by Ruby Dixon
He lowers his head, looking torn.
As if determined to be part of the conversation, the monster outside bellows in anger, as it does so many damn times a day that I’m starting to get used to it.
J’shel looks over at the cave entrance, and I panic.
“Please, J’shel.” I whisper. “Don’t we deserve some happiness together? After all we’ve been through?” Between the two of us we’ve lost two homes, countless family members, and more than I can ever comprehend. We deserve our own happiness. We need it, damn it.
I’m so relieved when he turns away from the entrance and heads toward where I lie on the furs. “I will not leave you, H’nah. I promise you this.” He crouches at my side, caressing my cheek. A hint of a smile touches his lips. “And my khui still hums with need. If there is to be a kit between us, it is not yet made.”
“Well, you’re the one dragging your feet,” I tease, running a hand down my ample body. “I’m right here. What are you waiting for?”
His eyes gleam with delight and he lowers his big body to the furs, pulling me against him as he kisses me. I fling my arms around his neck, grateful he’s chosen me.
We make love for hours, until I’m exhausted and utterly content. There’s no place on my body that J’shel hasn’t licked, sucked, nibbled, tasted, or bitten. I’m feeling rather tasty…and happy. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be happy again, but here in his arms? I can’t stop smiling. He strokes a hand over my hair and holds me against his chest as we catch our breath from the latest round of resonance-induced sex, and it’s nice to just enjoy the quiet and the touch of my lover’s skin.
Eventually, though, the stickiness of my body—and his—starts to get to me. J’shel’s long hair is everywhere, clinging to us wherever we’re damp…which is all over. I pull a long strand out of my mouth, sputtering, and he chuckles, squeezing my ass.
“You were the one that wished to see my mane long and free,” he teases. “Here it is, free to go wherever it likes.” And he pulls another strand off of my tit.
I wrinkle my nose, aware that I probably don’t smell like a rose, in addition to being sticky and sweaty. I think of the pool below, where Brooke and Taushen have set up. Right now, it sounds a bit like heaven. “Can we go down below and swim?”
“Of course. Whatever you would like to do.” He rubs my shoulder and presses a kiss atop my head, and I feel like the most pampered, adored woman in the world.
I also briefly feel like climbing him again, but the thought of a cool swim wins out. “Let’s go swim!”
We get to our feet, I pull more of his long hair off of my sweaty body, and then I dress in my tunic. I hate the thought of wearing so much heavy leather especially when it feels like a sauna in the cave, but I don’t have a choice. With a grimace, I put it on and eye the scraps of my panties. J’shel tore the leather to shreds. Which is hot…but also leaves me bare-assed, since I’m not about to put on my leggings. I tug on the edge of my tunic. It’s long enough that it fits me like a dress, so I figure what the hell. Close enough.
J’shel puts on his own leather loincloth, and then twists his hair into a tail to get it out of the way, then offers me a hand. “You wish to ride on my front or my back?”
“Oooh, sexy,” I tease. “Let’s do front so you can hold onto me better if I lose my grip.”
“You forget I have four arms to hold you tight,” he murmurs, then pulls me against him so abruptly that our bodies slap together. “Put your arms around my neck.”
When he leans down, I do as he says, and then he hitches me against him, dragging my legs around his trunk-like waist. I’m acutely aware of how close our faces are and how bare my pussy is, and my cootie starts up again.
He must be thinking the same thing, because J’shel pauses and gives me an expectant look, silently asking if we want to go back to the furs.
“Swim now, more sex later,” I promise him.
J’shel grins and kisses the tip of my nose. “I shall hold you to that.”
“Good, because I don’t plan on changing my mind,” I tell him, and then squeeze my eyes shut as he bounds toward the edge of the cliff. There’s no fear in him as he quickly flips our joined bodies about and then begins to move down the vines as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Me, I’m terrified, and I cling to him like a baby koala as his big body moves down the cliffside. The roar of the water gets louder, telling me that we’re approaching, and it isn’t until I feel J’shel give a little hop and then go still that I crack one eye open.
