Claws

Road trip

This chapter contains sexual content for 18+ users ONLY
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LUKA

I was completely and utterly wiped out.
Between training Apollo, hand-preparing his diet, relieving him of the discomfort caused by his rut, and taking care of myself on top of all of it, exhaustion had thoroughly taken root in my body.
A well-earned bubble bath was underway when my phone rang.
Toweling off my hands, I reached for the sounding phone, and answered, "Hello, Dr. Luka Fryre."
"Well hello Dr. Fryre," a familiar voice hummed, "this is Dr. Lawerence. You can just call me Kye."
     "Hey there!" I couldn't contain my excitement, which leaked into my words with every syllable, "How have you been?"
     "I've been great, how about yourself?" He replied.
     "Good, just tired. I'm getting Apollo ready for an agility competition and it's a lot of work."
     "When is the competition?" Kye asked.
     "Tomorrow." I groaned, "I know we're ready, but I'm nervous. Apollo hasn't left the ranch except to run away, and I'm not sure how being in a different place will impact his performance. He doesn't handle change well. On top of that, I've never ran a bird at an event before."
"I'm sure you'll do well. You're a great handler and it sounds like you've prepared the best you could for this competition." Kye reassured me, "I want to see your medals when you come back home!"
His confidence in me was flattering, causing me to giggle like a school boy. "I need to take you up on dinner when I get back."
"You better!" Kye chuckled. "We can talk all about how fast Apollo was."
"What's been up in your life?" I asked.
"Oh, you know, the usual. Got clawed by a bird and had to get a couple stitches. Treated a sprained wing. Sewed up a bird that met the wrong end of a boar." He finished his impressive list.
"Are you okay?" I asked first and foremost.
Kye laughed at my question. "Absolutely, just a normal week for me."
"You get clawed on a normal week?" The question left my lips with a degree of disbelief.
"Occasionally." He affirmed, "It was my fault, honestly, I was setting a bone and didn't restrain her. I guess I forgot that even show birds have claws."
"If there's anything I've learned in rehab, it's there any bird can attack. Even the ones you'd least expect." I started chuckling, "I've been bitten by a ten year old girl before."
"Your fault or not your fault?" He hummed quizzically.
"A bit of both," I confessed, "the bird—Diasha— had a history of physical abuse. When I moved just a bit too fast, she took it as a threat and took a chunk out of my thigh." A few staccato laughs lefts me. "It was the very first time I'd ever been bitten by a bird."
"I'd say that I hope it was the last, but from your tone I can tell it wasn't." The other doctor mentioned.
"Oh yeah, even Apollo has taken bites out of me. I swear, their teeth never get duller!" I exclaimed. My voice was just loud enough to echo off the tile walls of the bathroom.
Kye went quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, he asked, "Do bird routinely bite their handlers?"
"Rehabs do." I imparted, "They do quite often, actually. I've been bitten by Apollo two or three times now, and we've been bonded less than half a year."
"Remind me never to get on his bad side." Kye chuckled uneasily.
Our topic changed yet again, and we found ourselves chatting on and on endlessly. When I finally checked the time, it was nine o'clock and we had been talking for over an hour. In that time, I had gotten out of the bath and dressed in some track shorts and a graphic t-shirt.
"Come over." I found myself confident enough to say.
"I thought you were tired?" Kye teased easily.
"Pleaaaaase?" I drawled cutely.
"Since you asked so nicely, sure." He responded, "Be there in fifteen minutes."
"Alright, see you then!" I replied with excitement.
"See you." Said Dr. Lawerence.
A click of the End Call button, and I was wiggling around like Apollo when he got the chance to sink his teeth into some raw, downtown-style steak.
The aforementioned bird, who was laid on his belly reading Shakespeare in my bed, cocked his head to the side at my display.
"I haven't seen you happy like that in a while." He observed, "What's the occasion?"
"Well...." I didn't know where to begin. "I like this guy, his name is Kye. He's coming over to hang out tonight!"
"But don't we have agility trials tomorrow?" He questioned.
"Yes, but what's the harm of some good company?" I questioned back.
Apollo shrugged his shoulders and returned to Shakespeare.
