Poppy Wilde and the Wild Thing

by L A Moore

  “I do love you Ari, but I’m just confused, and a bit scared. What if you change and hurt me, or go berserk?” Poppy asked worriedly.

  “I would never do that because, no matter what form I take, I am still me. I still have all the same memories, feelings, and thoughts as before. It’s still me just in a different form.” Ari explained. “Please, let me show you, choose any animal and I will show you it’s still me.” Ari pleaded.

  Poppy hesitated before saying “Ok, first I want to see you as a Sasquatch, and then as a bear.”

  “You got it!” Ari said and stood up. Slowly he unbuttoned his blue plaid, short sleeved shirt and laid it aside on the table. Then he undid his blue jeans and pulled them down over his hips and off and laid them on the table too. Finally, he removed his black fitted boxers, and laid them on top of the jeans. He turned then so she could see that he was completely human in every way, as he felt it was important for her to see his human form. Then he took a step and changed into a Sasquatch. At first, he didn’t move at all, letting her look at him, and willing her to see his eyes, then he slowly turned around for her to see, and finally took a step towards her and bent over, lightly touching her face with his hairy fingers and making groaning ape like sounds said “I love you.” Next, he took a step back and dropped his hand, and turned into a giant grizzly bear. Standing on all fours, he looked at her eye to eye and groaned out to her “see it’s still me.” Then he stood up on his hind legs and, as gently as a feather, moved her hair from her face the way he had in the restaurant on their first date with his massive claws.

  Poppy watched as he stripped naked and inspected him for any weird deformities but found none. He was all male. Then she watched as he turned into a Sasquatch and looked him in the eye, finding he was still in there, even though he was incapable of human speech, and leaned into his hand when he touched her face as he had done before, at the restaurant. Then he had turned into a giant bear and she again looked into his eyes, even though she was scared and her heart pounded and she couldn’t help but cringe, even knowing it was still him inside the giant bear as he reached out and moved her messy hair from her face as he had the same day at the restaurant.

  Finally, Ari turned back to human again and knelt before her “See, it’s still me, no matter what form I take and I would never hurt you.” Ari pledged, holding her hands.

  Poppy had been scared of the bear form but, when he had carefully moved her hair, she had known it was still Ari inside, and knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She leaned down and kissed him, trying to say physically what she could not say verbally. She trusted him and still loved him.

  Ari deepened the kiss and picked her up, carrying her to his bedroom. He slowly undressed her, kissing all of her newly exposed parts and suckling her breast. He slid his tongue down to her navel and kissed it delicately before sliding her pants down her body and tossing them aside, followed closely by her panties. By the time he got back to her mouth, Poppy was more than ready for him to take her. She dug her nails into his shoulders and bit her lip as he slid his way up her body. He picked her back up and she fully expected him to lay her down on the bed but, instead, he wrapped her legs about his waist and pushed his manhood deep within her. He held onto her butt and began pumping her, slowly at first, then faster as he kissed and suckled at her body, making Poppy moan out with pleasure and hiss with the intensity as she held on to him, scratching his back and kneading his upper arms. As they got more intense, he walked her over to a wall and gently laid her back against it, raising her arms above her head. He held her there with one hand on hers and one on her butt, his body and the wall supporting her. He fucked her hard and fast and Poppy cried out her pleasure as she came. Ari felt when Poppy began to come; when she began pulsing around his manhood and he came with her, depleting himself. Slowly, he let her legs go to the floor and slid out of her. He stood panting in front of her with his head touching hers and said through ragged breaths “I love you Poppy Wilde. You are my heart, my light, the love of my life. Never forget that.”

  “I love you too, Ari” Poppy replied and kissed him.

  Chapter 28

  They spent the next two days together, taking walks. Each day Ari would take various forms and entertain her and then turn back into his true form. They would then walk hand in hand back to the house where they would make love. On the second day, Poppy had a follow- up with a Doctor the hospital had set up for her. Ari took her but hoped the Doc would say she wasn’t ready to be on her own just yet, even though he knew that was a lie; she had been doing very well the last few days.

  The Doctor went over her emergency room visit notes, and then examined Poppy carefully. When he was done, released her to do as she pleased; only to be more careful when up in the mountains.

