms. Happy than that. There was the intimidation, and the spines and the venom. The venom? The venom! I could do something with that! Maybe an icing or something with a little hit of my best stuff that’d leave him begging for the V for hours. Sneaking that into the food was totally something I’d do, and he appreciated my playful streak, right? Perfect! All I’d have to do is work the venom into the icing recipe so I didn’t make it too watery and… no, that wouldn’t work. Manticore venom was a protein; eating it wouldn’t affect anyone because it’d just denature in the stomach before making it into the bloodstream. That idea was way too good to let go of though.

 

Ah! At the hospital there’d been a few cases of men coming in hopped up on girtablilu or oomukade venom without a single bite or sting mark on them, only a sensitive red splotch on them somewhere. There was something out there people were using to get venom into the blood without breaking the skin. I knew some people with connections that could probably get me where I needed, but it’d take a few days. That was all I had left before the big day; this was gonna be close.

 

    Three days later I stood in front of a house in the kind of neighborhood where you clutch your purse closer to you without thinking about it. I’d passed four beaters just to get from where I’d parked to the door a rundown house. After a deep breath to steady myself I gingerly pressed the doorbell and waited. A wild-eyed manticore with corn rows flung the door open and looked over me before speaking.

“Who the hell is you?”

“I’m, uh, my name is Carrie. I wanted to buy some Mate Bait.”

“I don’t know what you talkin’ ‘bout, but you got the wrong house.” The woman on the other side of the threshold made to close the door before I remembered what I was supposed to say.

“Jayqwanda sent me!”

The manticore paused, glared at me. “What that bitch want?”

“She wanted me to tell you…” I mumbled, the words trailing off before I could finish the sentence.

“I axed you—”

“SHE SAID YOU GOT A FATASS TAILPUSSY!”

“She damn right I do. C’mon in, gurl, mah name’s Hookah.”

I nodded, then walked past her with my head low. “Oh, she said she wants that twenty dollars you owe her, too.”

“You see Jayqwanda bitch ass again you tell her she ain’t gettin’ shit.”

 

Okay, almost there. All I had to do was give the lady some money and leave, hopefully not getting mugged inbetween. Easy. Or at least it would’ve been if Hookah had pulled out her product instead of sitting down on her worn couch and lighting a cigarette.

“Sit down, Kelly.”

“Actually it’s Carrie and I was hoping I could just—”

“I SAID sit down.”

“Right.” After I surreptitiously studied the love seat facing Hookah to make sure I wasn’t going to end up in a puddle of vomit or something I eased myself into it and tried not to fidget. Then I fidgeted. Not that I could really blame myself; I was used to dealing with guys that thought thought they could outsmart me at the worst. This woman looked like if she couldn’t outsmart me she’d just shank me. Oh god, WOULD she shank me? That thought alone made my wiggling even worse as I withered under Hookah’s glare. When she finally spoke it was like she was talking to a child.

“Whatchu gon’ do with my Mate Bait?”

“Uh, do? Is that something you normally ask?”

Hookah continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “You ain’t hard. You don’t wanna go out and blast some nigga wit a dose of ‘girty venom and rape ‘im in no alley. So I’m axin’ what you gonna do.”

“Oh. I’m not rapeing anyone, I want it for my boyfriend.” The manticore on the couch cocked her eyebrow and I continued. “I was planning on surprising him with some venom in the icing on a cake after a nice quiet night. You know, so right when he’s wondering when I plan on pricking him he’s already reacting to my venom?”

“Shit, that ain’t bad,” Hookah nodded with a claw to her chin. “You got a recipe or somethin’?”

