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It was a typical Friday night for Mia. She was nestled in her boyfriend Lane’s arms, watching reruns of Modern Family, feeling loved and secure. It would almost seem normal if it wasn’t for the fact that Lane was a werewolf.
His dark eyes settled on her, and she blushed beneath his gaze. It was almost unbelievable how things had played out. The first time they’d met, she overheard Lane make a snide remark, and, not realizing that he wasn’t human, she’d snapped right back. When she realized what she was speaking to, she’d nearly burst into tears. Werewolves and humans did not get along well, to put it mildly. And to make matters worse, Lane was a tall, muscular individual who looked like he was capable of crushing her without any supernatural means.
Luckily for Mia, Lane had found her unintentional boldness both refreshing and amusing. They struck up an unlikely friendship, and it only took a few months for that friendship to develop into something more.
Lane pressed a kiss to her temple, and she hummed contentedly. She had to be very careful now, as the humans did not respect her for being tied to a werewolf, and the werewolves didn’t like that one of their kind was keeping a human. But she had been living with Lane for over a year now, and, quite frankly, she’d never been happier.
“What are you thinking about?” He asked.
She snuggled closer in his arms. It used to scare her a little, knowing the full extent of what he was capable of. Turning aside, his heightened senses and strength alone were enough to have inspired the many cautionary tales she was told as a child, but Lane had never been anything but gentle with her. “Just that I’m lucky. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“The only lucky one here is me, sweetheart.”
A small smile tugged at her lips at the sound of the familiar pet name. At their initial first meeting, he’d thrown the term at her in a sarcastic manner, but somehow, it still managed to stick.
She twisted around to face him, preparing to explain exactly how incorrect he was, but stopped suddenly upon seeing his face.
Lane was handsome, with raven hair that fell in his eyes and a gaze that felt like it was capable of stopping time, but seeing him now sent an odd shiver up her spine. The look in his eyes was completely unfamiliar. Not love or lust, but a longing.
“Hey…are you okay?” Mia asked, to which he blinked in surprise.
His dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Of course. Why do you ask?”
Something about it wasn’t sitting right. He was being too casual. Like he was trying to sweep something under the rug before she had a chance to notice.
She pulled herself from his arms, staring at him intently through narrowed eyes. “You’re hiding something. Why?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Mia-”
“I’m not!” She exclaimed. “I can see it on your face. What’s going on?”
He groaned quietly, running a quick hand through his hair. “Do we have to do this? I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Mia grabbed the remote from the floor and turned off the television. “Why isn’t it a good idea? We don’t do secrets, Lane.”
“And what if that secret is for your own good?” He asked. There was a noticeable strain in his voice, almost as if he was in pain.
Now, she was starting to get nervous. “If it has anything to do with you, then I want to know. Is it a werewolf thing? I’ve always been good about that stuff-”
He raised his hands in surrender. “I know you have,” he said soothingly. “I’m not saying that you haven’t. But this one…this one might scare you.”
She shook her head defiantly. “You don’t scare me. Believe me, I’ve been told all of the horror stories growing up. You can’t scare me.”
“Well, this one’s a little different,” Lane said. “They don’t teach you about this one. It’s something that we only do in very specific circumstances, and it rarely involves your kind at all. If anything, it kind of got written off as a fairy tale.”
“A fairytale?” She said with a raised brow. “What fairytale is about werewolves? Please, just tell me. You’re making me nervous.”
He smiled sadly. “Alright, then. How familiar are you with Little Red Riding Hood, sweetheart?”
“Little Red Riding Hood?” She asked incredulously. “What could you possibly be-”
She stopped, and for a moment, her thoughts came to a screeching halt.
There’s no way. That can’t be what he’s trying to say. The look of longing…it just can’t be-
“Amelia,” he said gently, and she was forced back to the present. His hands were still raised. “It’s alright. Just let me explain, okay?”
She nodded numbly, but she couldn’t stop her gaze from falling to his stomach. Mia was, in fact, very familiar with the children’s tale, and she knew exactly what happened to the little girl in question. She also knew that in some versions of the story, said little girl did not have a very happy ending.
Very slowly, Lane reached out with his hand and tilted her chin so that her wide eyes locked with his. “It’s not what you think. I wouldn’t be hurting you. It’s…a thing we do out of affection. With someone you care about. It has nothing to do with hunger.”
“But- how can you even do that?” She stammered, but even in her panic, she couldn’t bring herself to pull away from him. Even with the blatant longing, his eyes still looked so kind.
“To be honest, I don’t really know how or why. It’s no different than shifting. We don’t know why it happens. It’s just a part of us. And I care about you very much,” he explained. “I just want to hold you close to me, where nobody can get to you without going through me first. Our bodies are designed for it. And, if I’m being honest, I’ve been wanting to do it for some time now.”
