Though in the same setting as Vita Nova, this story is not to be considered canon to the timeline; that is, the events herein are assumed to not take place in Vita Nova and anything that may come after it. It's purely hypothetical.

The airport was packed. People of all shapes and sizes were coming and going every which way, and it was hard to find breathing room, much less move around.

Somehow, Andrea and Jessica managed, making their way toward Gate 7.

"So, have you met this guy before?"

"Not in person, Jessica." Andrea shifter her duffel bag and smoothed the tawny fur with an unconscious pat. "But we've been talking online since, oh, last October."

"How will you know who he is?"

"He said he's a wild dog, and to look for big ears." Andrea frowned. "He's too hard on himself, I'm sure. Anyway, he has my picture, he'll probably know me."

"Let's hope." Jessica scanned the throng emerging from the boarding gate. "There are a lot of people here."

"Andrea Fitzgerald?"

That voice – vibrant, masculine, sexy – didn't just say her name. It caressed it, embraced it, fondled it. It savoured every syllable. Only one person could possibly say her name like that...

That one person was a fit man of medium height, thin, wearing a T-shirt and jeans. His markings were reminiscent of a tortoiseshell's, black and tan and cream shining with health. A bulging duffel hung at his side, a hiking pack from his shoulders, and his hand rested on a large wheeled suitcase. His ears were about as long as the thickness of his head. Those round organs were aimed at Andrea like twin satellite dishes at the heavens.

Watching her watching him, he smiled, a warm and tender smile, and his eyes gleamed.

Andrea finally recovered her voice. "Alex?"

"That's me." He caught her hand in a firm clasp and shook it once. Still holding on, he leaned in and pulled her close, his voice pitched for her alone to hear. "In your picture, you are beautiful. In the flesh... ravishing." His voice thrummed with suppressed need, his breathing was quick and hoarse, and Andrea found herself longing for an in-person repeat of some of their online nights...

Alex blinked, then stepped back to a conversational distance. "You look well, my dear. You said you'd have a van?"

"I'll drive," Jessica offered, giving them an arch look.

Alex laughed. He had a very nice laugh. "We've waited this long, I think we can wait a while longer. And who might you be, Miss?"

"Jessica Troy," the panther said simply. "I've known Andy for years. And what makes you think it's Miss?"

For all the steel she put in her voice, she didn't resist or protest when Alex took her hand. "Were I your husband, I wouldn't let you out of my sight for a second." He touched his mouth to the back of her hand in a chaste kiss.

Jessica leaned over to whisper in Andrea's ear, "This guy's good! Can I have him?"

"He's mine, you jealous thing."

"She's right, you know. I'm hers."

The girls jumped. They hadn't been talking at all loud...

Jessica was first to recover. "You're right. Those are big ears." She then gave Alex a little punch. "So you've got no excuse not to listen to her. Right?"

"I won't try." He gave her a tiny bow. "Alexander Graham Gould. Call me Alex. Now, shall we get going?" His big, warm hand rested a moment on Andrea's arm, and his brown eyes threatened to swallow her up. "An airport terminal is hardly the place for an intimate conversation."

The ride to campus was a long one, but Alex didn't see much of it.

First thing, you take a cold shower, boy. When will you learn some self-control?

He'd let his anticipation get out of hand. Now he could only hope he hadn't botched things up too badly. A complete stranger coming on to her. Yeah, that'll impress her for sure.

Well, okay; they did know a fair deal about each other. But she'd never seen him before, and he should have considered that before greeting her like some long-time lover.

Alex roused himself to reply to a comment on the restaurant district, but he really didn't have an appetite.

"Intimate conversation," indeed. What kind of line was that?

"Yoo-hoo..." A hand tapped his shoulder.

On campus, thank goodness. "Sorry." Alex hefted his pack and stepped outside.

The temperate air had a cool crispness that he was unaccustomed to but liked, and the campus was much more open than he'd expected. The buildings were fairly new, but elegant, with ornate carvings and classical architecture. All in all, it promised to be a nice year.

