“So... wanna play?” Skitch purred and gave Rip another quick squeeze.

“Yeah,” Rip made up his mind and grinned a little, “Why… why not?”

“Yay!” Skitch jumped up and helped Rip to his paws, a wide smile on her face.

He dusted himself off, “Thanks…”

“Alright, now my clearing’s that way!” Skitch pointed somewhere behind Rip, causing him to suddenly turn around.

“Oh. RIGHT.”

He hesitantly stared ahead, “And you just chase me? That’s it?”

“Yup!” Skitch replied, eagerness showing in her tone, “Now go get a head start. Go on, go!”

Rip opened his mouth to protest, but then started to slowly jog through the forest. He wheezed heavily during the first few steps, almost looking like he might collapse, and barely managed to transition to a steady run.

“At the edge of the clearing yet?” Skitch called out, still able to clearly see him. She was bent over near the ground, tensing to sprint, and shifted on top of her paws.

Rip nervously looked back before calling out, “Uh... Almost…”

“THERE.”

The second Rip crossed the clearing, Skitch ripped into a full sprint. She tore through the trees, effortlessly gaining yard after yard, and stared at the fox as her heart raced with excitement. This was it; the chase, the hunt, and she readied to pounce, emotions soaring.

Rip slowly picked up speed and leapt over a branch. She was right behind him, only a few seconds to her pounce, and-

SNAAAAAAAP

Rip’s footpaw clipped a branch, forcing him forward into a violent lurch. The fox desperately stumbled, trying to regain his footing, but then twisted a paw and crashed down into an unceremonious heap.

“NNNNNNNNNNNNNNH.”

Skitch came to a graceful stop, gave Rip a quick, curious stare, and then pounced on top of him.

“I caught ya,” she said, rubbing her face into Rip’s fur.

Rip opened his eyes and groaned, “Good lord that hurt. Unnnh…”

Skitch paused, “Aw, where are you hurt little pretty?”

“EVERYWHERE.”

She started to slowly stroke Rip’s body, “Aww…. Poor little foxy.”

“Could…” Rip tried to gather his courage, “Could you find someone else now? If you want to play games, I just can’t. Sorry.”

“Nope!”

Skitch moved to her feet and scooped Rip up into her arms, affectionately curling him in her arms as as she started to look for injuries.

“Woah… woah,” Rip started to panic at the sudden movement.

“Now where were you hurt, lovely?” Skitch stroked and examined Rip’s body with tender, gentle care.

The fox paused for a second, stunned by her loving, soft touch, “Umm… chest… ribs… legs…”

Skitch kept stroking and brushed away a few clumps of dirt as Rip stared into her eyes. He was slightly smiling, and shifted a little in her arms to adjust to her body.

“Poor little Rip…” she softly repeated.

A few seconds passed, and Rip suddenly leapt out of his trance-like state and realized what was happening.

“I’m fine, really!” he placed a paw on her arm and tried to push away, “This is all lovely and dandy, Skitch, but please. I have to go.”

The cougar stopped stroking, “Why won’t you stay? I’m rather lonely…”

“Skitch…” they exchanged a close, quiet stare before Rip hesitantly continued, “Could you put me down now? I need, I really need to go.”

The cougar smiled, “Oh well… I just like how you feel,” she pulled Rip closer, “So soft… so warm.”

He paused and let her fur mix with his, “You’re erm… soft and warm also…”

The fear in his voice had almost completely disappeared, and Skitch gently pulled him closer to her body. They were both smiling, both so happy in that one gentle moment, and Rip looked up into her eyes, mind completely changed.

“You know, maybe I could stay a little?” he pulled closer to her, “I could use the company too, I guess.”

“Yay!” Skitch buried her muzzle into his fur before suddenly speaking, “So, uh… rematch?”

“What?”

“Rematch! You know. You didn’t exactly finish our game the last time.”

“Oh,” Rip paused, a little hesitant to leave Skitch’s arms, “You want to do that now?”

“Sure!” Skitch said excitedly and gave a little squeeze before setting him down, “It’s fun!”

“Yeah, I guess it is…”

‘Well, are you ready?” she quickly asked, tail swishing in eager anticipation.

Rip stretched a little and gently nodded, “Yeah, ready.”

Skitch broadly smiled and stretched her back, still grinning.

“So uh… I’ll go first again?”

“Yup!”

“That way?” Rip pointed in the direction they came from.

“Nah,” Skitch shifted and stretched again, “Just run around the clearing.”

Rip paused and watched her stretch, “Like… in circles? Okay…”

Skitch smiled before Rip continued.

“And umm… can we snuggle a little more after?”

Skitch giggled, “We’ll see.”

“I’ll try not to trip this time!”

“We’ll see!”

Rip walked a few meters away and broke into a run, leaving as Skitch took a few final stretches. She glanced up and watched, waiting until he was near the clearing, and then leapt up onto her paws in pursuit.

She tore after Rip, rapidly closing on the slow-moving fox, but there was something… different this time. It was more intense, more urgent, and she pulled herself closer to him, heart racing with a new, unfelt sensation.

Skitch kept pulling closer, concentration completely locked on the figure, and prepared for the pounce. There were only a few seconds left... a few seconds before she finally satisfied this mad, craving, and she took one final bounding leap off a nearby rock.

“You won't-”

Rip was barely able to utter the last word before Skitch's broad forepaws slammed into his frail body. The fox crumpled to the ground, and violently rolled a few feet before finally coming to a sprawled stop.

Immediately, Skitch leapt on Rip's body and roughly pinned him to the ground. He paused for a second, disoriented and still coming to his senses beneath the sudden pressure.

“Wow, Skitch,” he breathed heavily, “That was... so fast.”