“Oh,” she whispered. Thoughts were swirling rapidly through her head, her trust in Lane and her fear clashing against each other harshly. If any other humans were to hear that she was even considering staying, they would have declared that she was insane.
“If you’d let me…I could show you?” He offered quietly. She could tell that he was struggling to restrain himself, and her heart pounded in her chest. “I don’t want you to be afraid. If I had intentions to harm you this way, I wouldn’t have waited over a year to do it. Do you trust me?”
Mia swallowed hard. This didn’t feel real, and the answer slipped out before she could think too much about it. “I do.”
Lane sighed heavily in relief and sat up straighter. “Can I bring you closer?”
This is it. No turning back now.
She nodded her head, and Lane carefully wrapped his arms around her before drawing her into his lap. Her body started to tremble, and he placed a series of light kisses on the top of her head.
“Don’t be scared,” he murmured. “I would never hurt you. I promise.”
He cradled her cheek in the palm of his hand, rubbing his thumb lightly over her cheekbone, and she leaned into the touch. Even in her fear, she couldn’t help but be comforted by him. He was her safe place, and he did have a point. If Lane really wanted to hurt her, he would have done it by now. Right?
“How do you know I’ll be okay?” She asked.
“Because I’ve done it before,” he said simply. “Remember, my body is very different from yours. You’re already used to that. But this is another thing that I have control over. This is just another different thing, okay? It’s no scarier than the rest of them.”
Oddly enough, learning that he could shift into a dangerous supernatural creature known for terrorizing her species at will was an easier pill to swallow. It was terrifying at first, but it was something that she was already very familiar with, and Lane acted more like a puppy than he did a wolf most of the time anyway. This, however, felt very different.
How could one dark fairytale be the closest thing to an explanation that humans had? How had no one told her about this?
She could understand Lane not wanting to tell her about it. If she was in his shoes, she probably wouldn’t have wanted to have that conversation either, but it seemed like a pretty important fact to leave out of the history books.
Her eyes trailed down the length of his throat, and a harsh tremor went down her spine. “H-how does this work? How…how do you g-get me-”
“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” he soothed, and he gently pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her securely. “It’s not as bad as you think. You’re already half my size as it is. I just swallow you down. It’s pretty tight, but it’s not going to hurt. It’s all very simple.”
“I think we have different opinions on what simple means,” Mia mumbled, and Lane chuckled softly. She focused on the sensation of his voice around her, on the strength of his arms and the thud of his heart in her ear, and the worst of her anxiety started to quiet.
“We can take this as slow as you want, okay? We don’t even have to do it right now if you don’t want to. This will be entirely on your terms, Mia.”
He’s giving you an out, she realized. She could push it off, give herself more time to think it over and prepare. But as she shyly looked up at him, she noticed something else that was present in her thoughts. Not just the conflicting feelings of fear and trust, but also curiosity.
A burning heat rose in her cheeks, and she hastily averted her eyes. Mia was small for a human, standing at a measly 4’10 with a very slight frame. Lane, meanwhile, was a towering 6’3 and muscular, the exact type of person that usually would intimidate her whether they were a supernatural being or not. But Lane was the rare exception. Being held by him, surrounded by him, and knowing that he would never let another soul hurt her was something that brought her immense comfort. Would it be so different if she was inside?
It was a mad thought. And yet she couldn’t stop looking at his stomach. The idea was frightening, but if it was a form of affection that Lane wanted to give so badly, how bad could it really be? He’d never done anything that made her upset or uncomfortable before, just unconditionally loved. And now that she was feeling afraid, that very feeling was what she was craving for more than anything.
“Um…I-I want to go slow,” she squeaked out, and Lane raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Are you sure, sweetheart?” He asked concernedly. “Because you look like you’re about to cry.”
She hastily wiped at her cheeks, and Lane pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m overwhelmed,” she said, “but…I don’t know. I kind of want to? It sounds scary, but I trust you.”
A small smile tugged at his lips, and he gathered her closer to him. He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. Her breath caught in her throat, and she watched, transfixed, as he kissed her palm before carefully sliding her fingers into his mouth.
At first, she was just startled by the warmth, but a tiny gasp escaped her when she felt his tongue gently caress her fingers. She braced herself, her heart racing a mile a minute. She waited tensely for him to make the next move, but to her surprise, he let go of her hand, instead watching her intently.
“Are you absolutely sure that you want this?” He asked again, but his voice was strained. She was surprised that she had never noticed his restraint before. It seemed so obvious now.
She nodded her head despite the light tremors going through her. “I’m sure. Just…p-please be careful.”
He laughed quietly, his eyes warm. “Of course I’ll be careful. You’re my entire world, Mia. You have my word that I’ll take care of you.”
With that, he adjusted his grip on her, and she breathed shakily. Her anxiety was building, but along with it came a longing that wasn’t entirely new. She wanted the comfort that came with Lane, and something deep within her thought that just maybe this was a way to get it.