If, of course, he could keep from putting his foot in his mouth in the future.

"Next."

Alex filled out the forms and picked up his keys. Sixth floor, of course. At least his room was his own. He wouldn't have to deal with a total stranger sleeping a few feet away from him. And the social opportunities—

Stop that.

Thank goodness for elevators. Alex made it up to 12^th in one trip, and didn't even have to wait very long. His room was down at the end, right near the fire exit ("...ONLY: Alarm will sound"). Comforting thought. Well, if it meant he was away from the main traffic flow, well and good.

Time to unpack.

Sometime or other, he roused himself from his trance to grab a quick meal. It wasn't gourmet, and it wasn't cheap, but it was edible.

Around 10:00, he was again roused to attention by a knock at his door. Two soft taps, of the sort not meant to disturb. "Come in," he called, starting to unwrap the various bits and pieces of his easel.

Andrea let herself in, shutting and locking the door behind her. Reflex? Probably. "What do you think?" she asked, looking around at the things he had put about the room.

Alex leaned against the window. "Not bad. In fact, compared to some of the other schools' brochures I looked at, it's pretty good."

"The room, or the school?"

"Both. Strange that they didn't try to advertise. I mean, really! The space, the furniture – my God, that chair actually looks comfortable – the view..." He glanced down at his not-just-a-desk. "The high-speed data terminal..."

"It's a good place. Classes for pretty much anything you want, too."

"Yeah. I've signed up for a self-defence class. Might help me keep in shape."

"Self-defence, huh? I don't suppose you also registered in self-confidence?"

Huh? "No... why?"

"You need it," Andrea replied, suddenly inches away. She'd managed to get him against the wall; he couldn't back away to a more comfortable distance. "I'm glad your personality online was honest, but there are a few things that you weren't truthful about."

"Andrea, I never—!"

"Yes you did. You told me you were somewhere between plain and freakish. Not the most handsome man I've ever seen."

Him? "I..."

Andrea sighed and took a step back, turning to look out the window. "Alex, what is with you? For a moment in the terminal there, I thought we'd need to take up Jessica's offer to drive. I've never seen that level of desire—"

"I lost control for a moment," he admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" One hand on his chest shoved him into the wall, and the breath out of his lungs. "Alex, no man – nobody at all, in fact – has ever made me feel so beautiful, so wanted. No, that's not the problem. The problem is that you backed off way too fast, and too far." The pressure on his chest eased, and the hand moved up to stroke his jaw. "I've wanted... that, with you, for so long, Alex. Dreamed about it..."

"I didn't dare," he admitted. He couldn't bear the thought of offending her, should she learn he was pawing her in his dreams...

"Well, you should. Alex, it's not like we haven't explored each other before."

"With an ocean between us," he protested.

"And now it's not there. Alex... what do you want, really?"

Want, want... Oh, he knew what he wanted, all right. He'd known since he first saw her in person – was it already seven hours ago? But for all he couldn't take his mind off that – and a cold shower had only eased the physical aspect of that longing, not the mental – he had no idea how to say it.

"This?" One of her hands slipped under his shirt and groped at his abdominal muscles. Shivers ran up his spine to his hindbrain, and back down a bit farther than they'd started. A shuddering breath passed through his gaping jaws. He closed his eyes and let the feeling pour over him.

The hand pulled away, then gripped his jaw. "Alex." Gone was all trace of levity; the intensity forced his eyes open, brought them down to fix on hers. "Do you want to go all the way?"

His mouth worked, but he still couldn't answer.

Andrea's whiskers twitched as she pursed her lips in a short, thoughtful frown. "Do you want to stop short of that?"

"No!"

She smiled at his vehemence, and her tail curled against his leg. "So the answer to the first question is 'Yes.' Isn't it?"

He managed a nod.

"Well, you seem to need some help getting started, so just sit right there and don't turn around..." She guided him over to the bed and pushed him down by his shoulders, then moved out of his view. There was a rustling of cloth.