The cougar forcefully rolled him around and growled, causing Rip to whine. Skitch stared into the fox's eyes, a wild, almost feral look on her face, and inched closer to his body before shoving her muzzle against his neck.

“Skitch...” Rip cringed and tried to pull away.

There was a short, small pause before Skitch deeply inhaled, letting a string of saliva touch Rip's neck.

“SKITCH!!!”

“Wha- what?”

She suddenly snapped back to normal and blinked confusedly at the fox. Rip stared at her, panicked look still frozen in his eyes, and made another short whimper.

“Oh, Rip... That was fun”

Her words seemed normal, her expression seemed normal, but Rip still waited a few seconds to respond.

“Yeah,” his words hung in the air, “It was.”

There was a short pause, and Skitch started to stroke his hips.

He smiled, realizing that she was back to normal, “That snarling certainly added to the effect.”

“Snarling?” she gentled asked and kept stroking, “When?”

“What? You were just.”

Skitch smiled and leaned closer to Rip, “Hmm?”

“Never mind. It's... it's nothing.”

He nuzzled Skitch's body, “Let's just stay here for a little bit, okay?”

Skitch rolled them both over, and gently stroked his body, “Sure.”

A few seconds passed, and she then began to gently lick Rip’s neck. The fox shivered at the first touch, but then closed his eyes and brushed his tail against her leg.

“Mmm…” Skitch purred and kept licking Rip’s neck, playfully starting to become more vigorous. He pulled tighter to her body, moving towards her mouth and tongue to savor the wonderful, wet touch upon his fur.

Skitch suddenly pulled her arms around Rip and brought him even closer to the tongue. She was slowly moving up his wet, saliva covered face, tongue now crossing his cheeks, and continued to become more forceful with every lick.

Rip licked back when she reached his muzzle, and they transitioned into a gentle kiss. Skitch put her paws against Rip’s head, holding him tightly against her mouth and rubbed a paw against his body. She began to lick him again, and then slowly opened her mouth in front of his nose.

The fox shivered with pleasure as Skitch pulled him forward, her tongue now stroking the sides of his chin. He kept his eyes closed, completely oblivious to the gaping maw and saliva covered teeth directly ahead, and felt a wave of hot, moist breath sweep into his face.

Rip quickly blinked, stirred from the new, hot air on his fur, and then completely opened his eyes. He stared blankly, a little confused at the surrounding teeth and dark throat right in front of his muzzle, but then suddenly realized what was happening.

“Skitch… SKITCH!”

Rip immediately pushed against Skitch’s paws and tried to pull himself out, but she kept pulling him further in. He looked away as the throat inched closer, fear and panic frozen in his face, and suddenly let out a harsh shriek.

“SKITCH!!!!!!!!”

As soon as he screamed, the cougar stopped; every one of her muscles suddenly relaxing. Rip suddenly broke free, and ripped his head away from her mouth as he stumbled to his feet. He looked at her partially open mouth, eyes and face still showing his full panic, and began to clumsily step backwards.

Skitch rolled onto her side and stared at Rip. She looked surprised that he had moved away from her, and shifted upright to stare at him with a sad, disappointed look.

“Rip, what’s wrong?”

Rip glanced at Skitch and then looked away, “Skitch… what was that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rip. Come back,” Skitch started to shift to her paws, causing Rip to flinch backwards.

“Stay back, Skitch,” he increased his distance, “Don’t come any closer.”

“Rip,” her voice trailed off, “Please come back. Whatever happened… I didn’t mean it.”

“Do you... do you even know what happened? Skitch, you…” Rip shivered, “You tried to eat me- almost ate me.”

Her eyes opened in shock, “That… no… I’m not like that. I’m sorry, that’s…”

“You were this close, Skitch!” Rip created a small space between his thumb and forefinger, “This close! If I hadn’t stopped you, I might be dead!”

“Oh, Rip, whatever happened, I’m so sorry. Please come back, I want to be with you…”

Rip groaned, “No, no, no, no, no, no. No, I’m not risking that again. Don’t you understand? You tried to eat me, Skitch! You tried to eat me!”

“Rip… If I did that-“

“When you did that,” he interrupted.

‘When I did that, I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t me, Rip. I love you, but I just couldn’t control myself.”

“I… I thought you said that you weren’t one of *those* cougars.”

Skitch shifted to her paws, causing Rip to shuffle farther back, “I’m not; at least, I don’t think I am. I’ve never eaten anyone before… never even thought of it,” she paused, “Rip, just please calm down, okay? I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“Calm… calm down?” Rip’s voice mirrored his rising tension; any second now he was going to run.

“Rip, please, I want to be with you.”

He wiped some of her spit off his face, “Oh god, do you see this?”

Skitch worryingly flattened her ears, “Oh, Rip, I’m sorry.”

Rip flung some of the saliva in her direction.

Skitch stepped towards him, “Please don’t leave me. I-it wasn’t me!”

“It’s too dangerous for me, Skitch! You can’t control yourself, why don’t you understand?”

She started walking to Rip, “Please Rip, I… I love you.”

“Skitch, don’t” Rip murmured but remained still as she approached, “Don’t.”

He didn’t move as she walked up, and Skitch gently took his paw. She paused for a second, waiting as they stared into each other’s eyes, and then quietly wiped the saliva from his face.

Rip watched her and started to cry, “I think I love you, but…”

Skitch suddenly pulled the fox up against her body in a tight embrace. Rip immediately dug his tear- stained face into her fur, and she began to stroke her paw against his back.

“I want to be together, Rip. I’d like to be with you for as long as I possibly can.”

“I want that too,” Rip quietly whispered, “I’ll stay, Skitch. I love you.”