 

    I left the house with a lighter wallet, a jar of Mate Bait in my paws and a shopping list formed while I scratched out my cake plans for Hookah. Like I thought I really was cutting it close; it was the night of the 13th and I’d spent so much time sweating about getting the Mate Bait I still hadn’t gotten around to buying the rest of the ingredients for the cake. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

 

    Chocolate from Little Belgium. Milk from that holstaurus dairy on the edge of town. Cake flour from the hoighty toity supermarket with the inflated prices but amazing product. Steak from the butcher. Eggs and broccoli from that grocery where I’d made friends with the owners and got the fresh stuff first. Home. Nap. Mix—doorbell?

______________________________________________________________________________

 

The apartment suddenly went quiet as soon as I pressed the buzzer. the little spot of light coming through the peephole went dark, then the door swung open far enough for Carrie to poke her head out.

“Danny?” she asked, squinting at me as if she thought I might’ve found a long lost twin, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh?” I glanced down at the bouquet and gift bag in my hands, then back up at her. “Well you know, it’s Valentine’s Day. Like, you know, the Valentine’s Day?. I thought maybe my girlfriend might want to go out with me to this French restaurant a friend of mine got us some reservations at.”

“You’ve got reservations? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise, but I thought you’d assume I would do something.”

“I’M doing something. Cancel them.”

 

I hesitated. It wasn’t like I didn’t like Carrie’s cooking, but it felt kinda wrong to have her in a kitchen today of all days. That and who knew if I’d ever get to eat at this place again if I didn’t take the table I had now; lord knew it already cost me enough, forget getting in again. Apparently my moment of indecision was too long; Carrie opened the door, grabbed me by the tie and sent me stumbling to fall down on the couch. Without saying a word to me she walked further into the house then came to me and thrust an item into each hand.

“Here’s the phone, here’s the remote. You know what to do.”

“Fine…” I grudgingly dialed the number while my girlfriend stood over me.

“And stay out of the kitchen. If I catch you peeking I’ll…”

“Milk me until I pass out?”

“That would be a reward. I’ll ride you to death and then have Saba bring you back so I can do it again, got it?”

“Okay, okay. No peeking.”

 

    She nodded, then stalked off to work whatever magic she was planning on doing tonight. With a sigh I sank back into the couch and clicked on the TV. Carrie got pretty gruff at times, but she was a manticore; she wouldn’t be the same girl if she just said ‘no, I want to cook for you tonight’ with a girly pout. Besides, when I did manage to goad her into saying something like that her reactions were priceless.

 

    She sounded really busy in there and even from where I was the fact that she was making something amazing was clear. I’d come over with an empty stomach to begin with, but the smell of searing meat, sauteing vegetables and something sweet being baked almost made me eat my fist. C’mon Danny, hang in there. Carrie wouldn’t do this to you unless it was worth it; this didn’t have the feel of one of her tricks, nor was it especially heart-pounding. Just focus on the TV, that’ll do it. Wait, why are you watching the Food Network?! That’s not helping at all!

“Hey,” Carrie called from beside me after I’d finally managed to zone out, “I’m done.”

“Sweet, I’m starving.” I stood and made my way toward the table, only to have a strong paw redirect me. “Carrie, what are you doing? That’s the door. I don’t want to go outside, I want to eat—” before I could say any more the door had already slammed behind me. I spun and knocked. “Carrie? Care Bear?!”

“I thought I told you not to call me that in public!” she yelled through the door, “Just hang on a second, I have to get ready.”

“Ready for what?” She didn’t answer, but my stomach rumbled to fill the silence.

 

Oh god, I was eating myself.

 

    Thankfully the wait this time wasn’t as long; I spent maybe ten minutes waiting outside before Carrie shouted at me through the door.

“Danny!”

“What?”

“Ring the bell!”

“But you already know I’m—”

“Ring! The! Bell!”

 

    Oh, for crying out… no, I’d dealt with this before. Because I’d swung by unannounced I must’ve messed up whatever Carrie had planned, but she was still dead set on going through with the same plan. Knowing her she’d probably put a lot of thought into this—save that little detail about telling me—so I didn’t have the heart to mess it up for her. I pressed the buzzer and the door practically exploded inwards.