When she came back into sight, she had none, and was clad only in dignity and bronze fur. "Just relax," she whispered into his ear. "Lie down and relax, and I'll do the rest."

Could this actually be happening? When would the dream end? Alex arranged himself on the bed.

She straddled him, and ran her hands up and down his body. That touch told him: It was, and it wouldn't. One of her hands pulled up a bit on the back of his neck; the other slowly, very slowly, lifted up his shirt. As each inch of his body was uncovered, her snout ruffled his fur, smelling every part of him. Pushing against his jeans, his erection was quickly becoming painful.

She slipped his shirt the rest of the way off, and the hand that had been on his neck now roved around his shoulders, while the other was down at the small of his back. She gave a sucking kiss to his left nipple, over his heart, sharp teeth pricking the sensitive skin. His whole body convulsed in a spike of pleasure so intense it hurt.

He swallowed. "If you keep that up, I'm not going to last much longer." He could already feel the pressure building inside him. And here I thought I needed contact down there for an orgasm.

"Don't worry," she purred. "It's only ten o'clock. There's the whole night ahead of us." And she sucked at the base of his neck.

One of her hands did open his fly, and his penis poked up past his shorts, but she didn't touch it. She cocked her head at his relieved sigh. "A little uncomfortable, was it?"

Not to mention the mess that would have made of his shorts. He didn't really want his clothes to smell of semen this soon. "Yeah. Thanks..."

"Oh, don't thank me yet. I'm just starting, and I think you'll make it up to me anyway."

Oh God, high expectations... at least he always did well under pressure.

Her strong tongue worked along his jaw, making him melt with sheer joy. Every tense muscle in his body was relaxing under her hands.

"I've never seen a man's body up close before," Andrea breathed into his ear. "It's a wonderful thing."

"I—uh..." Whatever he'd been about to say fled from his brain as she nibbled his ear.

She stroked his brow with one finger, scratching the tender skin. The fingers of her other hand pushed hard against the muscles of his back, working out the last of the knots. Her nose touched his own for just a moment, and they shared a breath of each other; then she tilted her head to one side, guided his the other way, and slid her tongue into his unresisting mouth.

That was it. His breath sighed into her mouth as semen poured onto his belly. So great was the stillness, for a moment he thought he had died.

When his senses started working again, a few endless seconds later, she was lying face-up beside him, one of her hands on one of his, while her other hand stroked his softening member through his shorts. It felt better than anything. Well, anything but what he'd experienced immediately beforehand... "I thought I was right being an atheist," he whispered, "but this must be heaven. Only place a lovely angel would make love to me." He met her gaze and gave her a special smile, the smile he'd been saving for the right person.

"You're good, Alex." She kept stroking his hand and his sheath. "A natural."

"I just needed the right coach," he replied, then had to devote all his attention to keeping still. "Hey!"

"Ticklish, are we?" Inside his waistband, her claws kept running across his sheath for a few moments, then she switched back to her fingers. "Well, well, well... what have we here? Didn't take you long. I'd heard it could take half an hour. What did I say? A natural. Now, you stay right there and don't do anything that's not reflexive, got it?"

He smiled and nodded. She untied and removed his shoes, tossing them onto the floor. She spent a bit more time with his socks, possibly because one of her hands was busy encouraging his penis to come all the way out of its sheath again. Then it was time for his jeans, and that took a while, since she felt and squeezed every muscle on the way down.

She looked down at him. "Considering what I've heard about some guys, that's not bad at all."

"Huh?"

She tugged at his waistband and let it go. He couldn't help but glance down.

"I wear white boxers. So?"

"I think some guys wear boxers with patterns on them just as an excuse to be seen wearing nothing else..."

"And when did you see other guys' boxers, hmm?"

"Not ON them," she said in a big hurry, and quite a bit louder. She winced, and lowered her volume. "You can only go shopping so many times without seeing that kind of thing."