“Just try to relax, alright?” He murmured. “It’s going to be really tight at first, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise.”
“I trust you,” she whispered, and her eyes fell shut just as her head was enveloped in a damp heat.
The saliva was immediate, pasting her hair to her face and further encasing her in a warmth that, in just about any other circumstance, she would have wanted to cocoon herself in permanently. His tongue rubbed lightly against her, further spreading the saliva so that she was dripping with it within seconds.
She breathed in sharply, and Lane rubbed her back soothingly as she felt her head gradually being eased toward the back of his mouth. Then, ever so carefully, he swallowed.
Mia jolted as her head was suddenly drawn into the tight embrace of his throat, and another swallow pulled her shoulder in as well.
The more of her that was pulled in, the more difficult it became to breathe. Her chest could only expand so far, leaving her panting as she continued her descent. Lane continued doing his best to relax her, which was working to a degree, but the instinctual panic was hard to ignore. After all, she was willingly allowing a werewolf to swallow her alive. If it were anyone else, she would have been on her way to an unimaginably gruesome end.
The thought left her mind spiraling, and as she entered his chest cavity and was struck by the overpowering beating of his heart, she began to panic.
Her weak breaths quickened as she continued to be forced deeper in. She couldn’t think about who she was with or the fact that it was something she had wanted. Everything was being consumed by the terrifying, overwhelming unknown.
Just as she was about to struggle against the tightness, her head was pushed into an open space, and she gasped desperately for air. She couldn’t see a thing, and she was left horribly disoriented as her back landed against a soft, slick floor. By the time the rest of her was sealed inside, she was left trembling in the fetal position, and she nearly screamed when she felt something push back at her.
“Mia, Mia, love, it’s alright!” Lane’s calming voice surrounded her, and she stifled a sob. “You’re okay…hard part’s over. Just breathe with me.”
Lane’s breathing slowed around her, and she frantically tried to match his pace. Her head felt like it was spinning, but ever so slowly, her panicked heart began to calm.
“That was scary,” she whimpered, and Lane rubbed soothing circles against her.
“Shh…I know, and I’m really sorry. The first time is always the hardest. But you’re with me, okay? It’s all me. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
It’s all me.
The words cut straight through the chaos, and as she weakly wiped away her tears, she sank deeper into Lane’s stomach’s embrace.
This wasn’t some dark, scary place that she was trapped in. It was Lane. Her favorite person, the one who she could always count on to look out for her. This was all him. It wasn’t dangerous or threatening. It would take some getting used to, that was for sure, but it was safe. Lane didn’t swallow her to scare her. If anything, he wanted to show her just how much he cared for her. After all, what could possibly be more intimate than taking someone and quite literally holding them safely within your core?
“L-Lane?” She said, reaching out to hesitantly press her hand to his.
“Right here, sweetheart. I’m right here,” he murmured. “What’s going through your head?”
She shifted so that she was curled against where his hand was rubbing against her. Oddly enough, his heartbeat wasn’t so stressful now. It was calm and steady, lulling her into a more peaceful state the same way that it did from the outside.
Her eyes began to grow heavy. “I’m adjusting, but now that all of that’s over…it’s really not so bad. Is it, ah…going to be like that every time?”
Lane chuckled, and she felt the vibrations all across her skin. “No, not at all. The only reason it’s so frightening the first time is because you don’t know what to expect. The more you relax, the easier it gets.”
“Thank God,” she groaned, and after a beat of silence, they both burst out laughing.
Her tears were long forgotten as they calmed back down. She could still feel the gentle pressure of Lane’s hand held protectively over her, and it brought on another new wave of emotion.
Lane tensed the moment he heard her sniffle. “Mia? What’s wrong?”
“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” she laughed. “I’ve just never felt this safe before. It’s…it’s really nice.”
“Aw,” he said. She may not have been able to see his face, but she could easily picture his beaming smile. “I’m really happy to hear that. I know this hasn’t been easy for you, but it means a lot to me that you were willing to try. Do you want me to let you back out?”
“What? Already?” She blurted out, and her cheeks immediately turned a flaming red. “I- I mean, haven’t you been dying to do this? Do you really want to let me back out already?”
“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would think that it sounds like you don’t want to come back out yet.”
If she hadn’t been tucked away in his stomach, she didn’t doubt that he would have teased her mercilessly for the horrendous shade of red her face had become. But he was right. Now that she had calmed down, the sounds and sensations of Lane’s stomach were surprisingly soothing, and the idea of being held so closely to him, where literally no one could dream of getting her, was something that she wasn’t quite ready to give up.
“Just a little longer?” She offered.
“Say no more, you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”
And with that, Lane settled back on the couch, cradling his stomach protectively as Mia nestled in closer, where she felt more secure than she ever could have dreamed. A slightly rocky first, but very, very, far from being the last.