  They drove back in silence, each realizing her time had come. It was time for her to go home, and for them to return to the normal they had once begun. Once back, Poppy packed while Ari sat on the bed and watched her. He was silent until she was all packed and ready to leave.

  “I wish you would stay.” Ari said when Poppy was ready to leave.

  “I won’t be far; just at my place, and we will see each other every day.” Poppy soothed.

  “I know, but I want you here with me. I’ve got used to you being here.” Ari begged.

  “I love you, but we talked about this. We date for a little while longer before I move in.” Poppy cajoled.

  “Alright, but have dinner with me tomorrow night?” Ari asked.

  “Ok, that sounds nice. Where would you like to go?” Poppy retorted.

  “I am thinking that fancy place in town, Food, sounds good. I’ll call and get us a reservation.” Ari answered.

  “Perfect. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Poppy said, kissing Ari and leaving.

  Ari hated to see Poppy go. If he could have his way, she would have moved in with him. But she had insisted they date a little longer before that happened.

  Chapter 29

  Poppy rode home thinking about her relationship with Ari. He was persistent, and she was scared. She didn’t know if she was ready to move in with someone. It was all going so fast, and she didn’t know if it was right for her. She needed to feel that it was right. The right time to do things and move forward, but mostly she needed to assess how she felt and decide if she was ready to make that type of commitment. He might only be asking for her to move in now, but she knew what came next, and it felt that if she said yes to one, she would have to say yes to the other. She took stock of how she felt about Ari, and all the reasons why she felt that way, and how she felt about moving in. Moving in felt permanent and that felt scary. What if she moved it and he found that she was too much hassle to bother with like all the rest of her foster parents? But Ari wasn’t her foster parents; he loved her, truly loved her. She knew she wasn’t quite ready to move in, but soon she would be ready. That night she made a list of all the ways Ari was different from anyone she had known and from all the bad experiences she had had. While she had had quite a few bad experiences, Ari’s list was much longer and, for each one, she had an argument as to why or how he was different. She decided then that she would stick to her plan of just dating for a while longer to be sure that she was right about Ari, and that he wasn’t just going to turn tail and run when things didn’t go his way. Then, if things were still good between them, she would move in.

  Chapter 30

  The next day Poppy dressed in light pink capris, her hiking boots, and a cream colored short sleeved top with a colorful butterfly on it and lace in the back that showed off her whole back. It was as sexy as she could manage while still being prepared to hike in the woods. Then she pulled her hair to the side and braided it into a fish tale braid and secured it. Once that was complete, she carefully did her make- up, using pinks and purples on her eyes, and a bright pink lipstick on her lips. Going back upstairs, she took out her long dressy dress and hung it to get any wrinkles out and then headed to Ari’s. This week they were working on the humbl
e dogwood tree. It wasn’t as exciting as the bobcat, but it was safer and way easier to locate without having to climb so high into the mountains. Avianna had packed them a lunch again today which Poppy was grateful for as she hadn’t stopped by the grocery store last night.

  They headed up into the woods to find the plentiful little tree and capture several images of it, first far off but zoomed in and then up close, getting only the most perfect flower buds. They did this for several trees until Ari was sure Poppy would have something to give him. It hadn’t occurred to her why he needed to turn in so many articles if he was only published once monthly, but he had a cover for that if and when it came up. His plan was to publish several articles on FaceIt under the Nature page, where he could include more photos and so that was his cover. There were plenty of things he could write about here; the only issue was finding the creatures which, thankfully, he was good at, seeing as how he could really think like them. Plus, it made his job easier. He would have a surplus of articles all ready to go to publishing, which left him more time to spend with Poppy. So far, they had turned down her first picture of the deer, saying it looked to unreal, but he had high hopes for her bobcat pictures, and was waiting patiently for their reply, which should come any day. They passed by a snake and Poppy nearly climbed Ari’s frame, trying to escape it. It was a good thing it was just a harmless rat snake, and not something worse, like a rattler snake, or it might have struck out with all her clambering going on. It was a good thing then that he had worn jeans and hiking boots with a blue t-shirt that she, thankfully, didn’t rip.