Fifteen minutes were spent brushing my teeth, fixing my hair, and creating a sexy "Natural" look with just a touch of makeup. When those fifteen minutes were up, as predicted, there was a knock at the door, and I let a very attractive doctor inside with a fluttering stomach.
     Kye had chosen to wear straight-cut jeans, a white t-shirt, and tennis shoes. A big smile hiding a bit of nerves lit his face as he entered.
     "Hey there, Dr. Fryre." He greeted me.
     "Please, call me Luka." I replied. "It's only fair, right Kye?"
     "Right." He affirmed, "You know, it's much different being here when I'm not on duty."
     "I bet." I responded. "Oh, you haven't formally met Apollo, have you?"
     Kye gulped. "No, I have not."
     "What, are you scared?" I teased. When the other doctor didn't respond, I added, "Oh my god, you're scared."
     "I'm not scared," he attempted to clarify, "just a little nervous. After all, didn't he eat someone less than a week ago?"
     "Well, yes," I confirmed, "but he's really a sweet bird. Come meet him."
     Without waiting for a response, I took the man's hand and let him into the master bedroom. I felt his palm get sweaty as we entered the archway and my lionheart came into sight.
     "Apollo, this is Kye. He set fixed up your ankle." My bird gave a forced smile and a little wave from where he still laid on his stomach. "Kye, this is Apollo, my lionheart."
     "H-Hi Apollo." The man stuttered out.
   This will either go terribly or wonderfully.
     With his hand in mind, I moved closer to Apollo, and sat on the end of my bed. I placed the trembling hand on the base of my bird's wings. Both the man and the creature startled back, but I held fast.
     "Isn't he soft? Try petting him." The subtle orders left my mouth easily. It was a good skill to have in rehab.
     Carefully, slowly, as if afraid to be attacked, the wandering hand traced up and down the base of Apollo's wings.
     Apollo's blue gaze never left mine. Not quite comfortable enough to relax, but trusting enough to follow my lead, he made the decision to completely ignore Kye and watch me like a dog waiting for orders.
     "He is soft." Kye confirmed.
     "Apollo," The bird's eyes widen slightly at my address. "What do you think?"
     A deep breath in, a deep breath out, and my charge seemed to relax.
"I like him." He decided, "But he smells like running food."
"Rephrase that." I commanded as Kye froze stock still with eyes the size of dinner plates.
"He's terrified. The entire room smells like adrenaline." The bird laughed. Apollo seemed to anticipate my needs, and kept talking. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just keep petting me, that feels good."
"He usually doesn't like new people." I mentioned to the slowly-relaxing man.
"Magic touch, maybe?" He chuckled.
"Mmmmmagic touch." Apollo purred in agreement.
I spurred conversation with relative ease, and watched as Kye grew more and more comfortable around my bird. At one point, Apollo yawned with a mouthful of pointed fangs, and set his chin on Kye's lap. The doctor ruffled my lionheart's hair and continued to pet him absently as he spoke about where he'd attended school.
The rumbling sound of Apollo's purring began to fill the room. It wouldn't have been of much interest if it hadn't been the first real purr I'd heard from him since we'd moved to the ranch.
I mouthed "Holy shit." to Kye, who was trying to contain a smile. The providing was lifted up to his mouth to stifle a chuckle.
"Why'd you stop?" Whined Apollo.
"I can't help but feel a little bit jealous. He doesn't purr much anymore." I whispered to Kye. "Maybe I should be giving him more massages."
"Yeeees." Apollo drawled out, "That would be so good before our run."
     "More massages?" Kye asked with a chuckle.
     "I'm an experienced masseur!" I declared with pride, "It's a very useful skill to have when you're working rehab."
"You know," The other doctor began, "I pulled a muscle in my back the other day. Can you help me with that?"
     "Absolutely," I purred, "just lay down. Apollo, some space?"
     My bird wasn't thrilled that the petting had stopped, but complied with my request anyways. Kye, without a touch of discomfort, laid on his stomach and let me get to work. Skilled hands quickly found the sore spot on his back end worked out the tension with pulling palms and rubbing digits.
     "That feels soooo good." Kye drawled out.
     "Thanks." I giggled at his compliment.
     It appeared that we were going to be fast friends.
     My new.... friend? Romantic interest? Stayed about another hour before heading home. The night was filled with laughter, shared stories, and some desensitization to the most important aspect of my life: my lionheart.