We’re at the bottom. I glance around as J’shel gently sets me onto my feet, automatically looking for Brooke and Taushen. I spot Taushen first, his big blue body naked on the edge of the pool. He’s propped up on one side, gazing at the water, and I carefully avert my eyes before I see anything improper. He clearly doesn’t care if I see his bait and tackle, but I do. A moment later, I spot Brooke erupt from the pool, spitting out a mouthful of water and then flopping onto her back. She’s completely naked, too, her boobs bouncing as she does a backstroke. She spots us and straightens, waving an arm. “Hey guys! Come join us!”
“Is this a bad time?” I ask, shielding my eyes with my hand despite the fact that there’s no sunlight. It just seems…polite in the face of so much nudity. I glance over at J’shel to see if he’s wigged out by it.
Nope. My dude’s already stripping his loincloth off and tossing it aside. He wanders over to Taushen and sits down next to him, easing his legs into the water. “Go on, H’nah,” he tells me when I hesitate. “I will watch over you.”
“There’s nothing alive down here,” Brooke says with a chuckle. “Other than me and my man.”
“Is this weird?” I ask, holding on to the edge of my tunic as she swims closer to me. I’m not quite ready to haul it over my head. “I feel like this is weird.”
Brooke laughs, swimming a few feet away from where I hesitate. The pool must be deep with steep sides, because it looks just like the world’s most tempting swimming pool and I want to be in there so badly. “If you mean weird by ‘is this going to turn into an orgy,’ no thanks.” Brooke grins up at me. “It’s just skin, dude. These people don’t care. You’re the only one that does.”
I glance over at my J’shel, but he’s not even paying attention to Brooke’s nakedness. He’s kicking his legs in the water, leaning over with his elbows on his big thighs, and chats with Taushen. Occasionally he looks over at me, his gaze possessive and protective at once. He really doesn’t care that Brooke’s naked or that she’s got a much better body than me. All he cares about is me.
That’s…a nice feeling.
I strip off my tunic before I can think about it too hard, and quickly slip into the water. I immediately dunk under, because just as I suspected, it’s deep. It’s also not as cool as I’d hoped. The water’s warm like a bath, but as I resurface and slick my wet hair from my face, I decide I don’t care. This is still nice. We can’t bathe full-body over at the beach, not unless we want to get up close and friendly with all the slimy, tentacle-like things that live in the water.
I glance over at J’shel, and he’s watching me now, amusement curling his mouth. He nods at me in acknowledgement, and then reaches over and grabs Taushen’s spear from where it sits against the edge of the cliff. When he touches the point, I realize they’re going to do weapon talk, because J’shel’s mind is still focused on the big, dangerous creature outside.
Right now in this little lagoon, though? That monster seems very far away.
I dunk under the water again, and then do a little twirl even as Brooke swims a circle around me. “We’re not polluting the drinking water, are we?”
“It’s a bit too late to worry about that, isn’t it?” She laughs at my stricken expression. “No, silly. We get drinking water from the waterfall.” She points at the trickling water far above. “It’s coming from the rock itself.”
“Oh, good. I’d hate to drink my own bathwater.”
Brooke ducks her
head and comes back up with her cheeks puffed up, full of water. She swishes it around in her mouth and then spits it out, then pretends to consider. “Interesting blend,” she says in a snooty voice. “The aroma is crisp and earthy. As for the taste, I’m catching notes of…sweat and jizz.”
I splash her, blushing. “You are gross!”
“I didn’t say whose jizz it was,” she tells me mischievously, and then points a finger at me. “Though when you got down here, you definitely had some headboard hair, so I’m guessing we both got more than a few notes of jizz, if you catch my drift.” Brooke wiggles her eyebrows at me. “And your man looks like he went through a hurricane. Hurricane Hannah?”
I stifle a laugh, glancing over at J’shel. Okay, he does look like a mess. His long hair is everywhere, all tangled and messy and cascading down his shoulders and back. I think it’s sexy…but it is a mess. He definitely looks like he’s been rolling around in the furs, that’s for sure. “He’s going to have some serious tangles,” I agree, unable to stop staring at how sexy he is. Even right now, I want to just climb out of this pool and ride him like a pony.
