AERIE: Book 01 Part 01

"Bugger."

"You're probably wondering why we don't just cage our young up while they go through it."

"It hadn't occurred to me but why not?"

"Because they would harm themselves or someone else. The change is complete and horrible. Have you ever seen a wild bird caged?"

"No. But I can imagine."

We fall silent for a while. Erry is nuzzling in my chest as usual and I'm struggling to internalise all the information.

"So, what... how?" I have no idea what to do about any of this or what part I play. "How can I keep Erry safe?"

My question draws a quiet 'coo' from Eris and brings a smile to her mother's lips.

"And that's why she chose you all those years ago." She took a deep breath and frowned. "It is going to be very difficult for you. I don't understand humans very well. You all think so much and feel so much. We just act mostly on what we know inside. But I think if anyone can do what Eris needs it will be you."

Her enigmatic reply mostly frustrates me, and it shows on my face. Erry must feel my mood and she chooses the moment to look up at me and say, "I love you."

Her eyes speak the truth of her words and I smooth hair off her face. I open my mouth to say it, but she smiles and says, "I know."

"I cannot tell you what to do. Ultimately, your heart will speak to you and so will your mind. But I hope you will simply follow your instincts. Nothing else would work. Not properly." She watches us with a motherly glow for a long moment. "Go and get some sleep. It gets a bit wild and crazy starting tomorrow."

Erry pats her mother's cheek and says goodnight. I stand awkwardly for a moment.

"I guess you want to put a silly human kiss on my face." Teela laughs.

"Would this be okay?" I ask and reach for her hand. I bring it to my lips and kiss the back of her taloned fingers. "Goodnight Teela."

"Ooh! Haha. That is actually kind of nice. Tickles in a good way. Call me Mum."

"Goodnight, Mum."

In her bedroom Eris stands beside the bed and watches me quite nervously. There has been a plaguing question gathering in my mind and somehow, as usual, she understands it before I do.

"I want to show you my body." She smiles and starts unbuttoning the blouse she's wearing. "You're going to see a lot of it, starting tomorrow. And I want to answer some questions for you."

Her eyes twinkle on mine as I glance back and forth from her eyes to the fingers that pluck at buttons.

"Why don't..." I start but don't know how to ask, then decide on just blurting it out. "Why don't you just have sex... mate... before it goes all pear shape? Wouldn't that be smarter?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, big fella. Watch and listen." Her smile is warm and forgiving. Her blouse is landing on the bed and my breath catches in my throat. April had lovely c-cup breasts that fascinated me with their pert mango shape and soft firm texture. Eris has six of them. Two that would probably be a human b-cup in the usual place. Then two that are more of a human a-cup directly below them and a little closer together. And another two that are little more than puffy areola beneath the others. They are all ridiculously beautiful and look perfectly natural on her slender four-foot two body.

"You seem to like things so far." She smirks at my dumb struck stare and runs her hands up her flanks to cup her breasts in turn. "That stupid April bitch only had two of these." She laughs at herself. "Sit. No touching... Yet..."

I watch as she uses her talons to jag the zip on her skirt and pull it down behind her. As she hooks her fingers into the waistband and drags the skirt and her underpants down, she stares into my eyes daring me to drop my gaze.

"I want you to look, Todd. That's the whole point. If we are to be mated, then I want you to know what you're signing up for. I want to know that you like my body. You've never looked at me like the other kids. Like a freak. Like an alien. I want to know that you look at my body the same way."

My eyes drop. I slake a thirst for knowledge and an equal thirst for her body. Tiny feathers like the ones at her eyebrows trail a small line from just below her lowest breasts down the centre line of her taught belly to spread into a wider triangle over her mound where the feathers become larger and matt into a solid covering. She giggles and twirls like a ballerina.

"Ha. I love your tail." Oops, maybe I overstepped. She's frowning at me looking back over her shoulder. "What? It's cute. And it wiggles."

"It's ugly at the moment. All the bumps where the feathers are coming. I hated it all my life. Kids were really cruel."

"They're dumb. It's cute. I love it."

"Okay. So, this is a bit embarrassing, but it answers your question why we don't just fuck and be done with it." She grimaces and leans forward, putting a hand on one knee and pointing with the other. "We are different to birds. We have a cloaca, where urine and poop come out." She points. "And a vent." She parts some feathers and points again. "That's where the eggs come out. This is fucking embarrassing. Have you seen enough?"

