Andrew Mayden

By Andrew Mayden

The subway car was sparsely populated, there were only a few passengers when she stepped on. She sat on the bench. The doe she had with her sat on its haunches before her. She smiled at the deer but restrained herself from petting the animal.

She looked at the others in the car. There was a fat young man glued to his phone playing some game. He wore a black tee shirt and had a sloth draped over his shoulders. Then there was a businessman in a navy suit with a huge praying mantis clinging to his briefcase. The insect turned to look at her doe, but the doe ignored it.

At the Jiangsu Road Station the mantis man got off and a few others boarded. First was a worker with a hard hat and a bag of tools that was crawling with carpenter ants, then came a well dressed lady with a fox at her heels.

And then he stepped in. He was a foreigner with gorgeous red hair. Tall and strong, he wore a collared shirt and denim pants. He had a lion at his side. The animal was absolutely majestic, with a full mane and dark predatory eyes.

The man sat near her on the bench. The lion sat in the middle of the car daring anyone to try and move him.

Her doe lowered its head and stole sideways glances at the lion nearby.

The lion craned its massive head forward and sniffed the doe. The doe slinked back. A moment later the lion stood and began pacing back and forth in front of the doe. The doe pulled away further. She had never seen her animal act this skittish before, not even around predators.

She looked over at the foreigner. He was tall but he slouched a bit. He wasn’t on his phone like most people, he was not really looking at anything in particular. Perhaps he was lost in his own private world.

He could sense he was being watched and turned to her. She quickly looked away.

The lion stopped its pacing in front of the doe. It took a step closer. The doe started trembling. Then the lion took another step closer, now it was close enough the two animals could touch if they wanted.

The lion held its head up and studied the doe. It growled at the tiny deer, showing incisors the size of knives. The doe trembled harder. Then the lion brushed its head against the doe’s. It stepped forward and nuzzled the doe’s shoulder.

The deer cringed. Vibrating like crazy. Its eyes rolled about madly in their sockets, looking for some means of escape, some avenue to safety.

She suddenly hated this foreigner for his aggressive entitlement. Not even the wolf she met the other day bothered her doe this badly.

Right before she was about to say something to the foreigner there came a change, the lion licked the doe’s neck. It was light at first but it continued and became more persistent. The doe stopped trembling. Then it started shaking again. But then it stopped altogether. It looked up at the lion and even nestled its small head against the massive mane.

The foreign man turned and looked at her and gave a small smile. He could feel the chemistry between them now. It seemed that even though this man was a total oaf, he was not totally oblivious to the subtler realities of the world.

She returned a small smile of her own, unsure where this was going.

“Hi,” he said breaking the ice.

“Hi.”

He seemed at a loss of what to say next.

She wasn’t about to help him.

“I’m usually on the subway at this time. But I haven’t seen you here before.”

“I don’t ride it at this time.”

“Oh.” Another pause. Another loss for what to say. And again, she wasn’t about to help him. Then he continued. “I’m glad you can speak some English. This would be awkward otherwise.”

“We’re in Shanghai.”

“True,” he said. “I guess a lot of the people here speak English.”

“How’s your Chinese?”

“Terrible!” He laughed.

She smiled another small smile but refused to give him more than that. She noticed that his lion was still grooming her doe. Her deer was not shaking anymore. Instead it sat with its head held high as if enjoying the attention.

She disliked this man intensely for his obnoxious entitlement, it was as if he expected everything and everyone to bend around him, but she also couldn’t deny there was a charm to him. She figured a lot of women in China were suckers for that charm. But she swore she wouldn’t be one of them.

“My stops coming up,” he said. “So um. Can I add you on WeChat?”

Before she could stop herself, she had her phone out and was adding his contact to her friend’s list.

“My name’s Brandon, by the way.”

“Jun Wen.”

“Do you have an English name?”

“No.”

“Oh,” he said. “I’d like to see you again sometime.”

She nodded slightly.

And then the train stopped and the door slid open and he left taking his hulking lion with him and suddenly the train car felt very empty, despite more people getting on.

Her doe turned and looked at her as if asking when the lion would be coming back. Jun Wen grimaced and shook her head.

*

It was a week later that they met for a dinner of Peking Duck.

The two sat in the booth and ordered. There was some small talk between them but mostly silence. She watched the animals.

His lion licked her doe as way of greeting. The doe seemed to warm almost immediately to the hulking predator.

The lion wandered off for a bit and came back carrying a dead mouse. It put the dead animal at the doe’s feet. A gift. She suddenly laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“You come off like a big lion at first, but inside you’re a house cat.”

“That’s an odd thing to say, but I guess you’re not wrong.”

The cart of food arrived and the chef sliced the glazed duck into fine strips and laid it out. Then he put a dish of flour wraps and some vegetables and sauce.

The two ate dinner. They discussed his job, then hers, the weather in Shanghai, and where he should visit while he was here. It was almost a forced banality.

But during this time the lion and the doe were nuzzling one another quite affectionately. They loved each other’s company. It was only awkward between the humans in the room.

During the mostly quiet dinner, she warmed to him a bit. Then after the dinner, she took the initiative and led him down the Bund for an evening stroll along the Yangtze. It was a gorgeous night. As they walked, he reached out and took her delicate hand in his, laced his fingers through hers. It screamed attraction. But she still couldn’t decide how she felt about it.

Suddenly it began to rain. A spring shower. She screamed, letting out the kid she kept bottled up inside. They raced to a nearby awning. It covered them well enough, but by the time they arrive, both of them were soaked.

