This is usually the point when I go back to the cave, pull out my spear and start hunting, but I can’t do that now. I have to have food for Beh. If she won’t make baskets and collect it for us, I will have to do it.
I take a breath and try to relax myself a little. As I start to pick up the dropped grains, Beh kneels beside me and starts picking them up as well. She places them on the center of my fur and then moves to one of the other stalks of grain. Within minutes, she’s gathering much faster than I, but I don’t stop. Actually, I try to catch up with her. It quickly becomes a game: who can get the grains off the stalks the fastest without spilling any on the ground.
Beh even laughs when I drop a whole handful, and the sound is lovely.
We are at it all day, and we collect much of the grain in the field.
With the fur tied up in a bundle to keep the grain from falling out, I toss the sack over my shoulder and take Beh’s hand as we head back. Once we are inside again, I gather up one of the furs from the bedding and lay it across the low rock shelf on one side of the cave. Then Beh helps me pour the grains from one fur to the other so I can warm up.
It’s quite cold as the sun begins to set, and I’m shivering by the time we’re finished. Beh starts make a lot of noises with her mouth again. She hadn’t really done that all day except when she laughed, and it was kind of nice. She grabs another fur from the bed and wraps it around me as she practically pushes me into the fire. She makes more, louder sounds as I take a deep breath and stare up at her. She sighs as her eyes meet mine, and though she still makes those sounds, she is much quieter now. She places some of the antelope meat on the cooking rock near the fire and sits back while it warms. After a few minutes, she pulls out the stick she had used before and starts to work on her hair.
I warm up slowly as I watch her intently. This time when she looks back at me, she smiles and moves closer. She reaches up, and she starts to pull the stick through my hair again. The slow, steady movements lull me as I watch the fire burn. As I feel my eyes drooping, I shift and lay my head down in her lap. Abandoning the stick, I feel her fingers take their place on my scalp as the warmth from the fire, the fur, and her touch soak into my skin.
Finally, after so much time despairing, I know contentment.
CHAPTER FIVE
Beh still sleeps though I have been awake since before light started to shine through the crack in the cave’s entrance. I have already been up to stoke the fire and warm the small enclosure. As I lay next to her, I can’t stop touching the hair on my own head.
It’s never felt like this before.
It doesn’t feel quite as good as Beh’s does, but it still feels good.
I touch hers for a while, too, but soon she turns slightly in her sleep, rolling away from me. It’s still chilly this morning, and Beh seems to realize this even though she doesn’t wake up. She pushes her back up against my chest, her body seeking the warmth I am all too happy to provide.
I drop my hand from my hair and wrap it around her waist, pulling her closer as I tug the fur up to her shoulders. She sighs and settles back down against the fur she has tucked under her head. I don’t know why she likes it like that, but she rolls up a few scraps of fur into a small ball and places it under her head when she sleeps.
My mate is strange.
But she is mine, and she can shove a fur under her head if she likes. I will keep the other ones over the top of her so she will stay warm.
I watch her face. She is peaceful and quiet in her sleep. As I look at her, I get a feeling in my stomach that I don’t understand. It doesn’t take long before the strange feeling moves lower, and I realize what it is. My tongue runs quickly over my lips as my mind begins to think of what it will be like to mate Beh.
She is my mate. I can mate with her whenever I want. At least, I should be able to…
I feel the fingers of my hand twitch automatically across her stomach. I brush against the smooth, soft material of her clothing as I move my hand down until it reaches the edge. I can feel a thin sliver of skin between the top part of her clothes and the odd, rough fabric of the lower part.
My heart begins to beat a little faster, and my neck and face warm with the flow of blood. I swallow once, and my gaze shifts along the length of her body. With my mouth open, I inhale her scent, and I feel myself grow hard. Instinctively, I rock my hips slightly against her back.
It feels really good.
I push against her a little harder, angling downward along her body. I reach inside her clothes, and I press the palm of my hand on her bare stomach. I pull her against me at the same time my hips push the opposite way.
There have been times when I have wrapped my hand around my shaft and moved it up and down until my seed has erupted. It always felt good to use my hand, but not like this—this is much better.
I rub against her again.
“Ehd?”