Path of the Hunters - NSFW

He raised an eyebrow, a smirk crossing his features. "Ravenous how? For real food, or..."

She smirked. "Both."

"Which first?"

"I've already 'ad you." She smiled, running her fingers through his fur.

He propped himself up on his elbows. "What? Never heard of seconds?"

"Of course. I am much more concerned with priority. My stomach is now the priority." She nipped his ear, smiled.

He chuckled. "Fair enough." He then heard his own stomach growling. "Guess we both could use a good meal."

"Oui." She nuzzled into his neck, smiling. "And then... seconds."

"Well then, might you suggest a good wine, for when we have seconds?" He indicated the rack of wines on the far wall.

Aurélie laughed, getting to her feet. "What could possibly top our first selection?"

"Hmm... Good point," he said as he got to a full sitting position. "I don't think I have anything that comes even remotely close to that. That '84 Chablis, maybe, but even still..." He sat for a moment in thought before finally shrugging. "I guess I can make an exception to my 'no repeats' rule, as far as the wine goes."

She smiled. "Magnifique."

"Guess I'll have to go back to that village soon," he mused. "See if I can't get a couple more bottles of this."

"Bonne chance." She went towards the stairs, smiling. "Come along, Nova. My stomach is impatient."

"Right behind ya." True to his word, Nova was instantly on his feet, and at the dog's heels. "Hope you like salmon."

"Mm... It sounds perfect."

In little under an hour, the two were enjoying a simple, yet filling dinner: grilled salmon, sauted mixed vegetables, and long grain and wild rice.

She took another bite of salmon, smiling at him across the table. She hadn't bothered to get dress and it amused her that he hadn't either. "Why did you buy this 'ouse?"

"Well," he began after chomping down a forkfull of rice. "at the time, Cross was planning on building an HQ of sorts for our mercenary team. A place where we could all meet up, talk tactics, and rest before and after a mission. We made a bet on who'd get the main building, and well, I lost.

"By the time I fully paid for this place-believe me, even with the nice pay from my triple-shift, it wasn't cheap-Cross reneged, and set up base at his tech shop, not far from the university. So, I figured, 'What the Hell' and kept the place for myself.

"In hindsight, it was a good investment. I rented out my old apartment above my MMA dojo, so I'm now getting money from four points instead of three, and I have somewhere to safely stock my growing collection of wines, as you already saw."

"Practical." She swallowed some vegetables. "I 'ave never even considered purchasing a maison. I live in 'otels and, on the rare occasion that I am in France, with my grandparents. It is easier to stay unattached that way, non?"

"Maybe." He took a bit of his salmon. "But attachment is part of what makes us who we are, right? Someone without any attachment... They couldn't really hope for anything, could they?"

She shrugged. "Attachments often get in the way of fun. Besides, the 'opes of one person always differ from the 'opes of another. My parents 'oped I would live a normal life in the middle of nowhere, get married, 'ave children, and die. My grandparents 'oped I would marry a noblemen, 'ave children, and kill as they ordered when they ordered." She smiled. "Instead, I live freely."

"Then that's attaching yourself to your ideals, to your own way, but it's an attachment all the same. You hope to continue to live freely, right?"

"Of course. And I will live freely." She eyed him carefully, taking another bite of salmon. "You are more complicated than you seem."

"When one's been through what I have, one's far from simple. The predictible badass I usually present-it's just a front, meant to fool people, and divert them from the real me." A sad chuckle escaped his lips. "Sometimes, I even fool myself."