Chapter 47

The next morning when the five boarded the giant 767 at LAX, they were greeted by Duke and Duchess who were waiting for them in the main cabin. “Good heavens!” Marion exclaimed. “What happened to you two?”

In just a few short weeks, both tigers had achieved their full size and had filled out. Now Duke was a giant even among the Royal Bengals at 625 pounds, while Duchess weighed 550. The two exclaimed over their joyful reunion with their parents and their friends at the Carlson’s. After the door was closed, the engines started, and the plane was moving toward the taxiway, Duchess padded over to Marion who was sitting beside Don in one of the sofas set on one side of the plane.

Marion had just secured her seat belt when Duchess gently rested her head on her lap and looked up at her face. Marion realized that there were tears flowing down the lovely tigress’s cheeks. “What’s wrong, darling?” Marion asked softly. “Aren’t you well?”

“No, Mistress,” Duchess said sadly. “It’s not that at all.”

Suddenly the huge animal lost control and began to cry uncontrollably. Marion dropped her head to the top of Duchess’s, and gently stroked the animal while making warm noises.

Finally, Duchess regained control and said, “That’s the problem, Mistress!” she cried.

“I don’t understand,” Marion replied. “What’s the problem?”

“You are!” Duchess exclaimed. “More than any other human, you understand us, and ... and you love us! Really, you do. And I can’t bear to give it up, but...”

“What’s his name?” Marion asked gently. “He must be awfully good to have the love of such a perfect creature as you.”

“Oh, he is!” Duchess exclaimed. “His name is Jason, and...”

With her eyes gleaming the giant cat slowly shook her head and said, “Now do you see what I mean? You just knew! I didn’t tell you, but you knew. That’s what I will be giving up, and I will miss it so!”

She shook her head and continued, “But I love Jason so much! I can’t wait to feel his cock penetrate my wetness. I can’t wait to nurse his cubs. I can’t wait to train them ... And there are so many wonderful people who are waiting eagerly, and they have such lovely homes...”

Looking into Marion’s eyes she pleaded for understanding, but knew that Marion did understand. While their eyes were locked together, Marion just continued to stroke her fur in the warmest, nicest manner. “It is my destiny, Mistress. It is what I was created to do. And, beloved Mistress, I am certain that Jason was created to be my mate.”

“My darling, I understand completely. But I cannot tell you how much I will miss you, too. But what about Duke? He’s going to be so lonesome without his sister.”

Duke had been lying on the cabin floor only a few feet away. Turning to him, Duchess said, “Come over here, jerk!”

With that the enormous cat stretched and then moved in his incredibly graceful manner to sit beside his sister. “There’s this dumb tigress named Sheena,” Duchess said disdainfully. “You should have seen her! And you should have seen my pompous brother, too. It was utterly disgusting. All those females flaunting their bodies—”

“Like you were doing with Jason, you mean?” Duke interrupted. “Mistress, talk about disgusting! Could you believe it? Do you know what this little bitch had the nerve to do? She was licking her sex in full sight of Jason and made damned sure he could see halfway up to her belly. Why—”

“Golly, brother, how do you know? Sheena had her sex opened so wide I thought she was trying to take your head inside it. And Mistress, the nerve of some females! Would you believe it? She actually positioned herself so she was upwind of Duke so her scent couldn’t help but drift down to him. And then she has the nerve to stretch, practically on top of him, to make damned sure he could see how beautifully muscled she is. Good grief! It ... it ... it was disgusting, is what it was. Disgusting!”

“Tell me about Sheena, Duchess. And why is it that I really don’t think you dislike her? You don’t, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” Duchess grumped. “But even though he’s my brother, he was so damned arrogant. You would think he was the only tiger ever to be knighted, for heaven’s sake!”

Then her demeanor changed and she said, “Actually, Sheena is pretty nice. Even for a tigress, she’s very lovely. And when I was complaining about her stretching in front of Duke? That’s because she is so perfectly muscled. And I do mean perfect! And she’s really funny. She utterly adores Duke. All she could do was pump me for every drop of information about him. What does he like? What does he like to eat? What are his favorite cuts of meat?

“Would you believe what she did? When we were eating, she carefully trimmed Duke’s favorite cuts with her claws and presented them to him. If I were to tell her that he liked purple tigers, you could bet your last dollar that Sheena would be purple within ten minutes. Nothing is too good for her Duke. Ugh! Disgusting.”

“How did she behave when you and Jason and she and Duke double-dated?” Marion asked softly.

“She was all over him like a tent!” Duchess exclaimed, “I mean—”

Suddenly the tigress stopped, cocked her head and asked, “How did you know?” Then she answered her own question. “Because you’re so unbelievably sensitive, is how.”

Then she looked into Marion’s eyes and asked, “Will you mind? Terribly? I don’t think Sheena can wait to present you with cubs to help patrol the moors. And they will be so cute, and they’ll love it so much. She wanted to know all about Prendwick. And the thought of meeting the Queen of England was almost too much for her to bear. But honestly, she really is nice.”