“Oh, Danny, you’re just in time!” Sure, let’s go with that.

“Great! Oh, I brought you flowers. Crap, I left them on the couch.” Carrie glanced back, hurried to retrieve the flowers then thrust them into my hands. “Oh, I brought you flowers,” I tried again, holding the bouquet towards her.

“Daniel, they’re beautiful! How did you know I liked tulips?”

“I just had a feeling…” A feeling that asking Bakat would tell me what I should buy.

“Come in, I’ll get a vase.”

 

    She already had a vase waiting, of course, right in the center of the table between two lit candelabras. A silver dome flanked by a set of silverware sat in front of two chairs on opposite sides of the table and a white linen tablecloth that draped almost down to the floor completed the decoration. I blinked, totally stunned. She’d really gone all out on this, and fast. Of course, the effect was partly soiled by the fact that she now wore a trench coat and looked she was going to flash me at any moment, but I decided to ignore that. Carrie, practically skipping, lead me by the hand to the nearest chair and I took a seat before placing a napkin in my lap. My little lion poured us each a glass of wine and sat herself.

“You really outdid yourself, didn’t you?” I asked.

She smiled and gestured to the silver cover in front of me. “You haven’t even seen the best part yet.”

 

    The moment of truth! Steam obscured my view as I tilted the cover back, but as soon as it cleared my mouth flooded in a display of biblical proportions. The plate before me was thing of beauty: a ribeye steak cooked medium-rare, mashed potatoes with beef gravy, cheesy broccoli and coleslaw from scratch. I would cry, but I needed my eyes so I could this inside of me as quickly as possible.

“Have I ever told you I love you?”

“Constantly.”

 

    I inhaled a few bites of culinary heaven before conversation was allowed to continue. Our topics were loving, but with a very flirty undertone; just what you’d expect from us. Carrie said more than a few things that made my cheeks flush, but I was full of those sappy lovey-dovey quips that never failed to reduce her to a blushing, fidgety mess. Of course, we were at her house so I was ready for a surprise spine prick before being whisked off to the bedroom or whatever surface Carrie chose to take me on as revenge, but her tail never strayed out of sight. Weird. Well, it wasn’t like I minded being able to actually finish the amazing meal in front of me.

 

    My plate finally cleaned, I leaned back in the chair with a hand on my stomach.

“Yeah, that tasted as good as it looked.”

“Glad we didn’t go out, then?”

I shrugged. “Sure. That said, we could’ve gone to Burger King and I still would’ve enjoyed it if it was with you.” There was that blush again. At least this time she managed to mostly stop herself from smiling. For just a moment I allowed myself to take in that expression before moving to stand. “Oh, I got you something else.”
“Really? The flowers were enough.”

“No they weren’t.”

 

I was never one for ceremony, so I simply picked up the bag I’d brought in earlier and handed it to Carrie. She tentatively plucked at each sheet of paper until she could see what was inside. She looked up at me, then back down before taking out the long black velvet covered box.

“Danny, you shouldn’t have…”

“Go on, you haven’t even opened it yet.”

 

My lover cracked the case open with one claw and hesitated as if she was afraid of what she’d find inside, then popped it the rest of the way open and gasped. Inside was a necklace consisting of a braided silver chain that became the support for a silver rose encrusted in rubies. Carrie put it on with hands so eager she almost dropped it twice, then adjusted the jewelry and turned to me.

“How does it look?” Well, as expected her mane swallowed most of the chain, but where the pendant sat just above her chest it was perfect. Silver really complimented the mocha color of her skin.

“Beautiful.”

“I need a mirror!” With that, the manticore rushed off to the bathroom. As soon as she was in with the light on she squealed and came rushing back out.

 

    When she was this excited only one thing could happen. I sighed, planted my feet and let myself drop toward the ground. Carrie lunged. It looked like she even got a quick flap in before she barrelled into me and we both went to the ground.

