She picks up my wrap and hands it to me as her cheeks turn red again. I quickly wrap it around my waist and then watch as she picks up one of the sleeping furs and tries to do the same. It is not going to work. It isn’t cut right for wearing, but my mate doesn’t seem to know that.
I wonder how her tribe can make such strange and complicated clothing but not even know how to wear a simple wrap! I take the sleeping fur from her and drop it back into the pile before I get the antelope hide I had prepared for her days ago. It still isn’t cut for her shape, but it will do. She takes it in her hands and tries to put it on, but it’s not right at all. Finally, I take it back and put it around her myself.
She is my mate, and if she doesn’t know how to dress herself, then I’ll do it for her.
I cut two long straps of leather from an old skin and tie them around her waist to hold the wrap together. When I’m done, I take a step back to get a better look at her.
She’s beautiful.
Well, except for those strange things that are still on her feet, but the rest is lovely.
She picks up the water skins and takes my hand again, this time leading me outside and down the trail toward the pine forest and the lake. When we get there, she takes me to the water’s edge and points at it. I look into the water to see if there is a fish she wants me to catch, but I don’t see any. My eyes turn back to hers, confused.
Beh sighs heavily, reaches down into the water and brings a handful of it out, which she then dumps on my arm. I jump back; the water is cold! Beh starts making more sounds and pointing at the water some more, and I don’t like it. I growl a little and back away.
She approaches me and takes my hand again, turning it over so the underside is pointing up. Her finger runs along the edge of the cut from the boar’s tusk—close but not quite touching it. She makes a lot more noises and points at the water again.
My mate is strange.
She tries to pull me back toward the lake, but I won’t go. I usually want to follow her anywhere—but that doesn’t include going into cold water! We struggle a little before she tosses her hand in the air and goes back to the water’s edge alone. I watch intently as she fills the water skins and brings them back to me. When she tries to pour the water on me from the skins, I back away again.
She fills the skins again and then just drops them beside her as she removes the fur she is wearing and begins to unwind the strange little ties that hold her foot coverings. She glances back over to me, and I quickly look away. She doesn’t like it when I watch, so I always pretend not to. Instead, I look over at the tree line for a while and then glance quickly back at my mate—just to make sure she is all right. She has the fur wrapped around her shoulders, and I can see the funny little pink things in her hands as she scrubs at them in the water with a pile of crushed soaproot plants.
I realize that if she’s washing them, she’s not wearing them.
My heart starts to beat a little faster, and I lean over to one side to see if I can get a better look. Beh turns her head and almost catches me, but I’m fast enough to look away before I meet her eyes. When I look back again, her shoulders are shaking a little, and I wonder if she is sad or cold. I move a little closer just to be sure she doesn’t need me, and her eyes meet mine.
They sparkle.
She’s beautiful.
She stands and wraps the fur around her a little tighter, tilts her head to the side, and peers at me.
“Kiss?”
I feel my body tense and shift toward her automatically before I can stop myself. She glances up at me, smiles coyly, and lays the little pink scraps of material on a large rock to dry. She leans forward a little, and the edge of the fur drops from her shoulder. Before she can pull it around herself again, I can see just a hint of the slightly darker pink of one of her nipples.
It’s the same color as the little bits of fabric.
I take a step forward, and Beh licks her lips as she adjusts the wrap and sits back down at the water’s edge. I move slowly to her side, still cautious, and sit down next to her. She covers herself completely with the fur as she leans forward and brushes her lips against mine but only for the briefest moment. She backs away immediately afterwards and points at the water again and makes a lot more noise.
I narrow my eyes, understanding now what she is trying to do. She wants me to bathe in the water and doesn’t seem to care that it’s too cold. I growl low, shifting back away from her a little but not much.
Beh changes position, angling herself toward me and reaching out with her hand. As she does, the edge of the fur falls from her shoulder again, and I can see a quick glimpse of one of her bare breasts underneath. Heat covers my groin as my eyes widen, and Beh takes my hand in hers to pull me forward. I feel my breathing increase along with my heartbeat as she brings my fingers yet closer to her breast. Just as my fingers twitch in anticipation of feeling her smooth skin, Beh turns my hand away from her body and plunges it into the icy water.
My mate is quite serious about this bathing thing.
I don’t like it.