Chapter 34: All over my mind
I need to get out of here, Ming Tao warned in his mind. After that encounter with the demon, he could not get his mind on anything at all without seeing her pop in his mind.
Meat made him think of her even though he had never tasted her famous meat. Seeing people hold hands made him think of hers. Watching people touch objects their hands needed to wrap around reminded him of her touch. Even seeing people’s lips got his heart pumping so violently in his chest as he remembered what her lips did to him. Not only had she kissed his cheek the night before, but she kissed his member. It seemed like whatever evil practices that demon was involved in was working because his head could not process things without her being in it and he hated it.
This pride had some plague that made people fall for his mate who they are supposed to hate. Maybe if he went back to his savannah and joined the coalition who share the same hatred as he did, his mind would not be all over that demon. Yes! He needed to! The pride had been infected with Mira flu. He needed to get away before he caught it.
Demon of the forest and nice thoughts should not come hand in hand. He came here to expose her evil deeds and prove she could never change not mingle. And now, he let her fingers mingle with his body. He would wash off but that was what got him in the situation in the first place and he also loved perceiving her all over his skin. This entire thing was maddening.
WHY WAS HIS MIND ASSOCIATED WITH THE ONE WOMAN HE DETESTED MORE THAN ANYTHING?
"Mister Cheetah." A voice beamed around him. Ming Tao snapped back to reality. He was sat underneath the shade of a tree in the pride’s market place and resting against it. He turned around but so no one.
"I am right below you, mister cheetah." The voice called. It was child like. Ming Tao lowered his gaze to see two lion cubs. The same two who stole his coat and pants. They looked remorseful and guilty and his coat was nicely folded in their hands, each holding a piece.
Oh. Well, what did these two little thieves want?
"We are sorry." The other cub said. "We shouldn’t have taken your clothes and ran away like it." He continued. "Please forgive us."
"Yeah. We promise to be good next time, Mister cheetah."
These children sounded like they wanted to cry. Almost like they got a good scolding and decided to change. How could he be mad? He did worse as a cub.
Ming Tao took his fur coat and pants from them and flashed them a wide grin. He brushed the hair of each cub simultaneously with a messy pat. "Don’t worry about it. It’s okay." Ming Tao said.
"So you forgive us? You’re not angry?"
Aw, these kids were adorable.
"We came with a peace offering mister cheetah." The other cub undid a vine that was tied and attached to his leaves skirt. He held the vine to him. Ming Tao’s nose caught on a scent he had never perceived before. His pupils dilated and his mouth watered. It was meat. But a different kind of meat with a tantalising aroma he never knew existed.
The cub placed the folded leaves wrapping the meat on Ming Tao’s body. The leaves wrap felt warm against his skin.
"With a peace offering like this, yes, I forgive you." Ming Tao said. Without the peace offering, he already forgot about the incident. Cubs could be as mischievous as they wanted, it was the beauty of being a cub. The serious work rested on the adults’ shoulders.
The cubs eyes lit up instantly. "Really!?" One asked.
"You really mean it, mister cheetah?!" The other followed.
Ming Tao nodded. "It never happened in the first place." He said to them and winked.
"We pass on our gratitude mister cheetah!"
"Thank you!!" They chorused at the same time and bolted into the market square. Ming Tao chuckled and placed his coat by his side on the ground. He reached out to the leaves and undid the vines which held it together.
The scent that filled his nose made his eyes roll back into his socket. He took a well sliced piece into his mouth. Chewed. Let the taste savour in his tongue. Ming Tao’s ears twitched. This tasted so good. This was the best meat he had eaten in his entire life and he has lived for decades!
Ming Tao dug in till he ate the last piece. He wanted more. He suddenly wished he did not tell the cubs he forgave them until after he finished eating the peace offering.
Ming Tao smacked his mouth together, letting his tongue taste the meat on his teeth. He wanted to find those cubs because what was that flavour and why was it only available in the lion clan?
What special skill had they been harbouring away from the rest of the clans for so long? He needed to know. Ming Tao got up, picked up his coat and pants, unfolded them and hung it over a shoulder. He made his way through the market square and branched at several bamboo huts to inquire about this meat. All of them had the same response.
They only sold the plain meat he was accustomed to and only one person in the entire tribe made the meat he described to them. The mother of the tribe. So this was her infamous meat the lions talked about during his stay in the tribe. Now that he had tasted it, he understood why she was referred to as the ’meat lady’ by the cubs. Ming Tao headed to Jia Hao’s home, in search for Mira.
After having more meat, he would return back to his clan and get his head back to where it was supposed to be regarding his wife, he told himself. But that thought vanished when he saw the pregnant woman in question. Mira was with some cubs who formed a queue. She was almost at head level with them so he assumed she was sitting. The cubs seemed like they were waiting for something that she only she could give. It must be the meat!
Ming Tao jogged, heading to where she was at. Something made him stop just before he got to her. The two cubs who stole his coat and pants were there, just by her side. Now he understood. He told her at the river bank that his things were taken when he came for a bath and she found the cubs who did the deed and told them to meet him and right their wrong.
His heart raced in his chest. Why did the demon of the forest do that? It was so unlike her. He swallowed. Could it be. . . That by a slight chance she was actually changing?