“Danny, it’s perfect!” She trilled as she nuzzled against my cheek. “Thank you so much!”

I patted her on the back and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

 

    Carrie exhaled before rolling off of me and clambering to her feet. She offered a paw to me before speaking.

“I feel bad now, though. Bakat was right, I should’ve bought something.”

“Nah, your love is all I need.”

“You know, it’s really easy to tell when you’re trying that hard to sweet talk.”

“But I’m not.”

“Sure. Anyway, I made my present; sit down and I’ll bring it out.”

 

    I did and Carrie came back with two plates, one of which she set in front of me. On it was a mini chocolate bundt cake shaped like a heart with a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream. A thick glaze of chocolate icing covered both the cake and the ice cream. And she’d drawn a heart in the empty space too. That was entirely too adorable. And the taste… dear lord the taste. She couldn’t have made the flavor any more rich without turning the entire thing into fudge. The food seemed to leave a prickling sensation in my mouth, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant, so I downed bite after bite until everything was gone.

 

Carrie was grinning at me.

 

“What?”

“Nothing. Hey, what’s up with those shoes?”

Shoes? Oh, I was wearing a shirt tie and slacks with my favorite running shoes. That was a weird combination.

“I figured there’d be some running tonight, what with you liking to chase me down before a good milking and all. Should I stretch now?”

“Too late for that. Don’t you already feel warm?”

 

    Actually, now that she mentioned it… It wasn’t an external warmth either; it was an all over internal feeling, of the sort that only arose due to one thing. Manticore venom? Speaking of arising, something else was erecting itself in my pants. I shuddered as the rest of the effects hit me. My pulse pounded, thoughts wandered to lewder and lewder ideas. And Carrie… she was always beautiful, always so sexy, but never more so than when I had her venom pumping through me. The way she nibbled on her lip while she watched me squirm was so damn hot I wanted to tackle her right there. It was like she knew what was going on in my head and had plans for what to do with me next. She probably did. Oh man.

“When did you…” I managed to croak out as I loosened my tie with sweaty fingers.

“When do you think?” Not while we were eating, then…

“The hug?”

“Nope. Hey Danny, did you like my cake? Ah, no moving now.” I let out a whimper at the command, one that only seemed to heighten her excitement. “It was nice and rich, wasn’t it? So much moisture in the crumb, so much chocolate in the cake, so much of my venom in the icing. I have more, you know. Let me go get it.” She sauntered off into the kitchen, that amazing sway she had to her ass when she walked all that much more incredible in my venom-addled eyes.

 

Desperate for some kind of relief I took off my belt and reached down my pants. My boxers were already drenched in pre. Carrie barked at me before I’d gotten a chance to explore beyond that.

“Hey! Hands above the table. That’s mine and you don’t get to touch it.”

 

I looked up to see Carrie, not at all surprisingly, smirking at me. She’d dropped the trench coat and now leaned against the doorway wearing nothing but a pair of pasties and an all white set of leggings, garter and almost sheer panties. She was holding what looked like one of those bags for applying frosting to cakes in one paw, but she beckoned to me with the other. I was so happy to obey I almost knocked the chair over when I stood.

 

I crossed the room in an instant and crushed my lips against hers, desperately pushing against her teeth with my tongue. At the same time I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled Carrie into me so I could grind my hardness against her hip. The manticore giggled into my mouth at the sheer desire being thrown against her, then parted her teeth.

 

For an instant I invaded the depths of her mouth. When Carrie forced me out I was entirely unprepared for it; under the brunt of her counterattack I found myself helpless. Paws wrapped around the back of my neck pulled me in further as she pushed my tongue into the back of my throat and greedily claimed every other surface with her saliva. She was raping my mouth and I loved it.

