Out of Love and Affection

With a sigh she sank back on her bed and started to relax. Now, safely tucked under the mosquito net she felt herself starting to calm down after the hustle and bustle of the day. It was very hot and she had rid herself of her clothes right after entering her room. Her body was glistening with a thin sheen of sweat and it felt really good to stretch her limbs and just lean back.

She had spent most of the day at school, teaching English and Maths to a bunch of children from all around the small town she was staying at. Actually, to call it "town" was a little bit exaggerated, but it was the biggest place for miles in this rural area.

Two weeks back she had come to India to work as a voluntary teacher at the small local school, which had more students willing to learn than they could cope with. Sometimes the teachers didn't see any money for several months, so there were naturally only few, who were willing to do the job for the sake of the children.

When she had made the offer to help out at the school the headmaster jumped at her offer and guaranteed her free board and a nice cottage near the woods in exchange for her services. It was an arrangement which suited both parties equally. Back home in Germany Daniela had just finished her studies and even though she was still young at only 23 she was a fully qualified teacher now. All her life she wanted to become a teacher, but there was also this strange pull inside her urging her to travel around and see the world before she finally settled down somewhere. So she decided that she would take a break and reward herself after finishing her final exams, before she would search for a permanent job.

Despite the worries of her family and all the attempts of her friends to change her mind, Dani decided to take the chance and take the job in India for six months. Actually she was glad to get away from her friends for a while to finally concentrate on herself once again. Of course she loved all her friends dearly and she would definitely miss them terribly, but she was tired of always being the one to solve their problems in their various relationships. Maybe being in the middle of the emotional rollercoaster of her friends all the time was the reason why she was never involved in a serious relationship herself.

After a tearful farewell at the airport she was ready for the big adventure of her life. And what an adventure it would be. She was in no way prepared for what would expect her in India, even though she had read a lot about the Indian culture and talked to other people who had already been there. But most of them had spent their holidays there and didn't see much of the land and the people outside their guided tours. Which was sad from her point of view, because you can get to know a country only while getting in touch with its people and that goes beyond snapping pictures of the children on the streets.

When she arrived at the airport in Kolkata she was very tired, because she was too excited to get any sleep on the plane. When she had finally checked out and collected her luggage she made her way outside the main entrance of the building, where Venkatesh, the headmaster of her school would pick her up. Her eyes scanned the faces waiting outside, but she couldn't find her name on any of the signs they were holding in front of them. Slowly her fellow passengers grouped up with the waiting people or found themselves a taxi until she was the only one waiting in front of the building. Soon she was surrounded by taxi drivers, who tried to win her as a customer, changing their prices almost every second to win her over the others. When they finally realised she didn't intend to go by taxi they lost interest and left her to herself.

She couldn't do much more than wait, because she knew it was a far journey to her home for the next months and she didn't know exactly how to get there. In the meantime she tried to observe the busy airport life and take in all the changes she was not used to. Even the air smelled different than at home, more spicy, mixed with the smell of some unknown flowers and the stench of the traffic and the trash which seemed to lie everywhere on the streets. She was surrounded by sound, announcements from the airport, a blurring radio and the predominant honking, which was omnipresent. She was so wrapped up in her observations of the traffic and her fascination that they managed the obvious chaos without accident, that she didn't see the small man who approached her from the side until he laid a hand on her shoulder.

Venkatesh was a short man in his midforties and everything on him seemed to be round and soft and he was sporting a friendly grin most of the time. He welcomed her to India and drowned her in a flood of words, mostly excuses why he was late (which he always seemed to be, she should find out later on) and she didn't get a word in edgewise for a long time.

Not that it mattered much for her, because he told her a lot about the places they were passing and about his family and people from the village that she had trouble remembering all the names, which for her seemed to be very complicated and thrice as long as she was used to. After long hours in the car they finally arrived and Venkatesh insisted that she first visit his place and meet his wife.