It was crowded, the two of them along with their two animals. The lion shook himself, spraying water, the doe gently shook herself dry.

The two humans hand in hand, their bodies pressed close. Her nipples showed beneath the thin fabric of her shirt. They were hard from the sudden chill of the rain.

She saw water running down his face in rivers. It matted his hair in wet clumps. A bead of water pooled at her temple. It broke free of her dark hair and ran down her face, slowed at the peak of her cheek bone. He leaned over and kissed that drop of rainwater off her face.

Under that canopy they stood in a world of two, no one else existed, she squeezed his hand as a safe way of showing her feelings. He squeezed back.

Moments later the shower ended and they continued their walk, trailing their two animals.

*

Back at his apartment he shut the door behind them and things were suddenly quiet after the bustle of city life. It was warm after the chilly rain. And it was private after a night out.

“Um, I think I have a shirt you can wear. Until yours dries, that is.” His tone was casual, as if afraid to scare her away.

She nodded.

He went back to the bedroom and she sat on the sofa in the living room.

The lion led the doe to the patch of grass growing beside the air conditioner. The doe lay down in the center and the lion sat guard beside.

She smiled and closed her eyes and lay her head back. She thought about the last time her spirit guide connected with another like this. That had been a good relationship. Shame that human emotions had to complicate the pure emotions that are shared in the spirit world.

A moment later he came back with a large tee shirt and sweat pants. Nothing even remotely sexy about them, but he held them out to her. She took them. She looked at him.

“What are you smiling at?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“You’re cute when you’re nervous.” She took his hands in hers and they sat on the couch.

She looked at the lion standing beside her doe, not knowing what came next. It was the doe that initiated things. She stood and walked a circle around the lion. Then she nuzzled the lion, encouraging him to take action.

He put his arm around her. She was still wearing wet clothes. Hair disheveled. She curled her legs up on the couch, laying her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her both comforting and seeking comfort at the same time. Nothing was said. Nothing was needed.

Then the lion knew what to do. He mounted the skittish doe. Wrapped strong arms around the tiny animal’s waist. Its barbed cock was hot against the doe’s belly. Then the lion slipped inside the other animal.

And at that moment, she knew she was ready to go all the way with this arrogant foreign man.

She sat up straight. Her small almond eyes held his. His face was an open book, asking. She gave a slight nod. She unbuttoned her cardigan revealing a naked body beneath. It shone with the moisture from the recent rain. Her pale flesh pricked with goosebumps. The shirt slipped from her shoulders.

He leaned over and kissed that exposed shoulder. That soft flesh with its delicate bones beneath. He kissed her neck, her jaw, her chin. Then his lips found hers. They locked tight. Both of them hungered for this. They surrendered to the passion of the moment.

She took his hands in hers and led him back to the bedroom.

Behind a closed door, his hands fumbled with his belt. She worked off her tight jeans. Their clothes pooled on the floor. Naked and aroused, they slipped under the sheets. Bodies entwined.

She laid on her back. Him beside her. His lips devoured her, shoulders, neck, lips, tits, savoring each touch, each soft caress of flesh. He noticed the tendons along her slim neck were well defined. He ran his tongue over them, tasting her fair skin.

Her hand reached down, stroked the length of his hot cock. He tensed.

Then he moved into position. Situating himself between her slim legs. Her legs wrapped around his waist. Her arms encircled his neck. His face buried in her chest, savoring the firmness of her nipples.

Then he slipped into her. She gasped at the sudden intensity of it.

“I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to-”

She silenced him with a kiss, full and passionate on his mouth.

Then he worked it back and forth. Incrementally pushing it deeper with each thrust. He went faster and faster, gaining a speed an intensity that surprised her. He was hungry. He devoured her. As he worked her over she just lay on her back, moaning. Her back arched.

Then she began flexing her hips. Up and down. Timed with his. They had a similar tempo. They were natural lovers.

It was a symphony of flesh. He held her waist, ran his hands down her thighs, hands cupped her calves. Her hands gripped his back, hands on the small of his back. His butt. She grabbed both cheeks and pulled. Bodies pressed together. Chest to chest. He felt her breasts with each pounding thrust of his body. Sweat pooled between her breasts. Hard dark nipples stood erect. It was a whole body experience.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Chin bumped the top of his head. Moisture created a thin film between them. It lubricated their bodies. Their bodies blended in a crazy frenzy of motion and lust. He rose and fell. His stomach smacking against hers. She held him tight, loved his solid muscles. He kept thrusting, full of savage enthusiasm.

She reached a climax first. Her legs squeezed around him. Her orgasm came slowly, flared in her core and ran out along her limbs and lingered with a tingling sensation in her extremities. It was long and drawn out. She convulsed. When it was over she fell back. Head against the soft pillow. Her whole body melted beneath him.

He went faster. Harder.

Tightly squeezed between her thighs. He slammed into her again and again. This time drawing out completely between thrusts.

Then he too climaxed. His orgasm came with a sudden explosion. It washed over him like a tidal wave. He shuddered with the intensity of it. No sound. Just eyes squeezed shut while he shot into her.

Gasping for breath, he rolled off, limbs entangled, holding each other like a lifeline. He lay on her back. She curled against his shoulder. She didn’t know what this was going to be, but she knew she wanted to take the adventure. See where it went.

“That was amazing,” he said.

She said nothing.

A pause, then he said, “I’m not sure what I should say.”

“Then say nothing.”

They lay like that, holding one another, saying nothing, long into the night.

Copywrite Andrew Mayden 2025