 

That kiss seemed to go on forever. Carrie wrapped her wings around my back and I in turn explored the curve of her ass while she continued to assert her domination of my mouth. We both panted when she finally pulled back, letting the string of saliva between us snap.

“Hey Danny, are you ready to cum for me?”

“Yes!”

“Do you want me to milk you dry?”

“God yes!”

“Beg for it.”

“Please let me cum. Let me coat your tailpussy and every inch of your delicious mocha skin in my seed. Let me drown in your body while you make use of mine. Please.”

Carrie let out another of those laughs, the light feminine ones she used when she knew she had me where she wanted me and grabbed me by the tie. “Come on then, lover boy.”

 

    We reached the bedroom and she tossed me bodily onto the bed. Like I cared. Carrie watched, nibbling her lip in the way that absolutely drove me nuts, as I fumbled but succeeded to take off my pants and boxers. Before I could get my shirt off she was on her knees, taking my glistening member in her mouth. I quickly forgot about my efforts to undo my other buttons as her lips wrapped around me.

 

    Carrie had this way of giving a blowjob with the most intense suction without making a sound. It was like having her trying to suck my soul out through my balls with an eerily absent level of noise. All there was to focus on was the feeling of her tongue lashing against me, the roof of her mouth and those blue eyes gazing into me the entire time.

 

I didn’t last long. How could I with venom coursing through my veins and a woman I loved sucking me off like her life depended on it? When I came it was like a flash flood; Carrie and I had been together long enough for her to know when I was going to blow without me saying anything, but the sheer amount caught her off guard and a dribble escaped her lips. I collapsed onto the bed panting while my girlfriend endeavored to swallow the massive load I’d just blown. She wiped off her mouth, seductively licking her paw where I could see afterward, and set to work while I recovered.

“Oh this is going to be fun,” Carrie cooed as she stripped of my tie and started into my shirt buttons. “You’re so full I think I can milk a solid liter out of you tonight.”

 

My shirt flew across the room, and Carrie wrestled my arms under my back. A piece of silk flowed over my wrist and my lion nuzzled against my cheek as she cinched my tie around my wrists. It wasn’t actually that tight; if I wanted to I could’ve yanked my hands out, but even the knowledge that I was bound was enough to turn me on even more.

“Hey? What’re you going limp for?” Carrie whispered next to me. “I’m about to fuck your brains out, how am I supposed to do that with a half-hard cock like that, hmm? Think about the things you know I’m going to do to you. Ohhhh, there it is. Do you have an active imagination, Danny? Well so do I.”

 

    Carrie’s tail slipped around me with practiced grace. No part of her touched me, save the narrow ring of flesh at the base of my shaft sealing my penis into her love canal. I was surrounded by humid warmth, but there was no other sensation until all at once she clamped down on me. She giggled at the gasp I made before beginning to grind against my thigh.

 

The tendrils of Carrie’s tailpussy tickled me while I adjusted to being inside of her. It seemed she was setting us up for a long session until she got serious. Suddenly the little tongues began to move in unison, sweeping down from my head to my base in waves. It felt like one incredibly long insertion, deeper and deeper into an infinite pussy I could never hilt myself in, one I could push and push into forever until I splattered it with my seed. But I’d just cum, even if I wanted to—and I did, god I did—I couldn’t do it again so soon. I arched my hips and moaned at the ceiling.

 

Carrie moved along faster than I did—she was being pleasured in two different genitalia, after all—and came before I was even half way there. She came, and from nowhere a ouddle of femcum saturated her panties and soaked my leg. More importantly to me though, her tail lost all coordination and simply thrashed against my captive cock, randomly and hard. It was an enjoyable torture I almost found I missed when Carrie got hold of herself and continued with that endless insertion pattern from before. Then the sensation hit me again and thought ceased.