“So…should we high five? Or do I still need to pretend I didn’t hear you getting railed last night? Or this morning? Or this afternoon?”
I cover my face, embarrassed at Brooke’s words. I can’t help but giggle, though. “You are the worst.”
She mock-splashes me. “It’s just girl talk. I’m teasing you. In all seriousness, I’m glad you two finally got together. I was hoping for that when you asked to come with us. You looked so unhappy at camp that I figured getting away would do you both good. I see now that I was right.” Brooke’s expression is smug as only a matchmaker’s can be.
I can’t even be mad. I’m glad we’re here, because it allowed me to get away from the stress of the camp and see J’shel for who he is, and being with him made me realize I’ve been fighting hard over nothing at all. “This has been exactly what we needed,” I admit to her. “I owe you one.”
Brooke just chuckles, swimming another lazy stroke around me. “We all fight it a little harder than we probably should, but it always works out in the end.”
I nod and slip under the water again, scrubbing at my hair because it feels so good to swim and get fresh water all over my body. I surface for air once more and glance over. Both Taushen and J’shel look less interested in the water—or their mates—and are gesturing at Taushen’s spear, eyeing it and speaking in low voices. I glance a little farther away and it looks like he’s been making nets out of the green vines as well. That worries me. I swim over to Brooke’s side. “Is Taushen stressed about that big bird outside?” I keep my voice quiet so it doesn’t carry over the water to the men.
For the first time, Brooke’s playful expression disappears. She chews on her lip. “Very worried,” she admits. “He’s mostly worried about how we’ll get back to the tribe and the safety of the beach. For some reason he thinks they won’t come out of the mountains—I guess because there’s no dvisti on the beach. He thinks he should confront it, but that thought terrifies me. That thing is far too big and they only have spears.” She shakes her head, her wet hair flinging a few drops at me. “I told him we can just stay here and wait it out, all brutal season if we have to, but I don’t know if we have enough fruit for that. We need protein, not just empty carbs.” She gives me a rueful look. “Plus, I gorged on melon on the first day and I think I might barf if I have to eat another.”
“So what do we do?”
She shrugs. “I guess we wait and see what that bird does.”
I think of the rest of the tribe. We’re safe in here—for now—but they’re all on the exposed beach. I think of the hunters that go out on a regular basis, checking traps and looking for meat. It all suddenly seems so dangerous. “Do you think the tribe is safe?”
“Taushen thinks so as long as they avoid this area, but I don’t know. I can’t worry about them right now. All I can worry about is us. One thing at a time, you know?” She gives me a crooked smile. “My brain can’t hold more than one worry at a time or I’ll self-destruct.”
“Fair enough.” I know the rest of the world seems very far away right now, especially since we’re in a little slice of paradise.
“For now, let’s just relax, all right? I’ve been telling Taushen that for hours. We’re warm, we’ve got food, and we’ve got a pool to swim in. This is about as close to paradise as you can get on this planet.”
I smile at her words, but it just reminds me of how J’shel lived in paradise…and it blew up. It almost seems like the more miserable a place is, the safer it is, and isn’t that a real kicker? “I’m all for relaxing, but how do we convince those two?” I thumb a gesture over at the men, who are fingering the point of Taushen’s spear as if figuring out how to make it sharper, stronger, whatever.
Brooke’s expression gets downright mischievous again. “That? That part’s easy.” She puts a finger to her lips, then quietly swims closer. As I watch, treading water from the far side of the pool, she moves right up to the edge and the men don’t seem to notice her. A split-second later, she splashes her mate, soaking his chest.
Taushen looks up with a shocked expression, and then his eyes narrow on his female. He bares his teeth—fangs, I realize, that J’shel doesn’t have—and scrambles to the edge of the water, then flings himself in, tackling a squealing Brooke.
J’shel glances up at me, and his expression doesn’t look as amused. If anything, he looks irked that Brooke’s interrupting weapon talk. But as they resurface and I see Brooke’s arms around her mate as she laughs, I want J’shel to relax, too. So I wave him over and when he hesitates, I trace a wet finger between my breasts and give him a very obvious look.