"Erry love, I could look at you for days. But I don't understand why this is so important. You're fucking beautiful and-"

"Shut up, Todd." She sits beside me on the bed. "You think I'm beautiful? Naked even? My legs have got so feathery and my feet. They're so gross compared to human feet."

"I like your legs. I like the feathers; they have little hints of green and blue in the black. So shiny. Like sexy lingerie or something."

"Close your eyes."

I squint them closed and two things happen. She kisses me on the lips and says, "Thank you."

Then she grabs my crotch and groans, "Oh... Todd, thank you. You're hard. I thought maybe you were just saying-"

"Dickhead." I tell her.

"So, the thing is, the whole big bloody problem. My vagina is inside my vent. Until I am fully fledged it's definitely an out hole only. The muscles around it clench tightly to keep eggs in and only relax to let things out. You could force things in, but it would really hurt. It's a fucking horrible thing. I can't even masturbate. If I had a dollar for every time that I've wanted you deep inside me, I could pay my own way back to Arcadia. I knew you had needs, drives, and I would have offered to satisfy them in a heartbeat. But I can't. It's why I hated her so much. April could do everything I couldn't. At least not until I turn into some feral fucking thing and try and kill everyone. Then it kinda softens and swells and blech... Am I grossing you out enough yet?"

"Thank you for trusting me. You're gorgeous. I'm kinda looking forward to the feral thing, now. I hope you don't kill me."

"Me too. I'm so frightened. There's no user manual."

I hold her close to my side and she nuzzles. My erection is slowly abating as it soaks in the knowledge that I physically cannot have this beautiful woman that I love, despite her nudity and proximity.

"Do you remember Trudy Alcorn?" She asks suddenly from beside me. Her breasts are pressed warmly against my side, and it takes me a moment to register.

"The blonde one."

"Yup. She showed me a thing... With her thumb."

"What?"

"I'm going to be an incredible pain in the arse over the next few weeks. I want you to have at least one nice memory of me, so you don't leave me up on a cliff eating raw fish. Yuck..."

She is smiling as she stands then pulls me up. "Kiss me again. I really liked th-"

I interrupt her with my lips, and she pulls my hands to her breasts as her tongue twirls on mine and our breath mingles. I've always been in awe at how she can be so damn gentle with those razor-sharp keratin weapons. An inch-long talon tugs at my zip and others fumble with my belt. My hands smooth over her offered breasts and tease nipples one by one. A curious part of me wants to know if they are all equally sensitive and finds out quickly that they are.

"Oh god, Todd. Suck them."

I commence with the one in front of me and swap to its twin. She moans and twitters some gibberish that encourages me even further. Little nips have her thrusting herself at me as she lowers my pants to the floor. Her fingers grasp at my erection and her talons rake gently through my pubic hair. She weighs my balls and with far more strength than you would imagine a four-foot-two girl could have she pushes me away and onto the bed.

"Oh god. You could probably make me cum like that." She huffs and kneels between my knees. "I've never done this. You'll have to refer any complaints to Trudy." I always wondered why she didn't date. Boys were falling over themselves all through school asking her out or trying to get her attention.

She smiles as she lifts my knob to her pretty lips and her tongue tests the underside of me. Now April was one of two girls who have done this thing for me in the past and neither of them came anywhere close to this level of skill. It's not just the flicking of her 'a little rougher than human' tongue on my shaft and frenulum. It's not the slight suction or bobbing, or even her dark soulful blue eyes watching up at mine. It's deeper.

My heart is stretched out through the end of my dick where we connect. That sounds really dumb, but it feels that way. I am in her and she is around me and we are joined, and I have never felt this connected to anyone. Not even when April and I had sex. But I flow into Eris, and she flows into me.

I'm about to open my mouth and tell her that I'm close when she smiles and her eyes twinkle. Her talons insist at my thighs, and she pulls back to my tip as my balls erupt and spill me into her. She closes her eyes and swallows me down. Every time I pulse, she swallows, and her hand reaches up to my face to smooth the feathered back of itself on my cheek.

When my lurching body runs dry and I start to soften, she releases me from the silky hot embrace of her mouth to smile in satisfaction at me.

"So, my mate to be... We can't have sex until I'm insane, but there's a few other things we can try. Would you like to try and find a favourite breast to suckle on? I can get myself off by playing with them. Wanna have a go?"

"Remind me to thank Trudy Alcorn one day."

~*~

Part two will follow shortly after some self-editing.

Thank you for reading this far.