 

The manticore dopily stripped off her pasties, found the cake decorating bag and let out a spiral of icing onto her breast. I greedily lapped at it, eager to feel Carrie more. Carrie’s breast! Carrie’s nipple! Carrie’s cooking! Carrie’s venom! More, I wanted more of all of her! She wanted more of me, too. Aside from that moment of weakness when she came before me she didn’t relent for a moment until I sailed over the edge and pumped another batch of my love into her. The orgasm seemed to be endless. I shot rope after rope of semen into her depths in an orgasm that went on for minutes, lost in the throes of passion set upon me by my lover’s body.

 

    I must’ve blacked out for a while. I woke to Carrie’s hand stroking my cheek and she offered me a bottle of Gatorade as soon as I could sit. A man in the desert would’ve marvelled at my thirst; I downed the bottle in one go, then another.

“Well, that was something,” I sighed.

“Was?”

“You don’t want to go again.” Carrie’s only response was to bring the cake bag’s nozzle to her lips and suck, her eyes locked on mine until her cheeks were bulging with icing. She closed in and locked her lips with mine, again wrestling my tongue back and making me swallow every drop of what was in her mouth. First came the tingling, then the warmth, then the hardest erection I’d ever had in my life. Carrie whimpered against me at about the same time I couldn’t handle it anymore and reached for her panties. She ripped them off like they were on fire and positioned her hot cunt above my straining cock.

 

    Vaginal? Carrie almost never did vaginal unless it was a full moon AND she was extra horny; any other time I only got her tail, mouth or anus. Then it hit me: she’d had that icing in her mouth too, her own venom was making her feel what I was feeling. Fuck. Yes.

 

She dropped onto me in one stroke and we both moaned. A pussy made for me. Carrie’s special place carved in my shape after countless hours in her tail. And for her? The perfect dick. Still I needed more. As she began her first movements I slipped my hands from my bonds and gripped the lush breasts swaying before me. The manticore greedily yanked one hand away and wrapped her tail around it, taking it all the way to the wrist. That hand I curled into a fist and pounded it into her. With the other I continued to squeeze and tease Carrie’s mammaries, but both loved what they were doing.

 

Our movements were crude. Simple, jerky thrusts brought us together, then pulled us apart so we could more fully become one again. We didn’t stop either; when one of us came the other kept moving. There were no refraction periods, no going soft, just buckets of femcum and enough seed pumped into Carrie’s womb not to make a baseball team, but an army. The orgasms blended together until there were no gaps between them, just humping hips, pleasured screams and a cock that never seemed to stop twitching.

 

We didn’t stop until just before dawn when we were finally too exhausted to move. I’d filled Carrie with so much love it actually stretched her belly out a bit. I spooned behind her with my hands on the bump.

“Don’t squeeze it,” she groaned, “You’ll make it come out.” I eased up the pressure but didn’t move my hands. Instead I rubbed my face into the back of her mane and whispered.

“I love you.”

“Yeah.” She chuffed as I redoubled my mane rubbing.

“And?” Getting her to say that word was always like pulling teeth. To think I thought dudes were supposed to be stingy with it.

“I love you too, Daniel.” my heart glowed almost as warm as the rest of my body in afterglow.

 

    Sleep began to creep over me when Carrie wrapped the digits of a paw around my fingers and mumbled, clearly barely awake herself.

“Hey. You should move in.”

“Mmm, yeah? You planning to do this every night?”

“We’d both die. Just, I like waking up to your face in the morning.”

“Even when I have bedhead?”

“You’d have to brush that before I wake up.”

 

I laughed. Living with Carrie though? Well, it wasn’t like I could ever see enough of her. And she’d cook for me more. Seeing her first thing in the morning would also make me so incredibly happy.

“Yeah, okay.”

“Good.” Kind of a muted reaction, but what could I expect? We were both struggling to stay awake. “Oh, and Danny?”

“Hmm?”

“I really do love you.”

 

A manticore’s honesty was the last thing I heard before sleep took me. Even after I passed out the smile didn’t leave my lips.

 

END

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