That decides him. J’shel jumps into the water and swims over to my side. His wet hair spills back from his horns and into the water like the world’s most masculine mermaid, and he puts his hands on my body, holding me close. “Do you want to mate right here?” he murmurs, leaning in to give me a kiss. “Because I am not nearly as shy as you are, my mate—”
I put my fingers to his lips, silencing him. “Let’s just swim for now, all right?”
He grins. “For now.” And then he deliberately rubs me against his rock-hard erection.
Swimming is no longer quite so innocent…but a lot more fun.
19
HANNAH
We swim and hang out with Taushen and Brooke for hours. It’s a nice, relaxing way to pass the afternoon.
Well, mostly relaxing. Every time we touch each other, it’s instantly that much harder to fight attraction. J’shel is hard when I brush up against him, and because I’m a horny tease, I brush up against him a lot. Thank goodness the water hides a lot, and Brooke and Taushen are in their own little world, because a lot of our touches are not chaste. Every time I rub up against J’shel, it feels like foreplay. I can’t wait to get back up to “our” spot and have privacy again. At the same time, I like being here with the others. It’s nice to just swim and hang out. J’shel is a good swimmer, and while I’m not terrible, I end up holding onto him and floating a lot, just because it’s nice.
After a while, we all eventually emerge from the water and while J’shel puts on his loincloth, Brooke comes over and gives me a high five. “Girl, you hit that and you hit that until you can’t hit it anymore. He’s got some impressive equipment…almost as impressive as my man.” And she smirks at me.
I clutch my tunic to my chest, both proud of J’shel and embarrassed at Brooke’s words. “I thought you said no one was looking!”
“No, I said no one cares.” She laughs. “Seriously though, I’m happy for you and it explains all the enthusiastic screaming yesterday.” She fistbumps me and then saunters away back to her mate, who’s got his loincloth on and has sat down to work on a net.
“I wasn’t that loud,” I mutter to myself, slipping my tunic back over my head.
Once we’re somewhat decent, we eat fruit and chitchat. Brooke br
aids Taushen’s wet hair, then mine, and then tackles J’shel’s thick, messy avalanche of hair. My mate works on weaving leaves as Brooke expertly takes piece after piece of his hair and works them into an impressively intricate string of braids.
I lick my fingers, watching as J’shel works. It’s impressive how fast he can weave, but I suppose it makes sense with four hands. When it starts looking less like a net, I can’t help but ask. “What are you making?”
He holds it up. “A cover for your hips. I will make one for your teats, too. L’ren wore something similar on the island.”
“For me?” I’m touched. How thoughtful of him.
“Sweet, make me one too,” Brooke says, her hands full of his hair.
“I can make some for you,” Taushen tells her, possessiveness in his tone.
“Then hop to it, babycakes.” She grins at him. “Because I am tired of wearing sweaty leather.
“Me too.”
Taushen grumbles something under his breath but then the conversation turns easy once more. As the men work on “clothing” for us, Brooke braids hair, and I pretty much just hang out and listen. The men talk about hunts, and Brooke and I talk about the fruit here and how it compares to the fruit back home. Maybe it’s because I haven’t had fruit in so long, but I think the fruit here in the cave tastes ten times better than anything I’ve ever had at home. We discuss figuring out ways to preserve it and make jams, but that requires air-tight containers that we don’t have. We do have refrigeration, though, and so we toy with ideas of freezing fruit, or drying it and bringing the dried results home with us.
“There are things we can do so everyone gets a taste,” she promises me. “It’s all good.”
J’shel holds out my “clothing,” silent.
I can tell his mind is back on the monster outside, and how we’re going to get back home. He looks worried, like he’s no longer enjoying our lazy afternoon. My heart squeezes for him, because I know he wants to protect me and worries he’s going to fail. Poor man needs a distraction. So I hold up the top—which looks like a woven placemat on a loop—and feign ignorance. “Can you help me put this on?”