He grinned, pleased with having teased her. "This isn't fair, though. I didn't get to see you in your underwear."

"You'll have plenty of opportunities later. For now, at least, I've seen enough of that." And she pulled off his shorts in one smooth motion. She frowned. "What a mess. I caused it, so I really should clean it up, shouldn't I?"

"What m—mm..." She started licking at his semen-matted belly fur, her rough tongue tugging all the furs apart. He shut his mouth and let her.

And gasped. "I don't think that got too much on it," he said, then cursed himself. What, you want her to stop?

"It all came from there," she said, "so I'm sure it got some." And she went right back to licking at his sheath. One of her hands cupped his scrotum, fondled his testicles, and started giving him a delightful light scratch. Meanwhile—

"Hey! That's sensitive skin!" He clamped down on the urge to buck out of the way; that would probably make things worse.

"Sorry." She didn't stop licking his penis, but she did it much more lightly. It tickled. It drove conscious thought completely from his brain.

Which was, perhaps, why he didn't notice her moving until she had straddled him.

She gave him one long lick, starting from the base of his neck and running all the way up to his jaw, giving his nose a little twitch at the end. "Well, my canine companion, are you ready?"

Despite his deep-seated urge to say only Yes!, or perhaps say nothing and just demonstrate, his brain clung to one last kernel of reason. "Won't this... hurt? For you, I mean."

She shook her head and smiled. "I had that taken care of, surgically, when I had my ears pierced."

Well, in that case... "May I?"

"May you what, lover?"

He opened his mouth, paused, spoke. "Feel you where I've never dreamed of feeling a woman, with a part of my body I never thought anyone else would touch. Be sent on a journey of the soul by your exquisite touch..."

"You are too good at that," she said. "I think I'll have to distract you." She brought her hips down a little. His body lurched; he only just managed to keep himself from taking the initiative. She smiled, and kissed him, and in one motion took him in up to the hilt.

Had it not been for his recent ejaculation, he would have hit his climax there and then. As it was, every muscle in his body leapt into action, holding her close to him. His arms wrapped around her, hands driving into the fur of his back. His mouth found hers and covered it. His tongue pushed into her mouth as far as it would go. The pricking of her teeth only excited him more.

He just wanted to stay like that forever.

She mumbled something into his mouth.

He pulled back a touch. "What?"

"You've got quite the grip, Alex. If you want me to stay still, I'll do it. Just don't bust my ribs."

Sheepish, he forced himself to relax, to just lie back and enjoy their contact, her breasts against his chest, her snout at the base of his neck, her—

Oh, now that felt good...

...her vagina squeezing his penis, again and again.

"Alex, what...? Oh..."

"What?" he prompted, hoping with all his heart that something wasn't going wrong, this close to orgasm he'd be hard pressed to do anything about it... and he was getting closer...

"Never, ah, never mind. Just... Oh! Just hold me!"

He did. He cradled her loose in his arms, every muscle relaxed as her body brought them both to the brink of abandon, the brink of ecstasy. They were together, as together as any two could be – no, they were not two, they were one, their hearts beating the same frenzied rhythm as identical, almost subsonic moans emerged from their throats, all lines blurring between them as the universe shrank to the aura of heat around Alex-and-Andrea, distilled pleasure nearly driving them both unconscious at the moment of their orgasm.

The moment passed. Andrea was heavy on top of him, limp as a rag doll, her breath warm against his cheek.

"Stars above," she whispered. "Did you feel like I did?"

"...Two hearts in one body, two minds with one purpose, two people as one... Yes." He took a breath. "Andrea, I know this comes a bit late, but there's something very important I have to tell you." She pushed herself up and met his gaze, surprise in her face. Surprise and... fear? "Andrea," he whispered, and licked her nose, "I love you."

Fear melted away; surprise turned to relief, relief to wonder, wonder to joy. "Oh, Alex, I love you."

Alex, I love you... Those four words echoed in his mind as he faded off to sleep.