  “If you will just calm down, it won’t bite. This is just a rat snake and it isn’t interested in us.” Ari explained, setting her down off his back a few yards from the snake.

  “Maybe not you, but it definitely had eyes for me.” Poppy replied, just positive the snake had it in for her.

  “Your fear of it is way worse than anything that snake would do. They don’t attack unless they are provoked most times.” Ari explained. “See, it’s not chasing us, it’s just going on its merry way.” He added, pointing to the snake. He could see snakes were out of the question. If he wanted to do an article on them, he would have to rely on his trail cameras. They finished up lunch sitting beneath a huge oak tree, and then headed back so each had time to get ready for dinner that night.

  “Goodbye, love of my life.” Ari said, kissing her.

  “Goodbye lover.” Poppy replied, and left Ari to get ready for their date.

  The plan was he would come pick her up at her place about seven, so she had three hours to get ready in. Poppy got home and took a shower, then poured herself a glass of wine and turned on some music while she began shaving and touching up her body. Then she dried and curled her hair, pinning each one in place until it cooled, then began her make up. She used golds and bronzes to do up her eyes, and highlighted and contoured her face in all the right places. Then finished her look with a deep wine- colored lipstick, which was her favorite to wear. Then she did her nails, giving herself a pedicure and manicure since she didn’t have time to go get them done, and painted them with clear bottom coat with gold tips and finished with a top coat. She danced about the house, clothed only in her robe while her nails dried and then, once she was absolutely sure they were dry, she began to get dressed. She slid on the blue lace panties that were gathered at the back just at her butt so it made her ass look even more enticing. Then she strapped on the matching blue lace strapless bra and adjusted her breasts into it, taking note of how it made her look even more buxom than she was. Finally, she slid on the bold teal, blue, and aquamarine mix ombre sweetheart neckline, sleeveless, chiffon and satin dress. It fell nearly to the floor, so she pulled out her gold strappy stilettos and gold crystal earrings and necklace and put them on with the matching gold and crystal bracelet. Then she set about arranging her now cooled and curled hair high on her head in an intricate pattern, leaving her curls to hang down her back from high on her head. She looked beautiful she thought as she admired herself in the mirror. She was just packing up her gold clutch when she heard a knock at her door.

  Ari had worked on his article about the dogwood, and then showered and shaved. He took time to make sure he was neat and trimmed from head to toe, and then styled his well-groomed hair back from his face and put on his black and white tuxedo.

  Food was the premier place to eat for miles around, not including the city, and they had a very formal dress code. They served a wide variety of foods prepared by a chef that was guaranteed to leave you satisfied, according to some, but Ari didn’t care about all that. He could have just as easily been taking her to a taco joint for all he cared. He just wanted to be with Poppy.

  He drove to her house with a bunch of roses he had stopped at the local florist to buy, in every shade they had because he remembered how much she loved every color of the rainbow. He was nervous and excited as he stepped out of his just washed truck and knocked on her door.

  Poppy quickly shoved the rest of her things into her clutch, and then calmly walked down the steps because she knew he could see her from the front door. When she reached the door and opened it, he was grinning from ear to ear.

  “You look ravishing, my love. I’m not sure I want to share your loveliness with everyone else though.” Ari said, and laughed.

  “Well, you better, because it took a lot of man hours to get this look together, and I’m not about to waste it sitting at home eating take out.” Poppy replied, sternly but jokingly.

  Ari led her out to his truck, with her closing and locking the door behind her, and then taking his arm. One there, he opened the door for her and helped her up into the truck.

  At the restaurant, the valet opened the doors for them and helped Poppy out of the truck, then drove his truck away to park it. Foods exterior was very industrial warehouse and, at first glance, you would never imagine it to be a fine dining restaurant. Inside, it was lit up with industrial crystal chandeliers, and white linens graced each table, the industrial chairs and tables forming a sort of waltz throughout the large, expansive room. The walls were painted red and gray with large displays of art on the very back wall. It was very swank and very pricey and Poppy was impressed. The greeter met them at the front of the restaurant and guided them along the tables to one in the back, specially reserved by Ari. Ari held Poppy’s chair out for her, and then sat down himself as the greeter left.