Dani wasn't fully out of the car, before Deepa came out of the house with a big smile and open arms.

"Welcome to our home. Please feel like we are your family and don't hesitate to ask for anything. I already prepared some tea for us, because you didn't arrive in India properly, before you had some chai. And I think my husband in his usually rude self didn't offer you any."

"Oh, stop it! I am not rude, I was late, there was no time and we were talking most of the time anyway, right Dani?"

"Yes, he was a very informative guide."

"Don't be too polite, Dani, I know you probably didn't get the chance to say more than five words. This husband of mine loves to hold monologues."

"Yes, I do, but only because I don't seem to have a chance to say much, when I am at home."

"Oh, come on, stop being such a sissy. You know you love me anyway."

"Sometimes I am not so sure about it."

Dani was very amused about their loving banter and felt right at ease with the two, who would be her colleagues and friends for the next months. After she stayed for dinner, Venkatesh showed her to her cottage, which turned out to be more like a small cabin with one room, a small bath and a veranda. The veranda was facing the woods and there was a comfortable chair Dani used often to sit and listen to the sounds of the forest.

Her room was sparsely furnished with a bed, a cupboard and a small table with a chair. Unfortunately Dani was not the only inhabitant of this room. She had to share it with mosquitos, some lizards, which were thankfully eating some of the mosquitos and other bugs around and she saw a big spider in the far corner of her room. Dani was not afraid of spiders, but she didn't want to have them in her bed either. That's why she loved her mosquito net. It created her save haven, her sanctuary. She didn't have to bother about small things crawling over her at night.

The fan was her second favorite item in her room, because it was always very hot and sticky in her room and the fan brought at least some relief. This day it was very hot and humid and she had trouble concentrating at school. Of course children are very sensible and they caught up to the mood of their teacher quickly, increasing their sideway activities more than usual.

After school she went to bazar and argued with the shop vendors, because Deepa had told her, that they wer charging her higher prices, because she was a foreigner and didn't know the measures. Very tired and sweaty she returned home and looked forward to some relaxation. She switched on the fan, threw her clothes carelessly on the ground and made her way to the bathroom to take the bath she longed for all day. Having a bath ment to fill a bucket with water, take a smaller pot and use it to run water over you like an improvised shower.

After her shower she didn't bother to put on clothes, she just opened a window to let in an additional breeze and slipped under the mosquito net. She took her book and started to read, but soon the lights went out and the fan gave a last sputter, before dying also. Dani was already used to the frequent power cuts and she didn't feel like getting up to light some candles. So she just lay back and listened to the sounds drifting through the window.

The steady chirping of some birds and insects made her drowsy and she started to drift into a slumber. She didn't see the silent shadow jumping through her window. Dani awoke when the lights returned and let out a toenail curling scream.

She was face to face with a big black animal.

Surprised by her scream the panther jumped back, but he got caught in the net, which came crushing down on both of them. Feeling trapped the panther started clawing at everything around. Dani felt a searing pain in her backside, but she was already tangled in the net and couldn't move because the big cat was struggling so much.

She tried to stop moving and started to make soothing noises to calm down the cat. She started talking to it, even though she knew it wouldn't understand her. Nevertheless it seemed to work. The cat tilted its head to the side and seemed to listen to her voice and stopped moving. Dani kept on talking and started to free herself. Finally she managed to crawl out of the net and observed the whole situation.

The cat had managed to wrap the net around itself, so it was impossible for her to simply untangle it. Part of it was already shredded by sharp claws. With a sigh she decided to cut the net off. With a knife in her hand she was a little hesitant to go near the wild animal, but she couldn't leave the poor thing caught in the net.

She took up all her courage, took a firmer grip on the knife and started to walk slowly towards the panther. It eyed her curiously and started to shrink back, but she kept on talking soothingly and started to cut the net gingerly, starting at the backside. She didn't want the beast to have its teeth available too soon.