  “This place is amazing! Who would guess it was located in the middle of a tiny town in the middle of almost nowhere?” Poppy asked, more to herself than the Ari.

  “Were just blessed they chose to set up shop here.” Ari answered. “I did a piece on this place when it first opened and met the chef. He’s amazing at his craft; just wait until you see what wonders he does in the kitchen” he added.

  “No way! You know the chef?” Poppy asked, impressed.

  “I do, and this just happens to be the chef’s table.” Ari said, pleased he could impress her.

  “This is amazing! Thank you for bringing me here.” Poppy said.

  “I’m Josh, and I will be your waiter this evening.” Josh said, interrupting their moment. “Can I get you started with some drinks this evening?” Josh asked politely.

  Josh was a short boy, barely out of college, with dark hair and deep green eyes. He was clean cut and shaved and looked more like a boy than a man.

  “Yes, we would like a bottle of your finest wine please. We will trust the chef on the type.” Ari replied.

  Josh hurried away towards the kitchen, hidden behind the art wall with a seemingly hidden doorway, but was just a separate wall that was painted to look at if it were continuous with the wall just behind it.

  A few minutes later he returned with a bottle of red wine and poured them each a glass and left the rest of the bottle on the table in an ice bucket, wrapped in a white linen napkin.

  Poppy took a sip and prepared to grimace as red wine had never been a particular favorite, but was surprised that it was sweeter tha
n she had anticipated. “Mmm, the wine is good” she stated.

  Ari, too, took a sip and agreed that the wine was, indeed, rather nice.

  The first course came then, and there wasn’t much time for talking after that. They would comment between courses, and talked when they could, but the whole meal was designed around small portions of many dishes, all designed to fill you up and to be served fast. They dined on hearty appetizers, fish, followed by a cleansing lemon sorbet, a main course of chicken and steak with a side of vegetables, salad, cheese plate, and for dessert, a generous helping of cheesecake with varying sauces to choose from and tiramisu.

  By the time they left they were both stuffed to the brim.

  “That was amazing.” Poppy said again.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Ari said, and kissed her as they stood waiting for the truck to be brought around.

  Ari paid for the valet and helped Poppy in before getting in himself and slowly driving her back to her home.

  “I don’t feel like we had any time to talk between courses.” Ari stated.

  “I know! They came so fast, and there was so much food.” Poppy agreed. “Would you like to come in?” she asked when they reached her house.

  “I’d love to.” Ari replied.

  They talked long into the night about everything and nothing; laughing and joking and playing with one another.

  Chapter 31

  A busy month passed, with Poppy making up her work from school, and Ari taking her higher into the mountains surrounding the town to get pictures of the creatures and flora and fauna that lived there. He took her to places she had never been before and, occasionally, she was able to get shots of the town that looked like a Norman Rockwell painting in summer. She loved being out in the woods with Ari, and she loved that he shared so much with her about his time roaming around up in the mountains in his various forms. It was like seeing the world with new eyes all over again. Before she would leave each night after having dinner with him, and sometimes Avianna too, he would ask her to move in with him, and each night she would tell him soon, but not yet. In truth, she was scared to do it. In the past, her foster’s had always been nice at first but, after she moved in, they would be mean to her, making her clean and cook and using her as a slave, in her opinion. Looking back, they were enforcing normal rules for any child. They required her to make her own snacks and breakfast, and pack her own lunch. And when she got home she was required to do chores. She supposed, looking back, that they were trying to give her a normal childhood, but she just wasn’t cut out for a normal childhood; she acted out and threw tantrums and was demanding and defied every rule they set for her, testing them to their limits. She was different, always had been, and probably always would be. Which is why moving in with Ari scared her. She didn’t know if she could do the whole happy couple thing and be ok with that. She enjoyed making her own schedule, and doing things the way she liked doing them, when she wanted to do them. And if she moved in with Ari, she would have to give all that up to compromise with someone else. Sure, she had been comfortable before, but Ari had waited on her hand and foot because she was hurt. It wouldn’t be like that all the time, and surely that comfortable, at home, finally in place feeling couldn’t last; she would get bored of it, just as she had at the foster’s, and that would be that. She loved Ari, but did she really want to risk everything to move in with him? she reasoned.