She was very careful not to hurt the animal and started stroking it to keep it calm. When she peeled off the last remainings of her net, the panther jumped up, brushed her and leaped through the window in one long and elegant jump.

Dani still sat on the floor, her heart beating wildly, feeling shocked about the whole situation. Did she really just come face to face with a junglecat without having a scratch? Looking down on what was left of her net there was no doubt and due to the slowly descending adrenaline she was aware of the pain in her backside.

He was strolling through the woods all day, hunting and checking his territory for intruders, refreshing the markings. He enjoyed running free in this form. All his senses were more hightened. He knew all the villagers by smell and he always knew if some of them ventured into his territory. There was a strange smell tantalising his senses, drifting from the edge of the forest.

He tried to ignore it, but he was curious and he kept going in the general direction of the smell which grew continuously stronger. Something with this particular smell was different. He knew it belonged to a female, but he was never drawn this strong only by smell. Who could it belong to? He was very familiar with every female in the area, but this one was untouched and her smell was calling to the males around to claim her.

He finally found the place where the scent was strongest and he chose himself a tree at the edge of the woods to observe. He waited paitently and scanned the air for the smell, which seemed to drift out of an open window. When the lights inside the window went out he waited some more time, before he decided to investigate.

When he sensed no movement inside he moved in. The smell was overwhelming and he sniffed at some clothes on the floor. When he burried his nose into some panties something inside him stirred, he had never felt like this before.

A small movement on the bed caught his interest and he moved closer on silent paws. There under a net was the woman exuding the smell. She looked different to him, with her very light, almost transparent skin, pale and beautiful, lying there in all her glory. He found the opening of the net and pushed his head through to take a big sniff.

Just at this moment the lights came back on and the female awoke with an earsplitting scream that hurt his sensitive ears and made him jump back. Something brushed his back and his instincts took over. Feeling attacked he started clawing at the attacker until he heard a groan of pain and realised he was fighting the mosquito net and trapped himself ever more with his struggles. He aimed some more slashes at the net, but he was almost immobile, because the net was wrapped very tightly around him and the female who didn't move much.

He could have easily freed himself, but therefore he would have to change back into his human form and that would definitely freak the woman out. Besides he didn't want her to reveal his true identity.

She was talking to him he realised. He stilled. Did she just call him kitten? If she didn't recognize his pure maleness until now he would have to change tactics soon, because he didn't want to be cuddled like a small kitten, even though it had some appeal with this woman. No, he had something different on his mind. Lost in his thoughts he didn't realise that the female had freed herself, until she returned with a knife in her hand.

He didn't like the feeling of helplessness at all, being trapped like this. It made him shrink back a little, but the woman kept talking soothingly to him, even though he could smell her fear. He had to give it to her, she was a courageous one. He stayed very still when she started cutting the net away. When he felt her hand stroking his fur he almost began to purr. Her hands felt wonderful and he had to hold himself in a tight grip, not to roll on his back to offer his stomach and other parts for stroking. He was overcome by a strong urge to claim her, but he knew it wouldn't be right to force her like this. It was a hard struggle between his instincts and his sense of reason.

When the net finally fell, he left as quickly as possible, but not without brushing her and rubbing some of his scent on her. It wouldn't be enough to keep other males away, but it satisfied him, that some part of him stayed with her. He would have to keep watch over her to fight other suitors off and find a different approach to her.

He retreated back to his tree and settled on a big branch. To calm his senses he started grooming himself. That always helped him to settle down, but not today. He smelled blood on himself, and it was not his blood. He had hurt her! He hurt and left her without checking that she was alright!

He licked off her blood and was further addicted by her taste. It wasn't a big amount of blood, but his instincts jumped in immediately, demanding him to go back and claim her as his mate. He resisted, but he waited on the tree until he saw her closing the window tightly and switching off the lights. Satisfied that no one would bother her this night, he left his observation place to go home, where someone else was waiting for him.